>>48392429
Announcements: twitter.com/REQMX

Q&A: ask.fm/REQM

Character Sheet and Misc:
http://pastebin.com/u/REQM

Archive:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Re-Monster

>>48392429
>Old Guard

Yay Spiders!

>>48392429
>Village Worker A

Go nameless NPC!

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>>48392429
>>Old Guard
YES BEST OLD MAN!

Also nice to see you again REQM

>>48392429
>Old Guard

Every other choice is objectively wrong!

Also, yay, Spider Quest!

>>48392429
>Elle

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Evolution when?

>>48392429
>Village Worker A
Tell us your tale random Village Worker a. What have you seen?!

>>48392429
>>Old Guard

>Old Guard

>>48392429
Lemmy guess, the dungeons throwing cheap fodder at us because its listening to the moth.

It appears Old Guard is in the lead.
Writing!

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>>48392610
The time has finally come

FINALLY THE SPIDER RETURNS!

Hey, anyone else worried we're changing history by fighting all these weird ghostly past battles?

>>48392541
It is a shame lyra's not shed her entire shell in one piece yet.
She always had a team tear it apart into little pieces.
lyra should master the one-piece molt. I bet a whole family of halflings could live inside one of our moltings.

Oh shit, I finally caught one of these live! You rock, REQMX, I am hooked on your series!

>>48392429
You're not dead! Yes!
>Old Guard

I'm just waiting for the god of the dungeon to put down a "Stop camping my spawns!" sign.

> I bet a whole family of halflings could live inside one of our moltings

Or an entire rhumba of sneks. That's the right word. I just looked that shit up.

>>48392740
See, this is why we need to master the moult.

>>48392736
Reqms new once-a-month schedule has made me constantly paranoid that they died. Send help.

Would the shell come off around the skull or do we grow a new skull?

>Reqms new once-a-month schedule has made me constantly paranoid that they died. Send help.

Just accept that all good fanfiction dies long before it's done and enjoy it while it lasts.

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>>48392740
>A group of snakes can be referred to as a den, bed, pit, or nest. The exception to this is a group of rattlesnakes, which is called a rhumba.
We're going to meet a rattler lamia in the desert by the name of Cuban Pete, I'm now certain of it.

>>48392857
I'm just hoping we can find some sort of sandworm-girl we can constantly bounce Dune references off of. Doesn't matter if nobody else gets it.

>>48392857
She also has a somewhat simplicistic, but still elaborately carved wooden mask.

>>48392881
all we're confirmed for finding down there is scorpion people.
Which I'm fine with.

>>48392429
>Old Guard
Best Guard!

So, I had some terrible thoughts. Should I use them productively, or hide them in the shame corner?

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>>48393053
>terrible thoughts
>all the protagonists are like 2 years old

>>48393053
always be productive, man
being productive and lewd is also fine

T'Be honest, you aren't even on duty.

Really, you haven't been on duty in... a decade now?
You're tired. Retired.
Tired twice.

Normally you'd say it out loud, just to here the guards groan, but you're busy laughing again at the moment.

As per your favourite hobby, you've sat yourself at the edge of the village, keeping the gate guards company, whether they want it or not. It's the best spot in the village. You've got a literal captive audience, and a front row seat to anything fun that makes its way here.

At the moment, your current favourite distraction has once again proven herself better entertainment than the rest of the village combined.

The girl- An arachne, and a child- is currently heading an entire mob of locals, having apparently recruited a significant portion of the village in order to drag her day's hunt back to town.

You're not quite certain where she managed to find a crab that large, but she does seem the type.

Jin, the astonishingly loud little thing that she is, is all but singing about their fight.
Everyone else is dragging the surplus seafood towards the inn.

Any night you don't have to cook is a blessing all its own.

"Even'n Lass."
"Good evening, yes."
"A bit of hunting on the side?"
"No? I eat every day."
"Are you sure you've enough to share, then?"

She grumbles.
"I do not eat that much, yes."
"Ah, I'm sure you could if ya tried."

You laugh at the look that earns you, puffed cheeks and six glaring eyes.

The rest of the night is loud- Everyone turns out to eat, and bonfires light the village. There's likely more than a little liquor moving around, and someone started dancing at some point.

It's a good day, you conclude. And you're sure there'll be many more to come.
And soon, too, if the spider has anything to do with it.

____________________________________________________________________

>>48393242


"She killed sssomething that large?"
"Of course! 'twas only the first of the forest titans to fall 'neath her bladed feet!"
"What?"
"I don't have a horn, so I was trying some more classic speech."
"It doesssn't work."

You can practically feel the moth crossing her arms. It's a sixth sense at this point.
Wait, does that work? Do you have five senses? There's the whole earth tremor thing, and webbing, and magic- Eight sense? Ninth? It doesn't have the same ring to it.

You smash the last of the defenders to the ground, reducing your opponent to golden particles-
It'd likely be more impressive if they were real, you suppose.

The glowing points of light have formed a river, coiling its way back into the village- Jin alights on a horn, and Sheszka trots alongside in her rather large wolf-form as you follow it into the mismatched buildings-

"The next piece is relevant!"
"Relevant?"
"It has to do with what's happening now! Our heroine, unfazed by such timid enemies, ready herself for a true challenge- A descent into an uneplored dungeon, an ancient tomb of lost treasure and true foes!"

>Aria
>Sara
>Jin
>Sheszka
>Other(?)

>>48393257
>>Sara


That old man just keeps getting better.

>>48393257
>Aria

>>48393257
>Sara
We haven't gotten one of her yet. Bookspider pov?

>>48393257
>>Sara

>>48393257
man all these perspectives had a bad time.
I guessss aria?
Or sara?

>>48393257
>Aria

>>48393291
>We haven't gotten one of her yet.
We did actually, she was the first one.

>>48393257
>>Sara

>>48393257
>Jin
Aria probably makes more sense, but I miss Jin, she always says so little in the story.

>>48393257
>Sheszka

>Aria

I want to be able to compare how superior we are to fourth best spider.

>>48393315
Yeah, but pre-magic magic spider doesn't really count. It's like.. pre-flight Jin or something.

>>Sheszka

What does the wolf think of our adventures?

>>48393257
>Sara
after the best old man, the best sister

Looks like Sara wins!

Writing!

man.
I enjoy nin's dramatic retellings, but I still can't wait to see our... aunt? great aunt? whatever it is, pop when she finds out we're related.

>>48393517
Kind of want to hang out with the bee princess some more, she seems fun.

>>48393544
well, good thing she is also at the same place our great aunt is.
And our cool aunt.

>>48393328
yeah, she's a bit simplistic, isn't she?

>>48393334
>Fourth Best

>Nialla
>Lyra
>NotAria???
>Aria

Who the fuck do you have in third?

Aria easily best spooder after Mom and us.

>>48393962
he probably has sara in mind.
Sara's pretty keen.

>>48393972
>>48393962
Though I also really appreciate and miss elle.

>>48393962
Lyra
Sara
Elle
Aria
Easy.

Your limbs are clattering softly against the stone, the passage leading you deeper and deeper, blindly into the dungeon below.
You feel scared, to tell the truth.

Throwing magic at Lyra is one thing. And deer can't really fight.

But she promised, yes? She took your hand, and she swore she would keep you safe.

So even though you can't see even centimeters ahead of yourself- You can still walk. Your hand is against your sister's shell, and you can feel warmth there, her heartbeat steady. She's laughing a little bit as she walks, unconcerned with whatever it is that's ahead.

So you follow along.

She leads you all quietly, speaking of what's ahead, what's behind, how far you've come- Her magic is telling her about the dungeon. About traps and monsters and magic.

It's exciting.

You know Mom was scared when Lyra went nto the ruins.
You were too.

But here-

The flare of your magic is bright enough to blind someone, stone hissing and melting, bubbling away as your spells strike the golems.
Your- less magically inclined- companions shout warcries all their own, smashing against the things with physical force, shattering the construct's body and limbs.

You sneak past traps, into hidden rooms of treasure, past illusions and guardians.

And there was a library.
A library!

......

It is a library about a very dumb wizard. And now you are angry.
Lyra encourages some graffiti, and you are only too pleased to oblige.

You feel slightly better after defacing the mural. The mural the wizard made of himself. It isn't even enchanted. What is the point of learning this must magic and wasting it, yes? The golems are nice, but they don't do anything. They don't explode, or fly, and they can't wield weapons of pure magical power, or continue fighting by chaining their broken pieces together with the stuff stars are made from-

>>48393962
Sara. Librarian spider makes my heart go doki doki

>>48394064
Oh, there's treasure.

No, it isn't treasure. It's enchanted garbage. There is a little bit of treasure.

"This isn't evena real dungeon, is it," you say. "This is an idiot hole."

That seems to cheer Lyra up a bit. She was starting to look down with all the stupid wizard stuff.
The small magical library hidden in the treasure room cheered you up a lot.

You don't quite remember the rest of the dungeon to be honest. There was more golems, and the stupid wizard had left behind a stupid skeleton.
And Lyra told everyone well done, and you went home.

And while you would have liked to read your new books until you passed out, you did have to sleep. And then your sister was inconsiderate enough to grow a giant skull overnight, and you had to wait even longer to read.

You still gave her a hug though.

______________________________________________________________


"That is when she grew?"
"Yes! The shell that would become the mark of the queen was formed that very morning, amidst the dawn's light!"

Speaking of light, all these motes are gathering on an altar.
There's no way this will end well.

Brighter and brighter-

"Of course, our story is not solely a tale of heroism, yes? Our Queen is one who stands with her people, lending her strength to each and every one. She turned her efforts to the forge, to learn what she could-"

>Lann
>Mikhael
>A very nervous young guardsman
>Other (?)

>I'm also going to need 3d100, please

Rolled 24, 24, 10 = 58 (3d100)

>>48394084
>>Lann

Rolled 28, 12, 89 = 129 (3d100)

>>48394084
>>Mikhael

>>48394084
>>Lann
Best elf is best choice

>A very nervous young guardsman

Rolled 45, 100, 53 = 198 (3d100)

>>48394084
>A very nervous young guardsman
Okay, I'll bite.
What could he POSSIBLY know about our smithing?
wait, does that mean he was spying on us?

Rolled 50, 68, 18 = 136 (3d100)

>>48394084
>Lann

Rolled 60, 65, 31 = 156 (3d100)

>>48394084
>>Lann

Rolled 49, 85, 63 = 197 (3d100)

>>48394084
>Lann
Time for best fellow fang.owner

>>48394084
>Lann

>>48394107
We had to walk by him every day to go to the forge, so he probably saw a lot of us.

>>48394000
>No Nialla
>(Cr)Lazy and Hogwarts over Tsunsister

The fuck you smoking?

Rolled 43, 17, 61 = 121 (3d100)

>>48394084
>Mikhael

>>48394107
dat crit

>>48394129
Sisters are best.
Honestly Nialla kinda pales by comparison to all but Aria.

>>48394064
>Lann
Like there was any other choice, really.

>>48394084
>Lann

>>48394084
45 100 89

Seem to be the winners.

>>48394142
and yet, she still kicks all of our asses.

>>48394084
>A very nervous young guardsman

Rolled 88, 69, 10 = 167 (3d100)

>>48394084
>A very nervous young guardsman

>>48394172
She's 30 years ahead of us, and honestly I doubt she'd beat Lyra by this point.

Rolled 43, 31, 92 = 166 (3d100)

>>48394084
>Lann

Rolled 1, 58, 9 = 68 (3d100)

>>48394084
>Lann

>>48394191
As I see it she'd pull out a dirty trick or two and sneak ahead in a spar, but in a straight up fight? Mom would probably loose, yeah.

>>48394191
No, spider mom will still kick Lyra's ass until Lyra gets more experience, then the evolution advantage will begin to tell.

>>48394191
This. Lyra is a mega earth bender. I don't think the tactical value of having the stone under someone's feet liquify and then reharden can be understated.

>>48394172
Pretty sure Lyra would beat Nialla by now, those evolution buffs are crazy and their skill ranks are not that far apart anymore.

>>48394223
Look at the charsheets anon, Lyra is already nearly at her skill level and 2 stages ahead of her.

Alright, so its the elf, then.
And 45, 100 and 89.

Writing!

>>48394223
Lyra already nearly beat mom, what was it, 2 ranks ago? 1 rank ago?
The skill difference isn't that big anymore either, and the huge tactical advantage all that magic gives Lyra not even counted.

>>48394240
>so its the elf
>implying there was a choice

>>48394262
Mikhail is pretty cool too, to be fair.

>>48394262
This is pre-lyra elf, though. No fangs.

>inb4 mom has already prepared some way to deal with earthbending like batman

>>48394255
Lyra didn't nearly beat her, she just managed to be physically stronger than her.

Which encouraged Nialla to stop /holding back/.

>>48394276
Does beg the question, when Lyra keeps evolving, how long till the elf comes looking for us out of frustration for new clothes? Or ends up as ellies constant companion because of it.

>>48394285
>Which encouraged Nialla to stop /holding back/.
Eh, considering Lyra is always holding back too by not using magic, that isn't saying much.
And as I said, the skill difference isn't big enough anymore to make up for Lyras sheer physical superiority.
In a straight spears-only duel Nialla "might" still squeeze in a victory depending on how we roll, but in a real fight, no way.

>>48394296
she's already pissed at us for breaking her bowstrings.
She just doesn't know for sure it's us yet.

>>48394323
Lyra needs to make her a new bow, one with her iron-silk as bowstrings.

>>48394323
>Lyra evolves again
>Lann has a copy of Elle's crossbow made or just runs around punching monsters to death between wolfspeed bursts.

>>48394347
Now that could be scary. Speaking of, should Lyra look into archery at all? The bowstings and her strength would give her some poundage usually found on some seige engines.

>>48394191
THINE HERETICAL DOUBT HAST BEEN A CLARION CALL!

SHE SHALL COME FORTH NOW, AND PROVE THINE HERESY FALSE!

ALL PRAISE MOM, QUEEN OF INTENSE TRAINING

>>48394372
I doubt even her own strings could reliably withstand her strength by now, the bow that Lyra could draw would be epic stuff of legends indeed.

>>48394372
It might be neat, but Lyra has Jin for flysploding things. I'm wondering where she would have the time to get any sort of expertise, too.

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>>48394372
Well, her Spear is Ornstein's Spear.

So her bow can be this monster, which fires six-foot Rock-lances as arrows.

>>48394372
I think the closest we are going to come is siege weaponry mounted on our rear end.
Though, if we're doing that, I want a wave motion gun installed in our mouth.
Imagine jin, nin, shezka, and ezzy manning this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty-1zWsXFNs

>>48394391
Nah, her string will scale with her power most likely. The main problem is finding a material for the body thats both strong and flexable to be a bow. Would probably need some rare metal like mithral.

>>48394410
Least stone arrows would mean she never runs out of ammo.

>>48394372
Unless we get a huge ass bow as loot somewhere, nah. We really need a spear that can stand up to the shit we put ours through though.

>>48394424
our spear is basically a club, given how often we bash it to flinders and reform it.

>>48394424
We should probably see about strengthening our spear with our own metal-silk.

>>48394423
>Nah, her string will scale with her power most likely
That seems extremly unlikely and implausible, since our regular one didn't either.

>>48394442
There's a word for how strong something is in relation to bending. I don't know it because I'm an ignorant faggot, but the metal silk doesn't have enough of it.

>>48394442
We found the spear in a mediocre quality dungeon. Even reforged, we could probably get something leagues better in the city, considering money isn't really an issue.

>>48394473
Tensile strength?

>>48394465
Depends, the metal part of the abilitie has thus far to be put to the test. It may act differently, being an evolved ability.

>>48394479
>we could probably get something leagues better in the city
We have literally a forge blessing, why do people so insistently refuse to actually forge things.

>>48394438
>Inb4 Karura sword

>>48394514
Well, for one, Lyra wants to leave to Elfland fairly soon. We don't have time to forge things. I'm not against it when we have some opportunity to get into it.

>>48394547
>Lyra wants to leave to Elfland fairly soon.
We have not entered Elfland yet, and Lyra doesn't feel in any particular rush to leave it either.

>>48394533
having a spear HAS sort of lost its point since we gained like six strength exponents, hasn't it?

>>48394547
Elf lands are rich. Rich places = more materials = more expensive items to look at.

As we get closer the variety should open up allot. I mean the only places she has been are backwater hamlet kind of places.

Perhaps we can forge our own weapon once we've had training to forge higher tier metals...
Having a few high grade elemental gems to put into it wouldn't go amiss either...

>>48394547
I see no reason why Lyra woild be in a rush, her aunt is still here anyway.

>>48394547
We are in one of the continents biggest trade cities, forging would be done best here, and I doubt it would take more than a few days.

>>48394568
It's lost more than a point if all the times Lyra's dented it are any hint.

>>48394547
I wonder how that's going to go. I'm betting they're going to be sanctimonious pricks and hurt Lyra's feelings. If that happens, I'm going to vote for us making someone's house structurally unsound on the way out.

>>48394573
>once we've had training to forge higher tier metals
We already did, we went to professional dwarven smiths to learn that sort of thing.

>>48394600
>I'm betting they're going to be sanctimonious pricks and hurt Lyra's feelings
There is literally no indication for this being plausible and we know through word of QM that at least her grandfather will like Lyra.

>>48394568
Range and charge, we'd be better with a polearm or halberd though since the blade weight really wouldn't be hindering. Spear are pretty much shit tier once you get out of stabbing range.

How good is Lyra at forging anyway? As far as I can tell she's spent.. a few weeks learning her skills? More through some of the timeskips?

This is a craft that takes years to master at least. Unless monster learning speeds that up.

>>48394600
Doubtful scenario.
Plus Lyra is technically nobility and probably against her will royalty.

>>48394627
>with a polearm
"Polearms" are a category which include spears.

>Spear are pretty much shit tier once you get out of stabbing range.
True for all polearms, but due to Lyras biology this matters far less then for squishy humanoids, because getting so close you're out of stabbing range to lyra is arguably even more lethal.

>>48394649
>How good is Lyra at forging anyway?
Fairly good actually, her skills are pretty high (6/7) and she has a Blessing by the literal God of Forging.

>>48394649
>Unless monster learning speeds that up
It definitly did. Having control over metal and being blessed by the god of the forge definitly helps too.

>>48394671
See, I'm just confused by the mechanics. As far as I see, 6-7 is fairly average, 10ish is pretty damn good, and above that is amazing. Mom is 12+ is a lot of things.

The blessing might be a literal skill boost or it might be a % increase in existing skill

>>48394671
At a certain strength factor stabbing and slashing become pretty irrelevant.

We should replace the spear with an axe or hammer or similar crushing weapon.

A Halberd works mainly because it is really just a longaxe with a spear-head too.

>>48394713
>At a certain strength factor stabbing and slashing become pretty irrelevant.
Not really, you forget that there are things who are just as resilient as Lyra is strong.
So its really only slashing for which this could be true (though speed gained from greater muscle strength helps there too).

>>48394713
Hammer as in Anvil-Onna-Stick variety?
Cause the downside of a Warhammer is its shit in enclosed spaces. Same problem with axes. Bastard Sword or Great Sword might work better, it has the weight and an edge, while still having a thrusting point to be used like a spear and with her gauntlet like hands can easily be half handed if required.

basically, lyra should wield pillars.
Like from buildings.

>>48394761
>Cause the downside of a Warhammer is its shit in enclosed spaces
On the other hand, Lyra also needs a weapon less in close spaces because her own body is made of lethal weapons.

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Lyra being so strong kinda simplifies what weapon would work best for her. I think a simple metal pole, made of the strongest metal she can find, and as large as would be practical to carry, would be ideal. Just to extend her range really. If it weren't for magical beasts with tough skin, sharpening the end wouldn't even be necessary.

>>48394737
Resilience doesn't really prevent blunt damage, the force still dissipates throughout the body.

>>48394761
I suggested a halberd which is basically an axe with a spear on top, stabby and crushy

>>48394787
No matter how strong you get, the balance of a weapon is still a strong factor in how well you can use it.

>>48394769
Really depends if we are facing a foe it would be unwise to close to hand to hand with, so an alternative is always a good idea.

Bastard or Great Sword are good all rounders (as swords generally are) for this sort of thing.

Could go Quarter staff like Song Goku's.

>>48394793
>Resilience doesn't really prevent blunt damage
And that wasn't the point I was making, I was saying that greater strength factor doesn't make stabbing (and to a point slashing) not less useful, because it helps overcoming greater resilience.

>>48394787
On the other hand, cutting through mobs like we just were makes me think some kinda ultra-greatsword would be even better.

>>48394810
Big arc sweeps with a Great sword would be very useful. High strength to an edge and just wipe out a swathe of foes.

>>48394810
>it was too big to be a sword.jpg

>>48394805
>Really depends if we are facing a foe it would be unwise to close to hand to hand with, so an alternative is always a good idea.
Anon, any place so tight that you couldn't swing a warhammer in it, would be way too tight for Lyras huge body to be able to do anything be go hand-to-hand.
You forget just how big Lyras spiderbody really is.

Her main-weapon should take tactical situations into account where she would want a weapon the most, which really is for stuff even bigger than she is and thus the spear serves just fine. Maybe a glaive.

Though a small sidearm designed for armor penetration might not be too bad for things with really tough scales her legs can't get through.

>>48394838
Anything Lyra can't pierce might just need some sort of bullshit enchantment that ignore defenses.

Obviously we need to hold a design contest among our passengers to design Lyras next-Gen weapon.
The creator of the chosen design gets their headpat contingent increased for a month.

>>48394838
>Her main-weapon should take tactical situations into account where she would want a weapon the most, which really is for stuff even bigger than she is and thus the spear serves just fine

Except that "Just fine" isn't good enough, the spear is giving diminishing returns.

Lyra needs an upgrade.

>>48394890
>the spear is giving diminishing returns
Spears still do what Lyra needs out of a main weapon, the specific one we currently have doesn't anymore, but thats besides the point.

Lyra's training is with spears, so it would be best to stick with them and weapons similar enough that most of the skills can be transferred with minimal fuss (eg halberds, staves, glaives)

>>48394890
Then why not train in hand to hand/knifefighting combat? She already has no small amount of experience fighting like that, and has no fewer than 18 different bladed weapons on hand at any time.

>>48394761
Maybe she would do well with something like a guirsame or fauchard

>>48394906
I'd prefer something like a halberd that can stab and still utilize her enormous strength to it's maximum potential.

>>48394838
This and the wolf fight show that a cleaving weapon would also be useful, and is still good against boss monsters. The only way its worse than a spear is in tight areas where its difficult to swing.Which also happen to be areas Lyra can't fit in regardless.

>>48394961
Stabbing IS utilizing her strength, and a halberd is a awful weapon for Lyra, its way too limited.

>>48394950
There's nothing wrong with hand to hand, knives, or biting people, but it tends to be less exciting then big shiny weapons so people ignore it.

>>48394997
We still have that water forged dagger we reforged from the lizards with us!

>>48394961
Halberds would be the worst of two worlds, not as good at stabbing to keep something bigger at range as a proper spear, and too small a blade for proper slashing, where its inferior to a large axe or a glaive.

You have to admit, you've been enjoying the change of pace.

You stretch idly on your seat- nothing more than a stool at the town's gate- which isn't a gate, as there isn't really a wall-

Anyway, the pace.

The town was rather sedate when you arrived- To a certain level, of course. There's small town sedate, country farm sedate, Harpy filled border village at the great forest sedate-
And it was the last kind.

And you got used to the harpies fast. They're pretty great, all told. Good scouts, great watchmen, decent hunters. And the village mostly produced wood, so your jobs were fairly simple. Clear out monsters before they became a problem. Escort the woodsmen. Gather extra meat for food and the like.

But you were on the border of the great forest. The Arachne forest. The locals told you not to expect much, as the spiders keep to themselves and guard the woods and so on. And that kept true for a while.

And then a spider arrived. She was red, and rather large, and named Lyra.
She was also a child, apparently. One of six.

And the town got excited.

And then she brought silks and other things from the forest, and killed a giant crab, and generally spent a lot of time in town.

So now- Trade has more than doubled, easily, goods in and out. The smith is up and running full tilt again- rather than the occasional axe, Mikhael's been churning out arms and armour, and even the harpies are getting more active.

So you're only mildly alarmed when a towering arachne clatters up to the entrance to town, deep red shell covered in a monstrous skull. You keep an arrow nocked anyway. Not that it'd do much, but maybe you'd be lucky if it came down to it.

>>48394906
>>48394961
Halberds are cool.

Might I suggest a guandao, or some variant of the weapon, though?

>>48394986
...You don't understand how weapon types work do you?

also

>Halberd
>limiting

The thing that was designed to combine an axe and a spear is limiting?

Nigga

>>48395019
In the meantime, though, politeness goes a long way.

You're vaguely worried the kid is going to say something he shouldn't, but he resolves that on his own by passing the hells out. Again.
They really need to stop posting him to the spider side of town.

"We have met, yes? I am Lyra."

And really, that's all the explanation you get from her. There's a stupid dungeon somewhere, and now she has a skull. And her harpy friend is trying to set up shop in it, apparently all too pleased by the size of the eye sockets.

So you usher her into town, and fetch some water for the poor idiot. And you make sure to ask her for some stories from the forest while you're at it.

And the town gets that much more lively. And louder.
She's taking smithing lessons?

You meet her again at the guild soon enough- She comes in to take you up on your offer for stories.
And everyone might have gathered around. And, as tradition, they might have bought her drinks for her stories.
And she might still be a kid.

And you might have fallen asleep with a drunken spider half across your bed, and woken up unable to properly feel your legs.
And this might have been the start of a whole lot of things for you, really.

_______________________________________________________________


"-And she took up the hammer, the same as she took up the spear, to wield it for the betterment of those around her."
"And alssso her armour."
"That too. That's pretty important."

>>48395031
>>48395031
The light has condensed itself into some sort of golden knight, burning with divine power. You'd really like to chastise your current passengers, but you're a bit busy.

"ALL WHO WOULD TAKE OUR HOMES TO THE TORCH WILL FACE THE CHAMPION!"

You block a blow from his sword, the raw strength of it driving you back, dragging furrows through the cobblestone, rattling your teeth.
"I DON'T EVEN HAVE A TORCH, YES!"

Jin is overhead, untouchable in the sky, starlight of her own manufacture raining down, pelting the thing through its armour.

And Sheszka-

Well, Sheszka is utilizing her advantages.
That she is an extraordinarily large and strong wolf. And that your opponent is both human sized, shaped, and ignoring her.

"INVADERS SHALL BE SHOWN THE STRENGTH OF OUR WILL, THE DEPTHS OF OUR COURAGE! YOU FACE-"

Her mouth closes over his head, and her neck snaps side to side, the avatar or whatever it is dissolving around the fifth swing.
Silence, proper silence, falls over the dungeon for a moment.

There's a delay before a portal cracks open at the centre of the field outside of town. A moment of silence for a boss treated like a chew toy, perhaps.

"And of course, this draws us to the most important piece of all- A meeting amidst ruins, and a promise!"
Ezzy claps a little, clearly enjoying the entire thing.

Now that you think about it, you've never really told her all of it. Maybe because it's happened so fast-
You're still young, after all.

You scoop a few glimmering pieces of loot from the ground before you head towards the portal.
At least this part of the dungeon is proper.

>Nin
>Lia
>Jin
>Sara
>Other(?)

>Also, I'll need 2d100 and 2d10, please.

>>48395027
>The thing that was designed to combine an axe and a spear is limiting?
halberds were designed as a weapon for people who stand around and buy time for real soldiers to come along to fight, halberds are not weapons designed for real combat.
Axe+Spear is a terrible combination.

>>48395027
>...You don't understand how weapon types work do you?
Much better than you do, evidently.

I do rhink we should replace our spear, but I think we should keep it around in some form, either just by taking the head and turning it into a dagger (we have knifefighting ranks for a reason), and/or making a rapier for Nin and some small spears/javelins for Ezzy, and/or turning a part of it into a necklace that holds Jin's feather and our magic stone.

Rolled 18, 75 = 93 (2d100)

>>48395044
>>Other(?)
Seranthis. Wonder what best cousin is up to.

>>48395027
> hur someone points out how dumb my meme knowledge is, betterpretend I know what I'm talking about
Yeah nah, halberds are shit.

>>48395027
>...You don't understand how weapon types work do you?
I get the impression you are the one lacking understanding here.

>>48395027
>The thing that was designed to combine an axe and a spear is limiting?
It is though? its a very specialised weapon.

>>48395044
>Nin

Rolled 3, 7 = 10 (2d10)

>>48395044
>>Lia

Rolled 4, 9 = 13 (2d10)

>>48395044
>Nin

>>48395044
I... I feel bad for the boss. Didn't even get a whole monologue..

>Lia
Because harpymom is pretty awesome.

Rolled 46, 41 = 87 (2d100)

>>48395044
>Nin
Finally. Time to fluster the moth.

Rolled 30, 32 = 62 (2d100)

>>48395044

Rolled 99, 19 = 118 (2d100)

>>48395044

Rolled 69, 76 = 145 (2d100)

>>48395044
>Nin

Maybe Lyra should just pick up a Horseman's Pick as a side weapon, and keep the spear as well. She's already KIND OF mounted cavalry...

>>48395044
>Nin

>>48395044
>Nin

>>48395044
>Nin

>>Other(?)
Seranthis

>>48395093
godammit, of course it has to be the fourth one.

>>48395044
>Nin
My love for moth and harpy are at war, but this moment is too important a Nin-moment not to, honestly. It'd be like not picking Jin for the thunder wolf.

>>48395044
>Nin

Rolled 2, 10 = 12 (2d10)

>>48395044
>Nin

>>48395044
>Jin

>a moment of silence for a boss treated like a chew toy

See, this is why I don't mind the recaps. The fact that we're focusing on them rather than the fight is an excellent way to show (rather than tell) the audience how much more powerful we are than our opponents.

Lyra really should just sit Nin down and tell her that even if she may give being queen a go, it'll be after a few decades of adventuring.

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>>48395068
>>48395079
>>48395085
>>48395102
>>48395107
>>48395110
>>48395124
>>48395133
>>48395149
>>48395155

>>48395163
>that filename

Goddamnit I was drinking something

>>48395160

No, see, that would be acknowledging that there's any chance of that happening at all.

Which would just make her so so much worse.

>>48395160
>giving in to the moth monarchists

NEVER!

>>48395156
I wish Sheszka would talk more, because this just reminds me the cute wolfgirl can and will turn into a force of nature that will fuck the surrounding area up if needed.

Moths.

Writing!

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>>48395163
Moth

>>48395047
Anon, what the he'll are you talking about? Halberd were totally for the "real soldiers".

But we shouldn't be trying to emulate soldiers anyways, because we aren't soldiers. We aren't fight as part of a unit or any of that bullshit.

What we should focus on is magical weapons. Since we have forge magic and shit, what we should do is find a giant bar of whatever awesome metal we can. Stuff it full of magic fucking gems, and then forge it on the fly into whatever the fuck fits the situation.

And we should also get an Atl-Atl and throwing Spears for massive spider strength ranged destruction.

But we have a spear. It's what we are trained with, and it's what we'll keep using asrelso because it is magic.

>>48395210
>Moths.

Did you ever see this happening REQM? When you first wrote Nin into the story did you see it becoming all of this?

>>48395047
Playing total war /=/ actual knowledge

>>48395061
Please, how is the evolution of the spear meme tier? Explain to me how they were shit.

>>48395068
>It is though? its a very specialised weapon.
It stabs, and it hacks.

That's one more thing then a spear.

Also
>strength benefiting spears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKp6AHpwgM

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>>48395211
>Nins fw someone questions Queen Lyra's legitimacy

>>48395220
>Halberd were totally for the "real soldiers".
Halberds were for guards, that was their point.

File: pillar_fighting_style.png (309 KB, 640x480)

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I still think lyra should use a pillar.
They've got so many uses!

>>48395244
>It stabs, and it hacks.
>hur I can just slap a axe-head on a long pole and use it the same as a normal axe hur dur really no difference
Do you really not realise how fucking retarded you sound with that shit?

>>48395244
>Playing total war /=/ actual knowledge
How does total war even figure into this?

>>48395244
>the evolution of the spear meme tier
Anon, halberds are not "evolution of spears" they are a weapon designed for a completly different purpose than a spear.

>>48395273
Thankfully she can make one on the fly! She could carry around a canon, which is shaped kinda like one and solves her ranged issues quite nicely, too.

>>48395304
No, no they weren't.

They were both used in nearly identical formations, same thing with pikes.

I'm being trolled, you people can't be this dumb.

>>48395314
>A giant impractical melee weapon and a fucking cannon
We Bloodborne now?

>>48395331
>They were both used in nearly identical formations
You can't possibly be this ignorant, I refuse to believe it.
Anon, halberds were in part designed to COUNTER spears.

>>48395331
They are clearly a combination of different weapon types with very different roles on a battlefield. You can't tell me that pikemen were expected to use poleaxes to do the same duties as a proper spear.

I have this feeling that, during the final boss fight (against the God of Monarchy or some shit), we're going to get knocked unconscious and evolve to Tier 6, and then when we wake up we basically go mad due to the sheer power we now wield and start thinking of ourself as above literally everyone else, god and mortal alike...

...and the only thing that stops us from trying to singlehandedly murder the rest of the gods in an attempt to secure our rightful place as Queen of Existence is a twitch of memory of every time we told Nin we'd never be Queen, which knocks us out of our power trip enough to notice that we're still wearing Jin's feather and that our friends are begging us to come back to them, which lets us fully overcome said power trip, finish killing the god we're fighting, and then refuse to ascend and remain on the mortal plane as the Wandering Goddess of Defiance of Fate.

>>48395393
Thats a terrible fanfic anon.

>>48395354
Well it was a joke but sure, why not?

>>48395393
Anon, how high are you right now?

>>48395393
I always pictured the next evolution as being in the middle of a big battle knocked under some rubble, or suitably epic boss battle where we defy the odds and evolve in the open in the 11th hour. Very unlikely, I know.

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>>48395370
Technically at the base they are the logical evolution of the poleaxe to better deal with heavy cavalry, they did get better against pike with time though.

okay, so.
What are some modern foods we can get in a large medieval magic town?
How do we get PIZZA?

>>48395370
>literally the same length as the spear formation.

Anon, maybe they "countered" them by being better at the same fucking job you enormous ignoramus.

They were designed to be a spear that could counter heavy cavalry by being able to actually penetrate/ignore armor.

but nah, I'm the one memeing

>>48395466
>by being able to actually penetrate/ignore armor
...
Fuck how dumb can a person possibly be. A regular Spear ALREADY DID THAT adding a fucking bard to a spear does not make it better against fucking cavalry, its against armoured footsoldiers you dumb shit.

>>48395466
>maybe they "countered" them by being better at the same fucking job
Actually they did that by broadening the head to better redirect the enemy pikes.
Also the job of a halberd was to serve as a better all-rounder compared to a regular pike, so it could serve against both cavalry and the enemy pike formations. It was literally designed to do completly different jobs.

I have no idea why but I keep picturing Shez and Jin in a very low-key romantic relationship, with neither of them really realizing it due to their mutual obliviousness on the subject.

>>48395466
>They were designed to be a spear that could counter heavy cavalry by being able to actually penetrate/ignore armor.
Regular spears were designed to do that, maybe try actually understanding the brief glance you gave over wikipedia to see that the armor penetrating property was not the part intended against the cavalry.

>>48395536
>I have no idea why but I keep picturing Shez and Jin in a very low-key romantic relationship
I'm not seeing that at all, I mean, I wouldn't be against it, but I see nothing indicating this to be likely.

Guys enough about spears, Lets talk about Hydraulic muscles instead

>>48395536
It's like they're both the protagonist of one of my japanese animes.

>>48395521
I thought that halberds were developed to fight multiple types of opponents, with the spear point for stabbing, the axe blade for cutting opponents with light armor such as gambesons, and a hammer for attacking people wearing more protective armor, like plate mail, brigandines, or chainmail.

>>48395566
hydraulic muscles are how spiders work, and their use in lyra's upper body would allow a non-magical explanation for extreme strength in her human part.
Because it's actually her spiderbutt doing the hard work.

>>48395566
No you don't understand, hydraulic muscles would be terrible for Lyra because they can't grow naturally in difference to fibre muscles!

>>48395521
tl;dr, halberds are better than spears but not really somehow

okay

>>48395530
Once again, it's still somehow worse than a spear?

How exactly when it's the same length and it does a spear's job better?

>>48395565
Anon I don't think they've ever spoken to one another or interacted in any direct way once in this quest.

>>48395573
SHHH

spears are totally better

>>48395573
>and a hammer for attacking people wearing more protective armor, like plate mail, brigandines, or chainm
Most halberds didn't have hammers, and used the spear-head or a heavy axe-blade for that purpose.

>>48395596
>halberds are better than spears
They serve different purposes than spears and a spear specialised for the purpose of stabbing things very hard would be superior at this than a halberd.

File: Lyra Niallasdotter.jpg (598 KB, 1200x1200)

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Oh man I didn't miss it after all! Let's see oh yeah.

>>48395589
yes they can.
The muscle fibres are just located elsewhere, and the power is shipped to where it needs to be.

>>48395609
>Anon I don't think they've ever spoken to one another or interacted in any direct way once in this quest.
They actually have spoken to eachother and have a low-key rivalry to being Lyras second-in-command basically.

>>48395638
>yes they can.
hydraulic muscles are not capable of compensation growths, no.

>>48395629
>not even wearing spiderpanties
Thank goodness that part is artistically watercolored.

>>48395638
>yes they can.
They can't.

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Here's something new I came across....Spider cosplay.

>>48395596
Halberds have more weight at the end, which helps them hit harder but makes them harder to control. You don't need as much force for a thrust compared to a cut, so the increased agility would be an advantage.

>>48395521
>Endless accounts and instruction of using halberds to hook rider

>NO THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER AGAINST CAVALRY SHUT UP

>>48395596
No, spear didn't really see use on the battlefield after the 15th century when we went back to full pike. Even halberd starting to lose there because of gunpowder started to be more commonplace.

>>48395536
>grow closer over late-night conversations while on guard duty for the caravan
>start casually and unconsciously sticking closer to one another in general, and watching each other's back during fights
>eventually start sharing an eye socket and cuddling whilst asleep
>Nin notices and subtly encourages it because a) she thinks it's cute and b) less competition for Lyra

And goddamnit now I ship them too.

>>48395650
>>48395653
Anon, they're fueled by a muscle pump.
Which can grow with strain, like any other muscle.

>>48395626
>what is over penetration

>>48395669
Why do you damn him? This is a good thing.

>>48395690
That may be why winged spears developed.

>>48395686
>Which can grow with strain
No, anon, it can't, hydraulic muscles, due to their make-up can not perform compensation growth.

>>48395690
>thinking that killing something too much is ever bad

>>48395721
anon, you have hydraulic systems IN YOUR OWN BODY doing that RIGHT NOW.

>>48395663
1. Irrelevant with Lyra's strength
2. They had a spear head anon, they were not limited to hacking.

>>48395718
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uKp6AHpwgM

>>48395728
You're actually retarded, wow

>>48395736
Do you just not know what hydraulic muscles are?

>>48395770
Says the guy who didn't know that pumps can get stronger.

Can't you all just duke it out in a spider made arena already?

>>48395793
Hydraulic muscles, as in those that spiders use, do not get stronger from compensation growth, no.
And humans do not have hydraulic muscles as you claimed in your utter ignorance of biology.

>>48395793
Not him, but: the heart is not a hydraulic muscle. Hydraulic muscles use increases and decreases in fluid pressure in an internal sac or tube, as opposed to the expansion and contraction of muscle fibers. Different principles of operation.

>>48395813
>I can't use this hydraulic system for movement!
>>48395828
you've got no engineering chops if you can't make a hydraulic system out of a heart, assuming it's kept in motion.
with almost exactly the same mechanics, no less, oh my gosh

>>48395813
>>48395828
uh, anons.
Those are the sacs you are talking about, not the pumps.

>>48395842
How is the fact that hypothetically you could make a hydraulic muscle system using fibre muscles, in any way relevant to the hydraulic muscles of a spider and what they can do?
Your goalpost moving is cute but also utterly asinine.

It has been weeks!
Weeks!

You are going insane.

Aside from the utter lack of things to do in town- And no, knitting tiny shirts or making dust is not doing things. Things are fun. Things are active! Things aren't being trapped in a town you can cross in five minutes until you die. And Lyra hasn't visited either. You're stuck with your sister- who has become a very dutiful daughter in a hurry- and your brothers. Who have decided they want to be cooks.

You are a species who eat leaves.

So you snuck out. To the ruins. Because trouble is better than nothing, yes?

You don't find trouble, though. Maybe when you get home.

What you do find is Lyra.

You settle on a pillar overhead. Nobody looks up, not even monsters.

THe little wolf is behind her, sleeping on her shell. In a giant skull.
Not your first choice of clothing, but she is arachne, you suppose. And it does look a little heroic.

And then she raises her hands, and the ruins MOVE. Pillars pick themselves up off the ground, sliding together from shards, walls shudder and sway back to where they should have stood so long ago.

You lose sight of her amidst a cloud of dust and a new formed building.
You can't help but stare.

And then she skitters back into the sunlight, and finds a pillar to rest against.

"You're rather awful at not being a Queen, aren't you?"

"Nin."

She remembers your name.

You glide down to your friend, circling her and admiring her giant something skull, poking fun and chattering a hundred metres a minute. She snags you off her skull when you land, and it isn't till you see her hands that it really hits you.

She's grown again.
She isn't wearing it.

She talks bit as you ask her how, smiling idly at you.
This is too fast. It's too fast, isn't it? If it's like this- You thought you'd have years, really. You'd grow up a bit and get stronger, and you could just swagger up to her and tell her that it's time to go exploring-

"Take me with you. Please."
"Nin?"

>>48395853
>Those are the sacs you are talking about, not the pumps.
Only he was trying to talk about the pumps, we were talking about if hydraulic muscles can perform compensation growth and become stronger like fibre muscles, which they can't. If you would increase the strength of the pump for hydraulic muscles all you get is ruptured sacs.

>>48395857
Okay, I apologize, I took a few creative liberties with our anatomy since it's fused with a human, and has things like bones and exoskeletal layers, and some kind of composite booklung/human lung system.

I'm proposing to you a system that can work with factory level pressure, extreme accuracy if properly guided, and requires very little magic to explain away.

>>48395879

Your heart beats through your chest as you spill out your dreams, pleading with your friend to take you away.
And your breath catches in your throat as she considers it, and hugs you closer, her hand playing with your hair.

You clutch her tunic as she pets you gently, and you can't help but squeak and squirm as she runs her fingers over your antennae.
And she promises, really promises, to take you with her. To talk with your mother and family, and to bring you away from the forest. And you hug her as hard as you can, even as it starts to rain gently on both of you.

And you thank her, with her name. And she takes you back to her home, your rain-wet wings unable to fly.


___________________________________________________________________________


"What?"
"What?"
"You went quiet. You jussst sstopped talking."
"Oh. Well. She promised to take me away from the forest."
"Eh?"
"That's it."

The story stalls behind you as you lift your new loot up to take a look-
There is, surprise surprise, a golden sheaf of wheat. That seems to be glowing, somewhat. So it's definitely something.
There's also a spectral gauntlet, it's outline glowing dimly, each corner lit by a point of light. You have no idea what it does.
Outside of going on someones hand, of course.

The portal is the same affair as always, an almighty shift and the sensation of vast energies moving before you find yourself elsewhere.

>>48395880
anon, all that means is you need sacs which can thicken and strengthen, like skin or veins.
Which is a much more down to earth explanation than "it's maaaagic"

>>48395888
This time it's a riverbank, a winding clearwatered stream flowing next to you. It's still lit by the vast sun overhead, golden light casting the water the same shade as the wild wheat growing around it. There's a simple raft on the bank, timber lashed together to form the means to move yourself downstream.

"Well."
"Well, what?"
"What'sss next?"
"Oh. The queen and her sister- and their elven companion-"
"Lann?"
"Yeah, Lann. They fought a mighty beast- but their wolven sister fell prey to its insidious poison, and so she trekked northwards, into the depths of the forest-"
"I know thisss part!"

>We'll be wrapping it up here tonight
>But one more bonus scene before we go
Who do you want to check in on?

>Aria
>Sara
>Mom

>>48395900
But it is, in fact, magic. We know its magic.
Also, no, because hydraulic muscles of the size Lyra has in her body would not be able to perform the precision movement Lyras upper body is capable of.

>>48395910
>Sara

>>48395910
Nin crushing hard is cute.

>Mom

>>48395910
>>Sara
I want to see the spider living in Hogwarts

>>48395880
>which they can't
why not? It's extremely common behavior in most organic... things.

>>48395910
MOM

>>48395910
>>Mom

Spiders' cuteness and a minor shitsprinkle, it's like you never left REQM

>>48395910
>Mom

>>48395920
>but they wouldn't have precision
anon, I hate to burst your bubble, but internet searches claim hydraulics have pretty good precision and there is no way you or hydraulics guy have anything more than e-doctorates and possible workplace experience.

>>48395910
>>Mom
Hey thanks REQM, have a good one

>>48395910
>Mom

>>48395910
sara!
aria!
mom!
fuck!
uh

mom! For real this time!

>>48395888
THE REAL WHEAT DUNGEON BEGINS HERE

>>48395910
Please come back soon!
I miss you dreadfully!
>>48395986
>wheatsouls

>>48395910
>Aria

File: f9e3192305316bc9bb5eb58cd(...).png (1.07 MB, 1280x1158)

1.07 MB PNG

>>48395910
>>Mom
Time for some Motherly worries. And meidos.

>>48395986
WHEATMIMICS
THE CHOSEN UNBREAD

It looks like Mom.

Writing!

>>48395951
> internet searches
Kek
And no, they don't have the precision to guide a finger bone, let alone dozens of the at the same time while occupying as little space as fibres un the hand, its a pipe dream.

>>48392429
Hey, I'm never able to read these as they happen, but I thoroughly enjoy reading the archives. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy these threads. The character's are delightful. The tone of the story touches on all the right notes. If you were to write a novel, I'd buy it without a second thought. Thank you for coming back.

>>48396022
>he told me I have an e-diploma
>I will now scoff at what the e-answer is
Stones and glass houses, anon.

>>48396025
I share this blind enthusiasm for the new threads.

>>48396025
Thanks for reading!
It's a pleasure to write, and the one problem I have with my present job is the lack of time I have for it now.
I'll do my best to try and get myself back to weekly, but it might take a while.

>>48396048
Its not even the e-answer because even from internet reseaech you will find the claim of hydraulic systems being able to have hand musculature level precision at the same size easily debunked.
So not only did he make a ass of himself by trying to base his argument on a speculated lack of knowledge on my part, but also professed no real understanding on his own side, in addition to not even being able to do internet research right, and really the last is the worst part.

>>48396096
Hmm so all we need to do is clone you and you'd be good?

>>48396115
That only ends in clone homicide anon. If only one of me gets to enjoy writing, while the other works, I would never stand for it.

>>48395888
>There's also a spectral gauntlet, it's outline glowing dimly, each corner lit by a point of light. You have no idea what it does.
Fuck your muscles guys, we got shiny loot! Finally our first real loot, we need to find out what it does.

Thanks for running REQM.

>>48395910
>Mom

>>48395736
Hydrallig muscles fucntion by pumphing liquids to force the limb to move. They tend to be very strong for their size, but they do not benefit from tearing as they don't repair with higher fluid pressure. Only creatures with Exoskeletons are known to use hydraullic muscles.

>>48396104
You are giving very little leeway for fine tuning, engineering, or use of what organic parts work best for a guy saying "maaaaagic".
And all the searching on the subject I find turns up loads of people making hydraulic hands and claws to do work too precise for the human hand.
So, uh, good on you?

>>48396136
That's why you switch! When one is feeling burnt out from writing the other can take over.

>>48396155
It's quite common for organic parts to repair when damaged, and if used for a non-R-selected creature would most likely have that feature.

Just like how spiders also don't have livers.

>>48396158
>people making hydraulic hands and claws to do work too precise for the human hand.
I like how you try to completly try to ignore the size of these devices.

>>48396181
I like how the larger claws are also used for larger precision work, required to be uniform and perfect and not suited for human hands.

What if

What if the muscles

What if Lyra's muscles are magic, and physically impossible in a world where magic doesn't exist?

REALLY MAKES YOU THINK, HUH?

>>48395910
>Sara

>>48396203
Well, then that would be a pretty boring explanation.

>>48396158
>And all the searching on the subject I find turns up loads of people making hydraulic hands and claws to do work too precise for the human hand.
Those don't actually move and behave like human hands do, they perform very fixed specialised movements to enable this at all.
Additionally they require a large apparatus to be moved, which you couldn't fit into a human hand, even if you would lay it all out over the arm into the spider body, the sacs/pipes are too large and Lyras hand would obscenly bulge(or crack depending on how flexible the chitin is) with every movement under such a setup.

>>48396210
What I'm confused most insects are smaller than a human thumb and their rather agile so what's the problem with scaling the sives other than oxygen?

>>48396242
Anon, any hand would be immensely bulky if you put the primary motive system directly in the hand.
That's why the human hand relies so heavily on tendons and connective tissue.

>>48396256
oxygen is the big problem, and another problem is maths involving exoskeletons and size.
Bugs could feasibly be just as agile as they go up in size, especially if they somehow got endoskeletons, as other similar creatures. At least, given how they interact at similar sizes.

>>48395910
>Mom

>>48396258
>>48396242
Biomechanical tip!
It's actually your wrists and forearms than make your hands stronga. The muscles in the hand are way too weak to actually do much, and are more for after-strength fine tuning.

>>48396258
Yeah and those wouldn't work with a hydraulic setup, since if you use tendons you'd lose the advantage from using a hydraulic system at all, there'd be zero gain, since the tendons can't translate the force developed in the hydraulic system to the fingers, since tendons can only draw.

>>48396301
>you'd lose the advantage
What?
You can easily connect a tendon to the end of a bag.
And they could easily translate the force.
Especially if they are being grounded against bones like, uh, tendons do.

>>48396299
We know anon, but if you assume hydraulic muscles, you gotta go with hydraulic muscles, thus the assumption would need to be they are everywhere, including the hand, which doesn't work due to the cited precision problem.

>>48396210
Well, how about this: The muscles exist on such a different level of efficiency and effectiveness compared to any real life technology or biology which exists that it is incomprehensible to anybody who doesn't have multiple degrees on biomechanicals and anatomy.

But that's basically just magic, isn't it? I mean, if we, right here, in this thread, could work out a way for it to be feasible without including blatantly impossible materials, physics or anything else, then some random anon is going to be hailed as one of the greatest scientific minds of the 21st century when he publishes a paper on it.

It's all varying degrees of handwaving, and arguing about who's explanation is less handwave-y than anybody else's is puerile and vastly, incomprehensibly pointless, because we then reduce it to an entirely subjective discussion, and let's be honest, nobody who cares this much about the biological mechanics of a fantasy race in a fantasy story is genuinely going into this argument with an open mind.

tl;dr
stop fighting about stupid shit

>>48396276
That's another thing why do they require supportive endoskeletons

>>48396301
Anon, you do realize that hydraulic systems can contract, right?
And that tendons work by a system of contractions?
At this point, it sounds like you are doing anything possible to shit on any idea to explain things other than magic, without trying to come up with any on your own.

>>48396322
Anon, that's a retarded assumption.
That would be like saying "if we're going with muscles, we're going with muscles" and sticking them in the hands.
You can obviously use connecting tissue.

>>48396210
Reguarding Spider-Bilogy If we assume that magic is as uninvolved as possible.

Lyras Upper torso would have to be 50-90% lung, maybe a heart. SHe would need a short airway to breath through to quickly cycle air. The reason is that spier lungs (Box lungs) and insect lungs in generally really don't work when scaled up. They require a certain surface area to mass to function, mass grows exponintally, surface area grows liniarly.

Her stomach would be in her spider portion, and could take up the majority of the spiderbutt. Spiders actually dedicate large ammounts of their central body to breathing, she could rotate out for a better digestive system for maximum bear consumption. SHe likly has auxiallry hearts to help move blood around her entire system. One heart would be hard pressed to function for such a large body, Especially given the length it has to travel from human chest to spider butt. She may have a bilogical function that lets her store oxygen during resting states, so she can afford to engage in high energy exercise. It would probably be chemically expensive, meaning she eats even more to do so.

>>48396329
It's not actually all that great of a discovery.
It's basically just welding a bunch of robotic arms together as an art piece.

If we're talking about how realistic spider-people are, I would like to point out that spiders do not actually have sharpened limbs, and silk strong enough to make a web which would support large creatures would probably be thick enough to be visible and therefore bad for making web traps with.

>>48396317
Saying "easily" doesn't make it true anon. Attaching tendons to a sack does nothing, the sack can't draw, only push when filled, but the tendon needs to draw, a setup where the sack draws on the tendon would require a lot of space.

>>48396331
I'm pointing out why the hydraulics idea doesn't work, it was a funny idea until people with no understanding of the mechanics involved started becoming fanatical about it actually realistically working, it does not.
Its fucking magic, in universe, its objectively fucking magic.
All other ideas are just thought exercises, neat, butthe moment you start pretending they are anything but, you just become a obnoxious idiot.

>>48396348
That still assumes magic to move the whole system around, you've given no extra motive ability and entirely stripped the spider's movement system.

"- All I a saying is that is has been weeks, yes? A mother worries."
"Nialla-"
"Elle and Sara are one thing, but if you let Lyra out of your sight for even a minute she finds a bear-"
"Nialla."
"They're still so young- We can check with the guild, yes? There is no way they haven't been keeping track of arachne. Especially from the forest-"
"NIA!"

You bat away rusty blade, and carve the pig-faced thing trying to attack you in half with a sweep of your leg, the gems in your hands glimmering.
"They're orcs, Dear."
"It's still ruins, love."
"Alright. No more about the girls until we're on the surface, yes."
"Thank you."

"I still have no idea what you're talking about. Either of you."
"That is because you have an oath of chastity, yes."
"What- No I bloody don't. I'm a paladin, not a eunuch!"
"Ah. My apologies. I simply assumed, the way you repel women."

A rogue cackles from the shadows, an unfortunate orc turning to face the woman before she slices its throat clean through to the bone.
"Dammit Nia, less of that while we're workin' right?"
"Yes, yes."

"Really though-"
The paladin knocks aside an axeblade, stabbing forward and drawing a gout of blood from his opponent.
"What're the two of you talking about, anyway?"

Your weapon glimmers as you spear a trio of orc shuffling single file down a long hall.
"The same reason we were away, yes?"
"Why you were away?"
"Hah? I was pregnant."
"YOU BLOODY WHAT"

"It is something that happens when a man and a woman-"
"I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS"
"I wasn't sure."
"Gods- Just- Gods, woman. Wait, you were only gone for-"
"Arachne grow fast."

The rogue materializes, her cloak sweeping back as she cleans her blades.
"No more shamans!"
"Tri. Tri. Tell me you didn't know about this."
"'Bout what?"
"Them having kids."
"They're married, y'know."
"I know that! Just-"
"'s Pretty normal."
"Godsdammit."

>>48396370
>the sack can't draw
That is literally half of a hydraulics function, anon. They push AND pull.
You have a fundamental lack of understanding if you don't realize this.

>>48396256
Weight, primarily. Hydraulic muscles would realistically collapse under their own weight if scaled up too much.

>>48396395

"Gotta ask though, didja leave em with family?"
"Ah? No. I already said, yes? Arachne grow fast."
"That fast?"
"Two of my daughters are guild members. One is a mage, and one is a seamstress. And my sons stayed in the forest."
"Gods, there's more of her."
"In any case- Lets hurry, yes? I want to check in at the guild."
"I quit. I'll retire. I'm not going to wait for a pile of spiders to catch up to me-"

"Don't be ridiculous, Joss. I wouldn't let them leave if I hadn't trained them to satisfaction, yes."

The paladin looks a little green, himself.

____________________________________________________________________


"Eh, Nia!"
You enter the guildhouse easily- It was one of your main stops on your journey. They got used to needing larger doors.
"Yes?"

The barman beckons you over, and you follow, men and women clearing space as you sidle up to the bar.
"So, you're from the woods, right?"
"The forest, yes."
"Weren't you just there?"
"Yes?"

You can feel that tingle across the back of your neck, trickling down your spine.

"Have you heard then?"
"Of?"

Your voice is quiet, and all of a sudden people are finding reason to take their drinks elsewhere.

"That the Queen is back!"
"The Queen."
"Aye. Of the forest. Maybe a drink to celebrate?"
"I have heard of no Queen, yes."

"The city's guild passed some stuff along-"
"Oh. Information?"
"Well, just rumours. But they said she's burning red, and she wears a dragons skull and has a crown of fire, an' where she walks the earth trembles. And that all the forest is following behind her. So, y'know anything about it? The guild wants all sorts... of..."

He seems to have finally noticed the look on your face.

"Lyra."

"LYRA!"

___________________________________________________________________________


You're having a hard time sleeping in the dungeon. Even just resting, you can't keep the chills from your spine-

>>48396370
>you become an obnoxious idiot
But that guy only said "this system would work great", anon.
Meanwhile, you do all you can to shit on the idea that he made no canon claims on, while making canon claims yourself.
And a whole bunch of claims about hydraulics that turned out to be not quite true.