>>274979
You are woken from your slumber by a thunderous crack, the sound of splitting stone and screams in the distance. It’s still night out and the moon is gone and there is only clouded starlight to see by. Well, starlight above and the flickering light of flame below.
Taldenral is burning.

Again.

What’s going on? Is Quedesh attacking? But why now? And how did they get in? You rise from the bed and search frantically for your pack.

Hiss is already gone and the visible footprints smashed into the cracked stone floor beneath your feet lets you know exactly what kind of a mood she must be in. Aqua is still asleep on the other side of the room. It’s a bit unbelievable that she would sleep through all of this but you can’t blame her. She’s had a very long day.
So have you. First you had to deal with the Elixir wearing off during the most inconvenient time possibly last time and now this?

You grab your pack and get dressed as quickly and as haphazardly as possible. You’re still not sure what’s going on but you can hear screams in the distance. Time might be precious commodity.


>Go after Hiss. If she woke you as she left then she must not be too far ahead.

>Wake Aqua.

>Is Oster still in his bed?

>Find the nearest person who looks like they know what’s going on and find out.

>Seek someone else out (Specify)

>Other

>>274983
>Go after Hiss. If she woke you as she left then she must not be too far ahead.
No time to waste. How's it goin Ouro?

>>274983
>Go after Hiss. If she woke you as she left then she must not be too far ahead.

File: fleksnek.png (13 KB, 400x400)

13 KB PNG

>>274994
All good, all good. Really have to apologise for my recent flakiness.

>>274983
>Go after Hiss. If she woke you as she left then she must not be too far ahead.
Sorry I'm late. Fuck we are in dire need of restocking brews if we have to face Tanni.

>>274983
>Go after Hiss. If she woke you as she left then she must not be too far ahead
Ready to get my dreams broken

>Go after Hiss. If she woke you as she left then she must not be too far ahead.

You sling your pack on and run down the hallway. It's dark but it's not impossible to see and Hiss' footprints are easy to follow. They are etched into the floor itself.
You pass a number of people as you run. Mercenaries, snakes, the living dead...you don't recognise any of them off the top of your head and none of them look like they know what's going on.

You nearly step on a corpse as you round the corner. It's a woman with a hole in her face, her gender and the cut of her clothes marking her as most likely a snake. Nobody's stopped to retrieve her or even push her out of the way. The others have trampled the corpse underfoot.
But what kind of weapon could do that? It doesn't look like a constrictor has pushed their fist through her head, it's too clean. A projectile of some kind? For a moment your thoughts skip to the Caster in your pack.
No. That would be absurd.

You step through the broken down doors and into the mansion's garden. The ground is torn and ripped here and you can see the marks of something's passing. Great gouges ripped through soil and cobblestone with equal ease. It's like the marks Hiss left but much deeper, much stronger.
From here, you can see Taldenral burning below you in much greater detail. It's mostly near the docks and for good reason.
The fleet has moved.

You can see ship after ship make landfall in the distance. But what about the defences? The alchemists? You can't see much detail but they've already been ravaged, broken from the inside-out.
There's path of destruction almost bisecting the city and it runs from here to the docks.

Taldenral has been broken open. The Quedeshi are coming.

Hiss' tracks begin to fade, despite moving to softer earth. She must have gotten control of herself. How are you going to find her now?


>Pray.

>Just follow the deeper tracks. Can't go wrong!

>Head straight to the docks. Why would she be anywhere but there?

>See if you can find a bystander who saw her.

>Finding Hiss is less important now that you know what's going on. You need to defend Taldenral!

>Other

>>275109
>Just follow the deeper tracks. Can't go wrong!

>>275109
>Just follow the deeper tracks. Can't go wrong!
Hiss is the only one who can stop the rest of the Quedeshi forces now

>>275109
>>Finding Hiss is less important now that you know what's going on. You need to defend Taldenral!

>>275109
>See if you can find a bystander who saw her.
Don't want to go in blind, better get an idea of where she was headed to

>>275109
>>Finding Hiss is less important now that you know what's going on. You need to defend Taldenral!

>>275142
>>275160
How do you plan to deal with countless constrictors without our champion brew and a dwindling supply of offensive brews?

>>275170
How do you plan on dealing with Tanni?

Rolled 3 (1d6)

Tie between following the tracks and defending Taldenral. Evens for the former, odds for the latter.

>>275173
A snake dispel with possible nobbling and forcing her to fight off the other constrictors. Also if Hiss is fighting her she really needs our help. Hiss can copy Tannis powers but Tanni has so much more experience that hiss doesn't stand a chance without us

>Finding Hiss is less important now that you know what's going on. You need to defend Taldenral!

You slow down for a moment and consider your options. Does Hiss really need your help? You don't know who or what is causing all this but could they possibly be more powerful than the Serpent King?
Let's face it, Hiss is probably the safest person in the whole damn city right now.

And while Hiss probably doesn't need your help there are countless people who do. You need to focus on protecting Taldenral!
But how best to go about it?

>Brew something up real quick.

>Just go straight for the docks and join the fight.

>See if you can set up a good sniper position with the Caster.

>Enlist some allies.

>Patrol through the rest of the city. The docks might be the centre of conflict but there has to be constrictors getting through.

>Stop the boats!

>Other

>>275205
>See if you can set up a good sniper position with the Caster.
First pray to rally all the snakes for the defense of taldenral. Then set up an ambush since constrictors will hear it too and come after us. Use skinshedder to gain dragon form and burn them all as a backup

>>275205
>>Stop the boats!
Skinshedder. Scorch them to ash and cinder. The attack our people, attack our capitol, think us as no more than fodder and food. They will die screaming.

>>275205
Turn into a dragon and torch all the ships that haven't arrived yet. Maybe make a champion brew first and drink it since our scales aren't actually that strong. Douse the ships with flame and then tear the constrictors near the docks apart with our plant-dragon abomination powers

>>275205
>Enlist some allies
Aqua, zigzag, aash, eva and hom.

Important reminder that the deep priestess is still on the loose and may be able to wreck hiss' shit when she comes forth, so she's actually pretty fucking far from being safe. Shame Oster is still out for the count, because he'd be a good counter for her

>>275246
Also avoid the deep priestess for now

File: mfw I see the booty in th(...).jpg (71 KB, 500x350)

71 KB JPG

Calling it for getting your dragon back on.

>>275278
They certainly won't see THAT comming, it may affect the young impressionable constrictors' morale unless Oster told them about it

>>275306
he probably was not in the shape to tell them anything, so unless Tanni found if while soul sifting(which she doesn't do apparently) This is going to shake them up. I wonder how many have dragon scales?

>You have to stop the boats!
>Skinshedder

This might just be the largest battle in your life. So why even bother to hold back anything? You make your way through the torn-up garden, stepping past snakes and bystanders until you judge you have enough room to yourself. Wouldn't want to step on anyone accidentally.

You take the Skinshedder from your pack and down it in almost one gulp, sending your thoughts back across time as you do so. When was the last time you did this? It was back here in Taldenral. You had been fighting the Snakecatcher. Things had been so different back then.

You feel a heat build up within you and you do your best to stay anchored, to stay connected to who you are. You nearly lost yourself last time. You can't afford to let that happen again.

Your human body buckles and falls as you swell and grow and burst free and the ground falls away as you lurch into the sky!
You fly upwards, your wing-beats slow and clumsy as you do your best to gain altitude. Still don't quite have this flying business down right.

You feel the roar build up deep within you and you don't bother to hold it back, proclaiming your preemptive victory cry over the burning city. Your scales are green, your tail spiked, your claws like swords and spears. You are the master of this world.

You fly over the city towards the bay and you hear people scream as your shadow passes over them. This is as it should be.
You soar over the boats already docked and fly straight for the ones still in the water.

They dare come to your land? Your kingdom? The city that your Queen had wished to crush and make her own? Then they can die screaming.
In the back of the mind, you're aware that these thoughts are unlike your own. But you're still Cennen, still yourself.

You set the first ship alight and then the second and the third. Humans and giants alike jump for the water as your lash blindly with claws and tail. A wayward jet of flame sets a fourth ship alight.

And then...a small jab of pain. You twist in the air to find a spear jammed into your underbelly, piercing the scales. How did that get there?
Your question is answered a moment later as three more suddenly sprout up from all over your body. More blood. More pain.

You clear your head. They're not spears. They're arrows from a constrictor bow. And they're coming from the last siege-ship. The massive deck is filled with constrictors, some armoured and some not. Each with an immense bow.

>Ignore them and keep attacking. You fear not the stinging of insects.

>Fall back a little for now.

>Go low and head straight for the siege ship!

>Seek to gain some altitude and see if you can divebomb them from above.

>There's nothing subtle to be done here. Ram your body into the siege ship.

>Other

>>275356
Pick up one of the burning ships and drop it on the siege ship from above. It will also serve as a shield from any attackers below us

>>275366
This. Use the tanglebrew to strengthen ourselves and grab the ship.

>>275366
I was about to suggest doing just that, but are we large enough to do that? If not we can try with just the largest chunk of ship we can lift

>>275356
>>275366
This

>>275376
A full size dragon is apparently the size of a pyramid. If we can lift the full thing we can break one in half and then do it.

>>275384
We couldn't get quite as big if i remember right, just a little bigger than the snake catcher

>>275423
Nah we chose to be smaller then for practical purposes

>Grab a ship and use it as both a shield and a projectile.

Another arrow lands and you roar your defiance. Why aren't your scales stopping these? You think briefly about finding a spot to transform back and drinking a Champion's Elixir but you quickly banish the foolish idea from your mind. This is neither the time nor the place for that and besides, you know that a determined constrictor has strength enough to maul even steel skin. It probably wouldn't deter these arrows much.

You sink lower in the air as you swing back towards one of the burning ships. Hovering for a moment rather awkwardly, you dig one claw into one side and manage to stretch your other foreleg into the other.
You roar once more as you do your damnest to lift the boat into the air with you. You can feel the strain on your wings immediately and you're starting to regret this decision a little.

Then the ship turns out to still have at least one constrictor left on it, the giant man swinging a seven-foot long hammer into whatever the hell dragons have instead of wrists.
The ship lurches and you nearly let it drop.

You're starting to regret this decision a lot.

>Roll 1d100. I will be using the best of the first three.

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>275434

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>275434
shit nigga just brush him off with a massive dragon vine

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>275434

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>275434
I should've been more clear about my intention to grab it with tanglebrew branches and whatnot

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>275434
Blow fire on him

>>275449
Yeah reinforcing our wings with branches and increasing our muscle mass with the tanglebrew would help a lot here

>>275449
>>275440
Have no fear, I will answer both of these concerns shortly. Going with 87.

>87

You keep your grip and rise back into the air, using the ship held painfully beneath you as a makeshift shield against the arrows. That doesn't quite stop the constrictor beneath you from making himself a nuisance however!
Well, you can deal with him rather easily now. Just sweep him off with a vine! Then you can lash those vines around the ship itself and stop straining your wings.

Nothing happens. You try again but...nothing. Just you still clutching the ship, still barrelling towards the last siege-ship left standing.
It occurs to you that you are not a strange flower-man anymore. Nor are you half-plant or part-tree or whatever. You are a dragon and despite the fact that you have a little human in your head telling you what to do, a dragon is all that you are.

The constrictor finds his footing once more and smashes his hammer into your foreleg.
Fuck.
You curl your neck down and bathe him in flame but he is unaffected, striding through the fire as if it were nothing more than a light breeze. You retract your head before he can hit it.
That would explain why he actually stayed on the ship.

The constrictor winds up for another blow and your shake the boat from side to side as best you can, throwing him off balance. Another arrow wings past your shield and embeds itself in your skull, failing to do anything more than dent the bone.

You're getting in range now, enough to hurl this boat and the annoying constrictor still on board right in the archer's faces! But are you close enough?.

>Take the chance and throw it now!

>Keep cool and fly a little closer.

>Try to eat the constrictor.

>Release one of your forelegs from the boat to throw the constrictor overboard.

>Kick at the constrictor with your hind-legs. That's going to be haphazard.

>Other

>>275478
>>Keep cool and fly a little closer.

>>275478
>Try to eat the constrictor
The brother in law was far worse, and this guy probably tastes better, consume him to gain his power!

>>275478
>Keep cool and fly a little closer.
I think we could still use the tanglebrew and bramblebrew last time we used a skinshedder with our freaky scaled wolf form
>>275493
This is just giving him a free shot at our head with that hammer anon. Plus his scales are too strong to be damaged by a bite

>>275478
>Take the chance and throw it now

>>275478
>Take the chance and throw it now!
this constrictor could do some real damage. at least injuries aren't transferred to our human form.

Seeing a tie between throwing it now or trying to get a bit closer. Evens the former, odds the latter.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>275538

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>275538
Whoooooooooooooops

>>275542
Thanks anon.

>Take the chance and throw it now

Fuck it, you're not going to just wait around to get hit by more arrows or let this wingless brat get off another hit. You're just going to throw both of them at the ship right now and if they miss...well, that'll be that.

You roar involuntarily as you heft the burning ship even higher in the air, letting it sway back and forth as you do your best to line up the shot.
You release it with a triumphant gout of flame, spinning the ship through the air towards your target!

Oof. That could have stood to have been aimed a little better actually.

>Roll a d100. Best of the first three.

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>275570
pls

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>275570

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>275570

>>275577
Nice.

Sorry about the delay on some of these updates.

>81

The boat doesn't hit quite dead-on but it still slams into the ship and breaks apart on contact, scattering burning flame everywhere and setting the siege-ship alight. The arrows stop as the archer's cohesion is completely broken!
You think you see the constrictor with the hammer go flying into the ocean somewhere.

The siege-ship rocks back but it doesn't quite topple or fall apart, the immense trebuchets actually helping it keep steady.
An arrow strikes blood upon your muzzle and you recoil in mid-air.

And alas, not quite all of the archers have stopped.

>That's good enough for now. Leave.

>Divebomb the ship and try to push it over.

>Take to the water and claw holes in the bottom.

>Take out the archers.

>Seek out the constrictor you dropped. He's not getting away after the trouble he's caused.

>Other

>>275636
This is the ship with the deep priestess on it right?

>>275640
It's the one where you last saw her, correct.

>>275636
>That's good enough for now. Leave.
Getting close to that deep priestess is a bad idea. Let's go deal with the constrictors that have already landed

>>275636
Blast it with more flame from as far away as possible

>>275647
How far can our fire fall? Because if it act's like napalm, just drop it from height and finish it. Also are the trebuchet on fire?

>>275636

Just go flame the front lines, grab some larger bits of rubble, and drop THEM on the ship.

>>275668
It acts like napalm and yes, they are.

>>275636
>>That's good enough for now. Leave.

>>275636
>That's good enough for now. Leave.
Support the beach

>>275636
Drop our napalm like flame on the ship and retreat.

>That's good enough for now. Leave.

That'll do for now. They won't be meddling with you anymore! You clumsily gain altitude once more, wheeling higher and higher into the air as you leave the burning ship behind.
From here, you can get an excellent view of Taldenral as a whole.

And it does not look good.

Most of the ships have made landfall, either here on the docks or outside Taldenral entirely on the coasts to the north and the south. The docks are still being fought over but not as hard, the beachhead has been firmly established and judging by the fires and the fighting, the Quedeshi have been pouring through the city itself for some time now.

The Potions College is half-collapsed and is riddled even further with explosions as you watch.

And then your attention is caught by movement in the corner of your eye, from the very centre of the city. Half a small house is thrown up and into the air, drifting gently for just a moment before crashing back down.
Striding above the defenders as if they were insects is a 20-ft tall woman, as large to the constrictors as they are to normal humans. She is wearing little and even covered in the blood of hundreds and flashes of green scales, she is both staggeringly beautiful and frightening. A goddess of war and bloodshed in the flesh.

You recognise her somehow, even though her face and body were different from the last time you met and the recognition pulls up from within you a mad rush of terror and adoration that you didn't even know still lingered.

It's Tanni.


>You can't fight Tanni. Go burn the rest of the boats instead.

>You can't fight Tanni. Help defend the docks instead, drive them back to the sea.

>You can't fight Tanni. Protect the city itself.

>You can't fight Tanni. Drive off the Quedeshi coming in from the outside coasts.

>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni.

>Brew.

>Other

>>275742
>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni.

>>275742
>>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni.

>>275742
>>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni.

>>275742
>>Brew.
Mix a snakebreaker with a snake dispel. something that'd core through a snake's armor and weaken them into nothing ness. then
>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni.

>>275742
>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni

>>275742
>>You can't fight Tanni. Help defend the docks instead, drive them back to the sea.

>>275751
>>275753
>>275760
>>275764
>Dragon scales negate fire, she kills us.

>>275742
>watch her for a bit, see what she's doing
>brew
What would happen if we shot a danger flask with the caster?

>>275742
Shit. Quickly invent that brew that lets us restore prematurely broken wishbonds

>>275772
We can use alchemy
>>275773
The city would be mostly destroyed

>>275777
Not in dragon form, and unless we mix brews nothing we have will one shot her. Not a snakebreaker, and she's not dumb enough to breath in a dispel.

>>275742

Scales don't protect against blunt force trauma. Drop a house on her. Or set her on fire and choke her to death.

>>275783
Obviously we'll switch back to human form. And nothing exists in this world that can one shot her, we can use scalebanes to weaken her first though.
>>275786
Dragon scales prevent all physical harm

>>275786
dragon scales protect against blunt and fire, and she's too big and strong for us to choke to death.

>>275789
>And nothing exists in this world that can one shot her,
Mix a snake breaker with a snake dispel, done
>we can use scalebanes to weaken her first though.
>Implying a giant, very fast, very strong veteran with mind hax will give us more than one shot.
She's not going to stand still for that anon.

>>275777
The city is already mostly destroyed.

I suggest we just fly to Quedesh and nuke every city with super snakebreakers.

Oro has already been fucking us over lately in this quest with each choice having a counter and nothing we do making a real difference.

>>275786
She's way too fast for the house to hit her, she's immune to fire and she's probably as strong as we are, if not way stronger. We need to debuff her, or use the plant killing brew on her

>>275799

The point of the fire is to burn up all the oxygen. Or did you not see the part about choking her out? How long can she go without breathing?

>>275805
Engulfing her in flame for a long time and then hitting her with a snake dispel when she can finally breathe is a decent idea

>You can't fight Tanni. Fight Tanni

Oh no. You're really doing it, aren't you? You're going to fight Tanni. You have to fight Tanni.
You're pretty sure you know the origin of all this uproar now, She's tricked you all. You need to land and ask her wh-
No. You need to FIGHT her. Nothing else. Nothing else.

She sees you as you approach and you watch as she idly pulls someone in half. Human or snake, you can't tell. It's hard to look away from her.
'A dragon?," she says, melodious voice loud and clear despite the sounds of war.
"I don't believe it. Is that you, Cennen?"

She vanishes from view as you engulf her in a pillar of flame. It doesn't do anything to her and you can only watch as beads of liquid flame drip enticingly from her curv-
Stop that! What's wrong with you?

It occurs to you that you might never have been struck so hard by Tanni before. That for open warfare, she's gone all-out in her invisible means of enslaving the mind. Every tone of voice, every specific word, every movement of her body...all calculated through centuries of experience and intellect to strike humans in their primal instincts.
You have more human left in you than you thought.

"It is Cennen. Stop that, you know it won't work. Nothing works. Why don't you come down here and we can talk it out like civilised people?"

You're dipping in the air before you even know it and you have to fight to stay airborne.

"Come on. I'm not going to hurt you."


>Do as she says. Maybe you can convince her to stop all of this.

>Do as she says but only because you need to find out why this is all happening in the first place. What's her plan.

>Do as she says but only so you can attack her directly.

>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.

>Throw a building at her.

>Let the dragon take control.

>Nobble.

>Other

>>275820


>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.
Then
>Let the dragon take control.

>>275820
>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.
>Let the dragon take control.
She has no experience with manipulating dragons. Just focus on anger at her for destroying the city that was meant to be ours to help rule

>>275820
>Let the dragon take control.
>Nobble.

>>275798
>Oro has already been fucking us over lately in this quest with each choice having a counter and nothing we do making a real difference.

Eh? How so?

>>275820

Also, how long until smoke inhalation fucks her up? If she's talking, she's breathing.

Lack of oxygen isn't a poison you can be immune to, Oro, so please bear that in mind while you're having the cunt -try- to mindfuck Cennen.

>>275820
>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.
Keep going as long as possible, then switch to human form and nail her with a snake dispel once she can finally breathe

>>275834
He's just salty that this fight isn't easy.

>>275820
>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.


>>275805
because we've not been planning ahead. Hell we could have brewed up a poison snake dispel snake breaker to one shot her, but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
charge in like a fucking retard.

>>275820
>>Let the dragon take control.
We need to be less human so she can't control us.

>>275820
>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.
>Let the dragon take control.
Don't give in completely. Just think like a dragon.

>>275834


Remember the supersnakebreaker that annihilated the knights?

Why was that not a thing for annihilating the Quedeshi fleet in the first place? I don't know whether to be angry at you for pretending Cennen wouldn't remember it, or anons for not being aware that wooden ships are terrifically vulnerable to massive explosions. Even better if it's underwater.

And then there's the whole Tash/Tanni thing. Overlooking the clusterfuck of them faking being knocked out, breaking out with everyone who noticed dying? Do you loud cracking stone is?

It's starting to feel a little railroady with us not noticing things going on until she's already managed to gut the defenses.

I could go on, but I've already got enough salt for a Morton's warehouse.

>>275829
>>275831
>>275832
>>275854
>>275855
WE can't hurt her in dragon form and she ill kill us if we go feral, presupposing she can't just beats tame us. Forgoing our mind has never gone well.

>>275842

No, I'm salty that we keep getting blindsided by fairly obvious shit.

Calling it for breathing fire and letting the dragon take over.

>>275865
RIP Cennen.

>>275861
I don't know what you're talking about anon. I think your sodium levels are keeping you from thinking clearly

>>275859
Since we didn't brew up anything, we can't really do anything else, can we?

The only other option I see without retreating to brew up some decent potions is to grab her and fly as high as we can and just drop her before our mind turns to putty. But getting close enough to snatch her is just a bad bad idea.

>>275859
It too late bro
This cycle of bad choices is reaching its logical conclusion
We should have never killed snake dad
We should have stayed in snakehome
But now we will die like we lived
In the hands of a giant snek

>>275868
She can pretty reliably predict our every move as a human. This is something she wouldn't expect. The only issue is regaining control at the proper moment.

>>275879

We can still retreat, the problem is convincing Hiss to fall back and go Goddess so we can harvest reagents to make nuclear-tier snakebreakers and glass Quedesh.

>>275877
She can throw something and kill us with one superstrong throw. We should have brewed instead of charged in like a retard.

>>275879
>Spitefags trying to bad end the quest
Go fuck yourself.

>>275881
>And she can literally kill us with incredible fucking ease as a dragon. Our only real chance of winning was one shotting her before she saw us. But noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

CHARGE! RIP! TEAR! NO USE BRAIN OR ALCHEMY WE DON"T NEED IT! WE STRONK WE CAN FACE SUPERSNEK ON OWN PHYSICAL MIGHT!

>>275886
That's literally more retarded since there's no way we'd reach Quedesh before we got intercepted, and we'd get killed well before that could happen.

>>275887
Seriously she can manipulate and read our every movement as a human. Stop pretending that your tactic of throwing brews together with no real thought to hopefully one shot her is the superior choice

>>275887

The problem is that brewing takes time. No planning ahead means no alchemy. And this is sort of a fucked up emergency.

Quest may not end, but it looks more and more like Bad End is going to be inevitable without turning into 'Snake Guerrilla Quest'. And the anons here have NOT shown the level of planning, foresight, strategic or tactical acumen to pull that off.

>>275896

I'm sorry. Who else can fly and catch us? If I've missed something, I apologize, but I don't believe I've seen anyone else turn into a dragon.

>>275858
It's probably a bad idea to address this stuff but I don't want people getting the wrong idea and if people are feeling shitty about how I run the Quest, obviously I want to know.
So let's run this down.

>Why not use more Danger Flasks?
Cennen can't just pull out a Danger Flask when he wants to. He has to have Hiss helping him brew and lending her Art and it also requires a sample of venom from Hiss' Snake Empress form. It was not an easily repeatable brew.
And besides, I feel like I've given plenty of times to brew lately. People are free to vote for what potions they want to be restocked then. I've never suggested to them what potions they might want.

>Tanni faked being knocked out.
Well she's a bit hard to knock out regularly and while faking it is a bit of a stretch, I don't think it's outside of Tanni's capabilities. I actually cut a bit out of her interlude regarding certain 'death trances' and the like that the orders in Ur used to practice. Didn't fit the flow.

>I don't believe she can break out with everyone who noticed dying. Do you know how loud cracking stone is?

Anon, the cracking stone is literally what woke you up in the first post of this thread. And she didn't do it unnoticed, she did it and everyone noticed. She simply killed the snakes that were directly in her way.
This thread starts mere minutes after her escape.

Also she possesses Sidewinder and is very strong, she can move really fast in a straight line if she wants to.

>>275899
Our plan is to deprive her of oxygen as a dragon to resist being controlled and then hitting her with an inhaled snake dispel when she's forced to breathe. I don't see any brilliant plans coming from you two salty anons.

>>275858
Nobody forgot about the danger flask, we just have a few reservations about the nuclear option

>>275904
Don't let butthurt borderline-illiterate players get to you m8

>>275899

Depriving her of oxygen was MY plan, genius. So yes, you are seeing brilliant plans coming from one of the salty anons. Look at the ID.

Also this might take a while, eating currently.

>>275919
So you're insulting the intelligence of people who agree with your plan? It's the best option we have right now since our only options to beat her are inhaled brews or getting rid of her scales and attacking physically

>>275920
Oh sweet whats for dinner
I had chicken wings and salad
Made it myself

File: tegaki.png (3 KB, 400x400)

3 KB PNG

>>275920

>>275898
>Stop pretending that your tactic of throwing brews together with no real thought to hopefully one shot her is the superior choice

Anon, Poison + Depowerment + Scale Peirce. That would cripple her. and we could easily sneak up on her since it's a big battlefield and she's got her attention split.

As a dragon we have no concept of our own weakness and She will kill us.

>>275899
>Give up
fuck you too anon.

>>275901
She's immune to fire and super strong, not to mention huge. She could throw something hard enough to kill us in one hint. Dragon instincts will not help it because dragon's think they are invincible.

>>275905
Fall back, make a brew that will take her down quickly, wait until she's paying too much attention on the battlefield to notice one human, blast her ass.


As it stands Dragon is going to try and over bear her and get ripped apart, or simply hit with something and knocked out of the air. because dragon's are Hiss tier overconfident. Cennen can't take back his mind until the potion wears off either, so he's literally no threat to Tanni now.

>>275930
Lunch, not dinner. And it's canned pumpkin soup with toast.

>>275911

Shouldn't. Someone has to put the fear of Snake-Goddess Hiss into the fucking Constrictors. This isn't even a 'real' Quedeshi invasion and look at how much trouble it's giving Hiss and Cennen. Multiple danger flasks and annihilating constrictor population is the only way to keep from being steamrolled unless Hiss has a spontaneous breakthrough in managing to maintain Empress form.

>>275936
>pumpkin
[vomits externally]

>>275934

I was talking about going to start nuking Quedeshi cities, not the current clusterfuck.

>>275936
Man that sound awful dude
But different eats for different peeps i guess

>>275950
So you're just a guy who is overplanning shit when we're in imminent danger of dying now? Great.

>>275961

Nope. Though that's part of this quest's problem. The readership regards anything similar to a backup plan as 'overplanning'.

We could hit her with a rumpleskin. That would force her to shapeshift back to snake form. That tiny distraction could allow us to catch her by surprise with a Scalebane or snake dispel.

>>275964
Please explain how flying to another country and leaving the battle behind will help us with this fight anon. We've gotta focus on one thing at a time right now

>>275970

That'd be great, if she couldn't just dodge. Can we use/fire the caster in Dragonform? I thought it sort of melded with us when we transformed. Because turning back to human around her seems even less survivable than kamikaze dragoning.

>>275964
We're in a fight to the death and you're worrying over something that may never happen. We can worry about Quedesh IF we manage to beat their assault. You should be far more worried over TAnni ripping us limb from limb over trying to nuke Quedesh in the may never happen future.

>>275970
unless she has art scales and can no sell it. Even then not enough for her not to kill us, and since we went full dragontard we won't use alchemy until the skinshedder wears off.

>>275975
Alchemy is lost to us in dragon form, if we wanted to use alchemy we shouldn't have attacked her as a fucking dragon. Should have wait until her back was turned and unloaded on her.

>>275982
We can switch back whenever we like since we used a skinshedder. As long as we can regain control from our dragon half but I'm thinking she would have gained near complete control of us if we hadn't let it take over temporarily.

>>275972

Again, repeating myself here for your benefit. This is a plan for the increasingly likely event we lose the city. I feel like you're being deliberately obtuse anon.

>>275982
Brews that target skin or scales specifically aren't blocked by artskin

>>275999
>We can switch back whenever we like since we used a skinshedder.
unless you know, we're not in control of our own body and trapped like we were when we first went dragon.

>As long as we can regain control from our dragon half
No indication we can and many we cannot
>I'm thinking she would have gained near complete control of us if we hadn't let it take over temporarily.
As opposed to either baiting the dumbass dragon into meleeing her or just knocking us out of the air with something big and heavy with a throw.


>>276000
If that happens we're fucked since the navy would catch us and Hiss would be dead, because they would kill her before losing track of her and we'd have no ships to get us of Teleran.

>>276016
There are no perfect choices anon. And bitching incessantly about one we've already made is pointless and annoying. You could be doing any number of more constructive things right now..

>>276016

Which is where flying comes into it. I don't know if you're aware anon, but unless you're in a schooner or clipper ship, sailing is pretty damn slow.

And we have a pet mermaid who can tow us.

>>276024
Unless someone makes it abundantly clear how stupid everyone is being, there is literally no hope for Cennen living more than one more vote IF he lives through this.

>>276028
>Implying the Invasion forces wont patrol our waters.
>Implying they won't keep tracking Hiss
>Implying Aqua isn't already dead.
>Implying the Spirits would not instagib us if we came back to Quedesh

Your plan is incredibly fucking retarded.

>>276033

>Implying Invasion forces have the number of ships remaining to effectively patrol local waters, let alone the rest of the coast of an island nation analogous to Australia
>Implying they CAN keep tracking Hiss
Admittedly, Aqua may be dead, but she's not essential to the plan, just a luxury.
>Implying the Spirits can instagib Spritbane and alchemy'd up Cennen.

And then Anon was the retards.

>>276041
>Implying the Spirits can instagib Spritbane and alchemy'd up Cennen.
The very much can unless they perceive him a non threat. The only thing that might kill one is a dispel brew, and most of our other brew WILL NOT work on them at all. The spirits we've beaten through a combination of luck, more luck and them underestimating us. These were WEAK, and world weary spirits at that.

>Implying Invasion forces have the number of ships remaining to effectively patrol local waters, let alone the rest of the coast of an island nation analogous to Australia
Most of Teleran is wasteland, they have many aquatic snakes, and will be brining in more boats as soon as they report success.


Without aqua we literally cannot get to Quedesh as all the sailors are dead and no one but a Quedeshi sail master know the way.

>Implying they CAN keep tracking Hiss
Given all they need is a little of her blood? Yeah they can. Snake art.

>insulting each other instead of brainstorming
We're all on the same side here guys. We still have those gaseous lethal venom brews which are worth a shot but she might have the venom immunity snake art. A serpent bane would be pretty devastating to her since it would disconnect her from all her souls that she seems to rely heavily on. The only problem is that she would have to either drink it or have it enter her body via wound or syringe injection which would require hitting her with a scalebane first.

>>276033
>>276041
Why would aqua be dead? Last we know of her she's still sleeping at the mansion

>>276062
Also I think snake breakers fired from a caster have the potential to at least slightly injure snakes with artskin and dragon scales. Like with Sarminda and her arm wound when a shot glanced off of her.

>>276064
No champion brew and still asleep she's liable to die in it.

>>276062
Like I said we needed to brew, but now we're dead. Blew our one surprise shot on lel fire when we know dragon scales are piss common and negate it. We need to run, because there is NOTHING we can do to beat her, presupposing going full retarded dragon doesn't make escape utterly impossible.

>>276071
She's not going to let us hit her with a caster shot. She's not stupid and has felt what it could do. We'll be dead before we load since we drew her attention.

>>276059
They don't have that many aquatic snakes, and their current naval ships are wrecked. They're not reporting jack.

It's like you don't even into strategic mobility anon.

And you say that like getting Hiss' blood is easy. Damn man.

>>276075

Dragon fire and depriving her of oxygen so she has to shut her yap or pass out from smoke inhalation is our only real card to play due to previous fuckups, Anon.

Ouro ded?

>>276071
>>276075
Both of these are right, we need to retreat, if we can, and restock.
Going to throw this out there, even if it feels like cheating: we have the theoretical groundwork for the wishbond restoring brew, we could put eva and hom to work on it. We could wish for tanni to kill herself or becone fanatically loyal to hiss for the next hundred years or something like that

>>276106
We've already got snake breakers anon. I don't think retreating is an option here.

>>276094
The only way we're getting her to fall back and flee is she thinks she can't win. That'd require her to get hurt fairly badly to even consider it. So yeah if we're running they will have her blood.

The still have the landed ships to sue and will press Telerans into their service for patrols provided they don't just unleash ishmin over every square inch of the land.


>>276112
Then we're dead. because we cannot beat her right now.

>>276112
>>276115
We commit then, and try to stay alive until hiss arrives

>>276115
Landed ships.

Troop transports, slow cargo vessels. Not fast cutters or patrol ships, anon.

Most of which are damaged or on fire.

And Hiss may not retreat if she's wounded. She can be very petty and vindictive. Giving her a plan to wipe Quedesh from the face of the planet might appeal to her sense of pride without her being wounded.

This post took way too fucking long for what it is. My apologies. I lunched too hard and for too long.

>Stay up, keep breathing fire at her. Don't stop breathing fire at her.
>Let the dragon take over.

You can't trust her words. This is a trick. Everything is a trick. You roar to drown out her speech and bathe her in flame once more. And this time you don't stop. She still has to breathe doesn't she?

This plan is interrupted when she simply leaps out of the flame, sliding to the other side of the courtyard faster than your head can follow.
You drag the flame over to her but she zigzags, hopping in and out without any apparent ill-effect.

"This isn't dignified for either of us. Surely we can come to some kind of agreement?"

Oh no. Don't you dare. She might be able to still get her hooks into what's left of your human brain but what about a dragon? A real dragon? Unless she's hiding some real bullshit, she has no power there.

You close your eyes and surrender to the beast within.

........

You don't remember a whole lot. But you do remember pride. They dragon fights as the dragon wills and no foe is his equal. The dragon is immune to her tricks so in the end it came down to a contest of might. Fire against scales, claw against teeth. Alchemical strength against someone who could have bent the Snakecatcher over her knee and spanked him.

Fire.
Claws.
The scrape of bone on stone.
Blood.
Some of it was yours.
You roar.
Savaging with teeth and claws and flame.
The air whistles through the holes in your wings.
A building breaks around you. You can't remember why.
Neither of you can run, neither of you can back down.
Rocks in the air with you, flying faster than you ever could.
A colossal snake pinned beneath your talons, squirming around your legs with strength enough to snap your bones.
Fire and smoke.
Too much fire and smoke.
At some point you were deafened by a blow to the face. Permanently or temporarily? You can't tell.
A terrible tearing pain across your back.
Blood again.

You breathe fire and hope to engulf her again but she's gotten wise to that trick. You scrabble across the stones of the ruined square. It's slick with dragon blood.
You can't fly. She tore one of your wings off, ripping it out by the very root.

You should switch back. You have to switch back. You'll die like this. But if you change back to human for even a second she'll be on you and as wounded as you are now, you are infinitely more vulnerable as a human.

Shit. What should you have done? What could you have done else? Is there any path to victory you could have taken?
Your heart tells you again and again that there was not, that Tanni is unbeatable. Nothing can be done but to bend the knee and kneel.

You are fairly certain that those thoughts are not your own. There must have been a different way to win. But your legs are broke and your wings are torn and your fire burns helplessly within your belly.
No time for thinking.
1/2

>>276103
Hes eating shit soup

>>276126
>>276128
>>276141
welp we're dead. Good job anons.

>>276148
A fitting end
Should have played as Hunter Cennen
Thanks for running Ouro
See you for Lightbarer Quest

>>276157
Go fuck yourself anon

>>276141

I beg your pardon. You said our breath was like napalm, and 'napalm sticks to kids', as we all know.

Or are Dragonscales also teflon now?

>>276161
Wow dude calm down im only joking
This can be the end
Ouro must have something planned, right
Just hang on a bit

>>276148
>>276157
>forgetting about hiss

>>276148
>>276157
>>276162
You people are awful.

>>276169
>implying Hiss can stop Tanni from snapping our neck
>implying she cannot resist mindhax better than Cennen could.

>>276173
You're not any better anon.

>>276173
Yes, and? 4chan is not your safespace Anon.

>>276173
Eh
Ive played with worse irl
It only sucks cause we are fighting a losing battle and cant agree on a winning strategy
Give it time
We'll bounce back and we will all get along again

>>276141
A foot plants itself atop one of your outstretched claws, grinding down just hard enough to get your attention.
Tanni? Has she come to finish you off? Not fair! You haven't thought of how to kill her yet!

And then a hand slowly brushes against your muzzle, gentle and soft.

A blood-crusted eyelid slides open and you look up at the figure standing over you.
Red and black and with eyes like lightning.

"Nice fight," Hiss says somewhat helplessly. "Thank you. For everything. I'm so sorry."

You feel Tanni striding closer more than you hear it. Her steps aren't quite as steady as they should be. You don't know why.

"I'm sorry," Hiss repeats as she places herself between you and her. "This should have been me. I should have been here. But that's what you always do, isn't it? You're always here to pick up after my mistakes. You held here for...for me. But why did it have to be you?"

"Ah, just the princess I was looki-"

"Shut it. You want me? You got me. I'm right here for you. So don't turn away from me now. Don't you dare beg or run or even try to blame anyone else for this. This is what you wanted."

>>276187
More like picking the worst options trying to kill the quest in your case. Fact that anon rush into it with you is appalling.

Sorry guys but if you can tell from how fucking long it took me to churn this thing out, I'm getting a bit tired. Lunch can only excuse so much!
I fixed my sleeping patterns but not to the extent that I don't get buggered in the afternoon and I don't want to fuck something up 'cause I'm tired.

I'll be back tomorrow and in fact, I'll be back every day consecutively until this thread is finished.
It might be a little obvious but tomorrow will probably be a POV switch

>>276197
Hiss POV time? What has she been up to anyway?

>>276162
Yeah, Tanni would still be burning. But she shapeshifted several times during the dragon combat, shedding things sticking to her in the process.

>>276211
See you tomorrow man

>>276198
Buying time for Hiss to get here was one of the better ways to deal with this. Fighting or even being in the general vicinity of Tanni with a human mind would have gone very poorly.

>>276211
kk ouro, thread was good anyway despite these bickerers, looking forward to it.

For the record, yes it is kinda lame that the whole fight just passed you by. That is also what you voted for.

>>276222
We still in dragon form? How will the damage we took translate to our human form?

>>276248
Yes, you're still in dragon form. And none.

>>276247
We can shift back for the rest of the fight though right?
>>276248
The wounds should all disappear

>>276247
Do you mean missing the dragon fight or missing all of the fight to come?

>>276247
Dont worry bro not your fault.
You get that good sleep tonight

>>276222

You can maintain dragonscales while shapeshifting? Figured the shedding of skin would have exposed her to the heat and flame at least.

>>276265
Well she seems a bit worse for wear so she must have been damaged somehow

>>276261
The dragon fight.

>>276265
Dragon scales are just your scales. It's a passive Art.

>>276268
What was Hiss doing until now? Fighting at the docks?

You know i cant wait till Hiss eats Tanni
Imagine how amazing the sex will be from then on, how much easier things will get once Hiss gets all of Tanni's social and political knowhow.

The concept of snakes gaining experience and knowledge after eating one of their species is fucking great.

>>276272
She had gotten bogged down in fighting various Quedeshi soldiers and other constrictors. She was fine taking her time to reach Tanni because she was a little scared
because she didn't think it would matter if Tanni killed a few more humans or whatever if she slowed down a little. Cut to her seeing that she's fighting Cennen. She feels like shit.

>>276281
She still has to sort through the souls like hiss STILL needs to do for her dad.

>>276283
Well im glad our mutilated broken body gave her the confidence boost she needs

>>276283
Hiss is still scared of Tanni despite being the Queen? Figures.

Did we hurt Tanni at all? How annoyed/put out/surprised at Cennen's actions? Could we have fought her without going full dragontard?

>>276281
I gotta be honest, Hiss would probably abuse this wondrous gift by using it over her brand-telepathy to do mean things to Cennen. Like making him randomly pop a boner at inappropriate times while she's half a mile away.

>>276305
>scared
She's not really scared of Tanni. The fear is there because Tanni directly puts it there, not because she inspires it from something.

As for the rest, yeah, you could have fought her without going full dragon. Could have won though it would have been hard.

>>276334
Is Cennen unable to participate in the rest of the fight? It'd be pretty simple to switch back to human form

>>276339
Hiss probably won't let us, seeing us all fucked up has probably made her a little protective of us, still, what hiss wants is not always what we think is best.

>>276362
Well, that and suddenly she'll have to fight while protecting a human us that quite possibly might not be on her side if Tanni messes with her head.

>>276574
Hiss is easily affected by Tanni's manipulations too. We might need to be there in human form to keep that from happening.

>>277689
Seeing us get our shit fucked up seems to have strengthened her resolve

>>277755
And? Tanni can still affect her. Tanni is just under Snake King tier because of her mindhax. Hiss is till not as strong as her father and lacks us to actually give her the instrumental helping hand.

You nudge him with your boot but there's no response. Even a slightly harder kick doesn't stir him?
Is he dead? No. No. You'd know if he was. But still, seeing him like this...You don't know what to call the feeling. A burning wretched feeling rising from your stomach to your chest, hot and heavy and settling inside you like molten lead.

This is your fault. You held back too long, let yourself get distracted fighting and killing other soldiers, other snakes. And why? Did you just believe that the cost, that whatever lives sacrificed to Tanni while you dawdled would mean nothing?
Of course you had. Since when did lives mean anything to you at all? And now the Creator has thrown this in your face as if to punish you.

This is your fault.

Your name is unspeakable in any human tongue and cannot be transcribed by any mortal alphabet but you are commonly known as the Serpent Queen. Or Hiss. The name once offended you but here and now, you can’t really remember why.

You take a step forward as Tanni approaches. She towers over you but the difference is merely superficial. The same power that she holds, every single Art and more, flood through your body. She has no strength, no magic that you cannot return tenfold. There’s no reason to be afraid.

“What a precious sounding speech,” Tanni laughs. “You sound very grown-up.”

Blood rushes to your head as she attempts to impose her will over you, to dredge up the results of your every other meeting with her. They’d always ended in humiliation or worse. It only takes a sentence for her to summon up shame and helplessness. But things are different now. You’re different now! You’re the fucking Serpent Queen! Doesn’t that mean anything?

“You know Hiss, I worry about you sometimes. I understand your urges and don’t get me wrong, your desire to be some kind of little copy of me, it’s very cute. I’ve always thought of you as a mentally deficient little sister. But this time yo-”

You rush in, slamming your fist against the side of her kneecap. The impact and the sound of scales against scales is like a thunderclap. She doesn’t move and while you can’t see her face from down here, you know exactly what expression she’s wearing. That hideous condescension, the careful implication that she’s more entertained than wary of you. She’s a little embarrassed for you, really. You’re only making a fool out of yourself.

It’s a shame you can’t see it because you wanted to see her reaction to what you did next. You slide around behind her knee, keeping the momentum from your charge and stomp the ground hard enough to crater the stone. The ground beneath her shifts and for just the briefest moment she is off-balance, her feet barely inches above the broken ground. Nothing for her Art to steady herself with.
1/2

>>279491
You wrap both arms around her shin and throw her across the square. She smashes into a small two-storey building and keeps going through at least one more before she slides to a halt, flat on her back and half-buried in a giant groove that’s been scooped through the cobblestones.

“In the future, you will address me as Your Majesty.”


>You need to press the advantage! Go!

>No, getting her away was good enough. Tend to Cennen and get him out of here.

>Bully someone else into getting Cennen to safety.

>Stay back and start to spit venom.

>Call in the rest of your court. It’s extremely dangerous for them but you could use their Art.

>Try to catch Tanni in a trance.

>Other

>>279497
>>Bully someone else into getting Cennen to safety.
>You need to press the advantage! Go!
If the chance presents itself
Spit venom in her face.

Apologies for the delay on pushing this out by the way.

>>279532
No probs man, just expect a slow start from people thinking we aren't up.
Thinking about what to vote right now

>>279497
>Bully someone else into getting Cennen to safety.
>Stay back and start to spit venom.
Late again!

>>279497
>>You need to press the advantage! Go!
Go with the venom idea if we get the chance. Leave Cennen here, he may help when he comes around. Feels shitty asking so much of him but the situation is dire

>>279497
>You need to press the advantage! Go!
>Bully someone else into getting Cennen to safety.

>>279497
Change
>>279569
to
>>279567

Rolled 3 (1d6)

Looks like a tie between getting someone to take Cennen to safety and leaving him here. Evens the former, odds the latter.

>>279587
Did we manage to do any harm to tanni before she rekt us?

>>279606
I'm thinking she should still be wounded from when we hit her with the Caster when she was still disguised as Tash on the boat. Unless she can heal by shapeshifting.

>You need to press the advantage! Go!
>Leave Cennen where he is.

You don't have time to get Cennen to safety! You need to press your advantage while she's still down! And besides, Cennen might be able to help when he wakes up. You don't feel good asking so much of him but what else can you do?
Sorry, Cennen.

You leap forward, covering the ground between the two of you as best you can. Tanni's got an Art to help you with that and you can feel the ground tear beneath your feet as you surge forward.

She's still stuck! And what's more, is that blood you see? Red is slowly seeping from beneath what little clothes she's wearing. Did you do that? Impossible, you hit her on the leg.
But whatever it is, you're going to take full advantage of it!

You vault into the air with enough force to demolish what little was left of the square beneath you, ready to slam down straight on top of her. That should drive her further into the earth and let you spit as much venom as you like.

There is, however, the somewhat unfortunate matter of scale regarding trying that. But you can feel your Art surge deep within you, you should easily be able to transform mid-air.


>No, stay exactly as you are. You don't want your future subjects to think you are TOO alike with these invaders.

>Copy her Growth Art exactly.

>Copy her Growth Art but use your serpent form instead. It's slightly easier and it might let you wrap around her.

>You still have some Worldbreaker Coils left over. Use that.

>Other

>>279641
>No, stay exactly as you are. You don't want your future subjects to think you are TOO alike with these invaders.
Focus on spitting venom at her wound, that's a good route of entry

>>279641
>>No, stay exactly as you are. You don't want your future subjects to think you are TOO alike with these invaders.
Size isn't everything. Injecting venom into open wounds and snapping smaller bones should be fine.

>>279641
>Copy her Growth Art exactly.
But use the venom spitting idea too. Might even be worth using the hissbrew if nobody else is around

>>279641
>Copy her Growth Art but use your serpent form instead. It's slightly easier and it might let you wrap around her.

>>279641
>>No, stay exactly as you are. You don't want your future subjects to think you are TOO alike with these invaders.
>>279654
This, also, tear the wound to make it bigger

>>279641
Wait is world breaker coils the ridiculous strength art or the insane growth art?

>>279692
Technically both since growth fuels strength but yeah, the growth one. The one where you burn souls to get huge. Hiss used it to fight the Serpent King and for an instant to break the defences of the Kuri River.

>No, stay exactly as you are. You don't want your future subjects to think you are TOO alike with these invaders.

No, there's no need for any of that. And while everyone might call you a witch you don't particularly want any more comparisons between you and the Quedeshi.

You slam down onto her chest full-force, doing no damage but hopefully driving her further into the ground as you quickly roll to the side to avoid her swing.
Yes! This is it! There's no doubt that she has more experience than you. And there's certainly no doubting that she can get into your head. But you have more raw power and as long as you can dominate the fight she can't bring any of her advantages to bear. No time to talk, no time for secret body language. Just fist and venom and fang.

You slide off of her and go for the wound. Something's scraped the skin off along her side, you can see the blood. When did that happen?

You spit at it but before your venom can reach her, the wound, and the rest of her body besides, turns to dust.
And from within the cloud, the green serpent springs!

She wraps herself around your ankle before you can hit the ground, her superior mass keeping you up as she curls up your leg and around your arms.

You fall to the ground but you can't get leverage, the immense forty-foot long snake knotting itself around you. What is she trying to do? She can't hurt you!
And then you try to breathe and you realise. It's true that your Dragon Scales prevent her from crushing you. But her tail is wrapped around you tightly enough that in order to breathe, your chest has to push against her. Your strengths are equal but her leverage is far superior and you cannot move her with your chest alone.

Your arms are held, her coils just as strong as you are. Your lungs cannot fill themselves.


>Return to your true form.

>Return to your true form and grow.

>Return to your true form but only for a moment before reforming your human shape in a different position.

>Try to Rattle her.

>Other

>>279781
>>Try to Rattle her.
Let's put some fear into her for once.

>>279781
>Try to Rattle her.
>Return to your true form but only for a moment before reforming your human shape in a different position.

>>279781
>Return to your true form but only for a moment before reforming your human shape in a different position.

>>279781
>>Try to Rattle her.
Use the tongue

>>279781
>Return to your true form but only for a moment before reforming your human shape in a different position.

>Try to Rattle her.
>Return to your true form but only for a moment before reforming your human shape in a different position.

She's not the only one who can do that! You let go of your body and let it fall to dust, dropping through her coils in your true form.

Tanni tightens immediately, having counted on you doing exactly this! She'd obviously planned on goading you into your true form so she could constrict that but you're already changing.

Her coils wrap around nothing but empty snakeskin.

Your human body reforms almost exactly as you left it and you slip through her as if she wasn't there, landing both feet solidly on the ground.
She immediately wraps around you once more but this time you're ready. You doubled the size of your breasts when you reformed and with them scaled up, she can't constrict your lungs anywhere nearly as well as she could before.

Which means you still have enough air left in your chest to scream out a Rattle, one borrowed from Tanni's own Art.

She loosens for just a moment, allowing you to step out of her. Must have surprised her, huh? Rattles normally only work on humans but with your Art, even snakes like Tanni are but mere humans to you.

>Now find her wound and rub your spit in it. Die bitch.

>Plant your feet on top of her head and trance her.

>Get some distance from her inevitable counter-attack.

>Gloat.

>Tend to Cennen.

>Other

>>279887
>Now find her wound and rub your spit in it. Die bitch.

>>279887
>Now find her wound and rub your spit in it. Die bitch.

>>279887
>Now find her wound and rub your spit in it. Die bitch.
Make sure we eat her before shes completely dead
We need that Exp

>>279887
>Get some distance from her inevitable counter-attack.

>Now find her wound and rub your spit in it. Die bitch.

Now, you know that Tanni doesn't possess the Art that lets her heal through shapeshifting. So that wound is still somewhere on her. So you just need to find it and rub your venom all over it. She's not even immune to poison!

There is one problem however. Tanni is currently forty-fucking-feet long. Where's the damn wound?
You start to push your way through her various coils as you search frantically.

>Roll a 1d100. Best of the first 3.

Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>279964
Die bitch get out da way, get da way bitch.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>279964

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>279964
To speed things up

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>279964
>>279978
Fuck yeah anon!

So, Dragon Cennan didn't even wound Tanni? And nobody thought about spitting in her mouth/eyes?

>>280074
Nah basically we just bought some time for hiss. Probably made her bleed out more than she would have without fighting us too.

>>280074
We went Dragon instinct, we couldn't think that far ahead.


Which ironic since it was an autoloss condition.

Sorry about the delay on this one, had a phone call.

>93

You find the ragged spot along the side of her body, running up and along several feet. She'd pushed it to the ground so you wouldn't find it but she couldn't hide it from you!

You wrestle the giant snake up and roll her onto her side while she's still rattled. Her tail whips up and but you ignore it. It doesn't matter if she slams it on you, it won't hurt.

You expose the wound and fill your hand with spit and-

"Stop this nonsense."

The command makes your mouth dry up immediately. You look around to see the top of the serpent having reformed, Tanni's ten-foot tall human torso balancing atop her snake body.

"Your words have no power over me!"

"Then what about him?"

You follow the coils of her long tail with a sudden dread. Her immense body lies across the corner of the ruined square and the very tip of the tail...is wrapped around the wounded dragon's throat.

"Step away from me or I kill Cennen."


>Do as she says.

>Run over to Cennen to free him. Bitch!

>Spit in the wound anyway.

>Try to talk her down.

>"You're only making me angrier, you know. Where do you see this ending?"

>"How can I trust you?"

>Don't spit in the wound. Instead reach down and pull her across the square so she lets go. THEN spit in the wound.

>Other

>>280104
>>"How can I trust you?"
When she starts talking
>Don't spit in the wound. Instead reach down and pull her across the square so she lets go. THEN spit in the wound.

>>280104
Command Cennen to wake up and escape her grasp with bold red text!
Then apply venom directly to wound.

>>280110
>>280104
This please.

>>280104
Try to wake Cennen with brand communication while stepping back. Be ready to attack when Cennen gives us an opening which he absolutely will because he's great like that

>>280104
You know what? Supporting >>280110

For most of the quest, people have assumed Cennen was weak, or to get to Hiss they could go through Cennen. They figured Cennen was Hiss' weakness, and time and time again we (the players) managed to get through shit.

Let's put our faith in him, Cennen isn't Hiss' weakness; He's her most reliable ally, and her strength. Tanni will just have to learn that at the worst possible time.

>>280104
How would Tanni react to us reminding her we still have the Empress inside of us and that Cennen is the only thing keeping her in check?

>>280104
>>280108
This, cennen's put up with enough bullshit.

>Wake Cennen with your brand.
>Trust in Cennen.

You grit your teeth. Is this Tanni's weakness then? She's so used to victory that she's forgotten that she can lose? She's been winning her entire life. She's over-confident and playful when she could be deadly.
And she clearly doesn't know the first thing about Cennen.

CENNEN, YOU IDIOT! GET UP AND HELP ME!

How many times have other foes made this mistake? That Cennen is somehow your weakness? That he was nothing but a weapon that could be used against you?
They all think that he's some kind of hanger-on, a useless consort who's made it all this way in your shadow. But regardless of what you might say to him, you're not about that.

You stay standing exactly where you are, neither disobeying or acquiescing to Tanni's request.

"Move."
The word has power behind it. It makes you want to cringe and cower and retreat in shame. What are you doing? You're such a fool.

You don't move an inch.
"I have faith in Cennen."

When you first saw those black ships upon the horizon, first felt the collapse of your long-held dream...Cennen was the first person you called upon for a reason.

And just like that, the dragon disappears. Cennen, having shrunk down to his human body, rolls out of the way easily.

Not even Tanni can quite control herself.
"What?"

"Didn't know he could reverse that, huh? Sucks to be you."

You grab hold of her and pull her across the square away from Cennen, slamming her upper half through another wall or three in the process.
Her tail whips around and tries to entangle you but you stop her with a single finger prodded into her open wound.
You pry a single foreign scale out of it. Looks like a Scalebreaker.

"Stop! I surrender!"

>"Nah." Spit away.

>Give her to Cennen to nobble.

>Grab a potion from Cennen (Specify)

>"How can I trust you?"

>"What, you think we'd fall for that twice?"

>Pull her into trance.

>Other

>>280237
>Give her to Cennen to nobble.
It will be easier to eat her that way

>>280237
>"Nah." Spit away.
She's too troublesome to keep alive. Resist the nobbling urges anons.

>>280237
> >Pull her into trance.

Remind her about our internal Empress first first for extra fear.

Let's not repeat our mistake with snake king. Tanni can probably stop the Quedeshi invasion too.

>>280237
>"Nah." Spit away.

>>280237
>>"Nah." Spit away.
she probably has some bullshit going on, but thats no reason to lose the initiative. And she's been the most impolite captive ever.

>>280261
I don't think she can. Hardly any of the snakes are even under her command, that's the nature of Quedeshi politics.

>>280261
>>280237
Actually,

> Rub spit

> Get Cennan to noble before she dies and use wish to immobilize her and then save her.

> Feed love potion

> Trance and prune at leisure.

>>280237
>>280276
This

>>280283
Except using thought brew

>>280237
>>280276
This
Though i really rather eat her

>>280276
After all the trouble she's put us through you really think keeping her around is a good idea? Please be reasonable anons.

>>280293
That's what the trance is for. But this way we can eat her slowly as needed as opposed to when we ate Dad and got just a mess of souls.

>>280310
We need her to know all she knows. Easier to eat her slowly and gain full knowledge than eat a mess we can't sort through like with dad.

>>280310
I bet you voted to kill Snake Dad.

>>280322
Why do we need her knowledge exactly?

>>280310
Yes
Thoughtbrew and the love potion are a powerful as hell
Or we can eat her
Either is fine

>>280324
I think I missed that thread actually. This has nothing to do with that though.

>>280325
She has intimate knowledge of Quedesh and a long life time of it's politics and knowing who is who.. This likely isn't going to be their only attempt against Teleran. all that will be important. Furthermore might get mindhax which Hiss IC would want.

>>280325
A couple years of Political, Social, and Sexual Experience
Hiss would be unstoppable