Character Sheet
Level 19 (92/100 exp)
Punished ‘Venom’ Bob

Human - The most numerous of the races in Zeltanna, humans are average in every respect, yet are nevertheless the dominant species. They engage in every kind of trade and craft and have invented a few themselves.

Wizard - Wizards are the counterpart to mages, they cannot naturally manipulate the aether but do so through rituals. Rituals come in many forms, depending on the race and culture of the wizard. Humans tend to favor the written word and the spoken word and as such their rituals consist of spoken incantations and runic diagrams. Through these rituals wizards can temporarily contract or summon spirits and use their powers. Summoning of more powerful spirits requires much greater preparation and meticulous attention to detail, lest the spirit break free and wreak havoc.

Health: IIII

Stats
Constitution: 13
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 35
Wisdom: 35
Charisma: 8

Weapon Proficiencies
Long Swords (Novice)

Property Skills
Butchery (Novice)
Alchemy (Adept)


Perks
Empowered - Once per day you may speak an incantation to empower a ritual, either making its effect last twice as long or doubling its magnitude
Researcher - You can create completely new rituals at half the time
Copycat - Anytime you observe a ritual being performed you may attempt to learn it
Wizard Poet - You may shorten an incantation by making up a short 6 line rhyming poem to stand in its place

Rituals/Spells:

Spells
Summon Lesser Elemental - Summons an elemental (a spirit which has control over an element) for as long as the wizard is conscious. The elemental can do some minor manipulations of its respective element.
Contract Lesser Spirit - Allows you to contract an lesser spirit, giving you its skill and proficiency for period equal to 5+Wis minutes.

Rituals
Bind Fallen Foes - Allows you bind the spirit of an enemy you have killed onto an object for a time.
Needs 'essence of enemy'
Needs 2 gold coins
Needs runes to be drawn
Repeating releases former spirit
Spirit is bound until the next full moon (30 days) or object is broken, or the ritual is performed again
Bind Lesser Elemental - Allows you to bind a summoned lesser elemental onto an object for 5+Wis hours
Incantation:
I choose to bind/ This Elemental/I hope they find/ It rather gentle/Help me grind/ Don't be judgmental.
Summon Common Elemental
Needs a simple dance (disco hip thrusts)
Incantation (poem): Common Elemental/I call on you/Aid me in battle/What I order, do/Be my protector/And companion too
Contract Common Spirit
Incantation
Needs 2 gold coins
Needs a trivial dance
Summon Greater Elemental
Complex Runic diagrams
Simple Incantation
Time Limit: 1 hour
Requires item (uncommon)
Contract Greater Elemental
Simple dance
Extremely complex incantation
Needs 1 pint of human blood
Simple runes drawn with human blood
Time limit: 30 minutes
Bind Uncommon Spirit
Needs token of spirit (common)
Needs true name of spirit
Difficult incantation
Complex runes on object to be bound
Needs 5 minutes of deep meditation
Time limit: till next solar eclipse (~1 year)
1 spirit per object

Inventory
Travel Pack
Vial of red liquid
2 blood soaked scrolls
Spellbook
6 Gatorant Carapace pieces (medium)
Mysterious Ring
2 stoppered large beakers (300 ml) of red liquid
1 stoppered large beaker (300 ml) of yellow liquid
2 rolled up scrolls
A pouch with red dust
A broken hand mirror
A locked Journal
2 Recall Stones
Iron Knife
Purse
128g 53s
Premier Alchemy Kit (cannot be carried)

>>391023
Aww yeah, we back

>>391070
So it seems
Where were you when quest wuz not kil?

You open the door at the top of the stairs and a blast of snow and wind dissipates against Cyko's fire barrier.

You are in a summoning room of some kind. A large circular, raised platform is in the center of the room. The room itself is pentagonal and where the walls meet, there is a dias with a single, unlit candle. Every inch of the room is covered in a thick smattering of snow. If not for the barrier, which carves out a neat circle from the heat, you would be up to your knees in snow.

"How do we proceed?" Asks John.
"There's a rope ladder up there" Cyko points to the ceiling. Indeed there is a rope ladder there but it's too short to reach. "Last time I piled up some of the snow to reach it. The stuff can't really be called snow, its something else, it packs tightly and it never melts, though that might because of the temperature in here."

What do you do you?

2 hours and 36 minutes left for the fire barrier

>>391093
Pile the snow I do.

>>391125
Piliing the snow requires each of you to temporarily turn off the barrier (so the snow doesn't simply melt as you approach. The cold is immediate and painful. You can barely breath or move and uncontrollable shivering starts immediately.

This isn't going to work. You have Cyko make the barrier again and instead alternate between resting and warming up in the barrier and trying to pile some snow. After 30 minutes of this, you've build a kind of a staircase which leads up to the ladder.

John goes up first and opens the trapdoor (it was stuck, so John had to use his ether-strength to open it). The rest of you follow shortly.

The next room is completely dark, the flame from your barrier fainly illuminates your surroundings. Instead of snow, the walls seem to be made of thick ice -- the floor as well.

"Careful, there's a reverse gravity trap in the middle of the room, you'll fall up to your death if you slip." Says Cyko.
"What do we do?" You ask.
"We have to jump the trap, it's a tripwire that runs through the center so its really easy to miss in the dark."
"Then...?"
"Well, last time I used my rope to swing across, we don't have that now. Technically we could walk across, but the ice is slippery -- and on in incline, so if we fall, we're hitting the tripwire."

What do you do?

2 hours and 3 minutes left for the fire barrier

>>391163
The floor is made of ice? Could we use the fire aura and run it?

>>391187
The ice is too thick to melt from the heat of the flame. If anything, the thin layer of water you'll produce will make it even more slippery

I guess we're forced to cross. Do it near the wall tho. For reasons

>>391163
John focus ether on eyes, to see the tripwire better. Use sword as a walking stick, carving it on the gournd at each step, so that we dont slip?

>>391241
This man has the smarts

Late for me unfortunately, heading to bed. Good to see you back OP.

>>391241
>>391245
"We'll have to walk across." You say.
"And how do you propose we do that? I forgot to mention that there are icicles on the ceiling, the sharp kind."
"John, focus the ether on your eyes and see if that helps you see better."
"Alright, hold on." He closes his eyes and a few seconds later opens them. "Hmm, yeah, I can see much farther and in greater resolution. Doesn't help with the darkness though."
"Would you be able to pick up the tripwire if you saw it?"
"Probably, yeah, if there was just a little more light, I could see it probably see it from here."
"Alright, here's what we're going to do. I'll use my arm-blade to counter-act the ice (you dig your blade into the ice to demonstrate) so that we don't slip. Everyone will hold on to me. Meanwhile, John, you'll keep an eye out for the tripwire. Once we spot it, we'll jump over. Easy peasy."
"Alright, I hope you know what you're doing." Says Cyko. Honeslty, you don't, but what's the worse that could happen?

Roll d6 to see what happens

Also I'll be back later tonight (~4-5 hours), stay tuned.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>391352

>>391357

>>391352
Never even so much as think that phrase.

Never again.

File: whats-the-worst-that-coul(...).jpg (129 KB, 580x868)

129 KB JPG

>>391357

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>391357
you have killed as all!!
also every time some one says whats the worse that can happens? the worse then happens!! naver again

>>391574
you have redeemed me

>>391590
but was i in time??
i know when im needed:)

OP my baby, you're back. I missed this quest, and with some real life events going on I could use the cheering up, thanks dude.

I'm back! I'll wait for one more roll before continuting.

>>391802
No problem family, had some real life issues myself, hence the absence, but it's all good now and we should be able to truck forward non-stop for the next few days. Buckle-up!

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>392146
>>391574
>>391357
The plan goes perfectly. John's ether-enhanced eyes catch the tripwire long before you reach it and your arm-blade keeps everyone anchored on the ice.

10 minutes later and you're on the other side of the tripwire.
"Told you it'd work."
"I'm happy to say I stand corrected. Good plan. The stairs are right this way." Says Cyko, you all follow his lead. "The next floor contains some monsters, nothing too serious though, just couple of ice trolls. The problem is...we don't have any fire. Ice trolls pretty much have instaneous regeneration abilities in a climate like this, without fire they'll be impossible to kill. Only way to hurt them is through burns."

The door is before you. The others look to you for a plan.

What will you do?

We can't summon a fire elemental can we? I think we already made one in the last thread but it died to save John. Also OP, was checking the inventory, we shouldn't have the locked journal because the hooded man took it, right?

>>392422
That's correct. I'll update the inventory accordingly. And yes, you can't summon anything right now since you used up all the rituals you could use for the day.

>>392428
could we make a make sift flamethower?

>>392669
or some more of the black eye bomb?

>>392158
Ask Cyko how he passed last time. I doubt he did it with a rope.

>>392669
I don't know what this is, but probably not since the only person who can use fire is currently occupied in maintaining the barrier

>>392688
If you're referring to the concoction which made you blind before, no, you're out of hydra venom.

>>392732
Obviously he just burnt them up, but he can't do that now because he has to maintain the barrier

Could the barrier burn them? Or weaken them?

>>393239
"Could work, course, that means letting them get close -- very close" Says Cyko.

>>393246
Could John amplify Ether in his legs so he could run around the enemy? If so do this, have us cross to the other side, and have John run with amplification to us on the other side.

>>393258
He could do this, the problem is he wouldn't be protected by the barrier as he ran around, and might potentially freeze to death (it's been getting colder as you've ascended).

Does the barrier affect our weapons?

>>393307
Yes, if you hold your weapon at the edge of the barrier (i.e at the flame) the weapon will heat up from the flame.

>>393316
Then do this with our weapons and charge in.

>>393322
I'll wait for a second vote

>>393425
Okie dokie.

>>393425
Basically that. We're already used to putting ourselves in front of danger, what's a few ice trolls to keep busy?

So the last thread wasn't archived? I read what's available in the archives. Any info on the new character, what Rituals do we still have available, where is Ben?

>>393713
New guy is a fire mage. He was waiting for his friends to show up and help him so we teamed up. Ben should still be with us. QM already covered rituals and stuff in the beginning posts.

>>393713
We helping new guy as he is an incredible cook. He is getting a food resource here and is willing to feed us it I believe,

>>393719
I meant what rituals we have available to use right now, but qm said none of them in a post towards the end of the thread. He probably means none that we have the reagents for, unless we actually summoned a greater elemental already. Have we used Contract greater elemental yet? could we just drain our own blood and have John heal us?

>>393762
>>393713
You've already used the two rituals you can use (lesser elemental and common elemental) the other's as you correctly stated, you do not have the reagents for.

You can drain your own blood, you'll need a container to hold it (your beaker should work). John can then heal you as well.

The new character is Cyko, you may remember him from such books as "Cooking with Cyko: Monster Edition". He's a fire mage character with a penchant for cooking, currently he looking for a Ice Kingslime which he wants to use to make the ultimate ice cream.

>>393677
>>393322
"Here's the plan: first, we'll use the barrier to our advantage by heating any weapons we have with the flame -- that should make them effective against the trolls right?" You ask Cyko.
"Maybe, I've never tried it before" Replies Cyko. "But, yeah, in theory if the wounds are burn wounds, they shouldn't be able to heal them."
"Alright, in that case, Ben, you'll have to heat your blades in the flame and I'll do the same with my orichalcum blade. Then, we'll allow the trolls to approach to the barrier and strike out with our swords."
"Are you sure this'll work lad?"
"No. But, it's worth a shot."
"What about me, Bob?" Asks John.
"You'll attack the place which have been burned by our swords, hopefully you'll be able to decapitate them...Captain." You wink for good measure. John blushes and punches you in the arm.
"Alright, everybody ready?" Nods all around. "Then lets do this." You slam open the door revealing a large dining room. The tables and chairs have been knocked away. Four, 7 feet tall trolls snap to attention at your arrival. Their faces remind of closeups of spiders -- hairy, with multiple eyes and a pair of thick pincers which click in rhythmic patterns. Their bodies are similar to bears, with shaggy blue fur and large icicle shaped claws.

One of them goes down on all fours and begins charging you (you have courageously taken the point). You hold out your arm-blade against the flame and it starts turning red from the heat. Ben draws his wakizashi and does the same. Within seconds the troll is upon you, leaping forward, claws bared and pincers clicking!

Roll d6 to see what happens

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>393971

should I even still roll after something positive has been rolled?

>>393982
yes

>>393982
I usually wait for a minimum of 3 rolls. So yes

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>393971

goddammit

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>393990
We don't do crit fails, right?

>>393999
If I remember correctly, three ones in a row make a critfail.

>>393999
S A V E D
A
V
E
D

>>393999
Also checked

>>394012
3 ones in general actually >:)

>>393999
>>393990
>>393975

You hold your blade out to catch the vile beast in the chest. Your arm-blade sinks into its abdomen burning fur and flesh as it slips easily into the creature's body. It clicks rapidly (perhaps from pain) and swipes one enormous claw at your face. John immediately brings his shield up to block the blow but is thrown aside like confetti, out of the barrier and into the cold.

Meanwhile there is a flash of pale-blue and red and the creature's arm is several feet away from its body. The wound has cauterized from the heat and the troll looks confusedly at a stump which does not heal.
"It's working lad!"
"Yeah, and they know it! Look!" The trolls have wised up to your plans and are now retreating through a corridor. "We have to give to chase! Otherwise they'll disappear and you won't get the exp." You agree, but John is still outside the barrier, you think he might have been knocked unconscious when he hit the wall.

What will you do?

>>394045
Give chase

>>394045
We have to protect our husbando. Get John to safety.

File: 1445834938080.png (257 KB, 500x373)

257 KB PNG

>>393713
not archived?
Have you checked archived.moe/qst ? Thats a foolfuuka 4chan archive which archives qst fully since it's birth.

>>394101
No, I just looked in the /tg/ archive.

>>394045
Is one of the potions we have on our person a healing potion capable of healing frostbite? If yes I vote to give chase. If no I vote to save John first. If we don't know I also vote to save John.

>>394074
>>394124
No, unfortunately the healing potion you have only heals minor wounds, nothing specialized like frostbite.

You decide to let the trolls go and tend to John. He's already turning blue from the cold but once in the barrier his body quickly warms up. It takes a few minutes from him to come to.
"Shit. Ugh, my head. What happened? Shit. I'm sorry Bob." Says John. He doesn't look too injured, thankfully.
"Relax, it's fine. Besides we got two levels from that kill (indeed you did, you are now level 21, you have 10 stat points remaining to distribute)." You say.
"Listen guys, I'm running out of aether, I won't be able to maintain the barrier for much longer. There are two more floor before the Iceslimes, but I'm not sure we can make it in time."
"How much longer can you maintain the barrier?"
"Well it gets harder as we go up, since it get colder but...20 minutes maybe 30." Fuck. "On the bright side (Cyko picks up a coiled rope) there's a fast way to get down (he looks at the window, Ben lets out a choking sound)."

>Continue onward anyway
>Head back down

>>394160
>>Continue onward anyway

>>394160
Also taking a break, be back in a few (3) hours

>>394160
>>Continue onward anyway

>>394172
Thanks for starting up again.

>>394160
So I'm a bit confused, in http://archived.moe/qst/thread/302355/#q303336 you write
>You haven't summoned a common flame elemental yet.
But we actually have, in http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/265867/#p278904, and it was not a dragon.

More questions: does contracting an elemental require summonning it first? I'm guessing not, because that wizard with the cursed item didn't seem to summon an elemental before contracting it. (I'm assuming that's what he was doing) Then why does binding an elemental require you to summon it first?

Also, whatever happened to our staff?

>>394394
You are right, I must've forgotten about that summon. Let's just say that the current summon is the one you get while using empowered

As for the other questions, I haven't made it explicit, but basically binding a spirit/elemental is different from contracting it. Binding implies sealing the elemental/spirit into a vessel. Contracting is just making a deal with it to borrow its powers. The first requires you to summon the elemental so you can seal it. The second is just a contract so no summoning is required.

If you're talking about the Fanti Ivory Staff, you still have it, everyone must've forgotten about it (ironic given how much debate there was over the weapon). It allows you "store" one of your spells (i.e a ritual which is entirely spoken) into the staff and cast it at no cost, instantly.

Also I think I'll continue tomorrow, instead of tonight, its getting quite late here.

Yay, OP is back!
You should open a twitter account for us to have a place to know when you come back. Many Anons don't check the catalog daily...

>>394160
I vote for a tactical retreat. We are out of mana, aether and spells until at least tomorrow, and will be facing a final boss after the two last levels. We can camp nearby and come back tomorrow.

>>394160
>>Head back down
we need reast and we now know what to do so should be alot easyer next time, puls got to lvl up

Op, you betrayed my trust.

I waited days, I waited WEEKS for you to come back to me.

You left with no warning, I was devestated.

Why did you do this?!

>>395948
Depression and running out of the meds (and the health insurance which covers them) to deal with it. I pretty much lost all motivation to do anything for a while; no warning, because its not really something I like to talk about.

But anyway that's all behind us now (new health plan, new drugs), I'm here now and will be for a while.

>>395851
I've tried this, but I keep forgetting to use the twitter. Also I pretty much update sporadically throughout the day based on when I have access to the site, and I prefer that to having continuous sessions. Instead, what I think I'll do is just wait for a minimum of 3 votes for anything before moving on, so as many people as possible have a chance to respond.

Also we have 2 for continue onward and 2 for retreat. Tie-break time.

>>396035
continue foward, all risk, all reward.

>>396032
Congrats on getting your meds back dude. I'm in a similar boat with anxiety + chronic pain meds and when I moved I didn't plan it well. Cue 2 weeks of pure agony

>>396035
>>396065
No way. We should be smart about this and retreat. We can always come back.

>>397687
I already broke the tie.

>>397687
>Being smart
Gotta dream big.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>394171
>>394179
>>395919
1

>>395851
>>396065
>>397687
2

>>397767
What about >>396065?

>>397767
You look at your arm. You can't afford another wound of that kind, its better to cut your losses, accept your gains and retreat for now.

You thank Cyko for all his help and in a few moments you are back at the entrance of the tower (you simply cast the rope on the side of the tower and climbed down, easy-peasy). It took some gritting of teeth and a few choice words to convince Ben, but a warrior's heart bears all ills. Cyko decides to remain in the tower to meet with his comrades, he tells you he does not expect to see you again since his comrades will be here by daybreak (it is night-time now). You say your goodbyes and head back to the town.

When you arrive at the town there is a large crowd gathered in the middle of the street. You're expecting another duel like last time, but instead it seems more like an angry mob. They've gathered around a young man and are violently dragging him onto a podium where a noose has been tied, presumably to hang the young man.

>Inquire what is going on
>Leave well enough alone and head for the inn

>>397818
>>Inquire what is going on

>>397816
I mixed up >>395919 with
>>396065

Also you guys have 10 stat points to distribute:

Stats
Constitution: 13
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 35
Wisdom: 35
Charisma: 8

>>397818
>>Inquire what is going on

>>397832
someone else should do stats cuz I'm not good at that, but could we boost charisma a bit?

>>397832
5 INT, 3 WIS, 2 CHA?

>>397845
Sounds good

>>397845
sure y not
also this guy about t get hanged coudl just be a npc and we dont neeed to help him

>>397845
Is wisdom the limit for ritual research complexity or is it intelligence? If we get to 40 complexity, we can resserach summon uncommon elemental/spirit.

>>397881
*research

>>397831
>>397834
You ask one of the gathered townsman what the problem is.
"This bastard just came in to our town and started harassing everyone. Killed three villagers, one of 'em a kid. Scum like him deserve the noose and that's exactly what we're giving him." The crowd suddenly silences. The young man's head is put into the noose, his executioner asks him if he has any last words; he does.
"You're all just code! You're all nothing! Lower than ratshit! You hear me? Fucking computer programs, that's all you are! You have no value
or worth. I'll kill a thousand of you with a fucking smile because it doesn't matter, none of you --" His mouth is gagged, he struggles against the strong arms of the executioner, but it does him no good. The floors are released and the rest is somehow too gruesome to watch. You turn away and head for the inn.
"Computer programs...what is that?" Says Ben. Shit.
"I wouldn't worry about it, sounds like the guy was crazy to begin with." Your voice is an octave higher, you were never very good at lying. John says nothing. You can already guess what he's thinking. You think back to assassination of the senator. But pretty soon, after some food and drink and a little music and dance, the worrying events are put out of mind and rest comes easy to your eyes.

In the morning (or afternoon, since you overslept) you find eyes watching you as you eat your breakfast (or brunch).
"It's been like that all morning" Says John, he's already buttering toast; he offers you some but you refuse. "Something's changed..."
"Hmm? Yeah, maybe. Where's Ben?"
"He went out to do an errand or something, he said he'll be back later...so are we going back to Wartun Tower?"

>"Yes, I want to get to the level cap for that place so we can actually start exploring this world without fearing death every five seconds"
>"No we have more pressing business" (What?)

>>397832
Alright, I just checked and wisdom determines maximum ritual complexity. I vote for 5 WIS, 3 CON, 2 CHA.

>>397906
>>"Yes, I want to get to the level cap for that place so we can actually start exploring this world without fearing death every five seconds"

>>397906
>>"No we have more pressing business" (What?)
>John, have you loved someone?
We're settling this.

>>397961
SECONDING

>>397906
Before we leave, I want to try draining some blood (a bit over a pint) and have John heal us afterwards. It should be enough to draw runes in blood, in addition to the pint we need to sacrifice in order to contract a greater elemental.

>>397906
>>"Yes, I want to get to the level cap for that place so we can actually start exploring this world without fearing death every five seconds"

>>397906
>Yes.
But also do as >>397961 suggested and question John.

>>397961
>>397981
"No -- well yes, but we have more pressing business."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" You casually take out your iron knife, empty the pint in front of you and cut across your palm -- it hurts but you grit your teeth -- letting the blood flow into the empty goblet.
"Woah what the hell?"
"Relax...ugh...it's for the ritual. I'll need to you heal me up -- not yet -- just...there, ok, please close the wound."
"Ok...I wish you'd say something before you pull something like that." He grabs your hand and closes his eyes, a few moments later the wound is sealed. You wipe your hand of the bloodstain with a napkin. John goes back to buttering his toast.
"John...(he looks up) you ever loved someone?" He stops buttering.
"W-what do you mean?" Yes. What do you mean? What the hell are you even saying? Still something compels you to continue.
"I mean...have you ever...you know really loved someone."
"Sure. Yeah." Woah, what? He looks serious too.
"...Really?"
"Yeah, I mean my family...my brother." You sigh.
"No you idiot, of course you love your family. Who doesn't love their family?"
"So what then? ...like romantically?"
"Yeah. Didn't you ask me once if I had a girlfriend?" He's blushing now. "So same question -- kind of -- to you."
"No. I mean yes, I have -- had -- a girlfriend, but not anymore." Well then, that's a surprise.
"What happened?"
"What?"
"With your girlfriend, what happened? Why'd you break up?"
"Look why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" His embarrassment has turned to anger.
"Sorry...I-you don't have to say if you don't want to. I overstepped. Sorry." He clears his throat.
"...she said I became 'distant' -- after the accident--and I guess I was, really. It's like you said...the presence of it, the immediacy, never really leaves you."
"What a heartless bitch."
"No. No, she grieved too at first, maybe even more than me. She cried. But...it didn't last. For her it was just temporary, a thing that happened, and then other things happened, but for me it kept happening. I would wake up and think he was there in his room. Like really there, as if I heard him stir you know? And even though I knew he wasn't I would run to his room and...nothing." He sighs. "And so we just stopped seeing each other. It's a typical enough story, I guess." He shrugged. "So it goes." He went back to putting his attention on the bread. You want to say something, but Ben walks in and joins you.
"Well lads, are we going back to that infernal tower again? If not, I've found something we could do instead."

>Go to the tower
>Hear Ben out

>>398261
>>Hear Ben out

We'll have to work harder on the John route.

>>398261
>>Go to the tower
and ask hi about it on the way to tower

I'm conflicted.
If Cyko has met up with a bunch of high-level friends, he might have cleared the tower already. Of course, he might still be in the tower, and we didn't friend him, and who knows when we'll meet him again?

>>398261
Hear him out

>Cast the tie-breaking vote, go to sleep.
>Excited to check back in on the thread
>OP ignores my vote and goes with whatever they're doing

This isn't the first time you've 'missed' a vote of mine OP.

You Velo?

>>398745
No dude, someone else voted as well so he had to roll for it. Wasn't a bias, just someone else voted as well

>>398757
He 'mixed up my vote' by his own admission, mine was the tie-breaker to end the indecision- he wasn't asking for more.

OP has done similar things in previous threads... I'm suspecting OP of either being Velo or becoming very Velo.

>>398768
No, he was referencing that he mixed up your vote for forward >>396065 and this vote for retreat >>397687

This would still be 3v3.

>>397816
pointed out he mixed them up and OP says as much in >>397832

>>398790
How do we know you're not OP playing his own quest?

I'm right aren't I!

>>398261
>Hear Ben out.
So who had the bad girlfriend story? Us or John?

>>398745
Basically this: >>398790, and what's Velo? Is this a fresh meme I'm not familiar with?
>>398808
Because we have trip-codes and I'm not computer-savvy enough to by-pass them (I'd love to know how though, so I can by-pass the annoying 3-thread limit).

>>398516
>>398271
>>399006
"What kind of job are we talking Ben?" Ben looks relieved, his fear of heights must be quite deep-rooted.
"Well you lads saw the lynching yesterday right?" Nods all around. "Well according to the townsfolk, things like that aren't normal. Normally, there would be a court, a hearing and then imprisonment or hard labor. But recently, tensions have been mounting -- have you noticed all the black around here?" You look out the window of the inn, there are an unnatural number of black banners on everyone's doors and windows, you remember it had something to do with someone's daughter being killed. "Well that's because everyone is in mourning for the Duke's daughter. She was kidnapped some time ago by Elves and held for ransom. Her father couldn't pay in time and she was killed -- in the Elven fashion." He gives you both a grave look after that last part. You return a confused look. "That is to say...they ate her." Woah, what the fuck? "Well, drained her of all her blood is more accurate, but in essence it is the same."
"Is that...normal?" Asks John.
"That is how the Elves feed, if that's what you mean; that is what their biology dictates. They are all hematophages." Wait a minute. Wait. What "Elves"? You haven't seen a single Elf since you got here. Then you realize that the only creature you've encountered which looks like it sucks blood for a living, were the green chimpsquitoes -- so those are the Elves? The Dwarves are ants the Elves are blood-sucking chimpanzee's, the devs definitely had a sense of humor. Ben continues, "The problem, of course, is that according to the Treaty of Flowing Scarlet, Elves may not feed on sentient creatures, all blood must be taken from livestock or sentient creatures who died from natural causes and, as per terms of the treaty, these things would be provided by the other races to sustain friendly relations with the Elves."
"So then, it was illegal, what they did -- I mean the kidnapping obviously but the drinking...blood part." Says John, he's turned pale -- is he squeamish about blood?
"Exactly. That was a direct violation of the treaty and therefore...a simple act of banditry has now become a bear-trap which might snap at any moment and erupt into war." Blood-sucking Elves, inciting wars by kidnapping princesses and draining them like milkshake -- if only real-life politics were this interesting.
"Wait, but what does this have to do with us? Or the job?" Ben hesitates.
"Normally I don't get involved in matters of this kind...political matters -- I have a bad history with such things"
(1/2)

>>399006
John had a "bad" girlfriend, though it was mostly spillover from his family tragedy and less his girlfriend being a bitch.

>>399070
"But in this case -- we can make a difference here. We can prevent outright war if we do this subtly and carefully. It's the kind of job the Guild of Five Rings is sometimes hired for. We stop trouble before it arises and such an opportunity has arisen."
"You still haven't told us what we have to do." You have a bad feeling about this, you are reminded of the job Lavozieh had you do. You look at John, he's frowning, probably thinking what you are. Ben leans and whispers
"Not here. Let's go upstairs to the room" You both follow his lead, he closes the door behind you once you enter the room.
"The Duke knows where the Elven bandits are hiding. It's a forest to the south, near a small village called Logenstead." Hold up, wasn't that where the fucking dragon was flying around? "The Duke is planning to sending a full force of armed warriors to capture and destroy the bandits. Such an overtly military act would be seen by the Elves as a declaration of war, and while the Elves are slow in many things, age, mercy, anger, they are quick in martial decisions. They will gather and they will fight." Ben pauses for some dramatic effect. "That's why we'll get there first and kill them. We'll assassinate them in secret and let the soldiers find their broken corpses. They'll return with word of the assailant's death at the hand of someone else, the Duke will be appeased and the Elves have no one to blame. Even better, their momentary transgression of the treaty is absolved. This we must do...a necessary subterfuge for the greater good."

What say you?

>>399141
"For the greater good."

>>399141
To prevent total war we must destroy the savages ourselves.

Agree, have Ben call in his guild for back-up.
We mobilise as soon as possible.

Have you distributed our stat points yet?

>>399153
5 Wisdom
3 Constitution
2 Charisma

The logical choice.

>>399141
Well shit. Lets go kill some elves.

>>399153
Yes (on the gdrive character sheet). Nothing much happens after you distribute your stats. Maybe the effects are logarithmic?

>>399161
I went with>>397845 since it had the most votes

>>399168
>You went with the meme

Whelp, no summoning uncommon elementals for us.

Would've liked to summon an uncommon shadow elemental and have it cloak us / assassinate the elves for us.

>>399070
>Because we have trip-codes and
Do you mean poster ID? It's based on IP, I think. At least I have dynamic IP and my ID changes daily. You could use a smartphone to post arbitrary amounts of threads, if you had mobile data (not wifi).

>>399170
We would need to research it first, and I'm guessing that research would take at least a week. I think we still have two days to go on our current research before we can create a new ritual anyway. (Don't get me wrong, I also voted 5 WIS. It's just not that urgent.)

>>399164
kill elves
kill them with fire
then kill dragon couse fuck it whay not or could we get the dragon to kill them?

>>399151
>>399153
>>399164
>>399205

"For the greater good." You say, you are in agreement with all that's been said so far but John doesn't look so sure. "John? What are you thinking?"
"I don't know. I mean yeah we have to...do something about these bandits to prevent the war, but outright killing them?"
"They are savages lad, they drank the blood of a young girl. The Duke's daughter was only 16.They are criminals, their deaths are long in coming."
"Still, how do we even know this going to work? What if the Duke isn't satisfied or Elves appeased?"
"What is it with you man? I know your brother died and everything but these are...(you realize Ben is still in the room) well you know what they are. Their death's won't matter!" You regret saying it immediately after you do so. John stands up (you realize now he's been dumping his points into Con and his arms are a lot bigger than yours now) and walks to the door, before leaving he says "You know you're beginning to sound like that guy who was hanged last night. I hope you don't end up like him too." Then he slams the door and leaves. Fuck.
"It's not a comfortable thing we are doing lad. Murder, is murder."
"But we are doing it to prevent greater tragedies! Aren't we? Why can't he understand that? I too have lost someone, but that doesn't change the facts of the matter (the fact that this is only a simulation and whether war breaks out or not doesn't truly concern you, only the advanced of your character. Code is only code, right?)."
"He'll come around. He's a good man, John. He understands the necessity, but it's not always easy to stomach. He'll come around, lad, don't worry." You know that Ben is right, but you still feel angry at John, angry at what you perceive as a weakness of his. His unwillingness to bend his morals (which can't even apply in this world) to accomplish something greater. Or perhaps, in a deeper sense, you despise your own weakness in the real world and are only trying to overcompensate for it here.

But self-awareness doesn't change anything. You'll kill these Elves and John will help you do it. And whatever happens will happen. War, murder, politics, who really gives a shit? Your world -- the real one, the one where consequences actually matter -- is immeasurably far away, from this simulation. After all...it's just a game.

A few hours later John returns to the room, silent. No apologies or words are exchanged. You begin the strategy meeting. Obviously you'll have to leave as soon as possible, so you can outrun the soldiers, but the Elves are masters of the forest, having lived there their whole lives and become biologically perfect predators of the jungle, they will be difficult to find and even harder to assassinate. Ben wants to hire additional help but doing so entails more risk on the "covert" part of this operation.

What will you do?

>>399171
Yes, that's what I meant. As you can see I'm not competent enough to attempt something like that.

>>399221
Call
In
The
Guild
Troops

>>399221
It looks like we have to leave quick, so no asking for the other guild members to get here. We could do a quick check for cyko in the town right? He may be willing to help.

>>399221
get ready o leave fr the muder party
but also we can tell john that this sorta thing happen all the time in the real world as well
or would he rather 1000 of peopel to die becouse he wouldnt help, we all will be standing knee deep in blood and boieds but lest he was beening honest and has a clear heart from not doing this thing to stop it all
i sorta want a war to happen now to prove and rub johns fuckign face it this fact

>>399286
Johns innocence is one of his charm points though.

>>399289
no one is innocent
and it can and will get both you and other people killed his got to grow the fuck up
in this world we lose body parts, npc die for reals and all the other shit going on, not to mention all the kill he has done to mosnters already

>>399286
Oh my god
He's back
The guy who types like... that.
The guy who wanted to kill a dragon wi a minor earth elemental.

He's back.

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>>399306
im back bitches
thanks for noticing
and it could have worked,

>>399221
I see the John route is a difficult one to pursue. Whatever happened to making him the best goddamn violin in the world?

>>399358
we need the things to make it and we dont have them, i think its more of a long term goal

>>399306
I remember him, Tristan, was it?

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>>399437
yup
the one and only

Ok, let's get some choice in here to organize discussion:

>Hire help from the inn
>Hire help from the local Guild office (likely the only one in a backwoods town like this will be the Gangsta Guild)
>Go it alone

>>399464
>>Go it alone

>>399464
If we go it alone we get bonus modifiers to our rolls right OP?

It's the fair and just thing to do.

>>399489
Nope. Going alone just changes the story to a different path.

>>399501
>Going alone is just as difficult as leading a strike team

Okay

>>399464
>Hire help from the inn.
We need allies who we can use as meat shields.

>>399503
But if that weren't the case (which is what I assume you're suggesting) then why would you get bonuses? It makes no sense to arbitrarily give bonuses, if you accomplish it despite the difficulty the reward will be greater, but I won't hand out bonuses just because things are hard. That defeats the purpose entirely.

>>399515
Go it alone has the majority then.

Quest is a GO

>>399464
>Go it alone
Gotta git gud.

>>399515
Does binding an elemental to an item change its rarity? Or is there any way we could create an uncommon item right now?

>>399515
I'll just describe some plans.
To summon a greater spirit, how about we take a rock, use a minor earth elemental (ora common one if that's too complicated for the minor elemental) to inscribe runes into it (or maybe we can gat a chisel to do it ourselves?), then bind the minor earth elemental to the rock. Would that count as an uncommon item for the purpose of summoning a greater elemental? And could we use to satisfy both the uncommon item and the complex runic diagrams condition?
Also, is there a reason why we can't contract a common spirit? We should still have two gold, right?

>>399515
Further ideas for crafting an uncommon item:
bind the spirit of a fallen foe to it.
Contract a greater earth elemental and use its power to craft something.
Contract a greater elemental (water?) and use its power for alchemy, for instance to achieve perfect purity of reagents.
Use alchemy to create a novel potion (does the steroid potion we made count as uncommon?)

>>399824
Yes. Remember that the book Wizard is OP by WizofOZ recommended just this to perform more powerful rituals.

>>399856
You can summon a common spirit (and you did already: Agnis the dragon) you just can't do it more than once a day. Yes to everything else, those are kind of creative solutions the ritual system is made for.

>>399862
Perfect purity of reagents using water elementals is interesting, but you'd need minimum Greater to try this.

These are the kinds of deliberations I hoped for when I first started this quest.

>>400148
I don't think we have summoned any type of spirit yet, at least I don't see a spirit summoning ritual in our ritual list. Did you mean an elemental?

The ritual I was talking about is:
>>391020
>Contract Common Spirit
>Incantation
>Needs 2 gold coins
>Needs a trivial dance
Which I don't remeber us ever using. Might just have missed it though. I'm not quite clear how it works anyway, elementals have fixed types, but how do we choose which spirit to contract?

>>399475
>>399574
>>399814
"We can't do that Ben. The more people we let into this plan, the greater the risk becomes."
"You're right lad, but I'm not so sure we can take these Elves out without help." Neither are you. But you are a fucking wizard. A fucking cyborg wizard, at that. It's your job to even the odds. According to Ben's intel the Duke will be sending out his troops in 1 week to search the forest. That leaves you with 3 days at the most for preparations.

There are couple ways you can prepare:

>Attempt to bind elementals to create uncommon rarity objects to summon more powerful spirits/elementals
>Grind some more for levels at a trove
>Brew some potions
>Write-in

>>400169
Ah yes, you're right. No you haven't summoned a spirit yet (of any kind). Spirits are basically ghosts of dead people/organisms. Contracting them gives you their expertise/skills/powers for a period of time (being possessed basically). Summoning them just summons the incorporeal ghost of the spirit -- useful for fighting similarly incorporeal creatures, but otherwise not very useful. Binding them -- I don't want to spoil it just yet.

If you don't have a particular spirit in mind (i.e a particular dead person/organism, whose true name you know) then a random spirit will be summoned.

>>400189
>>Attempt to bind elementals to create uncommon rarity objects to summon more powerful spirits/elementals

>>400189
>Attempt to bind elementals to create uncommon rarity objects to summon more powerful spirits/elementals

>>400189
Since we have three days, shouldn't we be able to prepare more than one thing? I suggest contracting the spirit of an alchemist proficient with explosives, assuming that such an alchemist still counts as common. Using his knowledge, brew some explosives.

My current plan for dealing with the bandits:
0. Alchemy up some explosives.
0.1. Alchemy up some steroids (we still have those gatorade carapaces, right?)
1. Locate their camp. (without being spotted)
2. Summon greater earth elemental.
3. Contract greater fire elemental (unsure on who, John might not want to set the elves on fire. Can we contract the elemental ourselves? Does Ben qualify as a target for a contract despite being an NPC?) Also drink steroids.
4. Have the earth elemental burrow underneath their camp. (assuming that since a minor earth elemental could do this, a greater earth elemental should be able to do it both quickly and quietly enough for this to work) The elves are now distracted by a greater earth elemental bursting out of the ground in the middle of their camp and wrecking their shit.
5. Throw explosives from cover (possibly with help of air elementals, but that might be overkill), then charge in and use power of contracted fire elemental to set the elves and their camp on fire.
6. Whoever has not contracted the fire elemental hangs around the edge of the camp to finish off fleeing elves. Ben would be perfect for this, I think.

>>400304
This sounds like a good plan. If we get another vote we can just go ahead with this.

>>400503
>>400304
I'll vote for it as well.

>>400503
Oh, I almost forgot, make sure to get the spirit of an alchemist that didn't die from an explosion.

>>400304
Time to crack your knuckles and get to work. The next three days are busy but rewarding. The first thing you do is head for the local morgue to search their records for the name of an alchemist (preferably one who didn't die from alchemy related causes). To your surprise, you find a familiar name in the registry: Lawrence Lavozieh, your former alchemy tutor. Apparently he died from "natural causes", well he was an expert of combustibles, who better to assist you then him?

You contract his powers through the "Contract Common Spirit" ritual. It seems the contract only allows you to borrow his powers and knowledge, but does not allow you to speak with him (so the reasons behind his death will have to wait). But armed with superior knowledge of the alchemical arts making explosives (even with your limited inventory) is trivial. You make 2 vials of alchemical fire -- basically napalm. You also make two blocks of this world's TNT -- just add water, shake and throw and the bad guys have trouble keeping their organs inside their body.

All of this is made from the gatorant carapace pieces. You end up using all of them and processing them in ways you never would have thought of without Lavozieh's expertise. You also make three doses of the strength potion you made last time, one for each member -- you're out of those reagents now, as well.

Using 'Bind Lesser Elemental' you trick the game into accepting common rocks as an uncommon item. Assured that you can actually do this, you save the trick for when you encounter the camp (since the Greater Elemental summon only lasts an hour).

You also gather some more blood for the Contract Greater Elemental ritual. And in three day's time, you are ready.

The journey is quiet and uneventful, John has been silent since your confrontation, and although you are lonely you are also still angry at his moral grandstanding. Ben has become more serious than usual, you sense this mission has some personal significance to his past, but you do not press the issue out of politeness.

Ben is an excellent tracker and with John's ether-heightened senses, you are able to successfully find the camp. It lies by a small clearing in the woods (thankfully no sign of the dragon yet) next to a brook. The Elves (which are indeed the chimpsquitoes you suspected them to be) are engaged in heated (but silent) debate using their unique sign language.
"What are they saying lad, do you know?" You do, one of the many benefits of being a player you dictate, whispering:
"The Clan Leader will have our skins Enlon, we violated the Flowing Scarlet."
"Be silent Galinael! Enlon did as he must, and so have we. You were the first to taste the sacred water Galinael --"
"And I was the first to regret it! Listen Enlon, should we stay here and be caught, either by our own people or by our enemies, not only will we be destroyed but our people will be incited to war."
(1/2)

>>404281
"And you would suggest we flee? Like a coward, a Cree bird turning tail on its prey? We are masters of this forest, Galinael! Let them come for us, let our people war, we were the greatest predators in the world once, now we are rabbits!"
"Peace Elendin, Enlon speaks."
"My brothers in the sacred water...we have made a grievous error. Through our own selfishness much sacred water will be split. These humans, they degrade our pride with their petty deals and compromises. As Elendin spoke, we were a proud race once, a free race. Now we eat from the hands of masters like young does. Where went the courage of our forefathers? Now we make our living kidnapping children and are punished when we feed? What would our ancestors say of us? I invite war, my brothers in the sacred water, even now I invite it! Let us die in this soil as martyr to a more noble cause. Rather would I die free then live forever as a slave!"
"Enlon, this is foolishness! (the one called Galinael stands up)"
"Be seated Galinael! You disrespect the rites of the council!"
"Enlon! You will doom us and our people! I challenge you, duel me here, to the death. If I win I will be leader of our band."
"Galinael! Insolent fiend --"
"Peace! Very well, Galinael, your request is granted. Elendin, my spear." A spear of wrought iron with a saw-tooth blade is handed to Enlon. Meanwhile, Galinael draws a strange looking blade -- a flat wooden club with bits of sharpened black stuff attached to the edge of the club.
"You accept my terms Enlon?"
"I do. Should I fall in battle you shall be leader of this band, and let no one oppose you."
"So be it."

>Watch the duel
>Take this opportunity to attack
>Write-in

>>404327
>>Watch the duel
Kill the winner

>>404327
Watch the duel, attack at the very moment one of them is declared the winner.

>>404327
>Watch the duel
Attack if Enlon wins. (I hope I understood correctly that Enlon is the one who wants to incite war)

>>404337
>>404352
>>404480
Ben wants to strike now, but you hold him back. You all watch the fight from a distance.

The Elves form a circle around the dueling pair. As chimpanzee-sized creatures they are only half as tall as the average human, so it is difficult to see them through the dense foliage, but not impossible.

There is no circling like the duels you've seen before. The Elves strike as soon as the go ahead is given. Galinael's bladed-club swings down at Enlon's head. Enlon casually brings up the spear to block. The little blades of the club shatter against the metal. Enlon grabs Galinael's thigh with his left foot (which is basically another hand) and using the thigh as leverage, leaps up and kicks Galinael in the face with his right foot. The fight is over. Galinael's chin collapses into his skull, leaving only a lump of gore.

Enlon, wipes his feet of blood in the brook. The others begin feeding on Galinael, making disgusting sucking noises as they drain him of all blood.

You take out your weapons (explosives and alchemical fire) and potions. You quaff the strength potions, you were able to take out the whole going-unconscious side-effect in exchange for a shorter-lasting effect.

Unfortunately the other rituals will require time to draw all the runes and speak the incantations.

>Don't reveal yourself until you've finished your rituals
>Strike now while the Elves are feeding, and while the explosives, fire and combined efforts of John and Ben cover you, perform the rituals
>Write-in

>>404556
How many elves are there? Did we get a rough headcount?

>>404572
7 Elves, that you can see (well, 6 now) including the leader.

>>404556
>Strike now while the Elves are feeding, and while the explosives, fire and combined efforts of John and Ben cover you, perform the rituals.
Explosives and fire first obviously

>>404556
>>Strike now while the Elves are feeding, and while the explosives, fire and combined efforts of John and Ben cover you, perform the rituals

>>404556
>Strike now while the Elves are feeding, and while the explosives, fire and combined efforts of John and Ben cover you, perform the rituals

If we can get just one solid hit with the explosives, we might take them out all at once. We will probably not have time for two rituals, so we might want to summon a fire elemental instead? Explosives first, napalm second, otherwise the explosions might disperse the fire. Ideally we would use the napalm to trap them in a ring of fire.

>>404556
> strike while the elves are feeding.

Also did Bob ever attach one of his spoken spells to his staff since it would be a good follow up to use since no casting time is required?

>>404595
>>404631
>>404637
The others look to you. You hand out the explosives and give a curt nod. They nod back. Waterskins are taken out and water poured onto the bricks of explosive. They begin to fizzle. A quick shake and then they are thrown into the midst of the feeding-frenzy. There is a dull thud, silence and then a loud boom and the scrambling of feet. Your ears ring from the terrible sound, your head feels like someone shook the brain inside. You look at the terrible gore your explosive has wrought. 3 of the 6 Elves have been injured -- missing limbs and appendages -- 2 are nothing more than liquid flesh. The leader, Enlon is giving orders with his hands but panic has seized the Elves. It is an eerie sight, for the Elves cannot scream...

John is dazed, frozen to his spot and to the terrible gore. Ben too, but he soon springs into action, throwing the alchemic fire to cutoff all escape. John still has not moved.
"They are just code John!" But even you no longer believe this. John leans forward and throws up. You quickly begin painting the necessary runes to summon the Greater Fire Elemental and speaking the incantation, trying to distract yourself from what is happening. The remaining Elves have finally rallied, 3 more have emerged from the other side of the forest, likely scouts or guards. One of the Elves is tending to the wounded. The 3 guards and the leader are trying to bypass the quickly spreading flames. The flames have caught up to the wounded, the surviving Elf tries to rescue his brethren, but they are too heavy and fire is too quick. He is caught in the flames, along with the wounded, and the smell of burnt flesh fills the air. John throws up again and bile rises to your throat.

"The Elves have surrendered lad! John, kill them now! Kill them now John! Throw your shield and kill them!" John coughs and sputters. Tears are streaming down his face. "John! Do it now!" The Elves are kneeling on the ground, hands behind their heads in a posture of deference.

Your runes and incantation are complete. A creature emerges from the runes, a demon with curved horns and eyes of deepest black. His hair is flowing flame, his body is red with intricate tattoos and he stands 10 feet tall a fearsome giant.
"Who hast summoned me? You little man?" You nod silently. "Dost thou know of me, little man?" You shake your head. "I am Ifrit, Prince of Flame, Son of the Master Elemental, Giver and Taker of Life."
"D-destroy those-those who would be my enemy."
"I am bound by your word little man (he looks down at the runes) so be it." He turns his head toward the bowing Elves.
"Wait! They've surrendered, don't do this Bob!" Says John. Ifrit simply looks at the Elves and 2 boulder-sized fireballs erupt out of his eyes and hit the Elves, leaving only a mound of ash in its wake.
"There. Your command is fulfilled. Now release me." John falls to his knees. You speak the word of release and Ifrit returns to his plane of aether.

What will you do?

>>404820
Oh fuck. I guess check if John is alright, and apologize for doing that.

>>404820
Well fuck. I thought my original plan might have been overkill, but this is worse that I thought.

Anyway: Tell John that you prevented a war. Make sure that nothing is left behind that could reveal your involvement in the elves demise, then leave this place.

>>404820
More things I feel we should mention: Their leader was clearly planning to kill more people and would have forced elves and humans to go to war. This outcome is better for both elves (in general, not these elves specifically) as well as humans.

>>404820
Take a moment to reflect, and speak to John about what just happened. Let him know that the people we killed were going to kill many, and wanted to start a war that could of killed untold number of people. Bring up the fact that they even killed the one who wanted peace, and then drank his blood after killing him. I wouldn't hurt to ask Ben to talk with him also his he has experience killing people.

After that we should search the camp to see if we can get any loot, and check to see if we got any experience before returning to town.

>>404978
I'm against looting. It might link us to the attack, and the explosions and fire will have destroyed most of their stuff anyway. Also it might further alienate John.

>>405021
Yea, I can see that. If we level up though I think we need to put a few points in Charisma now, so we have some influence over John since we continue to get more a aloof towards each other. Have we established though if CHA stat has effects on players?

If not I would think using our alchemy to come up with some type of medicine for mental health could be interesting so John doesn't freeze anymore or develop PTSD. Some kind of mental fortitude buff?

They gonna link us using our deceased teach. Or John is gonna blow the whistle.

>>405098
Do you mean Lavozieh? How would that work? He doesn't know we're here. And John blowing the whistle would defeat the entire point, then the elves would start a punitive expedition.

>>405229
The dude we looked up at the morgue. Since he was good at explosives and this looks like a crater.

>>405272
Hmm that doesn't seem very likely. They have no reason to suspect us specifically, and as such wouldn't know what dead alchemist to summon. They don't even have grounds to suspect that any alchemists spirit was involved at all. If we want to make sure, we could still contract a greater earth elemental and bury the entire camp deep underground.

Guys I have some questions on Bob, like why hasn't he used his pebbles yet to store some of his loot, or equipment, and could we combine them with John's so that he can also send his stuff to the same location? Do these pebbles also allow us the transport too since I remember the swordsman who we helped, who Ben later killed used his to transport himself after he gave us the 40 gold.

Since we can see a monster's level, and a player's of they don't set it to private can we also see the level of npc's? If so why haven't we looked to see what Ben's level is? Since he isn't a player we can't technically invite him to our party, but he is our companion so maybe if we look under our player profile we should be able to see him listed as such I would think.

One last question, but if we can learn how to permanently bind a spirit to an object, could we in theory take Lavozieh's soul, and bind it to some artificial body like a mannequin for example, and bring him back to life possessing it so he could become one of our companions, and use his skills in alchemy to our advantage while he continued to teach us?

>>406466
1. I have no idea, the recall stones have always been there (i've even tongue-in-cheek hinted at it at times, but no one wants to use them for some reason). Yes the recall stones allow instant teleportation to your safe-zone.

2. NPC's have no levels.

3. Of course, this is necromancy 101. Permanent binding is going to require one hell of a ritual though. Also there is something else related to this that I reeeeeally want to reveal, but I'm going to hold back for later.

Update in a few.

>>404852
>>404856
>>404892
>>404978
You're breathing hard and fast. Ben is attempting to put out the fire but is having a tough time. John is looking vacantly at the fire.

You slow your breathing, and try to calm down. Holy shit. Holy fuck. Shit just got way too real way too quick. You go over to John.

"John listen to me, I know what you're thinking ok? I know. I fucking know. But the thing is, and you heard them John, I know you did, they were gonna start a war John, they gonna kill people, we did a good thing here. John, are you listening to me? We did a good thing John. And in the end they're just...(you stop yourself before you say it), well anyway...it's-it's on me ok? I was the one who came up with the plan and I was the one who killed them. It's on me ok? John. John! Goddamnit, say something!" John turns to look at you. Your stomach churns at his expression: grief mixed with pain and confusion. Like an old dog that doesn't understand why he has to be put down.
"Lad, I need some help with this fire before it burns down the entire forest!"
"A-alright, I'm coming. John, please..." You lean down and touch his shoulder. Immediately he stands up and brushes you off.
"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" Oh fuck. Not this, please not this. John looks down then back at the flame. "I-we can't travel together anymore. I don't understand this game, I'm not used to...this stuff. I think...I think we need to go our separate ways for a while. I need time to figure this stuff out for myself." No. No, no, no.
"We're still friends right? I mean...right?" John doesn't answer. He takes out his shield (which you had already enchanted with Wendy) and tosses it at the flames. Immediately the flames are put out by the cutting wind. A few more tosses and all that remains are burnt Elf corpses and the ashes of trees and bushes.
"I won't tell anyone about this." Says John. "We prevented a greater tragedy, I know that, so I won't...you don't have to worry...I won't tell anyone. But I just, I need to figure this stuff out."
"What's there to figure out John?" You're getting a little angry. You're tired of the morality bullshit. This is a fucking game. A simulation. Nothing here matters. Not even death. But deep down, you know that you are hurting from what has happened here.
"They fucking surrendered Bob." The curse throws you off-guard, John hasn't cursed once in the time you've known him. "They surrendered and you still killed them."
"Lad, survivors are witnesses --"
"Stay out of this Ben, I know you're used to things like this, but...we (John points to you and himself) are not like you...in many ways. And even then, even if they were witness, we didn't have to kill them like that. We could've imprisoned them, we could've done--"
"That's a load of horseshit and you fucking know it. They were set on war, John, and frankly I'm a little tired of your moralistic bullshit." Fuck what are you even saying?
(1/2)

>>406644
"Yeah? Well I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not some cold emotionless robot that can just justify everything so long as its not "real". Those people were as real as you and me. This "game", this "simulation"? It's pretty much real, code or no code. You don't think that Elf had family, emotions, you don't think it felt pain, loss, joy? So we just have the right to kill them whenever we please, because we're players? Because this is far away from our world, there are no consequences?" You cannot answer these questions. "It doesn't work that way for me. If I ever get out of this place alive...with these memories...I'll have nightmares about that for the rest of my life. So yeah, I know I'm moralistic or whatever, but this stuff isn't as simple as you want it to be, Bob."
"Lads...we need to get out of here, is there anything with the alchemical reagents which can be traced back to us? (There aren't)."
"No. We're fine. Let's start heading out." You say. You don't respond to John, and he doesn't say anything more to you. You return to the town in silence. You bathe, eat and drink; sleep. In the morning John is nowhere to be found. Ben tells you that John has decided to go his own way and but that John told him, to tell you, that "He was your friend, first and always, and he is grateful for all you've done for him and to always think of him as a friend." You're almost ready to cry, its like when you had to move and leave all your old friends, all over again.

But the time for grieving over lost friends must come later, a messenger wearing fancy garb calls for you in the inn. You rise and he comes to you, bows and says:
"I have a message from Lord Arthur, Duke of these lands, can you read Sir Bob?" Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.
"Um...yes, I can read."
"Very well, here is the message." He hands you a rolled up scroll sealed with red wax. You break open the seal and read:


To the Wizard Bob,

I am Lord Arthur, which I am sure you know. I request your attendance at a private dinner at my estate tonight, after sundown. The details shall be with my messenger, the topic of conversation shall be some Elves with whom we have a mutual acquaintance.

(P.S How many recall stones do you have?)

Sincerely yours,
Lord Arthur, Duke of Olekville


The messenger is awaiting your response.
What will you do?

>>406790
Accept. Say one recall stone.

>>406814
This, but ask if Ben can come, and bury your second one somewhere in case you guys need to leave fast.

What are we gonna do now that John is gone? He was our healer, and got us discounts with his CHA stat.

>>407075
We find someone to replace him, he was a fucking faggot anyways.

>>406790
Accept.
Say nothing regarding recall stones.
I'm unsure if escape preparations using recall stones is appropriate, since he explicitly asked about those. I'm leaning towards yes though. I'll just assume he had someone watching the elves, whom we managed to miss completely. So I would suggest transporting one of the linked recall stones to a safe place using a method that's hard to track, for instance an earth elemental tunneling underground, while filling the tunnel behind itself.

>>406790
Accept. We could attempt playing dumb but it looks like the Duke knows what we did.

It's too bad but it looks like we've been locked out of the John route. At least for now. Maybe we should try to be less murder hobo-y?

>>406814
>>407075
>>407133
>>407897
>>407950
"I humbly accept the Duke's invitation" You say, in your best "royal" accent. "However, I would like to bring a companion if possible (you turn to Ben who has turned visibly pale...strange, but then, neither of you were expecting to get caught so his surprise is understandable)."
"That is well, Sir Bob, and your companion is not only welcome but invited. We shall pick you up at sundown sharp for the dressing." He turns to leave.
"Wait, dressing?"
"Yes, Sir Bob, well surely you aren't thinking of meeting the Duke in those...modest garments?" You look down at your dirt-caked boots and your stain-covered robes. Right. "Sundown sharp Sir Bob, be ready."
You turn to Ben. He's actually sweating. You've never seen him this nervous.
"Don't worry Ben, there's no way they could have traced this back to us (but clearly they already have, the Duke seems to know everything and moreover he's definitely a player -- only a player would have knowledge of the recall stones.) We'll be fine."
"R-right. Of course, lad....of course." You are sure you can leverage the fact that Duke Arthur is a player, you wonder if the recall stone question was a test or an interest or both. You wish John were here, you actually miss his innocent moral grandstanding. You summon a lesser earth elemental and hide one of the recall stones in an underground chamber in the outskirts of town, just in case you have to make a quick exit. You don't know how this dinner is going to go down, but you will be prepared -- isn't that the wizard's motto?

At sundown the messenger returns and takes you to a tailor, where you are fitted for fine robes with intricate patterns on them and a nice wizard's hat which has purple stars all around it. Ben wears a simple white robe with a purple sash around the waste. Fancy stuff. You never found yourself comfortable in fancy digs.

The Duke's estate is a basically a castle, with the moat and defenses. A large iron gate keeps out trespassers and other nastiness, and patrolling guards keep out the rest. The inside of the estate is well lit, with candelabras and chandeliers throwing candle-light to leave nothing in shadow. You and Ben are shown into a ridiculous dining room with furnishings out of a cliched medieval movie. Large, long table, unnecessary amounts of food, too many chairs, the whole works. Duke Arthur is probably the most handsome guy you've ever seen, how handsome? Well let's put it this way: you've never considered homosexuality until this moment.

He smiles at you and gestures for you sit down and eat. Meanwhile one of his attendants (a rather well-endowed woman wearing clothing a little too tight and a little too revealing for her) hands him a cigar.
"Do you smoke Bob?" He asks. Even his voice has some weird pleasant quality.
"Uh...no, I do not."
"Well I know Ben here does? Right Ben? Wanda give Ben a cigar." Wanda hands Ben a cigar and lights it for him. "Now then let's dig in!"

(1/2)

You eat the food in front of you. It's not Cyko-level, but its certainly better than the food at the inn. After eating your fill, attendants (more modestly dressed ones) arrive and take away the food and you and Ben are led to a drawing room for a more "private chat" (Arthur's words).

The drawing room has a small fireplace and a couple of loveseats around it -- Italian leather (or whatever the equivalent was in Zeltanna). You sit down.

"Now then Sir Bob, let's get right down to business. Was your little murder mission successful?" Shit.

>Tell the truth
>Feign ignorance
>Write-in

P.S I actually have this week completely off from work so I'll be running non-stop for the rest of the week!

>>408319
> Write- in

He clearly knows about the actions we took, but we should be ok since he wanted to kill them to begin with, and didn't have to do it himself which could of caused a war. On the other hand we shouldn't openly admit to doing it right off the bat. We should lie a little, and ask if he meant when we went after the monsters, and show our fake arm saying no it didn't.

If he persist, and starts to get annoyed is when I would admit to it, since getting him angry isn't the best idea. If he wants to offer us a reward we should see if he can get us our arm back, being a Duke and owning a castle means he should have the resources to do it, after all we did kill the guys who killed his daughter.

Great to have you back op.

I'll back >>408539

>John left us
Don't fuck it up when we reunite and we can still get a good end.
>>408539
I don't know if we need to deny it so fervently, but try to get him to reveal his goal first.

>>408539
Try maintaining plausible deniability until he comes out with proof, by saying things that are easily misinterpreted.

>>408539
>>408655
>>409028
>>409041
As promised I'll be running continuously for the next 7 days

"Ahem. We were unable to reach the highest point in the tower, unfortunately, but we did gain some levels, as well as losing...other things (you scratch your nose with the prosthetic arm)"
"Tower? What in the hell are you talking about?"
"Isn't that what we're talking about?" You try to be maximum smooth, but your voice cracks. Typical.
"No. We're talking about the Elven bandits you massacred in the forests north of Logenstead. The one whose timely demise will be covered up as the consequence of Bezmum's angry whims." Bezmum. Bezmum. Sounds familiar...ah wasn’t that the dragon that you met on the first day? Somehow, this story is a little too convenient, almost as if they knew about the explosives and fire you had prepared. But...how? As far as you know only the three of you, John, Ben and yourself, knew anything about the plan. Could John have betrayed you?
“Well it was a rhetorical question anyway, I already know the answer.” Says Arthur. “It was unexpected...to say the least.” Now that the cat’s out of the bag, no sense in trying to hide anything anymore.
“Well, we couldn’t let things escalate to the point of war (you look at Ben, he’s looking intently at the ground, and sweating), we did what we had to even if it was behind your--”
“You misunderstand me, Bob, what’s unexpected is that you all survived.” What. “I fully expected Ben here and his little band to perish at the hands of those Elves, I’d planned for it actually. Or else I would have never agreed to our little plan, eh? Ben?” What? You look to Ben. He’s wringing his hands and still staring at the ground.
“W-what’s he talking about Ben?”
“Oh, he didn’t tell you? Yes, I suppose that would have been best...I hired Ben. And by consequence you and your cleric friend, to kill the bandits -- well, be killed by them, is more accurate, but even the best laid plans can be thwarted by blind luck.” WHAT. You turn to Ben again, you’re having trouble breathing right. This is impossible. Not Ben. “Oh don’t be too harsh on him, after all, everyone has their price and Ben’s was not cheap, believe me.”
“T-they promised me entry back to my homeland lad, to lift the banishment. A chance to see my wife, my daughter, to see the fields of Menione again.” Silent tears stream down the good half of Ben’s face, the other half, the white ivory eye, remains wide-eyed and lifeless. You taste bile.
1/3

>>409608
“Yes, yes. Of course at the time I assumed it would never come to that, but then I should have realized that you two were players, but with such common names could you blame me?” Wait. This makes no sense why would Arthur want the Elves to win?
“This doesn’t make sense. Why would you want us to die? Didn’t the Elves kill your daughter? Didn’t you want revenge?”
“Hahahahaha. Daughter? Ahahahaha. Ahhh. No, Bob. I don’t have a daughter....as if I would ever breed with these fictional creatures. No. She was adopted. Pure code. Her death meant nothing to me. She was supposed to be a sacrificial pawn in a very well-ordered, and expensive, plan. A plan which you have...delayed, but thankfully, not demolished.” You feel sick to your stomach. You feel in your pocket for the recall stone, keeping it ready just in case.
“You’re sick. You let a 16 year old girl die for some plan?”
“Let die? No, no, no, Bob. It happened by my command. I admit that Elendin was a hard buy -- do you have any idea how hard it is to get fresh blood without having people get suspicious about vampirism? (He shakes his head in disgust) But in the end it was worth it, I was very close Bob.” This is unreal. Seriously what the hell is guy?
“Close to what?” Arthur’s eyes shine.
2/3

>>409613
“War of course. War between the Elves and humans, and soon the rest of the races.”
“Y-you wanted the war?” Says Ben. Arthur leans back in his seat.
“What were you before you came into Zeltanna Bob?”
“What?” Your head is still spinning from what you just heard, but your high Int score is keeping your brain from completely flipping out.
“Your job, or occupation, before you came into the game.”
“I....I was a student.” No need to reveal your age, the less this bastard knows the better.
“Lucky you. Higher education is a great boon, you do well to pursue it. As for me, I was a 36 year old car mechanic. A grease monkey. I hated the job, but the bills had to be paid. Demeaning work if there ever was any, but one of the few where even a person like me, ugly as I was, could work.” He stares at his hands for a few seconds before continuing. “Then I came into Zeltanna and all the deficiencies of my real body disappeared. I could be handsome, strong, intelligent, well-spoken, charming, whatever I wanted. Freedom. True freedom. See...most of the people in this game are pretty stupid. They put their stat points into constitution or wisdom or dexterity, they hunt in the troves for artifacts, kill monsters, typical “game” stuff. But in this world, as in the real world, true power lies in words and appearances. You can be a king here just by having a pretty face and way with words. Charisma trumps everything.” What the hell is this guy talking about?
“Think about it. I’m only level 26 you know, probably not much higher than you, and yet (he raises his arms and gestures around him) I have all this and you...you have nothing. We see where the balance of power lies....when a major conflict erupts, who do you think comes out ahead? You? Players that fight and spend their time “playing the game”? Or, people in positions of leadership, like me? Conflict is a necessary catalyst for advancement, and I was very close to it with those idiot Elves...if not for you. Of course, there are other avenues I can pursue, but that will take time and money.” Shit. You’re getting a bad feeling about this.
“Why did you call us here?” Asks Ben.
“Ah Ben. I called you here to...snip some loose ends.” He snaps his fingers. Fuck this bastard. You are not dying here. You lunge for Bob’s arm and squeeze the recall stone. There’s a popping in your ears and a yanking feeling and then you are in total darkness. Looks like the stone worked.
“Ben?”
“I’m...here lad.”

Now what?

>>409608
Not Ben...

>>409617
Fuck it, let it rip. Tell Ben it may be best to go our seperate ways but that's up to him. Do get pissy and angry. Tell him how much your relationship meant to him.
Depending on how far you want to go, expose the fact that he is an NPC in a game. Destroy him emotionally.
Of course I'd leave that up to a vote though.

Message John and apologize, better to get it down now. After we saw how that Duke acted about the people in this world, how can we pretend to not care about them and call them code? If we did, we would be no better than him.

Also, message Lelogas to tell him what's happened. Better to keep him aware of the information than in the dark.

>>409649
I don't know if we should abandon Ben. He's at least as wanted as us in this situation, and he's a strong fighter. We should go dark right now, leave the country as quickly as possible. Warn John of what happened as well.

Alrighty. Working theory as to what the fuck is going on: He expected us to flee, which is why he mentioned recall stones. He will somehow use our escape to trick the elves into attacking. That means he'll probably tell the elves whodunnit, which means we will be chased by elves. He might still send someone after us himself, or I'm completely wrong about all this, in which case he will most likely send people to hunt us down. Nevertheless, we should go someplace where he and the elves have little to no influence. We can fly for half an our using contract greater air elemental, or for an hour, probably, by summoning one. Dunno if common elementals also allow us to fly. We can also tunnel by using earth elementals. We will need to find out how far the influence of Arthur and the elves, respectively, reaches, which means we might have to go to some town to ask. Maybe this risk can be avoided by asking/contracting a spirit, but I have no idea if Lavozieh knows enough about this, and I don't know if we can contract spirits with relevant knowledge without knowing their name.

>>409753
Fair enough.

>>409649
I like most of this, but not sure about getting rid of Ben, since we can still use him in combat with him being our melee fighter while we stay ranged. If we do go our separate ways we should maybe just say its better to split up instead of telling him its just a game.

We can't go back to town though since the duke is bound to have his soldiers their looking for us, and we can't use roads, or payed transport either for that same reason. That means we're gonna have to stay in the forest, and not knowing what we might run into is why I think having Ben with us is good, plus we can guilt him into telling us his background story.

Should we try, and tell the King about what happened, I would think he wouldn't want a war, and judging by what we know about him he loves the game, and thinks of the NPC as real people, so getting rid of the duke who calls them code is something he would probably want. Just not sure on how to get to him. If only we had some type of beast option in our bind rituals we could of tried to tame the dragon, and have it fly us.

>>409776
You must know the true name of a spirit to summon/contract it. Otherwise a random spirit will be summoned/contracted.

>>409784
Which King are you referring to? If you mean King Phil A. Show, he is not king of these lands, he is the king of the lands south of the Teeth of Zarakib -- aka Noutria. You are currently in the lands north of the Teeth of Zarakib -- aka Etria.

Also don't forget the "Bind Fallen Foes" ritual.

To summarize the options thus far:

>Leave Ben and go it alone out of these lands
>Go with Ben out of these lands

>>409844
>>Go with Ben out of these lands

>>409844
>>Go with Ben out of these lands
Could you draw us a map of the world so we know whats what?

>>409844
>Leave Ben and go it alone out of these lands

If we can't trust him, he's just a hindrance.

File: Zeltanna.png (71 KB, 819x460)

71 KB PNG

>>409852
Here you are. Purple are cities you've been to.

>>409851
>>409852

You are angry. Boiling, spitting angry. You pace in the little hole while Ben cowers, hugging his knees, pressing his hands together on a small candle which provides low light.
“You betrayed me Ben. I can’t believe it, I don’t even want to, but you did. I trusted you Ben!”
“Lad…” Is this how John felt when you -- shit, John, he’s in danger too. John. Fuck.
“So it was never for preventing a war or any of that, you just had your own selfish interests in mind. Am I right?” You already know that you’re not. You know Ben, he wouldn’t have accepted if he didn’t think we was preventing a war or doing some greater good. Fuck. Why does this hurt so much?
“Nothing I say can justify lying to you, lad…”
“Why did you lie to us Ben? Did you think we wouldn’t have helped if we knew your reasons? Did you think so little of us? Of me? I-I...you were like a...” Shit. You feel like a fucking faggot crying like this. “...I thought you were going to teach me till you die Ben. That was the promise we made.” You wipe your eyes. “If you had gotten your pass to go back...would have you left me--” Ben stands up and kneels in front of you. He unsheathes his wakizashi and points it at his stomach. “W-what are you doing!”
“I’ve failed you lad. I’ve broken the sacred trust between the master and his disciple. I lied to you when I shouldn’t have, because I’m old and because I’m selfish. I don’t...I don’t know what I was thinking -- I wanted you to come with me, to see my family and my home. But, and if you don’t believe anything else I say, please just believe this one thing: the thought of breaking our promise, never once crossed my mind. Never. And because I betrayed you, if you want to leave me...still, I will fulfill our promise. I cannot return to my guild, I cannot return to my home, I have nothing, at least this way, I can atone.” He loosens the sash on his robe. He is completely serious. “At your word lad…”

>Let him, he deserves to die for what he’s done
>Fuck that. Suicide is a get-out-of-jail-free card he doesn’t get to play...and besides, wanting to see his family, you, of all people, can understand that. Let him atone by living and regaining your trust.

>>410529
>>Fuck that. Suicide is a get-out-of-jail-free card he doesn’t get to play...and besides, wanting to see his family, you, of all people, can understand that. Let him atone by living and regaining your trust.

>>410292
Thanks for the map QM.

Guys since we all agree we have to get out of this kingdom, I guess we have a few options

1. Go north of Etria

2. Go east towards the ocean where we could find refuge at one of the many unexplored islands mentioned before, or back to Dorter Magic City. (I'm worried about this option the most since I don't know how we'll go through the ocean, and because we don't know how Lavozieh died, and if its related to the assassination he was involved in. It would suck to get their, and find people wanting to kill us to for being loose ends to the assassination plot, like the Duke.

3. Go past the whole ocean to the other side of Etria where the Duke probably doesn't have influence on that far side of the kingdom.

4. Go south the King Phil's Kingdom over the mountains.

>>410529
>>Fuck that. Suicide is a get-out-of-jail-free card he doesn’t get to play...and besides, wanting to see his family, you, of all people, can understand that. Let him atone by living and regaining your trust
Ben didn't do anything we wouldn't, he's also as wanted as us by the baron. Plus if Ben dies I'm confident we get locked out of John route as well.

>>410529

>Fuck that. Suicide is a get-out-of-jail-free card he doesn’t get to play...and besides, wanting to see his family, you, of all people, can understand that. Let him atone by living and regaining your trust.


Don't let him, and try to act cool by telling him, "Sometimes it takes more courage to keep on living with your mistakes."

>>410548
I'd say number 4

>>410548
>>410572
I agree.

>>410538
>>410555
Your mind turns to your father on the hospital bed, lonely nights sleeping at his knees; alone because your mother worked nights.

He seldom slept when you were around, which made you feel guilty, but whenever you mentioned it he would laugh and grip your shoulder and say "I'll sleep later. I can always sleep later." He'd force you to listen to him read and invariably you'd fall asleep at his knees to sound of Ishmael talking about whales (Moby Dick was his favorite book for some reason). After he died, whenever you had trouble sleeping you would pick up his volume of Moby Dick and read and here your father's voice and almost -- but not quite -- feel his knees on your cheek, and sleep would come.
Eventually certain passages became embedded in your mind and you didn’t have to pick up the book for the trick to work, the words were already at your lips and for some reason, some of those words were flitting through your head now. but lulled into such an opium-like...unconscious reverie...blending cadence of waves with thoughts...at last he loses his identity. You look at Ben, ready to die for betraying you. John was right, code or no code, this world was real as yourself. You grab Ben’s shoulders and embrace him. He drops his sword and returns the embrace tightly. You remain like that for a few minutes.
“Ben, I still...I still can’t fully trust you. But I don’t want you die just like that. If you want to atone, travel with me, teach me, earn my trust again.”
“Lad...I am sorry. Truly I am.”
“I know. And I understand why you did it. Ben (you take a deep breath and release it) we will see your family again, this I promise you. So have no reservations with me any more.” Ben can’t speak, he simply nods mutely, clutching his good eye. “Now then. We have figure out what to do. We can’t stay in Etria where the Duke can find us. Our best option is to cross over to Noutria and seek aid from King Phil. But first we have to contact who can, especially John, to warn them.” You open your character sheet to send a message, you actually fall backwards from what you see:


Level 44 (2/100 exp)
Punished ‘Venom’ Bob

…

Stats (250 points remaining)
Constitution: 13
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 40
Wisdom: 38
Charisma: 10



What. The. Fuck.

>>410529
>slay him and bind his spirit to your arm.
jk

>Fuck that. Suicide is a get-out-of-jail-free card he doesn’t get to play...and besides, wanting to see his family, you, of all people, can understand that. Let him atone by living and regaining your trust.
I don't really want Bob to become the kind of person that kills people without very good reason.

>>410685
Our name is starting to make sense now. Fuck, all we need is a cardboard box.

>>410685
I thought you had forgotten it for a minute. Holy shit what the fuck.

>100 INT
>82 WIS
Not sure where to put the last 68 points.
Some split among CHA, CON and DEX but not sure how.

>>410738
I suggest a 3:2:2 split with CHA as the 3, and any extra points going to CHA

>>410685
50 CON
50 DEX
121 INT
90 WIS
50 CHA

90 wisdom because it seems like spirit/elemental class doubles in complexity every level, and the greater fire elemental mentioned something even more powerful than itself, so that would probably have complexity 80.

>>410768
Actually, scratch that, make it:
40 CON
40 DEX
151 INT
90 WIS
40 CHA

>>410685

If I'm right in my estimation, Arthur should have a CHA of about 100, right? So how about bumping our own up to that level.

60 points in INT, 62 in WIS, 90 in CHA, that leaves us with another 38 to spend freely. WizofOz did advise in his book to put most points in INT and WIS, but we probably want at least a little DEX and CON. 17 points in CON, 20 in DEX, and we're up to 30 in each and one left over... for WIS I suppose, as again it was recommended in WizofOz's book to have Wisdom higher than Intelligence.

Constitution: 30
Dexterity: 30
Intelligence: 100
Wisdom: 101
Charisma: 100

>>410831
Why would we need to match Arthurs CHA?

>>410756
That seems good to me. I suspect we'll be hunted hard on our path out of the country so the extra CON and DEX will be useful in keeping us alive.

>>410696
You can thank me for the meme name

>>410849
God bless ya

>>410839
>Why would we need to match Arthurs CHA?

If we match or exceed then we should be able to talk our way into or out of most situations we come across. It's inevitable that he's going to send an army after us, so we could go full Napoleon on him and take his troops for our own (assuming I remember my history correctly. If not, the point stands without that example). I don't think we should ever need to dump any more points in CHA after 100 either, instead we can focus more on our WIS and INT, unless the diplomatic route becomes far more appealing. Which I suppose it may when we reconnect with John, unless he changes his views on how to handle the difficulties of this world in his absence from us, assuming he survives. He didn't really help with the elves, he might not have gained all the levels we did. If he did, I fully expect him to look like Hercules, QM.

Almost forgot, choose a perk:


Hematophile - You may replace any 1 ritual condition with the condition: '1 quart of blood'

Wizened - You may activate the effects of any known ritual without performing it, in exchange you age (Complexity of Ritual/10) years.

Acrophilia - For every 30 feet above sea level (i.e 3 stories) you are, remove a ritual condition when performing a ritual. N.B It is possible to negate all requirements of a ritual if one is high enough

>>410738
>>410831
What do we need wisdom for, besides ritual complexity? uncommon has complexity 20, so greater would probably have complexity 40 and whatever comes after, 80.
That gives us complexity 90 for [summon] [legendary/unique] [elemental]/[spirit].

>>410859
Don't forget, John was in your party, which means he gets experience regardless of whether he killed anything

>>410685
That's a hell of a lot of points. I'd say...
25 Con
25 Dex
70 Int
80 Wis
50 Cha

As a wizard, our most important stat is Wis, but as we've seen, charisma is clearly important. We'll need some points into the physical stats, but we should definitely focus on being intellectual and being social.

>>410867
Acrophilia would be what I would take, but may work against us if we ever compete in the cup.

>>410875
>he gets experience regardless of whether he killed anything

This pleases me. I thought he might get less exp for not "tagging" anything, but an even split would be better.

>>410869

Well, I'll assume it helps lower the "cost" for the complexity by letting us do more with our rituals with less actions, or that there are far more complexities than you're aware of. It could also be more useful with traits we'll unlock at even higher levels. Here's the relevant part from the book.

>WizofOz also gives some advice on perk and stat distribution, stating that getting past level 70 is essentially impossible because of the lack of troves with creatures above that level (though much of the world still remains unexplored, he admits), so that careful selection of perks and stats is essential. He recommends putting most points into Wisdom and Intelligence, with more in Wisdom, since it is the limitation in creating new rituals. He also states that the ritual creation system, combined with the unique wizard perks is an advantage which should not be ignored. He recommends getting 'Shaman' at level 64 but doesn't explain what it is
>Finally he leaves the reader (who he assumes is a wizard) with the advice that the ritual system rewards creativity and that a wizard not limited to the realms of magic like the other classes. He urges all wizards to master at least one trade skill and obtain high proficiency in some weapon. WizofOz also says that he plans to leave the game soon having "...discovered something which even the original three have not"

>>410869
So we max at 90 wisdom then? We can always pump points into it later if we find out its valuable to do so.
100 INT
52 WIS
50 CHA
24 CON
24 DEX

>>410867
Is it possible to use stored up blood? Could we have jars full of blood with us for rituals? Let's find out before we take a perk.

>>410867

>Acrophilia

This would good in combination of a wind elemental which could hover us above, or a earth elemental which could make a small mountain under us.

>>410885
MOTHERFUCKING WIZARD TOWER
No way am I taking Wizened, and a quart is a lot of blood.

>>410867
Hematophile is probably still the most useful, if I understand it correctly, we could use it to remove the timing restriction on our contract greater elemental ritual? If that Is the case, I vote Hematophile.

>>410867

This is a very hard pick. Does Hematophile mean we could essentially do rituals of legendary complexity with basically a gallon of any kind of blood? That's a lot of blood to pack around, unless we can use the spilled blood of our foes.

Acrophilia would work wonderfully with us flying, so as long as there's an open sky wherever we're casting we're seriously overpowered, but it's very situational. Completely useless in caves and the like, or even within most buildings we're likely to be inside.

Voting for Hematophile, it's got less of a limitation on how useful it is.

>>410902
Yes stored up blood is fine. Jars of blood are also fine.

>>410923
Wrong. Only a single condition can be replaced with '1 quart of blood'. Meaning you can always take out the most annoying condition but you cannot take out all of them (unless there's only 1 to begin with)

>>410923

Wait, only one ritual condition. So just carrying a quart is fine, and we still might be able to take it from our fallen foes. We wouldn't be able to do the most complex rituals with blood alone most likely, but it still makes things cheaper in most buildings or in caves.

>>410924
I guess that settles it.
>Hematophile

>>410911
No it just takes away one ritual condition same as Acrophilia, but it needs to be replaced with blood, while Acrophilia requires you to be 30 feet above see level. I like Acrophilia though because it means that if we go high enough we don't have to do any ritual conditions.

>>410867
Acrophilia - For every 30 feet above sea level (i.e 3 stories) you are, remove a ritual condition when performing a ritual. N.B It is possible to negate all requirements of a ritual if one is high enough

As for stats I would be fine as long as INT, and WIS was at least 100. Followed by CHA, and DEX in second with CON last.

>>410892
>with more in Wisdom, since it is the limitation in creating new rituals
The thing is, the most complicated ritual that we know the keaywords for has complexity 30, and the next level in ritual complexity is unlikely to be much higher than 50.
I guess we could keep some point in reserve, in case we come across some freakishly complicated ritual, but wisdom is the only stat that I can't remember having a direct influence on our actions. CON,DEX and CHA have obvious benefits. INT was mentioned during our chat with Arthur as helping us keep our head.

>>410941
But it only negates 1 requirement. Acrophilia can negate all of them. Plus some of the requirements require blood already, so it wouldn't make some easier.

>>410943
One of the ritual conditions we know is
>Lasts till sunset [8] (3),
so I assume that the 30 minute limit is also a ritual condition.

>>410963
If you're hundreds of feet in the air, yes. How often will we be even thirty feet above sea level?

I'm also fine with waiting on this perk until we know more about how useful each one will be.

>>410977
Negating that kind of condition would mean the ritual lasts for only an instant

>>410956

Well I assume as WizofOz is at least level 70, if there was a soft cap goal to hit with WIS he would have said as much in the book when giving advice to new wizards. Especially since we're only level 44 and have hit a point where we could completely pass and exceed that potential cap-of-usefulness. Instead we only have the general advice of "most points into INT and WIS, with most in WIS" and to get "Shaman" at level 64.

Actually, he also mentions that we should grab a trade skill too... Do we plan on following that advice and settling down somewhere?

If we do, I'm changing my vote here >>410923
from Hematophile to Acrophilia, assuming we plan on using rituals to create rarer materials for our crafting.

If we were to get significantly high enough at our present with areo.., could we considerably double empower a greater summon that had no restrictions?

>>410979
>I'm also fine with waiting on this perk until we know more about how useful each one will be.

Also an option I'm okay with.

>>410988
Yes.

Also for those debating about Wisdom, I wouldn't cling too strongly to the doubling pattern I've displayed with the complexity thus far.

>>410985
>Actually, he also mentions that we should grab a trade skill too
We do, alchemy.

>>410988
Empower is a perk so I don't think so.

>>410995
Also I just realized I made a huge mistake, you have 125 stat points, not 250 (5 points per level not 10)

>>410981
Then what about
>>391020
>Summon Common Elemental
>Needs a simple dance (disco hip thrusts)
>Incantation (poem): Common Elemental/I call on you/Aid me in battle/What I order, do/Be my protector/And companion too

It doesn't mention any kind of timing restriction. Rituals so far seemed to have a default duration of "until you pass out". Restricting the timing beyond that reduces complexity, at least that's how I understood it until now.

Anyway, in that case I vote Acrophilia.

>>411003
Are you sure the game didn't have another bug?

>>411001

I have no idea why I overlooked alchemy and instead thought of things more along the lines of blacksmithing. I guess I grouped it in as just a wizardly thing to do, another basic part of magic even though I knew we learned it.

>>411008
Yes I'm sure :)

>>411007
Yes, that's correct. But if you assign a time condition, the new default becomes instant effect. Whereas if you have no time condition the default is already 'until you lose consciousness'.

So why on earth would you ever add a time condition?

1. So the effect lasts even after losing consciousness
2. Sleep mechanics (which you can try experimenting with)
3. Certain ritual conditions have time limits as pre-conditions

>>411003

That confused me at first too, but I thought maybe we got more stat points at higher levels and wasn't about to question it.

Still voting for INT and WIS at 100 each, with CHA being our dump stat.

Constitution: 13
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 100
Wisdom: 100
Charisma: 13

>>411028
I guess I'm fine with this. OP said stats matter less than experience for combat anyways?

>>410985
Also another thing regarding WIS, don't forget that you aren't necessarily limited to one summon/contract/binding per ritual. So the complexity score has no theoretical "cap".

>>411048
So we can have a ritual to summon three elementals, another to summon two, and a third to summon one and be able to use them all at the same time since they are different rituals?

>>411048
wait so what would a ritual to summon two uncommon elementals look like? Would it have double complexity?

>>411057
I believe we could actually have three different rituals that all summon one greater elemental, though I don't know if they would need to have different conditions.

>>411057
Precisely. Nothing stops you from raising an army of elementals (or undead, if you use bind spirit)

>>411066

So could we create a ritual that raises all that die in X-distance from us for Y-minutes as an undead army under our control?

>>411066
Well shit. Raise that WIS up, time to git gud with the pro plays.

>75 points to wisdom
>30 points to INT
>20 points to CHA
Army of one this shit.

>>411073
Once you learn the appropriate conditions (namely 'within X distance', you already have a version of Y-minutes) yes.

Ok, now to summarize. We have the following stat distributions thus far:

>>411086
and
>>411028