>>4547582
>Ask more about Hector's travels. His experience might come in handy for you.

>>4547582
>Ask more about Hector's travels. His experience might come in handy for you.

Yay it's here!!!

>>4547582
>Ask more about Hector's travels. His experience might come in handy for you.

>>4547582
>Ask more about Hector's travels. His experience might come in handy for you.

Not OUR kid.

More information. Writing!

>>4547582
>>4547595
>>4547608
>>4547609
>>4547613
“It’s fine,” you dismiss. “Actually, I’m interested in hearing more about your travels. You’ve been to the islands, sure, but has there been anywhere else that you might have enjoyed?”

“Oho! Well, I would say...either Elerta or Balunda. Shame this whole ‘thing’ between them is happening- they’re honestly rather nice neighbors, and very spiritual and well-meaning, I believe. Hopefully this whole affair is just a case of mistaken identity.”

“Mistaken identity?” you reaffirm.

“Oh yes, you weren’t aware? There’s some tension between them because of some alleged thievery by some Alminian ‘treasure hunters’ looting a place of major importance to the Balundan people. Naturally, the King has no knowledge of it, but they claim that Alminia sanctioned the theft because its ownership was debated.” He sighs. “No one’s come forward with the stolen artifact, but since no one can find the thieves either, everything’s just tense and accusatory. Alminia’s let some investigators in from Balunda, which is what’s keeping things from boiling over so far.”

“Ah.” Interesting. Could be useful? Or maybe not- trying to actually find said artifact would be harder than it’s worth, maybe. Unless your client might’ve had a hand in it…

‘You guess correctly,’ comes the voice in your head. ‘To an extent. For it WAS in my possession, as it was mine in originality. However, my sole servant was waylaid, and eliminated. Now, that blasted idol has been lost to me, and I know not where it is.’ Oh. That’s curious. “More lucre shall come to you should you find it, but know it is no priority yet. My servants shall scour the world for it once I am freed, regardless.’

Ah. Well, there you go. Something to think about.

The rest of the dinner is filled with such tales as you finish eating- much to the boy’s disappointment, he’s sent to bed shortly after, while the parents continue a few things, cleaning up and such. “We’ve a spare small room for you if needs must. It’s mostly for storage, but there’s little in there, and we can spare a blanket.”

“My thanks,” you offer, and let it be.

Later that night, after everyone's well and gotten to bed, and the moon is high in the sky...you figure it's about time. Now, you just need to get out there without anyone noticing. Fortunately, the door is easily opened- you saw where the key was put earlier.

Ah...nope. No one out but the bugs. Not even a watchman? Huh. Well, makes sense, considering how small this place is. You won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

>Roll 1d20, best of three.

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>4547690

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>4547690

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>4547690
Yikes

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>4547690
yikes

>>4547697
Yikes indeed

>>4547697
And saved!!!

File: file.png (8 KB, 120x120)

8 KB PNG

>>4547697
Woohoo!

>>4547690
>>4547691
>>4547695
>>4547697

Excellent. Nothing to see here, people. Your cloak helps with the blending in, and even the beasts have trouble detecting you by sight as you step quickly, yet lightly out of the village limits. It’s not at all hard to retrace your steps, even in the dead of night, and you’re back at the mill before you know it. Fantastic. Now, you just need to let yourself in…well, that, or explore the hatch, first. Seems like both of them are guarded- meaning both could likely have something worth investigating. Now, how to get inside...you suppose you could just cut your way in, really. No reason to make it too elaborate. Perhap-

*Crash*

Before you can think again, suddenly your foot goes through a dead section of floorboard, and you have to risk a quick flap to prevent yourself from going through. Peering down, you can see that it’s a decent ways down, surprisingly, thanks to a ladder...and that there’s some kind of tunnel down there, no less, as well as some old chest.

Well, fancy that. You jump down, just to make sure, and indeed, it's an old fashioned treasure chest. Hmmm...

A quick kick to test if it's a mimic or its general security- and to your surprise (and slight disappointment, it opens easily, revealing...a single, black, stylized key.

No points for guess what it's for, you suppose. Snatching it, you quickly head back up, and make your way towards the mill itself. Whatever else is down there likely isn't as important as this...

The key slots in easily, and the chains fall away into the brush, the padlock falling to disappear in a nearby pile of leaves. Without that, there's nothing keeping the door closed, and so you head on in.

It seems like an ordinary mill at first, if a rather large one- grindstone, center wheel for the whole thing, staircase- a surprisingly large one- leading to the second floor, and another ladder leading lower, which is also protected by a hatch.

>Head up to the second floor first.
>Try to open the hatch, see what's down there.
>Explore around the first floor a bit.

>>4547790
>Explore around the first floor a bit.
That was rad.
Also confirmed Miranda knows what a mimic is.

>>4547790
>Try to open the hatch, see what's down there.
>send shadow-bugs to search for any presences nerby in the meantime

>>4547790
>Explore around the first floor a bit

>>4547790
>Explore around the first floor a bit.
We can afford to laze around. That 20 saved a lot of time.

>>4547790
>Explore around the first floor a bit.

>>4547790
>Explore around the first floor a bit
>Get Gartoum out to explore the second floor

>>4547793
>>4547797
>>4547806
>>4547808
Writing! Prep dice.

>>4547790
>>4547793
>>4547797
>>4547806
>>4547808
>>4547815

Upon initially looking through, there’s not much. A few tools, odds and ends that you’d expect a mill to have. There's a door leading to another room on the far wall, and you DO notice a large stone carving of one of the spirits in the corner, however. Which one, you’re not sure. You think it’s Yuyula. Looks familiar enough. Kind of annoying, but you’re not exactly a devout, so whatever. There’s a table nearby, however, and a book sitting on it next to a candle.

Let’s see…ah. A journal, it seems...and one that’s been written in recently. ‘No changes today. May be keeping it longer than expected due to upheavals.’ That one was written a bit ago, you think. ‘No change.’ ‘No change.’ And so on and so forth. The latest, however... ‘All still seems well. I’ve checked and double checked the path, and there are no weaknesses. For as long as it’s here, the grotto will defend the stone ably. I have been informed that things are getting more dire, and so we cannot risk its movement as of now.’ Oh? Fascinating… ‘An ill portent is in the air. I’ve locked the key to the inner grotto away, and while I would have loved to seal the path to it as well, I must yet do my rounds to be safe. So I’ll have to settle for securing the key in an...unexpected area. Tch. ‘Unexpected.’ Sure. It was practically begging to be stolen. ‘I anticipate having to do this for multiple doors.’ Well, good to know at least. ‘It will be a maze of confusion, and hopefully death should any wicked forces attempt to gain access.’

Well, that’s a rather bold statement to make. No signature, however. Dunno who might’ve written it. You want to say Torvald, but you’ve got zero proof it’s him. Could’ve been anyone else in this town for all you know.

Eh, moving on. ‘If one of mine is reading this in an emergency, I unfortunately cannot tell you what lies below, in the concern that is not the case. Only to trust yourself and follow the spirits. May they light your way.’ Hm. Well, drat. So much for some unintentional help. You flip through the book a bit more, but...hm? No, there’s something pinned in the back of it...a small sun symbol. Interesting.

>Got one (1) Sun Icon!

With that pocketed, you continue to look around. Might as well see about that other door. Opening it, you're not surprised- seems to be a storage room. With a couple boxes in it, as well...they seem new, again. Not much of any dust, and the wood seems recent. Healthy. Well, let's see what they got.

>Roll 2d20, best of three.

Rolled 19, 8 = 27 (2d20)

>>4547861

Rolled 20, 6 = 26 (2d20)

>>4547861

Rolled 16, 9 = 25 (2d20)

>>4547861

>>4547861
>>4547863
>>4547867
>>4547878
The first thing you notice is that there’s some sort of note in the first crate. ‘In case of emergencies.’ And next to it is a short bow. A very well made one, if you’re being honest. It looks like a gnarled tree branch at first, but the way it's shaped makes it very clear these are deliberate carvings; especially the handle area and the general smoothness, not to mention the two glowing green orbs on either side of it. Reminds you of a forest itself, really. Will you use it? Probably not. But maybe one of the girls might like it. Mono maybe?

>Got one (1) Forest Bow!

Aside from that, there's a few tools as well, but in the other box there’s some small fruits, and some small gelatinous food stored in jars. Not really interested- especially when you taste one out of curiosity and it’s...not good. Not horrible, mind. Just bland, maybe a very slight hint of apple. Wouldn’t even make a good jam spread without some fixing up. Not really worth taking.

The next thing after this, at least…

>Head upstairs. Might as well see if there’s anything there.
>Time to head down. Time’s a-wasting!

>>4547888
>Head upstairs. Might as well see if there’s anything there.
That's a 20-roll bow right there.
Need to scrounge this place first I feel, anything to make the upcoming maze easier.

>>4547888
>>4547892
We're getting sidetracked by free loot, but...it's free loot!

>>4547888
>Head upstairs. Might as well see if there’s anything there.
Tbh we can just use Gartoum to cheese the maze, but eh.

>>4547888
>Head upstairs. Might as well see if there’s anything there.

>>4547902
Plus we can use the FutureSight to see Mana signatures and the shadow bugs.

Writing!

>>4547888
Well, not like you don’t have a bit of time. Let’s see what the upstairs area has…

There’s not a lot here, seems like. Further basic millworks, but there’s a sleeping cot as well. There’s also a storage chest there, as well. Opening it...nothing particularly extravagant this time; just some money.

>Acquired two (2) Silver and fifty (50) copper!

It does have a nice view outside, however. You’re not interested too much else here...oh, wait. There is something here, on the windowsill. A small idol. You think it’s of Yuyula. Interesting, considering the purpose here. You’d think it’d belong to the one representing wood, all things considered. What was it? Malamund? Yeah, that one.

>Obtained one (1) Yuyula totem!

Aside from that, there’s yet more tools, and bags of...something. You’re not sure. Flour, you’d wager. Well, that’s something, but not anything you’ll be taking along with you. Lesse...is there really nothing else? You scan the area, and- wait. In the cot. There’s something sticking out...a note. Unfinished, by the looks of it, too.

‘Was informed of the latest developments. I’m getting worried about my boy. Lucas, remember? He was off gallivanting about on an errand, but he’s not come back yet. I can’t go look for him, but I understand you have some connections? Please, can you keep an eye out for him? I-’

And it stops there. Hm. Well, that’s curious, but none of your concern. May as well get a move on from here.

You notice only when getting closer to the hatch that there’s a small indentation in it. One shaped like a sun. Huh. You give it a tug just to be sure. Locked. Well, then…

>Used the Sun Icon!

Sure enough, it unlocks. And so down you go, letting yourself slide down the stairs.

(cont.)

File: ForestMDFirstRoom.png (4 KB, 696x564)

4 KB PNG

>>4547996
Down, down...wow, this is SERIOUSLY deep. You’re in pitch black for a while before landing at the bottom, with torches lit in a brown, circular, paved stone chamber. Someone took the effort to make this, huh?

There’s only a single tunnel forwards, so you follow that, jogging along and following the lit torches. You’d worry that that means there’s someone here, but...you can’t sense anyone yet. For all you know they’re magically everburning or something. After a bit of journeying, you turn a corner- and running into a small door. There’s a switch nearby of sorts, too- a large button. You hit it, and with a grinding, rough noise, the door slides open...and you’re met with a FAR more open sight than you expected.

The door slams closed behind you almost automatically as you take it in- a massive, MASSIVE cavernous area almost its own forest, with long, curling tree roots winding every which way down here...whatever trees are being anchored THIS far down have to be impressive. Maybe belonging to that forest you were on the cusp of. Nonetheless, there’s most certainly signs of life down here despite an apparent lack of sunlight...though there’s bits and pieces of SOMETHING shining through on occasion, apart from the cavern’s own astounding, iridescent glow. There’s also clear signs of...well.

Someone was down here, all right. In the center of the massive room is what looks like a square, carved stone platform area, surrounded by four pillars. Straight ahead of you a ways in the distance is another door. It’s on a raised platform, however, and it’d take anyone not possessed of your talent for jumping a grappling hook or some other way to get up there. As you investigate the room, you notice there’s two other doors on either side of the room- both of them are more easily accessible, having paths from each leading to the center platform. Both have a switch nearby but the one on the left has some noticeable foliage covering it. There’s also another statue on the right, next to its door- but this one seems to be connected to a fountain. One that’s bone dry, mind you. You can see there’s an open hole that feeds into the fountain, clearly meant to expel water.

‘Fascinating…’ you hear Ah-Rul grumble. ‘This labyrinth may well befuddle lesser minds, but one of my servants? A trifle.’ Yeah, maybe.

>Might as well jump straight ahead. Literally, get to the higher platform and move ahead.
>See what’s waiting in the left door- after clearing out all that plant matter.
>Check out the door on the right. Why not- that fountain has to mean something, yeah?

Out for the night, will resume...tomorrow, I guess? Dunno how many people will be on due to Thanksgiving prep.

File: 1606282703062.png (7 KB, 696x564)

7 KB PNG

>>4548006
For clarity, the northern door is the one on the raised platform.

>See what’s waiting in the left door- after clearing out all that plant matter.
Voting for this. Doesn't look like it requires gimmicks.

>>4547861
>trust yourself and follow the spirits. May they light your way.
hmmm

>>4548012
thanks for the run!

>>4548006
>Might as well jump straight ahead. Literally, get to the higher platform and move ahead.

>>4548006
>See what’s waiting in the left door- after clearing out all that plant matter.

let's see what lays hidden

>>4548006
>See what’s waiting in the left door- after clearing out all that plant matter.

>>4548006
>>4548017
>>4548056
>>4548075
It’s just a matter of cutting down all the overgrown plants that covered the left door, so might as well check that one out first. A few swings of your sword is enough to solve the problem. The switch is hit, and you step through the door.

It’s a smaller room, full of more vines and moss. Directly ahead of you is an utterly massive mushroom, to boot. The room curves up and to the right, almost staircase-like, amidst a large pit you can’t see much way out of were you a normal person. Stepping closer, you can see it’s filled with large plant life and small...things? Not porcupines, but just as spiny. More like shells, maybe? And you can just see a small door on the other side. No switch near it, however...In that case, then how would you be expected to get across…or through? YOU could jump it, sure, but a normal person? Fat chance.

There’s a large crevise you see up and to your right as well. It goes up, straight to the ceiling, and ends at what looks like a massive, dangling mushroom itself. To your surprise, though, it begins to wiggle and wobble- and suddenly yellow and orange spores start raining down from the shivering and shaking organism!

>No time for games, leave it- and this room- be.
>You’re not getting infected with anything tonight. Blast it!
>Ignore it; move on quickly! Get over the gap, and find a way through!
>Other

>>4548726
>You’re not getting infected with anything tonight. Blast it!
>Other
Cast a Full-body Barrier Armor. With that on, the spores can't touch us.

>>4548726
>>4548735
+
There's a respirator(?) in our bag as well. Redundant with barriers on but you never know.

>>4548726
>>4548752

>>4548752
>>4548735
Supporting.

Roger that.

File: file.png (588 KB, 800x800)

588 KB PNG

>It does have a nice view outside, however. You’re not interested too much else here...oh, wait. There is something here, on the windowsill. A small idol. You think it’s of Yuyula. Interesting, considering the purpose here. You’d think it’d belong to the one representing wood, all things considered. What was it? Malamund? Yeah, that one.
>Obtained one (1) Yuyula totem!

With this, our collection of fairy statues is completed. Wonder what will happen?

>>4548805
we will be able to summon magical voltron

>>4548805
We will summon the Fairy captain.

>>4548805
>totem
>not the crystal statue

>>4548805
>>4548828
these are two different things, the collection is not complete yet

>>4548837
Is it? It's a small idol/statue, about the same as the other ones.
Might need Handler's input on this.

>>4548840
suptg is not loading for me for some reason, but one of the first two statues depicted red elder fairy - Anga. Then, before our assault on the Drogan fortress we found a backpack - which had 'Anga's Totem' in it.

>>4548840
>>4548847
Okay, now it's working, right when I posted
#96
>The two other girls both have strange, small statues. One of them seemingly carved out of green crystal, in the shape of a...admittedly somewhat rotund and curly haired fairy. The other one is much slimmer and spiky haired, and is carved from red stone.
>Acquired strange red fairy statue!
Sylathi - Elder Fairy of Water. Particularly capricious and flighty, but also very strong.
Mobambo - Elder Fairy of Wind. Similarly, he has great joy and anger in equal measure.
Malamund - Elder Fairy of Wood. Motherly and humorous, but also can be cold and vengeful.
Anga - Elder Fairy of Fire. Hotheaded and powerful, yet hard to control.
Yuyula - Elder Fairy of Light. Said to be the strongest Fairy in existence, and a nascent Goddess.

#97
>Gained 2 silver coins!

>Take anything else?

>Anga Totem
>Small Pistol
>4 military ration packs
>Military Uniform Jacket (Large)
>Strange Orb.

>>4548840
>>4548854
FutureSight scans
#96
Okay…so the flame statue...

>Statue depicting figure consistent with common fairy depictions. Mana consistent with mana signatures from mana-sensitive natural high-temperature energy occurrences emit from this statue.

#99
>Anga Totem.
>Mana signatures consistent with high-grade fire magic found. Dormant state, requires mana infusion to trigger.

>>4548726
>>4548735
>>4548752
>>4548761
>>4548773
>Current Mana: 10000/11000

Yeah, no, you’re not going to let yourself get infected with anything right now. You quickly raise hands and summon your mana armor- that should do the trick in keeping any of those spores off you. They look surprisingly big, and you’d rather not have them touch you. With that, you quickly raise a hand, and send a single magiblast its way. It’s more than enough to explode the fungi...and send a massive cloud of spores up with it. Damnit, you should have a respirator here somewhere...aha.

There. This should work nicely enough. Just in case. You have to try and clear the air a bit due to the massive amount of spores, but you eventually do notice a switch- right where the mushroom was. Interesting. Well, then. You’re not sure how they’re expected to get across, still, but again, none of your concern. You take a leap across, and turn around. Another, far weaker shot presses it in, and sure enough, the door opens. Easy enough.

Walking through, you can see another smallish area. There’s more pits here, with similar hazards at the bottom, and several large, strange monsters; two legged, bulbous headed fungi seem to wander in this room. Only five of them, however, not too many.

Ahead of you and off to the right a bit, another door without a switch nearby. It's 'guarded' by one of those creatures, and clearly barred off with a metal gate. There is one to your left, however, above the bigger pit, and out of reach normally. To the closer right is a smaller pit, with a small, mail slot sized opening sitting on the wall, above the left side of said pit. To the right, sitting on a small cliff is a small treasure chest sitting precariously. You can just barely see a tiny opening behind it, no less. And you do mean small. There’s no room for you to stand on it, even. Ahead of you and to the left, on the other hand, is another mail-slot sized opening much higher on the wall that, at first glance, seems to lead nowhere. At least, there’s no other exit point you notice.

Hm.

>Action!

File: file.png (89 KB, 250x168)

89 KB PNG

>>4548888
>Approach the treasure chest and take a closer look.
>Summon Gartoum
See if he can notice something or poke holes in them mushroom people. Any one will do, gonna have to test to see if they explode into more spores or something.

>>4548888
>Take out the Flamebringer, to burn spores and shrooms standing in our way
>Approach the treasure chest and take a closer look.
>Summon Gartoum
Flames are perfect against spores and mushrooms are pretty flammable too

>>4548888
>>4548899
+
Having trouble following locations. Might be just me though, love to have a map like the first room.

>>4548899
Yeah let's take out the Flamebringer too.

>>4548888
I think this area of the dungeon was made for either an archer or a flying fairy to solve, so many mailbox grates and elevated switches.

File: ForestDungeonMap2.png (532 KB, 2560x2560)

532 KB PNG

Right, forgot I had this tool.

File: 1606355149056-1.png (585 KB, 2560x2560)

585 KB PNG

>>4548922
We're at this room.

>Ahead of you and off to the right a bit, another door without a switch nearby. It's 'guarded' by one of those creatures, and clearly barred off with a metal gate. There is one to your left, however, above the bigger pit, and out of reach normally.
According to this map, the switch SHOULD be at the top left corner. We can leap or barrier walk to it.

>>4548930
or shoot a tether at it if it's a pull, weak magiblast if it's a push.

>>4548916
>>trust yourself and follow the spirits. May they light your way.
So I guess the 'follow the spirits' meant that we have to do these fairy-oriented puzzles? Guess we finally found some use for the hybrid boy - even if he doesn't fit in these tiny slots, he can still fly around and use his mana to activate stuff. This would save a lot of mana for us - don't have to use utility techniques as much.

>>4548935
>You take a leap across, and turn around. Another, far weaker shot presses it in, and sure enough, the door opens. Easy enough.
It's a push.
Hmm, can just snipe it from a distance then. Or have Gart push it in for us.

>>4548930
>>4548943
Right, I was thinking about using Barriers and Air Steps to solve puzzles, but we could either take out the fairy boy or summon some big bugs to fetch stuff for us.

>>4548945
well, if it's a switch, it can be either depending on perspective, or it could be left or right, if it's perpendicular from us, which is honestly how I'd set it up.

>>4548948
It's Bug time!

>>4548950
We can curve Magiblasts mid-flight for tricky angles. An obscure perk, I know.

>>4548951
>>4548948
Things the bugs can fit it. Pretty sure they have claws/mandibles to pull out whatever that's in the holes.

>To the closer right is a smaller pit, with a small, mail slot sized opening sitting on the wall, above the left side of said pit.
>To the right, sitting on a small cliff is a small treasure chest sitting precariously. You can just barely see a tiny opening behind it, no less. And you do mean small. There’s no room for you to stand on it, even.
>Ahead of you and to the left, on the other hand, is another mail-slot sized opening much higher on the wall that, at first glance, seems to lead nowhere.

If not enough, Gartoum can always just phase through and grab the chest. Since there are no conventional exits, I'm going to assume the chest loot is small enough to fit through the tiny opening.

Had a bit following this.

So, attack the sporeshrooms, try to approach the chest, summon Gartoum.

>>4548959
yeah. not touching anything unless it tries to touch us

>>4548961
This boss.

>>4548888
>>4548961
>>4548964

Well, your Flamebringer should be able to do something about these sentient shrooms easily enough…

They seem to attack with leaping lunges, but aside from that, don’t do a great deal aside from burst into spores when they hit the ground, and upon death. It’s not much problem to burn away the spores with your mana armor up, however. So that’s good, at least. Nothing sticky or too long lasting.

Taking a look at the chest again, it’s not much besides what you figured. There’s a small hole behind it that seems to lead deeper, and there’s just enough room on the outcropping to fit the chest itself. Other than that, there’s just the very deep pit in front of it, a few yards wide. You’re pretty sure you could just snatch the chest via Sticky Mana- unless it was tethered to the spot already, which...isn’t impossible. You can’t see underneath it, but there may well be a mechanism...gah, nevermind. You’ll just be safe about it. “Gartoum!”

“Mmmyeesss?” He says as he pops up- oh, huh. He’s humanoid this time. Two legs, two arms, lithe form. Very basic. Head is blank, though. Whatever. “Oh, well. This seems a fascinating locale. What might be the issue here, hm?”

>Mind following that small gap and seeing where it leads?
>There's a small gap on the other side of the room. Mind investigating that while I get this?
>Other

>>4549009
>Mind following that small gap and seeing where it leads?
Might as well let him cheese this, just to be sure. Since treasure chest = important items.
If there's a trap he can just shadowmeld.

This is letting him grab the chest for us right? Option 2 is doing it ourselves.

>>4549009
>>4549020
let's go with this

>>4549009
>>4549020
Might as well.

>>4549009
>"Hey Gartoum, you've been acting a little mysteriously, anything you feel like sharing?"

File: updated my journal.png (253 KB, 356x338)

253 KB PNG

This mission is quite special. Made a new list in the sheet doc to keep track of things - especially the loot.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H43OFoxE9QyMgIqBg_YdPO7IPn7_ES6iST7Xnv9Ou7Q/edit?usp=drivesdk

>>4549074
oh, thanks anon!

>>4549074
I quite like the updates you made there, having a reference log is quite handy.
And now I'm wondering, if faemetal disperses pure mana, how could Miranda make impure mana? Is it as simple as using magical flames instead? Or would... darker powers be required...
Because I don't support that line of thinking, mana is pretty essential to a magical girl, and I don't fancy the idea of Miranda being an actual villain, she's just here for a paycheck.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving if you celebrated it. Short run today because I'm still kinda feeling the aftermath. ...maybe.

>>4550826
I think it implies that 'mana' is another type of energy, that can be transformed into other types of energy, like electrical, mechanical, chemical or heat, etc. 'Pure mana' might mean either higher saturation or other stuff that indicates higher potential energy.

File: 1605389784461.gif (1.38 MB, 400x225)

1.38 MB GIF

>>4550826
>dark energy means bad

>>4550869
and light doesn't mean good, but Miranda has a nice pure neutrality goin' on, and getting a god or demon mixed up in her mana would probably have side effects.

>>4550826
>And now I'm wondering, if faemetal disperses pure mana, how could Miranda make impure mana?
i agree with >>4550863 mana is just another kind of energy and under that kind of logic you can't make " impure mana" just like you can't make impure kinetic energy or impure electricity.

>>4550928
alright, how do we convert magic into thermal r kinetic energy then, does magical flame work on faemetal or is there a conversion ratio that gets absorbed as the magic sustains the fire without heat or fuel? I did ask if magical flame works initially. I wasn't being all edge.

File: file.png (192 KB, 425x444)

192 KB PNG

So we have a really good enchanted bow on our hand. Would be a shame to not test it out, but we don't have suitable ammo with us.

I have a wacky idea of shaping barriers into arrows and firing them with the Forest Bow.

>>4550977
Same deal with the Golden Crossbow.
Yeah I'm taking a page out of Izumi's playbook, since she can generate mana ammo.

>>4550974
with steam. something like using magic to create fire so that it can turn a turbine and then we have kinetic energy
>does magical flame work on faemetal.
according to the shadow king only faemetal can harm faemetal, nothing more nothing less. which means that this thing can be the perfect shield since we are the only people that have access to the material.

Yeah, my head's killing me and stuff. Run will be tomorrow.

>>4550974
Mana is the fuel, that's why there's manacost for almost every technique. Magiblasts are explosions, Power Boost increases our physical attributes, Megaphone affects sound - it all relates to kinetic energy. Energy Channel's flames and Shock Touch's zaps are self-explanatory. Faemetal fucks up anything 'magic'-related, doesn't matter how, it just does (let's pretend it messes up conversion ratio of magical techniques and shorts them out by snuffing out all the mana that fuels them). But it can still be affected by 'mundane' means - forged and shaped mechanically.
>>4550981
Or we can make some nasty shivs/spears out of those scraps we have.

File: Fairy-Slayer.jpg (22 KB, 512x341)

22 KB JPG

>>4550998
>find a sturdy branch
>stick Faemetal scraps in it
>...
>PROFIT
Fairies on suicide watch

File: file.png (626 KB, 564x649)

626 KB PNG

>>4551005
We might not have enough Faemetals on us to forge a blade, but a mace/club should be gucci right? Just need enough for the head.

Another perfect compliment for an unga bunga girl like us.

>>4551012
>Not going for an antimagic axe

Come on, anon, don't you want to hack through an enchanted door like Jack Nicholson?

Anyway, who should get what when we finish the job?

>>4550998
from what i understood faemetal just doesn't react with anything that isn't faemetal; its more like a noble gas that doesn't react with most things, but to the extreme

>>4551023
I think it's a bit too early for that - we still have to visit 2 other parts of the world to get the last Lockstones.

File: file.png (842 KB, 1024x1024)

842 KB PNG

>>4551023
Make it two-handed and we have a deal.

Or make it a halberd. Halberds are underrated and we rocked one before.

>>4551012
we could always add metal faemetal spikes to out combat gauntlets.

>>4551035
The only pair we have is our Crazy Diamond gauntlets anon. And wouldn't that mess with its restorative magic?

>>4551034
Sure, I'm thinking something around battleaxe to greataxe sized. As for the halberd, since we've already got one we took from the job with Izumi, maybe we could enchant that one? Maybe something to make it inspire or restore our allies?

>>4551041
from what i've seen from the metal, it doesn't have any negation aura to speak of, it just doesn't react to any magical(and apparently most physical) interactions. so in theory it should be fine

Writing shortly!

>>4549009
“Mind following that small gap and seeing where it leads?” you ask. You’re not going to try this on your own. If it’s a trap, he stands less chance of getting hurt than you. So why not?

“Hm. Fine, fine,” he acknowledges. “Let’s see what we have in this little hole…” The shadowman quickly slithers into a more snakelike form, and up the wall and into the hole he goes. It’s only moments before his wispy figure shows up on the other end, and the chest is opened. “Aha! Here we are! It seems like it’s...hum. Some sort of coin, I believe.” He tosses it to you, to reveal it’s a silver piece, with a crescent moon on it. Similar to the sun one you got before. Interesting.

The door remains locked, however, but that’s entirely up to you if you want to continue here, or see if the coin might be usable elsewhere.

>Continue, see where the other hole leads.
>Backtrack, head back into the main room. This is getting dull.
>Other

>>4552174
>Continue, see where the other hole leads.
>Have Gartoum check the chest in the meantime.

>>4552174
>Continue, see where the other hole leads.
Let's be throughout.

>>4552174
>>4552183
+

>>4552174
>Continue, see where the other hole leads.

>>4552174
Seems like a pretty basic trial, collect the thinger ma bobbers, shall we return to the atrium so we know how many we're looking for?
>Backtrack, head back into the main room. This is getting dull.

>>4552218
>‘An ill portent is in the air. I’ve locked the key to the inner grotto away, and while I would have loved to seal the path to it as well, I must yet do my rounds to be safe. So I’ll have to settle for securing the key in an...unexpected area. Tch. ‘Unexpected.’ Sure. It was practically begging to be stolen. ‘I anticipate having to do this for multiple doors.’ Well, good to know at least. ‘It will be a maze of confusion, and hopefully death should any wicked forces attempt to gain access.’
>He tosses it to you, to reveal it’s a silver piece, with a crescent moon on it. Similar to the sun one you got before. Interesting.

We're looking for coins and switches. The sun coin was used to unlock the dungeon itself, and now we have a moon one.

>>4552202
Scratch that, chest's already checked.
>It’s only moments before his wispy figure shows up on the other end, and the chest is opened

>>4552174
>>4552183
>>4552185
>>4552202
>>4552206

“Well, might as well keep it going,” you decide. “There’s another one on the other side; you think you can…?”

“Already on it,” he says as he slithers in. “Let’s see here...ohh, there’s a split in the path here. One left, one right. Hmm...oh, I’ll just do both, give me a moment. Let’s go right, first, hm?” There’s a moment of idle humming as he slithers along. “Hmmhmm...oh? Well now, it seems like this opens up a bit. A small room here, but with merely a single beast and a chest. Now, how did you get here, I wonder…? Ah well, away with you!” Well, at least it’s not a threat… “Now, then...what’s in here? Oh? A key of sorts. Small, grass-colored. Vaguely leaf shaped. Curious.”

Very. “Down the left tunnel now, then?”

“In just a moment!” It takes him a bit, but he responds again. “Ah. A few arrows, and a button. Should I press it?”

“I think so,” you decide. With the coin, the arrows, and the switches, it’s pretty obvious what else to do. Not that you need the arrows, mind. Suddenly, you hear a click, a rumble, and the gate lifts up. A shot to the switch, and the door opens as well.

A quick cut down of the guard, and you’re through; though you have to jump to get through the doorway before it slams down.

This next room seems to be split in two, with what looks like a thin wall with iron bars splitting it up. In the first half, a number of boulders are sitting on your right. There’s also a large gap, and a trio of large switches beyond it. Beyond it, you can see a small pool of water with two broken up statues near it. It seems to go further to your right, but you can’t see that far.

‘Hmph. Pathetically simple.' Not entirely incorrect. There's nothing else in this room aside from that, so you end up picking up the boulders, leaping over, and placing them on the switches one by one.

After all three are placed, there's a rumbling noise, and to your expectations, the large gate falls away. Easy enough.

Stepping into the latter half of the room, however, has you notice that to the right, there's a third statue- the figure is faceless, and you can't recognize it, but in its cupped hands, a large green orb sits there. Well, then-

Before you can reach to take it, however, the room shakes, rumbles. The water quakes, and with a terrific splash, soaking you as it leaps out and overhead...

Is a massive, massive, and UGLY toad, a rich green, but with clear waters all over, a vicious mouth with dagger-like teeth, and of course the tongue.

'Bah. Such a creature is of no concern. Eliminate it and let us be on our way!' Well, not incorrect.

>Magiblast time- saturate the thing and blow it away!
>You're going to stab the damn thing in its eye and cleave it that way.
>Actually, didn't you have a corruption skill Ah-Rul gave you? Maybe you could give that whirl...
>Other

File: ForestDungeonMap3.png (633 KB, 2560x2560)

633 KB PNG

>>4552302
Aaand forgot the map.

>>4552302
Did Gartoum have to cut a tuff of grass to collect the arrows? Are we in a super real LoZ dungeon? Because it seems like a LoZ dungeon with all these fairy and arrow puzzles. Good thing we don't need the bomb bag, the gappling hook, or the boomerang. Fun minigame, try to find out which obstacle required which.

>You're going to stab the damn thing in its eye and cleave it that way.

LoZ the weak point is always the eye.

>>4552308
Not even going to hide it, it's SUPER LoZ. Got some other influences, but I've got a rolling LoZ soundtrack running in my ears.

>>4552302
>You're going to stab the damn thing in its eye and cleave it that way.

>>4552302
>You're going to stab the damn thing in its eye and cleave it that way.
I'm getting some Oggdo Bogdo flashbacks...

>>4552313
Mmm
And the giant frog boss while intimidating, is always the easiest, so let's just steal all the heart pieces. The heroes downfall shall be from all the obstacles being removed beforehand, leaving no EXP! Brilliant!

Locked, and writing!

>>4552302
>You're going to stab the damn thing in its eye and cleave it that way.
Ewwwww we got soaked with toad-flavoured water!

>>4552302
>Actually, didn't you have a corruption skill Ah-Rul gave you? Maybe you could give that whirl...
You're on our side now!

>>4552302

>Actually, didn't you have a corruption skill Ah-Rul gave you? Maybe you could give that whirl...

OBEY!!!

>>4552326
BTW Handler, when did we learn the shadow king's name?

>>4552435
From the contract/job's description.

>>4552441
Huh, so it is.
And the wilding beastfolk are primarily from the islands people keep mistaking us for being from. Should we do some light reading on the topic d'you think?

File: josh-corpuz-oni.jpg (492 KB, 1920x2716)

492 KB JPG

>>4551012
>>4551005
By the way, I was kinda serious about it - we can probably make a trench club by ourselves with the the scraps we have and use it during the mission. I don't think anyone here would be willing to forge weapons for us out of something that has fairy blood in it, and we're constantly on the move too. A spiked club is the most that we can get, which honestly is not that bad. We can scrap it after the mission and have Faemetal reforged into something different.

>>4552629
Using a faemetal weapon of some variety will probably be very helpful when the faeries get involved and we gotta smack them about.

>>4552629
The idea has merit but so far we have encountered zero enemies that require anti magic(except for the barriers and even then the knife took care of it). I just dont feel its worth the time and effort to create a weapon that is gonna be incredinly subpar to anything else we have and that runs the risk of breaking the moment we swing it.

Plus i'd rather have a shield made out of the stuff. We already have enough things that can stab enemies and we give it a sharp edge so that we can use it to slash things in a pinch.

>>4552629
If we need it forged, they don't need to know that it's made of icky stuffs. And it's not like we need good (or public) smiths, especially not for something as simple as a club. Hell, I bet bossman would be glad to mess with it once he gets enough stones.

Aaaand I'm worried about actually crafting it ourselves. Milly here is not known for tinkering and we might botch our rolls for such actions, potentially ruining some of our Faemetals. The force we usually operate at will ensure that any shoddy attempts will break quickly from a few strong swings.

>>4552662
Adding to this: faemetal only reacts to faemetal. There is no way to make anything decent in time that doesnt involve some weird and complex way of attaching the faemetal to whatever weapon that we choose to. If we REALLY need to i suppose we can use the biggest shard like a prison shiv and.... thats it.

>>4552302
>>4552308
>>4552318
>>4552321
You’ve got no love for this thing; you’re just going to leap, stab, and hopefully that’ll be the end of it!

It’s quick and easy, with the thing clearly not expecting you to be so fast. You nail the thing in its stupid eye, but it lets out a massive croak, and jerks its head back nearly throwing you off with the suddenness of the motion. You have to twist to land properly, and watch its thrashing about in panic before it dies. It’s taking a long time, though...

The way it thrashes makes you a bit concerned, but you barely have time to correct yourself before it leaps backwards, letting out a massive whip of the tongue. You dodge it, but it’s enough to see the appendage streak past you, slamming into the statue and dislodging the orb as it topples over.

Fortunately, the thing doesn’t break. Annoyed, you take another leap at the amphibious thing. THIS time you deliver a massive slash on its back, which seems to be enough to make the creature shudder, and, at last, drop dead.

Snorting, you look back at the orb, and quickly move to pick it up. It’s...nothing major. Just a green orb. There IS a small crack in it, which concerns you, but otherwise it looks fine…

Wonder if you can do something with it, or need it. It’s clearly magical.

>Gained Mysterious Green Orb!

There's no other ways through here, however. Well...fine. Back to the center room you go.

>Move on through the topmost door.
>Might as well explore the door on the right.
>Other

File: file.png (1004 KB, 2560x2560)

1004 KB PNG

>>4553225
>Might as well explore the door on the right.
There's a fountain next to the right door right? Wonder if the pool of water has anything to do with it.

>>4553225
>Might as well explore the door on the right.

>>4553225
See if we can fix that crack with our gauntlets, then
>Might as well explore the door on the right.

File: ForestDungeonMap4.png (604 KB, 2560x2560)

604 KB PNG

>>4553225
>>4553238
>>4553244
>>4553246
Right, then. Through the door on the right, now. Stepping in, you notice that...well, for one, the floor is tiled. Strange, but not unwelcome. The second thing is that there are three doors in this room. One to your right, another to your left, and the last in front of you across the room. Aside from a few dried and dead vines here and there, the room largely seems empty, surprisingly. The door on the left has a few vines curling out of the dirt wall near the doorframe, and they’re...well, not quite dead like the others, but close, you estimate. Not to mention, there’s a depression in the wall; it looks like it’s made for something, and a small round peg sitting on the bottom of said depression is there. Looks like something’s missing, if you had to hazard. The switch for the door is next to it.

Forwards, there’s two large statues of massive, leafy green...soldiers? As far as you can guess. They vaguely look like their armor is like leaves, with their swords curved and serrated, crossed in a saluting pose. There’s no switch nearby, however.

On the far right is another door with a simple switch. However, you notice there’s a thin layer of dirt on the floor near it. Wait, no. Not dirt...sand, maybe. Wet sand. Hm. Strange, but. Likely related to something beyond the door. It’s just a question of which to go in first…

>Try the left door.
>Try the right door.
>Screw it, break through the far door.
>Other

>>4553299
>Try the right door.
>Other
Prepare to barrier walk in case of quicksands.

Mostly like said missing something's around here somewhere, and I wager it's not behind the middle door.

>>4553299
>>4553308
Taking this boss.

>>4553299
>Try the right door

Writing.

File: ForestDungeonMap5.png (653 KB, 2560x2560)

653 KB PNG

>>4553299
>>4553308
>>4553312
>>4553331
To the right door it is. In fact…considering that this is likely quicksand? Probably best to keep your feet from touching. You don’t use this much, but...well, in this case, you’re glad you know how to do it.

>Current Mana: 9750/11000

The Mana step covers your feet and makes you a lot more sure footed. And sure enough, when you hit the switch and step in, you can see what’s obviously a large quicksand pit throughout the whole of the room. You’re not sure WHY this is here, or even HOW, but so it is. And what’s more, you can see that there’s some strange worm...bat creatures here as well, hanging on the roof. They’re not moving, but you can see them breathing- sleeping most likely. There’s a few dry spots on the ground, clearly intended for you to hop between, and to your left you can see that there’s a larger platform there, unsunken and with a small chest on it. Directly ahead of you is another landmass, but this one has some sort of small statue on it as well, with a cup in its hand, extended as though asking for it to be filled. There’s also in the distance another gate, blocked by some iron bars, and a second treasure chest to its left.

No way to get the bars uncovered that you can immediately see, however…

>Go for the treasure chests at least. Why not?
>Leave the area, try the other door and see what’s in there.
>You’re pretty sure you can cut through the door if you really want too..
>Other

>>4553411
>Go for the treasure chests at least. Why not?
Going to guess the thing that is used to fill the cup is in the chest. After being filled, the bars will open.
Cutting through will wake the monsters up, which frankly we can take care of.

>>4553411
>Go for the treasure chests at least. Why not?
>After that, corrupt some bat worms for later.

>>4553411
>Go for the treasure chests at least. Why not?
After this we can try turning these bats.

>>4553411
>>Go for the treasure chests at least. Why not?
>Keep the Flamebringer around, for pest control.
Do we have a flask/waterskin? I assume that we do, as part of the 'rations'/'camping supplies'. We could fill the statue's cup with some of our drinking water. Or do it the 'proper' way and take some from the fountain in the main chamber>>4548006. I assume that's how we can open the gate without making much noise.

>>4553411
>>4553420
actually, yeah, we can corrupt the bats instead

>>4553411
>>4553415
Let's invite in more friends for Gargles too then.

>>4553411
>>4553415
>>4553416
>>4553419
>>4553422
>>4553426
Well, if nothing else, you can at least go for the treasure chests, see what’s in those. The quicksand doesn’t find nearly as much purchase under your Mana Step-enabled feet, thank goodness, and it’s cake to just walk to the nearest platform and take a look in the chest. In it is something like a small...acorn? That is, it’s a touch bigger than an acorn, but an acorn it is, as far as you can tell. That’s unexpected, but...okay?

>Obtained one (1) Acorn?

As you quickly step over to the the second chest, you find yourself looking around- and on the wall that was hidden to you at first is a small switch- a bit smaller than the door switches, but still magiblastable. You do so, and to your surprise, a small line of dry platforms rise up. Ah, so this is how you were intended to get across. No need.

The platforms sink below as you make it to the chest- timed, then. Cute. Regardless, let’s see...ah. This is a bit more understandable; it’s some sort of wand. Light brown and evoking sand itself, it has small, grainsized pockmarks and bubbles on the main shaft, and two small swirling extensions that wrap around its base. You’re not sure what type of wand it is, but you suppose you’ll take a closer scan at it later. Instinct says it’s Earth related, but that’s just your gut talking. You were never big on wands. Maybe something for Tami when you get back.

>Obtained one (1) Mysterious Wand!

You’re surprised you hadn’t woken the worm bat things yet, but...looking at them, you might be able to make use of that. “Alright, let’s see. How do I do the corruption thing…”

‘Merely will them to embrace the darkness and permit my essence to engulf them. They are mindless and without higher function- they will succumb easily.’ Ah. Much obliged.

You stretch out your hand, and the spell is more like a sludge, weaving through the air apropos of nothing- the tendril splits twice, three, four times as it seems to suddenly stick to each of the creatures and wriggle into their bodies. They shudder for a few moments...but then you see them slacken, as their bodies bulge with dark veins and their bodies grow a bit bigger. So, that’s what it looks like, huh? Interesting.

But, that doesn’t mean you’re done here just yet. Chances are you’ve got to fill that cup with something. You could try the canteen you have on you...but if that water needs to be special, then that’d just be a waste. That said…

>Try some of the water from your canteen.
>Get some of the water from outside.
>Try try the vine door first before you go back to the main room.
>Other

>>4553515
>Get some of the water from outside.
Interesting. Wonder if we can dematerialize corrupted beasts too, and resummon them like Pokemons.

>>4553515
>Get some of the water from outside.

>>4553515
>Get some of the water from outside.

>>4553515
>>Get some of the water from outside.
Also, check with the FutureSight to see if there's something magical about the water.

>>4553515
I hope this room isn't locked based on the enemies inside it, otherwise we'll have to vaporize our new bat... banes? I think we just juiced them with fantasy Venom.

>>4553602
>locked based on the enemies inside it
How does this even work?

>>4553647
videogame logic.

>>4553647
>>4553656
pssssh mana signature tracking

>>4553647
Magic

File: d24imh8-5dfe13d2-6b35-483(...).jpg (42 KB, 620x877)

42 KB JPG

New creature acquired!!!

>>4553683
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM-UnV9TEzY&ab_channel=BWCBoPazyn

Run this afternoon. Got some things to handle that need doing, so today (and yesterday, honestly) are out and about days (as best as I can, anyway).

Writing!

>>4553685
Terrifying, this is my headcanon on what they look like now. Let's combine this with our bugs for maximum terror tactics.

...so I was writing. Then I got a bit stuck.

Then I thought 'well, lemme cook dinner while I'm thinking it over'.

And now it's like 8:30. So yeah. In case you were wondering.

...Dinner was good, though. Beef stroganoff and carrots with potatoes.

>>4556116
Nice, personally can't stand mushrooms but I understand from second hand account they're tasty.

>>4553685
>>4555981
And once we get this lockstone we'll get to pick a new, tougher type of minions. Wonder if we've found something interesting in the books of summoning.

>>4553515
>>4553518
>>4553524
>>4553531
>>4553533

Water from outside is probably your best bet here. You’ve got to have some spare container in here, right? Well, worst comes to worst you can just put it in your bag directly. Regardless, you make to gather a decent bit of water from the still fountain in the main room, and are quick to bring it back to this one. It’s filled...and then seems to drain into the statue itself after a moment. Soon, there’s a rumbling noise from nearby, but nothing in the room changes. The iron bars refuse to fall.

That said, it’s clear something happened somewhere...

"Hmmm..." Gartoum mutters. "How strange. That water has some magic in it, for certain...I must confess my curiosity as to what might have happened here."

>Force your way through the far door.
>Return to the prior room.
>Other

(Gonna try for at least one or two posts tonight...)

>>4556168
>Force your way through the far door.
chop chop, we're on a schedule here

>>4556168
>Force your way through the far door
Yeah no, we're clearly beyond these puzzles.

>>4556168
something activated/opened in another room. I assume that the worst that could happen if we force the door is that some trap would activate and we'll have to waste some mana, and completing the dungeon the proper way would take the same amount of time as trying to blindly cheese through it.
>Return to the prior room.
>Activate Power Sense
map-hack time - it helped out back in the Drogan fortress

>>4552651
>but so far we have encountered zero enemies that require anti magic
that's because we've been more or less sneaky and subtle, and news of our actions haven't spread outside of those countries yet. Now the King is about to grow even stronger and he already wants us to start wreaking havoc, so we'll have to deal with actual elites instead of unsuspecting watchmen.

>>4556181
Switching to >>4556182

>>4556168
>>4556182
This.

>>4556168
Sounds like PuZzLeS.
>>4556182
a vote for what this guy said is a vote I am making.

Run begins in an hour.

That was me, sorry.

Just making sure. >>4556182

What did you mean 'map-hack'? Trying to see the whole map via FutureSight or something? Writing anyway.

File: ForestDungeonMapScanned.png (1.38 MB, 2560x2560)

1.38 MB PNG

>>4556168
>>4556182
>>4556184
>>4556205
>>4556218
Starting to get vaguely annoying, but. You’ll see what’s going on here one way or another. Last time, you recalled the FutureSight helping out a great deal with this whole affair. So this time shouldn’t be much different, correct?

You tap the FutureSight a few times, and wait. Hopefully, this’ll be as revealing as it was back in the fortress...ideally, you’ll be able to plan out a better approach than otherwise.

What comes back is...huh. Well, no points for guessing where the Lockstone is...presumably, anyway.

Still, you’ve got a better idea of what’s what, now.

>Action?

>>4558654
>Investigate the Northern Green mana signature.
Presumably this is the lockstone and it should be protected by a barrier of some sort to prevent "skipping", just like the other stones. But we can try and take a closer look anyway to see what's going on.

>>4558654
>>4558654
>>4558675
This
>>4558636
Didn't we use power sense to smell out mana signatures on the floors of the Drogan fortress? Didn't mean it as 'revealing the entire map', just locations of mana sources.

>>4558654
>>4558675
+

>>4558686
Yeah, I went through and recalled it.

>>4558675
I think the green signature is related to the green crystal key we took from the fairy.

File: ForestDungeonMapScanned2.png (1.47 MB, 2560x2560)

1.47 MB PNG

>>4558654
>>4558675
>>4558686
>>4558687

All things considered, that massive green mana signature is...telling. At least, you think so. It’s not aggressive, at the least, which means that you’re going to need to investigate. If that’s the Lockstone like you think it is, you’re going to need to get that ASAP.

Which means that more than likely you’re going to have to do a little jumping ahead. Quite literally.

It’s a big leap, and you even go for a flap or two to make sure you’ve got the height, but have it you do, and you end up on the raised balcony, with the door in front easily accessible. No barrier, or anything. Just a switch. You press it, and head on through…

Only to witness a MASSIVE door blocking the way, as the surroundings turn to a verdant, rich green. The door itself is golden colored, and in the center is a massive embossing of a wild and warped tree. Surrounding it are five depressions in a parabola. In the centermost, right at the top, is a glowing orb, but the other four are empty. It’s the only thing in this room, to boot.

“Oooh. Fancy,” Gartoum remarks. “And rather tough, from the looks of it!” Yeah, no kidding.

‘Such a defense is bound to have a weakness,’ your client spits. ‘Nothing is superior to my own magics!’

Hm...a quick magiblast at it does nothing, the explosion doing nothing but kicking up stone and dust. As for the mana depleting knife...whatever this is, it seems like it’ll take more than cutting through a pure barrier, no doubt. Hmm...

Oh, wait. Duh. You take the orb out that you'd gotten earlier, and slot it in. It shimmers briefly, seems to sink in deeper. Awesome. Well, you can guess how you need to open this place up, but getting the other orbs is going to be a hassle, you just know it. Although, checking your FutureSight again, you're not going to at least be going through...hm?

Oh. Well, that's new. Also possibly concerning.

'Oho...fascinating. Well, well. Perhaps we have some...unwitting minions for our purposes, then.' Ah-Rul probably has a grin on his face, if you really want to try and guess his emotions, but you kinda don't because it probably looks stupid.

>Wait and see what they do. Might be saving yourself a lot of effort here.
>Nope, gonna confront them right now. You'll deal with the hassle yourself.
>Other

>>4558759
>Wait and see what they do. Might be saving yourself a lot of effort here.
>Activate Hearing Boost.
The scooby doo gang's here.
Not going to turn down free help.

>>4558759
>Wait and see what they do. Might be saving yourself a lot of effort here.
>Activate Hearing Boost
We should set up traps and summon some minions in the main chamber once they move to the next room

>>4558759
>Wait and see what they do. Might be saving yourself a lot of effort here.
>Activate Hearing Boost.

>>4558759
Do we still have the barrier armor on?>>4548888

>>4558787
No.

The parabola has spaces for 5 orbs, one already slotted, another we've gotten from left side. That means there are 3 more.

>>4558759
>Wait and see what they do. Might be saving yourself a lot of effort here.

i swear if this is the teens from the other town...this will be the scene were either one of them gets heabily injured or they meet the main agent from the BBEG.

>>4558830
Oh boy, we cant even "nothing personnel" them because our client is paying for a narrative rider, we have to play this straight, well, poker face Miranda i guess.

>>4558759
>Wait and see what they do. Might be saving yourself a lot of effort here.
>Practice summoning weak minions on them, make a half hearted attempt to "slow them down"

>>4558759
>>4558765
>>4558769
>>4558774
>>4558830
>>4558847
Well, fine. Far be it from you to pass up free help. Instead, you’ll rather just let them do their thing and see what comes of it. Although, considering the acoustics of this place, you might be able to do a bit more than just sit and wait…

You end up next to the door, and activating your Hearing Boost. If they say anything particular, you want to know.

“...should be careful, that’s all. This place is ancient and probably filled with traps!” Hmm...young male. “It wasn’t meant for us to just barge in!”

“Duh. It wasn’t meant for ANYONE to just barge in, but someone did.” Oh? Young female. Older than the first, you suspect. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have bothered.”

“She’s right, Rhett. But so are you. We need to step carefully. C’mon, let’s go!” another male, but again, older than the first. Those aren’t the voices you remember...so a completely different group, then? Huh. You can vaguely hear a door slam shut, and then the voices are too muted for even you to hear.

Fine, then. They want to do your hard work? Sure. You could use a break. You’ve got a couple snacks here somewhere, and you’re feeling just a bit peckish...

It’s mostly a bit of It doesn’t take TOO long for them to come back through, judging by the slam, however. “Alright, we definitely know someone’s here, now. Otherwise, those chests…” the older boy notes.

“I wonder if they’re looking for something specific,” the girl asks. Sounds like they’re walking across the way.

“Well, if we meet them, I guess we’ll find out,” he responds.

“A-and if they don’t want to tell?” the younger boy asks. Scared thing, no doubt.

“Dunno. Just keep your guard up.” Is the response, before another slam.

Hm.

>Roll 1d100, best of three.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>4558859
Villagers.

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>4558859

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>4558859

File: d3e96e0-44d0cd03-5c4b-481(...).jpg (295 KB, 777x1100)

295 KB JPG

>>4558859
Hey Handler can we get some bigger bugs set up?

>>4558859
>>4558863
>>4558866
>>4558868
Whatever’s happening on the other end takes them a while. A long while. In fact, you’re pretty sure- no, yeah. From what your FutureSight is telling you, it’s been close to an hour. Damn. Did they die or something? You hope not. You really didn’t want to do the rest of those…

But then you hear a door open, “Yikes...that was rough.” the boy says.

The girl lets out a sound of disgust. “Eeeugh. What WERE those weird leech bat things? I’ve never seen anything like those before!”

“I dunno, but I don’t wanna see anything like them again! They nearly took a chunk out of me!” the smaller boy cries.

“But, hey! We managed. And we got this weird orb thing. Now we just need to figure out what to do with it…

“What about that icky skull we got from the overgrown crab?” the girl asks. “Can’t believe we needed that. Maybe something like it?”

“Maybe,” he responds. “But we all need a bit of a rest before we move on...anyway, Leona, go ahead and place the staff in the fountain. Hopefully, that’ll be all that’s needed for the next step.” Huh. Staff? It was missing something? Didn’t look like it to you...

“Right, right...lemme just see here…” She slots in something, and you can hear rushing water, and suddenly a rumbling VERY near you.

“Hey! That’s part of it! Look, half of the stairs rose!” the boy shouts.

“Thank goodness,” the girl, Leona, comments. “We’re halfway done…”

“Now we just need to take this water, finish checking out that quicksand room and we should be able to move on!” the boy cheers.

“Oh, thank goodness…” the kid mutters. “I dunno how much more we can do. We pretty much used up all of our potions…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be more careful from here on,” the older boy assures. “I promise.”

Shortly after, they leave. And you’re left to thinking...

>Try to place something to interfere with them; more bugs or something akin to soften them up.
>Leave them be; they're doing work for you, after all.
>Other

File: ForestDungeonMapScanned3.png (1.34 MB, 2560x2560)

1.34 MB PNG

>>4558905
Forgot the image.

>>4558905
>Try to place something to interfere with them; more bugs or something akin to soften them up.

We need the practice. Good time as any

>>4558905
>Try to place something to interfere with them; more bugs or something akin to soften them up.
>Other
Tail them with Gartoum.
They're out of gas, we should be able to drop them when desired.

>>4558905
>>4558911
+.
Hazards in the quicksand room can be abused.

>>4558905
>Try to place something to interfere with them; more bugs or something akin to soften them up.

File: felix-sembach-beetle-crea(...).jpg (311 KB, 1920x1663)

311 KB JPG

>>4558925
Oh god just imagine giant shadow bug comming out of the quicksand just to grab and drag one of the kids towards the quicksand

>>4558938
Our main bugs are small beetles, they can't do that.
The recently converted leech bats on the other hand...

>>4558944
Why wouldn't beetles be able to dig into sand? Also they've already beaten the leech-bats.

>>4558950
Yeah but I'm not sure they have enough dragging force to drag them into the sand.
From their wordings, I thought they haven't taken the turned leeches out. Guess we can't dematerialize converted creatures like Pokemons then.

>>4558905
>>4558906
>>4558910
>>4558911
>>4558925
>>4558929
...yeah, doing a bit of extra practice wouldn’t go amiss. “Gartoum, mind following them?” you ask. Just keep an eye out and keep me informed, but don’t mess with them yet.”

“Oooh...interesting! Sure thing!” He slips off, and in the meantime...you conjure and think. What types, and where?

“Ahh, they’re traversing the quicksand now. Seem to be getting much more used to it, it appears!” the shadow reports.

As for you...big or small? And where to send them? You're still not very practiced, honestly. You're going to have to think carefully and decide if you want to send one big one somewhere to block them out, or a multitude of smaller ones as a swarm or perhaps as regular enemies, or perhaps a few medium sized ones as stop signs. You know full well you can't just send whatever, as otherwise that'll exhaust you FAR too much to be safe in regards to any confrontation that might follow if they make it through.

>Send a multitude of small ones at regular intervals.
>Send a couple of moderately sized ones here and there.
>Send one big one (where?)

File: ForestDungeonMapScanned4.png (1.33 MB, 2560x2560)

1.33 MB PNG

>>4558961
Forgot the update AGAIN.

>>4558961
>Send a multitude of small ones at regular intervals.
Seems least exhausting, and we use these mostly for terror tactics anyhow. There are 3 other hostile signatures behind the innermost quicksand room door so they can't focus on these lovelies as easily.

>>4558961
>Send a multitude of small ones at regular intervals.

>>4558961
>Send a multitude of small ones at regular intervals.
>Set up a Sticky Bomb above the door into the main hall (the one near fountain)

>>4558961
>Send a couple of moderately sized ones here and there.

>>4558961
>>4558966
>>4558973
>>4558975

After some consideration, you’ll just settle for a bunch of small ones at regular intervals. They’ll be exhausted if nothing else, and you won’t be too out of sorts should they make it to you in a more healthy state of mind. You won’t have to fret too much, you think. It sounded like they were out of reliable healing methods. Meaning that you’d just have to wear them down.

It takes more concentration, but you can see the splatterings of dark, creepy crawlies, with vicious pincers and attitudes just as bad, morph into existence and scurry rapidly, using the shadows and cracks to escape the room and travel to where you will them. Likely, they’ll be in the next few rooms, which means as long as you’re careful to spread them well, it won’t much matter where they’re encountered.

“Ooh! They got past the quicksand room,” Gartoum reports. Bit of a funny room, this. But, there’s some rather nasty flora here that they’re trying to take care of. It shouldn’t be too long before they handle it, is my guess.”

“I’ve got some help coming.” Hopefully, that’ll cause enough trouble for them to really work them over.

“Oooh! Yup, here they come!” he says after a while. “Just after they’d beaten the little biters! Oh, wow, the young one has a pair of lungs on him!”

And so it begins. You’re kept abreast with a running commentary; as you kind of anticipated, the beasts are vicious, but not too dangerous on their own per group. It DOES slow them down, however, and cause a few issues as they continue to move between rooms. As it happened, the room with the statues between them proved to be...well…

“My, oh my! A rather interesting quarrel here!” Gartoum’s proving quite the tease, to say the least… “A mighty, ancient warrior of chitin and stone, and these stalwart youths! How romantic! Intriguing! And dangerous!” Sure, sure, but of course fail to tell you anything specific about how it’s going, naturally.

After several minutes, he finally speaks up again. “And lo, the beast falls. Brave and honorable in battle, yet not enough to stop our intrepid group, tired and pained though they be!” Well, THAT’S at least something. “Seems as though that was the last orb. And there’s something else that they just got...some sort of cup? Ah, they’re coming back to the central room.”

“...alright.” you manage to hear them just as they come in. “So if we put this there…” the boy continues…

“Look! It’s clearer now! And- whoa.” Hm? The girl’s statements are interrupted as there’s a moment of rumbling and shaking as something ELSE changes, though you have an idea as of what. “Whoa...the stairs are finished! C’mon, let’s go! It’s GOTTA be up there!”

“Wait a sec, let’s be sure we’re ready…” the kid warns. There’s agreement there, and you inwardly sigh.

Sure. “Oh dear. Guess I’m coming back- I have a little something to tell anyway!” Gartoum notes. That’s interesting…

(cont.)

>>4559078
He slips back in in moments, and bids you towards the giant door. “A question- have you noticed the details on this lovely art piece?” He points towards some various...squiggles? Wait, no, that’s people. Or… “Fairies,” he points out as you study the image. “It appears this place was made by fairy power, back in the day. And there’s a little something they found out as well. Apparently, there’s a link between the Lockstones and the Elder Fairies…and I mean that more literally than one might think. From what I can tell, those youths are after them as well for that reason...”

But it’s then that you hear footsteps, and then a door opens. They run in...only to stop. “Huh…?”

“So there really was someone here…?” the girl asks. There’s a soft growl next to her- ah. So that was number four. A dog? No wonder you’d only heard three voices.

‘Well, then. So these are the fetchers that have eased my way back into the world…perhaps you should at least be polite and...introduce yourself, hm? Always better to have one's lessers know their superiors.’ Oy. Wasting time, but...

>Be polite, as he says. Introduce yourself formally.
>You’ve got to do it, but that doesn’t mean you have to be nice about it.
>...screw it. He’s paying you the rider, might as well try to have some harmless fun with it.
>Other

>>4559079
>>Be polite, as he says. Introduce yourself formally.

>>4559079
>Be polite, as he says. Introduce yourself formally.
I want to clown out buuuuuut we're pros.

>>4559079
>Be polite, as he says. Introduce yourself formally.

>>4559083
Not pushing, but I wouldn't have put the option otherwise. Unless you had something entirely crazy.

>>4559079
>...screw it. He’s paying you the rider, might as well try to have some harmless fun with it.

>>4559079
>...screw it. He’s paying you the rider, might as well try to have some harmless fun with it.

>>4559079
>>4559083
Pah, let's have some fun then. Hopefully this doesn't blow up. Switching to
>...screw it. He’s paying you the rider, might as well try to have some harmless fun with it.

>they have a pet companion

Yup definetly the hero party.

The question is what type of persona do we introduce ourselves in?
cool and "hrm... nothin personnel... kid"?
or hammy evil posturing?
or silent creepy girl?

>>4559109
>domineering dragon
>>4559108
still waiting for the opportunity to test the experimental healing thingie

File: file.png (92 KB, 520x570)

92 KB PNG

>>4559109
Grandiose dialogue with flavors of pic related.

File: images (47).jpg (24 KB, 739x415)

24 KB JPG

>>4559110
Well the dog will probably be extremely injured and Owlia ddid say to tesr it out on a animal so...

>>4559115
if it survives - we can corrupt it as well
...unless we decide to corrupt it mid-battle

>>4559110
>>4559115
Now isn't that of poor taste.
In the chance that we fail the "heal" roll, it will either melt down or suffer supercancer from overhealing. Not a good way to go.

Writing.

File: images (48).jpg (17 KB, 715x429)

17 KB JPG

>>4559111

>>4559120
I mean it's a option. Maybe we will roll well and the dog won't get super cancer?

>>4559117
>Corrupting the hero pet and forcing him to mercy kill it

No better way to show how the game turned serious than killing the comic relief or the cute pet

>>4559079
>>4559099
>>4559103
>>4559105
Tch. Y’know what? Fine. Considering this guy seems to be all flavors of showman and glitz and glam alongside the whole actually being a decent sort (to you, at least) you get the feeling that he wants this to be something of a showcase. A bit of bombast. It’s a bit hokey to you, honestly…

But y’know what? You can do bombast for once. And for a little while. If nothing else, ‘stretching your inner Lorelei’ seems to be a running theme for the whole mission, might as well get all the bullet points of her in and if nothing else put a little spook into them.

...There’s a joke there, but you’re not sure what it’d be. “Hello there...” you start as you turn around, to see a teenaged youth; blade in hand and with a blue tunic about him, and short, scrappy black hair. He even has freckles, for goodness’ sake. Nothing particular about him. Aside him is a young girl, in a long yellow robe and hood and curly purple hair, though she’s a bit of a looker underneath as far as you can tell. She holds a staff that you swear looks familiar. Nonetheless, she seems similarly concerned. The last is a young boy, shorter than both of them, but a fairly stocky lad, you’ll say, and with sharp green hair. That’s not all, though, as he has, to your surprise, honest to goodness armor. Chainmail stuff, but it’s there. In his hands is a big mace, of all things. The last is a dog, although from your perception it’s almost more of a wolf, despite the big jowls. Wolfhound, maybe? He even has a little scarf on. Adorable, if completely unhelpful.

> Play it cheeky and ‘prim’. You can at least tease them a bit and spook them with faux
> Try to be sinister and offhand. Nothing unnerves people more than irreverence.
> (Intimidation) State exactly who you are and what you're for. You're a damn dragon. You can act like it for a bit.
> Other

(done for tonight! Will resume tomorrow afternoon)

>>4559156
> (Intimidation) State exactly who you are and what you're for. You're a damn dragon. You can act like it for a bit.
Can we pretend that we have fire breath by casting Energy Channel on our tongue or the back of our throat?

File: 1607132147790.gif (132 KB, 281x281)

132 KB GIF

>>4559156
Hmm, why not both?
> Play it cheeky and ‘prim’. You can at least tease them a bit and spook them with faux
> (Intimidation) State exactly who you are and what you're for. You're a damn dragon. You can act like it for a bit.
A cheeky psycho, going full Lori for once.

Also, blue tunic with scrappy black hair. Purple-haired heroine. Animal companion. Short serious guy.
Is this Dragon Quest?

>>4559156
>Play it cheeky and ‘prim’. You can at least tease them a bit and spook them with faux

>>4559162
probably if we ever bother to train it.

>>4559181
Cheeky and prim do fit a dragon royalty. Demand they deliver the orb and once they refuse make the intimidation. If Handler is up for it.

>>4559194
Haughty dragon princess, I like it.

>>4559193
>Energy Channel
>She can focus mana and flare it to create a 'burning' aura of mana that can injure anyone who comes into contact with it. Can be focused on any part of the body for extra impact.
I assume that 'any part of the body' means that it's possible without special training. Just show that we've got flames in our mouth, don't need to actually know how to breathe fire.

>>4559156
>>4559194
I want this too if you don't mind Handler.

So does anyone know why Miranda thinks the staff looks familiar? Did we killed someone that had a staff like that before? Or does it just make her remeber the magic staff used by someone in the intersection?

>>4559598
I believe that the girl and the armored boy are the kids who were mentioned in the (>Meanwhile) bits, and they're from Elerta, the mountain kingdom. The staff got recognized because their barrier mages used them, and the armored boy is the one who got sent together with that 'Lulu' girl. They also knew that one of the Lockstone could be moved - and it's the one located here. This means that the freckled boy and the dog are recent additions to the party.

>>4559677
Wonder if the girl with the medallion was related to any of them.

I'm feeling lightheaded and off today, and I want to do this scene justice. I'll run tomorrow if I'm feeling better, but early.

If you have any ideas, by all means.

>>4560111
Take your time boss. Glad you're enthusiastic about it.

I'd sprinkle in some Cylica. With epic cloak drops and extra cheese.

File: images (5).jpg (32 KB, 500x601)

32 KB JPG

>>4560111
Hope you are better Handler. About ideas, maybe do the classic villain something like "Oh i though i sensed something killing my fetchers/scouts". Gotta pull up the dragon expect and be cortious, to a certain point and eventually become angry once they don't give us the spherelock.

>>4560111
I personally hate excessive theatrics for the sake of theatrics. The king told us to show who's supperior, who's the boss - not to clown around. I want to use this opportunity to shake them up before the fight, make use of our extremely high Intimidation and Otherworldly stat. I don't mind acting haughty and loud, dragons are rather prideful and arrogant, just don't overdo it. We could use the energy channel and megaphone for extra effect. We could also check this theory >>4559677, ask them about the medallion that we've looted from Elerta mages - this would confirm if the armored boy and the chick could pack some barrier spells.

>>4560627
>inb4 Dragon Miranda being surprised that some of the soldiers and mages managed to survive the cave in she made.

File: smug miranda .jpg (101 KB, 1168x1048)

101 KB JPG

here we have Miranda copying Cylica's smugness.
>ara ara

File: smug miranda .png (393 KB, 710x638)

393 KB PNG

>>4560802

File: shadow king symbol thing.jpg (17 KB, 356x396)

17 KB JPG

>>4560807
also the pin.
tried to interpret "spiky and swirling" and "sun made of smoke"

File: 1431820777523.jpg (745 KB, 1340x960)

745 KB JPG

>>4560814
Good one

>>4560802
>>4560807
The smugest.

>>4560802
>>4560829
I also forgot to mention this a guess on how Miranda will greet/intimidate the hero party.

>>4560834
I half expect a scene of pure smugness, with Miranda trying to play the arrogant royal dragon role, maybe even a good application of the royal we. As a pun of her being royal/superior to the kids and the fact our boss and Gartoum are around. Than once she fails or the kids refuse to deliver the sphere she goes with the classic "You don't know who you are messing with", by dramaticaly lifting the cloak to reveal the dragon tail, maybe even slam it on the floor it possible and finnaly showing herself as a dragon, possibly quoting Smaug with all the pompous of "i'm fire i'm death".

File: 1602325008103.png (1.2 MB, 1832x1672)

1.2 MB PNG

>>4560802
Anon, you win today's internet

>>4560837
Do we tell them to prepare for battle, or do we just jump them after we're done speaking? I feel like this is a situation for a noble dragon bearing.
"So, if you had to pick a minion that you've fought today that was most troublesome, which would it have been? Be honest, constructive criticism is important."

File: dragon smugs.jpg (249 KB, 1816x860)

249 KB JPG

>>4560802
have the smug dragon version.
with and without wings.

>>4561711
I say we jump them. They offended a dragon so they should be expecting retaliation.

>>4562024
Ah-Rul is watching, he wants us to terrify people, should we just sic Gartoum on them while we're talking? That'd be funny, and he'd LOVE it.

>>4562381
hmmm, maybe