>>4616114

"There it is!" You exclaim. "Right up there! I can see it!"

The three of them look up and squint. Sneeda gasps. "Uh oh. We've got company."

A man in purple and green leather armour, flared out in an ominous manner, crouches atop a rocky outcrop. His metallic red hair is very spiked around the centre, and on the sides it's heavily greased back. On his arm is coiled a length of orange metal. "So!" He says. "If it isn't the rescue party!"

He points at you with mighty resolve."I am Dianecci Lecamillan! My affinity is Metal! Surrender the flower if you value your life!"

Your answer indicates your resolve. The wind is quite loud, but your voice pierces through it like a laser beam. You leap up to the summit. "Well it looks like I don't!"

"So be it, you son of a bitch." Dianecci snarls. His insult falls flat because technically he's right. Your mother is a kobold, and so is your father. "Behold my power and despair!"

Dianecci flares his aura. It ripples and lunges in random directions, eddying and oozing like a crucible filled with molten metal. "Brass Serpent! Lend me your strength!"

The metal tube suddenly curls itself into the shape of a trombone. Dianecci blows it with all his might, and a wave of bowel splitting sound rushes at you. Odway and Halwenn manage to find shelter, urging you to follow them. Unfortunately, you're a tad slow. Massive cracks rip through the stone. Boulders come crashing down.

> Create a tiny shield with Sunshine in a Bag, hopefully it can shelter all of you
> Use Headwind to redirect the wind so the boulders are tossed towards him
> Use Headwind to redirect the wind so it fills up the chasm between you and Dianecci
> Leap from boulder to boulder as they fall. Your wind affinity will help.

>>4616115
>Use Headwind to redirect the wind so the boulders are tossed towards him

>>4616115
>Jump onto a boulder, then use Headwind to toss all of them toward him.

>New thread already
Don't do this, kids!

>New thread
>While old thread is on page 2
bruh

>>4616137
>>4616138
Well, last time I tried putting a week between them, it got so slow there were like 2 replies a day if I was lucky

>>4616139
That's normal. Suck it up and stop bumping other people's threads down. At least wait until you're Page 5 if you have to be early about it. Jesus christ.

>>4616142
My apologies. I'm quite new to this board and I saw someone else do this with no one calling him out, so I'll keep that in mind the next time I post.

>>4616146
I would have fucking hated to wait a whole week for a continuation of the story, so I really like not having to wait a whole week. You can't please everyone.

>>4616115
> Use Headwind to redirect the wind so it fills up the chasm between you and Dianecci
We can use the time the chasm is blocked to get the flower and figure out with our teammates how to defeat him. I hope the flower is not crushed by the boulders, maybe a tiny light shield can be tossed over it.

>>4616160
but of course rip and "f" for whatever thread died for the impatience.

>>4616115
> Use Headwind to redirect the wind so it fills up the chasm between you and Dianecci

>>4616279
>>4616166
> Use Headwind to redirect the wind so it fills up the chasm between you and Dianecci
Writing...

>>4616631
You bring out your aura. It expands rapidly, grabbing hold of as much wind as you can: an easy feat, in such a small valley. As the rockfall approaches, you sweep your arms not towards him, but towards a chasm between you and Dianecci. The noise is unbearable, and the sonic waves from his Brass Serpent are still echoing, threatening to tear your eardrums apart. You hear an ominous grumble from your stomach. You hope you can deal with that after the fight.

But then it occurs to you that you've just compromised the flower! "Stay back, everyone!" you shout. They stay in their shelter as you leap into a trickling brook which feeds the stream. It's no higher than an inch, but the ground is perfectly smooth. You remove your shoes and tie them to your belt by their shoelaces. Then as you jump into the brook, you slide down the valley and use Headwind to blow all the crashing debris away from you in an invisible tunnel.

Many come dangerously close to your head. While the smaller ones get blown away, you have to dodge as you slide on your bare feet. Then when you come to a pile of rubble made by the rockfall, you leap from boulder to boulder, every jump assisted by Headwind. They're no higher than your usual jumps, but at least the wind is there to steer you in the right direction.

And as your feet touch the soft grass of the island in the stream, you kneel down and reach for the Diamond Moon Flower with one hand, and hold up an open palm in the other, focusing your aura there to create a tiny shield that shines with all your strength. You close your eyes, noticing the brightness has left an afterimage in your retina. You feel resistance in your wrist, a cracking noise followed by the smell of dust and wet soil...

And when you open your eyes, squinting to keep out the dust, the Diamond Moon Flower is nowhere to be seen. There's just a bare spot in the soft, fuzzy grass where it used to be. For a brief moment, you see Dianecci's foot slinking into a cave. You get on your feet.

You notice there's a single root belonging to the Diamond Moon Flower stuck in the dirt.

> Chase after him with the help of Odway and Halwenn, fight him hand to hand the proper way
> Use Headwind to draw all the wind out of the cave entrance so that he suffocates
> Ask Sneeda to summon a creature with Play~Time* that will severely impede his progress through the caves
> It's not worth going through all that trouble. Take the root and leave. It'll probably work.

>>4616672
> Chase after him with the help of Odway and Halwenn, fight him hand to hand the proper way
> use Headwind to draw the wind in the cave entrance around yourself
force him to fight us at a disadvantage. Waiting for him to suffocate gives him too much time to think of a plan and runs the risk of him destroying the flower.

>>4616718
> Chase after him with the help of Odway and Halwenn, fight him hand to hand the proper way
> use Headwind to draw the wind in the cave entrance around yourself
Writing...

>>4617017
"Odway! Halwenn! You know these caves, do you?" You ask.

Halwenn nods.

The tunnel is rather narrow, but then widens out after a short while. You bring out your aura and semi materialize it into the shape of a sphere. By the time you hear his footsteps ahead, you've drawn air in a tight bunch around you and your party. Dianecci spins around, flower in hand, and curls his Brass Serpent into the shape of a tuba. This time he means business. "Stupid boy! You've stumbled into my domain!"

With a puff of his cheeks, Dianecci sends a mighty sonic wave towards you... that vanishes from existence. What a relief! It looks like there's too little air where he's at to carry his sonic vibrations. Halwenn loads his crossbow and fires at Dianecci, only for him to karate chop the bolt in half mid flight.

Then Dianecci uses two fingers to pierce a hole in the side of the cavern. He then sucks the hole like a baby on his mothers' teat, and fills his cheeks with pressurized air, before swallowing it all in. Murderous intent flares in his eyes, rising up around him in a dark purple cloud... is it his aura?

He takes a magnetic dirk at his belt and scrapes the wall with it. He infuses his dirk with aura and swings it at you. Tiny metal comets, with tails of aura trailing behind them tear through your clothes and into your body, unimpeded by air resistance. Immense pain explodes in every little wound. You feel no pain in your muscles, but they are certainly embedded into your clothes and skin.

Headwind deactivates, and the air rushes back towards Dianecci, knocking your allies over. Sneeda tries to run after you, but slips and falls over. Odway and Halwenn, seasoned miners both of them attempt a more pragmatic approaching, desperately searching for solid rocky footholds, but to no avail.

Dianecci skips to the side and makes a "pulling gesture, yanking you by the wounds. You fall on your feet and slide across the cave ground, carving out a long green gouge in the algae. Despite this you hold on to your quarterstaff for dear life, hiding it beneath your body. Some of it gets in your mouth.

"Take this, you little upstart!" His bony fingers wrap around your collar and he punches you square in the jaw. Then again. And again. Blood trickles from your mouth. With your allies approaching slower than Dianecci's vicious punches, with the cave terrain being treacherous and deadly, it seems all is lost.

But you have a trick up your sleeve. Though your eyes are watering, you notice the two of you are in a very confined space. He is holding you against the wall. This gives you an idea.

> Kick him further down the cave while using your quarterstaff ledged between two walls as leverage
> Use Sunshine in a Bag to create a makeshift javelin to stab him
> Create a spike on your neck with Sunshine in a Bag and impale his hands, before ruining them permanently with your quarterstaff
> Swing the quarterstaff upwards at his chin as hard as possible
> Bite him

>>4617051
> Create a spike on your neck with Sunshine in a Bag and impale his hands, before ruining them permanently with your quarterstaff

>>4617051
> Create a spike on your neck with Sunshine in a Bag and impale his hands, before ruining them permanently with your quarterstaff

>>4617051
>Create a spike on your neck with Sunshine in a Bag and impale his hands, before ruining them permanently with your quarterstaff

>>4617071
>>4617075
>>4617190
Writing...

>>4617341
It hurts. Dianecci's grip is like an iron shackle. You gasp for air, only for his fingers to dig deeper into your throat as he savagely beats you. Your aura slowly appears around you, collecting by a round point on your neck. Right under his hand.

With the last of your will, a spike instantly explodes through his hand, tearing apart muscles and ligaments. His whole hand glows a sickly red, every ruptured vein and dislocated bone visible beneath it. Blood drips down his arm. Dianecci screams like a tasered chimpanzee.

Just as he loosens his grip you take a deep breath and recover instantly. You tighten your fingers around your quarterstaff. And with all your might, you swing it at his impaled hand with all your might.

The throat spike snaps in his flesh and shatter into tiny fragments that do their work, lodging themselves into veins and nerve endings. He draws his hand back, wailing and screaming. You stand up, lift up the quarterstaff, and savagely beat him with repeated blows to the head and upper body. You gnash your teeth and scream "Die, die, DIE!!!"

You don't know where you're hitting him: in this darkness you can't see his face, but that makes it all the more easier. Dianecci gargles violently and throws up. The smell of the bile rises to your nose shortly before it trickles over to your shoe. You keep beating him until you hear a sickening crack.

Then you come to your senses. What have you done? You think to yourself. He tried to kill you. You did this in self defense. But no matter how many times you tell yourself that, you cannot help but realize you've never inflicted this much pain on a living being before.

You take the Diamond Moon Flower from his good hand. Then you take his coat because you underestimated how cold it was up in these mountains. Finally, you take the Brass Serpent and sling it over your shoulder like he did. He's still breathing. You don't have anything personal against him. You hope he wakes up and leaves.

When you finally leave the cave, it is not triumph you feel but guilt. This isn't how it's supposed to be. You've done this all in self defense, to save someone you look up to. You can't feel bad about what you do on the way, you can't.

"Are you okay, kid?" Sneeda asks.

"More than he is." You say.

You don't say anything else.

>>4617343
The Diamond Moon Flower is a breathtaking sight. It has pale blue leaves and a crystalline corolla with many glinting facets. It looks like an exquisitely cut jewel. An aura of pale beams emanate in every direction. Though you have never seen it before, you feel a strange kinship with this flower.

"Incredible!" Odway gasps. "I'd keep it on my mantelpiece if I didn't have to use it on my daughter."

"Now that we've got the flower, let's have it this way. I take half, and you take the other half. Sound good to you?"

"The recipe said a teaspoonful of its essence, and from what I can see here, that should do it."

He pulls out a pocket knife and carefully cuts the corolla in half. The insides are a very firm jelly that holds well. You feel mildly uncomfortable. As he walks off, he shouts "Thanks for helping us!"

You wave after him. "You too! Sorry for blackmailing you!"

nxt post

As he climbs out of sight, you have other matters to attend to. You return to Doberan and ask the inkeeper where Lake Skobine is. And when you get there, it's every bit as terrifying and acidic as it looks. Gnarled trees rise over it, seemingly killed by its vile fumes.

You toss the corolla into the water. A wave of clarity passes through the whole thing. A foul aura sweeps past you, catching you offguard. There it is. It's huge, has eyestalks, and resembles a frog. Yet when you try to look at it, there's a distortion in your field of vision. As you try to look at it, your eyes water and veins begin to bulge.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER!" it bellows, causing the water to bubble.

"We're trying to save someone, an-"

Its aura probes yours. "It's you! You're-"

Answer both questions.

> You are well aware that you were a dragon in a past life. What was your name?

> Is it inimical, or is it overjoyed to see you?

>>4617345
Is a title OK, or just a name?
>You are well aware that you were a dragon in a past life. What was your name?
Hyperion Astromachus
>Is it inimical, or is it overjoyed to see you?
Overjoyed

>>4617364
Oh, sure give him a title

>>4617431
>Father of Four Winds
>Crowned by the Firmament
>He Whose Claws Shred the Sky
>Auric Dragon of Zenith
Is what I've come up with based on Light+Wind+Dragon, because it would be a funny coincidence if Jonovan got the same runes he had in his last life.
If I had to vote for one, I would be partial to "Father of Four Winds" followed by "He Whose Claws Shred the Sky".

>>4617364
>>4617452
Sounds great!
Writing...

>>4618193
"-Hyperion Astromachus!"

You have never recalled that name in your life. But the Guardian Beast keeps on talking. "Ah! It seems the gods have a sense of humour. First the Father of Four Winds returns as stones, and then a flower held by a man."

Or at least, this life. You catch her drift. "Forgive me. Whoever I was then, I did not keep my memories. Besides, I've only lived for 12 years."

"Oh!" she says. "Well, since you are but a hatchling, I shall explain it to you."

"I didn't hatch." You correct her. "I was born to a pair of kobolds. My mum had a light rune, and my dad a wind rune."

She begins to laugh. "Oh, dear! Fate is such a curious thing. The clan elders would surely love to hear it. Now, I take it you are curious why the flowers and rocks happen to be... reincarnated from you?"

You nod.

"Well then! The more supernatural techniques one learns in one's life, the more runes they attain. For these mountains are my domain, I have seen you make daggers from light, and change the direction of the wind. Suppose if you... died, a child would be born that instant with a light rune, and an bird with a wind rune."

"Say if that child goes on to accomplish great things, completely unawares of his spiritual heritage, he would have the strongest connection to Fate and be your descendant, with context to reincarnation. That means, for every pebble of Kadolite there is, and for the very flower you tossed into my lake, he had a Rune which made its way into their spirit cores."

You remember a warehouse back at Doberan utterly filled with Kadolite. Then you shudder at what a mighty being this Hyperion must have been. "Well! That's very interesting."

"Now that I know *just* who you are," she says, "I believe it's due time I come clean with regards to who I am.

Rainbow Marionette: Redoubt Myopia, dispel!"

Your eyes suddenly focusses on what appears to be a yellow and black dragon with webbed fingers and frog eyes. She's huge, slimy, and despite all that, elegant. "I am Dyanakura of the Static Sea Clan! My Rune is Dragon, accompanied by Toad, Water, and Earth. And I know it may come as a surprise to you, but I feel obliged to tell you the nature of my... relationship with you when you were a full dragon.

"Okay." you say. Being twelve, you don't see this coming.

"I was your wife!"

You freeze. "Your third one, specifically. Though I must remind myself you and him aren't the same person, I can't help but think of you... and it doesn't help that you share the same soul. He never learned how to assume a humanoid shape, the poor fool, so I never could have compared how you would have looked. Perhaps we'll find out in a hundred years or so."

Sneeda squints at Dyanakura in disgust. "What's your deal, you rotten old hag?"

"Oh, nothing!" she turns over to you. "Just remember to visit the Barony of Toorgaithe one of these days. My folk live in the swamps. You can't miss 'em. I think I'm good enough at maintaining a humanoid shape."

>>4618265
"But I hope you won't bother me looking kinda froggy-like, if you know what I mean."

This is too much for you to take in. "Maybe i'll come see you there when I'm old enough."

You have no interest whatsoever in romance. And your parents wouldn't be pleased if you followed this massive frog dragon's unnerving insinuations. Besides, you won't forget the main reason why you went all the way out here, risking life and limb for one thing: to save Jenny Chalker.

But your curiosity is still there. It's an irresistible urge that will no doubt waste your time... but you won't be coming her in a long while, and it offends your core values to allow potential knowledge to just lie there and rot in someone else's mind. For the sake of your sanity, you take extra care to dissociate yourself, Jonovan Solaris, a humble youth legally considered a kobold from the town of Eidelmanne, from the dragon known as Hyperion Astromachus, the Father of Four Winds.

> "How did Hyperion die?
> "Did Hyperion have any children? And how many wives did he have?"
> "I don't care. Bring me to Lake Nicagont. Maybe i'll visit you."

>>4618288
> "How did Hyperion die?

>>4618288
> "How did Hyperion die?
> "Did Hyperion have any children? And how many wives did he have?"

>> In this life I am going to make flying trains and explore space with them!

File: cultivationbase.png (19 KB, 803x647)

19 KB PNG

btw, this is what Jonovan's cultivation base looks like right now

>>4618520
The zeroeth threshold is what he is, and the 1st threshold represent the techniques he's gained.

> Wind: Headwind
> Light: Sunshine in a Bag

I guess I forgot to include his Body Tempering Arts, which would also be in the 1st threshold.

> Light: Clarity Tempering Art
> Light: Unflinching Beam Tempering Art

But I can't be arsed, I think i'll post by 6PM NZT probbaly.

>>4618304
>>4618447
> "How did Hyperion die?
> "Did Hyperion have any children? And how many wives did he have?"

> In this life I am going to make flying trains and explore space with them!
Writing...

>>4618722
Fine. This'll only take you a few minutes. Nothing too long. In Sirius, who gets reincarnated into who is an affair that takes several centuries, and a mystery that few bother with. Most people acknowledge the insignificance of their fellow man to the point that they won't even bother mustering the cash to find out who he was, and even so, public records will make it excruciatingly hard to find out the exact whereabouts and background of whoever one was in a past life.

But you were reincarnated from a dragon, and his folks are likely still around: the great frog dragon in front of you is living proof of that! But first, you need to understand the context, and what better context is there than good, grisly deaths: "How did Hyperion die?"

Dyanakura takes on a morose expression. "Two centuries ago. I remember it as if it were yesterday. He took to the skies over Sirius to settle a score with Belmarane, a powerful dragon who sought to undo his life's work."

"His life's work?" You ask.

"Even I know not of what it is." She responds. "It is a 'pattern' that stretches across the land. I do not know any more. Whatever it was, Belmarane strongly disagreed with its purpose. So they fought each other over the Earldom of of Rythnell, where hundreds gathered on their roofs to watch."

"He perished, and under the terms of their duel, was to be buried right where he fell underneath a barrow. His hoard lies there." Dyanakura explains. "Beneath it, i'm told he keeps the plans for his life's work on a stone tablet."

You nod silently.

Dyankura takes on a contemptuous tone. "But these are just rumours, spread by his first wife, pearly eyed Paikalest, who's more than partial towards tall tales."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, Dyankura," you say, "But how many wives and children did I-I mean *he* have?"

"Nine wives, who live all over the place. Me and Paikalest are the only ones in Sirius. I lost count of my nieces, but I can easily count my own children, 'cos I have three, who are living by themselves, too. I'm an empty nester. Sigh, it's all so sad yet satisfying to see them all off doing their own thing. How about you?"

>>4618792
Your answer is brief. "I'm going to make flying trains and explore space with them!"

Dyanakura smiles melancholically, not knowing what "trains" or "space" are. "Well then, hope you come back alive. If you die, I'll bury you next to hubby dearest, that I promise."

Sneeda glares at her. She doesn't notice.

Slowly, Dyanakura steps out of the lake and lets it drain out until there's nothing but a long spiral into nothing. She looks at you, and then glances right back at the hole where Lake Skobine is. You slide right in. Sneeda follows right after.

Finally, you're there. Mount Nicagont. It's covered in shrubs and very short trees up to a point. After scouting the place for a while, you make out a few entrances.

> Sewage outlet
> Trash chute
> Stone door
> Wooden door
> Circular window artfully hidden underneath bonsai tree

Note: It has come to my attention that I will possibly lack internet access for the next three or four days. My time on this thread will be inconsistent and sporadic, and my posting will be off schedule. Don't be surprised if I post hours after I announce "Writing...". Just a little headsup.

>>4618799
>Circular window artfully hidden underneath bonsai tree
Surely this is some kind of escape hatch that leads directly into their villainous lair!

>>4618799
>Circular window artfully hidden underneath bonsai tree

>>4618799
>Circular window artfully hidden underneath bonsai tree

>>4618825
>>4618897
>>4618901
> Circular window artfully hidden underneath bonsai tree
I shoulda forseen the most detailed options would draw the most attentions! Silly me.
Writing...

>>4619005
After much rummaging, you see an unusually small tree sticking out from the thin lichen covered soil that barely clings to the rocks. It is a venerable branch with miniatures leaves, like an ancient tree that has simply been shrunk down. You cannot resist the temptation of touching it, and as you do you brush it aside to reveal a circular window with a metal trim. It looks as if months of painstaking craftsmanship have gone into making and embellishing this one window.

You pick up a rock in both hands and smash it into the window. It shatters to pieces in an explosion of thick glass and thin metal. You look inside to find out you seem to have soiled an exotic bedroom with multiple cascading mezzanines, stone walls with niches cut into them filled with potted plants or old books, and dark lacquered tables with bottles of perfumes and oils. There is a large bed that looks fit for a king to sleep in, piled high with furs and silks.

"Why, these kidnappers have style!" Sneeda comments.

"Definitely. I wouldn't mind taking one of these blankets back home." you say, running your fingers through the velvety furs.

There's so much to take in here. So many interesting things that likely cost more than your dad's yearly salary. On account of these people being the bad guys, you are struck frozen by the overwhelming impulse to rob them blind, while at the same time lamenting the fact you have a scientist to save. "What i'd do for a bunch of goat teamsters!"

"You have your backpack, kid." Sneeda remarks, patting your bag. "We aren't rich enough for a spatial ring or a bag of holding, but at the moment, that'll do."

Your sense of smell is not as honed as the canine kobolds you have known your whole life. More often than not, they have treated you as if you were hard of hearing or seriously colourblind. Now as you imagine Cole standing by you, precisely discerning the respective appearance, species, occupations, and fighting skills of anyone who has ever entered this bedroom, you can see why.

All of a sudden, you are struck by the chilling revelation that your cover won't last forever.

What do you do in this room? Choose two.
> Rummage through the bookshelves
> Peer through the cabinets
> Take the oil lantern and burn the place down
> Purloin anything materially valuable you find, provided they do not encumber you
> Brazenly assert your dominance, the kobold way

How do you leave? Choose one.
> Quietly and discreetly. How you wish you had Rainbow Marionette!
> Laughing loudly as possible
> Brandishing your quarterstaff, angrily swinging it at anything that moves
> Screaming expletives at the top of your lungs
> "WHERE'S JENNY? WHERE IS SHE!?!!"

And where? Again, choose one
> Main corridor
> En suite bathroom with a hinged mirror
> Wardrobe with loose planks
> Barge through the weakest wall you can find

>>4619025
>What do you do in this room?
>>Peer through the cabinets
>>Purloin anything materially valuable you find, provided they do not encumber you
>How do you leave?
>>Quietly and discreetly. How you wish you had Rainbow Marionette!
>And where?
>>Wardrobe with loose planks

>>4619025
> Rummage through the bookshelves
> Purloin anything materially valuable you find, provided they do not encumber you.

> Quietly and discreetly. How you wish you had Rainbow Marionette!

> Wardrobe with loose planks

>>4619025
> Rummage through the bookshelves
> Purloin anything materially valuable you find, provided they do not encumber you.

> Quietly and discreetly. How you wish you had Rainbow Marionette!

> Wardrobe with loose planks

>>4619060
>>4619997
Apologies for the late reply! Wifi isn't easy to come about on the West Coast.
> Rummage through the bookshelves
> Purloin anything materially valuable you find, provided they do not encumber you.
> Quietly and discreetly. How you wish you had Rainbow Marionette!
> Wardrobe with loose planks
Writing...

>>4621435
Since you won't be in here for long, you may as well make the most of it. You plunder every single valuable looking item you can carry that won't weigh you down, and then snap a few pretty looking books from the shelves. These, unlike what few codexes you've seen back home, are bound and embellished in a variety of exotic hides and metals. None of them have aura on them, so they probably aren't cursed or have a will of their own, which would probably spell your doom if you accidentaly snatch a sentient book loyal to the Entropists decked out with aura powers, to boot. Maybe if you can't read them you can pawn them off for a pretty penny.

> Bestiary of the Kingdom of Sirius and the realms in its Surrounding Vicinities
> Sirius Gazetteer vol. III
> Cultivation Pills Manual vol. VII
> Burrowing Worm Style vol. I
> Metal Rending Song vol. I
> On the Circle, the Spiral and the Line

You consider homing in on anything with aura on it until you realize they might be cursed to punish thieves like you. So instead you do the opposite, and look for materially valuable things like jewellery.

> Gold plated incense burner
> Dreamcatcher
> Ruby and alexandrite beads
> Blue and purple silk tapestry
> Black ivory pieces for a game you don't recognize
> Playing cards reinforced on one side with mother of pearl

What a haul! You're no appraiser, but you estimate this is worth... a lot of money. You could become a knight, or even a lord with this. You'd be one of those rich people who aren't even part of noble clans, the borg- borgwa- borgwasees or something. Either way, it sounds great. But then you hear footsteps. It takes you all you have to not yelp in fear. Quickly, you reach for the brass doorknob, which is unusually round, shiny, and has tiny mechanisms inside of it. But then you recoil as makes clicking noises, turning in a jittery motion not unlike a frightened bug.

There's a wardrobe. You take a long step in there and brush past row upon row of clothes, Sneeda closely following behind you, until you reach the end and your foot strikes a loose plank. It creaks loudly. Hopefully the thick jackets absorbed the sound. Those footsteps get louder. Cold sweat drips down your temples. They continue for a while, in varying volumes, your heart on edge. Soon, they quieten and disappear. Whoever it was, he's just stopped snooping. Good. now he's left the room. That leaves you the time to dislodge the plank in the floor, which, surprise surprise, leads you to the... kitchen?

>>4624222
Quickly, you patch up the hole where you entered. What a way to sneak out for a midnight meal! You sweep around the shiny black tile floors and tables, then peek out into the main corridor. But then you hear footsteps behind you. You turn around to see a lithe young man with sharp teeth standing under a brick arch. He's wearing a red and purple jacket with many, many tessalating shark motifs, and long metallic blue tassels are hanging from the sleeves and hem. You wouldn't be caught dead in that.

With unnerving calm, the man tells you "If you're looking for the biscuits, they're in the top shelf."

> "Oh, thanks. *munch munch* they're delicious!"
> "Do you know where Jenny Chalker is? Boss assigned me to interrogation duty."
> "I'm new here. Can you show me where the dungeons are?"
> He is trying to lower your guard by pretending you're a fellow Entropist! Attack him!
> He knows full well what you're up to. Get into a defensive stance and wait for him to make his move

I'm back in christchurch, and will be able to post regularly. Sorry for the delay, guys.

>>4624257
> "Oh, thanks. *munch munch* they're delicious!"
> "I'm new here. Can you show me where the dungeons are?"

>>4624257
> "Oh, thanks. *munch munch* they're delicious!"
> "I'm new here. Can you show me where the dungeons are?"

>>4624257
>"Oh, thanks. *munch munch* they're delicious!"
> "I'm new here. Can you show me where the dungeons are?"

>>4624320
>>4624357
>>4624626
It seems the results are unanimous!
> "Oh, thanks. *munch munch* they're delicious!"
> "I'm new here. Can you show me where the dungeons are?"
Writing...

>>4624645
Upon closer inspection, he seems to have no malice in his eyes. Your judgement tells you that this shark man, regardless of his intimidating appearance, is genuinely a hospitable fellow. "Oh, thanks." you say.

You reach up into the top shelf and pull open the cupboard. Inside, there are multiple ceramic jars glazed with oxides and metallic ash. None of them have labels. The man continues, "You're looking for the purple one, on the right."

That jar indeed has biscuits. You taste one, and they have an impressively savory flavor. Sneeda tentatively takes a bite while you enjoy yours. "They're delicious!" you blurt out.

Suddenly, tears press up against the back of your eyes. Before you know it, the waterworks are at full blast. They pour down your cheek like crazy. "It's so good it's bringing me to tears!"

"Does that to me, too." He answers. "It's a real mystery how it does that without aura."

"By the looks of it, it may as well." you say, as the pouring tears soak into your shirt. You smile with satisfaction. He's fallen for your lie, hook line and sinker. That must mean he must know that the boss of this place doesn't have any qualms against hiring children.

You raise a finger and ask him, "By the way, I'm new here. Can you show me where the dungeons are?"

"Certainly." he says. He reaches for the door where he entered, which was the main corridor, filled with rugs and torches, and opens it again. Now it leads to the dungeons! This must certainly be magic. The cracked brick walls, orange and brown, drip with groundwater.

The shark man leads you about each cell, filled with draconic and canine kobolds, and even a few foreigners, like three wolf eared okamijin women from the Faraknirs, and a burly carpman sulking in a reinforced glass tank. "Just so you know, we prefer to cause as little of a stir as possible when we procure them. We don't run around with butterfly nets, snatching up any random we see, no. We ask them if they've got any outcasts, any pariahs, infidels or death row convicts they'd like off their hands. Orphans, too. That's so nobody misses 'em."

You nod. He continues. "The reason we do all this is so we keep our publicity as clean as possible. That's why we don't need to replace our death traps in the main entrance often. However, there's a certain other kind of captive that their folks don't miss. The curious, nosy kind that goes missing one day and nobody talks about or goes searching for ever again. Then when the next generation comes along, they're nothing but a folk tale to warn the kids about what becomes of you when you snoop around too much. Ah! There it is!"

You freeze. He kicks you in the shins as hard as he can. "Jonovan, is it?" you hit the stone floor and barely manage to break your fall. "Name's Klaars Hakkarudo. Thanks for falling straight into our hands!"

A cackling little gremlin emerges from his shirt. "Don't mind him, the little guy's Bika."

>>4624681
Sneeda tries to kick him, but he punches her right in the gut and throws her in the cell with you. Klaars slams the door closed and locks it.

"You can thank him in advance for helping you get from that hole in the wardrobe to the kitchen." Klaars crosses his arms and leans against the wall. "Nifty, isn't he? Comes in handy when some nosy upstart wants to think he's oh so clever and lucky for finding a secret entrance."

"He... what?" You stammer.

"In case you haven't noticed, none of our rooms are actually connected. They're hermetically sealed." Klaars pats the wall. "The rock in this mountain is completely, positively porous so we don't have to worry about ventilation. Every door is a short range spatial portal. Bika, (say bee kah} is in charge of where those portals lead."

Bika blows a raspberry at you. You seethe with fury. You've never felt more pissed off in your life. You may have regretting brutalizing that Dianecci guy, but these two deserve a thrashing a billion times worse.

Klaars laughs his head off. "Oh man! You thought you were fooling us, holy shit, you guys are dumbasses! You had thought we were just a bunch of suckers, well look where you are now! Well, enjoy the last days of your life. It's sad, really."

How could this happen to you? A storm of emotions rise in you. Fear, rage, sadness, disappointment, the whole shebang. You can't take it anymore. You start to cry, for real this time. Yet at the same time, your expression remains unfaltered. "It wasn't supposed to go this way!"

Klaars leans on your cell and looks through the bars. "Well, when you storm the lair of a bunch of baddies like us, what else did you expect to happen?" He takes on a look of remorse. "I hate to do this to you, but orders are orders. All I can say is that this is gonna hurt. Best of luck in your next life."

He turns around and sits on a wooden stool. His blue, overwhelming aura, which feels like a rushing tide, comes forth. "Weeping Shriek."

As Klaars's aura washes over you, it at first feels comforting, like warm bathwater. Then as his aura touches your teardrops, they suddenly become dozens of tiny sharks. They bite and tug at your eyelids and your lips and gnaw at your torso. The pain is immense. You fall over as Sneeda looks on in horror Blood pours into your mouth. Bika cackles in his annoying, high pitched voice. But your resolve remains.

> Smash your head against the wall
> Douse yourself in Vitreous Vigor, a powerful wine you got in Doberan
> Attempt to suffocate the sharks with your shirt
> Write in

You can also decide what Sneeda does

>>4624722
>Make as many shuriken as you can with Sunshine in a Bag, and then throw them at him with a boost from Headwind

>>4624722
>>blow the sharks and water droplets away with headwind and form a thin skin thight shield around our body with sunshine in a bag to keep the sharks away.
>>if this place is porous then we can spam wind attacks, blow him into the cage wall of a prison and hope that the prisoners attack and grab him.
>>Sneeda protects us and give us some of the wine.

>>4624881
+1

>>4616114
>pic
Nice stolen art.

>>4625284
It isn't stolen when it's been abandoned for twenty years, the artist who's still around likely forgot about it and the commissioner lost to time. This aesthetic is *all about* stolen art

>>4624881
>>4625053
>blow the sharks and water droplets away with headwind and form a thin skin thight shield around our body with sunshine in a bag to keep the sharks away.
>if this place is porous then we can spam wind attacks, blow him into the cage wall of a prison and hope that the prisoners attack and grab him.
>Sneeda protects us and give us some of the wine.
Writing...

>>4625451
Their fangs dig into your skin. It hurts like hell, but they're only as big as your teardrops were. First, you shut your eyelids as tightly as possible, and roll across the floor, squishing the sharks on the damp stone bricks. Their disembodied jaws still cling to your eyelids and lips. The pain is nothing compared to your unstoppable rage. Nobody, no one deceives you and lives to tell the tale.

You're still crying. The teardrops on your face are beginning to morph into sharklike shapes. But before they can fully transform, you reach into the air that seeps through the porous stone in the walls. How convenient. They're air is all so tightly squeezed, in little spaces in the rock, like air bubbles in pumice. You draw them out with Headwind, and they blow you dry at mach speed. Your tears shoot out of the cage in one constant stream. It's not your feelings that are making you cry... you taste your breath, and realize that those were *onion* cookies.

How stupid of you! But it's too late to complain. You remove your shirt, and the sharks go with it. Your body is heavily scratched. But you use Sunshine in a Bag to create a skintight shield of light. Klaars spins around on his stool. "Oh?"

And the moment he's fully around, you take on a stance that forces Headwind to move straight around you with no resistance. Then with all your might, you focus it in two hands, blasting it at him. "Headwind: Typhoon Cannon!"

Klaars is blasted straight off his feet. His stool smashes against the wall. He crashes into the iron bars. You await the prisoners' vengeance, but alas, there is only so much harm they can do with their arms. You keep spamming them, pressing him harder against the bars, and he takes an onslaught of punches to the head and neck. But he's got his centre of gravity intact. With both feet on the ground, he wrests himself free of their grasp and responds by striking certain nerves and veins on their arms that make them fall over and shriek in agony.

Now he's furious. He's glowering with rage. "Now you've done it! Weeping Shriek: Rip and Tear!"

Every single droplet that seeps from the ceiling and every mist particle that you've thrown up with Headwind is enveloped by a brighter, fiercer aura. They slowly become sharks, which you blow away, but every time you do that, more mist is created by Headwind brushing up the floor. There is no way you can make your cell air dry. Klaars takes on a terrifying stance that defies anatomy. "Crimson Frenzy!"

A vein on your foot explodes. Cackling, red sharks the size of goldfish tear at your flesh from the inside, chewing at bone and muscle. You howl in pain, but Sneeda opens your bag and uncorks her bottle. "I don't know if this'll work..."

She pours Vitreous Vigor all over your foot. It crackles with electricity, frying the sharks as they crawl up your leg. She then casts the bottle at Klaars, who dodges it. It reacts with the moist air, zapping him so hard you swear one of his teeth fell out.

>>4625473
Sneeda, panting with fear, summons a wad of bubble gum from the gem on her belt. She chews it hastily and blows out a bubble the size of a tennis ball, which drifts towards your wound. "There are still some sharks in your bloodstream..."

You remove Sunshine in a Bag from your leg. Then you create some, but this time the light has the properties of a powder. You drip it in the wound, and considering how fast your blood is pumping, your veins light up for all to see. And yes, there are tiny sharks in your right leg. Tiny, tiny sharks, swimming up your bloodstream, hungrily seeking your heart.

Bika is still there. "Nya nya na na nah!" it teases, blowing yet another raspberry at you. "They're gonna get your liver first, dummy! Maybe your appendix, even. I never knew what that part of your body was for, but it'll be fun to see what happens when they get there! Tee hee hee hee!"

You're too exhausted to talk. When you get your hands on that little bastard, you'll tear him limb from limb. As your rage increases, your blood pumps faster, and the sharks swim quicker. Then you think of your mission and the bloody vengeance you'd inflict on Bika, and you smile a little bit. Your blood slows down, and the sharks are trapped in the veins in your thigh.

Sneeda pulls out a sewing needle from her belt and pops the bubble. Inside it is a medicinal leech. It clings to your thigh and sucks your blood vigorously, drawing the sharks in like ships into a whirlpool. Now it's bloated. Sneeda stomps it under her foot. Your bloodstream is officially shark free. "So..." you mumble. "You were trying to make me mad on purpose, so the sharks were gonna swim faster and kill me. Aren't you gonna help your friend?"

"Tee hee! Nah, silly!" Bika giggles. It shakes its head. "I'm only friends with people who help me!" Bika gently kicks Klaars' comatose body. "And see, he can't help me anymore. So he's not my friend!"

You've never heard such a high pitched voice, feigning innocence, convey such wicked intent. You remove Sunshine in a Bag from your body. Bika skips across the dungeon corridor. There's no telling who he'll summon next. You have to act quick. You use Sunshine in a Bag as a tool.

> Smash the wall to your right with a chisel
> Smash the wall to your left with a chisel
> File down the iron with Sunshine in a Bag as a file
> Write In

>>4625509
>pull Klaars near the cell door with Headwind, he might have a key on him
if there isn't one then
>create a blunt head on your quarterstaff and smash the wall to your right with it.

>>4625509
>>Tell Bika to wait while you think about a good deal for it (this is to make it wait, we need to be educated in legalese before making any deals with demonic style things)
>>release the prisoners by finding and using a key, or creating a key or lockpick with light in a bag, or just breaking open the cells.
>>have prisoners mine a tunnel to the right. Nobody knows the way out, so to mine to the right makes as much sense as any other direction.
>>use headwind carefully to detect differences in air resistance/pressure to detect other rooms
>>tell imp: we will continue to think about possible deals after we have gotten something we need first (that is "an education in legalise", but we won't tell the impatient imp that. That shit is only relevant if we get really powerfull, its years into the future before it makes sense to learn that)

>>4625446
That is an excuse and assumption. It is still stolen art regardless and it doesn't mean the artist is cool with it. There's a artist I know, someone stole her art from 2008 and she still fucking lost her mind and got that person doxed. It doesn't matter how old it is, it isn't yours if you don't give proper credit.

>>4625744
In that case, this is the artist who drew the OP image:
https://www.deviantart.com/dizziness
http://thedizziness.com/

>>4625830
So to make it all clear, I admit I never drew the OP image.

It doesn't belong to me, and neither do any of the other images I posted, except the cultivation base here: >>4618520

Ok, i'll post here at 9PM NZT kay

>>4625509
I'll support >>4625557 to break the tie.
>>4625830
>>4625831
I think that anon is just yanking your chain. Nobody who posted on deviantart would ever look here for thieves, and even if they did, nobody on deviantart would know how to dox you.

>>4625557
>>4625590
>>4626122
Writing...

>>4626186
With Klaars out for the count, you figure that this Bika is an amoral, evil little imp with loyalties to nobody. You hate that kind of person. His conduct goes against every single ideal that was instilled into you. But now your only chance of getting out of here is taking advantage of it. "Bika...!" you groan. You could use a little more blood in you.

It swings around on one foot. "Hmm?"

"We've nothing personal against each other... mind if you could help me out?"

"Well, boss didn't say anything about anyone storming our hideout. But if you want me to do anything for you, you've got to have a pact, and offer your end of the deal."

"Guaranteed. Give me time to think about it."

"Suit yourself." Bika twirls around in midair and vanishes.

Now's your chance. You make the most solid possible wedge with Sunshine in a Bag, and press it against the wall to your right. With a little effort, you've shaped it into a hammer head on the end of your quarterstaff"Ok. Come here, Sneeda. On a count of three!"

Both you and Sneeda slam against the end of the haft with all your might. You fall headfirst, in a pile of powdery stone, on the cold floor of the next cell. A tall wolfman rubs his eyes, surprised. Sneeda looks up at him. "What're you standing there for? We could use a hand here!"

You do this for the next few cells until you're certain there are none less. The prisoners on the other side are watching you, amazed. By the time you're done, you use Sunshine in a Bag to fill the locks with light and open up the rest. Easy peasy. Now you've gathered a motely gang of freed prisoners.

"I want out." That wolfman tries to open the door, only to realize there's nothing but solid stone behind it. He slams it shut.

You search the whole room for Jenny Chalker. She isn't here at all.

Then it opens again. Bika hovers towards the terrified prisoners. "Well well well!" it chides. "Seems we have a jailbreak here!"

You summon a shuriken in your hand. The prisoners huddle behind you, taking a fighting stance. "For this heinous crime, I shall sentence you to... nothing!"

"What?" Sneeda says.

"That's right! When the boss made a pact with me, he never said anything about jailbreaks to me, 'cos he was so sure that nobody would ever escape! You can do whatever you like, eat each other, that might be be tasty. I'm in charge of where the doors lead, and that's what I do!" Bika says

>>4626189

"But you're an entropist!" you say. "How can you betray your cause?"

"Never said I was!" Bika says, flicking your horn. You snarl in annoyance. "Boss made a deal with me to make sure nobody got out of *that* door. He never said anything about you mining your way out, or..."

"Bika." You say, your voice wavering with uncertainty. "You can make a door that leads them out, and us two to the one known as Jenny Chalker, am I correct?"

You brace yourself, in case he took that as an insult on its intelligence. Surprisingly, it doesn't. "Yes!" it nods vigorously. "But that means you need to offer up something *big!* if you want that favour."

You poke your chest. "Like my soul?"

Bika giggles. "Nothing that extreme! I'm not a big devil. Buuut, that would mean you doing a favour for me. I trust you're a man of your word"

You pause for a moment and consider the alternatives. After a few seconds of thinking, there are none. "Fine. I'll do as you say. But we'll think about it."

"Yaaay!" Bika throws its spindly arms in the air. It rolls back a filthy carpet, revealing a portal to an empty warehouse in Doberan. "Prisoners, here's your free ticket home!"

They rush through it like starving men to a free steak buffet. It seems those with no convictions are just as inclined towards good or evil. Anywhere else, you would hate that, but here, it proves useful. Bika closes the main door into the dungeon, just to open it again. "Remember, kid, boss is not gonna be happy! I'll tell him everything that happened, and he'll never let this down! From this day onward, you're my enemy, so long as boss says so. And also: the next door you find will lead you *out* of here! Since i've been so nice to you, you should hold that promise *close* to your heart."

You find Jenny Chalker in...

> Another bedroom
> An underground beach
> A laboratory
> Write In (Make sure it suits the "evil lair" theme

>>4626190
> A laboratory

>>4626190
> An underground beach

>>4626122
>think that anon is just yanking your chain
>deviantart
The person was from deviantart but she often uses a few 4chan boards to this day. A lot of artists still are lowkey active and get agitated seeing their stuff used.

>>4625831
>>4625830
Sorry if i was harsh earlier. Thanks for linking.

>>4626245
>Sorry if i was harsh earlier. Thanks for linking.
Nah, it's all good.

The other pictures only have angelfire and geocities pages to their name, and nothing else, no matter how hard I search. Besides, it's a real adventure trawling the waybackarchive.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4626196
>>4626198
Let's see what wins here...

>>4626669
> A laboratory
Writing...

>>4626672
There air here is very warm and pungent, and there are multiple glass vats in this room filled with a glowing green fluid. The tables below them are covered with blinking lights and displays you don't understand. You scrounge around the place, swiping folders left and right. They're written in a language you don't understand, but they're worth taking nonetheless. Inside the vats are shadowy, bobbing forms, halfmade humanoids and monsters gestating in the fluid.

The Beam of Transmogrification has been taken apart and laid out on a long mat. Sneeda rolls it up and puts it in her bag. Then she gasps upon seeing the smallest tank, which stands on top of a simple desk. "Oh god!"

Inside that tank is the disembodied head of Jenny Chalker. "Take me out!" she mouths, "I won't die!"

You do as she says, and wipe all the goo off her face and dry her hair. "Thanks so much for saving me!"

"Thanks." You say.

"They cut me into pieces, but my body parts are still living. I can feel them all from here. Look - there's my hand!" she says.

On another desk, holding a pencil, is her hand. You take that, too. "That's my dominant hand. They've been forcing me to draw blueprints, or else they'd use my head as a volleyball or a tennis ball."

Sneeda turns around stifles back a chortle. Jenny notices. "Laugh all you want. That's not the worst thing to happen to me so far."

What do you ask her?

> Where the rest of her body is
> What's been done with the Beam of Transmogrification
> The future plans of the Entropists
> Write In

>>4626701
> Where the rest of her body is
> What's been done with the Beam of Transmogrification
> The future plans of the Entropists

>>4626701
> Where the rest of her body is
> What's been done with the Beam of Transmogrification
> The future plans of the Entropists
> What the blueprints are for and if she can intentionally mess with them if they're dangerous

>>4626739
>>4627325
> Where the rest of her body is
> What's been done with the Beam of Transmogrification
> The future plans of the Entropists
> What the blueprints are for and if she can intentionally mess with them if they're dangerous
Writing...

>>4627369
You resist any urge to make any head related puns. Jenny has blonde hair with green tips. She also has heterochromia, possibly a side effect of cultivation. Her left eye is pink, and her right is indigo. "Where is the rest of your body?"

"Thankfully, they kept the rest far away, but I felt a lot of warm westerlies a while ago. They're bringing me somewhere hot. Outside of Sirius, even." Jenny says. "I can't smell, see, or taste with the rest of my body. I can only feel. So they've likely brought me south, and judging by the rattling and the feel of wood they've brought me in a kind of primitive vehicle. Like a wagon."

"And have they done with you?" You ask.

"Aside from a few games of volleyball, nothing too weird. They took some hair samples, though. But they were stupid enough to let me eavesdrop on what they were doing with the Beam. Turns out they're making improvements."

"Are they gonna make it long range?" You say.

"Not quite." Jenny explains. "The Beam of Transmogrification can change the material properties of matter. But what they want to do is change spiritual properties. We're talking swapping someone's runes around, or adding extra runes so they can create artificial cultivators. Or, they could catch runes from the Hypercelestial Ocean and reincarnate them in whatever configuration they want."

"Giving them control over the cycle of reincarnation!" You surmise. "They'd make gods and demons at will."

"And that's what I don't want happening to your country, young man." Jenny says "It's Geo City's responsibility to protect the rest of the world with our scientific knowledge. So what I was thinking as a countermeasure was that we pass a procreation ban and send out multiple squads for the capture and detainment of Magical Beasts."

Sneeda rolls her eyes. "Sounds a little authoritarian. Surely you can trust these dogs to hump their lamp posts instead."

Jenny gives her an incredulous look. Sneeda shrugs and says. "What?"

"And my blueprints..." Jenny continues "Take 'em. They're for a kind of goo made from pearls called Oneiroplasm. You put runes in there, and you can make False Cores and make all sorts of nasty things. Good thing none of them have lived for more than a few minutes. I don't know what these Entropists have planned, but i'm sure it's not very nice."

You snatch them from the table and stick them in a bag. Then it dawns upon you how utterly eerie it is to hold another's disembodied head in your arms. "We can't return you like this."

"Oh, no." Jenny says. "It's perfectly fine. When they see me at the Geo City embassy, they'll bring me home and get me another body. In my circles, I've got friends who are really good at cybernetics. Geo City has really good ties with the Mystic Knights, don't you worry. Stay in school, we'll handle this."

> "I'm going to reunite you with the rest of your body, no matter what!"
> "Oh, I guess i'll send you to the embassy... You are busy and all"
> Write In

>>4627394
>"I'm going to reunite you with the rest of your body, no matter what!"
> Destroy the other tanks

>>4627394
>"I'm going to reunite you with the rest of your body, no matter what!"
>Destroy the other tanks
>Take as many pieces of the Beam as you can fit in the backpack
If we grab some components, they have to take the time to find replacements.

>>4627416
+1

>>4627416
>>4627422
> "I'm going to reunite you with the rest of your body, no matter what!"
> Destroy the other tanks
> Take as many pieces of the Beam as you can fit in the backpack

>>4627505
"No." You say. Jenny lifts her eyebrows. "I'm going to reunite you with the rest of your body, no matter what!"

"You just can't just- look, your parents must be worried sick about you!" Jenny protests.

"I'm worried sick about what'll happen to the rest of you! And the world!" You say. You place her down on a soft, rounded chair that, for some reason, has wheels and spins around on an axel. If only you could steal this, too.

You take as many pieces of the Beam as you can fit in your backpack. Then you brandish your quarterstaff, use Sunshine in a Bag to make the biggest hammer head you can muster, and smash away at every tank you see. "You're not... making... a single monster!" you pant.

The floor is now a mess of green goo and shattered glass. Everything is underlit by a sickly light. "Say, Jonovan." Sneeda says. "I think that's quite enough. We should go back and tell Xander about this, and leave the rest to the professionals."

"You're a martial sect." You retort. "You *are* the professionals! If Xander isn't willing to take that offer, then shame on him, he's a fraud."

You turn to the door. "Come on. I made a deal with Bika to send us back where we came from if we go through that door."

Jenny sputters. "What?! You made a deal with a devil? What the hell did you offer?"

"I promised that i'd do him a favour in the future." You tell her confidently.

"I knew you were a bit off the rails from the start, but you really need to value your life more!" Jenny says.

You've gotten used to Sneeda's disgusted face, but this one is the perfect picture of mortal terror. "The fuck?!" Sneeda says. "What's wrong with you? Now that little twerp knows where the sect headquarters are! Once he gets back to his boss we're screwed..."

"He doesn't." You say. You jump through the door, and Sneeda follows after. "See?"

The first thing you feel is a powerful breath of mountain wind. The former prisoners are milling about, lining up at the employment office so they can temporarily work as miners to pay for their fees back home. You turn around. "We're in Doberan."

>>4627506
The ride back home is uneventful. Now you're back in the school gym, where the Blazing Lantern Sect's discipes gather after the children have gone home. Xander runs up to greet you. "Johnny!" He says. "You're back! And who's- fuck, it's that crazy bitch! I see she's ahead of the competition, as usual! Ha ha ha!"

"He's twelve!" Jenny protests. "He doesn't need to know any of this!"

Xander points at her with his oversized mechanical arm. "Oh wow, you've been reading her scientific journals, have you? About transhumanism and transformation, the 'absolute liberation from physical form' she's all about? The 'apotheosis and instrumentality of mortal life'?"

You nod. You've read it all. "Well guess what? She started all that from a roleplaying forum, drew all sorts of pictures involving folks getting transformed into all sorts of things when she was like, 19. Yeah, I remember her account on that art website, she'd charge us twenty bucks a sketch. Now that Jenny's a professional scientist, she's deleted it all, but she can't delete that art from my website archives! Ha ha ha! Good thing she had the smarts to not use her real name!"

"With all due respect, Xander," Jenny continues. Her voice hardens, "I'd appreciate it if you shut your trap!"

Xander doesn't listen. "Yeah, I remember this one time you drew your boyfriend at the time getting turned into some fox girl, kemo kasomething, kitsooneey or some shit... his clothes instantly changed, like one of those magical girls from Geo City. And you can do that stuff in real life! C'mere, i'll show you!"

He turns off the lights. "So the whole trick here is to wear clothes you have a strong attachment to, it can be subconscious so don't fuss over it too much. That helps you turn it into aura." He brings out his metallic, fiery aura that swirls around him. "And what you gotta do is mix it with your aura enough that you can dematerialize it..."

All of a sudden, Xander's clothes evaporate. He screams. Jenny laughs. "Shut your eyes!" you don't.

"Itai!" Xander shouts. He takes out a sweaty towel from the rack and covers himself up. "So you see, my vest and pants and all have been turned into one of these wisps of colour, material objects that have become part of my aura..." He prods a greenish blob of aura. "Then there's this."

He points towards an orange swirl of aura, and draws it towards him. Then he's wearing orange robes with several badges on them. "That's how you change clothes on the fly like one of them magical girls. Just do it quicker than I did. There's this nanosecond of nudity that the cameramen scramble over."

> Try it out for yourself with some robes
> "Do that again and i'll call the cops on you for indecent exposure towards a minor."
> "I rescued someone. Do I get a promotion?"
> Get to know the other sect members, ask them if they'll help you with recovering Jenny's body.
> Write In

>>4627508
>Get to know the other sect members, ask them if they'll help you with recovering Jenny's body.

>>4627508
>Get to know the other sect members, ask them if they'll help you with recovering Jenny's body.

>>4627508
>Get to know the other sect members, ask them if they'll help you with recovering Jenny's body.

>>4627524
>>4627590
>>4628175
Writing...

File: 130.gif (44 KB, 273x370)

44 KB GIF

>>4628481
The other sect members are frankly impressed by what you've done, but for the most part they seem to be busy with training. You don't want to bother them too much, so you ask each of them if they want to come along with you on your next foray out into the unknown. It seems only Calucca the kobold is willing to join. "Hello!" she chirps.

"We're going to the desert." You tell her.

"Aw great, I haven't left Eidelmanne since, like, forever." Calucca says. "But we've gotta know where her body is."

"On that note," Jenny says, "they've kept it remarkably intact. Not a scratch. I seem to be lying on many cushions, brocade ones I think."

You take out the "Bestiary of the Kingdom of Sirius and the realms in its Surrounding Vicinities", a huge volume that you heft in both arms. It's a massive, weighty codex written in archaic language, filled with maps and descriptions of foreign lands and strange places.

The sect members gather around it. Xander traces his fingers across a parchment map. There is a little hair on the corner of the page. "There's the Skazarian Desert, and in the centre there's Lalikath. If there's anyone who owns brocade, it's the Satrap of Lalikath. We seem to be separated by the rockfields of Glagrago, and there's just one long road there."

"Understood." you say. You turn around to see a strange sight: Sneeda is feeding Jenny's head spoonfuls of stew.

"Johnny." Xander says. "From what my informants say, you've taken out the majority of the Entropists here. If they try causing any trouble, we can take out the rest. Also, i'm guessing since your journey you have this... overflowing feeling going on with your aura."

Funnily enough, you do, but you never thought of it that way until now. It's like you've grown too big for your clothes. "That's 'cause you've moved up a threshold. Congratulations. You're a cultivator of the 2nd threshold now, which means you gotta..."

Choose one.

> Improve your existing techniques
> Combine your techniques
> Develop new ones
> Learn another Body Tempering Art

>>4628518
>Improve your existing techniques
I think what we know has been working out well, and I don't foresee the need to learn new skills for this one.

>>4628518
>Improve your existing techniques

>>4628534
>>4628537
> Improve your existing techniques
Writing...

>>4628827
This time, he brings you to the cubbyhole room, the one with a hole in the thatched roof. The place is dank with mildew and body odour. This is no cultivation ground, located amidst the city, but it's all the Blazing Lantern Sect can afford.

"Alright!" Xander says. "You have two aura techniques so far: Headwind and Sunshine in a Bag! You can choose to improve them in two ways... you can make them stronger, or more precise."

"How'd I do that?" You ask, as you sit down in the improvised skylight in lotus position.

"Just meditate and you'll start to feel your runes." Xander explains. "Can't explain it, but you'll know it when you feel it."

You nod.

"But beware! Mess up on this, and you might got get what you expect." Xander says.

You shut your eyes, and let the power of your soul well up in your dantian. Your chi surges through your meridians like a fierce river. Xander leaves the room.

Choose one, and roll 1d100 to see how it goes

> Improve Headwind
> Improve Sunshine in a Bag

Also, choose one

> Make it stronger
> Make it more precise

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>4628838
>Improve Sunshine in a Bag
>Make it stronger

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>4628838
> Improve Sunshine in a Bag
> Make it stronger
OP you probably should have us roll after the vote rather than during it to avoid confusion since its hard to tell which one is used.

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>4628838
> Improve Sunshine in a Bag
> Make it stronger

How can I not pick the option that got 96? Another good reason to do the rolling after the vote

>>4628975
nvm, i now consider the rolls to be separate from the rest of the post

>>4628982
ya know what, it's late so i'll post tomorrow

>>4628860
>>4628889
>>4628975
Rolled 96 (1d100)
>Improve Sunshine in a Bag
>Make it stronger

Writing...

>>4629705
Your mind plunges into darkness. It feels warm here, pleasant and comforting, yet in this void there lingers the fear of the unknown, as subtle as a single wisp of smoke floating in the breeze. You channel the power of your light affinity. A surge of power overcomes you. You see visions of mountains and great shining pillars, enormous rotating metal wheels wreathed in blue flames, blurred memories of a previous life.

"Come on!" Xander cheers. "Don't fight it! You've got this!"

Cold sweat pours down your forehead. Bright light shines through your eyelids. You slump to the ground, gasping for air.

"Oh shit!" Xander shouts. He throws water on your head. Twin beams of light shoot from your eyes, boring holes in the room. Xander is trapped between you. He carefully touches the beam. It's solid. "Oh god..."

He takes out a pair of scales and a chisel. He snaps the beams of solid light and leaves you there with two spikes jutting from your eyes. "Hang in there, i've got to measure 'em."

You can't see it, but you hear the clattering of a solid object on metal, and the spring of a scale. "Five kilograms!" He says. "You've improved!"

It's an arduous effort, but eventually you withdraw your aura, and the spikes from your eyes vanish. The blaring light leaves an afterimage lingering in your retinas, the kind that you get when you stare at a candle in the dark too long.

When you recover, you thank him.

The next day, you sell the loot you got from the Entropists at an auction. Calucca does it on your behalf, since they would never believe you got them yourself. You rake in 8500 Majors, which is what a gold coin is called in Sirius. They fill up several bags, which are heavy indeed, so you only take 125, which will weigh you down about a kilogram.

As you prepare for your journey, stocking up on provisions and equipment, Jenny confirms that she would like to accompany you to Lalikath. At first you're concerned, but then you realize it's better you bring a disembodied head to Lalikath than a headless body to Eidelmanne. At least you can hide her head better, and on top of that, she makes good conversation.

On another note, you ask her often about how her body feels, and now she's got a new update: nothing bad has happened to her. She appears to be lying down in very soft grass, which is rather uncharacteristic of a desert city.

You don't want to waste the books you got. Of course, you take with you the Sirius Gazetteer vol. III, which encompasses the whereabouts, and the Bestiary of the Kingdom of Sirius, which will be of great aid should you encounter a monster, but then there remain three books of practical use. But alas, they are so heavy, taking more than two of them will surely encumber you. The last one is a book written by the Entropists by an anonymous author. It's about philosophy.

Choose one.

> Cultivation Pills Manual vol. VII
> Burrowing Worm Style vol. I
> Metal Rending Song vol. I
> On the Circle, the Spiral and the Line

>>4629748
And with your preparations done and dusted, you set a course through the...

> Forest
> Lake
> Plains
> Swamp
> Hills

>>4629748
> Metal Rending Song vol. I
> Swamp

>>4629748
> Burrowing Worm Style Vol. I
> Swamp

>>4629748
>Burrowing Worm Style vol. I
A volume VII probably refers to things found in earlier volumes which you haven't read.
> Hills

>>4629748
> Metal Rending Song vol. I
so many entropists use metal stuff and their boss got a mech so it sounds very useful
> Forest

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4629840
>>4630620
Rolling for whether it'll be MRS or BWS...

>>4631237
> Metal Rending Song vol. I
> Swamp
Writing...

>>4631255
On your way to the Barony of Toorgaithe, you take every opportunity you can to study a book that's bound in scale mail: the Metal Rending Song, vol. 1. At first you thought it was a music sheet or something, but rather a number of meditations and mantras that you're supposed to repeat for hours on end. If you had to use this in a fight, you'd die before you finished the first line. But nonetheless, you keep trying.

"All sounds in existence are like raw ores: filled with impurities and imperfections. The most 'pure' sound is without variation, an immaculate hum of one frequency and one volume. Like an ingot smelted and refined one thousand times over, a 'pure' sound is entirely homogenous."

Eventually, you sit down on a log and bring out your aura and try putting it into practice. You give it the qualities of the air and begin to shake it around, but for the first half an hour, the wind simply whips back and forth. It's like a breeze that can't decide on which direction it should blow. You keep on trying. You change the direction more and more slowly, try to make the movement of your aura more precise.

Jenny is on a treestump next to you, that Calucca has decided to use as a table. You notice Jenny's gotten used enough to her disembodied head form that she uses her chin to inch towards you. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to hum with my aura." you say.

"Jonovan. When you try to talk, do you blow over and over again until you make words?" Jenny chastises you.

You take her advice to heart. Instead of consciously moving your aura, you try to sense how it moves by itself, and attune it to one constant frequency. "Ommmm....."

Any moment now... Your aura becomes a fuzzy grey oval wobbling on the outside. The wobbling, like a disturbed pond, eventually settles. And before you know it, your pants are damp. You open your eyes. The mist is rising from the wood. "Did I just... I must have shaken the water out!"

"You've produced an ultrasonic frequency. It's a sound that's so low, it shakes things." Jenny says. "Just be careful not to use it after you've eaten."

You take her advice to heart. At this point, you can't really direct Metal Rending Song, but rather you can concentrate it on your feet and use it to walk across water. You can also turn it into a bubble surrounding you, but when you do that, you become unable to hear anything else. But you haven't found any metal yet, so that's a bummer.

>>4631279
As soon as you see smoke columns in the distance, Jenny speaks up. "Hold on, hold on."

You perk up. "Yes?"

"I read in the gazetteer that they're superstitious around these parts." Jenny says. "Put me in your bag."

"No, you'll suffocate." you respond.

> Put Jenny in the bag
> Hold her in your arms
> Write In

The swamp village of Klythe is a filthy and termite infested place. It's unfortunately sundown by the time you reach there. You probably wouldn't be able to tell what time of the day it is, considering the near permanent overcast and the gloomy, humid weather. Kobolds of both draconic and canine persuasions live together in relative equality. Well, you never thought you'd ever see such a thing. How do these dragons even tolerate their beloved minions living in such squalor?

Despite this, it seems to be a lively place. The inhabitants of Klythe, all dressed in waterproof leather clothes, like to go about the swamps on stilts, arranging nets to catch slimy fish and eels. The more adventurous ones go spear fishing. Their houses are all on stilts, and the ones on the outer rim of the villages are on houseboats anchored to the swamp trees.

You ask a fisherman why they don't just anchor it to the ground, and his response is brief: "Assuming there was any ground to begin with!"

Their inn is a rudimentary place with a sagging roof. It's more of a watering hole, and the liquor served here is brewed from whatever they can get their hands on. After paying for the accommodations, you look for any stairs, only to realize it's a bungalow, and the only place to sleep is a section of the inn that's behind a filthy curtain. There's wooden columns all around this room, all connected by hummocks.

"Ewww...!" Calucca groans. "I'm not sleeping here. We should camp on whatever solid ground we can find."

> Get her drunk
> Follow through with her plan
> Sleep here by yourself nonetheless. She can do what she wants, she's older than you.
> Write In

>>4631298
> Put Jenny in the bag but use Headwind to fill the bag with air beforehand
> Follow through with her plan

>>4631298
>Put Jenny in the bag
>>4631298
>Follow through with her plan

>>4633947
>>Put Jenny in the bag
>>Follow through with her plan
support

dead?

>>4645414
hope not, the first thread was archived recently though so I still am holding out.

>>4631489
>>4633947
>>4634242
>>4645414
>>4645445
Sorry for leaving you hanging: I'll write what happens next thread, which will be next week, I promise. I got really busy then.
https://discord.gg/PdfqhwPa35