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Okay, big eagle, trying to fight stupid kids, you have LOTS o' mana, like LOTS so thanks Seither shard things yeah it's nice.

Got bugs on stupid kids, you dragged them here. Most kids. Girl was left, she's trying to eagle tackle. That's dangerous.

75

>Current Mana: Yeah Please Stop Okay/11000

Nope nope nope you need to block it don’t want this to hit- barrier, barrier now!

The big stupid eagle slams into the thing, it's too close though and the reverb STILL shakes you, throws everyone for a loop. You’re REALLY glad Gartoum is holding onto you cause- wait shit the half-fair kid is slipping off fuck damn it come back here.

This flight and fight sucks. You don’t like it, no. Even the bugs are falling off. The kids are too but that’s good. Crap decisions. The eagle bounced but it's trying again. Wait no it's going high REALLY high she's AGAINST THE SUN though fuckwhat the shit?

>Crap crap crap just start flying faster this is shit.
>Nope stop the girl from whatever the thing is.
>Other
>>
>>4782770
...a stupid idea, but can't we just Nebula Blast her if she's so high in the sky
>>
>>4782770
>Other
Call her down for a talk or we'll finish off the boys for real. Megaphone of course.

I'm tired of wasting mana. Also looks like using up mana doesn't knock us up out of drugged state.
>>
>>4782789
Since she's getting close to the sun then I think she's trying to cast some sort of Light magic ultimate spell, hoping that it'd be effective against shadow creatures like Gargles and would remove Ah-Rul's protective buff. Is there a way to protect him in case if our attempt to talk it out fails?
>>
>>4782800
She can't try anything destructive for sure, since we still have the boys. And there's no way her spell's faster than our fists and blades.

Might be a wide-area dispell or debuff, something that doesn't hurt our hostages. She might be desperate but she will listen to reason. She SHOULD be near out of gas too boot. Hell, we're at half tank and we're a nuke.
>>
>>4782770
welcome back.
>>4782789
supportan'
get our sword out. And please get her on the ground because me's getting tired of this dogfight
>>
>>4782770
alright, let's do this>>4782789, but I wanna add something to make sure she gives it a thought instead of ignoring us and shooting her spell anyway
>try to cast powered down Sun Flare and keep it up, so we'd glow without harming our ride and companions
I think that seeing a minion of the Shadow King using light magic would throw her in a loop and pay attention to what we're saying.
...or maybe I just like convoluted plans too much.
>>
Hey. HEY. HEY!

Writing.
>>
Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>4782770
>>4782789
>>4782853
>>4782854
Okay no no no no no done don’t wanna deal with this anymore. “HEY! HEEEEEEEY!” Megaphone, not gonna not be heard. “NOPE! STOP! DO THAT AND THEIR HEADS COME OFF!” Oh wait, rest of the bugs. “Hey cut it out I need them alive for now,” you whisper okay good turning back to stupid girl. Didn’t do anything yet so good. “GETTING SICK OF THIS SO PARLEY TIME YOU KNOW THAT MEANS RIGHT?!”

The eagle doesn’t react too much but stupid girl does you can see her head. “What?!”

Did she not- “YOU HEARD ME GET DOWN HERE AND LETS TALK LIKE GROWN WOMEN OR I CUT THEIR HEADS OFF!”

She’s not saying okay and that’s annoying. Okay then fine. “THREE! TWO!”

“OKAY! Hold on!” Easy there she comes. Eagle coming down, girl looks pissed, don’t care. “...w-what do you what?!”

Shit wait what do you want to do with this?

>Offer?
>>
>>4783014
How far is she from us?
>>
>>4783026
To the side of you, but still above. She's actively on her way down, probably...a
couple dozen or so meters, very rough estimate.
>>
>>4783014
>Ask where their improvements come from.
>Get both her and us to the ground first so we can talk face to face.
She can't refuse this. Make sure she lands before us or the boys get it.
>>
>>4783014
this, just keep running our mouth until we touch the ground>>4783058
>>Ask where their improvements come from.
I still bet that old adventurer Torvald was training them - the lockstone was near his village after all.>>4777120
>>
>>4783014
>>4783058
this one boss
>>
man this fight is such a shitshow. what do we even do after we get on the ground?
>>
>>4783114
If we're both on the ground, we can basically steamroll their entire team. The only reason the fight dragged on was because we are not equipped for air-to-air stuffs like this.
>>
Don't forget to coat the hostages bwith sticky mana. Can't have them do anything while we try to "talk" to the girl
>>
>>4783154
Oh yes, have some of our industrial grade adhesive. Now powered by magic drugs and a fairy halfling.
That aside, yeah we should. Gartoum is also there too if they want to try anything funny.
>>
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>>4783014
so, what's our birdie doing right now?
>>
>>4783172
Honestly? Vaguely panicking. You think. Hard to focus.

Still hasn't left, though. Loyal birb.

Also GET DOWN THERE!

Writing!
>>
>>4783212
Aaaaah we need to adopt this birb.
>>
>>4783014
>>4783058
>>4783096
>>4783101
68

“WHERE’D YOU IMPROVE?!” you shout as the two of you slow down to prevent wind from ruining your voices and besides they got better super quick and you don’t like that it’s annoying. “HOW?!”

“None of your business!” she shouts but she’s still talking you never got that. “But if you must know, we found better gear, and we did a lot of exploring, and we got some help from a kindly old man you manipulated!” Okay that guy then that’s annoying but still. “Maybe next time think twice before trying to-”

Don’t care. “DON’T CARE, NOW GROUND TALK, FLYING AND FIGHTING SUCKS!” you shout. Odd look she has. Don’t like it. Kinda annoying but she shouldn’t take that long right? Right. “LAND!”

Weird face. “But you-!”

Pausing. You don’t like that. Need sword, where’s sword- ah, there’s sword. “LAND OR I CHOP!”

Grimace. Doesn’t like it. Smart. But annoying. "You first!"

"NO YOU FIRST!" Ugh would chopping hurt Gargles you don't think so maybe you could-

Oh wait there she goes angling down it's still pretty flat around here but at least there's a tree here and there so it's not super dull and dry with a little grass.

Wait why's she stopping what the- "I want one of them! So you can't just fly off with my friends or- or worse! If we're going to talk, then we're going to talk!"

>No.
>Fiiiiiine.
>Other

>Roll 1d20, best of three regardless.
>>
Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>4783353
>chop one of their fingers off
>"LAND. NOW."
>>
Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>4783353
>>
Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>4783353
Whatever happens, glad we're not crashing anytime soon.
>>
>>4783353
Oh wait, I have a better idea. Since she's SO NICE to provide us with an opportunity.

>Pretend to hand one of the boys over.
>Get close and prepare a Sun Flare, warn Gargles and Gartoum.
>Cast and then jump over and bullrush her.
The question is should we go in melee or do we knock her out with electro lines instead?
>>
>>4783370
i mean, if you really wanna end her right there and then, go for a shotgun punch or a one inch shotgun punch. she literally won't have a chance to react and the punch will definitely pass any kind of barrier she has and vaporize her face or guts or whatever else.
>>
>>4783370
she has a guard dog, won't be able to bullrush them so easily
>>
>>4783374
I was wondering if we should go lethal or non-lethal.
>>4783377
Oh? Then maybe we should do something unorthodox instead?

We're still on air right? We jump, but not to their bird but to anywhere else. THEN we grab her with a mana line. We can fly but she can't.
>>
>>4783381
Basically, we jump and pull her down with us.
desu I don't expect a pooch, well-equipped or not, to stop us from taking her in melee.
>>
>>4783353
>chop one of their hands off and toss it over to her.
>"LAND. NOW."
>"I'LL FIX IT WHEN WE LAND."
one finger is not a serious threat.
>>4783381
thought we were done with fighting in the air.
>>
>>4783387
This whole fight dragged on for so long because we've underestimated them. They gave it proper armor, so it's a proper team member.
>>
>>4783392
Meh, I still think just forcing her to land is just dragging it on. The moment we get into close range either by on foot or mana slings she's done. The dog can't interrupt something as quick as a empowered sling.
>>
>>4783402
i don't think we underestimated them. they caught us in probably the worst terrain we could fight on and they have a better bird, plus new weapons.

>>4783405
if she's on land she has nowhere to run. on the air she can make the bird dodge us or something like that.
>>
>>4783353
>>4783357
>>4783392
Fiine, let's make it like a true villain.
>>
>>4783416
Pretty sure we did. Or at least I did. There's a lot we could've done better in that fight. Like shooting a firework before creating a barrier here >>4767897 >>4768100. Or asking the fairy boy if he could boost Gargles like they did to their mount.
>>
>>4783353

these:
>>4783357
>>4783392

With healing magic and potions I doubt this would even be that much of a concern anyway.
>>
>>4783427
>Like shooting a firework before creating a barrier here
to break their concentration ofc
>>
>>4783353
>>4783357
>>4783392
>>4783425
>>4783429

Nope, not doing this. Which one’s closer- older boy, good.

Off comes a hand. “AAAARGHG!” Oh, that woke him up.

“NO!” Oh she’s yelling.

You don’t care. “LAND NOW OR I WON’T FIX IT!” That might be a lie but who knows right now you don’t.

“Fine, fine!” Ah, there she goes. Guiding it lower and lower aaaand- there we are she’s on the ground. Then you you’re more comfortable on the ground anyway so here you go and besides you don’t want blood on Gargles’ back that’s hard to wash out.

Hop, there you go- dog is mad, whatever. “Everyone off!” you shout it but you still have to haul the boys and now the kid is freaking out ‘cause he woke up WHATEVER. Wait she's- OH NO YOU-

-wait what the fuck she kinda just moved back with her eagle a couple yards that's annoying but smart but really fucking annoying.

“Okay, we’re here, now, fix him and we can talk about this!” she’s yelling agaaaaain. “I want my friends back and you want...gah, we know you’re after the Lockstones!”

“N-no!” Why is the boy TALKI- stupid question. “Don’t- gahhh- don’t give it up!”

“U-uh…” the kid is scared no duh. Dog still growling and big eagle is pretty mad too and so is Gargles he's hissing and Pecker is rummaging around in your hair it's all very annoying sorta. "You're acting different..." he mutters like you can't hear him but you can that's kinda insulting.

"So fine, what, you want a trade?!" it's like a yell and a cry pretty half and half.

> "Lockstone. You have it so give it and I give your friends easy."
> "Go away forever and hide or die but I don't want to see you again ever ever."
> Fffffffuck them. (Attack)
>Other
>>
Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>4783545
Oh, forgot.
>>
>>4783545
> "Lockstone. You have it so give it and I give your friends easy."
For the record, this is a shot in the dark right? I don't see anything pointing out that they took the islands' stone.
Unless they're responsible for the thieving in the first place, and the "quest" list back in Nestland.
>>
>>4783563
Yup. To be detailed just in case the nuance was missed (although I don't normally do this) it's a shot in the dark that Miranda's too buzzed to think clearer about.
>>
>>4783545
> "Lockstone. You have it so give it and I give your friends easy."
>"Don't do anything stupid now. You've already hit your friends with your fireballs. And then almost knocked them from my bat with your bird. And then tried to blast everyone with magic yet again. If you try anything funny - you'll end up killing your friends, for sure."
Something along these lines, don't need to do anything reckless. She's headbutted us last time, better we discourage her from dumb heroics.
>>
>>4783545
>>4783584
> "Lockstone. You have it so give it and I give your friends easy."
> Remind her that we have a much bigger advantage and we can kill the boys anytime we want.

And something else.
>Ask Ah-Rul if he still wants them alive
>>
>>4783545
>>4783584
adding
>>Ask Ah-Rul if he still wants them alive
>>
>>4783545
>>4783584
>>4783589
>>4783594
+
>>
Will continue tomorrow around the same time.
>>
Writing. Miranda is still kinda wired right now.
>>
>>4783545
>>4783547
>>4783563
>>4783584
>>4783589
>>4783594
>>4783599

55

The heck there’s so much you should be saying but it’s all jumbling fuck you need to get the words out fast. "Lockstone. You have it so give it and I give your friends easy otherwise I kill them easy." Fuck she’s not looking at you scared she’s just weirded out you’ve seen that look before and this whole thing’s making you tense. More tense than normal and you don’t like it. Might should’ve just killed them and-

‘No. Not yet.’ ARRRRGH WHY NOT?! ‘CEASE your yelling, fool whelping!’ What the heck what’s with the aggression he was cool for a while and- ‘AND you’ve suddenly imbibed some sort of untamed magics that have sent your senses and focus ablaze, and I’ve little tolerance for foolishness!’ Oh he can go somewhere it’s not like it’s- ‘Regardless! You shall leave them alive. There shall be a price to be paid, but they as of yet have a purpose to me, even if not the one I’d originally hoped. Thrash them if you will, but they will remain amongst the living...for now.’

Booooooo. Wait she at least seems to be reaching for something in a bag what does she give in you kinda hope so.

>Current Mana Would be nice if you hurried up but whatever I got all day/11,000

>Roll 1d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>4784570
>>
Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>4784570
>>
Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>4784570
>>
Whoop.

Writing!
>>
>>4784606
man if we get literally nothing outta this. Rewardless fights never feel good, even less when they drag on for too long.
>>
>>4784624
well, for now, we have hero's hand - so it's not 'literally nothing'.
>>
man, I think we should cripple them. Like cut of the mage's tongue or cut off the hand(s) of the warriors and fuck up their birdie.
>>
Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>4784570
>>4784580
>>4784584
>>4784598
No shining thing that sucks so there’s no Lockstone but what does she have in her hand it’s paper.

...what? “What?”

“This is all we have on the location of the last stone. It’s in the Lustre Ruins, to the east of the capital of Yulin. The last one…and this is how to get through it.” she mutters and you don’t like that. You can feel your legs tensing and a bit sore from the ride maybe you just want to snatch it and run or kick her in the face but whatever. You don’t have a ton of time here either this is frustrating. “...But heal my friend up first before he dies of blood loss!” Pft like he would.

>Fine fine fine heal him already.
>Hmmmm nope taking the stupid paper sucks for them.
>Other
>>
>>4784916
oi maybe we should take some of the hero's blood for the mirror?
>>
>>4784916
>Fine fine fine heal him already.
>Take some of the boy's blood.
Pretty sure we have a vial or two inside our bag. Dunno how the mirror works just yet, but some of the spied's blood should help it "lock" on more accurately right?

That aside, I'll take it. The location, guide and a free ticket to spy on them. Probably the best outcome since we can't kill them, yet.
>>
>>4784916
>>4784955
This, although we still don't know how exactly does our new mirror work. But even if we won't be able to spy on them, then at least we've bugged that nobleman.
>>
>>4784916
>>4784955
this I guess
least it's almost over
>>
>>4784916
>Fine fine fine heal him already.
>"meet me again, and i'll chop you all limb by limb"
its a bluff, but they don't know it
>DONT take their blood
that's just weird
>>
Gimme your blood. Not to suck, for other purposes.

Writing.
>>
>>4784916
>>4784955
>>4784969
>>4784970
54

“Fine fine fine fine!” You grab the boy, take his arm. Wait, blood, you have a thing that uses blood gonna need summa that. Taking it, don’t care what he says or the girl or the brat kid you’ve got a vial here somewhere you think or something to hold it- there bottle perfect. Take some, plenty going and wow he looks pale. Whatever stick it back. HEALING GLOVES. THEY WORK THANK GOODNESS.

You practically throw the kid over to her and then the other kid and they both crash in a heap which is pretty funny. “I see you again and heads come off!” Yeah that words work.

Finally now you can get lost and maybe never see them again hopefully especially after you made that threat. Okay right then-

Cawwing what the fuck that sounds like- son of a bitch the other eagles well fuck them you’re not sticking around and Gargles is way faster so GOODBYE.

Okay right now find out where the ruins are what the heck not too hard better not be…

>Sleep. Sleep sleep sleep. Force Crash Out early
>Nope nope gotta be something else around here something doing whatever finding ruins!
>Why the heck Ah-Rul why the heck?
>Other
>>
>>4785193
>>Nope nope gotta be something else around here something doing whatever finding ruins!
Crash would end the rush early and waste the power boost.
>>
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>>4785193
>>Sleep. Sleep sleep sleep. Force Crash Out early
>Prepare the mana conductor, healing scarf and maybe some potions to speed up our recovery
gotta use these at some point
>>
>>4785201
we still need to skip some time before using the mirror, it's too early now. We have only a few rolls left until we crash.
>>
>>4785193
>>4785201
This.
>>
>>4785193
>>4785201
+ eat a crystal too
>>
now that i think about it...we should have taken the kids armor and weapons away. fuck
>>4785193
>Sleep. Sleep sleep sleep.
>Prepare the mana conductor, healing scarf and maybe some potions to speed up our recovery
>>
>>4785193
Naptime. Writing.
>>
>>4785224
no time, the knights were already catching up to us
>>
>>4785224
>>4785232
I'm taking my words back. To be honest I didn't expect that we'd immediately exchange them after healing the boy, thought we'd have another post to go through before we did that and we were just extending the negotiation instead of concluding them. Nothing in this post>>4784916 indicated that we'll be done with them right away, we could've made more demands - why should we trust her to give us the correct location, their lives were worth much more than a little piece of paper. I get that posts are less detailed because we're drugged up, but the complete lack of transparency makes me think that we've been railroaded out of stripping the hero party off their gear for the second time.
>>
>>4785193
>>4785201
>>4785213
>>4785222
>>4785224
Ruins mean traps and traps mean danger you can’t not pay attention which sucks but you need to figure out how to come off this it’s obvious but that doesn’t mean you don’t wanna not do it okay but HOW.

“Like a beast with nowhere to feast…” oh no he’s talking again. “Perhaps its body is too much for its mind. The soul fierce and hungry but with-” okay gonna ignore him a lot now. Where’s bird you kinda want bird now maybe he can- ow.

Ow.

Ow.

Weird that doesn’t hurt usually. Why you called him Pecker you dunno.

Headache. Feeling sore. Kinda sucks. Maybe you need sleep. Maybe that’ll do it. Gotta stay awaaaay from Yulin for a bit though. Fly circles. Wide circles. Far away from eagles. “Wake me if they get close.” Yeah yeah, nap sounds good right now just gonna do that…



Crash Out: Strenuous activities and combat will be harder to roll for until noted.



...you’re not even in the air when you wake up. How long’s it been?

‘Several hours,’ comes the voice in your head, ‘And I trust you’ve slept off the worst of the fool mistake you made?’ Mistake? That’s a bit harsh, but...you DO feel calmer now. If sore.

You can see you’re in some sort of...not quite arid plains. There’s some trees, but not many. Steppes, nearly, or maybe savannah, but more hilly with some plateaus. You seem to be on- or rather in one. You have to hold in a snort. Bat cave. Of course. Still, you’re glad Gargles had the sense to hide out. From the looks of things, it’s near evening.

“We are no longer the prey,” your halfling friend ‘reports’. Pecker actually chirps, and you feel a ruffling in your hair before you feel it hop forward a bit an- oh, hello, yes, you see them. It’s almost looking at you like it’s asking ‘you okay now?’ Which, again, you are. Well, you will be after a few potions. You're pretty sure you still have that pack somewhere in your bag...

“Right…” you mutter. Well, you got SOMETHING out of all this, recalling the paper the girl had given you. Unfurling it and taking a look while downing the potion labeled energy potion, it seems like…

...huh. Just a bunch of scribbles?! For a moment you’re pissed, thinking it was a ruse, but...no. They’re just sloppy notes. Seems like there’s absolutely a few tricks that you’ll need to get through- some that aren’t receptive to just bulldozing through the walls, even. You sigh. “Right, then.” You know what you’re doing. You’re still sore, mind...but it was worth dealing with that girl, you suppose. After all, you have two more stones to get.

>You’ll leave now, while there’s still some daylight left. Never know what comes out at night. You’ll be a bit sore for longer, but it’ll be worth it to move quickly as possible.
>You’ll wait until nightfall. The more recovery time you get the better, and the night will make it less obvious for anyone trying to tail you there or harder for people to trap you since the ‘heroes’ know where you’re going.
>Other
>>
Done for the night.

>>4785480
Nothing remotely so malicious. It's simply intended to be Miranda is far from thinking straight when on the stuff. And I thought it WAS pretty indicative. But in general, if you want something to happen, vote for it ASAP regardless to get it in the public consciousness. Remember I DO allow for things like interrupts between posts if you catch them, and it's why write-ins are always permitted (provided they make in character sense).

Also I can be a derp sometimes. But no, I'm not trying to force anything, I have no issue of trying to strip them of gear.
>>
>>4785484
The only indication that I got from that post was "You don’t have a ton of time here either this is frustrating." The option we've voted for didn't mention giving both of her friends back, just healing up one of them. We were constantly rattling about stealing their gear ever since we've met them, yet right after defeating them in the first encounter Miranda went after the lockstone and immediately left the dungeon, ignoring the kinds. And I've already voiced my opinion about this encounter.
>>
>>4785486
>>4785484
I think things would have gone better had Handler marked the option like
>Fine fine fine heal him already (conclude the parley).
Just like how the option to sleep was marked to force the crash early.

If I knew we'd give both of the boys back with this I would vote to take their gear away also. Messy nonetheless, you should be more explicit next time with things like these.
>>
>>4785484
I'm going to believe that there was nothing malicious behind it and that sometimes you're just a giant derp. I assume you were in a hurry to finish this encounter, because honestly it dragged out longer than they usually go, and you've wrapped it up to so we could move on with the mission. We've already discussed a similar issue long time ago - about how it feels like you're speeding up things a bit too much during intermissions, giving us a list of missions before we can finish our business in the Intersecton.
>>
>>4785482
>You’ll wait until nightfall. The more recovery time you get the better, and the night will make it less obvious for anyone trying to tail you there or harder for people to trap you since the ‘heroes’ know where you’re going.
>Other
>Inquire Ah-Rul's exact plans for the heroes' group we spared.

Think our mana's still half-full, so I don't wanna try our luck.
Also the other question too, because I want to know we're leaving them alive until when. Leaves less of a bad taste if we're within a chart so to speak, so we'll know what to do instead of acting against disadvantaged scenarios that are forced upon us.
>>
>>4785482
>>4785499
this, and adding something else since we'll have more time to spend
>try using the boy's blood to activate our mirror to spy on people in the meantime
>thank the fairy kid for the boost and ask him more about his powers
Still no ideas on how exactly does it work. Would it be possible to spy on their team since they're not our subordinates? If we can't then at least we can spy on the bug we've planted on the young nobleman >>4765976. And I think if we knew for certain what the fairy hybrid could do then it could've been a 3v2 encounter instead of 3v1. Maybe he could've made Gargles faster. Or had non-lethal spells. Or maybe he can use the fairy figurines and totems that we've been collecting throughout the mission. There's no guarantee that the hero's party wouldn't increase, so maybe we should actually start training him so he could actively help us instead only of giving us situational power boosts.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we could've done differently during this fight? Or things we could improve on? Pretend that there were no rolls involved.
>>
>>4785523
>>4785482
This too.

The fight went on far more than expected precisely because we couldn't grind them to dust with our powerful CQC. So if something like this happens again in the future, our best course is to just sling to the opponents' rides, turn on our buffs and start butchering.
No barrier blocks, no magiblasts. Just swords and fists.
When we nicked them with the Flux Bubble, we should had jumped to them instead.
>>
>>4785482
>>4785499
>>4785523
+ go with the flow
And pet that sweet birb ya dunce
>>
>>4785482
>You’ll wait until nightfall. The more recovery time you get the better, and the night will make it less obvious for anyone trying to tail you there or harder for people to trap you since the ‘heroes’ know where you’re going.

i just hope the kids are traumatized enough to double guess what they're doing.
>>
Writing!
>>
>>4785482
>>4785499
>>4785523
>>4785554
>>4785798
Thinking about it, you’ll wait until nightfall. The more recovery time you get the better, and the night will make it less obvious for anyone trying to tail you there or harder for people to trap you since the ‘heroes’ know where you’re going. It might be a bit harder in general, but you won’t have any surprise ambushes or wind up being trapped in an unfortunate position if you do a bit of recon before you get too close, hopefully. It’d be better if those kids just didn’t bother at all, really...although now that you think of that, you need some answers. ‘Excuse me…’

‘What?’ comes the rough answer. ‘Speak quickly.’

‘Right. I was just wondering. For what reason do you want them alive, exactly?’ you finally ask outright. ‘It seems...detrimental to our purposes’.

‘It would, perhaps, considering you lack critical information,’ he says. You’re not sure if there was arrogance in that statement or no, but you don’t like how it sounded anyway. ‘And while it is little of your business, I do indeed have use of such foolish- if powerful- fodder. Pests though they may be, they will be made of use in my release, and my final conquest of this realm.’ Hm. That...doesn’t really sound all that appealing, and unusually your mind goes to somewhere it doesn’t normally. But...then again it also might be you just being overly concerned and he’s just going to- ‘Their magical energies and the growth thereof are most impressive. I intend to use them in part to facilitate my regeneration once the Lockstones are brought to me, and I am free once more!’

Ah. Hm...alright, then. You kinda get it, even if you don’t like it. ‘I understand,’ you respond. ‘Thank you for indulging me, sir.’

‘Tch. Prepare yourself for the retrieval of the stone. We CANNOT fail again!’ Right, sooner you do this, sooner your payday.

He goes silent, and you look around, considering. The half-fairy is leaning against Gargles, and Pecker is, for once, taking a bit of a fly around, seems like. You’ve got some time to kill- and you think you know how you’re going to spend at least part of it.

cont.
>>
>>4791630
“That one so steeped in blood would be so interested in viewing themselves...” he says as you pull out the mirror.

You just frown at him. “Well, good that I’m not planning on viewing myself, then,” you hit back as you take out the small vial. You honestly kinda forget where you got this fro- oh wait, medieval job, right. Potions. Well, glad you kept it. Now it’s filled with blood, and judging by this small insert near the bottom of the mirror… “And to think, I meant to say thanks for the power boost,” you add on as you pour it drip by drop into the insert.

Almost like water, the surface ripples, fluctuates...guess it works on more than just ‘underlings’.

Hmmm… “So, you got any more tricks up your sleeve?” you ask as you wait for the image to resolve.

“I am unknown to me, truly. To share of myself is all I am aware of.” Great. Not really, but….blah.

Alright, then. Now, let’s see what’s what…

>3d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 14, 10, 12 = 36 (3d20)

>>4791632
>>
Rolled 6, 15, 16 = 37 (3d20)

>>4791632
>>
Rolled 8, 2, 16 = 26 (3d20)

>>4791632
>>
>>4791632
Looks like the first test is an astounding success! Knew choosing the mirror was the right call.

And the blood price is paid by the spied so we can't just use our blood to scry. That makes it a little bit less cheesy, but I'll take it.
>>
>>4791674
>And the blood price is paid by the spied so we can't just use our blood to scry.
not really? we're just using their blood because that's why we took some from the kid; we didn't know how much blood we need to activate the mirror, plus it would be a very shitty mirror if we had to have the mark's blood beforehand
>>
>>4791674
>>4791788
yeah. I think, technically, since it his blood then we can spy on him and his(!) 'subordinates'.
>>
>>4791632
>>4791637
>>4791641
>>4791657
You can see someone’s face in the mirror...that girl! And she’s talking, no less… in fact, you can start to hear, even. From what you can tell, they’re in...some building. A bedroom? His focus is solely on her, but she seems to be looking away, out the window. “...just don’t get it. But that doesn’t matter. We need to make a decision soon, otherwise it’ll be too late.” Oh?

“I know, I know,” the boy’s voice comes as he looks down, away from her. “But earlier was...well, it was something I wasn’t expecting, and now...well, it’s not like I want to just give up- I mean, it’s the fate of our world at stake! I just…” He trails off.

“You’re frightened,” a small, yet steady voice comes off to his left. You’re not sure who it is, as he doesn’t turn to look, but the voice continues. “That’s completely understandable. She showed a level of power you were unprepared for, and as I wasn’t there to help you, you were caught in a dangerous situation.” A pause as he sighs. “...it’d be stranger if you weren’t scared for your life.”

“I know what I have to do, and...and I’m willing to do it,” he admits. “I just...hate feeling so weak.”

“I wouldn’t call that weakness,” the mystery voice says. “You remained resolute in the face of overwhelming danger. That’s far from weakness to me.”

“Yeah,” the girl says, and his head turns to face her as she does him. “Besides, you got us watching your back. We’ll stick by you like always, so don’t be so glum, okay?”

“Yeah!” the kid suddenly barges in, face obfuscated by a number of bags for whatever reason. “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back...for whatever it is we’re talking about!” Ah, you think this is an inn. Especially considering how the small kid plops the bags on his bed across from ‘yours’ and starts rooting through them for...tools, of some sort? Seems like he’s doing something to his weapon, you think.

“...heh. Maybe. Thanks.” He gets up, stretching. “But, that still brings us back to the issue at hand. Are we SURE we want to go with the general to back him up? They’ve got a ton of soldiers on their way there, but I worry about if they can handle her. Something tells me we haven’t seen everything she can do-” here he closes his eyes in thought. “-and if she’s as anxious as she was before, that means she’s gotta be running up against the clock, or something. She was way calmer when we first met. Wonder what prompted the change in attitude?” Not like you’re ever telling them. But it sounds like…

(cont.)
>>
>>4791974
“The dark king was known to be ruthless. He may be reconsidering her usefulness if she has failed him more than once,” the voice supplies behind him. “It may spur her to go all out...or it may make her blindly reckless.”

“Well, if that was the case, she’d have tried to attack immediately, right?” the girl questions. “But nothing blew up or went off or otherwise any sign that the ruins were assaulted or the stone was stolen, so…”

“She hasn’t gotten it yet,” the voice affirms. Who the heck IS that?! “And so we still have a bit of time. It might be prudent of us to go ahead, I think. We can secure the Lockstone hopefully ahead of her, rendezvous with the others in Littleway Forest, and see what we can do from there. I have an idea, you see. We may- just may- be able to keep him sealed- even without ALL the Lockstones active.”

He looks up, into the girl’s surprised face, and the boy nearly falls off the bed in surprise. “What?”

“Yes. But we’d need to see about getting at least one, AND about convincing the Elder Fairies to assist once again.” What.

“Convincing…” the girl trails off.

“...the Elder Fairies?!” the boy finishes.

“Yes!” comes the voice. “It’ll be hard to get to them, let alone convince them, but I believe we can do it!”

“So...how do we GET to them?” the teen asks, and FINALLY he turns to face the speaker- and to your surprise, it’s a fairy. Dressed in a long, flowing purple dress, gossamer wings, and long blue hair, she flitters at eye level, her own emerald greens staring into the teens with a smile.

“Well, that’s why we need a Lockstone ourselves, you see…it…” But that smile doesn’t last as she blinks once, twice. Leans closer. “Something wrong? Your ‘ride' asks as she flits closer.

She gasps, and rears back. “Y-your eyes!”

“Huh? What about them?” he asks, but she’s already waving her hands, glaring at you.

“I recognize this- don’t move! We’re being watched!” ...crap.

“Wait, what?” but then there’s a blast of magic in his eyes, and suddenly there’s a bright glow…

...and then you can only see your reflection. Damn.

Well...you got SOME information out of that. Now, though...what to DO with it? YOU need the Lockstones, of course, but you can't let them get much headway on this Plan B of theirs...

>Think you'll put a pin in this and head to Littleway Forest. To, uh. See the sights.
>Well, now that you know they're rolling out the red carpet for you...it'd be rude to no-show, wouldn't it?
>Other
>>
>>4791990
>Other
Inform Ah-Rul immediately of our findings, including the description of the fairy and their plan to reseal him. We need to get his inputs first before deciding on something.

That fey RECOGNIZED our scrying technique, so it's someone that's very familiar with our client.
>>
>>4791990
this>>4791997
just to be clear, the second option is to go after the lockstone, right?
>>
>>4791990
>>4791997
this one boss
>>
>>4791990
>Other
Inform Ah-Rul immediately of our findings, including the description of the fairy and their plan to reseal him. We need to get his inputs first before deciding on something.

yeah, the boss needs to know this
>>
also is there a way we could use this to our advantage?
> “-and if she’s as anxious as she was before, that means she’s gotta be running up against the clock, or something. She was way calmer when we first met. Wonder what prompted the change in attitude?”
>>
I'm confused about something. Where's the fourth lockstone? The protag party doesn't have it and the one in the Nestland Island was a fake, but everyone says that this is the last one while at the start of our mission our Ah-Rul said that his powers were sealed into five lockstones. Was it all a ruse and there were only 4 of them all along or is it hidden somewhere else?
There's also the two kids from the caravan that we've bombed a day ago, what are we going to do about them? Should we use our blood and take a look at them as well?
>>
>>4792006
Yes.
>>
>>4792018
I don't think I ever said the Lockstone there was a fake...
>>
>>4792024
I'll go double check it, I might be misremembering stuff
>>
>>4792024
#104
>‘What...ahaaa...I see now.’ Hm? ‘It appears that some interloper has absconded with my Lockstone! And they had assistance, indeed…’ although he’s growling, he sounds oddly...pleased? ‘They deceived me it seems. You see, that is no Lockstone of mine, but a facsimile.’

>“So they DID come and take it before us,” you grumble. You kinda figured, but these situations mean you have to be sure...

>‘They knew I would see their power as an attempt to blind my senses and rush to check. This is not a task done easily, and would require sacrifice- or a Great Fairy’s power.’ Well. That sounds concerning. ‘And yet, how foolish of them to think such a tactic would do but delay us slightly. Such a trick will NOT work again!’

...sooo, someone's hiding the fourth lockstone from us and the protags?
>>
>>4792035
>>4791990
>“Yes. But we’d need to see about getting at least one, AND about convincing the Elder Fairies to assist once again.” What.

but then this fairy says that they've had some help from the Elder Fairies before. Which could be connected to the last sentence here>>4792035
>>
Run continues tomorrow, around 1 PM.
>>
Writing!
>>
>>4791990
>>4791997
>>4792006
>>4792007
>>4792008
You’re not going to just charge right in, though- not with this information to share. ‘Pardon me, sir, but...there’s been some new information. There may be complications.’

‘What?! How!?’ Yeah, he doesn’t sound happy, but you have to at least let him know…

By the time you finish the description of the event, including the description of the fairy just to be sure, you swear there’s a pressure in your head that wasn’t there before- although you quickly flex some mana to push it out and it doesn’t return. ‘So that’s the situation. I felt it a good idea to inform you just what might be happening here, so-’

The next word out of his mouth is a vicious, hatred-filled growl, to the point it legit surprises you. ‘Ccccccceraaaaaa…’ There’s a moment of silence as you’re considering whether to press him for more details, but then ‘You will find that fairy...her accursed offspring. And you will dispose of her. With severe prejudice. AM. I. UNDERSTOOD.’ It’s not a question. ‘Crushing her to dust and dreams will only make my victory all the sweeter…’

‘Understood. As for the resealing plan?’ you push on. No reason to rile him with bad memories any more. ‘How do we spot and stop that?’

‘I will see to denying that effort myself. You shall NOT adjust from my plans any further. The Lockstones are still priority!’ Is it just you or is he getting suddenly more serious. Hm... well, whatever.

‘Right, then.’ Now, you just need to wait for the sun to finish setting...maybe you can teach Pecker a thing or two, dunno what this bird can really generally do. Wonder if it can fetch...

>Roll 1d20, best of three
>>
Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>4793219
>>
Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>4793219
>>
Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>4793219
>>
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>>4785482
>Crash Out: Strenuous activities and combat will be harder to roll for until noted.
right, so I guess we'll have to rely on guns and other non-magical tools today, considering our current state and magic-resistant gear and gunpowder weapons being standard issue in these armies.
And the fairy that Ah-Rul's been experimenting on had a baby. That's cute, is her mom still around? Could she have sisters?
>>
>>4793249
although I guess the Draining Knife wouldn't be that effective against fairies, so we probably should prepare a shank out of faemetal bits that we have.
>>
>>4793262
pecker would be extremely lethal to the fairies, no? he eats mana like nothing else and the fairies are basically living mana.

.....i wish we would have brought in that magical tiberium
>>
>>4793262
Can't we just stab a golden crossbow's bolt instead of playing Macgyver? Also yeah Pecker's a good boi for this one.

>>4793219
Also we DID recover the crossbow bolts from the Dragon King back then right?
>>
>>4793279
Yee.

Also writing.
>>
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>>4793276
maybe? at least against small fairies, not sure that it can drain human-sized ones fast enough.
>>
>>4793279
>stab a golden crossbow's bolt instead
yeah, that'd probably be a better idea
>>
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>>4793279
Can't shoot the retrieved bolts since they are now missing their primary shell, but hey, that makes stabbing things with them easier.
>>
>>4793219
>Now, you just need to wait for the sun to finish setting...maybe you can teach Pecker a thing or two, dunno what this bird can really generally do. Wonder if it can fetch...

Having finally caught up with the quest, I have something I wish to try out with little Pecker.

We know he's capable of absorbing mana from creatures, he's done it to the Fairy Boy and to the wildlife of Nestland Island. We know he attunes to the mana he absorbs. We also know he can unleash some pretty devastating attacks with this mana if that Lightning Storm he summoned is anything to go by. (It might've been boosted by our fairy, but then again, maybe it wasn't).

He also can not directly absorb mana from us. He tried that in the labyrinth when he was pecking us over and over again. For some reason he simply can't get at our mana, why that is I wouldn't pretend to know.

So what I'm thinking is we try and feed him some of our mana directly, see if we can make him peck our sticky mana or something and see if he can absorb that. What I'm hoping this will do is get him to attune to our mana, and hopefully let him get access to miniature versions of our own skills, turning him into a birb familiar that can spam Mini Nebula Busters.
>>
>>4793335
The mental image alone is tempting, although I don't think we can teach him anything worthwhile in this stage of the job. We're on a timer.

However we can try once we bring him back home, because SES desperately needs a team pet!
>>
>>4793219
>>4793222
>>4793223
>>4793226
When the moon’s up, you’re...well, if you’re being honest, you’re still not 100%. Unnatural soreness still grips at you , but you don’t have much more time if the complaining that Ah-Rul is doing is any indication. You’ll have to get going and work through it.

Kinda ruined your training time with Pecker, though. He’s not really one for fetching, it seems…

Nonetheless, your fairy ally seems to understand the situation well enough, and although he bemoans the situation with a statement of ‘into death’s jaws we cast ourselves once again’, he otherwise climbs onto the bat without difficulty. The lot of you take off silently, and rise high, high into a thinly crescent moonlit night.

Looking at the map, it actually won’t take very long at all to get to the ruins- it seems they’re not too far away from the capital after all. You’ll have to take a bit of a way around it, but...all should be well on that front.

Indeed, it doesn’t feel like much time has passed at all as you check below again- it should be aroooound...aha! There. It’s...well, despite being called ruins they seem fairly well kept; the lands being almost like a ziggurat and the surrounding area, filled with various large pillars and smaller (yet still quite large) venues like gazebos, temples, and of course lots and lots of pillars. Seems like the place was very much a 'living area'. You can see why they’re called ‘Lustre’, too, though- something in the stonework is making the area give off a subtle glow- like it was a gem or precious metal.

What’s clearly NOT intended to be part of the scenery, however, are the little dots in front and around it. Soldiers, no doubt, ready to give you a warm ‘welcome’. That said...it doesn’t seem like they notice you just yet, which is good- but you’re going to operate under the presumption that that won’t last forever now that they know you have an aerial mount. You’ll need to finalize your decision for approach soon, before you get close enough for them to not think the figure in the distance is just a nocturnal flying animal...

>Dive bomb and crash their party. I'll leave wolves at your back, but it's the fastest way through.
>Aerial superiority. There's a reason it's important. Though if they're smart they might just retreat inwards.
>There's got to be another way in- one less guarded...though it may be more difficult to traverse or otherwise have a reason to not be guarded.
>Other
>>
>>4793352
>Aerial superiority. There's a reason it's important. Though if they're smart they might just retreat inwards.
No way in hell we can sneak in, might as well go loud from the start.
They retreating inward helps us. Our waves and skills work well in close quarters.
>>
>>4793352
>>4793362
Add in
>Summon the bugs
Just like how we assaulted the carriages.
>>
>>4793352
>Aerial superiority. There's a reason it's important. Though if they're smart they might just retreat inwards.
>Cast Night-eye
night-vision: on!
>>
>>4793352
>>4793368
Right, bugs were pretty great. Doubt they can even spot them in the night.>>4793365

>>4793335
Yes! I'm all for it, once we get some downtime.
>>
>>4793352
>>4793365
>>4793368
these
>>
>>4793352
>Aerial superiority. There's a reason it's important. Though if they're smart they might just retreat inwards.
Summon the bugs and have them sneak up before we do anything, if I am not mistaken stealth and ambushes was the strength of these minions. Hopefully they can get some sneak attacks in on some unsuspecting grunts.

>>4793347
Aye, that's fair. Was just bringing up the thought, since it seemed that no one else was thinking in that direction.
>>
>>4793352
>Aerial superiority. There's a reason it's important. Though if they're smart they might just retreat inwards.
>Cast Night-eye
>Summon the bugs

should we also play the desperate part as well?
>>
>>4793398
Maybe only in front of the kids. I don't really know how this could be used to our advantage.
>>
Oi lads, since its night time there are plenty o' playgrounds for gartoum to prance around. I say we use him for excessive sneak attacks, esp against those kids
>>
>>4793352

Swarm tactics.

Writing!
>>
>>4793401
maybe we could lead them to assume that we're not thinking clearly?
>>
I'm so glad we didn't go with spitting turtles when we were picking the type of our shadow minions.
>>
>>4793451
desu, this is supposed to be the swarm option with low offensive power and high disruption. I don't think anyone expected them to chew through a whole group of guards by themselves.
>>
>>4793467
if that's the low offensive version, i shiver to think what's the high one. maybe they're covered in acid or something like that
>>
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>>4793467
I mean, if they can crawl under their clothes and armor then it'd've been very nasty considering their unnaturally sharp jaws.
https://youtu.be/K1R4hHq8yr4?t=111
https://youtu.be/_ePpDemxKt8?t=3339
>>4793472
Maybe they'd be like giant mantises? Or something like dnd chuuls?
>>
>>4793486
>>4793467
ooooh, what if they can crawl under their victim's skin?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CehDxi_qImY&ab_channel=TellerzWorld
>>
>>4793352
>>4793362
>>4793365
>>4793368
>>4793378
>>4793382
>>4793398
And it’s then that an idea comes to mind- or rather, comes to mind AGAIN. After all...it worked once pretty damn successfully, why not try it again? Just to be certain, though...might be a good idea to try out one of your new spells. Or rather, endomagic…

The colors against the earth, even at this height get sharper and more easy to determine as the effect takes hold, and after some moments of concentration, you can pick out the soldiers against the sand, and several other devices they seem to have with them...what ARE those? Initially you’d say they were battering rams, but...no, it’s not quite those. More like cannons, maybe...well, doesn’t matter.

You’ve got a swarm to unleash…

It’s getting easier to summon the bugs, you think, and with a sweep of your hand you send the massive cloud of them, big, small, and all flying, to the dots below. While they might not exactly be killers (well, they kind of are), they’ll do more than enough distraction to get you in, at the least.

You can kind of hear the yelling when it starts- and the sudden lights and sounds of magic and gunfire as well. Well, you'd never heard a better invitation- and with that you command Gargles to dive down- there's an entrance near the center, and it seems juuuust big enough for your bat considering how massive the thing is...

>Roll 1d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>4793620
>>
Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>4793620
uuuuuh
>>
Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>4793620
>>
>>4793624
damn anon. you luck son of a bitch
>>
...well alright then. Just kinda swooced right in.

Writing.
>>
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>>4793624
boy oh boy we haven't got a natural crit in a while
>>
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>>4793635
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_OM9IqA_8A
The bugs are eating good tonight it seems
>>
>>4793620
With a sharp cry, your bat does so, and it seems that despite the yells and shouts, the best they can do is panic firing- that or perhaps Gargles’ realizes that the window of opportunity is narrow. Regardless, what happens is that he barrels forwards towards the entrance like a missile, deftly dodging anti-air fire (literally and figuratively) and you and your passengers are forced to duck close to him just to keep your profile low. As the turbulence increases, you hear loud blasts go off nearby, but Gargles doesn’t stray from his course as he begins to level out and careen towards the long busted open entrance. You can here reports of gunfire closer and closer, and you swear a few come close to clipping- but none hit- and the view suddenly becomes narrower and far more dusty as you dart into the entrance, Gargles folding his wings in to make like a furry arrow now and again to keep airspeed.

The walls rush past you, no doubt expecting foot traffic and laced with traps at one point, if not now, but it’s all an inconsequential blur as you jet down a curve in the tunnel; you’re going to need to get that map out, but at this speed- well, no matter. If you remember what you DID look over correctly, then at the end of this tunnel…

...Yes! The area busts open, expanding into what’s clearly some sort of atrium that was the scene of battle; bones of long-dead warriors litter the ground here as Gargles raises up, wings spreading to slow himself and prepare to land. This affords you a brief bird’s eye view of the area; it’s wide, and dusty, pyramid like, and has a trio of doors in front of you, along with a number of benches and places to sit- it almost seems like it’s a public meeting place, judging by the raised platform that you land on- with even a small lectern as well.

(cont.)
>>
>>4793923

Alright, then...good. “Guess this is our stop,” you mutter as Gargles lands, and you hop off- flinching as a buzz of pain due to strain runs through you. Geez, that’s going to take more than a few hours to get rid of, it seems. At least it didn’t knock you out for close to an entire day this time…and what’s more, you have a map that tells you just where you need to go this time, so unlike your excursion in the forest, you won’t have to guess your way around. As a matter of fact…

...alright. According to this map, it’s not just waiting in a nearby room. It’s...well, the map itself isn’t finished. The first and second floors are sketched out, it seems. There’s a third floor, but that’s as much as it gives, with the only room mapped out being a large circular one. There’s several rooms marked ‘dangerous!’ apparently, according to the map legend. Even a few with marked...you’re not sure. Points of interest, you can only guess. Nothing correlates to the stars they’ve given for symbols. For example, there’s three doors in front of you, as stated earlier...but it’s only the middle one that leads down after some traveling. The left door has a few rooms before a point of interest with a couple exclamation points by it, and the right one has an ‘X’ on the third room from here. That’s...you’re not sure. Nonetheless, there’s a room beyond it, apparently, and that one’s got a crude sword next to it, along with a star.

Odd, all of them…

>Just head straight down. Time crunch and all.
>You’ve got time to explore at least one. See what’s with the exclamation point room.
>Does the X mean loot or danger? You’ll have to see, you suppose…
>Other

(Thought I posted this ages ago, but doing so now. I may not be available for a real session tomorrow, however. I'll at least try to post once.)
>>
>>4793926
>>Just head straight down. Time crunch and all.
>Set up Moleworm mines at the entrance, to surprise whoever wants to rush inside after us
We've made enough detours already on this mission and we're not in the best shape right now to go through extra challenges. Also usually all the good loot is located deeper inside, not on the surface level.
>>
>>4793926
>>4793940
Also
>Scan the area with FutureSight and keep power sense on
just like we did in the other lockstone vaults
>>
>>4793926
>>4793940
>>4793949
+
I'll add in
>Set up the turret behind the mines
This will slow them down even more.

Can we do a cave-in with the mines like with the first stone? Or do we spread the mines out?
>>
>>4793960
>>4793926
should we also leave Gartoum here as well, so he could support/be supported by the turret?
>>
>>4793973
>>4793926
Sure let's do it. He has projectile spells and we need some eyes on the entrance. Although if there are any puzzles inside he'll be useful.
>>
>>4793926
>>4793949
>>4793940
okay then
>Set up the turret behind the mines and leave Gartoum to guard the area
>>
>>4793926
do we still have those corrupted monsters from Nestland Islands?
>>
>>4793926
>>4793995
+ holy smokes that's a lotta write-ins
slam down our fragger on top of something. We want it out of melee range while still covering wide areas
>>
>>4794329
Well, our bat friend is staying in the atrium and there's a lot of angry soldiers outside - so we better make sure that he stays safe while we explore this dungeon.
>>
>>4793926
>>4793940
>>4793949
>>4793960
>>4793995
>>4793989
No, right. Need to focus. You’ve got a bunch of soldiers outside and it’ll only be so long before either they’re dead or they at least send a few in after you. Either way, better safe than sorry- Gargles will stay here- and so will Gartoum.

He’s not entirely happy when he gets the message. “Awwww, don’t you think that’s a bit of a waste for lil’ ol’ me? I could do SOOO much better down there with you.”

“Ideally, it’ll be quick enough that’s not necessary, and there were a LOT of people outside- I don’t trust the bugs to handle them all,” you explain. “I’m setting up a defensive line. Some mines, and my turret here, too.” There’s an outcropping that should be suitable, you think...hopefully it’ll take out a few people before they realize where it’s coming from. With the mines, there'll be quite the chaotic panic that'll let the turret take down more than a few, if necessary.

Placing them and it in a bit of a hurry, it, you’re...well, not satisfied, but you need to get a move on. “I’ll be back as soon as possible,” you mention, and with that, you throw open the center doors and head on down. Thinking about it, you pull out your FutureSight...

Well, on the whole, it seems like it's similar to the map, but...there's definitely purpose to this one. Few side paths, and very deliberate placement. Let's see...according to this, the next way down is...should be a door to the right after you get to the next level...

The area has torches, easily lit, but it leads to another room as expected...some sort of room with multiple pegs raised, it seems. Two doors ahead, one on the left, one on the right...and several VERY large lizards, twice your size, roaming around, and you see one of them eating on some sort of small bat creature...ew.

Almost on cue, the five creatures turn to you and hiss. You can see something gurgling up in one of them, almost as if it’s about to- yup, acid saliva. Tch.

>Try to just run past them- you need to get to the door and fighting these things will only take time away.
>Might as well take them out now- it'll be easier for you to head back without these things causing issues.
>Other

>Roll 1d20-3, best of three.
>>
Rolled 2 - 3 (1d20 - 3)

>>4797626
>>Try to just run past them- you need to get to the door and fighting these things will only take time away.
we do have some enchanted gear that could mitigate these penalties, but we need to put them on first, once we're in the clear
>>
Rolled 6 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4797626
>Try to just run past them- you need to get to the door and fighting these things will only take time away.
This is going to suck isn't it.
>>
Rolled 7 - 3 (1d20 - 3)

>>4797626
>>4797634
damn it I forgot how this roll works.
>>
Rolled 18 - 3 (1d20 - 3)

>>4797626
>Try to just run past them- you need to get to the door and fighting these things will only take time away.
i'll laugh if we crit fail this. Don't do drugs kids
>>
>>4797640
Uuhoh desire sensor, least we aren't getting downed by trash mobs

is birdy still with us and the boy?
>>
>>4797633
>Bracers.
>Mana signature suggests strength increase spell inlaid within object. Temporary.

>Drogan Officer Armor and Helmet.
>Helmet expelling mana-signatures of high-grade magic. Estimated reduced magic efficiency: 10%.
>Again, sadly, it’s too big for you to wear comfortably...but you might be able to swing the helmet, which seems to be some chainmail/leather variant. There’s also a faint blue glow to it- clearly enchanted. With what, you’re not sure. Probably water magic?

>Enchanted Scarf: Scarf emits limited mana signature consistent with low-energy mana. Automatic limited restorative effect.
>So it’s a healing scarf? That’d explain how she tanked that first shot so well. Well, anyway, that’s that...now you just need to find the road and get there.
>Where’s that scarf...ah, here it is. Should help at least with mana recovery. Physical would still need help or time.
Pretty sure we've already voted to put it on>>4785201, but the next post doesn't mention it. But if we've never taken it off since the last crash-out and are still wearing it then I guess it doesn't do much against endomagic.
>>
>>4797647
Kid is not with you. Pecker is.
>>
>>4797663
Eeeg what will he do back there? Should have taught him a basic magiblast or sth
>>
>>4797663
Do we still have those corrupted monsters from Nestland Island?
>>
>>4797667
>I knew little, yet I knew much. I knew that these humans were of a foul countenance. Something about them did not sit well with me, and initially, I struggled.”

>“Struggled? How?” You didn’t think he had the stomach or will for it.

>“I wished them gone, and so I lashed out. Mindless, strange emotions,” he explains as though he’s ashamed. “And it resulted in them disappearing in pools of red.

>WARNING: HEAVY MANA SIGNATURES DETECTED
>Creature analyzed to be chimeric in nature; mana-based being/life signature detected, organic auxiliary systems detected. Physical structure estimated to be fragile forgoing magical reinforcement. Organic systems redundant; standard physical execution methods not advisable. Output estimated to be highly volatile, high-yield. Estimated Mana Capacity: 15,000.

I honestly think he's lying here>>4791632, either because he's upset about us not holding our end of the deal or just doesn't want to do violent stuff in general. There already was an option to let him use his powers on the kraken before.
>“I am unknown to me, truly. To share of myself is all I am aware of.” Great. Not really, but….blah.
>>
>>4797668
Still in the bag, yes.
>>
>>4797709
So they're like Pokemon now?
That's great! Think this should have been told earlier though, since that's huge.

What about the undead dragon? I assume Ah-Rul has exclusive rights over that?
>>
>>4797719
He does.

Anywho, writing!
>>
>>4797719
>>4797709
yeah, was worried we've left them on the island.
>>
File: gotta catch them all.png (218 KB, 600x929)
218 KB
218 KB PNG
>>4797719
maybe we can corrupt local monsters as well, eh?
>>
>>4797766
She's missing her Pikachu.
>>
>>4797701
We should probably sort out the kid somehow, he seems to be getting the impression we're some kind of mass murderer.
No idea where he got that idea from. We just here for a paycheck.
>>
>>4797966
Prob after this stone we'll spill the beans and ask him if he still wants to continue with us.
>>
We should also see about getting something nice for Gartoum, if possible. I might not have agreed with the insistence of certain anons to use him at the drop of a hat while I was reading through the archives, but he's proven himself a valuable asset in almost every mission thus far. He deserves a little something to show how much we apperciate him.
>>
>>4797778
The gang's all here!
Couldn't find a cartoonish representation of the fairy kid.


>>4798341
The job is noted by Handler to be harder and grander in scale compare the usual, so anons have been pulling out all the stops. There were a lot of suggestions to finally read the summoning books to improve him since he covers a lot of our weaknesses. Unfortunately we're on a time crunch at the moment, so no reading time. But I'll vote for it once we come back to the Intersection.
>>
>>4797626
>>4797633
>>4797634
>>4797640
You’re not really in the mood for extended fighting, all things considered- which is why you end up forgoing the counterattack when they begin to lob acid at you, instead opting to dart between two of them and beeline it for the door. Problem being, your sore muscles don’t allow you the most nimble of movements- not now, anyway. You’re looking more into keeping away from the globules that these things are horking up- one of them gets annoyingly close to you, though it doesn’t touch. The fact that it was a near miss is enough to convince you it was a good call to not try to engage.

Fortunately, there’s not THAT many, and your path to the rightmost door is otherwise clear. You’re quick to open and shut it, keeping the lizards in their own little area. Ideally, you’ll be back when you’re either feeling a bit better or they’re distracted. You still don’t think this soreness will be quick to vanish.

The next door is relatively simple- a broken bridge over a VERY long drop that would be difficult to cross were it not for your wings. Beyond that, however, is something that’s both familiar and annoying; a large door with four notches in it. They look like keyholes, and there’s little else but two doors on the right, and two on the left. According to the map, however...it’s the big door that leads further down. You COULD go for the keys and open it properly- it shouldn’t take TOO long, seeing as these are all one- room issues, it seems. That, and closing it after you would distract and delay any followers. But then again...time crunch. Could maybe just blast through it- according to the FutureSight, it’s just made of stone and some steel pieces, nothing too special about it.

>Fuck it, property damage it is.
>Better to reduce the people on your ass ASAP.
>Other
>>
>>4799300
>Fuck it, property damage it is.
>Other
Use the Flamebringer or magiblasts, whichever is more effective. Pretty sure we can alternate between those.

We don't have time for this.
>>
>>4799300
>Fuck it, property damage it is.
>>
>>4799300
>>4799317
+
>>
>>4799300
>>4799317
yeah, we have gravistone installed in it, might just cleave right through it.
>>
>>4799300
>Fuck it, property damage it is
And what >>4799317 said

>>4799183
>The job is noted by Handler to be harder and grander in scale compare the usual, so anons have been pulling out all the stops.
That and remember, this mission is for us to get that outgoer A rank and our enemies have A LOT of advantages so making sure we get an upperhand earlier is essential.
>>
>>4799383
>Demonstration of power in front of Cylica before we recruited her
>“This isn’t pity, you one-track.” With a single swing, you strike the sword against the floor- the gravity influence in your Flamebringer causes the metal floor in the immediate spot to cave in on itself, ripping itself up in a miniature, yet powerful implosion. "Do you really think that what you have here is power? True power?” You raise an eyebrow as she eyes the hole you just made. “This is a one time offer to step behind the stage and become more than just a player. A person beyond conducting wars and leading armies. You’d get to be the fulcrum in battles across time and space itself.”

>Used against Khaom in the medieval job
>A moment, though, is a moment too long, and your own blade is kicked up- quite literally, you didn’t want to waste time building up momentum- and the sound of metal warping echoes throughout the area as your blade proves sharp enough to pierce, and the metal, gravitized, pulls downward and warps around it, cutting easier than any normal blade would be able to as you heave the blade up and through the helm.

how come we don't use the gravistone more often?
>>
>>4799395
when we bring out the flamebringer, we usually don't need more than the sword's flames, let alone the gravistone.
>>
>>4799395
For general destructive purposes the innate flame enchantment works better most of the time, but for heavy armors I wager that it'll work better, seeing that first example. I can also think of using it to wrench a metallic weapon out of a clash or to unbalance the enemy, utilizing our strength or trap someone under a gravity well (we tried to do that once before I think?)
>>
>>4799417
i think we did so with the war axe lady in the crossover
>>
>>4799300
>Fuck it, property damage it is.
We don't have time to beat up four ghosts to restore the magic stones to the door.

>>4799395
>how come we don't use the gravistone more often?
Because fire is hot and makes us look intimidating.
>>
>>4799417
>utilizing our strength or trap someone under a gravity well (we tried to do that once before I think?)
one anon suggested using it during the fight against ice dude in the summon job, but no one supported it.
>>4799433
We used our rapier against her. No idea why we tried to stab someone who's wearing power armor with it, got a some of our ribs broken by her while trading blows.
>>
>>4799458
because the rapier amplifies our magic and we use our magiblasts a lot.
>>
>>4799458
At least we got her with a rapier headshot so it worked out in the end.
>>
>>4799473
but it wasn't used to shoot magic that time, for some reason anons decided to stab her through the hole in her helmet while the rest of her armor was intact.
>>
>>4799183
>There were a lot of suggestions to finally read the summoning books to improve him
We did start reading it during the downtime right after waking up from our first seither crash-out - but then some snoopy forest ranger interrupted us.
>>4799478
Stabbing someone in the face while trading blows doesn't really count as a 'headshot'.
>>
>>4799480
Thats just being practical and using the weapon for its intended purpose
>>
Posting shortly. Late night run, this'll be.
>>
>>4799300
>>4799317
>>4799350
>>4799365
>>4799383
>>4799391
>>4799445
Yeah, no. You don’t want to waste any time, and frankly, you have an easy bypass, no reason to not use it. You’re going to want an old (nowadays) standby for this one, mind…

The Flamebringer doesn’t often get a chance to show off its full potential, but you think that in this case, it’ll be a good moment for it- especially as you trigger the gravity stone embedded in it. All the pull will help destabilize the stone in it by default, which should make it easier to cut…

A few heavy, concentrated slashes to create a decent set of gouges to weaken the wall, and you leap back, and fire a focused magiblast at the center. There’s an explosion and a shower of rubble you have to shield yourself from...but when the dust settles, there’s a nice sized hole for you to move through, which is all you need. Stepping through, it seems like this is...well, there’s up and AND a down staircase. But, you’re on the clock. Down it is.

It’s pretty dark down here, though, and it seems like there’s little preventing someone from taking a tumble. You’re still sore, and that includes wings, but fortunately there’s not much else down here on this path, it seems. It starts to spiral down a central pillar, and you’re left wondering how far down this thing will be…

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 11, 12 = 23 (2d20)

>>4802084
>>
Rolled 1, 5 = 6 (2d20)

>>4802084
>>
Rolled 10, 4 = 14 (2d20)

>>4802084
>>
>>4802084
>and that includes wings
...eh?
>>
>>4802122
We can feel our wings, somehow. When we were rampaging inside the fortress while on drugs, we can feel them hurting near the end/crash.
>>
Ok I can't stress this enough - we saved A LOT of time with that nat 20. The tunnel leading to this place is long enough to warrant a map and is laced with traps, not to mention filled with soldiers. I wager we would have to chew through like 2-3 posts worth just to get to the entrance.

Now they have to navigate through all of that. Our welcoming party should be able to handle whatever stragglers they can send, unless the pesky kids're going in again.
>>
>>4802149
I still want to put on the enchanted gear that we've got over the course of this mission >>4797654, to reduce crash-out penalties. We also have an assault crystal, it would help a lot in a difficult fight.
>>
>>4802164
>>4802084
I'm going to assume the scarf has already been put on, just not mentioned.
The assault crystal should be recharged by now.
Can Handler give some words on these?
>>
>>4802084
>>4802088
>>4802101
>>4802119

It’s then that someone speaks up mentally, however. ‘Oh dear, bit of a heads up.’ Gartoum… ‘It seems like your little ploy’s time has ran out- they’re sending in a few folks after you. Guess you weren’t wrong to keep some defense around here- though DO please make your little trip down there brief. I doubt the lot of us will be able to keep them occupied without some...nastiness...occuring for very long.’ You don’t like the sound of that...but you can’t deny it.

You’ll have to try and hurry. Which means...fast way down it is. You start hopping, using your wings as a bit of an air break- it stings, but it does get you down faster.

Where you eventually arrive is a...well, a small, squat door, kinda to your surprise. Doesn’t look particularly imposing or important or anything. Not what you’d expect for such a long way down. It’s not even hard to break open. “Right, then, let’s see just what this is...ah.” Huh. Hallway. Right, then, left or right…meh, you’ll just pick one and go.

...wait.

...waaaaait. There’s a lot of halls and no doors or exits. In fact- fuck. Even Pecker seems dismayed with how he chirps.

It’s a maze. An honest to goodness maze. No freaking wonder the map was incomplete come the third floor. Great… the worst thing about it is that with the walls clear up to the ceiling, you’re not sure how much of it is load bearing or not. Trying to just smash through could collapse the whole room. But going the long way trying to figure it out is madness... obviously, the FutureSight should be able to puzzle it out, but that’ll still take some time.


>You hate it, but better to be safe than sorry. Use the FS, and you’ll just have to trust the others can handle it.
>...screw it. Straight through it is, and you’ll deal with the consequences as they happen! You’re on a time crunch!
>Other
>>
>>4806144
hmm, would summoning bugs to cover more paths of the maze be faster than doing a full FutureSight scan?
>>
>>4806205

You're honestly unsure because you have no clue how big the maze is. But since you can't just get an instant image from the bugs, you figure it's unlikely.
>>
>>4806144
>You hate it, but better to be safe than sorry. Use the FS, and you’ll just have to trust the others can handle it.
>Put on Bracers, Enchanted Scarf and Drogan Officer Helmet>>4797654
In theory, going in blind wouldn't guarantee that it'd be faster that doing a scan if we took a wrong direction and if the room collapses it'd make the way back almost as long. So let's try the scan, might have time to gear up in the meantime.
>>
>>4806144
>You hate it, but better to be safe than sorry. Use the FS, and you’ll just have to trust the others can handle it.
>>
>>4806144
>>4806310
+
Do we even have room for the helm?
>>
>>4806332
I honestly don't know, but we can try.
>>
>>4806144
>You hate it, but better to be safe than sorry. Use the FS, and you’ll just have to trust the others can handle it.
>Put on Bracers, Enchanted Scarf and Drogan Officer Helmet
>>
>>4806144
>>4806310
>>4806311
>>4806332
>>4806431
You don’t like the idea of taking a lot of time...but you hate the idea of WASTING time even more. You’ll be better off served letting the FutureSight map the whole place out and getting a direct path through, rather than having to either run and guess or risk the room caving in and causing waaay too many complications.

‘I’m trying to get through a maze,’ you communicate. ‘How bad is it up there?’

‘Well, I’m having a lot of...WAS having a lot of fun with some misdirection, but they’re all still mostly up here, though as for how long that’ll remain is a question! There’s still a handful, but they’re so fiddly I’m having some time counting...’ Well, that’s not the best. ‘Everyone else is fine, however- mostly. Batty’s got a few scrapes, but he’s quite the intimidating fellow when he wants to be. Your elf-ish friend isn’t nearly, but he’s staying back, so good for him!’

Right, then. Gotta move faster. It seems like this place is...damnit, it’s still going. Just how big IS this maze?!

Well, while you're waiting, you can at least do a bit of gearing up. Chances are you'll have to get into a fight sooner than later...and you've got some spare stuff that's interesting. Like those bracers, the scarf, and...

...damnit, the helmet won't quite fit. Horns are getting in the way.

>Roll 1d100, best of three.
>>
Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>4807124
>>
Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>4807124
>>
Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>4807124
>>
>>4807124
>>4807134
>>4807136
>>4807159
Okay, good, finally, the FutureSight is finished. Now, you just need to follow it.

There’s a lot of twists and turns that you have to follow, but follow them you do- and you can see that there’s more than a few obstacles in the way, to boot. Pitfalls, easily jumped over. Holes that conceal spikes or worse, strange carnivorous plant creatures that want to take a bite out of you- one of them gets surprisingly close before you cut it apart.

Still, that doesn’t slow you a great deal, and it’s not too much longer before you manage to reach yet another door. This one is far more ornate, inlaid with gold and clearly marking something special due to the spirals, swirls- and the obvious crystal engraving in the center of it. It’s also easy to open- guess they figured that anyone who made it past the other obstacles would be more than worthy here. Fine with you.

What follows is...a hallway. A simple, bricked hallway that, as you pass, is surprisingly lit up by torches. Motion sensitive magic torches. Not uncommon, but still always gives you a sense of foreboding…

At the end of the hallway, however, is a door; you open it to find...a large, circular room, with several pillars arranged in a circle. There are two staircases at the far end from you, leading to another large door; this one with a familiar wall of mana blocking it. Great. Now, then, how to get past thi-

Suddenly, a great rumbling shakes the area, and you sigh with a grimace as Pecker starts chirping like crazy. You REALLY should’ve expected this.

You’re already in a combat stance as the massive golem- four armed, and wide based with a curved shell, almost like an upright armadillo, drops from the ceiling with a massive rumble, two red eyes on you unblinkingly. There’s a whir of...something. Gears? As it spins the utterly massive scimitars in its hands, and wordlessly stomps towards you, at least four or five times your height.

You...you really don’t want to do this. But, needs must, it seems. Hopefully you won’t stay too sore from this.

>Action!

>Try to get a feel for the thing and stay on the defensive. Those blades are no joke.
>Best defense is a good offense! Get to magiblasting!
>You wonder if you can’t just blow this thing up…
>Other
>>
>>4807333
>Try to get a feel for the thing and stay on the defensive. Those blades are no joke.
>Other
Scan with the FS.
Since it's a golem, that means it should have a mana core or some sort of weak spot. We identify that and we can end it with a few well-placed shotgun punches.
>>
>>4807333
>>4807346
taking this
>>
>>4807333
Nice trips. Don't think we can scan it mid-combat, but gonna support >>4807346
We have an assault crystal and bracers to boost ourselves with, and the new freebie skill that Handler gave us after the hiatus might come in handy:
>New Skill: One-Inch Shotgun Punch
>Bang. Some long hours of help from Izumi allowed the formation of an alternative method of execution from the standard Shotgun Punch- the impact’s force is briefly shunted forward in space from her fist’s position, THEN collected and quickly released using the addition power gathered during movement, allowing for a point-blank but not-quite contact-required method of release, allowing Miranda to bypass mundane armor entirely. The result can be messy, but effective. Miranda is still not great at it, however, and can occasionally over or undershoot distance and/or power.

>Cost: 250
>>
>>4807367
Yep, I am leaning on either of those. But since we still have the bracer and the assault crystal, maybe we can stun it with a few regular shotgun punch and finally finish with an one-incher.
>>
>>4807376
Actually? We don't need to use our short fists - the entire thing is made of stone and metal, blades too. A quick strength burst along with Flamebringer's magnetic properties should unbalance it long enough to sneak in.
>>
I agree with >>4807405 use the flames and gravity stone of the flamebringer
>>
>>4807405
Hmm, yeah, we've managed to melt through an advanced mech with our sword, so we probably could do the same to a golem.
>>
So, in case if it's made of some magic resistant stuff - are we blowing it up with a rocket launcher or are there other non-magic options?
>>
>>4807333
>Try to get a feel for the thing and stay on the defensive. Those blades are no joke.
While I don't think we have the opportunity to scan the Golem, we should clash with it defensively to see if we can discover some weaknesses we can exploit. The Golem must be at least several centuries old, and even if it is protected by powerful magicks against decay I find it hard to believe there isn't a few hiccups in the system somewhere.
>>
What if we use the gravstone to nulify the golem's weight? From there we can just yeet it somwwhere, or hold it still for some well placed shotgun blasts
>>
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56 KB JPG
>>4807524
The stone can only increase gravity. Weight nullification is something out of Lori's arsenal of spells.
>>
Run resumes tomorrow. Around 11 AM if I can wake up and get shit done on time.
>>
Gotta say, miranda tripping balls on magic meth somenow never fails to be funny.
>>
Or not. Writing now.
>>
>>4807333
>>4807346
>>4807365
>>4807367

No, there’s no reason to try for anything overly aggressive. You don’t know entirely what it can do, but you DO know those blades are something you don’t want to touch at all, though. It’s a massive thing, but you can at least tell that it’s not that fast, considering it’s not just storming towards you- though that doesn’t mean it can’t swing at speed.

In fact…

It takes a few steps, and you have to make sure you dodge back will space to spare, but the ancient automaton takes a swing at you- and you can feel the air blow past you- but more importantly, it swings through the pill you’d planted yourself behind- and almost as expected the blade cleaves through it without even much slowing. Good to know. Definitely don’t want to risk getting hit by those things, no.

Unfortunately, that’s when it flashes its eyes, and you can hear a whirring…before the thing suddenly makes a *chunk* sound and the leg pistons just ROCKET it forwards, and in that instant you have to revise your opinion about its speed…

>Roll 1d20 +- 3, best of three.
>>
Rolled 12 - 3 (1d20 - 3)

>>4812682
Damn it we're still at -3? This will be tough.
>>
Rolled 15 - 3 (1d20 - 3)

>>4812682
>>
Rolled 4 - 3 (1d20 - 3)

>>4812682
cam on'
>>
Rolled 12 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4812682
getting garbo rolls out of the way
>>
Careful...Writing!
>>
you know, those +2 roll bonuses from SES HQ training rooms seem more enticing now.
>>
>>4812730
Definitwly a must have now that we're using the seither pills
>>
>>4812682
>>4812684
>>4812686
>>4812688

You have to throw yourself out of the way despite the complaining from your muscles- Pecker burrows deep into your hair to avoid the collision with the ground as you roll and right yourself out of the way of its wild charge. You half expect it to collide into the wall, but it proves to have better control than that, turning far quicker than you’d expect and beginning to march towards you again.

This continues for a few more exchanges, having to dodge out of the way and preventing any real retaliation from your end, unfortunately. You’d managed a singular real punch to test its armor, and unfortunately it proved rather sturdy- you’d managed a flinch on its leg, but that was all as you were forced to dodge once again to avoid a retaliatory swipe. Similar was with a magiblast, driving it back but doing no real visible damage.

If nothing else, you can at least budge the thing. That’s good. Means that concussive force will do SOMETHING, as opposed to just being an absolute tank. Now, while you’re still on the defensive, you need to figure out how to start properly dealing damage. It doesn’t seem to be taking any issues with the falling stone- and the rest of the temple, the way the rumbling is going on. Probably not a good idea to let this thing wreck the whole room, to say the least.

>Time for more conventional tactics. And by conventional, you mean ‘explosive’.
>Try to aim for the thing’s eyes with magiblasts. It’s a classic weakness for a reason.
>There’s gotta be some weakness on this thing, right? You just need to try to coax it out…
>Other
>>
>>4813068
>Other
Ready the Flamebringer, lay down a few gravity wells and lead it into them. We can make more than one right? Particularly near some of the pillars because it has to stop to hit us.
This thing's a construct made of gears, metal and stone so the sword's magnetism should be our best bet.
>>
>>4813097
Or just lay down wells as we dodge, it has to clip at least one of them.
>>
>>4813068
>There’s gotta be some weakness on this thing, right? You just need to try to coax it out…

gotta go for the legs
>>
>>4813068
if it has a mana core, like>>4807346 suggested, then wouldn't a flux wave work as an EMP against this golem? It could stun it long enough to do whatever we want with it without worrying about those nasty blades.
>>
>>4813068
>Time for more conventional tactics. And by conventional, you mean ‘explosive’.
AT weapons should at least help. Also supporting >>4813097
If possible.
>>
>>4813068
>Flux Wave to create an opening
>There’s gotta be some weakness on this thing, right? You just need to try to coax it out…
>>Go for the legs with our Gravity Flamebringer
>>
>>4813097

Gravity wells?
>>
>>4813122
I remember it's capable of that. We did try trapping the Shadow Queen in a gravity well.
>>
>>4813124
huh?
>>
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>>4813122
>>4813126
Thread 88.
>>
>>4813097
Doesn't the stone just increase the weight of our sword? We were locking blades with her and tried to pin her down.
>>
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>>4813132
>>4813131
>>
>>4813068
>>4813118
If the sword isn't capable of creating gravity wells then I'll take this option instead.
>>
>>4813132
>>4813135
has the right of it- you can't place gravity wells, the stone just gives your SWORD a gravity well when active. I was just using a fancy term.
>>
>>4813135
>>4813097
*I mean, the gravity well is only created around the sword, we can't lay them down like you suggest here>>4813097
>>
>>4813068
>>4813118
+
We just need to nick its legs with the grav stone primed
How much mana in our tank again?
>>
>>4813068
>Time for more conventional tactics. And by conventional, you mean ‘explosive’.
Time for the sticky bombs to shine. Mr golem isnt trying to avoid us and the bombs can have a high yield, so lets use 'em
>>
>>4813068
>>4813118
>>4813141
>>4813147
(I laid my head down and fell asleep. Sorry.)

You aren’t keen on dragging this whole affair out, being honest- but you’re going to have to figure out something. Plain force...well, it’s kinda your biggest option, but just swinging at it won’t be effective. You’re going to have to find some way to make every shot count. Although, you’re wondering now- just how much of this thing is mechanical, and how much of it is magical? If it’s got any real magic in it- and while it’s largely a guess you’re pretty sure it does- then there’s a quick way to make it a bit less dangerous.

You’ve gotten good at the whole Flux Wave thing, so it doesn’t cause you much issue to run it through your head and witness the waves bloom from your person; it’s all the more gratifying to see the thing’s eyes flicker- meaning that whatever’s animating it at least has some magical component to it, although it clearly doesn’t stop it entirely. That said, you can tell it’s been particularly affected- including its arms holding those dangerous blades.

You’d still rather not get anywhere near said blades...but perhaps if you can topple the damn thing, they’ll be a LOT less of a factor; and so before it can compensate (or you can second guess your plan of attack), you dart in, Flamebringer drawn and charged, and hoping to crush this thing’s legs in before anything too horrible can happen, soreness be damned.

>Roll 1d20+-1, best of three.
>>
Rolled 18 - 1 (1d20 - 1)

>>4814714
>>
Rolled 2 - 1 (1d20 - 1)

>>4814714
>>
Rolled 9 - 1 (1d20 - 1)

>>4814714
I mean I can't really roll worse or better than both these anons, but lets give it a go.
>>
>>4814718
Finally some progress. I was very worried that those penalties would cripple us.
Also I'd still take the meditation room over the training room for this - look at the amount of spells we've been slinging out.
>>
>>4814714
>>4814718
>>4814725
>>4814736
>Current Mana: 7,800/11,000

You manage to dart in- though your limbs complain a bit, you’re able to ignore them now, and your speed is enough to cause it to miss the one swipe it gets off clearly.

YOUR swing, however, connects flush, and the stonework that your blade impacts into cracks harshly, more as if it were being hit with a warhammer than a blade. Something to consider, though, now that it’s clear you’ve weakened it as it drops to a knee with its joint compromised.

You turn for another pass, but are forced to abort by the swing that it gives with one of its spare hands- one of them is currently occupied with supporting its weight now that it’s off balance, and you can begin to see its curved back ripple oddly, even up to its head...not the best situation, but you’ve got a chance, you think, to deal a bit more damage at the least.

>Then again, best not to risk it- whatever it’s about to try to do to you, you’d rather not be in range.
>If you want to be safe but aggressive, you think you can take both feet out from under it if you’re fast enough...
>This thing’s head is begging to get caved in- though you don’t doubt it’s preparing something to avoid that possibility.
>Other
>>
>>4814882
Can't we just dome it with a great barrier and start working on the Lockstone wall right now? Seeing that it's now more immobile.
>>
>>4814882
>>This thing’s head is begging to get caved in- though you don’t doubt it’s preparing something to avoid that possibility.
Do we have to manually activate bracers' strength enchantment or is it passive?
>>
>>4814882
>This thing’s head is begging to get caved in- though you don’t doubt it’s preparing something to avoid that possibility.
>>
>>4814882
>This thing’s head is begging to get caved in- though you don’t doubt it’s preparing something to avoid that possibility.
>Activate the bracer and the Assault Crystal.
If we're doing this, we want it to be a fatal blow.
>>
>>4814882
Can we deliver an Overchanneled Shotgun-Punch to the weakened area? If there's anything that'd bust this thing up it'd be that.
>>
>>4814896
The door has a mana barrier, it took us several minutes to drain a similar one in the mountains with our knife. Maybe it'd be faster with mana condenser, but I'm still not sure the great barrier would hold it that long.
>>
>>4814916
Although I still want to just box it in and start taking down the mana wall with Pecker. He eats mana so the whole process will be much faster, and we can also use the Faemetal bolts. The thing won't be able to break free before we break the wall open.
>>
>>4814920
But we're not doing it with our knife, we have the bolts and Pecker. AND the mana condenser.
>>
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>>4814882
>>4814897
adding this
>Activate the bracers and the Assault Crystal.
we're still doing it with our gravity sword, right? there were some weird moments in the past where Miranda switched from using weapons to her fists for no reason.
>>
>>4814925
ah, right. forgot about all the new stuff we got now.
>>
>>4814882
>>4814916
Switching to
>Box the golem in with Great Barrier.
>Start working on the mana wall with the Faemetal bolts, Pecker and the Mana Condenser.

If a dinky bargain bin knife can take the barrier down in a dozen minute or so, this whole arsenal can tear it down much faster. There's no way the golem can break down our barrier fast enough, it can't dodge the boxing with its' crippled leg.
>>
>>4814940
And I'm pretty sure we can further reinforce it, so if the barrier's struggling we can just feed it more juice.
>>
>>4814940
It has four arms that it can crawl on though. But maybe we can send the birb to start chipping mana from the door in the meantime.
>>4814928
>>4814882
>>4814916
another addition
>Send Pecker to syphon the door's mana barrier
>>
>>4814882
>>4814961
Supportan'. We can keep the thing busy while our loyal birb eats the wall
>>
Understood, but the condenser doesn't suction mana like Owlia's experiment, it just passively collects it when it's active.

Writing regardless.
>>
>>4814972
What option won again? The bashing the golem's head in? I'm changing to this by the way >>4814961
>>
>>4814978
Aye. That, bracers, crystal, and you're sending Pecker to try and munch the door.
>>
>>4814882
>>4814916
>>4814928
>>4814961
>>4814966
>>4814978
Right. No sense in drawing things out, as you figured. But if you’re going to make SURE that this thing is going to go down, best to not half-ass it. Now, last you checked, there’s some bracers you have that should boost your strength...plus an assault crystal...yeah, that should pretty much do it. You have to slip it on ASAP, and while you’re doing that… “Pecker, you can understand me, right?” You kinda forget if it can, but here’s hoping. “Can you do anything about that mana wall? If you can, you can eat it al-” oh. Guess it can, seeing as the thing pretty much shot off. Grand.

That means you’ve plenty of space to work with this- and you wait, wait for an opening...and lunge! With the sword plus the strength you feel flowing through you right now, that thing’s head should be a CRATER-

-but that’s when the thing’s head suddenly retracts as your sword collides with stone and metal; where its head once was is now a rugged, shattered shell piece exposing its innards… you’re about to fire a magi-blast right in, seeing this opening, but then there’s a rumble, and you’re forced to back off as that’s when the massive thing seems to curl up, as small spines protrude out of its back.

Riiiight. Armadillo shell. Now more porcupine shell. Fantastic. Guess that means-

As if in answer, there’s a mighty rumbling as the thing starts to roll around...and towards you. A dive out of the way leads to another piller getting smashed unceremoniously as it barrels through, though wobbly, and you have to hold in a sigh. NOT what you were hoping for, and ideally this is more of a desperation maneuver than merely an alternative combat mode.

>Current Mana: 7,800/11,000

>Alright. It’s gonna be a ball, then you think you’ve got a proper ‘bat’ in here somewhere to play…
>It’s physically unlikely to last forever in that state. It’ll collapse sooner or later, and that’s when you have it.
>Other
>>
>>4815191
Aaaah we should have saved some of those mines. A rolling ball of death bossfight tends to go into the routine of "lead it into hazardous terrains to stun it).

>A dive out of the way leads to another piller getting smashed unceremoniously as it barrels through, though wobbly
>though wobbly
Bingo
>>
>>4815191
>It’s physically unlikely to last forever in that state. It’ll collapse sooner or later, and that’s when you have it.
>Other
Lead it into more pillars.
>>
>>4815191
>NOT what you were hoping for, and ideally this is more of a desperation maneuver than merely an alternative combat mode.
More pointers. We just need to play safe and wait for birdy to finish his late snack.
>>
>>4815191
>>Alright. It’s gonna be a ball, then you think you’ve got a proper ‘bat’ in here somewhere to play…
Wish we could use over-channel, but we're too sore now, hope the other boost could do the job. And we finally found some use for that morphblade-hammer-shield-thing. desu I still don't like how it turned out.
>>
>>4815191
>>4815205
+ while I want to smack it with the hammer for style points this aint a vidya, no need to tempt the dice
>>
>>4815191
>Alright. It’s gonna be a ball, then you think you’ve got a proper ‘bat’ in here somewhere to play…

Let's leave a serious wreck behind to scare up those kids, they need to understand that they're trying to punch above their weight.
>>
>>4815208
>desperation maneuver
That just makes me more concerned - what if it's going to intentionally destroy the pillars and make the room's ceiling collapse?
>>
>>4815236
>At the end of the hallway, however, is a door; you open it to find...a large, circular room, with several pillars arranged in a circle. There are two staircases at the far end from you, leading to another large door; this one with a familiar wall of mana blocking it. Great. Now, then, how to get past thi-
Doesn't look like they're supporting the room? >>4815191 Can Handler clarify?
>>
>>4815220
>Miranda Styles
>not going for style points
>>
>>4815238
They seem to be supporting the room, yes.
>>
>>4815335
Oh.
>>4815191
>>4815221
Alright, let's smack it with the hammer then. Make sure to go for a homerun for STYLE POINTS, mind the form too.
>>
>>4815191
>Alright. It’s gonna be a ball, then you think you’ve got a proper ‘bat’ in here somewhere to play…
>>
>>4815191
>>4815221
>>4815341
>>4815415
>>4815214
Alright, then. You’re not going to be the type who just lets this thing do as it wants while you hope for the best. In fact, if it wants to be a ball, then you’ve got a reasonable ‘bat’ right here, you’d say. It’ll take a bit for you to set up, but-

That thought is paused as it careens through another pillar as it tries to get itself reoriented towards you- and you feel a judder through the room. That’s...not a good sign, really. Is the whole room going to come down or be destabilized if the pillars all fall? That’d be...very unfortunate. You’re going to have to be careful with destroying this thing- fortunately, you think your bat idea is still feasible, you’ll just have to aim carefully…

A quick check over at Pecker reveals it to be...well, practically stuck in the doorway, but it seems fine, just beak stuck and it’s...well, there’s clearly a flow going from the door to the construct, much to your appreciation. You have no clue just how much it can absorb, but you’re hoping it’s a decent amount. Now, as for YOUR own task…

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 3, 15 = 18 (2d20)

>>4815447
>>
Rolled 5, 17 = 22 (2d20)

>>4815447
>>
Rolled 13, 16 = 29 (2d20)

>>4815447
>>
>>4815457
That was close.
Looks like Pecker's enjoying it.
>>
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>>4815447
>A quick check over at Pecker reveals it to be...well, practically stuck in the doorway, but it seems fine, just beak stuck
>>
>>4815447
>>4815453
>>4815455
>>4815457
The massive thing seems to wheel around fairly easily- how it’s detecting your location, you’re not sure, but it seems to face you without any problems, in a manner of speaking. But you shift the lever and you can feel the quick grind as the blade shifts into its warhammer form smoothly. You hadn’t really put it through its paces yet, but it seems like you’re going to get the chance here and now…

You barely have time to get into position when the thing hurls itself towards you- but you manage to rear back nonetheless, and, well...it’s not exactly hard to hit.

There’s a MASSIVE ringing as the impact between your weapon and it registers, and for a moment you think your weapon might shatter then and there. But no, the craftsmanship of your morphing weapon proves to be superior, as does your physical strength, now augmented, and with the extra force, the rolling stone careens off your hammer, showers of stone breaking apart above you as it’s sent flying into the rightmost wall, the crash making a massive impact and sending up blinding amounts of dust. For a moment, you’re unsure if it survived- you can’t detect its strength level...but then a familiar glow comes out of the gloom, and you huff as you realize it’s still alive- though clearly dinged up as the smoke clears and the thing wobbles out. Fantastic.

The next minute or two consists of such competition, though it seems to have something of an adaptive intelligence, as it’s now using its rolling mode not to crush you, but to gain or close distance, before it unfurls and tries to split you with its blades. It’s annoying, but requires you to get a lot of spacing to avoid taking too much risk while you try to bait it into a rush or perhaps simply making too grievous a mistake. You DO manage to pull such a stunt off at least once more, but that results in it crashing through a pillar, much to your consternation. Still, it’s battered and damaged, though its shell is still functioning...mostly.

During one of the exchanges, it swings, but- it's a bit too low, and when you deflect it, the blade comes loose! It careens into the far wall, and the construct is left with one less blade. You risk the exchange aftermath to you glance back at Pecker.

The little thing is glowing...a lot. But it still seems more than happy to siphon out the energy from the door, and said door is definitely getting lighter in color and intensity.

Right, it’s doing its job. Now you have to finish yours.

>Current Mana: 7,800/11,000

>With it down a sword, you should be able to finish this the old fashioned way; start getting more aggressive and start bashing!
>You've made more than a couple of holes in it- you can probably blow it up from the inside if your aim is good enough...
>No reason to stop what's working. Stay patient, and you'll wear this thing down sooner or later.
>Other
>>
>>4817130
>No reason to stop what's working. Stay patient, and you'll wear this thing down sooner or later.
Let's bait it out for a big hit to stun and finish with an One-Inch Shotgun Punch. The surface has been quiet so far, we can take a bit of time.
The moment Pecker's finish he can discharge that weight onto the golem, if it isn't dead by then.
>>
>>4817130
>>No reason to stop what's working. Stay patient, and you'll wear this thing down sooner or later.
>>
>>4817130
>No reason to stop what's working. Stay patient, and you'll wear this thing down sooner or later.
>>
>>4817130
>You've made more than a couple of holes in it- you can probably blow it up from the inside if your aim is good enough...
>>
>>4817130
Didn't we plan to snatch and grab this place? The defenses we laid with Gartoum aren't going to last forever.
>You've made more than a couple of holes in it- you can probably blow it up from the inside if your aim is good enough...
It's adaptive intelligence means it's vulnerable to tricks we haven't revealed, such as, magiblasts.
>>
>>4817130
>>4817179
switching to
>You've made more than a couple of holes in it- you can probably blow it up from the inside if your aim is good enough...
Doesn't have to be magiblasts, a guided missile from the Highball launcher could do the trick. I assume that we wouldn't need to worry about the penalties for aiming that way.
>>
>>4817130
>>4817152
Changing to
>No reason to stop what's working. Stay patient, and you'll wear this thing down sooner or later.
Nice catch on the adaptive intelligence part. We want to cap it before the room collapse anyway.
>>
>>4817822
you haven't changed your vote tho...
>>
>>4817822
Derp, it's this one.
>You've made more than a couple of holes in it- you can probably blow it up from the inside if your aim is good enough.
>>
Will run tomorrow. Likely earlier than normal, around 11 AM PST.
>>
Run begins shortly. Writing now.
>>
>>4817130
>>4817497
>>4817613
>>4817631
>>4818492
>Current Mana: 7,800/11,000

It’s got too many holes to ignore, frankly. By now you should be able to get clear and spike something into one of its gaping wounds that it's ignoring. You just have to make sure you time it right.

The beast itself isn’t too eager to position its weaknesses towards you anymore, but it’s not going to have much choice if it wants to even try to hold you off. Maybe you can goad the thing…

But that’s when you get a call, so to speak. ‘Er, a bit of unfortunate news…’ Well, crap. Had to jinx it. Was that jinxing it? ‘Seems that a small, familiar, and rather annoying party’s managed to, ah, slip past. I’m certainly trying to pursue them, but their numbers seem to have grown just a tad, and wellll...clerics, am I right?’ ...bloody- okay, then. Light mage, shadow, yeah, that made sense. Well, at least now you know for certain you’re on a timer.

“How’s the rest of them?” you ask thinly as you focus on the thing stomping carefully in a circle around you.

‘Had to flee, unfortunately. Bat’s not interested in getting hurt yet AGAIN, and the mage boy seems to lose his nerve when you’re not around.’ There’s a sound of disapproval from him at that. ‘Naturally, that turret of yours got shut down- but it IS in one piece, so there’s that.’ Small mercies, then. But for now…

That just means you have to finish this thing up. By magiblast, rocket, whatever...you’ve got to finish this and hurry about it.

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 19, 5 = 24 (2d20)

>>4820233
>>
Rolled 17, 12 = 29 (2d20)

>>4820233
>>
Rolled 16, 17 = 33 (2d20)

>>4820233
>>
Thread the needle.

Writing.
>>
Well that was clean for a fight that started with -3 rolls. We have to give Pecker some headpats later.

The scooby doo gang is going in again, as expected. But they don't know the maze's layout, unless they know how to follow our track. They most likely do but they'll be slowed down nonetheless. Should we call Gartoum for a shadowport?
>>
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>>4820421
Shadowport is very close-range, maybe it could be used to avoid them in the maze but that's it.
We could prepare an ambush in this boss chamber, set up light traps or sticky bombs, unleash our pokemons and summon bigger bugs, climb up those pillars, hide behind them and then swoop in from above to kick their butts once again.
>>
>>4820478
Ya know, what if we just get our Pokemons out with the bugs and then sneak out while barrier blocking the hallway leading to this chamber, or the maze? I want to set it up somewhere in front of the pitfalls, so they can't just melee it down.
>>
>>4820233
>>4820235
>>4820241
>>4820255
Timing. Patience...focus. It knows you’re trying to make holes- trying and succeeding, which is why it’s not sticking too much in one spot and trying to keep its blades between you and it. You’re not going to let it feel you out too much more, not when you’re on a rapidly shrinking time limit.

Not to mention, from the looks of things, Pecker’s almost done...though oddly enough you swear it’s glowing brighter than the barrier now. Still absorbing, though. Odd…

But no reason to let that distract you- not when the thing finally charges, one blade in front of its chest in defense, one primed for a swooping strike, and the last likely preparing to follow-up. A good strategy...if you didn’t already have an idea to finish this all.

The hammer in your hands has honestly done you rather well- and it’s what the thing is expecting now, another strike or defensive blow with it to block its own attempts.

Not this time. You put all speed into your legs as possible, and you launch yourself towards one of the last remaining pillars, twisting mid leap to bounce yourself off of it. Whatever soreness that you’d once had is blessedly gone- likely warmed up and out by the exercise this has given it or your natural regeneration, or maybe both. Either way, you can feel the muscles move as you’d always expected them to as you bounce off the pillar, getting behind the beast...and already having a magiblast primed and waiting.

The thing’s back had taken a beating, and there were plenty of dents and knicks...but one spot in particular. A large hole, near the base of the neck. That was where you needed to hit, and while you’re still in motion (the thing responded fairly quick and you wanted no chance of reaction) the magiblast flies.

It’s nearly sucked into the hole, and you can’t help a grin as the explosion shatters a solid part of its neck, causing the beast to judder harshly...but it still moves. Another one, then!

A second blast, a third- and yet whatever base makes up the connection of its neck is sturdy as all getout, and it turns to face you once again…

But you’re not going to let that thing get any more chances. Its innards are well and exposed around the top now, and the answer is all too obvious as you prime a Magi-wave.

Your hand splits the air- and the wave splits its neck as the result cleaves through the automaton- and high above the wall facing the door as well, sending a small shower of stone and dust on the now decapitated golem. The body of the beast crashes to the ground with a resounding slam, as the head rolls into a dark corner as well.

(cont)
>>
>>4820493
Well...finally, that’s done. And now for the actually important bit. You turn around to see Pecker’s progress on the door- and frankly, even despite the bright light nearly blinding you to his form, he seems almost done….or at least the barrier is at a point where it’s clear that you yourself could likely break through with brute force if you cared to.

Frankly, you think the little thing’s more than held up its end of things. You just need to make sure that your bird doesn’t overload itself, though…

As you walk up to the glaring sight, giving off light but no heat, you have to look away from the direct sight lest you get temporarily blinded…

And then SOMETHING- you’re not sure what- happens, and there’s a sound of a resounding *crack*, that makes you worry...largely because it sounded like glass shattering. Before you can yell at the bird to stop, however, something DOES shatter- and you’re forced to cover your eyes face as small shards spill over you.

For a moment, you inwardly want to grimace. You hadn’t expected it to eat itself to death, but…

*Chirp* ...wait, what?

You open your eyes, put your arm down...and you can see that the shield is completely gone. The door lies easily openable to the Lockstone. But then you look DOWN, and you can see that...no, Pecker’s not dead at all. But rather…

>It’s a rather...large version of what it used to be. A rather large belly, but mostly innocent looking. It’s a more blue-green color, and its wings are larger, but it also has a gentle beak, and a calm mien. Well...it at least looks like it could consume a LOT more mana now. Might not fit on your head anymore.

>It’s become something larger, but sleeker, like a bird of prey. It has large wings, sharp talons, a curved beak, and a wide, raptor’s crest almost like a crown. You can see clear intelligence in those eyes now, and it seems almost cocky. It glows with similar colors as the barrier now, too, when it clearly didn’t before.

>It looks rather...haggard, almost? It’s larger, but its plumage almost seems to be everywhere, like it hasn’t been groomed- which is odd for something made of crystal. It’s even hopping from foot to foot, almost like it’s eager. Even making some cawing sounds- though you think it could be mistaken for laughing...
>>
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>>4820518
OOOOOOH
>Construct state is malleable; transformation state likely. Estimated triggers: Reaching Mana Storage Capacity; Mana Signature Majority. (Fire, Ice, etc.)
>>
>>4820518
>It’s become something larger, but sleeker, like a bird of prey. It has large wings, sharp talons, a curved beak, and a wide, raptor’s crest almost like a crown. You can see clear intelligence in those eyes now, and it seems almost cocky. It glows with similar colors as the barrier now, too, when it clearly didn’t before.
OOOH BOY. shame that it can't roost in our hair anymore. not that that will stop him from trying though.
>>
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>>4820518
>It’s a rather...large version of what it used to be. A rather large belly, but mostly innocent looking. It’s a more blue-green color, and its wings are larger, but it also has a gentle beak, and a calm mien. Well...it at least looks like it could consume a LOT more mana now. Might not fit on your head anymore.
I want this, because we can hug him like a body pillow and it's cute..
Also he looks like he can tank magic with this form.
>>
>>4820518
What?
Pecker is evolving!
>It’s become something larger, but sleeker, like a bird of prey. It has large wings, sharp talons, a curved beak, and a wide, raptor’s crest almost like a crown. You can see clear intelligence in those eyes now, and it seems almost cocky. It glows with similar colors as the barrier now, too, when it clearly didn’t before.
>>
All the descriptions hint as to the innate skills it now can have.
>>
>>4820518
>It’s a rather...large version of what it used to be. A rather large belly, but mostly innocent looking. It’s a more blue-green color, and its wings are larger, but it also has a gentle beak, and a calm mien. Well...it at least looks like it could consume a LOT more mana now. Might not fit on your head anymore
I want it to stay goofy. Also >>4820550 hints that it's a mana vacuum now and I want that too.
>>
>>4820550
so, mana siphoning, barriers and...uh, parroting?
>>
>>4820544
This option seems more relevant right now, since another fight is about to start. It's not like it's going to lose its mana siphoning ability and I assume this form is faster and more maneuverable, so it'd be way more effective at pestering mages. And if it's got the ability to create barriers similar to the ones that were cast on those doors then I don't see how it's less tanky than the fat birb option. Can't take advantage of bigger mana siphoning potential if it's slower, and dodging hits is better than tanking them.
>>
>>4820601
Eh, with how annoying their mages are I'm still sticking to the fat boy option. Once Kirby touches them, they're done. He'll be like a risk-free Experimental Z1.
>>
15 more minutes before lock and writing since this is important.
>>
>>4820618
Well, not important perse, but it's permanent.
>>
>>4820610
He'll be our little distraction carnifex for all kinds of magical foes. A sentient mana vacuum is better than you think, and mobility issues aside, well we have plenty of ways to bring the mages to us, or our birb to them.
It's a lot more interesting than another attacker at least to me, opens up more interesting options.
>>
>>4820628
Whatever option we pick, it's still able to suck mana. Maneuverability is way more important, how a faster moving smaller bird any less annoying than a fat one?
But whichever option wins it's still going to stay a very cool birb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBFuzr_GnqQ
>>
>>4820634
We'll just have to let the dices decide then. Fat birds are cute and having one as the SES team pet is a wonderful sight.
>>
personally i'd rather have the bird of prey form, but chubby form seems nice as well
>>
Rolled 1 (1d2)

Rolling it is.

1- Big Birb
2- Snooty Beak
>>
File: file.png (1.31 MB, 950x811)
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>>4820660
It is done.
Behold the harbinger of INT maxxers.
>>
>>4820660
aww, oh well, such is the will of the dice
>>
>>4820660
It will still try to roost on our head won't it?
>>
>>4820674
Indeed.
>>
>>4820660
oh well, maybe there will be more evolutions in the future.
>>
>>4820518
>>4820537
>>4820557
>>4820660
You almost want to laugh. It’s more like someone put a air pump in it and went wild for a bit. It resembles more an overfed pigeon more than anything now, but oddly enough, it kinda works. That large belly almost looks like a pillow, even if not quite that big. It’s blue-green color reminds you of you, and honestly you can’t say you don’t dislike it- how it managed that you’re not even sure since it hasn’t drained any mana of yours...maybe it was just influenced by your hair. It at least looks like it can fly, still, as at a glance you can tell its wings are larger. So that’s something.

It also looks like it’s completely satisfied for the moment, with how it flutters its wings slightly and gives another, slightly deeper chirp than it used to. Doesn’t seem interested in moving, either.

You have to hold back a huff as you scoop the thing up- and with a few kicks, smash an opening into the door big enough to crawl through. Pecker’s quick to wriggle out and up, and tries to perch on your head once aga- okay, no. Not happening, he’s too big. Not weight-wise, but just a bit too much space is being taken up for your preferences. More awkward to move. Maybe if you’re sitting down or at rest or something it’d be fine, but not now. That said...you shift him to your shoulder, and that manages to hold up well enough- particularly when he settles down and tucks into himself to nap.

It’s good enough for you, since now...FINALLY...you can focus on the Lockstone. And it’s just there, finally. In a MASSIVE chamber, this is, and at the top of a small raised elevation, it sits glowing, and even illuminated by tiny lights, including one small one directly on it shining down from far above. Chains as normal, but by now you can deal with those easily enough.

The stone itself is..well, it seems almost anticlimactic once it’s sized down and put within your custody. And you sigh. 4 down. 1 to go.

Now, you just have to make it out of here, first. ‘I’ve got the stone. Anything else to report?’

‘That group is surprisingly quick on the uptake,’ Gartoum admits. ‘They’ve been doing their best to barrel through, but I’ve managed to waylay them a bit here and there. Just...’ and you can HEAR the shudder. ‘Clerics’. Riiight. ‘I suspect if you don’t find an alternative way out, you’ll be a bit stuck for meeting them.’

Fantastic...

>You think you might be able to break out topways...but it'll be a close run thing. Would make it very hard for them to catch you, though.
>Might as well meet them and handle these 'heroes' once and for all. No reason to keep those annoyances around, and hopefully they won't pull any more BS.
>Actually...there's a classic maneuver you might be able to pull here. You don't think you can collapse the whole building from the inside, but you can probably destabilize a few rooms.
>Other
>>
>>4820788
>>Might as well meet them and handle these 'heroes' once and for all. No reason to keep those annoyances around, and hopefully they won't pull any more BS.
give us your loot
>>
>>4820788
>Might as well meet them and handle these 'heroes' once and for all. No reason to keep those annoyances around, and hopefully they won't pull any more BS.
>Ask Ah-Rul if he still wants to spare them and if he has regained any spells that can aid us.
>Flood the chamber with as many bugs as we can

I don't want to summon the Pokemons just yet, we're reserving it for when they arrive.
>>
>>4820788
>Might as well meet them and handle these 'heroes' once and for all. No reason to keep those annoyances around, and hopefully they won't pull any more BS.
>>
>>4820788
>>4820809
adding to this
>summon more bugs, small and a few big ones, as well as the corrupted beasts
>use Mana Crystals to restore our mana
these have been sitting in our bag for month. I don't see why should we reserve our pokemons, are you planning to have a fair climactic fight?
>>
>>4820837
>>4820788
*shrug* Ya know what, sure let's go all out.
+
>>
>>4820788
>>summon more bugs, small and a few big ones, as well as the corrupted beasts
>>use Mana Crystals to restore our mana
>>
Round...what is this, 3 technically?

Writing.
>>
We could've had a sleek hunting falcon companion that goes well with our no-nonsense persona, instead we get a fat fucking comedy birb. I'll never forgive myself for being two hours too late to change this outcome.
>>
>>4820860
let's hope the next evolution can change it.
>>
File: pecker third evolution.png (1.1 MB, 750x750)
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>>4820860
Hey, Pecker's a growing boy!
Let's see what he's capable of. Who knows, maybe he'll subvert expectations. Touch of death for mages and all of that.
>>
File: capercaillie.gif (2.73 MB, 387x293)
2.73 MB
2.73 MB GIF
>>4820860
>>4820866
uh, let's pretend it's a capercaillie instead of a giant fat pidgeon.
>>
..would it be a good idea to feed it the two Seither Chunks that we have laying around in our bag to speed up it's growth?
>>
>>4820946
I really don't want our bird to turn into a crack addict.
>>
>>4820860
...i'm sure there are fat birds that also look cool...maybe
>>
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>>4821104
Uhh, yeah, peacocks are cool I guess.
>>
>>4821140
or a fat secretary bird
>>
>>4820788
>>4820809
>>4820822
>>4820830
>>4820837
>>4820840

Right, then. You’re not going to let these annoyances keep on hounding you if you can help it. Sighing, you leap off the platform and get back through the door- you've got a couple of crystals you need to absorb, too. Your mana's getting a touch low.

It’s high time you started to put a downer ending to this tale. Again. That is. ‘Sir.’

‘Hold a moment,’ the voice comes. ‘I am...savoring this. Immensely. Only ONE left…’ Right, that IS true. Actually, it’d be NONE left if you could find that last missing piece, but…

‘Sorry sir, but I REALLY have to know- are you still intent on keeping those kids alive?’ Because if he was…

‘Hmmm...unfortunately, I must say yes for now.’ DAMNIT. ‘Mind you, this is only for one reason- I have, through my own efforts, managed to determine that the last stone is likely somewhere they only they have knowledge of. Even with my unleashed power I cannot sense it. This is disturbing, and means that certain fairy parties have indeed seen fit to protect the stone and hide it from my sight. I will never be fully unshackled until I can acquire all the lockstones and revitalize myself, and they know this!’ He’s got a definite growl in his voice now. ‘If you can acquire the knowledge of where the last stone lies, I have no need for them any further. But until then...we must be clever, now that we are so close to the goal! They must remain alive, but they need not be thorns in my side.’ A pause. ‘In fact...now, with my power at the levels it is...perhaps I have a way to force the issue…’

You can HEAR him grin. At any rate, the logic kinda makes sense, but you still dislike it. You muse on it as you make your way back. It’s not very long, as your return trip is fairly dull...but once you hit the maze again, you...can hear footsteps. They’re here.

“Hold on!” you hear a soft voice in the distance. “Something’s...here now. Something dark!”

‘Excellent…’ Ah-Rul murmurs. ‘Find one of them. Thrash them. And then...let me do the rest…’ You can see your clasp actually SMOKING, now, dark tendrils of power leaking through.

“This...no. This isn’t good!” The voice calls.

“What?!” Comes a too familiar boy’s voice.

“Not here! Not now! We need to retreat- before she finds us!” comes the call. Great. Why does this feel familiar, though…

At any rate, you've got rather the idea for this.

Bugs. Lots of bugs. Bugs and beasts.

Predators and prey. Tale as old as time.

>Roll 6d100, best of three.
>>
Rolled 7, 35, 42, 14, 70, 96 = 264 (6d100)

>>4821160
oooh, we're doing rapid fire?
>>
Rolled 21, 82, 74, 96, 27, 70 = 370 (6d100)

>>4821160
>>
oooh shit! time tom mind control the twerps!
>>
Rolled 18, 98, 10, 63, 78, 49 = 316 (6d100)

>>4821160
Get fucked kids
>>
21,98,74,96,78,96
those kids got FUCKED, except for that first one. maybe they sold out the rest of the team for their own safety?
>>
>>4821166
What the hell??? One of them didn't get hit at all, guess we found the protag
>>
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>>4821168
>>4821170
>literally the first die
It's the kid that we delimbed isn't it?

So most of them are dunked on. Guess things aren't going their way now that we get them to play on our terrains - close-quartered, out-numbered and no pesky fliers. Satisfying.
Wonder if Pecker will join in?
>>
>"This is disturbing, and means that certain fairy parties have indeed seen fit to protect the stone and hide it from my sight. I will never be fully unshackled until I can acquire all the lockstones and revitalize myself, and they know this!"
If the fairies are the ones hiding the last lockstone then it's time to murder and torture a lot of them until we get it. Preferably with our bird, operation z1 and our flux wave. Also, before we leave I would really like to blast a nebula buster at least once..
>>
>>4821194
Oh man I want to try out the sniper too, but they're mana beings so conventional killshots won't work. We do have plenty of options though, like you said along with the Faemetal bolts.

We should be, with high chances, fighting at least one elder fairies at this rate. Perfect targets to test a Rapier-boosted Buster on.
>>
>>4821161
Not sure what you mean.

Writing.
>>
>>4821182
>It's the kid that we delimbed isn't it?
he's a quick learner at least
>>
>>4821228
I still think he's decoy protag and the real one is the reckless mage girl. The first few OOC notes everyone treats her as the heroine.
>>
>>4821160
>>4821161
>>4821162
>>4821166
You don’t have to stomp around, but at this rate it’s not really a matter of such. Your insects can spread and get around faster than you can, and you don’t have to monitor them too much for that. And trying to map out the path again is useless- even scanning for their locations isn’t all that useful since they’ll have adjusted position before long most times. No, best to just let things happen as they happen this time.

You can take your time for this one. All you have to do is-

“GYAAAAAAHHH!” ...follow the screams. Sounds of desperate battle ring out as you calmly seek out the closest scent of power. Sounds like they got caught horribly off-guard. Ha.

To your surprise, the first one you find is the pooch- desperately nipping and clawing at the beasts- although he’s all but swarmed by them. The yipping and howling and scratching is doing him no good as the insects nibble and bite and chew, his glossy fur quickly getting dyed red with his own blood. Fodder, in the end, in an unfortunate situation. They aren’t supposed to die yet, but...well, it’s a DOG. What could it possibly know? ...okay, so it might have held a bit in its memory. Seemed to be a fairly smart canine. But still…

>Take the time to absorb it’s memories.
>No. End it's misery and move on.

(This'll be a set of quick posts, hopefully. You guys rolled REALLY well.)
>>
>>4821241
>Take the time to absorb it’s memories.
eh, why not
>>
>>4821241
>Take the time to absorb it’s memories.
>Corrupt it with shadows
It was a good loyal dog, would be a shame to waste such an asset
>>
>>4821241
>Take the time to absorb it’s memories.
Pah, corrupting the pooch is in poor taste methinks. Best give it a painless end after this.
>>
>>4821241
>Take the time to absorb it’s memories.
Poor doggy.
>>
>>4821241
>Take the time to absorb it’s memories.
Free info is info
>>
>>4821243
Adding to my vote
>corrupt the dog with shadows
That will definitely send them in distress
>>
>>4821247
So you're saying that dogs don't count when it comes to collecting pokemons? Pah. We're technically saving it.
>>
>>4821258
Plus we can fool them into thinking they can save the dog, which might help us in a pinch
>>
>>4821258
>>4821241
Ya know what? Sure, we're an evil girl.
>corrupt the dog

I just realized that the only thing that's sustaining its' life comes from US, so they can't kill us. Hah! Beat that.
>>
Dog dreams. It's hurting enough you don't need a roll.

Writing.
>>
>>4821284
Poor pooch. Guess we're reaching the climax soon.
>>
>>4821286
Still have to get the final lockstone, but I believe it's safe to say that the heroes have reached the lowest point.
>>
>>4821286
Nah, the little bitch fucked us up twice. There is nothing to pity from him
>>
>>4821241
>>4821243
>>4821245
>>4821247
>>4821249
>>4821251
Well, might as well take a looksee just to be safe. Now, you’re no psychic, but he did say to just wreck ‘em. ‘Clear off,’ you say lightly, and the bugs scatter elsewhere, leaving the dog collapsed and shivering in a pool of its own blood and muscle. Sooo...well, you suppose you just bring it close aaand-

-you see those smokey tendrils snake out and practically flood the dog’s eyes- and visions flash within yours.

A massive island...floating in the sky. Vanishing in moments.

A man in a cloak who’s talking to the young teen. The man has a scar on his face.

A large, skeletal creature that’s reminiscent of an eagle itself.

Barking at a big, muscular man in armor.


That’s all you get from it.

With a slow and low whine, then, your vision returns to your own, and the dog slumps down bonelessly.

...the remaining bugs should finish the job.

-----

The next one, to your surprise, is the Cleric that you meet- and she’s still standing, although backed into a corner. She’s dressed in a small robe- no hat, but that might’ve been eaten for all you know. Her strawberry blonde hair is down her face and there’s blood covering half of it- not to mention she’s cradling her left arm- the right one holding a metal staff in it. She looks at you in something resembling fear- though you notice that the beasts that you’d sent out...well, one of them at least seemed to have fallen- the wolfish looking one, and it seemed to be sizzling.

“K-keep back!” her shaky voice tries to warn, and you confirm that this is the girl that noted you earlier- makes sense why she’d been trying to run away when you caught up with her, which was more a limp, really. She likely sensed you coming and was trying to do anything about it. “I am kept by the light of-”

Right, whatever, time to haul her in.

>Roll 1d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>4821311
>>
Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>4821311
>>
Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>4821311
>>
Your light is fading, little cleric. Time to come backt to the shadows
>>
>>4821311
We'll be looting all these jobbers, right? Don't want to get blue-balled for the third time.
>>
>>4821329
Of course we will. At least the weapons, they all fit into our bag.
>>
16. Writing.
>>
>>4821329
Yeah, whatever thats looks good for r&d or for the kids goes into the bag
>>
>>4821311
>>4821316
>>4821317
>>4821319
You don’t have to do much to close the distance- she holds her staff up in a panicked, desperate defense, but naturally it doesn’t do anything. You grab her by the color, and she opens her mouth to shriek- but you quickly cup it with your hand before she can let out anything more than a squeak. Shivering, she desperately tries to do something, anything, to avoid the darkness seeping into her.

But it’s too late for that, as your vision blinks out again, and is replaced.

You can see the teen boy and the gunslinger kid- both of them near her. They’re in a very misty forest, and talking to a fairy. “Just trust me. All we have to do is get through this trial and we’ll be fine!” the fairy says. She turns around- and you noticed they seem to be rather high in the sky.

She’s sitting on a chair or something...and a hand is placed on her knee. “I just wish I could be doing more instead of relying on everyone else- especially in Yulin.”

There’s another fairy, talking to her. They’re in front of some building, you think- one covered in silver. “Have some faith. You know the Elders have done this before, right? We’ll talk to the queen, tell her about the situation. We’ve got one, maybe two soon. As long as he doesn’t get all of them, we can fight back!”


The light goes out, and she drops. Tch. You were kind of hoping for more than that, but...blah.

Suddenly, a rattle goes through her, and she drops to the ground, unmoving. Hm. Well...that’s two.

The twisting, steel staff with the wings and diamond head might be good for keepsake purposes. Maybe one of the girls can use it, who knows?

You grab it, her fingers stuck on keeping it until you pry it away, and into the bag it goes.

Continuing on.

(Done for tonight. Will resume tomorrow.)
>>
>>4821372
Thanks for running! Will the next run start as early as this one?
>>
>>4821374
Hopefully.
>>
>>4821372
The girl of our pesky trio has purple hair, but this girl is strawberry blonde. What are her affiliations again?

Looks like our final stage is a floating island. Wonder if they have a self-destruct sequence...
>>
File: boy and girl.jpg (63 KB, 1566x176)
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>>4821392
>>4821372
>You can see the teen boy and the gunslinger kid- both of them near her.
She was on the carriage that we blew up last thread. Now we know what this staff does, and who the last team member is and what he's packing.
>>
>>4821402
The cleric girl's name was Saireen and the gunslinger boy's is Barnum, if this is still relevant.
>>
Well thats two down(and possibly shadowed), this is going really well so far!
>>
>>4821831
We only had a single roll below 78, I wouldn't be surprised if we leave just one or two survivors of the original Hero Party alive at all. Not to mention we probably get all the info we need to figure out where the last stone is.
Speaking of that, with the 4th stone now taken, we should ask our boss if we have access to some stronger minions than just our bug bois.
>>
>>4822072
> I wouldn't be surprised if we leave just one or two survivors of the original Hero Party alive at all.
If we leave anyone alive, i think it should be yulin. at least that's who cleric though was the important one.


>we should ask our boss if we have access to some stronger minions than just our bug bois.
i think that's what this implied?
>The light goes out, and she drops. Tch. You were kind of hoping for more than that, but...blah.
>Suddenly, a rattle goes through her, and she drops to the ground, unmoving. Hm. Well...that’s two.

i thought that was our boss assuming direct control of the bodies.
>>
Writing!
>>
>>4821372
>>4821372
Considering all the bugs here are dead, you have to reach out for another nearby beast to finish off the girl. You’d do it yourself, but you’d rather get a move on- there’s someone still fighting, you’ve noticed, and every second counts if someone’s still up. Two someones, you think, judging by the thuds and shouts. Gotta admit, that’s impressive.

Not like this kid. The gunslinger that put a hole in Gargles, you recognize. The kid’s on the ground, his gun a few meters from him- yours now, seems to be a customized flintlock- and ‘chewed up’ you think describes him nicely. There isn’t a place he ISN’T bleeding, and only some twitches as you sweep the insects off him tell you he’s still alive. Well, at least you have gloves for this...in a sense.

He’s looking at the cleric girl, who’s smiling at him, as the both of them are in an inn of some kind. “You just wait- we’ll be back home before you know it. A little luck and pluck and fairy dust and all that junk.” The girl giggles at his words.

Looking at the cleric girl again. This time they’re in front of a massive stone door, inlaid with sigils, with the boy, and the mage girl. "So...this is Avalun...the home of the Elder Fairies..." someone whispers to his side, but it's soft, and barely there. The Cleric’s chanting something- and then the massive door shines and opens- and it seems his focus is entirely on her, shining.

There’s a small wooden room they’re in. He’s cleaning and priming his gun. The Cleric is there again, as she and the Mage Girl talk. “You’ll be fine,” the Cleric says. “If you can force that kind of magic through such a small focus, you can do this!”

“Y-yeah…” the girl says. “I hope…”

The Cleric smiles. “Once we get to Avalun...maybe they can help you train a bit! Then your mother will have to appreciate that, right?”

“Yeah!”


The vision fades out, and you look at the puddle of flesh that was a man once, before moving on. Avalun, huh? And there's some kind of a barrier, perhaps.

A wicked *THUD* rings out as you continue on- you're close to it, in fact.

It's not long before you find the cause. The boy. That tiny, stocky, timid boy. And he's fighting his heart out despite a lot of gouges and cuts and nips across his face, arms, and body. Around him lies a lot of smoking bodies of bugs flattened or magiced out of existance. He's even bleeding from the mouth, but he's still up, although with the massive warhammer he's holding, it seems like his strength is fading fast. He's panting, having smashed out the last of the bugs sent to him...but he doesn't seem to notice you, trying to catch his breath.

'Commendable,' you hear the voice of Ah-Rul say. 'If futile.'

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 11, 9 = 20 (2d20)

>>4822273
>>
Rolled 3, 7 = 10 (2d20)

>>4822273
It looks like we're finishing them off after all.
>>
Rolled 18, 2 = 20 (2d20)

>>4822273
>>
The flesh is weak, but the spirit is strong.

Writing.
>>
Absolutely brutal, a sweep so decisive that I'm starting to feel sorry for those kids.

But if they couldn't handle an ambush consists of trash mobs, they never got a chance in the first place.
>>
Rolled 95, 7 = 102 (2d100)

>>4822273
>>4822283
>>4822287
>>4822290
He barely manages to look up as you grab him and drag him close- drops his hammer to try to struggle out of your grip. But it’s clear it’s as your client said, and though he tries, he can’t stop the darkness from sneaking its way in…

There’s the teenage boy, seemingly ruffling his head with a smile. They’re in an old cavern- ah, where they fought you the first time. “Don’t worry. You’re plenty strong. In more ways than one. You just can’t be afraid to show it. Especially not to that witch. We’ll get her back- but we just need to get ahead. Maybe the guys down south might know a thing or two…”

Another image, this time in a jungle. A familiar one. The kid is with the Cleric girl now. “They say these jungles are the results of ancient forces settling into the world. That the beasts here are imbued with their power.” She turns to him/you, smiling. “We’ll need your strength now more than ever, okay?” You hear yourself responding. “Don’t worry. The fellows of my Order will protect everyone back home. We just need to get the stone to the Elders.”

Another image...this time a fairy talking to him. It’s hard to make out, but it kind of hurts… “You have more potential than you know…only by trusting in yourself can you let it out.” Behind him is...some sort of city- and a Lockstone, you think.

The vision snaps out. You hear a yell from somewhere before your own vision returns.

>Roll 1d20, best of three. Rolls are not opposed.
>>
Whoop. Missed the close italics.

Interesting results on this end, though...
>>
Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>4822337
>>
Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>4822337
>>
Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>4822337
>>
>>4822337
>>4822344
>>4822347
>>4822348

You’re given to a flash of light that nearly blinds you, forcing you to jump back. In the same instant, you feel a powerful struggle and an intense heat on your hands, even through the gauntlets, forcing you to let the kid go. You’re surprised that was getting THAT hot. You’re more surprised that he’s got enough in him to run. It’s not MUCH of a run, but a run it is. “HEEELP!” Oh, GREAT.

“I’m coming!” you hear a yell- and one not too far away.

‘Bah!’ Damnable light users!’ you hear him curse. You throw your scent on once more, but...nothing’s coming from the direction the Cleric was in, you’re pretty sure. If that was something from her, then…well, at least you can try to stop him once and for- ‘He may have recovery items- however, they’ll not be able to accomplish anything with their fellows laid low.’ Oh no. For fuck's...

‘You’re not saying we should leave them alive, are you?! You just-’ this asshole was-

‘They are weakened and ruined- and the fallen fools' minds were weakened enough to have shown me the information I need to locate the last piece of my power.’ Oh? ‘And now that I know where it lies, I also know that for every moment it remains in that accursed place, the less of my power will be LEFT to claim!’ Oh. Thaaaat’s not good. Well, for your paycheck. But still, this is just begging for shit to keep going.

>Convince him that you should at LEAST try to find the other mage girl- this kinda thing NEVER ends well!
>This is BS- but jobs tend to be wacky like that sometimes. Whatever, depleting power IS kinda important to stop…
>Other
>>
>>4822462
>Convince him that you should at LEAST try to find the other mage girl- this kinda thing NEVER ends well!
>>
>>4822462
>reluctantly agree to go after the last Lockstone, mention 'Pride goeth before Fall' and that whole spiel
He paid for the narrative rider, and the narrative demands we lead an army against the Forces of Good and end this job in a climatic battle scene. Also this lets us use Nebula Buster for massive damage, which we really don't do enough.
>>
>>4822462
>>4822483
>Pick up kid's warhammer
>Use Low-Quickening to catch up to the him
>>
>>4822462
>>4822524
+ he'll thank us later.
>>
>>4822514
Are you the 'quota' guy? I liked that guy.
>>
They are right here, we can get rid of them once and for all. Narrative Rider is about staying in character, not following tropes and letting avoidable trainwrecks happen. He's been unreasonably merciful and now these kids are unlocking some hidden innate powers.
>>
>>4822462
>Convince him that you should at LEAST try to find the other mage girl- this kinda thing NEVER ends well!
Yeah no, these loose ends need to be tied.
>>
>>4822554
*not blindly following tropes
The boy now has some light/heat aure, so he'll be immune to our bugs in the future, and the girl's magic is growing in power
>>4822273
>“If you can force that kind of magic through such a small focus, you can do this!”
Don't even wanna know what their teen leader can do now, these kids have survived a hit from a magiwave that was boosted with both Seither AND fairy-kid when the regular one was enough to bisect an armored soldier back in the jungle fortress.
>>
>>4822549
No, I'm the nerd that complained about not turning Pecker into a hunting falcon earlier, just phoneposting from work.

>>4822554
The Narrative is that we are BBEG's summoned minion. Obeying orders is staying in character. What is not in character is murdering the adventurer party that our boss has told us, multiple times I might add, NOT TO KILL. It is irrelevant that we know they are the potential saviors of this world. If we can convince him, sure, we splatter them, but until we are given the go ahead we let them live. Otherwise we risk docking our pay.
>>
>>4822613
Eh, we've been doing great so far, even informed him of the fey's plot to reseal him - big plus here. He didn't dock our pay when we walked right into an elder fairy's church. I'm confident that we can talk some sense into him.
>>
>>4822613
He just thinks they won't be a threat in the future, but they will be. He said that he doesn't want them to be thorns in his sides before, and now that we've got all the info he wanted from them there's no reason to leave them alive.
>>
>>4822596
Still think that fight was bullshit, no way they could survive a boosted magiwave. They didn't even get wounded iirc
>>
We can't waste this opportunity, especially when Gartoum is on his way to block their path.>>4820233
Wonder what's up with the fairy kid, sounds like separation anxiety.
>>
>>4822623
By all means go ahead, I'm simply pointing out that every single time we face the heroes we have the same request: 'Let us go after them'. And. Every. Single. Time. We get the exact same response. "No, they are a trifling party at best". He's even dropped this on us already.

>'They are weakened and ruined- and the fallen fools' minds were weakened enough to have shown me the information I need to locate the last piece of my power.'

He wants us to gather the Lockstones so he can be released, not go Murderhobo some Adventuring Party because they might be a threat. We've raised our concerns multiple times, and been shot down every time. Do you think he feels threatend by a schmuck party that got anally annihilated by random shadow minons, especially now when he's nearly free? Getting caught up with hunting down the mage is time not spent stoping the Faeri from fucking with the last Lockstone, and that's how we lose out on pay.
>>
>>4822665
>not go Murderhobo some Adventuring Party because they might be a threat.
they ARE a threat, the previous encounter was rather stressful
>Do you think he feels threatend by a schmuck party that got anally annihilated by random shadow minons
That's just because we've rolled incredibly well, are you willing to tempt the dice next time?
>>
>>4822462
>Convince him that you should at LEAST try to find the other mage girl- this kinda thing NEVER ends well!
At least we could get some info out of them and maybe get to cripple them (cut off their hands or tongue) before we go.
>>
>>4822672
>they ARE a threat, the previous encounter was rather stressful
It ended up stressful because anons failed one roll and ended up snorting magic cocaine immediately, which placed us on a time limit. We still came out a head in that encounter, as we just finished reaping the rewards from holding two of the heroes hostage there.

>That's just because we've rolled incredibly well, are you willing to tempt the dice next time?
How the dice rolls in the future is an irrelevant point, the perspective we must look at is that of the BBEG. He wouldn't BE scared of these adventurers, because we've beaten the shit out of them Every. Single. Time. We. Fought. Why should he be scared of the them? Our warnings fall on deaf ears because we are too good at our job. Tempting the dice is a bad idea, sure, but using a that as an argument for a in-character choice to remove potential threats doesn't sit well with me.

If you can convince him to let us murder the heroes, that is completely fine. I just see no reason that he'd ever put that above getting him the Lockstones, especially now when he's so close to finally being free.
>>
Continue talking- I have been delayed for a bit and will be for a couple hours more as I have to get some things handled last minute.
>>
>>4822733
>“GAH!” - a high heat runs through you as the glowing ball from earlier erupts above you, a yellow spherical shockwave sending a numbing sensation through your body and causing the barrier to shatter out of existence-
Snorting "magical cocaine" removed the debuff and replaced -2 with a +2 to our rolls. The only rewards we got from that encounter were the location of this lockstone, an unfinished tacky map and some blood - could've gained much more from it than that.
But it all depends on whether or not our client would listen to us, so maybe we should come up with some arguments on why this is more important than he thinks.
>We've bombed the cleric girl's caravan a day ago, yet instead of delaying them they somehow managed to get to the fairy capital and caught up to us - so it's very likely they have access to some sort of teleportation system. We've already seen them use some emergency teleportation device once.
>This means that the next time we encounter this party they'd fully recover and will definitely get in our way once again.
>From the memories we've seen they have a much greater potential than expected and the fairies could help them unleash it.
>The fairy who's guiding them is the offspring of that 'Cera'>>4793219, so eliminating them is one way to get back at her.
>Is he really letting these schmucks try to steal his lockstones without proper retribution? They were the ones who stole the one from the Nestland Island.
>>
>>4822862
>>If you can convince him to let us murder the heroes, that is completely fine. I just see no reason that he'd ever put that above getting him the Lockstones, especially now when he's so close to finally being free.
I forgot to point out what I'm referring to in the 'But it all depends' part
>>
>>4822862
I think playing towards his overprotectiveness of the lockstones and his grudge with the fairies is the way to go here, he seems fairly tempramental so bringing up the last three points ought to at the very least get a response out of him. Maybe if we nab the mage girl we'll learn what they plan to do with the last lockstone. If we do get the green light we need to put on our big girl panties and finish them off quickly, as said before I believe the more time we spend here the more time we give the Grandpa Fairies in Fairy Land to enact their "Happily Ever After"-plan.

>Snorting "magical cocaine" removed the debuff and replaced -2 with a +2 to our rolls. The only rewards we got from that encounter were the location of this lockstone

I'd argue that getting the location of this Lockstone, which we didn't know beforehand could be considered a win. I'd forgotten that the Seither negated our negative modifier, so I'll concede that point. I still think we could've escaped without it, but that's neither here no there at this point.
>>
>>4822462
>Convince him that you should at LEAST try to find the other mage girl- this kinda thing NEVER ends well!
>>
>>4822908
>>4822862
>so it's very likely they have access to some sort of teleportation system.
>This means that the next time we encounter this party they'd fully recover and will definitely get in our way once again.
by this I meant that these kids will be delaying us and buying more time for the elders either way, except that the next time they'd be stronger and determined to fight till the end.
>>
>>4822462
>>4822862
>>4822945
should've probably linked these to the post
>>
>>4822756
Tell us when you're available again boss, we're just getting to the good part.
>>
>>4822462
>>This is BS- but jobs tend to be wacky like that sometimes. Whatever, depleting power IS kinda important to stop…
>>
Writing shortly. We will hopefully be convincing. Keep those lines of thought in mind.
>>
Hmm. How can we appear to an evil, mildly reasonable overlord who has a fat ego?
>>
If he still wants to leave them alive, let's just plead to be allowed to cripple them at least.
>>
>>4823084
Unless the bugs have done that first, then ignore that.
>>
>>4823092
I'm still baffled at how effective they are. Maybe they get better the more stones we have?
>>
>>4823097
Seems like it.
>>
>>4822462
>>4822483
>>4822524
>>4822543
>>4822564
>>4822719

Alright, no, as a professional, you’re getting a bit too aggravated about this whole issue. “Sir, I understand it’s very much poor position to countermand or debate your orders-”

‘And yet you will do so anyway.’ He growls.

“It’s because I must insist that they’re gotten rid of before they can provide a harsher issue down the line,” you put forth. “At the very least, the mage girl. They’ve constantly gotten stronger since I last met them-”

“And yet you dispatch them each and every time,” he says with annoyance. “With ease, I say. They are proven to be no threat to me, and that it would be child’s play to finish or corrupt them at leisure, NOT when there are tasks to be done. Or do you mean to infer that my power is less worthy than yours?” Okay, THAT has a growl to it. Gotta tread carefully here...DO NOT want to piss off the client or dwell on anything for too long.

>Continue trying to convince him via pragmatics (less foes now means easier conquering later!)
>Continue trying to convince him via emotional appeal (once it's clear the 'heroes' are dead, that'll kill morale!)
>Gah, forget it, just drop it and get going.
>Other
>>
>>4823112
>Continue trying to convince him via pragmatics (less foes now means easier conquering later!)
>"We caught them off-guard so I suggest we capitate on our success, for opportunities like this won't come so easily."
>"We might be able to get more intel from their remaining members. Who knows what the fairies has shown them?"
>>
>>4823112
>Continue trying to convince him via emotional appeal (once it's clear the 'heroes' are dead, that'll kill morale!)
The fairies, country rulers and even some mysterious Singing creature have a lot of faith in them for some reason, constantly supporting them.
>The fairy who's guiding them is the offspring of that 'Cera'>>4793219, so eliminating them is one way to get back at her.
>Is he really letting these schmucks try to steal his lockstones without proper retribution? They were the ones who stole the one from the Nestland Island.
oh damn I gotta run now
>>
>>4823112
>>4823129
Appearing to his pragmatics side for me. We absolutely do not want to damage his ego here, so no telling that the kids will have a chance to win later on.
And adding in
>Point out that they tampered and stole the stone in the Nestland Island.
>Point out that going after them will hurt the fairy offspring of Cera.
With a bit of emotional push after that. Works wonderfully.
>>
>>4823112
>>4823133
>The fairies, country rulers and even some mysterious Singing creature have a lot of faith in them for some reason, constantly supporting them.
This would show them how futile all their attempts are - since they very obviously haven't caught on on that.
>>4823129
you've just said that he's only 'mildly reasonable', and with his constant screaming, mood swings and gloating it seems lice pragmatism is not the way. Like >>4822908 said, gotta play to his grudges.
>>
>>4823112
>>4823141
>>4823129
You're right on the account that he's most emotional right now since he's so close. Oh right then, let's play it that way.
>Continue trying to convince him via emotional appeal (once it's clear the 'heroes' are dead, that'll kill morale!)
>The fairies, country rulers and even some mysterious Singing creature have a lot of faith in them for some reason, constantly supporting them.
>The fairy who's guiding them is the offspring of that 'Cera', so eliminating them is one way to get back at her.
>Is he really letting these schmucks try to steal his lockstones without proper retribution? They were the ones who stole the one from the Nestland Island.
>>
Phoneposting
>>4822665 was correct, he doesn't see them as a ghreat at all, so the pragmatic 'kill them now easy conquering later' won't appeal since this egomaniac already thinks it will be easy.
>>
>>4823112
>>4823156
Supporting.
>>
So it seems like the logic is emotional appeal, then.

Writing. Also might want to prep dice.
>>
>>4823112
>Gah, forget it, just drop it and get going
I worry about him docking our pay if we keep pestering him on this point.
>>
>>4823180
docking the pay is better than actually failing the mission, specially now that we're at the endgame
>>
>>4823171
>Also might want to prep dice.
Oh dear, I hope the bonus from the Meditation Room helps.
>>
Rolled 1 (1d2)

>persuasion rolls
Oh dear
I'll roll one for:
1) we get to kill the Scooby gang
2) we don't kill them
>>
>>4823207
Woohoo!
>>
>>4823207
>>4823171
Give us a hefty bonus for this boss, hah!
>>
>>4823222
>>4823223
>The dice gods troll us by giving us shitty rolls afterwards.
Not gonna count on it lol
>>
>>4823112
>>4823133
>>4823156
>>4823163


You’re not going to just let him walk all over you, but at the same time you’d rather not cause him to reduce your pay- or worse. “Not at all. I just think once it's clear the 'heroes' are dead and the news is out, that'll kill morale. These people are sponsored and tasked by the leaders of the world, aren’t they? It’d be rather the mental blow.”

‘It would, but-’ nope, gotta keep going- even if it’s a risk.

“Not to mention they aren’t the only ones. The fairies- INCLUDING the offspring of that Cera fairy you hate, and even supposedly some mysterious singing creature have a lot of faith in them for some reason, constantly supporting them. It’s just proper retribution, isn’t it?”

“My retribution would be complete once I am released!” He complains.

You keep going. “But delayed? Impersonal? You’d have been released already if they hadn’t stolen the Lockstone from Nestland Island. You don’t want vengeance that’s more direct?”

“Grrrr…”

>Roll 1d20+2, best of three.
>>
Rolled 8 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>4823252
>>
Rolled 2 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>4823252
PLEASE LET US KILL THEM
>>
Rolled 15 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>4823252
>>
Rolled 16 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>4823252
>>
>>4823257
YEEEESSSSS
WE EATING GOOD TONIGHT
>>
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>>
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>>4823257
AHAHAHAHA
>>
>>4823257
THANK YOU DICE GODS!
Next, we are gonna finish this job via nebula buster and Z1 to the fairies.
>>
>>4823252
>>4823253
>>4823255
>>4823257
“Graah...fine! Do what you must, but be quick about it! Every moment that I don’t have that stone is undoubtedly a moment I grow weaker!” He’ll be able to deal with it- although with you having to focus on your conversation, you’ve given the kid a bit of a headstart. Well, no matter, you’re just going to have to hunt them down again. The bugs will take a bit to refresh, you’re sure, but as it stands, you might not need them. You’re going to have to work quickly, but…

...well, shouldn’t be THAT much trouble. Now you just have to sniff them out...ah. They’re both on the mov- wait, no. Not ‘both’. ‘Three’.

...barely. Seems the mage girl is still clinging to life. Well, you kinda told them to do that, but still. Whatever healing they might’ve wanted to do for the girl can’t happen. They’re carrying her, anyway. Well, you’re not going to let them get far. Especially if they’re just trying to get back to the start of the maze…

Although destabilizing the place might not still be worth it. Or maybe it would…? It’d pose a risk for you, too, though, to just collapse everything in…

>Yeah, no. Start smashing walls and chasing them down. You’ll make them run and get tired before you engage properly.
>Guess you’ll play hide and seek for now and stress them out as best you can. Win the mental fight first.
>Other
>>
>>4823295
>Call Gartoum to slow them down
>Yeah, no. Start smashing walls and chasing them down. You’ll make them run and get tired before you engage properly
>use quickening spell
Then if we get to them put them in sticky mana so they'll not do anything to get away.
>>
>>4823295
>>4823303
This. Ah-Rul said to be quick.
And ready the Wonderland sniper rifle too.

Also they DON'T have an emergency teleportation spell prepared. Else they would have used it. We can do this.
>>
>>4823295
>>4823303
this, gotta get in touch with our buddy
>>
>>4823295
>>4823303
+ let's finish this
>>
>>4823306
So only the hero - the kid we delimbed is close to combat health. The warhammer kid is weak and the mage girl is barely hanging on. We have Gartoum, a newly evolved Pecker and the girl wonder herself. Deck's stacked.
>>
It sucks, but I'm real tired- we'll continue tomorrow. Same time thereabouts. Think of good music.
>>
>>4823295
I see we avoided disaster by a hairs breadth. Interesting. Do we ever get punished for taking unncessecary risks in this quest? It seems not.

>Yeah, no. Start smashing walls and chasing them down. You’ll make them run and get tired before you engage properly.
No time to waste, we kill them quick and we get back on track. If we want to be gruesome, we can bring one or two severed heads or something else that's easily identifiable as a hero's belonging to what is most likely going to be a siege of Fairyland, just to hammer home the point that their last hope has died.

I am actually quite glad we won this diplomacy roll, I've had a thought growing in my mind tonight, and it wouldn't have been possible to execute if we were on bad terms with our employer. Our contract is officially over by the time we collect all five Lockstones. We get paid and we swoosh back home, Mission Accomplished.

What I suggest is that we should seek a contract extention. Why, you ask? Well, we might've unleashed an unspeakable evil upon the land, but that land still needs to be conquered. I highly doubt that the world will just keel over and let Big Bad violate it without a fight. There will be struggle for sure, maybe even organized resistance strong enough to slow down or halt expansion temporarily. There will be fighting, there will be destruciton. Most importantly, there will be looting and pillaging. We're talking pillaging and looting, on the scale of several nations. So what we do is we offer a relatively small, flat fee upfront to keep us around. Maybe around 6-10 Lotes, something like that. And ontop of this we negotiate another fee - A percentage of all gathered loot during the campaign. Even if we can only get 2-3% of all the spoils of war, we're talking the potential wealth of several nations, fuck, maybe even several continents worth. We can then funnel this money into SES HQ and get some sweet upgrades. We're the big boss, we have to show these rookies we brought on that we can make bank if we really put effort in.

I also maybe want to do this because I really want to purchase the Double-Sized Hangar and two more fighters so we can take The Old Guard of SES out for an Ace Combat mission at some point
>>
>>4823341
>Do we ever get punished for taking unncessecary risks in this quest? It seems not.
I mean, it wouldn't if you take good rolls for granted.
The idea of Contract Extension seems really enticing. I like this world, this mission and the pets we got along the way. But this Dragon-girl Quest has been dragging on a bit too long, it started back in August and now it's almost June. I really miss the gang and other folks back in the Intersection, so I can just settle on a lengthy epilogue like in the Power Unrivaled mission.
I doubt that anyone can challenge Ah-Rul after we're done with this mission, and if Miranda stays it'd be a steamroll: monstrous bugs swarming out of the deadlands, ruining crops and animal stock and able to sneak into any military camp and strategic objects, combined with Miranda's Nebula Buster - easy money, no nation can stand against us, but I don't think it'd be challenging enough to be interesting to play. The only stuff that might spice things up that I can think of is mentoring the fairy kid, training our birb and convincing dragons to join Ah-Rul's army once more. The only way I'd agree for Contract Extension is if we switch to another character and play another mission while Miranda loots this world.
>>
>>4823341
>we can bring one or two severed heads or something else that's easily identifiable as a hero's belonging
>a young lady with purple hair wielding a red, jewel encrusted robe and a silver staff
I really want mage girl's robe, I bet our nerds would love it, including Nura. Can't wait to see what the new girl can do.
>>
>>4823341
>My Agent In The Shadows
>Total Offered Payment: 24
We'll be getting bonuses for subjugating the undead dragon, eliminating the dragon king and bringing his artifacts, and for killing that Cera's fairy offspring. Think that's be more than 6-10 Lotes. He did mention that he's interested in getting our birb but I don't wanna hand it over, and he's not interested in the fairy kid. Power Unrivaled had the same initial total, but with all the side-objectives we ended up getting 42.55 Large ones.
>>4823380
>The only stuff that might spice things up that I can think of
Hmm, add studying Endomagic to the list. The only chance to win that the locals might have against us is if someone hires an Outgoer team or two to kick our ass back to the Intersection.
>>
>>4823407
hoho oh no, we're not going to hand over birb boy. He's going to our house, and he's going to get his daily walks and headpats!
That aside, I want to loot some Endomagic books. The Avalun island should have some top of the line books right?
>>
>>4823340
>Think of good music.
for the chase? or for the upcoming fight?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOADOYiiiQA&ab_channel=ObstructTheTide
>>
>>4823380
>But this Dragon-girl Quest has been dragging on a bit too long, it started back in August and now it's almost June. I really miss the gang and other folks back in the Intersection, so I can just settle on a lengthy epilogue like in the Power Unrivaled mission.
Yeah, this is what I was afraid people would say. I don't disagree with the point, we've been here quite a while, and comitting a few more months to the same world where we just stomp the world into submission might not be fun at all, no matter the payout. I was also hoping to stay a little bit longer to maybe Pokévolve Pecker into something more threatening than what he is now

>>4823389
>I really want mage girl's robe, I bet our nerds would love it, including Nura. Can't wait to see what the new girl can do.
I was thinking more along the lines of "We bring this with us to show the enemy that we've actually killed the heroes", just like how the Mouth of Sauron brought Frodo's Mithril ringmail to Aragorn at the Black Gates to try and convince him all was lost. Doesn't stop us from looting it later, though.
>>
>>4823389
what's special about that robe again?
>>
>>4824173
It is definitely enchanted since the kids were hit by boosted magiwaves yet had no serious injuries (or any at all). I'm placing my bet on protective enchantment and magic focus. And the clothes themselves could be made out of magic-resistant material, like the gear from Drogan armory.
>>
Writing shortly. Got up a bit late.
>>
>>4824446
>>4824173
>The moment you land is the moment Gartoum stretches his body up, up, up- the bottom half snaps up as he hits the ceiling, and as your own Flux Wave rips through the space he was just in in a multicolored sea of mana that slams against the magic barriers they have thrown up- you can SEE the spheres of mana surrounding them practically ‘pop’, as two of them recoil badly and take a knee, blinking in confusion and disorientation. The third is just now recovering, further away, but still not very hurt as she tries gamely to stand up.
>“I must say, this place is DRIPPING with magic. Very few homes and places without some kind of charm or alarm, very dangerous! I couldn’t even get NEAR the castle, it’s got quite a defensive barrier on it against...folks of my sort.”
She is from the mountain kingdom, they had barrier mages and are generally into protective charms, alarms and more barriers, but the girl was using only offensive spells this entire time and I don't remember her having any kind of barriers before. But it is very likely that the jewels encrusted into that robe are protective charms.
>Drogan Military Uniform Jacket (Large).
>Mana-resistant fiber identified. Estimated reduced magic efficiency: 20%.
>Drogan Officer Armor and Helmet.
>Helmet expelling mana-signatures of high-grade magic. Estimated reduced magic efficiency: 10%. Mana-resistant fiber identified. Estimated reduced magic efficiency" 30%.
Drogan soldiers had gear with magic-resistant fiber in it, but it's not effective enough against us:
>A quick slash of your hand sends a magi-wave racing down the hallway as they try to flee up the stairs- one of them, to his misfortune, is more or less bisected immediately. The other one barely gets high enough to dodge the cut, though shrapnel from the impact of the stone beneath him flies into his back, knocking him down when he’d barely managed to stand again. He’s left at a crawl, blood pouring out of his armor...which really should be good enough, especially considering your little present upstairs…
And yet these kids easily tanked a DOUBLE BOOSTED magiwave somehow:
>And your waves- the big waves, the awesome waves- they hit and they look like they hurt, too- they knocked the kids down, yes! Not off though and that sucked but you can work with that especially considering how it hurt the eagle too even if it didn’t kill it which is surprising because that was a lot of waves like a lot at least ten.
But then they keep fighting and slinging spells as if nothing has happened. Maybe Miranda hasn't noticed any injuries because of her being high on Seither, but they sure didn't act like they're hurt that much - just scroll up to the start of the thread and see for yourself. That's why me and >>4822641 think that there was some bullshit going on. That or they all have really good gear.
>>
>>4824611
That's a long breakfast you're having boss.
>>
>>4825140
Hey, snax are important
>>
>>4823295
>>4823303
>>4823306
>>4823307
>>4823310
>>4823341

No reason not to do as he says. High time that you finish this, and you’re not letting anything get in your way, this time.

Especially not walls. All the better if they freak out and expend energy on running into things like dead ends. Now…there’s just one or two things you need to do to make sure that nothing gets in your way this time. First, low quickening- it’s a simple spell, but you’ll be making gooood use of it.

The wall in front of you crumbles as you smash through it- they aren’t there, but it’s a good announcer. After all- you CAN smell them. They’ll be easy enough to get to in due time. Although...if you REALLY wanted to stress them out… ‘Gartoum? Where are you?’

‘Alllmost there,’ he says chipperly. ‘There’s some last reinforcements that tried to crash the party, but they’ve largely been taken care of, not to worry!’ Ah, that explains that. Good.

‘Well, once you get here, slow the kids down. They’re headed your way, and we’re ending this little play of theirs.’ After the confirm from him, you take a breath and crash through yet another wall- a bit off from them, but- oop, pitfall. Don’t want to trip into that. Alright, might want to be a bit more careful…

>Roll 1d20+4, best of three.
>>
Rolled 20 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4825171
>>
Thought I posted that.
>>
Call the curtains
>>4825177
Wasn't the first time that happened. You should double check every time.
>>
>>4825176
Okay we don't need to roll anymore guys. Just go home.
>>
Rolled 1 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4825171
just rolling for shiggles now. unless i get another 20 for whatever reason
>>
Rolled 5 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4825194
What the actual fuck is going on
>>
>>4825203
aaaand that takes care of the mediocre rolls for today's run
>>
Fucking hell what a sweep. Why didn't those kids prepare a port spell?
>>
>>4825176
R.I.P

I've been listening to the Valkyrie Profile ost today and I think this track seemed appropriate for us killing the hero party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV9hF1pUbio&feature=youtu.be
>>
>>4825213
they never saw us use our bug swarm and they were already shaken by our previous encounter with them.
>>
>>4825176
>>4825194
...so, did we accidentally splatter one of them all over the wall without recovering their memory?
>>
>>4825228
best of 3 and there are no crit fails. we splattered someone like a bug AND we got their memories
>>
>>4823951
>I was thinking more along the lines of "We bring this with us to show the enemy that we've actually killed the heroes"
>The teen quickly intersperses himself between the two of you, a pair of swings causing you to have to dodge- though you do manage to get a better look at his sword. It’s oddly bluish in coloration, almost like a sapphire. You can tell it exudes mana, however. Might be a magic-heavy sword, then. More for striking with mana than actual cutting.
Then maybe his magic sword would be a better pick for this?
>>
...Woof.

Maaaaybe history will call this the Midpoint of the story instead of The End? Who knows yet...

Writing.
>>
>>4825240
Yeah, that'd do. Any gear that is recognizable as belonging to the heroes is good.
>>
who knows, maybe all of them got a simultaneous heart attack?
>>
>>4825240
The sword, the robe and the hammer.
We got the gunslinger kid's custom flintlock and the Cleric girl's staff too.
>>
>>4825213
They most likely didn't have enough time. Remember we did THREE battles in a single day (it's evening currently), I wager prepping a spell like that will take some pulls. We basically forced their hands.
>>
>>4825288
oh shit, its still the same day? DAMN
>>
>>4825290
They've snagged the fourth lockstone a few hours before we've arrived to the Nestland Island, we spent a day hunting, experimenting and fucking over an expedition. We've started the next day's morning with killing the dragon king, left the island and flew to Yulin, catching up to cleric girl's caravan. Then the heroes caught up to us, we won, crashed out early and spent the rest of the day recovering. It's the middle of the night right now.
>>4793352
>The lot of you take off silently, and rise high, high into a thinly crescent moonlit night.
>>
Now we have to contend with the fairies. Especially the elder fairies, who would most likely be a real challenge.

Also, we're totally gonna keep Pecker but are we keeping the fairy boy too? t.bh I'd rather have him come with us and put him in the care house than have the boy deal with a future shitty shadow world, but that's up to anons. I won't complain if we don't take him.
>>
>>4825339
>spoiler
yeah, i was thinking the same.
>>
>>4825345
He may have the skillset to survive in the intersection but I don't think he has the will to. Maybe he will have a Terra arc once we leave.
>>
>>4825348
we should ask him if he wants to come with us or not, before we leave. At least it's up to him.
>>
>>4825171
>>4825176
>>4825194
>>4825203
You don’t need to take too much more effort to try and slam into them, honestly. They’re too panicked- especially when you hear their shrieks alongside a warbling that you can only presume is Gartoum doing his creep thing. You’re honestly kinda tempted to let out a roar just for stress relief, because honestly this was getting annoying. However, things are easing up, looks like. Mind, that’s because after the last wall slam, you’d come face to face with a collapsed party on its back or front. The girl’s nowhere to be see- ah, wait, not, flash of red. Buried under rubble, then. The two boys are collapsed as well- clearly got blindsided.

Perfect. You kinda wish you’d ended this earlier, but...well, client duties and all. There’s a moment of quick raps and strikes to the head as you leap on them before they can get any kind of response off THIS time- two quick stomps should handle the girl, and as for the boys...well, just best to keep it simple and clean and run them through. No need to get your loot messy.

It’s almost too anti-climatic, honestly. The teenager is the only one who’s even conscious- and the only one who even tries to swing at you before you take the blade from him and spike him through the chest with your own. No need for fancy words or intimidation when getting the job done is paramount.

Although, knowing what you’d been facing is also important. In fact, might be a good idea to scan these pieces- at least quickly.

>Queenstone’s Robe-
>Mana resistance fibers identified. Mana absorbent stones identified. Estimated reduced magic efficiency: 70%.

Oh, that’d be useful, for sure. The girl’s ruby staff seems to be an augmentor of mana, around 20% or so on average. Blah. Right then, time to see about the other stuff…

>Graceheal Staff
>Passive Mana Infusion spell identified. Quantity: 0. Spell inert.

Damnit. What, then, is it trash? Or maybe you can ‘jailbreak’ it or something…

>Repeater Flintlock Pistol
>No Magical Augmentations found.

...so it’s just a pistol? Blah. Guess anything special was his. Now for the boys…

> Sky God’s Hammer
> Durability Enhancement Identified. Superconductive Alloy Identified. Impact Augmentation Identified.

Neeeat. Now, as for the would-be hero...

>Everblade
>Common ‘Holy’- class mana identified. Sharpness enchantment identified.

Hm. Well, it’s simple, but you don’t have time for details. Might be useful as presents, or maybe just stuff you could put on the market, who know-

Suddenly, the hero's blade starts shining intensely...and you can hear a wailing come from it- shit, what's going o- oh.

And it's gone. The shine, that is, not the blade. Huh.

Well, that can't be good.

'Such a shame, that these mortals could have served under me gainfully. Bah, no matter.' Huh. For all his complaining he's not that torn up. 'Now, we move on. NOW, we obtain the last piece of my power. NOW!' Pause for dramatic effect.

'We march on the Isle of Avalun!'

(cont.)
>>
>>4825352
SEVENTY percent????
We're keeping that robe.
>>
>>4825352
‘Roger. How do we do that?’ you ask.

A pause. Then, a grumble. ‘It is an island hidden in the sky. Half within this realm and half-without. There is a special method to unlock the path to it, however. It cannot be found by mere flight.’ Ah. ‘You will need to return to the forest in Alminia- it lays deeper within. Find the entrance, gain access, and- should you remove my clasp, you will have free reign to harass them well before they notice your presence. That, or return to my locale. I may be able to force the issue- but only briefly, and you will be bound by my power under time’s watch. A risky gambit, and one most noticeable, as their fury will be swift.’

Hm. So, find the way in yourself which may take longer, but you can work as you please, or force the door open, but you’re REALLY on the clock and in for a fight immediately.

Decisions decisions...

>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
>Time to kick the door in. You're more of a direct approach kinda gal anyway.
>Other
>>
>>4825368
>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
Well, we got good news for the moth kid - we're visiting the fairy island! Might sort him out on our way there.
>>4825339
Yeah, maybe then someone could translate what Mewla is saying. We can also introduce him to the merchant lady we've met last year when we were looking for gear the kids could use. You know, the former princess who's obsessed with fairies.
>>
>>4825368
>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
I think we can take it easy a lil bit now. I also want to get at least one rest worth of mana recovery in because damn if we were like an overclocked machine today.
>>
>>4825372
You're implying that island isn't sinking by the time we're done. Just like any final stages.
>>
>>4825368
>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
Yeah we do need to refuel
>>
>>4825368
We're on the clock right now, wouldn't surprise me if the sword losing it's power alerted the Fairies to their deaths. I kinda want to say that we should bust in and break things but it might just be too much for us to handle solo, so I'm gonna go with a question first:
>Ask Ah-Rul if we can bring an army with us through his portal

If we it only affects us, or we can't bring enough of a force with us, I say:
>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
>>
>>4825368
>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
>>4825372
i had forgotten we had met that merchant
>>
Eh, if we're really bringing that kid home I'm not voting to be his legal guardians.
>>
>>4820233
>‘Had to flee, unfortunately. Bat’s not interested in getting hurt yet AGAIN, and the mage boy seems to lose his nerve when you’re not around.’
So, why did Gartoum suddenly call him a mage? Did he finally decide to use some of his powers? And is he having a separation anxiety right now?
>>
>>4825368
>Go with the long but sneaky way. To Alminia it is.
Yeah we need to rest.

Also, I think it's better to leave Gargles and fairyboy in the forest before going to the fairyworld. we need to have a talk with the fairy boy about if he wants to come with us to the Intersection, we have to explain that the world here will become a wasteland of shadow and it's up to him if he wants to come with us or not.
>>
>>4825410
I don't feel we should extend an invite, he might be becoming dependant and that's kind of icky.
>>
>>4825413
Yeah, I don't want to spend time babysitting. We have a lot more other important things in the Intersection.
>>
Writing!
>>
>>4825413
why not? he'd be in the daycare with the other kids we definitely haven't adopted yet. and its not like we see them every so often.

>>4825417
oh please, we have infinite time in the intersection to do whatever we please. your concern is a literal non-issue
>>
>>4825413
>>4825417
We're not gonna adopt him, we can just send him to the care house. That is IF he wants to leave with us or not.
>>
>>4825430
Carehouse is fine for me. He has potential, but we're not going to be his mom.

Because that privilege is for Pecker only!
>>
>>4825431
I don't think anyone ever implied that we should become his mom. Throughout this mission we've been treating him more like an asset than a person.
>>
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I also suggest y'all check the Mission Log in the spreadsheet doc.
>>4782770
MGFH Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H43OFoxE9QyMgIqBg_YdPO7IPn7_ES6iST7Xnv9Ou7Q/edit#gid=0
>>
>>4825476
We still need to "treat" our loot if we want to keep them right?
>>
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>>4825480
Yeah, although there's a generous grace period before they become 'attuned' to the Intersection and turn into something different. And I think some of them can be preserved in the Containment Room in our HQ.
>Containment Room- A room explicitly for containing a number of test subjects, this room comes with a suite of airtight square containers and stasis tubes- 4 of each. Keep your experiments fresh! Cost: 80 Large Motes- PURCHASED
>>
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>>4825510
desu I don't know how long this grace period is, but we got the flamebringer and rapier in the very first mission and treated them only in thread #29 - three missions later. The biggest drawback of not 'treating' them as soon as possible is that there's a chance they won't work properly in other worlds.
>>
>>4825516
eh, by now we have enough money to treat them right away. plus i'm already thinking of ways we can use the items to benefit our already existing items
>>
>>4825480
>>4825526
we've also had a discussion last year that maybe we should share some of the stuff we're not using with the rest of our team, so if they want to treat the new stuff or not would be up to them.
>>
>>4825532
Having a shared armory at SES HQ is not a terrible idea. People could either donate what they find out on missions, like for example the Halberd we picked up during our tag-team mission with Izumi, or deposit things they're no longer using. Maybe even use parts of the Company Fund to buy some basic weapons in the Intersection. Just having the flexibility of a fully stocked company armory in the future could be really nice, even if the weapons are just run of the mill things and not Flamebringer level stuff.
>>
>>4825532
oh yeah, the shared bin. hope the other girls are using it too.
>>
>>4825559
that was the idea of it; to have a place for everyone to dump stuff and maybe someone else can put them to better use
>>
>>4825368
>>4825372
>>4825373
>>4825379
>>4825380
>>4825382
>>4825410
‘We’ll work to find the way in through Alminia,’ you decide. ‘That way we can take them at will and as we need to.’

‘Very well. Time is yet of the essence, however, so I will be directing you to the location itself. I should warn, however...as I said, I will likely not be able to assist you; my clasp would be a beacon to their senses. It will be your power and your power alone that brings my plot to fruition, loathe as I am to admit it.’ That’s...well, that’s a bit worrying, but hopefully you’ll be able to handle it. ‘Prepare if necessary, but be quick. Then proceed to the Ancient’s Forest in Alminia.’ You think you’d flown over that place, actually. ‘I WILL be freed before the next full moon!’

Right…

>Anywhere to go beforehand like the Capital?
>Head straight to the Ancient’s Forest.
>>
>>4825573
>>Anywhere to go beforehand like the Capital?
Would it be worth a shot to look for that dragon merchant before we pass the point of no return? I recall him being amiable towards Ah-Rul, and if there are other dragons in hiding that also sympathize with us, now would be the time to try and persuade them to join us.
>>
>>4825573
>Anywhere to go beforehand like the Capital?
yeah, lets get the help of the dragon mechant
>>
>>4825573
>>Anywhere to go beforehand like the Capital?
>just a small stop on our way to the forest to have a talk with the fairy kid
I don't really think anyone would be happy to see us. Visiting the dragon granny on the islands might be too big of a detour.
Maybe we could visit that Alminian village where the old adventurer lived? Although the only reasons for that that I can think of is the promise we gave to teach his grandson some cool tricks with a ball and maybe rub in the fact that we've murdered the heroes.
>>
>>4825573
>Anywhere to go beforehand like the Capital?
Well I DO wanna take a look at that merchant too and the cat girl. But where the heck do we find him? If we're really taking on high tier fairies I want more meat shields, even though we now have anti-magic tools outta the arse.
>>
>>4825588
Maybe we can find him via power sense
>>
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>>4825588
>>4825596
>>4825573
Oh wait, we just have to go to Alminia itself. There's supposed to be a group of historians over there. Right next to the forest, perfect.

Our power sense should be able to dig out any hiding dragons, yes.
>>
>>4825573
>>4825584
Yeah, let's visit Gran Torun and find the dragon merchant. If the catgirl decided to become his student then maybe we can ask about Endomagic textbooks. Also we need Light Fairy statue to complete our collection.
>>4825596
yeah, he'd probably have a very strong smell.
>>
>>4825588
We met him in Gran Torun, after we got the first Lockstone and met the merchants whom we bought mushrooms from. From thread #96:

>“Hmmm...I do believe I might know a few folks. It’s not a topic often researched, but...well, perhaps I’ll see if they can get in touch with you, hm? Provided you DO go to Alminia, that is.” He has that ‘I know something you don’t’ grin on again as he starts rolling up his carpet. “Until next time, perhaps?”
Whomever he wanted to put us in contact with is somewhere in Alminia, and I don't recall offhand if we went there or not. We met the Dragon Granny on the Maku Islands, so chances are she's not the one he wanted us to meet. We don't actually have much to go on, really, but if he wants us to meet a secret society best bet would be to pass Gran Torun first, too see if he's still there, and then travel to the Capital of Alminia. No Secret Society can get away with not having a cell in the capital. Merchant's name is Avio, by the way. Might be prudent to remember that.
>>
>>4825573
>Anywhere to go beforehand like the Capital?
Going with the flow, find that merchant
We're still missing the final statue guys
>>
>>4825604
We went to an Alminian town briefly to rest and find clues. We never touched the capital.
>>
>>4825604
We were there, but haven't found any 'historians'. Just spooked some kids, robbed some corrupt noble's mansion and went straight to the next lockstone. The Duke was supposed to have a meeting with someone important but we left early. The town itself was some sort of merchant hub by the river.
>>
>>4825609
And with everything going FUBAR for the world right now I'm pretty sure setting foot into a capital is harder than it sounds.
>>
>>4825614
If there's refugees pouring in they can't afford to screen visitors. Probably have some civil unrest issues too. Then again, perhaps Ah-Rul isn't going with the classic ravage the countryside plan? We don't know the details of what he's been up to, I guess that means we're a pretty ineffective general, armywise.
>>
>>4825614
Yes, this is true, but we're on a timer here. With the Heroes dead, the Fairies are going to be in full on panic mode and might do something stupid with the Lockstone. If we don't find Avio at Gran Torun, the Capital is the only choice, because it's the likeliest place where this underground organization would still operate. At this point we have to take that 65% shot against the Sectoid, odds be damned. We don't have time to search several cities for clues. The other choice, if we don't find Avio, is to simply leave this group be and head for the Forest
>>
If we end up meeting other dragons, should we mention that the Dragon King Gonda is dead? He's been abandoned by his last supporters, by the time we found him he was looking decrepit and his mind has likely deteriorated after being stuck in stasis for thousands of years.
>>
>>4825628
I'm asking because the dragons we've met seemed rather unambitious. Maybe it's because they're too old even by dragons' standards, but I have a feeling that they just waiting for someone else to lead them. It's not very clear who Avio was referring to when he said that he was searching ruins of "the only King that matters" - to Ah-Rul or Gonda.
>>
So, looking for the merchant and going to Gran Torun, then?
>>
>>4825628
We will mention that he has lost his mind due to the stasis and something along with Ah-Rul finding him no longer of use. We simply gave him mercy.
>>4825638
Yes, Gran Torun sounds better right now. Easier to eavesdrop on the latest news, it's a merchant's crossing after all.
>>
>>4825628
You're a genius my dude. We killed him, yes, but we can spin this real fucking well. We killed him with that crossbow we found in the Labyrinth underneath the Fortress, a human made mana weapon, and we have one of his Artifacts. We could tell other Dragons, if we meet them, that we found him dead on his throne, arrows piercing his skull and the crossbow on the ground before him. The cave looted of all it's valuables except for the mirror, which we brought with us so that no other human could lay their hands on it. Slap on some crocodile tears and a shaky voice, let it stir for twenty minutes and it'll boil the blood of any dragon still loyal to their old king, maybe even of those who aren't anymore. Fantastic idea.
>>
>>4825638
I think going near Aliminia capital is more important, since the other "historians" could be there and we can be near the ancient forest.

>>4825647
Where is Grand Torun? Isn't that very far from the Aliminia forest?
>>
>>4825638
Yeah, Gran Torun first and we'll see what we end up doing from there.
>>
>>4825651
Gran Torun is in another country yes.
>>4825650
Or we can do this. Have to measure the group's allegiance first.
>>
>>4825654
By the I mean we can spin it anyway we want depending on who they're more loyal to.
>>
Wait isn't the one we're looking for a wandering merchant, why do you think he'll still be there?
>>
>>4825660
We don't know if he's there, but we can ask. He's marked as an eccentric/famous character when we last interacted and even a town guard knows him.
>>
>>4825638
Yup, first, and hopefully last stop - Gran Torun.
>>4825660
Because there are no other leads and he's well known there. If he and the catgirl are no longer there then we can at least visit the library again and get those beginner level Endomagic textbooks, buy the final fairy statue and eavesdrop to learn more about the situation.
>>
>>4825660
We don't, but I'm betting on trying to find him again before we hit the capital, and Gran Torun is our best bet. We did sort of maybe kinda perhaps forced an apprentice on him if I am not mistaken, that girl who was drawing those smutty dancers in the tavern whose name I forget. Chances are, if he accepted her as his apprentice, they spent a few extra days in the town preparing for the journey, as the girl was as green as you can get when it comes to travel. If not, maybe the guards or some other merchants can point us in the direction he went.
>>
>>4825672
i'd say we should go to alminia directly instead. after all that's where he said we should go. if anything happened and if the girl is with him, that's where he'll be
>>
Alright, just trying to make sure. Writing now.
>>
>>4825675
Problem with that plan is that we don't know what we're looking for, we just know that there's a group of people we ought to meet, which is why I think trying to find Avio again before we head out is the best bet. If we don't find him, we'll still go to the capital, and hopefully the dice will bless us with a Nat20 to guide us to where we need to be.
>>
>>4825672
>>4825681
That worrying uncle of hers were wary of that merchant so I'm pretty sure he has a way to keep in touch. He should be still there and he should be our number one lead.
>>
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>>4825684
Guard's name's Alan by the way.
>>
>>4825681
i'd still go to alminia because he's not really hard to miss. someone that sells exotic goods like him is easy to find, specially since he sells stuff in the open market
>>
>>4824612
>“I must say, this place is DRIPPING with magic. Very few homes and places without some kind of charm or alarm, very dangerous! I couldn’t even get NEAR the castle, it’s got quite a defensive barrier on it against...folks of my sort.”
>>4825368
>should you remove my clasp, you will have free reign to harass them well before they notice your presence. That, or return to my locale. I may be able to force the issue- but only briefly, and you will be bound by my power under time’s watch. A risky gambit, and one most noticeable, as their fury will be swift.’
>>4825573
>I will likely not be able to assist you; my clasp would be a beacon to their senses.
If they have alarm systems that can detect shadow magic then it's very likely that they could detect Gartoum as well. So it'd be just us and Pecker. Maybe the kid too if we decide to take him with us and convince to use his powers. He seems allergic to violence, but maybe we can explain that aiding us with support spells would be good enough already - his high-yield output is impressive and he's hardier than he looks. Offensive spells would be useless anyway - fairies are resistant to magic, just like him.
>>
>>4825573
>>4825580
>>4825581
>>4825588
>>4825599
>>4825638
“Actually, there IS one place I want to go before we head out that way,” you mention once you make it back to the entryway. You’d been thinking on it for some time now, and you’d at last made the decision. “The weird merchant back in Gran Torun. He was a traveler, but I’m hoping he hasn’t packed up and left quite yet. It’s been a while, so odds are low, but maybe...well, I’m hoping I can talk to him a little more.” And maybe ask a particular question or two, but who knows.

Gargles simply screeches his welcome as you clamber back. Your turret was indeed a bit shattered- but the gauntlets wouldn’t be able to help it this time. It was out of commission until you got it repaired properly back home. As for your OTHER friend…

“Times must end sooner or later. Memories can only be made in the past.” You don’t even think that’s entirely making sense, but whatever. He’s clearly a bit rattled, judging by his slight shaking. “And when one is whole and with things to remember.” Right, sure.

“Anyway, it’ll be the only real stop, unless something else big happens,” you decide. “Can’t waste too much time searching for the guy.” Perhaps you could at least do a bit of searching for info or useful goods while you’re there...but it would be JUST you, for certain. At least you already knew of a good place to hide your bat while you were there...and you’d have to be fast else no doubt the chances of you getting caught would just rise.

‘Grrrr...very well. But hold to that!’ Ah-Rul barks, and with a motion, you’re darting out of the temple and to the night skies, bodies and rubble in your wake.

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Obvious, but I'm done for the night. Run yet more tomorrow.
>>
Rolled 5, 11 = 16 (2d20)

>>4825838
>>
Rolled 9, 2 = 11 (2d20)

>>4825838
goodnight
>>
Rolled 7, 9 = 16 (2d20)

>>4825838
>>
Rolled 4, 13 = 17 (2d20)

>>4825838
what could have been . . .
>>
>>4825850
Blah, at least we didn't fail too much.
>>
>>4825838
Oh, we're going to Gran Torun instead of the capital, well, we will miss out on that sidequest, because he wanted us to go to the capital, I don't think he'll provide much aid even if he IS still in Gran Torun. Oh well.
>>
uhhhh, looks like we're going to encounter a sky patrol
>>4825872
pretty sure we've missed out on that half a year ago.
>>
Well that was a waste of time. Hope we just leave immediately after seeing he's not there.
>>
So morale refresh, I think we did spectacular in that raid.

>outright skipping the long corridor of guards and traps
>skipped all side loots in the dungeon, resulting in even more excess time
>didn't job in the bossfight that started with -3 rolls
>evolved best birb
>managed to set up an ambush right inside the maze due to being ahead of schedule, caught them flat-footed
>nailed the diplomacy check and finally ending the heroes' party and taking their loot

We could have fought them the golem/lockstone chamber or something, but the maze was the best stage out of all of those imo.
>>
>>4825954
He should be at around this size right now. Correct me if I'm wrong Handler.
>>
>>4825992
personally i think he should be 1/4 smaller; he still fits behind our neck
>>
Wrrrrrriting.
>>
>>4825838
>>4825847
>>4825848
>>4825850
>>4826866
You already see from a distance that things aren’t well in Gran Torun- you’d nearly been spotted even at a distance and forced to veer off; you’d even been followed for a time. Fortunately, they’d just been dots in your vision, and likely you theirs, meaning they didn’t identify you- though it was a close run thing. It’s highly unlikely you’d be able to get in at this rate. Annoying, but you’d be surprised if it was anything resembling easy.

COULD you sneak in, though? Eh, you could give it a shot. But it might be better to just head off now while the getting’s good.

You don't think there's much else to try your hand here...

...Alminia's Ancient Forest awaits, then, you suppose.

--------

When you arrive, you hear a growl. 'The Fairies are thick here, if secretive. Head as you can towards the center of the forest. You will find that slab we saw in those youth's memories. THAT is a gateway to the island. If it has been opened before so recently...then it may be openable yet still. Speak the ancient words, then...then, you must walk that path, destroy all in your way, and retrieve my stone!'

Well. That's straightforward enough. 'Understood.'

'Good. Remove this clasp, and begin your task in earnest!' You do so, to your fairy boy's surprise.

Right, then...well, first thing's first. Entrance. You can't take Gargles in, imbued with darkness as he is, either. Meaning it's only you, Pecker, and the kid that's able. You'll have to fly the kid in...if you want to take him at all.

>No. It'll be you and only you.
>Take Pecker and the Kid. Might as well and hope for the best.
>Just take Pecker. He's useful enough and the Kid is too timid in a fight.
>Just take the Kid. He'll probably be enough of a shock to surprise them and Pecker might be over its head...
>>
>>4827043
>Just take Pecker. He's useful enough and the Kid is too timid in a fight.
It's just another body to look out for, and he's less than stable right now. Who knows what the fairies can do to him? Mind control or outright conversion come to mind.

>Other
>Ask for places of interests and target priorities.
He sounds like he has been in there before.
>>
>>4827043
Damn, we should've tried fpr the capital after all. Or maybe it would've been even harder to approach than Gran Torun, who knows. Oh well, guess we missed out on that side-story.

>Just take Pecker. He's useful enough and the Kid is too timid in a fight. Have a paranoid fit and scatter some bugs around the area just to ensure no sneaky fairies can get to the kid, and instruct Gargles to take the kid and run if the situation becomes FUBAR while we are gone.
Something tells me that bringing the Fairy is a really bad idea. The Water Fairies we're literally clinging to him and calling him the chosen one, so I'd rather not bring him somewhere that could accidentally flip a switch in him and turn him into some sort of demi-god super fairy. Best be on the safe side with this one. I also want Pecker in the spotlight, this is his time to prove that turning him into a fat bird instead of a hunting falcon wasn't a huge mistake.
>>
>>4827063
>>4827043
Adding in.
>Use more crystals to recover mana.
>Equip Queenstone’s Robe.
We're getting into a magic-heavy territory soon and our dark-imbued disguise cloak will be useless. Might as well do this.
>>
>>4827043
>Take Pecker and the Kid. Might as well and hope for the best.
>Use more crystals to recover mana.
>Equip Queenstone’s Robe.
A bit worried the robe might get damaged, but that's what armor does.
>>4827063
Mind control? Where did that come from?
>>
>>4827088
Can never be too careful after all. Mind Control sounds like something high tier Endomagic can do.
Remember the time when we walked into that church? Feys do possess some subtle mind affecting spells.
>>
>>4827043
This is a little overkill but adding this in too.
>Equip Jewel Clip
>>
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>>4827094
Fairies are resistant to magic - which should apply to him as well.
>>4827043
>>4827088
Adding this too
>Equip Jewel Clip
>>
>>4827043
>Take Pecker and the Kid. Might as well and hope for the best.
>Use more crystals to recover mana.
>Equip Queenstone’s Robe + Jewel Clip
Yeah don't wanna get mind screwed when we're so close
>>
>>4827066
>The Water Fairies we're literally clinging to him and calling him the chosen one
They were human priests, not fairies. He's never interacted with a real fairy, so we don't know if the fairies think that he's the chosen one or a hideous abomination.
>>
>>4827135
Actually, I remember that he did speak to a genuine water fairy in that temple. Just not face to face.
Might need to recheck though.
>>
...Tie, it seems like.
>>
>>4827043
>Just take Pecker. He's useful enough and the Kid is too timid in a fight.
>Equip Queenstone’s Robe + Jewel Clip
>>
Oh, nevermind.

Writing.
>>
>>4827135
regardless, you don't wanna bring the halfling to a very bloody battle.
>>
>>4827142
Nah, the eyes of the statue of the Elder Water fairy lit up when he stepped into the pool. Maybe it was a spying device and they had a glimpse at him but that's it.
>>4827088
The reason why I want him is that there might be some barriers or mechanisms that could be activated only by a fairy, to prevent freedom of movement for potential intruders like us.
>>
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>>4827151
Since they're all mana with no flesh and blood, I guess things will be more explosive instead of red. Or maybe both.

Regardless, I hope Big Pecker can tank these. He used the mana fro, I assume, a fairy-created barrier to uprank so he should be extra effective against them.
>>
>>4827153
In the end, we're there to take the Lockstone, and I don't expect they'll just let anyone with fairy blood see it. We'll have to rip some wings off at one point or another, and I feel the risk of having him with us, of what seeing other fairies and the fairy world could potentially do to him outweighs the benefit of keeping a low profile slightly longer.
>>
>>4827173
i heavily regret not bringing the magical tiberium to this mission
>>
>>4827043
>>4827063
>>4827074
>>4827147
“Kid, stay here,” you mention. “This might get...rough, to say the least.”

“The field of battle is for those with a taste for blood and iron,” is his response. Doesn’t move otherwise. Fine, then. As for who you will be taking along…you mull on the issue as you decide to wrap yourself up in the robe you'd filched off the girl's body. It's a bit...well, a LOT big on you, if you're being honest. A head or so too tall, and leaves the lower end of it past your feet, probably to be dragging on the ground once you get there. Still, the defensive charms on it will likely make it worthwhile.

It's also a bit paranoid, but the Jewel Clip might be worthwhile as well. It's not very visible, but either way, better safe than sorry. Now, as for your seconds...

A lone chirp answers you as you give the thing a pat. Unassuming it may be, but it’s been rather useful. No reason to not keep it around with you. With that in mind, you make sure it’s set carefully, and with a breath, you hop off the back of Gargles- plunging down into the thick and massive forest, wings spreading as you glide as close as you can figure to the center of it- or at least, as center as you can determine. There’s no stonework that you can see from above, so it’ll be a bit of a search, it seems like...

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 14, 19 = 33 (2d20)

>>4827264
>>
Rolled 14, 5 = 19 (2d20)

>>4827264
>>
Rolled 3, 12 = 15 (2d20)

>>4827264
>>
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>>4827264
>the robe is to big
hah. The initial description did mention that the mage girl was quite a looker, but I didn't expect her also being that much taller than Miranda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHfuvb9EIKI&ab_channel=JillBearup
>>
>>4827264
I thought the mana crystals got in too?
>>
>>4827291
moments like this makes me remember that miranda is indeed a womanlet.
>>
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>>4827381
At least there's no problems with weapons.
>>
>>4827264
>>4827264
>>4827266
>>4827269
>>4827270
You can afford to make a quick circle or two around the forest to scope it out at the least- there’s some interesting sparks of light down there, and you can see that there’s a lot of surprising coloration down there, too- rather large flowers and other types of fauna that give the place a shining, ethereal quality about it. It’s kinda not what you expected, but at the same time it makes sense. You’re not entirely certain what the ‘center’ of it is supposed to be- there’s a lot of forest there, and of course it’s not in an easy circle or anything- but you can at least get a general idea of things. There’s an area that’s clearly thicker than the rest, a place where landing probably wouldn’t be the best call- and if you squint, you can notice an odd shimmering there, too.

With that, you aim for a relatively clear patch of land some distance away and dive. You can see several animals beneath you, small things like rabbits and the like that quickly flee upon your approach as you pull up and land.

Looking around, you make sure to orient yourself as you did above the trees. You SHOULD be heading...northish, that was it. Pecker lands on your shoulder with a chirp, and you give him a quick pat before you begin to make your way through. You don’t want to give off any major alarms immediately, so best to walk in carefully.

Soon, two things become clear. One, Pecker was a good idea. Magic abounds here- illusion magic. And while you occasionally aren’t sure of something that appears to be a dead end or a plain wall or such, Pecker seems drawn to them- often trying to suckle on whatever magic it has. You often have to physically pluck him from feeding as you navigate the illusory defenses. There’s also...well, there’s a number of strong beasts that are slowing you down as well- massive gorilla beasts (this isn’t even the right environment for those, but whatever), strange flora-fauna that try to chomp you...it’s oddly similar to the islands, although with clearly less infamy.

That said...you can tell you’re getting closer; namely due to the feeling of...well, it’s denser mana than normal, to be frank. Nothing debilitating, but it IS noticeable. What’s also noticeable is the lack of fairies. You’d have expected at least a small group as defenders...but aside from the locals? Nothing. Odd. Maybe even worrisome.

As you walk, however, you notice a shimmering up ahead; for once you’re ahead of Pecker as you approach carefully. Getting past some overgrown bushes, you can see that it’s...some kind of brightly lit stalk. Part of you wants to call it a lamppost, only one that’s shining blue.

Pecker’s not reacting to it much, but when it seems to twist itself towards you and begins to shake with a short whine- filling you with a chill and lethargy- you think that’s it’s certainly reacting to you.

>This might mess with your progress. Cut it down. Quickly!
>You can warm yourself up- no need to waste time.
>Other
>>
>>4827537
>This might mess with your progress. Cut it down. Quickly!

>filling you with a chill and lethargy
This thing is casting Endomagic! Might be one of their guard towers/alarms.

Just a short girl and her pet birb, against a floating island worth of fairies.
>>
>>4827537
>>You can warm yourself up- no need to waste time.
>Cast Mental Barrier
I think it's just some sort of static repellant that scares off the local fauna, and cutting it down would trigger the alarm instead of preventing it.
>filling you with a chill and lethargy
it doesn't hurt and fairies are know to avoid violence, so I doubt that it's a sentry tower
>>
>>4827537
>>4827554
+ let's do this. We're trying to sneak here
>>
>>4827537
>You can warm yourself up- no need to waste time.
>>4827554
Agreed. Besides, if pecker isn't attacking it, it can't have THAT much juice.
>>
>>4827537
>>4827554
Switching to this and add
>begin purging the endomagic
We know how to do it
>>
>>4827560
Walk in like we own the place, nobody will stop to question it if we act like we know what we're doing.
>>
>>4827568
I don't know, a lone dragon carrying one of the heroes' equipment appearing near your door, right after you know said heroes are done rings a few bells.
>>
Writing.
>>
>When you arrive, you hear a growl. 'The Fairies are thick here, if secretive. Head as you can towards the center of the forest. You will find that slab we saw in those youth's memories. THAT is a gateway to the island. If it has been opened before so recently...then it may be openable yet still. Speak the ancient words, then...then, you must walk that path, destroy all in your way, and retrieve my stone!'
We haven't found any fairies yet but Ah-Rul warned that they are thick here.

I assume only one or two hours have passed since the party's death. If so they might be having an emergency meeting right now and had the guards retreated back to the island to prevent casualties.
>>
>>4827649
with any luck, they haven't even had the time to process what's going on
>>
>>4827649
Yup, looks like a 'Fairy Circle' has been called, and the Elder Fairies should be present there as well.>>4825476
>>
>>4827667
>In the case of multiple Elder Fairies in a single circle, the decision is decided more diplomatically, with each Elder making their case, and the individual with the most followers being the victor, in which case all other fairies, Elder included, fall in line.
Let's hope they're too busy arguing with each other to notice us.
>>
>>4827667
>an entire island of floating mana
Pecker's gonna kill himself at this buffet
>>
>>4827537
>>4827554
>>4827560
>>4827564
>>4827565
You’re not gonna run the risk of this thing being some kind of early alarm system or anything- you’ve come too far now to bother that much. Besides, if there isn’t any immediate desire from Pecker to eat it, it’s probably limited in what it can do and how well it can do it. Instead, on the other hand...well, you have a way to warm up, kinda. If you end up wanting to do that. Before that, however...you really don’t want to, but...well, there’s that barrier spell. It probably won’t do anything, but eh, you figure you’re supposed to do something like that in cases like this. Now, let’s see…



...ah. Huh! So THAT’S how it works. Wow, you were thinking pretty lazily back there...but, now you can at least focus. Right, first thing’s first, getting out of this thing’s range. And second thing, warming up. Geez, the chill of this. Energy Channel might help a bit...yeah, that helps for sure. But you’re feeling kinda...what’s the word? You can’t think of it at the moment but you feel like your head is kinda...stuffy? Like there’s a gentle squeeze on it and that makes it hard to think...gah, maybe that’s the barrier acting up. Hope that doesn’t ruin your tactical thinking too much.

You continue on, and absent any other tactics, you’re resorting to mostly heading straight, and relying on the FutureSight to tag any major sources of mana within a certain distance. It doesn’t really do you too much, however, since there’s a LOT of overlap.

It’s not much longer before you begin to read...Something. Something massive, a bit off to the west. Something that’s pretty much outshining everything else on the radar, even, and in a massive way. According to your sensors, it’s a little less than a half-mile out. There's... a LOT of moving spots headed towards it, too. Several dozen at a glance.

That’s gotta be it. Well...shit. Part of you is wondering if you can even get past that or what? How you haven't been noticed ALREADY is...well, to be fair, you don't THINK they can just passively sense mana- possibly not even actively like you can. Unless you're laced with whatever Ah-Rul's made out of, anywho. Still...it's gonna be risky business even approaching. Maybe just step lightly?

>Roll 1d20, best of three.
>Other
>>
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>>4827678
he's gonna evolve much earlier than expected.
>>
Done for the night. Likely the big climax will be tomorrow, at the rate you lot are rolling.
>>
Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>4827691
>>
Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>4827691
my brain is wack. i'm just rolling out of inertia
>>
Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>4827691
>>
>>4827707
...and saved!
>>
>>4827707
No need to thank me lads
>>
so...anything we'd like to add for that
>other?
>>
>>4827691
>>4827720
>other?
uhhh, gird up our loins to avoid getting stuck in branches and bushes and make less noise >>4827291?
>>4827264
>It's a bit...well, a LOT big on you, if you're being honest. A head or so too tall, and leaves the lower end of it past your feet, probably to be dragging on the ground once you get there.
>>
>>4827720
In theory, we could unleash Operation Z1 and snipe the Elder with our cool new anti-magic coilgun, but that's too risky imo. Miranda's meh with sniper rifles and thick forest is not the best place for sniping.
>>
>>4827720
>>4827691
I've got nothing, there's no way they can't sense mana. Would vote for >>4827729 but pretty sure Miranda's already done that because she's a pro.

These things are extremely resistant to magic so most of our arsenals are out, except the deadly Flux Wave which will if not outright kill/mutate them on clipping. Luckily most of them have very poor martial prowess, so we need to catch them off-guard before they put on any buffs.

Our options:
>Faemetal Bolts, used ones for stabbing or fired directly from the crossbow.
>The Highball.
>Wonderland Sniper Rifle / Coilgun.
>Precursor Multi-Missile Launcher.
>Morph-Blade.
>The dinky knife.
>Fists.
>BIG birb.
>Z1.
Do note that Pecker isn't affected by FW so we can go all out on that.
>>
>>4827743
>>4827739
maybe having Z1 already out and primed could give us an extra edge?
>>
>>4827747
Yeah, if we actually get close enough to grenade range I'm voting to deploy the thing. Even if it malfunctions it will definitely target them before us, and we can use the chaos to sneak right in.

The correct answer to shutting down the Z1 is physical trauma but these feys have NOTHING but magic. It will clean them up like an anteater.
>>
>>4827747
Do you mean we should activate it right now or just keep it in our hand? It's an uncontrollable experimental drone, the instructions were "toss it away from yourself as far as possible" and I don't remember if it has an off switch or not.
>>
>>4827755
just keep it in our hand. i don't really wanna waste some moments trying to fish out the thing from our bag of holding, specially when the fairies could unleash their powers in that moment.
>>
>>4827691
>pull out Z1 from out bag of holding
>>
>>4827743
As for our protective gear, we've got all this stuff equipped right now:
>Dragonbane Vest - Not so much a traditional vest as it is sleeveless armor, this is said to be made from scales of a powerful drake that once ruled over a kingdom. It was only slain by tricking it into eating powerful poison, and its scales were fashioned into an intimidating protective vest. Said to be immune to fire...which would be fantastic if it didn't leave your arms unprotected.
>Chaser's Jeans - These black jeans are made of a strange, but excellent fabric that allows for defensive capabilities akin to that of kevlar while still being airy and comfortable.
>Enchanted Scarf - Scarf emits limited mana signature consistent with low-energy mana. Automatic limited restorative effect.
>Bracers - Mana signature suggests strength increase spell inlaid within object. Temporary.
>Queenstone’s Robe - Mana resistance fibers identified. Mana absorbent stones identified. Estimated reduced magic efficiency: 70%.
>Jewel Clip
>>
>>4827691
Also voting to take the Z1 out and ready, keep it in our hands.

>>4827806
With the Vest and our Robe, I don't think we need to fear any fire magics. Should be able to catch some of them by surprise.
>>
>>4827910
They don't protect or hands though >>4822462
>You’re given to a flash of light that nearly blinds you, forcing you to jump back. In the same instant, you feel a powerful struggle and an intense heat on your hands, even through the gauntlets, forcing you to let the kid go. You’re surprised that was getting THAT hot.
Same with our head and legs.
>>
>>4827747
Supporting the 'ready Z1' part.
By the way, do we automatically pull out the recorder for experimental gear and record when we use it, or do we have to write it in whenever we use it?
>>
>>4828028
I remember we always activated the recorder in the past without having to include it in the prompt.
>>
>>4828090
but we're getting in the middle of a combat scenario right now. we better prime it as well, or at least make it record stuff earlier
>>
Writing shortly!
>>
>>4827691
>>4827703
>>4827704
>>4827707
It’s...risky, to say the least. But you think you’ve got something that can help with this. No better time than now to test an anti-magic device than a situation where there’s going to be tons of it, right? Hopefully, at least. Let’s see...where’s the data recorder- ah, here. You’re pretty sure there’s a remote connection for this thing...somewh- ah, alright. That should do it. Now… priming it...you’re pretty sure you twist this thing and then chuck it. Ideally, it WON’T go after you. You’ll wait for THAT, of course. Might as well carry both in your arms.

It’s a minute or two more, trying your damnedest to avoid the lights showing up on your FS. You swear a few dart near you, but either they don’t notice or don’t care in their single-minded flight path, though a few seem to slow around you, before speeding back up. Likely curious, or concerned. Maybe it’s a matter of priorities? Maybe the robe is confusing them? You don’t know, and you’re not asking about it, frankly.

When you get closer...well, you don’t need the device anymore, as you take cover behind a tree well away. Why?

Because it’s massive. A massive, massive doorway, carved of stone, and with engravings in it, of several individuals, all within a ring-shaped glyph. In the ring portion itself is carved writing:

Beyond lies the Stairway To Home. None borne of Shadow may Pass.

It’s lit up, and you can see a split down the center of it- in which a handful of fairies are nearby, many arranged in circles, and most going through the crack in the door itself. This...might be more tricky than anticipated. Fairies aren’t ones for wanton violence, you’re aware, but quantity is a quality itself.

>Stay. Wait until the majority have gone in before you strike.
>Hit them now, hit them fast, hope Z1 works as advertised.
>Other
>>
>>4828962
>Hit them now, hit them fast, hope Z1 works as advertised.
Ideally, it will keep the outer fairies busy while we barge into that door.
>>
>>4828962
>>4828967
>>
>>4828962
>Hit them now, hit them fast, hope Z1 works as advertised.
>>
>>4828962
>Hit them now, hit them fast, hope Z1 works as advertised.
SES Fairy Removal Service. Cleanse your future evil domain of your goody-two-shoes infestation. No stains, no fuzz, no buzz. Guaranted to completely remove all traces of Fairy Magic, or your money back!
>>
Rolled 100 (1d100)

Writing, then!

Ignore this roll.
>>
>>4829032
oh shit
>>
>>4829032
...You lucky-ass sons of bitches.
Wow.
>>
>>4829037
Did someone, or a lot of someone just die?
Preferably floating sentient mana?
>>
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>>4829032
>Ignore this roll.
>>
>>4829041
i think Z1 operated perfectly
>>
>>4829051
Bless be our nerds
>>
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>>4829032
>Ignore this roll
>>
>>4828962
>>4828967
>>4828990
>>4828994
>>4829014
>>4829032 (pfft)

Well...no time like the present to try this thing out! Worst comes to worst, it’ll be a nice little distraction before you slip past. The recorder is set down, the Z1 is twisted, and you *chuck* the thing.

You can already see it glowing- or at least, a center stripe is as it rolls into the center of the outer gathering. You can also see a number of fairies jump back at that, and voices roil in confusion. Several of them, you think, turn to your hiding spot.

And then there’s a sudden whine, and a flash of light as Z1 lifts up. In a second, there’s a set of rapid fire beeps.

In a second, there’s a flash of light, and you quickly duck behind your meagre cover.

In the next second, all you see once it clears... is stone. No light, no fairies at all. Only tiny, tiny statuettes. And Z1 calmly hovering in the air...at least, for a few moments, before you hear another beeping, and then the center of it dims, and the sphere shuts off again.

That...was incredibly effective. Moreso than you’d expected. It takes a moment before you’re willing to go out, but you don’t have time to be indecisive- that wasn’t all the fairies on their way. Merely the ones currently present.

Sprinting up to the device after picking up the data recorder, you notice that it’s rather warm to the touch- not enough to not handle with gloves, but still hot. You wonder if that’s intentional or not. Well, no matter. Point being, the thing worked brilliantly, and just as hoped for. The now statues around your feet are in a variety of states- some broken and dissolving to dust, other whole and still around, but now with various cracks in their bodies. Fascinating.

But not something to dwell on. You pocket the device, and without further ado, force the door open- just enough for you to squeeze in- and then pull it close to shut. Don’t want to trap yourself in here, after all...

-----

Although when you turn around, you can kind of understand why they might want to stay. You vision is taken up by...nothing but swirling auroras and lights, all in light, pastel colors, gently bobbing and ebbing.

Kinda reminds you of home. Too bright for your tastes, though.

At your feet is a translucent path, winding far upwards- far far upwards. Looking around carefully, you can see...something behind the glowing aurora of an environment. Trees? Maybe more than that...huh. Likely that's what Ah-Rul meant by 'within and without'. You can still see part of the 'normal' world. So...

Turning back to the path, you can see in the distance a familiar island. The island that was shown to you when you’d taken that dog’s memories.

THAT must be Avalun. There’s no fairies on the road now, though. That won’t last forever, though, so...you ready your legs, aaaaaand leap! It’s been a while since you freely leapt for travel. It’ll only be a few minutes at this rate...

...wonder if you can get another shot out of Z1?

(cont.)
>>
>>4829032
Sweating
>>4829037
Never had a doubt, great job anons.
>>
>>4829107
seems that Z1 is extremely effective at murdering magic based entities. what an extremely profitable discovery
>>
>>4829116
>And then there’s a sudden whine, and a flash of light as Z1 lifts up. In a second, there’s a set of rapid fire beeps.

>In a second, there’s a flash of light, and you quickly duck behind your meagre cover.

>In the next second, all you see once it clears... is stone. No light, no fairies at all. Only tiny, tiny statuettes. And Z1 calmly hovering in the air...at least, for a few moments, before you hear another beeping, and then the center of it dims, and the sphere shuts off again.

One second was all it took. This thing isn't a suppression automaton, it's a damn petrification grenade.
>>
>>4829160
at least it seems so for 100% magical beings
>>
>>4829107
Once you arrive as the island...well, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘overgrown’. There’s massive trees and vines and everything, and massive statues...but you knew there was SOMETHING like a town or the sort there. You’d seen it. You just needed to find it. And smart money was that it was in the center. In fact...well, just to be sure, you check your FutureSight…

...and quickly put it away after you get nothing but a massive red bloom. Abnormal mana levels in general. Kinda what you anticipated.

Moreover, you can probably guesstimate that the goal you’re after will be either the center of the island or near it. The growth is wide, and everywhere, but the trees in the Ancient’s Forest were taller. Maybe you can-

-a pair of lights zip past you, seemingly heedless of your person, and next thing you know there’s a rumbling in the distance. Yeah, that’s probably it.

You continue forwards, but...well, it’d be silly for you to not expect any kind of resistance from here on in. Although those two fairies weren’t looking inclined to fight you at all…even Pecker’s been fairly quiet so far, though with how his head is swiveling, you’re not sure if it’s temperance for indecision that’s keeping him on your shoulder...

Another rumble- yeah, that's gotta be something happening with the stone.

>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.
>No, sneaking time is over. You're going by air and making your presence felt.
>Other

>Roll 1d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>4829179
>>
>>4829179
>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.

rule number 1: never break stealth until you need to.
>>
>>4829179
>>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.
>Use Low-Quickening
we kinda suck at aerial combat, our Air Shift and Air Step techniques are underdeveloped.
>>
Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>4829179
>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.
>>
Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>4829179
aw fuck, forgot to roll
>>
Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>4829179
>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.
>>
>>4829190
Well, we got caught, as expected. But at least we got in.
>>4829179
>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.
>Use Low-Quickening
>Prepare a Faemetal Bolt.
An used one for quick shanking.
>>
>6
Ah, after that 100 I knew we're gonna get some bad rolls next. I think we should ready the arrows (the ones we shot the dragon king with) or flux wave when we get caught.
>>
>>4829189
>>4829179
Failed by 5 secs, hurts a lil bit.
Also voting to take a bolt out
>>
>>4829107
>>4829179
I think this fits well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIw0eXPKigQ&ab_channel=AndrewHulshult-Topic
>>
>>4829217
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SernBf9whR8&t=10s&ab_channel=AndrewHulshult
>>
>>4829179
The dice Gods giveth, the dice Gods taketh away.
>Stealth still works here- take it by foot, if fast. Whatever gets in your way is gonna be sorry.

As a pre-emptive for the next vote, since it looks like our cover will be blown with the next post, I suggest we re-equip Ah-Rul's clasp. We'll most likely end up in combat with whatever security forces the fairies have, and since the other option to get here was brute-forcing a teleport, I'm hoping the clasp can act like a homing beacon for Deep-striking the biggest, baddest not-Terminators Ah-Rul can summon right now. We need to cause maximum chaos to make getting the Lockstone easier. (Posting this now since I might not make the next vote due to work).
>>
>>4829295
Would be epic, but I want to get in as deep as possible first. Ah-Rul warned us to not use his powers, but that was to not tip our hands. With stealth out of the window, I'm pretty sure he won't refuse porting in some elites, particularly that undead dragon.

Especially when we're so close. They won't be able to defend against an army and us while protecting the stone at the same time.
>>
>>4829382
Another note, if we're doing this Flux Wave is out. That hits our force too.
>>
>>4829179
>>4829185
>>4829188
>>4829189
>>4829191
>>4829194
You’d much rather keep things quiet until they’re unable to be kept quiet anymore, honestly. This furball could escalate beyond insane if you engaged at the wrong time. Best to keep to the ground, you think. Low Quickening wouldn’t go amiss here, either- and you can feel your steps pick up pace as you begin to dart and swerve around rock and vine.

Part of you is only mildly frustrated that you can’t keep to your hopes when, a scant minute later, you come across something you’d really rather not have. That being a number of fairies, careening towards you- and many of them yelling. Most of them are red in terms of light color- you don’t know if that’s an emotional thing or otherwise, but regardless, it strikes a dangerous look, and you know full well it’s time to fight now.

You can see them shimmering with magic as you prepare to collide.

>Current Mana: 11,000/11,000

>Sword time, sword time NOW. Start swinging and clear them away!
>Magi-wave! Dunno how effective it’ll be but it should at least make them flinch!
>Z1 time one MORE time! Worked once, should work again, right?
>Other
>>
>>4829452
>Sword time, sword time NOW. Start swinging and clear them away!
>Other
Focus on dodging and heading deeper. Our robe can handle glancing hits and we don't have time for fodders.

Thank the lords we're starting with a full mana bar.
>>
>>4829452
>>Magi-wave! Dunno how effective it’ll be but it should at least make them flinch!
lets save up Z1 as a surprise attack against the boss fairies
>>
>>4829452
>Sword time, sword time NOW. Start swinging and clear them away!
>Cast Energy Channel
>Sic our bird on them as well
Fairies are known to specialize and they use elemental magic, so those probably use fire spells, which shouldn't cause any problems for us. Energy Channel can mitigate the effect of spells used by those few non-red fairies.
>>
>>4829459
My reason for this is our fairy slaying stuffs have large AoEs. So I think instead of wasting time slapping them down one by one, get them to cluster up, follow us and try to shoot us down while we're on Low-Quickening. They'll scantly get any good hits in.
And when they're grouped up nicely, hit them with a fat Flux or Z1.
>>
>>4829466
I think we went over this already - fairies are extremely resistant to magic, the only offensive option that we have is Flux Wave and it's weaker Bubble version >>4825476. They are physically weak however.
>>
>>4829479
How can EC mitigate the spells of the non-red ones?
>>
>>4829452
>>4829479
Let's go with this
our birb can fuel up to do spells of his own. I want to see what he's capable of now
>>
Writing.
>>
>>4829496
I might be wrong, but I think we used it to clear out deertaur's smokescreen and withstand ice knights ice storm back in the summon mission. Also it warmed us up when that thing tried to freeze us>>4827537.
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>>4829490
oh yeah you're right. i usually confuse both of them
>>
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>>4829532
>>4829496
So I think it'd be able to mitigate effects of cold/water based spells and clear out any smoke-screens they might create. Also we're a dragon yet I don't remember when was the last time we've burned down something. It also looks intimidating.
>>
>>4829555
I wonder what happens when you light a mana based entity on eternal fire. Do they get hot? does burning fairies work?
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>>4829565
oh, i love how you think.
lets make come magical war crimes
>>
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>>4829576
It's not a war crime if this world doesn't have a Geneva Convention
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>>4829452
>>4829459
>>4829479
>>4829503
Nope. You’re not going to just let this happen- time to get down to brass tacks. It doesn’t take any effort for Flamebringer to come out, and more besides- you’re quick to use the draw to swing for them as you ‘collide’ with the swarm, as you heat up with Energy Channel. The result is a vicious conflagration as you plow through them, your swing arc neatly giving you a 360 rotation. Pecker’s forced to flitter off your shoulder during the technique, though you swear he nips at a few of the aerial defenders.

You hear squeals and squeaks, and you THINK you see some blood, but there’s little time to focus on the matter- you have to keep moving! With that you turn to your bird, still in the air- oh yeah that’s a wing out of his beak. Not sure how to feel about that. “I know you can understand me. Wanna eat?” There’s a pair of chirps, and boy, he’s already starting to shine. “Stay with me.” Another chirp, before he flaps his wings further. He’s no bird of prey, no, but he’s keeping up.

A sphere of fire suddenly erupts in front of you, billowing into a intensely fiery wall.

You both burst through it- yourself after covering your head up a bit, Pecker seemingly...normally. Though he DOES waver a touch and you can see smoke coming off him- maybe he couldn’t prep for it right. Still, aside from an intense heat on your end, you’re both fine for now. Maybe it’s a GOOD thing this robe is oversized…

That’s not the end of it, though- you can feel the harassment begin as the sounds of magical spells being primed and firing off begin. You’re already beginning to juke and dodge.

Running away from magical projectiles. It’s kinda weird but part of you feels nostalgic. Maybe that’s not the best word. Bah, head back in the game.

A massive wall of earth is torn up not several yards in front of you. Right, gotta scale that. As soon as you hop up, you manage to break the treeline briefly to get a view ahead- aaaand yeah, more fairies are breaking out your way. Multiple colors for this one.

However, there's also a very shiny dome in the distance. A glowing one. Right, well, let's see how well you can lead them on a merry chase...

>Roll 1d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>4829636
>>
Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>4829636
>>
Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>4829636
>>
>>4829576
No, I legitimately don't think they get hot or cold, so I don't think burning them will work.
>>
>>4829674
According to >>4825476, they do not get naturally hot or cold, and they're very resistant to normal spells to boot.

I'm very sad to say that our war crimes will be only limited to mutation/death via mana destabilization and petrification.
>>
Well, it's not that merry but...eh.

Writing!
>>
We have to put on our barrier armor, I don't want to get any hits even with the robe we put on or start using our barriers to stop attacks.
>>
>>4829686
Yeah, I was considering casting it instead of energy channel, but thought that it might be a bit overkill and someone would argue that we need as much mana as possible for the final fight.
>>
>>4829696
Yeah, we need as much fuel to spam FWs and protection spells as possible. THOSE are expensive.
>>
>>4829700
I mean, Barrier Armor is a protection spell. Andmwe have Meditarion Room bonus that reduces manacost.
>>
>>4829636
>>4829638
>>4829648
>>4829671

You manage to hurdle tree stumps before an icicle spear collides with you. You turn into an old ruined house, narrowly dodging a heavy and dangerous wind gust, diving out the back as the bark is sliced by the mana-infused wind. Three fireballs essentially bounce off your back as you hop up an arch, keeping to treetops as best you can to provide yourself more cover. The enlarged state of the foliage helps you here, oddly enough, allowing you to swing and leap through bigger branches than normal.

Pecker’s forced to pull some acrobatics to keep up...and he doesn’t quite get them done, especially when you swing a hard left around a tree, and a dive through an arch- you hear a *thunk* and your heart skips a slight beat as you see Pecker collide with the post. You’re barely thinking as you scoop him up and keep going- but that moment was enough to allow them a moment of focus and aim.

You barely get out of the way of a MASSIVE fireball (weren’t these guys supposed to be peaceful and not used to violence?) that, while it doesn’t hurt, the force DOES propel you forwards a bit and forces you into a tumble and a leap again. You have to find out some way to get some space…

...but it’s not really coming right now, as you leap through a wall of underbrush, aura still burning, and find yourself into someplace that looks for all the world like a small village. Human sized, too, as though people lived here once…

But, it’s well taken over by natural growth, and it’s here you see a number of fairies milling around as well. You can’t be that much further away from the dome, you think...so it makes sense that you’d start running into ‘civilization’ further in.

Problem now, though, is obvious.

>Current Mana: 11,000/11,000

>Flux Wave! Don’t want any more hangers on…at least, you HOPE this works.
>Start causing explosions. A lot of them, and in many places.
>Nope, ignoring, and onwards to the objective. No time to waste here!
>Other
>>
>>4829763
>Nope, ignoring, and onwards to the objective. No time to waste here!
Let's work double time and proceed. If these guys are still here, they are either not part of the combat group (mostly harmless to us), or they haven't noticed. Fluxing or random destructions will just bring more attention to us.
>>
>>4829763
>>Nope, ignoring, and onwards to the objective. No time to waste here!
>Add Full Barrier Armor as well
I think it's worth it. During the final battle, instead of spamming one Flux Wave at a time we could finally try a Double Wave - the secondary one is three times cheaper.
>>
>>4829763
Supporting >>4829779
Grab Pecker (because he's slower than us) and use a quickening spell to speed up towards the destination.
>>
>>4829763
>>4829796
+ hug that fat bastard like a lil girl hugging her toy
>>
>>4829763
>>4829779
Adding in
>Maintain Low-Quickening.
>Cast Full Barrier Armor.
>>
Gonna try to move on. Writing!
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>>4829801
We're gonna get wrecked by low-quickening, Endomagic feedback hurts us more than these magic attacks likely could what with our unnatural hardiness and a new 70% magic dampening robe.
>>
>>4829824
Maybe the Enchanted Scarf can prolong the amount of time we can quicken ourself, but you're right, let's not use it anymore.
>>
>>4829763
>>4829779
>>4829794
>>4829796
>>4829798
>>4829801

>Current Mana: 11,000/11,000

You’ve no intention on staying around here, fortunately- and that’s why you make sure Pecker’s close in hand, that Low Quickening is still working out, and another leap to get you past the ‘village’. You can hear shouts and tiny screams as you soar through. You know that there’s more than this and you’d rather not waste your time on noncombatants, to be frank.

Not two or three more leaps, however, and you get a sense of...heat. A LOT of heat. Out of some screaming instinct, you look up, and QUICKLY bound to the side as a massive glob of magma impacts the ground where you once stood. You have to move quickly just to make sure nothing hits you badly. As you settle back, however, you notice that it wasn’t just a glob of mana.

This was an individual. A fairy. A LARGE fairy, maybe half your height. Red haired, and dressed in deep red battle armor top and a battle skirt on the bottom, and sporting large butterfly wings ala a monarch butterfly. She wields a polearm that has a crescent blade on one end, which she’s aiming at you as well. The burning gaze in her eyes- and burning everything else, to be frank- is pretty telling as to just who came to interfere.

She speaks in a booming voice, her upper face masked by a helmet. “Young one, you trespass during a moment of great importance. We know your face. We know your crimes against nature. The heat that you’d been feeling increases, and you start running through strategies. “Your sentence will be rendered by myself: Anga, Elder Fairy of Fire.”

Faaaantastic. This could be dangerous, even with your resistances.

>Action!
>>
Done for tonight. I'd hoped to get further today.

There will be less running this upcoming week. Maybe a couple posts per, like before.
>>
>>4829933
>Anga - Elder Fairy of Fire. Hotheaded and powerful, yet hard to control.
>>
We have a statue of the water fairy right? Can we use that here?

Other options:
>we can try to distract her while we try to get Pecker on her
>try to sticky mana her as a distraction
>flux wave her
>Fight her with the unshelled faemetal bolts
>fight with the mana sucking knife.
>>
>>4829933
>Flux wave? I think this calls for a flux wave.
Sure we might tip our hand against the other elder fairies, but there's only 5 of them, and we weren't likely to keep it in the back pocket all the way to Yuyula anyway.
>>
>>4829951
here is a very stupid thought. could giving her a synth seither pill and waiting for the crash be a viable way to beat her?
>>
>>4829955
I think giving her unlimited seither mana would be a very unwise thing to do. I think her exploding into a full blown elemental plane is more likely than crashing.
>>
>>4829955
It takes several minutes for the effect to wear off, we won't survive that long against Seither-upped magma fairy.
>>
>>4829933
Our arsenal offers little in terms of subterfuge, so.

>Start clashing and checking her with the Flamebringer with gravity stone engaged.
>Tag team with Pecker, but remind him to not get careless.
>Start probing her for intel about other elder fairies and the stone.

She's a hothead, she'll bound to spill something.
>>
>>4829933
I'd go for water fairy statue>>4829951. Shame we don't have those manastone weapons with us, they could be loaded with water-magic ammo. Better save Flux Waves for Yuyula and Mobambo - the last one's a wind fairy, we don't really have anything else that'd work against that. Also using the statue might taunt her and we could figure out how to take advantage of that.
>>
>>4829933
>>4829965
>Start probing her for intel about other elder fairies and the stone.
>She's a hothead, she'll bound to spill something.
How do we do that? I think we could spin a narrative that humans are a menace and must be controlled - the fairies have been too lenient, indulging them when they were secretly making weapons that can slay both fairies and dragons, created chimeric half-fairies and are searching old ruins for artifacts from the old war. There are too few dragons left, their king Gonda is lies dead in Nestland Island, so only Ah-Rul is fit to fix this.
>>
>>4829983
Seems a decent enough gambit to try. I still say we Flux her but no reason to not try this first.
>>
>>4829983
we could always bait her with wrong information and wait for her to smugly "correct" us
>>
>>4829990
We should ask if she likes our new robe.
>>
>>4829951
>Fight her with the unshelled faemetal bolts
>fight with the mana sucking knife.
Those should only be used in combination with a buckler, since there's no way you could parry with them against a polearm, even a toy sized one will have a reach advantage.
>Outranged in a melee against someone half your size.
I'm still voting for the water fairy statue though.
>>
>>4829933
Welp, we've pissed off the Grandpa Fairies enough that they actually come after us. Not in force, however, which means we should probably kill this one now that we have the chance.

First and foremost:
>Equip Ah-Ruls Clasp
We're no longer sneaking, having the clasp out so that our boss can actually help us, either by empowering us with his magics or bringing in reinforcements via teleport is a must. Also the ominous aura it gives out is a must for an evil minion.

Second, I think >>4829951 got it right with his idea to use the Faemetal Bolt as a weapon. We prep one to use as a melee weapon.

Thirdly, we should say something overly dramatic first before we engage in battle, as is customary in these sitatuions. "Something something Ah-Rul is the true ruler of this land, something something Stupid Fairies for locking him away, something something you can't stop the inevitable". Try and kickstart the fairy into "I'm too angry to care what I accidentally let slip during mid-combat bickering". Transition this into >>4829983 , exchange sharp retorts and try to get some useful information out of her.
>>
>>4830002
>Also the ominous aura it gives out is a must for an evil minion.
not yet. equipping that will only make all the fairies drop what they're doing and gang on us instead of coming one by one
>>
>>4829995
>>4830002
>>4829951
Another problem with fighting with unshelled faemetal bolts - she's wearing armor. The obvious weakspots are wings and lower face, but are there other places we could stab?
>>
>>4830014
Also, we are also still affected by faemetal when we touch it iirc.
>>
>>4830018
If by that you mean that we cant damage it, yes
>>
>>4830018
I think only the tip is made of faemetal. I'll support that plan if someone would come up with a decent strategy for it. Pairing it up with with a buckler and going for the wings could be a good start, but her vital points are covered with armor and she can dodge away from our stabs. Maybe we could slow her down either by spraying her wings with water magic from the statue or with sticky mana?
>>
>>4830008
They already know who we are, and most likely who we work for.
>"Young one, you trespass during a moment of great importance. We know your face. We know your crimes against nature."
Limiting ourselves here is a potential death sentence if we are to take Handlers warning at the end of the post seriously. For all we know, the other Elder Fairies are already on their way here right now and the only reason Anga is here alone is because she went ahead of the rest. Rejecting aid from the only being on our side that has actually fought the Elder Fairies before is something we can't afford at this point. I don't want to trip and break my neck on the finish line because people are waiting for the perfect '360 noscope gamer moment' before dropping a fuckhuge undead dragon on Fairyville.
>>
>>4830014
>>4830023
Fairies themselves are very magic resistent, but I wonder if the armor is the same? Maybe we can try some Rapier enhanced magibeams to see if we can chip some holes in the armor.
>>
>>4830023
...you know, can't we just clip her wings and fuck off? We're not paid for murdering the Elders and she's just delaying us.
>>
>>4829933
Okay I think I got it now.
>Equip Ah-Rul's Clasp, Buckler and Faemetal Bolt
>Summon Gartoum and give him a couple of bolts as well
>Try to box her in together with Gartoum and Pecker, distracting her with this narrative>>4829983
>Go for her wings
After that we could use either the new coilgun or golden crossbow, they're both powerful enough to go through her armor and she won't be able to dodge without her wings. Or we could ignore her and move on. Sounds good enough?
>>
>>4829933
>>4830060
Voting for something similar to this, but do not summon Gartoum or call for reinforcements just yet through the clasp just yet (we can put it on however). We want to be in a position to use FW anytime we want without waiting for Gartoum to go back to our ring. Let's feel the situation out one turn first.
>>
>>4830110
>>4829933
So my vote is

>Equip Ah-Rul's Clasp, Buckler and Faemetal Bolt
>Probe her for intel about other elder fairies and the stone.
Through example narratives that have been suggested. We need to know what they're doing to the stone here.
>Work with Pecker to check her defenses.
>Go for unarmored parts (legs, wings).
>>
>>4830060
>>4829933
Now that I think about it, trying to cut her wings with a crossbow bolt sounds retarded. Draining knife is a way better option.
>>
>>4830376
Now that I think about it, the knife has enough space in it to cut through a barrier so an elite fairy should be feasible too.
>>
Uuuh guys? Why are you insisting on using knifes and bolts?

They can be hurt by normal weapons. She's wearing armor. We have an armorbreaking sword and a giant fuck-off hammer. I bet one hit from the latter works just as well if not better.
>>
>>4829933
Alright, so after a while this is my final adjustment.

>Equip Ah-Rul's Clasp, Morph-Blade
>Summon Gartoum and give him a couple of bolts as well
>Try to box her in together with Gartoum and Pecker.
>Probe her for intel about other elder fairies and the stone.

We can afford getting Gartoum out, he can fly so he can keep up with the Elder and sneak a few hits in. He's always close so he can retreat into the ring should we need to use a Flux Wave.
Why not the buckler? We got it in a mortal rank and file armory, it's not gonna last against a deity tier being.
The morph-blade has a better chance of staying intact while clashing with her. It also has superior strike weight and range compare to the knife. With the knife we have to selectively hit the unarmored parts, with the blade we can hit any spots we want. Of course the wings are still priority number 1.
>>
>>4830507
I don't think spending our attention on ally coordination or futzing with crossbow bolts is a good use of our time. If we're gonna use the faemetal, just use the crossbow and shoot her.
>>
Okay, reading through all of this, seems like the stuff with the most response is:

>Equip Ah-Rul's Clasp
>Equip the mana draining knife (?) (Not 100% certain about whether to equip the knife, Flamebringer, or Morph-Blade)
>Summon Gartoum to tag team.
>Start talking to keep her distracted.

Sound about right?
>>
>>4830475
>Uuuh guys? Why are you insisting on using knifes and bolts?
I dunno, I just went with the flow. The locals consider them deities and the last time the red text popped up was when we found the dragon king - it took several bolts to kill him while he was just standing still, and I don't expect a thousands years old warrior who can fly to just take it. So I don't think that we can just shoot her with a crossbow without a proper setup and we need to focus on her wings, but you're right, we could pick another weapon.
>>
>>4831458
Pecker should also be a part of the tag team. If the knife option wins then it should be paired with a buckler, they're enchanted and can take some beating + we have spare ones.
>Magical defensive measures inlaid consistent with minor mana barrier.
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>>4831473
just to be clear, green text wasn't a write-in
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>>4831458
Are we proficient in dual wielding? I think Flamebringer + Mana knife is the way to go if we can manage it without taking negative modifiers to our rolls, the gravity stone on the Flamebringer for offense to crump the fairy (not using the fire as it will be useless), and the Knife as off-hand to parry with. If we can't dual wield with the Flamebringer, either run solo Flamebringer or bring out the Rapier to dual wield with instead, as that's a proper duelist setup if I am not mistaken. While magic is ineffective against the fairies themselves, a Rapier powered focused Magi Beam at close range might be able to shear off the armor, making it easier to land good blows.
>>
>>4831516
Not so much. You're not BAD, perse, but it's not something you really do and it's rare you resort to it.

I think I'll run the start of the fight tomorrow, use today to lock in what's what now that the debate seems done. I want to give everyone who weighed in a chance. Heck, I might start a new thread.
>>
>>4831516
Miranda is more proficient in hand to hand techniques, maybe we shouldn't equip any weapons and just Styles all over this fairy.
>>
>>4831531
>letting someone smaller than you have a reach advantage
>>
>>4831458
Pecker should be part of the tag team too yes.
I'm still firm on using the Morph-Blade. We have strength enhancements outta the arse to compliment it and it's longer than the knife.

>>4831531
Something tells me touching a magma fairy with our hands won't go well.
>>
>>4831524
'Aight, fair enough.

>>4831531
I'm worried about this prompt in particular:
>The heat that you’d been feeling increases
We'll be duking it out with the Elder Fairy of Fire, and I wouldn't be surprised if she has some sort of bullshit Fire Shield to go with her Fire Aura. I'm not confident in our chances barehanded because of this, and would prefer to have something between us and that potential shield. If we had anything we could use at range that wasn't magic (it doesn't appear the crossbow is loaded, correct me if I am wrong) I'd vote for that, but we're severly lacking in that department. And if we intend to tag-team with the crew, we have to be the one Anga has to focus on so birbby and Gartoum can get those cheecky strikes in. I am not comfortable with the knifes DPS output due to the armor, so Flamebringer seems the best choice.
>>
>>4831546
Well let's hope the fire sword doesn't heal her then.
>>
>>4831546
Oh shit I forgot about our morphing hammer blade! Yeah, having blunt weapon as opposed to just a cutting one would be a better choice here. Changing >>4831547 to Morph-Blade.
>>
I still think we should flux her. We don't even know how effective flux will be against fairies.
>>
>>4831603
For me, too early for that. I want to catch at least two of them in our flux and don't want to tip our hands.
>>
>>4825476
>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.
There's also Cera's offspring, I think her mother was a shadow fairy that our client has experimented on before she escaped. So it's possible that after defeating Anga we'll encounter two or three Elders as the last line of defense before we reach those who are performing the ritual (likely Yuyula and the shadow fairy). Sylathi and Malamund might be susceptible to our flames, so Mobambo will definitely be paired up with them to cover their weaknesses and I don't think we have anything that can deal with wind magic.
We have 11,000 in the tank, with the Meditation Room bonus a single FW would cost 2400, and double-wave would cost 3200. Enough to either cast 4 single FWs or 3 double whammies. In theory that's enough to cover 3 encounters with elders and we can equip the condenser to keep fighting without passing out even with an empty tank - we've already done something like that back in the skyworld mission with DMs.
>>
>>4831653
Speaking of how much we have in the tank and the condenser, the mana here is super dense, I wonder how much we can soak up when we're not full?
>>
>>4831660
We've filled up the Condenser several threads ago, so we basically have 1500 extra mana. We also have an Induction Orb, which has also been charged up. It requires some prep time to use, but we can use it to cast a beefier version of Barrier Armor.
>Induction Orb- Fragile. Sphere conducts and converts mana to high-energy variable mana. Integration with current mana signature is highly possible. Estimated approximately 1000 Mana capacity, discharge is total. Over injection of mana not suggested.
>(Must donate a total of 1000 mana. This increases the potency of one skill when the orb is full. All 1000 mana is discharged upon use.)
>>
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>Heeeey Mono! Day 2 status check- how's the Pavilion treated ya so far?

>...uh...good? I mean, been walkin' around. Made friends, kinda. Mostly from some werewolf folks, but...

>Oooh! Connections are always good. What do they sell?

>Burgers. Really GOOD burgers. Buncha cooks, turns out.

>...fair enough. Where's our nerdy nerds?

>Still sleepin'.

>Gotcha. I know Pri-pri's still out keeping an eye on J, they wanted to see if there was anything specialized for bot cleaning...

>Nura's out and about, too. An' Miss Izumi called me not too long ago to touch base, said she was waitin' on 'a project' to get done.

>...! Oh, wait, that means it's just us right now!

>...yeeeah?

>Weeelll, I'd got to thinking.

>About?

>You! You can sing a bunch of different styles, right?

>Anythin' under the sun and not. Why?

>Weeeellll, I saw a little something for sale, and I thought, 'wouldn't it be funny if she wore this and did an AWESOME solo piece in it?'

>Wha- why would I?! And what's the piece?

>Weeelll...okay, so it's less 'haha wouldn't it be funny' and more 'haha please help bail me out of a bet I made with one of my self-affirmation group friends.'

>...bet...in a self-affirmation group?

>Look, it's just a mostly friendly thing, I swear! Just, I need a partner who can carry a tune and you're kinda a no brainer when it comes to that. All you need to do is put this on, sing ONE song, and we're both rolling in free ice cream and deserts for a week!

>...

>Pleeeeeease?

>...a week, huh?

>Yup! All we can eat, too!

>Aaaaand, just ta be sure...what if we lose?

>...uhhhh...well, we'd learn a bit about the wonderful world of confectionary making and delivery! For a week.

>...

>...For half-pay.

>...

>I may have made some unnecessary boasts. But that's JUST how much I believe in you!

>...ugh, fine. What's the getup?

>Oooh, THANK YOU. Trust me, you'll LOVE it!

>Eeeeh, I doubt it...
>>
>>4831682
...
...
Pri-pri?
Lori, 4 realzies?
>>
>>4831653
The option to deepstrike in our Undead Dragon is still there, but I don't know when to do that since we won't be able to flux once Ah-Rul port in the monsters.
>>4831682
>>4831673
Soooo

Can Handler verify what spells we can boost with the Induction Orb? Can we boost something that uses more than 1000 mana?
>>
>>4831696
See

>Over injection not suggestion. Theoretically you can but there will be consequences. So, 1000 mana cost or lower.
>>
>>4831696
I've changed my mind since yesterday about Deep-striking in something nasty, at least for now. We're lucky that Anga is out and about alone, hopefully we can beat her as is without having to play that trump card. I think we should at least Flux her once to see how she reacts, it would give us an indication of how effective it could be when fighting multiple Grand Fairies. If a worst case scenario comes to pass, that being the remaining G.F's all stack up by the Lockstone, knowing how effective a Flux Wave is could drastically change the outcome. If it's powerful enough to cause them pain/make them dizzy and uncoordinated (I don't entertain the thought that it could seriosly hurt G.F's), leading with a Flux Wave and then dropping a Dragon on them could potentially end the fight instantly, assuming that Ah-Rul can actually summon the dragon here.
>>
>>4831458
+ on the Morph-Blade
With the stacked buffs we are on, I think she can be defeated without fluxing
>>
>>4829933
AAAAAAAAA
She's a tiny fire knight with butterfly wings and tiny armor and tiny polearm so cutejhkhgxsccfhb
>>
Writing shortly! Time to bring the heat!

...okay maybe not that was horrible.
>>
>>4833968
Time to set the roof on Fire!!!!!
>>
>>4829933
You’re going to have to be cautious about this. Even you can melt. But, with your armor, heat resistances, and general acumen...well, you’re pretty sure you at least stand a chance.

But, first and foremost, considering that they know you’re here now…well, first thing to do is to keep their thoughts focused elsewhere. And considering you recall Anga supposedly being hotheaded…well, maybe you can do that easier than otherwise. She tenses as you reach into your bag, and the heat rises as you put on your clasp. “If we’re going to fight, then I might as well fight wearing the symbol of my patron.”

‘What is this?’ You hear your client ask as it slips on. ‘Have you been discovered!?’

‘Yes. Any help would be appreciated in due time,’ you think back as she responds.

“This is stupid and foolish. A young dragon like you has more potential than as a servant,” she notes as she prepares herself; you do similar as you ready your Morph-Blade.

“Would you rather me be an experiment?” you hit back. “Face it. Humanity’s been too reckless, and the fairies have been too lenient- you indulge them when they secretly make weapons that can slay both fairies and dragons, or at least don’t respond. You let them create chimeric half-fairies-” at THAT you hear a ‘what?!’ as sparks fly out her mouth, but continue on- “-and search old ruins for artifacts from the old war. There are too few dragons left- the old king Gonda lies dead in Nestland Island, and that means there’s only one being with the power and wherewithal to fix this!” All bunk, but.

‘Precisely!’ If it makes him happy. ‘Now prove such! Destroy this false idol!’ Pot, kettle.

“You will regret your misjudgement in the beyond!” Anga yells before she surges forth- the heat is seriously intense as seeks to skewer you- she’s fast for a small thing, but you manage to dodge in time enough.

She turns to swing, and your blade comes up to meet her weapon as you deflect the strike and the dance begins in earnest.

(cont.)
>>
>>4834120
First thing, however, is that she has no shortage of skill. Despite you having a reach advantage, she’s plenty aware of that, and her aura is something that keeps you away and realizing that she can just cook you alive if you tarry too long- your vest and other powers are doing a good hand at keeping it from boiling you over, but you can tell it’d probably be like standing near a lava flow without them...how everything hasn’t caught on fire is a mystery to you.

Another swing from her is sidestepped, followed by a jab that’s deflected off your sword- it’s big, chunky, and rough, and works well enough as protection when compared to her polearm’s size. “The only thing I regret is not being able to show you personally the abomination they’ve made.” Little mean, but whatever. “But even then, I doubt you’d have the good sense-” another dodge, and a retaliatory strike is flittered out of the way- “-to comprehend that it was no choice of his.”

“Cease your prattling and fight!” she shouts. But, good. She’s angry. Focused on you. Meaning it’s time for the second part of your plan.

‘Ready?’ you mentally call out to the one shadow for certain under you.

‘Just kiinda wish I’d brought sunscreen…’ Good enough.

>Roll 2d20, best of three.
>>
Rolled 9, 16 = 25 (2d20)

>>4834122
Let's gooo.
>>
Rolled 19, 1 = 20 (2d20)

>>4834122
>>
Rolled 3, 1 = 4 (2d20)

>>4834122
I've been waiting for this
>>
>>4834134
no need to thank me for flushing down bad rolls guys
>>
>>4834122
some more stuff that we can spill to make her angrier:
>You know my face, but why are you surprised about the the hybrid with whom I've been travelling with. I've been in your temples, are you using those to spy on your cultists? Sylathi's worshippers recognized that creature as fae-blood, why didn't she tell you this?
>The crystal bird construct was recovered from the same place where the hybrid was. The way it allowed my to bypass your defenses in the forest, the way it grows stronger from consuming your kind - it's too convenient. Face it - humans are not going to play friends with you forever.
>>
>>4834141
we might add this to the first bit
>Or maybe she didn't want to believe how far they were willing to go?
>>
19, 16, but I can't ignore those double 1s...

Writing.
>>
>>4834162
so, where can we find sunscreen for Gartoum?
>>
>>4834174
I don't think they make those for non-corporeals.
>>
We we get back we need to reward Gartoum for all his help.
>>
>>4834122
>>4834124
>>4834130
>>4834134
The first three swings are meant to get her on the defensive; it’s a probing effort, a test without your full force, which she blocks handily.

The next sequence is meant to take advantage of the gaps that she just showed you. You and your friend, that is.

To her credit she DEFINITELY gets the feeling that something is behind her- but before she can lash out at it, you step in with a massive thrust- either she’s not expecting you to be quicker than you’ve shown, or her attention’s split too much, but her dodge is late- and you manage a gouge in her armor that, judging by her shocked expression, she wasn’t expecting the blade to make. You pull your sword away, to see a thin film of something on the edge of it, shimmering...seems like you did more than cut the armor.

It doesn’t help her when Gartoum follows up, a wave of shadow erupting from the ground and slamming into her as she yells in surprise and pain, carrying her past you briefly and crushing her into a massive boulder.

It’s not for very long, however- the heat ramps up to well beyond sweltering again for a moment, before a burst of flame forces both yourself and Gartoum to dodge quickly, and you’re quick to notice Gartoum’s cut off by a lengthy, and roaring wall of flame.

‘Oh dear dear dear! Quite hot, quite hot- just a moment to get around this, hm?’ Crap. Well, she’s not eager to have that happen again, and as she charges forth wreathed in flame, you have just enough time while you throw yourself out of the living fireball’s way to admit she’s doing a decent job of not letting it.

>Crap, start dodging until Gartoum can get back in it. You don’t want to get too close to all THAT.
>Maybe you can take her out of it prematurely somehow? Hit her hard enough to snuff that flame, hopefully...
>Other

(Insanely late, I know. Will update once tomorrow. )
>>
>>4834558
>Crap, start dodging until Gartoum can get back in it. You don’t want to get too close to all THAT.
>Morph the blade into a shield
>Continue taunting her >>4834141>>4834145
>>
>>4834558
>Maybe you can take her out of it prematurely somehow? Hit her hard enough to snuff that flame, hopefully...
>Activate Assault Crystal and the Bracers

If our base swings were enough to cut through her armor, these will do something else. Hopefully, break through her guard with sheer brute force and shortening this duel a bit.
>>
>>4834587
Supportin
>>
>>4834558
I could have sworn we had an experimental technique we upgraded out of Overchannel or Wisp Lighter that set things on permanent fire. Did I hallucinate this?
Anyway I was thinking of trying it out, just to see what happens when you light a being made of magical fire on magical ultra fire.
>>
File: wisp lighter.jpg (23 KB, 1586x90)
23 KB
23 KB JPG
>>4834720
Usually fire-elementals are immune to fire, so I don't know what are you trying to do. This is like trying to drown a being made of water or taze a thunder elemental.
>>
>>4834720
>>4834728
>As it is, you have to be within touching range of something
>she's hot enough to cook us alive just by standing close even with all of our defensive buffs
We can try it on water or wood elder fairies, but not on her.
>>
>>4834751
Ditto on the latter, but lighting a water elemental on fire of any kind seems, I don't know, unbelievable to me. Luckily we have shock spells.
>>
>>4834558
>Maybe you can take her out of it prematurely somehow? Hit her hard enough to snuff that flame, hopefully...
We're not as outmatched as I thought we were, or maybe it's just the luck of the dice. Keep up the pressure for now and she might even crack. We give her room now, she might even up and run away.
>>
>>4834558
>Maybe you can take her out of it prematurely somehow? Hit her hard enough to snuff that flame, hopefully...
>Activate Assault Crystal and the Bracers
>>
>>4834558
>Maybe you can take her out of it prematurely somehow? Hit her hard enough to snuff that flame, hopefully...
>activate body armor
>Activate Assault Crystal and the Bracers
>>
New thread incoming.
>>
>>4838171
>>4838171
>>4838171



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