>>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.

File: 1617507193646.gif (500 KB, 356x348)

500 KB GIF

>>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.

File: elexir pack.jpg (21 KB, 492x249)

21 KB JPG

>>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

File: tools of trade.jpg (158 KB, 1563x459)

158 KB JPG

>>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.

File: crystal birb.jpg (42 KB, 1568x170)

42 KB JPG

>>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

File: faemetal bolts.jpg (16 KB, 1585x65)

16 KB JPG

>>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

File: dnd chuul.jpg (427 KB, 797x1000)

427 KB JPG

>>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.

File: 1518612511900.jpg (51 KB, 611x713)

51 KB JPG

>>4793624
boy oh boy we haven't got a natural crit in a while

File: file.png (321 KB, 500x500)

321 KB PNG

>>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 PNG

>>4797719
maybe we can corrupt local monsters as well, eh?

File: pokemon trainer miranda styles.png (232 KB, 600x929)

232 KB PNG

>>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.

File: My Agent In The Shadow party.png (243 KB, 600x929)

243 KB PNG

>>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

File: gravitite.jpg (56 KB, 1584x218)

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?

File: file.png (9 KB, 1294x37)

9 KB PNG

>>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.

File: no gravity wells.jpg (58 KB, 1593x140)

58 KB JPG

>>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.