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RECAP OF LAST THREAD

The Super Conqueror bros ran into a magical, misogynist bicorn that tried to tempt you into swearing off women, which you then proceeded to kill and butcher for parts.

You then became frustrated with your missing arm and how it’s affected you and the way your party saw you. You confided your feelings to Barret and sought some advice while learning how to cook, putting you at ease for a time.

Eventually your group stopped in the town of Fulton, which was unfortunately dealing with a plague, meaning you were the only one who could enter. After gathering a little information about the man you were trying to rescue and purchasing a book on upper limb anatomy, you rested outside the town walls with your group before heading to the ruins.

During your exploration of the ruins, you intentionally failed a puzzle in order to fight a golem and prove yourself. While the fight did wonders for your self confidence, the rest of the group wasn’t too pleased. This led to you confessing about your feelings and frustrations on the matter, apologizing, and more or less making peace with your group and your disability.

After that, you blazed through the rest of the obstacles in the Trials of the Mind and Body after finding Henry, the explorer you came to rescue. You then opened the large double doors in the antechamber and accidentally released Faust, Archmage of Ruin- a powerful old demon wizard sealed away by a long dead civilization known as the Regalian Empire.

On your way back to Rathalon, you realized your love for fishing using the tools you purchased back in Fulton and nearly lost yourself in the sport. However, in the end you overcame such desires and made it back to town without incident, receiving your reward for the rescue quest as well as the news that your party is close to being promoted.

After meeting up with Jeffrey and setting up what you’d need to set sail to Krosh’tar with Grug, you sold off the gold jewelry you’d found in the ruins for a large sum of cash and called it for the night at the inn.

The next morning, you set off with your group to the docks and met with Jeffrey, who provided you with a boat, rations, health potions, a book on military engineering to help you research your prosthetic, and a captain who also happens to be his niece.

Once you set off, you had a brief meeting with the captain and trained in some one-arm flute playing while exercising at the same time. After that, you decided to spend a nice day doing some fishing with Barret. You caught a huge swordfish- and he caught a strange creature that turned out to be a merman.

This merman, named Gill, told you he was a priest of the Sea Lord and that Aemis was calling on the favor you owe to help him out.

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Fuck.

Aemis could not have picked a worse time to call on his favor. You’re on a bit of a time sensitive mission, and any of that time spent dawdling could give Silas time to flee or execute another plan. Worse, you’d be spending that time helping monsters- something that disgusts you to the core.

That said, it’s undeniable that without Aemis, Rathalon would’ve been lost. Castor also warned you about the dangers of turning your back on a God you’ve made a deal with, and you don’t feel like you want to risk his wrath- especially when you’re in the middle of his territory. No, for the sake of you and your companions’ safety, you’re gonna have to deal with whatever the hell he’s got in store for you.

So this is what Aemis is calling me to do? This will make us even? you ask the merman who calls himself Gill.

I would imagine so. He just told me that you ‘owed him one’, but from what I know the Gods always make good on their deals and promises.

You let out a hefty sigh. Alright, I’ll help. What the hell is going on anyway that you need me?


The merman looks absolutely ecstatic at your answer. Wonderful! Splendid! Our savior! he exclaims, hopping on his feet in some sort of bizarre dance.

Hey, focus! What the hell is going on? you snap, causing him to quickly cease his celebration.

Right, sorry. Our tribe, Glub-Glub, has been under attack for the last few weeks. Sometimes we manage to repel the attacks, but every time a few of our people sustain serious injury and they more or less get away unharmed he explains.

And who are these attackers? you ask.

Shrimple- shrimp people, if you aren’t aware. Pistol shrimple and Mantis shrimple working together to attack our tribe. You see, we’re a peaceful people, so the only ones who can fight in any capacity are me and our tribe’s champion, Riptide. Thankfully we’ve managed to mostly survive encounters uninjured, but each time they hit harder, and sometimes they successfully break through our defenses.

Okay, and what happens when they get through your defenses? Do they start slaughtering people?

Not exactly, but they’re not shy about causing some serious wounds to get what they want. They crack open our giant clams and raid them.

Giant clams? Do you use them as livestock?

(1/2)

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Not quite- our tribe raises the long-lived creatures and theoretically offers them protection in exchange for using them as storage of sorts, though we’ve been failing our duty lately. We have five giant clams at the center of our tribe carrying all our most precious possessions and treasures we use for dealing with other tribes and surface dwellers. Each clam can carry quite a bit, but two of them have already been broken into and robbed by the shrimple, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down their attacks he tells you, worry and sadness written all over his fishy face.

Alright, so you need me to beat up some shrimple and then I’m all good? you ask him. Sounds simple enough.

Not quite, I’m afraid he answers. While we may need your help repelling an attack or two, it seems the shrimple that come each time are different- suggesting there’s a larger group at work here. We were hoping you could help us find a way to track down whoever’s leading them and put a stop to the raids once and for all.

You resist the urge to groan- fending off a wave of attackers wouldn’t have wasted too much time, but an investigation could take the entire day, maybe even a few days. You REALLY don’t have that much time to spend helping monsters, but again, you don’t have much of a choice.

Fine, I’ll get my group ready and we’ll help you guys out you say after a few moments of pause.

Err, your friends can’t breathe underwater, can they? he asks.

Crap. Fuck. No, they can’t. Fuck- am I supposed to do this all myself?

No, of course not! We do have a magical item passed down through generations that would allow a surface dweller to breathe underwater and handle the pressure, though they wouldn’t quite have the same movement you do with the Sea Lord’s blessings. We only have one though, so you can only take a single ally with you I’m afraid. Also, our champion and I shall assist you! Once you’re down below, I have some potions that should help you and your friend understand our people and vice versa so we won’t have to all speak mentally with you he answers.

Fuck, this just gets shitter and shittier. You’re only able to take one person with you- and you doubt the captain’s going to be any help. Who’s heading on an underwater adventure with you today?

>Barret
>Jeanne
>Clarissa
>Grug
>No one. Your allies will probably be more of a hindrance underwater than a help.

(2/2)

>>4858553
Aw HELL YE we BACK, BOYS!

>Jeanne
I figure if we're dealing with reduced motion among party members, a bit of MAGIC oughta balance things out!

>>4858553
>Barret

>>4858553
>Grug
We should get to know him and learn about orc society/rules/politics to use this extra time most efficiently.

Jeanne's firebolts and fireballs won't work underwater, I'm afraid. Same for Clarissa's bow. Taking a tank is also safer, since our companion will be slower and therefore unable to dodge efficiently.

Thread 5: I still randomly call our ranger Jeanne.

>>4858553
>Grug
Bonding time with our new orc friend.

Wahoo! We're back! Hope everyone is good!

Assuming her fire spells all work underwater I vote
>Jeanne

>>4858553
>Barret
Bro trip

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>>4858844
>>4858571

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>>4858849
Thanks, forgot I voted

Alright so right now we are tied between Barret and Grug (I didn't count the 2nd Jeanne vote since it was based on her fire magic working underwater, which it doesn't). I'll give the vote 30 more minutes and if it's still tied I'll break it!

>>4858913
Ok cool I will vote for
>Grug

>>4858556
>>4858565
>>4858571
>>4858572
>>4858827
>>4858954
Grug

Writing! Sorry I was a little late, was looking at apartments and stuff- but it all worked out because we got a tiebreaker vote!

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Alright, I think I know who I’ll bring. I’ll get things worked out with my crew, you go get the magic item and the potions. Actually, why didn’t you bring those with you to begin with?

Well, I did, but I dropped them when I got caught on your friend’s hook Gill admits, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Rolling your eyes, you gesture for him to get moving, waiting for him to dive off the side of the sloop before working with Barret to gather the rest of the team and explain what’s going on.

”So you need me to anchor here so you can help some fish people?” Scarlet asks, cocking her head in confusion.

”Mermen” Barret corrects, holding up a finger.

”Monsters” you further correct before addressing the group. ”Like I said, I don’t have a choice. If it weren’t for Aemis, Rathalon would’ve been lost- and I’d rather not challenge the God of the Sea’s authority while we’re in the middle of the ocean.”

”So who are you gonna bring with you? My fire magic won’t exactly work well underwater, but I could still cast Hold and provide support with Lesser Heall” Jeanne says.

You shake your head. ”The offer’s appreciated, but I’ve already made up my mind. Like you said, your fire magic won’t work underwater, and I doubt a bow will either- so it’s really down to Barret or Grug. To be honest...I kinda want to see what you’re capable of, Grug- and we are the ones taking you back home, so it’s the least you can do” you say.

Grug nods in affirmation, thankfully already in his chain mail. ”Of course Herald sir, I won’t let you down!” he says, giving a dorky salute.

Chuckling at his stiff formality, you bring him back onto the deck with you, the rest of the crew quietly following suit as you see Gill back on the ship already with a strange helmet in his hand and two glowing green potions in stoppered vials. He hands the potions to you and Grug respectively, who both down them. Immediately you feel a tingling sensation deep in your stomach, and as you listen to Gill speak, his words go from indecipherable noises to something you can clearly understand.

”-should be taking effect by now. Can you understand what I’m saying?” Gill asks.

You and Grug both give him a thumbs up, the latter plopping the large, janky helmet over his head. The thing’s got bizarre runes all over it- likely some kind of enchantment.

”Alright, good- those should last for twenty-four hours. Is there anything else you need to take care of before we head down?”

>”Yeah” (What?)
>”Nope, let’s get moving!”

>>4858990
>”Nope, let’s get moving!”

>>4858990
>”Yeah” (What?)
Tell a joke.
"Oh look. There they are, my party. You know guy, I don't say this often enough, but uh I'm gonna die."

>>4858998
>>4859010
>>4859072
Keep it schmoovin'

Writing!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRfHbyCQDCo

You and Grug both look at each other and shrug. ”I think I’m all good, freaky fish guy.”

”I am not a freaky fish guy!” the so-called priest protests lamely before diving into the water, you and Grug following suit.

You knew how to swim already, but the way you move through water now can’t even compare to how you used to. It’s so light and effortless- you don’t even need to move your arms or kick your legs. You just think how you want your body to move or where you want it to go and it does so without any effort- even more efficiently than how the merman swims. Poor Grug, on the other hand, struggles to keep up with the two of you as you head towards the ocean floor.

Thankfully your blessing and the magic helmet must adapt your bodies to the water, because the pressure down at the bottom should’ve been enough to crush both of you, yet you feel perfectly fine. Gill leads you to an area filled with huts made from...coral? You don’t know a lot about ocean life, but you’re pretty sure coral doesn’t grow or can be shaped like that naturally, and point out as much to the priest.

”Ah, that’s thanks to a spell of mine- the priest has a sacred role in our tribe and acts as the leader. I construct their homes using magic to make them safe and sturdy” he explains as you head towards a slightly larger hut at the end of the area, moving past the giant clams in the center of the tribe.

As you move, you see mermen and merwomen with kelp bindings all look at you and Grug with a mixture of shock and confusion, some uttering words of awe or whispering to one another as you head towards the priest’s abode and touch down on the sand.

”This is where I live” he says, picking up a rusty iron trident leaning against his home and holding it like a staff as he continues to move towards a nearby coral hut. ”And this is where Riptide lives. He’s our champion, and hopefully with him and I working together with you two, we’ll be able to take care of this problem once and for all” the priest informs you.

”Champion? No offense, but you guys all look pretty scrawny” Grug says with a chuckle.

The priest awkwardly laughs in response, looking somewhat embarrassed. ”As I told your friend the Herald of Conquest-”

”Just Herald is fine.”

”My apologies. As I told Herald, we are a mostly peaceful people- but rest assured, Riptide is much stronger than the rest of us! I’m sure he’ll live up to your standards.”

Grug scoffs. ”We’ll see about that.”

(1/2)

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After a short distance, you find yourself in front of the neighboring coral hut, slashing and grunting sounds ringing out from within. They’re not too dissimilar to the sounds you and Barret make during training, which catches your attention. Do these monsters actually have someone of worth here?

”Riptide, the ones prophesied by the Sea Lord are here! Could you please come join us?” Gill calls out into the hut. The slashing and grunting noises cease, and a few moments later, a giant, hulking figure appears from within. The monster stands at least a foot taller than you and is much bulkier- though you imagine more of that is fat than pure muscle. Even still, this Riptide character compared to the other mermen is about the same as you compared to that wimpy explorer- hardly even the same animal.

”These scrawny humies are the ones sent by the Sea Lord?” Riptide asks in a deep, guttural voice.

”Scrawny?” you challenge, taking a step forward and putting a hand on Decimator’s hilt. You’re not about to sit here and be insulted by some disgusting, monstrous fuckhead. Riptide grins, showing his rows of sharp teeth as he matches your movement by putting his hand on the hilt sticking out from his back, beginning to draw the blade. You’re surprised to see his weapon isn’t made of steel like yours, but rather from bone of some sort. If you’ve surmised correctly, it appears to be the bill of a sawfish fashioned into a weapon.

As you both prepare to draw and throw down, Gill quickly interrupts. ”Please, save your fighting for the shrimple! Riptide, please show our guests some respect- they were chosen by the Sea Lord after all” he scolds, a humorous sight considering how much smaller the poor priest is compared to his champion.

Riptide sucks in his teeth, putting his sword back into its place and crossing his arms. ”Fine. Even if I don’t trust the looks of you humies, I do trust the Sea Lord. Let’s get rid of this problem and stay out of each other’s way, yeah?”

”Err, I’m not a human- I’m an orc” Grug corrects, looking somewhat irritated at being mislabeled.

”Yeah yeah, surface dwellers all look the same” Riptide answers, waving a hand dismissively. Gill lets out an exasperated sigh, looking towards you. What, is he expecting you to try and make peace with this prick?

>”Yeah, sounds good asshole.” (Don’t fix anything)
>”Come on, we need to get along if we want to be effective. Let’s at least show a bare minimum respect towards one another, yeah?” (Persuasion)
>”Look, I’m gonna help take care of your problem, and you’re gonna get me out of Aemis’ debts. We just have to get along until we take care of these shrimple. Deal?” (Haggle)
>”You’re gonna show some Gods damned respect you fishy fuck or I’ll bash your fucking brains in!” (Intimidation- will upset Gill)
>Other (write in)

(2/2)

>>4859138
>”Yeah, sounds good asshole.” (Don’t fix anything)
>"Things'll be nice once we see each other fight for real."

>>4859138
>”Come on, we need to get along if we want to be effective. Let’s at least show a bare minimum respect towards one another, yeah?” (Persuasion)
Let’s get along so Aemis does not wreck our shit

>>4859166
>>4859174
don't we have a penalty to charisma checks with monsters?

>>4859138
>”Come on, we need to get along if we want to be effective. Let’s at least show a bare minimum respect towards one another, yeah?” (Persuasion)
FISH NIGGAS RISE UP

>>4859138
>”Look, I’m gonna help take care of your problem, and you’re gonna get me out of Aemis’ debts. We just have to get along until we take care of these shrimple. Deal?” (Haggle)

Was gonna try for a fourth update to kick things off but I'm tuckered out lads. Will update first thing in the morning tomorrow!

>>4859138
>”Come on, we need to get along if we want to be effective. Let’s at least show a bare minimum respect towards one another, yeah?” (Persuasion)
I feel like we need to be more reverent to Aemis, he seems to be a bro and Herald's started to become bitter since losing his arm.

>>4859152
>>4859166
>>4859174
>>4859276
>>4859283
>>4859587
Persuasion!

Alright, roll me 1d20+4 (+6 for CHA, +3 for Persuasion, -5 for Sapient Supremacist). You need a 15 or higher to convince Riptide!

Rolled 14 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4860032
Time to spill the spaghetii and piss some fish people off.

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You take a deep breath and let your anger simmer down a bit before speaking up. ”Come on, we need to get along if we want to be effective. Let’s at least show a bare minimum respect for one another, yeah?” you ask, suppressing your base instincts to react with anger of violence towards the insolent monster.

”Hrmmm...” Riptide hums, not looking too sure about this. Gods, how far do you have to go with this asshole? Taking it one step further, you reluctantly hold out your hand to shake, basically acknowledging that this freak is on equal footing with you. It’s revolting, but better to try and not piss Aemis off before getting this shit done.

You’re surprised to see the champion’s face actually lighten up a bit, a toothy grin appearing as he roughly clasps your hand with his webbed one, shaking his arm vigorously. ”Alright surface dweller, I like the cut of your jib after all!” he says, laughing heartily. Gill lets out a sigh of relief.

*Success*

”Alright, so what’s the game plan then? You got something in mind?” you ask the mermen- err, monsters.

”Right, well I was thinking we could try to explore the area outside the tribe for clues” Gill starts. ”We’ve mostly had to stay in the village in case any attacks happen, but now that we’re ready to put a stop to it once and for all, we can probably afford to leave it undefended if we act quickly.”

Riptide scoffs, slamming a fist into his open palm. ”I say we just wait for them to get ballsy and attack us again and beat the everloving crap out of ‘em! We can interrogate one of the ones we take down afterwards. Usually they slip out of our grasp before we can do any decisive damage, but they won’t be expecting you two.”

Grug speaks up last. ”I’m new around here, but maybe we could ask if the villagers have seen or remember anything specific about the attackers? Maybe a direction they went or something they might’ve overheard?”

None of the ideas are bad by any means, but it’s probably good to pick one and focus on it so you can get this done as soon as possible. You also figure, based on what you’ve heard so far, that it’s better if your group of four sticks together.

>”Let’s explore the surrounding area for clues”
>”We’ll wait for the next attack and hit them hard”
>”Asking around the tribe can’t hurt”
>Other (write in)

---

Gill, Grug, and Riptide have all temporarily been added to the Current Status so you can view their stats and abilities: https://pastebin.com/d4Z5Dbm7

>ask around the tribe

That way if they do attack in the meantime we will be around to slap their shit

>>4860069
>”Let’s explore the surrounding area for clues”

>>4860069
>”We’ll wait for the next attack and hit them hard”
...and beat the information out of the last one.

>>4860069
>”Asking around the tribe can’t hurt”

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>>4860069
HQM please give us a rundown of all Gill's spells. We're not doing this blindly.
Including Lesser Heal, because I constantly forget the dice numbers.

>>4860277
Whirlpool: 3d10+INT damage in an area (sort of like Fireball)- all people caught in the spell don't get an action that turn. If all enemies are caught, you basically get an extra turn.

Lesser Heal: Heals a target for 3d6+Int

Bubble Blast: Standard attack spell, 1d8+INT damage to a single target.

Light: Creates a wide radius of light around an object

Coral Growth: Allows for the manipulation of coral. Mainly to shape huts in the village, can also help get past reefs if they come up or move the environment in your favor if there's coral around.

Gotta get some recording done but will check in and final tally the votes and move forward afterwards!

>>4860226
>>4860227
>>4860266
>>4860268
Asking around the tribe

Writing!

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”Asking around the tribe can’t hurt” you answer, supporting Grug’s idea. Part of it is because you think it’s a valid strategy, but you’d be lying if you didn’t admit you also would rather listen to a fellow sapient’s advice than a monster’s.

”Well, we’ve already asked around the tribe before, but perhaps there’s something we missed” Gill cedes. ”It’s worth a try anyhow.”

The four of you spend the next half hour or so going around and asking random tribesmen and women some questions about if they heard or saw anything. Most accounts are more or less the same- the shrimple came in, the pistol shrimple used the shockwaves created by their claws to stun or scare people away, and on two occasions they managed to reach a giant clam and steal its contents before Riptide and Gill could scare them off.

The shrimple had yet to kill anyone, but they weren’t afraid to cause some serious injuries. Most injuries after an attack were things like nausea from the shockwaves or some bruises and scrapes, but one citizen actually had their arm broken when they got in the way of a mantis shrimple, and it’s yet to set properly. Another suffered serious damage to their hearing and has trouble understanding anyone anymore after getting caught in a close range pistol shrimple attack, and a third got their jaw busted up by another mantis shrimple, losing a few teeth in the process. Otherwise the injuries have largely been light, and they at least had the common decency not to hurt any of the tribe’s few children.

The only people that you haven’t interviewed yet that might have pertinent information are those that got close to the shrimple- the aforementioned severely hurt mermen or one of the children. If you want to get some more concrete information, one of them is your best bet.

>Marra, the merwoman who had her arm broken
>Deinu, the merman who suffered hearing damage
>Lazu, the merman who had his jaw busted up
>Tera, one of the children

>>4860487
>Deinu, the merman who suffered hearing damage
Intriguing, we might wanna learn more about those shockwaves.

>>4860487

>Marra, the merwoman who had her arm broken

Deinu might not understand our questions if his hearing is still shot, LAzu probably still can't talk right, and the child won't be much help. Marra should be able to tell us the most useful information, since she got hit by the mantis shrimple wave, which seems to be more dangerous anyways.

>>4860487
>Tera, one of the children

>>4860487
>>Deinu, the merman who suffered hearing damage
We can communicate with our MINDS so he might be willing to actually talk to someone again.

>>4860523
>>4860536
>>4860563
>>4860591
Talk to Deinu

Writing!

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You’re interested to hear what this Deinu character might know. Among the seriously injured, he was the only one that suffered an attack from a pistol shrimple rather than a mantis one. Perhaps he can give you some insight into the way their shockwave attacks work?

It doesn’t take you long to find him, as the merman shouts whenever he speaks- much to everyone else’s dismay. Still, his fellow tribesmen try their best to be kind and patient, though you can imagine how grating it is.

”Excuse me Deinu, we’d like to ask you a few questions” you say, approaching him after he finishes speaking with someone else.

”WHAT’S THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU- SPEAK UP!” he shouts back in response, causing you to wince.

Grug tries his hand next, speaking pretty loudly. ”HE SAID WE’VE GOT SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOU!”

”WHAT?” Deinu answers.

Fuck this. You concentrate for a moment and form a mental connection with the merman, speaking directly into his mind. I said we’d like to ask you a few questions- specifically about what happened when you were attacked.

The merman immediately perks up. ”I HAVEN’T HEARD ANYONE SO CLEARLY IN DAYS- WHO WAS THAT? WHO’S TALKING?” he shouts.

The human in the plate armor you specify, pointing to yourself. I’ve formed a mental connection to you using Aemis- err, the Sea Lord’s blessing. You can just speak with me telepathically.

Oh thank the Gods! I thought I’d never be able to have a normal conversation with someone again. Seriously, you have no idea how grateful I am human he responds, clasping your hand in his. As much as it grosses you out to be touched by a monster like that, the look on his face and the genuine joy you can feel through his connection melt your sapient supremacist heart enough to let the gesture pass- though you do rip your hand away a moment later.

No problem. Anyways, we were wondering what you could tell us about what happened when you got attacked you ask.

Deinu thinks for a moment. Well, I remember I was lost in thought about what I wanted for dinner that day, and by the time I realized people outside were shouting about an attack and fleeing towards Riptide’s hut, the shrimple were already nearby he explains.

You nod your head, urging him to continue.

Well, I pressed myself up against the wall of the hut and tried to hide. I remember overhearing them mention that they needed to get shiny things from the clams for someone- maybe their boss? he says.

(1/3)

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Did you get a name?

I can’t quite remember- it was Claw something. Clawdon, Clawson, Clawer...something like that. Anyways, my elbow accidentally bumps up against the wall, and the shrimple immediately looks towards me. This pistol shrimple walks straight up to me and fires a shockwave right in my face! Next thing I know, there’s this loud ringing in my ears, and I couldn’t move for a few seconds. Scariest thing I’ve ever experienced he tells you, visibly shivering.

This shockwave- how did he fire it? Did the shrimple have some kind of weapon?

No no, nothing like that. One of his claws had a small pincer on it. He cocked one side of it back, and a moment later it slammed back into its previous position. The force of it closing was so fast and strong that it was like it cut the water and the air itself and made that big shockwave explosion. It was like everything happened in slow motion and I couldn’t react in time he says.

I see, thank you for your time you tell him before turning to the rest of your group and explaining what you learned.

”I’m not sure how helpful that news is- we already knew they were using those claws to fire the shockwaves, though I suppose it may be useful to understand how it works” Gill explains. ”However, having a name is big- it implies that they really are working for some big boss we haven’t seen yet. If we can find and deal with him, I’m almost positive the attacks on our village will cease.”

Riptide nods in agreement. ”So all we gotta do is find this son of a squid and knock some sense into him, yeah? Sounds good to me!” the champion says, sporting a toothy grin. You can tell this guy really likes violence- perhaps if he weren’t born a monster, you would deem him worth converting to Conquest.

”Indeed. The problem is how we’re going to find him.”

”Uh...I think we’ve got bigger problems to worry about right now” Grug says, pointing towards the end of town.

You see a large group of shrimple, probably a dozen total, swimming towards the tribe rapidly. Immediately Gill shouts a warning, and the mermen start fleeing towards his hut.

Among the shrimple, there are three green ones with normal arms that have weird pincers pressed into their forearms, and nine pink ones that have claws, one of which is much larger and has a small pincer on it. Thanks to Deinu’s description, you know the pink ones are pistol shrimple, meaning the green ones must be mantis.

The mantis shrimple are at the front of the line in a group, while the pistols are split into three groups of three in a triangular formation a good distance apart from each other, and even further back from the mantis shrimple. You’ll admit that they’re well-coordinated.

(2/3)

Choices next post

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>Attack
>Use a technique (On My Orders)
>Do something fancy (What?)
>Give commands (What?)
>Other (write-in)

First round will be 1 hour, and I’ll try for 30 minute rounds afterwards. If there are no votes after the time limit, then the first vote that comes after the time limit ends will be used. If we don’t finish, we’ll resume first thing in the morning!

(3/3)

>>4860742
Attack one of the mantis shrimp

>>4860742
>Give Commands:
WHIRLPOOL these jerks while they're still close together!

>>4860817
The mantis shrimple or one of the pistol shrimple groups?

>>4860818
Let's go for the Pistoleers.

>>4860803
>>4860817
>>4860823
Alright, roll me 1d20+5 (+5 for DEX) for Herald's attack! You need a 14 or higher to hit.

If you make it, roll 1d10+8 (+7 for STR, +1 for Good Quality)

Rolled 5 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>4860826
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

>>4860875
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>4860803
>>4860817
>>4860823
The mantises are what crack the clams open. Without them, the pistols cannot do shit

File: tegaki.png (36 KB, 400x400)

36 KB PNG

Rolled 10, 6, 20 + 4 = 40 (3d20 + 4)

”Don’t be intimidated by their numbers- a few good hits are usually enough to send the rest packing” Gill explains, earning a curt nod from you. Quickly, you dig out your kite shield and shortsword and toss them to Grug. Thankfully whatever magic works with your bag of holding doesn’t cause it to suck up ocean water!

Even though you can move quite efficiently underwater, you’re still not used to doing so. Though you’re fast and nimble in the depths, you forget about the extra force needed to cut through the water, giving one of the mantis shrimp just enough time to dodge out of the way, though it’s definitely a close call.

Poor Grug, on the other hand, doesn’t have anywhere near your movement abilities and has to deal with an unfamiliar environment, and his swing gets nowhere close to connecting with a mantis shrimp.

Riptide, however, easily bursts forward and slashes at one of the foes with his sawfish sword, blood oozing from the open wound.

*Mantis Shrimple 1’s Health: -9 (31/40)*

Damn it, at this rate they’re going to overwhelm you with sheer numbers! ”Gill, hit one of the pistol shrimp groups with a whirlpool!” you command.

Gill pales a little. ”T-that spell is quite powerful Herald. I could kill them!”

”And?!” you retort. You’ve killed plenty of people before. These shrimple are invading their village- it’s only right that the mermen defend it with all their might.

Looking concerned, Gill nevertheless obeys- holding his trident out as a dark blue magic circle forms just above the prongs. ”Whirlpool!” he shouts, as a fifteen foot wide torrent of water forms in a rapid, tornado like structure over the leftmost group of pistol shrimple. The enemies panic and try to swim away, but they don’t stand a chance. The raging currents lash and tear at their bodies, and by the time the whirlpool dissipates, the water around them is stained with blood, the bodies sinking to the ocean floor lifelessly.

*Pistol Shrimple 1-3’s Health: -22 (-2/20)*

The other shrimple all look shocked at this display. ”You...you murderers!” one of the pistol shrimple calls out, sounding more terrified than angry.

One of the mantis at the front holds out an arm. ”You guys get back to the boss- we’ll cover your retreat! he commands.

”B-but these psychos might kill y-”

”I said GO!” he shouts, though you can tell he looks nervous. The other pistol shrimple pause for a moment before darting away in the direction they came from, leaving only your group and the mantis shrimple.

”You assholes are gonna pay for that” another mantis shrimple speaks up, rushing towards Gill- though Riptide jumps in the way. The other two go to strike at you!

---

Roll 1d20+5 (+5 for DEX) to dodge! The first two dice are against you, third is against Riptide.

Rolled 4, 1, 1 + 6 = 12 (3d4 + 6)

Rolling damage against Riptide

3d4+6 (+6 for STR)

File: tegaki.png (14 KB, 400x400)

14 KB PNG

The mantis shrimple rushing towards Riptide brings his arm down like he’s going to smash his forearm into the merman, only for the pincer pressed up to his forearm to suddenly snap downward, smacking the champion hard. A loud sound echoes from the mechanism, and even for how beefy the merman is, you can tell that was a nasty hit.

*Riptide’s Health: -12 (38/50)*

On the other hand, the two mantis shrimple that rush you try to do the same, but you easily dodge and weave between them with your swiftness and the help of Aemis’ blessing. They look genuinely confused at how a human is capable of such movements, leaving you to scoff at their inferiority.

>Attack
>Use a technique (On My Orders)
>Do something fancy (What?)
>Give commands (What?)
>Try to negotiate (What do you say? How do you go about it?)
>Other (write in)

---

Gonna shoot for a 30 minute round on this!

>>4860900
attack the weakened one, and then use blood in the water to finish it off

>>4860911
>>4860921
Alright, you know the drill!

1d20+5 (+5 for DEX) to hit- need a 14 or higher.

If you make it, 1d10+8 (+7 for STR, +1 for Good Quality) for damage!

File: Mantis Shrimple.png (22 KB, 400x400)

22 KB PNG

Now that you’ve got a better feel for movement underwater, you surge forward and easily slash at the injured mantis shrimple, more blood gushing from his form and coloring the water around him.

*Mantis Shrimple 1’s Health: -15 (16/40)*

Once he’s fairly bloodied, you see Riptide’s pupils dilate as he begins to breathe heavily. ”I can smell your WEAKNESS!” he roars, charging forward as he dives and slashes at the monster from all different angles. Honestly, even though he’s a monster himself, you have to admit it’s pretty fucking cool.

In only a few seconds, the mantis shrimple is incapacitated, but right as Riptide’s about to thrust his sword into the shrimple’s neck to finish it off, Gill shouts. ”Wait! We need them alive, remember?”

With those simple words, Riptide’s pupils shrink back to normal as he gets a hold of himself, backing off.

*Mantis Shrimple 1’s Health: -15 (1/40) (UNCONSCIOUS)*

After that, Gill holds out his trident and Grug starts charging forward, ready to strike- but the other two mantis shrimple put their hands up. ”Enough!” one of them cries out. ”Don’t kill us you damn savages- we surrender!”

Grug and Gill are still at the ready, and these monsters’ lives are in your hands- err, hand- now. Still, you can tell Gill was pretty shaken up from accidentally murdering those pistol shrimple, and they did say that the shrimple had never killed any of the mermen.

>Murder them. Monsters deserve no quarry- you only need the one alive.
>Have them bound and tied up- you’ll interrogate all three of them.
>Let them leave with their lives, as long as they swear never to return to this tribe.
>Other (write in)

>>4860961
>Have them bound and tied up- you’ll interrogate all three of them.
Feel bad for the three getting sliced up like that, but they were asking for shit happening after doing all they did. You would think they'd see this coming

>>4860961
>Have them bound and tied up- you’ll interrogate all three of them.
keep them alive for now
we need the information and we're already walking a on tightrope with these people

>>4860961
>Have them bound and tied up- you’ll interrogate all three of them.

>>4861023
+1
What's up with these guys being so shocked at getting killed when attacking another tribe? Is there some kind of unspoken rule underwater we aren't aware of?

>>4861246
We may have accidently violated the under-water geneva convention
WOOPS! At least it was against sub-humans at least

>>4860961
>Have them bound and tied up- you'll interrogate all three of them.

Also we might need to confirm this
>>4861274

>>4860967
>>4860977
>>4860978
>>4861023
>>4861246
>>4861348
Bind them up to interrogate

Writing!

>>4861246
Perhaps you can ask your fishy friends

File: tegaki.png (21 KB, 400x400)

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”Your lives will be spared as long as you cooperate. Gill, you guys got any rope down here?” you ask, not taking your eyes off the remaining shrimple as Grug and Riptide circle them.

”No, but I can make something work. Coral Growth!” he shouts, holding out his trident. You watch as coral from the nearby huts extends and reaches out, wrapping around the two mantis shrimple and their unconscious friend until their arms and legs are bound.

Riptide chuckles. ”You’re gonna have to fix that later, Gill.”

”I’ll get it taken care of. Right now…” he says, trailing off as he turns to face you. Seems they want you to lead this interrogation.

You take a few steps forward and examine the mantis shrimple more closely. All three are male, and none of them have any sort of clothing- though they don’t really have genitalia just hanging out either, so it’s not too disconcerting. Their bodies have chitinous shells. Both kinds of shrimple are drastically different from their distant, animal cousins.

”You crossed a line killing our brethren” one of them speaks up, looking towards Gill. ”You know the arrangement. Are you seriously breaking that? We’ve made a point never to go that far with your kind- we’re just here for the treasure!”

The priest looks down in shame, not answering their question. ”You attacked their tribe and hurt their people- you should’ve expected the possibility of death” you state matter of factly.

”Tch, a surface dweller wouldn’t understand. How the hell are you even down here anyway, human?” he asks, though he quickly freezes up when you put Decimator just underneath his throat.

”I’m the one asking the questions here.”

>Interrogate (What do you ask? How do you approach this?)

>>4861488
>"What arrangement were you talking about there? It has to do with your men dying, but why? I don't know any customs or treaties or anything you all have down here."
>"Does any other group know you're all here trying to rob the Glub-Glub tribe, or is this a secret operation?"
>"You took care to avoid dealing too many bad injuries, even avoiding hurting the children. There's clearly some decency there. You're not into this robbery on your own volition?"
>"Those riches you're stealing from this tribe... they're going to somebody for something. Anybody can assume it's for your leader, to sate his greed and vices... but no. They're for somebody past him, aren't they? They're payment. Who is your boss paying?
>"Are you shrimple being blackmailed or something similar to keep you forced to raid the Glub-Glub?"
>"And for that matter, who's your boss?" (if they don't answer it already by then)

>>4861488
>"What arrangement were you talking about there? It has to do with your men dying, but why? I don't know any customs or treaties or anything you all have down here."

Might as well get the whole picture before anything else!

>>4861488
>"What arrangement were you talking about there? It has to do with your men dying, but why? I don't know any customs or treaties or anything you all have down here."
and then:
>"You took care to avoid dealing too many bad injuries, even avoiding hurting the children. There's clearly some decency there. You're not into this robbery on your own volition?"

>>4861488
>"I have one objective and it isn't giving a fuck about your customs, The lord of the sea sent me to solve this and I sure as hell will solve it once and for all, now tell me your motives, who do you serve and how do you justify your actions, if you don't answer correctly those will be your last words"
Or something along those lines

>>4861542
>>4861562
>>4861759
What combo of questions do you wanna go with, and in which order?

>>4861517
>>4861542
>>4861562
>>4861759
Writing!

Forgive me, today has been busy as hell. Will try to get this out in a timely manner

File: tegaki.png (14 KB, 400x400)

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”What arrangement are you talking about? It has to do with your men dying, but why? I don’t know any customs or treaties or anything you all have down here” you ask.

One of the mantis shrimple sucks his teeth in. ”You surface-dweller bastards just kill each other like it’s no problem then? How do you even function as a society?” he fires back at you.

This time, Gill speaks up. ”Killing is pretty serious, but aside from that it’s important for us Aquans not to thin each other’s numbers out” he explains.

”Aquans?”

”That’s the general name for the non-sapient races that live underwater” Grug fills you in.

Gill nods. ”The ocean is a fierce and unforgiving place. Giant squids, killer whales, and sharks are all things we have to contend with. Besides, this is one of the shallower areas of the ocean. There are much deeper parts of the sea that even we don’t explore- and occasionally something truly monstrous comes up from those depths. Because of all the threats, us Aquans generally agree not to murder each other. There’s already enough things that can kill us, and that way we can trust one another to work together when these threats arise.”

”I see…” you say, thinking the matter over. This at least explains why they didn’t try to injure anyone too badly when they could help it. On one hand, it makes sense, but on the other do you really give a shit about monsters’ lives? Well, for now at least you should play along. ”My apologies” you say half-heartedly before moving on with your interrogation.

(1/2)

File: tegaki.png (26 KB, 400x400)

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”Are you doing these robberies of your own volition?” you ask now, eyeing the mantis shrimp who spoke up.

”Yeah, we do this because we choose to” he answers, glaring at you.

”The riches you’re stealing from this tribe...they’re going to somebody for something” you point out, taking a few steps closer.

”What’s it matter to you?” he shoots back, earning a hard punch to his jaw- you think you hear his chitinous shell crack a little.

”Maybe you should be a little more cooperative?” you say, readying your first again.

”Clawson...they go to our boss Clawson” the other one says, earning a surprised look from his teammate.

”Is this a secret operation? Is this Clawson blackmailing you?” you push further.

”No, damn it- we’re doing this on our own! We want to help our boss, you dick!” the first one speaks up again.

”Okay, and why is that?”

They both fall silent at this, and the first one doesn’t even budge until you punch him several more times. ”As a man it’s his business- we can’t go talking about that! Deal with it” he says, though his tough exterior is starting to fade a little.

You sigh. ”Fine then, tell me about this boss of yours.”

”He’s a giant crab” the second one answers, ”takes good care of our people. He needs the treasure for something important, and no one’s got as many shinies as the Glub-Glub” he answers.

”Bullshit” Riptide cuts in. ”Why wouldn’t he just come here himself? A giant crab would be powerful enough to take our tribe on his own. Why would he send shrimple to do the work?”

”None of your business, that’s why!” the second one retorts.

>”Where is your boss?”
>”Are giant crabs really that strong?” (To Riptide)
>Push them further about what he needs the treasure for (Intimidation roll)
>Other (write in)

(2/2)

>>4862219
>Push them further about what he needs the treasure for (Intimidation roll)
Some SHRIMP is starting to sound reaaaaal tasty right about now...

>>4862219
>>Push them further about what he needs the treasure for (Intimidation roll)
Time to bully some disgusting NON-HUMANS

>>4862219
>Push them further about what he needs the treasure for (Intimidation roll)
I get the feeling this is yet another thread in the Silas conspiracy. This gold and riches are going to fund SOMETHING out there

reminder to EVERYBODY in this thread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvtkoOkNPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvtkoOkNPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvtkoOkNPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvtkoOkNPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvtkoOkNPg

>inb4 Clawson is Silas in a crab suit

>>4862219
>Push them further about what he needs the treasure for (Intimidation roll)
AND
>”Where is your boss?”
We need to get to the bigger fish... err, crab.

>>4862296
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCk2ppH2XnU

>>4862219
>Push them further about what he needs the treasure for (Intimidation roll)

>>4862225
>>4862253
>>4862262
>>4862290
>>4862296
>>4862313
Intimidation + Where is your boss

Alright, roll me 1d20+8 (+6 for CHA, +2 for Intimidation). You need a 20 or higher to make them crack!

Rolled 13 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>4862718

File: tegaki.png (28 KB, 400x400)

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The more you think about it, the more confused you are about this mystery boss’ motives. Is money really that important down here? If so, why doesn’t the giant crab just come here himself if he’s supposedly strong enough to take on the village? You decide to press further on the point by grabbing one of the mantis shrimple by the neck and shaking them.

”Why the hell does this Clawson guy need so much treasure?” you ask again, this time more sternly.

”Fuck...you!” the mantis shrimple responds.

You take a moment to gather your force of will, exerting it outwards as you focus solely on making this poor sod shit himself in fear. With the shrimple trapped like he is combined with your menacing aura, you ask him one final time- lowering your voice. ”Why does he need the treasure?”

”It’s...it’s…” the one you’re holding stammers.

”It’s for love!” the other one says, causing you to loosen your grip.

”Come again?” you ask, somewhat in disbelief.

”It’s for love. Giant crabs only search for mates every five years or so, and for the last several cycles, Clawson’s been busy helping our tribe get on its feet and fighting off dangerous threats. Now that the next mating season is coming up soon, he needs shinies to attract a mate, and we want to help him. If he came here and took any damage, he might look too weak to a female giant crab” the shrimple explains.

”So that’s what it is…” Gill says, his eyes widening as everything suddenly clicks into place.


”I’m not one to cockblock a guy, but we can’t just give away our treasure or let it be taken. We need that to trade with surface dwellers and other tribes! The other tribesmen are too peaceful- money’s all they’ve got going for them” Riptide says.

Monsters are...capable of love? The whole conversation causes you to zone out for a moment, remembering your date with Trina and all the jewelry you bought trying to impress her. Before you realize it, you actually feel a small pang of empathy for this giant crab. Damn it, it’s just a fucking monster!

Shaking your head, you jump back to questioning. ”Where is he? Where’s Clawson?” you ask.

”...He’s that way” the first shrimple answers with a defeated tone, gesturing his head in a direction. ”Inside the cave just outside the coral reef. It’s not too far.”

Well, now you know their motives and where this bastard’s at. How are you going to tackle this?

>Going in hot- a monster’s a monster, and a good ass kicking will do just fine
>Diplomacy- it may be a monster, but if it can love then it can probably be reasoned with
>Kindness. Maybe you can donate some of your own items and gold towards its mission so it won’t have to raid the Glub-Glub anymore
>Other (write in)

>>4862783
>Diplomacy- it may be a monster, but if it can love then it can probably be reasoned with

>>4862783
>Diplomacy- it may be a monster, but if it can love then it can probably be reasoned with

I see it like this--if we go for a long-term solution, we won't have to deal with friggin' monsters for a long time.

>>4862783
>Diplomacy- it may be a monster, but if it can love then it can probably be reasoned with
Is Herald-sama's sapient-supremacy losing its intensity? Who knows! Let's stay tuned to find out.

>>4862783
>Going in hot- a monster’s a monster, and a good ass kicking will do just fine
Cuck monster has to go

>diplomacy

Our guys need this treasure to trade.

If they can't trade they will no doubt start to suffer and die, therefore these raids have broken the understanding between sea creatures that no killing shall take place.

we mearly responded in kind.

Perhaps we can negotiate an agreement to loan some treasure to Mr crab untill he gets his hole

Heads up lads, I have a doctor's appointment to get to early this morning along with some other responsibilities, so first update will be later in the day than usual. Will try to be a bit faster so I can still get 3-4 updates out- so keep your eyes peeled when it's time to vote!

>>4862783
>Diplomacy- it may be a monster, but if it can love then it can probably be reasoned with
We are on a timed mission with the orc faction to stop a war brewing. We recently lost our arm and we don't want to take out a giant enemy crab with only us and Grug with us. Gill and Riptide, while useful, are MONSTERS.
I think Herald's logic should be a combination of >>4862953's "go for the long-term solution and make these monsters stop being a problem" and >>4863230's "hey, as long as he gets the girl, he can always give the treasure back later himself, can't he?"

>>4863230
And the logic of "Our guys need this treasure to trade. If they can't trade they will no doubt start to suffer and die, therefore these raids have broken the understanding between sea creatures that no killing shall take place."
Herald is still sapient supremacist, he's just going for the easy pragmatism route and leaving the heavy lifting with the treasure arrangement to these monsters

>>4863426
Hope it's nothing too serious.

>>4862811
>>4862841
>>4862953
>>4863042
>>4863224
>>4863230
>>4863431
Diplomacy

>>4863505
Just a physical, all gucci

Writing!

File: tegaki.png (26 KB, 400x400)

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You pull your team into a huddle, far enough away from the shrimple so they won’t overhear. ”Alright, it seems like we might be able to reason with this Clawson fellow.”

”Reason? He’s been stealing our shit! We should give him a thrashing!” Riptide interjects.

Gill holds up a hand. ”No, Herald’s right. There’s no need to hurt ourselves or anyone else if we can avoid it- especially after the unfortunate loss of those shrimples’ lives…” he says, trailing off a little. You can tell the kills are weighing heavily on his mind, but as a man of Conquest it’s starting to piss you off. You get why they have such an arrangement, but the fact was that your group was simply stronger- and thus you had the right to take their lives. Of course, there’s no point explaining the nuances of Conquest to filthy beasts.

”Right” you answer through gritted teeth, trying to remember that these are filthy beasts and not actual people like you and Grug. ”If we can actually get to the boss, then I can probably help arrange something with him. I’ve got a way with words” you tell them.

Grug chuckles, ”Humble too.”

”Fine fine, I get it” Riptide concedes. ”How are we gonna spin this though? The cave’s bound to have guards, and if those pistol shrimple that ran off headed there, then everyone knows we murdered those guys. I doubt they’ll be happy to see us.l”

”If we explain ourselves and apologize, maybe we can convince them to let us see their boss” Gill perks up.

”Or we could just fight them! Non-lethally, of course. We only need to speak diplomatically with the big guy himself, right?” Grug says.

”It’s not usually my style, but we could just try to be sneaky. If we don’t get seen, then we won’t have to worry about either of those problems” Riptide adds.

You weigh your options, thinking of what the best way to handle the other shrimple would be. Your teammates bring up some solid ideas, but of course maybe you’ve got a plan of your own…

>Explain what happened and apologize. If you can convince them it was an honest mistake, you won’t need to risk any fights.
>Just beat up whoever gets in your way until you reach the boss. You’ll be careful this time, honest!
>They can’t hit what they can’t see! It’s stealth time, baby!
>Other (write in)

>stealth
And if that fails we can just beat them up

>>4863703
>Stealth
Let's ninja this shit

>>4863703
>Just beat up whoever gets in your way until you reach the boss. You’ll be careful this time, honest!

>>4863703
>They can’t hit what they can’t see! It’s stealth time, baby!
GHOST RUN

>>4863703
>Just beat up whoever gets in your way until you reach the boss. You’ll be careful this time, honest!

>>4863773
>>4863778
>>4863781
>>4863908
>>4863967
Stealth

Writing!

File: tegaki.png (23 KB, 400x400)

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”Riptide’s right” you say. ”Avoiding the shrimple altogether is best. I doubt we’ll be able to convince them we have good intentions, and if we fight them and knock them all out, then their boss may be less inclined towards diplomacy. Our best bet is to try and slip in undetected.”

Riptide blows air out of his nose triumphantly, a smug grin on his fishy face. ”See? This guy gets it!”

”So we’re doing a ghost run then?” Grug asks.

”Ghost run?”

”It’s what our military calls an operation where we try to go completely undetected for our entire mission” he explains. ”It also sounds really cool.”

”Ooo, I quite like that- has an exotic ring to it!” Gill quips.

You hold up a hand before they go into an off-topic tangent. ”Sure- we’ll call it a ghost run. Now come on, let’s get moving” you say, heading in the direction the shrimple gestured towards.

Your team only has to travel about a half hour away before encountering a cave with two pistol shrimple on guard outside the entrance- no doubt the place they were talking about. You and your group position yourselves behind a large rock not too far away. Peeking your head out, you’re surprised to see how vigilant the guards look- probably because they heard the news from those other shrimple about the guys Gill killed. You’ll have to use your 10,000 IQ brain to deal with them.

>Throw a rock to attract their attention and sneak in
>Have one of your teammates make a distraction so the others can sneak in (Who? Any specifics for how they distract?)
>Quickly try and take them down stealthily. Two guards won’t prove much of a fight against your squad
>Other (write in)

>>4864022
>Throw a rock to attract their attention and sneak in
Stealth 101

>>4864022
>Throw a rock to attract their attention and sneak in
Compensating for being underwater, of course. We'd look really silly if we tossed a pebble and it barely made a noise!

>>4864022
>Quickly try and take them down stealthily. Two guards won’t prove much of a fight against your squad

>>4864022
>Throw a rock to attract their attention and sneak in
Hell yeah brother

>>4864063
>>4864125
>>4864135
>>4864173
>>4864179
Throw a rock

Roll me 1d20+6 (+5 for DEX, +1 for Stealth)

Rolled 9 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>4864464
Watch THIS

File: stone toss haha get it li(...).png (15 KB, 400x400)

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Thinking for a moment, your genius brain decides to fall back on a classic tactic. You pick up a pebble near the large rock your group is behind, and right as you’re about to toss it, you suddenly remember two things.

1. You’re underwater, so you need to put extra force behind it for it to really go anywhere
2. Because you’re underwater, it won’t really make a sound unless it hits something with enough of said force

Taking those factors into account, you look to the coral reef near the cave- a convenient target. You throw the rock towards it, a small clattering sound ringing out that catches the guards’ attention.

”You hear that Juan?” the one on the left says.

”Yeah, let’s go see what’s up Pedro” the other on the right responds, the two swimming over to check out the scene.

It’s then that your group makes their move. ”Ghost run! Grug whispers as the four of you book it towards the cave, just managing to get inside and get deep enough to be unseen before the guards return.

”Must’ve been the wind” Pedro murmurs.

”There’s no wind underwater, retard. Why would you think that?” Juan asks, earning an elbow to his torso.

*SKILL INCREASE! (Stealth: 2)*

Ignoring the two morons out front, you make your way further inside. As you do, you notice that it’s not really as large or as complex as the goblins’ cave that you took on a while back. It only goes in one direction, though you are stopped again by a large gathering room with nine pistol shrimple- the ones who ran away- and two other mantis shrimple. It seems they’re conversing about something, but you can’t quite make it out from here.

>Get low to the ground and crawl past them. They’ll never expect it!
>Don your Flawless Disguise and convince them there’s danger outside that needs their attention while your teammates hide until they leave.
>Cause a distraction somehow and sneak by (What do you do?)
>Other (write in)

>>4864502
>Other (write in)
>Eavesdrop for a moment--maybe what they're talking about can assist in a distraction!

>>4864519
+1

>>4864519
+1

>>4864519
Aw yeah, we stealth mode now

>>4864519
+1

>>4864519
>>4864611
>>4864682
>>4864683
>>4864769
Eavesdrop!

Alright, roll me 1d20+7 (+5 for DEX, +2 for Stealth) to try and get in close enough to hear without being seen.

Gonna go for a walk so I'll check back in and update maybe in ~an hour or so, give or take

Rolled 7 + 7 (1d20 + 7)

>>4864940
watch this nat 1 baby

>>4864959
You failed to fail. Is this a hyperfailure or a win?

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You and your teammates inch a bit closer, sticking tightly to the wall and going as far as you can towards the lobby area without entering the room proper to get a bead on what they’re talking about.

”So Marco…” one of the mantis shrimple speaks up.

”Yeah. Dead” one of the returned pistol shrimple responds, looking despondent.

”I can’t believe it...what are we gonna tell Maria? How do we say sorry, those nutjob mermen and some surface dwellers killed your fiance?” another pistol shrimple speaks up.

”We’ll just have to figure it out” the first says, holding up a claw. ”More importantly, they could be on their way here. If they aren’t afraid to kill, then I’m not sure if those three were able to stop them. They bought time for us to make it back, but they could be on their way here right now. We have to stay vigilant”

”Ah” the other mantis shrimple says, looking nervous.

”What?”

”It’s just...I kind of ordered some sushi”

The pistol shrimple waves his big claw dismissively. ”It’s fine, we already told you guys what they looked like- you should be able to tell the difference between the people we fought and whoever brings your food.”

It’s then that you hear something shifting in the water next to you. Turning to face the source of the noise, you see some bubbles rising from Grug’s butt as he looks away. ”That’s weird” he whispers. ”Must’ve been the wind.”

You don’t even have time to facepalm before you see the other shrimple on alert, a few of them moving to check out what made the noise.

>Quickly, slap your Flawless Disguise on someone and have them pretend to be the sushi delivery guy! You still have that half a serving of salmon- you can make it work! (Who?)
>Try to perform stealth takedowns and fight whoever’s leftover- it’ll be easier that way
>Retreat further towards the entrance. If you’re careful you can probably get away with it and come back in a bit
>Other (write in)

>>4865035
>Quickly, slap your Flawless Disguise on someone and have them pretend to be the sushi delivery guy! You still have that half a serving of salmon- you can make it work! (Who?)
Ourself

>>4865035
>Try to perform stealth takedowns and fight whoever’s leftover- it’ll be easier that way
Time for cool finishers, baby!

>>4865040
+1 all day long!

"Here's your sushi Mr! Say, I hear there is a giant crab around here? Any chance I could meet him? I spoke to one the other day who was looking for a mate and she was really nice...

>>4865040
>Quickly, slap your Flawless Disguise on someone and have them pretend to be the sushi delivery guy! You still have that half a serving of salmon- you can make it work! (Who?)
Ourselves
what could possibly go wrong

>>4865040
>>4865046
>>4865099
>>4865143
Disguise time!

Roll 1d20+3 (+6 for CHA, + 2 for Deception, -5 for Sapient Supremacist). Taking the best of two rolls since you're using inside information to sell your lie.

Rolled 7 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4865368
Watch this

Rolled 10 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4865368
EVERYBODY HANG ON TO SOMETHING

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You know what must be done.

Donning the FLAWLESS DISGUISE, you motion for the rest of the group to stay put for now as you step out from the shadows with the remainder of your yellow perch- which the QM totally remembered was yellow perch and not salmon- wrapped in some of the kelp from Gill’s undergarment.

Hopefully they won’t mind.

”I’m here for a delivery!” you call as you step out, holding the food.

Immediately the mantis shrimple take up a fighting stance, ready to attack. ”It’s one of those surface dweller bastards! He’s got plate armor and everything, just like you guys said!” one of them shouts.

”Wait, wait!” one of the pistol shrimple calls out, holding up his big claw. ”The human that was with them looked nothing like this- it’s a completely different person” he assures them. The mantis shrimple relax a little, though they still look wary.

”That said” the pistol shrimple continues, ”how are you breathing and moving underwater like that?”

”Uh…”

”And why are you the one delivering my sushi?” the other mantis shrimple asks. ”I left my order earlier this morning with the chef back in our tribe. There aren’t any humans around there- so why the hell are you delivering it?”

Shit- these are questions you really didn’t think through! They look pretty suspicious of you- you’ll have to sell a convincing enough lie to buy time for your friends to sneak past them.

>”Uhh...I’m a new hire?”
>”I’m a shrimple from the tribe- I’ve been keeping a low profile until now because my rare condition makes me look human. I’m done hiding though, and got this job to prove I have a place in our society!”
>”Actually, I’m a passing follower of Aemis. On my way over, some ruthless, evil, handsome human bastard killed the poor delivery man before I could stop him. The previous delivery guy’s last request was for me to bring you your order, so that he could pass on with no job left unfinished...”
>Other (write in)

Also realized earlier I accidentally drew Herald with two arms. Just clarifying he still only has one- I'm just dumb and keep forgetting to draw him the new way

>>4865486
>”Uhh...I’m a new hire?”
Just trying to make a buck, man.

>>4865486
>”Actually, I’m a passing follower of Aemis. On my way over, some ruthless, evil, handsome human bastard killed the poor delivery man before I could stop him. The previous delivery guy’s last request was for me to bring you your order, so that he could pass on with no job left unfinished...”

>>4865486
>I’m a shrimple from the tribe- I’ve been keeping a low profile until now because my rare condition makes me look human. I’m done hiding though, and got this job to prove I have a place in our society!”

>>4865486
>”Actually, I’m a passing follower of Aemis. On my way over, some ruthless, evil, handsome human bastard killed the poor delivery man before I could stop him. The previous delivery guy’s last request was for me to bring you your order, so that he could pass on with no job left unfinished...”
It seems as through you have "the phantom sketch" instead of phantom pain

>>4865621
Supporting

>>4865621
+1

Genuine apologies lads, but forgot I had a tabletop session tonight and am still in the middle of it. Will probably call it for the night here, but will try to make up for it tomorrow!

As always, thanks for reading and playing A Herald's Journey!

>>4865621
+1

>>4865796
based tabletop forgetter

>>4866103
Based and genuine-apology-pilled

>>4865493
>>4865508
>>4865519
>>4865621
>>4865647
>>4865671
>>4866045
The tragedy approach

Roll me 1d20+3 (+6 for CHA, +2 for Deception, -5 for Sapient Supremacist) to sell your act. You need a 15 or higher for them to buy it.

Rolled 15 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>4866242
Incoming nat one boss

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”Actually…” you begin, doing your best to sound upset, ”I’m a passing follower of Aemis- gifted with his blessing. While I was travelling nearby, some ruthless, evil, handsome human bastard killed the poor delivery man before I could stop him.” You make a point to feign at wiping your eyes and choking up, causing one of the mantis shrimple to put a comforting hand on your shoulder.

Meanwhile, you subtly gesture with your foot, and the others quickly start crawling past while you keep them distracted. ”The previous delivery guy’s last request was...was for me to bring you your order, so that he could pass on with no job left unfinished…” you tell them, pretending to cry as you put a hand over your eyes.

”By the Gods...that’s terrible” the mantis shrimple says, tearing up as well. ”You’re a good man for finishing his work- Aemis would be proud of your service.”

”So there’s still good people in this world after all” one of the pistol shrimple chuckles, holding back his own tears. ”Why don’t you go see our boss? It’s just a straight shot down the hall- and he can give you a bigger tip than we can. You deserve it for your good deed”

”Thank you...thank you” you say, peeking between the fingers of your hand. You see a thumbs up from Grug before the rest of your teammates hide around the corner. Once they’re out of sight, you say a quick goodbye to the shrimple and head on through, meeting up with your allies again.

SKILL INCREASE! (Deception: 3)*

”How the hell did you pull that off?” Riptide asks as you take off the FLAWLESS DISGUISE.

”It’s called acting, something you wouldn’t understand” you retort, earning a frown from the big merman. ”Now come on, we have a giant crab to negotiate with.”

(1/2)

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You don’t have to travel much further before coming to the end of the cave- a large, open room with an enormous crustacean in the center, the top of his body partially covered in gold jewelry, pearls, and precious gemstones. He’s speaking with two other mantis shrimple at the moment, though stops upon your group entering.

”And who might you four be? Surely not the ones who murdered Marco, Bruno, and Tomas?” the creature asks in a booming voice. At this comment, the two mantis shrimple ready themselves for battle.

Gill puts up a hand. ”H-hold, please! That was an honest to Gods accident, and we swear to make proper reparations soon! First though, we are just here to make a diplomatic arrangement!” he shouts.

You nod your head, stepping forward to take over. ”The Glub-Glub people are getting hurt in these attacks, and even your men unfortunately died after the battle became too chaotic. It’s not sustainable for either of us- so we need to come to some sort of agreement and put these raids to an end.”

For a moment, you feel a powerful force of will coming from the giant crab, and fully expect him to slam his enormous claw onto your crew and squish them- but at the last minute you feel that force recede as he lets out a heavy sigh.

”You’re not wrong- there is too much damage and bloodshed for this to continue. What sort of arrangement do you have in mind, then?”

>You’ll give the Glub-Glub their treasure back and stop raiding them, and in return I’ll teach you how to woo the ladies myself
>You’ll keep the Glub-Glub’s treasure for now, and they’ll lend you some more, but you’ll give it all back after your mating season and offer them some of your protection for a period of time afterwards in exchange
>You can keep the treasure you’ve taken for good, but you’ll have to find however much more you need elsewhere- and you’ll owe the Glub-Glub a few favors should they need to call on you or your people
>Other (write in)

(2/2)

>>4866289
>You’ll give the Glub-Glub their treasure back and stop raiding them, and in return I’ll teach you how to woo the ladies myself
Time to become a dating guru and help out this poor crab so he doesn't become a /r9k/ user

>>4866289
>You’ll keep the Glub-Glub’s treasure for now, and they’ll lend you some more, but you’ll give it all back after your mating season and offer them some of your protection for a period of time afterwards in exchange

And if he tries any "oh you killed our guys" shit we can remind him that if he just asked to borrow the treasure instead of stealing it all the violence could of been avoided

>>4866289
>You’ll keep the Glub-Glub’s treasure for now, and they’ll lend you some more, but you’ll give it all back after your mating season and offer them some of your protection for a period of time afterwards in exchange
Dude you could have been nice about it this whole time. What did you think would happen when the townspeople hire outside help who don't know about the no-kill underwater customs?

>>4866289
>Other (write in)
We kill you, cook you, eat you, and take the treasure back.

>>4866289
>You’ll keep the Glub-Glub’s treasure for now, and they’ll lend you some more, but you’ll give it all back after your mating season and offer them some of your protection for a period of time afterwards in exchange

>>4866375
+1 for roleplaying our Supremacist perk.
Too little conquesting recently.

>>4866341
>>4866348
>>4866371
>>4866375
>>4866404
>>4866439
Loan out treasure to help with his task in exchange for its return and some protection

Roll me 1d20+4 (+6 for CHA, +3 for Persuasion, -5 for Sapient Supremacist) to sell him on the deal. A 15 and he's agreeable but pushes for a counter-offer, a 20 or higher and he takes it as is.

Rolled 3 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4866460
NAT 1

>>4866480
...that was a practice roll, right?

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”Alright, listen- you can keep the treasure you have now, and the Glub-Glub will even lend you some more. After your mating season is done though, you give it all back and provide them protection for a period of time” you offer.

The crab seems bashful at the mention of his mating season. ”You know about that?”

You nod. ”I do. It’s a pretty generous offer- you should take it.”

Clawson thinks for a while before eventually shaking his body.

”No. No, you’ve killed my men- that’s not enough” he says.

Gill protests before you get a chance to speak. ”We said we’d work out reparations later- this deal is good!”

You glower as well, not having any of this monster’s shit. ”Need I remind you that none of this shit, including your fucking men dying, would’ve happened if you’d just explained yourselves and asked to borrow the treasure to begin with?!” you shout back, losing your cool a little.

”Ah yes, the Glub-Glub would’ve happily given their entire treasure stores to the giant crab, and totally believed that he would return them wholesale instead of giving them to the people he protects. Yes, that makes absolute sense” he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. The gesture looks peculiar with his eyestalks.

This stupid, ignorant, disgusting, revolting, piece of shit, retarded fucking monster is turning down such a generous offer? This is why they deserve less- this is why they’re monsters and you and Grug are actually people! All they do is act on instinct and emotion- they don’t fucking think!

Even still, you have to make this work because of your fucking favor to Aemis. You take a deep breath and let your anger subside a little. Despite how frustrating the crab is, Gill and Riptide have been pretty good to you thus far. Losing your cool and getting derailed about monsters because of one example of retardation isn’t going to get you anywhere- you have to remember even sapients have bad moments.

Right now, you need to come up with a solution to this.

>Make a counter-offer (What do you suggest/add?)
>Intimidate him into accepting (Difficult, failure could make peace talks harder)
>Beat some fucking sense into the animal (Fight)
>Other (write in)

>>4866521
>Beat some fucking sense into the animal (Fight)

>>4866500
Was a Sapient Supremacist moment.

>>4861488
I just noticed Herald has both hands in that post, lol

>>4866521
>Well Mr clawson, what would you consider a reasonable solution?

Let him show his position then we can negotiate in between ours

>>4866545
this

>>4866764
+1

>>4866521
>>4866764
+1 This!

>>4866764
+1, throw the ball into his court

>>4866545
>>4866764
>>4866825
>>4866846
>>4866882
>>4866955
>>4867046
Ask Clawson what he considers reasonable

>>4866691
Yeah made a comment about it in a spoiler text on a previous post- my bad!

Writing, but it's gonna take a while. Apologies for delays, I have to get this lab done and it's taking much longer than I thought. Thank you for your patience- hopefully I'll have something out in the next couple of hours or so!

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Swallowing your anger, you cool your head and decide to turn the tables on him. ”Well Mr. Clawson, what would you consider a reasonable solution?” you ask him.

”All the treasure in Glub-Glub, permanently, as restitution for the lives lost after my mating season is over. After which we’d have a peace treaty” he answers matter-of-factly.

”That’s ludicrous!” Gill calls out. ”You’d be dooming our people!”

”Your people deserve to be doomed! You know how serious breaking the arrangement is. Have the Bub-See tribe, the shrimple people, not fought by the Glub-Glub’s side when the sharks came? Or the giant squids? Or when the true horrors from the abyss found their way to our lands? The Aquans have always stuck together because we could trust one another, and you’ve sullied that!” he shouts back, his voice rising.

”Hey, the Glub-Glub suffered because of your tribesmen too! Up until today they just beat them back- did you know someone in the village went deaf because of one of your pistol shrimple bastards? He cried with joy because he was finally able to have a conversation with me thanks to Aemis’ blessing for the first time in days. Did you know another tribeswoman's arm was broken? How is she to work and take care of her family?”

The giant crab pauses at this, looking at the mantis shrimple below him. ”Is what he’s saying true? Did they really sustain such damage?”

”I didn’t hear about no lady with a broken arm, but I do know Marco panicked when he saw a merman listening in on a conversation about you and shot him point blank. I could believe that’d deafen someone…” he admits.

Clawson takes a moment to think about the news. ”Though it’s not as serious as murder, I can see how the Glub-Glub were pushed to such extremes. I was unaware that the Glub-Glub’s people had suffered such damage- I sincerely apologize” he states. ”How about this then? I’ll borrow the rest of your treasure until my mating season ends, at which point I will give half of it back to your people. Additionally, we will offer medical aid from the Bub-See tribe to your wounded. There is a doctor amongst the shrimple’s people that might be able to help. Would this suffice?” he offers.

>”Alright, deal”
>”No, that’s not good enough” (Counter-offer)
>”That offer is too insulting. Fuck you, fuck this no kill bullshit pact. I’m gonna beat your ass until you give back what’s rightfully theirs!” (Attack)
>Other (write in)

>>4867313
>”Alright, deal”
Let's just handle this and go already
>Marco panicked when he saw a merman listening in on a conversation about you and shot him point blank
>>4866289
>the ones who murdered Marco, Bruno, and Tomas?
The guy that deafened the old man was one of the three we killed, it would seem. Funny.

>>4867313
>>4867317
+1 this. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. The Glub-Glubs and Shrimples can work together to recoup their treasure losses by trading with landlubbers--no need to breed any more enmity.

Also heads up since this is probably the last update for the night.

Tomorrow I'll be pretty busy with school. I'll try to get an update or two out, but if I don't that's why. As always, thanks for reading and playing A Herald's Journey!

>>4867313
>”No, that’s not good enough” (Counter-offer)
Give 75% of it back.

>>4867313

>”Alright, deal”

If these merpeople are fine with it, let's get the fuck out of here. It'll be hard times for a while, but if it breaks the cycle of violence, whatever. We've got better shit to do than solve these monsters' problems.

>>4867313
>”Alright, deal”
Sometimes, negotiating's about taking a loss.

>alright deal

So long as the merpeople agree.

I know we don't really give a shit about these monsters, but remember this is returning a favour to aemis and we would do well to keep him sweet considering we are going to be doing a lot of sailing in the near future

>>4867407
+1

>>4867407
Support

>>4867317
>>4867322
>>4867330
>>4867407
>>4867416
>>4867459
>>4867630
>>4867927
>>4867991
Alright, deal

Writing! Brain fried as shit, if for whatever reason it's not out tonight, it will be tomorrow morning

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”Alright, deal.”

Clawson blinks once, looking surprised by your sudden acceptance. Did he expect more of a back and forth? Gill looks as though he’s going to speak up for a moment before shutting his mouth and nodding quietly.

”Then it’s settled. Hopefully when all is said and done, the Bub-See and the Glub-Glub can get along and continue to work together when the real threats come” Clawson says, closing the deal. ”I’ll have Diego and Jorge here escort you out so there aren’t any issues.”

The two mantis shrimple flank your group, leading you out of the cave. The pistol shrimple in the lobby look surprised to see you all, and the guards are no different, but nevertheless your two escorts are able to explain things and get you through without incident. Once you’re outside, one of them- Diego, you think- gives you a curt bow before they both head back in.

Despite having achieved your goal, there’s an awkward silence that lingers as the four of you head back towards the Glub-Glub tribe. Feeling strange about it after a few minutes, you make an attempt to start up a conversation.

”So everything’s settled now, right?” you ask.

Riptide shrugs. ”I guess so” he mutters, ”but it ain’t a good deal.”

”What do you mean?”

Gill speaks up this time. ”We pleaded for your assistance when we were missing two giant clams worth of treasure. Now, after this deal is finished, we’ll be missing two and a half giant clams worth. I’m grateful you were able to get the raids to cease and work things out peacefully, but we murdered people and got short changed” he tells you.

”We did our best” Grug says, jumping to your defense. ”We didn’t exactly get a solid run down on the rules before we jumped into the thick of it!”

”He knows” Riptide says. ”We’re not upset with you two- we’re grateful. It’s just a bad time all around. Try to understand where we’re coming from here.”

>”Well, is there any way I can help you find some more treasure before we leave?”
>”Here, take this…” (Give gold/items. Which items and/or how much gold?)
>”I’m sorry it was less than ideal, but my job is done here and I have my own mission to attend to. Farewell” (Leave amicably)
>”You know what? Fuck you stupid fish people and your shitty attitudes- I didn’t even WANT to do this sidequest!” (Leave with hostility)
>Other (write in)

>>4868894
>”You know what? Fuck you stupid fish people and your shitty attitudes- I didn’t even WANT to do this sidequest!” (Leave with hostility)
If you're gonna piss off Aemis with a half-ass job, you may as well go all in.

>>4868898
I'll let you know OOC that, at the very least, your favor will be considered paid back to Aemis here. Unless you did something ludicrous like kill Gill and Riptide or attack the Glub-Glub right now, you're good to go as far as the favor is concerned regardless of reaction

>>4868894
>”Here, take this gold” (88)
I have a feeling we may run into these guys again in the future for whatever reason so better leave on good terms.

>>4868894
>>4869069
+1 this. You never know when we'll be running into sea critters again!

>return to village
>Put some treasure from the clams into bag of holding
>When shrimple turn up to collect let them have the remaining treasure from clams thinking it's all the merpeople have
>"Hey Riptide, I have been saving this up on my adventures under the sea and I want you guys to have it"
>Give them the treasure from the clams as if it was our own

>>4868894
>”You know what? Fuck you stupid fish people and your shitty attitudes- I didn’t even WANT to do this sidequest!” (Leave with hostility)
>"That's what I get for trying to be nice to fucking SEAFOOD."
Herald might as well not be SS if we're gonna act like the trait doesn't exist whenever he meets a monster.
We just failed to complete this mission because you keep insisting on acting like a Herald of fucking P*ace, ignore conquest, forget goals and take the fun out of absolutely everything.

>>4869271
You know that you can be both racist and non hostile, i see nothing wrong with his attitude and being a SS
>>4868975
This or some glowing rocks, idk what are those but they are doing nothing in the bag of holding, so at least see how they react to those rocks

>>4868975
+1, plus try throwing in something extra like the glowing rocks in >>4869511

I think we should keep the glowing rocks personally. We use them to mark where we have been in caves and other dark areas to navigate back out and there is every chance we could be doing some cave exploring on the other end of our voyage

>>4869630
We don't have to give all the glowing rocks, just some. Is there anything else in our inventory that might make for good gifts or things we can safely part with that have some value?

>>4869511
>I see nothing wrong with his attitude and being a SS
You missed the part where this angry SPEcist who also happens to call himself a Herald of CONQUEST picks up diplomacy over knocking out a few faggots he despises and then fails his mission for a LITERAL GOD of SEA in the midst of a trip across the SEA to help a random monster that he saw for the first time in his life, a monster that just so happens to be the source of the problem he was supposed to solve, despite barely containing himself in conversations with those gross sea monsters. This is absurd.
>some glowing rocks
>idk what are those
Of course you don't. We use these to not get lost in caves.

>>4868898
>>4868975
>>4869069
>>4869102
>>4869157
>>4869271
>>4869511
>>4869610
>>4869630
>>4869698
88 gold plus a few glowing rocks (You've got 50 right now so I'll say about five)

>>4869271
>>4869724
The mission was not failed, as stated here >>4868903. Your favor is completed as far as Aemis is concerned.

Writing! Give me a bit, just woke up

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You find yourself feeling empathy towards these creatures. However much monsters piss you off, especially that fucking Clawson, you’re starting to think that Gill and Riptide aren’t that bad. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have some allies in the great big ocean if you ever run across threats in the future.

”Here, take this” you say, rummaging around in your coin pouch and producing eighty-eight gold pieces to round out your gold amount, handing them to Riptide. ”This as well” you say, plucking out five glowing rocks and giving them to Gill.

”Herald...are you sure?” Gill asks, looking stunned.

”Yeah. I know it’s not precious gemstones or pearls, but from what I saw of your treasure and pieced together, the fact that it’s shiny is more important down here than it’s actual worth. A bunch of little gold pieces like this and some glowing rocks like these should help out, right?”

Riptide tucks the gold away before putting a hand on your shoulder. ”You’re a good man, Herald. You didn’t have to do this for us- but the fact that you did means the world. If you ever. ever need anything, please call us” he says.

You chuckle. ”And how would I do that?”

By the time your conversation is finished, you’ve reached the Glub-Glub tribe. Gill quickly darts into his hut before returning with a strange stone covered in runes. ”This is a speaking stone” he says, pressing the item into your hand. ”If you shake it three times, you can talk to whoever’s got the other one” he explains, holding up a second one in his other hand. ”Then you just shake it three more times to end the call. If you ever need something from us, don’t hesitate to use it. We’ll need a few weeks to see this deal through with Clawson and pick up the pieces of our tribe, but after that we’ll be happy to help if you ever need us.”

You nod. ”I see. Thank you for the gift- I’ll keep it in mind. Farewell...and may Aemis be with you” you say, surprised to hear that last part come out of your mouth.

As you and Grug head back up towards the surface, the orc chuckles. ”I got the impression that you hated non-sapients” he asks. ”Hell of a thing you’d do for people you hate.”

>”Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all…” (The severity of Sapient Supremacist is reduced- puts you on the path towards removing it altogether)
>”I just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up my favor with Aemis. This whole ordeal only reaffirmed how despicable monsters are.” (Gain 1 Conquest Point. Sapient Supremacist becomes much harder to remove in the future)

>>4869793
>”Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all…” (The severity of Sapient Supremacist is reduced- puts you on the path towards removing it altogether)
Riptide is quite literally a chad, he will be a great person to convert in the future and if we ever get shipwrecked by Silas or some shit we got friends in the water.

File: 1623510760152.png (1.57 MB, 1024x1536)

1.57 MB PNG

>>4869793
>”I just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up my favor with Aemis. This whole ordeal only reaffirmed how despicable monsters are.” (Gain 1 Conquest Point. Sapient Supremacist becomes much harder to remove in the future)
FUCK NON SAPIENT'S, RACE WAR NOW. THE LAND CAN ONLY BE FIXED WITH THE BLOOD OF NON SAPIENTS.
For real though we really need to bank these conquest points and use them for important rolls, not using it last time on that big fuck off attack was retarded guys

>>4869793
>”I just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up my favor with Aemis. This whole ordeal only reaffirmed how despicable monsters are.” (Gain 1 Conquest Point. Sapient Supremacist becomes much harder to remove in the future)

>>4869793
>”Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all…” (The severity of Sapient Supremacist is reduced- puts you on the path towards removing it altogether)
I only pick this because anons aren't consistent with roleplaying a race supremacist, it sounds fun in theory but when the situation actually arrives they pussy out or behave like typical nice guys,
Might as well remove the trait altogether along with being a herald of conquest too at some point, because you haven't done anything a normal goody two shoes adventurer wouldn't do

>>4869793
>”I just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up my favor with Aemis. This whole ordeal only reaffirmed how despicable monsters are.” (Gain 1 Conquest Point. Sapient Supremacist becomes much harder to remove in the future)

>>4869793
> >”Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all…” (The severity of Sapient Supremacist is reduced- puts you on the path towards removing it altogether)

>>4869826
Heralding is a central point of this quest, it has become MC's goal after he saw his village destroyed, parents killed and couldn't do jack shit about it. Being a Herald is something you devote your entire life to, not a fucking mood swing. It was all in the previous threads.
Seems like this quest got populated with smoothbrain moralfags who aren't even familiar with the lore, holy shit.

>>4869826
I personally would say that until herald conquers his stub problems and related stuff with a super Prosthetic arm he cant focus on external stuff, conquer yourself to conquer the world or some shit like that.

About the sapient supremacist i don't see how that makes sense or helps herald in any way, if anything its a weakness that should be removed to have a clear mind, if you rekt someone do it because you choose to do it, not for some blind rage

>>4869845
I still can’t believe this went from Goblin Slayer to Heroic city defence then Indiana Jones and now bubble guppies. we have come a long way since the days of rescuing a merchant from a bunch of goblins. Shame Castor died
>>4869851
To conquest ourself is the greatest conquest
- Herald.
I mostly just want to convert chads to our branch of Conquest and if something can be seen as a weakness than we must overcome it.

>>4869855
This, conquering his fears gave him a great boon (Mentally Resilient) and if we make herald follow the path of conquering its own mind, it will either give him more boons and strengths or allow him to do crazier more impossible trainings to learn new techniques etc

And since gods exist the conquest of Mind over matter isn't farfetched

PD: we should remember to do something for castor when we can.

>>4869793

>”Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all…” (The severity of Sapient Supremacist is reduced- puts you on the path towards removing it altogether)

The conquest point is tempting but i would rather erase a bane and make Heralds mind stronger

>>4869855
Man this hit hard. Herald quest was most fun when we fucked around, murdered goblins and got boosted by Castor, SS was a cherry on top for eradicating those green rapist pests. Now we're on some fucking Friendship is Magic streak with idiotic decisionmaking. Next thing we're gonna cry like a bitch in front of our team and marry that traumatized church girl because some faggot had rough childhood and good christian upbringing.
And people say evil quests are bad.

>>4869934
>decisionmaking. Next thing we're gonna cry like a bitch in front of our team and marry that traumatized church girl because some faggot had rough childhood and good christian upbringing
Yeah we are never letting that happen.

>>4869793
>”I just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up my favor with Aemis. This whole ordeal only reaffirmed how despicable monsters are.” (Gain 1 Conquest Point. Sapient Supremacist becomes much harder to remove in the future)

>>4869952
Basado. Maybe there is hope after all. Do you remember if orcs have temples with altars like humans do? Not trying to give up on Castor or anything, but we should get a new demipatron to help us carry our sword.

>>4869990
They probably have temples yeah but don’t know what we will be able to do if they follow completely different orc gods.

>>4869793
>”Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all…” (The severity of Sapient Supremacist is reduced- puts you on the path towards removing it altogether)

>maybe monsters aren't so bad after all

If we are going to conquest on any meaningful scale we will need an army behind us. Why rule out whole races from that army? Makes no sense, PTFO!

>>4869798
>>4869810
>>4869818
>>4869826
>>4869829
>>4869833
>>4869889
>>4869957
>>4870018
>>4870022
Monsters ain't so bad!

Also, happy to see so much engagement and investment in the quest, I appreciate it! I know this side quest wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I hope you'll continue to stick around and keep playing!

Writing!

>>4870051
Don’t worry QM it was fun.

>>4870051
Sidequest was fine! I think it's a sign that people are invested when we have discussions like this. What does it MEAN to be a Herald of Conquest, really? Hopefully we'll figure that out more as things go along.

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”You know what Grug? Maybe monsters aren’t so bad after all- at least not the good ones.”

*BANE WEAKENED! Sapient Supremacist*

Sapient Supremacist: You regard the non-sapient races as lesser, and will generally treat them with distrust and some disgust. You receive a -2 to all CHA related rolls against non-sapient races, except for Intimidation rolls.

Grug shrugs. ”They are what they are to me, I don’t think about it too much. Was surprised going down there though- I’m used to dealing with goblins and shit, and they’re pretty cut and dry assholes.”

The mention of goblins not only sours your mood, but reminds you of Castor. You’re still not sure what might’ve happened to him, and you hope you’ll get the chance to pay him some proper respect soon.

Upon breaching the surface of the water, Grug takes off the magic helmet and tosses it back down, where it slowly sinks down towards the Glub-Glub tribe again. You both climb up a small rope ladder on the side of the sloop and enjoy the feeling of fresh air in your lungs once more.

Taking in the horizon, you realize the sun’s already low in the sky- probably around five or six in the afternoon. All things said and done, it shouldn’t put too much of a dent into your schedule.

You give the speaking stone a quick three shakes as well and test its connection. ”Hey, can you hear me?”

”Yes, I’m here!” Gill says. ”Unfortunately we won’t be able to understand each other well once the potion you drank wears off in a few hours, but Riptide and I are going to try and study Human with some of the things we’ve traded with surface dwellers- that way this thing is actually useful” he chuckles.

After a brief conversation and goodbye, you turn the stone back off right as Jeanne appears above deck. ”Oh, you guys are back. That took forever!”

”We were only gone a few hours” Grug protests.

The young mage shrugs. ”Felt like a week. Should I tell Scarlet we’re good to go?”

You give Jeanne a thumbs up and she heads towards the captain’s quarters. Grug returns to his room as well, leaving you to your own devices. How do you want to spend the rest of the night?

>Get some more training in
>See if Grug can’t teach you some Orc
>Ask Jeanne about teaching you magic
>Research your prosthetic (Which book?)
>Hang out with someone (Who?)
>Other (write in)

>>4870076
>Ask Jeanne about teaching you magic

Correct me if I'm wrong, QM, but don't we already have a boon that allows us to speak with Orcs? I feel like we do, but I wanted to make sure.

>>4870007
We lost

>>4870084
Nope, but you did receive an Orc Phrasebook from Jeffery for the mission. Enough to be able to ask questions and have basic communication, but not really to understand what orcs around you are saying or hold a long, proper conversation in Orc

>>4870076
>See if Grug can’t teach you some Orc
Start learning and shit

>>4870087
>>4870084
Gotcha. In that case I'll change my vote to:
>See if Grug can’t teach you some Orc

Can't spread CONQUEST if we can't speak the language! Not easily, at any rate.

>see if Grug can teach you some orc

I think it will go a long way to getting them on side, and orcs are hard as fuck so will be very useful allies!

The vision I have for herald is to win over powerful and influential people (and orcs etc) and raise an army to fuck Silas up. From there we can conquer other nations etc, but once again we would turn up, get the lay of the land, probe for weaknesses, turn the people against the existing power structure then overthrow.

Personally I find that more fun and interesting than the brute force and ignorance approach of "just kill them" which I think would get repetitive.

Just my opinion, but either way I'm really enjoying playing with everyone! Thanks QM, I would buy you a beer if I could

>>4870076
>Research your prosthetic

>>4870076
>Research your prosthetic (Which book?)
Anatomy

>>4870076
>>see if Grug can teach you some orc
I really want to learn a little bit of magic as a backup plan or to just diversify our arsenal of choices, however this takes priority. Plus we're a bit of a retard when it comes to INT.

>>4870590
Let's max out the available prosthetic research before magic, that's the real priority.

Sorry lads, got a killer headache right now. Gonna see how I feel in a couple hours about updating. Hoping to get at least one more out today still.

>>4870091
>>4870101
>>4870195
>>4870215
>>4870345
>>4870590
Learn some Orc with Grug!

Roll me 1d20+5 (+3 for INT, +2 for Study)

Rolled 5 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>4870885
Time for a nat-1 since we're kinda stupid

Rolled 6 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>4870885
Hope you feel better, man--get some rest!

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Actually, you figure it’s probably a good idea to bother Grug for some lessons in Orc. Sure you’ve got the phrasebook, and sure there’s bound to be orcs that know Human, but it’s going to make you a lot more amicable to their people if you know their language- and they won’t be able to hide any information from you by speaking in Orc.

You head down to the berths and see Grug writing in a journal. Once he spots you, he quickly tucks it underneath his bed and gets up. ”Oh, didn’t know you’d be coming back here so soon. Gonna conk out early?” he asks.

”Actually, I was hoping you could teach me a little Orc. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to know the language if we’re going to Krosh’tar.”

A warm smile finds its way on your gray-skinned friend’s face. ”That’s surprisingly respectful of you. What with the Gods watching your back and all, I didn’t think you’d worry about stuff like learning our people’s language. I’m no teacher, but I’d be happy to help you out” he says.

You start by cracking open the Orc Phrasebook, Grug using that as a starting line. It’s difficult for you to grasp a lot of the concepts he’s talking about- both because it’s your first time trying to learn a new language and because, like he said himself, he’s not exactly a teacher.

Still, you’re surprised to find Orc isn’t too different from Human. They use the same alphabet, and a lot of the words are constructed similarly. Grug explains this is probably because his ancestors used to live in the same area as you do now, but were chased off from the coasts by the humans and ended up making a place for themselves in Krosh’tar. Most orcs don’t hold a grudge though, as that was centuries ago.

In fact, up until the misunderstanding that almost caused all out war between the two countries, Krosh’tar and Belfrost have been on friendly terms.

Learning Orc: (10/100)

By the time you finish your lessons, Barret’s already back and getting ready for bed. Considering how late it is, you take a page out of his book and do the same, thanking Grug for his help and saying a quick ‘good night’ to the both of them before dozing off.

(1/2)

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You wake up the next morning bright and early, feeling rejuvenated. From the window outside, you can tell the ship’s started moving again since you last checked- probably while you were studying with Grug.

Furthermore, you feel more confident in yourself. You’ve spent a lot of time arguing, debating, persuading, and deceiving people recently, and you feel like you know your way around others even better than before.

*ATTRIBUTE INCREASE! (CHA: 7)*

You head to the kitchen first thing and grab a ration for yourself, surprised to see Clarissa already up and about.

”Yo” she says, giving you a curt wave. ”So, how was your swim yesterday?”

”You mean that shit I had to do for Aemis? It...actually wasn’t so bad. One of the fucking monsters I had to deal with was awful, but Gill and Riptide were alright. They even gave me this” you tell her, pulling out the speaking stone.

”Wow, a rock! You must feel so special” she teases.

Chuckling, you put it away and finish your meal. It’s going to be smooth sailing for a while- hopefully the rest of the trip if you’re lucky. How are you going to spend it?

(Fast forwarding to the end of the first week on the water, so a few days. You can pick three choices here for things you want to work on during that sped up period. You can pick the same option multiple times if you wish)

>Research your prosthetic
>Learn Orc with Grug
>Ask Jeanne to start tutoring you in magic
>Do some fishing
>Train
>Practice with the flute
>Other (write in)

(2/2)

>>4870920
>Research your prosthetic

>>4870927
You queue up 3 options my friend! (Unless you're saying you want to do researching the prosthetic 3 times)

>>4870929
Ah shit my bad QM I've got like 20 tabs open and I'm too used for just voting one thing
>Research your prosthetic
>Research your prosthetic
>Learn Orc with Grug
It's probably best to hold off with Magic until at least our INT stat isn't brainlet-tier

>>4870938
+1 to this set

>>4870938
support
also isn't a 9 of any stat basically the extreme maximum a human can achieve? The fact that we are at 7 charisma is pretty impressive.

>>4870920
>>4870938
+1 to this!

>>4870960
Yup! 3 is considered average, 9 is the absolute limit (for a human), and few people clock a 7 or an 8. Having two stats at 7 is a testament to Herald's based levels