------Recap:You adopted a klan of kobolts, and were cursed with turning into a dragon. You managed to recruit a muscular female plague doctor to help keep your insides inside. Recently, your curse has started talking to you, and your transformation is being rather persistent. Especially mentally.More pertinant recap:You just saved a girl from a man-eating ogre, though not before she lost a leg, and then you had a very serious talk with your doctor and then your smartest kobolt about it. Now, you’re planning on going to an expedition into mushroom territory, to pay for the new helmet you need.—---------------------You decide to see about visiting Oldfield, to at least see what the situation is…. As soon as you stop Collar from eating more books.You all but rush downstairs, and when you get downstairs, it doesn’t take long before you find Collar… Eating a book that has been offered by somebody sitting next to her. She seems to have gathered a bit of a crowd, and not just “Collar!” you yell out, turning all attention to you. People seem to flinch at the sight of you, but when Collar smiles and yells out: “Dragon!” people seem to be more willing to trust you.A kobolt is more popular than you, looks-wise. Maybe you should take a bath. Or shave. Anything.“Collar. Are you teaching children to literally eat books?”You look at the four or so children that are looking up at you and the kobolt with big eyes and amazed faces.“Yeah!” Collar replies, before taking another bite of the book she was handed. It’s a softcover book, at least.“Stop doing that, you’re the only one that’s able to do that. In fact, I’m not even entirely convinced you can. What are you even eating?”“Book on…”She takes a moment to read the cover for a moment… then rips it off and eats that.“Ah! On metallurgy!”“Really. Are you… learning things?”“Ya-huh! Did you know you only need a very small core of gold to make enchantments possible? People used to think the edge had to be golden, but it turns out it spreads all along the blade, with the exception of wood. Wood is a really good absorbent material when it comes to enchanted blades, because-”“Okay, okay… I’m convinced.”“GREAT!” Collar yells, before taking another big bite out of the book. You look to the man that gave her the book, and he just shrugs:“I had two of these books. Now I got one and some amusement.”The children keep listening closely to the information about smithing your kobolt is saying. …How does she do that?Well, at any rate:“Alright, I’m going to make a visit to somebody, we’re going on a little expedition… if I like what’s being sold, anyway. Could you gather everybody?”It doen’t take long, as most of them just kind of came towards you while you were talking to Collar. They were kind of hidden around the room, it seems. People seem surprisingly accepting of them, besides.
Once you gathered everybody, including Pink and Chad (who apparently came in later, due to giving a full explanation to the guards when it comes to the treasure).You make sure to thank Chad again, though, for knocking you out of lizard hunger, and then you head out towards the professor. He lives in a lovely manor, honestly, and there is a guard outside who… actually just steps aside politely.“We’ve heard of your arrival, ser Reynauld. Come right in. Professor Oldfield is currently in his study.”You tilt your head:“I was expected?”“No, but you are a known element. You were mentioned, ahead of time, for being reliable and trustworthy. Hence, you are permitted inside. That said, we would request you disarm yourself before entering.”This is not a problem… up until Snikt has to disarm. She refuses to drop her dagger, though considering that this is just a quick visit, she instead elects to stay outside, for now. She feels safe enough for that, even.Once inside, you do take note of the different things the professor has in his manor. It’s practically a museum, though you don’t actually know enough to have a good grasp of everything. You instead just head up to the study, and find the professor behind his desk, writing some things down. He looks up at your entry, and smiles. It’s hard to see his mouth past his impressive moustache, but it curls in a pleasant manner. The man looks very well-kempt, and certainly gives off the air of a silver fox.His voice is equally pleasant:“Ahaaa. I see I’ve had the luck of attracting a knight, and what a knight he is. Ser Reynauld! And… an entourage of kobolts, interesting. I assume you are here about the job posting, yes?”“Correct. I need money to get a new helmet.”“Well, that’s quite alright. The expedition I have planned shouldn’t take longer than a day, but I will be able to pay you rather well. Before we continue, however, are you in a group with these fine ladies and gentleman, or did you simply happen to enter at the same time?”“We’re a group.” you state.“Good! I’ll be paying your group for protection and to help me clear the way. I’ll tell you now, I will be paying you based on performance. If everything goes well, you’ll be walking out of here with a solid 500 Rosarians, and with more if you can help out with unexpected issues. Will this be satisfactory?”
You decide to be careful:“Before I make any agreements: what are we going to deal with?”“Ah, well, the usual crop of fungal enemies. I’ll be granting you protective suits, of course, and appropriate weaponry. On top of that, there may be some physical labour involved. Clearing out different blockages, and whatnot. Now, before I continue, I’d just like to add something: Would you mind if I could run a test on you, ser? I’ve heard of your curse permitting you to breathe fire, so I’d like to see if this would leave you immune to fungal infestations or not. My suspicion is yes, and it would prove very useful to our expedition if you can create fire on demand.”You’re… not sure you’d like that. The test is going to be obvious, he’ll try to infect you with something. There are purgatives for it, yes, but it’s still… creepy.>Refuse to do the test>Agree to the test>Insist that the less you use your lizard breath, the better.
Also, link to previous thread while it lasts:>>5126523And the archive https://lws.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5126523/
>>5184657>Agree to the testThough Reynauld loathes the curse, we're operating under the assumption that the existing physical changes are likely incontrovertible...and so it would be advantageous to know this for ourselves as well.
>>5184657>>Agree to the testFor Science!
>>5184657>Agree to the test
>>5184657>Insist that the less you use your lizard breath, the better.The curse is not a toy or a tool, there's a reason why we're trying to get rid of it.
>>5184657Agree to the test, but request that we fetch our doctor friend so she can supervise as well.
>>5184657>Refuse to do the test... Unless our personal physician, Paracelsus, says it's safe and a good idea
>>5184716+1She'd be pretty miffed if she didn't get the opportunity to take notes herself.
>>5184657>>Refuse to do the testare you all forgetting that the more we are injured the faster the curse progresses, AND further have you all forgotten...THE EVIL FUNGIOUS WITCHS MAGIC FUCKED UP OUR LUNGS, WE LITERALLY KNOW THAT THE FUNGUS INFECTION FUCKS US UP BUT THE CURSE FIGHTS IT OFF
>>5184727Supporting
>>5184716+1
>>5184863>(You)(You) t-too>>5184662You said Collar likes to eat her books with wine and some pasta. Does Reynauld know how to cook pasta? Can he cook angel hair pasta with alfredo sauce and mushrooms?
>>5184716>>5184727+1
>>5184655I'm just loving the additions you make to every thread. Where's the goblin lady and William though?
>>5185269i forgorI was kind of in a hurry at the time, and updating this picture is a bit harder than it looks. Not much harder, but a bit. Just finding images for the new characters is a bit of a pain, everybody keeps giving their kobolts leather armor and jewelry. Hence why the destitute kobolts are simple cutebolds off in the distance.updated pic
>>5185309>David looking like a miserable but still cocky shitMy mental image has him with shorter hair but otherwise it's extremely accurate to it
>>5185321Who's David?
>>5185360I guess Anon here is keeping the tradition of calling William the wrong name alive.
>>5185360>>5185366Honestly, I have no idea how I managed to do that.
seriously did everyon forget that we already know fungous fucks us up? remember the forest hag covered in shrooms?by doing this test we are just accelerating our transformation as any damage is healed by replacing our knights parts with dragon bits
>>5185490That's not a bad thing, hopefully we'll start growing wings sooner rather than later.
#Pinkdidnothingwrong
>>5185490>>5184749The crone was never described as being covered in mushrooms. She cast a curse of decay on us which gave us tuberculosis, a bacterial disease not a fungal one, which was what destroyed our lungs. If you don't want us to undergo the test that's fine but at least argue truthfully.
"I'll agree to the test, but only if my personal physician signs off on it... and gets to watch, when she almost inevitably says yes.""You have a personal physician?""Yes. Paracelsus has been following me to see how the curse progresses. She's also been a valuable ally... and I'd say a good friend, so I'd prefer her to be here.""Of course. Where is she staying? I'll send a courier to her, post-haste.""Prancing Pony. It's being run by Barliman Butterbur.""Ahhh, a friend of mine. Well, then I can simply use my tablet!"Without another word, Oldfield takes out a small flat stone with a rune on it, and a pouch of something. He opens the pouch to reveal it to be some kind of glittery, purple dust. As soon as a mere pinch of the stuff struck the rune, there was a small "puff", and a large purple cloud appeared above the rune. Oldfield waits for it to gather into something big enough to completely hide him, and then he waves his hand in the cloud, repeatedly saying:"Prancing Pony, Butterbur.". After three times, the cloud seems to shatter like glass, revealing... a hole in reality, almost. It really looked like a hole in a window, and if you were to move around, you could see different angles into the inn... The innkeeper, who was polishing a glass, raises a mighty eyebrow, and then says:"Oldfield. Something you need?""Yes! I'd like you to ask for a certain Paracelcus.""Paracelsus who?"Oldfield leans to the side of the reality hole, and seems to expect you to answer."She never told us. She doesn't want to. I even expect Paracelsus to be an alias.""Ah. Interesting. Well, you heard the man!""Mm-hmm." The innkeeper says, and then he yells out Paracelsus' name... Which quickly makes an irate witch doctor appear:"What is it!? Can't a woman enjoy her- Oh."She instantly forgets being rudely interrupted from her drink (wine? this early?) when she sees the reality hole. Oldfield smiles politely."Hello, miss. My name is professor Oldfield. I've a friend of yours that would like your consent. I'd like to test out a mushroom infection upon him, to see if his dragon's lung could counter-act the effects of it. He requested that you be present.""I'll be right over. I know where you live."She takes her mug of wine, drinks it in one go, and then slams some coins on the counter before leaving. Then, you hear the goblin you brought along, her voice scratchy:"I'll be bringing Bill and myself over there soon. I don't trust that human alone, and I know my ways around mushroom fields.""This isn't really-" Oldfield begins to speak, but the goblin instead shouts, likely hoping that you hear her."Don't leave me alone with William! I HATE HIM!""Words hurt, Anna." William then says, obviously sitting right next to her."YOU'D KNOW, YOU BEETLEBRAINED BUTTHOLE!" Anna shouts back.Probably should have figured out her name earlier....Well, it doesn't take long before everybody's here. William followed Anna like a lost puppy, with everybody gone.(cont)
>>5185515Bill? Is that the name od her crossbow? Fair enough.Damn Will is acting most unwise with that goblin bootie.
>>5185515>Probably should have figured out her name earlier.You had enough time to do that, Reynauld, you just chose not to!
The test itself was... almost shockingly mundane. There was a glass box with some mushrooms in it, and you were expected to put your head in there and take a deep whiff. You did as requested, and when you felt the little particles enter your nostrils, you end up sneezing a few times... blowing up more spores inside the box, until eventually you were asked to pull yourself free... and to put your head under some running water to wash the spores out of your hair. Then, you were expected to sit down in front of some kind of scanning.... thing. And so you did. Both Oldfield and Paracelsus look very excited about it all, but as far as you care, you're just sitting down in a chair staring at a magically enhanced wave-expelling thing.Which mostly looked like a metal collection of gears, glass and a candle....Exciting.You do feel some sort of tingle as you sit there, however, and you slowly.feel it move on to an itch. Before long, you feel yourself sweating from trying to resist the urge to scratch.Then, eventually, you're asked to stand back up."Perfect! Complete immunity! The spores can't even get any foothold in your lungs, and they burn up after a short while. The temperature in there must be pretty intense, actually... Have you been feeling feverish as of late? It's possible your internal body temperature is rising." Oldfield says, excitedly. You just stare, and then slowly nod.Paracelsus smiles, and then says:"I had a feeling it was that! I'll be happy to share my notes with you later, professor. I'm sure you understand the value of such a rare test subject.""Oh, I don't wish to impose. Really more of an archeologist than biologist. Though, of course, I dabble.""No doubt, sir. Now! I believe there was an expedition to the fungal bogs, not too far from here?""Indeed. I've recently come across some strange artefacts there, and I'd like to take a closer look. Alas, there are dangers there, and I'd need some capable guards. With dragon'sfire at our back, however, I've no doubt this will go smoothly. Payment is 500 rosarians across the group. I understand this is precious little for such a large amount of people, but... Well, I didn't quite account for so many. I still have enough protective suits, at least! They'll protect you from most fungal beasts, up to a point, and will make sure you won't get infested. Though, I must warn you, the helmets do limit your vision quite a bit. With your immunity, ser, I'd advise you go without. Now... What do you say, shall we be off? I'll also be giving you some axes. You'll want weight to make your way through the fungal flesh."...>Sure, let's go right now.>I need a moment to prepare.>I've changed my mind>Let's not go with bloody EVERYBODY.
>>5185568>>Sure, let's go right now.No point in dallying
>>5185568>Let's not go with bloody EVERYBODY.William can't go yet. A Child could still kick his ass. Leave Humper and Snikt to babysit him. Maybe one of them can deliver food for the kobolts outside.
>>5185568>Let's not go with bloody EVERYBODY.Take Chad, William, Paracelcus if she wants to (we'll give her the cost of renting the room at the inn out of our share), the Twins, and Snikt. Leave the rest.
>>5185568>Let's not go with bloody EVERYBODY.>Chad>Anna>Paracelus>Snikt>TwinsEveryone else gets to chill and babysit william
>>5185584>>5185604>bringing>WilliamRemember when he jobbed sparing against Reynauld?Remember when he jobbed against the undead thing?Remember how this boy was malnourished when we found him and is still slowly recovering precious loss muscle mass?Don't be stupid.Don't be like William.Don't bring William. Not until we get the little shit some armor.>>5185605Will Snikt's back harness fit in the suit? I say we add a conditional thing. If the harness won't fit in the suit with her, and if she feels too restricted with it on, she stays behind.
>>5185608You think I want William for fighting? It's in case we have to clear some rubble for the professor or something.
>>5185626We or the kobolts can already do that, arguably better than him.
>>5185568>Let's not go with bloody EVERYBODY.>Chad>Gobo>Pink>Colar >ParacelusPink and Colar for looting and knowledge. What we do with helmet? With this people we should be ok without it right?
>>5185602support
>>5185641This.
>>5185568>Let's not go with bloody EVERYBODY.We need fighters and laborers. Para and Will can sit this one out - one is far too valuable to risk exposing to the bog and the other is far too useless. Chad, Anna, Ruby and Sapphire need to come with us, they're our best combatants. Snikt probably wouldn't be able to utilize her skillset with the provided equipment, plus I wouldn't want to put her in harm's way. Pink and Esmeralda aren't mainline fighters, so I'd be fine leaving them with Snikt. Collar and Teensy could go either way, I'd say bring them with as extra pairs of hands.In summary: Bring Chad, Anna, the twins, Collar and Teensy, leave everyone else behind.
>>5185738Why Teensy? Pink would be better with her expertise I think.
>>5185770Teensy and Collar are basically joined at the hip, I don't want to separate them. I don't see Pink's expertise being particularly useful on a trip to the fungal wastes, especially considering we're going to have the professor with us, and I'd like to leave at least one of our more mature kobolts with poor Snikt. Plus I don't see Reynauld as being completely over Pink's betrayal yet.
>>5185604Supporting. Give William a shot, at least. We'll keep him as safe as we're able.>>5185568
>>5185925Dude William has the body build of an anorexic twink. The only shot hes getting is a shot to the head by some bog monster. He needs. More. Time. Not just for training, but to build muscle mass, unless Reynauld has been drilling him 24/7.
You elect to go with the people you think you can trust the most for the upcoming engagement. You leave it up to Paracelsus on whether or not she'll come along, but apparently she rather likes visiting the fungal areas. Her outfit is also pre-equipped to deal with that sort of thing, and she has some anti-fungals on her. Other than that, you also take along Anna. You asked her rather carefully, mind you, considering you promised to protect her rather than thrusting her into danger. She was fine with joining you, however, apparently she'd be glad to have a little action after being scared in the caves for so long. She mentions that she's been feeling like a whole new woman ever since she was on the road again, and especially now that she was able to enjoy a good beer. Teensy is the one to ask the question you dared not ask."How do you do that with the mask?"Without a word, Anna takes out a straw from her pocket... and sticks it into a little hole in the mask.The kobolts all clap, very impressed at this ingenuity. Anyway, you also bring along some other kobolts. Chad is the easy choice, being one of the single most competent people present, and you also decide to take along Collar and Teensy. Though you only take Teensy with you at the insistence of the pair. They didn't want to rough it alone, and apparently they're pretty confident that they'll make it just fine. You also consider the twins for a moment, but decide against it. With the limited vision from the suits, and the fact that blunt damage does almost nothing against the fungal creatures, they wouldn't be very useful.William demands to know as to why he can't come along, and you put it plain for him: you don't trust him to make the trip because he's rail-thin and not that good at combat. When he says he can take anything the mushrooms might dole out on him, you just roll your eyes and turn to Chad:"Punch him.""Wha-" William said, before getting punched in the stomach. You didn't actually expect Chad to go for it like that, but so it goes. William crumples to the floor, wheezing out that he wasn't ready for it and that it doesn't count. Mind you, he does this while cringing on the floor, and only slowly managing to pull himself upright. "I-I'm ready, this time, okay!? I can take it!"You blink, tilting your head, and William adds:"This is a lot more scary now that I can actually see your face. When are you getting your helmet back, sir?""Esmeralda? Punch him."William is quick to raise his dukes... apparently forgetting that Esmeralda is about at hip height. Then he gets punched in the nuts.Anyway, with that settled, you leave with Paracelsus, Anna, Chad, Collar and Teensy. The rest of the kobolts get to babysit William.The suits are all-encompassing heavy leather, though it's a one size fits all system, using a lot of straps. The weaponry? Axes. Now you just need to get there.Is there anything you talk about or prepare for on the way there?>Nah, We know enough.>Talk
>>5186914>TalkMake sure everyone who's coming is fully briefed on how best to deal with fungal enemies and hazards
>>5187019Oh and tell William to keep eating right and training physically and we might take him on the next missions
>>5187019supporting
>>5187019>>5187026+1>>5186914>prepHow cheap is lamp oil and pure alcohol? Something that burns should scare away or kill swap monsters, yeah?
>>5187019>>5187026Support
>>5186914this>>5187019>>5187026Time to teach the fine art of fungus beating.
>>5187019Support.>>5186914Glad to see that the kobolts feel comfortable enough to make their own requests. I imagine that probably wouldn't fly under an actual dragon, that tells me we must be doing something right.
>>5187019>>5187026>>5187147Supporting
>>5186914>>Talkyeah i guess
“So, about what we’ll be finding there… Apart from golems, what will we be dealing with?”“Oh, if I can help it, we won’t be fighting any golems. The dig site I wish to reach shouldn’t encroach on any of their territory… I would hope.”“Are you unsure?” You ask, not liking the sound of that, though Oldfield is quick to quell your worries:“Oh no. By all accounts it should be fine. It’s just that we do come a bit close to some of their territory. Nothing they would go out of their way for.”“Good. So, if we won’t be fighting golems, what are we fighting?”“The usual. Fungus-infested wildlife, chompers, and spitters.”“Fungus-infested wildlife? It’s a rage shroom infestation?”You once saw a town suffering from that. Getting through it without killing anybody was tough. “Nothing that dramatic! No, the wildlife just gets a little loopy from having things grow on them. So, on occasion, their respect for humans wanes a bit.”“So they’re not infectious, right?”“Thankfully no. Even if they were, your suits are intended to keep out even the worst of what this biome can throw at us. The spitters will be harmless, for instance… I expect that all you’ll have to deal with are chompers.”You fought those things before. They’re in actuality a shadowcreature created by a fungal hivemind, which is then given flesh by the mushrooms. They’re akin to the white blood cells of the biome…Whatever those are. The alchemist you worked with last time you went playing in fungal bogs liked to talk and didn’t like explaining “simple things”. So, whatever. You turn to your companions:“So, remember, strike horizontally, and get the legs of those things. Despite their size, they’ve got thin legs. Also, Anna? Don’t aim for the head, there’s no brain there. If at all possible, try to immobilize them with shots to the knees, where the legs come out of the torso, that sort of thing.”“Sure thing.” the goblin replies, and she remains quiet… though close to Chad.Hm.At any rate, you arrive at the bogs at long last. The place looks to have been a quarry, once upon a time, though when the mushrooms started spreading, it was likely abandoned. It’s a lush location, now, the only sign of it being a quarry is the suspiciously straight rocks lying around…The skeleton holding a pickaxe is another indication.“Now! Let’s head on inside, shall we?”>Take point, if anything pops out you’ll deal with it first.>Walk next to Oldfield, make sure you’re close to him… it’ll put you around the middle of the group, with Chad taking point>Guard the rear.I've written this update fucking three times by now it kept getting fucked over..
>>5188792>>Take point, if anything pops out you’ll deal with it first.>Chad rear>Anna takes Oldfield coverage
>>5188792>Not writing your updates in notepad or something and pasting them in once doneIt won’t be the last time this bites you, if you keep this foolish behavior up.>Stick with OldfieldI suspect there’s more going on that what he’s letting on. 500 rosarians is a hefty sum, but no one was willing to act as his guard while his explanations depict it as being this easy? No, there’s something amiss here.
>>5188806Seems sensible. Supporting this formation.>>5188792
>>5188806Agreed, sensible enough.>>5188792Take the pickaxes and any other potential weapons we come across. We can probably use them as a thrown projectile. Make a note of the skeleton and the mining company here, so we can tell the kin of the family about the skeleton.
>>5188792>I've written this update fucking three times by now it kept getting fucked over..What's wrong? You tried google docs? Txt notes? Some other writing program?
>>5188792>>5188806supporting
>>5188806support
“Alright. I’ll take point. Chad, you cover the rear, and Anna, I want you to cover Oldfield, in case something comes along. Professor, you’ll be staying out of the fight, I’m assuming?”“Indeed I will. I’m not as spry as I used to be.”“Alright. Let’s move. Oldfield?”“Take a straight here, up until the pink tree…”The journey is long, and you wish you could say that it was uneventful, too. Sadly, there is a lot to be nervous about while you’re here. It didn’t take long before you see the eyes fall upon you, and there is a certain level of dread that permeates just… being here.You don’t doubt that it’s the hivemind judging you, and it likely doesn’t like how dangerous you look. Before long, there was a singular chomper that attacked from the rear… But it apparently didn’t account for a smaller target.The creature is about four feet tall, even though it’s a quadruped, and doesn’t seem to have any eyes, ears or… any feature, other than the mushrooms spread all along its brownish, patchy body. The legs look wobbly and thin, though it’s still charging straight.It bit the thin air above Chad, then proceeded to stab his sword into a front leg… after which he twisted the blade, pushing the two halves of the meat apart with shocking ease, making the creature fall over. Then, Chad moved around the kneeling foe, and performed a sideways swipe, slamming the blade into the maw….The creature stopped twitching on the spot, and the main flesh that was keeping it together seems to melt away into a mound of filth…Likely to keep the mushrooms going.This place is efficient if nothing else. Oldfield also knows how to guide you around here, and it doesn’t take long before you find yourself at the first location of import. Only a singular Chomper, one that Chad dealt with handily, seems to be… far too easy. Something’s up.“Alright, my companions. There’s a hatch over there… Inside, there is a large… bunker, of sorts. It’s made partially out of metal, though much of it has been overgrown by the mushrooms. What I wish to research is deeper inside, but… well, the corridors are fraught with dangers. There’s no way to easily manoeuvre down there, after all…”You look at the metal hatch he’s pointing at, and with a show of strength, you rip it open despite the roots and dirt that had partially overtaken it…Holy hell. All this metal… how in the world did anybody build this!?The design look downright otherworldly, being perfectly straight, and being tiled. There doesn’t look to be a single moment where the workers made a mistake, as if some machine put together this bunker… “You didn’t tell us about this…. Is it magical?” You ask, confused.“Surprisingly, no. There isn’t a smidgen of mana down there, based on my initial tests, but I couldn’t get deep before the chompers and spitters threatened to overtake me. Hence, why I’m bringing you along. That said, I suppose I should admit… there might be more down there than mere fungi.”>Ask questions>Just go down.
>>5189578>Ask questionsWhat is this place? Who made it, and what do you expect to find?Why are there so few mushroom beasts around here?Not being accusatory: we just need to properly understand what we're getting into, in order to ensure everyone's safety.
>>5189578>>Ask questions>what exactly did you all encounter down there>why didn't you mention this before we left town. >who built this place the metal is cut and cleaned without any flaws>what do you mean by something more?
>>5189604>give me a good reason not to call this off and return to town and don't say coin, I was prepared for protecting you in this corrupted place, not in the depths of a dungeon filled with unknown horrors this kind of this requires different preparation professor.thought of another
>>5189602>>5189604>>5189606+1
>>5189578I see you finally decided to use trips Spinejuice.>“Good! I’ll be paying your group for protection and to help me clear the way. I’ll tell you now, I will be paying you based on performance. If everything goes well, you’ll be walking out of here with a solid 500 Rosarians, and with more if you can help out with unexpected issues. Will this be satisfactory?”I have some very good and bad feelings about this encounter. I know we're here for artifacts, but do we get the option to keep any? We're payed to guard him, but nothing says we don't get to keep some. I'm wondering if the ruins are of ancient human creation from a civilization long passed, or of alien build. All in all, me want power armor or guns.
>>5189724>We're payed to guard him, but nothing says we don't get to keep some. I'm wondering if the ruins are of ancient human creation from a civilization long passed, or of alien build. All in all, me want power armor or guns.I am getting ancient fallen human nation, for all we know this timeline/world could be a distant post apocalypse earth.
>>5189831>Ah yeah ruins>time to loot everything not nailed to the ground, then get the crowbar so we can pry things out of the ground>now I can finally multiclass my half-dragon fighter with the gunslinger class.
>>5190018>implying Reynauld isn't already a gunslinger
>>5190164I forgot he used Flintlocks. Maybe if we're lucky, Reynalud will find a fully automatic double barrel flintlock assault shotgun.
>>5189578>Ask questionsWhat more can the professor tell us about this place?Could the fungal infestation originate from here?What is down there? Should you had not told us about that first?You've any idea why we have yet to see more of the fungal monsters?
>>5190179How would that even work??
>>5190590Pull both triggers at the same time
>>5189578https://youtu.be/WeCfod1XT7ESPESS MERANS!
No no. you have questions, and they’re about to be answered.“Professor… I need to know things before I do this. You didn’t tell me anything about this.”“Ahh, well… The fact of the matter is that I don’t know what to find down there. I strongly suspect it’s mostly fungi, as your job stipulates. As stated, there’s no magic down there, so it shouldn’t be anything extreme.”“But you suspect there might be other things as well?”“Indeed… It can’t be ignored that this is a possibility.” You sniff, disdainfully, though you doubt it was audible past the protection that you’re wearing.“You stll haven’t explained why you didn’t tell me ahead of time. This is something that requires a different kind of preparation.”“...It would have been very unwise to even hint at the presence of this bunker. It’s clearly nothing that you’ve seen before, and there are eyes and ears everywhere for this sort of find. This is from… a different world. Whether it be a world before ours or… from elsewhere, I wouldn’t know. The bogs have left this place untouched, making us pioneers down there. If I told you about it ahead of time, there wouldn’t be a damned thing left of this place. It might even disappear on its own.” That’s insane. Things don’t just disappear.“What do you mean?” You ask.“There are powerful forces in the land, Reynauld. Orders dedicated to making sure some things don’t fall into the hands of people they don’t consider “worthy”. This kind of bunker points to just such a thing. If they had access to it before I could make it public, they’d disappear the place. Glamours, teleportation, whatever. They’re quite powerful mages.” You flinch.“You mean… It’s a war of wizards!?”“Indeed. I’m surprised you know what a group of wizards is named.”“Yeah, I’ve… been around the block before.”“You understand now, yes? Why I couldn’t elaborate on this back in town? The fungal bogs offer safety, in a roundabout way.”Anna nods, and even adds in her own comment.: “Yeah. That hivemind blocks off psychic influences. I’ve seen that one before with a rebel group.”Rebel group, eh? Wonder under what context that happened, you don’t recall any recent rebellions against anything. Then again, you’re not the quickest with national news, you tend to hear it rather late. “So… Can I ask a few questions about the bunker itself?”“I’ll answer what I can, my boy… But know that this is new for me, as well.”“How did they make this? The metal looks… flawless. Cut and cleaned.”“That is something I hope to discover myself. The excavation alone is a miracle of engineering, but all this steel… even the stone is simple yet impressive. Its smoothened.” Taking a closer look, though, you do note there’s some some signs of rust...
“Not rust-proof, at least?” You comment.“Mushrooms are moist!” one of your kobolts shouts out, and you suppose that much is true. Well, on to the next few questions:“Who made this bunker?”“I hope to discover that as we explore it. I don’t expect it to be an easy answer, but who knows? Maybe we’ll discover something new.” On to the next question, then:“Why are there so few mushroom beasts around here?”“I did my research, and while this bunker is infested, and perhaps even the holding place of the fungal colony’s hivemind… this hatch isn’t important for it. It’s our ticket in, and most likely, our way out.”“Have you been down there before?”“Indeed I have, but it wasn’t long before the fungal beasts forced me to retreat. I saw some unique corpses down there, however. Little humanoid things, with big heads and a trunk… The fungal monsters seemed to have killed them, yet they didn’t seem to be eating them.”“Toxic, maybe?”“Perhaps, perhaps… They must be fiercely toxic if even fungus can’t grow on them, however.”“Don’t eat.” Chad says to the others, which you hope was a joke.“Can you tell us anything else about this place?”“...There is electricity without magic down there, I suppose. I fear there may be… automated defences. All the same, I will offer you this. If you find an artefact that you find useful, you may keep it. I doubt anything would have survived the rot, but… it’s on the table.” Good… Okay. Gather your party and venture forth?(Hahaha I'm phoneposting AGAIN, s no trip.)
>>5191570Honestly there could be some very beneficial things for society to have I'd there's magic free electricity in there, and the professor has been in and out already>Very well but if I decide it's time to leave then we go, no arguments
>>5191570>Very well but if I decide it's time to leave then we go, no arguments
>>5191570>Very well but if I decide it's time to leave then we go, no argumentsHis and everyone's protection takes priority. Can he tell us when we start advancing into unknown territory, and when we're traveling places hes been to before? >...There is electricity without magic down there, I suppose. I fear there may be… automated defences.Electricity without magic. Reynauld may not know what that means. Automated defenses? Like golems, but the same with electricity?
>>5191628supportSo far this bunker is pointing toward being a modern or near future (our timeline) bunker and this world is post apocalyptic
>>5191634There are small creatures with big heads who don't rot. It's Greys, my dude.
>>5191570Can he guide us to where he found these corpses? Perhaps we may learn something.
>>5191570After we're done, could we commission helmets for William and Chadious, in addition to gamberson for William and bringadine for Chad? After we visit the Archmage I think we should invest some money in getting proper prosthetics for both Chad and the pegleg kobolt. Perhaps The Witch Doctor and Pink might know a thing or two.
>>5191570>Gather your party and venture forth?Yeah
>>5191570Sally forth!
"Alright... just one thing. If I say we need to get out of there, we go. No arguments.""You're my guards! Obviously I wouldn't make a fuss. Now... Who's the lucky soul to go first?" He says, mirthlessly. You decide to go first, of course, and note that the ladder also feels unusual. There are some laddersmiths around that make them out of metal, sure, but it feels like a lot of effort for something that might be done easier with plain wood. So making it out of metal is fairly nutty as well. A little later, everybody is down, and you begin to walk down the tunnels. Just as you're about to take out a torch, however, you see light in the distance... flickering. It seems bright enough despite that, so you move along and look up at the source. Looks like... a simple glass circle, embedded into the stone ceiling, and covered up with some more steel grating."...Lightbulb." You say out loud. "So this is... made by alchemists?""Something like that, I suppose." Oldfield adds. "But it's no design I've seen from any alchemist, not to mention how bright it is! It's powered by that electricity I mentioned before.""They must have one hell of a steam engine to manage that.""I doubt it's what they use... Something would have to feed a steam engine, after all, so this must work on something else. It's not magic, still, but... Well, we'll see."As you go deeper through the tunnel, you eventually see more light in the distance... and an end to the tunnel. It seems to open up into a huge chamber, though it's hard to tell on account of the light that's still shining through. As you walk... you also spot the creature that the professor was talking about."Last time, there were far more mushroom creatures here, though I suppose they must have retreated to the chamber up ahead. Now, take a look at this thing."Sure enough, it's as the professor said... Big head, tiny body, and a weird little nozzle for a mouth. The mushrooms seem to actively grow around it, though something killed it a long while ago... Kneeling down, you note the bullet holes that were left in the thing's head... Must have carried quite some power, because it seems to have launched straight through the creature, leaving an equally large hole as entry and exit.You haven't seen any flintlock do that one yet... Hmm."What is this thing?" You ask and Oldfield simply shrugs:"I wouldn't know... I'm no biologist, but this doesn't seem like any creature I've ever seen."Paracelsus carefully pushes you aside, and then notes:"I, however, AM a biologist. Stand aside, I'm going to do an autopsy." She says, twirling a scalpel around and kneeling down. She carefully pushes the creature over a bit, revealing it's skin to be that same muddy texture throughout... Then she cuts it open."Hrmm... tougher than it looks. And... What?"
She stops, clearly confused."It... doesn't have a digestive tract. It's just... a mass of meat and glands? What would... What would power this thing, if it was ever alive!? It has a heart, I suppose and... Hmm. Hrmm..."She seems to be getting frustrated the more she looks at the creature, and then notes:"It does have a stomach, of sors, but it's filled to the brim with some kind of liquid. Its bones are... No, these aren't bones. This is stone. This thing is... It's a golem, for sure, but there's no magic on it. Unless it's been dead for a long time, but that would imply this thing is simply too toxic for the mushrooms... or even bacteria."She pauses a moment."Remind me to burn my gloves. Anyway, this thing is a plain impossibility. It doesn’t follow any golem’s rules, so it must be natural… But how could it? No anatomy would form like this, and yet… Here it is! What the hell is this? Unless… Wait.”Then, with another few incisions, she opens up the head. Inside, she looks it over.“Nothing but brain matter, though it looks like a human brain. There’s one part… here, that’s extra. Now…”She looks around for a moment, and then reaches into her surgery kit to take out… a little wooden stick. You think she used it to hold your tongue down during one of your checkups. Slowly, she pokes the little stick in there, and… stops, groaning in pain and making a move to clutch her head… though she doesn’t get far.”“Even though it’s dead, it’s still “active”, in a sense. This thing… it was a weapon. A living weapon, intended to… Well. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it would do, but my guess is that it could send something out with its brainwaves. It must have been terrifyingly effective if it can still do that while dead.”She stands up, and sniffs… Before taking off her gloves using some tongs,and replacing them with some extra ones she has on her.“There. Best not touch that thing if it’s that toxic. Still, something so toxic even our bacteria can’t touch it… It’s insane.”“Do you think we’ll still find one that’s alive?” Chad then asks.Everybody looks to eachother for a moment… and then to the huge chamber up ahead.Hmm.No way to go but forward, you suppose, so you just do that. You go in first, and as you approach more and more, you see that there are more signs of impressive technology. There’s gigantic silos here, with catwalks around them that imply there’s even a lower lever for them. The mushrooms also seem to have overtaken much of this place, and when you suddenly feel something hit your chest, you look to your left.Hm.
Right, so there they are.The fungal beasts are all here, and while that spitter launched the first shot, more and more of the creatures seem to be wringing themselves loose from the walls. There must be… about half a dozen chompers beginning their clumsy walks towards you. At least the professor wasn’t lying about the suits protecting from the spitters.This hallway serves as a chokepoint, but you’re not sure if you want the limited range of movement if you’re fighting these things…>Move into the room, quickly, so you can maintain a full range of movement>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.
>>5192254>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.The mushrooms operate on a hivemind right? They should back off if we demonstrate we're not worth messing with.
>>5192254>>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.Scorch 'em
>>5192254>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire.Might as well do both.
>>5192254>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that
>>5192254>>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.>>the rest will back you up ensuring that you are not overwhelmedI don't like leaning on the power of the curse and after our heart to heart with pink isn't it more than a little hypocritical to instantly turn to it the first moment it seems convenient? with this plan if things start to go south we can still fire breath and it might be even more effective since they will be bunched up
>>5192254>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.No dragon shenanigans unless we absolutely need to. Hell, even if we do, I'd still think long and hard about it. Also, let's not risk destroying whatever artifacts might be in that room.
>>5192302Supporting
>>5192302>Also, let's not risk destroying whatever artifacts might be in that room.fuck that is an even better point I had not even considered, good catch
>>5192302That makes sense.>>5192254Switch>>5192270 to this >>5192302I don't want to set off any munitions that might be laying around.
>>5192254>Back away, make use of the chokepoint>No fire yet
>>5192254>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.Agree with the anon that said it'd be hypocritical to use fire after beforeSo we have evidence of real, electrical lightbulbs, what seems to be modern firearms, and bioengineered psychic attack... Things, and underground structures. This is starting to feel like CDDA with a little less grimdark and a lot more magic. There's even sentient fungus.
>>5192309>>5192310>>5192314>succumbing to the curse is fine>destroying loot is a no goY'all guys are weirdos and your priorities are seriously out of whack. I love it.
>>5192351I just don't want to accidentally blow ourselves up.
>>5192351the bait is bait, troll else were anon I was the first to point out the hypocrisy of using the fire so fuck off.
>>5192254>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.Reynaulds lungs and throat have already been replaced, so utilizing the dragon fire shouldnt turn him into a dragon any faster than normal.After we've torched a majority of the creatures, we can then go back into the room to deal with the rest of them.I wished I asked this earlier. Does the doctor and Percelus knows if there are pesticides of chemicals that can kill all the fungus down here? An aerosol solution that spreads? Hmmmm mixing bleach and amonia to make mustard gas?
>>5192419that really isn't the point anon, the point is to firstly not be a hypocrite when we lectured pink and made her feel bad for encouraging us for using the dragon power and then turning around and using the dragon power. secondly is the items and artifacts in the room also how do we know using fire won't trigger some defense system.there are many reasons to not use the fire.
>>5192435Wasn't Reynauld lecturing Pink to not encourage the avarice part of the curse, less so everything else? We were chastising her because of that, not the fire from what i understand so far. For your second query, that's why we're stepping back into the checkpoint, where we are now. Away from all those silos so we can take advantage of the narrow space to kill as many of the mushrooms with minimal risk, and for the defense systems? All but in disrepair or defunct. If they haven't activated when the professor was last here, or when they shoorms moved in, they sure wont active now.Two reasons, I dont think can be considered many. What are the other reasons?
>>5192461>avoiding possible hypocrisy, or strengthening the curse>avoiding blowing ourselves and the others up>avoiding damaging any potential loot or scientific disocveriesThe three reasons that spring to mind.
>>5192461>and for the defense systems? All but in disrepair or defunct.Yeah we don't actually know that.
>>5192519>>5192522There's no method to strengthening the curse beyond accumulating a horde directly, being more self serving, and Reynauld accumulating more injuries, which the curse takes advantage of by replacing damaged body parts with dragon parts. The latter two hasn't been confirmed to accelerate Reynauld's transformation, but injuries are definitely making him change faster. So, better to kill everything than risk accumulating more injuries, which would then make Reynauld change faster. In my opinion.Second reason, yes. We should all try to avoid getting hurt, but there's no evidence that the fire would set anything off.third reason, "This hallway serves as a chokepoint". If there was anything note worthy then we wound had noticed it. As a plus, this is only a chokepoint of a hallway. Not a research station, not a dormitories, not an armory. Just a hallway you walk through. If we keep the flame breathing restricted to here, then nothing sensitive should be damaged so long as we don't breath fire in the very room all the monsters are in. Pretty smart eh?
>>5192528we get it you want to strengthen the curse most of us do not as well as the several other legitimate reasons not to use fire. stop pretending to have the moral high ground here and let's see how the vote tally up.
>>5192528It's not the physical transformation that I'm concerned about, it's the mental degradation. With every time you use the dragon's power, it becomes a little easier to rely on it, to accept it, until it becomes your default answer to everything. Remember the first dream, the temptation of an easy way out, an immense power to incinerate all of your enemies, if you would only embrace it, you worthless monkey. Reynauld has shown that he is the kind of man who would rather struggle endlessly, rely on his own strength, than accept the proverbial deal with the devil, and every time he now unleashes that power is another step away from that man and towards the dragon.
>>5192531Sod off, I also want to strengthen the curse, and voted for flamebreath. Also let's grow wings and a balance tail soon, pls. Reverse jointed raptor legs with gutting claws would be appreciated as well. Apologize to Pink and call her a Clever Girl already ffs.
>>5192254>>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.
I am somewhat surprised that no one has raised the point that starting a large fire in a poorly ventilated place could cause the group to suffocate due to lack of oxygen.death looms over this expedition.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZzN1p-Ls4OyZhVZTzindBUDh417OfIEU/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102332684560001510753&rtpof=true&sd=true
>>5192640Nice omake. Sadly, I must add that William has no interest in kobolt ass. He is too lame.But, he might be able to learn :^)
>>5192254>>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.Burn it all
>>5192651>grow dragon dick>don't use it to dick down PinkWhy even live?
>>5192254>Take off the facial covering, breathe fire. Simple as that.>>5192788Why even. What's the point of this quest if we dont make Pink weak in the knees?
>>5192627No apologizing to Pink, but raptor legs do sound pretty cool. I think they might even make Reynauld run faster. That or I'm thinking of Shadowrun 4e digitgrade cyberlegs combined with raptor feel.Man I hope we find some cool cybernetics down here.
>>5192254>>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.can't risk destroying stuff
>>5192254>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.I'm against using fire for 3 reasons1. Risk of smoke in a confined space2. Risk of damaging weird tech3. I don't trust anything that comes from the curse
all these dragon fags coming in here and voting against the spirit of the quest, fuck you guys
>>5192254>>Back away, make use of the chokepoint.
>>5193132You (or someone) does this every time, every thread: pretends like anyone who doesn't want to go 100% unflinching champion-of-man knight is new to the quest, rather than just another player voting differently than you. Check the archives: people who are okay with becoming a dragon, or part-dragon, have been here since thread 1!>SRANKSee, New Capcha agrees!
>>5193146and your ilk has been voted down every time making it damn clear we don't want that shit, yet you keep pushing it, your side lost in thread 1 & 2, by carrying on with that shit yes at this point you are undermining the core theme of the quest we established, we. don't. want. to. be. a. dragon! fuck off.
>>5193172I don't actually tend to vote for pro-dragon options, but if you're so confident you're going to win... Why do you care? Obviously it's not a problem for QM, or Spine wouldn't keep including those options.Calm down, anon.
>>5193177Spine handing out bait/trap options makes perfect sense he is playing the narrator and curse, that doesn't mean we should take those options man. and I care so much because like any real old fag can tell you all it takes is a few dumb newfags hopping in and shitting up the quest votes to ruin our plans and derail shit. Do you remember the OG left behind quest and how it went to shit because of a few newfags who jumped in troll voted and left? I do.
>>5193196>dumb newfags hopping in and shitting up the quest votesBut as established, the people voting that way have been here the whole time. They're players the same as you, just as invested in the quest. If you want a quest where nobody votes contrary to you, you're looking for a single-player game.
>>5193196Gay
>>5193206they are invested in undoing all the character development of two threads because again your want for our MC to become a dragon is out of character and has been since the second threat at least. you might have had a point is this was thread one and we were still deciding how we want Raynold to react to this situation, but we have decided and we have voted for him to not want it. So by continuing to push for it, you are shiting up the quest and trying to force a total 180 for the character. it's really simple as that.
>>5193239Being so bossy and obnoxious about how people should vote just makes me want to vote pro-dragon more often to spite you.But, hey, we'll see! I enjoy this quest, so I'll just vote in a way that makes sense for how I interpret Reynauld's development. Unlike some, I'm not beholden to my personal vision of how the story and characters should develop (or not develop).
>>5193239>>5193253Double dragon lizard penis's!
>>5193253>I've been called out on my meta actions so now I must double down and ruin the quest.Lurk more and grow up, or go back to redit and your safe space because I am not sure /qst/ is the board for you much less 4 chan as a site.
>>5193253>>5193259You guys are wack playing your 5D chess blame game. One guy is against dragons, but is probably for dragons so the other guy spitefully votes for dragon power use options. The dragon voter is tricking the 'fore dragon use' anon who's pretending to be against fire breathing.At the end of the day, we can all agree that fire is good.>>5192651When Reynauld's teeth all fall out, what will the doctor lady do with them? Make dentures?
>>5193259>anyone who disagrees with me is redditKek.
You decide to make this easy on yourself, and quickly begin to back up into the hallway. You also stop Chad, who was a bit over-eager to get in there, it seems."Hold on, we're using the tunnel to funnel them into a straight line... then, I'm not going to even use this axe."Chad turns to you, asking: "Then wha- Ow!". Sadly, the question never finishes as a clump of toxic spores strikes him in the face. While the spores can't breach the suit, getting struck by a softball of the stuff is still bloody distracting, to say the least. You have to make sure you don't suffer that one, actually, though you might be able to resist it just fine. It's not a long-lasting poison, fortunately. As the chompers begin to crowd together, almost tripping over eachother to get at you, you take off your mask with a quick flip, holding a hand on in front of your face just in case a spitter decides to get lucky with their barrage of spores, and you breathe in deeply....Before blanketing the entire hallway in a blaze of blue fire, which makes the kobolts all holler in delight at the sight! "DRAGON! YEAAAAH! BURN THEEEEM!" Chad screams, hopping in place as he gazes in delight at the fungal beasts getting set on fire! The blue fire rapidly begins to eat through the seedbed on their backs, and the splotchy fungal flesh is rapidly starting to crack and split, as well. The heat is essentially disintegrating them as you watch, and in their panic they're stumbling over eachother again on the way out, beginning to hug up against the other chompers... and even some spitters, further spreading the fire amongst them.Then, of course, you advance forward.You take another breath, and the remaining spitters have clumped up as well. Strategy isn't their strong suit, of course, they just formed a half-circle around the entrance to try and get a shot at you. You exhale another torrent of fire, surprising yourself at the sheer distance you can shoot this stuff. The control is impressive too.You faintly hear a roar in your voice as you torch all your foes in but an instant. ...Then, you simply wait for the last of the beasts to fall. Dragonfire burns for a long time, after all. They were dead to begin with. Fortunately, nothing seems to explode when put into contact with fire, and now you can look around.To the left, you have those silos, and there seems to be some kind of writing on it... While it does have your alphabet, it doesn't seem to connect to any language you heard of.Oldfield, however, is simply delighted."Masterfully done, my boy! Masterful! I hadn't expected such ferocity from your fire breath! Now, come come! We've already got some amazing finds here. See that writing up there!?" He all but yells:"I was thinking about it, yes." You reply back, tilting your head, though the professor surprises you a bit:"It's even a language we recognize! Well, up to a point. The words up there seem to be designations. Mutagen tanks."
You turn to him, tilting your head."Mutagen? As in-""The stuff that mutates, yes! It's.. well, the base form of "to mutate", with an addition turning it into a noun rather than a verb. It's the same system as our language, really! Yet, still no magic can be detected. Why... this is an amazing find. "Paracelsus, to your surprise, says the last thing you'd expect her to say."This is... FAR too dangerous. Mutagen is already dangerous when it comes from wizards, but this... this is a natural, or as close to natural as it gets, source of mutations. It would mean it's completely and utterly irreversible. We can't let this get into the hands of anybody!" She says, and Oldfield... seems to agree:"Oh, for sure. Nobody should ever get their hands on the mutagen. I'm hoping the stuff is gone, and... guessing from the gauges, it seems we're in luck. They're all emptied. Ah! See there! The remains of glass tubes. Seems it would be possible to pump the stuff all throughout the facility."Then, you hear one of the kobolts yell something:"What is THAAAAT!" Teensy says, and you all turn. There's a chainlink fence there, but no gate... inside those fences you see railway karts, similar to what the alchemists have... though with rubber wheels and a wheel in front of the seats.The professor all bit giggles in delight as he sees them:"Transports! But... where are the rails?" He says, though it's more a question to himself. You wouldn't exactly know the answer to it, after all, though you do come closer to check it out. The seats are all eaten by the fungus, pretty much, though the insides seem like they're pretty padded. The front of one of these things is open, revealing a massive mess of parts. More little words, here and there, though you can't tell what's what with the amount of metal and tubes in there. The only thing you can hazard a guess as it the logo at the front.You can even try reading it, though you decide to ask the professor on what i means?"What's a Jeep?""Must be a name, of sorts... How fascinating!"He's already making a sketch of the thing. He's quite skilled, it seems.Teensy is crawling under the strange kart, and there she can can already give a little more info."It's like a, uh! A carriage! But no horses! It's got these thingies that'll make the wheels go and I-I think the big wheel makes the rest of it go! Collar! Could you twist the wheel!?Considering there's about half a dozen more of these things, it shouldn't be a huge loss if that does anything bad.You keep an eye out, in the meantime, obviously. Short glances at this thing won't hurt. Anna and Chad are doing the same though, though Anna is pointing out yet another amazing thing:"Look at the size of that GATE! It's... It's got to be ten meters wide. And it's about half as tall, which is still... wow."
>>5193545>Jeepholy shit
You move towards the gate... moving close to the tanks because of it. You step on top of some catwalks as a result, and that gives you a little vision to the things below. While there was basement there at some point, it looks like a giant chunk of the floor has been blasted apart by some kind of force, giving you a view to the deepest level. If it wasn't for your new eyes, you wouldn't be able to see anything, but..."What in the TWELVE HELLS is that!?" You all but scream, gazing upon the bloodied corpse of... something. It looks more akin to meat given a vague form, carried along by gigantic, seemingly metal tubes. There are boils filled with a faintly glowing sickly green liquid still spread around the corpse of that thing, though you can tell from this angle that the mushrooms have slowly been encroaching upon it. It's hard to tell, of course, though the most impressive (or perhaps, merely disturbing) portion of the huge room down there is the lump of deadened flesh. It seems to still be rotting down there, though the brobdingnagian quantities of flesh must make it difficult for even the most persistent of decay to fully spread through it.The gigantic reddened flesh is the most telling. Though it's hard to get an exact guess of it all, you can tell that it was huge. Guessing that the rest of the creature is just spread all across the facility below, you suppose that gigantic wound was once it's head... or whatever equivalent to a head it may have once possessed. Whether it was monster or God.... It's dead now.All that makes you wonder, though, is what in the HELL killed it!?
Then, however, you get a tug from the side. It's Collar, holding something..."Dragon! I found this two-barreled flintlock!""It's got special little red things for it!""It was in the back in a box of the geep thing!"...Huh. You take a look at the thing, and while the design is somewhat familiar, it's clearly a bit more advanced than what you're used to. It opens up, for one, and you can see two of those little red things that the kobolt is holding loaded in there. It seems similar enough, you suppose, to your flintlock, though it seems the payload is in the bullet, rather than the gun itself.... huh.Ingenious.This thing must have been one of the most modern pieces of war-gear around, by your estimate, especially if it can fire twice. It's a simple system, two triggers, one for each barrel. On a whim, you remove the bullets from the gun, and see how fast you can load it. You fumble a bit, of course, but...Well, even then? You just did in seconds what would take a minute under normal circumstances. Essentially, most of the reload is done beforehand, in the bullet itself. You also take a look at one of the little bullets, and open up the shell. There's... a bunch of little balls in there, powder, and some other parts. Hmm. Not as complicated as you feared, actually?This could be very powerful.>Keep it>Don't bother, those little red things are limited.>Take a moment to take in just how out of your depth you are to this location this whole thing is absolutely insane you're walking in what must the halls of GODS
>>5193572>Take a moment to take in just how out of your depth you are to this location this whole thing is absolutely insane you're walking in what must the halls of GODS>Keep the gun, though>>5193543>You faintly hear a roar in your voice as you torch all your foes in but an instant. Ha. I hope it doesn't progress too far and bad-end us, but I admit grim satisfaction to see K6juRAb+'s perfect world crumble a little.
>>5193563post apocalyptic universe confirmed>Take a moment to take in just how out of your depth you are to this location this whole thing is absolutely insane you're walking in what must the halls of GODS
Oh shit, is this FEV? I should not have read fallout lore before going into this quest...
>>5193572>Keep itDoes this look like something Reynauld can figureout? Can he save the shells to make more? How many shells are there? Can we search all the jeeps in search of more?If we find any books that aren't eaten away by the mold, I think we could ask Collar to eat them. It's just an idea.>>5193595I'm not completely sure this is a post fallout universe.
>>5193611>>5193595>>5193589Worth noting: people in this land don't speak "Common" or anything. As OP noted in Thread 1: we, and our Kobolts, speak ENGLISH.
>>5193637Oh shit x2
>>5193572>>Keep it>>as insane as this is, this is not the work of gods it is the work of MEN, clearly something catastrophic happened long ago, if our technology has fallen so far. so we are clearly post-apocalypse like very post-apocalypse. >>used the fire, for shame, fucking hypocrites.
>>5193876>>5193572supportyeah using the fire makes us hypocrites anons not cool dudes.
>>5193579>Ha. I hope it doesn't progress too far and bad-end us, but I admit grim satisfaction to see K6juRAb+'s perfect world crumble a little.you have one sad life if derailing quests is how you get your kicks anon. And we fucking told you so dumb ass.
>>5193579Can you not be a petty dick? anon might be an asshole but he has a point man. Every indication QM has given us has told us that ending up going dragon is a bad end fuck you even admitted as much. so can you kindly not fucking ruin the quest by voting for the trap/bait options that push us closer to that outcome? Your literally fucking yourself and the rest of us over by helping make anon's "Perfect world crumble a little" you may not care but those of us who have been here since thread 1 really give a shit and want to see things go well for our MC, putting up with the pro dragon shit posters is annoying as is, but having to deal with a spite voter will just make this unbearable man. so can you please just be the bigger man/adult and not fucking spite vote or continue to pick at anon to continue shit. I am assuming you're here to have fun and enjoy the quest like the rest of us, so in good faith can you just not spite vote or start/continue shit?
>>5193885>>5193910I voted against firebreath, and also have been here since thread 1. I think I may have actually cast one of the first few votes in the entire quest. I'll vote how I like, and if you don't want it to be contrarian votes, then stop lecturing people on how to vote.
>>5193947...you realize I am a different anon right? did you even read my ID? christ man the other anon was right your just a piece of shit troll.
>>5193963I know you're two different people, which is why I addressed both posts rather than just one. I'm addressing it to you both, as you're both making the same basic case:>UNLIKE YOU and others who vote contrary to me, I'VE been here since day one, so please don't spoil MY quest by voting bad and wrongI didn't even vote pro-dragon at any point during this thread, and in previous threads I've only done so in limited capacities when it made sense, such as using firebreath to impress the troll's kobolts or to try and get a discount on helmets.But come off the high horse. All votes are valid, especially when they're literally options presented by QM. Trying to harp on like only your votes are valid and legit is nonsense. The pro-dragon pro-moral ambiguity posters have been here since thread 1 and, while I've not been one of them, pretending they're all redditors and saboteurs is nonsense.
>>5193565What game?
>>5193969>>5193947Your full of shit, Spine with every vote that has taken the dragon option has shown its hold advance sometimes in obvious ways and sometimes in not so obvious ways. Say all voting styles are valid is just a fucking cope, given the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. By voting for dragon shit you literally push us closer to a bad end, if you vote for Dragon you are on the wrong side. With every inch, we give to the curse by using its power or making a dragon choice is a step closer to a bad end, one step closer to a loss. Every pro dragon anon who legitimately wants the curse to win is pushing for a bad end, so yeah they are fucking saboteurs shiting up the quest because they want to be a dragon and are trying to force that outcome in quest even though literally every time it comes up it is shown to be negative.There is no moral ambiguity to this either as we have seen in quest the personality death that is coming for Raynold if the curse is allowed to advance and time him fully. He will stop being himself as his mind is warped and corrupted by the curse so he no longer holds the values he does or even sees the virtues he clings to as virtues. You think your hot shit with your smug attitude but you don't hold the moral high ground hear I am right and so is every other anon who voted against the dragon shit. and hay good for you for voting against, but again you retarded if you really believe being pro dragon is fine while knowing full well it means a bad end.>>5193963we will just have to out vote him simple as that
You guys have autism and need to stop shitting things up, while I'm Team Human things will go how they're gonna go and you can't control what other people are gonna vote for.>Take shotgunJust give us the damn shotgun. We've got a mob of little lizard frens that excel at digging up stuff for their boss, we can probably loot even more guns, ammo and goodies from this place. Not even in a dragon horde way, but in a better at killing things way. Mark it on the map for after we're done being cursed.Love this turn of events QM, love me this kind of lore for a fantasy setting. Is that screenshot from Fallout? It doesn't look quite like it but I've not played the old ones in a long time.
>>5194007It might be from underrail, I haven't played it but it fits the isometric post apocalyptic vibe. I feel kinda in between the two groups of stay human and go dragon. On one end being a dragon would be badass, plus we get magic. The identity death is a bit of a downer, so I think I'm leaning humie mostly because of the post apocalyptic stuff now. We gotta EXPLORE man we gotta figure out what happened.
>>5194027Ah I think you're right, it is Underrail. I've played it but the pacing feels like wading through waist deep sludge and you have to savescum endlessly to make it to the fun. Admittedly maybe I'm just bad.I'm team Human because dragons can't use guns. In fact being a dragon after going all this way locks us out of a lot of interaction with the world in what feels like a meaningful way. Fighting? Breathe fire, bite it, sit on it, fly away like a fuckoff coward lizard, or whatever. Talking to people? Extort them for gold and food, act like a dickhead. Where do we go? Well we live in a cave and count money, and occasionally leave to to get more money to count, or snatch up livestock for lunch. Fight off a knight every so often. How to treat kobolts? Like objects and slaves obviously, we're an actual dragon now, no need to bother with the intricacies of navigating kobolt/human relations because the natural hierarchy has been reestablished.Really don't mean to be a Debbie downer here but dragon route seems pretty boring unless QM gets real creative. great now I'm shitting everything up
>>5194056No, you just taking the time to reason out the logical outcome of the dragon route which again the asshole anon is an asshole but he is right in that route only leads to a bad end, staying human and struggling against that fate is far fucking more interesting even more so now that we know about the setting being super post-apocalypse.I also maintain that going dragon isn't a route it is a bad end state for the quest.
>>5193572>Keep itKeep looking around for things. Maybe we might find some more useful things in the Jeeps such as a glove box full of things?Now's who's asses we need to kick? Gimme the tough bitches to fight Spinejuice.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNk66eG9tZMSide note I hope we'll have enough money after this expedition to commission us up a real mean looking two hander of a pig stick with a gold core, hell maybe we could even commission up a set of alchemically treated gold-steel alloy armor for that extra magic powah. This should only be considered if Reynauld ends up keeping his dragons breath after getting partially cured by the archmage.>>5194065>>5193969lmao this autism generated discussion is great. It's a game dudes, chill. Gotta take the good with the bad gnome I'm saying?>>5194027I'm leaning towards something like the half dragon man thing in Reynauld's dream. I say this because he would be big enough to wield stupidly large swords, but small enough where he can still go about his business in towns.>>5194056I personally like dragons, I think being a giant neigh immortal fire breathing flying lizard is pretty metal, but on the other hand I don't want that to happen in this quest. Because that would be a game over, but I still like the idea of hitting that sweet spot between man and dragon. Not to evil, not to small, and can probably still use a gun.Eh, none of us will get anywhere with the dragon talks since we're practically yelling at each other. Can you tell us more about Underrail? Please enlighten us with your gamer knowledge. Do you have any clue just where the hell our party is in, and if your brain can tell us anything useful? Like what the giant dead thing was?https://stygiansoftware.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page>>5194065All this new knowledge is super duper interesting. What are the implications? Jeeps, guns, weird ass machines and experimental shit, the two smartest people in our party talking about mutagens changing people like crazy.Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Because I'm thinking that this place was once a military research outpost of some sorts, and the empty mutagen silos could be the reason why magic and other races exist to this day. let me hear you hypothesis and theories.
>>5194074I'm cool with being a dragon/man mutant, don't get me wrong. Just being locked out of basic things like manual dexterity and basic human relations locks you out of plenty more. Personally I see Reynauld as a very good man and while stories about good men falling are quite popular, I prefer to see good men stand up to adversity through very cohersive temptation. I can't tell you too much on Underrail, it's basically just isometric Metro 20XX with a lot more autism and ZERO handholding. I never got far enough to any significant portion of the main quest because either I'm bad or the game is just that hard. Although the real reason is that I really hate following guides to play games and don't have the time to play a game where objectives feel less intuitive to figure out. You spend a lot of time after doing stuff for the first couple areas wandering around, confused, and being killed by lethal enemies. In that way it's kinda like the first time you ever played Morrowind. I'd recommend it if you have a lot of time and patience.Besides, even if I did have strong knowledge of the game it would probably be too meta, kinda like the Darkest Dungeon talks we had in earlier threads and the meta takes away from the mystery and probably makes more work on the QM to subvert expectations
>>5194100https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo3lPznHHE0Damn, thats fair. When we're done investigating this facility, do you think we could get away with keeping some jeeps and fuel? Actually scratch that. As cool as the jeeps might be, we're lacking in the tools and knowledge department if want to keep these things running for extended periods of time, not to mention the risk of popping a tire. I suppose for now we'll be restricted to using them within this facility?
Yeah i'll confirm right now it's Underrail, the game has been living in my head rent-free for a long while now. I've played it a lot, and I mean A LOT. I love it, and strongly recommend to stick with it if you manage to squeeze past Depot A. It's an intentional filter to make sure you don't head in without a build, though there's always ways to squeeze past it. The best hint I can give you is that sneak is your best friend (across the whole game), and beartraps aren't just to keep one enemy in place, but about 12 of them if you put it in a doorway. They can't move through eachother. Also, no matter your build, grenades are basically mandatory.The story and worldbuilding is great and I'd even say the expansion turns a good game even better. Personally, I'd advise you just make yourself an assault rifle metal armor build. They're the easiest to play so you can focus on just getting to know the game. After that, you can do more fun builds. Personally, I'd recommend chemical pistols.Back to the quest, while I AM using elements of it, I will be changing things around quite a bit regardless. So meta-knowledge on Underrail won't help you much, and the one freebie i'll give you is that acid is bad and things that turn your blood into acid are worse.Addendum: Going "Full Dragon" IS a bad end, yes, but "full dragon" is a lot more than just being a giant quadruped lizard. The mental transformation matters a hell of a lot more than the physical, and while one can feed into the other, as long as you stick with your morals and make sure you're a bit careful you'll be fine. You're free to use your fire breath, it's revelling in its power that could be dangerous. And burning yourself too, I suppose.Reynauld would still prefer not being a dragon, mind you. And, really, no matter what happens: it'll be an interesting story.>>5193637Small sidenote: while you do speak English, there is enough separation between the English here and the English above that the layman can't read it. The stuff here is a sort of "proto-english", comparatively. Oldfield can read it just fine, though, he's a linguist.
ACTUAL UPDATE BELOW: You take the shotgun, noting just how pleasant to the touch it really is. The wood is smoothened, and the barrels look to be made of a material you don't recognize. It's not quite steel or anything like that, and despite the image that was used, the barrels are in a bright chrome colour. Lighter than it appears, as well!"I'll be taking this... Try to gather any more of these... shells that you can find. It's going to be a hungry weapon, no doubt."The kobolts start hopping in place and then rush around the cars, making the professor protest a bit to leave at least one of the cars alone. At your insistence, the kobolts agree. In the meantime...Gazing down at that rotten thing below, and then at rest of this place, you disspell the thought that this is something that could only be made by gods. No magic, no masters... this is all something created by the family of man.Anna seems to notice your thinking."Hey... Cent for your thoughts?""This whole thing is man-made. Some... people actually came together to create this. It's... sobering.""I'd say it's pretty cool, rather. All this with just technology? To hell with wizards... HEY! Maybe they have a solution to your problem here!""Could be... Could not. Here's the thing though,all this technology is old. Very old... Things have gone to ruin.""And? We found them again?""I'm just wondering... what in the hell happened that things regressed this far? Must have been... cataclysmic!""Well... I doubt they wouldn't write about it somewhere. I never thought a little lady like me would be interested in some actual archaeology. "Well... you have to admit you're very interested too.You end up having to guard Oldfield as he makes a sketch of the whole car, and at one point, you even pull out the engine as he call it with the help of the kobolts. It's monstrously heavy, and if it wasn't for the kobolts, you wouldn't have been able to lift it out of there. Fortunately, Oldfield was smart enough to remove the bolts and other connecting parts first.(cont)
Inevitably, of course, all that noise and standing still... brought things over. To the left of the gigantic gate, there was another cave entrance, They weren't well-hidden, on account of them being nearly nine feet tall. Heavy, plodding footsteps, and pulsating green boils all across their body, make it easy to hear and see. The creatures themselves, to your horror... appear to have once been human. Though their skulls seem almost partially collapsed, to the point that the front monster's tongue is flopping around without a jaw to rest in, their eyes and general shame means they are unmistakeably former humans. They even still wear their tattered clothing, though they clearly forcefully tore their way through. Even their skin appears stretched, like a rubber band stretched to the breaking point. More worryingly, their arms all seem to be uniformly burnt, almost to the point of being unrecognizable. Tough carapace-like crust now covers most of it, steadily getting thicker towards the tip of the claws, with their right hand looking more akin to a crab's pincer... and the one on the left reminding you of a spiked catching pole. Too wide to pinch, but huge enough to serve as a club. They're just wandering in your direction, likely because of the noise, but it seems their eyesight is rather poor... or they don't move much faster when aggressive compared to just wandering. Their limp could imply the second...>Remain calm, and stand your ground. Maybe they're not aggressive?They look like they're in pain...>Take aim with your new gun. Like hell that's harmless.>Tell everybody to hideMaybe you can avoid a fight that way.
>>5194124>Tell everybody to hideThe fewer fights we get into, the better. While I'd love an opportunity to try out our new boomstick, our priority is getting everybody in and out safely.Also, in light of recent events, I gotta ask: Do we have knowledge of any ancient civilization ruins that exist out in the world? Reynauld has travelled quite a bit in his youth, and I can't imagine the crumbled ruins of New York in a steampunkish fantasy setting wouldn't be common knowledge.
They'll just come back later if we hide, unless we're leaving right after? Either back out now or fight.> Remain calm, and stand your ground. Like hell that's harmless.
>>5194124>Like hell that's harmlessWe have to get out of here one way or another, if we gotta beat it I'd rather nothing be in the way.
>>5194124> Remain calm, and stand your ground. Like hell that's harmless.I'm fore putting these sorry sods out of their misery. Theres nothing we can do to reverse what happened to them, so the best thing to do is to end their suffering. I would suggest that Reynauld starts off by firing into the heads of these things with his flintlocks, then switch over to the shotgun since it requires significantly less time to reload. That way he can expend uses of his cheaper ammunition until he needs to use the shotty. I dont trust that it safe to engage these things in melee combat. Any tears to the suit could prove to be fatal to anyone here. If all the gunshot noises do end up attracting even more of them, at least too much for us to handle, we can Ll double time it out of there and back to the surface, making use of Percelas plague bombs to kill if not slow down our potential pursuers.If no more of them come to investigate, than we can use the opportunity to study the bodies while Reynauld reloads his two guns. Did the kobolts find anymore ammo?Note: the broomstick will most likely attract them when we decide to use it, in addition to any other predators.
>>5194127Maybe hes walked through such a ruined you described, but it was hidden thanks to War Wizards hiding it.>>5194124Changing vote to hiding, but defaulting to shooting to draw attention in case these things manage to find our of our friend's hiding spaces to attack them.
>>5194145>Maybe hes walked through such a ruined you described, but it was hidden thanks to War Wizards hiding it.Ah, right, that makes sense.
>>5194124>>Tell everybody to hide
>>5194124>Remain calm, and stand your ground. Maybe they're not aggressive?Be ready to defend ourselves, keep a safe distance, but don't lash out because they're deformed. So are we. So was/is Anna. Let's not act like the villagers of Shitsburg and make assumptions based on appearances.
>>5194310this is a completely different scenario, we are in a hostile bunker full of dangerous fungus monsters alien-looking monsters and what ever these Cronenberg things are, assuming they are none hostile is naive at best and retarded at worse, we should have our people hidden and out of harms way rather than stand in the open and just hope that these things are the one thing in a bunker full of very hostile creatures in a corrupted forest that are not hostile. do you see now why what your proposing is a bad idea?
>>5194124>>Tell everybody to hideI have zero faith these are not enemies given what this place is and where it is located.
>>5194331>Be ready to defend ourselves, keep a safe distance
>>5194124>Tell everybody to hide
>>5194127iirc underrail is a nuclear apocalypse where its been several hundred years since people left the surface and it's still uninhabitable. there might not be any new york left. . >>5194124>Take aim with your new gun. unrelated note, Magic in underrail is "psy" powers, it would follow then that wizards eventually go crazy from all the psy they have, then? But mana also seems to be a thing. And how does that work with our curse, which is magic also.
>>5194381My point is that a civilization like ours doesn't just disappear. New York was just an example, there are megacities like that all over the world. Even centuries after the apocalypse, yeah, they would be reduced to rubble, but that rubble would still be there, and it's more than likely that at least one of these sites would have been discovered and knowledge of an ancient civilization (ours) would be fairly widespread. For that knowledge to be almost non-existent, either whatever apocalyptic event happened to us was so cataclysmic it literally deleted all human civilization off the face of the Earth, or some force is working overtime in the background to suppress this information from ever reaching the public. Of course, you could come up with other explanations as well - off the top of my head, time travel or this being another planet - but I'm willing to bet it's one of the first two.
>>5194381Maybe the psy powers were mutated even further, or eventually evolved into Mana.>>5194524Sure they disappear, if you have an organization of wizards that are charged with the responsibility of researching and hiding them.
"Everybody! Hide, now!" You tell them, making sure to get everybody moving. The strange vehicles make for the best hiding spot, as the kobolts can just hop inside to be hard to see, while the taller people (you, Oldfield and Paracelsus) can simply hide behind them. Then, it's just a matter of having patience and steel nerves as those things wander forward... and then just hang around the room you're in. They look fairly aimless, actually, though one of them moves towards the gigantic mutagen silos... and places one of its claws against it.Then, mournfully, it begins to cry, placing its forehead against the metal. It's a long, wailing sound it makes, and it's here that it's all the more clear that this is a former human being. If the tattered clothing wasn't clear enough in that regard. The other mutants just stare at nothing in particular, until they notice one of the burnt corpses of the fungal beasts. It all but collapses on the floor before it starts eating the burnt corpse, though they have to snip it into little bits with their claw, or rake it to shreds with the bigger claw, to be able to eat it. They don't seem able to chew, and instead just slam the fungal meats against their throat."Disgusting... and incredibly interesting." Paracelsus adds. "They must be victims of the mutagen that was once stored here... or at least one variant of it."You just give her a look, which she seems to understand pretty fast."Right, right... We'll consider the implications later."More waiting, but eventually, you suppose that the mutants heard something. They all stops at the same time, and give out a wheeze... Before they start wandering towards the tunnel you came from. ...Well, you hope they don't know how to climb ladders. Or maybe you hope that they DO, in case you need to make a speedy exit. All the same, once they're gone, Oldfield stands up:"Alright! Let's keep moving for now, yes? We should take a look at that large gate, don't you think?"You don't say a word as you take him by the shoulder, and then show him the gigantic thing that you can get a glimpse at."...Well! We should try to get down there, then, no? This almost demands a closer look!"You're not sure about that, but you don't see any good argument against it yet. Then, he moves to the large gate, and takes a look at the little glowing pad to the left of it."That can't do anything, right?" Anna says, tilting her head. "Its too small, there's no way that-"The professor didn't need to do more than press a button, before the gigantic gate begins to open up. It's a monstrously noisy machine, using air pumps guessing from the noise. Then, once it opens... it's just a fairly ordinary cave, with a little metal shack to the side. You look to the rest of the people, and rapidly head inside. If nothing else, if anything is attracted to the gate you can hide in that shack for a bit. It's only barely enough to fit everybody.
Once inside, however, you see some kind of flat pedestal with a load of buttons under it. Like... a typewriter with a glowing flat thingie above it. Hard to say what it is. Oldfield, however, walks towards it with confidence."Well... This shouldn't be too hard. This here is the "on" button, and..."With a flick, the glowing thing turns brighter still, and there are words appearing on the screen."Ohh. OHhh! It's... it's a book! Of sorts, anyhow! Look here! Archives!"You just see a bunch of words and... pictograms? A folder, that much you recognize. Then there's... some kind of stick with a diamond at the bottom with legs? "Virology" it says under it, so you suppose it's connected to viruses? A couple more, but the archives is what oldfield selects by... pressing on it with his finger.That works?"Now, let's see here... Lots of information, to be sure. Why, it'll take days to transcribe all of this, unless... Hmm."He moves around a little more, and then you hear some kind of little machine buzz to life to the side of the room. It's a bit cramped, so it took a kobolt to move out of the way."Ahaaa! A printer!""Like a printing press?" You ask out loud, and the professor happily states:"Better than that, my boy! No pressing needed! Why, this is an artefact we must bring back, don't you say?"It looks kind of big... Not heavy, necessarily, but cumbersome to carry. Doesn't matter too much, you can use one of the kobolts for that job. But that's for when you're leaving."Here we go... Ah! Here. "Surface Information".You lean over the professor's shoulder, and the first words put things into perspective."It has been 379 years since the Great Serpent devoured our sun. It has been 242 years since our mutagen experiments finally bore fruit, and offered immortality... and it is today when I am the last one remaining. All the others came together in the mutagen tanks, to become part of the hivemind. Myself, I am too far gone. I'm old. I'm wizened... and contrary to my colleagues, death is not an alltogether unpleasant prospect for me. I've had a good life. A long life. Longer than any life deserves to be. Our discoveries have spread throughout the remnants of our world, and yet i fear not much of it will be fondly remembered. "Oh.
The message continues.Our robots? Weapons of war. Useful, to be sure... but we never made anything that would make food, or rear children. Our mutagen... It was considered a clever move, at the time, to turn it into a bioweapon. The side-effects of acidic blood and insanity made it perfect to taking on our rivals, and it was through that sort of... experimentation that we found and perfected it. Yet, with the number of people that are as long-lived as me numbering so low, I doubt anybody will appreciate that. Our robots? The life we made? Cloned humans, morphed into cybernetic spawn that could hardly still be called human. Now, undertaking actions even we don't quite understand anymore.Psionics? Well... The saying goes: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I fear more pain was wrought using those abilities than anything else. But thanks to my adjustments...I will leave a world that is worthy of it all. I will create a new sun. A new surface. Even if it will take generations more for the gestalt field to come to fruition, I will pull this wretched world from the abyss it was thrown towards, and KILL the damned snake that thought itself so great, so powerful, that it could think to plunge our world into the dark.~Icarus"You turn to the professor, who seems to have... stopped."What in the world did we come across? If it was generations more to go.. that would... This terminal would be ancient!" He says out loud.You keep reading, as Oldfield opens older entries. Different writers, it seems?"The Collective Consciousness seems to be working well. Compared to our freezer facility, especially. Certainly, there is immortality to be found in becoming a popsicle, but if it were up to me, I'd prefer to be able to do more than talk to the same people inside the same little facility. What's the point of being a psychic ghost if you can't leave the damned building?Personally, I'd prefer to live out my days as long as I think I can get away with. I've still got papy's old shotgun in my trunk. With the supersteel barrels, that thing'll be fine for centuries... I'll punch my own ticket, if need be.Hah! Morbid thoughts for some. I find it merely reassuring.~Wit"The oldest entry is the most simple:"Employees are not to use this as a diary terminal. You have your own terminals people! Upload it to the cloud if you want it permanently stored, the Cain Terminal should be used for *important* files.~Salinski"Hmm.That didn't last, did it?You... feel a bit dizzy. This is some... crazy stuff. If it's true, at least.On the other hand, this is waaaaay above you.This isn't actually relevant to you, personally. Archeologists can get a lot out of it, no doubt, but practically speaking this is all meaningless.
You lean away, instead looking towards the gate...More of those tall humanoids appeared, mixed in with smaller mutants. They seem to be a lot more human, glowing green boils aside. Unarmed, it seems?Apart from one... Wielding some kind of smaller flintlock pistol. Probably just as modern as that shellgun you have on you currently, though.Those mutants sure are ugly.Fortunately, they don't seem interested in stepping past the gate. In fact, they seem almost fearful....Slowly, you see them moving away again, even though it took a very long time. The tense waiting was enough to make you jump when you heard a *PING* to the side of you... and an elevator opened up."I found a way to summon an elevator to go deeper down, my boy... But you're my security detail. Do you think it prudent to head down, or would it be better if we simply made our escape now? I'm already more than satisfied.">Time to start making moves to get the hell out of here.>We should check the place out down there. Maybe there's even an alternative exit.>I have SO MANY GOD DAMNED QUESTIONS first.
>>5194693>Time to start making moves to get the hell out of here.We got some loot, some archaeologically-interesting info, and nobody's gotten hurt. Let's not get greedy, especially since we still have a curse to maybe stop.
>>5194693>>Time to start making moves to get the hell out of here.I deeply want to know more but we are way waaaay out of our depth, and we have a curse to stop.so we are definitively in a post-apocalypse timeline and this was is earth but it is a ruined and rotten earthOnce we curse ourselves we should seek out the prof again and if this is still here return better prepared and delve deeper, I feel there are secrets here that need to be uncovered.
>>5194693>>Time to start making moves to get the hell out of here.from knight in a fantasy work needing to cure himself of a dragons curse to a man dealing with a mutagenic nightmare that causes madness and ruin uncovering the lost history of Earth while trying to stop the mutations before he is lost.fucking hell spine this shit is lit you always go above and beyond in these settings man. I am also headcannnoning that we are in the ruin of the USA
>>5194693>Time to start making moves to get the hell out of hereI want to hightail it for the cure and then get back in here
>>5194712>then get back in herefucking same this is some mad juicy stuff man
>>5194693>I have SO MANY GOD DAMNED QUESTIONS first.>Doesn't matter too much, you can use one of the kobolts for that job.FUCK YOU CURSE! BE NICER, CUNT!
>>5194822there is a reason that ending up a dragon is a bad end man.
>>5194826I am aware, yes. Do you agree with my sentiment? Come anon, lets call the curse a cunt. Together.
>>5194974hell yeah I agree with you the curse is a cunt, makes us treat our friends like shit wants to body jack us, fuck that bitch
>>5194693>Time to start making moves to get the hell out of here.If Oldfield is satisfied, then I'm satisfied.Though I'd say if we ever actually become a full-fledged dragon, we've just found the fanciest lair ever. Just needs a little cleanup.
>>5195189Also, a backup option for a means to modify our body back to something approximating human, if magic alone is insufficient. That mutagen, properly applied by a muscular doctor we know after some in-depth study, could prove useful...
What is magic?
"I'd say it's in our best interest to get the hell out of here. Things are turning hot, and... Well. I can't say I'm not interested, but I'm on a time limit. If I end up stuck down here for too long, we'll ALL have a bigger problem.""Ah, yes... Of course. Well, then we simply need to find a way out, no? I'm... taking a look at this terminal a little more, and I think there are actually two ways up. We can head back the way we came... Or take this very same elevator and take it up. We'll have to move through a security checkpoint, looks like, but that way we avoid the, ehum... Green gentlemen at the gate, and undoubtedly at the hatch. Don't you believe so?"hmm.Well, you don't like the sound of either of those options. As you think it over a little more, however, you also hear another request. "Also, we must take these papers and the printer along. Who here is willing and able to carry it? I'll be holding on to the papers it printed, in the meantime."Well, it looks like everybody excepting Paracelsus is willing to do so, but they won't be able to do much without putting it down first. As you said before, it's cumbersome, if relatively light.Decisions...>Take the elevator to the security checkpoint. It'll be better to avoid that small army of mutants.>prepare to get through the army of mutantsAt least you know what to expect.Also, who takes the printer?The choices are:AnnaTeensyChadCollar
>>5195314>Take the elevator to the security checkpoint.>Teensy takes the printerI want to leave the damn thing, but its our job to help the guy. These mutants might be smart enough to notice its missing.
>>5195334supporting teensy on hauler duty and taking the elevator... Although we might lose gun on airplane security check.
>>5195314>>Take the elevator to the security checkpoint.>>ask our kobolds who can handle the weightlast thing we need is for us to blind pick and for them to know be able to handle it
>>5195390That's true. Backing this too, don't want to risk one of our little uns getting overburdened. Especially in this hellpit.
>>5195390addendum>>if none of them can handle it hand broomstick to chad and carry it ourself, if the prof confirms that is can't be left
>>5195314>"What do you mean, security checkpoint?"Taking an express lift out of this hell is preferable, but I'd like to know what to expect first.Also, Teensy and Collar on hauler duty. This is literally why we brought them with us.
>>5195314One more thing: Oldfield is acting mighty sus. He's more than fluent in this weird proto-English, he's throwing around technical terms like he knows what everything is and he's very comfortable operating these ancient artifacts. He knows what's going on, even though he had no opportunity to explore this place before today, according to him. Now is not a good time to confront him, but as soon as we're safely out of here, he better start answering questions.
>>5195501He might have been a member in the cryo portion of the base, got out, and is pretending to be a top dweller. Like Fallout. Or he's one of those psychic weapon things, or a mutant in disguise.
>>5195314>Take the elevator to the security checkpoint.>ask our kobolds who can handle the weightIdeally not Chad or Anna, as they are the beat combatants. Teensy is probably too smol. It may be Collar by default...
>>5195501He's an archaeologist. He's probably seen sites like this before, or found old records which speak of them.
>>5195805That's what I would think, too, and I'm sure that's what his defense will be, but what sites would he have been at if they're being disappeared by a secret cabal? What records would he have found, when knowledge is being suppressed, that describe the anatomy of a Jeep, or how to operate a touchscreen terminal, or a printer, or elevator controls? He has hands-on knowledge far greater than an outsider like him should have.>>5195505This is possible, but he is still far too eager to research the old tech that he should be intimately familiar with if he was indeed from the old world. Maybe he's just that good of an actor, but honestly, and I apologize for the meta-gaming here, that would be too obvious of a twist.My theory is that he is a rogue wizard, a former member of this secret society, cast out for whatever reason. It would explain how he would have been able to gain access to sites like this one in the past and why he's so aware of the masquerade that's going on. Most importantly, it's a plausible enough leap of logic for Reynauld to make, and throwing that accusation in Oldfield's face would be funny even if it's wrong - ESPECIALLY if it's wrong.
“We’ll try out that security checkpoint you mentioned… I’d prefer the unknown over an army of glowing green mutants.”“Very well. Who will look after the printer?”“Teensy? Can you deal with that, please?” You ask, politely. Happily, she picks up the printer and shows that she has no issues holding on to it… but, of course, she still needs both hands. She’ll be fine, but she can’t fight. Then, you all cram yourselves into the elevator, and while you do fit… it’s only barely. You and Paracelcus are squeezed together, and Oldfied is by the little control thing to the side of it. He presses a button, and two metal slabs slowly close before you feel an odd sensation. Like you’re being pushed down from above, though after a short moment, it seems to normalise.Oldfield is making you suspicious, at this point, and considering there’s little more to do than wait, you decide to ask questions.“So. You seem rather confident about everything in this place. Like you know what it is, already.”“Oh, they’re all quite easy to use!”“Uh-huh.” you say. “And yet, you didn’t even hesitate at any point.”There is an uncomfortable pause in the elevator for a moment, and then Oldfield seems to settle on being insulted:“Just what are you implying, here!?”“I wouldn’t know. I just think it’s odd.”“Well! I…” Oldfield says, but he seems to stop before he gets really steamed. Then, he seems to turn pensive for a moment. You raise an eyebrow, though you doubt that’s visible behind the masks.“I… You’re right. Why DO I know these things? It’s like… like muscle memory to me, but I can assure you I’ve never been to a ruin like this before! Unless… I have.”He goes quiet for a moment longer.“The wizards I mentioned… Perhaps they wiped me. I’ve been all over the world, my boy, I very well might have been to places like this before! But they obfuscated everything, including my very memory! That MUST be it! It’s a known fact, magic can’t remove things that are… ingrained in a person.”Another thing seems to occur to him.“And my murder would cast more eyes than a failed expedition. Hells below, my boy… Seems I was right to fear discovery.”Then, a *ding* indicates that you have arrived at your destination, and the elevator door slowly opens up. You’re in a much, much cleaner locale than before. You lean out of the elevator for a moment, and you see something concerning.It appears to be another gun, but attached to the ceiling. Upon you poking your head out, it beeps twice, and on a hunch you quickly get back inside the elevator… After which you hear SIX shots coming from that thing, leaving dents into the wall.“Oh no.” You say.>Time to use this new shotgun. Peek out and fire at the hangin pistol>This is an artefact as well… It’s risky, but try to outrun its fire rate, get below it, and rip it off.>Have Anna fire a bolt at it.>Something else
>>5196079>>This is an artefact as well… It’s risky, but try to outrun its fire rate, get below it, and rip it off.
>>5196079>Something elseI'm interested in ripping it out of the ceiling to bring it back, but we need to test some theories out first. Firstly we needed to test its reaction speed. Ask Anna if we can borrow one of her bolts and wave it around from cover to see if the guns motion tracking is capable enough to shoot the crossbow bolt.That's rather unfortunate Oldfield. Do you think you might had secretly made a note to yourself telling you that this happened before? If you had, where would you think you would hide you're notes? What happens now when we reach the surface? Will you be safe?
>>5196153Supporting this one. Once we have a feel for its reaction, then:>Get below it, rip it off>>5196079
>>5196153If its tracking is based on heat or motion (both of which we should test) then we're okay. If it has image recognition running that can recognize a human silhouette then we have trouble...we'd have to risk a kobolt hoping that it wouldn't recognize them.Anyway, after testing with the crossbow bolt we should wave garments and such out there as well. We should also use our fire breath to heat something and determine if it uses thermal imaging or not. If it uses thermal, we just need to breathe a bit of fire to make the room hot enough that we blend in to the background, before we leave and tear the turret off.
>>5196153supportit's likely our best shot
>>5196079A memory wipe, huh? How conveni- I mean, terrible.>Time to use this new shotgun. Peek out and fire at the hangin pistolThe sooner we get out of here, the better. Plus I'm sure Reynauld is as eager to try out the new toy as I am.
>>5196182Tests are good and important. If our test results prove to be useful, we might be able to pull this off. Have someone toss something down the hall in the opposite direction from where the drone is pointing at us, then sprint at it before its motor moves fast enough to Target Reynauld. But only if he thinks he can make it.>risk a koboltNever. You should never consider this. How could you anon.
You decide to spend some time playing around with this thing. Starting off with a bolt from Anna, you test to see if it shoots anything that moves… which it doesn’t. Then again, it might simply be too small for it to notice. With a little bit of thinking, you instead move on to an alternative. You take off your helmet and… reconsider before you test the shooting with THAT. You would probably still want to keep that thing around. After some more asking, however, Anna took out some of the cloth she usually wears. She has enough of it hanging around, so it’s not a big issue for her to share. Attaching that to a bolt, you stick it out… and the gun beeps three times before firing.It did take almost a full second before the bullets started flying, however…Well, with that in mind, you don’t feel like you made that much progress. You need more time than one second to actually reach that living gun, and it’s apparently rather trigger happy. You need something relatively large before it actually fires, too, so you can’t just distract i with a pebble…Unless…Your helmet might be both big and heavy enough to be tossed a decent distance, but thats a bit of a sacrifice, isn’t it?>Sacrifice head covering>try something else
>>5196324>>try something else
>>5196324>try something elseCarefully question Oldfield so he doesnt suffer a brain aneurism in case we ask the wrong questions due to how often hes been mind wiped.Regarding the papers in the printers, are they anything special, or can they be replaced with the paper we produced today? If the papers are replaceable, we can take lose stacks of paper and throw them in the air to cover our advance, kind of like Chaff grenades in MGS. This way we wont have to sacrifice head protection, and there should be enough things moving around to distract the turret.
>>5196329>>5196324Or just make a ton of paper balls and fucking yeet then all down the hall.
>>5196329>>5196331Yeah, why wouldn't we just ball up a bunch of paper and have our 'bolts throw it continuously while we charge the gun? We can go back down to the office to get some more paper if there isn't still some blank in the printer tray.
>>5196331Supporting.>>5196324
>>5196418>>5196411>>5196331>>5196329>>5196324>>5196328We can do one better. We can make giant paper spit balls and throw them at the turret to blink it.
>>5196502Where are you planning to get all that spit, anon? And how are you going to throw them accurately in the .5 seconds of aiming time you have in between ducking out and back in?
Rolled 26 (1d100)>>5196534Everyone will donate their spit.How will we throw it? With skillz. Watch.
>>5196324these >>5196544>>5196502support
>>5196544>26WELP
>>5196602HA HA IT WAS A JOKE HERE'S MY REAL ROLL!
>>5196615Oh bud.
Rolled 34 (1d100)>>5196620N-NOW!
Rolled 11 (1d100)>>5196627
>>5196650Wow the rolls are shit today.
>>5196652The dice gods do not support this plan of action
Rolled 64 (1d100)>>5196684Rolling to cum inside Collar
Rolled 76 (1d100)>>5196692Now pink
>>5196727Well, the dice have spoken.
Rolled 1 (1d100)>>5196727Who next? Esmerelda?
Rolled 84 (1d100)the fuck are you all rolling Spine has not asked for rolls man
>>5196736Guess not
Rolled 1 (1d100)>>5196764dice god is asking for its boon
>>5196884stand back, let me show you how its done.
>>5196902I'm watching closely. As my mom said, only those who do nothing never fail
Rolled 2830040844837601281 (1d99999999999999999999999999999)>>5196902Watch this
>>5196924>Managed to roll the equivalent of 2/1000000000Well played.
>>5196692>>5196727>>5196736>>Collar>Sure, I guess...>>Pink>Hell yes!>>Esme>HELL NO!It's almost scary how accurate those rolls were.
Rolled 72 (1d100)>>5197099Rolling for Snikt since it's her turn now. gotcha I'm gonna roll to read her a bed time story and knit her a sweater.
>>5197878Oh man, she's gonna be so fucking cozy
>>5198134I wanna pin Snikt down onto a bed and help reset her spinal damage and give her lots of head pats, then I'd flip her over so I could put a breakfast table on the bed and surprise her with a mini cake, because it's her birthday, and all her friends were hiding under the bed to sing her happy birthday.After that Reynauld should go out for a smoke break for a bit, before returning back inside to grab Snikt by the waist and hoist her up onto his shoulders and go visit the local festival so they can all play festival games.It's like Lil Pump and Ye said. I'm a sick fuck, I like a quick hug
>>5198462You sick degenerate bastard. I'm in.
Rolled 95, 98 = 193 (2d100)Phoneposting here. Sorry about the lack of updates. Nothing happened, just had a lazy day(and a commission i needed to pay attention to)Rolling for the paper wads first, you guys get to roll Reynauld after the actual update is here
>>5198509>commissionDo you do art, QM?
>>5198509The paper was are super effective
>>5198511He was probably writing smut?
>>5198773Nope, cute shit for once. I do write smut but i don't like it. I'm really slow on it because it's hard to write something appealing like that. It's a constant mix of how much to describe, keeping things consistent, all while keeping things erotically appealing. It's exhausting, is what it is.Still, i won't turn down money, and it's important to challenge yourself.
>>5198789I need Pink smut.
"Okay, so here's a wild idea." You say, gathering up the nerve to go up against an automatic gun that shoots anything that moves. "That printer... I has a lot of paper in it, right? It's what it prints those words on?"Oldfield seems understand what you're saying."You plan on distracting the gun with... paper balls, right?"You nod. There's not really much more to add to it than that, you're just hoping this actually works out. Paracelsus has something to say about the matter, however:"No! That's completely idiotic! If it fires at the paper once, it's going to focus on you! You've already seen what one of those bullets can do to that dead little monster we saw on the way in! It'll tear right through you!""If it hits me." You reply back. "Look, if I can reach that thing, I can rip it right off the ceiling... That thing must be valuable, no? I'm keeping this shotgun, but I'm donating that automatic, for sure."Oldfield seems surprised. "Well, my boy... While I certainly appreciate the effort, don't feel obligated to do it! This is still... quite dangerous!""I'll be fine." You say back, assuring the elder man... Then you turn to the kobolts:"Start making paper balls. Relatively big ones, about the size of this scarf... combine the paper to do it with, alright?" You ask, and Collar, Teensy and Chad quickly get to work. They clearly find some fun in it, at least.Anna leans down and starts helping as well, without being prompted, while Paracelsus angrily crosses her arms."If this kills you, you'd be doing everybody a great disservice, you know. I shouldn't have to remind you that you are a unique specimen? No?" She says, her voice even and somewhat more venomous than you usually hear her. It's cute that she's worried, honestly, though you wish she was a bit nicer about it.Then again, would it really be Paracelsus if she was?The balls are made, and you test it out with a quick toss... It takes the gun two shots to completely obliterate it, making you all the more glad that you made plenty. Now, then.It's time to go for it.1D100+30Best of 3DC: 100
Rolled 6 + 30 (1d100 + 30)>>5198822Time to die. It was nice knowing you all.
Rolled 94 + 30 (1d100 + 30)>>5198822Time to die, lads
>>5198822Say to Celsie that maybe we would be more carefull if our closest friend would see in us something more than an "interesting research specimen"
Rolled 1 (1d100)>>5198822Roll already you retard
>>5198840My man.My dude.My absolute legend.Okay GUYS!Do we use a critfail system? Do we do the Funny Event?
>>5198840Good job, faggot>>5198843N-no
>>5198843For me, the best system is crit fail only if the bo3 failed + 1. Let's say 1-5 auto critfail every time. Your character becomes either godlike or Chastick Comedy Actor with no in-between.
>>5198840>>5198843To be fair, this guy didnt roll using thec+30 modifier.
>>5198843Yes.
>>5198840>>5198843
>>5198840
>>5198843>the Funny EventWhen you put it like that, how could I possibly say no?
>>5198840you just had to roll>>5198843Crit fails and crit successes which are set at 1 and 100. as for how serious it is, I lean toward the idea of failing forward with down sides, the plan still works, but raynold now has a few new holes in hos person and it definitely going to need new armor....again. as well as allow the physical aspect of the curse to advance even faster with all the damage
>>5199002support
>>5198843I dunno what you could do here. We did roll pretty well on the distraction. funny event sounds good I guesshurts that we would have succeeded if it had been ANYTHING BUT a 1
>>5198843No. No thanks.>>5198840You suck.
>>5198843I don't think we should make that sort of call while we have a 1 hanging over us. Might be a bit of a biased decision.
You sprint, full tilt, towards the gun, as the paper rapidly gets shredded to bits. You toss out more of the paper as you run, to hopefully distract it just a tiny bit longer... And you reach it! You leap into the air, grabbing the turret, and with a quick swing of the legs, you proceed to rip the gun off the ceiling wholesale, with bolts and even some of the ceiling itself coming down! YES!"I DID IT!" You yell out, raising the gun in the air as the others come out of the elevator... After which the Kobolts stumble back, in shock, and Paracelsus starts running towards you."What? I'm fine, I didn't get..."You look down at yourself, and see the three holes in your chest. Blood is spurting out of there, and your suit rapidly turns a dark, crimson red....oh.You hit the ground just a second later, as the --------------------------------o be alive at all. Missed his heart by inches!""His lungs are healing, miss. Is that possible?""Obviously, they're dragon lungs... damned IDIOT!" "DOCTOR LADY!! I found another one of those stabby things!""Perfect! And just... a bit more..."Pan is the main thing that comes to mind, other than the voices. The voices are too muffled to make out who's who, and when you take in a breath... You get some positive affirmation, at least."He's breathing! His heart's pumping again!" You hear a voice say. The world seems fuzzy. Wrong, almost, and you have the distinct feeling that you're going to vomit. That said, you think the voice belongs to your doctor."If it weren't for the curse, he'd be dead... You're a lucky man, my boy!"Well, only one man calls you "my boy", so that'd be Oldfield."DRAGON!"Well, that one could be any of the kobolts.Coughing, you try to get up, though you're... blind. Regardless of whether or not your eyelids are open. You can feel the air, but nothing else."Alright, come on. Get up. Can you see?"You blink a few more times, and at the edge of your vision... it's as if stars are flashing in and out, revealing more and more of the sterile hallways you were in just a moment ago. You look down, and see that there are... quite a few syringes lying around. "That didn't go well, did it?""Well, almost. You still got the turret off. But... well, the medical supply kit near the exit there is the thing that saved your life. And the curse actually kept you stable. But... Well. We had to take the suit off as soon as we could,and with the way the bullets struck..."Paracelsus doesn't bother being nice about it. She just reaches around your back, and grabs a growth that most certainly wasn't there before. It's about one foot of... well, the feeling is hard to describe. It's like a distended hand, with a membrane between it, though it doesn't take much to figure out what it is."Congratulation, meathead. You've got wings." She adds, the venom in her voice hurting a little worse than the gunshot wounds, somehow.>Just yell "Fuck" and faint again>Have a different reaction.
>>5199054>Just yell "Fuck">Have a different reaction.I at least hope the gun will keep Oldfield safe. If Oldfield lives or fend off the agents after all this, it'd almost make getting shot worth it.Apologize for worrying everyone, ask if Oldfield would want to take the used syringes and medical box for research.Ask Oldfield and everyone to keep an eye out for more medical boxes. Wake us if they need us.Take a power nap.
>>5199054>just keel over without a single wordSuch language is unbecoming of a knight, even in a dire situation like this
>>5199054>You were right. But see? Your precious unique specimen managed not to die>Proceed passing outCongratulations, >>5198840.
>>5199054>Pan is the main thing that comes to mindDid we skip the breakfast?>>5199054>Have a different reaction.Calmly and think about all the knightly wandering still ahead of you and learn from this, trying to outrun automated targeting systems is unwise.
Changing my vote to support these. Swearing is unknightly, and we must set a good example for our son Chad.>>5199062>>5199074
Kinda off-topic, but I wonder if Dragon Reynauld (Dreygaun?) is going to be as pissed over having to keep this meathead alive as Doc is. Sure, the injury sped the transformation up dramatically, but the curse probably had to work overtime to keep Reynauld from transforming into a corpse with MASSIVE GAPING HOLES in his vital organs.
>>5199054>just keel over without a single word>Such language is unbecoming of a knight, even in a dire situation like this
>>5199137Dreygaun can kindly fuck off. Nothing will stop Reynauld from doing nice things for others, even at his own expense. It doesnt matter how dragonified Reynauld becomes psychically, because we'll always do things for free or we can so help it. Oh man, I thought of a really good way to spite the curse. We should so mundane ahit like volunteering to cook at an orphanage or homeless shelter. The most mundane thing I can think of is using the fire to keep a stove hot. Maybe that's just me, but I think it would be a good insult. But I could be wrong. What do you think?
>>5199150>>5199074>>5199062+1
>>5199054>have a different reactionPurse your lips look to the camera at Anon nr. 5198840your face a spitting image of legendary Black and White comedy Laurel
>>5199179+1>>5199054Rolling for Reynauld dreaming about sleeping on Pink's pillow thighs.
Rolled 73 (1d100)>>5199054aaaaaannnnd I forgot my dice again
>>5199071+1best time for cheeky joke is now
>>5199054>Have a different reaction."I'm going to blame the curse for this one"
Rolled 54 (1d100)>>5199272>>5199269Rolling for Reynauld dreaming of sleeping on Paracelcus’ toned abs
Rolled 13 (1d100)>>5199501How about her firm ass, then?
>>5199501>>5199504Confirmed Paracelcus is too hard to sleep on comfortably.Pink is best pillow.
>>5199269Supporting Pink's lap-pillow. Adding to >>5199150 , which was also me.>>5199054
>>5199054>>Just yell "Fuck" and faint again
Rolled 6 (1d100)>>5199504Pink has best thighsPink has best egg bearing hipsPink is dummy pear shapes
>>5199054>"My lizard brain is making me dumb...">"Sorry Celsus, sorry (Insert names of the rest of the kobalts), sorry Doctor."
You just give a sad look to everybody present, before you decide to just fall over._________________"So... You really thought that was a good idea?" your scaly self asks to you, reclining on a pile of gold that is vaguely throneshaped. He doesn't waste much time trying to look as gaudy as humanly (dragonly?) possible, does he?"You should be grateful! Any lesser creature would have died from their lungs being ruined... Thanks to my work, you'll survive. But this took a lot out of me, and a lot out of you. If anything, letting me enhance your back so you have some wings is a lot more than you deserve, you stupid, stupid monkey!"You just stare at him, too tired to really reply. Even in a dream, you still feel... drained."You'll have to get back up later. Still, I'll be a good sport..."From behind, you feel a little clawed hand against your lower back... When you twist to take a look, you see that it's... Pink? What's she doing here?And why is she naked.The ground seems to move out from under you, before you have the time to fully understand the situation. Just as you think you're about to crack your head on the dream-pavement, however, you instead land on something soft... yet sturdy. You look up, unable to do much else, and see that your timely rescuer from a skull fracture is Pink!Using her thighs as a pillow....Under normal circmstances, yo'ud protest. But you're not in normal circumstances, are you?---------------------------------------------You awaken again, to the sound of something being panfried. It smells of mushrooms, though anything else would be surprising.Slowly, you force yourself upright, and look at what's happening."...How long was I out?" You end up asking, which makes the kobolts squeal in delight and rush over to you. Paracelsus doesn't turn around, though, leaning over a fire they apparently managed to start on a metal floor. Guessing from the small, they likely just lit a mushroom creature alight."About four hours... The scales moved in fast. The spikes on your elbows have bloomed, alongside the wings, though I'm guessing even the curse has limits.""My boy... do you feel good enough to move? We must make our way back to the city as soon as possible. Of course, we'll stop to eat something, first. Fungal beasts are quite nutritious, as long as you cook them well.""They taste like old shoeleather." Paracelsus says. She still refuses to even turn to look at you....You feel good enough to move, yes. In fact, you feel more as though you were punched in the chest than getting bullets punched through it. You place a palm on your face, and try not to notice the claws you've formed..."I'm good to move." You reply, which makes Oldfield smile. You can hear it in his voice."Excellent! Come, my boy. Have some food, and then we'll be off. Your kobolts are very hard workers, you know. I was impressed with how well they could hunt!""They sure try..."You should say something.>Say nothing.>Say somethingBut what?
>>5200081>Say somethingApologize for worrying your doctor, and not heeding her advice, and reassure her that it won't happen again.We had a mental breakdown, told her how we used to be suicidal and are worried that we're losing her mind, then charged recklessly into a hail of gunfire. She might think we're trying to off ourself.
>>5200081"Not my most sound plan, that. I apologize for any worry."
>>5200081>>Say something>>give some time to for the silence to ferment before speaking with the doc "I'm sorry, I acted the fool and endangered you all in my vain attempt to talk all the danger onto myself with a stupid plan. It may not mean much to you at the moment, but Paracelsus, I am sorry and I promise to never do something this stupid again."feel free to add on anonsfuck the anon who rolled that one
>>5200081I'll back this>>5200091and add on>"My lizard brain is making me dumb...">"Sorry Celsus, sorry (Insert names of the rest of the kobalts), sorry Doctor."
>>5200091Supporting, apologies are in order, and not just to Para. We should take Chad aside and address the terrible lesson we almost taught him, about taking huge risks and putting ourselves and everybody else in needless danger.Also>Reynauld sitting on a cold metal floor, munching on a chunk of fried mushroom and begrudgingly flapping his stubby wings to get a feel for how they work
>>5200088+1
>>5200081>"My lizard brain is making me dumb...">>5200096Doctor? Do you mean Oldfield? And why say Celsus? Last I recalled she doesnt like Reynauld saying that.
>>5200249>Lizard brain.
>>5200086>wePlease lets just tell them we got on a power trip after killing the fungals, worsened by the shellshock of reading those archives (you know like those fucking stacks of books in DD) and being the stupid meathead we are, decided that was a good idea. Then apologize some more that was so stupid
>>5200428honestly support
>>5200081The dragon curse is making me do dumb things.Guys whatever you do, do not acknowledge the nurse's attempt at healing. Dont even give it a vague thank you.
Why not?
>>5200081>Say nothingI'm fairly certain the curse is making me increasingly reckless and overconfident, please keep reminding me not to act so impulsively in the future
>>5200566Whoops that was meant to be >say something
>>5200428>weWell, Reynauld, who we are playing.
>>5200566supporting this as well
>>5200566>>5200579+1>>5200081I would like to eat some mushroom please. Did we at least get the gun for grandpa?
"...I'm sorry." You eventually say, which does make PAracelsus turn around. She has her mask on, still, and then just sighs."It's fine. You've given me the ability to look at your insides, at least. Your heart has changed too, by the way. It has more chambers now.""Hearts have... chambers?" You ask, trying not to pay attention to how her knowing that implies you got very, VERY close to not even having a second go.It makes how fine you feel all the more... worrying, in a sense.People don't recover that fast."Again, I'm really sorry. I acted the fool, I suppose the lizard brain has left me stupid.""Ohhh no." Paracelsus responds, sounding more obviously annoyed than before. "You don't get to blame the curse on your harebrained scheme to rip an automatic gun out of the wall! That was all on you, if it was the dragon deciding it, then you wouldn't have considered my words." She's... slowly working herself up into a proper rage, and you think the only way forward is to just endure that."Instead, you considered them, and THEN ignored them like the meathead that you are! I assume because it seemed like something fun to do!?"She stands up, though she talks while doing so. She's elected to start walking while she rants. Or, wait, let me guess? Is this just how you try to shuffle off the mortal coil? That'd just be FUCKING WONDERFUL, wouldn't it!? BE SURE TO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS! HEY, SARAH, I SURE FEEL LIKE DYING RECENTLY, LET ME MOVE IN FRONT OF A FUCKING GUN!"Wow. you didn't think she had all this in her. She wasn't one for emotions like this, and certainly not the potty mouth. "I... I'm going to need a little time, Reynauld.... I... I know I shouldn't be mad at you, you're my patient, and..."She puts her hands against her mask, and you even see a sob."I didn't mean what I said. I'm sorry. I haven't... I barely know you, do I? But I still know you better than anybody else, and... Damn it. I'm going to... guard the entrance."She wanders off, practically running, and you're left there... staring."I can't read her. At all."Chad says to you, sharing what you're thinking. You always thought she was more of the emotionless type, but she just started screaming...Ah, wait.She bottles things up. That'd explain it.Teensy adds something else:"Who is "Sarah"?"Well, the answer is obvious. (cont)
You turn to the campfire, and take a piece of mushroom to eat. Oldfield, meanwhile, is just leaning against the walls, awkwardly staring ahead."Aheh. I'm... I'm sorry I brought you into this, Reynauld. I was... Hoping things wouldn't be this bad.""They weren't, professor... I was just acting the fool.""Well! At least, we have the turret available. The exit though here is hidden in a quarry rock formation... Well be able to leave without too much issue, only... Well, we had to cut your suit open.""So I'm going to be exposed to the spores, am I?""Indeed. Fortunately, your physiology should protect you."You raise an eyebrow."Well... Your blood. It's acidic, now, just like a full dragon. Miss Paracelsus' hands suffered the brunt of it, but I'll be able to offer her a healing salve when we get home.I assume it's... part of the reason she was so ticked at you. One has to admire her mental strength, however, she didn't stop at any point while operating on you."Oh.Oh hell."How long will we remain?""We'll eat something, and then leave. If you are up to it, Reynauld." Oldfield adds, smiling politely. >Catch up to Paracelsus first, have a more private talk.So her name is Sarah, eh?>Eat up and get going>Ask Oldfield some questions.
>>5200976What a way to get her first name...
>>5200978>Catch up to Paracelsus first, have a more private talk.We need to take care of her hands for putting up with our dumbass. >Bring some food with us
>>5200976>"I can't read her. At all."Chad says to youMasks do that, aye.>Well... Your blood. It's acidic, now, just like a full dragon.Shit I forgot dragon blood is acidic. Reynaulds old suit of armor did get a big melted when he fought that dragon. I hope her hards are okay. Mayne she needs the healing potions to prevent scarring?>Catch up to Paracelsus first, have a more private talk.Better nip this in the bud>bring some food for Reynauld to eat, or if Sarah wants a piece>>5200984I doubt shed want to eat some. She said it tastes like shoe leather.
>Catch up to Paracelsus first, have a more private talk.Offer more apologies. >It's ok if you see in me more than just a patient. I'll never disregard what you say about safety concern in the future.>Only bring the conversation about "Sarah" if she seems open to it. Else, keep it for an other day.
>>5200984>>5201020support both
While I agree with and appreciate wanting to apologize more properly, It would be best to at least give her a couple of hours of space. She needs time for this to settle. Trust me, it helps.
>>5200978>Eat up and get goingGive Sarah Para her space, for now.
>>5200978>Ask Oldfield some questions.It's probably not the best opportunity, but we have the time and I don't believe the memory wipe story at all. Grill him about his background, what's his field of expertise, where did he study, did he encounter this ancient civilization before. Also ask about the wizards, what does he know about them, why do they suppress this information and how.
>>5200978Actually, formal vote:>Eat up and get goingJust to be safe.
>>5200081>You look up, unable to do much else, and see that your timely rescuer from a skull fracture is Pink!QM confirmed Pink thighs save lives>>5201037>>5201089You make a fair bit of sense.>>5200978Changing vote to this>Eat up and get goingWe can talk to Parclus when we're not in a hostile environment>>5200984>>5201020>>5201029Would it not be better to talk to her after she had time to composed herself? If she wanted to hear an apology from Reynauld she would had stayed instead of excusing herself. Plus this place is dangerous as fuck, and the longer we stay here the more frequently we're likely to encounter more things.It would be for the best if we left this place, then had a talk with her in a more cozy, safer environment. Like the Inn when we're not at risk of getting attacked or anything trying to bite through our suits.
>>5200978>>Eat up and get going>>5201118We should wait until we're not in a hostile area to properly apologize to her, thank her, and let her know that we cherish her presence or whatever. But then we should absolutely do it.
>>5201070+1 while we eat. Let's not corner Paracelcus.Will the armor still fit? We might need to find some way to conceal our appearance. The city was already freaked out by our whitening hair. We should also ask Oldfield how the people might react to our new appearance.
>>5201020Re: that last point, it would be better to just not bring it up at all. She didn't reveal her name because she trusts Reynauld, she blurted it out in a highly emotional tirade. The right thing would be to let her decide how to approach the matter when she brings it up (she will, knowing her, this is too big of an issue to ignore). I'd ask the kobolts not to mention the name either, they can be dumb as bricks when it comes to sensitive matters.Also, there's something else to be mindful of when we next talk to Para: this wouldn't even be the first time someone died after disregarding her input. I'm sure that's just making this situation worse than it already is.
>>5202304+1
You end up just taking a break, and eating some mushroom. Sure enough, it's like eating shoe leather, as Paracelsus said, though the taste is rather good. It's just... chewy. While you at, however, you decide to ask Oldfield a few questions, just to be sure."So... With the idea that we're looking at wizards affecting your memory, can I go over a few questions?"Oldfield turns to you,and while he doesn't answer, he looks at you with interest."So. Professor... What are you even a professor in?""Archeology, in a sense, though I'm closer to a general anthropologist, I became famous for my works in uncovering ancient history, which I later extended into uncovering more contemporary unknowns. Visits to Panacea are rare, and if you happen to find a report on it, I likely had a hand in it. I had found other implications to... ancient, yet advanced cultures. Though this is still the first time I can recall finding such explicit proof of a society THIS advanced... and potentially being responsible for our very existence!""Indeed. Say, there's another question I have.""Tell me?""Why was the computer in plain English instead of that ancient English, like what was on the mutagen tanks? I was reading over your shoulder, after all."That makes Oldfield smile:"Noticed that, did you? Well... It's clear that the terminal was ancient, and if enough time had passed that the language had changed, while keeping the tanks... Hah, that implies an extreme longevity. Which is interesting, and yet, frustrating. It will be nearly impossible to date anything we found here."Okay, so it's clear he has answers ready for that. But speaking of ancient civilisations..."So, you found signs of an advanced civilisation before?" You ask. "Indeed. An ancient licence plate. Similar to what we saw at the front and back of the Jeeps. I assume it's a way to identify vehicles. Truly interesting, wouldn't you say?"You nod,though you can't quite agree on the interesting part. This isn't exactly your ballpark."And how do you know about the wizards?""Rumors, some books... some other people in the same business as I. They're a very shady group, to say the least, hence why we don't even know their name."Chad interrupts a moment:"Weren't they the War Wizards?""No, little one... Similar to how a group of rats is called a colony, one calls a group of wizards... a War. And trust me, the name is well-placed. Nothing is quite as destructive."Another question, then: "Why do you think they suppress this information?"Oldfield leans back, munching on a piece of mushroom. It takes an uncomfortably long amount of time, due to how tough the mushroom s, but eventually, he swallows, and tells you:"I don't know. Perhaps they fear just anybody gaining access to amazing power, or immortality. It's very hard to tell. Frankly, I don't want to ask them, either. But, I don't think it-"Then, Oldfield suddenly turns pale, and Chad takes out his sword, hissing.
"You may have to." You hear from behind you, and you jump up as well, looking at the new arrival.Everything about him looks... wrong. There is more metal than man at him, and while you assume that he is wearing a helmet, the fact that it has four eyes and none of them seem to fit where human eyes would go, gives a distinctly alien impression. It may look like a man, otherwise, though you note his arms don't seem to match up, with the left being mechanical and the right being organic... Though the organic arm has six fingers instead of five. It is too tall, almost as if stretched, to be a human, and even the voice feels as though it's a little too crisp and clear to belong here. It's like nothing you've ever seen before. His clothing is of a unique make as well, a somewhat muddled yellow that is still comparatively bright in these drab steel corridors, though he only wears it as a scarf and parts of what looks to be a coat, though it's hard to tell where, exactly, the outfit ends and his body begins. If this was once a man, it isn't any longer."Oldfield. We have met before. You have a knack for finding out old installations. You are quite a bit better at it than us, but once again, you have helped us along.""W-what!? What in the twelve hells ARE YOU!?" Oldfield says, clearly terrified of the creature before him. Considering your job, you move between him and this six-fingered creature.It doesn't seem to care, and speaks as though you're not in the way."I can't permit you telling the rest of the world about this. And your continued survival goes directly against my goals. Regardless... I'm willing to extend an olive branch. Oldfield. You will come with me, or die. The choice is yours."...You can't just stand here and do nothing, can you?>Try to convince this... thing not to do anything.>Hit it with your axe>Shoot it with your shotgun>Burn it with dragonfire.
>>5202487>>5202487>>keep him talking your allies are not dumb and will hopefully be positioning themselves if a fight breaks out distract him with our logical guesses and assumptions that can be made from the information gained from the hidden installation anylize him for weaknesses as you do.
>>5202487>Shoot it with your shotgun>>5202496Our allies were never heavily armored to begin with, and less so now that they're not wearing gamberson. Any damage they take here may prove fatal if any punctures are made to their suits.On another note I hate your post. Run on sentences are shit, which makes you a piece of shit.
Go troll else where anon
>>5202487>Try to convince this... thing not to do anything.Attack is too dangerous. We picked a fight on something we were not supposed to already today.
>>5202487Okay, fuck, I believe it now!>Shoot it with your shotgun>Burn it with dragonfire>Shoot it with your shotgun again
>>5202487>Shoot it with your shotgun>If it still moves, use flamethro- dragonfire
>>5202487>shoot it with shotgun>dragonfire
>>5202487>Burn it with dragonfire."Not on my watch"
>>5202487>>Try to convince this... thing not to do anything.It's Oldfield's choice, maybe he can get some information out of it.
>>5202487>>Try to convince this... thing not to do anything.If we can make nice with it, it might not be a bad ally to have.
>>5202844>>5202862You do realize that hes probably just going to wipe his memories again right?
>>5202487>Shoot it with your shotgun>Burn it with dragonfire>Shoot it with your shotgun again
>>5202892With the way its phrased it seems Oldfield will get either mind wipe or bomb collar treatment
>>5202892Yeah but what if he wipes our minds as well?
>>5203008That's not a what-if. This thing is trying to keep the existence of this place a secret, there's no way it will let anybody walk out of here alive with their memories intact.
"That's not going to be an option!" You yell, taking out the shotgun and pointing it at the fool's head. It looks at the barrel dispassionately, though it's impressive it even managed to do that, considering the mask it's wearing conceals it's face perfectly...Provided it isn't his actual face."Your armament is useless before me, mutant. Do not bother me."You give Oldfield a glance, and considering he's still backing up, terrified, you don't leave it up to chance. The shotgun roars louder than you would have imagined it, though the recoil is negligible. Even in this somewhat harrowing situation, you can't help but admire the comfort of the stock. Though even that falls by the wayside when you hear the shell's payload clatter along the ground. Little ball bearings roll around, as if all momentum left them the moment they impacted this biomechanical monster."That was your first, and only shot. Be glad killing you is tiresome." The creature says. It turns to Oldfield, and then repeats: "Come with me or die. Make your choice."Well, you're not finished. You take in a deep breath, and the creature even takes note of it."You're no wizard, mutant. Save your energy and my time."Then, you expel a great torrent of flame, letting it wash over the metal monster...1d100Best of 3DC:???Yep, phoneposting again
>>5202487>Shoot it with your shotgun>Both chambers>Burn it with dragonfire while reloading the shotgun>Shoot it with your shotgun again>Repeat until super deathly deadFuck wizards man
Rolled 26 (1d100)>>5203152Can we fire the other chamber as we breath fire on him? Even if he concentrates on the fire, and our fire slags the lead, that's still slagged lead traveling at Mach speed. That shit will either kill him, or distract him enough for the fire to overwhelm him.I need a good roll. I've had a string of bad luck, so either this thread is going to suffer, or I'll roll mildly. That's just how it goes.
>>5203155https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHrVym6HGL0Honestly I call this a win in my book that I didn't fucking crit fail or roll any lower. I'm in the mood for some happy toons.>>5203154Woops to this for not refreshing the page.>>5203152Is there any more loot to be found deeper in the facility? Does Reynauld have the option to forgo his suit in favor for a set of armor if he decides to come back down here?
Rolled 24 (1d100)>>5203152Dice gods be merciful why do anons always pick fights with everything
>>5203169Well fuck one lat roll left to try and save this SNAFU
Rolled 7 (1d100)>>5203152Hey, I'm the 1 guy from last time. Let's see if i can redeem myself
I hate you all so much, now we will not only not get paid, we are going to get maimed AGAIN.
As confident as the creature seemed, he didn’t expect the blue fire. You completely immolate the fool, and his once monotone and unnatural voice quickly turns to a higher pitch as he begins to scream, patting on himself to get the fire out!It’s here that you suddenly hear a pained grunt from the side, and you see Teensy jumping back, yelling as her little clawed hand was set alight by your clumsy stream! The professor yells as well, quickly scrambling away from the intense heat… which you only now begin to notice.The creature before you still took the brunt of it all, but you’re responsible for friendly fire! …you need to focus, as panicked as the wizard(?) is, he’s not dead yet. You fire your shotgun into his chest, and you’re frustrated to see that, even in his panic, whatever enchantment or spell he has remains active. You deal no damage with the shotgun, but considering the panic in the creature’s voice, you have at least one thing available.You quickly move the others away from yourself, while the wizard before you begins to succeed in getting the flames out… The leather and cloth he had on looks to have melted, and even the steel on his body looks to be warped, discoloured into an almost rainbow-like pattern from the heat. The fact that he’s still moving is perhaps, a testament to his natural sturdiness, but you don’t care.“DRAGONFIRE!? YOU DARE!?”“I dare.” You repeat, taking in another breath, but… you need to keep the others in mind. These tunnels are small, you already hurt one of your friends;Again…But, your moment of trepidation is enough for the creature to snap its fingers… and disappear in a flash of blue light….Then, only a moment later, he reappears. Or, at least, his outfit does for a moment, standing perfectly upright as though he was standing there, only to fall apart night-instantly. The metal and cloth are still perfectly interwoven, and if it wasn’t for the glove of the biological arm being empty, you would have thought he merely changed his mind.“Oh, EWwwww!” You hear Collar yell out, and when you turn around… you see a collection of strange, grey giblets. You spot one hand amongst them, with six fingers, but…Did he… Turn himself inside-out?“T-twelve hells! You killed it! You must have destabilized his teleport with your fire! The inbetween is… not friendly. I never would have thought… Goodness, what WAS he?”You hear Teensy hissing, and remember that you hurt her. And badly, most likely.“Teensy? Are you going to be okay?”“I… I can’t move my hand!”You feel… awful, but other than clenching your teeth and focusing on what to do next, you can’t do anything.>Start running, NOW. You need to get to the city, ASAP>Ask questions>Something else.
>>5203199>Start running, NOW. You need to get to the city, ASAPGotta go before wizard police comes for our ass.
>>5203199>Something else.Teensey I'm so sorry. Quickly! Give her the healing potion before her hand needs to be amputated!
>>5203207Can we do that after we heal her hand? I feel so bad for her. If the claw doesn't work the only other thought that comes to mind is turning her into a were-bolt and turning her back to see if thay will cripple her hand. It might not, if Anna's facial condition is of any indication.
>>5203216Supporting
>>5203216+1We need to train our fire to control it better
>>5203199>>Start running, NOW. You need to get to the city, ASAPWe can carry Teensy if need be. We definitely need to help her but we need to do it in a place that isn't crawling with eldrich abominations and dark magic. We'll have to apologize to Celsie twice over now, because she's probably going to be the one fixing Teensy's hand.
>>5203199>Something else.>Teensey I'm so sorry. Quickly! Give her the healing potion before her hand needs to be amputated!
>>5203199>Start running, NOW. You need to get to the city, ASAPThere's no time to lose, there could be more of these things coming. We gotta GO.God, I hope Sarah's okay. Where the hell did that wizard even come from?
>>5203216>supportthis is what happens when we lean on dragon shit, and allowed that unearned power to be loosed. Same fucking thing with the turret.
>>5203199>>Something else.Heal the creature.
Okay, no.You need to focus on Teensy. You disregard the giblets of the creature you just killed, and kneel down to look at teensy’s hand. You carefully take her by the arm,and look it over for a moment…The hand is badly, badly burnt. Third degree, easily, which is likely why she’s not doing much more than hissing. The nerves are burnt, she can’t feel a thing. Okay.You take out the healing potion you took from the alchemist, a long while ago. You’re glad that you just keep that kind of stuff on you at all times, really… This is something that should be fixed quickly. But…“Oldfield!?”“W-what? WHAT!?” He says, still in shock at seeing a dead… whatever that thing was. “You had a healing salve back in your home, right? To help Paracelsus?”“Yes! But, i-it’s… it’s limited in scope. Is her… uhh… Is her hand burnt?’“Third degree.” You reply, quick and to the point. Oldfield shakily admits: “T-then the salve won’t… i-it’s intended for smaller wounds. P-paracelsus’ wounds were, uh… f-first degree.”Okay. Then you need to use the potion.“Okay, okay. Teensy? I’m going to give you the healing potion, alright?”“B-but that’s expensive! Dragon, it doesn’t hurt that mu-”“Shush! Take the potion before we have to amputate it, alright?” You say, taking the stopper out of the tiny little bottle. Teensy just looks at the bottle with some revulsion, but she opens her mouth all the same. You pour it in there right away, and he swallows it without any trouble. She shakes a little, clearly resisting the urge to cough, and once it’s down…“Aggh! That tastes like copper and orange skins!” She complains, while you keep a close eye on the hand.…Well, you’re hoping this works. Paracelsus said the potion looked off-colour, but she seemed to trust it well enough. As you wait a little bit more, however, your initial fears seem to be unfounded. Rapidly, you see the burnt black scales begin to fall off, and being replaced with new flesh and even scales. Teensy groans in pain as it happens, and you hug her tightly in the meantime… Partially to distract her.When she bites your shoulder in an attempt to stay quiet, shaking and crying, you don’t doubt for a moment that regrowing nerves is just as painful as it sounds. But then, after a moment longer… Her hand is fine.Entirely.That’s… quite a bit BETTER than you initially expected from a potion like this. Seems that the alchemist really does have some talent, though you’re not out of the woods yet.“I’m… feeling really dizzy.” Teensy says. Though, you’re just about done. Anna takes charge, to your surprise:“Okay, we just killed a friggin’ wizard. A wizard that works in a group, apparently! So, Reynauld? Grab Teensy, Oldfield? Get up and get ready. Collar! Only take what you can carry! Chad! Go get Paracelsus here. We’re moving out. Right now!”
Well, she makes a compelling argument. You pick up Teensy as she continues groaning, the dizziness and nausea only increasing until she can’t walk properly anymore. “Oldfield! You know this forest better than us,where are we headed!?” Anna demands, and Oldfield seems to figure out what to do from there. Shaky as he is, Anna’s orders give him enough of a grip.…You’ll deal with the spore infection later. Paracelsus doesn’t even ask questions when the group comes running by, though she remains quiet. Here, it’s basically just a run through the forest. It might involve some luck.1D100+30Best of 3DC: 60-90-110
Rolled 72 + 30 (1d100 + 30)>>5203424Must save adorable minion
Rolled 43 + 30 (1d100 + 30)>>5203424Jesus please just let us roll well
Rolled 98 (1d100)>>5203424>>5203424heart of the cards
fuck yes, all right so lets take stock, we are down our armor, damaged our relationship with our closed friend, just killed a wizard who has been mindfucking the prof, and just fucked tiny's hand up with our arrogance and over confidence in our unearned dragon powers, fixed it with a potion but fucked her up again by exposing her to fungi spores....I think we can all agree that we need to do better and that shit like this can't happen again.
>>5203429To be fair to everyone: anything other than dragonfire wasn't going to work. Unless you had some killer arguments anyhow, but i don't think you do.
>>5203427Nice one anon, that was close to a crit.>>5203429You make it read like you're over exaggerating things. Our relationship with Para is still all the same but she was very worried for us, and she has an unhealthy tendency to bottle everything up. Killed. Wizard yes. Used dragon breath out of arrogance? No, that shit was out of desperation. No sane guy is gonna try entering melee combat with a dude that can force block bullets, so fire was the way to to. It was purely on accident. Regardless of potion or no potions she would had been exposed to the spores regardless since her suit was compromised in the fire.Anyone can do better in any theoretical scenario, but we did our best which is what matter. Also literally rng, so "doing better" literally does not matter when you're rolling dice.
>>5203439How many shells do we have left and can we make more? Do we have a sawed off or full length double barreled shotgun? If we can get an Alchemist to replicate the primer, could we just reuse and refill the used shells with gunpowder, lead balls, and wax to reseal it? or would that risk destroying the gun?
>>5203442>Also literally rng, so "doing better" literally does not matter when you're rolling dice.he is right anon, or are you just gonna pretend the turret idea wasn't retarded. I wouldn't agree about the relationship with Sarah being unchanged given she literally said she would need time after what happened. as for the dragon fire yeah had to happen as a hail mary but we could have gonna about it in a smarter way move toward the wizard hands up as if to beg, gestured for our kobolds to move back, to just name a couple. So yeah, anon is right we can and should do better going foward.
>>5203439nah I don't think we could have come up with a solid argument for why he should leave us be, and with you confirming the dragon breath was our only shot then I concede that point, but I feel the last several updates have been anons being retarded with plans and hoping for the best, visa vi the turret plan.>>5203447exactly this anon gets it.
>>5203446You have exactly 46 shell's left, your shotgun is full barreled (and more accurate than you'd think), and if you find the right people, the shells can be recreated. That said, do consider if you want the world at large to figure out more modern firearms before you give this to just any alchemist.Also of note: Teensy will have only a limited exposure to the spores, and Reynauld will be covering the exposed hand with his own body. Reynauld himself, though, he's going to get pretty infested, lung immunity or not. He's running around shirtless.
>>5203454>Reynauld himself, though, he's going to get pretty infested, lung immunity or not. He's running around shirtless.fuuuuuuuccckkk this whole venture has just been a clusterfuck in terms of curse progression. though I am starting to suspect it's less a magical curse than a biological mutagen, probably some left over fucky thing from pre-fall humanity
>>5203447Again RNG. If you rolled better you probably wouldnt be bemoaning about all these bad things happening. The turret thing was mostly a flop because someone crit failed. Even if we rolled under the DC, it wouldnt had been as bad as rolling a nat 1. The fire thing is about the same thing.>>5203454Oh wow that's a whole lot more than I thought. Okay hear me out. What if we cooked up some lean cuisine pasta with a size of wine and asked Collar to eat several books on alchemy? If she eats those books, she can digest the knowledge and become a pocket Alchemist, then she can make new shells without the world at large discovering how to make modern firearms.>>5203455Pre-post-human abortion fuckery indeed.
>>5203454I forgot a very important question after this. Will Reynauld still have his nipples?Okay more serious question. No that Rrynauld has wings, can he'd just fold them under his armor, or is he going to have to cut holes in his gamberson to fit the wings through and go armor less on his back for now?
>>5203476I really like that Collar plan.Maybe we will be able to settle down somewhere, and create a Koboltopia.
>>5203565I too like this plan. And the high likelihood that our ifnected skin will grow back with scale armor
>>5203565Long term wise, it could be something we could aim towards. Maybe we could create a mini-town/dungeon/underground settlement with a majority population being Kobolts with some city goblins and humans mixed in. It'd be your run of the mill town but flavored towards stuff like kobold alchemy, a knights academy, civil amenities and so forth.Short term we're giving Collar a few books to eat, so portable kits to make things, and lots of head pats.>>5203691I too am very interested in scale armor. I'm not purposely voting for dangerous shit that will accelerate Reynauld's psychical changes into a more draconic form btw.So OP got me thinking. Reynauld can still go full 100% dragon in body, but resist the mental changes so it's his human half in charge. So long as the mental change doesn't reach 100%, Reynaldo should be fine with a few dragon additions.
>>5204166There is no way to choose what's happening to us.Physical damage? Curse progress.Delving on dragon power? Curse progress.Choosing to hoard/not help people? Curse progress.Not indulging to Reynauld needs like helmet? Curse progress.Time passing? Curse progress.We can't choose what the changes are and will be. Thus any curse progress drive us clother to the bad end. We're on a timer accelerated by any bad decision and rolls.
>>5204193We're almost to the finish line. We just need to get our armor and ask the blacksmiths to make some additional adjustments.If Oldfield is feeling particularly generous, he may or may not pay us more than 500 rosarians, but then again we'll be lucky to be payed at all considered we killed a wizard today who's cabal might get smart and go to Oldfield to investigate what the fuck happened today....or maybe it was only one wizard all along? God I hope it was only the one guy.All I can think of suggesting Oldfield do is commission a large bore pistol with gold core bullets that we can imbue dragon fire in. It may or may not kill the next wizard that goes after him....or he might decide to stick around with us since we might be the only thing keeping him safe.I dont know about you, but with the remaining 400 rosarians for the job I think we should buy additional stuff for Sarah, Anna, William, and all our kobolts friends. Specifically gamberson and brigandine if they want it, or studded leather armor. The only ones who need shields would be William and I think Chad? Oh and they'll need helmets as well! I forgot if we armed our kobolts with shields yet or not.Would it be a good or bad idea to attach some sort of stabby implement at the end of the shotgun barrel to use as an improves spear?
>>5204214>Literally shooting your enemies with gold
>>5204214It’s a terrible idea to spend the money before we get to the archmage. Do you think they’re going to cure us out of the kindness of their heart? No, they’ll demand payment.
>>5204307I agree
>>5204307A worse idea would be to leave our friends unprotected in the dangerous situations to come. Stop thinking like a dragon: friends come first.
>>5204307>>5204315At the very least we should get the minimum amount of protection we can afford everyone, especially if we get a bonus for doing this job. Anna seriously needs some new clothes. Rags are not good, no matter how sexy or scantily clad she might be. William needs a helmet, gamberson, and a practice sword (heavier than a normal sword) he can use to swing around to practice fighting techniques when we cant take him with us. The new kobolts we're adopting will also need some gamberson too.Did I mention that gamberson is pretty cheap? Because it is.
>>5204391But if we do find ourselves lacking the funds to pay the Archmage, we could always travel back to town to do a few more jobs, or we could try working out a deal with the Archmage. Similar to how our doctor took interest in us we could let the Archmage take some scales or something. Letting her run some experiments, take some samples, and a few minor quests might be enough to pay for her services if shes less than generous.>>5203424Paracelsus has been paying for things and burning through her supplies for a while now. Is she just fuck off rich, or does she have a lot of stuff? Does she need money?
>>5204397I can get behind that, but not until we know how much the mages help will cost us, the mage is in this town right? or am I mistaken on that if he is in this town then we should go to him first find out how much this will all cost then plan/budget accordingly. if the mage is still a town or two away then your right we would spend our resources on gear and supplies to keep our allies and friends alive. As well as doing all we can to slow the spread of the curse down. people keep saying oh we can just resist the mental influence of the curse, but how long until we need to start rolling to remain ourselves before we have to roll to retain control? as it stands the curse can manifest its mental corruption when Raynold doesn't have a firm on his mind. I believe that this issue will only worsen the more dragonified Raynold becomes, I mean how could it not? either way if the mage is in town then we find out the cost, if he isn't then we gear up.
>>5204438The Archmage is a woman and she is not in this town. Shes on the way down in her own tower. How far down, I dont know. A few days I believe? She will definitely be worth arming up our allies, but we shouldnt hog all the reward money. They too are in the right to earning their share of the gold. Wouldnt you agree it would be pretty greedy to use it only for ourselves instead of sharing?
>>5204447First, don't put words in my mouth, Second, since she is a few days travel south then we need to gear out boys and girls up, as well as rearmor ourselves. As for your straw man of "hogging" the reward money, it blatantly isn't hogging the money when payment, if it is required, will be the only way we can prevent ourselves from becoming a fire breathing monster who simply does not value the lives of those who are "lesser" than him. If the mage had been in the town then it would have 100% been the right move to head to the mage and find out how much curse removal will cost. before even considering the division of coin. Now however as it's clear we have a few days travel yet we must armor ourselves and our allies up once more. just to make it too said mage. Helping ourselves first so that we can then help those we care for is not greed, it's good practical common sense.
>>5204453For additional gear and coinage, we can take up that one guards advice and so bounties after this job, or dedicate our time mostly to chopping all of the wood.
>>5203424do kobolts do live births or lay eggs? eggs right?
It was fast... and somewhat intense. Turns out you accidentally wandered into a Golem nest, which had its ups and downs. On one hand, you're being chased by big mushrooms with a punch that could shatter concrete, on the other hand, nothing else wants to bother these things, so they were the only thing you had to deal with. This is exceedingly fortunate, considering a spitter would have likely torn you to shreds now that your protective gear is mostly gone, unless they were to strike at whatever parts you still managed to drape over yourself. The odds aren't great on that front, to be blunt. All the same, the golems are mercifully quite slow if they're big enough to be dangerous, and the smaller faster ones can't do anything more threatening than falling over. Before long, you get out of their territory... and you can already see a clearing up ahead! You're at the end of the quarry, from the looks of it."JUST A BIT MORE!" Anna yells, pulling Oldfield along by the arm. The old man is still going, but he's clearly about ready to collapse from the strain.Then, glorious evening light greets you, out of the mushroom forest.Your entire body itches fiercely, and you put Teensy down again... Before you pant a few moments. You're in shape enough to be fine, and the spores can't affect your lungs, but you seriously need to get cleansed."Oh... M-my goodness." Oldfield says, ripping off his helmet to take a deep breath of fresh air, and the others quickly do the same. Paracelsus is the only one that doesn't take off her mask, and she's the first to call for everybody to get moving back to town."Before my subject starts growing mushrooms." She also adds.Ouch.The stares you get as you walk into town make you feel intensely uneasy, and if it wasn't for Oldfield leading the way, you think one of the guards would have actually stopped you at this point. Your gunshot wounds must look horrendous, healed or not, and you can tell there are bright patches of blue scales blooming outwards from them. THat siad, the most obvious part of it all is, of course, the wings.They flap without you even thinking about them, they just DO that. As soon as you enter Oldfield's mansion, the elder man calls out to his servants to run a decontamination bath, and asks that you head there as soon as possible... only for one of the servants to stop the party entirely."S-sir... you have a visitor. We don't know how he got into the mansion, but..."Then, you hear it. It sounds like a somewhat low and wheezy voice, though the tone is clearly something intended to put people at ease. Coming from around the corner, you see a man. He has a huge mane of hair and a beard to match, sprinkled with bits of white. Though that's the only thing really indicating an advanced age. His clothing reminds you of the six-fingered wizard, and guessing from the fear people have...And that little blue pistol in his hand.He's with them."Hey, man." He says. Raising his hands and smiling.(cont)
>>5205308OH FUCK
>>5205308>Tfw can't even bathe in peace
The strange man is quick to talk in that strange warbly voice of his:“Hey, so, uh, you guys kinda killed my boss. Oh, wait, I guess we don’t really have bosses in our organisation, so I guess you just killed my senior, instead. Which is, like, great news for you, man!” He says, raising his head and looking at nothing in particular. He doesn however, point to Dude with the hand that isn’t holding a pistol:“The guy you killed, or I guess, you had the inbetween kill, was the main guy that wanted you dead! So, now we can follow the other guy’s plans.”Oldfield, terrified, shakily decides to ask:“Who ARE you!? And what do you want from me!?” Well, it was shaky, but also yelled and high pitched.“Oh, uh, I’m Dyson. But you can just call me Dude. Or “Buddy”, maybe “Pal”. I also respond to “Hey You” and “Drunk”, but I think I’d prefer it if you could call me Dude, man.”He gives a little laugh, and then reaches into his bag to pull out a bottle with purple liquid inside of it. The three X’s seem like a bad sign, but he just takes a happy swig, and gives a satisfied little ahh.“As for what I want, I kinda wanna offer you a place at my job, man. With Godman being gone on account of him not respecting the inbetween, and not expecting Bluescale over there to have magical fire that could melt his body, the vote’s no longer tied.”“But… What are your goals!? Why is this even happening!?”“Ohh, uh, well. We just wanna make sure the Old world stays old and buried, man. Some of this tech would be like, really bad. Like adding battery acid to your brew sorta bad, man? It’d give humanity a bad trip, and one of the really bad ones. The one you can’t drink your way out of again, man.”There is a pause, and then he points to you:“Hey, Bluescale. You can keep that shotty. You guys are pretty close to figuring that one out, though I guess it’s probably a bit early. The, uh, the turret you guys took, though? That’s no bueno, my guy. Can’t have that thing around.”Oldfield actually seems insulted by the answer:“You’d… You’d actually prevent the world from learning about such things!? You want to… Wait, you want to prevent us from making the same mistakes that lead to the old world to fall, yes!?”“Got it in one, man! Looks like I’m right in thinking you’d be a great researcher. You got talent.”“You’re… I… How would we prevent the apocalypse if we never learn how it came about!? Withholding information won’t prevent something from happening! Who are you to deny us our bloody history?!”
Dude seems to get a little more serious for a moment, losing the spacey look and instead staring straight at him.“The guys that lived it, man. I’ve been around a while. Look, you don’t gotta, like, disappear entirely. We just wanna make sure we keep the information you got around, help you research more… heck, you can even post the stuff around a bit, if we figure it won’t hurt anybody. Like, the mutagen stuff? Nothing like that, but, like, the Gestalt field? Once you figure that out, you’re free to tell people about it. Stuff like that. Stuff people won’t use to create another big kaboom, man.”Oldfield seems to be… mollified. But uncertain. Dude keeps talking, and gives his ultimatum.“Dude, it’s up to you. But if you don’t wanna join up, uh… I’m gonna be forced to take some of your memories again, and to take that turret. I’ll give you something in return, though. Anything you’d ask. I don’t really wanna do it, but my hands are kinda tied, man. Oh, and, uh, the rest of you guys? I’ll be taking your memories too. Uhh, just the dangerous stuff. You can still know about that place and the cars and, uh, mutants and stuff. That’s still free for you to know. It’s specifically, like. Mutagen stuff and guns. ‘Cept the shotgun. You can keep the shotgun. You guys don’t have the tools to smelt the super steel, anyhow.”He takes another swig of the purple liquid, and… Oldfield looks to you.He might want your opinions on it. It’s all clearly overwhelming him.>Hell with this. Dragonfire the wizard>Tell Oldfield this is really his decision>Tell Oldfield that he should probably just go along with what that guy is saying. It doesn't sound like a bad deal>Something else
>>5205320>Something else [address Dude]"If you're worried about apocalyptic mutagens and weapons which can destroy scores of men and women... Why do you permit things like dragons? Like... Like what seduced and warped my family? Do they not destroy people by the hundreds? Am I not being mutated NOW? How can you say this knowledge and these weapons are too dangerous for our world, but permit monsters and madness like THAT?"If he has a good answer:>Take the deal, let Oldfield make his own decisionIf not:>Reject deal, dragonfire
>>5205320>Tell Oldfield this is really his decision"I need to take a shower before I turn into fungus. You guys can hash it out on your own."It was nice to let someone else call the shots for once, let's keep it going just a little longer. Plus, some time alone to ruminate on just how much we managed to fuck up in a single day sounds good right now.
>>5205331Support, you make good sense anon
>>5205320"If you're worried about apocalyptic mutagens and weapons which can destroy scores of men and women... Why do you permit things like dragons? Like... Like what seduced and warped my family? Do they not destroy people by the hundreds? Am I not being mutated NOW? How can you say this knowledge and these weapons are too dangerous for our world, but permit monsters and madness like THAT?"If there is no way he can let us keep our memories, and he wont let us keep the turret, can we recieve compensation for our efforts from him? Us and Oldfield, unless he wants to work with him.Can he give our friend Chad here a sum of rosarians we can give to our friends, and resupply our doctor?
Thinking about it a little more, I really don't like the memory erasure part of the deal. Even putting aside how we can even trust these people not to touch anything they don't need to, the deal would necessarily mean removing or at least heavily altering the autogun incident, and frankly that just feels unacceptable to me. We've all acquired heavy scars in that event, both physical and mental, and removing that, or even being left with a sanitized, Masquerade-compliant version, wouldn't be fair to Reynauld, and it certainly wouldn't be fair to Sarah.
And if we don't like the deal? More wizards keep coming after us?
>>5205320whatever we do I vote against memory wipe
>>5205320>I don’t really wanna do it, but my hands are kinda tied, man.>“As for what I want, I kinda wanna offer you a place at my job, man. With Godman being gone on account of him not respecting the inbetween, and not expecting Bluescale over there to have magical fire that could melt his body, the vote’s no longer tied.”Tell me more about it. Why do you not want to do it, and who's making you? Can you make exceptions for us? Instead of wiping our memories, why not instead offer us similar offers as Mr. Oldfield? have we not proven to be exceptional?>>5205331>>5205402>>5205659>>5205675>>5205724We can try being diplomatic. He knows about the dragon fire incident so that got me thinking the same trick won't work again. Plus he has a gun. It takes less time for him to lift a gun and shoot it than it does for us to breath fire, and even if Reynauld is quicker on the draw, he won't die immediately and can probably still fire off several shots. Either at Reynauld himself or our friends. We would be putting everyone at risk with another confrontation, not to mention destroying everything in this room and potentially burning Oldfield's house down to it's foundations.tl;dr fighting and dragon fire is a bad idea.
Well, you've got your own bloody questions to this man, and whatever the hell he thinks he's representing:"If you're worried about apocalyptic mutagens and weapons which can destroy scores of men and women... Why do you permit things like dragons?" You ask, stepping forward slowly. The man before you doesn't seem to mind you coming closer to him, though you can tell his expressions turns a little more dour as you say that. You, yourself, can't stop yourself from feeling a bit... emotionally compromised as you keep asking."Like... Like what seduced and warped my family? Huh? Was that not good enough to protect?"It always hurts to think of them like that."Do those things not destroy people by the hundreds?"You're standing mere inches from the man, and before you can even fully stop yourself, you grasp the man by the collar. He just kind of lets it happen, his lanky frame stopping him from being lifted up by you."Am I not being mutated NOW? How can you say this knowledge and these weapons are too dangerous for our world, but permit monsters and madness like THAT?"The man sighs, and you flinch a bit from the stench of his breath."Yeah, man... We're just here to prevent the mistakes of the past happening again. Dragons, though... Heck, all this magic, stuff? That's new mistakes, man. If we interrupt that, we're gonna, like, disrupt the natural flow of things. You wouldn't be living in a world like how it's supposed to. You'd be living in our world. And, well... We spent a lot of time living in our world, man. It's not too great. So, we just wanna make sure whatever pieces are left of our time just... don't damage anything. Everything else... Sorry, man. It's just not something we can spend the time on. Eehhh, well, one thing, though. That thing that, uh, seduced your family, right? Yeah, that's a leviathan. Or, uh, one of the things that could be called that?"You're still holding the man by the collar, but he takes a moment the stroke his beard in thought as he keeps talking about... whatever the hell he's talking about."Right, uh, the leviathan thing is, like, super complicated. As in, I don't even get it. But the point is, the heart of the world is kinda like, the corpse of a god that's still going. It's trying to rebirth itself. You guys have been doing a bang-up job keepin' it down, but they're, uh... they're tough. And we just can't stop whatever the Heart's doing, man. It's too much. You'd need like... you know. At least a whole other collection of our organisation. And there's only the one, man."You let him drop, and he actually pats you on the shoulder:"Man... I'm sorry about your folks. I don't know much about 'em, but I know it musta hurt. You want some brew, man?"He takes out a bottle of that purple liquid, and offers it to you with a smile. "It'll help you forget. It helped for me. "
The other point:"I don't want to get my memory wiped.""I mean, we're not gonna be wiping much from you. Just gotta make sure those, uh, gun designs and other mutagen stuff don't spread. You don't understand it enough, man, so you're in the clear. You can't expect people to figure out a blueprint when all you got in your brain is, like, redprints. It's all smudgy and wrong, cuz you don't get it. It's Oldfield, and, uh, I guess the bird lady over there. We're just taking out the mutagen formulas they found, and the exact make of the turret. Only if Oldfield doesn't wanna come with me, though. If he stays, he gets to keep all he's learned. Unless he wants to start super fresh on the research thing, but I think he'd prefer not to.""What's the compensation if he refuses?""I dunno. What would he like? We've got resources, as long as it's not too weird to have that stuff show up suddenly we can probably manage something."...You turn to Oldfield for a moment:"This is your decision, sir. I got the info I wanted to ask for right now."There's a pause from Oldfield... and, after some time, he sighs."I'd... I'll join your organisation... but only if I am allowed to leave it. Wipe my memory clean of the place afterwards, if you must, but if you'll promise my safety, and my ability to back out... I'll be at your service."Dude smiles at hearing that. "Great to hear, Oldfield. And, uh, hey, don't worry too much about your stuff. You can work from home. Now, uh, Bluescale? We good, man? Because, like, you're still kinda scaring me a little. You're a dangerous man, man."...He's afraid of you? That has to be a trick. He took getting grabbed by you better than almost anybody. He didn't even flinch.>We're good. I guess>We're not good,I have other things to ask!>Dragonfire the bastard
>>5205786>Clasp the prof on the shoulder "I wish you the best Oldfield, and luck in whatever it is your getting into. learn the lost history of man for the rest of us huh, since well" bit of a manic chuckle "the rest of us are going to forget" >one more thing, the ache mage I am heading toward to try and cease the progress of my curse, can she do it? can I still be saved?
>>5205786>Speaking of calling me Bluescale, is there anything you can do about THIS?
>>5205786>We're good. I guess>though can you perhaps fix this dragon curse?time to speed on quickly to the decontamination bath, and figure out what to do from there. we look like a complete monster, don't we?do we even still need that armor?
>>5205786>Clasp the prof on the shoulder "I wish you the best Oldfield, and luck in whatever it is your getting into. learn the lost history of man for the rest of us huh, since well" bit of a manic chuckle "the rest of us are going to forget">"Speaking of calling me Bluescale, though, is there anything you can do about THIS?"
you know one thing we have not really considered, what if we ask to join? we proved we can muscle a motherfucker around and it would mean we keep our memories. and you never know we might be able to change the god complex fucks minds about DoN'T RePeAt ThE MiStAkEs Of ThE PaSt because eventually unless they intend to forever stop human progress in tech we will relearn what was lost. And it is better to know the dangers of it than to make the same mistakes again because we didn't know it already happened
>>5205786>We're good. I guess
>>5206037>>5205786yeah, let's ask to join their thing as well>>5205803+1 ask if we can have our mutations fixed
>>5205786I'd like to get everyone else input on the matter and how they feel.Can he tell us more about potential Leviathan events like what happened at our home? If there a chance we can prevent that from happening again, I think it might be worth it.Can he help us put a least on the mental part of our curse so we dont suffer an ego death?>>5206037+1, if we join I hope that means they'll supply us with shotgun ammo.>>5206083Bro ngl if this guy can help, I hope we can turn into that half dragon from our dreams. Bigger body means bigger sword, and I really want Reynauld to weild a bigger sword. A greatsword.
You turn to Oldfield, and sigh."Well... Best of luck, professor. Learn the lost history of man for the rest of us, considering..."You still shoot a dirty look to Dude."The rest of us will forget."You take a few steps back, back towards your kobolts and Paracelsus... while Oldfield steps past you. you can tell the man is nervous beyond belief, but he's still going for it. Good man, you suppose, though you really hope he isn't making some kind of mistake. Though, with that chapter closed, you still have some other things you should ask."Say... Is that organisation open for somebody like me?"Dude makes a strange sort of noise, as one corner of his mouth goes far to the side."No offence, man, but I think we're really only looking for people with a lot of cerebral skill. And, I mean... I'm not saying you're stupid, it's just that Oldfield's got like forty years of experience learning and and researching.""I could be used as somebody that might have an opinion for the rest of the human race... Considering you seem fit to keep back technology indefinitely.""Nooo, man. We're just here to make sure that you don't grab the stuff we left behind. Fact of the matter is, if you guys figure out, like, guns on your own, we won't touch it. It'd be, like, real bad of us to do that. But if you go to one of our places and just... snatch it outta the wall? That's too much, too quick. Not to mention, man... The magic stuff you guys got going? That's what we REALLY can't do anything about. Uhh, back to what you were asking: you can't join. If you're not happy with what I said, just keep in mind you kinda killed one of the most senior members of the organisation, too."You sniff."It'd make things really awkward, man." Dude adds.Well, okay, that last part is fair."So... One more thing. Can you do something about... About what I have going on here? This curse, or... mutation?""It's a curse, man. Allll magic. Mutagen's a lot faster and brutal. Also means we can't do anything about it."Damn. You clench your fist."Can you help on the mental aspect?"Dude looks a bit sad for a moment, and then says:"I'm, uh... not the best dude to ask for that sort of thing, man. Just, uh, keep trying." Then he smiles.Final question:"Can you tell me more about those... leviathan events, like what happened with my family?""No, man. We just don't know. The corpse of that thing that got killed absorbed magic like... like a sponge, man. We can't keep track of that too well. But, uh, again. You guys have it well in hand over in the Darkest Estate. I think you fellas just wheel in a cannon when it grows back. Anyway, just... Keep fighting the good fight. It'll run outta juice eventually."
Dude turns to Oldfield, and he hands him a flask of blue liquid."Look man, whenever you're ready, just head to your supply closet, drink this, and enter the rift. I'll be right with you to guide you."Oldfield takes it... and doesn't say anything else to Dude. He does turn to you:"My servant will take you to the baths. You should get decontaminated there, and quickly. I'll make sure the money will be given to you as well... While I don't quite get to keep the turret, I suppose your aid has shown to be more valuable than expected. I'll be giving you a total of seven hundred Rosarians. I believe that's fair."Well, alright.Considering the itching was turning unbearable, you don't argue with following the shaky servant, while most of the others follow. Paracelsus, however, decides to stay, as she has "her own questions".You think she might just be looking for distance from you for a bit longer.Turns out Oldfield has a rather large bath here, which is apparently for this exact purpose: making it possible for large groups to get cleaned up. The fact that it doubles as just a general luxury is a bonus. From the looks of it, it was built on top of a hot spring, though you doubt that it's appearance under the city is entirely natural. Still, if it was magic-infused water, nobody would be using it, and the house might have gotten up and walked away at some point. So... it should be safe.You're handed some specialized soap, and advised to soak for about half an hour after applying. Okay.You've got time to think, and everybody else can just relax a mo-"CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!" Collar then proceeds to scream, having gotten naked in no time at all and performing the aformentioned diving technique, splashing water over you as you are still preparing to enter the bath. The other kobolts are quick to join the fun... Though Anna looks uncertain."Is there a... p-private bath?" She says. The confidence from being on a harrowing mission replaced with the usual trepidation she has upon showing her bare body. Chad, upon hearing that, quickly hops out of the water, and then adds:"Kobolts don't care, and Dragon won't care either. Just hop in!" He says, pulling on her arm, and apparently not giving a toot about his own nudity.A short pause, and with you putting a hand over your eyes out of politeness later, you hear the sound of moving water... and Anna entered as well.She even took off her mask.You enter the water as well, and you're happy it's not so clear as to make it possible to see anything of note of anybody.Kind of.Leaning back...You have the time to talk to everybody present. Teensy, at least, seems to be doing better after the healing potion. The nausea seems to have disappeared on the way to town.Anything to talk about?>No. Just lean back and rest... Try not to notice how amazing your wings feel in warm water.>Ask the others thingsThough you need to know what you're asking.
>>5206143>Ask the others thingsAsk Teensy how her hand is feeling now. Better I hope? If she feels weird or hand feels funny, don't be afraid to tell us or Paracelsus about it. The potion was an off color so we're not entirely out of the green yet. Give it another day and we'll know for certain that the potion was fine. Sorry about the fire by the way.I don't think we got to asking yet, but what does Anna want to do now that she's cured of her curse. Any dreams to pursue? She joined us in this excursion so I'm sure she deserves a share. What does everyone else want to do with their Rosarians?
>>5206143>No. Just lean back and rest... Try not to notice how amazing your wings feel in warm water.>Try to keep eyes away from Pink. Fail
>>5206143>Don't focus on the nice wing feeling. This would give strength to the curse. Focus on the still normal body parts.
>>5206143>Ask the others thingsThis>>5206146Plus check with Anna on how she's doing with our group. Any concerns? What are her long term goals?
>>5206166Pink isnt here though
>>5206221>The other kobolts are quick to join the fun...... oh right we left others to watch that William does not trip tip over his own legs and smash his face in.
>>5206146Supporting.Also, good time to make sure we don't have a bad case of, you know... Bad Dragon dick
>>5206299Due to this not being That Kind Of Quest, i won't elaborate on dragon D. But for those really interested: if your tail is fully grown, you can assume the groin changed to match
>>5206310me btw, i was walking the dog and forgot to even add a name.
>>5206143>Ask the others thingsThis is a) a hypothetical, and b) an incredibly dangerous line of thought, but: Assuming the wizards are trustworthy, as capable of precision memory alteration as they made it seem, and willing to do requests, is there anything anybody would want to forget, have completely wiped from their memory? Hell, does Reynauld have anything like that?
>>5206310Welp.>>5206143>Check on tailAdding this to my vote at >>5206299
>>5206146support
>>5206331Could they make the curse sharing our brain forget things?
>>5206166>>5206189Me thinks saying or doing nothing will make Reynauld as a consequence notice the wings and tails, so perhaps it would be better to distract himself with conversation?
As you lean back, you decide to focus on the others. Teensy being the first in line:"Hey! Teensy? Is your hand feeling better?""Yes, Dragon! The drink helped!" She says back, cheery once more. Seems that the pain from regrowing the nerves isn't too heavy on her. All the same, you feel awful about it."Hey... I'm very sorry about that, alright? I didn't intend to hurt you, not for a moment." You say, hissing as you feel the membrane between the wing bones begin to tingle... in that "jumping in hot water after a cold day" sort of way. It's both more and less sensitive than you expected.You keep talking, however, as you've got other concerns:"Teensy, one more thing. That potion had a bit of an off colour. If you feel anything unusual about your hand or... you feel weird in any way, don't be afraid to tell Paracelsus or me. Is that okay? No matter how minor, just tell me about it so we can handle it.""I will, Dragon! COLLAR CATCH ME!" She suddenly screams, as she kicks off the edge of the pool, flies through the air... and is caught by Collar. It only barely worked out, due to the size difference not being that extreme, but Collar managed to catch her... before dropping her into the water anyway, which make practically no difference. The water's too high for the catch to matter.You turn over to Anna, who is just staying in place and closing her eyes. She's just relaxing, you can tell, though you take a moment to ask her a few questions as well:"So... Anna. Haven't actually talked much, have we?"She smiles, and doesn't her eyes. She speaks softly in these baths."No need. I'm not much of a social butterfly... perhaps by necessity."It's weird to see her speak so well despite her... mutilations. It must have come from a lot of practice. You don't comment on it, of course, and then you move on to more important questions:"So, you've been part of the expedition, so obviously you deserve a share. Anything you want to spend money on? Hell, anything you want to do? You're with us for safety, as absurd as that is, but I'm sure you've got some kind of... dream?"Anna opens her eyes, and turns to you. Her eyes are a pretty yellow, you note, sort of like citrine."Well... Not really? I've been so busy just... surviving from place to place, getting back at people that do me wrong, I guess I didn't think of what I'd want to do. Figure I'd just... do some mercenary work. If I make it far, I guess I'll go find a nice house and retire somewhere... Maybe start some urban legends about myself, about how I eat babies and drink maidenblood. Fun stuff like that."You give her a long look, and she doesn't seem to like it. You don't even need to say anything before she cracks:"Alright! I guess... I don't know. I'll be sticking around you for now, though. It's nice to not be focused on all the time. And, hell, you're interesting, and you just made it that I got some money. It's all fine by me."...Hm. Simple enough.
Then, a little later, you hear the door opening again, and you see... Paracelsus.Wearing little more than a towel, and her hands swaddled in some bandages. She loses the towel just before entering, though you look away in time, while Anna shamelessly comments:"Daaaamn. Doctor's got some muscle on her? When did that happen.""A healthy body is a healthy mind, goblin." Paracelsus adds, as he sits down and submerges her hands with a hiss and a sigh."That's better."...You should say something.>Say nothing.>Say somethingBut what?
>>5207729>dragon doesnt like apologizeSeethe faggot>>5207732>Say somethingTalking about what happened with other around in an intimate setting seems really foot in mouth, so a simple sorry for the expedition should do for now until we can talk to her alone later. Maybe we should ask Paracelsus how she's doing on supplies, she'd been using a lot of plague grenades and medical supplies in the past few weeks. Are those just cheap, or is she just really good and packing her things for long journeys?I know she had her plans for when we finally reach the Archmage, but have they changed during the journey? We're almost there. Has she ever considered getting some flintlock training? I know she has her bombs, but picking up another skill couldn't hurt.
>>5207732>>Say somethingJust keep it simple, ask if her hands are doing okay, apologize for being rash, and let her know we appreciate having her company don't want to see her hurting, especially if it's our fault (both with the hands and her fragile heart. She obviously is a person who is deeply affected by the general welfare of the peopleshe cares about). It's too public to expect some sort of breakthrough right now, so we have to maintain and respect a measure of distance and we can't expect her to just open up or have some sort of breakthrough, but we can let her know we're genuinely sorry and prepared to hear her out when she's ready. We don't want to make her feel like we're putting her on the spot.
>>5207795support>>5207760>>dragon doesnt like apologize>Seethe faggotbased fuck the curse
>>5207732Ask after the hands, apologize succinctly, and then let her be. Don't go all word-salad on her. That isn't Celsie's style.
>>5207836Support, this isn't a good time to go spilling all of our spaghetti, not in front of the others and without a helmet on.
>>5207732>>5207836
>>5207795Yeah, pretty much the standard move for something like this.
"...How are you holding up?" You decide to ask her, after an awkward pause. Paracelsus looks over to you, and then sighs:"I'm better. Oldfield's salve is a painkiller... and that strange man also gave me something. It was similar to the syringes we used on you, only more advanced. Had an interesting injection method, too... It had a trigger to launch the concoction inside, makes it less painful overall with the sheer speed.""That's... good. And, uh, the other things?" You add, carefully. Her reply is to scrub her shoulders a moment... Creating an eerie silence, the playing kobolts aside. You're a patient man, however, so eventually, she's the one to speak first:"I'm still angry, if that's what you wish to hear."It's not, but you at least got something out of her."Then, obviously, I'm also still sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt.""Please. First degree burns from cursed demi-human blood? A scholar of my level is nothing less than thrilled about it. I'm just... I've told you before, yes? I take it rather personally when I give somebody advice and they proceed to ignore it? I was quite clear that what you were doing was foolish, and yet you still went for it. Not to mention... I'm not known for my bedside manner, Ser knight."This is about you admitting how you feel, you suppose. "In fact... What you told me has been bothering me for a long bloody time, and I still can't get it out of my head. You made keeping a professional distance very difficult, you know. I've never travelled with anybody for so long. So the fact that you then just..."She moves her hands before her, as if trying to wring the neck of this invisible creature called "worry". "Don't do it again." She finally says, her voice cracking halfway. She slams her fist against the edge of the spring."Damn it. I used to be so much more clear-headed. What have you done to me, Reynauld?" She asks, though it's not a question with an answer. "I much preferred the loneliness."Well, that's something to pick up on:"Well... Are you sure? You just called it loneliness, rather than plain solitude."You grit your teeth after saying that, while Paracelsus just stares at you as if you've sprouted a second head."D-don't... play psychologist with me."You just show a sad smile, instead. "I won't... So, I have another question. What will you do when we reach the archmage? Will you be leaving?"
She pauses again... The silence drags on, as well, and eventually, she slinks deeper into the pool until she dives down entirely. The water isn't clear enough to easily keep track of her, but when you feel the current moving around, you realy that she just swam closer to you... in one push, most likely.She surfaces, her modesty only barely preserved by the splashing water. Now only a few feet from you, she says it quietly."I'll stay. But if you do something like this again, I'm leaving."You're surprised... And then proceed to put your foot in your mouth by saying something stupid:"Why are you staying, exactly?" You close your eyes, sighing through your nose at having said that.She gives you a look, and then says:"Maybe thing won't work out. Maybe... Travelling with you has given me more notes in a week than I did in the last few months at the alchemist's academy. I've more reason to stay than to leave."You just smile, and she blushes:"But if anybody asks, I'm only staying to document the after-effects. I'm still a doctor, and I'd prefer if the rest of the world could still see that I'm not some... blushing maiden following around a dapper knight." She huffs at the thought... and then swims to the edge again, to lean against the wall. Considerably closer to you than before."That's all I have to say to you, Ser." She says, looking away with her head held high.It's a lot more than you expected to hear from her.You remain in the bath for some time, watching the deadening spores drift away from you. In the meantime, you also look your body over...Big patches of scales are starting to dot you, and your tail has turned from a flesh-coloured nub to a fully scaled one. Which is probably more aesthetically pleasing. It's still no more than a few inches long, and it doesn't actually get in the way as much as you feared. For now, you can probably just keep using your armor the same...The same can't be said for the wings, though. You suspect you can still wear your plate, but your under-armor will need to be adjusted to grant room. Not by that much, fortunately, they wrap around your torso quite well, but still...It's something to keep in mind.If they keep growing, however, you'll have to make a hole in the armor. Same for the tail. By that point, nobody will mistake you for anything human, you suppose...You wonder if there's even a point to the helmet outside of combat, at this point.After this, you suppose you're back into the city, seven hundred rosarians richer. Six hundred, if you already count the helmet commission. You'll also have to look into the kobolts that are waiting outside of the city, as you're still here for a day or two more. Lots to do.>Go on a shopping spree You've got lots of money, you might as well see about using it>Find some other job to do in the meantime.Mostly to keep busy>Go to your room and roost for a while, enjoy just having the money and relax.It'll put your mind at ease.>Something else.
>>5209057>>Find some other job to do in the meantime.
>>5209057>Something else.Divide the reward money between Collar, Teensy, Chad, Anna, and Paracelsus. We only need 100 coins for the armor, no more than that. If Paracelsus declines the money then use it to buy clothes and food for the kobolts outside the city, maybe a pair of sling and spare dagger if something tries to kill them. If we still have left over money buy a set of gamberson, a sturdy sword, and a whetstone for William, but get him to help us chop wood for free later. He needs to build up muscle mass.Mentally chastise the curse. Those scales are not nice, they're blood annoying your mental parasite.
>>5209062What about paying our friends?
>>5209063support gear everyone up and buy armor and helm
>>5209064this too, but we also need to distract ourselves from our body changes
>>5209057>Find some other job to do in the meantime.Let's go woodchuckMaxAnd we kinda got Sarah acknowledge she likes us. The foolproof plan of doing stupid shit and get almost killed for it payed.
>>5209134>Let's go woodchuckMaxWhy specifically that and not the other things?
>>5209057>gear everyone up and buy armor and helm>Check on the other kobolts>Find some other job to do, perhaps with them to assist
>>5209057>>5209063Support for this
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-1mscc0Wi4-2fAHH6l9CelCAJHMm_ZF_ZYsm2MvmVbE/edit?usp=sharingOP, don't you dare make this canonfor now
>>5209403MAKETHISCANON!I don't care how cute Sarah was in the bath scene. TEAM PINK ALL THE WAY!
>>5209057That went well. >Go on a shopping spreeLet's make sure we have everything we need that 600 rosarians can buy. It would be nice not to have to stop again before we get to the Archmage. Under no circumstances are we to>enjoy just having the money and relax.That's dragon shit.
neat stuff happening I hope we make it to the wizard in time to save Reynold
After leaving Oldfield's house, you jingle the cash around for a moment. Though most of the money is left in high-value coins, it's considered polite to spread it out a bit. If you want to buy bread, you can't very well approach with a Centum-Rosarium. So, you likely have forty rosarians, and six deca-rosariums. Efficient enough to pack, but you can jingle it around a bit. You then proceed to spread the money around amongst the group, as you don't want to hold on to any more of this muck as you strictly have to. The money is spread amongst Collar, Teensy, Chad, Anna, and Paracelsus, leaving you with 100 rosarians you can spend elsewhere... With some doubts, you eventually decide to spend that money on William.You hope not to be disappointed about that in the future...With a hundred rosarians, you manage to get him a Gambeson, a whetstone, and decent shortsword. Something better than whatever he's been making do with. You don't trust him with anything heavier than a shortsword, to be honest, he seems too scrawny to make much use of it. Also, it's about all you could afford with a hundred coins......The journey through town was harrowing. You had to adjust your clothing to even fit the wings, even though they're not much larger than your hand, twice over. It makes you look like a horrid hunchback, in a way, but the way people stare is enough to drive you mad. You grit your (ever so sharp) teeth, every time a mother takes their child by the hand and grips them tightly.Even the guards don't greet you, instead staring you down in case you were to do anything. At least, when you enter the smithy once more, you hear quite the happy blacksmith. "Ahaaaa! Reynauld! Welcome back. Listen, we've managed to run some early tests on your dragonfire. As we hoped, with little more than a golden core, we can now add in enchantments to our blades. Currently, we have a dagger that leaves behind an afterimage when you swing it! Now, as for your helmet, it'll be done in a day or two. Do you think you'll be able to pay me by then?"You just hand him the bag of money, to his delight."Ahh! Wonderful! Is there anything else?""A gambeson and a shortsword. Would you happen to have training swords, as well? It's all for a squire of sorts."The man nods, and moves to the back to take up an older shortsword, though you can tell it's still in excellent condition."Here! The gambeson is something I'd like to fit, so he'll have to come over. Won't take long, of course, they're simple garments. As for training swords, I'm willing to throw those in for just a few coins more... How about another one hundred, for the lot?"Another bag of money is exchanged, and then you head to the inn.William, apparently, ended up chasing after the twins pretty much all day. Good for the cardio, you suppose, so you make sure to thank the twins....Now it's just a matter of spending time, and you think chopping wood is a good way to work off some frustration. You'll even take William along.
Chopping wood is... good, honest work.Obviously, William balks at it, though you don't care. After the way he greeted you, you're generally not inclined to be nice to him.The first thing he said is that you don't look human at all, now. On account of the little tail and the obvious wings you're hiding under your shirt. He even asked if you have a taste for human flesh, now, though he just said, afterwards, it was a mere joke.It wasn't funny, to say the least.So, here you are, chopping wood. At the rate you're going, you'll be making about 70 rosarians per day, with William making about 30, comparatively. A fair pay for an amateur, really, as much as William grumbles.The head of the lumber mill demanded you chop wood far away from the others, however.On account of you being a demi-human, which the men "don't trust". You suspect it's more for their safety than your own, and you try not to let it get to you. Once you're out alone, with only william,you decide to go shirtless instead of dealing with the sweat, and it allows your wings freedom. It's feels a lot better to have them out, to say the least, and according to William, you even have a tendency to flap your wings a little when you put your back into the swing. Again, not something you strictly wanted to hear, but there he goes, saying it. The boy is frustrating.Do you just spend your days working wood and sleeping? You spend some time with your party as well, of course, but nothing too major. >Yes. Skip to when you can leave town. We need to get to the archmage>I have some scenes I'd like to see, actually!Just post them, we'll see about writing it up.
>>5210308>>I have some scenes I'd like to see, actually!>hard work to keep us honest, patent talks with friends to keep us sane, and meditative nights to do battle with our demon within>such is the path to remaining who we are no matter what our shell may become.
>>5210308>>I have some scenes I'd like to see, actually!Maybe Reynauld should commission a false Rucksack he can wear around that hides his wings? Really, just get a normal rucksack, cut a hole in the back, and then use some wooden stays to give it a bit of structure. It would also obscure his tail a little bit.
>>5210308>I have some scenes I'd like to see, actually!>Fitting Williams Armor>Chewing out William for ANYTHING>Getting discriminated by some dumb thugs and William coming to our side to protect our honor out of respectReally like the father son relationship the two are getting.>Chilling with the gang in the tavern the night before we set out again. Chatting and shenanigans, askingpeople what they spent their money on, that kinda thing.Love your slice of life moments spine>Trying to find a weaponsmith in town, to see if they can make ammunition for our BOOMSTICK, though naturally much more crudeHope we kept the spent shells>>5209849I want muh dragon knight tho!>>5210354Even if we do get that, soon enough the wings will grow too big, or tail too long.
>>5210391+1 William bonding scene
>>5210308We should use the social prejudice as an anchor of sorts for Reynauld so he keeps hating the curse instead of enjoying it.>I have some scenes I'd like to see, actually!The three kobolts outside. I still worry for them.I have a question for you the QM/the blacksmith. What use is a dagger with a golden core that makes after images? Is the weapons or armor notably more durable or keep their edges longer?Is the Blacksmith continuously adding fuel to the blue fire so it doesnt go out and he can keep working on it, or does he expect Reynauld to come back every once in a while to relight his forge? It wouldnt be some bad to have a permanent discount on all his wares since we're responsible for him being able to enchant things to begin with.>>5210352+1So the helmet will be done in a day or two, but in theory let's say it's done in two days. In two days Reynauld will earn 140 rosarians, and William 60. What should our two lads do with their money? I've no clue what William will do with his money, but I think we should spend what we have to get our little friends that didnt join the expedition some things. We could get child sized clothes on the discount for the twins, I think Esmerelda wanted to beca blacksmith so maybe we can introduce her to him, Snikt could get a small cake, Pink we could give her what's left to gold onto or whatever she wants to buy.
>>5210391>>Getting discriminated by some dumb thugs and William coming to our side to protect our honor out of respectthat will never happen. Reynauld is too scary and William a coward>>5210308Some deviant flirting with the kobolds, Reynauld looking from afar, unsure what to do or feel.I'm curious what would happen in this situation, especialy if its someone dropping spaghetti like him.
>>5210404+1those are better ideas
I'd love some bonding with Para "Sarah" Celsus
>>5210308>I have some scenes I'd like to see, actually!Practicing reading/writing with Esme. Not sure if helping the other kobolts with their dreams is even possible under the current circumstances, but this one should be easy.
>>5210542>>5210575I agree with these 2
>>5210542Let's give her the opportunity to document the effects of pregnancy on Tsundere alchemists.
>>5210308>I have some scenes I'd like to seeVisit the kobolts outside with Chad and PinkTavern night before leaving
I want to pick up and hug the hatchling and give him a cute little hat.
Larger collection of stories incoming, this time they're from a third person perspective, because they're not in chronological order and serve more as short stories.-------------------------------------------------------------“Hey! Freakshow! Stick to your neck of the woods, right!?” Balthazar yelled as the knight passed by, having given up on hiding his wings and instead wearing a short with holes at the back. The response has been nigh-identical… but the other lumberjacks have been more open about their dislike of “freaks”. None were louder than Balthazar, who is easily the biggest man there. While he was still shorter and, frankly, still not as well-build as Reynauld is, he took his size as a pass to do as he likes.Reynauld himself, of course, let it wash over him like water off a duck. He’s not the type to be affected by somebody calling out to him. After his jeers hadn’t worked yesterday, however… Balthazar decided to step forward, blocking the path of the dragon knight and his squire.“How about you beat it, freak. Don’t know why the boss lets something like you wander around, but you’re disturbing the people here.”“I just intend to work here.” Reynauld says, which makes Balthazar flinch when he sees his teeth. Now that he’s up close, he gets a better idea of all the changes Reynauld had suffered through, and he’s hardly liking it.“Hell’s bells, look at you. Why haven’t the guard exterminated you yet?”After such a long amount of time just dealing with stares, Reynauld decided to drop a bit of dry wit that he hardly ever has the opportunity to show off:“Because being ugly isn’t a crime, fortunately for the both of us.”There is a pause, and people are starting to come closer, happy to see Balthazar get into a fight after that insult. All the same, Reynauld simply starts walking away again… his ears listening carefully for fast and clumsy footsteps, just in case.“Go on! Run! Freak like you couldn’t handle a real man!”Then, of course, a voice calls back, making Reynauld internally sigh:“HE’S MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU, UGLY!” William, Reynauld’s partner in woodcutting, yells. Reynauld turns around in time to see Balthazar grab William by the throat, and slam him down into the ground.“CARE TO REPEAT THAT, RUNT!?”“SCREW YOU, SHIT FOR BRAINS!” William actually yells back, before surprising everybody present with a quick kick to the burly lumberjack’s groin. With the ground to act as something to brace himself off of, even a stringbean like William can hit hard.Balthazar stumbles back, wheezing in pain from the crushing dirty kick, while Reynauld quickly pulls William upright… and brushes off the dirt and leaves from his back before standing in front of him, as Balthazar gets over the damage to his descendants, supplanting rage in place of reason to help ignore the pain.“You’re DEAD!” He yells, before he performs a wild, charging haymaker towards Reynauld and William.
Reynauld’s seen it a hundred times before, and is quick to react. With a sideways tackle to Balthazar’s ribs and a raised hand, he proceeds to stop the charge in its tracks and blocks the haymaker as well, before slamming his elbow into the man. Stumbling back from hitting what is essentially a half-scaled wall of muscle, Balthazar leaves himself open enough for Reynauld to clap his hands against both ears, discombobulating the large man. A quick jab to the jaw, while Reynauld blocks the feral left cross punch with his elbow, and then a stronger punch to the other side, dislocating the jaw entirely. Then, a body shot, followed by a straight kick to the chest.Balthazar is sent sprawling on his back, wheezing and shaking from the beat-down that seemed to have taken no time at all. The silence is deafening, and Reynauld looks to the other lumberjacks for a moment… Before asking:“Get this man on a stretcher and to the alchemists. He’ll have to get his jaw wired.”“A fine improvement, huh! Hahaha!” William adds, before Reynauld slaps him over the back of the head:“Don’t gloat over problems you caused, William.” Reynauld says tersely, before he moves back to the woods where he’ll chop his wood. Once they’re back in the woods, William decides to ask something. Which is more restraint than Reynauld expected:“Why’d you hit me? He attacked us!”“Certainly, because you insulted a man that seems to spend his spare time beating on people smaller than him. Sometimes, you just have a bad egg. If that happens, don’t encourage the damned thing.”“So I was supposed to let that guy just… insult you like that!?”Reynauld sniffs, and turns to William.“Yes. Words don’t leave scars.”William seems to leave it at that, when Reynauld starts chopping wood again, instead. Once he starts doing that, the conversation is usually over.And still, William knew he was in the right. And he'd do it again, anytime.
----------------------------------"T-the... Baaaayyyssssiiiiss?" Esmeralda says, slowly going over it while she repeatedly flexes and unflexes her leg, inbetween tapping her clawed feet against the floor."Ba-sics. It's a hard C, here." Reynauld says, tapping against the C."Bayysiics. Of the, uhh... Alsjemical-"Another interruption."Alchemical. You know the word, right? You can fill in the blanks a little."Esmeralda smiles, and takes a deep breath:"The basics of Alchemical wuh-work is sommmeet-h- Something! Something that is ee-ay-si.... easily?"Reynauld just smiles at her, and Esemeralda's tail wags a little as she keeps reading the admittedly difficult textbook:"Something that is easily one of the most somplic- no, uh, COMplicated subjets... No. That's not right." She says, biting her finger as she tries to think of the right word. Renauld just gives her a little bit of time, and after a moment, she guesses again."Sub...jects! JECTS! Yes! It's subjects!""Knew you could do it, Esme." Reynauld says again, patting her on the back. Once she figured out to sort of "guess" the word, she starts making huge strides of progress. Teaching her the basic lettering was the hard part, but once she gets moving, she really caught on quick to the actual reading. Though she's still very slow, she could probably figure it out alone from here. Not that Reynauld is going to miss the chance to help her with this. It's a very relaxing thing to go over, even if you have to use Paracelsus' textbooks."I'll start over, in one go!" She says, and then she says:"The basics of alchemical work is something that is easily one of the most complicated subjects that one will ever learn, which means that once you're done with our simple primmer."-"Primer. Don't worry, it's not a common word""Primer! you wil be well on your way to becoming a scholar of the sciences."She looks at the page for a moment, and then turns back to Reynauld:"Is sciences right? It sounds wrong.""You got it right, don't worry.""Woooow. That's fun! So, let's keep going!"As Reynauld goes over it all, he does note that the average kobolt is like a sponge when it comes to knowledge. The average dragon, he supposes, doesn't bother teaching them more than they strictly need, as they're inherently lazy creatures.As his own constant desire to just lie in bed and relax with his kobolts and treasures attests.It's revolting.The lesson ends up taking the rest of the evening, in the end. After a long day of chopping wood, it's quite relaxing. Paracelsus also joined in at some point, mostly to help with pronouncing words like "Thorazine" and "organic gel electrolyte". It was as much a lesson for Reynauld as it is for Esmeralda.
"DRAGON! Dragon is here!""We've been good! W-we've been good!""Didn't do anything!""W-we ate a rabbit, though, sorry! We were so hungry!"Reynauld raises his hands at the three railthin kobolts, all of them shaking at his approach. Seems they found some level of fear after being left alone. Their fears are ungrounded, of course, and Reynauld is quick to show that when he unslings the pack off his back... and reveals an entire picknick. Including cooked meats, canned fish, a collection of vegetables... really an entire meal, and one for each kobolt."Come on. Eat up, you guys have been starving.”The kobolts all stare at the food for a while, while Reynauld slowly begins to unpack everything. He rations the food out equally, though he leaves the surplus in the middle for the kobolts to enjoy if they want seconds.Or thirds.Only the hatchling was the one to find the nerve to sit down and start eating potato salad, and when Reynauld just watched instead of performing some random act of cruelty, the other kobolts also approached, sat down… and began eating. Despite their starvation, Reynauld notes they still eat with some decent manners, though the lack of cutlery clearly doesn’t bother them. Sure enough, as the knight expected, they went through the initial serving very quickly… But then they stop.“What are you waiting for? It’s for you guys. William, my squire, chopped a lot of wood for it, you know. I feel bad about leaving you out here, but there’s not much better I can do other than sending over whoever I can spare to keep you guys a bit busy. Still…”Reynauld looked around a moment, at the makeshift shelter the kobolts had made. While it was a tad amateurish in how they prepared their actual roofs, using sticks and leaves they seemingly tossed up haphazardly, you’re surprised to see the female kobolt is actually making some decent hammocks. It’s almost sad that you’re just giving them cloth to work with, instead.“So… How about your names. Can you tell me your names?”“I’m breakfast.” The hachling squeaks, and the limping kobolt cringes at that. Then, slowly, he says this:“I’m Dinner… and she’s Lunch. The former dragon was… not subtle.”…You need to make new names.>Think of some better names for the new additions to the team, would you?
>>5211489Tell me more about you guys and what you know how to do.Unless you want to pick your own name?
>>5211508+1>>5211489Surely the parents and their hatchling had names before their servitude under than ogre. Surely? If they didn't even have names, can they considered any for their child, or did they not need them? If we really have to pick names, why not Petros for the young one, Dismas for the one missing a leg, and Alice for the lady?
>>5211529+1
>>5211508support Jesus these poor fuckers I can almost forgive them for cutting off a little girl's leg.
or we can call the limping Kobold Pegman.
>>5211717A little too petty
>>5211489Alexander, Erin, and Tom.or: >>5211508, if you wish to characterize them further.
>>5211529Supporting these three names if we're diving head first into naming the newcomers, but ideally we should get to know these guys better first.
Sitting next to the kobolts, you look them over for a moment... and give it to them straight:"I'm not calling you different varieties of meals. Didn't you have names before this?""...No. I was called Elder, I suppose, while the hatchling was too young for a name. And, of course, she was unimportant... Until she was one of the last remaining kobolts."You sigh, and then look over to male:"Alright, tell me. How old are you?""Hard to say... I suppose I'm in my sixties... maybe seventies."Hm. Considering Pink is a bit over two hundred, you suppose that's proof enough that they don't generally get as old as her... maybe. Honestly, you've seen twenty year olds that look as old as Pegleg over here, especially on the crusades. Something about a hard life seems to age people prematurely."Well, alright. You seem tired.""I am tired. All the time. It is hard to care for people, and it is harder still to see them... disappear. Because of the dragon we follow. To do the things we've done."He closes his eyes, leaning back."If you will do the same, I implore you... start with me. The others don't deserve it." Wow. This is a HUGE BUMMER."Okay, yeah, not doing that." You say, unsure of how to fully talk about that one. "I'm not going to kill anybody, and if anything, I'm hoping to keep you guys happy. Sure, I might ask for your help, because people need to pull their weight, but I don't intend to keep things miserable for no good reason!"Somehow, that seemed to shock all of them to their core, even though it was pretty much the simple promise of "I won't eat you". Albeit with a little tact."Dragon... Thank you." Pegleg says, and you look to the others. The female seems to breathe a sigh of relief, and then begins to talk."I... I'm thankful. I've seen so many eggs go, I... The hatchling is all I have left. She isn't even mine, but I love her with all my heart.""Well. That's great. Say, one thing... Your english is pretty great, especially compared to my own kobolts. How did that come about?""Our last dragon was wellspoken. He sang a lot, inbetween the eating. We copied him. Kobolts are fast learners, of course, surely you noticed this yourself, great dragon? The English of your kobolts sounds great as well!"...Hm. Yeah, they did improve a lot, didn't they? You hardly paid attention to it."So, what's your passion?""...Passion, dragon?" The female replies, unsure, and you just keep looking at her, expecting an answer."I... I would... I want to help raise the hatchling and... I... I like to sew?""Great! That's something... and the hatchling. How old are they?""He's three months... He can speak, but not well, so he remains silent... He likes you, though. A lot. As any kobolt hatchling should."Talking to these guys is depressing.Well, you have a tiny bit more knowledge of them... Do you know what to name them?>Alexander(pegleg), Erin(female) and Tom(hatchling)>Dismas, Alice and Petros>Something else
>>5214147>Dismas(pegleg), Alice(the female) and Petros (the hatchling)
>>5214147>>Alexander(pegleg), Erin(female) and Tom(hatchling)
>>5214147>Alexander(pegleg), Erin(female) and Tom(hatchling)It was my idea, after all.
>>5214147>>Dismas, Alice and Petros
>>5214147>Dismas, Erin and Petros
>>5214147Can we let the hatchling ride our shoulders? I bet that would make his day.
>>5214147>Alexander(pegleg), Erin(female) and Tom(hatchling)
>>5214147>Dismas, Alice and Petros
"So... I'm going to giving you some new names. I think you could use it."The three kobolts stare at you, unsure of how to react to this it seems, and after some time, you point to the crippled kobolt:"Dismas. Congratulations, you've been named after a living saint."The kobolt looks at you, tilting his head slightly, and then he asks:"What does that mean? I do not know of any living saints...""Dismas was a bandit that joined the fight to destroy the heart of darkness, and people say he struck the final blow, even. There's a lot of stories, but... well. He's a patron saint of redemption."You look away from him, and... you figure Dismas seems to understand the implication. Then, you turn to the female:"You, I'll name Alice. That name doesn't carry any meaning in particular, it's just a nice name, really." You say, smiling. She wags her tail a little, but seems to tired to do more than that little move. She instead helps the hatchling eat, as it's in the midst of making a bit of a mess with the potato salad... Ah, of course."As for the hatchling... Petrus." You say... It's a name that's rather tightly woven with The Light, but a fine name even outside of that context. Like Alice, you didn't attach much of a meaning to it."I think that's a nice name... Do you think it's a nice name?" You ask the hatchling, and it just nods, before it takes another helping of food."Good... Anyway, we'll be moving out tonight. I'll come pick you up once we're on the road. Then, it's a straight shot to the wizard, and I can hopefully walk out of there without looking like a freak. Then, we'll figure out what to do, I suppose."Dismas nods."I think you look quite fanciful, dragon. Very regal.""Well, I feel like the aftermath of a golem department getting drunk." You reply, getting back up and walking away."Stay safe!"...You think you were considering a night out on the tavern with everybody there. Do you have any plans for that?>as long as we have a designated leader (Pink volunteered), you can go ahead and get utterly sloshed. You could use a break from sobriety.>You don't need more than a buzz, but the others can go nuts>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid.>Some other way of working this night on the town
>>5216037>You’ll enjoy your waterYeah, too many ways for a drunk fire breather to go wrong
>>5216037>>You don't need more than a buzz, but the others can go nuts
>>5216037>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid.Let's keep a clear head until we're curse free
>>5216037>You don't need more than a buzz, but the others can go nuts
>>5216037>>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid.temperance, and restraint boys, that first option is just straight up a curse influenced option
>>5216037>>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid.We need to not lose our mental acuity until we have a handle on the curse
>>5216037>as long as we have a designated leader (Pink volunteered), you can go ahead and get utterly sloshed. You could use a break from sobriety.This has A Very Bad Fun Idea plastered all over it and I want to know where it's gonna lead.
>>5216037>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid.Try to check if Sarah is getting really drunk. Maybe we can have an alcohol-induced honnest conversation.
>>5216037>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid
>>5216037>>You'll enjoy your water while the others have fun. Better not to scare the town with a drunk dragonoid.I have a feeling alcohol won't work anyway
>>5216207I'd be surprised. Para seems like the type that will keep exact count of how much she drank in order to not ever go above a mild buzz.
>>5216037>>You don't need more than a buzz, but the others can go nutsGuys come on, we can manage one beer to at least have a bit of higher spirits without the risk of drunk shenanigans
"You know... You're fine in taking in one beer. To be entirely honest, I'm rather interested to see if you even get drunk off alcohol, now." Paracelsus says, with her mug of red wine in front of her. That particular drink is going to cut into the drinking funds, considering you're paying for everybody here. Chad, Pink, the twins, Esmeralda and Collar will drink... Teensy and Snikt will sit this one out, as their palate isn't inclined to anything with alcohol. They find it too bitter... And, besides, in Teensy's words: "I wanna see how Collar handles alacohol."After correcting her on "alcohol", you figure that's fair enough.Snikt, meanwhile, you elect to get a cider. Non-alcoholic, if possible. The bartender understands, at least.You order some water, and then tell the bartender that you'll be paying for the kobolts, Paracelsus and William.Hmm. Oh, you've distracted yourself. You turn to Paracelsus, before drinking some water:"I really don't want to find out if I can get drunk. If you're truly interested, I'm sure we'll be able to gather something in Isaac's Rest... If I still have some coin left." You say, before looking to the drink orders from the others. Nobody really went for the cheap stuff, though it's at your insistence. With the money you have left over... William's part is likely to pay for just about everything, unless they go totally overboard.The bartender does make you pay up front, and you can understand why. William, Chad and Sapphire decided to go for ales, while Ruby and Esme elected to pick mead. Anna, however, decided to go for the cheapest drink they had, which is a regular beer. Everybody but Anna seems to prefer a sweeter drink over a bitter one...Pink managed to find a way to get free drinks, on that note.Plenty of people prefer to keep distance from your table, but when a boisterous dwarf entered the bar and demanded "The best liquor your silly human brewery can manage", Pink saw an opportunity. The dwarf got dwarven whiskey, which the bartender proudly keeps just for this kind of situation... The dwarf is utterly delighted, and even tips ahead of time for it. He seems to be rather well-off, as you can tell from his long braided beard, with rocks and even geodes mixed in there. His dark hair makes it a necessity to use brighter stones, it seems, and his clothing reminds you of some noblemen you've seen... though in your experience, this is the garb of a dwarven city-trader.He seems to be on the older side, guessing from how his knuckles have started growing stone, though he's not quite old enough to be considered an elder. Pink, of course, walks over to the dwarf and says:"I bet I can outdrink you!" to the dwarf. The dwarf slowly turned around, and then looked down upon the little kobolt. Dwarves may be diminutive, compared to humans at least, but this man still has about a foot in heigh (and two in width) over Pink. This seems like a bad idea.
"...Who left their slave around 'ere?" he asks out loud, and you turn on your chair for a moment:"She's not a slave, she's a companion." The dwarf looks at you for a moment, and whistles:"Damn... You look bad, sir, you're headed to the wizard, right?" He asks, looking genuinely concerned for what is a stranger to him.Well. That's a pleasant change in demeanour. You got used to dirty or scared looks at this point."Entirely correct, sir." You say back, and the dwarf smiles:"Don't worry. Ogg's a good lady. She saved my old mine about forty years back, you know... Cleared out the Mage-rot moss. Anyway.... Back to you, my lil' friend? What was that about... out-drinkin' me?"You note that his accent is actually pretty light. He must be used to living with humans. Pink, meanwhile, puts her hands on her (comparatively wide) hips."You heard right! First one to give up has to pay the drinks!" You sweat a little at hearing that, but... Pink it doing a thumbs-up behind her back, so you suppose she has a plan?"Loser has to pay, eh?" The dwarf repeats, smiling... And then he laughs."I'll take your bet! DWARVEN WHISKEY! We do it with mugs!"Pink grins back, and you... decide to spend your attention elsewhere. William keeps himself a bit distant from the rest of the crowd here, so you get up and decide to ask him why."I... I dunno. I don't really want people to think I'm, uh, neck-deep in kobolts. I mean! uh, you know. With kobolts being on the same level as me. I'm, uh, human, you know... I'd look like slave?"He seems to realize his foot is firmly planted in his mouth, and instead moves in to take a sip of his ale... which turns into a proper drink as you keep staring at him."Still don't like kobolts, do we?" You ask, shaking your head."They're fine people... but come on. You already saw those three from, uh, earlier?"He lowers his voice to a whisper:"They cut off a girl's leg because somebody told them to. That's like... That right there is why they're not that great, man. I'm human. I'm able to make choices for myself. I'm not just some... follower."You remain quiet, instead staring at him."Hey! Following you is my own choice! I-I had to fight for you to let me stay here! I'm not some... some little lizard that just follows out of instinct!"You pinch your eyebrows together, sighing."You're not being the man I'm training you to be, William. Chad! Come here, have a drink with William. You two should spend the night talking to eachother.""Ohhh! Okay!" Chad says... taking Anna along with him. Those two have been thick as thieves now that they had time to just relax and hang out, and you've even seen them train together. It's not a friendship you expected, but you think Chad's knightly attitude is something Anna just enjoys. They start talking, and guessing from the looks and tone, you figure that Anna is serving as the person to keep William in check. When he says something very racist, for instance.She's allowed to slap him.
You sit down back in your chair, and look at Pink and the Dwarf."Let's see if this first one doesn't knock you out, eh! First mug's a chug, then we go to regular drinkin'!""The whole mug? Isn't that a waste, sir?"The dwarf looks at Pink for a moment, and smiles:"Scared, are you? Hehehehe."Pink replies in... a language you only faintly recognize. The dwarf seems impressed to hear it!"Miner's tongue? Really? Ahhh, I'm afraid you'll have to tell this mossgrower what you said... unless you also happen to speak under-common."She does. You don't, so you don't know what she's saying, but it seems to impress/insult the miner. He does that little laugh people do when they get hit with a particularly strong zinger."Ho ho hoooo... Now this is a game." And then, they both chug their mug in one go. The mug's size makes it a rather impressive thing for Pink to manage to even drink it at all, especially with the way her mouth words. The snout makes it a bit of a delicate act, but she's clearly a professional. She finished the mug in one go, and even managed to slam it on the table before the dwarf is done... But he still puts it down, merely a second or two later."Feeling it!?" The dwarf says, while Pink checks her nails condescendingly."I don't know... are you?"The dwarf grins, and the contest starts in earnest... though both parties quickly took a liking to eachother. Good.Now, you look over to Esme, who is sitting next to you."You look... super pretty with your new stuff. Those wings... I wish I had wings."You sniff."Trust me, Esme. You don't. I can't do anything with these damned things, and I can't lie on by back anymore. I was already somebody that preferred to sleep on his side, I suppose, but... still. They're more sensitive than I thought.""Ohh, that's probably because of all the little bones. And you gotta feel those, uh... those air... air... air winds.""Air currents?""YEAH! Yah..."Snikt joins in at this point, clutching your arm."Is dragon going to be okay? Snikt was quite worried.""I'm going to be fine... We're almost as Isaac's Rest, so we can get me fixed up, and then we can get back to... Well, whatever we want to, really!"Esme grabs your other arm, and both Kobolts pull themselves closer. You're strong and sturdy enough that you don't even need to move your arms to have them do that."So we can stay with you while you do knightly errands, right!?" Esme asks."We can help! I'll help even better when my back is fixed!"
You make them let go from your arms... and pat them both on the head, which makes Esme sigh content and makes Snikt make a little squeal of delight."Of course! Heck, Esme... Would you like to write some stories about it all? I don't make for that great of a story, but that's what poets are for. To make a meathead sound great.""Nooo! Dragon! You're the best!" Esme says,before taking a sip from her drink. Snikt, meanwhile, just grabs hold on your shirt and squeezes it tightly.Esmeralda keeps talking: "You're TOTALLY story material without me changing anything! You're super cool!""And nice." Snikt adds."And strong!" Esme says."And pretty." You laugh:"Okay, not that this isn't great for the ego, let's hold our horses here, okay? I'm just regular man... Or, uh, I will be once more when I reach Ogg.""Nothing regular about you, Dragon!"You sniff."Being regular is quite alright, you know." You say back to them. Paracelsus then moves in, looking a little rosy around the cheeks."Yeahhhh, but you're not as interesting if you are." She says, sounding a little less harsh than usual. This is... surprising."Are you already getting drunk?""Mmmm-hmmm." She says back, before taking another drink of her wine."I might have pre-gamed a little bit. I figured I should try my hangover cure, and what better way to do it than getting red wine drunk? Besides! You... gave me a lot of reasons to get sssssloshed tonight! Hahaaa..." Seeing Paracelsus laugh made your whole body flinch at once.She might be more sloshed than you initially expected. Now, before you get into that particular conversation...You look over to Teensy and Collar, with Teensy squeaking:"CHUG CHUG CHUG!" while Collar drinks. It's pretty funny, but they seem to be keeping track of eachother.The dwarf and Pink are telling stories of the dwarven homes, which is nice of them... The dwarf seems to be having more trouble with the drinks than Pink, besides.William and Chad are in an argument, and Anna seems to have taken Chad's side. William seems to be losing.The twins, meanwhile, are just sitting together at a table, making comments about all the other people in the bar, mostly in regards to their clothing. They're also drawing things on some paper, which seems to be amusing them. The drinks are entirely secondary. Okay, so, with two kobolts being patted and a somewhat drunk plague doctor to the side of you, you should probably talk about something.>So your name is Sarah, huh?>Some other subject
>>5217604Equip a kobolt to your head, and one to your shoulders.>Some other subjectI don't know if it's invasive to ask Sarah about her real name while her inhibitions or down, or maybe we need to because she's always bottling everything up. Maybe some smarter anons know what to talk about.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASWcIZWmXfkDoes she remember the alchemist from that super racist town we were at? The one we greatly dislike? Paracelsus is currently without a workshop and I do not doubt she would like to have all her equipment. Does she think we can guy the alchemist's stuff at a discount?Does Reynauld still remembers what happened down in the bunker, or is all of that erased? We all good here?as a note hey doesn't William still has that werewolf's tail? Before we leave he should peddle that off in the morning.I kind of suspect something bad is going to happen soon this night. My bad vibes senses are tingling. Might be a murderer, thief, monsters on the loose. Anyone else getting that feeling or am I the only schitzo here?
>>5217604>Some other subjectAsk about the hangover cure. How well does it work? I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of it tomorrow.A lot of reasons to get sloshed? She better not be just referring to Reynauld paying for the drinks tonight.She is bottling things up, as >>5217617 said, and she really doesn't need to. She's trying to help us, even if she's disguising it as her own studies, the least she can do is open up a little and let us help her in return.
>>5217647+1I dont really know what to do here, and playing cards would give us and unfair advantage since we are sober.>>5217617>Anyone else getting that feeling or am I the only schitzo here?it will probably be something more tame than murder.Like William doing something he will regret or Collar getting losttalking about William, is he wrong?I know he is not much better, but is he justified in saying that?
>>5217604>>So your name is Sarah, huh?
>>5217617>I kind of suspect something bad is going to happen soon this night. My bad vibes senses are tingling. Might be a murderer, thief, monsters on the loose. Anyone else getting that feeling or am I the only schitzo here?I can see it this is a spinejuice quest after all.>>5217617>>5217617>>5217647>open with these then ask about her name, have a real heart to heart
>>5217604>Pink, meanwhile, puts her hands on her (comparatively wide) hips.>W I D E>H I P SHMMMMMMM KOBOLT MAKING ME ACT MOST UNWISE.
>>5217906Yessss>>5217604But for now:>Ask about the hangover cure. How well does it work?>Ask how much she remembers of the ruiins>Apologize for the trouble you've put her through, and thank her for having your back>Let her know that you always have hers, too, and that she doesn't NEED to bottle stuff up -- but no pressure!...>So your name is Sarah, huh?
>>5217604I need to know if it's possible to end up in a threesome with Sarah and Pink. Reynauld should have two lizard dicks so that should be enough to share.
>>5217976I think Sarah would need to be eased into physical intimacy via a long and arduous path of emotional intimacy in such a manner so as to rule out bigamy. Pink would suck a golf ball through a garden hose if you so much as batted your eyelashes in her general direction, though.
>>5217906>>5217922>>5217976>>5218094I dig it, but calm your horny, no need to spook QM
>>5218172I'm actually kind of arguing against it. Celsie is cute and worth pursuing but getting through to her would be a long and costly courtship because her tsundere nature is a defense mechanism meant to protect her fragile heart from the cruel world she lives in. She probably doesn't know how to square the fact that she's a great alchemist with the fact that she's a cute girl, and going after the cute girl risks making her feel like we don't appreciate her as an alchemist.
>>5218172Pink is great, but realistically Celsie and Reynauld have way better chemistry.
>>5218172Never. Pink is for loving and cherishing.>>5218331That's a train wreck waiting to happen.
>>5218728>a train wreck waiting to happenThey're both weird, awkward, altruistic fitness buffs with a strange fondness for full-face masks.
>>5218729Would their kid be born with a six pack?
>>5218732Their kid would look like a mutant, a very deformed one.Which is why Reynauld needs to go full dragon born humanoid (not full dragon) so hes got a good balance between human and dragon Gene's. Of course he would need to fuck Pink since it only makes sense.
>>5218809No you faggot, there is no separating the personality death like that.
>>5218810What are you talking about? Reynauld can still be a humble human so long as he doesnt turn 100% dragon.
>>5218836Every progression to dragon changes his mind to dragon, there is no getting around you asshat, you've been told again and again.
>>5218842What? Noooo. Never! Reynaul just needs to keep humble and away from gold, and besides once we go see the Archmage his mutations will cease to continue, so we might as well make him a half dragon and stop from there.
>>5218842>>5218810see>>5194122"The mental transformation matters a lot more than the physical, and while one can feed into the other, as long as you stick with your morals and make sure you're a bit careful, you'll be fine."
"So... Paracelsus? I'd just want to say sorry, one more time. Thanks for having my back so much.""Mmmmm-hmmm." Paracelsus says, nodding slowly, before taking another sip of her wine. "Yeah, you're welcome. The booze makes things... a lot more bearable for a moment. Less worries. You're... too interesting."You repeat what he says, to get a little more information: "Interesting?""Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah... I keep track of you, and your c-curse's progrem... progresme. Progresss-YES! Progress. I keep track of that, and we've got a mmmedical thingie in regards to-"She stops to empty her glass in one swig, and then sighs."Hooo! That stuff hits a little harder! Anyway... Uhh, I want to make sure we... got a medical record of... transformative magic. So we can compare stuff! Because it's rare.""Yeah, I haven't heard of anybody else having to deal with this kind of thing."She giggles a little, and happily says:"That's because the average person hit with a spell like that EXPLODES! It's the meat trying to shift faster than the rest of it, so they just... fall apart. It's gross."She puts her head against the table."I should... not. have. Pre-gamed... Anyway! So... you! Reynauld! Do you think I'm hot?""I'm not going to answer that question." You decide to say, diplomatically avoiding an incident."I'll commmm back to it. "You sniff, and decide to ask her something ahead of time:"So how does that hangover cure work?""It hydrates you... offers a painkilling effect.... And it makes sure your guts are stable. It miiiiiiight just cause you to expel the unwanted imbalances, but I think a singular vomit sesh is... fiiiiine."She giggles to herself, her head still firmly planted on the table. Jesus she is GONE after that wine. You figure she was just at the edge of shitfaced already, and the wine she got had a rather high alcohol content to begin with.Not something to swallow down in just two gulps."How much do you remember of the ruins, right now? They did some cleaning on your brain, right?""MMM-hm. I don't... recall the stuff on the... diagrams. The die of grams. Die gramps. Yeah. Not much science left; So I just think about... the cave. And the gross stuff we found... The Psimorph I was allowed to know and... I even got ssssome terms. Like PSIMORPH! They're called psiii-morps... Cuz they were made with psionics."Paracelsus is a sloppy drunk, that's for sure.You'll not bother asking her about psionics."Hey, just so you know? You have my back... but I have yours too, okay?""I knowwww...""No need to bottle things up, either.""I know.""...Are you still going to bottle things up?""Yeeaaaaaah.""Why?""Because of WHO I AM... assss a person."At least she's honest.Well, with that in mind, though:"So... Your name. It's Sarah?"That makes her blink twice, and slowly rise up from the drool puddle she was intent on making just a moment ago."It isss... My full... name. is... Sarah... Ambrose. I'm a scion."She sits up a little more straight.
She keeps talking:"So... my family came from nnnorth! I came down here. To learn more. Because back home they wanted me to be a princess! Gonna sell me as a baby machine.... They wanted to marry me to a local duke's son. So we could... get some land, get some.... power, I guess. But I didn't get picked. Because I wasn't pretty enough for them. And because I... Maybe... called him a bitch. Afffter that, my family decided for the alternative, making me... a... uhhh..."She stops for a moment... and starts talking a language you don't even recognize. It doesn't have a lot of harsh consonents, and it almost seems like a language you could whistle... apart from the occasional very harsh "R"'s in there."Measter! That's the thing. It's a rroyal.... physician. Down in Oileano. Uppp north. Over the sea. yep!"You heard of that country, though it doesn't exactly communicate much with the rest of the world. The sea barrier goes a long way towards that, and all the merchants from there strongly prefer to speak common over their home language. They're so good at it, that it's hard to tell anybody from Oileano apart from the average person in Roseria.You didn't pay much attention to your teacher when it came to them, anyhow."The steward there's got... uh. They got a... archwizard. So they don't actually neeeed a doctor. Doctors are more of a political game, but they need them to be smart. they're like... advisors, but they know how to help you without magic.... Wizards ruin it all. They just go "alakablam" and they blow up the disease or something... It's soooooo lame. They're LAME! REYNAULD! YOU LITTLE BASTARD! WIZARDS SUUUUUCK!"You grab her by the shoulder, partially to indicate she should calm down, and partially to make sure she doesn't fall off her chair. She instead decides to hop out of her chair, and flop over you."Heeheeeeeee.... you're really warm."She grabs you a bit tighter, but you're quick to put her back in her chair. You'll not be taking advantage of her while she's this... far gone."So I got to learnding... and then I got to know a, uh, alchemist. And they told me of Roseria... and then I realized that being a noblewoman or whatever is really lame. But I really like learning about what makes bodies tick! So I came here, hid myself under the name of an old scientist, and then I learned a lot, and then I met you and you're hot!"You blink.You blink again.That was a lot of backstory in one go."Ohhhh, that feels good to get out."She pulls back her wide sleeve, revealing her arm and the notable amount of muscle on it... Then she flexes said arm."Lookit that. See some princess do that! Doubt it!"She giggles again, snorting as she tries to breathe in, before she inhales her next glass of wine... You didn't even see her grab it, but you feel like you should have prevented that."Also... You didn't tell me. Do yyyou think I'm hot? Correct. Answers... ONLY!">Next question>Yes. Next question>Give her a mug of water
>>5218929Thank god she has short hair. Because if she tries the hand over cure I think she might get vomit in it if they were longer. Hey isnt it possible to lose a tooth if you vomit frequently? Something about your stomach acid eating away at your teeth?
>>5218937Tell her you'll answer if she starts drinking water.the answer is of course yes
>>5218937>Give her a mug of waterOh lawdy laaaaawwd she drunk as hell
>>5218940Yeah frequent vomiting can mess up your throat and teeth from all the acid damage, sinuses too if it gets up there.
>>5218946That's kind of scary. Better to not vomit as often then. We should ask Sarah or Paracelsus if she has something to prevent teeth, throat, and sinus damage from vomiting. Her cure doesnt sound so appealing now.
>>5218929 >JesusSlip of the keyboard, a common coloquialism without a remembered origin in the setting, or is Christianity still going strong in the post-post-apocalyptic magical future?>>5218937>Give her a mug of water>Yes. Drink this. Next question.>Also, ask about >>5218961
>>5218978Slip of the keyboard. I've been keeping it in mind that people wouldn't say jesus, but I guess I got lost in the sauce of drunk Paracelsus and neglected to doublecheck it. Pretend it says "Hell's Bells" instead. They're big on the twelve hells when it comes to religion-related swearing.
>>5218937>"Because back home they wanted me to be a princess!"Note to self: Make sure the twins don't find out.>>5218978Supporting.
>>5218993Note to self: make sure the twins find out. I think it would be very cute if Emerald and Sapphire start gushing over her asking all sort of princess questions.
>>5218937>Give her a mug of waterPink wins on the hips and tail.
>>5218944I’ll support that
>>5219016It's only cute until you get gutted with a very precise scalpel cut in retaliation
>>5218937>>Give her a mug of waterAnd next question. Maybe follow up on the flooring when she isn't plastered.
>>5219053>Paracelsus is a psychoThis is why Pink is a better wife. You cant trust Paracelsus to not stab you.
>>5218944support
>>5219105>You cant trust Paracelsus to not stab you.You can if you don't push her buttons like an absolute dipshit, like Reynau... Right, point taken.
>>5218944Supporting
>>5219036
>>5219466Bless wide kobolt hips
You slide over your mug of water, and then look to Paracelsus as she waits for your answer.“Yes, I do. Before you get to ask another question, though, I need you to drink that water.”She looks at your mug, and then giggles… for far too long to keep this even a tiny bit comfortable. It’s almost a solid 20 seconds of very un-paracelsus-like tittering, before she just says:“You’re making this an indirect kiss~! Hahaaaa…. We would have beautiful children… or at least, they’d be strong. G-genetically. I mean, really, you’re a, uh… you’re a good example of a human being. OOH! D’ya think tha’ they’d be all strange because of the curse? Bheadh an leanbh beag ina laghairt bheag! Hah!”You don’t even know how she pronounced it like that, let alone while drunk. But it sure sounds like it’s an actual language.Then, she drains your mug in one go, and puts her hand on your shoulder, almost bowling over Esmeralda as she does so. The kobolt doesn’t mind, however, neatly dodging the drunk knee“No offence!”“None… taken?”“Sooo, nnnnext question. What’s hot about me?”“You have an admirable body and a very intense personality. It happens to be the kind of thing I rather enjoy, so it comes together quite nicely.”“YEAH!” She says, pumping her fist in celebration, before slamming it against the table.“Final question! Do you think it’s weird to like big scary things a lot? N-not just in a sexy way, just like… I like the big things.”You smile:“It’s perfectly natural to be interested in gigantic cool things. To be entirely honest, while I hate dragons for what they are, I won’t deny that they’re pretty cool conceptually… Dinosaurs, too, and sandworms and… well, you know.”“I think golems are cool as hell! There! I said it! I think golems are cool. I just… don’t know how to make them. I thought it was too complicated and d-didn’t admit it! But now I did.”Then, she gives out a belch, and rests her head on the table.“I’m gonna take a naaaap. Pour the yellow potion in my satchel in my mouth.”You shake your head. “No… you’d better do that yourself.”“Okaaaaay.”She reaches inside her satchel, and pulls out a singular yellow vial. She removes the stopper,and then sniffs it once, before recoiling.“Aeugh. Bottom’s up.” She says, before draining it, and slowly returning to the table.“Myeah… See you tomorrow.”
And just like that, she’s gone.…You’ll bring her to her room later. So, on that end, you decide to pay attention elsewhere. The twins are still drawing designs, Pink is winning the drinking competition (and having a whale of a time with the dwarf, besides), Anna is currently standing on the table to tell William that he’s an idiot while Chad stares at them both in amusement, and Esme and Snikt… are still being petted by you. Collar and Teensy, meanwhile, are having fun. Collar because she’s drunk, Teensy because she’s watching Collar be drunk.Yeah, this is going nice.>Check up on William, Chad and Anna>Have a proper drink. Just the one.>See how Pink and the dwarf are doing>Ask the twins if they have anything good> Check up on Teensy & Collar>Continue petting Snikt and EsmeBut consider asking them some things, now that you have the time.
>>5219879>> Check up on Teensy & Collar>remain sober ask for another water
>>5219879>Continue petting Snikt and EsmeHow's Snikt's back?
>>5219879>Have a proper drink. Just the one.>See how Pink and the dwarf are doingThe thighs call to me
>>5219879>See how Pink and the dwarf are doing
>>5219879>Check up on William, Chad and AnnaThis was supposed to be a fun evening and these idiots are spending it yelling at each other.
>>5219956Gotta' let the kids sort their own shit out. If it spills over into fisticuffs, we can get involved.
>>5219879>>Continue petting Snikt and Esme
>>5219959While I agree, I'd prefer to prevent trouble, rather than put out fires. The townspeople already don't take kindly to us, better not to give them any more reasons to run ous out of town. Chad's been sidelined for now, the least we can do is ask him what this is all about while the other two yell at each other.
>>5219879>Continue petting Snikt and EsmeSnikt cute.
>>5219993Fair enough. Changing my vote (>>5219944) to >Check on William, Chad, and AnnaBut I DO still want to see how Pink's drinking contest is going.>>5219879
life is not worth living without Pink thighs to give it meaning
>>5220479Can you masturbate before posting?
>>5220676Embrace the coom. Embrace the kobolt.Oh god. We didnt spend more money on giving everyone more armor. Shit. Well, something to do after we visit the Archmage. I think once William has enough muscle mass we can teach him how to weild and fire the crossbow with guidance from the twins and Anna, provided she doesnt trounce hin for sticking both feet in his mouth. Am I the only one worried about our friends getting hurt due to a lack of armor for them? What if we encounter roaming bands of pig demons and pig taurs?