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File: untitled.png (380 KB, 600x600)
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The child stumbles up the worn cracked steps. She drops one - then two - small pieces of hardened flax-bread into your offering bowl, ringing it like a gentle bell.

"I'm lost..." she whispers, balling her fists in a semblance of prayer. "...please...please..."

You wish to tell her that you control naught but the soft noonday breeze and the flow of dew upon bladed grass. You wish to tell her that you are a god of nothing.

But your voice vanishes between the tall, rustling trees. It has been a very long time since you last heard a prayer.

>[SUNWARD] - Help her look sunward. [-1 FAITH]

>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134429
>>[SUNWARD] - Help her look sunward. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134429
>>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward. [-1 FAITH]
YARRRR
>>
>>6134429
>>[SUNWARD] - Help her look sunward. [-1 FAITH]
Naur.
>>
>>6134429
>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134429
>[SUNWARD] - Help her look sunward. [-1 FAITH]

praise the FUCKING SUN
>>
>>6134429
>>[SUNWARD] - Help her look sunward. [-1 FAITH]
THE SUN AAAAHA
>>
Votes locked.
>>
>>6134449
>>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward [Top Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
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Sunward. A river drains into a small lake. Rocks wait patiently on a loamy shoreline. Birds circle above the glittering waters.

The child lays beneath the ruined arch of your shrine, lulled to sleep by a procession of snowy clouds.

>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward [Top Left]. [-1 FAITH]

>[DUSKWARD] - Help her look duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134450
Sorry for deleting but I caught your vote!
>>
>>6134452
>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward [Top Left]. [-1 FAITH]
Let's sea if this works out this time around
>>
>>6134452
>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward [Top Left]. [-1 FAITH]
OCEAN MAN
TAKE ME BY THE HAND
>>
>>6134452
>>[SEAWARD] - Help her look seaward [Top Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
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Seaward. The forest recedes into a clearing. A farmhouse supervises neat rows of gold-stalked wheat. A pair of figures search through the undergrowth, voices dulled by the warm air.

>[BREEZE] - Direct the child home with the noonday breeze. [-1 FAITH]

>[DEW] - Direct the child home with the flow of dew upon bladed grass. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134466
>>[BREEZE] - Direct the child home with the noonday breeze. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134466
>[BREEZE] - Direct the child home with the noonday breeze. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134466
>>[BREEZE] - Direct the child home with the noonday breeze. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134466
>>[DEW] - Direct the child home with the flow of dew upon bladed grass. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134466
>[DEW] - Direct the child home with the flow of dew upon bladed grass. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134466
>[DEW]
Apply Directed Energy Weapons to the child.
>>
>>6134466
>[DEW]
The child will not suffer want of thirst if there is dew to be had.
>>
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Water vapor thrums in the cooling afternoon air. You pluck at it - invoking condensation. Dew flashes onto the ground, snaking from the base of your shattered shrine to the darkening treeline beyond.

The trail catches the slanted sunlight magnificently. The child, blessed by youth, recognizes it as a path laid with intention rather than coincidence. She leaves the cover of your shrine, whispering sincere gratitude to the empty plinth where your form was once rendered in dark, unbroken stone.

You watch her until one of her...parents...picks her up, the two of them parting from your view as they enter the warmly-lit farmhouse.

You feel an echo of faint pride. It has been a very long time since you last answered a prayer.

>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Examine a faint memory. [-1 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - The seasons pass. But you remain.
>>
>>6134537
>[MEMORY] - Examine a faint memory. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134537
>>[MEMORY] - Examine a faint memory. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134537
>[NOTHING] - The seasons pass. But you remain.
>>
>>6134537
>>[MEMORY] - Examine a faint memory. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134537
>[MEMORY] - Examine a faint memory. [-1 FAITH]
Everything changes. Everything remains. Nothing is lost.
>>
>>6134537
>>[NOTHING]
Job well done. Save some faith for later.
>>
>>6134537
>[NOTHING] - The seasons pass. But you remain.
As befitting a god of nothing. We sit together, the mountain and I, until only the mountain remains.
>>
File: FGQ Child.jpg (1.19 MB, 1575x3042)
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Fan talking portrait for the little one.
The world is big and when she is lost, the only thing the child can do is
>PRAY
>>
>>6134617
Thank you very much anon for the beautiful art - this is a perfect rendition of what I imagined in the OP scene. Am flattered!
>>
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You examine a faint memory. You recall that there was a time, perhaps, when there was more to your domain than the noonday breeze and the morning dew.

+++

The family walks carefully up the worn steps, woven baskets replete with the surplus from a fresh harvest. The child guides her parents to the base of your shrine. Your offering bowl sounds once - twice - a dozen times as it fills with traded salt and fine-milled grain [+3 FAITH].

The child clasps her hands together; her parents quickly follow. "We...thank you. We...we...wish for a good frost-harvest too," she declares. "Please."

The offering bowl rings one more time [+2 FAITH].

You wish to tell them that you hold little sway over their crops and their fields. But your voice barely carries above the chatter of eager songbirds and the crunch of fallowing leaves.

>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Lend considerable assistance by applying a faint memory, now examined. [-3 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - Without your help, their frost-harvest will still likely succeed.
>>
>>6134648
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
Can not a god of dew keep the frost at bay a while?
Can not a god of breeze cover up the stalks of winter wheat deep with snow to keep them warm until spring, when the frost can no longer be kept at bay?
If a god of breeze and dew can save a child's life, perhaps a god of breeze and dew can do a little more than nothing.
>>
>>6134648
>>[MEMORY] - Lend considerable assistance by applying a faint memory, now examined. [-3 FAITH]
We must do all we can, for these prayers are all we have had after so long; and we must not risk that they will fade once more.
>>
>>6134658
+1
>>
>>6134658
Support
>>
>>6134648
>>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6134658
+1
>>
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>>6134696
>>6134684
>>6134666
>>6134658
>>
>>6134701
Nothingchads rise up
>>
>>6134701
>>
>>6134652
Support
>>
>>6134648
>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6134701
Huh?
>>
>>6134648
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
They wouldn’t ask if their crops weren’t at risk. Still think we should try to be a little frugal with our faith, though.
>>
>>6134648
>[MEMORY] - Lend considerable assistance by applying a faint memory, now examined. [-3 FAITH]
>>
>>6134648
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>>6134701
the memory option is still an assistance, anon
>>
We're currently tied - will wait for one more vote and then call it.
>>
>>6134648
>>[MEMORY] - Lend considerable assistance by applying a faint memory, now examined. [-3 FAITH]
>>
>>6134917
Locked!
>>
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Memory. You remember that the evening fog is a first-cousin to the noonday breeze and the morning dew, and just as often forgotten. Fog knows no god, but perhaps it can be cajoled to humor one who rules over little else.

The days are bright and clear. Snowfall fills your offering bowl, draping the trees with a blanket of a powder-white. The farmhouse windows flicker with soft candlelight.

Every morning, your silent diligence melts ice crystals from the flesh of fragile seedlings. You temper the evening fog and sow gentle vapor, leaving swirls of sparkling condensation across the moon-lit sky.

>ROLL 1d20 + 4 [GOOD WEATHER] + 4 [MEMORY] for the frost-harvest. Best of 3.

AND:

>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]

>[SKYWARD] - Look Duskward [TOP]. [-1 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - The seasons pass. But you remain.
>>
>>6134944
Also, apologies for the last update I miscounted the faith value in the image. You had 2+3 (5 Total, not 4), of which you used 3 for this update.
>>
Rolled 3 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>6134944
>[SKYWARD] - Look Duskward [TOP]. [-1 FAITH]
rolling
>>6134947
forgot to ask that, but thanks for noticing
>>
Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>6134944
It'd be kinda funny to just leave that duskward square right next to our base never looked at until the end of the game, so I'll vote
>[Skyward]
If we only had one faith left I'd save it but we got 2, we're fiiiiiine
>>
Rolled 6 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>6134944
>[SKYWARD] - Look Duskward [TOP]. [-1 FAITH]
Heavensent.
>>
>>6134944
>[NOTHING] - The seasons pass. But you remain.
>>
>>6134944
>>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 10 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>6134944
>>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Locking votes.
>>
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[14/20] - Abundant Harvest

The frost-harvest ends. Your offering bowl is replete with toasted seeds and richly spiced ambercup. A hand-knit quilt shields the base of your plinth from the heavy snowfall. Your subtle intervention has turned a middling harvest into an ample one, and the family sleeps soundly above a dry-cellar packed with a considerable surplus.

[+3 FAITH]

Skyward. Temperate forest gives way to a belt of hardy evergreens. Old snow shivers down a brace of rocky peaks. A freezing tributary burbles from residual melt-water.

An old hunter limps across the smooth snow, leaving a thin trace of scarlet red. He wipes a dusting of ice crystals from his face and draws his bow, searching for a creature who is no longer his quarry.

>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]

>[FOG] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - Mortals pass. But you remain.

>[WRITE-IN] - [Specific suggestions or plans may improve relevant roll bonuses]
>>
>>6135233
>>[FOG] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6135233
>>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>[WRITE-IN]
Have the rippling of the trees lead him to the family.
>>
>>6135233
>>6135237
+1 to this!
>>
>>6135233
mind if I ask what program you're using for the art?
>[FOG]
>>
>>6135233
>[Fog]
>Lead him to the family
I quite like that write-in, but what can I say, I'm a big-spender
>>
>>6135239
>>6135237
Switching to this
>>
>>6135233
>[FOG] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6135239
Of course not! I use blender with grease pencil to get the drawn effect. Everything is 3D modeled except for some of the stencils.
>>
>>6135233
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6135243
Very cool, thanks!
>>
Locking the vote!
>>
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>>6135237
This was obviously better. /qst/ers just like to blow through resources.
>>
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A wave of snowflakes washes over the hunter. His face crinkles from the sudden cold, but his greying eyes sharpen at the scent of pungent wood-ash.

He pauses and looks up at the night sky. The waving conifers grow still. Then, for a moment, every branch and needle-coated pinion flexes in the same direction.

The hunter sees a speck of candle-light. He begins to run.

>ROLL 1d20 + 2 [BREEZE] + 2 [WRITE-IN BONUS]. Best of 3. DC: 12.
>>
Rolled 8 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>6135878
>>
Rolled 2 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>6135878
haven't used dice in a minute so I hope this works
>>
Rolled 13 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>6135878
Watch THIS
>>
>>6135881
watched
>>
>>6135881
WITNESSED
>>
Apologies for my poor update schedule as per usual - update(s) will be up tomorrow; had a work trip + election shenanigans today.
>>
>>6136543
okie dokie
>>
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The hunter endures his wounds diligently, following the rushing wind through the moon-shadowed pines. With every step, the cutting air robs him of heat; the freezing snow robs him of blood. He does not turn to look at his dogged pursuer.

Dawn breaks. He collapses only six paces from the promise of candlelight, his frost-burned voice scratching out a whispered prayer. "Please...please..."

You implore the family in his stead. Your paper-quiet voice filters through the timbers, and the morning breeze knocks once - then twice - against the sawdust-filled rafters.

The family stirs from sleep. The door swings open.

>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - The seasons pass. But you remain.
>>
>>6136959
>>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6136959
>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6136959
>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6136959
>[MEMORY]
Gotta invest, surely it'll pay off
>>
>>6136959
>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6136959
>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6136959
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]
>>
Lurker here, just popping in to say that I love your writing style, QM! Your artstyle is very distinctive too. I'll be reading on with great anticipation here, even if I'm not around to vote.

>>6136959
>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Memory
>>
>>6136959
>[DUSKWARD] - Look Duskward [Middle Left]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Locking the vote!

>>6137130
Thank you for the kind words! Always happy to have readers around - whether they vote or not!
>>
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Snowmelt drips from the branches surrounding your ruined shrine, pattering down like a premonition of spring rain.

The four of them arrive together. The child bounds forward, shoes slapping eagerly against wet stone. The hunter moves with a lingering limp, his steps measured and hesitant.

Carefully, he places two parcels inside your offering bowl. Spiced pastries and pickled winter berries - remainders of the winter harvest. A folded pelt taken from a long-haired rodent, cleaned and finely tanned.

He brushes at the weathered stone beneath him.

"Do they bear a name?"

"...none that we know," says the family. "But they have always answered us, just as they have answered you."

The four of them clasp their hands before your empty plinth. The family prays for swift rains and a fair harvest.

The hunter thanks you for the wind and the snow. He prays for the sharpness of his eyes and the keenness of his hands.

[+2 FAITH]

Duskward. The forest fragments into thawing grassland. A narrow path snakes through the landscape, broken by vegetation and disuse. Apple-green moss encroaches on the soft timbers of a long-abandoned guardhouse.

>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-3 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH] [This option can be taken with others]
>>
>>6137227
>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH] [This option can be taken with others]
I don’t like being left with 1 faith but this memory thing’s piquing my interest too much.
>>
>>6137227
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH] [This option can be taken with others]

Will leave us with nothing but sometimes you have to take some risks. I assume the memory will give us new options or abilities to manipulate the world.
>>
>>6134429
Damn so you're back again I see.
>>
>>6137227
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH] [This option can be taken with others]
>>
>>6137248
>+1
all in
>>
>>6137248
+1
We will be there
Wherever the wind blows
>>
>>6137248
Supporting
>>
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>>6137248
+1
>>
I'm posting for the first time to say this is an incredibly comfy quest. I'm excited to see where it goes.

>>6137248
+1. Let's go gambling!
>>
>>6137248
+1
>>
>>6137248
+1
>>
>>6137227
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH] [This option can be taken with others]
>>
>>6137250
I'm sorry anon. I'm still working on solstice assets I promise its not dead.
>>
>>6137227

>>6137248
Backing this. If it's anything like last time, Memory seems to expand our 'domain'-- or at least reclaims what we once lost. Back then, we just had morning dew and afternoon breeze, but now we have evening fog too.

I wonder what other transient things a 'god of nothing' controls...
>>
One thing we gotta remember is if they give us shitty offerings, don't go all out with assistance, otherwise they'll see us as more of a guardian angel instead of a deity and think we don't need offerings as much
For example, last time they gave us offerings worth 5 faith, that's worthy of going all out like we did, but this time, they only gave us enough offerings worth 2 faith, which means we only break even with moderate assistance (which is bad since we gotta spend faith elsewhere too)
They more they offer, the more they should respect in return, and vice versa
>>
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You examine a distant memory. You recall a fervent recitation in a long-forgotten language, invoking epithets that no longer belong to you.

The prayer implores for:

>[GUIDANCE]

>[PROSPERITY]

>[JUSTICE]

+++

Grey clouds bloom across the slate-colored sky. Warm rainfall soaks into the ground, washing away the stubborn memory of winter frost.

The family turns the pungent earth and seeds the fields, while the hunter stalks the undergrowth with his snares and twanging yew-bow. The breeze and the dew grant them courtesy. Springtime dew-frost leaves crops untouched. Feather-fletched arrows part the wind with unerring precision.

Rainwater trickles through stone and pools slowly at the base of your shrine. The child visits when the rain abates, offering tiny gifts made from torn fabric.

[+1 FAITH]

>ROLL 2d20 + 2 [BREEZE/WIND]. Best of 3 for the thaw-harvest and hunt.
>>
Rolled 9, 18 + 2 = 29 (2d20 + 2)

>>6137532
>>
Rolled 17, 14 = 31 (2d20)

>>6137532
I really, really want [JUSTICE], but that's not something that we handle anymore is it? Mayhaps if evils should come to this land we may take up that old mantle, but for now, we are a guide, and ought to reminisce on
>[GUIDANCE].
>>
Rolled 13, 7 + 2 = 22 (2d20 + 2)

>>6137532
>[PROSPERITY]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]

It's what we've been doing thus far. The morning dew guided the lost child home, and the evening breeze guided the old hunter into safety. The other epithets might be useful later on, if we can access them later, but for now... guidance is what we can give, I feel.
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
but I am also partial to prosperity
>>
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>>6137532
> [JUSTICE]
>>
>>6137532
>[PROSPERITY]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]

This new fifteen minute security wait is absurd.
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
prosperity is inevitably temporal, only useful in the short term. and of the other two, i prefer this one
>>
>>6137532
>>[JUSTICE
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
>>
>>6137532
>[PROSPERITY]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
>>
>>6137532
>[GUIDANCE]
It's the most thematic.
>>
File: untitled.png (1.63 MB, 1200x1200)
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[19/20] - Bountiful Harvest
[20/20] - Magnificent Hunt

Fireflies dance through the tepid evening air, nourished by the blooming trees. The flower-moon peeks through thinning summer clouds.

Your bronze offering bowl overflows with the wealth of spring's end. Plump fruits and rain-touched berries thump down, bundled with strings of smoked meat. A greased ursine pelt drapes the weathered steps before your pedestal, marred by only a single tiny arrow-wound. Herbal sachets smoulder with a sweet aromatic smoke.

[+6 FAITH]

[+4 FAITH]

A small wood-fire burns a short distance from your shrine. The old hunter roasts celebratory game while the family prepares a richly spiced stew - a small portion of which is diligently offered to your shrine.

You hear a simple prayer. Child; Mother; Father; Hunter. The four implore you to accept their gratitude and ask for nothing else.

You wish to tell them that a god such yourself has neither voice nor answer. But tonight, you realize that this may not hold true. The wind maintains a steady silence, and moonlight casts the forest in a blue-grey blur.

>[NOTHING]

>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]

Holy shit we rolled hot-- I suppose we can give them a little something for all those offerings. Sometimes, just knowing that we're definitely here can be a guidance all on its own, eh?
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
> [DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[NOTHING]
Save faith for when they are in need
>>
>>6138176
>>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6137343
Ehh, just as long as you don't abandon it please.
Well, that and the virus one you were doing too
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]

>The day turns to evening. The act of assemblage makes for a small communion. Around the four that hold a thought of you in their hearts, late light shines through the canopy. Around them, the family and the hunter see, briefly, a circle of moonlit dew. They have been noted.
>>
>>6138176
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Provide an acknowledgement. [-1 FAITH]
>>
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Warm winds flutters through leaves and hair. The family and the hunter finish their prayers and cast their gazes skyward. For a moment, the deep night sky harbors twice as many twinkling stars.

Slowly, the windblown fireflies settle among the trees and flowers and grasses, drinking from the circlet of tender dew you have woven around the firelit communion.

One pair of eyes twinkle with wonder; two with joy; the last weeps with unbelieving tears.

+++

Duskward. Two figures wearing moss-green cloaks travel with an empty wagon. They see the subtle smoke-sign of a cooking fire.

Two torches are snuffed in sequence. They slip beneath the shaded branches.

>[DEW/BREEZE] - Assist them through the forest. [-2 FAITH]

>[DEW/BREEZE] - Hinder their path through the forest. [-2 FAITH]

>[FOG] - Considerably hinder their path through the forest. [-3 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]
>>
>>6138332
Thank you for the write-in! I really liked it and used part of it my update even though I changed the wording.
>>
>>6137442
You have to remember that if they fail, they'll think we can't offer them anything and/or they may die and then we have no faith at all.
>>6138176
Plus our chipping in was likely the little boost from a minor or moderate success to a great one.
-
>>6138580
>[MEMORY]

If they are thieves or robbers, the hunter can do something about them. If they need help, he can help them.
>>
>>6138580
>[FOG] - Considerably hinder their path through the forest. [-3 FAITH]
Sus.
>>
>>6138580
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]
If they're robbers, hindering them would just postpone the problem. Deal with them here and now.
>>
>>6138580
>[FOG] - Considerably hinder their path through the forest. [-3 FAITH]
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]

They could just be being cautious, but more likely they are up to no good. Faith comes from fear. There's more than one way to drive belief.

Also I want to see what this does, for future reference.
>>
>>6138580
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]
>>
>>6138603
+1
>>
>>6138580
>Memory
>>
>>6138580
>[FOG] - Considerably hinder their path through the forest. [-3 FAITH]

>>6138295
Would you happen to be BlackHorse anon?
(The anon who got his spaceship fighter drawn as a waifu with huge tits?)
>>
>>6138580
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]
>>
>>6138580
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]
>>
>>6138580
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]

Trust, but verify. Who are these men?
>>
>>6138580
>[MEMORY] - Guide the old hunter with a distant memory, now examined. [-4 FAITH]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.63 MB, 1200x1200)
1.63 MB
1.63 MB PNG
You remember that you once received prayers of guidance.

+++

That night, the old hunter dreams of snowy tundras. He dreams of permafrost-ridden fields, where his yew-bow once hunted the flesh of men rather than game. He dreams of tattered flags fluttering above blood-sundered ice.

He is grieving.

"Coward." He whispers. "Coward. Forever; always"

The wind whispers across the plain, offering a memory of:

>[ADMONISHMENT]

>[NOSTALGIA]

>[FORGIVENESS]

+++

When the hunter awakens, he does not remember the dappled woods, the unbroken shrine, the limestone arches, or your cobalt-blue light. He does not recall your unheard name or your unspoken words.

But he remembers enough.

The yew-bow flexes gently in his hands. He moves duskward, stalking a pair of moss-colored figures revealed to him by a god of nothing.

>ROLL 1d20 + 3 [GUIDANCE] + 2 [NIGHT] . Best of 3.
>>
Rolled 13 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>6138722
>[ADMONISHMENT]

Get up coward, use your skills for good!
>>
Rolled 19 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>6138722
>>[ADMONISHMENT]
>>
Rolled 15 (1d20)

>[ADMONISHMENT]
>>
>>6138730
>>6138727
>>6138723
nice rolls lmao.
>>
>>6138722
>[FORGIVENESS]
>>
>>6138722
> [ADMONISHMENT]
>>
>>6138722
>[FORGIVENESS]
>>
>>6138722
>[FORGIVENESS]
>>
>>6138722
>[FORGIVENESS]

We guide the path, but do not judge where you once walked, and all that.
>>
>>6138722
>[ADMONISHMENT]

Can’t be the kind god all the time
>>
>>6138722
>[NOSTALGIA]
BYGONE MEMORIES
Again, this is more on point with what's going on with the recall and purely supporting the faithful
>>
File: untitled.png (1.67 MB, 1200x1200)
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[22/20] - Unrivaled Success

Midnight fog blankets the undergrowth. The old hunter watches two hooded figures slink towards your shrine, melting into half-shadows beneath the soft lunar light.

The taller figure bends low, reaching a finely mailed hand beneath his tasseled cloak. Metal rings lightly against metal.

The hunter exhales.

A gentle twang speaks in response. The figure falls forward, clutching a deep furrow carved by a hissing broadhead, his hazel eyes conveying as much desperation as his blood-soaked hands. He gestures for his compatriot to escape.

She hesitates. The second arrow splits the fog and catches her mid-turn. She cries out and stumbles, trailing red as she crunches through springtime grass through into the clearing surrounding your shrine. She collapses onto a patch of warm stone, blood seeping into the ground as she stares up at the unmerciful stars crowning the night sky.

The hunter pauses before recalling the sting of admonishment. He nocks a third arrow.

>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]

>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]

Mayhaps, were we a forgiving god.
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6139196
He has done nothing ill under our watch.
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]

…I kind of thought we’d challenge them first.

Did we even know what they were here for?
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE]
If they were gonna rob the family, wouldn't they be at the farm rather than at our shrine? Let's at least find out why they were here
>>
>>6139249
> Mail-clad, cloak-wearing strangers approaching in the dead of night with an empty wagon.
> Stuffed their torches on approach.
There are no innocuous answers.
Ransack the shrine or raid the homestead are the most likely.
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]

Punish the sinful
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6139196
>[NOTHING]
>>
It took me a couple of rereads to realize that the second person is still alive and the hunter isn't nocking a third arrow to kill himself for some past deed he feels guilty about.
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]

For the sake of our Hunter, not for his prey. He is a Hunter, not an Executioner.
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6139196
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH]
Sure why not
>>
>>6139673
>[BREEZE] - Spare. [-1 FAITH
>>
Alright locking the vote.

I count:

8 for [Nothing]
9 for [Breeze]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.67 MB, 1200x1200)
1.67 MB
1.67 MB PNG
Release. The arrow twirls low, leaning into the sudden, insistent breeze. It shoots past the bleeding figure, hissing through the air until it deflects against the edge of your offering bowl.

Ringing resonates through the fog. The hunter lowers his yew-bow with shaking hands.

+++

"Thief. Swear it."

The grey-eyed brigand and his daughter kneel before your shrine, their wounds staunched with ties of rough white fabric. The old hunter stands behind them, fingers still taunt against his bowstring.

"We swear," whispers the daughter. "To do no more harm." The brigand offers a weak nod in support, his skin ashen against the grey stone.

"Upon who?"

"Upon the one who stayed your hand," she replies.

The old hunter grants wordless acknowledgement. He waits until the family finishes their harvest prayers before he escorts the two thieves back to their makeshift, moss-green tent.

There, the faithful daughter consoles her despondent father over a meal of stale, unwanted bread. She offers a stuttering half-prayer to the only god who has ever offered them mercy - and perhaps ever will.

[For the mid-harvest hunt/harvest:]

>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-3 FAITH]

>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139249
Apologies that the options weren't terribly clear, though this was somewhat intentional on my part.

The idea with the [guidance] choices is that you can offer information and a general directive only. You can influence actions mainly by changing how they feel:

(Admonishment makes people more careful/decisive but less forgiving/negotiable; forgiveness makes people more generous but less risk averse; nostalgia in this case is a character-dependent option)

>>6139252
The intention is a bit of a foregone conclusion now, but the idea was that they could only see your cooking fire, so they would go there first since they had no other prior information.

>>6139466
Sorry! The writing there was definitely vague on reread.
>>
>>6139806
>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward
>>
>>6139806
>BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139806
>>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
Keep some faith in the back pocket.
>>
>>6139824
+1
>>
>>6139824
+1
>>
>>6139806
>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139806
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139806
>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139806
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139806
>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139824
>+1
>>
>>6139806
>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-1 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward. [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6139810
i like the sometimes unclear choices and descriptions, i thought it was all on purpose. if we ever get more power then it would fit if the options, descriptions and so on are more detailed
>>
>>6139806
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[DAWNWARD] - Look dawnward.
Enjoyable quest! Just caught up on it.
>>
Locking the vote!

>>6140401
Thank you for playing anon!
>>
File: untitled.png (1.73 MB, 1200x1200)
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It is the fair season of long mornings and warm nights. Cream-white clouds float over lands dotted with red and gold.

The hunter treads silently over drying leaves, stalking game that has grown fat and complacent from the fruits of harvest-season. The family reaps their crop of long-wheat, sifting the grain through baskets of woven grass. Subtly, the dew and the breeze favor their preparations for the coming cold.

The hobbled brigand and his dutiful daughter maintain a wide berth from the hunter. But when the harvest reaches its zenith, they too partake in the sifting of the grain, and in turn receive a fair portion of fresh flax-bread.

The daughter appears at the base of your shrine that night, her face shadowed by the harvest-moon. Their first meal of warm bread rings against the base of your offering bowl.

[+2 FAITH]

+++

Dawnward. The forest continues its verdant march. Saplings poke between fallen arches. A stone ruin moulders gently in the autumn air.

>ROLL 2d20 + 2 [FAIR WEATHER] + 2 [BREEZE/DEW] + 1 [BRIGAND/DAUGHTER]. Best of 3 for the thaw-harvest and hunt.

>[NOTHING]

>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]

>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [Specify who.]

>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]

>[MEMORY] - Examine a yearning memory. [-4 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 19, 3 + 5 = 27 (2d20 + 5)

>>6140632
There's those limestone arches.

>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [The Hunter]
>>
>>6140632
[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [The Child]
>>
Rolled 7, 12 + 5 = 24 (2d20 + 5)

>>6140632
Dropped my rolls.
>>
Rolled 12, 7 + 5 = 24 (2d20 + 5)

>>6140632

>[MEMORY] - Examine a yearning memory. [-4 FAITH]
>>
>>6140632
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6140632
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6140632
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6140632
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6140632
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH]
>[MEMORY] - Examine a distant memory. [-2 FAITH]
Expand, new ability, and build up a little faith
>>
Thank you for voting all. I'm probably not going to update today, but will resume tomorrow.
>>
>>6141100
Take your time QM, enjoy your break!
>>
File: untitled.png (1.74 MB, 1200x1200)
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[24/20] - Bountiful Harvest
[17/20] - Exceptional Hunt

You examine a distant memory. You recall that your true name was spoken, at times, by the crash of midsummer rain against soil. Or inscribed, at others, by the smouldering trace of lightning through heartwood.

You recall.

>[PROSPERITY] A distorted crash.

>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.

+++

The rich soil parts with another bountiful harvest. The family pulls thick-fleshed raisin fruits from fallowing vines. Store-cellars and trade-cellars overflow with small dried berries, mixed with animal fat rendered from easonal game.

The repentant brigand and his diligent daughter turn the fields until the sky darkens and the dappled shadows become long. When they return to their wood-braced tent, they often find fresh fruit-bread given by a precocious child and warm pelts delivered by a still-silent hunter.

The six of them journey to your shrine at the first brush of snowfall. Items ring against your offering bowl: lesser in number but not quality. Sweetened preserves, stacked in jars of honeyed glass. A set of simple adornments crafted from skin, sinew, and polished bone. The child fashions a wreath from tender frostbloom that hangs behind your pedestal like a crown.

[+8 FAITH]

[+3 FAITH]

The family prays quietly for health; for prosperity.

The hunter prays silently for courage; for purpose.

The grey-eyed brigand and his daughter, however, drop well-worn blades and chain-mail links before your pedestal. They pray for forgiveness; for you to grant permanence to a transient act of mercy.

They place a single, flickering candle before your pedestal.

>[EXTINGUISH] The brigand and his daughter will leave. [-1 FAITH]

>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] Chance. Roll 1d2 for outcome above.

+++

Additional Actions [PICK ONE]:

>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [Specify who.]

>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]

>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6141623
>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6141623
>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [HUNTER&BRIGAND]
>>
>>6141642
+1
>>
>>6141623
>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6141623
>[PROSPERITY

>[MAINTAIN]

>[EARTHWARD]
>>
>>6141623
>[PROSPERITY] A distorted crash.
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH]
The hunter. Maybe there's purpose for him there?

>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]
>>
>>6141623
>[PROSPERITY] A distorted crash.
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]

Save for winter.
>>
>>6141623
> [PROSPERITY] A distorted crash.
> [MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
> [GUIDANCE] The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [The Child]
>>
>>6141623
>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.
We’ve brought prosperity without PROSPERITY so far, and using it could raise the bar on what we’re expected to do. I’d like to see what JUSTICE brings before we do that.

>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
Sure, I’ll take more people.

>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [Brigand’s Daughter]
Will she reach out to the old hunter for assistance? Will he provide it? I want to find out.

>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH]
More knowledge.
>>
>>6141779
Seconding this.
>>
>>6141623
>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.

>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]

>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [Hunter]
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6141623
>[JUSTICE] A ragged trace.
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [(Brigand's) Daughter]
>[EARTHWARD] - Look earthward. [-1 FAITH] [This option is not mutually exclusive]

The brigand and his daughter seem genuinely repentant. Makes me wonder if they'll get a title change later on.
>>
>>6141623
>Justice
>Maintain
>Guidance - The Hunter & the Daughter. "Who" does not necessarily mean just one person.
>Look Earthward
>>
>>6141623
>[PROSPERITY] A distorted crash
>[MAINTAIN] The brigand and his daughter will stay. [-1 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE] - The ruins call. [-4 FAITH] [The Hunter.]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.76 MB, 1200x1200)
1.76 MB
1.76 MB PNG
By your will, the flickering candle-flame survives both the mid-autumn wind and the creeping midnight fog. When the brigand's daughter wakes upon the cold, damp stone the following morning, the glow of warm candle light gives answer to her desperate prayer. She runs out from the shrine, laughter ringing out like a well-made offering.

Earthward. The forest grows lush. Frost-moths flutter between moss-draped branches. Threadbare tents stoop beneath a crown of leaves, circling the remnants of a long-abandoned cooking fire.
>>
File: untitled.png (1.6 MB, 1200x1200)
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That night, the brigand's daughter dreams of fire. She dreams of billowing smoke and ash-colored cinders: the once-heard voice of a devouring flame.

She watches the embers rise with tearful eyes.

"Gone," she whispers. "We remain, but not for overlong."

The crackling cinders offers no reply, but the wind speaks of:

>[ADMONISHMENT] [Riskier but decisive]

>[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant]

>[HONOR] [Character-specific]

+++

When the daughter awakens from her dream, she follows the biting wind until she stands at the border of the treeline. She does not recall the names of your wounded heralds or the sensation of glass-ice beneath her feet. But she does recognize the patterning of the branches and trees laid before her.

The old hunter makes both his presence and profession known with a jostle of his quiver.

"You saw the mottled trees."

"I did." she replies. "and the arched ruin they protect, and the...."

"Bring your father's blade and mail. It was shown to me as well."
>>
>>6142393
>[HONOR] [Character-specific]
>>
>>6142393
> [ADMONISHMENT] [Riskier but decisive]
GambleGambleGambleGambleGambleGamble
>>
>>6142393
>HONOR] [Character-specific]
>>
>>6142393
>[HONOR] [Character-specific]

A repentant daughter of a brigand who found her faith in our mercy? I think she still has honor to find.
>>
>>6142393
>[HONOR] [Character-specific]
I have to wonder if the dreams tie into our own past as well, or if they solely belong to the characters we guide.
>>
>>6142393
>[HONOR] [Character-specific]
>>
>>6142393
>[ADMONISHMENT] [Riskier but decisive]
>>
>>6142393
>[HONOR] [Character-specific]
>>
[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant]
why rush in these times
>>
>>6142393
>[HONOR] [Character-specific]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.53 MB, 1200x1200)
1.53 MB
1.53 MB PNG
Meltwater drips from rust-red leaves. Ranks of scar-barked trees grow mottled with lichen. The daughter and the hunter cut through the autumn wood, following a footpath traveled in a half-remembered dream.

The hunter stalks forward with a low, practiced tread. The daughter moves with less discretion, her steps snapping down through the woody undergrowth.

"My father was once a knight," mentions the daughter.

"And I was once a soldier." replies the hunter. "It no longer matters."

The knight's daughter closes her fingers around a glimmering pendant that her father had bequeathed to her that morning - and recalls a set of precepts repeated to her by the soft voice of the noonday breeze.

"I think it still does," she whispers.

+++

The trees become sparse. Cold wind howls through a procession of limestone arches. The broken ruins mourn a long-departed god whose name is no longer known or spoken.

The hunter scans the landscape from an outcropping of jagged rock. After mouthing a prayer of protection, he casts a handful of dried leaves towards the frigid wind, which carries them:

>EARTHWARD. [Bottom tiles]

>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]

Additional Actions [PICK ONE]:

>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]

>[DEW/BREEZE] - Lend some assistance to exploration. [-2 FAITH]

>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - Wait until the need arises.
>>
>>6142957
Also, the image is a "close up" of the ruin tile on the main map - just clarifying.
>>
>>6142957
>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Lend some assistance to exploration. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6142957
>EARTHWARD. [Bottom tiles]
>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]

Be discrete. We can visit again, but something caused these ruins.
>>
>>6142957
>EARTHWARD. [Bottom tiles]
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6142957
>EARTHWARD. [Bottom tiles]
[DEW/BREEZE] - Lend some assistance to exploration. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6142957
i won't choose top or bottom because it's just a flip but
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Lend some assistance to exploration. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6142957
>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6142957
>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
I have a feeling this might eat faith fast.
>>
>>6142957
>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]

>[DEW/BREEZE] - Lend some assistance to exploration. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6142957
>EARTHWARD. [Bottom tiles]
One tile is already revealed on the top route, so that’s better to retreat from if they get tailed at one point and we’re out of faith.

>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
Minor to start.
>>
>>6142957
>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>SKYWARD. [Top tiles]

Locking the first part of the vote.

If anyone wants to tiebreak between:

>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>[DEW/BREEZE] - Lend some assistance to exploration. [-2 FAITH]

Please do so in the next 30 min, but I will otherwise use the roll above.
>>
Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6143417
This roll I meant :)
>>
>>6143417
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]

Gotcha
>>
>>6142957
>>6143417
>EARTHWARD. [Bottom tiles]
>[BREEZE] - Lend minor assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
We have 8 faith just collecting dust and have literally never run into an issue related to not having enough.
Why are you guys so stingy?
>>
>>6143430
That sounds like something a QM could fix by initiating a series of events where we would be forced to a rapid series of events where we would want to use it, keeping us from replenishing faith as that’s done over the course of seasons, not days or hours.

Perhaps via a dungeon crawl, or a delve into ancient ruins, something of unknown dangers and potentially lethal.

More seriously, I see 4 unexplored tiles and I assume each one will call for potential actions. If true, we could only burn 2 faith per tile at most without cutting corners on one or more, and I’d rather hold back at the beginning when we know the party is at its strongest with the expectation we could spend 3 or 4 for a dew/breeze/fog combo in a dire situation and still run dew/breeze every turn after it.

If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. We’ll find out soon enough.
>>
File: untitled.png (1.59 MB, 1200x1200)
1.59 MB
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A pale avenue of shattered limestone splits the landscape. Water trickles through broken ramparts and decayed minarets before leeching into a network of mineral-blue terraces.

The daughter and the hunter skirt around the frigid waters, traveling past parapets and prayer-nooks effaced by rain-erosion. Amid the broken remnants of a towering plinth, the knight's daughter perceives a shallow pool that shimmers cold blue in the wan light...

>ROLL 1d6 + 1 [BREEZE] for discovery, best of 3.

+++

The path continues. An unbroken gate dominates the horizon, its angular form softened by drifts of early snowfall. Frozen fog lifts from the shores of a rubble-bound lake.

The hunter narrows his eyes.

Green tents surround a smouldering fire. Robed figures carry long-torches, their features hidden behind peaked hoods.

>EARTHWARD. [Explore bottom 2 tiles]

>SKYWARD. [Move to the rubble-bound lake]

>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]

>WINDLESS. [Look through the mineral-terraces again.]


Additional Actions [Note that these bonuses are cumulative through the expedition]:

>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]

>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - Wait until the need arises.
>>
Rolled 3 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>6143508
>EARTHWARD. [Explore bottom 2 tiles]
>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 5 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>6143508
>SKYWARD. [Move to the rubble-bound lake]

>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 4 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>6143508
>EARTHWARD. [Explore bottom 2 tiles]
>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6143508
>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]
>>
>>6143508
>EARTHWARD. [Explore bottom 2 tiles]
>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]

Ensure we’re aware of all possible dangers before moving forward.

Do we use wind and dew to weaken the fires and keep the camp occupied with building it back up?
>>
>>6143508
>SKYWARD. [Move to the rubble-bound lake]
>>6143508
>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6143667
Yes, I'll let you do a hard roll for it if you would like:

>Roll 1d6, best of three. DC: 5
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6143769
>>6143508
>EARTHWARD. [Explore bottom 2 tiles]
>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6143769
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6143769
>>
File: untitled.png (1.73 MB, 1200x1200)
1.73 MB
1.73 MB PNG
You hush their flames low with the voice of the evening wind. The robed figures murmur softly among themselves, struggling to relight their staked torches with the smouldering remnants of their campfire.

By the time they drive away the biting cold and cloying moisture, the night sky has already begun to drape over the duskward horizon. Constellations shine above unmoving clouds. Mirror-smooth waters reflect a procession of bobbing torches.

[2/3 Groups Delayed]

+++

6/6 = +3 BONUS

The knight's daughter cradles her discovery with careful, hesitant fingers. The shimmering that caught her gaze was transient, but her hands had felt something solid take shape beneath the shock of frigid water.

Within an upturned offering bowl, she had found a quartet of storm-grey opals shot with yellow iridescence. They buzz quietly in the evening air, prickling skin as they roll across her palms.

[1+3 FLICKER-STONE]

She whispers a silent prayer before following the hunter.

+++

The pair journeys earthward. The hunter keeps his weary eyes fixed on the flicker of distant torches until they reach the cover of another ruin.

Here, towering arches silhouette the purple-hued sky. Slashes of gouged limestone mar the rectangular pillars - some hair-thin, others thicker than a full hands-width.

The daughter and the hunter break dense flax-bread over an absent fire.

"You hate us" states the daughter, simply.

The hunter shakes his head.

"No?" she questions. "You never speak to father and I."

"I...think...I disappointed." whispers the hunter. "I was careless. The wind saved me, and yet I nearly failed to do its bidding."

"And yet the wind sent us both here."

The hunter nods wordlessly before something catches his attention...

>ROLL 1d8 + 2 [BREEZE/DEW] for discovery, best of 3.

AND:

>SKYWARD. [Move to the rubble-bound lake]

>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]

>DUSKWARD. [Return]


Additional Actions [Note that these bonuses are cumulative through the expedition]:

>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]

>[NOTHING] - Wait until the need arises.
>>
>>6143508
>EARTHWARD. [Explore bottom 2 tiles]
>[DEW] - Lend additional assistance to exploration. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6143981
Sorry I didn't catch your vote - my bad for not locking it.
>>
>>6143984
No worries. I don't think it changed anything.
>>
Rolled 4 + 2 (1d8 + 2)

>>6143979
>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]
>>
>>6143989
I forgot to say >[NOTHING] - Wait until the need arises.
>>
Rolled 3 + 2 (1d8 + 2)

>>6143979
>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]
>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 3 + 2 (1d8 + 2)

>>6143979
>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]
>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6143979
>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]
>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6143979
>SEAWARD. [Move to the arched gate]
>[FOG] - Obscure their movement. [-2 FAITH]

Didn’t mention this last turn but I’m glad these are cumulative. I’d been worried about faith bleed.

One group is circling around the top-left. Only two people per group it seems, but three groups is enough to encircle us from any position other than the center. We’ll see how long the delay lasts…

In my opinion, the hunter did exactly as we asked. We pushed him to be decisive, and he was. We were equally decisive in choosing to spare the brigand and his daughter, and we left no doubt it was by our choice and no one else’s.

Not bad for a god of nothing.

Shame we can’t directly tell him he did what we wanted and our own choice afterward doesn’t reflect negatively on him. Not unless we can draw words out with fireflies or water, and I don’t even know if we can write in a language they’d understand.
>>
Sorry all I had clinic today so probably no update - will resume tomorrow.

Am also taking a trip from this Friday until Sunday evening, so I probably won't be able to update then either.
>>
>>6144517
is okay. this quest is epic :)
>>
>>6144517
thanks for the heads up QM
>>
File: untitled1.png (1.69 MB, 1200x1200)
1.69 MB
1.69 MB PNG
[FOG]

Condensation drapes across the landscape. Torches dim amidst the heavy fog. The robed figures move in slow, concentric circles, picking aimlessly at the barren rubble.

[Disorganized movement + bonus to all upcoming evasion rolls.]

+++

[6/8]

The hunter spies a gap in the stones. His gloved hands sweep at the seams of a tiny alcove before he pries it open with a broadhead's razored edge.

He finds two tightly-wound prayer scrolls, each only as wide as his palm. A pendent unfurls from a chain of modest copper, bearing a glass ampule that swirls with vigorous condensation.

[+1 HARVEST PENDENT]

[+2 OBSCURE PRAYER SCROLL]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.45 MB, 1200x1200)
1.45 MB
1.45 MB PNG
+++

The broken gate frames the night sky. The hunter and the daughter traverse the shattered stone path, following a half-remembered dream until they reach the arched entrance. There, they feel the breeze rush through the gate's towering vault; they see the crispness of dew upon its polished limestone walls.

As they traverse the gate, your paper-thin voice no longer vanishes amid the trees and the rain and the rustling grasses. The air here is thin, and the obliging wind is known to carry your voice once - and perhaps only once - to those who pass the ivory gate on the night of their first sacrament.

The gate is long-shattered. You are a god of nothing, and you have forgotten nearly all but the soft breeze, dew, and fog.

But perhaps the sacrament can yet be remembered.

>ABSOLVE - The wind speaks of forgiveness.

>GRATITUDE - The rain speaks of gratitude.

>AMBITION - The storm speaks of ambition.

>WRITE-IN.
>>
>>6145056
>ABSOLVE - The wind speaks of forgiveness.
Perspective change spotted.
>>
>>6145056
> (Write-in) Adaptation - The trees whisper of necessary change.
>>
>>6145056
>GRATITUDE - The rain speaks of gratitude.
>>
>>6145056
>GRATITUDE - The rain speaks of gratitude.
I could tie-break for something like the stone speaking of change though. People may think some things are immutable, but nothing truly is. As stone turned to dirt and a god faded, so too does all else change form.

We all remain regardless.
>>
>>6145056
>GRATITUDE - The rain speaks of gratitude.
>>
>>6145056
>>ABSOLVE - The wind speaks of forgiveness.
>>
>>6145056
>GRATITUDE - The rain speaks of gratitude.
>>
File: untitled.png (1.43 MB, 1200x1200)
1.43 MB
1.43 MB PNG
[GRATITUDE]

They both kneel at the center of the gate, where the drip of condensation echoes like the patter of torrential rain.

When the threshold becomes thin, your voice reaches them in whispered fragments.

<....THE NOONDAY BREEZE; THE FLOW OF DEW...GOD OF NOTHING....AMID CHANGE HAVE FORGOTTEN ALL....>

<....YET I SHALL NOT FORGET YOUR BELIEF....>

The hunter stares, his face streaked with fresh tears. The daughter prays fervently - for herself, her father, for the hunter and the family.

"Please...Please...," she whispers. "Let us be worthy of it..."

[+5 Additional Blank Tiles on the Main Map]
>>
File: untitled1.png (1.74 MB, 1200x1200)
1.74 MB
1.74 MB PNG
+++

The hunter and the daughter depart from the sundered gate in silence. The fog follows their wake with steady insistence, obscuring them from the light of the dawnward horizon.

>ROLL 1d10 + 2 [FOG] for evading observation, best of 3. DC: 5, 9

The hooded figures continue their peculiar work. Chisels scrape against limestone. Weighted hammers crunch down on piles of long-pulverized rubble. But when the groups finish their work, one among them does not return to convene at their roaring fire.

You look duskward. Tiny shreds of tattered green cloth flutter like ribbons. The limestone arches tally a handful of new scratches.

>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]

>[NOTHING]
>>
Rolled 7 + 2 (1d10 + 2)

>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 8 + 2 (1d10 + 2)

>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 9 + 2 (1d10 + 2)

>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6145579
>>6145582
>>6145588
Nice.
>>
>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
Do we have an enemy going out of their way to destroy everything we once were?
>>
>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6145578
>[BREEZE] Direct the hunter there... [-1 FAITH]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.46 MB, 1200x1200)
1.46 MB
1.46 MB PNG
Dawnlight shines over the mottled trees. Two pairs of eyes overlook a rubble-strewn clearing.

Below, the mid-winter air thins and frays as it hisses through a procession of toppled arches. The hunter smells the coppery scent of wind-flung blood; he sees shredded fabric tumble in the wind like dried grass.

His well-honed instincts compel him to go no further, but the knight's daughter does not heed his hurried warning. Her raw enthusiasm - and affirmed faith - carries her downward to the base of the clearing where the frigid wind tugs against her weighty armor.

The wind abates. Sunlight flares above the arches. There is a momentary after-mirage - a faded sketch of a thrice-wounded herald who once guarded more than a field of shattered limestone.

<...>

The bereaved wind cuts. The daughter cries out in shock, her father's tabard shorn.

The wind cuts again. The daughter cries out in denial, her linked armor broken.

The wind cuts a third time. The daughter invokes a vow of desperate honor as her exposed hands begin to weep red.

The wind pauses.

<...G...NE...>

>ROLL 1d6 + 1 [HONOR] for survival, best of 3. DC: 3, 5

>WRITE-IN?
>>
Rolled 5 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>6147116
ROLLS ARE CALLED.
I SHALL ROLL.
>>
Rolled 3 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>6147116
>>
Rolled 2 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

>>6147116
>>
>>6147116
>Write-in
>Use the wind to whip the dew into the air and form a soft rain over the shade. Encircle the daughter with dew to signal she is one of your own.
We don’t remember more than our first sacrament, but it’s enough. Thank the shade for standing guard over our ruins even in death, beyond what we could continue to command in our current form. It may move on with our gratitude.
>>
File: untitled.png (1.42 MB, 1200x1200)
1.42 MB
1.42 MB PNG
[6/6]+Write IN

The risen sun casts harsh, angular shadows across the clearing. The hunter's posture is coiled - his arm pulled back as he considers loosing a broadhead at a quarry that cannot bleed.

"...I swear upon the lord..." declares the wounded daughter.

"...of this place..."

<...LIE...>

The air shivers as the daughter inhales with suppressed pain. Fresh blood arcs upwards, wetting the scored limestone.

"...The lord spoke to me and..."

<...LIE...>

"...granted us mercy..."

<...L...>

A softer, warmer breeze rushes through the clearing. A circlet of sunlit dew frames the daughter as she prepares to receive another cut. You had wished to answer her prayer as you did in the gatehouse, but you hope that this alone will suffice.

<...I...SHA....>

When the daughter looks up again, the thrice-wounded herald is already gone. Her trembling hands close around a sliver of hardened limestone that leaves tiny, hair-thin wounds on exposed skin.

[+1 WIND-SLIVER]
>>
File: untitled1.png (1.69 MB, 1200x1200)
1.69 MB
1.69 MB PNG
[1 FAITH consumed on action; daughter receives no permanent wounds]

+++

The trees grow less mottled. Owls relish the early snowfall, circling overhead on ash-grey pinions.

The old hunter and the knight's daughter collapse inside the farmhouse long after the sun sinks below the horizon. Over a warm cooking fire, they thaw their limbs and regain their voices.

Until the coming dawn, they speak of the broken arches and the howling wind. The green-cloaked men and their long-torches. The glory of the first sacrament; the flensing air of the wounded herald.

The next day, they all convene at your ruined shrine. An assortment of peculiar objects are arranged reverently inside your offering bowl...

>TAKE ONE. 1 flickerstone. The rest, untouched. [+2 FAITH]

>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]

>TAKE MORE. 4 flickerstones, a scroll. The rest, untouched. [+12 FAITH]

>TAKE ALL. 4 flickerstones, 2 scrolls, a pendant, and a sliver, for they were all once yours. [+27 FAITH]

[NOTE: Retrieved items have additional functions if not taken as a faith-offering]
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE ALL. 4 flickerstones, 2 scrolls, a pendant, and a sliver, for they were all once yours. [+27 FAITH]
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]

9 FAITH should be enough to get us through winter, and we still have a Flickerstone and everything else they acquired that apparently have other uses. I want to see what these uses are before we convert them all into Faith.
>>
>>6147686
>>6138180

ID changed, I'm this anon.
>>
>>6147623
>>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
We can get more faith, but we can’t make more items.
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
>>
>>6147623
>>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
The rest will likely be useful, and maybe that Scroll will help us be... remembered. Not us as we are now, but us as we were.
>>
>>6147976
Also, on another note; Our former herald was clearly a gigachad. They had to cut his arm off, run him through three times, and then cut his head in half before he went down, and even then he's "thrice wounded". He might still technically be "alive" considering that he's attacking trespassers. Who "They" are that did this to him, I don't know, but I'd bet their bones would litter this place if they hadn't been victorious and taken their dead with them.
>>
>>6147977
Seems like our herald was a woman. The second image shows a pretty clear image of breasts.

Everything else seems correct though. Our domains were clearly far wider at one time if they could choose to ignore death. Either that or they were so infused with our power that they’re effectively an extension of us, unable to die until we do.

Makes me wonder if the daughter will be able to summon the old herald using the shard.
>>
>>6148011
kek, I just thought it was weird shading
>>
>>6147623
>TAKE SOME. 3 flickerstones. The rest, untouched. [+6 FAITH]
>>
File: untitled.png (1.8 MB, 1200x1200)
1.8 MB
1.8 MB PNG
>TAKE SOME.

The shattering of opaline glass mimics the peal of crashing thunder. You recall that a wordless prayer is a prayer nonetheless.

[When broken, flickerstones can temporarily facilitate the invocation of specific actions...]

+++

New snow blankets the landscape. Frost-lines creep up along foggy windows. A thick quilt shelters your brass offering bowl, protecting it from all but the faintest trace of frost-chill.

Your followers kneel before your shrine. The family and the hunter deliver prayers that are comfortable in their familiarity: a fair growing season, accompanied by a fruitful hunt. The knight-turned-brigand and her diligent daughter ask, tentatively, for a similar blessing, their hands stained dark by their efforts to tend to their own field of frost-crops.

[For the frost-harvest hunt/harvest:]

>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-2 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-3 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-4 FAITH]

[Faith costs increased; you have two fields and a hunter to tend to. Harvest output scales accordingly.]

+++

Duskward. A horse-pulled cart trundles over soft snow. A bespeckled figure adorned with fine, richly-dyed cloth searches futily for a path hidden by an early frost.

>[NOTHING]

>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]

>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT - HUNTER] - Send the hunter as guide. [-2 FAITH]

>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT - DAUGHTER] - Send the daughter as guide. [-2 FAITH]

>[GUIDANCE] - [Specify who]. [-4 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT - DAUGHTER] - Send the daughter as guide. [-2 FAITH]
>>
Also, you can assume from this point that white blank tiles can be revealed (via vote) even if not an explicit option.
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-4 FAITH]

>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-3 FAITH]

>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT - DAUGHTER] - Send the daughter as guide. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
Finally caught up, this quest is stupidly beautiful. I love it.

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]
Also look duskwards at the white tile.
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Lend some assistance. [-3 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT - DAUGHTER] - Send the daughter as guide [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-4 FAITH]
>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
>[DEW] - Lend minor assistance. [-2 FAITH]
>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148314
>[BREEZE/FOG] - Lend considerable assistance. [-4 FAITH]

The Hunter and the Daughter helped us out when we asked, so I suppose it's fair to return the favor this time around.

>[BREEZE] - Attempt to guide him. [-1 FAITH]

I wonder what he's looking for.
>>
>roll 1d6, best of three. DC: 3, 5
>>
Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6148832
>>
Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6148832
>>
Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6148832
Watch THIS
>>
>>6148836
>>6148834
>>6148835

Checked.
>>
Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6148832
>>
Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6148832
>>
File: HEHE.png (1.58 MB, 1930x1200)
1.58 MB
1.58 MB PNG
>[BREEZE] - Success

Snowflakes patter against soft leather. The breeze pushes the figure into a sparse treeline, where a branch-woven canopy protects him from the harshest, most cutting winter winds.

When the storm abates, he slowly approaches the honeyed light of a cooking fire, lulled by the scent of warming stew and nostalgic murmur of conversation. He does not perceive the old hunter's skinning knife until it is pressed firmly against his back.

"Why are you here?" asks the hunter.

"The storm," the figure replies.

"What is your trade?"

"Once letters. Now trade itself."

"What do you wish for?"

"A place by a fire," the trader finishes.
>>
File: untitled.png (1.74 MB, 1200x1200)
1.74 MB
1.74 MB PNG
+++

Sown seeds poke through hard earth, bearing the promise of white-raisin and ambercup. The hunter consults the wind, tracking the flutter of white pelts against whiter snow.

>ROLL 3d20 + 1 [HARVEST-PENDENT] + 2 [BREEZE/DEW] + 0 [STORM-WEATHER] for the frost-harvest and hunt. Best of 3.

ALSO:

>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]

>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]

>[NOTHING]
>>
Rolled 10 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>6148883
>>
Rolled 9 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>6148883
>>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
>>
Could I get a 3d20 please? Sorry that was probably easy to miss.

>>6148884
>>6148888
>>
Rolled 5 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>6148883
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 3, 15, 16 + 1 = 35 (3d20 + 1)

>>6148889
I think we all assumed it was 1d20 across 3 people. Whoopsie daisy.
>>
Rolled 14, 14, 19 + 3 = 50 (3d20 + 3)

>>6148883
>>
>>6148883
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
Oh, and the vote
>>
Rolled 19, 18, 9 = 46 (3d20)

>>6148883
>>
Rolled 14, 6, 9 = 29 (3d20)

>>6148883
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148987
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]

Meant to also look earthward . Lets go for the cheaper direction first.

(Though actually . If possible can i suggest both? I seem to recall we were able to pick multiple of those options in the past?
>>
>>6148883
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>6148990
We can, but we need to be careful how we spend our Faith now that the costs have increased.
>>
>>6148883
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
Visibility is important.
>>
>>6148883
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148883
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6148883
> [EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148883
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
>>
Rolled 20, 5, 9 = 34 (3d20)

>>6148883

>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
>>6148883
>[EARTHWARD ] - Look Earthward [BOTTOM]. [-1 FAITH]
>>
Thank you for voting all - no update today since I am recovering from thanksgiving, but the quest will resume tomorrow.
>>
>>6149356
Take your time, QM. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
>>
>>6149356
Relax. The turkey Calls.
>>
>>6149356
Happy Thanksgiving QM!
>>
File: untitled.png (1.8 MB, 1200x1200)
1.8 MB
1.8 MB PNG
[22/20] - Magnificent Harvest [+6 FAITH]
[21/20] - Magnificent Hunt [+4 FAITH]
[22/20] - Magnificent Harvest [+4 FAITH]

FAITH: [8 - 3 [BREEZE/DEW] -1 [TILE] + 14]

When the storm abates, the two families pull cartfulls of amber crop from the turned earth. Tufts of cream colored feathers mix with powdered snow as the hunter collects his daily bounty of winter-fowl.

The stormlogged trader tracks the motion of the sun above the lead colored sky with an instrument of filigreed brass. For shelter and a generous helping of frost-preserves, he offers glass, metal, and silver to his modest hosts.

As the eve of the frost-solstice dawns, he watches the gathering of the harvest-goods with appraising eyes. He examines the tying of dried crop-satchets and the careful placement of polished silver and glass beneath a long-shattered pedestal.

"...not among the known aspects," asks the trader. "Do they bear a name? A dominion?"

"...none that we know, yet it often sways the noontime breeze and the afternoon fog," replies the daughter. "Among others."

"A humble god."

"We are humble folk," reflects the child's father. "Perhaps that is why we receive answer."

Every night after, the trader leaves his tent carrying a hooded lantern. He enters the shrine with furtive steps, dusting his thick, frost-stiffened robes before pacing the crumbling atrium. Measurements are taken with silvered brass; etchings with powdered charcoal...

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Extinguish his lantern. [-1 FAITH]

>[BREEZE/DEW] - Preserve his lantern. [-1 FAITH]

>[NOTHING]

+++

Earthward. The path continues past a granite waystone, its sharp corners weathered smooth. Rough circles of cut stone border a creeping treeline. Careless wind turns the wheels of an upturned wagon.

>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH] [NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE]

>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the wagon. [CHOOSE WHO] [-2 OR -4 FAITH]

>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the tents. [CHOOSE WHO] [-2 OR -4 FAITH]

>[NOTHING]
>>
>>6149795
>>[BREEZE/DEW] - Extinguish his lantern. [-1 FAITH]
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH] [NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE]
>>
>>6149795
We making some real dough now.
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Preserve his lantern. [-1 FAITH]
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the wagon. [-2]
>>
>>6149795
>[NOTHING]
>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the tents. [CHOOSE WHO] [-2 OR -4 FAITH]
Former brigand
>>
>>6149795
> [NOTHING]
> [SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH]
> [GUIDANCE] - Explore the wagon. [Former Brigand] [-4]
>>
>>6149795
>[BREEZE/DEW] - Extinguish his lantern. [-1 FAITH]
>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH] [NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE]
>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the wagon. [Former Brigand] [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6149795
>[NOTHING]
>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the tents. [CHOOSE WHO] [-2 OR -4 FAITH]
Former brigand

Hopefully we'll see if he poses a threat.
>>
>>6149795
>[NOTHING]
I have no strong opinion on us being rediscovered or not. I’m sure we faded away for a reason, that there are gods opposed to us by nature of our dominions or bad blood between faithful of the past.

All things change though. Perhaps whatever made us fade did too. No need to spend faith with such unknowns.

Good on them not mentioning our herald (who they could assume was important to us, not like they know who she was) was throwing around something stronger than a breeze. Don’t want to give a negative impression yet.

>[SKYWARD] - Look Skyward [TOP]. [-2 FAITH] [NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE]

>[GUIDANCE] - Explore the tents. [CHOOSE WHO] [-2 OR -4 FAITH]
The hunter and the would-be knight. See if we can “guide” her to take the shard with her, under the assumption it may protect one of the faithful. Same with a scroll for the hunter if they can read it, to help him aim true over a far distance with the help of the breeze.

They may be related to the camp that was in the ruins, and we never did ascertain if they were hostile or not. Would-be knight as the face of those living nearby, the hunter as the hidden blade.

Though… I could also see doing the trader to the wagon, while he’d pick one of our faithful to accompany him. They could likely sort out what happened there and what it may have contained, and guiding the trader would teach him something more of our nature if we wanted.

>>6149826
>>6149933
>>6149855
>>6149850
Do you all mean former brigand (father) or former brigand (daughter)? I petition to grant the brigand’s daughter the new title of would-be knight, shortened to just knight when we feel like it.
>>
Locking the vote. I'm going to assume that as >>6149979
said the former brigand is the father rather than the girl, but please correct me if this is not right.
>>
Heads up, QM, you've dropped your trip!
>>
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The frost-season reaches its apex. The sun abbreviates its daily procession, swinging low across the horizon. Candlelight seeps through snow-covered windows. The trader finally finds a fragment of unscoured writing in your shrine. He doubles his efforts, wrapping his fingers in thick wool to bear the ice-rimed stone.

Skyward. Snow above rock. A communion of evergreens sprinkle holly-green needles onto the forest floor. Antlered beasts pick at frozen grass, lumbering on thickly-furred hooves.
>>
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The knight-turned-brigand dreams of fire. He feels the weight of a mailed tabard upon his shoulders; he remembers his heavy blade hewing through his former comrades, their bodies now crumpled within the embers of their completed work.

He clutches the hand of a rot-scarred child.

"Come. You are spared, but now we are both forsaken."

"...if only I could only forsake regret..."

>[ADMONISHMENT] [Riskier but decisive]

>[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant.]

>[HONOR] [CHARACTER SPECIFIC]

+++

The next morning, the disgraced knight strides slowly and purposefully towards the snow-heavy treeline, his heavy blade polished; his moss-green cloak bleached bone-white. His warm breath billows ice crystals into the dawn-air.

He turns his head to find:

>[NOBODY]

>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] His daughter [-2 FAITH]

>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] The hunter [-2 FAITH]


>If anyone wants to tiebreak between the tents and the wagon, please do. Otherwise, I will roll for it.
>>
>>6150390
Oops my bad. Thanks!!
>>
>>6150508
>[ADMONISHMENT] [Riskier but decisive]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] His daughter [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6150544
+1
>>
>>6150508
>>[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant.]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] His daughter [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6150508
>[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant.]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] His daughter [-2 FAITH]
>>
>>6150508
>[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant.]
We haven’t voted for this yet.

>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] His daughter [-2 FAITH]
His daughter can cover the honor side.

>Wagons or tents
I’m willing to switch to wagons to move things along.
>>
>>6150508
>[FORGIVENESS] [Conservative but hesitant.]
>[GUIDANCE/SACRAMENT] The hunter [-2 FAITH]
>>
>FORGIVENESS.

"What were you shown, father?"

"The temple and the shrine....rings of smooth stone at the end of a pale avenue," raps the disgraced knight.

"And what did you offer in return?"

"Of the many passed days, the only one for which I will never more feel regret."
>>
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+++

Light from a gibbous moon shades the landscape grey. The path at the edge of a forest is obscured by snowfall - a slight indentation in a sea of formless white.

"Look there. Stay behind me."

Frozen blood and splintered wood. Stiff corpses lie half-sunken in snow. A caravan of wagons emerge from the gloom, spilling their goods onto the frozen earth.

"Torch," says the daughter.

"Too dark," responds the knight. "Everyone here is long-frozen."

"We need to check. Torch."

"...A moment only. Turn your body away from the trees..."

>ROLL 2d12 + 1[FORGIVENESS] for survivors and discovery, best of 3.
>>
Thank you for playing all! I have a very busy week coming up so I will probably wrap up thread 1 with this update. A kind anon has already archived my thread here:

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/6134429/

The quest will most likely resume the week of 12/9, some leeway permitting. As always, am very grateful for your votes and any comments or feedback/questions are always appreciated.
>>
Rolled 5 + 1 (1d12 + 1)

>>6151141
...
>>
Rolled 10 + 1 (1d12 + 1)

>>6151145
>>
Rolled 9, 8 + 1 = 18 (2d12 + 1)

>>6151141
>>
Rolled 2, 5 + 1 = 8 (2d12 + 1)

>>6151145

This has been really cool. The main character god concept is very novel and the addition of a hexcrawl only makes it more fun.
>>
Rolled 2, 7 + 1 = 10 (2d12 + 1)

>>6151141
Not sure if the first two count so rolling again.

>>6151145
I’m sure the thread would still be open by then; but no real harm in starting a new one early I suppose.
>>
>>6151145
Thanks for running, QM. Was very cozy.
>>
>>6151145
Thanks for running QM! The vibes of this quest are immaculate, and I love your writing style.



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