YES!

rolled 5, 5, 5 = 15

You stand at the edge of a courtyard, surrounded by a thick wall of fog. A pile of blackened splinters lies in the center of the stone floor, a thin wisp of smoke snaking up from it. Everything around you, from the fortress walls to the thousand enemy infantry, has vanished from your sight. Even your allies, mages and swordsmen alike, are nowhere to be seen.

You hear nothing but the whispering wind, taunting you with its softness.

>>9424479
Lets use our magic that allows us to see through water / ice to see where the fog ends. That should help us determine if we were simply transported somewhere or if this is an illusion.

rolled 6, 1, 2 = 9

>>9424553
It'll be easier to condense parts of the fog into ice crystals and look through those.

Email field: dice+1d20 for ice scry. Success on 12.

rolled 14 = 14

>>9424581
Alright lets do that.

Weak aura of frost (just a little bellow zero) to make the mist disappear. Assuming it's regular mist and not some magical shit.

I think I might have figured out what happened here.
It goes something like this.

LONG AGO IN PERINESE LAND, I, FORUS, THE FIRE-BENDING NATION OF MAGIC, UNLEASHED AN UNSPEAKABLE EVIL.
BUT, A FOOLISH GIANTESS WIELDING MAGIC DAGGERS STEPPED FORTH TO OPPOSE ME.
BEFORE THE FINAL BLOW WAS STRUCK I OPENED A PORTAL IN TIME AND CAST HER INTO THE FUTURE, WHERE MY EVIL IS LAW.
NOW THE FOOL SEEKS TO RETURN TO THE PAST TO UNDO THE FUTURE THAT IS FORUS.

>>9424603
Rather use the fog to our advantage, if we were transported to Forus, then the fog will be essential to keeping us concealed.

>>9424614
oh god i lol'd

>>9424479
Guys. There's an obvious answer here. Try to contact Ilian. Phoning home should give us our location. And if we CAN'T contact him, that's also important to know.

Haha, I was waiting for this.

Look what I stumbled to today.

>A Kingdom for Keflings

>In the game, the player takes on a role of a giant in the land of the Keflings. It becomes the job of the player to aid the Keflings in creating their kingdom. This is accomplished by building various structures, collecting resources, and managing the work of the Keflings. The Keflings will aid the player in gathering resources (wood, wool, magic crystals, and stone) and transporting them to various buildings for use in producing other buildings. Some buildings convert the resources into other products for use in building more complex structures.

D: Dey be stealing our ideas!

http://www.gamershell.com/download_58000.shtml

Here's a demo. NOW YOU CAN BE MAYA THE GIANT AND BUILD A TOWN TOO!


anyway sorry, for derail. I love this quest.

rolled 4, 5, 6 = 15

>>9424592
Closing your eyes, you attempt to extend your vision through the fog, thankful that you used that potion when you did. All throughout the shifting gray wall, tiny water droplets come together and combine, freezing instantly into globes of floating ice.

>14

You survey your surroundings, seeking answers. The misty soup extends for miles around, thinning around hilltops and thickening in basins. It's low-lying, filtering out about 10 feet above your head, but there is no end in sight.

In the distance, far, far to the North, you catch a glimpse of a mountain peak. Perin is notoriously flat.

>>9424614

Oh fuck, I lold. And after we told so many tales about Samurai Jack too

>>9424692
Well from what we know, most of the gods are limited to Perin. I don't know if we could contact them outside of Perin, as we never tried.

>>9424692
Ilian might be locally blocked by a rival pantheon or something if we're in Forus, but I'm fairly sure that there won't be another patron god of Frost Giants hanging around in the Fire Nation, so Hretmar might be a safer bet.
We should try both in any case.

rolled 5, 3, 1 = 9

>>9424603
>>9424639
You could keep an aura around yourself, but there is a limit to how far it can reach. Clearing all of the fog at once is far beyond your power at the moment.

>>9424692
The incantation brings you only a faint, fuzzy image of green and blue. When you've been blocked from contact, it hasn't worked at all.

>>9424713
Any sight of life and/or civilization?

>>9424754

Frost Giant Santa Claus is not a Perinese god, he's a Frost Giant god. We already know he is not necessarily limited by geopolitical borders, since we could contact him in Perin, so he might be able to reach us regardless.

>>9424763
>The incantation brings you only a faint, fuzzy image of green and blue. When you've been blocked from contact, it hasn't worked at all.

Do we know how contacting gods work? Could being very far away from his domain could result in us being unable to contact him?

rolled 4, 4, 1 = 9

>>9424760
Trying to contact Hretmar gets you the same result. Since he can normally reach the Frost Giants in the extreme North as well as Perin, this worries you.

>>9424771
Not within your vision. This place seems untouched by any human hand, aside from the small courtyard.

>>9424782
We just tried Ilian. Let's try Hretmar next.

I'm leaning towards the idea that we've been teleported waaaay outside of Perrin and Forus. These were Forus mages digging shit up in a faraway place.

>>9424829

Did the five mages we killed have anything on them that might tell us where we are?

Basically, LOOT 'EM!

Fuck, this sucks. How will we keep fucking up their shit now?

>>9424829
What is the climate like here from where we were at in the fortress?

My suggestion is to move out and try to find some wildlife that might help identify where we are. If I remember correctly, we did read a book on some of the wildlife on this planet / plane when we were in dreamwood trying to figure out what those averon(sp?) things were.

>>9424713
This landscape we can see once we lift the fog- was it anything like where we were attacking?

(I'm guessing that mountain way to the north means NO.

>>9424829

Then I say we should head north to the mountain, since it's the only landmark aside from this ruin and I doubt we'd be able to uncover or recognize anything of interest here.

We might get to see some sign of civilization if we look from the height of a mountain.

rolled 1, 4, 5 = 10

>>9424806
You've assumed it works something like radio, but none of the gods have mentioned any sort of range limitation. Ilian told you it can be difficult to get a line through to people in other nations, because of interference from other deities, various charms, and a whole lot of other magical effects.

>>9424850
You destroyed their bodies quite thoroughly and scattered the remains to the wind. They were all wearing the same style of robes common to Forusian mages, but they were carrying nothing of note. A leather pack full of disgusting-looking rations, and a short knife for each.

>>9424907
How big is the courtyard of this place in comparison to the Perin fortress. Also, does the architecture look different from Perin?

rolled 1, 6, 2 = 9

>>9424886
At the fortress, and seemingly all along the Western edge of Perin, the terrain turns hilly, with scattered forests and swamps dotting the landscape. You know from your studies that Forus is generally mountainous and inhospitable, but here, the grass grows thick and trees ring the area, growing tall and proud, untouched. It's much like Dreamwood's forest, but different in a way you can't pin down exactly.

>>9424890
Not really, no.

>>9424900
Very well. You will head towards the mountain at your best possible speed. It will take several days to reach, at least.

>>9424960
It's a circle twenty feet across, identical to the one present in the fortress, or as near as you can tell.

>>9424978
Waitwait, holdup on the mountain-travel bit. Let's get a look at our remaining inventory. Does the local wildlife look up to supporting with tasty treats?

>>9424978

I'd wait for a little bit to see if anyone else gets sucked through (what I assume) is a portal from the base in Perin to wherever we are now.

>>9424978
>It will take several days to reach, at least.
Then we should spend some of our walking time trying to build the magitech death ray that was proposed in the previous thread.
It could come in handy at some point.

>>9425013
I think since we killed the 5 mages here, there won't be anyone else getting transported here.

>>9425030
I don't think we should be focusing on that now. We need to be focused on survival. If we are deep inside enemy territory any excessive or unnecessary use of magic could give our position away. Last thing we need is to be both lost and trying to fight off an army of fire mages or worse.

rolled 2, 6, 2 = 10

>>9425012
Your inventory is unchanged, except for the lack of that leather-bound potion you used. Would you like me to repost it?

As for the wildlife, it is similar to that found in Perin, from what you've seen. There are analogues to various birds and predatory animals, but nothing larger than a housecat.

>>9425013
How long would you like to wait? You can make camp here, if you want.

>>9425030
Very well.

>>9425123

Do we have a map of the world that we can look at? It might be better to walk in the opposite direction of the mountain if we could guess where we are located.

>>9425123
>>9425030
Dangit people, now you're gonna make me look up the plans on suptg. We can spend a few minutes thinking about it before we decide on a timeskip, right?

>>9425100

The step-by-step procedures don't require us to alchemy anything bigger than a lens, you know.
The ice scrying trick we just pulled covered several miles, and also showed us no sign of the enemy.
I think it'll be fine.

rolled 3, 1, 3 = 7

>>9425100
>>9425150
Perhaps it would be wise to attempt to make the suggested arc light first. This would be a useful item to have, and not as difficult to create or use as a handheld laser cannon.

>>9425146
You have a book of maps, which is mostly concerned with Perin itself and the nations bordering it. All of the world maps you have seen differ quite widely, and none of them match what you saw from the realm of the gods.

You'll try to find one that could refer to your current position.

>>9425176
I'm just thinking of the time investment. Time we could be using to figure out where the hell we are, or getting back to civilization.

>>9425150

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/9382537/#9389632

>>9425221
Thats true, the longer it takes for us to get back, the more things could go wrong for Perin.

>>9425222
Oh jesus christ that is dorfy. That's the only adjective I can use. Which page has the arclight on it?

rolled 6, 1, 4 = 11

>>9425305
Number four.

>>9425305

We already proved that we have the skills and knowhow to make an arclight when we managed to make a gap generator and an incandescent light, I don't think stepwise instructions for arclight construction would really have been necessary for that proposal, which was already 8 pages long.

I didn't read the whole thing that Mad Scientist proposed, what was the best thing out of it?

rolled 2, 3, 3 = 8

>>9425369
The plans for the laser gun. Magically constructed, magically powered, but all science.

>>9425330
Okay, it's all interesting, doable, and desirable. Best of all, we would likely know most of the principles necessary (what self-respecting neckbeard WOULDN'T know, at least in theory, how to make thermite?)

The problem is the time component. This looks like things we could do in our spare time, or after we make camp, or when we're hiding and waiting for something to show up. I think we're far FAR away from civilization, and basic things like a tent, or tanned hides will be in immediate demand (by us!).

TL/DR Good idea, but the priority right now is finding the way back home.

Before we head out, is the fort where we are at destroyed or intact? Because if it is intact we should try and search for documents or maps that might tell us where we are.

>>9425427
In the vein of getting home.... first thing we do is don't get lost. I know, I know, we're already lost. But we want to be able to find our way back to the in-teleport, that's the most likely place someone would look for us (if the teleport left aetheric traces or what have you). So that leads me to a question subDM.

Are there convenient stones and boulders lying around?

If so, we should make some nav markers- basically piles of rock 4 feet high or so. This'll mark our path. If no stone available, we could earth magic/ alchemy up a marker. Rock piles like this are pretty permanent and are visible from a long, long way away. Put like, 4 rock piles equadistant from the summoning ring. Then we'll go from there.

The mad science is good ans all but I think we must first figure out what the fucks and get back to Perin as soon as possible

>>9425498
No, no. The fort is nowhere. It has disappeared, no traces remaining. The most likely hypothesis is that we left the fort, not that the fort was obliterated.

>>9425500
Next, do we know much about the night sky of this world? Do we know about any stars that are supposed to point true north? If so, we could at least get our latitude, which would be better than nothing. I know there's a fog, we can eliminate that with our ice power.

rolled 6, 4, 1 = 11

>>9425500
There are no stones or boulders larger than pebble-size, about as big as one of your fingers.

If you would like to create those four markers with alchemy, roll 1d20+3, success on six.

>>9425553
Yeah, that's good idea.

>>9425523
Oh so like a small part of the courtyard teleported with us or something?

>>9425500
Also, I think we'd rather be found than lost, even if the people who find us are Forusian. Leave a big message like 'Maya was here' near the teleport.

rolled 11 + 3 = 14

>>9425566
Alchemy for markers.

rolled 13 + 3 = 16

>>9425566
It's not salvation, but it's a start. This could be a long journey.

rolled 6, 6, 4 = 16

>>9425553
There is a quartet of stars called 'Obelisk' which are aligned about the access of rotation. They were quite easily found when you were in Perin, but you don't see them now. Even after clearing the fog, you can't find the four stars, or any familiar constellations at all.

Don't tell me we are on the other side of the world.

>>9425632

Well...shit.

rolled 12 + 3 = 15

>>9425632
>>No North Star equivalent. No familiar constellations
So it's night already? Didn't know that.

Possibilities
1. Its magic. We can't rely on our Earth knowledge here.
2. We're in the wrong hemisphere of the planet.
3. We're on the wrong fracking planet
4. Far future or far past. Those mages saying 'you can't be real' right before we killed them suggests the future a bit too much.

rolled 4, 4, 6 = 14

>>9425583
Figuring that you might need to find your way back to this place, you press your hands to the ground beside the courtyard, calling your alchemic power.

>14

Stone pillars erupt from the dirt around you, each about 10 feet from the courtyard and half your height, imprinted with a stylish 'M'. You think you overdid it a bit, but at least they'll be visible.

>>9425576
Would you like this inscribed in the courtyard?

>>9425725

>Those mages saying 'you can't be real' right before we killed them suggests the future a bit too much.
>suggests the future
>the future
>future

SAMURAI MAYA IT IS THEN.

>>9425725
Possibly, could also be they were casting a totally different spell and certainly did not expect to see a frost giant with awesome magic powers to appear out of nowhere.

rolled 19 + 3 = 22

>>9425741
Yes, with the date.

>>9425798
Sorry about rolling, forgot to delete it.

>>9425741
"Maya was here and kicked ass"

Man, maybe killing those asshole mages was not the best thing

What's the range on our scrying? Could we make some ice, look through it and see through a pond or something in Dreamwood?

>>9425820
Hey, we were expecting the Fire Giant's diminutive cousins- we thought they might be too powerful to allow to leave a corpse, let alone leave alive.

>>9425820
In retrospect, maybe not. But to be fair, we were expecting hellish nightmare demons or the best super mages Forus had.

rolled 1, 5, 5 = 11

>>9425798
Done. Barely exerting yourself at all, you open furrows in the stone surface, carving 'Maya was here', along with the current date, into the courtyard. It would be difficult to miss it now.

>>9425811
That's alright. You didn't need to roll for that anyway.

So. You have plenty of options at the moment. You can travel in any direction, or stay where you are. With your alchemy, you could build a watchtower for yourself, or even a small fortress, with time.

>>9425891
How are we able to tell which way is north? Can we tell what time of night it is?

>>9425891
"and she kicked MAJOR ASS"

>>9425891
Ok, say we wanted to do some really long distance scrying, by sending a very small snow cloud out in one direction for a long time.

Would this be better accomplished up on the top of the mountain or could we do that just fine from where we are now?

>>9425820

Perhaps we went a bit overboard on the whole RIP AND TEAR thing. We were in a warzone though, can't be too careful. Next time we can make it a point to ask a question or two before obliterating the next thing that comes out of an ash cloud.

>>9425891

lol, I could see average /tg/-er going after all that he has been through going "fuck it, I'll just build a Dorf Fort"

rolled 5, 6, 2 = 13

>>9425862
There seems to be a hard limit around the two-mile mark, though you have broken such limits before, with massive expenditures of power.

>>9425905
One of the easiest magical tricks is to ascertain the direction of magnetic North. Even with your limited study of earth magic, you relearned that ability a long time ago.

You'd guess it's around 11 or midnight. The time of day is the same as it was at the fortress.

>>9425936

How about we make a boulder, through it using all our GIANT might and using it as a scry anchor to see even further or something

>>9425956

Let's blow our remaining power on a long-range scry. Regardless of what we find out, we can pass out and plan our next move in the morning.

>>9425956
Does this area seem more or less magically saturated or charged than Perin?

>>9425956

I vote we do what we did before to find civilization, head in a direction until we find a stream and follow the water.

rolled 2, 5, 2 = 9

>>9425936
It would make no appreciable difference, though you would still have to be within two miles of the cloud to see through it. You could accomplish the same effect by hefting a small ice ball, giving you a sort of flying camera.

rolled 3, 2, 1 = 6

>>9425994
Any particular direction, or all directions?

>>9426000
It doesn't feel any different, but you don't really know what magical saturation feels like, or if you are capable of sensing it precisely.

>>9425944
Dig greedily, dig deep!
>>9425956
I'm in favor of not screwing up our Circadian rhythm. How complicated-looking is the heraldry of Perrin? If it's simple enough, we should make the equivalent of the Nazca paintings in this wilderness, with the symbol of Perrin, or the runes of Hretmar and Illian. Remember, by default the gods see in 'way zoomed out' mode. Maybe this would get their attention?

Just thought of it- those runes might be helpful in contacting our patrons as well.

>>9426068
Seconding this, lets make a large inscription of the rune of Hretmar. We know that allows him to see better, maybe we can boost our incantation signal and contact him.

>>9426051

As much as we can manage to see, any and all directions.

>>9426068
Not just that, but the gods could just randomly notice that its there.

>>9426068

Thirding; don't see how it can hurt.

If we worked on the goggles proposed in >>9425222 we could make them polarized binoculars instead of just shades and/or safety goggles, which would give us sharp vision at long range (polarized lenses tend to sharpen images at the cost of dimming them, but our superior night vision should mean we need the definition more than the brightness), and climbing the mountain would give us an angle from which to view the landscape at large, so if you guys are worried about using too much magic for too long potentially bringing enemies to us like >>9425100 was, we could use minor alchemy to make spyglasses and then survey things without magic for a little while.

>>9426144
I'm not worried about enemies finding us. That's why I'm suggesting we leave all these markers and runes here.

>>9426144
That's a good thing to work on, in-game tomorrow maybe.

>>9426144
>>9426068

I agree with these plans, make a rune of Hretmar and bro-god just on the off chance that might help get them to notice, then go to the mountain with binocs.

rolled 5, 3, 1 = 9

>>9426068
Perin's primary symbol is two spears crossed over a scepter, sometimes ringed by runic text. You could make an approximation of it very easily.

>>9426121
>>9426143
Where do you want it, and how large? The immediate area is heavily forested, so it might be difficult to make an image with clear lines.

>>9426200
Seconded.

>>9426221
I am all for clearing a perimeter around where we teleported in to make it large.

>>9426221
If trees gotta die, then trees gotta die. We might not get it done before bedtime. (AND YES, WE SHOULD SLEEP SOMETIME SOON)

Do we have any way to contact gods who are nearby (ie in close physical proximity?)

>>9426221
I'm all for making the runes of Hretmar and Illian first. Perrin's heraldry can come later.

>>9426221
Nazca scale god-runes. Make 'em about 200x200 feet.

rolled 6, 2, 4 = 12

>>9426287
You could have the clearing itself form the lines of the image. The simplest way would be to slice through the trunks with ice blades.

Roll 1d20 if you wish to do this.

>>9426314
Generally, gods require unique incantations for direct contact, unless you are praying to a shrine or at a temple, or something like that. Since you don't know where you are, you don't know how to contact the deities present, if there are any.

rolled 18 = 18

>>9426367
Sure, we can always make it more permanent later.

rolled 3 = 3

>>9426381
We're doing god-runes, right?

>>9426367
>Generally, gods require unique incantations for direct contact, unless you are praying to a shrine or at a temple, or something like that. Since you don't know where you are, you don't know how to contact the deities present, if there are any.

Make a library using ALCHEMY!, inscribe it with Hretmar's rune and throw our books in it. Contact Hretmar

>>9426450
The library simply pleases Hretmar, iirc. The rune is what helps the contact.

>>9426450

BRILLIANT!!

rolled 5, 6, 4 = 15

>>9426381
Focusing your ice powers, you form dozens of thin, sharp blades from the watery fog, sending them careening through the trees, felling them in a specific pattern. To the thundering crashes of ancient hardwood, you sculpt your masterpiece.

>18

Feeling very much the artist, you lay down two runes, one of Hretmar and one of Ilian, on opposite sides of the courtyard, cutting down a fair bit of forest in the process. If the gods happen to look at this area, those will certainly catch their eye. Also, you are now well-supplied with wood, if you want to build a siege engine or craft yourself some spears.

>>9426530

Try the incantation again to see if that helped us get in contact.

>>9426530
>>Also, you are now well-supplied with wood, if you want to build a siege engine or craft yourself some spears.

The dorfy suggestions are like whispered seductions in Maya's ears. Must... hold... off.... temptation. We should set up a tripwire and get to sleep.

>you could build a watchtower for yourself, or even a small fortress
>build a siege engine or craft yourself some spears

Are you hinting at something, DM?

rolled 5, 2, 3 = 10

>>9426450
Roll 1d20+3 for alchemy, success on 9.

>>9426468
There is a specific rune used to dedicate structures to Hretmar, distinct from his chosen symbol. It might work on buildings other than libraries, but you don't know.

>>9426530

Let's bring the wood to the courtyard, I guess.
Having it all in one place will be more convenient no matter what we choose to do with it.

Also,
>>9424713
>The misty soup extends for miles around, thinning around hilltops and thickening in basins. It's low-lying, filtering out about 10 feet above your head, but there is no end in sight.
I say we make a twenty or thirty-foot stairway or ladder or something, out of ice or wood or alchemy or WHATEVER, and see what we can see. Getting above the fog layer is something we couldn't do when scrying with ice MADE of the fog layer, after all, so we might learn something.

rolled 14 + 3 = 17

>>9426570
What, we're building a library based on one suggestion? OK, i guess.

>>9426530
Lets try the incantation one more time, than look for somewhere to sleep for the night. Should head out in the mourning to the mountain and try to find out what we can see.

rolled 4, 1, 2 = 7

>>9426562
Unfortunately, you get the same result as before, for both Ilian and Hretmar. If the runes helped, they didn't help enough.

>>9426567
Pic related.

rolled 1, 1, 5 = 7

>>9426580
You begin dragging the logs to the courtyard. It will take an hour or two to bring them all, as they're quite large, and heavy even for you.

To the person who asked if you needed to sleep soon: You chugged a health potion just before the end of the last battle. You'll be good for another day, as long as you don't exhaust yourself completely.

>>9426586
I took 'Brilliant!' to be an affirmation. Library construction coming up.

>>9426652
Take his roll, make a library

>>9426652
Yeah, I was rolling on the alchemy for the library. Will it actually have reading material or will it just be a building?

>>9426707

We have some books on us if that's what it takes to make it a library.

>>9426707
We'll make it out of the ground with Alchemy just like way back before we died

rolled 2, 4, 4 = 10

>>9426707
Just a building. You have parchment and a dictation charm if you want to add something on top of the books you brought.

rolled 2, 6, 6 = 14

Going off to one side of the courtyard, you ready your alchemy once again, pressing your hands to the ground. If this works, you could be out of here in the next minute.

>17

Rough gray stone punches up out of the dirt, forming pillars, walls, arches, and a domed roof, all giant-size. The exertion keeps you breathing hard for a while before you stand, but you feel fine. The books you brought with you go into the shelves, one by one, and you inscribe the library rune on the interior wall with a simple touch from your finger.

You try the incantation, hoping your favorite god is looking your way. For a brief moment, you can see his face, blue-tinted, slightly blurry, and contorted into an expression of fear. You hear only one word, loud enough to make your ears ache, before contact is lost.

“RUN.”

>>9426776

We could write an epic tale of Maya's adventures. Prolong it to make like 12 tomes and put it there. No way it can't be counted as library

>>9426818

Oh god.

>>9426818

WE BEST START RUNNING

>>9426818
Oh Fuck...

MOVE

>>9426818

O shit niggah, get to the choppah.


Run to the mountain, I guess.

>I knew we would be going there stop railroading dm... jk

>>9426818

Let's get the hell out of dodge already!

My vote is running through the woods, get us some cover.

>>9426818
>>RUN

FUCK. Chuck the books back in our sack, and, well, book. As in make like a tree. And leave.

On the second thought.


WHERE do we run? We could make defensive structures or something while we wait.
I knew DM was getting us somewhere with his suggestions to build forts and ballistas

Can we still cast that charm we used way back when to conceal our tracks?

>>9426818

Fuck year, Bleeding Sun all up in this bitch.

>>9426818
Pick the books and get the hell away.

>>9426818

"Ow fuck, man, stop yelling!"

rolled 3, 6, 1 = 10

>>9426845
>>9426851
>>9426864
>>9426870
>>9426871
Taking the briefest moment to toss the books back into your pack, you run. The ground shakes beneath your feet as you bound over the earth, pushing through the fog with your aura clearing your vision.

You enter the forest, heading North, leaping through the trees while they scrape their branches against your heavy armor. Your path winds, taking you around the blasted trunks, but at every turn, there is something in your way, as if the trees themselves were moving. The underbrush seems to curl around your feet as you travel, but nothing can hold you.

On a whim, you look back over your shoulder, seeing the fog creeping in behind you, seeping between great black masses of bark coming together like walls. Thorns erupt from the trunks at your sides, raking your armor harmlessly. Around you, you can barely see a basin off to your left, devoid of life but full of fog, and a hill up in front, rising out of the gray soup and thick with growth.

Orders?

>>9427054
I'm a bit torn. We can hide in the fog, but the fog looks like it might have evil cooties.

I think this might be a false dichotomy. Is there a clearing nearby? Like maybe one we just made?

>>9427054

Can we turn up our cold aura so that it kills the vegetation as we run through?

>>9427054

Sure is FFIX in here.

My vote is to get out of the forest, I don't think the fog is evil.

>>9427054

I'd vote for heading up the hill; the plant life might be trying to kill us, but the fog seem pretty ominous.

rolled 2, 5, 6 = 13

>>9427102
The basin is the only clearing near you. Every other area within sight is forested, though you can extend your vision again if you wish.

>>9427106
Yes.

>>9427106
I'm for avoiding using magic if possible. Might attract attention.

>>9427158
So the hill is forested too?

>>9427054
Jesus, that's a conundrum.
1. Keep running, never stop running.
2. Get on the hill out of the fog--perhaps into safety, perhaps exposing ourselves to the true horror.
3. Get in the gully into thicker fog, perhaps damning ourselves, perhaps hiding from whatever's chasing us.

I don't know what to vote for, honestly. We don't tire too easily and have extra health/stamina potions, and the running option doesn't potentially turn a bad situation into an unliveable situation, but it might ALREADY be unsurviveable, and the black's probably gaining on us. The not-entirely-corporeal monsters are ALWAYS gaining on the hero, it's an immutable narrative law. So it might catch us before the next possible break.

The short-term solution in horror movies is generally to get to a relatively clear area, so the invisomonster will lurk back in the relative obscurity and attack later. So I guess I lean towards the hill.

rolled 1, 2, 5 = 8

>>9427171
It is.

rolled 5, 4, 1 = 10

>>9427141
>>9427201
Two for hill, I suppose. Hang on.

Head to the hill, cold aura set to "Frostbite" and take stock of our surroundings once we reach the top.

Man, Hretmar should have specified more instead of just yelling at us.

I hope now that we contacted him they could use all their power to talk to us again

>>9427272
Least we were able to contact him, thats a start.

>>9427272
We had a bad connection, that's all he could say.

>>9427316

Yes, my idea with the library worked :D
Man, do I feel important today.

rolled 2, 2, 4 = 8

You keep moving, dodging thorns and tearing through snare-like roots, heading for the hill. If this is all the forest can throw at you, your armor won't even get a scratch.

Reaching the top of the hill unharmed, tearing off a branch that managed to wrap around your arm, you turn quickly, looking back where you came. The clearings you made for the runes are no longer visible, but you can see the courtyard area as a gap in the treetops. You turn your aura up as much as possible, shielding yourself from fog and vegetation alike. The trees around you freeze solid, and the creeping masses of bark cease moving near the base of the hill.

As you watch, great, black tendrils begin extending up out of the ground beneath the courtyard clearing, and you can hear the sound of breaking stone.

Assuming we're going to be running for some time, how long would it take us to stop, alchemy up a dog-house sized structure, rip a page out of one of our book and use our diction charm to burn a report on said paper, and inscribe Hretmar's library run on the structure?

Since he can read whatever is in the library, could be a good way to ask for help if we can do it quick enough and continue running for our lives.

>>9427386

Okay, our aura of cold got rid of all the fog that would have dampened and vastly reduced our lightning's effects, so maybe if we hit the shadow with lightning it will do some good. Usually things made of shadow get scared or harmed in some way by things full of heat and energy and light.
Even Nyarlathotep got bothered by light when he went all Haunter of the Dark, after all.

But maybe it won't work here.

dig hole.
hide in it.
use alchemy to cover the entrance.
use scrying to observe.

>>9427386
I think that's our signal to keep moving. I was expecting an emissary of a fire god, something more firey and Forusian. No need to sprint, just go at a sustainable pace.

Avoid killing the vegetation if we don't need to. We shouldn't leave a lolobvious path.

>>9427386
The mountain is like two days travel from here right? Does there look like there are any clearings in the forest from here to the mountain where we could stop and rest on our way to the mountain?

>>9427386

D:

Keep running!

>>9427484
If there aren't any, we can make them. And if the trees are too agressive and growy, we can just tunnel.

rolled 2, 1, 5 = 8

>>9427418
That wouldn't take very long at all. Minutes, perhaps.

>>9427442
Your knives seem to have regained their charge, and the magelock is ready.

>>9427484
Several. Would you like to head for the nearest one?

>>9427510

We're a legendary giantess alchemist, not a legendary dorf miner. We can't tunnel straight to the mountain top faster than the stone-cracking ground-based black tentacles of eldritch mien can follow us.

>>9427537
How long till the nearest clearing? If reasonable (like, say inside two hours) lets go there and build the mini-library for Hretmar contact.

>>9427537
Yes, should keep moving, try to put as must distance as possible between that thing and us right now.

rolled 3, 4, 4 = 11

>>9427591
Less than half an hour, at your current pace.

>>9427537

Let's leave a message for Hretmar real, quick like; brief rundown of events from the battle 'til now, make sure to beg .for a teleport out ASAP.

Then lets put some more distance between us and whatever unspeakable evil is coming out of the ground.

>>9427616
Let's go then. Timeskip if nothing unusual (more unusual than ineffectual evil trees) happens.

>>9427591

I concur; more range from that black thing might give better reception.

I wonder what Forusians were planning.

Maybe some anons that they were trying to summon something horrible beyond comprehension but we were ported to it instead

rolled 6, 6, 4 = 16

As you move, you are continually assaulted by the malevolent vegetation, but when you weigh a solid ton and are armored with demon plates, you are rather difficult to stop. After a few minutes of running, the trees seem to give up on stalling you, and the blackness behind ceases to give chase.

A loud, chilling howl penetrates the forest as whatever's behind you emerges from the earth, followed by soft rustling as it starts moving, far from you.

You hear nothing more than the occasional howl or screech as you continue your journey, finally arriving in a wide clearing not much later. The everpresent fog sticks with you, but the forest has not renewed its attack, thankfully. Here you see your first sign of civilization: small, round holes at intervals along the border of the clearing, and the remains of a fire pit in the center.

Roll 1d20+3 for alchemy if you wish to construct a miniature library. Success on 5.

rolled 13 + 3 = 16

>>9427691
Minilibrary time!

>>9427691
It came up from below? Do we know that or just think that?

>>9427691
>small, round holes at intervals along the border of the clearing, and the remains of a fire pit in the center.
Jesus Christ, a deserted, emptied campsite, with no footprints or other signs of it's makers, no scorched earth or signs of a battle, no dropped utensils or tools, and the only garbage or debris left behind is a hole in the ground.
What the hell HAPPENS in this place?

I find the notion of making libraries in butt fucking nowhere and using them as telephone booths hilarious

As much as wish to keep nonparticipating to today, I can't. I'll read the archive later. I hope we get back to asskicking soon.

Don't fuck this up people.

I get a slight feeling of RAILROADAN, but it's still entertaining so I'm not gonna whine, much.

>>9427442
>Usually things made of shadow get scared or harmed in some way by things full of heat and energy and light.
>Even Nyarlathotep got bothered by light when he went all Haunter of the Dark, after all.
Huh, this might actually be a decent time to try making some thermite.

rolled 4, 2, 6 = 12

>>9427711
Taking a breather before amping up your magic, you summon your considerable energies, pressing your hands to the ground once again. This is a strange way to make contact, but at the moment it appears to be your only method.

>16

A small, stout model of a library springs out of the dirt, accompanied by a flash of gold and green. After inscribing the rune into its walls, you extract the dictation charm and a piece of parchment from your pack, speaking quickly as the howls continue.

You give a short report of your current status and what's happened here, just in case, along with a request for evac. After sliding the paper in and replacing the charm, you wait for a minute or so before you receive a response.

This time, you see no face, and hear no words. You are simply suddenly aware of a point, a destination not far from here, about an hour and a half Northwest. After that, contact is broken.

>>9427826
Ehh, its reasonable that the Forusians would know where we'd go. We killed one of their mage squads- which probably didn't make a scheduled communication. Then they scry the area, and see the 200 foot rune of Hretmar. Hretmar means that Maya bitch who's been causing trouble. Time to send the kill team.

>>9427869
Sounds like marching orders to me. Move for the indicated point.

LET'S GET GOING THERE THEN

>>9427869
Telegram! lol. Lets go where he suggested.

rolled 6, 6, 5 = 17

>>9427818
See you later. Thanks for being here.

>>9427826
As always, you are free to do as you please. I'm trying not to force you into anything.

>>9427893
And for Forus, kill team means random eldritch abomination.

>>9427869


Before we go, let's try making an ice ball, and using our crazy throwing skills to toss it as high as we can. We can use it to scry and try to gather some info on the black tendril-y thing. Just make it small enough that it won't notice.

>>9427987
Why haven't we used spiked balls made of ice as weapons before?

rolled 4, 6, 1 = 11

>>9427913
>>9427918
>>9427919
Having nothing better to do, you make for the point you saw, resuming your frenzied running. Behind you, the strange beast from the ground wails continuously, unable to catch up to a Frost Giant on 'gallop'. The forest, to its credit, has probably learned that it can do nothing to stop you, and you find your way without trouble.

You pass another clearing, this one without any sign of recent occupancy, and move on, the beast's cries fading out as you bring yourself beyond the range of its voice. In less than two hours, you reach another hill, this one overlooking your destination. Climbing out of the fog, you have yourself a good look around, and see something you should have expected.

A whirling cloud of ash, just below, centered in another clearing. Exactly where Hretmar told you to go.

rolled 1, 5, 5 = 11

>>9427987
I proclaim that you did this as you ran. Hang on.

As far as summoning eldritch abominations goes, technically, it was Maya who performed the unholy human sacrifice and sent huge masses of magical energy coursing through the tenebrous bonds between worlds, via lightning daggers, so it was really a team effort there.

I think that what happened was we overcharged their spell, overclocked it so much it did something completely different and unintended. I mean, we rolled pretty damn high when we electrified the dark tower, there's no way natural lightning could have competed with that.

>>9428079

Oh c'mon.

Make another mini-library, and ask H-man what the heck we're supposed to do now.

Also, we should have several stamina potions, so we could keep running for days, I think.

>>9428079

I now believe the ash clouds are Forus' summoning portals, and going into an ash cloud will summon us out of this world and into the middle of a Forusian battle line attempting to summon a Dimensional Shambler or such.

So we should yell "surprise motherfuckers!" and prepare a veritable storm of ice-related puns should we emerge in such circumstances.

>>9427893
We don't know what is happening exactly. This forest may have nothing to do with Forus and they just sent us to it. Or we ended up on accident because we disrupted the ritual with killing their mages and flinging wild magic everywhere.

rolled 3, 6, 1 = 10

>>9427987
You form a ball of ice in your hands, tossing it over your shoulder, as far as you can. It swings up in a long arc, becoming an improvised eye when you connect yourself to it. The globe of ice passes over your path, showing you the beast scuttling through the trees.

Big, black, with a dozen tendrils snaking around the tall trunks, its main bulk hidden by fog, which thickens considerably around its body. Tiny green eyes, arranged in clusters of three, line its back, focusing on your 'camera'. With one deft maneuver, the beast smashes it out of the sky, howling miserably.

>
A whirling cloud of ash, just below, centered in another clearing. Exactly where Hretmar told you to go.

>>9428115
Maybe that's the place that links these destinations? Some kind of portal, perhaps?

Hopefully we're not being chased by the Black Smoke.

Here's what I figured happened when we got teleported here. Certain living creatures from 'our' world and this one traded places. That includes those rather wussy mages we killed, they were probably helping to summon in our world. Whatever is/was in this current world got teleported into Perin in turn.

Shit is bad.

>>9428156
Oh lol, That would be so epic.

The horn sound they make is probably to attract the beast at that place

>>9428221
>>9428079
Head to the portal, tell any Forusians there to take us home or die. Or adapt as the situation may be. No time for libraries until we got eyeballs there.

rolled 1, 1, 4 = 6

>>9428115
You form another tiny library, scrawling 'what now' on a piece of parchment with a bit of charcoal from you pack. In it goes, and in seconds, you have your response.

“THROUGH,” accompanied by a vision of a thunderous storm, coursing with lightning and raining hail on what look like... fire ants?

>>9428217
>howling miserably

oh, c'mon, maybe it want to be friends and give some hugs?

>>9428217

This howling, does it sound like "Tekeli-Li?"

>>9428289
Heh, I like.
>>9428281
Shoggoth hugs!! (squish)

fire ants?

maybe referring to Forusians? ... i don't know

>>9428280
That's probably what's on the other side of the portal. GET THERE PEOPLE.

>>9428280
>fire ants?
Humans were described as looking tiny, somewhat ant-like from a divine perspective, this must be Forusian fire-mages from a divine view as interpreted by our mortal mind.
Let's go through the dark portal.
And pack our puns, we're gonna need 'em.

>>9428346

But chug down a stamina potion before we go through if we are getting tired. Who knows what's in there?

>>9428280

Onward to the ash then! Transmute us a new shield, activate ice armor, and charge into the cloud.

>>9428280
It seems we need to go through that smoke portal, fighting our way though Forusian armies. Wonderful.

rolled 2, 3, 4 = 9

>>9428289
It's unearthly, resembling no language you've ever heard. Resembling the wail of the Hunters from Marathon.

>>9428346
>>9428368
>>9428372
Consensus: In. 'Ere we go.

inb4 we turn up right in there capitol, inside the palace during the meeting of highest authorities

>>9428379
Only chug one of the little stamina potions. Got it?

>>9428403

don't forget PREP time

rolled 4, 3, 4 = 11

>>9428412
You can't handle the little ones. If you tried to pop the cork, you'd probably smash the bottle.

>>9428429
You won't go in unprepared.

>>9428463
let's go then.

Can't be worse than that abominable beast that is hunting us

>>9428494
>>Can't be worse.
DON"T SAY THAT. Don't tempt Murphy.
Let's say that it's more likely that we can do something productive on the other side.

TIME TO KICK SOME ASH!

I'VE COME HERE TO FREEZE ASH AND CHEW STAMINA POTIONS!

-ahem-

Yes make it through the Ash cloud quickly.

Shield and mace at the ready.

Also much respect for previous Anons 'tagging' this cursed land with it's first experience of magical graffiti.

I can only imagine the battle reports.

>>9428494
>things can't POSSIBLY get worse!
Oh come on now.

rolled 2, 3, 1 = 6

Moving with a purpose, you head for the ash, stopping just long enough to make yourself a steel shield, of the kind you seem to go through very quickly. Thick ice creeps over your armor, and you prepare your flail while downing a potion, feeling instantly rejuvenated. As you approach, you hear a dull hum, accompanied by a beat from the ground, identical to the one made by the black tower.

Charging through the forest, well-armed and ready for war, you pray that Hretmar isn't sending you into a horrible trap. Or a volcano.

The ash takes hold of your body as soon as you step within it, dragging you forward and lifting you off the ground. You hear the sounds of battle, the tower's beat intensifying. Breath held, muscles tensed, you await your return.

Your boots hit solid ground. The air crackles with electricity, smelling strongly of blood. You find yourself in a small, black-walled room, lit by a red glow, with a ceiling barely tall enough to accommodate you. There are fifteen men here, all robed, mouths open. They look surprised to see you.

>>9428613

Smile and say:

"Ice to meet you all."

Ice grenades in every torso.

>>9428613
Its cobbering time. Can we put an ice grenade in the middle of them without hurting ourselves?

>>9428613

"ICE TO MEET YOU."
"YOU'RE ON THIN ICE HERE."
"SO SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY, OR YOU CAN KISS MY ICE."

rolled 6, 1, 5 = 12

>>9428652
Roll 1d20 for grenades. Success on 4.

>>9428652
Seconded but only ice a couple of them use the flail on most of them.

>>9428613

OMG we're in one of the towers, probably at another base. We have to burst through the wall Kool-Aid man style.

But first, the mages; seems kinda cramped right? Flash freeze the place.

RIP&TEAR!(tm)

rolled 6, 1, 2 = 9

>>9428677
>cobbering

Ha ha. Corn.

Yes, you can.

rolled 17 = 17

>>9428686

This is gonna be great

>>9428692

Would totally awesome if we annihilated the whole garrison all by ourself hours before Perin sends counter attack and finds us chilling there next to a huge pile of bodies

rolled 20 = 20

>>9428686

>>9428613

"Not one of you M'FERS MOVE or I ventilate every last M'Fing one a ya!"

Then proceed to demolish them leaving ONE for information.

>>9428732

We should totally do this.

>>9428726
>17
Yes. Yes it is.

rolled 6, 5, 5 = 16

“Ice to meet you.”

>17

Fifteen men detonate as one, their chests tearing open in a mess of gore, covering your armor and weapons with their shredded remains. Their corpses drop unceremoniously to the floor, and the tower's sound redoubles in power, shaking you where you stand.

There are eight doors, all composed of single stone slabs, equidistant from the center of the room. An iron ladder leads upward into the blackness.

Orders?

>>9428732
Don't forget we're not omnipotent. And that the portal is still open behind us. Keep one of them alive to get the portal closed.

>>9428803
Does the portal look open?

I suggest we take that ladder.

>>9428803
"Launch the probes!"

Use the ice ball to "see" what's ahead.

>>9428811
too late now, derp

>>9428845
Launch probe up ladder. Launch second probe out a door. Then choose path.

>>9428803

If the ash is still flying around, transmute it into ice or freeze it out of the air, so SOMETHING to change it's state.
My bet is that radically altering the portal on one end but not the other will unbalance it and maybe make it shut down.

>>9428803

We need to bring this place down, and do it RIGHT this time. Use our alchemy charm to determine what this place is made out of. See if we can get any clues to destroying it.

rolled 5, 6, 6 = 17

>>9428842
You can see no portal. This room is completely clear of ash.

The ladder is human-size, and probably won't support two and a half tons easily.

>>9428845
Roll 1d20 for ice scry. Success on 6.

>>9428803
>the tower's sound redoubles in power

Fucking death magic.

>>9428866
I like this idea. We need to stop the summoning and take down the tower. I still want a probe up the ladder to see if there's someone who needs to die there.

Oh wait. I completely forgot, try to contact Hretmar.

Once we are safely out of the tower, we need to use alchemy to reform the tower so that its solid, barring any passage into our world.

rolled 6 = 6

>>9428908
Ice scry GO

>>9428935
barely

>>9428803

Did we just leave a portal open to Fog Hell?

I suggest we get up the ladder if we're capable.

Also if the ladder is arranged to fit Maya 2.0's lanky frame then we'd best be on the lookout for more pink blooded T-1000 fire giants.

I don't think Forus is a 'handicapped accessible' sort of evil magma lord puppet-nation.

>>9428935

Cutting it close!

Oh and no killing prisoners this time. I told you it would not be cool before but you didn't listen.

>>9428613

Can you tell us more about the room? What's the red glow coming from? Are there any noticeable runes in the walls/floors/ceiling?

>>9428971

Yeah, i think we can cross off electrical attacks of the list of possible ways to resolve this situation. Maybe if we froze them all...

>>9429019
We just killed Forusian fire mages with ICE, and it still seemed to enhance the death magic effect.

rolled 2, 2, 5 = 9

>>9428935
Well, here you are. Better make this count.

>6

Two spheres of ice form in your hands. You push one of the stone doors open, just enough, and launch one of the spheres on an upward path. The other goes up through the inside, following the ladder's course. You link yourself to both.

The tower goes up at least six stories, with small, hexagonal rooms taking up each level, unlit and walled with smooth black stone. There seem to be runes painted on the walls, all in red. As for the outside, the other globe enters a cloud of ash and swings up, getting a glimpse of a fortress much like the one you left, besieged by hundreds of mages, swordsmen, and cavalry. Its crumbling walls are overflowing with Forusians, and a brief look behind shows you a black tower, encrusted with iron spikes, exactly like the last.

There are Perinese soldiers impaled on every one. At least 50 of them.

>>9429019
No. No directly killing the prisoners. Any death(s) within the strcture on on it strengthens it. We have to shoot the weakpoint for MASSIVE DAMAGE.

>>9429043

Good point. Suppose the best course of action would be taking apart the tower itself. Depending on scry results, let's try deconstructing the place.

>>9429052
Destroy the runes with alchemy!

>>9429052

Disable the runes! Use our powers of alchemy to warp the stone of the tower, and erase them!

>>9429043

Maybe we could do cryogenics here?
Focus all our ice magic and stamina to Aura of Cold everyone around the radius of a few hundred yards into cold sleep?

>>9429052

I wonder if we could redirect the tower portal somehow and have Perin army porting right inside the fortress.

Will destroying those runes and replacing them with Ilian's and Hretmar's runes do the trick?

rolled 2, 4, 4 = 10

>>9429002
The red glow emanates from a metal ring around the ceiling, which is humming in time with the tower's sound. This room is clear of runes, but there is a strange diagram painted on the floor, with a very intricate design.

>>9428866
The alchemy band tells you that the walls are composed almost entirely of charcoal, which doesn't make any sense. The rest of it is iron.

>>9428929
The incantation fails. Since you're in the center of the tower, this is not surprising.

Can we set up a time delay with our alchemy to take effect not immediately? We need to get into the ash cloud and out to the fortress, and not be stranded in here.

>>9429043

Perhaps human sacrifices fuel these horrible constructions?

ANY human deaths that is.

>>9429085

Seems like the thing to do; also use that item we have to determine the composition of the tower; our intel could prove useful if we live through all this.

rolled 6, 3, 4 = 13

>>9429085
>>9429098
You press your hands to the wall, focusing on the rooms above. Green and gold flashes light up the interior of the tower as you work your magic, erasing or warping the runes wherever you find them. The tower's sound transforms into a quick, reverberating beat, like your heart after running non-stop for two hours.

The circle beneath you glows bright yellow-orange.

>>9429117

Oh lordy get rid of that diagram on the ground; it's probably the summoning circle. Destroy that, and the rest of the runes. Bust the red circle while we're at it.

>>9429117
>>Metal ring glowing and humming with the tower.
We've gotta deface their work. First, fuck up the symbol on the floor. Deface and destroy

Second, destroy the runes on the tower with alchemy. Analyze the tower or whatever we need to do.

Third, fuck up that glowing metal ring.

If that seems to work, go outside and start killing people. If there's opportunity, rescue impaled prisoners.

>>9429052

Scale the outside of the tower, taking Perinese soldiers off of the pikes as we go.
Give each soldier we grab at least a taste of healing potion; maybe the residual magic from what's keeping them alive and suffering, pushed by the health potion, will be enough to keep them alive.

>>9429178

Gah! Erase the circle! Double-time!

>>9429203
>If that seems to work, go outside and start killing people

This might not be very smart. We ARE strong but the enemy could be 1000 men strong, every single one of those potentially a mage.

>>9429117
>the walls are composed almost entirely of charcoal

It's a summoning element for the swirling smoke. Start wrecking shit like the diagrams on the floor and put a break in that ring in the ceilling.

>>9429213

I don;t think we have health potions, only stamina. Maybe if we use our health magick but don't expect kickass results like we have with ICE magiks

>>9429264

The stamina potions ARE health potions.
They give stamina if you aren't critically injured.

>>9429264

I think they're health potions, but they restore our stamina instead since we don't generally have much in the way of wounds when wwe use them.

rolled 6, 1, 1 = 8

>>9429180
>>9429203
>>9429221
As fast as you can, you shift your focus, looking to the floor. The circle on the floor courses with green, and the tower picks up its pace, sending massive pulses through its structure. The circle refuses to respond to alchemy, and any attempt to distort or remove it is met with a high-pitched whine from the walls. It continues to glow, brighter with every passing second.

The glowing red ring smashes easily, its iron frame shattering like glass. The only light is now provided by the circle. Ash is beginning to creep through the gap in the door you forced open.

>>9429322
Protip-
Higher frequency vibrations are more energetic. Lets fuck up the tower a little more then book. It's gonna blow, not summon something. Maybe rescue a soldier if we can.

>>9429322

Fuck it, freeze the damn circle.

Fight fire with ice

Did we remove the runes?

Will inscribing Iliam's or Hretmar's runes do any good for use?

>>9429322
Magmasteel spear. Use it like a chissle and chip away part of the rune.
Quickly. Then GTFO and try to save a couple soldiers from the spikes.

Erase that summoning circle, doubletime!

too bad we killed all the mages. AGAIN. We could have forced them to tell what the fuck and how to stop it

>>9429322

Is there any way to weaken the walls, like freezing them? If so, let's cause al lthe damage we can, then leave a heap of frost grenades behind, set just long enough for us to get out of the tower and get over the walls.

>>9429401
Dubious.

>the walls are made of charcoal
I wonder if they would burn if we lit them on fire. Of course, starting a coal fire while you're in the middle of the coal isn't a good idea, so this is purely idle thought.
Whatever is happening, we aren't doing any good inside it. We need to gtfo, and I think we should try saving at least ONE of the impaled soldiers while we do it.

>>9429449

THIS

rolled 6, 5, 6 = 17

>>9429369
How do you want to attack the tower?

>>9429381
The circle is blindingly bright now. The whine continues regardless of what you do. You manage to cover a small part of it with ice, but it evaporates in seconds. Shielding yourself, you form a grenade just beneath the surface, but you only hear a dull thump as it detonates, doing nothing.

>>9429401
You did. There is no way to know what inscribing other runes will do, and you can't ask at the moment.

We should do our best to save at least one soldier out of this mess, but also make sure that tower blows as we make our escape.

lol /tg/, you so bi-polar

Previous thread: KILL THE DAMN PRISONERS
Now: b-but at least save one of them ;_;

Make a library

/advicemaya/

Contact Hretmar


>I'm serious

>>9429503

don't forget paranoid. Remember all that talk after the last thread about "oh shit, we're in OUR base, killin our doodz"

rolled 1, 3, 6 = 10

>>9429405
You have no spear, though you have a knife. Stabbing the circle with it results in a hot blade, but no damage.

>>9429449
Roll 2d20. First for grenades, second for speed.

>>9429503

Well frying all the prisoners last time backfired on us, might as well try a different approach!

rolled 18, 17 = 35

>>9429539

rollin

>>9429503

I voted against killing the prisoners.
So did several others.
Now the rest have learned their lesson.

rolled 9, 7 = 16

>>9429539

Let's make like a tree and GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

rolled 18, 4 = 22

>>9429539

rolled 10, 12 = 22

>>9429539
In it to win it.

>>9429539

oh, oh, Subprocessor! Can we scream OH YEAH! as we bust out of the tower?

>>9429548
*KA-BOOM*
*zzzzzzoooOOOOOOoooom*

>>9429598

Please? :D

>>9429598
"Revenge best served ICE cold.

I gotta say, this is the first time we haven't majorly screwed up one of the rolls on a double roll.

>>9429548

>>9429618
The colder the better it tastes

"Oh, YEAH!"

>>9429548
IT'S TIME TO FREEZE THIS HELL OVER!

rolled 5, 5, 2 = 12

>>9429548
You've seen enough. Time to get the hell out.

>18

You kick the nearest door open, filling the insides of the walls with as many grenades as you can, setting them for what you hope is enough time.

“OH YEAH!”

Exiting, covered in gore, you vault up through the ash, grabbing hold of the edge of one of the lower spikes, making the man attached to it scream in pain.

The circle's light bleeds through the edges of the tower. The beat has become a screech, an unending, piercing whine that makes your head throb. You retrieve one of your small potions, smashing the neck of the bottle between finger and thumb, pouring the lifegiving liquid into the prisoner's open mouth.

>17

You drag the helpless man off the spike, pulling him free even as he heals, leaving twisted and burnt scraps of flesh behind. You throw him over your shoulder, and jump off.

The grenades go off, blowing the tower's base apart. Its massive, black form begins to topple over, but thankfully, in the opposite direction.

The ash clears instantly. The circle's light dies. You are now surrounded by a thousand angry Forusians, holding a screaming soldier.

>>9429730
Oh Fuck

MASSIVE ICE AURA

>>9429730
Good thing we've got a tower shield. And that they're being attacked from the other direction too. Ice grenades, AND keep moving while things are still chaotic.

DYNAMIC ENTRY!
Uh. Call for help from the gods?
DYNAMIC EXIT!

rolled 4, 5, 1 = 10

>>9429750
>>9429757
Roll 2d20. First for aura, second for grenades. Successes on 6 and 7.

>>9429730

Alchemy up an iron boulder, and use it to blast a path clear to the nearest hole in the wall/rampart stairs. Run trough said path, dropping ice grenades all the way.

With the circle down, I think we're free to lay waste once again.

>>9429730

put the soldier down and lay him out flat then declare with a nice shit eating grin at the forusians
"Problem Forus?"

rolled 6, 14 = 20

>>9429785

"prepare to get rolled, faggots"

>>9429785

Woah, woah, woah! wont's the aura kill the prisoner too?

rolled 19, 14 = 33

>>9429785
Also we have a certain line to say...

Looks like we're auto-saging; archive anyone?

rolled 6, 2, 3 = 11

>>9429808
No. You can change its inner radius. On a natural one, on the other hand...

>>9429809
Damnit you people need to stop rolling before burning finger, that pic hasn't failed us yet.

>>9429844

Oh good; we've already gonna have to explain a char-broiled prisoners at the last battle. Would hate to have to answer why the sole survivor had to be thawed out for his debriefing.

We can probably fit the guy's entire body under our shield.
If we could somehow bind the guy to our back and sling the shield over him, we could totally haul ass, dual-wielding our flail and an ice saber while spraying mind-bullets down our path to clear our way, and STILL have okay protection from our ice-encrusted magma steel plates.

>>9429844
Well thankfully it wasnt a one. Grenades are more useful than aura anyways.

>>9429844

We're gonna need to get out of that courtyard quick; let's get the prisoner tucked behind our tower shield and make a bee-line for the nearest gap in the walls, flailing as we go.

I imagine the reaction of besieging Perin army.
"OK, we need to destroy that tower fast or we will be in much trouble. This will be bloody an will require many sacrifi- wait did it just fel down?"

>>9429906
And giving them ice grenade gifts. Mass death and confusion helps.

rolled 3, 3, 1 = 7

>>9429804
You shift the soldier to your arm, getting him behind the shield as you start to take hits.

“KISS MY ICE.”

>6

Your aura extends, freezing at least a dozen men solid, and forcing the others back. More and more of them swarm around you, a good half of them wearing mage robes, firing crossbow bolts and fireballs while the tower crushes a hundred of their brethren behind you.

>14

Grenades go out, appearing in the midst of the oncoming enemy. You get moving, soldier and shield held by the same arm, protecting him from the icy projectiles while swinging your flail wildly. He shouts again and again, clutching his chest.

“What the fuck! What the fuck!”

Your aura clears you a path, freezing everyone who gets in your way. You're almost to the wall, and you can see your allies forcing their way into the breach. One of the horsemen notices you barreling towards him.

“It's Maya! Fall back! Clear the way! Fall back!”

Looks like they have their hands full. You can hear several horns in the distance.

How difficult is it to contact Hretmar? Now that tower is down we should be able to do it, but every second counts and is contact would interrupt our spellcasting we should get the hell away first.

>>9429984
That man will have odd nightmares for years. Let's keep doing what we're doing and get out. Ice grenades to our rear to prevent backstabbing.

rolled 3, 6, 6 = 15

>>9430009
You're still within range of the anti-scrying charms. Once all the mages are dead, or you're a mile or two away, you'll be able to contact them again.

>>9429984

Clear the breach, and get the prisoner handed off to a medic. Shout warnings about the horns to the soldiers. See if we can get some troops to split off from the assault and accompany us for some abomination hunting.

>>9429984

Horns? As in, more than one? What directions?

>>9430054
>>9430034
These. Continue to GTFO, but keep shooting.

>>9430089

Hunt them. Stalk them. Tear them apart.

rolled 6, 5, 2 = 13

>>9430034
>>9430054
You run, under constant fire, stomping toward the wall, casting grenades in every direction, keeping them off your back. The soldier hasn't stopped making noise since you pulled him off the tower, but you suppose you'd be a bit riled up too if something like that happened to you. In any case, you're getting him out of here, and he damn well better live through it.

Armor and flail dripping with blood, shield covered in impact marks and scorched to hell, you make it to the breach, where the Perinese have kindly pulled back far enough to let you out.

“The horns!” you shout, putting your boot through a Forusian mage, “Blow em' up!”

You burst through the wall, careening around a damaged siege tower and setting your loud buddy on the grass, calling for a medic as about 50 mages and archers come up around you, ready for your commands.

Three horns, two of them close together, all approaching from the same general direction. The third is accompanied by a trio of bouncing orange lights, and it's the nearest to you.

>>9430191
Good line of sight? What would be more accurate, laser or grenades?

>>9430226
>>9430191
Fire ze lazors!

>>9430191
Time for some alchemy boulders. Targets are the nearest horn, the two distant horns (assuming we can get them both in one shot) and the orange lights, which I assume are the eyes of something large and unpleasant.

>>9430226

Laser is more accurate, but the grenades are more damaging.

That said, I vote ICE LASER

>>9430191

Let's try the same approach as last time; have a mage light up the nearest one, and proceed to chuck boulders at it, focusing on the horn first. Don't forget about the balista!

Also, could we set up some sort of ice barrier for our back-up? The mages are far to prone to melting when we fight these things. We should at least warn them about the magma.

rolled 4, 1, 4 = 9

>>9430226
You have line of sight on the nearest. Your most accurate attacks would be thrown iron or ice laser. At this range, your grenades would be likely to miss, or detonate too far from the target.

rolled 3, 6, 4 = 13

>>9430254
>>9430255
>>9430263
>>9430269
Roll 2d20+3 for laser and boulders. Successes on 7 and 10, automatic success on boulder aim.

You will attempt to use your aura to shield your allies from magma attacks. Rolls will be situational.

rolled 16, 2 + 3 = 21

>>9430321

rolled 9, 14 + 3 = 26

>>9430321
Blow em up good

rolled 5 = 5

>>9430282
Alchemy time.

Laser.

Also give First rank FIRE! Second rank FIRE! For those Perinian mages and archers.

rolled 5, 5, 5 = 15

>>9430336
You direct everyone to attack the nearest target, advising them that the enemy likes to use magma, and even with you shielding them, some might not make it. No one is phased by this.

“For Perin! Tear them asunder!”

You level your gauntlet, praying for success.

>16

A thin white beam lances from your palm, striking out at the approaching target. You hit it directly in the eyes, raking the beam across its face, freezing the glowing orbs solid. As it howls, shaking from side to side, you take the beam upward, hoping you can get the ballista and the tower as well.

You do. The horn is silenced, and the beast staggers under numerous hits from the mages and archers, its eyes breaking apart. It opens its mouth, exposing the molten rock within.

>5

Black iron bubbles up from the ground, forming a small, steaming pool. You are unimpressed.

The other two targets are taking infrequent hits. Most of the attacking force is occupied with the fortress.

rolled 5, 3, 5 = 13

>>9430444
I'm assuming you'll want to try the alchemy again. Roll another d20+3 if this is the case.

rolled 10 + 3 = 13

>>9430464
Progress!

>>9430444
Good thing their magma beast is a long way away. Die thingie. Next would be the other two horns.

rolled 1, 2, 3 = 6

>>9430475
You don't have time for this. Your day's been bad enough as it is.

>13

The earth yields, giving you but a tiny piece of its massive reserves of iron, transforming it into three perfect metal spheres in a burst of green and gold. You throw the first without a second thought, hefting it over the heads of your brother soldiers.

It curves, entering the nearest beast's gullet and ripping a sizable hole in it, letting its magma spill uselessly on the ground. It collapses under concentrated fire, skull ripped to pieces and flesh aflame, as you ready your second shot.

The eyes of the next two abominations are only just becoming visible. You center them in your vision, and throw. The impact of the improvised weapon blows a bloody chunk through the second creature's head, throwing it to the ground, horn and all.

Your last shot bounces off the ground, entering the last beast's abdomen and making a mess of its internals. Glowing streams of magma exit its body, lighting up the ground as it falls, rolling over with a horrible, graceless bellow.

The horns are no more. The mages and archers cheer you, massing to rejoin their comrades retaking the fortress. From the cavalry charging through the walls, you assume it's almost over.

Orders?

>>9430656

mop up any remaining enemy mages, try to contact brogod network

>>9430656
>you assume it's almost over

You'd think we'd know by now NEVER ASSUME THIS.

Assist the attackers however we can though we may want to double check that all of the beasts and anything near them are out of action.

>>9430656
The magma beasts LOOK down. Let's go make sure.

>>9430722
This. We're autosaging, by the way.

rolled 6, 3, 2 = 11

>>9430722
>>9430751
You take a moment to make very, very sure that the siege beasts are dead, freezing the crushed and broken ballistas with your ice laser, just in case. With that task taken care of, you jump back into the fray, running back to the fortress and climbing the battlements to knock off some mages.

The flail makes short work of the robed Forusians, cleaving through soft bodies like they're nothing. For several long minutes, you fight alongside your allies, obliterating all who oppose you and searching for any prisoners who may still be alive.

Miraculously, several of the poor soldiers survived the tower's fall, and the few healers who are still left tend to them as best they can. Unfortunately, the rest of the fortress's defenders are even worse shape. You aren't sure what hellish rituals these bastards were performing here, but the result fills you with more rage than you can stomach.

Most of the remaining Forusians are torn apart. The commander of this expedition insists on keeping a few of them alive for interrogation.

You climb back up to the battlements and survey the fallen beasts. They have remained as they are, thoroughly and completely dead. You put in a call to Illian and Hretmar.

It works. The first thing you do is thank your patron god for getting you out of... wherever you were.

He says he's glad to have been of service, and commends your ingenious use of the library link. Ilian tells you that you alone are worth quite a lot of his men. He's having trouble sorting out your kill count.

>>9430656
Continue fighting, try to demoralize Forusians/inspire Perinians.

rolled 1 = 1

>>9430656
Freeze the Magma Beast's body just in case. Dont spend too much power on it in case we need it for later.

Also, somebody archive this thread.

rolled 5, 6, 4 = 15

Alright, this has been a long day.

The next story post will be the last. Is there anything you want to ask the gods, or do?

>>9431033

Ask how the other fight went after we got portal'd out.

>>9431068
Archive complete, I hope I did it right.

>>9431033
Are we at the same fortress that we left earlier? I guess no. Tell Hretmar thanks for the directions, ask where the hell we were and what happened.

Ask them if there's any word from the base we were SUPPOSED to be counter-siege-ing?

>>9431073
Where exactly were we? And what exactly these towers are for? And what purposes does impaled prisoners serve.

>>9431106
You screwed up the tags. Eh no matter.

>>9431106
you made up new tags, quotes weren't required.

>>9431172
>>9431165
Damn, the tag system isn't well explained... but yeah I screwed up.

>>9431244
Just copy paste tags from previous thread, there's no "system".

rolled 3, 4, 5 = 12

>>9431068
Done. You use the spreading ice to cover the three siege beast corpses, ensuring that they will not get up again.

>>9431088
Your allies won, at a steep cost. The Forusians fought to the last breath, but at least they were unable to keep the portal open long enough to bring through whatever they were trying to summon.

Several towers remain, but none of the gods know if any are complete. The telltale effects of their activation are not present, at least.

>>9431115
No, you aren't. Hretmar accepts your thanks gratefully, happy to be of use. When you entered the ash, you were transported to 'somewhere else', and your trick with the lightning caused a piece of the fortress to go with you. With a very, very powerful scrying spell, the gods were able to punch through the next tower's fields, and pinpoint its portal destination in relation to you. They still have no idea where the portals go, though. All they could do was provide a bit of guidance.

>>9431033

Ask how the battle went at the previous fortress, if our guys made it out or not.

Also ask about progress at the rest of the fortresses.

Tell Illian and company all about the towers and that place we ported to, and have them get that info to Perin HQ & the Conclave.

>>9431322
Ask them when the next raid goes off. Also, we need to get more giant-sized stamina potions through the bro network.

>>9431322

Are Erivrus and Siskiv still alive?

rolled 3, 3, 3 = 9

>>9431124
It was retaken, with 90% allied casualties. Another siege beast showed up after you were transported, and did quite a lot of damage.

>>9431135
Where you were, nobody seems to know. It was probably just another part of the world, and, given the similar vegetation, the number of places it could be is narrowed down a bit.

The towers serve to generate portals, using, as speculated earlier in the thread, death magic. When they activate, they leech the energy they need from the prisoners, obviating the need for hundreds of dedicated mages. The souls of the sacrifices are destroyed in the process, and the tower's field stabilized by the chants of the Forusians around it.

>>9431322

discribe, in detail, what we remember from the inside of the tower, including the circle and any rune we can remember. This should help in providing a potential countermeasure.

I think we just figured out how to deal with the enemy siege beasts. Engagement at extreme range- it appears we're stronger than them that far out.

How tired are we? I'd say we hop on the next god-sponsored mass-teleport to the next battle, but we should get some shut-eye in the meantime. We've been fighting for like, 4 threads now.

rolled 1, 1, 6 = 8

>>9431355
No moves have been made on the remaining fortresses. The gods have expended almost all of their power, and cannot teleport for a while.

You tell them everything you know. Ilian will relay your information to his contacts near the Capitol. Given the government's state of disarray, it might be a while before anything substantial is done about it.

>>9431370
The next raid will be organized as soon as the gods have the power to 'port enough people in. It's scheduled in two days, but it may have to be sooner, if the towers are lit up.

Any healer worth his salt can mix you up a giant-size dose. As soon as the resources are available, you'll have as many as you need.

>>9431416
Erivrus was slain, along with the rest of his squad. Siskiv is alive, but critically injured. He repeatedly refuses to fail in his duty to protect you, and is expected to survive.

See if we can assist with our healing magics, assuming we're not immediately going to another battle.

>>9431579
Are one of the remaining fortresses within marching distance? If not, lets get in contact with a healer to get more biggie-size potions, then start resting up hard core.

>>9431579

Was Erivrus' soul saved at least? Just curious.

>>9431599
We still kinda suck at healing. We should rest up for the big explosions we'll need to make soon.

rolled 5, 4, 4 = 13

>>9431467
You do this, attempting to send some images through the link. Before Hretmar gave you those visuals when you were on the other side, you didn't know how to do that. It's energy-intensive, but much better at transferring the information you've got. One of Ilian's bros recognizes some of those symbols. He will have everyone available working on a countermeasure, as will the Conclave when they find out, no doubt.

>>9431570
You're almost out of power, but a single giant potion will restore you to full, given your uninjured status. You've been very lucky.

> Siskiv is alive, but critically injured. He repeatedly refuses to fail in his duty to protect you, and is expected to survive.

Sounds like someone need a promotion.

>>9431662
If it's 2 days until the next battle, let's just rest and save the potion for when we need it.

>>9431662

Eh, I'd say save the potions, we can't be sure when we're going to get more out in the field. Just get us some shut -eye.

>>9431658

Might be good practice at least; doubt they'd turn down even a half-assed healer at this point.

rolled 3, 1, 2 = 6

>>9431599
You have no dedicated healing magic, but alchemy can be used, in a pinch. You'll see what you can do.

>>9431628
Technically, all of them are, but the closest one is at least five days away. You will have more potions as soon as Ilian can spare a healer.

>>9431638
Yes. He is in Ilian's care, attempting to decide on a new body.

Save up, replenish supplies, get some good rest for the next assault. I'm willing to bet we'll be in the worst of it at that point.

We should come up with a way to get to the towers with minimal enemy deaths, so we get more time to deal with the towers before they activate. Dual-wield shields and bash our way through?

>>9431579

Any idea if we remembered enough of the fel-Beastie back in the mists to describe it to command and bro network?

Might be something in legends about it.

Unless the Forusian's are trapping the things and using them for arcane fuel for even WORSE shenanigans.

rolled 6, 3, 5 = 14

>>9431798
You could hitch a ride inside a siege engine.

>>9431859
Yes. That was included in your infodump, but none of the gods recognized that exact brand of creature. It resembles several other types of beast, and its features, green eyes included, suggest a nature or earth-aligned being. It would be odd for Forus to deliberately summon something non-fire-aligned, so perhaps its appearance was just a coincidence.

'Less anyone else wants to do anything, I'd say we timeskip to the next teleport. Highlights to include tending the wounded, sleeping, getting equipment prepped, and discussing plans with officers about expediting the destruction of the towers with minimal killing. Assuming they'll be coming along with us of course.

rolled 1, 3, 5 = 9

>>9432020
We're at the end of the session. Apologies.

>>9432086

Oh, my bad. Can't wait for next week's session!

rolled 3, 4, 3 = 10

>>9432127
Me either. See you there.

>>9432176
Another good thread.

>>9432086
Thanks for another good installment subDM. Weirdly, it was enjoyable being completely lost.