You’re not an especially happy dragon today.

Sitting back in your chair, you take another sip of your iced tea, watching the traders and buskers make their way around the market, all trying to capitalize on the news that the Dwarves would be out of the game for a little while.

The rest of your adventure, however, seems to have been kept behind closed doors...not that there was much to tell after you’d saved Samal’s life. Baha blanked you the rest of the journey even as you guarded her through toward the library- or rather the half-step she took toward it before turning back, leaving the Hold for dead. It took Samal calling out to you with an explanation for you to realize the danger of the small glinting growing out through the passageways...not separate things at all, but part of some larger structure. A massive carnivorous crystal, no doubt summoned or obtained from the elemental plane of earth, and moving to rapidly consume the entire hold and all that lived inside. The Gnome had apparently spread word at it off-limits, the place ruined and uninhabitable forever unless it could be cleared out somehow. Which seemed unlikely, from what you’d seen.

Anyway, with the illusionist an effective (if breathless) relay of information, it didn’t take long for a dragon of your intelligence to puzzle out events on the trip back. The carnivorous crystal had been planted in the library to cover for a theft of books (or knowledge, rather) there, and after the initial cleansing of Dwarvern witnesses, the oozes and trolls were brought in to clean up all biological evidence...and were then doomed to eventually be consumed themselves.

>>18433639

And due to the crystal formation’s rapid expansion through living sacrifice, it would be far too hazardous even for a dragon of your stature to get in and judge what books were taken. Only the lone history book still in your possession had managed to stay out of their hands...if history were what they were after. Maybe it was every book.

Still, that strikes you as not being the case- they wouldn’t have left that group behind if they were happy with the books they managed to get, so...Hold history it was. But then what could be so important about the Hold’s past to destroy it over? Samal explained it was over six thousand years old easily, so it hardly narrows down any important topics...and though you’d studied a bit of history, nothing really jumps out at you as being shockingly important. Perhaps more study in the area is required...

...If you can be bothered. You weren’t kidding about being unhappy. Aside from some casual friendliness shown by a few vendors and people around the town, Umbaya hasn’t exactly been the most welcoming of places. You haven’t even gone to claim your reward for ‘excellent service’ yet because you know you’ll have to put up with more quite frankly GRATING banter with that Gnome. That and he’d probably set you up with some other damn fool mission that risks showing how green you are at the whole ‘adventure’ thing...AND would probably team you up with some other headcase of a ranger or officer whose personal problems he’ll want you to sort out along the way for him.

>>18433655

Which you did, apparently. It seems Samal was more counsellor to Baha than boyfriend, but having her crack against you did wonders for her ‘problems’, whatever THEY were. You feel you should ask for a raise, given such compulsory charity work. More seriously though, if that was how you were going to be treated on all of these outings then perhaps the Gnome could do his own damn dirty work...maybe you should just leave a cursory word to your old man to say what a shithole this place has become and then be done with the place. It wasn’t like there weren’t plenty enough cities on the continent to earn some coin in.

However, having considered that, there are still some things about all of this you feel you might want to get to the bottom of...like those bugbears referring to you as ‘the’ dragon. THE dragon. Concerning to say the least. And whether you’re going to keep looking or not you realize you’ll need more on-hand than a vial of paralyzing poison, so little more spending seems appropriate (if unappealing). A new weapon too (or just pick one from the Gnome’s dwarvern selection). Maybe even some scrying equipment, though given the wards about the place it might be wise to conduct such things outside the town walls...

>>18433675

Shrugging, you finish your drink and rock back in you seat, watching with lax interest as two vendors commiserate over the destroyed goods in their cellars. Seems that there’s a lot of that going around lately if the board in the tavern were to be believed. Wasn’t no thief either, considering how it’s damage being reported, not theft. Ah well, one mystery at a time, yeah?

“Will that be all sir?” A very prompt waiter asks, clearing the table of your breakfast.

“Maybe...” You frown even as you tip, looking about the place sternly, “...We’ll just have to see how nice everyone is.”

****

Go to get paid. Whatever else, we did the job, both of them, despite not knowing what the second one was. (Loony assistant.) If we pay attention, we might even be able to tease out what, exactly, was up with her.

Also, maybe we'll run into Sahhi while we're there. She was cute, saved our life, and did not appear to already be coming apart at the psychological seams.

Dragon Quest!
Lets get paid and grab a dwarven weapon. We can deal with the gnome for a short period of time.

Reluctantly we must interact with the gnome again. So it must be.

Accept no bullshit. We're there to get our pay, and he's not paying us enough to put up with him more than the minimum.

Get paid so we can spend money on shiny things.
Say to gnome that if he wants to use us again he needs to provide more information about what is going on. And if we are forced to work with someone, we would prefer him or her to not be crazy.

How much money do we have? That gnome will use his "truth magic" again, I would want to avoid it. Can we buy something that will prevent everyone using "detect lie"?

>>18433881
We're a dragon. We might be able to just ignore it- Az did it back in the day, against what looked to be a more competent wizard.

On the other hand, it might also take rolls, which would be bad, as /tg/ dice seem to want us dead.

Well first thing’s first- can’t do shopping without getting paid.

You know the way to the department of internal affairs a bit too well for your own liking, and it doesn’t take you long to get to. Annoyingly it takes longer once you’re actually INSIDE the building and waiting alongside all the other people with complaints to register and hearings to attend. Luckily for you one of the desk clerks remembers you, some weary-looking youngster called Muhalim, and you got jumped ahead and straight into-

“-Vicci! So great to see you! I was expecting you around way earlier than this!” Welskin laughed, feet up on his desk, “I guess you wanted to chase a bit of skirt first, hmm? And why not, with your skills of seduction! You’re absolutely right Vic, lying’s the best policy- you give those harpies the truth and they’ll tear you to shreds, haha!”

“I can’t help but notice my lack of payment.” You say, ignoring his warbling as best you could whilst noting the distinct lack of Dwarvern weaponry on display.

“Hey hey, one thing before another, right Vic? I figure you might want a debriefing. Samal’s feeling all better and-”

“-What I *want* is my payment,” You intone, before slamming the door shut behind you with a foot, “And if you’re going to keep on dancing around vital information instead of giving it to me straight, or setting me up with your nutbag hired help, then you’re going to need to give me a whole lot more than that!”

Also, you can join us at IRC #dragonquest , though nothing really interesting has been said there today. But in past WG was quicker to answer in IRC.

>>18434045

Welskin hold up a pouch in his hand, chewing a smile on the end of his pipe and spinning it by the string.

“Now now, lets not get too riled up. Worse things could’ve been leaked out of the office than just the Dwarven Hold you know...Baha ain’t said a word about your rather ‘cool’ alter-ego. I have to say though I was expecting that secret to be kept a bit longer. Guess Silver ain’t the colour of subtly, am I right?”

“Alright ENOUGH of that, who the hell are you?!” You snap, losing patience at all his frankly irritating attempts at guile.

“Not an idiot.” He puffs solemnly in response, “You think a man gets to my position through blackmail alone, Vic? Don’t worry so much! No-one’s been spying on you that I know. But okay, I see you’re not the happiest of chaps, so-“

He flicks the bag off his finger, landing it on the table between you.

“-There ya go; have fun with it. Have a night on the town! Maybe even take Sahhi out for a saucy spin, hmm? Well...except I’ve had her working overtime on people coming back from the Underground, so no time for romance there! If only there were some way to stem that flow, I wonder...”


****

>>18434068
Goddamnit, he knows too much.
We should try to calm down and find what exactly he knows and what he is willing to share. I had enough of word games. Not "I HAD ENOUGH AND SLAM THE DOOR AND SPIT ON THAT FUCKER" like WG always tries to interpet, but midly annoying - I have enough, I want to play with open hands.

So how much money do we have now?
And is he trying to sale another "adventure"?

>>18434068
My fucking god, is he the worst thing ever. Az's methods are looking so appealing right now.

Count our fee. Dragon or not, this guy is a bastard on ice, and I have absolutely no trust for him, nor do we care about being polite.


Finally, we need to (heh) chill out. He can't actually do much to us- Sure, he might leak that there's a silver dragon puttering around town, but we can shapeshift at will, so that won't hurt at all. if all else fails, grab another name and face, and carry on doin' same ol', same ol'. (Don't tell him that, of course, but we have no reason to fear the leverage he thinks he has over us.)

I'm tempted to avoid chasing skirt just to spite him, but that seems both petty and it would make us too manipulable.

Let's see if we can go find Sahhi, and ask her about these people coming back from underground. If she doesn't want to tell us, we can say that Gnome asked us to look into it, which is sort of true, (it would pass for a truth, I think,) and once we have information from her, we can decide whether we want to actually look into the matter for a fee.

A steep fee, and ideally with lots of allowed-within-contract collateral damage for Welskin to deal with.

The only reason we are here is our innate curiosity, and a promise to our granddad to "look what the hell is going on in that little unimportant town if you have enough time".
So our only motivation is curiosity.

Become a dragon.
Breathe at fucker.
Get bitches.

>>18434265
Though tantalizing, this will probably cause more harm than good.

>>18434056
>#dragonquest

the server is irchighway

>>18434056
Its IRC at IRCHighWay server, chat #dragonquest
Some people had problem with findint the server, sorry.
You can use MIBBIT if you dont have a stand alone program.

>>18434187
Apparently granddad had some old interest in this town, or alliance, or some odd relation like that.

Suffice to say, yeah, our curiosity, also are sense of decency, to him, if not to these ungrateful peons.

Besides, it seems a bit out of our alignment to condemn an entire city simply because of one gnome being an ass and one girl happening to shatter in our metaphorical hands.

>>18434438
He isnt really an ass, though. He is just a smug bastard on his own turf.

You spend a little time in silence as you take the pouch off the desk, reach inside and remove a weapon, handling it, testing its quality. A superbly balanced short sword...not exactly your style, but no doubt worth a pretty penny or two.

“How many are in here?” You ask plainly, sliding it back in and fingering through the rest.

“All of them,” He puffs, then grins at your expression, “What, you thought you were just gonna pick the one? I know you lot, you’d have wanted ‘em all, so I just cut you off on the way there.”

“I see,” You judge, now being very careful with your words, “And how much, exactly, do you know about ‘my lot’? Me in particular.”

He puffs on his pipe for a long while as you rifle through the weapons in the bag, letting out a long, wheezing sigh that deflates him with disappointment. Eventually, you count some two dozen weapons in all, ranging from handaxe to polearm, worth...you couldn’t say, but a damn hefty amount compared to your pull from the Orcs.

“Ah Vic. Is that what you really want me to do? Just say it in common for you?”

“If that wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“Mhmm. Sounds reasonable. Problem bein’ that ain’t why you’re here counting money with me is it...though I suppose the ladies might also be bringing you back, eh? Anyway relaaaax, what do you think I’m tryin’ t’do here? Get leverage? If I were tryin’ to do something like that over something so slight as identity, you could just switch forms, yeah? It’d sure hamper me alright. I mean, it’s not like there’s anyone you know who cares about you giving away that there’s a Silver in town or anything, right? And I’m sure whoever nabbed those books don’t care either.”

>>18434480
He seems to delight in being as obnoxious as he can possibly be every time we encounter him. He is an ass.

>>18434438
I am unconvinced. Not only are these treating us most unfairly, he actually threatened us. It was a throwaway comment, yes, but the intent was there; I am not at all sure this is worth putting up with. It is entirely possible we should simply give in, not stick around where we are not wanted, and find some other, less obnoxious city to risk our life for.

>>18434565

He strokes his wisp of a beard ponderously, pursing his lips into an over-extended pout.

“But y’know Vic, not to be too down about it, but the world’s bigger than you an’ me, y’know? Lotta things going on outside of these here walls. My guys’re stretched thin tryin’ to keep a lid on it all and so I’m sat here wonderin’; what could matter more to an honest, upstandin’ guy like yerself than the plight of all these kiddos runnin’ around out there among broken market stalls, getting eaten by magical beasies and gettin’ trapped in the underground?” He says, then grins, “Ah, but then I forgot I’m dealin’ with a ladykiller here, aren’t I eh? There’s good an’ there’s samplin’ the goods, am I right, haha! Though I don’t think Sahhi’d agree to a night of passion as payment for helpin’ her out. Maybe though, MAYBE, if your pocket were a bit heavier after helping her out, she might notice ya hmm? Ladies love a bit of cash...”

He holds his hands up innocently, then begins to sort through the scrunched papers on his desk, dragging his feet off the side.

“Oh but I’m just talkin’ without thinking now aren’t I? Fer now, maybe you should just have a chat with her and the boys around, hmm? Relax a little, maybe throw your money around, get a little notice...I’m sure Samal’d love t’see his new buddy, too. Maybe get someone other than a lass some flowers for a change, eh? Hahaha!”

****

>>18434480
Yeah, he's more of a pompous jerk than an ass.

>>18434584
It's at times like these when I wish we were still Azaladon so we could just brutally murder the him and be done with it.

>>18434580
>>18434584
Eh. Let's look into the 'bodies coming up from underground', and then judge. At that point we' will have checked up on them, and perhaps we can justify getting the hell out of here then, duty to the old man concluded.

At the very least, we owe Sahhi some thanks for saving us, and probably some respect for putting up with the gnome as her nine-to-five.

>>18434565
>>18434584
So did I understand that he just danced around our question of what he knows about dragons? That seems somewhat important, in my opinion.

>>18434580
Ass means stubborn and unintelligent, and much as I loathe to admit it, he's neither.

>>18434675
Does it really matter? If he's ignorant, he'll improvise and step lightly. If he's knowledgeable, he'll know where the thin ice is, and what kind of a carrot to use on us.

Unless we're thinking of murdering him, in which case it would be good to know how much he knows about the extent of our powers.

>>18434710
Not murder, but it's good to know exactly what he's experienced. Worst case scenario, we disregard everything he tells us.

He does seem to threaten us, slightly. Cant really blame him, though - i too would want to have at least some leverage and guarantee that i wont be killed by a dragon.
But "ladykiller"? He really think we are so in need to bang some primate female? He might be stupider than we think.

>>18434772
If we were still playing Azaladon, I'd suggest kidnapping him in the night, cutting out his tongue, and then force him to listen to a six year old girl with the most annoying voice in the world ask him questions non-stop for three sleep deprived days before infecting him with leprosy and returning him gibbering and insane to the streets of the city.

Y'know, if we were still playing Azaladon.

Allright, seems like a business with gnom is over for know. He paid us, and doesnt want to share anything else.
So thank him, walk out. Lets investigate those dissapearences, then?

>>18434848
Shopping first.

He's really banking on the whole "dragons sleep with EVERYTHING" rumor.

Little does he know that we have standards. A two-bit whore is not for us, no sir.

>>18435124
What about eight-bit whores?

“I think I might do just that,” You note, holding his gaze as you tie the bag to your belt, “Though I will say this...unless you want rates of service to go up, your penchant for secrecy is going to have to go down.”

“Heh. How cheap do you take me?” He calls out before the door shuts, and you go off to find Sahhi, wherever she was.

After a little direction-asking you find her, though not with patients as you thought, but amongst paperwork; something this department seems to have no end of. On seeing you she seems to brighten a little, and the dark rings under her eyes soak away a little of her fatigue as she rises to greet you.

“Viktor! So good to see you!” She smiles, folding the last form she signed up, “I hear what you did for Samal. He’s grateful...not so much Baha, but...she seem better too. Less...umm...skit?”

“Skittish? Well I didn’t know her before, anyway,” You shrug, trusting Sahhi to know her colleagues better than you, “So, I hear from your boss that you’ve been busy treating people coming up from the underground?”

“Ah yes, is true,” She ods solemnly, “Nothing too seerious yet. Mainly, uh...traps, they say. So plenty of bite-removing. Very few of us down dere though. Mostly, um, hired like you. And most not coming back up. We find who we can, but...is difficult to get most places.”

“Hmm, sounds dangerous. Perhaps we could discuss it more sometime? Tonight perhaps?”

She looks happy over the offer, once understood, but it gives way to a pained expression, more an urging with her eyes than anything else.

>>18435202

“Is sorry, but most people get in at evening. Also, I still have injuries to register. The ah, boss above Welskin, he likes neat forms. From rangers too; to know where traps are. Is same for Baha’s report for monsters on trails. Anyway, it would be...nice to see you again. Just not on my bed!”

She pauses.

“...Oh! But not, uhm...s-sorry, my common and in this region...it’s not so good...umm...work. Bye!” She finishes abruptly, then hunches back over her stack of forms, writing furiously as if so scrub over her fumbled words.

“Right,” You smile with a bow, tempted to pun on meeting on your bed, but refraining, “I guess I’ll let you carry on then. See you soon.”

The marketplace is embarrassing for a whole other reason; the prices for items seem terribly skewed. The local shops seem to not be able to offer as much as the church stalls due to not-ordained backing, but seem to need them all the more...though now most look pauce, lacking much in the way of magical equipment or armour. The best prices tend not to be in gold, but other pieces of equipment in trades- bags of holding, potions and the like. Indeed, the potion vendor seems to be one of the few independent traders who seems to be well stocked...maybe because he’s selling from a cart?

Either way, after managing to sell one for a decent price, you settle down at your now oft visited outdoor eatery by the side and contemplate exactly what you think you might need for the coming trials ahead and also, who REALLY deserves your custom...

****

>>18435124
8-bits at the very minimum.

I would say our biggest problem with possessions of any kind is that we cannot carry them so well when we are not polymorphed, which is our form of choice for travelling long distances. We either need a semi-permanent domicile in which we can leave things, or preferably, a method of retaining storage space while in dragonform. Otherwise, we are going to lose everything next time we revert.

Also, a tentative list of what to look for:
Belt with pouches; for holding potions.
3x healing potions
1x potion of darkness (dragons get blindsense)
2x antidote/delay poison

And ideally; a wand of dispelling, for the next time we have to deal with obnoxious spells.

Should actual spells be being mentioned here? How deep into 'mechanics' do we want to get?

I vote for buying from the merchants. We have not yet decided how religious we happen to be, and throwing money at religions, even for goods and services, rubs me the wrong way. (Except for healing. That seems perfectly reasonable.)

>>18435376
Well, that church of Great Red Lord with half-naked priestesses seems legit enough.

Maybe we should get something to either turn us invisible, or reveal others invisibility/ambushes - we got quite embarassed last time.

Maybe we should get some ranged weapon?
Also, WG quit IRC 10 minutes ago and hasnt come back. ;_;

Because we can use alternate form to easily get us some wings, a ranged weapon plus some grenade type stuff would be good. Thunderstones and tanglefoot bags, when combined with fog and darkness, could be great for disrupting clumps of enemies like those damn bugbears from last time.

They said "traps and bite marks", so we need something to deal with that.
Something to help us locate/disarm traps, and protection.

Ring of fire immunity and fireball stuff. Or plenty of explosive bottles.

He said potion seller was very well stocked.
So, potion of true vision, potion of fire protection, potion of invisibility, couple potions of explosion.

Any or all of the following wands:
Grease, Summon Monster I, Ray of Enfeeblement, Expeditious Retreat, Glitterdust, Web, Miror Image, [Animal]'s [Attribute], Rope Trick, and Silence

All of them are always useful.

Though perhaps not for the best of prices, you feel that your custom would better serve in the markets than the churches, having no divine funds to help sustain in this obviously tough, trade-restricted town where fighting was rampant but weapons were limited. Unfortunately, to secure the funds you need to obtain the most pressing items on your list, you ended up selling nearly all the weapons in the bag, leaving you with just the most precious adamantium ones- a pair of scimitars and a two-handed battle axe.

Still, the sales were fine, and gained you enough in coin and trades to get a solid amount of equipment- having already secured all the potions you felt were necessary, a few healing, a few antidotes and some more esoteric potions related to darkness and cloud forming- along with a pouch to hold them in. Looking around, it looks like you’re going to have to craft you own ‘holding’ belt though- a laborious night’s work lying ahead for sewing bags of holding into pocket interiors.

In the end, despite their lack of equipment the marketplace had nearly everything you needed, most of the things you purchased being the last item of its kind that they had- except for the rope, where you suppose you’d REALLY know they were in trouble if they had a lack of that. They also had something else you desperately needed- information.

>>18435813
Ring of Freedom of Movement, Immovable Rods, Decanter of Endless Water (Remember! Pressure=Density x acceleration due to gravity x depth), Ehlonna's Quiver (wands=arrows, rods=javelins, staves=bow), Glove of Storing, Cloak of Etherealness, Ioun Stones (any and all), Marvelous Pigments (BECOME THE ROADRUNNER), Anklets of Translocation (2/day teleportation 10 feet as a swift action? YESPLEASE)

>>18435849

Discussing their losses with the vendors showed a pattern to it. Always their wares got destroyed or taken at night, always in a mass raid, and for those it happened to, always in their basements- most of which also had doorways into the underground. Those who could shift their wares have since done so, but most, until new shipments came in (and there weren’t many of those) just had to rely on what they’d already packed up, which...wasn’t much. And those vendors that tried to claim back their products by venturing under...well surprisingly they didn’t die or anything, but found they couldn’t get far without injury or getting scared away from it. Natural deterrents such as horror stories of the old town often served to keep the locals from prying too deeply.

The one thing you did need to step outside of your pre-defined confines of expenditure for was for some silver-salt needed for any future divinations you cared to make, and for this you found a seller in the churches who supplied it to you for cheap- the cheery lass from the Red Lord’s church who’d helped you with directions before. You wondered how happy the other member of the church you saw would be with the transaction- you’re fairly certain this one’s not used to haggling or arguing with strangers and quickly bowed to your pressure, eliciting a much lower cost that the item was really worth. Someone worth having in mind to make a quick buck off...though you concede you’d probably feel a little guilty for taking advantage of her if it became a regular occurrence. Not as guilty as if she hadn’t tried to recruit you for a sermon though.

>>18435864

By the end of it all you felt you had...neeearrrly everything you needed. Some things just weren’t available in the market such as some immunity rings, and your funds couldn’t secure you things like the few wands available, but so far as concealment, potions and basic items of utility went, you were all set.

The rest of the day was spent on a similarly taxing, if unexciting enterprise- learning more about the town, the underground and a good place to stay beyond your current rest spot at the tavern. It seemed that the underground was not, as you initially suspect, connected to the underdark, but used to work as an expansive catacomb for the town’s dead, doubling as shelter for the poorer and homeless elements of society- some of its functions that still roll on til today. It’s multilayered and spidered out across the entire bottom of the town, even under the municipal and law buildings, and is rumoured to be where the Council holds its meetings...or did hold their meetings. It was hard to really get an accurate picture on that- the general populace trust anonymity to keep their leaders safe, but not even knowing who their leaders ARE is taking it a bit too far in your eyes.

Point being, the underground would be suspicious to you at the best of times just for being the burial place of the dead. Now unless the dead are trapping the passages to stop the living from disturbing them, things down there got a whole lot more suspicious.

>>18435879

Leaning back you rub your eyes and look over from the parchments you’re reading from and across the rest of the tavern. Compared to the night before the Orc raid it’s pretty dead (likely owing to the pretty dead people who went on it), but there were still enough to take up jobs...like tonight’s job.

“So if you see some meat, what do you do?”

“Not eat it, right?”

“Ah see, we’ll get through this just fine!”

"I'm not that stupid, ya know..."

Looks like the search party tonight is the crying Half-Orc from your first time here and Allandro, your Halfling drinking buddy.

You lift your beer and take a swig. Well. Here’s luck to them. Or maybe they need something more...

Okay folks, here's my suggestion:

Go to the underground, claim that we are now in charge and kill everyone who disagrees until nobody else disagrees. Bam, we now have a new home and we get to keep whatever we want by right of conquest as a new hoard - keeping in mind that being generous and returning just enough to restart the economy is in both our own best interest and the town's.

Head underground. Stay invisible. Possibly follow them.

Our goal is to scout things out and figure out just what's going on down there before we decide whether to take the gnome's job offer. Ideally, we can be the ones going "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" next time.

Practically, I expect us to get a feel for what the catacombs are actually like, and see just what's down there. I do expect we'll probably notice some hints, or even run into the stuff ourselves.

Extended stoneskin, or some buff of the sort, would be very nice.

Possibly, inform them that we are going to be poking around too, and we would be willing to buy a map of the areas they explore off of them. That might be a way to double our return.

>>18435891
no, no, no, bad ideas everywhere.
We are not CE red, try to keep it civilized.
This little town in the middle of nowhere does not worth being our horde - we are out to have our adventure and to meet our dear sister, not to lord over some sand huts.
Besides, there are blues everywhere, and our older relative has an interest in the town, so we keep being hobo for now.


As to current actions, ork and halfling go to catacombs too, right? Sign with them, its more fun with the company!

>>18436116
Perhaps I should clarify then:
I didn't mean as a permanent setting at all, but as a small cache or hidey-hole we can use while in and around town.
Furthermore, I'm assuming that whatever is down there isn't People. If we find some proper humanoids with souls and whatnot that would obviously change things. But my instinct is telling me it's kobolds.

Let's buy a map and then go down there to see out ourselves. Maybe fill in the map some more. No reason the two options should be mutually exclusive.

>>18436148
Kobolds seem a reasonable conclusion, but I do not at all think it would make a good hidey-hole. It needs to be far more removed and remote than these catacombs are.

I'm interested in finding out what's down there. And maybe chasing the short-skirts I'm imaging on those Red Lord priestesses, too. Perhaps the former is more important, though.

>>18436214
It's removed yet centralized. Seems nobody ever actually goes down there, or even very far in when they do. I think it sounds perfect.

Lets not be sociophobic. Sign up with tne fellow udventures and travel together. The last time we went ourselves, we got too carried away and reveled our nature when attacking ork camp. And when we were without Baha we screwed up with ambush.

"Hello, fellow adventures, my name is Victorios Przhivzshvili, sorcerer extraordinri, and I was just thinking about exploring caverns when I heard you talking. I possess unmatched tallent in magic, though cold steel and traps are not my thing. Perhaps we can cooperate, this will make the job easier and more fun, wouldnt it?

>>18436230
That's due to the violence being perpetrated against those who do. If we wanted things to stay that way, we'd have to resume doing that after clearing out the ones who are doing it now.

It's not going to work. We don't want some hideout where anyone can waltz on in without even knowing what they're up to.

>>18436356
We either want to have a "hord" in the big city/castle of sultan as his shadowy advisor, or somewhere far removed and protected.
But I say lets not root in at least we fly around a bit and find our sister.

Go with them. Talk jokes. Let the trapmaster (halfling I assume) find traps, let the fighter fight a good fight, we stay behind and shoot magic, or jump around with double scimitars. Or an axe. I vote axe, double scimitars are forever tarnished by drizzzzzt.

>>18436478
How about single scimitar? Scimitars are an elegant and native weapon in this region, I think. Besides, dual-wielding drow excepted, a scimitar is a stylish weapon.

>>18436523
they had curved swords.... CURVED.... SWORDS!!!

Scimitars are rather useless against armor.
Though I dont think it matters in DnD.

I have to ask, do the priestesses look like
>>18435864 pic related?
Because if that's the case, it may factor heavily into my future votes.

On an unrelated note, d

>>18436770
I don't think /d/ is unrelated to the priestesses looking like that at all.

“Evening fellows. Off to the catacombs?” You venture, sidling up to the bar next to them.

“That we are Vick, that we are. Why, want to trade places?” Allandro smiles.

“Oh I wouldn’t want to deprive you. However, I’ve recently become rather interested in just exactly what is going on down there, so I was wondering if I could tag along on your little trip? I can even make a map for next time as we go.”

“Hmm,” The Halfling considers, “Tempting...but I dunno, two’s company and alla that. Catacombs are kinda cramped- be a bummer if we get trapped and there’s no room to shimmy. Whaddya think, Jorm?”

“Hmmmmmmaybe,” The Half-Orc Also-Ponders, “He’s good at Orc killing.”

“Ain’t no Orcs down there though...except you, kinda. You gonna throttle my man Jorm here when we get down there?”

“I hadn’t considered it.”

“But you are now?”

“Pink elephants. You know how it is.”

“Fair enough. So we go down there, kill Jorm, split his stuff and say the traps got him?

“Suddenly I’m not so okay with going down there Al...”

--

>>18436778
>>18436770
Sorry, not gonna argue. Not really sure how that extra cutoff snuck in there.

>>18436786

--

After much similar bartering and rib-jostling, the two were finally persuaded to let you come along with them, albeit a step or two behind so as to give them ample enough space to move around in if they needed to get out of dodge. Something you at first took to be part of the comedy, but since realized was a legitimate concern.

Now that you are stood infront of the tavern’s cellar door leading into the lower reaches, you understand why this was necessary. There was just about enough room for Jorm to fit down a passageway, so crushed in where the walls, and he walked stooped, as you had to. Allandro didn’t have any problems of course, and it irritated you that humans would build something so perfectly suited to Halfling travel and not for their own people. Smartly, you were assured by the jokey little rogue that only ‘most’ passageways were like this, and there were more open places under main roads- which is where you’d be heading over to today, all willing. Given the lack of swing in the area, you decide to draw out only one of the paired scimitars, knowing there’d be no room for anything fancy, nor any for a big two-handed swing. More’s the pity...you quite liked the long-reach on your glaive, for one.

Regardless, as you counted steps, checked bearing and added line to parchment, the corridors widened a tad and stretched a pleasing amount on the incline down, allowing you to strength to full height. Progress was slow (but not badly so, given you were making a map) as Allandro at the head of the party intermittently stopped every half minute or so to deactivate some wire trap or other.

>>18436806

Thus allowed for ripe and enlightened conversation between you and the still-stooped Half-Orc infront of you, with topics such as ‘The most exotic thing you’ve killed’ and ‘Favourite pies’. For the next hour and a half, as they chewed their way slowly through the lesser passages toward the large under-areas, the most pertinent information gathered was that Allandro couldn’t tell or give a damn who set the traps, and whether it was Kobolds or not. Which kinda made you miss the skills of Baha, even if hers didn’t extend to traps...which they might not have.

Opening up onto what your overlaid main-map denoted as the church street though...gave you your first start.

The area expanded out as if under a low bridge, and there were small staircases down from each of the building on either side, with small jutting platforms before the raised doors. Underfoot was still cold stone, but ahead in the centre you could see a darkened, sealed slab that denoted the lowering into another level; presumably the first of the burial areas. What gave you the start though was not the designs carved into the walls or any such thing though, instead...it was the woman sat cross-legged on one of the platforms, meditating, an orb glowing brightly in her cradling palms.

You recognise her as the other priestess to the one you’d ripped off from above, and that the steps she sat before and the door to her back led to her own church. Before you or your fellows could ask any questions though, she chose to speak hers.

“Good evening, travellers,” She speaks clearly, not opening her eyes, “May I assume you are friends?”

****

"Acquaintances, at the least. I presume your are keeping watch on your church?"

If she's been hanging out down here, we may be able to get some rad info out of her. Plus, her counterpart is hot, if I recall correctly. Let's be polite.

just usual patrol, trying to help merchants to reduce their losses.
And you, miss? What church do you belong to, and what you doing here? We are not trying to doubt the divine powers, but we heard enough bad stories to know that its pretty dangerous in here for such an... Lightly equiped individual.

Also ask what information does she have about situation here, catacombs, if she saw or heer anything.

>>18436823
>>18436862
Glowing orbs are inherently bad. Beware. Beware.


Got to like their dresscode, though.


Inicidentally, Writer-Guy, I assume that being draconic, knowing the draconic gods, knowing the humanoid gods, and noticing the draconic imagery and iconography they are decked out in, we are aware they aren't actually worshiping a real god, but a cult, (presumably of a red dragon,) right?

>>18436978
If they're bad news, let's see what she explains it away as. Slip in a question about the orb while we're shooting the breeze.

If our companions are going to talk, allow them. Let's see what we can pick up.

>>18436978
should we really care about what people worship? It might even a kobold god for all we care. Its beneath us.

>>18437125
Worshiping an evil god is usually an evil act.

And when they're worshiping something that doesn't exist, well... You have to wonder how that got started, and who IS receiving all that worship. Prayers are power, after all...

>>18437145
To second, people who start up false cults, deluding innocent people into worshiping them as gods, and damning said innocents to whatever unpleasant fate is reserved to non-believers in settings where God Needs Prayers Badly, that's generally evil or sufficient to make someone evil.

Heresy, my good sir. It's serious business.

>>18437145
Bah, those peasants would worship even a pumpkin.

>>18437188
In standard D&D setting, they damn themselves to a fate possibly worse than even being squeezed for their soul-juice in the Hells.

Tricking people into doing that to themselves is considered wrong by most people sharing our alignment.

"Acquaintances, at the least. I presume your are keeping watch on your church?" You venture, stepping ahead of your fellows who’re busy murmuring to each other about ‘those legs’.

For your part, you try to ignore them in favour of keeping professionalism alive. The shorter companion may be more exotically pretty, but there’s a certain athleticism to this one’s build that encouraged an unhealthy amount of admiration.

“I am,” She smiles, as if it were a private joke or she sensed your thoughts, “And you, explorer? I must assume you’re here to ensure that I don’t need to be.”

“Something like that, I should hope...so, can you offer me any insight into what’s been going on down here? Seen anything more suspicious than us three?”

“The Red Lord offers much insight, if you were to follow him...but as for my own, I can only tell you what I know,” She continues, finally opening her eyes- a dark green as unusual for her colouring as blue is for yours, “A couple of nights ago our basement supplies were raided. Luckily my sister sensed it and we came down to fight them off- but they escaped at our approach. Since that night, we’ve taken turns keeping vigil here and ensuring they don’t return. So far we have been fortunate...though I believe they are nearby, waiting for me to drop my guard.”

>>18437214

“Hence the orb?” You reason, nodding to her hands, “Some holy artefact?”

“A prayer orb,” She explains, looking affectionately down at it for a moment, “For a Priestess to touch it is to commune with the Lord...He keeps me centred...and safe. I do not fear what may lurk here so long as His Light is with me.”

“That’s great an’ all,” Allandro pipes up, thumbing to the slab, “But whereabouts does this go? Burail stuff like the other slabs around town?”

“I do not know. Truth told I haven’t ventured from this step. I was hoping that whoever attacked before would try and enter from it, so I could...”

She remove a hand from the orb, holding it aloft to ignite a fireball with it.

“...Show them their error.”

****

>>18437227
Fair enough. Can she tell us where they ran off to, or can our companions track them?

>>18437227
thank the nice lady for explanation.
Look carefully at that slub and/or ask our comraids to do so to find if it was recently opened. If so - how to open it, kt might be that those attacks come from there.
WE MUST GO DEEPER.

>>18437227
Cans he tell us what they looked like? Humanoid? Goblinoid? What? Also, do they have any bodies, if they fought them off?

Archieved
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/18433628/
Also, I think I misspelled gnome (again)

no new updates? Oh well, such cases.

>>18437764
He has not fixed on the Andthentherewassilence.jpg like WD did, but he has usually been pretty good about telling us where he is cutting things off.

Silently, you judge the woman, attempting to approve more than just her looks. Fire, red, slight draconic imagery...a few theories bounce around your head regarding the origin of her power, but all are dragon related. The most legitimate would be worship of the singular head on Tiamat, styled as a man...but you couldn’t say. You also find you don’t much care, currently. Help is help, and if she’s helping...

“You said earlier they fled at your approach,” You note, “Did you get a look at them, then? Surely with your power you could help illuminate us.”

“Dissapointingly...no, strangely, rather...I cannot help as much as I wish on that. They were human sized, but the errant flame I managed to summon before they left did nothing to reveal any more details about them. They remained...dark.”

“Just shadows, then?” Jorm tuts, circling the stone slab, “Well, that’s a pain...no lighting in the lower rungs as it is.”

“Ah don’t be so sad about it Jorm, I’m sure our guest for the evening can rustle up some magic lights, can’t you Vic? Torches’d be better though. There’ll even be space to wave ‘em around.” Allandro responds, tracing his fingers around the sides of the slab to search for any hidden traps.

>>18437830

“Well I’ve got the sticks,” You venture, pulling some out of one of your as-yet unarranged bags, “I’ll just need a spark or something. Perhaps our kind priestess wouldn’t mind giving some fellows a light?”

“If your wish is to rid us of those creatures, then that is the least I can do for you.” She offer, snapping her fingers and sparking the three sticks to life, “If you get injured, return here and I will heal you, no charge. I can’t leave my sister or my church unguarded though...sadly, only my blessings can go with you this time.”

“I’m sure that will be more than sufficient. Thank you, Priestess...?”

“I gave my name to the Red Lord on entering his service...” She smile back at you, then considers, “Hmm...however, you can call me...Ayza, if you so wish.”

“Ayza, then. My thanks.” You half-bow, which is returned by a gentle, amused nod from her.

“Alright guys...what’s the order here?” Allandro calls out, clicks the stone out of place after deactivating yet another trap, “Magic first or what? Been down here only once before...almost got caught myself. Chances are we might even find another team down here...it’s a pity there ain’t four of us, this is a pretty terrible buddy system.”

****

>>18437840
Presumably, Rogue first, then fighter. Singlefile is a bit of a pain, but at least we've got a base and healing to retreat to.

Kindly chit, this Ayza. She seems reasonable, even if her religion is probably a bucket of lies.

>>18437840
Ayza that name sounds like some thing I remember
> Azyra
Nah couldn't be

Any way Rouge, Fighter, Us.

And we go on till we find something (or something finds us).

>>18437937
Thought the same thing. I did do a doubletake. Happily, however, I doubt Azy Az-born would end up in charge of some backwater church branch, no matter how disappointed Az might have become in her in the intervening decade. This is probably some normal cultist, or if we are unlucky, one of Asha's brood. Probably not, though.

Thank her for her assistance, and let us proceed.

>>18437885
I agree. With the rogue checking for traps first and the fighter behind him, its a good formation, especially since we have to go single file.

With Ayza holding down an area where we can rest and recuperate, we got a safe zone. If we do have to go back for healing, we might wanna give her a small trinket of appreciation for helping us out after we end the threat

Trapguy should be first. Next - we. Fighter will guard tne rear. Because if movies told me anything is that guy at the rear alway gets eaten firtst.
If we open the door, what can we say about the air- breathable, old, fresh? Are the passages seem to be well used? How wide are they?

if the fighter will go second we wont be able to support thief with magic.
But yeah, it will be easier to run away.

>>18437990
Seconding. And remember to thank the kindly wannabe-cleric.

rolled 30 = 30

dice for standing in the middle.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18438063
We can fire over the halfling's head!

rolled 23 = 23

ok. Dice for rear.

>>18438067
I was the seven from last thread. I'm never rolling again.

>>18438067
i dont see why not, he is halfling after all.
Also, tg dice everywhere. 3 d 100, and all lower than 30

Good thing WG didn't ask for rolls, right? Right?

>>18438111
he will use them anyway.

“I think we were doing fine with that last setup of ours. Nothing beats two shields for incoming arrows.”

“Ohohoho who knew you were such a joker, Vick. Well alright, have it your way. Thanks for the light, lady! If I come out of here alive expect a donation when I get paid for this lousy job!”

“I’m sure you won’t mind if I hold you to that.”

“He probably will. Anyway, seeya miss.” Jorm offers, a little nod of appreciation before setting on down after his friend, you following after. The last you see is of her returning back to her meditation, the orb in her hands growing just that little bit brighter in the murk above...

The second level of the underground seems markedly different from the first, and not just from the skeletons and caskets that were embedded in the walls. The streets were broader down here, enough to walk in a line if you all wanted, the carvings were older too, a little more ornate...the above hovels were probably just meant for refuse collection or underpassge a to link establishments without needing to go outside during fighting. Down here though...whoever was trapping must be using this level to get around, if they’d eased up to this level.

>>18438289

“So,” Allandro begins conversationally after a hour or so of dank, cloying wandering, “It’d be really nice if we knew what we were looking for, wouldn’t it? I mean I’m also kinda down here for those stupid enough to get caught in any traps, but man, the chick upstairs- Aizya? However you say it, well she’s the only one I’ve heard of who’s seen whatever’s down here doin’ alla that! So t’be honest, I’m not a hundred percent on what exactly a man like me should be expecting here.”

“Don’t know why you’re askin’ me Al, I ain’t no philosopher.”

“I *wasn’t* asking you, I was asking the sorcerer behind ya. So Vick, anyYAH!!”

The halfling leaps back, torch clattering to the ground before he bounce off Jorm, holding him steady.

“...Ah sorry false alarm guys, I just stepped in a puddle there...” He sighed, then bent down to pick up his torch, “...Oh and it’s blood. Great. Yeah a puddle of blood, that’s normal. Sure see plenty of those around. Oh, not just blood, it smell like it’s mixed with-”

You see it just in time with your dark vision to make a move, throwing your torch in the way of the projectile before it hit home...only to have it explode from the impact, sending the three of you rolling back away from it to regroup back-to-back as the blood-oil mixture ignites, forming a trail before you...and illuminating, on the far end of the street, another man. Trapped in metal jaws from what you can see, clearly dying...clearly an invitation to save him. Clearly, you all know, a trap.

“...Well then,” Allandro asks aloud, “Who here wants to play hero?”

****

>>18438309

Right, we'll stop here for tonight. I'm not actually sure of my schedule for next week, but we'll say the next thread'll start same time next week, so Firday, 11PM Brit-time (Around 2300/0000 GMT)

Don't be late, and I hope you enjoyed playing!

thanks, wg!

Mmm... De we get that potion of fireimmunity? If yes - go and save the boor bastard. If not - some ice magic (dont waste it all) and save the poor bastard.

Hero time! Lawful good to the rescue!
(Somebody else roll, if necessary. I promised to stop.)

Figure out who threw the projectile, or where it came from, or whatever. Warn everyone else. If possible, we're going to risk that fire to save person. We ought to be able to do it pretty decently, given our ring of fire resist. (Then again.. 50% fire vulnerability may be a bit of a pain...)

rolled 16 = 16

>>18438717
in case we nees it.
Inb4 2 and we burn to crisp.