Stop, drop and roll. Fire is bad, man.

>>18642704
Fortunately, you're not on fire, and it's hard to drop on anything without breaking yourself when you're 15 feet above the ground.

>>18642682
Get the hell out of there, fire=bad, get deep into the forest. We'll regroup and follow them after we've done that, but for now get out of the burning area and into somewhere nice, dark, shadowy and far away from them.

>>18642721
Maybe standing next to the fire isn’t so good of an idea, you figure. Escaping as quickly as possible, you leave behind the only place you’ve ever called home and the fresh corpse of your first kill. It felt… good to have that kind of power. Is this what Sifu felt when he killed people? Regardless, now that you’re far away from those thugs, it’s time to get your bearings.

(Survival roll = 7 + 1 = 8!)

Thanks to your knack for survival, you’re able to get a reasonable idea of your environment after a few hours of exploration. There’s a cave nearby next to a flowing river which could make for a good hideaway if need be. A valley lies to the north, although you don’t know what lies beyond it, you could certainly check it out later.

What now?

>>18642835
Start by making a camp in the cave by the river, in case we need somewhere to hideaway having shelter already prepared is good. Start reading the book we found and Sifu's journal see if it they can tell us anything.

>>18642835
See if we can fashion a staff and/or traps from the surrounding forest.

If successful plant traps around the perimeter.

>>18642904
>>18642882

It would be a good idea to make camp for now, since you lit your old home on fire. After a few hours of work, you’ve rounded up enough wood to make a campfire in the cave, enough foliage to make bedding that’s more comfortable than rock, and a few traps to make sure nobody gets the drop on you. A couple pitfalls, a log trap, and some spikes should do the trick.

You make yourself as comfy as you can and crack open Sifu’s notebook. It’s full of notes about various techniques and fighting styles that you definitely need to work on (more details later). Reading further, you notice two of the pages stuck together. You peel them open and find a note addressed to you. It says that he had been expecting a group of bounty hunters to search for him for years now, and that it had finally happened today. He would like to tell you more, but he didn’t have enough time to write it down and that you need to meet him “where water and light converge, and to gaze into the shadows there”. How cryptic of him, because you have no idea where the hell he could be talking about.

Putting his notebook back into your bag, you take out the mysterious book you found in his pile of tomes. Upon inspection, it’s black. Really, really black, nearly as dark as your shadow manifestations. There are no words anywhere on the cover, and it is completely plain. You get a mild headache just by looking at it. You try and open it, but it’s wedged shut. Extremely strange. What was Sifu doing with something like this?

Regardless, it’s getting dark outside, and you’ve had a long day. You turn in for the night.

>>18643060
I understand that cryptic messages are par for the course for mystic martial arts, but just once can someone describe a meeting place with proper landmarks, or something like that. I suppose it's tradition and it is pretty cool but it'd be a funny change if just once if we were told to meet at this town, at this inn in 1 year rather than where the dragon and the tiger fight and the blood dyes the ground red.

NEW TECHNIQUE LEARNED
Consensus gets to pick which one you’ll learn.

Blinding Strike – When you make an attack, you can infuse your strike with shadows which will creep up into your target’s eyes, blinding them for a few minutes.
Shadow Feint – When you strike, you can choose to have an illusory weapon also strike at the same time. This hurts just as badly as your normal attack if it lands.
Cloak of Shadows – You can be concealed by darkness while moving.

>>18643110
To be fair, the guy knew that someone was looking for him and didn't have much time to write detailed directions, plus he doesn't need to explain where he is when someone's probably going to go through his house.

>>18643137
Cloak of shadows, the others are nice but this has utility both in and out of combat and is profoundly useful during both.

>>18643159
this.

Oh and I like the riddle. I think it means go find a lake or waterfall, but that's just a guess.

You wake up the next morning, and decide that one of the techniques illustrated in Sifu’s notebook, Cloak of Shadows, would be incredibly useful if you learned it. Fortunately, it’s a simple extension of what you already know, and he was probably going to teach it to you soon, had he not disappeared. However, the next few hours spent learning it aren’t easy at all, but you pick it up. You’re really tired after the exercises, so you take a nap to refresh yourself.
You wake up and leave your cave, taking care not to set off any traps. The setting sun gives the forest an orange tint. Bugs buzz around and you hear the chirps of birds in the distance.

What do you do?

>>18643356
Return to where our home used to be, when we get close approach very cautiously, a group that large probably left a path we can follow, and until we can work out the riddle it's our best shot.

On the riddle note are there any notable water features, interesting rivers, waterfalls, large lakes and so on nearby?

>>18643356
Create some real weapons from forest materials.
>Staffs
>Shurikan
>Stakes

Go back to the our home and see if there is any enemies waiting there that we can kill/gain information from.

>>18643159
>>18643203
Agreed. Cloak of Shadows is the most reasonable choice when it comes to overall usage and utility. I assume we'll be able to learn the other techniques later, but we'll take things one at a time for the time being.

I don't blame Sifu for being cryptic in his meeting place description: if people are dogging him, there'd have to be a metaphorical code of sorts. Plus it's mildly expected from folks like him. "Where water and light converge" sounds like a horizon of some sort, say at an ocean or lake, but what shadows would be there?

General Q&A:
What sort of setting is this? Are we living in the small Wuxia corner of any given European fantasy setting?
Is our Fist of Shadow (alternate name: Kage no Ken) a famous style, a notorious style, or something someone with the most esoteric knowledge would be aware of?
Our style may be considered an assassination-type style, but can we readily stand our ground in a straight-up fistfight or any sort of encounter? I understand the whole "better to dodge than block unless required" concept, and I imagine that despite the shady (pun mildly intended) nature of the style, our straightforward skill and technique and strength is enough for any sort of engagement.

> What sort of setting is this?
Your character (who we haven’t really established yet) has been raised by Sifu Tong for as long as they can remember, and they haven’t been allowed to travel outside of the dense forest they’ve been raised in. They’ve respected Sifu Tong’s rules and never even bothered to explore. However, Sifu Tong has told you stories of exalted ivory towers, glassy deserts, swamps infested with zombies of a nature-loving race from ages long past, and treacherous oceans dotted with massive whirlpools.
Not a very hospitable world.

> Is our Fist of Shadow (alternate name: Kage no Ken) a famous style, a notorious style, or something someone with the most esoteric knowledge would be aware of?
It’s almost virtually unknown. Once upon a time there were leagues of assassins that knew it, but that was a long, long while ago. A couple of scholars with an intense focus on martial arts might know of its existence, but nobody knows any of the specific techniques or styles.

> Our style may be considered an assassination-type style, but can we readily stand our ground in a straight-up fistfight or any sort of encounter?
While it is most useful for assassinations, you can more than stand your ground after you’ve picked up a few techniques. Sifu Tong used to demonstrate some of the more advanced skills, such as wrapping shadow around a foe’s unexpecting neck, leap through shadows, and even become completely unhittable. Truly, he was a master.

>>18643503
Gotcha.

Well, going back to the riddle, do we know of any major bodies of water, like waterfalls or lakes? Until we get any epiphanies, let's backtrack to our former home and see if we can't get any clues of these hunters' identity or anything of the sort. I don't think we should go after them just yet, since I doubt they know about us.

I would like for our guy to learn a shadow skill where he can replicate himself. Like make a shadow clone *cough* Shikamaru *cough*

Just something I'd like to see further down the line.

>>18643574
Then we'd just be getting into Naruto in general.
And that'd just be awkward.

>>18643561
They shot at us remember. Plus a master assassin having an apprentice sounds pretty likely.

>>18643584
Well it seems like a viable technique. Could it possibly be a clone made of shadow, so it has no physical resemblence other than the silouette. That's moving away at least.

Before the sun fully sets, you snap off a few branches of varying sizes and spend about an hour or so fashioning them into 5 wooden shurikens and 2 wooden stakes. You were able to do this by conjuring a small shadow knife, for future reference.
As far as you know, the only body of water nearby is this river by your cave. You might want to investigate it later when you get back. However, you need to head back to your burnt home and see if the intruders left any trails.

You silently make your way through the woods until you come into the small clearing where the wreckage of your house remains. Although it’s dark, you’ve been trained to have excellent night vision, and begin to look around for anything you can use to follow the men who broke into your home. After a minute of looking around, you notice the pool of blood where you sliced the neck of a ranger. His body is gone, but it seems to have been dragged around a bit before they got the idea to pick it up. No matter. You’ve got a pretty good idea of where they’re going.
You follow the trail for a while until you come across the end of the forest and the beginning of something you’ve only heard about before. A settlement of sorts. There are several houses scattered around, enough to have a fairly decent community. A couple of men with torches patrol the perimeter. It’s dark out tonight, and most people seem to be asleep. One particularly large building is lit from the inside, strange given the time of night.

>>18643716
Find a hole in the perimeter and slip through with our Cloak of Shadows, our goal is the large lit building, there is probably something going on there and eavesdropping might give us a lead.

>>18643716
Use Cloack of Shadow and sneak up on one of the guards patrolling the parimeter. Holding a stake to his neck from behind we walk him into the forest and question him if he knows anything.

Depending on what he tells us
>He is actually good, let him live
>Bad, kill him.

>>18643748
>>18643763
SHIT GUYS I WASN'T EVEN DONE

Also, now that we seem to have more than one person telling me what to do, I'd like to ask you guys to roll a d10 to give me some direction as to what I should do.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18643716
>>18643814
We shouldn't get too side-tracked. We have to find Sifu Tong before anything else. I'm not sure if he would go far enough to reference a location beyond our current scope, but either way, we should check the river when we return to camp. We can prowl for a little bit around here, but we shouldn't dawdle.

>>18643763
That's a bit brash to me. He's just militia protecting the town. What would he know (or care) about a bunch of bounty hunters that come and go?
Then again, we've been living in seclusion since almost time immemorial, so I doubt our fellow is even aware of the concept.

SPEAKING OF OUR DUDE, assuming there's no preset image of our protagonist yet, I'll just post a couple pictures as the thread goes on of who we might be.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18643814

rolled 7 = 7

>>18643748
Rollan

You don’t want to risk drawing attention to yourself. A man sneaking out of the forest late at night might not give the right impression, after all. You wrap yourself in shadows and sneak on over towards the large building.
(Stealth roll = 17 + 1 = 18!)
The guards never heard you nor saw you. You moved as if you were a ghost in the night. When you get closer to the large building, you see a sign near the door that says “INN”. After opening the door and going inside, you are greeted with a warm, earthy smell. You are in a large room adorned with many tables and chairs, and a counter with various bottles standing on the shelves behind it. Only one person seems to be here tonight, and that is the woman at the counter. A fairly muscled woman with an eyepatch and blonde hair held up into a messy bun greets you.

“Hullo. You’re coming in a little late, aren’t you?”

rolled 7 = 7

>>18643892
My roll counted for nothing. Good job.

>>18643920
Well, two people rolled to do the same thing, which wasn't what you wanted. Sorry, man.

>>18643892
Long travels and a harsher road then I expected, was planning on camping in the woods when I found here.

>>18643892
Sexy.
Let's be friendly. "Ah. Something like that. I've been out and about for a while and just now found this place. Nice and cozy, by the way. Are you the only one here, madam?"

>>18643920
You fucker. I was gonna post that pic. GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO POST ANOTHER ONE.

“Ah. Something like that. Longer travels and a harsher road than I expected, and I was planning on camping in the woods when I fortunately found this town. Nice and cozy, by the way. Are you the only one here, madam?"

She grins a bit and chuckles. “Heh, not at all. Got a few boys upstairs staying the night, some travellers down here. There’s always someone coming and going through this town.” Hm. These could be the guys who were looking for Sifu Tong.

What else would you like to ask/say?

>>18644036
Lovely to meet you, in my haste to find someone to stay I realized I never asked the name of this town?

So what can you tell me about travellers, they the sort to normally come through this town?

>>18644036
I'd hate to waste a perfectly good social opportunity. This (buff and worldly) woman could be our first real friend in, well, ever. Butter her up a little, and ask if Sifu came through here. It's a hell of a longshot, but it's better than not trying.
"I'm certain you'd have no issue keeping anyone in line if they get a little rowdy. You look rather amazing, if I may say so.
"By the way, you wouldn't happen to have seen a fellow who [INSERT GENERIC SIFU TONG DESCRIPTION HERE], have you?"

“Lovely to meet you, in my haste to find someone to stay I realized I never asked the name of this town?”

“Well, aren’t you articulate for a young lad? This town’s Crestdale. It’s one of those quiet little towns that’s fueled by travelers. Nobody ever stays here for long, and I don’t blame them. This place’s pretty boring.” She sighs as she finishes.

“So what can you tell me about the travellers you’ve got here, are they the sort to normally come through this town?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Why do you want to know?”

“Ah, I’m looking for someone. A fairly tall, muscled man, rather on in the years. Sharp white beard, a sense of urgency and delicacy. Probably wearing robes like mine?”

She makes a face. “Sorry kid, I haven’t seen anybody like that around here lately. The guys upstairs just look like your typical adventuring types to me. They went out into the woods yesterday lookin’ for something and they came back missing someone. Seemed pretty down about it, too.”

>>18644141
She seems like the honest type, so let's just be frank about it. She's probably not one for bullshit.
"Truthfully, I have...issues with some of your potential customers. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice to say I've lived in the woods around here with my teacher, my father if you will, for a long time. Bounty hunters came to our home just yesterday looking for him for some reason. He's disappeared, I barely escaped with my life, and our home was burned to the ground.
"I'm in a bit of a rut, to put it very, *very* lightly."

"Truthfully, I have...issues with some of your potential customers. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice to say I've lived in the woods around here with my teacher, my father if you will, for a long time. Bounty hunters came to our home just yesterday looking for him for some reason. He's disappeared, I barely escaped with my life, and our home was burned to the ground. I'm in a bit of a rut, to put it very, *very* lightly."

The woman blinks with her good eye. “Oh. I see. Well, if you’re looking to get revenge on them, then I’m afraid that I’ll have to ask you to wait until morning. They’ve already paid for their beds tonight, and it’d be bad for business if word got out that people didn’t get their money’s worth at my inn. But I’ll tell you what: you can buy a room here tonight, as long as I don’t wake up to a bunch of dead bodies tomorrow. Then, when they’re all outside of my inn, you can do whatever you want to them. I don’t really care at that point.”

She extends her hand. “Deal?”

>>18644398
Deal, you're a remarkably understanding woman.

>>18644398
Shake hands.
"I would ask for nothing else. My apologies if it sounded like a sob story you've heard a thousand times before. To be honest, you're perhaps the first person I've met beyond my teacher and my would-be killers in...well, ever. I'm pleased that my first real contact is with a woman so honorable and strong and shapely and I should probably stop before I make a fool of myself.
"Really, though. You look fantastic. Do you fight?"

“Deal, you're a remarkably understanding woman.”

She laughs a bit as you shake hands and says, “Thanks, kid. When you’ve run an inn as long as I have, you get quite the medley of visitors, and they’ve all got their own stories they’re more than willing to share after they’ve got a few mugs of ale in them.”

You smile at her and say, “My apologies if it sounded like a sob story you've heard a thousand times before.” You put your hand behind your head and rub it a bit before continuing, “To be honest, you're perhaps the first person I've met beyond my teacher and my would-be killers in...well, ever. I'm pleased that my first real contact is with a woman so honorable and strong and shapely and I should probably stop before I make a fool of myself.”

“Ha!” she guffaws, “if you’re trying to get yourself a free room, it’s working great, kid.”

"Really, though. You look fantastic. Do you fight?"

She tilts her head a bit. “Eh, yeah, I was a scrapper back in the day. Ran around with some people, found some tombs, scrounged up some loot. Good times. I help the militia train recruits every now and again, the poor rookies hardly know what they’re doing. By the way, my name’s Tegan.” She smiles. “I never got your name.”

>>18644595
"Shun."
Pause.
"...Just Shun, now that I think about it. Shun Tong, if I took my teacher's name. It's an honest pleasure to meet you, Tegan."

>>18644675
Player's note: for the sake of narrative, we'll say Shun was an abandoned orphan babe raised by Sifu Tong. Just a little bit of characterization.

>>18644721
How coincidental, that's what I had in mind.

“Shun.” You both stare at each other during a short pause. “...Just Shun, now that I think about it. Shun Tong, if I took my teacher's name. It's an honest pleasure to meet you, Tegan.”

Tegan smiles warmly at you. “Well, kid, you’ve got a vendetta tomorrow, and that’s not something you wanna face with a groggy head. You oughta head to bed. Your room’s at the end of the hall upstairs. And don’t worry about those other guys, I’ll make sure they don’t touch you tonight.”

Feeling fuzzy on the inside, you quietly head upstairs and into your room, slipping in between the covers of your bed for the night. You’ve got quite the day ahead of you.
I'd like to take this moment to take a break and get some feedback. What do (all two of you) think so far? Anything I can improve on? Anything you want to see in the future?

>>18644675
"And I must say, for a woman who retired from traveling to open an inn, you're certainly not the image I had in mind. Which is convenient, since I never had any sort of image in the first place. You must tell me of your adventures, ma'am!"

>>18644792
It's interesting so far, I'm looking forward to what we can pull off with Shadow Kung Fu. Just for visualization do you have any particular styles in mind for it's appearance, I'm guessing it more closely resembles a soft style.

Epic Martial arts fights between differing styles and plenty of influence from Chinese folk lore would be cool.

>>18644792
Please rape my face

awesome quest man, cant wait to get more fighting moves.

>>18644880
TIME FOR A NEW TRIP

>>18644792
On the whole, I like it.

I'm a sucker for monks and bare-knuckle fighters, so I took to this quest rather quickly. Worldbuilding on an as-the-character-experiences-it is a fine method of exposition. We're kind of a blank slate, both narratively and otherwise, so it makes his exposures all the more profound. That said, considering we're still kind of a blank slate, it'd be good to allow more avenues by which to better establish the character's personality. Saying our first kill "felt good" might be a tad presumptuous. I mean yeah, we're using an assassin's style, but I shouldn't imagine we're the bloodlusting sort. Your writing is inoffensive and pleasant to read, very straightforward.

Really, there's little place else to go but up from here.

>>18644891
Yep. Should've chosen a better password fag.

>>18644902
You have a point, this new one isn't very secure either.
LET'S TRY THIS OUT.

>>18644849
Honestly, I don't have anything in mind. If you've got some knowledge of martial arts and could post/link to a video with a lot of confusing, quick, focused moves, that would probably be similar to the Fist of Shadow style.

And fuck yes there will be martial arts fights.

>>18644896
So for future reference, leave the character's personality up to the readers and present opportunities to flesh Shun out. Am I correct?

>>18644978
Oh goddammit I forgot to use the new trip.
I'm painfully new to tripcodes.

>>18644986
No worries,

Use a very compicated password something like.
''Md5Oe7Dp' it's harder to crack.

>>18645008
Eh, I'm not too worried. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think someone on /tg/ wants to wreck my quest thread by cracking my password.

>>18645021
No they don't, but someone from /g/ would.
wink wink

>>18645052
Maybe. Oh well, I’ve got a quest to write.

You wake up the next day feeling refreshed. Man, that was a comfortable bed. You listen intently, trying to discern if there’s anyone else around. Someone’s moving around downstairs, but it’s probably just Tegan. Nobody seems to be up here, for now.

Your room has a window leading outside. It is morning. What do you do?

>>18645096
Wake up, stretch. Get a change of clothes so we aren't easily recognizable as that shadowy figure who slit our comrades throat with a shadow. Find where those fuckers are sleeping and keep an eye on them. Let's not kill them in Tegan's nice inn.

we have a window, so the enemy might as well, no?

go into your shadow cloak thing and try to eavesdrop on them from their window. if this doesn't work out you can try from a door or something

>>18644978
Not so much leave his full personality up to the players as much as give the players things to work with, things they can build upon from there. Granted, so far, we've established Shun as aware, amicable and more-than-surprisingly charismatic. I like it so far.

>>18645096
Assuming the hunters are here, they don't know that we're here as well. Go down and check in with Tegan, see if the hunters have left yet. Then, depending on how tall the inn is, we scale up the outside to the roof of the inn and wait for the hunters. I want a flying pounce to introduce ourselves to them, assuming we properly identify them.

>>18644978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Y62DGkyXw
Jackie Chan demonstrating the Eight Drunken Gods. Our style likely won't overtly be Drunken Fist, but you wanted confusing, quick and focused.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebfw8EFghak
The final fight of Sammo Hung's "Magnificent Butcher." I always liked the Shaolin animal styles.

>>18645211
Is this a European-style village?

>>18645292
Thanks for the videos. I'll watch them in a second.

And I'm not sure what you mean by European style village. I'm imagining a few houses, an inn that doubles as a pub. Standard adventuring hamlet, I suppose.

Hmm. Just because you can’t hear them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. It would be a good idea to peer into their windows and see if they’re still home. You do a few of your morning stretches and meditation, open up the window from your room, shadows caressing you, and climb a few feet over to the next window. Looking inside, there’s nobody home. You do the same for the next couple of windows. Nothing. Damn.

You slip back into your room and head downstairs, alert in case something were to happen. Tegan is at her bar, and the inn seems to have a few people in it. You don’t recognize any of them as the bounty hunters, fortunately. Tegan notices that you’ve woken up and greets you with a warm hello.

“Hey, Shun, nice of you to join us.”

“Good morning, Tegan, it’s nice to be here. I suppose the bounty hunters left?”

She sighs and says, “Yup. They headed back into the forest today, said they wouldn’t be back until real late. I bet they’re looking for you out there.” You nod your head at her words.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It wouldn’t be the best of ideas to keep these rather distinctive robes, would it? Know any place in town where I can get some new clothes?”

“Sure do. Just head on over to Taylor’s house. It’s out the front, three houses to the right. Knock on the door and tell him I sent you, he’ll set you up with whatever you want by the end of the day. That man’s as good with a needle as I am with a blade.”

>>18645343
Then don't worry about it.

>>18645349
"You must show me your power in action, Tegan. A body like yours with years of experience in your mind and spirit must be a wondrous sight to behold."

do we even have any money on us?

>>18645397
We are dirt poor, my friend. A couple of monks living in the woods for a decade living off the land don't have much of a need for money.

>>18645349
Ask if we can borrow enough money to get some new threads, say we vow upon our honor to pay her back in deed and service.

>>18645413
Which makes it all the better we got in on Tegan's good side and got the room on the house (presumably). We'll see what happens when we get to the tailor.

"You must show me your power in action, Tegan. A body like yours with years of experience in your mind and spirit must be a wondrous sight to behold."

Tegan blushes at your shameless flattering. “Are you asking an old broad like me for a sparring match? Well, when you put it like that, excuse me while I go dig up my training sword.” Tegan exits through a door by the bar, which you assume leads to her quarters. After a minute, she returns with a long couple of wooden broadswords. “I didn’t know what kind of weapon you use, so I just grabbed the first thing I saw. I hope you don’t mind.” You tell her that you don’t.

The two of you leave the inn for a second, and a couple of the people milling about decide to join you and watch. You stand outside, about 5 yards from each other. She offers to throw you the training sword, but you tell her you don’t need it. Her eyebrows move on their own, indicative of her surprise. You see a fire come into her eyes. She’s ready to go.

What do you do?

>>18645627
Let's fight her straight and avoid using our more shadowy techniques. She'll appreciate that more, and it'll test our fundamentals more. We need strong fundamentals before anything else; all the special techs in the world don't mean squat if you can't fight properly, plus it'll make it less necessary to call on them every time we have to do something.

Bow/salute, take a stance, and charge her. Go for high-low changeups, see how quickly she catches on.

>>18645627
Adopt a ready stance, don't use anything overtly supernatural yet. Wait for her to attack and try to catch her off balance.

>>18645713
>>18645705

Well gentlemen, looks like it's up to the d20 to decide.

rolled 19 = 19

>>18645713
Ok, rollan

rolled 5 = 5

>>18645745
For >>18645705
>ldhallo combat

You adopt a relaxed stance, ready to defend yourself. You don’t have to wait long before Tegan charges at you surprisingly quickly. In a second, the training sword is being swung directly at your neck!

(Defense roll = 15!)

Acting on instinct, your arm shoots up, deflecting her blow away from you and in the same motion you send out a palm towards her side, hoping to get her in the kidney and end this quickly. With incredible grace, she spins to the left, instantly at your side, and her blade isn’t far behind! You tilt your body forward just as her sword swipes mere inches above your back.

(Attack roll = 12!)

Pushing yourself forward onto both hands, you swing both legs towards Tegan as hard as you can! You feel yourself hitting her side, but before you can do anything, she’s grabbed both of your legs with her right arm and she’s got a vicegrip on them! You’ve only got seconds until she makes another attack! WHAT DO YOU DO?

>>18645931
We're already close in, if she's got our legs bend our torso and grab her neck/arms with our arms and start grappling, as an unarmed combatant we have one hell of an advantage once it gets this close.

>>18645931
Since she's holding both our feet, push off the ground with our hands and curl ourselves up and inward, basically rolling ourselves on top of her while she's standing upright. Hold fast against her and either wail on her or put her in a front choke.
She wants to hold onto us, so now she'll have to figure out how to get rid of us.

(Attack roll = 20!!!)
In a feat that would make a contortionist feel green, you link an arm through Tegan’s legs and grab hold onto the one nearest to you, curl around her lower body, and piston your fist right into the back of Tegan’s right leg. She lets out a yelp of pain and drops you, stumbling forward a bit. When she sees that she’s let go of you, she quickly jumps backwards to put some distance between you two. But it’s too late. You quickly roll towards her while she’s jumping and vault towards her body, feet first. You hit home and land square on her abdomen. You hear the wind leaving her as you kick off, ending your assault gracefully into a perfect backflip.

Tegan falls over onto the ground, gasping for breath. After a few moments, she yells out, “Ha! That was… a… solid hit! You… didn’t do too bad… kid! Mind… helping me up? That last hit… really did me in.”

>>18646125
Help her up. Be gracious for an opportunity to practice our skills.

We're going to need new clothes so and we don't have any money so we might need to ask to borrow some, we'll offer to pay her back in service and so on.

After we get new threads track down the bounty hunters and go predator on their ass.

>>18646125
Help her up, naturally.
"You and I honor each other with that spar, Tegan. As expected, your skill and power is worthy of praise, especially for one as venerable as yourself. You have expanded my boundaries in more ways than one; for that, I'll never forget this, and I'll never forget you."

You walk over to Tegan and extend your arm as a show of good sportsmanship. Tegan grabs your arm to help herself up and… punches you right in the mouth. Holy hell did she have a hook. As you look back at her, you are greeted by a sword thrusting into your stomach, knocking you over, followed by a pommel to the back of your head. Before you know it, your world has turned black.

>>18646228
Sunnuva bitch.

>>18646228
...Yeah, in hindsight, I should've expected that, especially considering we're trained in a style that specifically specializes in us being a sneaky git.
But hey, it's Shun's first day in the wide world and his first fight that doesn't involve his master. Call it a learning experience.

You wake up a few moments later to Tegan’s grinning face.

“Sorry about that one, kid. Just goes to show you that you can’t trust anybody in a fight.”

You sit yourself up. You’re both still outside, and the two inn goers that watched you fight are both rolling around in laughter. You look at Tegan and say, "You and I honor each other with that spar, Tegan. As expected, your skill and power is worthy of praise, especially for one as venerable as yourself. You have expanded my boundaries in more ways than one; for that, I'll never forget this, and I'll never forget you."

She seemed a bit miffed at that venerable comment. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. You’ve still got to go see Taylor, so I didn’t want to bang you up too badly. And hey, just how old do you think I am, Shun?” She seems to be… pouting? Must be a soft spot for her.

>>18646302
You have to understand for most of my life there has been only me and my Master, I have little understanding of the world, and even less of tact and understanding of age. Perhaps after I hunt down the bounty hunters and slaughter them to a man you can teach me some of it.

>>18646302
He's lived in the woods all his life! What the hell does he know about subtlety about issues like that?
"Gah, uh, my apologies. You know by now I mean absolutely no ill by that. I, uh, I'm a bit new to this sort of, er, interaction. You'll forgive me if I'm no better than a toddler at this, ehm, social norms business."

>>18646359
"...Sorry?" Sheepish grin.

“You have to understand for most of my life there has been only me and my Master, I have little understanding of the world, and even less of tact and understanding of age. You know by now I mean absolutely no ill by that. I, uh, I'm a bit new to this sort of, er, interaction. You'll forgive me if I'm no better than a toddler at this, ehm, social norms business. Sorry.” You grin sheepishly.

Tegan seems a little put out still, but she understands. “Well, fine. I’ll let you off the hook this time, Shun. Anyway, you don’t have too much time to waste. You oughta stop by Taylor’s.” She waves you off. It probably would be a good idea to get out of these rather conspicuous robes. She points you towards Taylor’s house, and you go over and knock on the door.

After a few seconds, you are greeted by a man in a purple vest with ornate golden buttons. His pants look very well fitted on him, also a deep royal purple. His black and gold belt accentuates the rest of his clothes. His blue eyes peer at you over a pair of spectacles. “Why hello there. I can’t say I’ve seen you before. May I have the pleasure of your name?”

>>18646445
"Does every shopkeep ask the name of whoever walks in the doors?
"...It's Shun. I'm here for some basic clothes. Tegan said I was expected."

>>18646445
Shun, I'm here for new clothes, basic, serviceable and durable. I was sent by Tegan.

“Shun, I'm here for new clothes, basic, serviceable and durable. I was sent by Tegan.”

He raises a meticulously crafted eyebrow. “Tegan, you say? Oh my, my, do come in my boy!” His door swings open as he grandly stretches his arms, inviting you in. “Let’s get right to business.” He begins busying around, grabbing a few tools. “What is it you need these for?” He stretches a tape measure up your leg. “And particular colors you’d like?” He gets your feet, too. “My, you don’t even have proper shoes, you poor boy. What kind of style are you going for?” He measures your waist. “I assume you travel often?” Arms. “How many pockets do you need?” Shoulders. “How do you like them fitted?” Neck.

… man, this guy doesn’t shut up when he gets on a roll.

>>18646560
Style, boring and serviceable, colors, dark browns and greens as be be unnoticeable at night, pockets are nice, loose fit for full freedom of movement and to obfuscate stance and leg and shoulder movements.

>>18646560
Let the man work. Not like we know what we want out of civilian clothes.
"As long as they're loose, breathable and don't get in the way."

“I’ll take whatever boring style you can give me.”

Taylor looks up at you incredulously. “BORING?! Boy, do you see my attire? I am a master of the needle, but the one thing I absolutely cannot do is BORING! You shall have style, and you shall like it!”

You’d fidget, but he’s still measuring you. “Erm, alright… can you make my clothes dark green and brown?”

“Ah, yes, yes, it matches our lovely forest quite well. You’ll be in fashion nearly year round! Brilliant idea!” You don’t think he quite gets why you need those colors, but you don’t really feel the need to correct him.

“I’d like some pockets, too. And I’d like it if you could make everything fairly loose. I don’t like to be hindered.” Taylor nods very quickly.

“Yes, I could peg you for that kind of fashionista with those robes of yours. Ugh, simply dreadful things, they are.” He stands up, rolling his measuring tape, smiling brightly. “Well, my boy, I’ve already got the perfect design for you in mind! Come back about an hour before sunset, and I’ll have them ready for you, on the house!”

You nod at him and exchange goodbyes as you leave. Sunset won’t be for a few hours, and the hunters should still be combing the forest. They’ll probably still be doing it after you get your clothes.

What’s your next move?

>>18646690
Head back to our cave and the river. It's time to address that riddle. Search along the length of the river for any hidden alcoves or anything of the sort.

I just finished reading the thread and I'd like to say, good work so far OP. 'Sgoin' good.

>>18646690
Go offer to do some work for Tegan to get some money. Can always use money.

>>18646690
We've got a number of hours, let's go hunting. We are going to go predator on their asses. They are going to assume that a vampire is eating them all and there is a monster behind every single tree.

>>18646731
>>18646742
>>18646746

Roll a d10, gentlemen.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18646746
Rolling

>>18646765
OH
SHIT

LOOKS LIKE IT'S PREDATOR TIME MOTHERFUCKERS

rolled 9 = 9

>>18646742

rolled 8 = 8

>>18646731

A burning desire for vengeance overtakes you. This can’t wait. It’s time to put your training to the test and hunt down these men like the animals they are. You head into the woods, seeking blood.

(Survival roll = 19 + 1 = 20!)

Hate fueling you, your senses seem almost enhanced as you easily find their trail. The fools lack any sense of subtlety. You quickly follow it until you hear voices. Hiding in a shrub, you take a look in the direction of the voices. Two of the bounty hunters are there, right next to the river. They’re about a mile away from your cave. The trees overhead teem with life, casting shadows in the ground. You hear birds. They sing songs of revenge.

How are you going to handle these two?

>>18646868
Shadow Knife to the back of one of their necks, jump on the other one and stuff his head in the river, we'll be interrogating him.

If the shadowknife doesn't kill the first guy go for a quick throat slit on the guy we jump on then engage him.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18646868
Create a thin shadow garrote to slip down from the trees around the neck of one of the grunts. Strangle him instantly, and when the other one notices his buddy, pounce from above with a shadow knife, holding the shadow garrote off the branch we jumped off of.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18646868
Snap shrubbery until they come to investigate, then Cloak of Shadows behind the one at the back. Snap his neck, then repeat for the other guy.

>>18646908
Unfortunately, shadow noose is a higher level technique that you don't quite know how to do just yet.

>>18646908

And keep rollin' boys.

>>18646921
>>18646908

how about a thin piano wire like thing?
is the problem that it is too long?

rolled 8 = 8

>>18646892
By shadowknife the first time I mean the range cutting shadow attack thing.

>>18646952
You reach behind you, grabbing a razor-thin slice of shadow, and, although you wish you could lasso it around the bastard, you don’t have that much control over shadows yet. So, instead, you fling it at the neck of one of them.

(Attack roll = 6.)

Unfortunately, you hit him, but not quite where you wanted. You can see that you managed to slice the arm of one of them, but not enough to impair him, just enough to bleed and sting. They both look over in your direction and brandish their weapons, slowly walking towards your bush.

What now?

rolled 9 = 9

>>18647028
Throw our wood shuriken things.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18647028
Silently clamber above them. DEATH FROM ABOVE.

>>18647042
You have 5. How many would you like to throw, and what do you want to do after?

rolled 1 = 1

>>18646952
Let's save the last one we find for interrogation. These two bastards die now.

>>18647028
Cloak of Shadow and circle around them. They know there's something in the bush, but they don't know it's us. We don't have much in the way of distractions, so we have to be quick. Circle behind them, snap one's neck, then immediately stab the other in the throat with a shadow blade. We have to kill them almost simultaneously so as to minimize the fuss.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18647066
Please disregard what I said.

>>18647028
Cloak of Shadows, wait for them to walk to us, then stab them with the stakes.

>>18647127
While we're still in the same bush they heard us in? They'll just hack at us anyway if we don't move. Come in from a different angle, THEN stake them.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18647138
True. Goddamn I'm not thinking well right now.

>>18647157
So is that our action? Cloak of Shadows, escape the shrubs, circle around, and stake them both simultaneously?

rolled 5 = 5

>>18647164
I support this.

You envelop yourself with shadows, feeling their familiar embrace as you pull your two wooden stakes out of your bag. You slink around the pair, taking refuge behind a tree as they inspect the bush where you were seconds ago. Sneaking up to them, you prepare a strike…

(Stealth roll = 19+1 for Cloak of Shadows = 20!)
(Attack roll = 5+2 for superb sneak attack = 7.)

Without a sound, you appear behind them, and sink your stakes into them. Sadly, their armor is too thick to be really hurt by your wooden stakes, and all you’ve done is alert them to your presence. You now have two very angry armored men standing in front of you.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18647237
We just can't roll attack now can we. Shadow Knife one of their Achilles tendons open and disappear laughing.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18647237
Well, fuck.
Dodge sideways to avoid their incoming attacks, then throw some shadows 'n' shit.

The man with the mace swings wildly at you!

(Defense roll = 15!)

You throw yourself to the right, pull a tendril of shadow on every finger, and bring your arms back…
(Attack roll = 9.)

You sling all of them at your foes! While they all miss the man in the mace, a couple of them manage to pierce through the swordsman, causing him to begin bleeding. Yelling out in rage, he sprints towards you, greatsword raised!

rolled 2 = 2

>>18647338
Throw shadow blades into his face while he's running. If we don't take him down with that, sidestep gracefully and stab him in the back.

Say, are our stakes broken now?

>>18647375
Your stakes aren't as sharp as they were, but they're far from broken.

man we suck

go for the swordsmans eyes before he swings

rolled 13 = 13

>>18647387

>>18647400
It's a d10, friend, but I'll just half your roll. Still better than the other one.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18647413
But he was clearly rolling a d100!

You’ve got to time this just right… just as he’s within a few paces, you shoot a shadow blade out of your arm and move to hit him before he can bring his greatsword down…

(Attack roll = 17!)
His sword rains down on you, but you deftly move to the side and slice at his eyes! His screams fill the forest as blood pours from his eyes while he falls to his knees. Not one to waste an opportunity, you sink your shadow blade into skull, ending his pain. When you look up, the man with the mace seems terrified of your prowess, and turns tail, running into the woods screaming for help!

What do you do?

>>18647387

put some shadow blades into his legs

>>18647498
Take out his legs, once he's down kill him and string both him and his companion up from a tree to be found later.

>>18647527
Tear up his Achilles tendons and calves with our shadow projectiles.

>>18647563
i'd like to interogate him and find out why our master is being targeted, who they are, which one of them is a mage, what he can do, who sent them ect

(Attack roll = 20!!!)

You aren’t leaving this up to chance. You make a fist, drawing shadows from the foliage around you. Into what, you don’t care, as long as it hits him and kills him. Your arm shoots like a rocket, a lance of darkness barreling towards the poor mace wielder. You had aimed for his legs, but the lance blows one of them clean off. You run over while the man is registering what just happened, and put your shadow blade through his throat. After taking in the short, but intense battle, you realize what happened. You’ve never made a projectile like that. Maybe you’re getting better than you thought…
(Your practice with shadow projectiles has allowed you to make mildly larger projectiles. Not as large as the lance, but a little more than the daggers and wires you’ve used up until now.)

Nevertheless, you’ve got work to do. One of the men had a bit of rope on him, and you string up both of them on a heavy tree branch, and jump into the trees. The rest’ll be coming soon. Your heavy breathing is surprisingly in synch with the sounds of the forest.

What do you want to do?

rolled 3 = 3

>>18647671
Check the time.
How many bounty hunters were there?

>>18647711
There were six that you knew of, plus the mage you haven't seen yet.

You killed one at the fire, and these two makes three. There's three left, not including the mage.

You gaze up into the sky. An orange tint marks the horizon. Sunset is coming soon.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18647671
Find a good place to hide above where they're coming, prepared to drop something very heavy on a member of the group as they pass under us.

rolled 8 = 8

hide behind a tree or large rock with shadow cloak and ready a barage of all your shurikens and a shadow knife projectile

You use your shadow blade to make a deep notch in a large tree branch, ready to drop at your command. The voices draw closer as you wait. Three men enter the small clearing next to the riverbank where you fought. One is heavily armored and wields a lance, one is clad in leather and brandishes a bow, while the final is also in heavy metal armor, wielding a pair of axes. They notice your work and a look of horror washes over their faces.

The man with the lance exclaims, “what the fuck is THAT? Oh god, Janno, Marke…”
“Whoever did this is going to get a face full of metal tonight.” says the axeman.
“We can bury them later,” says the ranger, “whoever did this is still around. This blood is very fresh. They’re clearly armed and very dangerous. Stay together.” He seems to be in charge of this troupe. You sneak your way on the other side of them, where you can knock the branch down if need be. You pull out your 5 wooden shurikens and wait for someone to be under your trap.

Surely enough, the man with the lance has himself positioned perfectly, and he doesn’t even know it. You take special care to line up the shot just right…
(Attack roll = 12 + 1 for preparation = 13!)

You shoot out a shadow dagger, just barely hitting the notch in the branch, which comes crashing down on the lanceman. You can hear his bones snapping like twigs. His screams echo throughout the forest, and the axeman rushes over to him while the ranger begins to look around in a quick, but focused manner.

What do you do?

rolled 5 = 5

>>18647964
Put a shadow blade through the bowstring, then cloak to their other side.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18647964
Cut the bow string with a shuriken, let out some haunting laughter and cloak to another side of them.

>>18648010
>>18648014
That's a HELL of a called shot. If you're going to cut the string, at least throw something wider (a shadow Sonic Boom) so as to better catch the string.

lets take out his perceptive eyes with a shadow dagger

Taking careful aim, you grasp the shadows around you in preparation to cut the ranger’s bowstring. You pull your arm back…

(Attack roll = 7+1 for preparation = 8.)
And your blade harmlessly dissolves when it misses the ranger entirely and collides with a tree. However, the ranger noticed exactly where it came from, and fires an arrow into the bush! You try to get out of the way…

(Defense roll = 5.)
But you just can’t! The arrow hits you in the arm, and it hurts like a bitch. You can still move, fortunately, and you call the shadows to surround you yet again. You need to get out of this bush. You start to sneak around them…

(Stealth roll = 2. You guys are getting shafted this time.)
The arrow impedes you too much to move quietly, and as a result, the bushes and grass make loud crumpling noises. The ranger pulls back his bowstring as the axeman begins to approach.

Well, you fucked this one up. What do you do?

>>18648093
We've been compromised utterly. We need to reset ourselves. Back off for a while, let them think we've retreated. Once they settle down somewhat (if that), come back for another go.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18648093
Well, balls, tactical retreat, withdrawal and come back for another go. We just killed three of their men and they haven't seen our face, they are likely to be pissing their pants at this point.

>>18648134
>>18648144
That's a pretty decisive hivemind.

if we can't retreat lets keep the axeman between us and the ranger

Well, this could’ve gone better. Deciding to forgo stealth, you sprint away from the ranger and axeman as quickly as possible, which is pretty damn fast, given your training. You run and run until you can’t hear their trampling through the forest anymore. The arrow that’s still in your arm hurts pretty badly, but you’ve got to get it out and patch up that hole, because if you don’t bleed out from the blood loss, then the trail you’ve left behind will make your retreat mean nothing. You’re not a doctor, but you know a bit about patching up wounds in the field.

(Survival roll = 20+1 for survival talent = 21!!!)
While searching around for proper foliage to use as bandages, you come across a rare plant that you’ve only heard about from Sifu Tong. White flowers tinged orange by the sunset, the bush has a few white berries ripe for picking. If you’re correct, then these are the fabled Heaven Berries, able to all but the most grievous wounds within seconds. You pop three of them, and stare in amazement as you watch your wound close. You’ve hit the jackpot. You take as many as you can and store them in your bag. You’ve foraged 3 doses worth of Heaven Berries!

Well, I didn't see that one coming. What's your next plan?

Going back to town would probably be the best idea. If Shun doesn't show up for his new threads, Taylor might come bother Tegan about you.

>>18648241
How much time between now and when the tailor finishes up on our new clothing? Now that the remaining bounty hunters know what we look like we need a new change of clothes, FAST.

Also, did the lancer die from the trap or did he only receive grievous injury but survive?

>>18648241
The best option is returning to town and getting our new threads. Tegan will know what's up once the hunter party returns with fewer members.

>>18648283
He's probably going to be done in an hour or so. Also, despite your shenanigans, none of the survivors so far have seen you.

And you don't know about the lancer, you were too busy getting shot to notice.

double back and on a point of your trail by way of a new path and prepare an ambush from a cover area.

perhaps set up another trap or just focus on killing the ranger

Remember to roll a d10 guys. Unless you can all agree on something, of course.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18648241
Double back, find where they've gone, check if the Lancer is dead. Once we've pick up their path again follow them once more.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18648305
fuck, i keep forgetting

rolled 7 = 7

>>18648320
We're fully healed, we're still a mystery to the enemy, and we've got an hour to burn. Let's circle back and hit 'em again.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18648280

Feeling rejuvenated, you double back, as stealthy as ever. At the riverbank, the branch is still there and covered in a bit of blood, but there’s no body to be found. However, a trail of blood leads down the river. You decide to follow it, staying aware of your surroundings. After half an hour of travel, you come across an encampment underneath a cliff about 50 feet tall. You notice two large holes in the ground, as big as men, and three mounds with weapons sticking out of them. Two swords and a mace, with a bow hanging from one of the swords. The axeman seems to be struck with grief, swinging his arms into the air while pacing. Above him, at the top of the cliff overlooking the river, is the ranger, and he appears to be looking around.

The forest is unnaturally quiet. What do you do?

rolled 9 = 9

>>18648462
Pounce atop the ranger or dropkick him off the cliff. Either we kill him or the fall does.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18648462
Sneak up on the ranger then rush him off the cliff. That'll do wonders for the axeman's psyche. Be sure once he's knocked off to let loose the most haunting laughter possible.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18648492
We don't laugh. We ask from the shadows about his business. We should at least find out who sent these hunters and why to get sifu.

How foolish of the ranger to think he’s safe. You sneak up the cliff behind him…

(Stealth roll = 10.)
And turns around, sword drawn.
“What, you thought you could sneak up on me? Not this time.”

Aw, hell. How are you going to handle this?

rolled 4 = 4

Introduce your foot to his groin.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18648549
Dropkick off the cliff.
"Doesn't mean I can't still kill you."
Quip ONLY AFTER his fall.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18648549
Shadow bolt, straight at his chest, knock him off balance and kick him off the cliff.

Oh well. You don’t need stealth ALL the time. Where’s the fun in that? You instantly conjure up an arrow of shadow and begin to throw it…

(Attack roll = 20!!!)
And you throw it well. Your arrow hits him dead in between the eyes with enough force to lift him off the ground and over the cliff. You peer over the cliff’s edge as you watch the ranger’s body land right into the river, staining it red. Picturesque. You hear the axeman scream out in terror and fury below you. Even mother nature seems scared of you. You can’t hear any wildlife.

"Doesn't mean I can't still kill you."

rolled 3 = 3

>>18648618
And that's how you do it.
>ranger's face when

Time to scuttle down and disable axeman. He's the last, so he lives a little longer than the others. Once we get him settled and immobile, we ask him who and why?

rolled 1 = 1

Lead the axeman on through the woods. Stay ahead of him and tire him out. Doubt he can run faster than us through the trees.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18648618
Cloak on down to the axeman and disable him; It's time for interrogation.

Well, no time to waste. You quickly make your way down the cliff and call the shadows to you. It’s getting easier since the sun is almost completely set. The axeman is freaking out, screaming at everything around him. This should be easy.

(Stealth roll = 15+2 for Cloak of Shadows and panicking target = 17!)
You appear behind him and slice his Achilles’ tendon with a shadow blade. He falls to the ground, screaming even more. His cries are the only thing piercing the silence. You pick him up by the neck and hold a shadow blade next to it.

“Who are you?” you utter in your most intimidating voice.

The axeman starts blubbering, but holding your blade right up on his neck gets him to focus. However, that doesn’t stop his tears from flowing.

“W-we’re a bunch of mercs looking for some old guy living in these woods! Someone from the Terec put out a bounty on his head! We were paid not to ask qu-questions!” The man begins to wail in fear.

Any more questions for him?

rolled 4 = 4

>>18648846
"Who or what is 'the Terec?'"

rolled 1 = 1

Where is the old man?

>>18648889
Sounds kinda pointless if even we don't know where he is.

"Who or what is 'the Terec?’” you growl.

“Wh-what? You ain’t never heard of Terec? What, do you live under a rock?” you dig into his neck a bit to keep him on topic. “Ah AH AH, er, it’s the biggest city around! Run by alchemists? Most prosperous place on the planet?” Doesn’t ring any bells, but you’ll make note of it.

“Where is the old man?”

The axeman gulps and says, “I-I don’t know! If we’d found him, we’d be long gone by now! We-we were told to bring him in alive, no questions asked!” Well, that was pointless. The sun is almost completely gone. Even the once roaring river seems quiet now. You’ve got a strange buzz at the back of your head…

What now?

>>18648954
He doesn't know anything. Slit his throat and get to cover.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18648954
Shadow cloak and leave.

i feel bad for the guy

can we just take his weapons and send him on his way?

We archive now.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/18642682/

>>18648954
Sifu Tong somehow managed to piss off the biggest city on the continent? That doesn't happen every day.

"Leave this vale. Never return. Never let me see your face again."
Drop him and Shadow Cloak back to town.

>>18648999
>>18648994
>>18648970

Roll, friends.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18648970

>>18649012
It's a 2-1 majority.

>>18649025
As you wish.


"Leave this vale. Never return. Never let me see your face again," you say as you drop him, becoming one with the night. You head for town, and about 5 minutes after leaving their camp, you get a sudden headache as you hear the most bloodcurdling scream coming from where you left the axeman. Then nothing. From anywhere.

The forest makes no sounds.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18648954
Shit, we forgot about the MAGE. Cloak and get the fuck out of dodge.

>>18648994
ask about the mage before we do whatever

rolled 9 = 9

Go pick up your outfit.

Also, did any of the mercs get a good look at us? Especially the axeman.

>>18649101
You... don't think you have to worry about him anymore.

>>18649059
We counted five dudes, and five dudes were accounted for. One at the house, two at the camp, one off a cliff, and one we just left.

Don't tell me the mage has been invisible the entire time.

>>18649118
>three at the camp

>>18649118
You never saw the mage during the attack on your house.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18649055
This confirms that the mage is dangerous and that we may have become the hunted, again. Well, it doesn't really confirm it but it may as well. I still say we get out of this forest as fast as we can.

>>18649130
Sonuvabitch. Let's hurry back to the safety of Crestdale.

>>18649129
>rangermeetsshun.jpg

rolled 8 = 8

>>18649108
I meant more that he could have told the mage what Shun looked like before dying horribly. If that is how he died.

>>18649166
We were behind axeman the whole time, cloaked in shadows no less. No one saw us, as it should be.

You move as quickly as you can, doing your best to be as quiet as possible, but the silence of the forest is too great for you not to break it. You might as well be running on glass for all the noise you’re making. Yet, despite your speed, your headache only gets worse and worse as you run. After ten minutes your head feels like it’s splitting and a sense of dread washes over you. After twenty minutes of running, you can hardly see straight, your head hurts so badly. You’re going to die in this forest. You’re going to die.

You’re going to die.

You’re going to die

You’re going to die

You’re going to die here… you know it, but you keep running anyway. It’s all you can remember how to do. Your body pushes itself harder than it ever has, fueled by a primal need to survive. You run so fast you can feel the blood coming from your feet. But the sense of death only gets worse until…
You finally break out of the woods into Crestdale! Instantly, your headache goes away. Your feet don’t feel any better, though. Exhausted from sprinting in life-fearing terror for over half an hour, you collapse in front of the inn.

And on that note, I'm calling it quits for tonight.

But don't worry! I'll stay on a while to answer questions and listen to your feedback (please give me feedback). I should be back with the next installment tomorrow at around 8 EST.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18649232
Cue The Big Lebowski style dream sequence.

>>18649246
d20s can be so swingy on their results. Again, though, I like the quest so far. It's too soon for me to make any lasting suggestions, I don't think, and no outstanding issue sticks out to me.

I love this man, don't stop doing these quests.

looking forward to tomorrow!