>>452479
(Continuing from last thread)
The high priestess begins chanting in the language of creation. You fire an arrow into her shoulder, and she pauses briefly, recoiling in pain, before continuing. She holds several glowing white gems up into the air and crushes them.

The eyes of the warriors now glow white, and some of them look directly at you.

You notch another arrow and launch it at the priestess, hitting her in the chest. She clutches at the injury and gasps for air.

With reddened hands, she raises a pair of air gems to the sky, and starts chanting desperately between coughs of blood. A fierce wind begins to blow through the settlement.

Several of the white-eyed nomads charge towards you, jabbing their weapons into your stony skin. You wince as the metal chips into your flesh. There are dozens who will soon be converging to surround you if you don't act quickly.

A group of giant eagles, approaching from the distance, are drawing towards you, called by the priestess during the execution ritual to feast upon the hostage.

The hostage, a young nomad boy, remains chained to a stone altar, in the middle of a holy circle that lies within the enemy god's domain.

[ ] Fight off the attacking nomads
[ ] Notch another arrow and finish off the priestess before she completes her ritual
[ ] Blast apart the altar with Earth magic and flee with the hostage
[ ] Other

>>452526
Character Sheet:

HP 87/100 (No Crippled Limbs)
Gold 455
Gems: 10 Shadow, 2 Earth, 4 Air
Followers: Count Leofrick of Hawkscrest (Level 1 Commander)
70/282 Militia/Total Peasants
Sworn Lands: Hawkscrest (No castle *)
Holy Sites: Hawkscrest (No temple)

Known Spells:
Wind Walk: Teleport any open-skied area in the world you have visited before for 2 Air Gem
Invisibility: Makes you invisible for 1 Air gem. Doesn't work against powerful enemies
Stoneskin: +5 damage negation per earth gem burned (reduces from total, not per die)
Earthgrip: Immobilize enemy. Roll 1d20, burn earth gems for an extra die per gem (more powerful enemies have higher DCs)
Lightning Bolt: Roll 2d6 + 2d6 for each air gem burned
Thunderstrike: Roll 2d10 + 2d10 for each air gem burned. AOE. Requires open sky.

Skills:
Sword Master: An expert in use of bladed weapons, particularly the two-swords style
Shapeshift: Innate ability, can change form into a medium-sized beast like a wolf or an eagle. Can also change appearance at will

Items: Gemina (Not equipped), Tacitus (Turn invisible at will for free)

>>452526
Tear one of the nomad's weapons away from them with our free hand and hurl it into the priestess. I seem to remember some kind of wind ability going off, and I want a heavier projectile that won't get blown off course. A spear would be ideal.

Then tumble into it, grab the boy and start legging it. If the summoned shield and sword persist past her death, grab those as well, maybe we can learn firey magic from them.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>452767
The warrior looks you in the eyes. With a shout, he charges towards you. With supernatural speed, you dodge his blow and grab onto the spear, using the momentum of his own attack to throw him to the ground.

Whirling around, you throw the spear towards the priestess.

(Rolling for damage, then making a second post)

>>452780
The spear barely grazes her. A powerful whirlwind passes through the stone circle, throwing up dust and stones in all directions. You shield your eyes from the debris, and when you look up, she is nowhere to be seen, and neither are the magical weapons she was wielding.

"Wind-Walk" you sigh. The priestess chose to flee rather than face death. Hopefully she fled somewhere far away and will trouble you no further.

Another nomad charges towards you. You deflect his attack, throwing him off balance. Summoning air magic, you jumping onto his shoulder, kicking him to the ground as you leap back into the sacred circle.

As soon as you enter the sacred circle, your eyes are burned by the light of the god the nomads refer to as the "True Sun". Your body is consumed in an inferno, yet you manage to maintain your composure, calling upon the elements of Earth to weaken the captive's chains.

Though you are doubtful the spell will work, it seems you are fortunate, the "True Sun" does not control the element of Earth, and is powerless to prevent you from breaking the shackles.

The nomads simply stand around you in awe, watching you burn in holy fires. To them, it must seem as though you were in considerable agony. This is not an entirely inaccurate observation. You grab the boy and dash forward, though you make it out of the holy circle, you are now faced with a wall of spear-blades.

[ ] Continue

>>452767
Is it safe to assume that wave crashers is dead?

Rolled 18, 20 = 38 (2d20)

>>452805
(Rolling for damage to player for 2 rounds in the inferno, currently at 87/100)

>>452806
Eh, I might continue it, but I'm not going to do something so creative energy intensive on my final finals weekend.

>>452805
We might be able to baseball slide under the spears, sweep their legs away with our sword, then horseform so the boy can ride us out of here.

Rolled 6, 6, 2, 2, 2, 2 = 20 (6d6)

>>452812
You attempt to slide under the spears, but this maneuver does not go off as gracefully as you had hoped, since it's rather encumbering to attempt while carrying a teenage boy.

You plow quite brutishly into the legs of the soldiers, catching their spears with your back.

Fortunately, this creates an opening. You turn into a horse and charge through the camp.

You make it past the bulk of the enemy warriors, and escape the settlement. You are halfway back to the safety of the mountain pass before the screeching of the rocs becomes unbearable. Looking up, you see 9 giant eagles circling overhead.

((Rolling for 2 rounds in melee, player HP at 49))

[ ] Continue charging back to the nearest friendly fort, taking all blows against us on the cheek
[ ] Wind magic out of here with the boy [-4 gems]
[ ] Turn back into human form and start fighting.
[ ] Other

>>452834
Actually, I just recalled that you shouldn't be able to turn into a horse, as it is too large for your level of skill at shapeshifting.

Anyways, it's done now. Let's just say you had a magic ring, that was never mentioned before, that could only be used once, to turn into a horse while carrying a nomad boy. Its power is now consumed and it disintegrates. ;)

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>>452834
Use your power stoneling, you are a god after all.

>>452870
Bruised, burnt and bloodied, and now faced with an unwinnable battle, you turn back into human form and use the last of your air gems to escape.

You teleport back to the spot where the nomad elder was supposed to meet you. The boy is still on your back, but he tumbles off as soon as you arrive at the destination, throwing up into the grass.

You take him by the hand, and he follows you in a daze as you look around for the boy's father.

As you walk through the friendly nomad encampment, you note that although Wolf Tribe has made it safely through the pass, it does not appear all of them are present, only about half the tribe is accounted for.

You find the chief's eldest son Ban, and the boy runs up and hugs him. Nobu, the elder, comes out of his yurt, and is reunited with his son. The boy puts his hands on his blind father's face, shocked at the sight of his father's missing eyes.

"So, I trust it that I have proven my benevolence to your tribe?" you say to the old man with impatience.

"Thank you, thank you so much," he says, kneeling down and kissing your feet.

"We had a deal. Remember? You said you would devote the tribe to my worship" You say, moving your feet back, slightly annoyed.

"Yes! Yes! Of course! You are the savior of our people, I swear my tribe to you for eternity!" he shouts.

"About your tribe..." you mutter, "Where the hell is the other half of it?"

Nobu frowns and looks ashamed. "The tribe nearly disbanded, many of the families are heading west, beyond the passes into Therawen, to settle the lands there. These that are with me are the only families who remain."

This is not a good time for such desertion at all. It is almost certain that your attack on the enemy encampment will provoke them to retaliate soon. You demand the old man to bring you back your sword Gemina, and ponder your next moves.

(+2000 Nomad followers, +500 Nomad warrior followers)

[ ] Move to stop the fleeing nomads
[ ] Inform Grant that the war has begun, and begin planning our next moves
[ ] Other

>>452904
>Move to stop the fleeing nomads
Collecting the man-hive seems best to jester, yes.

>>452904
Hang on, are the deserters going to get themselves killed? Or are they fleeing somewhere safe.

If they're gonna be fine, let them go and start the strategery with Grant. You've already converted 500 enemy soldiers, which is a pretty awesome contribution to the battle.

>>452930
You turn into eagle form and chase after the disbanding tribesmen.

They are fleeing in loose groups, with no central cohesion or leadership, each man with his own family and belongings. They are also causing chaos, their herds trampling fields and upsetting locals. You arrive at the pass most of them seem to be heading through. It seems to have been blocked to a halt, as one herdsman tried to move his flock through, and the massive herd of sheep decided to stop moving through right in the center of the road.

A handful of Grant's patrolmen are shouting at the nomads and kicking at sheep trying to get them to move. They salute you as soon as you set down and turn back into your true form.

One of the soldiers rushes up to you, "My lady, these barbarians claim that you have given them permission to move freely through our lands. They are robbing locals, damaging crops, and have completely halted all traffic through the pass. We need to summon more soldiers here to get them into line. Or perhaps, if you were to show them some force, it would make the job easier."

[ ] Crush the nomads with Earth magic
[ ] Go to the nearby garrisons and summon more soldiers
[ ] Leave the soldiers to deal with this mess
[ ] Other

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>452930
>>452961
Rolling to see whether to leave them or to try to marshal them back

>>452962
Ok, if they're damaging Grant's people, time to show them that's not ok.

>>452982
You storm up to the nearest group of nomads, and yell at them to get back into line. A few of them sheepishly turn back, but there are hundreds upon hundreds of them migrating across the basin. Several of the women crawl to their knees and start begging you to let them pass, telling you about some dead son or husband.

[ ] How to gain control of the situation?

>>452961
(They're fleeing into Therawen, a neutral kingdom, leaving their tribe and leaving the war. There, they'll be at the mercy of whatever lord decides to take them in.)

>>453000
Bitches! Don't make me look like an asshole! You need to not trampling all these plants.

>>453000
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU WANNA LEAVE, BUT DO YOU WANT TO REPAY MY KINDNESS WITH BREAKING GARON'S STUFF? KEEP THAT UP, AND GETTING EATEN ALIVE BY RAVENS WILL SEEM LIKE A LIGHT PUNISHMENT!"

They can keep leaving, but only if they follow the soldiers directions and don't destroy the land or rob people. If they do, just start killing those who aren't obeying until they start getting it in their heads it's a bad idea.

>>453019
"Oh! Take mercy on me! I'm just an old woman, I have no husband anymore! I just want my children to be safe!" one of them wails.

"These sheep are all I have! I can't just leave them!" an old man grumbles impudently. You give him a backhand. He turns away, rubbing his cheek.

Talking to them is almost useless, unless you can find a way to talk to all of them at once. Air magic might allow this, but you are out of air gems.

>>453046
Shock and awe, get their attention with a lightning bolt

>>453039
>>453071
The sheep still block the pass. You absolutely cannot be bothered with sheep at a time like this, and summon a lightning bolt to startle the herd into moving. This gets the attention of the migrants nearby.

You ask the soldiers which ones the troublemakers are. They point them out to you. You walk up to them and remove their heads from their bodies with your twin blades. The bystanders look upon you with shock.

You shout at them, threatening them with punishment if they continue to cause chaos.

There are so many nomads moving through the region that you cannot guarantee they won't cause further damage as they pass through. But you have instilled some fear into them, at least.

[ ] Continue to police the nomads to ensure their passage is orderly
[ ] Turn into an eagle and scout the borders to the east
[ ] Approach grant and tell him to prepare for battle
[ ] Other

>>453081
We need to get back in the fight. We should approach Grant, give him the low down on what we did, then head out for one last scout run before attacking their supplies and scouts.

>>453081
>Approach grant and tell him to prepare for battle

>>453081
> talk to grant
Tell him your sorry about the asshole nomads in his lands but at least they won't be attacking with the rest of them

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>>453086
>>453087
You turn into eagle form and head back for Grant's castle. You meet the guards there and tell them to deliver a message to Grant to expect an attack soon, and that you will return with a scout report.

You turn back into Eagle form and head east. The passes are flocked with far more ravens than you have ever seen in your life. You rip apart several targets of opportunity, but it will take a serious effort to kill all of them. The nomads have already begun their assault in the south, sending forward half their army, in three divisions of equal size. They are advancing on foot, instead of on horseback, and once they reach the pass, they will be cramped together and unable to fight all at once. Still, the pure numbers they are sending forward may be capable of wearing down the defenders of the weaker forts until they are overrun. Thankfully, they haven't yet reached the passes and there is still time to redeploy.

When you approach the northern passages, your blood turns cold. There are far, far more men there than there should be. It is as if their numbers have increased to three times what they were when you last scouted them.

You return to Grant. He looks you in the eyes, "So it's begun?"

You nod in response.

He takes you to a map room, and arranges the counters to represent the estimated army sizes. After examining things for a few moments, he slams his fists down on the table. "There is no way I can deal with an army of this size, no matter how I deploy my men."

[ ] What to say? How to redeploy forces?

>>453098
You mention this to him, and he says that he already received news a tribe of nomads being given your blessing to pass through. While unfortunate that some of them are deserters and troublemakers, his hands are tied, and he'll just have to let chaos reign in the western part of his kingdom for now.

>>453106
A pantheon is in order, we need divine assistance. Any gods who would love the glory of an "Against all odds" victory?

>>453106
Divide our tribesmen, 200 and 300 to the northern forts, so each has 400. 5 to 1 is possible from inside fortifications. Tell him. "I've got the north, you've got the south. Where's that war god vigor? Even if we lose, it'll be a fun fight! Some of the greatest military heroes throughout history lost, but they took absurd amounts of enemies with them."

>>453106
Also, collapse the bridge nearby that fort with no one attacking it on our way north.

I feel like the sudden increase in troops means illusion magic is being thrown around, (air does use stealth magic!), so maybe a secret force is attacking the place with only a 100. Maybe ask Grant to send them an extra 50-100 men on our hunch if he thinks he can spare it from the fight in the south.

>>453176
(Last post for the night, just answering a few things quickly before I make the main post tomorrow)

It is pretty unlikely to get any other gods to help you on such short notice. For the most part your relationship with other gods has been them telling you "get off my lands and away from my followers".

>>453211
>air does use stealth magic
Absolutely correct, illusion magic in general is in the realm of air. It would be extremely difficult to make such a large army invisible, but comparatively easy to create a fractal distortion to make their numbers appear far larger from a distance.

>>453233
Failtrip

>>453233
Hmm.. In that case, maybe we give as many of our men to Grant as he thinks he needs, then take the rest north.

"I've got the north, you've got the south. Where's that war god vigor? Even if we lose, it'll be a fun fight! Some of the greatest military heroes throughout history lost, but they took absurd amounts of enemies with them."

He chuckles a little. "You know, my father was actually a god of the smithy... not that I knew him much. I just like people to think I'm a god of war, it makes for a much better legend, doesn't it? Today we create a legend together. Win or lose, our names will echo through eternity."

He grabs a pouch from his belt and hands it to you. You look inside, there are 10 Earth gems. "These are all the earth gems I've collected in my life. I'm able to use both fire and earth magic by birth. But I never learnt any spells. To be honest, I've never trusted magic. The only things I've ever liked are the things I can hold in my hands." He puts his hand on your shoulder, "but with your mobility in eagle form, and your affinity for Earth magic, you can make far better use of these than I can. If any of the mountain forts ever become overrun, I suggest you add a few hundred layers of stone to the walls, if you know what I mean."
You fasten the pouch to yourself. "And the men inside the forts?"

"Heroes, all of them." he says firmly.

"I understand." You say, turning to leave.

"There is one more thing" Grant says, halting you. When you turn back around, he takes your hand and puts a ring on your finger. You laugh softly, "Is this a proposal? I thought I told you a while ago, I can't accept such an agreement. I don't want to be stuck with you for all eternity."

He looks at you sternly. "It's a ring of sending. This is how I executed my conquest of the ten towns. It allows you to project thoughts. I have the other ring, the one that receives the thoughts. When we wear these rings, you can communicate with me from any distance. You can keep me updated on the situation in the north."

"I think I'd prefer it if I kept my thoughts to myself" you say, taking the ring off.

He shrugs, "You only send the thoughts you wish to send. If you'd like, I can take the ring of sending and you can take the ring of receiving. This way, I can call you for reinforcements if I need it, but you won't be able to ask anything from me."

"Let me think about it," you say, distractedly. A sudden thought hits, you take Grant over to the map table. "There are no way that all these soldiers were invisible. I had been scouting their camp for days. They would have had to bring their family, their yurt, their herds. There is no way such a huge spell was maintained for such a long time. It would have taken an unbelievable number of air gems. What if, they weren't hidden, but were never there? What if these soldiers are just illusions? If that's the case, they should only number 2000 warriors in total" you say to Grant.

Post 1/2

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>>456181
He shakes his head. "It's a pretty big gamble. If their numbers are as big as they appear to be, then there is no hope to hold the north."
You give a half-smile and shrug, "Then we're screwed no matter what we do. I think we should bet on the course of action that at least allows the chance to win."

He rearranges several of the force counters on the map. "What do you think of this plan?" he says. "You'll be taking command of the 3 forts in the north."

As you are talking, you drip divine blood onto the map. "My god, Mei, are you bleeding?" he says in shock. "I can't believe I didn't notice this sooner. How the hell are you going to fight a battle in your condition?"

"I'll manage"

He frowns and shakes his head, "Don't get too tangled up in the fighting. You should command from the rear in your condition. You're essential to this war. If you fall, everything is lost. Maybe you should stay here, and I should just send a messenger north with my orders."

"Don't worry about me. I've lived a long time and I haven't died yet. To be honest, I'm more worried about you." You turn back to the map table. "And about your plan..."

((Player health at 29 HP))

Grant's plan...
[ ] "It works for me"
[ ] "It's a terrible plan" ((Revise it))

As for the ring...
[ ] Take the ring of sending
[ ] Take the ring of receiving
[ ] "I don't trust magic all that much either"

As for the tactics...
[ ] Raid the nomad settlement, kill their sheep and set fire to their supply tents
[ ] Raid the nomad settlement, slaughter their wives and children
[ ] Defend the pass, be vigilant for surprise attacks and magical trickery
[ ] Rest until we are recuperated

>>456184
I hope that this map isn't too messy to read. Just ask if there are any ambiguities.

Alright, this thread has been dead for a bit. I think I'll just put the quest on indefinite hiatus.

It's obvious that taking 5-10 minutes throughout the day at random intervals is a bad way to run a quest. If I start this up again, I'll make sure I have a dedicated timeslot in the week and a twitter.

This was my first quest thread, and it was sort of an experiment. A big thanks to everyone who participated, in particular Resplendent Wave.

>>460467
Oh, sorry, I stopped noticing it when it wasn't bumping anymore!

The problem with Qst is it's not great with slow pace quests, due to 3 day rule.

I do hope you continue someday, it's been a blast!

https://twitter.com/ResplendentWave, do let me know if you ever start again!