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File: Nate by Domochevsky.png (434 KB, 1140x1623)
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ARCHIVE: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Dungeon%20Life%20Quest
PREVIOUS THREAD: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/549170/
CHARACTERS AND PLACES: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19gNVgtevar647l4ZumUaVH6GlJzvxLlDNKaH8DrQMWE/edit?usp=sharing

You are Nathan Bookchild, Hero by frequent accusation, and you - you...

You're going to spare the man who just killed your fiancee. And sometime very soon, you're going to drink heavily about this, because this is the sort of thing you're /supposed/ to drink heavily about.

"Kat, no!" you order, sharply. The shadow lunges and has to recoil from a fresh spray of coals; the soldier refills his shovel quick as a snake. "Fetch, order her to stand down!"

"She isn't obeying orders, Sir Bookchild!" the chicken answers, a note of panic in his voice.

That's not good.
>>
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>>583431
"Keep those weapons /down/," you warn the surviving soldiers as you limp through their kneeling ranks. You've taken more cuts than you wanted to in that fight and you're pretty sure that's a broken rib on your right side (and thank the gods for chain armor) but right now, with your shadow unshackled and your blood up, you really could give less of a fuck.

"Kat, /stand down/!" you order, again. The ice-clawed shadow spares you a glance and sees your own shadow interpose itself between her and the soldier. "He's surrendered! Brianna wouldn't want this!"

Kat lashes out at a surviving wall, leaving spreading ice and deep, clawed gouges. She shrieks, looking from your shadow to you.

"Stand. Down," you order, firmly. "Brianna will be back. She promised." Your expression softens when you see the scorched holes in Kat's tenebrous flesh. "...You're hurt. You need healing, Kat."

The shadow lets out a low, spectral whine and nods.

"We can go find River, but I need you to /stand down/," you repeat.

Kat shivers, and then sinks to the ground. Meekly, she glides to the bottom of your feet and takes up a place there, just opposite your own shadow. She sniffles, miserably, while you let out a relieved breath.

The soldier drops his shovel and puts his hands on the back of his head.

"WHORE!" Eric roars. "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST THROW DOWN AND GET AWAY WITH THIS?"

Gods, fucking. Why? Of all the people to survive this mess, why her?

> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
> Let it happen. You'll just get hurt stopping the teamster and right now you just spent the very last fuck you had to give
>>
>>583463
>> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later

Man fuck being a Paragon
>>
>>583463
> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
Fuck being a Hero with a capital H, but this is what Brianna would want.
>>
>>583463
>Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
Hero's gonna hero.

Also, interrogation and have River check her for The Mark.
>>
>>583463
>> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later

Honestly if I was Nate I would pick the second choice, but the man is made of better moral fiber than I.
>>
>>583463
> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
>>
>>583463
> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later.
> Remind him, and her, that the Angel shall have her retribution against those who wronged her and the innocents of the Dungeon.
>>
Called, writing.
>>
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>>583463
You grab the soldier under arm and help him up. That broken leg is no joke, and you're not gonna leave him in the forge and watch the rest of the building fall on him. Eric has a middle-aged woman by the front of her armor, a knife in his other hand.

"Verve," you order. The saber interposes itself between Eric and the officer, gleaming and bright. The teamster gives you a hateful glare, and you can see him weighing the odds that you're bluffing.

"The sword is too stupid to be tricked," you tell him. "It will cut you down like wheat, Eric. And I will not feel even a little sorry. These soldier surrendered."

"To save their worthless hides," Eric spits.

Calmly, gently, you set the soldier you're supporting back down. You pat him on the shoulder and slowly limp towards the teamster.

He could have been expecting the punch that lays him out, but he wasn't.

"They. Surrendered," you repeat, taking Verve's hilt so you can point the blade down at Eric. "You don't kill men after they've surrendered. This is a matter of justice now."

"And who's going to judge the witch who took my son from me?" the teamster demands.

"The angel," you answer, simply. "Now help me tie them up. We need to get back to River.

You take Brianna's body with you. She might need it.

> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)
>>
And now I'm going to sleep. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!
>>
>>583812
> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

We don't get to play as Nathan very often
>>
>>583812
> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward).
haven't been Nate in awhile.
>>
>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
>>
>>583812
>> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)

c'mon, you want revenge? You want to slake your pain with cruelty and the death of not innocents, but people who are incapable of fighting back?

Shankbird is your gal.
>>
>>583812
>> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
Some spice in our life
>>
>>583812
> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
Time to Hero
>>
>>583812
>You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)

Though I'm hoping the salt miners don't hit a fresh vein with her again.
>>
>>583952
there are salt veins everywhere, especially in that and this statement
>>
>>583812
>> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
>>
>>583812
Huh, Bri's epithet changed.

It's no longer 'No good deed goes unpunished'.

Instead it's about rebirth. Which kind of has some worrying implications given what just happened.

Thinking about it, if I were Dick and I was running into a wall stopping Bri from resurrecting, and I didn't immediately just shoot myself for being such a massive dick, I'd probably start trying to mess with the conditions of the resurrection. Part of how it works is that we essentially get 'reset' to our state before we entered the Dungeon...

... Could he reset Bri to her mental state before entering the Dungeon? We've gotten a lot of experience and training down here, and made lots of friends and bonds. If we got memory wiped each time we died, then that'd be a huge set-back as well. On the other hand, that'd be... kind of extreme for Vox to deal with, if we died again.
>>
>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
>>
>>583995
That's not Bri, you know. That's Rivers.
>>
>>583995
He can't mess with the Heritor, or give orders that interfere with her directly. He can keep Lora so busy she can't leave in the middle of something that might, you know, destroy the world if she did so, but he can't force her to harm or cause the heritor trouble directly.
>>
>>583998

Oh, oops. Thanks for catching that! I genuinely didn't notice until you mentioned it.

>>584004

A fair point, but we've been told that he's been looking for a way to stop Lora from rez'ing Bri, which would definitely qualify as interference. If he can't stop it outright, or is having too much trouble with it, he might look for ways around it. It's no good coming back from the dead every time Bri dies if she can't remember what happened each time.

On top of that, we're /still/ going to be waking up with the same gear as when we started, rather than what we had. So... that'll be interesting.

And because I didn't vote before...

> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
>>
>>583812
>> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
>>
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>>583991
>>583952

It's like, you faggots don't even know the first rule of 4chan. Which is if you don't want shitposting, don't feed trolls

But hey, since we're on the subject, What is it with GMs and always trying to make the Paladin fall? It's even worse when they have their own homebrewed gimmick, because you know they're just dying to test out their cool idea and that they'll shove it in, even if it doesn't fit.

They'll look at it, cock their head, and say "Well, it looks like it can fit"and then when it doesn't they just shove it in anyways regardless.

They're like the worst moving company on the planet. Can you imagine if a mover did that with your couch? What am I talking about, they're moving companies, of course you've all had that happen in real life.

I wonder if moving companies and GMs come from the same place.
>>
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>>584167
>>
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>>584167
Nathan isn't a paladin except by nature.

And if he slips up, he's got his lovers to help him get over it. shit happens, and he knows it. I doubt he'll angst for too long.

He's got shit to get done.
>>
I'm awake, but I won't have time to update before work. I'm see y'all around 7 PM or so.

In the meantime, still open for votes, questions, and discussion.
>>
>>584422
O'll have that review of Nate up for you somethign in the middle of the California night.

Hope the full moon and eclipse didn't curse you.
>>
>>584437
Only thing that cursed me was some delicious, delicious applejack.
>>
>>584400
Its like the Anon didn't plan ahead and stash a assault rifle in the dumpster to kill the paladins from behind. Do you even /k/ommando?
>>
>>584478
That's why anon always posts the mastermind threads. He was bullied by paladins.
>>
>>583812
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)
>>
>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
>>
>>584195
>>584400
Make no mistake, I'm still salty as fuck about Bri dying like that.

But I figure if we're going to bitch about it, we might as well have fun too!

I can't wait until I'm healed enough to go outside.
>>
>>584730
I too remain mildly upset

Mostly over the fact that it was basically a nameless mook and there was no warning or any chance for us to counter or correct

I would be much less bitchy if this was the result of a die roll to be honest, but it kind of grates me that Vox decided to do this by narrative
>>
In hindsight blinding him may have been the non-trap option, tough the mention of chance may have discouraged us from it.
>>
>>584748
I mean, when Silence died I wasn't too upset. We knew that we were going to be risking people in The Roost because of our choices. The fact that Silence was there was kind of wonky, I honestly expected one or both of Amy's parents to die.

But here, with us, I expected sending Kat to result in either Nate or Eric getting hurt as opposed to completely saving one of them, and us not knowing who. Or something.

Sure as fuck wasn't thinking that it was the "we die" choice.

But you know, Vox has this whole death mechanic set up and he forced us into it once already for narrative purposes at the beginning.

Guess it would be a shame if we went the whole quest without using it.

And it might go away soon, so gotta get it in while he can.
>>
>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
>>
out of curiosity vox where did you get the idea that a shoulder wound was lethal?

I mean getting shot anywhere is generally bad, but the shoulder is generally a good bet for non fatal wounding, even if the artery just underneath the armpit is pierced or cut
>>
>>584877
Probably hydrostatic shock from gunshot wounds.

Which wouldn't apply to a crossbow, and in fact crossbows are notably less than lethal a lot of the time when it comes to things like hypovolemic shock because the arrow itself blocks the wound and impedes bleeding.

That's why he had it be a "straight to the heart, do not pass go, do not collect necromantic dollars."
>>
>>584877
not immediately lethal =/= not lethal
That's where movies always put non-lethal injuries, but there's all sorts of crap in your shoulders that isn't easily fixed, especially with medieval mundane medicine. Heck, getting shot anywhere in the revolutionary war was at least 50/50 going to kill you. Infection and disease kill more soldiers in any war than combat.

Also, you know, bleeding out. So it probably comes from "lethal without treatment"
>>
>>584877
Pretty much this >>584980.
>>
>>584980
We live in a world full of Magic though?

And it isn't like we're Peasant McScrub living in his hovel o' filth.

And even then, that's mostly a misnomer and treatment was usually available for shit like that.
>>
>>585471
>treatment
You mean "cut off infected part" or "bleed out the bad blood"? Other than herbal remedies (dubious at best), there wasn't any real non-drastic or worthless treatment for infection until 1910.

Yeah, there's magic, but we don't have a friendly healer nearby.
>>
>>585628
> Making the mistake of thinking this world and ours are the same world

Dude.

Also, Rose Cult is like, right there. They don't like necromancy, and are all about fighting. Pretty sure they have some competent healers.
>>
Home. Called, but will write in A Bit; I need to discover some food.
>>
>>586518

Just so you know, Vox, this is the soundtrack to the charge as far as I was concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6EbatvP9f4
>>
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>>586821

... I will admit that, much like this cat, it gets weird in the middle.
>>
>>586832
Throat singing is awesome though.
>>
>>586832
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zre6TreHfFg

Have some Vedic speed metal.
>>
>>586832
How about some niggernoise?

> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GR70byTwMOs

Straight from SA.
>>
>>586832
Hooked on the folklore aspect?

I swear these guys are African. Even the lead singer. Ghana.

> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hPe4aizlz9U
>>
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>>586821
...

I am at their fucking show, right now.
>>
>>587851
Tell them people on the internet think they're cool.
>>
>>588007
They're a bit busy with the (I assume?) Coked up woman literally brushing her teeth onstage.
>>
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>>588090
>>
>>588090
Play around her. Fuck, if they can't handle that then it sounds like the perfect time to go up and tell them what the world thinks. Who do you think is getting tazed first, Cokey McOralFixation or some husky longhair cheering them on?

I like to call Metalheads Husky Longhairs because it sounds like a breed of dog.
>>
>>588114
Fatty needs to do more blow.
>>
>>588131
>>588120

They did a Harambe tribute. I'm s I fucking confused. Which part of this is real life, and which part is 4chan?
>>
>>588424
Let me tell you a secret there hasn't been a difference for some time. Meme magic is real, and Trump will bring your waifu to life.

But seriously, 4chan isn't some edgy underground place and hasn't been for a while. People come here from tumblr, and stay because the shitposting is addictive and freeing thanks to anonymity.

Screencaps go to reddit, redditors come here, tumblr users get offended at screencaps and come here and leave and people from here false flag as tumblr users which encourages them to come back because they're "winning" and they start with /int/ and /pol/ and some find other boards like /tg/ and /co/ and /cgl/ that overlap with their interests and stay . . . .

4chan is pretty much a hot topic, but like an off-brand one that's poorly run and kind of shitty but still a hot topic, and you used to be able to buy acid and coke when it was an independent record and cd store, but the cops came down hard so now teenagers smoke pot while people who grew up and got lives still come back because they always came here and they like to pretend that they're still rebellious on the weekends.
>>
>>586518
For future reference when Vox says 'a bit' he means 7 hours. I can't stay awake anymore so don't you guys get any of our heroes killed or amputated while I'm unconscious.
>>
>>588826
He's been more distracted recently; sometimes life happens.

Good night, Anon.
>>
>>588826
>>588839
Yeah, I. Have kinda been fuckin' out of it of late. You have my apologies; I'm writing now.
>>
>>588852
something something just run like a normal quest something.
>>
>>588973
I like this style.
>>
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>>583812
You catch the harpies fleeing from the level, past the Rose Cult's lines, as you're moving to meet up with Amy and River. You link up at the Seedhouse. The place is still a wreck after the evacuation but the storage is still intact, which is the important part.

Amy has to walk away for a minute when she sees Brianna's body. Ash and his men trickle in, after about an hour of you, Amy, and River tying up prisoners, seeing to the wounded, and taking stock. It isn't looking good - you've got maybe twenty lizards left, total, along with the much-injured boar, Kat, Fetch, the two hands, and most of Ash's men.

"Meanwhile, the Lush and an entire century of his men are holed up in the Theater, waiting for us to go and die," Ash says with a sigh. "And make no mistake, that'll be his holdout."

"We got the rakshasa," Amy brings up. "So that's settled. Broken Tooth did something to it that was kinda...mean."

"Did it involve being pulled apart?" River asks.

"...Yes."

"Yeah, it's dead," the elf confirms.

"I assume you have a plan?" Ash asks.

"What in the fuck makes you think we have a plan?" Amy snaps.

"You started a war -"

"This isn't a war," you interject, quietly. "This is a gang fight. Wars have rules. Wars have laws. And to be frank, we weren't expecting an honest-to-gods /army/. How many of his men have we killed and he still has a hundred more?"

"Was two," Ash says. "He sent half of them into the Broken Jaw for some reason."

You take a long, slow breath, close your eyes, and count backwards from ten.

Nope, still angry. But you don't have time for that right now.

"We're all running ragged," River points out. "We could use some rest, maybe let me try to patch up the boar."

"That just gives the Lush more time to prepare and rest too," Amy points out.

"Except for the bit where /he/ is a twenty foot horsefucker who's fresh as a daisy right now, and you all look like you're about to drop dead," Eric says, cynically. "As amusing as watching the Hero learn to fly would be, it seems counterproductive."

"He has a point," Ash says with a sigh. "Why are those cultists not helping?"

"We're not leaving the Roost undefended," you answer, flatly.

> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
> Push on once you have a plan settled
>>
>>589009
> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
But make sure to establish a solid perimeter with guards posted at all times.

Also, this will give us time to stay with Amy and give her a shoulder to cry on, until Brianna finally comes back in one piece (hopefully). Are we going to see a conversation with Lora while she fixes up a new body for Brianna? It would be interesting to see how the Divine Tongue creates life (and if we can somehow turn this against Dick).

ALSO, I would like to see Natalia and the Geargrinder army surprise the Heroes by showing up and curb-stomping the other half of the Lush's army.

>>588764
So which one are you? The teenage stoner, the adult having their midlife crisis (or still looking for one), or the cop?
>>
>>589009
>Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
>>
>>589009
>> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.

We should also take the time to secure Bri's body. Get River to check with Robert about possible ways to do that. Last thing we need is a "Fight the body of your undead lover".

Maybe also check the Scale isn't on her as well, just in case?

And someone should check in with the necromancer. Inform him of Briannas death, and that we're still going to honour her wishes and the deal with Ash and give him the chance to walk. Not free, and not out of the dungeon, but to head to Glen or something to wait it out.

Maybe mention that if you lose, the world gets destroyed by Dick.

And that Brianna was setting up a college of sorts for legalizing Necromancers, so the situation he was so bitter about is changing and maybe part of his atonement could be making that a success and a good thing as much as he made the situation here an atrocity of suffering.

No sense stopping the Hero train now, god knows we've accepted the surrenders of worse people.

But this is his one chance, and if he refuses it then it's going to be a fight, and not a fair one.

But it would be really fucking nice if he didn't make shit harder on you all right now.

Maybe make sure that he doesn't get any ideas of fighting River in her stead, or killing the crossbowman who killed Bri.
>>
>>589051
>Sounds good to me, seconding
>>
>>589038
I guess I'm the adult looking for a midlife crises?

God knows there are better places to go for stuff like this, and better communities.

But this place is nice and comfy. Like an apple product, I'm just so used to the layout.

And as there are better communities, there are worse ones. I actually like the IDs, its a nice compromise between complete anonymity and a persistent identity.

Still, with the split between /tg/ and /qst/ I'll probably just follow the quests I do and slowly disengage. I really only enjoy the world building and creation threads on /tg/.

Too much /pol/ and lefty-/pol/ drama about gender, I find Generals to be mostly cancer, I don't play MTG except with my nieces and nephews using my old decks and have no desire to get into the new cash grab, feel the lore is best read once in a while and not discussed because the M:TG community has ALWAYS been a cesspool of people.

All the threads about D&D are either "Rule Zero!" or "It's broken if you have to use Rule Zero" and always comes down to people telling each other they're doing it wrong.

I would like to see more stuff about Degenesis and the like, campaign settings and game write ups etc. but the fact of the matter is that not enough people seem to actually play those games, and there's only so much you can talk about the setting as-is.

And /tg/ storytime is almost no OC and either thinly veiled trolling, or one-sided begging for validation (and there's never a response to "talk to your group/GM/Player like a fucking adult, and either compromise or leave.")

Drawfags are almost never seen anymore either.

I feel the fun, the community went out of the board. At least the Penal Legion threads are still allowed.

I would have liked if they let spontaneous or one-shot quests stay up for world building or testing out ideas or just for something to feel involved in while checking out other threads.

I'll probably still check in once in a while when bored, but without the quests to give me a regular reason to go . . . ehh. But hey, that's just me, and it's not like I don't literally have a whole world of stuff to do and a live to live outside the board.
>>
>>589009
>Rest up.
Stay alert. Plan. Think. And Pray to Lora.
>>
>>589081
The best part is that it's all stuff we can do while resting.

Oh, we should also use those fucking bells we have to communicate with Natalia in the Broken Jaw and see what's going on, and if anyone can spare men or aid to go help her out.

> "He has a point," Ash says with a sigh. "Why are those cultists not helping?"

> "We're not leaving the Roost undefended,"
you answer, flatly.

Well, if the Lush's soldiers ARE attacking the Broken Jaw, and we're between the Roost and the rest of them, and we have air superiority with the Harpies now that the Necro-bats are mission killed -

Clarify, who is defending the entrance from the cornucopia? Because that's kind of a pointless defence now. Leave a reduced guard I say, make sure we have eyes tracking the remaining enemy forces just in case, and we still have Lizards for rapid response and they don't because we stole them.

Get the bulk of the defenders to hustle over and meet up with us while we rest, the Cornucopia is small enough that they won't be fresh but they won't be exhausted either.
>>
>>589009
Oh, wait, one more idea. While we're resting, get the Rose Cult dude who threw the explosive gas to prep some more of that good shit and give it to the Harpies to drop onto the Lush's forces.

Air superiority is a *bitch* in open terrain.

Also we should check and see what Ash can contribute to the fight with his Revanents. They're abominable existences anyways, could we use them as shock troops or suicide troops or get the Harpies to ALSO drop them by commanders and such?

Even just a couple dropped behind their ranks to disrupt their formations would be plenty.
>>
>>589009
>Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
Exhaustion kills in the long run.
>>
Aight, I gotta hit bed. The good news is I don't work tomorrow, and the bad news is I'm gonna take the chance to get in some hard core sleep. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

My phone has my sign off spiel memorized and suggests it through autocorrect. Have. Have I lost control of my life?
>>
>>589281
You had control to start with?
>>
>>589281
See >>589306
>>
>>589281
Have you lost control, or are you finally gaining control? Where the universe just starts to work with you in a way that seems random and coincidental, but is actually the result of you creating your optimal reality through subconscious acceptance.

Welcome to the future promised you by The Secret.
>>
>>589281
>finally wrangled the predictive algorithms into working exactly the way you need them to
>"losing" control
>>
>>589373
Well, is it him in control or the algorithms? When the universe aligns, are you moving it or is it moving you?

It's arguable that because the algorithms are locked into GIGO, direct cause and effect, what's actually happened is that they haven't made the predictive algorithms fit him, but they've trained him to standardize his input so that the algorithms can predict it.
>>
>>589009
>> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
>>
Man if the Lush gave any fucks about his soldiers he would've mentioned that Bri gets back up when you kill her. Maybe we can use that to our advantage when talking to the survivors
>>
>>589009
>Supporting
>>589051
>and
>>589127
>>
>>589009
> Rest up.
>>
>>590402
Seconding both.
>>
>>589127
Weren't the harpies leaving once they took care of the bats?
>>
>>590469
Correct.

>>589103
The fear is another strike by the Librarian. You do not meaningfully control this level, and the Lush being on his back foot doesn't necessarily mean you're free of that worry. Once you've got a hold of the place, securing the area is easier, especially if Natalia gets the Broken Jaw up and running rather than leaving it.

Called, writing.
>>
>>589009
"Eric is right," you decide. "We need rest. And to process some...events."

"I am sorry," Ash murmurs, looking at Brianna's corpse on the back of the boar.

"She gets better," Amy says.

"If she isn't turning into a lich already -" Ash begins, but he stops when you shake your head.

"She gets better," you echo. "Just trust us on this one. Ash, we had a bit of a confrontation with your master, and he ended up banishing the draugs. What's his next move?"

"Did he say he's joining us?" Ash asks.

"No," you answer.

"Then he'll stay right where he is and see who wins," the elf says with a sigh. "He's not big on idealism, my master."

"Sounds like a jerk," Amy mutters sullenly; the half-harpy pulls her knees to her chest and folds her wings protectively in front of herself, leaving only her eyes exposed.

"Why don't we take some time to rest, eat, and then plan?" River proposes.

You all nod. Ash arranges for a perimeter while you guide Amy into a small home and sit her down on the bed. She cries gently into your shoulder while you stroke her hair and let it happen. You have faith in Bri. She's coming back.

She wouldn't just lie to you like that, right?

"Here," you murmur, offering Amy your waterskin. She takes a drink and recoils; you feel a flash of pain, like dehydration, and she flings it away in shock and anger.

"The curse," you murmur.

"/Fuck/," is your lover's answer.

"C'mon Ames," you tell her. "We can get some sleep at least. Right?"

She nods, distantly, and snuggles in so you can catch some shut-eye.

This is gonna suck.

* * * *

You are Brianna la Croix, currently 'the late', and you are feeling remarkably better. Must be a side-effect of the whole 'being a soul' thing, especially considering that your body can't bitch to you about how much it hurts any more.

Lora does not have a comfortable expression on her face.

"You died," is her soft greeting.

"Please tell me it's not too late already," you plead.

"Not...exactly," Lora says carefully.

"What do you mean, not exactly?"

The angel takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "If I bring you back, Richard is going to know the secret of it, and prevent another attempt. So this is the last one. But...there are other factors. He has a proposal for you."

"And I shouldn't reject it out of hand because...?" you ask.

"Because I have been both permitted and ordered to speak freely about its merits and flaws."

You get a sinking feeling in your gut. "Alright. Let's hear it."
>>
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>>592111
Lora shifts in her place and lights a cigarette. You dig out your pipe - you never did get to smoke it the last time you cleaned it - pack it, and light up yourself. You take a few puffs while the angel gathers her thoughts.

"The Master proposes that you not come back at all," she says at last. "In bringing you back, as you know, reality is...pushed...to make it possible. Things are forgotten, or remembered differently. They get changed or subtly edited. You've done a lot of very positive work on the surface, work which may not survive your resurrection. What's worse, the change in circumstances may make redoing that work harder, or even impossible, as people react freshly to new events and experiences which no longer have your influence."

"You'd said that the stronger ties to the Dungeon could shield from that," you point out.

"I did, and it's still true, but I don't know for certain," Lora answers. She blows smoke from her nose, in frustration. "Previously I wouldn't have said anything, but I know you've worked hard to do good up there, and I...I don't want to undo that good without at least asking."

"You support this?" you ask, quietly.

"Not exactly," your friend answers, shaking her head. "I'm just done forcing you into this. Into...into this hellhole. I know you've said before that you don't want out, but now more is at stake."

"What does Richard get out of this?" you ask, pointedly.

"He eliminates you as a threat," Lora answers simply. "He feels your companions will lose their cohesion and the benefit of your leadership, and as a result be unable to stop his research."

"Then why the fuck would I take the deal?"

"He thinks you disagree."

You take a puff on your pipe, take off your hat, and put it on your knees. "If I take the deal, that's it, isn't it? No ghost, no revenant, just the Sunless Lands."

Lora nods. "That's one of the conditions, yes. But he's willing to sweeten the pot by betraying the Lush. Stay dead, and he'll order me to eliminate the giant while sparing your friends and any remaining innocents, subject to my discretion."

"Why should I believe his word?"

"I can certify it," Lora says uncomfortably. "I...I can seal the deal. If you take it. Or you can return to life and brave the unknown. Your friends...your lovers...would be left to face the Lush, but..."

Gods above.

> Take the deal (Brianna dies and stays dead)
> Return to life
>>
>>592183
> Return to life
We didn't make contingency plans to give up, we made contingency plans to make sure as little as possible would get fucked up if we croaked and came back.
>>
>>592183
>> Return to life

Anything we have done on the surface that has made the world a better place is nothing but gravy on top of saving that world from whatever the hell it is Richard is plotting down there.

Even leaving Glen a shattered wasteland would be preferable to giving up the fight and risking Richard succeeding in his plan, which, so far as we know, is very likely to bring about the end of the world.
>>
>>592183
>> Return to life
Nah, fuck you master and fuck the LOL PLOT CROSSBOW BOLT
>>
>>592183
> Return to life
That deal has no merits.
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>>592183
>> Return to life
>>
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>>592183
>Return to life
FUCK GOING SOMEWHAT QUIETLY!
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>>592248
This, bullshit choice is bullshit. CHOKE ON IT RICHARD!
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>>592183
>Return to life
Ordering Lora to kill the Lush like that isn't the justice she needs, it just leaves a bad taste. And we started this as Bri, we are damn well finishing it like Bri!
I would be lying if I said the soldier had nothing to do with my choice.
>>
We made a promise to Lora too and fuck me sideways if we're going to let death get in the way of that especially since we've always been pushing forward on the premise of resurrection being available. We simply chose to not throw our life away left, right and center. Every life is sacred even if you're allowed to cheat.
>>
>>592183
>>592242
> Return to life

This, basically. We're playing for bigger stakes than necromancer's rights. Plus, I'm... I'm pretty sure he's right. Bri is the lynchpin of this whole "saving the dungeon" thing. She's the one Lora contacted, and is her only real contact with the rest of the Dungeon.
Would Lora have to (or at least be able) to choose a new heritor?

Also, if you wanted us to seriously consider letting the MC die, you shouldn't have had a scene immeadtily previous showing our lovers weeping our corpse.
>>
There is one sweaty Dick down the lowest level of the dungeon, an offer like that seems pretty desperate to me.
>>
>>592417
Or he's playing mind games. He's been wholly unconcerned with his allies dying and losing ground ever since we entered.
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>>592398
Weeping or no weeping, I figured the chance to change the quest MC would appeal to some people.
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>>592438
Not after the bullshit plot bolt you fucking nigger.

I wasn't there to reee initially but that was quite possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in a quest.

In a novel? Sure it'd be poetic, but in a quest?

nah fampai, you fucked the bed on that one.

Also crossbows are hilariously inaccurate, even modern ones have a max accuracy range of 20-ish meters.
>>
>>592183
>> Return to life
We still have a job to do, and frankly, it's bigger than everything we've got going on the surface. Hopefully we can salvage some of that, but it was never priority one.
>>
>>592438
After all the effort to make Bri the person she is right now? Heck no.
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>>592474
>I wasn't there to reee initially
You shouldn't ree now either. It's not going to change anything. It's just going to frustrate you and annoy others.
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>>592474
Inaccuracy doesn't mean that they HAVE to miss when fired at the good guys. It was badly telegraphed but that's the pettiest of reasons you can complain about.
>>
>>592438
This>>592474
What the hell man, did you not learn from River? Hell we can pick a different MC when we finish sense this is so much fun(fuck ups not withstanding). We aren't quitting chocolate love, best hero, and fluffy bird.
>>
>>592438
Everyone else in the story is a supporting character, and wouldn't stand well on their own as a MC, not with a fair bit of character development. If we got to pick from some better options however... Such as the other options at quest start, I might take it.
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>>592524
Okay, I've kept quiet about this whole thing up to now, but I do want to say I strongly disagree with the idea that character death should have to be telegraphed just because it's a narrative quest. Quite the opposite, I think if death is telegraphed, we lose the incentive to think through our decisions. Obviously one can go too far, killing off characters for things people could not possibly have foreseen, but... both the deaths people have gotten salty about were foreseeable risks, even if we didn't expect those particular outcomes.
>>
>>592524
It was a perfect heart shot, so much bullshit man. Honestly

>>592522
I honestly give zero shits about annoying anyone, I'm no vaelys who'd demand a retcon or something retarded, I just need to be here when Vox makes a newbie QM mistake.
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>>592569
>I just need to be here when Vox makes a newbie QM mistake.
Ah yes, the classic mistake of foreseeable but unlikely consequences. How could one forget.
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>>592597
You never kill your MC like that, ever.

It leads to predictable salt, especially when it only serves to fuck up work that the MC has done.

And it wasn't foreseeable in the fucking slightest, maybe just maybe she'd get shot in the arm or leg, no one expected the fantasy equivalent of

BOOM HEADSHOT
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>>592569
No, it was a perfect lucky shot.

>>592560
I'm perfectly fine with the events, but everyone who complains interpreted the option to mean something completely different from what happened. It's one thing to put a warning "NOTE: THIS WILL KILL BRI" and quite another to present options with too many possible interpretations and result in player death. You know what I'm saying?
>>
>>592597
>>592560
>Calling the heart shot with a crossbow while in the middle of a large battle from the other side of the fight is a foreseeable consequence.
Sure, if that helps you sleep from the second most badly telegraphed choice so far.
>>
>>592619
We chose to get the sniper's attention. I thought that he would be distracted with fending off Kat, but I guess she didn't get to him in time.
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>>592569
> It was a perfect heart shot, so much bullshit man. Honestly

> heart shot

The heart's on the left side of the chest, anon. Bri took the bolt mid-chest, through her breastbone, through a lot of things she was using to live at the time. Combined with the shock, she went down. I, again, stopped to consult with nurses and soldiers (my Dead Motherfuckers Consulting Team) before writing the description out to be sure I'd have the cause and rate of death correct.
>>
>>592619
>It leads to predictable salt
That's not a problem, though, because being salty doesn't matter and won't change anything, nor should it. If people want to scream at a wall, that's hardly going to be a problem for the wall.

>>592646
Why would people being salty keep me up in the first place?
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>>592622
I'm not sure I do know what you're saying. We explicitly sent Kat at the guy with the intent to distract him. He was smarter and more coolheaded than we anticipated, and knew to shoot the necromancer rather than the shadow. He was then a good shot, which we did kind of expect going in. I don't see how any of that is anon being confused about the choice. Can you clarity what you mean when you say people interpreted the option differently?

Incidentally, a quick google search shows plenty of people getting 1" groupings with modern crossbows at ranges from 40-80 yards, so the idea that a highly competent marksman might hit us that accurately from across a small battlefield doesn't seem particularly ridiculous to me. It does seem impressive, certainly, but hardly impossible.
>>
>>592708
Huh, I didn't think about the army of the dead that work for you. Got anyone famous?
>>
>>592183
> Return to life
DO NOT GO GENTLE, MUTHAFUCKAS
>>
The death itself doesn't really bug me the way it does some people. It's a little irritating but I'm not going to agree with every decision anyone makes. I can deal.

Personally I just really dislike the resurrection mechanic from how I understand it. I would much rather see any character stay dead then have their actual personal impact on the world get wiped away by the universe so they can get back up again.

I would vote to stay dead but it doesn't really seem like it would mesh with Bri's character as well so I'll sit it out.
>>
>>592708
Same difference vox, it was a perfect lethal shot. That doesn't excuse the bullshittery you performed.
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>>592749
Not really? But somehow I woke up one morning with a goddamn Illuminati network so now I get advice on just about anything from people in those fields. EMTs, head nurses, Army, Marines (former), etc, so forth. It's handy.

Plus for some reason I can summon cookies from Australia which has gotta be the oddest use of networking in my life.
>>
>>592744
The crossbow he used isn't a high-tech modern weapon. It is most likely a simple wood or maybe metal crossbow. Unless it can stand and be drawn up to his thighs, there is no way in hell he could take a pot shot, reload, and then immediately kill with the next shot. He would need a winch to reload something for that distance in an active fight even with height advantage, Kat should have gotton to him before he could reload.
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>>592744
>modern
>40-80 yards

That's a fucking reach, you have to take into account similar levels of skill with a better weapon.

Also dude's in the middle of a fight with a fucking shadow monster screaming at him, it's a little hard to believe.

I think that's the biggest issue, if it was more believable it wouldn't be an issue.
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>>592771
That's...odd. The cookies any good?
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>>592785
This, fucking this
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>>592765
The good news for you is that we're losing the resurrection mechanic after this one.
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>>592785
And before this guy or anyone else says>>592744
>>592622
it could have been a gun and it wouldn't matter, I call bullshit because these people only have flintlocks for the grunts at best and Lora destroyed everything that was advanced enough past that. There is no way the fucker would have something like a lever action as just a grunt. Unless Richard pulled some motherfucking Aizen tier bullshit and placed him there for this exact reason.
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>>592872
This would also imply that Richard is now able to see into the fucking future, or at least a lesser version of what Nate's mom had. Which is fucking terrifying.
>>
>>592785
>>592792
Obviously, the situation is hardly identical to the modern examples. My comment was more directed at the anon who claimed that even modern crossbows are only accurate to roughly 20 meters. The one seen here will, of course, be less accurate than the ~80-yard-range that seems to be the vague consensus for modern crossbows, but it's not like we were told this guy was was 200 feet away, either. As for Kat getting to him first, I just went back and checked the archives, and he was literally aiming when we sent Kat at him.
>>
>>592708
Some advice about being a QM, (I've never been one but do listen to what others have said) It's your job to be our eyes and ears of this world. Unlike in a book where you can be ambiguous and the reader can pick up something they missed after the fact, a quest needs the details understood a great deal more so that proper choices can be made on our part.

I'm not saying put in "Doing this kills you!" but make it so we don't confuse how far away the guy with a crossbow is for instance. If we have him imagined a mile away pointing at us as opposed to across the street pointing at us it changes how we would react. I think the biggest source of salt is because we, the readers, aren't on the same page when important choices need to be made.

I just feel you need to convey the situations a bit better so we can react as such. LIke, use a medium sized red flag instead of a small one but at the same time don't use XXL ones.
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>>592900
That 80 yard range? That's bullshit in the extreme.

I've actually handled crossbows, mostly for hunting, you will never, ever hit a mark that far away with one.
>>
>>592900
True he was aiming but it might not have been at us, unless he was still focusing us regardless, I don't remember if he was or not, but it is still bullshit because even the best crossbowmen with replicas of these old crossbows couldn't reload as fast as this motherfucker did and shoot as accurately, and the only way I could even consider that it was possible for him to pull it off that fast is if the fucking crossbow was enchanted to auto reload, which is also fucking stupid. We know the Lush banned crossbows(for some fucking reason) so the chances of the admittedly competent grunt, to have something like that is fucking ridiculous.
>>
>>592961
I can't claim any similar expertise on the subject, but I can point out what I found with like 30 seconds on google. You want to prove me wrong, I welcome it. I'm only arguing from the information I was able to find.
http://www.bestcrossbowsource.com/how-far-can-you-shoot-a-crossbow/
http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1819010

>>592976
I don't think it takes that long to switch targets with a loaded crossbow, anon. I actually agree that he seemed to reload that thing awfully fast, but it was established as being loaded before the choice.
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>>593028
If you actually read your second link you'd see the hunters and enthusiasts actually corroborating my assertions. The optimal range is 15-20 yards with it getting exponentially more difficult the further you are away.

They also don't move as fast as bullets, which gives your target a heads up.
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>>593066
Just read through it a second time, and tried a few word searches in case I missed anything. I can see a lot of people reporting a lot of different ranges from their own experience, including some very tight groupings in the 40-80 yard range. Would you care to point out to me where, exactly, you feel that's contradicted by better evidence?

Definitely agree that bolt travel time is a big factor if you're trying to hit a moving target. No idea how much Bri was trying to dodge and weave here.

It's also worth noting that this guy had hit us before. So while we didn't have any concrete numbers for the distance, we did know that we were in range.
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>>593184
>word searching

So instead of reading it you're cherry picking?

Also in almost every post it's explained.
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>>593066
I read through that entire page and saw nobody corroborating that. I did see multiple claims of 1" inch grouping at ranges from 40-80 yards, with several of the 40 yard claims being mentioned as off-handed, as well as video links to what I believe are 150 and 200 yard target shots with a crossbow.
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>>593205
Read through it, and then word searched. I did not just word search. Please actually tell me where you feel the 40-80 yard groupings were contradicted by better evidence.
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>>593230
It's possible he misread the third post.
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>>593209
>>593230
I'll admit I may have fucked that up.

All I have to offer you are my own experiences and knowledge with crossbows. So dismiss it if you want, I'm not going to spend hours searching for the exact piece of evidence that helps me, honestly because this conversation/argument doesn't even matter.

Largely because these are modern crossbows
>>
Is everyone forgetting that the space we were fighting in had enough room to comfortably have enough space to fight 100 armed soldiers and big fucking zombie lizards? That is defiantly at around the max range of a normal medieval crossbow.
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>>593274
> Largely because these are modern crossbows
Very true. What does matter is that he had just shot us in the shoulder, demonstrating that we were at such a range that he could a) hit us, and b) penetrate our armor, at least at the joints.
>>
You know the difference between this and the River death? River and Jack dying was from us doing what we could think was right in the circumstances, we wouldn't know what would happen to other characters or even the story at large. We had one character doing actions that we couldn't predict the outcomes off. But this? We have literally no way to tell being a distraction would get us instant killed, especially in light of things like this>>593288 and this>>592976
While having unforeseen consequences is normal and something we can all get past, the fact that this was so sudden and precise kill when he already (dubiously) hit us. Screams that he was either toying with us or missed to injure us to bring in for the Lush, which doesn't make sense seeing as the Lush banned the weapon he is currently using.
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>>593365
River is still alive. Do you mean Silence?
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>>593365
Or, you know, he isn't a 100% consistent shot at that range in the middle of a battle. Just because you can hit someone dead center mass doesn't mean you will with every shot.
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>>593365
Or that he got lucky. And what's dubious here? Other than citing yourself, I mean. We definitely did get hit.
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>>593381
That's what I meant yeah, bit tired at the moment.
>>593397
He got lucky twice in a row. That doesn't fucking happen. This guy was obviously supposed to kill us and I refuse to believe he has the equipment to pull off this shit while planning to take out a companion. His skill is not the question here but the fact that a banned weapon from his, well might as well say master, would not be capable of what he pulled off in the obviously large space we were in.
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>>593430
> He got lucky twice in a row. That doesn't fucking happen.
Putting aside the question of why you assume he got lucky twice in a row, as opposed to, say, unlucky then average, or average then lucky, or unlucky then lucky...

Yes, getting lucky twice in a row does happen. Come on, anon, you've rolled double 20s at least once in your life, right? Random events don't tend to clump, but they also don't tend to spread out as much as we expect them to, which means they do clump sometimes.
>>
Called, writing, and then I have some Professional Writing to attend to.
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>>592183
As nice as some restwl would be.
>return to life.
We still have a job to do no telling how much harm ol' Dickie's going to do if he succedes.
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>>593481
I didn't assume he got lucky, you did>>593397
and it still doesn't answer the fact that weapon he uses shouldn't be able to make do the shit he has regardless of quality, because the Lush banned the things.
>>593511
Cool, awaiting what will happen.
>>
>>593511
Sorry for the complaining

still love you, you crazy person
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>>593530
>I didn't assume he got lucky, you did>>593397
First off, that's not me. Note that we have these fancy ID codes now. Second, that anon is merely suggesting he got lucky at least once, not that he necessarily got lucky twice.

> and it still doesn't answer the fact that weapon he uses shouldn't be able to make do the shit he has regardless of quality, because the Lush banned the things.
Yes, because as we know, weapon bans are always 100% effective in real life.
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>>593555
> Constantly ask for feedback
> Anon apologizes for offering feedback

Pls. /Pls/.
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>>593430
>This guy was obviously supposed to kill us
They probably have standing orders to kill on sight at this point, so obviously, yes.

>I refuse to believe he has the equipment to pull off this shit while planning to take out a companion
Okay.

>the fact that a banned weapon from his, well might as well say master, would not be capable of what he pulled off in the obviously large space we were in.
It demonstrated that it was immediately beforehand.

>>593530
>I didn't assume he got lucky, you did
>you did
We literally have IDs specifying us as different people as different colors above every single post.

>because the Lush banned the things.
Okay.
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>>593574
Forgot the id things>>593570
need to sleep soon. But for the ban, what makes you people think the Lush doesn't make, VERY good examples of people that disobey him?
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>>593572
But you aren't responding to me.

notice me
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>>593596
I believe the man's own response to such regulations being pointed out was "eat a cock". Now, you're right, the Lush's punishments were probably pretty draconian, but we know like two things about this guy, and one is how he feels about anti-crossbow regulations.
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>>593596
Has making examples out of people ever managed to prevent them from doing something, historically? Discourage, certainly, but prevent?
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>>593693
How many had magic? And was a literal giant?
>>
Anyways passing out folks. Be back soon. or not
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>>593714
Depends on if the belief that the ruler was magical or not counts.
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>>592708
It's the same difference man

you killed Bri off with no warning, and no way for us to save

not even a saving throw

This is some shit that wouldn't fly in even a basic DND game. I'm kind of reminded of that Chick Tract scene actually
>>
>>592792
also take into consideration he had just fired off a shot

so he needed to reload his weapon and basically aim on the fly in the space between Kat getting his attention and reaching him
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>>593572
why are you ignoring the feed back we are giving you then?

Didn't all the pushback from when you killed off Silence without any warning mean anything to you?
>>
>>594490
>>594502
>>594521
And I thought the yellow guy was salty.
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>>594537
I only just got home, and I feel like a lot of points have been raised that Vox seems to be ignoring.
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>>594552
They've also been shot down by other players, for the most part.
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>>594609
From reading over the comments I'm getting the feeling that the other participants all feel like Bri's death was BS on varying levels
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>>594615
Now I'm wondering if it's confirmation bias or illiteracy.
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>>594631
look you don't have to agree with me but don't try to belittle the point I'm making.
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>>594640
You're not making a point.
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>>594615
I am not a fan of it. I can deal with it though
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>>594651
The point I'm trying to make is that Vox has had a problem with killing off characters with little or no warning, and that Bri's death feels like another case of this. It's unfair to the players to spring consequences on us when we don't have enough information to adequately predict the outcome of possible choices
>>
>>594615
I thought it was odd that the guy reloaded that fast, but given that that was already established when we made the decision, I'm not calling bs on the death.

Which doesn't mean I'm happy that it happened. But I don't think it was unfair, and I think fiction without teeth (or where all teeth are telegraphed) is pretty uninteresting.
>>
>>594684

I disagree, personally. I don't expect to see much telegraphing for consequences.

Just my two cents, I have no interest in joining this salt mine otherwise.
>>
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>>592183
You think about it.

For all of maybe a minute.

"No deal," you tell Lora, firmly. "I'm in this to the end. My /actual/ end, if need be, but I can warn people about that one."

"Why?" Lora asks, not accusingly but with an odd look of curiosity. "Duty?"

You stand, cross the room, and put a hand on Lora's shoulder. "Well, the reason is simple. I want to /fucking live/."

Lora chokes on her cigarette laughing, and you crack a grin at her. "Seriously Lora," you continue. "I can talk about all of the really good reasons to turn this deal down, but honestly, at the heart of it? I want to live. And I'm okay with dying if I'm dying fighting, dying /trying/, but dying like this? No. That's not worth giving up the chance at raising kids. That's not worth a lover's embrace or a warm cup of coffee by the fire. It certainly isn't worth leaving Jewel and Cherry alone, or not seeing my story told in Scribbles' book. I'm not going to lay down and die for the calculus of war."

"I guess...I guess I never thought this was personal for you," Lora admits.

"It's always been personal for me," you tell her softly. "But I appreciate the thought, Lora. You're a good friend."

"Alright. Get ready, this is going to get...interesting..."

"Is he going to try to interfere?" you ask, worried.

"I hope he does," Lora says with a vicious edge. "I'd love to be able to drop the hammer on him for being that stupid."

"...That's not reassuring, Lora."

"You'll be fine."

* * * *

You are Nathan Bookchild, and you are still alive when you wake up. You have to admit, you're a bit surprised by this. You'd half expected to get stepped on while you were asleep or, hell, betrayed. Ash seems like a mostly okay guy but you're getting this sinking feeling that you're going to end up stabbing Eric to death.

Amy's already awake. She's sulking on a chair next to the bed.

"Pretty bird?" you ask, reaching out to take her hand. She sighs and squeezes yours.

"Talked to the guy that shot Bri," she says. "Not mad at him. Mad at myself for not being mad, and then mad at myself for that because it's stupid but..."

"Maybe walk me through it?" you suggest.

"...Well, in his position I'd've shot her too."

You sit up the rest of the way and set your feet - real and prosthetic - down on the floor. "...I can get that. But he also shot /Bri/."

"Yeah, but..." Amy shrugs, morosely. "She wasn't Bri to him. Y'know?"

> I think I do, yeah
> No. I'm still mad
> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
>>
Here's a thought. What if, instead of engaging, those of us who ain't digging in the salt mines just posted "not salty" when these waves hit? By definition, the only people making noise are the three or four salty people and the people engaging with them.

Out of the 43 posters in this thread, or the 80 in the last one.
>>
>>594727
> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
>>
>>594750
I feel like this is a problem of the chan format. Maybe if there was a way for us to talk to Vox directly like an email address or something?
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>>594727
>> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
Gotta worry about best birb.
>>
>>594750
That seems needlessly passive-aggressive.

>>594521
It meant quite a bit, anon. I'm reading everything that gets posted, even if I don't necessarily reply to it. This is still a learning experience for me, still my first actual quest. This is part of why I do essentially nothing when the arguments break out - they're educational.
>>
>>594727
>> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
Ruminative coping style is not best coping style.
>>
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>>594770
Nah, I'm not saying give him feedback directly instead of publicly, I just mean to put the salt in perspective.
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>>594776
Why'd you do it again then?
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>>594727
>Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
>>594771
Is right
>>
>>594727
>I think I do, yeah.
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>>594805
Do what kill a character? The big thing with everyone said last time was that silences death happened too quick, happened without us being able to see it at the time, and happened without a clear choice in the moment. As far as I could see, none of that happened here. Maybe your issue is that it wasn't telegraphed enough, with which I disagree, but this isn't anything like silence.
>>
>>594727
>> I think I do, yeah
> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?

>>594805
Anon, this salt mining has been going to for 2 days now. Deal. With. It.
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>>594830
>>594842

Kill a character without warning, there's an important difference
>>
>>594830

Side note, this is the anonymous whose girlfriend is also reading. We are going ahead and posting from our phones when we do post, off the Wi-Fi, to avoid same fagging.
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>>594864

I don't mean this in a confrontational way, but I literally have no idea what you mean by that. Try rephrasing?
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>>594871
>implying anyone here has a girlfriend.
that's nice, but please keep the joking down to a minimum.
>>
>>594883
ok. When Jack chose not to kill the Roost we had no idea that it would mean Silence's death and by the time we found out it was already over. We had no idea that the choice not to warn the Roost would result in her death and no way to predict that it would happen.

When we chose for Bri to send Kat directly after the crossbowman rather then try to defend Nate or Eric there was no indication that doing so would make HER a target or that it would result in her being shot again

And once she was shot there was literally nothing that could be done to try to lessen the impact, just instantaneous death.

How are we as players supposed to create plans if we are literally only one decision away from death and, more importantly, we don't know that the decision we are making increases or decreases the likelihood?

I'd need a little to get all my thoughts in order but this is pretty much the crux of disappointment with how things have turned out
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>>594927

>implying we're all as lonely, broken, maladjusted, and sad as you are.
>>
>>594974
Pretty much
>>
Hey Vox, I've been lurking for a bit, but I caught all the way up recently, and I've been enjoying DLQ a lot! Honestly I'm enjoying the increased lethality with Silence and now Bri. It was getting to a point beforehand where I was disappointed in how low the stakes seemed.

As for my other impressions, it's been an awesome run overall. Jewel and Cherry fighting Seraphina was awesome. Definitely a high point. I do wish we'd been able to spend longer in New Hell.

I'm excited to see where this will be going!
>>
>>594974
>And once she was shot there was literally nothing that could be done to try to lessen the impact, just instantaneous death.
>How are we as players supposed to create plans if we are literally only one decision away from death and, more importantly, we don't know that the decision we are making increases or decreases the likelihood?

I understand your argument. On a certain level, though, isn't that just, you know, life?

Like... we have the choice to rescue one or the other of our allies that fight. Instead, we chose to distract the crossbowmen. Even though we weren't intending that, a perfectly logical consequence of that choice is that we were shot again. We died.

There are always unintended consequences. You plan the best that you can around them, but what fun would it be if there weren't?
>>
>>594974
The shooter knew what a shadow was. He works with a necromancer that has a shadow. He wasn't gonna try shooting it when the actual necromancer is wide open on top of a huge boar. That's why he yelled "why isn't it dissipating!" when Kat continued to ravage his anus.
>>
>>595032
>>594974

To be clear, I'm not bring confrontational here. I'm trying to grok your mindset on this, because it's very different from mine.
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>>595032
That may be more realistic but there's a time and a place for that. Narratively it's a real kick in the balls for us the players because we have spent A LOT of time and effort in making sure that Bri stays alive. We've chosen options again and again that were more difficult and required the significant investment of resources and endurance of pain to ensure that Bri stays alive and the temporal effects weren't invoked so we could make an impact on the surface

And now it's all been swept away. Not by a character we know who was established as a threat like the lush or the wyrm or even a captain or named man

it was by a random mook. A random mook like the hundreds of other mooks who've shot at us before and who we've managed to survive being wounded by a hundred times before.

Bri is the main character and while yes she is mortal she is also the heritor of the dungeon, a woman who's gone up against monsters like the Priestess and dueled with the Baron and broke the diviners own magic. Theese are all things that would have killed and in fact HAVE killed lots of other people, so surviving that leads us to assume that, barring a major catastrophe like being stabbed in the back or a series of total failures that lead to a total route, we don't have to sweat every single combat encounter

>>595047
I'm not going to argue that there wasn't logic for us being a target, but there was a severe lack of communication in stressing the amount of danger we were in. if the players knew that Bri was apparently fatally wounded and that kat wouldn't be able to act as a barrier if we WERE shot, like some of us were assuming, then we might have just let Eric or Nate take the hit
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>>595124
B-but my low lethality, I NEED STAKES
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>>595124
>we don't have to sweat every single combat encounter

Didn't bri herself say that treating every situation like it could kill her was good practice for Richard taking away our rezing ability?

A Mook with a crossbow - a sniper, on a rooftop, during a pretty fucking lethal looking ambush of soldiers - seems like the kind of thing that should be an every-choice-could-be-lethal situation, for us or our comrades.

Does it help if, instead of thinking of it as A Mook that killed us, you recognize that it was the unit of soldiers who did? That the lush threw enough men at us, and at the right time, to be lethal?.
>>
>>595124
>Narratively it's a real kick in the balls for us the players

I notice, by the way, that you're saying "us," which includes me - this wasn't a kick in the balls for me.

You're speaking for you, here - which is fair, you're entitled to your opinion and I'm interested in hearing it, but call a spade a spade.
>>
>>595188
no it was pretty much that one crossbowman who killed us. The rest of the soldiers didn't do anything other then kill some lizards.

Again, it seemed stressed to us that this guy wasn't even that much of a threat because crossbows are against the Lush's own regulations.

This is why there is an implicit assumption built into most RPGs. While random chance can kill almost anyone in the right circumstances, the player characters can survive being stabbed and shot and kicked off a building even though in real life just one of those things could realistically cripplea person for the rest of they're life if not out and out kill them.

Having a character die out of the blue without any saving throw is generally considered a no no by GMs precisely because of this. This is why players are asked 'are you sure you want to do this?' when they're about to embark on something that will ensure their deaths.

And if the players ignore this tiny warning and continue down that road then the GM is fine to fuck with them. But not offering that small warning makes all the difference in the world
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>>595006
Welcome to the quest, anon! I appreciate the feedback I fucked up with New Hell and the Roost and I'm trying, consciously, to relax and not fret so much - hence the longer interlude and look forward to havin' ya around.

I must also ask - who are your most and least favorite supporting characters?
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>>595259
now where are you getting the idea that New Hell and the roost were bad arcs?
>>
>>595268
My general dissatisfaction with them as an author and anon's general dissatisfaction with them as an audience?
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>>595253
I'm not entirely sure the assumptions built into games with dice are valid for games without dice. With dice, the element of risk in each encounter is "you might get unlucky, or not lucky enough." Without dice, the element of risk is "you might make the wrong choice." When the choice is, in itself, the main element of risk in the system, I'm not sure a "are you sure you want to do that?" is warranted unless the character in question has access to vital information that the players do not, which I really don't feel was the case here (risk of crossbows having been communicated by the crossbow bolt in our shoulder at that very moment).

In other words, I feel like the negative reactions are due to something fundamental about the nature of narrative quests. I dunno, maybe it's time to revisit the dice thing. I prefer the narrative stuff myself, but then, I also don't have a problem with the recent deaths.
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>>595278
We liked them just fine, it was the sudden loss of Silence that was the issue. Other than that, no one here would say it was a bad arc.
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>>595278
I didn't really pick any of that up? The roost was a little bit weirdly structured but it wasn't bad

If anything I'd have to rank the warehouse as the worst arc so far because of it's disjointed nature
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>>595321
Anon, I meant the plot arc "Rule the Roost".
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>>595253
>assumption

I do not share that assumption, especially not here, where our repeated death was an explicit assumption of and mechanic for the quest. Hell, I feel like we've been doing this like a pacifism run through dishonored, seeing how much we can do to avoid the assumed frequency with which we should be dying.

And again, you're saying "us" and "we" a lot, when I really think you mean "I" or "me." I'm trying not to let it bother me, but it feels like you're trying to speak for me. I've been here since the lichyard. I'm as much a part of this as anyone else, and I don't agree with you.

I do appreciate being able to talk through that disagreement, though.

Also, I think you misunderstood my point. I don't mean to say the rest of the ambush was what killed us. I mean rather that part of the issue might be too narrow a focus. It's not one Mook that killed us, any more than it was a bit of iron and wood - seriously, how could a bit of iron and woos kill the heritor of the dungeon?

The one Mook - the bit of iron and wood, in the form of the crossbow bolt, the vanilla mortal soldiers, the ambush, the necromancer, they're all part of a larger attack. They are, collectively, one single swing from the lush... and it hit. We died. We'll be bsck.
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>>595320
I feel like precisely because this is a diceless quest the fact that a random nameless soldier managed to kill the MC is even worse. In a narrative quest all we have to go by for threats is what the author tells us is threatening

In a dice based game there's always the chance no matter how small that an action might result in a critical fuck up

in a diceless quest we do away with that assumption so the narrative can proceed unimpeded by the tyranny of the dice gods.

No warning from the GM in a diceless narrative quest for an action that is lethal and that the players cannot grasp IS lethal is the worst kind of betrayal, because it means we now have to second guess not just ourselves but also what the QM is telling us
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>>595352
And my point still stands.
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>>595278

I wasn't dissatisfied - I just felt they moved too quickly, personally. I wanted more time fighting for ground in new hell, more time maneuvering the politics in the roost.

I, for one, hope port atrium and the sunless sea is a long, involved adventure, with multiple groups in the city and surrounding areas interacting in interesting ways.
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>>595388
>and that the players cannot grasp IS lethal

Anon? Me. I grasped that it was potentially lethal. I helped pick it, knowing that.
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>>595374
How many times have we died though?

Once and because of author fiat.

I agree with you that the perhaps the cumulative effects of the ambush were what killed Bri but that's not how it was presented to me in the text.

Bri didn't do something monumentally stupid or anything that she hadn't done a million times before. She didn't ride in unprotected and alone, she didn't try to go one on one with a heavily armored melee killer. She had back up and bodies that were supposed to be absorbing the fatal stuff for us.
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>>595388
I'm trying to figure out how getting shot in the shoulder in literally the same post as the decision, by literally the same guy, doesn't communicate danger. And I'm not coming up with anything, anon. Don't get me wrong, I voted to send Kat after the guy with all the others. I thought it was a good idea too. But I feel like the danger was signaled plenty clearly, and if we evaluated it wrong, that's on us.
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>>595419

But... we were. We were doing something dangerous. We were being ambushed. Instead of fighting defensively, we chose to try to defeat it... and we died. Just like we did with jack, we tried to fight something that turned out to be more than our equal.
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>>595433
You feel one way, others feel a different way.

That's life
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>>595418
You knew that by picking the option Bri was going to die from it? or that there was an even chance that she could die?

I think how anyone would expect Bri getting wounded fatally would go is- she gets shot and put out of the fight but now comes a really hard part. She has to stave off death long enough for nate to finish the fight and avoid taking a coupe de grace blow, and if she fails THAT then she is well and truely dead

By making her death instantaneous, especially in a situation narratively where there is enough leeway for us to get that extra space to fix our mistake, we are robbing the actual villain of the arc impact on the story

LUSH is the villain here, not random crossbowman. If random crossbowman injures Bri then it should make her more likely in an actual confrontation with the person who this entire arc is supposed to be about
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>>595455
You can't be serious, it was some no name fucking soldier.

I'm not buying what you're selling man.

If you think this situation is in any way comparable to jack's you clearly don't understand.
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>>595470
>we are robbing the actual villain of the arc impact on the story
Good.
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>>595475

That's like saying that its bills hit that some random mundane bolt out of a thousand like it managed to kill us.

My argument is that the soldier was a part of the ambush, and the ambush was a single attack from the lush. I expect a dozen more, none of them easy to overcome.
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>>595460
Obviously. I don't mean to suggest that other people's feelings on the matter are somehow less important than my own. I do question the narrative that somehow we had no way of knowing it was dangerous, but I understand that people felt it was very sudden, and happened without warning. And my argument, at this point, is that I don't think that's avoidable in a narrative quest without signaling everything all over the place and losing all possible tension in the process. Which, yes, is a problem with narrative quests, because people's emotional reactions to things are important, and this is clearly not a good emotional reaction.
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>>595491
>>595509

no, that's a bad thing from a story perspective. Han Solo's death in the new star wars movie would have been seriously less impactful if he had died to a random stormtrooper rather then to Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren is still responsible but the narrative focus is no longero n him

it's on that idiot spinning the stupid baton around like a varsity cheer leader

anyway, I guess that's all I have to say for right now. vox, give me an email address or something if you want to hear the rest of my opinions, I gotta focus on my dark heresy game now.
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>>595470
>You knew that by picking the option Bri was going to die from it? or that there was an even chance that she could die?

Yes.

I know that we can die. An ambush of professional soldiers, from a prepared position, catching us unawares, and backed by an enemy necromancer, is the kind of thing I expect to be able to kill us.
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>>595537
I honestly prefer the open discussion, anon. I only rarely end up asking folks' private opinions, and even then it's usually because they're either lurkers that I know personally (and I have to ask because they don't post here) or they're someone who's catching up, and I know them personally, and I'm peeling their souls for delicious in-progress reactions.
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>>595259
I totally understand. No bitterness here. I thought it was a cool as hell level and wanted to let you know

Amy's my favorite POV character. I'm enjoying River come into her own as well. Non-POV, Jewel/Cherry as a unit is fascinating. Both characters on their own are interesting, but the two of them together make something kinda unique, and that's awesome. I'm really interested in Natalia's character development too. And Cooke is hella cool.
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>>595537
I'd rather Vox not give any of us an email address. Feedback should be held in an open forum where it can be debated, not behind closed doors.
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>>595601
THIS!
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>>595601
pretty much
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>>595601
>>595610
>>595597

It feels kind of like I'm ragging on him rather then having an actual conversation. Hell I'm talking to him right now and i"m still referring to him in the third person.
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>>595601

And, as someone who is taking part in the conversation here, I'm appreciating the civility of it at the moment. It's been too salty too often, but we we're actually able to hammer out something here. There's a fundamental difference in how some of us are viewing the structure or purpose of the game, and that's something for vox to keep in mind.

Productive conversation, and nobody got called a shitdick niggerfaggot. Call that a win.
>>
Don't give out emails., Vox, it encourages idiots like Vaelys to be stupid.
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>>595259
Vox, I thought that New Hell and the Roost felt maybe kind of rushed? Like more detail and/or interaction might have helped.

Also, your supporting characters have been pretty great; the ones I'd say I like the least are the ones we interact with the least, because we don't get the chance to like them if that makes any sense. I don't think every charachter needs a ton of detail, though.
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>>595470
random crossbowman was actually the villain the whole time
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>Didn't you get any sleep, Ames?
Nate's conflicted, but that's okay. He can decide how to feel about the soldier later.
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>>595320
Shut bro, this isn't a choose your own adventure book.

We should be able to jew the fuck out of shut by making plans.

Like, that's why I'm trying to get harpies to fucking drop bombs and revenants and shut while we blare out that we're accepting the surrender of regular troops.

It's why I wanted to burn the whole damn thing down, because fuck armies that shut is dangerous. Let me tell you about friendly stabs.

They happen.

So could we start doing shut like going into ghost form because fuck armor we a ghost nigga.

Blinding cunts at range, and we gotta get Kat smart enough to be stealthy again this screaming ain't doing it for me.

Maybe we could try lobbing corruption, if snipers are in a melee they're officially dealt with.

Maybe we should stop and discuss tactics instead of shutting ourselves over waifus and trust other people to fucking help like the theme of this quest has been.

Vox, you're still kind of crap at describing options so that we have a clear understanding of what will happen. Use your words, we ain't telepathic.

Fuck it. I'm just going to spam a list of shut we can do after each vote.
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>>595597
Do not give out your email. The email field is a trap.

Jesus you're frustrating sometimes at your stubborn refusal to integrate.

Do you want gore and animal abuse and shut emailed to you or something?
>>
I just want to take a moment to stress that I'm not just some fair weather friend or some newbie who only just started following or has a bee up his bonnet over something inconsequential like that entire stupid Crescendo argument

I've been posting in these threads since the very beginning, following the story, keeping the thread bumped, coming up with stuff

This is the first thing that honestly has really made me upset. Like, I didn't LIKE when Silence died but I understood that there are lots of different factors at play and that we can't account for everything all the time

The instantaneous nature of the death is what really gets me

Apart from the one instance of author fiat in the beginning, we have never ever been in a situation where death was literally only one bad choice away. Suddenly springing it on us for what feels like a relatively mundane action seems like a really bad choice
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>>595751
>Shut
...why are you doing that?
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>>595780
Not him but I'm guessing he's on a phone with predictive.
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>>595771
I guess we could have been and not realized if we made the right choice but if so we've probably had an impressive string of good luck.

I always kind of figured that was what the rare hidden checks were for mostly though. Checking to see if something really horrible happened suddenly when it was a major risk.

Looking back I don't think that was ever clearly stated though and that's probably just an assumption on my part.
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>>595804
That's what I was thinking too. The dice rolls were for risky stuff that could backfire on us spectacularly. But we didn't even get a dice roll for this

you have to admit vox that in comparison to all the other non-boss combat encounters you significantly ramped up the lethality here
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>>595826
>you have to admit vox that in comparison to all the other non-boss combat encounters you significantly ramped up the lethality here
This is definitely true. While I remain not especially upset, I'll throw my voice behind this bit of criticism.
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>>595771
Actually I went and re-read the last thread. I have to say, while Vox isn't always consistent at explaining the ramifications of the given choices, we gotta step it up too.

We sent our meatshield Boar off to go ramming.

And we had already been shot ONCE in the shoulder by the sniper. Probably should have gotten into cover there.

Silence dying was acceptable I feel. We were playing as Jack, and we knew that not warning the Roost meant SOMEONE was going die. And I would honestly prefer to have it be Silence than the hatchlings.

I think I've figured it out. Vox is unable to handle the 4chan questing format and the linear way votes come in after he posts.

So we gotta step up, slow down, and start having actual discussions about what we're going to do like we were all present at the same time.

That's going to be fucking hell, because Vox leaves votes open for fucking ever, and we're all NOT going to be here at the same time anyways.

So Vox, since you have your own unique way you want to run your quest, you have to start working with use here.

You hate twitter, okay. How about you set actual times for the vote to be over after the post? 30 min, an hour, whatever.

Look, this quest is your baby. You can just half-ass it because "you don't like it" other ways, but the forums here do have limitations you need to work around.

Or not. And we'll keep having this issue again and again and you might as well just write a fucking novel at that point, because I don't want to feel like I'm reading a "Choose your Own Adventure" book.

Please, give us some structure so we can have a discussion time and then a consensus time instead of "Sorry, the first 10 people voted before you pointed out that we should probably take cover so that's not happening."
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>>595889
there wasn't an option for us to get into cover though

Vox gave us three choices, and none of them included protecting ourselves. If it was reasonable for Bri to be worried about her health maybe that should have been included in our choices.
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>>595913
This is valid, bit write-ins have been effective in the past. Still, in retrospect, it does seem like the kind of situation where a "take cover" option would've been warranted.
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>>592183
>> Other
Ask about a delayed return. 'camp out' for a while; if thats possible, and how badly it'd fuck up, more or less, the world upon her return if she did that.
(Perhaps with some aid from River to pull her back in a non-world-reset way? Collaboriation with Lora's Chosen, perhaps?)
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>>595889
>How about you set actual times for the vote to be over after the post? 30 min, an hour, whatever

I don't see that helping with the problem you describe. What sounds like would help, though, is a vote /delay/. Let's say a fifteen minute (for instance) period after you post where /no votes/ were made ir counted, that was just for discussion.

It'd be experimental, but this whole quest is too.
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>>595951
Ooo~

That could be...interesting.
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>>595972
any particular reason why you decided that the forge encounter was going to be so deadly?
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>>595972
Wouldn't make any difference with as slow as the updates tend to be, in my opinion. Vox has been tolerant about acceptign vote changes after discussion so far, after all. If he had not been, that might be different.
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>>595972
>>595989
I'm not so sure. Updates are pretty slow, but the first round of votes is often quite fast, and not being able to immediately vote might make those first people (myself included, on many occasions) more inclined to, well, discuss, since they can't put their energy towards anything else. I don't know for sure that'd happen, it might just be 15 minutes of silence, but it'd be interesting to try.
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>>595913
>>595989
The other problem is people who vote and then do shit like go to bed or work, or live their life.

Because the vote takes so long, a lot of people seem to just cast their vote and peace out. Like, I have shit to do besides argue for the three to twelve hours between posts.
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>>596084
Also a fair point. I'm gonna call and write here in forty or so; life got me.
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>>596145
>> No. I'm still mad
Voting for therapy sex before sleeping.
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>>596145
Or, alternatively, dressing Brianna up silly while she's dead because we're kind of pissed she got herself killed and scared us like that. She has to take more care of herself, and let US take care of ourselves as well.

Or maybe dress up and a revenant and get River pretend we died while Brianna was dead. See how SHE likes it.

Since we can't be mad at the crossbow dude.

Therapy through sex or pranks. That's my life.
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>>595989
I'm thinking the same. If this was a rapid fire quest, story posts coming fast and heavy, a forced discussion period would slow things down, forcing people to think before they vote. But here? There are several hours between posts.

>>596247
>Therapy through sex or pranks.
sounds... unhealthy. But, yaknow, It's 4chan; Everything here's unhealthy.
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>>596247
>>596233

... will bri's body still be here when she gets back?

Because reanimation on our own corpse while we were still alive sounds like the kind of thing that would tickle bri's fancy, AND, go down in family legend.
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>>596270
>zombie army made entirely of ourselves
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>>596283
> Things I thought this quest would include but then it didn't
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>>596283
We get a dapper skeleton of ourselves, give fetch the soul, and make ourselves our own familiar.
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>>596295
does that mean that that's a viable action to take?

Can I vote for it when we get back?
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>>596257
Laughter is the best medicine, you know. Sex or pranks, either one changes your mood.

Heck, let's do sex THEN pranks.
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>>596340
>"If I bring you back, Richard is going to know the secret of it, and prevent another attempt. So this is the last one.

If we'd wanted to do that, we should have done it a loong time ago. Shame, it would have been great.
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>>596366

Familiar of ourself, with fetch elevated to whole person, is an option.
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>>596377
I wonder if who the zombie /was/ influences familiar creation. They're supposed to created as a part of the creator, but if the skeleton /is part of the creator/...

Vox, does Bri know of any familiers made from physical parts of their creators? hands, feet, fingers, etc? Seems like the sort of thing /someone/ would try.
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>>596436
You'd think, but you'd be wrong. Necromancers aren't in a rush to cut bits of themselves off and people that get close enough to try it generally finish the job.

Called, writing.
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>>596446
So that means its time for some science!
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>>596366
I wonder what our relationship with Lora would look like if we just offed ourselves anytime we needed a spare body. We'd spend a lot more time together at least.
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>>596482
Too bad we don't have a way to bind her somewhere that Dick can't get her from.
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Fucking Comcast. Sec.
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>>596678
No, no no. In the United States, Comcast fucks you.
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>>596860
I'd kill for Comcast, to be honest. From what I've heard, their bullshit is obnoxious, but not nearly as much as my experiences with my current ISP.
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>>596886
What could be worse than Comcast? You get Bell or something?
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>>596886
I'm just sad nobody here is old enough to get that I perfectly reversed a Yakoff Smirnoff
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>>596950
Frontier. Overpriced, mandatory router rental, extremely slow and the already-slow rate continually decreases every hour or two until it eventually zeroes out and shits itself, sometimes for hours, even with manually resets. And that's on a good day. I've gone literally weeks with no service and had them blame me for it every time I complain before.
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>>596970
God damn. do they just have no competition?
>>
>>596984
Pretty much. Nobody else is available in my area and a bunch of other areas like it to my knowledge, so it seems like they decided to start deliberately cheating their customers for profit.
>>
>>596465
Unfortunately not a science we can do here: both our necromancers are already familiared up.

(Although still, a guy that got an arm cut off in the final struggles of a fight with some heroes, managed to finish off the last ones standing and then reanimated his hand as a familiar just to give a proper double bird to their corpses would be a fun historical figure.)
>>
>>597079
>both our necromancers are already familiared up.
Can we make another? We are being undeadified by an angel. Does being remade from not-death come with any useful side-effects like being able to do something like this?
>>
>>597091
The benfit probably is "Fetch and Kat don't drop dead just because Bri did temporarily".
>>
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>>594727
You stand, slowly, and offer a hand to Amy. She gets up and lets you pull her into a warm hug. "Did you get any sleep, Ames?" you ask, gently.

"Some," she murmurs. "...River's the one who woke me up. She was crying, out near the boar. She wanted to be left alone, though."

"I guess sleep-sleep is a bit out of the question," you admit. "But we do still need to rest. And to plan."

"Can't even cook," your lover mutters.

"We'll handle that once the Lush is dead," you promise. "Imagine how happy Bri will be when she gets back and the Lush is dead."

Amy laughs, and picks up your coat to hand to you. You shrug into it and start buckling on your weapons and equipment, keenly aware that you slept in your clothes and now you stink.

"Nate," Amy murmurs. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid and Heroic, okay?"

"Ames -"

Amy whirls on you, tears in the corners of her eyes, and puts her hands on your shoulders. "Promise me," she whispers. "I can't lose you too. You're a good man. You're better than I've ever been, fuck, better than I'll /ever/ be and I just know the giant's going to do something to make you pick between you and someone else and /I need you to pick you for once, okay/?"

"I - I promise," you murmur. "Just - tell me why you seem so sure that'll happen?"

"I know this kind of bastard," Amy tells you, looking away with shame in her eyes. "The Vintner was like him too. The Vintner, he'd hurt someone you cared about just to make /you/ suffer." Amy holds back a sob and hugs you tight. "He's not done fighting yet, Nate. He's going to hurt us as much as he can. Don't let him. Please don't let him, don't fall for it..."

You stroke Amy's hair and hold her close. "I believe you," you whisper. "It'll be okay. I promise, it'll be okay."

Someone knocks on the door, and Amy reflexively wraps her wings around you to protect you. You cough and tell your guest to come in. The door creaks open, slowly.

"Everyone else is up," River says quietly. "Are you two ready?"

"Give us a minute," you ask. "...You okay, River?"

"I will be. But we need a plan."

River gives you and Amy some privacy by shutting the door when she leaves. You hold Ames until she's calmer, and she nuzzles against your hand with a little chirp before pulling away.

"We'd better go out," Amy murmurs. "He's not getting any more dead with us waiting here."

Chairs have been dragged out into a rough circle. Some of Ash's men are resting; others are taking their turn at watch. Ash, Eric, and River are already seated, looking glum. They haven't eaten anything either.

Your stomach rumbles and it's all you can do to not punch it.

"Alright, what do we have on hand?" you ask.

"I've got about fifty men in fighting shape, plus the twelve revenants," Ash begins. "That's not bad odds, but the mean the Lush has left are under the command of Riley the General. He's good at -"

"Wait," you say, holding a hand up. "Riley the General?"
>>
>>597099
Probably, but you'll never know if you never ask.

Besides, what've we got to lose for trying?
>>
>>597091
>>597099
This. Also, the ability to make another would be related to /what/ part of the creator goes into the creation. If it's part of their soul, no dice; We still got one soul. If it's something less ethereal, mayybe. But since Fetch and Kat didn't keel over, i'd wager it's soul (or equivalent).
>>
>>597101
"Yes, the Lush's second-in-command," the elf answers. "...Why?"

"We may not need to deal with the army," River says. "Or at least not with a lot of it..."

> Try to plan for the army anyway
> Trust Riley to do the right thing (move on to planning against the Lush and his taster)
>>
>>597105


> Try to plan for the army anyway
>>
>>597106
>>597105
actually can i change that to "plan that Riley does the right thing but the Lush anticipated that and ends up having him killed" or something?
>>
>>597105
>Trust Riley
>But keep a trick of your sleeve, just in case.

When Bri makes it back to the crew, we should consider not telling them we lost respawn abilities.
>>
>>597105
>Trust Riley
>But keep a trick of your sleeve, just in case
>>
>>597105
>Supporting
>>597112
Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Better to be over prepared.
>>
>>596950
>>596860
Clearly you have't tried Wave.
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>>597105
>> Trust Riley to do the right thing (move on to planning against the Lush and his taster)
I want to trust this guy but I just /know/ something like>>597107 is going to happen.

But I want to believe so I'm gonna give in to hope. Everybody could use a bit right now.
>>
>>597105
>Trust Riley
>But keep a trick up your sleeve just in case.
Bri resurrecting is a hell of a trick.
>>
>>592111
>The angel takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "If I bring you back, Richard is going to know the secret of it, and prevent another attempt. So this is the last one. But...there are other factors. He has a proposal for you."
I just noticed something odd.

How does Dick have a proposal for us if he doesn't know about our resurrection technique?
>>
>>597133
He knows /about/ our resurrection. He doesn't know the exact mechanics, yet, but he can make deals without them.
>>
>>597133

I think he already knows it can happen, but can learn the mechanism by which it happens and stop it in the future if he watches it happen.
>>
>>597133
if anything the stupidest part of that deal is that we would have no way of actually, you know, keeping him to his word. because Brianna is dead.
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>>597138
Anon are you retarded?
Lora outright said that she can make him stick to his word. Probably some magical binding contract or someshit.
>>
>>597104
>>597102
>>597099
>>597091

We can do as >>596377 >>596297 suggested and give fetch the innocent soul we have, and elevate him from Familiar to Person. That leaves us sans a familiar, which we can make out of our own skeleton.
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>>597139
She also is bound by an unbreakable chain which gives him control over her, so....I have my doubts. He can also make her say and do things. We have zero proof that he's being honest, and we know he isn't honorable.
>>
>>597139

To be fair, can't she be lying to us, or mistaken?
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>>597140
I like that plan though some questions pop up if we do.

First, I sorta remember the innocent soul kinda 'creates a person(ality)' when its used on something (or whatever). Will Fetch still be Fetch if we do that?

Second, If he is no longer our familiar, will we still have a telepathic link with him afterwards?

Third, will he still be a chicken?
>>
>>597149
> First, I sorta remember the innocent soul kinda 'creates a person(ality)' when its used on something (or whatever). Will Fetch still be Fetch if we do that?

Yes, and also no. He would be something remarkably like Fetch, which would then change and grow as its own being, mostly due to the answer to the next question.

> Second, If he is no longer our familiar, will we still have a telepathic link with him afterwards?

No. While Fetch is still the being made by being part of Brianna, he would no longer be part of Brianna, but rather his own being, complete and whole - capable of anything a souled being is capable of, including having an afterlife. He'd change and grow on his own, rather than as part of Brianna.

> Third, will he still be a chicken?

Insofar as he's a chicken now, yes.
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>>597154
I'd give him the choice, frankly. "Ser Fetch, you are the very best of me. Not only have you served Faithfully beside me, you have done so courageously in situations where I would have been terrified, and you have done so with Grace in situations where I would have stumbled. And so, my knight, my dearest friend, let me tell you the story of the Blue Fairy."
>>
>>597154
Sort of splitting hairs since its important to me but, are we giving Fetch a soul for himself or are we imprinting Fetch's near identical likeness onto a soul of somebody else's?
>>
>>597158
Much more the former than the latter. The innocent soul is, again, not yet anyone /in particular/. It's "someone" in the sense that everyone is a soul but it's never been born, never lived, grown, or changed. It is someone /in potentia/. In giving it to Fetch, you make it someone in particular - and that someone is mostly Fetch.
>>
>>597160
Practically there would be no difference in how this functions. But personally this just doesn't sit right with me as "A soul of Fetch" is not the same thing as "Fetch's soul".

Either way, I'd go for asking him if he'd want to do it. And also go to sleep as I have work tomorrow and i should have stopped being conscious a few hours ago.

Night Vox.
>>
I'ma drop this link and decide if I'm goin' to bed or not. I'll let you know either way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4oxrTSRkC0

The book was better but the movie is still amazing.
>>
>>597149
I've got misgivings about giving an undead a clean soul. Unless they lose undead status by taking the soul, We're condemning the soul to an undead existence. The undead don't change by their very nature; doesn't seem like a good environment for a fresh soul.

But, if we want to give to an undead, how about the dead/undead angel in the center of the Warehouse?
>>
>>597160
My only objection to this is that /he's a chicken/.

Don't get me wrong, I love the little white knight. But he's not even in my top ten of first picks for who gets a soul. I'd rather give Flitter the soul, and let her have an afterlife with Jack, than give it to Sir Fetch.

>>597168
That is fucking amazing. I NEEED to find this book and make love to it with my eyes.
>>
>>597170
Anon no
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>>597170
Huh. That's...not exactly a terrible idea. Unless the angel's soul is still bound to its body, and /that's/ why is such an apocalyptic monster. We'd need more information, y'know - whether or not letting it out would be the End of the World, stuff like that.
>>
>>597147
That's the problem. We can't know - I have every reason to believe she would be truthful with us, but he may be lying to her, and she clearly isn't infallible.
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>>597178
Maybe ask Lora about it first before we do something that incredibly stupid.
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>>597176
Would /Flitter/ want the soul, though? You can't change something without destroying some part of what it is. The Lord of Painted Glass was so afraid of what would happen to himself if he acquired a soul that he wasn't willing to do it unless Jack was going down with him. What makes you think Flitter feels differently?

And what's wrong with being a chicken?

As far as the book, that's Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett. It's part of his Discworld set, and one of the several books in which Death is a, or /the/, major character. I also highly suggest Mort, Reaper Man, and Thief of Time. Pratchett's Death has been an influence on how I characterize Brianna and the la Croix family.

That clip is my favorite quote from him, but my second-favorite is, "What hope does the harvest have, if not for the care of the reaper man?"

>>597178
I mean, you have the Warehouse's opinion of this event.
>>
>>597176
>I'd rather give Flitter the soul
That...that's what the Lord of Stained Glass as going to get from Jack. That the Lord prefered death to receiving. Giving a Fae a soul functionally kills them, and makes a new person out of them. Not something you want to give a friend. Or an ally. Or someone you don't hate an awful lot.
>>
Aight, I'm hittin' bed. Votes remain open. Writing may be delayed tomorrow by my need to take an improbable amount of furniture to a landfill.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!
>>
>>597105
>>Trust Riley
>>But keep a trick of your sleeve, just in case.
>>
>>597105
>Trust Riley to do the right thing (move on to planning against the Lush and his Taster).
I'm about 80% sure we can trust him. I mean, he'll probably be facing some extreme punishment for being complicit in the Lush's actions (even if he wasn't, the victims won't know or care), but I don't think he's worried about that. A clean conscience is more important for some than keeping their head on their shoulders.

Also, I'd like River to repair the Boar for our final confrontation, even if it costs one or both of our last lizards. He's damned useful, and we'll need him to hold that damned demon back. Sir Fetch and Kat too.

Also suggesting that she summon up a couple hellhounds or something similar, just as a meat-shield. I know we aren't going in alone, but more bodies won't hurt.
>>
>>597185
See the part where I said she could have an afterlife with Jack? That's the only real perk there; she effectively chooses to transform herself (because I'm obviously not saying we'd be forcing it on her), and become mortal, with all of the baggage that comes with. Package deal I'm afraid.

There's /also/ the option to offer it to one of the Geargrinders, if they ever actually become a permanent member of our party and prove themselves. Though that's just idle speculation.

Whisper's an option too, though that would all depend on River.

Kat, on the other hand, is already on her way to becoming a fully independent and self-aware being. All she's missing is the soul.

Y'know what? That's what I'm going with, if we ever have another vote with the soul; Give it to Kat, and make her a real shadow-cat-demon-girl-person. Also, giving her head rubs and warm milk, just to be an ass.
>>
>>596247
>>596233
I will second these! PRANK SEX BEST SEX!
>>
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>>596465
>>596446
>>596436
>>596377
>>596366
FOLKS WE HAVE OUR OWN BODY! TELL THE LOVERS TO GET BACK, ITS ABOUT TO GET WEIRD UP IN HERE! WOOO WOOOO!
>>
>>597105
>Try to plan for the army anyway.
Being paranoid for the bullshit Bri shot is good, also keeps us on our toes for the inevitable betrayal Riley will face from The Lush's plants in his army.
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>>597223
>Kat, on the other hand, is already on her way to becoming a fully independent and self-aware being. All she's missing is the soul.
You have a really strong point here. I'm not sure how safe it would be, but Kat seems to really love Bri, rather than hate or fear or even want to hurt her. From what has been mentioned, most shadows really hate their masters after a point. I think that the demon we made her with actually felt regrets (c.f. the shadow breaking down and crying when she was first made instead of becoming violent).
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>>597170
ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!
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>>597223
I will also second this, pet the dark pussy Nate.
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>>597105
> Trust Riley to do the right thing

Like shit, let's just challenge the Lush to single combat.

Then it's fair. Rules removes his army, we don't use ours.
>>
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>>597259
What makes you think the sadistic giant cares to have a "fair" duel? There is absolutely no chance in hell he would do it.
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>>597262
Uh, the fact that we;re getting Riley to pull the army back?

I mean, if the Lush wants to dick around after that sure lets rumble. We still have an army.

But I feel we can make the case to Rileu that he owes more to the men in the army, and to not throw away their lives in a pointless conflict for the Lush's ego, then he does the the man he once knew that was killed by the Lush.

Also, keep in mind that he's sadistic but he DOES keep to his rules.

Want to go back and re-read that his troops aren't allowed to use crossbows?

I get the feeling that a duel of Champions after a grand battle will actually tickle his fancy.

The dude is planning on going out, and he just wants to go out in style.
>>
>>597223
>>597233
Finally people are coming around to my point of view.

>>597230
Most necromancers are fucking assholes. May have something to do with it.

Hey, guys, super glad you're coming around to my views with Kay and also the Boar. Because I same-fagged the SHIT out of the votes for the Boar. I really, really wanted it. You know what else is nice about it? When we leave it behind, it'll be a badass defensive creature on the order of Kell. sorry I'm such a fucking faggot that I did that, I guess though. Praise the /qst/!
>>
>>597272
Are you the same guy that forgot about IDs and got caught samefagging last thread?
>>
>>597274
Funny enough, no I'm not!

I've been following quests on here for a while, so I'm aware of the IDs thank you very much.

I was fx/Amnb/. You'll note the consistency of my drug fueled rants.
>>
>>597270
You are making a lot of assumptions if you think we can just get riley to pull the army back. You are forgetting that the Lush is the boss and almost definitely knows riley might betray him.
>>597272
Its cool the Boar is a beast.
>>
>>597105
>Trust Riley
>But keep a trick of your sleeve, just in case
>Preferable multiple tricks, I like the Carpet bombing Harpy idea for instance.
"Have a plan to kill everyone you meet."
>>
>>597277
Dude, there was a LOT of opposition to the boar when I was voting for it. Everybody was all "But we're going to have to leave it behind!" Like, yeah, that's a good thing it can secure the Cornucopia. Like nobody ever played Risk before?

Rest easy, I made sure to switch up my votes for the other option so they cancelled out.

Otherwise I guarantee Kat would be sentient by now.

As for Riley, well fuck the Lush. He shouldn't have to die for his Vanity. Also Riley actually HAS no plans to betray the Lush. We're going to have to do some convincing.

Like I said, I feel the key here is building up Drama. That's pretty much the Lush's entire fucking goal, behind all the sadism and shit.

He's creating a giant spectacle, a fucking Edda to end his life as Grendel and be remembered throughout history.
>>
>>597279
Honestly, I say fuck fighting the Lush fair and do that anyways after challenging him to a Duel.

I honestly DO think as well, that he would play it straight up if we made that the more appealing choice for his legacy.

After all, he's pretty fucking competent and I'm sure that he knows Nate is a H.E.R.O.

Maybe not firebomb the Lush, but we are going to go in fast and hard to take out that Taster first. Even if it means going in after him DURING Negotiations.
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>>597227
On the topic of weird science with our corpse, what would happen if we zombified it and then gave it the innocent soul? I'm fully aware that this is almost definitely a horrible idea, but it's interesting to think about.
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>>597304
We put an innocent soul in our rotting corpse... wait wasn't there a South Park episode where Kenny's soul was put in another one of his corpses? I feel like they did that already.
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>>597304
Alright hear me out, We MIGHT be able to use ZomBri or something to act as a decoy, maybe not here, but it has some potential, Like say against the Wyrm (if that even gets to a violent confrontation).
>>
>>597312

Get it zombified or skeletonized, do a deal with someone that requires us giving them ourselves, word it as "I will render my body over to your judgement."

Not like that could backfire horribly and have one of our own bodies used as a minion of evil, and we have to end up fighting dark Brianna.
>>
>>597334
Remember that time we used sympathetic magic to gang the Daughter?

We should embrace that and turn our corpse into armor for Nate and Amy.
>>
>>597334
I was thinking more like ZomBri stays with the group and while badguy X gloats, CoffeeBri comes from the shadows.

>>597346
I wonder what a Bri charm would do.
>>
>>597346
>>597349
Hold the line I just got inspired. Remember how the baron had all the bad stuff transferred from his officers to slaves? what if we could set up ZomBri to do the same for us? I wouldn't be as good but it may just make the difference during a chaotic fight.
>>
Speaking of things to do with Bri and undeadness, in light of recent events, should we be considering revisiting lichhood? I mean, it'd suck to just give up on having kids, but we do conveniently have two lovers of opposite sexes who could provide for us, not to mention two semi-kids of our own already, and since we still have a lot of dungeon to go, being a lot harder to kill would have some distinct advantages.
>>
>>597355
lichdom could probably be an option
>>
>>597354
OH SHIT THIS IS A GREAT IDEA! Make the corpse take the damage we would and just replace the damaged parts, technical immortality! Well unkillability so long as we don't get thrown in lava...or a dragons fire breath.
>>
>>597354
I don't like the thought of that.

Could be turned around.

I just want the ability to cast through Nate and Amy. That way we can keep our squishy self out of the thick of it.
>>
>>597360
Do you mean Turing our corpse into a lich?

Seems like kind of a dick move given why we gave up on that.
>>
>>597355
You think Bri would just accept not getting breed stupid by Nate with Amy help milk him dry? She likes living and all the perks with it.
>>597362
Maybe, I suppose it would be safer to just turn ourselves into charms, hell maybe we can use the corpse incase Richard figures out a way to undue shit or something, like use her old bodies memory to convince people with the information.
>>
>>597361
>>597362
Most likely it would require two living targets, But it's an interesting idea.

>>597355
>>597360
I don't like the idea of LichBri, I really want to see Nate and Bri with kids too instead of just Nate and Amy. I feel like it would defeat the point we made to Lora just now.
>>
>>597363
Not necessarily, if we keep an extra Bri around with her own death battery as a lich it would mean less work for the living Bri.
>>597365
I suppose that's fair.
>>
>>597365
no I mean we can turn the already dead Bri into a lich, or something similar and use her as backup.
>>
>>597112
> Supporting
>>
>>597367
But a Lich needs a Phylactery, which in turn needs a soul, Bri's soul. It is likely too late to even try for Lichdom, as Ash stated.

I do think it could be interesting, I just won't vote for it with current lack of info we have on it.
>>
>>597367
See, that's the kind of attitude that makes shadows turn on their masters.

You want to raise a Bri lich, to have it watch us continue to live the life with Nate and Amy it can never have itself?

Don't go down that road for convenience bro.

At most I would consider it being a backup plan for turning into a lich it our body was unrecoverable.

But now I do wonder if we can use idft instead to give Kat a solid form like Whisper.

Might be worth doing if we're giving her intelligence. Then she can bone 3D nate and also his shadow. Which is still also him.

Wait. Does this mean Nate has been cheating on us through his shadow?
>>
>>597379
Nah its still our shadow so its fine. Its like having a spate clone fuck your significant others clone, its only weird if you make it weird.
>>
>>597355
Definitely. If for no other reason than to make sure we can finish this, and maybe teach a couple of students.
>>
>>597374
We might be able to do more prep work with a body available. If we're lucky, we might be able to set it up to auto-lich us ifwhen we die again.

If, ya know, making a lich works that way.
>>
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It might be much more useful currently to use the body as a wound-sink.

The other necromancer in the Mine used living bodies to accept wounds though the runes, so that if you attacked someone whoich the ward the woundsd were transferred to the slaves. This is bBri's body, so what we could do is use sympathetic magic to take wounds inflicted on HER and make IT take them. It wouldn't work for long, I imagine, but it is the absolute perfect sympathetic tool. We wouldn't want to keep the link up long, because of the potential for reversal, but we know how the spell works (we took it apart carefully and properly) so it is entirely possible we can do that here.

I am also entirely agaisnt Bri being a lich at all; there is exactly one that hasn't gone mad aside from those with self destruct mechanisms and timers, and it would really freak her lovers out.
>>
>>597478
So. Point of contention, it would have to be a living body.

A little late for that, it's been dead too long.
>>
>>597484
It's a spell that's never been done before -we don't know that it's impossible yet.
>>
>>597478
You may recall that the spell also required the laws of death to be bent aside by Lora, much in the way that the Lush's curse does.
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>>597478
Wasn't that wound-shift spell only possible because of Lora's support altering the flow of death?
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>>597503
>>597505
Ah, then I retract my consideration of the possibility.

It just seems a shame to have the ultimate sympathetic magic tool and not to do somethign with it.

How many necromancers get access to their own body without injuring themselves!?
>>
>>597503
>>597505
Curses!
>>
>>597512
There's probably plenty of other really creepy necromancer things we can do.

Kind of wonder if the Asshole Necromancer will still want revenge given we died. He probably will, but I can imagine him just sort going 'Fuck it' if he finds out we auto-rez.
>>
>>597512
That's why we should turn it into gear.

Charge up a necromantic spell, slap it in our flesh and have it ready to go.

Or maybe we can use it so Ames and Nate can go spirit form with us.

Or we could just make a bitching cape.

Or make Kat more solid.

Or if it's mundane and not suitable for crafting, maybe Fetch would like a human body to pilot for social events so he's at eye level.
>>
Aight, gonna hit the shower, then call and write.
>>
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>>597105
You nod. "Riley's in a bad spot but I think he'll come around. We should still have a trick or two, mind."

"I'm good with fire," Tina says, coming out of a building with a book in her hand. She's poring over it while she talks.

"Tina, all demons are good with fire," River points out.

"Okay, fine, I have pyrophilia."

"This is why you don't date succubi," you tell Amy; your lover is holding her wings close to herself with a shudder.

"Pretty much," River agrees. "...Say we do get the army out of the way. How do we deal with the Lush and his taster?"

"I can pin the taster down, but I don't know for how long," you admit. "Ideally we hold it off while we kill the Lush and Lora can finish the job..."

"That smacks of stupid ideas," Eric points out.

"Why can we not just banish it?" Ash asks.

"Depends, do you want someone else learning the secret of the Drink and doing this all over again to more innocent people?" you shake your head. "I'm not going to be the one who let that happen. I don't think you want to be either."

"You're right," the elf murmurs. "I don't. His rakshasa help him make it, which -"

"They need dealing with too," Amy agrees. "So what's the plan?"

"Here's what I'm thinkin'," Eric interjects. "We split up. Someone's gotta kill the giant, which is a tall order since he's twenty feet of muscle and training with a fuckoff-huge spear, not to mention the demonfire and the like. Someone /else/ has to busy or kill the demons, which seems like it demands a certain skill set."

"Okay," you agree, slowly. "So what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we hijack as many of those scorpions and onagers as we can find and send a team after the taster," the teamster says with a shrug.

"Maybe not the best idea," River says, a little cautiously. "Jack said he gave the Lush the part he needed for the Earthsplitter, which is likely, y'know, kinetic. We're surrounded by earth and stone. Bringing an army might just lead to a dead army."

"He also said it might not be powered," you point out.

"I don't want to bet on that," River admits.

> Bring Ash's men
> Bring only the undead and your team

AND

> Divide into two teams (you have Nate, Amy, River, Tina, Fetch & the Hands, Eric, and Ash available)
>>
>>597869
If ash is willing to risk his men, we might as well let him; We need all the help we can get.


With harpies fear of (and vulnerability to) fire, I wonder what sort of path a harpie civilization would take? It's hard to do anything beyond sharp rocks without fire. No cooking or forging beyond some limited cold forging (can't smelt ore to remove impurities)
>>
>>597869
>>597912
right forgot to actually vote
> Bring Ash's men
AND
>Nate, River, Eric
>Amy, Tina, Ash
Fetch I'm unsure about, but he needs to go with the rest of the minions to keep them useful and under control.
>>
>>597869
>>597919
I realize I forgot to mention this earlier, so:

PLEASE MENTION WHICH TEAM IS DOING WHAT
>>
>>597869
> Bring Ash's men
They signed up for the resistance. They knew death might be a risk. We're not turning away another asset just because it might be risky.

> Nate, River & Tina, Fetch & the hands
go after the Taster. Nate's got the iron spikes, and River's demonic knowledge might be useful. Small minions v large giant just seems like ASKING for more of them to get killed.

> Ash, Eric
Go for the Lush. Ash has command of the bulk of our forces; Eric because I think he'll fare better here than against the Secondborn.

I'm honestly not sure about Amy. Our shankbird should NOT be getting in melee with a uber-tanky giant, but one of our party needs to go with that team. Nate's needed for the Taster, and I have some serious qualms about asking River to lead the task force she JUST voiced an objection to (Ash bringing his men with him). Thoughts, anons?
>>
>>597869
> Bring only the undead and your team
Armies move slow. No sense bringing one if it's not likely to do much good.

> Team Taster: Nate, River, Fetch and co.
Hero with Hatchet's spikes, demonologist, and demon-slayer sounds like a good team for the job.

> Team Lush: Amy, Tina, Eric, Ash
Amy is fast and mobile, Tina and Ash should have useful magical support, and Eric just seems like he'd be better used in the more physical fight.
>>
>>597931
Will Ash and Eric be able to convince Riley and his men to stand down?
>>
>>597869
>>597922
>>597919

Right; looks like taster team and giant team? In that case:
giant

taster

aarg this is hard. River (or tina?) is the only one with Balefire, so she has to go to the taster. Nate should go taster as well due to his spikes. but Eric, Amy, and Ash are likely to be more emotional due to Lush's crap. Nate and River would fare better against him.
>>
>>597936
I do want someone (Nate, River, Amy) to go, but I'm not sure who. I'm having a similar problem as
>>597947

What're your thoughts? Who'd be the best candidate?
>>
>>597869
>>597931
My only qualm is I don't want to risk any of our female members getting captured in a trap set by the Lush. I say send Fetch and the hands after the Lush with Eric and Ash, then we send the home team to the demon.
>>
>>597967
You say this as if the male ones would end up any better.
>>
>>597958
Fetch is Bri's familiar, so he'd probably have a good choice to talk with Riley. I also think they'd understand each other; they both feel strongly about honor and loyalty. I don't know if he can do much against the Lush, unless the other undead are with him. That goes for the taster too, though.
>>
>>597972
What about the zombie ones?
>>
>>597958
ignoring emotional distress i'd go
giant
Amy (harass large target), Ash (necro support), Tina (fire (giants have rapid healing?))
taster
Nate (spikes), River (balefire), Eric (rounding out)
Fetch: no idea where the rest of the army is going, but he should be going with them to guide the remaining minions.

I'm worried about the Lush pulling some "deal with the devil" or "the lessor of two evils" crap though. Nate, River, and (maybe Tina) Are levelheaded enough to make the right choice. Amy, Eric, and (maybe Ash) are not level headed, and are more willing to do what right /for them/ (see Amy's request of Nate earlier, Eric son's death, and Ash master going off the deep end.)

>>597967
Dudes only lack one extra hole.
>>
Gonna be afk for a couple hours, so in case the vote gets called while I'm gone, I'm modifying it from
>>597931
to
> Bring Ash's men
> Team taster: Nate, River & Tina
> Team Lush: Amy, Fetch & the hands, Ash, Eric

>>597983
>>597987
Appreciate the input, anons.
>>
>>597869
>> Bring Ash's men
... its mean, and there's risks; but the Lush is too damned good to go half-assed about this. This is war. We can't protect everyone; but we can do our damnedest to put him down for good.


>> Lush Team. Fetch and Hands and Nate and Amy.

>> Demon Team. River and Tina, for sure. We need it to stay dead and they're the two best for knowing how with the right tools for it. Ash, too.


Eric I'm not sure. He's kinda bloodthirsty which is good and bad; and he's bucked pretty hard against Nate's call of honorable surrender.
On the one hand hed be more ammo against a giant wall of meat and HP called the Lush, but he's also got the most potential to be a ... complication, not an asset.
A badly timed complication could be very bad indeed.
Same doubts about the Demon; he might kill it 'normally' and let it escape via death instead of Truedeath it.
>>
>>597935
> Seconding
>>
Okay, so here's the deal: I gotta go to work here in about an hour. I actually have that hour free, but it's feeling like we're gonna get to the action soon and I don't wanna leave the votes hanging for that scene. So I'm going to leave THIS VOTE OPEN until either tonight when I get home or tomorrow morning, when I get up and have the entire day off.

I'm still on deck for questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms.

Thank you all for reading and participating!
>>
Before I vote can I have some things clarified for me?

Mostly on everyone's current state. How injured is Nate? How tired is Amy?

What exactly combat capablities does Eric have?

Will the resistance be alright with working with General Riley and any troops who might come over with him?

What exactly do the characters expect from the up coming fight?
>>
>>598717
Nate doesn't have any listed injuries. We just rested, so Amy's a good as she's going to get.

We don't know Eric's specific abilities.

We don't know how things are going to shake out with Riley, though if we're lucky we might get a couple of his soldiers along.

Not sure how expectations relate, but no harm in asking.
>>
>>598154
I still say we should try offering a duel.

Maybe talk to the necromancer about if he thinks the Lush would go for it.
>>
>>598810
I thought nate got a rib broken
>>
>>599581
1. He's not trustworthy
2. That would feed his sense of theater
3. He's not even slightly trustworthy
4. Single combat with a giant wielding a massive spear? Really?
5. He has no reason to honor duel terms. He know we're coming to kill him and that if he wins the duel someone else will resume trying to kill him.
>>
>>599628
>You've taken more cuts than you wanted to in that fight and you're pretty sure that's a broken rib on your right side (and thank the gods for chain armor)
Not confirmed broken, but yea, you're right. Doesn't seem to be bothering him atm, and he's pretty tough, so "minor injury" instead of "no injury"
>>
>>599706
this is kind of why I want Vox to make an actual description of everyone's physical state before deciding on anything

We thought getting shot in the shoulder was a fairly minor injury after all
>>
>>598717
Hurt folks will be healed out of the potion supply here shortly, followed by about an hour to rest and prep. You'll all be reasonably fresh.

Eric can aim and seems to be either a deft hand with a hatchet or suicidally murderous. Possibly both.

Whether or not the resistance will work with Riley the General is secondary to if they'll deal with it in the moment, which they will. After the fact is another story.

No one is expecting an easy fight. The Lush's position is likely to be dug in, with more of those scorpions and also likely onagers ("kicking mules"; man-portable catapults meant to fuck up infantry). The Theater itself is its own defense, as scaling the back of it isn't feasible without getting picked off or boiled alive, so there's only really the one angle from which to strike - the shitty one with all his men in the way.

>>599730
Getting shot anywhere is not a minor injury except in an immediate sort of context of "can I keep fighting?". Arrows and bolts are a bitch.
>>
>>600087
Can we send an envoy to Riley? If we can find a war alchemist again, could we blow a hole in the Theatre?
>>
>>599673
Context, he PLANS to die here.

And did you miss the part where I said let's betray him first earlier?

If so I apologize
>>
>>600114
Probably easier to send one of our four stealth based . . .er 3. Kat is off the list for now.
>>
>>600087
which characters out of the group can permanently kill a demon and how?
>>
>>600130
River and Tina can both afflict them with conditions that'll follow them back to Hell and kill them there for real. River can also, given some time and effort, peel one apart the way Broken Tooth did and just end the bastards. Ash is also capable for much the same reasons as River.
>>
>>600134
not nate though?
>>
>>600140
Not really, no. Best Nate has for you is a good iron hatchet.
>>
>>600114
>If we can find a war alchemist again
Hang on a tick. Just what is the Lush's fortress built like and has chemical warfare been invented in this setting? Can we 'smoke' him out?
>>
>>600116
Not sure what difference that makes. He's expecting to die, but want to cause as much suffering and pain on the way down as he can. which makes it likely he'd reject, or use it as a framing for maximum suffering.

I did miss your earlier comment; challenging to a duel, then betraying it will make our word worth less down the line. It might not destroy our credibility, but it'll certainly damage it. It's the sort of thing that may cause us problems down the line.

>>600251
I think it's a little late for that (we're getting ready to move right now), but that sounds really useful.
>>
>>600267
The pain and suffering is a means, not an end.

As for doing so damaging our word - it's the fucking Lush. Pretty sure that would go a long way to mitigating the reputation fallout. Heck, people might even think higher of us because we weren't willing to be stupid just to preserve our honour at all costs.
>>
>>600286
>The pain and suffering is a means, not an end.
You sure? I'm not seeing the end.

I'm not saying we'd keep our word for honor, but for the practical reason of being trustworthy. If we keep our word with the Lush of all people, who wouldn't we keep our word with? Plus, doesn't matter /who/ we broke our word with, it's the breaking that matters. Especially if we were the ones that offered the duel in the first place. The Dragon was acting non-hostile earlier; if he's sincere, and we've just come off of killing a co-worker by making a bad deal, he may be less willing to deal. I know I would.
>>
>>600307
>>600286
Wrong, the pain and sufferign is how he makes his Drink.
>>
>>600335
...Right. But the point stands. The Drink's no good to him if he's dead.
>>
>>600343
It can be stockpiled apparently, from what we saw of the necromancer using it to empower his spell, so it stands to reason as long as the Lush lives the pain and suffering serves a purpose.
>>
>>600353
Nigga, he explicitly stated that the reason he was so terrible to Lora was because she was the only thing that would trutruly last.

He's already plumbed the depths of hedonism and debauchery and he wants to Costanza his life and go out on a high note before hew gets bored.

Lora is his legacy. Everyone else is small time.
>>
>>600353
Also your argument is like saying "He has 27400 nukes and could blow up the world, but he really would need a couple more by being insane and running counter to everything he's used to justify his actions."
>>
As you likely already guessed, I'm gonna update this tomorrow when I can do it justice. Votes remain open.
>>
>>600549
Question: Given where the Lush's holed up just how bad would potential collateral be and does balefire make demons dead dead?
>>
>>598017
> Bring Ash's men
> Team taster: Nate, River & Tina
> Team Lush: Amy, Fetch & the hands, Ash, Eric

also any more zombies wandering around?
>>
>>600807
The Theatre, if I'm getting this right, is a highly fortified position with only one means of entry. The surround is extremely treacherous and is made even more hazardous by the defenses they have put up.

Balefire can kill demons, yes, but it wouldn't stop there. It's a hungry, relentless thing, and wouldn't stop burning and spreading until we got it back under control (and if it got to be too big, that might not even be possible). Then there's the problem of it being Death-in-Flame; Vox said previously that there was a fair chance of the Balefire /poisoning/ the soil where it spreads.

All of this goes without even mentioning that it would be incredibly cruel to use Balefire on over one hundred living men. This would be a situation where, if we were a paladin and used it, we would immediately Fall. That's how bad Balefire is.

So, River lining Sleep (her awesome Death sword) with Balefire and using it on the Taster and Rakshasa's? Absolutely fine, and likely necessary. But otherwise? It's a firm 'No'.
>>
>>601185
I wonder if the trinket we made out of Silence would react with Sleep.
>>
>>597869
>Bring Ash's men.
While I worry about that Earthsplitter, we're going to need all the help we can get.

>Nate, Amy, Eric, Sir Fetch & the Jazz Hands.
They can go after the Lush. I am hyped to see what one Woundseeker versus another looks like (the fight with Natalia doesn't count, that was just a harpy debate).

>River, Tina, Ash, the Boar and the Revenants.
They can handle the Taster. Nate can give River those nails, right? Also, I /really/ hope the battle pig is fixed up. We're going to need him.

Also; we're going to gut the Lush, and instead of Lora, Brianna's going to appear like its the second coming of Jesus Christ.

>>601196
It seems to expand the Darkness spells that Brianna has to affect not only sight, but also sound and touch. This bit from the last thread actually explains it pretty well.
>You feel a faint pulse, and look down to see the charm you made from Silence's bones beating, like a heart. The mouths of the soldiers are moving, but they aren't making a sound. In panic they drop their weapons, feeling themselves to make sure they're there, but you get the impression that they can feel nothing; the horror on their expressions is only growing greater.

Soooo, I have no mouth and I must scream?
>>
We should make sure that Scribbles omits the Lush from her book. I want to make sure that, a century from now, no one even remembers the bastard ever existed.
>>
>>601355
Dastardly. I like it!
>>
>>601220
Actually you have a good idea. I change my vote to this
>>
>>601220
I'll second this
>>
>>601185
> The Theatre, if I'm getting this right, is a highly fortified position with only one means of entry.

Why don't we just light a bunch of fresh plants on fire and chuck those in to smoke out the soldiers, and the go in and balefire the Lush and the Taster directly?

Wall up the entrance and say that a nameless evil tainted the place with its death.

Might mean giving up loot of Giant bones and whatever we can get from the Taster.

Also we could use the drink to power shit up. I know it's concentrated edge, I mean misery and suffering, but waste not want not and it ain't like we don't already do that with death.

Death we're frequently directly responsible for, which we aren't for the Drink I might point out.
>>
>>601428
Smoke cover is a good idea just as long as the winds don't turn on us

Can we ensure that smoke will blow the way we want it to?
>>
>>601355
Ehh, that's going to be screwing with the big picture.

Just make it a short entry, with no mention of who he was.
"The tyrant of Cornucopia was called Lush, we came in with a zombie army and killed him."

Hell focus on his soldiers (esp the guy that renovated the salt mines), but the lush himself is just a nobody.
>>
>>601428
>>601446
To clarify I don't know about setting the entire theater on fire, I very much doubt it would be that simple and besids, Riley is in there

I do think that approaching with the cover of smoke would be a good idea though, especially if our man on the inside doesn't/can't stop the ranged artillery from firing on us

The only problem is that because it's a confined space when we head in there, and we will have to head in there, we will also be fighting in the smoke, unless we can engineer some way to summon and banish the smoke at will
>>
>>601446
>>601517
Nah man, we light the shit on fire and then throw it inside the entrance. Like, they need to have that ventilated, it'll suck the smoke right in .

Then you just hang out at the entrance and wait for the soldiers to come out with blinded and irritated eyes from the smoke and coughing up their lungs, in no shape to fight and getting worse the longer they stay in there.

In fact, the correct tactic is to either fight your way out and hope to be able to break their ranks and escape, or get out through a secret passage.

Because we can just keep tossing burning shit in there.

I mean, they're green plants so they make a lot of smoke and not a lot of heat. And since we just need smoke, how about we simply don't throw a shit ton at once if you're concerned about the fire spreading.

Like, did a flame elemental touch you somewhere naughty when you were a kid?

If we do have to head in there for like the taster, the yeah you sit and wait and they smoke will dissipate. Like it was smoke.
>>
>>601533
What if it's an open air amphitheater?
>>
>>601428
>Also we could use the drink to power shit up.
I am 100% opposed to using the drink ourselves.
>>
>>601536
Then we get harpies to fly over it and drop a shit ton of it at once.

Like, I don't think you understand how bad living plants being full of water are for starting fires. This isn't some parched Califronia desert scrub, it's golden crop land

Just spread that shit out a little, and you're good.

Or we could drop bombs and fucking revenants and shit on them, because niggas too dumb to have a roof when they are flying mercenaries.

>>601542
Drinking it? Hell no. I wouldn't even put it in our minions.

But making something like Nate's shield? Fuck yes.
>>
>>601599
harpies aren't in the fight anymore, we'd need a lot more time to organize them
>>
>>601618
Why did we let a huge force multiplier like that go?
>>
>>601692
because they took out the zombie bats and one of the demons for us, not without casualties
>>
I'm alive. I need breakfast, coffee, then will call and write.
>>
>>601705
God I wish we knew about combined arms.
>>
>>601765
Couldn't we as Natalia about that? /jk
>>
>>601692
I think it's less that we let them go as that we couldn't force them to stay without making enemies of them, which would be distinctly counterproductive.
>>
I'm not sure exactly where I want the groups to be, or who I want in the groups. That being said, my vote is definitely for a combined arms attack.

So, um...

>drop burning things on them and fire from outside, play this smart. Don't want Bri coming back to find out we've lost shank bird or peggy.
>>
IT. IS. TIME.

Called, tallying, writing.
>>
>>601220
I am with this anon here. He has my votes.
>>
I find it funny that we got Nate's mom to stop making World War 1 a thing and here we are planning firebombing runs. I mean we do have bird people and shit but still.
>>
ALRIGHT FOLKS

Our teams are:

> Lush: Nate, Amy, Fetch, & Eric
> Taster: River, Tina, and Ash

You voted to BRING THE RESISTANCE. Time will be spent to scavenge or salvage man-portable siege weapons for use in the upcoming battle and/or against the Lush.

Writing now. Tallying that was a bitch.
>>
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>>597869
A plan gets laid out. You get on the bell to inform the Roost; the Rose Cult tells you that they're going to keep their door open as long as they can, in case you need to make an escape. You see to your injuries and those of the others as well. On the one hand, potion supplies are limited. On the other hand, you can deal with that /after/ the fight is won.

The Theater is an open-faced amphitheater, with fields near it that are currently fallow. One of the first things the Lush did was harvest them and convert the area to his personal demense, and while it is not as hard a nut to crack as it possibly could be - to wit, there are no significant walls aside from the Theater itself - it's still going to be an unholy bitch.

You, Amy, Fetch, Eric, and the repaired boar will be going after the Lush directly while River, Tina, and Ash handle the taster. River has your spikes and instructions on how to use them. You tried to get Kat to go with her, but the shadow refused and, even now, lurks near you and makes soft, worried noises.

You're nervous, a little, but also excited. The snake had been a hell of an opponent. You wonder what this fight is going to be like.

Your men emerge from the fields around the no-man's-land to find the Lush's men are dug in. The giant himself stands tall at the back of his lines, handsome in the way a statue is handsome, with rough, clear lines that make him seem made of stone.

His eyes, like yours, are broken like glass. His shadow looms large against the stands of the Theater, laughing silently while it gouges at its own wrists with the tip of a tenebrous spear.

The Lush holds the real thing, taller than even he is, its head gleaming and sharp. Behind the giant stands the casks that contain his Drink, and the taster lurks near his shoulders like a mantle, glaring hatefully out upon the soon-to-be-battlefield.

At the top of the theater, naked and chained, is Lora.

The Lush laughs, long and loud, his voice booming across the Cornucopia in his mirth. "Here we are at last! The conclusion of my story, I should think. It's been a long time coming - tell me, where is the Heritor?"

You shift on the back of the boar. "She's busy," you hedge, calling out over the no-man's land.

The giant laughs. "Dead, more like! But no matter. The Master seems to think you have no claws without her, but I know differently, Hero."

"This doesn't have to happen," you call out.

"Of course it does!" the giant roars, fury warring with his mirth. "This never ended another way, Hero! After all I have said and done, all that I have caused to be, no - this is the end, one way or another, with the angel present to bear witness to history."

"Is this the man you served, Riley?" River calls out. "Is this the master whose generosity you spoke of?"

"No," comes the answer, loud and clear. "/Now/!"
>>
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>>604014
"Attack!" you call, on instinct. And that instinct was right - the crews of the Lush's siege engines are betrayed from within, flashing blades sending blood spraying from throats. The lizards go first, crashing against barricades without a care for their own lives. You hear a loud cry from Amy, up above, and feel Fetch mount your shoulders with Vim and Vigor, ready to jump off the moment you're in range.

Tina gets the taster's attention with a lance of demonfire that makes it twitch aside, parting its burning body with a snarl of anger.

Behind the sounds of the mounting battle, the Lush laughs and takes up the Earthsplitter.

"Mourn, O children of laughter!" the giant booms, before he stabs the head of the spear through one of the casks of Drink. The weapon absorbs the liquid, the Drink crawling greedily up its shaft and sinking in as lines of white against the wood. "Bow your heads in ceaseless sorrow!" He gestures sharply, bringing the spear down.

A column of stone, fifteen feet wide, plunges from the roof of the Cornucopia and crushes three of your scorpions.

"I am Herostratus, last son of the giants!" the Lush challenges. "MY NAME SHALL BE ETERNAL!"

> You are Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)
> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
>>
>>604042
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)
>>
>>604042
>> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)
>>
>>604042
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)

Let's get to shanking.
>>
Aight, here's the deal - I'm gonna do a match, then call and write. That'll give 30-40 minutes of vote and discussion. This will happen after every update tonight, mainly so I can use the game as my vote timer.

Entering now.
>>
>>604042
> You are Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
>>
>>604042
>> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)
time to be best birb
>>
Called, writing.

Amy time.
>>
>>604499
Yay.
>>
>>604042
Oh fuck, the dude is a armed with an active artifact.
>>
You know, all we really have to do is get the chain....
>>
>>604859
I'd be more worried if Nate andf Amy hadn't actually fought Lora hard enough to make her break a sweat. The Angel of Death was impressed with them.
>>
>>604979
Now, now. Let's not get cocky. That said, while I'm sure the Lush is smart enough to have some countermeasures, the simple truth is that earth powers are notoriously weak to flying.
>>
>>604042
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcf7DnHi54g

You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker, and you are going to kill this fuck to death, and then past death, because Death has enough problems without having to worry about him. Soaring Song growls melodiously, your feathers rippling a song of anger into the air around you.

"Glad to see some backbone, Riley!" the Lush booms. He sweeps the tip of his spear, blowing a series of massive dirtballs at Riley's men. The soldiers gathering to throw their pila at the giant dive aside, not all of them fast enough. Bones snap and crunch amidst screams of pain.

You grit your teeth and pull one of your own throwing spears from the bundle given to you by Ash's men. You throw straight and true, the pilum sticking in the Lush's upper arm. The giant's gaze snaps up, and so does his spear.

You bank aside from the first thrust, drop like a stone to avoid the second, and then the Lush has to busy himself with Nate and the boar, charging past the line of battle with a loud cry - "HO LA, SONS OF SORROW!"

> Keep peppering him from range
> Try to land on the giant
> He's distracted - smash the casks of Drink
>>
>>605456
Sorry about how long that took I got a hellacious case of fucking writer's block just there.
>>
>>605456
>> He's distracted - smash the casks of Drink
He seems to be using the Drink as ammo for that spear, and he's using the spear to offset his massive (I think? Since Riley's guys are on our side now?) numbers disadvantage. So let's take care of that, shall we?
>>
>>605456
>> He's distracted - smash the casks of Drink
>>
>>605456
>> He's distracted - smash the casks of Drink
>>
>>605456
>> Keep peppering him from range
I'm afraid that smashing the casks will just release some sort of super bad magical effect
>>
>>605515
In the interests of tactical discussion: I guess my feeling is that if it were that bad, he'd be loading them into catapults or something. Doesn't mean you're necessarily wrong, but there are no certainties in a fight, and the spear is doing plenty of work on us already.
>>
Called, writing.
>>
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So, after standing in a column of tear gas, I would like to reiterate.

We need to gas them out.

And you need to post before the cops get me, vox.
>>
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>>605456
That spear has to go. You can't break it as it is - and how the fuck did the Lush find something so huge? - but you can do the next best thing.

You really wanna yell and threaten right now but you just lost the giant's attention and it's about the last thing you need back.

You spread your wings again and glide for the casks. You throw a pilum at one but ha ha, no fucking dice - the heavy spear sticks and quivers like a sewing needle in a bear's fur. You bank and see Nate guide the boar away from a sweep of the Lush's spear and retaliate by throwing Verve into the fray, just before you land on the cask and bring Blame down on it.

You really could have through this through a little more. The top of the cask buckles beneath the demon-forged hatchet, and the wood shatters, sending you into the disintegrating barrel and its Drink. You gulp a mouthful during your shocked yelp and -

And it hits you like every great moment you've ever had, like the surge of victory in your veins, like a thousand battlecries. You feel energized, electrified, /strong/. The liquid slicks off of your wings and equipment, leaving your hatchets and armor stained white, streaking your metallic feathers with it. Gods you feel good. Great. /Better/.

Nathan leaps clear of the boar, just before the Earthsplitter cleaves through the skeleton's bones. The sweep of the spear opens a rift in the earth in front of Nathan, nearly dropping your handsome Hero to his death. He manages to throw himself back and roll away, coming unsteadily to his mismatched feet.

> It's ON
> Focus, /focus/ [Roll 1d10; best of first 2]
>>
>>605925
Jesus what the fuck happened?
>>
Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>606070
> Focus, /focus/ [Roll 1d10; best of first 2]
>>
Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>606070
>> Focus, /focus/ [Roll 1d10; best of first 2]
Nate needs our help right now. As much as it would feel good to just charge the Lush, we are /not/ losing another lover today.
>>
Uh, shit. Them's not good rolls.
>>
Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>606070
> Focus, /focus/ [Roll 1d10; best of first 2]
>>
>>606070
>> It's ON
with rolls like that this is the better option
>>
>>606123
That seems like a very flawed line of logic.
>>
>>606070
>Focus, /focus/
Good thing the rolls won't count until the action is accepted. Otherwise everyone would flock to it if someone picking it and rolled a ten.
>>
Called, writing.
>>
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>>606070
Roll result (4): MILD FAILURE

"Nate!" You curse at yourself for distracting him and whirl, chopping at the next cask. You have to focus, you had a plan coming down here and -

You leap aside from the new flow of Drink. Right, that, you can't get more of this on or in you. It's doing something (wonderful, glorious, /more/ - NO!) to your mind and possibly your body and you don't have time for this.

You kick the stand out from beneath a third cask and send it rolling towards the ravine the Lush created with the Earthsplitter. You turn just in time to catch a bolt of electricity at chest height.

The good news is, you're wearing magic armor.

The bad news is, you're wearing metal armor.

The better news, though, is that though you yelp and fly back, roughly impacting a table still laden with a feast for the Lush's men - uneaten entrees left abandoned splatter your burning armor or get thrown aside - you're feeling pretty good about yourself. A little scorched, sure, but like a candle instead of, well, a fucking lightning bolt.

A cat-headed demon grins at you and gathers a second bolt between her backwards palms. "It's a heady mixture, isn't it?" she purrs. "Care to party?"

Fight. Kill. You can take her -

/No/! You have a job! Nathan!

You roll aside, just ahead of the lightning bolt, and hear it crack the heavy table. There's three more casks of that damn Drink and the demon's between you and them. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

"Why do you keep saying that?" the demon taunts.

"I - you - y'know fuckin' what?"

> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
> Screech. Nobody gets to fight today
> Call for Fetch to send Kat
> Try to get to the Lush
>>
>>606224
> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
>>
>>606224
> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
Are we actually saying that or are we just thinking it?
>>
>>606224
>> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
>>
>>606224
> Call for Fetch to send Kat.
Time for a literal catgirl fight.

I'm a little sad that the Boar got cut in half, but I'm pretty sure we can fix him back up. WE CAN REBUILD YOU, MAKE YOU BETTER!
>>
>>606224
> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
>Position yourself so that the Rakshasha bolts the Drink casks instead

Also, does anyone else think that somehow the knowledge of the Drink got out? Into a small Gaulish village in Roman France?
>>
I need to hit bed, folks. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>606295
Not terribly likely. That's a big-ass spear, and the Lush isn't just huge, he's trained. This ain't like giants in some stories where they lean on their size and reach, the dude can /fight/.
>>
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>>606224
> A cat-headed demon grins at you and gathers a second bolt between her backwards palms.
Two things here; ask her if she's familiar with the half-demon catgirl we killed in the Lichyard, and call over Sir Fetch, because he's got another demon to slay!

>>606327
Awww, I /liked/ that piggie! And he never got to realize his dream! I was working when the vote went through, otherwise I would have called for us to totally go with the pic related as our beginning offensive against the Lush.

JUST TELL ME THAT RIVER IS OKAY, PLEASE? Tina and Ash I'm less worried about; Tina will probably just get sent back to Hell, and we haven't know Ash long enough to actually /care/.

>>606302
Noooo? Why? I'm not getting the reference.
>>
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>>606376
>I'm not getting the reference.
Pic related, someone who fell in the modified Drink cauldron as a baby.
>>
>>605456
Am I the only one getting a Young Dio impression?
>>
>>606224
> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
>>
>>606327
What will happen if we roll a 1 or 10 in the last dice roll ? Curious to see whether it will affect the story too dramatically.
>>
>>606589
I'm assuming it was a matter of resisting the Drink's effects and noticing the demon before she could attack. I just hope that we don't have a similar roll for River's performance with the Taster. That shit's spooky enough as is.
>>
>>606611
River has been mentored by the greatest demonologist within the La Croix family, it will be a bitch of a fight but she /can/ do it!
>>
>>605925
Meh, tear gas. After the first few minutes you're fine. (Speaking from experience.)
>>
>>606224
>> Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan

No more big enhancements for the Lush, his forces, or his spear.
>>
>>606731
WE BELIEVE IN YOU SIS!
Believe in the me that believes in yooouuu!!

>>606735
Fuck tear gas, I want weaponized chile powder. Can be a scary asshole when your eyes are bleeding and your windpipe is closing up.
>>
>>606224
>> Screech. Nobody gets to fight today
>>
Guys, is feinting and going for the drink really smart?

I feel like we're only just going t oget the worse end of the fight

Where is Kat ATM? Just to know if calling for her will take her away from somewhere she's needed
>>
>>606224
>Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan

Screeching might hamper an ally, which results in death
Taking Kat away from Nathan while he's fighting the Lush seems highly undesirable
Going for the Lush with a Zappy Demon and the drink still intact is generally a bad move.

So now we're going for the drink and getting shot in the back with lightning or getting more of the fucked up stuff all over us, possibly both.
I feel like I won't be happy with the outcome.
>>
>>606224
>> Call for Fetch to send Kat
We need lightning zapper handled with someone who's NOT weak to electricity. Change up her opponent so she doesn't have so strong an advntage; we can't just easily slam the Drink barrels quickly; we've tried Fast once and we've seen how that turns out.
>>
to avoid getting zapped doesn't amy just need to stay airborne?

As long as she's not grounded she won't be hurt
>>
>>606224
>Feint and go for the Drink; finish your original plan
>>
>>607336
I think she's slinging lightning balls as projectiles; much like fireballs.
>>
>>607381
still should be the same thing. Electricity only hurts when it passes through you to the ground
>>
>>607398
Aye, but the thing to recall is rakshasa tend to either be really good sorcerers or really good shapeshifters.

Called, writing.
>>
>>607414
so wearing rubber soled boots wouldn't help?
>>
>>607398
I'm no expert, but I think electricity hurts when it passes through you to the anything. It does need to create some sort of channel in order for the electricity to actually flow, but magical lightning tends to take care of that all by itself.
>>
>>607420
No just to the ground if I remember right. If there's something blocking the thing you're touching from the ground it won't hurt

that's why it's ok to be in a car when lightning strikes, the tires keep it grounded
>>
>>607425
That's because there's no path for the electricity to flow through. The rubber tires/boots prevent the electricity from creating a circuit. Said circuit is with the ground in this case, but it doesn't have to be. Notably, if a bird perches with one foot on two electrical wires, it'll get electrocuted even though it's not touching the ground.

Now, given that magic tends to force lighting into paths through thin air in directions that make absolutely 0 physical sense, I imagine it can also complete a circuit through the air. I certainly don't see any reason why it couldn't.
>>
>>607455
See:

Rule 29. A Wizard Did It
Rule -3.14: Fuck Real Physics, This Is Fantasy.
Rule l33t: Magic.
>>
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>>606224
You feint right and then try to dash left, only to find the cat isn't falling for it; she intercepts and slaps your wing with her lighting-filled palm. You grit your teeth against the (oddly subdued) pain and swat her with your wing. The demon laughs as she's forced back, bleeding from a slash across her front, but she's right there in front of you again when you try to cut to the side.

"You haven't had time to get used to it, pretty bird," the rakshasa purrs. "You're telegraphing."

You sidestep the next bolt of lightning, but she ducks your wing hit and beckons for you, and amused look on her face. This piece of shit is seriously pissing you off.

You see Kat, high in the air, slashing for the Lush's face and zipping away from his swift spear. She hasn't done much damage yet, but frost marks his clothes. The giant is laughing. Still laughing.

"Master!" the demon calls out. The Lush spares her a glance and slams the Earthsplitter's butt into the ground. One column of stone shoots up beneath the rakshasa, sending her hurtling towards the ceiling.

The other is beneath Nathan. Your lover falls on his ass with a yelp, looks up, and rolls himself off the edge of the pillar, three stories up. Kat streaks to save him - only to get grabbed by the scruff of her neck and hurled away with great force.

No. /NO/!

> Save Nathan; you're not losing him too
> Get the demon; you can't let it return to Hell
>>
>>607663
>> Save Nathan; you're not losing him too
I really just can't imagine Amy choosing differently.
>>
>>607663
>Get the demon
Vox said it takes alot to kill a woundseeker
>>
>>607663
>Get the Demon
The Nate has taken worse then this, the demon cant be let free.
>>
>>607663
>Get the demon.
That demon needs to die for real, but where is the third? Where is the third piece of shit?
also, I fucking knew it.
>>
>>607663
> Save Nathan; you're not losing him too
>Be prepared to dodge when the Lush and the demon try to counter this
>>
>>607750
That's the Drink Amy thinking, don't let the emotional high get you, the demon dies first.
>>
>>607663
>> Get the demon; you can't let it return to Hell
We didn't give up guns just to have something terrible make it to the wider world, something we'd get no use out of.
>>
>>607750
>>Be prepared to dodge when the Lush and the de
Tank took a hit like a tank; he'll be fine. Don't get our Striker selves involved in that, we've got a runner to chase down!
>>
>>607663
> Get the demon; you can't let it return to Hell
This has to remain top priority.
>>
>>607663
> Get the demon; you can't let it return to Hell
He's a woundseeker, I'm sure his shadow can help him mitigate the fall or something. If he lands on his prosthetic he could bounce up without taking much damage.
>>
>>607817
I don't know how many times I can say this but Nate's shadow is not like Kat. To wit, Kat can affect the physical world. Nate's shadow's just expressive, much the way Brooks's is, or the Lush's.

Called, writing.
>>
>>607824
Rip Nate, it was nice knowing him.
>>
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>>607663
Nate will be fine. He'll be fine. He has to be fine.

You're not sure if you're saying it aloud or just in your head, because you're going after the demon. The stone rises fast but not as fast as you can climb with this Drink in you. You zip above the laughing rakshasa, drive Shame through her knee, and then drag her off of the stone while she screams and curses.

You ain't done with her /yet/.

You grab the demon's wrist and twist, hard, snapping it cleanly, then retrieve your dagger from her leg and hurl her in the direction of River and the Taster.

"Found a rakshasa!" you call down.

River turns, Sleep lit up with sickly balefire, and flings an arc of the deadly substance at the descending demon.

You turn your head to see Nathan flat on the ground, pain making him cross-eyed, with his crossbow raised. His good leg should not be bent like that, but he's alive.

The bolt he fires catches the Lush in the eye and sticks there, making the giant roar in agony. He gestures with the Earthsplitter, hitting Nate with a jut of soil that sends your lover flying into the seats of the Theater. Wood splinters, followed by a faint, pained, "I'm okay."

The Lush plucks the bolt from his eye and throws it aside before raising his spear at you, following your movements. His face bleeds freely, as do wounds inflicted by Verve and Kat, but he still stands strong and hearty.

"Enjoying my Drink, pretty bird?" the giant mocks.

"Fuck you and fuck your Drink," you screech back.

"Let's see you try where your Hero failed," the Lush taunts.

> Go for the face. Cut his throat! Gouge his eyes!
> Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
> Try to nail him with a screech. Take him out of the fight long enough for help
> Grab Nate and get out of here
>>
>>607917
>> Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
He's bleeding from head wounds, we're not. Woundseeker or no, time is on our side here.
>>
>>607917
>Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
Jesus Nate is a fucking tank, and GOD FUCKING DAMN IT WE LOST ANOTHER LEG! Whatever, we need that shit out of Amy's system now, we don't want her near the pissed off giant. Fucker is probably expecting us to try to kill him with his eye fucked as is.
>>
>>607917
>> Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
Let's see who shows up, maybe even Nates new 'sisters'.
>>
>>607917
>> Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
>>
I gotta hit work. Busy day tomorrow, so the run may be slowed or disjointed, but after that I'm free Thursday evening and Friday until midnight or so when I attend the prerelease. Votes remain open.
>>
>>607917
>> Try to nail him with a screech. Take him out of the fight long enough for help
Delay, delay, delay.
>>
>>607978
The problem is that the screech is kinda in-discriminant especially with that drink in us.
>>
>>607917
>> Go for the face. Cut his throat! Gouge his eyes!
If we can't kill him outright, at least hinder his ability to fight.

We aren't equipped to destroy the Drink, no point when the effort is better spent elsewhere.
>>
>>607917
> Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
>>
>go for face
>>
>Go for the face. Cut his throat! Gouge his eyes!

I really don't think we have a shot at the drink considering our last attempt

by at least blinding his other eye we greatly reduce the lush's ability to fight.
>>
>>607917
>> Try to nail him with a screech. Take him out of the fight long enough for help
Probing for weaknesses; see if it works.
>>
>>608121
I'm fine with screech or going for the face, whichever has the more votes
>>
>>608139
actually can we do tiered voting? I feel like it would be good in case we're split over a decision, and there's support for two options but both groups don't want a third option?
>>
>>607917
>> Play it safe, finish off the Drink. Reinforcements have to be here soon, don't they?
The Lush wants a battle. He wants to go down in a fight so he's taunting us into a fight.

Don't give it to him.
>>
>>608325
I'd be fine with that too.

Anywho,

>>607917
>Grab Nate and get out of here

I can't be the only one who thinks nate is about to buy it. Don't quit the feild, but get nate as safe as possible.
>>
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>>606074
I'm posting from charlotte, vox. Without bringing politics into the thread, I've been part of the not-lighting-shit-on-fire branch of the demonstrations. Rendering first aid, peaceful and compliant presence, that sort of thing.
>>
>>608869
Best of luck, my friend. Stay safe.

I'm home, will call and write Soon(tm); I need to eat.
>>
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>>609004
Votes remain open while I grapple with what is either the same flu everyone else in my house got or my imminent death by dehydration and vomiting. My apologies, folks.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!
>>
>>609244
Get better.

Don't die.

Enjoy the suffering.
>>
>>609244
How can a skeleton vomit? I'm picturing you just spewing out clouds of dust and sand.

Get better, y'hear? I know you hate to leave us hanging, but if you need to take a couple days to recover, don't hesitate. You absolutely demented coffee-slut.
>>
>>609244
Hang in there, vox!
>>
>>607917
> Try to nail him with a screech. Take him out of the fight long enough for help
>>
>>610984
The dude has harpies working for him, I sincerely doubt it will work on him.
>>
Okay, as I warned you today has been busy. I'm going to attempt to update at NINE PM tonight. I appreciate your patience with my indisposition and Real Life Issues.
>>
>>611198
It's already 9pm in parts of Canada.
>>
>>610996
>>610984
Is there anyway to counter harpy magic that we know of?

Besides just being deaf
>>
>>611457
Ear plugs? Hell magic stuff too, Bri has a pin in her hat that protects her from mind shenanigans.
>>
>>611457
Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.
>>
>>611532
Fucker is pretty big, I bet he uses a bathtub to drink.
>>
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>>611532
>>
>>611457
If there were, our enemies would use it too and kinda remove the point in using it.
>>
Delays have occurred.
>>
>>611870
It's not yet 9 PM in Hawaii.
>>
>>612085
Oh! That's cool. You on the big island itself, or one of the smaller ones?
>>
>>612116
No one lives on the big island, he's likely from Maui
>>
Called, tallying, writing.
>>
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>>607917
You answer the giant's challenge by ignoring it. You circle higher, out of his lunging range, and bank for the remaining casks of Drink. The Lush's gaze stays on you, warily, and he figures out what you're about moments after Blame leaves your hand.

Your throw is faster than his lunge. The axe hits the middle cask and explodes in demon fire. The giant can't pull his spear back fast enough to avoid the flames, blazing white, from crawling up the lines left by his Drink and cracking the wood, The Lush runs his hand down the haft, scorching his skin, to smother the flames and save his weapon while you swoop down and retrieve Blame.

The axe has gone white, like steel in a forge, and the air around it smokes from the raw heat. You can feel the handle through your glove, uncomfortably warm.

"I'm surprised," the Lush notes, looking at his weapon with a nod of approval. "I hadn't expected a harpy to think tactically in the heat of battle."

"...If you're trying to insult me you might want to try things that aren't true," you point out.

"Oh no, harpy girl," the Lush answers, with a shrug. "If I wanted to rile you, I'd kill the boy. But he's down and out, and I've no interest in kicking him while he's down. There's no glory in it."

"Glory?" you ask. "/GLORY?/"

The Lush lunges, fast as a snake; you sidestep, hacking at the spear with Blame. The wood catches flame, white-hot and greedy, the moment the axe hits it. This time, the Lush makes no effort to put it out; he whips the haft into a spin, forcing you into the air to avoid the sweep of his weapon.

"GLORY!" the giant bellows. "YOU THINK ME A BRUTE, GIRL? YOU THINK MY HONOR AS DEAD AS MY CONSCIENCE? ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TO BE REMEMBERED!"

You don't dare to try to fly away, not with the fury on that carved face, the hate in those broken eyes. You dive for the giant's good eye but get forced to tuck your wings into a spin when the Earthsplitter comes for you, fire writhing down its haft towards its master. The blunt impact can't hurt you, but you definitely feel it as you're sent hurtling away. You open your wings to slow yourself, feel your feet and legs press against the wood of the Theater, and launch yourself back at the giant.

"My people were betrayed before ever steel was laid to forge! I will not be remembered as our final failure, harpy!" the Lush spits. "SHE WILL NEVER FORGET MY NAME! NEVER FORGET MY FACE, NOT AS LONG AS SHE LIVES!"

"You're /sick/," you snarl.

"So be it," comes the cold answer.

You drop to avoid the Lush's first thrust and then decide the ground is going to be safer when you see him give ground to get another jab at you. You sprint for his ankles, roll away from a vicious kick, and drive Shame into his calf.

The giant responds by flinging his weapon, now wholly aflame, at the battle between Ash's men and his own. The screaming begins immediately, from men trapped in the trenches with the burning wood flaking from the disintegrating spear.
>>
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>>613648
You let out a wordless cry of rage and slash with Blame. You don't have time to retrieve your dagger before you're forced to leap back; the axe hit makes the Lush fall to one knee, bellowing in rage, and it's all you can do to get your wings up before you're crushed. As it is, the reflexive swat knocks you to the ground so hard you bounce, landing sprawled on your back. You look up and see the giant catching his breath.

That's honestly sounding like a great idea. You stagger to your feet, heaving in lungfuls of air.

"I sought my immortality in the smiles of the Firstborn, but their gratitude grew as cold as my hope and I was forgotten," the giant - murmurs isn't a word you want to use for a voice this loud, but murmurs. "I sought it in monuments and great works, but statues crumble and buildings fail. I recorded my life and wisdom for others to read, but who cares for the thoughts of the jotun? I have nothing, girl. I /am/ Nothing, son of No One, whose inheritance is ash and sorrow, and I will /not/ submit to /her rule/ like some lamb to the slaughter. LOOK AT HER!"

You look up at Lora, bound and gagged, forced to watch the battle. Her eyes are on the dying soldiers, men and women from both sides who scream for someone, anyone, to save them, to help them, who beg to be spared this suffering.

Lora is crying.

"Look at the only god that has ever mattered," the Lush says bitterly. "Kneel before the queen of all Creation, who would throw her power away if only she could, and hail the eternal victor. If I cannot have my triumph, I will offer her scars in its place, and may the gods choke on their own tongues when they see what their thoughtless cruelty has wrought."

The Lush goes to stand and lets out an agonized sound. At first you think he's going to stay down but amazingly, impossibly, he makes his way to his feet, swaying in place but still upright. He raises his fists in a boxer's stance. "Let us end this."

> Say something (what?)
> Walk away
> Fight
>>
Thread's archived, I gotta hit bed. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!
>>
>>613655
> Walk away
Let's not, indifference will be the greatest blow to his ego as it is but get ready to fight if he pursue.
>>
>>613655
>Say something (what?)
>"Death isn't a ruling lord, it is not an eternal victor, It. Just. /IS/."
>Walk away
There is no honor is any of this. Not even sliver.

The Lush is a sad, sad little man... The least of his kind.

Fuck, how many more people have to suffer for this?
>>
>>613655
> Say something (what?)
"Don't they say history is written by the victors? Do you think we will write what you wanted about you?"
>>
>>613655

> Say something (what?)

Do you honestly think you'll be remembered?

When all this is done, when you're dead in the ground, when your soldiers have fallen and your evil destroyed, what do you think is going to happen?

They're going to forget you.

All the evil you've done, all the suffering you caused, and the sins you committed and enabled, they'll /want/ to forget that.

They'll bury you, in lies, in misdirection, in half truths and denial.

All because the thought of what you are, what you've become, sickens them to the core.

You had no divine purpose, no grand cause, no destiny to chain you.

You could have chosen any path, any deed.

You chose this.

If you are remembered in any way it will be like this, a broken disgusting waste of meat not even fit for eating. A sinner with no /Honor/ no /Glory/ and no /Dignity/.

And so ends the last of the giants, the last of your people.

Die alone, die cold, and die forgotten.
>>
>>613693
It's not the point that the people will remember, he did all of this to the Cornucopia to make Lora remember, to put a scar on her so deep no amount of time will heal it.

I really hope, once Lora is free she can somehow take the memory of the Lush specifically and just remove it. Leaving only the ones of the people who cared (Riley, the twins, the old healer).
After having dealt with the marked people and just before banishing Lush's soul to her blade, of course.
Likely a very painful and exhausting process but with added bonus of not being able to help Dick with his project for a while.
This will not happen mind, but an ID-anon can dream can't they?
>>
>>613655
You know given his attitude I'm honestly surprised he didn't just send the recipe for the drink to hell and let the secondborn propagate his legacy of misery for all eternity.
>>
>>613655
>Say something.
>You laugh.
>You laugh, bitter, soft, hateful laughter.
>You think that is your legacy? Her memories? You don't have a legacy - you have a bitter pill that will heal. All wounds heal, all wounds can be healed....you're a joke, a miserable failure who's only solace is bought at the pain and sufffering of others, who will live on and grow without you.
>You haven't left any scars.....all you've done is caused a moment of pain and misery that will be forgotten in time, because you aren't worth anything more than a bitter laugh at the stupidity of the last of the giant's children!
>>
>>613705
She won't need to. She'll heal put it behind her, and move on. That' what we all do when we suffer heartbreak. Time might not heal all wounds, but it sure does help.
>>
>>613655
>> Say something (what?)
They're gonna remember me more; since I'm the one who beat you. Also I'm prettier.
>>
>>613772
Hell, they'll remember Richard more than you.
For all the show you're just another in the line of minions to chew through, you're not anything special.
>>
>>613705

Hrm, selective erase is... problematic, for a lot of reasons.

But a /temporary/ erase. Say, Lora uses the Tongue to forget the Divine Language for a month or three; and then the knowledge pops back?

That's a hell of a monkey wrench.
>>
>>613655
>> Walk away
>>
>>613668
This.
>>
>>613655
>> Walk away and go attend to Nate
I'm not opposed to saying anything so go ahead and let other anons figure that out but I think we should go help out our Hero.
>>
>>613655
>Walk away
>Say something

They're not going to remember you. Because at the end of the day you're just a pawn, just like the diviner or the vintner or all the other chain holders.

You may have hurt Lora but all you did was take advantage of a situation someone else created. Do you know who she'll really blame? The man who made it possible.

Richard.

He's the real enemy. You're just his tool. Anything you did was done because he wanted you to do it, or gave you permission to at least. Your actions were just his by proxy.

Maybe you could have been remembered by her if you had done something like what Bri is trying to do- fight the impossible fight to save her. But you chose the easy way out.
>>
>>613832
Seconding this. The Lush is a sad man who took advantage of a woman who couldn't defend herself. The world's heard that story a thousand times. Richard, the man to chained death herself, he's the unique one. The Lush is just another abusive fuck.
>>
>>613655
>> Fight

>>613665
>>613668
>>613800
>>613820
>>613832
Walking away is dramatic, but then what? He fights someone else? No, we fight him, and we forget him.

The Lush has been loads easier to fight than I thought he would be. After all this buildup, I was expecting to have 4-5 people barely beat him, if not more.
>>
>>613832
This is a good one.
>>
>>613887
>The Lush has been loads easier to fight than I thought he would be. After all this buildup, I was expecting to have 4-5 people barely beat him, if not more.

He's not dead yet.
>>
>>613655
>> Fight

Say something or not, we need to keep him engaged so he's not killing people who are less able to deal with him than we are, long enough to either kill him ourselves, or get more people here who can help us do it.
>>
>>613887
You make a good point.
> Fight
>>
>>613887
> The Lush has been loads easier to fight than I thought he would be. After all this buildup, I was expecting to have 4-5 people barely beat him, if not more.

What is it you call this? Fetch and the hands are unaccounted for, Kat got flung away like a wet rag, Nate's out of the action and you haven't really had the chance to track the taster fight. Meanwhile, most of two armies are dead, the boar got chunked out, and who knows how hurt Amy is or isn't.
>>
>>613912
>>613922
fighting is what he wants. he wants to die in an blaze of glory
>>
>>613926

I guess you're right about the amount of people, but only 2 of them got any good hits in (unless I'm still misremembering) I guess I wasn't expecting him to take to much damage from so few hits, though I guess he's weaker without his Drink.

>>613929
see
>>613887
What happen after we walk away? Someone arrests him? He's not down, he still has the chain, and Lora certainly isn't going to let him live.

>>613832
>Maybe you could have been remembered by her if you had done something like what Bri is trying to do
He tried all that, remember? He tried to do good, help people, create great works; For a time he was praised and remembered, and then He was forgotten. Remember Hitler? He did naught be terrible things, and Is one of the few from that time that will be remembered for a long time; Lush is doing the same thing here.
Plus, he'd have to had found an impossible cause worth fighting for that was high enough profile to get him remembered; Those aren't so easy to find.
>>
>>613957
The difference being that Lora is immortal. She would have remembered him as a good guy for the rest of time. Mortal minds are limited by lifespans but not her.

Saving her from being enslaved would have earned him a spot in the histories from now until the end of time.

Instead he's just another of Richard's lackeys
>>
>>613957
....also, I remember a lot of other people from WW2 who aren't hitler

Winston Churchill for example? Let's not even get into the hundreds of people who actively worked against adolf hitler from within nazi occupied territory like Schindler.
>>
Vote count?
>>
>>walk away
>>
>>613655
>> Fight
>>
>>613655
> Walk away.
> Kill him when he inevitably attacks from behind.
>>
>>613716

>You know given his attitude I'm honestly surprised he didn't just send the recipe for the drink to hell and let the secondborn propagate his legacy of misery for all eternity.

... Uh oh.

Hey guys?

What do you think the odds are of the Lush deciding to ragequit if we don't fight him, sending the demons back to hell before we've put them all down?
>>
>>613655
>>> Fight
Let's kill this guy so we can say we killed the last giant, we can tell our kids!
>>
>>614095
that's not something to be proud of
>>
>>614095

He's not the last giant. He's just the last-born son of the giants.
>>
Called, writing.
>>
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>>613655
"You aren't the one who will be remembered," you tell the Lush. Pity, of a sort, colors your voice. "Richard will. The Master will. The world's seen your kind before, Lush. It'll see your kind again."

You turn and start walking towards Nathan. You need to make sure he's okay.

"GIRL!" the giant bellows. "DON'T YOU DARE TURN AWAY FROM ME! GIRL!"

You hear an agonized sound, followed by the thud of the giant going back to one knee. The seats of the Theater are an easy climb.

"GIRL!"

Nathan's out cold, but alive. His armor and coat took the wood splinters, which is good. He's not bleeding much, but you'll need to get that leg seen to. At least it's just broken. Admittedly it's /very/ broken, but this can be solved. He won't need another prosthetic.

You pick your lover up and turn. The Lush has one hand on the ground to hold himself up. He's bleeding quite a bit, and you can see the color draining from his face.

You go to walk past him, towards the rescue efforts at the trenches, and are stopped by a single word, whispered in a pleading voice: "Wait."

You turn your gaze to the last son of the giants, your lover in your arms.

"There are things I must tell you," the giant croaks. "The Drink, it will rob you of strength when it leaves your body. You must be ready, or you will die. My demon has done you more damage than you believe, and I'll not see you cheated of your triumph."

The Lush coughs, spraying blood-flecked spit onto the ground.

"My sister will come to avenge me," he continues, his voice pained. "In my pocket is a letter that will absolve my killer. She...will pay...my wergild..."

"You're dying," you murmur.

"Yes," the giant croaks. "Tell...tell the heritor...tell her...my name."

The Lush slumps to the ground. At first you think him unconscious, finally taken down by blood loss, but his mouth opens one last time.

"Angel, I...release you...from...this...bond."

There is a scream of almighty rage as Lora snaps her restraints and raises Grief high in the air, her robes manifesting around her naked form.

|<[Die]>|

The wave of power hits the taster and scatters it into cinders, leaving behind only a scream. You hear the strangled, cat-like yowl of the final rakshasa from beneath the seats of the Theater, but it doesn't stop there - the angel's proclamation snuffs the flames of the Earthsplitter and crumbles the spear to ash, freeing the men trapped beneath it. It withers the siege engines, and, here and there, causes officers to clutch at their hearts as the angel claims her revenge.

Lora swoops down and lands near you. She looks at the Lush, then to you, fury warring with concern.

Concern wins. "I can't touch you with that Drink inside of you," she murmurs. "You will need to seek a healer. I can fix the Hero."

"What about the Lush?" you ask, as you gently hand Nate over. Lora sets him down and murmurs a word - |<[Sleep]>| - before she starts to set his leg. "Is he...?"
>>
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>>614312
"Alive? For now," Lora admits. "The boy will need rest after this. Don't push him; this isn't like my feathers can be."

|<[Heal]>| the angel tells Nathan, and you see his leg straighten, bone knitting loudly together with sickening pops. He makes a pained sound, but remains asleep.

Lora's gaze turns to the last son of the giants.

* * * *

You are Lora, First Singer of the Death Choir.

You've dreamed of this for years, and none of it has turned out as you thought it would. Why can't things be simple? Why?

You approach the downed giant's head, Grief in one hand, not sure of what it is you mean to do.

> Ask the harpy girl to say a few words for the dead
> Attend to this without ceremony

AND

> Imprison the Lush within Grief
> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him
> Send the Lush to be reforged
>>
>>614325
>> Attend to this without ceremony
> Imprison the Lush within Grief

He doesn't get to take away everything he's done with a few words at the end of his life.

Also, Vox, I'm not really cool with us taking control of Lora (or anyone else) for important moments like this. Instead of us as Bri influencing characters though our actions then seeing the results of our actions, we enforce our will on characters, potentially causing them to act out of character so we can decide something the way we want to. Example: this latest fight; Amy wouldn't have gone for the Drink on her own. The Lush even commented on her acting unusual. Someone was complaining a while ago about all the characters feeling the same; This is why.
>>
>>614325
>> Attend to this without ceremony
>> Send the Lush to be reforged

Not only will he not be remembered, there will be nothing left of him /to/ remember.

Keeping him in Grief might prolong his agony, but it would also give him some measure of what he wants out of this.
>>
>>614359
I don't see it, I thought I went well. Besides it is the entire point of voting so the faggot can bitch all he wants. And to bring up Amy's(ours) influence, she knows the Drink is more important, and would definitely go for it. She did just see the Lush using it to power himself up for the fight and the chance that he would use it over the course of it was a larger problem, she isn't that stupid. On with my vote then>>614325
>Ask the harpy girl to say a few words for the dead
>Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him.
The fuckers made this dude, they can find out what happened, hell in all likelihood they will just let us imprison him anyways. I just want to see their reaction. Fuck reforgeing him, he can rot in oblivion.
>>
>>614369
Shit that is a good idea, never mind I replace my implied execution here>>614391
to just make something new.
>>
>>614369
>give him some measure of what he wants
He wants to be remembered. Forging or swording yield the same result here. Sending him to the Gods would help that goal.
>>
>>614325
>Ask the harpy girl to say a few words for the dead
>Imprison the Lush within Grief

So Imprisoning Lush will make him suffer something fierce until a better solution comes along.
Sending him to the gods will probably be terrible for him but they will also remember him for what he has done.
Reforging seems downright merciful... Fuck that.

I'm going to have to go with Imprisonment.
>>
>>614325
>> Attend to this without ceremony
>> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him
The Lush doesn't get special treatment. He gets exactly what every other soul in creation gets. To paraphrase a certain Krogan warlord, we will inflict upon the Lush the greatest insult an enemy can suffer: to be ignored.
>>
>>614325
>> Ask the harpy girl to say a few words for the dead
>> Imprison the Lush within Grief

give that letter to Amy, though.
>>
>>614325
> Attend to this without ceremony
> Imprison the Lush within Grief
>>
>>614325
>Attend to this without ceremony.

>Send him to be reforged.

Just finish him and be done with him, so you can move on.

That's the only thing you can do with monsters like this. Anything more is just giving them more power they didn't really have to begin with.

The human ones too.
>>
>>614325
>Attend to this without ceremony
> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him
Death is meant to be impartial and we're way too personally involved. Just send him out of our life.
>>
>ask the harpy for a few words
>send him to the gods
>>
>>614325
>> Attend to this without ceremony
Just... do it and get back to thinking forward.
AND

>> Imprison the Lush within Grief
>> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him
He's not getting a reforge; he can suffer the misery of having to accept the Gods mercy for the species. He fucked up so badly that the Gods are gonna fix the Giants against their will.

If they won't make him suffer, he can stay in Grief.
>>
>>614325
>> Attend to this without ceremony
> Imprison the Lush within Grief
>>
> Attend to this without ceremony
> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him

"Meh."
Business as usual, nothing to see here.
>>
Wait

All options mean the secret of the giants drink does with him right?
>>
>>614666
>He's not getting a reforge

"Getting" a reforge? It's annihilation. As utter as this world allows.

> Forging or swording yield the same result here.

Keeping him in Grief means that Lora will always know he's in there. He will be in torment, true, but it will be much harder for her to forget him if he is literally always at her side.

Reforge him, let his self disappear, his uniqueness be lost entirely. Then his memory can fade.
>>
>>614325
>> Ask the harpy girl to say a few words for the dead
>> Send the Lush to be reforged
>>
>>614666
>If they won't make him suffer, he can stay in Grief.
Sending him on releases our judgement on him.

Also, to those saying he's shouldn't get special treatment, He'll be getting special treatment by getting sent to the gods. Normal operation is straight on to the Sunless Lands. Chainbearers get send to the sword, unless we decide they they get a pardon.
>>
>>614325
>> Attend to this without ceremony
> Imprison the Lush within Grief
He goes a into the sword, same as all the other bastards we've taken down.
>>
>>614325
> Attend to this without ceremony
> Imprison the Lush within Grief
Into the bag you go.
>>
>>614829
this is important

If sending the lush to the gods for judgement means there's the risk that he'll be able to pass on the knowledge of the drink I vote against it
>>
I will likely not be able to update until after the prerelease.
>>
>>615800
prerelease of what?
>>
>>615831
Kaladesh.
>>
>>615852
I hope you have fun!
any chance you can answer this:
>>614829
while you're off?
>>
>>615928
Aye, the Drink is dead and done.
>>
>>615800
I still have to order a box but heat and sickness prevent me.
>>
>>614325
> Attend to this without ceremony.
> Imprison the Lush within Grief.
>>
>>614325

On the one hand, his punishment is supposed to be getting stuck in the sword.

On the other hand, letting any piece of him stay behind to remind Lora of pretty much any piece of this business could be construed as a form of immortality, leaving behind a piece of his squalid legacy.

> Attend to this without ceremony
> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him

He's fucked up. And he's going to pay for it.
>>
>>617793
>>617853
True. I figured that imprisonment in Grief was as close to 'eternal damnation' as possible in a setting where everyone, good and bad and neutral, goes to the same resting place.

I mean, we /might/ be able to shove his soul into a canoptic jar suspended over Balefire, to slow cook for the next millennium, but that's the kind of thing our friends wouldn't like.

Changing my second vote to;
> Send the Lush to whatever fate the gods will decree for him.

I am thankful to say that no one I know has endured what Lora has gone through, but I imagine she'd want to distance herself as much as possible from it.
>>
Prerelease is over, desperately need sleep. Almost passed out at the wheel, which would have made updates a bitch. Votes remain open, thank you for your patience.
>>
>>617994
Vox, please don't crash your car.

It'd be a bitch to find all your bones and put them back together.
>>
>>617994
I find that placing a rabid Tasmanian Devil in ones trousers tends to obviate any need to fall asleep at the wheel.

Or anywhere else for that matter.
>>
>>617994
Madman
>>
>>617994
Night bump
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>>618591
/qst/ over 72 hours is autosage.
>>
>>617994
But did you win?
>>
>>618805
Ahahaha, ha, no. I'm a terrible Magic player, chiefly because I was, for most of my life, the best player in a group of folks that were almost supernaturally shitty. The end result here being that I'm absolute shit at this game.

The good news is, I can only get better from here.

Called, tallying, writing.
>>
Or I'm being invited out to dinner. When I return, I'll write a new thread. Still open for discussion and feedback!
>>
NEW THREAD

>>621373
>>621373
>>621373
>>621373



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