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/qst/ - Quests


Her name is Mel, and she is a student of magic, a crime that earns you exile in the vast expanse known as the Spellwild. Within minutes of entering the Spellwild she found herself both in possession of a powerful treasure known as a living spell that allows her to summon spears of ice at will, as well as a pair of cursed living spells that intended to kill her within five days. Against the odds she found food, shelter, a decent neighbor, and the magical skills she needed to fight back against the cursed spells, killing them both in a bloody showdown and claiming their power for her own.

Returning to our story, our protagonist has just slain a hulking minotaur and murder of crows, absorbed their power, and been congratulated by a very strange entity who can move the sun and moon with a wave of their hand. Said entity is about to exit stage left.

Dull Practicalities: We use 1d100BO3 and you can expect one update a day (maybe an extra in the morning if dice are involved).

Previous thread: Archive: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5311042/
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“Hey! Who the fuck are you!?”

The stranger half turned and tapped his hat with a white gloved finger.

“Why, my apologies my dear lady. One does forget these things. My proper name would alas, cause irreparable damage to your mind, but many call me the Storyteller. You may do so as well.”

Mel’s stomach sank like a slab of ice in a lake. The Storyteller. A capricious god fond of plunging the lives of mortals into chaos for his own entertainment. Personally watching her. Avoid the gaze of the storyteller and stay away from those cursed with his attention, so went conventional wisdom. Pray for his ignorance. There wasn’t much to be done about it, but still, it was like a mouse finding out they had the interest of a cat.

She refocused her gaze and the god was gone. Good. Maybe he would find some other mortal to focus his attention on. She turned her attention to her bloody body, the aching pain in her chest. That was going to be a problem without bandages, ointments or even a decent supply of clean water to work with, she barely had enough water to drink. That damn centipede…Still if she was going to remove it from the situation she’d need to patch herself up first. She fished out the healing potion she had found in Joe’s cave. At least she was pretty sure it was a healing potion, it was the same color as the one Babs had given her.

Maybe it was the blood loss, maybe it was the exhaustion, but she didn’t worry about the unknown and simply popped the cork and drank. Bitter, but refreshing. A shiver ran through her, then a sharp shock of energy, like a coiled spring suddenly releasing. She giggled at the sudden odd sensation of the dozens of scratches, cuts and gouges in her skin sealing up, one after another, feeling for all the world like a stranger running their finger gently along each one. Muscles tightened, then relaxed in her chest and the aching pain there faded away. A wave of exhaustion crashed through her, followed by her stomach snarling at the night. She glanced at the charred corpse of one of the birds that had spent the night assaulting her and resisted the urge to rip it open with her teeth and gnaw the meat from its bones. Food, definitely needed food.

Somehow making the return to her hilltop campsite in the dark Mel threw the remainder of the eggs into the kettle, building up the fire, gnawing on her foraged fruits and nuts. She was greedily consuming the last of the cooked eggs when a glowing light came into view, slowly ascending the hill. She tensed, whispering a dagger of ice into her hand.
>>
“Mel? You alive up there?”

She relaxed at the sound of Bab’s voice. “I am! Come on up!”

Her fellow mage crested the hilltop a few minutes later, holding a staff glowing with the same light she had seen the stone in Joe’s cave emit. Her neighbor and fellow practitioner walked through the circle of beehive tombs that ringed the hilltop.

“You need a house with less elevation.” Babs panted for a few moments. “Did the sun and moon spinning around have anything do with your…Oh, I see they’ve changed a bit. Is that good? Your tunic looks like it’s about to fall off of you from all those rips, but you seem alright, and I smell cooked food, post healing hunger?” Words spilled out of Babs in a rush.

Mel grimaced. “Have you ever heard of the Storyteller?”

Babs nodded. “A few tales.”

“He doesn’t like talking in the dark. And apparently moving the sun is simpler than lighting a torch.”

The blood fled from Bab’s face and she sat down in the dirt. “Oh wow. That’s…terrifying to think he was that close by. I can reason with Sylve, but the Storyteller…” She shivered.

“Sylve?”

Babs winked and brushed the question away. “Looks like you’ve got more living spells in you too.” Her expression went stern. “Be careful with those. I’ve said it before, but people will try and kill you to take them.”

Mel nodded. “I remember, not that there are a lot of other people around here.”

Babs smiled. “Most people move on. I’ve got something I need to finish here first, although it’s taken me longer than I expected. I have a feeling you’ll push on pretty soon too, I see you’ve broken into the second level of magic. Let me know when you’re ready to move on and I’ll show you the way.”

“We’re trapped here?”

Mel grimaced. “It’s complicated, and late. We can talk more about it later, I need sleep, and you definitely need to sleep off a healing potion. And find some new clothes. See you around Mel.”

“Thanks for checking on me Babs.”
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Late Morning Day 6
Food: None! Firewood: 3 Days. Health: Good.
Mana: 1 tier 2 spell, or 5 tier 1 spells.

Divine Words: Arx (Ice Spear), Vitae (Enchant), Aers (Wind), Merco (Speed), Ignis (30% Learned)
Divine Word Techniques: Silent Casting (20% Learned). Chant (20% Learned). Invoke (0 % Learned). Declare (1% Learned).
Living Spells (Reduces cost by 1 tier): Arx (Ice Spear), Aers (Wind), Arx Merco (Ranged Ice Spear)
Smoke Weaving: Telekinesis.
Smoke Weaving Wands: Standard
Ley Flows: None
Rune Circles: None (five untested symbols known)
Rune Circle Gear: Personal ink, Chisel Kit

Tools: Telekinesis Wand 3/5 charges. Healing potion (2). Water defense potion(1). Grapple Vine potion(2). Dragon? Potion (2). Cloudy magic marble (2). Basic Camp. Basic travel gear. Basic Crafting gear. Disclaimer: Listed power level of items could be higher, 2 is the maximum you can discern.

Mel woke up with a groan and stumbled out of her tent into the bright afternoon sun. For the first time in days, years even, she had slept past sunrise, body relaxed in the comfort that nothing was coming for her, not magic, or barbarians, or any of armies, guards, slavers, irate innkeepers and crooked slumlords. Just her.

And a camp empty of food, a vast wilderness, and an empty canteen. Well, at least the canteen was easy enough to fill, and her stomach was still full from last night’s impromptu feast. She ambled down the hillside to the spring and studied the rune circle she had uncovered next to as water slowly trickled into her canteen. A moment’s focus called the arcane world into view, confirming what she had suspected, magical power was present in the circle, but only a single level. She hadn’t yet gone over the section of ‘Student of Magic’ dedicated to rune circles yet, but she had to wonder what would happen if she marred one of the symbols. She dismissed the thought for the moment and capped her canteen. She needed to sort out the plan for the day before anything else.

Plans. The word brought the bigger scope to mind. She had dealt with the immediate threat that had been thrust onto her, but now what? She couldn’t just idle here aimlessly, there was a kingdom she had to return to, a world to take by the throat. But she’d need more than just a handful of ice spears and the wind for that. She was going to need power, and a lot of it. And a way out of this place for that matter.

> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object, Cure Wounds (Potion Intro), or Emit Light (Rune Intro)
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Explore Bird Valley
> Ambush the centipede that prevents access to a stream
> Work at Babs (Identify Gems/Other, Get Potions, Get Herbs, Get Advice)
> Go hunting, and spend the day expanding your smoking setup, doing a proper butchery and securing your food supply. (2 timeslots)
> Write in?
>>
>>5347025
>> Work at Babs (Identify Gems/Other, Get Potions, Get Herbs, Get Advice)
>>>Advice
Gotta know what's up to make a good plan!r
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>>5347025
>Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning
>>
>>5347025
> Ambush the centipede that prevents access to a stream
Need. Water.
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>>5347025
>Ambush the centipede that prevents access to a stream
>>
>>5347025
>>5347045
+1 to this. Babs has, by her own admission, killed plenty of these centipedes-- and I don't think she'd object to telling us how she does it, or even just giving us some general tips about their weaknesses.
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>>5347025
>> Explore Bird Valley
>>
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> Ambush the centipede
> Work at Babs (Get Advice)

Mel flipped through 'Student of Magic' and paused on the section labeled 'Ley Flows'. A subsection was labeled 'Health Potion', getting a steady supply of those was probably going to be important to her long term survival. But even a cursory glance and a shred of common sense dictated that for potions she would need more water than what gurgled out of the cliffside spring.

Which meant it was time to take out the giant centipede that lurked along the forest stream. And get clean for the first time in weeks! She giggled as she walked down the hillside, here she was dreaming of a bath, completely glossing over the six foot long bug lurking somewhere in the forest below. She packed a few choice potions and started carefully into the emerald tinted undergrowth. Predators were normally asleep in the morning? Right?

Mel paused. She knew basically nothing about the monster, except how it killed and where it lived. Maybe it was time to go ask the one person she knew had killed one of these things. A quick trip down the hill and through the northern woods later she ambled up to Bab’s cottage.

“Morning neighbor!” She called out.

Babs bobbed over the top of the rose hedge that surrounded her property and waved in return. Bruno, Bab’s massive black dog barked twiced before Babs shushed him. As the mage turned the corner it occurred to Mel that she looked younger than her, barely an adult, but the cottage, garden and everything else must have taken years to build and establish. A mystery for another time she supposed.

“Looking for work? I figured you’d be taking it easy for a day.” Babs grinned. “Not that I blame you.”

“Looking for a little advice actually. You said you’ve killed a few of those giant centipedes before, right?”

Babs nodded. “Used to be an entire warren of them, burned most of my potions and wands getting to the queen at the center, then spent the next summer cutting down stragglers. Looking for a good way to turn the tables on them?”

“You guessed it. I want to be able to fill my kettle without waiting half an hour for my spring to get the job done. And a bath would be nice.”

Babs laughed and wrinkled her nose. “You could use it too. Well, there’s lots of ways to do it, but live bait is the best approach. Bruno’s not fond of that approach of course -” The massive black dog whined and Mel stifled a laugh, it was easier to imagine Bruno ripping the centipede apart than the other way around. “But I could let you borrow Lucky.”

“Lucky?”

Babs let off a sharp whistle and turned toward her chicken coup. Something rattled inside, squawking and seemingly bouncing along, shaking the walls, before spilling out in a heap. A lean, bug eyed, black feathered chicken popped up, clutching a black leash in its beak. It tottered over to Babs and held up the leash expectantly.
>>
“Just…how lucky is she?”

Babs leaned down and clipped the leash onto a collar. “Luckier than Bruno. Luckier than me even, almost lost an arm that summer, and it’s hard to find materials to make a potion that strong. Just let her loose in the right area, and get ready to hit the bug hard. She’ll survive…somehow. Just let her loose when you’re done with her and she’ll wander home.”

“You’re screwing with me.”

“I absolutely am not. Lucky is your best bet.”

> Spend the morning working with Babs (Random Potion, Item Identification, Herb packet)
> Take Lucky and go centipede hunting
> Ask about escaping the spell wild, sources of great power, something else (Can be taken with other options)
> Write in?
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>>5347953
>Spend the morning working with Babs (tem Identification)
>>
>>5347953
>Take Lucky and go centipede hunting
>>
>>5347953
>> Ask about escaping the spell wild, sources of great power, something else (Can be taken with other options)
>>
>>5347953
>> Spend the morning working with Babs (Random Potion)
>>
>>5347953
>> Take Lucky and go centipede hunting
After this is done all the short term priorities are met (for now)
>>
> Ask about escaping the spell wild, sources of great power, something else (Can be taken with other options)

"Actually there was one other thing. Last night you mentioned ways to escape the spellwild-"

Babs nodded. “I’ll drop by your place this evening and bring my map and we can talk it over. I’ll bring dinner. Make sure to bring some centipede eggs if you find any!”

“To eat?”

Babs winked and cackled as she shooed Mel away, Lucky’s leash pressed into her hand.

The better part of the morning had faded by the time she was walking along the forest stream, following the erratic movements of Lucky the chicken.

“I’m pretty sure you’re a rooster.”

Lucky skidded to a halt and turned, one bug eye staring wildly.

She held out her hands placatingly. “But I’m no farmer.”

Lucky took several proud steps forward, then tumbled into a muddy puddle abruptly. She flailed out, spraying mud in all directions, dashed into a tree, then spent the next three minutes pecking at a bush. Mel sighed. “Lucky, I think the lack of human contact is starting to wear on Babs.”

Lucky rushed back at her and pecked furiously at her shins. Mel stumbled backwards, cursing and scowling at the chicken as it stopped and stared at it, first with one eye, then the other.

“What’s your problem? It was just a joke, alright? Babs is fine, even if she does think-”
>>
Bushes and undergrowth snapped as a blur of motion ripped out from a hidden tunnel, a pair of mandibles snapping at the chicken, twisting up into the air almost completely vertically. Mel stared, gaping at the sight, as Lucky perched on the tip of one of the mandibles. The chicken fluttered away with a squawk as the centipede gave one last snap of its mandibles and let its girth coil back onto the ground, swinging around toward her.

Shock wore off. “Arx!” A flurry of spears ripped from the ground and cut into the giant insect, a brackish fluid spilling from the wounds. It reared back with a hiss, spears snapping from the ground. Mel paced backwards and started chanting. “Arx Merco. Arx Merco. Arx Merco.” First one, then two, and three ice spears materializing in the air beside her, each one trembling like an arrow held on the string of a bow, straining to be free. A red ribbon snapped and whipped in a vortex of wind whipping around each one. She glanced down at the image of Aers next to Arx, flapping its wings. “Thanks for the help.” She whispered.

The centipede coiled like a spring, head lowered, mandibles clacking, beady eyes tracking her.

Arx Merco. Arx Merco.” Two more spears, a line of sweat falling from her forehead. Whatever part of her that strained to hold them back knew, no more than five. The monster hissed and charged, spears ripped loose joyously in a single furious strike, two to the gut, one wildly into the trees, two directly through the mouth of the beast. It froze in a rictus of pain, mandible twitching, just a few feet from her before collapsing to the ground.

She sighed with relief and skirted around the beast in time to find Lucky emerging from the stream, drenched with water. The chicken wobbled over to the bug, planted a claw on it and crowed proudly to the world.

“Yeah, you sure showed him. But thanks for the help.” Mel winced as the chicken started systematically ripping bits of centipede flesh off and eating them. She turned her attention to the lair of the beast, focusing her arcane sight. The corpse of the beast itself lit up in a few places, the mandibles had a strong glow, and there were a couple other objects within the corpse, but Mel fully intended to put off insect butchery for the moment. Let the birds clean up the carcass for the moment.
>>
She knelt down on hands and knees and wiggled her way down into the lair of the beast. Sure enough, a clutch of eggs was nestled into a hollow in the ground, each the size of her fist and sparkling with a bit of mana. She prodded the leathery balls for a moment, expecting them to be slimy, but finding them dry. More interesting to Mel at least was what looked like a trash heap at first, although her stomach twisted a bit when she realized she was looking at a dung heap. Antlers, shattered bones from a variety of species, mangled feathers. A chill shot through her as she lifted up half a human skeleton. Had some other exile, not unlike her, wandered through here recently, only to become this thing's meal?

She continued digging through the heap, separating out a few bones in good shape and setting them aside. A few tattered garments turned up, just scraps, but they might be useful if she cleaned them. The real prize was at the bottle of the heap, a tough leather backpack, only slightly marred by the jagged tear across the back and a snapped strap. A hunting knife was nestled at the bottom, along with a few fragments of paper.

first day here in the Spellwild! What a place! - - - fairies! Fairies! - - wrong with the water, a rancid red is billowing up, - - rdians on the hill have all died - - lovely little garden - - rest by this stream

Mel glanced over at the shattered skull and frowned. Who were you? The tone of the document seemed light, and the pack indicated a certain level of preparation, but who just wandered into the Spellwild like it was a trip to the countryside? She gathered up the eggs, tucking them one by one into the backpack and carefully wiggled her way back out of the lair.
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“Lucky?” She glanced around but the chicken was nowhere in sight. Maybe it wandered home to Babs? A sizable chunk of centipede was missing, maybe the fowl had eaten its fill. She focused her arcane sight and sighed at the two glowing objects within the bug. Well, at least she had a knife to work with now. The mandibles were separated first, crackling with energy, then she set to work cutting her way into the monster itself.

Thick layers of chitin, muscle, and intestine later revealed the first item, a foul liquid filled organ that she assumed was the heart of the creature. She gingerly set it aside, what exactly she was supposed to do with it was beyond her, maybe Babs would have some insights? She resumed her cutting with a grimace, cutting into the stomach of the creature and pulling out a wooden orb etched with symbols. It crackled with magic, but what was it? She added it to the backpack, another mystery for another time.

7 Centipede Eggs (1) gained
Centipede Mandibles (2) gained
Carved Wooden Orb (2) gained
Hunting Knife gained
Torn Backpack gained


Setting the backpack full of new treasures down on the bank of the stream Mel kicked off her shoes, pulled up her pant legs and let her feet splash in the cool water. She leaned over and looked at her own reflection, black hair just long enough to be disheveled, cut on her eye faded into a scar as expected, and enough dirt, bug slime and blood caked on to grow a garden. She leaned over the water and threw handfuls of it into her face, scrubbing away the grime until the reflection looked familiar again.

Somewhat anyway. She’d always had a face described as pointed or hawkish, but stress, missed meals and lost sleep had sharpened her features. She shook it off, what did it matter how she looked at this point? Her stomach growled a counter argument that she had to concede, fresh water and a touch of cleanliness was nice, but she was completely out of food. And with Babs bringing food over it would be nice to have something to contribute as well. Still, a hundred other things begged for attention.

Afternoon Day 6

> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object, Cure Wounds (Potion Intro), or Emit Light (Rune Intro)
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Explore Bird Valley
> Forage up some food, there’s not enough daylight left to butcher an animal, but fruits, nuts, mushrooms add up.
> Write in?
>>
>>5348890
>> Explore Bird Valley
>>
>>5348890
> Forage up some food, there’s not enough daylight left to butcher an animal, but fruits, nuts, mushrooms add up.
>Bring centipede legs
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>>5348890
>Forage up some food, there’s not enough daylight left to butcher an animal, but fruits, nuts, mushrooms add up.
>>
>>5348890
>Explore Bird Valley
>>
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> Forage up some food, there’s not enough daylight left to butcher an animal, but fruits, nuts, mushrooms add up.

Food had to take priority. The next several hours were spent roaming the forested area, gathering anything she felt confident in eating, hard unripe fruits, mushrooms, edible greens, and nuts. She grudgingly took a second pass over the centipede, examining it for edible flesh. The main part of the legs was a solid mass of chitin, but a solid mass of pale flesh was wrapped around where each connected to the body, like a blobby drumstick. She piled them into a sack, then returned the main body of the bug itself. Several thick bands of muscle were present, she cut several large ‘steaks’ from it and added it to the sack. Maybe Babs would know something about their edibility, the pale flesh certainly didn’t look appetizing.

Her last pass through the forest took her to the edge of the dead forest, a section where the trees seemed to wither then fade to skeletons of their former selves. She padded into the area cautiously. A rancid smell lingered in the air, even seeming to fill the air with a faint red haze. She was definitely reaching the end of the easy forage in the area for the day, but maybe there was something more in this area. This many dead trees should be a treasure trove of mushrooms and other rot.

Still, something had killed these trees, and continued to kill them. The area was deathly quiet as well, no birds sang, no bugs flew by, not even the expected scavengers of rot. She skirted through the area quietly, keeping her eyes open for mushrooms and forage, but finding nothing. She plunged in deeper, there had to be something of note in place.

Ten minutes of pushing through the dead forest led her to the shores of a lake filled with murky red water. Her nose wrinkled reflexively as the wind shifted toward her for a moment, a rancid smell billowing off the water. No fish touched the water, no plants grew on its surface. She watched it carefully, slowly circling the lake, but it remained calm, placid and foul.

There was certainly nothing left to do here in this dead place, she turned toward home, the only question was what to occupy herself with while waiting for Babs to arrive.

Evening Day 6

> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object, Cure Wounds (Potion Intro), or Emit Light (Rune Intro)
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Carve and enchant tier 1 wands for use later
> Use a day’s worth of firewood to set up a more permanent smoker.
> Write in?
>>
Broke the tie in favor of foraging, mostly on account of having already written it by the time the tie happened.
>>
>>5349532
>Use a day’s worth of firewood to set up a more permanent smoker.
>>
>>5349532
>> Use a day’s worth of firewood to set up a more permanent smoker.
>>
>>5348888
- - rdians on the hill have all died
guardians
not sure which hill, but perhaps the ruin Mel stumbled out of, or something in Bird Valley
>>5349532
>Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)
The sooner Mel knows what ingredients to look out for to make these and becomes self sufficient in producing them the better.

the rune intro would also be good, as she keeps coming across them and it'd be good to be able to approach the basics
>>
>>5349532
> Use a day’s worth of firewood to set up a more permanent smoker.
>>
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> Use a day’s worth of firewood to set up a more permanent smoker.

Mel checked in on the simple smoker she had set up not long after she had arrived, only to find it a collapsed heap of moldering foliage, no surprise there, it had barely held together when she made it. Still, now with hatchet and knife she could probably set something up more long term in her camp proper. She set to work, reducing a thick tree limb to a simple wooden shovel with the hatchet and dug out a reasonable pit. Burlap sacks from Joe’s cave were cut into sheets and strips, more firewood still was notched and arranged into a pyramid over the firepit. Three tiers of notched branches were added, then with a grimace Mel cut the centipede meat into strips and tied them on. A quick trip to the forest for fresh green wood to keep a steady supply of smoke and it was done.

Mel wandered to the outer edge of the ring of tombs, taking a moment to peer at the tiny entrances at the bottom of each one. The fading light of evening revealed little but inky blackness further in, but she had to wonder who was buried within, and with a touch of guilt if they were buried with anything useful. She turned her attention out to the north and it wasn’t long before a bobbing light in the trees hinted at Bab’s approach. The witch left the tree line with her massive black dog Bruno in tow, before turning to pet the dog and point him back into the forest. Coming alone today then.

Mel and Babs exchanged a wave as she drew closer and it wasn’t long before she had crested the hill, panting lightly and set a bagful of coiled scrolls down on the ground with a frown. "You need a table."

"It hasn't made the priority list yet. There's a few I could scavenge from Joe's camp, along with some shelves, but it's a long walk with some pretty bulky objects."

Babs glanced around the camp, eyes lighting up at the sight of the centipede eggs. "Trade you three eggs for some shelves and a table."

Mel laughed. "What, are you going to magic some up? What are the eggs good for anyway?"

"You can see the magic in them, right? Pop it open and add it straight to a potion and you can skip enchanting the herbs. Same for the mandibles, although you'll need to grind them up first. You can do the same with other kinds of magic, toss it in fire, mark a rune circle. Or you can enchant them and mix them in with healing herbs and make a mana potion for later. Stuff like these eggs might as well be currency among mages, it's more important than gold ever will be."

"So three eggs for a few shelves is a normal exchange?"

Babs grinned. "It's probably highway robbery, you'll probably find a way to get some furniture eventually. Or just move on, which is what we're here to talk about. Here, empty this into your kettle and I'll get the maps ready." Babs handed off a bundle of meat and vegetables wrapped in paper and started pulling scrolls out.
>>
Mel unloaded the food into her kettle, building up the fire as the sun slipped below the horizon. "You like mushrooms?"

"Sure. Beats starving."

"Is centipede meat any good?"

"Sure. Sort of like crab if you've ever had it…of course I've only had giant crab here in the Spellwild so maybe it only tastes like giant crab?" Babs shrugged. "Toss it in, it's not bad. Eggs are nasty, but they're better for mana anyway."

Mel added a slab of Centipede meat with a grimace. "There's not a lot of great tasting potions are there?"

Babs laughed. "You're usually too busy trying not to die to care, but yeah, they're all nasty, especially lycanthropy ones."

Vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and meat seared and hissed at the bottom of the pot as Mel stirred them around with a carved branch, a delightful melody of aroma wafting up and out. An actual meal was something she hadn't had for a long time, even before exile she had survived on stale bread and the occasional bruised fruit for ages.

"Alright, stop drooling into the pot and come take a look at this." Babs waved her over.

"This is a map of the area. You'll note these mountains all around the area, they're mean and high, really high. I tried to cut across once and got about half way before I started getting woozy, the air gets really thin, Bruno had to drag me back, I had gotten delirious. I might be able to do it now, but I was a lot less experienced then, and still more than you now."

"Could someone make a tunnel with magic?"

Babs shook her head. "Whole mountain range is bewitched somehow, tunnels collapse and fill back in as quick as you make them. You might be able to go through one way if you were quick about it, but you'd need strong magic to stand a chance, and probably a lot of it."

She tapped the western border of the map. "There's a construction right here, some kind of fortress, giant iron walls, built right into the mountain. There's a gate, you have to enchant it with a level three surge of mana to get it to open, or have something with that level of power to offer it. It's some kind of toll payment I think. Once you're inside you'll be able to travel through the structure to other parts of the Spellwild."

"A fortress? Is it abandoned?" Mel strayed away from the map to the cookpot. Babs followed her, producing a pair of simple clay bowls.

"I've got to get you a little more civilized. You've been eating off a stick haven't you?"

"All I have." Mel grinned and speared a bit of meat on a sharpened stick.

Babs sighed. "Well, it's not exactly a fortress, more of a prison. There are cells and vaults all through it, all of them trapped and crawling with nasty things. I wouldn't open them if I were you. Just stay on the main walkways and pass through."

"Ok, I need a level 3 object, or hit level three myself. Then I go through…but that just gets me to other parts of the Spellwild right? How does any of this get us out of here?"
>>
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Babs laughed. "One thing at a time, next map." She folded up one scroll and pulled out another. "If you head through the fortress and take the left fork you'll come out here." She spread out the map on the ground. "And a few days travel from there will get you to a city, the only I've seen in the Spellwild. If anyone knows, they're there."

“A city…” The idea of true civilization was a little bewildering. “Would have been nice to have started there.”

Babs grimaced. “As far as anyone can tell people just appear all over the Spellwild. There are mountain ranges all over cutting it into pieces, and the only way from place to place is through places like the fortress to the north. We’re in a fairly small section right here, but there’s much larger areas to the north and south of us, although a lot of it is taken up by the citadels.”

“Citadels?” Babs crunched through a carrot and frowned. “This is a lot.”

“Don’t worry about the citadels, no one knows what they’re about but everyone has their pet theories. If you’re looking for information though, you want to get to Spellbreak, the only city in the spellwild. At least the only one I know of.”

“Why the only one?”

Babs shrugged. “People who live there say it's because there’s no magic there, all magic is suppressed in that slice of land. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are other villages or even cities out there, but Spellbreak is probably the biggest. Knowing your neighbor can’t send an explosion spirit into your house at night is a plus.”

“Ok. What’s the catch?”
Babs laughed. “I knew you were smart. Someone let something out of the vault about a month ago.” Her face went dark for a moment before she shook her head. “And it set up camp just outside the fortress. Some kind of skeleton army. You’ll need to bust through to get into the fortress at all. I’d clear it out, but I’ve been working my own project, sorry, I just don’t have the time or the resources to fight a gang of skeletons.”

Mel’s face fell. “Just a skeleton army.”

“Just the one, yeah. With a sorcerer of some sort. Assuming nothing else is loose in the vault.” Babs grinned. “No one said it was going to be easy.”

As many or as few as you’d like
> Ask questions (the route, the city, the skeletons, this gross centipede heart I forgot you had)
> Trade eggs for furniture
> Press for details on her project
> She mentioned more interesting work when you were stronger…well?
> Write in?
>>
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And this is Bab's personal map of the area you're in right now, with slight annotations based on your combined knowledge (at least what Babs is telling you). Feel free to write in questions on anything there, her map of the Spellbreak region is much sparser because she's spent relatively little time there, but she's been here for some time.
>>
>>5350459
> Ask questions (the route, the city, the skeletons, this gross centipede heart I forgot you had)
>> Trade eggs for furniture
>> She mentioned more interesting work when you were stronger…well?
>>
>>5350459
> Ask questions (the route, the city, the skeletons, this gross centipede heart I forgot you had)
> She mentioned more interesting work when you were stronger…well?
>Do NOT trade the eggs for furniture, but for something useful and portable, a sit seems we'll be moving soon
>>
>>5350459
> Ask questions (this gross centipede heart I forgot you had, Why is there no life around the Red Lake?, Is that why the Fae Village is probably abandoned?)
> Trade eggs for furniture
> She mentioned more interesting work when you were stronger…well?
>>
>>5350459
>Trade eggs for furniture
> Ask questions (the route, the city, the skeletons, this gross centipede heart I forgot you had)
> She mentioned more interesting work when you were stronger…well?
>>
>>5350459
> Ask questions (the route, the city, the skeletons, this gross centipede heart I forgot you had)
>>Red Lake
>>C. Heart
>>Are the skeletons going to move or make trouble? Or are they avoidable for now
Ice spears aren't the best for dealing with skeletons, Mel's going to need something else for them
>Do NOT trade the eggs for furniture
There's other ways to get furniture, come on, and no point getting possessive about things we can't carry anyway
>>
"Raising my own level feels tough. I haven't tried it yet, but I feel like I'm hitting my limits."

Babs sat her bowl down and snapped a few twigs absently. "Limits are a frequent problem for mages." She tossed the sticks into the fire. "Your power grows in different ways at different times, three stages, Growth, Pushing, and Blocked. I'm Blocked right now stuck right at the start of level four. Growth is where you were, and Pushing is where you are. Advanced mages like myself are always looking for ways to get back into Growth or even Pushing."

"What's your plan right now?"

Babs face twisted into a snarl, and Mel tensed, feeling mana thicken in the air, pulling toward her neighbor…then Babs took a deep breath and the mana dissipated, rushing away like an exhaled breath of relief.

"Be careful with a question like that." Babs suddenly looked very small, very much like a girl barely into adulthood sitting in front of a fire in a vast wilderness. “I’ve been Blocked for a few years now, trying to find a way though. I need to find a way to heal the dead forest, but something that big, that large, you’d need magic on a level I can barely comprehend…I just don’t understand how a person is supposed to be able to do it.” She slumped, falling back against the dirt. “It’s just stupid. Yeah, I said it Sylve, it’s stupid, and I’m so tired of dealing with it!”

“So the red lake, this abandoned fey village on the map, the whole dead forest…”

“All my problem.” Babs let out an infuriated shout into the night air. “The whole place is cursed, and I’m pretty sure there used to be something holding it back, but I don’t know what, everything had already gone to hell by the time I got here. I’ve wandered that stupid forest a thousand times trying to figure it out.”

> You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…
> You’ve got your own problems to worry about, Babs will figure it out eventually
>>
Still working on the rest, but a little distracted today
>>
>>5351961
tell.
trying to solve.

>>5348888
this person saw fairies, [gua?]rdians on the hill that died.
rancid red billowing up in or from the water - issue is coming from within there.
person seemed green, but had two magic wooden orbs. probably either something common or fairy related. also got a cloud-filled marble from Yellow Eyes, could be related.

>>5350925
hilltop tombs (home). probably the hill of those guardians. need to investigate the tombs to find the solution, unless we found something already.

only other thing I can think of right now is the trickle of water from the hill, and the magic circle by it.

and Joe. Joe has so much stuff, wonder if he's been here since before the fairies disappeared. I don't think we finished reading his notes.
>>
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We're a little asynchronous right now, apologies for any tonal whiplash

> Ask questions (this gross centipede heart I forgot you had)
> Trade eggs for furniture

"So…centipede hearts."

Babs laughed. "Noticed it had lot of magic in it?"

"Sure, but it's not like it's going to stay good like that. Do I need to preserve it or something? Dunk it in vinegar?"

Babs chuckled. "Like a pickle!" She giggled.

"Hey! How else would I preserve it?"

"Smoke it? Salt it?"

"You are an ass."

Babs shrugged and continued grinning. "Bottle it with water and hit it with vitae matching its level, or as high as you can tell anyway. That'll preserve the magic at least. Or wrap it up in paper or a bag and do the same if you figure you’ll want it for a smoke spell. I’d dry it out in your smoker after you enchant it if you do that, but it’s not required, just…less messy.”

“You can do the same thing with the eggs right?”

“Yeah, if you want to hold onto them for a long time. I’d just make them into mana potions myself. Offer still stands by the way.”

Mel lifted an eyebrow. “Highway robbery has me a little hesitant.”

Babs grinned toothily. “Tell you what, I’ll even throw in the golem.”

“Golem? Big stone statue thing?”

“Not…quite. Little stubby thing. Very slow, very persistent, very tough. I prefer faster minions, but they’re pretty useful in the right situations. You could have it haul things back from Joe’s cave for you, carry firewood. Practically a steal for three eggs.”

“Two.” Mel folded her arms.

Babs narrowed her eyes, pouting a little. “Fine! Should have ran the thing down myself. Here,”
Babs dug a small tightly wrapped paper packet from a pocket. “Put three drops of blood, your blood, on it or it won’t know who its master is. Then just light it on fire, you can throw it right in the fire if you want, or a torch is fine since it’s just a little one.”

Lost 2 centipede eggs(1)
Gained Golem Sachet(1)


Summon the Golem now?
> Spill the blood and get that little guy working
> Some other time

>>5351961
Is still open for votes
>>
>>5352055

You found one wooden orb, with tier 2 magic running through it. I might need a better notation for spell level. Maybe it has something to do with something else wooden and carved?
>>
>>5351961
> You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…
> Spill the blood and get that little guy working
>>
>>5351961
> You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…

The dead guardians are in our little tomb complex, and if they could be revived or communicated with beyond the grave, they would be able to tell us what killed them and clue us in as to how to reverse it... Maybe.

>>5352252
> Spill the blood and get that little guy working
>>
>>5351961
You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…
>>5352252
> Spill the blood and get that little guy working
>>
>>5351961
>> You’ve got your own problems to worry about, Babs will figure it out eventually

>>5352252
>> Some other time
>>
>>5352254
smoke weaving? wand had visible smoke on it while charged, though. orb could have low, but nonempty charge. orb from Yellow Eyes was filled with something like smoke. guessing orbs are a smoke weaving tool we haven't learned about yet.
A Student of Magic mentioned "dangerous spirits" separate from wands, orbs could be related to that.

obvious thing to do with an orb is to insert it somewhere, but I've ctrl-f-ed hole and indent without seeing anything that sounds related.
>>
>>5352252
>> You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…
>> Spill the blood and get that little guy working
>>
>>5351963
> You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…
What is the missing piece
>>
>> You’re pretty sure you’ve got the missing pieces of this puzzle…

“I don’t know if it’ll help, but I found a few old notes, maybe journal pieces just today that mention the red lake, or at least it sounded like the red lake.” Mel dug out the scraps of paper and handed them over.

Babs scanned them, quickly at first, then slowly.
“On the hill…I knew this is where they died…but where they lived? Why would they live here, it’s just a desolate tomb, of course…it wouldn’t be a tomb when they lived here would it?” Babs stood, a pair of wands in her hands, slowly turning, counting the tombs around them. “One, two, three, four…five. Even spacing. Has it really been right here this whole time and I’ve just been so caught up in solving the problem myself that I couldn’t see it?”

“Babs? What’s right here?”

A manic grin shot across her face. “Mind if I do a little…renovation?”

“Uh…sure? What kind of renovation?”

Babs lashed out with a wand toward one of the tombs, a length of smoke spilling from it like a whip, and with a flourish laid a series of crossed lines within a circle.

“Magic sigil?”

A shower of dust shot out from the lines. “Just a good pattern for cutting something big apart!” She pocketed the first wand and smoke billowed from the second, grabbing onto each section of stone, yanking it out, rapidly forming a pile of rubble.

“A cutting wand would be nice to have.”

“This one is restricted to stone and earth, which makes it stronger, but you’d be pretty surprised how often you need to dig through stone and earth.”

“How many eggs for one of those?”

“More than you’ve got.” Babs grinned as the last piece of rubble was moved aside. “Now, let’s see what’s inside here.” She held up her glowing staff and walked into the darkness, Mel trailing behind her.

The inside was not exactly impressive. The ceiling was cramped and low, the light from Bab’s staff made everything within it pale and stark. Mel had expected, even hoped for ancient crypts or old chests of relics.

Instead there was a skeleton curled into the fetal position on the floor, one hand stretched out, an ancient bloodstain spread out under it, the other holding a rusted dagger.

"Hold." Babs thrust her staff into Mel's hands and knelt by the skeleton, hands gingerly running over the ancient bones. "Sister…what did you do? Did you give everything? Just to buy a little time…bring the light closer, there's something written here…oh. Well, that confirms it at least."

Mel peered in closer at the simple line of text in rust red.

sylve please
>>
"Who is Sylve?"

"The painter, goddess of the wilderness. This used to be one her priests, a druid, a caretaker of the wild, a preserver of the natural world. A sister in faith. She gave everything she had, magic, blood, everything to try and keep this land healthy…and it wasn't enough. Or maybe it bought a few years? It's hard to say. The magic is gone now. Probably the same in all the rest. Dry blood and old bones…" Babs turned and walked out the tomb, dropping back down in front of the fire, followed by Mel, carefully setting the glow staff between them.

"So…they killed themselves to try and restore the land?"

"Blood magic. Your campsite is sitting on top of an ancient rune circle that ran out of power, that's why animals stay away and nothing grows, it gnaws on the life force of anything in it. Mages are basically immune to it, don't worry. You can power most magic with blood, and the blood of mages is even stronger. It was a desperate last attempt at keeping the rune going, which must be linked to something…"

"What kind of magic would be able to heal an entire forest anyway?"

"Healing is the domain of Ley Flows, and it's a simple poison killing the forest. I can cure and purify small parts of it, but it's too big to just throw potions at. This is progress though. I’ll probably be prowling around for the next few days trying to figure out what the circle is for.”

“There’s actually some kind of rune circle about halfway down the hill, next to a little spring.”

Babs nodded. “Oh wow. Ok. That does sound promising. Well, I’ll probably take a look in the morning. Hah, I came here to give you advice but I think you’ve helped me more.” A yawn split the conversation. “Ok, I think I’m running out of steam here, and Bruno is probably worried about me. Anything else you need?”

> Actually…(write in)
> Good night Babs.

Morning Day 7
Food: 5 Days. Firewood: 1 Days. Health: Good.
Mana: 1 tier 2 spell, or 5 tier 1 spells.

> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object, Cure Wounds (Potion Intro), or Emit Light (Rune Intro)
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Explore Bird Valley
> Scout the skeletons
> Check on Babs at the spring
> Write in?
>>
>>5352981
> ask how we can help out - work for her investigating this, in a way that directly teaches us in addition to other payment. whether it's more likely she'll have that kind of work with runes or ley flows.

> Cure Wounds (Potion Intro), or Emit Light (Rune Intro) depending on what she says.
>>
>>5352981
>> Good night Babs.
It's above Mel's paygrade and she's already done her part desu
>> Learn a new spell
>>>Emit Light (Rune Intro)
>>
>>5353007

> ask how we can help out - work for her investigating this, in a way that directly teaches us in addition to other payment. whether it's more likely she'll have that kind of work with runes or ley flows.

“Actually, is there any way I could help?”

Babs blinked and stared for a moment.

“It’s just, it’s going to be some kind of big impressive work of magic right? Something worth seeing? Learning about? I’d like to be able to understand part of it.”

“Huh. Yeah, I don’t know if there’s anything directly you can do, but I’d brush up on rune circles. You’re sleeping on one, and I think this one is going to be pretty important to figuring out the hilltop.”

>>5352981
Still open for votes
>>
>>5352981
>Learn a new spell
>Emit Light (Rune Intro)
If we're living right on top of a huge spell-circle, it seems beneficial to learn more about runes and how they work.
>>
>>5352981
> ask how we can help out - work for her investigating this, in a way that directly teaches us in addition to other payment. whether it's more likely she'll have that kind of work with runes or ley flows.

> Learn a new spell: Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)
>>
>>5352981
>Good night Babs.

> Explore Bird Valley
>>
>>5353190
Changing my vote from
>Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)
to
>Emit Light (Rune Intro)
actually, just so we can help Babs sooner.
>>
>>5352981
>> Scout the skeletons
>>
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> Spill the blood and get that little guy working

Mel watched the light of Babs staff bob away in the dark. A lot to go over in her mind. She had another fight in her future, against a pack of undead no less. Her neighbor, and perhaps even mentor and friend was a servant of a goddess of nature. The Painter was less feared than the Storyteller, but most of the old stories she could remember ended with entire cities wiped off the map, replaced by wilderness. A scowl crossed her face, gods were little better than idle kings, and a hundred times more dangerous, and now there were two of them in her life.

She turned and let her gaze settle on the large hole in one of the tombs. It was a little unsettling to be camped out on top of some sort of magical device, although it certainly hadn't killed her yet. She'd made a cozy little home here, it was a little disappointing to think about leaving it behind, and a little concerning that it might be part of some grand magic. But maybe the golem she'd bought would help, to move out if nothing else.

She studied the sachet for a moment, and drew her knife with a wince. Just a few drops of blood. After a moment's indecision on which finger to cut she settled on her pinky and released a thin dribble of blood. She bit her lip as the blood soaked into the sachet.

"Here goes." She tossed the bloodied sachet into the fire and jammed her pinky into her mouth. There was a brief delay, then the fire abruptly flared up with a wave of heat before dying down to embers. A tiny shape lumbered out of the campfire, then halted. The fire slowly regained strength, the light growing until the tiny golem came into view.

"Hi there."

The golem, looking like a heap of rubble stuck together into a humanoid shape shrugged.

> Send him out for a shelf
> Send him out for a workbench
> Send him out for some firewood (low)
> Send him out for something else?
>>
>>5353951
>Send him out for some firewood
It's a more pressing need than a bench or a shelf. We can always assign him to get more stuff tomorrow.
>>
>>5353951
this is from Babs, right?
half a vote for workbench. necessary to begin working with harder materials, but we're not really at that point yet.

could maybe get shelf and a lot of firewood in one trip by:
get a smallish bookcase with a solid back from Joe's cave, empty it, fill it with broken wood from the shelf collapse and maybe outside if it hasn't gotten wet yet. have the golem carry it.
if no bookcase is small and sturdy enought, just a sturdy box. we'll get more use out of that - golem can carry a lot more if he has a box to put it in. don't super need a shelf until we have more stuff.

further golem ideas:
get Joe's other treasures (might not be fireproof enough for that)
>>
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> Learn a new spell: Emit Light (Rune Intro)

Mel woke up to a new day, thoughts of mysterious runes and dead forests rolling around in her mind. Not even pausing for food she cracked open ‘Student of Magic’ and flipped to the section on Rune Circles.

Rune Circles are often taught as one of the earliest schools of magic, and indeed, with the proper magical materials even a common layman might construct a circle and give it power, provided they follow the exacting instructions required to create a circle. Rune magic is the magic of the earth, stable, sturdy, and long lasting. The first step in any rune magic is choosing the target of your spell. Marble slabs are a favorite of the traditionalist, but this text recommends something simpler like pen and paper for experimentation. You must have some way to mark, etch, or carve the object in question, the more stable and long lasting the better.

The second step is of course to etch, draw, or carve your runic circle into the target. This text includes an example runic circle that will make a target glow. I find this is quite useful on a stave or lantern, making a bright white light at the second tier of power that is without heat or flicker. Quite superior to a common torch!

A note on the layout of the common or standard rune circle you see here. The outermost ring of circles are 'Power' points, these should typically be left alone, these locations are for the burning of mana infused candles and effigies. The inner ring of circles are 'Restriction' points, runes and/or objects placed here restrict or modify the spell, typically modifying who, what, when or where it targets. The cluster of three spaces at the center of the circle are 'Effect' points, the runes placed here directly determine what the rune does.

The final step is of course to fill the rune with mana with the Vitae spell at the level you wish the rune to activate. The rune should remain active for 24 hours. You can recast Vitae within this time period to extend the time, and accumulating five casts within one continuous period will cause the rune to reach a semi-permanent state, even weak tier 1 runes can be expected to last 2-3 years in this state, and a single recast of vitae will bring the rune surging back to life for more years of use.
>>
Mel set the book aside, propped open with the runic pattern on display. It was the beginning of the day, mana reserves at full, maybe now was a good time for some practical experience. And a good light would be useful.

Engrave something with the Glow Rune pattern?
> The end of a sturdy branch, could be useful to poke into dark corners
> Inside the lantern, you could swing the shutter shut to control how much light it emits
> You have a lantern, why waste the precious mana?
> Something else? Write in

If you make something glow, how much power do you put into it?
> Tier 1, a dim light, but better than nothing, and you’ll have more power for later in the day
> Tier 2. A bright useful light, but you’ll consume all of your mana unfortunately.


Afternoon Day 7
> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object, Cure Wounds (Potion Intro),
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult, but it would double your reserves)
> Explore Bird Valley
> Scout the skeletons
> Check on Babs at the spring
> Write in?

>>5353951
Still open for votes
>>
>>5353951
> Send him out for some firewood (low)
Test run.

>>5354121
> Inside the lantern, you could swing the shutter shut to control how much light it emits
> Tier 2. A bright useful light, but you’ll consume all of your mana unfortunately.

>Day 7: Learn Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)
>>
>>5354121
LIGHT SPELL
>branch. tier 1. maybe useful now, can just be a lamp in the tent later.
remember we need to cast it 5 times to be permanent, which means 5 days without magic currently.

also, putting tier 2 on a lantern just to be able to cover it up is stupid. when we do tier 2, put it on a metal plate that's preferably like playing card size. easy to cover up, easy to attach for hands-free use.

wonder what the default "target" is. like, if target-ness is something that spreads across surfaces or through volume. feels like it's surface given what was said about lanterns.

note Joe's slab that made our hand glow is a version of this spell with a bunch of restrictions, but they're all the same restriction except one.
wonder if direction of a restriction rune affects anything.

AFTERNOON
>Learn Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)

no time:
>check out the end of joe's journal?
we stopped reading after guessing how the story went, but there might be something worthwhile for a mage towards the end. quick look. when does it start being coded? is there anything that's obviously spell instructions? don't start decoding for now.
>>
>>5353951
>> Send him out for a workbench

>>5354121
> Inside the lantern, you could swing the shutter shut to control how much light it emits
> Tier 1, a dim light, but better than nothing, and you’ll have more power for later in the day
> Explore Bird Valley
>>
>>5353951
> Send him out for a workbench

>>5354121
> Inside the lantern, you could swing the shutter shut to control how much light it emits
> Tier 2. A bright useful light, but you’ll consume all of your mana unfortunately.
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult, but it would double your reserves)
>>
Sorry >>5355143, started writing before I saw you or I would have flipped a coin on the tier of the light.

> Learn a new spell: Cure Wounds (Potion Intro)
> Inside the lantern, you could swing the shutter shut to control how much light it emits
> Tier 1, a dim light, but better than nothing, and you’ll have more power for later in the day

Mel pulled the lantern closer to herself and examined it. It was a somewhat peculiar design, a combination of oil lantern and dark lantern, made in such a way that the oil flame could be hidden by sliding panels. Still, oil was bound to run out, and taking the time to render animal fat into lamp oil was time taken away from study and exploration. But magic, enough magic could last forever, or near enough.

She set to work. The oil was carefully drained, bottled and set aside. A damp plate was present in the lantern for cutting off air to the fire, she carefully removed and pulled out the chisel kit, hopefully the tools within would suffice for this level of work. Pulling her reference close to hand she started to work, carefully applying each line and twist. The work was exacting, each line had a particular starting point and direction and angle of work, although she had to wonder if the exacting instructions were quite required, surely it didn’t matter if the circle on the light rune was made strictly in a clockwise fashion. Still, best not to waste the mana finding out.

She blew metal filings away from the etched metal and examined her work with a smile. Deep breath in, time to find out she had done it right.

Vitae.

The lines of the rune circle flared with light, starting with the bottom outermost circle, then running along the rest of the pattern. The bottom circle pulsed with a faint light, then the metal started to glow with a gentle light. Mel grinned as she slid the plate back into position within the lantern, testing it out, revealing and hiding the light a few times without issue. Perfect. Time for a quick test run.

She emerged from her tent just in time to find the golem trundling up the firewood, dropping an armload of branches and one uprooted sapling, then turning to trundle back toward the forest. Industrious little follow. She looked at the pile of firewood it had amassed, about a day's worth in half a day. That was one chore she wouldn’t have to worry about again.

She circled around to one of the undisturbed tombs, lantern in hand and crawled in through the tiny entrance. The inside was much like the one Babs had cracked open. A skeleton against one wall, a rusted dagger against the opposite wall as though it had been thrown, an ancient rust red stain on the floor. She knelt next to the ancient body and held the light close to it as her eyes adjusted to the dim interior.

was it worth it?
>>
Mel sighed. Five lives given to keep a forest alive for a little longer. Babs wasn’t planning on doing something like this, was she? Mel let the dead rest and returned to her camp. The lantern was workable. Food was good, firewood was growing without her effort. She absently threw a few green branches onto the smoker and checked on the centipede meat, which was admittedly better than she cared to admit. An oddly low pressure afternoon.

The bloodstains had her on edge. The power of her healing probably couldn’t compare to anything Babs could make, but if she were to find Babs bleeding out in one of these tombs it might be good to have something on hand. And that meant another trip back to ‘Student of Magic’. She settled in next to her original skeletal companion and flipped open to the last section of her first grimoire.

Ley Flows, as you might expect my dear student, is the magic of water, healing and transformation, among other less reputable effects we shan’t discuss here. Students wanting to prepare love potions are kindly reminded that such behavior will result in immediate expulsion.

The preparation of a Ley Flow requires five critical objects. The first two are of course a vessel to prepare the flow, and the second is a vessel to contain it when finished. For first and second tier potions the preparation vessel can be anything, even the vessel that the potion will be contained in eventually. A simple cup, glass, mug, clay bowl, even a hole in the ground will suffice! The third component is a gemstone of appropriate quality and size, again for first and second tier potions this is virtually any example of the gem in question. The fourth component is liquid, almost always water, although this writer has made due with a fine wine in the past. The final component is an enchanted sachet of herbs appropriate to the magic in question, simply bind together the herbs in a sachet and apply the Vitae spell at the desired intensity.

Once you’ve assembled the materials, creating the ley flow is quite simple! Simply place the liquid, gemstone and enchanted sachet together in a vessel and wait for a moment, then drain the liquid into a container. A cup of water is sufficient for a first tier spell, while a pot or kettle is recommended for a second tier spell. Fear not my students with small stomachs, despite the amount of water you may be working with, you only need drain a mouthful of potion from the container to bottle the full effect, although you’ll find you’ll also only be able to bottle one effect as well. One of the mysteries of magic I’m afraid.

I’ve included the details of one of the most useful potions around, the humble wound healing potion. The required gemstone is the delightfully green emerald, and while many herbs suffice, Chamomile is my personal favorite, although desert folk find great success with Aloe. I’ve included samples of both emerald and chamomile in this book, ready for use even!
>>
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Mel flipped through the remainder of the pages. A tiny envelope glued to the pages, containing an equally tiny emerald was looted, alongside a threadbare sachet with just a hint of chamomile scent and a tiny surge of magic as well. Chamomile was simple enough to gather, although she had to wonder how much healing she could muster without using her entire supply of mana. And she was pretty sure Babs had quite a bit growing in her garden.

Executing on the spell with the readied ingredients was trivial enough, She emptied her canteen into a glass jar and quickly followed it up with the emerald and sachet, giving it a quick swish. To the naked eye little changed, but within her arcane sight the power in the sachet quickly surged out, into the emerald, then back out into the water. Within just a few seconds the water colored a familiar green. She fished out the sachet and emerald, tossing the former into the first and pocketing the latter. A little anticlimactic she supposed, but another bottle that stood between her and an untimely demise.

The little golem stumped by and dropped another load of firewood, complete with an empty bird nest. Mel watched it amble along with a smile, then glanced up at the rapidly falling sun. Day was running out.

Evening Day 7 (4/5 Mana Remaining)
> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult, but it would double your reserves)
> Explore Bird Valley (Warning, Dark)
> Scout the skeletons (Warning, Dark, but maybe that’ll help?)
> Check on Babs at the spring
> Experiment! Etch unknown runes on things, enchant them, and see what happens!
> Write in?
>>
> check out the end of joe's journal?

Chronologically Joe's journal looks like this:
1. The purpose of my research
2. A need for lab assistants (Imp Summoning)
3. Limits of Sanity
4. A system for the mess (Locate Object Rune)
5. Need a way to cool off (Aers Divine Word, Create Wind)

The following is the first section. If you'd like 'Limits of Sanity' I can write it out as well.

Mel flipped to the earliest section of Joe’s notes, a section that didn’t appear to contain any magical notes at all. Maybe there was some useful advice or point of interest though.

The inquisitors can’t be far behind now my dear Marla, I can only hope I’ve bought you enough time, enough of a lead to escape in the wilderness. Meanwhile I head toward the Spellwild, for where else will I find the means to break your curse? Where else will I find the knowledge and the time to pursue it?

And beyond breaking your curse, where else will I find the power to break the one who did this to you? Forgive me my selfishness, but I do serve two masters now, a desire to cure you, and a desire to break him. He brought me to my knees with a wave of a wand, cut down the guard with another, all to force some horrible transformation onto you. I cannot forgive him, cannot forget him. And so here I am, traveling to a place others are forced to. The Spellwild.


Mel flipped through a few more pages of uninteresting travel until…

What an intimidating thing, the great wall! A cloudbank so high it vanishes into the sky! It’s been visible for days of travel, but now I have been through it! And what a tale for you Marla, for I encountered the strangest of beings in its strange mist, a nervous fellow, twitching and muttering, clearly afraid of seemingly everything. And yet, it wasn’t the fog, but the idea that something might make its way back out! How peculiar, since by all tales almost nothing does.

This strange fellow, and I dare say he was not entirely a common human like you or I, this strange fellow offered me a rather enticing deal, one that I’m afraid I agreed to without much thought. He scorched my palms with two rather curious symbols, then…well, say is not the right word, for the word seemed to be etched in the will of the universe more than any common vibration of air. But he…declared something, and my hands received a rather curious pair of gifts. I could take just about any object with them and with a bit of will begin to work them like a master craftsman, quite useful! And even more so I could shape sand into glass the same way, or sift pure metal from common dirt! What a gift!

And what a price I’m afraid. I’ve been charged with a duty by this stranger, this locksmith he calls himself. There are things out and about in the spellwild, things he needs locked away, and apparently your lovely fiance is the man for the job! Well, at least I shan’t want proper equipment at least!
>>
>>5355232
>Learn a new spell: Locate Object
>>
>>5355272
whole vote for
>check on Babs
kinda expected her to be done by now.

half vote for
>learn a spell (either)
>meditate
>Limits of Sanity

golem stuff
ask/check if the golem can see/navigate in the dark some time he's by? standard story on golems is they do their job too dilligently or literally, which could end in him taking the lantern out to see, or getting lost, or stealing from Babs' firewood. tell him to stop if he can't.

tell him not to get living wood like the sapling. and the bird nest is definitely one that fell on the ground, right? aside from any ecological morality, don't make Babs tell us off.
>>
>>5355232
is the emerald consumed? I don't think it is, since Mel pocketed it, but not completely clear to me
>>5355232
>> Check on Babs at the spring
And while we're there make a note of the Rune Circle there, I suppose. it's the most powerful reference Mel has to learn from.
>>5355272
section five suggests that Mel can now retrieve Joe's fire-protected treasure
>>
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>>5355664
we have a picture in the last quest. don't know if the implication is she already has it written down.
it has two effects (glasses and dabbing 4) and zero restrictions. so a pretty simple spell.
by comparison, Joe's slab is a heavily restricted light spell.
>>
>>5355664
> is the emerald consumed? I don't think it is, since Mel pocketed it, but not completely clear to me

Gems in Ley Flows aren't consumed, with a few exceptions, which will be noted when you learn them.

> Limits of Sanity
Won't consume an action, it's just me lore nerding, and Mel isn't taking time to deeply memorize the contents.
>>
>>5355232
New here, nice quest you’ve got.

>check on Babs
>>
>>5355712
early guesses on those spells.
stream: relay, maybe connecting the circle on top of the hill to somewhere else like the red lake. just, glasses symbol looks a bit like two connected rune circles.

slab: made us glow by magically inscribing a light spell on us. used to empty objects of magic by putting them on it for a time.
V is apply this spell to objects that touch this object. / is maybe reduce duration, for safety.
>>
> Check on Babs

Lantern in hand Mel descended the hillside cautiously. The hillside spring had vanished, replaced by an opening into the hillside. The rune circle had been modified with some unknown restriction rune. She stepped up to the opening, clambering over a heap of rubble and ducked into a tunnel. A thin trickle of water ran along the bottom of the tunnel, the remains of her spring apparently. The tunnel sloped upward, curving slowly first to the left, then the right before ending in a large chamber.

Mel stopped, head rising, mouth slightly agape.

Babs chuckled off to one side. “It’s pretty astounding isn’t it?”

Held fast in a tangle of living vines was a massive polished gemstone, twice her size, half black and half green polished to the point of a soft glow. Mel followed the vines up to where they were lost darkness, finding an arc of water flowing through the air halfway, splashing down onto the gemstone. The water flowed through some hidden path through the stones before falling to a pool below, dotted with white flowers.

“This is it then?” Mel asked.

“I think so. Power flows down through those vines from the rune and into the stones. Those same vines are also powering something else, something to bring in water, I’m guessing any ambient power the rune takes in is being used to pull what little water it can find. The water lands on or through the gemstones, acquires antidote and healing properties both, then falls in a pond of living hawthorne flowers.”

“Vines can carry mana?”

“Everything can carry mana, it’s how we do magic. It’s how magic is. Living things are better at it of course, but there’s nothing special about vines, other than they’re usually easy to get nice and long for something like this.”

“So…an emerald and a…”

“Black agate.” Babs answered absently as she walked around the room. “Antidote gem, very useful. Unless you like dying of snake bites of course.”

“I’d rather not.”

Babs grinned. “Ok. Alright, this should be pretty simple.”

“You just need enough magic to restart the circle, right? It was probably a permanent circle when it was made, to keep magic flowing into the crystal for a long time.”

Babs sighed. “That’s going to be the problem…This is a fifth level set up. Tremendous power, far more powerful than anything we’ve got between us. Even if Joe were still around the three of us altogether wouldn’t have enough power to start this thing back up.”

“You can’t cheat it somehow? You’re a level four right? And level five is just five fours, right?”

Babs grimaced. “You aren’t wrong. I…yeah, you aren’t wrong. It’d take everything I have, but I think I’ve got enough. I…” She sighed.

“That’s good right?”

Babs exhaled. “It’s…Mel you aren’t going to try and kill me are you?”
>>
Mel laughed, looked up at the serious face of Babs, then laughed harder until she had to sit down on the floor.

“What!?”

“I’m serious! I’d have to completely deplete my mana pool! I’ll have nothing to defend myself with except a few wands and potions.”

“And a dog the size of a small bear.”

“And Bruno, yes. And Fuzzles, but you haven’t met her.” The mage twisted her hands, staring at them.

“Babs, even if I wanted to hurt you, and that’s a big if, you have a wand that can cut through rock. Thick rock.”

“And one that makes explosions.” She added quietly.

Mel laughed again, the sound echoing through the open space. “Babs, I solemnly promise I’m not going to try and kill you.”

Babs frowned and let out a huff of air. “Alright. Can you keep me safe? I’m going to have to spend the next few days at your camp, and I’m not going to have any mana to work with and…I’ll still be useful. I bet you’ve got a lot of stuff you’re not sure what it’s for, I’ll have plenty of time to check on them for you and…” The young mage started twisting her hands again.

> Babs, you should probably do your set up at your cottage, where you’ve got all of your supplies and defenses already set up.
> Babs, you can stay here, I’m not sure if I can compare to an exploding wand, but I’ll try.
>>
>>5356173
am I right that she's going to use her own level 4 mana plus a bunch of other resources to get a single level 5 vitae, and she's going to do that every day for five days.

wondering. why did it run out? the notes indicate that the red water appeared either before or not long after the druids did the blood magic, which means the circle was decreasing in power or had fully failed at that point.

keeping a rune circle going after five chargings requires a casting of vitae every so often, presumably level 5 on this one. why did the five guardians not have enough resources to even do a fifth of what Babs is planning to do now? feels like there was either a loss of knowledge that resulted in the circle running out completely before recharging, or someone deliberately broke it or caused it to run out.

feels like we should investigate the circle and the other tombs as part of prep.
>>
>>5356173
>> Babs, you can stay here, I’m not sure if I can compare to an exploding wand, but I’ll try.
She doesn't really need the help, but giving her the assistance and emotional support would be nice of Mel. it doesn't cost that much, as well. Mel can just spend a few days at home meditating, if anons can't think up anything productive for her to do at all, even worst case.
>>
I should clarify, Babs will be fine with you leaving during the day, she won't expend her mana pool until just before bed to minimize her vulnerable time period.
>>
>>5356173
> Babs, you can stay here, I’m not sure if I can compare to an exploding wand, but I’ll try.
>>
>>5356173
>> Babs, you should probably do your set up at your cottage, where you’ve got all of your supplies and defenses already set up.
>>
>>5356173
>Babs, you can stay here, I’m not sure if I can compare to an exploding wand, but I’ll try.
>>
>>5356173
> Babs, you can stay here, I’m not sure if I can compare to an exploding wand, but I’ll try.
We can ask her for magic info every night. What a score.
>>
>>5356173
Also grab babs hands when we offer, so she stops twisting them so much
>>
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>Babs, you can stay here, I’m not sure if I can compare to an exploding wand, but I’ll try.

“As safe as I can keep myself anyway.” Mel laughed. “Pretty sure if it came down to it you’d be guarding me.”

Babs shrugged and smiled weakly. “I know I sound stupid. It only takes one mistake out here though. One moment of weakness.” She sighed. “Ok, you’ve probably got things you need to get done, and so do I. I’m going to modify the rune so the wall only opens at dawn, so if you need to get in here make sure to be in and out fast or you’ll get sealed in.”

“Good to know. What kind of preparation are you going to be doing?”

“Mostly just Vitae invocations. You should pay attention when I do them, it’s going to be faster than trying to pick it up on your own.”

The two started back down the tunnel.

“Ok, what is an invocation?”

“Spoken magic comes in six levels. Whispers, words, shouts, chants, invocations, and declarations. The first three anyone can do. You need to train and practice the last three. I’ve only ever seen a single declaration.”

“Yellow Eyes?”

“Yellow Eyes. Crazy bitch.” Babs growled. “You hear rumors of a seventh level, but I don’t know what it’d be called. Hard to imagine that kind of power.”

Mel nodded as they passed out of the tunnel. Babs diverted to the rune circle and drew a tiny inkpot and brush, drawing a single line across the rune she had added to the pattern. There was a tremble in the air and rubble started rolling across the ground toward the opening. Mel danced backwards, avoiding rocks as they clumped and gathered together. Small stones combined into larger, larger into larger still, then entire slabs lifted up and neatly fit together, the tunnel entrance vanishing under a wall of rock.

“That was…wow.” Mel stared, a smile on her open mouth. “A line of ink did that.”

“Well, and a centuries old rune. Sloppy design though, putting the rune on the outside. If it were on the inside I’d have to break the whole hill just to get in.” Babs glared at the rune. “Still, saved me a lot of trouble. See you tomorrow Mel.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Babs.”
>>
Dawn Day 8
Food: 4 Days. Firewood: 1 Days. Health: Good.
Mana: 1 tier 2 spell, or 5 tier 1 spells.

Divine Words: Arx (Ice Spear), Vitae (Enchant), Aers (Wind), Merco (Speed), Ignis (40% Learned)
Divine Word Techniques: Silent Casting (20% Learned). Chant (20% Learned). Invoke (0 % Learned). Declare (1% Learned).
Living Spells (Reduces cost by 1 tier): Arx (Ice Spear), Aers (Wind), Arx Merco (Ranged Ice Spear)
Smoke Weaving: Telekinesis (index).
Smoke Weaving Wands: Standard
Bone Pile: pinky, 2 ring, middle, index, toe
Ley Flows: Wound Healing, Antidote, Jet and Zircon are untested
Rune Circles: Standard
Runes: Glow, Dawn, Dawn Negation, (four untested symbols known)
Rune Circle Gear: Personal ink, Chisel Kit

Tools: Telekinesis Wand 3/5 charges. Healing potion (2). Healing potion(1). Water defense potion(1). Grapple Vine potion(2). Dragon? Potion (2). Cloudy magic marble (2). Carved Wooden Orb(2). Runic Lantern(1).
Reagents: 5 Centipede Eggs(1) 1 Centipede Mandible(2).
Summons: Golem(1).
Camp: Basic Camp. Basic travel gear. Basic Crafting gear. Sturdy Smoker. Workbench.
>>
Morning Action
> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Explore Bird Valley
> Scout the skeletons
> Write in?

Last night’s leftover mana (4)
> Finish making the lantern permanent
> Enchant some twigs for use as wands later (specify how many)
> Turn centipede eggs into mana potions (specify how many)
> Write in?

Golem duty
> Firewood
> Camp furniture
> Joe’s chest
> Write in?
>>
>>5357078
Morning Action
>Imp Summoning
half votes: >Explore Bird Valley, >meditate

Last night’s leftover mana (4)
> 1 extend light on the lantern.
> 2 mana potions (leaves 3 eggs)
> 1 wand

Golem duty
> Joe's chest
> something to help the golem gather firewood more efficiently, like another box.
>>
>>5357078
> Explore Bird Valley
> Finish making the lantern permanent
> Turn centipede eggs into mana potions (however many we can manage with leftover mana)
> Camp furniture
>>
>>5357108
permanent spell is 5 castings without the spell stopping. since it's already active, we need 4 more castings, which is all the mana.

>>5357078
actually, question: recasting vitae resets duration, or adds to duration. i.e. if you cast vitae twice in a row, does the rune last 48 hours or 24?
>>
clarification: we cast it this morning, with a single casting, that's why we need 4 more. if we extend tonight, we'll need 3.
>>
>>5357137
Adds to duration, each cast will add 24 hours.
>>
>>5357078
> Explore Bird Valley

> Finish making the lantern permanent
> Turn centipede eggs into mana potions (however many we can manage with leftover mana)

> Joe’s chest
>>
>>5356245
I think the mages that died did so while burning their life force to establish the circle. So it’s not that they didn’t have the resources to do a fifth of what Babs is doing, Babs doing (at most) a fifth of what they did by casting a Level 5 vitae the refresh the duration.

As for why they couldn’t/didn’t arrange for someone to refresh it every now and then, who can say. Maybe there wasn’t time and they were preventing imminent calamity (like the red lake was rapidly expanding at the time) or maybe whoever’s job that was died and the knowledge was lost like you said.

>>5357078
>Write in
Let’s go to Joe’s chest and I wanna try something out.
>Arx up a bunch of ice spears on the path to the chest
>Aers to still the updrafts coming from the lava, and to rotate the air in the still area around the ice-spears to cool it
Aside from that I also want to experiment with Arx a bit. Does it strictly HAVE to emerge from the ground itself? Does it always have to be a sharp spear? Can we make them emerge from, say, the trunk of a tree? Can we blunt the tips on some and use those to push ourselves up a ramp formed by some others? When using Arx Merco can we grab hold of a spear and use it as a mobility aid when it shoots? Can we toss a wand up in the air, materialize an Arx Merco around the wand, and then shoot a spear with a payload in it?

I just want to understand the full scope of applications for Arx as we have it now, and how much our will can change it from its default form and function.
>>
>>5357304
I support experimentation and understanding the magic at our disposal.
>>
>>5357078
Morning Action
> Experiment with Arx

Last night’s leftover mana (4)
> 1 extend light on the lantern.
> 2 mana potions (leaves 3 eggs)

Golem duty
> Joe’s chest
>>
>>5357304
A few more things to test
Can we make Arx appear out of other Arx? Are we restricted to only shooting Arx Merco forward-ish or can we shoot them off upwards or backwards at will too? Can we shatter the ice of our spears by will, or at least deliberately weaken their structure? With Arx Merco in particular being able to fire a shotgun of ice or slush will surely come in handy at some point even if it’s just to blind an enemy. With Arx it could be useful to create slushfields and slippery surfaces.
>>
>>5357077
By the way, do you guys think it’s a typo or a plot point that we now apparently have (2) of Grapple Vine Potions, Dragon Potions, and Cloudy Magic Marbles. Also when did we get more centipede eggs? I remember we had (3), then traded (2) for the golem, but now we have (5)?

Really now if it’s not just typos there’s something pretty fucky going on here and multiplying our wealth.
>>
>>5357885
parenthesis is our best guess at magic tier (we can only differentiate tier (1) from tier (2)+).
the number before the name is amount.
we had 7 centipede eggs to begin with. we now have 5. centipede eggs are tier (1) magic.
>>
>>5357895
Aah, right. I recall that now. We always emphasize quantities with (parentheses) at my job so I got mixed up, sorry for being a bit retarded there.
>>
> Explore Bird Valley
> Experiment with Arx
> Send the golem for Joe’s Chest
> Permanent Lantern

Another dawn rose. The fire was stoked, food stirred together, and water fetched. Green wood was thrown on top of the smoker. A slightly scuffed and battered workbench was hauled to the top of the hill, along with a small shrub that had been in the golem’s way. Mel halted the golem and knelt next to it.

“I want you to head back to that same cave you got this bench from, and in the very back there’s a big stone chest surrounded by lava. You’re made of stone, can you go get that for me?”

There was a grinding of stone as the golem nodded, then it started its slow plodding course back down the hill. Mel watched it go for a moment, wincing when the diminutive stone creature started to roll instead of walk, eventually sending a shower of leaves down as it collided with a tree.

Mle’s eyes turned to the south where the birds still circled patiently. With any luck those birds were hovering over something interesting, and that something was a better tool for dealing with the skeletons keeping her bottled up in this part of the spellwild. She packed up her gear, potions, lantern, wand and knife into her makeshift satchel and headed out.

The trip was largely uneventful, although she spent the majority of it experimenting with Arx as she went. There were a few questions in her mind she wanted to answer, the most important of which was where could the weapon be summoned from? The ground seemed to always be a valid source, and she had called it from the side of Joe’s cave once against the imp. Trees, ones as thick as she was, seemed a fair target as well, although individual limbs and branches weren’t.

The form of Arx was fairly rigid, with focus she could make the spear shorter than its usual length of just over her own height, but changing the nature of the bladed end seemed impossible, at least without an additional divine word altering the spell. Once deployed the form of the spear was beyond her control, she couldn’t shatter it on command or control it. It was a poor tool for bearing weight as well, an attempt to use several of the spears together as a ramp nearly ended in a sprained ankle when the spears shattered under her weight.

The experiments did remind her of a moment in the fight with the minotaur where she had called Arx in its dagger form without speaking. She toyed with the concept a bit more, saying Arx without actually saying it, feeling the energy, reproducing the whispered effect several times, although the tier 1 effect remained out of grasp. Maybe with some more practice she’d be able to master it as well?

Quite without realizing it she stepped out of the tree line and into bird valley.
>>
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“Oh. Wow.”

The green valley swept down to two mighty structures, one standing high at a significant lurch, the other on its side, slammed into and through the bottom of the first. The first was once a powerful tower, a great golden bird sculpture perched atop it. Birds of all kinds perched on its smooth blue walls, even now glimmering with a bit of polish in the sun. The second building might have been a tower once, but now lay on its side, buried in the bottom of the first. The second tower seemed almost a foil of the first, rough brown stones and practical architecture jarring with the sleek elegance of the tower above. Bits of rubble and architecture from both buildings littered the valley, and a long wide path of torn and disheveled earth leading to the base of the second tower left the impression that it had been hurled or thrown at the first, scraping along the ground in some mighty catastrophe.

Mel descended down the valley, scanning the two buildings for some point of entry. Drawing closer to the fallen tower she found an actual doorway, the rotting lumber of the door it once held shattered in the frame. A doorway? She stared at the opening to the dark interior of the tower. If there was a door that implied that the tower wasn’t a tower at all, and more of a long complex on the ground…that had been hurled into another building like a spear.

Lantern held high she stepped into the door frame, wincing as beetles scurried away from the light of her lantern. Carvings seemed to decorate the walls of the interior, bugs of all kinds from beetles to dragonflies, with wriggling worms surrounding each carving like a frame. A thick layer of old leaves and ancient organic matter carpeted the floor. Her inspection was cut short by a hissing sound from the deeper darkness, and a chattering clack-clack-clack sound. Mel narrowed her eyes and stared into the dark, lantern held out. Something large was shifting in the darkness beyond her light, although it seemed content to hiss and threaten, at least while she was only barely in its home. Best to give it some space for the moment at least.

She ducked back out of the lower section, the Worm Complex might be a decent name? It was certainly full of enough bugs. A section of collapsed wall formed a serviceable ramp and she climbed upward toward the upright tower. Birds of all kinds watched her passively as she approached and slipped through the only opening she could find, a shattered window not blocked in with rubble.

“Who.”
>>
>>5357078
how much mana does whispering cost? we've only ever done it with Arx. if it's free, I wonder what whispered Merco is like.
>>
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Mel jerked her head up, body tensing at the sound. An owl, nearly as large as her, perched a floor above her, peering down at her. She stared back, wondering what a bird that size ate when it got hungry. And shouldn’t it be going to sleep soon? Owls were night dwellers, weren’t they?

“Who.”

“Melody, but my friends call me Mel. Mind if I look around?” She suppressed a giggle at her stupid joke, answering the owl.

“Disturb not the followers of Ava within and we shall have no quarrel, Melody.” The owl’s voice rolled out in a single deep tone. A battered corpse dangled off the edge near the owl, the beast nudged it with a claw, sending it the floor below. Mel stiffened again, staring solemnly up at the giant bird of prey. The owl narrowed its eyes and preened its feathers, watching her intently.

“Ah…of course.” She forced a smile onto her face and slowly, occasionally glancing back to the owl, started looking around the room. The room had clearly once been like the exterior of the tower, polished blue gray stone, shining golden decorations, small tables and chairs expertly crafted, bookshelves loaded with texts. But something had clearly changed. Tables and chairs had been reduced to splinters, bookshelves collapsed. Scorch marks and gouges scarred the walls and floors, and what once might have been a luxurious red carpet was ripped and torn to pieces, and rotted from water and exposure. Skeletal remains still in tattered clothes were scattered around the room, scraps of sky blue on some and a mud brown on others. The corpse the owl had dropped stood out a little from the rest, the clothing on it being more leather than cloth, maybe an explorer like herself?

Content with her quick look around Mel nodded cautiously to the owl and left the tower for the fresh outdoor air. A monster in the dark below, and a giant owl guarding the dead above. She followed a balcony around the edge of the tower, finding a good overlook for the valley. Down below, nestled behind the Worm Complex was what looked like a battlefield, if the craters, scorch marks and bodies were anything to gauge by. Splintered wood and rubble from both buildings were present. Could be something worth scavenging there, and there were no menacing beasts waiting there.

Where do you search and scavenge?

> Bird Tower, just avoid the dead
> Worm Complex, whatever it is in the dark you can handle it
> The Battlefield, try to get some more information on this place
> Write in?
>>
>>5357960
Whispers are Tier 0 magic and don't cost any magic.

>>5357885
I need a better notation. Probably going to move skills/inventory into image form eventually and use some kind of icon or sorting.

>>5357871
Arx from Arx would be amusing, but the source has to be about the thickness of a person and relatively sturdy. Basically the weight of the spear shouldn't have an impact on the stability of the object.

>>5357304
You might be able to materialize Arx Merco around a wand? It'd disrupt the ability of the wand to operate though. It would be pretty hard to hold onto one when it fires, on account of being ice, and I'd be worried about it pulling my arms out of their sockets if I did. Maybe you could make some sort of cart propelled forward by Arx Merco strikes, although Aers and a sail is probably a better choice there.

>>5356245
Casters as powerful as Babs are fairly rare. Without a mentor or manual it'll be nearly impossible for Mel to match her. She's pretty determined though, so she'll probably find one.
>>
>>5357961
insect cult vs bird cult, love it.
guessing the worm complex wasn't launched, but more propelled itself along the ground. served as an attack vehicle for the brown-clad people to attack the blue-clad people (Ava followers). propulsion method could be related to what's downstairs in it.

owl may not attack over looking the brown-clad people, but it's not like people always wear color-coordinated clothing so some random brown-clad people could actually be Ava followers.

>Ask owl: which ones are the Ava followers? do they all wear blue?

> The Battlefield, try to get some more information on this place
look for holes into the lower floor. can maybe shoot Arx at the creature below from out of reach.

>whisper Merco, just to feel what it does.
don't do this if we enter the tower, could throw off our movements a little.
>>
>>5357961
>The Battlefield, try to get some more information on this place
>>
>>5357961
>The battlefield
Gee, how could this possibly go wrong.

I want to check out the Worm Complex as well, but I think we should enchant a bunch of pebbles on Joe’s table first and bring them along so we can scatter them around for cheap light/scouting.
>>
>>5357984
I dunno why I gave the example of materializing it around a wand. Doing it around an offensive potion like the grapple vines makes more sense, but I guess I was checking on the principle of the thing. Good to know it’s possible.

Transferring the inventory into an image (or a pastebin) would be better. You could also designate levels with (T1, T2) and then maybe use [Brackets] in front of the item to designate quantities. Then again, it’s only me who’s been confused so far so maybe it’s a non-issue.

Quick question, when the Storyteller gave us the option of allowing a living spell to consume another living spell…that just means that the combined spell benefits from the cost-reduction living spells grant right? The combinations are still possible anyway (for instance we are perfectly capable of casting Aers Merco to run on walls at the moment…right?). If so, do we know what the effects of combined spells on mana cost is? Like does it get upped by a tier or something?

Or is this stuff we’ll need to find out over the course of experimentation in character.
>>
>>5357992 (me)
where did the Worm Complex come from? maybe it started near the centipede warrens. maybe it caused them. the valley looks to go SW-NE on the map, and is NW of the centipede warrens, so if it slid down the valley that's not where it started.

the upper floor of the Worm Complex has few things in it, but is also highly ornate. they probably used to use it as something other than a boarding vehicle, and moved out all the loose furniture when preparing the attack. which might mean there are other worm cult buildings where it came from.

Worm Complex has leaves and "organic matter" on the floor. I'm guessing some of that used to be vines or padding, to keep the riders safe while moving.
>>
>>5358071
The upper floor of the worm complex isn’t particularly decorated. I think you’re misreading a line that actually says the style of the Ava-tower and worm complex are complete opposites (and the latter is jammed into the former).

I agree that the worm complex was probably not purpose-built to be a battering ram though. There are much better designs for a battering ram.

I don’t think the organic material was specifically cushioning for riders or anything, it’s probably just compost for the bugs or stuff that was in there that got turned into compost after no one was maintaining things anymore.
>>
>>5359380
ornate:
Carvings seemed to decorate the walls of the interior, bugs of all kinds from beetles to dragonflies, with wriggling worms surrounding each carving like a frame.

compost:
not compost at the time - filled with plants or maybe webbing/silk, that has later decayed and been eaten by insects. to hold onto and keep people from crashing into each other. if people were in it during the crash, they'd need some kind of protection. I'm actually leaning away from that guess, thinking about the corpses on the Battlefield and the bugs that still inhabit the Worm Complex. maybe the payload was (at least mostly) bugs, not people. bugs could probably survive with a harder crash.

if we antagonize the big bug we have to be ready for the small bugs. which aren't that scary with free Aers 1.
>>
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> The Battlefield, try to get some more information on this place

The decision was fairly trivial to make, the battlefield was the only place without a lurking menace. She worked her way back down the two ruins and over to the field of debris.

The battlefield was a macabre place to be. The space was marked by dead soil and scorched earth, deep gashes and earth upheaved into mounds. Weathered skeletons in tatters of clothing abounded, a concerning number ripped to pieces, bones sliced cleanly through, others snapped more roughly.

Mel worked through bodies and debris methodically, turning over bodies and bits of rubble. Rotting bundles of paper, strange rusted and crumbled metal implements were piled into her satchel. Shattered bottles were tossed aside, some still corked or sealed. A few small treasures were uncovered and pocketed. Shattered and snapped wands were frequent finds and several larger pieces of wood were discovered, carefully carved in a similar fashion to a wand, but with different patterns and designs, artistic flourishes of birds in flight added in a few places. She piled them up for the moment, her bag was full enough as it was, maybe she could have the golem pick them up and save her the trouble. There was probably enough for a second pass if she wanted to take the time.

She took a swig from her canteen, and was just considering whether to head for home, or to scrounge a bit more when the whistling noise started. She jerked around until her eyes found the object, arcing down from the sky, screaming as the wind clawed at it. She scrambled back, gaining distance until it slammed into the ground, tremor rattling her feet, a spray of dirt and bones shooting into the air.

Mel peered at the object, a jagged black rock, covered in spiral symbols that seemed to shimmer and twitch. Two of the symbols shot off the rock, revealing themselves as smoke, then unfurled like a snake and pounced out, slipping into the old skeletons littering the field. A moment later the ancient bones lifted up as if by puppet strings, tendrils of smoke curled around them. Two skeletons, maybe three more symbols on the black rock…Mel’s eyes narrowed as one skeleton grabbed a length of wood and the other a chunk of masonry. Probably not here to talk.

Roll 1d100 BO3 for treasures found

2 Smoke Skeletons

> Shout Arx Merco and hammer them from afar (1 Mana)
> Conserve mana and stay on the move, using normal Arx Merco
> Use Merco for speed, then hit and run with Arx (1 Mana)
> Just leave
> Write in?
>>
>>5359517
>Use Merco for speed then hit and run with Arx
Let’s test out this spell and see what we missed by not taking it as a living one.
>>
Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>5359517
Oh, dice
>>
Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>5359517
>> Conserve mana and stay on the move, using normal Arx Merco
We dunno what or how many more gribblies Mel will need to take care of
>>
Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>5359517
the skeletons are not the main threat here.

are our living spells fully visible or have we made an attempt to hide them?

>>5350459
Babs talks about a skeleton army with a single sorcerer. feel like this is related to that. if they're doing a ranged attack, the sorcerer is probably involved.

Babs traded shots with another caster at some point, but I can't find the post. feel like they had an attack that burrowed? but I've searched a lot of different words without finding it.

I have two very different plans.
half vote for
>speak Aers and Merco (1 mana). hit-and-run with Arx Merco while scattering the other bones in advance to hopefully deny the puppeteers bodies.

full vote for
>run to the tower entrance, the snipe with Arx (summoned underneath the skeletons) or Arx Merco. once done, head inside.
try to get underestimated. if this sorcerer saw us practice earlier, they'll know about normal Arx and nothing else (unless they've seen the spells on us). shift looting focus to books within the tower, that person will have a hard time ambushing us there without pissing off the birds.
>>
>>5359517
> Conserve mana and stay on the move, using normal Arx Merco
>>
>>5359517
>Conserve mana and stay on the move, using normal Arx Merco
>>
>>5359591
really can't find the thing where Babs fought someone. I'm probably mixing in something from another quest I looked at briefly and then stopped reading.

seems like votes are leaning towards conserve mana and stay on the move. not the worst thing we could do against an enemy sorcerer that hasn't appeared yet.
can maybe make our way towards the Tower as part of that strategy - avoids putting our back to where the black rock came from.
I guess, speak 5 Arx Merco while jogging away, aim and release those, repeat.
>>
>>5360038
You aren't, I know what you're talking about and I can't find it either. It's supposed to be right before >>5351961

Is Grandfather's curse spreading? Reposting the lost text for reference...

> "Skeletons. What's going on with that?"

> Babs pointed at the gray patch on the map. "So they're mostly sticking to this area. They're pretty much all pushovers, I skirted the group and took a few out without trying all that hard."

> "Not a lot to hit on a skeleton for a spear though."

> Babs pursed her lips. "And the sorcerer. He's got some kind of artifact with him, a stone monument looking thing, might be a tether for him and his friends. He threw a few spells my way, a level one and a level two, which at a minimum puts him around your level, but most mages wouldn't blow all their mana on warning shots so I wouldn't be surprised if he's at least level three."

> "What kind of spells?" Level three was concerning, that was an entire tier above her.

> Babs frowned. "First one was strange, a ball of smoke that had a decent impact when it hit the ground. No incantation, but I didn't see a wand or anything either. Didn't quite catch the incantation on the second, but it was some kind of attack spell that went through the ground then did a burst. Too slow to catch me, but it did uproot a tree, so it's got some kick to it."

> "Really likes things with an impact. I wonder if I could bait him into using the spell enough that I could learn it…"

> "It's a valid strategy." Babs conceded. "But a dangerous one. You could also find other magic that would let you take him on, or push your own level forward."
Aside from recovering lost history... Roll 1d100BO3 to not get caught and beaten by skeletons
>>
>>5360135
>>
Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>5360135
>>
>>5360142
if we get grabbed I kinda wanna shout Aers. skeletons are light, smoke is light. spoken Aers is enough to toss a bird around.
>>
Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>5360135
>>
Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>5360135
>>
> Conserve mana and stay on the move, using normal Arx Merco
> 37

"Arx Merco." Mel cut away as the spear shot forward. Bone pounded across the terrain as she weaved between bits of rubble, materializing and firing spears as she went. The skeletons were fast, way faster than she'd like, and her spears were going wide sinking into the ground and shattering against old masonry. Her last two shots landed well, one skewering through the ribs, the other cleanly removing an arm.

There was an unpleasant feeling of being corralled as she backpedaled, the ruins coming into view in front of her, the skeletons charging in from two different angles, half an ice spear still stuck in one. "Arx Mer-!"

Something grabbed her foot and jerked hard, throwing her face first into the dirt. She scrambled, something hard slamming into her back, kicking behind her until her foot came free. Damp and pain went down her back as she crawled then stumbled upright.

"Arx." Her faithful spear sprang up and she ripped it from the ground, turning and swinging hard, knocking one skeleton back and forcing two others to keep their distance. Three skeletons and another smoke symbol floating lazily in the air just a few feet away. Her back throbbed as the monsters crept closer.

3 Smoke Skeletons. Health : Bruised

> Shout Arx to create a barrier of spears, then continue with Arx to both attack and continue building the barrier. (1 Mana)
> Shout Aers and charge with the spear you have in hand, using wind and Arx together to stagger and bash the skeletons to pieces.
> Use Merco and dodge through them, and continue battering them with Arx Merco. (1 Mana)
> Write in?
>>
second option is also 1 mana, right?
>>
>>5360384
>Shout Aers and charge with the spear you have in hand, using wind and Arx together to stagger and bash the skeletons to pieces.
>>
>>5360384
>> Shout Arx to create a barrier of spears, then continue with Arx to both attack and continue building the barrier. (1 Mana)
>>
>>5360384
>> Shout Arx to create a barrier of spears, then continue with Arx to both attack and continue building the barrier. (1 Mana)
>>
>>5360384
> Shout Aers and charge with the spear you have in hand, using wind and Arx together to stagger and bash the skeletons to pieces.
>>
Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>5360384
> Shout Arx to create a barrier of spears, then continue with Arx to both attack and continue building the barrier. (1 Mana)
>>
>>5360592
Woops, still had my dice on from last time.
>>
>>5360384
> Shout Aers and charge with the spear you have in hand, using wind and Arx together to stagger and bash the skeletons to pieces.
>>
>>5360390
Yes, apologies.
>>
>>5347014
Just to let you know this link doesn't work, you can find it here though https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5311042/
>>
>>5360384
half vote
> Shout Aers and charge with the spear you have in hand, using wind and Arx together to stagger and bash the skeletons to pieces.

feel like this is a little safer than the barrier idea, but also shows more of our hand if the sorcerer is watching, and will mean we can't immediately go into the Tower.

can keep wind circle low and knock their feet out under them, plus keep from being grabbed by a recently animated skeleton on the ground.
>>
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> Shout Aers and charge with the spear you have in hand, using wind and Arx together to stagger and bash the skeletons to pieces.
No roll, because I can’t think of a way for this to go wrong, apparently skeletons are actually quite light.

Arx. Arx.” Keeping the calm in her voice, keeping the shout locked inside, was tough. Spears shot up as the skeletons closed in, driving them a couple steps back. The fourth smoke symbol lingered in the air for a moment longer. She had wanted to preserve mana, use it for something else later but that wasn’t really an option anymore, and besides she had felt the unexpected lightness of the old bones when Arx had knocked them back.

Aers!” The wind struck her back, almost staggering her, the current whipping the grass, sending bits of dirt flying, the skeletons leaning into it almost immediately. She whipped it up in a scythe at the smoke symbol, neatly ripping it in half, then splitting the currents and pushing the two halves apart. She had half a glimpse of the symbol twisting and writhing before the skeletons were on her, swinging wildly with chunks of rotting wood. She leaned back and brought the wind back down in a narrow tunnel in front of her, staggering all three skeletons backwards at once.

A skeleton was menacing, especially in a group, until Mel realized that a skeleton was just a fraction of a person. A fraction of a person, with a fraction of the weight. She bulled forward, snatching a spear from the ground, wind roaring in front of her and slammed into the first skeleton, knocking it to the ground, and followed up with a foot into its fragile skull. She turned shooting the wind out first, then back, closing the distance as the two skeletons were jerked around. “Arx. Arx.” Spears of ice shot up between the ribs of the skeletons, pinning them to the ground. Mel twisted back and swung hard with the spear in her hands, sending first one, then two skulls flying through the air.

She turned toward the black stone and casually obliterated the last smoke symbol. The two pinned headless skeletons crumpled abruptly, bones losing cohesion and reducing to heaps. Mel turned, watching the field, waiting, as her heart hammered, only Arx’s sheer cold keeping her hands from sweating. Looks like that was it. She exhaled and returned to the black stone, what was this thing? And why had it been thrown, apparently at her?
>>
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She paced around the strange rock, checking it for carvings, symbols, or anything really, but finding nothing. A small sliver had been knocked off by its landing, another small common rock under the black one was to blame, and she pocketed the sample. Maybe Babs could tell her something. She considered the direction for a moment, trying to remember her location on the map…it had definitely come from the west, where the skeleton sorcerer lurked. Was this an attempt at extending its power? Or an attempt on ending her?

She sighed. She wasn’t getting anywhere speculating like this. Time to haul her treasures home and figure out another course of action. Speaking of treasures, she probably ought to take a proper look at them. She’d found three notable things in the battlefield, a level two murky brown potion, a dirty, but surprisingly fully charged level one wand, and another wooden orb like the one she had found with the centipede, but level 1 and loaded with smoke. A wand then?

New stuff!
1 Murky Brown Potion (Tier 2)
1 Dirty Wand 100% (Tier 1)
1 Orb Wand 100% (Tier 1)
1 Black Sliver ???

Afternoon Day 8

> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning, Locate Object
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Explore Bird Valley (Specify Battlefield, Bird Tower or Worm Complex)
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
> Write in?
>>
Busy day, owe you all some fluff of Babs settling in and maybe identifying some stuff for you.

What's Babs been up to?
> Identifying Dragon Potion (2)
> Identifying Cloudy magic marble (2)
> Identifying Zircon
> Identifying Jet
> Identifying ‘Glasses’ Rune
> Identifying ‘Zig Zag / Dabbing Four’ Rune
>>
>>5361591
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.

>>5361607
> Identifying ‘Glasses’ Rune
>>
>>5361591
>>5361632 +1
>>
>>5361607
half vote
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.

> Identifying Dragon Potion (2) (feels like it could turn a battle at some point if we know what it does)


feel like this is building towards an attack from the Skeletons.

immediately useful things
meditate (be able to fight longer)
get some mobile and/or good darkvision/hearing summons (keep watch)

hoping to find something that will help with that in the books.

I'd like a talk with Babs about summons in general. what's their deal? connection to gods? why do they serve? Babs, Ava and presumably insect cult have servants are animals, are those summoned or modified?
>>
>>5361591
>Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning

>Dragon Potion

I think we should focus on combat for now, and I think the quickest way to boost our combat power is by adding another combatant. I think an imp would also be well suited as a scout, and is likely not too expensive even if they get killed on the job.

>>5361851
I generally agree with these discussion topics with Babs, and concur that the Skellies how spooky will likely attack before Babs is done. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sorcerer with them was charged by His/Her/Its patron with keeping/expanding the dead forest or something. Or if the Storyteller is pushing them to attack just for the excitement factor.
>>
>>5361851 (me)
what are the orbs about? Yellow Eyes gave me this one.
what sorts of upkeep do summons need? does the golem need anything?

>>5361871
don't think an imp is worth much against the skeleton army. feels like their main advantages over other tier 1 summons are speed, hands and maybe intelligence.
super useful as lab assistants, but probably worse than Babs' servants for keeping watch over the camp, and worse than something flying for scouting.
>>
>>5361891
I mean you’re right on all counts about the Imp but we also don’t have access to anything else (spell wise or resource wise) either.
>>
>>5361591
> Learn a new spell: Imp Summoning
> Identifying Dragon Potion (2)
>>
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> Identifying Dragon Potion

Mel returned to her camp to find Babs set up at a simple wooden table, arms folded on the table, head resting on her arms, staring at the potion labeled with a dragon emblem. Another tent had been set up against one of the undisturbed tombs, a blanket of plantlife covering it.

"Babs?"

The youthful druid ignored her and reached out, slowly turning the potion, it's contents slowly spinning in turn. Mel focused with her arcane sight, the potion and the mage studying it both glowing with the light of mana. Tiny wisps of energy flowed in a lazy circle between them, like dust in a sunbeam.

"Third level, Lycanthropy style." Babs stated. "Although into what is eluding me a bit…"

"It is a picture of a dragon?" Mel offered

Babs held her lower lip with her teeth for a moment. "Definitely the straightforward answer, but mages aren't above mislabeling things or being misleading. I've never worked with dragon unfortunately, and lycanthropy potions require bits of the creature you want to emulate."

"Where did Joe get his pieces?"

Babs smiled crookedly, eyes shifting without moving her head. "I'll tell the story tonight when I get out the skull. I'm going to take another look at this thing just to be sure, but I'd guess it gives two or three dragon traits. A powerful tool for a combat situation. Temporary of course. Any plans for the rest of the day?"
>>
> Learn Imp Spell

“I think Joe has a spell for imps I’d like to learn, another pair of uh, claws should come in handy. Probably going to settle in and read.”

Babs nodded in response. “I’ve got some reading I’d like to catch up on myself.”

Mel opened up the sheaf of papers she had recovered and started in on it with the cipher close to hand.

I'm starting to become aware of a difficulty in my research. There is a startling low number of me! It's terribly difficult to find time for things when one, what an appropriate term, can only be in a single time and place!

Fortunately I have a solution, I simply need to make more of myself! The spell should be quite simple, as always begin with a ring finger for any summoning spell. Peculiar choice if you ask me, but perhaps even demons and creatures beyond the vale are fond of a good marriage?

Such thoughts make my heart weary, best to hurry on. The choice of secondary bone is proving quite difficult, I thought for a time I was best exemplified by the kneecap, what a bone after all, but I'm beginning to fear that I may actually be more of a shoulder or even toe sort of person! What a terrible thing to be a toe!

My search for the perfect self bone has proven quite useless, but I do think I've found a rather useful assistant regardless, adding the bones of the middle finger to the mixture results in an angry feral beast I've come to call an Imp. Its claws are quite sharp, and it seems to veer dangerously from white hot rage to quite the wet blanket. Should I pass this document onto a future summon of myself (perhaps time travel would be a valid way to acquire more of myself?) I would be well advised to have some meat on hand when summoning, the creature is quite ferocious but easy to bribe into loyalty with a treat.

Indeed, future time shifted copies of me should remember that many summons have quirks or demands that must be satisfied to acquire their loyalty after summoning.
>>
Mel snapped the journal shut and looked over to Babs who glanced over from her own book, a particularly battered looking volume with a dark green binding. "Summons."

"Useful but dangerous. How is learning your first?"

"Yeah, it sounds like you can toss a ring finger and just about any other bone in the fire and expect something to appear. Is there a limit to how many I can have at once? Do they eat? Where do they come from?"

Babs glanced down at her book again and sighed. "Let's see…food is generally a no, but there are a decent number of exceptions, the fleshier the hungrier in my experience. Imps yes, golems no, puppet spirits no. There's a lot out there though. You hear stories of blood suckers, age stealers, even a one that just needs sunlight. The ones that do eat have the advantage of being able to hunt their own food, usually."

"Where do they come from? They're not just appearing from nothing, are they?"

Babs shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. You hear a lot of theories, pits of the netherworld, other worlds, minions of the gods. Doesn't matter to me. As for how many you can have, the total level of your summons can’t exceed your own, five little ones, or one bigger one in your case.”

“Is Bruno a summons?”

Babs laughed. “He’d be pretty grouchy to hear the suggestion. Bruno is a familiar, which is similar I suppose, it draws from the same limitation as total summons. But familiars are creatures found in our world, bonded to a mage, given power by that bond. It’s a bond of trust, if I feel like you’ve established such a bond I’ll offer my services, assuming you haven’t discovered the magic yourself by then.”

“Good to know. I’ll keep an eye out for faithful hounds.”

Evening Day 8

> Learn a new spell: Locate Object
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Explore Bird Valley In the Dark (Specify Battlefield, Bird Tower or Worm Complex)
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer In the Dark
> Write in?
>>
>>5362298
>> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
>>
>>5362298
>Meditate to expand mana reserves
It’s not going to get any easier if we wait. Just gotta throw effort at it until it sticks.
>>
has the golem come back with Joe's chest?

>Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
>Meditate to expand mana reserves.
>>
>>5362334
> has the golem come back with Joe's chest?
I'll cover it in the next update.
>>
>>5362298
>> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
>>
>>5362298
>Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
>>
>>5362298
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
>>
>>5362298
>> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
>> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley so you can figure out what useful information they have.
>>
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> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Valley

Mel sorted out the plunder from her exploration, potion, wands, books, rusted trinkets. She lifted up one of the rusted bits of metal to show to Babs, but her fellow mage had vanished into her own tent. Setting the bauble down she started working through the heaps of rotting books.

Four piles. Useless destroyed rot in the first, what looked like personal journals and notes in the second. The third shared a curving script and fanciful illuminated lettering, the few front covers that survived partially intact revealed the title: Initiate Mysteries of Ava: Goddess of Storms. The fourth heap shared a plain printed style, and an equally plain title: The Path of Worms.

The remainder of the time was spent separating pages, drying sections in front of the fire, trimming rot, and trying to piece together enough pages in order to form cohesive sections. Copies of each book were fairly numerous, but the damage to each one was pretty severe. Still, she was starting to get an idea of each book’s layout.

Initiate Mysteries of Ava
1. Peace with the Glory of Ava
2. Ritual of ???? ???? ( ???? Smoke Spell )
3. Story of Ava's Wrath ( Call Lightning Divine Word )
4. ???? training ( Jump ???? )
5. ???? ???? the Master

The Path of Worms
1. ???? ???? of the Dark
2. ???? Work ( Tunneling ???? )
3. ???? ???? the Digger (???? ???? Ley Flow)
4. Meditations of Darkness (Darkness Rune)
5. Tales of the Darklord

As she put the last bits of paper in order her golem trundled into camp, shoving a heavy stone cask in front of it, grinding a smooth path all the way. Bab’s head popped out of her tent. “You know, I told Joe that wasn’t going to be enough to keep people out of it, but since he didn’t take it with him I guess he wasn’t that worried.”
>>
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“Do you know what’s in it?” Mel asked as she started wiggling the rough stone lid loose, a bit of warmth still present in it.

Babs grinned. “I’ve got ideas, but let’s see. Let me give you a hand.”

The two worked together, lifting and carefully setting the stone slab on the ground. Babs propped her glowing staff against the case and Mel peered in. Sitting on top was an old glass bottle with a dark liquid inside, with an odd label.

“BBQ Sauce?” Mel shook her head.

“Goes on meat, Joe swore by it. Third level magic in it though…I wouldn’t trust the label.” Babs moved the bottle aside and picked up a piece of paper under it. “And…what is apparently a recipe for it, although some of the ingredients seem quite odd.”

“Hold on, let me get the codex. It’s probably all code.” Mel fetched the little black book and started flipping back and forth. “It’s a ley flow recipe, for jet stone. Something called a curse catcher?”

Babs let out a low whistle. “Well, he finally found it. No wonder he was ready to move on. Joe was…a little obsessed with the idea of not only breaking a curse, but returning it to the one who gave it. I guess he figured it out. I guess this potion somehow absorbs active magic in a person, and lets you…return it somehow?” She shrugged. “It was his ultimate revenge, heal his lover, then force the one who cursed her to bear the same curse.”

“Seems fair.”

Babs shrugged again. “I’d rather just kill the person, but Joe doesn’t like to do anything half way. What’s at the bottom? It's crackling with magic.”

Mel reached down and lifted out…

> A Dragon Wing Bone
> A Dragon Talon
> A Dragon Scale
>>
>>5363312
A Dragon Wing Bone
>>
>>5363312
>> A Dragon Talon
>>
>>5363312
>A dragon scale
If you can go top tier on something, go top tier on defense
>>
>>5363312
> A Dragon Scale
> A Dragon Wing Bone
>>
>>5363312
> A Dragon Scale
>>
>>5363312
> A Dragon Wing Bone

If that talon was the dragon's ring finger, would it be possible to summon one?
>>
>>5363469
They're considered claws and have a different spell effect associated.

Do bear in mind that summoning something over your cap would cause it to be completely uncontrollable as opposed to the usual bargain/impress/bribe/beat situation...of course that might be what you want.

I'll have Mel ask about it, maybe Babs knows a bit about summoning a dragon.
>>
>>5363312
> A Dragon Scale
>>
>>5363312
> A Dragon Talon
>>
>>5363312
>> A Dragon Wing Bone
Looks like Bird valley is the best place to look for new study materials, all of the things mentioned seem useful
>>
Mel reached down and lifted out a large smooth object, not unlike the shields knights and warriors of her homeland would wield, surprisingly lightweight, but thick and solid, a deep maroon color. “Is this a single scale?”

Bab’s eyes glittered. “I wondered what he did with that. They say the largest scale on a dragon sits in front of their heart. Fourth level magic.” She traced a finger along it reverently. "Strong as steel."

“What can you do with something like this?”

Babs took a deep breath. “Well, five things like this can create a level five effect, an absolutely frightening amount of power. Of course even a level four effect is frighteningly powerful. Something like this is a natural fit for a lycanthropy potion, you'd be armored head to toe in scales, practically invincible. You could also etch a rune circle onto it, the inherent magic of the scale would instantly and permanently empower it at the third level. You could use it as fuel for potions, smoke or runes, although unless you enchant it first it’ll restrict the spell, unless it’s rune magic.”

Mel frowned, a low headache started to build. “Restrict? That’s a thing in rune magic right? The inner circles are restrictions. That happens with ley flows and smoke magic too?”

Babs nodded, eyes still on the heart scale. “Anything not enchanted in a ley flow or smoke recipe will restrict the effect. You can do some interesting things with restrictions, and they usually make a spell stronger. If you’re feeling brave try a summoning with just a ring finger and something to restrict it, the effect gets less restrained, and less reliable than using two bones together.”

“So…a ring finger and this scale…”

Babs gently moved between the scale and the fire. “Give me some time to run before you do that.”

Mel laughed. “Ok, what would happen? It’s a summoning spell, restricted by a dragon scale…”

“At the fourth level. Something dragon-like would be summoned. It would be well beyond your total ability to control, so it would immediately go free. So, yes, you can do it and I’d like to be on the other side of the region before you do.”

“So, desperate or crazy. Got it. So a few drops of blood wouldn’t help?”

Babs laughed. “That only works on the most docile summons. Most of them you’ll need either bribes or beatings. There's a sulfur potion you can make that can help, I'll show you how when I'm less busy. Speaking of, I've got an invocation to uh…invoke. Pay attention to the stress patterns. They can be tricky."

Mel nodded as her fellow mage vanished into her own tent. A few minutes later she returned with a head sized eyeball crammed into a jar. The narrow slit somehow still retained a measure of malice.

"That's creepy. It's just ok in the jar? Don't you need to enchant it to preserve it?"

Babs drummed her hand on the lid. "Preserving runes on the jar." She took a deep breath. "Been a while since I've done this…"
>>
>>5364722 (It's me)

Mel briefly considered opening her mouth to offer assistance, then stopped as the air started to tremble. The fire snapped and shuddered, bits of dirt and tiny pebbles rattling on the ground. A drop of sweat fell from Bab’s forehead, hovering in air, quivering.

VITAE!

Mana surged through the air and ground as the word imprinted on reality, scorching a path through Mel’s mind as well. Babs sagged forward, then snatched up the jar and secreted it away into the tent. She poked her out after a moment, eyes weary.

“Thanks. See you in the morning.” Then the tent was closed tight. Mel watched it for a moment then turned away, she should probably write some notes on the invocation while it was fresh in her mind. It would probably be a long time before she could unleash one herself, but the knowledge was sure to be useful.

In a stroke of luck there were a few sheets of paper and an ink pen in the workbench the golem had recovered. She scratched a few notes, trying to remember the pattern of emphasis and stress on the syllables as best she could, compared to the normal speech pattern of Vitae. She glanced up at her companion's tent. What in the world had happened to her?

As if sensing her thoughts the young druid emerged slowly from the tent. She glanced left and right, then gave a small wave.

“Are you alright?”

Babs shrugged and walked over, twitching at the hoot of a distant owl. “I…” She sighed. “I’ll be ok. One more night of enchanting, and then what I have and what I’ve prepared, plus my own power will be enough to get the circle moving again. And it’ll be done. Finally.” She sagged a little.

Mel smiled. “Going to be a little weird to have that much power around me. But you make it look easy.”

Babs laughed. “Well it’s not, but thanks. Ok, sleep for real this time. See you tomorrow Mel.”

15% Invocation Knowledge Gained
Invocation Notes Gained

Golem Duty

> Fetch some firewood (you’re out!)
> Send him to grab the carved wood you found at the battlefield
> Bring home that black stone that made the skeletons, maybe it's valuable?
> Grab some shelves, no more living out of boxes
> Write in?
>>
>>5364725
> Bring home that black stone that made the skeletons, maybe it's valuable?

We can go collect our own firewood for one night.
>>
>>5364725
> Fetch some firewood (you’re out!)
>>5364806
More worth our time to meditate, leave grunt work for grunts.
>>
>>5364725
>> Fetch some firewood (you’re out!)
>>
>>5364725
>Fetch some firewood (you’re out!)
>>
>>5364725
>Fetch some firewood (you’re out!)
>>
Dawn Day 9
Food: 3 Days. Firewood: 0 Days. Health: A little sore, but good.
Mana: 1 tier 2 spell, or 5 tier 1 spells.

Divine Words: Arx (Ice Spear), Vitae (Enchant), Aers (Wind), Merco (Speed), Ignis (40% Learned)
Divine Word Techniques: Silent Casting (20% Learned). Chant (20% Learned). Invoke (0 % Learned). Declare (1% Learned).
Living Spells (Reduces cost by 1 tier): Arx (Ice Spear), Aers (Wind), Arx Merco (Ranged Ice Spear)
Smoke Weaving: Telekinesis (index). Imp Summoning (Ring/Middle).
Smoke Weaving Wands: Standard. Orb.
Bone Pile: pinky, 2 ring, middle, index, toe
Ley Flows: Wound Healing, Antidote, Curse Catcher, Zircon is unknown
Rune Circles: Standard
Runes: Glow, Dawn, Dawn Negation, (four untested symbols known)
Rune Circle Gear: Personal ink, Chisel Kit

Wands: Telekinesis Wand (T2) 3/5 charges. ???? Orb Wand (T1) 5/5 charges. Blank Orb Wand(T2).
Potions: Healing potion (T2). Healing potion(T1). Water defense potion(T1). Grapple Vine potion(T2). Dragon Lycan Potion (T3). Murky Brown Potion (T2)
Runed Tools: Runic Lantern(T1).
Artifacts: Cloudy magic marble (T2).
Reagents: 5 Centipede Eggs(T1) 1 Centipede Mandible(T2). 1 Centipede Heart (T2). 1 Dragon Heart Scale (T4).
Summons: Golem(T1).
Camp: Basic Camp. Basic travel gear. Basic Crafting gear. Sturdy Smoker. Workbench.

Leftover Mana (4)
> Spare blank wands
> Mana potions
> Test unknown runes (which ones? How?)
> Try out divine word combinations (which ones?)
> Some combination of the above
> Write in?

Morning Action
> Learn a new spell: Locate Object
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Explore Bird Valley (Battlefield, Bird Tower, Worm Complex)
> Explore somewhere else? (Fae Village, Centipede Warrens, Lurid Grove, Turtle Lake)
> Scout the skeletons
> Write in?

>>5364725
Still open for votes
>>
>>5365147
Golem
> firewood

Leftover Mana (4)
> Try out divine word combinations (which ones?)
- whisper Aers, Merco, Merco Aers (free)
- carve light on something disposable and whisper Vitae. (free)

- Aers Arx - we didn't get the option of feeding Arx to anything, so we have no idea. if it's like, a flechette storm, that could be a good sidegrade to higher tier Aers, vs monsters that are heavy but have weak spots.
- Merco - how much of a buff is spoken Merco anyways?

- 2 mana potions.

fuck, that's something to talk with Babs about. Vitae combinations. guessing that results in a longer lasting, weaker version of the effect, or maybe stores it in something and lets you release it within 24 hours.

Morning Action
> Explore Bird Valley (Bird Tower, but maybe pivot to Worm Complex.)
need to see if the skeletons have started spreading to that area or not, but I'm more interested in books.
specific subjects: meditation, flying summons, perceptive smart summons, crafting summons. runes or complete circles that doesn't need to be decoded or reconstructed.

talk a bit with the owl first. realized, followers of Ava could refer to the birds in the tower. because it's interesting that the owl doesn't care at all about the Ava-aligned corpses on the battlefield (we found Ava texts there at least).
as a wannabe good witch queen, I don't want to initiate a fight against something that's sapient and civil, so if (unlikely) going into the tower seems too likely to result in a fight with the owl, pivot to
> Worm Complex
and fight what's in there instead.
>>
Taking the day off by the way, next update on Monday.
>>
>>5347014
Reallylike the quest, love the world building
>>
Sorry everyone, running behind, nothing at the moment.
>>
>>5365147
> Mana potions
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)

>>5365516
>>5367032
No worries, I've been busy anyway. Enjoying the quest, still!
>>
>>5365147
>Mana potions

> Explore Bird Valley (Battlefield, Bird Tower, Worm Complex)
>>
File: mana potion.jpg (23 KB, 310x337)
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> Leftover Mana: Experiment! Whisper Aers Arx, Merco. Mana potions.

Mel stifled a yawn as her campmate vanished from view. A few more things to handle before bed. First was trying out a few whispered versions of spells. If she had tools available that cost her nothing, then not using them was foolish. Unfortunately in practice most didn’t seem to amount to much. Merco felt like it might be a small burst speed, but faded almost immediately, and Aers at a whisper moved about as much wind as her own breath. Aers Arx was a little more interesting, a small flutter of wind that felt a bit cool, but still only marginally different than her own breath.

She followed it up with a quickly drawn rune circle in the dirt, and kneeled over to whisper.

“Vitae.”

A faint glow, bright enough to make the patch of dirt visible, but nothing around it. Might be good for reading something in the dark? Although she had her lantern now. Whispered magic wasn’t exactly proving useful.Mel eyed her collection of centipede eggs with some measure of suspicion, it was definitely past time to do something with them, the idea of them hatching in the middle of the night was - yeargh, just no. Babs had mentioned making them into mana potions, which seemed about as useful as they could be. One extra spell might make the difference.

Four jars, filled ahead of time by a quick trip by the golem. With a grimace she picked up one of the leathery eggs and slit it open with her knife, releasing a gelatinous pale glop into the jar. A quick check with arcane sight confirmed her suspicion, the magic was only in the interior of the egg, the leathery outside was just casing. She moved down the line, dumping egg into jars, then screwed the lids on tight, giving each a good shake afterwards.

Disgusting magical mixture frothed in jars in front of her. Mel grimaced, she was going to have to ask Babs about magical ingredients that didn't make her sick just looking at them. Well, last step. She moved down the line, placing alternating hands on the lids.

"Vitae. Vitae. Vitae. Vitae. "

The last of her magic left her in a rush, the four jars visibly shining for a moment. Labels, she was going to need labels before long. She packed away her freshly minted mana potions and stumbled across the definitely weathered centipede heart. Getting that enchanted for preservation was going to take everything she had unfortunately, and it probably wasn't going to last much longer either, two more days was probably all it had before rot set in. Maybe Babs would let her have one of those preservation jars?

Mel shooed the thoughts out of her head, it was well and truly time for sleep.
>>
Mel emerged from her tent as the first rays of the sun crept over the horizon. The smell of eggs and meat filled the air, along with the homey smell of bread.

Her eyes fell on Babs peering into the kettle.“Is that bread?”
“Something like it anyway.” Babs prodded at the kettle with a proper spoon. “Had Bruno bring some supplies over, figured I could at least cook breakfast. Where are you headed today?”

“Down to Bird Valley, where those big ruins are. Found some books there-oh! I was attack by skeletons there!”

Babs lifted an eyebrow. “Attacked? They’ve been lingering in the same place for nearly two weeks, and now they’re on the move? I assume you bested them.”

Mel nodded. “Turns out you can push them around with Aers, once I figured that out they were simple enough. They came in on some big black rock, a bunch of smoke spells clinging to it. Hold on, I brought back a piece.” She dug through her heap of treasures. “Here, take a look.”

Babs held up the sliver of black obsidian like stone. “Looks familiar, might be a smoke oriented version of spell quartz? Not sure why anyone would bother, a wand serves the same purpose as spell quartz.”

“Spell quartz?”

“It’s a crystal, you can speak divine words into them, then shatter them later to release the spell. Useful stuff, but it’s pretty rare. It’s usually formed into spheres, like marbles.”

Mel dove back into her heap. “Like this thing?” She held up the marble Yellow Eyes had given her.

Babs glowered. “Yellow Eyes?”

“How’d you know?”

“It’s a level four weather spell handed to a novice. A hand held catastrophe. It’s her idea of a practical joke.”

“Oh. So, there’s a tornado in this thing?”

“Severe thunderstorm, tornado, hailstorm, hard to tell. If you throw it, run fast in the opposite direction is my advice.”

Mel put the marble back down gently, very gently. "Need anything while I'm out?"
>>
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Babs considered for a moment, her eyes flickering through imaginary scenarios. "A couple things, none of them incredibly important, but…nice to have. You know that weird area of plants near my cottage?"

Mel nodded. "Like a rainbow vomited on a patch of undergrowth."

"That's the one. Whole place is filled with carnivorous plants, big ones, and hallucinogenic spores. But there's lots of magic to be found there, if you're careful. If you could grab me some of the white fuzz off the base of the man sized orange pitcher plant it would let me finish some useful potions. You could probably grab some other magical reagents there too."

Mel lifted an eyebrow. "Is the man sized pitcher plant going to try and eat me?"

Babs giggled. "Pretty much the whole grove will try to eat you. I've got something else if you're looking for something less likely to murder you." Babs pulled out a circular locket like object, popping it open. A tiny rune circle was carved on the inside. Two of the outer circles pulsed slowly with a dim light.

"Low on power?" Mel peered in close to the circle.

“Finder rune. Take it all the way out to the fey village I marked on your map, should just be ruins there now. Just keep an eye on it, take note of where it pulses with all five circles, it’s keyed to poison right now, I want to know how far it’s spread. Not super important but I need to know where all to check once I get the healing going again.”

Mel accepted the locket carefully. “I think I’m headed out to bird valley today, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Babs nodded. “No rush either way, I can always handle it later myself. See you tonight!”

> Continue on to Bird Tower
> Side trip to Lurid Grove
> Head to Fey Ruins
>>
>>5367746
> Continue on to Bird Tower
Fey Ruins or Lurid Grove tomorrow.
>>
>>5367746
> Continue on to Bird Tower
>>
>>5367746
> Continue on to Bird Tower
>>
Biscuits and gravy, and I forgot to add Call Lightning and Darkness Rune to your list of things you can study and learn. Apologies.
>>
>>5367746
>Side trip to Lurid Grove
>>
>>5367746
>> Head to Fey Ruins
>>
File: winking-owl.png (1.31 MB, 731x775)
1.31 MB
1.31 MB PNG
> Continue on to Bird Tower

Mel waved her goodbyes and set off. She skimmed through her reassembled section of ‘Initiate Mysteries of Ava’ and read through the opening as she tread the familiar path.

There can only be true peace within the Glory of Ava. This is the fundamental truth of Ava, the golden rule, the ultimate promise. Others will try to dissuade you from this path, from the true peace of the skies, hedonists, heretics, nonbelievers, and fools. Do not listen to their lies! When Ava sweeps across the land her wrath will lay waste to these charlatans and the silver stair to her domain shall appear, leading the believers to her land beyond the stars!

By reading this book you have taken the first steps on the path to enlightenment. Now brother, take up the blue and begin walking down the road. Soon you will soar in the clouds, enjoying the gifts of Ava. No longer will the mundane chain you, only the righteousness of Ava will fill your heart.


Mel pocketed the cobbled together book as she started into the valley, the bird tower coming into view. A great golden bird in the sky, offering peace and enlightenment. And yet here they were, rotting away in a hidden valley. Whoever the god of worms was apparently had other ideas. Of course their temple was a collapsing ruin as well. Best to have nothing to do with gods.

She entered the tower of birds again, skirting around the bodies, eyes searching up high for the owl. It had seemed civil enough, but it had made its demands clear, and she didn’t want to cross it without being ready. Place seemed fairly abandoned at the moment but…

“Who.”

Mel stiffed as though struck and turned slowly, looking up. Perched over the door frame, directly above her, the owl peered down.

“Hey there.” She grinned with her mouth, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “How’s the uh, the guardian thing going?”

The owl peered at her and preened a feather.

“The grounds are free of those who would do harm to the students of the tower, or desecrate their remains.” It peered down at her, pupils narrowing. “Endeavor to keep it that way.”

“Of course. The uh…bodies of the intruders though…”

The owl extended its wings to full for a moment, taking up a staggering amount of space before folding back together. Was that just a yawn?
“You may remove the bodies of the intruders if you wish, and do with them as you will, their stink offends me. I await the day when an initiate of Ava arrives to perform the rites of passing for those under my care.” The owl launched itself off the ledge onto one of the higher floors above her. “Perhaps one like you, in the proper blue of the school, could be that initiate.” The owl’s eyes shifted for a moment…was it wiggling its eyebrows at her?
>>
“Ah, uh, yes, I just need to find my uniform.”

“Ceremonial robes.” The owl corrected.

“Right. Ceremonial robes. Of Ava. I’ll just, uh, look around for those.”

Mel stifled a giggle as she started walking through the tower. That seemed to spell it out fairly well, although where she was going to find blue robes was a tossup. The ones in the best shape were here in the tower, under the guard of an apparently reluctant owl. The battlefield had plenty of scraps, although they certainly had all been torn to bits. Maybe she’d luck out and find one here?

Well, time to get to work.

Clear out the brown robed intruders' corpses?
> Clear the bodies, you’ll find less stuff, but maybe the owl will appreciate it?
> Do it later, you’ve got treasure to find!

Roll 1d100B03 to loot the tower!
>>
Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>5368896
> Clear the bodies, you’ll find less stuff, but maybe the owl will appreciate it?
Given the necromancer afoot, I think move the corpses to a more central area at the least. Rather than just laying here and there.
>>
Rolled 78 (1d100)

>>5368896
>Clear the bodies
Good point about getting rid of fodder for a necromancer.
>>
Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>5368896
>Clear the bodies
>>
>>5368896
>Clear the bodies, you’ll find less stuff, but maybe the owl will appreciate it?
>>
Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>5368896
>Do it later, you’ve got treasure to find!
>>
>>5368896
> Clear the bodies, you’ll find less stuff, but maybe the owl will appreciate it?
Let's be neighbourly.
>>
>>5368896
>> Do it later, you’ve got treasure to find!
>>
File: fulgurite.jpg (136 KB, 978x618)
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Mel worked through the tower methodically, skirting around blue robed skeletons and picking through crumpled shelves. She worked her way toward the bottom first, treading down a battered and broken silver staircase that terminated in rubble and what appeared to be the top of the worm complex beneath it, or at least the shattered remains, the top of the worm complex was cracked in several places and tilted downward, large portions of it must have collapsed. It must have slammed through the base of the bird tower…somehow, collapsing the lower section and replacing it, then the damage of the impact caused that section of the worm complex to partially collapse as well. She shuddered at the thought, people had probably died down there in the dark.

As if to punctuate the thought a distant thud beneath her began, steady beat as though fists on stone. But that had to be impossible, the corpses were stripped to the bone by the elements, there couldn’t be survivors after all this time. Nonetheless the thudding continued. Mel swallowed and worked her way through the room to a few cabinets in the back, trying to ignore the thuds. After a moment they shifted, seemingly following her. Even if someone was alive down there, how would she even reach them? There had to be heaps of stone rubble in the way.

She shook it off. It had to be some trick or oddity, some old stone still settling after all these years. She opened the cabinet in the back, wincing as the rusted hinges simply shattered at her pull, the rest of the cabinet sagging downward. Under thick layers of dust were what might have been carefully arranged but strange looking rocks, each one a hollow tube of rough stone. She set a couple carefully into her satchel and moved on.

Obtained Fulgurite
>>
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Pointedly ignoring the thuds beneath her feet she climbed back up the stairs set alongside the wall of the tower until she reached the floor she had entered at. She took a moment to reacquaint herself with the tower. Once it might have been a place of beauty and elegance, the tower was mostly open on the inside, she could look straight up through it and see three floors above her, with sections of floor and balcony stretching out from the wall in elegant sweeps and spirals. A spiral staircase ran along the wall, breaking occasionally at a larger floor or small balcony, and delicate iron furniture dotted the place, mostly little tables and chairs. Larger wooden bookshelves and cabinets were dotted about, probably her best bet for finding something useful.

Of course the pristine beauty of the place was heavily marred by the battle that had taken place here. Most of the furniture was mangled or collapsed, the red carpet torn and burned. And everywhere were the dead, old skeletons with shattered ribs, arms scorched black, crushed skulls and more. Disturb not the faithful of Ava she muttered to herself. And try to find a spare robe while she was at it so she could dispense of what she was pretty sure was a transparent charade for both her and the owl.

Speaking of, there was the corpse the owl had shoved down on their first meeting. She knelt at it know, wincing at the still present bits of rot along some of the bones, not that old then. Definitely some teeth to the owl’s words. Despite several deep cuts and rips from what she assumed were owl talons the heavier leather clothing would be a sturdy upgrade to the flimsy white linen she had now, even if it wasn’t covered in hundreds of rips and tears from bird beaks and talons.

“Yeah, I’m looking at you Aers.” She glared at the tattoo of the bird, which had the decency to hide behind a wing in shame.

She got to work stripping the corpse, definitely needed a wash, and probably some repair and refitting, but some actual serviceable clothes were a godsend. Hopefully not actually though. Gathering it together into her satchel she left the body behind and moved on and started up the stairs. There were a few interesting things along the way, a fountain formed of glass, once made of four glass herons spouting water, now three shattered remains and a lone heron, water long dry. A short bridge that terminated sharply, rails along it gilded in golden feathers, although rough iron and rust peaked out from many of them now.

An entrance to a balcony, still in surprisingly good shape, she lingered on it for a moment, enjoying the view and the steady breeze. Something about it lingered in her mind for some time afterward. She found herself working through the paces of her meditations, feeling the flow of mana. Maybe this would be a good place to expand her power.
>>
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She shook off her reverie and continued up the tower, finding herself on the highest floor the staircase reached. She paused and frowned at the wall. Silver bricks were set into the wall, forming the pattern of a staircase without the presence of one. Was there some trick to it? She could see a closed off chamber higher up, but it was easily thirty or forty feet higher up. She briefly considered trying to run up the walls with Merco Aers, but she had a feeling this was beyond the spell combination, at least at the level she could cast it at.

She turned her search to the top floor instead. Nothing jumped out at her from the shelves or cabinets, but one of the blue robed skeletons caught her eyes. The arm of the body was stretched out, reaching under a cabinet. Mel knelt, careful not to touch the body itself, and peered under the cabinet, finding the treasure the corpse had sought.

A glittering marble, flickering with light in the dark under the cabinet. She withdrew it carefully, a spell crystal? Brilliant light flickered and flashed inside, seeming to focus on one side at first, then jumping to the other in a burst. Second tier magic at least, she’d have to have Babs take a look. She straightened up with a sigh, that seemed to be everything of interest she’d seen on this pass, time for the hard labor part.

Acquired Spell Crystal (T2)

The next few hours passed simply, dragging skeletons out into the sun and tossing them into a growing heap. Then another trip through the tower, pulling the least damaged books into her satchel. Her legs ached and her arms burned, but at least it was done. Unfortunately anything else that might be hidden in the place was probably tucked away under or on one of the bird cultists, and under the watch of the owl. She was either going to have to kill the owl, or find blue robes somehow. Maybe there was still something at the battlefield? She could always scavenge several pieces and sew them together somehow? Maybe there was some sort of repair spell…

She took a moment to consider her options. There were probably still a few treasures left on the battlefield, along with a fair number of books from both factions. There was that curious balcony in the bird tower, and the pair of errands Babs had asked of her. And of course she had a fresh load of books to sort, new spells to study. And the skeletons locking her into this section of the spellwild of course.
>>
A deep voice boomed overhead. “It is quite nice to have time to prepare isn’t it? For nothing unexpected could possibly happen, perhaps on the morning of your eleventh day?”

Her head snapped up, locking eyes with a man in a black formal suit. The Storyteller, sitting on a narrow lip of stone high above her. She smothered a snarl.
“My darling protagonist, don’t hold back on my account. Just don’t get complacent either.”

“What happens on the eleventh day?” She called back.

“The sun rises. Healing waters flow from your home, restoring life where it once was lost. My dear sister will be quite pleased. My brother likely will not be.”

Mel glanced down for a moment, then back up. “Brother?”

The Storyteller had vanished. Mel swore under her breath, she’d have to make sure to warn Babs that…something was coming. The skeletons maybe? What else? And who even was the Storyteller’s brother?

> Learn a new spell: Locate Object, Call Lightning, Darkness Rune
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Explore: Battlefield, Fey Ruins, Lurid Grove, Worm Complex, Bird Tower, Write In?
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
> Write in?
>>
>>5370021
god damn it
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks
should be
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks options from the bird cult book)
>>
>>5370024
exclusively those?

>>5370021
half vote for
> Fey Ruins

no real opinion right now except we should meditate normally tonight.
>>
>>5370078
Yup, you'll fill in two more options in the bird book, at random (I'll roll dice behind the scenes, unless someone really desperately wants to).
>>
>>5370021
>Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
>>
>>5370021
>Lurid Grove
>>
>>5370021
>Learn a new spell: Locate Object
I'm keen to get some blue robes, myself, and perhaps take a look at the Worm complex at another time to get their side of the story.

I'm unclear on how long we have til our new deadline. What day is it now?
>>
>>5370637
>>5370021
actually that's quite a silly action to vote for. instead I'd like to vote for
>>Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks options from the bird cult book)
b/c we've gotta know what our options are to make good decisions
>>
>>5370639

It's currently afternoon, day 9.

Locate Object would definitely work. You could probably ask Babs to do the etching for you if you don't want to take the time to learn the rune yourself, her poison tracking charm uses the same rune.

There's a few other ways around the problem as well, aside from the obvious answer of ultra-violence. It's telling that Locate Object wasn't even on my mind until you mentioned it.
>>
>>5370673
Can we just ask the owl if it got any serviceable copy of the Ava scripture? Or blue robes for that matter?
Just so we don't have to take time stitching it together?
I mean, Im not really for becoming a full-blown cultist, but I feel like giving them the burial in THEIR way is just proper manners, that may also give neck romancer less bodies to throw against us in few days.
>>
>>5370700

It hasn't paid much attention to the condition of the books or robes unfortunately, or their locations.
>>
Mel returned home and gently set her satchel on the ground. Babs waved from behind a book.

“How were the ruins?”

“Something is knocking at the bottom of them, which was a little unsettling.”

Babs set her book down and grimaced. “Anything in those runes should be long dead. Some sort of lurking creature perhaps. Any good finds?”

Mel pulled out the spell crystal she had recovered and held it up between thumb and finger. “Mostly this. And a weird rock. There’s a big owl keeping me from really poking around, it basically asked me to pretend to be one of the people who used to go to the tower.”

Babs squinted at the crystal. “Third level. Combat spell of some type. Crush it in your hand and point at someone you don’t like. A big owl huh? Sounds like a guardian spirit of some sort, probably tired of guarding a ruin, so it’s trying to use you to break the conditions of its guardianship.”

“It wanted me to get rid of the corpses in the tower, but I need to pretend to be one of them to do it, I need one of their uniforms, but they’re all rags now.”

Babs nodded. “Care to learn the repair rune? You could gather up some scraps, mark one with the repair rune and then it would pull itself back together. Pretty useful rune, but it would probably take the afternoon to get it down right.”

Free lessons?
> Learn ‘Repair’ rune
> Continue waiting for consensus on afternoon plan of action Three votes in three different directions :(

What should Babs identify today?
> Identifying Cloudy Spell Crystal (T4 Weather)
> Identifying Energetic Spell Crystal (T3 Combat)
> Identifying Zircon
> Identifying Fulgurite
> Identifying ‘Zig Zag / Dabbing Four’ Rune
> Brown Potion
> Tier 1 Wand
> Tier 1 Orb Wand
>>
>>5370843
> Learn ‘Repair’ rune
> Identifying ‘Zig Zag / Dabbing Four’ Rune
>>
>>5370843
Learn ‘Repair’ rune
Brown Potion
>>
>>5370843
>Learn Repair Rune
>ID Fulgurite
>>
>>5370843
>> Learn ‘Repair’ rune
Repair's as good as Locate Object in this case, though Mel should definitely learn Locate Object sometime, it seems handy.
> Identifying ‘Zig Zag / Dabbing Four’ Rune
Most other things Mel can guess at its purpose. Fulgurite will have something to do with lightning, probably a good mat for a shocking wand or for boosting the Lightning divine word or something
>>
>>5370021
> Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)
then
>Lurid Grove

>>5370843
> Learn ‘Repair’ rune
> Identifying Energetic Spell Crystal (T3 Combat)
>>
>>5370843
>Learn ‘Repair’ rune
> Identifying ‘Zig Zag / Dabbing Four’ Rune
>>
>>5370843
>Learn ‘Repair’ rune
>Identifying Energetic Spell Crystal (T3 Combat)
>>
File: Repair Rune.png (2 KB, 161x162)
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2 KB PNG
> Learn ‘Repair’ rune
> Identifying ‘Zig Zag / Dabbing Four’ Rune

Mel glanced down at her tunic, stained, torn. She looked over at the broken satchel, then to the torn traveling clothes within.

“Yeah, a repair rune might be useful.”

Babs laughed. “You could use it. Ok we’ll draw it in the dirt until I think you’ve got it, then we’ll move onto something useful. Watch closely, it’s more complicated than it looks.”

Mel had spent a fair amount of time daydreaming of what the art of magic would look like. Two women drawing circles in the dirt for the better part of four hours had not once made the list. Still she persevered as the sun wandered lower and lower into the sky. The shape of the final rune was straightforward enough, two circles connected with a line, although the procedure of making them wasn’t. The right hand circle was first, made in a single counterclockwise stroke that was then reversed for a quarter of the circle. The line connecting the two circles came next, left to right, then the left circle in the opposite fashion of the first, starting with a quarter circle drawn counterclockwise, followed by a clockwise circle done in one long stroke.

“If you hesitate or pause the rune will appear to have repaired the object, but it will fall to pieces if the magic is ever disrupted. Someone did that with the wall to the crystal chamber beneath us.”

“Why does it look like a pair of glasses? You’d think that would be a vision rune or something. Or connecting two magic circles.”

Babs shrugged. “It’s said that runes are the written words of the gods. Why does the letter ‘A’ look the way it does? Probably makes sense to the gods. Some of them do make more sense, but there’s not much rhyme or reason.”

Mel scowled as her second circle came out malformed. “Do you know what the other symbol is? Who even finds these in the first place?”

“At my level you can start to…I’m not sure what the right word is. Something between find and build them. It’s a long process, I’ve never bothered to complete it, no patience. It’s probably easier for fifth levels. I’ll take a look at the other rune though, I have some theories I can test.”

Counterclockwise. Clockwise one quarter. “Sounds useful if there’s something in particular you need.”

Babs shrugged. “It’s usually easier to make due with what you have. But they can be found from nothing, if your grasp of mana is strong enough. Right to left.” She corrected.

Mel grimaced and started fresh. “You’d think fifth level wizards would be ruling the world.”
>>
Babs laughed. “I’ve never met one. Never even heard of one. Most people stall at the third level, and the ones that don’t stall at the fourth. It took me a long time to hit the fourth level. I’ve heard people say that the fifth level is a myth, a trap for people too greedy, who want too much.”

“A trap huh.”

Babs shrugged again. “People say a lot of things, especially in Spellbreak where they don’t have to think about magic. I think you’ve got the form of the rune down, how about we put it on something?”

Mel glanced over her gear. It would cost 1 mana to activate the rune for 1 day. Tier 2 would probably be a faster effect, but outside of a combat situation it was hard to see how it could matter, it probably wasn’t worth it until she had enough mana to spare to make it permanent.

Enchant something with the repair rune? One mana each

> Traveler’s Clothes (Tougher, sturdier and nicer than your current rags)
> Satchel (Repairs into a proper backpack)
> Write in?
>>
>>5371529
> Traveler’s Clothes
Unless someone has a clever-enough write-in. I'm blanking.
>>
>>5371529
>> Traveler’s Clothes (Tougher, sturdier and nicer than your current rags)
Make it look like a sword and sorcery style bikini
>>
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>>5371557
Alas, not really Mel's style.
>>
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>>5371665
Okay how about we fashion it into something a sorceress would wear?
>>
>>5371529
expect we'll be staying in for the afternoon action, so clothes. can repair the backback tonight and have it by the time we need to loot.

how'd this work on books?

need to talk to Babs about Storyteller.
>>
>>5371680
You're welcome to apply it to both backpack and clothing, as well as other objects such as books.

>how'd this work on books?
Babs will mention this in the upcoming update, but the more complex an object is, the more time the repair rune takes to work. Books are fairly complex, with hundreds of pages covered in complex patterns (letters), so the effect will take some time. You'll need to expend a tier 2 spell to expect any useful effect in a timely manner.

>>5371677
When Mel makes it to Spellbreak there will probably be some sort of clothing store/tailor you can visit.
>>
>>5371529
>> Traveler’s Clothes (Tougher, sturdier and nicer than your current rags)
>> Satchel (Repairs into a proper backpack)
These are both important to make resistant to wearing out. Even if Mel gets nicer duds, something for abrasive travel and dust will be useful
>>
>>5371529
>> Satchel (Repairs into a proper backpack)
>>
> Traveler’s Clothes (Tougher, sturdier and nicer than your current rags)

Mel carefully applied circles and lines of ink to the inside of the traveler’s clothes under Bab’s watchful eyes.

Babs nodded in approval. “You’d normally want to embroider this, but you use what you have. Definitely better than drawing a wall rune with your own blood.”

“Personal experience?”

Babs grunted. “A bottle of ink and a good brush can be a life saver. But never forget that your own body is a resource.”

Aers.” Mel whispered and set the gentle breeze to dry the ink. “That’s a grim mentality.”

“It’s a survivor’s mentality. Be careful out there.”

Mel nodded and tapped the ink gently to make sure it was dry. “Vitae.

The rune circle glimmered with energy for a moment, one of the five outer circles flickering with energy. The garments twitched under their own power, and she hurriedly spread them out, watching with wide eyes. One of the small rips slowly pulled together, frayed fibers reaching out and twisting back together, slowly mending the torn spot back together.

“For a while I repaired clothes for living…and this one is repairing itself.”

Babs nodded. “Set some scraps next to it while it repairs, the spell can manifest material, but it’ll slow down the repairs. Should be in good shape by morning though.” Babs held up her own sleeve and made a quick slit in it with a knife. The two pieces pulled back together, nearly as quick as the knife cut through. “Think about making it permanent at the second or third level when you get the mana, it can save you a lot of trouble against tooth and claw. And avoid fancy stuff, heavy detail slows the spell down.”

“Probably not a problem at a higher level though.”

Babs shrugged. “Sure, if you don’t mind the spell working on decoration before the functional armor.”

Mel’s thoughts were interrupted as her golem stumped through the camp and dropped a handful of branches onto the pile. That probably enough for tomorrow, maybe she should direct the little guy onto something else for the moment.


Golem Duty

> More firewood! Never enough firewood!
> Carved branches from the Battlefield
> Black spirit stone from the Battlefield
> Grab some ruined blue robes from the battlefield so you can repair them tonight, then a half load of firewood
> Have it dig a mass grave for the worm acolytes you removed from the bird tower.
>>
>>5372356
>Black spirit stone from the Battlefield
>>
>>5372356
> Grab some ruined blue robes from the battlefield so you can repair them tonight, then a half load of firewood
>>
>>5372356
>“Sure, if you don’t mind the spell working on decoration before the functional armor.”
I wonder, can you apply repair rune to deal with only functional stuff? Or only detailed decorations?
Like, get a plain, sturdy robe, put a rune on it and then decorate it, how would the rune see decorations? Part of the robe, or something outside the scope?
What if you put another repair rune after decorations, are both going to work on the robe and only one additionally on decorations? Will later rune repair former one?
>>
>>5372356
>> Black spirit stone from the Battlefield
>>
>>5372356
>> Have it dig a mass grave for the worm acolytes you removed from the bird tower.
Digging is a lot more unpleasant than grabbing some cloth or anything that might be magical
>>
>>5372356
Have it dig a mass grave for the worm acolytes you removed from the bird tower.
>>
>>5372510
>how would the rune see decorations
Eventually the decorations would be considered a part of the core object. You might have an issue, depending on the nature of the decoration, with the repair rune trying to expel the decorations, if it thought they were impeding/damaging the core item. How long it takes for the rune to accept changes is largely dependent on the perspective the rune enchanter, writing in a journal is accepted fairly quickly (unless it rips or dampens the page excessively), while scribbles in the margins of a textbook would tend to be expelled.
>>
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> Black spirit stone from the Battlefield

“Do you think it’s worth it to have the golem grab that black stone and bring it back here?”

Babs shrugged. “The one the skeleton spirits rode in on? Sure, why not, might be worth something in Spellbreak, or I might find a good use for it.”

Mel pet the little stone construct on the head. “Ok little guy, can you go to the valley those birds are circling over-” She paused to point into the distance. “and bring back a big black rock out there? It’s sort of glassy looking.”

A low rumble emitted from the golem and it plodded off. Mel watched it go with some concern.

“I never know if it really understood me.”

Babs chuckled. “I had one bring back a hornet’s nest once by accident. Asked for some papers and before I noticed it had wandered off into the forest, looking for paper. I guess it decided a wasp nest was close enough.”

“Well, I hope its version of big black rock is the same as mine then.” Mel frowned and looked out at the sun, drifting ever closer to the horizon. Time was running out on the day. The darkness of evening might be a good time to get a closer look at her skeletal opposition. Of course there was the Storyteller’s warning, or possibly threat.

“Babs, I ran into the Storyteller again down at the bird tower.”

Babs scowled, but remained silent.

“I think he was warning you, or maybe just me. He said something was going to happen the morning after you finish the circle, something about an angry god, his brother.”

Babs nodded, expression neutral. “I see.” She turned toward the nearest of the five tombs. “Hopefully Sylve will stand with me. I’ll be ready regardless. If things get bad head to the old centipede warrens, there’s a hundred tunnels there to hide in.” She returned to her book, expression tight and focused.

Choices for the evening. She could try to push her meditation forward, more mana would let her cut loose more easily. The lightning spell could be a useful combat technique, her spears hadn’t done much to the skeletons, and if they had a way to counter Aers she’d be in trouble. And of course there were books and the tiny metal tools to puzzle out, which might have new ways to survive.

Evening Day 9
> Learn a new spell: Finder Rune, Call Lightning, Darkness Rune
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks additional spells to learn)
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
> Explore somewhere in the dark?
> Write in?
>>
>>5372821
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
>>
>>5372821
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
>>
Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>5372821
>Meditate
Watch this nat 100 break us through
>>
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)

Roll 1d100 BO3
>>
Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>5373027
>>
Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>5373027
>>
Feel free to do one more roll, and yes it could make a difference.
>>
Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>5373027
>>
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> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> 82 + 10 (Camp Bonus)

Pile high the fire. Quench thirst, sate hunger. Close the curtain of the tent, settle in comfortably. Close the eyes, open the arcane sight. Breathe in, watch the fluctuations of magic, ambient traces that run through everything. Breathe out. Your magic with the world's magic.

The name my mother gave me was Melody. No one but the gods call me that anymore. I was supposed to be the happy song of her life. Now I’m walking through this city. Rain is falling in sheets, but I remain dry. Why am I in this city? It’s no place I know, but there are flashes of familiarity, a statue or a bit of ruined masonry on the corner. Lamp posts burst to life as I reaffirm my identity, flames crackling in defiance of the rain.

Where am I? It’s a city of perpetual rain, familiar but foreign...and yes. There’s power here, falling from the sky, coursing in the earth. A city of power, pulsing like a heart. I set out through it, pushing through rain and fog. This city of power seems to bow to me, stone walls parting, gates rising.

A peculiar question appears in my head as I climb stairs and pass through gates. When is this? There’s a strange discontinuity in my mind. I peer at my reflection in the water flowing everywhere in this city and the image seems to shift on a whim. A little girl, a petulant teen, a scared young woman, then a little older and a lot angrier. Fear has burned away on this face. I kneel down and scoop up the water, scoop up this face of anger and drink it into myself, quenching a thirst I didn’t know existed.

I continue on, climbing higher and higher in this city of power. Another strange question. What am I? It’s a strange question to dance on my lips, but it hovers in my mind regardless. What I was is simple, a scared child, followed by a scared adult. But what I am is much harder. There’s anger and plenty of it. There’s determination, a steel will. A gap in the city appears, I’ve climbed a high tower and the path simply terminates in open air. The answer is so obvious as I reach out my hand and command the air to solidify and form into a bridge. I’m a magician, a wizard, a witch, a force of nature, a world shaper.

I stride across open air. I’m drawing closer, I can feel it, ascending the tower of this city. Just one last question, just one last hurdle before I claim this tower for my own, this first piece of this city of power, my city of power. I climb stair after stair, breath starting to growth ragged, the last question surfacing in my mind, something that I know I need to answer to reach the top.

Why?

> Write in
>>
>>5373204
>Because the world should make sense, and it won't until all my struggles MEANT something and LED somewhere
>>
>>5373204
>Why?
Long before there was fury and anger, there was a survivor. The harder my position the harder I will struggle to overcome it, because even when life is not worth living I still cannot stand to die. I am angry because things which threaten my life spark my ire. I am furious because the nobles outside the mist and the gods within it have brought such threats against me through their inaction or to tickle their whims.

And perhaps as well, I am angry at my parents who did not give up on themselves nor in me even in the face of the despair which confronted us. I am angry because of this will to live that I inherited from them in their blood and their example. This energizing stubbornness demands of me that so long as there are things which can stand against me I may not survive, and that chance is something which cannot be allowed.

For these reasons and more the power of this city…it is already mine, but that is why it must be uncovered.
>>
>>5373204
>Why
>A baby sister lost to illness, a brother killed
>An elder sister married to a man twice her age for the vain hope of a better life in a city far away
>Our father's quiet bitterness, our mother's smoldering anger
>Our village destroyed by bandits, looting everything we had
>A life ruined by poverty, by hard circumstances-- but on a wider scale by a corrupt society that didn't lift a finger to help us, and only hurt us worse for trying to better ourselves
We know damn well why. We want to be the new Witch-Queen, bring peace to the land, and remake society to be less shitty.
>>
>>5373204
>>5373229
This is a nice, short, succinct answer. The world should be justified. If it's not then crumble it to dust.
>>
>>5373413
>>5373204
I vote for this one
>>
>>5373204
>>5373413
and on a smaller scale and shorter term, to gain peace for ourself that can be shared.
to find security and importance, without becoming what we hate.
the lucky can use their luck for decadence, ambition, mundanity or charity
the unlucky can turn to despondency, fear or inhumanity, or take a wild chance, like magic.

we want to save others from being like almost anyone we've met. and to save ourself from that as well.
to rule rightly is only the ultimate image of that salvation.
>>
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Why. Why are they all dead and I continue on? Why do the pathetic and cowardly rule? Why am I still here, still struggling, still walking up this stairway? My entire body is red hot as the graves pass through my mind. I'm shaking, the staircase feels eternal, I’m not sure I can make it.

But I remember why. I raise my hand, looking up, and with a nod the tower explodes floor by floor, masonry shooting out in rings, the gray sky and ceaseless rain revealing itself. My life has been a series of disasters, and I intend to repay the favor. At the top of the tower, now falling toward me, is a large bell. Perhaps I was supposed to ring it. I reach out my hands, turning bronze to molten golden liquid, and a new shape falls into my hand, a beautiful gleaming sword.

Liquid metals falls and flows around me as I survey the surrounding city, the fog and dreariness lifting. Three more towers present themselves as places to conquer, as power to acquire. And I will have them.
>>
Mel woke up, soaked in sweat, heart hammering, muscles aching. Her head was buzzing, crackling with energy, the whole world seemed more. Colorful, brighter, more painful, darker, more. She stumbled out of the tint and stared vacantly at the fire, only a bit lower than before.

“What was your sanctuary like?”

Mel jerked and turned towards Babs, peering over the edge of her book.

“Sanctuary?”

“You broke through. Everyone visits a place when they do, their sanctuary. What was yours like?”

Mel blinked and sat down. “A city...a city where it’s always raining.”

Babs laughed. “Well, maybe it’ll change. Mine certainly did, it was this nice little garden to start...less so now.”

“That was...strange. How’d you know I’d break through?”

“I didn’t.” Babs pointed toward the top of one of the tombs. Something had sheared the top completely off.

“Oh.”

Babs shrugged with a grin. “ Almost needed a change of clothes. Better than waking up surrounded by rose bushes I say. This one is the most energetic breakthroughs, I wouldn’t worry about the next few.”

Mel stared at the top of the tomb. “I just...well, that’s good to know.”

Your mana pool has doubled in size

The remainder of the evening was fairly straightforward. A few last minute expenditures of mana, another example of Invocation casting from Babs on another reptilian eye. Then much needed sleep.

Leftover Mana Cleanup (4/10)

> Spare wands
> Glow Runes on...
> Repair Runes on...
> Add duration to the repair rune on your clothing? 1/5 required for permanence, runs out tomorrow.
> Write in?
>>
>>5374151
> Spare wands
Mel hasn't really used her wand yet but might as well have an extra
> Add duration to the repair rune on your clothing? 1/5 required for permanence, runs out tomorrow.
>>
Oh, and you have one centipede egg left, so you could make one more mana potion if you wanted too, completely forgot to mention it in the prompts. Hoping to have Dawn 10 ready in a few hours.
>>
>>5374151
note centipede heart.
>>5367742
needs a T2 infusion by tomorrow night or it'll rot. now that we have two T2 we have a decent chance of giving it that if we don't end up using much tomorrow.
maybe ask Babs what she'd give us for it, it's 5 times the mana of an egg.

> repair rune on the backpack (nice to be able to loot more)
> extend repair rune on clothes 2X, so we're more likely to have a T2 slot free tomorrow for the heart. otherwise, don't extend that rune.

for the last one, maybe
> one wand
nice to have at least one of every resource.
>>
>>5374202
ah, Babs is doing invocations (T4) to prep the ritual, probably doesn't have the spare mana to infuse the heart.
>>
>>5374151
You know it’s actually pretty interesting that we were able to do something like that without any training or anything. I wonder if the nature of the effect that manifests when you break through has something to do with what magic you’re most compatible with or something, and what that really says about Mel if so.
>>
> Wand, Backpack, 2X Clothes Duration

Dawn Day 10
Basics. Food: 2 Days. Firewood: 1 Days. Health: Good
Mana: 2 tier 2 spells, or 10 tier 1 spells.

Divine Words: Arx (Ice Spear), Vitae (Enchant), Aers (Wind), Merco (Speed), Ignis (60% Learned)
Divine Word Techniques: Silent Casting (20% Learned). Chant (20% Learned). Invoke (30 % Learned). Declare (1% Learned).
Living Spells (Reduces cost by 1 tier): Arx (Ice Spear), Aers (Wind), Arx Merco (Ranged Ice Spear)

Smoke Weaving: Telekinesis (index). Imp Summoning (Ring/Middle).
Smoke Weaving Wands: Standard. Orb.
Bone Pile: pinky, 2 ring, middle, index, toe

Ley Flows: Wound Healing, Antidote, Curse Catcher, Zircon & Fulgurite is unknown

Rune Circles: Standard
Runes: Glow, Repair, Dawn, Dawn Negation, (four untested symbols known)
Rune Circle Gear: Scribe Kit, Chisel Kit

Wands:
Telekinesis Wand (T2) 3/5 charges.
??? Wand (T1) 5/5 charges.
???? Orb Wand (T1) 5/5 charges.
Blank Orb Wand(T2).
Blank Wand (T1)

Potions:
Healing potion (T2).
Healing potion(T1).
Water defense potion(T1).
Grapple Vine potion(T2).
Dragon Lycan Potion (T3).
Murky Brown Potion (T2)

Runed Tools: Glow Lantern(T1). Repairing Clothes 3/5 (T1). Repairing Backpack (T1).

Spell Crystals: Weather magic (T4), Combat magic (T3)

Reagents: 1 Centipede Eggs(T1) 1 Centipede Mandible(T2). 1 Centipede Heart (T2). 1 Dragon Heart Scale (T4).
Summons: Golem(T1).
Camp: Basic Camp.Basic Crafting gear. Sturdy Smoker. Workbench.
>>
A dreamless sleep later Mel opened her eyes to find a blue bird tattoo staring at from her own wrist.

"Hey."

Aers bobbed in response.

"You uh, doing alright in there? I don't know much about living spells."

Aers bobbed again and flapped its wings, spreading them wide.

"Yeah, you've been pretty cool. Very nice with the skeletons."

Aers preened for a moment before a small Arx shoved it, squawking out of the way. Arx's penant hung limp.

"Hey, you did good too. There'll be something big and uh, fleshy to fight before long, don't worry."

Arx gave a couple fierce stabs.

"Alright everyone, let's get to it." Mel crawled out of her tent and stretched.

Babs cast her an appraising look. "Who are you talking to?"

Mel giggled. "Uh, these two." She held up her arm.

Babs glanced down at her own feet. "Huh. Never really thought about it that way. Any plans for the day?"

Mel's gaze went distant. "Trying to figure that out. I've got your errand..."

"No rush!"

"I could scrounge the battlefield again, or put together a blue robe and hit up the bird tower one last time, either one would probably get me the last bits of the ava holy book, plus some treasures. There's this weird staircase I don't know how to open, must be a clue in their holy book I'm missing, or don't have, no telling what's all the way up there. There's a giant bug I could pick a fight with...if it's a guard like the owl there must have been someway for it to not attack its own students right?"

"Depends on how the agreement with the summons was set. If it's a giant bug it might not use conventional approaches to decide friend or foe."

Mel sighed. "Well, there's always violence."

> Learn a new spell: Locate Object, Call Lightning, Darkness Rune
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks additional spells to learn)
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Explore: Battlefield, Fey Ruins, Lurid Grove, Worm Complex, Bird Tower, Write In?
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
> Write in?
>>
>>5374556
>Learn a new spell: Locate Object
Learn this then just find one once we go scrounge round the tower or battlefield. Better than repairing one because it leaves us with a new and useful spell afterwards.
>>
>>5374556
>Explore Lurid Grove
Let's test our upgraded mettle and do Babs a solid already
>>
>>5374556
>Explore Lurid Grove
>>
>>5374556
>Explore Lurid Grove
should probably get a few more suggestions from Babs for what plants to get and which to look out for.
cover our airways well, hallucinogenic spores were mentioned.
Arx is a free way to poke plants from a distance. if we want to be gentle, maybe generate spears from the ground and maintain them next to the plant, freeze it rather than poke holes in it. e.g. if we want something from a plant there's only one of.
>>
File: Nepenthes_rajah.png (4.7 MB, 1488x1984)
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> Explore Lurid Grove

“Alright, I’m going to run that errand to the lurid grove.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Babs smirked.

“I mean...rainbow grove? Bizarre grove?”

Babs stifled a laugh. “Lurid is fine. Thanks for help.”

“Any advice? I assume you’ve been in and out before?”

“Don’t take too long, and don’t trust them.”

“Don’t...trust them?”

“You’ll see things, hear things. Don’t trust them. And don’t forget to try on your new clothes.”

Mel laughed and glanced down at the ragged, once white, tunic. “It’s going to be a little weird being in something new.”

A quick change of clothes, some last minute tightening and adjusting (a bit oversized, but that just meant it was easier to stash magical paraphernalia everywhere ), and she was ready. There were still a few scratches and tears that needed repaired, but for the first time in a while she looked presentable. Probably.

The trip to the lurid grove was uneventful and she circled the outer perimeter cautiously. A concerning heady smell was already tickling her nose, and Babs’s concerning words loomed as well. Her arcane sight painted the entire area, magic crackled everywhere. There was probably a wealth of resources if she had the confidence to take them and the skill to not be eaten in the process.

A dirt path, occasionally dotted with the occasional weathered flagstone, wandered through the groves and circled a large tree in the center. The orange pitcher plants, bulging vivid things that leaned over revealing a glistening mana rich liquid, were stationed near the center. Visible glowing fruits hung from the central tree, magic shining in each one, although Mel was quick to note that bunches of three hung over each of the pitcher plants. A haze hung over the entire place, the source of the pleasant floral smell. She tied a strip of fabric over her mouth and nose, best not to breathe too much of that.

Thick bushes dotted with kaleidoscopic flowers were set at regular intervals along the path, equally colorful berries glistening on the branches. A respectable clearing around them, a patch of plants that seemed to have massive visible mouth like structures, complete with comically long green teeth. A bird skeleton slumped on one. The only other thing of note was a battered water well, little more than a single circle of stones surrounding a hole.

Well, where to start?

> Take a look in the well, in a place like this there might be something interesting
> Gather some of those rainbow berries, they’re coursing with mana and you could always use a bit more food.
> The pitcher plants look fairly docile, maybe grab a scoop of their nectar in your canteen? A shot of that stuff in your potions would probably be a nice power boost
> Climb the tree and grab a few of those shining, glowing fruits, they're literally glowing with mana.
> Write in! There’s probably lots of clever things you could do here!
>>
>>5375175
So let’s call back on the old adventurer’s adage of “almost every problem can be solved with a 10’ pole, a spool of rope, and a decent rock”.

>Write in
Tie some rope around a rock and then toss it into one of the pitcher plants to see what it does. If nothing untowards happens then tie the rope around our canteen and repeat. If the liquid is too thick for the canteen to submerge and fill on its own then tie a rock to its bottom so it will.

Use Arx or Arx Merco to drive to dislodge some of the hanging fruits and get them to fall away from the pitcher plants where we can hopefully collect them safely. Try to avoid damaging the tree aside from minor scrapes or whatever on branches.

Idk about the berries or the well. They’re both too innocuous seeming so I distrust them.
>>
>>5375193
We could also try to use Aers on the hanging fruits.
>>
>>5375175
ones with the 'respectable clearing' probably extend pretty far underground, maybe grabby roots. stay well away from those, or at least cut up the ground a bit first and see what's underneath.

does anything grow near the pitcher plants other than the tree? (which is probably part of the same plant, or at least symbiotic)

>pitcher plant
put a couple of Arx just in front of it so it can't lean towards us.
>gather the fuzz by grabbing it in a cloth.

if we have a glass or metal container we're not planning to drink from:
cut a hole in the pitcher to gather the liquid, not far below the waterline so it won't put the pitcher out of commision. try not to get the liquid on us.
>>
>>5375193
>>5375175
Yeah toss the canteen into the pitcher plant.
But you know tie some rope to it first.
>>
Could I trouble ya'll for a 1d100 BO3?

For no particular reason at all.
>>
>Write ins!

Mel tightened the strap of cloth around her mouth and walked carefully down the path. There was a steady rustling as she passed each of the berry bushes, she eyed them suspiciously. Probably best to stay on task, she had practically forgotten about the reason she came here. Of course it’d be foolish not to grab what she could while she was here.

She stopped in front of one of the pitcher plants. “Arx. Arx.” A pair of spears sprang up, forming a cross in front of it, best not to risk the thing lunging at her. She peered at the glistening nectar inside with a smile.

“Yeah, you’ll be useful to have.” Aers nipped her skin sharply. “Ow! Hey, what was that for?” Aers and Arx both pointed down to the base of the plant where a downy layer of white fuzz rested, long black fibers running through it. “Yeah, yeah, I’m getting it.” Mel knelt down and gathered the line of fuzz into a cloth square, folding it neatly and stashing it into her backpack. The plant twitched, but remained still.

“Now, about this nectar. Let’s see how reactive this plant is. Looks harmless, but I’ve been surprised before.” Mel picked up a sizable rock and dropped it into the opening of the plant, watching as it stuck in the top layer. Sticky stuff, the rock was barely sinking, but the plant didn’t seem to be snapping shut or anything. Still, it might be simplest to cut a tap rather than stick her hand in there.

The moment her knife cut into the flesh of the plant it shuddered violently. She stumbled backwards, then the twin Arx spears shattered under the weight of the plant as it flopped forward, nectar spilling out in a sticky mass. Mel pulled out a pair of jars, carefully filling a pair with the nectar. A light hiss rolled up from the ground and Mel swallowed as she watched undergrowth wither and blacken in the nectar. Acid? Delicious acid probably, but still acid.

But delicious. What next?

> Seriously, it’s just an old water well. What are you worried about?
> Pick a few rainbow flowers, maybe Babs would like a few? She’s usually got a few flours in her hair.
> Maybe you could just take a nap at the base of the tree, meditate a little. This is a nice place.
> Those shining fruits look so nice. Let’s climb up and get some!
> Write in! This is a nice place, explore a little!

Still waiting on rolls
>>
Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>5375352
Mysterious...sorry for the delay, was baking bread
>>5375378
> Those shining fruits look so nice. Let’s climb up and get some!
Why not? Might as well see what the canopy looks like
>>
Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>5375352
>>
>>5375378
>Write In
Use Aers to shake them fruits loose, yell if we have to, then get the fuck outta here.
>>
>>5375378
> Seriously, it’s just an old water well. What are you worried about?
> Pick a few rainbow flowers, maybe Babs would like a few? She’s usually got a few flours in her hair.

>>5375503
>93
Nice.
>>
>>5375516
Make the last roll, faggot
>>
Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>5375378
> Seriously, it’s just an old water well. What are you worried about?
> Pick a few rainbow flowers, maybe Babs would like a few? She’s usually got a few flours in her hair.
>>
Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>5375352
>>
>>5375378
so the options are clearly things the grove wants us to do==things we shouldn't do, at least in the way it wants us to.


>>5375504
alternatively, shoot with Arx Merco.

i'd recommend don't get flowers from the the bushes with presumably long, evil roots and/or something that jumps out at us from them.

if we do, do following tests first:
generate a couple of Arx through the bush we're going close to and see if it reacts. leave them there as long as possible while doing other stuff.
toss some acid on the ground near the bush and see if it reacts.

we have all the acid we could want, so if it's specifically the roots that are dangerous we can pretty easily draw a protective triangle of acid, to kill the roots within it.
>>
>>5375738
You know come to think of it we literally have a telekinesis wand, let’s just use that to grab the fruits.
>>
>>5375956
feels worth it to spend like 1-2 charges safely grabbing things.
shoot off a couple of twigs from various plants, then use the wand to gather them and a couple each of fruits, flowers and berries. (magic stuff is the stuff it wants people to try and get. other parts are probably as useful or more.)
>>
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>Write in (A little of everything, at a safe distance)
> 93, Mel is not putting up with this mild altering shit

Mel stifled a yawn, then stiffened as the whimpering started.

"Mom?" A voice echoed from the well. "Mom! I need help! Someone!"

Mel's legs tangled, seemingly caught with each other, nearly sending her to the ground. Was the haze getting thicker?

"It hurts! Someone help!"

"Aers." Air pushed out from her face, pushing back haze. "Better." Mel shook her head and looked around, ignoring the voice for the moment. Shining, beautiful, enticing flowers and fruits all around and a concerning feeling that every bit of it was trying to kill her.

The voice in the well was sobbing now. She bit her lip, hard enough to ache, pain felt very safe at the moment. She peered over the edge of the stone ring carefully.

Her eyes were having an argument. There was either a heap of bones, bird, human, animals of all kinds, or a scared child that looked just like a little sister she'd lost long ago. The image flickered, like an optical illusion, the shadows of one becoming the reality of the other. Part of her shuddered, knees trembling, wanting to fall down and cry.

The rest of her was angry. "Arx." An icy spear slid out out of the side of the well, tip resting on the opposite side. "Cut it out, or I'll find a way to hurt you. Arx." Another spear slid out, lower down, tip digging into the old grout of the stonework.

The little girl stared at her wide eyed for a moment, then grinned, revealing far too many teeth, although it glanced nervously at the spears overhead. Mel glowered down at it, calling a third one.

"You're a strong one. Would you care to-" It paused to lick its face with a too long tongue. "Make a mutually beneficial arrangement?"

"I'm a little busy, and I'm not sure you even exist." Mel turned away and examined the glowing fruit over her head. Aers? Arx Merco? Or the simplest option, her humble telekinesis wand. There was a scrabbling sound in the well, and a hiss.

She pointed her wand at the fruit, sending out a tendril of smoke. The fruits were firmly attached, but she managed to snatch three from the tree, sending shudders through the branches each time.

"Oh, I'm quite real, although I understand the confusion. See, I could be useful to one like you, a witchling seeming power. I could give you gifts, all in exchange for a simple service."

"Uh huh." Mel turned her wand on the flowering bushes. Berries and flowers floated in bunches into her backpack. Something thrashed in the bushes, but at the distance of the wand it couldn't do much. "I've got power plenty."

"Think about it, little witch! I can give you power!"

Mel glared back at the well. Maybe it was the haze talking but she had to wonder.

> This place is messing with your head, get out of here.
> Talk with the thing, see what it wants
> Grab a few more reagents, this place isn't so bad (how so? grab what?)
> Write in?
>>
Aside, your telekinesis wand is on its last charge.
>>
>>5376369
>cut some pieces from various parts of the pitcher plant that lunged at us.
that one seems mostly disabled as a trap for now. never know which parts are useful. seems like about the safest useful thing we can do in here. how close are the adjacent pitchers?

to the well thing while working:
>do something for me first and maybe we can deal another time. maybe, give me something useful, to bring out of here, that I couldn't have gotten on my own. prove you're sapient, and can do things outside my head.

if it doesn't have any good ideas,
>mention bones from the well.
after doing that, or if it suggests bones
>there are other bones up here, bones would really prove very little unless there were a lot of different ones, maybe with some sort of theme like shoulderblades. ah, and I won't bring home any human bones, I have enough.


noticed I swapped a comma and a punctuation mark when reading
>>5375175
the toothy plant is the one with the clearing.
>>
>>5376369
>This place is messing with your head, just get out of here.
If the thing is real it’ll still be here when we decide to come back, and then maybe we’ll listen to its offer. Power never comes cheap, and given everything here’s trying to deceive and eat us it’s not likely doing any different.

On the other hand I feel kinda bad for turning down all the interesting characters and bargains the QM keeps offering us.
>>
>>5376369
> Talk with the thing, see what it wants
Yolo
>>
>>5376369
> This place is messing with your head, get out of here.

Whatever this creepy, maybe-illusory goblin is selling, I'm not buying.
>>
>>5376369
>> This place is messing with your head, get out of here.
>>
> This place is messing with your head, get out of here.

"No." Mel turned and walked away.

"Wait! Please!" The voice tightened, gasping as though a hand gripped around its throat. "Call me! Blue and-" A wheeze, volume dropping even lower. "Red! The flower-" The voice cut off in a hiss.

Mel shook her head and started toward home. Messing with something like that on its own turf felt like nothing but trouble. She checked her pack briefly, checking for unpleasant surprises, but everything seemed to be in order.

Loot Acquired!
White fuzz
Two Jars of Pitcher Plant Acid (T1)
Three Glow Fruit (T1)
Two Handfuls of Berries (T1)
A Handful of Rainbow Flowers
A Handful of Rainbow Twigs

Seven mana worth of reagents, maybe there was a way to combine them together into a single second tier mana potion? The flowers felt like more of a curiosity, but maybe there was something she could do with them, there was probably more than a little hallucinogenic pollen in them. The sticks...there was no significant mana in them, but something felt...unique about them. Maybe they'd be a good candidate for certain wands?
>>
She returned to camp to find Babs pacing between the tombs.

Mel called out. "Is everything alright?"

Babs paused and shrugged. "Just nervous. Tonight's the big night. How was my favorite patch of killer plants?”

“Creepy. And weird. I got your fuzz though.”

“Ooh. I use it to make plant potions that make giant pitcher plants, it’s their seeds. The little black fibers anyway. Did you meet the creepy voice?”

“I did, it seemed a little desperate though. Is it real?”

Babs shrugged. “No idea. That well didn’t fill with bones on its own though. Anything else?”

“Odds and ends, looks like most of the magic is in the fruit. Does making something a mana potion take the acid out of it? Can I combine some of these into something stronger? Can I make mana jelly?”

Babs laughed. “One at a time. Poison is poison, acid is acid, even if it’s enchanted. Most poisons break down if you boil the potion, but uh...watch yourself. Antidote potions are a good investment, once you know how. Acids are a little harder to deal with, soap or vinegar, depending on the acid can work but it’s hard to know which.”

“Sounds like acids are more trouble than they’re worth.”

“They’re fine for fuel in smoke or runes...just probably not in potions. Combining stuff is pretty simple, just add water and mash it together, and apply magic as normal. Five to one to get to the next level, you know the rule.”

Mel nodded along as she unpacked her bag, pausing on the twigs. “Are some woods better for wands?”

“Some, yes. Hard to know without trying though. What’s the plan for the afternoon?”

Me shrugged as she munched on a bit of smoked meat. Food stocks were getting a little low, but there was still enough for a couple days. Firewood would hold with the golem restocking it.

“Not sure. I’ve got books to sort, spells to learn, places to explore. There’s a balcony at the bird tower that...” Mel struggled to find the words.

“I know the place, there’s a leyline that flows through the air there. It’d make a good place to work on your meditation, not that you seem to be having trouble.”

Mel nodded. “It was a nice place. Lots of options though.”

Afternoon Day 10

> Learn a new spell: Locate Object, Call Lightning, Darkness Rune
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks additional spells to learn)
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Explore: Battlefield, Worm Complex, Bird Tower, Fey Ruins, Write In?
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
> Write in?
>>
>>5377159
> Learn a new spell: , Call Lightning, Darkness Rune
Either or, we are gonna need more power if day 11 has something bad in it
>>
>>5377159
>Train meditation
Honestly I’d rather be able to throw around more spells than different spells.
>>
>>5377417

Care to cash in that one time meditation bonus in Bird Tower?
>>
>>5377426
Well I suppose so yes. It’s wise to give ourselves the best chance of success before an impending battle.

On the other hand that’s an extremely leading question and given that we already encountered skellies in the area it makes me suspicious that you’re trying to lure us into an event. I’m still down for it though.
>>
>>5377159
> Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)
>>
>>5377159
>Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)
>>
> Meditate at the Bird Tower (One Time)

“Yeah, I think I’ll pay the balcony a visit. If anything does happen tomorrow I want to be as ready as I can be.”

Babs nodded. “Seems wise. If you’ve got the mana to spare tonight I could teach you chanting so you can really cut loose with that extra mana. Or you could pick up another spell of course. But more mana means more options, and that’s always good.”

“I’ll have to think about it. See you this evening!”

The trip to the bird tower was fairly uneventful. Mel took a quick side trip to the battlefield to grab enough scraps of blue fabric that the repair rune might have something to work with, then climbed the tower, nodding to the owl guardian as she passed.

The balcony was as she had left it, a gentle but steady breeze, stunning view, and a deep feeling of tranquility. It was a bit strange to meditate somewhere new, without fire and earth around her, but there was definitely a power to the air. She closed her eyes and began.

Roll 1d100+50 BO3
>>
Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>5377899
>>
Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>5377899
Nat 1
>>
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I am in my city again, the piece that I control anyway. My blade rests in my hand as I stare down at the city that yet defies my rule, but it is time to change that. Soldiers march in the street now, clockwork things without will of their own, the city is rallying its defenses against me. I leap down, clearing a space with a sweep of the blade. Automatons are reduced to scrap as they jerk toward me. It is time to begin.

Once I was unclear in my wanderings within this city of power, but now it is clear. I must take the towers, rend or remake these bells that top them. These clockwork soldiers are but a source of delay, but delay they do. Blades of air clear them in swathes as I move forward, although a question does prick my mind.

What force opposes me? Is it simply the defiant will of the world, stubbornly refusing its power to me until I take it? A malevolent entity? Some other spellcaster seeking this power for their own? In the end it matters not, no matter the opposition I will take this power for my own.

Unfortunately my reserves are not as eternal as my ambitions. The tide of soldiers is ceaseless, and now I come to their hive, realizing with some chagrin that this tower rises from a vast ocean that too seeks to thwart me, clockwork soldiers rising from the depths as quickly as I can dispatch them.

> 75 + 50 = 125 You guys can go for a hundred if you want

No ocean or tide of toy soldiers will defy me. I seize the power of the ocean, the rolling tides, the hidden depths, the crushing power of endless water. The waters halt, waves still curled, drops hovering in air. Then pillars of water crash out, clearing the way, soldiers strangled and drug down into the depths. The water clears, forming into a smooth ramp, and I walk down the pathway of water, down to the ocean floor.

There is a bell of course, and of course it is mine. My hand reaches for it and it reshapes itself as easily as the water surrounding it. When its form settles a chalice rests in my hand, filled with pure water, another symbol of my dominion over the city. The ocean rushes back, carrying me upward, high enough to survey the remaining city that defies me.

But for now I grow weary, there is much remaining to take, and it will require my full strength to take it.
>>
Mel opened her eyes into the blinding light of the low sun. Exhaustion was rolling through her, but so was fresh possibility. She stood and stretched, taking a moment to think about the visions of her meditation. It was strange, to see herself so commanding, so powerful, but exciting at the same time. Was this a vision of the future, of her conquering the city with the power of magic? Or just a fantasy manifested from her newly awakened power?

No matter, there was work to do.

Evening Day 10

> Spend all of your mana to learn Chanting with Babs, allowing you to cast Tier 3 Divine Word spells
> Learn a new spell: Locate Object, Call Lightning, Darkness Rune
> Meditate to expand mana reserves (Difficult)
> Sort and index the recovered books from Bird Tower (Unlocks additional spells to learn)
> Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
> Explore: Battlefield, Worm Complex, Bird Tower, Fey Ruins, Write In?
> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
> Write in?
>>
Rolled 44 + 50 (1d100 + 50)

>>5377943
not against learning chanting, but that will let the centipede heart spoil yeah?
>>
>>5377951

I can have Mel raise the concern and have Babs stick it in one of her preservation jars, she's going to have a few empty this evening anyway.
>>
>>5377943
>Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
At this point I think it’s best to see what our enemy is up to. Babs can teach us chanting later if we survive whatever’s coming.

Also let’s bring Yellow Eyes’ marble along. It makes a useful “oh shit” button and on the off chance we catch the skellington army on the march or something we could slap them with a tornado or hailstorm or whatever’s in there.

>>5377951
Let’s just ask Babs if we can put it in one of her preservation jars til tomorrow, or trade it to her for something.
>>
>>5377943
>Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
Gotta see what's up, at least. Chanting would be pretty good, though.
>>
>>5377943
>Sort and puzzle over the rusted metal objects found in Bird Valley, they look like they might have runic symbols on them
>>
>>5377943
>Spend all of your mana to learn Chanting with Babs, allowing you to cast Tier 3 Divine Word spells and preserve the centipede heart
>>
>>5377943
>> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer
>>
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> Scout the Skeletal Sorcerer

She turned her gaze to the west, where a lifeless gray spilled out of a division in the mountainside. Distant figures moved about, building something perhaps? If something of interest to the Storyteller was going to happen tomorrow, having an idea of how to get out of the region might be suddenly important. And with the sun going down soon this might be the best time to take a closer look at this skeleton army.

The travel was fairly straightforward, a natural stone bridge got her across the stream without incident, then from there was a cautious approach to the west. As the gloom grew the flickering light of torches and then campfires came into view between bushes and trees. Torches were comforting, the skeletons must need light to see then. Mel worked her way closer, creeping low behind lines of brambles, the sound of hammering coming to her ears, followed by the work of saws and other hand tools. Were they building something?

She parted a patch of bushes and peered in. A palisade was slowly being put into place, lines and lines of wooden spikes arrayed into a wall. Two rickety wooden towers, complete with a skeletal sentry on each one sat along the southern half of the palisade. The start of a third tower was going up where the palisade was being put together, several skeletons scurrying about with boards and planks.

A pair of skeletons, complete with heavy looking metal chest pieces stood rigidly at the central point where the current work was ongoing, a gate of some sort was going up there as well. Mel shifted back into the forest and circled around to the north. No palisades and towers here, but standing torches dotted the area every ten feet and more armored skeletons patrolled the area.
>>
Further past the picket line was a large bonfire in front of a larger still tent, a large freestanding affair more like a cloth house than a tent. A few ragged banners hung from it. She watched for a time, eventually rewarded when a skeleton emerged, dressed in a faded uniform, a pipe wobbling in its teeth, a steady stream of smoke spilling out of it and onto the ground. The leader?

The leader gestured and pointed, other skeletons forming up into rows in front of him and throwing salutes before scurrying back to their tasks. Mel took a few more minutes to scan the camp. She could see the southern palisade from here, it looked like it went right up against the mountain, although she could probably cut her way through with a little effort. The right distraction would probably leave the northern side completely undefended. There was a sizable stockpile of logs heaped beside the central bonfire and commander’s tent, a good push on those might get them rolling, scattering the fire and plunging the area into darkness, of course she’d be in darkness as well. The towers were problematic for sneaking around on the southern side, but their occupants were sitting ducks for a salvo of Arx Merco.

The armored skeletons were a concern, the heavy metal would probably give them enough weight to resist Aers, and Arx probably couldn’t punch through it either. She’d need to nail them with spears directly in the face, a difficult task. Fortunately there didn’t seem to be any real weapons among them, a few rough clubs seemed to be the worst of it. Still, there were over a dozen of the lesser skeletons, four or five armored ones and their commander, who was a spellcaster of some sort. She had a tough fight ahead of her.

Seen enough? 10/15 Mana
> Call it a night and return home
> Use Arx Merco shouts from the tree line to ambush and thin their numbers, then Merco to get out fast
> Run through the picket lines with Merco, blast down the tent with Aers, then get out as fast as you can
> Write in?
>>
>>5378657
we should definitely do something to slow them and see how they fight.
do these have the smoke spirits? feel like not.
how long does the vine potion last?
how's the terrain around the natural bridge? any high ground? bushes?

>my best shot:
try to snipe with spoken Arx Merco (start by charging up five, then speak repeatedly), to conserve mana but still kill a few and get their attention.
if they hunker down (unlikely), reposition and do this again once, then head home.
if they chase after first or second snipe attempt, run away with Merco (1 mana) but try to ambush them from the other side of the bridge (bottleneck, shouts and the vine potion become better) run away for real if they cross or the commander does something scary.


ooh weird test idea for later: summon and maintain a bunch of Arx underwater, see how fast it spreads.
>>
>>5378657
>> Use Arx Merco shouts from the tree line to ambush and thin their numbers, then Merco to get out fast
Poke em to see how they respond, basically
if they send out small groups to see what's what then that's an exploitable habit, if they ignore it then so is that, if they go out in force then that too is good knowledge to have and a good distraction to boot
>>
>>5378657
> Use Arx Merco shouts from the tree line to ambush and thin their numbers, then Merco to get out fast
>>
> Use Arx Merco shouts from the tree line to ambush and thin their numbers, then Merco to get out fast

Mel stalked through the tree line finding a clear line of sight with the first tower sentry. “Arx Merco!” A line of five ice spears materialized over her head. The nearest sentry jerked toward her, walking to the edge of the lookout tower. It lifted a metal sheet and club, leaning out. Arx vibrated above her, eager to launch. Mel stared at the sheet for a moment, was it some kind of alarm?

Spears launched, ripping ribs, leg and arm apart. The metal sheet clattered to the ground noisily and the other sentry jerked around, scrambling to grab its own alarm. “Arx Merco!”. Another flurry of spears lunged out, one smashing through the skull of the sentry, the skeleton collapsing into lifeless bones as smoke spilled from the skull. The sound of wood on metal filled the air, a chaotic and loud clattering. “Merco.” A surge of anxious energy filled her and she shot through the wood, weaving through trees and bouncing over underbrush, air pressing against her face, moving through the forest like a deer.

More clattering filled the camp, and armored skeletons spilled out the gate, huddling in two groups of two, the uniformed soldier standing between them. It raised a hand.

Terr!

Something rushed through the ground, cracking the earth, then exploded in a shower of earth that shook the ground. Mel stumbled for a moment, even watching at a safe distance, then sent a barrage of spears back. The uniformed skeleton knelt, slamming a hand into the ground, a short wall bursting up in front of him, the spears burying themselves into it. The uniformed skeleton rose back up, a sphere of smoke clutched in both hands. The skeleton thrust its hands forward, sending the smoke rolling into the trees a little closer to Mel than she’d like.

Then it exploded in a brilliant ball of fire that illuminated the forest, concussive blast rattling leaves and branches. Mel shielded her eyes even as a gravely voice called out.

“There she is! Sally forth lads and we’ll string her up!”

Time to be somewhere else.
>>
Mel ambled back into camp at a relaxed pace, Merco having made her escape fairly straightforward. Babs waved from behind a collection of jarred oddities.

“Playing with the skeletons? I saw the flash of the explosion from here.”

Mel laughed. “Something like that. Ever heard the spell Terr before?”

Babs shook her head. “Can’t say I have. Good to know it exists though. That was the earth ripper it was using?”

“Yeah. That explosion is pretty concerning though, it looked like a smoke spell.”

Babs pursed her lips and stared at her for a long pause, then let out a long breath. She held up her pinky finger and wiggled it. “You could give it a go yourself, just be careful where you point it. Please.”

“Can do. Is this the same kind of wand you pointed at me when we first met?”

Babs actually blushed scarlet. “I uh...probably, yes. Sorry. Anyway.” She wiggled her pinky again. “Use it well. Anyway...again. We’ve got a spell circle to get going. Can you set these two in the tombs, just somewhere in the center?” She thrust a pair of jars into Mel’s hands.

“Sure. Can I borrow one of these preserve jars after we finish the spell?”

“Sure, just try to clear it out when you can. Let’s get to work.”

Two uncomfortable crawls in and out tombs later Mel rejoined Babs in the broken tomb. Babs was kneeling beside the skeleton, staring at the empty sockets.

“Tomorrow I will return you to the earth. Tonight your work will be finished. Rest easy sister of the painter.” She turned away and planted her hands on the ground, taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Ok. It’s just an invocation, just like any other. Nothing to it.”

The air shimmered and rippled, mana surging and flowing to a point, then held trembling.

VITAE!

Something beyond sight flashed and a steady vibration filled the ground beneath them. Light, dimmed beneath dust and dirt, pulsed from the ground beneath them.

“Is it done?” Mel took a step back, looking at the light glowing beneath their feet.

Babs stood up and shook out her hair. “It’s done. Finally it’s done. Thank you.” She slumped down. “I’m going to get some sleep, these spells take some kick. Really, thank you.”

Mel shrugged. “I’m pretty sure you’ve done most of the work, but-ooph” Babs slammed into her, arms wrapped tightly around her. Mel held her awkwardly, realizing for the first time the six inches she held over her fellow mage.

“Thanks.” Babs let go and scurried off to her tent. Mel watched her go with a smile. She should probably wrap things up and get some sleep herself, no telling what tomorrow might hold.
>>
Leftover Mana Usage (7)

You have two empty wands, a standard Tier 1, and a Spherical Tier 2. Mel’s not sure how spherical wands differ from their counterparts, but a ball is typically something you throw, so it might be well suited to offensive spells.

> Carve and enchant a tier 2 wand for later (5)
> Make a tier 2 mana potion from the centipede heart (5)
> Ready a tier 2 explosion spell and store it on the Orb Wand. (5 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
> Ready a tier 1 explosion spell and store it on the Standard Wand (1 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
> Refill your telekinesis wand (1, index bone)
> Write in
>>
>>5380132
> Ready a tier 2 explosion spell and store it on the Orb Wand. (5 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
>>
>>5380145
Explosive ordnance can only be useful when fighting an undead generalissimo who favours fortifications.
>>
>>5380132
> Ready a tier 2 explosion spell and store it on the Orb Wand. (5 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
>>
>>5380132
>Ready a tier 2 explosion spell and store it on the Orb Wand. (5 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
>>
>>5380132
> Ready a tier 2 explosion spell and store it on the Orb Wand. (5 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
> Ready a tier 1 explosion spell and store it on the Standard Wand (1 and a pinky bone, you have 2)
like, if that can make five small explosions, that's a pretty cheap way to take out all the armored skeletons.

maybe
> Repair rune on clothes, bringing it to (4/5), and keeping us at two days to apply the last one.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2022/5311042/#p5331965
"It's typically quite possible to fuel several wands from a single burn."
does this mean burn multiple sachets in one fire, or that one sachet can fuel multiple wands?
>>
>>5380400
One sachet, multiple wands. And yes, you can use a higher level fire to fill a lower level wand, so you could fill both wands with a tier 2 fire.

In retrospect this might be wildly imbalanced, but eh, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
>>
>>5380499
sure, fill both. that still gives makes the tier 1 wand's spell tier 1, yeah?

saves us 1 mana, use that to make another tier 1 wand...
can we immediately fill that with this too?
>>
>>5380504

If you want to all in on explosion wands then we can have Mel carve and enchant two standard level one wands, then enchant and burn a tier 2 explosion sachet and fill all of her blanks with that smoke, while being very careful with her mental state, the smoke rising off the fire is an active explosion spell after all that can go off with a pretty minimal mental prod.
>>
>>5380564
unless anyone disagrees. I think we should have at least 2 t1 explosion wands for the skeletons, getting a third one is efficient for later I guess, but probably not necessary.

that makes it
spend 5 mana on a t2 explosion sachet.
spend 2 mana on t1 wands (someone can do something else with 1 of this if they want)
charge every blank wand with explosion.

gotta add to the clothes repair spell tomorrow. think that wasn't at night, so we'll need to add to that early in the day.
>>
> Explosion wands

She was going to need weapons, without a doubt, and explosions felt like the perfect tool to break bones. A fresh pair of wands were carved, enchanted and added to the heap of existing blanks. A serviceable paper pouch was dug out of her various supplies, a pinky removed from her old skeletal companion, then enchanted together with a shout of Vitae. The fire was built up to a merry blaze, then the enchanted sachet tossed in.

There was a violet flash, then a sudden awareness of the smoke rising up above the flame, a feeling of standing on a cliff with the urge to jump, and she just had to give it a little nudge. She reeled back from the feeling, trembling with energy and gathered up her wands, thrusting them over the flame, letting smoke coil and fill each notch and etching. Sweat ran off her as the stinging smoke filled her eyes until she had to retreat. She was definitely going to need a better way for stronger spells.

Three tier 1 wands filled with explosive smoke, and this tier 2 orb also filled. She took a moment to study the orb and the smoke on it. The design was definitely distinct from the normal wands, there seemed to be some empty space that the smoke had refused to fill. She fiddled with it and found the smoke seemed to shift and move with her fingers, flowing out of a large area into two other areas.

The first area was marked with a spoked wheel on one side and an hourglass on the other, maybe a symbol of time? While it was one long line curling and weaving along the orb there seemed to be five distinct sections. Only a little smoke filled the entire area.

The other side looked fairly similar, but was marked with a four point starburst and a simple arrow on the other side. Unlike its companion it took nearly all of the smoke to fill, leaving just enough smoke to fill the other side. An adjustable wand. Was this an intensity setting? Could she trigger all five charges at once? She carefully slid all of the smoke back to the reservoir of the orb.

Gently setting her pile of explosive magic to the side Mel yawned and retired to bed. Hopefully nothing too terrible would happen tomorrow.
>>
Sleep was easy, the vibration of the grand rune beneath her lulling her to sleep, but before dawn rose something disturbed Mel. She opened her eyes, finding her tent collapsed around on her. She pushed the fabric off, then stared.

The tombs were gone, replaced by large trees, their canopy covering the sky. A riot of flowers and vines carpeted the ground, climbing the tree trunks, overrunning the workbench and shelves. Mel turned slowly staring and walked out past the trees. Grass, shrubs and greenery carpeted the hill, marked by a torrent of water flowing out of the side of the hill. The water cut a path down the hill toward where the dead forest once stood, forming a new creek, revived trees on either side of it. Even as she watched dead trees sprang back to life, flourishing with leaves in a slowly advancing line toward the red lake.

“That’s pretty amazing Babs. It’s all coming back.” She glanced around, not finding her companion. The tent was gone. She turned to a rustling of feathers, barely catching sight of a large bird vanishing into the air, a scroll dropped to the ground. She picked it up, finding a vial of clear liquid in it and a note.

Something has awoken in the red lake, I’ve gone to kill it. This vial will open the gate to Spellbreak, break through the skeletons and get out of here, it won’t be safe here for much longer. I’m not sure if I can handle this thing and it’s coming for the rune circle. Get out while you can.

In the direction of the red lake something red roared, the sound echoing off distant mountains, and reared up out of the water, looming over the trees, tiny at this distance, but doubtlessly gigantic. Mel glanced down at the vial, probably a third tier magical item of some sort. She had to make a decision.

Where do you go?
> Give the golem orders to pile up your things and follow you, then head to the skeletons and either fight or bypass them.
> To hell with that, go help Babs fight the giant monster, there’s so much more to dig out of this region and you’re not getting chased out of it.
> Write in?

How do you prepare

> I’m ready.
> Write in (wands, potions, runes, etc)
>>
so, some conjectures.
mages together at least as powerful as Babs set up the circle rather than kill the monster.
that's bad, probably means they couldn't.

but the monster didn't stop them. that's good, means it can be stopped. and it's been sealed for ages.

the water has healing and antidote properties. that thing is emitting poison. the water will be essential to fighting it, for attacking and/or surviving.
>>
>>5380713
if Babs is going to bite off more than she can chew, she better have the common courtesy to steal Yellow Eyes' weather crystal.
definitely at least try to help.

my not nuts idea is to
> fight the creature. use our living spells to manipulate the healing water: dip Arx Merco in the water before launching, keep water in an Aers to shield against the poison it's totally going to use.

my nuts idea is to
> try to make the hill contraption pull in and enchant (5356171) more water, if it looks like it can. by diverting the other stream. by using Arx to freeze the water into a dam.

questions if we somehow end up seriously considering the nuts plan, or the answer to any of these is obvious.
- where's the water the circle is getting coming from? can we see the normal stream from here, and does that look dryer then usual?
- is this thing built to enchant more water than it's getting? (i.e. is the water coming out at any sort of pressure?)
- is Babs' cottage and the river near it uphill from the base of the hilltop tombs?
>>
or rather, the tomb hilltop.
>>
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>>5380816

If you form an Arx Merco under water it'll use the existing water to form the spear.

The healing water is restricted to plants so uh, don't stab anyone you like with it though. But no points for guessing which monster on screen is plantlike enough to count.
>>
I'd forgotten about the healing shiv. what a classic, I might reread now. that era was the peak of webcomics.

>>5380713
>> Give the golem orders to pile up your things and follow you, then head to the skeletons and either fight or bypass them.
This is partly motivated by reading a bit ago our QM complaining (lightly) that we were sitting in the starting zone too long and didn't seem to want to move. Admittedly I do understand completionist impulses towards wanting to know everything about the area, but I also think it's okay to move on and see more of the setting the QM wants to show off.
>>
>>5380963

You should absolutely do what you want to do, not what I would want you to do.

My vote is definitely to let me have a fight between a giant monster and a Tier four mage with you providing critical support by fighting lots of monsters.And literally fighting your way inside the beast.
>>
>>5380713
>To hell with that, go help Babs fight the giant monster, there’s so much more to dig out of this region and you’re not getting chased out of it.
Babs is the closest thing we've had to a friend since we've gotten to the Spellwild. Turning our back on her in a time of need would be shitty.
>How do you prepare
Make sure we bring anything that could be useful. Healing and mana potions, poison cure potion if we have it, our explosives and so on.
>>
>>5380713
> To hell with that, go help Babs fight the giant monster, there’s so much more to dig out of this region and you’re not getting chased out of it.

> Write in (wands, potions, runes, etc
Give the golem the magic weather orb so h can go full suicide bomber.
Also make an imp wand, and we can just throw him headfirst into combat
>>
>>5380713
> To hell with that, go help Babs fight the giant monster, there’s so much more to dig out of this region and you’re not getting chased out of it.

>Give the golem the magic weather orb so h can go full suicide bomber.

>>5380963
We can leave the area AFTER we save our buddy who did so much for us.
>>
>>5380835
if we have an empty storage for liquid, grab some of the antidote. e.g. to wash off poison. does the antidote part work on people?
>>
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Another roar echoed off the mountains, rustling the trees. She looked around at the verdant life spilling down the previously barren hill, out to the new stream thronged by saplings and greenery, that surge of life working its way steadily toward the red lake. Her golem stood by, waiting for orders, the black stone set off to one side.

She glanced down at the note and frowned. The hell was Babs thinking, sending Mel away like a scared child. The note crumpled into a trembling fist. How many times had someone told her and her family to run away? How many times had she packed her things in a hurry and fled one place for another?

“Golem, head for the red lake, as fast as you can. Take this, get as close to that monster as you can and smash it.” The golem accepted the cloudy marble and stumped off. Now for her own preparations. Thank...well not the gods but whoever else might be listening that she had a decent set of clothes to work with finally. Wands, potions, and spell crystals were tucked into pockets in a hurry. She tucked a ring and middle finger together into a sachet, a quick enchantment and fire later and she could create an imp on the fly, although she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go for a first or second tier imp, either way as long as it come out angry and closer to an enemy than her. She tossed her black agate into a jar as well, she could grab some hawthorne on her way out and enchant an antidote potion on the fly as well if she needed.

She turned toward the red lake. No one made her run away, not men, not monsters, not gods.
>>
Ok, not the best time, but she needed to get somewhere in her understanding of Ignis. She’d been working the word over in her mind and on her lips for days now as she walked from place to place, trying to remember or find the perfect cadence of syllables and stress to make flame from mana. She was close, probably not close enough to use the proper spell to hurl arrows of flame, but close enough to use the whispered version of the spell, which was hopefully something manageable. She needed easy, quick fire.

“Ignis. Ignis. Ignis” She muttered as she walked and followed the newly flowing water. This imp spell was worthless if she couldn’t make fire, and she couldn’t imagine having a chance against this monster to sit down with a tinder box and build a fire. Of course she would still need a large fire for the imp, but if she could just get a whispered Ignis out that was enough for the first level. “Ignis. Ignis.” Close. She could feel the spell trying to form, if she could just get it right. It’d probably take a little more work to get past the whisper but... “Ignis. No focus, Ignis. Work damn it. Ignis.

A fingertip of flame burst to life, trembling on her fingertip. She stared at it, eyes wide, then gently, carefully rolled it into the palm of her hand, letting it grow until it filled the space. Fire, in her hand. She gently, carefully fed a leaf to it, singing her fingertips in the process as a new flame not under her control came to life. Her flame was harmless, but any it created were a danger. Something to remember. Ok, she could at least use a first level imp with a couple quick spells. Maybe if she felt lucky she could try for the proper spell, but it was probably chancy.

Almost to her destination.
>>
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“I thought I told you to run.” Her tone was severe, but the smile on Babs’s face, and the tiny relaxed movement on the shoulders said otherwise.

“That thing is fucking huge.” Mel stared, up, and then up some more. Rivers of red water poured off of matted fur, or maybe red moss. It was still standing up, straightening out, massive roots attached to one arm ripping out of the ground. Massive virulent orange outgrowths covered large parts of the spindly (relative to its size) monster, seemingly growing or covering blackened and rotting bark. Did it even realize they were here? Did it care?

“It’s a treant, or it was. An ancient tree given divine power. This one was corrupted, transformed, then locked away here in this lake, covered in healing waters for a thousand years to heal it, or at least keep it dormant. While the waters were stagnant it has grown more corrupt and insane, its existence a painful contradiction. When the healing waters came again it truly awoke, pained by the healing water, thinking of only one thing. Follow it to the source and destroy it.”

“You knew this thing was here!?”

Babs shook her head. “Divine vision while I was breaking through last night.” The treant finished straightening out and let out a ground shaking roar. Hunks of red sap dropped off of it, then exploded as smaller monstrosities clawed their way out.

“We should probably do something about that.” Mel shuddered as high up on the treant shapes started to crawl out of cracks and crevices, then took flight.

Babs nodded. “Watch my back, I’m going to try and bring it down to its knees. Oh, and take these, trap plants, use the whole potion in one spot.” Babs pressed three potions into Mel’s hand.


Ground Defense Mana: 15/15. Health: Good
> Use a pair of Arx Shouts to create a quick palisade of spears
> Set down the three ‘trap plants’
> Use a pair of Arx Merco Shouts to cut down and wound enemies before they get close
> Write in

Aerial Defense
> Shout Aers and keep them disoriented and away
> Burn a couple first tier explosion wand charges and knock them out of the sky
> Write in
>>
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Status Day 11

Basics. Food: 1 Days. Firewood: 1 Days. Health: Good
Mana: 3 tier 2 spells, or 15 tier 1 spells.

Divine Words: Arx (Ice Spear), Vitae (Enchant), Aers (Wind), Merco (Speed), Ignis (80% Learned)
Divine Word Techniques: Silent Casting (20% Learned). Chant (20% Learned). Invoke (50 % Learned). Declare (1% Learned).
Living Spells (Reduces cost by 1 tier): Arx (Ice Spear), Aers (Wind), Arx Merco (Ranged Ice Spear)

Smoke Weaving: Telekinesis (index). Imp Summoning (Ring/Middle). Explosion (Pinky)
Smoke Weaving Wands: Standard. Orb.
Bone Pile: pinky, 2 ring, middle, index, toe

Ley Flows: Wound Healing, Antidote, Curse Catcher, Zircon & Fulgurite is unknown

Rune Circles: Standard
Runes: Glow, Repair, Dawn, Dawn Negation, (four untested symbols known)
Rune Circle Gear: Scribe Kit, Chisel Kit

Wands:
Telekinesis Wand (T1) 1/5 charges.
??? Wand (T1) 5/5 charges.
???? Orb Wand (T1) 5/5 charges.
Explosion Orb Wand (T2).
3 Explosion Wands (T1)

Potions:
Healing potion (T2).
Healing potion(T1).
Water defense potion(T1).
Grapple Vine potion(2).
Dragon Lycan Potion (T3).
Murky Brown Potion (T2)
4 Mana Potions (T1)

Runed Tools: Glow Lantern(T1). Repairing Clothes 3/5 (T1). Repairing Backpack (T1).

Spell Crystals: Weather magic (T4), Combat magic (T3)

Reagents: 1 Centipede Eggs(T1) 1 Centipede Mandible(T2). 1 Centipede Heart (T2). 1 Dragon Heart Scale (T4).
Summons: Golem(T1).
Camp: Basic Camp.Basic Crafting gear. Sturdy Smoker. Workbench.

Pic: Alternate inspiration for monster
>>
>>5381909
warn Babs about the golem with the weather crystal. might want to call that off or at least know.

how far away are we from the antidote creek?
are we in woods that are currently being healed?

do we have a flask of antidote water like I asked for a few hours ago?
>>
>>5381909
> Set down the three ‘trap plants’
> Burn a couple first tier explosion wand charges and knock them out of the sky
Conserve our mana.
>>
>>5381909
Oh, and what >>5381937 said:
>warn Babs about the golem with the weather crystal

Add that to >>5381944
>>
>>5381937
You have a jar of water and herbs and a gem you could enchant on the fly to make an antidote potion.

The healing water is immediately to your right, you followed it to this point, and it's flowing on past the treant. The forest around you is still mostly dead, the healing properties of the water have mostly expended themselves on the forest before this point.

About an acre of forest will heal per day, radiating out from the lake and stream, roughly one tree every ten minutes or so.
>>
>>5381972
I'm talking magic water from the creek, from closer to the hill, which would be useful to keep plant summons healthy.

would be easier fighting it further up the river where there's healing water in the ground.

>>5381911
>trap plants
>explosion wand

oh, and I think the repairing backpack isn't repairing anymore, that was a single casting.
>>
>>5382003

Ah, I understand now. Sure, let's say you've got three vials of the water, drawn from where it emerges from the hillside. Should be useful for both offense and defense.
>>
"Bring it down? How are you going to-"

Babs dropped to her knees, rolled up her sleeves revealing green tattoos of vines, and plunged her arms to the elbows straight into the ground.

"Verde!"

The vine tattoos writhed, coursing to her fingertips. Dead trees shuddered. The treant turned, a sap oozing eye focusing directly at them.

"Shit." Mel whispered as packs of creatures both above and below swiveled toward them. "Is that spell going to do something?"

"Only if you shut up and let me focus on it!"

"Got it!" Mel stepped in front of the druid. Time to see what this trap plant could do. She emptied the potion on the ground and took a step back. A spiderweb of vines sprouted out, forming a wide circle. Two more potions formed a sizable area of vines on the ground.

"Eyes up Mel!" Babs called out.

Mel jerked her eyes up as screeching forms descended toward them.

"Got it!" Mel pointed her wand skyward, smoke spilling out of it. "Aers." Wind danced under her control, just in time to intercept the first screeching attacker.

The fiend was the size of a dog and more leathery wings and grotesque hummingbird beak than the bark and vein like sap holding its form together. Her lash of Aers sent one careening into another, flummoxed a third, then twisted to send another crashing to the ground. "Arx." A spear ripped up through the fallen fiend, into her hand, then was swung like a club into the nearest fiend. Aers whipped around her, shielding best it could, but the damn things were everywhere.

Roll Not one, but two 2D100 BO3
>>
Rolled 31, 18, 83, 35 = 167 (4d100)

>>5383076
>>
Gosh, I've lost my ability to actually write coherent thoughts. Just 2D100 BO3 please. I'm not sure what I was trying to say there.
>>
Rolled 34, 50 = 84 (2d100)

>>5383127
>>
Rolled 26, 79 = 105 (2d100)

>>5383127
Don't sweat it.

>>5383076
Rollin'.
>>
Like giving in to the voice at the edge of a cliff. Two conflagrations of flame blossomed into existence, heat pulsing across Mel's skin, light searing her eyes, shockwave staggering her feet. Aerial fiends screeched and panicked in all directions, some crashing to the ground, others colliding together in a panic.

Unfortunately one of the fallen tumbled directly into her, razor beak bloodying her leg several times before she ended it with a stab of her spear. No sooner had she kicked the corpse away the first howls erupted.

She turned toward the front in time to see the first of the ground based monsters, a red moss covered wolf thing ran across the patch of vines. A vine twitched, then a patch of ground twisted and span, ripping the wolf underground without a trace. More wolves, more blurs of earth and vine ripping them under. “Arx Merco.” A spear of ice materialized from the stream next to her and launched out, then another and another, cutting the wolves down. Two leapt across, one directly into Arx, the other for her throat.

Aers to slow it down, then a simple fist to its throat to knock the fight out of it. The wolf crashed to the ground orange bile spilling from its throat before she finished it with Arx.

The ground shook, and an entire tree ripped out of the earth under the treant, lifting its foot. It howled bent down, massive hand gripping around the tree only to find hundreds of vines racing up the tree trunk and its own hands. More vines, as thick as a person, raced up, snaring and gripping, dragging the giant down, some crawling up the hand, others grabbing the foot of the monster. It jerked its hand free with a roar and then pulled with its foot.

“C’mon you bastard!” Babs screamed out, sweat pouring down her face, body trembling. “Go down!” Virulent orange raced down the vines, snapping one by one. “No! Damn it! Wait, what is that!?” Babs pointed as a big black blur pounded across the battlefield, ridden by something.

Mel squinted. “Is that...Bruno, and my golem? Oh no.”
>>
Babs ripped her hands free from the ground. “Aers!” A whirlwind whipped into existence around them, scattering the flying monsters. “What the hell are they doing!?”

Arx.” Mel impaled a particularly daring wolf as it lunged past the trap plants, then jerked the spear free. “The golem has spell crystal from Yellow Eyes.”

The tornado surrounding them shifted, blocking both ground and sky.

“And that seemed like a good idea!?”

“Do you see the size of that thing? Of course it seemed like a good idea!”

There was a shudder of energy, a disturbance in the mana and they both turned as the skies darkened and twisted. A tornado, the size of the treant twisted down from the heavens as rain fell from the skies and the wind howled all around them. Babs hurled her own wind outward, throwing wolves and flying fiends alike.

The treant staggered under the force of the tornado, desperately bracing itself against the force of nature. Unfortunately most of the vines Babs had thrown up to hold it down were also flailing in that same wind. “What now?” Mel shouted.

“I’m not sure.” Babs stared at the tornado and the treant struggling against each other as rain streaked down. “We need to get close to put the hurt to it, but anything I do to get up on it is going to have its attention, and I don’t think you can really distract it from the ground.”

“Then get me up on it. I’ve got explosion wands, I can hurt it.”

Babs glanced between Mel and the treant. “You sure? It’s not exactly going to be safe.”

“And showing up to this fight was? How are you getting me up there?”

“Well...there’s the direct approach. I form a bridge with Verde right at the thing and you run up it, preferably with magical speed of some sort. It’s obviously going to see you coming, but I’ll also be running interference, and there’s that damn tornado too. There’s the sneaky approach, I send some vines running up its leg, just enough to bear your weight and you climb as fast as you can while I keep its attention. There’s...the crazy approach. Let’s not do the crazy approach.”

> Direct Approach
> Sneaky Approach
> Crazy Approach
>>
>>5383240
>Crazy Approach
>>
>>5383240
>I get closer, then I stop and you create a bridge under me the last distance? need handholds.
otherwise
>direct approach
>>
>>5383240
> Sneaky Approach
>>
>>5383240
> Crazy Approach
>>
>>5383240
>> Crazy Approach
Sure, sounds fun. At least, fun to read.
>>
>>5383240
>Direct Approach
>>
>>5383240
> Crazy Approach
>>
Nothing from me tonight, sorry y'all.
>>
I lied.


"What's the crazy approach?"

"No, forget I said it."

"I really don't want to climb this thing, or get swatted by it. What's the crazy approach?"

"I throw you right at its head and then you stab it until it dies."

"Let's do it, this is our best time to go for the kill. Get me up there."

Babs opened her mouth for a moment, then closed it. "Alright, make a rune circle, fast." Three wands appeared in her hands, smoke billowing out of all them, whipping in circles around Mel.

Mel dropped to her knees as the ground shifted under her, moving like a giant disc. She cut a rune circle into the ground with her knife, glancing up at Babs. "What effect do you want on it?"

One of the tendrils of smoke whipped over and cut a series lines into the ground. "That one. Vitae!." Mel stumbled backwards as earth shot up, shaping into a wall. The ground tilted, tipping her against the wall. "Hold on Mel!"

There was an explosion. Mel found herself slammed against the wall, screaming as the world dropped away, the sky filling her view. The treant turned and stared, coming closer and closer into view.

"Oh fuckkk!"

The earthen missile slammed into the treant's face, launching Mel forward. The world was a blur of movement and pain for what felt like minutes, but was probably seconds. She stumbled up, calling Arx to hand for support and looked forward.

The treant stared back at the insect perched on its nose, confusion and shock rapidly twisting into the snarl of insane rage. A massive hand swung up, writhing with roots and descended toward her.

> Shout Arx, right in its eye
> Explosion Orb Wand, max settings, hurled at the hand as it draws closer.
> Write in?
>>
>>5384258
>> Shout Arx, right in its eye
Man we need to shove our arm into its eye, then max power explosion.
Arms grow back right?
>>
>>5384258
>Shout Arx, right in its eye
>>
>>5384258
>>5384258
kinda feel like the default prompts are supposed to be panicked and wouldn't help much.
>write in
>speak Merco plus Merco Aers, dodge the hand while staying on its head.
plan:
either find a hole on the front or side of its head, or make one with Arx and the magic water. this thing have watery eye goop? probably not.
put the bomb in that with max explosion and and 1 fuse section, then slide down its front.
>>
> Eye poke

How do you hurt something this size? She bolted up the nose, feet sliding on rain soaked rotting wood, slipping and catching herself with Arx daggers. A root the size of a tree trunk shot down inches in front of her then lashed back, catching her arm and spinning her around. Another root swept by overhead, wind ruffling her hair and she ducked, trying to keep moving.

The treant jerked its head violently and she dropped, stabbing knives into the ground. Her body shook like a doll, knives ripping up chunks of rotting wood, swampy vapors flooding her nose. Her injured arm throbbed, veins pulsing orange, of course the damn things were poisonous. No time right now. She drug herself to her knees and looked directly into the eye of the treant. Sorrow, pain, anger, tempered and purified over thousands of years stared back at her.

Arx!” Five razor sharp spears of ice plunged right into that ancient eye. The giant howled, stumbling backward and Mel rolled forward with the movement, grabbing the nearest spear and ripping it upward through the eye, then back down, a shower of milky liquid spraying out on each strike. She dug in her pockets for one of the explosion wands, one of those jammed through the cut had to do some damage.

Far below a series of explosions shook the titan, then it tipped backwards. Mel stumbled and fell, crashing against the spongy eye of the beast. Her stomach lurched as the entire colossus twisted and fell.

And fell.

And fell. It was a little startling how high up they were, and how far it was to the ground, her body drifting ever so slightly from the eye. Her stomach actually unknotted for a moment.

And then the ground. She slammed into the eye, the surface warping under the force, then snapping back and throwing her into the air. Her stomach twisted again as she looked out at the apex of her bounce. There was Babs, riding on Bruno with the golem, with her wand spilling smoke that twisted and lashed, ripping and tearing chunks of bark as it went. Mel crashed back down and scrambled to her feet, wobbling on the eye of the monster.

There was a surge of mana and fresh green vines coursed up the sides of the treant, slithering like a thousand snakes over the body of the beast. Bab’s voice boomed (magically enhanced?). “I’m holding it down, kill the damn thing!”

How though?

Health: Poisoned, battered and bleeding
Mana: 14/15

> Explosion Wand and Orb, right through the eye
> Tier 2 Imp Summon and get to a safe distance while it goes beserk
> Drink the dragon potion and hope you get something from it that can put out the damage
> Crack the third tier spell crystal and see what it lets loose
> Write in?

Healing Potions
> Make a tier 2 antidote potion and drink it
> Drink a tier 1 healing potion
> Drink a tier 2 healing potion
> Save them, you can handle the poison and wounds a bit longer
>>
>>5384953
> Explosion Wand and Orb, right through the eye.
it's a weak spot, but filled with goop the orb wand would probably float on.
ah. dig a hole with the explosive wands, but don't go for the center of the eye, go for the corner closest to the nose. if we're lucky we expose airways or the space behind its eye, so we can stick the orb deeper.
maybe place some Arx over the orb it to keep it in place and direct more of the explosion downwards.
fuck, does getting wet distrupt wands?

> Make a tier 2 antidote and drink it
poison's going to get worse.
>>
>>5384953
> Explosion Wand and Orb, right through the eye
> Make a tier 2 antidote and drink it
>>
>>5384953
>> Explosion Wand and Orb, right through the eye
These are the things Mel has which she understands the most. Everything else is just a guess and a hope
> Make a tier 2 antidote potion and drink it
>>
Mel ripped the prepared antidote potion from her pack, that poison was just getting worse by the moment. “Vitae!” She threw it back, sighing as the throbbing in her arm faded, but didn’t completely stop. Better than nothing. She peered down at the twitching eye beneath her. Beneath that eye was a mind, and that mind needed to be halted. Her explosion wand lashed out, once, twice and a third time, fiery explosions scorching and ripping a cauterized path down through the head of the monster. Orb wand, maximum power, three seconds, and drop. One second passed before she realized the explosion was twenty five times stronger than the first three.

She sprinted, scrambling down to the chest of the creature just as the shockwave shot through the creature, entire body heaving with shock, vines snapping. A pillar of fire roared into the sky. Mel stumbled to her knees and waited, rain soaking into her, vortex of wind roaring along just a few hundred feet away. Babs shot into the air and landed with a short stumble a few feet way.

“Did you get it!?”

Mel shrugged. “It’s not moving.” She clutched her arm. “How bad is this poison?”

“You’ll live as long as you hit with some kind of antidote.” She knelt, a hand on the body of the treant, hair whipping in the wind. “Something...”

“I don’t like the way you said that.”

“Which part?” Babs asked with a quick grin before turning back to the rotten bark below them. She stood and turned slowly, hand raised, facing the chest of the beast. Mel felt the mana tugging toward her companion, rippling and converging.

“I know you’re in there you piece of shit. Riding in this corpse, rotting this wood, get out here so I can kill you.”

The corpse shuddered. Mel took a deep breath. “Arx Merco!” Five glistening spears materialized, shuddering and ready. “Arx Merco!” Another five. Then bark tore like paper, something foul, red and formless ripping out in front of her, pouncing toward her. Ten spears launched at once, ripping into the thing. Then Babs invoked.

> Tayr: Launch it into the sky, let gravity handle the rest. Seek shelter from the ensuing mess.
> Vult: Bring the wrath of the storm down on it in a single blinding strike.
> Morte: Order it to die by sheer magical force, without a host it should be unable to resist the spell.

In case I don't get another chance (page 11!) but we're obviously wrapping up. I'm going to take a decent length hiatus after we finish here, so our next thread will be about a month from now. I need some time to recharge a bit and plan out Spellbreak and the next regions, as well as the wider plot. Hope you've all been having fun, I'm not super happy with this Kaiju fight we've had but I hope it's been interesting on your end.
>>
>>5385903
>> Vult: Bring the wrath of the storm down on it in a single blinding strike.
>>
File: Lightning.jpg (249 KB, 1440x1080)
249 KB
249 KB JPG
Vult.

Lightning spiderwebbed across the clouded sky, collapsing to a point, then a single jagged bolt dropped, searing its image into Mel’s eyelids in the instant before Babs threw her hands up in front of their faces. Every muscle in Mel’s body clenched as a fraction of the lightning’s power cut though her, then the bark of the treant exploded, throwing both of them backwards.

She rolled to a stop and blinked at the stubborn afterimage of the lightning bolt. Somewhere beyond it was a large red smear.

“Are we alive?” She asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Probably shouldn’t have done that so close to us, but when life hands you a giant storm to work with...”

“You seek cover? Flee the area? I can still see the lightning Babs. And the tornado. It’s dead right?”

“It’s dead.” Babs grinned in spite of wind and rain pouring down. “This place is finally safe, forever. Let’s get out of here before that tornado hits us with a tree.”


---

That's a wrap for this thread everyone! Thanks for riding along. As stated above I'm going to put this on hiatus for about a month, for rest and prep both. See you around! With any luck we'll get to Spellbreak fairly quickly next thread.



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