Dungeon Delver Quest (Original Fantasy... again)

yrsillar · Nov 19, 2015

Character Stats Skills Utility Skills Equipment Inventory

Name: Yatsurugi no Yuuka
Gender: Female
Species: Oni

Level 4: 21/120
Job: Oni Warrior C

Health: 12(Level+Toughness+Will)

Passive:
Oni's Vigor: You recover one health at the end of each battle.

Bio: Straightforward, perceptive, and exceedingly blunt to the point of cleverness. Yuuka proceeds in the quickest path to her goals and, while capable of subtlety rarely sees the need. Far from an idiot, Yuuka is actually both perceptive and intelligent. She simply does not deal well with roundabout paths or sparing the feelings of others. If lost in a maze, her first instinct would simply be to break down every wall before her until she found the exit. She clings passionately to friends and teachers, and is respectful, earnest and dutiful to her own detriment, but Yuuka has no time for those she considers fools.

The virtues of wandering to gain experience were written in a book in Yuuka's homeland. So, trusty club in hand, she set out on a journey without much in the way of planning or notifying friends or family. She's quite lost and a bit confused by her present environment. But Yuuka's most useful solution to any problem has always been brute force, and she's sure it will help her through this more or less.

Recently she has reached the strange tower rumors have spoken of, and has temporarily teamed up with a put upon elven summoner named Murdan. While exploring the tower the two of them came across an odd and brash woman fighting alone, named Ansom. After defeating the present enemy they parted on amicable terms.
Strength: 5 (18)

Toughness: 6 (16)

Agility: 1 (7)

Dexterity: 1 (7)

Perception: 2 (12)

Power: 1 (3)

Will: 2 (14)

Presence: 1 (14)

Unspent Points: 2
Greatclub C
Youare a master of the greatclub, able to swing these massive weapons as if they were no more than a normal club.
-Passive: Add two additional Successes to all successful attacks. Successful attacks reduce enemy armor quality by one.
-Arc Smash: 5/day. A single auto attack that targets up to three targets in melee.
-Skullcracker: 3/day An aimed attack that sends the enemy reeling. Reduces attack dice by two, but stuns the target on a successful hit.
-Meteor Crash: 3/day. A drawn out overhand swing that deals double damage on a hit, but subtracts 2 dice from your defense until the next turn.
-Steel Whirlwind:1 /day A wild attack that strikes all enemies in melee with you. Does not benefit from the Passive of this skill. reduces your defense by two dice until the end of the next turn.

Warrior's Challenge: D
You laugh in the face of danger and invite your enemies to attack you endlessly
-Passive: You begin each battle with target priority of 3+Presence
- Don't Run Away! 5/day Prevent an enemy from leaving melee with you
-Come at Me!: 1/day Challenges a single target which then suffers a die penalty equal to half your presence(Min 1) to all attacks which do not include you.

Adamant Body E
The art of hardening the muscles and skin with your inner energy.
-Passive: Add two dice to your defense against piercing and slashing attacks.
-Invulnerable: 1/day When struck by a melee attack negate the damage and reduce the quality of the weapon used by two. Weapons reduced to zero quality are destroyed. Creatures using natural weapons instead suffer two points of damage.
Breaker D
You don't have time for barriers, puzzles or traps.
-Passive: You add two additional success to all checks to break through barriers, and reduce the duration of roots by one turn.
-Annoying!: 4/day automatically destroy a single trap or barrier which you have failed to get through at least once.
-Like That'll stop me!: 2/day Automatically triggered. Cancels the damage of one trap per activation.

Steel Stomach D
You can digest nearly anything.
Passive: You are immune to all toxins and receive some benefits from consuming Ingredients
Oni Club: A massive studded club wielded by wandering Oni. Nothing special. Quality 2

Yamabushi's Garb: Flowing garments made of incredibly durable and flame retardant cloth. Quality 2 (3 vs. Fire)
3 Potions of Minor Healing(?): Restores three health. Mint flavored.
20 Deucite Shards
Wanderer's Garb: Simple travelers clothing. Offers no particular protection(cloth) Quality 0
Lesser Berserkers Elixir: Heals three health and provides a +2 bonus to strength for one battle. 5 Shards
2 Bonemeal

5 Free slots

yrsillar · Nov 23, 2015

You were always a light sleeper, and not exactly a morning person either, so when you feel something cold and wet against your shoulder, well no one who knew you would be surprised by what happened. Your fist snaps out and smacks straight into what feels like a persons face, if you know, a person was made of thick jello.

You still sit up immediately though, blinking groggily in the dim, misty light of the early morning. Your haphazard camp is just as you remember it, except for the whimpering bundle of rags curled up at the base of a tree about five feet from your bedroll. You only get a brief glimpse of panicked and watery blue eyes set in a pale face before it vanishes in a swirl of gross looking shadows.

What the hells?

"Oi, what's the big idea!" you call out in annoyed tone, as you snatch up your club from the ground beside you, while scrambling to your feet. You notice some weird strands of those gross, oily shadows falling off your arms too, almost like cords that somebody had torn apart. Really, just what kinda situation are you in now! Things on the mainland are so weird.

Your challenge gets no response except for some early morning birdsong though, and although you are still plenty tense from waking up with somebody right over you like that, eventually you are going to have to relax out of your combat stance and admit that you look really silly standing here glaring at the trees with your sleeping robe hanging halfway off your shoulders. You don't feel like you're being watched either, so you musta scared them off. Whoever it is must be pretty tough though if they were still conscious after getting socked by an oni. Maybe some kinda slime? Their face felt pretty weird on your knuckles after all, but you haven't seen a slime since hitting the continent.

Casting one more wary glance around you lower your club a bit and quickly tug your robe back into place. No point in going back to sleep now, you can see a glimmer of sun on the horizon, and only one of the moons is still out. Not like it's easy to fall asleep in this damp forest anyway. You never thought you would miss the rocky cliffs of your home so much, but at least it was dry most of the time there.

This tower thing has been all folks have been talking about on the mainland though. Ever since you hit Jhaggra, the trading port your people deal with you've been hearing about people setting off for it and leaving, seems like half the people your age are running off to this place. You ignored it for a while. It sounded like total bull. Sure, there was that big tower on the Four Deva's Mountain, but no one really believes those stories about the First bodyslamming a demon the size of a castle off the top and creating the Three Rivers Gorge, it's just a story to get the youngins pumped up and motivated.

Folks around here seem to believe it though, and you've seen a couple more towers in the mainland cities that looked awful familiar, usually with their own stories of some hero doing something ridiculous at that top. That's not to say you really focused on it. the whole point of this trip was to see some of the world your people spent so much time ignoring. The old scrolls might say otherwise, but the reality is your people don't tend to leave your islands much. That's just so boring though.

Of course… that doesn't mean you have any idea of what you're doing. You didn't exactly make plans. Or let anyone know you were leaving. The most experience you had with the mainland was your Dad humoring a younger you and bringing you along to market in Jhaggra when he was selling some wares. Oni forged steel is apparently pretty prized around here. So… you've kinda been wandering at random, you have tradespeak down pretty well, so communication isn't a problem…although you're hazier on the letters, but that doesn't mean you know where you're going. Without a destination in mind, you eventually decided to go see what all the fuss was about. If it was just a jumped up monster lair, you could have a bit of fun knocking heads and be on your way. If not, well, you guess you can hang around then.

You should probably quit having lengthy flashbacks while some creeper is out in the woods watching you too, you think a bit wryly as you finish packing up your camp. You don't have much, just a few changes of clothes, your weapon and some camping supplies, as well as a handful of mixed coinage. You might have to do a little merc work soon if this tower thing doesn't work out, an Oni's appetite is pretty hard on the coinpurse.

Hopefully you're getting close. You're pretty tired of these woods. Not even to mention that you're down to drinking water. You've had a bit of a headache for past couple days because of that. For some reason good alcohol is kinda expensive on the mainland. Actual oni brew even moreso. You don't understand why, it's not like foreigners can drink it without acting all weird and goofy… or passing out twitching in the case of oni stuff.

Trudging through the woods isn't so bad. There's surprisingly few monsters around, and normal animals don't really bother you. The mist is a little hard to navigate through though. Still, the sun burns it off with time and by the time noon comes the trees have thinned out pretty well. Soon enough you find a rough path, one made by countless feet and vehicles passing through, and figure you should follow it toward the valley in the distance, that's where the tower is supposed to be after all.

It's supposed hidden through some big magic, but once you get close enough you can see it? Sounds weird, but there are stranger things in the world. The path is surprisingly empty though, which is good, since it lets you keep an eye on your surroundings better, but weird, cause you thought everybody was coming to this place. Still, another hours walking brings you a change in scenery… namely a rather sad looking sign nailed haphazardly into the soil next to the path. You squint at the messily painted letters, trying to decipher what is written.

Ugh, couldn't whoever put this up have taken it slower? It looks like a toddler wrote this, and you aren't just saying that because your grasp on written Tradespeak is kinda shaky.

'Point of No Return: There's no going back after this.'

You snort, yeah, real subtle messy sign guy. How many people you think you'll scare off when they've already come this far? Shaking your head at the silliness of the sign, you step past it and…
Identifying new player. Scanning World Archive…
The… the hells, you can't move at all! It's like the air turned to stone around you or something!
race 64. charID 3456729 Subject found. Scanning Bio Data… creating adventurer template, please wait…
You struggle with all your strength, but somehow you can't budge an inch, you're actually starting to freak out a little. Is this that creeper from this morning again?!
Template created, applying…. Application Success. Loading tutorial…

The Tomb welcomes all challengers into its hold. Seek the apex of the tower, and witness Truth, and any desire will be yours. Fail and die in ignominy, your bones a warning to those who will pass through next. The beasts within are born of the Blood of Gods, and in death, they return to it. Only through use of the blood will you have any chance of victory. You are no longer simply mortal. You are the seed of something more. Whether you wither or flower is solely your choice.

Stat Explanation

Strength: Your ability to leverage brute force, affects melee attack acc/damage.
Toughness: How much physical punishment you can take: Defense against physical damage, adds to health
Agility: Your speed and maneuverability and reaction time. Defends against physical attacks if higher than toughness, determines turn order.
Dexterity: Controls smaller, fiddly motions and actions. Used in crafting, trap disabling, stealth and other such things.
Perception: Your ability to notice small details and find hidden things. Mostly used to counter stealth and find secrets.
Power: Your ability to leverage the well of arcane power available to all living things. Affects magical attacks acc/damage
Will: Your ability to persevere through difficulty and resist mental assaults: Defense against non-physical attacks. Adds to health.
Presence: Your ability to inspire others and lead: Some social effects, used for various leadership and pet taming classes.

Basic System Workings:

Rule 0: All rules are subject to change when QM deems necessary

Rule 1: All dice used are d10, success occurs on a roll of 7 or higher.

Your dice pool is determined by adding the values of your attributes and skills. For skills the dice assigned to each letter rank are as follows. The number of dice granted by your attributes are your stat divided by 2 rounded down. Minimum is zero.

E: 1 dice
D: 2 dice
C: 4 dice
B: 6 dice
A: 10 Dice
S: 15 Dice
EX: ??

Equipment relevant to a task at hand (such as a weapon during an attack, or lockpicks in a door unlocking) add automatic successes equal to their quality. You may only equip items with a quality lower than or equal to your level plus one.

In the case of static challenges, the challenge will have a flat number of minimum successes needed to pass. In the case of competitive challenges(attacking another person, a race against an npc etc.) all characters involved roll and the one with the highest number of successes wins.

In the case of attacks, for every success which exceeds the defenders successes one point of damage is dealt. So if you attack a monster and get 3 successes on attack, while it gets 2 on defense you deal one damage.

There are other modifiers, but they will be discussed later.

Raising/Purchasing Skills and Job Ranks

Skills and jobs have their rank increased through exactly one method. Use of deucite. Deucite is the crystalline material that remains after a tower monster is slain, and is colloquially known as godsblood. Monsters invariably drop at least one deucite shard when slain, with stronger monsters dropping more or larger pieces. Raising skills past C requires the larger pieces dropped only by elite monsters and bosses.

D: 5 Shards
C: 10 shards
B: 1 chunk
A: 1 Slab
S: 1 Slab, 2 Chunks
EX: ??

Purchasing skills is a bit different, in that each skill has its own price in shards. Some rare or high ranking skills may require a larger piece just to purchase/attune. Now you may be wondering, what does the Job Rank actually do? Increasing your job rank raises your stat caps(the number in parenthesis) and unlocks more skills for purchase. Certain ranks will also grant passive benefits, typically one at C and another at A and S.

Combat Systems

Aside from the basic attack/defense, there are a couple other items that should be mentioned. Turn order is determined solely by agility, although some npcs and monsters may have skills that affect it as well. Highest agility goes first and then all others in descending order.

The other major item is the 'target priority' system. Each character in your party begins with a target priority of zero unless modified by a skill. Enemies will move to attack the target with highest priority value. Each time a character damages an enemy this increases their priority by one. In the case of attacks that affect multiple targets this does mean that the characters priority increases by one for EACH enemy damaged. Killing an enemy increases your priority by two. Using a healing item or skill on another character increases your priority by two. Using such a thing on the character with the current highest priority increases it by three.

As always some skills may modify the base functions of this system.

Suddenly you couldn't care less about not being able to move as a searing pain sweeps through your body. For just a bare instant, it feels like your nerves are aflame, and your vision blacks out. You feel a rush of alien knowledge wash through your mind, and a moment later you come to, having fallen to your knees. As you blink away tears of pain, you find your vision dominated by…by some kind of glass pane with black writing on it in oni script… there's your name, and a bunch of numbers and words and…

You groan as knowledge of what it means bubbles up in your head, intensifying your water headache. Ugh… well, you guess that explains why they say people who go into the towers get strong ridiculously fast. You swipe your hand through the 'glass' banishing the irritating thing back to your thoughts. You fumble for a minute to pick up your club from where it fell in the grass. You're a little irritated at how low your weapon was rated. This was some of your dad's best work damn it. Stupid freaky magic.

Then you look up, and find out where everyone was. Spread out in the valley below you is a vast sea of tents and pavilions filled with what must be thousands of people thronging through them. Smoke rises from hundreds of campfires. You spot people of every species you've seen and a few dozen that you haven't. Rising above it all is a gargantuan tower of black stone, dead center in the encampment. It must be nearly a mile around at base and rises high enough to pierce the clouds, shrouding the top from view.

You force yourself back to your feet, steadying your still shaky knees and set off down the path. You might have to apologize to the sign guy if you ever saw him… but well, it would feel awfully pointless to go back now without getting at least a little of this 'Godsblood' stuff, now that you've gone through the pain of entry.

You draw surprisingly few stares as you reach the edge of the massive encampment. You get a few appraising looks, but nobody really stares the folks in the cities did when you passed through, despite the fact that you tower over most of them by a good two or three feet. Probably because there's people stranger than you wandering around. You spot everything from a androgynous man(?) made of purple crystal hawking armor, to a giant four armed bug putting on a show juggling swords, to a shifty looking guy with three bushy fox tails arguing with some lady who's half snake over the price of some potions, and that's just with a quick glance around. There are plenty of the more 'normal' races around too, humans and elves of every shade, stocky dwarves and downright tiny halflings.

You… honestly aren't sure what to do first. For all that the… entry filled your brain full of a bunch of junk about numbers and flowery bullcrap, you don't really know much. What's the currency like around here. Do you need some kind of permission to go into the tower? Is there somebody in charge of this mess? Where can a girl get something for this Deva's damned headache?

[] You can smell some good food from one of the bigger pavilions nearby, and you really could use a drink. Maybe you can kill two birds and get some information and a meal?
[] You should just wander around a bit, see what there is to see, maybe something or someone will stand out… Or take pity on the obviously lost newbie.
[] You can eat later, and screw wandering around like a lost puppy. You came here for the tower. You want to check out the tower.
[] No reason to go anywhere. Pick a person nearby and start talking.

((Alright, sorry this took so long, but here it is. I will take into account questions asked when Yuuka goes info hunting... if Yuuka goes info hunting. If it's a mechanics clarification I'll try to clear it up in thread.))

yrsillar · Nov 25, 2015

You kinda want to go poke around the tower, but your grumbling stomach and aching head really offer a strong argument for at least taking an hour to get something to eat and drink first, and it DOES smell pretty good. Decision made, you turn toward the direction of the smell, your greater height pretty easily allowing you to see over the crowd, and set off for the brightly colored pavilion venting smoke.

A minor incident of almost stepping on a pixie aside, you don't have too much trouble on the way. Most people around here seem to be minding their own business or focuses in their own little groups. The delicious smelling pavilion is pretty big too, and its wide entrance is actually tall enough that you only have to duck a little to enter. You were always self-conscious about being kinda short back home, but out in the wider world it's actually a little convenient. The interior is lit by wrought iron lanterns hanging from the rafters, each containing pretty light blue mage lights. It gives the place a relaxing kind of atmosphere.

There's a fair few people here, but you don't pay them any mind, instead heading toward the source of the delicious smells, a portion of the pavilion cut off from the rest by a heavy wooden counter. You pause for a moment to watch what looks like a human sized doll shaped like a pretty woman in some kind of weird frilly black and white dress walk out of the kitchen area, multiple trays of steaming food and pitchers of drinks held in it's four hands. You shake your head at the oddity. Magicians are weird. Behind the counter and in front of the admittedly impressive array of drinks is an actual person.

Whip thin and dressed like a guy version of one of the dolls outfits, the olive skinned elf offers you a welcoming smile, somehow managing to look you in the eye without giving the appearance of craning his neck. He has a lot of jewelry for a guy you notice, — lots of little glinting bracelets and rings and way too many jeweled piercings dangling from his pointy ears.

"Welcome, welcome," he says brightly as you reach the counter, his smile never shrinking, "I do not recognize your face, so I suppose the wonderful smell of my kitchen must have drawn you in as soon as you arrived."

You give him a slightly suspicious look, recognizing the dig for info for what it is, "Yeah pretty much," you admit. It's not like you're trying to sneak in or something. "After that welcome I figured I could use something to drink."

"Well, you have come to the right place then. You will find no wider selection of fine drinks here," he responds, cheerful tone never wavering. "I admit, the welcome is a bit bracing. At least you were not one of those left smoking in the grass though, yes?"

You nod even as your eyes scan over the selection behind him, eventually alighting on a woefully small bottle you recognize as a Black Mountain vintage; you're surprised a foreigner got a hold of some of that clan's work. "Oh, that weird message said the tower welcomed everyone. Was it lying?" you ask curiously, before pointing out the bottle behind him, "How much for that? Also, you have a menu or something?"

"Not everyone has the fortitude for the welcome," he replies with a shrug. "Since you are new, I assume you have no deucite?"

You frown, tearing your gaze away from the bottle, "Not yet, what's that got to do with anything?"

"I think you will find, young lady, that fewer and fewer shopkeepers accept anything but shards for their wares," he replies. "Of course, in my great kindness, I accept simple coin from newcomers; consider it a friendly warning for the future. The spirits will cost you three silver. Should you take a seat one of my waitresses will see you served a meal shortly."

You grumble at the cost, but if your coins are going to become worthless, you suppose it doesn't matter. As you dig out the coins you also remember your manners, such as they are, "Oh yeah, I'm Yuuka. What's your name? It's weird thinking of you as 'the elf'." As you speak you lay out the coins on the counter.

They are gone almost before you can blink as the smiling elf sets your newly purchased liquor on the counter, "Gemnus. I do hope you become a regular customer, Miss Yuuka."

You roll your eyes. This guy lays on the salesman shtick a little thick, but he doesn't seem bad precisely. "If your food is as good as it smells, I guess I might be," you reply as you turn away, bottle in hand and scan for an empty seat. There are plenty of them though, so you make your way to the closest and have a seat. The bench at the table groans a little under your weight, but holds just fine.

A moment later you've cracked the clay seal and down a nice burning gulp of the Black Mountains finest. You let out a happy sigh; the bottle is even runed to keep it at the perfect temperature. You can already feel your headache slipping away. If only it was a proper oni sized bottle… You spend a few moments savoring mouthfuls of the slightly heated spirits, until one of those weird 'waitresses' comes to your table side to hand out a menu. You watch it go with a little shudder; they're just a little too real looking. What the heck is their skin made of to look so real? It's only the barely visible joints and seams that give them away.

Well that and the dull, empty eyes. More than a few of the customers don't seem to mind ogling them despite that. They serve their purpose though, and your order gets collected and delivered efficiently and without error. You kinda wonder where the heck Gemnus got fresh fish so far inland, but he's pretty clearly some kind of wizard, so you don't put too much thought into the matter. Your order does come with a bonus though, a pair of small crystal vials holding a bright red liquid, and a note from the proprietor.

'For my new customer, this may be a bit forward, but I am sure someone of your clear determination intends to enter the tower at some point. For you I offer these two potions of minor healing. Consider it a bit of advertising, for one who has no head for the art. You can find the maker's tent some three lots to the east of mine. I should warn you, the owner is not as generous as I and will not accept any coin but shards.'

You frown at the potions and then back to Gemnus, who merely smiles back. Your first inclination… it's to be suspicious, frankly. Free stuff is always suspicious. On the other hand, well healing potions, that's pretty useful. In the end you pocket the potions, making you twitch as they seem to vanish and another surge of information washes through your head. That's going to get annoying.

Inventory has been changed since previous iterations. Rather than being based on strength, every character begins with ten slots, which can be modified by equipment or skills.Permanent items fit one to a slot; consumables can be held five to a slot. Deucite can fit an unlimited number in a slot, but only of a single type. So shards take one slot, chunks take another etc.

That is pretty much all there is to inventory this time around.

Your belly rumbles then, reminding you of what your priorities should be. Later, when you've finished your meal, you consider the other reason you came here, namely to get some answers on a few basic questions. The currency one has been answered, but other questions remain. You suppose the obvious one to ask is Gemnus, seeing as you know he won't just blow you off, but business does look to be picking up so he's also kinda busy. Looking around you try to figure out who you should talk to. Obviously you want to ask someone who isn't a total newbie like you, but how do you tell who is and who isn't?

After a few moments of deliberation your eyes settle on a guy sitting alone like you are, grimacing as he counts out a handful of tiny purple shards. He has pretty fancy clothes, but they look oddly worn, and he's an elf, like Gemnus, but paler and with long dark hair, which frankly looks kinda girly to you. Not that you had an easy time figuring out which foreigners were which at first. Especially with elves, the difference is pretty slight compared to what you were used to. Minor gender confusion aside, the little part of you affected by this place recognizes those shards as deucite. If he has some of that, obviously he's been here long enough to go into the tower, right?

Nodding at your own impeccable logic, you stand up, inevitably drawing some eyes as you stand to your full height, and start making your way across the pavilion interior, it doesn't take the guy long to notice you coming, although you guess it's helped along by the tiny female figure you just noticed standing on his shoulder whispering in his ear and pointing your way. His eyes immediately dart up from the shards on the table, to you… or rather your chest, but you suppose that's about face height for an average person, so you'll let it go since after a moment of surprise his gaze continues on up to your face.

…It's not like you're anything special in that regard anyway. You squint at the figure on his shoulder. Maybe a pixie or something? She has the wings for it. No matter though. "Hey, you mind me asking you some stuff?" you ask bluntly, figuring you shouldn't waste time, if he blows you off you can just look for someone else.

He stares at you for a second longer, "…I'm sorry, do I know you Miss…?"

"Real smooth Murdy," the tiny girl giggles, "When a girl asks for help, you're supposed to accept!"

You give the smaller of the two an amused look, that sounds like a policy that would get you taken advantage of a whole lot, "Yuuka," you reply, "And no you don't, but I figure you've been in the tower before, right, uh… Murdy?" What a weird name.

"My name is Murdan. Murdan Mall'eoch," he responds with an aggrieved sigh. "Please do not give strangers odd ideas Great Spirit."

"Murdy is Murdy, and my name is Slyph!" the little girl replies stubbornly.

"So can I ask you something or what?" you ask hastily, before what you suspect is a fruitless conversation can bloom.

"I suppose there is no harm in it," he responds giving the pouting 'spirit' on his shoulder one more aggrieved look. You can see a slightly considering look in his eyes. You don't really get why though.
"Alright," you respond anyway, dragging the bench out a few inches to more easily take a seat and let the poor guy stop craning his neck,"So I'm new here, I need to know the basics. I know shards are money on top of powering you up," you catch him grimacing at that, "But is there anyone in charge around here, anyone we have to talk too to get into the tower?"

"No, there is not really a central authority here," he admits. "I do believe some kingdoms tried, but well, just yesterday I saw a noblewoman arrive with an entire platoon of guards in tow. The only survivors of the welcome were herself and the captain of her guard. I suspect this place prevents any gathering of significant armed forces, though what mechanism it does so by is…"

"So nobody I need permission from, got it," you interrupt. You feel a little bad, but you aren't here for a full course on whatever magic runs the tower. Slyph giggles, but he looks a bit put out, "What stops people from just taking stuff then?"

"Nothing in particular, except fear of the current owners," he admits, "This place is rather lawless, I would warn you to be careful, but you look like you can take care of yourself."

"I guess you must be able to as well since nobody's taken your stuff yet." It's only polite to respond to a compliment with a compliment. Sylph laughs, and Murdan doesn't quite seem to know how to take your words, "Right, so what's it like in the tower? How far along are people on their way to the top?"

"The first floor is still being mapped," he responds with some amusement, "It is larger on the inside than the outside, and as you can see it is quite large on the outside. "As for what it is like…" he grimaces again. "Packed with monsters, it seems the first floor is largely full of undead."

"Murdy didn't get very far," Slyph adds in a stage whisper, "He blew his whole load in the first couple of fights! He doesn't have enough stamina to use us well yet, not like the old boss! Plus the grumpy lady who sells refreshing potions is super expensive!"

You can't help but snicker a bit at the betrayed look he shoots at the tiny girl, "Well if it's just bashing skeletons I suppose I won't have much trouble," you muse confidently.

That considering look returns as he turns away from his companion, "I was actually going to head in for the day soon. I could show you through the cleared area quite quickly."

You grin, "So you can take advantage of me bashing the baddies for you when we get past it?"

"Well, yes," he admits a bit sheepishly, "But I am hardly a pushover in combat, and my… stamina as my spirit puts it, will last much longer with a companion aiding the fight."

"That's not a very good pick up line Murdy," Slyph admonishes.

You consider it. Fighting alone is always a bit dicey, but it's not like you have any reason to trust this guy.

[] Bring him along, if he tries anything funny, you'll just squish him.
[] Nah, you'd rather go solo for now
[] Nah, but you should look for a partner before you head in
-[] What sort of partner are you looking for?

yrsillar · Nov 27, 2015

Ah, why not. He can save you some time and you can help the poor guy get a little farther, it's not like you're going to go to the top on the first trip. "Sure, that works for me."

Murdan briefly looks relieved, "Good, good, of course you wouldn't refuse," you aren't sure if he's talking to you or himself.

"Murdy's finally making friends, yay!" Sylph adds with a giggle, drawing a twitch from her summoner.

You shake your head, where did he find a spirit like that. You always thought they were supposed to be all alien and unknowable and stuff. Then you remember another question you had, "Oh yeah, D'you know if it's normal for the guy who runs this place to give out free potions?"

Murdan nods. "Yes, he is quite generous with them… because they are bait," he adds the last a bit bitterly. "The potions are of the highest quality, but the woman who makes them is… abrasive as well as expensive." He gives the elf behind the counter a contemplative look, "I believe they are siblings, but you know, for the life of me I cannot recognize which of the Elven lands they are from."
You shrug, according to most foreigners your folk are pretty abrasive too, so you can hardly fault somebody else for that. If her works good her works good, that's all that should matter for a crafter. "You could just ask him if it's bugging you," you point out.

"And be given a non-answer again," he grumbles. "In any case, the peculiarities of this place's patron do not matter much, are you prepared to venture forth?"

"Wow, so serious all of a sudden," Sylph teases.

"I am half inclined to dismiss you and summon one of the others if you keep this up," he retorts irritably to the fluttering sprite on his shoulder.

You hold back a snicker and move to stand, "Yeah, sure. I'm ready to go."

The two of you make your way out of Gemnus' pavilion. You tune out the minor bickering between Murdan and his summon as you work your way through the crowd, it's not too hard to get through, your size is enough to make people move aside for the most part, not that you act like some kinda thug and shove people around. You figure it's not worth pissing people off to save a few seconds.
Soon enough the tower looms ahead. An empty ring of well trampled and somewhat burnt dirt forming a perimeter some hundred paces out from the base to the nearest tents. The bottom of the tower is encircled by a short flight of stairs leading up to the many archways leading inside.

"A great deal of effort was spent just forcing the monsters back inside," Murdan comments, answering your unasked question, "I believe some folk take it upon themselves to watch for monsters trying to enter the encampment, but they no longer emerge in worrying numbers."

"I'll have to remember to sleep lightly then," you reply, giving the darkened entrances a measuring look. The afternoon light seems to dim near this place, like the black stone was absorbing the light. "Then again, I guess I'm gonna have to do that anyway if I don't wanna get robbed."

"Indeed," he grimaces, "I know a few enterprising folk who have set up 'safe areas' where they and their comrades will guard ones sleep for a fee."

"Or take advantage themselves," you respond wryly.

"Those who do, do not stay in business long," he retorts, "Just give me a moment to change spirits, with you here Sylph's defensive abilities should be less needed…"

"Rude!" cries the sprite, "Murdy shouldn't be mean just because he doesn't like my advice!" She cries out as she fades away.

You glance from the empty air where she once was to your companions face, "…You enjoyed that didn't you?"

He clears his throat, glancing away, "Some of my spirits are a tad… trying, yes."

You shake your head, amused, waiting for him to do his thing. It's a little annoying that it takes him almost a minute to call up the other spirit, during which he's apparently stuck standing still with his eyes closed, but you guess that's why he needs a bit of help. The new spirit is a tiny woman with bright red skin a shade lighter than yours and hair made of fire, who merely gives you an assessing look and a respectful nod instead of jabbering on. Finally Murdan opens his eyes and sighs tiredly, earning an unimpressed look from his silent spirit, "Alright then, shall we venture unto the breach then Miss Yuuka?"

"Just Yuuka," you dismiss, "And yeah, let's get going."

Your first impression of the towers interior is… that it's kind of a dump. It looks like the aftermath of a new year's festival in here. Shattered and charred stone, cracked masonry, doors torn off their hinges, the whole shebang. You don't like the décor much though; you never were one for skulls, unlike some people back home. Oddly you don't see a single sign of bodies or even blood anywhere despite the obvious signs of combat.

Murdan leads you through the twisting, empty passages, and you admit it's a real trial keeping track of where you're going with the sheer number of turns and doors and chambers full of shattered sarcophagi you have to go through, but eventually your companion slows his confidant pace. You can't help but notice that the passages you are in now are also far more intact, "This is around where I began encountering enemies last time," he says quietly, gesturing to some deep gauges in the wall, bisecting a particularly large fresco of skeletons bowing down in worship to… something. "The tower does seem to have some capacity to… regenerate, as it were, but the sheer number of people coming through is allowing us to push deeper."

You roll your shoulders and grin, pulling your club from where it hangs on your back, the comfortable and familiar weight fiiling you with confidence. "Alright, lets push it a little farther then, huh?"
You take the lead from here, striding confidently down the hall, although you do keep a sharp eye out for anything funny, a sprung pressure plate here, a broken blade trap there, nothing dangerous yet. That doesn't last long though, after Murdan directs you away from a tunnel he has already explored, you emerge in a small chamber lined with still more of the ever present sarcophagi, here though they are unbroken, and you only have Murdan's warning to prepare you for the skeletons that shamble out, eye sockets burning with cold light.

There are only four of the things though, and even if the ancient weapons they hold still look sharp, you aren't too worried. Grinning, you bring your club down on the floor, cracking the tiles in front of you, "Come at me!" It gets their attention, if nothing else, you aren't sure they even notice Murdan murmuring under his breath in your shadow. The next few seconds are chaotic as the undead rush you and you were forced to dodge blows of rusty swords, one manages to land a shallow cut on your forearm, but by then you've managed to wind up for a swing, and when your club comes down it reduces a skeleton to rapidly dissolving powder and shards.

At the same instant a lance of white hot flame burns through the air at your side and blasts another skeleton to splinters. With only two left, defending yourself gets a whole lot easier, and in a few more seconds they get pulverized as well.

"Are you well M… Yuuka," you hear Murdan call from behind you in the aftermath.

You shrug as you turn to face him resting your club on your shoulder, "Just a scratch, Whats the deal with these monsters though, even their weapons are dissolving." You gesture at the bones crumbling into twinkling white light.

"Just give it a moment," he responds. Indeed a few seconds later the motes from the dissolving monsters gather into a ball and then burst, leaving behind four shards of deucite.

You blink, surprised and a bit nonplussed. Reaching down you scoop the deucite off the floor, examining the weird shards of purple crystal… no that's not quite right, it's kinda metallic, like un-smelted ore. "Neat," you declare, before glancing back at Murdan to see him watching you with… a hint of wariness?

Oh right, you hold out your hand to him, "Two for each of us, right?"

He nods, seeming a bit relieved, "Quite so." He plucks his share out of your hand and the two of you stow your loot away before continuing on. "It is too bad we cannot destroy the sarcophagi, they will spawn more skeletons given time."

You give him a confused look, but bring up your club, quickly bringing it down in a two handed smash on the nearest sarcophagi… only to grunt in discomfort when your club rebounds, leaving only a tiny crack, "Huh, guess we can't." You glare at the thing. maybe if you used your daily from Breaker you could destroy one. "How did the rest of them get wrecked?"

"Large amounts of alchemical explosives," he answers dryly as you shake your stinging fingers.

"Tch, let me get a little stronger, and I can do it myself," you boast, a little irritated at the resilience of the stone box.

Soon enough you reach another split in the passage. One path continues straight on, and seems entirely unmarred, the rightmost path is a bit banged up, and you think you hear the sounds of battle in the distance. The left tunnel is unmarred too but the air feels clammy and cold, stinking of rot.

"Hm, That's new…" Murdan comments, wrinkling his nose as he peers down the left hallway. "I have not seen the atmosphere in here differ noticeably like this." The tiny woman on his shoulder has a disgusted look on her face too.

Hmm… Murdan will probably follow you whichever way you choose, you are his meatshield. So…

+2 XP
+2 Deucite Shards

[] Straight
[] Right
[] Left

((Alright, here we go. Your Omake is noted by the way Bailey))

Yuuka's Current Health: 5/6

yrsillar · Dec 2, 2015

You glance between the passages for a moment, considering which to take. Left is tempting, since there might be something interesting down that way, but your kinda curious to see some of the others fighting their way through this tower too, so…

"Let's head right," you decide, already turning to start down the hall as you speak. "We can always check the left later."

"I suppose so," Murdan replies, hurrying to catch up with your longer strides, "I do not know that whoever is fighting will appreciate the aid though. Some of the others in the tower are rather… possessive."

"If they want to be jerks I can always smack them too," you point out, only half joking. Your brash response draws a quiet snicker from your companions summon, and a sigh from the elf himself. Conversation falls off then though seeing as you don't want to lose your focus on your surroundings. It's a good thing too since your attention lets you avoid tromping on a pressure plate and getting riddled with bolts. The plate is pretty obvious once you've seen it, so you remember to keep an eye out for anything similar and point it out to Murdan too. Minor distractions aside, it doesn't take you too long after that to reach the source of the noise. At the end of the hall is a pretty massive square chamber, with each side holding another exit, the ceiling rises into a dome overhead and the room is encircled with pillars alternating with open sarcophagi.

The floor is also littered with bones, and combined with the sarcophagi there are a lot of skeletons in the room, some of the monsters are even better armed then the usual fare wearing the rusty remains of soldiers mail. Of course even with all the flickering eye sockets suddenly looking your way, it's hard not to notice the fight going on to your right at the south entrance of the room.
Mostly cause the lady fighting her way through the miniature horde lets out a downright loony laugh around the time you arrive, right as the two handed sword she's wielding carves through the spines of two skeletons and jams in a third. The sudden gap in the crowd around her gives you a better look at her, short silver hair, weirdly impractical black armor, which seems to exist more to show off her stacked figure than offer any real protection.

Then you have your own crowd of angry bones to deal with, grinning, you set your feet and wind up your club, "Back off!" you demand even as you bring your weapon around in a devastating arc, the first two skeletons in the way are pulverized, the third is merely reduced to shards. It was the sort of attack that would have normal enemies faltering as half their number were wiped out in one blow. Unfortunately, the undead do not know fear.

On the other hand, you've got a backup as well, and an explosion of bright flames engulfs the rank behind the front, leaving you to deal with the three remaining after your swing. One of which is the better equipped ones. The clumsy blows of the other two are easily avoided, but you underestimate the skill of the third and barely avoid getting stabbed in the gut, instead only taking a shallow cut across your side. Ugh, you might need to consider getting some actual armor if you're gonna keep doing this. You hadn't bothered when you left home, trusting your natural toughness to carry you through, but this is gonna be a real pain without any protection.

As your club smashes into a helmed skull, sending teeth scattering as the bony dome whips across the room to smash against the opposite wall, you catch another glance at the other fighter, and briefly meet her eyes. There's a pretty vicious grin on her face, and it's matched in her gaze… you've seen eyes like that before, usually on an the crazy fools who go off to join the storm tamers.
Then the moment passes and your back to wading through the shrinking swarm of enemies… or you would be if another half dozen didn't rise up from the seemingly endless bones on the floor, you hear Murdan call out behind you then, "There is a necromancer among them, get down!"

You have a brief moment to focus on one skeleton in particular lurking behind the others waiting in the wings, a chunk of petrified wood in one hand and some scraps of rotten cloth that might be generously called a robe hanging off it's shoulders, before you feel the building heat behind you and duck, only a few seconds later a white hot beam of fire carves straight through the armored skeleton guarding the robed one and the robed one before continuing on to leave a red hot scar on the wall.

"Now what did you go and do that for!" your inadvertent ally calls, sounding more amused than annoyed, we could have really farmed them up!"

"Rather not get overrun," you call grouchily as you pulverize another skeleton and receive another few superficial scratches in return.

"I have to agree with my companion," Murdan adds from behind you, following your advance at a safe distance, even so, you have to spin and yank a skeleton trying to peel away and attack him back, as he lays down another bolt of flame, less intense than the one that killed the necromancer.

"Tch, spoilsports," the woman snorts, you notice then an oddity, is it just you… or do the skeletons attacking her seem just a bit clumsier than the ones attacking you? It's nothing obvious, but they seem to get in each other's way at just the right times to cover holes in her defense.

The rest of the skeletons go down without much fanfare, but the fight has left you scratched and bloody in places. You grimace and pull a potion from your inventory, popping the wax stopper off to drink down the surprisingly tasty liquid. Tastes kind of like mint. More importantly you feel a comforting coolness throughout your body as wounds knit shut in a matter of seconds.

-2 Health
-1 Arc Smash, -1 Don't Run Away.
-1 Minor Healing Potion.
+3 Health

As the rewards for the battle begin to form in the center of the room, the woman gives the two of you a considering look. "I guess I won't make a big deal out of you stealing my kills, it's not like there was anything special about this bunch of trash mobs, so just this once, I'll do a three way split."

"Has nothing to do with the fact that there's two of us and one of you right?" you reply with a lazy drawl.

"Course not," she replies grinning, "Pretty sure your little boy toy would fall over from a stiff breeze, most magical types do, so it'd be one on one right quick."

"I am not so weak," Murdan adds with strained dignity, "And I am certainly no one's toy."

"What's with people and weird assumptions," you sigh. Deciding to ignore that for now, you continue on, sticking out your free hand in the near universal (as you've found so far) gesture of greeting, "Not gonna start a fight either, names Yuuka."

The other woman lets out a snorting laugh but clasps your hand anyway, she has a pretty decent grip for someone so much smaller than you. "Ansom will do. You're not too bad in a scrap" She releases your hand and glances toward your companion. "You got a name pretty boy?"

Murdan crosses his arms, a gesture mirrored by the summon on his shoulder, "Murdan Mall'eoch," he responds, just a bit stiffly, "And I am not pretty," he adds with a grumble.

"I've never met an elf that isn't," Ansom replies breezily, "Hasn't changed yet."

You do your best not to snicker, it'd be rude. She's totally right though.

"It is hardly my fault that humans have strange notions of beauty," Murdan replies with all the injured dignity of a nobleman.

"Whatever you say," she replies dismissively, before looking over to you, "Can't say I've seen an Oni away from the islands in a decade or two. Couldn't resist the challenge huh?"

"I just wanted to travel," you reply simply. "Found out about this place later, seems like a fun place to challenge myself." You squint at her, "I'm no expert on humans, but you don't look like you have more than two decades on ya." As you speak, the glowing motes in the room condense into a tidy pile of shards.

"I've aged gracefully," Ansom drawls. "Now not that this isn't all sorts of fun, but I'd rather be out carving up skeletons, so now that the shards are here, I'll take my share and get moving," the impatient woman is already glancing up one of the unexplored halls. "Maybe I'll look you up when the going gets a bit tougher. The two of you weren't terrible there."

"I guess you were passable yourself," you reply wryly, drawing a grin from the shorter woman. A few moments to count them out and divvy it up and Ansom heads off up the north tunnel, leaving the two of you to go east.

+8 Deucite Shards
+10 XP

"What a vulgar woman," Murdan grumbles once the two of you are alone, "Really, you would think you would polite to avoid conflict in that kind of situation."

"She doesn't seem like the type to avoid conflict period," you reply, amused. "You're just mad that she called you pretty. I'm surprised you paid any attention to what she was saying though, given the skin she was showin off." You start walking toward the other tunnel as you talk, with Murdan following. "if she had a good set of horns and a bit more height she woulda had the guys back home drooling." Not that you're jealous or anything, you've played around a bit, just like any oni your age, your horns are great if you do say so yourself, haven't cracked or chipped em in years.

"Not you as well," he grumbles, "I will have you know that all the physical attributes in the world do not make up for a poor personality."

Bullshit, you think but don't say. Maybe elves really are different that way though, First knows they have enough other weird customs. "We should keep moving though, how're you on stamina?"
The tiny summon on his shoulder gives a thumbs up, as your group leaves the room, Murdan responding verbally a second later, "I should be well enough to see us through a few more battles. I take you want to reach your first 'level up', before we leave?" he asks, the weird term for growing stronger sounds awkward coming out of his mouth.

"You got me," you admit. "It seems like I don't need much more after that big room."

"You would need less if the skeletons spawned by the necromancer were worth the full value," he responds.

You glance back, "So you weren't just worried about being overrun?"

He grimaces, "I was at that, but from what I have heard from others summoned foes are only worth a fraction of their normally spawned kin. Fighting them is wasteful."

Huh, the more you know.

The two of you wander the halls of the tower for a while longer smashing up smaller rooms worth of skellies, it isn't great loot-wise, but it adds up. You end up having to use up a charge of breaker to get through this weird spinning blade trap thing too. Eventually though you get enough to level after a room with three spear armed skeletons guarding a big iron door. You're getting kinda worn down, death by a thousand cuts and all. You could guzzle another potion, but that wouldn't refill your ability uses and Murdan's running low on everything but his basic fire bolt, so you decide to retire after that.

You do your best to recall the way as you stomp down the handful of skellies that respawned on the path behind you, and you think you'll be able to find your way back if you want.

+6 Deucite Shards
+10 XP

You take a deep breath of the cool evening air as you step outside of the tower, before turning back to Murdan, "Well, was good working with ya. I guess this is where we part ways though."
"I suppose so," Murdan replies as he steps out of the tower as well, casting a slightly relieved look at the evening sky. "You were a valuable companion, I would not be opposed to working together again."

"Same," you reply, briefly clasping hands with the elf, "We'll see though, gotta play the field a little you know?"

"Indeed," he says, amused. "We will just have to see what the future brings. Do stay safe."

"Yeah, you too, see ya Murdan," the two of you part ways at the camp, leaving you to ponder your evenings activity, and where to put your newly gained 'stat points' as well as how to spend your deucite, on one hand, you could probably power up your skills a fair bit, but you might want supplies or maybe something to wear that at least has a little defensive value. You then glance down at your now torn traveling clothes. Looks like you have some maintenance to do tonight too.

You have reached level two. You have two stat Points
[] Stat
[] Stat

You may spend your deucite on skills
[] Spending?

What would you like to do with your evening?
[] Check out the shops
[] Go around, meet people, be sociable.
[] Gather information on the tower.

Would you like to sleep under protection tonight? (Costs 2 Deucite Shards)
[] Yes/no

yrsillar · Dec 8, 2015

After you take a moment to spend your 'points' and a few shards empowering yourself, and doesn't that feel freaky, you decide you should figure out what to do with the evening. You suppose you'll get some shopping done, as much as you'd love to just stroll around, take in the sights and chat a bit, the pragmatic part of you knows you really should put in a little groundwork on figuring out exactly how much a 'Shard' is worth. Decided you make your way back into the bustling camp at the base of the tower, easily navigating the crowd by simple virtue of your bulk.

It's easier now though, if only because as the sun crawls down toward the horizon, the camp is settling down. Fewer people move between the many tents and pavilions now, though those that are still up seem warier and more furtive than their daytime counterparts. Your search for goods comes up short for the first little while. It's not that there aren't reasonably fine weapons and armor on display here and there, but rather that there really isn't anything suited to you.

Back home, not many of your kin go for metal armor, its plain unnecessary given your natural toughness, and that's not even considering how expensive it would be to make the sort of plate armor popular among smaller and squishier folks for an Oni. There's also the fact that none of the stuff you see would even fit you. Sure there are other races as big as Oni, but most of 'em tend toward more unique body types, so their stuff is a wash too.

You do make note of a nice little roped off area with a reasonably neatly painted sign up that reads 'Looking for Group?' It's kind of a weird way of saying it, but you get the idea. It's empty right now though, you'll have to take a look in the morning assuming you don't decide to track down Murdan. You finally find something that you can use, buried in the depths of a peddler's tent. The scrawny little skink running the place gives you the creeps, but he has bits and bobs from all over the place on display, and a few knick knacks that look like Oni work catch your eye.

Understanding the garbled common coming out of the tiny colorful lizardman is even more of a pain, but you manage to convey an interest in anything else from your homeland he might have, after a few frustrating minutes. You hit jackpot though, 'cause he actually has something useful among all the junk, namely an actual, genuine set of Yamabushi gear. You have no idea how something like that got off of home islands, but you're kinda glad it did. The mountain sages mostly live on the more active volcanoes and work to calm the spirits and keep them from blowing you all to kingdom come, so their everyday wear is pretty hardy.

It still almost physically hurts to pay out the ten shard price tag though. You know you'll earn more, but it still feels wrong to use something so precious like mere coins. Leaving behind a rather happy peddler, you alternate between feeling irritated at your now near broke state and happy at your acquisition. You suppose you'll have to find someplace to change. Once you do, it's not too different than your old stuff, except for the fact that the heavy sleeves actually cover your arms, and the sturdy leather bracers cover your wrists and the backs of your hands, and it takes a bit of fiddling to get the ties on the front right, you figure you can leave the headwrap down around your neck while you're in camp though. You think the pale orange coloring of the overcoat looks pretty good on you too.

Also frankly, a new pair of sandals does you pretty good, your old ones were getting pretty worn out. You might not have the shards to buy anything else, but you suppose it only makes sense to at least swing by and take a look at what potions are available too. The fact that it will take you back near Gemnus, tent for dinner is just a bonus.

The apothecaries tent is pretty easy to identify, mostly because of the multicolored steam and smoke floating lazily upward from slits in the fabric, and the oddly appetizing smell of potions being brewed. The proprietor has a surprising resemblance to Gemnus, almost enough to make you double take. You're pretty sure they're female, but the heavy protective smock, and goggles the brewer is wearing makes it hard to tell. She barely looks up from the trio of boiling cauldron's she is hovering over when you enter, acknowledging you just long enough to call out, "The golem can take care of purchases. Don't bother me unless you're looking to sell ingredients."

Looking over to the side, you see another one of the smiling 'maids' who served in Gemnus' pavilion standing behind a small display. You kind wish it wasn't another one of those glassy eyed smiling dolls manning the counter. You suppress a shudder when the thing turns briefly your way, and hunch your shoulders a bit, as you turn your attention back to the woman. She's… not exactly personable is she? "You not even gonna introduce yourself?" you reply as you move along to start looking over her stock. Each type of potion is labeled with neatly written placards with the price at the bottom. You wince at the expense of some of them.

For a few seconds you think she's going to ignore you entirely, "Inila. If you want chit chat go bother my brother." You finally hear her say, glancing up in time to see her carefully stirring the brilliant indigo contents of one of the cauldrons.

Huffing in amusement at her utter disregard for customer service, you continue to look around. There's some pretty good stuff you'll admit, although you can't afford anything at the moment. Your eyes do come to rest briefly on a neatly written sign hanging over one of the displays, 'Ingredients purchased. Inquire for details.' You suppose people probably find all sorts of weird stuff in the towers, if your enemies start dropping stuff besides godsblood you suppose you'll have a place to offload it. "You have any particular ingredients you're looking for?" you ask, more to see if you can bait a response than anything else.

This time the reply comes faster, "Anything created in the tower. If you provide the ingredients for a new mixture, I will provide you one free phial of the new mixture. I pay in barter otherwise."
You blink, that was a little more verbose than you were expecting, good to know though you suppose. You give a grunt of affirmation to let her know you heard her, and spend a few more minutes looking around. Your belly soon reminds you of your priorities though.

You take a stop over at Gemnus' pavilion and spend off the last of your normal coin for a good meal after that, startin tomorrow you're gonna have to consider the costs of food too… ugh. On the other hand, you should also probably be considering what sort of partner you want to look for tomorrow…

You ponder that as you search out a free space to roll out your bedroll in, and keep on pondering as you drift off to sleep.

Select up to two
[] Someone who can heal
[] Someone with some range
[] Someone who can sneak
[] A good supporter
[] Just see who approaches you tomorrow
[] Go it alone.
[] None( select if you do not want a second choice.)

-15 Shards
+1 Yamabushi's Garb

yrsillar · Dec 11, 2015

You awaken to the sounds of a bustling camp. Sitting up from your bedroll you idly look around. The sun is coming up over the horizon and many in the makeshift 'town' are rising with it. A cursory check shows that all of your stuff is still here, so apparently you made it through the night unmolested. Whether that's due to luck, your lack of shards or something else you couldn't say. Yawning, you set about packing up your bedroll and the other necessities of the morning; you'll probably want to look into a place to bathe too sometime in the next couple days now that you think about it. You're used to traveling at this point so it isn't a big deal yet, but you don't want to end up smelling gross either.

Putting aside thoughts of cleanliness for now you rummage about in your pack for a bit you can't really afford eating anywhere so you're gonna have to make due with some travel rations. It sucks, and you're still hungry afterward, but what can you do? You eye what you have left with some concern. If you eat the bare minimum you can probably get by another two days, and you'll be pretty miserable at that point. As much as it hurts you're going to have to buckle down and budget some shards for mundane stuff too.

Speaking of which, you should probably head over to that area you saw yesterday and see if you can pick up a couple helpers. A healer'd probably be nice since you don't have much in the way of potions yet, you don't have anything in particular in mind other than that. You probably don't want a group bigger than three for now though. You set off after your brief meal, making your way toward the meeting area.

Now that it's daytime the place is… well you wouldn't say packed, but there's a decent number of people standing around, some in groups or pairs and others alone. You stroll on in, drawing some appraising looks, but that doesn't bother you, everybody is appraising each other here. As your looking over the crowd though, eyes passing over what are obviously warriors like yourself, you remember something unfortunate. You don't have a single damn idea of how to identify a healer around here. They're usually River clan back home, but you don't see a single hint of blue skin and red and white garb anywhere. At least not together.

Course, you haven't seen another Oni since you left home, so that's not exactly surprising you know? It's still a little annoying. You move off from the entrance a bit so that you're not blocking people's way in, giving the folks in the crowd considering looks. Now, in the human cities you've been too, you kinda remember their healers wearing black and white, which was weird, but you don't see anything like that either. You wrack your brain for the sort of identifying marks you recall from your travels in other lands, but you don't spot a single one.

Finally annoyed at your lack of success, you stop near the edge of the area near a stubby little shrub as tall as your waist and turn to face the majority of the early morning crowd. "Hey! Looking for someone who knows a little healing! I can cover the smashing, I just need someone to patch me up afterward!" Your raised voice easily overpowers the other nearby sounds, echoing over the enclosure and the surrounding tents. You roll your eyes at the stares you get; a fair mix of good natured amusement, consideration, and disdain from some of the fancier sorts, instead crossing your arms to settle in and wait.

…Which turns out to not be long. You feel a tug at your sleeve and look down, blinking in surprise as you meet a pair of dark green eyes peeking out from under a shaggy fringe of… hair? It looks more like leaves. The fact that there seem to be branches growing out of it reaffirms that… Also the fact that you thought she was a shrub before. You aren't sure how that was managed, some kind of natural camouflage trick? "You're really loud aren't you?" her voice is kinda quiet, but not in a shy way. "Is it because you're so tall?"

You take a second to recover from your surprise and rub the back of your head sheepishly, "Ah, I wouldn't have yelled if I knew you were right next to me," you apologize, "I just needed to get people's attention."

"It's okay. If I forget to move people miss me all the time," she responds. You take a second to look her over now that you can see her properly, she's wearing some kind of simple brown and green dress, but she's totally barefoot. You guess it isn't much of a problem though since her skin seems kinda… barklike, like one of those weird skinny white trees…. Birch maybe? "I was thinking about something and forgot." She stares up at you without blinking, "How did you get so tall? Only Gran is as big as you, and you don't look all wrinkly."

Huh, fading out of sight if you hold still, sounds useful and annoying at the same time, "I'm actually a little short," you admit grudgingly. "Folks on my islands are just really tall. Helps us live in the mountains I guess."

She nods thoughtfully, "Oh, I guess it makes sense to be tall if everyone is tall. Otherwise it would be hard to get any sun." She frowns at the crowd. "Everyone is taller than me here," she mutters, sounding a little annoyed. She shrugs though, turning back to you, "I bet it's just as annoying being bigger than everyone else though. Or maybe you left home so you could be the big one?"

You snort, "Nah, I just wanted to get out and see the world, dunno how folks back home can be satisfied just staying on the islands, figured I'd see what was out beyond the sea."

She wrinkles her nose, it's kinda cute in childish way, "I don't like seawater, it tastes weird and made me sick. I wanted to see things away from home too though. Everyone at home is always telling me to slow down and calm down and think things through more," she frowns up at the tower, "I can heal some, but the last group I was with was annoyed because I slowed them down. Do you mind?"

You blink at the sudden change in subject. "Suppose not, as long as you're not gonna complain about pushing as far as we can."

"That's fine," she says with a nod, "I'm Linnea."

"Yuuka," you respond, holding out your hand…. And getting a blank stare in return. Maybe the gesture isn't as universal as you thought. "I think we should grab a third person before we head off though. Makes sense to get to know more people, you know?"

Linnea considers that for a moment then nods, looking out over the crowd. "Meeting new people IS fun when they aren't rude," she admits. "A lot of people here are pretty rude though," she adds with a hint of a pout.

"Really. Haven't seen it," you admit, eyeing a whole gaggle leaving the area -- must be ten people. They look like pretty standard sellswords, though with a lot of variation in species. You wonder how they expect to get a decent number of shards with that many people in the group.

Linnea scuffs one of her feet through the dirt as she frowns in the general direction of another pair on the other side of the enclosure, a pair of reasonably well armed humans chatting up a black winged woman in gauzy robes. Probably a Tengu? You've seen them before a couple times. "Being big must be nice," Linnea says by way of reply. "Or maybe it's the club? I bet I could talk one of the trees around here into giving up a branch…"

You can't help it, you laugh. "It's probably a little of both those things," you say as you get laughter under control. The crowd is starting to diminish at this point… and you're a little annoyed that no one else has even come in your direction. C'mon, you aren't that intimidating are you?

Then again, you've found that the reputation of your kind gets weirder the further you go out from home, so who knows what half of these people probably think of you. A few more minutes of small talk with Linnea tick by, and you're starting to consider heading off, when a movement catches your eye. You look up from your conversation with Linnea to see someone coming your way… or well not at first anyway, then your gaze drifts down to a messy mop of silvery gray hair that seems a bit oversized given the thinness of the face below it. The girl --- you're pretty sure it's a girl, but given the tattered black rags of tunic and cloak she has on it's hard to tell --- flinches a bit when you meet her eyes, the colors of her irises shifting violently from violet to a sort of yellow-gold.

"Ah… excuse me?" The girl pipes up, eyes darting away from your face. For all that she's approaching you she looks like she wants nothing more than to sink into the ground and disappear. You wonder if someone put her up to this.

"Yeah," you ask, drawing out the word as you glance around, trying to see if anyone else is watching. Linnea is silent, staring rather intensely at the newcomer. "You need something?"

She manages to settle her eyes on your toes, "I… I need a group to enter the tower with, and, ah… I was wondering if maybe you would let me join you?" She sounds kinda miserable, it's weird. "I'm Shadow, by the way." She manages a rather sickly smile although she still doesn't quite look you in the eye.

"You smell funny," Linnea's voice pipes up from around your waist, and she hasn't taken her eyes off the other girl, "Like a tree that's gone rotten under the bark. Are you sick?"

'Shadow', you're pretty damn sure that's not her real name gapes at your companion for a second, before shaking her head quickly, "I-no, I mean. Not exactly." She scrubs a thin hand through her messy hair, looking nervous, "I'm not contagious," she blurts, twitching and glancing over her shoulder as she does. "Look, um… I'm pretty good at killing things, so I won't be dead weight. So um… could we…?"

You share a look with Linnea, who's still frowning at the other girl, she shrugs though, as if to say that it's up to you. Well, do you want to take on little miss nerves?

[] Bring her along, you're sure you can handle her.
[] Nah, she seems kinda suspicious.

Also, where do you want to head first in the tower?

[] Just pick a direction and go
[] Check out the clammy hallway
[] Find your way back to that iron door you stopped at yesterday.

yrsillar · Dec 14, 2015

As much as you find it kinda suspicious that she won't look you in the eye, you can't say you're much worried about it. You'll deal with anything that comes up. "Sure, I want to get started anyway, I'm Yuuka" you respond, turning away to head for the exit of the area, "Hope you don't mind pushing hard though, 'cause I need to get the funds for the basics on top of powering up."

You can hear them following you, and Linnea introducing herself, and after a moment you remember Linnea's issue and shorten your own stride, allowing them to properly catch up. Shadow seems marginally less on edge, but that's not saying much. "The two of you are pretty new then too?" she asks hesitantly.

Linnea nods, not seeming out of breath at all despite almost trotting along to keep up with the two of you, "I dunno about Yuuka, but I only made it here a few days ago. I didn't find anyone who would take me with them until yesterday though."

You're gonna guess that's because she kinda looks like a kid. "Got here yesterday and went in yesterday. Partnered with a wizard who seemed alright." You glance Shadow's way, noting her utter lack of equipment, "Gonna guess you're some kinda spellcaster too?"

Shadow twitches at that, mumbling something unintelligible before speaking up, "Not… not exactly, not the kind of magic anybody else uses anyway." Seeming to want to change the topic quickly her odd color shifting eyes go to Linnea, "Ah, I didn't ask, but what can you do?" She gestures helplessly at you, "She's pretty obvious, but you don't have a weapon or anything either."

You snort in amusement, but don't disagree. Subtle you're not. Linnea responds quickly enough, "I heal. I can also," you glance back as she pauses, looking disgruntled, "Root things?" she adds, as if questioning herself, "I'm not sure if this weird place is making fun of me or not sometimes," she adds under her breath, "I can poison stuff too, but that's not much good against skeletons."

"That all sounds pretty useful," Shadow responds, sounding almost wistful before flinching, raising her hand to her temple as if pained by something. You shoot her a concerned glance, but she just smiles weekly and waves you off.

The three of you are nearing the tower now, joining the influx of adventurers heading in for the day… and passing a few weary souls heading out. You guess they must have gone for a night run. Some even look rather battered. You don't know if they were wimps or if they ran into tougher enemies though and you don't feel particularly inclined to ask.

…There is a little bit of a hold up a short ways from where you're entering though, ragged, haunted looking elf babbling something about a murderous screaming wind to anyone who will listen… You'll keep it in mind if you hear anything weird you guess. Shadow seems kinda curious as well, although she drops her head when you try to meet her eyes, "I guess we shouldn't get too cocky huh?" she says with a weak chuckle.

"Probably not, but no sense getting worked into a frenzy over maybe's either," you respond as the three of you pass through one of the towers many entrances and the sounds of the outside fall away near immediately.

"It might be a banshee," Linnea speaks up matter of factly, pulling both of you to a halt. "It would fit the floor theme, and that guy said some stuff that reminded me of them."

You blink, "The heck is a banshee?" Shadow seems just as much in the dark as you.

Linnea pauses in catching up with you, looking a bit bewildered at your question, "Undead Sidhe. They're really cranky, but they don't usually attack us…" She pauses, "Oh. I guess you two might have a problem though." She frowns, "You might want to get earplugs, and um… not look it in the face. You might die."

Shadow scrubs a hand through her hair, looking a bit more stressed than before, "Great," she mutters, "Let's hope we don't run into that yet."

"Can you hit 'em?" you ask bluntly as you restart your march down one of the many banged up halls. You still don't know what a 'Sidhe' is, but you know what's important.

"Kind of?" Linnea responds thoughtfully, "They still don't like metal so I guess you should be able to hit one."

"Then we'll be fine," you respond blithely. Linnea laughs, but you notice a bit of tension ease out of Shadow's shoulders. Best not to get worked up about maybes. You idly pull the bottom half of your new outfits headwrap up as the three of you head deeper into the tunnels. No point in leaving your head vulnerable, and cloth meant to keep volcanic ash outta your lungs should help a bit with the rot stink.

Things are fairly uneventful for a awhile, you fight a handful of skeletons here or there, but with your new gear and the backup you brought along they drop pretty fast. Shadow's 'Magic' turns out to be some weird thing where her hand turns into an ugly fleshy knife that makes your skin crawl. It tears through bone like paper though so you guess you aren't complaining. You catch Linnea staring at her after the little skirmishes, but you don't comment on it since neither starts anything.

+3 Shards
+3 XP

Finding your way back to the clammy smelly hall doesn't take too long, neither of your companions are particularly averse to it either. Shadow just wrinkles her nose and seems resigned, while Linnea just seems curious… and entirely unbothered by the smell.

"Dunno what we're gonna see past this point, so keep an eye out," you warn idly as you head down the hall, your voice slightly muffled by the cloth wrap over your mouth. It really does help with the smell.

"Probably zombies," Shadow mutters, "Smells about right for them."

"That's pretty likely," you admit cheerfully, "I was more talking about stuff like traps though."

She pauses and frowns, "Ah, yeah, I guess that makes more sense."

"You're about to step into a pit," Linnea calls out from behind you, bringing you up short and almost making shadow bump into you from behind. "I can feel the empty space," she adds helpfully.

Glancing down you do indeed notice a weird seam in the stone, "Huh, thank for the save, any idea how big it is?"

She frowns, looking down at her bare feet and wiggling her toes a bit, "Deep, but… not very far across, five feet maybe?"

Well you can jump that pretty easy, you glance to Shadow and she grimaces, "I can make it."

You shrug then and leave her too it, "Alright then, you wanna let me take you across then Linnea? Guessing you aren't much of a jumper."

She nods, not feeling the need to contest that. It only takes a moment for you to crouch down and let her hop onto your back. Making it across is trivial, Shadow doesn't have much trouble either. You idly smack the false floor with your club after you're across, making it crumble down onto the rusty spikes below, to make sure you can't miss it on the way back.

You finally see some real action after that, the next room has a dreary mist hovering around the floor and still more of the endless sarcophagi, but from them stumble not skeletons but shambling grey skinned corpses with worm eaten flesh and empty eyes. There are six of them, armed with nothing but likely supernatural strength and their fists… but you don't pay them much mind. You're attention is on the two muscular figures behind them tall enough to look you in the eye.

You fight back the urge to laugh, well this should be at least a little more interesting than pounding skeletons huh? Shadow is already circling around from behind you, using the fact that the enemies have eyes only for you to get better positioning, and even as you start forward your club in a two handed grip, you see Linnea stamp her foot on the ground, almost immediately the floor under one of the two larger zombies erupts, stone cracking and crumbling as thick vines and roots come up from the ground to coil around it's limbs and bind it in place.

You grin, now that's pretty useful. Your first swing bursts a zombie's head like a melon, though it's not half as appetizing, and you see another go down with Shadow's 'hand' slicing through to punch out of it's mouth. Her disgusted look as she yanks her hand back says it all.

With their numbers thinned, there's little the normal zombies can do but ineffectually grab and pound at you… but the bigger one still sends you skidding back a couple feet as you interpose your club between you and a meaty fist the size of a humans head. That could stung if you'd been a little slower.

"Don't worry about the little ones," you call out over the groans of the dead, "This many ain't gonna hurt me."

Shadow doesn't respond, but given the fact that one of the fists swinging for your head tumbles to the ground a moment later you'll say she heard. Your club puts the thing on it's back a moment later it's ribs collapsing inward from the force… still it seemed tougher than it should have been, like it resisted your blow or something.

"The other ones gonna break out soon!" You hear Linnea call as you fend off the attacks of the remaining zombies. You might be in for a bit of trouble without your new armor. You lower your shoulder and bull right through the weaklings in time to combo it down with Shadow as it rips free of the last of the roots. It's all cleanup after that.

"How many more times can you do that trick with the roots?" you ask once the last zombie falls and you're waiting for the loot to show up.

"Ah… two more right now," Linnea responds after a moment of her eyes scanning empty air, "I have five heals too… not that you've needed them so far." You can here a hint of question in her tone.
"Not yet," you admit cheerfully. "But put enough of those big guys in one room and that'll probably change," you add.

"I'm just glad all the enemies seem to care about is you," Shadow mutters, glancing down on the two exiting hallways from the room, "It's a lot easier to stab things when they aren't attacking you." She then glances at the two of you, "I… haven't used anything special yet. You'll know if I do."

"Yeah, I'm pretty hard to ignore," you respond lightly. "And I haven't used anything either," you add, before glancing down as the loot finally coalesces. It's a pretty decent haul, or it would be without having to split it between three people.

+4 Shards.
+6 XP

A bit of investigation shows that of the two paths you can take one continues on without obstacle, and the other ends in a heavy steel portcullis, beyond which the scent of rot really intensifies. You'd have to use a charge of breaker to get through though; it's too heavy for even you to lift. There's also an inscription on the frame of the doorway, which oddly enough you can read despite it not being any script you recognize.

'Demise Often Follows Bravery, and not Always for the Brave. Beware Unleashing that which is Contained.'

"Well that's not ominous at all," Shadow says from beside you, squinting up at the words, before flinching, her gaze skittering away from the strange words. "I think we can probably handle it," she adds, sounding weirdly miserable at the admission.

"The warning just makes me want to open it more," Linnea admits. "But I can't move it."

Well it comes down to you, something kinda bugs you about the warning but on the other hand you didn't come here to back down from the first vaguely worrying thing you've run into.

[] Through the Portcullis
[] Down the Hall

yrsillar · Dec 16, 2015

You eye the imposing gateway and roll your shoulders, limbering up your muscles for some real exertion. "Back up a bit," you say lightly. "Not sure how big a mess this is gonna make."

Linnea looks curious but backs up as you ask, giving you a bit more space to work. Shadow seems like she almost wants to say something, but whatever it is she decides against it, getting out of the splash radius as well. You take a deep breath and a step back, lowering your shoulder as you activate the mental 'switch' that's been blinking at the edge of your thoughts since you tried to lift the gate and failed. Activating your new 'abilities' still feels weird, but the rush of heat and power that fills your muscles as you charge forward at the otherwise impassible barrier. Is it just you or are you actually glowing?

It only lasts for a second in any case as you smash into the gate as an utterly unstoppable force, the sound of stressed metal and crumbling stone rings in your ears as you rip through the metal barrier like it was a rice paper screen and came out on the other side, trailing debris. It takes a second to reorient yourself as the ability fades and you glance down at yourself and then back at the gate. Not a scratch on you, but entire chunks of the door frame are missing and the bars of the portcullis are snapped and bend at weird angles leaving an opening easily big enough for your companions to get through.

Then you notice something else, the cool air of the tower now seems to hold an omnipresent malevolence, a pressure that seems to rest on your shoulders and make your skin crawl as if you were being watched. It's creepy, even if Linnea peeking her head through the opening you left a few seconds later distracts you from it.

"Some people back home would love you," the short plant girl comments as she hops over the broken bars, "Can you do that to anything constructed?"

"Anything that counts as an 'obstacle', I guess," you respond simply, brushing a bit of stone dust off your clothes.

"Being a walking, talking battering ram does seem pretty useful," Shadow adds as she follows behind, glancing around the corridor beyond cautiously. "I guess you'll never have to worry about being locked up, huh?"

"S'pose not," you reply, wandering why that would be her first thought. On the other hand… that is a good point, barely started on the tower and you've already become literally impossible to contain. This place is pretty ridiculous. It makes you wonder how many of the old myths are exaggerations. "I wonder if I could just plow through the ceiling and skip to the next floor," you wonder aloud as the three of you continue on.

"Maybe you can try if it takes too long to find the stairs," Linnea says, "I think the floors are supposed to get a lot harder the higher you go though."

You simply nod, you're intending to go floor skipping yet, if it's even possible, a niggling feeling tells you that it probably isn't that easy. Silence falls again, as you traverse the hall with an eye out for traps. There aren't any though, but you suppose the next room makes up for it, a cavernous chamber with walls alight with flickering magical runes, and at it's far end, a raised dais holding a flickering brazier of green fire. That isn't what draws your attention though. No, that's probably the four armored giant zombies standing stiffly against the four pillars the hold up the long room. Unlike your previous enemies their sallow grey flesh is protected by iron plates bolted right down into their bodies in a caricature of half plate armor, and their gauntlet covered hands hold heavy executioners axes big enough to give you pause.

They also seem to awaken the moment you enter the room, turning to face the entrance in exact time with each other. You hear Shadow curse under her breath as you feel four sets of dead eyes lock on you. "Well. Looks like you might get a shot at using those heals today Lin," you say with a laugh though, ready for your first real rumble in the tower.

"Don't lose your head, I can't fix that," is her dry response even as roots erupt from beneath one of the two closer enemies, binding it in place.

"You're crazy," Shadow mutters already circling away from you. "I'm going to focus on the one close right."

That's all the time for chit chat you have before battle is joined, Shadow's little knife trick punches through armor just as easily as it does flesh you find, but there's an awful lot of zombie to carve. Your attack crumbles the things helmet inward in what would be a lethal blow on a living thing, but the zombie ignores the fact that it's own brains are pouring out of the seams in it's helmet and attacks you anyway. Although you don't have much problem dodging the slow attack… his two friends joining in is more of a problem.

You have to bite back a scream as your block is a hair too slow to stop the third axe that comes your way from biting into your side. Luckily it catches on your ribs and doesn't go any deeper than that. Too make matters worse the brazier at the end of the room flares brightly, the flames briefly taking the appearance of a massive skull that spits out a bolt of green fire… at the wounded zombie. You curse as you see it's wounds knitting together.

Fairs fair though, because a second later warmth and comfort washes over your wounded side. You're almost distracted a moment later though when you hear Shadow snarl something guttural and ugly in a language you don't recognize and for an instant the room seems to grow darker before the air over your head warps and twists, tearing open to disgorge a writhing ball of shadows and eyes that fires like an arrow into the clearly animated brazier and explodes, sending broken bits of metal and glowing green coals everywhere as it's destroyed.

You don't know what the fuck that was, but your grateful for it anyway as you charge up an arc smash yourself your glowing club smashing all three zombies back with varying amounts of damage. The first axe you dodge, the second you catch on your club with a sound like a gong being struck, but once again, you can't entirely stop the third from getting under your guard. This time on your leg, you can also hear the sounds of the fourth zombie breaking free, which doesn't exactly make things better.

Still, the wound knits together almost as soon as it's made, so you don't pay it too much mind. You see Shadows knife-hand tear through most of the first zombies thigh, sending it tumbling to the ground in a wreck, and your own blow pulps the shoulder of the other, leaving the limb barely hanging on and sending it's axe tumbling to the floor. Even with the previously trapped zombie lumbering in to attack, you manage not to get wounded this time, helped along by one of your enemies lacking a weapon.

You find yourself grinning, that was a bit hairy for a second, but you feel like you've got this. Shadow puts down the one who's arm you took off a second later, and your follow up sends the other damaged zombie staggering. They're tough bastards, but between you and Shadow they go down pretty quick. You gotta give it to the girl, she is really good at killing things.

You take a deep breath when the last of the zombies falls, stepping back to avoid the things smelly guts landing on your sandles as it crumbles. Your poor gear is gonna need some… Huh, wait a second. You eye the bloody patch on the side of your armor incredulously, no tear at all. "Huh… didn't notice that before," you comment.

"What is it?" Shadow asks, you glance her way as she casts nervously around the room, is it just you or are the bags under her eyes a little darker?

"Looks like our stuff fixes itself," you respond, pointy to the places where blood stains your clothes, but no rip can be found.

She looks a bit incredulous herself, but your undamaged gear tells the truth of it. You glance down to see Linnea inspecting you as well. "This place really is weird. It tries to kill us, but fixes our stuff?" She sounds kind of bemused. She then glances up to meet your eyes, "Good job not losing your head."

"I'm pretty attached to it," you respond dryly in return. A glance to the side shows the glowing mist coalescing into your rewards is pretty big this time. As it solidifies you can see why. There are several pieces of gear as well as a veritable mountain of shards… at least in comparison to your previous hauls.

Giant Executioner's Axe: A heavy iron blade drowned in blood. If held close to the ear, one can hear the final screams of it's victims. Quality 2 10% chance to deal double damage on a successful hit. [Great Axe]

Green Skull Lantern: A clay facsimile in the shape of a skull, green fire dances in the eye sockets. Quality 2 [Talisman]

27 Shards
+25 XP

It's weird how you can apparently see short text descriptions just by looking at stuff. Still, that's a pretty darn good pile of shards. LInnea is the first to react, crouching down to scoop up the weird little skull in her hands, turning it over curiously to stare into the eyes, "I have a Talisman skill, and that's what it says this is, so what does it…" She mutters under her breath. She frowns eyes scanning over something you can't see and then smiles. "Oh, it makes my spells better." She seems pleased, and then almost drops the thing when it's jaw drops open and a short burst of green fire belches out.

"Good thing you turned it around," you say with some amusement as she fumbles with the thing. "Now if you can figure out how to do it on purpose you'll have a way to attack."

"I'll get the hang of it," she responds, with a pout. "Do you two mind if I take it? I can give up some shards from this fight."

"That sounds fair," Shadow responds. "Maybe we can split whatever we can sell the axe for. Unless you want it Yuuka."

You consider that for a second. Do you want it? You aren't any good with axes, but who knows what leveling up your job will give you.

[][Loot] Vote on Loot Allocation.

Once you've figured that out, the three of you search through the now empty room for an exit. It's Linnea that find it, being able to find the hollow space behind the false wall that conceals the next corridor. The next several hours are less exciting. The enemies here are stronger… zombies have armor and skeletons have proper weapons, but you don't run into any more truly dangerous groups, although you have a few close calls with dart and swinging blade traps. Linnea still uses up another heal and you another arc smash on the way though. You collect a decent number of shards and enough experience to gain a level but no further equipment. Who knew dungeon delving involved so much walking around in empty corridors?

+9 Shards
+8 XP

It's probably around mid afternoon, when you arrive at another contentious crossroads. One path goes dry returning the base state of the tower and the other is lit by eerie, floating will' o' wisps.

[] Dry Hall
[] Wispy Hall

(Hope folks don't mind the way I'm doing things in this one, but something that wore on me a bit in other quests was writing out the more trivial fights, so I'm going to stick with glossing over fights that aren't particularly tense or introduce something new and compiling their rewards in one blob.)

-2 Arc Smashes, -1 Annoying!

yrsillar · Dec 18, 2015

+12 Shards from division of previous gains

With about half of your abilities used up you'd rather not deal with the sort of magical mumbo jumbo implied by all the pretty floating lights, and neither of your companions seems inclined to argue with you. That might be because Linnea is distracted with her new toy though, and Shadow doesn't seem real particular about what you kill as long as you're killing stuff. Still, you do find your mind wandering as you walk the halls of the tower periodically stopping to smash a gang of armed and armored skeletons. They're a bit more dangerous than the ones you faced yesterday, but not too much so, and to make up for it, they've begun to periodically drop things besides shards!

+5 Shards
+8 XP
+4 Bonemeal: The powdered remains of an animated skeleton. [Ingredient]

You wonder if the monsters dropping crafting ingredients has something to do with being deeper inside the tower? Your thoughts are more on your companions though and breaking the boring silence you've lapsed into since the last fight. You cast around for a subject and quickly find one. "Hey, what brought you guys around to the tower anyway?"

Linnea looks up from fiddling with chain that allows her to comfortably hold her 'lantern' at the sound of your voice, answering pretty quickly, "I was just curious. I like discovering new things and I thought coming to a place with so many different people would be the best way to do it." She then frowns adding, "I was getting really restless at home too. No one ever wants to do anything exciting there."

You can't help it, you laugh, "It was kinda the same for me, though I just wanted to go out traveling for awhile, the tower came later. Don't get me wrong, home is great, but there's only so much to see in one place and I'm not ready to settle down yet." You shake your head, still keeping an eye on the hall in front of you, although you notice Shadow seems to be avoiding looking at the two of you again. "What's your story?"

She twitches a bit, but she can't really pretend you weren't talking to her when you're looking right at her. "I…" she hesitates, eyes flashing red, "I really need that wish."

"What for?" Linnea asks, looking curious.

Shadow shrugs jerkily, and says, "You said I was sick right?" As if that answers everything.

You frown, but don't push it any further. "Well, guess you've got your work cut out for you then," you instead say cheerfully, clapping the other girl on the back as gently as you can. She still almost stumbles and shoots you an irritated look, but it gets her out of her funk.

"Yeah, a real ordeal," she grumbles, before her eyes narrow and she comes to a stop, "More enemies ahead."

A few seconds later, you hear it, the sounds of metal shod feet on stone. Well crap, looks like you weren't paying enough attention, there is indeed some more emerging from the darkness ahead… but they're an unusual bunch, instead of a ragged mob you've got four skeletons marching down the hall in lockstep, covered head to toe in rust stained armor, that nonetheless looks like pretty fine quality, armored with heavy spears and shields, and behind the shieldwall you can see a glimpse of another skeleton with a fancy headdress and a staff.

You roll your shoulders and grin, well, who are you to refuse another good scrap. You kinda wish their were more though. Shadow is frowning though, "It's going to be a pain to get around behind," she seems oddly reluctant to use her abilities. You don't have more time to think on it though, because at that point you have to dodge to the side to avoid a bolt of oily black magic. Bastard has some range.

Unfortunately you aren't quite fast enough, and you feel the flesh on your upper arm sizzle and grow cold, and to your mild horror you find your club feeling rather a lot heavier than it did a second ago. "Damn wizards," you spit even as you move forward to face the advancing shield wall of skeletons. You do feel Linnea's magic washing over you, healing the damage done a moment later along with something encouraging said by the little dryad, but it doesn't take the unnatural weakness of your limbs away, or allay your irritation when your attack is actually rebuffed by a raised shield.

You wince at the stinging sensation, but can't help but feel a sense of vindictive satisfaction as you see the spellcasting skeleton take a… barbed off-white harpoon covered in eyes through the chest. What? You take a moment from dodging spears to glance at Shadow, and confirm what you just saw. "You shot your arm at him?" you ask incredulously.

She looks vaguely sick, holding her stump of an elbow with her good hand, and you notice now the rope of sinew connecting the projectile back to her stump, "Yeah. Now take him out when I pull!"
You grunt in pain as a spear scores against your side, but you do indeed wind up for a good smash as the struggling skeleton mage is yanked forward, bowling over two of his guards just before your club meets his fancily dressed skull and reduces it to splinters. You carefully ignore the freaky sound of Shadow's arm reattaching and reshaping itself. A burst of green fire distracts on of the other two skeletons stabbing at you, and without their backup and with half their number on the ground, the three of you make quick work of the shield wall.

"How come you didn't just blow them up?" Linnea asks as the bodies start to dissolve, looking curiously at Shadow.

She gives a shaky laugh, still uncomfortably rubbing her elbow with her other hand, "That powers kind of uh… expensive. I can't use it very often. The hook and pull thing is less, and it's good against wizards, but it still feels really…" she pauses, searching for the right word, "Weird. Let's go with weird." She finishes uncomfortably.

You'd go with freaky. Really freaky. You can't shake the feeling that some of those eyes were looking at you. You don't say anything like that though, it's pretty clear the girl isn't happy with her own powers and she doesn't need you acting like a ninny over it. "Well, seems pretty nice for reeling in casters."

She laughs, and it's not a very nice sound. Still not meeting your eyes, she responds, "Yeah. Their expressions are usually pretty funny."

Well. Hi there implications. You muse silently, sharing a look with Linnea. She shrugs though, seeming unbothered by it. Real laid back girl that Linnea. Even if she does occasionally eye Shadow like she might explode.

+9 Shards
+12 Experience
+1 Ancient Legionaire's Shield: A rust pitted shield forged in the service of an empire long dead. Quality 2 [Shield]

Since none of you use shields or even know anybody who uses shields, it gets stowed with the axe for later sale before you all set back off again. The occasional clash with heavily armed skeletons continues at a steady rate, although casters remain a rare thing. Linnea's last heal gets used up when you have an unfortunate sight failure and blunder into a repeating dart trap though, so that's irritating. With your abilities drying up for the day and knowing you have quite a distance to go to get back out again, you start heading back for the day. Although you did notice that the halls began to grow fancier in the direction you were going, silver filling the carven runes and gems beginning to dot the endless morbid frescoes of graveyards and death. Might want to try and push further this way another day.

Retracing your steps is in itself a minor pain in the neck, although dealing with the half respawned remnants of previous encounters doesn't present too much trouble. You do kinda wonder how you've managed to avoid running into other groups though, even on the way back… you ran into Ansom yesterday, but with the number of people in the tower you would think it'd be more common. You suppose this place is kinda… twisty like that.

On the other hand, as you get back to the more beaten and damaged sections of the tower you do run into other groups, both returning and going in. Actually, now that you think about it, you first started seeing people again where you started seeing destroyed spawners. Might be a coincidence though. It does give you a bit to observe how other exploreers mostly treat each other. You have a feeling Ansom is a bad baseline for behavior. People are wary of each other, and the usual reaction to finding someone else is to immediately head away from each other with barely more than a curt greeting at best. No one threatens violence that you see… but that might just be your presence.

Either way you reach the exit around the time the sun is starting to touch the horizon, and find a merchant willing to buy your loot shortly enough thereafter. Split three ways it's not a whole lot, but hey every little bit helps.

+16 Shards
+12 XP
+2 Bonemeal

"Well it's been fun," you say as the three of you of you head off from the merchants wagon. "I gotta get something to eat though, so unless you wanna come along this is where we part ways."
Linnea yawns sleepily, "I think I'm just going to find an out of the way place to stand, being out of the sun all day made me tired."

"I have some, personal stuff I should deal with," Shadow responds evasively. "It… wasn't bad working with you though. So I guess I don't mind doing it again," her whole delivery is almost endearly awkward.

Linnea nods sagely in response, "Yeah, you're pretty creepy, but you don't seem bad."

You restrain the urge to facepalm as Shadow twitches at that, "Right, both of ya seem like you have your heads on mostly straight. So I'll probably look you up again."

The three of you head off in directions after that. You'll probably stop by the alchemist to offload the ingredients you picked up, and grab some eats, but other than that, what should you do?

[][Stat Points]
-[] Point 1
-[] Point 2
[][Skills & Job] Spending?
[][Potions] Buying anything?
[][Misc] How much will you spend on food and drink?
[][Action] What would you like to do with your evening?
[][Sleep] Will you sleep under guard? Costs 2 shards

yrsillar · Dec 22, 2015

As you head off toward the apothecary you turn your thoughts toward spending the shards burning a hole in your pockets and the potential you gained from 'leveling up'. You can't help but grin as a rush of vitality fills your muscles, beating back the fatigue you built up over the day. It's strange knowing that you could probably take a punch dead on from one of the strongest fighters back home and hardly flinch. You weren't exactly weak mind, Mom never would have stood for that, but you aren't exactly a battle scar faced Bushi either.

Yet, here you are, feeling stronger by the second as shards dissolve away and empower you, knowledge and skill filling your mind far past what someone of your age and experience has any right to have. This place… is pretty scary when you think about it. You continue to weave through the crowd as your thoughts wander, now turning to the skills you've unlocked by raising your job rank. There are a few other weapons to play around with, but you don't pay them much mind. Adamant Body though… that's not a technique you ever thought you'd learn. That's something you've only ever heard of much older more experienced warriors learning, same with Warriors Intent and some of these other skills. Kinda amusing that you unlocked the Brewing skill though, says a lot about your people.

Ugh, too much to think about for now, you'll ponder your unnatural growth later once your done at the apothecary, you can see the peak of her tent over the crowds. Inila's little workshop hasn't changed at all of course, not that you would have expected it to. Dozens of little crystal phials all line the shelves and display cases each labeled in her precise hand, and the apothecary herself perched over a single iron cauldron filled with glimmering red liquid.

"I've got some ingredients to sell," you say without preamble as you wander up to the counter, pointedly ignoring her creepy golem cashier. You figure the tactiturn women will appreciate you getting to the point.

You catch a slight shift of her head, although you can't tell if she's looking at you given the goggles covering her eyes, "Which ones? Bonemeal? Ectoplasm? Something else?"

"Bonemeal," you respond, not really surprised that she's already aware of the ingredient that drops from the most basic enemies, "Kinda curious, what do you use it for?"

"Catalyzing ingredient in the Ironblood potions, replaces certain outside ingredients. It's been useful for decreasing dependence on outside suppliers," she responds absently, "How many, and what potions are you looking for?"

"Six, and I was looking at one of those berserker elixirs," you respond, you're a bit too tall to comfortably rest your elbows on her counter, so you simply rest your hands on it instead. "I need a couple of the minor heals too."

She considers for a moment, although she never stops stirring the now gently steaming mixture in front of her, "For six, you may have the elixir. You know the cost of the others."

"Yup," you respond, it takes a moment to retrieve what you need from your inventory, and another moment to exchange it with the silent golem for your three potions. "I gotta ask, how do you stand hanging around that thing all day," you grumble as you step away from the counter and the smiling doll behind it, already stowing your purchases.

"The golem?" she asks, actually looking up for a moment. "My brothers design philosophy is a bit strange, but it is perfectly functional."

You shrug, guess you just get used to the quirks of family, no matter how quirky they are. Or maybe you're just weird for being creeped out by life sized dolls. "Right, anyway, good doing business with ya." You add as you turn away to go.

"I will be closed tomorrow," her voice reaches your back. "Gemnus and I are going into the tower."

You pause, a little surprised, but shrug, and call back over your shoulder, "Thanks for the heads up." Huh, you didn't really figure them for the type. You should head somewhere to get some eats next, and maybe pick up some local gossip, see what kinda groups are forming up around here. Finding a quiet place to eat isn't hard, a nice cheery little stand with stools of various heights and sizes in front of it is where you end up. It turns out that your budget for food and drink buys you a pretty nice meal, and a bottle of good drink to boot. You don't recognize it, but going by all the consonants on the label you're going to bet it's a dwarf brew.

While you're still enjoying the fruits of the days labor, you simply do a little people watching around camp and listen in on conversations of those nearby at the little food stall you stopped at. It's a little hard to tell really, but it does seem like some of the people around are at least familiar with each other, and now that you're looking you can see it in the crowds. People in pairs and small groups not bigger than four or five people who seem more comfortable in each other's presence than more casual acquaintance would suggest, working their way through the crowds of loners like yourself.

While you can't say it's the most educated opinion, you'd say that's about where things stand right now. There are still a lot of folks just out for themselves and not much in the way of organization. It's actually weirdly peaceful. You would have expected to have seen a brawl or two dozen by now in a gathering of oni this big. You do notice that among the groups you see it seems like folks who look like stereotypical warriors are overrepresented. Although… you suppose it might be that the sort of person with a healers skillset is also not necessarily the sort of person that would seek out one of the Towers. That might explain the rarity too.

There's something else though, it seems like a the guy babbling about a screaming wind wasn't bullshitting, more than one person is talking about how a bunch of folks simply didn't come out of the tower today, or how single remainders of groups stumbled out looking a decade older and babbling about similar stories. Course there's also people just bitching about the sudden upgrade to gear quality all the monsters got, which you have a feeling is you're fault.

Around the time that you're finishing off the last bowl of spicy beef stew that you ordered, someone finally takes the seat next to yours, given how full the place is you're surprised it's taken this long. You glance over at them, and take a minute to try and figure out what they are. They have shiny purple skin that turns out to be real fine scales when you take a closer look. Can't really tell if they're a boy or a girl though, looks mostly human or elfish otherwise though, aside from the lack of hair and short height. They look like a fighter type, going by the leather gear, chainmail and sheathed sword. They're also cradling their head between their hands, looking for all the world like they've got a nasty migraine.

You watch them bemusedly for a minute, before speaking up, "You look like crap." No reason to dance around it.

"Thanks, I couldn't tell," the newcomer responds archly, glancing up at you from the cradle of their hands, "Any other genius observations?"

You snort, "Gonna guess you had some bad luck in the tower, but it couldn't have been too bad since you're in one piece."

They give you a flat look, "The tower's not the problem. It's the people. You would think more people would be grateful to the person empowering them."

You offer a shrug as you finish your stew and wash it down with a swallow of your drink. "People are people. No use in getting worked up over a couple of jerks. Just find a better group tomorrow."
"Easy for you to say," the newcomer finally lifts their head from their hands to sit up straight. "You look like you don't even need a group." They grimace, "I'm… not so great without someone to back me up."

"Guess I could go solo," you muse. If you just wanted to fight basic enemies, you could do so easily. "I think having some backups a good idea though, woulda been in trouble today if I hadn't brought a healer along." You study the other explorer for a moment before adding, "I'm Yuuka by the way. Feels weird not to introduce myself."

"Du F…" they begin. "You know, let's just go with Du," they trail off into a grumble about pronunciations in Tradespeak.

You raise an eyebrow at that but just shrug it off, "So what do you do anyway?"

"I improve equipment," Du responds. "You know, make swords sharper, and armor tougher," they actually seem kinda excited as they continue on. "It's so much more than that though. There are all sorts of utility applications, and I think once I really get the skill advanced I'll be able to do some really interesting things."

Well, you suppose that sounds pretty useful, gear is fairly strong going by the mechanics of this place so anything that can improve it deserves at least some attention, "Sounds interestin'," you respond politely. Only to hold back a wince when your conversational partners eyes light up. Oh dear, you might have unleashed something here.

Well if nothing else, Du is really enthusiastic about their branch of magic, so you deal with becoming increasingly lost as they continue on with explanations and conjecture that mostly goes over your head. You'd feel kind bad shooting 'em down at this point. It's only the arrival of his own meal that slows him down and grants you an opening to make an exit.

You spend a bit more time shopping around for a good place to sleep and chatting with the folks at the various resting points. It seems your general intuition is right, people with healing skills are kinda rare, and even if some disdain 'noncombatants' there are enough savvy folk around that the ones who do show up generally get snapped up right quick. Linnea's situation seems more an issue of her ability to very much not stand out combined with her newness. It's a bit different for those whose skills 'merely' enhance others rather than actively healing. You eventually settle on a roped off campsite guarded by a half dozen mercenary types of varying species and profession. It's a bit nicer than just grabbing a random spot to lay out your bedroll. If nothing else the area has been smoothed over by lots of sleepers, so you won't have any rocks or roots jabbing into your back, you suppose you'll have to consider what kind of group you want in the morning... you still don't really want to go above three people though, seems kinda wasteful given the current difficulty, on the other hand... keeping Linnea around could be all sorts of useful, and she seems like a nice sort.

Select up to three

-Seek out someone you've already grouped with
[] Murdan
[] Linnea
[] Shadow

-Someone else
[] Du didn't seem like a bad sort, seek him out
[] You could use someone magically inclined
[] See who shows up.
[] Write-In

yrsillar · Dec 27, 2015

Morning comes quickly, as it always does, and a brief look around a check of your surroundings shows that you got through the night unmolested. So good for the folks you paid to keep you that way, right? Yawning, you go about packing but your bedroll and taking care of the other morning stuff. Once your done with that you can go spend a shard for breakfast and start figuring out your tower group for the day. You figure you'll pick up Linnea again, the little dryad is just too useful to have around, and besides she's a nice enough girl.

A brief count of your shards shows that you can afford to purchase a skill, so you do. Your kinda looking forward to the expression of the first person who breaks a weapon on your face.

You kinda want to keep meeting new people for awhile yet though, so you'll leave off contacting Murdan or Shadow, or even that Ansom woman. You suppose you could hunt down that Du fella you met yesterday. He seemed alright, and you kinda want to see how his magic works. On the other hand, with those two along… you'd pretty much be the only offense. Someone else to deal out the hits would probably be good. Maybe you can look up a magical type. Having Shadow along to blast the back lines was pretty helpful yesterday.

With that in mind you head out, absently thanking the lady running the sleeping area as you leave, chow first, then Linnea. Course, your gonna have to find her first. She'll probably be at the gathering area for the folks looking for groups though. Given that she has a real weapon now she could probably handle a few skeletons on her own, but you have a feeling she isn't gonna go solo anytime soon.

The shard you set aside for breakfast buys you some a bag full of some kinda fluffy jam filled pastries, so you can eat and walk at the same time, peering around to see if you can catch sight of Du or an ungrouped caster type. You find a fair number of the latter, but you get a bunch of declines, with varying degrees of politeness. Some are just not with their groups, others are playing solo and some apparently don't like the looks of ya or think your gonna club 'em over the head when their back is turned or something.

Stupid that, if you wanted their stuff you'd openly crack them over the head and take it. You do eventually catch sight of shiny purple scales through the crowd heading toward the group area though, and after the third time it actually turns out to be the enthusiastic fella you met the night before.

You find Du leaning against one of the wooden posts that have been pounded into the ground to act as anchors for the ropes, he notices you coming of course. You're pretty noticeable. "Morning," you say cheerfully, raising your hand to wave a greeting. "Figured I might tap you to see how your tricks actually work since ya talked my ear off last night."

A brief expression of surprise and a hint of embarrassment cross his androgynous features, and he offers you a weak smile, "I got a little carried away. Thanks for listening though," Du responds sincerely. "You want to group up then…Yuuka? It was Yuuka right?"

You're a little amused at the care he takes to pronounce your name right, and you dismiss his apology with a wave, "Yeah, if you don't mind. I want to pick up a couple other people first though."
He nods easily, pushing himself upright from the post he was leaning against, "That's fine." He pauses to give you a considering look before following you along the edge of the enclosure though. "I can only maintain a few semi-permanent enhancements at once, would you rather have offense or defense?"

"Right," you respond distractedly, peering around for Linnea. "You did mention that yesterday. I'd rather hit stuff harder." After a moment you add, "Keep an eye out for a scraggly little bush, will ya?"
Du gives you an odd look, "…Sure. Will it be a problem if your weapon gets heavier, that's the best way to enhance bludgeoning weapons."

"As long as it doesn't mess up the balance," you reply after a moment, before your eyes catch on something leafy and green. It looks like Linnea was hanging out near the edges again… you hope so anyway, otherwise you're gonna look awful silly talking to a bush. "Looks like we found who I was looking for," you add cheerfully, "How's it going Linnea?"

Du glances between you and the waist high shrub, "Wait, so the 'scraggly bush' is the person you were looking for?"

"I'm not scraggly," Linnea's voice rings out as the 'bush' is seemingly replaced by the height challenged dryad. "Mom says I'm just a late bloomer. My foliage will come in soon."

"Sorry," you respond unrepentantly, grinning down at the huffy looking girl, "You mind coming along again today?"

"Sorry," Du adds, sounding a bit more genuine in his apology. "I was just repeating what she said." You roll your eyes; you'd give him a playful shove for ratting you out if you didn't think it'd send the poor fella flying.

Linnea plants her hands on her hips, craning her neck to glare… well it's more of a pout really, at you. "I guess I don't mind, unless you're going to keep being rude."

You laugh, bringing a hand up to rub the back of your neck sheepishly, "Hey, hey, I said I was sorry didn't I? It was just a joke." Maybe it's one of those 'cultural' things? You give Du a dirty look when you catch him biting back a laugh. It can't be that funny watching you get chastised by someone a third your size.

Linnea continues eyeing you for a second longer before shrugging and going back to her usual placid expression, "That's fine then." She then turns her attention to Du, and blunty asks, "Who are you though?"

"Just call me Du. I guess we're going to be working together for a bit?" he responds with a hint of uncertainty, offering a weird little bow. Foreigners are strange.

"Oh, okay." Linnea responds easily. "Are we going in then? I kind of want to see what's in the fancy halls we found before we left yesterday."

"In a bit," you respond, looking around. "I kinda want a mage along today. Magic stuffs been coming up as we get deeper so it'd be nice to have someone who knows how that mumbo jumbo works along," you pause, glancing at Du. "No offense, but you did say that you're pretty specialized."

Du shrugs, "No it's fine, I know I don't fill the same niche as a…" He frowns, "Traditional wizard."

You shrug off the weird way he says that, and return to considering the crowd, and sharing a little small talk with the others. Within a few minutes though, something catches your eye, or rather someone. Most of the people here are relatively young, explorers and mercenaries tend to have fairly quick expiration dates after all. The lady approaching you though… well you aren't the best at telling human ages, what with the lack of horns and aversion to scars, but your pretty sure she's a bit older than the average sellsword wandering about.

She's also pretty clearly a human noble, if only because her clothes and the gems adorning them look REALLY expensive. She pauses briefly when it's clear that you've noticed her and meets your gaze for a few seconds. Heh, most of the fancy sorts you met on your travels don't have eyes like that, looks like she has some spirit. Linnea and Du's conversation fades as she approaches your little group at a measured pace and stops a short distance away. "Good afternoon," she begins, looking over the three of you briefly. "I am Lady Lona Estellor. Am I correct that you were the one seeking a skilled practitioner of spellcraft?"

You cock your head to the side a bit, studying the way the human holds herself, lots of pride of course, but there's something else there, a hint of tiredness and a certain tightness to her expression. "Yeah, that's me, or rather us now," you reply with a grin. "I'm Yuuka, guessing you're here to apply?"

She seems a bit pained by your assertion, but nods once sharply. "Indeed," she glances around once, and then briefly raises her right hand, which holds a polished piece of crystal, an arcane focus if you ever saw one, it pulses once, and the noise of the crowd dies down to a buzzing whisper. "I will be frank, I am seeking to destroy the creature that denied me my previous bodyguard." She states simply, "Not only that, but the abomination was guarding a stairwell leading up. I am sure I need not tell you what that means."

Linnea looks intrigued, "We could be the first ones to make it up to the second floor." She seems excited by the prospect.

You on the other hand are a bit more leery. "Sounds pretty great," you admit dubiously. "So what made you decide we were the ones to tell?" A quick glance shows that Du seems a bit suspicious as well.

The noblewoman gives you an appraising look for a moment. "I am not a battlemage," she admits simply. "I am quite well learned in several schools of magic, are you aware of what divination is?"
You frown, "Moon Clan stuff. Reading the stars to figure out when the storms are gonna hit and which days are bad luck."

Linnea just wrinkles her nose, "Ugh, that's the thing with animal guts and incense right? It's kinda gross."

Du's response is the simplest, "Yeah, I'm aware. You should get to the point."

She frowns a bit at Du's bluntness but nods anyway, "Those are both passable methods, although not the one I use. In any case, I have divined that exploring with you," she looks pointedly at you here. "Brings me the highest chance of success."

Huh, that's kinda unexpected, "Yeah, alright. I can accept that." Moon Clan's a bunch of weirdos but ignoring their predictions is dumb, you can respect somebody following their own version.

"To be clear," she adds. "I do not believe we should face the creatures today. I merely wish to establish a working relationship between us, such that we may do so in the future."

Linnea pouts a bit at that, but Du seems relieved. You just laugh though, "Yeah, it'd be kinda dumb to just rush in when we don't even know each other's abilities properly yet."

"Exactly so," Lona responds, seeming slightly relieved herself for some reason. Maybe she figured you'd insist on running off immediately?

"Well anyway, this is Linnea, and that's Du. We should get to figuring out where we want to roam today," you say cheerfully. "So…"

[] On Tour in Zombieland
[] Iron Door?
[] Fancy Glowing Lights zone.
[] The Deep Corridors.

yrsillar · Jan 2, 2016

"…let's head on in, there's a locked door I wanna check out," you finish without missing a beat. "We can walk and talk at the same time," you add as you begin heading for the exit.

"So what do you actually do?" you hear Linnea ask as the four of you begin heading toward the tower.

"Pardon?" Lona responds after a moment, apparently catching on that the little dryad is speaking to her.

"Well, you said you weren't a battlemage, so what kind of spells do you cast?" Linnea says frankly.

You glance over your shoulder with an amused expression, "I gotta say the same. That little anti-eavesdropping trick was cool, but what kinda stuff do you have for actually dealin with enemies? You going to be full on support like Du?"

Lona gives your purple skinned companion an assessing look, which he returns with a slightly defiant expression. You're not exactly sure what's going on there. In any case, Lona responds quickly enough. "I follow the universalist school of thought. I prefer not to pour my entire focus into any one school of magic. Allow me to be more clear. I admit, evocation was not a school I which I had placed as much effort toward mastering before coming here, but I am capable in it."

"Which doesn't exactly answer the question," Du points out dryly.

"If I may finish," Lona continues with only a single glance in his direction, "I have a large number of possible skills, although I must choose which to prepare for the day. I am currently prepared to fill a defensive role, given that I was not certain I would have companions today." She lets out a very slight sigh, "I am still capable of acting offensively though, if in a diminished capacity."

You take a second to parse all that, "So you've got yourself set up to play defense, huh." You aren't really asking a question but she nods anyway. "We should be able to push pretty deep then, between you and Linnea. I definitely want you making my weapon better then, Du."

"Won't be a problem," he responds. "Once we get inside just let me take a look at it for a second."

"You are an enchanter of some kind then?" Lona asks.

"Something like that," Du responds, sounding slightly defensive, "My effects aren't permanent enchantments though, they'll last all day as long as you don't wander more than a hundred or so feet from me, and I can change them once I set them up."

"Versatile," the mage responds after a moment. "How then do you purge the thaumaturgic echoes of previous effects interfering with the addition of new enchantments? For that matter, what anchors the spells if not permanent runes?"

"Ah… well, because of the nature of my spells the echo effect is reduced…" you turn your eyes frontward again as the conversation behind you starts going way over your head. At least Du has someone to talk to that understands what he's talkin about.

The flow of magi-babble continues on and off as you proceed to the towers entrance, and pass under the first set of arches you reach. Once you're inside and away from the crowds, Du does his thing. It's kinda interesting, one pass of his hand and a little glowy lightshow later and your weapon somehow feels both better balanced and heavier at the same time.

Retracing your steps to get back to the door isn't hard, given that the number of blown open sarcophagi has increased, leaving the path clear until you've reached the turn that heads down into the room you met Ansom in.

"Gonna want to be ready," you inform your companions cheerfully. "There were a crap ton of skeletons here last time, plus another one of the little buggers summoning more. Think you can take that down for us Lona?"

"I would prefer Lady Estellor," she responds, but she answers you're question anyway. "I believe it should be no trouble. If you wait a moment, I can enhance the groups defenses as well."

Linnea hums thoughtfully, fiddling with her skull talisman, "Unless it's those really big enemies, I don't think Yuuka needs it," she points out.

"I've gotten a good bit tougher since yesterday," you add a trifle smugly. "I doubt those big lugs could do more than scratch me now."

Du shrugs, "I'm not going to complain about the extra defense. Do you have enough uses to be spending skills on a relatively easy fight though?"

Lona gives you an appraising look before answering Du's question. "The minor abjurations I intend to cast will last for several battles."

"Save your spells rather than using them on me unless it looks like we have somethin really tough coming at us," you decide. "Seriously, I'm kinda stupidly tough at this point, and the things in here seem too dim to really try to mob you guys instead of me."

"As you wish," Lona responds , raising her crystal focus to begin casting her buffs on herself and the others. "Do not count on the stupidity of our foes for long though. The enemy which claimed my companion was not foolish, and many accounts of previous towers say that the denizens of the higher floors are far more cunning than the creatures below."

"I'll keep that in mind," you respond cheerfully. You will too, but right now, you're basically a nigh unstoppable juggernaut to these things. Maybe you're just feelin a little giddy over learnin a skill that only the most powerful Oni warriors ever learn though.

"What were the enemies guarding the stairs anyway," Du asks as the air around him shimmers, and you catch the slight distortion in the air of a shield of invisible force forming over his left side.
Lona doesn't answer for a few seconds, still going through the motions of casting her spells. "…A Lich and a death knight, or a Reaver as some call them. There were also numerous lesser undead. I only escaped via teleportation. The room physically sealed itself upon our entry."

You frown as Linnea prods the woman with questions on what those are. You aren't exactly a scholar, but you do know that those are fairly high end nasties. You'll definitely want to be prepared before you head on in. Either way preparations are complete shortly thereafter and then it's on to the spawner room. There are over twenty skeletons already by the moment you enter, each armed and armored better than last time, with even a handful of the heavily armored and shield bearing ones mixed in. Most importantly, there are two skeleton's in ragged robes.

It hardly matters to you though, since you trust your companions to do their job, you just let out a warcry and smash into the skeletons front line and immediately smash three of them to splinters. Out of the corner of your eye you spy a quintent of colorful missiles of force trailing glittering light swerve right through the crowd to slam into one of the robed skeletons and send it down in a tumble of bones, and then you have to deal with being attacked en masse. The biggest problem, really, is the sheer number of foes. While rusty and ancient weapons bounce off of your bracers and even your skin, and even the sharp heads of the shield bears spears can be swatted aside, there simply isn't enough room around you for every single skeleton to get in and attack, which means some attention goes to your companions.

Luckily, Du can at least handle himself in melee, and you spy him at the edge of the mob fighting the handful of stragglers that aren't trying to bear you down under the sheer weight of numbers, another skelton bursts into fragments after being swallowed by a tongue of green fire. Another sweep and another three skeletons shatter to bits, and the second spawner goes down, destroyed by another barrage of unerring missiles. One of the nasty fellas with spears actually manages to jab you hard enough to draw blood, but that's the last interesting thing that happens in the fight.

As the last skeleton gets powdered by your club, you turn and offer your party a grin, "See, told ya! Barely a scratch!" You glance down at your side, where the shallow slice from the spear was inflicted, and your smile widens as you see it closing up on its own, a testament to your sheer toughness. "Not even," you add, amused.

You almost gave me a heart attack charging right in like that," Du grumbles. "You really are ridiculously durable though."

"It's an interesting effect," Lona comments idly as she eyes the dissolving skeletons, "Some manner of inborn magical effect?"

"Something like that," you respond simply. "It's a technique people back home came up with to harden your skin and muscles."

Linnea nods agreeably, "Some of the older dryads can make their bark really thick and hard to cut or burn too, so that makes sense. Maybe I should level up my job a little." She trails off thoughtfully at the last part.

+5 Shards
+6 XP

Kind of a meagre gain given the number of enemies, but that's how it is when fighting spawner types. Once you've split up the shards you continue onward, plowing through a handful of other relatively easy fights. Normal skeletons, even with upgraded gear, have almost no ability to harm you at this point, except in the case of overwhelming numbers, and with three other people with you all capable of attacking as well, numbers tend to dwindle quickly.

+8 Shards
+10 XP
+2 Bonemeal

Unfortunately it looks like someone else has already opened up the iron door, since it's lying on the ground. Looks like someone disassembled the hinges. You can't help but grumble a bit at that.
"Huh, someone pretty good did this," Du comments as you pass through the door frame. "No damage at all from the disassembly."

"That's not exactly comforting," you grumble. "If it was someone good then they might have already picked over any good stuff down this way."

"It would be a waste of our time to backtrack now though," Lona points out. "Given the enemies we faced it is unlikely that this was done today, so most of what lies beyond should have…re-spawned."

"Suppose so," you sigh, "We might as well keep going."

Your next clash is a bit rougher, mostly because you run into a platoon of those spear and shield wielding skeletopns backed up by mages again. You actually end up needing a heal after that fight, you don't have a whole lot of defense against pure magic attacks like that. They go down pretty quickly to Lona's missiles though and she apparently has plenty of those in stock, it's after that fight that you accept one of her 'shield' spells, since it can defend against magic-y bullcrap.

Soon though, you come to another split in the path, one hall continues straight on, and other… is a big ol' archway done up to look like a demonic skull, with the door as the mouth. Wisps of semi-solid darkness drift out along the floor like some kind of inverted fog. You give that one look and grin. "Well, looks like I know which way to go," you say cheerfully.

Du glances between you and Linnea, "I'm going to get overruled aren't I?"

"Probably," the little Dryad chirps.

"I do not know why you simply assume that you know my mind," Lona adds a bit dryly. "…However, given this groups ability, it is unlikely that whatever lies beyond will be too much. The chances of a mere elite creature exceeding the floor guardian is quite low, given what I know of these places."

"See, that's the spirit," you reply cheerfully. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"Of course, it is also possible the room beyond has already been plundered," the wizard continues. "In that spirit, I would ask you all if you would prefer for me to expend my more powerful defensive spells before we enter. If there is no elite enemy beyond this doorway, it will be a quite a hit to our groups… stamina."

"I'd rather be safe than sorry," Du points out. "We're doing just fine against the normal enemies with the lesser spells."

"But then we might run into a nasty roamer, like that banshee that killed a couple groups yesterday," Linnea points out. "Then we'd wish we hadn't used it for nothing. Yuuka is tough, so even if we run into a strong enemy I can keep her alive till Lona can cast her spells anyway."

"Both valid points," the woman herself responds, before turning her eyes to you. "I believe the one facing the most risk should speak up though."

You frown, like she said those are both good points. You're pretty confident, but do you want to go against a possible big enemy without full prep?

[] Full Prep
[] Just go with what you have

((Will update the front page later))

yrsillar · Jan 6, 2016

5 Shards
8 XP

"Ah, don't go worrying about me. I can handle a turn or two of whatever is in there if it's scary," you decide. "I even grabbed a potion for just that kinda thing yesterday."

Lona simply nods, "As you wish."

"I have better powers than yesterday too, so if you get hurt, I'll patch you right up anyway," Linnea adds cheerfully.

"I suppose we're really doing this then," Du sighs, "Anyone want their bonuses changed before we go in?"

"I believe the enhancement to my focus should remain," your other mage responds. "The additional power is… satisfactory."

"I'm fine too," you add cheerfully, already striding toward the ominous skull shaped doorway. "Now no more stalling!"

You don't have to wait long, the hallway is relatively short and lacks any traps. The room it opens up into is one already marked by battle though. Strange metal devices that crackle with electricity line the room in place of columns, although two of the six are smashed and broken. Rather ominously, you also spy deep gouges in the floor and several massive bloodstains. The most eye catching thing in the room though is a swimming pool sized vat of smelly green liquid set into the floor that takes up the entire latter half of the room.

"Ugh, it stinks," Linnea mutters as the four of you cautiously walk further inside.

"This is most certainly the lab of a necromancer, we should…" Lona begins, only to be cut off by a loud splash as a gray hand crisscrossed with stitch marks emerges from the water and grasps the side of the pool. That hand is big enough to palm your head.

"Smash the gribbly is what you were gonna say, right," you shout cheerfully even as the rest of the monster hauls itself from the pool. It is a massive humanoid, clearly stiched together from many disparate parts. It has four massive arms, one of which holds a heavy cleaver as wide as your torso, the other, smaller limbs below clutch more 'normal' greatswords, and it's last hand, the one it pulled itself up by, sparks with magic. Of course even that doesn't draw your eye quite like it's distended, squirming belly… which promptly erupts outward, disgorging a half dozen maggots the size of your arm as it roars a challenge.

"Oh what the fuck," you hear someone mutter behind you, but you don't really have time for chit chat, the undead abomination is already moving, and between it's roars and the shrill shrieks of the giant maggots it's kinda hard to hear anything else. You hardly need any more encouragement to charge yourself and meet it halfway. Grinning, you focus your will, and raise your free arm to block the incoming cleaver, comfortable in the knowledge that in this moment, you are unbreakable.

What must be fifty pounds of metal impacts your forearm, splintering your bracer, before reaching your skin and rebounding with an bone tingling crack. You have to laugh as you see the entire massive weapon explode into fragments. "Is that the best you've got!" you call right up into the things ugly heavy browed face.

Then you remember that it has all of those other arms. Still, it's physical blows rebound from your skin as well, though without the explosive results. The blast of nausea inducing magic and the nasty acidic nibbling of the gross things coiling and biting at your legs do their share of harm though.

Of course, Linnea's here, so the warmth of healing magic washes over you shortly thereafter, settling the churning in your stomach and the vertigo inflicted by the things magic, it's followed closely by the sound of Lona's spellcasting. All of a sudden you feel really light and energetic, like you could fight all day and night with nary a rest, and is it just you or is everything moving awfully slow all of a sudden. The big guy looks like he's moving through molasses!

You grin as you pull your club into a two handed grip and bring it overhead for a skullcracking smash right in the face that your foe is suddenly way too slow to dodge. The abomination bellows in slow mo even as its teeth go flying and its head acquires a noticeable crease in the center…. Then you notice the smell of ozone, and it's only due to your enhanced speed that you manage to dodge the first bolt. The second and third impact the abomination, and suddenly it's movements no longer seem so slow. The fourth hits you though, and you bite back a scream as electricity rips through your nerves.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Du hurrying toward the closest of the lightning pillars, hands aglow with magic, so hopefully that's being taken care of, because tall and ugly isn't going to stay stunned forever. More healing magic soothes the pain of the lightning, and colorful bolts arc and spin around you before slamming home to slay three of the maggots nipping at your heels.

"They will heal the creature given the chance!" you hear Lona call. "Kill them quickly!"

Well, you don't need to be told twice, you plant your feet and bring your club down for a low sweeping blow, splattering the pasty white worms across the room. Of course, the towers are warming up again… but surprisingly, rather than lightning, you see the tower Du was going to mess with blast a second tower with a concentrated bolt of white hot fire… which still leaves you two lightning bolts to dodge.

Unfortunately, even with Lona's spell enhancing you, it seems one lightning dodge remains your best score. Frankly, it's starting to piss you off. You don't much care for the smell of cooked Yuuka. Ugly has his bearing back too, but luckily Linnea is able to get off a heal before you have to take another salvo of attacks… including the pair of additional maggots that writhe their way out of the things belly. You're glad you broke its damn cleaver that's for sure. Another surge of magic passes over your head, and the abominations speed enhancing buff dissipates, leaving it a sitting duck for you to smash it's face in again.

…There isn't much left of its head honestly, it looks like a split open melon at this point, but it doesn't stop the thing from fighting. Another tower goes up in flames, and you see Du, backing away from the now reverted tower, nursing a pair of burnt hands. Reprieve is over it looks like.

You manage to dodge lightning this turn though, and Linnea repairs the damage you took from the things spells and blades in the last round. Unfortunately, one of the newly spawned maggots crawls its way up the things leg and dissolves, repairing some of the damage you've done. This time the fire comes from Lona though, four separate rays of scorching heat that reduce the remaining maggot to ash and carve a blackened swathe across the things torso. Seeing the thing wobble, you take a gamble and channel all the burgeoning fury at your continued harm into another overhand swing.

This time the things entire body spasms as your now glowing club reduces the things head to giblets drives the things spine out and into the ground like a railroad spike, you heave a tired breath right before your world becomes lightning and pain.

Still. It's the last time the Deva's damned lightning towers get a hit on you, and Linnea makes you good as new… even if your still kinda twitchy and your hair buzzes with static.

"I was going to say we should fall back and destroy the Thaumaturgic Turrets from the doorway," Lona informs you dryly once your ears have stopped ringing. "I suppose your way worked as well though."

"Told ya we'd be fine," you huff dismissively. "How'd you change the one tower thing over to fire anyway, Du?" you then ask, turning to look at the enchanter as Linnea takes care of his badly burnt hands.

"I wasn't sure I COULD mess with a magical object like that," he admits. "Changing the enchantment felt like trying to ride a pissed off dire croc. It was two parts, altering the element and its controller. I couldn't hold it very long though."

"It is somewhat impressive that you managed it all, given the timeframe," Lona admits. "I could do the same, but only in my own workshop."

Well, Du seems pretty pleased by that. Linnea finishes healing his hands at that point and pipes up herself, "So what was that big ugly thing anyway?"

"A necrotic abomination," Lona responds simply as you and Du climb back to your feet, "A class of undead that includes all manner of vile things. They have little in common with one another."
Around that time, the smelly remains of the corpse finish dissolving and disgorge their bounty.

45 Deucite Shards

1 Deucite Chunk

Flayed Cloak: A cloak of finely flensed and stitched together ~~flesh~~leather, smells faintly of formaldehyde. Quality 2 Defense vs Lightning and Necrotic Damage. Accessory(Shoulders)

Black Blade: A greatsword made of black metal, cold to the touch. Quality 3 Cold damage. Greatsword

Necromancer's Ring: A small platinum band forged in the shape of a skull. Provides +2 to power when worn.
+30 XP

Huh… that's a pretty big pile of a loot. The cloak is kinda gross, but also pretty nice… you can tell everybody is thinking of the chunk there. The sparkling hunk of reddish purple crystal is the size of one of your smaller companions fists… and it's the first of the much rarer commodities you've seen.

[] Make your case for Loot.

-1 Arc Smash, -1Skullcracker, -1 Meteor Smash, -1 Invulnerable

(The above is the total the encounter dropped. So yes, you're whole group has one chunk to 'divide' between them. Also, I feel I should note. Elite Enemies and Bosses do NOT respawn.)

Dungeon Delver Quest (Original Fantasy... again)

More options

Recent threadmarks

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

yrsillar

Dapper Cthulhu

Recent threadmarks