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Character sheets, shopping lists, and more:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1V0eqo-5JEuUwZ-AODD9jkxGMwEhkvn77?usp=sharing Archive:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Lodestar:%20Dawn%20of%20a%20New%20Age Last time, we took control of Gigas as we took to exploring the bustling city of Threespice. There, they met and eventually recruited Gremory, a Demon turned merchant that seems to have restrained its violent urges in the name of self-preservation. They learned of the merchant king Felippe Silversmith's darkest secret using the Lost Art of Scrying, and revealed as much to the local guards, who they were seemingly able to persuade into working with them rather than against them.
They also touched base with the illegal elements of Threespice by participating in an underground fighting arena, where they adopted the crew name of Trinity to fight against a rival trio called the Black Rose Pirates and met with a well-known pirate known as Lobo Chisaki afterwards. While Lobo was working to assemble a list of capable men for our daring pirates to recruit from, the crew decided to find some of Silversmith's most capable men to shake them down for information, finding three viable candidates in the process: The Countess, Jerome Stillwater, and Nocturne Kamei. Opting to handle Stillwater first, they kidnapped him in the middle of his human trafficking operation and took him back to their ship, where they interrogated him for everything he knew before sending him to meet his fate at the hands of the Guard.
As we pick up our adventure again, Ramza and Gigas have just finished explaining their recruitment of Gremory to Val. Although he was initially reluctant, Val was eventually convinced once he learned that Gremory would be revealing all of the secrets and vulnerabilities of Demons to the crew, an exchange most valuable to the would-be Demon Slayer. For now, though...who will we be playing as this time around?
>Ramza Valentine. You're cocky, charming, and killer with a Mageblade. The Captain of your little group, for now. >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. The pilot of the group whenever Ramza is busy, and the mechanic. >Gigas. You've yet to meet anyone that can best you physically, or resist your infectious cheer. The Barrelman that keeps constant vigilance over the area to spot hazards, and the rigger to boot.
Anonymous
>>5951440 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. The pilot of the group whenever Ramza is busy, and the mechanic. Another anon mentioned it in the last thread, and I see no reason not to round out the crew PoVs.
Anonymous
>>5951440 >>Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. The pilot of the group whenever Ramza is busy, and the mechanic. Anonymous
>>5951440 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. The pilot of the group whenever Ramza is busy, and the mechanic. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 14 Mar 2024 23:47:27 No. 5951742 Report Quoted By:
>>5951448 >>5951459 >>5951490 You are Val Lasombra. Ten years ago, when you were merely eight years old, you cowered in fear and hid in the crawlspace under your house while a Demon took everything from you. Not a day goes by where your mind doesn't go back to that moment, something inevitably reminding you of that fateful night. You can still remember the sickening smell of acrid smoke mixing with the gore of the demon's victims. Your village had been unprepared, to say the least, and their feeble weapons couldn't even leave a mark on the cruel being - all except for one. A gun.
Since then, you've dedicated your time to mastering the use of firearms to put that demon down whenever you find it again. But you know that a mere gun wouldn't be nearly enough to do the job, so you aim to master magic so as to tear down its mystical defenses when the time comes. You know fully well that it's a grudge that could go unfulfilled if anyone else should have managed to hunt the Demon themselves, but that's not going to stop you. Demons will always exist in the world, and it's up to you to stop them from making more people like you.
You're thinking about all of this right now, of course, because you're currently staring up at one. Ramza and Gigas have seen fit to call this thing 'Gremory' for some reason, and broke the news to you not too long ago that Gremory would be a member of the crew. It took a monumental effort not to strike Ramza in the moment for that decision, but restraint was always one of your strong suits - you waited until after he explained that 'she' would be revealing everything 'she' knew about demons to your group in exchange.
"Son of a bitch, man!" Ramza rubs his jaw, a bruise quickly forming. "You could have warned me at the very least!"
"You had it coming." You state matter-of-factly. Your captain's brow furrows, but he nods to it.
"I did, yeah. But I stand by my decision. I think we stand more to gain from having her on board with us than not." He replies.
"...It was...a smart choice, yes." You strain yourself to admit, turning to look at Ramza. "The opportunity to learn this is something few Demons would ever give, I imagine. Revealing your own weaknesses - no, your entire race's weaknesses. It goes against their nature, I would think."
"I can't reach my back." Gigas offers, and you turn to look at him.
"What?" You can't help but ask.
"The greatest weakness of Gigas." Is all he says.
"The price of having freakishly huge muscles." Ramza replies to the man with a shrug. "But let's not get side-tracked for the fifth time in ten minutes, Gigas. We've got details to pry from Gremmy."
"You've already nicknamed it." You glare at Ramza, before sighing and facing Gremory once more. "Yes, let's get on with it...tell us everything you know about Demons."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 14 Mar 2024 23:48:29 No. 5951743 Report Quoted By:
"Very well." Gremory starts. As she speaks, every now and then she pauses in the middle of a sentence in a jarring way, either to take a wheezing breath or simply because she seems to have felt the need to compose her thoughts again for a second or two. "Demons...are spawned from Human stock, exclusively. There are three kinds to exist: Naturalborn, Afflicted, and Ritual."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 14 Mar 2024 23:49:30 No. 5951745 Report Quoted By:
"Yes...and no." Gremory replies. "Afflicted are physically gifted, yet mentally stunted. Their rampant mutations give them a wide variety of abilities not natural to humans. Ritual Demons are magically gifted, but physically restrained so as to maintain a reasonable form. Though, this one admits, we all come from magically gifted stock to begin with...one must know a lot to cast The Ritual. As for Naturalborn, this one knows nothing of their strengths and weaknesses, as our encounter was quite brief. Although...language seemed to pose a clear problem to it, as it understood very little of spoken word."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 14 Mar 2024 23:50:45 No. 5951746 Report "They are both sources of magic...two halves that cannot be complete without one another. In one realm, the physical. Mana's elementalism covers that which can be seen, felt, grasped...of certain varieties, at least. It bears no hold on inert matter, for reasons this one does not know." Gremory begins to explain. "Soul covers that which is ephemeral, etherial. There are but two domains for it, covering concepts that may be tricky to understand for those not attuned to it. Time...and Space.">Do you have any further questions to ask Gremory, before she goes into her personal history as per the agreement?
Anonymous
>>5951746 I can think of a couple interesting ones.
>Do demons have a different understanding of the Core? >We’ve heard about an attempt to put a new Pillar into the Core, to pull out unaligned mana. If that were to freely proliferate, how would that interact with demons and soul magic in general? It’s the main reason I voted for bringing Gremory onboard from Ramza’s perspective. What Sato suggested was planned worries him enough that “demonic knowledge” suddenly becomes a really good selling point.
One from something she mentioned a while ago:
>She mentioned she’s a demon of water. Is there a demon for every mana type? What about untyped or space/time types? Scrying is something all water demons have, what do the others generally know, and how are they recognized? I guess another fun one would be
>Can the corruption be reversed? Not to turn someone into who they were, simply to remove the Amalgam and make them “human” as a result. Though I expect the answer to be “no”.
Anonymous
>>5951779 All good questions, but...
>>5951746 >Do you remember what it was to be human? Do you still care for the people you used to? or is that part of you gone? Anonymous
>>5951746 >>5951950 I see that as more a personal question and we haven’t gotten there yet, but I was thinking too narrow. We could ask about it in the broader sense of all demons too.
>Do Ritual demons often disassociate from who they were after the change? Afflicted should because of the more violent mutations, correct? Some more for fun
>Can any demons normally communicate with or disrupt monsters in a way that humans can’t? Something involving their amalgam? >Mana is one part of a demon’s amalgam. How do they replenish the soul part? >How often do demons fight each other? Are there rivalries between certain types due to general temperament? Can they drain each other of amalgam like they’d drain mana from a human’s blood? Val better be taking notes.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 16 Mar 2024 07:06:18 No. 5952707 Report >>5951779 >>5951950 >>5952170 After thinking it through for a couple seconds, which is a decent amount longer than you usually dwell on something, you opt to stay on the track of demonic strengths and weaknesses for a few more questions.
"Are Demons able to communicate with or disrupt monsters in ways that normal people can't? You both share Amalgam, after all." You ask.
"Yes, indeed. Thisss one has tamed several monsters, namely the humble Lume Beetle, to collect things for it...they do so love to find catalysts." Gremory says, reaching her clawed hand inside of her robes and extracting a wriggling insectile monster the size of your fist that looks around blankly with burning red eyes. It squeaks in protest, before Gremory runs the side of a talon under its 'chin' as though she was petting it, and it begins to calm enough for her to put it away again.
"That's pretty damn useful. Can you do it with ANY monster?" Ramza asks, seemingly more interested in that than the previous reveal.
"No, not any...smaller, weaker ones are easier to make docile. And easier to care for with limited Ethers to go around. It is only possible because we lack any desire to consume each other's essence." She explains.
"Do Demons ever fight each other, or monsters, regardless of that?" You ask.
"On occasion. Ritual demons know of the myriad uses for monster parts, and can harvest their amalgam in times of need. But fights between Demon and Demon are rarer, usually only occurring if a grudge is formed during their interactions...or sometimes in the case of a territory dispute. We are already rare creatures, far outnumbered by humans, so it is in our best interests not to attack one another usually. Instincts align on such things in the case of less ce-re-bral members of our species."
"A pity. It would be best for humans if they did." You comment tersely. You take another moment to think, idly chewing on the inside of your lip for a couple of seconds before speaking up once more. "How do you replenish the Soul portion of your amalgam?"
"Some of us take routine trips to the frozen wastes to do so. Others conduct rituals to harvest it from monster Amalgam routinely. But this one knows that to do either is not necessary, as our chakra naturally produces more Amalgam so long as we consume enough of either source. This one believes it is because, as your chakra naturally produces mana, ours produces both mana and soul. The only benefit to glutting one's self on external sources of soul...is to supress one's desire to attack beings made of pure soul, and you would be hard pressed to find one here that has yet to be corrupted."
"Can corruption be reversed?" Gigas pipes up to ask.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 16 Mar 2024 07:07:19 No. 5952708 Report Quoted By:
"No. At least, not by any means this one is aware of. The process is permanent. As stated before...the waters that flowed within before are not the waters that flow within now. And were you to return the waters from before...they would still never be that which was. The channel has been changed by its passing." She says enigmatically, and unnecessarily poetically in your opinion.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 16 Mar 2024 07:08:20 No. 5952709 Report "It is time for this part of the bargain, then...very well, this one shall weave for thee a tale. One that you may even find familiar. It should answer thy questions well." Gremory begins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfZznRxRuOE <span class="mu-i">A long time ago, there was a girl who grew up in a village on the outskirts of Voda's territory. Life was simple, but peaceful. Her family's purpose was to maintain a fish hatchery, a job that the girl took great pride and care in. She had never considered anything in life other than what she already knew, and as she came of age, she was even betrothed to a handsome young man from one of the other local families.
Her future was taken from her on a night that should have been like any other. Gaoth raidships came under the cover of darkness, and the light of fire was what awoke her from her slumber. Men, women, and children alike had been silenced by merciless brigands that proudly bore the emblem of their nation, who complained that the few men who rose up had not been enough of a challenge for their liking. Houses were plundered, and then burnt. The hatchery itself was left destroyed, seemingly for no reason other than to quench their thirst for destruction.
The girl had escaped the same fate as the others by hiding away, too powerless to do anything else but watch as everything she knew was torn away from her. When dawn arrived, and she set out to look through the ruins for any other survivors like herself, she found her would-be husband. Decapitated. Left to rot.
A burning desire for revenge was born within the girl that day. A fire that consumed her every waking moment, a fire that almost seemed to drive her to madness. She vowed she would never be so powerless again, and would do whatever it takes to take her pound of flesh from the ones responsible. She left the ruins of her hometown, set upon a journey that would lead to nothing...but sin.
She journeyed to the lands of Lume first, where she met a man that held in his eyes the very same fire that rested within her. He was a Formist priest that lost his faith from an act much like hers, and taught her everything he knew of magic and scripture. Together, they had set out towards Eldingar, where they met a woman that contained a fury they knew all too well. She was a performer that learned to dance with swords, and taught her fellow woman how to handle blades. They had thought themselves ready, and made their way to Gaoth to strike back...
On the journey there, they met another man, one who held a familiar fire in him. A Fury deep within him. A madness in his eyes. She understood him most of all. He was a soldier of Gaoth who refused to do as ordered, and was forced to watch his entire family executed for his treason. He bore old scars that burdened him terribly, wounds that could hardly be healed correctly now. And he told them, in no uncertain terms, that they were all weak.</span>
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 16 Mar 2024 07:09:22 No. 5952710 Report Quoted By:
<span class="mu-i">They knew it as well. They understood that four people, no matter how skilled, could never hope to topple a nation by themselves. So the Priest devised a plan, one to elevate them far beyond what they were initially capable of. They worked together to devise a ritual of profane nature, one which would give them all the power they could possibly need to exact their vengeance. On a terrible night, the Four Demons were born. The Demon of Fire. The Demon of Lightning. The Demon of Wind. And the Demon of Water.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 16 Mar 2024 07:10:23 No. 5952711 Report <span class="mu-s">One tale later...</span>
You...feel conflicted. Her story resonates with yours, yet she is among the kind that set you on your path today. How the hell are you supposed to feel about this? You hate it. You hate her, but at the same time...you're not sure if you actually want to. If you had been in her shoes, wouldn't you have taken the same path? To do anything you need to acquire the power to exact your vengeance? Hell, isn't that exactly the path you're on right now?
You look over to Ramza and Gigas, before shaking your head silently to yourself. No, you're not on the same path. Her friends were all like her...a group of zealots in the end, pushing themselves forwards endlessly. But Gigas and Ramza aren't like that, they wouldn't do that. If they saw you going too far, they'd stop you - you know they would. You're just not sure if you should be grateful or resentful of the fact. What a bitter pill to swallow, to think a Demon would make you feel this way.
Through a tight throat, you speak up. "That explains a lot. But let's get back on track - your life's story isn't our main focus here. I still have...a few more questions." You pause, clearing your throat to try to loosen the damned thing. "The core. Do you, or demons in general, have a different understanding of it than we do?"
Gremory shifts, looking up as though she was able to peer through the metal and wood of the ship to glance skyward. Perhaps she can - you have no idea. "It calls to us. A strange allure we can never fulfil. A subtle call, quite unlike the drive to consume, one I'm not sure that Monsters are capable of feeling...it's like a promise whispered in this one'sss ear. A promise of something better. Perhaps it's simply the call of the afterlife, hoping to purify our tainted essence, as the Formists would say. But, alas...the pressure would kill us long before we could reach it, just as it would you."
"Like bugs to a lantern." Gigas snorts. "Strange thing to think about!"
Ramza snaps his fingers. "That actually helped me think of a question too. We’ve heard about an attempt to put a new Pillar into the Core, to pull out unaligned mana. If that were to freely proliferate, how would that interact with demons and soul magic in general?"
Gremory visibly stiffens, claws seeming to extend a little further than usual. "The artificial spire...thisss one has heard of it...and no good will come of it. An ill wind blows wherever the Other goes. For what reason, this one cannot imagine. But know this: The spire must not be completed lest Apocalypse reign."
>Any further questions? >If you have no further questions, or if you feel like including it in your question list, then include anything you might want to buy! From either Gremory, or from local merchants. The shopping list can be located at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mP8FBy2Cl_FY30LQWOmXd71QDq6q5GMssX1CjCQghTk/edit#gid=0 for your convenience. You have a whopping 16,700 Gold to spend. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 16 Mar 2024 07:15:42 No. 5952712 Report Quoted By:
>>5952707 Dropped the picture of him. The beetle!
Anonymous
>>5952711 >No further questions Shopping honestly isn't my forte, but if we don't have perpetual wind in the sails of our main ship, I say we get it, some ether, and a top-tier spellbook for Val to study (and a catalyst for the other two. Anyone else got better ideas?
Anonymous
>>5952711 Last question, I guess.
>Has she ever considered distilling her own ethers? If we did, would she be willing to trade them for credit at her shop? I’m not great at purchases either. The perpetual wind and armor ship examples are good, and the spellbooks are always nice. I’d also take an advanced water spellbook if she’s written it and could include the Clone spell. Scrying is a service she charges for so I don’t think she’ll be undercut by teaching that.
I’m wondering if she can imbue Scrying into a weapon indirectly. Have the scrying spell be “what is best time to fire this weapon within the next second” and have it tied to a sheet of water that is part of the trigger system somehow. I doubt it’s something she can do, but it might be fun to experiment with.
Shopping list
>Tier 1 ship-grade elements of every type - 2k >Tier 2 light armor for our everyone with a -1 to the malus (no penalty as a result) - 2k >Advanced spellbook (water, cloning spell requested) - 2k > Tier 1 weapons (if we don’t already have them) - 600 >Tier 2 ship weapons and armor (light armor with -1 malus) - 4k >Skill training (Alchemy, or whatever else would let us craft basic consumables like Mending Sap and Ethers) - 1k+? >5 of the basic 3 consumables - 750 >Total - 11.75k to 12.35k+ Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:04:19 No. 5953707 Report Quoted By:
>>5952839 >>5953218 >>5953391 "Deeply concerning, but it answers all of my most pressing questions." You say, finding yourself once more chewing on the interior of your cheek in thought. Gremory's way of speaking irritates you to no end, as many of the terms she uses lack meaning to you but likely make perfect sense to her. You can't tell when she's speaking metaphorically or referencing specific concepts and entities. At least the general idea gets through - it seemed perfectly clear that she believes the Artificial Spire project is bad news for everyone.
"I only really have one last question, myself." Ramza speaks up next. "Have you ever considered distilling your own ethers? And if we did it, would you be willing to trade them for credit at your shop?"
"It is a...difficult process, without the right equipment. Equipment that none would be willing to sell to one such as myself. But if you have Ethers to sell, thisss one would buy them, for gold or...'credit'." The demonic merchant replies. "And speaking of business...are any of thee interested in my wares at the moment?"
<span class="mu-s">One shopping spree later.</span>
You take stock of everything you purchased today. Only a small portion of it was from Gremory, but Ramza had sent you off to find certain goods he was interested in from other merchants with a wider variety of stock. You made sure to look around for the best mixture of quality and price, as you're certain there's many charlatans and swindlers in a place like this that would fleece you without a second thought if you went for pure quality or pure price.
The easiest thing to get was a proper weapon for Gigas, so that he could avoid the issue he faced with an enemy that would damage him by touching it with his bare skin. It actually tied in nicely with your visit to an armorer, where you purchased some thin and flexible drakescale underclothes for all three of you that should provide some excellent protection without hindering your movements too much. And for Gigas specifically, a set of steel gauntlets would protect his flesh when he was busy brutalizing his enemies.
You also picked up a healthy amount of Mending Sap, Healing Honey, and Purging Peppers should an event ever come up where you might need any of them. Honestly, it might be too little with how much you know Captain Valentine likes to abuse Healing Honey to ease the pains of a hangover, but...well, you can always try to dissuade him from using a valuable resource like that by offering to use your magic instead.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:05:20 No. 5953708 Report Quoted By:
The majority of your time had been spent inside the bustling Shipwright's guild, negotiating with the company's managers and flashing a bit of money when necessary in order to keep interests held appropriately. You managed to get a quote on a project to outfit one of the ships with a layer of Aerosteel armor and equipped with either a Long-range Harpoon Gun or a Culverin-type Cannon, both being roughly the same price. It would run about four grand and take about three days to complete the installation, assuming they have unrestricted access to the ship during that time. You wonder if you could cut down that time by lending a hand to the process, but...well, you should probably run that by Ramza first, as he might need you elsewhere over the next few days.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:06:21 No. 5953710 Report Quoted By:
You spent a good amount of time after that just sitting by idly and listening to Ramza and Gigas shoot the shit with each other, only occasionally interjecting with something when you felt it was important in some way. With the skies now dark and the Core pulsing with a gentle blue light, Gremory has shut herself into one of the rooms that she has claimed as her own. Few people walk the docks anymore, but as you stand on the deck besides your comrades, you can see a familiar silhouette making his way across the wooden structure and heading towards the ship. The Flame of Arcadia specifically, as your group seems to have made it the de-facto mainship for now.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:07:23 No. 5953711 Report Quoted By:
"Righto. So, first thing's first, if you're working with Eldingarian tech you're gonna want a trained engineer onboard. All of the ones in Threespice at the moment just came in not too long ago aboard The Leviathan, and while they're guaranteed to be damn well trained, they're going to be the hardest ones to convince to abandon their posts and risk being wanted by their homeland for desertion. I did find out, however, that there was supposed to be a group of independents that were coming to sell some of their inventions...they were meant to arrive about four days ago, but haven't yet for some reason. With any luck, you could find 'em somewhere along their route and see if they'd be willing to come aboard. Knowing Lume, they probably either got delayed by monsters or, you know, pirates." Lobo lays out the options for you.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 17 Mar 2024 12:08:24 No. 5953712 Report After that, Lobo starts to list off a wide variety of potential crewmen specialized in different roles, all of them trustworthy according to him. The only one to really surprise you on Lobo's list was the inclusion of Harrison, the dockworker that initially greeted you all - supposedly he has a great number of contacts due to the nature of his job, and he's particularly skilled at handling paperwork and acquiring forgeries. There's a good amount to choose from for the rest, but the three of you work through the list, weighing the pros and cons of all of them together and ultimately coming up with a fine selection of individuals to bring on board.>Your group decided to attempt to poach Engineers from the Leviathan. >Your group decided to seek out the independent engineers and try to find them somewhere along their route. >You bought a tier 2 long-ranged harpoon for the ship. >You bought a tier 2 culverin-type cannon for the ship.
Anonymous
>>5953712 Wew, just caught up.
>Your group decided to seek out the independent engineers and try to find them somewhere along their route. >You bought a tier 2 long-ranged harpoon for the ship. Harpoon has better strategic use, I think
Anonymous
Anonymous
>>5952709 Qm I have a question
>Left to rot body does not turn into mana and go back in the core?
Anonymous
>>5953712 >Your group decided to attempt to poach Engineers from the Leviathan. >Hara get Ramza not gonna want that one to get away. >You bought a tier 2 long-ranged harpoon for the ship. I'm fine if we fail but ramza would at least shoot his shot.
Plus think all the info she could give us
Anonymous
>>5953712 >>5953733 Supporting, but I’ll add
>Track down Hara and see if she or her team know of any already-loose Eldingarians that may be looking for a good home. We don’t need to steal someone from the Admiral’s ship, but I’d assume a crew that large has people who have friends or family that could go with us instead. They may be keeping their heads down in other cities on account of being deserters/disgraced, but they become sidequests for another time!
I’d vote for Val to handle it. Ramza is objectively better at social stuff, but it’d be more amusing for Val to put his foot down for the safety of the ship and Ramza to eventually agree.
Unrelated, I’ve had the idea of eventually turning the ship into a ram. Armor up the front, enhance the jets, and use it to smash into other ships and release pirates deep inside. But that’d need to wait until we got bigger ships to sail and we could afford to have this one used solely for boarding actions.
Anonymous
>>5953712 >Your group decided to seek out the independent engineers and try to find them somewhere along their route. Unless
>We explicitely poach Hara and turn Ramza from El Seductor to a wannabe seductor that married the first girl he shagged. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 18 Mar 2024 01:47:55 No. 5954192 Report Quoted By:
>>5953770 In this case, the bodies of the slain were magically stabilized to
enable people to identify the deceased, rather than wondering if they were just alive but missing. Gaoth raiding parties are exceptionally brutal, but they do still try to have some amount of honor. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 18 Mar 2024 11:39:05 No. 5954455 Report Terribly sorry for the lack of today's update lads, I haven't been feeling well for the past two days! I've got part of it written out, but I feel like I could do better on it. Don't want to push out a low quality update. Thanks for your patience as always!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5954036 Having a partner with a better grasp of technical details would probably be good for him, but I don’t think he’ll be corralled that easily. But he does have a preference for Eldingarian women so it’s not out of the auestion.
Give him time for several other women to kick his teeth in and I could swing towards having him find someone who keeps his worst impulses in check.
>>5954455 No worries, bad days happen!
I’m not doing so hot either, so I feel your pain. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 19 Mar 2024 11:32:44 No. 5955161 Report Quoted By:
>>5953733 >>5953737 >>5953958 >>5953971 >>5954036 >Your group decided to seek out the independent engineers and try to find them somewhere along their route. >You bought a tier 2 long-ranged harpoon for the ship. While the majority of the crew that would be recruited into Trinity was an easy decision to make, you did have a struggle convincing Ramza to go with the independent engineers. In the end, you had to make a concession to get him to accept the decision - and it's a fairly logical one anyways, so can't say you're exactly disappointed. You'd try to track down Lieutenant Hara again, due to her 'positive relationship' with the crew, and see if she knew any non-enlisted Eldingarians looking to join up with a crew like yours.
Once that business was settled, Ramza ended up inviting Lobo to relax with the crew for a while. Naturally, this ended up with Lobo pulling out a large bottle of rum and offering to pour some for all of you. Gigas and your captain accepted quite readily, and while you tried to initially deny it so that at least ONE of you would have a clear head throughout the night, you eventually relented to their constant pressuring. That's how you ultimately ended up sitting in the Flame of Arcadia's lounge area, sitting across from the other three men and watching the world lightly swirl around you while everyone exchanges stories.
"That- that captain of yours, Sparrow, he's the funniest bastard I ever met." Lobo stumbles over his words a bit. "You know he could shoot up the ranks if he wanted to? He's not the 69th most wanted pirate by sheer luck. Yeah, he's in a fierce competition with Robin and Swallow for it. They sabotage each other to make them raise or drop in ranks whenever possible so they can keep gunning for the spot."
"All that work for a spot that isn't even number one, what a dumbass!" Ramza laughs, slamming back a shot of rum soon after. "If he was me- fuckin, if I was him, I'd be number one forever. And that's what I'm gonna be! Gaoth...Gaoth ain't nothin compared to me. I'll make Gaoth look small time."
"That's some pretty big talk for someone that can't even hold their liquor." Lobo taunts him with a cheeky grin on his face. "How do you plan to do that?"
"I wonder this as well...after all, you would have to beat the mighty Gigas to claim the number one spot from him. After all, it belongs to the STRONGEST." Your brutish friend proclaims, showing no sign of the drink affecting him whatsoever.
"You watch it, Gigas, or I'll have you keelhauled for mutinous declarations!" Ramza threatens in an entirely unserious manner, only making Gigas laugh in response. "And it's VERY simple. I'll just go through the list...and make 'em all work for me, even up to the tippy top. One way or another. You'll see!"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 19 Mar 2024 11:33:45 No. 5955162 Report Quoted By:
"You're going to make the Gilded Reaper work for you? The NUMBER ONE most wanted pirate still alive? The guy who's responsible for the most daring raids of all time and never bothers with anything other than the most difficult and high-profile jobs? The guy who, need I remind you, nobody even knows the true identity of?" Lobo asks with clear disbelief.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 19 Mar 2024 11:34:47 No. 5955163 Report Quoted By:
Idle chatter fills the rest of the night, merriment shared between kindred souls. Times like this make you wish you were more social and offered more than a handful of words at a time, but at the same time, you're content to be the one who watches. You much prefer it over trying to wrestle for the limelight with naturalborn showoffs like Ramza and Gigas - not that you disparage them for it, of course. If anything, their beaming personalities takes a lot of attention off of you, which you're more than thankful for.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 19 Mar 2024 11:36:42 No. 5955164 Report <span class="mu-s">The next day...</span>>Raid what you can of Stillwater's stashes. The early bird catches the worm. >Spend some time reviewing Stillwater's Memoreel. Preparation is key. >Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. >Meet with and recruit people from the list that Lobo gave you, to fill out your roster before doing anything else. >Head to the Archives, where Lobo's dirt on Felippe is kept. You could probably also check out some other books while you're there. >Spend some time reading one of your books. (Which one?) >Write-in!
Anonymous
>>5955164 >Meet with and recruit people from the list that Lobo gave you, to fill out your roster before doing anything else. More people means more hands to do more work. Action economy! We can start with the dockworker Harrison since he may know some of the others and can help us cover more ground.
>Raid what you can of Stillwater's stashes. The early bird catches the worm. I assume Val and Gigas can do this while Ramza recruits. Though we should meet up before he goes to recruit the shipwitch for both the obvious Ramza-related reason and since Val probably has a bit more to talk about with her professionally due to his magical and technical inclination. Assuming she’s into that sort of thing.
Head out on the Gleamrunner next with a wind crystal and some crew maybe?
>Wind for Gleamrunner, Fire for Flame of Arcadia, others in FoA Make the scout the speedy boi, and while it’s a tossup on whether the magnetic or airborne contaminant protection is better I’d lean purification is better for the initial trip out.
Anonymous
>>5955164 >>Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. >Wind in the Gleamrunner and Fire in the Flame of Arcadia Anonymous
>>5955200 I support all this
Anonymous
>>5955164 >Raid what you can of Stillwater's stashes. The early bird catches the worm. Ramza and Gigas can do this.
>Spend some time reviewing Stillwater's Memoreel. Preparation is key. Val should be good at this.
If we have time, we can then regroup, and we can then...
>Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. Anonymous
>>5955164 >>Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 20 Mar 2024 19:03:15 No. 5956386 Report Rolled 3 (1d3) You lads ever sleep for nearly 15 hours?
>>5955200 >>5955256 >Ramza recruits, Gigas and Val raid stashes >>5955227 >>5955704 Gleamrunner time
>>5955268 >>5956148 >Ramza and Gigas raid stashes, Val reviews memoreel By the will of allah, we have tied. I will leave the result of this up to the dice.
Anonymous
>>5956386 Allah be praised, for I have been chosen.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5956386 I’ve gone about 22 or 23 when I returned from a summer camp back when I was a kid. I was confused when I woke up since the sun seemed a little higher in the sky than I remembered when going to bed.
I was then really upset to learn I had slept practically an entire Sunday away. I wanted to relax before heading back to school, damn it!
>>5956425 All hail the new prophet, for they have been chosen to lead our people into committing theft against thieves and learning from our enemies.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Fri 22 Mar 2024 06:12:13 No. 5957732 Report Sorry about the silence there. After my last post I developed a massive migraine that put me down for the day. I thought it went away a few hours ago but it's coming in and out in waves now for some reason. Very strange, but I should hopefully be good to write and post tomorrow.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5957732 No worries hope you feel better bruv. Breton knight quest is lit. So is the halo one.
Anonymous
>>5957732 >My quest not among the recommended ones It's over, /Qst/ers. I didn't made it as a QM. Will I ever?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Fri 22 Mar 2024 07:53:22 No. 5957770 Report >>5957769 What's your quest? I just selected a handful of random ones that I'm currently up to date on.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5957732 You might want to visit a doctor
Anonymous
>>5957770 I won't shill here and there; don't worry about that, worry about getting better.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5957732 This has been a bad year for QMs getting super sick... Feel better soon, bud!
>>5957769 Neither Bananas nor GrandDragon are on the list, despite being prolific. You'll be fine.
Anonymous
>>5957923 Drop your qst bruv. I'm reading so many I lose count. Bet I'm in your thread senpai.
DrDragonfagQM !2gxW5JDLSc
DrDragonfagQM !2gxW5JDLSc ID:2bpf7pSy Fri 22 Mar 2024 21:21:35 No. 5958132 Report >>5958058 It was me all along!
Mastering
>>5917974 and
>>5930179 right now
archivebro
>>5958132 I recognize that name!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 23 Mar 2024 01:24:22 No. 5958248 Report >>5958132 >I read neither of these It's so unbelievably over, dragonbros...
Anonymous
>>5958165 Hello Archivebro! I might have joined this one because of your review.
>>5958248 Picrel.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5958440 Glad to see those are working! I do try to stick around long enough to leave a vote on all the quests I review as well. This is one of the stickier quests for me personally, I like my fantasy adventure quests and the dice system is a nice change of pace.
Though it does remind me constantly that I need to catch back up on the MHA quest from Present Mic that the QM mentioned it was pulled from. I haven’t watched much of MHA so it got harder to follow anons as time went on, and the MC’s social awkwardness can be a gut punch sometimes.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 23 Mar 2024 14:35:48 No. 5958607 Report Quoted By:
>>5955200 >>5955227 >>5955256 >>5955268 >>5955704 >>5956148 After a bit of back and forth discussion, your team decided to actually split up in order to accomplish today's goals quicker, the thought of the looming unknown time for when the Guards would want to move against Felippe no doubt picking at everyone's brains. It's definitely picking at yours, at the very least. You don't like unknowns like that, not knowing how long you have to prepare before you'll have to move.
Ramza and Gigas would be busy liberating the loot caches that Stillwater spilled the beans on, while you were to remain behind on the ship to both oversee the initial installation of the upgrades and to review the Memoreel. They must have figured that you would be the best choice for such a thing given your minor obsession with the ways of magic, and while they're probably right, you didn't bother to tell them that you've never actually used a Memoreel before. You only know how to use it theoretically.
You hold the small golden orb in your hand, peering into it curiously, as the shipwrights of the day finish depositing the materials they need on the deck. A duo of workers pick up a sheet of aerosteel together and, at the direction of their foreman, move it into place against the walls of one of the cabin. While the sounds of hammering starts up, you turn the orb over few times, a cool breeze picking up and making the tails of your coat whip around.
'Here goes nothing.' You think to yourself, as you channel a small amount of your mana into the orb. Outside sensations begin to fade, the sounds of work dulling and the cold caress of wind on your face dwindling to nothing despite the fact that you're certain it's still there. You begin to see without seeing, a different picture of the world appearing in your mind's eye, much like a particularly potent daydream that one gets occasionally lost in.
In this waking dream, you imagine yourself to be Jerome Stillwater. You can tell intuitively that while you're in this state, if you think about something that Jerome would know and would have allowed the Memoreel to store, you would be able to 'remember' it clearly. So you start with the Countess, thinking about what Jerome knows about her...starting with her appearance, since you never actually got that information.
She's quite attractive, and the image of her bathing in an all-too-luxurious tub at her estate only serves to solidify it. Water flows over her flawless skin and down an ample chest, drawing Jerome's eyes to all the right places as he leers from his hiding spot outside. His hand reaches down and-
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 23 Mar 2024 14:36:50 No. 5958608 Report Quoted By:
Your eye twitches in the real world and your jaw clenches. You forcefully think of things that Stillwater could use AGAINST her instead of this lecherous filth. The image in your mind's eye shifts to a letter in Jerome's hands. It's a love letter to the Countess, simply one of many belonging to the countless suitors she has. You idly note that it's written in an elegant hand, which Jerome thinks is the mark of pretentiousness.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 23 Mar 2024 14:37:51 No. 5958609 Report Quoted By:
This pain seems to be radiating from his hand, which now has the same knife he cut the lemon with impaled through it and the glass. It apparently hurts him so much that he can't even manage a scream for the first few seconds, his throat and tongue tightening up as a visceral response.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 23 Mar 2024 14:38:53 No. 5958610 Report You stop the flow of mana into the Memoreel and feel your normal senses returning to you. It goes a bit faster than when they were fading away, and you can tell that you spent a surprising amount of time here - it's been at least thirty minutes since you started delving into the orb's contents. Ramza and Gigas aren't back yet, though, so you seem to have a bit of free time for yourself...and you're not really all that content to sit and watch people nailing plates and drilling holes into the ship.>Help out with the upgrades until your comrades return, you might learn a thing or two about a shipwright's duties in the process. >Kill some time reading one of your spellbooks. >Try to review the Memoreel a little bit deeper in your quarters, maybe see if there's any way to restore what Stillwater edited out. >Head out to the Archives, you're certain that Ramza and Gigas will hit that place up by the end of their stash-raiding. >Write-in? Thank you all for your patience! Sorry this took so long, the QM curse truly is real. And it seems to operate on a per-thread basis sometimes.
Anonymous
>>5958610 Was the location of the letter not specified?
>Help out with the upgrades until your comrades return, you might learn a thing or two about a shipwright's duties in the process. Torn between magic and making a crewmember more experienced in ship repairs and refitting.
I can switch to studying spells (second choice) or heading to the archives (third choice) in the event of a tie.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 23 Mar 2024 15:04:32 No. 5958621 Report >>5958620 Bundled up with the rest of the things that shouldn't have been in Stillwater's hands inside that one book at the Archives.
Anonymous
>>5958621 Ah.
>>5958610 Alright, I’ll change my vote to vote to
>Head out to the Archives, you're certain that Ramza and Gigas will hit that place up by the end of their stash-raiding. >Bring the water spellbook with you to read in case you’re early. Easier to blend in if you’re stuck waiting. then. We can inform them about the importance of the letter and decide if we want to use that leverage to some end of ours today.
Anonymous
Anonymous
>>5958628 >>5958610 >Support. Uh guys idt ramaza gonna let us destroy the hot countess. We might have to do it for the good of the party.
>find those letters to snitch on the countess. Leak them to the press. Make some flyers post them in some public places. Send a nice letter to all her suitors to meet somewhere. That'll be Hella awkward when 20 dudes all show up to a location. It needs to be done.
Anonymous
>>5958610 >Try to review the Memoreel a little bit deeper in your quarters, maybe see if there's any way to restore what Stillwater edited out. >Try not to crush hard on the mysterious dangerous woman >Fail not to crush hard on the mysterious dangerous woman Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5958701 I’m debating whether we bring it to Lobo or the Guard. I don’t think the Guard could do much with it legally so I’m leaning Lobo. He’ll have no problem finding someone to use the material before it loses its worth when Silversmith’s operation is swept up.
If he asks why we’re handing it over rather than extorting her ourselves, Val can bluntly admit it’s because she’s attractive and that might get Ramza to lower his guard enough to escape. Can’t go without him either, he’s our best negotiator.
Anonymous
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5958715 The lady was pretty clear it’d be rude to look into her secrets without her permission! Obviously Val should ask her first. He seems like he’d be fairly polite to a professionally dangerous woman.
Anonymous
>>5958610 An additional vote
> Do not crush on a sadistic psycho killer Anonymous
>>5958864 One chuuni edgelord deserves another.
Anonymous
>>5958904 You think Val is a chuuni edgelord? Why?
Anonymous
>>5958908 He wears a facemask everywhere and actively hangs out at the edge of parties with his arms crossed, all silent and stoic, so he'll get a reputation for being cool and aloof. He's like that kid who LARPed as Vegeta in his teen years, always goign "hmph" and "tch".
At least that's how I see him ever since he admitted to hamming up his too-cool credentials to Ramza He's also the serious party member with the dark and tragic backstory.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5958913 I was kicking around the idea that Ramza may want to use the ritual Silversmith uses to get her attention to drop a letter asking to discuss rates. We’re more likely to fight her long-term, but can assume that if we’re paying her fairly then whatever we need her help with is really, really dire.
>”Val, Val, Val! I can assure you I have no untoward ideas about getting to know a woman who could rip out my spine with nary a tear in her eye. You said you were into dangerous women, and I adhere by the code! I’m your wingma-urk.” >Gigas laughs as Val strangles Ramza. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 24 Mar 2024 20:40:47 No. 5959911 Report >>5958628 >>5958660 >>5958701 >>5958715 >>5958764 Alright, make a quick roll for me to for some 'light' reading while you wait for the others at the Archive. 7d10! Only one roll.
You can also add up to three Relationship dice (to a total of 10d10) to this if you want to, as it relates to both studying new things and becoming the greatest spellcaster.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 4, 4, 2, 3, 6, 3, 5 = 27 (7d10) >>5959911 Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 25 Mar 2024 01:05:17 No. 5960069 Report Quoted By:
>>5958628 >>5958660 >>5958701 >>5958715 >>5958764 It doesn't take much thinking to arrive on a plan. You'd go out to the city's Archive and wait for your comrades there, if only to stop them from doing something stupid like ripping up the love letter after deeming it 'useless'. You can definitely, without a doubt, see both of them doing that. Gigas moreso than Ramza, but the point remains.
After a quick stop at your room to grab the highly advanced spellbook on Water magic that you purchased from Gremory yesterday, you're off through the streets that are starting to fill out once more now that the morning's chill is starting to fade. The Archive isn't hard to find at all, being arguably the secondmost common reason for why people come to Threespice to begin with; It's a massive repository of information, requiring an entire tower to house the countless books, tomes, and grimoires contained within.
The front 'door' of the city Archives is a constantly rotating cylinder, cordoned off into person-sized sections with each divider stylized to look like a book's page coming off the central spine, so that when viewed from the outside it could be seen as a book being flipped through. Pointlessly artsy, but you can at least appreciate the dedication to their gimmick - you don't doubt that all of this was paid for by one of the merchant kings, though you have no idea which one nor why. Once you've shuffled through to the inside, a older man wearing a red vest looks up from his place at a checking station's podium, and gestures for you to approach.
"One piece for the day's entry." He says in the tone of someone who's said that exact phrase a million times over. Son of a bitch, now you know why someone sunk so much money into the single largest gathering of knowledge in Lume.
"...Right." You say, not saying any of the colorful curses and swears going through your mind as you fish out some of your personal funds to pay the man. Paying just to step inside...what a rip-off.
"Thank you for your patronage." He says, ripping off a perforated slip of paper from a long strip and handing it to you. Looking down at it, you can see that it's a ticket with today's date on it. Makes sense, you need proof if you're going to be in and out through the day.
You politely tip your hat to the man and move on, casting your gaze across the interior to get a feel for things. Everything is clean and orderly, with natural light coming in through plenty of windows dotting the building's multiple levels and a few mana-fed lamps augmenting the lighting where necessary. Assorted tables are arranged in central areas so as to allow people to sit and read their books of choice within the building itself, and twin winding stairs lead up throughout the various levels.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 25 Mar 2024 01:06:19 No. 5960071 Report Quoted By:
Approaching one of the nearest shelves, you take a glance at the placards sticking out and at the books themselves. They seem to be arranged by subject first, and author name second. Efficient, you like that...but you're not entirely certain what subject the book you're looking for will be. You're about to turn around to question the old man from before, but you see something that stops you.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 25 Mar 2024 01:07:21 No. 5960073 Report <span class="mu-s">About one hour later...</span>>Solidify >Sense Mana >Alter Memory >Impart Thought >Animate >Write-in a different potential water spell. Water magic covers metamagic, mana-alteration, and more traditional water-related things like causing floods or generating whirlpools.
Anonymous
>>5960073 >Alter Memory Handy!
Anonymous
>>5960073 Metamagic? I can think of a write-in then.
>Recast Mirrors a recently-cast spell in your vicinity, even if you don’t know the spell in question. Taller successes dictate the effectiveness of the recast, wide ones can allow for multiple casts at increased cost.
I imagine this would be a lost art though. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 25 Mar 2024 01:28:24 No. 5960087 Report >>5960086 That's a dope idea. Adding it to my list.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5960087 Some other ideas, though I’m not voting on these:
>Desiccate Extract the water from a target into the air. Trivial on mid-sized, non-living objects. Requires a dice roll on creatures with mana or large objects. Causes cramps, muscle spasms, loss of voice, and vision problems in combat, causing damage to multiple areas depending on effectiveness.
>Reroute Surges mana to one part of a body at the expense of another. Move x dice from one stat to another for y turns. On effect end, the dice that were moved do not return to the original part until magical healing is done or time has passed, roughly a half-hour. Concurrent uses can cause long-term damage to the body. Can be used on friends or foes.
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 26 Mar 2024 06:37:28 No. 5961039 Report Quoted By:
>>5960083 >>5960086 >>5960167 >>5960264 >>5960312 Recast. A fairly complex spell on its own, on the face of things, but at the same time surprisingly simple. Essentially, you create a bubble of pure Mana that reads the lingering traces of recently cast spells in the area and recreates them by restructuring itself according to what it finds - no further input usually needed from Recast's user. The book warns you that such a practice can be detrimental to downright lethal should it the lingering remnants of a spell be too degraded to copy the original spell, as the results would be unpredictable and unstable to say the least. Still, it's one part of the puzzle that is Clone, and a worthwhile enough spell on its own that you dedicated a good chunk of the hour to trying to piece together how it works.
You're about to move on to learning how to alter memories next, a tangentially related piece of the puzzle itself, when your lighting annoyingly goes dark. You peer up to see the massive form of Gigas blocking your light and grinning down at you like the act was somehow amusing.
"Reading indoors on a day like this? My friend, I am afraid that you may be a bookworm." He taunts, starting his boisterous laugh before a loud SHHHH is directed at him from a nearby patron. He sheepishly rubs the back of his head and leans in to speak in more of a hushed tone. "I thought you were going to stay at the ship?"
"I learned all I could from the Memoreel. Figured I'd cut some time out of the equation and meet you guys here, since you'd be coming here eventually anyways. Got our friend's book, too." You say, tucking the spellbook away and bringing <span class="mu-i">The Complete, Unabridged History of Bridges</span> into your hands instead. "How did things go on your end?"
"Ramza and I made it a competition to see who could raid the most stashes the quickest. I won, of course." He says, looking like he wants to chuckle again and trying VERY hard not to. He seems to opt for flexing silently instead. You would wonder why he always does that if you didn't already deduce that the cause was definitely some kind of mental illness induced by the same brain damage that lost him his memories.
"Did you keep track of the haul?" You ask, curious as to what kind of goodies a man like Stillwater would hide away.
"...No." Gigas says with a frown. "I was busy focusing on speed. I just assumed we'd count everything up later at the ship." He says, pulling an unfamiliar burlap sack off his shoulder and setting it on the floor. The loot, without a doubt.
"Fair enough. When do you think Ramza will be coming?" You inquire next.
"Soonish, maybe. He has terrible stamina, I could run circles around him. In fact, I did that at one point in the competition." He can't help but release a chuckle again, but this time he at least restrains it to a reasonable volume. "What did you find out from the Memoreel?"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 26 Mar 2024 06:38:29 No. 5961041 Report "That we definitely can't let Ramza use it." You say resolutely, patting the interior jacket pocket you stored it in. "It's off-limits to the captain no matter what. There's sordid memories stored on it that he would definitely waste a lot of time reliving."That does prompt thoughts of her eating something else, though.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 26 Mar 2024 06:39:31 No. 5961042 Report Quoted By:
"True. But uh, back on the original topic, the Countess has a bunch of suitors that all seem to think they're the sole target of her attentions. Stillwater saved some of the letters in the book here. He figured that those letters could be used to eliminate her powerbase or blackmail her, since dozens of married aristocrats having affairs with a woman would destroy them AND her." You say, keeping your voice particularly low just in case there's eavesdroppers. "And for Nocturne, well...she punished Stillwater for digging into her, so all we have is an appearance that may or may not actually be what she looks like."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 26 Mar 2024 06:40:32 No. 5961044 Report A correspondence that must have never reached its intended target, ending up in Stillwater's hands instead. A letter from Felippe, addressed to Captain Jaghatai. Not a pirate, as you were all hoping, but something far worse - a Gaoth nationalist leading one of the raiding groups that can sometimes be seen around the outskirts of Lume territory. It seems that Felippe was trying to engender trust and foster good relations between himself and the Gaoth Dominion, and in doing so willingly fed who knows how much information to them.>Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. >Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find Captain Jaghatai and his raidship party. You need info on the target. Maybe contact with him can help you get a good read on his intentions >Meet with and recruit people from the list that Lobo gave you, to fill out your roster before doing anything else. >Spend a good chunk of time practicing magic, all of you. You've all got spellbooks to read, and you at least have Recast that needs practice to put to use. >Write-in! >Yes! (Write-in what books you want to check out. Maximum of three.) >No! Reading is for nerds! Yes, they have an erotica section.
Anonymous
>>5961044 >Meet with and recruit people from the list that Lobo gave you, to fill out your roster before doing anything else. We need more bodies.
>Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find Captain Jaghatai and his raidship party. You need info on the target. Maybe contact with him can help you get a good read on his intentions Then go do this. We might run into the goath while we do anyways.
>Yes! (Write-in what books you want to check out. Maximum of three.) >Barrier disruption >Ether distillery stuff. We definitely want to start doing that. (Can we buy the equipment) >romantic poems for ramza so he can try to hit on girls better (secretly for us too) >also catalog our loot from the stashes. Anonymous
>>5961044 >>Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. Anonymous
>>5961041 >cute tanned athletic gal God taste
>Son of a bitch, you're attracted to her. You don't need to implement every shitpost, QM
>>5961044 >Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere. >Yes! (Write-in what books you want to check out. Maximum of three.) >Barrier disruption >Ether distillery stuff >Water magic theory Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 26 Mar 2024 11:38:29 No. 5961169 Report >>5961162 >You don't need to implement every shitpost, QM Don't worry, I'm well aware. She simply fits Val's type. There was always going to be SOME amount of attraction to her if/when Val saw her, thanks to his preferences.
Whether that gets acted on or not in the future though is up to the choices that get eventually made. Men can't control what they like, but we can damn well decide what to do about it.
Anonymous
>>5961169 Val's type is bodysuits?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 26 Mar 2024 12:05:43 No. 5961182 Report >>5961174 Dangerous women.
Anonymous
>>5961044 >Meet with and recruit people from the list that Lobo gave you, to fill out your roster before doing anything else. Having a crew for our ships would be good before, y’know, shipping out to find people.
If we follow it up with going out, I’d do
>Look for the Eldingarians since they’re the more immediate concern. Maybe Ramza can stay behind recruiting while we take some initial crew out?
>>5961057 I’ll support the choices here for books.
>>5961162 Yeah, the shitposting was with merit since Val mentioned what type of woman he likes in the first thread. It’s why I joined in!
Anonymous
>>5961044 >Head out on the Gleamrunner to try to find the independent Eldingarians along their route. Every hour can matter out in the wilderness, if they're stranded somewhere >>5961182 Haha, it totally was, wasn't it? Called it, he's an edgelord.
Anonymous
>>5961212 >>5961044 Know what, on further reflection I’ll vote for books on
>Ether distillation/alchemy >Barrier disruption >Untyped mana I’m curious how untyped mana is created, behaves, and interacts with other mana.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 27 Mar 2024 07:23:42 No. 5961868 Report Quoted By:
Ended up being damn busy today taking care of a sick family member, so update will come tomorrow!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 28 Mar 2024 18:38:57 No. 5963002 Report >>5961057 >>5961080 >>5961162 >>5961212 >>5961237 >>5961489 The most pressing thing to do out of everything: finding the independent Eldingarians, wherever they might be. It was universally agreed that the less time you spent dicking around, the greater their chances of survival would be if they were stranded somewhere or worse. Monsters or black pirates could prey upon them at any moment, after all.
That being said, you did take a moment to check out one book each from the archives. You picked out an excellent book on Ether distillation, since it was going to be a valuable resource to keep stocked aboard the ship given <span class="mu-i">Gremory's</span> presence. Gigas didn't really know what to pick, so you picked out a book for him as well - one on Barrier technology called <span class="mu-i">Barrier Failures: How They Happen and What to Do About It</span>. As for ramza, well...you tried to convince him to get something useful, you really did. You suggested untyped mana studies or water magic theory, but in the end he stubbornly refused and picked up <span class="mu-i">Lovestruck, Homesick</span>. A fairly useless collection of poems that could only feasibly be useful for picking up shallow floozies, as far as you could tell at least.
With the new books in hand, the three of you make your way back to the docks and past the Flame of Arcadia, which you can see is still being worked on. You step onto the Gleamrunner together and start the process of undocking it, while putting away some of your goods that would be cumbersome to carry on your person all the time. It's here that you can actually take stock of what Ramza and Gigas collected from the stashes.
Across a dozen different hiding spots, they only gathered 2,400 shiny gold coins - 200 of them carefully placed in each for emergency funds should Stillwater only be able to access one of them. Next, and more noteworthy in your opinion, was a plethora of passports and citizenry identifiers for all four of the great elemental nations. Backup personas should he ever need to disappear into another country, a smart move...and something that you could repurpose for yourself and your comrades with a bit of work. The last commonality among each and every one of them was a wicked looking dagger covered in runes, with a slot in each hilt where one could store an Ether to fuel the effect.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 28 Mar 2024 18:39:58 No. 5963004 Report You looked it over curiously, and while Ramza and Gigas continued to make sure the ship was ready to sail, you opened up the book you purchased from Gremory to cross-reference the runes with it. After a few minutes, you have an answer: One side of the dagger's blade held a spell that would alter the appearance of someone that was stabbed with it, while the other side would stabilize the mana so the body would only dissolve after ten minutes. Once it had time to get seen by someone, but not enough time to run tests to determine if the body had been tampered with. You have no way of telling what changes would take place to the body without actually using it, but you suspect that it would turn whoever got stabbed into an identical but dead copy of Stillwater himself.
Anonymous
Rolled 10, 10, 4, 4, 8, 10 = 46 (6d10) >>5963004 For Val!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5963002 Also, based poetry-deploying, reading-for-pleasure Ramza.
Poor Gigas will explode his brain with all that dry technical shit Anonymous
Rolled 1, 8, 3, 3, 5 = 20 (5d10) >>5963004 Ramza
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5963023 >muffled eurobeat in the distance Anonymous
Rolled 85 (1d100) >>5963004 Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5963023 >>5963061 >>5963085 Holy fuck the chad boys are back in town. Is gremmy with us qm?
> Anonymous
>>5963023 >>5963061 >>5963085 Holy fuck the chad boys are back in town
Is gremmy with us qm?
>eurobeat increases tempo Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5963091 Ffs my bad post glitched out on me
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 28 Mar 2024 20:27:41 No. 5963107 Report Quoted By:
>>5963091 She is not, Gremory went back to man her stall for the day.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5963023 So Val is a better pilot than Ramza! Ramza didn’t do bad on his first voyage, but almost everything is weaksauce compared to a triple 10.
Val has a real talent with wind crystal ships, I suppose.
We are taking the other crystals anyway since our main ship is docked, right?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 30 Mar 2024 18:02:30 No. 5964959 Report Just to avoid radio silence, I haven't actually been able to sit down and write yet! Taking care of a sick nigga is quite a lot of exhausting work, as it happens. Plus I've been trying to get things ready for my ma's birthday soon. You gotta treat your folks right, you know!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5964959 Wind/lightning magic assassin. Anti mage with Disrupt Mana. And super speed/stealth to nuke people without them knowing I was there.
Anonymous
>>5964959 Wind magic monk type. Flying from island to island, exploring mountains and forests in an endless pilgrimage between the spires, documenting the things he sees, philosophical musings. That or an explorer/archaeologist type, I guess mainly physical, some water magic perhaps, it would be cool if there was earth magic though.
Also before our boys set out we should move all valuables to the Arcadia (i.e. the corrupted mana crystal thing)
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5964959 Probably a mage delving into the workings behind mana
Anonymous
>>5964959 I prefer utility characters. Probably something like a shipwright, shipwitch, or explorer from what we know so far. Let the other players shine in combat, Il find a different niche to fill.
Anonymous
>>5964959 Probably something close to Gigas, honestly. Playing a macho dummy is always a good time, even if you’re the straight man in a wacky group
Anonymous
>>5964959 Healing specialist alchemist/scientist, or maybe a demon.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 01 Apr 2024 10:46:46 No. 5966860 Report Quoted By:
>>5963023 >>5963061 >>5963085 >>5964993 >>5965212 >>5965233 >>5966263 The wind catalyst currently sitting below deck and nestled within the relatively small subcore seems to be working wonders for the ship, as it has a level of responsiveness and speed that no ship without one could possibly have. It's like the spirits themselves are guiding your ship, turning the winds when you turn the helm and making sure you're always going as fast as you possibly can. In fact, the responsiveness almost throws Gigas off his feet when you make a sharper turn than he expected. When he throws you a sharp glare for the maneuver, you're particularly glad that your mischievous smile is hidden by your mask, especially when you sharply turn the other direction just to fuck with him.
"Hey!" Gigas stumbles and grabs hold of the side of the ship. "Be a little gentler, would you?"
"Avoiding some floating debris. Couldn't help it." You lie as easily as you breathe.
"Why I oughta..." Gigas grumbles, before shaking his head and waving you off like you're not worth the trouble. A smart move not to pick a fight with the pilot, in your opinion.
The route that Ramza guides you towards heads off into Vodan territory at some point, although that's still an enormous distance away. A sensible trail for Eldingarian traders to take, as any routes through Gaoth would be fraught with danger from the everpresent raiders. At least, you think it would be - you have no idea if the Gaothian military forces are any more friendly in their home territory than when they're out abroad.
The main dangers of the Vodan-born route are, instead, obstacles and monsters. Both were born in spades as a result of the Stormwar, unmelting massive fields of razor-sharp iceshards and titanic floating glaciers proving to be a deterrent to all those who can't manipulate their way through them with magic. The monsters, of course, found such places to be excellent areas to hide within to prey on those foolish enough to try to make their way through regardless.
Once you're out of Threespice's domain, about an hour out from the outskirts, you encounter one such field, unfitting swathes of ice marring the otherwise tropical appearance of Lume's lands. The skies aren't the only thing touched by the Vodan's magic, as plenty of their eternal ice has sprouted up on the lands both below and above, making you think that it could potentially be the result of a battle more than an intentionally laid barrier.
"Think you could get us through it fine, or should we go around?" Captain Valentine asks you, looking to you and no doubt about to judge your response.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 01 Apr 2024 10:47:47 No. 5966861 Report Quoted By:
"With ease. Hold on tight." Is all you say, the ship lurching forward into the field of deadly and destructive ice without a moment's hesitation. You swerve the ship deftly around any and all obstacles in your way, taking full advantage of the ship's omnidirectional movement to navigate through it while avoiding even the smaller shardswarms that could only harm the crew rather than the ship itself. There's a brief moment where Ramza and Gigas panic as you thread the needle between two glaciers drifting towards one another, which slam together mere fractions of a second after you pass, but you were as cool as the ice all around you during the maneuver - you knew there was no chance of failure, you had every movement plotted out accurately in your head.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 01 Apr 2024 10:49:11 No. 5966862 Report You weren't entirely sure what you expected on your arrival, but seeing a torn-to-fuck-and-back Eldingarian ship surrounded by a thick translucent barrier isn't it. The smoke appears to be coming from an intentionally laid fire, wooden planks from the ship having been ripped off and set ablaze to either signal people with or cook some emergency rations with - or both, you suppose. You bring the ship in to set it down just outside of the protective bubble, barely displacing anything as you masterfully land, and put the brakes on. Together, the three of you hop off the Gleamrunner and approach.>You all decided to try to CALM the Eldingarian down, and try to convince him that you're here to rescue him. >You decided to get more information first, making no move to break the barrier so as to not set him off. After all, it sounds like there could be enemy pirates nearby. >You decided to back up, slowly, and get back on your ship. You're pretty sure the Eldingarian will calm down if you find the ship(s) that downed him and take them out. >You decided to call his bluff(?) and reference the manual on barrier breakage to try to break that barrier. >Something else?
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5966862 >You decided to get more information first, making no move to break the barrier so as to not set him off. After all, it sounds like there could be enemy pirates nearby. Anonymous
>>5966862 >Ramza decided to get more information first, making no move to break the barrier so as to not set him off. After all, it sounds like there could be enemy pirates nearby. >Val and Gigas head back towards the Gleamrunner in case its cannons are needed. We can mention we were here for possible search-and-rescue and hopefully recruitment, but he makes it sound like there’s pirates in the area and that takes priority.
If there were others in his crew still they’d be out for a show of force. No sense hiding them when they’d have already been spotted defending or repairing the ship when it was attacked. We can put Healing Honey and Mending Sap outside the barrier if it's because of injuries. If it’s because they were captured, then tell us what he knows and we’ll try to mount a rescue. We have a wind-crystal ship but spares of the other crystals if swapping makes sense.
Anonymous
>>5966862 >You all decided to try to CALM the Eldingarian down, and try to convince him that you're here to rescue him. Make a friend, see if he has a gun we can turn against these 'bastards'
>>5966941 I'm not sure the Gleamrunner has guns, just a single harpoon I think. Also, did it always have a wind catalyst in the core?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 01 Apr 2024 14:11:26 No. 5966968 Report Quoted By:
>>5966967 It did not always have one in it, it was the recently purchased one that was chucked inside.
And yes, as an ultralight ship, the gleamrunner only has the Harpoon gun it came with. The Flame of Arcadia was getting geared up with better stuff.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5966967 Ah, my bad. I wasn’t really thinking about what weapons we had so I was loose with what I was calling them.
I’d still prefer to have people on the ship to ensure we don’t get ambushed. A single harpoon probably isn’t enough to tangle with another ship in straight combat, unfortunately. If we had cannons we might be able to dance around them while firing, but we’d need a lucky harpoon hit to the engines to keep a bigger ship from dragging us along instead.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5966862 >You all decided to try to CALM the Eldingarian down, and try to convince him that you're here to rescue him. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5966862 >You all decided to try to CALM the Eldingarian down, and try to convince him that you're here to rescue him. >You decided to get more information first, making no move to break the barrier so as to not set him off. After all, it sounds like there could be enemy pirates nearby. >Basically here to rescue you but we'll kill those pirates first. They weren't goath were they? Which way they go? Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 02 Apr 2024 19:54:53 No. 5968169 Report On the off chance that my terrible secret hobby is ever revealed: Happy birthday, ma!
Anonymous
Rolled 7, 8, 9, 9, 2 = 35 (5d10) >>5968169 Time to flex some Eldingarian diplomacy muscles
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 4, 10 = 14 (2d10) >>5968169 Rolling for our mightiest boi.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 1, 9 = 10 (2d10) >>5968169 Anonymous
Rolled 2, 10 = 12 (2d10) >>5968172 Adding crew relationship dice
Anonymous
Anonymous
>>5968251 Now double 2s, too, I guess.
Anonymous
>>5968251 Could of got triples maybe... might as well they're not single use...
Anonymous
>>5968255 >>5968323 Not to be anal, but I don't think that's how they work anyway
>After all dice have been rolled for a failed roll, you can vote to use any number of your relationship dice as long as you can reasonably call upon that relationship. I, personally, will then roll the Relationship Dice that you called for, and the resulting rolls will be appended to the ends of each set. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 03 Apr 2024 01:20:32 No. 5968387 Report >>5968347 You are correct. Only thing I've changed is that I let you lads roll it these days.
Basically, if you roll it and come up with a failure, you can roll the RD that I specified in that post. Kind of saves on time!
The 'only after failure' rule is mostly to ensure people don't inflate rolls that have already succeeded, which then defeats the purpose of RD. RD are there as a 'risky bet' - try to succeed where you failed, but if you still fail you damage the relationship.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5968387 So no need in this instance? More's the better!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 04 Apr 2024 20:08:54 No. 5969742 Report Quoted By:
"Follow my lead, we've got to calm this guy down before we do anything else!" Ramza orders, and the two of you nod at him in return. Turning back to face the Eldingarian, he addresses the man directly. "I take it that you've been attacked by some local pirates. I'm Captain Ramza Valentine, and these are my crewmen Val Lasombra and Gigas."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 04 Apr 2024 20:09:55 No. 5969743 Report Quoted By:
"If not, then they're waiting for us to pick you up so they can take out our ship as well." Ramza surmises, frowning deeply. "A corvid...from my knowledge, that could be Riston Lore. AKA 'The Raven'. Well known for pulling tricks on his targets. 76th most wanted on the bounty boards. Reward of 2,800 gold, dead or alive."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 04 Apr 2024 20:10:56 No. 5969745 Report The three of you board your ship once more, and exactly as Ramza said, you bring the ship in to float just off the ground about three feet away from the barrier itself. After a few seconds, it begins to audible hum, a crackling unseen energy building up in the air around it that causes a minor haze begin to form. You see movement off in the horizon, a ship pulling out from behind one of the floating islands nearby, and the barrier's translucent form begins to grow brighter and brighter. With a sharp <span class="mu-s">crack</span> not unlike thunder being released from a lightning bolt, a flash of unbelievably bright light that you can see even through your closed eyelids washes over everything, and the barrier shatters like glass.
Anonymous
Rolled 10, 9, 10, 7, 5, 4, 1, 3 = 49 (8d10) >>5969745 Can Val repeat his maneuvers?
Anonymous
>>5969745 >>5969767 Not as quick under enemy fire, but he remains a leaf on the wind!
Anonymous
>>5969768 If you've seen the movie, you know that quote is a jinx Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5969786 Wash actually failed his piloting check. It would have been a good line if he’d succeeded! Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 04 Apr 2024 22:49:35 No. 5969872 Report Slamming the brake forward as fast as you can with one hand and jerking the wheel off to the side with the other gives you the intended results; the Gleamrunner sharply spikes upwards and tilts harshly off to the side, just in time to avoid a trio of cannonballs that would have whizzed through two parts of the hull and the sails respectively. The ship goes shooting forward a moment later, and you note that Gigas has a deathgrip on the passenger he was helping up. They seem to have almost been left behind if the fact that they're dangling off the side of the ship still is any indicator - at least your larger friend quickly brings them up and forces a rope around their waist to keep them secure.>Fight. >Flee.
Anonymous
>>5969872 >Flee. It's the better part of valor, innit?
Anonymous
>>5969872 >Fight them in the Fog. If they can't see us. They can't shoot us. >Do the ol bordering party. Have Val buff gigas and himself with Slipstream. As soon as we see them ramza hits them with fire blast aiming for the cannons and their explosive charges. Goal is to have gigas and Val gank their captain to end the fight quickly. Yummy midweight ship loot. I think they'll expect us to run they won't expect us to ambush them back. We should get a very nice surprise attack on them.
Tldr risk it for the biscuit.
Anonymous
>>5969904 question qm how many people are on a midweight? Is this captain a renowned fighter?
Anonymous
>>5969872 >Fight. >Swing around to aim for their rudder with the harpoon. If they can’t steer they can’t give chase. You can also swing them to sail right into the island below! I assume sky ships still have rudders. If not the rudder, the steering wheel should suffice.
>>5969904 I’m thinking they may keep fighting even if the Captain goes down. If they have enough people they may figure whoever kills the boarders gets to be the new Captain.
Boarding would be a good chance for Val to attempt Recast on Gigas’ Slipstream though.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Fri 05 Apr 2024 00:28:52 No. 5969937 Report >>5969906 The Raven's reputation has him winning through dishonorable tactics. He's never really been heard to fight fairly by any means. That being said, he's killed his fair share of people in combat before, thanks to the advantages of fighting unfairly. He's not exactly said to be a prodigy with a blade or gun though.
A midweight like this one has anywhere from twenty to fifty people crewing it, but not all of them are usually combat-capable. And not all would be able to respond to boarders.
>>5969931 Turning is done through manipulations of the sail in this case, rudders do exist on most ships but they're for if you have to go seaborn with the ship. Hitting the helm/wheel would cripple the ship significantly.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5969937 Gotcha. So have Gigas loudly declare we’re Blue Pirates, challenge the Captain to a duel, wait for someone to declare they’re the Captain, then Ramza goes for the shifty-looking guy who has a good angle to jump into the duel because he thinks we’re dumb pirates who don’t know better.
Alternately, take out the wheel and tell them we’ll drop them off on the island instead of sailing them through the ice floe field if they give up their Captain, and when they bring someone up we toss down the bounty book and tell them to confirm it before pushing him overboard.
Alternately alternately, do the Gigas thing and have Val rain down Mending Sap to stick the possible combatants to the floor.
So many fun ideas, only one can be used.
I wish we had the shipwitch, I’m sure she could do fun things in a raincloud with a lightning or water crystal.
Anonymous
>>5969872 >Flee. It's half an idea to outmaneuver them and leverage what we have, but we don't have much in the way of 'taking swipes' to whittle them down. At most we could expend their cannon ammo at considerable risk to ourselves, maybe set some fires with personal magic, but the crew is likely to have guns, and we have precious cargo.
If we had the Flame, different story, but even best case scenario we would have 3 fighters to take down each, up to 10.
Anonymous
>>5969872 >Flee While looting a midweight would be nice, this is absolutely the place where our dice will fail us, I feel it.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 06 Apr 2024 02:59:52 No. 5970696 Report Quoted By:
>>5969884 >>5969904 >>5969931 >>5970006 >>5970187 >Flee. You can see the apprehension in Ramza's eyes, even if he might not know it's there himself. You know that he's torn between the valor of taking down an enemy pirate or prioritizing everybody's safety - whatever decision he makes will be one that will paint his image to the others. So you decide to make the decision for him, to take the option out of his hands so that he can maintain plausible deniability to anyone that would otherwise judge him for it.
With a nod to the captain, you bring the ship higher and deeper into the rainclouds, accelerating the ship faster to put some distance between yourselves and the midweight. "Rescue takes priority. There's nothing on the fallen ship or the enemy ship worth risking lives over." You explain out loud for everyone.
Ramza doesn't seem to reply with anything other than a nod back, and a slight frown on his face. You're not sure if the frown is directed at you or at himself though. He turns away from you to face the trio of engineers instead, looking over them. The wiry old man is already a familiar sight to you, but the other two are somewhat unexpected. A woman about your age with surprisingly clear and smooth skin for someone in her line of work, and a younger boy you would wager to be about fifteen with similar features. All three of them have white hair and those distinct eldingarian facial structures, so you imagine they could very well be related to one another.
"Sorry for the hectic pickup there, but you're in good hands now. We should arrive at Threespice in a few hours, at which point you'll be free to do whatever you please. That being said, we did come out here to get you for a reason - we're in need of engineers on our ships, if you're willing to tag along." Ramza explains to the trio.
The old man sighs, moving over to sit on top of one of the supply barrels. "Not solely out of the goodness of your heart then, huh? Feh..."
"Don't get me wrong, I won't force you to do anything. We can part ways and never see each other again once we hit Threespice. I ask for nothing, just that you consider the offer." Ramza replies.
"Hm...that's a better deal than most anyone would get in these parts." Aito begrudgingly admits. "Normally I would try to negotiate terms with you, but I'll be honest. We're in foreign lands with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Everything of value we had was lost with that ship. We'd probably starve to death before we'd get any charity or find some decent work around here. We'll accept."
"Are you sure, gramps?" The boy asks, Jun you think. "I don't think there's much room to work on a ship like this!"
"Ships, plural! The Flame of Arcadia is much bigger than the Gleamrunner here. It's a superyacht, and it's got some of your Eldingarian Wonders attached to it. Hence why we needed Eldingarian engineers specifically! Well, that and the fact that you guys are the best in the world by a longshot." Ramza corrects.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 06 Apr 2024 03:01:01 No. 5970697 Report "Heh, don't we know it!" Aito laughs, now grinning and seeming a lot more chipper than before. "Well, I suppose now that we're members of your crew, introductions around the board are necessary. Like I said before, I'm Aito, you can consider me to be your head of engineering - I've got the most experience of us by a longshot.">Roll 7d10 for the trip back home, with one dice being added due to having taken the route before. >Roll 1d100 for luck on the way back!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 06 Apr 2024 03:02:06 No. 5970699 Report Quoted By:
Jun, btw.
Anonymous
Rolled 8, 1, 6, 9, 3, 7, 6 = 40 (7d10) >>5970697 Rolling for Val. Someone else can get the luck.
Anonymous
Rolled 10 (1d100) >>5970697 Anonymous
Anonymous
>>5970697 >ask if they know about distilling ether. And what's their views on uhhh... hmm... demons? Anonymous
>>5970862 Maybe we hand over the Water book to Yuzu before asking? If she sees something in there relevant to her mana phasic studies (which she probably will) then she’ll be more inclined to meet a demon. Probably can’t offer anything to the others to help convince them.
It’s clearly not forbidden knowledge, she’s selling it at reasonable rates! Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5970862 Good point, we should probably prepare them for Gremory.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 09 Apr 2024 11:17:06 No. 5973578 Report Quoted By:
>>5970762 >>5970770 >>5970862 >>5970948 >>5970187 >>5970006 >>5969884 Your way back is, unfortunately, one that takes you a good deal longer than the way here took. The ice fields have drifted in frustrating ways, some of them moving together too quickly to dart past. The shards seem more numerous than before, likely a result of the titanic icebergs smashing into each other and splintering, and it requires a lot more careful movement to avoid them with the ship. Even then, you note that the sails get some minor cuts in them that'll need to be addressed later. At the very least, you were able to make sure nobody aboard the ship got slashed.
This slower pace through the fields affords you a better appreciation for the likely-unintended beauty to be found in a place like this. One particular moment where you're surrounded on all sides by pristine glaciers and can see little else other than drifting reflections of the Gleamrunner and its inhabitants sticks with you. It almost feels like you're trapped inside of some kind of spacial anomaly, the world fractured all around. You idly wonder if Space magic could possibly do something as terrifying as that.
"Tell me." You speak up, if only to break the monotony of the trip. It's already been at least an hour of navigating the damned ice, you could at least get some measure of entertainment out of it. "Are you three at all familiar with Ether distillation?"
"Theoretically." Yuzu confirms with a nod.
"Nope!" Jun shakes his head.
"They never proved that I was." Aito chuckles.
"What?" You look at him strangely, not sure what he meant by that.
"Oh, you know...just a bit of slang from older times, I guess. Eldingar went through a phase where alcohol was prohibited when I was in my twenties, and back then we'd call any kind of spirits 'ethers' if we wanted to be <span class="mu-i">subtle</span> when talking about 'em." Aito explains, looking a bit wistful. Which strikes you as odd, since it sounds like it'd be a fairly oppressive time to live in.
"I see. So..." You trail off, unsure if he knows about actual ethers or not.
"It's only mildly more difficult than normal distillation, sonny. Depending on what materials I have to work with, I could whip up a fairly hands-free Ether Distiller if you really wanted me to. And if you funded the project, of course." He pinches his fingers together as he says this, grinning. "A bit of a waste of my talents though, if you ask me."
"About that...it's more so we can ensure that one of our crewmates can satisfy a, uh, dietary requirement." You feel increasingly awkward about broaching the subject. "We recruited a rare docile demon, and as long as she has access to ethers, she can remain nonviolent apparently."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 09 Apr 2024 11:18:08 No. 5973580 Report Quoted By:
Aito whistles in an impressed manner, while Yuzu and Jun both look alarmed. "First time in all my years alive that I've heard about someone having a true Demon in their crew! Ain't that something. I wonder if they'd be open for studying...there's a lot we could learn about their kind with a cooperative one." Aito says, his two grandchildren looking over to him with shock.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 09 Apr 2024 11:19:17 No. 5973582 Report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DDfLdN9Eko "Shit, it's flying Gaoth flags! It's got to be a raidship!" Ramza says, and indeed, you can tell that you're seeing a considerably larger warship than the midweight that tried to attack you earlier. And if you can see it in the reflections of the ice right now, you'd bet your hat that it can see you just as clearly. A light pulse of mana pings off the walls and settles over you, before the communistone settled near the helm lights up.
<span class="mu-s">"This is Captain Jaghatai of Gaoth, of the Skyseer. You have one minute before we destroy your vessel."</span>
Ramza rushes over to the communistone, slamming a hand over it and speaking up. "W-Wait a minute, we're not hostiles! We were on our way to Threespice, we mean you no harm, Captain Jaghatai. We'll just be on our way if you want us to. And, uh, this is Captain Valentine you're speaking to."
<span class="mu-s">"You mistake me, Captain Valentine. We will be destroying your vessel at the end of the minute no matter what. Gaoth Honor demands that you be given a chance to prepare yourself for your demise."</span>
You can see Ramza wracking his brain as he tries to figure out a way around this confrontation. "And the reason for this attack would be...?" He asks, for clarification.
<span class="mu-s">"You are enroute to Threespice and have witnessed the vessel Skyseer in Lume territory."</span>
It feels as though the confrontation is truly inevitable, unless you can find a way to convince the bloodthirsty captain to stand down and hear you out. A minute isn't exactly much, and you don't actually have the full minute left if he's been counting this entire time. Maybe it would be best to use the time you have left to try to escape into the complex maze of ice. Sure, you wanted to touch base with Jaghatai, but not if it means risking total annihilation at the hands of his ship just because you crossed paths!
>Explain that you are aware of his dealings with Felippe, and wish to arrange for a new deal. >Go ballsy. Threaten him just as hard as he threatened you. Gaoth are bound to respect something like that, right? >Challenge him to an in-person duel. His honor wouldn't allow him to refuse, and it'd give you a lot more time to make your case to him. >It's already too much risk. Cut contact and try to escape in the icefields. Anonymous
>>5973582 >>It's already too much risk. Cut contact and try to escape in the icefields. Show the sucker that Trinitys are slippery bastards;
Anonymous
>>5973582 >Explain that you are aware of his dealings with Felippe, and wish to arrange for a new deal. Talk fast, Ramza. Here’s some bullet points:
>Lobo, a Felippe lieutenant, kept blackmail material implicating him and Felippe of conspiring together. We obtained it. >That evidence is with trusted members in the underworld right now, and we’re deciding what to do with it. Both the Guard and Admiral Sato would be interested. >If he wishes to continue operating here, he’ll need new partners in Threespice. We can arrange a meeting or bring terms if he believes his favor is worth more than others. >If we are killed, the decision will be made without us or him. It will not be to his benefit, none would dare reach out first with the crackdown that will soon come. >We request parley. If only for a fairer fight if we can’t find common ground. I assume the blackmail materials are still with us, but he doesn’t need to know that!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 09 Apr 2024 17:07:24 No. 5973716 Report >>5973661 I presume you meant 'Stillwater' instead of Lobo.
And yes, blackmail materials are too sensitive to have anywhere other than 'on your person'.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5973716 Yeah, I tripped myself up since I was already thinking about Lobo for the next bit about “trusted members” in the criminal underworld.
Anonymous
>>5973582 >It's already too much risk. Cut contact and try to escape in the icefields. We have the advantage of mobility, let’s cut and run
Anonymous
>>5973582 >It's already too much risk. Cut contact and try to escape in the icefields. Perhaps our new Eldingarian friends can whip up a distraction... or maybe something a bit more destructive?
Anonymous
>>5973661 >>5973582 >support If that doesn't work...
>Honor duel... Anonymous
>>5973582 >Explain that you are aware of his dealings with Felippe, and wish to arrange for a new deal. >Challenge him to an in-person duel. His honor wouldn't allow him to refuse, and it'd give you a lot more time to make your case to him. We challenge you for a duel to set the terms of a new deal!
Anonymous
>>5973791 >>5973791 >>5973849 Can I tempt any of you to switch? I’m confident in our ability to outspeed him, but we’re surrounded by ice walls. They don’t need to hit us, they might have enough punch to hit the ice and let shrapnel tear our sails apart instead. Same with punching through ice sheets we have to maneuver around instead.
I’m less opposed to an honor duel. Kinda depends on whether we’re expected to die at the end of one. But I’d still rather have Ramza try the one-minute speedrun to convince him he needs us if he intends to continue raiding effectively around Threespice since talking is his biggest strength.
Anonymous
>>5974080 Even if we win, I doubt we would be free to leave. We would be playing right into their hands, and their honor as soldiers demands we die, so it's a moot point playing by their rules. They have 0 reasons to let us leave alive, and they likely only gave us a warning to avoid being branded a coward.
The only viable option aside from fleeing is to convince them that we are allies, it seems riskier to hang around yapping than it is to weave ice, but since you asked I will change my vote.
If only because we made Ramza sad by running earlier >>5973582 Change
>>5973849 to support
>>5973918 Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 10 Apr 2024 14:28:05 No. 5974425 Report >>5973619 >>5973661 >>5973791 >>5973867 >>5973918 >>5974139 >Explain that you are aware of his dealings with Felippe, and wish to arrange for a new deal. With a side of
>Challenge him to an in-person duel. His honor wouldn't allow him to refuse, and it'd give you a lot more time to make your case to him. If the first thing doesn't work.
Diplomacy with your words and then with your guns. God bless Lume.
Roll Ramza's 5d10, Val's 2d10, and Gigas's 2d10 on trying to convince him to just be chill! If we get no successes on this, then we'll be looking forward to a D-D-DUEL!
Anonymous
Rolled 9, 7, 8, 7, 2 = 33 (5d10) >>5974425 Rolling Ramza.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 10 Apr 2024 15:54:18 No. 5974466 Report Quoted By:
>>5974449 I'll get you next time...
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 9, 1 = 10 (2d10) Go, Val
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 9, 3 = 12 (2d10) >>5974425 Come on MIGHTY GIGAS
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 10 Apr 2024 18:10:07 No. 5974545 Report Quoted By:
"Felippe Silversmith!" Ramza shouts, causing your eyebrows to shoot up. You didn't expect him to bring that out, at least not over communications like this. "We're aware of your dealings with him, Captain Jaghatai, and wish to make a new arrangement with you. Silversmith is compromised, and if you wish to continue operations here, you'll need new partners."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 10 Apr 2024 18:11:09 No. 5974546 Report Quoted By:
"Ah, how clever...not something we could afford to do given our purposes here, but an effective tactic for a smaller group, I'm sure." He muses out loud. "But let us get down to business. How are you aware of our arrangement with the Merchant King?"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 10 Apr 2024 18:12:10 No. 5974548 Report "I never did enjoy working with him. But needs must, as they say...very well, we shall cut ties with the Silversmith. As you say, we can no longer afford to maintain contact with one such as him. In fact, it would behoove us to ensure he can tell none of our dealings now that he's...compromised." Jaghatai replies, his voice gaining a cold edge to it. You can tell immediately that he intends nothing less than killing Felippe to silence him for good. "Of course, that doesn't tell me why I should be working with <span class="mu-s">you</span> instead. What can you offer for the glory of Gaoth?">Suck it up, offer the same thing that Felippe offered them. They don't need to know that it's temporary and short-term. >Offer information on the movement of the Guards, since you happen to have an in with knowing when they'll all be busy raiding Felippe's manor. >Offer Felippe and Nocturne, delivered straight to them to deal with as they please. It'll be tricky to get him away from the guards when the raid happens, but a tantalizing offer hopefully. Nocturne is the far trickier one to lure, but you have a few ideas... >Offer the Pirate King Gaoth's journal, an one-of-a-kind cultural artifact of great importance to his people. Ramza would loathe to part with it, but if needs must... >Challenge him to that duel. If you win, he must acquiesce to help you however he can. If he wins, the opposite. >Write-in?
Anonymous
>>5974425 You wanted the honor duel, didn’t you? Such a shame that that diplomancing is such a powerful form of magic.
>>5974548 >Offer information on the movement of the Guards, since you happen to have an in with knowing when they'll all be busy raiding Felippe's manor. >Offer connections that can provide military and pirate movements long-term, as well as assistance in raiding such targets depending on the deal. It won’t be as valuable as what Silversmith offered, but the people and the work will be far more honorable. I consider info on the Guard movements near-term close enough to “military” matters, and he’s welcome to use the knowledge to target Silversmith himself.
I do think he’s skipped a step though. This isn’t a one-off trade, this is a potential partnership between him and us and the broader Blue Pirate community. We can’t match the resources of Silversmith individually after all, but a good word from the right Blue Pirates will let him find open doors in many areas. It’s more important to state what each side is looking for and seeing what each can offer to meet those needs.
Broadly, we seek to raid military targets that threaten us, Black Pirates, and general scum such as Silversmith. More specifically, we look to climb the bounty book to hit number 1. What does he seek for his nation, his crew, or himself? While he can serve all of them in many ways, he must have preferences either personally or because of the people and tools he has available.
Hopefully this approach marks us as an honorable sort and gives us better insight on the Gaoth military mindset for future reference. Anonymous
>>5974548 >Offer the Pirate King Gaoth's journal, an one-of-a-kind cultural artifact of great importance to his people. Ramza would loathe to part with it, but if needs must... (though I'm also cool with a duel)
Anonymous
>>5974548 Qm can we have a refresher of his deal with stillwater. Are they trying to capture 3 piece?
Otherwise I'd suggest something like this.
>We work with you feeding you information on Black pirates and any other military targets in the area so they can raid them. For example there is a midweight black pirate right behind us. We could bait them for you to side swipe them in a glorious pincers maneuver. As a nice first job to prove we're reliable and good to work with. >Get them docking rights in threepiece if they promise not to wreck its shit. (I forget why they're here in the first place) Basically a mutually profitable venture of wrecking our competition and a safe harbor for them to refuel, sell/buy goods at.
I'm willing to change my vote after the refresher though. Thanks ahead of time qm.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5974642 Oh apparently I need to read better.. oops.
I'd rather direct them towards more black pirates and other scum. Like slavers even other pirate colors other than blue. I'd rather have them raid gangs and drug dealers than just random rich people. Rich corrupt nobles are fair game though
Anonymous
>>5974548 >Offer Felippe and Nocturne, delivered straight to them to deal with as they please. It'll be tricky to get him away from the guards when the raid happens, but a tantalizing offer hopefully. Nocturne is the far trickier one to lure, but you have a few ideas... Offer 'information on the whereabouts' of the journal
Anonymous
>>5974548 >Offer Felippe and Nocturne, delivered straight to them to deal with as they please. It'll be tricky to get him away from the guards when the raid happens, but a tantalizing offer hopefully. Nocturne is the far trickier one to lure, but you have a few ideas... To be totally honest, if Jaghatai lets us escape here, that's the primary win.
If we actually make good on this deal, that's a bonus, as far as I'm concerned.
Anonymous
>>5974548 >Challenge him to that duel. If you win, he must acquiesce to help you however he can. If he wins, the opposite. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 11 Apr 2024 17:13:23 No. 5975267 Report >>5974563 >>5974574 >>5974642 >>5974784 >>5974804 >>5975003 Consolidating certain votes that are close enough together, we seem to be at a three-way tie.
If anyone wants to break it within the next few hours, please choose between one of the following:
>Offer Felippe and Nocturne, delivered straight to them to deal with as they please. It'll be tricky to get him away from the guards when the raid happens, but a tantalizing offer hopefully. Nocturne is the far trickier one to lure, but you have a few ideas... >Challenge him to that duel. If you win, he must acquiesce to help you however he can. If he wins, the opposite. >Offer information on the movements of black pirates and military targets in Lume, including a certain pirate's ship that you recently fled from, as well as assistance in raiding some of those targets. Anonymous
>>5975267 >Challenge him to that duel. If you win, he must acquiesce to help you however he can. If he wins, the opposite. I'm
>>5974574 ,and I will formally change my vote. Gotta' become #1 pirate somehow, right, ramza?
Anonymous
>>5975267 >Offer information on the movements of black pirates and military targets in Lume, including a certain pirate's ship that you recently fled from, as well as assistance in raiding some of those targets. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Thu 11 Apr 2024 20:44:22 No. 5975407 Report Quoted By:
>>5975326 I was actually counting you among the duel votes since nobody else had voted for the journal, and you mentioned it below your post, but thanks anyways!
>>5975387 It looks like we're going to pull what the professionals call a 'pro gamer' move. Writing!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 13 Apr 2024 01:03:50 No. 5976353 Report Quoted By:
>>5974563 >>5974574 >>5974642 >>5974784 >>5974804 >>5975003 >>5975387 "A moment to discuss that amongst ourselves, if you wouldn't mind. We like to get each other's insights on such matters when possible." Ramza asks of the other captain, who gives a slight nod and gestures to your group.
"Of course, Captain. I am the same with my advisors." He acquiesces, thankfully.
The three of you turn to one another and huddle together, speaking quietly as you figure out the best thing you can stomach giving up. Gigas keeps insisting upon dueling the man, and while you can't deny that it would be valuable experience against a strong opponent, you don't exactly want to risk it against a guy dressed in Orichalcum fullplate - that's a quick way into Gaoth servitude. Ramza poses the idea of offering them Felippe and Nocturne's heads, but Nocturne's capture would be exceptionally finnicky, and you think Jaghatai would know that too.
That ultimately left the gang to agree with your option, and you present it to Jaghatai when you break apart finally.
"Much like Felippe offered you, we want to give you information on the movements of black pirates and military vessels." You speak up.
"Ah, but Felippe offered me more than that. Merchants and blues were included in that list, and it was quite valuable for our operation." Jaghatai counters.
"Indeed, I'm sure it was. But there's no honor in fighting those that can't fight back, is there? I'm sure a Gaoth such as yourself found it beneath you to go after <span class="mu-i">civilians</span> of all things. It was beneficial to your nation, but hardly something any of you would enjoy doing. We're offering an alternative that would make your ancestors proud while still benefitting Gaoth." You bring the man's own sense of honor against him, hoping it works.
"Mm..." Jaghatai grumbles for a moment, a metal-clad gauntlet reaching up to rub the faceplate of his helmet for a moment. "You speak true. We cannot expect to grow if we throw ourselves at only the weak, when they are at their weakest. And military targets are of far more value to us than mercantile - Silversmith was always hesitant to give us any information on the movements of Lume's Guardians. No doubt to help keep us in check if he needed to."
"We actually have some information you can act on immediately, if you want!" Gigas speaks up. "A black pirate by the name of Riston Lore tried to down us with a sneak attack right outside the icefields. He was in a midweight that had quite a lot of cannons strapped to it. It'd be a pretty damn juicy target, if you need more weapons on this thing."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 13 Apr 2024 01:04:51 No. 5976354 Report Quoted By:
"I do enjoy when business works quickly like this. It would seem it was a most wise decision to hear you out! Very well, we shall enter into a formal agreement with you. Should you need to contact us within a five day's journey around the Threespice area, simply attune your communistone to the frequency I contacted you with. We will answer." Jaghatai finally accepts the offer, clapping a fist over his chest in a tight military salute. "Glory to Gaoth!"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sat 13 Apr 2024 01:05:52 No. 5976355 Report "Hmm..." Jaghatai leans left, then right, getting a good look for the different angles of Gigas' face. "You do look vaguely familiar, but not in a way that I can place. Perhaps I know your father, or your mother? That would explain this vexing familiarity.">Join the Gaoth on their hunt. If you perform well enough, you may even get a cut of the loot, hopefully! And it'll give you ample time to learn a thing or two about Gaoth culture. >Return to Threespice immediately. You've still got a ton of things on your plate, and you don't want to be gone for too long.
Anonymous
>>5976355 >Join the Gaoth on their hunt. If you perform well enough, you may even get a cut of the loot, hopefully! And it'll give you ample time to learn a thing or two about Gaoth culture. Glad appealing to his honor worked. Anytime someone says something like “pro gamer” I think back to the pro tip “Shoot the Cyberdemon until it dies” meme so I never know whether it’s meant as a good thing or a bad thing.
In any case, Gigas gets some answers (that he may not like), we get some action, the engineers get revenge and we can swing by their ship for anything of sentimental or technical value the pirates may have passed on, and we all get to learn a lite more of Gaoth. We have more things to do, yes, but damn if this isn’t a productive use of time.
Anonymous
>>5976355 >Join the Gaoth on their hunt. If you perform well enough, you may even get a cut of the loot, hopefully! And it'll give you ample time to learn a thing or two about Gaoth culture. Why not?
Anonymous
>>5976355 >Join the Gaoth on their hunt. If you perform well enough, you may even get a cut of the loot, hopefully! And it'll give you ample time to learn a thing or two about Gaoth culture. >We could act as bait so you can broadside them with a pincers attack then we can board them for a glorious Melee combat! I want to salvage the eldigarians ship they said they had good loot on it. I bet they'd be happy getting their personal effects back. And we can sell their ship....
Anonymous
>>5976355 >Join the Gaoth on their hunt. If you perform well enough, you may even get a cut of the loot, hopefully! And it'll give you ample time to learn a thing or two about Gaoth culture. Woo allies!
Anonymous
>>5976365 If we don’t find a use for our one harpoon cannon to help in the initial salvo I’ll be incredibly disappointed. Might be as simple as pulling them askew so their cannons don’t get a good broadside on the Skyseer.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5976407 Ooh I like that smart.
Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 02:37:36 No. 5977176 Report Quoted By:
>>5976357 >>5976360 >>5976365 >>5976397 >>5976407 >>5976458 "We'll join you, of course." Ramza says, nodding resolutely. "It's not the kind of opportunity that comes up often, I'd say. And who would I be if I spat in the face of a good opportunity?"
"Well said! Come to the bridge with me, then. It offers the best view in the ship, and I imagine you'll be rather impressed with what the Skyseer is capable of." Jaghatai sounds particularly happy with that answer. Based on the twitch of one of his fingers, you imagine that if Ramza was in the right position for it, he would deliver a lung-collapsing pat on your captain's back.
"Of course, Captain. Lead the way." Ramza gestures behind the man, before looking over his shoulder and waving in a 'come-here' motion to the trio still waiting on the Gleamrunner.
You all fall in behind Jaghatai as he leads you into the ship itself. He does stop at the door for a moment though, looking back towards the assembly of soldiers still lined up near your ship. "Back to your stations, men! And be on your best behaviors. By Gaoth's will, I will behead any of you that embarass us in front of our guests." He threatens his men, who all seem to take it in stride and salute their captain before jogging off in various directions.
"You, uh...you often threaten your men with beheadings?" Ramza asks, clearly feeling strained.
"Hmm? Of course I do. Just as my captain threatened me back when I was at a lesser station. It brings out the best in men to know what the consequences of failure are." He waves a hand above his shoulder nonchalantly.
"Have you ever gone through with it?" You ask apprehensively.
"I've only had to do so twice. Once was for insubordination, and the other for theft. There have been <span class="mu-s">no</span> repeats of such offenses since." He says with a chuckle. "I imagine that you Lumeans, with your softer hearts, must think me cruel? That I have estranged myself from my men?"
"If I'm being honest, yeah. Ruling through fear sounds like a pretty shaky way to handle it." Ramza responds.
"And you would hardly be the first to think so. However, each and every one of my men would take a blade or bullet for me. And I, them. We are in a mutual understanding with one another that those who perform poorly or act against the interests of the great Gaoth Empire are complacent in their duties and must be removed...one way or another. Were I to show mercy, I too would be executed by my very own men, and I would encourage them to do so."
"Enlightening...So the ruling structure is something of a meritocracy, then?" You ask.
"Of course. The strong are rewarded justly, and the weak are subjugated or culled, as is their place. We pride ourselves on not just physical strength, but mental and spiritual strength, too. We have seen what weakness has done to the other nations, and we have collectively rejected the endless downward spiral of corruption and degeneracy that it brings."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 02:39:25 No. 5977181 Report Quoted By:
There's a momentary pause as you enter the bridge, seeing half a dozen soldiers manning various instruments and a dedicated pilot at the wheel. The glass covering the bridge must be enchanted in a similar way to the Guardian's Eye in Threespice, as you notice that you can easily make out extreme detail at a distance just by focusing long enough on any particular object - the microstructures of the ice around here are actually pretty interesting. You also take note of an interesting projection of the surrounding area, particles of mana showing a three-dimensional map of everything around. You wonder if it gets its information from that pulse of mana you felt earlier?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 02:40:27 No. 5977185 Report The gigantic ship heads directly towards some of the gargantuan icebergs blocking the path, and were it any lesser of a ship you're certain that would spell doom for it. You and everyone else aboard the ship braces themselves against a nearby surface, of which you now note the purpose of the plethora of metal handles sticking out over just about every surface, and the Skyseer jolts as it impacts one of the floating ice boulders. The berg begins to shift out of the way and crack, several pieces shattering off of it while the metal ship seems to be completely unharmed by the exchange. The ship pushes past it all unperturbed, picking up an increasing amount of speed that soon rivals that of the Gleamrunner's despite its slower acceleration.>Do you have any particular topics you wish to broach with the Goath?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 02:43:14 No. 5977191 Report That's it for this thread, I hope you all have been liking the journey just as much as I have, if not more! I'm going to take a small break since we're already on page 8, which should give us plenty of time for any and all questions that pop up over the next few days.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 02:49:11 No. 5977199 Report Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5977185 >Do you have any particular topics you wish to broach with the Goath? Do the Gaoth have, uh, aspirations of bringing their way of life to our lands? (Are they planning global conquest, in other words?) They're kind of based in their own way, but Gaoth philosophy seems antithetical to the good-natured love of freedom which fuels our brand of piracy.
Anonymous
>>5977191 >>5977199 Thanks for running, btw!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5977185 >Ask the goath what they think/know of demons. >Ask more about the array and wind infused alloy. >Ask if they have wind infused cannonballs? >Ask what they think of the eldigarians? And their artificial spire. >ever heard of space magic? Anonymous
>>5977191 Thanks for running QM
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 19:51:28 No. 5977761 Report Quoted By:
>>5977211 >>5977760 Thanks for playing! I really to appreciate how many of you lads ended up enjoying my autism-fueled fantasy. I wasn't entirely sure how well it would translate from tabletop to quest, but I think it went pretty damn well. It's also given me the chance to fix a good number of things that I messed up in the initial run.
Which I'll be using to make an even better second run of the tabletop version someday. It's an endless cycle of improvement! Anonymous
>>5977185 Really glad we didn’t try outrunning it now.
For Gigas
>What does a traditional Gaoth upbringing normally entail? >For Ramza >What is dating like in Gaoth? Asking for a friend. He can pretend he’s doing it for Gigas’s sake since he doesn’t know about his own culture anymore and Gigas wouldn’t think to ask until it’s too late, but we’d all know the real reason.
For Val
>Any tricks the pilot is proud of? We were able to sail the Gleamrunner through the ice fields thanks to the new wind crystal installed in it. Seeing what someone experienced with them can do would be beneficial. Val has plenty to be proud of recently, but that’s no excuse to not try and learn from someone more experienced. Whoever is piloting a ship of this size and power has to have some fun maneuvers or knowledge to show off.
More generally
>Glory for Gaoth can be found in many ways. Why did Jaghatai choose captaining a ship over others? >Any recommendations on other places to visit for a crew looking for adventure afar? >What’s the traditional celebration after a successful battle like we’re about to have? >Got any competitions we can join to kill some time? Anonymous
>>5977191 Great work, QM - top 5 quest on the board
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Sun 14 Apr 2024 23:39:23 No. 5977890 Report >>5977883 It would have been a difficult escape, to be sure.
>>5977885 Based, what are the other four?
Anonymous
>>5977890 Discounting my own quest, and in no particular order, I’d put the other four best “character-driven” quests as:
Dragon’s Credenza
Cyberpunk Quest
False-Woman
Simple Space Empire
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Mon 15 Apr 2024 00:13:11 No. 5977907 Report >>5977895 Damn. I got filtered in the first three posts of Dragon's Credenza, maybe I should try giving it another shot.
Cyberpunk is definitely a good one, it's on my list.
False-woman and SSE I know nothing about.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>5977907 Dragon's Credenza is really good, but I'd personally put this quest in the company of Disappearing Hogwarts, Seven Against Thebes, and Cutémon or my top 4.
Top five would have to include my own on general principle. Anonymous
>>5977890 OOC question, were you hoping we’d try the honor duel so you could throw an armored Gaoth captain at us and watch us panic?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Tue 16 Apr 2024 04:05:20 No. 5978866 Report >>5978814 Contrary to popular theory, no! It would have been a pretty intense fight, but winnable with the right tactics. Potentially in one turn, even, depending on how rolls went down. After all, you have a spell that conveniently doesn't care how armored your opponent is.
Anonymous
>>5978866 Ah note to self if they're heavily armored hit them with mana disruption.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 17 Apr 2024 01:08:53 No. 5979408 Report Quoted By:
>>5979359 It makes sense, after all. It doesn't deal any damage, which means the Armor's damage negation does nothing, and being hit with it requires you to make a roll to resist the pain. A good ol' save or suck spell.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:J8iFfX2k Wed 24 Apr 2024 23:13:49 No. 5986132 Report Quoted By:
>>5986131 >>5986131 >>5986131 New thread, character vote time!
