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https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Lodestar:%20Dawn%20of%20a%20New%20Age Last time, we took control of Captain Ramza Valentine as he navigated the social structures of a Gaoth Raidship. Having joined them on a successful hunt that ended in the execution of every single black pirate serving aboard Captain Lore's ship, the sickened Ramza was invited to join in post-mission celebrations aboard the Skyseer by Captain Jaghatai. There, he learned the finer points of one of the games native to Gaoth, purchased a handcrafted Concertina from one of the soldiers playing music for the party, and ended the celebrations by getting blackout drunk to forget the ruthless slaughter he'd seen just hours ago. Upon waking up, he was back upon his ship with the Skyseer nowhere to be seen, and Aito's own ship was fixed up enough to set sail once more.
Once he was on his way back towards Threespice, he encountered a True Dragon inhabiting the icefields that seems to have been responsible for hunting the local monster population, and attempted to entice it closer to the ship to harvest one of its valuable parts without having to hunt it. He saw minor success in that he was able to acquire some of its hairs that snagged on the ship, but more valuable was perhaps the demonstration of the curious creature as it emulated the function of Ramza's mageblade without needing one of its own - one disconnected from its body, as well.
As we resume our adventures, the crew had just arrived at Threespice once more. There's no time to rest, however, as Ramza has a plan for the next immediate course of action: finally acting upon that Recruitment plan that Lobo gave him and filling up your roster of men, as you have three entire ships to see to now. There is only question that remains...who will we be playing today?
>Ramza Valentine. You're cocky, charming, and killer with a Mageblade. >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. >Gigas. You've yet to meet anyone that can best you physically, or resist your infectious cheer.
Anonymous
>>6031360 >Ramza Valentine. You're cocky, charming, and killer with a Mageblade. Guess I don't have to call you a faggot in /qtg
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 10 Jun 2024 12:37:31 No. 6031372 Report >>6031371 It's my victory today, homo
Anonymous
>>6031360 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. Anonymous
>>6031360 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. Anonymous
>>6031360 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. Yeah, let's be Val. We can be Gigas next time Gaoth plays a major role in proceedings.
Welcome back, QM!
Anonymous
>Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder.
Anonymous
>>6031360 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. Sure, I’ll back the (relative) bookworm. Now’s the thread to get R&D up and running in earnest.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6031372 Stahp, you'll make me blush.
Anonymous
>>6031360 >Val Lasombra. You're great with magic, but even better with a pistol. Not one for words, you think actions speak much louder. Time for some hostile diplomacy, but I still want to chase up a translator for Ramza's journal.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 11 Jun 2024 12:17:10 No. 6032276 Report Quoted By:
>>6031371 >>6031429 >>6031435 >>6031473 >>6031579 >>6031659 >>6031988 Your name is Val Lasombra, and you're currently glaring off towards the marketplace while you lean up against the Gleamrunner's railing. You had enjoyed your reprieve from the unsettling presence of Gremory, the Demon of Water, but it feels all too short now that you're back in Threespice. Just the thought that you'll soon be sharing a ship with one again makes your gut clench, a burning bile building up in your chest that you force down as soon as you notice it. Letting your emotions get the best of you wouldn't do - you trust your Captain's decision, naïve as it may be.
"Alright lads, listen up. Now that we're back on dry land, we've got a busy day ahead of us." Ramza's voice cuts through your internal monologue, and you tug on the tip of your hat slightly to let him know that you're listening even if you haven't turned towards him. "First thing we're doing is filling out our roster. We've got three ships we need crew for, so we've got a lot of work to do on that front."
"Does that mean we'll get to eat at Gardan's again?" Gigas asks excitedly, balled fists bobbing up and down and an eager grin on his face. Ramza, of course, pales at the idea.
"Y...Yeah, of course. But not right away! He said we need an empty stomach for it, so we should definitely save that for after everything else. We'll be starving by then." Ramza replies, clearly trying to hide his apprehension at tackling Chef Bastard's true challenge.
"You have Lobo's list, correct?" You cut in, turning around and instead leaning your back up against the railing.
"Duh." Ramza rolls his eyes, taking a folded-up slip of paper out of his pocket and holding it out to you.
"Need to plan this out for efficiency." You explain as you take the slip and open it up and refresh your memory on the potential options.
Right away, you notice that Ramza seems to have penned in a personal addition at the bottom, listing Lieutenant Hara as a potential recruit. You sigh deeply and look back up towards the top of the list, where the lost eldingarian engineers have been crossed off. Aito and his grandchildren, who seem competent enough but have yet to truly prove their supposed expertise. A small part of your mind reasons that a backup engineer unrelated to them wouldn't be the worst idea.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 11 Jun 2024 12:18:11 No. 6032277 Report Doric of Gaoth is next on the list, the only choice for a carpenter. Supposedly he's serving time at the local jail at the behest of a local bar, as he racked up a staggering tab with them and refused to pay up when it came time to. Easy enough to recruit if you settle the debt somehow, then.>"-We should stick together." >"-We should split up and tackle a different thing each." Choose one for each character if splitting up >Doric. >Sari. >Harrison. >The Mooks. >...Lieutenant Hara.
IloveYouInANonHomosexualWayQM
IloveYouInANonHomosexualWayQM ID:ujzVKEi6 Tue 11 Jun 2024 13:10:11 No. 6032323 Report >>6032277 >Splitting Up Ramza should go for the Mooks. With his silver tongue, he'll get em in no time. Can get Behind Lieutenant, but I think her and Harrison are best tackled in group
Gigas goes for Doric. Get the agreement between Gaothian. Get the bounty amount. WE give him the money afterward to make sure he's not ripped off.
We will go for Sari.
Anonymous
>>6032323 +1
If Sari is unavailable until later see if we can't get some info on our soon-to-be pal Harrison
Anonymous
>>6032323 Sounds reasonable
Anonymous
>>6032277 >"-We should split up and tackle a different thing each." I’m thinking it should go something like
>Everyone to Harrison I mean, we see him right now. May as well hear him out now and see if we can get his help. He meets a lot of people coming in and out, so he wouldn’t be a bad choice to assist with the recruiting process in general.
Not sure what role he’d take. Bosun/bosun’s mate? If he’s got a knack for people then keeping them on-task could be a good fit.
If we can recruit him now, great. If he needs time or a favor, we can split off as needed. I’m in general agreement with
>>6032323 outside of moving Harrison to top of the list, Ramza can do the bulk of the recruiting (possibly with Harrison giving feedback in advance so we have fewer to interview), Val to the Shipwitch since he can talk some of our magical ideas to entice her with more fulfilling work, and Gigas to the Carpenter since at least they’re both Gaoth and we don’t have anything better to go on.
I’m okay with going to Lieutenant Hara, but only if it’s at least both Ramsa and Val. Ramza to make his case, Val to make sure Ramza doesn’t get her to join solely through charm. She should have other reasons in case “being with Ramza” sours for her later.
Anonymous
>>6032599 I can get behind that.
Three of us on Harrison, then splitting as my first post, then regroup for Lieutenant Hara
Anonymous
>>6032599 >>6032277 >Support All to the closest dude. Then split up.
Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 12 Jun 2024 19:25:55 No. 6033601 Report >>6032323 >>6032338 >>6032598 >>6032599 >>6032603 >>6032819 >>6033110 Ganging up to socialmaxx Harrison before splitting up, with Ramza handling the mooks, Gigas going for the Gaoth, and Val going for the shipwitch.
Roll me 5d10 for Ramza, 2d10 for Gigas, and 2d10 for Val!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 7, 7, 5, 8, 2 = 29 (5d10) >>6033601 Guess I’m Ramza this time.
Anonymous
Rolled 9, 7 = 16 (2d10) >>6033601 Go Gigas Go
Anonymous
Rolled 1, 3 = 4 (2d10) >>6033601 Rolling for ever-scoiable Val! Kek.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 13 Jun 2024 03:29:29 No. 6033991 Report Sheeit, I've been trying to write but it's impossible with the foggy brain that comes with this infernal migraine. I'm gonna have to put off the update until tomorrow.
Anonymous
>>6033991 Just don't combine the two. Bullet trepanning never goes well. Kek.
Feel better soon, QM.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 13 Jun 2024 03:39:26 No. 6034003 Report Quoted By:
>>6033998 But anon, it's so much quicker and cheaper than regular trepanning!
Why, if you have the right tool, you can perform the operation on a dozen people at once!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 13 Jun 2024 12:34:24 No. 6034267 Report Quoted By:
>>6032323 >>6032338 >>6032598 >>6032599 >>6032603 >>6032819 >>6033110 >>6033647 >>6033650 "-We should head down to see about recruiting Harrison first, then split up. Being the captain, Ramza, you'll be needed to oversee the bulk majority of our recruitments and fill out all the minor roles around the ship. Gigas, being a Gaoth, would be best suited to seeing about helping Doric. I'll handle the Shipwitch." You explain.
"What? No way, dude. I should handle the shipwitch." Ramza objects, getting a sleazy grin on his face as he clearly thinks about how hot she may or may not be.
"Mm, no, I must agree with Mr. Lasombra on this one my friend. You would definitely be better suited to handling the mooks." Gigas vouches for your plan, shaking his head with a chuckle. "If you head out to deal with the Shipwitch, you'll just end up hitting on her. Better to save that for AFTER she's already agreed to serve on the ship!"
"I can't believe my right hand men are so seditious. I'll have you know that I'm a gentleman of the highest caliber, you son of a bitch, even though you're absolutely right about what I was going to do." Ramza says with a groan, adjusting the bandana covering his hair. "Alright, fine. I'll do it. But I am NOT going to be happy about it!"
"Your understanding is appreciated, boss." You say with subtle sarcasm lacing your tone. "Now, we don't actually know much about Harrison, so we'll have to sell it to him. Let's go."
The three of you proceed down the ramp and onto the docks, Ramza and Gigas raising their hands up in greeting to Harrison upon your approach. You don't really bother, instead tipping your hat slightly in his direction as a more refined show of respect. Harrison gives a half-hearted wave of his own, seemingly too tired to put much effort into the gesture.
"Welcome back to Threespice. The day trip wasn't too bad, I hope?" Harrison speaks up.
"Surprisingly quite good. Didn't even see any monsters out there." Ramza replies. "Got what we went out for and came right back. Oh, and we saw a Dragon up close."
"No shitting?" Harrison's eyes go a bit wide, and Ramza nods to confirm the claim. "I mean, shit, I heard rumors from a few sailors that there might be one lurking around the area. But you actually made contact with one? What'd it look like? Was it friendly? Pure or impure?"
"It was hiding out in one of the icefields. Pretty sure it hunted all the monsters that usually hide in those things, which is probably why we didn't encounter any the whole time. It was a bit catlike in demeanor, got interested in us only when we showed it flashy things, then left as soon as it got bored with us. I'm pretty sure it was Pure, since it didn't try to eat us or anything. It uh, had golden hair and pearly scales, and its head was about as big as our ship." Ramza recalls the details of the encounter.
"Did it demonstrate any kind of elemental magic?" Harrison asks, surprisingly excited about the information.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 13 Jun 2024 12:35:26 No. 6034269 Report Quoted By:
"I'm not really sure. It did move through the ice like it was liquid, though." Ramza rubs his chin as he considers it. "Could shape raw mana, too. Maybe it had an affinity for Water?"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 13 Jun 2024 12:36:27 No. 6034271 Report Quoted By:
"Pretty easily, actually. We snuck into the warehouse he was working in at the time, made sure everyone was distracted thinking that one of their slaves was on the run, then knocked him out and brought him back to the ship in a barrel. Now he's sitting pretty in a cell, where he belongs." Ramza says while examining his nails as though the topic was of little importance.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 13 Jun 2024 12:37:28 No. 6034272 Report "Glad to hear it! Now, as for the first order of business, I'm going to need your help with filling out the rest of the crew. I've got a list, and I need to find these people..." Ramza says, pulling an arm around Harrison's shoulders and starting to walk off with him. You were going to ask him about what ship the Shipwitch departed on, but with Ramza filling the man's ear and rapidly leaving the scene, you don't think that'll be happening.>Roll 7d10 for Val! >If you have any particularly good ideas for helping your efforts to find her, I'll award you an extra dice per idea, up to a maximum of three!
Anonymous
Rolled 3, 5, 9, 4, 8, 7, 7 = 43 (7d10) >>6034272 >ask the dock master or fishermen which boat she went out on and what direction. Anonymous
>>6034272 We already rolled, but may as well add some other ideas to track her.
>Ask where some of the dangerous or lucrative fishing areas are. No sense hiring a Shipwitch to fish the same areas as everyone else. >If looking at loose packs of vessels, look for larger and older ships. A larger ship implies the capacity to haul enough to pay a Shipwitch and the possible need for one to remain nimble, and a Shipwitch with a chip on her shoulder would advocate for areas where Eldingarian vessels normally fish. A show of pride that she’s an equal to them. As one final thing,
>Ask for additional details on the Shipwitch. I could see some people lying so we fail since they want to keep her local, but anyone who waxes on about how Eldingarian tech has taken the soul out of fishing or such can be trusted. I’m sure there’s more than one of those. Hearing a bit about how a Shipwitch helps vessels would also be nice.
Anonymous
>>6034272 >>6034657 On the final thing, we should ask
>Does Sari have a specialty? since that could also help us find her ship. If it’s something that’s noticeable then we can look for ships showing that effect.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Fri 14 Jun 2024 00:10:06 No. 6034708 Report >>6034287 >>6034657 >>6034663 I dig it. Roll me three more dice, baby!
!!3pJzZPMrTs3
Rolled 3, 10, 4 = 17 (3d10) >>6034708 Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6034713 Three pair would be a hell of a hand to lay down in poker, but all it gets us here is a funny look and a shrug.
Wait, it’d get you the same thing in poker.
Wait again, it might get you stabbed in the wrong place.
… what was I talking about again?
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 15 Jun 2024 00:52:18 No. 6035546 Report So anyways, the per-thread curse hit me and I ended up vomiting all over the place and then passing out for most of the day. I'll try my best to update, but if I don't, then you know why!The next thing you'll say is "Take it easy, QM!" or "Get well soon, QM!"
Anonymous
>>6035546 Try not to die, QM!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 15 Jun 2024 06:49:45 No. 6035772 Report Quoted By:
>>6035556 I should have known you'd find a way around it...I'll get you next time, Spiderman.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6035546 As someone with a nasty Faggotry-For-QM case I hope your sickness is not contagious Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6035546 Try to vomit into a sink or toilet instead of all over the place. Much easier to clean up later!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 17 Jun 2024 12:25:11 No. 6037979 Report Quoted By:
>>6032323 >>6032338 >>6032598 >>6032599 >>6032603 >>6032819 >>6033110 >>6033647 >>6033650 I lived! Untying the ship from the docks and pulling the ramp back up by yourself is tedious work, but within a few minutes you're ready to set sail towards some of the nearby fishing vessels. You have a plan in your head about how this should go - you'll find one of the larger and older vessels first, inquire with them if Sari is aboard, and if you get a no for an answer then you'll proceed with pertinent questioning to narrow down your field of search. If you were lucky, she could even be on the first ship, since you reason that outdated but large-haul ships would be the most likely ones to need the services of a Shipwitch.
You pass by smaller ships that seem to be lingering closer to Threespice, as your own target seems to be a fair bit more confident than the others. A herring buss bobs with the waves as it lingers around some of the ruins about a two or three miles out from Threespice, its crew currently working together to haul up a net filled with fish. You notice that the ruins they're docked at seem to have a variety of nets and other fishtraps set up between them already, and you surmise that the fishermen must visit this area frequently to empty out whatever got too comfortable and took the bait.
Pulling the Gleamrunner up next to their ship, you briefly lift your hat off your head and give a wave with it before setting the pointy-tipped article back where it belongs. "Good haul today, gentlemen?" You force yourself to start with pleasantries, as pointless as you may find them to be.
"Not too bad, not too bad. Hoping to collect some to supplement your travel rations, friend?" The probable-captain speaks up, a white-bearded man that seems to have lost a leg at some point, given how he only has a wooden peg in place of one. You idly wonder why he'd use such a subpar prosthetic instead of getting a graft, but decide that questioning it isn't your place.
"No, just looking to find someone. Are you familiar with the Shipwitch called Sari?" You cut to the point.
"Aye, I am. She's not in trouble, is she?" The fisher asks, bushy brows raising up with a mixture of surprise and a touch of caution.
"No, not at all. We were hoping to acquire her services as a Shipwitch, actually. It's a pretty rare profession these days, or so I've heard."
"Indeed it is. They're a dying breed thanks to that Eldingarian nonsense." He clears his throat with a disgusting sound before he spits a small ball of black gunk on the deck, his expression showing his distaste for the Eldingarians afterwards. "They're out there creating solutions for problems that were already solved, and making more problems in the process. Killin' off culture in the process, if'ye ask me."
"Oh?" You gesture for him to elaborate, intrigued.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 17 Jun 2024 12:26:40 No. 6037980 Report Quoted By:
"You never been there, have ye? Well I have. Been everywhere the Core's light shines, mhmm. More'n once, too. Eldingar's a sad sight, where everythin' new is strangling the old. Visited one of their temples to sample the culture when I was about twenny, and when I came back five years later there weren't no trace of the damn thing - just a cold n' lifeless concrete buildin' with steel bones they were building there. You see it all over their country, anything that used to be important to them is getting swept under the rug. You can bet they'll do the same to us too, soon enough!"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 17 Jun 2024 12:27:41 No. 6037981 Report "Oh, no, I'm just friends with one of the organizers there. You probably saw her, she's the only Vodan there." She says, holding her hands up towards the top of her head to mimic some kind of animal ears. Oh, the mouse-girl.>Be Gigas, attempting to recruit the carpenter. >Be Ramza, sifting through a horrendous amount of mooks for recruitment. >Remain Val, have the QM make decisions for Gigas and Ramza in the background. Skip to everyone meeting again.
Anonymous
>>6037981 >Be Gigas, attempting to recruit the carpenter. I will do unholy things for a witch + bunny 3-way Anonymous
>>6037981 >>Be Gigas, attempting to recruit the carpenter. Anonymous
>>6037981 The correct answer was to say yes, Val, and to follow up saying that she’ll be hopeless against the Captain.
You could also point out that you simply respect
/admire any woman who stays armed even if they aren’t expecting combat. We’re in a dangerous line of work after all.
Bury yourself deeper. At least you can find footing again by running down some ideas for the ships to see if she’s got an inclination for research. If not then you can get her opinion on how to kit the ships out to properly use her skillset. Keep it work-focused.
>Be Gigas, attempting to recruit the carpenter. I kinda want to leave this to QM just to see how bad it goes, but I know an intrusive thought when I think one.
Anonymous
>>6037981 >Be Gigas, attempting to recruit the carpenter. >>6038167 But spill spaghetti first.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6038208 The second part should do that. I can read it as Val trying to show how he’s focused on professionalism (like making sure a new crew member is prepared for unexpected assaults i.e. our Captain) but her reading it as “so you like my outfit”. Which isn’t wrong, he does approve of it.
Up to QM how deep we dig ourselves while we’re piloting our friend GIGAS-XLR.
It’d be even funnier if she noticed he meant more from complimenting her outfit than calling her cute. He spent a lot more time reviewing her outfit than her face or body. Danger dresses appropriately, after all. Anonymous
I'd also need to voice my need for a dual-spaghetti spilling relationship among Edge McDarkness and Autistic Shipwitch.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6038687 If only we could harness the energy to power the ship. Alas, such tech would disrupt the spaghetti and cause it all to drop to the floor, spilled for the final time. Eternally flowing pasta is too beautiful to ruin like that.
But Sari could be a perfectly normal person. Don’t know enough about her yet.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 20 Jun 2024 22:12:12 No. 6040855 Report Not dead, just been busy between going comamode for 17 hours and dealing with a bunch of real-life stuff. In my ideal world, there would be nothing but me, writing my quest, and you reading them. With no escape, only an endless abyss awaiting those who try.
Anonymous
>>6040855 Talk about ominous positivity. We'll see you soon, QM!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6040855 I can’t cast stones, I’ve been dodging a lot of things on the board. I don’t even have real-life as an excuse for much of it.
But still, I’ll be here! This is the last quest I’m following at the moment, gotta get my reading fix somehow and you’re my current dealer. Gotta get that straight-cut of high adventure and entertaining characters from a source that won’t cut it too badly with poorly-thought plot threads and anons doing drive-by character assassination in the background while I get my hits in.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 22 Jun 2024 03:11:56 No. 6041865 Report Quoted By:
>>6037992 >>6038015 >>6038167 >>6038208 >>6040859 You grip the helm's wheel a little too tightly, lips pulled into a tight yet thankfully unseen line as you consider how to salvage the interaction. You already dedicated a good minute to the act of silence at this point, hopefully one that would give you an air of mystique, but you're unsure of how well it's working. Did you make the right call? Maybe you should have leaned into it to show confidence. Or maybe you should have changed the subject subtly, controlling the flow of the conversation.
You slowly start to frown under your mask, brow furrowing. Sometimes, you wish you were as socially capable as Ramza was. Or at least as carefree as Gigas, if nothing else.
<span class="mu-r">Meanwhile, outside of the Eye.</span>
You are Gigas, and there's nothing in the world that could upset you right now. It's going to be a good day, because you <span class="mu-s">say</span> it's going to be one. Who is the day to go against the mighty Gigas' wishes? Nobody, that's who.
Right now, you've been tasked with recruiting one of your fellow Gaoth that seems to be imprisoned by the local guards. You're not really sure how you're going to do that, but like always, you'll just play things by ear. For now, you think that visiting the guy and seeing if he's even open to the idea of recruitment first is probably the smartest move.
The prison itself is not, as you thought, in the Eye itself. No, it's actually entered through an unassuming set of stone stairs outside of the Guard's docks, as one of the Guards politely points out to you when you ask. Some kind of underground dungeon, then? An odd choice, but who are you to judge - you're sure they have some kind of structural or security reason for it.
"Halt!" The duo of guards at the top of the entryway say simultaneously. "State your business, sir."
"...Visitation?" You say with a shrug. "I'm here to speak to a specific prisoner, Doric."
The guards look at one another, before nodding. "You have five minutes then. And it'll just be you - we restrict visitors to one at a time, to prevent any funny business."
"Makes sense. What about the timer?" You ask curiously.
"People used to abuse the lack of one and kept everyone else waiting for their turn." One guard shakes his head with a sigh. "You can just go back down if nobody's come for visitation once you're time's done. Just consider it a checkup if that happens."
"Great!" You beam.
"Right, follow me then." The guard waves towards himself as he turns around and starts marching down the stairs. You fall in after him, noting that the stairs have a bit of a curve to them - you're going some kind of a spiral staircase, you think. A big one though, wide enough to fit three of yourself shoulder to shoulder.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 22 Jun 2024 03:13:01 No. 6041866 Report Quoted By:
The daylight from the Core quickly disappears and is replaced by dim, hazy torchlight from blazing sconces lining the walls. Smoke trails from them and disappears up into slits cut into the wall, pulled away by some mechanism unknown to you. You go down at least fifty feet underground before the stairs finally end, leading to a hallway that stretches off into the distance.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 22 Jun 2024 03:14:02 No. 6041868 Report Quoted By:
Doric's face lights up in recognition, and he nods. "Ahh, him! I guess if anyone would know, it'd be him, yeah. That's good, any friend of him is a friend of mine. Well, if you get me out of here, I'll be your man. Ain't too picky as long as you stock plenty of drink for me on board. Doesn't even have to be the good shit, I'm not like the Fancypants McGees in this town that sip on overpriced wines and pretend they're better than everyone else for it."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 22 Jun 2024 03:15:03 No. 6041869 Report "Hm?" You turn around curiously, to see a tanned, raven-haired woman in a revealing rogueish outfit standing there with a hand on her hip. It accentuates the curves of her body quite well, showing off an athletic body that's just right...>Take a bold approach. You'll be a good distraction for Nym to slip in and out unnoticed. >Take a sneaky approach. You'll both try to get in and out undetected, even if it'll be individually harder without a distraction. >Take a smart approach. Go hit up Lobo together, see if he knows any ways to get someone out of the prison easily. >Got a specific plan? Write it in! >Go find Ramza, convince him to cough up the coins for Doric. >Go and find a way to make the coin yourself. Surely it wouldn't take too long for the Great and Mighty Gigas! >Something else? (Write-in!)
Anonymous
>>6041869 >Take a bold approach. You'll be a good distraction for Nym to slip in and out unnoticed. >Got a specific plan? Write it in! Our distraction can be trying to 'haggle' the guards in our usual, boisterous fashion.
Anonymous
>>6041869 >Go and find a way to make the coin yourself. Surely it wouldn't take too long for the Great and Mighty Gigas! Don't trust her, don't know if she is trying to spring a mass murderer or kiddie diddler, whatever, and if we stage a jailbreak and get caught it is a very large inconvenience for the future.
Anonymous
>>6041869 >Go find Ramza, convince him to cough up the coins for Doric. I like tanned abs very much, but she is just too suspicious.
Anonymous
>>6041869 >Take a smart approach. Go hit up Lobo together, see if he knows any ways to get someone out of the prison easily. The Great and Mighty Gigas never shies away from a challenge! However, this city is full of shady types who wish they had the power of Gigas, so it pays to know who you're dealing with.
Anonymous
>>6041869 >Take a smart approach. Go hit up Lobo together, see if he knows any ways to get someone out of the prison easily. I view it as gigas thinking " what would Val do" cause ramza "would just get her pregnant" though the latter isn't a bad idea....
Anonymous
>>6042022 >>6042167 I'll back this as well, in a pinch.
>>6041869 Anonymous
>>6041869 >Well, you DO have some favor with the Guard for turning over Stillwater. Perhaps you could deal with the guard captain to release her partner (and Doric) without upsetting them and getting your Captain in trouble? I don’t imagine Gigas would feel comfortable using the favor itself, so I’d frame it as asking if there’s something he needs done that we can do now instead. If it involves stealing or causing a distraction we might be able to get Gremory’s help in some way too.
What is her partner in for, anyway?
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6041869 >>6042311 Oh, and if SHE needs convincing of it then just point out she does well we can talk the Captain into letting them join our crew. Leaving Threespice with a bunch of Blues is a good way to leave any other problems she has here behind. Much safer too, as only Ramza’s crew has Gigas protecting it!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6041869 Well, if no one else will bite on the guard I have a different plan idea.
>Ask if Gremory would be willing to interview Doric for your crew as a distraction. Seriously, having a demon visiting the prison would be an awesome distraction, and the guards may chip in some coin if it manages to get her out their hair quicker.
Gigas can work on get-rich quick schemes in the meantime.
Anonymous
>>6041869 >Take a bold approach. You'll be a good distraction for Nym to slip in and out unnoticed. We ain't no bitch
Anonymous
>Take a bold approach. You'll be a good distraction for Nym to slip in and out unnoticed.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 24 Jun 2024 10:09:56 No. 6043726 Report >>6041877 >>6041944 >>6042003 >>6042022 >>6042167 >>6042249 >>6042311 >>6042976 >>6043720 With 3 votes to everyone else's 2 (although one was willing to go smart if it came down to it), Gigas decides to take a bold approach with it. With that in mind, I'll need some rolls from you lads!
The first is a simple 2d10, which is his <span class="mu-r">Brains + Notice</span> pool.
The second? Another 2d10, for his <span class="mu-r">Face + Connive</span> pool, to distract them verbally.
And if that fails, then Gigas shall do what Gigas does best, with 7d10 for his <span class="mu-r">Hands + Athletics</span> pool to distract the guards in a more physical way
by giving in to the temptation we all have. Just as a prank, bro! Anonymous
Rolled 4, 10 = 14 (2d10) >>6043726 Anonymous
Rolled 4, 10 = 14 (2d10) >>6043726 Ah well, we try our best to guide our foolish comrades, but they are what they are.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6043734 >>6043752 Invoking Balatro lore, this is 2 success.
Anonymous
Rolled 9, 9, 9, 1, 2, 9, 7 = 46 (7d10) >>6043726 We tried.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 24 Jun 2024 11:58:54 No. 6043773 Report >>6043771 This shit made me laugh harder than it should have. Why is gigas so good at snatching a guard's weapon and playing keepaway?
>>6043734 >>6043752 Although fun, unfortunately they're separate dicepools/rolls so they don't qualify as pairs!
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6043771 Fucking hell, quad 9. I’m guessing Gigas disassembled the first guard so fast and effectively that they ask him to teach them his ways?
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6043773 In light of the roll, would anyone else be willing to turn this into a training session for the Guard due to the massive skill gap? It should alarm Gigas that they’re so ineffective at catching him. What if an actual criminal tried this with them? Black pirates? Someone without his muscles could actually use the gun!
The Great and Magnanimous Gigas (Ramza taught him that word while drunk one time!) should play his part in making people as great as he is. They’ll never get there, but that’s no excuse to stay this weak!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 25 Jun 2024 18:41:59 No. 6044798 Report Quoted By:
"Alright, I'm in!" You say with a grin, smashing your fists together a couple of times with eagerness. "Gigas will provide the perfect distraction for you, for Gigas excels at all things."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 25 Jun 2024 18:43:01 No. 6044801 Report Quoted By:
"You see, I don't think these are the best weapons for guardsmen. Sure, they're great if you need to kill something, but what if you just need to incapacitate?" You ask, glad to finally have a topic to distract them with. Ramza would be proud of your conversational skills if he saw you now!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 25 Jun 2024 18:44:02 No. 6044803 Report Quoted By:
"Sure!" You say, flipping them over and extending the hilts to him. "It was an impromptu lesson, but I think they learned a lot. I have to say - I'm very disappointed with their training. They didn't even think to use something I couldn't dodge, like that netting over there." You comment, pointing off to the netting decorating the side of one of the Guardsmen's ships.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 25 Jun 2024 18:45:03 No. 6044804 Report "Oh, no, he's waiting inside for you. Safe and sound." She jerks her head towards the establishment. "It was really, really easy to get him out - you really did a fantastic job with that distraction! I was just going to leave him here originally, but I felt like you deserved a reward.">Disarm and pin her in a grapple. You won't let someone that played you get away that easily! >She can't be that tough with a thin body like that - knock her out with a powerful blow. >Wait a minute...seduce her. It's what Ramza would do, and your Captain would definitely know the right move here. >Just let her go. You don't have any backup right now, Val would tell you it'd be stupid to try something with an enemy of unknown strengths. >Something else? (Write-in)
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 25 Jun 2024 18:46:05 No. 6044806 Report >>6044804 Dropped the picture, whoops!
The unfortunate naivete of poor Gigas... Anonymous
>>6044806 Kek. Anons are easier to play than pic related
Anonymous
>>6044813 It's what my lovable gullible cant-count-over-thirteen character would have done.
>>6044804 >Wait a minute...seduce her. It's what Ramza would do, and your Captain would definitely know the right move here. This is what my lovable gullible cant-count-over-thirteen character would do.
Anonymous
>>6044813 We did get Doric, so mission accomplished?
>>6044804 >Ramza would attempt to seduce her, and Val would kill him for it if she didn’t first. Compromise and ask what it’d take to hire her. They can figure out if it’s ever worth it. Like we just taught the guards, a weapon that isn’t in your hands is useless at best, used against you at worst. This lady is absolutely a weapon, and one Ramza and Val may consider worth disarming before the assault on Silversmith.
Let’s give them the choice. They have more patience for planning than we do.
Anonymous
>>6044891 Highly unlikley to work, but very funny if it does.
>>6044804 >Ramza would attempt to seduce her, and Val would kill him for it if she didn’t first. Compromise and ask what it’d take to hire her. They can figure out if it’s ever worth it. Maybe we can at least gather some intel, or catch her off-guard for a...
>>Disarm and pin her in a grapple. You won't let someone that played you get away that easily! if she declines
Anonymous
>>6044804 Anons we know who she is. She's the scary assassin from stillwaters memory shit. We just stole her from Val!
>Gigas would try to flirt with her. >"Gigas is always on the winning side. Maybe it's time to jump ship? I have three ships! And if you jump these big arms would catch you! We don't have a beautiful stabby lady yet. We could definitely use your *insert stare at her assets* uhĥh... skills?" Anonymous
>>6044804 Damn horny people everywhere. I’m fleshing out my vote in
>>6044891 .
I’m more upset than anything. Our distraction is what let her kill Stillwater so easily. The person that our captain turned over to the Guard to build some goodwill. The same captain that is going to get an earful when he hears how one of his crew played a prank (“training lesson”) on the guards and kept them from guarding said prisoner.
She didn’t just con Gigas. His captain will pay a price for this. Not a large one, but a price he wouldn’t have needed to if Gigas simply left. After all, if she killed Stillwater without him it wouldn’t be anyone’s fault on his crew.
She did worse than make Gigas look weak. She made him a liability to his crew. How is he in any way The Best when his involvement hurt his crew more than it helped?
But he won’t be so easily beaten. He can focus down and get something from this that he couldn’t have gotten otherwise. A loss is unacceptable, but a trade isn’t. He just needs to say the right words, in a way he understands.
>”I’m glad you enjoyed my show of keep-away with their weapons. What do I have to do to play keep-away with you?” A completely serious line, meant to refer to keeping her from helping Silversmith, that absolutely seems like he’s hitting on her at first and second glance. That ought to get a look and flirty response from her, have it die as she realizes he’s serious, and a laugh that he tripped her up for a moment. Better than most people who hit on her, I’m sure.
So there. The perfect union of upset and flirty Gigas. He can’t know he’s flirting because his Charm is shit, he has to be accidental about it if at all.
I don’t like the outcome of hitting on her, but if he’s not intending to do her then I accept the compromise.
Besides, this is clearly not a woman who wants to be chased. She’d much rather do her own hunting. Anonymous
>>6044804 >hurr durr its funny cause Gigas dumb and sexy lady make peepee hard. He is a man governed by his emotions, and he has lost his memory, but he's not incapable of thinking and asking why. He was trusted with this task because he is able to execute without assistance, but that's not going to be the case in the future thanks to this bungle.
>She can't be that tough with a thin body like that - knock her out with a powerful blow. The Great and Mighty Gigas fears no mundane weapon, especially not a puny knife, and he will not show up emptyhanded after this mistake. Maybe he doesn't have the full picture, but anyone interested in Stillwater will be of interest to the other
captains guys.
Anonymous
>>6045006 I can support the one-liner as part of the recruitment/stay-out-of-our-way pitch.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 26 Jun 2024 20:51:24 No. 6045707 Report >>6044844 >>6044891 >>6044902 >>6044953 >>6045006 >>6045200 >>6045414 Seduce: 2
Write-in: 3
Disarm: 1
Knock this bitch out: 1
The write-in takes it!
This is still going to require your Face + Charm pool to try to convince her, but now with some more obvious stakes, you can choose to contribute 2 Relationship Dice towards this on a failure - the RD coming from Gigas' Friends! Just remember that if you still fail after using RD, you can shock that relationship...
Anyways, one person roll for me 2d10! If that fails, then vote
>Yes or
>No on using RD!
Anonymous
Rolled 13, 16 = 29 (2d20) >>6045707 Anonymous
Rolled 1, 7 = 8 (2d10) >>6045707 >>6045709 Woops, force of habit.
Anonymous
>>6045707 >>6045710 >>6044902 is me, and I'll vote to use our RD. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 26 Jun 2024 20:55:11 No. 6045715 Report Quoted By:
>>6045709 >>6045710 No pairs!
Now it's up to you lads to decide if you want to risk using RD or not. It'll double your pool, give you two more rolls to try to match to either each other or to what you already rolled...but will it be enough? That's for you to decide.
Anonymous
>Use RD
Anonymous
I will fight this character assasination every step of the way. Gigas is not an idiot horndog like Ramza.>No RD
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6045852 We're already din the attempt. it's too late. This is just to see whether we succeed or fail.
Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 27 Jun 2024 16:10:22 No. 6046206 Report Quoted By:
>>6045714 >>6045717 >>6045852 >>6046136 3 yes to 1 no, we're using it then!
Roll 2d10 for me again, lads!
Anonymous
Rolled 2, 2 = 4 (2d10) I'll bite.
Anonymous
Words as smooth as his brain.
Anonymous
>>6046427 >>6046428 Dubs on the RD are still dubs, r-right?
Anonymous
>>6046432 If not i'll call you a cowardly faggot for hiding in the thread waiting for a braver anon to fuck this up in your place.
Not that I left that exact roll on read for 5 hours for the exact same reason, mind you.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 27 Jun 2024 21:07:04 No. 6046438 Report Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6046438 Well then, you've saved me from grave shame. Thanks, QM!
>>6046433 Thank you, too, brave anon.
I'm not skittish about rolling, I'm just busy at work. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6046438 "How dare you pull a fast one on Gigas! Gigas is the strongest and always wins! *Gigas blood pressure goes through the roof* (Riiiiiippppppp) his shirt tears itself apart as his blood pressure causes his whole body to flex. Nym looks at all those glistening muscles on muscles....
There qm I thought I'd help ya out.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Fri 28 Jun 2024 03:28:15 No. 6046671 Report Expect the update tomorrow! I'd have done it today, but I ran outta time before muh tabletop gaming. By god do I love my TTRPGS. You lads should seriously try getting into it someday if you haven't already - it's more addictive than crack.
Anonymous
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Fri 28 Jun 2024 23:50:49 No. 6047146 Report Quoted By:
>>6046768 Lodestar's second tabletop run! I can't get enough of it >>6044844 >>6044891 >>6044902 >>6044953 >>6045006 >>6045200 >>6045414 The gears in your mind turn, trying to figure out some way to salvage this situation. It was a one-sided transaction so far, one that would certainly prove to have unfortunate consequences for your friends, but that doesn't mean it has to remain that way. As she pulls away, you reach forward to gently grab her by the wrist - not the one holding the knife - and affix your steely, determined gaze at her. She seems surprised and amused in this moment.
"Hold on a moment. Hear me out on just one thing." You demand more than ask.
"Hmm..." She seems to consider it, tapping the tip of the dagger against her bottom lip despite how dangerous such an act is. "Alright, but <span class="mu-g">only because I like that look in your eyes.</span>"
"Right." You try not to let your current disdain for the woman show. Val hadn't quite sold you on how bizarre Nocturne's behaviors were, and you're finding her advances so far to be a little unwanted. You liked her a lot more when she was still Nym, to say the least. "What would it take to hire you?"
"Oh? Need someone gone?" She asks, an unsettlingly wide smile slipping onto her face. "Prices are negotiable, it all depends on the factors involved. Difficulty in reaching the target, how many you want done at once, if you want it to be obvious or an 'accident', the status of the mark..." She lists of a variety of things, counting each one by touching the edge of the knife to one of her fingers without actually cutting into the soft flesh.
"What if I wanted you on retainer? A long-term arrangement." You ask.
"That's a tough one, buuut...as long as I get plenty of jobs to keep me entertained, I think I could swing it for about a million annually. One-hundred grand per month, if you prefer a shorter-term contract and don't care about the discount of the annual package." She says with a wink.
You can't help but give an impressed whistle at the staggering prices. "You must live pretty good off a salary like that."
"You'd be surprised how much of it goes towards making sure the right people look the wrong way." She giggles, before shaking her head and shrugging. "But either way, your reaction tells me that you probably couldn't afford me. That's a shame, I'm sure you would have made a good employer."
You crack one of your knuckles with just your thumb as you try to think quickly to salvage the situation, to bring the interaction back towards a neutral one again. "What about the cost to keep you from taking a job?" You blurt out.
"...Oh?" She looks surprised again. "I've never had an offer for that before. Then again, most people don't ever get the chance to ask. That's a tough one! Tell me more, though - I'm interested."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Fri 28 Jun 2024 23:51:50 No. 6047148 Report "It's simple. All I want to do is play a little game of keep-away with you. <span class="mu-g">I want to know what it'll take to stop you from taking more jobs from Silversmith.</span>" You say, confident that you can reveal your intent now. It's a gamble, but if it works, then you stand to gain everything.
Anonymous
>>6047148 Take the deal, shake her hand.
Anonymous
>>6047148 >Take the deal, shake her hand. Bold is the name of the Gigas game.
Anonymous
>>6047148 Yes Gigas. If only we had a way to see the future.
>Looks wistfully in the direction of Gremory. >Take the deal, shake her hand. >”I don’t think we’ll ever really see eye-to-eye, but that’s part of the fun for you, isn’t it?” >Slight pause >”What would the going rate for men like myself be in your world? My captain and I should know how far we have to climb.” Ramza wants to top the bounty book and Gigas wants to be Da Strongest, and both of them should be worth more than Nocturne by that point. It’s good to have concrete achievements like “earning enough to buy out her network and crush her completely” as mid-term goals, and Ramza SHOULD be part of the fun since she’s really high in the book herself.
I don’t think Val is as interested in one-upping Nocturne on a personal level like the others so I didn’t mention him.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 29 Jun 2024 01:51:33 No. 6047206 Report >>6047202 >Gremory Well, yes, but remember that whatever you see with that becomes set in stone...
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6047206 Meh. The existence of the spell implies free will is an illusion that can be stripped away at the whim of another at any moment. May as well be the one to do it yourself so you can work the edges of what you saw with forewarning.
Or try to, since someone else could have already locked in your other actions with their own viewing.
Speaking of, tapping directly into the Core to fuel the world’s largest future reading would certainly be one way to kickstart the apocalypse, wouldn’t it? The recursive nature of reading the actions of people who knew what the future would be for, say, every second of the next several years should cause some interesting effects with Time and Space magic!
Anonymous
>>6047148 Take the deal, shake her hand.
Anonymous
>>6047148 >Reject the deal, take her down. We can't get played like this bros
The job is likely the exact contract she's been hired for.
Anonymous
>>6047148 >Reject the deal, take her down. Don't let pussy make you a pussy
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sun 30 Jun 2024 21:44:32 No. 6048960 Report Me eyes be blurring and not wanting to unblur today. No need for alarm, it's just a temporary paralysis of the ciliary muscles! Annoying for me, though.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6048960 Well, I would call in artillery strikes on my opponent’s positions. Alas, the military hasn’t returned any of my calls.
>>6047148 I suppose we can caveat our agreement with
>”So long as it isn’t a job that benefits Silversmith.” It’s clear we’re after him, and helping him directly wouldn’t make sense. I’m sure she has other clients she moonlights for. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 02 Jul 2024 06:54:58 No. 6050017 Report Quoted By:
Before we get to today's update, I request that you, my dear readers, answer this simple Yes or No poll on if you've ever personally run a quest before. You don't have to, of course, but we're trying to get a better understanding of the number of QMs and the number of Players that have never been a QM.
http://poal.me/e5o7c4 We now return to your
ir regularly scheduled updates.
>>6047172 >>6047192 >>6047202 >>6047754 >>6048667 >>6048685 You stare at her hand the same way you would at a loaded gun, or perhaps more accurately a snake with bared fangs. You're apprehensive about taking an unknown deal with not only a psychopath, but an assassin that's in the pocket of your biggest enemy. The thought that she could be tasking you with something that could compromise your entire mission weighs on you heavily, too heavily to accept the deal as it is. Bold and brave you may be, you would sooner put yourself to the blade than knowingly put your friends at risk over your own foolishness.
"I get the feeling that you enjoy making me feel so uneasy." You comment dryly, a more wry grin on your face than you think you've ever made. "It wouldn't be half as fun for you if we were more alike, I imagine."
"Oh, but we're a lot more alike than you think! I can tell. I saw it in your eyes down at the arena, when that hydra's venom was flowing through your veins. When you <span class="mu-i">cut</span> through all the excess..." She draws a finger from her collarbone down her chest, stopping about where her heart would be. "Then you can see those dark little urges that only people like us have. That's where the real you is."
You can't help but scoff out loud, despite the gnawing worry her words set in your gut. "You're looking too much into it. I was in a fight, and I needed to win. That's all." You frown as she gives you a nonchalant shrug, the look on her face telling you that she doesn't believe a damn word. You sigh and change the subject for now. "Before I say yes or no to your little deal, I've gotta ask - what's would you charge for someone like me, or my captain?"
"Oh, not too much. Sorry if it stings, but I think I could take care of Trinity without much trouble at all. As a package deal, I'd do it for about ten grand - fifteen if they wanted it to be seen as an accident, or twenty if they wanted to pin it on someone in particular."
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 02 Jul 2024 06:55:59 No. 6050018 Report "Damn. Guess we've got a long way to go, then...alright, I'm ready to make my choice then. One caveat though, a stipulation that I would imagine you'd find obvious. The job can't be one that benefits Silversmith." You say, holding your own hand out a few inches from hers so that she's the one who has to make the decision now.>Roll 1d10 (Brains + Remember) to resist the effects of Alter Memory! On a 10 only, receive a Partial Success! >Roll another 4d10 (Brains + Courage) to resist the effects of Imbue Urge!
Anonymous
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 5, 8, 10, 1 = 24 (4d10) >>6050018 Anonymous
>>6050018 Can we burn RD dice?
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 2 (1d10)
Anonymous
>>6050143 We already did so this scene, didn't we?
Anonymous
>>6050143 If we can, which would apply? I’d guess the crew one still applies, and “Regaining Lost Memories” might be stretchable to cover this scenario on account of the memory alteration. Can’t see Gigas being happy with new memories being lost without his consent given everything he’s already lost.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 02 Jul 2024 21:05:03 No. 6050414 Report >>6050143 >>6050197 >>6050233 Sorry for the delayed response, I passed the fuck out after posting!
You can, technically. Your Brains and remember pool ends up being a -1 as-is (-2 in your Remember skill is the killer here), but that just means you can roll a single d10 for the possibility of a partial success or a critical failure; same thing happens if you have anything less than two dice to roll at any given time. If you added your Friends and Memories dice to this, you'd have a total of 3 dice to roll on resisting Alter Memory. Which is terrible odds, and you'd be risking shocking two of your relationships.
As for resisting Imbue Urge, if you don't succeed against Alter Memory, your memories are in the active control of someone else at the moment so you can't call upon your RD.
This is all a long winded way to say:
<span class="mu-r">Would you like to call upon 4 RD to bump your resistance to Alter Memory up to 3 Dice?</span>
>Yes >No Anonymous
Anonymous
>>6050414 No.
Take the L. Scrambled boy is scrambled.
Anonymous
>>6050414 Yeah, I can take the L too. Stuff like this is why I didn’t think attacking her would work either, our boy here has some major weaknesses to cover.
We’ll see what the others can figure out from our behavior later I guess.
Anonymous
Anonymous
>survey says... >20 readers >17 with 'writing experience' >5 active posters >all retarded
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 03 Jul 2024 16:05:22 No. 6050969 Report Quoted By:
>>6050416 >>6050424 >>6050451 >>6050502 >>6050559 Listen closely, my dear. When you meet ̸̶̸̸̵̵̴̷̵̴̵̸̶̶̷̷̴̴̨̧̢̡̧̢̡̧̧̢̡̧̡̛̛̛̛̛̛͓͍͙̝̬̞͈̯̳͔̘̠̦̙̭̮̭͉̫̮͓̩̩̜̯̫̬͍̫̫͍̣͔̭̻̘̼̬̟̼̩͎̫̰̪̘̖͖̩̳̥̳̩̝̹͖̳̫͖̞̟̜͎̙͎̗̻̼̥͙̣̤̝̬̮̞̥̘̙͚͍̳̮̻̮̺͓͚̻̘̤͓̗͉͓̩̥̝̥͎̥̯̳̘̺͕͖̯̙̠̣̩͙̳̼̯̰̰͓̪̙̗̩̜̭̺̼͔͖͕͎͚͉͓̞̩̻͈̞̥̖͕̥̣̿͆͑̾̈̑̎͗̒̇̓̔͌̋̃̂̄̋̊̉͌͒͑̎͌̏͛̀̌̀̑̈́̇̈̊͒͋̀̌̈͊͋̐͐̈̈́̎͊̒̒̀̓̄̈͋͊̈́̈́͊̊̋̈̓̽̾̿̍͌̓̍̒̓̄͋̍͛̐́̎̓͋̓͂͗̂̂̽̎́̋̀̊̈́̃̋̑͛̐̎̏̄̿̄̽̒̾̎̊́̒́͊͌͑͛̿͂͌͂̒͛̀̄͋͌͋͛͌͗͑̌̃̾̍̑̉͊̽̀̋͛̑̈́͊́́̍͌̉̂̍̌̕̕͘̚̕̚͘͘̕͘̚͘̚͘͜͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͠͠͝ͅͅͅ, you will want nothing more than to kill them. Only when they are within arm's reach will you realize this. Until then, rest easy knowing that we have made an accord, sweet Gigas. I will stay my hand from interfering with you and your friends... <span class="mu-s">Some time later:</span>
You struggle not to tap your foot impatiently or give in to any other pointless acts that would show your boredom. You completed your job within minutes, but it seems that Ramza and Gigas have the harder tasks between them. Or at least the more time-consuming ones - you would argue that dealing with the Shipwitch was plenty hard. Not because the retrieval was difficult, mind you, but rather because the Shipwitch in question that you now have to keep company is...well, you can't really put it into any elegant words.
"So why did you guys name yourselves the Trinity pirates?" Sari asks you, marking what must be the fiftieth question in the span of the past five minutes.
"There was three of us at the time." You keep your reply short, informative, and to the point. Hopefully if you keep this up, she'll run out of questions soon.
"Does that mean we'll have to change our name now?"
"No."
"Can we change it if we want to?"
"Probably."
"Okay. Hey, do you know any cool tricks with your guns?"
"Yes."
"Ooh! Can I see them?"
"No."
"Come on, I'm boooored~!"
"No."
"Fine, then I'm just going to keep asking questions. Why do you wear that mask over your face?"
"To filter dust..." You sigh, lamenting your fate. The worst part is that it's a fate you chose for yourself - but you couldn't have possibly known that you would be paired up with such an unnecessarily chatty person.
The tender flesh lining the inside of your throat twinges with irritation; even with the curt responses you've been giving her, this is the most you've had to speak in a while. You idly wonder how things are faring for your comrades, a less than noble part of you hoping they're at least suffering as much as you are in this moment. Not that you would ever let them know, of course.
Gigas is the first to show, you spotting him easily above the crowds around the docks as he makes his way over to the ship you're on. He stands proud, as confident as always as he marches up and gives you and Sari a two-fingered wave.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 03 Jul 2024 16:06:31 No. 6050971 Report "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long, my friend! There was a slight complication with getting Doric out of prison-" He says, pausing as he moves to clap an arm around a scruffy-looking old man next to him. You initially thought that was just a random homeless guy wandering the docks... "-But as you can see, I managed everything just fine!">Stay as Val, skip to the reunion. >Switch to Ramza, play through his torment of a hundred interviews.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 03 Jul 2024 16:10:43 No. 6050972 Report Oh, and before I forget.As a professional courtesy from Nocturne, Gigas now has a 0 in Remember instead of -2! It's the least she could do while she was rooting around in there making changes.
Anonymous
>>6050972 Score!
>>6050971 >Switch to Ramza, play through his torment of a hundred interviews. Poor bastard. Let's see how abd it really is.
Anonymous
>>6050971 >>Switch to Ramza, play through his torment of a hundred interviews. It's good we partially unscrambled Gigas
Anonymous
>>6050971 >Switch to Ramza, play through his torment of a hundred interviews. We can endure.
>>6050972 It is now canon that even Black Pirates feel bad for taking advantage of Gigas’ poor memory and help if they can. Yay for small wins.
Maybe she saw some things in there she’s hoping he remembers to make him more like her. Anonymous
>>6050971 >Switch to Ramza, play through his torment of a hundred interviews. This'll be good.
>>6050972 Thank you for the pity points, I was about to lament.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 04 Jul 2024 14:32:23 No. 6051526 Report Happy 4th of July, lads! Celebrate your freedom by eating good food, just to shove it in those damn brit's faces that they're busy eating MUSHY PEAS and BEANS instead of delicious steaks and juicy burgers!
Anonymous
>>6051526 Bold word from someone of the colonies.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Thu 04 Jul 2024 20:58:08 No. 6051680 Report Quoted By:
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 06 Jul 2024 06:47:41 No. 6052676 Report Quoted By:
>>6050992 >>6051008 >>6051147 >>6051296 <span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">Not too long ago...</span></span>
"I've got a list, and I need to find these people." You finish saying, pulling an arm around Harrison's shoulders and starting to head away from the docks with him.
"Mind if I take a peek at this list?" Harrison asks, a request which you gladly oblige by sliding the piece of paper into his hands. His eyes flicker down the rows of names with a surprising speed, and you can practically see the gears in his head turning as he matches names to memories of the people they belong to.
"So, I'm looking for a bit of advice on this. What do you think the best method for gathering these men together would be? Ideally, I'd like to try to interview them and make sure they're a good fit for the crew, but these guys are already vetted by Lobo. So uh, it might not be entirely necessary. Either way, we've gotta find a way to recruit as many capable and trustworthy men as possible." You say.
"Well, the <span class="mu-i">best</span> method would be to tell everyone to meet you somewhere relatively safe and neutral through the FDS - Familiar Delivery Service. Costs a bit of coin per message, but it's the fastest way and guarantees you can contact everyone on the list as long as they're still alive and kicking." He explains.
"How much coin are we talking?" You ask skeptically.
"Last I checked, it was about, uhh, 10 pieces per message. So about 1,000 pieces if you wanted to contact everyone on the list. Not sure if you actually need a full crew of a hundred men though - just twenty should honestly be plenty to staff the ships you've got. They're not particularly large, and only one of 'em even has sails to fuss around with. Unless you're looking to futureproof, of course..."
"Robbery. 10 Pieces for a letter! I'm in the wrong business." You openly lament, groaning. "What are my other options?"
"Recruitment speeches, posters, or just hanging around some of the most popular spots for sailors looking for work. Or you can sidestep the list entirely and see what you can find with some of the local Mercenary Companies. It also costs a fair bit of coin, but with that coin comes an assurance of competence and experience...or so they say." He waves a hand in the air as though he was dismissing the idea.
"You don't think it's true?" You ask, curious now.
"I do, but I also think that they're more loyal to themselves and the coin than anything else."
"Makes sense. I'll put them as a maybe, then." You chew on the inside of your cheek as you take a moment to think. "Hmm...you think Gremory could get the message out for cheaper?"
"The- sorry, the Demon?" Harrison asks, surprised. "I uh, I really don't know. But wouldn't that turn people away, having a Demon's magic suddenly tell them to go somewhere?"
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 06 Jul 2024 06:48:42 No. 6052677 Report "True. Damn it. Well, I mean, on the other hand I do want people to know what they're getting into. Even if I don't have them send the message, it might be worthwhile to have them with me during the meeting. Lets them know right up front that we've got a Demon crew member, you know?">Use the Familiar Delivery Service, send out a message to (How many out of 100?) of the people on the list. >Try to find them personally at popular places for job-seeking pirates. >Disregard the list, hit up some Mercenary Guilds. >Send a message through Gremory. >Bring the Demon along with you. Make your allegiance known from the start. >Leave Gremory to their own devices. You can just explain the deal with them to the new recruits. >Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. >Stick with tradition. You're the Captain, and you'll be damned if anyone takes that from you. Write-ins open for each category!
Anonymous
>>6052677 >Use the Familiar Delivery Service, send out a message to (50 best out of 100?) of the people on the list. >Bring the Demon along with you. Make your allegiance known from the start. The idea is to take the best half, and filter them through the demon presence. We'll end up with around 20 to 35 men; good enough for upscaling in the future. If we got more, well, we'll became the Trinity Armada.
>Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. However we remain Captain-In-Chief.
Ramza can tiebreak vote if one abstain.
Anonymous
>>6052677 >Use the Familiar Delivery Service, send out a message to (How many out of 100?) of the people on the list. 40, expecting that half will run away at the sight of Gremory
>Bring the Demon along with you. Make your allegiance known from the start. >Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. Anonymous
>>6052677 >Use the Familiar Delivery Service, send out a message to (How many out of 100?) of the people on the list. Gotta spend money to make money. Call in the whole hundred, so we can sort best from worst!
>Leave Gremory to their own devices. You can just explain the deal with them to the new recruits. >Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. I like the 'Captain-In-Chief' idea of
>>6052695 Anonymous
>>6052677 >Use the Familiar Delivery Service, send out a message to (How many out of 100?) of the people on the list. >Send a message through Gremory. I figure do maybe 5-10 people through Gremory and the rest through the message service. Any professions that are more intellectually-inclined should have less of a chance of ignoring the message (for good or for ill), so focus on them. I’ll defer to others on the total number if needed, but I think 30 hires is good to shoot for.
Besides, I’m sure Val would want to learn what a Demon sending a mental message is like without being a test subject, and Gigas isn’t a good test case. May as well get some feedback for him while saving money.
>Bring the Demon along with you. Make your allegiance known from the start. The marketplace itself seems fairly neutral, so we could bring them to the Demon instead. Less likely for a fight to break out from misunderstandings if they’re approaching us instead of the other way around.
>Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. Like
>>6052677 said, we can keep the tie-breaker vote. The argument is simple - if they decide otherwise, they’ll need to hire their own crews (lots of talking for Val) based on their ship and crew’s needs (lots of planning for Gigas). It’s signing up Ramza to be the collective Crewmaster for Trinity, but he can handle the pain better than the others could. It’s a fair trade for the recognition.
>Other >Ask if any of the Eldingarians wish to join any interviews for crew that would assist on their ship. They know the tech better than we do, and if they think someone is going to be a good fit for their ship (or the midweight with Eldingarian thrusters) then we can slot them appropriately. More importantly, it’s showing that Ramza recognizes they have valuable input on topics he’s not an expert in and he’ll seek it out, and that’s good optics. He should be all over that given his Charm/Conniving focus.
If we’re going to the marketplace for interviews then they can try and do shopping/selling along the way. They were merchants, after all.
>See if Gremory has any requests for skills among the new hires. Again, getting feedback so our crew is more appreciative of how wonderful Captain Ramza is. Especially compared to the other sorta-Captains he’ll be making.
Anonymous
>>6052677 >Use the Familiar Delivery Service, send out a message to (How many out of 100?) of the people on the list. Nothing like showing respect to expertise, If anyone knows people better than Ramza it'll be Harrison.
>Bring the Demon along with you. Make your allegiance known from the start. We ain't here to recruit bitches, and we definitely don't need 100 of them.
>Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. Thank you OP
Anonymous
>>6053263 >We ain't here to recruit bitches, and we definitely don't need 100 of them. True. Imagine having MORE than ninety nine problems, and not only is a bitch one, ALL your problems are bitches.
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
>>6052677 >Send a message through Gremory. >Bring the Demon along with you. Make your allegiance known from the start. >Swallow your pride, decide to form a Trifecta of Captains later. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 08 Jul 2024 03:37:19 No. 6054072 Report >>6052695 >>6052720 >>6052917 >>6052978 >>6053263 >>6053679 Looks like we'll be using the FDS on the best 50, bringing Gremory along to filter the wheat from the chaff, and taking Harrison's idea for later!
Here's how we'll handle things, men. I want 1 person to roll a d50 for me to see how many of the men on the list decide to stick through it despite the demonic presence over your shoulder.
1 more person should roll a d100 for me with a DC of 75 to see if anyone causes an...incident.
And one last person shall roll a pool of 5d10 for Ramza's charm, of which <span class="mu-s">all 6 of his rd are applicable</span>. Each different pair on the Charm roll can be used <span class="mu-r">to make another roll on the d50 or the d100.</span> Width won't matter so much here, but you can always split a wide enough roll into more pairs (IE you can take 3, 3, 3, 3 and divide it into two pairs of 3).
Anonymous
Rolled 46 (1d50) >>6054072 Oof, no minimum past 1 on the ones who stick it through? That could be rough.
I’ll bite the bullet and roll.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 08 Jul 2024 03:47:04 No. 6054084 Report >>6054082 Well god damn, lads, is there anything you don't roll good at?
Anonymous
Rolled 87 (1d100) >>6054072 Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6054084 Gigas with resisting his mind getting fucked with again, but we can claim it’s in-character.
But yeah, I’m real happy with not worrying about the number of people we’re recruiting. Either Threespice is so cutthroat that a literal demon doesn’t get much notice in our circles or people are a lot more accepting of Gremory than they realized.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6054084 >is there anything you don't roll good at? Apparently not! (Except keeping poor Gigas out of trouble)
Anonymous
>>6054072 Ah, RD question. If we roll one pair of RD and it doesn’t make a pair but a different pair of RD does, does the first one still get the relationship shock or is it all good as long as any of them get the pair?
If it’s the latter, Ramza literally can’t fail to get at least one success with 11 dice in play. I would really like it to be the latter.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 08 Jul 2024 03:58:43 No. 6054096 Report >>6054093 The latter. You basically treat it as adding dice to the original pool.
Maximum of 10 dice to play with though, so despite having 6 extra dice to add, you can realistically only add 5. Extra shit only really matters when you're trying to outpace damage or something like that.
Anonymous
>>6054096 Damn. So there’s still a 1 in 222,222,222 chance of failing to make a match. Those are XCOM odds. Beggars can’t be choosers though.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 08 Jul 2024 04:52:58 No. 6054128 Report Quoted By:
>>6054105 Not that you niggas need it. I mean, DAMN.
>>6054082 >46/50 >>6054088 >87, passing the DC I made up that whole system for choosing which rolls to boost for NOTHING, lmao.
Anyways, time for me to write!
Anonymous
Rolled 3, 2, 6, 6, 2 = 19 (5d10) >>6054072 Charm
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Rolled 14 (1d50) >>6054172 1 more d50 roll
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 08 Jul 2024 19:15:49 No. 6054463 Report Been quite unconventionally busy and struggling with extremely poor sleep . Your patience thusfar is greatly appreciated; update GUARANTEED tomorrow or OP is a faggot!
Anonymous
>>6054463 Hmm. The straps on her boots need to be bound better, and the long hair suggests she’s either exceptionally skilled in combat or doesn’t actually fight that much since it’s liable to get cut or caught in things. Smart money is usually on the latter. The boob window, while a popular design choice, is also a poor armor choice. Her leather armor actually seems to be making her bust more prominent! Possible psychological advantage there, but not worth the trade-off.
The scabbard seems a little loose as well. It’s riding low enough that her leg is stopping it from falling further instead of her waist on one side, and that’s not going to be good in a fight or while traveling.
Arms are appropriately armored for a sword fighter though, letting her deflect glancing blows as needed to keep her arms and body safe. The slight armor on her shoulders will also let her shoulder charge opponents if she’s disarmed without seeming too restrictive, which would be useful in a pinch.
The rest of the outfit is acceptable and not particularly relevant.
Overall rating: 4/10 Vals.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6054529 This being a JRPG quest based on Tales, she's actually pretty well-equipped for the local milieu.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 10 Jul 2024 04:39:40 No. 6055547 Report Quoted By:
>>6052695 >>6052720 >>6052917 >>6052978 >>6053263 >>6053679 "Which is?" Harrison asks you, tilting his head slightly to the side with curiosity.
"You'll see." You say with a cheeky grin, pausing on it for a moment as the two of you stare each other down. The moment gets particularly awkward after a bit, though, so you cough into a fist and follow up with a quick "Care to lead me to the Familiar Delivery Service? I don't actually know the way, or I would have started walking there already."
Just a few minutes of walking later, you find yourself stepping through the doorway of a peculiar tower which bore a plethora of holes drilled through the outside, with nearly every hole having a rod stuck either above or below it. The inside seems to take this design to an even further extreme, with the interior walls and support pillars absolutely riddled from floor to high-above ceiling with such structures. A simplistic rune seems to be carved into the floor itself, through which a slight but steady glow of mana flows - the tingling in your fingers suggests that it's simply meant to diffuse mana into the air itself.
A lizardlike familiar bearing batlike wings slithers through one of the holes next to your head, crawling across the walls with sticky padded fingers and dipping into an entirely different hole without paying you any thought. You step forward into the main area, and opt to call out to see if there's actually any humans here - as it is, you only see a few things peeking from the holes and a moth flying about.
"Hello? Is someone able to uh, help me?" You ask.
"Hello, Customer! How can we be of assistance to you today?" A voice responds to you. You look around for the source of it, unable to find it until it speaks up again. "Do you need assistance?"
You suddenly realize that it's moth that's speaking, your eyes focusing on it as it hovers in place. Surprisingly, despite its small size, it actually seems to have vaguely humanoid features - tiny limbs, and a face that could be mistaken for a man's if not for the size of it and the fact that it was covered completely in black chitin. The eyes, too, are a dead giveaway with how they faintly glow blue with mana and have no iris or sclera to speak of.
"Yeah, I was looking for the human that handles business." You say, glancing around once more.
"I apologize, but there is no human presence here today. Our tender only makes an appearance once every five days. If you are here for business, then I have been designed to help with every need that the Familiar Delivery Service can provide!" The moth replies, chirping cheerily.
"Real hands-off approach to this business, huh? Just let the familiars run themselves." You muse out loud, rubbing your chin.
"I am sorry, but as a Familiar, I can only respond to a limited number of things. That topic is outside of my capabilities." The moth informs you. Son of a...
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 10 Jul 2024 04:40:40 No. 6055548 Report Quoted By:
"I'll...I'll keep that in mind, then. How much would it cost to send a message to someone in town?" You ask.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 10 Jul 2024 04:41:42 No. 6055550 Report Quoted By:
"Excellent! We will now distribute and send your message to your recipients. Have a good day!" The moth says as soon as the final coin enters the slot, having been apparently counting the whole time. It then flies up and out of view, most likely to do exactly as it just said it would.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Wed 10 Jul 2024 04:42:43 No. 6055552 Report One of the men in the crowd steps up, a bald fellow with a disfigured nose and a deep scar running across one of his eyes, which seems to be milky white. "Been waiting to kill it since I first saw it set up shop." He growls out.>Only the 20 best. >30 of them, cut out the chaff that once ran with Black Pirates. >All 46, you worked hard for this, damn it. And spent good money, too!
Anonymous
>>6055552 How many do we realistically need to crew our vessels? Get minimum that many. My instinct, though, is to go with:
>All 46, you worked hard for this, damn it. And spent good money, too! If we can consort with Demons, why not ex-Black Pirates?
Anonymous
>>6055552 >All 46, you worked hard for this, damn it. And spent good money, too! Anonymous
>>6055552 >All 46, you worked hard for this, damn it. And spent good money, too! We set a high bar, and they passed it. It may even be a benefit down the line to have a wide array of experience. It will certainly be worth it if we stand to take any casualties.
That being said, keeping this many men paid and satisfied will be a challenge, but our earning ability, reputation, and combat capabilities will have shot through the roof. We're surely bound to jump up a few places in the bounty book, our old crew back at Ship's Haven won't believe their eyes!
Anonymous
>>6055552 >All 46, you worked hard for this, damn it. And spent good money, too! Sure, may as well. Lobo’s vetted them, Ramza thinks they’re legit, and it’s hard to draw a line against former Black Pirates when we have a demon who helped wipe several cities off the map on the crew. It’s good to learn from the competition anyway.
We’ll need to step up our money operations further to pay all these people, but it’s the better problem to have.
It’ll also give us more cover to keep Gigas when he goes off the rails, but I can’t really let that influence my vote here. Anonymous
>>6055552 >All 46, you worked hard for this, damn it. And spent good money, too! Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sun 14 Jul 2024 01:58:06 No. 6058069 Report >>6055570 >>6055617 >>6055719 >>6056023 >>6057400 All 46 wins it by uninamous vote!
I would normally have the update out here and now, but I've <span class="mu-s">still</span> been struggling with alternating between feeling sick and being filled up with brainfog. As we're on page 7, I'm going to take the opportunity here to archive us and continue getting rest so that, hopefully, I can make a better and more consistent thread 6 once this hits page 10.
I'm not really satisfied with how much I was able to get done this thread, but it is what it is - I don't have the right contacts to sacrifice a few hobos for eternal youth and health. Since this was a shorter thread with multiple perspective swaps, we're going to continue being Val in the next one, so he doesn't get 'jipped'.
For now, the rest of the thread will be used for Questions and Answers. Address them to whoever - me, ramza, aito, chef bastard. Doesn't matter. If you've got a question, it'll get answered!
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sun 14 Jul 2024 02:01:58 No. 6058075 Report Quoted By:
Anonymous
>>6058069 I guess I’ll ask if your original run in this world had any of the same adventures with the Eldingarian merchants or with Nocturne/Jaghatai this early. We got to meet the Admiral much earlier than they did after all.
Same for if they met any other relatively important characters by now that we haven’t, though I get we won’t know exactly who they met until we officially meet them and it’s no longer a spoiler.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sun 14 Jul 2024 03:51:02 No. 6058149 Report >>6058134 In the original run, Aito's ship had still been crashed, but he was at risk of starving to death instead of being besieged by Raven's ship. He also was solo, having not been travelling with his grandchildren. I felt an active seige would have been more interesting.
Jaghatai was encountered very early and established as a friendly party, with the group bartering away a certain something they found that was relevant to the Gaoth's mission in Lume in exchange for their safety. They worked closest with Jaghatai when establishing a plan for taking out Silversmith.
Nocturne's original appearance was delayed until Disk 2, as a surprise assassination attempt in the middle of the night. They never encountered her in Lume, so she was fulfilling a contingency contract on "Whoever is responsible for my death" from Silversmith.
Stillwater and the Countess didn't actually exist in any form other than vague ideas in the original run, as the party never really tried to get at Silversmith's men - they were far more interested in gaining allies and planning a more direct assault rather than undermining his operations beforehand.
Chef bastard, once recruited, threw one of the players overboard into the sea when they challenged his authority in the ship's kitchen. Never challenge a chef's authority over the kitchen.
Anonymous
>>6058069 Thanks for running, and fee better soon, QM. I'll keep an eye out for the next thread.
>>6058149 Fascinating...
Anonymous
>>6058149 I look forward to having chef bastard on our ships. Hopefully we have a kitchen big enough to fit his ego.
Also, you’re really rich when you’re willing to spend money to kill people after you’re dead. Not like you’ll live to see it after all!
Unless reanimation magic is a thing, but it seems unlikely barring some apparatus that could capture your mana when you died and spin it into a new form. Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 15 Jul 2024 04:20:55 No. 6058824 Report >>6058736 >spoiler Once you're dead, you're dead-dead. There's no coming back once you're past the line. Though you can get extremely close to that line and still get pulled back from near-certain oblivion, depending on how quickly and how skilled the intervention is.
There are strange things that happen when someone's mana is neither allowed to rejoin the core nor consumed by another entity. Rare, considering you'd need someone to perish in a watertight room, but not unheard of. Anonymous
>>6058824 I’m willing to bet some enterprising souls (no pun intended) have studied what happens when mana is released and doesn’t return for a while.
Maybe it gets a little moldy and then consuming it makes you a demon because it changes how your mana works. Kinda like eating something with prions in it will change your own proteins and kill you. It’d make sense to test this sort of behavior as far from the Core as possible after all, and those far away lands where demons apparently just “happen” would fit the bill. Some tests were locked away since they had no good way of disposing it, but the vaults decay over time and release the mana into the environment slowly, poisoning the land and people like radioactive materials.
… so who wants to go do a scientific expedition? There’s bound to be some good looting to be done there from all sorts of military types who have tried to weaponize/control what happens there.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Mon 15 Jul 2024 12:40:03 No. 6058996 Report >>6058973 >There’s bound to be some good looting to be done there from all sorts of military types who have tried to weaponize/control what happens there The frozen wastes do contain a great amount of wealth that once belonged to would-be conquerors and explorers that thought they could succeed where others failed. Of course, the dangers there are twofold - a myriad of corrupted creatures, and the everpresent outpouring of Soul that turned them into Monsters and Afflicted Demons to begin with. From what it comes from...remains to be seen. But it'll be a most exciting reveal when the time comes, I assure you - just make sure you're adequately prepared to ensure you and your crew don't become Demons yourselves.
Anonymous
>>6058996 I guess on that note I’ll pose a question for anons. Mid-term, what do we want to drive towards?
I’m thinking we want to work towards things that advance the personal goals of our characters. Ramza is easy since anything that would bring wealth and notoriety will push him higher in the bounty book. That really leaves Val (demons) or Gigas (memories) to set the course.
So would it make more sense to take a lazy route to the frozen wastes to build up our resources for an exploration there to see what we can learn about demons, or do we try and look into Gaoth citizenship since Gaoth itself is the most likely avenue to learn more about Gigas’ past?
Pretty sure we can advance all causes either way, but I’d like to hear what other anons are thinking before we get to the “wat do” thread for where we go next and we have to spend even more time deliberating.
Anonymous
>>6059443 The Gaoth ideology seems off-putting to Ramza's more live-and-let-live chaotic good approach to life.I don't think we should become Gaoth citizens. I think exploring demon knowledge in the frozen wastes sounds profitable. Also, maybe investigating if the shit Eldingar is getting up to is an existential threat to us all.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6059447 I figure the same about Ramza, but I didn’t consider citizenship to be a dealbreaker for him. Sounds like you can get it if you simply kick ass hard enough, and Ramza’s bound to do that anyway. Certainly nice to have if it means he can cut through their territory while evading capture somewhere else, or pick up supplies while en-route to another destination.
There is also a small part of me that wants to get Gremory citizenship on the basis that she nuked several of their cities (with help, admittedly) and they’d be cowards not to respect that. I can’t really see any benefit to it besides further validating how fucked up their culture truly is, but it’s an earworm that won’t leave my head.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6059443 Uh, I'd say our near term goal is dealing with stillwater and friends. Then seeing if this fake spire is going to kill us.
I'd say we should figure out gigas mind stuff. We know Gremory can fix some of it.
Anonymous
Thanks for running QM.
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Tue 16 Jul 2024 06:37:55 No. 6059638 Report Quoted By:
>>6058686 >>6059627 Thanks for the well wishes, friends!
>>6059443 >>6059447 Heading to Eldingar for disk 2 is certainly possible
and what the original party did , and conveniently allows for exploration of one of the frozen wastes (the northern or the southern, respectively) on the way there. Unless you wanted to cut through Voda or Gaoth instead of riding the border between the two.
Voda and Gaoth are Lume's immediate neighbors, with Eldingar essentially being on the other side of the world.
Watcher from the Core
Good evening everybody. I have some less than fortunate news about Lodestar, but not as unfortunate as it being shelved forever or anything like that. My health has only deteriorated further since the end of this last thread, as evidenced by a possible transient ischemic attack this morning. It shared virtually all of the symptoms of it, but there was no apparent permanent damage during preliminary testing. Needless to say, I'm going to be exceptionally tied up with medical things in the coming days, and frankly speaking I don't have the time to run when I have the energy and don't have the energy to run when I have the time.
Anonymous
>>6071547 Oh hell. Get well soon, QM, for our sake but mostly for yours. Thanks for running it!
Anonymous
Anonymous
>>6071547 Wishing you get well soon
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam
Watcher from the Core !!gkPzrDKpHam ID:wHpLuhIw Sat 03 Aug 2024 11:41:54 No. 6072393 Report Quoted By:
>>6071558 >>6071624 >>6071802 I appreciate the support, lads. Be seeing you when I see you, and remember to stay healthy and stay happy.
