netsuki 2015/04/13(Mon)05:29 No. 634116 ID: 225ed3
File 142892816442.png - (273.82KB , 1280x800 , wormstab.png )

rolled 6, 3 + 4 = 13

---

You feel the worm tug up at your leg roughly as it jerks up from the dual impact, bracing yourself to thr hammer you try kicking at it with your free leg so it lets go

netsuki 2015/04/13(Mon)05:39 No. 634117 ID: 225ed3
File 142892877073.png - (367.11KB , 800x1280 , liftLina.png )

rolled 17, 12 = 29

---

The worm trashes about, it suddently lifts up attempting to yank you up, you try to tug yourself fre and kick at it wildly! (First result is Lina, second is worm, Lina has +2 to her check)

You kick at it repeatedly and the tentacles start to slide, at last it lets go and you fall over with a thud, Tanavar quickly takes your hand and drags you just out of the tentacles' reach, panting, the worm hisses furiously and tries to catch up but only manages to injury itself more on the spike

End round 4
damage taken 
Lina :9 
tanavar: 0 
1: 11 
2: 30 [dead] 
3: 17 [very wounded] 
4:16 [very wounded, pinned, bleeding]

Assuming worm 1 is still far enough away not to bother with (we didn't get a map update this time, and if it's disappeared or closed that changes things) it's time to coup de grâce worms 3 and 4. They're both heavily wounded and partially immobile, one careful tap each should do it. Prioritize 4 first (in case of a miss) since it's closer.

>>634120
Derp right. 1 is examining the corpses, 3 is now weakly twitchingm 4 is flailing but pinned to the spike. So it cant catch up. Its harder to edit the map on the tablet

>>634120
I agree.

netsuki 2015/04/13(Mon)13:26 No. 634198 ID: b64b3b
File 142895680207.jpg - (135.98KB , 800x1108 , 3and4dead_01.jpg )

>>634120
>>634162
Sounds like a plan, neither worm is willing to fight so each of you take it up to dispatch them, you hammersmash #4 full gorce and Tanavar gives it a swift series of stabbings to #3 until it ceases moving. #1 is nibbling away at the mouse corpse leg until it comes off, you can't take much of that sight and smell as you dash off a few feet away from the scene to throw up

>you can't take much of that sight and smell as you dash off a few feet away from the scene to throw up
Well, that's unfortunate. We can't really afford to be wasting food that way.

Lina's being sick, Tanavar, you're up. Shoot the last worm in the back of the head while it's distracted by food. Use stealth to set up the shot.

Netsuki 2015/04/13(Mon)17:56 No. 634253 ID: 225ed3
File 142897301083.png - (256.88KB , 1280x800 , theend.png )

there we go, it wasn't as elegant as you thought it'd be but you dealt with the menaces


huff, okay, time to regain composture, you twitch an ear, in the background you hear a crossbow bolt being fired followed by a loud crunch, not wanting to turn around you wait until you hear Tanavar reasuring you, all four are dead now

slowly, you get up and rub your eyes with a weak smile, though clumsy, you have to admit his help was great, it's good not to be alone, but enough of that, there's a path ahead and you need to go on, even if you clearly don't feel very sure about it

--

Tanavar time~

taking a day long break from this while I organize my thoughts in the Discusion thread, and give updates to Lina and Tanavar who just leveled up, we start on Wednesday taking control of Tanavar who is at the moment more focused and cold minded, or at least should be

critiques and comments welcome there, thanks for all the support <3

Alright, time to rest a little and heal that wound. I'm sure glad thorn burst is a free spell...

>what do
Standard procedure- stab / smack the bodies just to be sure.

Not sure we really want to leave bodies of the mice here for anything else to get into. Not sure we can do much though- we don't have the time to magic them free, drag them outside any bury them. We don't have fire spells.

Maybe we could just sink them the rest of the way into the stone? (Although I'm not sure Lina's earth-shaping is that good). And purify would restore the bodies, not hurry them along, I think.

>>634117
Congrats on being too distracted by the fight to notice the chance to see up (down) her skirt, Tan.

Netsuki 2015/04/15(Wed)08:45 No. 634576 ID: 225ed3
File 142911273312.png - (215.96KB , 1280x800 , thatsalotofworms.png )

you are Tanavar now

>>634269
>>peek up/down
that may or may not have been the reason you kept missing, trying too hard to impress her or being too distracted gawking at her, but that's turning out bad, you have to settle down your feelings, focus, stay cool

while she takes her time to heal her wound, you gaze around, the scent of decay in the mice is bound to attract more, and judging by how much worm#1 was enjoying the rotten leg, it is likely more of these or worse carrion eating critters will come, you start to pile up the worms under the mice and take out one of the bottles of kerosene you packed from the barn, however, would the smoke attract more critters? it might not be a bad thing for you, to use it as distraction, you consider asking Lina but she seems to be spacing out, kneeling on the spot, you're not sure if she's meditating or zoning out

>>632823
Um, what's the air slash ventilation situation, here? You're not gonna choke yourself or us up the oxygen starting a fire, right?

Instead, how about you remove the corpses from the mine? Bury them. Oooooor we could keep going and try to see if we can find survivors before we take care of the dead. I'm partial to the latter, because we shouldn't be wasting time and smoke inside a mine is a bad idea.

>>634601
Seconding going onwards. Dealing with the corpses is a lower priority when the source of the problem still seems to be active.

>>634601
Well the problem with burial is it's a time / labor sink. We have to magic the mice free of the stone or butcher their bodies out of their restraints, we have to drag the bodies out, dig a hole deep enough scavengers won't dig 'em up anyways, and then fill it in again.

>>634596
Which way the smoke is gonna go would impact things. What does your nose / thief skills tell you about the air currents down here?

1/2 Netsuki 2015/04/15(Wed)14:35 No. 634641 ID: 225ed3
File 142913372862.png - (96.08KB , 461x446 , sniffsniff.png )

rolled 17, 16 = 33

---

you remove the wraps from your nose and sniff...

ears flapping at the same time and you try to calculate the direction of the wind, it's not something they taught you at the mercenary guild but it's worth a shot

huh, it's not that hard is it? you smell the damp air from inside the cave blowing past you, and your ears hear it's subtle whistling as it goes by, you almost could dare say there is a distant dripping of water waaay down

the little particles of dust settling from the battle seem to also roll out towards the entrance of the cave but it's a very slow and steady pace

netsuki 2015/04/16(Thu)13:28 No. 634810 ID: 2691c4
File 142921613750.jpg - (171.43KB , 800x1108 , Keepwalking_01(1).jpg )

Hmmm yeah too much risk, too much hassle. Lina finnaly gets up and she informs you that she has a new offensive spell ready, after talking it out. You both agree not to deal with th corpses now .

still shaken, Lina asks you to guide her past the bodies as she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, with the worms out of the way you slowly help her past the site of the fight. Now th choice is to keep to the right wall or explore the branch with a dead end and a squiggly scribble

>>634810
Squiggly scribble.

Explore the dead ends. We want to make sure creatures are not hiding there to attack from behind later.

Dead ends, first.

>>634816
>>634827
>>634828
What they said.

Netsuki 2015/04/17(Fri)08:10 No. 634951 ID: 225ed3
File 142928341989.png - (255.78KB , 1280x800 , second Deadend.png )

>>634827
>>634828
>>634835

you nudge Lina to open her eyes after you go past the corpses, facing down the hallway, you notice a caution sign placed by mercenaries

"careful with metal equipment"

as you inch closer, everything is coated in a fine red dust, several large critters seem to be slain, way in the bottom of the hallways, outisde of Lina's visual reach, you notice a set of stone bars and several skulls, bones and othersuch scattered all over the place

wait... there is a little squealing coming from the side of the big critters, you notice a small lump moving about

>>634951
>metal equipment
>fine red dust
Rust?

>Squealing
What are we looking at? Child of one of the critters? Rat? Unidentified monsterling?

Ask Lina if she's good with animals (she is). She can go speak with what I assume is a baby.

netsuki 2015/04/17(Fri)15:00 No. 635006 ID: d36a13
File 142930802662.jpg - (98.99KB , 800x1108 , Notas_20150417_161729_01.jpg )

Both approach the large critters carefully in case any springs alive and attack, Lina with readied hammer and you with crossbow pointed. They seem to be flea-like critter , allof them with several slash wounds, you estimate at least several hours long. Aproaching the source of movement you see a smaller one nosing at the dead ones

You turn to Lina and ask if she can do anything, she gently places her hammer down on tge ground a few seconds , then her eyes glow in a pale red, she speaks on a much lower pitch, emmitting little clicks and hisses. Almost like the gentle sound of gravel rolling down a hill

the critter responds with squeals and raspy breaths. After a brief exchange she pulls out a hand axe from her pack and throws it in front of the dog sized flea, turning towards you she smiles "it was just scared and hungry" the flea thing uses its antennae to grip the axe and bring it close to it's maw where it starts nibbling on it, the axe slowly corroding to fine dust

A rust monster!

Well, so long as it doesn't try and eat the gear we're actually using, that's fine, I guess.

I'd almost wonder if it's worth taking with us, but we're going to be fighting monsters, not people with weapons to eat. That, and an untrained wild animal isn't the best to travel with.

>>635006
I don't suppose we could ask what happened here? It's just a baby, so if we bring it with us to possibly bypass any metal obstructions, it should stay out of combat.

Have the little guy wait for you at the entrance to the cave. He might be useful later on - most enemy gear is made of tempered metals, and it's not like there's a metal shortage.

Does it know anything about what went on here?

Netsuki 2015/04/20(Mon)10:25 No. 635478 ID: 225ed3
File 142955074740.png - (143.34KB , 574x557 , LinaRusty.png )

>>635009

shush, the politically correct term is Critter! even 'Mite, how can you call something this cute a monster? you should totally give it a name

>>635043
>>635014
>>635046

Lina talks to it some more but in the end she takes the critter and sets it on her head, the rust mite rubs its antennaes on her horns playfully as she glances over to you "it doesn't knows much, when it arrived everyone was dead, not much of an emotional critter, it's just happy to be fed now"

well, no harm bringing it along, your only concern is your two daggers, as the crossbow is made from a non-steel alloy, so it won't hurt, but if you want to keep him alive, yeah, leaving out of battle is preferred

you wait while Lina plays with the mite and you scoot over to the end of the hallway, there are several remains, the bones look clean and probably some 2 weeks old or so, no real signs of violence... the skull count seems... 5 and fraction, and the 'bars' of stone seem clearly made with magic

>>635478
Doesn't seem like anything more to be done here. Let's go back to the intersection and try the other path.

>shush, the politically correct term is Critter! even 'Mite, how can you call something this cute a monster?
I'd rebut that's not what the monster manual calls them, but I somehow doubt it's a politically correct publication. :p

>no harm bringing it along
From a completely cynical game-play perspective, an adorable pet might be a useful resource in keeping sanity scores up. (Might be double edged if it gets horribly killed, though).

>food?
Well, I guess we just have to hope there's metal in the mine. Not unreasonable if this is it's natural habitat.

>the 'bars' of stone seem clearly made with magic
More work of Lina's master? That's the second example of magical earthen restraints in short order. Why was he locking the mice up to die? Were they possessed or something, and it was the only option besides killing them? He thought he'd be back?

Netsuki 2015/04/22(Wed)08:49 No. 635842 ID: 225ed3
File 142971775376.png - (571.90KB , 1280x800 , handbyhand.png )

alright, enough here, you hear some noises down the hallway, Lina seems to notice them too, as you head over to the hallway, Lina signals to wait and lowers the intensity of her lamp as much as she can

.. it'd be safer if you take her hand, right? as you reach the edge of the bifurcation, you notice the terrain starts angling downards sharply, the intersection suddently starts sloping down, apparently the end of the longer path is an access to a lower level of the mine, in that direction, you hear the disctint grunts of the blue critters you faced earlier... except there seems to be quite a bunch of them

I suggest leaving the cuddlebug behind, telling it to stay put, and coming back after the fighting. No need to get it hurt.

If there's a large group of enemies, we should start off hitting the group with an area spell while they're not expecting it (spike growth, probably. It would also hinder their ability to charge or gang up on us if the terrain is all chewed up). Time it so that Tav opens with a ranged assassinate at the same time or right before the spell goes off for maximum effect.

>>635842
Lina has a trap spell. We can lure them onto that. First though, go scout (alone). Stealth mode activate.

>>635845
Seconded.

Netsuki 2015/04/22(Wed)15:40 No. 635887 ID: 225ed3
File 142974244655.png - (253.68KB , 1280x800 , downthesecondlevel.png )

rolled 10 + 6 = 16

---

>>635856
ok, you leave Lina behind, she inches back to the bifurcation where she leaves another hand axe for the rust baby quietly

you head further down the shaft for the second level, the air feels humid and dense, so far you spot one sitting down, apparently eating? one is smashing it's stone axe on the wall and you spot other three partially around the corner, judging by the grunts, there's one or two more behind, so, 6-7? you make sure to keep to the lower left corner as you slowly make your way in

Netsuki 2015/04/22(Wed)15:45 No. 635888 ID: 225ed3
File 142974273602.png - (335.15KB , 1280x800 , downthesecondlevel2.png )

>>635887
okay, seven for sure, you slowly scoot back, it's not your most silent sneak, but they seem rather distracted and not really the attentive kind

one of them is definitely eating in the corner, and one is probably asleep, now the choice is, have lina cast the spikes directly under them right after your first shot, or cast it on the way and lure them in with your shot?

either way, you backtrack slightly so you can inform Lina of the plan of action

>>635888
Lure them into the trap. She can slam them with those free single spikes too. Maybe tangle one of them with vines if they get past the trap. Gotta work on crowd control in this situation.

The hallway is a better contained space than the room. If you can get them in there, the spikes will be worse.

Assassinate one at range to lure the angry creatures into the hallway, then blast the group with spikes.

1/3 Netsuki 2015/04/27(Mon)18:33 No. 636686 ID: d5d12f
File 143018480089.png - (647.08KB , 1280x800 , sketch1429896453572.png )

rolled 13, 4 + 8 = 25

---

you whisper over to Lina the plan, she nods and informs you that she's going to set the little 'mite back and convince it to stay on the spot

you nod and turn around, preparing crossbow to fire off the first bolt at her signa-whoaaaaaa


you feel a warmth spread on your shoulder, turning around, Lina whispers as her eyes glow "May the blessings of mother earth lead us trough perils and help us heal this mine from it's impurities... and may your shots be true THIS time" she adds with a little grin "... let's show them what we can do, bad boy" she steps back twirling her hammer and holding it above her head, waiting for you to shoot

2/3 Netsuki 2015/04/27(Mon)19:22 No. 636699 ID: d5d12f
File 143018774924.png - (351.92KB , 1280x800 , boomheadshot.png )

rolled 15 + 4 = 19

---

>>636686
zzzzzzzwhhhTOK


the larger figure swings his axe up as the bolt hits straight in the back of it's head, the splatter of blood in the wall indicates the bolt managed to go all the way across, the only noise you hear comes a few seconds after from the two nearest critters, they emmit a sharp shriek of anger as the bigger figure falls down in a bloody mess


o.o guy doesn't has a chance to survive the hit, not even on the lowest damage roll

you prepare your next bolt, giving half a step back, you brace and try to keep the brave appearance as Lina swings the hammer down and though you can sense a slight shockwave under your feet, you don't really notice any change, only under very VERY close attention you notice the razor sharp stone formations covered in a fine sand, okay....

steady.... steady...


"~ Oh Ragar you fool!"

you blink, Lina, behind the corner, taps the hammer on a rock in the floor rythmically with a hip sway

"betrayed and enraged,
you had the chance, but no princess
was quite the same in your heart~!"

her bleating singing voice echoes, the verse cut short by a series of angry hisses and growls from the beasts below

Lina tilts her head up as she continues to sing in time for the beasts to race uphill in a rage, straight towards you

perform check for the song!

3/3 Netsuki 2015/04/27(Mon)19:41 No. 636702 ID: d5d12f
File 143018889635.png - (349.88KB , 1280x800 , OdeToLadgertha.png )

rolled 3, 3 = 6

---

"Oh Ragnar what a fool~!
that sly valkyre was both
your savior and your doom!"

Lina taps the hammer rythmically, the echo of her song starts behaving strangely, the critters seem disoriented, even your ears can't tell where exactley the song comes from with all the echo in the mine, one by one, they rush full speed trough the field of spikes, the first three ones seemingly enraged plow trough most of the spike field until they fall, unable to go on, while the last ones to catch up barely enter the field but in their confusion they seem driven to go on

Lina twirls her hammer over her shoulder as she faces the beasts trapped by the spikes

"Ladgertha, as fair as she is fierce
was your vice and your virtue,
but such is love, oh bold and brave
Ragnar, all in all we know it was worth it!"

with a wide arc of her hammer, she enlarges one of the spikes holding the nearest critter, impaling it as it remains helpless, looking over her shoulder at you, she nods "alright pup, let's dance!"

end round 1 Netsuki 2015/04/27(Mon)19:52 No. 636706 ID: d5d12f
File 143018953257.png - (224.78KB , 1280x800 , endround1.png )

>>636702

... that was massive! but, right, gotta think quick! finish off the ones in front or aim for the ones in back?

Damage taken:
Tanavar:0
Lina:0
Rusty(?):0
1: -dead-
2: 30 -dead-
3: 18 -prone-
4: 12 -prone-
5: 12 _charging_
6: 6 _charging_
7: _charging_

Cast magic and fire bolts until they come into close combat range, and then step back to the right and pummel while you can!

And where did the little guy go?

>>636707
Red spot in the map with antennaes

>finish off the ones in front or aim for the ones in back?
Let the melee fighter worry about finishing off the prone ones close to you. You should be picking off the ones further back charging. We want to use arrows and the terrain to keep the number that can engage her at once limited.

>>636723
Yeah.