Journey Quest

Journey Quest by Lucid
	Chapters 1–3; Chapters 4–5; Chapters 6–7; Chapters 8–9; Chapters 10–11; Chapters 12–13;
	Discussion thread 1; Discussion thread 2;

Journey Quest (often referred to simply as Journey or JQ) was an epic quest by Lucid in a world of his own design. Journey's one of the better known quests due to a combination of drawing quality, gripping narrative, and the existence of a controversial antagonist that has tgchan split between two opposing forces of Fan Dumb.

On December 15, 2009, Journey Quest completed its 13th and final chapter.

But fret not, a comic is in the works!

More information on Lucid's world can [allegedly] be found here.

The Heroes of our story.

Overview

Take control of Demesi of Angoldas and help guide him on his way through an unfamiliar world in his attempt to return home.

Characters

Player Chracters

Demesi of Angoldas

A young Nedynvor lad, who on his first solo trip away from his home island, awakes to find himself mysteriously at the bottom of a pit inside a cave. Completely out of his element, and not knowing anything about how the world outside his island works, he sets about exploring the tunnels, looking for a way home. Upon finding the cave to have been somehow sealed, he is left with no recourse but to venture further into the depths of the cave. A Kren merchant set up in the cave system informs him of a nearby Lohrke settlement. Demesi sets out to seek their aid to get himself back home.

Tav Unt'bel

Tav Unt'bel is a volunteer soldier in the city militia of the Lohrke city located in the cave system Demesi finds himself in. He has been waging a one man guerrilla war against an invading force in an attempt to buy time for the other inhabitants of the city to have made their escape through the the Evacuation Tunnel. He was originally the loader of a two man weapon team wielding a Shock Lance, however, his partner has since passed away in the line of duty. Tav has taken up their Shock Lance himself and now runs it as a one man army fighting against the invading Engsami forces.

Aggeia Snoow

Aggeia is a Jungle Lazuhrek Demesi encounters in a neighboring dungeon cell. She assists Tav and Demesi in escaping from the Engsami stronghold. She has been sent there by her superiors, the Hat'kal, for a mission, but is reluctant to carry it out, or inform her new comrades of what exactly it is. She possesses a silver tongue and is quite flexible and able to squeeze through many locations one would not expect her body to fit through. She loves the taste of fruit.

Binky

Binky is a Shocker Crab, a creature indigenous to the caves Demesi wakes up in, purchased from the Kren merchant via trade. Originally intended to simply be a tool used for some puzzles in the quest, the author found it difficult to actually come up with puzzles, and as such, created short "Crab quest" style chapters where the participants took control of this diminutive, shocking hero. Binky does not possess much brain meats, being a simple crab, but can launch bolts of electricity a short distance from his claws, and find his way into small locations.

Other Chracters

General Kyaos & Ga'nneda

General Kyaos is a winged type Engsami, and the leader in command of the invasion force raiding the Lohrke city. She rides on the back of her partner Ga'nneda, using his bulk as both a defensive tank, and powerful weapon. The two make a formidable team. Ga'nnedac is usually fairly slow to react to things, being a large turtle type Leviathan Engsami, but with Kyaos directing him and providing an extra pair of eyes, he's a true monster, and his drive to protect Kyaos makes him almost unstoppable. Perhaps the link between the two is more than just a simple work relationship?

Admiral Denjold

The Admiral is the leader of the Denjold clan of Engsami, a ruthless band of land pirates who primarily deal in the slave trade. Kyaos is one of his top generals. He's more of a command from the rear leader, not due to lack of ability, or courage, but to a "what are subordinates for?" mentality. Alternate names he is known by are "Scourge of the Sands," and "The Great Dragon of the Desert," among others. He has led his pirate clan to become the most feared Engsami in the desert; so much so that even the mighty Hat'kal empire fears the name "Denjold."

Plot Summary

Chapter 1

Demesi (a nedynvor) awakes in a hole in a cave, unsure of why he's not in the sky. Displaying a ~~sexy~~ useful prehensile tongue, Deme learns to flip switches in holes and ends up soaked in possibly poopwater. Demesi climbs out of the muck and explores a bit, first finding a LARGE COG that turns out to be a door to the Lohrke city, and then a Kren merchant that is hanging around in possibly the worst place available to set up shop. The merchant is hungry and desires a LIEGE EGG in exchange for the LUMBER AXE in his possession. Some exploration (and one glowing mushroom) later, Demesi finds a LIEGE EGG. Upon retrieval, however, the light of the mushroom fades, and something menaces behind him.

Chapter 2

The thing menacing Demesi is a huge monster with glowing red eyes! Demesi runs frantically, only barely avoiding death! Terrified and exhausted, Demesi returns to the merchant with the LIEGE EGG, only to find that it is actually a TUMBLER WORM EGG. Since this was not the deal, the merchant accepts it in trade for a PLANKTON LANTERN. Demesi fills the lantern with poopwater from the hole he was in, and it begins glowing. A short exploration finds a LIEGE in a forest of glowing mushrooms. Deducing that the LIEGE is blind but sensitive to vibrations, Demesi manages to get a LIEGE EGG and return it to the merchant for a LUMBER AXE.

Demesi then chops down a LARGE MUSHROOM and rides it across a nearby underground lake. The abandoned cabin there holds a dessicated corpse, which in turn holds a gear. Demesi grabs the gear and heads back across the lake. Trading the BOAT he found tied near the cabin as well as an old PLANKTON LANTERN he found there, Demesi obtains SHOCKER CRAB and MAP. The Kren merchant leaves, having sold his wares. Demesi names the shocker crab "Binky" and they work together to zap two holes at once, opening the LARGE COG to LOHRKE TOWN.

Chapter 3

Demesi flies over the large cavern full of LOHRKE TOWN. Landing in town square, he has a few moments to look around before he is attacked from above by some gun-firing menace! He dodges into a nearby building, finding a corpse nailed to the wall with long poles. Heading out of a window, Demesi sees something head up to the roof. He follows, only to be met with the feet of a very angry, heavily armed and armored Lohrke.

Chapter 4

Control shifts to TAV UNT'BEL, the Lohrke from the end of chapter 3, who believes Demesi is ENGSAMI SCUM. Demesi immediately drops from the roof, prompting Tav to fire a bolt from his SHOCKER LANCE. Tav talks to himself (the suggesters) momentarily, giving Demesi time to run away, shock bolts being fired after him. Demesi inadvertently takes a turn down a dead end, and Tav gives chase, confronting him.

Control shifts to DEMESI. Demesi identifies himself, and reasons that he couldn't hurt Tav armed with only a LUMBER AXE anyway. He offers a MUNDU WORM RATION as a peace offering. Tav figures Demesi is too cowardly and non-lizard to be an Engsami and calms down a bit. Tav explains that he is the lone surviving soldier of the city militia, and has been drawing the attention of the invading Engsami so that his people could have time to escape.

The escape tunnel needs power, so Tav and Demesi head to the defunct POWER STATION. However, the Engsami have followed them! Tav holds them off while Demesi takes flight to the MILITIA BARRACKS. A bit of exploration yields a LOHRKE WEAPON and some dried rations. Also we find Tav's room with a LOHRKE PINUP. Demesi decides to wait here for Tav to return.

Chapter 5

Tav, having lost the Engsami followers, heads back to his room to look for Demesi as well as some spare guide rods for his weapon. Upon arrival, however, there is nothing but a trashed room and blood. The trail leads to one of Tav's sniper nests, and from there, Tav figures the engsami must have taken Demesi to a certain portion of the town. Unsurprisingly, this is a trap for Tav, who finds himself up against the winged engsami Kyaos and her mount/boyfriend, the leviathan Ga'nneda.

With no choice but to run, and low on guide rods, Tav retreats after a blow from Ga'nneda. Tav's gas mask is damaged and bloody, and his weapon is damaged as well. He decides to set up an ambush from the rooftop of a nearby warehouse. Leaping to Ga'nneda's back and stabbing him with a GUIDE ROD, Tav liberates Demesi before zapping a bolt of lightning down from the rooftop, guided by the rod buried in Ga'nneda's neck.

Tav then collapses from exhaustion, while Kyaos mourns her dead lover.

Chapter 6

A week has passed, with Tav unconscious on his bed and Demesi watching over him. Demesi decides he may as well spend this time gathering the materials to fix the POWER STATION. He finds a few items inside, but becomes suspicious of Engsami activity. This proves well-founded as one has snuck up behind him while he was on the roof. A brief, partially airborne chase later, Demesi loses the pursuer and returns to Tav's room... but Tav is missing! The engsami stands in the doorway, apparently having followed Demesi. Thankfully, Tav stabs it in the back and falls into an embrace with Deme.

They decide to go fix the power station. Demesi gives the components to Tav, and then heads off to retrieve the discarded SHOCKER LANCE. After doing so, he meets Tav back at the power station. They successfully get the power restarted, and head to the barracks escape tunnel. However, much to Tav's dismay, the tunnel is full of dead lohrkes. He's been defending nothing but corpses all this time.

Kyaos taunts him from the doorway. A moment later, with a battlecry, Demesi and Tav both attack her together!

Chapter 7

Demesi wakes up in a prison cell, with a guard staring at him. He has no possessions remaining, and no idea where Tav is. The guard is unresponsive, apparently unable to speak the language, according to the woman in the next cell, and Lazuhrek named AGGEIA. They speak for a moment, and we learn that she was caught sneaking into the fortress they are in, which is the home of the DENJOLD CLAN of Engsami.

Control switches to BINKY THE SHOCKER CRAB. Binky is in his cage in some Engsami kitchen. A cook enters and kills something looking similar to a MUNDU WORM, presumably to prepare it for eating. He reaches for some shocker crap to add to the worm, but Bink zaps him and scurries into a dark 'cave'!

Control switches to Demesi. The guard is momentarily distracted, which gives Aggeia enough time to slink out of her cage and kill it.

Control switches to AGGEIA. She heads down a hallway, towards the sound of weeping. Unable to pass by an alert engsami guard, she explores a bit and finds a food storage area, where she decides to stop working on escape and gorge herself on food.

Chapter 8

Binky sneaks out of the kitchen by going under the door. He scuttles about under the very noses of the engsami, from 'cave' to 'cave', under the direction of the suggestors. He drags some keys around, and then drops them into a little trapdoor. As he is exploring, a menacing silhouette encroaches.

Control switches to Aggeia. She's finished eating food for the moment. She checks in on Demesi, but then smells Lohrke blood. Following the trail, she finds a maimed Tav, chained to the wall with his arm severed. Kyaos enters the room and taunts Tav, but apparently does not have time to stay. The torturer comes in, hoping to remove Tav's remaining arm. Tav manages to trip him, sending him ass-first into a fire, and Aggeia kills him mercifully. Tav is happy to know Demesi is alive, and Aggeia frees him.

Chapter 9

Aggeia and Tav leave the cell, but hear noises in a nearby room. Aggeia sneaks in, to try to stealth-kill the engsami inside, but it hears her! She attacks him with a paddle, but he almost seems to like it. A consummate tease, Aggeia pulls a whip from a weapon rack and licks it, telling him there's more where that came from.

Control switches to Demesi for a moment, as he wonders what all the racket is.

Control switches to Binky, who helps Aggeia defeat the engsami by shocking him and throwing him off balance.

Control switches to Aggeia. She interrogates the bondage engsami, largely by denying him pain if he doesn't cooperate. She finds keys and a bucket of information from the increasingly blueballed guard. After leaving him bound and gagged, and a small hug, Tav and Aggeia find a store room and collect most of their stolen gear. They then head out, looking for Demesi.

Chapter 10

Tav bursts through the door and lays down the law, directing a nearby guard to lead them to the cells. She complies, and he incapacitates her with his SHOCKER LANCE again. It's revealed that the lance is no longer a ranged weapon due to damage to it and Tav. They meet what appears to be a leviathan engsami guard, but quickly bring it down. Inside the cell they find Demesi!

Control switches to Aggeia as she heads upstairs to find the trapdoor to retrieve Demesi.

Control switches to Tav, then Aggeia, then Demesi. The three find a pit full of Lohrkes, but it's sealed off. Demesi's possessions are returned by Aggeia. They open a nearby door and quickly if somewhat loudly disable and then kill another guard. Aggeia heads into the drains again, while Demesi takes the guard's SHOCK CUDGEL and continues exploring. He finds a strange room which seems to belong to Kyaos, as well as an aviary. Turns out the heroes are in the middle of a desert. Demesi stands in the aviary, and a figure is visible perched above him.

Chapter 11

Kyaos taunts Demesi, but offers him a deal. If he delivers Tav to her, she'll release him freely. She's lost her ability to fly as well as other physical traits thanks to their fight. Demesi leaves her and finds Tav out in the hall. Tav wants to kill Kyaos, but feels his duty is to releasing the remaining lohrkes. Demesi decides that interrogating Kyaos is the best way to find the key for the door to the captives, and that's all the convincing that Tav needs.

Tav enters Kyaos' tower, and they exchange some hateful words. She has a key, and tells him to follow her to the top of the tower to retrieve it. On top of the tower, Kyaos reveals her monstrous leviathan teammate. As intimidating as he is, Tav quickly disables him by jamming the shock lance down his throat and lighting it up. Kyoas leaps from the falling leviathan's back and onto Tav. He rolls with the blow, tossing them both into the open top of the tower, and falling several stories. As Tav blacks out, he sees Demesi and Aggeia above him, and then Kyaos sneaking up behind them...

Suddenly Tav awakens on top of the tower again. He looks down to find the leviathan twitching in the sand below. He supposes he may have been gassed with some hallucinogen. Suddenly, an enormous leviathan raises itself onto the rooftop! Tav fires his shock lance unguided, seeing Kyaos in the flashing. He jumps down from the tower and begins a tactical retreat until the gas wears off.

Ignoring a hallucination of a dead Demesi in the next room, Tav finds Binky on the floor in the hallway. Tav greets the crab, who replies, oddly enough. Tav blasts the crab with his shocker lance, revealing that it was Kyaos all along! Her body changes to an old comrade of Tav's, but he struggles on, trying to avoid his growing hallucination problem.

Chapter 12

Demesi grabs a lantern from a shelf as he heads away from Kyaos' tower. He can hear Tav's fight going on in there. In the hallway nearby, Aggeia pulls herself from a drain after Demesi agrees to help her with some 'business'. They traverse a hallway as Demesi fills her in on recent events. Opening a door, they spot an engsami wielding a SHOCK LANCE. Demesi pulls Aggeia back through the doorway and they form a quick plan. They burst in, Aggeia dousing the guard in oil before Demesi sets it alight with his SHOCK CUDGEL. The oil catches fire and the guard dies in agony.

Aggeia reveals that her mission is to kill the engsami chieftain in the next room. Sharing a hug with her, Demesi agrees again to help. However, as soon as they open the door, Aggeia is shot by some engsami weapon that can fire from across the room! She drops with a bleeding shoulder and Demesi turns to fight. He throws his axe as an opening, and then charges with a punch! The punch is ineffective due to his large avian hands. Demesi tries to leap away but is shot in the process. He wings the PLANKTON LANTERN at the Chieftain, soaking him in fecal water, and ruining his gunpowder in the process. The Chieftain draws his cutlass.

Demesi tries to SWORD FEET the Chieftain's groin, but is deflected by the cutlass. Dodging a burst of fire-spell-ignited-breath, Demesi advances again. A swing of his Shock Cudgel electrifies the Chieftain's weapon and disarms him. The chieftain presses his still flaming fist against Demesi's face, staggering him. Demesi calls out for Aggeia, and she appears, to the surprise of the Chieftain. Demesi tries again to shock cudgel the chieftain, but fails. However this does distract him long enough for Aggeia to stab him in the back.

The defiant Chieftain refuses to go down, breathing fire again and severely burning Demesi. Demesi shocks him again, stabs him with his feet, and even shocks him with his tongue, but nothing seems to kill him. Demesi, gravely injured and losing blood, passes out.

Chapter 13

Tav is still in a room, reeling from hallucinations. He spots an ex girlfriend coming in through a dark doorway. She asks him why he abandoned her and the others, but when she mentions Demesi, he realizes that she must not be who she appears to be. Tav fries her with his shock lance, long enough to reveal a now very dead engsami.

Hearing a ruckus out in the hall, Tav bursts into the room where Demesi was fighting the chieftain to see the chieftain standing over an unconscious Demesi. Tav rushes the enemy, but his attack seems to do nothing, as the chieftain appears to be literally dead on his feet. Tav retrieves Demesi and Aggeia, and working with her, gets everyone patched up for the moment. They quickly head back and free the lohrkes in the slave pit.

The heroes burst through the door to the docks, and run past the panicked and pursuing engsami. They commandeer a sandship and unfurl the sails, successfully heading out over the sands. They finally let themselves relax, as the fortress fades from sight.

But no! Explosions rock their vessel as the fortress opens fire on them! Sandsails (large winged creatures) surround the ship, carrying an engsami boarding party captained by Kyaos herself. Demesi manages to scratch out the eye of one of the sails with his swordfoot before being bowled over by an infuriated Kyaos.

Binky jumps out of his storage place in Demesi's clothes and shocks Kyaos' foot, and is repaid by being kicked across the ship. Demesi kicks out with his feet, but causes little injury. Outclassed, he runs for Tav. Tav turns and confronts a confident Kyaos. Spewing hatred and fury, Kyaos lunges at Tav, and is caught in the midsection with an active shock lance. Still she fights on, and momentarily is kicked away by Tav. She is weakened and near death, and Tav charges her and knocks her over the railing. She falls into the sand below.

The heroes reunite, the boarding defeated, and the ship sails into the night. The heroes share a well-deserved hug~

Setting

Layridin setting

World

Races

Lohrke

See article: Lohrke.

Nedynvor

See article: Nedynvor

Lazurek

See article: Lazuhrek

Engsami

- winged, standard, leviathan

Kren

Ploverlor

Hat'kal

See article: Hat'kal

Tomias

Human

Trivia

Due to their similar art styles and setting many Anons believed (some still do) that Deep and Journey Quest were somehow related.
Kyaos and Aggeia are available characters to play against (with Aggeia having two different sessions to play) in the tgChan Strip Poker project.
A Nedynvor has appeared in Knight Blades, the Death Row Inmate Footsies.

Other Appearances

ITQ

Appearances by the cast Inside the Quest, sorted by the threads they ran concurrent to, between, and after.

Between Threads 3 & 4:	[1] [2]
Thread 4:	[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Between Threads 4 & 5:	[9] [10] [11]
Between Threads 5 & 6:	[12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Thread 6:	[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
Epilogue:	[23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]