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Sormus posted:a Trog, a river and a ferry. Seems like it, doesn't it. Might be a little anthrocentric, but we're here now (also a part of why she wouldn't think of the ferryman as the trog's 'wrap it up' button - not that it actually is, mind you). Yes, this might end up with a dead gnoll, but how could she not try.
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Jul 6, 2016 22:31
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C Don't speak, just listen. They don't seem surprised, they must know why we're there.
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Jul 7, 2016 14:03
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E
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Jul 8, 2016 17:11
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E Go talk to Charon.
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Jul 11, 2016 16:22
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 Alajar approaches the campfire, whose flames make the shadows of the attending gnolls dance. It seems to be an uncommonly bright light, almost blindingly so; she raises a paw to shield her eyes from it. She must have spent more time in the dark than she realized. Once she reaches the outer circle of the sitting gnolls attending the campfire, she is used enough to the light that she can lower her paw, only to be greeted by an even weirder sight. The sitting gnolls. They have no eyes, nor noses, nor mouths; only fur covering their muzzles from one side to the other, a shapeless blob of flesh and short hair where a face should be. She is used enough to the sight of trogs that it's not as jarring as it could be, but it still makes her ill at ease to see a couple of dozens of featureless faces staring (if it can be called staring) silently at the masked matriarch. Their lack of a mouth in particular seems so unnatural to her that she almost feels sick: how do these creatures eat? How can they be gnolls and never laught? (They are gnolls, or at least they are meant to be, she is sure of it.) She considers leaving, but she feels the void in her gut pulsate as if ready to expand the moment she formulates the thought. She decides against it and sits down. The matriarch is wearing a white robe, heavy with trinkets: roots and bones and pieces of skin, arranged into fetishes. Her owl mask is white as well; she is stirring the embers with a long stick. Once Alajar sits down, she grabs a pouch from her robe and throws it in the fire; there is a small explosion, and an acrid smell wafts through the air, accompanied by the shrill laugh of the matriarch. The faceless gnolls stir, as if suddenly awakened. The matriarch speaks. "Before the Rakalejaki, the Great Cow, began its eternal pilgrimage, but after the sun's wedding, from the loins of the Laughing Mother came the ancestors of the tribes of gnoll: the Princess, who was fierce and strong and would not bow down to any male, who participated in the Moon Deer hunt each year during the time of the gods, and thrice was crowned victor; the Strider, who was silent and would keep for himself, and walked among beasts and they were unafraid of him, for he was their friend and would not eat of any of them that wasn't ready for death; the Twins, who would travel far and wide to learn the secrets of the world, and appear in the myths of many people because of this; and last who was called the Gnarled , who seemed sickly and was thought to be unfit to lead a portion of the tribe, until they proved their cunning and their resourcefulness by venturing in places of shadow and spirit, and although he was consumed in each of his travel the light his eyes was never snuffed out." But today we have a new listener to our tales, and we must see whether or not she shall join our regular audience." All the featureless faces turn towards Alajar. She feels the void in her gut swell and tremble. "You don't have much time here, do you? So it is in your best interest to answer quickly. Tell me tales of you and your home, Alajar of Tengri-La. Do you and yours walk in the footsteps of the ancestors of the tribes of gnoll?" What do you answer the matriarch? paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Jul 20, 2016 |
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Jul 20, 2016 21:35
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Over long years, the knowledge of our ancestors has started to fade, Honored Matriarch. But my tribe desires to walk in their footsteps once more.
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Jul 20, 2016 21:54
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In case it wasn't clear, this is meant to be a write-in.
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Jul 20, 2016 22:02
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"I, Alajar of Tengri-La is walking the path of my ancestors with my tribe. In the footstep of Laughing Mother, we laugh with our friends in our new home at Tengri-La. In the footstep of the Princess, we seek and walk the path of victor. To be superior in contributions of our home. In the footstep of the Strider, some of our kind including me joined the hunter experdition to hunt in the way of silent. We recently succed at capturing a strong beast that will feed our young. Together with our friend, the Tengu walks among the spirit of plants and animal to make peace and pact so that other beast and plant would not harm the living. In the footstep of the Twin, we traveled to this new land of unknown, and I, traveled to this place of unknown to me, to learn the mystery of the world. In the footstep of Gnarled, we all live on top of a volcono used to be a striped mine of the dwarf, with cunning and resource from the spirit of the world, we gained insight and anticipate calamity. Our eyes is always lits with light and prepare for the coming tragedy as we seek more ways to see and more eyes to spot. We, at Tengri-la, proudly walks the path of ancestors." Nyaa fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Jul 20, 2016 |
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Jul 20, 2016 22:09
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Nyaa posted:"I, Alajar of Tengri-La is walking the path of my ancestors with my tribe. I like this. So I shall vote in favor!
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Jul 20, 2016 22:48
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Nyaa posted:"I, Alajar of Tengri-La is walking the path of my ancestors with my tribe. Voting This.
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Jul 20, 2016 23:28
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Nyaa posted:"I, Alajar of Tengri-La is walking the path of my ancestors with my tribe. Yeah, tales and ancestry are good.
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Jul 21, 2016 02:37
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The matriarch produces a pipe while Alajar makes her case. She smokes it pensively as the gnoll explains herself, the feeling of void in her gut pulsing intermittently. After some thought, she exhales a ring of smoke and speaks. "You have done a lot, in the brief time that you have joined this... mixed tribe of Tengri-La. And you have done well in the eyes of many of your ancestors; it would be unfair to punish you in the same way I've punished these gnolls, even with your embarassing ignorance of the Laughing Mother." She stands up and starts walking, pipe still in hand. "On the other hand, I can tell that you have not followed the Princess' mandate of obedience to the mighty, and if there is someone who is likely to take offense to that, it's my honored aunt. Normally I would bring you to her myself, but frankly it looks like you won't be able to stay for long enough to even reach her fort, let alone talk to her. So we need a different approach. I, the Storyteller, secondborn of the Gnarled, bid you or another of your tribe to visit the Far River again within... let's say before two winters have passed. If you speak to me then, and you have stories of your tribe acting in accordance to the ancestors' ways, I shall grant you a boon. If you don't... well, that's no skin off my back, I suppose. But know that I will share these stories you have told me with the rest of the family, and I'll expect some fresh material on your first visit; most importantly, know that the Princess might take offense to you approaching her or her children if you haven't defeated a worthy oppoent or codified some laws. She's into that sort of thing. But the rest of the Far River should be sa..." Alajar has difficulty hearing the rest. The sensantion has grown now, her gut feels heavy and it hurts, it feels like it's so heavy it might rip her belly open as it falls to the earth... She awakens in the hole, sweating and panting. Flies buzz around the trog carcass. She can hear approaching voices. quote:More to come tonight when I have more time to write. paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 11:45
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Where did the gnoll's carcass come from? I thought we ate a trog. Did one of them die as well?
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Jul 22, 2016 15:54
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sullat posted:Where did the gnoll's carcass come from? I thought we ate a trog. Did one of them die as well? Whatever could you possibly mean? That clearly says trog! sorry I hosed up
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Jul 22, 2016 16:12
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The voices are sharp and noticeably high. As Alajar scrambles out of the hole, she can vaguely make out some of the words; in particular something about "strangers" and "fruits". It's not hard to make the connection; they are talking about her expedition, no doubt. But once she makes it out, the owners of the voices seem to have scrambled through the woods; she is greeted only by some owls, hooting in the darkness. The fact that their presence is known is something that the expedition leader ought to know.... but telling him that would mean admitting what she's been doing, or maybe coming up with a reason for her to know that. What should Alajar do? 1) Warn the expedition and admit what she was doing in the forest 2) Warn the expedition and invent a lie. Write-in said lie, bonus points for a credible one. 3) Do not warn the expedition.
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Jul 22, 2016 20:52
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1
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Jul 22, 2016 22:42
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1 I'm sure they'll be super understanding about us eating the dead. It'll be fiiiiiiine
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Jul 22, 2016 23:53
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What should Alajar do? 1) Warn the expedition and admit what she was doing in the forest
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Jul 23, 2016 01:07
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Why not say that you had a vision, but keep it vague on what you did? Would our leader have an issue?
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Jul 23, 2016 02:16
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1. THE WHOLE TRIBE MUST KNOW OF OUR CANNIBALISTIC TRADITION!
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Jul 23, 2016 03:57
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2. Taking a dump in the woods.
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Jul 23, 2016 04:05
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Nyaa posted:1. THE WHOLE TRIBE MUST KNOW OF OUR CANNIBALISTIC TRADITION! Yeah, this is going to bite us if we don't bring it up eventually  and I'm assuming it's sort of known that sometimes gnolls just do that?Preserving any information the trog gathered and could not share before she died seems like a viable justification.
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Jul 23, 2016 04:11
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2, "I had a vision" Let's keep it at a half truth for now, and let the full truth wait until we've established credibility when our warning comes to pass.
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Jul 24, 2016 17:34
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The next morning, Alajar approaches Hoiro-nu. She reveals her nightly adventure; she can't get a read on the expedition leader's reaction. She only has the vaguest idea of what this Princess ancestor wants or what her creed is: how would she feel about her nervousness when explaining what happens? She believes in might makes right, and she "does not bow to any male", but on the other hand he's her chief, selected by the elders of Shengri-La, and the Storyteller said something about strict laws, and respecting them... Hoiro-nu tells her that they'd better not share it with the rest of the expedition for now, as it might cause unrest. "We can't afford people to panic here, in the middle of unknown territory. We'll keep it on the downlow for now, but you'll need to face the elders' judgement when we come back home. They'll know what to do. Surely." Inventory: -2 units of food, one of which is delicious berries that people in the village would love. -half a unit of wood -half a unit of miscellaneous herbs -A live babirusa, "occupying" 3 slots. It can be butchered to feed the whole expedition for five days. -6 free slots. New options are highlighted like this. How are you going to spend your 3 actions? a)Gather sticks and branches: nets you 2 wood (1 action) b)Hunt for small mammals: minimal risk, will net you between 1 and 2 units of meat. (1 action) c)Hunt tortoises: minimal risk, will net you 1 unit of reptile meat and 1 unit of shell (1 action) d)Hunt elk: small risk of getting lost or separated, will net you between 3 and 6 units of meat and 1 to 2 units of horn (1 action, 2 if someone gets lost and must be found again) e)Hunt babirusa: medium risk of life and limb, will net you 6 to 10 units of meat and maybe some tusks. (2 actions) f)Hunt for birds: small risk of not catching anything, nets you 1 unit of food and 2 units of plumes. (1 action) g)Capture an animal: if you vote for this, specify which animal you want to catch by voting with both that animal's letter and g: for example, if you want to catch tortoises vote c+g. Small mammals and tortoises are easy enough to catch; birds are more of a challenge, elks are kind of hard and catching babirusa might put many lives at danger. Clever strategies will be rewarded with better odds. It costs the same number of actions as the captured animal +1 h)Fish some more. (1 action) i)Visit the local kamis. (1 action) l)Search for the strangers Alajar mentioned (1 action?) m)Gather more herbs. (1 action) n) Forage for nuts and roots. (1 action) o) Return to the early forest. p) Go to the deeper forest. q) Return home. r) Do something else?
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Jul 24, 2016 21:12
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LMN Let's start tying up loose ends and stock up on resources to bring back home.
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Jul 24, 2016 21:25
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G: Try to get the second of the breeding pair for babirusa. I: Check with the local god L: Quest takes priority
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Jul 24, 2016 21:37
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GiL
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Jul 24, 2016 21:51
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Dig another trap in babirusa territory. We still need a breeding pair. Also, is our babirusa still in hand? Not goring anyone in sight?
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Jul 24, 2016 21:58
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Dig another trap in babirusa territory. We still need a breeding pair. Also, is our babirusa still in hand? Not goring anyone in sight? A pit near the encampment has been dug to house the porcine beast. It kept a lot of folks awake throughout the night with its rumbling, but it caused no further problems. It has currently tired itself out and is resting.
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Jul 24, 2016 22:34
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G, breeding pair seems like a clever idea I, dealing with the various spirits is one of my favorite things in this CYOA thus far L, sure, do the quest.
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Aug 1, 2016 20:46
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Theantero posted:G, breeding pair seems like a clever idea GIL I'm hoping nobody else gets maimed. At least the first hunt should give us a healthy respect for the animal.
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Aug 1, 2016 20:54
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As the tengus' eyes open to the world of spirits, a silver shape swiftly flies over the river's shape, gently caressing its surface with its bottom gill-wings. "Hello! Hello! Lots of things I see, up and down the river! Ohohoh!" It takes a while to coax some useful information out of it, but they do manage to coax some information out of him. "I know secrets! Lots of secrets! If you give me a secret I don't know already, I'll give you one of mine! Or if you drop a shiny thing in my river, I'll give you one! But it's gotta be really shiny!" There are, of course, more tree spirits, who insist it you should talk with the Crowned or the Parliament, local kami rulers, and mention that some of gnolls have already attracted the attention of the latter, which might lead to trouble if they decide that they are a menace to their interests. They can both be found in the deepest part of the forest, the former by day and the latter by night. They stress that they might put a good word on your behalf in exchange for a promise not to chop any of them down for a while (their first offer is for a whole year, but the tengus are convinced they could talk them down to two seasons. There is also the faint outline of a snouted humanoid with tusks in the pit where the babirusa is. Its voice is hard to make out, but it makes it clear that if we take the babirusas out of their home you will have reason to regret it. They won't explan what they mean. 1. With this new information, do you still go ahead with the plan to hunt down the babirusa? 2. Do you reveal any secret or offer anything to the river spirit?
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Aug 1, 2016 21:37
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1. Negotiates with advantage of that babirusa's life at stake 2. Offer mirror, coin, metal etc
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Aug 1, 2016 21:42
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Ooh, a Babirusa protector spirit? This actually has the potential to be quite good! If we can come back later with one of the more experienced spirit speakers, maybe we can strike some sort of deal with them. You know, maybe we give them something, a couple of Babirusa come to live with us peacefully in exchange. We'll take care of them and feed them (and occasionally on them, but their numbers will still increase on the whole) and take a bunch of them with us if we ever grow enough to make another settlement, thus ensuring that there will be many Babirusa populations of their lineage extant in different locations, meaning they will probably not die out even if calamity strikes one place. You know, strike up the spirit deals for our first domesticated mammal. 1. Leave the hunt for now. Come back later with obviously good deal. 2. I have no particular idea for a secret, plus I don't think we have many shinies to give.
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Aug 1, 2016 21:57
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Voting Plan Nyaa.
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Aug 2, 2016 01:19
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Try to talk to the boar spirit. Hopefully get across the idea that we want to bring them home to grow and multiply. A whole new community of their children fed and protected by our people, in exchange for letting us cull the sickly and aged.
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Aug 2, 2016 01:36
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A thought occurred, could we not send a messenger to get the Kami Priest to join us?
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Aug 3, 2016 02:34
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Remember, you don't have much metal! The expedition only has a single copper pot, used for making soup. You could throw that to the river kami if you want to.AnAnonymousIdiot posted:A thought occurred, could we not send a messenger to get the Kami Priest to join us? you could! You would need to keep yourselves fed while the messenger fetches one and comes back, though.
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Aug 3, 2016 20:34
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Could we explain to the Babirusa spirit that we "were" planning on using the captured Babirusa for sport, but maybe if it gives us a boon we will instead take a breeding pair and establish/grow a new population, providing a comfortable life and security of bloodline?
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Aug 4, 2016 00:25
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paradoxGentleman posted:you could! You would need to keep yourselves fed while the messenger fetches one and comes back, though. On that note, Let's belay the hunt for another one, and do exactly that.
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Aug 7, 2016 23:28
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