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ClothHat posted:I DMed a DND session for the first time ever recently, and just blatantly ripped off the kobold mine from this CYOA and got tons of positive feedback. Swedish please continue writing so I can plagiarize your stuff. Thanks in advance. I'd love to see modules of our early adventures, especially with the hidden secrets.
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Oct 30, 2021 15:44
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ClothHat posted:I DMed a DND session for the first time ever recently, and just blatantly ripped off the kobold mine from this CYOA and got tons of positive feedback. Swedish please continue writing so I can plagiarize your stuff. Thanks in advance. I'd love to hear what they had to say, and how you dealt with the more unexplained parts/the secrets. Also, did they Hail Egg?
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Nov 11, 2021 15:01
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Trouble on the Rim, Book 2, Chapter 9 Attack on Whale The Fourteenth of December, 347 A.R. City of Whale Part 4:Battle of the bees part two As you cannot afford to leave your station, you are forced to yell at a passing urchin to find some Foof for you, though you cannot tell whether or not they heard you or cared. With this, but a seconds inattention, the swarm advances further, each wing beat taking another flight into melee with the guards stationed furthest out on the parapets. Whilst each such soldier can easily deal with one or two stingers, any more and they rapidly succumb to attacks of opportunity as even a highly skilled and armoured warrior cannot defend everywhere at once. Thus the archers are forced to fire at near point blank range and ignore targets further afield, only exasperating the problem as more and more Vespids make it to the walls. Skvababt has one giant eye closed and seems tauter than even the string of her longbow, eerily still aside from the minutest movement of her shoulder and elbow. The arrow she has notched looks to you as nothing out of the ordinary, and with all the commotion you do not have time to follow her aim. Instead, you swirl your own sights over to another of the larger vespiforms, the one with the large black horn, and launch another bone rattling bolt, the sheer air pressure wave of its passing sending nearby fiends falling out of sight. A trio of drones intercept the missile, getting thoroughly misted in the process but again succeeding in diverting it from its true target. An arrow flies past the ichorcloud a split second later and only now do you realize Skvababts cunning. An absurd feat of marksfrogship, but if she can keep it up you feel you might still have a shot at taking one of the bigger beests down. For though one arrow now sticks out of its abdomen, the creature cares little of survival and even less of pain. For a while the battle continues like this, with Vespid Drones crashing upon the city walls as waves upon the shore, but it is not to last. Rather that dissipate, the swarm is continually reinforced from somewhere beyond your line of sight and soon the drones and even the larger warriors and massive beehemoths grow courageous enough to attack. Working in tandem with Skvababt now, you manage to slip a bolt past the suicidal guarddrones to strike true the horned ones carapace. The impact is not heard so much as felt, a satisfying squelch followed by a tremor as the iron javelin appears back out the other side of the creature trailing most, if not all of its innards. The exoskeleton collapses in on itself as ichor covers a sizeable portion of the battlefield and nearby drones start buzzing even more furiously before they, too, drop to the ground, stunned or struck dead by unseen force. Your celebration is cut short when the scythelimbed hopperbug collides with the northern ramparts, swiping clean through the stone to rip three men in half. Pike wielding peasantry pierce it's hide in retaliation and it rears back, letting a dozen or so drones past to deal with the pests whilst it sets up for another leap. Arrows and bolts rain down upon the siegebeast but they are not enough to dissuade it. Meanwhile, the third siegebeast flies high above the rest, almost as if to taunt you specifically to fire upon it and ignore the more pressing threat, with some three dozen Vespids of various sizes rising up to its level to simply fly over the walls. A significant tactical error on their part as the hundreds of crossbow wielding citizens of Whale who whom until now have been shooting blindly over the wall suddenly have a large, clear target to aim for. Seconds later the third siegebee falls out of the sky, thoroughly pin-cushioned to the point that, even had it survived, the sheer weight of bolts now sticking out of it would have made it impossible to fly. Just to be on the safe side you finish it off with an iron javelin of your own, fired with such force that the beast explodes mid fall, sending it's payload of crossbow bolts like shrapnel into everything around it causing a death cascade. Score another point for Whale! But even as you swivel back to the front the scythehopper has leapt further up the wall, cutting down another group of peasants before reaching the first real resistance in a group of soldiers barricaded behind a calcified slime barrier, menacing it with pikes, spears and halberds. The barrier can not stand up to a swipe that can cut through rock and the scythebee can likely just jump over the entire grouping to get at them from a better angle, or jump down from the wall to wreck havoc in the city where you would have difficulty attacking it. At the same time you can't really fire ##Nåzom Stëgeth## from your current angle without wrecking large parts of the wall or killing your own troops either… you could order Skvababt to fire her bottle of liquid fire at it, she might even do it herself without prompting, and though you can't see Abigail at the moment, you know she would be charging it if at all aware of its presence. But that isn't the end of your dilemma, there are still many groups of soldiers who could use some heavy artillery backup. A dozen Vespids have overtaken the section of wall where the hopper first made impact and threaten the flanks of all who defend the wall. At the same time, a group of pikewielders are barley holding on even as another group of Vespids approach. 1: How do you deal with the Scythehopper? A: Wait for the Scythehopper to jump, hoping to nail it mid-air before it kills more people B: Wait for the Scythehopper to land after its next jump, meaning you have a much higher chance of hitting it, though giving it more time to be a nuisance. Also, you'll have to keep tracking it for longer, reducing your effectiveness elsewhere. C: Order Skvababt to deal with it with Liquid Fire, giving you more time to deal with other things at the cost of one of your Special Items. D: Ignore it. Somebody elses problem. 2: Then... E: Concentrate on clearing the wall-breach. F: Concentrate on getting rid of reinforcements. G: Concentrate on taking down targets of opportunity. H: Concentrate on taking down as many drones as possible, even if there are other targets about, or clearer shots of less drones. I: Concentrate on taking down Big Targets should any more arrive, or Vespiforms other than drones. J: Concentrate on offering heavy artillery support to Citizens, the safety of others your main concern. K: Concentrate on killing things that might pose a danger to you, personally.
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Nov 11, 2021 15:39
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A J
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Nov 11, 2021 15:45
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Nov 11, 2021 15:46
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DE
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Nov 11, 2021 17:19
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CI If this isn't a time to go all out with item I don't know what is. We can expect significant looting and rewards if we win this. We did get the kill shot on at least two larger targets already.
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Nov 11, 2021 18:23
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CG
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Nov 11, 2021 18:26
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What’s the empires view on manslaughter, if the accidental murder was by someone trying to stop an abeemination breaching a city?
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Nov 11, 2021 18:33
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Outrail posted:CI
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Nov 11, 2021 18:40
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alpaca diseases posted:What’s the empires view on manslaughter, if the accidental murder was by someone trying to stop an abeemination breaching a city? The death of a citizen is to be avoided at all costs, every life is precious, essentially. Normal people aren't even allowed to be armed normally; that is what mercenaries and monster hunters and the imperial militia is for. Monster sieges are about the only time that latter restriction is lifted and whilst *accidents* happen, there is no such thing as "manslaughter" when a siege arbalest is involved.
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Nov 11, 2021 19:08
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Oh, there's men who get slaughtered alright.
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Nov 11, 2021 19:10
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Volmarias posted:Oh, there's men who get slaughtered alright.
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Nov 11, 2021 19:26
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Swedish Thaumocracy posted:I'd love to hear what they had to say, and how you dealt with the more unexplained parts/the secrets. Also, did they Hail Egg? I had to reskin a fair bit to make it fit, and this was both played and DMed by novices to DND, but for the stuff I did keep: They thoroughly enjoyed interrogating the kobold they caught outside, and I used a lot of your dialog. I couldn't figure out how to do a convincing kobold voice so at the last second I decided to give them Jersey dirtbag accents. When the kobold rattled off the list of their clutchmates I mentioned that one named "Saucepan" fell in "The Stupid Hole". They thought the stupid hole was great when they found it although one confused player was trying to find and steal the saucepan I mentioned. The room with just "TRAP" written on the wall stumped them for quite a while. I had it in a side passage with a very obvious trail of coins leading to a small pile with "TRAP" on the wall. They figured out someone was shipping eggs into the mine almost immediately. I had a trail of redundant clues in case they were having trouble or rolling badly, any maybe I was way more obvious than I thought, but they seemed to remember every detail and figured that out almost immediately and before they even got to the warehouse. They did not get a chance to hail egg unfortunately. I made the leaders of the group the two royal guards from the last encounter. One player did not realize what the "dwarven runes" on the barrels of gunpowder meant (I sent them a picture of an OSHA explosive label) and got blown the gently caress up during the last encounter. I did structure the whole thing around being members of a bureaucratic monster hunter's guild which was a little railroady, but I figured fine for new players. Laying out their mission and what they explicitly would get bonuses/penalties for (extra gold for finding the source of the infestation, less gold for allowing their adventuring teamster to be injured) really seemed to motivate them and help with RP. ClothHat fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 19:32
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Nov 11, 2021 20:50
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Nov 11, 2021 21:17
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Nov 16, 2021 08:36
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Nov 16, 2021 13:00
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Nov 16, 2021 19:20
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Nov 17, 2021 13:27
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B G
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Nov 17, 2021 15:44
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Slice of Life What Makes A Monster? There are many, many types of monster. From Kobolds to Owlbears, to Vespids and Tortaurs and everything in between, the uncivilized world outside the many walls of the Empire are full to bursting. The Monster Hunters Guild keeps an ever expanding itinerary of the monsters their members encounter and, driven by the usual Rimian fondness of bureaucracy, love nothing more than to sit down after a long hard day of slaying to figure out exactly what sub-category to slot a newly encountered beastie into. Is a Troglodyte a monstrous humanoid or a bipedal, monstrous vermin? Would you classify a Haybane as a Natural Abomination a Daemon or perhaps a type of ill-understood ooze? These are the questions that keep seasoned hunters up at night. But what actually makes a monster a monster and not just some ill-tempered animal? Or, as more ethically inclined minds might wonder, an entity yet to become a citizen? After all, there are a great many sentient species that make up the many varied faces of the Citizens of the Empire. Some that the uncouth might even consider straddling the line between Man and Beast - when the very fact that They Live Among Us should be evidence enough of their station. Officially, the Rimian Bureaucracy recognizes six categories of autonomous entity. They are, in order of complexity; Vermin, Animal, Citizen, Monster, Power and, more recently, after a series of unfortunate spontaneous combustions that were never adequately investigated for fear of inviting further misfortune, Dragon. Vermin are defined as entities which, on their own and left to their own devices, do not constitute a significant threat to society and do not fit the criteria for any of the higher forms. Additionally, the typing is associated with nuisance, though being a nuisance is not itself a qualifier. Animals are defined as entities which on their own and left to their own devices, do not constitute even a minor threat to society, and, in addition, may with the aid of the Toil of Ones Brow, be domesticated to introduce a net positive to society, but lack either the malice, reasoning or capability to reach the higher tiers. Citizens are defined as entities whom, with Reason as their guiding star, acquiesce to the demands of the Unified World Church and submit to the authority of the Bureaucracy, aspiring to meet the ideals set by Rim, the first Emperor. Additionally, a Citizen must possess a valid Birth and Death Certificate. Monsters are defined as entities which on their own and left to their own devices, constitute a significant threat to society. A monster, then, is an entity which by it's very nature is anathema to civilisation. An entity that cannot be ignored, integrated nor tamed. Powers are defined as primal, spiritual entities that may alter, manipulate or straight up determine what constitutes the laws of reality within a narrow conceptual field known as a 'domain'. They may also maintain an awareness of events beyond their physical presence or Avatar, if any. Only three Greater 'Powers' are officially recognized by the unified World Church, those being the Deities worshipped by said religion(s), going by the names of Quackeen, Toil and Lolth, whom themselves submitted to Imperial Rule during the reign of the First Emperor, Rim. Lesser powers, such as daemons, are thought to be manifestations of one of the Greater Powers will, though the existence of unaligned or society-detrimental daemons somewhat muddles this categories otherwise benevolent bent. Dragons it turns out, do not like to share, so they get a category all of their own. If anything can be said of Dragons, it is that they are as intelligent as they are dangerous, and though some have proven capable of speech and higher reasoning, even going so far as to engage in diplomacy with the Empire, are nevertheless wholly separate from it and would like to keep it that way. Likewise, defining Dragons via any other metric than "is a Dragon" is wont to cause offence, and should as such be avoided at all costs. -- An astute reader will notice the lack of category for entities which may become a Citizen, but have not already undergone the steps required to ascend thus. This liminal existence, shared with those few 'outlaws' whom have had their citizenship revoked, simply fall into one of the other available categories as fits with their level of malevolence or support of civilization, with all of the rights or lack thereof that those categories entail.
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Nov 19, 2021 23:49
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Swedish if you were to publish this as a campaign setting in your unique tone of writing with your particular style of illustrations, you would undoubtedly meet with success.
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Nov 20, 2021 17:40
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Interesting. I suppose the cow-related entity we met a ways back was another (middling?) power? Though one classified as monster (or possibly animal?) given the means to communicate with it aren't exactly common or public information; as far as I can recall anyways. Beyond that, it stands to reason the Forest has at least one greater power or similar backing it, given the danger it poses. (And partially remembered fragments of a previous lore post; believe it was the one telling how the three recognized deities came to be as such, while the powers that didn't go with it fared... poorly.) (Might be getting two different loreposts mixed, but eh)
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Nov 20, 2021 18:16
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Blasphemaster posted:Swedish if you were to publish this as a campaign setting in your unique tone of writing with your particular style of illustrations, you would undoubtedly meet with success. This, but you should bump up the availability of FOOF to 'easily obtained' What system though? DnD 3rd edition? GURPS? FATAL?
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Nov 20, 2021 18:49
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I think it would make the most sense to do it as a systemless setting. A broad descriptor of the world the general strengths and weaknesses of entities, systems, and places. I've played more DND than anything else but I always had a fondness for Exalted on paper. I think that or the shadowrun system would be the most appropriate. It has been a very long time since I played, though.
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Nov 20, 2021 19:42
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Outrail posted:FATAL? Stop thinking about the variable circumference of ooze orifices you pervert
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Nov 20, 2021 20:48
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Blasphemaster posted:Swedish if you were to publish this as a campaign setting in your unique tone of writing with your particular style of illustrations, you would undoubtedly meet with success. Blasphemaster posted:I think it would make the most sense to do it as a systemless setting. A broad descriptor of the world the general strengths and weaknesses of entities, systems, and places. I've played more DND than anything else but I always had a fondness for Exalted on paper. I think that or the shadowrun system would be the most appropriate. It has been a very long time since I played, though. I've often thought about doing something like that, or re-writing the story to be in a sensible first or third person instead of the weird second person CYOA perspective we have going now; with the end goal of publishing it, but that would require a whole bunch of time, and I'm already doing my five cyoas slow enough as it is. Would be fun, though. Also, aww, thanks for your vote of confidence! Outrail posted:This, but you should bump up the availability of FOOF to 'easily obtained' Rim is technically a 'realistic' take on a DnDish world and it's the only system I am really familiar with, so that is what I used when I put some friends through one of your earlier encounters. Dwarf fortress is another obvious inspiration. That said, our game uses a kobold-quality remake of the Capybara Simulation Engine which is not really feasible to mass produce for a public release. I'd go with an establish system and just throw a book of house-rules at it. And the aforementioned Campaign Setting lorebook if i ever get around to it. As for FOOF, your eagerness is noted, but as any good Gnome knows - there are more than one ways to kill a monster, yourself, and everyone around you.
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Nov 20, 2021 22:36
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FOOF is also meant to be a hilariously / horrifyingly unstable element that by all rights should have killed us by now, there's got to be plenty of more feasible explosives more readily available. It's very much a "
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Nov 20, 2021 23:06
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There is a reason the gods only let gnomes be illusionists in the Forgotten Realms. And that reason is conjuration gnomes use FOOF golems, evocation gnomes rely on FOOF fireballs, etc. Even Baal got tired of cleaning up the mess
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Nov 20, 2021 23:18
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Swedish Thaumocracy posted:As for FOOF, your eagerness is noted, but as any good Gnome knows - there are more than one ways to kill a monster, yourself, and everyone around you.  Hexenritter posted:Stop thinking about the variable circumference of ooze orifices you pervert We can work on that later, currently looking at the FOOF based lubricant modifiers. Outrail fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Nov 21, 2021 |
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Nov 21, 2021 04:55
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FOOF is just such a cute moniker for such a deadly, deadly, deadly compound. And Flouride being good for our teeth is so counterintuitive. Chemistry is a hell of a thing.
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Nov 23, 2021 15:48
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Blasphemaster posted:FOOF is just such a cute moniker for such a deadly, deadly, deadly compound. And Flouride being good for our teeth is so counterintuitive. Chemistry is a hell of a thing. Ignore this bad poster. As usual, an extremely unstable and catastrophically explosive material has been vilified in the media as a result of a large number of related incidents and deaths. It sickens me that people will fall for this propaganda just because they happened to read clear and well documented evidence.
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Nov 23, 2021 17:10
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Outrail posted:Ignore this bad poster. As usual, an extremely unstable and catastrophically explosive material has been vilified in the media as a result of a large number of related incidents and deaths. It sickens me that people will fall for this propaganda just because they happened to read clear and well documented evidence. Big ANFO strikes again. Don't believe their lies, sheeple! #FOOFLife
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Nov 24, 2021 00:14
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The Antimatter lobby as normal gives a contemptible *meh* and let's its stock slowly appreciate. Boom Boom news at 10.
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Nov 24, 2021 16:50
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Dec 3, 2021 13:14
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#blessed #FILF
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Dec 3, 2021 14:40
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Trouble on the Rim, Book 2, Chapter 9 Attack on Whale The Fourteenth of December, 347 A.R. City of Whale Part 4:Battle of the bees part three You sign for Skvababt to use the liquid fire on the scythehopper at her discretion, as you continue scanning the horizon for new murderbeasts to appear. Alongside you the battle rages, with clouds of angry Vespids swooping down upon the city both hither and yon, only to fall at the walls or nearby them. The emergency siren blares at regular intervals, mixing with the buzz and the droning of drones and the screams of people dying to form a horrible melody of battle, the song of war. But even though every second feels like a lifetime, and the swarm looks endless, time inevitably marches forward. Through death, through happenstance and fate, by the grace of the God's themselves, as the old Emperor once stood firm against the impossible, hostile world, so do the citizens of Whale.  In the days to come, stories would not be told of bravery and selfless sacrifice. Such acts are not virtues upheld by your culture. Rather, they who held the line but retreated when faced with overwhelming odds, only to return later with reinforcements are lauded, or those that through ingenuity and effort defeated their foes with a minimal loss of precious resources. Celebrated are not the Heroes, then, but rather those Citizens who followed orders and did what must be done. That is not to say the battle was without its heroes; you personally witnessed a small contingent of the Lord of Whales personal guard slay a score of Vespid stingbombers with uncanny swiftness, and rumours abound of a wandering Quackiknight who feld a beehemoth all by his lonesome. Not yet a Paladin, a wandering Knight must usually accomplish some great and difficult task to be considered for the honour, that much is common knowledge, so there is a strange sense of pride in the districts around the wall that one is that much closer to their goal, that such an individual would traverse their streets and defend their home. As for yourself, your efforts in defending the wall were appreciated but largely ignored by greater powers, movers and shakers, only notable at all for the quality of firepower and spectacle of gore with which your Duty was carried out. Your reputation amongst the commoners who lived nearby and the conscripts of the local militia however, is greatly increased. For who could deny the efficiency of bringing their own ballista to a siege? ++ Reputation; Commoners ( The Dorsal) + Reputation; Imperial Militia (Whale) - Liquid Fire (you'll have to ask Skvababt what happened to it later) ~ The Sixteenth of December, 347 A.R. Whilst reports of the battle were hard to come by for commoners, this is not so for members of your guild. In short, though the defence was a success, heavy damage was sustained to the outer defensive structures and what farms and estates lay on the eastern side of the city are a write off, having been devoured by the passing of the Vespid Army. Losses to combat able personnel was strangely limited, as it seemed the angry insects largely ignored direct confrontation in favour of damaging infrastructure and breaching further into the city, leading the guilds monster tacticians to worry about some larger agenda. Their efforts proved moot however as word has come that the Lord of Whale wishes that a counter attack is to be mounted post haste, leading to a general call for 'all hands' and this, exciting meeting, with your fellow hunters in the general assembly hall of the guild of monster hunters entente Whaleian chapter headquarters merely two days after the battle. There is not one space on the walls not covered by some grisly trophy or mural of murder, and the floor is a visually nauseating mismatch of furs and skins, such that you might be mistaken for having entered the worlds sloppiest butcher tanner workshop. Which, in many ways, it is.    Surrounding you are many unknown faces, people of all manner of stature only united by their bristling weaponry and questionable life choices. At the head of the hall stands four people. The lawyer, whom you met earlier, the Warden of the Wall whom is acting as a liaison between company Captains (that would be you) and guild leadership, presumably those two and two previously unseen figures at the front of the hall. One is a spindly human clerk with a sharp walking stick that doubles as a 'regiment pusher' for the war table that dominates the scene, and also as pointer for the large board behind them, which is rather obviously a table turned on it's side with a map of the area stapled onto it with some spare knives. The other figure...  "ORDER! I WILL HAVE ORDER!" the Imperial Buntyhunter yells over the crowd, it's voice high pitched and gentle. When that doesn't get everyone's attention, it stomps the ground with its front left paw, hard, almost knocking the war table and the war-map over and shaking some of the trophies of off their purchases. Indeed, even at the back of the hall you can feel the power of those legs and the wooden floor buckles underneath. "The Lord of Whale demands we set the Hives aflame, and I for one am in concordance! But risking all in this endeavour is foolhardy, so a call for """volounteers""" <the shrill voice drips with sarcasm> it be. Those of you with previous Vespid Fighting experience, the latest attack notwithstanding, and those with some manner of delving or climbing experience be preferred - I know we all specialize to some degree - from these we will select our first few groups; on the left please, and then onto a generalized bidding from those who remain, on the right." 1: How do you move forward? A: Move to the left of the chamber, together with the 'a' teams. You do have the necessary requirements to qualify after all, and it is your Duty. B: Move to the left of the chamber, together with the 'a' teams. You do have the necessary requirements to qualify after all, and you'll likely get a better payday out of it, too. C: Move to the right of the chamber, together with the 'b' teams, indicating you are unqualified (a plausible lie, unless someone recognizes you) but willing to enter the general bid. Expect easier tasks and less pay. D: Stay in the back of the chamber, indicating your unwillingness to volounteer. You may still be conscripted, but it is unlikely. --- Editors Note: Many things have happened and there was a hiatus or a longer than average period without updates. Fear not, I will not abandon this thread, though as life continues to be unpredictable so too will the updates. If there are any questions you have of the world or the NPCs, you need but ask and I shall try to get to them as soon as possible. For now though, know that you are your companions have survived, with mostly minor injuries.
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Jan 25, 2022 14:31
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B . I'm sure we need the cash anyway. How well do we expect this to pay?
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Jan 25, 2022 14:51
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B paid well
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Jan 25, 2022 16:37
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