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New life goal: Eat Asherah. Solves ALL of our problems.
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Jul 15, 2019 14:51
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Blasphemaster posted:New life goal: Eat Asherah. Solves ALL of our problems.  Might break our contract with Zepa but we could just eat him next.
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Jul 15, 2019 15:01
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Blasphemaster posted:New life goal: Eat Asherah. Solves ALL of our problems. 
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Jul 15, 2019 17:33
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Diogines posted:Uriah and Igal already spoke to the men of House Ganaive but you hope that you might be able to succeed in persuading them where your friends failed. Unlike House Bazaya, the compound of House Ganaive is not really a fortress, more of a large, sturdy stone gambling house surrounded by other brothels and gambling dens. From what you have been told of them, House Ganaive, one of the Great Houses of Carine have not held the High Patriarchy in ages, if ever and are probably the least prestigious of Carine's Great Houses, though their reach may well be further in Ur than their peers for it is said that much of the gambling, prostitution, crime and banditry in this part of Ur is controlled by them. You, Uriah and Igal enter the rather lively if poorly lit and smoke filled gambling den and much of the music and conversation dies down as people turn to see the dark skinned giant in their midst. Someone raises a cup and shouts "Horse-Friend!" joined by many more such shouts and the festive atmosphere resumes. You make your way past the many gambling tables and past several stone fighting pits, in one you see cocks fighting, in another dogs and in one you see a rather terrified man of Ur-Kadmonim heritage with slave brands who is holding a staff and trying to keep at bay a giant scorpion. Giant by scorpion standards, which is to say a bit larger than a very large dog, not nearly as big as a Grove Scorpion, its armor seems to have been decorated with small armor plates and bits of silver, men are shouting at each other as they look into the pit and wave sums of money. It looks like the tail of the scorpion has a metal cap on it, allowing it to pierce just as easily but preventing poisoning? Given the ornate decoration on this monster, it must be expensive. Based on the shouting of the men it seems they are betting on how many strikes the slave takes before losing, not... on if the slave loses. Something raw and primal within you is probably pretty upset at what you see in that pit. You make your way past the scorpion pit and around the many gamblers and revelers towards one of the bars. You spare a glance over your shoulder towards the doomed slave...  ...and hear some men curse and others cheer as their wagering ends. It is only a short time later that you you see a puff of blue smoke rise from the pit and swiftly soar towards the west. You make your way to the bar and the man behind it throws his hand up and declares with a smile "The Horse Friend! You gave me a fine trade last night! How may I serve you today?" You tell the man that you want to speak to someone important about a business deal. Igal helpfully chimes in "Yitzchak, we are here to see Yitzchak", Igal then turns to you and says "He is one of the sons of their Patriarch and runs things for them in Kazdack." You turn back to the bartender and say "You heard the kid. We are here to see Yitzchak." The bartender looks more serious and then says "I see. I will have word sent you are here, some wine as you wait." The man pours each of you a cup of wine and then exits through a door in the back of the room. About ten minutes later the man returns and says "This way" and leads you deeper into the compound. You can't help but note that after leaving the "public" areas of this structure, that the walls are made of increasingly thick stone blocks and the doors look sturdier as well. Still, the building is richly decorated with fine rugs on the floor, walls adorned in tapestries or decorated in the crafts of the Kadmonim and a fair amount of silver as well, eventually you are lead to a large room lined with columns and in the middle of which is a large table of some sort of expensive looking wood which looks like it was made of a big mound of roots smoothed down and sealed.  At the far end of the room are two beefy looking and obviously Blooded men wearing each expensive looking armor and armed with a spear and a shield, standing beside a large chair at the far end of the table, upon which sits an even more Blooded man who wears an amount of gold jewelry which your Zepathan values would likely think to be absurdly decadent, the man has several golden rings with gemstones set into them and wears so many necklaces of silver and gold you might think they could serve as armor, well, for part of his chest anyway. Unlike the men beside him, he is not wearing armor but instead wears a rather expensive looking white tunic. He has a brown beard shorter than most Blooded man would sport. "Ah! The Zepathans! Welcome, welcome, sit, sit!" the man says in a friendly tone as you enter and so you, Uriah and Igal sit at the end of the table beside him.  "I am Yitzchak, son of Antiochus. You have a business proposition for me? Splendid I say, splendid!" The man claps his hands together "You bought so much of our wine last night we are going to need to send for more from Carine and rarer delights as well. What is it this offer that you bring to me now?" You can Uriah briefly exchange glances. You are... not exactly sure what you expected of one of the prominent members of House Ganaive, a group you've been told are responsible for much of the banditry in this part of Ur and many other criminal operations besides, yet, the man is probably much more... bubbly and cheerful than you expected?" You explain to the man that sadly your new friend Erbuke was drugged by someone at the party last night and his horse was taken. You are here to buy it back and as many of his talismans as you can as well. How much for Yafa?  "Twelve thousand talents of silver" Yitzchak says. "That is outrageous!" Igal says "Erbuke's debts could not have been even a hundredth of that!" With a still friendly tone, Yitzchak says "I fear I could not tell you how much he wagered. It is a sad thing for a man to lose so much, still the man wagered more than he had upon him and if his creditors saw fit to take the horse, and later sold the horse to us, it does not mean we would be cheated and sell a fine beast cheaply. If you wish that most excellent beast, a most excellent price would be required." You lean in to Igal and quietly ask how much a talent of silver weighs here. Igal tells you. You do some quick metal math aaaand... that is drastically more silver than the mines of Kavodel produced in a year even when you were pulling as much silver from the ground as possible, which you have not done for quite some time. It is hard to convert "production of cities" into pure pounds of silver but a quick guess is that the price Yitzchak has asked for is equal to the better part of a decade of the production of all goods in Kavodel, an astronomical price. Yitzchak says "If you cannot afford it, perhaps a trade of another sort? It is good fortune you have come to my door for my father very much wished to speak with you, but it seems you were too occupied with your... late night deliveries to pay him a visit." Poker does not exist in Ur but if it did, you and Uriah maintain faces appropriate for it. "My father wishes you to make a delivery for him, one uniquely suited to your skills, do this and the horse is yours." What does he want delivered? "My father desires the horn and the heart of the Udug, a fell and terrible beast which stalks the grasslands spreading terror. A terrible demon as large as a house and more which strides upon four thunderous feet like a bear or bull and shoots lightning from its great white horn, yet has a hide tougher than stone and an arm with a mouth on the end in place of a nose with which it devours men while still living. With it's many lesser horns it gores man, ox and earth alike."  "This beast once roamed far beyond even where our extensive trading contacts lay but it seems to have moved and several times in recent years it has attacked caravans, a scourge upon the Kadmonim and those who would trade with them. Tribes who would have goods sent here no longer do, or take far longer fearing the Udug's wrath. You claim to be a hunter of demons, slay this vile thing and return with the heart and horn as proof and on top of the horse my father will give you whatever you ask for in payment, within reason." Where is it? Yitzchak tells you and from his description it seems... hazy at best but the Udug is about a month and a half or so away, towards the northeast. If you stay within Tudiya's time limit you have seven and a half months left. It took you about four months to get here. From what Yitzchak describes the Udug is further than almost anyone in Kazdack goes to trade and goods are usually exchanged along the way, so the Udug is not troubling many from Kazdack directly, but rather, those distant peoples the men here trade with, but this presents a serious disruption in trade. It seems that Yitzchak is prepared to give you Yafa now as a partial payment upfront. You do not ask and the man does not say, but is there some implicit assumption that demon hunters must be champions of El and men who would never break their word? Uriah never would and Igal, idolizing you both surely would not, but Yitzchak has no idea who he is dealing with, does he? Though if you screw them, what do they actually know about your... late night deliveries? You can freely question anyone present, though we are going to have to skip over most questions until tonight and get to them then. You quietly ask Uriah what he thinks and he says "You said not to use our abilities. Are we going to slay a demon without them? Its up to you. This sounds interesting and I think I would much like to go after the thing if we could regardless of the horse." 1. What do you do? A. Reject the offer. Leave. B. Accept the offer. Sign a contract and swear upon your honor to carry out your part of the deal. C. Try to renegotiate. What terms do you want changed? Fill in. D. Refuse. Accuse them of drugging Erbuke though you lack proof and DEMAND they give you Yafa, or else. You are bluffing. E. D., you are not bluffing, fight your way through this place until you rescue Yafa. F. E., and also rob them of other valuable stuff which looks handy while you are at it. G. E., but inform the man that you are coming back in fifteen minutes to take the horse by force if they don't surrender it, then leave. Going to a man's home, his table and being welcomed to it only to inflict violence upon him has a term in Zepathan tradition and the term is either "home invasion" or "murder" depending on what you do. The honorable thing to do would be to present this sort of demand and then come back. H. G., but give them a day to prepare. An even more honorable thing of all to do. I. Even more honorable still would be to accuse them of this misdeed and challenge their house to a duel for the horse. It would be dishonorable for them to refuse, though given what you know about them they may well do so anyway? J. (Add on to H or I)...and use the day to slander House Ganaive publicly in an attempt to shame them before the other people of Kazdack in an attempt to get them to submit to your will. K. Sneak in tonight and try to steal Yafa. L. Something else. What? Fill in. 2. If you make a deal with Yitzchak, do you, at the time you made it intend to keep it? This does not decide what you are doing later, but is about your intentions now. T. Yes. U. No. V. I don't know. Diogines fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jul 15, 2019 |
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Jul 15, 2019 19:18
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A I don't want to make any sort of deal with these fucks (even one that double-crosses them), I don't want to lose a bunch of time hunting down this thing in territory we've been explicitly told is uniquely dangerous to us, and I think we have enough info to go on without Yafa so...peace out y'all
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Jul 15, 2019 19:30
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I think we should take the deal, it's got something for everyone. We get to go hunt a giant monster, we get the horse back, and whatever payment they have to offer us on top of that could be very interesting indeed... maybe something like helping us move a large amount of further deliveries out of Carine with minimal questions asked? We don't really need any material riches but a few wagons full of deliveries could be quite the prize indeed. Downsides include we might die to the giant monster because we can't use any supernatural powers, and that it would probably mean we're spending enough time on a sidequest that we'd be writing off any chance of getting to Baitshapash before needing to turn around. Although we'd still be in the Grasslands at least so it softens that blow a bit, but I do really want to shoot for Baitshapash.
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Jul 15, 2019 19:30
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FoxTerrier posted:A I don't want to make any sort of deal with these fucks (even one that double-crosses them), I don't want to lose a bunch of time hunting down this thing in territory we've been explicitly told is uniquely dangerous to us, and I think we have enough info to go on without Yafa so...peace out y'all A Yeah, this has turned into a dangerous side-quest to complete another side-quest to get questionable info about an additional side-quest.
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Jul 15, 2019 19:32
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Crazycryodude posted:I think we should take the deal, it's got something for everyone. We get to go hunt a giant monster, we get the horse back, and whatever payment they have to offer us on top of that could be very interesting indeed... maybe something like helping us move a large amount of further deliveries out of Carine with minimal questions asked? We don't really need any material riches but a few wagons full of deliveries could be quite the prize indeed. We didn't come out all this way to spend a month-and-a-half running errands for assholes Although if someone wants to craft an option that has us leave on particularly good terms to minimize the chances of them investigating our late-night deliveries...fine
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Jul 15, 2019 19:33
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It's still a month and a half heading (north)east into the Grasslands, with a big monster fight and potential major reward waiting for us at the end. Seems fun, interesting, and profitable, although I do agree that with the time limit we have to ask is it fun, interesting, and profitable ENOUGH? I'm still thinking yes. Also I definitely want to try and find out 1) what they know about our deliveries and 2) how they found out.
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Jul 15, 2019 19:34
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Getting into a giant monster fight in the Grasslands if what we've explicitly been trying to avoid going down this path. Getting into one will alert all the nasty things in the grasslands to come after us. Not to mention I'm not sure if going the fast way back even allows us to come this route or not. Diog, would our fastest route back take us along this direction?
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Jul 15, 2019 19:42
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C: Heart or horn, not both. T
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Jul 15, 2019 19:52
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A. This deal is not great, because if we do spend a month and a half going northeast into dangerous territory, we may not even find the beast before we're forced to leave back to Zepath, and if we do then we may not be able to easily defeat it without using our abilities and attracting a lot of attention. Though we learned of a monster, so if we do end up near there and have nothing better to do we can try to slay it to help the Kadmonim.
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Jul 15, 2019 19:53
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A
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Jul 15, 2019 19:57
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A No thanks. Let's move on
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Jul 15, 2019 19:58
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BT Fuckit, let's do this.
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Jul 15, 2019 20:01
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If we agree to this will you give us a known map of the grasslands before our journey?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:08
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If we're not gonna go on a quest, might still be worth it to challenge them to a duel over Yafa if Uriah is willing and can win it (or if we think we can win it). It's apparently quite honorable but also doesn't take a lot of time and is a way to get the horse back. What do we estimate our chances are in a one-on-one with Yitzchak?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:12
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B V - Agree to deliver the beast's heart and horn but make friends with it and ride it back into town, fulfilling the letter of our bargain while making a mockery of its spirit.
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Jul 15, 2019 20:16
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Crazycryodude posted:If we're not gonna go on a quest, might still be worth it to challenge them to a duel over Yafa if Uriah is willing and can win it (or if we think we can win it). It's apparently quite honorable but also doesn't take a lot of time and is a way to get the horse back. What do we estimate our chances are in a one-on-one with Yitzchak?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:16
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I If we think we could win the duel then no harm in at least trying. It's a way to get Yafa back without major investment of time or money, but doesn't require us to fight off every Blooded man in the city, just the one.
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Jul 15, 2019 20:20
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Diogines posted:You like your odds. I, challenge the Ganaive folks to a duel for the horse. We can wager some moderately less stupid amount of silver or something. Addon J-ish, a bit of mild WWF trash-talking but more just hyping up the duel between Enkidel Horsefriend and Yitzchak or whatever even beefier Mighty Man owes him money / rents boy-whores from him.
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Jul 15, 2019 20:21
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A This is bullllllshit, that thing is some intelligent tribal guardian or whatever that they want to grind up into boner pills I totally called it that these fuckers messed with our party just to get us in here edit: if we challenge this guy to a duel he's going to call Barkof out of the back room or something, this crime boss ain't going to fight us Victis fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Jul 15, 2019 |
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Jul 15, 2019 20:22
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The main reason I'm leaning away from hunting this thing is because we'd be going into it with a handicap. Not using any abilities is going to increase the risk since we won't even have our time limited invincibility button and Uriah won't be able to harden weapons. Kinda worried these fuckers might know where we buried the stuff from the tower.
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Jul 15, 2019 20:25
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Does Igal think challenging them to a duel about it is a bad idea? lol at us going into a huddle for question time
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Jul 15, 2019 20:28
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Regarding the whole 'no powers' thing. Was it "Use them at all and you die" or "Use them at all and you need to loving book it back to Ur"? Because if we get basically one use of our powers and then have to haul rear end like nobody's business, I can think of worse things to do than slay some sort of magical lightning-shooting mammoth. I don't think going to Baitshapash is gonna happen, and frankly I'm down with being a badass monster slayer with our homeboy Igal watching as our hypeman. Diog - can we get a clarification on Ish's instructions re: Power use and getting got by shadowy forces or is this a "what you know you've been told" thing?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:30
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Loooooool, side quests upon side quests. We are so deep that I'm already back on board this train. I bet the monster offers us his horn in exchange for killing an even more fearsome beast. Edit: lol that they know about our looting. This guy rules
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Jul 15, 2019 20:31
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Victis posted:A I wouldn't be surprised if you're right; I trust these fucks about as far as I can throw them.
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Jul 15, 2019 20:31
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They already know we're a 10ft tall magic ninja. Why would they ever agree to duel us?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:32
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Couldn't we just ask them to lead us to the spot and then explore thegrasslands on our own? We are doing this poo poo Tig et a guide, they are offering one free of charge. "Lead us there and afterwards we can decide if we kill the beast or not0
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Jul 15, 2019 20:34
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Zodiac5000 posted:Regarding the whole 'no powers' thing. Was it "Use them at all and you die" or "Use them at all and you need to loving book it back to Ur"? Because if we get basically one use of our powers and then have to haul rear end like nobody's business, I can think of worse things to do than slay some sort of magical lightning-shooting mammoth. I don't think going to Baitshapash is gonna happen, and frankly I'm down with being a badass monster slayer with our homeboy Igal watching as our hypeman. Diogines posted:Ishamal said little when you spoke to him of your trip in a hypothetical manner but in your final visit to Zepath before your departure you met with him in his home. Ishamal tells you "You have become more noticable over your life. Both because of what you are but much more because of what you have done. In Zepath, you need not worry overly much over that fact, you are protected here. And your... noticeability in Ur is not something to keep you up at night. Beyond Ur is another matter. In the grasslands it is rather unlikely that you need fear attack from those terrors beyond the grass, but not impossible. Expend as little of your Well as possible. The metaphor is entirely wrong but consider such use like lighting a candle at night. A brief flicker might not be seen. But many small flickers likely will be, and a torch or bonfire... the metaphor is a lie, you have no Well. It is false, but it may help you understand. And discourage Uriah as well. More likely to be a danger to you are not those things beyond the grasslands, but within. The danger is less than what may trouble you beyond but a small fraction of Certain Doom may still be considerable. Things the men of Ur think destroyed or perhaps you thought only stories yet dwell there. Most are sedentary after a fashion, many are not. If you stick to the lands the Kadmonim tribes dwell upon you are less likely to encounter them. You have met strange things before and only most of them tried to murder you, consider well when words might suit you better than swords but keep them ready as well. And a final reminder, as I have said a hundred times and more, do not experiment and do not empty your Well, nor show nor use your wings." And with those somber words done Ishamal lets out a small laugh and says "And try to have some fun." Seems more likely to be "fuckin' run", but on the other hand a month and a half's distance is awful long to fuckin' run. relatedly, if we hunt the Udug, that's potentially our entire grasslands time right there - we have 7.5 months left, so spending 4 in the grasslands on this means we need to start heading home Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Jul 15, 2019 |
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Jul 15, 2019 20:36
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Diog, do we think there's anything left in the tower that would be approximately worth 12,000 talents of silver, given that even the bed sheets were nigh priceless?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:36
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Why have your people not gathered a party of men and slain the beast yourself? Or why have the Kardomin not taken such a hunt upon themselves?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:37
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Honestly the idea of going through with this, successfully coming back and heading home with a blooded horse only for it to die on entering Ur would be amazing anger in of its own. A. But nah no deal
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Jul 15, 2019 20:44
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Yitzchak posted:
"Whatever I ask eh? How about a two-way trip to Baithshapash and back?"
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Jul 15, 2019 20:49
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Do not, I repeat, do not run straight into the enemy with the lighting weapon
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Jul 15, 2019 20:50
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Mr. Nemo posted:Do not, I repeat, do not run straight into the enemy with the lighting weapon Man, I would laugh really, really hard if we show up and the monster turns out to be Jesbaam with a fake trunk stapled to his mouth riding a horse. Everybody involved in the situation just responds with "Oh for gently caress's sake why YOU!"
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Jul 15, 2019 20:51
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Jesbaam is very dead according to Danal, right?
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Jul 15, 2019 20:56
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Yeah, that's what makes it even better.
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Jul 15, 2019 21:02
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Hellsau posted:Jesbaam is very dead according to Danal, right? Shushem was also very dead.
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Jul 15, 2019 21:13
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Ask Yitzchak what direction Baitshapash is in, if it's in vaguely the same direction as this monster that would make it a lot easier to justify taking the contract than if it's the opposite direction. I don't mean ask for detailed directions there because if he even has those he's not gonna give them out, but very generally is it off to the south, or north, etc.
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Jul 15, 2019 21:26
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