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Keep Peeper Alive and Use Back Door. Either we prove dad wrong or kill whatever monstrosity peeps becomes. The elven burial scene is what really impressed me with this game's tag system. My first point character was an elven soldier. Between the burial scene and how my character interacted with Ifan about the war, it did a great job of an elven soldier commiserating with someone on the opposite side of a war.
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May 1, 2022 17:00
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Maple Leaf posted:Do we follow the Magicockerel’s advice and kill Peeper? Or do we let Peeper live? Follow the advice and end Peeper. I fully expect him to attempt to end you now that his true nature is understood, so no point in continuing to try and protect him. Always sneak in through the side door, everywhere and anywhere.
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May 1, 2022 19:12
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I guess let Peeper live. But if he gets himself killed being dumb, so be it. Sneak the sneaky way.
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May 1, 2022 20:26
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Schwartzcough posted:I guess let Peeper live. But if he gets himself killed being dumb, so be it. I'm going with this too. I'm amazed how much stuff I missed in my playthrough despite a absurd number of hours. I don't remember the tree puzzle at all
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May 1, 2022 22:09
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Peeper is a menace to society and must be eliminated with extreme prejudice. That talking magic rooster knows that this cute lil' chick will eventually be a Voidwoken. Hah, no, we are not busting down the front door of a mercenary guild like a bunch of maroons. Go in through the side.
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May 2, 2022 17:55
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 We’re back with another thrilling, action-packed, suspenseful, dramatic, intriguing, mysterious, maybe a little sexy??? update for Divinity: Original Sin 2! We had two votes last time: the first was to decide whether to follow the Magicockerel’s advice to kill Peeper, or to decide to follow Big Marge’s dying instruction and let him live. And we, perhaps unsurprisingly, voted to keep Peeper alive. He might be half-Voidwoken – the blood of the endtimes-made-manifest pumping through his tiny feathery body – but he’s also just a lil’ baby. How dangerous can a chicken, even if it’s part Voidwoken, really be?  Before that, though, I learned that the Phoenix Heart reward from completing the elven proving trial granted something if a person consumed it. I’ll give it to Fane – he can turn into an elf with his Mask of the Shapeshifter, and this being a phoenix heart, odds are decent that it’ll be a Pyro skill that he learns, if any skill at all.  : You’re soaring high about the treetops, moving effortless with your blazing wings. Flaming Tongues: Create an aura of fire around the caster; any target that moves within the aura will take massive fire damage.A decent skill for someone like Fane, who’s main method of play is putting himself into the very thick of the fight and doing a ton of damage to as many people as possible in as few moves as possible. And it requires Pyro 2, which he has. It’s a bit explosive – as Pyrokinetic skills tend to be, so I need to be careful about crowding friendlies around Fane if I use it – but it has a ton of uses right off the bat.  Anyway, on to the meat: telling the Magicockerel that he’s a bad dad.   : Peeper’s been more of a cute help to our team’s morale than he has been a hinderance to any of us. And his mother asked me to take care of him in her absence. I won’t do it. : Cute as a BOCK-BOCK-button. A button that could DESTROY US ALL! : PAPA?! PAAAAPaaaaaaaaa…  Peeper instantly turns into a Voidwoken and engages us in battle. But more than just Bug Peeper, though: six other Peepers spawn into the fight, ready to swarm us from every angle. And the Peepers can spawn other Peepers to overwhelm us in a flash. But let’s rewind a little bit: we’re forgetting something sort of important.  Right next to the Magicockerel’s roost is Daeyena and her bodyguard, and they aren’t actually friendly towards us: they’re neutral. If we engage in battle with Peeper, and Daeyena is caught in the fog of war (and she will; there are six Peepers coming at us from every direction), she’ll join the fight, but she’ll be fighting against us. We need to remove her somehow.  This is a difficult problem to fix without provoking/killing Daeyena, actually, and people on Reddit and the Steam forums have a similar issue: we don’t want to kill Daeyena because it might halt her quest prematurely. Or maybe we’re just not roleplaying as murderhobos. But moving her is tricky. We can’t Teleport her because it’ll do damage, which will provoke her, and even if it didn’t, NPCs are programmed to path their way back to their designated walking areas if they leave them for whatever reason, meaning even if we moved Daeyena, she’d just walk back to the spot she’s at, then engage in combat against us when we fight Peeper.  Plan B is to use Nether Swap, which requires two targets and doesn’t cause damage, so it won’t provoke Daeyena, but she’ll still walk back to where I moved her from. It’s a step in the right direction, but by itself it’s not a fix. I did, eventually, come up with a solution…  … and it involves this Chest (empty). In the elven proving ground, there’s a single high ground: a scaffolding that can only be accessed by a ladder. Characters can’t walk through objects or other characters, so if I can get both Daeyena and her bodyguard onto the scaffolding and then block their route on the ladder with the chest, they’ll be trapped up there and they won’t be able to enter the fight.  Step one is to get two volunteers, other than Lohse, onto the scaffolding, and then block the ladder with the chest, either at the top or the bottom. Step two is to Nether Swap both Daeyena and her bodyguard with both the volunteers. Since Nether Swap isn’t technically a teleportation spell – it requires two targets, not open space – it doesn’t suffer from Divinity: Unleashed’s teleport nerf. The distance between Daeyena and the scaffolding is fairly large…    … but Nether Swap’s range is just large enough to cover it. There: now Daeyena won’t enter the fight and she’s not provoked against me. I just need to remember to let her down when I’m done. With all that said and done, it’s time to fight a swarm of Peepers.   Our choices for this vote was to either kill Peeper ourselves, or, if we tried to spare him, immediately get into a fight with him. He’s a Voidwoken. Their entire purpose in existence is to kill people – especially Godwoken like ourselves. They are the yang to our yin. If we followed the Magicockerel’s advice to kill Peeper immediately, we would have been rewarded with some Legendary loot to our level, but there’s no guarantee that it’d be any good. Our reward for trying to keep Peeper alive, on top of a handful of EXP more…  … is about half a dozen Source Orbs. Which, in my opinion, is the vastly superior reward: Source Orbs have two distinct uses, as either an instant hit of Source or as a rune for our equipment, and they can be sold for a ludicrous price if I need some extra cash. They might not be Legendary loot, but at least I know exactly what I’m getting, and I can think of a few uses for them right away.  The other chick bodies are carrying darkened pearls, which I don’t think are crafting ingredients, but they still sell for a decent amount. In case you’re thinking of going to the replies and telling me to reload and never talking to the Magicockerel to resolve this quest: no. Vetoed. In my first playthrough of the game, I kept Peeper alive all the way to the end credits, and not once is his existence brought up past Act Two. Peeper is a weak idiot and he’s not worth reloading fight after fight keeping his idiot AI alive.  Before I forget:  Now, moving on: the second vote that we had was how we were going to enter the sawmill. As a quick recap: we know that a man named Roost Anlon is in the mill, and he’s in charge of the Lone Wolves – or, at least, the Reaper’s Coast ‘chapter’ of them – and he has Saheila captive inside the mill. Our options were to either walk right up in through the front door after clearing out the minefield in front of it, or to sneak in through the side. We ultimately voted to sneak in through the side, although it was actually a much tighter race than keeping Peeper alive was.  Just north of the elven proving grounds is this felled tree – or maybe it’s a whole-rear end root – that connects the forest to the sawmill’s unattended back door.   Or, perhaps it’s not as ‘unattended’ as I thought. There’s nobody here to stop me, but the Lone Wolves knew full well that their rear flank was open. Still, it’s not like bear traps are hard to bypass.    : This- this is blasphemy! Don’t look, Quercus. The forest will reclaim this hellscape when the time comes.That’s interesting; he said that the Lady Vengeance was ‘utterly barbaric,’ so clearly Sir Lora has An Opinion on how trees should be treated. But he also enjoyed the fact that the Great Acorn couldn’t possibly reach them out in the open waters because salt water is poisonous to plants. Apparently there’s a right way and a wrong way to kill and process trees, and the right way is if it benefits him, haha. We’re up to the sawmill’s rear entrance, but we haven’t actually gotten into the mill just yet. There are still some concerns that we have to deal with, namely: we’re intruders and the place has a handful of Lone Wolves sitting around, looking for a reason to get rowdy.  Inside the cabin directly in front of us is a dwarf named ‘Mummie Dearest,’ with her war axe already drawn and swinging at the air. She’s level 15; we are level 12. It’d be four versus one, so we’d probably win, but it’d also make a lot of noise. And the vote was to be sneaky.  There’s an alleyway between two buildings here that’s unwatched, but in order for me to reach it, I’d have to get onto the cabin’s porch, and there’s no ladder.   But who needs a ladder when you have Mad Ups?  One Teleporter Pyramid usage later, and we’re up on the porch, free to continue onward.  Who booby traps their own porch? Honestly.  This is about as close as I can get without moving into the open space of the sawmill, where I’ll have everyone’s eyes on me. There are a handful of people that I need to be wary of, namely:  In the rundown shack to my left/north is the Lone Wolves’ apothecary; the ‘Elixir Mixer,’ as he is named. He’s currently looking directly at the alleyway I’m hiding in; if I take a few steps forward, he’ll see me immediately.  Dead center of the open area are two ladies, a human and a lizard, bonding over a fat hit of drudenae.  : … Then leave. : Eh. It’s a good living ‘ere. You know that.: A living is nothing if you’re unhappy.: Never knew you to be sentimental.: Logical, not sentimental. Unhappy people are… sloppy. Unreliable.: Maybe that’s why I ain’t landed a mark in a while. I’m unhappy.: … or maybe I’m just horny.: Heh…Told you this update would be a little sexy.   There’s a larger building near the center of the mill, and inside that building is a set of stairs going up to, presumably, the foreman’s office. Nobody out here in the open looks like a ‘Roost Anlon’ to me – for one, we know he’s a man, and the only man we’ve seen so far is the Elixir Mixer – and I don’t see Saheila, so, presumably, Roost is up there. If I just walk out there without sneaking, I’ll be spotted even if nobody is looking in my direction. And only one of us is suited for being sneaky at all.  This is Fane’s sneaking cones: the red parts are places that other people are looking directly at, and if Fane were to enter them, even while he’s sneaking, he’ll be spotted.  This, meanwhile, is Sebille’s. A pretty stark and obvious difference… but I still need the Elixir Mixer to look away, and I wouldn’t trust anybody else to sneak all that distance. You probably already guessed the solution to this little self-imposed puzzle (the other solution being to draw my weapons and bash my way in, of course).    (They’re talking about Featherfall, not the obvious barrel with feet walking by.)   Just like that, Sebille is in the foreman’s office.   And with one flick of the Teleporter Pyramid later, the rest of my merry band is up there as well, no additional sneaking required.  In the office are just the people I’m looking for: Saheila, still blindfolded (although, if I remember correctly, she doesn’t have eyes at all), being interrogated by a very large man wielding two enchanted clubs. And they’re both flanked by a pair of bodyguards and a pair of wolves. Fun fact: wolves actually make terrible guard dogs. They’re not easily trained; they’re naturally cautious and wary of other animals; and would typically rather retreat and go for one-hit-kill sneak attacks on smaller, weaker animals than stand their ground. Unfortunately, this is not real life, and therefore wolves are vicious predatory killers and also, apparently, easily trained.  : I killed him slow. Preserves the flavour. : I do not care.: You must be curious. He was like you. Imagine all those memories…: I have nothing to say to you.: You sure about that?: I am sure.: You want to end up like him, I guess. Or maybe you can see how this ends…: I do not see this. But I do see…: G’head.: I see that savagery does not win.: Wouldn’t you like to believe that. Littered around the office are spirits. Of children, specifically. There are no bodies of children up here, although there are nameless bones and giblets around the wolves.  : Do you know him? Are you his friend? That man. The bad man. He likes to hurt people. He hurt me real bad.I’m level 12; everyone in the foreman’s office is level 14. While they’re weaker than Mummie Dearest, there’s also five of them: two wolves, two bodyguards, and Roost, meaning I’m outnumbered. And Roost is considered to be a boss, so he’s got a bunch of bonuses that his mooks don’t have. On top of those, Saheila is considered to be neutral in this fight. Unlike with Daeyena, the only thing that means with Saheila is that my attacks can target her as well: if, for example, I use Chain Lightning on my enemies, one of the lightning bolts will target Saheila. If I can keep her alive, she’ll become friendly, regardless of how much damage I give her. Let’s introduce ourselves. : Sebille grabs you by the arm, her nails embedding themselves into your flesh.My what?  : Far be it from me to get between you and your business. He’s all yours. : My thanks.: Sebille walks up to Roost: a massive man who’s looming over a small elf, his hair a tangle of matted knots. Scars upon scars cross every inch of visible flesh, from his hands to his gnarled face.: Roost Anlon. I’ve come to ask you a question.: His smile is nauseating.: You’ll have to give me a kiss first. Lots of tongue too.: He laughs; the sound of a hiccupping demon choking on raw offal.You know, Larian Studios clearly had the funding to go around for voice acting. I wonder why they just didn’t have Roost’s VA make an ugly laugh rather than have the narrator describe it. : How vile and petty a thing you are!: Shut up! It’s her I’m talking to.: Sebille… I was wondering when I’d see you again. Knew the time would come after you broke daddy’s leash. : That’s bait. And it’s not even good bait.: I know.: She winks at him.: Let’s try that again shall we?: Her casual dismissal of his insults seems to unsettle him somewhat. Uncertainty sours his face.: How about we just cut to the chase? You are searching for your Master. I know where he is. Them’s the cards we’re holding, and I’ve got all the aces up my sleeve.: A flash of the needle. With lightning speed Sebille spears his hand. He howls with pain.: Strange. I see no cards whatsoever. : When Sebille and I first met, she nearly punctured my vertebrae just to make a point. Be glad she only aimed for your hand, Roost. She’ll do worse if you don’t start cooperating.: Not that you have to.: She twists the needle, making him squirm and scream.: On the island! He’s on the island with no name!: Good boy.: She removes the needle. Roost suckles his wound with thick slurping noises.: Where is the island? Tell me!: Oh, I’ll do you one better. I’ll take you there.: I’m going to beat you like I did before. I’m going to bleed and bind you, and what’s left of you – no more than a battered bit of meat – I’m going to deliver to the Master all over again.: He’ll be so glad to have his puppy back, even if she’ll have lost some of her lustre… Well. Everything went better than expected. Although make no mistake: that wasn’t an easy fight and I cut out something like four other attempts, totaling just under two hours. I was significantly underleveled and the biggest reason why I won is because I started abusing Dominate Mind. All the same, though: not only did I win, and not only did nobody on my team (or Saheila) die, but I managed to give Sebille the game-winning shot on Roost! Good times all around.  The spirit of Roost Anlon lingers, standing among the spirits of children standing around his office. I’m sure that, now that he’s dead, he’ll have mellowed out and be willing to talk a bit. : The spirit’s chest heaves in short, hard bursts; its face is punched into a tight sneer, fists balled up at is sides. It falls to its knees and grabs its matted hair in two fists, then rips. The spectral mats break away and reappear. : … So, now that things are said and done, I have some questions I need you to answer. : SHOVE your questions. Shallow nails. You… you… you…! : The Lone Wolves have been given a contract to hunt Godwoken. I need to know who the commissioner is.: He catches a string of spittle with the back of his hand and wipes it away as a malevolent grin spreads over his face.: God did. : And I’m going to guess that ‘God’ ordered you to kill elven Scions as well.: Does it matter? They won’t stop. Not ‘til they’re all dead. You can be sure of that. They ain’t what you think. They’ll do anything to survive. You’ll get what’s coming to you. ‘The good guy.’ Everyone’s their own good guy.: He scratches at his scarred face with spectral nails, digging deep grooves that instantly vanish.: No… no… no!Unfortunately, he doesn’t have anything fun to say if Sebille’s the one asking the questions.  Saheila may have taken a bit of a beating, and she doesn’t have a lot of armour to help her, but she does have a boatload of Constitution. I wonder if she could have helped me out in that fight if I had untied her early.  : Are you alright? There was… a bit of excitement just now. : We’re a long way away from Fort Joy. How did you get out? : Right, about that. We need to leave, and quickly. Not every Lone Wolf has been dealt with. : Yes, your mother and a small handful of elves are waiting for you in a clearing just outside the sawmill.: Yes. Yes. Thank you. I see you so clearly; I see the goodness in you. Let’s go! When I undo the binds on Saheila, she actually joins my party as a summon-like, similar to what Higba the Tinkerer did when I busted him out of that fish factory. As is appropriate for an NPC or boss-turned-ally, her stats tank hard to match my level, and her Constitution is nearly cut in half. Still, though, she comes with two hits of Source already, along with Fossil Strike; Restoration; Soothing Cold; Flesh Sacrifice; and even Arcane Stitch, to make use of those Source points. And since she’s unarmed, she has access to Sucker Punch: a weak, unarmed attack by itself, but it guarantees Knocked Down on hit. However, she’s also blind, meaning those skills are really only good for herself. All the same, it’s not a small amount of goodies available to her.  Sitting against the far wall is a television that’s been tuned to the hit science fiction-horror anthology Black Mirror. The TV’s shaped kinda funny, though. : The surface of the mirror ripples with a sickly haze. As you gaze into its surface, the haze forms shapes and the shapes jerk into a figure. You see the outline of a skull – perhaps once an elf, though the flesh has all but rotted from his bones. What remains is the flat, dull colour of sick. Behind him march ornately-clad Black Ring.: The picture flickers, fades, then returns in full relief. Beneath the din of the marching soldiers, or perhaps alongside it, a voice snags your mind like a fish hook in an open eye. : The Godwoken are not only alive – they’re coming for you next.: The image strains and flickers again. Each time it comes into focus, a dull ache squeezes your head like a vice. Tighter, tighter, unbearably tight…: The image flickers and fades to a hazy sheen once more, and the pressure vanishes.We actually learned something valuable from that: whoever put the hit out on Godwoken is almost certainly Black Ring, and someone very high up on the ladder. A male elf who’s skin has mostly rotted away, leaving only ‘the colour of sick’ behind. There aren’t going to be a lot of men that match that description.  Likewise, everyone on the team has something to say about what we just saw in the mirror.   : Man’s best friend is his sword. His only friend to boot.: Money makes blind. I wonder how many of you can still see the light of day… : Life’s full of surprises. That’s what makes it fun! And horrifying…Okay, well, pardon me for trying to instill some camaraderie into our group   We just finished a boss battle and there’s quite a lot to loot from Roost and his bodyguards, but we’ll get to that in a moment. I’d like to investigate the rest of the office first – starting with some light reading material that Roost had laid out on his bedside table.   I’d imagine one of the leaders of a notorious band of mercenaries would probably not enjoy having his personal affairs published in a book for all to see.  Standing around the office are the spirits of children, having met their fate at Roost’s hands. They’ll probably appreciate the fact that their tyrant is dead.  : He’s… gone! It doesn’t hurt anymore. You did it. You saved me from the bad man. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!  : If I could give you the biggest hug in the world, I’d give you the even bigger one. I love you.  : You made the bad man go away. You did it. He can’t hurt me now.: The child smiles a ghostly, gap-toothed grin and waves goodbye.  : He’s gone. I guess this means I can leave. I hope the next place is better. This was a bad place.: Bye. And… thanks. That’s all the spirits of children. And with that out of the way, it’s time to pick the place clean.  Roost’s desk, dressers, and boxes all don’t contain much of value. And normally, neither would this chest at the end of his bed, except:  This amulet gives 6 Magic Armour, +1 Necromancer, +1 Lucky Charm, and it has a slot for a rune. Fane’s current amulet gives him +1 Constitution, +15% Air Resistance, and immunity to Stunned. That last one is really big and it’s saved my bacon a couple of times… but I got this amulet when I killed the Voidwoken Deep-Dweller in the Hollow Marshes. It’s level 6; this new amulet is level 14. And the new one gives double the Magic Armour. I’m going to miss that immunity to Stunned, but the Magic Armour numbers need to keep up. That, and that +1 Necro is a pretty nice consolation, so, I swap it out. The bodyguards were carrying money, arrows, and craftables; the wolves, Lord and Lady, were carrying more craftables, namely fur and teeth and claws. Maple Leaf fucked around with this message at 01:51 on May 18, 2022 |
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May 18, 2022 01:31
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Naturally, Roost is carrying all the good good poo poo.  A tusk; a medium flame rune; a Shackles of Pain skillbook; an Epic crossbow that gives +3 Finesse and sets Blinded on hit, so it really hurts that nobody on my team is an archer; some really good new pants for Fane that give +1 Retribution and +1 Perseverance; and a belt that gives +1 Sneaking and +2% Critical Chance, which overall isn’t enough for anyone to wear. The new pants for Fane are really nice, but it’s kind of a disappointing haul all-told. That elven crossbow would have been amazing on an archer, but, c’est la vie, as they say. Roost is also carrying some paper that we might be interested in, though:  : The Divine Order?! What the devil? The contract seems to pre-date Alexander’s ascension, too…Oooh, so the conspiracy goes even deeper than the Black Ring. This muddies the water quite a lot, actually: assuming the contract came from the Divine Order, it’s possible that they initially contracted the Black Ring, who themselves passed the contract on to the Lone Wolves – perhaps to keep their hands from getting dirty (unlikely); perhaps because it was more profitable that way (unlikely); or perhaps because the Black Ring have their own agenda and the contract to kill Godwoken was a convenient catalyst. It predates Alexander becoming bishop of the Divine Order, which, if I remember right, also predates the Voidwoken first arriving. Who was in charge of the Divine Order before Alexander? Who would have had the authority to call for Alexander’s death? There’s a lot going on here, and we’re not going to figure it out with Roost’s death. At the very least, however, we’re making progress: Roost Anlon is dead, and we’ve kneecapped the Lone Wolves in their hunt. Moving up the ladder, we have the Black Ring to deal with next. And we know that some of them were last seen in the Blackpits….  Before I leave, there are a number of disembodied limbs for Sebille to snack on. Maybe she’ll learn something new. : You are a young elf – very young. Still, the memories of aeons dance inside you. You watch them like a play behind your eyelids. You are asleep in your family home when Roost’s people steal in like a plague. A hand over your mouth, a hurried journey through the forests. You won’t tell Roost how to find the others. The end comes quick.: You are running, running, running through a barren landscape. Brambles and weeds scratch at your ankles. Your heart is pumping acid, but you can’t stop. Something catches you around the chest and you fall. The rough ground scrapes burns into the flesh of your bare arms, your knees, your face, you, as you skid to a stop. Footsteps approach. ‘That’s the Scion,’ a rough voice calls. ‘Kill him.’: They tried to hide you. They put you in a cellar. They put you in a cave. They put you in the hills. They put you in a pit. In the end, Roost found you anyway. He tried to find your memories by drilling a hole in your skull. It didn’t work, but you were finally free.Well. Time to leave.  We’re back downstairs, on the ground floor of the sawmill’s main building. The goal now is to get Saheila out of the sawmill and back to her entourage just outside of the mill’s minefield of a front yard. Since Saheila is in our control, we could, in theory, sneak out the same way we snuck in. Sebille takes one of the Teleporter Pyramids; she sneaks her way past everyone to somewhere safe; and then we all teleport out. But I’m actually going to bust my way out because there’s something that I want in the mill, and I can only get it if all of the Lone Wolves are dead. Which, in retrospect, isn’t really what the thread had voted for – if I was going to go loud, then why did I stay quiet in the first place? Please forgive me. And besides, that’d be a ton of EXP I’d be passing up. Not to mention that, with Ifan dead, I officially have no friends in the Lone Wolves.  An interesting difference, though, is that all of the NPCs in the sawmill have gone from neutral to hostile. The human and the lizard that were sharing a hit together are now on high alert (emphasis on the high, huehueheu) and the guards are no longer willing to negotiate. News of Roost’s death travels fast!  Even if I wanted to, sneaking out of the front door is out of the question…  … one of the watchmen at the gate is scouting the porch just in front of where Mummie Dearest is, and the window to get by him without being seen is punishingly slim…  … and I know it’s difficult to tell in this screenshot, but the lizard lady is currently on patrol as well, and she’s scouring the alleyway we had come in from. And by the way, all of these vision cones are with Sebille’s increased Sneaking skills; they’re not going to get any smaller with anyone else. It wouldn’t be impossible to sneak out – turning Invisible negates vision cones entirely, and Sebille has two skills that grant Invisibility – but the timing would be very tight. At least, assuming you just want to go from Point A to Point B; if I took a little while to plan out a more complicated route, it could probably be done with more margin for error.  Among the alert-and-dangerous Lone Wolves is a single man: a fletcher named Corbin Day. And he’s still neutral. Not only that, but he’s facing away from the camp entirely; getting his attention would actually be a challenge.  Before I start fighting my way out, though: one of the sawed logs in the mill still has the spirit of whatever ancestor was within it. And, appropriately, I can interact with it, if I have Spirit Vision active.  : Bitter cold shoots up your fingertips, through your arm, shoulder, neck, and into your brain. Your whole body contracts with the aching freeze… and a voice sounds inside of you. : See what I see. Feel what I feel. : Where your feet should be, you see great, gnarled roots disappearing into a mossy forest floor. As this log once was, you are an Ancestor Tree. : You pass her a memory. Once, you were her father. You pass her the softness you remember of her chubby cheeks; you pass her the warmth between you and when you curled back-to-back to sleep. A tear trickles from the child’s eye and onto your bark. She whispers that she loves you. She says she will come back tomorrow.: You see?: The child departs, and night falls. You hear voices and the dull thud of axes. A human approaches you and pats your trunk. He raises his axe and – : You see?: You lie in pieces on the forest floor. Rough hands toss you into a cart and haul you away.: You see. You see what he does to me. You see he takes me from my life. You see he cuts me into parts. : Where can I find the logger? If his name is Ermin, I have great news.: Look. His bones lie buried in our sacred soil. But his spirit… his spirit… his spirit remains. Find him. Take from him what he takes from me. I show you where. Find him.: I find peace then. I find peace when he is gone.According to this log, and my quest journal, I’ve been given a new quest and location to investigate, but my searching through the map doesn’t bring up many hits. I think this log might be referring to Bloodmoon Island? He said that the foreman is already dead, and he wants us to do something about the foreman’s spirit. I’m sure we’ll come across it eventually. There’s just one thing left to do: escape the sawmill. Violently.  Frankly, that was a little messy. I made a lot of weird movement blunders and tried to spread my damage too widely. But we won, and that’s what’s important. And nobody died! Saheila is a mission-critical NPC, and her being able to use Arcane Stitch really came in clutch for her.  There are a number of spirits lingering about the sawmill, but from the way they’re dressed, I sort of doubt they’re Lone Wolves. : The man who killed the spirit now lies dead, and he knows it. : *Smiles…* Claim… your… fee… in… knowledge.: He holds out his hand, index finger forward… A spark crackles between you. Visions flash before your eyes – you, using the air to cow your foes… or mastering water to leave them cold and helpless… or watching them fall as the earth moves beneath you. : I’ve always been one for having such an opening act that it leaves my audience breathless, y’know?: He touches the tip of his finger to yours… your mind opens… and a secret of the air implants itself within you. He smiles…: Use… it… well…: He dips his head in thanks, raises his index finger to his temple to say goodbye… then vanishes into the ether. As usual, since Sebille is a bit ahead of everyone else, she got a level up before the rest of the group did. I’m expecting some more EXP in short order, though, so I’m not too hurt for her being ahead of the group. As for Lohse’s reward:  Pressure Spike: Condense all clouds within a target area, dealing medium Air-damage. Douses fire.I guess this is an alright skill if the battlefield is getting fairly foggy with clouds. I can think of better uses for that Memory slot, though.   Among the loot I’ve acquired from my victory: some arrows; some gems; some money; a unique crossbow; some additional lore that tells us what we already knew, but with more words…  … and a really, really nice fire staff. Prince’s current staff gives him +2 Intelligence, and I’m going to miss that – that’s a big buff – but this gives +3 Constitution, and the guy’s been dying left, right, and center the entire time. He could use the boost to his HP.  So, about this guy–  : Please – not now. Something’s wrong in the camp.Oh, he’s not in the mood to talk to me when there are Lone Wolves still alive. That’s a problem with a solution, but that’s for the next update.  Killing the mage’s killer got me experience and a free skill. I wonder what this guy will give me. : You hear the roar of fire, the crack of burnt awnings falling; the spirit stands before you, silent among the wreckage, his skin half-melted down his face.: He turns his gaze toward the corpse of Lone Wolf Pigsbane. His peeping skull cracks into a grin. He turns to you and bows. The spirit’s grin lingers as the spectral flames around him fade. Skin reforms around his skull. He is a handsome man with gentle eyes. He waves and vanishes. No material reward this time, although we got another helping of EXP. Everyone but Sebille is on the very cusp on their next level up; it’s just as likely that I’ll trip over my next hit of it than doing anything else.  One last spirit – well, actually, there are still a few in the sawmill, but this is the last one at the front gate. The others are deeper in the mill and are surrounded by more Lone Wolves. I wonder what this one will give me, if anything.  : You killed him! The villain’s dead. He is gone along with his name. All gone… All gone… All gone… All gone… Nothing at all. A bit of a bummer.  All that’s left is to take Saheila back to the elven encampment just outside of the mill. Luckily, I had the foresight to clear out the minefield first, so it’s just a straight shot from here to there.  A quick walk through the front lawn, and we’re granted a fat 25,950 EXP – more than enough for the rest of us to catch up to Sebille. : We continue – we go on! From here, Saheila takes the charge and runs ahead of me. Not that there’s anything dangerous between where I am and essentially twenty paces ahead.   : My baby! My girl! There you are! : You sound like it’s especially urgent. I’ll take my leave, then.: I long await this moment, Sebille. Finally we speak among tree and kin.: Saheila pats Sebille’s right arm with a warm, motherly smile, but then… then her fingers run across the names tattooed upon her skin, and her blind eyes see it all. She pulls her hand back as if scalded, shock temporarily overpowering her.: My child! What is wrong? : … It’s not often I see you react this strongly about anything, Sebille. Is there anything you need?: You know what it means to be on my skin… The names… They are Scions?: Of course! Your servants; your champions; your worshippers. Do you… Do you not remember, Sebille?: You are the Prime Scion!If Tovah knew that, I wonder why she didn’t bring it up when we first met. : You’re like I am, only far greater. I am but a limb, a branch where once there were many. You: you are the heart. You are the hope for our new homeland. The promise of our future. The very reason we do not give in to despair.: You speak falsehoods! If I were a Scion, I’d know it. I’d feel it with every beat of my heart!: Your heart’s been dulled. You’re confused. You’re conflicted. And all because…: Her darkened eyes scour her body with an uncanny intensity.Her what? She has no eyes, I thought. And even if she did, she’s wearing a blindfold. : All because of this…: She reaches for Sebille’s cheek with a sure hand and softly traces her scar with her thumb. : Such an unspeakable horror, this thing…: I see all now. I figure who you are. The one we fear. The needle in the night. The Scion that is Scion killer. That is who you are, is it not?: Sebille’s eyes close. You can only imagine the scenes of bloody murder she sees in her very own dark.: I… I was forced to.: You cause much grief. Diliana. Kuma. Silius. Mindaran. All the many others on your long lean arm: dead friends. They are dead because you run away. They are dead because you do not want to be the heart! Your fear is how Roost captures you! Your fear is how they scar you! The scar makes you kill Scions. Without Scions, all elves die. If all elves die, the fault is yours!: She grabs her brusquely; forces her face close to Sebille’s.: You remember! My blind eyes make you see! : (I’m no elf, but I know what a weak pair of legs looks like.): You can feel her drawing grateful strength from your support.: I saw it all… Me, the Prime Scion, destined to be the heart that pulses at the centre of all Ancestor Trees. : My own story isn’t too dissimilar. My search for knowledge came with others wanting to use my research for death and domination as well. I understand why you did what you did completely.: She smiles and strokes your cheek.: Thank you.: But we understand not!: We demand you be the heart!: You are the greatest of us all: the Prime Scion. We need you. You must go to the Nameless Isle where the Mother Tree roots. : I understand that this duty of yours to your elven people comes with a gravity that can’t simply be overlooked…: … But they’re suggesting you become an Ancestor Tree when you still have a duty to yourself involving a certain man that you must see through first.: He wants Scions dead. If she is the heart, he is defeated! Doing as we say is vengeance, Sebille!: But it’s not quite the needle.: Sebille is her own calm self again. Her eyes trace a bird of prey, black against blue in the sky.: The Mother, the Master… We’ll see. It is not a decision for today.: But the Nameless Isle awaits! The Great Mother calls you with every breath of wind that rustles through her leaves.: Heed her call, Sebille. It rustles for you. You are a new mother to us all. The heart that beats in our every chest.: To be the heart, or to be heartless, is that it? Wouldn’t count your chickens just yet… Well. That’s quite a lot to digest. It turns out that– : My dearest friend. The one who saves me.: You give us everything.: Thank you for helping me. Without you I am already dead.: You save us all. My girl is back. Our Scion is back.: I know what you need. And I can help you. We can help you.: She crouches down, placing a hand on the earthen ground. : Based on prior experiences, I’ve learned not to trust anything I can’t see with my own two eyes.: You do not understand. The trees are the great wisdom. The great mother guides them. The trees will bring us where we must go. I will link you. You will hear them. They will feed you. Increase the Source in you. Increase the power. : I’m always game for increasing the latent power within myself, but… what, exactly, does it mean when you say I will ‘hear’ them, and they will ‘feed’ me?: A space inside you clears. You have room for more Source. You have room for more… everything. You have room for the whispers of the trees. : … This seems–: Go on.: A thought suddenly enters your mind, though you’re quite certain it isn’t yours. You hear the voice of Zorl-Stissa in your head: ‘Do as she says.’ : … Very well. Let’s see what the wisdom of the elves has in store.: I hold my hand over yours. We breathe together. We call the spirit of the trees to us. Close your eyes. Inhale… and exhale. Inhale… and exhale. Inhale…: With each in-breath, the voices flutter in. Whispers, at first, then gentle murmurs like water over rocks. The wind of the voices enters you as you and Saheila breathe together. It travels down your throat, into your belly, around your heart. Suddenly, your blood runs icy cold – then warms again. : Each breath makes you stronger. The voices fortify you, quicken your pulse, make a space in your heart where – yes – a great power can inhabit you. : This is incredible! I’ve never felt so alive!: … What is this remaining voice that I hear within me? I’m not sure I have room for more guests within the hallowed halls of the temple that is my body.: It is the voice of the trees. Of the mother. It will remain with you, now. I hear it, too – beautiful and strong. Yours will grow, if you let it. It will shrink, if you do not. We are connected now. You and I. You and all our kind.: I give you something, too. A thanks.: Take this spear. It destroys evil. It helps you. : What is next for you and your entourage?: We make arrangements. We travel soon. I must meet… someone who can help us. I say no more than this. But I do wish you good luck. And perhaps we meet again. Some day.: You feel newfound powers of the Source course wildly through your body. Deep inside your soul, your god calls for you. It would be wise to meet with your god again by performing the Meistr’s ritual, here or in Siva’s vault. Rescuing Saheila got us quite a bit more than just some EXP, friendship with the elves, and a ton of plot exposition involving Sebille’s story. It even got us more than all of this Epic-level loot. It got us a brand new Source point – we’ve all gone from one point to two. We can now use either stronger Source spells, or we can use two single-Source-point spells in a fight. Which is pretty great! Fane could use both Thick Of The Fight and Time Warp, or Prince could use Summon Butler and Demonic Stare. And we’ll have a bunch of new skills open and available to us as well, moving forward! As for our reward: we got money; some Epic wizard’s pants; a charm arrow; and a frame for a rune, but this one’s different from the one we got before. The first rune frame that we found in Mordus’ basement with the lich had jagged points on its broad sides; this one is more elegant and smoother all over. The first frame that we found was a Rune Frame of Power, and the bonuses they grant is static based on the type of rune they’re used with. For example, a Frame of Power mixed with a Masterwork rune will always grant bonuses to Strength – although, how strong that bonus is depends on the size of the rune. A Mystic Rune Frame, which is what this is, changes its effect based on what kind of equipment it’s slotted into. If you used this frame with a Masterwork rune and then put it into a weapon, it’d grant bonus Wits. Into armour, it’d grant bonus Constitution. Into jewelry, it’d grant bonus Memory. Frames are crazy useful for a bunch of reasons, and, in my opinion, while they both do different things, one type of frame isn’t necessarily better than the other. I will, however, continue to hoard them until I start coming across Giant runes, since they’re exceptionally rare and can’t be un-crafted once they’re used. As for my choice of reward: they’re all Epic-level stuff, which is nice. Sebille’s good on knives; the bonuses for the boots don’t mix well with Fane’s loadout; and the gloves don’t grant Thievery +2 or whatever silliness Sebille’s gloves grant her. That just leaves the hat, which grants +2 Wits, +1 Warfare, and +1 Pyrokinetic, meaning it’d go very well on Prince. Oh yeah, and we also got that spear from Tovah. Eh, it’s a spear; it doesn’t matter how good it is if I can’t use it.  Unfortunately, the magician’s hood doesn’t give him the funny hat that I was hoping for.  That’s it for this update! No votes this time, unfortunately. Next time, we’ll be looking to clear out the Lone Wolf den, and from there, it’s just a stone’s throw from the Red Princess’ last known location, so we might as well get Prince laid. And after that, it’s back to Siva’s house!
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May 18, 2022 01:32
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Maple Leaf posted:Okay, well, pardon me for trying to instill some camaraderie into our group We had to murder one of our many adorable animal friends, of course group morale took a bit of a knock. Some fun fights this time! And it seems the party are becoming marginally less squishy.
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May 18, 2022 08:14
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Poor one out for Peeper
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May 18, 2022 12:48
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Does Peeper's dad have "I told you so" dialog? But yeah, that was a bit odd to have all the elves dump that on Sebille just now, when you've interacted with all of them before (and I'm pretty sure Sebille was around both times). Also, pretty hard sell on the "we need you to go to this island and die, thanks." I presume that's what they mean by needing her to become the next mother tree.
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May 18, 2022 17:20
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Schwartzcough posted:Does Peeper's dad have "I told you so" dialog? He vanishes as soon as the fight begins and he never returns. If I remember correctly, if you agree to kill Peeper, you have to badger him for a reward, too. I think they're saying that Sebille needs to go to the island and then not move until she dies. It's not like they're offing their own guys as soon as they become Scions. But I could be wrong; the elves can be a bunch of weirdos.
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May 18, 2022 19:27
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Elves being weirdos? Unthinkable! Next you'll tell me dwarves are all miners, metalworkers, and love to drink.
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May 26, 2022 21:21
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Funny enough, in the D:OS2 setting, dwarves are more often seafarers and sneaky rogue types. One of their race perks gives them +1 to Sneaking.
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May 27, 2022 04:48
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