>>6318530
>Race of villagers: human
>Name: Azor
>Gender: male
Regarding type of magic, are the elements water, fire, earth and air? Could you list which elements there are?
>Unique perk: crippled arm, the dwarves forged a prosthetic that allows better mana control and has a powerful bound spell (up to QM what kind of spell)

>>6318697

Sure, we can go with water, fire, earth and air.
Add light and darkness too for extra flavor.

But could be something different as well, if you have something else in mind. (Plants, animals, spirits, demons, metamagic, etc)

Or even the dnd schools of magic (transmutation, conjugation, evocation, etc)

It is up to you really, I left it open ended because each person has their own idea of how magic should function, but usually there is some kind of "elements" of magic that the magician is capable of manipulating.

>>6318697
>>6318825


You are Azor the Magnificent, wizard extraordinaire. You built your tower near the village of Banipool, a decently sized settlement of about three or four thousand people. The villagers hold you in great esteem, for before you decided to settle there, you defeated a horde of monsters that were hellbent in slaughtering the villagers and plundering whatever wealth they could.

What type of magic you used to subdue your enemies?
> specify

After that, you figured you couldn't let the poor villagers undefended, and no one else would be willing to defend them, for the village was far too isolated. Now one might ask, what were you doing in such a god forsaken land? It is a long story.

You arm got crippled during an epic battle against Kryalon, the Many Tentacled Beast. Many of your friends perished, and you were about to perish too, it was only your magic that saved you and helped defeat the creature.

But to this day you bear the scars. Your left arm, which was stung with a powerful toxin, for which there is no known cure, shriveled. Master dwarves, thankful after you go rid of Kryalon, and already experienced with injuries from the beast, agreed to forge for you a prostetic. They made it so that it allows you to better control the mana - siphoning large amounts from the terrain at once, or releasing it as a massive mana burst if you do so uncontrolled or as a more potent version of some spell you know if you do it properly. When you do siphon the mana from the environment, sensitive or magical creatures can physically feel themselves being drained. If you do so for long enough or often enough, plants die and animals get increasingly sick. Though there is no clear limits for you abilities, your arcane calculations indicate that the mana you siphon comes from an area roughly two miles in diameter around the point where you activate your prostetic arm.

The arm serves yet another purpose - you are still poisoned by the Kryalon venom and will certainly die from it. But the arm, if currently powered, causes you to Regenerate. It is barely enough to contain the damage from the poison, but if you are further injured or the poison begins to overtake you for some reason, you can drain a lot of mana and pump it into your Regeneration ability to regenerate you further. If you touch someone, you can instead regenerate them, although this spends ridiculous amounts of mana - things start dying all around you when you do so, and if the environment doesn't have enough mana available, the process simply fails. The longest you managed to regenerate someone was one full minute, but that's usually enough to heal most people. When you did it, a good chunk of a forest around you withered and died.

The venom of the Kryalon will eventually kill you and turn you into a mindless creature under the control of the Kryalon. If the kryalon is dead - what seems to be the case - you will instead turn into the Kryalon yourself, for the creature is Immortal.

>>6318867

Everyone who was ever poisoned by the Kryalon can become a kryalon. The poison changes part of your being and attunes your mind to that of the kryalon. The mental control of the creature is broken while it is dead - last time when it died, all its remaining mindslaves fell to the ground convulsing, and everyone poisoned including you received a powerful psychic blast. It is truly an otherwordly horror.

You traveled far and wide looking for a way to cure the poison. You heard this region, that is strategically placed near a swamp, a forest, a desert and some mountains, holds the secret. It was once an elvish sanctuary, before the elves were driven away. There are elvish ruins all over the place. You hope that inside one of these ruins there might be the cure or at least a hint leading you to a way of preventing your death and stopping the Kryalon's reign of terror.

The dwarves have the custom of burning the bodies of all who die, so that they don't get up and become another Kryalon. The powerful poison resistance of the dwarves means many of them are carriers of the poison, but show no symptoms right up until they die. Whereas a human would turn immediately, a dwarf would take about three days after dead to begin the transformation into a Kryalon. It is safe to assume the dwarves won't let the kryalon spawn in their lands again, maintaining their burning custom. But as for you - you could become one at any point. All that is necessary is for you to die. And the poison is actively trying to kill you, all day, everyday.

So as to not exaust the supply of mana of any given place - which would be fatal for you - you can't stay in one place for too long, unless that place has a massive amount of mana that can sustain your Regeneration.

So you purpose built your tower to tap into the mana reserves of the magical leylines of the world. These mana reserves are precious, and highly sought after by powerful wizards. If one such wizard discovers you are tapping on those reserves, he will probably try to kill you to get the magic for himself.

So you have to defend your tower agains the ambitions of other wizards, who would use this magic for other purposes.

Distinctly, while you are within two miles of your tower, the vegetation doesn't die when you siphon mana. Instead, a barely visible beam of light comes straight from it towards your prostetic arm, powering it. You have access to all the magic of the elves from this forest now that you've built your tower, and as such your errant days are over - there is more than enough for you to live here comfortably.

Still, one day you will die, and your body will turn into Kryalon, what could cause a massive cataclysm in the area. The dwarves, hardened by countless generations fighting this creature, barely managed to contain it. Humans have no chance.

If you do leave the vicinity of your tower, however, you have to keep moving, otherwise you'll exaust the mana of the region fairly quickly.

>>6318869

Now it comes down to what you want to do to improve your odds of survival.

You could search the ruins yourself, or organize the villagers and send some of them to search it for you. You could try to attract a hero, with promise of payment, to do this for you. You could hire mercenaries, you could start an army, and in any case you will need to figure out a way to acquire some money if you want to do anything expensive.

Right now you don't ask any money from the villagers, but if you are so inclined you are powerful enough to impose a tithe upon them.

If your ambitions require expansion, this whole area is largely uninhabitted. You could attract settlers, with the right story.

You could also contact an organization - a kingdom, a magician guild, a mercenary guild. They would extend their support, but would also demand contributions.

You have some treasure from your times as adventurer - about 10,000 gold.

What do you want to do next? Please specify some details.

> Search the elvish ruins yourself
> Organize the villagers to search the ruins
> Attract a hero to do your bidding
> Hire mercenaries to do your bidding
> Start an army to defend your people
> Attract settler to populate the region
> Contact an organization
> Write in

>>6318867
>Gas Magic: you specialize in aerosolizing and directing metamaterials, for alchemically-diverse effects across wide areas. A bit of low-level wind magic, water magic, and temperature-control spells all help, but potioncraft is your real speciality.

>>6318874
>>6318893
> Contact an organization
Let's offer some experts firstpick of the other loot, and a generous finder's fee, if they help us locate a cure. Plsu we can aid the expedition!

>>6318893
>>6318896


You recall now! It was your powerful Gas Magic which was the demise of the Kryalon. You employed all your craft, with acidic mists, poisoned mists and all sorts of incapacitant gases on the creature to no effect. It seemed as if your magic couldn't harm it at all. But in the final battle, you brought a large amount of potions of Kryalonbane, a rare mushroom that the dwarves greatly prized and used to protect their most sacred places, and created a massive deadly mist of the thing. It didn't kill the Kryalon, but certainly caused it to fear for its life, for it attacked you relentlessly from then on, losing focus on the rest of the battle, allowing for your companions to deal the decisive blow.

Pondering about the battle, you realize that such a powerful creature is too much to handle alone. You decide to contact a powerful organization, to help you best deal with these dire circunstances. Writing a letter offering first pick of the loot and a generous finder's fee, you send an invitation to join your mission for a cure for:

> The local monarch, King Aethernus III, an old and wise man who probably know your reputation as a powerful wizard already. It shouldn't be difficult to get him to help. He could probably offer you some knights. But he might also send some posh noble family to live in your lands, saying they have an ancient claim or some such nonsense.

> The wizad guild. You know a guy called Gamma who is into necromancy, he supplied you potion ingredients before, he is in contact with a vast network of magicians all over the continent. If anyone knows of a cure, it would be these guys. However, you will most certainly invite unwanted attention to your newly built tower and its mana siphoning properties.

> The Rushsteel, a mercenary band, lead by Krieger, a veteran of hundreds of battles. These guys are hardened, and will fight for coin. They might harass your villagers though - too long into the fray, they lost any qualms about such pointless things as consent, they just take whatever they want.

> Write in

>>6318903
>> The local monarch, King Aethernus III, an old and wise man who probably know your reputation as a powerful wizard already. It shouldn't be difficult to get him to help. He could probably offer you some knights. But he might also send some posh noble family to live in your lands, saying they have an ancient claim or some such nonsense.

>>6318903
> The local monarch, King Aethernus III, an old and wise man who probably know your reputation as a powerful wizard already. It shouldn't be difficult to get him to help. He could probably offer you some knights. But he might also send some posh noble family to live in your lands, saying they have an ancient claim or some such nonsense.
Hey neat, a tax base and/or clientele for our services

>>6318940
>>6318942

King Aethernus, the wise monarch! You remember doing quests for some of his nobles in the beginning of your career, so he might be aware of you. You send a courier with some choice potions as a gift and a well penned letter describing the heinous nature of the Kryalon, and how it could surface at any moment to wreak massive havoc upon his kingdom. You give it an urgent tone about how finding a cure is absolutely essential to ensure the safety of the realm.

As you wait for the missive to finds its way to the palace, you stay busy organizing your tower. You put everything in its proper place and assemble your Alchemical Laboratory.

You realize you can make about 200 gold per month just by selling potions that you can make on your downtime (spending maybe a couple hours a day tending to alchemical equipment). That may not be an incredible sum by kingdom standards, but should ensure you will have enough to buy your bare necessities, and maybe staff your tower, if you can settle for living modestly instead of lavishly. You could sell more, but that would require further expansion - there simply aren't enough customers in the area to get more income than that. For now, that should do.

You realize you need to do some logistics work to get it to print your money for you: set up a shop in the nearby village to sell your potions, look for some apprentices that could help you with your alchemy, hire some small time adventurers to find components for you. If you could find a proper alchemist to work for you, you could even have the whole thing running without you having to bother about anything. But since finding one is unlikely, and training one might take a decade, you're stuck running this if you want any income at all.

What kind of arrangement will you make for your shop?

> Buy a small shop for 1,000 gold
> Buy a large shop for 3,000 gold
> Rent a small shop for 20 gold per month
> Rent a large shop for 50 gold per month
> Write in

Also, name the shop and choose who you want to be the face of your store.

> Hire an old lady to run your shop
> Hire a young lady to run your shop
> Hire an old man to run your shop
> Hire a young man to run your shop
> Write in

Also how actively you wanna adventurers to be digging around for components for you?

> Just enough to supply a small shop
> Plenty to supply a large shop
> More than you could reasonably use so you can stock up
> Write in

>>6318950
> Buy a small shop for 1,000 gold
People who want our best wares can come to our tower and beg our favor with gifts. We're worth it.

> Hire an old lady to run your shop
Can't trust young thots, always tying to seduce young men away from becoming wizards by stealing their virile arcana in their twenties.

> Just enough to supply a small shop

>>6318950
> Buy a small shop for 1,000 gold
> Hire a young lady to run your shop
> Just enough to supply a small shop

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6318965 1
>>6318982 2

>>6318965
>>6318982
>>6319100


You find a good location right by the town center and buy a small shop for 1,000 gold. You spend some time furbishing it and interviewing people for work there. A bright young lady called Clara seems promising, specially because she knows how to read and write, so you begin teaching her about the potions and their effects and how to keep the sales books up to date. You stock up the store and once a week she shows up to grab a batch of potions and to show you the books so you know how much profit you are getting. Once a month she brings you the actual profits of the store.

The courier you sent to the king returns! A figure in black robes riding a black horse comes together with him.

Removing the hood, you notice it is a bald woman, with a very pale face, her whole head littered with complex looking red tattoo marks.

"Greeting, Magnificent Azor. King Aethernus sent me. I am Bella, the Inquisitor. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am here to investigate the rumors about a creature called Kryalon. I was told you know much about it. I'm interested in hearing your side of the story."

You invite the inquisitor for some tea and explain how you ended up poisoned by the Kryalon, the effects of the poison, and how you need mana and your regenerative magic arm just to survive. She seems very interested in the whole story.

Once you're done talking, she says:

"We thought this creature was a myth. Our book mention it, though out ancestors call it simply Mortuus. The story says there was an outbreak of the Mortuus mind plague in the kingdom twelve centuries ago. The people turned into mindless killing machines at the slightest touch of the Mortuus. No known magic could revert it. Even when our knights killed the Mortuss, one of the poisoned creatures would just raise as a new Mortuss within minutes. Entire villages had to be sacrificed."

"Sacrificed?"

"Yes. The book says they had to burn entire villages, to stop the plague. The way it was contained was the High Priestess at the time, Solana, asked for the deities blessing and magnified the light of the sun to the point it burned everything. She personally hunted down the creature and killed it again and again and again with the powerful solar burning divine magic. It is said the creature escaped underground and was never seen again."

"Anyone can cast such a spell today?"

"Unfortunately, no. It was a divine gift to Solana for her boundless devotion, received in a time of need. Though localized versions of the spell can be easily cast, the all encompassing area effect one is beyond the reach of current day Sun worshippers. Maybe the current high priestess could do it, but I doubt it. The gods aren't as active in mortal affairs as they used to be."

"So you don't know about a cure then?"

"Well, there is no known cure. Maybe the elves knew something about it. If we can locate one of their underground libraries, and do enough research, we could figure out if they knew it."

>>6319105

"As a stop gap measure, I'd like to cover you head to toe in burial pyre magical sigils."

"And what does it do?"

"When you die, you'll catch fire instantly, what should deny the creature the ability to spawn from your corpse."

"Wait, what?"

"Yes. We can't afford to have a ticking time bomb wandering around and do nothing about it. Unfortunately, the magical inks necessary for such a sigil are in very short supply. However, this region has most of the components that are necessary for creating these inks, and the rest can be source at a modest cost from overseas."

"I'll think about that."

"Think very carefully. For there is still another problem about this region. What do you think drove out the elves?"

"I didn't think about it."

"It was the combined threat of a lich and a demon. Both of them are immortal, but as far as I'm aware, the demon has been banished and cannot return unless a very gruesome ritual involving sacrificing several elves can be performed. The lich was defeated repeatedly, but its phylactery was never located. It is possible he is still active in this region somewhere."

"Oh, great. A demon and a lich."

"I'd like to investigate the place where the demon was last summoned. It is deep underground, in a sacred chamber of the elves called Underroot. It is probably a good idea to try to find evidence of the lich activity in this area as well."

What would you like to do first?
> Search for the elvish library
> Search for components for the magical ink
> Search for the chamber of Underroot
> Search for the lich and signs of its activities
> Write in

Will you invite the Inquisitor to stay at your tower?
> Yes
> No

Will you hire adventurers to go do the searching for you?
> Yes
> No
> Write in

>>6319108
>Search for components for the magical ink
> Yes
> No

>>6319108
> Search for components for the magical ink
Let's not plan for failure... But these runes sound handy, and it will be a good test-adventure for our hirelings.

> Yes
> Yes

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6319397 1
>>6319424 2

>>6319397
>>6319424
>>6319473

"Well, we should start planning the search for these components right away. I understand that I pose a big danger to people out there in case I die unexpectedly, so I expect you to stick around and keep an eye on me. Would you like to stay in my tower while you're in town?"

"That would be delightful.", says the Inquisitor, "I appreciate your no nonsense attitude. Yes, this really is the most pressing matter. I will show you what we need and then we can depart at your earliest convenience to search for the components."

She returns to her horse and grab something that looks like a large rollmat. Once she unrolls it, however, its true nature is revealed - a portable alchemical kit, with lots of strange magical components carefully labelled in sturdy flasks and fastened onto the malleable fabric. She produces a number of scrolls and shows you detailed drawings of several different plants, parts of animals and minerals.

"Most of the minerals can be found in the local desert. Most of the plants in the local swamp. The forest could probably supply the most exotic animals. A few things can't be sourced locally at all and will take longer to arrive. I hope that by the time they arrive we will have everything else we need."

The peasants inform you about a tribe of gnolls that settled on the outskirts of the forest, far to the west. Some local hunters chanced upon them and barely made it back alive. The west beyond the forest is largely untamed wilderness, monster territory, so attempting to erradicate them is futile. But that doesn't mean one shouldn't set some clear boundaries.

The locals tend to avoid the swamp, because often times people that enter its depths do not return. Still, some old people fish there, and there's even some crazy folks who live there full time, at the outskirts.

The desert is also avoided, because it is deadly and some of its oasis are guarded by territorial monsters. However, some merchants risk their lives travelling through the desert, for on the other side there are extremelly valuable things to trade for.

Where would you like to search first?
> Desert
> Forest
> Swamp
> Write in

>>6319479
> Forest

>>6319489


You leave your tower with the Inquisitor to explore the forest looking for components for the magical ink.

As the days turn to weeks, you find an old man.

He says he is called Trupo, and he's a druid.

With his help, you map out the forest in several sectors:

The Boa Sector: this area has lots of snakes
The Wolf Den: this area has lots of wolves
The Deery: deer population is high
Grazed Lands: deer probably been here recently, everything been eaten and is regrowing. You suspect the deer migrate back and forth.
Aboleth Lake: for some reason, there is an aboleth living there, the place is full of zombies
Stone Field: a massive elvish graveyard
The Caves: a vast network of caves, they all look interconnected, there are deformed humans living inside
The Gnoll Patch: an outskirt of the forest claimed by the gnolls
Werewolf Tribe: a tiny werewolf tribe lives deep within the woods. They are territorial.
The Mistress: a very out of place looking manor in the middle of the forest, home to a lone vampire lady. She doesn't mind receiving guests for dinner.

You want three specific components:

Firespider Silk: there might be firespiders underground. The most promising places are the Caves and the Aboleth Lake. The vampire might know of a better path.

Otyugh Heart: there things are smart and very elusive. They eat shit and roam at night, hiding during the day. Any sector of the forest might have them, but as soon as you spot one they will read your mind and start avoiding you because you want to kill it.

Giant Hornet Queen Stinger: you haven't located the giant hornet hive, but you saw a few giant hornets flying around. You suspect it is in the Wolves sector, but you could be wrong.

Decide on a sector and a strategy to find your quarry!
> Specify

>>6319524
>Let's ask the Mistress about firespider silk

>>6319767

You ready to the manor in the forest to go meet the vampire lady. The druid does not approve of this course of action, and telling you to take care, part ways.

Though there is no trail leading there, it isn't particularly difficult to find it. In a quiet part of the forest, the building sticks like a sore thumb.

A quick inspection of the manor reveals all windows are barred from within. There are three floors above ground, making the manor soar higher than the treeline. Four gargoyle statues adorn the top of the building.

You knock on the door a few times, but unsurprisingly noone answers.

"If she is really a vampire then perhaps it isn't a good idea to try to barge in during the day. At minimum we'd be misinterpreted", you say.

"Well, if you want to be diplomatic with a vampire, then sure, let's wait for night time."

You set up camp in front of the manor and wait until nightfall before knocking on the door again,

This time the answer comes rather quickly. A young looking maid opens the door.

"What business do you have with the Mistress?", she asks.

"We are looking for firespider silk, we wondered if she know where we could find some."

"Wait here, I'll ask the Mistress.", she says, before locking the door again.

After about half an hour she returns.

"The Mistress will meet you. C'mon in."

You enter the vampire's manor and the inside is very stylish - many paintings, statues and armor stands ornament all the rooms you pass through. You're taken to a large library and told to wait. The maid offers you some tea, which you and the Inquisitor refuse.

The room is dimly lit by candle light. There is a pile of books by the recliner you were told to wait by. You can't help it so you grab one book and start reading.

It is a very dense story of political intrigue. You then put it back.

The one they call mistress shows up after a few minutes. She's very attractive, wearing a lacy black dress.

"Hello there. I am Asa Lorelei, the mistress of this manor. It is not often that I receive visitors. I was told you are after firespider silk? Unfortunately I don't have a stockpile of such item, though I do know where to obtain some. What is it you need it for?"

"I've been poisoned by a monster called Kryalon, which will emerge out of my dead body after I'm deceased. To prevent that, we wish to make magical tattoos that will cause my body to combust instantaneously in case I die. To create it, we need several rare components, one of them being this rare silk."

"Ah! The strangest tale. Now it makes sense. There are some such spiders in the tunnels below, rather annoying critters. To get to them, you'd have to go through troglodyte territory though..."

"Troglodyte?"

"The deformed humans that inhabit the caves. They very rarely leave and they fear the light. If you bring enough fire, they may not harass you. But beware, they will try to kill your lights and devour you."

"I was hoping you'd know of an easier way than through the caves..."

>>6319853

"I do in fact know of a better path. But it is shrouded in secrecy, and not an information I'm willing to give out lightly, for it pertains to my very own safety within these lands. I have many enemies and if they learn of these secret paths they may use them against me."

"Please tell us, Mistress Lorelei! Braving the dark against an unknown large number of troglodytes trusting only they will be scared of our torches don't sound like a good idea."

"Very well, I will show you the path. But first, you must defeat one of my enemies for me. His name is Solkan. He is a construct that lives underground. He can shoot a beam of magical sunlight which burns anyone in sight. He's been hunting me for some perceived slight. If you can destroy him and bring proof, I will lead you to your spider."

"And where can we find this Solkan?"

"I tossed him down a deep well and he sank. The well is connected to a sealed cave system. He's probably still trapped there. There is nothing else in there. If he wasn't a construct, he'd probably be dead already. But there is always the risk he will figure out a way to escape. I don't have a reliable way to destroy him. The well is about a mile from here, to the north. It is covered by a large stone."

What will you do next?
> Specify