>>6367853

...and that currently means you're following your verdant guide, the spirit Lady Ghesha, who remains tactfully quiet as you scowl at the path before you both. She doesn't look back, doesn't make conversation, just smoothly makes her way down the cleared path. Maybe it's frustration that's built up but you want to break the silence.

You clear your throat, catching her attention and speed up a little so that you end up walking nearly beside her. "That was an enlightening," you say dryly, "not much better than what I could've already guessed from with the context you gave me though."

"Oh?" Her tone is polite but you can tell that's it. Only polite. She doesn't sound interested, but you continue anyways.

"Well, of course! Somehow this Change spirits is tampering with the lives of the mountain goers and it's freaking out everyone who lives remotely near the barrier. Your leader, charming as they are, has decided to warn me, a Totemist who lives on that very mountain, that my neighbors are deciding how they should...how did they put it? Raze the land? Yes, that was it. Raze the land. The only thing I've really learned is that spirits around the mountains seem fine with the idea of destroying my homeland." Your voice doesn't raise but you've begun to hiss a little as you resist grinding your teeth. The dragons you were sure already had eyes on burning your village to the ground but it just couldn't end there could it.

Is this what Oranya spent all those years you studied in boredom handling? No, otherwise she'd have known about Change and the rest. Either way, you hunch a little as you follow Ghesha.

"It's quite the predicament." She notes, politely as she has always been. "Though simply stopping this malignant spirit from contaminating more life around your mountains should end the entire issue outright, would it not? Forgive me for overstepping my bounds to offer you advice, Sir Totemist, but your goal is simple in concept...though not as much in method."

While contemplating, the walk continues until you reach a massive wall of ivy and thick bushy hedge. Ghesha waves an arm and an opening appears in front of the two of you and seems only big enough for one person. Ghesha wordlessly ushers you towards it and politely bows, but before you step through it you stop and give Ghesha herself a look over.

"Were we Woodwalking the entire way? You definitely aren't just some regular dryad maid, are you."

The ghost of a smile comes and Ghesha resumes her bowing. "I'm afraid you are, as they say, barking up the wrong tree, Sir Totemist. I am but a guide in service of my Lady and Lord, to watch over the Young Lady Ekasta. If you wish to meet the more fantastical of the spirits of the forest, the I'm afraid we've left them far behind in the deepest parts of the Wood."

>Cont

>>6367870

Your eyes check her over again and your mind picks over the details of everything you've seen and heard her do and say. No low ranked forest nymph can just bend the wood to her wishes and a tree-locked
dryad even less so. To be trusted enough to guard and teach another spirit means she's important, but you don't know how much.

You keep your expression still and nod before you take a step through the opening. It's sudden and slightly shakes you but you stand facing away from an old tree just outside of a wide open field that spreads out towards a village you don't recognize. You fish out the map, glancing this way and that on the paper before your eyes spot just one village near the edges of the large green territory of the forest and breath a sigh of relief that it's your destination.

You roll the map back up and place it side of your travel bag and listen up for any signs of trouble while you monitor the distance like a Lord Hawk.

>Roll 1d100 no DC. Best of 3

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>6367873

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>6367853
Don't forget to archive the last thread
>>6367873

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>6367873

>>6368024
Working on it now. Also expect quest tomorrow, I've been watching the olympics with family and setting up sprite work commissions so that I can have some financial cushion

>>6367873
>>6368449

You're not too familiar with the usual condition of the village but it doesn't seem to be terribly worse for wear if you had to be honest. A few walls seemed a little banged up around the perimeter fortifications, some bits of the field torn up from what looks to be something like a beast having clawed it, but not much that would suggest the dragons themselves had been the issue or things would have been much worse. You don't smell any blood, see any smoke or even hear any commotion so the best thing you can do at the moment is to carefully approach and let yourself be known.

What you do notice is that the claw markings and damage doesn't seem to be deep into the surface from where you are. A closer look would make things apparent.

And you notice a guard sliding out from behind a raised section, facing your way if you aren't mistaken.

>68

And you see the arrow fly out into the air, silent as can be, just before you bolt right and wave frantically at him.

"HEY!" You yell as you run away from the trajectory of the arrow. You think you get maybe twenty paces away from your previous spot and hear the arrow slam into the ground. You raise a hand to indicate for them to stop and take a quick glance to find that it had landed just in front of where you stood before. Maybe not a warning shot. If you'd continued to walk forward it would have gone through your chest. "BY THE SPIRITS, I'M FRIENDLY! DON'T SHOOT!"

You curse yourself for not having a shield binding at the ready and you can only hope your boots can keep you moving fast enough if they decide you don't need another chance.

"I'M NOT HERE TO ATTACK! WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING FOR?!"

The archer lower their bow and raises a fist up, then lowering it slowly. Standard gesture to indicate others not to fire, at least how you were taught it, and sure enough there are more archers that step out from behind barriers and don't aim their bows at you.

"Not a step closer, you hear?" Calls out a man's voice, roughly in his twenties if you had to make a guess, and signals for the others to stay ready with a quick wave of his arm.

"Ok," you call back, not willing to risk a rain of arrows after coming all this way. "I just wanted to ask a few questions, I've heard there was some trouble this way and I've been asked to check in!"

The man is silent and then waves for someone to come up to him and they talk for a minute, about what you really have no idea, before letting them rejoin the other archers.

>Etc

(Finger is numb at the tip but seems fine for now)

>>6369228

He stared at you for some time, you bet he's measuring his distance for another shot if you decide to make yourself look like a deserving target, and calls back again. "On who's business?"

"My teacher, Oranya Skystrike, Totemist of the near mountains."

Some groups of archers get to talking when you announce yourself, but they have good discipline not to take their focus off you completely. You can tell from here that they haven't turned away from you. The first archer thankfully doesn't raise his bow and fire at you so there's a chance they know about the mountain but have a calm head about them.

"You're a bit late if you came to deal with that walking bone bonfire. Hard to believe you'd come now after it had plenty of time to destroy the whole village."

"Yes," you admit. "I heard it was approaching before it was...dealt with."

The lead archer is silent again.

"So why are you here then?" He asks.

>State your business
>Keep the matter of the dragons a secret?
>Lie
>Try to keep to the forest's edge and circle around the perimeter

>>6369234
>Dragons. Plural.

>>6369234
>State your business

>>6369525
+1

>>6369316
The archer is referring to the behemoth that was roaming around before it was killed by the dragons.

Also, feeling has fully returned to the finger and I have been job searching with some success so things should stabilize enough for a regular updating pattern soon. I apologize for the scattered timeframes so far.

Writing

>>6370385
Disregard this clarification. I was confused as to the intent of the wording.

>>6369234

Tensions remain as you look out over the field and weigh your options, but ultimately there's only one real choice her to make if you don't want to learn if any of your bindings would be good to block a rain of twenty or so arrows. You raise both hands to gesture that you mean no harm and answer.

"My teacher, Oranya Skystrike, tasked me with checking in on your village. I don't know all the details, but she has gave the impression that something might have happened involving the dragons. I trust you know some of them have been flying around, on a patrol if the spirits haven't lied to me."

The archers talk a little amongst themselves again, not at any volume you can hope to hear but you can tell they're a little antsy about whatever it is they're saying. The leader however is calm and steady but his posture stiffens and his grip on the bow hasn't really relaxed. You need more information on the relationship between this village and the dragons.

"Let's say you're not lying. Let's say you're able to talk to the spirits, they've told you dragons are around, and they're on patrols no less. What does that mean for you and your teacher?"

"...I wouldn't say we and the dragons have been on the best terms. It's not common, but there's been raids before from their side of the mountains. I'd like to know what they're doing with a patrol route curling around the mountain towards our side, but my teacher works to keep the barrier strong."

There's a minute or so of tense silence and you're happy to find that the archers don't decide that a visitor is not really welcome at this time.

>Cont

>>6370389

"So you really are from over on the western range then? If you can talk to the spirits that would make you and your teacher the Totemists of the mountains."

"Aye," you call back and lower your hands slowly. "I'm really just here to see why we haven't been able to communicate with your village and see what this business with the dragon patrol is about. I haven't really gotten the best impression about them so far, you see."

"...I do see. Fine then, come up to the gate and keep your hands away from anything magic and don't do anything silly with those boots. You can unbind whatever you've got mixed into your gear there. I'll meet you shortly."

Nevermind the fact this archer knows how Totemists wield the power of spirits, you're a bit intrigued by how this archer knew you had a binding with your boots. Maybe you can get it out of him.

________________

Soon enough, you've walked up to the gate and it creaks open his wife enough for you to slip through to find that a small squad of archers and spearmen are there to greet you. With no sudden moves, you begin to unbind your spirits after warning the guards of the resulting flashes and collect all your foci into your travel bag. One of the spearmen comes up and reaches for your bag but a familiar voice calls him back.

The lead archer is there behind the group, a small stick burning in his mouth and looking you over, especially around the area of your chest. You've got everything unbound and it's where Xandin's gemstone rests on a necklace, so it's getting easier to figure out that he must be spiritually aware. Not initiated like you are in the Totemist ways perhaps, but something about him gives you the impression he must be closer to the spiritual than normal humans.

You out your hand forward and look him in the eyes. "Capran. Totemist of the western range."

With a huff, the man strolls forward and easily through the row of his fellow guards. "Gull Treat. Lead ranger and the closest this village has to any shaman."

You both shake hands and take note of each other's grip. He meets your strength easily and nobody looks away or backs down first until the five second mark where you both release at the same time.

He knows the regular guard shake, and if he knows it then he'd know your tells for if you're looking for some kind of giveaway. But that also means you might know if any of the guards were to get angling for a position if you later had trouble.

"Well Capran. What would a western range Totemist like to check around first?"

Business first, eh?

>Do you have any unusual problems with monsters?
>Do the spirits come here often? Do they ask anything of your village?
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?

Please choose one

>>6370402
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?
We didn't see random patches of ash on the way here, so I doubt there's an urgent issue. Still, it's important to stay consistent with our purpose.

>>6370402
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?

>>6370402
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?
________________

"I'll get right to it then. I'm here on business to check around and figure out the reason for the weird amount of dragon activity in the area. I know about the situation on the mountain and why it has the spiritual side of things all riled up, but I've got no real clue what else. Has anything happened to more mundane creatures? Any mutations you've noticed around the land?"

He remains quite for some time while looking you over again and it doesn't take any genius to figure out that the question has some of the guards on edge, clearly nobody here is really enjoying the presence of the flying terrors, but nobody saves for the leader cares to be part of the questioning.

Eventually the leader speaks again and it's not good news.

"We've only heard the stories, the occasional spirit that comes towards the village warning us to never cross into the mountains. It's several days away so we've been fine to leave things over there well enough alone, but at night...you start to worry. Only enough eyes to watch so many places, and to be honest, we've been having a bit of trouble with beasts and monsters of our own."

"None mutated though?" You press, and the shake of the archers head has you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.

"Whatever kind of cage you have around your mountain, it works miracles. We're not close enough to see anything like the monsters we hear about from over there, but we're not too keen on venturing around. What with the dragons circling around it and all, we're just close enough to be cautious."

"No peculiar patterns to the monsters? I'm happy to help sort that out with you if you'd like some assistance."

You think you see a little spark of hope go around the crowd, some villagers that are wandering towards you all overhearing and quickly walking up to stand behind the guards. They look tired, hungry as well...

>Roll 1d100+10 for perception

DC55

Rolled 48 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6371298
hungry? That's concerning.

>>6371298

>58

You don't know how you could have possibly missed this but you recall that you hadn't seen any sort of fruits or vegetables growing in the fields you passed. You hadn't even considered the fields other than where it seemed that some beasts had clawed around and left a mess. The archer picks up on your realization but remains silent, choosing to just wait for you.

"...how long has it been since you've had trouble with the beasts?"

"It's been a while, Totemist. Some months now "

Nothing good you can figure out just from that alone and a sinking suspicion crawls up your back as you consider...

"The dragons are eating all your game, aren't they."

Gull isn't in the mood to give that a fast answer but he relents and nods. "Some months now."

You grit your teeth and fight not to growl. No wonder they all looked hungry. No doubt a single dragon could clear their livestock in mere days. The area must be nearly picked clean then, so no wonder you found a few around the forest where the spirit courts reside. They'd probably been changing their hunting grounds along the patrol route in rotations. The math is simple enough. A whole elk or two per day at least, per dragon, and then go by the months and how MANY dragons there might be.

The village has probably been exhausting itself just trying to survive on crops, but you've got a feeling that can't go on any longer.

"Gull...how long has it been since you had enough meat to keep the women and children healthy? How many dragons have you seen patrolling the routes?"

He tilts his head up and to the side just ever so slightly and seems to gaze into the distance, and his answer chills you.

"At least a dozen. It's gotten easy enough to tell them all apart I can say that for certain."

He looks at you directly now, a hollow look in his eyes that you didn't catch until now.

"Capran. You've come at the worst and best time for the Totemists of the mountain. If there is any way at all you can help us, we need it. Despera--"

Gull's words are cut off by the roar of a great, ferocious beast that you couldn't possibly mistake. You whirl, already knowing what it was and you see it off into the distance where the clouds were thick over the spirit forest.

A dragon, flanked by others. The same three that were in the forest you came upon.

"SHIT!"

>Run. Maybe they're after you and will leave the village alone.
>Stand your ground. You're a Totemist, not a fugitive.
>Hide yourself, the dragons might leave if they don't see you but are chasing you.
>Bind a spirit into something and prepare for conflict

>>6371346
>Bind the grass shoes
Not obviously for combat because only xandin will be even slightly viable against multiple dragons on a solo binding fight, but enough to draw the dragons away from the village. Pretty dangerous for Capran's health though.

The commander mask is also an option, but rallying the villagers might just get them killed.

>>6371346
>>6371356 +1

>>6371356
+1

>>6371346

No time to waste!

You focus on a binding to keep you mobile more than anything and so far you've come to rely on the Grasscarpet Crawler binding for just that so far, so you immediately fish the foci from your sack and press it against your boots and yell out the binding rite. The flash comes and you hear the roar from the dragons, much closer now, come. No doubt they saw it and probably felt the spiritual energy from in the sky so there's no point trying for some element of surprise now.

As for the guards, Gull has them rally further away from the gate and orders everyone into a bunker of some kind. The villagers are fleeing further away from the gate so no doubt it would thankfully be away from any conflict, but there's no telling what kind of damage the dragons could do if it came to that. From what you've learned about their kind, some could breath out storms, most fire, and a rare few could call forth metal dust to overtake the area. No real way for you to know which kind these three are, but you'd be happy if it didn't have to come to you personally finding out.

>You have equipped the Field Sprinter binding!

Honestly, your choice of binding is probably the safest.

Xandin Arre has a truly infamous reputation with the dragons after all, and maybe even with the entire dragon race as a whole! It's hard to imagine they wouldn't have some way to sniff her out if she ever happened to be nearby, and you can only hope that being in a dormant foci meant there was a better chance at keeping her concealed. You guess you'd find out one way or another.

York, Behr and Fawl would be good too but the latter hasn't had a boot binding tested and going with a known binding could be the saving factor you need.

The dragons are coming much closer now anyways and have begun to dive towards the village gate. Not enough time to bind another spirit and only enough to prepare to bolt, maybe lure them away, if need be.

You've begun to realize how much you relied on your full load out, and your teacher when you had just a single binding, and it irks you that you feel so naked and weak without that power. The fears are banished when you recall that you're a guard yourself.

You trained hard; in the rain, the snow, the hot summer too! What guardsman would you be if you trembled now?

As the first of the three dragons break their dive with a flap of their wings, you stare them dead in the eye as they land, claws digging deep into the wood of the village barrier, and keep your mind sharp when the trio all gather themselves and climb down to the ground to meet you all.

>Cont

>>6371893

Three sets of bright reptilian eyes scan the area and converge on you and those around. They're undeniably large predators, wings folding in to allow a gripping claw to dig into the dirt like some kind of monstrous bats crawling on the earth. Fangs as sharp as you remember them being when you first saw one of their kind and scales reflecting light like polished armor. One or two marks on their hides like a long gash that's mended itself, but you couldn't guess as to what it came from. If you're lucky, you wouldn't have to find out if you would be able to cut deep enough to give them all marks that wouldn't heal up so nicely.

The apparent leader of the bunch takes a low stance and prowls closer to you, sniffing a bit and letting a deep growl ripple out from the throat. As it gets closer, the others move towards you and the others and spread out enough that you recognize it as a partial flanking formation. These things are definitely not here for some routine patrol stop. No doubt they know you aren't from around these parts too.

________________
Pretentious snake spawn, undeserving of their reputation as any rightful power should have proper claim. How dare they behave as some protector when they see fit to surround you and coerce us the moment they see fit? I should have had their miserable king's corpse slaughter as many of his misbegotten kind as possible.
________________

'Easy now,' you think to Xandin as her bloodlust stews in her connection. You have no doubt if you bound her to an actual sword it would literally sing for the dragons' blood right now. 'There's an entire village around us. Nothing would survive if these three decided to launch an attack from the air. Maybe not even use and I don't like the chances.'

Xandin seems to growl through the link between you two and settles back down enough for you to ease up your own clenched hand. You thankfully didn't draw blood but relaxing your hand is more difficult than it should be.

She is ferociously hungry to kill these dragons, who seem to be communicating to each other through growls and grunts.

You should say something, make sure they know you aren't here to cause trouble, but you could choose to draw them away in case they aren't up for talking. No way to know what the right move is.

>Announce yourself as Totemist of the Western Mountain range. Peaceful.
>Demand to know what they think they're doing, trying to intimidate you like this. Aggressive.
>Bolt, try to lure these three away. (Bring forth Xandin to make sure they follow?)
>Stand your ground and say nothing. Firm.

>>6371898
>Announce yourself as Totemist of the Western Mountain range. Peaceful.
we can't just say nothing when the people are starving. But I don't think we should make this about us.

>>6371898
>Announce yourself as Totemist of the Western Mountain range. Peaceful.

Peaceful it is, writing

>>6371898

You raise a hand, unarmed and open, up to the trio of dragons and keep your other away from your weapons. You don't know just how intelligent these three are exactly but you figure they must know enough about humans to understand what a weapon would look like. While yours would be exotic, the concept should still apply.

The guards around you are still, but wary.

"I greet you, dragons. My coming here is not to cause chaos or discord."

The trio continue to spread out around you and their tails swipe and scrape at the earth behind them. You don't figure that's their way of communication, so you continue introducing yourself.

"I have come to make sure this village remain standing and it's people safe. They may be on edge and....hungry, but their walls are high and I'm sure it will be possible for them to hunt."

The leader sniffs at you and growls, lips snarling and briefly revealing the knife-like teeth to you. The others let out lower toned growls of their own and their own tails twist about in the air like serpents, long and packed in muscle that could whip out and take out half of the guards behind you should they turn around.

"I am Capran, without a second name of my own and I am Totemist-"

The dragon leader stalls for a moment, perhaps understanding your role, but refuses to stop outright. It is perhaps a short the paces away and you meet its eyes without hostilities.

"-of the western mountains."

The dragons go low and snarl out, mixing hisses in with it and openly bare their teeth at you.

They are not eager to be friends.

"And I did not come here to have trouble with you. So there will not be trouble from me. Is that agreeable, dragons?"

>Roll 1d100+5 DC 75

Rolled 65 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6372347

Rolled 40 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6372347

Rolled 24 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6372347
uhoh

Rolled 34 (1d100)

Well then.

Roll 2d100 no DC. HIGHEST of three

Rolled 53, 55 = 108 (2d100)

>>6372793

Rolled 83, 82 = 165 (2d100)

>>6372793
well, we tried.

Rolled 22, 4 = 26 (2d100)

Breaking News!

The dragons thought they were the shit and could just attack the Mountain Totemist, little did they know, they were about to get their smoove off instantly

More at 8! when we will interview Capran, The Scale-Snatcher about his victory against the Dragons!

>>6372347

>165
>A merciful success.

You think things are going well. The dragon leading the trio raises up from its crouch and looks like it regards you with a bit of measured respect, maybe it's because you don't cower from it or aggressively demand that it shows you respect, and everything seems good and calm and you should know better than to expect things to go well.

One of the others that were trying to flank you, lightest in scale coloration mostly around the hide and with sharper ridges along the crest, clearly doesn't think it should show the same mutual understanding and makes a lunge for you. It even bumps the lead dragon aside a little and opens its mouth at you, then jolts back a split second before you've thankfully jolted back a few feet to avoid the entire upper half of your body being torn off. You are extremely thankful that you had a binding on your boots or this might have gone differently...

And the lead dragon is apparently FURIOUS!

It has its teeth clamped around one of the attacking dragon's back legs and has a horribly vicious growl rumbling out of its chest. In the time it takes to let go with its jaws, it's already slammed into the lighter dragon and knocked it over, pressing one large claw down on its neck and against its belly.

Gull and the rest have cleared more space between themselves and the trio and you're backing up as well in case this turns into a wild brawl should the other dragon decide to go for you or the leader. Thankfully it just crouches and regards the leader disciplining the lighter dragon as more important. Speaking of, it's decided that the subordinate dragon is going to stay down on the ground for now, as it's currently bearings its own teeth at the lighter ones neck, which quickly submits and lays still.

Every time it makes to rise, a sharp snarl from the leader has it lay back down, until the ruckus ends and the commanding dragon returns to eyeing you.

>Cont

>>6373323
went better than I thought

>>6373323

You meet the gaze evenly and only glance to the dragon on the ground once and return to looking at the leader. Neither of you talk (maybe roar in the dragons case) until you decide to break the silence by pointing at the subordinate on their side.

"If that one tries to snap at me again, by the very pact I serve, I'll find a way to take half its teeth. I do NOT perform my role as Totemist so that anything can think it can bite me. As far as I care, this is neutral territory. It had better learn that."

You are firm, unyielding, and completely serious. Xandin is chanting curses through your link and if she could extend her powers beyond her Foci at the moment, no doubt she'd have plagued it with unending nightmares that could possibly extend beyond death.

The dragon opposite you is just as firm, not even regarding the other, and swishes its tail towards the one that's been content to simply watch.

The silent one, which you've noticed has a sleeker build and glossier hide, takes a slow and steady step forward towards you and points one claw towards you.

In a voice without a hint of growling nor hissing, the sleeker dragon says one perfectly understandable word.

"Deal."

Without giving away your surprise, your eyes flick over to the leader and back to the speaker before you nod and take your hand away from the holster containing your ritual knife.

"Now then, we're all aware of the Change spirit. I assure you that subject has been exhausted by now. I've been sent here to check in with this village and why no word had been returned to the mountains regarding its well being." You explain, making sure the most important facts are mentioned first. "Second, now that I know the villagers are facing a shortage of game, I must ask if you dragons can spread out your hunting more so that there isn't so much of a burden."

The leader turns its head to the speaker and cocks it slightly down, then gestures to all three dragons and waves it's from claw wide.

"We three will spread wider. Away from this human village."

The leader points to you again and drums one of its forelimb's claws one at a time.

"If this deal is made, we will restrict to three teams. Not five. In slower cycles. The food will have time to fill again."

You turn to Gull since it's honestly the village he lives in and deserves a say, especially since it seems he's in charge of the guards, and he slowly nods.

You turn to the lead dragon and nod.

"Deal."

>Cont

>>6373328

The leader lowers itself again and crouches before slapping the one it had punished and then launched itself into the air with a single powerful flap of its wings. The speaker follows suit after eyeing the one that tried to attack you and both get airborne at the same time.

The next voice you hear from above clearly isn't the speaker with how loud and raspy it is, but you make out the words 'rotten meat' being called back down to you.

The sharp roar that follows is familiar enough, and you see the leader take a swing at the insubordinate dragon before returning to whatever patrol it does.

Moments pass and you can no longer see the trio through the clouds so you sigh and turn to Gull. He looks to you, points up at the clouds and slowly traces a line in the air that you recognize as him pointing out where they've all flown off to.

Right towards the dragons' side of the range far towards the East.

"I hope that's the last time I'll need to negotiate with dragons today," you say jokingly and Gull gives you a lighthearted huff.

"Count yourself lucky, that was the big boy himself as far as I can tell. Usually it's leading a group of five but I guess it didn't bring more along. I'd say every other dragon will know the plan and especially the fact that you've been here."

You look to towards the east and give yourself a moment of thought. While a good sign that this village will have a chance to go get some meats, the dragons will still be in the area and preying on the big game.

As for full though? He's sending a team of three into the deeper part of the village and setting his bow on a clever hook welded onto his shoulder armor. "Now, since we've got a window, I'd be very grateful if you might lend us a hand to actually go out hunting. I'm afraid you emerged from the wood right about as soon as we were ready to go out and find anything meaty.

You peek around the area and notice a few doors and windows opened just enough to reveal the hungry faces of villagers, not empty eyed and hopeless but just enough to drive them through one more day. There's hardly any smoke from chimneys, barely any firewood stocked up, and even the crops being sundried are lacking.

They must not have dared go further than the crop fields and even those might not be safe.

You return your attention to Gull and nod. "I'd be happy to help."

But are there any surprises on this hunt?

>Roll 2d100 best of three. No DC, but higher or lower reflects the outcome of the encounters. Higher is plentiful and safe food hiding itself away. Lower is a hostile encounter.

Rolled 30, 63 = 93 (2d100)

>>6373330
totally smelled Xandin

Quest will resume tomorrow

Rolled 15, 75 = 90 (2d100)

>>6373330

Rolled 48, 63 = 111 (2d100)

Well then, I see we didn't roll the Nightmare monster

Ive got about 4-5 hours left for the shift so look forward to an update a bit after that

Before I write, please decide on what spiritbound equipment you want to bring

>>6373642
>Thunderthread(Fawl hook rope)
a bit flashy, but helps with hunting
>Commander's Mask(Behr mask)
this is going to be the best time to get use out of it
>Gaia Drummer
We can do some infrastructure work if they let us

Boots are still fine.
Blackwing hook rope might be more effective for hunting, but I feel it'll freak them out more. Regular ballistae will work better for teamwork with these folk. Even though they're probably aware we have freakier weapons if needed.

>>6373642
>>6373669 +1

>>6373669
>>6373762

Fawl rope, Behr mask, York drumsticks, keep crawler on boots.

You've got the reserves for one more binding if you'd like

>>6373910
How about Whispering End: Lesser End?

>>6374138
I'm against it, but only because I want the option to go with the big guns later.

Would you guys like me to do a tie breaker soon or go as we are

>>6374513
Save the last binding

Update tomorrow with the planned bindings

>>6373330

You prepare quickly, binding spirits to the foci you think you'll need, and end up with a decent load out.

>You have equipped Thunderthread (Fawl hook rope), Commander's Mask (Behr mask) and Gaia Drummer(York drumsticks)

It all starts off easily enough, the trip towards the edge of the forest is perhaps the most exciting. A fair few crop vermin such as cornmice and such scurry about to claim their prize and rush away as you , Gull and the rest move. You note to yourself that you could do with making this village a few totems to ward off the little critters if they'd like, and find a few intersections you all pass that would be great spots for putting a stake up to attach warding totems on.

Nothing seems to be prowling around the trees to spy on you all and prepare an ambush, nor is anything in the skies circling around and waiting to see if it will be able to scavenge a meal off your carcasses. Well...perhaps the mountains have made a bad influence on you to be so morbid but you like a good open space for your hunts.

As the five of you reach the edge itself, you slip on your mask and hold Fawls binding on a hook at your side. His rope binding is horribly unsubtle but it's an excellent choice in case something big decides you're a great opportunity to catch some prey. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be something edible for the village.

>111. A decent find, though not much of it.

And as luck would have it, Gull spots a pair of small boar cautiously poking their way around the trees about an hour into your hunt. They're both far enough out that any average hunter would have trouble making a shot, but Gull doesn't seem too worried. While it isn't some big feast, it's a good sign that the dragons didn't devastate the habitat if you can find two of them out not long after the dragons had flown off. If the predators aren't out first, there might be a chance the dragons hadn't cleared out too much of the prey animals too.

Gull lines up his shot along with another archer and let loose their arrows in near perfect synchronized timing. Gulls arrow plants itself right into his targets eye and kills it immediately, and his fellow archer lands a great shot right into the back angle of its neck, effectively giving it a split second of shock before it dies as well.

Two board down, enough to at least help fill a table for the village and you hope it'll bring them some comfort. Now to gather them and either go back now or try to press for more food.

You know you could personally get maybe one more boar or hopefully some hares, but it's Gull at the lead and his call to make. He's carefully watching the boars from where he and the other archer shot and he's motioning for you to stay still.

Are you missing something?

>1d100+5 for perception

Rolled 51 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6375077
>1d100+5 for perception

Are there any rivers that could do with some bridges, or roads to make?

>>6375080
I'll scrounge up a map here, likely tomorrow. The crops require water so there isn't one far off but I'll give you something with good detail as to where

Rolled 7 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6375077
In case you want more than one roll

I'll take one more roll while I get a map ready

Rolled 81 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6375371

File: 1aaf8ac9-9971-4240-af54-a(...).png (287 KB, 1682x1189)

287 KB PNG

In the interest of progress, I'll accept this roll above me.

Also, have a map! That little brown outline to the south east of the mountain Capran lives on is the village you're currently in.

>>6375077

It looks like mist.

Something like soft mist, a little greenish in color but pale and light, gently fades in through the trees and down from some branches unlike anything you've seen before. The mist slowly collects itself around your hunt and surrounds them in a ring before covering the boars.

"Damnit. They're gone now."

You turn to Gull with a brow up and he quickly motions for you to keep quiet and points back to the mist and you struggle to understand what you're seeing.

It's like a giant eye belonging to something you can't see slightly lowers down from the high branches and looks at the mist. No sound but the slightest rustling of tree branches. You can't see what it belongs to but it definitely resembles a human eye despite the incredible size of it. You notice that everyone other than Gull and yourself have their heads down and eyes covered. Some kind of ritual? A protection against whatever this is? You don't know and you just keep quiet and observe.

The fog swirls away from underneath the watchful gaze of the eye, revealing a growth of tall flowers that were not there before, and the eye rises back up as the mist recedes away back into the forest it emerged from.

Gull taps your shoulder and counts down on his fingers, and once he hits zero, he taps the rest of the guards and they all rise up with sighs of relief. He counts down again, reaches zero, and gives you a thumbs up.

"Forest spirit. First hunt belongs to it no matter what. It likes to work in silence."

"THAT was the forest spirit?" You ask in disbelief. It wasn't a thing like any spirit you've seen or heard of before and nothing you've read in the books match what kind of weirdness you felt from it. "Did it take that as offering then?"

"Yeah," Gull confirms as he leads the group deeper into the forest, "It's odd I guess, but we can't hunt more unless it takes the first kill as offering. Without that, we don't have permission to hunt more."

"It IS odd, but if it rules the forest it could make higher demands." You say after some speculation. "But why the preference to work in silence?"

Gull's mind goes somewhere else for a moment and he shrugs. "I'm not sure. You're closer to the spirits than any of us, maybe you should ask it when it feels up for a chat. You'll know when it does."

You almost miss the words he mutters under his breath.

'It's always watching.'

>Assist the group with hunting
>Try to get the forest spirit's attention
>Try to find traces of the dragons (may result in finding materials
Pick one please

>>6375416
>>Assist the group with hunting
the people need food.

>>6375416
>Assist the group with hunting

Calling.

Do you want to bind any spirit to something to give you an edge to help your team or go as is?

Also roll 2d100+5 for hunting

Rolled 99, 100 + 5 = 204 (2d100 + 5)

>>6375525

>>6375624
Well, the forest spirit is definitely pleased since the hunt is going this well

Rolled 86, 1 + 5 = 92 (2d100 + 5)

>>6375525
I'll keep the binding in reserve until we know more about the spirit. Not sure how the night lantern would make it feel

>>6375629
....this is the second quest in as many days that I've fucked something up

>>6375624
>>6375629
Aaaaaahahahaha

Hoooohhh god

Ok so the 99 stays and the 100/1 cancel out so we just need one more good 2d100 to decide this

>>6375629
>>6375769
Wow, and here I though me rolling 99 and 100 was low odds. Also getting an 1 was just ridiculous

>>6375773
I do kinda feel bad but such is the will of the dice gods. Also this means if we roll another 100 its even more incredible

>>6375775
Yeah and this wasn't even my weirdest roll. One time I rolled a 15 but with a negative modifier of 30, meaning I got a roll of -15

Rolled 97, 81 + 5 = 183 (2d100 + 5)

>>6375525

Rolled 54 (1d100)

Oh and I hope you all remember that aspect you chose last thread.

>You have begun to tap into the potential of your Hunt Aspect

Now don't mind me I'm just seeing how well this goes

>>6375799
You won the coin toss

>>6375416

"Mind if I help a bit?" You ask, hoping to not just be along for the walk as it were and actually do something. Gull can tell you're earnest and willing and nods, calling the group together and letting you lead. "Thank you, I'll do my best to....help......"

HUNT
________________
>99


>Aspect potential at roughly 15%
>The First Hunt smiles
>The Hunt taps in to some of your spirits' potential to aid.

>Accessing Fear to assist the Hunt. Fear of [-------] is growing.
>Accessing a natural ambush and stalking predator spirit.
>Accessing a spirit of the earth to track that which walks upon it.

________________


You feel like you're dreaming at first.

Your boots glide you through the thick bush and tall trees like a game you've known your whole life, like something you were always itching to do.

Born for. Meant for.

You're silent. Shadows have competition for how little noise you make. Less a ghost, not even a thought. Only the wind could match how easily you slip around, using trees and bushes as cover, eyes darting to anything that was prey.

Birds, squirrels, anything -not those by your side, never your fellows- until you silently scrabble halfway up a thick tree and peer out from behind it and spy a juicy boar, leading a delicious group of its kind. Sows and piglets alike following it and a few other male boars through a sense thicket of bushes off a ways.

The dream slowly clears from your eyes and you're there, hands grasping the base of a branch like some kind of arboreal predator and blink as your eyes come back from hyperfocus. You turn your head a little to get your bearings and sense movement behind you.

It's Gull and his fellow guards, all down low and eagerly looking at the herd of boars you've found. You motion Gull closer and he does so cautious of the sound he might make, and helps you down from the tree.

His eyes meet yours and he's giving you a look over and nods.

"Thought you were possessed." He says not even above a whisper.

You look down at your hands and boots and blink a few times, remembering the ease you moved with and the sensation.

"I'll have to reign that back in next time. I got a little carried away."

Gull looks at you a little more and rests a hand on your shoulder with a faint smile. "Damn good job though. We'd have been hunting deeper into the woods and never found these boar near the edge if you hadn't done that. I'd say first shot belongs to you. We'll fire and catch a few good ones when you shoot."

He glanced at your ballista and you nod.

>Cont

>>6375803

You remember the sensation of slipping into that dreamlike state, how easily everything flowed and how everything you did was so efficient and right that you felt like it was perfect for you.

Silently, the ballista is loaded with a fatally sharp bolt and you get the line of sight exactly where you need it.

>100/1

Your eyes hyperfocus and blur in rapid sequence and you stop to calm your mind, do a brief meditation and clear the weirdness that's working through your eyes to make a proper shot.

Gull's hand is on your shoulder again and you weakly turn to him now that your eyes are slowly returning to normal. He sets his other hand over your eyes and lets you use the darkness to get in control. When he removed his hand, you're able to see perfectly fine again and give him a thumbs up.

The ballista is raised again and you make the shot. "Dibs on the big boy."

>81

Your bolt snaps forward and the largest of the boars raises its head sharply from tearing into roots and mushrooms to see what just made that sound and earns itself an arrow into the throat instead of the upper neck. Before it can even begin squealing, two more male boar around it drop dead from their skulls getting arrows in them and the rest of the herd stampedes away with ear splitting squeeks and panicked oinking.

Gull and his guards cheer and rush forward to claim the prize, pulling out rope and preparing to haul the trio of boars back to the village. The mood is great, you can tell this will go a long way to feeding them and many others with how large the prey is and you join them all. Gull and another each lift up a boar each and the other two discover that the one your ballista shot killed is so damn big they can barely get to lifting it with them both working.

You offer to help but you're waved off.

"To hell with that, you're a guest! You took the best one down so relax. If you want, just keep an eye out while we get these back to the village."

You smile then, following right behind the group and reach the village fields in no time at all.

_______________

The eye watches from far up in the canopy.
>Calling here, got to finish my shift

>>6375810
I had forgotten about the aspect! Did the original totemist quest have them too? It's been a while.

>>6376006
It seemed like Diarca was going for something similar to the idea I have with the void stuff but it's hard to tell without him explicitly saying so.

My intent is to have us get bonuses to rolls once we raise our percentage higher. Raising it comes from critical roll results in relevant actions. Our crits have been adding up.

Update tomorrow or Sunday, been feeling tired lately

Gimme a bit to drive home and I'll write an update

>>6378050
Ignore this, I just got home and apparently it waited til I had Internet again to post

File: 7c6qjfgnk4gb1.jpg (986 KB, 2480x3506)

986 KB JPG

>>6375810

You can tell the guards were nervous by the time you get to the gate and they hurriedly usher you all inside and practically slam it closed, perhaps a bit twitchy with all that happened since you came, but you catch a few staring eagerly at the boars you all caught and give you a nod of appreciation. Some look like they want follow you but know to stay and guard the village, no matter if their stomachs growl desperately as you all pass. They'll get a bit of satisfaction from the meat you've brought to the village with any luck, and more so now that the dragons have agreed to adjust their patrols to ease up on the local food supply.

"Anything I can do to help?" You ask Gull as he, you and the guards drop off the boars to the butcher so that it can be carefully prepped to get the most out of the hunt. More than anyone else, the villagers that would be the ones working on food look the hungriest and starved. They must have gone hungry to feed more of the other villagers.

Gull looks contemplative as he looks you over, eyes lingering slightly on everything you've bound a spirit to, and let's out a sigh. "You Totemists work with the spirits, help make deals with magic and pacts and all that?"

"That's exactly what I do." You answer.

Gull's face scrunches and his shoulders sag, but gestures you to follow him.

"Something the matter?"

Gull nods silently and guides you deeper into the village where a simple stone archway stands in your path. Beyond it is a clearing in the center of the village with nothing but a solitary stake occupying the space. Small blades of grass carpet the clearing but hardly a few inches above the ground. It doesn't look tended to, simply that the grass itself doesn't grow any taller. Gull walks closer to the archway, and raises his hand to hold it up-

No...he places it against something that you reveal when you open your sight to the spiritual.

>Cont

>>6378064

A translucent film slowly recedes from his hand and reveals what truly occupies the clearing; a bizarre work of hollow trees kept in shape by what seems to be a mesh of branches, silent and serene, and when you walk through the archway it seems frozen in time. No sounds, no smells, more of a dream than anything of the world you know.

"Gull, what is this place?"

Your spiritual sight itself seems to ted with something you don't recognize, as if you're looking through a slightly off color lense of sorts. When you look back through the archway, you can clearly tell the difference between inside this weird dimension and the outside world.

Gull huffs and carefully takes a step through the portal. "I was hoping you'd know actually, but maybe we can figure it out. Can't say for sure I know the full story but I was told by the late shaman that we used to have a Land Guardian living in here."

"Your village had a Land Guardian? HAD? Gull, those don't just get up and leave. What did the shaman tell you happened?"

Gull takes another careful step forward, his eyes checking the mesh trees in front of you both. He doesn't seem to be wary of danger. More like he's not sure if stepping too recklessly won't break something.

"Have you ever heard of something called Evaleii Myoho?"

________________

And that's where I'll call it tonight. Sorry about the short update.

I'll leave some time for Q&A for now before I take some Tylenol and call it a night

>>6378072
Is there any interesting material for binding we can't find on the mountain around the village?

>>6378140
Oh plenty. Anything from the sea, a whole lot of plant life that your mountainous forests can't provide, a lot of exotic metals, and not to mention all kinds of things that can't be found through mundane means anyways.

For every material you find within the mountain barrier, dozens exist outside of it. I had planned for one of your possible bindings if you all went the ocean route to be a crystallin jellyfish for instance. However I should clarify that the crystal jelly is to the sea as the headbutting lizard is to the mountain.

Still taking questions and I will update tomorrow.

>>6378072
Is there a difference between Land Guardians and the forest spirits or spider spirits we've met?

Is dragon breath special compared to regular fire?

Does this village have a smithy and other industrial facilities?

>>6378480
Land Guardians are landlocked spirits that typically stay rooted in their area and don't move, as opposed to a forest spirits that could roam all around their forest as long as no monster/spiritual predatory things were around to eat them. Some very very old villages manage to spawn their own Land Guardians through believe or magic or such metaphysical reasons.

True Dragon's Breath burns the spiritual. It is like the viciously aggressive cousin to natural fire and most dragons (lower tier draconic creatures included) only use highly volatile flames rather than any real dragons fire.

The village has a Smith but going into the forest recently has been very dangerous for the villagers because things aren't stable. Taking wood from the forest requires a special rite that can't be done in all seasons and can't just be done at the drop of a hat. When the village shaman passed, appointing a new one took time and not every wants to step up to that role because the mundane humans think spirits will happily curse you for looking at them funny (this is sort of true but most just lie to screw with humans for shits and giggles)

>>6378478
What is the difference between a totemist and a shaman?

>>6378499
Hmm, considering the setting, is Ice more special than normal? Would mountain ice have particular properties that ice made from refrigeration would lack? Can you freeze a spirit for long periods?

>>6378598
Shamans aren't protected or protect the Pact between the ancient spirits and humanity. They do minor work at best but sometimes spirits and humans just have to make do.

The pact itself is extremely significant metaphysically. Shamans basically wandered into spiritual effects and use similar but much weaker symbology to invoke powers.

Also you've got access to powerful, as in spirits do not dare to play around with, benefits for entering into the Pact that all totemists make to defend the world's balance. When we get around to it, I'll reveal these.

>>6378600
Spirit, as in alcohol? Sure. Wines and such are kept in cold boxes you can easily gather from the mountains. As for the magical side, not by much. Symbolism os big for Totemists and mountain snow is special for it, but most times the effect is the same for any ice unless magic is directly involved in the ice itself

Sorry about that, posting was delayed due to a freak thunderstorm in my area that knocked out my net.

Posting will resume shortly

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247 KB JPG

>>6378072

You frown, thinking hard on the name and something doesn't quite make sense to you about it. Shaking your head, you let Gull know you can't place the name.

He sighs a little and continues to carefully walk towards the center of the area while, you notice, avoiding the roots on the ground which you do the same just in case. "Had a feeling it was a long shot but you're the only Totemist I've seen before other than when Oranya Skystrike came here years ago, a bit before our shaman died. Here's the thing though? The last vision our shaman had was of some robed figure foretelling fire and made demands, announcing itself as Evaleii Myoho."

The name almost makes a connection you think, like something you'd learned before, but you can't place it. "Did you ever hear about what it was or what it wanted?"

"No," Gull says as he and you make way closer and closer to the center. There's a weird sense you're getting from this place that you definitely don't like, and you get the feeling that Gull himself has the same issue with it.

>Cont

>>6379115

Your spiritual sight and senses don't give you a match you recognize in this place and you think that might actually be something that bothers you the most. Part of your training was being able to identify different energies and such with your senses from all kinds of things that might show up during your role as a totemist and the fact you can't tell what this is has to be something very significant-

Until it hits you. The stillness of the area and the weird instability. The odd tint to everything. You were never actually inside any place you could really see it but you remember the stream, the slime, and the connection between there with here.

Your hand is on gulls shoulder and holding tight, slowly taking a step back and making sure you don't touch the root as you move. His eyes meet your and it's instantly clear he knows something bad is going on. "Gull we need to leave NOW!"

He doesn't waste time asking, the two of you just start moving.

>Roll 1d100-10 DC 51

Rolled 82 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>6379120

Rolled 34 - 10 (1d100 - 10)

>>6379120

Rolled 17 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6379120

>>6379120

>72

Neither of you wasted any time in bounding over the roots lining the area back towards the portal and you push Gull through it first and dive, landing in the village and quickly scrabbling away from it. With no time to waste you grab any stakes of wood you can find and drive them each on either side of the portal archway, carving dense amounts of sealing, warding and stability runes into the stakes and chant verses to match each rune as fast and clearly as you can. Some guards and villagers have gathered around the area, watching fearfully as you chant in strange words they don't understand before finally you finish and take gasping breaths.

"Capran what in all the hells was that about? What's going on?"

Before answering him, you toss a small pebble towards the archway and it rebounds off the air before it, your work preventing entry and exit to and from the portal. It will hold unless someone from this side of the portal deliberately messes with the stakes but you put several of them up so they'd have to effectively interfere with each one.

You turn to Gull, a little unnerved still and take a deep breath.

"Gull, I need you to keep everyone from messing with those stakes from now on and I need you to tell me how long this village has been without a Land Guardian."

"At least several years, why? What's going on Capran? I NEED to know what just happened."

"I don't know for certain if it's been long enough for a Land Guardian in this case, but places where spirits used to be stationed still leave behind magic okay? But magic doesn't just last forever, it sort of rots after a long time, and that leaves plenty of room for things to grow where the spirit used to be, things like slimes and such. They can get bigger, especially if there's a lot of magic, but I've never heard of it happening where Land Guardians have been so we can't be too careful."

Gull helps you up and carefully looks at the stakes, making sure not to touch any of them, and works something out in his head after carefully looking them all over. "Capran how do Land Guardians work exactly?"

You recite what you know as clearly as you can to someone who you'd bet has at least a few hints at how magic works. He clearly has the ability to see magic itself despite not being a Totemist. Maybe the shaman blessed him somehow or he may have just had a very high talent for it.

"Land Guardians are spirits that have basically taken root in the area where a high amount of faith or magic has been collecting around, but they're basically locked into the area. Some spawn naturally, mostly in villages, which I assume is how the old one here manifested. Some come into a binding with the village itself to basically act as a ward against disaster. It's not perfect, but that village will likely survive a small hoard of beasts with the blessings it can offer."

>Cont

>>6379166

One of the villagers steps forward towards you both, looking frantic. "You can find another, can't you? A spirit can just take its place!"

The villager is a thinning man with slightly sunken eyes, clearly one of the starving that need meat from a good hunt. Behind him is a child, a girl probably no more than nine that clutches onto his pants leg. She's doing better than he is but the bar for that is low.

Gull looks between you both and has his attention on you. "Capran, is that possible? You said if a spirit has a pact with the village it can become a Land Guardian right?"

You scratch your head and think. While possible, it's not as simple as just asking a spirit to do it. Becoming a Land Guardian means they can't explicitly have a domain of their own and it would be tied to the welfare of the village itself which comes at a risk, but also large benefits from faith and rituals. Earthly spirits would be fine with the idea, among a few others you could actually think of that would be suitable, but then comes the pact itself. You don't even know what would happen if one took over the previous spot and that portal leads to a place that just doesn't seem right, so it may be tainted in some way after all. But for now, you'll have to just be honest with Gull.

"I'll have to return to the village and do research. I genuinely don't just have a suitable spirit I can just call for, nor do I know what would happen if we tried to get one to settle in there. Then I need you to know first and foremost that the spirit would take on things from the village and likewise would the village from the spirit itself. Putting in the wrong match could be very bad."

"So we have to wait no matter what?" Gull asks. "We can't ask the forest spirit to occupy it?"

You shake your head sharply. "Not on your life. It's has an entire forest as its domain, this village has nothing to offer for something of that scale. And if it did, it would be rooted here. No moving out of the village, no bit of freedom to go anywhere. If the village were to be destroyed by anything, it would be a prison unless whatever did so ended up killing the guardian too. Spirits have wants and needs as well, no matter how strange they may be to humans."

>Cont

>>6379168

You run your hands through your hair and think about the situation. To help this village as youre obligated to, especially since it could be the location of a mass slime outbreak if something were to disrupt those wards and the conditions for slime spawning did occur, you'd need to get back to your village and get to work as soon as you could to figure out a solution. And you haven't forgotten about the fact that the forest spirits ruling the one you passed through will not be very tolerating about you coming inside again. You doubt the dragons took the time to inform the woodland rulers about the deal you made and just blurting out that you made one wouldn't hold much ground without proof. Going up through the side of the mountains with the dragons on it would be suicide, considering you're holding onto what is effectively their single biggest nemesis around your neck. They'd be very happy to make sure she'd be properly destroyed if you had to bet on it. That only leaves the options of going around the forest unless you wanted to cut over an entire mountain range and travel towards the north and finally go west before you even got to your side of the mountain.

The forest perimeter would take far less time and have far less danger.

You face Gull and usher him to follow you, which he does and is in turn followed by the onlooking villagers.

"What's the plan?" He asks on the way back towards the gate you entered through, small crowd behind you both. "You'd be able to go through the forest and make it back right?"

"No, I doubt the dragons have given the forest spirits over there any word about what we said between us, and we didn't exactly become friends."

Gull curses and realizes what that means. "No chance of the dragons...?" You shake your head and Gull curses again.

"It's the round way or likely no way at all, but those stakes will buy us a long time if nothing bothers them, and please make SURE nothing bothers them or it'll mean nothing. My teacher knows more about her role than I do and if anyone can help, it will be her. In the meantime, you should be able to get the village back to full strength by the time I'm able to return and help. Chances are my teacher will at least find a way to get word to this village soon, she's been anxious about lack of communication, but if your shaman who was doing it until now has passed it would explain."

>Cont

>>6379175

"So what then?" Gull asks as you both make your way and reach the gates before too long. "Our shaman didn't pass on much besides simple manners we should give spirits and a few minor rituals before hunts and when seasons change."

You purse your lips and stare at Gull, looking at this eyes with a few thoughts about the likely powers be has.

"I have a feeling you'll be the best choice as the new shaman, honestly. No Totemist role, you're much too late to just start now, but I can tell you know how to sense anything that's spiritual which is already more than most of humanity has."

Gull looks at you with a heavy frown and clenches his fist. "I don't want a damn thing to do with the spirits, doesn't matter if I can see 'em."

You shake your head. "Just meant you're the best choice I could see, not that there isn't another we couldn't figure out. Who knows, maybe someone here might actually be an even better one we just don't know about yet."

Gull spots and curses under his breath and signals for the guards to open the gate for you. "I hope you're right Capran. None of the spirits I've known sit right with me. Take care on your way back though, alright? You've done more for us than we could for ourselves and we OWE you a meal for it."

You slip through the opening of the gate and salute him as you head off, but before you get far you call back to him. "When I get back I want a boar! And teach me how to snipe like you do, yeah? I'll have this crossbow looking real good for the job!"

"You'd better be back soon then! My lessons are in high demand!"

The gate shuts and you don't waste any time in getting yourself to the clearing through either side of the woods, which should curl back around towards the west that you can take towards the mountains again. Or you could quickly grab some materials in the new area and try to find a spirit that would ferry a message towards the mountain barrier that would do it for a small favor. You could even venture into the forest with the watchful eye, try to make a deal to allow you to hunt for a binding if something suitable was around or simply try your luck elsewhere.

Options and urgent business lay before you.

>Materials
>Hunt for a feral binding
>Find a spirit to ferry a message
>Risk returning through the forest
>Follow the way west and hopefully be able to make it back to your village quickly.

>>6379176
>Find a spirit to ferry a message
>Follow the way west and hopefully be able to make it back to your village quickly.

>Think or look for an alternative path towards our village

I want to add the write-in because we need to look for a way to move down to the mountain. My idea is to ask for a spirit to deliver the message, because we will take time, some way or other to make it back to our Master, and by the time we make it there surely she can investigate on her own and think for an alternative. Maybe even summon a spirit that we can take to Gull's village who's willing to take the spot as a Land Guardian, who knows?

>>6379176
>Find a spirit to ferry a message
there should be a concept spirit for something like this right? Or one of the minor forest spirits could take an interest.

>>6379176

First and foremost you need to find a spirit to ferry a message back to the moment without a moment to lose, not just to explain the situation but to let your teacher know how you're faring right now. You know the basic rite to call upon a spirit of the wind and fish out a ring of metal with a chord, swing it in circles overhead and chant a verse to summon forth a spirit for the job. It takes a while more than you expect but a wind sprite eventually descends from the clouds above and floats in front of you with an impatient look on her face.

"Yes, yes, human, make it quick, I don't want to be here when the dragons get back."

You ignore the rudeness of the wind spirit and speak clearly. "Ferry a message for me to the barrier of the four peaks range west side. Tell them Capran has been to the village and it is safe. You don't have to go into the barrier, just get another spirit that you can find from inside it to very the message the rest of the way, but I need this done as soon as you can."

The win spirit backs away from you in a sharp movement and scowls. "How about no, human. I don't have the time or the neck to risk going anywhere near the mountain, much less travel that far just to carry your message."

You stare incredulously at the spirit as it flies back upwards and think of something to say to get its attention, anything to make it cooperative.

>Make a deal
>Threaten it
>Call another wind spirit (DC70)
>Just move along and call another later

>>6379318
>Provoke it
>You don't want to help a human who can cut a deal with a dragon? Well alright, your loss. Looks like Lady Earest deserves her title, if other wind spirits are this cowardly.

Calling in 1 hour before I head home from work

>>6379326
+1
I doubt it's that relevant but sure, let's boast a little. The worst it would happen is to call us a retard and go on with their day

>>6379318

Its a long shot but you'll attempt to use the fact you've made a formal agreement with the dragons to your advantage and just hope that this works, and who knows? Maybe it'll do the job.

"Oh and I suppose you don't have the time to help the Totemist that made a deal with the dragons themselves? They've been preparing an assault in case the Totemists of the mountains fail to contain its danger but I suppose that very same Totemist who also made a deal to calm them down isn't worth your time. I guess the great Lady Earest truly deserves her title if wind sprites outside the barrier are such cowards. I've heard she's fought dragons off herself."

She stops, turning to look down at you and stares until simply returning to the cloud. Provoking her didn't do anything so you just huff and start walking, but you notice the clouds darken and get a bad feeling in your gut. Sure enough, the clouds start slowly converging above you and you see the sheet of rain coming before you feel it pour all over you, making you sprint for cover under the safety of some trees nearby. Not that it does you much good as the rain falls down like a waterfall for a good few minutes before relenting enough for you to slowly peek out, finding that the clouds were parting slightly with a cackle of laughter and a mocking voice.

"Take your message back to your dirty little human village and don't waste the time of us spirits. Call any of us again and it'll rain on you for a week straight!"

You take a breath, calming yourself and fixing your center before you step out from the tree and see the clouds converge again. With a frown, you step back under and they disperse again...and converge when you step out.

"What's the matter?" The spirits voice asks from far above you. "Aren't you going back to your village?"

>Threaten it
>Sprint out to cover, make your way to the mountain
>Sprint to the woods with the mysterious eye
>Bind something to fire up into the clouds with
>Call a different spirit (DC85)

>>6379352
>Bind something to fire up into the clouds with
It should be a bit further in the evening, Blackwing binds will work right?

Heading off for the night but I'll be back tomorrow to tally votes

>>6379352
>Bind something to fire up into the clouds with

So what are we taking potshots at the clouds with?

>>6379524
Umbral Snare if it'll reach. Otherwise....harrass with midnight lamp? This is NOT the place to be using xandin, although some lightning cane is basically the same as what Capran's teacher did.

>>6379526
Umbral won't reach, you'd need a projectile

>>6379526
>>6379528
How about the Squall Caller?

>>6379528
Then I really want someone else to agree with me and going for the Lightning Lord's Order. We don't have to fire ALL 9 bolts at once, and even if its homing its not automatically lethal right?

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Gonna flip a coin for ballista or cane for fawl binding

>>6379352

There's a certain amount of pettiness you're willing to take from spirits and even if you taunted her this is beyond what's reasonable, so you meld Fawl's antler and your cane together and prepare yourself in case this ends up being a stupid idea. The rays of the Lightning Lord's Order might be homing but if you intend to purposefully miss where you think the spirit is, everything should work out okay.

The nine branched cane is pointed upwards and you at least do the petty wind sprite the courtesy of a warning. "Hey, spirit! Think fast!"

>Fawl assists in not blowing a spirit to pieces.

Nine bolts of crackling light blast upwards and spear into the clouds above, causing them to instantly disperse in puffs of air and a close call noted by a sudden scream of curses. You see wind sprite with your spiritual senses tuned to catch her location and she's darting this way and that inside the cloud formation.

"Now I can stop shooting and you can go on your way or you can continue and find I'll find how fast this thing shoots your clouds apart until nothing's left. Do you understand?"

"You're crazy!" She shouts as she flees into another little patch of clouds above, "I'll remember this!"

You frown and point the cane at the cloud she's hiding in. "That makes two of us. Don't test me again."

You'll keep the cane bound but you think she's learned you're serious.

Now, back to business.

>Materials
>Hunt for a feral binding
>Risk returning through the forest
>Follow the way west and hopefully be able to make it back to your village quickly.

>>6379540
>Materials

>>6379540
>Follow the way west and hopefully be able to make it back to your village quickly.

I'll call in 30, at work rn and taking care of some things

>>6379549
+1 fuck it, let's get some materials we won't surely find in the mountains and then we go back

Well then folks let's consult the map
>>6375393
Where should we start peeking around in

>>6379563
Where are we again? I'm kinda lost, it would be cool if we get like a little indicator in the map of where we are at and also one for the village

File: ea0b4fad-7665-4c7f-9967-9(...).png (287 KB, 1682x1189)

287 KB PNG

>>6379566
Large brown dot to the south of the village between the two expanses of forest

>>6379569
Let's look around the two small forest patch that are near us to the south

South it is. Please note that since you can't just go into the forest you came through, you're not safe at night so you'll only have so much time before then to grab materials. You'll have two chances for material gathering and then it's best to move on. You can continue into night and maybe even find some nice materials that only ever show up at night, but it comes with risks.

Please give me a dice+1d100 for searching

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>6379573

>>6379573
I'll take two more rolls. No DC but ofc the higher the better

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>6379590
I'll roll again but if two other anons come and roll then ignore mine

Okay so I just got an email some few hours ago about my second job application that might go through. This means time in the quest would be limited for me but I'll do my best to keep you all up to date.

With luck, this quest will have good time to contribute but if not, I'll try to put this on temporary hold until I can adjust to the new bustling schedule

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>6379573

>>6379735
cool, good for you qm

Ill take one more unique roll and then continue

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>6379573

>>6380125
By God we will find the good shit today

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43 KB JPG

>>6379540

Curiosity drives you to slip down south towards where some spots of trees should be nestled between the two large woods and you open yourself up to the spiritual senses. You're getting more and more used to this as time goes on and with some effort you'll hopefully be able to slip from mundane to spirit senses with remarkable ease, but for now you'll need a minute to go from one to the other. As the fantastic colors and movements come to your eyes, you see nothing in the way of danger or striking features. You'll just have to go into the small patch of forest to search for something meaningful, reverting to your normal sight for the time being.

>20

It's denser than you expected and you have to climb over thick shrubs and through tightly packed trees to make your way deeper, too stubborn to quite early since you've made the decision to go ahead with this. None of the berries you find are good for eating so you don't risk finding out if any of the unrecognizable ones are poisonous to you. If you had the tools you might try hacking a branch or two off to take with you, some ash trees you find might be closer to saplings but they look good and healthy, and the odd berries you don't know of might provide some curious totem ingredients, but nothing really speaks to you.

>2
As you continue to trudge through the plant growth which grows thicker and thicker with every step you take you very nearly trip over a root and fall face first into some purple thorned vines and fallen trees with disgusting wet mushrooms that litter the ground ahead, the only thing saving you from what could be a highly poisonous pit being that your shoulder strap got snagged on a branch on a tree you were passing.

Instead, you trip and the momentum swings you hard into the side of the tree you got caught on, side slamming into the hard bark and knocking your head sharply against the tree itself and dazed. You're left there hanging awkwardly until you can slide enough for you to get some leverage to get free, vision blurred slightly and hair wet from a bit of blood. As you recover from that and stand upright, making sure you didn't injure yourself badly from that impact, you look forward and see no way around the tangled thorns and sludge fungi that cover everything ahead. Either side of you is basically a wall of trees fighting for sunlight and the only other way you can go is back the way you came.

Curiously though, the trees encircle this particular spot in the forest and their branches converge above it, growing odd fruits from their branches that you can vaguely see from where you are. Some of them are swollen and ripe, bugs buzzing all around them and collecting their juices that drip now and then down onto the carpet of thorns and mushroom.

>96
You look up and try your spiritual sight once more and realize you've got some incredible luck!

>Cont

>>6380146

There is a hearty amount of highly valuable and magical fruits growing overhead that give off telltale glows of energy as you look at them and the buzzing insects around them all have distinctly matching hues to the fruits themselves, likely from engorging on the juices and maybe acting as pollinators.

Red, cyan, purple, pink, many colorful and arcane fruits can be seen and you realize that you have so much room to collect these and plenty of storage containers just for securing fruits you can use. The only potential issue is if the bugs swarming some of them won't be a significant hazard...


>Climb up, collect the fruits
>Climb up, collect the bugs
>Collect both finds
_____________
>Collect the thorns and mushrooms instead, leave the fruits/bugs

>>6380147
>Climb up, collect the fruits
I bet we could scare the bugs off with Xandin if we need to
Can we get links for the archive and the rentry?

>>6380147
>Collect both finds

>>6380147
>Collect both finds
Just let the bugs follow the fruits

>>6380147
>Climb up, collect the bugs
this is a chance to gather them pretty safely. I mean we're not supposed to dally with the whole slime thing.

>>6380184
https://rentry.co/g66xqyhb/

More than happy to supply. Work starts later tomorrow so I'll do my best to squeeze in an update before the

Update tomorrow. I needed a few days due to personal reasons, my apologies

At work now but I can squeeze in some updates. Since going for both won, please give me 2d100 best of three

Rolled 86, 7 = 93 (2d100)

>>6382169

Rolled 91, 61 = 152 (2d100)

>>6382169

One more unique 2d100 roll and we can begin

Rolled 15, 44 = 59 (2d100)

>>6382397

>genuinely, how the hell was wind so strong it nearly cracked an electrical line post in half

Writing an update now

>>6380147

You decide to make the gamble and climb up the nearly literal wall of trees towards the fruits and insects up above, finding easy footholds on the knotted bark that bring you closer and closer to your goal. Slow and steady, taking big steps to get you up faster and there's a faintly spicy scent that grows stronger as you rise up that you don't recognize.

>91

As you reach the branches that grow the collection of fruits you find that climbing along them from below is the easiest method and quickly reach your prize. The scent of spice is very clear, and each one has a sort of energy to them that tingles your fingers as you pluck each from their branch. A plentiful total of two dozen, four of each kind, is your reward which you carefully place into a case to hold them all that has a packing to keep them from damage, and now you just have to figure out how to get the insects.

>61

Which you struggle with at first. They don't want to be reached for and buzz loudly as you get close, but a few land on your scavenging pack and nestle up against the container you placed the fruits. You gather maybe five or six of them into a glass container with sugar inside which has holes to allow air in and decide that's all you'll get out of this reward.

Climbing down is thankfully simple and you don't have any issues getting to the ground and seeing your way back out of the forest. You inspect the map once more and account for which direction you're facing before nodding, satisfied of the time you managed to forage in and the pace you can probably set.

So, what now?

>Hunt for a feral binding
>Risk returning through the forest
>Follow the way west and hopefully be able to make it back to your village quickly.

>>6382759
>Hunt for a feral binding

>>6382759
>Risk returning through the forest
Does Capran know what kinds of offerings are good for forest spirits?

>>6382905
Offerings are usually just tokens of appreciation unless you actually know a ritual to basically make the offering valid AS and offering. Each spirit might ask for something different, so you'd have to find them, communicate with them, and then do the ritual.

Some might just want a ritual, some might have tasks for you to complete that expand their influence in some way, or even kill/hunt something.

Also, tie breaker please

>>6382759
>Risk returning through the forest

Rolled 51 (1d100)

So just to clarify, the forest in question is the one we were told not to go back through. You're all aware of this right?

please roll me 3d100, best of three, each dice counting

Rolled 13, 96, 61 = 170 (3d100)

>>6383122

>>6383122
Didn't the lord just say we were allowed to pass through once, not mentioning anything beyond that?

Rolled 72, 97, 100 = 269 (3d100)

>>6383125

>>6383204
With the intent that you only go through in that current trip and you wouldn't be stopped.

>>6383265
Goddamn. We are hitting the HIGH rolls

Rolled 58, 29 = 87 (2d100)

One more 3d100 and I'll get to writing

Rolled 42, 25, 72 = 139 (3d100)

>>6383122
time to ruin some rolls

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1.94 MB JPG

Ok back home and now I can write more.

>72,97,100
vs
>51,58,28

We missed our calling. Capran should have been Lupin III.

writing now

>>6382759

You look out towards the western forest from your location, remembering the command that you not return through the forest by the word of the spirit of that very forest itself. It was very clear on its wording and didn't offer any wiggle room to go back, which you would have argued for as much as you could now that you've come to terms with the dragons and they seem on the same page as you. But you really can't be wasting any time, and foraging was at least excusable because you did find something that could turn out to be very powerful regents, but this trip should be done with as soon as you can manage. So you have an idea.

>72>51

Alright, it's a potentially very bad idea but you can't just skip your way back to the mountains like time isn't a factor here. There are pressing matters at hand and your teacher must know of the developments, the sooner the better. So you steadily walk up to the edge of the forest itself and pause, noting the tangling wall of ivy that's more like a sheet than a natural growth, the brush intertwined with the ivy and forming a wall.

You place your hand on the barrier and try to figure out a way to possibly slip in, noting the crisscrossing energies of the forest in tight nots at each intersection and the slight gaps just too thin to exploit. Or they would've been if you didn't have a little help from your teachings, courtesy of Oranya.

>Cont

>>6383547

You surprisingly make quick work of slipping through the gaps in the mesh of plant life that would otherwise have blocked your way, but you know enough about wards and energies to realize that the trees the vine and brush cling to are sending out rhythmic pulses into the plants that make up the forest barrier and you can time it just right to twist yourself through and get inside. The main concern you have now getting to the mountain now that you're inside. You think on it as you make your way west towards the mountains of your home and use your spiritual senses to detect any present spirits. Your eyes fill with energy and that is precisely the moment the pulses become erratic shortly. You briefly panic as you think the energies detected you, but if that were the case you'd be swarmed with the forest spirits guards. You crouch low to the ground and keep your head on a swivel to catch the slightest movement to get ahead of any potential guards, but thankfully and mysteriously none come out to apprehend you. You rise slowly and keep your wits about you as you go forward deeper into the forest and a few rustles on branches alert you to danger, but it just turns out to be some woodland critters like squirrels and such. No spirits in sight, even in the trees where dryads would normally reside. Everything vaguely like a spiritual being is just absent.

>97>58

That's not right...that's not right at all. It's mid-afternoon, a perfect time for dryads to relax inside their leisurely tree domains and tend to their home. In fact, where are all the guards that should be at least stationed around the barrier? You don't see a single one!

You do notice that there are some slight traces of something or other dragging its feet along the way, a few subtle lines of overturned and squished leaves heading away and deeper into the forest. Could it have been the guards? By why?

Whatever the reason, you take the opportunity to go further and keep stealthy, avoiding twigs and sticks that would crack and alert anyone in earshot. It's remarkably easy to be going through the forest even when you speed up and get accustomed to the way you can quickly move beneath the shading of the trees, and you thank your Grasscarpet boots for how easy it is to practically glide through the forest. There isn't a single sign of any spirit to pursue nor notice you though, and that bothers you, especially since the main forest spirit themselves likely instructed that the guards be aware of you should you try to head back through.

A bit of curiosity overcomes your urgency and you slow down to inspect the faint trails you notice increasing. All seem to be veering towards the southwest towards where you believe Ghesha had led you to the conjoined rulers of the forest, Arbova if you recall the name correctly.

How very odd, you think to yourself. Now what could be happening for so many things to be making their way over to the apparent throne of the forest spirit themselves?

>Cont

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>>6383549

You stray off the course and catch the sight of something standing far to the southwest, a trio of humanoid shapes but distinctly missing the greens of the guards you had seen before when Ghesha was leading you towards the exit towards the village you'd just been. They don't seem to be moving, just content to stand around with their arms limp at their sides and in the deeper shade. A risky move, but you travel towards them and note that more of them are around in small groups way into the distance. None are moving and they seem peaceful but you're not here to make friends so you resume your journey, taking care to remain out of their sight, leaving them behind and unbothered.

>100 (critical success!!!)

Your feet carry you through the forest at a remarkable pace and you begin to notice that as time passes and the shade increases around you, a scent of mushrooms and damp earth grows along with it. You focus in on your spiritual senses and find that as the smell grows so does a particularly rich energy coming from the south where the tracks were heading off to. It's shortly after the red skies of afternoon color the light through the trees that you come to an abrupt stop.

You know for a fact you left the spirits or whatever they were behind to the south and are just as sure that they grouped into threes, so you're quite sure you recognize their general description when you see a trio of them slowly climb out of the ground where the light is dimmest and fallen leaves are damp and dark on the ground. While you didn't recognize them at first, you realize these must be spirits of rot or simply fungal spirits in general, rising up from the ground now that the sun's rays won't dry them up if you had to guess.

You have the small worry that something is wrong when you ease your way towards a group and look at them closer but they seem blissfully unaware of you even when you flick a tiny pebble near one after making a weighted choice. You've no clue why these spirits are around now and not any other, but you take the chance to speed away and towards your mountain before something changes about the situation and you have to chance disaster.

As time passes and the light of the sun fades further away, you see more and more of the groups emerging from the ground and slowly start to move in groups and that's when you decide that stealth should matter since they haven't made any movements until this point.

You have the element of speed at least, if anything should change, but binding something to help you more would cause a flash and be easily noticed if you're not mistaken. The mountain is maybe a few more hours of binding assisted sprinting away if you had to guess and you must now make a choice.

>Be like the wind, go fast (saves time and daylight)
>Be like the shadows, be slow and careful (spends time and daylight)

>>6383559
>Be like the wind, go fast (saves time and daylight)
would it be a huge deal if we left a lit lantern as a distraction? It's not currently bound to anything, and we've only used it like twice anyway.

>>6383567
Nope, not really but spirits don't use them so it'll alert something smart enough to realize it means a human is in the forest

>>6383559
>Be like the wind, go fast (saves time and daylight)

Alright folks, please give me 2d100 DC 110 to avoid encounters

>>6384160

Rolled 28, 16 = 44 (2d100)

>>6384160
>>6384164
Damnit

>>6384165
Well, that was a failure

I'll take two more 2d100, please

Rolled 27, 81 = 108 (2d100)

>>6384575

Rolled 10, 8 = 18 (2d100)

>>6384575

>27,81

Well, we aren't very fast but we stealth pretty damn good.

Writing when I get home

>>6383559

If your suspicions are correct then these fungal spirits will keep showing up more and more as the sun sets and you don't want to risk getting mobbed by an army of mushroom knights, perhaps something even worse could show up and you don't want to risk that, so you do the most sensible thing and get going! With every step you take, new groups of the spirits rise up a foot from the forest floor and before long you can't look anywhere without seeing at least one group.

>21
They're practically overtaking the area and several times you nearly slam right into a group that's rising up, and you have to leap over one such group that appears right in your way and your landing is anything but spectacular. You tumble over and scramble back to your feet as some dumbly react to you by turning around blindly. They don't appear to be able to see you but you have no doubt they can hear you somewhat.

Your footsteps are thankfully very muted by your boots letting you sprint through the greenery with hardly a sound and what small grasses grow around let you also move with boosted speed. You're very happy you kept the crawler bound to them instead of Fawl or York or you'd be alerting the many spirits around you without a doubt.

But you can't just relax when the forest is getting more and more crowded. You're to the central west of the forest by now and if you're lucky it could be possible you make it to the edge of the forest before night fully comes. The light that comes down through the canopy is a deep red hue now though and you can't afford to waste any time if you want to run the whole way through and not be caught.

A shudder from one of the groups you see your left catches your eye and you notice they're all beginning to release small greyish spores, spreading out slowly around them like a soft blanket across the dead leaves.

You suspect the groups, all resembling each other, may be one large communal entity spread across the entire forest. Touching the grey spores seems very unwise.

The boots you wear carry you further and further until the sky is a deep deep purple above.

>Roll 2d100 best of three to avoid the spores and keep your speed

DC120 (please bear in mind I will be accounting for only the highest rolls to total, so no need to panic)

Rolled 36, 26 = 62 (2d100)

>>6384754

Rolled 92, 88 = 180 (2d100)

>>6384754

Rolled 32, 100 = 132 (2d100)

>>6384754

>>6384848
>>6384888

What is Capran but a ghost in the night

I woke up far far too early but I'll write something out before going back to sleep

>>6384754

>92
Night approaches fast, but not nearly as fast as you move through the forest. Less a man racing against time but more of a blur as you slip through groups of the mushroom spirits faster than new ones can rise up from the ground. Nothing slows you down, not even a collection of the odd spirits forming an unintentional barrier because you simply jump up, use a tree trunk as a platform, and leap over the crowd and hit the ground at a full sprint. Like water itself you fit through the gaps and keep going until the sunlight is just barely enough to keep your mundane sight working, and when the night fully comes you've already swapped to your spiritual sight to accommodate for the change.

You discover that the spores themselves are actually extensions of the mushroom spirits energy, intended to take root in the decaying plant life collecting on the forest floor and grow slowly and silently as a mushroom would. You also discover that the mushrooms are all over the ground and bark, ready to fully emerge at any time but it seems they might be weak to the light. For lack of a better term their energies seem brittle and weak. You'll keep that in mind if something wrong happens and you find yourself getting mobbed.

>100 critical success
At some point you must have gone through an ever increasing horde of mushrooms without so much as a whisper, and now you find yourself using the trees and branches themselves as your path. The ground below you is positively littered with the sea of mushroom spirits that seem to grow more and more in number until the dirt beneath them is covered by the crowded bodies. They press up against each other and groan as there just isn't enough space, gently pushing groups away when they come into contact but never too roughly, but that falls apart when it's clear some are getting squished together too hard. Then it becomes a free for all of pushing and shoving fungal spirits that can only react to contact and sound and soon they're all shoving and bumping every other group until some end up trampled underfoot.

If you hadn't been able to climb these trees and make your way across each branch you're sure you would have had to resort to cutting your way through, and you've been noticing the spores have been joined by some sort of pale white mist that slowly flows out from the center of the forest itself. It quickly swallows up and trampled spirits and you don't think you'd like to find out what it does, so you use your speed to carry on towards the edge of the forest to avoid both spirit and strange mist.

>Cont

Rolled 3 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6384920

Every now and then when you come to a good junction of branches, you take a peek back towards the center of the forest and notice the mist further and further away since you've been able to pick up your speed as you grow more and more used to this squirrel like way of travel. The mushrooms seize up when they make contact but only the ones that remain standing seem find. Whenever the mist reaches an area where a fungal spirit went down it clearly submerges itself down into the gaps of the crowd to fill in the space and you leave whatever it's doing as a mystery. You don't plan on finding out personally unless your teacher happens to know and she's back at the safety of the village, where you'd prefer to be right about now.

The moonlight has been able to filter down through the large canopy above and illuminate the area to booster your spiritual sight. There really isn't a single woodland spirit anywhere you've been able to find on your way out of the forest, but judging by the leftover homes within each tree that obviously belong to a plant spirit of sorts, there doesn't seem to be any sign of struggle or corruption. Whatever happened to them, their ties to the trees must remain. Maybe they're all taking shelter with the forest spirit themselves?

Either way, you leave the question for later when you can be inside the village.

Your main question is the sensation of being watched, like who is it, what do they want, and how are they seeing you right now when you know for a fact you haven't seen any true sign of a spirit around you other than the fungal ones below. The feeling itself comes from somewhere way ahead and above but through the canopy you can't get a good look at whatever it could be so you do your best to just race along. You'll take the fact that it doesn't feel like it's coming from below or behind you as a good sign, at least. Once you're out of this forest you'll take a breather and maybe try to make contact.

________________

It feels like you've been sprinting along the branches for hours -you likely have honestly- but you know you're making progress as the mist that was once behind you is completely gone from sight and the numbers of the fungal spirits below have begun to thin. Their dwindling has allowed you to swing down from the branches to land down on the ground and resume your regular speed towards the edge of the forest. The trees themselves are spaced out more and more and you smile to yourself as you can see the forests edge at long last!

But you can't celebrate yet, it's too soon and the barrier of ivy might be something you can get through now that you realize the trick but who knows what could happen if you don't keep your focus.

You reach the ivy and quickly search for any place the energy has space enough for you to get through undetected.

>Roll 2d100 best of three

Rolled 27, 65 = 92 (2d100)

>>6384924
>Get given a great cloak for flying
>Get really good at parkour instead

Rolled 55, 16 = 71 (2d100)

>>6384924

>>6384935
It's for the good of the plot, because if we found some Wind spirit that wants to make a deal with us, Capran would be broken

>Magical flying cloak able to surf through the air
>Electric bow

We would be the approaching storm

>>6384935
Now that the maintenance is done I can tell you that being a squirrel saved you. Going bird up through the canopy to fly out was planned to be a trap. It would have alerted something in the forest that -something- just broke out of the barrier and you'd be hunted down asap

Rolled 1, 57 = 58 (2d100)

>>6384924

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>>6384985
God plays dice in funny ways

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Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>6384924

You can't see a single pattern to the pulses along the ivy barrier and you swear whenever you think you've got a chance it's gone in the blink of an eye. You'd have more chance of dodging the falling raindrops in a storm than getting through this. Whatever is happening to the forest is likely behind the change but you don't have the time to ponder this and that while you know the mist is still spreading far behind you and you can begin to hear the groaning of the fungal spirits echoing out from the dark.

>1

It's in your haste to search for an exit that you make the mistake of accidentally brushing your finger against one of the ivy leaves and your gut clenches as you realize how badly you've screwed yourself, because you feel the material of the leaf and a horrible shrieking wail pierces through the night. You swirl to look back, spiritual sight fully active and you can see the mist leaking forward in the far distance, slowly but steadily coming towards you and something awful bursts out of it in a dead sprint. Words don't do justice for the sudden feeling that you get when you see it.

You can tell right away it's a spirit but it's clearly vicious and would easily maul you, its many hands already reaching towards you and the holes on its face letting out that horrible shriek. It's deceptively fast for how it looks and you decide it's time to abandon stealth.

>65

You yank out your bush slicing knife and take wild swings at the ivy to split it apart and make some progress getting through but there's some kind of defense against it as more ivy falls down from above to slow you down. You double your efforts and use Fawl's rope binding to whip at the ivy, blasting it to scorched bits and causing the ivy sheets to shrink away from the blackened plants. With no time to waste, you keep swinging with your knife and break through the barrier and just in time to feel the stomping of the thing chasing you. It's barely any distance away as you dive through and take off as fast as you can to get as far away from the barrier as you can. You can't tell if it's still pursuing you at this pace but now that you're on pure grassland, the boot bindings carry you away at a mad pace, out speeding the spiritual chaser easily.

You reach the mountain barrier totems and don't stop running until you're sure you've passed the second barrier layer.

You have escaped the forest and reached the hopeful safety of your mountain home...

(DC 65)

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>>6384995
(Continued)

Breathing is hard at first and comes in gasps as your legs burn from the sprinting you've done. You're not sure how much of a close call that really was but whatever kind of spirit it was that had been coming after you, it was fairly high up in the ranks of what you expect was a also fungal. You might have able to fight it but you're not loaded out with your most combat ready bindings and no telling what it was capable of or even if it was alone.

________
'You did well to escape a knight of Decay, Capran,' praises Xandin. 'It may have been a small hiccup but you have done well to make it through a forest spirits domain undetected for as long as you were.'
__________

"I feel like that damned thing was gonna eat me!" You curse and sit down on the ground to catch a well needed breather.

_________
'Oh it might not have eaten you but it would have been awful either way. No telling what it would have tried to---TO YOUR RIGHT!'
________

You roll and rise up quick as you can and you look to your right as Xandin instructed. What meets your gaze is another one of those bugs that attacked you during the night of the mission you went on with Heyra and your teacher, the pincer on its tail snapping closed in anger and hissing at you as it scuttles closer to what it must assume to be prey.

You have no intention of proving it right.

>>6385001

Please give me 1d100 best of three for combat

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>6385003

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>6385003

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>6385003

Alright, good rolls so far, please suggest a course of action

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>6385548
Blow of their pincers or their tail to see if it just crawls away

Family has invited me over for dinner so I'll be back about as soon as that will be over, possibly 8pm est

Back, I assume we all support this suggestion?
>>6385569
If nobody disagrees, I'll start writing in 13 minutes

Well past the time but writing now

>>6385001
>>6385001 (You) #
>Fawl rope, Behr mask, York drumsticks, keep crawler on boots. These are your current bindings.

________________________

You roll sharply and spring up as the insect monster charges forward and snaps it's tail at where you'd been a moment before, crunching dirt and grass with a squealing hiss. The Thunderthread is brought out and you whip the bright crackling rope forward to catch the tail. Even though it doesn't wrap around the creature's tail, it delivers a blast of electricity from a small graze that flash cooks the chitin of the tail itself and chars badly. The squealing rises and it thrashes around on the ground and kicks up dirt and plant in its agony but you're not giving it time to adjust.

You swing the binding rope again and again and are rewarded by blowing off a small segment of a leg and a good strike against its side but aren't able to kill it as swiftly as you had the other. Your lack of combat attuned bindings will have to be accounted for but you have a clever idea.

A dodge back from snapping claws and tail strikes has you grab one of Yorks bound drumsticks and you beat it against the ground to summon angled walls of stone and dirt, running low circles around the insect to pin it with a circle of rock.

It gives you time to breath but you can tell it won't work for long. Whatever kind of insect this is, walls are a momentary obstacle because it's using the pincer to grasp the tip of the wall and roughly climb.

You form a plan in your head and get ready to kill or bind. It's taken a beating but you know you've underestimated things before and paid the price.

>Suggest an action and I'll take three 1d100
>DC will be set at 55

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>6385686
Bind it with the thunderthread and summon stalagmites from the ground to pierce the unarmored parts of its body

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>6385686
is the lantern the kind that has oil in it? Maybe we could throw it in and cook it in this impromptu campfire.

Otherwise, drum up lines of stone over the walls to prevent it from climbing up. It'll have to cut them one at a time, letting us thunderthread the tail until it's unable to stab us when we climb on for the ritual.

I'll take one more unique roll and then start after a quick meal

>>6386091
Also yes but it doesn't have a binding on it

Heading off for the night but I'll be back tomorrow

>>6386177
Yeah, no binding, just burning oil scattered inside a stone enclosure. The question is just whether we can get the beast to crush the lantern on itself, and if I'm estimating the potential damage properly, like a very expensive molotov.

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>6386176

>>6385686

>52

There's no time to waste so you rapidly tap the york binding against the ground to spear up dozens of stalagmites which cause the insect to squeal sharply and thus against the cone-like wall of rock you've trapped it in, but the bug is clever and is using the stone spears for traction to climb up.

New plan. You remember how a fire pit works and you've conveniently made a perfect model with Yorks drumstick binding, so what better than to roast the bug and move on before something join in. Unfortunately when you strike a match to light the lamp you fail and the insect makes good progress in crawling it's way out of your pit. It cries out into the night and you hear skittering around you, followed by hisses and clicks as another bug like it emerges from the darkness around you.

>One more insect has joined the fight.
>Insect A: wounded, trying to escape your stone trap
>Insect B: ready to attack

What is the plan now, Capran?

>>6386704
Aside from presumably just cutting our losses and running, we could encase the new one in a dome or lattice of stone so it can't escape and we focus on this wounded one

>>6386704
>>6387066 +1

>>6387163
uh.....which one are you supporting? The running away or the fighting?

>>6386704
Yeah, I think the plan is to double down on obstructing them and retreat, at least to a better position. We've got no idea how many of these are in the area, after all.
So, put up a wall, or just a bunch more stalagmites between us, and book it to somewhere we can get our back up against something so we dont have to worry about being ambushed.

>>6387229
Yeah I didn't make myself clear but I meant the part about encasing it

Gonna update after work. Seems like we're agreeing to get some space after trapping the first bug more, then make more obstacles

>>6387871
other way around, we trap the second bug

Bad work day, I'll update tomorrow morning

Sorry. Today hasnt been a good day for me.
I'll do my best to update tomorrow

I'm alive. Things are calm again and I got a windfall from work with balanced hours and an offer close to full time.

Please expect me back at 2pm EST tomorrow. As always I appreciate your patience

good to know

Back. Writing

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>6386704

You dont have the time and maybe not the energy for this, too much can go wrong at night and you don't have the reputation among the spirits on the mountain to protect yourself in case the more sentient of them decide to involve themselves, so you get right to work using the threads of electricity wrapped around the bugs tail as an anchor. You pull tight and run at a tilt around the next bug, wrapping the wire also on the second bug and tangling them both and you bang down on the ground to trap the new arrival. It's rough and rushed work but sheets of solid rock converge over the second bug and you consider your first opponent as it writes around and stumbled down the dome trying to untangle itself.

Time is something you could unknowingly be running out of so you waste none of it, rapidly slapping the stick down on the ground it a quick rhythm to shoot rocks out at it with the same force as if you'd thrown the stones yourself. While you're beginning to better understand the binding, you need to get inventive so you swipe the stick against the ground back and forth and find that it sends bricks of stone slamming into the sides of the bug timed with each swipe.

You will the threads trapping the bug to release and slam the drumstick down to make a hand of stone grab hold of the first bug to lock it down as you jog backwards to get some distance and keep in motion.

>Roll 1d100 for encounter

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>6391270

>>6391271
Excellent roll.

Do we want to finish the bugs off or get away and get up the mountain back to the village

>>6391295
>Get away and get up the mountain back to the village

>>6391295
>finish the bugs off
the more worrying thing is if they survive this encounter and Change into something that resists all of those weakpoints.

the 2nd bug is still a maybe, but the first needs to die or be bound

>>6391295
Changing my vote >>6391361 to >>6391439

Rolled 31 (1d100)

Just arrived at work and from my understanding we're gonna finish off the bug we've injured.

I'll take a 1d100 on the kill/binding

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>6391471

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>6391471

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>6391471

No new encounter and the bug gets splat. Writing now

>>6391270

Nothing new pops out of the darkness around you to rush in and make things difficult, at least not yet, but you need to deal with the bug you've already injured before it can later recover and potentially become a worse problem if it mutates. There's still plenty of questions you have about the how it all occurs but you don't feel like testing to see if any of these bugs can become crushing or lightning immune and who knows how fast that could spread through their colony.

The damn thing writhes and thrashes around even now on the ground and scatters dirt and rocks everywhere as it does, and you briefly imagine a dozen more of them mobbing someone out on the slopes for a meal and you know you have to kill it, so you bang the stick binding down on the ground to have the earth swallow and crush the insect. With one final tap of the binding, all that's left of it is a circular patch of dirt and silence.

The other one has apparently tired itself out and tries to slowly pick away at the stone pinning it down with its tail but you don't have to give it more time than you already have and the best choice to make now is to simply leave and head back to your village where you're needed, but maybe you can't be too sure. Maybe this one needs to go too.

>Leave
>Kill

Calling in 30

>>6391497
>Leave

>>6391497
>Leave

We're getting out of here

>>6391497

You could kill of the remaining insect but you weren't kidding yourself when you said you needed to get moving because you are becoming keenly aware of your lack of night vision and the rising volume of the sounds around you now that the shrieking of the first insect is gone. Howls, hisses, squeaks and a particularly unsettling keen in your ear tell you that you've been out in the night too long and you don't think you can risk a mob of things charging you and you're sure whatever would rush in knows it too.

Screw the danger, time to get going.

You will the electric threads to recede all the way and get to running, getting yourself some distance between you and the remaining bug and none too soon as a flood of things converge on the area down below. The high pitched squealing you can hear from up the slopes suddenly getting cut off prompts you to run faster. You don't look back after that.

But you do hear the footfalls of pursuing creatures behind you as you are halfway to the village and you don't slow down and don't look back and risk tripping. You know you need to MOVE!

>roll 1d100 to RUN! DC65 best of three

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>6391520

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6391520

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>6391520

Rolled 65, 67, 14 = 146 (3d100)

Capran really is all about running

>>6391520

Foot out, foot on the ground, push off and already have the next foot coming down. No time for binding anything new to help and no chance of fighting off everything that's chasing with your limited weaponry. You are NOT trying swarmed here and now!

The village is further up the slope, you can see the glow of the torches from here, a light you desperately need right now that guarantees your safety.

Left foot right foot left foot right foot leftrightleftright-

>84/(65/67/14) success!

You sprint like you did when chased by that horrific fungal sentinel and feel the wind rushing by your ears and the only thing you know now is the wind, the lights of the village and the danger behind you.

________________
'THE VILLAGE IS NEAR, CAPRAN!"
________________

Xandin's words barely register, too focused on making out of this and you out your fingers in your mouth to whistle as hard as you can while you move. You hope someone hears it even from this far away.

You swear you're outrunning whatever's chasing you but that nagging sense of it closing in on you is still there, teeth and claws just behind you at your neck.

Left right left right-

You grab Fawl's rope binding and swing it back, letting the threads fly out and you know for a fact they hit something much further behind you than you expected but you don't dare relax.

>??? Heavily shocked and trampled by the horde chasing Capran. Crushed dead.

>Roll 1d100 best of three again

>The village is in view

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>6391550

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>6391550

Rolled 49, 56, 63 = 168 (3d100)

Just needs one more

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>6391959
Second roll

>>6391550
>(I'll count the double roll for the sake of moving things alone since it's been a whole day)
________________________________

The village comes closer and closer as you force yourself ever faster up the slopes of your mountain home, sprinting over slippery rock and uneven ground that threatens to slow you down. You focus hard on the torchlight ahead to take your mind away from everything chasing but you swear you can still feel them just at your back, ready to rip into you if you don't outrun them all, and you swing Fawl's rope back again and score another hit on something you just know is closer than the last.

>57/(49/56) success!

>??? Heavily shocked and experienced electrical combustion. Trampled dead.

Come ON Capran! The village is right there! You can make i-

>57/63 minor failure!

You howl as something managed to reach you, latching onto your back and you feel it bite into your shoulder but you can't afford to stumble and fall here! Not when you can start to make out clear details of the village barrier from here!

You are NOT going to die here!

Your knife is in your hand and shanking deep into the body of something furred and viciously making its way into your shoulder armor even more dangerously close to your neck.

>You have a minor injury to your shoulder but will not experience penalties to your rolls.

>??? Neck stabbed, bleeding badly. Eye stabbed, partially blind. Holding on and hungry.

Roll 2d100 best of three to keep running and defend yourself

Rolled 93, 68 = 161 (2d100)

>>6391987