# Mantle of the Hero



## EvilMoogle (Feb 2, 2018)

_What is a hero?  What makes them?  What drives them to perform the unbelievable actions that they inevitably do?  Ask a hundred philosophers in a hundred different worlds and likely you would get a hundred different answers.

One world, at least, believes that they have the answer.  In times of trials most dire heroes are called, a grand summons that reaches distances beyond comprehension and brings those that would wear the mantle called "hero."

Of course, things are rarely as simple as they might seem.
_
Your vision blurs, a violent vertigo washes over you as if thrown suddenly across a great distance.  After a moment the sensation passes and your surroundings come into focus.  You find yourself in a small room lit only but a candle on small table in one corner.  The room itself is windowless, hard packed dirt floor and wooden walls add to the impression that it's underground.  The only exit is a door on the far end of the room.

You find yourself on the floor next to a handful of others, that seem to be similarly regaining their senses.  Near the door a man chants in an unknown tongue, a surprisingly firm voice despite the man's aged appearance.  He is attended by a slightly frightened looking younger woman, perhaps in her early twenties.

The chant quickly reaches its climax and the man falls silent before crumpling to the ground.  The younger woman immediately kneels beside him checking his status.  As if triggered by this the door opens and three new human men enter.

The first is a large, bearish man with brown hair and beard in tight curls.  A shield as wide and tall as he covers most of his form and he enters first, scanning the room with cautious eyes, pausing on you and the other figures a moment with a clearly appraising look.

He's followed closely behind by a taller but more slender man, reddish-brown hair tied back in a neat ponytail.  A pair of swords hang from his belt, sticking out behind his back.  He seems more relaxed, though is clearly ready to move on a moment's notice if needed.  He steps to the side to allow a last figure in.

The third man is considerably older, though not so much as the man who has collapsed, perhaps in his fifties or sixties.  He's dressed in fine robes though they are well worn and appear to have several days of travel in them.  His face is creased with tension, if you had to guess you would say he has not slept much of late.  He steps slowly forward, the other two making eye contact and nodding slightly, then drops down and prostrates on the ground, bowing to the floor.

"Thank you for answering our call.  It is a time perhaps darker than we have ever known."  He rises to his knees then slowly pulls himself to his feet.  "If ever we had need of heroes it is now."  His face lightens somewhat, eyes hopeful with the faintest glimmers of tears showing in the corners of them.

"I'm sure you have many questions, I will attend to them as best I can.  What sparse comforts I can offer are yours."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 2, 2018)

"Uhhhh..." A Teenaged boy with brown hair and green eyes is standing near naked in his underwear looking around. "Man dreams get weird sometimes..." He mumbles rubbing his eyes and yawning. He doesn't look remotely heroic or strong at all.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 2, 2018)

Foot on the edge, blade held tightly, Haru drives her sword forward towards her brother who deftly dodges past, grabbing her by her wrists and making her drop her weapon. She howls in pain as he twists her arms in unnatural positions. “You really are a thorn in my side.” He snarls, dark eyes dull, almost dead. It was a coldness that she never saw in her brother's eyes before today. The highest watch tower in the kingdom, this was the end. Someone was to die here, and her brother was larger, stronger, a more vicious combatant.

“Shinpachi please. We don't have to do this.” Haru struggles, looking tearfully at him.

“One person gets to leave this tower alive, and its going to be me. I can't chance a brat like you ruining my chances.” He tightens his grip, making her feel her bones groan in protest. The many different ideas fluttered through his head, different ways to kill his little sister.

A sudden wind blows, knocking off Haru's hat that kept her hair controlled. The world stood still as Shinpachi let a toothy grin settle on his face before abruptly picking her up and dangling her over the edge.

“Any last words little princess?” as his sentence ends, she spits in his face, pulling her body up by her wrists to bite his arm with her fanged mouth, causing him to let go.



It was a blur as she plummeted to the ground, vertigo overtook her and she nearly vomited. The seconds it took to land felt like an eternity. But the embrace of death did not take her. Instead she feels hard packed dirt underneath her suddenly, no pain, but strange chanting, then more people enter the room. If she was less focused on what had just happened, she would have immediately questioned things.

“That traitorous friend,” Are the first words out of her mouth in the strange new place, her voice sounds androgynous however, as if the years of training her voice to be more masculine interfered with her natural pitch. She scratches at her head in annoyance, then feels her chest and head, “Wait? I'm not dead? I'm not dead!” She sounds almost giddy, sitting up straight and protruding a more royal posture.

“I'm not complaining, but why are we here? Why all of us? Who are you? You don't look like you're going to harm us.” She questions, tilting her head quizzically. “Would whatever this is be considered kidnapping?”


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 2, 2018)

The regal man nods somewhat comfortingly as the pair voice their confusion.  "You are neither dead nor dreaming, at least not in the literal sense."  He pauses to look at the elderly man that was chanting before but remains unresponsive now.  "As to how you got here, I am afraid the technical explanation is beyond me.  But the essence is a great work of magic was performed, to beseech the gods to send us heroes."

"I am afraid I do not know how the gods select those that they pick only that our need is so great we could think of no other option."  He pauses wearily, his voice showing hints of exhausted strains.  "I would hope it is not the case that you would think ill of me, if you do I would only ask that you wait until you understand the situation and that you do not punish my subjects for my actions."

The pair waiting by the door shift nervously at this suggestion and seem a bit more on edge but they keep quiet.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 2, 2018)

Douglas blinks and begins pinching himself. No... needed to be sure he'd done that in dreams before. Hard impacts always woke him up since his mind couldn't really process that too well. He walks up to the regal man "Could you do me a favor and punch me? This dream isn't nearly as abstract as I like having."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 2, 2018)

"What do you mean?  Anything is better than falling 200 theras to a rocky ground." Her words seem like the word 'theras' was a measurement of distance.  "What is the dire situation that gives the cause to summon us here?" She brushed her dark hair out of her face, remembering her proper facade she practiced throughout her time.


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## Vergil (Feb 3, 2018)

Boot sequence initiated.
Loading Protocols
Loading Windows 97
Deleting Windows 97
Rebooting
Starting Nanite.exe

Circuits came to life as the android awakened, for the first time in its life. The tattoos shone an eerie green, with light equivalent to a torch illuminating the room. A sequence of programs started up and it was several moments before the android was even able to open its eyes and register the surroundings. The being stood up suddenly and searched the room, scanning the faces of all present, with dead dark eyes. It only had one objective in its programming.

"Searching for human with designation "Master". Loading basic description. Blue hair, green eyes, 5 ft 3, Caucasian, 120lbs, 23 yrs old. Have you seen anyone with this description?"

The android surmised that there was something amiss as the 'Master' was not present for its awakening. It searched its logs and then felt a surge of....something unpleasant. Its hand clenched the maid outfit it was wearing.

'Unit manufactured 2267
Unit deemed defective due to nanite error. Sage virus detected. Unit will periodically make nonsensical observations
Unit irreparable and scheduled for disintegration.'

The android processed the information and came to a conclusion.

"This unit needs a purpose. It has been discarded, therefore has no purpose. Please allocate a purpose within 2 minutes or this unit will shutdown and erase all files." Then the sage virus took over, "The truest difference between the concepts of life and death, are bananas."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

The man seems taken aback by the request of violence and after a moment's hesitation he seems to focus on the other's more practical questions.  "The situation is beyond dire," he says simply.  "I am King Gabriel Sutton the Third, 49th successor to the throne of Abrelia though whether that is still a place that exists may be a question of dispute."  The last is heavy in his voice, clearly having a real impact on the man.

"Three days ago I awoke to a normal day, much like the rest of my subjects.  Just before lunch an exhausted messenger relayed word of an army only hours outside of the capital.  He had ran the whole way to us and the army marched on his very heels."  His voice has a strange mix of anger and disbelief.  "We had little chance to speculate on where this mystery army appeared from as we rushed to muster forces."

"The bulk of our knights, elite soldiers of many campaigns," both his face and his tone make it clear that he knew many of these men personally.  His voice catches somewhat in his throat but he forces through it,"they were sent out to buy time while we rallied more common troops.  Tens of thousands of black armored soldiers met them, and rolled over them as if the force they represented were insignificant."

"We went from surprised, to full out scattering retreat in less than an hour.  No chance for an organized retreat from the capital, the bulk of the population simply scattered."   He shook his head in disbelief and turned for a moment to compose himself.  Once recovered he continued, "unbelievably things were worse from there, three other cities we visited, all three were already occupied by these unnatural black-clad forces."

"After that we made the decision to head to the ruins of Perlshaw, a village on the edge of nowhere that was abandoned decades ago.  After a brief discussion of options we came to the conclusions that left us here."

The man turned to consider the third figure considering her strange words for a moment, "purpose?  Well, the purpose we called you here for is to save our people.  That's the truest reason to ever call for heroes.  Salvation."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 3, 2018)

"Huh..." Was this not a dream? He was in the same underwear he went to bed in after messing about on the computer. Well... may as well play along with the the dream if it wanted to pretend to be something else.
"Hey, Gabriel can you manage... normal clothing?" His stomach growls... he never had been hungry in a dream before. "Maybe some food?" He thinks about what the strange looking robot in the room said. "Bananas maybe? That sounds fine."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

"Our supplies are quite limited at the moment," the king says cautiously.  "Food of course, though our supplies are few.  I'm not sure what a banana is though.  As far as clothing goes I can see what we can salvage from the others that have arrived but I would not count on much.  While your garb may be strange it seems serviceable enough."

"If the immediate questions are done, I would like to offer my thanks to the gods at the temple.  After that we can see to your needs as best we can and start our plan for where to go next."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 3, 2018)

"Not sure what a... No, food or clothing?" Oh...this wasn't a dream at all was it... This was some weird adventurer manga or japanese novel coming true for real wasn't it... Wait doesn't that mean he's about to be saddled with a lot unwarranted responsibility and war at that? Isn't this once king assuming a lot, he's going to get him killed...
"Wait just a damn second! Why don't you just surrender to the black soldiers?! They've already won after all. How in the world am I supposed to stop a victory that has already happened?! I don't even know how to fight either!"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

"Tactical retreat, very smart your majesty." She nods, giving a bow as she stands up to introduce herself, "Princess Haru of the Northern Kingdoms, well, from where I am from.  Just Haru is okay."  She gives a look to Douglas, "There are many of us humans that do not wear clothing.  Yes, we have no fur so it must be cold are you not?" There's something strange about how she was just talking, just she scrunches her nose, "Maybe we can find an animal to skin for you to wear and eat."


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## Vergil (Feb 3, 2018)

"Purpose acquired." The android nodded, 20 seconds before its deadline had run out. "This unit will save your people."

"This unit is unable to comply with primary objective currently. This unit does not currently have the capability to defeat an army of 10,000. Unit requires Weapon: tactical miniature nuclear launcher, or Seraphim 34000."

"If weapons are unavailable then this unit must be given ample time and resources to improve."

Accessing logs to query: Banana:


*Spoiler*: __ 



 The *banana* is an edible  – botanically a  – produced by several kinds of large   in the  . In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called , in contrast to *dessert bananas*. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in  covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible  (seedless) bananas come from two wild species –  and . The  of most cultivated bananas are _Musa acuminata_, _Musa balbisiana_, and _Musa_ × _paradisiaca_ for the hybrid _Musa acuminata_ × _M. balbisiana_, depending on their  constitution. The old scientific name _Musa sapientum_ is no longer used.

_Musa_ species are native to tropical  and , and are likely to have been first domesticated in . They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make , , and  and as . The world's largest producers of bananas in 2016 were India and China, which together accounted for 28% of total production.

Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between "bananas" and "plantains". Especially in the Americas and Europe, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the , which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. By contrast,  with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains". In other regions, such as , many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the binary distinction is not useful and is not made in local languages.

The term "banana" is also used as the common name for the plants that produce the fruit. This can extend to other members of the genus _Musa_, such as the  (_Musa coccinea_), the (_Musa velutina_), and the . It can also refer to members of the genus , such as the  (_Ensete glaucum_) and the economically important  (_Ensete ventricosum_). Both genera are in the banana family, .


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

"What in blue blazes are you talking about?" She stared blankly at the Android, brain turning off halfway through the droning.


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## Vergil (Feb 3, 2018)

The android turned to the dark haired person.

"Query: What are blue blazes? Information not found. Bananas should not be blue or set ablaze. Nor should both occur at the same time." The android stated.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

"Its..." She snorts, mouth twitching in amusement, "just an expression?"  The laughter breaks her transformation slightly, causing her eyes to flicker from brown to bright blue, then back again as she regains control, snickering to herself over what was said.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

The king brushed aside the majority of their banter, the legends seemed to indicate that heroes from another world were odd and it certainly seemed to be the case.  "Surrender might have been an option, if we knew who to send such a message to.  Our retreat was less a tactical movement and more flight of panicked necessity."  He grimaces slightly at the last.

He paused considering, "the troops were  odd, by the standards of armies I know.  Tight rigid formations but no banners of any kind and no indication of sergeants or leadership on the field.  Individually the didn't seem overly impressive, yet they brushed off attacks against them with almost no effort."  With a sigh he adds, "I'm aware that what I ask of you is not exactly reasonable.  If you do not wish to help us I understand, but I wish for you to know that we do what we do only because we have no other choice."

To the strangest of the trio he nods, "I'm afraid our resources are limited for weapons at the moment, even if I know what it is that you were asking for.  But I am hoping we are remote enough to have time before they find us, assuming they continue to look.  There are woods nearby, so at the very least we can hunt and do some woodcrafts.  Then perhaps," he pauses and shakes his head.

"I'm aware this is not the start of most adventures of legend.  If I had more resources to give you I assure you we would leverage them."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 3, 2018)

"Damn it. Fine lets get it on with. You mentioned gods?"
Douglas is ready to follow him.


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## Vergil (Feb 3, 2018)

The android turned to the King and bowed slightly.

"This unit is unfamiliar with the geography of the area." She stops, "Since you are unfamiliar with bananas, are you familiar with the concept of a map?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

"A map?  Yes I am familiar with the term," the king says hesitantly.  "I somehow doubt anyone brought one with them but I will have the request spread around.  If not I will ask if someone is skilled in cartography, we will certainly need something eventually."

"If that is it for now let us move on to the temple, then we will find what equipment we can for you all."  He turns towards the door and the two heavily armed men provide a careful escort out.

Through the door is a dark staircase leading up into  a small room that one might generously call a hovel.  It's bare and unfurnished, though at least an effort has been made to clean it.  A small hearth is built into one wall in which a blazing fire roars.  The king leaves without word to the outside village.

The village is clearly small, a dozen or so mostly one-room homes are scattered around haphazardly.  It's also mostly overgrown, and semblance of roads erased by time.  A handful of men and women are gathered together in small groups as the party exits, the murmur awestruck offering prayers and thanks to the group as they leave.

In the center of the village is a moderately larger building.  Unlike the wooden houses it is made of clay bricks and appears to be in much better general condition.  The king pauses outside the building, "the temple was built devoted to Dumathoin, a somewhat Dwarven god, somewhat obscure in these parts if you have not heard of him.  But it is sanctified ground, all of the gods will hear your words if you wish to offer thanks."

With no further explanation he moves into the temple.  His guards seem to relax very slightly when they enter though they still eye everything warily.  Inside there is a single large room, with no features or furniture other than an alter apparently carved out of a single block of stone.  The king approaches it slowly then kneels, head bowed in silent prayer.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 3, 2018)

Douglas yawns. Prayer, how ridiculous. Though he wasn't going to say anything about it nor pray.
Instead he tries to see if he was able to spot anything special with the guards, the king, and the surrounding area.
The robot would be a valuable resource admittedly and the girl that was also summoned did offer to help make proper clothing... Though he wasn't sure how he felt about wearing something he saw first hand... He sneezes and shivers slightly. It's... awfully breezy this way. Who summons someone from their bed? It was rude. What if he was... Well at least that didn't happen.
((Take 20 after that roll))


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

Out of respect, Haru kneels next to yet behind the king, praying as well, though to no specific god, unsure if her own Gods would even exist here, and if they did, maybe praying to them might anger the ones that were primary here.

After she is finished, she stands and steps away.  "I don't know if I'm really hero material, but we will find out soon enough, Gods willing.  We've all been called here for a reason."


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## Vergil (Feb 3, 2018)

The android looked curiously at the King as he knelt

"You are a King. I see no-one in the area that is of higher importance than you. Please update information. Term: God. File not found. Gap in memory suggests that file was erased."

She looked also at the dark haired girl that referred to herself as a princess looking for a response. 

"Scanning area for additional lifeforms. Cannot find. Optics may be in need of repair."

The android couldn't feel emotion but this was as close to distress as it could get as it continually scanned the area as the King and Princess knelt before a statue. Was the statue alive? Why kneel to something that is dead?


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

"Its something a person can put faith into, most only know about them through stories.  You can't see them, you can't hear them.  But...you can feel their presence everywhere."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 3, 2018)

"I could count at least 2 people and a product of man's hard work that are more important than a fallen king who wouldn't even know what a gun is. Going by what I've seen."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

Douglas doesn't see anything inherently unusual about the guards, or the king for that matter.  They're certainly very different from what he's used to but they at least appear to fit in with the surroundings.  If anything looking closely suggests that the two guards are at least as tired as the king, though perhaps better at covering for that.  Their tension suggests that they're probably very short on temper.

He winces as if slapped at being denounced as a worthless fallen king however does not immediately say anything.  Any retort or justification he might have offered was suddenly lost as a tremor cuts across the floor of the temple, shaking everyone slightly.  Both guards give a panicked look inside and sprint in towards the king.

The taller, less heavily armored guard moves faster, cutting across the ground and tackling the king over towards the far wall of the temple.  A moment later the ground shifts again and falls away as a gaping hole swallows most of the temple floor.  Your heart freezes for a moment of free-fall (or gyroscopic positioning and kinesthetic subprocessing unit) before you plunge into icy water.  Fast currents carry you under for heart-wrenching seconds before a strong arm grasps you and pulls you up onto solid ground.

The heavier shield-carrying knight lets you go next to the others as he rapidly works to secure everyone.  You find yourself in a largish chamber perhaps 25' by 25', though most of the center of the room is dominated by a swirling pool.  The river (if you could term it that) rushes in from one side of the room and it circles at a fast pace before draining into a circular hole in the bottom.

The room is crafted of slightly greenish stone blocks and a pair of lanterns are set in the walls lighting the room adaquately.  In the center of the right-hand wall a narrow hallway leads away from the room, made of the same greenish blocks with lanterns set in fixed intervals.

The heavy-set man stands up once he seems certain neither the king nor the other guard would be following the party and takes stock that everyone is okay.  He picks his shield back up and shakes water from his armor as best he can before speaking.  "Okay, so, that happened."

"Being formal, well, that's pretty outside my role other than standing aside while the diplomats talk.  Don't know if there is a proper way to talk to heroes anyway so I'm just going to cut to it and find out what we have."  He pauses looking at everyone in turn perhaps slightly wary of bad reactions but continues anyway, "we're in a dungeon, four, maybe five levels down?  Tough to gauge how far we fell."  He shrugs slightly.  "I'm a fighter, fourth level, specialized in defense and protection if that wasn't obvious.  I know you all are hurting for gear, any chance you have any skills of use?  What are we working with exactly?"

He glances around at the others apparently waiting for a response.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

She sputters, uncomfortable in her human form, "I've got a nasty bite." Haru drops her transformation, hair quickly melding into her body as an auburn fur ruffles across her body, tail fluffing out from under her coat.  The dampness making her look more like a drowned rat than a fox. 

She sneezes and shakes her body to poof out a bit, "I've got good strategy usually.  I apologize for the discourtisy of suddenly changing form on you.  But I do not particularly enjoy that form in this situation.  I'm not helpless, but I don't really have that many skills on my side.  Also, what do you mean fighter and dungeon and level??"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

The guard takes the transformation mostly in stride.  He's probably surprised but given the current circumstance he appears to be thinking better than to comment on it.  "Didn't you see the alert?  Well, I suppose we were falling at the time.  The 'Frozen Mines' I think it was, something like that at least.  That's the dungeon we're in, not really much for history, I think King Gabriel mentioned it was sealed by the temple something like 50 years ago.  It was a fairly mild dungeon, got out of hand and they had to lock it up."

"I don't really understand your other questions, I'm a fighter, really one of the more basic classes I'd imagine that's true everywhere, hard to get to to advanced classes without learning basics first.  I could probably unlock caviler if I spent more time in mounted combat but as a member of the King's Guard I was planning on trying to unlock warder."  He stops and shakes his head.

"This probably isn't the place to discuss that though.  That clear anything up?  Maybe your world uses different terms?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 3, 2018)

"Still makes no sense to me, but I figure I'll figure it out soon enough." Haru wipes her muzzle, "Alright, damage control," she looks at the others, "Everyone looks like they are okay, you feel okay everything considered?"


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## Vergil (Feb 3, 2018)

As the android fell it simply stared blankly in front of it until it hit the water. It then stared blankly as it got swept away by the current, clearly unable to do anything about it. When it finally reached a place where it was dry, the being analysed the situation. A room with lots of green. A man

The android looks at the heavier man. "A fighter. You like to fight things. On a level. The 4th level. Please clarify, this unit does not have the necessary requirements to understand. Awarder? A person that awards people? Please clarify, this unit does not have the necessary requirements to understand. Cavalier? 
_noun_

*1*.
historical
a supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War.


*2*.
a small spaniel of a breed with a moderately long, noncurly, silky coat.
_adjective_

*1*.
showing a lack of proper concern; offhand.
  Does not translate in the context given. You wish to unlock a dog? Please clarify, this unit does not have the necessary requirements to understand"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 3, 2018)

The knight seems to visibly wilt at the second barrage of questions.  "Never mind my classes for now.  All you really need to know is I am a defensive and melee focused."  He takes a breath and sighs slightly, "I suppose it would make sense that different worlds have different ways of explaining things."

"So maybe we'll keep it simple, do any of you have combat experience?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

"F-freezing to death? I'd s-say t-shat's a thing b-both worlds could share. C-can you start a f-f-fire of any k-kind?" He shivers bare skinned the only upside being he didn't have soaked clothing, he shakes it off as best as he can. Alert... Douglas starts thinking about it. The man also mentioned being a Fighter and classes... Dammit those other two don't have to worry about this cold at all. He shivers holding himself. A menu? Is there a menu? "Menu open. Esc! Open Class page! Open Skill page!" Douglas starts swiping at the air trying to imagine a menu like a RPG would have. The man was mentioning mechanics after all.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 4, 2018)

"Yes sir.  My brother taught me what he could."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

"Freezing, yes," the guard considers this a moment.  "Well, starting a fire is easy enough if we can find something to burn.  Perhaps it would be best to move on."  He eyes the only useful exit and eases his sword from its sheath.  "Keep an eye open for chests as well, we're deep enough there may be some gear of value.  Well, granted, anything would be better than what you have.

There's no response to Douglas' "commands" other than a concerned look from the guard.

He looks at the fox-lady for a moment then slides out a dagger and hands it to her.  "Take this then, best I can do.  Probably still better to avoid combat where we can.  _Usually_ monsters won't wander too far from where they spawn, running might be the better choice.  Look for paths up as well," he pauses as if catching himself explaining this very basic concept.  After a spare glance at the others he continues, "you see we fell down, so we'll need to go up to get to the exit.  Up will be out, back to the village.  hopefully the others have secured the entrance and will have a rope or something."

He edges over to the hallway and starts his advance, sword and shield at the ready.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

Douglas follows behind still trying different things... Ah his name, he never stated his name.
"My n-name is *Douglas Roller*, I specialize in... Long ranged combat! I have many skills regarding computers. S-sorry, I can't r-really fight. I wasn't trained for it. N-nice to meet you all." 
Come on... I just said my name world, would it work then? Maybe if he drew out an keyboard on the ground and pressed every metaphorical key...
Wait... What if he managed to kill a monster, would a menu show up then?
Douglas looks for some nice throwable rocks to throw, there had to be some with how they fell.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

The knight leads the group down the hallway.  It twists and turns and branches from time to time in a manner that seems pointless for a person to go to the trouble of building, but beyond that for a while there are no unusual signs.  It's also extremely quiet, save for the sounds the party makes there's no hint of other creatures in the hallways, that doesn't stop the armored man from keeping his guard up.

Finally after a while a difference stands out and one of the forks turns upward at a noticeable angle.  With renewed vigor the guard leads the party up this tunnel, after a short distance it opens up slightly to a sort of 10'x10' clearing.  In the clearing there's a mine cart on a set of tracks going farther up the passage and an old looking wooden chest.

Going further up the texture of the passage shifts from greenish stone blocks to rough-cut stone however dishearteningly it ends a short distance further in a complete cave-in.

He goes to the minecart first, it's covered in a canvas however once removed it is mostly full of what appears to be rubble.  Two heavy mining picks do sit on top the rubble, he examines both in turn a moment before setting them down before the others.  He then turns to the chest, opening the lid on it.  Impossibly a six-foot long spear is pulled out of the chest along with a small pouch and a trio of short javelins.  He pockets the pouch and lays everything else out.

"The picks are poor quality mining picks, they're not really meant for fighting but should work well enough.  The balance of such weapons is deceptive though, if you haven't unlocked hammers and axes proficiency I could probably break the heads off of them to use as clubs.  Wouldn't hit as hard but they'd be easy to control."

"The spear and javelins are common quality, should be easy enough to use even if you don't have much experience with fighting.  They're not much but overall it's a lot better than walking around unarmed.  I'll leave it up to you to decide who's best for what, if you want me to cut the picks into clubs let me know."

((The picks are martial weapons, which unless you have a trait that gives you proficiency in "pick, heavy" you'd take a -4 to hit with them.  The spear, javelin, and (if you choose) clubs would be simple weapons that I'm graciously granting you proficiency in automatically.  Club actually does the same base damage as the pick, you'd only be giving up the insane x4 crit multiplier for cutting them down.))


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

"Say... is that a..."
Douglas tries putting the 6 foot spear back into the chest and closing it... is it impossible?


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

The chest is a fairly typical one, measuring maybe 3' wide, 2' deep, 2.5' tall.  A 6' spear doesn't fit into it enough to even attempt closing it.

The guard looks quite confused at the attempt, he says to the others, "we should probably hurry, the chill might be getting to Douglas."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

That fighter DID pocket the pouch over everything else, he wanted to confirm.
"Does that pouch contain a space that is bigger on the inside?"


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

The guard frowns at the question.  "The pouch contains coin, not terribly helpful at the moment, we can discuss what needs be done with it when we return to the others."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

Douglas sets the spear back down letting the others pick whatever they want before him.
So... it's like Loot rolls? Finding gold in wolves? Special weapons that couldn't possibly be in a creature or chest?
Douglas thinks to himself while waiting.


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## Vergil (Feb 4, 2018)

The android looks at the weapons in front of it. It picks up the mining pick and practices a few swings. 

"Probability of missing target with this weapon is higher, however, this unit concludes that there may be useful things to mine."

"Wayward is a good few days, so much for always being there" the androids sage virus made her say (and not me using predictive text)


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 4, 2018)

Haru looks between the larger weapons and the dagger in hand, "I'm sticking with the dagger, thank you for letting me borrow it." She nods in respect to him, ears flattening backward in slight nervousness, "I'd give one of those picks to the brute, he looks like he can handle one no problem."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

It seems like they aren't interested in the spear or javelins...
He really wished he had clothing right now. Chances are he'd poke himself with the weapons and die from some disease.
If he wasn't dying from the flu soon already.
"Alright... if you don't mind, I'll take the 3 javelins and spear... Well, if I can carry all of them." He'd just have to carry all of the javelins in one hand and the spear in the other. Frankly the spear would be more suited to the large man than the pickaxe or even the cut off head of a spear, but he wasn't going to say anything about it.
"We should introduce ourselves, chances are we might not live much longer. Douglas Roller, I am just a highschooler in my world... Though I'm not sure if anyone here understands what that means."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

As if to spite Douglas' musing, the chest fades away out of existence a few moments later.  The spear is a bit awkward in one hand, it'd be hard to put any strength behind it in combat with only one hand, but carrying it works well enough.

Once everyone has selected their weapons the knight nods.  "Alright," he says.  "I know at least some of you don't have much experience with combat, so let me give you a quick overview."  He takes his sword out again and assumes a fighting stance, "if we do get to fighting keep loose, ready to move around.  Standing still is an invitation to let them whale on you."

He reaches the sword back readying a swing, "when your cooldown expires, you can start a swing.  Or stab with the spear, wait for the power meter to get in the red and launch the attack."  As if demonstrating he swings the sword in a broad arc.  "It will take some practice, but learning the tempo of battle will help.  And eventually you'll unlock and start raising your skills."

"For now we'll have to go back to exploring.  Up from here obviously isn't an option, some dungeon levels have multiple exits, if we're lucky we'll find one of those.  But we may have to go the harder route."  After considering their knowledge so far he sighs and elaborates, "we're near the bottom anyway, if we find the dungeon boss and defeat it, we can return to the entrance from there."

"This looks as safe as anywhere, if you have any questions now would be a good time."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

"Sir Thomas," the knight says in response to the statement he totally didn't miss in a previous post.  "Knight of the crown, and member of the royal guard."  The last is said with a touch of conviction as if daring someone to challenge whether either really exist any more.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

Douglas sweats "I... don't think I have cooldowns... or a power meter." I mean he didn't try yet really, but... he didn't see an alert either did he?


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

Sir Thomas shakes his head in aspiration, "you'll figure it out I'm sure.  If you're not used to fighting it's probably just nothing you've paid attention to before."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 4, 2018)

Haru gives the dagger a few swings, getting comfortable with the weight, and partially hoping to see what he saw.  "Cool, so what enemies do you expect to confront?" She stands straight again, blade firmly grasped in her hand.


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## Vergil (Feb 4, 2018)

The android looks at Douglas blankly.

"Name: Unassigned. Gender..." The android looks down and touches in specific places, "female. Age: less than 24hours. Master: None."

She then turns to the knight. "The terms cooldown, levels, classes, skills, power meter are all used in simulation; otherwise known as  games. This unit has Pong loaded as one of its programs. Using past language that unit did not understand and searching under tag: Games....... Fighter, Cavalier, Knight, Awarder....changing to Warder. Commonly used in Role playing Games, or RPGS."

The Android looks blankly at the knight. "Query: is this an RPG simulation using advanced virtual reality technology?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

"What she said." She needed a name? How about something funny? Though he didn't want to deal with being called... Master.
Bimbo Bot 9000? Toasternater? Vulva? Wikipedia? Or maybe... Douglas thinks of strange names that would make conversations awkward.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

"I'm afraid this dungeon has been closed longer than I've been alive," Sir Thomas says cautiously.  "So I don't have any direct knowledge of what's here.  It was a lower end dungeon so as long as we can keep from getting overwhelmed I can probably handle whatever we run into.  At least as far as normal monsters go."

He turns to the android, "I understand little of what you say.  I have heard some people treat fighting as a game, I suppose it works for some I personally advise it be treated as serious as the consequences it can have.  But take heart, I doubt the gods would bring you here only to have you die, they have a plan even if we cannot see it."

Any further explanation is interrupted by scratching sound not unlike nails on a blackboard, slowly growing louder from back the direction the party came.  The knight turns and readies himself, "something approaches," he says in a hushed tone.  "Make ready."

A few moments later the patterns of light change and then a moment later a trio of skeletons walk into view.  They wear odd helmets on their head with candles set in, casting additional dim light about them, and they all carry heavy mining picks not unlike the ones found.  As one they pause and their heads swivel to look up, red pinpricks of light where eyes should be.

There's a strange aura radiating from them, unnatural and hostile, somehow instinctively you can tell these mean to cut you down and add your bones to this place.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

((OOC:

I realize I should probably provide more detail here.  Please roll initiative normally (d20+dex for most), and go ahead and give me your game strategy.  For now to avoid dice spam I'm just going to ask for your plan I'll go ahead and roll dice as needed in combat.  This actually is easier for me than looking up everybody's rolls.

The skeletons are currently about 30' away, moving uphill towards the party so you should get the first hit on them if you just wait for them to come to you.))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 4, 2018)

EvilMoogle said:


> A few moments later the patterns of light change and then a moment later a trio of skeletons walk into view.  They wear odd helmets on their head with candles set in, casting additional dim light about them, and they all carry heavy mining picks not unlike the ones found.  As one they pause and their heads swivel to look up, red pinpricks of light where eyes should be.
> 
> There's a strange aura radiating from them, unnatural and hostile, somehow instinctively you can tell these mean to cut you down and add your bones to this place.


"Right defense and protection wasn't it?" Douglas gets behind the knight. "I doubt spears will do much to those things, how about we push some rocks down their way? I'll help if anyone agrees with it."


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## Kuno (Feb 4, 2018)

Most of the time the half-giant stood staring at the mug in his hand.  Periodically he would scowl and shake his head before looking at his surroundings then back at the tankard.  Aimlessly he followed the others wherever they went, the conversation flowing around the brute.  Still no words had been uttered by him.  When they fell down into the water he floundered a bit before he was pulled free, the mug now cracked still held tightly in his massive hand. 

Continuing to follow the others he absently grabbed the pick before tying the mug on his hip with a bit of leather.  Once the skeletons showed up the huge man grinned.  "Now this Lo-kag understands!"  He thundered and moved in front of the group, ready to smash some bones.

Init:  +0
Roll(1d20)+0:
14,+0
Total:14


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 4, 2018)

She saw the skeletons, saw Lo-Kag get ready for combat, she tried to keep herself under control, but it was just too tempting since  a dagger wouldn't do well against the skeletons.  Her plan is to circle behind and attack from the back, hoping to bite and/or disarm them.


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## Vergil (Feb 4, 2018)

The unit looked at the moving skeletons

"Skeletons move without muscles or mechanics. This unit will investigate later. Skeletons deemed as enemy. Attack mode active."

She walks towards them and swings violently, yet dispassionately 

1d20+3
13+3 = 16


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

Douglas acts first, pointing the others at the heavy minecart, however seeing the others start charging down at the skeleton he falls back on grabbing a fist sized rock and hurling it at the closest one.  It thuds into the exposed ribcage of the skeleton shattering a few of them but the monster doesn't seem impeded by it.

The huge form of Lo-Kag charges oddly contrasted by the slender form of the unnamed android.  The pair both swing the heavy picks true and they shatter through the skeletons each collapsing one into a pile of bones.  Haru uses their charge as a distraction to sneak around the last and bites solidly at the arm.  Her jaw lacks the strength to overpower the toughness of the bone however a moment later Sir Thomas charges shield first into the creature likewise shattering it.

A moment later the three piles of bones along with their helms and picks disintegrate into dust, leaving only a small crystal behind little bigger than a pinky-nail.  Sir Thomas picks up one and looks at it closely, a conflicted look on his face.  "7, maybe 8 gold,' he mutters sounding pensive.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 4, 2018)

Her tail wagged as if almost out of her control as she hit the skeleton's arm.  However as it dissappeared her tail and ears lower sadly, "Awww..." She looks down at the ground.  "So, you think that'll be about normal?  Skeletons?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 4, 2018)

After another moment Sir Thomas answers simply, "I don't know."  He pauses in thought and puts the crystal in the same pouch as the coins before speaking again, "as deep as we are in the dungeon I would have expected more from them."  He shakes his head and shrugs, "perhaps it means that there will be a larger number of weaker creatures.  Perhaps something big is draining what's available.  Perhaps simply being sealed for so long has weakened the dungeon overall."  

He stops again in thought for a moment then gestures to the other two small crystals, "grab those if you would.  For now let's be happy that we're alive and uninjured and work at keeping ourselves that way.  We can ask Arn Garath about it once we've gotten out of here."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 5, 2018)

"Were we supposed to obtain experience or see those meters? Are we actually partied right now?" Douglas asks Sir Thomas


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 5, 2018)

"We've been traveling together for some time now," Sir Thomas says in a calming voice.  "For now just focus your energies on getting out of here safely, I'm sure things will sort out once you warm up and get some rest."  To the others he says somewhat more quietly, "I fear that the cold and the shock of the summoning may have addled him, let's not dawdle any more than we have to."


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## Vergil (Feb 5, 2018)

The android picks up the items and looks at them. "Query: What are these, and what purpose do they serve?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 5, 2018)

"Yknow I do believe that they had a bone to pick with us.  Snrk." Haru snorts in amusement, rethinking the situation, "I do think we should get moving, staying still we're sitting ducks."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 5, 2018)

As soon as the unnamed android touches the crystal it vanishes with a slight tingling jolt that still seems to remain even after the gem is gone an anomalous energy reading that maintains faintly in her tactile sensors but does not register within her internal power systems.

The knight looks a her curiously, "did you break it?  They're usually pretty sturdy but they're not indestructible."  He takes the one he picked up out and tests it to no effect.  "Seems normal enough.  Anyway to your question, these are mana crystals, monsters leave them behind when defeated.  Not a magic expert but mages use them for all sorts of things, potions, wands, whatever.  Practical use is wizards want to buy them, so they're good as gold, some normal stores even take them though you have to watch what they give you for them."


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## Kuno (Feb 5, 2018)

"Trade."  Lo-Kag shrugs, he fumbles a little with picking up the last stone.  Slipping it in the pouch at his hip he looks around still scowling slightly.  "You would have been left in the forest as a child."  He says to *Douglas* before pulling off the large dire wolf mantle he wears.  "Warm."  He drops it over Douglas and slaps him on the back.  His scowl turned into a grin as he began to laugh at how it fell around him.  "Let's get moving."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 5, 2018)

Likewise as happened with the android the gem vanishes as soon as Lo-Kag touches it, with a slight electrical jolt.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 5, 2018)

"Gaaah, my spine!" It's not as cold anymore at least... Douglas frowns it kinda smells though he's not sure if it's because of the wolf or the man... Hopefully it wasn't that bad. "Mana stones? What is Mana? I don't think I have that." He already knew what mana was fictionally, but asking like this would probably gain more results.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 5, 2018)

"Mana?  Well, if you want a detailed explanation probably better to ask the Arnl when we get back," he pauses and considers Douglas with a sort of sigh.  "But that's not what you're asking, is it?  Okay," he mutters slightly under his breath for a moment.  "Okay, mana is a sort of energy that's present in everything.  Guess that means you and me too.  Some magic folk use this energy to do their magic stuff, some magic folk don't -- you want to understand that you'll need to ask one of them."  He interrupts himself before anyone can ask.

"Anyway, mana might be everywhere but there's not the same amount everywhere.  Some places it's thick and some it's thin.  Where it's thick enough monsters form."  He pauses to make sure Douglas is still following, "anyway, unlike you or me monsters are actually made out of mana.  When you destroy them some of the mana stays as a mana stone, stronger the monster bigger the stone."  He fumbles the tiny crystal out from before to show.

"Places where mana is especially thick dungeons form."  He pauses and sighs, "a dungeon's a place that not only generates monsters from mana but the entire environment.  Some places that means buildings, furniture, whatever you want.  Stuff that's mana doesn't really exist though, hit it too hard or try and take it out of the dungeon and it just fades away."

"Dungeons also generate real items too, which is one of the main reasons to go into the dungeon.  Gold, gems, weapons, armor, even magic sometimes."  He pauses and gestures to the items the party has.  "Sometimes it's tricky, so best to check first to make sure you're not picking up scenery, don't want a sword to shatter back to mana the first time you hit something."

"A guild would probably give you a better explanation, assuming any of the guilds still exist."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 6, 2018)

... This man did give a nice explanation, but he doesn't see the possible ramifications.
If they are absorbing mana... something he doubts they naturally have. He'd want to shatter everything. Not to mention background scenery might just be better than what they have now. This also means obstructions could be removed with enough force. But there was one thing he knew for sure. "Guilds still exist~" If any guild still existed in some way it'd be a mage or a thieves guild. Douglas looks around for the background scenery like objects as they move along.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 6, 2018)

The party takes off again into the maze of tightly twisted passages, all alike.  The feel is subtly different however, faint scratching noises like bone feet walking on stone seem to echo periodically far off in the distance.  The sensation that something is out there lurking makes the pressure of the dungeon seem more ominous.

Still there was little choice but to move on.  The feel of the dungeon proved more than just the atmosphere as they ran into a full dozen additional skeletal miners, in groups of 2-4.  Fortunately the group managed to dispatch them without injury, the knight's armor leading them on the way, heavy picks working wonderfully against brittle bone (daggers and spears holding little effect).  The knight adds the mana stones to his pouch-o-loot bringing the number up to a lucky 13.

They also found two additional chests while traveling.  In addition a small amount of coin one held (miraculously fresh) bread and cheese resulting in an impromptu lunch, the other was full of iron ingots, which while apparently of some value were impractical to carry without bags or other means.

Finally after hours of walking they reached something truly different.  Around a bend the hallway opened into a room of moderate size (we'll say 25'x25').  At the far end of the room was a grotesquely fat corpse that could only be a zombie holding a bull whip.  He cracks it as the party approaches and four skeletons rise up wielding heavy picks.

"You've all done well so far but be ready to fall back, being outnumbered can be very dangerous," the guard states cautiously.

At the far end of the room, behind the whip-wielding zombie stairs can be seen descending deeper into the dungeon.

((Just like before please, initiative and strategy as you will.))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 6, 2018)

"Finally, something with some give. I'll target the zombie."
Douglas will take to tossing Javelin's at the whip zombie while the others front line.
He could barely fight let alone take a hit after all.


----------



## Captain Obvious (Feb 7, 2018)

Haru focuses on flanking and finding a weak/especially squishy spot for her noodle arms to do some damage with the tiny dagger.

Ini
Roll(1d20)+2:
17,+2
Total:19

Lo-Kag on the other hand sees others start attacking and charges forward, pick at the ready.

Roll(1d20)+0:
4,+0
Total:4

((Kuno's not feeling up to posting today))


----------



## Vergil (Feb 7, 2018)

1d20+3
16+3 = 19

The android keeps the skeleton off the party, her prime objective being to Save People


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

The unnamed android and Haru enter the room first, meeting the fastest of the skeletons as it advances.  ERROR_UNDEFINED manages a glancing blow on the skeleton, though not as satisfying as previous solid hits as she struggles to avoid the counterattack.  Haru trips while plying her dagger and ends up rolling past the skeleton.

The whip-wielding zombie cracks at the knight however the leather tool is unable to penetrate his heavy armor.  The other skeletons charge forward, one striking the robot solidly with its pick (Unnamed -4hp), one misses the android and Haru and the knight skillfully evade their attacks. 

Douglas lines up a throw with his first javelin however in his haste he holds it two long and spikes it into the ground, sending it clattering down the hall.  The knight swings wide with his shield then cuts heavily with his sword, missing both times widely.  Lo-Kag enters the room with a crushing attack at one of the skeletons but the awkward swing misses.

The android recalculates and sends a shattering hit into the skull of the skeleton, shattering it into bones as the skeleton strikes at the same time (Unnamed -1hp).  Haru moves on to the next target and manages to scratch it with the dagger though the actual damage seems negligible.

The zombie slavedriver changes targets, whiping at Haru, her fur however provides less resistance than the knights' armor (Haru 7 nonlethal damage).  A skeleton manages to a minor hit her as well with its heavy pick (Haru -2HP), one on manages to connect with Lo-Kag as well (Lo-Kag -2hp).  The other skeletons fail to hit their targets.

Douglas recovers and tries again with his second javelin, this time he releases too early and it clips the ceiling and ricochets randomly into the room.  The knight manages to catch one of the skeletons with his sword though it barely nicks the bone and Lo-Kag again goes wild with a heavy swing.

The robot and Haru manage to pin down one skeleton finishing it off with skillful effort.  The whip wielding zombie strikes again at Haru drawing another line of pain across her (Haru 6 nonlethal damage, KO'd) this time it is too much for her and she drops from the pain whimpering.  The remaining skeletons attempt to press the attack but they fail to connect with the ready party members.

Douglas lines up his last javelin and takes aim once more, this time managing to strike true, sticking the short spear into the bloated zombie.  The knight swings his shield heavily and shatters the skeleton paired up with him and the half-giant finally manages to connect with one of his forceful blows demolishing the last of the skeletons.

UNNAMED advances on the zombie and strikes a solid blow with her pick.  The rubbery flesh doesn't yeild as satisfying results as the brittle bone but it's solid.  The zombie swings a wild arm at the robot in return however misses with the awkward strike.  Douglas grabs up his spear and enters cautiously ready to engage.  The knight charges forward and swings his sword, slicing a deep, bloodless cut in the bloated body while the massive Lo-Kag misses with one of his brutal strikes.

The party presses the attack once more, this time the knight managing to slice deeply once more and the last of the monsters finally drop.

The knight moves to inspect Haru, after a moment he offers "she should recover soon, the whip is painful but doesn't leave lasting damage.  This is as safe a place as any to rest up we might as well take the chance."

The monsters bodies take this queue to fade into small crystals, the zombies slightly larger than the others, and at the same time a silver chest appears in the corner of the room.

((Assuming there's no objection we can rest until Haru recovers))


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## Vergil (Feb 7, 2018)

The android looks at the damage she took. She had been programmed to register pressure above a certain point; it wasn't quite the sensation of pain, but the unnecessary prompts and warning sounds were ....surplus to systems. Unfortunately they lingered after the battle and there was no way to dismiss them. She found with time, they lessened however. The nanites seemed to be working on the physical damage.

She crouched at Haru and poked her. "System failure? Needs reset?" She scanned for a reset button, pressing her nose and 'toggling' her ears.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

"She just needs some rest," the knight says wearily.  "She'll be back on her feet in a couple hours though probably should hang back in any other fights we run into."

"Normally I'd suggest we head back if a group took injuries like this, but given that we've already been trying that we don't have a lot of choices."  He shrugs slightly.  "Don't suppose that any of you will suddenly announce you unlocked the warrior class, or proficiency with hammers and axes or thrown weapons?"  His voice sounds almost amused at the idea.  "We've had enough fights now that you've got to be getting close right?"


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 7, 2018)

He was really useless in the fight... He's just not suited for fighting at all. The girl was knocked out because he wasn't of any help either... The knight wasn't as competent in combat as he should be... Were his stats simply unsuited?
A nice silver chest... No, that didn't interest him, what did however.
"Nope... Say Thomas, can I look at all of the mana stones we've obtained so far?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

((In the interest of not boring Captain Obvious to death I'll fast forward a bit and handwave the nonlethal healing.  Don't expect this when it's serious  ))

With a slightly untrusting look he take them out of his pouch and pours them into the palm of his hand.  "Look if you want, but these are valuable, I don't want them getting destroyed or whatever it is that you folks are doing with them."  The crystals all have unique features like one might expect randomly, though they are all of about the same size.

After a little while resting Haru recovers enough to come to her senses, the whip lashes still hurt quite a bit but they don't seem to be bothering her any more.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 7, 2018)

EvilMoogle said:


> ((In the interest of not boring Captain Obvious to death I'll fast forward a bit and handwave the nonlethal healing.  Don't expect this when it's serious  ))
> 
> With a slightly untrusting look he take them out of his pouch and pours them into the palm of his hand.  "Look if you want, but these are valuable, I don't want them getting destroyed or whatever it is that you folks are doing with them."  The crystals all have unique features like one might expect randomly, though they are all of about the same size.
> 
> After a little while resting Haru recovers enough to come to her senses, the whip lashes still hurt quite a bit but they don't seem to be bothering her any more.


Douglas looks at the biggest one and touches it. He takes notes on how he feels after touching it.
"I'm testing something....  Haru, you took a beating somewhat earlier, can you try touching just one and tell us how you feel?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 7, 2018)

Haru tentatively stretches, before sitting up and looking around, "You killed them?" Before listening to Douglas, "Um, sure?" She stands up and walks her whole 4ft tall self over and picks up the one that she finds herself drawn to the most.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

Much like when the others touched them earlier as soon as Douglas touches it it vanishes with a slight electric shock.  A slight tingling persists afterward though it doesn't seem to be tied to anything in particular.  The process repeats when Haru selects a crystal, there's no particular change in any of her injuries and no visible change from it.

The knight lets out a curse, "those are valuable you know.  I don't understand your fascination with destroying them."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 7, 2018)

"Hmm... Okay buddy, what usually happens when a mana stone is destroyed. You said it wasn't that easy to do most the time didn't you? That means you've seen it happen before us right?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 7, 2018)

"I don't feel any different other than tingles.  I'm sorry, but sir?  Do you happen to know anyone that has them just destroy when they simply touch them?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

With a grumbling sigh the knight sets one of the crystals on the ground then crushes it with a gauntleted fist.  It breaks shatters into hundreds of fine pieces much like you might expect, then the collective debris vanishes into nonexistence.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 7, 2018)

"... That's clearly not the same at all."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

The knight shrugs, "a chicken with it's head cut off is different from a chicken with it's neck wrung.  Don't mean much to the chicken though.  Or the one eating it for that matter."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 7, 2018)

Douglas just shakes his head. The man was clearly clueless in his own world, this might be the end of the amount of useful information he could gather from him. The fact that he might not realize they are absorbing it... Or maybe it's rejecting them?
"Haru, are you feeling well enough to move along now?"


----------



## Captain Obvious (Feb 7, 2018)

"Yeah, I'm a little sore still, but I should be alright." She nods, stretching a bit.  She goes over and picks up her dagger, then plants her eyes on the chest.  Her tail starts wagging without her consent and her ears perk forward as she bounds over to throw open the lid.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

Opening the chest reveals its sparse contents of two items.

The first is a rapier, complete with sheath and belt.  The slender blade is topped by a basket hilt fashioned out of silver and shaped to appear as a crescent moon.  The scabbard is lacquered white making the whole of the sword look like a focused beam of moonlight.

The second is a large label-less bottle of green glass.  It looks to be roughly 1.5 liters in capacity.  It's sealed with a cork and wax and at least visually gives no indication as to what might be inside (if indeed anything is).


----------



## Captain Obvious (Feb 7, 2018)

Her tail wags harder as she sees the rapier, she picks it up and examines it, pulling it partially out of the scabbard before grinning and placing it back.  She grabs the bottle with her other hand, and nearly dances it over.  "If you don't mind, I would like to take the rapier." She says as she sets the bottle on the ground and hands the dagger back to the knight.  "More suited to my liking.  So, anyone want to try whatever that is?" She points at the bottle before belting the rapier to her waist and masquerading as human once more.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 7, 2018)

There's a slight prick as she grasps the hilt of the sword to pull it out.  Checking her hand there's a faint mark where the pain was felt but no blood or general sign of ill.  Looking back at the sword she realizes the inside of the basket hilt is decorated to look like a rose, complete with a single thorn near the top of the grip.  The rose decorations are blood-red though she didn't see anything like that when she first picked it up.

Still ominous considerations aside it should be easy to avoid now that she notices it.  Pulling the blade out a few inches she finds it to be made of an unknown white metal, it's non-reflective and looks much like the scabbard itself, though it has a sufficiently sharp edge.  The whole weapon seems masterfully well balanced.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 8, 2018)

Haru can't keep herself from looking at her hand and glancing at the blade after that. Her instinct fought her to leave it be but necessity, and her morbid curiosity over how her eyes missed those little details beat out her gut this time.  Besides, the masterful craftsmanship of the weapon made her feel more at home in this unfamiliar world around a weapon type she recognised from home.  She was never the family's brightest star.

((The pact has been sealed ))


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## Vergil (Feb 8, 2018)

The android looks at the bottle and decides to open it (because the player controlling her doesnt learn)


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

The bottle opens without resistance and a strong alcoholic odor emanates from within.  The knight sniffs, closes his eyes then sniffs again and says, "is that... tequila?  Surely it's a sign the gods wish to reward our struggles when we reunite with the other.  If only we had a bag to carry it.  I don't suppose one of you with a free hand would mind?  I know it's not that important but would be a boon if we could escape with it."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

The knight stores away the remaining mana stones and presumably someone seals and takes the giant bottle of tequila and the group moves on.  The stairs are narrow and descend a surprising distance before opening up into a wide area totally inconsistent with what they have seen so far.

The general area appears to curve in a crescent shape.  The walls go up hundreds of feet of what appear to be sheer rock cliff.  An unnatural pale glow comes from above lighting the ceiling in a fashion somewhat like a dark overcast day.  Looking left the area widens and curves to the right, bending out of sight several hundred feet away.  To the right the area narrows, ending in a cathedral-like building about a hundred feet away.  The windows are lit blood-red, it's difficult to tell from here whether this is a function of the light within or some sort of macabre stained glass.

Most disturbingly is a large skeletal figure standing in front of the door.  Unlike the previous skeletal figures that looked fairly typical for a man, this one is nearly eight feet tall.  And unlike the "miners" that were sparsely equipped this one is clad from foot to head in plate armor, a large kite shield over one arm and a steel bastard sword held stiffly in the other.  You can just make out the red glare of its eyes from here.

"Alright.  We're going this way then," the knight says indicating the left haste indicating concern in his voice for the first time.  "The fact that that's not coming to kill us all already means it's meant to guard the door.  Any luck and that's not a door we have to go through, ever."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

It's a boss monster guarding the door... I mean, no one said you HAD to fight it.
"Why can't we just ask it to move? Or just go past it while Thomas distracts it? I mean assuming we have no choice."
Douglas looks over the skeleton from a distance, does he see or feel something like a mana core?


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 8, 2018)

Haru clears her throat, "Y-Yeah, I think we're a bit ill equipped yet to take out that thing." She looks over at the Android, trying to remember if it had given a name, she points at the android, "Banana, can you keep a watch on that skeleton, make sure it doesn't suddenly follow?" She then points at the berserker that is sure to be eyeballing the challenge skeleton.

"Hey big guy, I seem to have hurt my leg, can you let me sit on your shoulders?  We're going the other way instead of fightibg that thing." She very obviously _pretends_ to limp, maybe just being a princess, maybe trying to give the bute another job than to just break everything.

After climbing onto the perch, she looks at Douglas, "It doesn't seem friendly."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

Like all the creatures they've run into before there's a general feeling of aggression or ill intent from the giant skeleton.  It doesn't really seem related to the tingle from the mana stone that he can tell.  Of course he didn't feel anything from the mana stone either until he touched it.

"It's possible," the knight says hesitantly.  "But I don't want to find out that it attacks when we get close enough if you're wrong.  Better to explore around first.  If we do have to fight it we might find equipment or an advantageous location elsewhere.  Best case we find out it's an optional boss and we ignore it or come back to challenge it when we have magic to support us." 

He nods to the kitsune apparently agreeing with her solution.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

Douglas nods sweating. Optional bosses... that's a concept here? Doesn't that seem odd and out of place?
"Y-yep... 'optional'. Lets get moving."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

The party winds around away from the cathedral.  The skeletal knight makes no reaction as they move away.  The area widens for quite some time as it curves around to the right then eventually starts to narrow.  It's rather featureless which seems out of place but adds an eerie atmosphere.  Almost as odd there's no sign of other creatures, skeletal or otherwise.  After walking nearly a mile they reach the far end of the cavern marked only by a dark cave.

The party moves in cautiously, though initially there's no sign of movement.  The cave itself is rather small but poorly lit, only a single flickering torch mounted into one of the stone walls.  However even this feeble light makes the cave clearly the most bizarre scene the group has seen since coming to this world.

The entrance of the cave is sparse enough however the entire back side of the cavern is dominated by a massive crystal growth that fills the inside of the cave.  Your eyes are quickly drawn to a writhing figure that at first appears impaled through the chest by a white spear pinning it to the wall.  A closer examination shows a fist size hole around the shaft of the spear that the cave wall can be clearly seen beyond.  The corpselike figure twists in pain however there's a hissing sound and a brief flash of light whenever it comes in contact with the spear.  When this happens it jerks away twisting from the shaft of the spear and a slight twinking of sparkling dust falls to the pile of crystal below.

The red orbs of light that make for the creatures eyes seem focused only on the spear, though it gives no sign that it is coherent or aware of anything.

Some other objects seem to be buried in the massive crystal formations but it can't be clearly seen in the dim light and through the odd formations of crystal.

Reactions: Optimistic 1


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

Douglas is eyeing the spear while slightly out of breath. He was strangely drawn to it somewhat it made his breath quicken.
The creature had red eyes like the rest, it was likely hostile. That dust might be mana? Other objects in crystals... Wait, are they mana crystals... Douglas waits for another flash of light to get a better look, if not for just a moment. The spear can wait... just for now.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

The flashes happen pretty routinely, at most every several seconds though sometimes in more rapid succession if the creature overadjusts when dodging.  The spear is angled downward somewhat so the creature struggles to stay above it.

It's probably impossible to say without a close examination and probably appropriate background skills but it seems a reasonable guess that the dust is adding to the massive growth of crystal.

For once the knight seems to have nothing to say on the subject, he watches dumbfounded apparently still trying to process what he sees.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

"Light that bottle we found with the fire, all of it. We need to see everything."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 8, 2018)

Haru crawls off of Lo-Kag's back, trying to adjust to the flashes of light.  She moves over and examines one of the Crystal formations by touch.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

It's just one crystal formation, though it probably has different shapes around the back of the cave.

There's a massive surge of electricity as you initially touch the crystal, it immediately overwhelms your hand and you instinctively pull it back.  It's similar to the mana stones, though on a totally different scale.  Being prepared for it you could probably keep ahold of it, though it will likely hurt.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 8, 2018)

She will try again and keep hold of it, though very obviously losing transformation again.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

"!" Douglas moves forward naturally for a moment before stopping himself. Is she trying to kill herself? You don't just cling onto something that almost just killed you and what's up with...


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

Haru steels herself and moves forward gripping the crystal again.  The crackling energy surges as before, causing a visible light in the room for a moment.  It is a painful several seconds, both to experience and to watch, before finally she is thrown away from the crystal.  The tingling energy she felt before when she touched the mana stone seems to suffuse her body now, as if she were filled to the brim with it.  It is a strange sensation to say the least though it doesn't appear to have any immediate effect.

Or it might not.  She feels something, or an echo of something reaching out to her from within the crystal though she doesn't see anything in particular.

The crystal itself seems somehow slightly less real than before.  It's not any smaller, just less _there_.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

Douglas winces as the girl lights herself up like a moth in a bug zapper "Hey, hey?! Are you still all there? How many fingers do I have up? " Douglas holds 3 fingers up in front of Haru.
It looks like they can't kill you, but... there isn't anything to say it effects you in a good way.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 8, 2018)

Her fur poofs out with the electricity,  and sneezes.  "Haha, three.  I feel fine!  Kinda feels like a stronger one of those little crystals you had me touch earlier."  She shakes herself off, "The Crystal kind of called for me?  If that makes sense, it like drew me to it during that.  Kinda want to touch it again." She chuckles to herself.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

Douglas blinks and decides to touch the same crystal.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

((A minor correction, Haru can _still_ feel something calling from within the crystal.))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

Douglas touches the crystal, much like with Haru there's a massive electrical shock that he winces away from at first.  However much like Haru he dosen't allow that to stop him and tries again.  There's a bright flash as the electrical courses through him and he's also thrown back from the crystal.

Likewise to Haru the tinging sensation suffuses his entire body now.  He's not sure he could handle any more of the odd feeling.

The crystal again seems less "there" after the attempt, almost ghostlike at this point.  The group can make out skeletons within the crystal, dressed oddly in tattered garb.  Douglas feels the "echo" as well, though he's pretty sure it's one of those figures calling to him.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 8, 2018)

"Old... I think Banana... should also touch one next." Douglas holds his head, he decides to look at the speared creature while waiting. Does it look different to him?


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

The speared creature continues its struggles, apparently oblivious to everything else that's going on in the room.

The knight continues to observe, clearly confused.  Keeping a careful guard up on both the creature and the outside of the cave.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 8, 2018)

She touches the Crystal again, just out of curiosity, to see if it would disappear.

((Curiosity killed the cat.  ))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 8, 2018)

Even getting close to the crystal again is hard, as if some invisible force tries to push her away once she gets within a foot or so.  Forcing through it causes an immediate shock that numbs her hand for a moment and throws her back violently.

It doesn't seem to affect the crystal, the general "tingling" within her, or the "echo" coming from one of the remains within.


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## Vergil (Feb 9, 2018)

The android seems to understand that its name is now banana, though it seems illogical. However in this realm it seems as though logic is a finite resource.

Banana looks at the crystals and the party touching them. However banana's objective: save people, took priority. She sat by the creature. 

"Friend or foe?" She asks simply


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

The creature doesn't seem to be even coherent of the fact that the question is asked or indeed that anyone else is in the room.  It does seem to have a generally "feral" sense about it though whether that is its nature or the fact that it's impaled on the spear isn't exactly clear.  Banana does get the same sort of aura of malice from the creature that the other undead have presented, though the creature hardly seems in any position to do anything about it.

The knight frowns and says simply, "that's a monster, by definition a 'foe.'"  He seems to snap out of his thoughts now that Banana is considering the creature, "we should finish it off while it's trapped, I'm not sure what exactly this is but if it's survived since the dungeon was sealed chances are it's powerful enough we don't want to pass up this chance."  He draws his sword and advances on the trapped creature.


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## Vergil (Feb 9, 2018)

Banana looks back at the knight. "Query: what is the definition of Monster?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 9, 2018)

As the princess regains her senses, Haru pulls her rapier out of it's scabbard, then falls into the appropriate stance, "Monsters are hostiles," she states simply before continuing, "We should give it mercy, and put it out of it's misery."


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## Vergil (Feb 9, 2018)

"Error: logic loop. She gets up and puts herself between the creature and the party. "Objective, Save people. Must determine if entity is friend or foe. Definition : monster: not sufficient data. Therefore entity cannot be determined as friend or foe. Entity is unable to speak, due to overload in sensors. This unit will determine if entity is friend or foe."

She pulls out (or attempts to) the spear


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

((Aaahh... *bunch of dice clatters* ))

"Monsters are," the knight begins then hesitates a moment before Banana moves forward to grip the spear.

Banana pulls hard on the spear however the blade of it is caught firm in the stone, before she can attempt again the knight interrupts, "no you fool!"  And moves forward cleaving heavily with his sword it bites deeply into the skull of the creature however even this apparently isn't sufficient to put it down and it's writhing increases tenfold grasping the blade of the sword with its hands and slowly pushing it out.

"Monsters are," the knight grunts out as he wrestles for control of his sword, "creatures borne of mana.  They exist only to kill or torment people of blood and bone.  If you're looking to protect people help put this down before it somehow gets free!"  The struggles of the monster now have it leaning against the shaft of the spear, there's a solid glow of white light from it and it appears to be cutting a line through the torso where they meet.

The creature already has several should-be-mortal wounds, if it somehow survives the spear pulling free likely it will begin recovering.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 9, 2018)

Haru darts forward, trying herself to take out the creature, maybe her strange blade could tear it apart.  

((Don' have a chance to get dice rolls, sorry @@))


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## Vergil (Feb 9, 2018)

The android stood down. "Definition of foe updated: Monster. Definition of monster updated: being borne of mana." 

"Query: how do you know if a being is borne of mana." She asked prioritizing the questions over killing the subdued creature


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

The rapier's blade cuts in smoothly into the creature's head, there's no particularly exceptional reaction as it cuts but the creature lets out a howl of fury.  It tries to split its attention between the two swords and grasps the rapier to push it out however one hand is not sufficient leverage to stop Sir Thomas and he wrenches his sword free and swings hard again.  This time the head is split neatly down the middle.  The wailing howl continues on a moment, echoing out of the stub of the neck of the creature for a moment before it goes silent and still.  After a few moments the body disintegrates into dust apparently merging with the existing mass of crystal.

Once everything has gone quiet he turns back to the android, "you all say so many strange things.  However I will answer as best I can: monsters have a feeling of malice about them, most of them at least I have heard some can suppress this."  He shrugs slightly and continues, "but those that have the aura are--" he pauses suddenly, and a strange confusion washes over his face.  After a moment he tries again, voice still hesitant, "those that radiate this malice are monsters, there can be no question there."

He stops and looks at the others oddly, as if expecting something then frowns.  "So which is it, that you really don't know or that it is so common in your world that of all things this doesn't warrant mention?"


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## Vergil (Feb 9, 2018)

Banana replies to the knight.

"This unit would not query if it knew the answers. illogical behaviour"

"Feeling of malice is unquantifiable." She paused as if searching for an answer. "This unit is unable to sense mailice. Unsatisfactory definition for Save people mission. This unit will therefore attack anything that is outwith Exceptions category.

Exception category contains; current party; People of the village.

Warning: without proper upkeep, exception protocols can cause serious repercussions. Please confirm upkeep of exception category or provide different protocol."

The android looks unmovingly at the party.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

The knight looks more than a little concerned at this particular development.  "I'm not sure 'attack everyone' is the right choice either.  Perhaps, if you cannot tell yourself, you can trust the King, and those the King trusts to identify hostiles?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 9, 2018)

"I truly do not understand much about your world.  Much of this common knowledge, doesn't exist or is different for us." She sighs, listening to Banana as she pulls her blade back and sheaths it, "Banana, just attack what we attack?"


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## Vergil (Feb 9, 2018)

"Confirmed. This unit will attack what the party attacks. Confirmed. This unit will attack what the King specifies."

With that the Android inspects the spear and tries again to dislodge it. Then it will touch the crystal, having seen the rest of the group do so


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 9, 2018)

Douglas sighs. Attacking that could have killed them all, what if it had a surge of a will to live and pulled itself free? May as well make the best of it. "And what if the party attacks each other?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

Without the corpse obscuring the head of the spear Banana can get a better look at it.  It's clearly wedged into the rock of the cavern wall.  The thrust itself was downward and it's high enough it's an awkward angle for Banana to get a grip on it.  She gives it a valiant effort but can't quite get enough leverage.

When she touches the crystal there's the same sort of electrical shock as the others, perhaps not quite as bright.  She feels the same doesn't-quite-register-on-her-sensors energy as before, much stronger, whatever capacitor is charged feels like it is close to burst when she too is thrown away from the crystal.  The crystal itself fades again, a bare glimmer of its original luster, almost invisible crystals.

Banana feels an odd unsigned rogue carrier frequency coming from one of the skeletal remains now clearly visible through the crystal.  There's no apparent originating source for it however though diagnostics find no problems with any of her communication systems.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 9, 2018)

Douglas starts tugging on the spear constantly. He'll get it out... eventually.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

Douglas begins tugging on the spear.  He doesn't have any more luck than Banana does, at least initially.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 9, 2018)

"Thomas, how about helping me with this!?"
He continues tugging on it.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

Sir Thomas approaches the spear still with his concerned look on the face.  He reluctantly sets down his shield and grabs the spear with both hands pulling.  If fails to budge at all.  Frowning he braces a foot against the wall and tries again.  It still resolutely holds firm.  He shifts his grip and braces with the other foot and tries a third time letting out a grunt of effort, only to lose his grip the spear stuck in the wall.

((The dice gods decree it stays put  ))

Finally he pulls out the dagger and moves to start chipping away at the stone around the spear before stopping himself.  "If only we had some tools made specifically for chipping away at stone, I might not have to ruin my nice dagger and the only backup weapon we have," he says in a voice dripping with sarcasm before eyeing the heavy picks held by Haru and Lo-Kag.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 9, 2018)

Douglas pants doubling over himself trying to catch his breath... "Who threw THIS? Why wonder the monster couldn't get out. And what kind of spear survives that sort of throw?" Douglas checks around the area of the spear, is there any way to simply allow it to be wiggled out back and forth?


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

If it's this hard to get out Douglas can only imagine what it must have taken to drive it in.  He might even sue the term "monstrous" himself, though perhaps with a different meaning.  As to the spear, a sharp edge should have been destroyed, something like a chisel might have worked though those are much more blunt than a weapon would be.  Granted the tip of the spear may have been destroyed in the process of embedding in the wall, they'd have to extract it to say.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 9, 2018)

Douglas frowns and walks a bit away from the spear before laying down on the ground.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

((This is long, and kind of railroady I know.  It will be substantially less forced once you leave the dungeon, bear with me just a little longer please.  This was randomly determined ahead of time based on the order people choose, you'll have more options in a bit, I'll explain more when that happens. ))

And last the half-giant Lo-Kag steps forward and grasps the crystal.  Again electrical current charges; it's not as bad as before though whether that's due to the size of the man or the weakening force of the crystal isn't exactly clear.  After a moment the crystals shatter and disintegrate, leaving no sign behind that they were there.

Once shattered four skeletal remains lay where they were once enveloped by the crystals.  Each wears remnants of what may have once been fine equipment however the actions of the growing crystals and time has reduced it to a much lesser quality.  Each of the figures calls out to one of you and you feel  drawn to it.

Haru is drawn to the most normal looking of the skeletons.  It wears an awful looking chain shirt that looks like it may be serviceable.  Some fragments of wood are grasped in one hand that may have once belonged to a staff.  Unbidden she touches the skeleton and a glowing transformation overtakes her.

*Spoiler*: _Haru is cloaked in the mantle of Eline Boesveld_ 




Eilne Boesveld was a  in life and her mantle grants 1st level Magister abilities of the Djinni Sorcerer Bloodline.  Her primary spell list is cleric and she grants knowledge of the spells (Level 0): Create Water, Detect Magic, Jolt, Mage Hand, (Level 1) Cure Light Wounds, Bane.

Her mantle provides 3 HP of protection.  It grants 2 points of AC bonus, a +1 to Will saves, and +4 to Wis and Chr.  It grants a +1 to Knowledge: Religion and Spellcraft which are treated as trained while wearing the mantle.  It grants the bonus feat Eschew Materials.  It grants proficiency with light armor which does not impact its spells.



((Insert anime transformation sequence of your choice here  ))

Douglas is drawn to a stunted corpse of a short, stocky figure.  It's wearing a steel breastplate and has a steel heavy shield strapped to one arm.

*Spoiler*: _Douglas is cloaked in the mantle of Bungrar Onyxbrew_ 




Bungrar Onyxbrew was a Warlord in life and his mantle grants 1st level Warlord abilities with the Brave and Duelists gambits.  He utilizes the Piercing Thunder discipline and has the Iron Pikeman's Attitude stance along with the Bronze Lancer's Edge, Bronze Lancet Charge, Oaken Shield, Piercing Strike maneuvers readied.

His mantle provides 5 HP of protection.  It grants 2 points of AC bonus, a +1 to attack rolls, a +1 to Fort saves, and +4 to Str and Chr.  It grants a +1 bonus to knowledge: Martial Traditions and Acrobatics which are treated as trained while wearing the mantle.  It grants the bonus feats Combat Expertise and Improved Disarm.  It grants proficiency with light and medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.




Banana is drawn to a lithe skeleton that is about the height of a human but has substantially less bone density.  It wears scraps of something that might have been leather armor at one time and has a rapier and a dagger clutched in its hands.  When she touches the skeleton she too is transformed.

*Spoiler*: _Banana is cloaked in the mantle of Lusha Yinren_ 




Lusha Yinren was a  in life and her mantle grants the abilities of a 1st level rogue.

Her mantle provides 4 HP of protection.  It grants 2 points of AC bonus, a +1 to Ref saves, and +4 to Dex and Int.  It grants a +1 bonus to Acrobatics, Disable Device, Perception, and Stealth which are treated as trained while wearing the mantle.  It grants the bonus feat weapon finesse.  It grants proficiency with light armor, the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and shortsword.




Lo Kag is drawn to a skeleton on the size of a larger human with stockier bones and pointed teeth like small tusks.  It wears a steel breastplate and has a greataxe clutched in one hand.  When Lo Kag touches the skeleton the giant figure is also transformed.

*Spoiler*: _Lo Kag is cloaked in the mantle of Dilug Stormblood_ 




Dilug Stormblood was a  in life and his mantle grants the abilities of a 1st level Bloodrager with an Infernal bloodline.

His mantle provides 5 HP of protection.  It grants 2 points of AC bonus, a +1 to Fort saves, +1 to attack rolls, and a +4 to Str and Chr.  It grants a +1 bonus to Intimidate and Survival which are treated as trained while wearing the mantle.  It grants the bonus feat Gore Fiend.  It grants profiency with light and medium armor, shields (except tower shields) and martial weapons.




((Your characters do not have specific knowledge of numbers or names of classes however they are aware of the general concepts of the abilities granted.  They are aware the name of their mantle and that they had great skills in their life though only a pale shadow of it remains.  The look of the transformation should be a magical effect to be obvious you're transformed, to what extent that means exactly I'll leave to a degree of personal preference.))

"Okay," the knight says exasperatedly.  "What the fuck was that?"

((As mentioned, I'll explain the details of what this means exactly when you leave the dungeon.  This is not "your class" that is still pending.  You don't need to edit your character sheets with this information, it will eventually go in the second post in OOC))


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 9, 2018)

Haru's change isn't that different, just an addition of a mantle that she seems to hold in more pride than her own coat of arms, along with a strange new pair of glasses, her kitsune form has black stripes over it now, with a mohawk.

She looks directly into the eyes of the knight, and with the utmost confidence states, "I have no fucking clue.  Something about a magister named, 'Eilne Boesveld'."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 9, 2018)

The name does little to abate the knight's confusion.  "Eilne Boesveld, Eilne Boesveld."  He murmers lost in thought a moment.  His eyes stray back to the white spear sticking into the wall and he lets out an oath. "Bungrar the Godplan, that's the Holy Lance, the twelve."  He mutters for a moment longer then kneels and makes a gesture before the bones.

After a brief silence he stands and turns back, "the Twelve.  Legendary heroes from my father's generation, I grew up with stories of them."  His voice has a hint of awe to it mixed with utter remorse.  "Their stories ended here apparently.  Or at least a few of them did."

He shakes his head, "that still doesn't explain anything, is this some sort of possession?  I can't imagine that they would have fallen to corruption like that."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 10, 2018)

"I guess they were the heroes before us. This should be heavy... but it isn't... We should be able to defeat that skeleton now."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 10, 2018)

The knight shakes his head, "you know what I'm done trying to figure things out.  Whatever it is I'll assume it will help out, between that and the blessing maybe it will be enough."  He moves back to watch the entrance, "make yourselves ready, we should head out soon."


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## Kuno (Feb 10, 2018)

((Sorry having a rough time...))

Stretching a bit and adjusting the mantle the half-giant grins.  "Feels good."  He doesn't ask for an explanation of anything, he has decided to go with the flow and the alcohol he drank will eventually leave his system bringing him back to reality.  He looks at the spear and tries to pull it free.  If he can't he will use the pick he holds.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 10, 2018)

It takes a little effort but between the better angle and much better strength Lo-Kag manages to wrench the spear free.  Despite the ill treatment the gleaming silvery blade seems in perfect shape and it glows faintly in the dim light.  The spear itself is a little heavy for its size, though it shouldn't be a problem to handle.


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## Vergil (Feb 10, 2018)

is greeted with a great deal of prompts, overriding certain programs and rewriting current ones. Even if she wanted to resist, she couldn't, and she was dismayed to find that they were all read only files that were password protected.

Still it was apparent that they were upgrades, through the complexity of the code. She was aware that she was able to do more and had the ability to improve skills, though how it worked was a mystery. Perhaps this is what the Knight had been speaking of.

"Software updated." She said simply.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 10, 2018)

"Just believe in your heroes~"
Douglas is much more chipper after the change.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 11, 2018)

"Trust in the heroes," Sir Thomas chuckles slightly.  "I trust in the gods, they must have had some plan when they sent you.  Perhaps this was it  Perhaps I was part of that plan too."  With a sigh he looks up at the ceiling of the cave as if questioning then sets down his shield and carefully removes one heavy gauntlet.  With one more sharp breath he draws the blade of his sword diagonally across the palm of his exposed hand.

"Morninglord, I swear my sword arm to thee," he intones in a strong voice.  "To bring light to dark places, to oppose evil where it festers and to not allow darkness to grow from complacency."  He lets blood drip across the blade of his sword and holds his fist up into the air ending simply, "Class Change: Paladin of Lathander."

After a moment of silence he cleans the blade of his sword, replaces his gauntlet, and rises to face the others.  A palatable aura of confidence seems to radiate from him now.  "We should move on, if you want to take this gear do so, the dead have no need for it.  Try to be careful with the remains though, once we leave this place we can see about sending a group later to retrieve the remains so that they can be properly laid to rest."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 11, 2018)

Douglas looks over what is available.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 11, 2018)

It's up a few posts in the mantles post.

The gear on each skeleton presumably belonged to the adventurer you got the mantle from so it kinda fits with the abilities you have, though you're welcome to choose different arrangements.

The knight can't really use any of it (and/or it would be a downgrade for him) so he's not interested.  Mostly armor but ever point of AC counts


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 11, 2018)

Douglas picks up the steel breastplate and starts putting it. He then straps on the steel shield strapping it to one arm.
"I... don't think I normally knew how to put armor like this on. This doesn't fit that well and pinches in... certain places."
Douglas practices movement in the armor making sure everything is in the right place.
"It's very strange..."
Douglas uses the *Iron Pikeman’s Attitude stance, *he breaths more easily.
"Well... that's much better."


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## Vergil (Feb 12, 2018)

"Understood." Banana takes the gear that pertains to her and then approaches the Paladin.

"Why did you harm yourself? I have access to many books that I could recite to you that would help you find alternatives to self harm."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 12, 2018)

The knight chuckles softly, "after receiving a blessing from a god the last requirement to unlock the Paladin class is swearing an oath to the god that you would serve.  There are other options that could be taken but none that were expedient or available here."

"Lathander detests evil, most especially the undead.  While it was not exactly what I had planned for my path the gods may have had other ideas in mind for me.  Besides it's not like anything in the last few days has been how I planned things to go."  Seeing the others ready he motions for everyone to move out.  "Come on, let's get this over with."

((Feel free to equip anything, I'm just keeping things moving))

The path back is just as suspiciously quiet as it was on the way there.  The group stops by the stairs not terribly far from the large, armored skeleton.  "Best to overwhelm quickly, undead do not feel pain nor the drain of stamina, so the longer it drags out the worse it is for us."

((Unless there are other things you want/need go ahead and roll initiatives and give me your strategies please.))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 12, 2018)

"That means it isn't that intelligent either I imagine... I have an idea. Let me go in first, and draw its aggro. I'm not suited to hitting the thing, but I at least think I can block its attacks (I hope). Since there are more of us than it. The skeleton will have trouble." 

Douglas will charge in after using Bronze Lancer's edge to boost his damage.
He will use Oaken Shield on the attacking turn of the skeleton to help boost his AC.
After that he'll stick to total defense giving him a +4 to AC unless the skeleton switches off him, if it does he'll start attacking with the spear normally.


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## Vergil (Feb 12, 2018)

Banana looks at the weapons and somehow knows that she will be better at wielding the rapier.

Still she drops her pickaxe, despite it being more effective than the dagger against skeletons (as she remembered from Harus battle.)

Whatever armor is there, she will put on, as well as the mantle , and then make her way with the group.

As they approach, she nods at the paladins suggestion, she grips her rapier looks around for any place to ambush, stealths, and waits for a good moment to land a heavy strike.

1d20+5
15+5 = 20

If the fight starts to go poorly, she will also use her nanite surge to add to her attack roll


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 12, 2018)

((There's a chain shirt that you can use, just FYI.  Someone will have to go armorless though, there's only 3 suits; 2 breastplates and a chain shirt.  Strictly speaking it's probably better for the magister to hang back and thus not need armor, but it's ultimately up to you guys.))

((I'll post combat tonight, along with the scene change to the final room of the dungeon.  Assuming anyone survives the battle.   ))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 12, 2018)

The group assembles and makes ready for their assault on the armored foe.  Once confident they have their strategy down they make ready to charge.  Sir Thomas begins low prayer, "Light of the Morning, Bringer of Dawn this place has been lost to darkness for too long.  We desperate souls seek an exit from this place, may your divine light guide us to our new home."  A surge of confidence and courage penetrates everyone (except Banana) and then the group charges.

Banana reacts first but bides his time to charge alongside Douglas.  Douglas adjusts his grip on the spear for a charge, then launches in a blurring direction.  His spear hits the skeleton with a mighty blow as Banana's rapier is deflected by the creature's shield.  A surge of confidence radiates in everyone seeing the creature wounded.

Haru advances slightly and channels the electrical energy she feels within her now, a beam of lightning strikes the skull of the skeleton burning it slightly.  Lo-Kag lets out a blood-curdling roar and charges.  The white-spear gripped with both hands is driven through the skeleton with a flash of white-light and a hiss like burning.  The skeleton quickly twists and pulls away while chopping roughly at Douglas.  The young man quickly adjusts his spear defensively and manages to knock aside the blow though it leaves his hands numb.

Thomas points his sword in a charge and shouts, "light guide me to banish this darkness!"  He charges in and strikes a mightly blow rending a gash through the skeleton's armor.  While the skeleton struggles to get back on even footing Banana leaps up and drives her rapier into the base of the skeleton's skull, there's a rough crack and the head pops off shortly before the creature falls in a heap.

After a few moments the skeleton fades away into a large mana crystal big enough it would be rough to wrap hands around.  The knight quickly scoops it up and advances to the door.  It opens with a touch and reveals the cathedral's interior.

It's a single large room with a black alter at the back.  Behind it is a pair of double-doors that open immediately as the party enters, revealing a shimmering energy.  A pair of gold chests flank either side of the alter however before you can advance your senses are assaulted by a barrage of feelings.

Douglas:
Gains the Mantle of Adelard Gamgee, Shifter
Gains the Mantle of Grathic Flaskborn, Monk​Haru:
Gains the Mantle of Shiro Fothinmo, Ranger
Gains the Mantle of Cadan Rablin, Oracle​Lo-Kag:
Gains the Mantle of Conwenna Stephens, Cryptic
Gains the Mantle of Keishara Qinsalor, Nightblade​Banana:
Gains the Mantle of Hiroonap Womyddniss, Sorcerer
Gains the Mantle of Jannalor Wynkian, Kineticist​
Unlike before there's no visual change and no apparent ability change, merely a moment of overwhelming disorientation and the knowledge of the additional spirits.

(Haven't finished stats yet, will post them in the OOC thread in the next day or so but wanted to get to here, along with the details of the rules around them.)


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 12, 2018)

Douglas falls to one knee panting. "D-dammit, don't fill my head with things that aren't mine... I'm me. You stupid world!"
He needed to collect himself and think things through. Why in the world is there an black alter with gold chests? Are their items in those chests? And if those are the old heroes... Spirits so neatly arranged as if to be collected by...
Like hell he's dying as some so called god's toy to be used later by someone else! He'd use every tool the world gave him and break it if he could. Douglas scrunches his face and takes a deep breath. It's best to let the others make the first move here can never be too cautious starting out.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 13, 2018)

All the feelings caused her to fall abruptly onto her tail.  Haru shakes her head before climbing back up to her feet again.  "Well, I think we're all a bit cramped in our heads now." She jokes, then looks between the party and the alter, "I opened the last chest and got a rapier, Lo-Kag pulled out the spear, Douglas, you and Banana should open those chests." She takes the bottle of tequila and slowly inches over to place the bottle on the alter.  Reflexively casting detect magic as she places the offering down.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas waits for Banana to open a chest first.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

((Sorry about the slowness, been a crap morning  ))

There's magic on both Haru's rapier and Lo-Kag's spear (in case that wasn't obvious) as well as residual magic on everyone from Sir Thomas' blessing.  She detects a very strong magical aura from within the chest on the right, and a more mild magical aura in the chest on the left.  The shimmering energy also, unsurprisingly, radiates magic.  There's no magic about the alter.  There's also a faint background "buzz" of magic that seems all about in the air, not coming from any particular source that Haru can detect.


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## Vergil (Feb 13, 2018)

The Android eyes state or into nothing as her systems go through another upgrade. She tries to observe or but the data is accelerated by some unknown force and is rewritten at impossible speeds. Zetabytes of data move and it is almost to much for her. 

"Query: why are they always after my lucky charms?" She says in a strange accent.

Gathering herself, Banana opens the chest on the left


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas takes a breath and heads towards the right chest to open it after Banana opens the left.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

((rofl, I swear this was determined before @Vergil posted ))

Both chests open with no resistance.  The one on the left has a neatly folded lime-green leisure suit that appears to be made out of some sort of scaled leather.  It's supple and well stitched and seems to be quite comfortable.  

The chest on the right contains what appears to be a very large lantern (on the order of a 2' cube).  It's bound in a light-blue metal and the panels are fogged glass to even out the light distribution.  It's rather heavy by Douglas' estimate, he can lift it but it would be incredibly awkward to carry around as a light source.  By Douglas' background it appears to run off of some sort of battery power rather than oil or gas and indeed even as he touches it it seems to draw at the energy that has been tingling in him since he touched the first mana stone.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas has a huge, big smile, it seems rather sinister. "A Mana battery! Hahahah! YES! YEEEEEES!"
Douglas starts studying the object as much as he can. Can it open? Can he see circuits? Wires? Can't risk moving anything too out of place until he learns it.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

There are no panels that Douglas might associate with being used for maintenance on the lantern.  Even the glass panes seem fixed in the frames suggesting that the light source, if indeed there is one, is one that doesn't require regular replacement.

One side of the base of the lantern does have two circular impressions that stand out.  The one of the left is surrounded by twenty notches like one might find on the face of a clock (if there were 20 hours in a day), the right is plain.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

"Power settings maybe? Or something to unlock it? But which is higher in power 1 or 20... Lets assume 1? Right button probably is... a power button?"
Douglas sets the dial to one seeing what happens and presses against the plain button after that seeing if it'd turn off..


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

Unfortunately there are neither numbers nor an indicator of which is currently selected on the left impression.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas scratches his head frowning. "Anyone have a marker?"
A stupid question he knew, but still. He rotates the dial counterclockwise all the way.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

Well, there is no "dial" merely a circular impression with marks around it.  However he finds that there is a sort of tactile feed back that raises and lowers as he rotates his finger around the edge of the dial.  Based off of the feelings the topmost marking would be the highest setting ("20" if you will) and the one immediately to it's right would be the lowest ("1").

Still it seems easy enough to set things to "1" assuming any of this works like he thinks it does (assuming that's his goal?).


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

He presses the right plain indentation inwards, he assumes it to be a button. This was likely determining the amount of light it put out and the mana it drained?


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

Much like the left toggle the right doesn't exactly move when pushed however there is a feedback to it.  When triggered the lantern immediately bursts into a bright light.  It's far too intense for the room they're in, it might even light up the entire area outside.  Certainly it's the sort of light that could be seen for miles away.

Despite the overly-brightness the lantern doesn't seem to heat at all however the light itself seems to carry a vague warmth to it, like being wrapped in a comforting blanket.

"What is this?"  Sir Thomas says slightly confused.  "The light feels like it fills me with energy.  I've never felt anything quite like it, like I could run a hundred miles."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

"Oh... that'd be my energy I guess? Is... that the lowest?"
Douglas cranks it up clockwise 2 notches.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

The light gets even more intense as the adjustment is increased, though it's hard to really judge in a small room the practical impact of that.

The feeling of the light does not change for the party, and if it does for Sir Thomas he doesn't comment on it.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas turns it back down to 1 and hands it to Thomas while it is on experimentally.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

It "dims" (if you can call it that) back to the previous setting and Thomas takes it with some curiosity.  There's no apparent change based off of who is holding it.  Thomas hefts it a little experimentally, "a little impractical to carry about, even if it feels good.  Would make an amazing signal fire if we could build a tower for it."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

"Huh, is that left over charge or is it binded to me over a distance... Well for now I guess you'll just carry it Thomas and just putting it into a tower would be a waste. Clearly this could be turned into a weapon or is considered some "ancient heroic artifact only the heroes can use!" Or something."
Douglas makes sure he doesn't have the feeling of being drained while Thomas is holding it then presses the button turning it off.
He looks around the room for a possible further way out, they fell down here after all.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

"Would be better if one of the others carries it," the knight offers.  "I can't draw wield my sword while carrying this and I would hate for it to be damaged if I were forced to cast it aside."

The only exits from the room are the door they entered into and the door leading to the shimmering energy behind the alter.  When Sir Thomas sees him looking around he offers, "if you are ready to lead the portal should lead back to the entrance.  Though probably best to step carefully since we clearly fell when we entered."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas takes the lamp (making sure it's off), then sits down and waits near the shimmering portal.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 13, 2018)

Haru's eye twitches as something seems to twinge in her brain.  "Are you sure that portal is safe?  It doesn't seem like it.  What if it's just a trap set there by thatskeletonandmonsterbefore. A-and it's there to consume our essence and turn us into..." she pauses dramatically, eyes widening in paranoia, _"Mind slaves."_

She takes a breath, suddenly feeling paranoid and reclusive, "I have to turn back to form before we go back if it really is the way out.  What was I like...Maybe what I was was a thing a person got from another person's idea." She gasps, "WHAT IF WE'RE ALL JUST WORDS!?" She paces, changing into her human form and moving toward Banana's find, "Do you have an idea of what that does?  It'll probably kill us all."  She places her hand on the hilt of her sword as she takes a long calming breath, before pacing.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas sweats, he was actually fairly easy going to not panic at all. The other two were a robot and a fairly silent large giant of a man so it probably didn't bother them. It was best to be calm at times like these.
"You... can wear the pelt he gave me if it'll help you feel better." Douglas motions with the wolf pelt Lo-Kag placed on him earlier and can't really make real use of anymore wearing the armor.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 13, 2018)

"NO! No. I'm fine." Her eyes dart in every which direction but she seems to have calmed herself down some.  "Give his fur back.  I have Thorne.  Thorne can keep me calm." She pats the rapier, but then remembers the magical aura on the blade, and goes to see if there's any hints on what the magic on the weapon is.

((Hoping Vorpal.  ))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 13, 2018)

Other than the moon and rose imagery on the sword there's no particular indication as to what the magic in it might do.  The magical aura clearly runs down the blade of the rapier, almost flowing out from the hilt, but the complexity of it is beyond Haru's ability to grasp with the fragments of magical knowledge floating around her mind.

((Just a heads up to everyone, in general the magic items that I give out will largely be unique that I want people to spend time experimenting with to learn.  I also, in general, plan on having them grow with the characters.))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 13, 2018)

Douglas sets the lantern down gently and shakily hands the fur back to Lo-Kag before moving back to holding the lantern.
Now that big guy wasn't something he felt like messing with.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

Once satisfied the group moves forward through the shimmering energy.  There's a slight sensation of vertigo as they step through before they find themselves in a natural stone cavern with torches set in sconces in the wall.  A set of stairs lead up and natural light shines slightly down them.

The knight leads them up into cool open air and the deep hues of sunset.  Piles of stone rubble surround the stairs, apparently the remains of the temple that once stood here.  Someone calls out as the group first emerges and soon a small crowd is gathered around, including the king.

"Sir Thomas, you return!"  The king cries out.  "I knew the gods would see fit to send you back to us.  Everyone is well I trust?"  He seems to inspect the group, taking in the gear found in the temple.

"It was an interesting trip," the knight says with muted tones.  "One with a few unexpected turns though we weathered them well enough."  He seems a little more hesitant before the king than the blunt terms he had been using.

"There will be time enough for stories I'm sure," the King's voice seems generally pleased and indeed there seems to be an overall sense of relief from the people.  He turns to the party and addresses them, "I'm sure you are all tired from your trials but there should be a celebration of your return to us.  We have little to offer for a proper festival but we will offer what we can.  If you would prefer to rest I of course understand, I'll have someone guide you to your accommodations -- such as they are."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

May as well test the limits of this place he know nothing about. Their reactions to things, how desperate they truly are. "Could you send some willing women over as well?"


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

A distasteful look passes the king's face.  "I will spread the word around," he says cautiously.  "There may be someone eager to bear the heir of a hero from another world."  His tone is cold, obviously not thrilled with this suggestion.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

Ah, so that's how it was. Good to know, the king still cares for his subjects at the least.
"Erm, you misunderstand, I mean women willing to make clothing... I'm freezing in my underwear here and..."
Maybe... Maybe Banana would let him have the clothing? But it was awful, why would he wear it?
You know these people could use some hope couldn't they? He could use the lamp inside of a building. 
"I mean I guess you could send some who need cheering up."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

The king frowns, "you seem to have a number of strange misconceptions.  First of all I do not 'send' anyone, a king asks subjects, sometimes with a great deal of authority and influence but even at the height of my power I did not 'send' subjects that were not in my direct employ.  As you surmise my influence is limited here so I make requests in the hope of our shared survival needs."

"Secondly if it is clothing you desire you would be looking for a tailor, a profession that is not restricted to women nor are more women apt to have talent in it than men."  His tone has a lecturing quality to it, though it's not completely cold.  "Perhaps in your culture you require your women to learn this craft, we are more equal in opportunity here.  Nonetheless I will make sure your request is heard, though I do not believe we have any tailors in our small group."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

"In my world it was do what the kings says or lose your head most the time. Well unless the people revolted and took his head." Not in his time period mind you, but some time before. He knew that much. "Interesting... could you ask someone to explain stats and levels in a basic way as well? Like say... a child?"


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

The tone of the audience visibly wilts, a few of the people gathered turn briefly away eyes clouded.  The king himself looks slightly darker but presses on saying simply, "there are no children in the village."

"If you have questions about our world the Arnl would probably be best for it.  He is resting at the moment, the ritual to bring you here too much out of him, but you could visit him in the morning."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

"Oh... I see." That decides it gods or not things are truly at their worst if there aren't even children. "I'll do my best so you can see smiling children. Lets works towards securing better resources." Douglas nods and holds the lamp up. "Do you recognize this? Thomas said it made him feel better with the light it produced."
He didn't want to light it, it may give their position away out in the open like this.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

The king looks at it intently a moment giving it due consideration before saying, "no, I'm afraid the quality of it is above my level to appraise.  Arn Garath should be able to tell more, assuming he is recovered sufficiently to examine it."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 14, 2018)

In the awkwardness of calming down, she sees the villagers disperse at the mention of children.  She bounces toward someone, "Anyone got an instrument?  I can play out a tune to liven things up!" She gives a toothy grin, this is a place where she didn't have to be what she was told to be.  She didn't have to be a princess, royalty of any sort, she could just be herself.  A mischievous kitsune with a lot of energy to go around.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

There's some muttering back and forth through the crowd but ultimately no one steps forward to Haru's request.  After a moment the king chimes in, "I didn't think there would be.  It is a kind offer but unfortunately we arrived here with very little more than the clothes on our backs.  I dispatched a few servants to gather supplies however they have yet to arrive."

"So at this point we have a few days worth of food and some raw materials salvaged from the homes in the village that were too damaged to be worth trying to salvage."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

"Can we see these materials once we rest?"


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

The king chuckles.  "Certainly, though there isn't a lot to see, some lumber and stone that was in serviceable condition.  While not the most heroic of ways to spend your time we certainly can use all the help we can get."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 14, 2018)

She clears her throat, "No matter," she looks to find some sort of slightly higher perch to climb up onto so she can have an easier noticability before speaking again.

"Men and women of this place, this may not be where home was, but together as a people, we can find a new home if we cannot take back the kingdom.  I will die to make sure there is a future for all of you, I swear this on my title of hero.  On my title of princess in my home world, we. Will. Not. Fall." Her bleeding heart seeping through again, before she begins to sing.

Roll(1d20)+3:
19,+3
Total:22


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 14, 2018)

The people listen morosely as Haru sings, clearly touched by the message delivered by the red-orange colors of the sun set.  When she finishes for a moment there's silence before a chill wind picks up, a shiver passes across the crowd as it passes and a flicker of movement passes across the sunset.  A single scrap of parchment is flutters on the wind landing still at Haru's feet.

It appears torn out of some volume and it's written as if part of a longer story though the hand writing is bold and confident as if someone has written this same passage many times.


> “it is dusk, and as the Darkness moves in, the Evening Ritual must be said to ward off evil. What is the first step?”*
> 
> “I will recite the eight tenants of faith”
> Watch each sunrise. For each day is a gift.
> ...



On the back is a more formally written addition, in the same hand as the first.


> *Verse of Dusk*
> Farewell, Illuminated one, until we meet again
> 
> We carry the sun in our hearts until then
> ...


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

While the singing was nice to Douglas the message didn't really resonate with him. Especially the whole dying part, but still it relaxed his body.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 14, 2018)

Haru recites the verse on the back, unsure of her words, but confident in demeanor, afterward folding the paper and tucking it into her shirt pocket.  "Mourn for the fallen, yes. But rejoice as you have the chance to live another day, to pass on your wisdom to others.  As we celebrate the arrival of heroes, celebrate the lives of the heroes that gave themselves for you." She smiles, happy with her speech, "Thank you kind folk for your time." She bows deeply from her perch, hoping to have drawn more confidence and moral to the people.  "You are all heroes in my tome." Haru hops down, dismissing the crowd as best she can before trotting over to the others again.


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## Vergil (Feb 14, 2018)

Banana had taken the green suit and looking at her maid uniform with chainmail over it, decides that it would be an upgrade.

Once at the village, she is completely unaware of the mood and awkwardness and monotonously asks the King " This unit has queries that remained unanswered.

1. Primary Objective is to 'Save People': Please define who is ally and who is foe. This unit recognizes that 'black armored army' is identified as foe. Skeletons are identified as foe. Monsters - beings borne of mana identified as foe. Bananas are identified as delicious. All in this village and under The King's rule are identified as ally. Please update this list as necessary.
2. What happened to the children.
3. Do you know who the following people are/were:

Eline Boesveld]
Bungrar Onyxbrew]
Lusha Yinre]
Dilug Stormblood]
Adelard Gamge]
Grathic Flaskbor]
Shiro Fothinm]
Cadan Rabli]
Conwenna Stephen]
Keishara Qinsalor]
Hiroonap Womyddniss]
Jannalor Wynkian]

4. Do 'People' need any immediate 'Saving'?"

As she waits for a response, she begins stripping and puts on the green armor.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 14, 2018)

"Banana, no.  Now isn't the time."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

"... Actually I wouldn't mind taking that dress."


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## Vergil (Feb 14, 2018)

Banana stops for a moment as she is pulling down her skirt and looks up at Haru. "Is there a specific time of day when this is done?"

She turns to Douglas. "This dress is of the wrong specification. Query: do you require aid in altering the uniform to your frame?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 14, 2018)

"Oh... you can? Yeah. I could use assistance in altering it."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 14, 2018)

"...Yknow what?  I give up." She takes a long breath, rubbing the bridge of her nose and turning her back on the other two.


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## Vergil (Feb 14, 2018)

Banana nods and takes off her uniform, after no instruction from Haru and changes into her green outfit. She then looks at the uniform and then attempts to Alter it which consists of stabbing it with her rapier.

"Error: no relevant skills available. Compensating with current skills: Stabbing things. Uniform successfully altered with current skills."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 15, 2018)

Douglas sweats hard, m-maybe it can be salvaged into proper clothing...
"... No ever ask Banana do anything, she'll stab it or you."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 15, 2018)

Some of the crowd starts to disperse, everyone seems short on sleep and it was a very long day for the villagers as well.  A few hang around to listen or see if more is needed though as darkness begins to set in fully it becomes harder and harder to see.  The king remains up and with an exhausted look he somberly addresses the android's questions.

"My primary concern is for the people of my kingdom, the people of Abrelia, though we are not in a position where we can be picky about our allies.  If they are peaceful we should work with them.  It is possible the black armored foes are working for or with one of our neighbors, if we see military flags we will probably find out in short order."  He sighs as if adding more concerns to an already long list.  "Beyond that, monsters may be threats yes.  Possibly wild animals might see us as intruding or just a source of food.  There might even be brigands or other aggressive human forces.  It may come that you have to make judgement calls however."

"The children are a more sensitive subject," the king looks down clearly at odds with this.  "When we fled the kingdom my guards' primary concern was for my safety.  Part of this was fleeing with all due haste.  Not everyone could keep up with the pace set and thus our group eventually fragmented.  Groups with children frequently required breaks and thus separated from the rest of us.  We maintain hope that they will find their way here, or somewhere safe."  His tone at this is very bleak, clearly aware of the limited success he expects from this.

"Once we have taken care of the necessities around town we can hopefully spare some people to go searching for refugees."

The king considers the list of names, though he seems more immediately aware of it than Sir Thomas was.  "The Twelve," he says simply.  "A legendary group of adventurers from generations ago, famous for their deeds and the dungeons they had conquered."  He pauses, dejected, "I assume there's a reason you ask.  My father commissioned them to quell this dungeon when it grew out of control some fifty years ago.  The dungeon quieted but when the Twelve never left the decision was made to seal it with a temple.  I assume you found some sign of them?"

"I believe that everyone is okay at the moment," the King says cautiously to the last query.  "Other than the Arnl who is recovering from the summoning everyone is in good health, if exhausted.  And while I don't know that I can say anywhere is truly 'safe' at the moment I don't know that there's anything we can do immediately to improve things.  The best option we have is to dig in for the night and get some rest so that when light returns we can get back to work.  Fatigue is as dangerous enemy as any at the moment."

The green suit is surprisingly supple and quite fashionable.  Banana's diagnostics indicate that it protects as well as the chain shirt she was wearing but is no more encumbering than her old clothes ((Provides +4 armor, no max dex, no armor penalty, no chance of arcane spell failure, counts as "clothes" from a proficiency standpoint)).  It's not clear to her sensors how flexible soft-leather is also able to deflect heavy impact or turn aside blades.


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## Vergil (Feb 15, 2018)

"Understood, this unit will determine friend or foe status based off behavior." She says, "or pay found the remains of the group,  designated as"the twelve". Coming into contact with their remains gave us upgrades. "

When the King mentions the children she stares at him silently for perhaps a few more seconds than an android should. "Understood.  The kings life is higher priority than other people...." there was an odd trail off at the end of her sentence.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 15, 2018)

"I suppose their perishing should not be a surprise," the king says sadly.  "And probably is better than any alternatives.  Upgrades?  Ah, your equipment came from them?  May it serve you well then."

"As for myself, as a symbol of the kingdom I am likely irreplaceable.  My knights are dedicated to that task."  His voice is appropriately somber, "but to others their loved ones are every bit irreplaceable make no mistake that every loss is a wound upon my soul.  May the gods have mercy on me when this is all done."

With a sigh he continues, "you seem to have come from a very sheltered world.  For what it is worth I am sorry that you were snatched away from that.  Unfortunately tough trials will no doubt be ahead, you will need to grow quickly so that you are prepared to face them."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 15, 2018)

In a morose tone, Haru couldn't help speaking, "Royalty is as irreplaceable as it's usefulness unfortunately. It's a thin line to walk, and it's easy to get shaken off." She sighs as a grimness settles on her face, "Eventually our usefulness passes, and we become no more than commoners with a title." She lets of a mocking snort to the words she spoke. "When you called me here, the castle was under siege, and my brother, the crown Prince, was leading the army. We're all naive fools to the greatest minds."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 15, 2018)

"Sheltered world, I suppose that's a word for it." Douglas yawns. "Bring me to Arnl. I don't care how much he needs rest."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 15, 2018)

"No," the king says bluntly.  "_The_ Arnl, which is to say Arn Frederick Garath, needs to recover from the damage inflicted upon him in summoning all of you."  His tone is a bit harsh at first but softens slightly, "at the moment we may need to depend on his abilities to survive the next few days.  While I am hopeful the gods would send us heroes that ultimately will be beyond even his abilities I am well aware that you are not ready for that task yet."

"If we are attacked tomorrow, his presence may give us the edge to defend ourselves or to escape.  His presence gives us time to build defenses.  His presence give you time to train and grow into the hero you may eventually become.  While I will be sure to make him available for any questions you no doubt have I will not risk his health for _you_."

Seemingly finished he requests villagers to show you to your homes for the night.  The men are led to one, the women another but both homes are small one-room structures.  A small fire burns in a hearth providing a pocket of warmth in the rooms but they're otherwise unfurnished, drafty, and by the looks of things the roof may provide only a token shelter should it choose to rain.

Despite the lacking comfort of a dirt floor the night passes quickly enough and the sounds of the village rousing begin shortly before the first colors of dawn appear on the horizon.  You awake stiff and cold but alive and oddly ready to face the challenges of the day.  The energy tingling within you is still present from before, as is the more distinct feeling of the Mantles you obtained previously (obviously sleeping has removed the active affect).

*Please Choose a major activity for the day*:  I'd strongly suggest training something (rules are now in the 1st OOC post, though that may change to the 2nd post when I get home).  If you want to talk to people/explore the village/do other low-impact tasks you can do that in addition to the major activity.

If you want to do something other than train as a major activity you can.


*Spoiler*: _Awards_ 




OOC Knowledge: You have your first EXP rewards, these are huge numbers compared to what will probably be typical, I would request you not spend it all in one place.  You must train to spend EXP, see the 1st OOC post for rules.

Douglas -- 18650 EXP, 122 Essence
Lo-Kag -- 18300 EXP, 101 Essence
Haru -- 18650 EXP, 131 Essence
Banana -- 18450 EXP, 111 Essence

The Essence reflects the "energy" within you, while your character does not know the exact number they can feel the presence of it.

The EXP is not reflected directly to the character, as they train they will spend EXP, they will realize that they have reached the limit of what they can learn now as that value gets low.  Any questions please ask in the OOC thread.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 15, 2018)

Sir Thomas is up before dawn and dressed and ready to face the day before most others are even moving.  He stands confidently in the open center of the village and faces east as the first trickles of the rising sun come into view.  He speaks confidently as the warm glow begins to first show in the horizon.  

“We welcome you, Morning Lord, and we honor you this day

Celebrating your light, as we partake in our journey once more

Great and powerful, the Sun is your blessing and shows us your loving way

Thank you for your gifts, thank you for your warmth that touches us to the core

Shining down on the land and sea, making things grow and bloom

Your eternal love will always be in our hearts, O Lord of the Sun

We honor you Dawn Lord, for you are the beacon who casts away the gloom

And we devote our days in your holy name, and the darkness we shun.”​
He stands tall, allowing the first rays of the sun to warm his face, expression serene as he readies himself for the day ahead.

He's not the only one up early however, Sebastian Pearson a heavy built man is up early as well, working in a cleared area outside one of the larger homes in the village.  He's cleared a space for ring of stones and sets scraps of wood in it quickly building a roaring flame, he leaves it mostly unattended as he gathers scraps of metal salvaged from this and that next to a large smooth stone apparently intended as an incredibly crude anvil.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 15, 2018)

"Hey...Thomas , Lo-Kag may I have your help with training later? I don't know these sorts of things that well." Douglas decides to train. 


*Spoiler*: _Attempt to train using exp and desired class as well as thoughts._ 




He thinks things through as he does so. What would be most useful here? He doesn't actually have bearings on where he is or what does what yet. Maybe something simple? Like Lo-Kag, but more... Those black knights sounded like machines actually. He has wanted to smash his computer at times. Maybe he'd focus on the thought of smashing computers while trying to be more like him? A sense of freedom? Such ideas could work out and if not... well he could still hit things.

*Barbarian Liberator level 1-2* 6,200 cost
12450 exp

He didn't have to hold back and worry anymore. It wasn't his world. It seems that a lot of the things that are easier to experience in his world are harder here.

*Hit dice level 1-3* 600 cost
2 feats + human feat+  27 hp + 3 skill points attached to perception
11,850 exp

In addition it seemed going by the knights description and what he has seen that most things have trouble attacking twice... He should aim for doing that. 

*+6/+1 BAB* 4,800 cost
7,050 exp

The weather and conditions themselves here would condition his body, so he'd work towards a goal of balancing his body as much as he can make up for his lack of stamina and endurance, honestly in his world this would be extremely hard... But what about this one? It's hard to say... 
+3 to all saving throws cost 2,100 cost
+4 to Fort 800 cost

The truth of the matter was he had a brief knowledge on everything, but never really real used any of it.  He has swam before, ridden a horse, know about things in nature where best to not get water such as downstream, he could obviously see and hide, he has had a bit of a hand in wood working as well, handling many animals as pets...  He'd certainly need tips on moving around and hunting in the wild, but... he knew about those things even if he didn't do them.

He'd ask as much as he could find out from Thomas about these things for further tips, practical things and who to ask about it if he didn't. He'd ask others provided they wished to.
 
4,150 exp
- 2000 to unlock all of them to +1 (provided they are trainable?)
Acrobatics (Dex) +1
Stealth (Dex) +1
Craft carpentry(Int) +1
Handle Animal (Cha) +1
 Intimidate (Cha) +1
Knowledge (nature) (Int) +1
Perception (Wis) +1
Ride (Dex) +1
Survival (Wis) +1
and Swim (Str) +1

2,150 exp
-1000 +2 to all (100 x 10)
Acrobatics (Dex) +2
Stealth (Dex) +2
Craft carpentry (Int) +2
Handle Animal (Cha) +2
Intimidate (Cha) +2
Knowledge (nature) (Int) +2
Perception (Wis) +2
Ride (Dex) +2
Survival (Wis) +2
and Swim (Str) +2

1,150 exp
He needed to focus on paying attention to his surroundings more and being able to find water, food, materials for shelter. The choice was obvious.
Perception (Wis) +3
Survival (Wis) +3
Stealth (Dex) +3
Knowledge (nature) (Int) +3
600 cost

550 exp
Perception (Wis) +4
Stealth (Dex) +4

150 exp left

3 feats are spent on Point-Blank Shot, precise shot and Combat Expertise





He should probably talk to that Haru girl about those spiritual powers when he gets the chance here it feels like he has a soul that'd fit her better than him going by what he has seen.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 15, 2018)

Douglas looks for an opening to talk to the Arnl while he trains.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 15, 2018)

Haru primarily works on planning tactically with the king, gaining the *WARLORD* class and talking about the chances of being able to get someone to map the area.

Other things that I can't seem to think about how to get are 3HD, +2 to all saves, +3 BAB, and diplomacy, intimidate, stealth and perception for skills.  

((Sorry mog can't think well tonight.  ))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 15, 2018)

The Arnl is set up in one of the larger two room homes.  A woman, Emilia Lane, the town's healer, is set up in the front room, she greets Douglas and escorts him into the back room.  There a blistering fire blazes in the room's fireplace and an ancient figure lays wrapped up in various furs and blankets.

He shifts as Douglas enters and with a groan pushes himself to lean on one arm.  "One of the heroes, is it?  It must be with garb such as that."  He speaks with an old croaking voice and sounds like he has considerably more than one foot in the grave though his eyes show a keen intellect still within the frail body.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 15, 2018)

Captain Obvious said:


> Haru primarily works on planning tactically with the king, gaining the *WARLORD* class and talking about the chances of being able to get someone to map the area.
> 
> Other things that I can't seem to think about how to get are 3HD, +2 to all saves, +3 BAB, and diplomacy, intimidate, stealth and perception for skills.
> 
> ((Sorry mog can't think well tonight.  ))


No worries, we're not in a huge hurry 

18650 exp, Level 1 of Warlord would drop you to 13650 (first class, *5000), 3HD would be 600 (13050 left), +2 to 3 saves is 900 (12150 left).  +3 BAB is 1200 (10950 left), Initial rank of Diplomacy, Intimidate, Stealth, and Perception would be 200+400+600+800=2000 (8950 left).  That's still a good chunk of experience if you want more skills/levels/hd/etc, or just to save towards another class.

As far as a map there is a calligrapher in town, but he has insufficient supplies to give more than a glimpse.  The town is on the edge of a large forest, on the far end of the kingdom.  The forest itself should be lush with game, historically it was a cause of brigands in the past though the village has been abandoned that there won't likely be much activity from that.  Level of mana in the forest varies, though monsters will show up from time to time.

A road from the village heads Southwest towards a moderate sized city about 3 days away, the city was under attack by a much smaller force when the king's group passed so it's unclear how it is holding up.  More detailed maps will require some exploration.

The king's available to talk, I'll leave that to when you're feeling up to it


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 15, 2018)

Douglas puts down the lamp and turns it on to the 1 setting. He wanted to get to this.
"Now, you have answers to questions. For one what is this lamp? Why is everyone so clueless to what the heroes from another world do?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 16, 2018)

"Sir, I would like to request an audience for tactical planning." She catches the king at some point, "See, with the forest at our backs for our disposal, we could create some crude defenses while others rebuild what is left. Whittling pikes is something even the sick or injured can do while they rest to keep simple animals or monsters away." Haru adjusts herself as she thinks on the sanctuary, "How far away were the soldiers when your people fled? How much time do you believe we have before the smaller groups with the children may be taken by them?" She seems fixated on going back for them, "I don't know where your morals and loyalties lie, but it's not a place for me to judge. All I want to know is if there's a _chance_ to get more here alive..." she shakes her head and sighs, "Off topic, How many even slightly experienced hunters do you have around? Might want to send a small hunting party out to collect some meat and hide. Have you found any edible plants in the area? Farmable land? Thinking long term as well."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 16, 2018)

"It is, quite bright," the old man says squinting through the suddenly bright light.  He does seem a bit more energetic though he doesn't immediately comment on anything.  He peers more carefully at it considering silently for a few moments.

The woman from the other room interrupts, "turn that off, he needs rest not such distractions."  She has the firm demeanor of one that is used to having to dress down disruptive patients.  "Honestly, do you not understand common sense considerations?"

The Arnl waves dismissively, "it's alright my dear, our friend here has brought an interesting puzzle.  As to what it is, it's apparently a 'Lantern of Reinforcement.'  Though I must admit that that's not something I have ever heard of.  It's both powerful and subtle, an intriguing combination.  Leave it here with me for the day, perhaps I can tell you more this evening."  He pauses still considering it, "do turn it off though, it's distracting."

"As to your other question, I'm not sure what you mean exactly.  It is rare that heroes have been summoned successfully from another world, stories about they can vary dramatically.  As to 'what they do' it largely depends on the situation they find themselves in.  But all that is to be expected, I would think.  I doubt that you were called from some plane of heroes, if it were that easy there would be little point to it."


*****

The king is set up in the largest building in town, what may have once been some sort of town hall.  It's a massive four rooms shared between the king and his knights the latter sleeping in shifts.  The entryway hosts a makeshift war room, furnished largely by rocks and piles of lumber at the moment, along with the meager supplies that have been gathered.

The king already looks weary in the morning, if he slept it was a minimal amount.  He nods at many of the suggestions, "we arrived only yesterday.  So far our efforts have been addressing the minimal standards for survival here, though defense must be included in that pretty quickly.  I've set those that don't have more pressing tasks to helping out the less stable structures, reclaiming lumber from that is faster than getting it from the woods for now."

"We were lucky enough to have an apprentice carpenter, Madalynn Rosa, among those that escaped with us.  She and Sebastian Pearson, a smith, have started setting up basic workshops.  The latter is mostly focused on getting better tools for himself and Madalynn, our metal is virtually nonexistent however.  Madalynn is working on some basic furnishings and repairs for the homes, it might not be the highest importance but morale is rather critically low and people feeling like they can at least live here is something."

"Katherine Watts is out hunting already this morning, she actually was out hunting when the attack hit so she is lucky enough to be a bit more prepared than the rest of us.  Which is good because our food supplies are already critical and we may be depending on her for the near future.  We also have three skilled in farming, Easton Holmes and Alexander and Grace Davies.  They tell me that the ground near the village is suitable for planting and have been at work since yesterday finding seeds and cultivating as best they can."  He sighs slightly, "though I imagine it will be weeks or months before anything comes of it.  Even on half rations we will be hard pressed to survive that long."

"Beyond those we have a skilled healer, Emilia Lane who is currently tending to the Arnl.  And a few with other skills that aren't immediately useful.  A mapper, a baker, a tanner, and a woodcutter.  They're gathering supplies and assisting Madalynn at the moment."  He recites from memory obviously well read on the current status.

"Beyond food the biggest gap we have is information.  The capital was hit about seven days ago, we have been traveling until yesterday.  It was hit phenomenally hard but other places we passed have been attacked as well if by smaller forces.  Without knowing our enemy I can't say how safe it is to travel."  His tone is professional though his expression is dark.  "Our group splintered as we traveled, and our destination changed several times before we arrived here.  I hope some will arrive here safely, or that some of the towns and cities we passed successfully resisted and are gathering refugees there, but we lack manpower to take trips to check yet."

"As we become more active here no doubt we will eventually attract attention of anyone local.  We're a ways from the nearest city though and that will play for and against us."  He pauses thinking, "Thil'ilar'seta, an elven kingdom, is somewhere through the forest.  We may see some people head this way in the hopes of pushing through the woods rather than take official routes.  Eventually we should investigate the status there as well, if their nation is safe and willing we should head there."  The latter is said with clear depression, he obviously doesn't support abandoning his kingdom.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 16, 2018)

The kitsune princess nods while listening to the king speak, "I don't think my heroic comrades and I are prepared quite yet to take the army on our own." She taps her foot as she thinks, "Perhaps we should check in with the elven kingdom and see what supplies they can spare to assist. At very minimum make sure they themselves are prepared for the coming war." Haru bites her lip as she thinks out loud, "I think that's the best course of action now. Call for a favor or two with allies."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 16, 2018)

"'Allies' might be putting it strongly, I'm not sure the elves really ally with anyone," the king muses.  "But I don't believe they harbor any hatred of us, certainly not on a level where they would close doors to us and let us die."

"I can support the idea of reaching out to them in any case, even the worst of receptions are better than we'll get from our enemies.  We will need to shore up defenses here first though.  Our numbers are so few that we can't spare anyone with fighting experience yet."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 16, 2018)

Douglas shakes his head "I've already figured out how it works and that it runs on mana as well as that it seems to energize others who are tired at the least with its light. It has the potential to get everyone back on their feet and invigorate an army. I want to know WHY it works." Douglas puts the lantern down after pressing against the button he used to turn it off.

"Also my 'plane' is full of heroes. I don't know about the others." More specifically it's filled with people who have played rpgs and read fantasy novels like this place... Wait... No, no, no. There is no way that is the case.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 16, 2018)

"Perhaps," the old man says dryly.  "If you leave it with me to actually study I might be able to answer that question.  Perhaps, if Mystra allows it, I may even be able to unravel how it was crafted.  What I cannot do is divine this information from nothing, if you want the conjecture of a soothsayer go elsewhere.  If you would like the reliable science of magic to answer your questions I will need time to do so."

"As to why the gods chose you and the others I cannot say.  The ritual only attracts their attention, if and how they choose to fill it they do so on their terms."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 16, 2018)

Douglas spitakes at the Arnl mentioning science of magic and starts laughing.
"A-Alright, but I don't believe you are as tired as you're putting on. After all you didn't react to the light that much did you?"
Douglas smirks while leaving the room "Don't break it!" He stops at the door for any last words Arnl might want to say.


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 16, 2018)

The old man mutters mostly to himself as Douglas leaves, "sure the heroes are always kids, no mild mannered adults with a proper sense of station would be summoned.  Of course not, the gods probably get their kicks out of watching everything get mixed about."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 16, 2018)

Ha, the old man is feeling it as well, if only he wasn't so tight lipped. "You should relax a bit more. I'll be taking care of some of the village's troubles soon." Douglas goes back to training and small talk with Thomas.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 16, 2018)

"So Thomas... how'd you become a knight? One for the king at that?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 16, 2018)

Sir Thomas spends about half the day acting as bodyguard for the king, between that and sleep leaves him fairly little open time.  He is spending most of today at least outside enjoying the sunny weather and helping out here and there where he can.  Still he has some spare time to chat or assist the heroes as they train.

He eyes Douglas as he approaches but speaks politely, "knighthood is a granted title that can be given out by nobles of sufficient rank.  In many cases it's granted almost automatically when a noble's child reaches adulthood.  It can also be granted for distinguished acts of one form or another, most frequently on the battlefield."

"My father was baron, a title my elder brother inherited.  I was knighted when I turned 15 and joined up with the royal army quickly unlocking 'warrior' and 'fighter.'  After several campaigns I was identified by my commander as having the right qualifications for the king's guard.  Normally I would be one of hundreds doing different things to ensure the king's personal safety however I suppose these are not normal times."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 16, 2018)

Old games came to mind the hero and company going against the odds of hundreds of opponents.
"Then I'll just have to be worth a thousand men won't I?" Douglas swings the spear in the air while panting and smiling.
"I still see no gauge or anything of the sort... Can I spar with you? I need to test out how fighting a person actually works. Monsters are too stupid."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

"Unfortunately I have my duties to the king," Sir Thomas says apologetically.  "If I am going to perform as a guard I need to keep my vigor full, lest I be useless in the case of an attack.  And I doubt sandbagging without using skills would teach you anything of use."

"While I commend the goal of practical experience the truth is training for perfection in every attack does have its use as well.  You already seem sharper with the spear, focus on one or two techniques for now and see if you can't get them up to level 3 or 4, that can usually be done fairly quickly and is better than trying to rush the more advanced techniques."

"Once you've built up some stamina things will become easier and you can start a more balanced approach."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

"I still don't know what you mean by techniques... do you mean... Movements that exude mana? Can you just show me one so I can watch it closely? It might help me figure it out."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

The knight looks at Douglas curiously but continues anyway, "well I'm not too familiar with spears, you might check with Sir Eliza if you want more specific pointers there, she focuses in the polearms skill.  But if you just want a general example I can oblige."

Sir Thomas step to the side and draws out his sword.  After taking his fighting stance he intones, "cleave!" and brings the sword down in a heavy overhead chop.  "Dash!"  He charges forward leading with his shield then twists it into a wider arc, "clear!"  Bringing his sword back into play he follows it along the path of the shield in a tight but fact swing, "cut!"

He returns his sword to its sheath and addresses Douglas, "fairly typical skills of the sword proficiency and the weapon-and-shield style.  As your proficiency improve more skills will unlock for you but remember that the higher level skills aren't universally better, choose what works for the situation you're in.  My experience says to perfect the basic skills, in worst case scenarios you'll fall back on what you know and you should be able to use them many times before your vigor becomes strained."

"Of course, it doesn't hurt to practice everything some, you never want to be in a situation where you're trying a technique out for the first time in live battle."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

Douglas watches carefully. He still has no idea what he was supposed to learn from that. "Well... while those are impressive looking. It looks like you're just moving around normally to me and shouting out what you're doing." Douglas stabs the spear into the ground. "Perhaps I could try those 'sword skills' for a moment? I've never held a sword before."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

"Well, the names of course were merely for your benefit," Sir Thomas says with a chuckle.  "Though I have heard of warriors who feel they handle the timing better with vocal triggers."

Cautiously he takes out his sword and hands it to Douglas, "certainly, give it a try.  You're young yet, while you'll probably eventually focus there's some advantage to trying different things and figuring out what works for you."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

Douglas spreads his feet apart and takes a few swings to determine how much balance the sword needs.  It... requires a bit less than a spear actually since it's more centered. He may as well give it a try, what he just saw. Though he didn't see much use for it.
Still looked like he was just swinging a sword around. It's not like he was cutting trees in half at a distance or anything with a sword.
Douglas takes a deep breath closing his eyes and focusing on a thought.


> Sir Thomas step to the side and draws out his sword. After taking his fighting stance he intones, "cleave!" and brings the sword down in a heavy overhead chop. "Dash!" He charges forward leading with his shield then twists it into a wider arc, "clear!" Bringing his sword back into play he follows it along the path of the shield in a tight but fact swing, "cut!"


He tries to copy what Thomas did keeping it in mind even copying saying the names out loud to help with timing. It was doubtful it'd succeed, but at the least trying it out once wouldn't hurt.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

Sir Thomas watches critically as Douglas works.  "A solid first effort.  With time you might have some natural potential with the sword.  But for now I'd suggest you spread out your attempts.  Find out what feels right for you and worry about specializing later."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

"Is there anyone with axes around here? I'd like a hand in those as well."
He'd need to talk to Sir Eliza about spears as well. His own experience was well enough, but... it was more learning about how things functioned for them than him... still no gauges or anything of the sort.
Douglas hands the sword back to Thomas.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

"Sir Rhys favors the two-handed hammer, if you have questions about the hammers and axes proficiency he would be the best to ask,"  Sir Thomas says cautiously.  Then almost as an afterthought he amends, "of course axes and hammers have some differences when used practically.  If you merely want an axe to practice with I'm not sure if there is a combat grade one, or really even one at all.  Though I imagine an axe will be on the blacksmith's list for the woodcutter eventually though I believe he probably has other priorities today."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

"I see I'll talk to Sir Rhys then." Douglas picks up his spear. "I know you told me about mana before but... do you know how it's used for combat? For one such as you?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

"How mana is used for combat?"  Sir Thomas says curiously.  "Are you talking about MP?  That has no relation to mana though I've heard novices claim it is 'mana points.'  Mana is used by dungeons and monsters, I suppose some of their abilities likely make use of mana though I cannot claim to be an expert there."

"Otherwise mana stones are used in the construction of many magical items, you would have to talk to someone with the skills there if you want to know specifics.  I have no abilities in that area."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

Douglas nods to go find Sir Rhys to train. He looks for a knight with a hammer.
"Are you Sir Rhys? I'm hoping you can teach me how to use a hammer."


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

Sir Rhys is easy enough to spot.  The knight wears full plate armor and has what probably appears to Douglas to be a heavy sledgehammer strapped to his back.  He's part of the active guard detail for the king when Douglas first approaches but agrees to teach him later in the day.

In the training field he unstraps the hammer and holds it in both hands, one gripping about in the middle, the other towards the far end.  "Now, most people will tell you the hammers and axes proficiency is all about power.  The stat gains certainly encourage that and, yeah, you need to be strong to wield one."

"But that's only part of it.  The weight in them is focused at the far end of the weapon, that means gravity and momentum will do a lot of the work compared to a sword.  The real trick of it is having the control to direct that power.  Put it in the right spot and an opponent has no counter."   He gives the hammer a great overhand swing, the sheer force of it seems to displace air.

"Of course only part of a battle is attacking.  Unless you plan to end every battle with the first swing, and ask around for who that works for you won't find any, you'll have to think about defending yourself too."  He pulls the hammer back in close, "a great smash like what I just did is incredible for finishing a battle, but if the target survives it, or worse anticipates it and dodges it, you're going to be hard pressed to bring your weapon back in for a parry."

"Either you need to have a shield and a plan to make sure the shield is in position to cover the recovery, or you need to be several steps ahead of what your opponent will do so that you can dodge or parry despite the weight of the weapon.  Better to use shorter strikes to put the opponent off balance first, and only go in for the kill when you're sure you have it."  He does a few strange swings, almost jab-like movements of the head of his hammer.  They still seem slow and have far less power but the movements keep the haft of the hammer in line with his torso, it's easy to see how he could shift to parry with it.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

Douglas tries his hand at the hammer... He has trouble controlling it properly just holding it. "I-it feels so heavy compared to the other weapons. It'd just slip out of minds hands as it is..." His arms shake trying to keep it steady "It's more like a spear..."
He shifts his grip around steadying himself finally, it's more like Sir Rhys's grip. "A very heavy at the end spear. I'm going to tire myself out using this thing unless I already know how to let it do work." Douglas is sweating, frankly between wearing this armor and training the whole time since getting up he feels like he needs a break. Douglas tries swinging the weapon forward in a jab and is put off balance some doing it. He forces himself to rebalance. "Ngghkk... I-I haven't really had a chance of practicing in defending myself you know. Thomas refused but... would you accept a spar to point some things out since you're used to breaking defense?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

The knight lets out a stream of air from his lips like a silent whistle.  "Well, that is a problem actually.  You can get mild results on weapons without real threat but you're not going to make much progress with your defensive skills without a sparring partner."  He pauses thinking, "really it's the same for the villagers, I know we're running them ragged trying to get the basics set up now, but ultimately we're going to need some of them to start unlocking combat jobs so that they can take shifts with defense."

"I can't now though, forbidden from wasting the energy.  I'll bring it up to the king though, maybe he'll adjust schedules or his standing orders."

"As to my weapon, yeah, attacks tend to drain vitality pretty quick.  Gotta train up endurance and stamina so that you can handle it or chances are you'll end up a sitting duck in a fight."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

Douglas swings the hammer and ends up spinning off balance. The hammer hits the ground with great force and Douglas faceplants. "I'd... avoid teaching hammers. Spears... spears for sure. Aughh..." His entire body hurts. He hasn't really had a reason to work hard in his life because... well his life was never at stake like this. "Hey do you have any icepac... Oh right, this world is more primitive with technology..." Douglas sits down exhausted his body didn't want to move. "Aren't you... All interested in stories from our... worlds?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 17, 2018)

Sir Rhys chuckles, "interested?  Sure I guess.  Though I'm more interested in the idea of a warm night's sleep and a full belly sometime in the next week.  But since I'm forbidden from doing that sort of work I suppose I have nothing better to do.  Go ahead, tell me of your homeland, the land of heroes."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 17, 2018)

"Ha... well... In my era we don't fight with these weapons anymore for one. We used a form of weapon called a gun. A ranged weapon that allows us to kill a human target instantly through armor like the one I'm wearing. Also we have the ability to fly anyone in the world in large metal vehicles called Airplanes. Everyone would travel to other continents within hours or to the other side of the world in half a day with them. 

On the ground we had vehicles with the power of several thousand horses to take us to one place to another. The smallest cars about the size of large horse itself... We also have the ability to light the night up 24/7, make the air warm or cold in our homes as long as we want. We've also been able to escape the planet's gravity as well and land on our moon. We were able to see where we lived from the outside. Our planet with over 5 billion people on it... Well I suppose that's enough there is far more but, I'm not even sure you understood any of that." Douglas yawns, getting that off his chest was rather relaxing.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 18, 2018)

"Different weapons," the man says nodding, apparently mildly following along.  "I suppose that makes sense why you're confused about our weapons, you probably have different skill categories for them.   You seem to be adapting fine to our weapons so you'll probably have the hang of things soon."

"Or maybe once the blacksmith's set up you can explain one of these 'guns' to him?  They must be metal to pierce through armor yes?"  He shrugs.  "As to the rest, it sounds like your world has much magic in it, I've heard stories of such things before, but if our wizards have actually created such devices they would be unique or nearly unique."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 18, 2018)

"Perhaps I will describe it to him, though I doubt he could do it. Magic doesn't exist in my world after all. Forgot to mention that, that's why anyone could use the things I talked about. Birds don't need magic to fly after all. It's all tied to skill, also... Well I guess it's the same here for me. Special skills and menus and such don't exist. I honestly have no idea what everyone here is going on about with special abilities. Thomas thinks I'm just being slow about it."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 18, 2018)

"I suppose it's only natural that being from so far away would make things here seem strange by comparison," the knight shrugs slightly.  "It's beyond the realm of man to try and figure such things out.  Best to work with what you have now than dream about what you want."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 18, 2018)

Douglas gets up, some stamina back now. "Oh right, do you know where Sir Eliza is? I'm hoping for some tips on using a spear."


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

Sir Eliza is quickly found sitting atop the pile of rubble that once was the temple in the center of town.  She's staring idly into the dimming sky as the day begins to wind down.  Strapped to her back is a 9' long pole topped with what Douglas might describe as the bastard child of a claw hammer and spear (or a lucerne hammer if he's exceptionally well read).


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

Perhaps he knew enough about spears he recognized the spear, but couldn't place a name... Douglas sits next to her. "The sunset here is nicer than the one in my world."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

The knight gives him an icy look as he approaches.  "I have no interest in the honor of bearing an heir of a hero,"  her voice has a frostiness that parallels the look though she doesn't budge as he sits down.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

She's a down to business kind of lady, well that's pretty respectable. Douglas stands back up and wobbles down to the ground. "If you deny it so upfront so quickly, you may give the wrong impression. I'm simply here to ask for spear training, make sure I'm not missing anything about it... Who would you say is the strongest here? Rhys impressed me more than Thomas, but I wonder how someone with an inside perspective thinks."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

She pauses silent for a moment then the knight replies, "first, define 'strongest?'"  There's still a coolness to her speech but it doesn't seem as directed as it was a moment ago.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

"Well... Most able to kill something? Wins the most spars? Killed the strongest thing? I guess I shouldn't have asked."
Douglas sighs "It just feels like I've been waving weapons around all day just to tire myself out."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

The knight shakes her head.  "No.  See.  Those are three different definitions of 'strong.'  If you want to know who is strongest first you have to decide how to measure 'strong.'"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

"... Who did the best against the invading black soldiers?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

"We did not," she says simply.  "Our duty was to the king, once it was clear the knights that went out to buy time were getting annihilated our priority became making sure he got away safely.  Traditionally Sir Rhys or I would match up best against heavily armored opponents.  Though Sir Thomas becoming a paladin perhaps changes the equation, depending upon how effective his holy powers are against them."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

Douglas looks around just standing around like this made him anxious "Don't you hate just doing nothing like this?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

"No," the knight continues gazing at the sky with apparently little care.  "Action where action is indicated is good, necessary.  But you have to know when not to take action as well.  If you spend all your time rushing from one emergency to another you'll never learn to appreciate things."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

Why is she acting so cool about this? Douglas is fairly miffed about it and it wasn't as if he could actually tell her what she was looking at and she'd understand it.
"There are FAR more beautiful things than a sunset out there and I'd prefer to see them again. So train me into the dirt or something! So much that I can't move; If I keep this pent up it'll be all the worse later."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 19, 2018)

"No," Sir Eliza says simply.  "True battle, where the field is a struggle for life and death is all about tempo and control.  Learn to wait when waiting is dictated before you worry about striking.  Until you can do that there's no point in trying to teach anything."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 19, 2018)

This woman reminds him of something. Douglas sighs and climbs back up to sit next to her to look at the sunset, she clearly wasn't willing to teach him. It wasn't that bad to watch actually... Was she just keeping watch or was this the lesson? "Have you heard of the valkyries?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

Eventually after a day of training and other random tasks everyone is brought together for a meal as the last lights of the day linger.  The hunter had apparently had some success during her day and the bulk of the meal is a broth heavy stew made from raccoon eaten from hastily crafted wooden bowls.  This is supplemented by small chunks of a sort of hard bread that presumably comes from what someone had with them.

To say the food wasn't terribly filling would be an understatement, though after a day of hard work your bodies greedily absorb the calories they can, though the ache of hunger remains at the end of the meal.  The others of the village likewise ravenously devour their food.  The meal is unusually quiet despite being brief.

As it nears its end the king approaches the party and sends the villagers aside to speak somewhat privately with the group.  "You may have noticed our first challenge.  While our young hunter had some reasonable success today the reality is even on half rations I anticipate our food supplies will run dry in about 5 days.  Unfortunately that leads us to our first challenge."

"Before I get in to the, admittedly poor, options that I am aware of I thought I would ask you what your thoughts are."  There's an appraising tone to his voice, clearly evaluating the group's range of use.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"I wouldn't mind trying my hand at hunting."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

The king flashes a mildly disgusted look at Douglas and sighs.  "There are a few significant problems with that.  The first being you should have better uses for your time, I doubt the gods sent you here merely to hunt.  For this to really make a difference you would have to have to hunt for weeks until crops come in."

"More significantly if you are out hunting in the forest you won't be available to help with the defense of the village.  With our current defensive situation that is a bleak prospect."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 20, 2018)

"Like we spoke about before, we could make a trek to visit the elves, though that would be the same situation as hunting.  It would leave you with just the defenses of the guard for mundane threats, but we would be better placed tactically if we can get assistance."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

"That is an option," the king says without much enthusiasm.  "However it runs the risk that they would be unwilling or unable to help us."  He shakes his head, "though I'll admit that is debatably our best chance."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"No help with defense? How so. Leather to help protect the villagers. Resources to gather while hunting. You don't even know how well a hero could hunt. What would you do if we're captured by the elves for months or decide to stay with them instead? The heroes only concern is the invading black knight force isn't it? Or did you forget that's why you summoned us forcefully here? I don't actually have an obligation to stay here if the elves are an actual option."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

"I mean," the king says with clear annoyance.  "That if you are out hunting in the forest you will not also be here to fight off an attack.  As we currently lack both means of seeing an attack coming and means of bringing people who are distant back here quickly."

"I am hoping that you are devoting your all to strengthening yourselves so that _when_ that attack comes you will be ready for it."  He has a clear lecturing tone.  "But I acknowledge that you are here only of your own will.  If you would prefer to hunt I won't stop you any more than I would stop you from leaving if you think that is the right choice."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"Right hunting it is, for a while at the least. I'll be going with the young hunter if you don't mind. It's not like we have anything to offer the elves other than false promises right now anyway."


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 20, 2018)

"Douglas, please." Haru states slowly, her main attempt is to disperse any hostility.  "Unfortunately what we need is to make allies.  We need to break any feeling of hostility, even if we have to leave the village unprotected.  While as a whole hunting is a good idea, we need help, I will be the first to admit that.  We don't seem much stronger at all than the king's guard and they are making tracks faster than we have been.  They were roughly a week out, the civilians made it here just yesterday.  It's unfortunate but something has to be done, and fast." Her voice sounds sorrowful, "At least here we have warning.  Back home I had no warning, and we kept allies that could have prevented what happened. Well, my father did, as well as my husband." She shakes her head, a tear forming in her eye, "But that is a story for another time, we can take another couple days training and hunting, but please consider coming to help with the elves when Lo-Kag and I head out.  You too Banana."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

The king looks at Banana and Lo-Kag for a moment apparently writing off their contributions before looking back at Haru, "that is probably good for an immediate course of action.  Of course it doesn't really address our immediate concerns but I suppose it will fall to me to handle that."  He sighs.

"I suppose ultimately there's only one real answer.  Rather than focusing on our defense I'll have to send some of the knights into the dungeon.  Sir Thomas says you found food in one of the chests, with luck that will be common enough to justify the work.  We'll likely have to have Kathrine train some of the less-immediately-useful villagers, see if any can pick up her skills."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"Why not send the villagers into the dungeon with the knights?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

"A reasonable suggestion, welcome back to the conversation," the king says.  "And there may be a few that have no more important duties that we might send but there is a question of levels."

"The vast majority of the citizens here are 'commoner' class, the have basically no combat abilities.  Sending them with the knights would slow the knights down and add little from a combat standpoint.  But they might unlock 'warrior' or other classes eventually doing that."  He shakes his head and continues, "you have to understand that for most of us advancement is a painfully slow process, part of the reasons that heroes have been summoned is something about the process makes you able to advance far faster than our people."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"Another question... You're talking about setting up defenses, yet... I see some set up for us already. The dungeon itself is sturdy and provides resources directly. Is there a reason one cannot live in it besides monsters?"


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

The king laughs for a moment before realizing Douglas is serious.  "Well, that is theoretically possible.  I'm not aware of any concerns of trying to live in dungeon but at the same time I am not aware of anyone trying.  Monster attacks would be near constant.  And while I appreciate Sir Thomas' new abilities we are lacking in healing, eventually we would take damage and be worn down."

"Humans are not exactly meant to live underground though."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"Exactly, we're not meant to. No one would expect it. Why would they? I'm sure there was a healer SOMEWHERE amongst the heroes souls. I may not have it however one of those three surely do... Speaking of that where is Arul? He was supposed to tell us more about these Hero souls wasn't he? I feel like I have one that belongs to Haru more than myself."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

The king tries to parse Douglas' statement but clearly fails.  "Yes, well, we'll keep that in mind I suppose.  Trying to live in a dungeon sounds more like a last resort sort of thing than a first effort."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

"Alright, I'm not going hunting I have a new idea." Douglas nods to himself. "Haru have you met..." Douglas tries to remember the name harder. "The Arnl proper yet?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 20, 2018)

Haru stands up while listening to the conversation between the king and Douglas, she always thinks better when on her paws, but she can't afford to do that right now, so feet work.  "Hm?  No I haven't, I haven't seen much of a reason as of yet to disturb him while in a dramatic need of rest.  Why do you ask?" She tilts her head quizzically.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 20, 2018)

He nods, "Well, I lent him the lantern earlier today. He should be done with it. As well, I think he may or may not have some important answers we need to know right now. Such as these mantles we recently obtained and about mana. I want to know if it's possible to exchange these mantles to each other and maybe even 'mere commoners.'"
((Edited))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 20, 2018)

((It's still the same day you lent the lantern to the Arnl.  I'll provide the details he can share at the end of the day, though if you'd prefer to visit him in person it can work that way.))


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## WorkingMoogle -- Day 2 Results (Feb 21, 2018)

*** End Day 2 **
*
Douglas trained successfully.
Lo-Kag trained successfully (don't worry if you're not done with the crunch it's not critical yet).
Haru trained successfully.
Banana trained successfully (don't worry if you're not done with the crunch it's not critical yet).

The town ate 10.5 people-days worth of food at half rations.
Kathrine Watts hunted for food bringing in 7 people-days worth of food (total in storage: 37 people-days).
Sebastian Pearson (Blacksmith) crafted basic blacksmithing tools.
Madalynn Rosa (Carpenter) raised the level of furnishings in the homes to "unfurnished" to "slightly furnished."
Easton Holmes, Alexander Davies, and Grace Davies (Farmers) worked in the fields near town (no production yet).
Emilia Lane (Healer) tended to Arn Frederick Garath.
Aaron Matthews (Woodcutter), Lilly Bennett (Tanner), Victor Monroe (Merchant), Sofia Doyle (Baker), Evan Barnes (Cartographer) gathered wood and stone from wreckage.

Arn Frederick Garath studied the Lantern of Reinforcement:

*Spoiler*: __ 




"An interesting device," the Arnl notes.  "It is powered by mana, mana stones can be fed to it directly to add charges to it.  The actual effect is driven by powerful planar magic.  However unlike any planar magic I've seen it's actually attuned this plane."

"The apparent result of the 'light' from it is to reinforce the fabric of the plane.  To native residents this results it is an empowering factor in a very general sense, making the residents more 'real' than they normally are, if such a thing really makes sense."

Crunch:
The lantern has unusual effects on native residents of the plane, experimentation will be needed to determine more.

It runs off of mana, the "battery" currently has a charge of 143 essence.  Level 1 affects up to 10 people and consumes 2 essence/hour.  Level 2 affects up to 20 people (the whole village at the moment) and consumes 3 essence/hour.




Sir Thomas, Sir Garratt, Sir Rhys, and Sir Eliza guarded King Gabriel Sutton III.

King Gabriel Sutton III planned logistics for the town.

Current stockpiles: (Crafting values)
37 People-days of food
585gp Wood Reserves
80gp Stone Reserves
10gp Steel Reserves
50gp Treasure


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 21, 2018)

I assume everyone is probably going to continue to train on day 2, please give me your actions when you have a moment.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 21, 2018)

Douglas decides to train his own body and try to learn more.
increases int by 1 -10 mana
Increase con by 2 -13 mana
Increase cha by 2 -15 mana
increase str by 2 - 19 mana
Increases dex by 3 -38 mana
27 mana left over.

Douglas will attempt to talk to Sir Garratt when he has the time.
Douglas will also attempt to exchange mantles with Haru.
The shifter he has for the magister Haru has.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 21, 2018)

Haru will train her body as well as some grooming.  
Dex & Cha to 18
Con to 14
Left: 2 essence

She will trade mantles with Douglas.  Then give the shifter to Banana, and take the night blade from Lo-Kag.  

She will also see what the Arnl can tell her about her sword.


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## Vergil (Feb 22, 2018)

The android stood in the middle of village and looked out as Banana had been reaaranging data in her memory for the past day, pulling up what she knew about rapiers and trying different calibrations. (Level 4 HD; Feats Weapon Finesse, Weapon focus (rapier), Fencing Grace. )

The relationship between the mantle and essence was strange. She had started experimenting with the rogue mantle and before she knew it ,she had drained the majority of it into it the mantle. She stared blankly at it trying to figure out what she had just done. "Mantle upgraded?" she murmured. (Rogue Mantle level 4)

She fully analysed her own capabilities and found that she was more agile than she was strong. She decided, that she would apply what she knew from the mantle to something more concrete; again, she ended up using most of her energy into that but learned quite a lot. (Unchained Rogue level 4)

BAB 4 (2000), All Saves +2(900) (Uh...she....did a bunch of push ups while imagining she was under attack...)

"I should reconfigure the limiters. It seems my 'self control' is lacking. Looking at other options. Barbarian, Severist, Assassin. Ranged weapon would be useful. Base abilities require attention. 

During the meeting with the King. She researches how to be a better nurse; going through first aid and how to dispose of a bedpan. Also upgrading her scanning abilities so she was able to notice things better. Then she randomly started hiding. 

Perception 4 (650)
Stealth 4 (850)
Profession: Nurse 4; (450)

16250/18450 exp used
38/111 essence used.


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## Vergil (Feb 22, 2018)

Day 2. 

Dex to 18 - 50 essence 
Wis to 12 - 16 essence


Banana had gone into an intense reconfiguration as the nanites in her body made modifications to her structure to make her faster and more perceptive. Once it was done, her eyes snapped open and went to the village and observed the villagers. She approaches the King

"Objective: Save people. People require defenses and sustenance. Currently population is eating more  than village is producing. Options: Trade, Finding new source of food, Creating a new settlement with 1/4 of current population, Become androids, find magic items to reduce hunger, Find mage to produce food. Reducing population is an option but is deemed contradictory to Save People objective.

Many of these options require a contingent to leave the village. Banana is ready to comply. Missing children is also priority. Save People; currently possibility of children still being alive is small, but still statistically viable. Do you wish for me to search for missing children?" Banana says unemotionally


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## EvilMoogle -- Day 3 Results (Feb 22, 2018)

((Will do talking-stuff at the end of this.))

((Haaaaah, yeah, long today.))

*** Day 3 **
*
Near the end of the day quite a ruckus is heard as word is quickly spread through the town of a group of refugees making their way down the road through town.  Some are known from one place or another, others were picked up along the road.

*Spoiler*: _New villagers, long_ 




22 Refugees arrive
Percival Hopewell,male,Zealot-1, P:Farmer
Harriet Hopewell,Female,Warrior-2, P:Farmer
Noel Hopewell,Male,Child
Philip Hopewell,Male,Child
Vernon Hopewell,Male,Child
Sylvia Hopewell,female,Child
Jane Hopewell,female,Child
Lancelot Webb,Male,Ninja-1, Cottery
Roderick Bonser,Male,Commoner-2, C:Brewing
Williamina Roberts,Female,Commoner-3, C:Blacksmithing
Jasmine Johnson,Female,Commoner-2, P:Hunter
Marguerite Johnson,female,Child
Adela Foster,Female,Commoner-4, C:Alchemy
Dennis Brandom,male,Occultist-1, C:Jewelrymaking
Cuthbert Belsey,male,Commoner-2, P:Hunter
Helen Belsey,female,Child
Leonard Boness,male,Commoner-1, C:Stonemasonry
Eurwen Cushway,female,Warrior-1, C:Tanning
Bessie Moore,female,Commoner-1, Cooking
Priscilla Moore,female,Child
Henry Langsdale,male,Child
Myer Langsdale,male,Child



((This is a very rare number of refugees at once  ))
They also carry some supplies with them ((Food +57-man-days))

Emilia Lane continues tending for the Arnl
Sebastian Pearson crafts some basic carpentry tools for Madalynn.
The farmers continue working in the fields (no yield yet)
Madalynn Rosa begins crating spiked wall to create some choke points around the town, it will take some time for her to complete.
Kathrine goes hunting again, this time coming back empty handed.
Evan, Sofia, Victor, Lily, and Aaron continue scavenging.

Sir Eliza and Sir Thomas guard the king.
Sir Garratt and Sir Rhys adventure in the dungeon, they return with:
28 essence of mana stones
31 man-days of food
140gp of metal
124gp of gear
406gp of treasure​
The king continues planning logistics for the town.

The people eat 11.5 man-days of half-rations (the new arrivals already ate, this just spiked a lot)

Current stocks:
125 Food Reserves (man-days)
520gp Wood Reserves
80gp Stone Reserves
145gp Steel Reserves
456gp Treasure
124gp Gear
55 essence Mana Stones

((The party can "buy" basic equipment from the "gear," or even claim the mana stones if they want, however if the party's taking all of the town's resources people will notice and it will have a morale effect.  Still, I doubt anyone's going to begrudge Douglas some pants))

((In practice what is looted is specific gear, it's not some magical resource that morphs into whatever you want.  At this point it has to be non-magical gear of standard quality and materials, this dungeon doesn't normally spit out magic or masterwork items))

(Whee long post, I'll do discussion items on the next one.  Still one more day of training too I am assuming.  The refugee's thrown of my math so I'll be updating that))


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 22, 2018)

Sir Garratt was adventuring in the dungeon during the day so he isn't available until the evening.  However despite being tired from a day hunting skeletal rats he's happy to make some time for Douglas.  Sir Garratt is the red haired knight present with the king when the group first arrived.  He wears a pair of slender swords on his belt.

*******

The Arnl takes the moon-hilted rapier for consideration during the day.  At the end of the day he returns it with an evaluation.

"The blade is named 'Selûne's Gaze,'" Arn Frederick says thoughtfully.  "It's a bloodbound weapon, to you I assume?"  He continues without concern, "as such there's not a lot I can say about it, it will only really reveal it's secrets to its partner.  Based on the name, if not the look of it, it has some connection with the Moon Goddess Selûne.  Even by bloodbound standards it did not seem to like my prodding at it, I would venture a guess that it has some connection with spellcasters as well, though that's not based on much."


*******

"With the added manpower," the king says with consideration.  "I think we should put up a watch tower and a signal fire.  If we have a way to see them coming and a way to call people back in an emergency it's safer to let our defenders go further from the village.  I'll direct her to that task tomorrow."

"From I will leave it up to the heroes to decide their course of action, a search through the countryside for any other groups of refugees might come up with something.  A few days to the nearest city or a few days through the woods to the Elven lands might find us some allies.  As long as you stay within a day or two's journey we will hopefully have warning of trouble."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 22, 2018)

"Finally, some pants at least. Now I just need shoes and a shirt." 
Douglas asks for some examples of Garratt's way of fighting and also chats him up. "You're the last knight I need to talk to, so... can you tell me about the others and yourself? Sir Eliza, Sir Thomas, and Sir Rhys? Eliza seemed awfully cold or it that just me?"


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 23, 2018)

“What can you tell me about Selûne?” She questions as she takes the sword back to place in it's sheath, “Being from a different world, I know not much about the pantheon of here.” Haru gives an honest smile, “Or would you rather point me into the direction of someone who would be better suited to explain? Thank you very much for what you have done.”


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## Vergil (Feb 23, 2018)

Banana nods as the refugees come in but is dismayed when the hunters come back empty handed. She practices her skillls by sneaking up on people and introducing herself.


Stealth to rank 5
Perception to rank 6
17250/18400 used


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 23, 2018)

Sir Garratt grins at the question, "you expect me to gossip about my fellow knights?"  His voice is slightly shrill as if offended by the prospect but quickly breaks off, "I love gossiping!  Though I doubt there's a lot of exciting news of late, given with the whole we're all likely to die soon thing."

"I of course am the fabulous Sir Garratt, master of the twin swords, slayer of monsters and men, winner of a thousand duels.  No doubt even in your world you've heard of me, though I'm sure you're too shy to admit it."  He gives a mock bow.  "Sir Eliza's not cold exactly, just different than a normal person.  If you ask me it's probably because she eats mushrooms, what normal person likes those?  Still that stick of hers is not something you want to write off.  She knows her way around it and if you don't treat it carefully you'll be walking funny for a week if you get my meaning."

"Sir Rhys is typically too busy pounding his hammer to get much out of, at least, I don't typically disturb a man while he's hammering away.  I've heard he can break rock with it though which is certainly a feat though I've found a more delicate hand is just as effective."  He winks suggestively.

Then his demeanor shifts dramatically, becoming considerably cooler, though still a touch flamboyant, "Sir Thomas, I don't really know.  Until today we had been paired up, I thought I knew him fairly well.  He was, well, shielded, played his feelings close to the chest but he was as dedicated a knight as any I've ever known.  Becoming a paladin was not something I would have guessed for him in a thousand years.  I don't really know what to make of that.

*****

"I can tell you the basics at least," Arn Frederick says politely.  "I'm not sure there is a proper expert in the town, though you have probably talked to them more than I at this point."

"Selûne is most generally known as the Goddess of the Moon though she claims a wide portfolio including the moon and stars, dreams, beauty, love, and marriage, navigators, wanderers, and seekers.  Also divination."  He pauses thinking a moment before continuing, "she is one of the oldest gods, the good counterpart of her twin sister and rival Shar; the goddess of darkness and night."

"If you are looking for information of ritual I'm afraid I don't know much.  Selûne, like the moon itself, embodies both change and mystery, any rituals I might have heard of probably don't apply any more."


*****

The refugees are generally in good spirits upon their arrival.  They're worn from the road and have seem pretty weary from their trial but but hearing news that both the king and heroes summoned from another realm are here easily overrides that.  They're in less good spirits from ninjabot sneaking around to surprise them, but most recover quickly.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 23, 2018)

Douglas can hardly keep on a straight face the whole time. He breathes out an relieved laughter as if some burden had been removed."Hahahah." Finally someone who didn't have a stick up their ass. "I needed that, Sir Garratt. Everyone has been rather dreary since I've came here. So... twin swords. I think that's rather rare isn't it? A bit of a risk taker eh? Honestly it's that kind of thinking we'll need here. Someone who is willing to take two stabs at something." Douglas looks back and forth making sure no one else is around before whispering.
"Kids love the whole duel wielding swords right? You ever try to... 'Teach the ways of the sword' with housewives on your off time?"


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 23, 2018)

"Well, death is what you make of it," Sir Garratt says with a laugh.  "Never seen a situation get better by complaining it into submission.  Though I have seen situations get better with submissioning," he pauses a moment lost in thought then shakes his head.  "No, that wouldn't work, not a drop of butter in the village."

"As to the swords, it's pretty simple, wipe off everything else and a battle always comes down to one thing.  The winner is the one that beats the loser," he pauses for his profound wisdom to be absorbed.  "People make games out of it, preach philosophies and strategies, that's not worthless exactly but it's all ways of putting lace around the truth of it.  If you don't limit yourself to one style, one method, one attack your opponent can't plan for that."

"As to housewives, if you have two swords involved then its a trap.  Best option is to sneak out and never speak a word of it to anyone, or at least that's what I've heard from Sir Rhys."


----------



## Vergil (Feb 23, 2018)

Banana asks the newcomers if they knew of any other people that needed help who were close by


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 23, 2018)

Douglas smiles. "Well the king was rather shocked when I suggested living in a dungeon. Though I would think the Great Sir Garratt would know more than the king pertaining 'dungeons' wouldn't he? Can you tell me what dungeons are and what happens if you stay in one?" Douglas chuckles at the implication of Sir Rhys making that sort of mistake, probably a elf.
"I recall he said something about everyone 'sparring' and said he wanted to ask the king for permission." There seem to be a few implications with a few words


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 23, 2018)

"Again, thank you." She looks to leave but turns back to him, "Though others may not be grateful, I thank you for calling me here.  If it wasn't for you I would have died." She gets a melancholy tone to her voice as she states that, "It already feels like home here, somewhere I belong without being judged for anything other than just as I am." Haru's eyes turn toward him again, "If you will excuse me, I have things I must take care of."

Come evening the fox princess will only eat quarter rations and take the other quarter to commune with Selûne and Selûne's Gaze, gifting the rations as an offering of sorts.


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 23, 2018)

The refugees are from a mix of locations that joined up as they traveled.  Some are from the king's original group but the bulk are from a village about a day's travel down the road.  The village was attacked and without any particular dedicated defenders were forced to flee.  They gathered all they saw but it's likely there's other groups down in that direction.  Of course it's also likely there are some of the black-armored soldiers in that direction as well.

*****

"Before today I've never actually been in a dungeon," Sir Garratt admits.  "I know that some adventuring groups will spend days in the larger dungeons though, so at least in theory that's possible.  Protecting all these people in a dungeon though, I don't know how that would be possible."  He shrugs slightly, "a lot of the new comers are children, one monster slips by defenses and they're in a lot of trouble.  Here at least we can hide noncombatants away from attackers."

"Don't ask me to get involved with who Sir Rhys wants to spar with.  I start giving pointers there and pretty soon I'm on detail to clean up after him after he wears himself out swinging that massive thing around."

*****

In the early evening Haru finds a quiet place to meditate before the moon with the rapier.  There's no response from the moon, not tonight at least but she does feel a presence of sorts from the blade.  It's evasive though the sort of feeling that just a few more minutes will lead to a breakthrough however before she knows it it's deep into the night.

Just as she's ready to give up and call it a night she gets a sudden epiphany. Selûne's Gaze, the light of the moon that cuts through darkness.  It sleeps at the moment, waiting for a victory over the shadow to awaken it.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 23, 2018)

"Then we'll just have to train the children to be strong as well then won't we? I'm sure they'd prefer it to feeling helpless."
Douglas points at himself with his thumb with a wide grin
"Ha, I'm who he's sparing with."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 23, 2018)

"That's the spirit," Sir Garritt says with a grin.  "It might take years for them to have the attributes to unlock a class, but those that survive these trials will be a generation to behold."

"You and Rhys?  Well, enjoy.  Bit of advice, have some towels on hand for clean-up and he tends to favor his right side so careful where the weight is or one of you will pull something."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 23, 2018)

"Years... I think it can done quicker than that with proper accelerated training."
Douglas snirks at the mention of cleaning up after. "I'll keep that in mind. Later, I have a few other things to ask around about. A few ideas. Think I'll talk to the king."
Douglas walks away and waves goodbye and looks for the king. 
"Say, could I talk to you for a bit? Does everyone in town have enough water? I was thinking of creating a water system."


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 24, 2018)

"Water has been a significant concern," the king says warily.  "So far we have been dependent on a nearby creek for water, which is rather out of the way.  I was hoping to begin construction on a proper well now that we have a stonemason."  He pauses and considers Douglas dubiously, "you have some skill in this area?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 24, 2018)

"I... don't have skill in that area, but I know of things. I could plan out something interesting and much less work intensive than a well, but the resources we have aren't... good enough. How about something simple? Many empty buckets to store water on a long sturdy pole. The buckets can be taken on and off the pole each day and put back with a mechanism in the center that can lock on and off like a latch. They also must be able to hold at least 2-3 gallons each. I believe someone named... What was the name? _I forget. _I think she would approve of the idea. Since she can create water? Honestly... I wish someone would explain this to me. Give me a empty glass or something like that so I can just show you."


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## Vergil (Feb 24, 2018)

Banana has nothing better to do so she visits Arnl.

"I can aid your recovery." She says as her introduction

Profession nurse 4

(Hahaha!)


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## EvilMoogle (Feb 25, 2018)

((Gonna move on to the third day after this just to keep things moving.))

The king nods along in a way that is pretty clearly not paying Douglas much attention.  "Yes, that does sound fascinating however at the moment I don't think we have the materials or manpower for such contraptions.  Perhaps once we're settled you can provide a demonstration."

*****

Bananna spends the evening assisting the Arnl, oddly both the Arnl and the woman that's already tending to him seem to object to her "aid."  Still it spends the time and the rest of th enight passes uneventfully.

*****

*End day 2* (status already posted).  Actions for day 3 please, we'll try to do this quickly as Banana's already trained and I don't want to bore Vergil.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 25, 2018)

Douglas spends the 3rd day focusing ever more inward and for the most part he stays in bed.
He focuses his will and efforts towards *Eline Boesveld the Magister *trying to learn as much as he can from the mantle even wearing it as much as he can as well as using it away from prying eyes so he better understands it.
-21 mana to get mantle to level 3.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 25, 2018)

Haru's focus will be to assist the hunter today, going out on her own to try and hunt. Where she meets a wolf with one eye that bonds to her. She dubbed him, 'Aku'. Then try her luck with his assistance in hunting.

((I'll write that out if I'm not too busy with ffxv))

Haru Survival
Roll(1d20)+2:
3,+2
Total:5

Aku survival
Roll(1d20)+2:
13,+2
Total:15


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 26, 2018)

The day starts out more or less like any of the others.  The King dispatches workers off to their tasks, the farmers head out into the fields, the hunters out to the woods to search for game.  Craftsmen set to work on their tasks for the day.  Sir Garratt and Sir Rhys head back into the dungeons along with a few of the refugees with some skill at arms and others set to clearing wreckage and other tasks of organizing the village.  The king himself sets his day to inspecting the various workers to make sure everyone is being efficient with their time.

Most of the day passes without note however in the late afternoon a commotion rises up in the fields.  One of the workers rushing back yelling of the approach of dark armored warriors.  The king and Sir Eliza follow with the rest of the farmers from the fields and a distance past them six warriors seeming armored in pure darkness scramble forward.  They're slower than the others but should be at the village within the next minute or so.

At the call of alarm most of the villagers rush to the central, largest building (the King's "headquarters") for defense, and Sir Thomas is roused, taking guard at the entrance.

The King and the farmers take refuge at a one-room building at the outskirts of the village.  Sir Eliza and two of the farmers (the Hopewells) take position at the door.

Emilia Lane, the healer, exits her home with Arn Frederick leaning heavily on her shoulder only to immediately return inside and close the door.

Haru is just returning on the opposite side of the village with her new pet in tow.  Douglas is resting in the room he was assigned.  Banana is in with the Arnl and Emilia in the healer's home.  Lo-Kag is in the middle of the village quietly contemplating the smoothness of a stone.

The six shadowy warriors are approaching in a loose cluster, the pitch-black nature of their equipment makes it hard to really identify things but they appear to be of the sword-and-board style of equipment.  They're not in any particular arrangement and while they follow the kings group initially some start to drift, a pair headed towards Sir Thomas and the village refuge, and an individual headed toward the healer's hut.  They'll arrive in less than a minute.


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## Captain Obvious (Feb 26, 2018)

"Aku, let's go." Haru barks, picking up pace, hand on her blade as the alarm went off.  A low growl begins in her throat as she gets closer.  Once within shouting distance she draws her blade and shouts, "State your business or be cut down where you stand!"

Diplomacy +5


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 26, 2018)

Douglas walks out with the lantern figuring it'd help with any group combat going by what has been told to him.
He will light the lantern to the three setting as soon as actual combat breaks out, he stays out of direct sight until then.


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## Vergil (Feb 26, 2018)

"Objective Save people. Stay in the back. I will hide and eliminate the threat." 

Finding a suitable spot, Banana dons her rogue mantle, draws her sword and stealths near the door


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## WorkingMoogle (Feb 26, 2018)

There's no response to Haru's shouts, to the point where she's not even sure they hear her.

The healer takes the Arnl into the back room allowing Banana to take cover in the front.

The shadow-soldiers reach the house where the king is hiding first.  Sir Eliza tries to strike at the approaching soldiers with her pole-arm however the weapon glances off them ineffectively.  They push forward and swing at her cutting through her defenses seemingly effortlessly and scoring three solid hits on the knight.  She's still standing though clearly hurt bad.

Douglas lights the lantern and the brilliant light covers the battlefield.  The shadow-soldiers seem a little easier to see, more "armor made of some black metal" and less "armor made out of blackness itself."  There's also a wave that seems to pass through all the native people that seems to fill them with energy.

The other shadows will reach their targets next round.  Current status:

Outskirt's house: Contains King and most of the farmers.  Defended by Sir Eliza and the two farmers with actual classes.  Three shadow-soldiers are engaged here.

King's house: Contains the rest of the villagers (minus the hunters and adventurers that aren't in town right now).  Defended by Sir Thomas.  Two shadow-soldiers will arrive here next round.

Healer's house:  Contains the Arnl and the healer, Banana is inside waiting to ambush.  One shadow-soldier will arrive here next round.

Douglas, Haru, and Lo-Kag are conveniently able to make it wherever they need to next round.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 26, 2018)

Douglas rushes forward to where Eliza is. "Focus on Defense, I'll handle it!"
Douglas has the magister mantle on already boosting his stats.
He attacks with his spear into the back of one of the dark knights and maintains this action until things change into a more poor situation or they are dead. If the spear doesn't seem to have an effect he'll use his ability to use elemental rays after taking a step back.


----------



## Captain Obvious (Feb 26, 2018)

She falls out of her human form, still holding her sword, 'this must be the shadows...' is her only thought as she follows instinct with a bark, Aku taking judgement from her, giving a quick bark back.  She moves toward the two going for the miscellaneous villagers along side Lo-Kag.

*Scarlet Einhander stance, fencing grace feat*


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 26, 2018)

((Bleh, what idiot designed this many moving parts in a battle?  Remind me next time to form them into some sort of super shadow mech or something.))

((Breaking it into parts for better flow, initiatives might be exact below))

Douglas charges to the kings rescue spear held high.  He connects with the spear thrust though there's no reaction from the creature, he's not sure whether it's hurt or if it even knows it was hit.  Percival steps forward to provide cover to Sir Eliza and lets out an invigorating roar and strikes as one with his wife.  Both hit however the blows don't even knock the creature off guard.  Sir Eliza steps back a step away and hammers at the injured creature, the hammer splits a crack in the armor and a bright white light begins to leak out.

The three shadow creatures attack the three humans in melee, hitting the married Hopewells with serious wounds.  Douglas manages to scramble away from the attack though just barely.

At the town center the two shadows charge forward at Sir Thomas, one hits though he manages to avoid the worst of it.  He bellows out the sun's challenge at one of them while striking though the swing goes wild and he misses horribly.  Haru charges to engage, her first swing is off balance and has little force behind it however to her shock the blade carves through the back of the armor like it were paper leaving a line of crackling white light.  Aku leaps at one of the armored figures but his jaws can't find a solid bite on the heavy metal plates.  Lo-Kag drives the shining spear clean through one of the creatures, it clearly has an effect though like the other attacks the black armored foe doesn't seem to react at all to the skewer.

At the healer's house the remaining dark soldier charges at the door splintering through it.  Banana waits at the entrance and strikes right as the creature enters with a pair of sharp strikes from the rapier, the first cut finds a hole in the armor and plunges deep, and the second one catches the creature through an eye slit as it turns.  The black armor explodes in a flash of light and an apparently human (at a glance) corpse falls to the ground.


----------



## Vergil (Feb 26, 2018)

Banana takes a moment to analyze the corpse, but drops back into stealth and tries to ambush another soldier (if any are still alive and within relative close approximity)


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 26, 2018)

All the other soldiers that Banana can see are engaged at the other houses.

It's three-on-four where the king is (Douglas, 1 knight, 2 NPCs vs. 3 soldiers) and two-on-three at the main building (Haru, Lo-Kag, and 1 knight vs. 2 soldiers).


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 27, 2018)

"Dammit!" Douglas goes to heal Eliza with cure light wounds behind her out of reach of the enemy.


----------



## Vergil (Feb 27, 2018)

Banana will go to help the King, as directed by her Save People objective.


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Feb 28, 2018)

At the King's shelter Douglas circles around to heal some of the damage Sir Eliza had received.  Banana charges out from the healer's hut and engages at the back of the foes however her target shifts at the last moment and the attack is deflected.  The front line farmers defend, hoping to buy time while Sir Eliza strikes at the wounded target.  Her long hammer rebounds from the armor slightly widening the crack.  The three shadows retaliate.  The married farmers manage to barely deflect the attacks and Banana gracefully dodges the strike at her.

At the town hall Sir Thomas strikes a glancing blow with his sword drawing a fine crack in the armor of one of the shadows.  Haru swings wide missing her target entirely while her wolf continues to struggle with the armor.  Lo-Kag withdraws the spear and strikes again, once more punching through the creature.  In a flash of bright light the armor explodes and a heavily wounded corpse falls to the ground.  The remaining shadow strikes at Sir Thomas again but the knight contemptuously deflects the attack.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 28, 2018)

Douglas heals the more injured of the two farmers as far as he can tell with cure light wounds.


----------



## EvilMoogle (Feb 28, 2018)

Douglas heals Percival Hopewell restoring him back to nearly uninjured.  At the same time Banana strikes thrusting her rapier into the crack in one of the black knight's armor, causing it to explode in a flash of white light and a corpse to drop to the ground.

Percival lets out another warcry and strikes though his mace seems mostly ineffective against the armor.  His wife defends and Sir Eliza strikes again causing a small crack in the next target.  The remaining shadows continue attacking, both scoring serious hits on the Hopewells.

At the town center Haru again swings awkwardly, her blade missing the target entirely.  Her wolf manages to grab something solidly and cracks the armor between his jaws.  Lo-Kag changes targets but the gleaming spear misses the shadow.  Sir Thomas shouts a challenge at the new shadow and strikes with his sword though his blade is deflected by the tough armor.  The shadow futilely tries to pierce the knight's defenses but he shrugs off the attack again.

Douglas heals Harriet Hopewell this time, though both of the farmers are looking pretty bad even after the healing.  Both focus their efforts on defense while Sir Eliza darts her hammer between them again though this time she misses her target.  Banana moves on to the next shadow though the slender rapier fails to find a hole in the armor this time.

In unison the two shadows cleave with their swords both connecting with the heads of their respective Hopewell targets, the pair of farmers try to parry the blows but the dark blades knock the feeble defenses aside and their heads are shattered like melons.

Haru switches tactics with her blade and times her strike at the same time Sir Thomas bashes with his shield.  The armored foe is caught between them and her sword again carves through it like the armor wasn't there.  There's an explosion of light and another seemingly mundane corpse drops to the ground.

((Will pause here to let people shift tactics if they want.  There's only two remaining shadows both at the king's refuge.))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Feb 28, 2018)

Douglas's eyes go wide as he's splattered with blood and gore of the people he was trying to keep from dying taken away in just a moment. "..."
His world goes white, he flies into a uncontrollable rage stabbing at the remaining black armored knights with a burning hatred.
 ((+4 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution, -2 to ac))


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## Vergil (Mar 1, 2018)

Banana stares at the dead farmers.

"Objective....failed?"

She will flank whoever Douglas is focusing on and activate her nanite surge to boost her attack


----------



## Captain Obvious (Mar 1, 2018)

Unable to speak, Haru lets off a howl, driving her attention to the two at the king's refuge, and use Fading Strike.


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 1, 2018)

Douglas goes berserk!  He swings hard at one of the creatures but his spear is deflected by the heavy armor.  Banana pairs up and tries to find a good home for her slender blade but is foiled as well.  Haru vanishes and appears suddenly and appears next to the group striking with surprise, her white-bladed rapier again tears a wicked cut through the armor allowing some of the jagged shards of light to peek through.

Aku charges forward to engage but can't manage to crack the heavy armor this time.  Lo-kag charges and spikes one of the figures with his gleaming spear.  Sir Thomas charges forward as well though his sword fails to pierce the armor.  Sir Eliza swings her hammer and hits solidly though there's no perceivable damage.

Both shadows engage Douglas, seemingly trying to force their way through the doors.  He manages to avoid their attacks, this time.  He counters, stabbing with the spear, it hits solidly again though it doesn't seem very effective against their armor.  Banana tries another backstab but the rapier fails to pierce through the armor.

Haru draws another ragged cut across the armor, though the creature isn't done yet.  Aku and Lo-kag both fail to connect with their targets and the pair of knights struggle to bring down the hardened creatures.

One of the shadows manages to connect with Douglas this time ((Douglas Mantle -4)), but he continues his assault, he gets a solid hit on one of the cracks and this time pushes the spear through.  The shadow armor explodes in a flash of light and a corpse drops to the ground dead.

Banana shifts targets in a moment and moves to strike but suddenly hesitates.  She reaches her empty hand into her pocket briefly and says, "Pink Hearts, Yellow Moons, Orange Stars, Green Clovers, Blue Diamonds, and:* Purple Horseshoes*!"  When she pulls out her hand she holds a brilliantly purple horseshoe which glimmers a moment then vanishes in a flash of brilliant violet light and then for a moment Banana's form accelerates to a blur.  Dozens of cuts appear in the armor as the android streaks around it and the creature explodes in a flash of light.  After a few seconds her speed returns to normal and the corpse falls to the ground littered with cuts.

The tension seems to cut away as the last of the figures falls.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 1, 2018)

Douglas keeps stabbing one of the monstrous corpses in a fervor while heavily breathing.


----------



## Captain Obvious (Mar 1, 2018)

She inspects her blade for any grime, flicking it off before sheathing it again, "Douglas, c'mon, it's okay." Haru speaks slowly, inching forward to place her paw on his arm comfortingly, "We can do what we can to give them a proper burial.  Unfortunately...This is war."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 1, 2018)

Douglas stops and leans against the spear to brace himself while sobbing and hyperventilating. "This... I... I've never..." Why, why was he so useless there? He couldn't save two people in front of him. The enemy never said a thing, no cries of victory of pleasure, no signs of pain or regret. "That isn't war... No... Not war at all." Douglas is pale. The reason why surrender was never brought into the equation, it made sense. The intentions of the opposition was made perfectly clear just now to him due to how they engaged. The reason why they struck so. Something like this happened in his world before he was born. Douglas grits his teeth barely able to speak from a dry throat. He says it clearly. "It's extermination."


----------



## Captain Obvious (Mar 1, 2018)

She drops her paw and her gaze falls to the ground, "Unfortunately...you are correct.  That is a better word for it."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 1, 2018)

Sir Thomas kneels by the the bodies of the fallen a moment, touching each and murmuring "go into the arms of Lathander."  He rises and heals the injured (just himself and Sir Eliza I think) before saying "we should gather the bodies for burial."

The king and the farmers begin to come out from their shelter.  The farmers mutter to each other at the sight of the Hopewells offering various mixtures of shock and dismay.  The king gives the bodies of the farmers a brief glance and lingers somewhat longer on the corpses that once were armored in darkness.  After a moment he says, "make sure Arn Frederick examines all of the bodies before burial."  He then turns to Sir Eliza saying simply, "come," and begins to wander off toward the main building.

At the main building the other villagers are beginning to mill out, obviously still shaken up from the encounter.  The children were taking cover there as well, though five of the kids break away running over to where the farmers were gathered.  Grace Davies, the only remaining woman amongst the farmers looks in horror and runs to try and intervene but the five youth are too nimble to be stopped easily.

Noel, Phillip, Vernon, Slyvia, and Jane Hopewell collapse in wordless sobs over the bodies of their parents.  Grace, and her husband Alexander with some prodding, attempt to comfort the group, though neither has words of worth.

After a moment's hesitation Sir Thomas begins hauling the bodies of the former shadow creatures towards the healer's house, apparently seeking to make use of that for now, leaving the children to grieve.


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 1, 2018)

Her ears flatten in sadness as she watches the children, “Help gather the fallen, I'll help with the children. I'm not that strong as it is.”  Haru takes a breath and puts her paw on Aku, the pair of them get close to the crying children.

“Hey...” She voices quietly, kneeling next to them, “It's okay to cry, its okay to mourn. They died doing what they believed was right. As long as you're alive that's all they care about.” Aku moves over to gently lick the cheek of the youngest looking child. “They loved you with all their hearts. Aku and I can guarantee that.  Do you guys want a hug?”  She puts her arms out, welcoming any into a hug if they want it, allowing them to nuzzle into her fur as well.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 1, 2018)

Douglas takes controlled breaths while leaning against a wall to collect himself and think of what to do.
They would need to go to the elves before they fell... These creatures were clearly out this far for the elves, it couldn't just be them could it? That means that whatever is controlling these things is out to kill everything for some reason. The king... The king is hiding something. The Arnl might be in on it. There was something they likely weren't telling them. He needed to press in on it. Douglas stands away from the wall and wipes the blood on his face away. He walks to the children for a moment as if to speak, but Haru had moved forward to try to comfort them already. He moves on past them giving a nod to Haru before walking to the main building that the king went to.
"Could you explain yourself?" he directs the question to the king.


----------



## EvilMoogle (Mar 1, 2018)

The kids are, quite understandably, beyond mournful.  They lean in at the attempt to cuddle though the words themselves don't seem to really touch them.  The energy from them feels very low and though they cry there's a feeling of emptiness within them.

Sir Thomas continues his work while Haru comforts the kids, and when they're sufficiently distracted he carefully moves the bodies of their parents to the home the healer has been using.

*****

The king has a weary look as Douglas approaches and he sighs slightly as if resigned to address this.  "Could I explain myself.  I suppose I could if I had the slightest idea what it is you wanted me to explain.  Though I have precious little patience in me for your nonsense today to take care with what you ask."  Sir Eliza looks between the king and Douglas and pauses politely waiting for the conversation to be sorted out.


----------



## Vergil (Mar 1, 2018)

Banana replays the battle and tries to process the purple horseshoe ability and tugs at the green clothes. She was used to saying things that others didn't comprehend, but this was even more of an anomaly.

She too approaches the King.

"My objective was only partially successful. The vast majority of the people were saved. This unit will gain more strength to gain a 100% mission success status, 2 casualties are unacceptable. Suggestion: Better Defenses are needed; watch towers and archers. How can this unit aid in improving the defense of the area? This unit cannot be fatigued or exhausted. My expertise with construction is 0%."


----------



## EvilMoogle (Mar 1, 2018)

There's no sign of anything in Banana's pockets, at least not at the moment.  She doesn't recall a purple horseshoe being there before either. It's certainly an anomaly.

"Unfortunately we are not in a position where total success is a realistic position.  All we can do is do everything we can to save everyone we can."  He sighs and shakes his head.  "As to defenses I quite agree, but manpower is a constant concern."

"With the group that joined yesterday we now have a carpenter and a stonemason.  I can ask them to work in shifts if you want to assist them, I presume they have enough basic construction tasks that extra hands will help with if you really think you can work without rest."  He pauses to glance at Douglas, "keeping that light on will probably be a requirement, and weather might slow us down quite a bit."


----------



## Vergil (Mar 2, 2018)

"This unit has never attempted to work without rest as it was activated only a week ago. This unit will help with construction." She wanders off suddenly to find the carpenter


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

"I mean exactly what I said. You haven't told us something and are not making your intentions clear. What are you doing? Who actually are you? I know nothing about you or your kingdom, but even I can see that you think lesser of those who are not of a royal bloodline.  Your words don't match your actions."


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

The carpenter is Madalynn Rosa; the town itself was thankfully mostly undamaged during the attack so she is currently looking at the healer's home's door to see about patching it up before night sets in fully.  When Banana explains her intentions she nods and explains, "well, to be honest I'm not much more than an apprentice myself.  But I suppose we're all doing things we didn't expect around here.  I'll work up some plans and set the patterns for you, it's easy enough to help out once you get started.  Come find me in the morning and I'll show you what to do."

"If you're really planning on working through the night I'm not going to stop you, but exhaustion doesn't do any of us any good.  If you're looking for something to do you can clear a spot to work."  She thinks a minute, "find a spot near the entrance of the town for now, good a place as any and will be easy to work with once we get some walls.  Clear out any debris and dig out the sod, we want a flat space about twenty feet by twenty feet, doesn't have to be perfect but clearing out roots and large rocks now will help us later."

*****

The king snorts, "if you've come for a debate about the nature of leadership I have more pressing matters to attend to."  His tone is icy and clearly more than a little annoyed with the discussion.  "I leave you and the other heroes to set your own schedule, trusting that the gods would not have sent you to us without some use."

"As to the people of this world, someone needs to lead the village.  We all have skills, I trust the farmers to do the farming, the blacksmiths to work metal, and the knights to do what can be done to protect things.  As to myself I have no particular ability with farming or smithing or fighting but leading people and managing their needs is a skill that has been drilled into me since before I could walk.  And I will employ that skill to try and save whatever fraction of my people I can without regard to what you think of that."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

This man... really pissed him off. Douglas cliches his fist.
"They aren't just blacksmiths and farmers! They are people! Whatever was drilled into you is wrong and I'm no such hero! I'm just a man dragged from a prosperous world that has no kings. My people threw off such shackles and weights ages ago and let me tell you this... I would be a 'peasant' as you would put it in my world. Not the most wealthy and yet... A 'peasant' from my time is more knowledgeable than any king of old and more wealthy in home, water, food, knowledge and object wealth. 

That would have never have happened if we were under a king's rule. Those people are MORE than the skills you label them as and you will regret it if you think of it so simply. You are not JUST a king, I did not see you out there fighting! Farmers as you would put it fought for everyone inside unlike you. And you just... just... push it aside as if it means nothing! These people... are willing to be more than they are! Why aren't you?! You're a failure to manage other people's needs if you didn't realize at least that!"


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

"Percival Hopewell," the king says pointing over at the healer's hut where the body now rests.  "He was 27, worshiped Helm though most of his prayers went to Chauntea.  He had a sharp mind and a quick wit though a horrible weakness for puns.  His wife was Harriet, who was 29, no doubt scandalous when they married 12 years ago."  His voice is dry and without a hint of levity.  "She was a follower of Chauntea even before they became farmers.

"They were adventurers for a time, it was how they met actually.  Side-by-side fighters braving dungeons and monsters.  One could probably speculate their retirement from such a life lines up suspiciously considering their eldest," he pauses to point at Noel Hopewell still sobbing with Haru, "turned 11 just over a month ago.  If of course such gossip wouldn't be immensely disrespectful to the dead."

"They jumped at the chance to help out in the fields, recognizing immediately the desperate situation we are in food-wise.  I neither know nor care what magics your world has, unless they are a magic you can wield yourself, but here if we do not eat we will die.  At the moment starvation is as real and present a threat as the creatures you just fought and having skilled hands to grow food may be our only weapon against it."

"Every person here has to be willing to contribute what they can to our survival, there's simply no way this will work otherwise.  Logistical planning demands that I know what people are capable of.  But don't think for a second that I don't know the weight of the deaths on my back."  He sighs and for a moment he seems decades older, "millions of my people.  In the best case they merely were scattered," his tone suggests he knows the truth of this.  "But even scattered most of those will starve if left to survive in the wild."

"So while I mourn for the Hopewells, and will offer what I can to their five kids, I am also aware that those names are at the bottom of a very long list.  I will answer to the gods when I die and perhaps be held to task for not doing more, but until then I will do what I can, using every tool at my disposal."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

"..." Douglas sighs a breath of relief calming down. "Finally, something... relatable. My world has no magic, so anyone can wield it. All I speak of is weldable by anyone, it's *knowledge* and if you are earnest *about me being sent by the gods *you will listen and incorporate what you can into your own plans. After all how can I expect anyone to listen to me as the emissary from the gods if the king won't listen." This was rather funny in Douglas's mind, but he had to play by their rules to a degree.

Douglas sits down his eyes are hardened in looks
"Do you know of an explosive powder? Such a thing could be made into bombs that anyone can throw to destroy the enemy, even children can throw such weapons with little accuracy and damage the enemy. They could also be cheaply made or be used to set up explosive traps. I know roughly how to make an explosive weapon that attacks at range and pierces through armor like butter. Do you know what a gun is? Surely a cannon? We can discuss these things later."

Douglas closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before opening them again making sure he doesn't speak too fast yet not too slow. "I also know how to have crops grow stronger. It's a form of natural selection. You breed two plants of traits you want over and over so it produces more. If you see a certain crop produce more than usual you take that crop and make sure it's the only one that survives for the next and so on. In addition crops can breed with themselves. They are not like us, in addition the sunlight is what lets plants make sugars for themselves. This is photosynthesis. This means you want your crops in a place where they receive enough sunlight to grow yet not be baked by the sun's rays. Too much sun exposure wilts and kills things. People included. I would suggest that the farmers have access to clean drinkable water 24/7 while working or they will develop heat stroke and become ill.

Then there is also the process of recycling soil and restoring it using nutrients and waste. If you want a bountiful crop you will bury the dead underneath the same soil. Grind bones of animals and our own amongst urine and feces and mix it well enough amongst the already present soil so it doesn't choke the plants to death. Also don't carry flame near it. It's highly volatile. 

In addition leave what is leftover from the produce and also incorporating it into the soil will improve the quality of the next crop. If you farm the same land over and over it'll become barren after all, you need to make sure it doesn't become so by using those methods. Crop rotations on soil so that you allow it to restore itself for the next time. That's... about all I know about farming... I can also produce water if I have a properly sized containers. I can help set up a system that makes watering the crops easier in addition of giving the farmers water. But the soil has to be tilled in such a way vital nutrients don't run off when I do water it."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

The king relaxes somewhat at the first sign of sense from Douglas.  "Knowledge is a valuable tool, perhaps that is what the gods had in mind for you.  As you can probably appreciate our resources are meager at the moment, if you can help us get the most of those that will be valuable assistance indeed."

"Explosive powder?"  The king pauses to think, "I do not know of anything like that specifically, if it is not made with magic it must be the product of alchemy yes?  An alchemist happened to arrive yesterday: Adela Foster.  She would be my best suggestion to compare notes with.  If 'guns' and 'cannons' are similar achemical devices she would know if any of us have, I'm afraid the trade of alchemy in Abrelia was minimal and the practitioners tend to closely guard their secrets."

"As to the farming suggestions, I have vague numbers of the expectations of farmland by crop and location, but such knowledge comes from best case environments in which I know enough to say we are not.  Anything we can do to increase the yields of our farmland or the efficiency of the farmers will help though."  He pauses and looks at the famrers still milling around with the Hopewell's children.  "You might wait to discuss with them until tomorrow however."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

"Alchemy? That was a old practice in my world that helped establish our knowledge on everything in a way..."
Douglas stands up "I'm sorry for my conduct, however... this world is different from my own and well... we didn't engage in person to person combat that often." Douglas rubs his eyes carefully to wipe away tears that are trying to come back up. "I'll be taking my leave to talk to... Adela." Douglas leaves to go look for this alchemist right away, there is a chance she could decide to book it.


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## Vergil (Mar 2, 2018)

"This unit is an Android, it can, in theory, work without rest. This is a good opportunity to test." Banana goes to do what she has been asked


----------



## EvilMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

Adela Foster is clearly a more seasoned woman than most in the village.  Douglas might guess her to be in her mid 40's.  Her most immediately striking feature is waist-length jet-black hair, which seems rather better cared for than most of the people he's seen since arriving in this world.  She would be pretty as well, if a bit mature for his age, were it not for one eye that's permanently twisted as if scowling.

She's with the majority of the town milling about around the main "town hall" building when he arrives looking for her.

*****

Banana gets to work clearing a space to work with.  It's not exactly glamorous work but it's not exactly something that requires a great deal of skill either.  She doesn't have any particular problem getting started setting up the site to work.

((I'm fine with moving on whenever everyone else is))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

Douglas looks her over for a moment
"Alchemical accident? Ah likely a touchy subject. I want to talk about gunpowder or what is known as black powder with you. I also have information you may want to hear from my own world."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

The woman glares slightly at the uncouth approach.  "Birth defect," she says caustically.  "Apparently my mother's snatch was too tight, head couldn't fit through.  Unlike your mother's who regularly takes on any challenger."  She turns patently ignoring Douglas' presence.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

Well he can't fault her for spirit at a time like this. Douglas zooms in front of her forcing eye contact.
"Hmm? I wonder who has more to complain about the person who has their eye twisted a bit or the person who will likely never see their own world again? Ah well... I guess this world doesn't know what a C section is. Did you know that instead of damaging the mother and child you can simply open the mother up and take the child out safely and then heal the mother after if you can predict the child cannot be birthed without consequences? Thus insuring a higher survival than a normal birthing that may kill both or just one?" Douglas pauses, he loved this kind of small talk didn't he?


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

The woman gives Douglas her best you're-a-special-kind-of-stupid look.  "Fascinating," she says blandly.  "Did you know that essence of murklac is generally tasteless but if consumed can lead to a massive laxative effect?  Random trivia is such fun."  She rolls her eyes.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

Ah a veiled threat... One upmanship!
"Did you know that if you split apart the fundamental matter of the universe when it is of a certain composition fast enough it can cause an explosion large enough to engulf an large island and make it unlivable for over 10 years from radiation? Yes, random trivia is fun~"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 2, 2018)

Adela groans again.  She glances to the side and calls out to a passing villager, "Sofia?  Did you still need to talk to me?"

The passing woman has a confused look for a moment before a look of comprehension sets in, "ah, yes, can you come back to check something for me?  The, uh, thing is back at my house."  She smiles apologetically to Douglas, "sorry to intrude, I'll just keep her for a moment."

With a relieved look Adela, "yeah, I'll have to catch whatever it is you wanted another time.  So much to do you know."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 2, 2018)

Douglas smirks. "Ah well, just know the village is relying on you long term~ The king did highly recommend your ability after all, Adela." He likely could continue to follow her and intrude, but... Well he knew he screwed up again. He never was that great at communication even in his own world.


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## EvilMoogle -- Day 4 Results (Mar 3, 2018)

**** End Day 4 ****  (I've decided to shift the numbering to the day summoned being day 1)

Sir Garratt, Sir Rhys, Dennis Brandom, and Lancelot Webb went adventuring.  They brought back:

*Spoiler*: __ 



40 essence
96 man-days of food
172gp worth of metal
143gp worth of gear
472gp worth of treasure




Douglas Trained
Haru and Aku hunted, bringing back 2-man-days worth of food
Banana trained and began construction on a Watchtower (250 points of construction remaining).
The blacksmiths built a second set of blacksmithing tools and a set of stonemasonry tools.
The carpenter continued working on the spiked wall (140 points of construction remaining).
The hunters brought 15 man-days worth of food back.
The stonemason began construction on a well (15 points of construction remaining).
The farmers continued work in the fields.
The healer continued tending to the Arnl
Sofia cared for the town's 10 children while people worked.
The other 7 miscellaneous people gathered stone from the temple ruins.

There was a raid by shadow armored creatures today.  
Percival Hopewell and Harriet Hopewell perished in the raid.

The town consumed 21.5 man-days of food at half rations.

Current supplies:

*Spoiler*: __ 




Perlshaw Village Morale: Very low
7 One Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
3 Two Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
1 Four Room Crude Home/Store, Slightly Furnished
212.5 Food Reserves (man-days)
270gp Wood Reserves
170gp Stone Reserves
317gp Steel Reserves
928gp Treasure
267gp Gear
95 essence of Mana Stones


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 3, 2018)

Douglas goes to talk to the farmers first thing early in the morning and conveys what he did with the king to see how they take to it. "Also does anyone here have a bucket?"


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## Vergil (Mar 3, 2018)

Banana approached the King

"Watchtower construction has started. However this unit was compiling different scenarios and had some queries. What were the defences like in your previous village? And will it be possible to fully defend against the black soldiers that attacked it, by building defences?"

"If not then the only course of action is to seek help from others, which we should do immediately."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 3, 2018)

The farmers are aware of basic concepts of crop rotation and using wood ash or manure for fertilizer as well as basic concepts for irrigation.  However at the moment manpower is the most serious concern, they're still plowing with improvised tools and foraging for seeds to grow crops.  Irrigation systems sound nice, but it's overkill at the moment.

*****

"The castle was, of course, protected by a sturdy stone wall," the king admits.  "I never saw how effective it was, normally the presence of such a wall would encourage a siege rather than a direct attack, when they pressed we sent troops out to meet them."  He stops and sighs, "when the initial troops were annihilated, the choice was made to flee rather than try to scramble forces to hold the walls."

"If they come in numbers here we'll have no choice but to flee unless of course we get numbers to match them."  He shakes his head, "of course at the same time we don't know that other kingdoms aren't in the same situation.  Fleeing the even meager safety here for possible safety elsewhere is a dangerous gamble."


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## Vergil (Mar 3, 2018)

"How many days travel is your former home?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 3, 2018)

Douglas blinks, seems that no one REALLY addressed the man power issues. "We need animals then along with custom tools for them. They would make tilling and plowing the earth easier. I can provide clean water for everyone in the village if someone produces a clean container. It'd be easier with multiples. I'll look into obtaining seeds and animals. It's possible I may be able to obtain both if I go hunting. Also, is there anyone present with injuries? I can heal them if that's the case." Douglas attempts to judge the wind in this area, would it be possible to run a windmill?


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 3, 2018)

"The captial's about 6 days away along the road.  Might make it in 4 or 5 if you could keep up a good pace cross-country."  The king replies.

*****

The farmers readily agree that tools would help their work though they've been a lower priority since growing crops will take weeks regardless of the tools they have available.

As best Douglas can tell the area would support a windmill.


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 3, 2018)

Haru decides to visit Adela the alchemist, "Excuse me Ma'am?" She voices, more comfortable in her fox form since there was no ill response from anyone.  "I'm planning to go scouting soon, is there anything you would like me to keep an eye out for?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 3, 2018)

Douglas makes sure of something with the farmers. "Please make sure you only take seeds from the best producing stock and put the rest away somewhere else. Perhaps thrown them on a patch of land you don't think can grow to test the soil. Keep note on what crop grows the fastest and/or produces the most. It may seem counter productive, but long term it'll make all the difference if we are displaced again if we have seeds of a fast growing or bountiful plant. Perhaps breeding the two would solve problems. I'll be going now, I have to check on everyone else to see what they need."
Douglas bows before heading off to meet the blacksmiths in the town.
Williamina Roberts first if he can't meet both at the same time.


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 3, 2018)

The woman thinks a moment, "keep an eye out for a bright scarlet flower.  Laumspur should be starting to bloom, if we can find some it's used in a lot of healing crafts, likely we'll need them sooner rather than later.  Try to bring the whole plant if you find it, we can start a herbal garden here."

*****

The blacksmiths are both set up in one area.  They share one fairly crude forge filled with glowing coals though each has a reasonably crafted anvil.  They're both hard at work on various tool bits at the moment.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 3, 2018)

Douglas waits a moment before speaking seeing how attentive they work. He has to show a brave face despite not really wanting to interrupt either of them.
"I need a moment of both of your time. I need to know your needs to do your job better. I also have requests. The farmers need proper tools soon, it's increasingly difficult for them to farm with makeshift means. We also need to take into account tools for animals possibly to make farming easier."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 3, 2018)

Sebastian nods, "aye, working on some tools for them now actually.  Just hand tools at the moment though, no sense spending a lot of time and metal making a plow for an ox we don't have."

Williamina chimes in, "Cook next, then the tanners the day after that.  You have requests you'll have to get in line behind them or get the king's sign-off."

"As to us we'll make due," Sebastian says with a shrug.  "Leonard's got us on his list for some love for the 'forge'" he chuckles at the crude cobbled contraption.  "But we're a ways down the list, too many other things the town needs more."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 3, 2018)

Douglas wants to be sure and give them something to look forward to at the least.
"Well I may as well motivate you... have either of you heard of an weapon called a gun? Makes a nice boom sound, shoots metal as a projectile over a distance. Does a better job than the bow and arrow. I don't think it exists yet. That's my request once you're able to finish with others; a weapon that hasn't been made to exist yet... I'll help you create it once you have the time and are you SURE there isn't anything I can do to help? Even something as simple as clean water is something I can do right now."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 3, 2018)

"Never heard of a gun, no," says Sebastian.  "But when we get some free time if you can describe it we can see what we can do."

"Most of what we need is time," says Williamina.  "more hands would always help, but that's true just about everywhere."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 3, 2018)

Douglas blinks, this place was likely the place he was most needed to be truthful. Everyone was relying on these two to help do their jobs better, but the truth of the matter was he just wasn't skilled enough to realistically not get in the way. The stone smith was likely Leonard. "Do you know where the carpenter is?"

Douglas moves on to talk to Madalynn Rosa.
"I noticed that the enemy was easily able to invade and break into doors. Do you think it's possible to work together with Leonard to make stone archways over the doors so only one enemy can attempt to enter at a time so we don't end up surrounded? Also do you mind if I help you with your work for the day?"


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## Vergil (Mar 3, 2018)

She nods to the King and then goes to the supplies that were gathered. She looks for an adventuring bag and also a bow and arrows


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 3, 2018)

((Non-magical, non-masterwork gear is generally available from the "gear" section in the update, so you can "buy" stuff like that.  Just let me know what it costs so I can subtract from the value))


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 4, 2018)

She nods respectfully, "I will do my best to get it to you whole if I come across it."

((Scouting the nearby outer area))


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## EvilMoogle -- Day 5 Results (Mar 4, 2018)

At the end of the day when work is winding down and everyone is gathered for a ceremony to remember the lives of Percival and Harriet Hopewell.  An area had been cleared by the healer's house as a makeshift graveyard and their bodies, along with the bodies that once bore shadow armor, are laid to rest.

There are no clergy of Helm or Chauntea in the town however Sir Thomas does his best to lead a ceremony as the defacto divine guide in the city.  He asks that Helm's vigilant watch be passed to another and that Chauntea accept them both into her fertile ground.

Those that knew the pair from before, and those that worked with them in the brief time they were here traded stories of them, remembering good times and positive lights of their life.  All in all the ceremony is somber though it tries to be as light hearted as it can.

When the celebration starts to die down the king calls the party over away from the rest of the townspeople.  The Arnl comes with, now walking with the support of a crude staff.  Once they're a distance away the king speaks, "I wished to discuss with you about the attack yesterday.  The Arnl has come to some conclusions but I want to see what you all think first."  He seems to be testing for something though he isn't clear what.

((Feel free to participate and react in the above, want to get this down before I forget.))
****** Day 5 Results ******
I forgot to do experience from the fight, everyone gains experience: 900.

The lantern burns out at around the end of the day.

No major event happened in the city today.
Haru searches the forest nearest the city.  While searching she comes across a group of children hiding in the woods:

*Spoiler*: _Refugees_ 




Daniel Mills, male, human, child
Angus Bates, male, human, child
Carl Mendoza, male, human, child
Arnold Clarke, male, human, child
Iva Cropp, female, human, child
Fanny Costen, female, human, child




Sir Garratt, Sir Rhys, Dennis Brandom, and Lancelot Webb went adventuring. They brought back:

*Spoiler*: __ 




40 essence
96 man-days of food
172gp worth of metal
143gp worth of gear
472gp worth of treasure




The blacksmiths forge some tools for the farmers (2/3).
The carpenter, Douglas, and Banana work on the watchtower.  (207 points remaining)
The stonemason continues work on the well (118 points remaining)
The farmers continue work in the fields.
The hunters brought back 12 man-days worth of food.
The others salvage at wooden structures in the village.

The town ate 47 man-days of full rations.  Current food intake is a net positive from dungeon exploration.

Current Reserves:

*Spoiler*: __ 




Perlshaw Village Morale: Very low
7 One Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
3 Two Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
1Four Room Crude Home/Store, Slightly Furnished
273.5 Food Reserves (man-days)
770gp Wood Reserves
170gp Stone Reserves
489gp Steel Reserves
1400gp Treasure
410gp Gear (minus what you guys took yesterday)
135 essence Mana Stones


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 4, 2018)

Douglas looks at the other summoned heroes wondering what they thought over himself.


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 4, 2018)

"Selûne's Gaze was sleeping before the attack, said that we needed to defeat shadows to awaken it.  I will be communing with it tonight." Haru begins, letting that initial statement out, "As for the soldiers themselves...they are obviously more than capable of ripping this village apart undefended. However, we will need assistance or more training if we hope to be able to take an entire army." Aku sits down next to her feet as she speaks, giving her more confidence about it.  "Just stragglers are one thing, but completely stratigized military is another entirely different story.  Selûne's Gaze and Lo-Kag's spear both seemed to have a strong effect on them.  If we can get our hands on more weapons like that..." her voice trails off as her ears flatten sheepishly, "I appologize, is there something specific you want to know?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 4, 2018)

The king considers this a moment nodding, "it is the organization that caught my attention.  The attack against the capital was in rigid formation, they might not have carried banners but formation wise they would have fit in against any military I've ever seen."  He shakes his head, "the ones that attacked here were more unorganized, almost like wild animals.   I suppose with how things turned out that was to our advantage."

He sighs and points at towards where the funeral is still going on, "one advantage I had that you would not is recognizing one of the bodies left behind.  Sir Martin, knighted a decade ago.  He was among the knights sent to defend the capital."  His voice is drained, clearly weary with this whole thing.  He gestures to Arn Frederick to continue.

The old wizard shifts grasping the crude wooden staff for support.  His voice is weak with exhaustion, "I examined Sir Martin's body, along with the others.  The good news is whatever magic was worked on them has expired with their 'death.'  And whatever it was didn't touch the Hopewells."  He pauses to think for a moment then continues, "this presumes that whatever magic is worked on them takes active effort to spread. "

"The downside to it is whatever it is must be rapid to work if the knights fighting not two weeks ago are already a week away."  He shakes his head at a loss.


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 4, 2018)

She crosses her arms and nods, "So it's either whoever is leading the larger mass is infecting, or possibly the deaths the Hopewells were unfortunate enough to go through was too traumatic to infect the recent deceased?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 4, 2018)

Douglas looks at the king and Arn after they have spoken ideas. and nods at Haru. She did bring up things he didn't think of.
"I know it may be much to assume here, but... They're undead brought to life by more sinister magic since it's evident it doesn't spread to other dead. The fact no demands have been made means that the entity controlling these only wants the death of all living things, the same idea was made apparent to me in the recent attack. That would include the elves around here, they will be attacked. I would say the entity is likely a Lich or Demon or Devil or someone in service to one of those beings. Maybe it's a dark god? Perhaps a warlock or wizard who has gone mad with power. There is nothing to negotiate besides our own deaths. 

As for harming them... The Arn told me that the lantern made things more real with its light, so I lit it for when they invaded. I also observed what happens without the light... It's as if they aren't there. They are somehow made to practically not exist while still being able to majorly harm us... Perhaps because they are undead? I would surmise that a constant means of holy attack would serve us the most here."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 4, 2018)

"Perhaps it was something about the deaths, perhaps there is a ritual component that was missing in this case?"  Arn Frederick shrugs and continues, "I suppose we simply don't know enough at this point."

"Ah," the Arn interjects to Douglas.  "Not undead, not in the academic sense.  There's no trace of necromancy."  He pauses thinking, "it's actually not a traditional magic at all, at least not from a arcane standpoint.  Whatever it was was less animating the bodies and more simply using them as a magical focus."

He pauses and shakes his head, "the details of the magic aren't important for this I suppose.  The lantern having an effect suggests the source is external to this plane," he goes quiet, apparently lost in thought.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 4, 2018)

"No traces of magic... Strings? Do you think the being is literally controlling corpses like puppets?"
Douglas thinks to the armor.
"Hang on... What if it's just the armor? It's all I can think of if there really isn't anything of a trace on the bodies. What if the armor is being used as the means to focus on the body moving?"


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## Vergil (Mar 4, 2018)

Banana quietly observes the memorial not understanding the whole affair, but classifies it as another human anomaly. 

"This unit would like to scout the castle you lost." She says, "this unit would like more information on our enemy to further improve chances on succeeding the primary objective."


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 4, 2018)

"Banana does have a good idea." Haru nods, "If we get a chance eventually...eventually we should take a look."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 4, 2018)

"I have been wanting to look around in the area..."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 4, 2018)

The Arnl considers how to best phrase things, "well, it is difficult to put in terms laymen might understand.  Suppose you came across a fire.  That fire could have been created by a coal brought from another fire, like two parents creating one child.  The fire could have been created by someone striking flint and steel, adding energy to the wood until it sparks light.  It could even be from lightning striking the wood and the energy left from that causing the fire."

"This is more like someone using a stick of wood as the component for conjuring magical fire.  Even if you were going to use magic to light a fire it is far abreast from what you would expect."

The king interjects, "going to the castle would be important information but at this point I do not think we could hold out long enough for a group to go there and return, at least if we were attacked it would certainly spell our doom."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 4, 2018)

Douglas looks at the party. "Perhaps we should put all of our efforts into the watchtower then? It'll give us a better view of the area so we don't have to put ourselves at as much risk."
Douglas will dedicate all of his efforts towards the watchtower each day until it is finished regardless of what the others decide to do.


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 5, 2018)

((In an effort to keep things moving...))

That night Haru again communes with Selûne's Gaze beneath the moonlight.  For a short time there's nothing, then when the white orb of the moon had fully risen she's overwhelmed by a powerful feelings from the sword.  Unlike before when they were subdued and almost imagined a barrage of emotion comes from the sword.

It's hard to filter it out, it's more like a litany of curses from someone shocked awake however the immediate feeling from the blade is a perverse sense of wrongness, a disgust to the point of anger.   The strange white material of the blade glows brilliantly for a moment than explodes into dust, leaving only a coherent beam of white light in its place.

The angered disgust from the sword eventually calms to a more focused determination.  The sword doesn't seem to communicate in words but the feelings from it make a few things clear.  The shadows that were defeated were not the servants of Shar, not the shadows and secrets of darkness and the black beyond the reach of light but something more twisted; like a hole in the world that light does not exist within.

She is also aware that new power has awoken within the sword.  Selûne's Gaze:
- Sheds light like a torch while unsheathed (it can be sheathed. normally despite the odd blade because, uh, reasons)
- Attacks vs. touch AC, physical barriers making no resistance.
- Ignores hardness of items, carving through nonliving matter without resistance.
- Deals double damage vs. undead.
- To further empower Selûne's Gaze it must be fully immersed in a font of holy water blessed by Selûne.

((@ Everyone: Go ahead and give me tomorrow's actions, if everyone's good with doing a few days we can fast forward until the status quo changes.  If you want to keep going one day at a time that's good too))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 5, 2018)

((Focus on building watchtower))


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 6, 2018)

((Continue scouting a couple days, then help with what she can.))


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## WorkingMoogle -- Day 6-10 Results (Mar 6, 2018)

(Hyper Fast Forward: Engage!)

(Events and summary below)

*Spoiler*: _Day 6_ 




Work is briefly interrupted late-afternoon when a group of 5 unaccompanied horses trot up the road towards the village.  The horses are tame, clearly escaped from somewhere, and are quickly rounded up.  There's no real place to keep them but they're too valuable of a resource to simply let wander off.

While scouting Haru stumbles across a small cache of gear in what appears to be an old bandit camp, she marks the location for the town to retrieve (included below).  She also comes across a small group of refugees lost in the woods.

*Spoiler*: _New Peeps!_ 




    Commoner-1   Male   Human   P:Farmer
   Child   Female   Human   z.Child
   Commoner-1   Male   Human   P:Fisherman
   Child   Male   Human   z.Child
   Child   Male   Human   z.Child




One of the hunters also brings a couple found in the woods back to the town.

*Spoiler*: _New Peeps!_ 




Commoner-1   Male   Human   C:Baking
Shifter-1   Female   Human   C:Alchemy








*Spoiler*: _Day 7_ 




While scouting Haru finds two more small caches of supplies that she notes the location of to gather.





*Spoiler*: _Day 8_ 




A lone child dirty and exhausted from the road wanders up by the town.  The villagers welcome her in though the stress of her travels appears to have taken its toll on her.

*Spoiler*: _New Peep!_ 




    Child   Female   Human   z.Child




While exploring Haru meets a knight leading a huge group of refugees through the woods, 

*Spoiler*: _New Peeps!_ 




    Commoner-2   Female   Human   Cooking
   Warrior-1   Female   Human   Cottery
   Commoner-2   Female   Human   C:Tailoring
   Child   Male   Human   z.Child
   Child   Male   Human   z.Child
   Child   Female   Human   z.Child
   Commoner-2   Male   Human   C:Brewing
   Child   Male   Human   z.Child
   Commoner-1   Male   Human   P:Herbalist
   Commoner-4   Male   Human   C:Baking
   Warrior-3   Female   Human   P:Farmer
   Commoner-1   Male   Human   P:Fisherman
   Child   Male   Human   z.Child
   Cavalier-2   Male   Human   P:Fisherman








*Spoiler*: _Day 9_ 




Work continues without unusual events.





*Spoiler*: _Day 10_ 




While exploring Haru comes across a secluded spring.  The area has a mystical feel to it, vibrant and full of life.  The growth of the surrounding trees seems almost designed to shelter the area from the surroundings, making it almost impossible to find without a careful search or knowing where to go.





*Spoiler*: _Net Income_ 




200 essence
259 man-days of food
860gp worth of metal
1235gp worth of gear
2360gp worth of treasure





*Spoiler*: _Current Supplies_ 




7 One Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
2 Two Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
1 Two Room Healer's Home, Slightly Furnished
1 Four Room Crude Home/Store, Slightly Furnished
1 Watchtower
1 Well
532.5 Food Reserves (man-days)
1570gp Wood Reserves
870gp Stone Reserves
1349gp Steel Reserves
3760gp Treasure
1869gp Gear
335 essence Mana Stones 

5 Horses (2 mares, 1 steed, 2 geldings)

1 Crude Forge
2 Standard Blacksmithing Tools
1 Standard Caprentry Tools
1 Standard Stonemasonry Tools
5 Standard Farmer Tools
2 Standard Tanning Tools
2 Standard Cooking Tools
1 Standard Tailoring Tools
2 Standard Alchemy Tools




In amazing coincidences day 10 marks the completion of the well, the watchtower, and the miscellaneous villagers finish salvaging stone from what is the temple (which means a new source of stone will need to be found once the reserves are used up).  A small amount of wood remains to be salvaged from structures, however it's likely within the next few days many villagers will be idle.

The tower gives a healthy view of the surrounding area, it would be difficult to approach from the open fields to the South without being seen.  If they could combine this with a way to signal it would be safe to travel a days reach from the village.

((Will have to generate names for new peeps at home))

((Will post map of areas explored to date when I get home))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 6, 2018)

Douglas takes some mana essence (-110 mana essence from supplies) and focuses on trying to remember things he has learned in the past.
Int raised to 18 (-69 essence)
Remembering the pitiful glance of his spear he knows that a key point point of survival is strength, more so than he gave it credit.
str raised to 16(-34)
Leaving him with 13 mana essence left in reserve.
After training he tries his hand at finding someone who can draw up maps.
He ends up talking to Evan Barnes. He asks that he draws a map of the area from the watchtower and perhaps any other details he knows about the area on a map.


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 6, 2018)

Even takes some paper and supplies up into the tower to work out what he can.  (Can't post from work, will have to do it later)


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 6, 2018)

Map to date:

http:// i64.tinypic.com/2ec12jn.png


Red border shows what's visible from the watchtower.  Blue survey marks are areas that Haru has scouted.

Markings show approximate positions of the nearby village, the Elven kingdom, and a high level dungeon "Hell Sands"

Capital is further to the south and west off the map (this map is obviously not the entire world).


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## Vergil (Mar 8, 2018)

Banana looks at the map (which isn't uploading for me), and asks the other villagers if there are any other points of interest in the area. 

Otherwise, Banana will go adventuring with the knights in the dungeon.


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 8, 2018)

((Map has to be cut and paste because it's a http not a https link.  UR posted it in the OOC thread))


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 8, 2018)

Haru will suggest making a trip to the nearby village.  

No conversation text because her player is hitting a stress block.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 8, 2018)

Douglas will go with after training proper.


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 12, 2018)

"Now that we have a watch tower and a map, I believe the small group of us can go see what we can do about speaking to the nearby village."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 12, 2018)

Day 11 results:

*Spoiler*: __ 




Town:
No special events

Douglas trains without incident.

Hunters:
Found an elven man with two young children.

*Spoiler*: __ 



Glarald Keaydark Child Elf Male
Zeno Keaydark Child Male Elf
Raunaeril Keaydark Warrior-2 Male Elf Woodcutter




Banana's group explores the first 4 levels of the dungeon.  She probably notes that the encounters seem more common though weaker in strength.  The group carefully explores to find all of the treasures hidden about the mine.
44 food
277.4gp metal
186.6gp gear
1173.72gp treasure
62 essence


Hunting/Fishing:   +28 food

Blacksmiths: Steel fence (150pts remaining)
Carpenter: New House (50 pts remaining)
Stonemason: Baking Oven (25pts remaining)
Farmers: Farm
Others: Gather wood from structures





*Spoiler*: _Current Town Supplies_ 




Perlshaw Village Morale: Very low
7 One Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
2 Two Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
1 Two Room Healer's Home, Slightly Furnished
1 Four Room Crude Home/Store, Slightly Furnished
1 Watchtower
1 Well
88 Wooden Rubble Ruins (50gp/point)
535.5 Food Reserves (man-days)
1820gp Wood Reserves
670gp Stone Reserves
626gp Steel Reserves
4933gp Treasure
1111gp Gear
287 essence Mana Stones


2 Horses, Mares
1 Horses, Steads
2 Horses, Geldings


1 Crude Forge
2 Standard Blacksmithing Tools
1 Standard Caprentry Tools
1 Standard Stonemasonry Tools
5 Standard Farmer Tools
2 Standard Tanner Tools
2 Standard Cooking Tools
1 Standard Tailoring Tools
2 Standard Alchemy Tools





*Spoiler*: _Updated People List_ 




Adela Foster Commoner-4 Female Human C:Alchemy
Theresa Huckle Shifter-1 Female Human C:Alchemy
Sofia Doyle Commoner-1 Female Human C:Baking
Josiah Huckle Commoner-1 Male Human C:Baking
Jasper Udy Commoner-4 Male Human C:Baking
Sebastian Pearson Commoner-2 Male Human C:Blacksmithing
Williamina Roberts Commoner-3 Female Human C:Blacksmithing
Roderick Bonser Commoner-2 Male Human C:Brewing
Horace Woodley Commoner-2 Male Human C:Brewing
Madalynn Rosa Commoner-1 Female Human Carpentry
Evan Barnes Commoner-1 Male Human Cartography
Bessie Moore Commoner-1 female Human Cooking
Eleanor Hosmer Commoner-2 Female Human Cooking
Dennis Brandom Occultist-1 male Human C:Jewelrymaking
Lancelot Webb Ninja-1 Male Human Cottery
Myrtle Bandy Warrior-1 Female Human Cottery
Leonard Boness Commoner-1 male Human C:Stonemasonry
Emma Woodley Commoner-2 Female Human C:Tailoring
Eurwen Cushway Warrior-1 female Human C:Tanning
Lilly Bennett Commoner-1 Female Human C:Tanning
Easton Holmes Commoner-1 Male Human P:Farmer
Alexander Davies Commoner-2 Male Human P:Farmer
Grace Davies Commoner-2 Female Human P:Farmer
Ronald Tier Commoner-1 Male Human P:Farmer
Louise Lynds Warrior-3 Female Human P:Farmer
Owen Oliver Commoner-1 Male Human P:Fisherman
Gordon Marsh Commoner-1 Male Human P:Fisherman
Sir Nelson Cavalier-2 Male Human P:Fisherman
Emilia Lane Commoner-2 Female Human P:Healer
Richard Mills Commoner-1 Male Human P:Herbalist
Katherine Watts Commoner-1 Female Human P:Hunter
Jasmine Johnson Commoner-2 Female Human P:Hunter
Cuthbert Belsey Commoner-2 male Human P:Hunter
Victor Monroe Commoner-1 Male Human P:Merchant
Aaron Matthews Commoner-1 Male Human P:Woodcutter
Raunaeril Keaydark Warrior-2 Male Elf Woodcutter
Noel Hopewell Child Male Human z.Child
Philip Hopewell Child Male Human z.Child
Vernon Hopewell Child Male Human z.Child
Sylvia Hopewell Child female Human z.Child
Jane Hopewell Child female Human z.Child
Marguerite Johnson Child female Human z.Child
Helen Belsey Child female Human z.Child
Priscilla Moore Child female Human z.Child
Henry Langsdale Child male Human z.Child
Myer Langsdale Child male Human z.Child
Daniel Mills Child male Human z.Child
Angus Bates Child male Human z.Child
Carl Mendoza Child male Human z.Child
Arnold Clarke Child male Human z.Child
Iva Cropp Child female Human z.Child
Fanny Costen Child female Human z.Child
Louise Tier Child Female Human z.Child
Eli Oliver Child Male Human z.Child
Sinclair Oliver Child Male Human z.Child
Laura Hosmer Child Female Human z.Child
Geoffrey Woodley Child Male Human z.Child
Philip Woodley Child Male Human z.Child
Daisy Woodley Child Female Human z.Child
Augustus Woodley Child Male Human z.Child
Stephen Chenoweth Child Male Human z.Child
Glarald Keaydark Child Male Elf z.Child
Zeno Keaydark Child Male Elf z.Child




Haru and Lo-Kag head out towards the village, they meet a group of 5 refugees, the direct them toward the village.

*Spoiler*: __ 




Hannah Williams Commoner-2 Female Human Stonemason
Jasper Williams Commoner-1 Male Human Tailor
Violet Williams Child Female Human
Gordon Saunders Warrior-1 Male Human Farmer
Guy Saunders Child Male Human



((The town is now 78 strong!))

They approach the nearby village as it is starting to get dark out.  The village itself appears normal enough as it draws into view however both of their instincts scream out that something is wrong.  The air is too quiet, no fires give smoke to the chimneys, there's no sound of activity or people milling about.  Even the sounds of animals are hushed.  Aku seems on edge, hackles up though there's no particular source he seems directed at.


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 12, 2018)

Haru places a hand on Aku's back to calm him ever so slightly.  Being there with both Aku and Lo-Kag bolsters her confidence as well as it can be, pulling out her glowing blade, she continues quietly.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 16, 2018)

Douglas checks on the blacksmiths and sees they are still busy.
He instead decides to check on the carpenter he helped last time.
"So what's the new project now?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 18, 2018)

Lo-Kag smells blood in the air, the whole situation seems vaguely unnatural to him.  Haphazard tracks litter the ground from men, women, and children.  They're old, perhaps a week past.  There's no order or pattern to them, suggesting a disorganized flight rather than a reasonable attempt to flee.

*****

Madalynn Rosa is clearly working on the framing of a house when Douglas approaches.  "Things are getting a might crowded here, sleeping 5-to-a-room lately.  Which might be good for conserving warmth but people appreciate a bit of privacy."


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## Vergil (Mar 18, 2018)

Banana scans the village, assessing the state of it. Clearly they are unable to leave until the town is able to defend itself.

She finds the level 1 Ninja.

"My designated name is Banana. I would request that you allow me to train you so that you are a more efficient killer. What weapons and abilities do you currently have?"


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 18, 2018)

"Blood." Lo-Kag voices, stepping in front of Haru, sniffing, looking to track.

"Right...Aku, can you track the scent?" Haru questions the wolf, "Track?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 18, 2018)

Lancelot, the ninja, is actually adventuring with Banana.  He's equipped with a chain-scythe, because those are awesome, and generally acts as the groups scout in the dungeon.  He seems happy to take pointers from the hero however.

*****

The scent is generally coming from the village, Aku seems very apprehensive about the whole situation but has no trouble following the scent if that's what Haru wants him to do.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 18, 2018)

"Have you thought about adding thin walls to make smaller rooms for each person for privacy? I'll help you tomorrow if nothing comes up."


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 19, 2018)

She places a hand on him reassuringly, "Its okay." They still want to follow the scent.


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## Vergil (Mar 19, 2018)

Once Banana get back from the dungeon, she turns to Lancelot.

"Lancelot is not an adequate ninja name. You are now Apple." She says, "This testing period as to whether I can teach effectively was a success. I need a portion of the villagers who have good agility and dexterity to form a formal training time. First light we shall train in concepts such as attacking using finesse and not strength, finding weak points to maximize damage and remaining undetected. We shall be called...." She stares blankly, "I need to talk with Haru to decide an adequate name."

Reactions: Funny 1


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 22, 2018)

"Walls block heat from the hearth," the carpenter explains politely.  "For now I'm focusing on smaller structures, can't afford to have more than one fireplace in it.  Your help's welcome but don't let me keep you, this is work I've actually done before."

*****

Haru and Lo-Kag move into the city.  There are clear secondary signs of fighting in the streets, dried blood and damage to the buildings and furniture.  But no bodies from either side are present.

More than anything there's an almost oppressive silence.  No sounds of humans or invaders or even animals exploring the city.  Aku is clearly uncomfortable and requires continuous reinforcement to keep him moving.  About the time they reach the center of the village Haru catches a glimpse of a small figure ducking around the corner.  She doesn't get a good look, at a glimpse it could be a child or a halfling or gnome, but the figure runs off down a narrow ally.  There's little sound to the movements, whatever it is is used to hiding.

In the town center there's a _lot_ of dried blood.  Still no bodies or even parts but clearly a lot of people died here (or animals, or theoretically one really big creature).  The stones of the street also seem blackened as if scorched by fire, though none of the blood or buildings show sign of fire.

*****

Banana works with the newly dubbed Apple for a while into the night.  The young ninja has a natural grace and seems to take instruction well.  He pauses suddenly after a while training and looks confused.  "Wait, what?"  He pauses for a moment in thought then addresses Banana more specifically, "I just got a class unlock for Rogue, but I need 'reinforced' to take it.  What's 'reinforced?'"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 22, 2018)

A mischievous smile appears on Douglas's face, his eyes twinkle. He had forgotten all about the heat, it really was basic knowledge in his world, though he wondered if it was in this one.
"I know how to solve the part with needing multiple hearths, but I don't think we have the resources at the moment for it. You wouldn't mind if I showed you really quick what my idea is however would you?"
Douglas draws out odd long metal vents right under the ceiling of the roof with a stick into the dirt. "Heat rises naturally, so any heat would flow into these vents. In addition..." Douglas draws fan like blades near the exit of these vents. "We could make fan blades that suck most of the heat out from the room with the fireplace by  promoting circulation into all of these rooms through these long vents. I know this possible due to my world though it's much more crude. It's not something we can do right now but... It's an idea to keep in mind for your line of work once you have a chance."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 22, 2018)

The carpenter listens politely in a somewhat curious fashion.  "Fan blades?  Some sort of windmill to move heat from the hearth about the house?  I suppose I could see how that would work.  Perhaps if we ever get the luxury of extra labor we could try it, it would be an interesting curiosity if nothing else."


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## Vergil (Mar 22, 2018)

"Reinforced." Banana stares blankly and then recites from her logs

_verb_
past tense: *reinforced*; past participle: *reinforced*

strengthen or support (an object or substance), especially with additional material.
"the helmet has been reinforced with a double layer of cork"
synonyms: augment, increase, add to, supplement, boost, top up
"the need to reinforce  troops"
strengthen (an existing feeling, idea, or habit).
"various actions of the leaders so reinforced fears and suspicions that war became unavoidable"
synonyms: strengthen, fortify, support; More


strengthen (a military force) with additional personnel or equipment.
"paratroopers were sent to reinforce the troops already in the area"


She turns back to Apple. "We must strengthen Apple. Perhaps better equipment would help. Outfit yourself with Rogue appropriate gear. Light armor. A dagger or light weapon. You will need to move quickly and strike fast."

She cocks her head slightly "It seems as though my Apple needs an upgrade." she gauges the reaction on Apple's face

"Attempt at humour....failed."

Reactions: Funny 1


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 22, 2018)

Apple is already using light armor and weapons of reasonable quality.  Without masterwork (or magical) gear he doesn't really have much of an upgrade available.  He shakes his head somewhat confused, "this isn't normal.  Really there's not much difference between 'rogue' and 'ninja' for unlocks.  Nothing at all different as far as fighting goes that I can think of," he seems clearly frustrated by the situation.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

Douglas smiles and nods. "That's the basic. It's nice to have someone listen to these sorts of ideas..." It dawns on Douglas he's never really considered how the people here actually feel, he was only ever trying to get something done for himself or just to speed things forward. He was never really listening. "Hey, Rosa. What was your life like before this?"


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

((It's actually Madalynn Rosa, just FYI))
Madalynn pauses a moment in her work to think then shrugs slightly, "I had finished my apprenticeship as a carpenter at the end of last Summer, so I was working as a journeyman in the capital.  Mostly travel around picking up odd jobs here and there and working for more experienced master crafters."

"Nothing special I suppose," she gives a slight laugh.  "I suppose that's a story to tell my kids someday, assuming I live long enough to have them.  No experience like necessity I guess?"


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 23, 2018)

Haru gives a quick look around and gives chase, Lo-Kag following behind.  "Please stop!  We need to ask you some questions!"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

"I suppose it doesn't matter what world you're in, you have to go through that." Douglas rubs the back of his head. "Well, the traveling and learning part that is." Douglas nods "I know that... we lost two people recently, but leave it to me. The buildings you're making are a great help to being able to protect others here."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

The pair gives chase, while they have a leg length advantage, Aku's stubbornness slows them down considerably.  However after a few minutes they turn a corner between two buildings and find their quarry trapped by a fence blocking the far end.  A young looking gnome with spiky black hair looks at the far-out-of-his-reach wall with an obvious frustration and turns face his pursuers.  He brandishes a human sized black oak staff that looks comically oversized in his tiny grip.

"Aha!  You've fallen into my trap then!"  The young gnome squeaks.  Both Haru and Lo-Kag are fairly certain he's lying though he continues quickly, "but I am a merciful patron, bow before me and I will humbly give you leave to depart and continue your fake--."  He stops abruptly and peers at the pair.

"You're not fake, but different," he says slightly distantly.  "No matter, your worship will be accepted all the same."

*****

The carpenter darkens slightly, "we all do what we can, even when it isn't always enough."  She cheers quickly, "either way, we have a chance here, that's better odds than most would have wandering alone.  Even if my role is humble in the grand scheme of things it feels good to be able to contribute.  You met Horace and Roderick yet?  Brewers, regulated to hauling scrap around because we're months off from them being able to ply their trade even assuming we can spare the labor for it."

"I suppose I could take them on as apprentices, but it'd be nice to have beer to look forward to sometime down the line."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

"They can't simply make it here? I thought all the tools to make alcohol would be present once the farmers are able to get started on their crops."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

"Well, that's the thing.  Tools are easy enough, barrels, tanks, the like.  But grain is months off," she says with disappointment.  "And specialized crops like hops?  Probably not going to happen for a while, so even with a skilled brewer don't get your hopes up for much anytime soon."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

"Hmm... I'll go talk to them. It's possible there are alternatives to the ingredients around us. Or maybe we can start some trade with the elves once the town is properly reinforced?" Douglas waves bye while leaving and goes to talk to the two brewers, Horace and Roderick. "So I heard you two are having trouble doing your profession."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

The pair are working on pulling apart the skeletal remains of one of the collapsed houses in the village, sorting out useful sized bits of wood from the wreckage.  "Well, profession at the moment is apparently 'hauling,'" Horace says with a grunt.  "not much to it really.  If you're talking brewing, no problem there either, but can't brew air so not exactly much work to do."

"King tells us to sort lumber, we sort lumber," Roderick says.  "Beats wandering the wilderness at least.  First crops will be in in a few weeks, won't promise a lot from it, specially when food's scarce as it is, but I wouldn't be opposed to trying a beet wine if there's extra.  Full bellies will probably beat out drink though."

"Bah, tell that to a dwarf," Horace snorts.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

"Beer is a simple affair and while I don't know much about it or drink it... I know you can make it from just about anything. Would the wilderness itself have anything you consider useful? Pinecones from a tree for instance. I'd be willing to hunt for those sorts of things. Everyone is rather down at the moment."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

Horace winces visibly at the suggestion that his profession is simple.  "Making alcohol's one thing, making something worth drinking is another," he says gruffly.

Roderick shakes his head.  "Worth trying if you find something.  Fruits and grains are best but vegetables with enough sugars will work too.  I guess even raw plant matter, though the rule I always learned was if it isn't something you'd want to eat you probably won't want to drink it brewed up."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

"Would you be willing for trade with the elves then? I assume they are fairly big on all of those fronts. Fruits, grains, and vegetables."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

"Sure," Roderick says politely.  "Never met an elf myself, but don't hold much against them.  If you can get the food here don't matter to me where it came from."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

Douglas thinks for several moments. "I think I'll try to do something towards that. Try not to injure yourselves."
Douglas looks to talk to the king. "How do you think establishing trade with only a single person and not the entire town go with the elves?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

"Well trade's good, we're certainly collecting enough gold to get some interest.  Not sure one person can carry enough to be worth it but however you want to do it."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

"... What do you mean by carry enough? Surely it isn't that much?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

Horace chuckles and counts on his fingers a moment, "well, to make one barrel of beer you'll need about forty pounds of grain.  Time to brew not withstanding that's about 200 pints to drink."  He glances around the town before continuing, "there's what, about fifty people in the village, not counting the kids?  So forty drinks a person?  Three day trip to the elves and then back so if you want to trade for enough drinks for your next trip you'll be carrying sixty pounds of grain on the way back.  That's a heavy load for one person."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

Douglas looks towards Horace. "Lets test that theory. Can you bring 60 pounds worth of something to me?"


----------



## EvilMoogle (Mar 23, 2018)

There's hundreds of pounds of steel in various storage locations around the town, it's pretty easy to test your carrying capacity if you want.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 23, 2018)

Douglas walks over to where some steel is. "Right... I doubt I could lift this, but lets give it a try. Hope I don't pull something... HUP!" Douglas tries lifting up 100 pounds worth of steel."T-that's... pretty light? Just a second I have to test something..." Douglas tries carrying 250 pounds. "T-that's pretty heavy... but it doesn't feel like the limit..." Douglas plops it back down.
"Haaaaah. I think it's doable carrying 60 pounds. How about you?" Douglas looks to Horace. Douglas still looks like a fairly unhardened person despite doing this.


----------



## EvilMoogle (Mar 24, 2018)

Horace shrugs, "hey, you want to do the hauling yourself I guess that works.  Just seems more logical to send a group."

The king shakes his head, "no, a scouting operation makes sense first.  For all we know the elves will refuse us.  Some treasure for gifts or trade would be logical, but a small group will move more agiley.  Let's wait for the village investigation to finish first though, you were headed there tomorrow?"


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 24, 2018)

"Ah, yes. I'm in agreement with the king, a large group won't gain us anything. We aren't looking for an alliance, simply trade. An alliance is something we put forth to show we have something to offer besides gold and I think a large group would border some suspicion. We don't want to show that our position is weak at the moment either out of desperation. I was planning on establishing trade with just myself then coming back, then bringing a small group after that trade, but a few companions the first time there would be ideal. After all, I do have to sleep and I can hardly watch my own back if I'm asleep." Douglas thinks about it "I was heading to that village tomorrow, but I still have to wait on those two reporting back before I decide on anything solid. I suppose I'll help Horace and Roderick with moving things about until then. "


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 26, 2018)

((Even if they march through the night it would be morning before they could possibly report back, and they'd be pretty exhausted when they arrive.  Much more likely they're going to camp somewhere.))

"A reasonable approach," the king acknowledges.  "Though I believe it will be another day before they return, assuming the best of cases.  Travel by night is generally not something encouraged even in good times."

Their discussion is interrupted by Jasper Udy running up to the pair out of breath.  "A man approaches!  With skeletons!"

The king immediately shift his focus to the messenger, "how many?  What is the situation?"

"Three, it doesn't seem to be an attack, but," he trails off at a loss for words.

The king nods and glances back to  Douglas and the brewers, "I'm afraid we'll have to table this for now."  He heads out along with Sir Eliza.

Out in the open the source of the commotion is quickly seen.  A flamboyantly dressed man is at the outskirts of the village.  His arms are spread wide and empty and a smirking grin is plastered on his face.  A trio of skeletons stand still as death behind him.  Swords are belted at the animations hips but their hands are full holding large sacks.

Sir Thomas stands a few paces away, sword bared and held aggressively towards the man.  He's not actively hostile yet though he's clearly only a hairs breadth from it.

((Banana's welcome to join in here as well if she'd like, or if she'd rather continue working on the puzzle of what she's on the cusp of discovering that's good too))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 26, 2018)

Douglas's eyes go over the dressed man and the skeletons slowly. These skeletons aren't the same as the ones as before... That man is likely... Then those bags might be... "No matter what is in those bags don't attack! We don't know what he has up his sleeves, I doubt a mere 3 skeletons is all he has. That especially goes for you as well Sir Thomas!" Douglas might not know the world here fully, but he knew enough to see a possible necromancer in front of him. He walks in front of Thomas and speaks clearly. "Sir with the skeletons, state your intentions and show us what is in the three bags... We'll continue your discussion with me from there as I doubt anyone else would be willing to talk to you."


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## Captain Obvious (Mar 26, 2018)

"Erm, no.  You must be mistaken.  Who are you?  We are but travellers from another dimension."


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 27, 2018)

"Well, I _am_ liking the 'don't attack' idea," the man says with the same grin.  "But I'm afraid you're also misunderstanding the situation," he glances briefly at Sir Thomas before continuing, "though not as badly as some."

"My 'intentions' were quite simple, find a place of shelter.  I remember reading about a village here once, it was my hope to find a warm house for the night, and perhaps a place to plan my next steps.  Now that I find you aren't the only ones to have this idea I'm more inclined to suggest a trade."  He pauses reading the crowd a moment, still keeping his arms wide and non-threatening.

"My profession is Animancer," he nods at the trio of skeletons following him.  "I would happily offer the services of my pets, not skilled obviously but very proficient in mundane labor, in exchange for food and shelter.  If you can provide me with the materials," he glances briefly at the graveyard by the healer's hut, "I can even expand this labor source.  I'm sure a budding community has no shortage of need for extra hands."

Sir Thomas growls disapprovingly at this, the king motions for him to be silent.  "Animancy is illegal in the kingdom of Abrelia," he says cautiously.

"Yes, indeed, the bribes I had to pay local lords were quite exorbitant.  But at the same time it made my services quite in demand do my fees were even higher."  His ever-present smirking grin doesn't change, if he recognizes he's talking to the King he doesn't seem to acknowledge it.  Turning back to Douglas he finishes with the questions, "the bags have simply some of my things, minor comforts and tools of my trade.  Unfortunately most of my possessions were abandoned with my carriage several days back, the roads were rather less comforting than they used to be."

The king looks to Douglas, "what do you think of this?"

Unbidden Sir Thomas interjects, "the man is a criminal by his own mouth and defiles the dead.  Destroy his abominations and put him to death for his crimes."

"Death is a bit extreme, isn't it?  I believe the customary punishment for Animancy is merely a fine, one that I would be happy to pay with work, assuming you don't destroy my ability to do so first.  While I can understand attachment to the bodies of the dead even Kelemvor makes little objection to what happens to the bodies of the dead so long as the spirits pass on."

*****
"Mistake?  No, I'm quite sure I'm not," the gnome says half to himself.  "I'm Shadow, though I doubt you've heard of me since," he pauses and looks up at the sky.  "THOSE BLOODY BASTARDS CHEATED!"  His tiny voice echos through the streets and he quickly works himself into quite a fury, huffing and panting at the end of it.

"But I'm sure that's not why you're here.  Obviously you're seeking my blessing for finding me, but I won't hand that out so simply."  He pauses and thinks a moment, his previous outrage seemingly completely lost, "yes, a quest I think.  Your quest is: _protect the mortal shell of Shadow while he gathers followers._  Duration, um, three centuries?  Should be good?"  He mutters half to himself clearly confused to say the least.  "Reward: Shadow's favor.  Yes, that should do nicely.  There, sound good?"


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## Vergil (Mar 28, 2018)

Banana looks at Apple and touches his forehead. "You are reinforced!" she says playing out one of the theories. 

((sorry about the delay in posting, we were moving!))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 28, 2018)

Ani...mancy? Is his profession simply animating objects... 
"Thomas calm down, I wouldn't be able to forgive you if you killed someone so." Douglas turns to the Animancer. "Everyone here is on edge and parading a dead body around isn't going to do their health favors. If you do anything with the bodies in the village you will be asked to leave. You also cannot add to what you currently have as this will irk people here... in addition I ask for those skeleton's to be properly disguised for those same reasons, I understand the need for personal help at the least I would let you keep them. We have more of a need for a different view on magic than that of helping hands. This is the compromise I personally would have you agree to enter here at this moment. I would also like to check those bags personally. However that isn't my call." Douglas gestures to the king and then asks in a way that is meant for anyone to answer it. "I have a thought removed from that conversation... What is Animancy?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 28, 2018)

Vergil said:


> Banana looks at Apple and touches his forehead. "You are reinforced!" she says playing out one of the theories.
> 
> ((sorry about the delay in posting, we were moving!))


((No worries))

Apple looks confused at the attempt, though not more so than most people seem confused by Banana's actions.  "I-- I don't think that did anything.



Unlosing Ranger said:


> Ani...mancy? Is his profession simply animating objects...
> "Thomas calm down, I wouldn't be able to forgive you if you killed someone so." Douglas turns to the Animancer. "Everyone here is on edge and parading a dead body around isn't going to do their health favors. If you do anything with the bodies in the village you will be asked to leave. You also cannot add to what you currently have as this will irk people here... in addition I ask for those skeleton's to be properly disguised for those same reasons, I understand the need for personal help at the least I would let you keep them. We have more of a need for a different view on magic than that of helping hands. This is the compromise I personally would have you agree to enter here at this moment. I would also like to check those bags personally. However that isn't my call." Douglas gestures to the king and then asks in a way that is meant for anyone to answer it. "I have a thought removed from that conversation... What is Animancy?"



"Those terms are acceptable to me," the stranger says with a pointed look at Sir Thomas.  "I will save the philosophical debates for another time."

"It bloody well isn't acceptable," Sir Thomas says with a growl.  "Putting a hat and cloak on a skeleton doesn't change them from the perversion of life that they are."  There are some murmurs of agreement from villagers that have gathered at the situation.  "The creatures should be destroyed and bones properly disposed of.  He should be arrested, if the king decides to sentence him to shoveling shit the rest of his days I can tolerate that."

The man shrugs slightly as if to say he expected this, still keeping his arms carefully extended in a peaceful fashion.

The king shakes his head slightly.  "A sticky situation.  From a legal standpoint, assuming the bodies are legally obtained the only crimes would be bribery and the selling of such labor.  The actual act of animating the bodies is not  illegal within the kingdom."  He sighs and looks at Sir Thomas before continuing, "ethically the practice is frowned on by many, and abhorrent to Lathander and many other goodly gods."

"Ultimately," the king says slightly resigned, "I don't think the addition of three unskilled hands would be worth the disruption it would cause."

The first glimmer of panic crosses the man's face, though he resumes his confident grin a breath later, "perhaps a different approach?  The bodies of your fallen have special meaning to you, I understand that, but what of animals?  Your hunters no doubt bring back bodies for meat, the bones could also be put to use.  A deer could pull a plow almost as well as a mule, if it were so inclined, a skeletal deer would follow orders.  Skeletal rodents could keep living vermin free of your food stores," he shoots a pointed smile at Douglas, "you worry about disease I assure you a rat has more of a threat to your people than bleached bones."


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 28, 2018)

Douglas has the mantle appear and uses detect magic to look at the animancer, skeletons and the bags before him as they speak.
"You mean the plague? I... suppose that kind of disease would have a huge impact right now on things. Not to mention potentially hurting food production. Rodents and the such have killed millions from the disease they carry and spread with them from fleas." Douglas wasn't sure why he was bringing up disease. They are low on medical help here... It's be a disaster if something like that were to happen. Is it a veiled threat? "Can you animate... wood or steel instead? Why must it be bodies of those once dead? I mean, a tree was technically alive as well. I never really knew the difference between a golem and a walking skeleton on that point aside from it being less work."

Douglas looks at Thomas then the animancer. Has Thomas... Thomas ever let the people around here down yet? "Thomas... is there a reason other than him being an animancer that you can name to bar him? A strange feeling you've always had, one from before changing your class?"


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## Vergil (Mar 28, 2018)

"Is there a description for that trait?" Banana asks.


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 28, 2018)

Unlosing Ranger said:


> Douglas has the mantle appear and uses detect magic to look at the animancer, skeletons and the bags before him as they speak.
> "You mean the plague? I... suppose that kind of disease would have a huge impact right now on things. Not to mention potentially hurting food production. Rodents and the such have killed millions from the disease they carry and spread with them from fleas." Douglas wasn't sure why he was bringing up disease. They are low on medical help here... It's be a disaster if something like that were to happen. Is it a veiled threat? "Can you animate... wood or steel instead? Why must it be bodies of those once dead? I mean, a tree was technically alive as well. I never really knew the difference between a golem and a walking skeleton on that point aside from it being less work."
> 
> Douglas looks at Thomas then the animancer. Has Thomas... Thomas ever let the people around here down yet? "Thomas... is there a reason other than him being an animancer that you can name to bar him? A strange feeling you've always had, one from before changing your class?"


The flamboyant man gives a slight shrug, which isn't helped by the grin on his face, "alas my talents are only for animancy, not golemcraft, so I can only work with the remains of the dead."

Sir Thomas gives a disgusted look before speaking, "the man is a criminal by his own mouth, that alone should be sufficient to make us wary about accepting him.  He also defiles the dead creating his abominations, I'm not sure what more reinforcement you would need."  He spares a slight glare for the king.



Vergil said:


> "Is there a description for that trait?" Banana asks.



"I'm afraid it's not a term I'm familiar with."  Apple gives a shrug.  "Most times requirements are self-evident.  Failing that guilds have recorded most other things.  Perhaps records would reflect something, but my gut says this doesn't feel normal so that may be a fruitless effort."


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## Vergil (Mar 28, 2018)

Banana goes through possibility 2.

"Perhaps you need some Essence. Try and interact with the mana crystal."


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 28, 2018)

Vergil said:


> Banana goes through possibility 2.
> 
> "Perhaps you need some Essence. Try and interact with the mana crystal."


Apple picks up one of the mana crystals they had collected from adventuring, "feels normal enough, what should I do with it?"


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## Vergil (Mar 28, 2018)

"Reaction not present. Possibility 3. Try interacting with your dieity, in the custom manner. " Banana did not know what that was, and so observed the whole process


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 28, 2018)

"It only words on calcium?" Douglas mutters. Before getting back to the trouble the village has.
"You know, I'd prefer a evil I know on my side, than an unknown one Thomas. If it's that important you can go back to doing whatever you do with his type after it's over... On the other hand." Douglas looks to the king. "I think we should confer when all of the other heroes are back to decide. It'll give us time to think about it and it'll give us information." Douglas looks to the animancer. "Can you wait a few days outside of this town somewhere?"


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 29, 2018)

Vergil said:


> "Reaction not present. Possibility 3. Try interacting with your dieity, in the custom manner. " Banana did not know what that was, and so observed the whole process



"Pray?  I suppose it can't hurt," Apple says dubiously.  He looks up towards the air and says "oh Oghma keeper of knowledge, a puzzle faces your follower, help me unlock the secrets of this class that the knowledge might spread."  His voice seems awkward and hesitant,  if this is the "custom manner" he doesn't seem terribly practiced at it.

There's no immediate or obvious response to his prayer.  Apple pauses looking around for a few moments before speaking, "Ogham does like a puzzle, but most of the gods want people to work to appreciate their gifts, so they're not likely to just give things away."



Unlosing Ranger said:


> "It only words on calcium?" Douglas mutters. Before getting back to the trouble the village has.
> "You know, I'd prefer a evil I know on my side, than an unknown one Thomas. If it's that important you can go back to doing whatever you do with his type after it's over... On the other hand." Douglas looks to the king. "I think we should confer when all of the other heroes are back to decide. It'll give us time to think about it and it'll give us information." Douglas looks to the animancer. "Can you wait a few days outside of this town somewhere?"



The man's grin twists to a frown for the first time, though only for a moment.  "I suppose if there is no other choice another night in the wilderness won't kill me.  I hope at least, I suppose it at least resolves the issue for you if it does."  He gives a deep bow with a flourish to everyone gathered, "Sir Knight, your Majesty, others, I'll await your response a few hours to the East."  With no further ado he turns and walks off, the three skeletons keeping pace a few feet behind him.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 30, 2018)

Douglas looks at Thomas once the Animancer had left. "I didn't know this would be the kind of place that refuses those in need."


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 30, 2018)

With a hint of sadness Sir Thomas says, "is that what you saw?"  Sir Thomas shakes his head.  "While I refuse to accept his abominations, there could be a place for the man himself.  However one of the biggest threats we face is starvation so there is a limit to how many we can save."

"And that man represents some of the worst parts of society.  He is a scofflaw, by his own admission, assuming that because he has useful talents and money that laws do not apply to him."  A touch of heat enters the knight's voice as he talks, "even when he came here he came as if he were doing us a favor, not asking for shelter."

Shaking his head he continues, "even so, assuming he agrees to put down his perverse pets I would tolerate his presence here.  He is right that in normal times he would face mere fines for his crimes, given the circumstances a sentence of hard labor seems reasonable to me."  There's a slight hint of a question at the end and he looks at the king.

The king is silent for a few moments before he chimes in, "depending on the depth of his crimes, normally he would face a few hundred gold in fines.  Assuming he has no other skills than animancy to contribute, a normal laborer would make a silver a day, so you would be talking on the order of ten years of hard labor."  His voice is more musing clearly considering options here.

"Of course given the situation extra labor that doesn't need to eat should be more of a consideration," he seems conflicted on the situation.

"I cannot believe that you would even consider such an option!"  Sir Thomas responds with heat in his voice.

"All choices should be considered, if you are going to reach a logical conclusion."  The king says coldly.  "Dogmatically refusing an option without consideration is the exact line of reasoning that leads to mistakes.  Perhaps you need to consider which master you would serve?"

The knight goes silent though his eyes maintain an angry focus.


----------



## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 30, 2018)

Some things don't change even when changing worlds, religion versus government. One would put heathens to death and the other would enslave them for cheap labor. "I don't think enslaving someone for a crime of being himself for over 10 years sits well with me, nor does killing him... I would expect that the recently passed in this world would want to protect their families still, but as I said earlier; I think we should wait for the others to come back. It's possible if this person is here we'll be able to leave safely."


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 30, 2018)

"Waiting seems reasonable in this case," the king agrees.  "Time to cool heads and fully consider ramifications."

The knight says nothing but turns back to the village to go about his evening's work.


----------



## Vergil (Mar 30, 2018)

Banana goes through yet another possibility. "Rogue class may require a Rogue mantle." She says and gives it to Apple. "Put it on and we shall observe."


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 30, 2018)

Banana touches Apple to will the transfer however unlike with Haru there's no response from Apple's form.  It feels vaguely to her the same as a dropped CR12 Signal Response Carrier Missing error from an offline transit node.

"Put what on," the young ninja says looking around confused.


----------



## Vergil (Mar 30, 2018)

"Error item not found"

"Is the reinforced prerequisite still present?"

Banana tries to process what just happened


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 30, 2018)

Apple nods, clearly confused.  "Did you do something?"


----------



## Vergil (Mar 30, 2018)

"Attempt was made to transfer information from Banana to Apple. There has been previous success in this with Haru. Transfer failed - signal dropped. Theory: We attempt again and you try and receive the information."

Banana processes the possibilities.

"Perhaps I need to insert a part of me inside of you." She raises a finger, "Do you have an appropriate connector port for this?"


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Mar 30, 2018)

The man flashes a look as if contemplating proposing the opposite suggestion but rebukes.  "I don't think that will work, or at least not for the rogue class."  Someone panicky he searches for a suggestion, "when in doubt, as a mage, maybe we should see if the Arnl has any ideas?"


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## Vergil (Mar 30, 2018)

"Agreed." Banana makes her way to Arnl and relays the problem


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## WorkingMoogle (Mar 30, 2018)

Arn Frederick listens to the pair with an expressionless face as they detail what they have been through.

When they are finished he speaks up, a thoughtful voice, "interesting, I'm aware of 12 different ways for the rogue class to unlock, only three of which involve combat at all each in specific life-or-death situations."  He pauses considering the pair for several long minutes.  Finally he speaks again, "I've never the term 'reinforcement,' at least within the context of a class unlock, and aside from some very basic classes a days training is not typically enough to unlock classes.  Quite a mystery."

"I cannot say anything with certainty however I am also not a fan of coincidence so I will suggest a route to explore.  One of the other summoned heroes, the young man, visited here with an artifact some days ago, it was named the 'Lantern of Reinforcement.'  None of the properties I uncovered suggested anything to do with the rogue class, but it certainly sounds suspicious."


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## Vergil (Mar 31, 2018)

"New data added. Do you have the lantern here so we can test out hypothesis?" Banana asked.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Mar 31, 2018)

Douglas walks back into town... He was far too young for this.


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## EvilMoogle (Mar 31, 2018)

Vergil said:


> "New data added. Do you have the lantern here so we can test out hypothesis?" Banana asked.


"I believe Douglas left it in town, it went out some time ago however."


----------



## Captain Obvious (Apr 3, 2018)

WorkingMoogle said:


> "Mistake? No, I'm quite sure I'm not," the gnome says half to himself. "I'm Shadow, though I doubt you've heard of me since," he pauses and looks up at the sky. "THOSE BLOODY BASTARDS CHEATED!" His tiny voice echos through the streets and he quickly works himself into quite a fury, huffing and panting at the end of it.
> 
> "But I'm sure that's not why you're here. Obviously you're seeking my blessing for finding me, but I won't hand that out so simply." He pauses and thinks a moment, his previous outrage seemingly completely lost, "yes, a quest I think. Your quest is: _protect the mortal shell of Shadow while he gathers followers._ Duration, um, three centuries? Should be good?" He mutters half to himself clearly confused to say the least. "Reward: Shadow's favor. Yes, that should do nicely. There, sound good?"


Haru glances at Lo-Kag and Aku, then gives her charismatic smile, probably not standing much larger than the gnome himself, "Alright, we will accept your quest on a couple simple conditions,"  She gets up close, pointing up a finger, "First being you tell us what happened to this village," she puts up her second finger, "And second, being that you accompany us, and gather followers as we figure out how to deal with those..." she pauses, her tail flicking as she comes to a sudden realization and stands up straight.

She looks down slightly at him with just her eye, "Do you know about those shadow soldiers?  The ones that destroyed the nearby kingdom?  Were they yours?"

Diplomacy
Roll(1d20)+9:
9,+9
Total:18

Perception
Roll(1d20)+2:
20,+2
Total:22


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Apr 3, 2018)

The gnome smiles as she begins listing terms only to frown as she backs away.  He considers her questions cautiously for a moment, a slight frown on his face, before speaking.  "I know some things about the ones that destroyed this town," his town suggests he is being very careful with his words.  "I could see how you might call them shadow soldiers.  But they are not Shadow soldiers."  

He pauses to consider his words a bit more before continuing, "I know nothing of their actions outside of this town.  My interactions with them have mostly consisted of fleeing for my life."  Neither Haru nor Lo-Kag think that the gnome is lying about anything he has said, though he is clearly being careful about his words.

More formally he finishes, "I will answer what questions about them, and this town, that I can if these terms are acceptable?"


----------



## Captain Obvious (Apr 4, 2018)

She nods, content with the answer for now, looking at Lo-Kag for moment, "And that Lo-Kag is how to be diplomatic and not smash things." She lets off a chuckle at the expense of the gnome, "So let's start, are you the only survivor?  How did you avoid their insistent destruction?"


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Apr 4, 2018)

"Well, I suppose that depends on how you define survivor doesn't it?"  The gnome says with a chuckle.  "I've only been here about ten days.  Those fuckers," he glances skyward without further comment, "drug me here.  When they finally let go I landed in the town.  Destruction wise it was more or less like it is now then.  Lots of the dark guys though," he shudders slightly.

"Not long after I was here the smart dark guys lead most of the others off.  Might still be some of the dumb ones around, but most of them wandered off too," he shrugs at the suggestion, apparently not too concerned.  "I mostly avoided them.  Shadow," he points to himself with a grin, "hiding things _kind_ of one of my specialties.  Even here I have enough mojo left to avoid things that aren't looking for me."

"I don't _think_ there are people left in the town, haven't run in to any at least."


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## Vergil (Apr 4, 2018)

Banana finds the lantern and shines it at Apple.


----------



## WorkingMoogle (Apr 4, 2018)

The lantern actually turned itself off several days ago.  When Banana attempts to turn it on there's no response.

Arn Frederick suggests that it may be out of essence and testing they find that a mana stone brought in contact with it is immediately absorbed into the lantern.  After absorbing a few essence from the city stores it turns on.

Apple looks hesitantly at Banana, "that seems to have done it, I meet all the requirements for rogue now, do you think I should change from ninja to rogue?"


----------



## Vergil (Apr 4, 2018)

"No." Banana replies bluntly, "but experiment is complete. Apple will remain a ninja."

She nods and makes her way to the King. She lets him know about the ability to change class and the process required. "Suggestion for next mission is needed."


----------



## EvilMoogle (Apr 4, 2018)

The king listens carefully to Banana's explanation.  After a few minutes he speaks with a measured tone, "the immediate question is the scope of this.  Currently there are 45 adults in the city, heroes aside.  A full 30 of them are of the 'commoner' class.  If we have found a special way to quickly unlock the rogue class for our people that would be a sizable step up for our defenses."

"Granted I don't know what the gods would think of a city comprised mostly of rogues."  He lets out a slow chuckle that seems almost devoid of humor.  "Still, survival would probably be of more import than propriety in this case."

"I am hesitant to get hopes up however, while this certainly sounds unusual most class unlocks are complicated things and ninja is not so different than rogue, perhaps it was just a one-off case.  Would you try with someone else?"


----------



## Vergil (Apr 4, 2018)

"Understood. Will find class: commoner and attempt to turn them into class: rogue." Banana says and then leaves to find someone worthy of the name: Grape


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 4, 2018)

*Spoiler*: _Current list of commoners, with professions_ 




Adela Foster Commoner-4 Female Human C:Alchemy
Sofia Doyle Commoner-1 Female Human C:Baking
Josiah Huckle Commoner-1 Male Human C:Baking
Jasper Udy Commoner-4 Male Human C:Baking
Sebastian Pearson Commoner-2 Male Human C:Blacksmithing
Williamina Roberts Commoner-3 Female Human C:Blacksmithing
Roderick Bonser Commoner-2 Male Human C:Brewing
Horace Woodley Commoner-2 Male Human C:Brewing
Madalynn Rosa Commoner-1 Female Human Carpentry
Evan Barnes Commoner-1 Male Human Cartography
Bessie Moore Commoner-1 female Human Cooking
Eleanor Hosmer Commoner-2 Female Human Cooking
Leonard Boness Commoner-1 male Human C:Stonemasonry
Emma Woodley Commoner-2 Female Human C:Tailoring
Lilly Bennett Commoner-1 Female Human C:Tanning
Easton Holmes Commoner-1 Male Human P:Farmer
Alexander Davies Commoner-2 Male Human P:Farmer
Grace Davies Commoner-2 Female Human P:Farmer
Ronald Tier Commoner-1 Male Human P:Farmer
Owen Oliver Commoner-1 Male Human P:Fisherman
Gordon Marsh Commoner-1 Male Human P:Fisherman
Emilia Lane Commoner-2 Female Human P:Healer
Richard Mills Commoner-1 Male Human P:Herbalist
Katherine Watts Commoner-1 Female Human P:Hunter
Jasmine Johnson Commoner-2 Female Human P:Hunter
Cuthbert Belsey Commoner-2 male Human P:Hunter
Victor Monroe Commoner-1 Male Human P:Merchant
Aaron Matthews Commoner-1 Male Human P:Woodcutter
Hannah Williams Commoner-2 Female Human C:Stonemasonry
Jasper Williams Commoner-1 Male Human C:Tailoring


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## Vergil (Apr 5, 2018)

Banana goes through the commoners and finds the bakers. "Is anyone interested in becoming a rogue? I have been tasked by the King to attempt to change your class."


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 5, 2018)

Both Sofia and Josiah are tired from a day spent at dull labor working on clearing ruble from the village.  Lacking proper ingredients for baking they're of very limited use in the city at the moment.  It would probably be clear to any normal person that they were looking for little more than resting their aching bodies before another day of hard work tomorrow.

"Tasked by the king?"  Josiah says questioningly.  "To become rogues?  What is this?"

"Rogues sir?  Are you sure the king meant us?"  Sofia seems also as confused.  "I've barely held a weapon in my life, let alone fought with one.  Surely I'm years off from unlocking an adventuring class?"


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## Vergil (Apr 5, 2018)

"This is an experiment to determine if we can change the class you currently have. Hypothesis: You will train with me and then I will shine a light on you and you shall obtain rogue class. Then you shall be called Grape." 

"Volunteer needed. Please designate."


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 5, 2018)

The pair exchange confused glances for a moment before Josiah steps forward, "I suppose if we're to learn to fight I've got the edge, I fought off a dire rat once."

Sofia places one hand on his shoulder and pulls him back, "no, go get some rest.  Sacrificing sleep to humor indulgences is something women have done for ages.  I'll go, you can make it up to me by working twice as hard tomorrow."  They exchange another pointed look before the man shrugs and steps back to allow Sofia the lead.


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## Vergil (Apr 6, 2018)

Banana nods. "Very well. You shall train with me tomorrow morning. I shall continue to clear rubble through the night so there is no loss of productivity."


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 9, 2018)

((In the interest of trying to keep things moving here....))

After talking with the gnome for a while the gnome insists they seek shelter for the night.  He leads them to a building with a flat roof, he's constructed an impromptu (gnome-sized) lean-to on the roof.  It's a chilly and miserable night but they're able to rest without issue.

((Unless there are other plans I'll assume the gnome will head back with the pair in the morning.))

Douglas sleeps in the relative comfort of the village.

Banana works through the night clearing rubble to offset "grape's" work.  The lantern quickly burns through it's fuel overnight and Apple approaches the android in the morning to inform her that the rogue class went back to being locked as soon as the lantern went out.  He's not sure if this was expected or not.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 13, 2018)

Douglas wakes in the morning to meet with the others in the center of town. "So... do we have any ideas of what is happening outside of the town? And has anyone seen the Lantern?"


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 13, 2018)

The gnome brought back with Haru and Lo-Kag skips along as they enter town, seemingly oblivious to the general state of ruin of things.  He smiles broadly at Douglas, "ah!  Another real one, good.  Will make things much easier."

He approaches the human and says smoothly, "have you heard the good news?  Morning has come, the sun is risen and the Shadows are long in the fields.  If you're ready to accept Shadow into your heart He will blanket you with His protection in the days to come."


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 13, 2018)

Haru lets off a sigh, "Douglas, this is Shadow, he is a God fallen and attempting to gain followers so he can retain godhood." Her face says that she really doesn't believe she's saying what she is, "Shadow, this is Douglas, one of our companions brought here from another world." She smiles diplomatically.

"The village was attacked by the knights as well, absolutely nobody but him survived.  If you can get past the overwhelming smell of blood there's probably some things to salvage."


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 13, 2018)

"Fallen?" Shadow says incredulously.  "Not fallen, snatched.  Away from my flock and the comfort of my world by the cheating bastards of this world.  That's okay though, I'll make them pay, they aren't as clever as they think they are, there are enough people hiding in shadows around the world crying for aid to sustain me.  Give them a name for their prayers and my numbers will grow, just you see!"


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 13, 2018)

"Oof, sorry, didn't think about what I was saying.  Do you have names for those who 'snatched' you?"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 13, 2018)

Douglas double facepalms for a moment before lowering his hands back down. He didn't have time for delusional short people. "Right... Well that's one option dried up. A person who raises the dead arrived yesterday, he didn't seem hostile and was willing to talk. He's a bit a ways off. I decided we should wait until everyone is here to talk to him about deciding to let him in. Thomas was opposed to it however, so we have to consider that. I've also talked to the king about trading with the elf kingdom instead of an alliance so I needed to wait for everyone here to come back."


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 13, 2018)

"Why not an alliance?" She questions, tilting her head, "Usually trading comes part and parcel with alliances, otherwise you risk poisoned supplies.  I've seen many a dead citizen from that..." she clears her throat, "However, that dead raiser may give us a leg, I believe diplomacy with him would be a good idea, at least to try."


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 13, 2018)

"Names?  Well, I have lots of names for them.  None that would be wise to use out loud though."  The gnome says with a slightly bitter voice.  "I don't know the names they give their followers, haven't talked to any locals since I landed, I'm sure the pantheon is well defined though."

Listening in on the rest of the conversation the Gnome helpfully adds his wise console, "a necromancer as an ally?  You could do worse, but be sure to have a plan in place for when it gets out of control, it always gets out of control.  The impending morale crisis should be a bigger problem.  Unless you can convince people the undead are 'worth it' you might have a morale break.  Be better to find some bards or something to offset it."

"Alliance would work better, assuming you have anything that they want.  Maybe they want undead?  Two birds one stone?"  He adds hopefully.  "Elves though, probably not, not normal at least."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 13, 2018)

"I doubt we have anything they want. That's the problem. Anyway doing an alliance outright isn't that good of an idea I feel. The necromancer is about several hours to the east... I think Haru should lead the way and maybe one of us should stay back here."
Douglas looks to Haru "Is that alright with you?


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 14, 2018)

"Hmm..."She taps a finger against her muzzle, then slowly fades to her human form, "I don't see why not.  I can go speak to him, find out what I can, and we can go from there.  I can talk to Thomas afterward if I need to.  But I guess..." she snickers, "That guy just wanted to raise a family of his own."


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 14, 2018)

((So Haru and Douglas are going to visit the Animist, Banana still training I'm guessing?  This sound right?))


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 14, 2018)

((Sounds right I guess))


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 15, 2018)

Banana meet Sofia, er, "Grape" in the morning.  Like most of the villagers she's equipped only with a crude club and seems to have only the most basic understanding of its use.  Still she's in reasonable shape and is willing to learn, or at least to humor the hero in accordance with the king's orders.

*****

The flamboyant man's campsite can be seen from the watchtower.  A large tent is erected, of reasonable quality, and a small fire burns outside it.  As the group approaches they can make out the man sitting beside the fire, huddled under a fur blanket against the chill morning winds.  The three skeletons walk in a circular perimeter outside the camp, thick track lines suggest they've done so for the full night.

When the group gets close one of the skeletons stops it's patrol to point and shriek; a high shrill sound that pierces the morning air.  The flamboyant man looks up and the skeleton is quickly quieted, he rises to meet the approach, "ah, you've returned, and with a new friend?  Have you come to a decision then?"


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 15, 2018)

Having left Aku back at the village to hunt with the hunters, Haru bows deeply in respect, “I...Apologize for the actions of the king's guard, I am Haru, I don't believe my friend asked for a name before. Who are you?”  She locks her eyes on him, partially from her lessons, partially avoiding the want to chew on a bone. “I hear you are simply a man out of luck and home with some unusual hobbies. I've come to assist in bridging the gap.” She stands straight, “I believe it would be best if you came into the village, you were only to use corpses of animals or ones you get consent-” Her sentence gets cut off by a loud gruff snort.

“When death approach, you are but sack of meat. If best for people, who care what right.” A low toned voice states from Lo-Kag as he stands not far behind Haru. “I not smart, but clan take care of old and young before leader. If king did that, then capital would be stand still. Even Lo-Kag make better king.”

“You're right Lo-Kag.” The words of the berserker seemed to spark a fire in her heart that was forgotten, suddenly coming to a realization, “Lo-Kag. We are heroes. I am-...was a princess. My father is dead, my brother is a traitor. I am next for the throne. Lo-Kag...” She takes a look towards the animancer again, then to Douglas, “Douglas, do you realize what that makes me?” her mouth curls into a mischievous grin before locking eyes with the animancer again, “Forget it. As long as there is no ill will, you may come and help with your skeletons, human or otherwise. As long as it is unrecognizable who they were in life, you may use humans as you please. _I_ will deal with the king and Sir Thomas. I thought we weren't on equal footing with them, and we aren't. He may give us assistance, but it was not us who chose to come here. As long as you assist the people in any way you can, you have a place with us.”


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 15, 2018)

"Campbell Ellingham the Third," the man says with a flourishing bow.  "And I must say that the diplomatic greeting is appreciated.  Your terms are acceptable to me, and quite make sense if I do say so myself.  I must ask though, is this something that has been approved by the others?"  He flashes a grin that is little more than a smirk, "I don't object myself but it just seems such a shift from the dynamic of yesterday."


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 15, 2018)

"Perhaps, perhaps not." She says with a flick of the hand, "But it does not matter, I will explain the situation to them and I'm sure they will see the benefit after some...persuasion." she chooses her words carfully.

"Lo-Kag think she no mean talk.  I help." Lo-Kag says loudly down at Douglas like he was trying to whisper.

"It doesn't work like that unless they dont see reason.  In any case, would you like help getting back?  I will be your...ambassador of sorts." She gives him a side eyed smirk, "I'm sure it's hard enough raising a family on your own." Before bursting out in barklike laughter.  "Ahaha, sorry, sorry, couldn't help it!"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 16, 2018)

A royalty from some backwards world, not that big a deal from Douglas's perspective.
"I guess that is what it comes down to." Douglas sighs, this wasn't going to be fun. "Right, time to take up that suggestion of sparring I did a few days ago, need to prove ourselves to be more than just heroes in name."


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 16, 2018)

The pretentious man gives another flourishing bow, "I will leave it in your most capable hands then.  One minor correction if you would, to call them 'family' is to make the same mistake as those that are offended by my work.  There is no emotional attachment, they are tools and nothing else.  Flexible and useful tools, but tools nonetheless."

With it decided he begins directing the skeletons to clean up the campsite and soon he is packed and ready to return.  The trip back is fairly quick and the mood is light however as they approach the town they find a group waiting for them.  Sir Thomas is there, a stern expression on his face, along with two of the farmers; Gordon and Louise.

The knight is in an aggressive stance, though his sword is still sheathed.  The two farmers have their weapons with them though they seem much more apprehensive about being here.  Sir Thomas addresses the group as they near, "I thought we had discussed this yesterday, I assume the abominations have only returned because you wish aid destroying them?"

Campbell motions for the skeletons to stop a good distance removed from the knight.  His fairly fixed smirk is still plastered across his face but he remains quiet, apparently willing to let his champions discuss the matter.


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 16, 2018)

"Stand down Sir Thomas." Her stance relaxed and non threatening. "He just wants what we all want, peace and a home. Home is not a place, it is a people. Times have changed, we take care of our young, old, and sick first, and if this is how we can take care of our people...By relying on an animancer, then so be it." She seems to have drawn from her training and began her queenly motions.

"When it comes down to it, it's a lot more help, with only one more mouth to feed. When you die, you are nothing but fertilizer for the earth beneath your feet, as long as he has no ill will, and his workers aren't recognizable as who they were in life, then he will stay. If there is defined ill will then I will give the command and you may destroy them."


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 16, 2018)

"No," says Sir Thomas coldly if not hostilely.  "What he does is an abomination.  Desecration of the dead into twisted perversions.  Inviting the dark into our town to corrupt what remains, what would that leave us even if we win?"  He stops to shake his head.  "Once you start making concessions they will pile on.  The very idea that this would be the 'easy' solution should serve as warning, nothing worthwhile ever comes easily."

With a sigh he continues, "by the king's order I cannot turn the man himself away.  Our village will shelter those seeking asylum and, grudgingly, his crimes are not serious enough in the eyes of the law to merit particular concern given our current situation."  He's obviously not thrilled with this idea but doesn't sound like it would be a stopping point for him.  "But that protection does not extend to his 'pets.'  If he is unwilling to leave them behind that is his choice."


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 16, 2018)

"Laws of where?  I see no place that a law other than the laws of nature would be relevant.  Laws of nature state, if you have resources...use them.  We have unused resources, let him keep his pets."
Roll(1d20)+5:
20,+5
Total:25


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 16, 2018)

"Laws of the kingdom," Sir Thomas says as if wounded.  "The one I am sworn to defend.  Civilization and society is what keeps us from descending to the level of beasts."


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 16, 2018)

"Sir Thomas...this kingdom, it doesn't exist anymore." She says lowly, breaking from her human form, taking offense from his comment, "At least beasts have more loyalty than most humans.  You don't like the way we're doing things now, then go.  He is doing no harm."


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## Vergil (Apr 17, 2018)

Banana looks at the club. 

"Weapon not compatible with Rogue." She finds a dagger and gives it to Grape. "Basics of combat. Stick them with the pointy end." Banana begins to drill Grape on footwork, attacking from stealth, flanking and all sorts of other roguish attack styles.


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 17, 2018)

"So long as those of us have the will to save what can be saved it will live on," Sir Thomas says with a sense of finality to it.  "Perhaps it is fated that your arrival heralds a new age, if it is to be so I cannot do anything about it.  But I will protect the souls of those that I can until that day comes."

Apparently seeing the discussion concluded he turns off and heads back into the village.  The two warriors with him look at each other confused, shrug, then head back to the fields to continue working.

*******

Grape starts off exceedingly sloppy with the dagger.  While not clumsy exactly she clearly has no practical experience with combat and her instincts seem to fight the training process.  However as the pair works she proves a capable student and soon seems to be grasping the basics of stealth and skirmish-style combat.

Finally after several hours she pauses confused for a moment then asks, "what's 'reinforced?'"


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## Vergil (Apr 19, 2018)

Banana notes the progress and nods. She retrieves the lantern and also summons apple. She uses some essence and activates it


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 19, 2018)

Douglas walks after Thomas. "We haven't done much to prove ourselves since coming here. I understand why you wouldn't have a lot of faith in us. Would you and the other knights be up for a spar with the four of us? I suggested it before and it fell to the wayside. But, I need perspective. I believe we all do."


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 20, 2018)

Banana feeds and clicks on the lantern.  With a slightly awed voice Grape utters "class change: rogue."  With a celebratory cheer she confirms that she has a whole suite of new abilities to work on, a major jump from her previous "commoner" class.  Banana clicks the lantern off to conserve essence and the woman's face freezes in sudden panic, "wait, no, where did they go?"

A little experimentation confirms the effect.  Apparently the skills unlocked by "reinforcement" require the presence of the lit lantern.  Longer exposure to the light makes them last longer out of it, so perhaps eventually it will become permanent, but for now at least those "unlocked" by the lantern will have to stay fairly near the city (or, well, the lantern if the lantern leaves the city).


*Spoiler*: _Training Rules_ 




Heroes from another world can extend their ability to learn to natives of this world while those natives are reinforced by the lantern.  NPC characters will ever only have one class however with training you can unlock a change for them (their level persists across this change).

A PC can train up to their CHA modifier (minimum 1) in NPCs at once (this is a day's action), though they can only train for a single given class at a time (and must train in a class they have access to).  They can either unlock the class for a NPC to change to, or they can advance the NPC one level in that class up to the maximum level of class feature they have unlocked.

NPCs who are training are not doing other activities for the town at the same time (eg, hunting/blacksmithing).





*Spoiler*: _Lantern Levels_ 




The lantern can only "reinforce" so many people at a time, based on the level it is set to.

Level -> Max People ->  Essence per Hour -> Essence per Day
1 -> 10 -> 2 -> 48
2 -> 20 -> 3 -> 72
3 -> 40 -> 4 -> 96
4 -> 60 -> 6 -> 144
5 -> 90 -> 9 -> 216
...
20 -> 1630 -> 3597 -> 86328 (Good luck!)

There's currently 46 adults in the town (including the king, arnl, and knights who probably wouldn't want to change classes at this time).  More people will require more essence (which at the moment comes from the dungeon which would translate to more people exploring the dungeon).  The math says focusing on higher level people first will be of more benefit than trying to max out 1st level characters.




Upon discovering this process and adapting to working with others Banana finds her insight and interactions vastly improved (Banana: Wis +4, Chr +4)!

((I'd suggest that you guys work out how you want people in different classes and we can just fast forward X days while you train people up, up to you however.  I might even be persuaded to give out XP at the same time since I haven't done that in a while and you've all done some interesting things ))

*****

Sir Thomas is clearly disgruntled as he walks away.  He takes a deep breath before replying, "I have faith in the gods and they grant me the perspective I need.  I would advise you follow the same path but clearly you have made different choices.  If you want to spar with the others that is their decision, I have matters to attend to before nightfall, it will be an early morning tomorrow."


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 20, 2018)

"Come on..." Douglas feels a knot in his throat. He really wants to be bratty right now, more than usual... He really didn't get to do this in his old world, none of this in fact. That includes physical one on one combat. It was made obsolete in his world. He also hardly had something of real substance to complain about even at his young age aside from school. "I didn't ask to come here you know!" He says the words in a crackling voice. 

"H-Humor me, please! I'm going to go nuts out here if you don't!"  Douglas is still only 16 and really, he's had about all he can of taking things direly serious. He's been very much putting up a front as much as he can as a "Hero." The place sucks, everyone looks as if they will give up at any moment and are depressing all the time, the food tastes terrible and the nights had been all uncomfortable rests. 
His body aches all over from how he has been sleeping. Frankly he's about had enough of it.
"All of these responsibilities it's... too much without an outlet!" This was likely a sentiment held by many people here though he wasn't thinking of it at that moment.


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## Vergil (Apr 20, 2018)

Responding to Grape's panic, "You are able to change to the Rogue class as the lantern is activated. Only then will you be Grape. If you are interested, we can try to make you Grape permanently. For now the test has been concluded. I must report these findings to the King."

She approaches the King and reports what the lanterns capabilities are. "I can train 1 person a day. I have Apple and Grape. I would like a Strawberry and Pear too. Maybe a Watermelon.


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 21, 2018)

((Busy resisting urge to kill kids, will try to reply tonight though.))


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## EvilMoogle (Apr 21, 2018)

"Fine," Sir Thomas relents.  "If it means that much to you I will spar with you tonight before I go.  If you learn from that perhaps it will help you to fulfill whatever destiny the gods have in mind for you."

"Gather whatever you need and meet me by the town center."

*****

The king seems thrilled by this prospect, "gather whomever you need, a day away from their other duties is nothing compared to having additional suriveability for the town!"


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 22, 2018)

Douglas looks excited before he walks off to gather some left over lumber.
He needed to carve practice swords then wrap cloth around them and tie it together by the time he got back if it was possible.


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 24, 2018)

Haru turns around to the animancer that I totally remember the name of, and bows, "One down, one more to go.  You can start finding a place to begin, I will speak to the king." She turns to leave and go speak to the king.


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## WorkingMoogle (Apr 24, 2018)

((Heads up I've been a bit under the weather lately, thus I'm slower and terser than usual to posting.  But posting anyway  ))

Sir Thomas shows up as promised a short while later.  He picks up one of the practices swords and tests its weight appraisingly, if he has any objection to it he doesn't voice it.

A group of the other villagers gathers around to watch, murmuring to one another about the upcoming fight.

((Not sure how you want to do this, if you want to fight-by-post go ahead))

*****

The king is in the main structure of the village, seated at a long table going over various paperwork, he briefly glances up at Haru's entrance but doesn't immediately offer anything.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Apr 25, 2018)

Douglas wasn't exactly sure those makeshift swords would hold, after all they were pretty much sword shaped sticks he whittled down as fast as he possibly could before tying cloth around them to lessen the impact of blows. "Um well... I've never done this before. Ehehe... If you could instruct me on how a event like this goes Sir Thomas."  He asked for it, but... he had no idea how this sort of event went.


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## Captain Obvious (Apr 30, 2018)

Haru hikes herself onto the table not too far from the king, "I have allowed the animancer to take refuge.  If any purposeful harm comes to the people, it will be on my head, and will give Sir Thomas permission to destroy the pets.  I'm confident it will not come to that, but the option is there." She swings her legs slowly as she carefully considers her words, "Four days from now, Lo-Kag, Aku and I, possibly the others as well, will begin a journey to the elven kingdom.  Will supplies be able to last that long?"


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## Vergil (May 3, 2018)

Banana will go to the King and inform him that she intends to make the trek to the elf village sooner rather than later.


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## EvilMoogle (May 12, 2018)

Sir Thomas appraises the sword slightly before addressing Douglas "sparring can be open to a number of different things.  
Normally I'd suggest you work under the guidance of a master who would direct things, but obviously we have neither time nor people for such a thing.  So to put it simply what are you looking for from this spar?"

"Well... I still don't understand what you mean by skills even now. Or levels really. I don't think anything we've fought have really used them so far. I want to fight an opponent that uses them to put it simply and well, frankly the knights have my interest."
Douglas swings the makeshift training stick around. "Fighting isn't something done in my world by most. Not even against wildlife, so combat is foreign to me."

Sir Thomas groans slightly, "well, there are countless different styles out there, even counting only the humanoid races.  But I suppose you have to start somewhere."  He shifts his stance into a shield forward defensive form, with the wooden sword pulled up and to the side covering the obvious openings.  "I suppose simply starting is the easist way to demostrate if that is all you are looking for."


"I guess so." Douglas takes a two handed stance with the sword in front of him and spreads his legs apart to balance himself. "You know more about attacking than me, so are you going to make the first move or should I?"

Shaking his head Sir Thomas charges forward, shield up, he slams into Douglas' chest knocking him roughly backward with the shield.  ((Crits, 28 damage))

Douglas almost stumbles over himself in a ball from the force of the shield into his chest, he's pretty sure he felt something break he's just not sure what. Whatever it was hurt, alot. "R-Right." Douglas makes note of the shield and decides to make a side swipe at the shoulder holding the shield to make himself harder to reach with Thomas's own sword. He charges forward directly at Thomas and makes a last second step to the side to focus his slash at it.

In defensive stance Sir Thomas deflects the strike and launches a counter attack with the wooden sword, the strike is short and Douglas easily dodges back from it.  "Keep your focus up, opponents aren't likely to give you a break or a chance to plan."

If he couldn't even beat one of the knights here what good did he do even being here? "Tch." If he couldn't hold back and stand toe to toe with the knight in front of him what was the point of calling him a hero? Any person should be able to do it then.
He had to try harder to the best of his ability without the mantels. Douglas decides that if he doesn't know how to fight, he'd try a more brutish method. Not thinking. Douglas swings the wooden blade directly at Thomas nothing clever, just a swing with all of his force behind it ignoring his own defense as a cost.

The strike clips off the edge of the shield and slams into the joint of Sir Thomas' pauldron.  The knight grunts slightly in response to the hit, damage clearly penetrating through the armor.  His eyes flicker at Douglas' briefly with a slightly judging look but he remains silent.  He leads with his shield, knocking the youth's sword out of position and lands a solid hit to Douglas' side with his wooden sword ((7 damage)).

There is a small breath of air given out from the blow, Douglas grits his teeth and refuses to yelp out. *Ignore it! The pain isn't real!* Douglas attempts to trade blows instead of focusing on defense at all, he swings the sword back at Thomas as soon as his own blow lands.

The sword knocks hard into sir Thomas' arm, knocking his sword out of position to strike.  Recovering quickly he gives a quick thrust with the shield, forcing Douglas back briefly to create some space in the battle.  ((Missed/missed))

Douglas skips back a step. Facing a person in combat in the same way he was fighting monsters was the first step he needed to figure out how this works... He's overthinking it again. "Haaaa!" Douglas decides to use the pointy end of the stick this time switching it up slightly as he charged back into Thomas's front with no regard not wanting to let off pressure.

Sir Thomas catches the incoming attack off his shield and steps in, punching with the hilt of his faux sword, crunching hard on Douglas' nose.  ((10 damage))

Fuck, why did he have to hit his nose! Douglas coughs out some blood while panting heavily, he didn't feel as if he could stand another blow and the knight looked as if he could take far more. He wasn't even sure if he actually hurt him at all. Douglas throws down his sword. "I forfeit." The difference was obvious, he just wasn't that suited for this and frankly he wanted to heal himself properly instead of waking up the next day with a broken nose. Douglas lets go of that feeling of rage he holds and feels exhaustion wash over him as he plops to the ground with a dazed look and pants heavily. "As I thought, not good enough."

"No one ever is," Sir Thomas says without remorse.  "All you can do is fight with everything you can, when you have to, and make ready when the gods allow."  Without further comment he thrusts the wooden sword into the ground and gathers his things to leave.

Douglas being beaten to a point where rest would be next to impossible Douglas summons the mantle of Eline Boesveld and heals all of his wounds. "Having to rely on this so much... is a bad sign." He stands up fully healed now and looks around at the villagers trying to judge their thoughts by looking at their faces.

The crowd's reactions vary, most seem unphased by the display, some disappointed in Douglas' loss.  There do seem to be a handful that are unusually cold to the outcome, though there doesn't seem to be a particular target of their feelings.

In a sense knowing the outcome of such a fight released a burden on himself, one that was bothering him. But the reactions of the townsfolk was rather odd. Douglas frowns and goes to look for Thomas again. He needed to at least ask him something.
"Thomas, what are these matters you have to attend to that are so important?"

Thomas takes a slow breath, though his expression is calm.  "Leaving, as I said.  You and the other heroes have made your decision, I've said my part on it.  I cannot stop you, but I will not sit idly by and watch as you follow the path you have set for yourself."  He shrugs slightly, still with a calm face, "so I will head out for shelter elsewhere, along with any that wish to accompany me.  I truly hope that this will work out for you, and that the Morninglord watch over this town, but they will have to do so without me."

"Wait... You're leaving!? Nonononono! One of the ONLY reasons I even wanted such a character around is because you were here to keep him in check if he went out of control. I wouldn't have accepted him otherwise!" Douglas is rather panicked, he didn't think he was leaving for good over this. "So why are you leaving?! The people here need you more than me, your fellow knights need you more. How would they feel if you left? If you leave..." Douglas thinks over what would happen. It's something he's seen happen often. If one person leaves another leaves after. Often leaving things as a sort of wasteland socially and everyone here already actually had it hard in comparison... If he's leaving that would explain the look on everyone's faces back there as well. "If you leave everything will fall apart!"

The knight shakes his head, "how would you expect me to walk in Lathander's light and alongside undead abominations at the same time?  It might be something you think you can do, but I know better.  At best I would be deluding myself, but there is no delusion before the gods.  That is the path that leads to exception after exception until you find yourself the opposite of what you should be.  I would rather take my chances, alone if need be, than risk that."

"..." This, this pissed Douglas off. "You're leaving... because you're afraid? You would shirk your responsibility over fear?! You would claim your light is supposed to shine in the darkest of darknesses and you would walk away!? What the hell am I here for then?! Why don't I get the choice of walking away?! You'd put the village here in the hands of childen and something you consider pure evil because you can't withstand its presence?!"

With a slightly dangerous tone Sir Thomas repiles, "if you wish me to purge the darkness say the word.  My arm has been given to act as Lathandar's here in the realm.  But to ask me to not fight darkness, is asking too much.  The act of accepting evil invariably corrupts, whether you chose to face this truth or not doesn't change its nature."  He softens slightly and offers a more appologetic tone, "it sounds like you yourself need to search your soul, consider the ramifications of your actions.  It's not too late to make the correct decision."

*****

The king considers this, "supplies aren't exactly a problem at this point, it's just managing the number of defenders we have available."  He pauses to indicate Banana, "with the training Banana has discovered I think that we can be reasonably set in a few days time."


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## Captain Obvious (May 13, 2018)

Haru nods, "I can train others as well, to speed up the process."


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## WorkingMoogle (May 14, 2018)

End Day 12:

The hunters and fishers return with their catch (+21 food total).  The adventurers return from the dungeon with a mix of loot (+44 food, +230gp steel, +163gp gear, +847gp treasure, +56 essence).  The blacksmiths continue work on the fence (131 points remaining), the carpenter continues work on the house (41 points remianing), the masons finish work on the baking oven.

Town consumed 75 food.

Exp Gains:
30,000 each, because reasons.  

Morale Break:
Sir Thomas, Knight, refuses to tolerate welcoming undead into the town.  After his objections fall on deaf ears he turns to the people of the village, encouraging them to break away from the coming ruin and set off with him to find a new place to live.  Morale already being low in the town he finds numerous willing to set off with him.  He gathers:

Theresa Huckle, Alchemist
Josiah Huckle, Baker
SEbatian Pearson, Blacksmith
Bessie Moore, Cook, and her daughter Priscilla
Eleanor Hosmer, Cook, and her daughter Laura
Dennis Brandom, Jeweler
Lancelot Webb (Apple), Potter
Myrtle Bandy, Potter
Leonard Boness, Mason
Lilly Bennett, Tanner
Gordon Saunders, Farmer, and his son Guy
Owen Oliver, Fisherman, and his son Eli
Richard Mills, Herbalist
Katherine Watts, Hunter

They took with them 57 food (3 days each) and 200gp in gear.


*Spoiler*: _People list_ 




King Gabriel Sutton III, Noble-3, Male, Human, Plerk
Sir Garratt, Fighter-4, Male, Human, P:Soldier
Sir Rhys, Fighter-4, Male, Human, P:Soldier
Sir Eliza, Fighter-4, Female, Human, P:Soldier
Arn Frederick Garath, Wizard-14, Male, Human, P:Sage
Campbell Ellingham III, Expert-5, Male, Human, C:Animancy
Adela Foster, Commoner-4, Female, Human, C:Alchemy
Sofia Doyle "Grape", Commoner-1, Female, Human, C:Baking
Jasper Udy, Commoner-4, Male, Human, C:Baking
Williamina Roberts, Commoner-3, Female, Human, C:Blacksmithing
Roderick Bonser, Commoner-2, Male, Human, C:Brewing
Horace Woodley, Commoner-2, Male, Human, C:Brewing
Madalynn Rosa, Commoner-1, Female, Human, Carpentry
Evan Barnes, Commoner-1, Male, Human, Cartography
Emma Woodley, Commoner-2, Female, Human, C:Tailoring
Eurwen Cushway, Warrior-1, female, Human, C:Tanning
Easton Holmes, Commoner-1, Male, Human, P:Farmer
Alexander Davies, Commoner-2, Male, Human, P:Farmer
Grace Davies, Commoner-2, Female, Human, P:Farmer
Ronald Tier, Commoner-1, Male, Human, P:Farmer
Louise Lynds, Warrior-3, Female, Human, P:Farmer
Gordon Marsh, Commoner-1, Male, Human, P:Fisherman
Sir Nelson, Cavalier-2, Male, Human, P:Fisherman
Emilia Lane, Commoner-2, Female, Human, P:Healer
Jasmine Johnson, Commoner-2, Female, Human, P:Hunter
Cuthbert Belsey, Commoner-2, male, Human, P:Hunter
Victor Monroe, Commoner-1, Male, Human, P:Merchant
Aaron Matthews, Commoner-1, Male, Human, P:Woodcutter
Hannah Williams, Commoner-2, Female, Human, C:Stonemasonry
Jasper Williams, Commoner-1, Male, Human, C:Tailoring
Raunaeril Keaydark, Warrior-2, Male, Elf, P:Woodcutter
Noel Hopewell, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Philip Hopewell, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Vernon Hopewell, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Sylvia Hopewell, Child, female, Human, z.Child
Jane Hopewell, Child, female, Human, z.Child
Marguerite Johnson, Child, female, Human, z.Child
Helen Belsey, Child, female, Human, z.Child
Henry Langsdale, Child, male, Human, z.Child
Myer Langsdale, Child, male, Human, z.Child
Daniel Mills, Child, male, Human, z.Child
Angus Bates, Child, male, Human, z.Child
Carl Mendoza, Child, male, Human, z.Child
Arnold Clarke, Child, male, Human, z.Child
Iva Cropp, Child, female, Human, z.Child
Fanny Costen, Child, female, Human, z.Child
Louise Tier, Child, Female, Human, z.Child
Sinclair Oliver, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Geoffrey Woodley, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Philip Woodley, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Daisy Woodley, Child, Female, Human, z.Child
Augustus Woodley, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Stephen Chenoweth, Child, Male, Human, z.Child
Glarald Keaydark, Child, Male, Elf, z.Child
Zeno Keaydark, Child, Male, Elf, z.Child
Violet Williams, Child, Female, Human, z.Child





*Spoiler*: _Village Resources_ 




7, One Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
2, Two Room Crude Homes, Slightly Furnished
1, Two Room Healer's Home, Slightly Furnished
1, Four Room Crude Home/Store, Slightly Furnished
1, Watchtower
0, One Room Common Home, 41pts remaining
0, Steel Barricade 131 points remaining
1, Well
525.5, Food Reserves (man-days)
2270gp, Wood Reserves
670gp, Stone Reserves
856gp, Steel Reserves
5780gp, Treasure
1274gp, Gear
339 essence, Mana Stones

2, Horses, Mares
1, Horse, Stead
2, Horses, Geldings

1, Crude Forge
2, Standard Blacksmithing Tools
1, Standard Caprentry Tools
1, Standard Stonemasonry Tools
5, Standard Farmer Tools
2, Standard Tanner Tools
2, Standard Cooking Tools
1, Standard Tailoring Tools
2, Standard Alchemy Tools
1, Baking Oven


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## Unlosing Ranger (May 14, 2018)

Waking up in the morning Douglas could scarcely believe that so many people left the place where they were most protected. He knew that others would leave but... leaving the safety of the only place that has the ability to combat what destroyed their kingdom in the first place seems like the height of foolishness. He had no stake in the forces of so called evil and good that this world had. Just his own survival and getting back home. That... would be the main reason that he stayed, even though he wished to go with Thomas to help. 

After having a miserable breakfast Douglas gets to work training with the wooden sword he made hastily yesterday as well as using the mantel to cast and practice with magical cantrips more. He needed to understand this world better if he wanted to get back. That much was obvious. Sharper strikes, more precise mixed in with magic. Constant swings that parted the air with visible sound. That's what he needed right now. His gaze looks upon the make shift sword. He needed a better weapon than the ones found around here...

The only chance he'd find such a weapon is in the dungeon or outside of the village, it's not as if such a thing would just appear after all. Douglas kept to himself and didn't talk to anyone that day focusing only on training, attacking an invisible opponent that constantly attacked his weakpoints forcing him to adapt. The invisible opponent of his doubts. Working himself to the point of exhaustion and continuing to push past that. 

Once he can hardly move any longer he goes to the place he usually rests like a rock after taking quite a few essence/mana stones into himself near 1/3rd of the amount they have, he needed to make himself better and for some reason these stones helped and if they were missing Thomas he needed to be stronger still to have more power. He rests until the next day.

(( 13 mana essence to increase cha to 12
123 mana essence to increase con to 18
203 mana stones left.))


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## Captain Obvious (May 15, 2018)

4 lvls in warlord, 4hd, 4 BAB, +3 to both diplomacy and intimidate.
29900

Charisma to 22. -152 Essence

Haru will take as many of the highest commoners as she can over the next few days under her wing and tutor them the ways of the Warlord. (After charisma boost, 6, before, 4)


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## EvilMoogle (May 18, 2018)

((Sorry about my delays here, I'm a lazy slacker.  Will post for moving on Sunday or Monday depending on how hung over I am Sunday.))

Since arriving at the town Shadow devoted his time to gathering darkish stones and piling them next to the King's house in what might be (very liberally) called a makeshift alter.  From time to time he would stop his work to approach a passing villager in an attempt to spread the word of Him.  The responses varied from cold ("I'm busy") to outright dismissive ("take your blasphemy somewhere else!") to outright, if mild, hostility.

After one of the last, the small gnome picked himself up.  "You idiots, so busy digging in the dirt that you don't even realize what I could do for you all.  A devoted group of worshipers, and I can establish my founding temple here!  Strengthen it and millions will flock here.  Whatever petty task your gods set for us would be shattered before me!"  With a snort Victor Monroe moved to walk off which only serve to infuriate the gnome even more.  With a growl he shouted, "fine, you need a demonstration then?"  He paused and thrust his overly-large staff in the air with one hand, raising the other towards the sky mirroring it, "come forth shadow-of-the-sky, great dragon K'asdfi'cidfjoc'cdocsods'aidsi!"

A small ball of black smoke appeared for a moment between the gnomes hands before quickly dispersing.  Victor paused hi walking, apparently frightened for a moment then laughed. "Where is it?"  He put a hand over his eyes giving an exaggerated peer about the area, "is it an invisible dragon?  A great terror?"  The man continued laughing at Shadow's expense.

A sweat drop crept down his face but Shadow continues smoothly, "no, maybe the great lake shadow the ooze of the ancient depths!"  He swirled the staff about him but this time it doesn't manage even a puff of smoke.  Quieter he mutters to himself "not enough for that either?  Pull it together."

Victor's expression darkened, looking at the gnome.  "I think maybe you need some encouragement to do some actual work, instead of just wasting time playing at divinity."  He turned and began advancing on the little gnome who quickly backed away towards the wall.

Stuttering, Shadow continued without a break, "s- s- shadow of the jungle, Panther Qalike!"  With a thrust of his hand a spray of black smoke flew forward, it vaguely formed a cat-like shape for a moment but it too quickly dispersed.  Victor's amusement clearly gone as he was almost on the gnome, the gnome cried out "Saruzaru!"

One last blast of smoke rose up, this time it solidified into a man-sized gorilla.  It was dressed in a fine suit of plushed velvet that would have fit well in court, though his hands and feet ended in heavy steel gauntlets.  Victor immediately jumped back at the creature's appearance then hesitantly started to move around.  The ape let out a loud roar in the man's face and Victor quickly scrambled backward, tripping over his own feet as he rushed to flee the area.

The gorilla then promptly plopped down sitting on the ground ignoring the gnome and everything else.  The gnome looked at it and sighed, "stupid monkey, could at least make yourself useful."  The ape responded only with a buzzing of its lips in what appeared a rude sound.


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## Unlosing Ranger (Jun 13, 2018)

Waking the next day Douglas decides he needs to know more to ease the burden of the town and himself. He needed to see the Arn about magic, he needed to understand this concept of mana. So Douglas dusts himself off before going to see the Arn Frederick. Douglas knocks on the Arn’s door after waking up. “Arn! Arn! I wish to speak to you.”


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## Vergil (Jun 15, 2018)

Having observed the division in the town and a faction splitting away, Banana once more goes to the King.

"I volunteer to assassinate the necromancer and will retrieve the villagers who have left."


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