>>304647
Would not leaning in closer to the dwarves assist in hearing them? I like their attitude. They had a tribute set up already, are respectful, fully expected your visit and wish to serve.

Personally, I like the idea of being the patron of the dwarves *and* the elves. They are both within gliding range, and on friendly terms with eachother. We should discuss an ambush against the creature in the lake. Some ranged support should ensure a victory with minimal injury.

First order of business however would be graciously accepting the tribute of the dwarves, saying that we met favorably with their allies the elves as well, asking them to speak of themselves, and for news of the area near your cave since your journey started. There is no need to apologize for not arriving at the dwarves when they expected it. We had our reasons (we didn't think they would be friendly to dragons) And actually, we should be somewhat cautious when approaching the dwarves and their tribute. Wait do we even have a hoard yet for them to lust after? I am unsure if they would have any reason to act against us. Perhaps they could assume we did anyway, but still let us not be insulting. Examine the tribute as if you were checking its quality (actually DO check its quality). I would like to have a relationship with the dwarves based upon respect more than worship.

MrTT 2011/05/17(Tue)03:27 No. 304800 ID: 31f32d
File 130562803760.jpg - (165.34KB , 1050x750 , New Map.jpg )

>>304649
Don't say that quite yet. If you have minions, then you can come to negotiate trade. Plus this sounds too much like a demand.

Those guys are just precious, and made such a nice welcome for you. I would spend the night over like you did with the elves, go with the same spiel you gave the elves about not taking things you haven't earned (you will have plenty of chance to earn much as a protector later on). Don't tell them they are the last ones you visited, just say you were sight seeing and are flattered by such a warm welcome.

The demon possesses great magic and even his minions are a threat to you because you AREN'T a magical dragon and he just wants servitude, he might have magics to force such on your mind.

Ideas:
1. Check out the other goblins tribes, that first one was hostile but the rest might be more reasonable.
2. You can ally with the dwarves and swamp elves and tell them you wish to attempt to "civilize" the gnolls and maybe goblins as well.
That means conquering the gnolls / goblins, protecting them from undead, but laying down the law (no kidnapping other races, no eating them, no killing them, return all current captives...). Maybe unification is not feasible, but its worth at least the attempt. The elves and dwarves don't conquer, instead set yourself to be a "revered mother", in a few generations they will end up doing what you will simply out of sheer adoration.

Maybe it is impossible to civilize the gnolls, in which case you need to choose between enslaving like a tyrant or slaying them and unifying the "good races", but it doesn't make sense for such a thing to be true. A tyrant-seer, a good dragon loved by all who is also a conquerer, and conquerer hero so to speak, seem to be the best thing to be.

anyways, at least give the gnolls a chance, a few generations under your tutalage, plus experiments such as finding really nice couples of various races that live a bit far off from civilizations with an open mind and bringing them orphans (don't go abducting children, find genuine orhpans with noone to care for them) of all races to raise together as siblings.

3. Learn magic from the elves! even if you are not naturally gifted in magic, you are still a dragon and your lifespan is long. A magically gifted dragon would be naturally immune to hostile magic, you would have to train and learn to protect yourself from spells (such as the fireball one who singed you).

4. Might as well learn about craftwork from the dwarves, at the least so you could teach minions of your own, a dragon must be knowledgeable of all things.

5. To protect your people from the undead, set scouts and when they come sink their ships by standing on the shore and sniping them with lightening and whatever magic you would have learned since.

6. It might be possible to venture further out, much further, and see what is there beyond the horizon... we don't have to limit ourselves to this area.

Now, the above are all ambitious goals, and time consuming. I am thinking a unified front here.
Kill the lake monster, you could just teach the elves and dwarves that all it takes is giving it cows to earn reprieve, but you might as well start your gnoll conquest with a show of force. Plus if everyone is giving it cows the undead will find out too and then it useless... plus you will be the protector now. The question is whether or not you also take the goblins, or just the gnolls at first. Just gnolls is easier.

I say we let the goblins be for now, spend a generation trying to civilize the gnolls while learning magic from swamp elves and crafts from the dwarves. Relocate your lair to be on the side of the lake on D2 facing the gnolls. Get food from the lake (since you are used to eating from the sea, should be close enough). slay the lake monster, visit the dwarves and elves on occasion for good relationships (perhaps the dwarves can help you build a launch ramp allow you to start gliding from each of the 3 spots). You are essentially the patron of the dwarves, swamp elves, and gnolls. Suggest to the dwarves and swamp elves that you shall be their patron, but rather then annihilating the gnolls you wish to attempt to civilize them, relocate to the suggested spot on the map and keep the undead at bay while learning.

Learning should prioritize (in order).
1. Mind defense magic.
2. Body defense magic.
3. Offensive magic.
4. Other magic
5. Mundane crafts from dwarves.

Have both swamp elves and dwarves send full time teachers for you, spend most your time in gnoll village, visit the swelves (swamp elves) and dwarves on occasion for better relationships.

If you wish to be more ambitious (or perhaps if the goblins are much much nicer to you now and you take pity on them) then you can check on them too... The plan would protect them as a byproduct and might as well make sure they are grateful for it. Have scouts anticipate movements of the undead and engage them on demand. You could also inform the unicorn on your experiment, appeal to its better nature and set a deadline (aka, give me 3 generations and you shall see a marked improvement) and ask for a closer alliance, he and the elves shall be your main healers for any injuries you suffer in combat (of which I expect there shall be many) and could assist in combating the undead... oh, and perhaps teaching some holy magic that can better harm the undead.

by all means accept tribute from the dwarves and inform them you've established friendly relations with the elves

Then I really think you should go and check out that lake lobster thing. Since you destroyed that goblin village the gnolls are no longer being held in check. Who knows what mischief they've been up to.

oh, this is a very important question... are you a lesbian dragon? bisexual dragon? or a straight dragon?

Are you attracted only to other drakes? what about wyrms, wyverns, and serpants?

>>304810
... or are you, you know, one of those dragons who are into the lesser races, as icky as that sounds.

>>304959
I shudder at the mere though...

>>304989
Yeah, none of this until you learned how to properly shapeshift.

Wait, we refused the tribute from the northern elves on the grounds we hadn't earned it yet. Shouldn't we be consistent?

No, that's an actual question. I'm not sure.

>>305049

Yes, we should try to be somewhat consistent with our introductions and behavior.

Lahamu 2011/05/18(Wed)18:06 No. 305134 ID: 383006
File 130576717482.jpg - (395.12KB , 1000x694 , Lahamu Begins to Gather a Horde.jpg )

Lahamu inspected the offering. A finely crafted spear, gold, gems, some ornate bauxite statues and works of art. It was probably close to 500 gold in value. Lahamu's cave was currently empty - she had no horde whatsoever.

She began to tell the dwarves that she had yet to earn their trust, so it wouldn't be proper to accept their tribute, but she could hear grumbling from the locals peering from their strongholds, and the dwarf that had spoken earlier piped up.

"You must accept our tribute, Mighty Lahamu! We have prepared it expressly for you, and it would be a grave insult to our craftsdwarves if you were to refuse.

Seeing as how she was attempting to make the dwarves her ally, she felt it best to accept.

It seemed like she had two major options readily available for future expansion. She could either attempt to forge an alliance between the dwarves and the swamp elves, gather soldiers, and then attack the gnolls and Gnaws Bones with an allied force, or she could go and attack Gnaws Bones alone and attempt to begin her empire with the gnolls.

She was not skilled at all in magic, but could probably learn a little if she spent the time studying, however, she could only learn one type of magic, so she would have to choose wisely. The swamp elves used elemental sorcery, dealing with balance and nature. The gnolls used some form of shaman magic, calling on spirits, and the southern elves used arcane magic, dealing directly with raw forces.

It was something to think about.

Dragons did not mate for pleasure. Dragons mated when they felt ready to create an offspring. Usually, an errant male would impregnate a female, who would raise the child alone. Lahamu had not concept of sexual desire or lust.

So, Lahamu gained 500 gold for her horde, but had no followers. She had to decide whether or not to work with the elves and dwarves, or strike out alone and attempt to defeat Gnaws Bones.

The goblins, she would ignore for now. She had wiped that one village off the map, but there were many, many more spread across that area.

>>305134
Lets go to the gnolls and personally fuck up Gnaws Bones. Start off the empire with a personal feat of badassery. That and it should strengthen your position if you show yourself capable of singlehandedly subduing the gnolls and bringing them under your influence.

Work with the elves and dwarves, and build a reputation as a powerful ally, and everybody will want to ally with you.

Beat gnolls up, take over gnolls, reform gnolls!

Then alliances, make sure to tell the dwarves this is what you are going to do, and tell the elves after you do it.

I think my previous suggestion suffered from TL:DR
The two are not mutually exclusive. Ally with the dwarves and elves, but tell them you wish to attempt to civilize the gnolls (you really do) rather then merely exterminate them. then conquer the gnolls yourself and civilize them.

Magic: learn more about what those 3 kinds entail (and if there are any other kinds) before comitting

Hmm. If we kill Gnaws Bones alone then the Gnolls would surely yield to our superiority, rather than claim that we only one due to support from allies. Yes, let us attempt the kill on our own. The foe is not stronger than us. We can do it.

There is a long post about magic in the discussion thread for the quest. Also, MRTT, I am not ignoring your long, well-planned post with the excellent map, but the quest moves incrementally. Thinking big and posting long term plans is awesome and encouraged, but the next update will usually be the next immediate, small step.

Lahamu 2011/05/20(Fri)16:04 No. 305560 ID: 383006
File 130593264886.jpg - (394.53KB , 1000x694 , Lahamu Prepares to Attack.jpg )

Lahamu flew from her perch, ready to defeat Gnaws Bones singlehandedly and begin her subjugation of the gnolls. Before she left, she told the Dwarves that they should contact the swamp elves. She wished to have them to assist her together. She was going to destroy Gnaws Bones.

She glided across the lake, landing at the sacrifice point. Firing lightning blindly into the murky depths would accomplish nothing, and she knew of no other way to lure him out. It would be best to come up with a plan. Currently, the cages were empty and there were no gnolls in sight.

Be on guard, just in case he attempts a sneak attack.

>>305560
The cages need to be filled with something for it to snack on then. We need to snag some livestock so we can lure it out.

>>305567
This seems reasonable.

>>305564
Yes, lure him out...
But maybe we should think of some way to detain Gnaws Bones without killing him. I mean, he's no more, than a humongous, mentally andicapped bully with no regard for human/elven/etc lives...

>>305630
If a dog is rabid, put it down.

>>305630
He is a threat to our allies, and we've already seen that he is really dumb. Let's not talk to the violent idiot that is attacking our friends.

>>305630
What purpose would that serve? We have no use for a huge braindead lobster that would be a drain of resources. Kill it, boil it and have a feast with the gnolls instead.

Instead of grabbing livestock, we could just wait around until his feeding time, then challenge him. (We should make sure to stand a fair distance away when doing so, as we likely have the better ranged attack.) If we want to convince the gnolls not to go around attacking people, doing a proper challenge rather than some kind of sneak attack would be a good start at that. (That and we don't have much to gain from ambushing rather than directly challenging).

Challenge properly, but do so ahead of schedule.
Try rounding up some wild game for the cages.

Hopefully it's vulnerable to lightning, since it was billed as a "good at killing large things" attack when we chose it. If you can get it while it's in the water it's fried (according to Bioshock and innumerable first person shooters anyway).

Say, that brings up a few questions. What is Lahamu's diet and how much of it does she need? Is it a few hundred pounds of meat a week, or is she fueled by ambient magic and sunlight and the whispered dreams of orphans?
And is Lammy immune to electricity?

why make a proper challenge? its a dumb animal and there are no witnesses...
Ambush it and slay it. If you can, try to draw it out of the way... put most of the cattle away from the water so it has to come out of it to reach them. Then jump it when its feeding and on dry land.

Gathering livestock is redundant when he already comes up to the surface at regular intervals to be fed by the gnolls. No point putting in the effort to catch or steal livestock to do something that would happen anyway.
Challenging Gnaws Bones at his feeding time then would:
A) Show your strength to the gnolls (presumably a lot of them are there when they feed him)
B) Set an example for the gnolls of not ambushing neutral people (we are still trying to get the gnolls to ally with the elves/dwarfs, right?)
C) Cost you little. Gnaws Bones does not seem to have any ranged attacks, so if he stays in the water we can shoot at him until he comes out.

Hey, where the hell are the Gnolls anyway? They aren't off attacking the elves are they?

>>305875

that would seem a logical inference

head over to the swamp elves and see what's going on

Lahamu 2011/05/23(Mon)17:19 No. 306317 ID: 383006
File 130619638078.jpg - (408.85KB , 1000x694 , Lahamu Confronts Gnaws Bones.jpg )

Lahamu spent a little time gathering some wild game to lure Gnaws Bones out of the water. She did not think it would know if there was food far from the traditional spot, and wanted to be close enough to actually hit it with her breath weapon. Soon enough, it emerged from the lake, water streaming from its scored, pitted carapace.

"Salt dragon brings food for Gnaws Bones for tributes is good." it rasped in its bucket-of-metal-down-a-stairway voice.

Say; I challenge you to mortal combat, say this with lightning, to his face.

He is likely to be a dishonorable crustacean, zap him and do not go into the water, also what happens to water when live current goes through?

Remember it is the current that kills things. You don't need to char grill with storm breath.

>>306317
Zap the shit out of that lobster. Then invite your new subjects to a feat of boiled lobster with butter. Whatever you do don't get into the water. Force him up on land of just zap the fucker in the water.

I would wait until it comes to shore to eat and THEN hit it in the face with lightening... Closer to land the better. Say "yes, tribute for you".
Actually, if it opens its mouth wide enough you might be able to shot lightening into its soft unprotected mouth.
If lightening is not very effective then attack it physically, beware those giant claws. keep it on the ground.

>>306317
Step 1: Lightning breath
Step 2: Fireworks
Step 3: Dinner

>>306323

This is sound advice

Agreeing with sudden lighting bolt to the face, but charge and grab him as well. If he escapes deep beneath the water alive you won't be able to finish him off. But if you get a hold of him you can blast him to hell no matter what he does.

Lahamu 2011/05/23(Mon)18:54 No. 306338 ID: 383006
File 130620209847.jpg - (442.77KB , 1000x694 , Gnaws Bones Unleashes His Attack.jpg )

Lahamu did not waste time with words - she backed away, and as soon as it reached the shore, she fired her lightning breath, striking the creature in the chest. She thought it was too far away to do anything whatsoever, but then its massive claw snapped shut. She felt a physical blow slam into her body, and she staggered dizzy and disoriented and it rapidly approached her, it's long claw snapping as it screamed in rage.

Keep moving and keep moving quickly, blasting it with your lightning breath while getting closer and closer, if you can grab it's weapon arms do so and then bite it's fucking head off, really tear into it's neck, maybe bite it's neck and blast it's brainmeats out with your lightning breath.

>>306338
What the hell did his claw do to you?!? It acts at a distance so you need to take that out right away. Blast him with a wide shot of lightning to give you enough cover and distraction to charge him without taking a direct shot to the head. Go right for his arm and rip off that damn claw!

MOTHERFUCKING KAIJU PISTOL SHRIMP

Lahamu 2011/05/23(Mon)20:22 No. 306346 ID: 383006
File 130620735277.jpg - (427.10KB , 1000x694 , Lahamu is Forced to Retreat.jpg )

Lahamu blasted Gnaws Bones as he charged, but she was still dizzy and disoriented as he closed into melee with her. They grappled, slashing and tearing at one another with vicious claws and fangs. Lahamu unsuccessfully attempted to disable Gnaws Bones claws, and as he tore into her flesh, she realized that he was getting the better of her, and using a blast of lightning to force him back, retreated. He was seriously injured as well, although not to the extent she was, and had no desire to pursue her.

Shying away from the water, she retreated south, avoiding the gnoll villages. For the first time in her life, Lahamu tasted defeat. And her own blood. She knew she could have won. He was slightly stronger and tougher than her, but she could have won. At least she wasn't permanently injured, and could still fly, but she would need to rest.

She carefully plotted her next move.

ouch, that hurt. Lets put this down as a learning experience. Losers come in two kinds, those who give up when they fail once, and those who die. Winners just have painful learning experiences...
Heal, rest, and try again with a different tactic.
Perhaps poisoned cows next time, lie in wait in hiding, get elf wizards to confound him as they do normally, drop something heavy and sharp on it from high above, and/or aim for the claw first to prevent his snap attack or the face for maximum damage. Or get an enchantment cast on you before the fight by the elves to protect against his claw air pressure attack.

Ok, we need healing... you can just rest where you are, do you think a night of rest at this very spot would heal much? You could also fly back to the elves or to the unicorn.
You told the elves and dwarves to be ready to assist you before flying off to here, if so it might be prudent to stop them from doing anything just yet, so you can't afford to spend too many days resting here. Also if they see you in current condition which might not look too impressive.

I am thinking, rest now for one night. in the morning clean yourself and return to the elves to tell them to hold on the attack. that the fight was a draw leaving both of you injured, but neither permanently injured. Healing and a better plan of attack is needed.

>>306346
Victory cam still be won, his ranged attack is disrupted, so he can't get at you from air. So strafe the fucker with lightning from air.

Well that sucked.

We don't want to get our dreams eaten again. Shame the dream-eating lady doesn't accept cash.

I guess you should just mope on home to nurse your wounds, unless there's a reason not to.

I say head back to the swamp elves. They can probably help you heal and are the most sympathetic to you.

But first see if you can find a gnoll. A lone one that even now is no match for you. Declare to it you may have been bested by it's leader but soon all of them will have your lord Krazzek as their master. Then blast lightning near it and fly away.

A little misdirection goes a long way, after all.

I'm torn between going to the Swamp Elves and allowing them to see us in our bloodied state and not entirely sure of their ability to heal us, or going to the unicorn, leaving the swamp elves unattended and at risk of attack. Granted at least if we went back to the unicorn they wouldn't yell at us again since we had just attacked something evil.

Hmm. We can quickly glide over to the unicorn from the mountain next to us, then return to the mountain to glide back to the swamp elves and check on them. That seems optimal.

I think we should go to the swamp elves and tell them that if they ever plan to go against the gnolls, now is the time to strike. Gnaws Bones is their major protection against the elves, and he is injured, so he may be easier to fight. The elves will likely be grateful of this and possibly be able to heal you faster.

>>306461
he might still sink their boats though, too risky.
And that would not be an impressive and decisive victory. I say lick your wounds, swallow pride, get healing from elves and try again later. An eventual victory one on one vs the kaiju pistol shrimp would solidify your claim to those 3 peoples. Being a heavily injured distraction while the wipe out the gnolls will not. AND they will have to exterminate the gnolls (which you could have done easily anyways) because gnawed bones WILL heal. And when it does, without gnolls feeding it, it will get more aggressively predatory and you will have to kill it anyways.

I thought he would just throw boulders if he had a ranged attack. Not use magic to make pistol-shrimpery work in air. I think we are lucky he wasn't a giant mantis shrimp though. Then he would have just ran up and punched out head off.

How often can we use our breath attack when we are not stunned?

>>306548
I didn't even realize he was one...
He probably didn't "use magic", rather whatever magic made him into a kaiju also make it work... kinda like how Lahamu is shooting coherent lightening without "using magic"