We haven't gone far from the gnome, right? It feels like a waste to kill and not get any answers after losing an eye...

>>295623
>>Please be more clear what you are being so negative about...

>>295624
That's an excellent point. I hoist the rat-lady-person-thing onto my back and make my way back to the gnome, dropping the body in front of him.

He jumps a bit in surprise.

"The hell is that!?"

"I was hoping you could tell me?"

He grunts, picking her up and placing her on a thankfully empty table.
"She's glowing." he said, opening her eyelids with a new set of limbs much smaller and more delicate than the legs. "Her meat is likely mutagenic, along with the rest of her. BLood, saliva, bodily fluids, everything. But to get any sort of effect... You'd need to eat pretty much everything but the bone." he says. "Bone and skin. Everything else must be eaten."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"It's pretty simple. You'll gain something of the mutations she has."

What.

"You mean..."

"The claws are the most obvious, but she could have any number of other abilities as well."

"..."

>>296220
Do it.

>>If you suggest to feed upon the corpse of a mutated human, please roll 1d10. This will determine from a list I will keep secret what the mutation will be, by average.

rolled 5 = 5

---

Right.

rolled 3 = 3

---

We can't make a habit of this though.

rolled 2 = 2

---

>>296220
Let's do it.

rolled 3 = 3

---

Her powers and rank clothing are yours... All yours...

What? No! We don't eat potential party members!

>>296272
Seconded

rolled 10 = 10

---

EAT THEM ALLLLLLL

rolled 9 = 9

---

I think it might be a good idea to get as powerful as possible early on.

DON'T DO IT.

She knows more of this place than any of you. Wait until she's gained consciousness, then ask questions, threaten/torture her if she refuses to answer. You're clearly stronger, she'll most likely won't put up resistance.

Also, ask the gnome if he can make you a mechanical eye. Think of the possibilities, you could remove the eye, stick it on something, and have it record, like a cam, or have it transmit what it "sees" to your brain,being able to zoom in on far targets, night vision. If he says he can actually do that, tell him to make more than one, in case you're putting one in some place for keeping an eye on (pun unintended), or the enemy manages to pluck one out, so you can just stick another one in.

what's wrong with you guys? Eating the potential love interest ain't right man. At the very least extract whatever information you can before doing this, seeing as we most likely won't get that info if we do eat her now.

Oh alright, question her first to see if can actually answer any questions. Like does she attack everyone on sight.

>>296272
>>296286
>>296374
ITT furries make a thinly veiled attempt at having sex with an insane, horribly mutated monster

>>Average roll of 5 stored. Preferred action stored for after this interaction, as it is not time sensitive.

>Potential love interest
>potential party members
What.

>Questioning
There we go.

The gnome trusses her up far more securely, and we wait for her to awaken. It doesn't take long at all.
Her eyes open slowly, then they go wide as she attempts to move away rapidly, hissing at us angrily and staring.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't think we'll be getting anything out of her." the gnome says simply as he watches her screech at us. "It's fairly common for people to lose their minds when they mutate. The changes prove to be too much. Damage the mind..."

Still, you guys wanted me to talk to her. What should I say?

>>296419
Well a name would defiantly be a good start.
Also why she attacked you, supplies and things to run away from.

>>296419
Who are you?
Who were you? (Her occupation, social status, etc before she was sent here)
How long have you been down here?
Why were you following me?
How well do you know this place?
What do you know of this place?
What kinds of mutations do you have?
Why were you thrown down here?

And finally, would you like to tag along with me?

Think about it, Mutated Guy + Mutated Chick = MUTATED BABBY Besides, the two of you have some stuff in common: did something that was bad enough to be sent here, learn to adapt to mutations, surviving in this shithole...and your chances of getting it on with a normal human is very few, after being marked as more than a threat by society. If that doesn't convince you, think of the child: It'll have cool traits from birth, and will no doubt become a living legend when they grow up, to be forever immortalized in history books.

>>296450

>Well a name would defiantly be a good start.
>Also why she attacked you, supplies and things to run away from.
>Who were you? (Her occupation, social status, etc before she was sent here)
>How long have you been down here?
>Why were you following me?
>How well do you know this place?
>What do you know of this place?
>What kinds of mutations do you have?
>Why were you thrown down here?

Every time I try to ask something, all I get in return, or as an interruption, is spitting, howling, screeching, or screaming. She almost bites me, at one point.

The Gnome even tries sedating her with a selection of chemicals... Which doesn't really help much but make the incoherence a bit slower and softer.

Sorry, weird, creepy headvoices. I did my criminal best.

>>296796
Damn. Well... Try and make it quick and painless, at least.

Make it quick, I guess. Painless may be asking too much all things considered.

>>296796
Damn, let her rest for a while...a day or two probably. If there's really no way to get her to talk, eat her.

Apologize, put her down, eat.

Omnomnomnomnomnom

>>296898
>>296797
>>296798
>>296814
I drag her out to the main cavern and slay her with my blade. One good chop, and off with her head. I take her back to the Gnome, and we work together on the grisly task of preparing my meal.

...

It is done.
I have fed upon the flesh of the clawed one, and... I feel strange. Unstable. The feeling fades, but remains in the back of my mind, a constant reminder of yet another sin to tack onto my long list. Cannabilism. But it is necessary. If I am to survive here, at any rate...

Well, with that done, I am left with her bones and her claws. I leave them with the Gnome for storage.

Now, where should I go? What should I do?
I could go down the cavern where I found the clawed woman? Or the one with the water nearby? Is there anything I should do with the bones, now?

Go to the one with water, watch out for unexpected mutations.

You could make a necklace :3

>>297636
... No unexpected mutations. Hm. I make my way through the smaller cave near the water hole, looking around. Odd, there's more light in this tunnel. It's lit by crystals that peek through the walls, though it's not a blue glow. Purple, green, red... There are many different colors. I've seen these crystals in upper-class homes and even jewelery - when cut, some of the glow is lost, but they way they sparkle in any light really satisfies those jackdaws in the upper class. We boys would mine them up and keep the ones too small to cut as a sorta light source, while selling the bigger ones off for money.

Wasn't entirely legal, but hey.

It's a long, long tunnel. I can feel it twisting about as I walk it.

>> New area: Crystal-light Caverns <<

I emerge into a long, tall, wide tube, flanked with smaller tunnels, ending with another tunnel away. These tunnels have ramshackle doors, with lights above each - and seem scaled for someone smaller than myself. About maybe half my size, I'd say. And they look definitely hewn by tools.

Well, shit, did I just walk into a goblin town?

>>298313
Fall back. See if you can't break off a crystal to replace your mushroom-torch.

>>298316
Why would we need to return? We've got nothing else to do. I support the mushroom replacement idea, but keep advancing, see if you can find some of those things and ask for their leader. An ally would be nice, especially in a place like this.

>>298414
And remember, keep on the lookout for magical unicorns who will carry us around and hand feed us grapes.

>>298313
What do you know about goblins? Can you deal with them? Are they territorial? Mindless?

If they're likely to attack you, perhaps we should fall back so we don't get swarmed, and try the other path.

>>298446
No, that's what we'll pretend to do. Then we stab it in the back.

>>298448
Goblins are generally annoying little bastards what think everything belongs to them.

No, seriously. They know the world is theirs, the problem is that these tall motherfuckers stole most of it. From their perspective, anyway. They rob, kill, steal, and are just basically wretched little bastards.

In terms of abilities? They're about as strong as their size implies, but there's a lot of them, usually. Get enough together and they get worked up into a frenzy. I've heard stories about the frenzied ones being capable of exploding like powder kegs, but... Never seen it myself. While I'm ruminating, I fall back into the tunnel and tear one of the crystals from the wall, about the size of my fist and easy to hold. Now, most goblins will leave you alone if you bribe 'em, but I don't have anything on me, and there looks to be a lot of them.

Oh, and no, never do any of them take charge of the pack. It's more like they sorta all decide at once to do something, especially in a frenzy. They work well together, so even fighting three or more is a pain solo. Even so... Most goblin towns have a simply massive hoard hidden away somewhere. God only knows what's in there, eh?

They threw you down here to try and kill a few of those before they climb to the surface. This means that some of them know a way to the surface probably, but now is not the time to try and ask questions. Retreat and look for something more useful to do or safer to explore. Maybe even consider a bit of practice swinging this huge sword you've got, something slashing could be good for decapitating goblins down here and it's all you've got right now anyway.

>>298568
So if we get some particularly nice combat mutations, or have one good stealth mutation... we could get us some loot from here. Something to remember for later, maybe.

Let's go back and check out the other path- where we first encountered the crazed mutant.

>>298714
This.

>>298714
>>298848
>>298610
Well, y'all actually agreed for once! Heh, sounds like a good idea. I'm none too keen on charging into a goblin town alone and... relatively unarmed. So I'm gonna retreat f'now.

I make my way up the long passage, taking long, easy strides - But not long ones. There's a certain way to walk where you let the weight of your feet do the work, and that's that I'm doing. Takes a bit, but it saves me effort and noise.

>> Area: Central Pit <<

Well, here I am. This place, now lit much better by my glowcrystal, is smaller than I thought - The roof is not all that high, maybe like a chapel instead of a rocky sky I had thought it previous.

I take a turn down the larger passage, the one dimpled with tiny holes and marks. Distantly, I hear dripping and the sounds of water, and it grows closer as I emerge, eventually, to a large cavern. Holding up the crystal...

I have found myself in a large system of underground rivers, each one with their own little 'pipe' and tunnel. There are five or six rivers that feed into a larger one that flanks my current path, making it grow larger as I follow it - And I realize that both sides of my path have been eroded away, and I'm walking on a fifteen foot wide walkway.On one side, a rushing river, on the other... A cliff. Ahead of me is a series of pools that have calcified, making a long, shallow sort of stairway up to another opening - this one seemingly purposely hewn. The walkway turns sharply after that to my left, and down.

>> New Area: Dribbling Deeps <<

>>taking long, easy strides - But not long ones.
>>taking easy strides - But not long ones.

>>Herp.

>>299077
If it's hewn, then perhaps this is an outpost- the gnome did say there were others down here, right? Let's check it out. But keep an eye out for trouble.

>>299077
>I make my way up the long passage, taking long, easy strides - But not long ones. There's a certain way to walk where you let the weight of your feet do the work, and that's that I'm doing. Takes a bit, but it saves me effort and noise.
Check your legs for mutations, something sounds off about this line.

Enter water, get webbed feet.

>>299130
If you've ever read Discworld, he's talking about the kind of walk Vimes mentions a beat cop uses.
Still, check your legs.

@Update O!JSN8X5.Us. 2011/04/25(Mon)19:26 No. 299266 ID: 4a3736
File 130378478314.jpg - (57.51KB , 600x450 , Mhar'ket.jpg )

>>299089
Righto.
I make my way up the steps -
>>299169
Avoiding the water, thank you very much, and stop in front of the door to check over my legs. Nothing odd - I've been using this walk for ages, since half the time I don't got the horse, and skipping town is a lot easier when you can walk an' sleep at the same time.

Long days and long nights. The Kingdom is real nice, when it comes to the weather. It rains during the spring and then intermittently, always snows during winter... you can pract'ly setcher clock to it. Wonderful stuff. I don't much miss it, though. The land was really flat, so it was windy as hell - Wind chill was nasty in chain, I tell you what.

My mind returning to the present, I walk up to the door... and what the hey.

I knock.

"It is open." comes the reply.

Ha! So the Gnome isn't the only bastard what lives here. And is still sane.

I push open the door to find a man facing me, a veil over his nose and mouth, who nods as I enter. He stands behind a counter, an array of bottles behind him. Each of them glow a soft blue, and it's the only lighting in the shop - casting the whole place in a weird, ambient werelight.

"I like the lightin'. Reeeaaaal spooky."

All I get in reply is a stare. The man gestures me forth, and I walk to the counter.

"Thank you." he replies. "I am Mhar'ket. And this is my store."

"Down here? A store?"

"Not an everyday vending location, for certain. But it is not everyday vending I do, either. I exchange distilled remains for metal."

"For... metal."

"Metal." he replies, enunciating the word. He holds up his hand, and I immediately get why.

"You..."

"I feed upon the metal, and it, in turn, augments my being. Since I do not desire to change further, I distill the bodies of those I slay for their precious tools and armor... and offer them for more precious metal."

"...I see. Going prices?"

"Twenty pounds for a single bottle at random. Thirty five pounds to choose."

"Mmmn. Gaurenteed to work?"

"Inasmuch as you are to develop a mutation, yes. I cannot gaurentee beneficial ones, nor can I possibly guess or remember all of the mutations of all of these poor idiots."

Aaaand I realize it would probably be a bad idea to try and eat THIS guy, or steal from him. I bet about a fourth or more of that wall is others who've tried.

"So... Buying?" he asks.

>>299266
Seems like a good place to drop off the piles of useless armour and so on we'll get as we slog these dungeons. Ask him if he buys corpses to 'distill', and tell him we don't have any metal now, but we'll come back when we find some.

>>299266
Too bad the crazy mutie didn't have any metal on her. What are our current metal supplies? Just the sword and armor, I presume?

Well, I guess we've got all we need here. Thank him, get out, jump or walk across the river, and climb that cliff.

>>299305
"Do you buy corpses to 'distill'?" I ask.

"No. I have no reason to purchase things - only sell them. I would be happy to distill bodies for you, however, at the price of ten pounds of metal."

Ah. Well, I suppose that makes sense.

>>299343
Ayuh. Goblins looove their metal, though, thinking on it. Something strikes me, though...

"So, what sorta things live down in there?" I ask, pointing my thumb over my shoulder.

"Mostly water-dwelling beasts. The lands below here are a vast network of pools connected by underwater tunnels, and communities of bokkobs on the surface."

Water goblins! Great.

"However, someone recently passed this way - an individual with webbed hands, and gilled neck. She did not seem overly strong, more... finessed." he says. "And she seemed to have mental capabilities, as well."

I nod.
"You sell anything else?"

"Just the potions." he says. "And I have told you their price."

Fantastic. One way has bokkobs - a sight easier to kill than gobbies, mind, but still annoying little fuckers - the other way, goblins.

I don't need to climb down the cliff - too smooth, anyway - there's a path right out this door.

"However, as a first time visitor, have this, free of charge." he says, pushing forth a vial of brightly glowing water. "It is your choice to drink or not - and there is no telling what will happen."

I snatch up the bottle with a smile and a nod of gratitude.

So. What shall it be?

>Should I drink the glowing water, knowing the mutation could be anything?
>Should I press on into the Dribbling Deeps?
>When or if I meet this mystery woman, should I have a plan in place?

>>299367
Drink the potion, we got gypped with the rat girl and I want to make up for it.

I forget, are there any other paths we haven't explored besides the goblin and water goblin towns?

>>299367
Drink it, Whats the worst that can happen :D

>>299367
Drink it. Also let's continue along the watery route. As for the mystery woman... well, ask him if she was crazy. If she is rational, we can talk to her. She may know things about this place, and we can uh... well, I dunno what we could say to her in exchange. I guess talk is cheap, regardless, and the more people we know down here the better.

>>299377
>>299383
>>299395
I look back in my memory, calling up a mental map of the central pit area.... Huh. Seems that this, the gobbie town, and the gnome's hideaway are the only areas that branch off there. It's likely there are further branches in the goblin town and here...

As for the girl, the shopkeep seems to have talked to her anyway - how else would he know about her having mental faculties?

So the plan is to move on into the Deeps, here? Sounds good to me. Down the hatch!

The water tastes rather nice on the way down. And... woah, there's that feeling of instability again.


>>MUTATION! Roll 2d10 to determine mutations!

>>You are gaining two instead of one due to a recent mutation.

rolled 1, 6 = 7

---

Mutations are my favorite mutations

rolled 6, 2 = 8

---

>>299399
Mutations are go!

rolled 7, 6 = 13

---

>>299399
Rollan

rolled 4, 3 = 7

---

>>299399
Once you've settled down and determined your new mutations, head on down to the water goblin village.

>>MUTATION NUMBER CHOSEN: 1 <<
>First's post's mutation set has been chosen!<

Woahokaythisisdifferent.

I feel real changes ripple over my body, and for the first time, pain with them. I hunker over as I feel flesh split along my arms, letting out a cry of pain as long plates of bone rise from my arms, like dull blades along their sides, sticking out a few inches. Along the front of my legs, too, and my chest...

In moments, the pain is over, my blood scabbing over the 'wounds' instantly. I touch the external bone, and... it's numb. It seems I've grown long ridges from my arms, legs, and ribs, which might turn away some blows from slashing weapons. Handy.

>>Mutation discovered: + Bone Armor 1

But I'm not done yet.

More changes shock my body, on my neck and the sides of my chest. My skin splits strangely, and I feel new tubes and organs forming inside me. I can feel these new additions flex uselessly in the open air.

>>Mutation discovered: + Gills 1

Gills. Huh.

Standing up, I shake my head. Wow. So that's what it feels like...

>>299411

Taking stock of my new self, walking around, I find my new 'armor' inhibits my movements only slightly. Breathing is fine, despite the six bone ridges on my chest. I thank the man, pick up the light crystal, and make my way down the path I'd been walking before.

He's mostly right. The path I walk snakes its way through chamber after chamber of water, like the area was once full of bubbles before a flood. Each chamber is spherical, and each has at least one hovel inside, with a crystal sitting nearby. Each chamber's also half-full of water. I count five, each with increasing numbers of hovels, (1, 3, 5, 7, 9...) before I reach the largest chamber, a huge sphere with a small sea of stars visible beneath the murky depths. No sign of the fishy lady just yet... and I think the bokkobs are asleep.

Look for tunnels.

>>299428
Test out how your gills work. Best to do it while you're not in a stressful situation. Also, try out swinging your weapon around in the water. You'll probably have to fight underwater at some point.

>>299444
I carefully step into the water.

I'm heavy. That's the feeling that permeates everything else. Slow, hard to manoeuvre. Swinging my weapon is difficult - if anything, I'd almost prefer to fight barehanded.

As if that wasn't enough, these new gills, while effective, are inefficient - I can breathe in here, but not as well as above. It's like I'm breathing through a straw...

>>299443
Looking around the large cavern, I spot three tunnels, one leading to my left, one dead ahead, one to my right.

The central one has a glowing crystal encased in some filmy substance that makes it neutrally buoyant.

My vision and hearing are also distorted down here...Combat would be a nightmare.

>>300179
Well we can't drown now, which is good. On the other hand, we're basically defenseless underwater. So, we should probably avoid swimming around too much.

Let's keep going along the dry pathway.

>>300179
Check crystal in the middle one.

>>300188
I swim out to the crystal. The film surrounding it is like mucus, probably a secretion of a local beast or some sort. The path it lights seems to lead to an area lit by flickering fire. I have seen that sort of light many times before from a distance.

>>300185

This is the end of the line, bub.

...Do I hear movement in the water? It might just be my imagination...

Go towards the flickering fire, but look around to see if you can see where the sound's coming from.

>>300973
SURFACE SURFACE SURFACE

We found an egg, guys. And it's mother isn't pleased with our presence. SWIM THE FUCK OUT OF THERE

@Update O!JSN8X5.Us. 2011/05/02(Mon)13:56 No. 300994 ID: e41ad5
File 130436978297.jpg - (517.40KB , 750x938 , MegabeastUnderwater.jpg )

rolled 60, 72, 77 = 209

---

Wait, what? An egg?

I hastily turn and begin to swim for 'shore', even as I hear the sound move closer. THe thing about water - You hear sounds from everywhere pretty much the same. It's disorienting as fu-

Something wraps tightly around my ankle. Then another. Then my knee. I turn to sever it...

And oh fuck, I hate when you fuckers are right. It's fucking huge, but it only takes up about an eighth of the pool - and I realize now that what I thought were Bokkob holes are sized just right for it to move through.

Its jaws come undone, and it begins to pull me in.

((COMBAT INITIATED. >>294559 for combat rules. Rolling for next set of enemy actions.))

rolled 60 = 60

---

>>300994
It grabbing you is not a big deal, so long as you can avoid getting bitten. Jam your sword into its eye.

rolled 89 = 89

---

Hmm... If the eyes are out of reach, try stabbing it through the bottom of its jaw.

rolled 24 = 24

---

>>300994
IT'S HUGE! THAT MEANS IT HAS HUGE GUTS!
RIP AND TEAR!

rolled 96 = 96

---

Fuck, that thing's a lot bigger than us, is more accustomed to fighting in water, and in a fury right now...we can't win this. Besides, it got the first move. Cut those tentacles and keep swimming.

rolled 99 = 99

---

(( 93 = Supernatually good success! ))
I can feel it pulling me in. Motherfucker, I'm not dying here! I swing my blade - and the hinderance of water seems to simply slip away, as it hews through two tentacles in a single swipe. It makes it halfway through the last, which is much sturdier than the others...

And sticks. The other two limbs retract into the body, and the tentacle still around me twitches, reeling me in and holding my blade. I watch massive jaws gape wide to accept me. But I'm not about to let it eat me. Drake isn't gonna get eaten by a fucking FISH!

>>301035
(( 89 = Supernaturally good success! ))

I scream into the water, a strange sensation of water filling my lungs. My feet lash out against the jaw - a movement the creature does not suspect - and this rebounds me away from the creature, pulling the tentacle taut and swinging me up. I tear the sword from the wound it had been stuck in, and...

>>301006
(( 60 = rough success ))
slam the blade into its eye just as it pulls me away. Glowing blue liquid clouds the water... But it's not done yet, ripping me away with the blade trapped in its eye.

>>301036
And even as I pull and scratch at the tentacle, I am hauled into the jaws of the beast, which close behind me.

Muscles below me tense...

I have bare seconds to act, disarmed and in the maw of the monster. What should I do?

(( Rolling for the single action of the Beast.

Uh oh,
Quick jab your blade or horns or anythinh up through its brain!

rolled 34 = 34

---

>>304741
>99
Oh well, quest over I guess.

I will roll anyway for about the only thing we can do- punch the roof of its mouth. Aim for a soft section.

rolled 63 = 63

---

It's about to try and use it's tongue to force you down it's throat, so sink your claws and teeth if you have to into it's tongue and hold on for dear life.

rolled 51 = 51

---

>>304762
(( Automatic 25 - simple failure ))
I rear forth my head, slamming up my backswept horns - and I misjudge the distance to the roof. I almost flip-
>>304781
(( 34 - near success ))

I send a fist forth, but the roof of the maw is not soft at all - it seems like its used to swallowing things whole. I fall back onto the the tongue.
>>304783
(( 63 - Success ))
But the tongue is soft and pliable - I bite and hold on tightly as it tries to swallow me. Again and again, it slams me into the bony roof, trying to crush me - but the size difference is working against it, the tongue flexing around me like a too-soft cushion.

(( 99 - Incredible success ))

... Until some musculature within the tongue's structure pushes me away from my firmly gripped chunk, and in I go, into the darkness...
The stomach is barely large enough to hold me. I can feel the stomach acids working at my armor and dripping inside my boots.

I don't have much time - though I can feel several objects in here with me that likely have gone undigested.

Lamely, I spit out the chunk of tongue I bit off. The glow from the flesh dimly lights up the area, and I can see an iron buckler that's been etched by time and a similarily worn dagger.

rolled 7 = 7

---

Get dagger, start cutting into the side of the stomach. Dig your way out!

>>304893
>7
...

rolled 13 = 13

---

...The thick walls of the stomach leave the knife too short to cleave it properly and the knife got stuck. Grab the buckler and smash where the blade was, following up the initial stab with a barrage of force to puncture it through and start a hole that we tear it open from.

>>304899
...Ok, someone else take it from here.

rolled 6 = 6

---

rolled 92 = 92

---

Grab that dagger with both hands and shove it as hard as you can.

rolled 33 = 33

---

Instead of stabbing into the stomach, try to score a line through the lining and cut into the weakened area. Cutting shallowly should be able to negate the thickness of the stomach.

I immediately take up the knife - and the handle sizzles against my flesh. It hurts, but it doesn't last - or did it go numb? No time to care! I bring it high and hack at the wall of the stomach. The first and second strike do little, and I think of picking up the sheild and using the blade as a sledge... But then I smile. Instead of cutting, I take shallow cuts in a V, and then rear back and stab with everything I have at the crotch of the symbol. The walls shake with the creature's roar, and I pull the blade free. THe shallow cuts I made draw the acid rolling down the belly into the hole, emptying it into the torso cavity of the beast.

Just as planned.

Now I rip and tear at the hole with the blade in my teeth. I can feel the acid on my face, in my hair, hissing as it digests me, but still I fight, tearing it wide.

My efforts see a hole about as wide as my shoulders, and I snatch up the metal buckler and leap through before it closes itself... Swimming out and cutting through another dermal layer before I am finally free. So much blood fills the water that I can hardly see or tell which way is up. But I keep on swimming, and make it to shore, the sudden weight of not being submerged driving me to the ground for a moment.

I'm alive.

I'm... alive!

I roll on my back and laugh at the cavern ceiling like a madman, my whole face aching like my own skin is too tight.

"I'm alive, you fuckers!" I announce to the cave. There is no reply.

What do I do now? Where do I go?

>>304951
Check yourself. How much did the acid damage you?

Okay, now that your out of immediate danger you may want to find a shallow pool to wash off some of that acid. Plus soaking in water is known to help with burns as well.

>>304951
Find somewhere to recover, you've taken a ton of damage.

>>304997
>>304999
>>305000
I pick up my new weapons, striding away from the pool as tentacles lash up at me. I ignore the others and almost walk all the way to the shop, using one of those to splash my face. It hurts, but the tightness goes away, and after a bit, I'm able to check the damages.

My adrenelin must have really been something else. My hair's gone, entirely - my scalp pitted by the acid. My face is similarily deformed, m my lips partially eaten away by the acids... I look hideous. Monstrous. The hornsI have are slightly etched, but otherwise undamaged. I wash my feet, too, finding them only slightly harmed. My hands have burn marks upon them where I grasped the dagger.

Yet, I find, these wounds and deformities don't even register as anything but possible weak locations for an enemy attack. Do I already care so little for the land above that losing my face is such a triviality? It feels strange, like I only just now realized I've lost something I once deemed important. I rise from my position, only to feel a pressure on the back of my neck, sharp, and cold.

"Speak." says an imperious female voice behind me. "Speak if you can understand me, and still form words."

>>305148
sup

"Is that a blade or are you just happy to see me?"

"This place sucks."

>>305196
A smile crosses my newly hewn features.
"Is that the tip of a spear, or are you just happy to see me?"

I pause to let the drama sink in, then make a wild stab in the dark.

"Marianne?"

The spear comes away with a quiet gasp. I was right, then.

Marianne was the one who made me who I am. She and her merry little band of amazons found me as a child, and raised me to be the rapacious little scamp I am today. A woman of fine tastes and great strength, one I always looked up to, until she simple vanished, when I was fifteen summers old. The other girls lost interest in me, and without Marianne to hold them in place, they went their seperate ways.

Come to think of it, one of them had a pet albino rat.

I turn to face my former mentor, hand on my hip. Before I describe her now, I think I should tell you how she once appeared. She was a cold-hearted woman with hair so brightly blonde it was almost platinum. She wore it short, barely down to her chin. Her eyes were blue, and they seemed to stare right past you. Full-bodied, she never slept alone if she didn't want to. She wore men's clothing, but then when you're a bandit, only men's clothing will do. Even so, she struck a fine figure as it was.

And now, she was changed. Almost as much as me. Her face was flecked with blackened scales. Her eyes ere like a cat's. Her hair was gone, replaced with long, porcupine quills. She wore the same armor I had, though from the knees down long fins tore through the leather and her feet, webbed and elongated slightly, didn't seem to suit boots. in her hands was a spear, as long as she was tall, with a broad blade that could as much cut as it could stab.

"Drake. To think we'd meet here."

We stand apart, staring at each other. For normal people, this would be a happy reunion. For career criminals, it's like two wolves from different packs crossing paths, and wewatched each other quietly in the shadows of the Merchant's shopfront.

Not sure what more to say or do here.

Don't let your guard down. She could have changed down here and is waiting for her chance to strike. I guess a simple question will do: "How did you get here?"

>>305870
"How'd you get down here?" I ask, as we circle. She laughs, then stares me down again. Fuck, I remember that glare. The way it shined on me when I lead a gaurdsman back to our hideaway by accident. When I was caught the first time. When she had to bail me out.

Icy like the centre of a pile of snow.

"How the hell do you think, Drake?" she asks. "I got in over my head and I was kicked in. Silmer East." she adds.

"Gerra North." I reply.

"So you know of the places further past the Merchant?"

"I do. But information has a cost."

Again, the glare.

"Name it." she says quietly. "I have learned the lesson of going into something with little information, and I suspect you have too."

... What sort of price should I offer?

Remember, I'm dealing with a professional here. I've learned a lot since she vanished on me... But I'm sure she has too.

So uh... Tread carefully, for my sake?

>>305895
Offer to help her in anything she needs? Food, shelter, so on. Looks like with your gills and her webbed feet, you can find stuff underwater. Remind her that you were friends and collegues once and that she was your mentor. She can trust you. you won't stab her in the back. Also ask her if she knew the rat lady.

>>306384
I thought that she was asking us to name a price for our information.

All there is to barter with is metal, isn't it?

Careful? Sorry no, you are going to do something foolish. She can have the benefit of what you know only if you join her. You both help each other to live. Seems fair enough, doesn't it?

"Work beside me, as an equal, and I'll tell you what I know."

She pauses in thought. "Very well, Drake." she says. "Talk."

I tell her of the area around my entry point - the Gnome, Sod, the goblin town, the huge pit, the way here. I tell her the strange warning Sod had left me, the rat woman (she goes oddly silent, at this) and finally, I speak of the approach to this area.

"It appears that the Goblin Town is our next destination, then." she says.

"Not necessarily." I add. "I was thinking of having Sod come along - he might be of some use."

"Only if he has powder and shot for his cannon." she shoots back.

Okay, fair point.

Should I go see Sod? Or should we storm the town? Or perhaps you have another plan?

>>307214
Goblin town. Time to fuck shit up.