Check the contents of that smaller box.

>>468450
Sweet gauntlets. Check if they fit you.

Anything else noteworthy in the cave? Any signs of whoever stashed all this stuff from the statues in here?

Slate 2012/11/08(Thu)16:03 No. 469773 ID: cea452
File 135241943966.gif - (14.42KB , 700x500 , 3-40.gif )

>Check the contents of that smaller box.
An impossible task at the moment; the metal box is secured with a thick padlock. Marisa would certainly not be able to open it with her bare hands. She stuffs the box into her bag.

>Sweet Gauntlets. Check if they fit you.
The gauntlets all have bits of metal attached to them on the backs of the fingers and hands and on the knuckles. The gauntlets would provide additional protection to the hands, and a punch with one of these would be probably be more painful than a punch without.
Marisa is pleasantly surprised to find that the gauntlets fit about as well as her regular gloves. She would have thought the metal pieces would make the gauntlets difficult to wear or use, but each feels like it was fabricated by a master craftsman.

>Anything else noteworthy in the cave? Any signs of whoever stashed all this stuff from the statues in here?
Of the other objects retrieved from the top shelf are many metal-toed boots, many long scarfs, and many military-style uniforms. Marisa recognizes the scarves as being like the scarves worn by the guards in the town, and she recognizes the uniforms as being similar to the uniforms worn by the patrol of avians that stopped her on the way here.
Marisa would guess that whoever owns these armored gloves and boots and these military-style uniforms is the one who stole from the statues.
Also of note, Marisa recalls that in the statue chamber, the statues appeared to have been arranged around a grand door with a large indentation in it.

Marisa's and the sangsaloj's ears perk up as they both hear unknown noises faintly echo in from elsewhere within the caverns.

Take the locked box, than wait by the side of the door for a bit to listen if the noises are coming closer.

Are there any other ways out of this storage cave?

Also tell the sangsaloj to keep quiet.

Slate 2012/11/10(Sat)15:07 No. 470466 ID: cea452
File 135258885144.gif - (7.83KB , 700x500 , 3-41a.gif )

Marisa stuffs the box into her bag and she and the sangsaloj quickly but quietly go over and wait on either side of the entrance to the statue chamber. Marisa signals to the sangsaloj to keep quiet, as she surveys the room for other entrances and sees one other, located in the south wall.

Slate 2012/11/10(Sat)15:07 No. 470467 ID: cea452
File 135258886377.gif - (16.38KB , 700x500 , 3-41b.gif )

>AAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaAA!

Slate 2012/11/10(Sat)15:07 No. 470468 ID: cea452
File 135258887894.gif - (18.25KB , 700x500 , 3-41c.gif )

Marisa whips her head around and glares at the sangsaloj with the most silent fury she can muster. She had quite literally just said to stay quiet, but she supposes it is her own fault for expecting the the mongrel to act rationally and follow explicit orders. It responds by sputtering "A-buh-buh-but I," but Marisa has not the time to listen. She was not the only one to hear the shout, it seems, as the sounds of someone else in the cave are growing quicker and closer; if Marisa were to guess, she would say that someone will be entering the storage cave through the south entrance in just a few moments.

Get over there and be ready to wrestle them down to incapacitate them. Try not to actually hurt them in case they aren't dangerous.

We should retreat back to the entrance chamber and wait for it there. We will want to see what it is but being next to the exit would make it easier to escape if we need to.

Retreating is for lesser beings, charge the south cave and motion for the sangsaloj to follow and hope that it doesn't run away.

>>470468
Just to point out, it wasn't her, something invisible or possibly teleporting.

Looks sorta birdlike, standing between you and her. Might try and tackle or strike it?

Slate 2012/11/14(Wed)13:53 No. 471724 ID: cea452
File 135293000539.gif - (12.20KB , 700x500 , 3-42a.gif )

Marisa comes up with a plan to retreat back to the entrance of the caves and wait for the unknown individual there, so that an easy escape, if necessary, will be possible. She orders the sangsaloj--
"Well, our cover's blown. CHARGE!"
The sangsaloj proceeds to charge the south passage. Marisa tells herself that she is not too surprised; she should have expected such a rash and foolish action from the degenerate mongrel. As she charges after it, Marisa can only hope that the lesser being does not flee in cowardice once the fight actually begins.

Slate 2012/11/14(Wed)13:54 No. 471727 ID: cea452
File 135293006302.gif - (16.45KB , 700x500 , 3-42c.gif )

Marisa is about to shout to the sangsaloj to keep from harming the stranger without confirming if he or she really is dangerous, but she is quickly silenced when the stranger catches the sangsaloj's weapon-hand in mid-swing.

Slate 2012/11/14(Wed)13:54 No. 471728 ID: cea452
File 135293007861.gif - (12.61KB , 700x500 , 3-42d.gif )

"H-hey, hey, I-- Oof!"
The stranger is apparently quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as he or she very promptly disarms the sangsaloj, forces it face down in the dirt and starts binding its arms and legs behind its back with some short rope.
Marisa believes the stranger has not yet noticed her; the sangsaloj is certainly providing enough of a distraction. She has some time to consider her next course of action. Marisa is herself skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but having seen the stranger in action, she is not certain a hand-to-hand confrontation would be to her advantage. Marisa does however have mastery over a couple of basic elemental runic spells that she could use.

(Since it has been a while since we last fought someone, can we get a quick list of what runes we have to work with?)

Take off your cloak and throw it on the stranger, then kick him in the chest to push him away from the sangsaloj. After that lets try talking to the stranger, maybe we can solve this without violence.

We should hide the fact that we can control elemental runes for now, could be that he can do it too. Or knows how to counter them.

>>362195
This is either Adela the Blue, or another member of that cult.
The person is restraining garland instead of using violence, so it's unlikely you're in for a fight.
Ask if they are a follower of the Truth or something.

"I apologise for my... associate. She's.. excitable.".

Tell him THANK YOU. But also to stay back or you'll fry his ass. Ready some lightning.

Slate 2012/12/02(Sun)05:24 No. 476054 ID: cea452
File 135445465555.gif - (13.40KB , 700x500 , 3-43a.gif )

A number of plans toward violent confrontation flash through Marisa's mind, but the familiarity of the stranger's clothes halt her. Speaking in Runic,
>"I apologise for my... associate. She's.. excitable."
she apologizes for the sangsaloj's attack and
>Ask if they are a follower of the Truth
she asks the stranger if they are a follower of Truth. The stranger looks up in surprise.

Slate 2012/12/02(Sun)05:24 No. 476055 ID: cea452
File 135445466819.gif - (14.78KB , 700x500 , 3-43b.gif )

"Ah, 'tis you, my friend," Adela the Blue replies in Runic. "You need apologize not; I realize I carried myself quite threateningly, enough to provoke such an attack."

First lets explain to Garland that this is Adela the Blue a bit eccentric cultist, but we know her and she means us no harm. Then ask for Adela to release our associate.
Also ask Adela is there anything interesting in the direction she came from or just an exit.

>>476055
First, ask what's up with this place and the statues. You thought it was an abandoned ruin with a petrification trap, then suddenly other people showed up!

Slate 2012/12/10(Mon)20:40 No. 477762 ID: cea452
File 135520084531.gif - (15.67KB , 700x500 , 3-44.gif )

>ask what's up with this place and the statues. You thought it was an abandoned ruin with a petrification trap, then suddenly other people showed up!

"I apologize deeply, for I am not very knowledgable of the goings-on in this cave. Quite honestly, I am here only seeking shelter. To borrow a relatively inelegant expression, 'your guess is as good… as mine,' regarding the mysteries of this cave system. Please pardon the inelegant expression," Adela the Blue says.

>explain to Garland that this is Adela the Blue a bit eccentric cultist, but we know her and she means us no harm.

Marisa quickly explains who Adela the Blue is and how she knows her. The explanation is very awkward, however, as Marisa seems to be speaking to the air. It is as though she is refusing to directly address someone for some reason.

>Then ask for Adela to release our associate.

The sangsaloj speaks up.
"Hey, hey, I think it's nice that you met your friend again but I would like to be let go now!"
Adela the Blue realizes that she is still pinning down the sangsaloj when it starts squirming under her grip again.
"Oh my. I apologize," Adela the Blue says as she unties the sangsaloj and then helps it back up onto its feet. Adela turns to Marisa and says, "Might I ask of you a grand favor? Please, express to this girl how deeply sorry I am for my physical aggression toward her. Very unfortunately, I am unable to speak your native tongue."
Marisa gruffly states to the air that Adela the Blue is sorry.

>ask Adela is there anything interesting in the direction she came from or just an exit.

Marisa asks Adela the Blue if there is anything interesting in the direction she just came from.
"I know nothing about these caves, and had only just scaled the broken steps built into the side of the mountain when I was lured to this chamber by your shout. However, I suppose one might call the reason why I chose to seek shelter here 'interesting'… and in fact I believe it is of utmost importance that I speak with you quite immediately regarding the interesting reason for why I chose to climb up to and take shelter in these caves. This interesting reason, of course, being--"
"Hey, hey, it's great to meet you, Addy! My name is Garland, I'm also Mary's friend! And now we're friends, 'cuz any friend of Mary's is a friend of mine, and the other way 'round!" the sangsaloj interrupts.
Adela the Blue pauses for a moment before addressing Marisa while looking at the sangsaloj.
"Marisa, my friend, I know I ask much of you when I ask you to pardon me for my rudeness in imploring you to please inform your friend (Garland, was it?) that she may address me not by my name but by my alias, Temper. I only revealed to you my name in gratitude for rescuing me in those ruins; I would duly appreciate for you to introduce me as Temper in the future."
"Hey, Mary, what'd Addy say? Oh, tell her she smells nice!"

At least act like you still rummaging around the room or are looking for hidden trapdoors when you are speaking to the The sangsaloj so it looks like you have a reason not to address her directly.

Say that Addy here would like it if we called her Temper in the future.
Then we should lead Temper to the stone statues to see if she can use her powers to determine are they still alive.

Also does Temper smell nice?

Also ask her to please continue about her reason for coming here.

Slate 2013/01/08(Tue)03:57 No. 483500 ID: 054c51
File 135764627762.gif - (7.44KB , 700x500 , 3-45a.gif )

>At least act like you still rummaging around the room or are looking for hidden trapdoors when you are speaking to the The sangsaloj so it looks like you have a reason not to address her directly.

Marisa believes that not necessary; the sangsaloj has so far seemed to be completely oblivious of Marisa's dismissive attitude toward it. Marisa is quite unsurprised by the inferior being's ignorance as such.

>Also does Temper smell nice?

Marisa did not actually notice at first, but she believes that ever since Adela the Blue appeared, she has been able to detect a faint smell of peaches. She wonders if there is a connection.

>Say that Addy here would like it if we called her Temper in the future. Then we should lead Temper to the stone statues to see if she can use her powers to determine are they still alive.

Marisa states that Adela the Blue would prefer to be called Temper in the future.
"Aww, why? I think Addy is a nice name for her! Oh well, maybe… Tempy? No, that's not good. Alright, Temper I'll call you!"
Marisa asks Temper to follow her to the other chamber to determine if the stone statues there are still alive.
"Please, you may address me by my name and title together; you have earned that privilege, though your friend has not. And of course, I shall follow you, but I really must inform you of…" Temper begins to reply. "Wait… you speak of living statues? Is an arcane artifact involved?"
Marisa leads the way into the statue chamber. Adela the Blue walks up closer to one of the statues and stops in front of it. She looks around the room at all the other statues as well. She closes her eyes and raises her head slightly, as though taking in the ambiance of the room. Marisa wonders why, as the ambiance of the room does not seem particularly pleasant.
After a long pause, Adela the Blue finally speaks.
"Was it an artifact that did this? Truly, it is remarkably terrible, the power of the artifacts that litter this land. But I cannot determine whether it is more terrible that there exist individuals who would make a business of the dissemination of these terrible things. Do you know I met a man in a nearby town smuggling many dangerous artifacts? He gave me this armor and told me to bring him more of his trinkets, but of course I won't… Oh, I apologize. Allow me not to burden you with thoughts on such matters."
Adela reaches an arm out and gently touches the face of the statue she is standing in front of. She stays like this for a time, also with her eyes closed and her head tilted back, looking quite serene and thoughtful.
"I believe I feel it. The essence of a life, a soul. Yes, I feel it. I feel all of them, I am surrounded by them. They are faint, oh so faint, but if I strain myself, I feel them. But something is not quite right. These essences, they are as though…"

Slate 2013/01/08(Tue)03:58 No. 483501 ID: 054c51
File 135764629333.gif - (20.72KB , 700x500 , 3-45b.gif )

"Trapped. And it… it…"

Slate 2013/01/08(Tue)03:58 No. 483502 ID: 054c51
File 135764631653.gif - (13.00KB , 700x500 , 3-45c.gif )

>Also ask her to please continue about her reason for coming here.

Adela the Blue is not responding to Marisa. She does not seem to have turned ill or be otherwise unable to respond, so it seems more that she is purposefully ignoring Marisa.
"I have no idea a single thing she's been saying. She's saying wha?" the sangsaloj asks.
Marisa and the sangsaloj are startled by noise coming from the entrance chamber.
"The stranger will regret running," says a voice in the other room. Marisa recognizes it as the voice of the leader of the patrol of Aviairans that she met en route to the mountain.
"That voice was the leader of the Aviairan patrol we met!," the sangsaloj whispers shrilly into Marisa's ear.
"Tyfon, you sound very ominous today," a second voice says.
"Shut up, Bries! He will regret running for there is nowhere to run now!"
Marisa must do something. In her bag she has, among other things, a length of rope, a large kitchen knife (though she prefers fighting unarmed), worthless pennies produced by the now defunct Rothan Mint, and of course her rune book and various magical runes.

Carry Adela into the next room if you can. The sight of all the statues will hopefully give the patrol some pause.

Send the sangsaloj Garland to the left chamber and lets quickly make our way to the right chamber so we have them surrounded.
Then we can see how they react to Adela and the statues while still having the possibility of surprise attack.

>>483502
Why don't we just address them directly? Our story is that we're hikers. You can just say that you found this ruin and you thought you'd check it out for curiosity's sake. We happened to meet an old friend coincidentally, and we also ran into some other bird, who screamed and ran away? You can point out the direction they went.

Slate 2013/01/11(Fri)08:52 No. 484444 ID: 054c51
File 135792314287.gif - (10.83KB , 700x500 , 3-46a.gif )

Marisa orders Garland back to the storage chamber so that they can surround the patrol.
"Hey, hey, ambush preparing, good idea!"

Slate 2013/01/11(Fri)08:52 No. 484445 ID: 054c51
File 135792316347.gif - (8.47KB , 700x500 , 3-46b.gif )

As Gar-the filthy mongrel tiptoes out of the statue chamber to wait in the storage room, Marisa moves quickly to pull Adela with her into the as-of-yet unexplored right-hand chamber. Marisa grabs Adela's wrist but Adela, with a single calculated twist of her arm, immediately breaks Marisa's grip. She remains still and with her eyes closed as she addresses Marisa.
"Please. I must somehow sooth these distressed spirits, so unnaturally confined and so unfairly kept from their One True Purpose. I predict it may require a great deal of meditation before I am in such a state of mind as to commune with and sooth these distressed spirits."
Marisa decides to just leave Adela where she is and sneaks into the other chamber.

Slate 2013/01/11(Fri)08:53 No. 484446 ID: 054c51
File 135792318333.gif - (14.63KB , 700x500 , 3-46c.gif )

Once in the other chamber Marisa stands still and strains to listen. She can only hear into adjacent rooms, which are at the moment just the the statues room and the room adjacent to the entrance, and so far she hears nothing. She waits for about as long as she thinks it would take for the patrol to go into the statue chamber and react to what's inside…
But she hears nothing.

Oh great. They must be posting people at the entrances and doing a methodical search to ensure nobody escapes the net, and the moving segment of their party went left first instead of to the statue room. They're going to run into your excitable partner first.

To verify this, go south into the unknown room then west to meet their sentry at that doorway.

Could the spirits or ghosts of this place be causing the noise?

Better sneak south towards the entrance chamber and make sure the patrol is actually there.

Slate 2013/01/13(Sun)23:11 No. 485103 ID: cea452
File 135814750574.gif - (14.45KB , 700x500 , 3-47a.gif )

>Could the spirits or ghosts of this place be causing the noise?
Marisa is quite confident that the noise was not spirits or ghosts for multiple reasons. The first reason being that she recognized the voices as belonging to the patrol from before. The second is that the sangsaloj said that it could hear the voices as well, and it is common knowledge that ghosts, specters, spirits and other otherworldly beings cannot be perceived by multiple people, instead only being heard or seen by a single person that the spirit chooses.

Marisa deduces that the patrol's plan is to have one of their own guard the entrance while the rest conduct a search of the caverns to capture Marisa and her fellows. Marisa decides to turn around and look for the patrol while they are busy looking for her.

But first, Marisa looks around the chamber she is currently in. This chamber looks to have been used for bathing, judging from the presence of rusty basins and tattered old washcloths. The wooden benches, and the wood partitions that separate bathing stalls are rotten or collapsed from water damage, much like the wooden shelves and boxes in the storage chamber.
Marisa goes to the southern chamber.

Slate 2013/01/13(Sun)23:11 No. 485104 ID: cea452
File 135814751986.gif - (12.87KB , 700x500 , 3-47b.gif )

In this chamber many beds have been set up; one could only assume this to have been a communal bedroom. The wooden bed frames and wooden chests at the foot of some beds are rotted from water damage, and the old mattresses and blankets are tattered and full of holes. Marisa enters the passageway linking this room and the entrance room…

Slate 2013/01/13(Sun)23:12 No. 485105 ID: cea452
File 135814753702.gif - (14.70KB , 700x500 , 3-47c.gif )

Sidling up against the wall, Marisa listens…
She hears the occasional grunt, cough, and sound of scratching. Marisa takes a chance and peeks around the corner and can confirm the presence of a single large aquatic covering the entrance. He was inattentive and did not seem to notice her.

Punch him in the nose to establish unconsciousness.

>water damage errywhere
Oh great, so the cave floods, and you're in the middle of a rainstorm. Wonderful.

This guy seemed pretty chill earlier but we better take him down. Can you cast lightning rune magic on the worthless coins?
Like charge them with electricity then throw them at the aquatic so he gets shocked and you can rush him and slug him in the face.

Or we could try luring him to the bedroom by making some noise that he hopefully will come investigate alone.

>>485166
If you lure him you could whack him with a broken bit of furniture once he steps through the doorway, perhaps wrap him tightly in some of those blankets just to be sure.

Slate 2013/01/20(Sun)19:21 No. 486583 ID: cea452
File 135873849364.gif - (22.52KB , 700x500 , 3-48a.gif )

>>485166
>Or we could try luring him to the bedroom by making some noise that he hopefully will come investigate alone.

Slate 2013/01/20(Sun)19:21 No. 486585 ID: cea452
File 135873850868.gif - (21.17KB , 700x500 , 3-48b.gif )

>>485166
>Can you cast lightning rune magic on the worthless coins? Like charge them with electricity then throw them at the aquatic so he gets shocked
If Marisa wanted to enchant an object, she would need to directly engrave the runes into the object. So if she wanted to enchant the coins to conduct electricity, she would need tools with which she could engrave the appropriate runes into the coins, but she does not have such tools.
Unless "casting lightning rune magic on the coins" actually means directly shocking the coins to charge them with electricity. Marisa could try that, though she is not certain if shocking the coins and then throwing them at the aquatic would be anywhere near as effective or preferable as…

Slate 2013/01/20(Sun)19:22 No. 486586 ID: cea452
File 135873852736.gif - (21.48KB , 700x500 , 3-48c.gif )

… zapping the aquatic himself.

Slate 2013/01/20(Sun)19:22 No. 486587 ID: cea452
File 135873854439.gif - (12.92KB , 700x500 , 3-48d.gif )

The aquatic is quite shocked by Marisa's sudden appearance. The runic electric attack sapped his strength and causes him to spasm uncontrollably. As Marisa approaches him, the aquatic only has enough control over his own body to raise a single twitching arm in defense. Marisa brushes the aquatic's weakened arm aside with her right hand and in the same motion, with her left fist decks him square in the face.

Make sure he is unconscious, then listen for anyone else coming and peek into the room north of here.

For some reason i thought that since we were a runepucher all our 'spells' would be touch based, this opens up a lot of cool possibilities.

Make sure no one is coming, then tie up and gag the aquatic before sneaking to the east.

Slate 2013/01/28(Mon)16:06 No. 488455 ID: cea452
File 135941798169.gif - (22.98KB , 700x500 , 3-49b.gif )

>>486682
While Marisa is not restricted to touch magic, she is still not as proficient in Runic magic as she could be, having spent much of her time at the Academy when she should have been attending classes and studying Runes instead doing calisthenics and participating in illegal boxing matches in the city.
Marisa ensures her assault had the result she was intending. The aquatic groans softly and occasionally shifts his head from side to side, but he seems otherwise incapacitated. Marisa waits and listens intently for anyone who may have overheard the action. She thought she incapacitated the aquatic as quietly as one could when using magic lightning and iron gauntlets to punch someone out, but it would not hurt to be cautious.
Marisa hears nothing except for the rain outside. She supposes she is undetected still. She gets the rope from her bag and uses it to tie up the aquatic to the best of her ability.
Marisa is not particularly proficient in tying people up, but what she's done here will simply have to do. She is actually not certain if this will even hold the aquatic, but it seems like the trauma from the assault will keep him incapacitated for a while on its own. Marisa does not have anything on hand that looks like it would make a particularly effective gag, so she must leave the aquatic un-gagged for now. She quickly drags him behind the waterlogged desk in the corner of the room, where he is hidden quite surprising well from view.
Marisa goes to peek into the statue room to the north when she steps in a puddle, causing a small splash, and Marisa recoils. The rain is flowing in and pooling on the cave floor. There is not much water in here yet, but that may change if the rain continues to fall as fiercely as it is falling now.

Slate 2013/01/28(Mon)16:06 No. 488456 ID: cea452
File 135941799466.gif - (23.71KB , 700x500 , 3-49c.gif )

Marisa gathers up her bag and cloak and peeks into the statue room, keeping out of sight by staying in the passage tunnel. Adela the Blue is still here and has not moved, but perhaps more pressing is the commotion that Marisa hears emanating from the storage chamber to the west. There are a few panicked shouts and a series of loud crashes. Two avians run into the statue room from the west, breathing heavily. One of them, the captain of the patrol, shouts in frustration.
"What. Was. That! And what is this!" The captain notices first Adela the Blue, who is standing almost as still as the statutes lining the chamber that he notices after her. "The stranger!"
"What are these statues, Tyfon?" the other patroller says.
"I don't know! Stranger, you, tell me what is this! How did you bring these things here! What was that back there!?" he shouts at Adela the Blue, pointing back into the storage chamber.
Adela is ignoring the two avians. Whether she is ignoring them on purpose or because she is in a trance, Marisa cannot quite tell.

>>488456
Jump 'em! Since apparently that's what we're doing.

I don't think we should ambush them yet, because the that means less people behind the petrifier and us. If they try to harm Adela we should definitely intervene though.

We need to come up with some long-term plan on how to deal with the patrol. I would rather not go as far as killing them, but it is going to be tough to keep them from pursuing some sort of legal action against us if they see us and leave here alive. Maybe we can tell some story about coming here to attempt to convince our eccentric friend (Adela) to leave before she gets herself killed?

Marisa is an adventurer thus by definition she is bad at long-term planning, live in the now! Worry about the future later.

Sneak up on the patrol captain and get him in a chokehold or an wristlock and tell the other avian to stay back. Then shout and ask Garland if she is alright in the west chamber.

As far as the patrol knows, we've just walked in from outside. Even better, we can just blame the Sansaloj for running inside and having to follow it in.

Slate 2013/02/03(Sun)23:33 No. 490172 ID: cea452
File 135996319880.gif - (14.88KB , 700x500 , 3-50a.gif )

Marisa slips off her cloak and bag. She takes her rune book from her bag and chains it back onto her hip in preparation for confrontation, but she stays back in the tunnel. A small part of her hopes to avoid violent conflict with the patrol, but then she remembers that she has literally just shocked and punched out the aquatic in the entrance room, and immediately all her thoughts turn back to observing the patrollers for the optimal time to strike at them.
"You! Answer me, or I'll beat it out of you!" the captain shouts, losing his temper, as he takes a step toward Adela the Blue.
The other patroller disengages her focus from the statues and turns back to the captain.
"Tyfon, we need to worry about the cat, what if it catches Briese? Wagh!"
The patroller's cry causes the captain to turn to look at what she sees, which is Marisa, who has snuck halfway toward the captain. At this point Marisa aborts her attempt at a silent takedown and launches herself at the captain, to close the difference between them before he is able to put up a defense.
Marisa uses her superior body mass to bowl the captain over. He lands on his back, with her on top of him. The captain tries to speak, but with a paralyzed diaphragm he is only able to stare, silently, up at Marisa, surprise washing over his face in waves upon realizing he has been attacked and then upon finding himself on his back and then upon recognizing his attacker.
Marisa uses one hand to keep the captain pinned to the ground as he struggles for breath, and waves her other hand, shrouded in runic fire, at the other patroller, yelling at her to stay back.

Slate 2013/02/03(Sun)23:33 No. 490173 ID: cea452
File 135996321171.gif - (20.66KB , 700x500 , 3-50b.gif )

"Kra! Sangsaaaaaaaa!"
Quite suddenly the screeching sangsaloj bursts into the chamber from the western passage, brandishing a bow in one hand and in the other a blade.
The sangsaloj rushes at the patroller, who rather uselessly puts up her wings in defense. The patroller tries to run, but the sangsaloj slashes her wing.

Slate 2013/02/03(Sun)23:33 No. 490174 ID: cea452
File 135996322412.gif - (12.21KB , 700x500 , 3-50c.gif )

The patroller cries out in pain, trips and crashes to the ground. The sangsaloj stands over her and laughs. It is a haunting, shrill laugh born of an insatiable bloodlust. Its facial expression is completely neutral throughout. Then the sansaloj hungrily licks the the flat of the blade, soaked in blood, up from the hilt and stopping just before the tip upon noticing Marisa in the corner of her vision.

It's gone mad!

>>490174
Either that is her true fighting style- she's a Berserker- or she's been possessed somehow.

Be ready with a blinding spell. Luckily you have metal gauntlets so you can block her blade. Don't make any moves unless she does.

Ask her if she has gone mad.

Is this the reason sangsaloji are infamous, or some unrelated condition? Whatever it is this is worryingly different from whatever makes the statues, which would therefore be unaccounted for.

Prepare to cast some lightning if she starts coming towards you.

Oh, and I would like to caution against disregarding the captain as a threat right now. He could try something while you're distracted.

I think our main priority would be trying to keep anyone from dying. You, her, Adela, the patrolmen.

The patrol captain is avian and thus pretty light right? Throw him at the sangsaloj then rush in there and zap or kick her into submission. Keeping yourself safe is the priority here.

Don't go punching the Sansaloj straight off the bat; she may or may not be in complete control of her actions.

Slate 2013/02/18(Mon)02:06 No. 494109 ID: cea452
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Marisa recognizes now that the sangsaloj is a Berserker, a member of the Bloodlust tribes.
information on the Bloodlust: >>67624

Marisa remains calm. She secures her grip on the captain; she will not allow him to exploit any openings due to confusion in this situation. She also tucks her hand behind her back and charges a blinding spell.

>Ask her if she has gone mad.
The sangsaloj turns to face Marisa. Its whole body trembles, and it grins impossibly wide.

"Ssssssaa! WHAT NO, I'm alive! It's my FIRST fubia. AhaHaHaHAHA ha!"The sangsaloj laughs quietly as it breaths in and out.
"Sssangsa! MARY, we got 'em! Hey, hey aren't you going to beat him up?" The sangsaloj gestures with its sword at the captain pinned under Marisa and shouts with a trembling voice, "We were FIGHTING I THOUGHT!"

>our main priority would be trying to keep anyone from dying. You, her, Adela, the patrolmen.
"AWWWWWW! This is not enough BLOOD for fubia!" The sangsaloj laughs under its breath for a moment. "WAIT one more, is there! SHE'S maybe still IN here! HEY I can go look for--"

The patrollwoman attacked by the sangsaloj stirs. The sangsaloj turns back around and bends down to shove its face in her face.
"Sssangsa! Seu AVIARA!" it exclaims, voice trembling, laugh-breathing heavily into the patroller's face. The patroller stares back into the sangsaloj's eyes and opens her beak, but only a quiet, strangled cry escapes her throat. A tear rolls down her face. The sangsaloj looks back at Marisa. It has an expression on its face as though it has just witnessed a puppy trip and fall.
"Aaaawww!" it exclaims, its voice trembling.

Slate 2013/02/18(Mon)02:15 No. 494113 ID: cea452
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The sangsaloj whips its whole body back around and takes a step toward Marisa. The bow in its left hand slips from its fingers.
"Hey, hey can I have his BLOOD?" it asks, and sucks up a bit of saliva that was dribbling down the corner of its mouth.
The captain thrashes under Marisa, but she keeps him pinned. The blinding spell swells with energy behind her back.
"What the FUCK!" he shouts. He does not even try to keep the panic from his voice. He grabs Marisa's arms. Marisa first believes he is trying ineffectually to remove her, but a glance down at his face reveals the pleading in his eyes. All traces of his earlier aggressiveness and irritability have vanished.
"Keep the sangsaloj AWAY from me!"
The sangsaloj's ears prick up at the utterance of the word.

It is now that Marisa realizes that while she has referred to the sangsaloj as a sangsaloj repeatedly in her own thoughts, she has never actually uttered the slur out loud for the sangsaloj to hear.

Use the blinding spell on yourself. Nobody should have to see what's going to happen in the next few minutes.

>>494113
Punch his face in. Tell Marisa to calm the fuck down, nobody needs to die today. The fighting is over. Maybe punch him a couple more times while you speak, to satisfy her. Also point out that she hasn't cleaned her sword quite yet. There's more blood on it. And herself.

If she makes any aggressive moves towards you, blind her then tackle her and make your best effort to knock her out or at least get that sword away from her. See if you can catch her AND your captive with the flash, in fact.

Slap that avian in the face and tell it that we wont tolerate him badmouthing our friend. Or if friend is a little too much say teammate or Garland.

Then tell Garland to calm her tits, no one needs to be murdered today. Hopefully we wont need to resort to blinding and tackling the sangsaloj Garland.

And where is the fourth member of the patrol?

>>494116
Fuck, I mean, tell Garland to calm down. What's wrong with me, forgetting names so fast.

get Garland to calm down, also start calling her by name in your head, lest you accidentally say the slur out load and she rips out your spine

Slate 2013/02/24(Sun)11:39 No. 495711 ID: cea452
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Marisa lifts her hand from his chest for a moment to deliver a swift slap the avian's face and tells him not to speak to her-- she pauses for just a moment, having to make herself say the word-- friend, in such a way. She then asks Garland to calm down, hoping that her scolding of the avian had appeased the savage sang-- appeased her by some amount.

The sang-- Garland's every muscle tenses and its-- her face is painfully twisted with rage and fresh scars. The sa-- Garland's voice wavers and trembles as she shrieks:

"I-I-I-I-I'm AN-- i'm A-- AM an SA-sa-SA-SA--!"

The-- Garland is not calming down. She looks as though she is on the brink of bursting into a shower of insane rage. Marisa reckons now to be the moment to strike. She whips her casting hand out from behind her back, the blinding spell nearly bursting itself, charged with so much energy; Marisa takes less than a second to aim--

Slate 2013/02/24(Sun)11:39 No. 495712 ID: cea452
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"i-i-i-i-i-
i'm grooooooossssss."

Marisa refrains from discharging the spell.

"Yeah, you're a filthy sangsaloj! Wriggle back to the mud pit you were born in!"
The captain has regained his bad temper, though Marisa still has him securely pinned.
"Now you get off of me, bitch-- I-I just mean, get off!"

Dislocate a joint then ask him what he's doing here.

punch birdy again in the face, keep doing it until he apologises

promise garland that you'll get her cleaned up once you get to a safe place

Do you have anymore rope to tie up the patrol captain? And gag him.

We cant really leave anyone in this room unsupervised, and there still is one avian patrol member on the loose.

Call out that if the last patrol member wants his friends to stay in one piece he better get over here unarmed.

>>495712
Discharge your spell in his face instead. Either that or discharge it against a wall. It's about to explode by itself, don't get blinded by your own spell!

That's... a really effective insult. What the hell is wrong with sangsalojs anyway?

Slate 2013/03/16(Sat)22:57 No. 500568 ID: 39b7b6
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>That's... a really effective insult. What the hell is wrong with sangsalojs anyway?

Everything. Absolutely everything is wrong with sangsaloji. They are filthy, duplicitous, mangy, untrustworthy, underhanded, impure abominations, among many other things. Marisa recalls from her childhood, an incident, growing up in her home in the southern mountains of Chatze. There was one man, intelligent and well-read, who was well-respected and beloved by the people of the village for managing to negotiate repeatedly advantageous deals for the village for aid from the local Governor Lord. Once, at a public celebration where this beloved negotiator was hosted as a special guest, one of his coverings was caught on a table edge and pulled off, revealing a patch of grey on his torso; the party ended prematurely, a fact Marisa remembers that as a child upset her at the time. Marisa does not recall seeing the negotiator again; she never heard words spoken of him again, in fact. Though she does remember whispers between adults of how recent deals with the Governor Lord were unnecessary and wasteful.
Though that story is a digression. Marisa redirects her attention back to the here and the now.

>Do you have anymore rope to tie up the patrol captain? And gag him.

Marisa already used all the rope she had to bind up the aquatic in the entrance chamber. She does not have anything to gag anyone with, either. Though, she has another method of disabling people.

>Discharge your spell in his face

"AAAAAAAAMY EYES!"
Marisa releases the blinding spell directly into the patrol captain's face, and he clutches at his face and cries out appropriately. Marisa unpins him and goes over to console the s-- Garland.

>promise garland that you'll get her cleaned up once you get to a safe place

The s-- Garland is non-responsive for a moment. She sniffles and whispers, "okay," and stares ahead, looking very sad.
The patrol captain shouts about his eyes and shifts himself onto his knees.

>Dislocate a joint then ask him what he's doing here.

Marisa goes back over the the captain, grabs his wing, and twists it.
"AAAAAH! What the OW!"
She asks what he's doing here.
"What do you think!?"
She twists it a little further.
"Following you!"
She asks why.
"Why else, because I saw you sneaking in here! And you said you were just 'hikers,' yeah, I can't believe I let Bries--!"
Marisa lets go of the captain's arm and stops listening to him; she is not too interested in what he is saying. She does not think that it will be too necessary to physically bind his arms and legs. The blinding spell Marisa used works by amplifying the target's eyes' sensitivity to light, and judging by how much of her energy she charged into the blinding spell, she suspects the captain will be dealing not just with blindness but also with a substantial headache for a while, which should keep him from being dangerous. As if to prove Marisa's supposition, the captain tries grasping around himself blindly before quickly sitting down cross-legged, grasping his head and staying very still, while shouting quite irritably about his headache.
"Captain Tyfon, I'm here…" The patroller that Garland assaulted in her rage has dragged herself with her good wing over to the captain, while staring at the sang-- Garland confusedly. She looks up at Marisa; by her expression, she looks very lost.
"Are, are we prisoners?"

Slate 2013/03/16(Sat)22:57 No. 500569 ID: 39b7b6
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>Call out that if the last patrol member wants his friends to stay in one piece he better get over here unarmed.

Marisa ignores her and takes a deep breath, preparing to shout a threat to the remaining member of the patrol hiding somewhere in the caverns. But Marisa is halted when she notices the injured patrol lady looking at something behind Marisa; she glances behind herself to see the last patrol member standing in the mouth of the southern tunnel. She appears to have gone through Marisa's things without her noticing.
"Hey, you want to make a deal?"

Wait for this one to keep talking. Take up a position that will let you keep an eye on the wounded patrol member and the newcomer.

There's nothing wrong with being filthy, duplicitous, mangy, untrustworthy, underhanded, impure or abominable. Lord knows you fit at least three of those examples right now! Unsatisfied with what a brief encounter with a sangsaloji you find yourself remembering the true horrors sangsaloji commit, and just what the hell a fubia is.

>>500569
What's the deal?

Tell her that it better be a pretty amazing deal because there is nothing stopping us from beating her up like we did to her friends.

Slate 2013/03/21(Thu)00:26 No. 501496 ID: cea452
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>Unsatisfied with what a brief encounter with a sangsaloji you find yourself remembering the true horrors sangsaloji commit, and just what the hell a fubia is.

Marisa finds herself recalling specific examples of the horrors that sangsaloji commit.
…
Marisa has never actually herself played witness to a sangsaloj mongrel committing a horrific act of depravity until just now. Though in the past she has heard extensively of sangsaloji being depraved; Marisa recalls once, when she attended the Academy, she overheard two students discussing a rumor about a sangsaloji student. The rumor was that the sangsaloj had cheated on a calligraphy exam, something Marisa was quite justly mortified at the time to learn.
Marisa also wonders what a fubia is. She believes that she has already heard of fubia, which to her knowledge is a word used by Bloodlust Berserkers to mean 'a berserk rage.' Apparently the Bloodlust have their own language; of course, it is most certainly a very primitive language, being as it is that the Bloodlust are a bunch of filthy sangsaloji mongrels.

>There's nothing wrong with being filthy, duplicitous, mangy, untrustworthy, underhanded, impure or abominable.

This is a clearly false statement; there is everything wrong with being those things. An argument proving the statement's falsity:
One: Filthiness, duplicity, manginess, untrustworthiness, underhandedness, impurity and the quality of being abominable are all morally negative and reprehensible qualities.
Two: Because they are reprehensible qualities, filthiness, duplicity, manginess, etc. are all bad things to be.
Three: It is wrong to be bad.
Four: Consequently, there would be much, perhaps even everything, wrong with being one of those bad things or possessing one of those qualities. So it has been demonstrated!

Marisa 2013/03/21(Thu)00:26 No. 501497 ID: cea452
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>Lord knows you fit at least three of those examples right now!

False, that is false. No. I do not. I am none of those things. Of those qualities, there are none which apply to me; I exemplify exactly zero of those qualities. Are you saying that I'm filthy? I am not. I bathe quite regularly. And you will find, if you thoroughly examine the surface area of my entire body, that it is purely snow-colored, and that not one fraction of a square inch is colored differently. I am not impure; I am pure. Allow me to repeat that statement, as unnecessary as such a repetition should be: I am pure.

Slate 2013/03/21(Thu)00:26 No. 501498 ID: cea452
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Marisa realizes that she has been standing silently staring at the patroller and thinking to herself for approximately thirty seconds, perhaps longer. It seems, though, that the patroller thinks Marisa was just taking a while to carefully formulate her response; Marisa is still in the clear as far as she is concerned with not seeming extremely odd and awkward. Marisa repositions herself so both of the incapacitated patrollers remain in her sightline as she speaks to the newcomer.

>Tell her that it better be a pretty amazing deal because there is nothing stopping us from beating her up like we did to her friends.

The patroller smiles like she's suppressing a chuckle.
"I… really doubt you could beat me but I think it's a pretty amazing deal. We'll see if you're smart enough to appreciate it. You see this crest thing here? I found it in this lockbox, which I found in your bag. Oh yeah, I went through your stuff, hope you don't mind. Anyway, you see this crest, right?" the patroller points at the crest in the open lockbox in her arms, "And you see the door behind you?" the patroller points toward something behind Marisa, who doesn't turn to look but can guess that the patroller is pointing to the big door in the center of the wall behind Marisa. The avian continues.
"No? Well, if you look back there you'll see that the door has a a specifically shaped indentation in it. This is a specifically shaped crest. Valuable things are usually behind elaborately lock doors. You're smart enough to see where I'm leading you, right?"
"Bries, what are you talking about, rescue us!" the captain snaps. Bries does not appear to even notice him and remains staring condescendingly at Marisa.

The fact that it is a key is rather obvious. What is in question is what exactly you propose as your side this deal.

I think she's implying she's holding the key hostage, and that we have to agree to split the loot or something.

Ask her why she doesn't just take the key and unlock the door on her own. Why's she making a deal with us? What IS the deal, anyway?

Remember what happened the last time we trusted a stranger in a dungeon, and this chick seems sleazy since she doesn't care about her allies.

Also "I really doubt you could beat me" sounds like a challenge to me!
Start advancing towards her and tell her that if she is so confident she can beat us, why did she bother with negotiating with us at all? Why not just take us out and use the key yourself?

Use an obvious magical item in a room full of people turned into living statues? That doesn't seem like a good deal at all.

>>501535

Don't point this out, make her operate the door while we watch her die horribly from a distance. Make sure to get Garland on her feet before doing this.

Well, it never helps to argue with a neurosis. Yes, you're pure as driven snow! You can't imagine why you ever considered differently!

Slate 2013/03/25(Mon)22:05 No. 502363 ID: cea452
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>Yes, you're pure as driven snow! You can't imagine why you ever considered differently!

Yes, Marisa is quite pure. (And as the driven snow? How poetic that sounds!) As the driven snow, even; it is utterly, wholly and so entirely baffling to wonder how any one reasonable sentient being could think otherwise.

>The fact that it is a key is rather obvious. What is in question is what exactly you propose as your side this deal.

>What IS the deal, anyway?

"Well isn't what I'm proposing pretty obvious? So obvious, in fact, that I shouldn't even have to say it? We open up the vault, swipe what's inside and pawn it off, splitting the spoils! … If you weren't smart enough to figure that out on your own, I'm not too sure I want to make this deal with you," the patroller says with what Marisa can perceive to be the traces of a humored smile.

>Start advancing towards her and tell her that if she is so confident she can beat us, why did she bother with negotiating with us at all? Why not just take us out and use the key yourself?

Marisa takes a step toward the patroller, who stops leaning against the wall, perhaps in reaction.
"Well I was hoping to avoid conflict… but if you want to get embarrassed, you can fight me? Or you could cooperate with me and end up with a lot more money than not!" The patroller outstretches her wing with which she is holding the lockbox with the crest in it and shakes it. She arches an eyebrow. "Well? I'm motioning for you to come take it, in case you're not smart enough to figure that out, either?"
"Bries, for your sake I hope this is just an elaborate ruse to rescue us!" the captain shouts with his head thrown back as he clutches it. He sounds exceedingly irritated. Bries does not take her eyes off of Marisa, except to cooly glance to Garland occasionally, who remains sitting off to the side staring ahead of herself.

>Use an obvious magical item in a room full of people turned into living statues? That doesn't seem like a good deal at all.

>Don't point this out, make her operate the door while we watch her die horribly from a distance. Make sure to get Garland on her feet before doing this.

Marisa wishes to answer the treacherous patroller in a way that would convince her to go and operate the door herself, but must first formulate such a response.

Say that the captain has a point, and you have no guarantee that the lot of them won't attack you once you turn your back on them to open the door. Propose that she goes over to fetch her share of the loot while you stay to the side where you can keep an eye on them.

Walk over next to Garland and gesture at the door.
Tell her that since she is sure she can beat us we aren't turning our back on her.

I wonder if she is just bluffing, or maybe she also knows magic.
Also is there some chatze language you can use to talk to Garland without them understanding you two?