Astrologer x1 (Haruspicy)
Necromancer x2
Exorcist x2

Jesse Merwin is a tall, gaunt woman, beset by omens and a terrible fear of horses. Red eyes, white hair, and pale skin burn easily; she often wears a brown wig and covers her face with a bird-beak mask to try and disguise these features, although it does little to help her fit in. She finds purpose as a traveling teacher who hopes that by spreading her knowledge of the dead and their arts, eventually no one will need fear such creatures and the threats they represent. Unfortunately, her flightiness often leads her to abandon lessons and seek shelter in dangerous places, so that whatever danger threatens her may yet be deterred from encroaching. She has uncanny balance, and finds the best way to stay out of danger is to ascend to the highest point available and keep out of harms reach.

Alchemy x3
Artifice x2

While a woman of damn fine education and silver tongue, Jene was never good at calculating risks, as is perhaps best evidenced by the fact that Jene Hostwiler isn't even her real name, having faked her death after accruing a very sizable gambling debt at some fairly shady tables in Nexus. She's not terribly prone to violence, preferring more to run away when things look like they're starting to get dicey (both skill she's quite good at, recognizing danger and running.) and tries to travel as light as possible as a result.

At present, she uses ointments to keep her hair artificially black from her natural blonde, and as short as is reasonable.

Just to clarify, new players are welcome to join at any point.

Rules References: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10VAUEYEqWYWcQ9gz4bk9uok8OkAIYl1cy50KEw2y75o/edit#heading=h.tmmfol57yk91
Discussion thread: https://questden.org/kusaba/questdis/res/120347.html Discord server: https://discord.gg/ZuGRZKD (more active)

What do you most enjoy learning? Pick one:
-Arts and Crafts
-Kung Fu
-Languages
-Magic
-Something else? Specify.

What else have you got going for you? Pick at least five, potentially dozens. As before, each line-item can be selected up to three times. Broad categories are for ease of consideration, not a restriction on how points can be spent.

Material:
-Command - an army or at least some bodyguards. Important for winning fights, but will need supplies and maintenance for best long-term results. Normally humans or beastfolk. Necromancers can alternatively take zombies, ghosts, zomby goasts, or spine chains.
-Resources - zero here means no starting equipment beyond the clothes on your back, sharply limiting options for applied magic until you score some plunder.
-Retainers - chumps who'll do whatever you say. Unlike an army, they won't abandon you over petty issues like suicidal levels of danger or failing to pay them for months at a time. Only a few named individuals, though, rather than a whole squad or company.

Spiritual:
-Artifacts - each additional pick is separate items, not a single stronger one. If you already had a tool of legend you'd probably find better things to do than poke at cursed holes in the ground.
-Destiny - potent but unreliable.
-Familiar - a magical pet, close as a spouse.
-Taboo - blessings from distant spirits in exchange for restrictions on your behavior.

Social:
-Allies - heroic NPCs, or possibly very minor gods and demons, who regard you as a peer they can trust and routinely trade favors with.
-Contacts - broader network of people you can talk to, who know things worth hearing about.
-Influence - positive reputation, public acclaim. Paired with Resources, possibly a noble title or tenured university position.
-Mentor - somebody older and wiser, who has plans for your future. With 3, you might be the high priest of a god or demon potent enough that their merely showing up in person gets noted in the history books (temple suitable for such a summoning sold separately).

Chronos is the smooth, steady flow of time, suitable for resting, rituals, or routine work. Sixty minutes in an hour, five hours in a shift, five shifts in a day, twenty-eight days in a month, three months in a season, five seasons in a year. Gap between one day and the next is at sundown, which is significant partly because that's when the ritual to summon a lesser demon must begin. Gap between one month and the next is the darkest night of the new moon, likewise relevant for unique demons.

Gap between one year and the next is Calibration, five days and nights of uncertainty when other worlds reach close, loose ends are tied up, and impossibilities may be fulfilled.

Kairos is time which flows more turbulently, suitable for conflict, risk and opportunity. Physical violence almost always qualifies, but tactical stealth and impassioned debate are also important examples. Regardless, it's measured in ticks, actions, and scenes.
When two people act on the same tick, both of them will need to decide what they're trying to do before either result is resolved - indecision means hesitation.
After attempting anything significantly proactive during kairos, you'll need a number of ticks, usually between three and seven, before you're ready to do so again. That interval is your action. Some things, such as walking around, dropping a held item, casual banter, or defending against incoming attacks, can be done on any tick.
A scene is bounded by short-term memory: it typically lasts about one-third of an hour, or until you move to a new location, unless attentive focus is prolonged by the spur of immediate danger. Scenes of battle or hot pursuit last as long as they need to, but switching from one to the other - pursuing those who flee the field of battle, or fighting after pursuers catch up - is usually considered a new scene.

If someone tries to teach you about "corners," "angles," or "threads" of time, do not listen, and promptly report the incident to your local Immaculate mission's Department of Heretical Affairs.

rolled 4, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8, 2, 4, 10, 3, 9, 7, 3, 1, 2, 5, 10, 3, 8, 9, 6, 5, 8, 6, 5, 6, 10, 2, 9, 10, 5, 5, 4, 2, 2, 7, 2, 5, 5, 5, 9, 9, 6, 2, 4, 6, 8, 1, 9, 5, 8, 10, 8, 6, 9, 3, 5, 7 = 358

---

>>984275
>What do you most enjoy learning?
Magic.
Jesse is a scholar of ill omens and contract law first and foremost. The flight of birds, a sneeze on the wrong day, or a roach in your dresser- each carries a unique portent of terrible things to come. Her superstitions are seen as baseless to most, but she considers studying them no different from learning a new language or researching ancient incantations.

>Other assets
Resources x1 (Donations for teaching)
Contacts x1 (Taught students)
Reputation x1 (Taught students)
Contacts x1 (Spirits of the dead)
Destiny x2 (Become a lightning spirit)
Taboo x2 (See and act upon ill omens)
Allies x1 (Frills, reptilian martial artist. Like to relax, play games, and sing; mean in a fight when her possessions or friends are threatened)
Allies x1 (Scarecrow, kleptomaniac weaver. Finds lost things, makes sculptures or traps, and knows complex occult sigils.)
Allies x1 (Red Mother, gardener and enchantress. Wards clothes to keep them warm in the cold, quilts to ward off sickness, or jars to keep food fresh. Has never lost an argument, and treats most anyone with respect and etiquette.)

>>984302
>Taboo x2 (See and act upon ill omens)
What specific behaviors are forbidden or compulsory, and how is this inconvenient or dangerous? Keeping an eye out for subtle signs of trouble isn't a taboo, it's just good sense. What spirit is thus honored, and what mechanical benefits does it provide?

>>984318
>what actions are forbidden?
I must not allow mortals to look upon my face.
I must not wait to act on the signs I receive.

>what behaviors are compulsory?
I must ensure all traveling companions, and any local leaders are aware that something dangers is going to happen.
I must investigate tirelessly what danger the omen is alluding to, until it comes to pass.

>how is this inconvenient or dangerous?
Essentially a cross between boy who cried wolf, and yelling "fire" in a crowded theater.
The messages of ill portent are crystal clear signs to Jesse, but when she tires to speak of them to others, they only come out as vague and ridiculous, lacking actionable details.

>what spirit is thus honored?
Kassandra, who has dominion over prophecies that are heard but not believed.

>what mechanical benefits does it provide?
The omen sense, which almost always comes at inconvenient times, but is also always right, although sometimes not immediately or obviously so.
Turquoise brings good luck, fertility, and helps to stabilize time for Jesse.

The Ruin You've Got Your Eye On JamesLeng 2020/12/27(Sun)01:21 No. 984326 ID: f57349
File 160906091286.png - (1.77MB , 1102x620 , Initial Surface Map.png )

Deep in the jungle, disputed territory between human and lizardfolk tribes. White rectangles are seemingly solid rock, flat top is higher above the surrounding forest floor than a tall man can reach without jumping. Probably an old temple foundation raised by sorcery. No stairs or other easy access from ground level - basic knowledge of pre-cataclysm architecture suggests original builders came and went via a warren of underground tunnels, with hidden entrances likely somewhere reasonably nearby.

Road on the west side is ancient cobblestone, overgrown with waist-high grass. Northeast section is swamp. All trees on or near the structures are individually marked, but further out the blue area can be assumed to be thickly forested. Gridlines are ten feet apart.

Anything else do you want to know? Divinations or various other kinds of research are possible before you set out, but almost by definition any ruin that was already well understood would also have long since been picked clean of valuables.

List all the equipment you're bringing - nearest town where specialized supplies can be mail-ordered is weeks away from the site on foot, so whatever you don't remember to bring and can't scrounge on site you'll need to make do without.

Once you're there, what's the plan?

Whoops. sorry, that should be swamp to the northWEST, road to the east.

>First, what kind of magic-user are you?
Elemental Summoner...
Water x1
Wood x1
Earth x1
Air x1

>What do you most enjoy learning? Pick one:
Logistics

>What else have you got going for you?
>potentially dozens
Command x3
Retainers x3
Influence x3
Resources x3
(I'll come up with some retainers once I get the okay on this build!)

Kisk is the leader of a fishman pirate crew that has caught wind of inland treasure.

>List all the equipment you're bringing
Weapons, foods, water, tents, mosquito nets, those little folding shovels that can also open cans and chop wood, everything we need to upkeep however many fishy boys Command 3 gets me!

>>984275
> What do you most enjoy learning? Pick one:
Medicine
> -Artifacts - each additional pick is separate items, not a single stronger one. If you already had a tool of legend you'd probably find better things to do than poke at cursed holes in the ground.
2: Fire Pearl: used for starting fires to boil water and sterilize equipment and just useful in general.
Winterbreath Jar: Proper refrigeration helps keep ingredients fresh for longer

Resources: 2 Even if she's still a relatively new identity, being a doctor and knowing how to help local smiths improve their metal quality a lot earns some quick cash.

Retainers 2: A few people who have decided to follow her as payment, and hopefully to learn from her. She mostly employs them as triage to keep patients stable while she makes necessary medicines or handles other people.

> List all the equipment you're bringing:
Alright: Hardtack has ~100 calories per serving, so you need ~20 per day to keep weight and they weigh about 1/10th of a pound each, and retainers 2 is 5 people so it's 10 lbs per day worth of food (supplemented by whatever we can hunt on the way there since it is the east is entirely scarce. I'll round up and say I'm bringing 500 lbs of Hardtack in a box sealed by watertight oiled cow skins.

3 Monks Spades, 4 Bows, 100 Arrows, 3 hens, a large tent with 6 sleeping bags, fishing poles for everyone, a wagon capable of carrying that, pulled by two cows with two cows tied behind the cart as backup and emergency rations.

Also, a number of packaged herbs and the like relevant for making medicines in the Winterbreath Vase and a basic Craft (Water) workshop

>>984207
Art of Elemental (Wood) x3
Art of Geomancy x1

>>984275
>What do you most enjoy learning? Pick one:
Arts and Crafts, especially woodworking and textiles.

>What else have you got going for you?
Artifact 2 (Healing Orchid)
Contacts 2 (Lesser Elemental Dragon of Wood, King of the Wood)
Familiar 3 (Cat that can store small items Elsewhere and whose tongue can sterilize and bandage a bleeding wound as well as any doctor)
Influence 2 (Local wood spirits)
Resources 2
Taboo 2 (Care for the living forest)

>>984326
>List all the equipment you're bringing
Bow and Arrows
Sewing and Woodworking tools
Ritual implements
Poison
Drugs for several common poisons and sicknesses encountered in the jungle
Several days worth of food and water

>>984329
Command 3 is enough for a Magnitude 3, Might 0 unit even as bandits. That'd be 80-150 infantry. A horse represents a logistical burden roughly equivalent to three men, but cavalry does not classically show its best value in caves, dense forest, or marsh, so, probably wiser to limit that to a few scouts or messengers at most.

Since you've got money, a solid reputation, and unimpeachably loyal junior officers (nine of them, and they need individual names and descriptions), the first dot is fully supported and you're well on your way to more. That means you can take a Magnitude 4 unit, up to about 300 infantry, and start seriously considering the possibility of allying with or conquering any given town you encounter. What type of weapons and armor are they equipped with? Can't afford anything too fancy, but heavy armor would be a bad combination with heat and humidity anyway.

You've also heard rumors of a type of ship that can sail on land - not just skimming over the top of smooth sand or ice, which is common enough for specialized conveyances in the far south and north (respectively), but a single vehicle that crosses rivers, oceans, and rocky soil as if they were all alike. Supposedly an enchanted keel turns solid ground temporarily to liquid. White and black jade sandwiched together should be easy to recognize, and all the rest is replaceable. Jesse's lizardfolk friend claims that several years ago their dojo defeated a wicked sorcerer who intruded on their lands in such a craft, but it sank during the battle. If that's true, might be recoverable from whichever cave it came to rest in.

>>984336
>Artifact 2 (Healing Orchid)
Nope, only 1-dot artifacts to start with. Possible alternatives, pick two:
-Bulb of Demise and Renewal (cleanly disposes of a body, preventing corpse-borne disease and hauntings, grows 1-3 new bulbs a week later)
-Perfect-quality tool for e.g. sewing, or woodcarving, or surgery (+2 to skill, counts as magical within the appropriate specialty)
-Tin Orchid (needs no fuel to glow like a torch)
-Traveler's Staff (food and firewood without making a mess - your familiar or Wonder-Grasping Apperception can provide necessary essence)
-Warding talisman vs. disease (+3 for one person when worn, or +6 for everyone inside a well-maintained structure when fixed to the door)
>Contacts 2 (Lesser Elemental Dragon of Wood, King of the Wood)
Hm... how about instead of being on a first-name basis with an actual dragon, you've done a bit of brinksmanship diplomacy between a Wood King's courtiers, mortal loggers or homesteaders, and one of the Dogs of the Unbroken Earth, resolving a minor border dispute in some clever way that all involved found satisfactory? Possibly one of those artifacts came with a formulaic letter of gratitude from the office of the Censor of the East.
>Familiar 3 (Cat that can store small items Elsewhere and whose tongue can sterilize and bandage a bleeding wound as well as any doctor)
Healing function is equivalent to a Rod of Cleansing the Body. Elsewhere pocket can store hundreds of pounds, perhaps as much as a ton - hard to say precisely - but only inanimate things a cat would willingly lay on top of. Scrolls and clean laundry are easy, hand tools and small containers straightforward, mid-sized barrels possible sometimes, but anything wet, moldy, or otherwise foul? Not happening.

>>984346
>nine of them, and they need individual names and descriptions

-Truz
Grizzled manta ray. Huge! Leads the spearmen.

-Isoask
Crusty anglerfish. Sneaky scout/tracker. Uses a nasty harpoon.

-Wesley
Orphaned human, taken in and raised by Kisk's predecessor. Holds his own despite being a piss-poor swimmer (relative to the rest of the crew) Only one who knows how to ride a horse. Usually a scout.

-Raxl
Rascally Eel brother! It's hard to tell Raxl and Rixl apart.

-Rixl
Double the rascally eel! They both lead the dart throwers.

-Zox
Old Walrus. Seen a hundred battles. Some military connections? Has an underhanded reputation.

-William
Hardy Orca. Another spearman captain. Never turns down a wrastling challenge.

-Barnabas
Salty Seal navigator. Wears a cute tricorn hat.

-Ikori
Beautiful koi. Quartermaster. The pretty one! Usually the diplomat as well, when Kisk himself isn't handling it.

Captain Kisk himself is a garfish.

>What type of weapons and armor are they equipped with?
I'm thinking lamellar armor made of some kinda leather. Probably not cowhide, maybe manatee skin. They all either carry long spears or war darts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbata) and ropes and grappling hooks.

>Jesse's lizardfolk friend claims that several years ago their dojo defeated a wicked sorcerer who intruded on their lands in such a craft, but it sank during the battle. If that's true, might be recoverable from whichever cave it came to rest in.
Kisk will slap Frills on the back and pour her a drink for this wonderful info. "Captain Kisk, scourge of the land AND the sea! I like the sound of that. Listen boys, Frills here is an honorary crew member now. She needs anything, you drop what you're doing to help out! Got it?"

>>984358
I think I'll go with the bulb and talisman.

The changes / details to the Contacts and Familiar are accepted.

Okay, recompiling character sheet into a single place:

Jesse Merwin is a tall, gaunt woman, beset by omens and a terrible fear of horses. Red eyes, white hair, and pale skin burn easily; she often wears a brown wig and covers her face with a bird-beak mask to try and disguise these features, although it does little to help her fit in. She finds purpose as a traveling teacher who hopes that by spreading her knowledge of the dead and their arts, eventually no one will need fear such creatures and the threats they represent. Unfortunately, her flightiness often leads her to abandon lessons and seek shelter in dangerous places, so that whatever danger threatens her may yet be deterred from encroaching. She has uncanny balance, and finds the best way to stay out of danger is to ascend to the highest point available and keep out of harms reach.

Astrologer x1 (Haruspicy)
Necromancer x2
Exorcist x2
Favored Skill: Magic

Resources x1 (Donations for teaching)
Contacts x1 (Taught students)
Reputation x1 (Taught students)
Contacts x1 (Spirits of the dead)
Destiny x2 (Become a lightning spirit)
Taboo x2 (Cannot allow mortals to look upon my face, must not lie about omens, even by omission.)
Allies x1 (Frills, reptilian martial artist. Like to relax, play games, and sing; mean in a fight when her possessions or friends are threatened)
Allies x1 (Scarecrow, kleptomaniac weaver. Finds lost things, makes sculptures or traps, and knows complex occult sigils.)
Allies x1 (Red Mother, gardener and enchantress. Wards clothes to keep them warm in the cold, quilts to ward off sickness, or jars to keep food fresh. Has never lost an argument, and treats most anyone with respect and etiquette.)

>>984326
>List all the equipment you're bringing

Jesse comes equipped with a mask and wig, a sheaf of ancient research notes studying the secrets of the four part word, blue and white chalk, ink and blank papyrus to write upon, herbal juices needed for death sight, a pound each of warding-grade salt, crushed pyrite, and grain, two spools of twine, prayer strips prepared for a single casting of Dishonest Ghost's Rebuke, a mixture of dust and sap to perform the ritual Things Best Lost, and a necklace made of blue turquoise.

Frills wears a large hat made of a single leaf, adorned with a pink flower; she has pants and a top from similar foliage. She constantly plays with a large metal "divining rod", which can be struck to produce melodious notes, and wielded as a weapon. She also has with her a bottle of fermented apple juice, a hooded oil lantern, and a small rubber ball for games.

Scarecrow carries with him a thousand pouches of sticks, weeds, colored silk and string, small stones he thought were interesting, and various other bobs or bits he couldn't help but pocket. He wears a thick woolen scarf, a fine brown dress, and a red lace vest over top. Most notable is the sleeves of the dress, which are far too long, dangling well past his hands. He has a sack of apples, a carving knife, a handful of candles, and a glass stone for magnifying details or peering around corners. .

Red Mother wears a pair of half spectacles, a full length dress of red and orange, rides a jackalope, and holds a metal fire poker as if it were a weapon. Her saddle bags have three quilts warded against sickness in her saddle bags, and three cloaks bearing poppies which ward against cold. Additionally, she packed an oil skin and second oil lantern, supplies to darn clothes and make quilts, both a fire pot and a fire spit, and tools to care for the jackalope's teeth and hooves.

>>984373
> Kisk will slap Frills on the back and pour her a drink for this wonderful info. "Captain Kisk, scourge of the land AND the sea! I like the sound of that. Listen boys, Frills here is an honorary crew member now. She needs anything, you drop what you're doing to help out! Got it?"

She lays her hands out and bows her head, as if to say "it was no big deal".
"Little cuss didn't know what they were getting into- thought that all their mighty power made them undefeatable, but didn't have the body to keep up with people who were faster than 'em, and with better aim too. Shame about the boat but hey, where do you keep that kinda thing anyways? Attracts the wrong kind of attention I say. Anyhoo, if you all are up for doing me a favor, what do you say to a game of stickball?" Jesse and Mama won't play, but Scarecrow and I have been dying for some entertainment."

Frills can help you negotiate safe passage through the territory of various surface-dwelling lizardfolk tribes, including hospitality, in exchange for certain trade goods that are cheap to acquire in any major city, and for some help from a couple hundred properly amphibious fish-folk with a generation-spanning geomancy project. Long story short, there's heavy construction work to be done deep under the swamp, and while lizardfolk are fine swimmers they still need air to breathe - or bubbleweed, which is in limited supply. Couple weeks of laborious dredging from the portion of the pirate crew who are relatively at home in silt-choked freshwater could speed that endeavor along by years, relative to the tribe's usual progress.

Guarantee of safe passage only extends to within a mile or two of the ruin, though, since beyond that it's a war zone: ancient holy site with more than one group actively pressing some sort of ancestral claim. G'ruk is the leader of the lizardfolk religious community living down in the caves, and Frills can't make any promises about how those fanatics will react to outsiders. Best way to make a good impression on him would probably be offering live prisoners, since he's been grumbling about "troubled waters" that need fresh blood, human specifically, to be settled.

As for other groups, the Dog-Brothers are supposedly friendly with G'ruk, but that's been different in the past - supposedly the god they pray to takes more pride in theft than honest labor. On the other hand, those necrolatrist People of the Bronze-Veiled Skull are bitter, eternal enemies.

What's your marching order? Once you get there, are you all going straight into the obvious stairs down? Setting up some sort of defensible camp on one of the raised stones? Sending scout patrols out into the surrounding jungle to hunt, forage, seek out alternate entrances or try to contact People of the Bronze-Veiled Skull? Something else? You've got enough of a force to plausibly split up and pursue more than one task.

rolled 6, 6, 6, 7, 6, 7, 8, 10, 10, 1, 1, 10, 6, 3, 9, 10, 6, 9, 5, 10, 3, 1, 6, 7, 6, 2, 6, 6, 5, 3, 8, 2, 5, 10, 2, 6, 7, 2, 5, 4, 6, 4, 5, 10, 3, 1, 2, 8, 1, 1, 2, 9, 7, 9, 2, 5, 3, 5, 9, 5 = 329

---

>Divinations or various other kinds of research are possible before you set out
>What's your marching order?

Jesse, being more of a researcher than a fighter, suggests that we make camp on raised stones, and rely on Shreya to summon elementals which can begin to scout the ruin and see where they might being a safer approach. If it takes a while, Jesse might also be able to summon the spirits of the dead and interrogate them or enlist their aid in searching the ruins and gathering information on this place. Once we find a suitable foothold to carve out, she'll use her knowledge of warding to create alarms and protective barriers for their main camp, to ensure their pack animals and supplies are safe from vermin or thieves.

If setting up camp, summoning scouts, and gathering intel takes enough time, helping the locals with their construction projects might secure safer ground and some modicum of protection, but obviously captain Kisk will have to be the arbiter there.

First Wave: Expendable Scouts JamesLeng 2021/01/04(Mon)03:31 No. 984827 ID: f57349
File 160975989354.png - (27.30KB , 207x397 , ThauQuest-what-the-blind-stick-saw.png )

An elemental, resembling a child made of sticks with orange berries for hair, is beckoned forth and directed down the stairs from your camp on that main platform. Upon return, scouting report is strikingly unhelpful despite the stick person's obvious trustworthiness: at the bottom of the stairs there's a room, maybe fifty feet square, with bats on the ceiling and bad-smelling stuff on the floor - now all over the scout's wooden feet as well. Too dark to see much. Hair-berries seem to have mostly been eaten.

One of the pirates cheerfully offers the stick-person a lit torch, hoping to solve that illumination issue on a possible second attempt, prompting the little elemental to shriek and flee in terror. Probably won't be coming back, at least not any time soon.

Alchemical expertise recognizes the guano as a possible ingredient for Ardent Embrace Resin and various related formulae, or for revitalizing overworked farmland, but it's better thought of as raw material rather than treasure. Optimistically it might sell for half an obol per hundredweight back in town, while you'd probably end up needing to pay porters at least half that much just to carry it, for putting up with the stench and route hazards and so on.

Still, if it's averaging six inches deep across two or three thousand square feet, that adds up to around forty or fifty tons. Ballpark estimate, that much could be worth eight dirham, low end of Resources 4, if only you had someone conveniently nearby to sell it to. Mineral deposit on that scale in a more convenient location could plausibly enable a nice comfortable retirement for some lucky solo prospector, or build up an otherwise stable town into the beginnings of a small city. Maybe the team's alchemist can figure a way to distill something less noxious/more value-dense on-site... or some mighty sorcerer could whistle up a flying chariot, be off to market and back in an hour or two with a great big load of cargo each way and no expenses at all, haha! Nice to dream, anyhow.

General occult knowledge and willingness to go on adventures are merely the first steps toward true sorcery. Next milestone is enlightenment: capability to sense and manipulate Essence directly, without tools. Frills and a few other lizardfolk are enlightened, but they don't share their technique with outsiders, and supposedly it doesn't work for humans anyway. There are many other methods, in various combinations of dangerous, expensive, and slow.

In the shorter term, there don't seem to be any traps on the stairs, and you've got a choice of hallways to explore, each easily wide enough for three to march side by side. North? East? West? Or search the first room more thoroughly, possibly shoveling and hauling out some of the "loot" to clear a path, hoping the bat swarm doesn't give you any serious trouble while they're high on hallucinogens?

rolled 1 = 1

---

>detailed equipment list

Equipment carried by each pirate...
- Spear or pouch of 20 darts (200 spearmen, 100 dartmens)
- Short sword
- Leather armor
- Flask
- Boots, cape, weather appropriate clothes

Stuff each pirate keeps on hand when not skirmishing
- Backpack
- Oil lamp
- Two-man tent (load is split when traveling)
- Change of clothes
- A few day's food
- Soap
- Flint + Steel
- Blanket
- First aid supplies
- Harpoon
- Rope
- Knife

Stuff that's split up between everyone while traveling
- 150 oil lamps, enough fuel to last a few weeks
- A few hundred torches
- 100 shovels, axes, mattocks
- 50 fishing nets
- 50 grappling hooks
- General maintenance stuff (Needle + thread, oil for armor and ropes, whetstones)
- Enough food and ale to last maybe a few weeks on its own.
- Lots of extra armor scraps
- Say 50 extra spears, and a few hundred extra darts
- Extra standard carry equipment, in case the boys lose their blanket
- 15 officer tents
- Couple hundred sheets of paper, several brushes and ink sticks
- Maybe a dozen sets of chains and manacles
- A banner

Woo! Hope I'm not forgetting anything important.

I think it can be assumed that each pirate has some random personal belongings too (Unique weapons, momentos, dices or games, cute sailor outfits)

Kisk himself has a one-handed sword.

>stickball
Frills will pretty much have an infinite amount of willing and excited stickball players once camp is set up, though she'll have to teach them how to play.

>Setting up some sort of defensible camp on one of the raised stones?
Yes as soon as we arrive. I'll have all hands on deck for that. Any construction or scouting will wait till all the tents are up. Our sorcerous allies get officer tents.

>there's heavy construction work to be done deep under the swamp
Alright, as long as the work isn't too dangerous. But Kisk wants the lizardmen to know that he might (temporarily) pull men from the project if he needs them to fight. I'll say about a third of the pirates are more accustomed to freshwater than salt, so they'll be on building duty. Problem is I only have a few freshwater officers, and I need them all... I'll send Rixl (the two eels are freshwater eels) and Ikori to oversee this project and negotiations, with William to help with planning and security. Then I'll reassign Zox to act as quartermaster.

>G'ruk ... human blood
Good to know. Guessing we haven't seen any humans around, yet.

>Dog-Brothers
Do they live in the caves too, or in the swamp?

>People of the Bronze-Veiled Skull
Does our friend Frills have any affiliation with any of these groups? Seems like a good idea to at least put some fins out to make contact with these guys. I'll send Raxl, Isoask, and Barnabas with a group of 100 scouts to do some hunting and get a lay of the land and the locals. I'll instruct them to be extra cautious out there.

That leaves 100 fishy boys to hold down the fort.

>prompting the little elemental to shriek and flee in terror.
"Poor little fellow. Should I send some boys to go look for him? Either way, looks like we're wading in shit. The life isn't as glamorous as it's cracked out to be, haha!" Kisk will take Truz, fifteen spearmen and a few lamp bearers (armed with short swords) for the first little dungeon jaunt. Anymore and we'll be tripping over each other. The eggheads can come if they want, but it'll probably be dangerous.

>North? East? West?
After a bit of discussion Kisk decides to throw a stick in the air and see which way it points when it lands.

1 = North
2 = East
3 = West

>Marching Order
Kisk in second rank behind Truz the Manta-ray-man and three spearmen, lamp in one hand and sword in the other. More spearmen bringing up the rear with the other PCs in the middle of the formation. Single lantern bearer in the second rank so Kisk can see where he's going.

*ignore the last sentence ^

rolled 8, 6, 2, 4, 6, 9, 8, 5, 1, 2, 9, 3, 9, 10, 8, 3, 2, 8, 10, 7, 10, 10, 2, 9, 9, 5, 5, 5, 5, 8 = 188

---

>Hair-berries seem to have mostly been eaten.
Well, that will impede some of the bats.

>One of the pirates cheerfully offers the stick-person a lit torch, hoping to solve that illumination issue on a possible second attempt, prompting the little elemental to shriek and flee in terror. Probably won't be coming back, at least not any time soon.
Mika scolds the pirate responsible. The elemental is made of wood, of course it's afraid of fire. You're sailors, you live in wooden ships, you should understand, right? Or maybe that's not the best example. You're sharks, you're afraid of... shark-fire? Or um, what eats sharks?

>Poor little fellow. Should I send some boys to go look for him?
This, unsurprisingly, is something the wood shaman has seen before. No need to search, he'll most likely eventually check back later. She'll set up a lure-slash-apology-offering at the edge of camp to help encourage his return. They're much easier to assuage than an offended cat.

>Guessing we haven't seen any humans around, yet.
You did bring at least with you as magical support and woodlands experts, though.

>what do
Mika will attempt to summon some minor (wood) elemental servants to act as laborers, helping establish earthworks and clear a path through the guano. Spirits already employed as gardeners or low-level laborers in Yu-Shan should be used to this kind of work. Using the Ritual of Dedicated Purification to help Jesse establish the camp's wards.

JamesLeng 2021/01/04(Mon)22:31 No. 984950 ID: f57349
File 160982830330.png - (48.94KB , 289x571 , ThauQuest-behind-door-number-two.png )

rolled 2, 4, 2, 6, 4, 1, 4, 4, 5, 4, 1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 2, 6, 1, 6, 3, 5, 3, 3, 5, 4, 5, 3, 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 2, 3, 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 3, 5, 4, 6, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 1 = 197

---

>>984863
>Dog-Brothers
>Do they live in the caves too, or in the swamp?
They seem to come from underground, aren't known to hold significant surface territory, but they're too comfortable with sunlight to really be full-time cave dwellers. Based on what lizardfolk know, it's unclear where the dog-brothers get most of their food.
>People of the Bronze-Veiled Skull
>Does our friend Frills have any affiliation with any of these groups?
Frills is part of a surface-dwelling lizardfolk tribe by birth, but primarily a roving adventurer rather than a fully respected member of that community. People of the Bronze-Veiled Skull are human, and the only locals that wear heavy armor - hence the name.

>>984909
Adept-level elemental summoning takes four hours and either one willpower or three motes per attempt. Fortunately, high-grade nightsoil and other readily scrounged ingredients cover most of the necessary consumable material supplies. By the time the sun's going down and the camp's mostly set up, you've successfully hired a pair of down-on-their-luck celestial construction workers, both from the same fungal excavator species, vaguely resembling a cross between a toothless badger, a mossy tortoise, and a large crab wearing a mushroom-encrusted tree stump as a hat. They're willing to do a certain amount of short-term work on spec, mostly off the strength of your good name, but are clearly in search of some more lasting position - one of those phonebooth-sized roadside shrines, maybe, or a modest annual festival in honor of their wastewater reclamation efforts for some small town.

While you were summoning the second such, that first one was helping a team of sharkmen shovel a path toward the north door, keeping a bubble of air fresh and pleasant while scouring and polishing the stone floor after the bulk of the material has been moved aside. Bullseye lanterns focus the light forward and down, which seems to go a long way toward not disturbing the bats. And a good thing too, since it turns out they're huge, at least by fruit-bat standards - almost more like winged opossums.

West route appears to be a dead end, near the limit of clear lantern-light from the archway. Path the elemental directed shovel-pirates to clear off is an arc rather than a straight line, staying a relatively constant twelve yards away from the east exit.

Pillared hall to the north has a lower ceiling, twenty feet rather than thirty, with even more bats. Guano there is closer to eight or ten inches deep, easily doubling your initial estimate of the total mass. That chasm across the floor and west wall might be climbable, but it's slippery, gets wider further down, and after somebody dropped a pebble they never heard when it hit.

Those rooms at the far end of the pillared hall, 4 and 5 on either side of the shattered statue, are both occupied by potentially unfriendly forces, so please describe your exact approach. I'm also going to roll for some random encounters. If you've got any elaborate plans involving guard schedules, ward layouts, or other pre-battle preparation, better hurry and get those finalized.

>>984863
>I'll send Rixl (the two eels are freshwater eels) and Ikori to oversee this project and negotiations

Red Mother offers to tag along- she's more of a peacemaker than an explorer, so she'll tag along as an additional liaison; in addition to being a trained socialite who might be able to avoid social pitfalls, she also wants to sus out their medical needs. If we can offer services to help the sick or ward off important store houses, maybe find prospective students for Jesse to pass on her knowledge to, the tribe probably has comparable resources and services.

>>984950
>clearly in search of some more lasting position - one of those phonebooth-sized roadside shrines, maybe, or a modest annual festival in honor of their wastewater reclamation efforts for some small town.

Scarecrow lights up at this opportunity, and sets out to begin creating woven offerings, wooden effigies, and festival decorations for the proper veneration for the spirits.

rolled 9, 7, 9, 2, 9, 7, 3, 1, 7, 3, 10, 4, 10, 4, 5, 7, 4, 7, 10, 8, 10, 7, 5, 7, 9, 10, 7, 3, 10, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 2, 9, 9, 3, 9, 2, 8, 8, 3, 5, 8, 6, 9, 5, 6, 10, 4, 4, 2, 10, 3, 2 = 374

---

rolled 10, 4, 1, 2, 7, 5, 5, 4, 8, 2, 1, 7, 7, 10, 3, 9, 6, 7, 3, 8 = 109

---

>Mika scolds the pirate responsible.
The big toothy tiger-shark-man with a scar across one eye hangs his head in shame and mutters an apology.

>Red Mother offers to tag along
Sounds good! Ikori is especially eager to talk to someone who's not a smelly pirate.

>You did bring at least with you as magical support and woodlands experts, though.
Kisk hadn't really considered his hired experts for blood sacrifice. Maybe if they offer.

>festival
"Well...alright. But the crew tends to get pretty rowdy."

>please describe your exact approach
We're giving that chasm a wide berth, hugging the right wall. When we come around the corner, Kisk will put a few spearmen on the east door and skip across a few big statue chunks to cover the west door, beckoning a couple more men to follow him. We'll keep the doors shut and guarded til there's a nice path dug out between the doors and to the exit, with plenty of breathing room.

>guard schedules
Nothing too elaborate. I'll say three shifts of 20 men patrolling every day.

Not sure how to roll, so I'll just throw a bunch of d10s at you

Where is Frills at this point? Who else has made a point of learning the lizardfolk language?

>>985338
Mika speaks the language of the jungles and woodlands, tradetongue, the language of the local lizardfolk and, apparently, a mewing tribal tongue she uses to argue with her cat. Observers among the pirate crew aren't entirely sure she's being answered, but that's cats for you.

Linguists 2 (Native: Forest-Tongue (??? Dialect), Others: Riverspeak, Tribal Lizard Tongue, Tribal Catspeak)

rolled 5, 5, 6, 7, 1, 1, 5, 4, 8, 9, 6, 9, 8, 10, 2, 6, 9, 7, 8, 6, 4, 5, 7, 1, 10, 8, 4, 9, 8, 7, 7, 9, 6, 6, 5, 2, 6, 10, 6, 3, 2, 8, 8, 9, 8, 9, 5, 9, 8, 5, 8, 5, 6, 8, 7, 5, 6, 8, 5, 8 = 382

---

>>985338
>Not sure what "at this point" means; Frills will alternate between drinking and carousing with the pirate crew, playing games and singing campfire songs and whatnot, to taking her share of guard duty, exploration, and serving as a liaison if needed, although she'll probably have to be tugged along to get her to do the real work.

Jesse knows the lizardfolk language, and Red Mother is willing to learn if the opportunity presents itself; some of the lizardfolk speak languages needed for trade, and she shares a tongue with those few.

JamesLeng 2021/01/12(Tue)23:18 No. 985567 ID: f57349
File 161052230867.jpg - (244.82KB , 960x1280 , Winged_Victory_of_Samothrace_side.jpg )

With a dramatic gesture and swirling green sparkles, the fungal elemental sweeps clean a wide patch of floor by each of the doors - room for three spearmen to stand and fight without penalty in front of each, though retreating more than half a step would put them back in knee-deep guano. Then, unprompted, it sets to work cleaning, sorting, and reassembling the pieces of the shattered statue - only as quickly as a skilled mortal, so that'll probably take days.

Behind the west door you can hear rhythmic clicking, sorta like a ratchet or a very large zipper. Behind the east, muffled groan of pain.

rolled 6, 9, 6, 8, 10, 6, 7, 6, 2, 3, 5, 1, 10, 10, 8, 3, 1, 10, 10, 6 = 127

---

Humphrey the tabby cat (and most important member of the expedition) hops down from comfortable spot upon his vegetative servant, now that said servant has finished clearing a path for his dainty paws. The mothers of these flying rats should be ashamed, not a one among them seems to understand you're not supposed to sleep in a litter box.

Carefully picking a path between the crumbled masonry, avoiding both attention of the fish-humans and stepping on unsteady ground, he peeks his head into the eastern path. What's groaning? Another food-giver and servant? Prey?

Rolling to establish stealth and for awareness to check out the next room. The hearthcat from Compass: Blessed Isle is probably a good reference for Humphrey's stats, although if we assume he has some more skill dots as a heroic familiar, those probably line up in medicine and larceny (lining up with his supernatural abilities) and possibly survival (as his human is a sort-of ranger, while the example hearthcats are expensive housepets that don't get to hang out in jungles much).

>>985881
Smells like fresh blood - two different kinds, neither mammalian. Hard to be sure of much more with the, ah, 'background noise.' East door is actually slightly ajar. Just enough of a gap for a slim cat to slip in solo... though if there were a trap on the other side, or an alert guard with a ready weapon, you might not have enough space to dodge properly.

Good news is cat eyes mean you're far less dependent on lanterns than the fishmen. Even if the lanterns went out you'd probably be able to get by with residual daylight, since it's a nearly straight shot to the exit.

rolled 4, 10, 4, 5, 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 9, 3, 10, 4, 6, 8, 2, 8, 2, 4, 7, 3, 4, 4, 8, 6, 10, 4, 4, 9, 8, 4, 2, 1, 1, 3, 4, 7, 2, 8, 7, 1, 3, 6, 2, 9, 5, 3, 4, 7, 6, 10, 8, 3, 9, 6, 4, 6, 5, 1, 1 = 299

---

In-between diplomatic meetings and festival preparations, Scarecrow and Red Mother will make a pair of waders that are sealed and warded to keep out liquid and filth, so that someone can more confidently walk through the guano and other potential hazards that might seep through regular clothes.

rolled 2, 9, 8, 4, 2, 10, 4, 7, 9, 10, 10, 6, 1, 4, 10, 3, 9, 1, 9, 4 = 122

---

>Behind the east, muffled groan of pain.
Well if it comes to a fight, the east door seems more vulnerable. Kisk will move his men in the best formation he can given the environment, prepared to guard the west door and rush the east. He'll hop down from atop the rubble and put a spearman in his place, hand his lantern to someone else, shoo the furball out of the way, and fling the east door open with sword in hand. "Stand and deliver, lizards!"

>>986087
Four lizardmen are in the room, one disarmed of a spear in the initial confusion, another previously wounded and now suffering from centipede poison. They're more or less at your mercy. East room's layout is more or less symmetrical with the one already shown on the map to the west. >>984950
What next?

rolled 5, 9, 10, 5, 1, 9, 8, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 9, 6, 9, 4, 9, 5, 3, 9 = 138

---

>>986627
Shake them down for information. Do they live down here? What tribe are they affiliated with? Where's the treasure? Do they know anything about a ship that can sail over land? Hopefully Frills is present to translate.

Kisk'll go ahead and get some help for the injured lizard. He knows some first aid, but he'll ask the other PCs if they're better equipped to treat centipede poison.

Leaving those four under guard, he'll go ahead and check out the west room in similar door-kicking fashion.

>>986632
>Do they live down here?
Yes. They're a hunting party from the group Frills told you about earlier, reporting to G'ruk.
>What tribe are they affiliated with?
Rude question to ask, for complex religious and political reasons. Basically they've renounced personal connection to their birth families in order to more equitably serve all the lizardfolk tribes.
>Where's the treasure?
A dozen decapitated monstrous centipede carcasses are laid out on the (guano-free) floor of the east room, two already cracked open lengthwise and field-dressed, some of the others still twitching or writhing around. They'd be happy to share in exchange for medical aid https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-12-02 and/or help hauling it downstairs. Usually about fifty or sixty pounds of good food-grade meat per centipede, and plenty of other useful bits, so even without that injury they were probably going to have to leave some of this catch behind.
Might rig up something to drag it, but that's exhausting and slow, which combines poorly with time pressure from poison, spoilage, and the smell attracting scavengers.
>Do they know anything about a ship that can sail over land?
Not really, but you could ask the dog-brothers. Safe route back crosses one of their checkpoints.

rolled 6, 9, 1, 1, 7, 1, 9, 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, 3, 9, 4, 6, 3, 10, 4, 4 = 92

---

Humphrey, seeing the fish-people and the lizard people have decided not to fight over the bug-food, will go and apply his supernatural ability to staunch bleeding, trotting over to the lizard-biped wearing blue feathers. He's not sticking his tongue in something that smells like poison, though.

>>986682
Humphrey's magic makes it possible to disinfect and bandage wounds without accidentally ingesting anything nasty. Cat powers alone won't heal that existing level of lethal damage, though, nor neutralize the centipede's poison. Looks like if the lizardman is still breathing by midnight, he'll eventually be fine, but odds of making it that far without further supernatural treatment are close to a coin-toss.

>>986632
>go ahead and check out the west room in similar door-kicking fashion
One of the lizardmonks shouts a warning. Still going to proceed with the kick, or wait for translation? Latter option may require suppressing Conviction.

>Latter option may require suppressing Conviction.
Not surpressing nothing. Full speed ahead!

Behind the door, walls and floor the room to the east are clean, even polished, and of darker stone than most of the structure so far, similar to the walls of that chasm you passed on the way in. Ceiling is low, almost close enough to touch without jumping, creating an oppressive effect in contrast to 20' high arches back out in the hallway with the bats. Every surface has ripples and crevices, in some places as smooth as waves at sea on a not-quite-calm day, other spots pocked or pebbled with lumps and holes large as fists, and elsewhere as deeply convoluted as a frozen waterfall.

In mechanical terms, it's unstable terrain - combination of slipperiness and uneven texture means anyone with Athletics less than 2 dots will be at constant risk of embarrassing pratfalls, and even those able to keep their balance may have trouble making full use of physical skills rated higher than their Athletics.

Room appears to be unoccupied. It's ten yards north-south. Only perfectly square architectural elements are a waist-high gray box or undecorated altar ten yards due west from the entrance, and the vertical bars of a huge hexagram inscribed on the wall three yards past it. Debris on the floor back there glitters in the torchlight.

rolled 10, 4, 9, 6, 5, 5, 1, 10, 10, 6, 4, 3, 5, 1, 4, 10, 9, 9, 8, 3 = 122

---

>>986687
Faced with a problem he cannot fix, Humphrey will follow the time-honored tradition of cats everywhere: meowing loudly at the humans, letting them know they need to address this.

Mechanically, I think that works out to an audible (but non-verbal) social attack against Kisk, trying to convey that the lizardfolk will need further medical attention.

Santova 2021/02/07(Sun)16:39 No. 987282 ID: aa00cd

rolled 6, 2, 4 = 12

---

>Anything else do you want to know?

Occurs to me that knowing why we have our eye on this particular ruin would be good. Pricesless artifacts and/or treasure seems like the obvious assumption for a band of pirates and co. Can you give us any specific rumors or knowledge we have about these hallowed grounds?

rolled 16, 13, 20, 5, 17, 16, 4, 11, 9, 9, 17, 20, 10, 7, 11, 4, 2, 10, 11, 20 = 232

---

>Debris on the floor back there glitters in the torchlight.
Looks like treasure to me! Kisk is so ready to go rushing in that he almost trips over Humphrey.

Spears raised and bucklers swashing in a false start, Kisk's crew will simmer down again when they see their captain bend over and scoop the kitty up in his rugged-scaled arms. "What is it, cat? What do you want Kisk to do? Myah! Wah! The loot will have to wait, fellas. Let's get back up the stairs. Truz, make a stretcher for the wounded one!" Kisk will order someone to close the west door before the crew departs, as his hands are occupied.

By the time your squad's turned around and ready to depart, you've only got two lizardfolk prisoners: the medic, and the one whose wound just got contaminated by freshly-fallen bat poop. The other pair seem to have vanished, along with most of that already-extracted centipede meat.

Four large hyena-headed humanoids armed with poleaxes, backed up by two lizardfolk with atlatls, are blocking the archway between areas 1 and 2.

rolled 6, 2, 8, 4, 7, 9, 7, 5, 8, 2, 1, 10, 2, 3, 6, 10, 4, 10, 4, 5 = 113

---

>>987521
Now here's a language Kisk can understand. Join war! Kill the first few, take the ones who rout alive.

We'll keep a tight formation down the cleared path with Truz and as many spearmen as can fit abreast taking point, a couple men spared to physically restrain the two prisoners who didn't vanish.