1/2 Nalthar 2024/01/13(Sat)19:23 No. 1080955 ID: 5ebd37
File 170520260405.jpg - (172.76KB , 800x600 , cadvere 01 tem'rty in the forest.jpg )

You are Tem'rty, a young rat of the Gravel Pit Nest. With no nut harvest this year, the food stores have been depleted. You and the other youths of the nest have been sent out, scattered in all directions. To find food, or to join another nest, for to return empty handed is to return to your grave.

You have been wandering for days with no luck. Any nuts or plants are buried hopelessly deep. The fungal beasts have either migrated or hibernated. Your own meager pouch of jerky is empty.

Half remembered rumors have brought you dangerously close to the edge of the woods, where a great house is said to lie abandoned. Tales of a vault of gold now pale beside the though that there may be preserves or pickling in some forgotten cupboard.

Peering through the thick snowfall you see it, the dark slumping mass of the aged mansion crouches just ahead.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/01/13(Sat)19:23 No. 1080956 ID: 5ebd37
File 170520263977.jpg - (247.07KB , 800x600 , cadvere 02 looming wolf.jpg )

As you struggle forward a movement in the corner of your eye freezes you more surely than the storm. To your left, just visible through the gray, looms a wolf. For one to be this far from the deep woods, and standing on four legs, means this must be an exile, one who has tasted flesh. For as every animal knows, to partake of flesh and blood is to become a beast once more.

Its breath steams in the air as it slowly swings its shaggy head back and forth, as if searching for something. Snow clings to its thick, dark coat of fur. Your hunting knife, long as it is, will do nothing against such a giant. It shows no sign of having detected your presence, small as you are. The slouching gate to the house's grounds stands not but 100 rat-lengths away.
Will you make a run for it?

look closer, the beast is tied up. it can't go far. just stay as far away as it's bounds can hold it and you can get around it.

Observe. See the leash. Note what it is attached to. Estimate its range of movement... then go around.

>>1080960
This.
Try to avoid it's attention anyway. It might draw attention even if it can't get to you, or it's chain might be weak.

don't run, you need to conserve your energy and it may call its attention. walk at an even pace and circle around.

>>1080961
Agreed. Someone leashed the poor wretched thing. Even if it can't reach you either way, you shouldn't needlessly risk it alerting something more intelligent and far less restrained than it. Stealth should at least be attempted.

Try to bury yourself in snow, that might protect you from getting sniffed out and spotted by that creature

Nalthar 2024/01/15(Mon)12:30 No. 1081079 ID: 5ebd37
File 170535060422.jpg - (224.23KB , 800x600 , cadvere 03 at the gate.jpg )

Despite your instincts urging you to run you keep calm and still. Digging down into the snow, you hunker down and observe. The wolf continues to stand eerily still, only moving its head as it scans the forest. Now you see that the beast is tethered, a cord leading from their ragged back to somewhere unseen overhead. Who could possibly have accomplished such a feat?

The forest is silent, save for the hiss of falling snow. You can feel the air grow colder as the ghost of the sun approaches the horizon. Rising as slowly as you can you creep away, towards the house. The crunch of your wide birch-bark shoes on the snow seems like thunder in your ears as you pray the wolf won't sense you. After what feels like an eternity you slip between the bars of the iron fence and onto the frozen grounds of the manor house.

The edifice towers above you, its windows dark, its paint peeling. The scale makes clear, this is the work of humans. Unpredictable creatures, but they often have great stores of food. Surely a house as grand as this had an extensive larder. But how to gain access? The front doors appear shut fast, and none of the visible windows are broken. You shiver as the wind begins to pick up.

Circle around. Might be a less secure basement door, or maybe a drain spout you could climb up towards more vulnerable windows

You could find a sewer underground, and swim in a waterway inside and come out thru a toilet.

Just go in, act cute, and beg for food. If you're lucky, they'll throw you in a cage and remember to feed you.

>>1081081
This.

Is that a hole in the wall?

Nalthar 2024/01/15(Mon)22:39 No. 1081146 ID: 5ebd37
File 170538718810.jpg - (203.34KB , 800x600 , cadvere 04 hole in the wall.jpg )

As you draw closer to the house, intending to explore its far side, you spot a small hole just above the snow line. It looks a tight fit, but you could probably squeeze through. Peering into the darkness you can't make anything out, and you lack a light source. Your ear twitches as you would swear you hear something skittering inside.

Do you go in? Or continue to the back of the house?

Holes are made for rats, this is our element. Go for it.

Someone has already entered. With a house this large there should be more than enough to share. Head on in

Beggars can't be choosers show your ass in that hole but at the same time be wary when entering. Maybe this whole place is falling apart, maybe there is somebody inside or maybe there is a dangerous reason why this place is abandoned.

If there wasn't already a hole there, our suggestion would've been to start gnawing. Head on in, but be on the lookout for others of your ken.

Making decisions with more information doesn't hurt.
But, wandering around outside for too long may draw attention, & leave more tracks.

So: listen at the hole for a bit, maybe check for smells, but go on in if it seems OK.

Nalthar 2024/01/17(Wed)20:52 No. 1081285 ID: 5ebd37
File 170555357707.jpg - (368.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 05 the empty hall.jpg )

Carefully, you stick your head in the hole and look around. Dark and brooding silence greets you. Taking a quiet sniff, you detect dust, some kind of insect, and a trace of something harsh you can't identify. As your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness you can barely make out the narrow space. Stretching up, down and to both sides, the space between the walls at least looks easy for a rat to navigate. Stowing your birch shoes under your cloak, you climb inside and clamber towards a dimly visible hole in the far wall.

The hole opens into a cavernous entry hall, dark and still. Three doors line the far wall, flanked by grand stairs that lead to yet more doors. A chandelier looms down from the high darkness like some monstrous spider. The light creeping in through holes in the curtains is already fading away to the coming night. A faint blue glow seems to be coming from under the stairs to the left, hopefully heralding the presence of fungal beasts.

And on the second floor, behind doors that leak threads of lamplight, a high-pitched voice can be faintly heard.

>>1081285
Let's check out the blue.

we're mouse, light means big scary humans are awake and resides in them. lets investigate the room behind the door that has no light, which is the door under the right stairway

the house seems to be occupied rather than empty. although the blue light is interesting, there is a high risk of getting caught if we pursue. if we were to sneak in, though, this is probably a quieter option than a door. unless it's trapped. it's probably not trapped, but check for traps just in case.

>>1081291
This. See if we can squeeze under the door.

Well, this place is not abandoned as it appeared, try to at least look and see who is in this place. Just so we would know what we are dealing with and be really stealthy about it, there is no need to freak out anybody.

Check out the blue light. If it's dangerous we should know sooner rather than later when we're leaving weighed down with food

>>1081285
Blue is my favorite color, so go find the blue

Nalthar 2024/01/19(Fri)13:34 No. 1081371 ID: 5ebd37
File 170570008113.jpg - (391.00KB , 800x600 , cadvere 06 mouse with a lantern.jpg )

Scampering soundlessly across the musty carpet, you approach the blue glow. Rounding the stairs on the left, you find the glow is coming from a hole in the floor. As you draw near there is a rustling and a faintly glowing fungal beast tied to a stick pokes up, followed by a small mousy face. "Bloody he-" the mouse hisses, drawing back in alarm "What're ye doin up there? Git down 'ere afore yer seen!"

wrap the blue thing in your cloak to stop it from revealing your position

Do what he says and get down in there. But Point out that they're more noticable than you are, that glow was like a beacon in this dark room, you could see it from far away which is why you investigated this area. Suggest him to move farther away from that hole so that it doesnt attract predators and follow him.

Go on in!

>>1081372
>>1081374
This & this.

"I'm looking for a new home. Need a worker?"

Nalthar 2024/01/23(Tue)16:40 No. 1081715 ID: 5ebd37
File 170605684912.jpg - (526.70KB , 800x600 , cadvere 07 down in the floor.jpg )

You follow the mouse down under the floor boards, chiding him that if anyone is going to be seen its him with that glowy bug. He glares at you, then his eye's widen "Well I'll be damned, yer new ain'tcher?" You begin to explain how you're looking for a place to stay but the mouse cuts you off and softly calls down the passage "Ey, Horace! We got a new arrival!"

Another mouse pads up. Eyeing you up and down he shifts the bulging sack in his hands nervously. "Are ye armed?" he asks, to which you indicate your hunting knife "Right, keep quiet, stick with us, and ye won't get strung up." He turns to the other mouse "Come on Jasper, somethin don't feel right down 'ere and is not just the spiders."

Jasper pats him on the shoulder and begins creeping down the dark passage. "Ye coming stranger? We can lead ye to the only safe place in this house o horrors."

If they seem trustworthy, follow them. Ask for the most urgent reasons it's a "a house of horrors" right away.

If they don't seem trustworthy, make excuses to get away from them.

>>1081715
Sure let's see what the town's like. That's our mission, in the end-- to find a new place to live.

They're called Horace and Jasper. That's already a red flag.

But yes, ask them what makes this place so dangerous and ask them how they live here and enumerate your many skills, especially the ones you need to be well and in one piece to perform.

Hmmm best to figure out what might harm you in this place, ask about the light that came from the upper floor and how many newcomers end up here? I am extremely suspicious of this place, like we entered a living thing that traps you inside until it completely eats you up.

Nalthar 2024/01/27(Sat)17:10 No. 1081964 ID: 5ebd37
File 170640423033.jpg - (437.33KB , 800x600 , cadvere 08 jasper's instructions.jpg )

Not quite trusting these mice, but feeling you have no other options, you follow them through the seeming labyrinth of the underfloor. Frequent detours past pipes and through holes in the beams has you soon disoriented. Horace and Jasper keep up a swift yet cautious pace, frequently pausing to peek around corners or cock an ear at the distant sound of scuttling. When you attempt to ask questions they shush you, "got t' keep a wary ear, lad. Wait till we get where its safe."

Pausing at an intersection, Jasper turns to you. "Right, so, we have t' pass under the library now, and there's more creepers there, so here's the rundown. If ye hear a spiderfolk coming, hide yer face. Their eyes catch movement like ye wouldn't believe but they'll miss ye if yer still. I'll toss the torch if they get too close and they oughta follow it. Don't worry bout yer breathin, they're deaf as a brick. And don't bother tryin to kill em." He grimaces, "They're already dead."

Could he expand on that some? What does he mean they're already dead? Why is he still here if there's zombies running about?

Uh, what exactly does a spiderfolk sound like in the first place?

I don't want to concern you but there is somebody staring at you in the darkness. Try to let the rat know it without saying it.

What is that, a bat? Point it out to them.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/02/01(Thu)23:45 No. 1082296 ID: 5ebd37
File 170685995740.jpg - (418.51KB , 800x600 , cadvere 09 swooping horror.jpg )

Before you can ask him to elaborate, the barest movement catches your eye. Just at the edge of the light stands a grotesque bat, dimly glowing eyes hovering above too-long fangs. Before you can do more than set your hand to your knife hilt the thing lets out a deafening screech. You shove Jasper out of the way as the bat leaps towards you, managing to duck under its out-stretched wings.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/02/01(Thu)23:48 No. 1082297 ID: 5ebd37
File 170686012727.jpg - (387.44KB , 800x600 , cadvere 10 just a nip.jpg )

Horace isn't so lucky. The bat rebounds off the wall and falls upon the reeling mouse. Collapsing to the floor in a monstrous embrace, the pair struggle in the dust. Horace desperately shoves the sack of supplies in the way of the snapping jaws that dive for his throat. The ringing in your ears silences his scream as fangs dig into his shoulder.

Get in there and fight it off!

slice at the wings! or the... wires?

Protecting Horace from harm is first priority. Go for a kill on the bat--its throat? The device on its back can be examined once it's dead.

I'll support cutting the wires.

Whether it's an augmentation or a mind control device, cut the wires and stab them through the back for good measure!

Quick clarification, these guys aren't shady they needed to act that way because this whole place made them careful about their surroundings. They are just like you prey to the predators of this place, help Horace. If you can stab it in the neck or the eye. All predators no matter how opportunistic they are usually calculate all their attacks if you mess it up badly enough maybe it will retreat.

Nalthar 2024/02/04(Sun)21:06 No. 1082538 ID: 5ebd37
File 170710961929.jpg - (406.68KB , 800x600 , cadvere 11 get it off.jpg )

A struggle ensues in the cramped darkness. You draw your long hunting knife and slash the wires of the strange device clamped to the bat's back. Sparks flash as they are severed, but the bat doesn't seem to react, so you drive your blade into its back. You feel the knife scrape against something hard, and a sizzling, glowing liquid spurts out. As the bat begins spasming, Jasper rushes over. The frantic mouse jams his daggers into the sides of the bat's head ,struggling to pry its jaws from Horace. With your assistance the pair of you hurl the thing down the corridor.

Dust settles as the decrepit bat continues to twitch and leak hissing fluid. The two mice catch their breath on the floor, Horace clutching his torn shoulder. Yanking the hunting knife out of the bat, you wipe it clean and join them. Your ears still haven't shaken off the effects of the monster's screech, you can't hear a thing.

The darkness closes in as the glow fades from the crushed fungal beast.

>>1082538
Spiders are deaf, they won't have heard the screech at least... but what are we going to do without light?

I think it's time to recover from the fight. Stop the bleeding as much as you are able and wait until your hearing returns, then you can ask what they normally do when the torch dies.

Is there some way to re-wire the cyborg bat so they can be used as a makeshift flashlight?

The very moment you stop moving you become easy prey, help out the wounded friend, and keep moving.

Nalthar 2024/02/10(Sat)17:27 No. 1083098 ID: 5ebd37
File 170761482346.jpg - (327.88KB , 800x600 , cadvere 12 long and full of spiders.jpg )

Inspecting the body, you can see the light fade out of its sunken eyes. Just as well, the prospect of carrying around a bat's head as a lantern seemed harrowing. You examine the glowing fluid that pools below the corpse. The cloudy liquid seems to glow brighter as it is exposed to the air, but it's also hissing and scorching the floorboard. You start to check your bag for something to poke it with, when you are startled as Jasper staggers up beside you. The shaken mouse thrusts the stick from his former lamp into the fluid until the end smokes and sparks. Your ears have recovered enough to hear, though not enough to hear the mice's footsteps.

Horace climbs to his feet, clutching his sack tightly with his one good arm. Jasper taps your arm "Can ye hear me?" You nod "Right, forget what I was saying before, we're making a run fer it. That passage there is a straight shot ter the exit. Ye get to the end, up through the wall, out the window. If we're not still with ye, go left round the corner, the woodshed has our mates." Jasper cocks an ear as you can barely make out the sounds of many legs scuttling closer. The mouse shudders and looks you dead in the eye. "We're off. Ye want to be on point, or taking the rear, stranger?"

There's probably more danger in front. So take the lead, so you can give warning & try to keep the injured guy safe.

Maybe falling behind because you are in better shape to defend yourself, at least they are familiar with this place and if something much stronger does start to chase you just have to be faster than the slowest member of your group. Be the shield but also be a calculative person, know when you can survive a fight and when you need to cut and run.

Go in the middle of the group. Safest that way

Take point. Best you see the monsters before they close in on you.

Nalthar 2024/02/15(Thu)21:40 No. 1083455 ID: 5ebd37
File 170806201657.jpg - (499.69KB , 800x600 , cadvere 13 tote.jpg )

Torn with indecision and panicking, you choose not the front nor the rear, but the middle. Scooping the two mice under your arms you break into a dead run. "What the feck, ye bloody fecking-" Jasper sputters invectives, clinging to his torch. Horace is quiet, blood running down his arm to drop onto the thirsty dust of the passage.

Nalthar 2024/02/15(Thu)21:40 No. 1083456 ID: 5ebd37
File 170806205399.jpg - (291.24KB , 800x600 , cadvere 14 spiderfolk.jpg )

The acrid light of the sputtering torch can barely keep pace as you rush pell-mell into the gloom. The sound of many legs scuttling seems to come from all directions. A bat shrieks, and from far too close another's answer screeches out. As you pass a corridor you glimpse glowing eyes coming closer. With the strength of desperation you increase your pace.

Suddenly you are confronted by a pair of spiderfolk emerging from a side passage. Their gaunt limbs end in wicked looking metal spikes, and their heads turn towards you, glowing eyes lurid in the darkness.

Remember, they catch movement. Stop, get to the side of the tunnel, hide your face, let the guy throw the torch.

Try to avoid this fight, we are in no condition to fight the two of them at the same time while having a hurt ally.

>>1083458
This

Oh and be sure to tell your companions about the spiders, in case they didn't notice yet.

Nalthar 2024/02/19(Mon)21:22 No. 1083761 ID: 5ebd37
File 170840652110.jpg - (430.36KB , 800x600 , cadvere 15 down in the dust.jpg )

A cloud of dust swirls up as you dive to the side of the passage, letting your thick wolf-hair cloak cover you. As soon as he spotted the spiderfolk Jasper tossed the torch, which tumbles to the opposite side from you. Peering out from under cover, you see the creatures stand still for a second, making an odd whirring and clicking sound. They abruptly break into motion, rushing the torch and stabbing it with their sharpened limbs. Just as suddenly the spiders halt, staring at the light as the contraptions on their backs scroll and click. lifting the torch by claw-tips, it is carried back down the passage behind you, leaving you in the growing dark.

Minutes pass, marked only by the sound of distant scuttling. A pair of spiders pass you by, accompanied by a bat. The thing lets out a barely audible screech, twisting its ears towards the distant echoes, then walks right past you. Scarcely daring to breathe, the three of you huddle until the susurration of tapping claws becomes a faint murmur.

>>1083761
Welp, no light. Time to carefully, slowly make our way out.

>>1083772
Quiet is the word of the day.

>>1083761
Hold your tail from disturbing the ground and progress slowly.
Trust your whiskers.
Both rat and mouse are soft of foot.
If your and your companions nerve can hold you will find safety or be well readied for danger between you and salvation.

>>1083772
I agree with this one

Nalthar 2024/02/23(Fri)22:39 No. 1084390 ID: 5ebd37
File 170875677694.jpg - (254.04KB , 800x600 , cadvere 16 edge of the wall.jpg )

Climbing to your feet as quietly as you can, the three of you resume your trek down the passage. The going is slow, protruding nails and jutting pipes now serious threats in this inky dark. Jasper supports Horace, holding onto your tail with his free hand, while you proceed on all fours, feeling ahead to avoid obstacles.

Your fingers brush against open air as the way ends at the interior of the wall. Noticing you've stopped, Jasper whispers "Ye reached the gap? Good, Horace we're almost home." A faint groan is the only response "Hang on Horace, we've been in worse spots 'n this. Stranger, the window is right above us. There's a gap in the wall on this side, hidden behind the curtain. We just need to get up there."

Keenly attuned to the darkness, your eyes are drawn to a slight movement off to the side. Something glowing faintly blue is bobbing its way towards you.

>>1084390
Blue? A fungal beast, or someone carrying one? Well, we need a light, go take a look.

The light warrants investigation, yes, but not without word first to Horace and Jasper. They'll know if it's cause for alarm, or a sign of the presence of friends. If nothing else, they should know why you're leaving their side.

>>1084394
Yeah, this

That blue light always came in handy, so we should go towards it. I mean they can't all be enemies that we are dealing with, there must be other friendly faces in this cruel place.

Nalthar 2024/03/02(Sat)17:42 No. 1085150 ID: 5ebd37
File 170943017084.jpg - (396.25KB , 800x600 , cadvere 17 lantern light.jpg )

Peering around the corner, you can make out a figure drawing closer, wielding a blue-glowing lantern. You whisper to Jasper, asking if this is a friend. "It was supposed te be just us two today. They sent some'n else?" he replies. The figure stops, and with a sharp snap the lantern light is cut off.

Uh oh.
Did they hear us?
Are they friendly?

... ask if any of Jasper's friends have blue lanterns that are fancier than a fungal-beast strapped to a stick.
If that doesn't sound familiar, whoever-it-is is probably bad news.

Ask them to identify themselves.

Well, we have been spotted, and the only thing that we can hope for is a new person to be an ally. So far all the hostiles seemed animalistic or created to act like that.

Oh, at least draw your sword and be ready for a fight.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/03/09(Sat)14:05 No. 1085926 ID: 5ebd37
File 171002192417.jpg - (645.17KB , 800x600 , cadvere 18 whos there.jpg )

You inform Jasper that the figure bore a blue lantern. "Aye, must be one'a ours, the corpses make their own light." Still cautious, you set hand to hilt as you peep around the corner again. Just as you are about to whisper-call to the stranger, the lantern snaps open in front of your face.

"Who do we have skulking around, hmm?" a soft voice mutters, hidden behind the blue glow. "Ah, Jasper and... Horace, mmm, you've met the bats haven't you? Quickly, lets ascend before they hear us." The figure raises the light to illuminate the wall, showing a fairly easy climb up the laths.

Jasper helps Horace onto your back, and the two of you hurriedly make your way up. The newcomer follows, hanging the lantern from their tail as they climb.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/03/09(Sat)14:07 No. 1085927 ID: 5ebd37
File 171002204918.jpg - (412.56KB , 800x600 , cadvere 19 on the sill.jpg )

Emerging from a hole in the wall, you find yourself clinging to a thick curtain. Following Jasper, you climb until you reach the window sill. Outside the wind howls in the inky night, and snow swirls in through a broken pane to form a small drift.

The rat climbs onto the sill, and you finally get a good look at her. Her mantle and garb are of the deep woods style, but the weapon sheathed at her hip appears to be a repurposed needle of human make. She eyes you appraisingly, and grants a slight nod. "Well, you at least look capable. The wind should mask our voices, so its safe to talk here." She pulls out a length of bandage and sets to stanching Horace's bleeding shoulder. Jasper is peeking through a hole in the curtain to the silent room beyond.

"My name is Surrep. We haven't had a newcomer in quite some time. Tell me, who are you and what brings you to this wretched place?"

"Things are wretched outside too, at least where I came from. A hungry winter. At least human places have food."

Time to get some answers to what is happening here! Things are trying to kill and some of them look like they were constructed by somebody.

Humans are unpredictable. But as individuals, they can be allies, if capricious ones, can they not? Especially if you engage their nurturing instincts? They are capable of rational thought and moral choice and real communication, no? Even if they tend towards horrible cultures and madness.

...Right?

It's quit relieving to see a friendly face after the terror in the earlier passage. Give thanks that Horace's wound can be tended so quickly.

Offer the truth: you are Tem'rty of Gravel Pit Nest in the meadow. Winter's privations have driven you and its other young rats to abandon the nest, and you've found this place in your search for a reliable store of food.

"Winter has come, and my clan is starving."

1/4 Nalthar 2024/03/18(Mon)22:39 No. 1086738 ID: 5ebd37
File 171082675672.jpg - (430.69KB , 800x600 , cadvere 20 rats at the door.jpg )

Introducing yourself as Tem'rty of the Gravel Pit Nest, you succinctly relate your family's plight, and your hope that a source of food could be found here.

"A story much like mine, I'm afraid." Surrep says "My family hail from the Shale Ledge Nest, before it collapsed under the weight of the snow. We dug most of us out, but without our food stores we were forced to wander. Eventually we followed the old rumors to this house, to look for old food, or fungal beasts feeding on the rot."

2/4 Nalthar 2024/03/18(Mon)22:39 No. 1086739 ID: 5ebd37
File 171082679899.jpg - (472.94KB , 800x600 , cadvere 21 they drop down.jpg )

It waited until we were all in the entry hall, then it sprang its trap. Lamps flared to life, blinding us. A voice screaming "Capture them! Bring them home!" Dozens and dozens of corpses, strung up like puppets, dressed in ridiculous costumes but bearing very real weapons, descended upon us.

3/4 Nalthar 2024/03/18(Mon)22:40 No. 1086740 ID: 5ebd37
File 171082684275.jpg - (386.71KB , 800x600 , cadvere 22 the doormen.jpg )

Some broke for the door, a few even managed to get out, but there came a screaming of crows, and I don't expect they got away. I made a run with a group for the doors opposite, when I heard someone calling. Some mice were showing us the hole under the stairs. We got under the floor just as the hall doors opened, and we scurried away as heavy footsteps strode over us.

4/4 Nalthar 2024/03/18(Mon)22:41 No. 1086741 ID: 5ebd37
File 171082687726.jpg - (330.39KB , 800x600 , cadvere 23 a prison.jpg )

"The mice lead us to the woodshed, where other survivors were hiding. And so we've been trapped here, for three, maybe four months? Getting by on what beasts we can hunt in the walls without drawing attention." Surrep finishes bandaging Horace, who is looking pale but a little better.

Jasper rejoins the group "Horace n' I came much the same way, only our group was lookin for th treasure. A year on and we've yet to find a glint of it." the mouse sighs, "If this was a ghost story we'd tell ye 'and those who try to leave are never seen again', but not so. We do see em again, dangling from those bleedin strings like the rest of em."

If you hadn't seen those monsters below with your own eyes, you would never believe these disturbing accounts. It is not only the raging wind that makes you shiver, as you consider these dire circumstances you find yourself in.

>>1086741
There must be someone controlling the corpse puppets. Kill them, and the house will be much safer.

>>1086741
Just how much longer will this winter last? Cause if we weren't facing starvation outside I'd suggest we just GTFO

I am more concerned that this puppet master wanted for all of you to become residents of its home. That is even worse than just wanting to kill or eat you, so how many of the others who are friendly and willing to fight are in here to help us? We have a target and we just need to get to it.

>>1086744
This would be good.
Or sabotage the mechanisms, though I assume they've thought of that already.

>>1086748
I think they just said that most critters that try to leave end up as puppets? So it's probably harder than it seems.
Maybe the guard we saw outside is meant to keep critters in, not out.
... if that's the case, there's probably a lot more guards or traps that we passed without noticing on the way in. They just didn't go off because we were headed farther in.

If all who leave meet a death and then a mockery of their living selves, there is nothing but to stand against the evil in the house. Join forces with these brave rats, and strive to vanquish whatever malevolence is animating these abominations.

Nalthar 2024/03/26(Tue)14:48 No. 1087195 ID: 5ebd37
File 171148969507.jpg - (494.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 24 differing goals.jpg )

You question whether the house is really so inescapable. "Alright, mebbe some of em got away, but not many." Jasper concedes, "There's somethin on th roof that watches, and if it spots ye leavin sends crows after ye. Doesn't seem to look under the eaves though, so stick to the wall if ye go out."

"Anyway, there's no leaving while this winter lasts. Not a nibble for miles it sounds." You admit, you're nearly starving. Jasper elbows you conspiratorially, "Aye, but we've got a plan! The master of this house, whatever it is, it eats human food. Ev'ry month it sends it's servant to the town and comes back with a cart o' vittles. Cheeses, dried meats, crackers and jams, enough to last the likes of us for a year! Iffen we can just get a safe route to the pantry our problems will be over."

Surrep scoffs, "There is no safety here until the master lies dead. We must avenge our kin, and end that monster's reign!" Jasper rounds on her, "I've told ye missy, no one's been past the second floor! The guard in th walls is double what's down ere, and whatever they're doin in th rooms its got the master's attention full time. Whatever's in that attic must be ten times worse."

"And you would have us just hide? While more poor souls swell its ranks? Those bats will be listening in all the walls now, it's only a matter of time before they find where we hide." she counters. "We must act quickly to save all our skins." The pair glares at each other, though thankfully neither reaches for their weapons.

Hmm... I think the pantry is the answer to both problems. If we can gain access to it, we can get some food, but also it provides a safe route to the boss. If we can sneak in among the dinner plates then we can kill the leader at mealtime.

Oh, or maybe we can POISON the enemy's food!

We need to find out why the Master of the house wants prey rather than servants. Everyone in this group is, in some form or another, a mercenary desperate for food and pay. If the Master simply paid everyone, they'd have an army ready to conquer the province by the end of Fall!

Knowing this may give us insight into how we can end their reign.

There's no need to pick a side at the moment; we're still in enemy territory. Offer a calm word, and mention that all the talk of food has reminded you that you'd very much like to get to where there's a bite to eat, if that's alright.

Long-term, our goal should be stability. If we choose the path of revolution, and prioritize overthrowing the master of the house, we risk sacrificing the source of the food that is our ultimate object. The most gainful plan would be not only to remove, but to usurp the master, and use the same powers the master does to keep the food flowing.

>>1087195
Hey calm down everyone, regardless of your disagreements fighting eachother will just make things worse. Save your energy for the things that are already trying to kill us all.

I got an idea, why don't we just try to hide on the vehicle of the servant and they can give a ride to the place where the food comes from. Better to be there than here where somebody is currently hunting us.

1/4 Nalthar 2024/04/06(Sat)20:56 No. 1088126 ID: 5ebd37
File 171246220129.jpg - (473.39KB , 800x600 , cadvere 25 the wind blows harsh.jpg )

Stepping between the two, you tell them they both raise good points, but its not worth coming to blows over. Also you're starving and Horace is injured. The pair move apart, looking chagrined.

"A-aye, we've dallied long enough." Jasper grumbles, "Stick close, we have to head outside so's nothing follows us. Over here, lets go."

Thick flakes streak past the window as you peer out into the night. At the edge of the pale lamplight a long string is tacked, whipping in the strong wind. Jasper grabs it and ties the end around Horace. The three of you struggle against the storm to lower the injured mouse to the ground without letting him bash against the house. Once he is safely down he braces against the wall to hold the string steady as you all shimmy down.

The storm rages. Even with the lantern you cannot see more than a foot in front of you. Keeping one hand to the wall, you are lead around the corner of the house and into the slumping woodshed.

2/4 Nalthar 2024/04/06(Sat)20:57 No. 1088127 ID: 5ebd37
File 171246223739.jpg - (507.90KB , 800x600 , cadvere 26 woodshed camp.jpg )

Inside you find the first warmth you've felt in a long time. A handful of ragged tents surround a cheerily crackling fire, stoked in an old tin lid. The harsh wailing of the wind is cut off as Surrep pushes the loose plank back into place. They lead you over to the hearth where a hedgehog sits, staring into the flames.

3/4 Nalthar 2024/04/06(Sat)20:57 No. 1088128 ID: 5ebd37
File 171246227414.jpg - (565.36KB , 800x600 , cadvere 27 Afton.jpg )

The grizzled urchin looks up at your approach. "Hrrm, finally back you two? Seems you found something at least." Rising, he offers you a hand which you clasp firmly. The one-eyed hog offers an approving grin. "Heh heh hrm, a fighter eh? A hunter? That's good, yeh might last a while. Name's Afton, been here longer'n anyone else." You introduce yourself, but before you can continue the conversation Horace staggers on his feet and drops his sack. Afton steadies him and looks at the mouse's injured shoulder. "Hrmm, got yerself a bite there young Horace? Come along, we've a bit of poultice left." The hedgehog lifts the mouse like a child and carries him off to one of the tents. Jasper follows, pausing to call to you "Thank ye for yer help tonight. I owe ye one. Good night."

4/4 Nalthar 2024/04/06(Sat)20:58 No. 1088129 ID: 5ebd37
File 171246231537.jpg - (608.69KB , 800x600 , cadvere 28 cooking fungos.jpg )

Surrep sits down beside the fire and opens the abandoned sack. Pulling out the fungal beasts held within, she arranges them along the edge of the tin. The sizzle and the smell have your hungry guts twisting, but you manage to hold back while they cook.

To take your mind off the hunger you discuss ways of getting to the mysterious master of the house. You ask why not simply poison its meal, or sneak up with it. She shakes her head "The kitchen is well guarded, with both the glow-eyes and the puppets active at mealtimes. They have some kind of little room that rises up to deliver the food, and it always has at least four armed rats on it. The pantry is no better. I don't know how Jasper plans to get in, the walls there are solid wood, not plaster like the others."

Surrep stares into the swirling sparks that dance over the simmering fungus. "We might not have a choice soon. The beasts are getting harder to find. This lot won't even feed half of us." she jabs at the cooking lumps, steam escaping from within. You ask about stowing away on the cart to escape. She frowns "It would be difficult, the cart is open with nowhere to hide, and the trip takes days." her expression hardens "My family won't be leaving, not until we have vengeance."

The smell is unbearably appetizing as Surrep finally stabs the fungals with her needle and moves them to a wooden trencher to cool. "Wait here a moment" She takes one beast back to the entrance and sticks it out into the frigid storm for few seconds. Returning to the fire she hands it to you. "Since you helped bring them back, you get one to yourself." You tear into the spongy flesh in a rush, abandoning manners in your ravenous need. Surrep takes a smaller piece for her own dinner.

A piece of wood crackles and collapses as you finish your meals. "You must be tired after your long journey. There's an empty blanket in our tent that you're welcome to. Anything else to discuss before we retire for the night?"

"Do you think the actual owner of this house would tolerate servant mice?"

>>1088129
Have they explored every unguarded room of the house?

>>1088134

On that topic can we try to communicate with him, wright him a letter or create a drawing in order to tell him that we are willing to work along with that person. It is clear that the puppet master has a respect for you all since the corpses are dressed in human-looking cloths.

Absurdity DeVoid 2024/04/08(Mon)14:19 No. 1088276 ID: 9c049c
File 171261116035.jpg - (30.53KB , 150x123 , 171246223739.jpg )

On a more lighter note I just can't get enough of this thing. Who is even pulling it, what is inside of it how was it built? So many questions for that little thing.

There's the matter of food. You want to make sure that you won't be a burden, and that you'll be able to earn your keep going forward.

1/3 Nalthar 2024/04/17(Wed)22:58 No. 1089092 ID: 5ebd37
File 171341989310.jpg - (583.73KB , 800x600 , cadvere 29 sleepy now.jpg )

Feeling a little guilty at having downed a substantial portion of food, you ask about earning your keep. "We could definitely use another hunter." she replies "Talk to Afton in the morning. He's nominally in charge and organizes the hunting. Also he likes to get to know newcomers. He'll introduce you to the others, show you a map of the house."

You nod along sleepily, trying to think of anything else important that needs asked. You mumble something about just working for the puppet master. The look of appalled disgust Surrep shoots you would crush your little heart, but you're too busy slumping slowly backwards to see it. "Hey hey, don't fall asleep yet!" she hisses as you thump onto the ground "Hey, I'm not carrying you to bed." But it's too late, as the fatigue of many day's walking drags you down into quiet unconsciousness.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/04/17(Wed)22:58 No. 1089093 ID: 5ebd37
File 171341992896.jpg - (686.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 30 sad news for bats.jpg )

Sounds of activity rouse you from your dreamless slumber. Blearily you sit up, finding yourself still beside the fire. Your thick cloak has been draped over you, and your long knife set carefully aside.

The mood in camp is dour, but not as bleak as you would have expected. Mice are moving about the camp, doing various chores. Up on the wood pile a pair are wielding a crude crosscut saw to take small pieces off one of the logs. With a clunk another pair deposit a tub full of snow by the fire. They eye you and whisper together, but don't approach.

You spot the hedgehog Afton among the bustle, head and shoulders above the smaller rodents. A pair of young bats are talking to him. As you watch Afton looks at them sadly and slowly shakes his head.
At this, the pair slump like puppets with cut strings. The smaller one starts weeping, keening in a pitch that scrapes the upper range of your hearing. The older bat stiffly leads them away, moving like all the life has been drained from them. Placing the younger on their back, the bat climbs up to the highest shelf and disappears. Afton shakes his head sadly once more, and spotting you, walks over.

"Morning, young Tem'rty. Hope ye slept well, as there's another hard day ahead of us.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/04/17(Wed)22:59 No. 1089094 ID: 5ebd37
File 171341995884.jpg - (647.43KB , 800x600 , cadvere 31 first floor map.jpg )

Afton leads you into one of the tents where hardened looking mice and rats are strapping on hunting equipment. A few shrews are running a grindstone, sharpening knives and repairing straps. Surrep is here, discussing something with her fellow rats in hushed tones.

The hedgehog brings you to a makeshift table where some rough maps and diagrams are arranged. "Don't know if ye have any experience with human's houses, but this'ns not much different, just bigger. Ye've the garb of a hunter, so I hope we can count on ye. We've mapped out most of the first floor, take a look 'ere"

1: The library: There are fungos feeding on the books, and the window makes for a quick escape. Tis usually quiet, but teams of puppets will occasionally come to take a book or clear out the fungos, so stay alert.

2: The entry and main hall: Empty, and sometimes patrolled by the glow eyed ones. Best to avoid unless ye need to bypass the underfloor.

3: The dining room: This is where we usually hunt. There's a rottin feast up on the table, but the fungos are runnin a mite thin lately. And keep quiet, the master gets upset when 'e catches folks here.

4: The kitchen: Puppets work here at mealtimes, but even when they're dormant there's glow eyes on guard. Some sort of moving platform takes food up to the higher floors. There's a pantry too, but ye'd never make it to the door without gettin caught. And don't expect any help for any foolishness, just don't mess with this room.

5: The water closet: Not much, a human toilet and sink, some cleaning chemicals. The tiled walls keep the fungos out, so no reason to go there.

6:The lounge: Some human furniture, that's about it. Might be some fungos, and the only time puppets show up is when they're carryin a book from the library. Probably the safest place to hunt.

7: The servant's quarters: Moldering beds with plenty of fungos to catch. The human servant stays in here, but he's away for at least the next several days. There's also the stairs to the basement, but keep out. The stone walls down there mean ye'd be out in the open with no easy escape.

"So" he claps you on the back "where would ye like to hunt?"

Huh, is it *possible* to work for the puppet master while still alive? Maybe someone could infiltrate their ranks, and serve as a double agent?

>>1089094
If the fungos are getting thin in the dining room then they're being overhunted. Gotta hunt somewhere else today.
...the chemicals from the bathroom might be potentially useful for a plan of some sort. Which chemicals are they? For instance, we could kill a human by mixing specific chemicals together in a place where the fumes would reach the room they're in, and sabotaging the exit so they can't get out.

The library is a good place to hunt today, I think. Might even find a book worth reading.

>>1089094
Quick question has anyone considered burrowing a hole into the shaft the moving platform goes through and swiping food as it travels, I assume no guards go with the plates.

I think the servant's quarters are probably the best place to hunt. If this is a place we don't typically have access to, it's good to profit from it while the opportunity is still there.

Just have a question do any of you know how to write human language? To leave the message for the puppet master, will he freak out if he sees that we can talk with him. As for the hunting go for the servant's quarters.

Nalthar 2024/04/25(Thu)20:33 No. 1089720 ID: 5ebd37
File 171410242145.jpg - (585.06KB , 800x600 , cadvere 32 watch yourself.jpg )

The servant's quarters strikes you as the most likely place, if it's usually inaccessible. Afton nods "Aye, Most of the other teams will be hunting there as well. Got to get in while we can. There aren't any puppets in there but be careful, the glow eyes may patrol through, or hear ye from the kitchen."

The library doesn't seem like the best place to hunt today, but it intrigues you nonetheless. Reading is a skill in short supply in the forest, and you know but a little. You ask if any here know the ways of words. "Not many" Afton replies "But yer in luck, we have a scholar among us. A chemist even." the hedgehog directs your gaze to a small mouse in a big coat. "Just joined us last month. Iffn ye need anything to do with the alchemic craft, Lisel's your woman. She'd probably love having someone actually listen about salts n' fumes n' whatnot."

You wonder whether food could be stolen or poisoned on its way up. Afton shakes his head "We did steal some once, a long while ago. That's why the bastard keeps four guards on the thing at all times now." Considering how locked down the mysterious master of the house has everything, you ask about the possibility of contacting them, offering service in exchange for clemency.

The grizzled urchin grabs you by the shoulder and fixes his one good eye on you. "Yer a woods lad, so I wouldn't expect ye to know, but ye don't muck around with humans. First thing ye learn as a house raider, and I've seen enough good men n' women die that didn't heed the adage; 'keep hidden, keep alive'. They're fickle things, humans, and they'll as soon kill ye as look at ye. And this one's madder than any I've known, so don't ye dare bring 'is ire upon this refuge, got it?" Faced with his unrelenting glare, you cautiously nod. "Good lad. Now ye'll need t'partner up with someone, seein' as ye don't know these walls yet. Why don't ye ask around?"

Around you the other hunters are finishing up their preparations. Surrep has moved away from her group and is having her needle sharpened. The tent entrance brushes open and Jasper slouches in, looking like he's had a long night. Across the room, Lisel is eyeing you appraisingly. Seems like you have time to talk to one person before it's time to head out.

Well if Lisel is eyeing you time to eye her back. Go and talk to her you fool.

Lisel is the most interesting. I want to hear what sort of alchemy she can do, and understand better what she would most desire from a raid on the house. If we can help her advance her craft, her elixirs so advanced might prove to make life easier for everyone.

Nalthar 2024/04/27(Sat)21:00 No. 1089892 ID: 5ebd37
File 171427683067.jpg - (511.71KB , 800x600 , cadvere 33 science mouse.jpg )

Lisel peers at you through thick glass goggles as you approach. The white-furred mouse extends a slim hand from her voluminous sleeve to shake yours. "Tem'rty was it? Pleased to meet you." Glancing around, she drops to a whisper "I couldn't help but overhear, you are curious about the murderous master of this manor? That is an interest we share, my friend. We can talk more when we have a bit of privacy, but suffice to say, this house holds secrets that I have come a long way to obtain."

She reaches into her cuff and retrieves a pair of vials. "In the meantime, I have a few tinctures that, applied to your blade, should provide effects you will find most pleasing. This one" she shakes the greenish goop "has a stunning effect on fungal creatures. It is rather adhesive though, so not as useful in a fight." The other vial has a silvery fluid. "And this one slicks edges for smoother stabbing. It may make chopping a bit harder though, it has not been fully tested. So, would you like to try one?"

Try the silvery fluid

We're hunting fungal creatures; let us take the green goop.

If we want to make a secret ally of her, then it would do us well to make a gesture of goodwill. Ask what she's interested in finding within the mansion, and offer to keep a lookout for it during your hunting.

greenish goop, getting stunned in video games is so annoying so use that for a hit and run strategy.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/05/07(Tue)13:00 No. 1090494 ID: 5ebd37
File 171511203382.jpg - (627.46KB , 800x600 , cadvere 34 applied chemsitry.jpg )

You choose the paralytic solution and offer your long knife. Lisel dabs a bit of the green slime onto a rag and methodically presses it along your weapon's edge. "There, give it a few minutes to set. And mind you don't go and lick it, though it smells refreshingly of mint." The two of you take a seat along the tent wall and observe the bustle while you wait. You remark that this is your first time being among other animals. The elders would do the talking those few times that travelers came by your small nest.

"Well you are in good company among these fine folk." the chemist replies "Given the harsh circumstances they have done exceedingly well." She sniffs "Hah, you woodlanders can be a downright odd lot though. Those tinker shrews, they seem to operate half on craft and the other half on mysticism. And the bugfolk!" You look at her quizzically "Ah, you wouldn't have met her yet; there is a moth priestess here. Up on the high shelf she keeps to herself, sending her beetle guards out to hunt. Apparently they are here to rescue their princess." At that you have to scoff. A princess, from one of the legendarily reclusive bug kingdoms, here? Lisel grins at your disbelief "I have not seen any sign of this being true, but to rescue a princess, why, surely that would give you access to their lands. They say some of the insectfolk produce strange substances within their own bodies. I would so love to investigate that for myself. Ah, well. The solutions ought to be set by now." she rubs the edge of the knife and nods, handing it back to you.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/05/07(Tue)13:01 No. 1090495 ID: 5ebd37
File 171511207529.jpg - (553.23KB , 800x600 , cadvere 35 the library.jpg )

The dim light of day greets you as you follow the other hunters out of the woodshed. Last night's storm has died down to a gentle drift of flakes, though the sky remains a desolate gray. You and Lisel lag behind the others, as the little chemist struggles through the deep snow. Sound carries in the still and frozen air, distant crunching alerting you to the presence of a wolf, its hulking shape intimidating even at this distance. You watch as it patrols through the trees, your eye following the dark line that tethers it to the house.

The pair of you catch up to the others outside the library window. Single file you shimmy up the rough cord to the sill and make your way inside. The pallid light filtering through the dusty windows barely penetrates the room, stacks of shelves looming above and stretching far into the gloom.

While the other hunters start making their way down to the floor, Lisel nudges you and then makes a show of patting her pockets. "Oh dear, I seem to be all out of carbolic and lye powder. I'm just going to borrow Tem'rty and gather some at the washroom. We will meet up with you at the hunting ground." The other hunters wave her off, and she leads you down into the tangled stacks. Once you are halfway across the room she pulls a small lantern from her sleeve, twisting a knob to fill it with a harsh white light. "Now we have a bit of privacy, we can discuss how we might help one another not just survive, but wrest the secrets from this rotten manse."

Alright if she is interested in secrets may she start out by telling her own. To be honest I don't know if your character has any secrets worth telling.

Our mission is to gain easy access to unlimited food. We're skilled with a knife, and experienced in hunting; once we learn the ways of this place, we'll be able to raid places others wouldn't dare. If she can promise to help us analyze how the puppets are controlled, then we can promise to fetch her materials the others won't get for her.

>>1090495
Oh? That sounds interesting. What places hold secrets of interest?

1/3 Nalthar 2024/05/16(Thu)23:21 No. 1091113 ID: 5ebd37
File 171592686746.jpg - (498.16KB , 800x600 , cadvere 36 stalking the stacks.jpg )

The stacks tower over you as you follow Lisel across the dusty floor. Abandoned puppets can be seen, perched on shelves or dangling limp. Their lifeless eyes nonetheless leave you feeling uncomfortably watched.

You walk along, pondering what you could offer this odd mouse, and what you need from her. The sound of your footsteps is eaten away by the dense carpet, the air itself seeming to close in on you, until you speak just to break the dreadful silence. You recount a bit of your family's plight, how you need to find a source of food if they are to have any hope to survive, and time is not on your side.

"Ill times indeed" Lisel commiserates "If you will but aid my research, I'll do all I can to assist your quest. Allow me to explain why I'm here."

2/3 Nalthar 2024/05/16(Thu)23:22 No. 1091114 ID: 5ebd37
File 171592692555.jpg - (589.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 37 surreptitious science.jpg )

I come from a family of house raiders, far to the south. Far enough away from the forest that the humans still think talking mice are just a myth. It certainly makes raiding easy when they just leave traps and poison out as if we are dumb beasts. My family have been living in a great house, bigger even than this one, for several generations now. The lord of that house's son is a man of science and learning, and I was his secret apprentice. Watching his experiments, reading books left out at night. At first it was to better help my family avoid poisons and the like, but I became fascinated. There is so much that can be done with just simple substances that could make all animal's lives safer, easier!

The young master has correspondence with other scientists, sharing discoveries and inventions. One day a package came with the most extraordinary sample. A vial of glowing, boiling fluid with more energetic properties than anything I've even heard of! The attached letter spoke of the substance's life-giving effects, though I see now the writer meant that in a far more macabre sense then I would. But at the time I was spellbound, mind awash with the possibilities! Sadly, the sample soon faded once opened, and none of the master's return letters were answered. But I couldn't just let it go, so I trained a replacement and set out to find the source. Years later and I've finally found it, here, in this house.

You've seen it, haven't you? The fluid that bursts out of the reanimated corpses that roam these halls. That's what I have been seeking, and I exaggerate not when I say that with it I could change the world. What samples I've managed to obtain have been inconclusive, and I don't have the tools to fully analyze. I just need to find where they produce it, or if there are any notes.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/05/16(Thu)23:22 No. 1091115 ID: 5ebd37
File 171592695720.jpg - (527.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 38 eager chemist.jpg )

You stop as the pair of you come to the closed library door. Lisel hops in place a little, excitedly. "Oh its so good to be able to talk about this with someone at last. The others are just too wrapped up in their own problems to see the potential here." She looks up at you with eager eyes "So what do you say, shall we work together?"

>>1091115
Alright, but on one condition. If it turns out that creating or using this chemical requires the suffering or deaths of living people, then she'll stop. If this is a means to reanimate dead flesh and control it *without* the living paying a terrible price, then... well, that's gross but definitely useful.

I mean she does give me the mad scientist vibes, but not to the point of creating dead puppet minions. Sure work with her but only under one condition she always has to refer to you as daddy.

Yes, we work together. We are another that would see past the present to a better future, and in this respect we are allies. But we have our own ideals, and need to make them known. Our first responsibility is to the welfare of the people we seek to aid, and our adventures to improve their lot are secondary to the fact of survival.

Nalthar 2024/05/22(Wed)21:59 No. 1091599 ID: 5ebd37
File 171644037160.jpg - (520.63KB , 800x600 , cadvere 39 the way is shut.jpg )

Despite her odd manner, you find the mouse's story intriguing. Holding out a hand, you tell her that you'll help her, as long as she isn't planning any corpse desecrating herself. "Ha, no chance of that!" she says, grasping your hand firmly "My interests are far more, ah, mechanical."

"Let us get to it then!" Lisel spins around and neatly smacks her snout into the shut door. "Ah, right, this way is closed now. Hmm, the lounge should still be accessible, or we could risk the underfloor. Which would you prefer?"

Let's go lounge-ward

We know what it's like to slink between the walls; I doubt things would be better under the floorboards. Let us make our way to the lounge.

Let's go with the risky maneuver, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Nalthar 2024/05/29(Wed)22:12 No. 1092078 ID: 5ebd37
File 171704594550.jpg - (487.32KB , 800x600 , cadvere 40 dark lounge.jpg )

Remembering last night's crawl through the spider-infested tunnel makes you shudder. Taking Lisel by the shoulder you somewhat hurriedly usher her through a gap in the bookshelves to the lounge door, which does indeed stand ajar.

The lounge is still and dark. Hulking furniture emerges from the gloom into the harsh lantern light. From this side you can make out a plush chair across from an equally soft looking couch. Each has an accompanying end table, their contents hidden high over your head. There is a wicker box next to the near chair, with spools of thread spilling out. Past the chair a cold hearth holds a heap of forgotten ashes. Something glints in the piled gray as Lisel sweeps her lantern around. The center of the room is dominated by a large table with a trailing table cloth. Something shiny peeks above the table's edge.
The other end of the room is lost in shadow.

>>1092078
Check the glint in the ashes. Whatever's shining on top of the table won't be worth the exposure.

>>1092082
Yeah, go for the free loot!

We're looking for fungos, right? They might be most visible in the dark, where their glow is most obvious. It looks for not like the coast is clear. Absent anything else of interest, including fungal glow, it makes sense to investigate what remains of whatever's been burned. Leftover cutlery on a table doesn't merit investigation.

Nalthar 2024/06/04(Tue)15:34 No. 1092386 ID: 5ebd37
File 171754044348.jpg - (466.50KB , 800x600 , cadvere 41 hearth ash.jpg )

You pad over to the hearth, ashes cold and white covering the stones. Shards of a shattered tumbler stick out of the pile, and scattered around are the half-burnt remains of a pile of papers. Writing can still be made out on some of them, if you could read that is.

"Oh, what's this?" Lisel paws through some of the fragments. "This... this is a letter from where I used to live. Why would it be burned?" she rubs her chin, smearing ash into her pale fur. "Tem'rty, give me a bit to go through these, would you? Why don't you see if there's anything useful around." she sweeps the lantern light around the room. " I don't see any signs of fungus, but the rats have been asking for more weapons. Maybe you can find something sharp." She tilts the lantern up, revealing the dangling forms of more grisly puppets. "Just keep an eye out, be ready to hide if the lights come on."

While Lisel continues pawing through the ashes you survey the room. You can't see much of interest from down here, but there appears to be something on top of the central table. As well, the end table in the corner, next to the couch, has fallen over, its contents hidden on its far side. There's also the wicker basket next to the door you came in from.

Wicker box probably has some needles, those would work as weapons.

Time to do like the rats and start to scavenge what we can. Is there a limit to how much we can carry?

The table is exposed, and there's no easy path of retreat from it. Stay low, and investigate the toppled end table while Lisle puts this letter back together.

Nalthar 2024/06/08(Sat)20:16 No. 1092689 ID: 5ebd37
File 171790300421.jpg - (457.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 42 tumbled in the corner.jpg )

Nosing through the sewing basket you find it has already been looted. Nothing but ratty spools and an empty needlebook. But at the bottom of the basket you find a tear in the lining that has been overlooked, where a small scissors has slipped inside. Tucking the bulky tool into a handy loop inside your cloak you make your way across the room to the fallen table.

The table has dumped its contents into the corner by the far door. You find a some kind of U-shaped curve of wooden tube that tapers into point, a bag of pungent herb you can't aren't familiar with, and something you've only heard of from travelers; a box of matches.

while you inspect your findings you hear a sound from behind the door. A muffled voice you can't quite make out, something about a book. Lights turn on in the hallway, creeping in through the slightly open doorway.

Hide!

Try to hide behind the open door. As for the matches they can be used to burn this house. But do not use it yet, that would be the last case scenario.

This basket is so long disused that it may constitute a good hiding spot. If additional stealth is desired, you may be able to worm your way into the slit in the basket lining in which you found the scissors.

Don't lose track of Lisel. Best not to hide together, lest you both be discovered at once; but see where she is before seeking refuge yourself. When the coast is clear, try to reunite. Pilfer the matches, if you can hold them.

1/3 Nalthar 2024/06/20(Thu)18:15 No. 1093208 ID: 5ebd37
File 171893252632.jpg - (541.96KB , 800x600 , cadvere 43 hide a mice.jpg )

Hearing the sound of little claws clicking on the hallway floor boards, you hastily gather the loose matches back into their box and shove the thing into your cloak. The wolf hair garment is built for storage, but you don't think you will be able to take any more bulky items without dropping something.

Crossing to the door hinge, you try to peek through the gap to see who is coming. Unfortunately the angle is bad. All you see is the bathroom door opposite and a dusty hall runner carpet. Feeling exposed, you scamper back to the sewing basket. You hiss at Lisel to hide, and she without hesitation drops the paper she is examining and burrows into the ash. Tumbling under the spools, you hunker down in a corner and peer through the wicker. The room is deathly still as a tense minute crawls by. Then the lights come on.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/06/20(Thu)18:15 No. 1093209 ID: 5ebd37
File 171893255880.jpg - (674.59KB , 800x600 , cadvere 44 servants arrive.jpg )

Oil lamps flicker to life around the walls as the door nudges open an inch. A pair of glowing eyed rats, kited in spiked armor and wielding long spears creep in. Wisps of steam hiss from their clenched teeth, leaving ghostly trails behind them.

From above, the hiss of twine on metal sounds and half a dozen slumped shapes descend. The poorly dressed mice flop onto the floor splayed like ragdolls, then spring into haphazard poses. The horrid servants move haltingly, seeming to lead with the head while their body drags along like a sack of grain on a hook. Their limbs contort and twist in ways no living body could bear. Silent but for the faint creak of the cords they hang from, the motley crew stumble across the floor and flank the rat guards.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/06/20(Thu)18:16 No. 1093210 ID: 5ebd37
File 171893259037.jpg - (573.87KB , 800x600 , cadvere 45 decrepit pantomime.jpg )

"Morning fellows, morning! I have a task for you!" A gratingly high-pitched voice calls down from somewhere above. It sounds distant, like an echo from a tin can. "I must have my copy of Memorie sulla elettricità animale. I must... it should be, but why. It seemed so clear the way he wrote itGOOD SIR!"

One of the puppets jerks and starts trembling.
"Is that any way to address your betters? Henry control your men!"
Another puppet wobbles over and pantomimes a slap across the trembler's snout. The stricken puppet staggers, and then doubles over in a bow so low it thumps it's head against the floor.
"Good. I'll not tolerate such slovenly behavior in future. Now prepare yourselves while my guards retrieve the book."

The group troops across the room to the library door. The two guards slip past the door, and you can hear the voice shrieking orders in the next room. Hanging limply from their strings, the servants wait by the door unmoving. Stillness grips the lounge once more, save for the flickering lamplight.

>>1093210
Wait. Do not move, do not make noise. The danger is not yet past.

We are on a mission not only of survival, but of increase of knowledge. Hidden as we are, we may have a chance at discovering something new about our situation. What is pulling the strings? Your vantage is poor, but if you can afford to find a position that will allow you to better look upwards, it might be work the risk of motion.

Remember the presence of these armored rats. It will be a god thing to ask about later; are the house's puppets known to be chaperoned by fire-breathing lanterns?

So I think that is one of the elite guards. They seem like important, try to hide and if that works out try to follow them see where they would go.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/07/04(Thu)11:58 No. 1093781 ID: 5ebd37
File 172011950317.jpg - (512.82KB , 800x600 , cadvere 46 an odd device.jpg )

Moving as carefully as you can, you poke your head up out of the spool pile. With the lamps lit the ceiling's secrets are laid bare. You follow the puppets' strings up to a dizzying tangle of pulleys on tracks. Light glints off copper colored wire wound through the cords. Yet there is no sign of who is pulling these strings, they simply vanish into holes in the plaster.

The only other thing of note above is an odd metal trumpet sticking out high over the mantle piece. It seems oddly placed for a piece of decoration, being off center and right at the top of the wall. Beside it is a what seems to be a stylized eye crafted out of glass and metal. A sinuous pattern of reflected light sprays out from the curved glass.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/07/04(Thu)11:59 No. 1093782 ID: 5ebd37
File 172011954110.jpg - (541.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 47 the empty hall.jpg )

The door creaks open wider, pushed by the returning guards. A large book is revealed, held aloft by a team of puppets. The lounge puppets drift over and form two lines. neither team can cross the threshold, so the book is shuffled along from hand to hand till it has changed teams.

Stiffly holding the tome like pallbearers with a casket, the group turn their heads in unison. Legs dangling, pulleys squeaking, the entire assembly moves across the room as one mass, followed by the guards.

As the armored rats are passing your hiding spot one twitches and halts. From your vantage you can see the spool of perforated paper attached to its back, similar to what you observed on the bat and spiders from last night. With a staccato series of clicks the spool spins, feeding the patterned paper into the rat's head. Jerking in place, and with a little burst of steam, the thug whips its head around to fix its burning eyes on your location. Gripping its wickedly serrated glaive it stalks towards you.

"No dawdling, James!" the tinny voice calls out. The approaching guard stops as if struck, its spool angrily clicking away, then turns on its heel and trudges away. As it reaches the hallway door the book has already been passed off to another team of puppets. Without even a backwards glance the guards follow the tome out and around the corner. With a spasm of strings, the servants in the lounge are hurled away, as if tossed aside by an unseen hand. Silence and darkness return, as the lamps extinguish.

Creeping out of the basket, you dart under the table. When no voices cry out you rush to the open hall door and peek out. The book carriers have already reached the kitchen door and handed it off, drawing to the sides of the hall and slumping. The lights flick off and the kitchen door clicks shut. Across the way the bathroom door stands ajar, and you remember that across from the kitchen is the servant's quarters where the others are hunting.

Lisel creeps up beside you, the already pale mouse now completely ashen white. "That was certainly harrowing. Shall we head on?"

Might as well keep moving. Bathroom might have extra passage ways that we could go

We should try to disguise in order to look like one of the puppets. We need to get closure and figure out how all of this works and to see this crazy guy. We need to blend in, do you have any idea how we might achieve that?

The kitchen is empty of fungos. We should join the others with what doodads we've collected so far.

Spare a moment to talk to Lisel, though. Do you need to clean the ash from her fur? Is she leaving tracks that would be easily noticed? Has she collected all the fragments of correspondences that she is interested in and able to carry? While learning more about the smoking lanterns would be nice, that can wait; knowing what she's gleaned from the fragments of the letters can also be postponed.

1/3 Nalthar 2024/07/18(Thu)22:08 No. 1094492 ID: 44c167
File 172136570994.jpg - (625.66KB , 800x600 , cadvere 48 swept off her feet.jpg )

You point out that Lisel is leaving an ashy trail. She looks down, "Ah, ha, so I am. Let me just pop in the washroom and clean off." You nod and scoop her up so as not to leave any footprints, eliciting a startled squeak. "Oh ho ho, how dashing. Sweeping me off my feet, eh?" Lisel bats her eyes at you, as far as you can tell through her thick goggles. You huff and roll your eyes at the teasing. Hurrying across the hall you slip into the washroom.

Nails clicking on the tiled floor echo through the empty room as you carry Lisel. She directs you to a wicker piece of furniture, and the pair of you scurry up the side. At the top is a porcelain basin, partially filled with water from a leaking metal contraption. While Lisel dips her paws and starts scrubbing the worst of the ash off, you survey the rest of the room.

There's not much to see. The light from Lisel's little lantern bounces off an ornately framed mirror above you, illuminating odd corners of the space. An inscrutable furnishing dominates, a deep basin and a metal box connected by pipes and a dangling chain. Faint scents linger from a basket of shriveled petals on a wicker cabinet.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/07/18(Thu)22:09 No. 1094493 ID: 44c167
File 172136576268.jpg - (473.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 49 wash your paws.jpg )

You ask Lisel if she found anything of use in the burned letters. Pausing in her cleaning she considers. "Not as much as I would have liked. It doesn't seem as though he even opened the one from my old home. None of the others were of a scientific bent, rather, they all mention some party that went wrong. A lot of talk of cutting ties, even one or two disownings. It seems our puppeteer held a demonstration of his hobby and it was received poorly."

"There was one odd detail in a letter from his brother. Something to the effect of the master is exiled here until his blunder is forgotten, but there was a mention of a vault and something to be kept secret, even from the servants. What exactly was burned away, though I would suspect its just money. Humans are always overly paranoid about their money."

Listening to the soft splashes echo back from the tiled walls, you think about the behavior of the glowing eyed guards earlier. You ask Lisel if anyone has tried to disguise themselves as a puppet to get past them.

"Well its not appearance that's the issue, per se, its that the behavior of the marionettes is difficult to imitate. Your lack of strings can be missed in low light, but it is rather obvious that you are bound to the ground instead of dangling. I believe some of the others have posed as discarded ones in order to escape detection, to some success, but you obviously can't move while doing that."

"Speaking of their movement, did you notice? Those puppets were holding up that book grasping with their hands, something controlled by strings shouldn't be able to do that. A book whose author I happen to know of; Galvani, whom has made much study of electricity." With a smug look on her face she climbs out of the basin. "I think it's safe to say my hypothesis is correct, he's using electricity to manipulate the nerves of the dead. The only question is how he generates it."

3/3 Nalthar 2024/07/18(Thu)22:09 No. 1094494 ID: 44c167
File 172136579780.jpg - (570.48KB , 800x600 , cadvere 50 cleaning supplies.jpg )

Back to her usual look, the pale mouse rubs herself against a thick cloth by the basin. "Anyway, I'll just get a quick refill of carbolic acid under the sink here" she pats the tank strapped to her back "then we can meet up with the others."

Tugging open the wicker cabinet door, Lisel's lantern reveals dusty bottles and cleaning supplies. The science mouse pads over to an amber bottle with a syringe jammed in the mouth. Leaving her pack on the ground, she climbs up and starts carefully transferring the acid.

You poke around the cabinet while you wait. A box flops over as you try to peek inside, uncovering a hole in the wall. Eight glowing eyes glare back at you.

Hmmm until we are shown how this puppet master is generating electricity I am going to imagine that he has 100 off alive imprisoned hamsters that are running on a wheel in order to power his dead army. As for Lisel how did she manage to stay alive for so long if she is so careless, are her goggles hindering her sight? Interesting, it appears that the host of this home is cut off from his human friends, I mean he has people who bring him food but other than that he is practically alone with his army of dead servants. No wonder why he was so ecstatic when he saw new intruders, but this makes me wonder what is the state of his mind? Isolation can change human behavior for the worse. With all of that said I don't think that we have spiders who are on our side, so maybe get ready for a battle.

A true warrior appreciates the avoided battle. Replace the covering over the hole, and scurry off, giving a warning to Lisel that she may want to abscond with the acid she's collected so far. It's probably best to remove yourselves from this vicinity.

Nalthar 2024/07/27(Sat)10:05 No. 1094806 ID: 44c167
File 172209995746.jpg - (608.41KB , 800x600 , cadvere 51 bats again.jpg )

You throw your weight against the box to cover the hole again. The muffled clicks of a spinning spool are heard for a second, then the box shudders as the spider scrabbles against it. It's chittering is answered by a distant screech somewhere higher up inside the wall.

Lisel looks up at the commotion as you back away from the box, hand on your long knife. "Oh dear. Give me a minute to seal this up please." She hops down and fiddles with her bulky pack, air hissing as she tightens valves and straps.

The tense quiet is shattered as a tile strikes the floor. You hurriedly poke you head out of the cabinet and look up. Far up above a bat wrings itself through the newly revealed hole and launches downward with a piercing shriek.

Try to close the door of the cabinet, try to keep it shut as long as you can, and tell your companion that you got another opponent who is closing in on you right now. Keep your blad ready if the bat breaks your shield.

A rock and a hard place; the spider is summoning allies from within the wall, the bat assaulting from outside the cabinet. We can hear the coordination; we may need to fight for our immediate survival, but I fear a prolonged stand will simply allow greater forces to mass against us. We need a plan of egress.

If we seek our allies, then we risk bringing the battle to them. We are empty-handed, but racing for the safehouse once the coast is clear may be the most graceful option. We can ask Lisel, but I don't think that sounding an alarm is advisable; stealth is the mices' greatest asset. It might be nice to send a warning, or to use the disturbance we've caused to draw attention away from the borrowers, but I'm not certain how we might best do that.

But more to the present threat; we know how to weild a blade, but how does Lisel fight? Can we use the materials in this cabinet to our advantage, or would that cause so great a disturbance as to completely reveal the mices' presence to the master of the house? Note that this bat seems to be controlled not by a series of tubes, as those you met with earlier, but a roll of paper; severing it may bring the danger it poses to an end.

Nalthar 2024/07/30(Tue)22:32 No. 1094998 ID: 44c167
File 172240397444.jpg - (278.55KB , 800x600 , cadvere 52 hiding in the cupboard.jpg )

Slipping back behind the closed half of the cabinet, you listen as the bat clumsily hits the floor, claws skittering on tile. Lisel turns down her lantern, the harsh white guttering to a pallid gray.

The sound of the spider scratching at the back of the cupboard abruptly stops. You hear the faint clicking of its control spool spinning, then the tapping of its many legs as it retreats deeper into the wall.

Every squeak and scrape as Lisel adjusts her contraption seems like a thunder crack as you wait for the bat to inevitably find your hiding spot. It stalks slowly across the room, sporadically stopping and letting out a short screech, before adjusting its course, each time seeming to get closer.

After a tense eternity Lisel pokes you. "Lure it over here. I need a clear shot at short range." she whispers.

Perhaps the spider's retreat gives us a reprieve to focus on the other threat. Is there any trinket at hand we might be able to throw, to summon the bat's attention? It seems to be using sound to track you; if there's a bit of metal or wood about, you might cast it out into the room in a place that would give Lisel the best shot possible.

Try hitting the door of the cabinet that can create the sound to attract the bat, also remember the weapon that we upgraded that can be used as well if the situation becomes drastic.

Nalthar 2024/08/06(Tue)17:46 No. 1095441 ID: 44c167
File 172299160645.jpg - (474.56KB , 800x600 , cadvere 53 clinging to the door.jpg )

You pull the stopper from a perfume bottle and rap it against the door, before dropping it to clatter on the floor. A skittering rush from the darkness, and the bat slams into the open door. Clinging to the wood it swivels its head around wildly.

Lisel inches past you and points the hose from her tank at the bat and yanks the lever. Or tries to, the mechanism stiffly refuses to turn. "Shit" she mutters as the glowing-eyed thing fixes its glare on you.

You draw your long knife and ready yourself as the bat hisses and tenses for a spring.

Hm, not much you can do but try to get your sword in the way of the lunge. See if you can get the bat to impale itself, and then use the attachment point to throw the bat off to the side?

The bat is expecting to hit against the door of the cabinet so when the bat is lunging quickly open it, catch it off guard, and go for the neck or the eyes. Survival first celebration hug after the danger passes.

Yes, survival comes before anything else. If you can kill the bat, then kill the bat; if you can render the bat inoperable, then that might be cause less of a scene, and leave less gore to trail after you. The ribbon connecting the bat's skull to the console on its back may prove just as lethal as a stab through its chest. After all, this bat is already dead.

Nalthar 2024/08/13(Tue)16:33 No. 1095804 ID: 355e44
File 172359198976.jpg - (577.74KB , 800x600 , cadvere 54 taking control.jpg )

The bat flings itself at you, heedless of your blade, and gets impaled right below the collarbone. With that as leverage you are able to avoid its snapping fangs and shove it to the ground. Pinning the writhing thing, it struggles for several moments then pauses. The spool attached to its back clicks and rapidly winds.

Watching the perforated paper whip past your snout, you catch it in your teeth and yank. The thin material easily sheers along a row of holes, the ragged end vanishing into the bat's head. The creature remains still for a moment, shakes its head as if in confusion, then resumes writhing in your grip.

Behind you, Lisel has been bashing the spigot against the cabinet door. Whipping the battered metal behind her, she brings it around in one last desperate slam. Amber droplets shower around her as the lever jars loose, hissing where they land. Wrenching it closed again she screams over the screeching "Get clear!"

Get clear!!

I think the bat's natural state, due to whatever's been done to it, is to just lay there and do nothing. The spool is a kind of artificial brain, but it has to rewind occasionally to replay itself. Maybe you should ask her to wait a moment to see what the bat does without the spool. Maybe the effect will wear off now, and you'll be left with a zombie bat that doesn't move anymore...

1/2 Nalthar 2024/08/20(Tue)14:55 No. 1096184 ID: 355e44
File 172419092015.jpg - (620.47KB , 800x600 , cadvere 55 acid bath.jpg )

You wave Lisel off, curious to see what the bat does now that its contraption is severed. It continues to struggle, scratching at the wood and even biting it. It almost looks as though the thing is trying to fight even with its opponent out of reach. The dreadful screeching is getting softer, no doubt due to the knife stuck through the bat's chest.

"Tem'rty, please." Lisel's voice is bereft of the enthusiasm you've grown accustomed to. Startled, you turn to her and flinch at the sight. Her face is peppered with hissing acid, eating away the fur and in spots burning into the skin. With a tight set to her jaw she flicks the hose in her grip to indicate you should move, so you get up and quickly back away from the violent bat.

As soon as you release it the bat rears up, attempting to get back on its feet. Before it can do more than raise its head Lisel steps forward and sharply turns the handle. A jet of concentrated acid shoots the bat square in the face, the pressure blasting the creature onto its back. Even as its eyes sputter and run the thing tries to rise. So Lisel sprays it once more, and then again, until the flesh sloughs off and the big ears crumple. Truly blinded, the bat's flailing carries it out of the cabinet, where it lands on its neck with a snap. Little more than a ragged heap now, the body occasionally twitches but otherwise lays still.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/08/20(Tue)15:00 No. 1096187 ID: 355e44
File 172419123884.jpg - (540.85KB , 800x600 , cadvere 56 cost of her mistake.jpg )

Lisel stows the nozzle behind her and slips to her knees. Reaching into her sleeve she retrieves a pouch of white powder, which she starts smearing on the worst patches of acid. "I must apologize, Tem'rty" the white mouse says in a subdued tone "This shouldn't have happened, and I put you in harm's way."

She winces as the powder fizzes on the largest burn. "There is no place for carelessness in chemistry."

quickly you are in the bathroom find some water and pour it over the acid wound. That is what I remember from my chemistry lesson when it comes to dealing with it.

Nalthar 2024/08/28(Wed)21:11 No. 1096644 ID: 355e44
File 172490471897.jpg - (521.48KB , 800x600 , cadvere 57 highwater.jpg )

You ask Lisel how you can help with her injuries. "I could use some water." She replies. "I don't think I can climb up to the sink again just now."

You cross over to the sink, keeping a safe distance from the bat still intermittently spasming on the floor. Shooting up the wickerwork you find yourself on the side of the sink. Down in the basin another drip plinks into the pooled water. But how are you going to get it down to Lisel?

With Lisel's injury, we should prioritize retreat once our first aid is complete. IS there nothing on the sink that might act as vessel? A leftover cap from some toilet water or phial of medicine? It might help to know what Lisel wants the water for--does she need a basin to wash in, or a stream to drink from? In the worst case, we may be able to find a container and simply dribble it from the height one other floor, for her to use the streaming water. Otherwise, we'll have to scanenge something to carry it down.

If it would serve the purpose, and you feel safe going back into the wicker cabinet, it looks like there are cotton balls there ( >>1094494
). You could soak those in water, and carry the sopping wads down.

>>1096647

Brilliant idea go with that.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/04(Wed)22:43 No. 1096987 ID: 355e44
File 172551500055.jpg - (574.47KB , 800x600 , cadvere 58 aquire cotton.jpg )

Ah of course, the cotton. Sighing to yourself you slink back into the cabinet. Climbing up to push over the glass jar, the cotton balls slide out with a pleasant tumbling noise. You stuff a bunch under your cloak. It makes movement difficult, but you only need to carry them a short way.

Watching you stumble along, Lisel's snickers are punctuated by hisses of pain. You manage to get most of the puffballs up to the sink, where you dump the lot into the little pool. Then it's simply a matter of tossing them back down to splat on the floor.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/04(Wed)22:45 No. 1096988 ID: 355e44
File 172551510716.jpg - (596.56KB , 800x600 , cadvere 59 pinkeye.jpg )

While you wring the sodden cotton over Lisel's acid burns the chemist seems to be getting her spirit back. She takes off and carefully wipes her goggles, giving you your first look at her striking pink eyes. Noticing you staring, she quickly dons them again. Her cheeks lightly flushed she leans closer to you and murmurs "Mister Tem'rty, would you like to examine the body with me?"

Oh I'm always up for examining bodies.

Did she get an acid burn on her face, that is seriously dangerous. The first thing that you should do is clean her face with water and then you can examine her body.

First aid must be the first priority. Make sure that Lisel is safe and assess her mobility before anything else. After that, we might spend a moment to examine the corpse of the bat, but beware; having caused such a disturbance here, are we not liable to attract even greater attention?

Will nothing come to the aid of the fallen bat, or follow its alarm? How fastidious should we be in covering our tracks, to put the cotton jar back where it was, in order to try to prevent discovery of the entire rodent operation on the grounds. Lisel may be able to advise here.

I would think retreat, as soon as we've put things in order, should be the priority, so as to avoid any coming reprisal, but if Lisel thinks that's not necessary, in spite of her injury, then we might tarry a bit further, and extract with the rest of the group.

Nalthar 2024/09/14(Sat)18:39 No. 1097410 ID: 355e44
File 172636437552.jpg - (676.04KB , 800x600 , cadvere 60 a shattered cranium.jpg )

Your instinct is telling you to get out of here before anything more creeps up on you. Yet gazing down into those smoked lenses, knowing what captivatingly rosy eyes are hidden behind them, you can't help but assent. You almost blurt out something about checking her body, but manage to hold your tongue.

With the last of the acid washed off you check Lisel's injuries. Minor burns pepper her head and hands, with one large and raw oozing blood on her snout. Luckily the cotton fuzz, mixed with a little adhesive from Lisel's pocket, makes for a makeshift bandage.

The two of you look down at the ragged heap of former bat sprawled on the tiles. Even before its acid bath it was in sorry shape, with patchy fur and only a faded and worn pair of trousers to its name. The skull is scoured of flesh, its surface pitted and stained. Lisel picks up the grim bone to examine the back, where the strip of paper was spooling into. "I'm glad you agreed" the chemist says "None of the others will. Too much respect for the dead. Which is admirable..." She brings the skull down sharply on her knee, splitting the brittle thing open like an egg "but we must learn, if we are to overcome these strange foes."

You are no stranger to grisly innards, having slaughtered many fungal beasts, but you've never seen anything like this. A thicket of coppery wires sprout from the gnarled brain meat, snaking their way to a slim metal tube. The torn edge of the perforated sheet you tore from the bat's back still peeks from a wide slot on the side of the device.

Lisel stares down at the glistening organ and rather hurriedly sets it down. "Ah ha, well, the anatomy books don't quite prepare you for the real thing do they?" she mutters, seemingly more to herself than to you. "Anyway, it is the heart we want, and that glowing liquid within." She pulls out a small workknife and crouches down by the corpse's ragged torso. Setting blade to flesh, she hesitates, hand beginning to tremble. "Come now Lisel, for learning." she whispers, but still does not move.

Something is making scraping sounds in the cabinet again.

>>1097410
Help her cut. You are more experienced in that sort of thing.

I think we are on a timer, so cut for her, pick up what needs to be picked up and, move your position.

It is unwise to further tempt fate, especially with Lisel injured. Can we not attempt to take the bat with us, and butcher it later? We must move, and now, if we are to move at Lisel's reduced pace.

I think it is time to leave, as neither we nor Lisel should try to fight any of these monsters one vs one while the other harvests organs.
We should grab Lisel, the brain, and maybe the perforated piece of paper we ripped from the creature's back. Then make a break for it before whatever is in the cabinet spots us leaving and gives chase. We should maybe head back to the lounge, since it's nearby and relatively safe.
Prioritize our safety, we can get the heart another day if we survive this one.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/17(Tue)15:35 No. 1097498 ID: 355e44
File 172661253796.jpg - (638.89KB , 800x600 , cadvere 61 ticking heart.jpg )

Gently, you close your paw around hers, and push her blade aside. Drawing your long knife you stand over the cadaver. Butchering a fellow animal hews nauseatingly close to bestial cannibalism, but you steel yourself and strike. Lisel trembles yet doesn't look away as you quickly clear the decrepit flesh from the bat's ribs. Prying the bones apart reveals yet another metallic intrusion.

Where the bat's heart should be is a strange vessel, sprouting wires that burrow into the surrounding muscles. In its center a wheel ticks, half turning before resetting. You drive your knife into the thicket of wires and start cutting the horrid thing loose. As the connections are severed the body jolts and jerks. With one last spasm the last is cut, the device clicking to a halt. Glowing liquid oozes from a rent where you scraped the side, hissing when it meets flesh. Lisel hands you a thick cloth, and you hurriedly wrap it up, glad to get it out of your sight.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/17(Tue)15:36 No. 1097499 ID: 355e44
File 172661258726.jpg - (411.85KB , 800x600 , cadvere 62 long dark hall.jpg )

The scratching is getting louder in the cabinet, it's well time you were out of this room. Lisel gathers the little bundle in her arms and you hastily escort her to the door. Looking down the hallway towards the room you know the others are hunting in, its a long walk of at least twenty feet. The runner carpet bunches in few spots, but otherwise there is no cover from the guard patrol of three armed rats, which even now you can see are headed this way. A few inches from you is a hole in the floor, large enough to give you access to the underfloor.

Back in the bathroom you hear a thud as the box that was blocking the hole in the cabinet falls over.

Guess we're gonna try escaping through the underfloor.

Is it possible for us to return the way we came, the more we push forward the more monsters are there. We are not equipped for any more fights.

We could try going into the underfloor for cover while the guards patrol. If they don't notice us and walk by, climb back out. If they do notice us or if something else causes them to stay active in the hall, venture through the underfloor.
Also if we do go into the underfloor, make sure to have the lantern light as low as possible.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/24(Tue)18:20 No. 1097752 ID: 355e44
File 172722720199.jpg - (513.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 63 under their noses.jpg )

Lisel winds her lamp down to the barest hint of light. Under cover of darkness the two of you slip into the hole in the floor. Clinging to the wall, you peek out as the glowing eyes of the guards slowly make their way down the hall. Below you spiderfolk pass unseen, their skittering loud in the dusty underfloor. No doubt they are headed to the bathroom to catch you. The occasional bat screech echoes down the corridors.

"This is odd" Lisel murmurs beside you, "they haven't responded so... stridently in the past."

After a long, tense wait the three guards slink past. Their seem to take no notice of your presence, nor of the scurrying below. Once they are well past you ascend, pulling Lisel up behind you. The pair of you pad softly down the carpet to the door of the servant's quarters.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/24(Tue)18:20 No. 1097753 ID: 355e44
File 172722725203.jpg - (429.67KB , 800x600 , cadvere 64 unkempt beds.jpg )

Slipping through a gap beside the door frame you find yourselves in a musty space. Distant glows of fungos pepper the dark hulks of unkempt beds, looming above you. One glow pops out from under a slumped bed sheet, revealing itself to be a lamp in Surrep's hands as she approaches you.

"What took you so long?" she hisses, then her gaze falls to Lisel's bandages. "Trouble?"

Yep! Patrol, spider, bat, patrol.

Trouble is always expected at this place. We managed to deal with it but we are not sure how long we will be able to get lucky with these missions.

Nalthar 2024/09/30(Mon)22:41 No. 1098070 ID: 355e44
File 172776129223.jpg - (500.25KB , 800x600 , cadvere 65 fungo wrangling.jpg )

You recount the near misses and escapes of the morning. Surrep shakes her head, "We nearly dodged some patrols ourselves. It has become more dangerous these past few days." She glances back at the bed and lowers her voice to a whisper. "We can't go on like this, the puppetmaster clearly knows he has folk hidden in his walls. It is only a matter of time before his thralls root us out. Afton is wrong, just keeping out of sight isn't going to be enough to keep us safe." She leans in conspiratorially "Would you two not agree?"

>>1098070
Tell him you can't make an informed judgement, having just gotten here, but you would like to do more than hide.

It sounds like Surrep has a more ambitious plan than simply scavenging. So what is the plan, targeting the puppet master?

Nalthar 2024/10/09(Wed)22:32 No. 1098429 ID: 355e44
File 172853836032.jpg - (614.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 66 this is not suspicious.jpg )

You've only been in this house for a day, and it has been more harrowing than your entire journey through the woods. So you agree, and ask the lanky rat what she has planned. She glances surreptitiously over her shoulder once more, as the sounds of rustling and squeaking creep from under the bed. "Not here. If the mice catch wind they'll tell Afton for sure. Ah, other than you, Lisel. You seem a fair dash more adaptable than your usual house mouse."

The chemist grins "Ah ha, well I do try. My family traveled far, and we had to stray from the typical house raider's precepts or we would not have survived. The other mice, hiding is all they know, and its an easy life, when it works." She catches herself before she can ramble too long, "But yes, this is not the place to discuss these things."

Surrep leans in closer, "Tonight, come have supper with my family. We are roosting on the first shelf, so we'll have privacy. In the meantime, better get to hunting. We can't be sure how many days we will have access to this room, let's make it count."

You nod, and head towards the bed. As you walk away you hear Lisel whispering to Surrep. "One thing more, I have something I need to examine. I don't think Afton would like knowing about it, so I would keep it up on your shelf, if that is acceptable."

Nalthar 2024/10/09(Wed)22:32 No. 1098430 ID: 355e44
File 172853837768.jpg - (522.00KB , 800x600 , cadvere 67 moldering old bed.jpg )

Time to earn your keep. Looks as though you have your pick of hunting grounds. Rats and mice can be observed combing over the slumping covers, stalking the dusty under-bed, and even burrowing into the fungo tunnels that infest the mattress. Now where would you feel most at home?

I would feel most at home where the home doesn't want to kill you.

Ever since the permafrost set in the ground has been solid. It has been too long since your last good burrowing Tem'rty, so go to the fungo tunnels.

Yes, a mouse of the Gravel Pit would be at home where things are most pit-like. Tunnel into the mattress.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/10/21(Mon)00:00 No. 1098838 ID: 355e44
File 172949405042.jpg - (651.95KB , 800x600 , cadvere 68 a sweetly rotting bed to lie upon.jpg )

You wriggle into the crumbling mattress, and immediately feel at ease. Finding a small chamber in the moldering fluff, you curl up and take the opportunity to just rest, safely insulated from the threats of the open world. You indulge in some wistful dreams of settling here, digging a cozy den in the soft, warm slab. If only the circumstances were different.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/10/21(Mon)00:01 No. 1098839 ID: 355e44
File 172949407761.jpg - (533.08KB , 800x600 , cadvere 69 infesting morsels.jpg )

The first gnawings of hunger bring you back to the task at hand. Venturing deeper, you follow the faint scent trails of fungos til you pop your head into a larger hollow. Several small fungos are placidly chewing at the fibers of the mattress.

Fungal beasts are an odd breed, prone to strange mutations. Even such mild seeming specimens could harbor some defense. How best to play this?

>>1098839
Hmm. I guess once you're within the hollow, they will react... any fungal beasts that react with fear will likely be the easiest targets. Those that react by ignoring you probably have some manner of passive defense, and those that show aggression probably have nasty pincers.

It's good not to get complacent. This is still deep in unsafe territory.

Agreed, the fearless fungos are potentially the most dangerous. It may be prudent especially to avoid those that have prominent pincers. These seem to be feasting on the fibers of the mattress; would that diet lend itself particularly to some particular defense? No matter the form, I imagine that the best strategy generally would be to try to approach from behind and strike before being discovered.

Let your animalistic instincts guide your rezoning.

Nalthar 2024/10/29(Tue)22:16 No. 1099206 ID: 355e44
File 173026537440.jpg - (765.05KB , 800x600 , cadvere 70 this one's mad.jpg )

Surging out of the tunnel, you sink your blade into the big fungo's head. It lets out a thin screech as it writhes under you, clacking its mandibles uselessly. Lisel's tincture that still coats your knife quickly takes effect, and the fungo shudders to stillness. The smaller beasts behind you squeak and scuttle away.

A hissing alerts you to the remaining beast beside you. It fixes you with its three eyed stare and puffs up.

>>1099206
Back away. Drag the dead fungo with you.

A true warrior always appreciates the avoided battle. Knife at the ready, but retreat to secure the kill before attempting any further sallies.

So this thing wants to bite you, you bite it back!

1/3 Nalthar 2024/11/05(Tue)19:45 No. 1099434 ID: 355e44
File 173086471038.jpg - (751.95KB , 800x600 , cadvere 71 spore bomb.jpg )

Fighting down the instinct to sink your teeth into the bloated fungus, you work to secure your first kill. Dragging the corpse along with you, you would wave your blade threateningly, but its coating has it a bit stuck. Just as you yank it free the three-eyed fungo contracts and ejects a crimson cloud from the vents on its back.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/11/05(Tue)19:45 No. 1099435 ID: 355e44
File 173086474856.jpg - (862.89KB , 800x600 , cadvere 72 seeing red.jpg )

Retreating into the tunnel, you avoid the brunt of the spores. Nonetheless your vision tinges red. Rustling and scratching surround you, the fibers of the matress grasping for you. Bats screech, their cry's hunting you in this twisted maze.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/11/05(Tue)19:47 No. 1099436 ID: 355e44
File 173086482660.jpg - (833.53KB , 800x600 , cadvere 73 not dead yet.jpg )

Your pincered quarry rears up, looming over you on its hundreds of legs. Its eyes burn with blood. The gash you left in its head splits wider and wider until you face a rending and tooth-filled void.

Hallucination! Don't panic. Keep moving back. Get back to the surface and do not use your blade on ANYTHING. After you've recovered you can come back and retrieve the corpse.

Oh shit, oh shit that is a big bug! Retreat retreat! I don't think you can fight this alone!

Keep your calm; panic serves no one, especially when stealth is of the essence. You know what the fungos can do, and that this is just one of their tricks. Close your eyes, keep your grip, and retreat whence you came.

Nalthar 2024/11/16(Sat)20:17 No. 1099893 ID: 6c233e
File 173181704186.jpg - (482.25KB , 800x600 , cadvere 74 canind titans.jpg )

It's not real. You tell yourself it's not real, but a thousand roars and screams assail your ears and the clinging fibers scratch like thorns. Abandoning the corpse you scramble away, its whirling teeth screeching like an winter storm. A death grip on your blade is the only surety you have left as you claw through a world gone mad.

You burst up from the tunnels into a sea of blood. Great shadows of wolves loom over head. The nearest fixes you with the stare of the moon on a frigid night. Standing in the rushing surf, frozen by its gaze , you almost don't notice the pair of shambling guard rats.

Nalthar 2024/11/16(Sat)20:17 No. 1099894 ID: 6c233e
File 173181705887.jpg - (847.29KB , 800x600 , cadvere 75 yer gonna get stabbed.jpg )

Silently glaring, they stalk towards you, spray whipping from shaggy fur. The closer one staggers forward and thrusts a rusty polearm at you.

>>1099894
Dodge! Tell them to stay back, you're hallucinating!

Put your sword away.

Maybe even the guard is a hallucination but still try to avoid it's attack if you can. All of this is fucking weird, like some apocalyptic premonition. Is this how the world is outside? Does the giant thing seem familiar to you? I have a feeling, that all of this has a more significant meaning to you personally.

Your mind cannot be trusted right now. This is as likely a vision of friend as of foe; but if you announce your condition, a foe will not retaliate, and a friend might show mercy. Let it be known that you're not in your right mind, and take care to avoid harm without harming anyone else, or yourself, to the degree that you can.

Nalthar 2024/11/23(Sat)15:30 No. 1100287 ID: 6c233e
File 173240462797.jpg - (739.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 76 I'm freaking out man.jpg )

Illusory as it may be, you don't want to get a pike in the shoulder. Flinging yourself down out of the path of the blade, you dig your nails into the rough fabric of the sea. Hissing through clenched teeth, you warn any nearby to keep away. Surprisingly, the wretched rat heeds your words and backs off, though its demeanor still appears hostile. And melting.

Eyes wrenched shut, you try to block out the hallucinations. You clutch your head and try to think of something, anything, to focus on.

>>1100287
Focus on your breathing. Think about your home.

Yes, remember your origins. Think back to the Gravel Pit Nest, and what brought you here; the long winter, the fallow harvest, and venturing out into the world, to have arrived where you are now.

Start chanting this over and over "Heart Lungs Liver Nerves". It might help

1/2 Nalthar 2024/11/30(Sat)18:35 No. 1100599 ID: 6c233e
File 173302052541.jpg - (743.69KB , 800x600 , cadvere 77 thoughts of home.jpg )

Home. You think of home. The gravel pit, the nest, the tunnels. The smell of dried oats and blackcurrants in the store room. The sound of walnut-fungcakes sizzling on the hearth. The view of the setting sun from the pine stump.

You think of old Forti, telling yet another parable on the virtues of being a good steadfast rat. You think of little Trep, sorting her collection of striped stones, arranging them around the big one with the hole through it. You think of Joc'lar, gathering herbs while chanting that horrible song she learned from the crows. You think of your sister Aud'ity, taking up the second of the only wolf-hair cloak and iron long-knife that the nest has. Her patting you on the back before you both went your separate ways, searching for an ember of hope in the frozen wood.

They're still out there, waiting for you. There's still time to save them.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/11/30(Sat)18:36 No. 1100600 ID: 6c233e
File 173302057341.jpg - (577.76KB , 800x600 , cadvere 78 disapointed.jpg )

You slowly open your eyes to a dark room. The meager light that filtered through the dingy curtains when you entered has faded to near imperceptibility. With a stiff groan you roll over, staring up at the distant ceiling.

With a snap, soft blue light washes over you. The lantern hovers in your face, blinding you for a moment, before Surrep sets it aside. The haggard rat looks down at you with a frown.

"I thought you had the looking of a capable hunter, not like these soft house mice." she hisses "What happened down there?"

Tell him a fungo had hallucinogenic spores and you tried to back off but still got too much exposure. That mutation's not easy to deal with in close quarters. Guess you'll go back to collect the one you managed to kill.

A soft house mouse wouldn't be alive to tell you.

At any rate you haven't hunted fungos before. You won't fall for that trick again.

What happened is that you successfully defended your mind from panic, and shielded your fellow hunters from retaliation against an imagined foe that lesser hunters would have attacked without hesitation.

But there's merit in the criticism; your guard was down, and you weren't expecting the beast to attack your mind. This is something you'll have to be more careful of in the future.

Tell that you saw some crazy shit and ask if the hallucinogenic fungos can be poisonous.

Nalthar 2024/12/09(Mon)23:02 No. 1101068 ID: 6c233e
File 173381414896.jpg - (774.91KB , 800x600 , cadvere 79 red dust.jpg )

"Wasn't... a normal... fungo." You croak, breaking into a parched coughing fit. Surrep takes the water skin from your belt and passes it to you. Taking a long pull, you feel well enough to sit up. "A *kaf kaf* a house mouse would have bloody well died, straight off. Never seen the like, some bewitchment of visions of Hell itself."

The slim rat regards you thoughtfully. "Hmm, that would explain the mouse corpse we found sometime back with its eyes clawed out." she lets out a tired sigh "Just another thing to worry about."

"There's still a carcass down there." you get to your feet a bit dizzily "I need to retrieve it."

"That will have to wait" Surrep lends you her shoulder, leading you towards the foot of the bed. "Everyone else has already gone back. If you run into that thing again, no one will save you. Come, Lisel insisted on waiting for you."

Resting against the footboard, the chemist stirs awake at your approach. Switching her lamp on, she looks up at you with a relieved grin. "Still with us Tem'rty? Oh, you've got some red on you." Running a hand through your fur she pulls it back covered in a clingy crimson dust.

>>1101068
Wait, that's dangerous! Those are the hallucinogenic spores. ...wonder if we can weaponize them. The zombies aren't *completely* brainless, after all.

>>1101069
That is thinking small potatoes, can this be used to poison the puppet master?

Warning first, plotting afterwards. At the moment, extraction is our primary objectve. We must ensure that all present are able to retreat to safety with all due promptness.

Although, it must be said that to the best of our knowledge, that fungo is still alive; its spores might be harvested. A mouse obsessed with developing futher knowledge and technology might even think to capture it, and maintain a store of the stuff for fun and profit. Imagine if such a mouse could amass a ready supply of it; that mouse might begin to identify its utility, and refine it for intentional use. Such a mouse would have to be bold, perhaps to the point of a foolhardy recklessness, in order to attempt such a thing, of course. But such a mouse is likely to be unable to resist the promise of the stuff.

But let us not forget that extraction is our primary objective. Let Lisel know what she's dealing with, and that she shuold under no circumstances ingest the substance, or touch her face before her hands are thoroughly washed. For that matter, if the stuff is still on your face, you had better get her help to clean it off, lest you breathe in a wayward mote too many and repeat the episode.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/12/20(Fri)17:23 No. 1101421 ID: 6c233e
File 173474419162.jpg - (695.78KB , 800x600 , cadvere 80 sample the goods.jpg )

You grab her wrist. "Red? That must be what hexed me! The beast let out a cloud of the stuff right before the visions started."

Lisel's grin only widens. "And you brought me samples? Ah, you spoil me friend." She slides her free hand back into her coat's wide cuff and whips out several vials. Scraping them through your fur, she soon has three packed full of the vivid dust. The strange materiel glitters dully in the harsh lamplight. Stowing them away in her sleeve, she examines her other hand. "Hmm, no effect from skin contact. It must need to be breathed in. Hmm, yes, and from there it would enter the blood, and from blood the brain. This might have some usefulness to us, seeing as the glow-eyed ones seem to be controlled via their brains."

Surrep stalks over "How do you know that Lisel? You didn't practice that 'anatomy' did you? To butcher an animal is a sin Lisel!" The little chemist's enthusiasm falters, and she scrambles to defend herself. "No no, it wasn't that at all! Before, in the washroom, it-" "There was a fight." You interject "Before we met up. A bat attacked us, and it ended up getting it's head caved in. There were a lot of... wires."

Your family is somewhat more pragmatic on these matters, but you know many woods families take the proscription on hunting one's fellow animals very seriously. It may be the biggest taboo in the forest. So it is with relief that you see Surrep calm, her ire fading back into her normal more dour expression. "Very well then. If you think this powder can be used against them then investigate, you'll have my family's support. Let us retire for the evening, we can talk more when we are safe."

2/2 Nalthar 2024/12/20(Fri)17:23 No. 1101422 ID: 6c233e
File 173474422347.jpg - (733.05KB , 800x600 , cadvere 81 back at camp.jpg )

The three of you make the trip back without incident. Through the dusty and gray library, out the broken window and through the snow. The storm has broken for the moment and a brilliant full moon makes the night almost pleasant, the crystalline glitter of the hard packed snow matching the stars above. You take a minute to rub handfuls of snow over yourself, ridding your fur and cloak of the maddening dust.

Inside the shed is a bustle of activity. The fire pit is surrounded by cooking fungos and the eager mice that tend them. A few rats standing nearby look over as Surrep enters. She gives them a surreptitious hand signal, they nod and head away, weaving through the crowd. Surrep turns to you "Get some food in you, then come to the shelf. There is much planning to be done." With that she follows the other rats, only pausing to gather a few roasted fungos from the fire.

Lisel hefts the mechanical heart you two pilfered earlier in her hands, safely hidden under ratty cloth. "I should get this secured above before anyone sees it. Before you join us, you should take your finds to the tinker shrews. They may be able to make something from them. Thanks again, for all your help today." She executes a little half bow, more of a deep nod, and scurries off.

Left alone, you look around the hubbub. Some faces stand out from the crowd. The aforementioned tinkers are sitting on the stoop of their wagon, chatting with passers by.
Jasper is sitting with Horace, who looks some the worse for wear.
Afton is walking around, stopping to talk to various folk. His hedgehog bulk making him easy to spot in the crowd.
That sorrowful bat from this morning is also moving anxiously through the crowd, shadowed by her, you assume, younger sibling.
There's a set of three beetlefolk just come into the shed behind you. You would be alarmed, but you remember Lisel mentioning them earlier. They seem to be carrying fungos, though they aren't headed to the fire. Maybe bugs eat theirs raw? You wouldn't put it past the creepy bastards.

You think you'll have time to talk to a few people while you grab a bite to eat, before Surrep and Lisel wonder what's keeping you.

>>1101422
We should make a sketch of the spore-fungo with a warning not to breathe the spores, so that people will recognize it and know to hold their breath to avoid the hallucinations.
Talk to the tinkers, we've got business with them already.