tippler 2024/02/13(Tue)17:28 No. 1083315 ID: 9ea24b
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It has gotten oppressively hot. George says this is a normal summer in Geoun and the plants seem to like it at least. Apart from one loud thunderstorm, it has been sunny and dry. I am currently sheltering under the crops in the garden, weeding with dainty bites and watering by way of mud. Wulfa is working on the other side of the yard and I hear several people greet her as they walk by.

Two weeks have passed since I defeated Icher in a feat of cunning, preparation, and strength. I am still very proud of my accomplishment. After resting for a week in my well, I emerged to rebury the bodies and collect my treasure, before returning to regular visits with the mortals. Thanks to my victory, my citizens are more welcoming towards me.

tippler 2024/02/13(Tue)17:28 No. 1083317 ID: 9ea24b
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In the tremendous amount of time that has passed, I have identified three primary concerns:

First, from what Icher described, it is likely that the army will raise another war spirit. I have no way of knowing its abilities or attitude towards me.

Next, the adventurers sans George are hiding some dark plan from me, which involves a failed attempt to capture Icher and use him for mana. I suppose I was not captured because I willingly give mana to Erogalf. I have not confronted them about this yet.

Finally, I have noticed that despite the heavy influx of citizens, I am growing weaker. My current maximum size is such that I have to store my treasure in one of my well tunnels while carrying my two dead friends. This is quite troubling to me.

>>1083317
If Pliny is beginning to thrive again, perhaps this is why you are weakening. You were born of its rot, of our vengeance. That vengeance is complete, and as Pliny sprouts new growth your source is stifled. I think this is something Icher was making fun of you for. This may simply be the natural course of a spirit's life.

Erogalf and Telarin initially reacted to Icher's demise with horror, before Erogalf's predictable anger. It may be that they are searching for power to prevent something terrible, or that they were hired by someone more frightening than Icher to capture him. If we are to speak to anyone, it is to ask Telarin why she seemed so afraid when we slew Icher.

Yes, it is likely you are the spirit of a dead city, and thus as the city comes to life you lose affinity and power.

A new War spirit could be a problem, but Icher had a long time to gain strength. This new spirit will be weaker. So are you, of course...

You run on misery, but that's a renewable resource. As long as you keep the town populated and efficient, it should passively generate enough strife to keep you fed.

For instance, you could set up a graveyard and make mourning for dead relatives mandatory on sundays.

Have people been making wishes in the well? I know you like shinies, but I'm not sure they're actually necessary for your mana cap. Perhaps you could give people two coins and ask them to toss one back in the well, for luck.
Also, George may have more information on why they knocked him out. Does he have any suspicions what this plan might be?
Even if capturing Icher would have prevented raising another war spirit, it was your duty to avenge Pliny. There are plenty of battlefields such spirits can come from.

When it comes to raising other war spirits, they're bound to run out of shamans to betray eventually.

>>1083349
Yeah honestly I'd be surprised if they can summon even one more.

tippler 2024/02/14(Wed)17:01 No. 1083401 ID: 9ea24b
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I do not like what the voices are telling me but I cannot deny their sense. Since I was born of destruction, the city’s recovery means that I am losing affinity with its soil. This was my goal, I admit, but without me there will be no one to protect the city if the army returns.

People have not been using my well to make wishes since it is surrounded by decomposing corpses. Perhaps they could worship me another way, it does sound like an appealing concept though I do not have confirmation that it would strengthen me.

tippler 2024/02/14(Wed)17:02 No. 1083402 ID: 9ea24b
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Also, with the war ongoing, the experienced mages in the army should be able to raise another powerful spirit using the method they learned from the ogre shaman, though I expect this new spirit will be weaker than Icher initially.

I wonder what George thinks of the other adventurers after his unfortunate accident. He has been very nice to me since I killed Icher. Telarin seems more approachable than Erogalf if I wish to ask about the suspicious metal box. Jor the short orc would be a good lead for organizing mass devotion.

Who should I speak to first?

George would make for a nice everyman sort of opinion. Ask him what words come to mind when he thinks of you. A sort of free association.

>>1083401
You do not have affinity with the growth of Pliny, but you do still have some affinity with the cesspool that is your well. That's why you're weakening from your empowered state, but still able to draw mana.

Are you familiar with the concepts of sewers and garbage dumps? With some infrastructure, the area around the well could intentionally be made a focal point of the urban rot that a growing settlement will inevitably produce. Like how Icher gorged himself on conquest and bloodshed. But we can find a less harmful way to feed your spiritual affinity, by taking in what the mortals do not want.

For now, however, we may need to resign ourselves to your current weakness. A village does not produce much of those things. Maybe George can dump the unwanted gibblets from his hunts into your territory to keep it supplied with rot?

>>1083402
Let's go see George about that and the other things. Tell him he has a lovely smile, and you are glad he can share it again.

>>1083411
The middle of town isn’t really a good place to start a dump, unless it’s Teufort.
Maybe you should focus on making sure there’s a good bunch of protectors to replace you. If George is feeling empty after getting his revenge, maybe this can be his purpose, finding and training the next bunch of spirit hunters.

tippler 2024/02/15(Thu)18:40 No. 1083450 ID: 9ea24b
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I extend my hearing to locate George, who is butchering a deer outside of the city walls. He’s whistling, and there seems to be a woman helping him work. I know he has been sleeping better since Icher’s death. Revenge agrees with him.

While I travel to George, I have time to think. There has been more fragrant waste than ever with the influx of mortals and livestock, which pleases me. I estimate the current total population is around one thousand, which is far too few to resist the army, even with all the weapons and armor I scrounged earlier.

tippler 2024/02/15(Thu)18:40 No. 1083451 ID: 9ea24b
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I arrive to see the woman I heard before packing meat with salt while George wipes his brow and considers the remaining cuts.

“Hello George.” I say. “I have a few questions for you. What words come to mind when you think of me? Besides my smell and appearance, of course.”

George considers me. “Justice.”

I take this as a compliment. “I am sure you are aware that your fellow adventurers intended to keep Icher alive. Have you discussed this with them?”

George hefts his knife and brushes the flies off the carcass. “We spoke. I gathered that they hoped to use Icher to stop the war. Not what I wanted and they knew it, but there is no ill will between us.”

Interesting. That could mean a lot of things.

If the army comes again, it may benefit us to prepare in advance shelters in the wilds from which to conduct guerilla tactics, stockpile emergency supplies, and conduct scouting runs to detect the army and avoid a sudden pillaging like last time.
Our tunnel making ability could assist in this. George's hunting knowledge and Smit's particular set of skills could help in those efforts as well.

Unfortunate that they did not tell us.

"Well, I'm all for capturing low-level spirits and swaying them to our cause, but Icher? Keeping him imprisoned was never going to end well."

You don't understand how capturing a spirit would help end the war, but Icher was going to hurt everyone, so your only regret is they hid their plan from you. You're pretty sure they would have clocked you upside the head too, if they hadn't needed you to weaken Icher. That is not something friends do.

Its good that George isn't pursuing pursuing revenge so soon after achieving his first one.
So he's accomplished his goal, what does he plan to do now?

tippler 2024/02/17(Sat)13:54 No. 1083539 ID: 9ea24b
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“They said that specifically? Did they give any details?” I ask. “If that were the case they should have told me.”

George shrugs. “Likely some dark magic involved. Telarin has always been quiet about her past.”

“Imprisoning Icher would have been risky as well.”

“Yes. If you spirits could feel pain properly I might have changed my mind.”

tippler 2024/02/17(Sat)13:54 No. 1083540 ID: 9ea24b
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I watch George work the knife under the dark red backstraps, cutting them away from the bone in long strips.

“What will you do now that you have your revenge?” I ask.

“Our deal was for me to stay in Pliny. The wheat will need to be harvested and replanted, homes rebuilt, rules established. Plenty of work.”

George brings the meat to the woman, who looks up from her jars and smiles.

Thank George. We should go speak to Jor next about the possibility of using waste disposal around your well to keep you healthy. She seemed pretty good at logistics.

Of all the mortals we have met, George is the most like us.
Let's talk to Jor about group appreciation time, then.

tippler 2024/02/18(Sun)16:15 No. 1083602 ID: 9ea24b
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“Thank you for speaking with me George.” I say. “I like your smile. I love you.”

George makes a pained expression and stands with his filthy hand sticking out in front of him. “You’re–You’re a good spirit, Pliny.”

I do not want to overstay my welcome among the townspeople, so I retire for the day to arrange my treasure in an appealing pile.

The next day I emerge from my well and listen for Jor’s loud voice. By the time I squirm to her home, which she shares with several other orcs from her village, I find her midway through her morning exercises.

tippler 2024/02/18(Sun)16:15 No. 1083603 ID: 9ea24b
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It is cooler in the morning, but Jor is shining with sweat. Her back muscles work as she does push-ups.

“Good day Jor, I would like to ask for your help and wisdom. Have you heard of the concept of religion?”

Jor starts doing a little hop clap every time she pushes up from the ground. I wait patiently for her to finish the rep. She pushes herself to her feet and claps her hands free of dust.

“Geoun is a monotheistic kingdom. Worshiping false idols is a crime.” she says bluntly.

"Well, screw Geoun then."

Oh so what god do they have then?

Hmm, well as long as we have faith without the fancy trappings of religion we should be fine then. right?

You seem knowledge about religion. What does religion have to say about spirits?

>>1083603
Interesting. That must be part of why she's worried about a spirit at the center of the town. On the one hand, Icher has created negative associations. On the other hand, anyone who doesn't like us could brand the town as heretics worshiping a local spirit.

tippler 2024/02/19(Mon)10:00 No. 1083667 ID: 9ea24b
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“Ah. What matter of being is legally worshiped, then?”

Jor crosses her arms. “God.”

“Does this God have any useful abilities?”

“He is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful.”

I am more flabbergasted than when Telarin called me cute. “Such a creature exists?”

“That kind of question is how people get hanged.”

tippler 2024/02/19(Mon)10:00 No. 1083669 ID: 9ea24b
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I do not know how to compete with a being of such magnitude, but I am reassured by the fact that God is all-loving.

“God must be fond of spirits then.” I say.

“Official doctrine is that spirits are spawned by bad energy and the work of devils.” Jor replies. “For example, you arose when the city was invaded and burned.”

“But–but, you think I am good, don’t you? You know I am benevolent.”

Jor checks over her shoulder for anyone who might be listening. “Of course, Pliny. I’m just telling you how it is before you ask whatever you were going to ask me.”

You are turning the bad energy into good. Just like the city turned from invaded to rebuilding. That's what worms do, they turn the bad into good. That's why you are smaller now. If there's bad in the future, you can get bigger and more powerful to fight it. God would appreciate you if you ever met him. You're a good good maker!

More worryingly though, why hang people just because they don't know God exists yet? You should go meet God. Then you'll know he exists, and nobody will call you a bad spirit!

I was formed with an urge to fulfill people's wishes. Wishes are good energy, aren't they?
This is an awkward request, but I need people's help to fulfill all their wishes. We're not quite sure how mana works, but maybe their spirit energy can be channeled into me by... not exactly worship? Lets call it 'appreciation'.

I wonder if Pliny would gain strength if she visited another razed town? Or arrived in one before the army, to burrow underground and absorb the power released by the destruction? Pliny is a town spirit, but is she linked ONLY to this town, or is it ANY town?

>>1083669
So we can put cults aside. It may be best if Pliny becomes a mysterious presence that lurks in the town dump and sewers, before you become publicly known.

And we should operate in secret for the good of your people that you love. Can Jor help arrange to make it seem like you've disappeared after the crisis?

>>1083714
With Pliny's tunneling ability, they could become almost omnipresent. They could be the voice in the walls and the alleys, listening to secrets and offering help.

tippler 2024/02/20(Tue)16:29 No. 1083825 ID: 9ea24b
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I am rather discouraged. “Perhaps I will meet God and convince him to tell everyone the truth that spirits are good.”

Jor massages her thick brow in frustration. “Pliny, it’s not possible to meet God. At the risk of a mage listening in on our conversation and getting me executed later, it can’t even be proven whether there is or isn’t a God. Personally I think it’s bunk and an excuse to imprison or kill any who seem to threaten the authority of the king.”

“Oh.” It is a shock to learn that a kind God is real and then not real in rapid succession. “Well, I was going to ask you to help me gain power by organizing a religion that worships me.”

Jor gives me a calculating look. “I can help with that, but what happens when the lord arrives in a few days to take over Pliny?”

Well make it into a secret cult.

Hold up wait a minute, we don't need a cult. Remember the tradition before, where people threw stuff into the well and made wishes? People can still do that, except now someone is in the well and taking their stuff and trying to grant the wishes.

>>1083831
yes, and the well is now a tunnel network, so "offerings" could be left for you anywhere in town.

We should undermine the credibility of the authorities by showing how petty and spiteful they will get in trying to censor a simple ritual involving pennies and a well.

>>1083825
Just to be clear, while the army using Icher are very not the good guys, did they happen to be rebelling against this king?

Be ready for that. The lord will arrive with overwhelming military forces, to kill all the revolutionaries and hang all the dissenters. The fact that there are no revolutionaries or dissenters doesn't matter. Rich people immediately assume this to be the case, and always overreact in every disaster, stomping in and making everything worse with their paranoia and desperate greed. It happens every time.

Secret cult is def. the way to go, but be ready to get oppressed hard if you do. Make sure your allies know the storm is coming. The key is to appear completely subservient and innocuous to a royal completely losing his shit while accusing the rebuilders of panicking.

tippler 2024/02/21(Wed)19:03 No. 1084033 ID: 9ea24b
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“It will be a secret.” I say decisively. “I will dig tunnels connecting everyone’s yards so that they can drop me offerings. These can be minor, like small coins they would put in a well to make a wish.”

Now that I think about it, I could even give the townsfolk a little money from my stash to ease any financial burden. This makes me feel very generous and smart.

“I will be very polite to the lord. Unless he brings a retinue of highly trained soldiers he will pose no threat to me.” I add.

“Give me a moment to think.” Jor grunts.

tippler 2024/02/21(Wed)19:03 No. 1084034 ID: 9ea24b
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While Jor paces in a circle, I address a few questions from the voices. I doubt I draw mana from other ruined cities, though this raises the conundrum of what would happen if I left Pliny and its surrounding lands. The invading army is foreign and I have no reason to believe their campaign is religiously motivated.

“I’ll organize all this for you, but this time I want a favor in return.” Jor says.

I bob my head, well versed in matters of exchange.

“If for some reason I get arrested or imprisoned sometime in the future, I need you to do everything you can to get me out alive and intact. Sound good?”

Uh, yeah, see, the reason why I said we don't need a cult is that doing favors in exchange for money is a business. This isn't a religion at all, there's no worship involved. It doesn't need to be secret.

We will, of course, but it is a little suspicious you would ask for that, as if we would need to be specifically asked to help you out of jail.
To wit, if she's planning some crime, we would appreciate a little warning. As Erogalf found, leaving Pliny out of the loop can lead to a plan falling apart. And its rude.

>>1084036

Every religion is a business.

>>1084057
First off, no. Second off, not every business is a religion.

>>1084057
>>1084062
As initially-honest religions grow and become more organized, they also grow flaws that can be exploited by unscrupulous agents to form corruption, which can eventually reach levels similar to a sleazy business.

We're going to need to mix it up every generation to prevent the rot.

>>1084034
"Of course I will. You are a citizen of Pliny, I love you."

Of course, we are asking you to do something which may get you unfairly imprisoned so it is only fair.

tippler 2024/02/22(Thu)18:44 No. 1084228 ID: 9ea24b
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I am making no promises to grant anyone’s wishes. The transfer of money is simply to help facilitate the flow of offerings, and once I am gone there will be no need for the practice to continue.

I do not think Jor is planning any crimes. Her request is based on the fear that she will be persecuted sometime in the future, which makes sense from what she has explained about religion.

“Of course I will do this.” I say. “You are a good and helpful citizen of Pliny and I do not want to lose you.”

tippler 2024/02/22(Thu)18:44 No. 1084230 ID: 9ea24b
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Jor looks away for a moment and only turns back after a few loud, wet snorts.

“Good.” she says. “If that’s all, I need to get back to my exercises.”

I move away as she begins to puff and contort herself. If I start work on the tunnel network, it will take me several days of continuous effort to finish. Should I focus on that project, speak to Telarin, or do something else entirely?

>>1084230
Let's focus on the tunnels for now. They will make it easier to meet with people less obviously.

Speak to Telarin before you lose yourself in your work.

Tunnels. Are the rats enjoying all the underground infrastructure? Do they get in the way?

tippler 2024/02/23(Fri)13:39 No. 1084308 ID: 9ea24b
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I want to dig. I want to surround myself with the earth. I want to expand the rat habitat to even greater depths.

It is easy to choose something pleasing over the conflicting situation with Telarin. I survey all of the intact houses in Pliny and mentally mark out paths in my mind. Then, I start at my well and begin the methodical process of digging a wide tunnel down each street with smaller connecting tunnels branching out from the sides. Once I finish a lateral, I place a gold coin at the back doorstep of the house.

tippler 2024/02/23(Fri)13:40 No. 1084309 ID: 9ea24b
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While I work, I listen to the ambient noise of the town. Wulfa has been getting quite a few suitors, one of whom is from Jor’s party. She cries most nights, and so does Tytus. Erogalf and his wizard persona seem popular, especially when it comes to healing wounds and offering sage wisdom. I suppose he was the one who took the journey to spread word to the refugees, so it is not too surprising.

After two days, I hear a large caravan enter the outskirts of Pliny’s fields. This must be the Geoun lord. Should I go to greet him and make myself known or delay our meeting for as long as possible?

>>1084309
Let us listen in first on his arrival, and see if we are already a known factor. If he's looking to assess us for the church, avoidance will not look good. But we don't want to seem too much like we're in charge if he's not looking for us yet.

Lets eavesdrop on em

There's no rush. Linger ominously beneath the fields.

It may be best for the first meeting between you two to be more pirvate. A mediator would be good as well, since you have a hard time talking to people sometimes.

tippler 2024/02/25(Sun)12:19 No. 1084510 ID: 9ea24b
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I will listen in on this lord from my tunnels, as unbothered as can be. I have learned that I am perhaps not the best at first impressions, so better to get an idea of his character now and have a mediated conversation later.

I continue to dig, though I pause whenever I catch a juicy verbal morsel. The lord has a gruff voice which I learn to pick out from the near one hundred new mortals. A “spirit” is mentioned several times, though never with much detail. At one point the lord even hushes an advisor who tries to ask his opinion on me.

tippler 2024/02/25(Sun)12:19 No. 1084511 ID: 9ea24b
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Nothing of interest happens until I hear the caravan arrive at the city walls, where the familiar voices of Flint and Erogalf begin mixing with the lord. After some pleasantries they fall oddly silent.

I strain myself and pick up a repetitive scratching sound, and the clink of coins in a pouch. After maybe an hour, the caravan continues into town and its people get settled. Over the next day I hear the lord interacting with the adventurers fairly often. Perhaps he is living in their house? He asks questions about the upcoming harvest and what the adventurers know about the army.

I finish all of my tunnels and emerge by my well in the midafternoon light four days after beginning my project. Already I have received a few offerings, including a smooth stone and an egg, which are immensely pleasing.

>>1084511
It sounds as though the lord and adventurers know each other. He may be the employer, or a contact for the employer, who wanted to capture Icher.

There's a lot of conclusions we could jump to about that. We should speak to Telarin about it before meeting the lord.

Do the offerings work the way the wishing well objects did? Can you sense what the offerers want?

tippler 2024/02/26(Mon)11:34 No. 1084606 ID: 9ea24b
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I bring out the egg and stone from my stomach to hold in my mouth. I get a sense that the past owners, beyond basic desires for survival, wish for the war to end so that the army does not return.

I am overdue to give Erogalf mana, and I suppose I will take the opportunity to finally speak with Telarin about the metal box and the adventurers’ general secretive behavior. How should I phrase my questions to avoid offense or misunderstandings?

very carefully

>>1084606
"What was that metal box Flint had?"
And
"Why did you look frightened when I killed Icher?"
Don't overexplain or give too much information about your own thought process.

Reiterate that if they expect you to be part of a plan, they should really tell you about it before hand.

tippler 2024/02/27(Tue)18:00 No. 1084754 ID: 9ea24b
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I will be polite but to the point, without making it seem like I suspect or resent them. Telarin has always been friendly, so I am hopeful.

I go to the adventurers’ house and sure enough there is a large, lordly wagon parked outside. After waiting around to see if anyone comes out of the house, I slither up to the door and knock with my snout.

Flint answers and I ask for her to fetch Telarin, who waits for me to back away before she emerges into the light.

tippler 2024/02/27(Tue)18:00 No. 1084755 ID: 9ea24b
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“I would like to ask you some questions about the night of Icher’s death.” I say. “Why did Flint have a metal box? Why were you upset when I declared my victory?”

“I am not mad.” I add, when Telarin presses her lips together. “I wish to be included on important plans, if it would aid the well-being of my citizens.”

“What if it didn’t? What would you do if you decided we were a threat to yourself and the city?” Telarin asks.

>>1084755
"Hurt you. Because if you did risk the lives of the citizens for a paycheck, then I'm going to compound my anger for every day you don't tell me."

Tell them they would be banished if they turned out to be a threat, and if they returned then you would have to fight them.
...do they think Icher didn't deserve to die? He was a spirit of War. Propagating war was his duty, his purpose. Any attempt at redemption would have been going against his very nature, and to defy the nature of spirits is to invite unknown disaster.

>>1084755
"You would not ask me that question if you wanted to be a threat to myself or my citizens, Telarin. Are you in danger?"

You would confront them and try to talk them out of it, but if it comes to it, the needs of the citizens come first.

in order: try to understand why they are doing things that are a threat, try to convince them to stop doing those things, try to convince them to leave. Violence is reserved for those who have already done harm and are going to do it again.

tippler 2024/02/28(Wed)18:43 No. 1084852 ID: 9ea24b
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My instinctual reaction would be to kill them, of course, but I am on my most careful and polite behavior and I do not say this out loud. This is a nuanced issue since the adventurers are tangentially what could be considered friends, and instead of sneaking into their home at night to pummel them to death, I will try to talk.

“If you intend to harm my citizens, I will end our deal and you will leave the city.” I say. “What plans could put such fear in you? I would prefer to help you rather than hurt you.”

There are other people on the street, and Telarin beckons me to the more secluded backyard before she speaks.

“The box was to trap Icher. If you weakened him, we thought we could seal him in a fetish.”

tippler 2024/02/28(Wed)18:43 No. 1084853 ID: 9ea24b
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This is more or less what I had imagined, which does not seem too bad. Telarin hesitates before continuing.

“Since the war is ongoing, this would make a very powerful fetish that maintains itself across a large geographical area.”

I nod.

“...which means we’d be unstoppable for as long as Icher had affinity to wherever we were.”

Were they planning on letting the war continue in order to stay powerful? What would they do with that power?

Unstoppable is a strong word, I mean, Icher was stoppable, so why wouldn't they be?

Power for its own sake is pointless. What were they planning to do with it? Or were they really not thinking that far ahead.

Insist that stories about insane spirits being trapped in small boxes never end well. You'd rather start small than try to imprison someone who wants to murder everyone.

tippler 2024/02/29(Thu)18:29 No. 1084940 ID: 9ea24b
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I am skeptical of this “unstoppable” claim. Icher was defeated and he was not made of exceedingly smashable flesh. All mortals need to sleep eventually.

“What would this power be for? Would you try to stop the army at all?” I ask.

“I think without a spirit the army wouldn’t be able to conquer Geoun and the war would end. If Icher was still active they wouldn’t be able to summon a new one.” Telarin explains. “Power is useful for staying alive, in general. I’m not sure what capabilities we’d have, so it would be an ongoing process to decide what to do.”

tippler 2024/02/29(Thu)18:30 No. 1084942 ID: 9ea24b
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“If you are still committed to this plan, you should find a smaller spirit and not one as dangerous as Icher.” I say.

Telarin gives a nervous giggle. “That’s you, Pliny. You’re nice and understanding though, so we don’t need to keep you in a fetish. As long as we stay in Pliny, we can try again with the next war spirit when the army returns.”

She crosses her arms over her knees. “The scary thing is if this new spirit wants to work with the army mages, we’ll have a lot more trouble. Icher was fairly independent, and even humored us in battle a few times when he could have easily killed me or Erogalf. There’s a reason George is alive, you know.”

>>1084940
>If Icher was still active they wouldn’t be able to summon a new one.
This would have been useful information, and potentially made his capture more palatable as a solution. Please share information such as this with us in the future.

Does this mean that so long as Pliny exists, no other spirit of the things that Pliny is a spirit of can exist?

>The scary thing is if this new spirit wants to work with the army mages, we’ll have a lot more trouble.
Yes, Icher was arrogant and not very intelligent. If the new spirit is smarter, we may need alternative ways to negotiate with or distract them.

What if we attempted to summon our own spirit of war, before they can? Icher shared with us some of the broad details.

tippler 2024/03/01(Fri)18:51 No. 1085032 ID: 9ea24b
File 170934790794.png - (15.12KB , 500x500 , p29.png )

It sounds like there can’t be more than one spirit of the same type raised in the same area. Since I am already the spirit of Pliny, there will not be another born that embodies this city until I am gone. I suppose there could be different categories of spirits in the same place at once, which means we could possibly summon the new war spirit ourselves.

This would have been helpful to know earlier and I tell Telarin as much.

“Sorry. You’re right.” she sighs. “This isn’t exactly common knowledge. I guess we didn’t trust you enough at the beginning.”

“Can you help me summon the next war spirit before the army? Icher said there was chanting involved so I think we have the general idea.”

Telarin looks horrified and scolds me like a bad dog. “No Pliny! A lot of people would have to die, which ends their affinity with their surroundings, to free up the mana to make a spirit. We just have to wait and hope the army is weakened enough the next time they arrive.”

Oh, I guess we didn't have the general idea.
Then there's nothing for it but to wait and see if they get a new spirit. Do we have any sort of intelligence on the army's activities?

Nooo you are a good dog! Please say it isn't true! You are a good dog! You are!

>>1085032
If mass casualties are required, what if we were to hijack the army's next summoning ritual instead?
Is there a way to tell when they have succeeded in summoning their next spirit?

Mass casualties... sounds like what happened when you were born, Pliny.

>>1085056
Did someone summon you?

tippler 2024/03/02(Sat)18:30 No. 1085158 ID: 9ea24b
File 170943300351.png - (15.28KB , 500x500 , p30.png )

I am struck by a worrying thought. “Was I summoned then since I came from the death of many mortals?”

“No no, summoning a spirit is really just finding conditions where one could appear anyway. You know, natural disasters, changing seasons, fairy circles…Summoning just adds the participants' intent and affinity to the mix.”

Telarin seems to know a lot about spirits. “When will the army get a new spirit then? Do we have any way to know when they do?” I ask.

Telarin chews on the tip of her finger. “When Jamuk falls they’ll probably do it. Since Icher was killed the army’s been having a harder time with the siege, but from the communications we’ve been intercepting from the city mages, it’ll happen in a few days.”

>>1085158
If we were to use the siege first, we could hijack it, then? Or sabotage the summoning. A smaller infiltration is less risky, but wouldn't give us as much power to shape the spirit compared to the will of the army. Still, we could pour some suboptimal intents into it. Character flaws to fester like a cancer, or even guide it to take on the vengeance of Jamuk to increase the odds the spirit comes out hostile to the army.

I think it's worth the risk, trying to subvert the spirit's creation. Too many people died to create Icher, and too many people suffered and died under Icher's command. If we convince the army that the ritual isn't a guaranteed equivalent exchange, they won't do it as often.

tippler 2024/03/03(Sun)16:38 No. 1085282 ID: 9ea24b
File 170951273215.png - (10.35KB , 500x500 , p31.png )

Jamuk is not far, and I could ride in a wagon to travel faster than I could by myself. It would be feasible to go there on an undercover mission to sabotage the ritual!

I tell Telarin my idea and she drops her head on her knees.

“Do you not like it?” I ask.

“I mean, it has potential. You know George is setting down roots so I don’t think he’ll be interested. Flint will come if we pay her, and it would be best if either Erogalf or I stayed so there’s one experienced mage here. You’d need to leave tonight.”

tippler 2024/03/03(Sun)16:39 No. 1085283 ID: 9ea24b
File 170951275617.png - (8.64KB , 500x500 , p32.png )

I do not like the idea of leaving my citizens or my well, but I am excited about this plan. I think it holds great promise. Should I take Erogalf or Telarin on the trip? Are there any other citizens I should bring?

Start out by building some basic shacks on the outskirts of town, and have a portion of the volunteer militia act as outpost guards. If anything happens to the village, there will be enough cells left to start over.

Bring the entire adventuring party. We go big or go home.

Take Telarin, and Smit if he's willing. She knows a lot of sus information about spirits and dark rituals, and Smit might know some things about smuggling and stealth that would help us get in and out clean.

George and Flint can be in charge of preparing hidden dugouts/survivalist bunkers like >>1085300 suggested in the surrounding wilderness, in case the village needs to evacuate and go guerilla for any reason.

Erogalf can be the resident mage while we're gone.

Take Erogalf with you, he’s smart and cunning.

tippler 2024/03/04(Mon)19:14 No. 1085451 ID: 9ea24b
File 170960845334.png - (12.02KB , 500x500 , p33.png )

“I want both you and Erogalf to come.” I tell Telarin.

“I guess it would be safer with both of us. We’ll take Flint for sure then. Anyone else you’re thinking of?”

I think for a moment. “Smit should be very stealthy given his background. He will be an important asset to the team.”

“His background as..?”

“Oh. Er. He fits into very small spaces! To make them clean and fresh because he is a nice fellow.”

Telarin gives me a skeptical look. “Like a chimney sweep?”

“Yes!” I am good at lying.

tippler 2024/03/04(Mon)19:14 No. 1085452 ID: 9ea24b
File 170960846589.png - (17.44KB , 500x500 , p34.png )

Telarin stands up and dusts off her dress. “Okay, I tell Erogalf and Flint to get ready. You can talk to Smit and get some gold to pay Flint. Let’s meet in front of the house at supper.”

After Telarin ducks inside, I spot Tytus peeking over the fence between the neighboring houses. I assume he overheard our conversation and I squirm toward him until we are face to face.

“You leavin’?” he asks.

“Yes, Tytus.”

He chews his lip. He has had a haircut recently and is dressed in a clean shirt and little trousers.

“If you go you’ll take my dad away.” he mutters.

"Your dad and I want the same thing, for you and everyone to be safe."

"If I don't go, then the bad guys will create another Icher. I have to try and make the next spirit less... evil."

Your dad will always be with you the same way he is with me - in spirit.

>>1085452
"An artist is never gone so long as their name is spoken."

tippler 2024/03/05(Tue)18:48 No. 1085552 ID: 9ea24b
File 170969330461.png - (17.32KB , 500x500 , p35.png )

“You are correct, but this will help everyone stay safe by making Icher’s replacement less dangerous. Your father would want everyone to be safe, and remember, he is always with you in your heart.”

I thought that came out rather well and Tytus seemed to think so too, judging by his resigned frown instead of tears. The pain of losing Aelius is still fresh, but it is not like I am killing the orc again by leaving.

I refrain from asking Tytus if any paintings survived the fire, perhaps in some secret vault, so that Aelius’ art can help him live on. There may be a few works carried with the army, but I do not want to remind Tytus of this.

tippler 2024/03/05(Tue)18:48 No. 1085553 ID: 9ea24b
File 170969331631.png - (10.17KB , 500x500 , p36.png )

“Who’s gonna protect us then? If the adventurers are leaving and you’re leaving there isn’t anyone strong left.” Tytus asks.

Again, Tytus is right. “We will return before the army decides to ransack Pliny, if we do not perish on our mission. Also I will tell George to arm the citizens from my scrap piles and prepare dugouts as emergency shelter.”

The boy ducks his head while keeping his hands on the edge of the fence.

“Would you like to play a game, Tytus?” I ask gently. “We can hit stones with sticks.”

“No. I hafta do my chores and you smell bad.”

I sigh. Very well, I suppose I better see Smit. What should I say to the goblin about the mission?

>>1085553
Give it to him straight. We're pulling a *heist*. A *spirit heist*. We're going to steal their spirit. We need someone on the job with his particular set of skills.

He's a goblin with an angle of his own, of course. So we'll need to offer up something in return. It just so happens we're already preparing a secret underground network of tunnels. How would he feel about his very own *secret hideout*? Maybe even the beginnings of a Pliny-based thieves' guild, if he's feeling at all ambitious. Not all thieves' guilds out there have their very own friendly spirit in their corner, I'd bet.

tippler 2024/03/07(Thu)17:51 No. 1085726 ID: 9ea24b
File 170986266912.png - (9.39KB , 500x500 , p37.png )

It takes some time to locate Smit, who moves quietly and doesn’t have many friends to make conversation with. Eventually I hear him breathing evenly and I realize he must be dozing right next door.

I have never really explored Smit’s motivations, so I am unsure what to offer him. Besides his now dead partner and a knowledge of spirit trivia, he is a mystery. Perhaps he would like to start some sort of Pliny thieves guild with its very own secret underground hideout. That sounds appealing!

Tytus is still watching me so I ask him to fetch Smit and move over the barrier to the other yard to wait.

tippler 2024/03/07(Thu)17:51 No. 1085727 ID: 9ea24b
File 170986268490.png - (25.75KB , 500x500 , p38.png )

The goblin emerges from the back door shirtless and groggy. He shakes out his hood and puts it on before coming to stand in the shade with me.

“Thanks for the gold coin from a few days ago.” he says.

“Of course. It is to help ease the financial burden caused by making offerings.”

“You shouldn’t say–well I guess everyone already knows. Why did you want to talk?”

I explain my plan to perform a spirit heist in Jamuk, and why I want him to come, with many offerings of wealth and support to sweeten the deal.

Smit scratches his stubbly chin. “You think the adventurers would come back afterwards? I don’t want to get stuck out there.”

I mean, unless they have some secret base out there, they might as well come back here after the mission. Plus if things don't work out with the new spirit, Erogalf will still want Pliny's mana.

Yes, at the very least, Erogalf will want to come back.

They will, Pliny is serving as a sort of base for them right now.

>>1085727
We suspect Erogalf may have some dealings with the local lord. Whether that's good for us in the long run, who can say. Flint would escort us back for the right price. Telarin's true motives are still a mystery.

tippler 2024/03/09(Sat)14:55 No. 1085933 ID: 9ea24b
File 171002492503.png - (18.35KB , 500x500 , p39.png )

“I would think they would like to return here. I won’t be able to give Erogalf mana anywhere else and a familiar bed with consistent food is valuable to Telarin.” I think about it some more. “To be extra sure I can pay Flint to make sure she takes us back.”

Smit nods. “I think we’ll be safe from attack with both magic users, so I’m not concerned about that. You’ve proven your ruthlessness and the army won’t have time to beat us here on our return trip. I assume we’ll discuss tactics when we get closer to Jamuk.”

“Yes, thank you Smit!” I say. I am pleased that he is joining the team.

tippler 2024/03/09(Sat)14:55 No. 1085934 ID: 9ea24b
File 171002494168.png - (13.05KB , 500x500 , p40.png )

I go to my well to get a mouthful of treasure. After paying Flint the first time, giving a gold coin to every house in town, and now this second payment to Flint, my stash is fairly depleted. It doesn’t exactly bother me to have less when I know my funds are going to good use, but it would please me to get more treasure soon.

When I return to the adventurers’ neighborhood via my tunnel, I see the lord for the first time, supervising outside the house while servants move furniture and chests around. He is either a short human or a tall dwarf, with a short dark beard and many succulent rings on his fingers. Should I speak to him?

>>1085934
It would be good to take a measure of him before we leave him unattended.

Undersell your intelligence when interacting with him, and offer him the same fawning attitude you would give to true citizens of Pliny. He will underestimate you, and see you as less of a threat.

make sure to maintain a respectful distance, cause of the smell. And so you aren't tempted by those rings.

tippler 2024/03/10(Sun)15:29 No. 1086057 ID: 9ea24b
File 171010974423.png - (11.76KB , 500x500 , p41.png )

If the lord is living with the adventurers, he cannot think I am inherently evil. Well, perhaps he still does but is smart enough to take advantage of the many benefits I bring to the city.

I move into the road, but stay a polite distance away to allow any odors to disperse.

“Greeting, Lord of Pliny.” I say, to announce my presence. I keep myself low to the ground and bow my head in deference.

The servants look to the lord for orders, and he raises his hand to put them at ease.

tippler 2024/03/10(Sun)15:29 No. 1086058 ID: 9ea24b
File 171010976818.png - (13.43KB , 500x500 , p42.png )

“So you have shown yourself, beast. I have heard tales of your nature, and I trust you to mind your business and leave the matters of statehood and governance to me.” he says.

The voices advise me to underplay my intelligence. “Of course, my lord. I am naive to the ways of mortals and I will keep to what I know, which is primarily matters of dirt and protecting my citizens.”

“Stick to the dirt. You lack foresight and knowledge of how your actions affect the greater kingdom.”

"Okay. Just don't lack knowledge of me. I can do powerful things - mostly field enrichment to grow better crops - but I need complex rituals and sacrifices. I'll give you a menu later."
Sell your services and ignore this fop otherwise.

>>1086059
Let's not mention any cult rituals or sacrifices to him.

Simply agree.

You will.

ask if there is anything he needs of you right now.

Hah, what a rube. Assure him that you will keep to your own affairs.

"As you say. Please keep the citizens of Pliny well and safe, my lord."

tippler 2024/03/11(Mon)19:23 No. 1086174 ID: 9ea24b
File 171021018068.png - (18.75KB , 500x500 , p43.png )

I bow my head even lower so that my mouth brushes the ground. “As you wish, my lord. Is there anything you need from me?”

“Only your continued obedience.”

I hold my bow and retreat to my tunnel in the alley so that I can take it to the backyard instead of making a scene by moving amongst the wagons and servants. From my first impression the lord seems shrewd, if ignorant to my true influence. He hid his fear well.

tippler 2024/03/11(Mon)19:23 No. 1086175 ID: 9ea24b
File 171021019411.png - (14.11KB , 500x500 , p44.png )

I knock on the back door of the house and Flint answers. I lay the valuables at her feet.

“That’s a lot.” she says.

“Yes, it is payment for the mission and for a return trip.”

Flint goes into the house to fetch a pan of water, which she uses to rinse the money in the doorway before gathering it in a leather pouch. Ever the professional, she does not initiate a conversation.

I watch her, placid. Is there anything I should do before we ready the wagon to depart? I am currently carrying both corpses.

I think you're good to go buddy

>>1086175
Bring a sheathed sword, concealed within you. Potentially Icher's, if you still have it.
Leave Smit's former partner here, well-hidden somewhere buried alongside the tunnels. You may need to move lighter, or store something else large later. We can keep our lonely friend along in case we need hands.

tippler 2024/03/13(Wed)17:03 No. 1086358 ID: 9ea24b
File 171037459181.png - (12.93KB , 500x500 , p45.png )

Since I expect to shrink or pick up something useful at some point on my mission, I go back to my well to deposit Smit’s dead partner. For a weapon, I retrieve my trusty, rusty shortsword. Once I return to the adventurers’ house, the wagon is loaded up and Flint is sitting at the reins.

“We’re heading due west, and we’ll stop to camp when night falls, so how about you travel on your own to start. It’ll make things more pleasant for us and the wagon will be lighter.” Flint tells me.

This makes sense and I agree. The wagon peels away from the house and slowly gets further and further along the road until it is out of sight. I listen to the wooden wheels clattering against the packed earth as I slowly move west.

tippler 2024/03/13(Wed)17:03 No. 1086359 ID: 9ea24b
File 171037461073.png - (14.21KB , 500x500 , p46.png )

It is wretchedly hot and the tall fields of grain do not provide much shade as I push the stalks aside. I leave a trail of wet mud as I go.

A feeling of unease begins after I cross the edge of what I consider to be the boundary of Pliny’s lands. I am displeased to be away from my well and the ground here does not feel kind. At least the sun is setting.

Once night falls, I realize I cannot hear the wagon anymore. I can hardly hear anything except what’s in my close proximity! This is frightening, am I losing my powers?

Well it is night, is there much to hear? Your powers are probably just reduced a bit from leaving your home.

tippler 2024/03/14(Thu)17:52 No. 1086414 ID: 9ea24b
File 171046397351.png - (12.01KB , 500x500 , p47.png )

The voices reassure me that my powers have likely just been reduced from leaving home. I can still control my lonely friend and I am as dextrous and strong as usual, but this does not reassure me much. I will not find the adventurers if I cannot hear them! Back in Pliny I could easily trace the sound of the wagon, voices, or even the crackle of the fire if they stopped to make camp.

I maintain my path forward, but even after several hours do not spot the camp. The displeasure is too much to bear and I decide to turn around. After a while, a blue communication circle appears by my face.

tippler 2024/03/14(Thu)17:53 No. 1086415 ID: 9ea24b
File 171046398383.png - (17.88KB , 500x500 , p48.png )

“Hey Pliny, it’s Erogalf. I’m on third watch and don’t see you anywhere, did you get lost?”

“Yes! Oh it is terrible here, please guide me to camp.”

A little light appears and leads me to the road, which I had utterly missed. I have to squirm a good distance on the rocky surface before I spot the wagon parked in the grass.

I hurry to meet Erogalf, who yawns and leans on his staff once I come into range of the small fire. He holds out his hand.

“Mana please, that took forever.”

please be gentle, you may not recover as well outside your town.

Nuzzle up to his hand. "Its scary out here, I can't hear anything."

>>1086415
We will need some way to recover mana over the course of this journey...
From Telarin and Erogalf's description, your mana recovery involves affinity to the area. You are naturally well-attuned to Pliny, but your fading power there and Icher's situation suggest that the location alone is not everything, it is how well a location aligns to your nature.

Your affinity appears to be for death, rot, urban decay, and treasure? Not much of the latter two out here. You should rest alongside the carcasses of any kills the adventurers make for food, and any latrines they dig - even if they think it's awkward. If Erogalf wants his mana during this task, you will need to find a way to recover as well.

tippler 2024/03/15(Fri)12:20 No. 1086479 ID: 9ea24b
File 171053043858.png - (9.47KB , 500x500 , p49.png )

I stay where I am. “How can I replenish my mana back if I give some to you? I do not think I will recover very well outside of Pliny.”

Erogalf tucks his hand back into his sleeve. “Short answer is you can’t. You don’t have affinity for this area and we’re not sticking around for long enough for anyone to build some.”

That is concerning. “Perhaps if you pointed me to the camp latrine?”

“No Pliny, that’s a negligible amount of mana.”

I feel better being near the wagon and my citizens, but now I am worried about my mana usage. The mages will need my mana to help cast spells if we are attacked, which will cause me to shrink and be less effective in battle. A benefit of shrinking now would be I can more easily ride in the wagon.

Should I give Erogalf mana now or tell him to wait for a time of greater need?

>>1086479
>Better around wagon
So it is possible to create mobile sources of affinity. If we'd known that, maybe we could have brought a supply of Pliny dirt.

Share some now, to keep him content, but ask him to be frugal. We will need a supply for infiltrating the city itself.

Share now and tell him to spend wisely, it won't burn off just because he has it and you will fit better in the wagon as mentioned.

Let him take a bit, but keep a steady eye on your mana levels.

If you end up small enough they could hide you in a barrel! That would probably be comfier for you, and less smelly for them.

>>1086504
Not a bad idea.

If we're lucky, Pliny will also have an affinity to the ruins of whatever settlements we pass through that the army has destroyed.

>>1086479
Ergalf if you want mana, any amount collected counts.... its also scary i dont want to die withering into nothing

tippler 2024/03/16(Sat)11:56 No. 1086530 ID: 9ea24b
File 171061539421.png - (11.83KB , 500x500 , p50.png )

“You must use my mana sensibly.” I tell Erogalf.

“When have I ever not?”

I approach Erogalf and nuzzle up into his palm. The elf pulls his hand back and looks surprised.

“What was that?” he asks.

“I am…expressing affection? I was worried that I would have to abandon the mission if I could not find you since I lost my hearing powers.”

tippler 2024/03/16(Sat)11:56 No. 1086531 ID: 9ea24b
File 171061540723.png - (14.07KB , 500x500 , p51.png )

Erogalf takes enough mana that I shrink by a stage, though this has the benefit that I do not feel groggy. I can still carry my lonely friend and my sword. The wizard’s eyes flash briefly and he does a full circle to scan the perimeter of the camp.

“I thought the refugees we passed earlier might follow us, and it looks like a group of them did. They’re desperate and starving, and they’ll probably attack when Smit goes on watch next.” he explains.

I lift my head and look around, but do not see anyone in the tall grass. “What should we do?”

“I think we should keep all of our supplies, though we do have a little to spare. I could scatter them with some noise and light spells, or you can wait for Smit to take care of them. They’re mostly kobolds, if that matters.”

Ask him if we could pay them off. They could take that money into town and buy food, couldn't they?

Save your mana, Pliny can just talk to them. They won't be able to significantly harm a spirit. Tell them that you don't have much food, but you know where they could find more, and direct them to town.

>>1086540
I agree. They can be sent to Pliny and told it is safe there and welcoming those displaced by the army.
We do not know how many there are. If things go poorly we can dispatch them easily, but our damage will not heal as smoothly away from home. We should get the others up instead of confronting them alone.

tippler 2024/03/17(Sun)13:24 No. 1086604 ID: 9ea24b
File 171070705310.png - (14.90KB , 500x500 , p52.png )

“I will go speak with them. If I give them some coins they will be able to buy food in Pliny.” I say.

“Okay.”

“Since I am not carrying my treasure with me, I would like to ask for some money.” I stare at Erogalf expectantly until he sighs and starts counting out little silver coins from a leather pouch.

I take the coins in my mouth and go toward where Erogalf indicates the kobolds are hiding. I move slowly and silently, and do not notice the refugees until I brush against one and she gasps.

tippler 2024/03/17(Sun)13:24 No. 1086605 ID: 9ea24b
File 171070706444.png - (21.01KB , 500x500 , p53.png )

I have seen some thin mortals before, but this kobold is particularly skeletal. She’s holding two of her children to her chest where they dangle limply, large eyes visible through thin layers of skin. Their rags smell good, which I understand is bad for their well-being.

Her gasp triggers a ripple of movement in the grass, and I feel the sting of several wounds as the kobolds scramble to stab what may be a potential meal.

“Ow! Stop that, I have brought money for you. Take it and follow the road east to Pliny.”

The improvised weapons are replaced with outstretched hands and a rush to crowd around me once I repeat my message a few times. I try to dispense the coins fairly but people are getting squeezed and shoved around.

>>1086605
Tell them to seek Jor when they arrive in Pliny. She will see that they are helped, and given a place in the community if they would like one.
If I remember right, kobolds reproduce quickly and like holes, which would make for an excellent following for you.

Don't forget to warn them that you are diseased and they will need to wash whatever they touch you with. Also, the coins.

Do kobolds eat rats? Let them know there are plenty of rats to hunt in town.

tippler 2024/03/18(Mon)10:31 No. 1086668 ID: 9ea24b
File 171078309909.png - (23.64KB , 500x500 , p54.png )

“When you arrive in Pliny, ask for Jor the orc. She will find a place for you. Also try to wash yourselves after touching those coins, I do not want you to become diseased.” I instruct them.

Disease is likely the least of these kobolds’ concerns, I am sure they will feast upon Pliny’s many rats at the first opportunity. Yes, now that I think about it, I do not think the lord will be pleased about this.

I fall silent as I ponder, which makes the kobolds press against me. The mother from earlier begs me for food and says her hatchlings won’t make it through the night without some nourishment.

"We are going to do something important. Our rations are going to be a matter of life and death. Swear to me that you will work a month without pay for every day's worth of rations that you take from me today."

She just asked a spirit of rot to give her food. Those hatchlings are so doomed.

You did make sure the skinniest ones got money first, didn't you? It's not like you offered her money, and then gave it to all the grabby paws that descended upon you, pushing her out of the way, right?

>>1086668
Do not overfeed a starving baby no matter how hungry they are as they will die from the shock.
Also hope you did not just scatter the coins to random gruppy hands instead of the most needy

Tell her you cannot carry food without tainting it. If she needs food that badly she will have to follow you, alone, to meet the others you're traveling with and beg them for scraps... or dig for worms right here and now. If she does not fear your sickness and rot, you could help dig for worms and grubs?

Warn the group that the adventurers you're traveling with do not want to give up their provisions and will kill to protect themselves... and you will fight to protect the adventurers, as the kobolds are not your citizens yet. They have been fairly warned and given an opportunity to survive in your town. Urge them not to squander it by turning to suicidal banditry.

>>1086697
Can you tell with your diminished senses if there is anything to dig up nearby?
Express your regret that your nature is to nourish plants, not people.

>>1086668
I am sure the adventurers can spare a small amount of food to get the newborns through the night.

tippler 2024/03/19(Tue)17:08 No. 1086792 ID: 9ea24b
File 171089332595.png - (13.31KB , 500x500 , p55.png )

I finish distributing the coins. I could not tell who was in more dire need or control the mob, it seems like all of these kobolds are on the brink of starvation anyway. I privately grumble about the voice criticizing me on my technique. I do not like being wrong.

Money is not food, and even if the mother got a coin she cannot use it to buy anything unless she walks all the way to Pliny, which will take too long for her hatchlings. Were I fresh out of my well I may have considered them not worth saving.

I edge towards the camp in the hopes of asking Erogalf to spare a bit of food, and all of the kobolds immediately push towards me.

tippler 2024/03/19(Tue)17:08 No. 1086793 ID: 9ea24b
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This will not do, the adventurers would never forgive me for bringing the horde upon them. I must think of an alternate food source.

One of the voices suggests digging for insects. This is a good idea! I can easily till the soil to expose worms and grubs to the kobolds. Were they to dig themselves, the effort would not be worth the calories gained.

I tell the kobolds to stand back while I dig through the tough surface layer of roots. There is enough starlight that the kobolds are able to comb through the soil with their hands and gather bits of nourishment.

They begin to disperse in the early morning, and I sneak back to the wagon where the adventurers are having breakfast. I will ride in the wagon and our party will arrive at Jamuk later this afternoon. The city is currently under siege. What is our approach plan?

>>1086793
We will need to get a good vantage point on the siege, to find an avenue of entry.
One option is to ambush a patrol and steal their uniforms?

tippler 2024/03/20(Wed)17:17 No. 1086839 ID: 9ea24b
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I am instructed to lay myself across the tongue and doubletree of the wagon while Flint perches on the jockey box. I can see and speak to Smit, Telarin, and Erogalf, who occasionally leave the sweltering wagon bed to walk alongside the horses. As we travel, we continue to pass the occasional group of sad mortals fleeing the city or sitting with their possessions along the road. I tell them all to go to Pliny.

Smit informs me that Jamuk lies at the bottom of some hills, which will give us a good vantage point to survey the battlefield. I suggest stealing armor from the soldiers to disguise us, but the mages shoot down the idea, saying they won’t be able to move easily and nothing will be in Smit’s size.

tippler 2024/03/20(Wed)17:18 No. 1086840 ID: 9ea24b
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Flint brings up that someone will need to stay behind to guard the supplies and the horses from desperate mortals.

Erogalf rights himself from where he was slouched against the taut inner canvas. “It’s too dangerous for Telarin to go near the army. She can stay at the wagon with Flint and I’ll go with Smit and Pliny.”

“It’ll be dangerous for all of us.” Telarin says.

“I will not let the soldiers torture you.” I say firmly. “I will kill them before they can think to put you in a large pot of hot water, disembowel you, take off your skin, remove your eyes and tongue, bludgeon you until all of your bones are broken–”

“Appreciated.” grunts Smit.

Which two people should I bring with me for our first foray?

Smit and Erogalf would be good for a first sneaking. A farsight spell wouldn't hurt either.

>>1086840
Does Erogalf know as much as Telarin about how to actually carry out potentially usurping this ritual? Should we discuss that before sending a party in, in case we find it in progress and scouting turns into doing?

tippler 2024/03/21(Thu)19:29 No. 1086888 ID: 9ea24b
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I agree with Erogalf’s instinct to bring him and Smit since I doubt we will need Telarin’s expertise on summoning rituals immediately. This is an intelligence gathering mission and Erogalf has proven his skill with detection spells.

Flint finds a somewhat sheltered spot to park the wagon and I set out with the wizard and the thief. I try to move as quickly as I can, but I am still slower than the mortals’ walking speed. Smit walks with barely a sound, at least when listening with my unenhanced hearing.

We come to the top of the hill overlooking Jamuk and see the army camp with its large white tents laid out below us. Past that are the grain fields surrounding the city, marred with corpses and brown with dried blood. Black carrion birds roost at the tops of the nearby trees.

tippler 2024/03/21(Thu)19:30 No. 1086890 ID: 9ea24b
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“Two soldiers coming on our left.” Erogalf mutters. He hunches in a bush and Smit disappears from my view entirely. “Let’s kill one and use the other to gain information.”

I nod and get in position to strike. When I hear the clip clop of horse hooves, I coil myself tight and knock the first soldier off his saddle right as he passes by.

Erogalf hits the other soldier with a small glowing projectile, which makes him seize his chest and topple over. I think he is dead. Smit emerges from behind a tree to seize the reins of the horses while I squirm over to the man I knocked down. He is a young human, so it is unlikely he can use magic. How should we interrogate him?

>>1086890
Efficient.

Torture, while often the first instinct, can be unreliable when you lack the means to verify their information.
Tell him of the stint of epidemic that hit the last war camp to cross us, and that we have already afflicted him with the plague. Even if this is not true.
Offer to have Erogalf cure him of this and let him go if he reveals information on the ritual, time and location especially, once we verify it is true.

The offer to let him go does not need to be genuine right now, that can be decided later.

>>1086892
Maybe this would work better if he first get a mouthful of vomited mud so the threat doesn't depend on his gullibility.

The smell alone should be enough to get him to talk.

For extra intimidation have your handy corpse come out and give him 'the touch of death' which only you or Erogalf can cure.

tippler 2024/03/26(Tue)16:34 No. 1087208 ID: 9ea24b
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I loom over the soldier. “Tell us when the army is planning to hold the ritual to summon their new spirit. You will fall ill and shit yourself to the point of deadly dehydration unless you share your knowledge.”

I say all of this while gripping the soldier’s cheeks with my lonely friend. Conveniently I do not need my mouth to speak, and when the soldier continues to struggle rather than talk, I begin to pour my special mud onto his face. He retches and tries to shove me away but I dig wet phalanges into the gaps in his teeth and pry open his jaw so that he is forced to ingest the fluid. My grip draws some blood from his soft tissues.

tippler 2024/03/26(Tue)16:35 No. 1087209 ID: 9ea24b
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The soldier begins to vomit, which makes him choke since I am holding him in place. He coughs and spits bile over me, which I do not mind.

“He’s going to die if you don’t let go, Pliny.” Erogalf says nervously.

I loosen my grasp and the soldier turns over to clear his airways. This takes a while and I watch him very closely.

“Tomorrow afternoon is what I was told. We’re to meet somewhere between our camp and Jamuk.” he gasps. “Please, I don’t know much else about it, I’m not a mage.”

>>1087209
"Your life as a soldier is over. Now all that remains is if you can find a new occupation for our cause, or as mulch for our fields."

Lean in.

"Do not disappoint me. Too many people have died and that disappoints me."

Hmm, not much to go on, but all we're likely to get out of him. Give him what comforting words you can while Smit slits his throat, spare him the slow death to disease.

>>1087212
Agreed. He will surely contract something terrible and lethal from the muck, so we can spare him what is coming.
Tell him that if it is any consolation, his spirit will persist in some form.

Don't kill the captive, that's a war crime.

>>1087227
Think we already did one of those. Unless Erogalf can heal him with mana, it'd be a mercy killing.

>>1087229
What kind of twisted definition of mercy killing are you using? He's sick, not immediately about to die and in immense pain.

Diarrhea is dangerous but easy to treat. If he have someone watching him for a few day providing plenty of water and easy to digest food like potato soup he will likely recover. He might develop a more serious disease, but that is a problem for later.
We can entrust him to anyone who cares, including his companions, and they can take care of him.
Or we can just leave him alone, it really doesn't matter if he survive on his own or shit himself to death.

>>1087231
Leaving him alone could work but we'd have to, I guess... come back and set him free after the mission?

IDK, maybe Erogalf has an idea of how to deal with the soldier without being horrible.

tippler 2024/03/27(Wed)18:29 No. 1087278 ID: 9ea24b
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I believe the soldier has told me everything he knows, which means I must decide what to do with him. The soldier will survive my illness if he rests and receives fluids, though if we spare him there is the issue of whether we take him hostage or let him return to the army camp. A hostage would be a burden to maintain and I would like to keep our party’s presence a secret, so I am not in favor of keeping the man alive.

The voices seem to have different standards for morality and some think it is objectively wrong to kill the soldier despite the many benefits it would provide. Objective good is a new concept to me, though it seems to ring familiar with what Jor told me about God and religion. Before I wondered about redeeming soldiers from the army but I was not able to because of George. This time Pliny has grown large enough that he would not notice a suspicious newcomer.

tippler 2024/03/27(Wed)18:29 No. 1087279 ID: 9ea24b
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While I fall silent and still, as I do when I am trying out new lines of thought, Smit finishes calming the horses and brings them to stand by Erogalf.

“What are we waiting for?” he asks Erogalf.

“Pliny gets like this sometimes. Best to let them be, do you think we should keep the horses?”

“They’re valuable. We can ride them back to camp if you don’t want to use them now.”

The soldier stays on the ground, awaiting his fate. What should I do with him?

>>1087278

For a relative morality reason, they will fight more desperately and refuse to surrender if they know you kill your captives. That will kill more of your allies, and you will have fewer captives to interrogate. It would also give the opposing army good reason to kill any of your allies they capture.

We cannot let him report back, the element of surprise is our strongest asset.
I suppose we could give him a horse ride an hour or two out and drop him off, far enough that he wouldn't be able to get back in time to give us away.

Yeah, warcrimes are considered so taboo by civilized folk because by prohibiting specific behaviors, they establish a code of conduct that benefits both sides. Well, I'll admit that we aren't acting as an organized army so we're not expected to follow the laws of war. It's *generally* frowned upon to execute a defenseless prisoner though.

>>1087286
Oh, that's a good idea. Dump him somewhere so far away he can't get back in time to prevent what we're doing. We have horses and multiple party members so it won't eat up too much of our collective time, especially if we dump him somewhere that's not directly opposite our direction of travel. Perpendicular could work if our direction heads towards the enemy camp...?

>>1087284
But right now we are in the middle of a stealth mission, in this situation immediate efficiency should take priority over procedure.

>>1087289
Doesn't that mean one of our three humanoids would have to spent two to four hours riding near enemy territory and regroup without being spotted?

>>1087232
This sound like a more reasonable middle term between practicality and morality: Restrict his movements and hide him at our camp (or somewhere nearby) with the intention of returning to free him after the mission.

Oh wait, we're missing the most obvious way to deal with this. Just take him back to town. We got here pretty quickly so we can just put him in a secure building in town and then go to the meeting spot.

>>1087289
This army has slaughtered civilians recklessly and betrayed their own allies for ritual sacrifice. If there is a code of conduct, they are not following it, which means it does not protect them. And no one among their number has any capital of trust with us to cash in. If we were facing a more reasonable or principled foe, I would agree.

>>1087284
A reputation for benevolence is useful, but mercy and redemption must come from a place of power if they hope to succeed. A little backwoods village is not in a place of power over a rampaging, conquering horde, and trying to exercise mercy when you are not equipped to enforce redemption only invites vipers into our bosom.

What's more, we're on the edge of an active battlefield on a stealth mission against the orders of the lord who is watching over our village. Ideally, NO ONE should never know we were here, which defeats the purpose of any reputation arguments.

I vote we give the soldier a quick death.

>>1087299
It took us more than a day to get here. The ritual happens tomorrow according to the soldier. We don't have time.

>>1087337
Huh really? I went back and checked and it looked like it took half a day.

>>1087359
We camped overnight at least one time, which is when the kobolds showed up.

tippler 2024/03/29(Fri)10:46 No. 1087393 ID: 9ea24b
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It would not be too hard to order Smit to take this soldier with the horses back to camp where the human will be looked after by Telarin and Flint. I decide it is the morally correct choice, which makes me feel very righteous and good. Erogalf and I make a strong team even without Smit, so we can continue the mission.

Smit frowns but complies with my command. Erogalf helps him bind the soldier’s hands and heave him onto one of the horses. I watch as they follow the road back up the hill while Erogalf drags the dead soldier into some thick underbrush.

We have perhaps two hours before sundown. What should Erogalf and I do next?

>>1087393
We should scout the area around the ritual site, and figure out a place to lie in wait.

Alright having a captive is going to be a bit of a pain but we at least have him on hand in case we need to get an intact soldier corpse for necromancy shenanigans. And since we have extra horses, we could tie him to a horse and slap it to make it run off, if we need to ditch him at some point.

Definitely scout the site. Maybe dig some tunnels for easy access to useful locations in the site.

tippler 2024/04/01(Mon)17:56 No. 1087673 ID: 9ea24b
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“Let us go down the hill to the fields, Erogalf. We will see if there are any signs of the ritual site.”

The wizard agrees and we begin our slow progress once more.

As we get closer to the army, Erogalf casts some kind of invisibility spell on himself which he says is more mana cost efficient than keeping constant surveillance on a large group of people to make sure he isn’t spotted. He needs more mana for this, and I happily provide it. I am now about half of my maximum size and will need to discard my lonely friend after any further shrinkage.

tippler 2024/04/01(Mon)17:56 No. 1087674 ID: 9ea24b
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I stay low to the ground as horses and soldiers pass nearby–the siege of Jamuk is reaching its peak and there is much activity around the army camp. When Erogalf is invisible I cannot see him either, but he occasionally taps me with his staff so I know he’s there.

I spot a large group of soldiers digging a pit about one third of the way from the camp to Jamuk. The nearby wheat has been burned in a neat black circle and horses arrive to bring dead animals and mortals to lay in the ashes around the growing hole.

Erogalf prods me. “There’s another mage nearby and it’s getting dark. I’m going to turn around, but you can stay here if you want and we’ll find you tomorrow.”

Can you dig undetected beneath the ritual? We will only act once the war spirit is born so instead of regrouping we could trust our mages to start their offensive on their own when the time is right and surprise attack the mage or the spirit from underground when we hear a commotion or a password from our allies.

There's lots of friends for your lonely friend in the corpse pile.

Start digging around for easier access to the site.

Can you control corpses outside of your domain? This would be the perfect ambush if you can.

tippler 2024/04/02(Tue)19:28 No. 1087863 ID: 9ea24b
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Erogalf can contact me via communication spell which means I should be fine to stay here for the night. I can dig a narrow tunnel around the ritual site and try to identify the mage or mages in charge of the ritual. If only I had my enhanced hearing! Instead I will have to try to identify the magic users visually. I bid Erogalf farewell and begin burrowing into the field.

I do not think it would be wise to fight using the dead or infiltrate the camp with my current abilities and energy reserves, though I can opportunistically target lone soldiers.

tippler 2024/04/02(Tue)19:28 No. 1087864 ID: 9ea24b
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I make an easy underground loop around the burnt crops and surface on the side closest to camp. There is smoke in the air and distant screaming. I stay with my head sticking out of the hole so that my snout rises just above the ripe wheat berries.

I do begin to miss the comfort of Erogalf’s presence as the hours pass. The moons are high when a small party emerges from the army camp to approach the fresh hole. There is a blond elf, a slim orc, and a dwarf with an artfully woven beard, all dressed with more elaborate garments than the soldiers. I see several fairies circling their heads, casting light on their path.

They stop at the hole and hold hands. Should I try to ambush them? I think I will only be able to kill one if I catch them by surprise.

Hold off for now. This is only a scouting mission, we do not want to be spotted.

Am I misremembering the plan? I though we would wait until the spirit is born to do anything.
We can't ambush anyone, at best we could dig some pit traps.

Do you feel them using any magic? If so, we should go into the tunnels and try to influence the spirit's manifestation. That was our goal here, after all. Not to get in a fight in the middle of the army, but to alter the spirit in such a way as to make it less cooperative to the army.

Ideally, we would want Telarin's help with this, but perhaps some of us spirits could transfer into the new spirit during the ritual to influence it?

Dig closer if you can. Maybe your presence will influence the budding spirit. You are rot related and there are plenty of rotting bodies here.

tippler 2024/04/03(Wed)17:04 No. 1087910 ID: 9ea24b
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The goal of this mission is to interfere with the new war spirit by influencing its creation with suboptimal intents. After it is born it will be surrounded by soldiers and our party will need to return to Pliny to make battle preparations.

My lonely friend would be a good source of intent. Rather than attack the army mages I decide to dig close to the birth hole and plant the corpse vertically in a parallel passage. The mana coming through this side of the hole will be filtered through the body.

What main intent should I put in my lonely friend? This will influence what the new war spirit finds pleasing or displeasing.

>>1087910
The intent that is most powerful in him will be most powerful to use.

The new spirit will be LONELY. It will want a FRIEND. You will likely be the first other spirit that it meets. This will give you the opportunity to gain its rapport.

>>1087911
Thinking about it, you may even find this is a powerful intent for you to wield and infuse. You have often felt lonely and in want of a friend who will not be turned away by your kind of beauty. You know this feeling. Use that.

>>1087912
Support we are lonely and we are rejected so a friend for a friend

More important than the new spirit liking Pliny is making it distrust it's mortal "allies". It shall detest be use to spread suffering so some may profit because the last thing we want is for this spirit to willingly offer mana to their mages.

tippler 2024/04/04(Thu)16:45 No. 1087994 ID: 9ea24b
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I want the war spirit to yearn for a friend who is another spirit. I have felt the desire for an ally who would not judge me for my smell or power, and it is easy to put all of these aggregated feelings into the wet bag of bones and skin. Hopefully this will make the spirit eager to please me while also keeping them standoffish towards their mortal companions.

I stay with the corpse until it is the next morning and Erogalf calls.

“Are you there Pliny? How was your night?”

tippler 2024/04/04(Thu)16:45 No. 1087995 ID: 9ea24b
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“I am well! I have influenced the birth hole of the spirit and would like to stay here until they are born so I can show myself to them.” I reply.

“Okay, that’s good. Did you know Telarin is related to the army? Apparently when Smit brought the soldier to her he said something about her going missing and being glad she’s nearby.”

Icher never mentioned anything like this though he did seem to imply there was a lot I did not know. “What did Telarin say in response?” I ask.

“She didn’t want to talk about it and I’m kind of mad at her for keeping secrets. We’ll have to deal with it eventually but we should focus on the mission right now. Anyway, do you think you’ll need any support today? Otherwise you can come back to the wagon when you’re ready.”

Any particular reason you decided to rub your head on a dead man dick? Will this project the idea of intimacy between the new spirit and you?

This is a bad time to handle a potential spy. Erogalf and Smit will need to decide if Telarin pose any sort of short therm risk and handle the situation accordingly. As far as I'm concern as long as no blatant betrayal against us or communication with the enemy happen this prior association shouldn't be a problem.

If the enemy discovers you down in a hole, there's not a lot anyone could do to help. Best if they stay at camp today.

>>1087995
We knew that Telarin had a dark past, and familiarity with the spirit magics they are using.
If she wanted to harness Icher for the army, there's no reason she would have had to leave them to do so. It's more likely she disagreed with either their methods or goals, and left. There is no reason to shun her for this.

>>1088009
Possibly more friends then a friend as they say all is fair in love and war, love is a battlefield, love can bloom in conflict ect. There are ALOT of love war sayings and most warriors and soldiers have wives and girlfriends to return to a hometown

tippler 2024/04/05(Fri)10:19 No. 1088049 ID: 9ea24b
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I do not think wedging myself in the perfect head level crevice between the tunnel and the storage cavity is sexual, though it seems some of the voices disagree. Are reproductive organs inherently sexual, even when I do not consider them so and they are but rotten tissue? I have explored mortal attitudes towards intercourse very little besides what I overheard casually in Pliny, and it holds no inborn value to me.

Rape was described to me by the dead Pliny prisoners from the army camp, but it seems less damaging than most of the other torture methods. If the new spirit has an interest in performing intimacy with me I suppose that is a weakness and will make stabbing it to death easier.

“Pliny? Still there?”

tippler 2024/04/05(Fri)10:20 No. 1088050 ID: 9ea24b
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“Yes I am. Do you think Telarin poses any risk to the mission? I have never heard her communicate with the army while she was in Pliny.”

“There are ways to communicate without verbal language. But yeah, I don’t think she can do anything from here.” Erogalf says.

“Then let us treat her normally for now in the hopes that she will be honest with us later. I do not need any aid and should return by nightfall.”

Erogalf ends the spell and I am left to wait for the spirit to come into being. At what point after its birth should I try to speak with it?

Immediately.
Any amount of time without empathic persons to talk to will damage the spirit's forming mental health. You also want to forge an ironclad bond - the moment you leave, they will feel the loneliness and associate leaving you with badness.

>>1088051
Indeed. And once it exits the spirit hole, it will be in clearer view of the army mages. Your best chance at remaining undetected it meeting it down there.

>>1088049
>If the new spirit has an interest in performing intimacy with me I suppose that is a weakness and will make stabbing it to death easier
Alternatively, it may open up the possibility to make the spirit an ally.
They cannot make a new war spirit while there is already a war spirit, remember. If the war spirit is made to be alive and not be on their side, that is good.

>Rape
It's more about the symbolical disrespect than physical pain. Since sex have no meaning to you and your ego was never hurt by attempts of humiliation from Icher I wouldn't expect such act to even bother you.

In case sexual act toward you actually happen don't think of such behavior as an attack. Normally it's a gesture of intimacy, so the first assumption should be that whoever desire you want some kind of emotional bound. More sinister motivations are less common.

If the new spirit had such desire would it be able to fulfill it? Wanting something that cannot be felt could be horrible.

>>1088051
Especially if it is looking for friends, its important to get to it before the army endears itself to the spirit. Pliny can warn the newborn about those jerks up above who will just take advantage of it.

tippler 2024/04/06(Sat)12:35 No. 1088087 ID: 9ea24b
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I must speak to the spirit as soon as it forms, when it is still in the hole and has not yet climbed up to see the army. The mages may overhear us, but it will give me at least a little time to shape its impressionable mind.

I dig a little further so that the tip of my snout just clears the wall of the hole and I can see inside. I am deep enough that it would be impossible for a mortal to see, and even if they did notice an odd patch of wet dirt, it would not worry them.

I wait. I hear the distant sounds of battle and death. The stamp of horses' hooves causes vibrations through the earth that I can feel even at these depths.

The battle stops and after more time I hear a growing swell of voices near the top of the hole. A few shadows sweep around the edge of the opening as people pass closeby.

The chanting begins. The soldiers ask for good fortune, strength, and a loyal companion. I feel the soil congeal around me, as if it’s trying to squeeze me out. I wrap my end around my lonely friend and hold firm.

tippler 2024/04/06(Sat)12:35 No. 1088088 ID: 9ea24b
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The dirt at the base of the hole bubbles like soup over the fire. It swells into two enormous mortal hands, building from fingertip to wrist, until the appendages connect to a narrow torso. Next is the head and a pair of long spindly legs. There’s a dim glow behind the spirit’s eyes, and I can see they take after Icher with their reddish hue and large square fingernails.

Once it begins looking around and flexing its hands, I speak.

“Hello fellow spirit. I am Pliny and I want to be your friend.”

I stick my head out a little further to make sure they see me. They stand and reach for my face, feeling the contours and slickness of my surface.

“I am Jam. I feel empty.”

"There's all kinds of things to fill you up. Soft grass. Warm earth. Corpses. Soup. And some... unmentionable things that I'm not comfortable discussing for I am only a few months old. But the others say they're very filled, and they get so filled that there's a new them inside them waiting to be filled up.
Your new friends will try to fill you up with blood and malice.
They are not my friends."

"That's loneliness. We are born as solitary creatures, too different from the mortals to be accepted as we are, but we don't need to live like that. We can have each other. Come with me, I will do whatever you think will help fill the the void you feel."

>I feel empty
That's normal, since you're new. This place will only fill you up with bad and hurt. You should come with us and fill up on good things.

Those mortals standing around the hole will try to fill that void with bloodshed and conquest. Do not trust them. These do not fill it for long.

>>1088088
Curl a little around his finger to let him feel touch.

Does he hear any voices in his mind? It would be interesting to know if all spirits hear the voices of their composite affinities.

>>1088095
This seems good. He will need to escape, or the humans will try to use him as a tool. Jam looks like a bird. We should establish a place for him to fly and meet us, and not send him to Erogalf since they would probably trap him in the box right away. Maybe he could wait for us in the woods where we met the kobolds?

tippler 2024/04/07(Sun)07:57 No. 1088161 ID: 9ea24b
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I extend further into Jam’s hole and he wraps his fingers around my head and tugs. I graciously allow this.

“You are lonely, my friend. The mortals above your hole will try to befriend you because they wish to use you for blood and conquest.”

Jam nods. “Agreeable.”

“Ah, but there are much better things to fill you that will not cause hurt and wickedness. Come with me and I will show you.”

tippler 2024/04/07(Sun)07:57 No. 1088162 ID: 9ea24b
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Jam tugs on me more insistently, but I am too slick and he cannot get a strong enough grip to pull me free. His eyes narrow.

“I will climb out of this hole. You come with me.” he says.

It occurs to me that Jam is too large and awkwardly shaped to use my tunnels, and I hear the army mages approaching the edge of the hole with concern in their voices. I think if I go with Jam he will stop the army mages from immediately smiting me, otherwise I should tell Jam to meet me later.

>>1088162
Tell him that the mortals above are not fond of us, because we smited them and their champion before with pestilent vengeance. They are not actually all that smart at war.

We would like him to escape their clutches and join our side instead of becoming their new champion. He can find us at our meeting place in the woods.

Tell him that the people above will pretend to be his friend, but if he ever does anything they don't like they will hurt and imprison him.

>>1088221
Good point. Also inform Jam that his predecessor killed his summoners to avoid be controlled.

tippler 2024/04/08(Mon)12:01 No. 1088258 ID: 9ea24b
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“The mortals that summoned you are not fond of me, and they will hurt you if you do not obey them. They seek control over spirits.” I say.

“Come with me. I am strong and they will respect my will.” Jam insists.

They start digging at the soil around my tunnel to uncover more of my body. I pull back and he pecks my face.

“We can meet later in the woody hills to the east of the army camp. Do not trust them.” I say.

I continue my retreat and Jam begins striking me in a frenzy, even stuffing his head and neck into the hole to jab my false eyes.

I do not hold it against the spirit, he is young and unsocialized. I swallow my lonely friend again and dig to a location where I can surface safely. I can see the crowd of people around the burnt patch of wheat.

I assume it will be several hours until Jam comes to find me. What should I do before then?

Briefly stop at camp to tell them what you know about the new spirit.

Are we genuinely trying to befriend Jam?
Would it be wise to get backup for our meeting? Erogalf will want to capture Jam, but if Jam is followed by our enemies or doesn't value a friendship with Pliny as much as with his mortals this could be a dangerous interaction. A coordinated escape plan could be important.

>>1088307
It's hard to say if we can or not. Like Ichor, Jam has that habit of casually stabbing things around them, and I think that might just be a natural instinct war spirits have. Stubborn and aggressive, too. Hard to tell how much we can get through to that.

There is value to being friendly with a spirit of war, even if it ends up being unable to coexist with our peaceful village and needs to go travel to other conflicts to sustain itself. We could keep those wars from Pliny's doorstep, for one, prevent getting caught in the path of another war machine. Or we could have something to call on for aid if the king and church decide to exterminate Pliny.

On the other hand, it would piss Erogalf off to pussy out of capturing the spirit, and Pliny's growing sense of virtue may make betraying Jam difficult. I think we should discuss this with Smit and Telarin at camp. We have her revelations to discuss, and she seems to know the most about how spirits work and whether Jam could even be socialized. Flint will value completing their spirit capture contract above anything and Erogalf wants to harness the spirit for power, so I doubt we could swing them to a friendship plan.

tippler 2024/04/09(Tue)20:13 No. 1088424 ID: 9ea24b
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My end goal is to stop the war, which necessitates working in opposition to Jam’s nature. I think if I could convince Jam that he should die, I can still be his friend.

I wish to consult with the adventurers about their plan to capture Jam, if they still wish to pursue that goal. I begin the slow journey over the hills and to our camp and arrive to the smell of supper being cooked on the fire. Smit and Flint are manning the pot and Erogalf is slumped in the wagon with one leg sticking out over the wooden edge. The soldier is sitting on the ground with a mug of some green brew while Telarin broods on a stump a ways away.

tippler 2024/04/09(Tue)20:14 No. 1088425 ID: 9ea24b
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“Hello everyone, I have returned. The new spirit looks like a bird and is called Jam.” I announce.

Erogalf kicks his legs to right himself. “Kinda sounds like Jamuk the city, doesn’t it?”

That had not occurred to me. “They are aggressive as seems to be the norm for war spirits. I instilled in them a great loneliness and desire for the companionship of other spirits, then made sure I would be the first being he met.”

Telarin looks up from gloomily contemplating the grass. “Say that again?”

“I believe he is quite attached to me. I agreed to meet him at a later point instead of going to the surface with him and he seemed displeased.”

Telarin slaps a hand over her mouth and motions frantically to the others not to speak. Smit seems confused but Erogalf rummages in the wagon for a pair of quills and some paper.

Some problems with leaving him alone like that, but it's better than him growing obedient to those psychopath-worshipping commanders.

He'll want you. Show him that he can have you - if he proves he deserves you. And it begins with the destruction of those who would wield him against the powerless.

To be honest I'm also as confused as Smit. Did we trigger her obsession? Is Pliny's loneliness noteworthy? Does she think it was a mistake? Does she want to communicate without us hearing?

I'm a bit worried the need for companionship will backfire on us. Less about Jam becoming obsessive with Pliny and more about he getting along well with the army.


Anyway... Telarin, care to soot our concerns? Explain the army thing?

>>1088428

Of course it was a mistake. Pliny's a worm. Jam is a bird. About the worst possible thing you could do is instill in Jam a powerful urge to seek out Pliny to fill the emptiness inside him.

The army mages may be performing an auditory scrying using Jam's draw to Pliny, which is why she wants us to be quiet. Much like Erogalf can project his voice.

Say NOTHING more, and see what Erogalf writes.

tippler 2024/04/10(Wed)19:49 No. 1088486 ID: 9ea24b
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I think Telarin is afraid someone is listening in on our conversation. I wait patiently for her to scratch out a message, which I find I can understand.

Jam will listen in on Pliny. Risky to talk around her.

That’s right, since Jam is a spirit, he can extend his hearing over his domain, which includes all of the places affected by the war.

Smit shakes his head at the message and mouths that he can’t read. The captured soldier is sick enough that he doesn’t notice we’ve fallen suspiciously silent.

Erogalf follows up with his own elegant script. Pliny, go ahead of us and return to the city. Don’t speak about anything sensitive.

I reach for the quill with my lonely friend and Erogalf moves it away. He shakes his head and gags.

I grumble. Very convenient of Telarin to completely shut down the conversation.

Should I go meet Jam on the hill or begin the return journey to Pliny?

Meet with Jam. You cannot break his trust this early in his development. That said, you are going to 'meet' him, not talk at length while the soldiers get into position. Say hi, then discuss how the soldiers would love to kill you, and you would like them to not be here, then bolt.

You can still speak things that wouldn't upset Jam, just need to be careful to not sound like half of a conversation. Writing on the dirt is also a possibility.
Explain that you would like if things work out between you and Jam. Maybe they don't understand how isolated you feel.

Ah Pliny, your hand's all covered in stuff! You can't write like that, you'll smear all over the words. Just draw in the dirt.

Better make sure there's a good escape route at the hill. Jam is pretty grabby.

>>1088486
Tell them that we are excited to have another spirit to be near and speak to that will not see us as disgusting and revolting.

Channel some real emotion in it, make it believable. The audience is listening.

tippler 2024/04/12(Fri)07:49 No. 1088567 ID: 9ea24b
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It is inconvenient for me to write in the dirt right now, since I would have to dig up a section of grass and learn how to write. If Jam is indeed listening, I can say things that he would find pleasing and Erogalf and Telarin will not even be able to argue!

“I am glad I have another spirit to be my friend. I am going to see him now since we have important matters to discuss.”

With that I turn around and head towards Jamuk. I find a good spot near where we intercepted the two soldiers yesterday and dig a deep escape hole in case Jam brings soldiers. I plant myself face up and practice my writing while I wait.

I see Jam coming first. They hop on thin legs and then propel themselves forward on their hands for larger bursts of speed. The slim orc mage is struggling to keep up with the inconsistent pace.

I do not see any other reinforcements. Jam reaches me and flexes his fingers, but has learned he cannot pull me out of my hole and keeps his hands to himself.

“Who were you speaking with? Why did you tell them about me?” he asks.

"They are adventurers I hired."

"They're adventurers. They're part of my business. They get in all the businesses."
Offer an eye. I think he'll feel better if he has a trinket of you at all times.

You didn't know it was a secret. Is there something wrong with telling people Jam is a bird? Or at least partially a bird. Design inspired by birds?

His creation is no secret. That army has been trying to do so for a while now. They don't think they can stand on their own.

Ask him what he needs you to keep secret, so you know what not to tell others.

>>1088567
They are our mortal subordinates. I see he brought a subordinate as well. Who is his orc?

tippler 2024/04/13(Sat)13:07 No. 1088691 ID: 9ea24b
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“I was speaking to a party of adventurers, who I have hired to be my subordinates.” I explain. “It is convenient to work with mortals sometimes since they can use magic and there are more of them. Can you tell me about your orc?”

Jam jerks his head toward the mage, who is standing a safe distance away from me. “I was told you and your minions killed my predecessor. He is a precaution.”

“Oh. Yes I did do that but I wish for our relationship to be amicable. Here.”

I dislodge my false gold eyes and toss them to Jam, who snatches up the bits of metal immediately.

tippler 2024/04/13(Sat)13:08 No. 1088692 ID: 9ea24b
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“I have worn those coins for my entire life until now. They are a token of our friendship.” I say.

“You will not come with me.” Jam states.

“I cannot survive away from my source of power, which is my city and my people. I am planning to return there soon.”

Jam rubs my coins between their left thumb and middle finger. “I will conquer you, Pliny.”

The orc speaks for the first time. “Jam, if you cooperate with us in seizing control of the kingdom, you will be able to stay with Pliny however is most convenient for you both.”

>>1088692
"...Hey, kid? Why do you need to conquer?"

Jam doesn't need to participate in this conflict, just need to be near enough to sustain himself. If he join their faction he will share their conflicts and consequently every people he meet and every spiritual manifestation of their will will have a raison d'etre opposed to him.
Like you he is death and disease for the mortals, so in this army no mortal can interact with him like they interact with each other without deteriorating their heath.
He should consider at least a neutral stance in this war, maybe gathering adventurers that follow the army as his own faction like you did.

Explain your reasons to oppose Icher. As the spirit of a ruined city it was unacceptable for the moral and revitalization efforts to be subjected to the forces that trample it.

Talk about Icher. How you miss her in some ways, as a fellow spirit who sympathized with your emotional turmoil due to dealing with mortals. But also how in other ways Icher didn't seem to understand you well, attempting to dominate you with violence and threats as if you were a mortal capable of feeling pain.

They offer Jam the ability to associate with you as though he couldn't just do that now. You see, they would take his freedom and then offer it back as you would a treat to a faithful pet. Don't let mortals control you Jam, they take more than they give.

>>1088695
As a spirit of war, he seems to want the conflict and opposition. Trying to dissuade him away from it would be fruitless.

>>1088703
This seems like a better argument. Bring up how mortal religious figures and kings mark spirits as pariahs. This army hasn't shown themselves to be much better. We've seen them discard the powerful that they no longer need, like the shaman that created Icher. If they were on the side of spirits, why would they slay those with the knowledge of spirits?

>>1088692
>I will conquer you, Pliny
So long as we are in our territory we will heal after combat, so we could engage him in contests of strength if he would enjoy that. We only ask that these contests remain one on one, and our citizens be spared any violence.

>he seems to want the conflict and opposition.
In this path he will be lonely forever, surrounding only by those who want to use him and fear him.

>>1088722
And if he rejects it entirely he will wither and die. Pliny can't help being stinky, Jam can't help being violent. It's what they are, any kind of negotiations or plans for a future need to understand that they are not human and trying to live like humans will kill them.

>>1088725
He can be violent without being part of an army that raises cities, massacre, plunder and rape.
Remember that when we met our mages they were acting like vultures following the path of destruction? Something similar is an option and it would almost certainly involve violence.

tippler 2024/04/14(Sun)14:57 No. 1088769 ID: 9ea24b
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Jam and I both lapse into silence as we conduct cost benefit analysis of different scenarios in our minds. The orc looks like he wants to sit down, then decides against it, probably in the interest of mobility in case I decide to attack.

I must carefully balance Jam’s desire for me versus his nature of violence and conflict. I know the army needs Jam to win the war, which makes it against Jam’s interests not to participate. He already knows the army wishes to use him, though I doubt they could control him if he decided to desert.

I reminisce about Icher. We would have had a working agreement if I had complied with their demand to fund the army. Perhaps I need to compromise now to find a peaceful resolution.

The army did suffer heavier losses from the siege of Jamuk. I could convince them to be satisfied with the territory they’ve claimed and stop here for now. Jam would be able to visit me in Pliny immediately and most of Geoun would remain intact.

Should I recommend this? Otherwise the army will conquer Geoun and I would have to deal with Jam later.

The army should quit while they're ahead. How many spirits like Pliny has their slaughter left in their wake?

War needs peace, or it will burn itself out. For Jam, a war that goes on too long will feel emptier than ever.

There's turmoil in times of 'peace' - or rather, armistice. He just needs to learn how to harness that. For instance, you absorb Rot from the slow deaths of the mortals in your village. Jam could easily siphon Conflict from dramatic tournaments with high stakes.

>>1088769
We have an opportunity to ask the orc mage about the army's intentions here, their ideals and the reason for their conquest. And we can double check them with Telarin later. We know that Geoun looks poorly upon spirits, and should the threat of the army end the church and state may turn their attention to Pliny instead. The town and the spirit. What we don't know is whether the army's leadership would bring a preferable political state.

The adventurers want Jam for their magic box and if things fall out with him that could still be our play, but what we really want is for Pliny and its citizens to remain safe.

On the other hand, if we have the army spare Pliny but not the surrounding lands the collaboration will be obvious, marking us as an enemy to Geoun even if we try to claim neutrality.

By the standards of virtue and righteousness, the army's actions are reprehensible. I have no faith in them as long term allies. But that's all thinking like a mortal, not about what's best for you. We should consider if their war's geopolitical consequences might be better for you in the long run, Pliny. A disastrous enough war could end in a state of anarchy that would be fertile soil for a new paradigm, and more spirits being seeded that could be used for the adventurers' goals.

>>1088769
"I apparently am a woman but you already have my heart"
What of when they are finished with the war the territories claimed the towns razed like all thing war ends and all soldier boys will return to a girl worth fighting for And war spirits put into boxes to become a magic battery

tippler 2024/04/15(Mon)13:30 No. 1088856 ID: 9ea24b
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“I have a proposal.” I say, addressing both Jam and the orc. “Your army has been warring for some time and is no doubt exhausted. Why not mark your new Vishelt boundary here and begin the task of governing your lands while defending your claim from the kingdom? Pliny will be yours and I will promise not to harm your soldiers. There should be enough conflict to sustain Jam and I will tell my adventurers to cooperate.”

“Agreeable.” says Jam, almost immediately.

“It would be nice to have a real home again.” the orc sighs. “The commander won’t be happy with stopping here and leaving the region ununified but he’ll be pleased to get a chance to talk to Telarin and sort out whatever they’re fighting about.”

tippler 2024/04/15(Mon)13:30 No. 1088857 ID: 9ea24b
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He casts a communication spell and begins explaining my plan to I assume the other mages. I wait patiently. It is completely dark before they reach an agreement and the orc turns back to me.

“I need you to take Jam and I to your adventurers.”

“They’re not far. Dwarf on watch.” Jam hisses.

“Telarin always blocks our attempts at contact, so we need to meet in person. Peacefully.” the orc continues.

I have committed to this plan, so I carefully extricate myself from my hole and begin the slow crawl to the wagon. What should I ask the orc and Jam during the short trip?

Ask Jam how the army's treating him. Is he getting enough to eat? Making friends?