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File 176983377610.png - (5.52MB , 2800x3700 , Aldequest 2 Chapter Cover.png )
1120590 No. 1120590 ID: 3fa828

An RPG Quest with dice rolls and mechanics inspired by Pathfinder 1e.

Written by Capitulize

Art by Capitulize & Akwa’tim

This quest has themes of violence, depression, eldritch confoundery, suicide (serious warning on this), fuzzy animal people, harsh language, and risqué topics.

Chapter 1: https://questden.org/kusaba/questarch/res/1083617.html

Reference Guide: https://tinyurl.com/ytw6ex8f

Stats Sheet: https://tinyurl.com/yn567x36

Wiki: https://questden.org/wiki/Aldequest
115 posts omitted. Last 50 shown. Expand all images
>>
No. 1128372 ID: 84ed3a

>>1128371
I'm sorry, I forgot to draw the other rope. There should be two.
>>
No. 1128375 ID: bcfbc8

>>1128368
When you get to the door be mindful of the sides of it. Jacob seemed like the type of slippery bastard to hide at the sides of it to try to ambush you. And that's if he hasn't gotten out of the room by now. He's almost certainly still alive cause the lizard lady put him to sleep. Wouldn't need to do that if you planned on killing him.

>I wonder what a world where death was permanent would be like?
Oh! oh! we can answer that!

It fucking sucks. You live with a person you love for some years only for them to die, And your left wondering "are they permanently gone or did they go to some form of afterlife?" and the question has no genuine answer since nobody has for SURE come back from the dead.

Sure we have stories, claims and prophecies of some deified people coming back. But nothing concrete. Our world is a world of uncertainty when it comes to death. Lots of people fear it and some accept it. So it goes.

Some people don't even believe in the concept of a soul, Believing us to be just processes running in the brain. When that goes so does us.
>>
No. 1128380 ID: 90684d

Hmm... Why is that bone there?
Most predators wouldn't drag it around for fun. Maybe a dog would, but spiders would just leave the bone pile alone.
Would the guys have a reason to play with bones after spending weeks there not doing that? Probably not.
There may be spooky scary skeletons roaming.

So... Do undead have magical darkvision by default?

How about going straight to the prison to minimize the chances of coming across enemies? Stay away from the ritual chamber with that pile of bones where Bakoth did something with Roderick's body.
Hopefully your skeleton friend from the prison won't have decided to go for a walk.
>>
No. 1128382 ID: bcfbc8

>>1128380
If it's a necromatically revived skeleton then there's one of two ways I can see it working.
Either it is easily scattered but magically reassembles itself. Or it is magically hardened and can take a good couple of hits. Either way bashing and smashing is the way to go. Doubt the magic can reanimate dust.
>>
No. 1128383 ID: bcfbc8

>>1128382
Actually if it is a undead then the doors would be open cause it's patrolling a route. Who knows why. Maybe the box being removed triggered it? Don't like the implications of that.
>>
No. 1128391 ID: 259daa

>>1128368
Start with listening.
Any movement however slight
Then check each of the open doors but dont open them further.
Lean something against it on our side of the door. The kind of thing that'll make a clatter

Then weve got an alarm of sorts on each door we can secure temporarily
and
we can feel a little safer as we inspect the door we cant.
The big broken open one.
>>
No. 1128393 ID: 70f58a

>>1128380
What bone? I don't see one. All I see are the things on the table which iirc we inspected already, the various rubble around...
And something on the floor next to Tanna. Is that a switch?
>>
No. 1128403 ID: bcfbc8

>>1128393
Right next to Tanna. On her left by the door.
>>
No. 1128498 ID: bcfbc8

>>1128383
Wait I'm a dumbass. The chick had a skullmask. She's a necromancer. you ARE dealing with undead.

...Might still be worth scouting ahead. If she decided to do the deed to Jax and Jacob... And reanimated them...
>>
No. 1128646 ID: 6ec4e5

Fox here. That bone might have a spell I heard of in the PF1 Encyclopedia (well, a third party add-on to it, so who knows if it actually exists) called Bone Trap, that could discharge negative energy in a ten foot or three meter radius from the bone itself.
>>
No. 1128670 ID: ac2578

First things first. Uses your non-visual. Listen and take a few sniffs. Hear or smell anything out of place?
>>
No. 1128923 ID: 69f385
File 178312613807.png - (666.85KB , 1000x1000 , Page 1 Set 5.png )
1128923

>I would still prefer it if you simply told us your questions so we can ask them for you. Keep in mind that he has shaken you by barely hinting at the thing you should not know.

Really, shaken? Eh… I guess, but I need to get better at being able to handle that sort of thing, wouldn’t you think? It feels cowardly, I don’t know… having you ask my questions?

I suppose he is some terrifying monster that made a group of close friends nearly turn on each other with his words alone…

>Honestly, if you're dead set on talking to him when we talk to him, then... how about a compromise? Promise to be respectful. Do not provoke him, because the danger is real. If you can't do that, then I might just have to stop talking to him except in emergencies.

...I can try. No, I mean, I will. You’ve got me even questioning now whether I should in the first place now, but… gods, he’s such a piece of trash. It’ll be hard, but I’ll try holding my tongue.

>That works for now.

Okay, great, good to hear. I don’t mean to make this a big ‘ol deal or whatever, it’s just… I gotta be able to do some things myself. I can’t rely on you all for everything.

>Hmm... Why is that bone there?

Oh? A bone? What bone?

>Right next to Tanna. On her left by the door.

Turning to my left… huh, yeah, you’re right. There is a bone there. I’m fairly certain… no, I’m definitively positive that that was not here last night.

>Fox here. That bone might have a spell I heard of in the PF1 Encyclopedia (well, a third party add-on to it, so who knows if it actually exists) called Bone Trap

Wha- okay… damn, can’t even trust the bones anymore.

>could discharge negative energy in a ten foot or three meter radius from the bone itself.

Well, hmm… I don’t really know how to deal with this foul bone exactly. I’d cast Detect Magic and check, but I’d rather be quiet right now. Same with throwing something at it… wretched foul bone…

Bah, I fear no osseous material. Moving over to examine it, low to the ground still and sword in teeth, (I really gotta get a bite guard for this thing), I pull the handle of my scimitar away from my jaws and sort of just… VERY carefully, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice, poke it.

...It wobbles a little bit before coming to a stop. Getting a little closer with another poke, the stupid thing still doesn’t react. Pretty sure it’s just a normal ol’ bone. The fuck is it doing here though? And what is it exactly, some kinda femur? I pick it up at this point and give it a sniff, but even that’s frustratingly normal. Just a boney ass bone.

Well, I’m glad it didn’t hurt me at least. I guess you can trust the bones.

>And something on the floor next to Tanna. Is that a switch?

Oh that? Yeah, it’s some kind of lever in the center. I’m not sure if it’s off or on, but I remember talk about an elevator? There’s some sort of carved perimeter with a smooth metal surrounding the eye that’s separate from the floor, maybe the elevator’s railing? I wonder how old this place actually is, and what kind of elevator it is, there must be some serious machinery if it once lifted this whole stone platform.
>>
No. 1128924 ID: 69f385
File 178312614261.png - (25.16KB , 800x800 , Page 2 Set 5.png )
1128924

>Start with listening. Any movement however slight
>First things first. Uses your non-visual. Listen and take a few sniffs. Hear or smell anything out of place?

Sure, I was a little distracted before with how cool I looked, but lemme see if I can smell or hear anything else now.

>TANNA’S PERCEPTION CHECK: 9(5[Roll] + 3[Mentality] + 1[Suggested Focus])

I still don’t hear anything suspicious, it’s really quiet down here. No odd smells either besides that musty crypt stench. Eesh… this has gotten really creepy. Who put this bone here? Why?

>Most predators wouldn't drag it around for fun. Maybe a dog would, but spiders would just leave the bone pile alone. Would the guys have a reason to play with bones after spending weeks there not doing that? Probably not. There may be spooky scary skeletons roaming.
>Hopefully your skeleton friend from the prison won't have decided to go for a walk.

Skeletons? Of which are spooky and potentially even scary? Maybe the one I stole the harmonica from’s come back for revenge? Hah, it’s my harmonica now bitch, you shan’t be getting it back. No, really though, why would skeletons suddenly be walking about now? That doesn’t make any sense. Roderick’s crew had been here for around a week…

Maybe Mina or Evel’yee placed it here… one sec. Focusing on my Phantom Noise, I have it play the message, “Hey, there’s a bone down here by this door I’m at. Did either of you place it? Nod your heads yes, shake for no.”

I look up at them while that plays, after a few seconds, they shake their heads at me.

Damn, I reaaaally don’t like that answer.

>Looks like obfuscation to me. For some reason, one of these doors needs to be ajar, but leaving only that one door ajar would arise suspicion so all the doors were opened. Like, for instance, someone could be listening or watching behind one of the open doors.

The doors too, I ask them through the same means if they left them all up. Same answer, they didn’t.

>You weren't ambushed, but maybe that's just because you were quiet enough. Honestly, this looks incredibly sus.

I wasn’t trying to be particularly quiet climbing down it, but going down a rope isn’t that hard to begin with. I’d be huffing and puffing going back up. But yes, this is all very ‘sus’. Suspicious I’m guessing?

>Lean something against it on our side of the door. The kind of thing that'll make a clatter
>Then weve got an alarm of sorts on each door we can secure temporarily
>Stay away from the ritual chamber with that pile of bones where Bakoth did something with Roderick's body.

Good idea, I just need something that… well, I guess this bone’ll work. Act as my alarm and ward me from evil sir femur. And… there we go. If this thing falls over, it’ll make a decent clatter. I remember that big pile of bones from that room we fought Roderick in, good point. I’ll stay away for now.

>Check the three doors near the rope. Try not to get too close to them when peeking in, because if someone's behind one of the doors then you don't want to be within attack range. Hmm, is it even possible to safely peek into the door nearest the corner?

Yeah, it should be. It’s definitely the most open out of the three of them. Turning away from my makeshift door bell, I start to make my way towards the door closest to the corner. I should be able to peek in fairly easily.

>So... Do undead have magical darkvision by default?

>TANNA’S UNDEAD KNOWLEDGE: 5(3[Mentality] + 2[Effective Profession])

Uhm… I think most undead are able to see in the dark? They generally don’t actually have functioning eyes, so as a part of their creation, they need to be made with ‘fake’ sight. Something sort of like Detect Magic, where things are outlined by their Weave. It’s why mindless undead won’t bother attacking other undead or dead things.

Also, that’s more esoteric knowledge I just know for some reason. No idea why. Yup. If it means anything, the idea of undead is agitating me. Same kind of dislike I have towards Cassilda and them, though not as strong. Hopefully that means I wasn’t some sort of necromancer pre-amensia.

>I wonder what a world where death was permanent would be like?
>Oh! oh! we can answer that!

Ah?

>It fucking sucks.

Ah.

>You live with a person you love for some years only for them to die, And your left wondering "are they permanently gone or did they go to some form of afterlife?" and the question has no genuine answer since nobody has for SURE come back from the dead.

Wait, so… so you don’t know what happens to them? No guarantee of whether they’ll become someone else or if their Soul is just… gone? Why hasn’t anybody been revived? And aren’t there wizards in your world that could… do something to check or… I don’t know? Surely something?

>Sure we have stories, claims and prophecies of some deified people coming back. But nothing concrete. Our world is a world of uncertainty when it comes to death. Lots of people fear it and some accept it. So it goes.
>Some people don't even believe in the concept of a soul, Believing us to be just processes running in the brain. When that goes so does us.

How incredibly strange. If you didn’t have a Soul, how would you even be alive? Talking to me? I guess… I mean, our worlds could be different, but isn’t that something that should be, I dunno, like, fundamental? Je’zik, that’s got me all cu-

>??? CHECK: 6(4[Proximity] + 2[Slightly Muffled])

Wait, hold on. I’m… hearing something. I’m moving to check beyond the portal, but as I get closer, there’s this sort of… soft tapping coming from inside. I look back at Evel’yee and Mina, and let them know I’m hearing a noise.

I listen for a few more seconds, hesitant to move forward. It continues softly and without pause. W-What is it? It’s not trying to be quiet at all… well, I’ll never find out if I don’t take a look. As I approach the door, I peek my head around the corner. This room is really dark, light not really able to reach in here that well. Fortunately, that ain’t a problem for me anymore. There’s a staircase leading up, same as last night, but at the top…
>>
No. 1128928 ID: 36beab
File 178312878869.gif - (241.54KB , 750x1000 , Page 3 Set 5.gif )
1128928

Oh. Oh fuck. That’s a skeleton.
>>
No. 1128929 ID: 36beab
File 178312879685.png - (1.98MB , 2450x2600 , Page 4 Set 5.png )
1128929

>_
>>
No. 1128930 ID: 6ec4e5

Stealthily, stealthily, don't get its attention, that's something to kill with the full party, withdraw, you are doing recon right now, check the other doors....
>>
No. 1128932 ID: 70f58a

>>1128929
Alright, that explains everything. Back away from the door hoping it didn't see you. Communicate to your friends that there's animated skeletons down here, but no outright ambush, so they should come down before you're spotted.

Wait next to this one door, if the skeleton comes out then do a sneak attack.
>>
No. 1128934 ID: 101e93

Grease trap this area, its bones don't have the friction and surface area needed to step carefully around here. It'll trip, and you can finish it off with a neck-snap.
>>
No. 1128935 ID: 6ec4e5

>>1128934

Fox here: Except no, it might not trip, it might just walk out of the grease, and it might act perfectly fine with its neck snapped because UNDEAD DO NOT NECESSARILY CARE ABOUT CRITICAL ANATOMY DAMAGE IT ISN'T BREATHING ANYWAY.
>>
No. 1128938 ID: 90684d

This one is trying to reach the trapdoor. Why is that? Is its goal to reach the outside, or is the outside just a path it's seeking to reach something else, like your group? Assuming there are more, I wonder if all of them will be attempting different ways of exiting the temple. Maybe they would abandon those attempts to go after you when they realize their true objective is in the temple with them.
This could be potentially useful: If they want to leave, the ropes will become very popular when the skeletons realize that path is open.

Since you are an undead expert, a few questions on the subject.
First: How tough are animated skeletons? Can we expect Skyrim's "sneeze and they fall apart" or Dark Souls' "fuck you" skeletons?
Related to the previous question: Can their joints be detached and reattached by themselves, or does their magic connection fall apart when the bones separate?
Lastly: Do the bones physically touch things, or is there a levitation effect imitating what would be their flesh for interactions?

I agree with the other suggestion about maintaining stealth and retreating, but I'm not sure it's time to call for backup yet.
It's unfortunate that you won't have a visual advantage from seeing in the dark, but you still have options to hide and move with Umbral Step.

Now that we know what we are dealing with, Evel'yee's position could allow for some cheap shots if the skeletons are attracted to the main room. If arrows are too weak against skeletons, Evel'yee and Mina can throw stones instead. That should be effective from this height. Just remind them to not hit you.
We might as well ask them to hit wandering skeletons while you explore. It would make noise, but if you are not in the room when it happens, it might work to your advantage by attracting the attention of the skeletons far away from you.

While you are communicating with the girls, maybe make a plan for what they should do if you lose your concentration and the Phantom Noise spell breaks. I'm not sure what though. You could ask Mina to activate Sanctuary when the noise stops, but it might be a waste since it's only three turns. It might be necessary though. Up to you.

And once again I suggest that you prioritize checking the place you intend to go. There might be important things to find out in the side rooms, but it would be a pity to have to end your scouting with no information about what to expect at your planned destination.
>>
No. 1128939 ID: 6ec4e5

>>1128938

Fox here: She doesn't have context for Skyrim or Dark Souls! Anyway, the encyclopedias which ACTUALLY map closer to her reality rather than ones that DON'T basically say, 'it varies'; there are a LOT of things a competent necromancer can do to make their basic skeletons significantly more capable than they otherwise would be, and the difference is the capability and options the different sorts of necromancers bring to the table and the amount of resources they are willing to spend on one lowly skeleton.
>>
No. 1128940 ID: bcfbc8

Oh man. Is that Vax? I hope that's not Vax.
Also this is KINDA the exact sort of stuff we were just talking about. I can already imagine Mina going "Why the fuck is my best friend a Skeleton Tanna? You said this JUST happened!"
Like we can still explain it by saying we didn't know WHEN that vision occurred but... Bleh. I'd rather you just be honest from the get go with this stuff. Not like they would blame you for not wanting to ruin the mood after last night.

Anyway we are down here because we are scouting not engaging. Last thing we want is to engage with this thing only for 5 more of the things to come crawling out during combat. Retreat and further sus things out. Maybe check out the door where the bone was in-front of.
>>
No. 1128955 ID: 467a91

Poor guy can't get the hatch open!

Skeleton is a threat, but more of a threat is who animated it. Neither of Mina's companions was a necromancer. Probably that skull mask lizard lady.

It's a beastkin, hips look male from that angle, with a decent snout, some fat digitigrade talons, and a really long tail. Definitely looks lizardy, but it can't be Vax. Vax is still paralyzed, so he'd be a paralyzed skeleton, right?
>>
No. 1128959 ID: ff980e
File 178320589358.png - (168.83KB , 700x1000 , Page 5 Set 5.png )
1128959

>Back away from the door hoping it didn't see you

A-Ah? Oh, sorry… still kind of getting over the… shock. Of seeing this thing. It’s still just jumping up and down, trying to reach the hatch. I don’t think it's seen me.

>Oh man. Is that Vax? I hope that's not Vax.

I-I don’t think so. Whoever this was is pretty large, but Vax was… huge. I could be wrong though.

>Since you are an undead expert, a few questions on the subject.

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m exactly an expert...

>First: How tough are animated skeletons? Can we expect Skyrim's "sneeze and they fall apart" or Dark Souls' "fuck you" skeletons?

Skyrim? Dark Souls?

>She doesn't have context for Skyrim or Dark Souls!

Yeah, I don’t know what those are. Are they other worlds or something? Do you all do this often? Hah, maybe I’m not unique after all…

Anyways, skeletons… they’re made of bone. Bone’s very hard, hard to cut and pierce. I wouldn’t say that they’re… well, there’s a reason why they’re the most common form of undead besides basic zombies. Residual Souls unwilling to move on towards the Journey, or latent ones owned by the Theotian… the Theotian… gah, I can’t remember… but they can form malevolent beings called undead. They’re about as dangerous as another person would be, except they have no regard for self-preservation.

While they can find bones intact and close enough together to form like this, natural cases are super freak occurrences. They’re usually called upon as part of some ritual. The Soul will form magical ‘tendons’ that will keep the bones together, but if they’re broken apart with enough force, they usually won’t be able to reattach them easily.

>'it varies'; there are a LOT of things a competent necromancer can do to make their basic skeletons significantly more capable than they otherwise would be, and the difference is the capability and options the different sorts of necromancers bring to the table and the amount of resources they are willing to spend on one lowly skeleton.

Yes, I… don’t know the full capabilities of this skeleton, other than it looks to be fully formed, large, and… holding onto some kind of memory. Undead that aren’t given a clear purpose and are left to idle often act very single mindedly to an aspect of the will of the person they once were. Of course, all that goes out the window once they find something to act out their aggression on.

While the Weave projected by a Soul often simulates the regular anatomy of the creature they were meant to resemble, skilled necromancers can often shape it in different ways. This can mask their weaknesses or give them new functionalities entirely. Generally though…

>UNDEAD DO NOT NECESSARILY CARE ABOUT CRITICAL ANATOMY DAMAGE

They sort of do. They definitely don’t feel pain, and will fight to their absolute breaking point. But the spine of most undead is their core functionality. If you disrupt the physical structure, the rest of the simulated anatomy will fall apart quickly. Likewise, if you destroy their head, they won’t be able to see or hear, though they can still survive that.

>Lastly: Do the bones physically touch things, or is there a levitation effect imitating what would be their flesh for interactions?

They touch things, but they don’t have a sense of feeling like you’d expect. Mindless undead either singularly follow orders, or kill wantonly. They can even recognize weapons that will help them with that latter goal.
>>
No. 1128960 ID: bcfbc8

>>1128959
Huh. I suppose "know thine enemy" wasn't just a saying with you.
Looking closer this skeleton doesn't look like it's missing a bone either so that means there's atleast two of them.
>>
No. 1128961 ID: 90684d

I wonder if it would help or hinder to tell the girls this skeleton is not large enough to be Vax...
Probably will freak out Mina even more with the idea that they might be reanimated. Better to not even mention and hope the thought didn't occur to her.
>>
No. 1128963 ID: 70f58a

Have we tried using that lever yet? Probably shouldn't while there's skeletons around though.

>>1128959
Hmm, we saw many skeletons in the ritual room. We might have an infestation on our hands. Most likely the snake lady summoned them all while the captives were disabled, and then... well, it makes the most sense for her to play a sort of game with them to force us to come down and deal with it. The captives have been chased around by the skeletons and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them is up that trap door the skeleton is jumping at.

Anyway, my general plan hasn't changed. Message your party and tell them there's skeletons down here of an unknown quantity and you're not gonna be able to handle them alone. Since they're mostly-mindless constructs your party members should be able to descend safely.
You could try scouting out the other doors I suppose, to see if you can get an idea of how many there are and what they're currently doing?
>>
No. 1128966 ID: ac2578

Sneak up on it, use the sickle to hook it's spine and YOINK IT OUT.
>>
No. 1128968 ID: 90684d

>>1128961
Actually... I think when you get near the rope you should be within range for telepathic messages.
Pass along as your spell talk at an opportune time and don't call attention to it.

To Evel’yee:
Try act natural so Mina doesn't notice.
The skeleton is an iruxi but it's not tall enough to be Vax. Probably too clean too.
I don't want the idea that it might be what was done to them in Mina's head but if she realizes the possibility by herself you can at least reassure her that this one was someone else.
>>
No. 1128975 ID: 101e93

Just... be careful. Some necromancers found a way to turn bonemeal into animated skeletons.

Fun fact: Bones aren't just for stability or armor. Living bones produce blood. If you crack one open you might see a bunch of holes; that's not a disease, it's because the inside of your bones is spongy to produce the blood. After rigor mortis, the inside slowly dries out until it becomes almost as stiff as the rest of the bone, but a freshly harvested bone can be cracked open to collect the stuff.
And you can make a tasty butter from the part of the bone that produces blood if you harvest it before it dries out, but I'm sure you already know that... mmm.

So: testing. Once the party's done bashing this thing to pieces, saw open a large piece and see what's inside. If the bones are still 'fresh', we might have something to work with...
>>
No. 1128995 ID: bcfbc8

Ok wait. I HAVE to ask since we've made this assumption before. Can you see the red glowy light in the Skeletons eye sockets Tanna?
>>
No. 1128997 ID: 8e6742

>>1128995
I can, that's the skeleton's 'sight'. It's also their hearing technically. The Soul inhabiting this thing has to project that outwards to have those senses.
>>
No. 1128999 ID: 6ec4e5

>>1128968

Are you sure that's an Iruxi? Could be a kobold. How many bipedal lizardlike species are there of that rough shape or size?
>>
No. 1129000 ID: 90684d

>>1128999
That thing is taller than Tanna.
>>
No. 1129002 ID: 6ec4e5

>>1129000

So? And how many bipedal lizardlike species of roughly that bone structure ARE there, especially when considering possible individual outliers in size?
>>
No. 1129031 ID: d9edf9

>>1128959
That feller is spooky and scary.
Hey.
I recognise him
Is he the guy who loaned you the harmonica?
Slinky.
He wants it back.

Ok, ok.
Putting my whimsy away.
Its possible theyre one of the original denizens remains.
Definitely a heavy set creature in life by the wide feet, long balancing tail and spread of the foot talons when it jumps.
Its caught in a loop of trying something that isnt working.
Suggests a command given and it having minimal autonomy.

All the same, we have info for the team
Get to the foot of the rope and we'll carry a message to come down quietly as theres one hostile skelamajig.
>>
No. 1129060 ID: 35d66b

>>1128924
An unnecessary but interesting foray into the lore of our world: History has led us to broadly reject the idea of magic, but that has not stopped magical thinking. While we had once thought the world was magical, we were able to create detailed theories describing nearly every single mechanism and predict how systems would develop further and further forward. Anything that can be theorized about and predicted, we call science. We call everything else magic. The ways of science have become so advanced, in fact, that it is widely believed that everything can be explained by it in one way or another, though we may not know it yet.

Thus, the existence of magic is more of a philosophical question than a physical one. This leads to a big complication when it comes to the idea of a "soul", though. The word "consciousness" has come to replace the word "soul" in scientific discussions, but it hasn't replaced the idea. Fundamentally, the issue is that consciousness is pretty much impossible for us to define. We can describe aspects of our own conscious experience, but we can't actually observe consciousness in other people. A crucial step in the scientific method (The set of rules we follow to 'make' science) is observation, and since we can't make observations, we can't really apply science to consciousness. (There is debate about this, but the fact that there is debate at all is an indication of the issue)

The belief in an afterlife comes from a time before modern science, but it nonetheless stays relevant because of the questions science can't currently answer.

Also, it should be noted that the information you receive about our world comes from a tiny self-selected slice of the population, so you aren't getting the full picture. It seems like your world functions somewhat similarly to what the buddhists/hinduists of our world believe: Souls are infinitely reincarnated into different bodies in a cycle called "Saṃsāra." You, however, seem to lead towards the buddhist belief that Saṃsāra is painful, and that you seek "nirvāṇa," which is the escape from such a cycle. Beyond this surface level comparison the analogy falls apart. (I don't think extinguishing your desires would really help you achieve nirvāṇa in your world) But it's an interesting similarity nonetheless.
>>
No. 1129114 ID: 6ec4e5

>>1129060

Fox here. This one isn't urgent. So... Souls. In some parts of existence, as far as the locals are concerned, there is no empirically observable gods, no empirically observable souls, no empirically observable magic, no empirically observable afterlife, no observable aspects of reality with an inherent moral agenda at all. In those places, sometimes the word 'soul' even gets used to describe the body parts made of matter! In that part of things, there is a deterministic, matter-based reality, based on reductionist principles with bottom-up causation processes causing emergent phenomena. And this can actually make, over sufficiently large timescales, based on the concrete, unchangeable mathematical laws of physics, the following things: life, life with a basic level of awareness, and life with full intelligence and self awareness and the capacity to grow.
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No. 1129163 ID: 7aa286

>>1129060
I feel like a gave a pretty generalist overview of things. Death is an unknown and people have various ideas about it.
I also share the whole "mind and soul are the same thing" perspective.
It's mostly why I was so horrified by Mina's explanation of your afterlife. A ton of uncomfortable implications with the ways the gods are mucking about with people there.
>>
No. 1129164 ID: 101e93

>>1129060
Unlike Magic, Science is not a search for quintessential truth. Science is about determining what is impossible and calculating the improbability of what is improbable.

Truth to one person may mean something entirely different to another, thereby preventing the transmission of understanding from one school of magical thought to another. But with science? We find what is impossible for everyone, and then it is up to them to decide what they wish to do with the remainder; what may be possible for anyone.

The results speak for themselves. With a sandbox of unexplored possibility combined with a set of fundamental constraints restricting us from the contradictory, tools designed from such scientific inquiry are engineered to be usable by anyone.

But these days, we find ourselves adrift in ignorance. Starved of magic, we fall into delusions and tribes. And the worlds are getting... stupider. When one cannot scientifically disprove that a tool of science is bereft of any magic whatsoever... well. It's not looking good.
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No. 1131480 ID: 690ff7
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1131480

>Definitely looks lizardy, but it can't be Vax. Vax is still paralyzed, so he'd be a paralyzed skeleton, right?

Well… maybe? I don’t know how that’d work, if being made into a skeleton would get rid of the paralyzation I put on him. I would assume so, since like… you’d presumably die if being made into a skeleton, but maybe that doesn’t even get rid of it?

>Huh. I suppose "know thine enemy" wasn't just a saying with you.

Skeletons, zombies, ghouls, ghosts, vampires, shadows, mohrgs, wraiths. It’s like a memory of a memory, coming to me in a way now that I’m thinking a bit more deeply about them. How they’re made and what they’re like; weaknesses and the composition of their vaelthread, the technical term for a creature’s make up within the Weave. It’s sort of making me a little…

Ehrg… a little sick. It’s too much to think about at the moment, I’m gonna close this off for now before I lose myself in it.

>Looking closer this skeleton doesn't look like it's missing a bone either so that means there's atleast two of them.

Ah! Good point, that’s definitely possible, assuming that the bone from earlier is another skelly’s. Not really looking forward to the idea of more skeletons.

>Poor guy can't get the hatch open!
>This one is trying to reach the trapdoor.

He really can’t. It’s another exit for this place supposedly. Though Mina and Evel’yee seemed to be sure that it’s locked and barred from the surface for whatever reason. It’s a bit worrying that it knows that this is an exit though.

>Why is that? Is its goal to reach the outside, or is the outside just a path it's seeking to reach something else, like your group? Assuming there are more, I wonder if all of them will be attempting different ways of exiting the temple. Maybe they would abandon those attempts to go after you when they realize their true objective is in the temple with them.

Well… besides the elevator and this hatch, the only other exit I can think of would be that room with that raging torrent. Sounds like a good way to get all smashed up though. Could only be so convenient if these other possible skellies went that way and died. Again.

>That feller is spooky and scary. Hey. I recognise him

Aye? Who is he?

>Is he the guy who loaned you the harmonica? Slinky. He wants it back.

WHAT?! NO! It is MY harmonica now. MINE! ALL MINE!! I shall bury my fangs in the spines of him and kin alike and shatter ALL in TWAIN should they covet my most sacred treasure!!!

Actually though, I wonder how that skelly is. That one was trapped in a cell, I wonder if it’s animated? All those bones in that room we fought Roderick in last night too, what was that even about? Some kind of ritual? Bakoth was leading them on for something… I should’ve asked Evel’yee what they’d been doing.

>Ok, ok. Putting my whimsy away. Its possible theyre one of the original denizens remains. Definitely a heavy set creature in life by the wide feet, long balancing tail and spread of the foot talons when it jumps. Its caught in a loop of trying something that isnt working. Suggests a command given and it having minimal autonomy.

It could be a command, but… I wonder just how long he’s been doing this? Why wouldn’t the person who gave it the command have come and told it to do something else by now?

Maybe it just wants to escape. That that had been his goal before he died.

Je’zik, that’d be kinda sad.

>Wait I'm a dumbass. The chick had a skullmask. She's a necromancer.
>Probably that skull mask lizard lady.

You think so? I guess she would be the most likely candidate. But still, why?

>​​Most likely the snake lady summoned them all while the captives were disabled, and then... well, it makes the most sense for her to play a sort of game with them to force us to come down and deal with it. The captives have been chased around by the skeletons and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them is up that trap door the skeleton is jumping at.

That would be a strange thing to do. Vax would be dead in this case since he’d be paralyzed (still assuming it works that way), and Jacob would have… been awoken just to run around and hide? The hatch is an exit too, Mina and Evel’yee said it was locked on their side.

I’m not saying it’s not possible, I just… am not sure I guess. This is really strange.

>This could be potentially useful: If they want to leave, the ropes will become very popular when the skeletons realize that path is open.

Could maybe make a trap with that in mind? Could lure them possibly…

>It's a beastkin, hips look male from that angle, with a decent snout, some fat digitigrade talons, and a really long tail.
>Are you sure that's an Iruxi? Could be a kobold. How many bipedal lizardlike species are there of that rough shape or size?

Ah… hmm, I doubt it. I think kobolds are pretty small, around Evel’yee’s height. This would be a freakishly huge kobold.

>That thing is taller than Tanna.
>So? And how many bipedal lizardlike species of roughly that bone structure ARE there, especially when considering possible individual outliers in size?

They don’t really have claws or talons like this one’s got either, at least not as large. Definitely no Sathaxrin, wouldn’t have legs in that case. Jaws too small for a Kurovak either… it could maybe be a Wyvaran? I’m not too sure what they look like, other than that they’re draconic-esque and have wings too.

>Back away from the door
>Communicate to your friends that there's animated skeletons down here, but no outright ambush
>Message your party and tell them there's skeletons down here of an unknown quantity and you're not gonna be able to handle them alone.

Got it. Stepping back, I’ll relay to them that there’s danger down here in the form of a skeleton/skeletons...

>I wonder if it would help or hinder to tell the girls this skeleton is not large enough to be Vax… Probably will freak out Mina even more with the idea that they might be reanimated. Better to not even mention and hope the thought didn't occur to her.
>Also this is KINDA the exact sort of stuff we were just talking about. I can already imagine Mina going "Why the fuck is my best friend a Skeleton Tanna? You said this JUST happened!"

Definitely want to avoid all that drama too, don’t need them doing anything rash while I’m being a super cool scout. I wave at them as they look down at me, trying to look as reassured as possible. It’s a little hard to make out their expressions, though I can see Mina’s ears drop even lower. It’s not ideal news. Evel’yee gives me a nod and thumbs up before saying something to Mina, I can’t exactly hear.

>While you are communicating with the girls, maybe make a plan for what they should do if you lose your concentration and the Phantom Noise spell breaks. I'm not sure what though. You could ask Mina to activate Sanctuary when the noise stops, but it might be a waste since it's only three turns. It might be necessary though. Up to you.

Ooh, that’s a good point. What if something was capable of stopping me from relaying back to them? I’ll give them some additional instructions in this case to activate the Sanctuary in case my Phantom Noise dies out.

>Actually... I think when you get near the rope you should be within range for telepathic messages. Pass along as your spell talk at an opportune time and don't call attention to it.

I… I think this is better as something to tell them once we’re reunited. Not looking to complicate things here right now. Apologies.

Speaking of not complicating things… what to do now. Hah, gosh, it’s sort of like last night. Skulking about this damn place while there’s things around that will try to kill me if they find me. Maybe I should call Evel’yee and Mina down… but I haven’t really done that much yet. Hm…

>Stealthily, stealthily, don't get its attention, that's something to kill with the full party, withdraw, you are doing recon right now, check the other doors....

Recon… yeah. I should keep doing that…

>they should come down before you're spotted.

Though, that’s not a bad idea either… there’s safety in numbers.

>Grease trap this area, its bones don't have the friction and surface area needed to step carefully around here. It'll trip, and you can finish it off with a neck-snap.
>Sneak up on it, use the sickle to hook it's spine and YOINK IT OUT.

I… er… well, I did avoid telling them I wouldn’t handle it alone. I think… well…

Ah, Winds, if I’m being honest, I really think I could do it. Not exactly with my sickle, but like… this thing is distracted. I could rush up, bite down on its spine with my fangs, I’m fairly certain I’d tear it out all easy and quiet-like if not outright crush it. I know I’ve got the fangs for it… I’m walking around with this sword in my mouth like it’s a paperweight (the rust taste kinda sucks though, again, biteguard). I kinda wanna try…

>So: testing. saw open a large piece and see what's inside. If the bones are still 'fresh', we might have something to work with...

Eheh, I could tell you if I taste anything like that once I snap one in my jaws, yeah?

>Get to the foot of the rope and we'll carry a message to come down quietly as theres one hostile skelamajig.
>Since they're mostly-mindless constructs your party members should be able to descend safely. You could try scouting out the other doors I suppose, to see if you can get an idea of how many there are and what they're currently doing?
>I agree with the other suggestion about maintaining stealth and retreating, but I'm not sure it's time to call for backup yet.

Hmmmmmmm, oh, I guess I’ll hold off on that idea for now, but I don’t think I should get the others to come down just yet. I told Evel’yee and Mina I’d check things out, and I really just haven’t followed through with that. I’ll explore a couple of hallways first, then propose the idea again after I get some more information. Speaking of which…

I make my way past the elevator and the broken remains of whatever shitty statue was inside this wall niche. To the right of that is an open door, slightly ajar towards me. Taking a look inside, I see…
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No. 1131481 ID: ed40e0
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1131481

A damn mess. Slashed up rug, old rusty coat hangers, a ratty rug, and debris everywhere. No bones or skeletons though. This must be some kind of sanctuary, there’s a carved out section in the wall where they probably put some gaudy looking offering to their worthless Theotian.

This room’s relatively dark, not much light is coming in. Would be a problem for anyone else but me. There’s another door hanging open on the otherside. No strange smells either, and I’m not hearing much… at least there’s nothing in here.

Alright. Stepping away and moving towards the room where I placed the bone on the door, I see the hallway lined with a bunch of doors, one of which is the room where we fought Roderick. I smell Roderick and death in here, and lo and behold, his corpse is to my immediate right in the corner. It’s covered with a linen of some sort, it seems like they dragged him out of the room he was in judging by the blood trail.

There’s… more bones scattered about, some I remember, but there’s one that’s new. Seems like pieces of a foot? Probably belongs to our wayward skeleton, they’re losing pieces of themselves, haha. There’s definitely another one, ominous.

Even more ominous though is that there’s some kind of chain on the door to that cultish room. It’s being loosely held together with some kind of… crescent? One could easily remove it, though if you were on the other side you’d probably have a hard time getting out? Hell, you might be able to wiggle it off, that’s not at all secure. What’s going on there, who sealed that door? There’s no way Mina or Evel’yee did that. And why?

What in the hells is going on? It has to be Shi’zen, who else could’ve done it? Gods, I wanna investigate more, but… no, I got more to explore. I’m gonna head down to check out the room with the busted down door.

>Have we tried using that lever yet? Probably shouldn't while there's skeletons around though.

The lever? No, I don’t think so. Or at least I haven’t. I can’t imagine their group hasn’t tried at least once. With all the potential skeletons around though, I'm a little hesitant to try right now.

>An unnecessary but interesting foray into the lore of our world: History has led us to broadly reject the idea of magic, but that has not stopped magical thinking. While we had once thought the world was magical, we were able to create detailed theories describing nearly every single mechanism and predict how systems would develop further and further forward. Anything that can be theorized about and predicted, we call science. We call everything else magic. The ways of science have become so advanced, in fact, that it is widely believed that everything can be explained by it in one way or another, though we may not know it yet.
>Unlike Magic, Science is not a search for quintessential truth. Science is about determining what is impossible and calculating the improbability of what is improbable.
>with science? We find what is impossible for everyone, and then it is up to them to decide what they wish to do with the remainder; what may be possible for anyone.

Huh? What’re you talking about? Aren’t those… hold on, lemme re-read that.

Wait, so you differentiate science and magic? Those aren’t the same thing to you? Science is a bit of a loose term around here, I think it has something to do with the more mechanical aspects of the Weave… but it’s still magic. It’s very real and… wow. I mean, how do you even explain how you’re all talking to me? Aren’t you practicing some form of magic, or is that ‘science’?

I mean, from my perspective, plenty of things can be explained with the Weave, with magic, you know? The reason we need to breathe is because our bodies are sustained by the ambient threads around us. We all have these organs called lungs that help with the process, they do something with whatever we suck in and distribute it to our blood which in turn reinvigorates our vaelthread. You can call that science, but isn’t that basically just the same thing as magic as a broader concept? Can it really only be called magic when it’s ‘unexplained’?

Like, thinking about a little more, let’s say there was a person holding a pebble, and someone floating a pebble using a spell or something. In your world example, the person floating the pebble would be ‘magic’, and the person holding it would be ‘science’. But here, right, they’re both magic? I know that sounds stupid but I’m sort of taking it to a logical extreme, Weave would be acting on the pebble in both circumstances. The methods might be different, I don’t exactly know how it’d work with the pebble using a spell, but I’m sure it could be explained very easily. Probably something to do with creating a physical force to simply hold the thing. There’s a science to that, but that is magic?

And… well I guess you’d have to explain how that’s even possible in the first place, but that’s what we’re all made of! Our fur and flesh is made of these threads, the act of holding the pebble and floating it with an incantation can’t be that different… I don’t know. Maybe I’m just dumb. There’s so little that’s truly impossible though. Many of our greatest fables are based on some truth no matter how absurd they might sound.

That story about whatever his name getting his heart ripped out and still surviving to deliver a finishing blow? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that isn’t a complete exaggeration. Hells, we got recorded instances of a tower that teleports around the world and our moons, sometimes in the middle of towns. It supposedly creates an extradimensional space around itself so it doesn’t wreck everything instantly. It sounds stupid and impossible, believe me, I think it is too, but it is real! Or people making trips to the plane of the Theotians, Indelcaun. They say no one’s ever returned… but like, it’s theoretically possible?

>Thus, the existence of magic is more of a philosophical question than a physical one. This leads to a big complication when it comes to the idea of a "soul", though. The word "consciousness" has come to replace the word "soul" in scientific discussions, but it hasn't replaced the idea. Fundamentally, the issue is that consciousness is pretty much impossible for us to define. We can describe aspects of our own conscious experience, but we can't actually observe consciousness in other people. A crucial step in the scientific method (The set of rules we follow to 'make' science) is observation, and since we can't make observations, we can't really apply science to consciousness. (There is debate about this, but the fact that there is debate at all is an indication of the issue)

Well… consciousness. The idea of self. That comes from the Soul, but it isn’t exactly our Soul. A person’s consciousness can be different from one life to the next even though the Soul is the same between them. I don’t know where consciousness comes from exactly, but if I had to guess, the Soul probably has something to do with it.

>Fox here. This one isn't urgent. So... Souls. In some parts of existence, as far as the locals are concerned, there is no empirically observable gods, no empirically observable souls, no empirically observable magic, no empirically observable afterlife, no observable aspects of reality with an inherent moral agenda at all. In those places, sometimes the word 'soul' even gets used to describe the body parts made of matter! In that part of things, there is a deterministic, matter-based reality, based on reductionist principles with bottom-up causation processes causing emergent phenomena. And this can actually make, over sufficiently large timescales, based on the concrete, unchangeable mathematical laws of physics, the following things: life, life with a basic level of awareness, and life with full intelligence and self awareness and the capacity to grow.
>The belief in an afterlife comes from a time before modern science, but it nonetheless stays relevant because of the questions science can't currently answer.

And that’s something that’s crazy to me. Souls themselves, they ARE real. At least in my world… and this is common knowledge. People way smarter than me have observed them, every living creature most definitively has one. It’s our most important tool, they let us walk within the world and act and have purpose. All of our capabilities stem from it, it is the root of our being. Breathing, touching, thinking. The idea of not having a Soul is akin to just being an object, a thing made of Weave but lacking the thing that makes it ‘it’.

So, I don’t know. It just sounds insane to me that you can claim that you all aren’t sure. That you have religions that believe in different theological ideas and…

>The belief in an afterlife comes from a time before modern science, but it nonetheless stays relevant because of the questions science can't currently answer.

That core topic of not knowing. There’s an allure to that… a kind of terror that rings deep inside, but also a kind of peace too. That wherever our Souls end up, we don’t really have a say and we just… have to go with it.

That’s making me feel things, surfacing thoughts… the idea that the Theotians so directly meddle with OUR Souls… and Mina was talking about how weird it was that you all touched mine, but how is that any different from them?! That’s a good talking point… I gotta use that against her later.

>I feel like a gave a pretty generalist overview of things. Death is an unknown and people have various ideas about it.

We’re quite different in this regard then. While you don’t know, we know that when we die we’ll return. That’s… Je’zik, I bet a bunch of our analogies haven’t really been making sense, huh? I’ll try to remember that and explain if they come up.

>Also, it should be noted that the information you receive about our world comes from a tiny self-selected slice of the population, so you aren't getting the full picture. It seems like your world functions somewhat similarly to what the buddhists/hinduists of our world believe: Souls are infinitely reincarnated into different bodies in a cycle called "Saṃsāra." You, however, seem to lead towards the buddhist belief that Saṃsāra is painful, and that you seek "nirvāṇa," which is the escape from such a cycle. Beyond this surface level comparison the analogy falls apart. (I don't think extinguishing your desires would really help you achieve nirvāṇa in your world) But it's an interesting similarity nonetheless.

Painful…? Hm, yeah, I suppose… that’s not a bad way to describe how I feel about it. This whole process of the Journey is… gross. That’s how I feel. Unnatural, wrong. I’m fairly certain this is an opinion that I don’t share with many others. It’s nice that I’m not entirely alone with this feeling? Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa, seems people from your realm have similar ideas.

>It's mostly why I was so horrified by Mina's explanation of your afterlife. A ton of uncomfortable implications with the ways the gods are mucking about with people there.

Exactly! Our Theotians aren’t these perfect beings, who knows what they’re doing with our Souls once we die?! It’s… nngh…

Feeling those things, you all are good at getting that out of me. These existential thoughts, it makes me SO angry even thinking about this, head’s pounding again… I… for another time… for another time. Sorry.

>Truth to one person may mean something entirely different to another

Wonder what Bakoth would think about that one.

>The results speak for themselves. With a sandbox of unexplored possibility combined with a set of fundamental constraints restricting us from the contradictory, tools designed from such scientific inquiry are engineered to be usable by anyone. But these days, we find ourselves adrift in ignorance. Starved of magic, we fall into delusions and tribes. And the worlds are getting... stupider. When one cannot scientifically disprove that a tool of science is bereft of any magic whatsoever... well. It's not looking good.

Ah… I think I’m kinda entering that “I’m too dumb to know what you’re talking about” territory again. Hope that… all works out for you?

It’s crazy how much I can discuss with you all while I’m making my way. I’m moving down the stairs, but…
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No. 1131482 ID: 45cf10
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1131482

>TANNA’S SIGHT-BASED PERCEPTION CHECK: 12(9[Roll] + 3[Mentality])

>??? CHECK: 3(1[Proximity] + 2[Prone])

H-Hold on… what is that? In the corner, behind the pillar? It’s sort of hard to make out at this angle… but I’m seeing something strange. Some sort of white thing, it might be another skeleton.

Slipping behind the pillar quietly, ugh, the damn door is in my way. I’m not gonna risk getting seen, lemme find a better angle. I’m gonna ignore looking inside the room with the busted down door for now and wrap around to see better.

Reading the end of the atrium, there’s a convenient piece of rubble there. Positioning behind it, I look and… oh yeah. That’s another skeleton. It’s… I think whoever this was was a Weski, they’re small. They’re curled up too in the corner, idly scratching at the wall and facing away from everything.

Wow… this thing is pathetic. In a sad way I mean. Maybe annoying too. It doesn’t seem to really be patrolling or looking for anything, but it’d definitely turn into a monster if it caught a whiff of me. Well, there’s your other skeleton, though this one seems to have both legs still. There is an infestation. Ugh, what a pain.

I sit there for about a minute to see if anything will change, but no, it’s simply sitting there and scratching the wall like a stupid sad little idiot. At least the other skeleton was trying to escape. I’m just gonna… ignore it too for now. I’m pretty close to where Jacob and Vax are, and I can sort of see into the room with the busted down door. It’s a mess in there. Bunch of old rotted broken wooden bits and shattered bones, was like that last night from the little I could see though. I think there’s a fireplace too? Kind of hard to tell a hundred percent from the distance and angle.

Don’t see anymore skellies in there at least. There is supposedly a library back there based on Mina’s map though… maybe for another time. Leaving the skeleton to his fetal based wall scratching, I turn to look at the double doors that lead down deeper. They too are open.

With careful steps past the pews, I take a look inside. Can I just say how much I love being able to see in the dark? It’s pitch black in there, but I can still tell where everything is. The furniture Mina and Evel’yee mentioned is… it’s in there, but they’ve been moved. That’s not a good sign. Some might say it’s even a bad sign. The door to the jailroom is open, so is the ‘alchemy’ room, the one with the running water. It’s not that loud, but with everything as quiet as it is, it would definitely mask things. That torrent is violent. The room where Jacob stuck a knife in me is closed though, same with the kitchen thankfully. Should make taking a sniff not so ba-
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No. 1131485 ID: 636e90
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1131485

>TANNA’S SCENT-BASED PERCEPTION CHECK: 6(3[Roll] + 3[Mentality])

Hold on. That rat from before, I’m not forgetting that scent now that I know who it belongs to. She’s been through here! And recently! I look around, but I don’t see her anywhere at all. Where the fuck is she? My hand tenses around my blade and I ready myself to reach for my harmonica, waiting for the potential attack, but nothing happens…

I smell again, diverting my focus to see if there’s anything else. I can sort of smell a trail, I think it’s leading into the room with rushing-water and the jailroom… I don’t know what’s fresher, I’d have to move into the hallway to get a better sense.

I… fuck, okay. I step back. I need some advice here Winds. I’ve got a lot more intel now, maybe it’s worth bringing Evel’yee and Mina down here? But the jailroom is right there… it wouldn’t be hard to just take a quick peep inside. I could get a better read on that trail too. Maybe even use a spell if I need to? Agh, if I do that though… this god damn harmonica might give me away.
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No. 1131486 ID: 231e44
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1131486

...I can take this slow. At least for now, nothing’s happened yet. Let me review real quick, I can go back to Mina and Evel’yee now. This is some decent scouting, but I still don’t know what happened to Vax or Jacob. I don’t even smell them in this corridor, I haven’t smelled them anywhere. I could go down and check inside that jailroom real quick… would be the fastest peek of my life, maybe even use a spell to help me with that… but there’s definitely some risk.

I guess I could keep exploring the other rooms too, there’s probably unseen skeletons. That door with the loose lock and chain is interesting… but hells, that earlier idea as well. That reptile up the stairs, or that weski in the corner, quick bite and snap. I know it’s a little risky, but I’m sure I could do it. Bringing the others down here would risk alerting them and I could miss that chance.

I’m not sure. What do you think Winds? If I’m being brutally real, I want to try attacking the skeletons on my own. There’s just something super exciting about it, though maybe I’m just being stupid. Likely my blood boiling at the thought. The second option I’d like to try is checking the prison, real quick-like. Maybe use a vanish if you think it’s necessary. I defer to you all though.
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No. 1131492 ID: 70f58a

>>1131486
You've fully scouted the entry room and adjoining rooms. That's good enough for calling them down.

You've smelled part of the scent trail... try tracing it to see where it goes in the direction away from the jail. If she's still in the jail area then we'd expect the scent to get weaker. We won't have to peek in there in that case.
>>
No. 1131503 ID: 90684d

Guys, could you try to not violate the fourth wall so voraciously with real world concepts that don't fit the setting?


>...this thing is pathetic. In a sad way I mean
>...like a stupid sad little idiot.

Harsh judgement. Do you have expectations for animated skeletons? By nature they are already a sad existence, so I don't understand why you would think less of someone in this condition being depressed.

You got good information on the main room and adjacents. It should be enough for Eve and Mina to get down to set a defensible position. Doesn't even need to be the end of your scouting, they could stay somewhere you could run towards if something start chasing you.
That is assuming you don't want to lure skeletons for rock throwing from your friends. I still think doing this would be efficient but would also alert Shi'zen.

How I think this should go:
Inform the girls of what you found, in particular the animated skeleton in the corner. They also need to know about Roderick's body because if Mina freak out it's better that she does so up there than down here. Also inform them about Shi'zen smell (my earlier speculation about her leaving was wrong).
Once they understand the situation you can call them down here for backup in case you need. I think they could have a good sigh of the room and the trapdoor skeleton door if they stay near the left brazier. But of course this is a suggestion so maybe they will have a better plan or prefer the stone throwing idea.
With a fallback position stablished I thing you should take a look at the prison and maybe the room with the smoking reptilian lady.
Only after successfully scouting the location the boys were last time you can try to ambush one of the skeletons. Maybe try the weski first since the iruxi might notice you while you walk up the stairs.
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No. 1131513 ID: bcfbc8

>>1131486
Honestly the jail room has trap written all over it.
And given the types of fucked up magical traps in this place (let's not forget the SUPER curse you got) I'd say don't even risk LOOKING in there until you have other people with you.

Also since it's been brought up. The harmonica seems to have the symbol of Our Boss(I guess?) on it. I know it's his symbol cause that's the same symbol that appeared when you detected magic on Vax.

Not exactly sure what it implies that two of these eldritch gods seemed to have some form of influence over this area at some point in time but it should definitely be noted.
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No. 1131526 ID: a1326b

>>1131485
*gaaaaaasp*
How very dare you malign that skeletons precious harmonica.

>>1131486

Bring your friends down.
Leave it much longer and theyll get itchy paws and come down looking for you.
We'll prep them to be quiet and pass on the details.
Youre not alone any more.
And even though i think you could take the skelemajigs, its time to practice not taking the world on solo.

Also, looking bold and adventurous slinky.
Youre carrying yourself with more confidence.
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No. 1131558 ID: 6ec4e5

>>1131503
I try to make my stuff as in context as possible and try to make my rants grounded in the needs of the person, it was another that went a bit crazy about science and crap, ugh. -Fox

Also agree with the others on bringing the friends down. And that they are friends!
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