C. Tell the queen the situation is going on out there that we need to take care of, one that might effect the new queen bee we sent out earlier with the mimic back home if it gets worse (which will help her understand the importance of what we're doing), but we will definitely spend time with her the next time we visit the estate with Key, and even get Mia Kris and/or Nuki involved in an orgy with her as a payment for keeping her waiting (if our pals are interested at least).

That will be a very nice reward for getting the mana waste situation dealt with and give us incentive to make us work harder!

Who knows, maybe the queen will give us some advice.

>>1040278
B

B. Key: Did Hunter call for Key?

Hunter DID call for key, its her magical hotspot to ya know!

A or B, preferably A because bee puns and Hunter gets to be the dom, and sub QB sounds cute.

Dirty Talk:

"Have a little taste of my honey."

"Just being around you has got me buzzed."

"Gone weak in the knees? Your legs are shaking like royal jelly."

B. And drink enough alcohol to get a hangover tomorrow morning! Have fun!

>>1040278
A

Is she a Bumblebee? Because when you start to dominate, you'll turn her into a humble bee! Yeah, I know that sucks, but it's the best I could do.

>>1040278
A for dominant Hunter.

>Please provide some puns/dirty talk
>Seriously, I’m bad at it
(And you think we’re any better at it?)

Tell her that you may not be a bee, but you’ll definitely sting her with your “stinger”.

>>1040278
B, but Key shapeshifts a dick and fucks Hunter's butt.

No way you are dumping being responsible and having fun at the same time. Get your pants off and call your buddy! You have work to do... (B, is unfair to have al the fu.. responsability for yourself)

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/09(Tue)19:38 No. 1040462 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166009909816.png - (13.23KB , 500x500 , p170.png )

> [NOON, DAY 13] - POCKET ESTATE - HORNY FOREST
This is such a tough decision, to have sexy fun times or to be responsible, however could you decide!

Key: Did Hunter call for Key?

To be submissive or dominant? Whatever should you do?

You: But I kind of do want you to beg a little
QB: PUH-LEEEEEEEZE
Key: Is it time, Hunter?

But are the consequences of waiting going to be severe?

You: Hold on I’m telling my inner narration to shut the fuck up
You: Yes, I’d love to!

The ceremony for QB planting her seed in your grove, joining the members of your demesne, is brief. It very visibly causes her honey hole to moisten with anticipation, so you wait no longer than the duration of the ceremony to indulge her.

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/09(Tue)19:39 No. 1040464 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166009914831.png - (23.30KB , 500x500 , p171.png )

> [NOON, DAY 13] - POCKET ESTATE - HORNY FOREST
You decide to take it easy on the shapeshifting for your new partner, no abstract shapes this time! Key on the other hand has no scruples about becoming a massive blob of tits at one point, but you pat her on the ass once or twice and she turns into a more vanilla form, this time with a dick.

The three of you become a blur of sexual energy and it’s not quite clear who is in the dominant or submissive positions. At one point the vines even join in and become even more adventurous than you or key. You have a feeling this forest has become very horny, a very horny whorest some might say. Key smacks you on the head when you make the joke and the three of you laugh.

Surprisingly, as QB joins your demesne, you see that she gains a small understanding of shapeshifting and you gain a small amount of understanding of flight. You wonder exactly what’s going to happen to the bees she births from now on.

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/09(Tue)19:39 No. 1040465 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166009915920.png - (14.24KB , 500x500 , p172.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - THE MANA WASTES - SCENIC OVERLOOK
Feeling fully revitalized, rejuvenated, and sexually satisfied you head out of the estate with Key. What greets you is Mia, Kris, Mona, and Nuki all playing with some cards in various levels of undress. Weirdly, Nuki is wearing more clothes than you’ve ever seen on her and Mia’s barely got anything on.

Mia: COME ON, COME ONNNNNNNNN
Nuki: Hehehehe you cannot defeat me with your lowly skills!
Mona: Goddess dammit I wish these things gave ya a buzz longer than an hour
Mona: Fills the stupid bladder too fast to be reliable!
Mona: We gotta try using those shrooms as reagents instead…
Kris: I don’t like the taste if I’m being honest…
Kris: I prefer a good honeyed mead…
Mona: Oh hey there you two, come join us!

You join the table and listen to what everyone’s been up to. The group has decided that it’s probably for the best that they head towards Deus, he’s a bit of a distance from [VIRGE]’s body. Deus, of course, has no idea that you’re planning this, but Mona asks that you take her with you since she’s bored and wants to hang out with him again. You bring up that she was asked to do a report and Mia points to a stack of papers nearby, claiming she already finished it.

Lastly Mona mentions that the pulses die down at night, meaning whatever the body is doing, stops at night as well. This might be a good chance to do something if you manage to come up with a good plan after eating that organ.

A: You: Okay, sure
- Dance your way to Deus
- You MUST pick the 4 variables used of the dance this time
- Direction/Distance/Travel Method/Number of Targets/Specific Targets
B: You: Well actually I had another idea
- Do something else
- You could warn Deus that you’re coming?
- Or you could let [VIRGE] out to ask for his opinion, but fuck that guy am I right?
- Stats: https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats [/i]

A. The direction of Deus, travel method: One big step, number of targets, our group plus Mona, specific targets: our group plus Mona. Varying distance is fairly safe since we are fairly speedy with access to flying shapeshifters - the dances are just faster.

A, drop Travel Method and embrace chaos.

Make sure Mia puts her hat back on at least before we go, she'll be sad if she doesn't have it.

The rest is totally optional of course. She can leave her bunny buns out if she wants. Same with the rest.

>>1040474
This. Embrace chaos

And yeah, clothing is optional for Mia... tho maybe she shouldnt as putting on the clothes she lost would be dishonorable? Keep hat tho.

But whatever travel method we choose, whether we let fate decide, or decide on our own, I hope it ends with Hunter running into a pole!

>>1040465
A: Dance your way to Deus

If Mona knows exactly where to go or has a map of some kind, then we’d be able to control the Direction, Distance, Number of Targets, and Specific Targets. The only thing that would be random is the Travel Method.

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/12(Fri)20:25 No. 1040706 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166036111150.png - (10.32KB , 500x500 , p173.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - DANCES - THE PAIN TRAIN
You collectively decide that traveling to Deus is probably the right move. You don't really mind letting Mona in on your ability to fast travel, it even makes a convenient excuse for why your friends could just appear out of the closet without revealing the pocket estate. Not that you are much worried about that either, she seems friendly enough. Everyone re-clothes, except Nuki, she de-clothes back to her scarf.

Mia helps pack Mona’s valuables into Bitey and you head out to begin the dance. It’s a very simple waltz that you do with Key while Nuki plays the banjo excitedly in the distance. It only takes a few minutes to finish the dance with added musical accompaniment to see a bench and a pole with a flat red octagon on top appear nearby. You head by it and sit, waiting.

You: I have no idea what this thing is, this seat is uncomfortable
Key: Key doesn't like this metal chair
Mia: This looks like a stop sign, though the text is weird
Nuki: I see something…

You all turn your heads towards Nuki’s pointed finger and see bright lights and a deep rumbling. You feel uncomfortable, like an unnatural and metal dragon is heading towards you, but you hold fast. Instead, some sort of metal wagon appears. The metal wagon stops in front of you, a door slides open and with a loud HONK you hear a voice inside shout something at you.

Driver: ALL ABOARD THE PAIN TRAIN
Driver: NEXT STOP, DEUS’S PLACE
Mia: So a… train… of pain?

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/12(Fri)20:26 No. 1040707 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166036118350.png - (11.44KB , 500x500 , p174.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - DANCES - THE PAIN TRAIN
You all head in and the inside is… not really that clean, you find the cleanest seats and half of you decide to just stand instead before the device starts to move. You feel a jerk as you’re lurched forward, it’s certainly faster than a wagon, but the ride is VERY bumpy. And every time a bump is hit, you can hear a distinct DING.

Kris: So is this thing just running over anything it hits?
Bus: DING!
Mia: …Sounds like it’s keeping score, there’s some sort of number going up over there

Mia points to some sort of billboard with bright light. Symbols you can't recognize change with every bump and there’s this weird sort of wispy symbol similar to a teal flame with a series of changing symbols inside. You notice a heart, an eye, a pair of eyes, an X, a fairy, and other symbols you can’t particularly understand.

Mia: Should we do-
Driver: LAST STOP, DEUS’S PLACE

You feel yourself, not of your own free will, walk off the “Pain Train”, and stop at a nearby pole and bench, similar to the one you waited at before. A trail of gore, viscera, debris, and foliage streak under the wheels behind the thing which makes you more than a little uncomfortable. And before your thought can coalesce into action, the thing drives away at a speed making it impossible to catch.

Key: Key thinks we should not leave travel method as random anymore
Nuki: Agreed
You: At least that only took like 10 minutes.

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/12(Fri)20:26 No. 1040708 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166036119357.png - (9.08KB , 500x500 , p175.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - THE MANA WASTES - DEUS’S RESEARCH LAB
You look around the place you’ve found yourself at, it’s a place absolutely covered in viscera and corpses, ones not created by the pain train. There are spikes everywhere made of… [MANA]? Some of them look like they’re made of earth, and they dont look like crystals from the spire. They look more like barriers erected to protect the white, concrete-like building you see in front of you. The building itself is mostly a box, with balconies and a few windows, ones with actual glass, a rare resource in this area.

You take a moment to look at Mona, who just seems to come out of a shock at your prodding.

Mona: Oh yeah, uh, that was weird.
Mona: HEY DEUS, GET YOUR FEATHERY ASS OUT HERE WOULD YA
Deus: The fluff?

You see one of the windows slide open and a rather small Raven Wing-Kin pops out. He’s got a head of poofy hair, round glasses, and looks like he hasn't slept in days.

Deus: Mona did you seriously ditch your work days ago???
Deus: And how’d you even get through all the mutants?!!?
Deus: Unholy droppings and the trees are gone and there’s MORE gore!?!?
Mona: Most of this was your doing though?
Deus: Just… come inside, we don’t wanna be out here when a wave happens.

The inside of his place is nicely furnished, there are several bookshelves and low to the ground seats and tables organized on top of a few soft, red rugs. Several paintings can be seen scattered across the walls, but you pay no attention to them for now.

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/12(Fri)20:26 No. 1040709 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166036120407.png - (10.98KB , 500x500 , p176.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - THE MANA WASTES - DEUS’S RESEARCH LAB
After a moment, Deus comes out with a crate about half his size and sets it down. You can hear the jingle of jars from the inside.

Deus: Here’s most of the [MANA ORGANS] I have
Key and You: ORGANS!!!

The two of you immediately begin to dine, much to everyone else’s dismay, on these fresh organs.

You’ve gained the [MANA LIVER] transformation, and are now mostly immune to the effects of the [MANA PULSE], though you’ll feel weak and like you’re hungover for quite a while as your body purges the radiation.

Deus then takes a seat and everyone follows suit, sitting themselves on various couches and cushions. Mona lays herself on his lap and he proceeds to purr as he scratches her belly.

Mona: Oh, here’s the report by the way
Deus: …
Mia: It wasn’t hard to do all those calculations if I’m being honest
Deus: Not that I’m ungrateful or anything, but… the cluck?

Yes, this expression, it’s the one of a man whose mind has absolutely been boggled. You’ve got him on the ropes, he’ll tell you anything you need now, you can almost feel it. It’s almost [NIGHTTIME], so you feel like you can do TWO THINGS before dark.

A. Mia: So how do we kill [VIRGE]’s divinity?
- Gain Mia and Deus’s theories on how to straight up kill it
- Increases the likelihood of success if you try to kill [VIRGE]’s body
B. Nuki: [small]Maybe we ask [VIRGE] what he wants to do with the body?
- Let [VIRGE] out and learn how to drain the divinity from the rampaging body
- Increases the likelihood of success if you try to drain the harmful energy from [VIRGE]’s body
C. Deus: Uh, I guess I could talk about what we’re planning
- Learn about the other members of [ARCANUS MOUNTAINS] and their plans to contain it
- Increases the likelihood of success if you try to imprison [VIRGE]’s body
D. Key: O R G A N S
- Ask for more organs, other, special kind of organs even
- Will give you an increased special constitution and a random unique upgrade
E. Mona: I got these sick ass mushrooms from this lovely ol rabbit here
- Ask any questions you might have or do something else
- Will provide info on all options asked but not improve the likelihood of success on any
- Will allow for completely alternative solutions if you can come up with one

A
B
Consider going right over to the body immediatly afterwards, we were told it stops producing the mana waves at night, perfect time to attack. Which means dancing again

Just had an idea, An alternative could be A and D

Eat another organ to ensure you're strong enough for A and perhaps increase that likelihood.

So overall for me, A and D, or A and B. One of those two combos.

A + B. Containing the mana contaminated body isn't really an ideal solution, we should either get rid of it or drain its divinity so it's properly neutralized.

>>1040707
Hey, free blood for Mia at least.
>>1040708
oooh, MORE free blood!

>>1040709
E: tell them about the "prophecy", and all details relevant to it. You want to unite the land and expose the Pantheon's false god (it's not PURITY at the helm anymore), without destroying the Wild. Perhaps we can preserve most of it somehow? Or maybe we're already prepped for the best case scenario... I can't help but think that probably involves draining the energy via Virge.
B too, because they haven't met Virge yet and they'll probably want to study him.

Gonna go with the popular vote and say A + B.

>>1040716
>Eat another organ to ensure you're strong enough for A and perhaps increase that likelihood.
Let's do this. A + D

Ah, yes. See if Mia can absorb some of the blood here before we go fight Virge's body.

>>1040709
A and B

A + B, better to go for more permanent plans

ED-MAN-GO-TO-THE-POLLS 2022/08/15(Mon)12:07 No. 1040946 ID: 0838d6
File 166059047110.png - (10.44KB , 500x500 , p177.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - THE MANA WASTES - DEUS’S RESEARCH LAB
You: As much as I dislike it, we should probably involve [VIRGE] in this conversation
Mia: Blugh, yeah, I guess
Dues: [VIRGE]?
You: He’s the head of that monster causing the problems
Deus: As in, controlling it, or?
Mia: Nah, like the literal severed head, he’s still alive and rude though
Deus: Yes, I’d very much like to talk to them.

It only takes you a few moments and another convenient closet to pop [VIRGE] out, he seems excited to be out of the pocket estate.

[VIRGE]: BABOOSH!
[VIRGE]: FREEEDOM!
You: I could pop you back in there y’know?
[VIRGE]: Yes, but you obviously need me!
[VIRGE]: Hello green cat and black bird!
Deus: Ugh, he smells like that thing
Mona: Blugh, yeah
[VIRGE]: You two can smell [DIVINITY]? Weird.

You explain the situation with [VIRGE], tiptoeing around your responsibility towards the destruction of the [CRYSTAL SPIRE]. You don’t really want to go into those specifics, as it might turn a potential ally into a potential enemy. After getting everyone on the same page, you begin to discuss your options.

Mia: So, kill the body or drain it
[VIRGE]: Or Drain and Kill him, I don’t really care
Deus: Well, hypothetically a [BLOOD BOY] could cut off it’s regenerative capacity
Deus: Unfortunately we’ve got zero access to them at the moment
Mia: You’ve got me, I can do that, though I’d need all the blood outside
Deus: Uh…
Deus: Sure?
Deus: But that leaves the problem of the corrupted [MANA] detonating
Deus: The regeneration is keeping it stable for now.

Mia then pops outside and you hear the sound of many popping bodies before she returns with an arm full of crystallized blood chunks. She joins the eating party.

ED-MAN-GO-TO-THE-POLLS 2022/08/15(Mon)12:09 No. 1040949 ID: 0838d6
File 166059054486.png - (8.44KB , 500x500 , p178.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - THE MANA WASTES - DEUS’S RESEARCH LAB
Deus: Okay, okay, so we’ve got a blood mage, the head of that body, two shapeshifters
Deus: Are you some kind of crouching raccoon, hidden mantis ninja??
Nuki: I can punch real good!
Kris: And I have my blades
Deus: Well, I guess with me, Mona, and everyone else here
Deus: Killing it shouldn’t be a problem
Deus: So long as Mia can neutralize the thing
Mona: Still leaves the [BIG OL PULSE] to deal with
[VIRGE]: Well I can actually neutralize the [DIVINITY]

Everyone looks directly at [VIRGE], who’s big eye smiles, it’s kind of creepy.

[VIRGE]: Let me close enough to him and I can suck the [DIVINITY] right out of em
[VIRGE]: You’ll have to keep me in the estate for a bit after cause, well…
[VIRGE]: I’ll be in the teensiest bittiest bit of comas trying to adapt the energy
Deus: Wait so you’re going to extract the energy and then what?
[VIRGE]: Duh, become the new god of [PURITY]
[VIRGE]: Hm, well maybe not purity, maybe something adjacent
[VIRGE]: Innocence? Honesty? Wings? Eyes?
Kris: So… another member of the pantheon?
[VIRGE]: Maybe? I’d certainly be put in contact with them.
[VIRGE]: Probably have a seat at their table so to speak
[VIRGE]: Get to figure out who's been in charge of [PURITY]’s followers
Mia: And you’d just be okay with killing [PURITY] like that?
[VIRGE]: [PURITY] is likely in an indefinite coma
[VIRGE]: The only way to even get them to wake up slightly is this
[VIRGE]: Kind of like the inverse of our old relationship, really.
Mia: But you’d be more powerful, right, and a new figure of [FAITH] to draw from
[VIRGE]: Yup!
Deus: I really want to study this guy, but the more we wait, the worse it’ll get
You: He can endlessly regenerate too
[VIRGE]: OOOH will you dip me in honey like they did?
Deus: Uh, what?
You: Just ignore that part

ED-MAN-GO-TO-THE-POLLS 2022/08/15(Mon)12:09 No. 1040950 ID: 0838d6
File 166059055982.png - (10.42KB , 500x500 , p179.png )

> [EVENING, DAY 13] - THE MANA WASTES - DEUS’S RESEARCH LAB
[VIRGE]: That still leaves the problem of the corruption though
[VIRGE]: I can basically get the energy fueling the corruption out, but not the corruption
[VIRGE]: The husk that’s left would be like a beserk rampaging monster
Mia: But definitely corrupted beyond fixing?
[VIRGE]: Yup.
Mona: Probably no more pulses though right?
[VIRGE]: The [DIVINITY] is what’s responsible for that, so yeah.
Deus: Hmmm, could I keep the body?
Deus: When we’re done of course.
Mona: Deus wants to see if he can make an energy converter I bet
Deus: The problem with [MANA] is the addiction and dependence alright,
Deus: if we can find a way to make it less addicting, then it’d help a lotta kin
Deus: As it stands I can’t even leave the mountain or I’d die
Mona: Aww poor you, you can make cool buildings and spikes with a thought
Mona: But can’t leave this MASSIVE mountain spanning so many kilometers
Mona: Not like you leave your room anyway
Deus: S i g h
Mia: So to recap, sucking the divinity out leaves us with a rampaging monster on its death throes
Mia: Killing it without sucking the divinity out will lead to an explosion of [MANA and DIVINITY]
Key: Key and Hunter should be fine, we ate organs!
You: Will the [DIVINITY] harm us in any way?
[VIRGE]: I dunno, you’re both fundamentally [WILD]
[VIRGE]: But it sounds like the pulses are pure [MANA]
[VIRGE]: I know I can make sure nothing happens to it if I’m there
[VIRGE]: Though a lot will be lost if you kill him before I can absorb the energy!

You take a moment to gather your thoughts, the most recent of the [MANA PULSES] have passed and the night has come. This would be your time to do something if you had a plan.

You now have a [PLAN] on how to kill Virge’s body, drained of divinity or not
- Chance of success is 100%
- Chance of post-combat complications for participants is 10%
You now have a [PLAN] on how to drain the divinity from Virge’s body
- Chance of success is 100%
- The fight will be harder, with the chance of long term injury to participants being 20%
- You and Key are immune to long term injury chances due to your mimic heritage
- Any other ideas that are suggested will have a percentage chance of success based on how well thought out they are.

You have the feeling that should you let it reach the [MORNING of DAY 14] without addressing the body, that something bad will happen.

A. Mona: Let’s head to the containment zone
- Time will not pass, you will head to the final confrontation
- There will be no risk of external [COMPLICATIONS] during the conflict if you go now
B. Kris: Hmm, are we missing anything?
- Do something else you might have overlooked
- Half of the night will be over when you finish your tasks
- Perhaps give someone the [PERFECT GIFT]?

In addition, feel free to suggest theories or alternative plans that you want addressed while you take this next action.

Give Mia the perfect gift, perhaps it will help her chances of survival.
Also, since we're here did we break out the mana dense mushrooms yet? Our allies will need all the mana they can get. That's all I can think of really.
Aim to kill it as fast as possible and let the corrupted divinity dissipate, concentrating it into Virge has profound consequences I don't like all the implications of. Speaking practically, would you want somebody you dipped in boiling honey to gain godlike powers? Let Virge acclimate to his new state instead of changing back into a god.

A. LETS FUCKING GO! Lets do both draining and killing

If we decide B, give gift to Nuki. Mia has barrior and full of blood she just ate. Key and hunter has organs. Nuki needs something to protect her.


>things to be addressed

Lets tell Deus and Mona about mushroom kobold and ask them to keep an eye on him to make sure nothing goes wrong with him or find a cure for him. Might be a good subject for them to research next after mana pulses are dealt with.

>>1040950
A. Let's go now.

If we wait, then we'll have ended up wasting half the night and there's a chance of an external [COMPLICATION] happening during the conflict!

A, let's go now and keep external complications out of this.

When this is all over, give the Perfect Gift to Mia, as a way of showing that you value her. You're learning magic from Nuki, and Key formed a demesne with you, but that doesn't make her any less important to you than either of them.

>>1040950
A

B) Heroes come when it's almost late for no reason. Give the perfect gift to Nuki for teaching you martial arts like a champ!

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/17(Wed)19:49 No. 1041147 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166079095301.png - (10.70KB , 500x500 , p180.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
Rather than dance, you step onto a panel that Deus leads you to. It drops down and then zips away in some other direction. You feel a bit nauseous at how fast it’s going.

Mia: This is pretty fast
Deus: Thanks, though it was set up in kind of a hurry, could use a lot of work
Mona: Oh hush hun, it’s great
Deus: Only works deep in the mountains though

It takes nearly no time before you arrive at your destination. You appear inside a similar white room and Deus leads you to a nearby window. What greets you is a wasteland of a crater, one that probably stretches for a few kilometers. The mana is dense and you can see massive bone-like spines jutting out of the ground, placed in spots that would create a hexagonal surrounding the massive crater. As you get closer you notice that there’s a faintly visible barrier between you and the crater itself, also patterned with hexagons.

Nuki: Reminds me of honey…
Deus: We put up a makeshift barrier using a feedback loop from the [MANA]
Deus: Keeps anything out and that thing in, but the [MANA] leaks into the air
Deus: It’s honestly the best we could do
Mona: It’s almost broken out a few times
Deus: The other guys are resting, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.
You: Where is it anyway?
Deus: See that purple crystal over there?

You peer your eyes towards the center of the crater and see a purple crystal slowly bobbing up and down.

Deus: It’s inside that, always jumps into a hole at night, like it’s scared or something
[VIRGE]: [He/They] Always had a strange aversion to the darkness
Deus: So now’s our best chance to do something
Bitey: LEMME EAT HIM!
Bitey: GONNA FUCK THIS GUY UP, YUM!!!!

ED-MAN-GOH 2022/08/17(Wed)19:49 No. 1041148 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166079096231.png - (11.06KB , 500x500 , p181.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
You decide as a group that at the very minimum, you, Mia, and Key are going to confront the creature. You let QB out and she joins in the planning, this surprises Deus and Mona, but at this point you just find it funny rather than anything else. After that, plans are drawn for your two sure-fire strategies.

Mia will be in charge of nullifying the creature’s healing and dealing damage
Key will be in charge of slowing the thing down
You will be given a choice in combat

Once you attack the creature, it will start to head towards you.

A. Mia: Here’s the plan if we were to just straight up kill him
- You will destroy the body and it will detonate with massive amounts of energy
- This detonation will harm the environment
- Mia will need to be protected for a short duration so that she can nullify the body’s healing
- Mia recommends holding [VIRGE] in the [POCKET ESTATE] just in case he gets any ideas
B. [VIRGE]: And here’s MY plan to drain the big P of all his dirty dirty [SAUCE]!
- Will make there be no chance of a mana detonation
- Will mean you’ll have to protect [VIRGE]’s head from the divinity’s attacks while he does this
- The radiation will be weaker after [VIRGE] is done, but the fighting will be more brutal
- [VIRGE] will evolve at the end of combat if he survives

The Radiation is strong at the epicenter, so you’ll have to bring either MONA or DEUS if you want any other party members to join you.

Who do you bring with you?

Deus: I’ll come along, I want to study the thing up close and that [DIVINITY] too
- Deus will allow you to bring up to 3 more party members
- For every party member past the 1st he brings [+5% to post combat complication chance]
- Deus will actively slow and whittle down the creature with spells
- The more you use him to escort others, the less effective he’ll be
Mona: Well shucks I’m not as good as Deus but I can help too!
- Will allow you to bring up to 2 more party members
- Automatic [+5% to post combat complication chance per member escorted]
- Tosses various buffing and healing potions, acting as support but not much else

Kris: If you bring me I can make sure that stays down
- Kris’s blade can pierce the hide of the creature the easiest
- Kris will actively attempt to saw off limbs
Nuki: I… don’t want to see more blood…
- Nuki can knock back the creature the easiest
- Nuki is the fastest and can respond to rescue anyone that gets downed
QB: The Queen has learned shapeshifting! She can join!!!!
- The queen can summon an army of [MIMIC DRONES] to distract the creature
- They’ll die shortly after, which will likely make Nuki quite upset
- [+5% complication chance if brought with Nuki]
[VIRGE]: Maybe I can drain it a little? I’ll make the boom smaller! And offer heals!!
- Offers heals, reduces the overall effect of the radiation
- Is required for option B
- Not bringing him will make him very upset
- [100% chance he does something] but you don’t know if it’ll be good or bad


You can also take [NO ONE] else with you, which will lead to a harder fight, and a 40% chance that one of you sustains a [LIFE ALTERING WOUND] one that can’t be healed by [BLOOD] or [SHAPESHIFTING].

Plan A: Explosions! bring both Mona and Deus as backup, but assign Deus to escort Virge and Mona to escort QB and Kris. That's the same effect as just bringing Deus while leaving him more free to cast spells, and keep a watch on Virge. Virge should be given a chance to help, but he should not be given a chance to absorb everything. Kris has fought by your side for years, today is no different. And the Queen... should really bee given a chance to show us what those mimics can do. Team Giant spiders/bees/otters go!

>>1041148
B
Deus, escorting QB and Kris. The extra 5% chance is probably worth it.
Mona, escorting no one. She can stick with Mia since Mia isn't immune to complications.
Also Virge of course. Mia can keep an eye on him.

So we're only leaving Nuki behind; she doesn't seem too keen on fighting anyway.
If we get hit with a severe complication we can use the Perfect Gift to nullify it, I bet.

>>1041149
This seems best!

>>1041149
Let’s do this one.

A) Pick Deus and Nuki. Fight defensively while trying to pin Virge's body down with spider-silk and Nuki's punches.

Having in account the profecy of [MORNING, DAY 10] - MANTISLEAF FOREST - CAMPSITE, I think that chosing draining Virge's body will be the best option.

The explosion will probably cause GREAT harm to WILD but the phanteon having even more power will be a BIG issue in a near future. WILD having trouble now is something that can be healed, but a strong phanteon is a problem for everyone.

>>1041233

I agree with this, but I'd add two things:

1: Bring Mona along with Deus

2: QB and Kris watch over Virge like hawks in the pocket estate, keeping him out of trouble.

>>1041148
A

Hunter, Mia, and Key are automatically in the party to fight, with a guaranteed 10% chance of post-combat complications.

Hunter and Key don't need escorts, but we need Mona and/or Deus in order to bring anyone else.

If Mia isn't immune and needs an escort, then she can be with Deus (+0% post-combat complication) and I also want to bring Kris in with them. (+5% post-combat complication) But if Mia is immune and doesn't need an escort, then Deus can escort Kris. (+0% post-combat complication)

Mona can escort Nuki. (+5% post-combat complication)

So the party will consist of Hunter, Mia, Key, Nuki, Kris, Mona, and Deus with a 20% chance of post-combat complications (or 15% depending on if Mia needs Deus to escort her or not). QB and Virge will remain in the pocket estate.

Any thoughts on this?

Once we kill Virge's body...
copy his soul in the bell of souls! just to see if we can.

>>1041234
Yeah, go with this.
We'll probably have Mia kill Virge's head afterwards if Virge does something bad for not bringing him. Plus, it's probably bad to give the Pantheons another god to worship.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/22(Mon)17:55 No. 1041562 ID: 0838d6
File 166121613702.png - (9.62KB , 500x500 , p182.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
The plan of action was clear, you don't want [VIRGE] to get all the power, so killing the thing would be the right move. And even with some mental gymnastics you still don't feel right letting [VIRGE] near the creature. Maybe this is a bad decision, but something gives you a sense of dread when you think about [VIRGE] becoming something more.

You take Mia's advice and have [VIRGE] stay in the estate, guarded by QB and Kris.

[VIRGE]: So, this is it huh, you just take my advice and what?
[VIRGE]: Imprison me again?
[VIRGE]: Can I at least go when this is done, I've got nothing
[VIRGE]: No followers, shitty healing powers, no friends
[VIRGE]: Picked up buy a guy and group who hates my [FAITH]

You can practically taste the frustration coming off of him, the [SPITE], and get the feeling that you'll have to [DEAL WITH HIM] in one way or another when this is over. After taking a few more moments to compose yourself you decide to bring the following members with you.

+10% - Base complication rate for killing the body
+0% - Deus will escort Nuki
+0% - Mona will not be escorting anyone

For a moment you were concerned that Mia needed an escort, but she assures you that with her [BLOOD] powers and rudimentary knowledge of [MANA] she's perfectly capable of protecting herself from the radiation so long as you don't let her get hit.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/22(Mon)17:55 No. 1041563 ID: 0838d6
File 166121615123.png - (12.98KB , 500x500 , p183.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
You, Key, Mia, Nuki, Deus, and Mona all enter the crater. The moment you do, hexagonally gridded shields pop up around your escorted party members. Mia's shield looks more like a cylindrical diamond that ends at two points. You suppose it might just be differences in the way they were taught.

Immediately both you and Key can feel a pressure from the center of the crater, from the radiation. It absolutely reeks of ozone and... something else, burnt glass? Either way, it's pungent and gross and before the two of you go to vomit you feel your [MANA LIVERS] start to kick in and filter out the radiation. You can definitely feel how this might make you feel hungover when it's done. It's almost like you're drinking an incredibly expensive liquor, or injecting it directly into your haemolymph, hm, or do you have blood now, you suppose you could just have both? Being part Mimic is weird.

You continue to walk forward, getting closer to the crater as you acclimate, even spawning a few other complimentary organ systems to help compensate. Eventually, you get about halfway through the crater and the [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] stirs. It looks similar to [VIRGE] in some ways, the underlying color scheme being fundamentally similar. But where it stands out the most is that it appears to almost be molting, shedding that layer that looks familiar to reveal an inky-black purple similar to the spire shards, but dark and twisted.

Mia: Yeah, I don't think [VIRGE] would have been able to do something to that
Key: Key thinks the same
Deus: Is it going through a metamorphosis?
Mona: Potentially an expedited evolutionary period?
Nuki: I... I think it sees us

The creature turns its body to you. There's no visible eyes or mouths that you can see, just jagged crystal and divine flesh. At least, there wasn't. It points a hand towards you, and you see an eye, similar to [VIRGE]'s appearance in its palm. And then you hear a roar as the beast vibrates with fury.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/22(Mon)17:56 No. 1041564 ID: 0838d6
File 166121617436.png - (9.01KB , 500x500 , p184.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
The [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] is about five times bigger than the tallest of your party members, so that even at a distance it still towers over your group. It takes a step towards you and the ground shakes.

Mia: Alright guys, don't let him get near me for a bit!

Mia begins to toss several chunks of hardened blood on the ground, breaking them until a dense red mist surrounds her. Perhaps sensing the threat it turns slightly, making his intention to assault Mia known.

Key immediately acts, hopping onto Nuki's arm and being launched behind the creature. You see her drop seeds from the [FOREST OF EMBRACE], they grow at a rapid rate and start to slow the creature down as she takes to the skies, growing a pair of wings on her back, her wings remind you of a sparrow, only green.

You: Key could fly?!?!
Nuki: Not the time Hunter!
Mona: Let me just…

Mona tosses out two blue tinctures, they splash against the closest of the seeds and spread out towards the rest, faster then the [CORRUPTED DIVINITY]. The seeds grow faster and thicker, tugging at the skin of the beast.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/22(Mon)17:56 No. 1041565 ID: 0838d6
File 166121618792.png - (10.11KB , 500x500 , p185.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
Deus stomps on the ground twice, causing two white cubes to form from the earth. After a few moments of tapping at the air and doing some weird gestures with his hands, he kicks the ground and one of them gets sent rocking high into the sky, leaving a spear behind in it's place.

Deus: What goes up....

But before the cube can do whatever it was going to do, the hand, whose eye was focused purely on Mia, changes it's focus, pauses briefly and fires a laser of white, flecked with purple, disintegrating the object in the sky.

Deus: Must... obviously fail to deliver…

Deus then turns the other cube into some twenty odd spikes in the ground, you can feel the [MANA] near you weaken as he draws the energy into him.

Deus: One sec, try not to touch the ground near the thing if you can, it’s about to get…
Deus: Spikey?
Mona: Ughhhhhhhhhhhh, no jokes right now, puh leaze

You can tell that Nuki is ready to pounce, but is holding back, waiting for your move. She’ll respond to your orders or act independently from you.

How do you buy time for Mia?
- Abilities/Items - https://questden.org/wiki/Crystal_Spire_Stats

Sling us a web, you're a spider-man!
Summon the lightning cobra soul for Nuki to use as an energy whip as you take to the skies and use your iron limbs for hit and run attacks on the titan's neck.

Use the bell of souls, plus shapeshift into a giant spider with scythe-limbs and start fucking that giant monster up. Utilize webs to help the vines slow it down.

Toss Mia the gaseous form potion in case she needs to dodge an attack without moving.

You dont... because MEAT WAGON comes out of nowhere and provides a distraction against the body! The ironbeak crows are agitated by the body and attack it!

(They're also mutated in some way)

>>1041567
This

With giant spider battle form. Keep his arms pointed upward.

>>1041565
Deus said not to touch the ground near the monster, so have Nuki throw you at it! As you’re flying towards the monster, use what Nuki taught you to channel some Energy and use Iron Arms to hit it!

Then use your natural spider abilities to stick on it and use your Grappling Silk to slow it down! And you could probably spit some Sweet Nectar at the ground behind it. As long as it isn’t aware of the nectar, it’ll be attracted towards the smell and it’ll go away from Mia.

Hopefully when it turns to go towards where you spat the Sweet Nectar, it’ll unintentionally wrap itself up in the vines and webs.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/23(Tue)17:49 No. 1041654 ID: 0838d6
File 166130214421.png - (13.47KB , 500x500 , p186.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
You: Would being around the thing on big spikey limbs be a problem?
Deus: Uh, if it’s taller than you, then probably not?
You: Cool, I’ve always wanted to be a GIANT SPIDER!
You: Here, Mia, use the [GASEOUS POTION] if things get outta hand
Mia: Busy here but OKAY!
Bitey: BITEY CAN BECOME GAS!
Mia: SHHHH BITEY CONCENTRATING!

You don’t give Nuki any guidance, trusting her judgment as you first, pull out the [BELL OF SOULS] and send that cobra and deer out to distract. Then you start to shift, your limbs elongating and your body shifting from its once anthropomorphic mass into a more feral form. Your limbs become more scythe-like, taking inspiration from Kris. Your fangs fill not with venom, but with your [SWEET NECTAR], dripping ever so slightly like slobber from a dog. And your thorax… well, it’s big, and you think you see Key eyeing it. You now stand at about half the height of the creature, you did eat a ton of organs and can sustain this mass, but can’t go much further without complications.

Still, it feels absolutely fantastic and you rush towards the beast, you fire a few shots of your grappling silk, and the creature tries to deflect one when you see Nuki appear for a split second mid-air with a kick, knocking the limb back into your line of fire. It hits, and you use it to drag yourself closer, before pinning that arm down and grappling it once more. Unfortunately, that’s all the web you’ve got in the tank after your transformation, but it looks to be enough as the creature’s movement has slowed to a crawl.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/23(Tue)17:49 No. 1041655 ID: 0838d6
File 166130216844.png - (10.38KB , 500x500 , p187.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
You pause for a moment to watch Deus fire several bolts of [MANA] as if they were electricity to his spikes in the ground. They disappear, and a moment later the entire ground erupts in an uncountable number of spikes. With its arms preoccupied, its legs get skewered through, locking it in place. You see purplish gold energy arced with black lightning flowing through it, reminding you of a more twisted version of [VIRGE] from when you found him.

It gives off a scream as it starts to tear at the ground and you rush at it, lacerating it with several strikes of your scythe-like limbs. The cuts aren’t insignificant, but you see no bone, no blood, just [MEAT]. And what’s worse is that the cuts regenerate in less than a few seconds. You continue to dance with the [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] as your anxiety increases ever so slowly.

You: Uhhh, any time now Mia!
Mia: YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO SCAN THIS FLUFFING THING FOR-
Mia: Oh wait you don’t, and I-
Mia: Huh, okay, yeah actually I got it

You spare a glance towards Mia and notice that the mist is condensing into something somewhat reminiscent of a two-pronged fork. Mia’s looking at the [WEAPON] with something reminiscent of a scoff. The creature visibly shakes with fear when it sees the spear, it’s body forming eyes in random places, only to turn those eyes into mouths. It screams a soul-shaking scream. I'm afraid.

Mia: Oh, you know what this is huh?
Mia: Well, if you get an afterlife, have fun with the other dead [AVATARS]!

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/23(Tue)17:49 No. 1041656 ID: 0838d6
File 166130217713.png - (11.94KB , 500x500 , p188.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
She throws the spear, and for a moment everything is silent, all sound is absorbed by the spear as it flies through the air, crashing into the beast. The spear itself engorges, pulsating with a familiar heartbeat, no, it pulses with your heartbeat, it’s… not as uncomfortable as you would have suspected to see that fleshy spear. You must’ve desensitized yourself to this kind of thing with all that weird sex.

The [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] tries to paw at the spear, to extract it, but every time it touches it, it recoils and acts like it’s being burnt or corroded. Eventually, sound returns and you can see the creature panicking, wailing , its legs are fully restrained, but its arms are flailing wildly, pieces of its flesh falling off and sticking to the ground. You look at Mia, finding her drinking a large amount of potions from Mona.

Mia: Don’t just stand there!
Mia: It can’t access [DIVINITY] as long as that spear is stuck to it!
Deus: I didn’t know [BLOOD] could do that
Mia: It’s not always a spear, and is NOW REALLY THE TIME?!?!

Deus appears to be preparing more cubes and gesturing for Nuki to do something. You can’t really see the souls you summoned either, this fight may have been too intense for them.

Who lands the killing blow on the [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] and how do they kill it?

Do it, Hunter! Poke it in the eyes, disarm it, then bisect it. Use your enormous spider butt to shield your friends from the explosion.

The ironbeak crows on a meat wagon finally reach their destination and attack the body, finishing it off.

Mia detonates her spear, converting the titan's Divinity into a pool of thick, fresh blood.
The gorging makes her hornier than ever.

>>1041665
Also this but they don't get the final blow.

>>1041654
>And your thorax…well, it’s big, and you think you see Key eyeing it.
I would say shake your big butt for Key, but now’s not the time for that. Maybe you can do that later when things have calmed down.

>>1041656
It’s a team effort of everyone hitting it with everything they’ve got! And when it’s time to kill it, Hunter somehow trips and his giant spider butt ends up squishing the enemy to death!

……ok, but seriously, everyone hits it with strong attacks to continue weakening it, while anyone that can give buffs, gives them to giant spider Hunter and he mercilessly tears it apart to finish it off!

while I still want Ironbeak crows on a meatwagon to show up as my main choice for the absurdity of it all, if that doesn't happen, I'd prefer Mia over Hunter getting the final blow. fitting that a blood mage takes down a pantheon.

Mia getting the final blow would be pretty fun, if she's able to do it right now. Otherwise, let's let Hunter do it.

>>1041654
>thorax
>Key is eyeing it.
When this is over, you might stay in this form and offer to carry her so she can ride on your thorax.

>>1041656
>who lands the finishing blow
>how do they do it?
If Mia isn't too exhausted, then she should do it as revenge against the Pantheon for hunting down the Blood Mages. While Hunter keeps it pinned down, Mia will use the extra Blood she's got stored inside of Bitey to create lots of exploding Blood projectiles.

But if Mia is too tired from creating that spear, then Hunter will finish this. He is the hunter and this monster is his prey. He'll pounce on it and start tearing it apart.

rolled 6 = 6

---

1 = bad thing

Suggestion 2022/08/25(Thu)20:48 No. 1041849 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166148569891.png - (10.22KB , 500x500 , p189.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
You jump in, flailing your scythe-like limbs, with its regeneration halted, you whittle it away, slowly shearing parts off its limbs, cutting off arms, leaving large gaping holes throughout it. At one point, Key joins you, perching on your thorax and tossing grasping vines out any time it even remotely gets close to hitting you. You’re certainly dealing damage to the thing, but you have no idea what it’ll take to finish this thing. You notice that she’s also holding onto the bell of souls, you wonder what she’s got planned.

You: Uh, so how do we actually kill it?!
Deus: Workin on it!
Mona: Might wanna stand back shugah!

You take Mona’s advice and step back, noticing that Deus has what appears to be a pillar constructed in front of him. Both him and Nuki nod before they look at Mia.

Mia: What, you want me to kill it?
Nuki: I don’t wanna be the one to do it…
Deus: You did say you killed one of these before a second ago right?
Mia: Hunter’s got it handled….
Mia: Okay, yes I really want to kill it, do the thing already.

Deus lets out another stomp, and this time a massive pillar erupts from the ground, pushing the [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] into the sky. It’s floating mid air, wailing, leaking a viscous black ichor. You head back to Mia’s side and see her extract more blood out of Bitey, honestly you have no idea how much [BLOOD] she has collected, it just keeps coming out.

NOT EDMANGO ;) 2022/08/25(Thu)20:48 No. 1041850 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166148572705.png - (14.39KB , 500x500 , p190.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - CONTAINMENT ZONE - THE CRATER
Bitey: THIS GUY BETTER TASTE GOOD I WAS SAVING THIS MEAT
Mia: Yeah yeah, love you too buddy!

Eventually Mia is completely surrounded in orbs of blood, around the size of a marble. She points to the creature.

Mia: Hmm, let’s go with a classic, no fancy lances, no weird bullshit.
Mia: [BLOOD BULLET]

The [CORRUPTED DIVINITY] pauses midair as you feel your adrenaline spike and you watch those many, many marbles of blood dart through the sky with remarkable speed. Each hit causes more and more Ichor to burst from the being, only for you to see it get sucked right back into its body. Eventually, you hear the wailing stop, even as more bullets continue to hit its corpse.

You: Uh, it’s still getting hit
Mia: Okay, I may have miscalculated how many bullets it would take
Deus: Uh, the [CORRUPTED MANA] is charging
Deus: We gotta gooooo!!!!!

The rest of your crew starts to run, you see Deus, Mona, and Mia set up protective shields on their way out of the crater. You, given your copious amount of organs can tell that the mana is condensing around… something, it looks like an orb. The orb detached itself from the body, but the fork is still pierced through it. Could that have been what [VIRGE] would have wanted? Is there some secret there?

Unfortunately there’s no time to investigate as you and your party reach the station and jump into the pocket estate.

NOT EDMANGO ;) 2022/08/25(Thu)20:49 No. 1041851 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166148574246.png - (13.01KB , 500x500 , p191.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - VIRGENOBLE - THE POCKET ESTATE
Even with the protection of the pocket estate, you feel the shaking of this [MANA PULSE] it’s bigger than the others and you can vaguely see the shape of a mushroom through the foggy glass. You know the structures around this place have been utterly destroyed, and that the destruction has probably spread a ridiculous distance.

Deus: What kind of explosion…
Deus: I mean I knew it would be big but…
Mona: The fallout after that will be disastrous
Mona: So much runoff radiation…
Mia: I need more [BLOOD] asap…
[VIRGE]: Yeah, well, can’t say I didn’t warn you

You turn your eyes to look at a very bloodied verge, pinned to the ground underneath a somewhat bruised Kris. QB looks annoyed. You glare at him as you wait for him to talk.

[VIRGE]: What? So I SHOULDN'T try to escape when you’re just going to kill me anyway?
[VIRGE]: I’m just a fuckin head mate!
Mia: Hey hunter, I can make you another fork if you want
Deus: As much as I’d love to study him while he’s alive uhhhh
Deus: If he could do that to a guy with swords for arms by himself….
Mona: Dude’ll probably hunt y’alls down with an army later
[VIRGE]: Oh yeah, just put myself on a platter to old pantheon buddies
[VIRGE]: I’m SURE they’ll just accept me with open arms considering
[VIRGE]: Whoever is running the show is just PRETENDING to be me!
[VIRGE]: Now it’s IMPOSSIBLE for me to find out what the fuck is happening
[VIRGE]: Really, you’ve well and truly fucked us all
Mia: Explain
[VIRGE]: No.
[VIRGE]: I don’t owe you shit.
Key: Key thinks this is a shame
Key: After all, Key has the SOUL of that creature
[VIRGE]: A who what now?

NOT EDMANGO ;) 2022/08/25(Thu)20:49 No. 1041852 ID: 2ca3ce
File 166148575944.png - (10.31KB , 500x500 , p192.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - VIRGENOBLE - THE POCKET ESTATE
You notice Key pull out the bell and it’s… changed, significantly. The bell, once a nice silver, dotted with orbs for the spirits, is now a deep black, like space, with dotted flecks of purple throughout. And it’s very sharp, almost uncomfortable looking to hold. You can tell that there’s only one soul in this thing, but it’s very much not [VIRGE]’s divinity. For a split second, you could have sworn you saw an eye poke out and stare directly at virge.

[VIRGE] looks terrified as Key waves it around.

[VIRGE]: Don’t let that out, nononononono.
[VIRGE]: Please I know you hate me but do NOT ring that.
[VIRGE]: That shouldn’t be here
[VIRGE]: Just destroy it, or put it away somewhere forever
Mia: Wow he seems real scared of it, what if we let it out at him
Mia: Or stabbed it into him?

Honestly, the idea of either appeals to you. And its new form is… rather sharp. You think this is the last thing of significance that you’ll be doing on this journey.

So how do you deal with [VIRGE]?

A. Let him go
B. Kill him
C. Use the [BELL OF [REDACTED]] on him

Well, you can't let him go, the pantheon may hunt him down. In fact, can you kill a divinity without him just going to the afterlife?
C. If Hunter hates him so much, best to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

A, Let him go.

I feel bad for Virge. Ever since the spire exploded, he hasn't gotten a single break. First he landed on a spike and got caught in a death/resurrection cycle, then the first people to come along and find him were a party that hates him, and even after trying to help (in an admittedly self-serving way) he was rejected and had his one shot at DIVINITY taken.

We should cut him a break. Give him some resources, and let him be on his way. Or let him ride along until we reach a place where he wants to jump off, his call.

Fuck no don't ring that thing. It's clearly corrupted.

Anything but that. A, I'd say. Virge is not a threat if Kris and QB were able to take him down, and if he gets stronger at all he'll probably want to rebel against the Pantheon more than take revenge against us-- after all, we just fucked ourselves over more than him.

C I mean, we did say to use the bell of souls on Virge's body before it died, I feel we got a secret ending by doing that. Plus, I don't trust Virge at all.

So lets go ahead and ring that bell for the hell of it. ding dong!

My guess is that it'll bring Virge's head and Virge's body back together, just not be [purity] anymore but something else. We'd probably be able to give that new divinity a voice through Virge head. I feel that divinity really has something to say to us that we should hear.

A. Let him go and give him the [Perfect Gift] as apology.

>>1041864

Now THAT is an interesting idea. Full support.

I don't know what we could give him to make him feel better, and I'm honestly not convinced it won't just be that DIVINITY ORB we saw before the blast. Whatever it ends up being, it should make him feel at least a little better.

>>1041868
You know what, sure. It will even give us an idea of what his true desires are.

>>1041855
Yeah, we totally avoided him being a god. We even "tortured" him for no reason. A perfect gift is the bare mínimm to compensate him.

Even more, we didn't go with him partly because the factions of most of the party were enemies with the PHANTEON, but he is openly opposed to today's PHANTEON. We bullied him and he told us important stuff.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/26(Fri)14:19 No. 1041894 ID: 0838d6
File 166154879727.png - (11.83KB , 500x500 , p193.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - VIRGENOBLE - THE POCKET ESTATE
You haven’t been kind to [VIRGE], in fact, it’s safe to say you’ve been downright cruel to him even though he denounced what his former followers. He was found by someone of an opposing political faction, gave information willingly, albeit with a heavily sketchy and self-serving lean, and seems to generally be a harmless individual without his body.

Maybe… maybe you’ve let your internal bias out a bit too strong in this case, because you’re starting to feel bad for the guy. In fact, you can even see Mia filled with a small amount of remorse at [VIRGE]’s admonishment of your actions. You don’t regret stopping him from becoming a deity, that’s for sure, but… maybe the torture and captivity was a bit much.

You: I… I’m sorry that we’ve treated you with hostility
[VIRGE]: As if.
You: No, I mean it, I, we, let our inherent bias against a group
You: One that caused me specifically a lot of pain I’ll remind you
You: Color our perspective, and uh…
You: The pressure of this whole situation kind of clouded my judgment
Mia: Mine too I guess
[VIRGE]: So, what, I can finally leave?
You: I’m going to do you one better

You pull out [THE PERFECT GIFT]. You wondered why that guy would give this to you, but maybe he saw that its proper use would be to [RIGHT A WRONG]? Either way, this feels like the perfect use to you.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/26(Fri)14:20 No. 1041895 ID: 0838d6
File 166154881108.png - (9.96KB , 500x500 , p194.png )

> [NIGHT, DAY 13] - VIRGENOBLE - THE MANA CRATER
You head outside and move away from the radiation, getting to a safe-spot that Deus cleans up for you. [VIRGE] opens the box with his little wings. Curious, you look inside, seeing two things. One is an egg, about the size of three of your fists combined. The other is a [GOLDEN TICKET]. He looks confused.

[VIRGE]: Tear me? Uh okay.

He uses his nubby little wings to tear up the ticket. A few moments pass and he looks around.

[VIRGE]: Well that was disappointing
???: Ah! I almost missed one-no two!

Your group turns around to notice someone that was definitely not there before. He’s a tall, handsome avian of some kind. Maybe a stork. His footsteps are silent, almost like he’s floating above the ground, and his presence is almost unnoticeable were you not looking at him.

???: Looks like you hatched a bit early there bud
[VIRGE]: I’m probably older than you, wait, are you uh
[GRAY]: Oh, I’m [GRAY], just a stork here for some eggs
[GRAY]: Want a lift out of this place?
[VIRGE]: Please oh god yes
[GRAY]: No using [DIVINITY] in vain in public please!

Your group tries saying something, but he ignores most of the group. Eventually, as they’re about to go, [GRAY] looks over to you.

[GRAY]: Ah, hm. So close.
[GRAY]: Maybe I’ll see you in another life, try to be a little [PURER] next time
You: No thanks, they’re kind of bigots
[GRAY]: Can’t say you’re wrong!

He laughs and then steps to the side, vanishing with [VIRGE] and the egg.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/26(Fri)14:20 No. 1041896 ID: 0838d6
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> [MORNING, DAY 14] - CRYSTAL SPIRE - END
The sun crests over the horizon as you’re left to ponder what just happened. Whatever, it doesn't really matter anyway. You can tell that [VIRGE] is gone, possibly never to return, and he’s with kin that he can relate to probably. At some point the other members of [ARCANUS MOUNTAINS] arrive, attempting to scold Deus and Mona for their rash actions, only to be met by the rest of you clearing up the situation. You decide to leave the body with him, and Mia decides to stay with them for the time being.

Mia: Me and Kris are going to help deal with these guys
Mia: And then I think I’m going to go look for [MY PEOPLE]
Nuki: So this is goodbye?
Kris: Oh I’m sure it won’t be hard to find her
Mia: Hey! I can be low key!
Key: Key doubts this sincerely.

You all laugh and hug it out as you decide to go your separate ways. You get the feeling that if you were to stay any longer then some of the other scientists might want to [STUDY] you and Key, and you’re not about that life.

You head off into the sunrise, back towards the [WILD], with no real destination in mind. You feel free now, free to do whatever you want, to travel, to live, to love. Nuki thinks she’ll stick around. All that free honey access, someone to practice [ENERGY] with, and the freedom to travel is all that she really wants.

Key of course is glued to you at the hip, and really digs your giant form. You think you might wear it more often, it’s kind of growing on you. And QB pops out of the estate, sitting on your big thorax as you travel. Life is good.

> [CRYSTAL SPIRE - END]
> Thank you for playing!

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/26(Fri)14:20 No. 1041897 ID: 0838d6
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> EPILOGUE 1 - FRANCIS
Francis set off immediately after he met you to do two things. First, he resurrected the [HISTORICAL PARASITE], who was very happy to gain life again. And then he dealt with the [CORRUPTED HALF-GOLEM ARTIFICER]. The Artificer was mounting an army to deal with HUNTER and the WILD due to some magical grudge. Unfortunately, the corruption in their mind was too deep, and they were slain before they could do anything of importance.

Any record of him after this moment was lost, but rumors could be heard of a strange lizard with a turtleneck being spotted near reviving branches of the [BLOOD MAGES] whose persecution was at an end.

> EPILOGUE 2 - MANTISLEAF VILLAGE AND THE WILD
Mantisleaf village was the final bastion protecting a large chunk of the settlements from the increasing intensity of the [MANA PULSES]. [THE COUNCIL] were surprised by the bees and the virility of the forest, but took it in stride and used it to protect their kin. Years later this would still be talked about, and hives of massive bees could be found. Re-pollinating the land and spreading the [WILD] with a larger amount of vibrance.

A new breed of [MONSTER TAMER] also came about from this as Mimics became a hot new pet. The slightly more docile version you introduced to the [WILD] becoming an excellent companion. Though they were commonly known to bite anyone that tried to pet them without consent, leading to awkward conversations and the occasional fights.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/26(Fri)14:20 No. 1041898 ID: 0838d6
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> EPILOGUE 3 - CHARISSA AND MIA
Charissa eventually moved on from her heartbreak and helped to establish trading hubs for the re-emerging [BLOOD] mages. This of course put a target on her back for a while until she met up with MIA, who immediately beat down anyone attempting genocide to her kin.

They found a new home, one of intense [BLOOD] and [NATURAL] energies of the world. And in that place she founded the world’s first hospital, they only charged [2 FUNDS] to heal anyone of any simple disease, providing affordable healthcare to all. Some say that she used those funds to host underground fighting rings collecting strange beasts and showing off even stranger ones of her own. Those people would of course be right, and no one wanted to mess with her, not after the first few dissenters tried anything.

> EPILOGUE 4 - THE ARCANUS MOUNTAINS
The mushroom field eventually receded, filtering out one of the larger, more infected parts of the [WILD]. This was discovered by DEUS and MONA after a friendly tip from a certain spider and otter-croc. Eventually, the gnoll bold in charge of the restoration was found, happier, healthier, and also part mushroom. His breakthrough helped to develop consumables that could allow members of the [ARCANUS MOUNTAINS] to leave its confines temporarily.

As for the body of [VIRGE’S DIVINITY]... It was never seen again after that fight. Apparently it scattered to ash without any [DIVINITY] or [CORRUPTION] to keep it stable. The chances of studying it were lost, and any evidence that it was there was also lost.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/26(Fri)14:20 No. 1041899 ID: 0838d6
File 166154885388.png - (12.11KB , 500x500 , p198.png )

> EPILOGUE 5 - THE PANTHEON
The pantheon suffered the most of all the factions from the [MANA PULSES] by far due to their large population. While they only lost 1/3 of their population, a similar amount to the rest of the factions, the sheer numbers left a toll on them and their people.

This wasn’t helped by a strange event that occurred where more than half of the believers in [PURITY] were found to be dead, vomiting a black Ichor a little bit after the [MORNING OF DAY 14]. Seeing their society in shambles, they reluctantly decided to bury the hatchet with the [WILD], to which the [WILD] was… quite hesitant, and was offered light reparations for the behavior they displayed previously.

A rumor subsequently went around that followers of [PURITY] were [CORRUPTED] and were the [RINGLEADERS] of their hatred towards other factions, but no one believed this rumor, as the hatred ran deep. There would be no easy scapegoat, but there would be years of apologies and attempts to rebuild.

> EPILOGUE 6 - THE POCKET ESTATE
And what of our heroes who left with the Pocket estate? After checking back on their home, and helping with reconstruction efforts, they left again. It was also at this time that Hunter was given some good news. It turned out that both Key and QB were pregnant! Well, QB was always pregnant, part of being a Queen, but Key’s was a surprise, and in a moment of confusion, Hunter asked the ladies if he should get pregnant too, so he did.

Mamita was brought into the pocket estate, surrounded by a new and growing family, which only made her final years a joy. Nuki spent her time traveling with the group, teaching them to use [ENERGY], and pondering the mysteries of the world. Eventually she stitched together her own child with Hunter and Mamita’s help, sharing her knowledge after getting a little [CURIOUS] about what it would feel like to have a kid of her own.

And eventually, their worries about the [CRYSTAL SPIRE] were put on the backburner as they enjoyed their time together on [CURIO] and the last page of their story closed.

[THANKS FOR READING!]

And now for the post-Quest Q’n’A section that I like to do, what are your thoughts, theories or questions for me?!

So what would'a happened if we rung that bell?

>>1041899
Show us the babies please.

>>1041899
Did Hunter use the Potion of Sex Change to become pregnant?

Plenty-o-questions and stuff. feel free to not answer any of them

Thoughts:
- Congratulations on this being your first quest to break the running gag of having a character walk into a pole! The curse is broken!

Questions:

- Can we see what the historical parasite looks like now with her new body?

- Out of all the characters, the feline beserker didn't really get a mention throughout the story. As a consolation, would she like to say a few words to us before we wrap up the thread?

- Is the meat wagon still on it's journey? what is its destination?

- What was the fate of Skunk bandit? is she dead or mutated by the mana pulses, or is she still out there and/or still a threat?

- You don't have to since the quest is over now, but may you update the stats page one last time? It was really fun to read how everyone was feeling throughout the quest, and was a good addition to the quest, and I kind of want to see a conclusion to that.

- We never got to read the Mineralogy Book, and we only gave it to Nuki to read on her own. What did we miss out on with that?

- what was the thing that surprised you most we as suggesters did in this quest?

- Will there be plans for you to return to this quest in the future?

- ... can I request to see Potion of Sex Change versions of some (not all) of the characters if they took the potion? I'm most curious about Mia and Queen Bee, (with Hunter, Kris, or Key being a close third, fourth and fifth,)

theories:

- I'm wondering if Virge is actually going to become Boss in Catalyst/QOH. Both of them have healing powers, and both have a giant eye on their face... tho the eye looks a bit different between the two, and their names are totally different, so maybe not. Still interesting to think about.

whoops, forgot this question:

we only explored 1/3 of the pocket estate. What else would we have found if we continued exploring?

What did Kris do?

How did Mamita react to the horny forest in the estate?

Loved the quest in all it's aspects (Artistic style, cyoa looks, storytelling, ...). I'm curious about some questions:

- I almos voted for the feline berserker, liked her a lot. How she were? What was of her?
- From where did Francis came? How he met the tool of trust?
- I would love to see the historical parasite alive.

Also we can expect more quest of this style and/or universe? This was fun as hell. I'm curious about the rules used, but thinkning it better I prefer to conserve the magic of not knowing.

Are Mia and Kris also going to have kids?

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/27(Sat)12:36 No. 1041985 ID: 0838d6
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> QnA Intro
Edmango: Hey everybody, another day, another quest done, amiright? This one was a bit different from my normal format, for one, it had nearly the same amount of images as PQ did, but it had half the words, around 50-60K words to be precise. I think it ended up being a lighter load and easier read overall because of it. I wanted it to be shorter, but I always get carried away when I get into the weeds of storytelling, there’s always something more to say and I’m always worried that I won't give you a piece of key information and it’ll feel unfair.

Edmango: But overall I’m pretty satisfied with [cs] we got a nice condensed intro and back story for our protagonist, explored the characters the audience was interested in the most, and got a satisfying conclusion after we built up character motivations. I have to try to do this but cut the length in half next time because jfc sometimes I just go on and on (even though I know a lot of you would prefer that my works were LONGER, somehow).

Edmango: But that’s really all I have to say on the matter. I liked how it came out, time to answer some of your deep cutting questions!

> Babies
My original thoughts were that QB’s babies would still be as dumb as the regular bees, only they’d be bee-spiders and bee-otters and bee-crocs and bee-mimics. Ultimately just adorable orb shaped creatures with the occasional queen larva that appears and is moderately intelligent.

Key would probably only have one baby because she’s smol, and it’d likely take after her otter ancestry and hunter’s spider ancestry with the other half being mimic blood. The kid would probably just climb around all the walls all the time and eat the QB bees randomly and get scolded for it.

As for Hunter’s baby, I imagined that it’d be a shy baby that would probably take after mamita and become very headstrong and spoiled because Mamita is definitely the kind of grandma to spoil her grand-daughter.

> What would have happened if we rung the bell?
It would have summoned a [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] [VIRGE] from this plane of existence. The bell would then go back to normal, but there would be a chance for BAD THINGS to happen in other parts of the multiverse. So, good on you for not ringing it, but now I have this smoking gun around to tell a story about when I want to get around to it.

> Did hunter sex change to get gregnant?
He had a long talk with Key about how a uterus worked, then he got lazy, drank the potion, figured out how it worked, and made his own female sex organs to get gregnant with. Being gregnant was a very humbling experience for our spider I think and Mamita was proud of him for it.

> Meat wagon?
Some say the meat wagon is still on its journey to this day, collecting crows and trash animals, traveling the multiverse. Who truly knows where its destination lies, or when it will appear next.

> Stats Page
I don’t really feel like updating the stats page, the epilogue kind of took care of that for me I think, but I’m glad you liked seeing a glimpse into Hunter’s thoughts of the other characters and their actions. I thought that was a fun little side segment to add.

> Mineralogy book
That was there so you could study the crystal spire rock and turn it into a new sword if that was something you were interested in, turns out you were not interested in that, so it kinda just sat there.

> Most surprising thing
That you decided to bring Hunter to his hometown even though I wrote in the text that he didnt wanna go home. You made him face the home trauma and got to meet series best character Mamita. The mom with the Chancla. I was also surprised how much you focused on Hunter instead of deciding to focus on adventure, but I think the story was better for it.

> Sex change versions of characters
This falls out of my art quota so you’ll have to use your imagination, sorry

> Hidden things in the pocket estate?
I had a ⅓ chance of putting in something else that was cool inside, like a hidden treasure left behind by the previous owner, luckily I didn't have to give you another item that you wouldn’t use!

> What happened to Kris
Kris stayed with Mia and helped protect the new [BLOOD MAGES], he was quite happy to be a guard of renown and also picked up on the use of [BLOOD] with Mia’s guidance.

> Mamita and the horny forest
The forest tried to touch her once, but with a lightning fast swipe of her chancla the vines were cowed. Even the forest cannot withstand her glare.

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/27(Sat)12:36 No. 1041986 ID: 0838d6
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> Who the hell was Francis?
Francis is a reference to Franklin from Perpetuity, how is he in the crystal spire? Why? Because I thought it’d be fun. He’s an ex hug-worker who got the random drop of a historical parasite, then got the sword, and essentially filled the role of protagonist to go fight the crystal spire’s big bad when I realized that you wanted to worry about the wild more.

Was his fight unfair? Yes. That tends to happen when a protagonist walks up to you and demands your shit. But you picked a squad of literal death machines who would win almost any conflict I would toss at you, so I had to give you a curveball. You could have totally won the fight, but you chose long term personal growth over winning the fight and in the end got the mimic babies ending. It’s a fair trade I think.

> What’s the historical parasite looking like now?
She looks like a normal girl with horns that turns into weird space goo when she gets excited. She got a skeleton made of that golem, a resurrection potion, and the flesh of random monsters, all of that then got modified by her [BLOOD] powers until she had a body that vaguely looks normal.

> The Feline Berserker and the Skunk Bandit
They became bandit queens and best buddies. The stinky cat and the stinky skunk terrorized kin and were never caught. I was gonna write an epilogue about them, but felt like it was kind of ignored by the suggestions when the topic came up so I didn’t bother.

> I want More Crystal Spire
Well I’m working on a videogame set in a vaguely crystal spire adjacent universe, so you’ll get that wish. But likely I won’t do another quest in this setting and would instead make another CYOA chart for a whole new setting but using the same power system since I feel like Energy/Faith/Mana/Wild/Blood/Phys is a pretty solid foundation to work from.

> Mia + Kris = Kids?
I’ll leave that one up to your imagination, they do say that when rabbits breed they multiply, so it’d bound to happen eventually right?

EDMANGO-ING-THE-DISTANCE 2022/08/27(Sat)12:37 No. 1041987 ID: 0838d6
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> Mechanics and style
Glad you guys liked it! I worked hard in the beginning to sort of establish a tone and style of everything with the chart, then Tippler used the colors I established and a simple style to sorta make things pop and the rest fell into place.

I’ll probably do more stuff using this art style because it’s my favorite that he’s done for my stories. As for the mechanics behind it, it’s not a secret or anything. I just came up with 5 “major plots” and 5 “minor plots” and wrote them down in a doc. I gauged where you were going and sprinkled them in narratively and sorta honed down on the ones you guys picked.

I then made sure to have nearly all choices be important for one reason or another, even if it was a small “who do you talk to” you were guaranteed to get a scene of some importance or that progresses something. That was probably the hardest part, giving choices that would feel good at every branch. I also tried to make the story take place over a longer amount of in-game time and I think that led to you feeling like the characters actually grew together over time, two weeks is more impactful than 3 days I think.

The last thing I did was separate the story into “arcs” . Basically there was a conflict/objective in each area you went to and when you left you had attempted to resolve it and it acted as an arc of the story. For example, we had the [INTRO] arc where you met everyone and tried to get more items. Then there was the [HOME] arc where you dealt with Charissa and Hunter’s trauma, then there was the [TRAVEL] arc where you saw the effects of info that you came across and got your ass smacked. And then there was the [CONCLUSION] arc where it took all the things you worked on and wrapped them up in a neat package.

I didn’t micromanage things like I did in PQ and mostly had stuff happen as it made sense narratively, I also scoped up and down as things needed so that we could focus on characters or travel or overarching story events. I was mostly worried that I threw too many characters at you guys but it turned out fine and the minor characters didn’t really get in the way.

Edmango: I think that answers all the questions! Thanks for enjoying my stories y’all! Next is gonna be something [weird], how weird? Well I plan to lean on absurdism and weird power scaling but the setting is currently up in the air. Something super-sentai-like? Something set in the Lust Quest universe? Something that’s more of a traditional cultivation story? S h r u g.

Edmango: Oh, and one last thing, if you could be so kind as to fill out this poll of who your favorite character was I’d appreciate it! It’s a pick 3 system, so no need to worry if you cant pick just one!


https://forms.gle/WW6RPdmWvitoyQRGA