>>121731
Ah, it tells us of chances for attacking someone, not incoming attacks. So we need to encourage another opening. Try saying "Well I can kindof understand that, nobody likes losing their children." Gesture at them doing so. Move around a bit.

>>121733
"I can see that. Why take it out on me?"

She rears back the spear.

directlybehindandlowthenupandover!

>>121740
Strike the slime behind you, then uh... Perhaps, jump over the slime to use its shield for cover from the girl's spear toss?

>>121741
Without thinking, I reverse the grip, striking low, under the sheild of the phalangeal behind me. Taking Asala's hand, I leap backwards and up, pulling her with me, Up, and over, landing behind the slimes. I catch Asala in my arms, and she blushes heavily.

runrunrunrunrunrunrunrun

>>122104
Better run now! You'll need some space before you can do much of anything. You'd need speed 4 or 5 to kill that many foes. Or some source of lotsa fire.

>>122113
I run directly south, And I hear the distant cries of the vile woman. Spears rain down,m but all of them, miraculously, miss.

They are out of sight.

>>122130
Run a little more, just to be safe.

>>122133
I ran farther, just to be safe.
Gently, I set down Asala.
She's holding something tightly in her hands, but her face is still as red as before. She seems to have trouble meeting my eyes.

That sword is SWEET. You would've been dead, no question about it, if it hadn't been for that power. I'm considering maybe looping around and ambushing them, but Asala might not be enough backup to protect you while you're unconscious from the effort.

...did you jostle her clothing a bit when you lifted her up? Or grabbed an inappropriate location?

>>122149
N-no...

"I... I've never been saved like that before." she mumbles quietly, looking away.

>>122150
"You can thank your father's sword for that. What are you holding there?"

>>122173
Oh wait, better phrasing "Looks like your dad's still looking out for us. What's that you've got there?"

>>122181
"I..." she holds out the oddly-shaped hunk of metal that was once a hammer. "It's all I have of him."

>>122187
How big is the lump? Erhgal wouldn't want it to remain in such a form. It should be reforged into something useful. If it's big enough, a dagger to stab in one of Achilles' eyes would suffice.

>>122335
It's big enough to be reshaped into, well... anything, assuming it's the same size as or smaller than the hammer.

>>122345
Ahhh, shouldn't this be Asala's choice anyway? Just suggest that it should be reforged. We barely knew the guy, and you haven't been around him much longer.

Possible options I can see are: A new sword for Asala, a shield, or a suit of armor.

>>122374
"You should reforge it." I say, looking it over. "The metal is very pure."
"R-really?"
"Quite. Father told me that he both mined and smithed his won hammer, so..." I shrug.
She nods, holding it closer to herself, smiling slighty.
"We need to destroy those beasts." she says shortly, putting the metal into a bag on her back. "Do you have a plan?"

>>122761
"...I'm uncertain." I say after a long pause. "We'll need to either assault them or... I don't know something clever."

"Yer father woulda preferred the lattah." says a familiar voice behind me.

Look at source of voice.

I think I know who it is but it's not like we don't have an enemy who can fake us out like that.

Also, what do you know about leviathans?

>>123358
Leviathans are a sea creature of incredible size that inhabit the seas east of the New World. Not much else is really known.

I turn around and Sal'an wakes, covered in seaweeds and one starfish.

Greet him heartily.

What do people of this world know of flying machines? Regardless of that, we need to get some recon on our enemy before we can form any sort of plan. Did you see any vorn capable of flight?

>>123415
"Good to see you back!"
"Good to be back." he replies, opening his torso. A deluge of water pours out, a single fish flopping on the beach. "I hate watah." he grumbles, tossing the fish back.

Flying mashines? I'm not sure... those spears were made for throwing as much as they were for frontal assault.

We need one of those spears.

Here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna put blessing 3 on your shoes, you're then gonna run back whence you came and obtain one of the spears, and bring it back here (after using a slightly winding path to confuse our enemies) Then, we're going to attach a tiny vorn to the spear, and you're going to bless the spear, at which point Sal'an will throw the spear over Achilles's holdings and Vorana will draw us a map. Run this idea by your allies and see how they like it.

>>123437
I clearly don't like it.

>>123448
No? Can you think of something better then? T'was just a thought.

>>123437
It makes sense.
"Asala, contact Vorana. I'll be back shortly." I lean down and inscribe Blessing on my boots.

I then dash towards where I know the mass of foes lies.

>>123497
be sure to take the long way around when you return so that they cannot pinpoint your point of origin.

>>123518
I quickly make my way through he forest and burst out near the mass of bl-
"AWAY!"there are repeated sounds of thunder and loud whining noises.

That's Jai's voice! She's nearby!

>>123532
spear mission takes second priority, assist Jai.

rolled 9 = 9

---

>>123587
Right!

I veer towards her voice, seeing her atop a rock. There's discarded sheilds all around her, but even more of the black monstrosities. I see them pull spears from somewhere within the mass of gel, and rear them back.

I leap into the air, catching Jai, and tumbling to the ground.
!!!?!

My shoulder! Agh, damnit!

>>123590
Oh hell, not the wounded shoulder thing again. Well, you've got a spear now, in a way. I suggest running, and using Blessing on Jai's gloves so that she can carry you easily if you pass out from the pain. We should get back to Asala and those healing potions.

I wish there was some way to weaponize fire to take out those slimes. Only other way I can think of is using Blessing 4 or 5 on your shoes and just killing them all conventionally.

rolled 17 = 17

---

>>123593
What do you mean, again?! I continue running. Agh, the pain is incredible! At least I'm clear of most of them now.

>>123595
You should be good. Just a bit farther.

rolled 10 = 10

---

>>123597
That's right. Just a little further. I've lost them... My arm is warm and wet... my shoulder doesn't hurt anymore...

>>123604
Goodnight! Looks like we weren't quite as lucky this time around, but we were lucky enough I suppose.

>>123605
Goodnight? What do you me-

%#$%@#

Oh, goddamnit. He passed out. Stupid city boy! I didn't even need your help!

>>123606
Um, hi.

>>123607
Oh man, it's the genius parade in here.

What the hell did you put poor Antares up to now?

>>123606
Well he saved some ammo at least! Let's get him back to camp, then organize a proper assault. If the spear's still stuck in him you may want to remove it and try to administer some sort of temporary bandage if you've got supplies.

Keep the spear, though. It's part of a plan to scout the area.

>>123609
I'm not saying he didn't help. I just didn't want help from him. He makes things complicated. Emotionally and practically.

I remove the spear carefully, bandaging the wound to the best of my ability. I can't believe Hattori sent this bumbling idiot out here. Does he want his son to die?!

>>123611
Well... Either Hattori sent him here to try and fight Achilles with rune magic, since normal magical items can just get taken away and make Achilles even more powerful... or his wife is really dying, and needs that panacea.

I guess it could go either way, what with how fate seems to work around here.

>>123625
Ugh. I don't care at this point. I just want to g-

What.

The boat...

The boat is flying in the air?
I'm not kidding, the boat that Asala was in is flying through the air and oh no not the mountain!
That was my only way home!

>>123628
Then we'll just have to wait for the next boat. There will be one, if we manage to survive long enough.

>>123647
R-right! Just gotta survive!

What the hell were those things?

I pick up the city boy and begin to take him back to ogre-arms.

>>123648
You saw them. The only other thing we know is that they have some kind of 'mother' who looks like a normal teenage girl, but can generate the same slime-based weaponry the smaller slimes do.

Oh, and they're weak to fire. There's so many of them though that it's going to be hard to fight them. If they didn't throw their spears we could use formation tactics and choke points but... it's like fighting a squad of archers with shields. Antares has a trump card, as he can Bless his shoes with a bigass rune to stop time, but uh... then he passes out. I'm not sure if we can kill all of them like that.

>>123659
Hmm...
I have an idea...

Sal'an is made of metal... so... if I were to get him coated in that weird red stuff...

>>123661
Hahaha. Fire golem? Interesting idea. I support it. Is he tough enough to not be bothered by the spears though?

Another idea is to make explosives by inscribing large runes on bottles... but we don't have a Fire rune available, and I'm not sure I want to find out what the blast radius of an Undeath exploding bottle is. I guess we could try a Blessing or Augmentation on a bottle full of red stuff...

>>123685
I don't really know anything about this rune malarky. He'll be fine in a few hours, and those slimy things don't seem inclined to do much else than sit in a big circle anyway.

Finally.

"Oh my god! Ant-antares!"
"He'll be fine. The damn things didn't throw very hard. Hey, clunker!"
"What?"
"How do you feel about being set on fire?"
"Er."

>>123698
I think he might need a bit more detail. Explain about the slimes and their vulnerability to fire.

Asala should have some bottles with Healing inscribed on them, for Antares.

Tell us if Vorana shows up while he's out. We have a plan to scout the enemy that requires her assistance. Actually, it's why we need the spear, and why Antares was running around with blessing on his shoes in the first place.

How many bullets you got left anyway?

Hmm, while we're here, could you tell us about your offensive and defensive abilities? It'd help our plans if we knew for sure what you can do, and this way you can avoid bringing up something that may be embarrassing in front of our "conquering hero" over there. Just a thought.

>>123731
I have forty left. The goblins said they might be able to make more, but... Well, the rounds couldn't be copper-tipped, they'd have to be iron tipped. I'm uncertain how well that would work.

Vorana? Oh, butterfly... She'd not back yet.

"If we cover you in the red stuff that butterfly and her boys make, and set you on fire, you might be able to really hurt the enemy."
"I'm not sure I could handle that..."

>>123759
Ask him why not, and tell him that it'd be awesome. He's get to feel all powerful as he rampaged about.

>>123826
"Heat softens metal." he says simply. "I'm certain I would die. Plus I'm not all steel. Some of my innards are copper, and I think my thinkin' bits ah made of glass."

>>123918
Damn.

Well, they're just sitting in a circle, maybe we can make a catapult and lob burning shit at them.

...wait no that would take way too long.

Are they in the middle of a forest? Um... We could just hollow out a tree, put a bunch of red gel in it, and light it on fire and have Sal'an throw it at them, instead of using a catapult.

>>123936
His eyes dim for a moment in thought.
"first..." he smiles. "Get a tree, I'll hollow it out. I gotsan idear."

>>123945
Alrighty. How big a tree?

>>123958
"Thicker the better." he replies. "And a peice of flint, too."

>>123985
Okay. Got anything for chopping down trees, or can you just rip one out of the ground with your crazy claw hands?

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2010/02/02(Tue)19:37 No. 124137 ID: 6faa8c
File 126516825070.jpg - (438.11KB , 1000x1050 , YoungQueen.jpg )

>>124016
No. He hands me a saw from somewhere in his storage compartment. I use my... dominant hand to begin sawing down the widest tree I can find.

Something lands on my shoulder, looking up at me silently. A tiny Vorn is escorting it.

>>124137
Oh hey, that was quick. It's uh... Vorana's new kid. Heh.

Say hi.

>>124137
Say hi to Wriggle.

>>124149
"Hello?"

It tilts its head to one side, placing a finger to its lips, antennae quivering.

I sigh.
Adorably useless.

>>124166
...poke her in the tummy.

>>124242
*snrk* Don't do that. Um... try doing the goblin headtilt.

>>124246
I tilt my head to one side and bow it forward.

She mimics me.
I finish cutting through the tree. Sal'an approaches, and the creature flies into my hair and hides.

>>124280
Awww, she likes you.

Back to more pressing matters. Ask Sal'an how far he thinks he could trow that spear/javelin.

>>124420
"That ain't what mattahs here." he said, picking up the tree and sawing off one end with ease. "I'm makin' a bomb."

Explain to him that this is for a separate idea that his skills will be required for. That we're considering using a spear as transport for a small Vorn who will then communicate what it has seen to Vorana so she can draw us an aerial map of our enemy's stronghold. Advise him that we are willing to supplement his strength, speed and/or the spear's own flightworthyness to increase altitude. I just wanna get an idea of his abilities.

A bomb? How are we gonna blow them up with it? They don't seem to want to move around much.

>>124430
"That's good. I can throw one pretty far." he hums to himself as he removes his hand and replaces it with a small drill, boring into the tree up to his arm, catching the sawdust in a basket. I hand him my flint, and he lodges it at the lip of the hole, pouring the sawdust in and then gluing a wodden lid atop it. There's a tiny hole at the top.
Then he pours a small amount of a liquid inside and shakes the whole thing vigourosly.
"Gimme the spear." he says, holding out one hand.

Okay, just try not to damage or lose it please.

>>124475
He turns it over in his hand, and a small Vorn alights upon the blade of it, then secures itself tightly to the shaft, a huge eye opening on its back. He picks up the log, then jams it into the sand, the hole facing out towards the mass of black. He steps back, then begins to run. His whole upper body spins as his arm winds back, and then snaps forth instantly.

The spear sails from sight.

How do I shot trip?!H508X.HbJ6 2010/02/03(Wed)21:14 No. 124879 ID: 6faa8c
File 12652604647.png - (5.49KB , 640x480 , Theenemyposition.png )

>>124476
Vorana flutters by and presents me with a wooden plank, etched with details.

...
It seems they have surrounded our former housing, and have taken defensive positioning. It's clear they are waiting for something, and they know where we are, as indicated by the way the sheilds face. Further, there are small gaps in the line, just big enough to prevent any group larger than nine to catch fire at once unless the fire is really large.

>>124879
...alright, is the bomb gonna be big enough?

Ask if Sal'an is familiar with the concept of a "bomblet". Basically, ask if we can rig the bomb to throw out smaller bombs when it explodes, which will explode a few seconds later.

If not, then we're going to have to lure them into a chokepoint, or aim for the leader.

.... Or Bless The Bomb.

>>124998
Level 5 blessing would be nice. Im sure a tree can handle it (ku ku ku). Just remember to run... quickly.

Jai can't Bless stuff. She has no knowledge of Rune Magic. Until Antares wakes up, we're limited to what Asala knows.

Hey, ask Asala what runes she knows.

>>125183
is there any reason we have to attack now?

>>125200
Better to attack now before whatever they're waiting for gets here.

>>125212
I agree wholeheartedly. I'd rather attack sooner than later.

"Ugh..."
Ah, h-
*%*$%&$E#^%&#

Hello again.

>>125494
Good morning, Legion. I expect you executed my plan while I was away?

>>125533
Yeah, we got some scouting data. We're making a bomb right now. You could put a Blessing on it to make it even better!

>>125562
I could do that. There's no way of telling how huge the explosion or fire would be, however.

Want to try?

>>125595
Boy, DO I!

I think we should put a level 4 Blessing on it.

Opinions, other souls of Legion?

>>125606
Explosions are nice and all, but just to be safe, make it size 3.

>>125607
As the voice of horrifically stupid experimentation...

I want to alive later so we can do more fun things, size three.

>Size 3!

Very well. At this size, it's roughly as big around as my face. Sal'an puts it into position, thinking to himself.

Looking at the bomb, it's much better described as a cannon of fire. The flint will spark and the spark will light the oils, setting the sawdust alight. Due to the high amount of air and space, the resulting expansion will be so violent it will erupt from the front, spraring burning cinders, smoke, and splinters everywhere.

...so its a giant claymore?

>>125732
It is a single-use directional flamethrower.

I... Guess we should head for the group of enemies. Have Sal'an carry the bomb, if he's cool with that. Tell him to try to aim for either the leader, or the largest cluster.

>>125806
Now the question is...

How do I attack?

My current resources:
Sal'an, a human-sized golem, and his axe and cannon.

Asala, with her skill at swordplay and strength, not to mention her healing ability.

Jai, with her outdorrsmanship, strange arm, and miniature cannon.

Vorana, and her small horde of creatures. I should note they are not yet fully established here.

...And myself, with the sword I have dubbed the Sword of Free Men. I have deduced it is able to discover ways out of perilous entrapments. That, and my runecrafting. As a reminder: I have Blessing, Courage, Undeath, and Augmentation runes.

Now, how should I approach this horde of sheild and spear?

Ask Jai if you can inscribe some of her bullets. Try one of every rune you know. Fill in the rest with "bless" and make sure the first is a bless bullet. Tell Jai to aim for head of the main goo. If it doesn't currently have a head, then center mass.

Next, you're going to bless Asala's sword, largest size. She's going to cover Jai, and enter the main fray once The canon goes off.

Salan is to wait in the forest for a few minutes. You're going to attempt to lead the goos toward him, in what will seem like a retreat. Should you take too long, he should just barrel in and use his own judgment.

Then use augmentation to inscribe courage on yourself, largest size you can. You're going to be the spearhead of this attack. The plan is to lead them into sal'an's waiting weapon. Got it?

 

>>125984
Right!
I'm going to add the following.

Blessing my armor with maximum size will result in it acting like platemail, for at least a while.

I'm going to bless Asala and Jai's armor as well, such that it is.

I bless her gun with a size 4. I'm not sure what will happen when she fires, but she knows enough that a rune on the gun does affect the bullets, if it is elemental.

I inscribe augment 1 and courage 1 onto Asala's sword. The weight is unchanged, but it turns into a zweihander.

I send Sal'an ahead, to hide in the trees.

!!!

The enemy approaches, in rank and file. Standing up to her chest in a large pile of the blobs is the young woman, looking over the battlefeild from her high vantage point and covered in armor that is a dirty brown in color.

My heart swells with fear and anticipation.

Please suggest an action!

 

Boss music

Do you have time to inscribe? If so, speed level two on your boots, and try to attack the flank closest to Erghal, see if you can draw them toward him, and move out of the way once a decently large group of them is in position.

If you can't, try a relatively head on attack, you're trying to get them to focus on you, again with the intention of leading them into the trap. RIP AND TEAR, ANTARES. RIP AND TEAR.

>>125986
Don't forget to bless your gloves too.

>>126992
I inscribe level 2 blessing on my boots, rushing forth. The leader laughs, and spears launch at me.

I smile.

My mother taught me how to leap and jump. I was able to run atop her thrown spear without blessing boots, when I was two years younger. I hop up, and run on the plane of tossed spears, knocking them from the air and into the sand as I kick off them, driving my sword into the back of a blob while I stand on the sheild of another. Again and again, I mercilessly hack away at their front row, jumping from formation to formation. Thier tight discipline proves to be their undoing, as they aren't taking an actual phalanx but a hedgehog/turtle position, giving me an open platform to run atop.

And with their front line destroyed, Asala moves in. They don't even have time to ready spears as her sword slices two or three deep, her sword cutting with the fury of the recently orphaned. As they move forward and we rip apart their formation, Sal'an moves back, and then strikes the flint.

The first sound is not so much an explosive boom as it is a whoompf. And then there is fire everywhere behind the leader, her babies screaming as fire jumps from one to another, several groups utterly incinerated and even more broken apart.

Jai begins to fire, her bullets punching through the sheilds, and slamming so hard into the sheild behind that it knocks the sheild aside, allowing Asala to punch through with her free hand while the other slashes with the massive blade.

The woman is readying a barbed spear, but... I see a chance!

CHANCE
Run up the shield mass to coup de grace the leader? if you make this suggestion, enter the following into your email feild: dice 1d20+2

rolled 15 + 2 = 17

---

FOR GREAT JUSTICE, COUP DE GRACE.

>>127036
You needed: 7.
You rolled: 15.
DOUBLE SUCCEED BONUS!
You have prevented the death of a party member.

I let out a scream, running at the woman. I have to stop her! I have to stop her because she isn't aiming for me!
My boots shine, and I feel my speed increase. More and more. The world slows as I dash forth, feet slamming against steel as I move up the hill of sheilds, using the spears for handholds as she rears back her hand. No. No! NO NO NO! I won't let you hurt them!

I drop my sword. It isn't keeping up with me. I can feel it tugging at me with every motion, somehow not caught up in the area of speed granted by my boots.
My feet are hot. No... My feet feel like they're on fire! I don't care. I don't care. They are all that matter.

With a scream, a howl, I reach the top and my hand shoots out like a hammer tossed, ripping through her flesh like water. there is no resistance. Something, something alive seperate of the girl, squirms against my hand, and I grab it, tearing it free from her body, still squirming as I crush it. I barely register the look of gratitude on her face as she dies, and the blobs passing as well.

Good. Good. They're okay.

I'll just go to sleep now, if that's okay.