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Post by Wessolf27 on Aug 31, 2017 16:47:39 GMT
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 1, 2017 15:35:09 GMT
>??: Well first off confirm you still have two feet.
Good old Righty, never let you down. Easily among your favorite feet.
>??: Also confirm gender, if applicable.
You're a guy alright, everything's here.
>??: Loot the box! If it's locked, bash the lock off with the chamber pot.
Actually, you're not sure whether or not this is a chamber pot or a water jug, but either way, there's no use smashing this thing on the box. That thing's shut tight.
>??: At least they let you keep your snazzy neck accessory!
You gotta admit, it's definitely the snazziest thing in prison fashion.
And yes, you're the best boy around here, thank you very much.
>??: Check out the front of the cell.
This is new.
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Post by Zerio on Sept 1, 2017 20:03:37 GMT
>??: Examine light blue cylinders.
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Post by Curris on Sept 2, 2017 1:23:47 GMT
Examine severed conduits.
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 2, 2017 13:27:59 GMT
>??: What got you into this cell in the first place?
Honestly, your mind's drawing a blank. The last thing you remember was that you were running to Alva, and then you ended up here.
>??: Whatever that is, it's yours now. Go lay claim to it.
Hold on a second while you put on something appropriate.
YES!
By your noble clan, you claim this weird tube thing in the name of the Yaren Peoples!
...nah, it's just a weird tube with some pretty nasty goo flowing off it. It's already crystallized though. You could feel the tube thrumming with something, but you're not sure. Nor do you want to find out.
>??: Examine light blue cylinders and severed conduits.
You take one of the cylinders and realize it's a large hunk of crystal. You think it might be aetherlite, but you're not sure. If you got something to harness it, maybe you could use it? It's probably spent though.
Those wires look like they used to be wrapped in some sturdy material. You don't wanna know what could've ripped it in half.
>??: Push the box to the side to see if there's anything under it.
Huh? this thing isn't stable, is there something underneath it?
Hey fancy that, there's a key here!
>??: Look out the window.
Normally, that window would be too high to reach, but being a Yaren, walls are no problem for you.
Y-you're in a cave!?
looks like you're gonna be here for a long while.
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Post by Curris on Sept 2, 2017 21:26:51 GMT
You're in a cave? But how will you sunbask? That's a valued tradition amongst lizardfellows!
Also, you seem a capable climber. Scramble to the top of the tube, and peer into the ceiling grating.
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 3, 2017 16:52:36 GMT
>??: You're in a cave? But how will you sunbask? That's a valued tradition amongst lizardfellows!
>??: A cave?! You hate caves! How dare they put you in a cave!
>??: It looks like there's lights out there though- at least it's not an unexplored cave.
This is the worst possible place to end up in. You do not remember how or why you got in here, but you have a feeling that it was something important.
And the worst thing about caves is how dark it can get inside one.
That's it, you're getting out of here ASAP.
>??: Either you're very unlucky or you're a very dangerous or interesting person to be in this kind of prison.
Let's go with "interesting" for now. You've always been good at making friends...but recently they've been the exact wrong kind.
>??: Key -> Shackle
The shackle stays ON
>??: Key → Door
There is no lock on the doorway, just some sort of panel. You give it a prod but nothing happens.
You probably need something to charge them up.
>??: Get pumpkin
What's a pumpkin?
>??: Bite into crystal cylinders.
Nah.
>??: You seem a capable climber. Scramble to the top of the tube, and peer into the ceiling grating.
Hah! Of course! There's probably a way out of here through that grate. You check it out with your expert wall-climbing skills.
The grating is bolted firmly in place, but you can see something stashed inside just out of your reach. You would need something long and narrow...
Twelves' Mercy! There is something lurking in the ducts!
You scramble back down as quickly as you can.
>??: Key → Chest
Now we're talking!
Hey, there's a Conduit in here. That's great. It's a pretty common tool used to cast magic from an aetherlite crystal but it seems to be missing one.
Other than that, there's a green box and a bunch of papers in here. Are they important?
Well, either way, you take them all into your inventory later for safe-keeping.
>??: Recall nameSure, your name is...uh...um... You must've hit your head somewhere. What was your name again? |
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Post by Curris on Sept 3, 2017 19:37:22 GMT
Trisker
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 4, 2017 14:17:35 GMT
>??: Your name is a mighty one. It is the name of a great hero in your culture.
Fitan of Clan Trisker. You were named after a great apostle of Kineo, god of wealth, perfection, and diligence. Hearing stories of them from your parents put a lot of pressure on you to excel while growing up.
Then again, you've got a lot of aunts and uncles named Fitan too.... After a while, the name sorta lost its luster.
>Fitan: In what crafts were or are you skilled in?
You were training to be a Conduit-maker as was the tradition of your clan. That was what set you apart and marked you as nobility among the Yaren.
Until recently, that is.
>The room seems oddly well lit. Do you see any lighting fixtures? Or is your night vision just that good??
You have low light vision. You can't see in complete darkness, but even the ambient lighting coming from outside is more than enough for your eyes.
> Also, splice those severed wires back together to get the nasty-black-goop-O-tron up & running.
There is an entire segment missing between the cables, and not enough wire to join them together.
>While you're at it, read the notes.
The notes are a scrambled mess. Looks like someone was in a hurry or has the worst handwriting you've ever seen. You think you can make out something like 'west wing - - not safe - - the Warden hunts!'
What was that!?
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Post by Curris on Sept 4, 2017 14:40:50 GMT
Tube --> Open! Dramatically fill the room with Smoke and goop. Reveal the *real* monster. (the real monster is man).
Or, you know, reveal something small, and yappy.
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 5, 2017 17:03:25 GMT
>Fitan: Open green lunch box.
You try to open the box but alas, it's locked. And you're starting to get famished in here too. Your stomach protests at the unfairness of it all.
>Fitan: Stick one of the blue things in the conduit.
The crystal is spent, but you know a quick and dirty hack to wring out a last bit of energy out of it. You just need to break off a piece and...
There, it works! It seems like you've gotten a Basic Water Crystal which for now can either be used to:
- heal injuries (1 charge)
- create corrosive acids (1 charge)
These things don't have much of a charge left in them though, so you're gonna have to use them sparingly.
> If you push the goop-O-tron closer to the wall you should have enough reach to splice the wires back together.
The cylinder looks like it's made of solid stone, but you find out it swivels around like the prayer mills back home. It still takes lot of effort to push it, but eventually you manage to nudge it enough to connect the wires.
>That cylinder is trying to pick a fight with you. Don't take none of its guff, squire.
Tube --> Open!
>It's probably a new friend!
>Or, you know, reveal something small, and yappy.
The cylinder starts to hum and whirr, as long rusted mechanisms slowly churn with life.
You feel the cool surface of the Conduit grazing your hand and you feel ready for anything. It is as much a tool for war as it is for crafting -- and countless drills by your father have made sure that you've become a fine hand with one.
You're suddenly face-to-face with a jittery, loud, and very angry monster that's about your size. It thrashes about using its jaws to widen the opening.
Whatever that thing is, it's definitely not a friend at all!
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Post by Curris on Sept 5, 2017 19:15:41 GMT
Well, corrosive slime seems like an ideal weapon, especially as it's contained and not likely to dodge.
However, it could also be angry at containment, and possibly hurt. Healing the little critter might tame it.
Thirdly, using your conduit charge might be an expensive mistake.
So, uh, trust your instinct. Maybe unpower the tube, sealing it again.
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 9, 2017 15:09:56 GMT
Author's Note:Wessolf here. Apologies for the late update. Things have been busy, and coupled with an attempt to increase the quality of the updates a bit, I've ended up taking much longer than usual with these. We hope that you'll continue to enjoy the story nonetheless.
We'll also be changing the structure of the updates a bit to better fit the number of suggestions we're taking.
The creature looks like it is in pain, its body misshapen and having weird crystals growing on it. It also is completely rabid and beyond any help you could manage. All it wants is a bite out of your juicy lizard rump, and you're not going to let that happen!
For the moment it is trapped so you consider your options. The cylinder door is malfunctioning and stuck in a halfway open position, so unpowering it might release the lock mechanism completely.
The acid is fairly strong attack, but one might not be enough to kill the beast and you have only limited number of charges available to you perhaps better spent elsewhere?
Getting the two monsters to fight each other would be a clever idea, but there is no guarantee that they both won't end up chasing after you. The vent is firmly bolted in place, but you could use the acid to dissolve it if you so choose.
Suddenly there is a resounding crash as the beast rams the door open and flops on the floor. It howls and scrapes its claws against the floor as its sickened body struggles up. It turns to you!
You can't decide which one! Should you go for the pot? Or--or!
Before you could decide, the monster got the leg up on you, and you ended up tossing both of them on the floor.
Dangit! You decided too late and ended up wasting your moment.
You bellow out your shrillest yell yet!
The monster is stunned! Now's your chance!
Hang on, what's up with that panel?
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 11, 2017 13:44:12 GMT
You're sure you've probably just called a ton of monsters your way, but you can find a way out of that later. Right now, you need to bail!
You don't know if it's either of those, but that thing's probably your ticket out of here.
You grab the lunchbox and prepare for action.
Most Yaren do. Others have those neck frills that pop up, and you think you've heard of some Yaren having venomous spit, but that one's pretty rare.
Wait, this probably isn't a good time to be thinking about this.
You're not really sure what the heck that thing is. It kinda looks like some kind of Kuduu, the sort that burrows a lot and likes to eat grass roots. Though you don't think this is anywhere near what a Kuduu's supposed to be. Especially with that weird head... maybe you could do that thing where you do that clicking sound with your tongue. They usually like that sound.
*click click*
...
*click click*
...
Welp. Guess not.
Those crystals on the not-Kuduu look like a bunch of raw aetherlite... and that's probably not a good thing. Crystals like that can set off a bunch of magic if you're not careful and can really mess you up if you don't wear proper protection for that. These things need to be processed before they're safe to touch.
You make a sprint for the panel!
Yikes, that stings! You should've known from the color alone those crystals were Fire Aetherlite. You've got to be more careful!
The Not-Kuduu started wailing. Did the flames hurt it too?
(Fitan loses 5 HP.)
(The Not-Kuduu loses ?? HP.)
Are you seriously suggesting to make this worse than it is right now? Just dealing with this thing is bad enough! |
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 14, 2017 15:53:33 GMT
You throw the lunchbox with all your might!!
Unfortunately, your aim was terrible and ended up hitting the not-Kuduu on the head. The monster flails about in pain, you've only made it angrier! You run for cover in the tube the monster was in and pray to Goddess Vakna that you don't end up infected by whatever's in that monster gunk.
You admit, you feel a little sorry for the plight of that not-Kuduu being forced into a weird tube and dealing with agonizing fire crystals. You spend one charge in an attempt to heal the monster.
OH GODS, THIS WAS NOT WHAT YOU WANTED!
Well... it looks like the unrefined aetherlite on the monster's back mixed horribly with your healing spell, and all that's left are bits and pieces of crystal all over the place.
But hey, at least the lunchbox is open! Now what? |
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Post by Curris on Sept 14, 2017 18:49:43 GMT
Collect the crystal bits. See if you can reassemble them.
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Post by Wessolf27 on Sept 17, 2017 17:38:16 GMT
That you do! For now, let's check your stats. It's new and improved.
Racial abilities are the unique skills and traits that many of your people share. The Yaren have a long history of living in forested areas and have sticky fingers that let you climb walls with little trouble. Other than that, you're able to stun and intimidate enemies. Some might flare out their frills to do so, but you have to make do with your cape.
Innate abilities tells what kind of magic you can naturally generate and use. The element one gets is dependent on the person's disposition, desires, and other factors like that. Most people have one or two, and you know at least one of yours already.
Spirit is a fairly rare element, though you're not entirely sure what's it supposed to be about. Like the Goddess of Secrets and Thresholds, Clavis, there's a lot people don't know about it. People say that Spirit is a pretty lucky element to have, but you doubt that a lot considering that you've ended up in a place like this. Still, you ended up learning one of your skills as well.
You've always heard all sorts of voices in your head ever since you started developing magic of your own. Though you try to ignore them sometimes, they've also been very helpful, even if they come up with weird things that you don't even understand, like "pumpkins", seriously, can anyone explain that? You've asked the Baylan about this, and all she said was that they're supposed to be voices from another world.
...let's just say that the powers that be didn't seem to have animated that panel properly. That's it.
You... guess you can dance a little? You don't know if you can call it a victory since you didn't try to kill the creature. Then again, it was going to kill you so... hooray?
You're not really sure what the tube is for, but on closer insprection it seems that this rotten goo has a bit of an aether charge in it. Water if you'd guess from the properties. And if it's gotten this black, it's definitely been overused in some way. Though you're not sure why keep the thing in there with it. Was it to contain it? Heal it? Strengthen it? Either way, you're not sure, but exposure to that much aether isn't good for anyone. Poor thing.
The wires dangling inside also seem to be laced with some kind of chemical... what sort of mad laboratory even is this place?
You don't know what the box is made out of, but sure as Enki, you know this it's a Conduit-Maker's kit which consisted of everything you need to polish and set Essence Aetherlites into Conduits! It's also got some thick gloves for handling Aether as well as a satchel to keep Aetherlite crystals in. The satchel seems to have a bit of weight in it when you picked it up. Turning it over nets you a very good quality Water Essence. Nice!
Unlike those fragments you have Essences have a bit more charges in them and most importantly, are reuseable! It takes at least a day or two to fully recharge a crystal though.
You wear your gloves and collect the shards of fire aetherlite left by the monster, careful not to jostle or drop them. You don't think you can fuse or reassemble them though, they started off as irregularly shaped chunks after all.
Judging from its deep red color, you're sure these things have a high density of aether inside, though you're going to need to polish the crystal to a sort of round shape in order to make them anywhere near usable. Any other shape and the aether just leaks out of the crystal over time.
The Twelve are the gods that helped create the land of Thera with the Creator, Nevos. After Nevos's passing the Twelve were tasked with taking care of the world and the people they created. Each god had a different view on how to best take care of their people, and they fought and argued over it for a long time. But eventually they decided that they should teach them their knowledge, so that the people they created may one day become worthy of the gifts Nevos and the gods had given them.
At least that's what you were taught when you were young. Growing up, things were a little more complicated than that. Though everyone worshiped them, some are more worshiped than others depending on where you are, and some even have different versions of the same story depending on who you've heard it from.
Kineo, the Sculptor, is one of the Twelve. So are Vakna the Healer, and Clavis the Dancer. Each one commanded an element that best represented their ideals and philosophies.
Diligent, unrelenting, and always perfecting, Kineo was always associated with the unyielding nature of Metal, and many of your family did end up with Metal as one of their abilities - but not you for some reason. It's still possible that it could happen though.
Vakna on the other hand was always a famous goddess for being patroness to mothers and the sick. She never turned away a soul that needed her help, and she would cleanse them with her healing waters. However, to those she cannot help, she's also become the goddess of mourning rites.
As for Clavis, she's as you've said, mysterious and whimsical. Her name spoken always in hopes that she might grant them a bit of good fortune, whether in a small game of Patha or in the most darkest of times. She was said to be privy to all the innermost secrets of every soul, and with her key, unlock things within them thought to be all but impossible.
There are more, but you don't want to drag this any further.
Yes, yes there are things up there. Time to leave this place! And you're not spending a moment more to talk to it.
You guess it needs a Water charge to activate. That's simple enough. Spending a charge on the panel makes the bars open.
You find yourself in one of the west wing's corridors. Now what? |
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Post by Wessolf27 on Oct 1, 2017 2:28:00 GMT
WHAT THE HECK IS A PUMPKIN!?
The more you think about it the weirder it is. Being able to open the door from the inside probably means that this wasn't supposed to be a prison in the first place. In fact, this place seems like it wasn't meant to keep you in but something out.
And no matter how much you rack your brains you still can't fathom what got you here in the first place. The last thing you remember is that you were in Alva, and the road there is particularly dense with forests and it's not unheard of that some unlucky chump could get snatched up by unsavory folk out there... No, wait, you got in a fight with Xusohin and threatened to talk to the authorities, regardless of the consequences - but what were you two arguing about? You can't recall a thing!
You grimace as the jumbled mess of thoughts in your head makes you dizzy, and steady yourself against the wall. You can't think straight, especially not on an empty stomach like this!
Granted. You bring it with you.
"Uh... hello to you too!" This is the first time you've ever heard the voices talk directly to you. Still, it's good to have some kind of company here however mental it might be.
You enter the labs... or turns out, the office next to the labs. The place smells like chemicals and mildew, a dead crystal tower lies at the center of the room and scrolls are scattered all over.
Your stomach's grumbling reminds you that you haven't eaten in a while now. Desperate to find food you start digging through the closest thing you find... which is this weird mushroom sitting all the way out here in the dark. You're not quite sure if that's edible though...
Huh? What? Oh right, you should keep an eye out for that Warden person. You don't think he's anywhere even close though.
Author's Notes:
Hello there! Sorry for the long delay, we've been hard at work trying out a new style for this update. This place is going to be quite big, so we made sure to take our time planning and drawing this thing. Also, if you ever want to say hello, you're welcome to drop by at our Discord Channel here! Please note that we're going to be a bit busy today (October 1) so we might not be able to reply immediately. We'll be happy if you join though!  |
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Post by Curris on Oct 1, 2017 3:31:05 GMT
Read the bloody message on the wall?
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Post by Wessolf27 on Oct 5, 2017 16:20:31 GMT
Well there's no reason to be rude here!
"Notes to self:
Check under the desk.
Check for monsters.
Watch your step.
THE WARDEN HUNTS!!
HIDE HIDE HIDE HIDE HIED DHIE EHID!!!"
*clank clank*
Twelve's Graces, this is foreboding. Whoever wrote this must have been seriously scared for their life. Wardens and Monsters... sheesh, you hope to Clavis you don't encounter either of them. They both sound like bad news.
*clank clank*
Wait...
Oh no...
*clank clank*
no no no no no no no no no!!
He's here! |
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Post by Wessolf27 on Oct 12, 2017 17:23:37 GMT
You rappel as fast as you can up to the second floor but you can't seem to get anywhere!"
Then you hear something heavy clank behind you. What was that?!
GAAAAAAAH!! How did he catch you so quickly! Quick, you have to think of something!
Fitan: "Oof... that's a pretty strong grip. Do you uh... work out? It really shows!" Warden: "..." Fitan: "Heh, I thought so... uh, can you let me go now?"
Warden: "..." |
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Post by Wessolf27 on Oct 22, 2017 14:34:49 GMT
Fitan: "I was actually just about to go back to my cell. Just wanted to say how nice this facility is and how well you run it... Handsome?" Warden: "..." Fitan: "Ah, the strong, silent type. Yes, yes. So uh... you know, I don't think it's a very good prison cell if you could get out of it so easily. Does your boss know that or...?" Warden: "..." Fitan: "Uh-huh... well, uh, do you have a name? My name's Fitan, but you can call me whatever you like!" Warden: "..." Fitan: "Oooookay."
Alright, no more Mr. Nice Yaren. You fire a spell--
Well, you should've expected that.
Fitan: "Uhhh... can we go over this? Maybe--" Warden: "Quiet." Fitan: "What?"
Huh, his voice sounds a lot less deep than you expected.
Warden(...?): "Shhh!" Fitan: "No, seriously I don't hear any--"
Suddenly he freezes and cranes his head as if listening to a distant sound...
Warden(??): "Oh crap, the Warden's coming!" |
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Post by ezra on Nov 27, 2017 22:53:45 GMT
Explain to the Warden(??) that it's in both of your best interests to hide from the actual Warden(!!).
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