Remade (A "Video Game" Quest)

[DangerKitty]

Hello I'm DangerKitty nice to meet you. I'm a novice writer and Video game developer. seeking for a way to develop these two skills i decided to do a quest that i will turn into a text adventure/Choose your own adventure video game after the quest is completed. It will be free! So there will be one major difference between votes in this game. "Permanent votes" and everything else. Permanent votes are decisions that can be made in the quest but will not be included into the game after completion and will be hard baked into the story. This is to cut down on the amount of time it will take to develop the story as i will need to flesh out the storyline to all paths not taken. So make sure to vote! This story is about despair and hope. A classic pair. This is my first quest however and i am doing this to improve my writing so please give me feedback

Spoiler: TRIGGER WARNING

Attempted Suicide. Not graphic

As you watch people get up to leave your fathers funeral you think I never quite realized how much of your life can hang on a single person. You watch as your dad's co-workers leave, you watch as the neighbor leaves, as your dads manager leaves and you let out a small sigh as everyone with the thinnest of connections to your father file out one by one. It was a small funeral, the kind that you might give from obligation than respect. You knew your father was a serious man, but you thought that surely he had some friends, somewhere to get away from your ever loud house. As you sit there you hear a lady call the funeral "quaint" behind her silken veil to a muttering of agreements. You look around and the plain grey walls, the dull and barely swept floor, the smattering of chairs and your fathers casket and you suppose you must agree. At least the roof is open.

You lean back in your chair watching your mother desperately try to keep her hands from shaking as she stares at your father's casket. For some reason that hurts you in way few things have since you got the news about the factory's accident.

"Even in a time like this she refuses to break." Your brother voices your thoughts as he stands up and fixes his the sleeves of his borrowed suit. "Is this what we have to look forward to? A "Quaint" little funeral?" His voice seems to be resigned, ragged in ways he rarely did when he wasn't looking at the end of a bottle. At least he was sober today.

You sigh as you look up towards the sky watching a warship begin to depart," You know that's what he had in his will, he wanted better for us. He would have had us burn his body in the gutter if he thought he could get away with it. He always pinched money in some of the strangest ways." The ship begins fade into the blue sky.

Your brother gives you a sharp look," Yeah, but that's fucked up. He deserved better than that. He deserved better than what he got. You know that." You nod in response. He seems to want to continue, but he glances away and quickly leaves as your mother approaches.

"I hope that he understands why your father wanted this" Your mother whispers and she watches him stride away. She lays her hand on your shoulder, her grip is firm, both hand and voice devoid of the grief you know she hides. "We need the money so you all can get into a school."

You stand up and give her a thin smile, "He knows, but I think it hurts him to see how little people cared about his passing." You take her hand as you both begin to leave. She would stay much longer straightening chairs and finding all sorts of little excuses to stay but the streets are not completely safe at night, even in times like these.

"All the people who needed to care, do. I hope one day his heart can understand that even if his mind does not." She says as she allows you to lead her away.

You give her a non-committal grunt of agreement before you step into the hallway you glance up at the sky, but the ship is already gone. A shame really, you love the way the sky seems to twist as the warp drives kick in and there are few places that give such a clear view of the sky.

_

As the days tick by your life continues its routine, but without your father or your brother. After he left that funeral you have yet to see him. You know he is alive or the authorities would have come again but whatever he is doing you know does not include his job. The weapons facility reported him absent when your mother called. She is more annoyed than worried but insists that he just needs time to himself to grieve when you talk over dinner.

You think little of it yourself however, in fact you are a little bit jealous. You could never just skip your work like that, you need the money and you know it. A few days after his disappearance as you are about to press your finger to the pad to come back from your lunch shift you think, just for a moment what would happen if you just walked away and took a train to the cluster. You have always looked upon those manifold gleaming towers of strange and alien metals on the horizon and you have always wanted to see them up close, but the moment passes and you step inside. As you take your place on the line and your coworkers welcome you back, you think yourself a coward. You had always thought that had been your lazy brother but maybe you were wrong.

It nears the end of the week as your mother begins to show signs of worry in the ways that only she does. You eat dinner with silverware that has been cleaned several times over as you lament that if your brother were ever around often enough to see when mother gets like this then he would not think her so cold.

That night you wake up from your sleep in a hot panic, you know not why but your dreams have been… intense as of late. Yet try as you might you cannot seem to remember anything. Tonight is different, however, as you bolt up from sleep you remember.

You remember all of it. The gnashing teeth and flashing steel, a tide of beasts flooding down a hill in a wave of savage unadulterated fury. You remember as you heft your spear. You remember you breath slowly escapes you as the tide rolls closer and you can almost feel it as the air thickens with their unnatural fury. Then they are upon you and you struggle in what seems like a vain thrashing. They trample you as you curl into a ball and struggle to resist gnashing teeth and crooked claws. Your dream blurs and you awake.

Deeply disturbed you take a shower as if to wash the dream away. You look up nightmares on the web and the best your search can give you is that your mind is trying to make sense of your father's death through morbid dreams. Rattled but still shakily holding yourself together you force yourself to sleep with a pill.

_

The days pass and you grow restless, your dreams force you to think more and more of your father's death. Your dreams are an endless cycle of terrible beasts and looking for survivors among the twisted, half eaten corpses left behind. You stop attempting to sleep without medication. It costs money, money you can't afford but you have to be awake at your job if you want to keep it.

The second week begins to draw to a close as your mother starts to worry more and more. It takes quite a bit of effort to convince her to give your brother just a little longer. Still you are starting to find it difficult to not share her worry when your brother comes home.

You notice he is still wearing the suit he was at the funeral and you can't help but think of the enormous fee the shop will charge as your mother embraces him. That shocks both of you. You and your brother sit down as mother prepares a dinner that is only slightly larger than usual. You listen to him explain how he wandered the slums and went to the cluster before he was chased away. How he needed time to cope with the whole situation. You tune out until he states that he is going to join the army as a medic. At this your mothers face goes slack and you cover your ears before she explodes at him. You leave them to argue before you go to your room.

Later you go to find him on the roof of your apartment complex standing and looking up at the sky crowded by shabby yet sturdy towers.

"So what really happened?" You ask as you come to stand beside him. He responds with a full bellied laugh.

"What gave me away?"

Your snort as you narrow your eyes but he is still looking up with a faint smile, "Cut the bullshit, you didn't even try that hard. That suit would be far dirtier if you even stepped a foot in the slums, not that you could get away with wearing it there anyways." You go over and lean against the door to the inside. "Speaking of which – what the fuck is wrong with you? You disappear for weeks, you've lost your job and that suit is probably reported stolen at this point. We are scraping by paying for our bills and getting ready for your damn school and now you want to join the army? You know that's a god damn death wish. No one comes back from that, those god damned bugs don't leave survivors" you pause to gain control of yourself with a deep breath and finish "just don't lie to me, please?"

His smile is gone now as he comes over and sits down next to you, "Well it was not all a lie. I did go to the cluster, bummed around there for a bit. Got away with it for a while too on account of the suit probably. Eventually the authorities started to shoo me away. Got mad, they locked me up for a day but it wasn't anything serious." That worries you. Your record is of utmost importance "anyways I got to talking with one of the guards, told him bout dad and all that. He recommended me to this place called the clinic." You can't ignore that.

"We do NOT have the money for some bullshit "medical bills". We don't have the money for some bullshit medical addiction." You scold.

He laughs," Nah man, not like that. Honestly it's kind of a seedy place. Don't get me wrong, its all shiny and clean and shit. After all it is in the cluster, but the people there kind of dodge your questions. Pretty sure it's some illegal testing or something."

"You gonna sprout a third eye, become one of those bugs?" you joke halfheartedly.

"Nah man I'm serious, they do more like mind stuff."

"Oh so you're gonna be a psychic huh? What am I thinking?"

He gets frustrated," NO! They put you in this goddamned machine and it fucks you up. Some shit about experiencing the lives of others. They said it is supposed to help you overcome trauma. They allowed me to do it for free because there can be some bad side effects and they are still trying to figure them out." His outburst surprises you. At the very least you think he's serious. Some time passes as you both watch the clouds drift over the stars. His breathing slows down and you decide to continue the conversation.

"So why would they be testing with something like that?"

His voice is calm now that you are not berating him," Well based off of what they said, probably help soldiers get over their trauma so they can go back to the front lines, but I think that's only a part of it."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it just can't be only a dream. It's too real and you actually get and retain the majority of the skills of whoever you live as. They probably want to train people with it." You finally look at your brother and he looks at you. His eyes are much sterner than you remember, it almost reminds you of father," When they took me out believe it or not I could actually use….magic." and at that you can't help but snicker but his face remains dead serious.

"They proved magic doesn't exist though." You say and he nods," I thought you were in the dreams of an "ancestor" or something not something so….exotic."

"Yeah, they were very interested in it too. I could do it for a bit but I can't anymore, they wouldn't tell me why but I think I know. I think they figured out some way to have you sit in on the life of someone in another world. When I came back I think I took a piece of them with me. There was an energy inside of me, like mana in video games but once I ran out doing circus tricks for them it just wouldn't refill. I think it is because there is no qi to draw upon in our world."

You sigh, he really was going for this wasn't he," So what does that have to do with you joining the army?" you ask.

He grimaces and he voice goes tight," I was a guard at the beginning when the village I protected was destroyed by heavenly beasts. They are beasts sent by heaven to punish humans who dare to try and learn to use qi. But to call them beasts is a disservice to their terror, they are fucking demons. I remember when they came down upon me like a wave of unholy terror. I've never been more terrified in my life."

Suddenly you find his story a tad more believable. You shiver as you remember those terrible nights you spent fearing sleep and your brother buries his head in his hands.

"The damage they cause-"he continues with a fear and awe in his voice that sends shivers down your spine," it beggars belief. When I remember the devastation left behind by them I can't help but think of our family. Our corpses turned to paste beneath the feet of those bugs as they rain hell down from the sky when they finally make it to our world. I can't let that happen."

That kills the conversation for a long while as you stew on what he has said. You notice that the sky is beginning to brighten as you say "Are you sure they didn't mind wipe you? Or that maybe the piece of this person you took back with you isn't causing this? Maybe it will go away if you wait?"

Your brother stands and starts to head inside, after he opens the door he pauses," You might be right, but honestly I can't go back to who I was before. Whatever happened, I have been changed. That may be disturbing to you and you may think I'm throwing my life away, but even if I am I want to die for something worthwhile." The door starts to swing shut as he walks inside

"And I can't think of anything more worthwhile than my family."

_


In the week that comes your brother begins to prepare everything he will need to join the army. He is a constant flurry of activity as he gets his things in order while arguing or dodging mother. You continue working but you can't shake what your brother told you. Alternate worlds and all that stuff you still can't quite believe aside you cannot deny his apparent conviction. You half expect him to just drop what he is doing some day and just say it was all a joke, but as time continues you realize it is not. He has already declared that the money that was for his school should go to you. But you don't know what to do with it, he may have been lazy in some ways but your brother was always smart than you. He was supposed to be the one to lift the family out of this dump.

At work you think of all the possibilities but they just don't seem real to you. You cannot imagine yourself as a scientist, engineer or whatever. It's too sudden and too much has happened far too quickly for you to adjust. Your brother suggests that you become a deep space researcher, the bugs don't inhabit THAT much of the galaxy after all. But you are too afraid that you might run into something even worse, which he admits is technically possible.

Slowly you realize that you never had anything you actually wanted for yourself, you had always put your family first. This realization makes you feel empty, your job at the factory starts to become unbearable. You can't stop thinking of your father. How we worked his entire life to provide for his family and died having never done anything for himself. You were trapped in his legacy. You cared so much for your family that you never even considered doing anything for yourself and now that you have the chance you can't take it because of all the ways it could go wrong. You begin to drown in your own mind.

You admit as much to your brother later that night as he is packing to leave the next morning. You admit that you are weak. You admit that you are pathetic and you admit that you could not do what he is doing. His rebukes and reprisals don't reach you. His praise falls on deaf ears. He begins to yell at you and scream at you, which attracts your mother. You curl in on yourself as their praise of your cowardice stings you, bruises you.

The next day you find a scrap of paper in your room with an address and a code carefully written in your brothers' handwriting. You wearily stuff it into a drawer

A few days later you are working in your factory when you try to take your own life. A friend coworker stops you and you are suspended from your job. You arrive home and eat dinner with you mother like nothing happened. As you lay in bed, you begin to cry. Then you remember, you remember the claws, the steel. The primal terror that still sears your mind. You reach into your drawer.

_


Morning breaks as you enter the clinic. The receptionist smiles as she greets you. It dies on her face when she sees your plain and sweat drenched clothes, and she freezes when she reads your note. The instructions and doors that you undergo pass like a dream. Blindfolds, bright lights and eyes that look at you like so much trash. Soon you find yourself naked and lying in a machine as they instruct you to try and hold the problem you want to resolve in your mind. Your "Wish". Then the lid closes.

Pain racks your body as you feel as though your very being is ripped out of you. You feel nothing as you drift in what you can only perceive as an endless abyss. Then you shout your wish into that great void. You wish for the blade and claw, to torn asunder and made anew. You wish to be more. Liberated, a feeling of peace washes over you as you wait to become something, anything.

In that great and peaceful nothing, you are heard.

You will be attached to a formidable warrior in another world. Be warned that every class will have weakness you may not foresee. A mighty warrior may not know how to get around anything beyond the simplest of traps. A paladin may be immune to being tempted by petty treasures, but fall for even the most shoddy of rebukes against his god.
[] what are you known for? (Permanent decision)
-[] A Mighty Warrior you strike down your opponents in great and terrible blows
-[] A Crafty and Versatile Mage you always have a spell for every situation
-[] A holy knight, You Mete out justice with an iron fist.
-[] Write in (Must be approved)
[] What weapon do you wield? (Write in) (Permanent decision)
[] You have a partner on this quest are they
-kindred spirits (is likely to share weaknesses and strengths but reduces social friction)
-neutral (May be some overlap in strengths and weakness but not too much, relationship depends on your actions and character)
-grudging partners (They cover for your weakness and you for theirs, however you have an unresolved issue between you.)

I appreciate feedback and i hope you all enjoy.

 

[DangerKitty]

Character Stat Sheet
Julius Ofschneyda Lvl 5 Grand mage Age: 53​

HP 15
(OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO)
MANA 25
(OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO)
????? ??/??
()
????? ??/??
()

Bio Summary From an Anonymous Anasharian storyteller​

Julius Ofschneyda was born into a cult and raised to be the next generation leader from a young age. He studied the art of necromancy. Though he learned studiously, his duties never sat right with him. Thankfully he was saved from this fate when the Church discovered him as he was visiting a sub branch of the cult and crushed it. Put under interrogation Julius Ofschneyda Refused to break. However, he was moved by the kindness of the priests who saw him as an abused child and shockingly volunteered to identify his own parents as the leaders of the cult in the aftermath of the cults downfall a few years later. Pleased, the church allowed him to be attend a prestigious magic school of his choice as an orphan where he became promptly showed his prodigious talent as he became skilled in many fields. He drew the attention of a Grand mage and was adopted.

A new chapter in his life started Julius Ofschneyda learned the art of summoning magic under his adopted father and became an outstandingly talented magician. A few years later he became the companion of the then nascent hero. He became a close companion and teacher of magic to the hero. In return, the hero taught him the magic from his world called Science and XXX XXX took great interest in the magic of "biology". However, the hero quickly outgrew Julius and they regretfully parted ways, though they reportedly remain occasional drinking buddies.

Approximately five years ago Julius created a new form of summoning magic that was dubbed "Spectral Summoning". This new form of magic was astonishingly powerful and earned him the title of Grand Mage. Unfortunately, the partially necromantic nature of this magic has earned him the ire of the church. However at this point Julius was tired of living the adventurers life and now works as an advisor and elite unit for the Royal Family, where he still resides. Rumors say the Church allowed this so that they could keep him under a watchful eye and others that he offered his services to the royal family in return for protection from the church, though none can say for certain.

SKILLS:​

Jack of all Trades (Magic): Julius has mastered nearly every form of basic magic and elements and thus has a great amount of useful tricks up his sleeves for near any situation.
Effecient Caster (Passive): As a grand mage, One of Julius's unique skills at magic is that his control has become so fine tuned that all familiar Spells take one less mana to be preformed, this may not take a spell beneath 1 mana.
Spectral Summoning:Julius summons a ghostly replica of an animal or monster whose biology he is familiar with. Summons last for one hour. Costs 1 mana for small monsters, 3 for medium monsters and 5 for large monsters.
Arcane Knowledge: Julius has a bonus to arcana checks.
Experienced Adventurer: Julius has a +1 to avoid when targeted by a dungeon trap. if a trap is unavoidable, 1 damage is negated. Julius has a bonus to trap detection.
Jaded: Your wide travels have shown both wonders and horrors beyond the ken of most. You are not affected by normal scenes of gore and death.
Eidetic memory: You have perfect recall. As long as you've heard or read something, you can reproduce it in detail with no real difficulty.

 

[DangerKitty]

Character Stat Sheet
Julius Ofschneyda Lvl 5 Grand mage Age: 53​

HP 15
(OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO)
MANA 25
(OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO)
????? ??/??
()
????? ??/??
()

Bio Summary From an Anonymous Anasharian storyteller​

Julius Ofschneyda was born into a cult and raised to be the next generation leader from a young age. He studied the art of necromancy. Though he learned studiously, his duties never sat right with him. Thankfully he was saved from this fate when the Church discovered him as he was visiting a sub branch of the cult and crushed it. Put under interrogation Julius Ofschneyda Refused to break. However, he was moved by the kindness of the priests who saw him as an abused child and shockingly volunteered to identify his own parents as the leaders of the cult in the aftermath of the cults downfall a few years later. Pleased, the church allowed him to be attend a prestigious magic school of his choice as an orphan where he became promptly showed his prodigious talent as he became skilled in many fields. He drew the attention of a Grand mage and was adopted.

A new chapter in his life started Julius Ofschneyda learned the art of summoning magic under his adopted father and became an outstandingly talented magician. A few years later he became the companion of the then nascent hero. He became a close companion and teacher of magic to the hero. In return, the hero taught him the magic from his world called Science and XXX XXX took great interest in the magic of "biology". However, the hero quickly outgrew Julius and they regretfully parted ways, though they reportedly remain occasional drinking buddies.

Approximately five years ago Julius created a new form of summoning magic that was dubbed "Spectral Summoning". This new form of magic was astonishingly powerful and earned him the title of Grand Mage. Unfortunately, the partially necromantic nature of this magic has earned him the ire of the church. However at this point Julius was tired of living the adventurers life and now works as an advisor and elite unit for the Royal Family, where he still resides. Rumors say the Church allowed this so that they could keep him under a watchful eye and others that he offered his services to the royal family in return for protection from the church, though none can say for certain.

SKILLS:​

Jack of all Trades (Magic): Julius has mastered nearly every form of basic magic and elements and thus has a great amount of useful tricks up his sleeves for near any situation.
Effecient Caster (Passive): As a grand mage, One of Julius's unique skills at magic is that his control has become so fine tuned that all familiar Spells take one less mana to be preformed, this may not take a spell beneath 1 mana.
Spectral Summoning:Julius summons a ghostly replica of an animal or monster whose biology he is familiar with. Summons last for one hour. Costs 1 mana for small monsters, 3 for medium monsters and 5 for large monsters.
Arcane Knowledge: Julius has a bonus to arcana checks.
Experienced Adventurer: Julius has a +1 to avoid when targeted by a dungeon trap. if a trap is unavoidable, 1 damage is negated. Julius has a bonus to trap detection.


VOTE: hi, though i'd give yall a chance to build your character a bit more in this space between story updates. advice and critique's are welcome. You may choose one name and two traits. I have only included two example traits to encourage write in's though of course i reserve the right to veto. Please be aware that traits may have unintended consequences and effects you may not expect. I would appreciate if plan voting is used for the traits.

[]name
Traits:
-[] Awareness: Your career as an adventurer has taught you that those who are caught by surprise are often the first to die. You don't intend to be. You gain a large bonus to all perception checks.
-[] Headstrong: your years of training an adventuring has resulted in a will that is harder to break than most. you have a small bonus to will checks.
-[] Write in

 

[DangerKitty]

Ch.2​

You lose sense of time in that great and seemingly infinite nothing, yet as time passes you feel yourself begin to be pulled towards some greater destination. It is gentle at first, but quickly accelerates like a whirlpool as it sucks you in. As it sucks you down your consciousness, fragmented as it already is, fades. Then as your consciousness is fading you feel yourself attach to something. It is highly uncomfortable at first but you quickly adjust. Curious your consciousness reaches out to it.

Memories flow into you like a roaring tide. Senses familiar yet alien assault you as your bond becomes stronger and stronger and your consciousness merges with another.

_


"Ya, know ya could ave at least gone outside if ya were gon puke ur guts all over my damn floor" The shopkeeper chided you.

While you can empathize with the man, you find it difficult to care with the sudden wave of nausea that washed over you. The sick feeling in your stomach had been building in your stomach for the last few hours, ever since you rode into this little shit stain on the country side at least. You grimace as you give him a silver coin.

"Apologies, friend I think my rations may have gone rotten. Speaking of which, Ill take a week of rations, hopefully these will last longer. Keep the change, as apology for the mess" You say in a half prayer.

After your purchase is done you go outside. You are feeling much better now that you have gotten whatever that was out of your system. Now that you aren't in a mortal struggle with your gut, you take another look at the town. You suppose calling it a shit stain may be a tad rude, but not much as it IS a very small town, just a few houses, a store and a church. You suppose the store was nicer than you would have expected, it sticks it a little bit, as one might expect just some stalls in a town like this. Not a modestly sized and well maintained stone building.

With a sigh you head over to the church. You wish so terribly much that your boss had allowed you to pair up with your old warrior friend Nash for this quest. At least he would not stab you in the back, you think. You open the modest wooden doors to the church and are greeted by a man in a leather tunic and cap sitting on a bench as a nun quietly sweeps the floor around the altar farther in. The man looks up at you and gets up with a gentle smile on his face.

"Greetings friend, might you be Julius Ofschneyda?"

You cringe as he butchers your last name but nod," I hope I haven't been too late, I suffered some delays on the way. You can just call me Julius sir….?"

"Arland Von Reinhart, But you can just call me Arland. Do not worry, you have not tarried too long. The merchant has been waiting." He replies brusquely.

That gives you pause," I thought we were going to just ride out to the dungeon ourselves?"

He nods patiently," That was the plan, however I have been requested to escort a merchant part way to the next town. Just past the woods. There have been reported sightings of beasts there and they wish to make it to the next town unmolested. We will have to go off track a little bit but it will not be a significant detour."

You think about it for a little bit. While a detour would be annoying, the faster this is over the happier you will be to get back to your research, you understand that as a paladin it could affect his reputation if he were to turn down a citizen in need. More than that though, Arland has been far more civil than you had anticipated a member of the church being and you would like to keep it that way so you agree.

The merchants seemed nervous as you both approached them but quickly warm up as Arland shares pleasantries with them. You muse that they must not be very successful merchants as you glance over their wares and clothes. They seem to mostly carry food and some assorted knickknacks and their plain and somewhat worn clothes indicate to you a lack of care for their image. You suppose you don't expect much from country bumpkins.

As you all travel you start to listen to Arland talk with the two merchants of their respective travels

Spoiler: Roll

Observation Check (1D20 DC13) Rolls: 5. Failure

And you slowly tune out of the conversation as you watch the sun go down. The travels of such poor merchants don't interest you much. You would much rather enjoy the scenery and think of new experiments you can do once you get home. As the sun begins to set in earnest you suggest that you all set up camp. They protest, but not too terribly much. As they get camp set up you summon a spectral wolf and instruct it to hunt some small game and bring it back. Your company seems to find this unsettling.

"Please refrain from using necromancy in front of the common folk." Arland takes you aside and instructs you.

You want to argue that it is not necromancy, but you know that is a conversation for another time. You suppose he doesn't want rumors of him consorting with "Necromancers". Not the first time you have been requested for such things. As you all settle down for the night and you begin to cook the game your pet caught you strike up a small conversation with Arland.

"So, what level are you Mr. reinhart?" You ask in a conversational tone.

He sighs," Honestly I expected this talk later, but I am level 4. I am one test away from level 5 however." You nod, that's good you suppose. Level correlates as to how many floors you can clear of an average dungeon by yourself. You have to reach said floor by yourself 3 times in three different dungeons and there are bosses every 5 levels, So the jump from 4 to 5 is a bigger one than most.

"I am level 5 myself, 2 tests away from level 6" you reply. He gives low whistle

"That's pretty good, especially for a mage. You must have some pretty good mana reserves to make it that far on your own." He compliments you.
You laugh, you may like this guy, despite his affiliations. As your talk dies down and you give Arland his food, the merchants excuse themselves as they want to get some spice from the wagon. Arland thanks them for the consideration but says he could not impose on them in such a way. The merchants insist and walk away.

Spoiler: Roll

Observation Check (1D20+5(for eidetic memory) Dc15) Rolls: 16+5. 21. Pass

Yet as you slowly brown your own game you remember seeing nothing of spices or the like in their cart, you suppose that it could have been under some of the vegetables and knickknacks but you find that unlikely. That's not even to mention that most spices can be rather expensive and you know they aren't that affluent. So it doesn't take you long to put two and two together. You suppose that it's not dangerous beasts in this forest, but bandits disguising their tracks as such. That's somewhat clever you muse as you continue to cook your food. You aren't worried about bandits very much and find the whole situation more amusing than threatening. After all they can't even properly pick suitable targets.

You look over at Arland, who is enjoying his food and is now reading what you would assume to be a holy book. Though the book has no visible design or words on its cover at all. As you see the merchants walking back in the distance you notice how their clothes are just a bit bulkier than they were before. You glance at Arland again, this could be a good test to see how your companion handles under pressure.


This felt like it was longer when I was actually writing it lol. now it looks so small. oh well i guess.

[] Attack the "merchants" immediately.
[] Reveal that you know what going on and threaten them to ??? (Write in)
[] Pretend you haven't noticed anything and let things play out, but be ready to spring into action
[] Pretend you haven't noticed anything and try to push Arland out as bait, but be ready to jump in and save him if he gets in trouble.
[] Write in.

 

[DangerKitty]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[] Subtly alert Arland, but let him take care of the situation

You sigh, there is no need to purposely get him into a poor situation. If things went poorly he might take offense with you. So before the "Merchants" arrive you motion to get Arland's attention and say,

"Strange for merchants to wear armor to bed, no?"

Arland glances at the merchants and lets out a sigh," Leave it, Mage." He returns to his meal.

The merchants rejoin you both as they offer some spice to go with the meal. You are surprised that they actually were able to produce some real spice. However, you don't even need to try and inspect it to notice the weak sleep magic that coats it. You suppose that this is how they try and lower the guard of those they aren't confident in ambushing. However, it is still spice and despite its poor quality this is your last chance to eat even kind of well before the dive, so you generously apply it to your food and mutter a dispel as lift it up to your mouth. You do not fail to notice how their shoulders seem to lose some tension you didn't notice as you bite into the meat. After a few minutes you begin to act drowsy and they eat it up. However you note that Arland is not following along with your play. Spoilsport.

Spoiler: Roll

Perception Check (1D20 DC 10) Roll(S): 10. Bare Success

In fact, you don't aren't sure but he seems almost disappointed in you. Oh god, he's bought your performance too hasn't he. Mayhap he isn't the most subtle man, or maybe your acting is better than you thought. The merchants interrupt your thoughts

"Ah Mr. Arland could we trouble you to help us fix one of the wagon wheels? We are afraid it's in danger of breaking."

He nods and looks at you with what you are now coming to recognize as contempt or maybe it's just his face. You are not sure, "will you be able to tend the fire Julius?" he asks.

Annoyed you give him a response and twist your words as the leave your mouth," Ah, Don't worry friend, I'll be fine. don't worry about me. It's an act." You watch with satisfaction as his eyes widen a bit with surprise as he hears your secret message and he turns to go with the merchants. You always liked that spell.

You settle in and pretend to fall asleep even as you use your wind magic to carry the sound a bit farther so you can hear what is going on. You hear them stop on the other side of the wagon and the footsteps from the forest even farther away creeping in slowly.

You hear one of the masquerading bandits ask Arland," Watcha lookin at? The wheel down there."

"I am looking at the sky, It is beautiful is it not?" you hear him say with quiet wonder.

"Sure I suppose so, but come on hurry up. I wanna go to bed." The "Merchant" grumbles.

"I suppose such simple pleasures are beyond you. It is a beautiful night. It's sight is a gift from God. I count it a blessing that this shall be the last gift that will be wasted on you." You hear steel get drawn and bowstrings in the forest tighten as through your cracked eyes you see a great flash and hear metal meet flesh. You can feel the divine energy in you magic sense crackle and hear the way it crushes and scorches mortal flesh as Arland mutters spells in his divine tongue.

Scarce ten minutes pass by before Arland returns to the fire, His leather tunic replaced with plate armor and a mace and shield in his hands. While his armor remains clean his gauntlets and mace are stained with blood and brain, still steaming as he sits down and slowly takes out some water and a much used rag to clean it with.

You decide to break the silence as he begins to clean his weapons, "I must confess, I thought you would at least give them a chance to surrender."

He gives you a serious look, "Their fates were decided the moment they set upon their crooked path. I will not offer them mercy and risk the lives of the innocent should they return to their crimes." He pauses as he finishes cleaning," You too should reconsider your choice of magic lest you be led astray."

Ugh, you knew he was going to bring it up eventually," While I will admit it bares semblance to necromancy, it is not. I seek only to perfect the art of summoning so that they are near indistinguishable from their real life counterparts."

Arland sighs as he mutters a word and his plate armor turns back into the leather tunic he normally sports and his shield and mace are replaced by his holy book, "So too, do necromancers seek to create the living from the dead, you seek to create the living from nothing. While you do not defile graves, it can be said what you do is a far greater act of heresy as you still attempt to step into the realm of gods."

You snort, "Magic is the tools with which we shape that which the gods have deemed worthy for us to use. If they did not wish for us to have these tools then we would not."

"Tools can be abused, but enough. For now, we will sleep."

You snort as you let it go. The night is already burning away, and you do need to sleep. So you go to sleep as the smell of blood and charred flesh slowly fills the air.

_



The next morning you both take the wagon the rest of the way to the dungeon after incinerating the bodies of the bandits. You see the aftermath and note that between the blows caused by his mace and those cause by his magic, his magic seems fair more deadly as those corpses are seared a charcoal white or crushed as if by a great weight. The ride to the dungeon however, is otherwise uneventful. The mouth of the dungeon is little more than a mere gash in the forest floor, as if opened by an earthquake. With some makeshift stairs that those before you have made.

You talk with Arland and the two of you are trying to decide who will go first. In experienced parties of those who have high levels it is common for for each party member to take on parts of the first floor by themselves, as the danger is low and it's a good test of combat ability. This allows the party to work better on later floors where things can get more dangerous. While you would like a chance to show off, you did not actually get to see Arland in action. Arland himself seems to favor that you both go half and half for the first floor and go all out.


What do you push for?

[] You take on the entire first floor yourself (Will show Arland much of your power and skills)
[] Insist Arland takes on the entire first floor (Will show you much of his power and skills)
[] Split the dungeon half and half (Will show general power level and skills of both of you)
-Who takes the first half, who takes the second. Go all out? (Going all out may exhaust you)

Spoiler: Authors Note

How are yall enjoying the story so far? What aspects do yall think i should work on and what do you think im doing well, if anything?

 

[DangerKitty]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[] Split the dungeon half and half (Will shows general power level and skills of both of you)

-Arland takes first half, you take the second. Do not go all out.

"Alright you go first Arland." You say as Arland is inspecting the stairs.

He looks up at you," I just dealt with the bandits so my mana is going to run out if I go all out, but ok."

He does have a point. You think for a moment and say, "That's why you won't go all out. We should save our trump cards for emergencies, we are just trying to get a feel for each other right now anyways."

"I'd agree, but knowing each other's full capabilities can be important in later floors. If we are ever going to be able to afford displaying our full abilities then it would be now would it not?

You nod," Yes, however both of us are fairly strong and high leveled adventurers so we are unlikely to run into problems where we would need to. After all, it was estimated from the mana measurements that this is only a 5 floor dungeon that is ranked A for the amount of people who haven't managed to come back. So it is short but more difficult than most. We can clear it most likely, but I'm not interested in putting my life on the line here. We will back out far before we need to play all of our trump cards."

Arland seems irritated by your speech," We should aim to clear the dungeon. The longer this dungeon lasts the greater the danger for surrounding villages. If we fail to clear this dungeon because you lack a spine then I swear I will-"he takes a moment to calm down"-I will have the church inform the King of your cowardice in the face of duty."

You suppose you could have worded that better." I'm not saying I will not do my duty. I am saying that if the dungeon proves more than we can handle then we should protect the surrounding villages while a full subjugation force can be made."

Arland listens to you and he nod in agreement," Fair enough. Well then. Stay close to me, this should be easy enough work." He says as he descends the stairs.

And indeed it does seem easy enough you think as you both proceed into the dungeon. The walls are made of stone, though they are cracked and riddle with holes and various greenery. For the first bit you both encounter no resistance. You both run into some traps which Arland easily takes care of, typically by triggering them from a distance. Arland smashes some slimes and lone creatures or insects, but nothing that cant be solved with a single strike or spell. Then you finally meet some real enemies, Wargs that came at Arland with fang and claw. You are hanging back far enough that most don't seem to notice you, and those that do you redirect them back to Arland by just pushing them back his way till they give up on you.

Arland seems to handle things fairly well, now that you are witnessing him in action with your own eyes. He is very methodical in his fighting, he wastes very little movement. Near every fang and claw is deflected off his shield, and those that are not are met with his crushing mace or with a flash of holy fire. As the battle ends he emerges without a single scratch on him. You appreciate his strength, but note from experience that he seems to lean on his divine spells a bit too much. If he were to run out of mana you think he would not fare so well, though you know not how deep his mana reserves go. They can't be too deep because he is not level 5 yet after all, which means to you that he may occasionally run into issues with having enough mana to face down a boss. All in all you are satisfied however. If you both pace yourselves, then you believe you can count him a dependable ally.

Spoiler: Roll

Perception check DC13 due to seasoned adventurer. Roll 13. 13. Bare pass. Lucky dogs lol

However, you did not fail to notice the Eyes peering from the walls during wake of the fight. Wargs are not always accompanied by masters, but it seems that these ones likely are. You did note that the wargs released seemed to be smaller and weaker than they usually are. You had just assumed it was just a natural curiosity of dungeon monsters, wargs tend to be second floor monsters after all, but now you think it was a test by their masters. You believe it likely to by goblins led by stronger monster. You share your concern with Arland, whom points out that it's your turn to take the lead, but he will defer to you.


Voting time. Since I have more time on my plate now I intend for faster updates. Updates will likely be a bit on the shorter end for fighting segments, to allow for greater player control. Though this was shorter than it will be due to the relative ease of the first dungeon floor. Also note that after any floor is cleared you will be given the option to camp there for the night to recuperate. Voting will close Sunday night at nine and I will try and get the chapter out Monday. Plan format please.

[]Write in
Ex plan:

Plan JK
-[]Have arland continue to take the lead
--[]Sip on magically conjured tea as you have a summon help him out
-[]Blast any mongrels who dare come close to you with fire magic.
-[] if arland dies, laugh and end the mission. Go home

 

[DangerKitty]

Spoiler: Previous Vote winner

[]Wolfpack+Arland
-[] summon 3 medium summons (9 mana) to act as a wolfpack to open up enemies for Arland (taking low risk for the summons and Arland to get the most out of this)
--[] support with spells from behind
--[] summon a bat as a small summon (1 mana) to warn you when enemies are closing in
---[]Summon more if really needed
---[]Sip on magically conjured tea as you have your summons fight as long as the situation isn't too dangerous (hydration is important)

You do not expect much trouble. The goblins obviously have some semblance of tactics but their general power should not be enough to truly press you.

"I think rather than me taking them on alone, we should see how well we work together. You take point and my summons will support you." You inform him as you summon 3 Spectral Wolves into existence.

They trot up to Arland, who gives them a wary eye," After yesterday and today I'm liable to run out of mana at this pace. How likely are your abominations to turn on us if you lose concentration?" he asks.

You smile, it is a fair question after all. The infamous issue with summons is that many a caster have died when they inevitably lose concentration while controlling them. That's not an issue for you however," They won't, in fact I don't need to concentrate at all to maintain them." You say haughtily, at his look you continue," We can talk about it later, if you are curious. For now just focus on fighting and do not use your magic. Save it for later. Let me Strut my stuff." You laugh. Arland just nods in response. Spoilsport, you think as you summon a spectral bat to watch your back.

You all continue through the dungeon as you conjure a magical tea for you to drink. It has no nutritious value, but you do find it soothing. Then one of your dogs lets out a bark right before something gets thrown at your party. It is quickly followed by whistling arrows. Projectiles you were expecting, a smoke bomb you were not. Your eyebrows raise as you duck an arrow that whistles at your head. Unfortunately your bat isn't as lucky as a bolt rips through its body and splatters little bits of ectoplasm on you. Another arrow whistles right into your ches— and is deflected away by your teacup, which shatters. After the volley ends you see that Arland has easily deflected his portion of the volley and that one of your wolves has an arrow sticking out of its ectoplasmic haunch.

Then a small horde of goblins and young wargs burst through the smoke and clash with your frontline. However they prove to be far too weak to even dream of contesting with the combined might of your party, despite the fact they carry gear. Arland even without his magic is still a force to be reckoned with; his shield and mace wielded with complete and utter precision. The few gaps in his defenses left by his lack of magic are more than made up for by your summons. You instruct them to help and fight with Arland, and that they do. Two of the wolves block off the wargs and goblins from surrounding them in the relatively narrow hallway. The third softens targets up for Arland or provides relief. You see it tear a shield right out of the hands of a particularly stout goblin as Arland slams the Edge of his shield right into the goblins face even as his mace splinters the skull of another.

You concern yourself with first dispersing the smoke with a powerful gust of wind. It does little to disturb the battle that your frontline is engaged in, however it opens up your sight to the two goblins whom you see are already nocking their bows yet again. Before they can loose their arrows you speak a few arcane words of power and spear them both with a single earthen spear. That done you summon another bat to replace the one you lost as you watch the battle with the goblins play out. There are only a few left and the battle is swiftly coming to a close. As your spell finishes you hardly have a second to regret expending mana to get your bat back into play into a completed battle when it lets out a sharp cry. You whirl around and see a huge lumbering hobgoblin with a club and three adult battle-scarred wargs coming around the corner your party came from.

You shoot out a fan of flames to keep the wargs away as they begin to run at you and shout a warning to Arland and call back two of your wolves to your aid. Then you are set upon by fang and claw. However you would not have lived this long if you were utterly helpless in melee combat. You twist and weave through their fangs and deflect the hobgoblins club with a large shard of compact ice you have summoned to you hand. However just because your aren't helpless does not mean you are proficient, by the time your two wolves reach you and join the fray you have a gash in your side where a warg managed to bite you, though you took its life in return with your makeshift dagger.

Now that you have a bit more space to breathe as your wolves take your place on the frontline you begin to cast spells again. However the wargs prove too nimble to be caught by your earth spikes and the hobgoblin smashes them with his club as they rise from the earth. Irate you return to a magic that is more favored by you, though more mana intensive, lightning bolts. Your first bolt flings a warg down the narrow hall and into the hob goblin who catches it. However, the there is a significant imbalance between your wolves and the enemy. It is too much and the hobgoblin too strong, the warg you kill had just finished tearing apart one of your summons and the hobgoblin uses it to turn your other wolf into an ectoplasmic stain on the dull stone floor.

You have lasted long enough however, and Arland has arrived to the battle with your other wounded wolf in tow. From there the battle progresses much more smoothly. Arland and your wolf kill the hobgoblin as your kill the final warg with another bolt of magical lightning. As the last monster dies, you breathe a sigh of relief as you sit against the wall and inspect your wound. Its not as bad as you thought but it could be much worse.

Spoiler: Check

Relationship check Arland: 0. Coworkers. Pass! Hp restored.

Arland comes over and insists on inspecting your wound. You offer some polite resistance but accept his help as he mutters a divine spell and heals your wound. You begin to speak but Arland tells you to save it for later. Afterwards you both look around a bit to make sure the area is clear and find that the entrance to the next floor is close by. As Arland begins setting up the camp you realize you have some time before the two of you settle in for the night. You could dissect one of the creatures around you, or perhaps find out where they came from and investigate their camp. This was a very unusual encounter for a first floor fight, and you want answers. However, you also need to prepare for the second floor tomorrow. To which extent you could regain your mana, or perhaps create some spell scrolls for use tomorrow.

Spoiler: Battle Rolls

Surprise attack Roll: Dc 13-3 for knowing an attack is coming. New Dc10: Roll(s). 7. Moderate failure.

First Skirmish Roll: DC13-2 for arland with no magic, -3 one per wolf, -2 for your backup. New DC6: Roll(s). Your party rolls 19. Crushing success. -1Mana. 14/25 mana.

Do you notice the other party sneaking up behind you? Rolls. bat summon autosuccess. -1 mana. 13/25 mana

Close combat Roll: Dc:15-3 enemy caught by surprise-2Per wolf +2 for close combat. New DC: 12. Roll: 5. Major Failure. -1 mana (Reduced by one for efficient Caster.). 12/25 mana. -2 hp, 13/15.

Second Skirmish Roll: DC:15-2 for arland -1 for your wolf. -4 for your backup. New Dc: 8. 18. Crushing success. -2mana (Reduced by two for Efficient Caster). 10/25 mana.

Ending total mana: 25-14= 10 mana.

Votes: You have 4 actions. Plan format please.

[] investigate the corpses of the goblins.
-[]Dissect them? (allows you to summon selected creature. Also may provide certain insights.)
--[] What creature? (Small creatures available. goblin, young wargs. Medium creatures available, Adult wargs. Large Creatures available, Hobgoblin.)
[] Investigate and find their home base. They came out to fight you in force, so there is likely nearly no one there anymore and you may find some clues as to why this party was so strong. May also find treasure.
[] meditate: accelerates mana regeneration. Mana +5 (You will restore 10 mana by sleeping)
[] prepare some spell scrolls for the dungeon tomorrow (1 action per scroll) (Note, you will get a chance to do some of this later.)
-[] What spell? You may imbue them with a summon, an elemental attack of some kind (a supercharged lightning bolt. A flame wall, a poisonous fog, ect) , or pehaps just raw mana to give yourself an on the go recharge? Do note that creating scrolls does cost mana.

 

[DangerKitty]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[] Plan Harvesting The Gains
-[] investigate the corpses of the goblins.
--[]Dissect them? (allows you to summon selected creature. Also may provide certain insights.)
---[] Hobgoblin
-[] investigate the corpses of the goblins.
--[]Dissect them? (allows you to summon selected creature. Also may provide certain insights.)
---[] Adult Wargs
-[] meditate: accelerates mana regeneration. Mana +5 (You will restore 10 mana by sleeping)
-[] Investigate and find their home base. They came out to fight you in force, so there is likely nearly no one there anymore and you may find some clues as to why this party was so strong. May also find treasure.

Well you have much and more that you want to do before you settle in for the night, so you had best make sure your mana is ready for any nasty surprises. That fight had drained much more out of you than you were expecting, because you hadn't prepared properly. You would not let that happen again. But for now you have work to do.

You sit down cross legged and begin to meditate and reach out with your senses, the dungeon is absolutely filled with mana of many elements. It is thick and fairly earthy, slowly you begin to draw it into yourself as you feel the mana flow through your surroundings. You can feel the divine mana from the alarm wards Arland is placing down, the earth from the walls and the air mana drifting in the air. The mana bends to your will and soon you have had as much as you can take, it is dangerous to draw in too much ambient mana in one sitting. You could take a small break and continue, but you have things that need to be done. With a grunt, you get up and head to the corpses from the fight you had earlier.

You look over the assorted mess of monsters and pick one of the adult wargs and drag them to a bit of a cleaner spot. It didn't seem to be the strongest, but it is in the best condition as it is the one you speared in the skull with a chunk of ice. Silently you pick up a rock and morph it into a scalpel. You wouldn't use something like this on a live patient, but it's just fine for a dead monster. Slowly you open it up and take a look inside. As you are going through its guts you quickly get a grasp of its body makeup, as it is quite similar to other canines though a bit more muscular than the majority of them. In addition you find something interesting. There seems to be an organ that is more magical in nature. It appears to make them more servile to their masters as well as enhance communication between them. Your summons are completely loyal to you so the former is useless, but the latter...

Spoiler: warg summon

Summon gained: Warg (Medium Summon: A mutated wolf monster. Similar in strength to wolves, but due tend to work better as a pack due to their slightly magical nature. +1 to group strength when fighting in a pack of three or more.)

"I see the rumors are true." You hear Arland speak with dissatisfaction. You look behind you and see him leaning against the wall," Is there a particular reason you are doing that?" he continues.

"I'm seeing whether this creature was born in the dungeon or not. Also it allows me to summon the creature." You explain to him as you turn back to your task.

Arland keeps staring at you," I don't see why the former matters or how the second relates to your summoning. I know from the rumors it is, but I would like to hear the true reason from you." He states.

"Well I'm glad you are at least open to conversation. That is more than I can say for most of your kind," You say in appreciation," But let us start from the beginning."

You move on to the hobgoblin and begin dissecting it to Arlands dismay. You hear him muttering something like he should have waited longer. You ignore him as you continue," I am trying to see if these creatures were born in the dungeon because if they were not then that means that this floor was not supposed to be this strong and we can continue since the future floors should be much easier. If they are dungeon born then we should leave because the future floors should become exponentially more difficult."

Arland nods," yeah, if the dungeon started out this hard then we would be in for a rough time. I'm sure we could handle it if we played our cards right though. So what did you find out?"

"Well, they seem to not be born in the dungeon. So good news there. As for your other question, first allow me one of my own. How does your magic work."

He takes a second to think about it," Well I just make a prayer to my god thinking of what I want him to do, he demands an offering of my mana and then it just happens."

That's about what you expected him to say, at least he is not dodging your questions," And when you make your prayer you just think something along the lines of "heal this person" or "restore his wounds" right?," When he nods you take that as a que to continue," Well first off the basic difference between your divine magic and my mortal magic is that your god handles the spell casting required to grant your wish, whereas I cannot do something if I do not know the spell or formula that will give me the effect I want. While that does mean that your divine magic is capable of miracles, because no mortal could ever match the spell knowledge of the gods; it does mean that someone who practices divine magic does not tend to understand how complex of a spell they are asking their god for and thus tends to ending up asking for a more complex spell than what they actually need for the situation." As you drone on you notice Arland get more intrigued but also a bit confused.

"And what does that have to do with you dissecting corpses?"

"Well everything really. For example, when you healed the gash in my side, do you understand what was involved in that? You restored fat and flesh. You mended broken bone and split skin. Yet I find it unlikely you thought at all about how complex what you were doing actually was. That is why healing magic is often associated with divine magic. It is extraordinarily complex and the magical formula would likely be unique to every injury and every person as well. When I was traveling with the hero he showed me how complex healing actually is and I experimented with Minthia, the priest of the party. We found that and understanding of what you were asking for and being more specific in your prayer to your god of what you wanted him to do actually made those divine spells much more mana efficient and effective as well." You are about to continue talking about those experiments when you notice that Arland seems to have gone deathly still.

"Are you saying that Minthia actually participated in this desecration of the dead on actual people?" He says in a tone far more serious than you have ever heard from him before.

You have a feeling that maybe you shouldn't have mentioned your work with her, "She watched and learned, but she did not actually touch the corpses."

Arland closes his eyes and quietly mutters," So I suppose you took these lessons and applied it to summoning magic. Studying creature's bodies to make the summons more powerful, mana efficient and closer to the real thing?" He asks. You are surprised he was able to grasp where you were going with it so quickly.

"Yes. I also gave such a long winded explanation to try and get you to think about how you cast your magic." You say as you finish inspecting the body. It was also not a creature made by the dungeon.

Spoiler: Hobgoblin Summon

Summon gained: Hobgoblin (Large Summon: One of the possible evolutions for a goblin. Big and strong, hobgoblins tend to be hunter-warriors for their groups and are unexpectedly good at sneak attacks despite their large size. +1 to strength when fighting a surprised enemy.)

As you get up and wipe your hands clean you hear him say," You indeed have given me much to think about. Excuse me." You hear him say softly. You are coming to recognize that he talks quitter when he is angry.

You know that you are pushing him. This will likely end up with him developing a strong opinion about you one way or another. You believe it for the best however, your decades of experience with the church have taught you that when you let church members formulate an opinion without your influence it tends to be negative. Sometimes extremely so. You will follow up with him later, but you have things you need to do and it would be best to let him chew on that for a little bit before you continue.

You need to get to the bottom of the mystery behind the goblin group and the next place for you to look would be their camp. You have yet to find it but you don't think it will take long. You follow the tracks that the goblins left in their wake. You follow their traces through winding passageways until the passage way turns more cave-like. The small uniform stone hallways slowly turn to rough paths of dirty and rock. You are a decent ways away when you finally happen upon their lair.

It is a wide gash in the stone that looks like it opens up to a decent sized cavern. You see a single goblin with a spear sleepily keeping guard. Using magic to allow you to see in the dark you see that the cavern beyond is quite empty. You see little besides a pair of old goblins with fat yet frail bodies talking worriedly. You suppose that the hunting party has been gone for too long. After watching for a bit you determine that it seems that there are two to three warrior goblins in the camp, including the one keeping a very poor watch on the entrance and a few goblins that are either infirm or seem to be some sort of crafters. You see what seems to be one goblin shaman who is acting as the leader. He seems agitated and is assembling an scouting party out of what few weaklings he has left.


Vote: How do you attack the camp? Plan vote. Thank you for reading. Advice and critiques are welcome.

[] Write in

 

[DangerKitty]

providing a notice. I think i'm going to axe this quest. There are a good amount of reasons for this but i feel like a big portion of it comes down to me doing things a bit wrong. i feel like this is more of a choose your own adventure book and i have failed to enable player agency well enough. this is partly shown by how beyond the first character building vote, there has been no discussion or split in the votes since then really and since that vote participating members have dwindled off. i believe this to have happened for a variety of issues such as my lack of skill as a writer, but i also think it is because of that player agency issue. there are more issues, but in essence i'm axing this because i believe i have failed to create an actual quest or at the very least a properly engaging one.

i think i might make this a game first instead of a quest first. So im not giving up on the story that this was going to be, but rather im going to make it in a form that i believe would fit it more naturally. to that extent i have a question:

From what you have seen of this story so far, what do you think it should be?

[]An RPG
[]A visual novel
[]A text based adventure game
[]something other (Platformer? dating sim? what?)

i'm not giving up on writing though. I started this to practice my writing skill and i still intend to do that. I have just chosen to do so in a way that i think would make for a better quest. i think i'm going to make either a xianxia quest or a fantasy monster POV quest. perhaps even an monster POV quest in an xianxia world. Mostly because i have been into these a lot lately and i enjoy participating in them. So i want to try my hand at doing them especially since they lend themselves much better to player agency. i understand if you are disappointed and are not interested in these. i understand, they are fairly "in" right now so you might have all you can stomach of those genres you want. so i'm offering a seperate vote for those who are interested in sticking with me and my shoddy writing.

What would you prefer to see?
[]A Standard Xianxia (I would have my own twist on it of course)
[]A Standard Monster POV quest
[]A Xianxia Monster POV quest
[]Suggest something else