Deeper (Dungeon Quest)

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It is wetter. Is this how it's meant to be? It is. The Brilliant Sky Pearl pulls the water over us for a time. How do we know this? How would we not know this? We feel Blessed.

Acquired Named Character - Snippy (Crab Warrior)
Racial Traits (Crab - weight class 1)

• Exoskeleton
• Aquatic Adaptation
• Short - of diminutive size for his weight class, Snippy can squeeze into smaller holes etc.
• Any 1.5 (short is a half–trait)

Starting Skills (Bonuses: Martial +2, Leader: +1)

• Called Shot – you may lose one level of vantage on a strike, loose, or throw to target a specific hit location, or two to target an area smaller than the standard target areas (eg the eye slit of a visor) you may not do this if it would put you below -2 vantage (martial)
• Courageous – you are immune to fear; when rallied, this also ends the effects of fear on yourself and allies. When routed this removes fear immunities (leader, martial)

Background(s)

• Crab of the Crabby Cave (+2)

Response to fear: Fight

Snippy ponders under the occasional beams of light from the Brilliant Sky Pearl. The Magnificent Sleeping Shelterer saved Snippy. But why? Snippy ponders, but makes little headway. Has Snippy failed the Grand Sleeping Shelterer, and in its Great Mercy, it saved Snippy anyway? Snippy fought, yes, but the aid did not come to Snippy, until Snippy's defeat. Did the Glorious Sleeping Shelterer disapprove of fighting? Snippy has many questions, but no answers seem forthcoming. What truly is the wish of the Lordly Sleeping Shelterer?

[X] That you may grow stronger, Snippy
[X] That your wisdom may expand, Snippy
[X] That you may live to learn the wonders of this world, Snippy
[X] Write-in

Snippy has been blessed to hear the voice of the Majestic Sleeping Shelterer! Snippy will ponder their words until he understands… This may take some time. He is, in fact, still a crab.

A cloud crosses the Brilliant Sky Pearl.

There is danger in this dark…

A long, still, shade floats at the cave entrance. An eye, the size of a crab, blinks once at the cave mouth. A deep, dark purple head, with fins fluttering slowly slides in, smoothly and silently.

Another still moment passes, and another 2 metres of eel slides into the cave: the full, enormous size of the creature is now apparent to us. Another large head peers into the cave.


Oh dear.

---

A large head peers into the cave. Teeth flash for a brief moment.


Snippy knows this is a fight for survival, a life or death struggle with only one acceptable outcome: Survival. Snippy will not disappoint the Grand Sleeping Shelterer.

The other crabs coalesce into a combat-ready shape, claws snipping. A small handful skitter off to alert the Crab Mermaids; Snippy and the crabs make ready to fight.

An eerie screech and a flick of a large, dark purple tail appears above. Large, horrid eyes and gleaming teeth bared, Snippy is taken off-guard by the eel, but not so off-guard as the other crabs, who scatter in fear!

Snippy feels a mote of anger at the eels as they send his brethren skittering every which way. Not good. The eel from the mouth of the cave lashes out, catching a crab. A crunch echoes, and Snippy's mote of anger blossoms.

Snippy sees muscles tense: the dappled yellow and purple eel is going to eat another sibling! Snippy will not have it! As it's terrible jaws open, Snippy slams them down from above, short of his sibling. The eel that came from above has a small yellow stripe around its neck lunges toward Snippy, who feels the water displace and skitters, burying his claws in the ground. The eel's jaws fail to grasp his hard carapace, and slide off.

The eels seem to realise Snippy has too much fight in him, and begin to chase down more of the scattering siblings.

Crunch!

Snippy tries, but cannot skitter fast enough. More siblings fall.

Crackle!

The eels again take siblings that have strayed too far from Snippy

Snap!

Snippy is failing again! This will not be!

The proverbial crabalry has arrived, and Snippy seizes the opportunity granted by their distraction. As the yellow stripe turns and eyes the horde of black-blue claws and sprouts menacingly, Snippy leaps, snapping at the tail. The eel shrieks, and lashes out with its massive jaws toward the Crab Mermaids, its tail shaking almost dislodging Snippy. The Crab Mermaids dash backwards, folding their tails for maximum speed.

Crunch! Another sibling falls to the dappled one.

Again, Snippy faces the eels alone, but now he has a hold of the Striped one.

There is little Snippy can do about the gluttony of the dappled one, but with a hold on Stripe, Snippy pulls hard to the side, diverting its strike from another sibling.

Once more, the dark armour of the Crab Mermaids appears. This time, they move swiftly and strike true, their snapping claws booming with power . Others use their large claws to divert the bites of the slippery creatures. Snippy takes heart, and strikes again. He feels his claws sink in, and the eel trembles underneath his grip.

Another screech, and the striped eel's shake finally throws Snippy off, but a Crab Mermaid is still holding on and manages one more snip, before finally being thrown off as the eels slink out of the cave.

Survival against this foe is a tremendous victory, but not one all crabs won this day.

---

Thanks to Snippy's heroics, and the mermaid crabalry, the Crab tile was not cleared this turn.

We have 21 Depth

Note: recycle options, features, and upgrades will recur, but vanishingly few of them will appear in two consecutive turns.

Recycle
[X] 5 Depth
[X] Conveniently Shaped Pebbles: Perhaps useful in crab construction?
[X] Large Shell: It's a large, white shell. Conical, too. (Obtain ???)

[X] Expand sideways (1 Depth per tile) X tiles (write-in)

Features - (Must Pick 1, and Can Only Pick 1)
[X] Shrine to The Brilliant Sky Pearl (Cost: 10 depth, discounted to 5 this turn) (Comes with 1 Tile)
[X] Red Bulbous Algae (Cost: 2 Depth) - Algae favoured by crustaceans and smaller fish. Can grow on cave walls. Increases attractiveness to Delvers.
[X] Labyrinthine Coral (Cost: 3 Depth) - Crabs, and other weight class 1 creatures may take refuge in this structure. Prevents any of those creatures in this room from being eradicated (but not from being cleared), unless this structure is completely destroyed.
[X] Dangerous Vent (Cost: 3 Depth)- this vent applies a force to unwary creatures that enter its tile, pushing them. This works both above and below water, and may deal damage if they are pushed into a wall.

Upgrade (Can Only Pick 1):
[X] Crab-Fu (cost: 2 Depth): All Crabs in a room of your choice gain +1 martial (room costs 1 extra Depth per tile to expand after applying this upgrade)
[X] Lively Lake (cost: 3 Depth): Creatures in this underwater room can be projected up to 2 tiles through a tendril of water. Applies both to and from the water.
[X] Colossal Crustaceans (cost: 7 Depth): Whenever you Expand a Crab tile (of any kind), you may choose to apply the Large trait to either the new tile or the old tile. If you have no free ability slots, you may replace an existing ability.

• Large – your weight class increases by 1 (to 2). (Tiles required to support and sustain creatures is their weight class squared (In this case increased from 1→4) and the number that occupy this space is divided by their weight class, rounded down. (In this case decreased from 20→10)

[X] Crab Mermaids (Cordite) Expand (cost: 2 Depth): Our existing crabs have multiplied, and may occupy another tile. (Costs 1 extra for every room they enter on the way to the new room. Corridors count as a room).

Vote by Plan! Or Snippy WILL snip you!
Also please show your work when planning Depth costs to help us spot errors and enact plans (Welcome back to school kids, we open at 8)
If you spot an error let us (or the plan maker, in case of plans) know!