[x] Rush the marid herself. If she summoned these creatures then it stands to reason that defeating her should just make them vanish anyway! Whatever other powers she commands she's unlikely to be able to withstand an assault from two dragons at once, and you doubt she can teleport away in her bound state.
Dragon Harem Quest - Or: Saying You Were Gay Wasn't The Conversation-Ender You Hoped For
- Thread starter ZerbanDaGreat
- Start date
- Original
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
[X] Hey, we can still make this work. Ask who else is in there with Maram, and if they would like to get out and see how the world has changed lately, attend some important upcoming events, meet some very cultured and ancient Dragons, and have us manage all the hoards they've accumulated.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Pulling from earlier in the quest:
So thinking it over a bit Makram is basically...he's sorta like a glorified construction 'bot in a sense. In that, as pretty (and god is he pretty) and as classy as he styles himself to be at the end of the day he does...well. Manual labor. He's not really making stuff per se so much as moving stuff from point A to point B, altering A into C, or acting as what's probably a military asset (since he's pretty powerful offensively). Which follows I think, ifrit are a tier below marid and the one ifrit we've seen is all about translating designs into reality while the one marid we've seen is the custodian/defender of a culturally important location. Sure two points isn't enough to draw definite conclusions but it's enough to draw something of a line.
And we know from Makram's bragging that the Precursors used djinn en masse to reshape the world as they saw fit and that he himself was directly involved in a lot of the higher end stuff.
It's for this reason that I think legging it is just going to plunge us into a different set of challenges: namely that we're being hunted by a malevolent, corrupted magical AI through the halls of the complex its overseeing. I would be really, really surprised if it couldn't bring some of the internal defenses online or open up breaches to allow more black water through. And fighting that while on the run through the guts of an alien complex while our darkvision is being shot to hell sounds pretty no bueno.
[X] Rush the marid herself. If she summoned these creatures then it stands to reason that defeating her should just make them vanish anyway! Whatever other powers she commands she's unlikely to be able to withstand an assault from two dragons at once, and you doubt she can teleport away in her bound state.
Euthanizing her is basically the only mercy we can give her and we're not going to be able to explore the complex or find the LI until she's put down. Plus it means we aren't turning our backs to the fountain and leaving ourselves vulnerable to sudden Aldritch-goo strikes. Hah, tbh part of me wonders if this is actually a second Abzu, and once we kill the marid they'll separate out. I mean it's possible, Abzu is very clearly made of the same stuff and it is, uh, present in pretty copious amounts.
(Think it's worth noting too that the eyes that are forming over the half-consumed Marid are yellow, Abzu's are white. Might be relevant later.)
I think it's more like...well we know the black water forms under sites of mass death yeah? Gathering and collecting in great fucked up seas deep beneath the ground, fed by battles and bloodshed and mass death. This is probably, uh, the remnants of whatever extinction event made the Precursors Precursors and fucked up the fabric of reality. The metaphysical blast shadows of an entire civilization.
Oh also speaking of:
Iiiiiifff I had to make a bet I'd say that Icefang is Xiomara's dragon parent and that the legend about him getting axed for sacrifices is- hrm. It's the kind of thing that people would reasonably speculate to as being the reason he got ganked given that nobody can really ask the people directly involved, bbbuuuut the narration's also very carefully just couching it as hearsay which means there's probably more to it.
- Location
- Ohio
He is a male version of Siri.
[X] Rush the marid herself. If she summoned these creatures then it stands to reason that defeating her should just make them vanish anyway! Whatever other powers she commands she's unlikely to be able to withstand an assault from two dragons at once, and you doubt she can teleport away in her bound state.
TenMoreMiles
rotating 梅长苏 in my head 24/7
- Pronouns
- It/Its
Huh. Huh. Ok this is like, a completely random crackpot theory that may or may not come from sleep deprivation and I have no idea if anyone has actually brought it up before because I have better things to do than read a hundred something pages of posts but. What if Lyrros wanted / was supposed to be a dragon? He has a lot of gold, maybe in the right circumstances enough to trigger a dragon transformation. And we know that the Douglas family was cursed on some way, probably something to do with the dark water stuff, and that 'scaling up' can sometimes break curses (on phone so can't quote, but it's in the druken conversation with Jun-ho). Maybe the family got desperate and tried to deliberately invoke a dragon transformation but it didn't actually work because whoever it was, wasn't greedy and selfish enough despite their wealth to be a dragon, or the original curse interfered somehow, and instead Lyrros (or maybe actually Eamon was the original vampire and (most of) what Lyrros said was true, idk) popped out?
Chapter Thirty-Four: There Are Some Things That Should Probably Be Left To The Professionals No Matter How Much Of A Dragon You Are
ZerbanDaGreat
Daemon Noble of D E M O G R A P H I C S
- Pronouns
- They/them
"And that plan is 'attack'!" you say resolutely, balling your free claw into a tight fist.
" 'Attack'? That's not a plan that's just a word!" Jun-ho protests. "Attack who? How? When? I'm really bad at fighting so I need more instruction than none at all-"
"Not to worry, Jun-ho. You can't fly in this form so you'll have to stay back for this plan to work anyway." You finally pry your claw free of his, clapping it down on his shoulder instead. "Stay safe and watch how a true dragon solves his problems! HIYAH!"
The shout at the end comes off more like a weird whoop than the fearsome draconic warcry you were going for, but it's too late to back down now. You take off sprinting, deaf to Jun-ho's panicked "waitasecond-!", hurtling straight at the screen of menacing ice-armoured water golems. Even they seem a little puzzled by your brashness, lurching to a stop to receive you, but you don't actually take them head on. Instead you leap, flaring out your wings wide, rising with one, two, three mighty flaps until you're safely high above them with a perfect firing angle down on the trapped and helpless marid. Your wings stretch out one more time, one last mighty flap and the sizzling aura of power around you keeping you aloft as the elemental furnace inside you burns bright. Your markings shine, horns glowing like lightning rods, as you drop your maw open wide and fire a blindingly bright bolt of lightning straight down at Maram.
Twin jets rise from the fountain either side of her like sprays of clotted black blood, curving around and crossing over, the middle of an X between you and the ancient djinn. The lightning forks, dragged off in two different directions, the pitch-black water crackling and steaming as it conducts your breath harmlessly away. You almost squawk, half shocked to see your lightning so easily diverted, half petulantly furious that the marid would dare do something so humiliating. Wholly distracted until it's too late to react to the twin streams arcing back around and slamming straight down against your shoulders like a pair of whips. You let out a strangled cry and hit the floor like a spiked volleyball. It's not that the fall hurts, the worst of the impact absorbed by your scales, but your head spins and your senses rattle around inside your skull long enough for it to start pulling.
It has you by the ankles, one tarry stream per leg, dragging you across the wet stones towards the fountain. You lurch into action, splaying out your talons for a pair of bolts aimed at the tendrils, but as you flex your powers and try to call on that furnace you get... you get the equivalent of a dry, wheezing, chest-wracking cough. A migraine-ache flares behind your eyes like a dagger being slowly thrust through the socket as little more than sparks pop off your claws. Your markings won't even light up. It feels like blood that isn't blood is being drained out through your feet, like the tendrils are a pair of squirming viscous leeches. You barely suppress a retch of visceral discomfort, throwing your arms out wide and digging your talons into the ground for some small purchase. You're dragged on, gouging furrows in the flagstones-a black sea with no light, no up, no down, ageless, ancient, silent-kicking and- what?
You feel your feet strike the side of the fountain and you hold on with every ounce of strength you have, calves and thighs bulging beneath the scales as you fight to at least stay prone, to stay back from the-a black sea on a grey shore beneath a twilight sky, a dead sun shining down on a beach with no waves-marid what's going on!? You try one more time to throw some lightning, at least one bolt, something to stun her so you can get free. All you get for your trouble is a third black pseudopod whipping around your wrist with a wet slap, one more thing to desperately strain at as it slowly, slowly, pulls you towards-three roars that sound as one as the king rises from the waves-the lamp.
"I... should tell you..." you grunt through gritted fangs, straining so hard to fear the tendril will pull your arm from its socket, "I'm... spoken for... many times over..."
You don't think she hears you. Or that she really cares. You don't know what will happen once your talons brush the lamp but it cannot be anything good so you keep fighting, keep straining, clinging to the edge of the fountain with your one free limb as you screw your eyes shut tight against the throbbing ache behind your eyes but-sinking down sealed away never found lost forever alone-
Vwip-tunk goes something as it sails right between your horns and embeds itself in the lip of the fountain, right between you and the marid. You have just enough time to open your eyes and go cross-eyed trying to look at the spear practically resting against your nose before it goes off like a bomb, releasing a violent burst of wind that splatters the tendrils of black water in all directs and sends you flying ass-over-head like a gargantuan invisible fist. Over and over and over you roll, coming to a stop flat on your back with your legs straight in the air.
"What-?"
And then someone grabs you by the tail and you go flying, skating across the slick stones and spinning madly out of control with a strangled cry of confusion and fright. Everything's a blur but you know you collide with something heavy that goes toppling over, one of the armoured elementals you think, but you can't be sure of anything until you strike the marid's icewall ass-first with a heavy thud and finally go still. Your tail flops between your legs and hits you in the face.
"What!?" you say again.
"Eldingar!" Jun-ho's voice. You lift your tail out of the way and spy him upside-down, looming over you with a worried expression.
"Oh. Hello Jun-ho," you say. "Are you alright?"
"Uh... I think so," he replies. "I mostly breathed fire at those things to keep them away. Can I... help you at all?"
" 'Up' would be nice, yes."
You raise your arms and he obliges, grabbing your claws and hoisting you back to your feet with a grunt of effort. You spin around to face the rest of the proceedings feeling, you hope, a bit less punch-drunk. Just in time to witness your saviour skidding to a stop before you, eddies of wind rippling all around him, and recalling his spear. He's standing before you in a fighter's crouch, one arm raised as if to ward the two of you from approaching, but you smell the magic in the air before you even see it. His arm, rough grey sharkskin wrapped tight around bulging muscle, is tattooed from shoulder to wrist in regular geometric patterns. Solid bands of ink, diamonds for texturing, shapes like zephyrs of wind emerging from the negative space in places. Black turns to luminous teal as his spear yanks itself from the lip of the fountain and goes spinning through the air back to his webbed, clawed hand with a meaty thwack. The weapon in question looks to have been carved from a single piece of bone from some wretched deep-sea monster - with, curiously enough, three recesses for Arosan-style runestones in the shaft. You manage to glimpse the wind rune he has slotted before he lowers the spear and adjusts his grip, holding the weapon at the ready.
He looks back over his shoulder at the two of you, shooting you a wide shark-toothed grin. "Gents." A grey-and-white aquean with the brightest turquoise eyes you've ever seen, absolutely rippling with muscle - and you can tell because good lord is he not wearing much. A necklace of runestones, a single belt over his shoulder for carrying pouches, a large metal stud set in the leather just below his dorsal fin, and little more than a swimsuit - one that has to ride scandalously low to make room for his shark-tail at that. Reducing drag in the water is one thing, but really now. With that much skin exposed you can see his legs are inked just like his arm, subtly different patterns but definitely the same overall style, extending straight up over his rear and past his hips like some strange pair of tattooed-on tights.
He notices where you're looking. He clicks his tongue twice and winks at you. You'd be blushing hard enough to blow the scales off your face if you could.
"Now let's see here..." he says half under his breath, scanning the approaching ice-armoured creatures and the furious marid still stuck in the fountain. "Eenie meenie miney-"
A dozen spears of translucent white force rain down, like the ghost of a squad of javelin-throws decided to join the party all of a sudden. Each 'knight' gets three apiece, icy armour cracking and fracturing like glass around the points of impact, briefly stymied in their inexorable march. Another shape lands beside your rescuer. This one is even bigger, even broader, even more muscular. It rises to its full height a head taller than him in all, dressed just like him, hide the same grey-and-white.
"Really?" he says.
She raises one arm as if flexing, webbed hand curled into a fist. She has her own tattoos, a pair of sleeve tattoos with subtly different patterns, flowing up over her shoulders and wrapping around her chest and back, even around her neck and throat, only stopping at the jawline and base of her skull. The bicep strains against the rough hide, the ink on her right arm flaring flame-orange, and all at once the spears embedded in the creatures explode with bright flashes of flame and bursts of heat. The ice-armoured things, whatever they were, are splattered in all directions, only oily stains remaining as proof they were ever there. The aquean woman's arm actually ripples from the recoil, as if she threw a physical punch.
"Yep," she finally replies.
"Meddle-meddle-meddling thieves!" Maram spits from her prison, single uncovered eye blazing like a toxic star as four more squirming pseudopods of shifting, flowing, oil-black water rise around her. "I will see you flay-flay-flayed for your trespass!"
The man flicks the wind rune out of his spear with a thumb-claw, sending the stone spinning straight back onto his necklace where it secures with a magnetic snap. He tugs a different one off to replace it, an ice rune you're pretty sure. The woman drives her knuckles into her open palm and cricks her neck.
"Take those out first?" she asks.
"Yep. Try to keep up."
"Try to concentrate on fighting over flirting."
"You know I can do both~"
"So can I. Don't tempt me."
The pair break left and right, skirting the edges of the iced-in arena. You snatch a moment to look around for how they actually got in in the first place - aha, a big hole in the ice about a foot above your head, they broke through in the confusion. Maram shrieks in fury, sending the four tentacles hissing forward like striking snakes as even more black water begins to boil up around her to replace them. The man dodges the one heading for him, pivoting on his heel and driving his spear into the writhing limb. It ices over immediately, pinned to the floor where it struck by a thick chunk of frost, and practically the moment he does it the woman moves to capitalise. She twists mid-step, jabbing one hand forward in an underarm throw of nothing at all, and her tattoos flare white for just a moment as a brand new phantasmal spear is conjured already in flight. It strikes the ice and sticks, quivering. She flexes her arm again, the ink shining orange instead, and it goes up like a bomb once more. The black water splatters into burning ropes that evaporate almost instantly, and you swear you hear an unearthly high-pitched scream coming from the fountain.
Another tendril comes flying like a black spear in its own right, aiming to spit the woman straight through the chest. She ducks to the side, a dodge somehow both brutal and graceful, not a second of movement wasted. The man hurls his spear and it strikes true, lodging deep as it ices over the tip of the tentacle where it struck. The woman twists, conjuring another spear of her own, driving it into and straight through the frozen limb with her own strength, moving on beyond the blast radius before detonating it.
They move in perfect concert, synchronisation born of who-knows-how-many years fighting together. In barely the time it takes your eyes to dart from him to her to him and back to her they've taken out the other two tentacles, drawn close enough that Maram's fury visibly gives way to fear. The black water she was gathering for more tentacles instead surges forth and spills over the side of the fountain, rising up in a thick crystallising wall of black-veined ice. One last desperate warding measure, no doubt to give her time to do whatever else while she's safely out of sight. The aquean pair come to a stop, casting an evaluating eye over the ice-wall keeping them from their quarry.
"I got it," the man says with a snap of his fingers.
"Oh, you mean that move?" the woman asks.
"Don't you take that tone with me, you know you've been dying for an excuse too."
"You can't prove anything."
They back up a decent distance, back into your half of the ring, giving themselves a generous amount of space to set up. The man swaps runes again, clicking a fire rune home in the slot as he snaps the ice rune onto a magnetic stud on his necklace. The woman spreads her arms out wide, taking a deep breath and flexing the ample muscle beneath the rough hide on her back as the tattoos there shine white. All twelve spears suddenly reappear, bursting out of her almost like wings, freezing point-first in mid-air. She turns side-on and extends one hand, silently willing the phantom weapons to glide forward and arrange themselves in a circle like the barrel of a cannon. The man clicks the wind rune home in the second slot and moves in close to the woman, extending his own free hand to sight his throw. The phantom spears begin to spin, revolving and pulsing with light as some kind of magical distortion begins to grow in the space between them all.
"Don't miss," she says.
"Never do," he replies breezily.
The distortion ripples, shuddering as if taking a breath. The woman's tattoos pulse white in time with the spears. The man takes a long, deep breath of his own, webbed claws splayed out wide, as if sighting his through through the translucent membranes. His lips peel back over his jagged fangs as he sucks in a slow, deep breath and throws with a snarl of effort.
It's an entirely ordinary throw at first, albeit the kind not just anyone could make. Then it strikes the distortion inside the ring of phantom spears and- and it's hard to say what happens exactly because a second later there's an ear-splitting sonic boom, a tangible blast-wave washing over you and Jun-ho, and you're blinking away searing white-hot streaks from your vision as all the spears involved completely vanish from view. The subterranean temple itself seems to rumble and shake, for just a moment the ever-present shadows completely banished. By the time you can see again there's... certainly no ice-wall any more. Nor is there a marid. Nor is there most of the fountain any more. In fact, if you strain at the gloomy limits of your darkvision you're pretty sure there's no wall on the other side of the courtyard any more.
"Hahahahaha yesss!" the man whoops, pumping his fist. "That was exactly as good as I was hoping!"
"Settle down, little man," the woman teases, giving him a demeaning pat on the finned head. "You'll make a mess if you get too excited."
"Oh don't you give me that, you loved it too."
She snickers. "Fuck yeah I did, what do you take me for?" She gives him one more pat on the head and strides off, headed for the ruins of the fountain - no doubt to check and see if the marid's lamp or anything else survived.
"(Eldingar?)" Jun-ho murmurs.
"(Mhm?)"
"(That's a lady aquean, right?)"
"(Yes. They have the slimmer head-fins and wider hips. And tend to be bigger than males of equivalent age and fitness.)"
"(... Eldingar?)"
"(Mm?)"
"(I think I'm bisexual now.)"
"(Shush, it doesn't work that way,)" you say, refraining from making any comments about your own confused sexuality.
The man looks over his shoulder, doing a double-take when he remembers that the two of you still exist. He turns and strides back over to you, casually raising his hand to recall his spear. His tattoos shine but it takes a lot longer this time - how far did that thing even go? - but it spins crazily over his shoulder and back into his waiting hand with a wet smack by the time he reaches you.
"Two of you alright?" he asks, idly popping the runestones out of the spear and back onto his necklace. He stows the spear itself on his back, letting it snap to the stud you saw on his belt. There's a knife hanging sheathed from the chest-side of said belt too but you doubt he really has much need for it after that display. Still, you'd best get ahold of yourself and regain some measure of dignity.
"You have my thanks for helping us defeat that djinn," you say. "And your names are?"
"Datu," he says, indicating himself with his thumb. He lifts his hand and points his thumb over his shoulder instead. "And that back there is Tala. We work as a pair when we can. Been scoping this island out on and off for the past few days - didn't think anyone else was brave enough to come down here, let alone a pair of dragons. What brings you two here? Gold?"
You frown as you consider how to reply to that. Well... there's not really much point dancing around it, if he is who the map was pointing to then it's best to just lay it all out there.
"Until very recently I had a map that pointed me to potential boyfriends," you say as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. "Each one was marked by a point of light, and I came in search of the one I saw here. Unless there are any other adventurers hiding in any nooks and crannies, that... most likely means you."
He's silent for a moment, one brow slightly raised as he studies your face for any sign that you're making fun of him. Evidently he's satisfied by what he finds - he breaks out into the widest shark-grin you've ever seen and barks with laughter.
"Sounds like my kind of treasure-hunt!" he exclaims. "Hahaha, getting propositioned by a dragon - that's not something a guy gets every day."
"So you're not..." Jun-ho says haltingly, fiddling with his talons. "What about her? Tala. Won't she mind?"
He looks at Jun-ho, then glances over his shoulder, then looks back at Jun-ho. "You- oh. Oh- hahahahahaha!" He cradles his stomach, hunching over as he struggles to weather the fits of laughter. "Haha, gods, no. No she's my sister. And a pain in the ass to boot. And- who are you?"
"Jun-ho," says Jun-ho. "I was on the map too."
"Oh. So you-" Datu points at the pair of you, talon flicking back and forth a few times. "Oh you're setting up a poly sort of thing or...?"
"A-bup-bup-bup that's not up for discussion right now," you say quickly, cutting the aquean off. "Let's just say I got dropped right into the deep end of this whole boyfriend-hunting business and have had a... very eventful few weeks." You indicate Jun-ho. "He came along because he's good friends with everyone else from the map I found and wanted to meet the new one."
"Fair enough!" Datu extends his hand, waiting for Jun-ho to hesitantly do likewise. He clamps down hard on the eastern dragon's claw and shakes enthusiastically. "Loosen up a little. Cute guy like you doesn't have the right to be so shy."
"O-oh that's- I mean- (eheehee~)" Jun-ho mumbles in a completely disgusting fashion. Datu lets go of his claw and pats him on the shoulder.
"So what's the next step?" he asks.
"Uh. Well." You suck your fangs with a sharp tssk. "To be honest everyone else has either immediately moved in with me or can teleport so it doesn't really matter where they stay. I don't- I've never had to work around someone before."
"Hey little brother, check it out! Paydirt."
Datu turns and you look over his shoulder with him. Tala's back, the marid's lamp dangling by its chain from the tip of a phantom spear. Back and forth, back and forth it sways. It's still covered in thick clusters of oily black corruption, like stubborn creeper made of ink, whatever inner light it once had cold and dead.
"Think it's -sup- worth anything?" she asks, giving you only the briefest acknowledgement.
"I dunno," Datu replies. "I mean we killed the djinn in it so it's pretty much a weird expensive paperweight now, right?"
"Actually," you interject, because if there's one thing you pounce on faster than uncovered meat it's the chance to look smart in front of people, "I've heard about this before through my many and varied connections. A djinn's body is actually a sort of incredibly powerful magical projection, not the actual container of their soul like yours or mine. You destroyed her main form but that only banished her back to her lamp, where she'll have to recharge and rebuild her body from scratch. That part who knows how long it'll take, but it'll happen." You pause. "Although it's worth mentioning that she's unlikely to pop out again very different to how she was when you killed her body the first time."
"Nice, so it's still worth plenty," says Tala. "Let's go little brother, I've got to find somewhere nice to hang my brand new djinn-lamp."
"Your lamp?" Datu laughs. "I did all the work, as usual! Get as flashy as you want with trying to steal all the credit, you know damn well there's no way you would've managed this job without me!"
"No way you would've managed this job without me either," she retorts.
"Debatable."
"Oh you little turd, let's dump you in the next dungeon alone and see how well you do."
"H-hey, why does it have to be one of you or the other?" Jun-ho protests weakly. "From the looks of it you both worked together really well, why does it have to be a competition?"
"Because we can't split the lamp," Datu and Tala answer in perfect unison.
"(oh okay sorry ignore me)"
"Oh but speaking of which." Datu snags you by the wrist (your scales crawl but you fight back the urge to make an issue of it because either he or Tala alone could probably bend you into a pretzel) and tugs you closer. "This here is my brand new boyfriend uh- what's your name?"
"Eldingar."
"Eldingar. And he saw the whole thing. And he's a dragon so you know he knows what he's talking about where distributing loot to the person that won it fair and square is concerned." Datu flicks his head, giving you a pointed look. "So go on. Tell us who deserves the lamp."
Tala rolls her eyes, but shoots you a look that says plainly you're not the one she's exasperated with and she's willing to humour you. How much, of course, is another thing entirely. You look at the lamp dangling from her spear, thinking back to the battle you witnessed and, more importantly, trying to figure out what answer will lead to the minimum of drama and arguing.
[ ] Datu deserves the lamp. He saved you from getting made into its new registered master, whatever that means (nothing good), made the throw that blew up the marid, and is your brand new boyfriend whom you may have to live with very soon. On the other hand it was a team effort, and if he gets the lamp that potentially means bringing it back to your lair and you really don't want to see that thing again as long as you live.
[ ] Tala deserves the lamp. She destroyed the armoured elementals, used her unique powers to set up the killing throw for Datu, and is your brand new boyfriend's sister so maybe you shouldn't antagonise her the very first time you meet her. More to the point, if she gets the lamp you'll probably never have to see it again. On the other hand, immediately siding with his sister over him may not be the best way to kick off a relationship with Datu.
" 'Attack'? That's not a plan that's just a word!" Jun-ho protests. "Attack who? How? When? I'm really bad at fighting so I need more instruction than none at all-"
"Not to worry, Jun-ho. You can't fly in this form so you'll have to stay back for this plan to work anyway." You finally pry your claw free of his, clapping it down on his shoulder instead. "Stay safe and watch how a true dragon solves his problems! HIYAH!"
The shout at the end comes off more like a weird whoop than the fearsome draconic warcry you were going for, but it's too late to back down now. You take off sprinting, deaf to Jun-ho's panicked "waitasecond-!", hurtling straight at the screen of menacing ice-armoured water golems. Even they seem a little puzzled by your brashness, lurching to a stop to receive you, but you don't actually take them head on. Instead you leap, flaring out your wings wide, rising with one, two, three mighty flaps until you're safely high above them with a perfect firing angle down on the trapped and helpless marid. Your wings stretch out one more time, one last mighty flap and the sizzling aura of power around you keeping you aloft as the elemental furnace inside you burns bright. Your markings shine, horns glowing like lightning rods, as you drop your maw open wide and fire a blindingly bright bolt of lightning straight down at Maram.
Twin jets rise from the fountain either side of her like sprays of clotted black blood, curving around and crossing over, the middle of an X between you and the ancient djinn. The lightning forks, dragged off in two different directions, the pitch-black water crackling and steaming as it conducts your breath harmlessly away. You almost squawk, half shocked to see your lightning so easily diverted, half petulantly furious that the marid would dare do something so humiliating. Wholly distracted until it's too late to react to the twin streams arcing back around and slamming straight down against your shoulders like a pair of whips. You let out a strangled cry and hit the floor like a spiked volleyball. It's not that the fall hurts, the worst of the impact absorbed by your scales, but your head spins and your senses rattle around inside your skull long enough for it to start pulling.
It has you by the ankles, one tarry stream per leg, dragging you across the wet stones towards the fountain. You lurch into action, splaying out your talons for a pair of bolts aimed at the tendrils, but as you flex your powers and try to call on that furnace you get... you get the equivalent of a dry, wheezing, chest-wracking cough. A migraine-ache flares behind your eyes like a dagger being slowly thrust through the socket as little more than sparks pop off your claws. Your markings won't even light up. It feels like blood that isn't blood is being drained out through your feet, like the tendrils are a pair of squirming viscous leeches. You barely suppress a retch of visceral discomfort, throwing your arms out wide and digging your talons into the ground for some small purchase. You're dragged on, gouging furrows in the flagstones-a black sea with no light, no up, no down, ageless, ancient, silent-kicking and- what?
You feel your feet strike the side of the fountain and you hold on with every ounce of strength you have, calves and thighs bulging beneath the scales as you fight to at least stay prone, to stay back from the-a black sea on a grey shore beneath a twilight sky, a dead sun shining down on a beach with no waves-marid what's going on!? You try one more time to throw some lightning, at least one bolt, something to stun her so you can get free. All you get for your trouble is a third black pseudopod whipping around your wrist with a wet slap, one more thing to desperately strain at as it slowly, slowly, pulls you towards-three roars that sound as one as the king rises from the waves-the lamp.
"I... should tell you..." you grunt through gritted fangs, straining so hard to fear the tendril will pull your arm from its socket, "I'm... spoken for... many times over..."
You don't think she hears you. Or that she really cares. You don't know what will happen once your talons brush the lamp but it cannot be anything good so you keep fighting, keep straining, clinging to the edge of the fountain with your one free limb as you screw your eyes shut tight against the throbbing ache behind your eyes but-sinking down sealed away never found lost forever alone-
Vwip-tunk goes something as it sails right between your horns and embeds itself in the lip of the fountain, right between you and the marid. You have just enough time to open your eyes and go cross-eyed trying to look at the spear practically resting against your nose before it goes off like a bomb, releasing a violent burst of wind that splatters the tendrils of black water in all directs and sends you flying ass-over-head like a gargantuan invisible fist. Over and over and over you roll, coming to a stop flat on your back with your legs straight in the air.
"What-?"
And then someone grabs you by the tail and you go flying, skating across the slick stones and spinning madly out of control with a strangled cry of confusion and fright. Everything's a blur but you know you collide with something heavy that goes toppling over, one of the armoured elementals you think, but you can't be sure of anything until you strike the marid's icewall ass-first with a heavy thud and finally go still. Your tail flops between your legs and hits you in the face.
"What!?" you say again.
"Eldingar!" Jun-ho's voice. You lift your tail out of the way and spy him upside-down, looming over you with a worried expression.
"Oh. Hello Jun-ho," you say. "Are you alright?"
"Uh... I think so," he replies. "I mostly breathed fire at those things to keep them away. Can I... help you at all?"
" 'Up' would be nice, yes."
You raise your arms and he obliges, grabbing your claws and hoisting you back to your feet with a grunt of effort. You spin around to face the rest of the proceedings feeling, you hope, a bit less punch-drunk. Just in time to witness your saviour skidding to a stop before you, eddies of wind rippling all around him, and recalling his spear. He's standing before you in a fighter's crouch, one arm raised as if to ward the two of you from approaching, but you smell the magic in the air before you even see it. His arm, rough grey sharkskin wrapped tight around bulging muscle, is tattooed from shoulder to wrist in regular geometric patterns. Solid bands of ink, diamonds for texturing, shapes like zephyrs of wind emerging from the negative space in places. Black turns to luminous teal as his spear yanks itself from the lip of the fountain and goes spinning through the air back to his webbed, clawed hand with a meaty thwack. The weapon in question looks to have been carved from a single piece of bone from some wretched deep-sea monster - with, curiously enough, three recesses for Arosan-style runestones in the shaft. You manage to glimpse the wind rune he has slotted before he lowers the spear and adjusts his grip, holding the weapon at the ready.
He looks back over his shoulder at the two of you, shooting you a wide shark-toothed grin. "Gents." A grey-and-white aquean with the brightest turquoise eyes you've ever seen, absolutely rippling with muscle - and you can tell because good lord is he not wearing much. A necklace of runestones, a single belt over his shoulder for carrying pouches, a large metal stud set in the leather just below his dorsal fin, and little more than a swimsuit - one that has to ride scandalously low to make room for his shark-tail at that. Reducing drag in the water is one thing, but really now. With that much skin exposed you can see his legs are inked just like his arm, subtly different patterns but definitely the same overall style, extending straight up over his rear and past his hips like some strange pair of tattooed-on tights.
He notices where you're looking. He clicks his tongue twice and winks at you. You'd be blushing hard enough to blow the scales off your face if you could.
"Now let's see here..." he says half under his breath, scanning the approaching ice-armoured creatures and the furious marid still stuck in the fountain. "Eenie meenie miney-"
A dozen spears of translucent white force rain down, like the ghost of a squad of javelin-throws decided to join the party all of a sudden. Each 'knight' gets three apiece, icy armour cracking and fracturing like glass around the points of impact, briefly stymied in their inexorable march. Another shape lands beside your rescuer. This one is even bigger, even broader, even more muscular. It rises to its full height a head taller than him in all, dressed just like him, hide the same grey-and-white.
"Really?" he says.
She raises one arm as if flexing, webbed hand curled into a fist. She has her own tattoos, a pair of sleeve tattoos with subtly different patterns, flowing up over her shoulders and wrapping around her chest and back, even around her neck and throat, only stopping at the jawline and base of her skull. The bicep strains against the rough hide, the ink on her right arm flaring flame-orange, and all at once the spears embedded in the creatures explode with bright flashes of flame and bursts of heat. The ice-armoured things, whatever they were, are splattered in all directions, only oily stains remaining as proof they were ever there. The aquean woman's arm actually ripples from the recoil, as if she threw a physical punch.
"Yep," she finally replies.
"Meddle-meddle-meddling thieves!" Maram spits from her prison, single uncovered eye blazing like a toxic star as four more squirming pseudopods of shifting, flowing, oil-black water rise around her. "I will see you flay-flay-flayed for your trespass!"
The man flicks the wind rune out of his spear with a thumb-claw, sending the stone spinning straight back onto his necklace where it secures with a magnetic snap. He tugs a different one off to replace it, an ice rune you're pretty sure. The woman drives her knuckles into her open palm and cricks her neck.
"Take those out first?" she asks.
"Yep. Try to keep up."
"Try to concentrate on fighting over flirting."
"You know I can do both~"
"So can I. Don't tempt me."
The pair break left and right, skirting the edges of the iced-in arena. You snatch a moment to look around for how they actually got in in the first place - aha, a big hole in the ice about a foot above your head, they broke through in the confusion. Maram shrieks in fury, sending the four tentacles hissing forward like striking snakes as even more black water begins to boil up around her to replace them. The man dodges the one heading for him, pivoting on his heel and driving his spear into the writhing limb. It ices over immediately, pinned to the floor where it struck by a thick chunk of frost, and practically the moment he does it the woman moves to capitalise. She twists mid-step, jabbing one hand forward in an underarm throw of nothing at all, and her tattoos flare white for just a moment as a brand new phantasmal spear is conjured already in flight. It strikes the ice and sticks, quivering. She flexes her arm again, the ink shining orange instead, and it goes up like a bomb once more. The black water splatters into burning ropes that evaporate almost instantly, and you swear you hear an unearthly high-pitched scream coming from the fountain.
Another tendril comes flying like a black spear in its own right, aiming to spit the woman straight through the chest. She ducks to the side, a dodge somehow both brutal and graceful, not a second of movement wasted. The man hurls his spear and it strikes true, lodging deep as it ices over the tip of the tentacle where it struck. The woman twists, conjuring another spear of her own, driving it into and straight through the frozen limb with her own strength, moving on beyond the blast radius before detonating it.
They move in perfect concert, synchronisation born of who-knows-how-many years fighting together. In barely the time it takes your eyes to dart from him to her to him and back to her they've taken out the other two tentacles, drawn close enough that Maram's fury visibly gives way to fear. The black water she was gathering for more tentacles instead surges forth and spills over the side of the fountain, rising up in a thick crystallising wall of black-veined ice. One last desperate warding measure, no doubt to give her time to do whatever else while she's safely out of sight. The aquean pair come to a stop, casting an evaluating eye over the ice-wall keeping them from their quarry.
"I got it," the man says with a snap of his fingers.
"Oh, you mean that move?" the woman asks.
"Don't you take that tone with me, you know you've been dying for an excuse too."
"You can't prove anything."
They back up a decent distance, back into your half of the ring, giving themselves a generous amount of space to set up. The man swaps runes again, clicking a fire rune home in the slot as he snaps the ice rune onto a magnetic stud on his necklace. The woman spreads her arms out wide, taking a deep breath and flexing the ample muscle beneath the rough hide on her back as the tattoos there shine white. All twelve spears suddenly reappear, bursting out of her almost like wings, freezing point-first in mid-air. She turns side-on and extends one hand, silently willing the phantom weapons to glide forward and arrange themselves in a circle like the barrel of a cannon. The man clicks the wind rune home in the second slot and moves in close to the woman, extending his own free hand to sight his throw. The phantom spears begin to spin, revolving and pulsing with light as some kind of magical distortion begins to grow in the space between them all.
"Don't miss," she says.
"Never do," he replies breezily.
The distortion ripples, shuddering as if taking a breath. The woman's tattoos pulse white in time with the spears. The man takes a long, deep breath of his own, webbed claws splayed out wide, as if sighting his through through the translucent membranes. His lips peel back over his jagged fangs as he sucks in a slow, deep breath and throws with a snarl of effort.
It's an entirely ordinary throw at first, albeit the kind not just anyone could make. Then it strikes the distortion inside the ring of phantom spears and- and it's hard to say what happens exactly because a second later there's an ear-splitting sonic boom, a tangible blast-wave washing over you and Jun-ho, and you're blinking away searing white-hot streaks from your vision as all the spears involved completely vanish from view. The subterranean temple itself seems to rumble and shake, for just a moment the ever-present shadows completely banished. By the time you can see again there's... certainly no ice-wall any more. Nor is there a marid. Nor is there most of the fountain any more. In fact, if you strain at the gloomy limits of your darkvision you're pretty sure there's no wall on the other side of the courtyard any more.
"Hahahahaha yesss!" the man whoops, pumping his fist. "That was exactly as good as I was hoping!"
"Settle down, little man," the woman teases, giving him a demeaning pat on the finned head. "You'll make a mess if you get too excited."
"Oh don't you give me that, you loved it too."
She snickers. "Fuck yeah I did, what do you take me for?" She gives him one more pat on the head and strides off, headed for the ruins of the fountain - no doubt to check and see if the marid's lamp or anything else survived.
"(Eldingar?)" Jun-ho murmurs.
"(Mhm?)"
"(That's a lady aquean, right?)"
"(Yes. They have the slimmer head-fins and wider hips. And tend to be bigger than males of equivalent age and fitness.)"
"(... Eldingar?)"
"(Mm?)"
"(I think I'm bisexual now.)"
"(Shush, it doesn't work that way,)" you say, refraining from making any comments about your own confused sexuality.
The man looks over his shoulder, doing a double-take when he remembers that the two of you still exist. He turns and strides back over to you, casually raising his hand to recall his spear. His tattoos shine but it takes a lot longer this time - how far did that thing even go? - but it spins crazily over his shoulder and back into his waiting hand with a wet smack by the time he reaches you.
"Two of you alright?" he asks, idly popping the runestones out of the spear and back onto his necklace. He stows the spear itself on his back, letting it snap to the stud you saw on his belt. There's a knife hanging sheathed from the chest-side of said belt too but you doubt he really has much need for it after that display. Still, you'd best get ahold of yourself and regain some measure of dignity.
"You have my thanks for helping us defeat that djinn," you say. "And your names are?"
"Datu," he says, indicating himself with his thumb. He lifts his hand and points his thumb over his shoulder instead. "And that back there is Tala. We work as a pair when we can. Been scoping this island out on and off for the past few days - didn't think anyone else was brave enough to come down here, let alone a pair of dragons. What brings you two here? Gold?"
You frown as you consider how to reply to that. Well... there's not really much point dancing around it, if he is who the map was pointing to then it's best to just lay it all out there.
"Until very recently I had a map that pointed me to potential boyfriends," you say as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. "Each one was marked by a point of light, and I came in search of the one I saw here. Unless there are any other adventurers hiding in any nooks and crannies, that... most likely means you."
He's silent for a moment, one brow slightly raised as he studies your face for any sign that you're making fun of him. Evidently he's satisfied by what he finds - he breaks out into the widest shark-grin you've ever seen and barks with laughter.
"Sounds like my kind of treasure-hunt!" he exclaims. "Hahaha, getting propositioned by a dragon - that's not something a guy gets every day."
"So you're not..." Jun-ho says haltingly, fiddling with his talons. "What about her? Tala. Won't she mind?"
He looks at Jun-ho, then glances over his shoulder, then looks back at Jun-ho. "You- oh. Oh- hahahahahaha!" He cradles his stomach, hunching over as he struggles to weather the fits of laughter. "Haha, gods, no. No she's my sister. And a pain in the ass to boot. And- who are you?"
"Jun-ho," says Jun-ho. "I was on the map too."
"Oh. So you-" Datu points at the pair of you, talon flicking back and forth a few times. "Oh you're setting up a poly sort of thing or...?"
"A-bup-bup-bup that's not up for discussion right now," you say quickly, cutting the aquean off. "Let's just say I got dropped right into the deep end of this whole boyfriend-hunting business and have had a... very eventful few weeks." You indicate Jun-ho. "He came along because he's good friends with everyone else from the map I found and wanted to meet the new one."
"Fair enough!" Datu extends his hand, waiting for Jun-ho to hesitantly do likewise. He clamps down hard on the eastern dragon's claw and shakes enthusiastically. "Loosen up a little. Cute guy like you doesn't have the right to be so shy."
"O-oh that's- I mean- (eheehee~)" Jun-ho mumbles in a completely disgusting fashion. Datu lets go of his claw and pats him on the shoulder.
"So what's the next step?" he asks.
"Uh. Well." You suck your fangs with a sharp tssk. "To be honest everyone else has either immediately moved in with me or can teleport so it doesn't really matter where they stay. I don't- I've never had to work around someone before."
"Hey little brother, check it out! Paydirt."
Datu turns and you look over his shoulder with him. Tala's back, the marid's lamp dangling by its chain from the tip of a phantom spear. Back and forth, back and forth it sways. It's still covered in thick clusters of oily black corruption, like stubborn creeper made of ink, whatever inner light it once had cold and dead.
"Think it's -sup- worth anything?" she asks, giving you only the briefest acknowledgement.
"I dunno," Datu replies. "I mean we killed the djinn in it so it's pretty much a weird expensive paperweight now, right?"
"Actually," you interject, because if there's one thing you pounce on faster than uncovered meat it's the chance to look smart in front of people, "I've heard about this before through my many and varied connections. A djinn's body is actually a sort of incredibly powerful magical projection, not the actual container of their soul like yours or mine. You destroyed her main form but that only banished her back to her lamp, where she'll have to recharge and rebuild her body from scratch. That part who knows how long it'll take, but it'll happen." You pause. "Although it's worth mentioning that she's unlikely to pop out again very different to how she was when you killed her body the first time."
"Nice, so it's still worth plenty," says Tala. "Let's go little brother, I've got to find somewhere nice to hang my brand new djinn-lamp."
"Your lamp?" Datu laughs. "I did all the work, as usual! Get as flashy as you want with trying to steal all the credit, you know damn well there's no way you would've managed this job without me!"
"No way you would've managed this job without me either," she retorts.
"Debatable."
"Oh you little turd, let's dump you in the next dungeon alone and see how well you do."
"H-hey, why does it have to be one of you or the other?" Jun-ho protests weakly. "From the looks of it you both worked together really well, why does it have to be a competition?"
"Because we can't split the lamp," Datu and Tala answer in perfect unison.
"(oh okay sorry ignore me)"
"Oh but speaking of which." Datu snags you by the wrist (your scales crawl but you fight back the urge to make an issue of it because either he or Tala alone could probably bend you into a pretzel) and tugs you closer. "This here is my brand new boyfriend uh- what's your name?"
"Eldingar."
"Eldingar. And he saw the whole thing. And he's a dragon so you know he knows what he's talking about where distributing loot to the person that won it fair and square is concerned." Datu flicks his head, giving you a pointed look. "So go on. Tell us who deserves the lamp."
Tala rolls her eyes, but shoots you a look that says plainly you're not the one she's exasperated with and she's willing to humour you. How much, of course, is another thing entirely. You look at the lamp dangling from her spear, thinking back to the battle you witnessed and, more importantly, trying to figure out what answer will lead to the minimum of drama and arguing.
[ ] Datu deserves the lamp. He saved you from getting made into its new registered master, whatever that means (nothing good), made the throw that blew up the marid, and is your brand new boyfriend whom you may have to live with very soon. On the other hand it was a team effort, and if he gets the lamp that potentially means bringing it back to your lair and you really don't want to see that thing again as long as you live.
[ ] Tala deserves the lamp. She destroyed the armoured elementals, used her unique powers to set up the killing throw for Datu, and is your brand new boyfriend's sister so maybe you shouldn't antagonise her the very first time you meet her. More to the point, if she gets the lamp you'll probably never have to see it again. On the other hand, immediately siding with his sister over him may not be the best way to kick off a relationship with Datu.
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RedV
Refuelling
- Location
- Right here
[X] Datu deserves the lamp. He saved you from getting made into its new registered master, whatever that means (nothing good), made the throw that blew up the marid, and is your brand new boyfriend whom you may have to live with very soon. On the other hand it wasa team effort, and if he gets the lamp that potentially means bringing it back to your lair and you really don't want to see that thing again as long as you live.
Saved our ass, must reward him.
Saved our ass, must reward him.
You know you want to Eldingar.
[x] Tala deserves the lamp. She destroyed the armoured elementals, used her unique powers to set up the killing throw for Datu, and is your brand new boyfriend's sister so maybe you shouldn't antagonise her the very first time you meet her. More to the point, if she gets the lamp you'll probably never have to see it again. On the other hand, immediately siding with his sister over him may not be the best way to kick off a relationship with Datu.
We already have Makram.
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Tala deserves the lamp. She destroyed the armoured elementals, used her unique powers to set up the killing throw for Datu, and is your brand new boyfriend's sister so maybe you shouldn't antagonise her the very first time you meet her. More to the point, if she gets the lamp you'll probably never have to see it again. On the other hand, immediately siding with his sister over him may not be the best way to kick off a relationship with Datu.
She's a big gorl and I'm very gay now
She's a big gorl and I'm very gay now
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Orange team fails with less than 5% of the map.
Aqua team wins with over 95% of the map.
Archeo Lumiere
The Prince's Archivist
- Location
- Lumiose City, Kalos
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
[X] "There's no way in hell I'm letting that tainted lamp back into my lair, particularly considering there's already another Djinn there that I'm... apparently registered to."
Let's go the safe route of blatantly admitting we're giving it to the person that causes the least inconvenience to us, rather than taking any sides.
Let's go the safe route of blatantly admitting we're giving it to the person that causes the least inconvenience to us, rather than taking any sides.
- Location
- HELL
- Pronouns
- They/It
that's a good reaction, jun-ho.
buff sharkladies are good civilization.
hahahahaha
stop being adorable jun-ho, good lord
So today we got a shark husbando and THE WORLD'S STRONGEST SHARKWOMAN.
That said I'm like torn. Because I want Datu to come home because we all love having a big shork boi come home with us.
On the other hand, Tala is
Fuck it. We can talk to Datu about it later. And we don't want another Djinn causing trouble.
[X] Tala deserves the lamp. She destroyed the armoured elementals, used her unique powers to set up the killing throw for Datu, and is your brand new boyfriend's sister so maybe you shouldn't antagonise her the very first time you meet her. More to the point, if she gets the lamp you'll probably never have to see it again. On the other hand, immediately siding with his sister over him may not be the best way to kick off a relationship with Datu.
- Location
- Castle Oblivious
Why hello Shark boi, welcome the hoard.
[X] Datu deserves the lamp. He saved you from getting made into its new registered master, whatever that means (nothing good), made the throw that blew up the marid, and is your brand new boyfriend whom you may have to live with very soon. On the other hand it was a team effort, and if he gets the lamp that potentially means bringing it back to your lair and you really don't want to see that thing again as long as you live.
I side with shark boy, because I want shark boy to be happy.
Also if he takes it too the lair Abzu can look at it.
Who knows how Makram, aka MagicPhone boy wil react to this.
[X] Datu deserves the lamp. He saved you from getting made into its new registered master, whatever that means (nothing good), made the throw that blew up the marid, and is your brand new boyfriend whom you may have to live with very soon. On the other hand it was a team effort, and if he gets the lamp that potentially means bringing it back to your lair and you really don't want to see that thing again as long as you live.
I side with shark boy, because I want shark boy to be happy.
Also if he takes it too the lair Abzu can look at it.
Who knows how Makram, aka MagicPhone boy wil react to this.
- Location
- Ireland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeaaaaaah let's not bring the lamp back with us. Keep the corruption tag off of this quest
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NemiTheNen
Perpetual Phone Poster
Tala can have the map, Datu can come home with you and meet your other boy friend, another Djinn.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Eyecandy aside I think it's worth noting that these two are probably a fair bit godly. They have more or less the same sort of tattoos as Takara (the homewrecking demon-god-fox) and the minotaur type guy out by the border (who explicitly had a fertility thing going on) and we know IC that the established pantheons have a bit of that Dnd touch to them. Wherein they're semi-regularly going around and smiting shit, empowering champions, having kids all over the goddamn place before ducking out to the corner shop for a pack of smokes. Y'know, usual diety stuff. Plus, it's a bit meta but all of the LI's seem to be matched to Eldingar's lifespan more or less so there's not that nagging elven thing of "'til death is a hundred years for you and a thousand for me sssoooo".
So yeah I'd pin money on the pair of them being demigod siblings. Probably twins even?
ngl it's everything i wanted
zero regrets goddamn
god this dork
[X] Datu deserves the lamp. He saved you from getting made into its new registered master, whatever that means (nothing good), made the throw that blew up the marid, and is your brand new boyfriend whom you may have to live with very soon. On the other hand it was a team effort, and if he gets the lamp that potentially means bringing it back to your lair and you really don't want to see that thing again as long as you live.
1. Rank nepotism bby, easily in the top five or ten of inborn dragon powers and goddamn this guy.
2. There's actually a legitimate reason: if we bring it back to our lair we can have Makram, Issachar, and Abzu take a look at it as creepy as the thing fucking is. And if it's going to pop out or try to make a break for it it's better that it happens there around- well around professionals and Eldingar. And Tala's probably hard enough to fuck up anything that crawls back out, especially without all this built up black water to draw upon, but I still get the sense that the rising underground sea is a fairly new development. Plus it means that now she has an excuse to come bother us and the other guys/nb besides just for the sake of annoying her brother.
ZerbanDaGreat
Daemon Noble of D E M O G R A P H I C S
- Pronouns
- They/them
Rank cowardice.Keep the corruption tag off of this quest
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Until Maram respawns, the lamp is still just a fancy paperweight, and with their lifescales that could be long after Datu and Tala both expire, so maybe this decision doesn't need to be made until then.
And in the meantime, Datu and Tala could jointly claim even more loot that needs to be split on future ventures. They could decide who'd rather wait on the lamp rather than who wants some othsr rare undividable magic loot later.
Frankly, I'm surprised they don't already have an agreed upon policy for division of loot. Maybe we could reccomend them an attorney who'll draft them such a contract for a small fee.
And in the meantime, Datu and Tala could jointly claim even more loot that needs to be split on future ventures. They could decide who'd rather wait on the lamp rather than who wants some othsr rare undividable magic loot later.
Frankly, I'm surprised they don't already have an agreed upon policy for division of loot. Maybe we could reccomend them an attorney who'll draft them such a contract for a small fee.
- Location
- The Land of Many Bregrets
- Pronouns
- They/Them
...Sharkbait Cu Chulainn?
...Irish mythological railgun sharks
this is not what i expected to wake up to today
As for voting...
Not gonna lie, Tala probably deserves it by weight of Stuff Done but at the same time I really want to get that lamp back to Abzu and Makram (and possibly Issachar) to figure out what the hell was going on with it. This black water is bad business yo
(also as a morbidly curious aside, how long were the sharktwins down there? If the map marker had been over the temple the entire time, I mean)
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Salty
Shadow Cabal Assumptor Supreme
- Location
- Sun, Moon, Talia
- Pronouns
- I/Me
[X] Propose that they both accompany you back to your cavehomeshagpaddomicile, where your personal djinn and wizard (boyfriends) can have a look at maybe getting it all de-eviled.
Dividing the spoils (and the dragons, ohohoho) can wait.
Also also, these dorks are totally Diablo characters.
Dividing the spoils (and the dragons, ohohoho) can wait.
Also also, these dorks are totally Diablo characters.
- Location
- Castle Oblivious
I think it was less 'map marker was over the temple' and more 'map marker was over the general area and from memory Eldingar guessed the temple was the place to be'
Which
He was not wrong.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Guys there's not...there's not a write in option. Like it's a choice of "either/or" and they're already, like, sorta angling in more on the prestige and trophy aspect too rather than just cold hard fiscal value. Basically what I'm saying is that if the most obvious third options isn't put down as an option for IC reasons like it kinda-
It kinda gets a bit weird if you put it in anyway.
- Location
- The Land of Many Bregrets
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Probably (I admit I can't remember the specifics either).
It's just curious to note they were in the general area for some time when in terms of actual threats they defeated the final boss pretty handily.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] Tala deserves the lamp. She destroyed the armoured elementals, used her unique powers to set up the killing throw for Datu, and is your brand new boyfriend's sister so maybe you shouldn't antagonise her the very first time you meet her. More to the point, if she gets the lamp you'll probably never have to see it again. On the other hand, immediately siding with his sister over him may not be the best way to kick off a relationship with Datu.
Oh look a plot hook
Let's just run very fast in the opposite direction
Oh look a plot hook
Let's just run very fast in the opposite direction