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NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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What are the svartalfar actually doing with the bodies? I don't like not knowing what they're doing under our land, although it doesn't necessarily mean that whatever they're doing is nefarious.
 
DeadmanwalkingXI said:
I mean, we were told resources are real scarce back home, so they may intend to eat them. Which would be disgusting but not, like, an actual problem.
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Turnabout is fair play, after all! ;P

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Voting is now closed

Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Jun 11, 2023 at 8:07 PM, finished with 134 posts and 27 votes.
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Your Pound of Troll-men Flesh 4
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Talk to them first, let's see if they can understand Norse.
    -[X] Tell them we're just here to kill Troll-Men, thank them for doing some of that for us, offer them food and company if they want. Or to work together if they're also here to kill Troll-Men?
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    "What we're gonna do," you whisper back to Stigmar, just loud enough for the others to hear, "is talk to the svartalfar first, see if they speak or at least understand Norse."

    'A long shot without a doubt, but it might just work,' Blackhand muses as Stigmar frowns.

    He folds his arms, his weapons sheathed at his side. "Is this another troll situation?"

    That grabs Eric's attention. "'Troll situation'?"

    "I'll tell you later," Eric frowns but doesn't press so you turn to Stigmar with a shallow shrug, "I don't think that it'll be all that similar. Still, I'll be careful."

    Stigmar's not happy with this plan, but that's his right as your sworn shield. Honestly, if he was happy with it, he wouldn't be doing his job right!

    Reaching into your bag, you retrieve a bundle of food. The food is not the freshest of food, nor is it the most flavorful. What it is, however, is filling and long-lasting and that is exactly what you want in rations. It should prove to be a good peace offering, though there's only one way to find out.

    Your footsteps echo through the chamber as you step over the as-of-yet unstacked bodies of dead troll-men. The intensity of the svartalfar's hissing rises as you approach, their wrinkly-chitinous formation shifting to prepare for any sort of sudden surprise. Wary they may be and are more than capable of fighting, but they won't seek it out if they can avoid it.

    Which, as you unwrap the bundle and the grainy smell of baked rations fills the air, is exactly what you're aiming for. Laying the open bundle on the ground, you take several steps back — segmented, compound eyes following every motion.

    "I'm not here to fight you, svartalfar!" The low-level chitter-hiss quiets as your words bounce off the walls, an echo of noise slowly trailing away before silence's inevitable advance. "We're only here to kill troll-men," you spread your arms wide, waving your hands at the charnel chamber, "Thank you, by the way, for assisting us in that task! If you'd like to perhaps work together to kill more troll-men, then please feel free to come with us!"
    (Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 6x1, 5x2, 4x4, 3x3, 2x2)11+1(First Impressions)=12 Successes
    The formation seems to ripple as the last word leaves your lips and the wall of bodies splits down the middle. The door, which they had been formed around, opens and a clicking enters the chamber. The source of the clicking soon reveals itself an old, elderly svartalf emerges from the shadows with cane in hand.

    The elderly svartalf's snow-white beard drags behind him as he hobbles forward on creaky limbs. Another svartalf — one of the warriors — helps him over the corpse piles to where you left the rations in the middle of the chamber.

    One of the svartalf's lower arms scoops the bundle up and another arm digs out a ration. The old svartalf examines the offering carefully. After a few moments of this, he sniffs it before his mandibles break off a tiny corner. He chews it thoroughly and really takes his time before eventually swallowing — which isn't the most pleasant sound or sight, given the lack of lips.

    "This is a great offering of peaceful proceedings, human." The svartalf's voice is a strange, eerie thing. It seems to tumble out on a rumble of lungs-filling air before it rolls into every listener's ear. If a letter can be rolled, then the svartalf rolls it as thoroughly as he chews his food. "While we svartalfar lack the numbers to go on an offensive, we offer you the location of that which you seek," an upper arm snakes out to pat the younger svartalf on a shoulder, "my son, Cathki, shall guide you to where the troll-men rest their heads."

    Cathki stiffens at that but gives no other hint towards how he's feeling. It is extremely difficult to read the svartalfar, thanks to most of their body language not lining up at all with humanity's. They possess no eyelids nor do they have lips with which to smile or frown. Mandible-clacks and teeth-clicks leave his mouth as he and his father have what you assume to be a short argument.

    After that, Cathki falls silent as his father turns back to you. He patiently waits for a response, his six-fingered hands clasped before his body.

    What response do you give?
    [ ] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least
    [ ] Politely decline, though the svartalfar will still point you in the right direction

    (+1 to Speaking Out of Law)
    0~0~0

    Endurance: (10/10) | Frenzy: (4/4) (+4 to all Combat Rolls) | Armor Health: (9/17) (+4 to Defense) | 4/4 Shield Layers
    Orthstirr: (381/449) | Odr: (13)
    ( ) Frami: 150 | ( ) Virthing: 150 | ( ) Saemd: 149
    Sagaseeker has 35 orthstirr in its reservoir.
    Your Armor has 13 orthstirr in its reservoir.
    Shapeshifting is granting you (+1 Damage and +1 Attack-Speed)
    Your combat pool is 60d6.

    You currently have these on your person:
    x1 Bottled Sunlight
    x7 Exploding Charms
    x1 Set of Digging Tools
    x4 Torches
    Plenty of Rope (Enough for any given scenario)

    0~0~0

    AN: Not a whole lot to say here other than that this one came to me quickly. I think that I did a decent job on it, too, so that's nice!

    How has the pacing been both overall and recently? Everything okay there or should I pull back a little bit on the number of choices-per-group of sub turns?

    No moratorium and a short voting period.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least
     
    [X] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least

    Don't really see any reason to refuse; this is what we wanted.
     
    Imperial Fister said:
    AN: Not a whole lot to say here other than that this one came to me quickly. I think that I did a decent job on it, too, so that's nice!

    How has the pacing been both overall and recently? Everything okay there or should I pull back a little bit on the number of choices-per-group of sub turns?
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    I just started participating in the quest this arc but the pacing's been pretty good so far as I'm concerned.
     
    [X] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least

    Less hazards to worry about, and we can travel faster with a guide.
    Not sure how he will react to our sun break though...
     
    TheCount said:
    [X] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least

    Less hazards to worry about, and we can travel faster with a guide.
    Not sure how he will react to our sun break though...
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    What do you mean by 'sun break'? Unless you mean our liquid sunlight, which shouldn't do anything to him as long as it's not spilled on him.
     
    [X] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least
     
    [X] Accept the aid of the svartalfar and Cathki joins your party, for a short while at least
     
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