Summer 10/Turn 3
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
(+108 Odr)
0~0~0
0~0~0
Needlebinding experimentation with cultivation
You gasp awake like a drowning woman given air as sensation returns to your fingers and toes. What happened?! What's going on?! And why can't you remember the last...?
Well, you don't know how long, now that you think about. One moment, you were kneeling down to cultivate with a new technique and, the moment you started and the Gate opened, something was forced throu... Oh, well, yeah. That would probably explain it, actually.
"You're awake," the voice of a very unamused Seeress draws you from your groggy thoughts. She sits down next to the bed you know realize you're in and places a warm cup of some steaming liquid against your lips, "Drink, you'll feel better."
Following her advice, you tilt your head back and immediately feel regret as the rancid liquid pours down your throat. Flailing wildly, you throw yourself to the floor and scramble to your feet, retching all the way. "By the Gods, woman!" You screech as you paw at your tongue, tears welling in your eyes, "What is that?!"
While the Seeress's face is like stone, her tone steadily gains heat with every spoken word, "It's what you deserve for doing something so foolish as to fully open the Gate, let alone with needlebinding!" She sighs and shakes her head, "It is good to see that you're not any worse for wear, though, if it had tasted good then we'd have had problems."
Your eyes narrow as any protests die on your lips, "What... Do you mean?"
Her mouth twists into a deep frown, "You died, Halla, and I wanted to make sure you were still human and not some creature masquerading as you."
"I," you blink, not quite getting it, "I what?"
"The odr, as it always does, overwhelmed your soul." A frown twitches on your face as you hear that, "It was only thanks to your quick-thinking friends as well as the unusual strength of your soulscape that I was able to halt the flow before it washed you beyond reach."
You swallow, your mouth suddenly dry. "I... I see."
She stares at you for a long while, but says nothing. After all, making you promise not to do it again is a losing battle! Right, Blackhand?
...Blackhand?
There's no answer, you suddenly feel very alone.
(Blackhand is missing and, with the sudden loss of a previously integral part of you, you now are able to capture Experiences. However, thanks to Skippy having pre-emptively spent a Reward Dice, you-the-players know that he'll be back, eventually)
(Your first death. You have ? left)
0~0~0
Dwarf Time
About a week after the incident with your cultivation, you find yourself once more atop a dwarven underhouse. Only this time, you're not here to cultivate but to trade. And it's not the same place, but that's just semantics.
After going through the motions of opening the tree-lock and descending the stairs, you arrive again before the dwarves' front door. A trio of knocks sees the door swing open to reveal Toki's smiling face.
"Halla!" He exclaims as he invites you into his home. A serving dwarf swiftly approaches with a beetle husk and stone-carved mug laden tray, both of which Toki accepts and offers to you. When you simply stare at it, he blinks and explains, "Oh, yes, you wouldn't know." Clearing his throat with a cough, he continues, "This is a recent invention after an incident involving a doppleganger. Simply gargle this," he gestures to the mug, "and spit in the beetle and we'll see if you are who you say you are."
Squinting, you hesitantly lift the mug to your lips and accept it into your mouth.
For the second time that week, you immediately regret putting something in your mouth. It tastes like the slime at the bottom of the lake—don't ask—if it were somehow more gunky and greasy and impossibly dry all at the same time. It sloshes around your mouth in a great lump of solid-yet-equally-mushy pseudo-liquid. Gargling it is a struggle, but a struggle you muddle through.
Black gunk splatters across the beetle shell and, as nothing happens, you find yourself greeted by an even happier Toki.
"Halla, it is you!" He shouts with glee as he wraps you in a hug, his seemingly ever-thicker beard feels rather itchy to the touch—does the size of a dwarf's beard somehow convey importance? As he pulls away, he offers a slight bow as a greedy gleam enters his beady eye, "Have you come seeking further trade?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," the smile on Toki's face broadens ever-further as he claps and leads you to the negotiations chamber.
There, you undergo the customary rites and drinking of poison before beginning.
Goodwill: 7
Current Balance: +6
Dorri's Holdings:
300 Food) 1 Food = +1 Balance
700 Goods) 3 Goods = +1 Balance
1,502 Balance-worth of Dwarf Coins
Their Holdings:
Resources:
Forged Iron) 12oz = -1 Balance
Magical Metal) 6oz (Write In) = -1 Balance
Socket Stones) 1 Stone = -1 Balance
Precious Gemstones) 1oz = -1 Balance
Semi-Precious Gemstones) 2oz = -1 Balance
(Others determined via thread discussion)
Knowledge:
(Determined via thread discussion)
Services:
(Determined via thread discussion)
How do you wish to proceed?
[ ] Write in
0~0~0
AN: So, your cultivation mishap turning out this way was the culmination of a lot of things lining up all at once.
I can't say much more then that.
I'll do the owl gatcha at the end of the turn.
15-minute moratorium, only update for today.
[X]Plan The Quest For Hugr (Part 1)
1
-[X] Organize the deal between Dorri and the Dwarves
--[X] Make it clear to the dwarves that we are not in charge of Dorri, we're just playing intermediary
--[X] Also discuss with Dorri preparations for the Rogaland raid, if he's amenable, make sure to suggest signal fires along the coast as that seems useful for Firestorm as well as its normal purpose
2
-[X] (Crafting) Try to make something
--[X] In preparation for the raid, make 30 Tier 4 sets of weapons and/or armor (whatever we can make, with a preference for armor if possible) for the people of the Hading as part of our deal with Dorri (27 Work dice from this action +63 from Work dice below, all upgraded by Born With A Hammer In Hand), using metal from the above Dwarven Trade Deal. Noting to Dorri that this is the rushed quality level...we'll be making smaller numbers of better items going forward.
--[X] Use Bottled Lighting for a bonus Crafting Action.
-[X](Crafting) Try to make something (1)
--[X] Make and Inscribe a matching pair of braided half-silver and half-gold Arm-Rings (+15 successes from Tools/Workshop)
--[X] One has runes saying "This arm-snake grants the might of the forest's lord to the atgeir's homestead."(= Grant the strength of a mighty tree to the arm [of the wearer]). Hopefully duplicating Dense Muscles when active.
--[X] The other one has runes saying "This limb-fire lends speed like the thoughts of Odin." (= Grant the wearer speed). Hopefully duplicating High-Twitch Muscles when active.
--[X] Use the Stoking on the runes rather than the arm-rings themselves
--[X] Foring the strength one in the form of a dragon wrapped around a tree, and the speed one a dragon wrapped around a spear
-[X] (Crafting) Try to make something (2)
--[X] Reforge Ashen Kiss, Forge a matching Sword to go with it, also made of Molten Iron (+15 successes from Tools/Workshop)
--[X] Adding Crowfeeder's Runes to both of them, while maintaining Ashen Kiss's existing Runes
--[X] Also adding Runes to the sword saying "May my foe's armor part for me like butter for a hot knife." for penetrating armor
--[X] Adding wolf bone ash to the pair of them, hopefully making them hit harder.
--[X] Name the sword "Burning Caress"
3
-[X] (Underhouse) What would you like to use the Underhouse for?
--[X] Set it up as a hideout
--[X] If there's time, search the empty bedroom for the ledger
--[X] If he's willing to come, bring Seeingsnow and ask him if his abilities can reveal anything about what happened there
4
-[X] (Personal)Spend time with...
--[X] Steinarr, Sten, and the whole rest of our family and retainers
--[X] Discuss the forthcoming attack, suggest sending all noncombatants to the Underhouse once we have it prepped and make other plans as needed. If this happens after the raid, do an after-action report and discuss this in a 'next time' kind of way.
--[X] Ask Steinarr if he has any recommendations other than 'just hit harder' for dealing with someone with a lot of damage reduction. Is there a Stoker State Trick that reduces DR per hit or some other solution he's familiar with? And get his advice on mass combat in general, since he clearly has experience and it seems likely to be relevant. Also, briefly tell everyone about some of our Alloying discoveries in a general way (not necessarily too much specific stuff, but that you can alloy just about anything).
5
-[X] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
--[X] Our Soulscape!
---[X] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
-[X] Special Note: On all Crafting add the following if possible unless otherwise specified:
--[X] For metal items have Heat Hold available just in case
--[X] Using Sundersight (+1d3 Successes)
--[X] Stoking Frami, Virthing, and Saemd (for +1 Success each, +3 successes total) to enhance the crafting process
6
-[X] (Seeress) Learn seidr with the Seeress (Only available during Summer)
--[X] Learn the seidr area for combat spells useful when dealing with other humans, whatever ones Solrun knows anyway
--[X] Reprise our question about where she stays in the winter and invitation to stay with us if she would prefer
--[X] Ask about the early warning she got last time, see how that worked and if duplicating it might be possible
7
-[X] (Research)
--[X] Continue reading up on Frisian cultivation – 1 Research
--[X] Try and use needlebinding when cultivating to reinforce the weaving to the best of the ability, and potentially use strings of Orthstirr to do so as well, and see if it improves how much Odr we can gain – 1 Research, adding one Reward die courtesy of [@Skippy](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/166/) if any rolls or needed or it would otherwise help.
---[X] Take the standard precaution of having people around us watching over us
--[X] Try and Alloy Forgefire and Fylgja – 1 Research
---[X] Use anything productive gained by this in our mass creation of items this turn
--[X] Try and Alloy Contested Movement and Stoker State, see if that allows Stoked Dice to be used in a less all-or-nothing way with Contested Movement – 1 Research
--[X] Try Alloying Devouring Blaze and Heated Shroud, see if the resulting Trick can destroy hostile Guard effects as an aura – 1 Research
--[X] Experiment with Firebomb Strike, see if now that we've Perfected it we can reverse it, using the explosion to propel the blade like Hal did or if we can delay the explosion so it goes off after we've hit and penetrated the enemy (the hope either way is that the precision of Perfected allows this to make Sharpen work with this without needing a new Trick) – 1 Research
--[X] Try to uncover the root Style of _Time Stands Still_, experiment with trying to create a more limited version of the underlying effect, focussing on our breath the whole time and how we can use it more sparingly. Experiment with inverting our Slowing Slog to slow rather than stop the rest of the universe around us, using the experience of Time Stands Still and our newfound comprehension of Slowing Slog as a guide, and powering the technique with our breath as we do with TSS. – 1 Reward Die courtesy of [@Skippy](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/166/)
-[X] (Training) Hamr (255 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Flame-Tending Blade 16xp (8xp)
--[X] Train Fang 14xp (7xp)
-[X] (Training) Hugr (207 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Hugr 92xp (46xp)
--[X] Train Armorcraft 8xp (4xp)
--[X] Train 'Ranged' Weaponcraft Skill-Trick 2xp (1xp)
--[X] Train 'Spear' Weaponcraft Skill-Trick 2xp (1xp)
-[X] (Work Dice Usage)
--[X] Buildings: 6 Quality, 2 Living Space, 1 Storage, 5 Workshop (14 Total)
--[X] Resources: 6 Quality, 0 Food,0 Goods, 0 Silver (6 Total)
--[X] Livestock: 5 Quality, 0 Food, 0 Goods, 0 Silver (5 Total)
--[X] Crafting: Spend 63 Work Dice on this (see action above)
--[X] Conversion: Spend for 4 Research Dice (8 Total)
-[X] (Incidentals)
--[X] Assign **36 Odr** to Hamr, **2 Odr** to Tactics, and **2 Odr** to Strategy.
--[X] Adding Taafl Board Capacity Gains to: Abjorn, Hallbjorn,
--[X] Receiving Metal from Dwarves: 24 oz Forged Iron, 6 oz Drafty Iron
-[X] (Alloy Slots)
--[X] Unassign Stoked Snare, assign Stoked Ignition
-[X] (Capacity Slots)
--[X] Assign Time Stands Still, Semi-Halting Vortex, and Scouring Cleanse
-[X] (Shapeshifting Slots)
--[X] Assign new slot to High-Twitch Reflexes
-[X] (Fylgja Capacity)
--[X] Assign Flap Away to the empty slot if necessary to use that Trick, if it's not necessary assign a shield instead.
-[X] (Fylgja Alloy/Shapeshifting Slots)
--[X] Remove the single Kindle Spinner, replace it with a single Sparkbomb. Up the Folded Sparkbomb to 3Fold and Orthstirr-Enhancedx10.
-[X] (Standing Orders)
--[X] Reassign the slots for replacing the single Kindle-Spinner and Sparkbomb to replace the two Sparkbomb slots with copies of their initial uses.
1
-[X] Organize the deal between Dorri and the Dwarves
--[X] Make it clear to the dwarves that we are not in charge of Dorri, we're just playing intermediary
--[X] Also discuss with Dorri preparations for the Rogaland raid, if he's amenable, make sure to suggest signal fires along the coast as that seems useful for Firestorm as well as its normal purpose
2
-[X] (Crafting) Try to make something
--[X] In preparation for the raid, make 30 Tier 4 sets of weapons and/or armor (whatever we can make, with a preference for armor if possible) for the people of the Hading as part of our deal with Dorri (27 Work dice from this action +63 from Work dice below, all upgraded by Born With A Hammer In Hand), using metal from the above Dwarven Trade Deal. Noting to Dorri that this is the rushed quality level...we'll be making smaller numbers of better items going forward.
--[X] Use Bottled Lighting for a bonus Crafting Action.
-[X](Crafting) Try to make something (1)
--[X] Make and Inscribe a matching pair of braided half-silver and half-gold Arm-Rings (+15 successes from Tools/Workshop)
--[X] One has runes saying "This arm-snake grants the might of the forest's lord to the atgeir's homestead."(= Grant the strength of a mighty tree to the arm [of the wearer]). Hopefully duplicating Dense Muscles when active.
--[X] The other one has runes saying "This limb-fire lends speed like the thoughts of Odin." (= Grant the wearer speed). Hopefully duplicating High-Twitch Muscles when active.
--[X] Use the Stoking on the runes rather than the arm-rings themselves
--[X] Foring the strength one in the form of a dragon wrapped around a tree, and the speed one a dragon wrapped around a spear
-[X] (Crafting) Try to make something (2)
--[X] Reforge Ashen Kiss, Forge a matching Sword to go with it, also made of Molten Iron (+15 successes from Tools/Workshop)
--[X] Adding Crowfeeder's Runes to both of them, while maintaining Ashen Kiss's existing Runes
--[X] Also adding Runes to the sword saying "May my foe's armor part for me like butter for a hot knife." for penetrating armor
--[X] Adding wolf bone ash to the pair of them, hopefully making them hit harder.
--[X] Name the sword "Burning Caress"
3
-[X] (Underhouse) What would you like to use the Underhouse for?
--[X] Set it up as a hideout
--[X] If there's time, search the empty bedroom for the ledger
--[X] If he's willing to come, bring Seeingsnow and ask him if his abilities can reveal anything about what happened there
4
-[X] (Personal)Spend time with...
--[X] Steinarr, Sten, and the whole rest of our family and retainers
--[X] Discuss the forthcoming attack, suggest sending all noncombatants to the Underhouse once we have it prepped and make other plans as needed. If this happens after the raid, do an after-action report and discuss this in a 'next time' kind of way.
--[X] Ask Steinarr if he has any recommendations other than 'just hit harder' for dealing with someone with a lot of damage reduction. Is there a Stoker State Trick that reduces DR per hit or some other solution he's familiar with? And get his advice on mass combat in general, since he clearly has experience and it seems likely to be relevant. Also, briefly tell everyone about some of our Alloying discoveries in a general way (not necessarily too much specific stuff, but that you can alloy just about anything).
5
-[X] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
--[X] Our Soulscape!
---[X] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
-[X] Special Note: On all Crafting add the following if possible unless otherwise specified:
--[X] For metal items have Heat Hold available just in case
--[X] Using Sundersight (+1d3 Successes)
--[X] Stoking Frami, Virthing, and Saemd (for +1 Success each, +3 successes total) to enhance the crafting process
6
-[X] (Seeress) Learn seidr with the Seeress (Only available during Summer)
--[X] Learn the seidr area for combat spells useful when dealing with other humans, whatever ones Solrun knows anyway
--[X] Reprise our question about where she stays in the winter and invitation to stay with us if she would prefer
--[X] Ask about the early warning she got last time, see how that worked and if duplicating it might be possible
7
-[X] (Research)
--[X] Continue reading up on Frisian cultivation – 1 Research
--[X] Try and use needlebinding when cultivating to reinforce the weaving to the best of the ability, and potentially use strings of Orthstirr to do so as well, and see if it improves how much Odr we can gain – 1 Research, adding one Reward die courtesy of [@Skippy](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/166/) if any rolls or needed or it would otherwise help.
---[X] Take the standard precaution of having people around us watching over us
--[X] Try and Alloy Forgefire and Fylgja – 1 Research
---[X] Use anything productive gained by this in our mass creation of items this turn
--[X] Try and Alloy Contested Movement and Stoker State, see if that allows Stoked Dice to be used in a less all-or-nothing way with Contested Movement – 1 Research
--[X] Try Alloying Devouring Blaze and Heated Shroud, see if the resulting Trick can destroy hostile Guard effects as an aura – 1 Research
--[X] Experiment with Firebomb Strike, see if now that we've Perfected it we can reverse it, using the explosion to propel the blade like Hal did or if we can delay the explosion so it goes off after we've hit and penetrated the enemy (the hope either way is that the precision of Perfected allows this to make Sharpen work with this without needing a new Trick) – 1 Research
--[X] Try to uncover the root Style of _Time Stands Still_, experiment with trying to create a more limited version of the underlying effect, focussing on our breath the whole time and how we can use it more sparingly. Experiment with inverting our Slowing Slog to slow rather than stop the rest of the universe around us, using the experience of Time Stands Still and our newfound comprehension of Slowing Slog as a guide, and powering the technique with our breath as we do with TSS. – 1 Reward Die courtesy of [@Skippy](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/166/)
-[X] (Training) Hamr (255 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Flame-Tending Blade 16xp (8xp)
--[X] Train Fang 14xp (7xp)
-[X] (Training) Hugr (207 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Hugr 92xp (46xp)
--[X] Train Armorcraft 8xp (4xp)
--[X] Train 'Ranged' Weaponcraft Skill-Trick 2xp (1xp)
--[X] Train 'Spear' Weaponcraft Skill-Trick 2xp (1xp)
-[X] (Work Dice Usage)
--[X] Buildings: 6 Quality, 2 Living Space, 1 Storage, 5 Workshop (14 Total)
--[X] Resources: 6 Quality, 0 Food,0 Goods, 0 Silver (6 Total)
--[X] Livestock: 5 Quality, 0 Food, 0 Goods, 0 Silver (5 Total)
--[X] Crafting: Spend 63 Work Dice on this (see action above)
--[X] Conversion: Spend for 4 Research Dice (8 Total)
-[X] (Incidentals)
--[X] Assign **36 Odr** to Hamr, **2 Odr** to Tactics, and **2 Odr** to Strategy.
--[X] Adding Taafl Board Capacity Gains to: Abjorn, Hallbjorn,
--[X] Receiving Metal from Dwarves: 24 oz Forged Iron, 6 oz Drafty Iron
-[X] (Alloy Slots)
--[X] Unassign Stoked Snare, assign Stoked Ignition
-[X] (Capacity Slots)
--[X] Assign Time Stands Still, Semi-Halting Vortex, and Scouring Cleanse
-[X] (Shapeshifting Slots)
--[X] Assign new slot to High-Twitch Reflexes
-[X] (Fylgja Capacity)
--[X] Assign Flap Away to the empty slot if necessary to use that Trick, if it's not necessary assign a shield instead.
-[X] (Fylgja Alloy/Shapeshifting Slots)
--[X] Remove the single Kindle Spinner, replace it with a single Sparkbomb. Up the Folded Sparkbomb to 3Fold and Orthstirr-Enhancedx10.
-[X] (Standing Orders)
--[X] Reassign the slots for replacing the single Kindle-Spinner and Sparkbomb to replace the two Sparkbomb slots with copies of their initial uses.
Flame Tending Blade (Refined-Mastered)
Fang (5-6)
Armorcraft (4-5)
Ranged and Spear Weaponcraft Skill Tricks (Completed)
Fang (5-6)
Armorcraft (4-5)
Ranged and Spear Weaponcraft Skill Tricks (Completed)
Frisian Work
Thank you for reading my work. If you'd like further details on Frisian Cultivation, please seek out the book 'Deep Dive: Frisians'.
You scowl and toss the book aside. That sure was a waste of time!
0~0~0
Alloy research
Alloying Forgefire and your fylgja allows your fylgja to use your Forgefire tricks without having to have them 'accessible.' However, you can't use them while it has Forgefire.
Alloying Contested Movement and Stoker State does nothing.
Alloying Devouring Blaze and Heated Shroud does nothing.
0~0~0
Firebomb Strike Experimenting
Perfecting Firebomb Strike allows you to;
-Reverse it
-Delay the explosion
-Extend the explosion
-And more
0~0~0
Experimenting with Time Stands Still
After some experimentation with Time Stands Still, you discover that;
-Using your breath sparingly causes the Time Stands Still effect to 'stutter'. This feels important.
-Doing that with an inverted Slowing Slog makes attacks aimed towards you faster, except for when you hold your breath.
Thank you for reading my work. If you'd like further details on Frisian Cultivation, please seek out the book 'Deep Dive: Frisians'.
You scowl and toss the book aside. That sure was a waste of time!
0~0~0
Alloy research
Alloying Forgefire and your fylgja allows your fylgja to use your Forgefire tricks without having to have them 'accessible.' However, you can't use them while it has Forgefire.
Alloying Contested Movement and Stoker State does nothing.
Alloying Devouring Blaze and Heated Shroud does nothing.
0~0~0
Firebomb Strike Experimenting
Perfecting Firebomb Strike allows you to;
-Reverse it
-Delay the explosion
-Extend the explosion
-And more
0~0~0
Experimenting with Time Stands Still
After some experimentation with Time Stands Still, you discover that;
-Using your breath sparingly causes the Time Stands Still effect to 'stutter'. This feels important.
-Doing that with an inverted Slowing Slog makes attacks aimed towards you faster, except for when you hold your breath.
Needlebinding experimentation with cultivation
You gasp awake like a drowning woman given air as sensation returns to your fingers and toes. What happened?! What's going on?! And why can't you remember the last...?
Well, you don't know how long, now that you think about. One moment, you were kneeling down to cultivate with a new technique and, the moment you started and the Gate opened, something was forced throu... Oh, well, yeah. That would probably explain it, actually.
"You're awake," the voice of a very unamused Seeress draws you from your groggy thoughts. She sits down next to the bed you know realize you're in and places a warm cup of some steaming liquid against your lips, "Drink, you'll feel better."
Following her advice, you tilt your head back and immediately feel regret as the rancid liquid pours down your throat. Flailing wildly, you throw yourself to the floor and scramble to your feet, retching all the way. "By the Gods, woman!" You screech as you paw at your tongue, tears welling in your eyes, "What is that?!"
While the Seeress's face is like stone, her tone steadily gains heat with every spoken word, "It's what you deserve for doing something so foolish as to fully open the Gate, let alone with needlebinding!" She sighs and shakes her head, "It is good to see that you're not any worse for wear, though, if it had tasted good then we'd have had problems."
Your eyes narrow as any protests die on your lips, "What... Do you mean?"
Her mouth twists into a deep frown, "You died, Halla, and I wanted to make sure you were still human and not some creature masquerading as you."
"I," you blink, not quite getting it, "I what?"
"The odr, as it always does, overwhelmed your soul." A frown twitches on your face as you hear that, "It was only thanks to your quick-thinking friends as well as the unusual strength of your soulscape that I was able to halt the flow before it washed you beyond reach."
You swallow, your mouth suddenly dry. "I... I see."
She stares at you for a long while, but says nothing. After all, making you promise not to do it again is a losing battle! Right, Blackhand?
...Blackhand?
There's no answer, you suddenly feel very alone.
(Blackhand is missing and, with the sudden loss of a previously integral part of you, you now are able to capture Experiences. However, thanks to Skippy having pre-emptively spent a Reward Dice, you-the-players know that he'll be back, eventually)
(Your first death. You have ? left)
0~0~0
Dwarf Time
About a week after the incident with your cultivation, you find yourself once more atop a dwarven underhouse. Only this time, you're not here to cultivate but to trade. And it's not the same place, but that's just semantics.
After going through the motions of opening the tree-lock and descending the stairs, you arrive again before the dwarves' front door. A trio of knocks sees the door swing open to reveal Toki's smiling face.
"Halla!" He exclaims as he invites you into his home. A serving dwarf swiftly approaches with a beetle husk and stone-carved mug laden tray, both of which Toki accepts and offers to you. When you simply stare at it, he blinks and explains, "Oh, yes, you wouldn't know." Clearing his throat with a cough, he continues, "This is a recent invention after an incident involving a doppleganger. Simply gargle this," he gestures to the mug, "and spit in the beetle and we'll see if you are who you say you are."
Squinting, you hesitantly lift the mug to your lips and accept it into your mouth.
For the second time that week, you immediately regret putting something in your mouth. It tastes like the slime at the bottom of the lake—don't ask—if it were somehow more gunky and greasy and impossibly dry all at the same time. It sloshes around your mouth in a great lump of solid-yet-equally-mushy pseudo-liquid. Gargling it is a struggle, but a struggle you muddle through.
Black gunk splatters across the beetle shell and, as nothing happens, you find yourself greeted by an even happier Toki.
"Halla, it is you!" He shouts with glee as he wraps you in a hug, his seemingly ever-thicker beard feels rather itchy to the touch—does the size of a dwarf's beard somehow convey importance? As he pulls away, he offers a slight bow as a greedy gleam enters his beady eye, "Have you come seeking further trade?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," the smile on Toki's face broadens ever-further as he claps and leads you to the negotiations chamber.
There, you undergo the customary rites and drinking of poison before beginning.
Goodwill: 7
Current Balance: +6
Dorri's Holdings:
300 Food) 1 Food = +1 Balance
700 Goods) 3 Goods = +1 Balance
1,502 Balance-worth of Dwarf Coins
Their Holdings:
Resources:
Forged Iron) 12oz = -1 Balance
Magical Metal) 6oz (Write In) = -1 Balance
Socket Stones) 1 Stone = -1 Balance
Precious Gemstones) 1oz = -1 Balance
Semi-Precious Gemstones) 2oz = -1 Balance
(Others determined via thread discussion)
Knowledge:
(Determined via thread discussion)
Services:
(Determined via thread discussion)
How do you wish to proceed?
[ ] Write in
0~0~0
AN: So, your cultivation mishap turning out this way was the culmination of a lot of things lining up all at once.
I can't say much more then that.
I'll do the owl gatcha at the end of the turn.
15-minute moratorium, only update for today.
Last edited: