Paths of Heroes
- Thread starter Academia Nut
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
We must find proper ingredients for our Drake saute!
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
[X] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[X] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
- Location
- Hollister
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
[X] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[X] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
- Location
- Staring into the void
[X] Explore
[X] Explore x2
[X] Explore x2
Rolen von Keng
Sleeping Green Bear
- Location
- The Wilderness
[X] Explore
[X] Explore x2
[X] Explore x2
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
[X] Explore
[X] Scavenge
[X] Scavenge
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hmm! Explore plus scavenge would I think have it so that we explore first and then poke at what we find and what we already know, that seems like the most time efficient and logical way to do it.
(Humans are under no obligation to be logical, efficient, or make sense but still its a plausible train of thought.)
Another way to do it might be a splitting of time between the hunters and delvers, where delvers go to scavenge at what we know while the hunters go exploring but Delvers have both the Explore and Scavenge actions while Hunters have Hunt and Patrol and Explore so their time might be better taken up by other things on a narrative level.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah. On the ground it doesn't seem like there's an overarching priority that might cause that sort of split, so it doesn't seem likely that the second form would happen.
Powerofmind
In Madness Fallen
- Location
- United States
Scavenger sites are likely to be at least semi permanent, and other weird shit can be found, too. I'd rather drive a few extra minutes to the buffet than pick one dish.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I would to yeah for similar reasons.
The only reason they'd disappear is if we lost access to them due to something moving in, or expended the resources found there, or if it was too dangerous to go back for some reason I think.
Last edited:
Week 2 - Another Day In The Pit
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Explore
[X] Scavenge
Hero - Aid Delvers
After some discussion with the council, it was decided that while the beasts outside were quiet, the Hunters would range out further to seek anything interesting that might advance the goals of the Springmother. While the Hunters were out, the Delvers would collect resources from the Pit, the hole closest to the village that provided the easiest access to the tunnels and warrens where resources could be gathered.
With his fellow Delvers heading out, Cal would of course be joining them. His preparations began with calling Leelbok forth to join him, a process that began with greeting the creature in his dreams and then guiding him back to the waking world. Through both the bond they shared and his body language, Cal could tell that the little the Doomteller was excited to be heading out. At some point while he had been scuttling through Cal's dreams Leelbok had collected ephemeral black streamers and attached them to the tips of the verdigris spikes he had glued to his shell. From the emotions Cal felt while seeing them, they were associated with the Springmother, which was rather sweet.
Leelbok had however adjusted the pewter mask he wore again. The little guy understood that most humans found the approximation of a face he had glued to himself disconcerting, but he had yet to actually figure out how to make it not look uncanny or to stop fiddling with it so people could adjust. The eyestalks sticking out of the eye holes like a victim of slavery fungus did not help, but Cal did have to appreciate Leelbok for his attempt. At least the Doomteller had finally figured out that people preferred he wave at them with his large primary claws instead of his creepy baby hands that he kept tucked under his shell most of the time.
With Leelbok out and about to aid with the work, Cal spent the remainder of his time before venturing out checking over his gear. His Delver equipment was huge and bulky, made from bronze, brass, chitin, and specially treated leather. While it slowed him and the other Delvers down, and was stupid hot to work in, it could be completely sealed. While the Boneyard was not innately toxic, there were enough toxic surprises to be had down there that working in or near full seal was just good sense. They had ways to carry their own air or pipe it in if they went into a particularly suffocating environment, but that was extra weight and encumbrance.
The Hunters had their burst strength and grace, but it was a proverb that "Only a fool wrestles a Delver" for a reason.
Eventually all the preparation was done and it was actually time to gear up and head out. That was a regular enough thing that Cal thought nothing of it, but as always he had to pause once he and the others emerged from the protective enclosure of their home dug into the titan's rib, to stare out upon the Boneyard. Goldsprings sat hundreds of paces up from where it emerged from the rippling, rotten stone below, but the rib stretched off into infinity above, its top lost in the clouds. Various creatures flew in the distance but kept their distance from the fortified position the humans maintained.
Letting senior apprentices run one last check over the seals on his gear, Cal stepped onto the platform that raised and lowered everything in and out of Goldsprings. It was a trip he had taken many times before, but it was always the most nerve wracking part of an expedition given how much of his safety was out of his control.
Fortunately the trip down was uneventful, and he quickly joined up with the other Delvers and the Hunters who had ridden their Drakes down. The Pit was well patrolled and secured from generations of work, but the shifting of rotting divine flesh and the machinations of beasts was eternally opening up new fissures that let new dangers into the location.
The first night was relatively uneventful, a few strangler beasts becoming meals for those who had bound Drakes and Huskers, but something felt distinctly off to Cal. They had done a sweep a few weeks ago, but the activity felt lower than it should be. While most of the others agreed with him, there was little that could be done against something that wasn't there.
The Hunters were ranging out during the day, seeking uncharted fissures from the air by those on Drakes while their ground-bound kin poked at likely targets. Meanwhile the Delvers gathered up basic resources and did maintenance on the Pit. One of Cal's jobs was to descend into the muck of a tar flooded tunnel and unblock it by feel alone so that the glass flowers that bloomed there could be harvested.
The worst thing about the work was the moment between emerging from the stagnant oil and wiping off the faceplate. There were things that lived in the tar, but the only ones that were dangerous were too big to fit into the tunnels Cal worked in, so the biggest dangers were environmental and things that he could anticipate. Emerging from the tar there was a moment where you were exposed but still blind, and thus more vulnerable than ever.
It was to the Husker's great misfortune that it had been menacing the people manning the tether cable and air hose and was thus turned away from Cal. With no time for surprise or fear, Cal simply drew his mostly utilitarian blade and slammed it into the back of the creature's overly elongated skull.
Huskers were loathsome creatures, especially for the way their features blended insect and reptile features and their black carapaces were reminiscent of the burned and exposed musculature of the Springmother. Cal had never heard anyone openly talk of it, but it was suspected that the primordial Husker had been somehow related to the Drakes or even one of the Lost Eggs. Still, for all that they were seemingly sculpted out of raw nightmares, they died all the same, and could even be made to feel fear.
From all around Huskers boiled forth from crevasses and tunnels, whatever had held them back before shattered by the sudden death of one of their own. They were met with crossbow bolts tipped with the teeth of their brethren, the claws and fangs of bound beasts, and the blades and picks of the Delvers. Stuffed as he was into his gear, the whole fight was a claustrophobic and muted affair, Cal's own breathing the loudest thing for him as he moved forward relentlessly. Claws and teeth tore and rent at his armor, but failed to find purchase in his flesh, and the attacks just let him turn his slow attacks into inevitable presses.
By the time it was all over he had tossed his helmet aside, the bolts holding it in place having been severed by a particularly large Husker getting its whole mouth around his head, which had allowed him to quite thoroughly disembowel it for its trouble. Fortunately by that point the attacking Huskers were sufficiently discouraged that the only impairment was Cal having to deal with the smell.
Completely covered in tar and Husker blood, Cal collapsed down next to the pump he had been tethered to, his team assessing the damage and casualties, and he said, "Thought it was too quiet."
That got a nervous chuckle out of the group. That had been bad, but it could have been worse. Just another day down in the Pit.
Only it wasn't.
Before the day was out, all of the Delvers had been evacuated back to Goldsprings. Husker pack attacks on their own weren't something to get too worked up about, but it had rapidly become apparent that every team had been hit almost all at once. No one had died, but bound beasts and spirits had fallen, and there were enough heavy injuries and damaged equipment that a full rotation of crews would be needed. So many attacks spoke of not just packs but a full on nest.
The fact that they had not noticed a nest, combined with the coordination of the attack, suggested only one thing: human-borne Husker. Worse yet, considering that there wasn't anyone who could have been lost in such a manner from Goldsprings in years, that meant that the beast had to be old. Old, clever, and able to boss it's less intelligent kin around enough that they could suppress the activity of other beasts while hiding their presence near the Pit.
A human-borne Husker Patriarch or Matriarch. The stuff of nightmares, the sort of thing that could wipe out whole villages. The only thing to do was to pull back and wait for the Hunters to return from their scouting mission.
Much to the dismay of the Hunters out scouting, their fantastic news was drowned out by the much more pressing problem. They had discovered a rent that plunged down deep and somehow produced a powerful upward draft of cool, moist air. Investigation had revealed a massive downward shaft filled with windmoss, a kind of plant that grew in strange regions, consumed various toxins, and gave off little gusts of cool wind. It had all sorts of uses, from food to medicine to providing Delvers with air, and the massive amount of growth suggested that there was something even more interesting deeper down.
Exploration was probably going to have to wait though, as it was quite clear that they needed to do something about the Huskers. Popular opinion was to bottle the village back up and wait for the Huskers to get hungry enough to stop waiting and reveal their position, but there was also some sentiment towards sending the Hunters out to find and kill the nest as quickly as possible. Of course, the Boneyard just had to be a frustrating place, and waiting a few weeks for the Husker situation to clear up could very well mean that the windfall the Hunters had just discovered would vanish into the ever shifting terrain away from the ribs.
Hunters: Major Success -> Windmoss Rift Exploration/Scavenge Site Discovered
Delvers: Failure, take 1 damage (3/4 HP remaining, no penalties, one week inactivity to heal)
Cal ensures Delvers suffer minimal failure results
Current Stance: Open
Passive Scout Results: ??? (Intelligent Husker counters passive scouting)
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic + Windmoss Rift
Current Community Actions Available: 2
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
Panic Rises!
Discontent and Panic will rise every turn Stance is Open and Intelligent Husker is not dealt with
[] Push Beasts Back - Units with the Hunt action push beasts back, changing from Defensive to Open Stance. High Success can generate temporary Resources.
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Explore Windmoss Rift
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Scavenge Windmoss Rift. Must be explored first.
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance. Not compatible with actions that Require Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[X] Scavenge
Hero - Aid Delvers
After some discussion with the council, it was decided that while the beasts outside were quiet, the Hunters would range out further to seek anything interesting that might advance the goals of the Springmother. While the Hunters were out, the Delvers would collect resources from the Pit, the hole closest to the village that provided the easiest access to the tunnels and warrens where resources could be gathered.
With his fellow Delvers heading out, Cal would of course be joining them. His preparations began with calling Leelbok forth to join him, a process that began with greeting the creature in his dreams and then guiding him back to the waking world. Through both the bond they shared and his body language, Cal could tell that the little the Doomteller was excited to be heading out. At some point while he had been scuttling through Cal's dreams Leelbok had collected ephemeral black streamers and attached them to the tips of the verdigris spikes he had glued to his shell. From the emotions Cal felt while seeing them, they were associated with the Springmother, which was rather sweet.
Leelbok had however adjusted the pewter mask he wore again. The little guy understood that most humans found the approximation of a face he had glued to himself disconcerting, but he had yet to actually figure out how to make it not look uncanny or to stop fiddling with it so people could adjust. The eyestalks sticking out of the eye holes like a victim of slavery fungus did not help, but Cal did have to appreciate Leelbok for his attempt. At least the Doomteller had finally figured out that people preferred he wave at them with his large primary claws instead of his creepy baby hands that he kept tucked under his shell most of the time.
With Leelbok out and about to aid with the work, Cal spent the remainder of his time before venturing out checking over his gear. His Delver equipment was huge and bulky, made from bronze, brass, chitin, and specially treated leather. While it slowed him and the other Delvers down, and was stupid hot to work in, it could be completely sealed. While the Boneyard was not innately toxic, there were enough toxic surprises to be had down there that working in or near full seal was just good sense. They had ways to carry their own air or pipe it in if they went into a particularly suffocating environment, but that was extra weight and encumbrance.
The Hunters had their burst strength and grace, but it was a proverb that "Only a fool wrestles a Delver" for a reason.
Eventually all the preparation was done and it was actually time to gear up and head out. That was a regular enough thing that Cal thought nothing of it, but as always he had to pause once he and the others emerged from the protective enclosure of their home dug into the titan's rib, to stare out upon the Boneyard. Goldsprings sat hundreds of paces up from where it emerged from the rippling, rotten stone below, but the rib stretched off into infinity above, its top lost in the clouds. Various creatures flew in the distance but kept their distance from the fortified position the humans maintained.
Letting senior apprentices run one last check over the seals on his gear, Cal stepped onto the platform that raised and lowered everything in and out of Goldsprings. It was a trip he had taken many times before, but it was always the most nerve wracking part of an expedition given how much of his safety was out of his control.
Fortunately the trip down was uneventful, and he quickly joined up with the other Delvers and the Hunters who had ridden their Drakes down. The Pit was well patrolled and secured from generations of work, but the shifting of rotting divine flesh and the machinations of beasts was eternally opening up new fissures that let new dangers into the location.
The first night was relatively uneventful, a few strangler beasts becoming meals for those who had bound Drakes and Huskers, but something felt distinctly off to Cal. They had done a sweep a few weeks ago, but the activity felt lower than it should be. While most of the others agreed with him, there was little that could be done against something that wasn't there.
The Hunters were ranging out during the day, seeking uncharted fissures from the air by those on Drakes while their ground-bound kin poked at likely targets. Meanwhile the Delvers gathered up basic resources and did maintenance on the Pit. One of Cal's jobs was to descend into the muck of a tar flooded tunnel and unblock it by feel alone so that the glass flowers that bloomed there could be harvested.
The worst thing about the work was the moment between emerging from the stagnant oil and wiping off the faceplate. There were things that lived in the tar, but the only ones that were dangerous were too big to fit into the tunnels Cal worked in, so the biggest dangers were environmental and things that he could anticipate. Emerging from the tar there was a moment where you were exposed but still blind, and thus more vulnerable than ever.
It was to the Husker's great misfortune that it had been menacing the people manning the tether cable and air hose and was thus turned away from Cal. With no time for surprise or fear, Cal simply drew his mostly utilitarian blade and slammed it into the back of the creature's overly elongated skull.
Huskers were loathsome creatures, especially for the way their features blended insect and reptile features and their black carapaces were reminiscent of the burned and exposed musculature of the Springmother. Cal had never heard anyone openly talk of it, but it was suspected that the primordial Husker had been somehow related to the Drakes or even one of the Lost Eggs. Still, for all that they were seemingly sculpted out of raw nightmares, they died all the same, and could even be made to feel fear.
From all around Huskers boiled forth from crevasses and tunnels, whatever had held them back before shattered by the sudden death of one of their own. They were met with crossbow bolts tipped with the teeth of their brethren, the claws and fangs of bound beasts, and the blades and picks of the Delvers. Stuffed as he was into his gear, the whole fight was a claustrophobic and muted affair, Cal's own breathing the loudest thing for him as he moved forward relentlessly. Claws and teeth tore and rent at his armor, but failed to find purchase in his flesh, and the attacks just let him turn his slow attacks into inevitable presses.
By the time it was all over he had tossed his helmet aside, the bolts holding it in place having been severed by a particularly large Husker getting its whole mouth around his head, which had allowed him to quite thoroughly disembowel it for its trouble. Fortunately by that point the attacking Huskers were sufficiently discouraged that the only impairment was Cal having to deal with the smell.
Completely covered in tar and Husker blood, Cal collapsed down next to the pump he had been tethered to, his team assessing the damage and casualties, and he said, "Thought it was too quiet."
That got a nervous chuckle out of the group. That had been bad, but it could have been worse. Just another day down in the Pit.
Only it wasn't.
Before the day was out, all of the Delvers had been evacuated back to Goldsprings. Husker pack attacks on their own weren't something to get too worked up about, but it had rapidly become apparent that every team had been hit almost all at once. No one had died, but bound beasts and spirits had fallen, and there were enough heavy injuries and damaged equipment that a full rotation of crews would be needed. So many attacks spoke of not just packs but a full on nest.
The fact that they had not noticed a nest, combined with the coordination of the attack, suggested only one thing: human-borne Husker. Worse yet, considering that there wasn't anyone who could have been lost in such a manner from Goldsprings in years, that meant that the beast had to be old. Old, clever, and able to boss it's less intelligent kin around enough that they could suppress the activity of other beasts while hiding their presence near the Pit.
A human-borne Husker Patriarch or Matriarch. The stuff of nightmares, the sort of thing that could wipe out whole villages. The only thing to do was to pull back and wait for the Hunters to return from their scouting mission.
Much to the dismay of the Hunters out scouting, their fantastic news was drowned out by the much more pressing problem. They had discovered a rent that plunged down deep and somehow produced a powerful upward draft of cool, moist air. Investigation had revealed a massive downward shaft filled with windmoss, a kind of plant that grew in strange regions, consumed various toxins, and gave off little gusts of cool wind. It had all sorts of uses, from food to medicine to providing Delvers with air, and the massive amount of growth suggested that there was something even more interesting deeper down.
Exploration was probably going to have to wait though, as it was quite clear that they needed to do something about the Huskers. Popular opinion was to bottle the village back up and wait for the Huskers to get hungry enough to stop waiting and reveal their position, but there was also some sentiment towards sending the Hunters out to find and kill the nest as quickly as possible. Of course, the Boneyard just had to be a frustrating place, and waiting a few weeks for the Husker situation to clear up could very well mean that the windfall the Hunters had just discovered would vanish into the ever shifting terrain away from the ribs.
Hunters: Major Success -> Windmoss Rift Exploration/Scavenge Site Discovered
Delvers: Failure, take 1 damage (3/4 HP remaining, no penalties, one week inactivity to heal)
Cal ensures Delvers suffer minimal failure results
Current Stance: Open
Passive Scout Results: ??? (Intelligent Husker counters passive scouting)
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic + Windmoss Rift
Current Community Actions Available: 2
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
Panic Rises!
Discontent and Panic will rise every turn Stance is Open and Intelligent Husker is not dealt with
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Explore Windmoss Rift
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance. Not compatible with actions that Require Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
Last edited:
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Oh ugh, that's not good.
@Academia Nut question on order of operations thing. If we did a plan that looked like this:
-[] Hunt Intelligent Delver
-[] Fortify
What order would we do them in, and/or is it a valid choice to make that won't get in its own way?
I love this kind of thing, the description of Delver tech is awesome.
@Academia Nut question on order of operations thing. If we did a plan that looked like this:
-[] Hunt Intelligent Delver
-[] Fortify
What order would we do them in, and/or is it a valid choice to make that won't get in its own way?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That is actually a problem I had and... ah! I will make a slight change to the description that should clear that up, because they are basically incompatible.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Cool cool! I was thinking they would be so thank you very much for clearing that up.
In that case then I see basically three options if we want to deal with this. Either we can put two actions into Hunting, two actions into fortification, or one action into hunting and one into runners asking for help (But honestly I really don't like this third option and am going to ignore it going forward).
I'm kind of keen on fortification for two reasons: one it means we follow popular opinion, and mitigate risk. Give it a week to evaluate how the Delvers recover and the Huskers respond.
Three weeks might be a good minimum time I think. We can spend time Experimenting during that period, which only temporarily lowers resources. Though that is a question.
@Academia Nut in the instance where we're fortified and in Defensive Stance and we temporarily spend Resources to Experiment, when and how does that Resources recover? My initial thought is that since resources are a form of income and Defensive stance is about buttoning things up, that we won't recover that temporary expenditure until we return to Open Stance.
Undead-Spaceman
Skeleton Supreme
- Location
- Somewhere in Orbit
19th century divers in suits made of giant bug parts getting into knife fights with Xenomorphs. I am loving this setting more and more.
I think shutting the gates and letting them come to us might work out. The Husker's will savage all the other beasts in our neck of the Bones and give us plenty of time to make things unpleasant for them when they finally decide to knock. Once they've revealed themselves and we deal with them, we might catch a turn or two of relative peace while the local ecosystem re-balances.
I think shutting the gates and letting them come to us might work out. The Husker's will savage all the other beasts in our neck of the Bones and give us plenty of time to make things unpleasant for them when they finally decide to knock. Once they've revealed themselves and we deal with them, we might catch a turn or two of relative peace while the local ecosystem re-balances.