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Paths of Heroes

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i'd suggest going hunting for the Husker and experiment, as losing the delvers would suck donkey dong.
 
The husks eating other beasts have up and downsides, but we shouldn't split attention if we are serious about dealing with them.
 
[X] Fortify
[X] Fortify x2

This then I think is what I'll go for. Popular opinion isn't that far from popular wisdom, and regardless of that it is risk mitigation.

@Academia Nut last question I have for a while does Fortify x2 do anything special over simply Fortifying and doing something else?
 
BungieONI said:
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).
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And I think both options are terrible

First off, Bungie look at the front page again. Our units are not interchangeable. We can only send one unit out, our Hunter Squad to find the nest. We cannot double down on Hunt.

Second, look at our stats. Our Food is Poor, Our Defense is Poor, and our Resources are Terrible. We do not really have the supplies and fortifications to sit this out if they can wipe out villages.

No the thing to do is to send out our Hunters and keep Exploring

[X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift

Our Hero can keep our Delvers safe and out Hunters can focus on removing the nest. Our Personal Prowess stat is good and I trust them to manage the task.
 
BungieONI said:
[X] Fortify
[X] Fortify x2

This then I think is what I'll go for. Popular opinion isn't that far from popular wisdom, and regardless of that it is risk mitigation.

@Academia Nut last question I have for a while does Fortify x2 do anything special over simply Fortifying and doing something else?
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I don't know if double fortify right now is a good call, the hunters would feel they are unappreciated and the council too cautious. Then again, we don't have much leeway do we? Low on most of everything.

Edit: I'm of the opinion that hunt is more risky then patrol, and we can risk once we spawn another hunter party.
[x] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[x] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
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Sivantic said:
And I think both options are terrible

First off, Bungie look at the front page again. Our units are not interchangeable. We can only send one unit out, our Hunter Squad to find the nest. We cannot double down on Hunt.

Second, look at our stats. Our Food is Poor, Our Defense is Poor, and our Resources are Terrible. We do not really have the supplies and fortifications to sit this out if they can wipe out villages.

No the thing to do is to send out our Hunters and keep Exploring

[X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift

Our Hero can keep our Delvers safe and out Hunters can focus on removing the nest. Our Personal Prowess stat is good and I trust them to manage the task.
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I don't think the Poor or Terrible are stockpiles. They very much look like income sources, and we don't lose everything from food for example if we go to defensive stance since the spring and what creatures we have in reach are maintained inside. Also I'm not going to vote for anything that puts injured Delvers out there.

But you know what its worth asking along with my other questions: @Academia Nut what does going to Defensive Stance actually do to our Stats?
 
[X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
If they were dumb I'd fortify

[X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
[x] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[x] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
BungieONI said:
don't think the Poor or Terrible are stockpiles. They very much look like income sources, and we don't lose everything from food for example if we go to defensive stance since the spring and what creatures we have in reach are maintained inside. Also I'm not going to vote for anything that puts injured Delvers out there.
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They are not that is true, they are an indicator at how good our situation is. Poor is basic, it is that we are not doing well, but not too bad barring extenuating circumstances. Like say a siege :V

Even then I rather the fight be out there in their den than on our own home. It risks our warriors, but I would rather risk them than our people and our poor supplies.

As to the other @Academia Nut what sort of time our we working on? Is a week one action or...? What action do we need to take to count as inactivity?
 
[X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
Academia Nut said:
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.
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This is cute. Everybody, our Doomteller is very cute!

"But why don't they want me to wave with my human hands? They look real enough, I based them off actual humans!"
 
[x] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[x] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
[X] Fortify
[X] Fortify x2

Hunkering down seems like a sane response to insane situations, and this definitely counts.
 
Academia Nut said:
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.
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Actually, wait. I was under the impression that Huskers were parasites that puppeted their host. If they just eat them, why are human-borne Huskers more dangerous?
Omegahugger said:
"But why don't they want me to wave with my human hands? They look real enough, I based them off actual humans!"
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Oh I think it is better than that Omega! I am pretty sure he was inspired by Tamatoa from Moana(since he stick stuff to their shells), who is based off the coconut crab. Coconut crab actually do have small legs that they hide inside their shell.

So this could not just be Leelbok trying to be cute, but that all Doomtellers have human baby hands~<3
 
i absolutely adore your descriptions of the boneyard
 
Sivantic said:
Actually, wait. I was under the impression that Huskers were parasites that puppeted their host. If they just eat them, why are human-borne Huskers more dangerous?
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All we have on Huskers is from their description:
Academia Nut said:
A particularly hideous breed, these eyeless monsters that see too much reproduce by implanting their young in other creatures, eating them from the inside out before leaving behind an empty husk once matured. Obtaining one is typically an accident when another beast is implanted and a human capable of mastering it while it grows is present. Those born from humans are especially dangerous, and thus far no one has been allowed to even make the attempt.
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The husks they leave behind and get their name from are sort of like a butterfly's chrysalis, but made out of a dead creature. As for why human-borne ones are especially dangerous, possibly Huskers steal attributes from their incubators or something so they're smarter.
 
[x] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[x] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Explore Windmoss Rift

I love the insanity of a friendly hoarding crab that waddles off into people's dreams.
 
[x] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[x] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[x] Explore Windmoss Rift
 
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Week 3 - Tripping the Rift
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    • [X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
    -[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
    [X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
    -[X] Explore Windmoss Rift
    Hero Aids Delvers

    While the elders decided on the best course of action, Cal chose to meditate with Leelbok. The little guy was more than a little depressed over not being able to give some sort of warning for his friends, and thus was throwing himself ever harder into working on his prophetic abilities. Cal was of course helping by dreaming with him and helping the Doomteller to find and piece together pieces of time.

    Cal only had a sort of vague understanding of how it worked, but as best he could tell dreams contained memories, and the Doomtellers had ways to access memories that had yet to be formed. Unfortunately dreams were also imaginings, and neither Leelbok nor Cal were very good at piecing together what was future memory and what was just random whimsy.

    Still, Cal was more than willing to help his partner, and thus when Leelbok proudly presented him a flimsy thing of shimmering light in his dreams, he accepted it. What he found was not what he expected.

    Cal was walking through one of the side tunnels near Goldsprings, a part of the rib that had been sealed off but was frequently patrolled. Only instead of rocky bone held in darkness, the walls were lined with windmoss and hung with lanterns that gave off brilliant golden light. The whole place smelled of pure, chilled air and had a pleasant breeze blowing through, the warmth of the lanterns balancing the wind to be perfectly relaxing.

    When he awoke, Cal suspected that the expedition being planned would produce some most interesting finds. While he wasn't exactly sure of the overall planning - the Delver were fairly explicitly being used as bait to try to draw out the Huskers - he supposed that it was a fairly good plan all around. The Hunters were already harrying the Huskers and anything else that was getting too close, and in a day's time the Delvers would venture out to the recently discovered Windmoss Rift. It was hoped that the Husker leader would be smart enough to see the detached Delvers as an easy target while the Hunters on Drakes provided overwatch.

    When the time came the Delvers were forced to do the one thing they hated most: head out into the Boneyard not wearing their heavy gear. They had packed everything they would need into carts hauled by beasts too dull to bind and would be wearing basic survival gear, but the distance was simply too great to be wearing their work gear until they arrived at the site. They all felt terribly exposed, but at least the Rift was not so far that they had to camp out in open wilderness before arriving. Those trips were always extra uncomfortable.

    Fortunately they made it across the relatively short distance of the surface to make it to the rift, which the Hunters had generally cleared out enough that the Delvers could easily set up as a fortified temporary camp before nightfall. This meant that the Delvers could also gear up for when they were standing guard, which improved morale significantly. The talk of the camp revolved primarily around the wisdom of sending them out here rather than fortifying up, or at least staying home while the Hunters dealt with the Huskers.

    After a mostly uneventful night with only a few wildlife attacks, it was time to begin exploring the rift. Cal of course volunteered to be at the front, letting himself be lowered into the rift to examine it. Almost immediately it became apparent that even just hacking out clumps of windmoss would be incredibly profitable, as the stuff was truly covering every surface in what had possibly once been a Titan's bone, now hollowed out of its marrow and shattered in deep crevasses. The only big issue was working out what other tunnels this place might connect into, and figuring out what the moss was feeding on. The stuff took in toxins and corruption - with the unfortunate exception of most of the tar which was just too corrosive for it - so for it to be growing so prolifically meant that there had to be something it was feeding on.

    Since harvesting valuable material only for the process to reveal some hidden danger was one of the primary ways for Delvers to die while out scavenging, finding the truth of this place was the primary purpose of the exploration. At the very least they could rule out tar and concentrated acid, but despite the incredibly clean air there was probably a vent of some toxic and/or flammable gas in the place feeding everything. Or maybe deeper down there was a noxious mold or fungus releasing spores that were getting eaten by the moss and cutting it away would release them.

    So Cal and the Delvers worked with survey tools to measure the depths of the moss, search for unstable terrain, and chart out airflow patterns and liquid drainage. By the third day of the expedition they had not found anything conclusive in their careful probing, but there was definitely something affecting the whole region and providing enough windmoss that they could feed it to animals as fodder instead of husbanding it for medicine and filters. Cal also realized that if they could work out what the source was and bring it back, they could possibly use it to set up windmoss farms in the tunnels adjacent to the village, significantly improving the safety and ease of gathering.

    Leelbok was so proud of bringing that idea forth.

    Finally on the fourth day Cal pressing a survey pole into the cool and slightly damp moss produced a metallic clang a finger's length into the plant matter. Carefully pulling out his utility sword, he began to carefully cut away the moss alongside the other Delvers on his team. Beneath the moss they found a smooth golden-copper metal instead of the usual stone. Cutting further, they found an entire trilobed valve large enough for a mature Drake and rider to march through. Pulling out diving tools, they noticed no ill tidings from the burning of incense or swinging of crystal pendulums.

    Pausing to triple check all of their seals and making sure that the team that would be approaching the valve was secured to emergency ropes, Cal and five others all went to work seeing if they could gently open the valve. With some wiggling and shifting, they managed to push it in just a crack at the center, opening a tiny circle just big enough to peer through. Pausing to retry their auguries to make sure that they had not opened up any dangers, Cal then took a look inside once it was deemed safe enough.

    Pushing through a glowstone to provide illumination, Cal put his face right up to the opening, and saw… well, he wasn't sure what he saw. There was an enormous chamber on the other side of the valve, free of windmoss but filled with a tangle of what might be intestines or veins or something, only they had a metallic shine from the light of the bauble dropped in. Moving his head back and forth to try to get a better view, Cal tried to figure out what it was that he was seeing.

    For a split second Cal thought that he saw something with a light that wasn't from the glowstone, and then his whole vision went white, he tasted metal in his mouth and nose, and it felt like he had been punched in the face. Stumbling backward in shock, he slammed into the moss covered wall behind him.

    "Cal!" Someone called out. Blinking his eyes to try to get the spots out of them, Cal held up a hand to forestall being hauled off his feet by the concerns of the rest of his team. He just needed to…

    Something was moving at his back. At that he leapt away from the wall, his balance not set and once he hit the ground he allowed his team to haul him along while the other members of the push team ran away from the valve, aiding as they could. Cal's face and hands were starting to tingle, and he was fairly certain that he could taste blood in his mouth.

    "Mother preserve us…" Someone uttered in horror as Cal was hauled drunkenly to his feet. Turning around to see what was being pointed at, Cal witnessed the windmoss growing before their eyes, all in a huge circle opposite the open valve, with the most growth occurring exactly opposite the hole. In mere moments the moss grew to be at least an arm's length thick at the center, and then the center started to slump and peel away.

    The moss was growing, but the material exactly opposite the opening was also dying, whatever invisible toxicity beyond the valve was too intense for the windmoss to keep up. Moss blackened and died, the ruined material consumed by the neighbouring plant mass, but it was obvious that the toxins were winning out. As dead moss began to accumulate in front of the central hole, it started to smoulder.

    By the time his team had picked him up to carry him, the moss was in a spirited competition between trying to consume the dead and dying kin and burning, and it looked like the equilibrium point was going to be profoundly unhealthy for humans.

    As for Cal…

    Windmoss Rift -> Burning Rift
    Discontent Rises!
    Panic Rises!

    Choose an organ for the toxins to concentrate in
    [] Heart
    [] Nerves
    [] Marrow
    [] Skin
    [] Lungs
    [] Stomach
    [] Kidneys
     
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