Salted Sands (A Caves of Qud-Inspired Cultivation Quest)
- Thread starter I.F. Ister
- Start date
- Original
[X] Take Karter's hand and hunt the monsterhive (Guaranteed to be enough value)
He's starting to feel the burden of becoming the provider for his siblings and understands how much of a responsibility it is.
That was really badass Kell has learned how to use the gun really well.
Huh it's a good thing Kell met a relative that quickly, the guy seems pretty cool given that he payed respects to Surran.
The whole recognition as a man is a pretty bid deal culturally.
Karo is pretty insensitive and Kell was effected enough by it to have a spike of emotions.
Karter is pretty cool.
[X] Take Karter's hand and hunt the monsterhive (Guaranteed to be enough value)
Making friends seems like the smartest move.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Take Karter's hand and hunt the monsterhive (Guaranteed to be enough value)
Eyyy new bestie
Eyyy new bestie
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Take Karter's hand and hunt the monsterhive (Guaranteed to be enough value)
Actual backup? A chance to make an ally and maybe even improve our rep in the village if this is an ongoing problem? Sure to be enough to pay for what we need? I'm in.
Actual backup? A chance to make an ally and maybe even improve our rep in the village if this is an ongoing problem? Sure to be enough to pay for what we need? I'm in.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Take Karter's hand and hunt the monsterhive (Guaranteed to be enough value)
Nice to see a new quest.
Nice to see a new quest.
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
I, Singing Scribe Monty Morris of Cantalby, am writing this primer so as to educate the uninformed adventurers of the properties of the entities known in layman's terms as 'monsters'.
Before I can begin, however, I must clarify a common misconception. What are commonly referred to as 'monsters' are nothing of the sort. Calling a Nareevian Sicklecat a monster is no more correct than if one were to call a machine man, it is simply a misnomer. A monster is only a monster if it is made out of a substance known as 'sludge'. Sludge is black in color, syrup-like in motion, and sticky to the touch. Sludge on its own is only dangerous to the few unlucky enough to be born with an allergy to it. However, when enough sludge is allowed to pool together, it hardens into a 'monsterhive'.
Monsters come in many different forms, with each individual monster being unique. Some are big, others are small, but all have a ravenous appetite for sludge. Most of the time, monster infestations keep themselves in check as they devour and cannibalize in an endless cycle. Unfortunately, if a monster finds itself starved of sludge, they may attempt to feed on other entities and discover the ability inherent to all monsters: the ability to convert living matter into sludge upon digestian.
Among scholarly circles, monsters that have learned this facet of their reality are referred to as 'enlightened monsters'. Enlightened monsters on their own are not especially dangerous, not when compared to the predators that often lurk at the fringes of campfires. The problem comes when a 'spark-eyed monster'—a monster significantly more intelligent and capable than their fellow monsters—learns of their ability to turn living matter into sludge. Should this happen, spark-eyed monsters will invariably leverage this knowledge to create a sort of 'cult of personality' around themselves. In order to grow and propagate this cult, the spark-eye will desire to create as much sludge as possible.
A rare few spark-eyes will realize that making deals and striking accords with the local population centers is the superior way of expanding their cults—as is the case with Warlord Sar-Rasta in the minor oasis of Mottle—but the vast majority of spark-eyed monsters will simply kill and slaughter whoever is so foolish as to come too close to their territory. As such, they pose significant threat to unwary passerby.
Fighting monsters is, oftentimes, an exercise in futility. Monsters have no uniform weakness and no uniform strenghs, making every encounter a new one. No monster is exactly the same as any other monster and, unless they are fresh spawnlings, will have developed tactics and strategies to wield their innate armaments to their fullest potential.
You, dear reader, may find yourself dispairing should you be in the proximity of a monsterhive. If this is the case, worry not! Sludge cannot convert active ka into more sludge and, in attempting to do so, causes a sort of 'cascade effect'. Attempting to ingest active ka forces the sludge to spontanuously combust thanks to the heat generated by it trying to convert ka. In order to destroy a monsterhive, one must dump enough active ka into the 'spawning pool'—a central chamber from which all spawnlings, the first stage of monster biology, first emerge—so that the entire monsterhive comes crashing down. As long as one prevents any remaining spark-eyes from getting clever and attempting to construct another monsterhive, your monster problem will eventually end as the monsters cannibalize themselves or are killed in the attempt.
Some brave warriors even make a living out of this! Not only will villages often pay a princely sum for the removal of a nearby monsterhive, but monsters only ingest living matter, leaving the wealth and riches of their victims fully intact. As sludge has excellent preservative properties, the potential loot can stay pristine for generations!
Before I can begin, however, I must clarify a common misconception. What are commonly referred to as 'monsters' are nothing of the sort. Calling a Nareevian Sicklecat a monster is no more correct than if one were to call a machine man, it is simply a misnomer. A monster is only a monster if it is made out of a substance known as 'sludge'. Sludge is black in color, syrup-like in motion, and sticky to the touch. Sludge on its own is only dangerous to the few unlucky enough to be born with an allergy to it. However, when enough sludge is allowed to pool together, it hardens into a 'monsterhive'.
Monsters come in many different forms, with each individual monster being unique. Some are big, others are small, but all have a ravenous appetite for sludge. Most of the time, monster infestations keep themselves in check as they devour and cannibalize in an endless cycle. Unfortunately, if a monster finds itself starved of sludge, they may attempt to feed on other entities and discover the ability inherent to all monsters: the ability to convert living matter into sludge upon digestian.
Among scholarly circles, monsters that have learned this facet of their reality are referred to as 'enlightened monsters'. Enlightened monsters on their own are not especially dangerous, not when compared to the predators that often lurk at the fringes of campfires. The problem comes when a 'spark-eyed monster'—a monster significantly more intelligent and capable than their fellow monsters—learns of their ability to turn living matter into sludge. Should this happen, spark-eyed monsters will invariably leverage this knowledge to create a sort of 'cult of personality' around themselves. In order to grow and propagate this cult, the spark-eye will desire to create as much sludge as possible.
A rare few spark-eyes will realize that making deals and striking accords with the local population centers is the superior way of expanding their cults—as is the case with Warlord Sar-Rasta in the minor oasis of Mottle—but the vast majority of spark-eyed monsters will simply kill and slaughter whoever is so foolish as to come too close to their territory. As such, they pose significant threat to unwary passerby.
Fighting monsters is, oftentimes, an exercise in futility. Monsters have no uniform weakness and no uniform strenghs, making every encounter a new one. No monster is exactly the same as any other monster and, unless they are fresh spawnlings, will have developed tactics and strategies to wield their innate armaments to their fullest potential.
You, dear reader, may find yourself dispairing should you be in the proximity of a monsterhive. If this is the case, worry not! Sludge cannot convert active ka into more sludge and, in attempting to do so, causes a sort of 'cascade effect'. Attempting to ingest active ka forces the sludge to spontanuously combust thanks to the heat generated by it trying to convert ka. In order to destroy a monsterhive, one must dump enough active ka into the 'spawning pool'—a central chamber from which all spawnlings, the first stage of monster biology, first emerge—so that the entire monsterhive comes crashing down. As long as one prevents any remaining spark-eyes from getting clever and attempting to construct another monsterhive, your monster problem will eventually end as the monsters cannibalize themselves or are killed in the attempt.
Some brave warriors even make a living out of this! Not only will villages often pay a princely sum for the removal of a nearby monsterhive, but monsters only ingest living matter, leaving the wealth and riches of their victims fully intact. As sludge has excellent preservative properties, the potential loot can stay pristine for generations!
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Voting is now closed
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Alright. I'm going to need a tracking roll please (2d100 + 10). No DC for this one, it's just to see how well you track the monsters.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'll give it a shot.
EDIT: 88 total...not great, but it could be worse.
EDIT: 88 total...not great, but it could be worse.
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
What's up guys, Singing Scribe Mathias of Maxel here for another awesome informational video! Make sure to hit like and SMASH that sub button for more epic content!
Anyways, this video's about the 'nature of oases'. So, get this, we all live in these bubbles of space called 'oases'. That's O-A-S-E-S, oases, not O-A-S-I-S, which is the singular. But whatever. So, oases are these bubbles of stability where the Sands can't do whatever it wants. The reason for this is because of the reverse polarity influx* which makes it so that we all don't turn to salt!**
So, oases keep us safe from the Sands, right? Well, get this, oases also are the method that Big Oasis uses to keep us down!***
If you want more information on how to keep your family safe from Big Oasis, be sure to subscribe to my mailing list! Only $19 a month!
See you in the next video!
*Transcriptivist's note: There is no such thing as a 'reverse polarity influx'. I have no idea where or how Singing Scribe Mathias of Maxel learned of that, but this is the only result when one searches the databases for that term. What makes new oases happen is currently unknown, but what is certain is that the Sands and oases are not as opposed as one might think, such as can be seen in the oasis of, ironically, Maxel.
**TN: This is the Hypermann Hypothesis, a thought exercise meant to illustrate the pointlessness of certain debates and was not meant as an actual scientific theory. See also: Last Tuesday-ism.
***TN: I... I don't even know what to say here. I've looked into the personnel archives for any record of this 'Mathias of Maxel' and, apparently, he passed the Level Exam, so I'm not really sure what he's doing here or how he's even running this vidcast in the first place. I've checked the outwaves and have actually caught his vidcasts, but the source is coming from the Head Scribe's bathroom, which simply cannot be true.
Anyways, this video's about the 'nature of oases'. So, get this, we all live in these bubbles of space called 'oases'. That's O-A-S-E-S, oases, not O-A-S-I-S, which is the singular. But whatever. So, oases are these bubbles of stability where the Sands can't do whatever it wants. The reason for this is because of the reverse polarity influx* which makes it so that we all don't turn to salt!**
So, oases keep us safe from the Sands, right? Well, get this, oases also are the method that Big Oasis uses to keep us down!***
If you want more information on how to keep your family safe from Big Oasis, be sure to subscribe to my mailing list! Only $19 a month!
See you in the next video!
*Transcriptivist's note: There is no such thing as a 'reverse polarity influx'. I have no idea where or how Singing Scribe Mathias of Maxel learned of that, but this is the only result when one searches the databases for that term. What makes new oases happen is currently unknown, but what is certain is that the Sands and oases are not as opposed as one might think, such as can be seen in the oasis of, ironically, Maxel.
**TN: This is the Hypermann Hypothesis, a thought exercise meant to illustrate the pointlessness of certain debates and was not meant as an actual scientific theory. See also: Last Tuesday-ism.
***TN: I... I don't even know what to say here. I've looked into the personnel archives for any record of this 'Mathias of Maxel' and, apparently, he passed the Level Exam, so I'm not really sure what he's doing here or how he's even running this vidcast in the first place. I've checked the outwaves and have actually caught his vidcasts, but the source is coming from the Head Scribe's bathroom, which simply cannot be true.
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
While I'm working my way through the next update, what other aspects of the world would you like me to expand upon through these informational posts?
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
I'm going to need someone to roll me a regular ol' d100, please.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sure thing.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
If it's not too early and spoilery to ask, what exactly was the rebellion for?
i want to learn more about the Sands
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
This roll was for a dream, by the way.
The rebellion is definitely something Kell would be familiar with, so I'll write something up for it.
Don't we all?
Any actual information about the Sands is a closely guarded secret, but some facts are readily available.
What do we know about Melka? And our mom's family here?
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
A good question
0~0~0
Melka was founded by the same group that founded Surran so many years ago, making the two villages cousins of sort. The reason the two villages were settled is now lost to time, but it is assumed—from the given attitudes of the Melkans and Surranese—that they were fleeing some long forgotten oppressor. However, their common origin is where the most prominent similarities end. While the Surranese have a fierce independence streak that saw them fight over a dozen rebellions against a number of would-be rulers throughout their history, the Melkans are far more subdued than their distant kinsman. Melka, thanks to its location in the basin of a mist-swamped valley, is quite isolated from the outside world. With navigating the mists a great difficulty for even experienced travellers, the Melkans rarely see any representative of their overlord.
Melka itself is a very self-sufficient village with just over fifteen-hundred residents. Known for their silks and velvets, the few caravans that do arrive always leave full to bursting with bolts of fine cloth. Melkans take great pride in producing the best cloth in all of Nareeve and the wealthy of the Great Cities can often be seen sporting Melkan silks.
Culturally, Melkans are a very reserved people who prefer to keep their distance from friends and foes alike. Some even take this to an extreme by wearing masks and covering every inch of their body in cloth—both as a display of village pride and as a measure of perceived anonymity. Melkans could be accused of having a rather sardonic sense of humor, if one is able to break through their outer shell and reach the individual beneath the mask.
Societally, Melkans are organized according to which mist-shaman they follow and can change mist-shamans as they please. Mist-shamans are the religious and political heads of Melkan society and, at any given time, there are ten mist-shamans from the ten founding families. Melkan women hold their given and surnames, while the men bear only their given and chosen names. Melkans have a view on masculinity that is identical to the Surranese. Men decide for themselves how to live their lives, though the concept of 'maleness' does not seem to be restricted by genitalia. This is a trait that links the Melkans and Surranese to the oasis of Maknin, which is where the founders are theorized to have come from.
In combat, Melkans are prone to staying at range and fighting from mountback. Expert skirmishers, Melkans are skilled at hit-and-run and guerrilla tactics—traits they share with their Surranese cousins. Though, while the Surranese have a fondness for the revolver, Melkans have a preferance for the rifle.
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I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Here's a little bit of information on the Surranese Rebellion(s)
0~0~0
Surran is home to a ravingly independent people. They spurn the yoke of all who would declare themselves overlord. As such, the Surranese are bound to come into violent conflict with any government or power that would install themselves over them. The Surranese need no other reason than that to rebel.
This last time, however, was the time they lost.
Enjoying the quest so far!
Is the mention of ka a Dark Tower reference, also in Caves of Qud, or just a coincidence?
Is the mention of ka a Dark Tower reference, also in Caves of Qud, or just a coincidence?