How much more time? I would not mind a day or two longer.
Shadows of the Past
- Thread starter Azel
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
How much more time? I would not mind a day or two longer.
- Location
- Germany
If you want the same effect as a hunting trip, you would have to invest the same amount of time extra. Needless to say, the short jaunt to Xoxo is not really a good candidate for that anyway.
- Location
- Brazil
Problem is that we don't have anyone we can trust. But I will try with the old "shamelessly lean on Noche's connections".
[X] Plan TNE
-[X] Have your blade upgraded.
-[X] Pawn off your wolf pelt to Noche. He has a tanner friend, right?
-[X] Learn to Read
-[X] Train Bladed
-[X] Train Bladed - If it leveled to 4 one the first attempt, Learn to Read instead.
-[X] Travel to Xoxo as soon as it is ready. If a caravan is leaving now, offer the same deal as you did Oslin - Guard/Scout and healer. If one isn't leaving, go alone.
Would two or three poisoned arrows do it?
Man, I really want that Guard Armour.
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- Location
- Germany
He just suggests you have a look around at the gathering place of the caravan guards and warriors. Either going out bandit hunting or directly checking for a trainer there could get you such a contact.
Makes for a good plan A), but Jaguars are fast, agile and very sneaky. You should think of plans B) and C), or they tend to default to "getting eaten".
- Location
- Brazil
Ok, added a simple "look for a trainer" there. We can look and train on the same day, yes? A few hours each.
If not, just do healer work for two days instead of three.
- Location
- Germany
Looking for a trainer is a interrupting action and can't be done in parallel. You might need a few days to find someone and they are probably going to ask you for something in return before agreeing to teach you.
Edit: The new dagger is ready after the third training action already by the way.
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- Location
- Brazil
- Location
- United States
Well shit. I'm tempted to go back to our tribe just to continue our training with Manauia.
- Location
- Sweden
Well after Xoxo, then we'll have two big adventures and can visit the tribe with our bronze blade and copied codex.
- Location
- Germany
- Location
- Germany
It's more valuable then iron, but it's only use is being rare and pretty. Same for gold.
- Location
- Croatia
We need more rations. About 10 more if we want to be on the safe side and plan to travel.
Also a question, does our blood still have no taste or smell or has that passed by itself? One would think that would be a priority to check once we reached Tlamaca.
I'm not sure why people are voting in plan format since task format was given for votes.
[X] [Dagger] Have your obsidian dagger coated in bronze. (Costs all silver coins.)
[X] [Plan] Literate
-[X] Pawn off your wolf pelt to Noche. He has a tanner friend, right?
-[X] Learn to Read ( 5 Days)
-[X] Learn to Read ( 5 Days)
-[X] Learn to Read ( 5 Days)
-[X] Go to the Market
--[X] Purchase Rations for Travel
-[X] Find a Trainer
--[X] Search among the caravan guards and other warriors. (Interruption)
I honestly don't feel the need for combat training as it stands currently it only gives a minor combat boost (+20). While it would indeed serve us well during Trial of Might, that is the least problematic trial for us. As it currently stands we are more likely to have a problem with Steadfast or Knowledge, as such I think learning to read should be a high priority.
Can we retake exams if we fail?
Also a question, does our blood still have no taste or smell or has that passed by itself? One would think that would be a priority to check once we reached Tlamaca.
I'm not sure why people are voting in plan format since task format was given for votes.
[X] [Dagger] Have your obsidian dagger coated in bronze. (Costs all silver coins.)
[X] [Plan] Literate
-[X] Pawn off your wolf pelt to Noche. He has a tanner friend, right?
-[X] Learn to Read ( 5 Days)
-[X] Learn to Read ( 5 Days)
-[X] Learn to Read ( 5 Days)
-[X] Go to the Market
--[X] Purchase Rations for Travel
-[X] Find a Trainer
--[X] Search among the caravan guards and other warriors. (Interruption)
I honestly don't feel the need for combat training as it stands currently it only gives a minor combat boost (+20). While it would indeed serve us well during Trial of Might, that is the least problematic trial for us. As it currently stands we are more likely to have a problem with Steadfast or Knowledge, as such I think learning to read should be a high priority.
Can we retake exams if we fail?
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
I am surprised the thread leaped on the opportunity to get a metal dagger. While having a higher quality weapon is good, the damage output is not nearly enough to justify the investment. We could have outfitted ourselves with exceptional custom-made armor and shield for a much greater survivability. There are alchemy ingredients (and perhaps recipes) to buy to get us much better prepared for new adventures.
Besides, I am not sure a 16 years old girl in tribal garb carrying around a blade that costs more than her weight in beans is a good idea. We'll probably have to hide it and be mindful of whom we show it to. It's just asking to be jumped in a dark alley otherwise, no matter how careful or good we believe ourselves to be.
Eh, what's done is done. Let's hope our escapades in Xoxo prove no less lucrative.
Besides, I am not sure a 16 years old girl in tribal garb carrying around a blade that costs more than her weight in beans is a good idea. We'll probably have to hide it and be mindful of whom we show it to. It's just asking to be jumped in a dark alley otherwise, no matter how careful or good we believe ourselves to be.
Eh, what's done is done. Let's hope our escapades in Xoxo prove no less lucrative.
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- Location
- United States
It's because metal is the only thing capable of harming spirits at all. With a metal weapon we've gone from "completely and utterly defenseless" to "might be able to stab the spirit and get away".
- Location
- Argentina
We are still unable to stab a moth swarm to death, though.
I think that Spirits need alternative fighting tactics to kill them, more than better weapons. Like using fire. Or traps.
Fire should definitely be able to kill that moth swarm.
- Location
- United States
I prefer getting high-powered explosives by the dozen before ever going near those moths again.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
...Stone Men qualify as spirits under the setting lore, yes? I would not go up against one with a dagger, bronze or not.
Would we feel brave enough to challenge a Flesh Moth now that we have one? I doubt it.
It's true that being prepared for an eventuality is better than being caught unawares, but... I don't know, the spiritual threats seem rare to me, and the advantage of being armed against one appears highly situational. Being waylaid by bandits or a hungry jaguar sounds far more likely.
Well, we are going to Xoxo, so metal may see some use yet.
Ancient civilization had that and more, and still got wiped out.
Would we feel brave enough to challenge a Flesh Moth now that we have one? I doubt it.
It's true that being prepared for an eventuality is better than being caught unawares, but... I don't know, the spiritual threats seem rare to me, and the advantage of being armed against one appears highly situational. Being waylaid by bandits or a hungry jaguar sounds far more likely.
Well, we are going to Xoxo, so metal may see some use yet.
Or not fighting them in the first place.
Ancient civilization had that and more, and still got wiped out.
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Chapter 12: Xoxohuictetl
- Location
- Germany
[X] Plan TNE
-[X] Have your blade upgraded.
-[X] Pawn off your wolf pelt to Noche. He has a tanner friend, right?
-[X] Learn to Read
-[X] Train Bladed
-[X] Train Bladed - If it leveled to 4 one the first attempt, Learn to Read instead.
-[X] Travel to Xoxo as soon as it is ready. If a caravan is leaving now, offer the same deal as you did Oslin - Guard/Scout and healer. If one isn't leaving, go alone.
-[X] Have your blade upgraded.
-[X] Pawn off your wolf pelt to Noche. He has a tanner friend, right?
-[X] Learn to Read
-[X] Train Bladed
-[X] Train Bladed - If it leveled to 4 one the first attempt, Learn to Read instead.
-[X] Travel to Xoxo as soon as it is ready. If a caravan is leaving now, offer the same deal as you did Oslin - Guard/Scout and healer. If one isn't leaving, go alone.
1.6.17.10.8.5 to 8.19 - 5th to 19th of the Black Storm
Settling in with Noche and Ixtli is surprisingly easy. While the younger of the two seems to be rather busy and is rarely in the house anyway, learning bits and pieces from other smiths and spreading what he finds in the codex according to Noche, he is not any more talkative when he is home than when on the trail. The older smith is quite the opposite and seems rather happy to have someone around he can converse with. It reminds you a bit of the old times in your tribe and you quickly fall into a easy routine. With Ixtli often gone, you help Noche with his errands. Getting charcoal from the market for him or buying food, for the two men seem to have no aptitude whatsoever with the small oven in their house. It takes you a bit to make something decent with this thing instead of a campfire, but your hosts seem rather happy to eat something more nourishing than whatever they picked up from a vendor on that day. Still better than what Noche produced when he tried to cook on your prodding. He might be a master with a forge, but a side of coyote is not a chunk of bronze and the charred result of his attempt to treat the former like the latter was barely edible.
Your agreement with Ixtli to teach you the letters is something you make quite extensive use of in these days. Progress is a lot slower than you would like, since the whole mess is so complicated. On one hand, you have the pictorials, which are basically small, stylized sketches of the thing in question. Learning those is not that difficult, but there are so very many of them and writing them yourself is rather frustrating. These signs are used for Old Cualli, which isn't what you think it means at first. Apparently it was already called that before even the Fall. Its main use was in the arts, and a lot of murals you can find in ruins are apparently a mix of a picture and a poem, and it is rather impressive how talkative Ixtli can become when discussing a topic dear to him. Maybe there was a poet lost on him, though you are still not quite sure how you are supposed to make a living from writing nice things.
The other language, High Cualli, was what was used nearly everywhere else before the Fall, while it's rare these days and Old Cualli is what most literate people use these days, save for scholars studying the past. It seems much simpler at first, with just a few dozen symbols, but there are so many rules to it. This not before that, add this glyph to the front if it's that thingy that denotes you do something, write the words in that order, except when you don't, because it's a different sentence... It's rather daunting to cram all this into your head and you fear that it will take quite a bit to learn it all, but writing is a thing a scholar needs to do and you will not give up your dreams of learning about the world just because it was hard.
On other days, you practice with your blade to get your mind off all the rules, lines, squiggles, and what not that you asked Ixtli to torment you with. Taking the upgrade Noche offered you was a very easy choice. It might not be a full metal blade as you always wanted, but it's actually rather comforting to know that you won't discard this blade like trash. It's the knife that won you Manauia's respect, after all. The blade that had cut up the first pig you shot. Very recently, it was the only thing between you and a wolf's teeth. Knowing that even spirits would soon have to fear its edge is driving you all the harder in your training. Having an opponent to train against would be nice, but you don't know anyone in Tlamaca that would be willing to spar with you, and the few times that you called Ixtli to join you, he declined rather politely, but very strongly. He was much happier to not have a blade thrust at him, even a dull bone one, and preferred to help Noche with his work instead or just made sure he was busy elsewhere when you stepped into the yard with it.
The time between you parting with your old blade and receiving it in return was pure torment. The smith reassured you that it would be fine and definitely a great work when done, you still worried that he might damage the brittle obsidian by striking it with a hammer, even when he told you multiple times that he wouldn't. Ixtli is rather exasperated by the whole affair and ultimately offers you to do a good luck thing that some warriors did when they gave them their prized blades for sharpening. So you nick your finger on the sharp edge and spread a bit of blood on it. It should mark the blade as yours and make sure that nothing bad would happen to it. That manages to reassure you a bit and you handed it over, together with the silver coins to pay for everything.
When you see your weapon the next time, it surpasses even your wildest dreams. The wavy pattern you loved to trail your fingers over is gone, filled up with bronze that gleams like gold. Not even a minor dent or edge is there where the metal meets the stone, and the black obsidian and golden bronze seem almost to flow into each other. Not a single little nick or uneven patch is disturbing the edge, which is just as sharp as the last time you held it. The handle is still the same bone you gave it away with, but the carvings are now coated with a thin layer of bronze too, making them stand out all the more from the white background. The only change there is a grinning picture of the sun in bronze that now adorns the pommel. It is, as he had promised, a true work of art. Two more days you train with the new blade and you find no single thing to complain about. Even the balance seems to be just as you remember, despite all the material added to it.
Training
Bladed Weapons: 93 XP - Level Up!
Bladed Weapons 3 -> 4
Reading & Writing: 78 XP
Other
Lost Silver Coins
Obsidian Dagger -> Black-Gold Dagger
Wolf Pelt -> 210 Beans
Lost 75 Beans for Living Costs
Bladed Weapons: 93 XP - Level Up!
Bladed Weapons 3 -> 4
Reading & Writing: 78 XP
Other
Lost Silver Coins
Obsidian Dagger -> Black-Gold Dagger
Wolf Pelt -> 210 Beans
Lost 75 Beans for Living Costs
1.6.17.10.9.0 to 9.1 - Seating to 1st of the Green Storm
While you depart with an incredible new weapon to your name and the full intention to show those Wise Men who they've nearly sent away, the realities of your next journey are anything but pleasant. It turns out that there are caravans departing to Xoxo nearly every day, but due to the small distance, the only guards they need are those of Tlamaca itself. A small camp sits at the road where the path to Xoxo branches off and the Wise Men have their warriors patrol between those points quite regularly, making it pointless for any single caravan to hire guards themselves. With the hope of making a few more beans on the side dashed, you set out on your own, just as the surprisingly sunny Black Storm has his successor take revenge in force. It rains nearly the entire day and you are very glad for the warm fire and first and foremost roof that the guard post offers as you arrive in the evening. It's only a few logs that hold up a simple thatched roof, but getting out of the torrential rain makes it a palace in your eyes. The next day is not much better. While the rain eases up again, the rough path to Xoxo is a single quagmire of mud already. You almost regret not walking through the jungle, given that you are brown to your knees after a while.
As you finally reach Xoxo, though, the unpleasantness is almost worth it, for the view is breathtaking. Surrounded by the dense jungle, you first don't see anything out of the ordinary, until you step around a last bend in the path. Before you suddenly appears a truly titanic pit that seems to go down forever. Warily you step forward on the path and approach the edge to stare down into the gaping maw. Small, winding paths, which are carved right into the stone, lead down into the depths. At uneven intervals, plateaus are jutting out of the steep cliffs with huts on them and tiny people milling in between. Now and then you see entrances that seem to lead even deeper into the rock, some collapsed, some others in the process of being hewn by a number of workers that make them seem like milling ants. The most huts stand in the middle of the floor far beneath you. One large central building, apparently modeled after the palaces of old, stands right in the center and is surrounded by many others, far smaller buildings. Dark grey smoke catches you eyes and you see rows of ovens beside a large pile of green stones. Workers come and go to pile cartloads of those rocks onto the pile, just for other workers to come and bring them over to the ovens. As you trail the smoking rising through the haze of the rain, you spot huge piles of dirt and gravel at one point of the pits rim. More huts seam the rim at uneven intervals, with small guard posts at all those places where a path trails down into the depths.
So this is a mine, then. A place where metal is claimed from the earth. As you see all these people milling about, you finally understand why it is so expensive. They fitted a whole village worth of buildings into a pit and stuffed it with enough people for ten, just to have enough hands for the grueling work that pries the copper out of the stone. You stand there a while and just watch them work, the rain entirely forgotten.
What will you do in Xoxo?
[] Talk with the guards on the rim.
-[] About the rumors of things watching them from the jungle.
-[] Something else: Write-In
[] Talk with the workers.
-[] About the rumors.
-[] Something else: Write-In
[] Find out what the large building is and a place where you might spend the night.
AN: You can pick as many actions as you want.
- Location
- Germany
You have no idea. Yaxkin noticed a lot of side paths branching off the trade route, so you guess there are quite a few villages or tribes near those.
When you checked on your wounds that evening, your blood had both its smell and taste back. Yaxkin is 90% certain that it was an effect of Jungles Scent, but hasn't tested it so far.
Yes, you can.
They are generally considered spirits, yes.
- Location
- United States
HA! Fucking called it!