Tag Along Android (An Isekai Quest)

[Arcanestomper]

Prologue: The Beginning of Things​

Two young women were walking down a rainy street. One of them was dressed in a slick rain jacket and heedlessly splashed through the puddles with her heavy boots. The other was dressed for much clearer weather and delicately stepped out of the way of the waves tossed up by her companion. She held a large black umbrella to shield her from the clouds above, but it was no help at all against her rambunctious friend's antics.

These two were respectively Marissa and Irene, friends since childhood and currently on their way to the campus library to study for their latest college project. There weren't many other people out and about on this particularly rainy afternoon in Juniper city. Most of them were staying inside in their dry cozy homes and those who were forced to travel stuck to their cars rather than walk the streets.

Something Irene very much wished that they were doing. She had offered to drive, but unfortunately Marissa was never one to forgo a good puddle splashing and so the two were making their way by foot. Usually it was Irene who lurked in the library, but this time it was Marissa who had suggested it. For their assignment was none other than an essay on the life and work of the Crimson Voice, Marissa's favorite hero and role model in her efforts to become a superhero herself.

Irene wasn't entirely sure why they were going to the library actually. She sincerely doubted that it had any more information than all the memorabilia and references Marissa had tacked up in their dorm room. But apparently there was a new book out about one of the Voice's less well known adventurers and Marissa wanted to check it out. So here they were.

It was when they were crossing one of the wetly reflective streets that things went wrong. A street light sparked as a poorly maintained seal let in rain and flipped from red to green. A hasty truck driver wasn't paying attention in his hurry to make his delivery. And of course Marissa was paying more attention to the puddle forming at the gutter than anything else.

Irene though saw everything. Reacting quickly she tackled her friend and pushed her forward. They hit the sidewalk with inches to spare as the still oblivious truck sped by. As Marissa spluttered and tried to get up, Irene breathed a sigh of relief. She was just about to chide Marissa for not watching where they were going, but then they both vanished into thin air.

---

In a dark void rows of people stood still and unmoving. A vast presence watched them and carefully checked the silent rows over. "Good good. Military training on this one. And she's got exceptional reflexes. Yes, check this one off too."

"A good batch this time I'd say."

Suddenly it seemed to pause in front of a young woman in a slick rain jacket. "Hmm, something seems off here. What could it be?" The Presence examined the woman closely. "Well all her qualifications check out. Probably nothing."

Deciding not to waste anymore time the Presence moved on. "That's this batch checked. Now where did I put them?" The Presence rummaged around in the void for a while before pulling out a swarm of brilliant lights. "Alright, in you go." Deftly it flicked one light into each standing person.

"Okay, batch checked. Batch equipped. Just need to send them off."

The Presence seemed to stretch itself and a tear opened in the void showing flickering views of a stark barren wasteland. One by one the Presence picked up the people and threw them through. Once none were left it seemed quite satisfied with itself as it closed the rift. It didn't notice as a small flicker of movement jumped through the closing rift.

---

Two young women materialized on a large flat sheet of obsidian rock. "That truck didn't even hit us. Stupid inter dimensional beings," muttered Irene. She looked over at Marissa, who was still gazing into the distance blankly, and shook her shoulder. "Hey Marissa are you okay?"

"What? What happened? Where is this?" said the other woman in a tone of rising panic.

Before she could say anything else however she was interrupted by a low growl. A four legged beast that looked like a mutated hyena crossed with a snake was watching them from on top of a nearby boulder. Once it had gotten their attention it screamed in fury and launched itself at Marissa, bowling her over.

Irene immediately jumped to help her friend. She grabbed the monster by the neck and pulled it away. "Kill it! Kill it!" She screamed.

"How, I don't have a weapon!" yelled Marissa as she pulled herself off the ground.

"Get a rock or something! And hurry, this thing is heavy."

Casting around Marissa grabbed the first large rock she saw and started pounding the beasts head. It wasn't easy to get good hits as the beast twisted and turned in Irene's grip. And Marissa had to jump back several times to avoid being disemboweled by the beast's clawed limbs. However after several gory adrenaline fueled minutes the two lay on the ground panting with the very very dead monster lying in front of them.

"What was that? And what is this?" Dropping the bloody rock Marissa pointed at the air in front of her.

"I don't know. What are you pointing at?" asked Irene as she poked at the monster's carcass with another longer rock.

"It's a box in the air. It says I got 20 XP. Out of 200 XP for level 2. Oh what's this? Now I've got one asking me to pick a class."

"What do you think?"

[ ] "This one says Warrior"
A melee class with strength buffs and the ability to take more damaging hits. "Sounds like you."

[ ] "The next one is Archer"
A ranged class that is quick and nimble, and can shoot a variety of status effect arrows. "Yeah I could see it."

[ ] "This one is Mage"
Wield the powers of the cosmos and use magic to destroy your foes. Oh wait. It says Error: Insufficient Intelligence. "Ha ha ha" "Stop laughing!"

[ ] "And the last one is Healer"
Use magic to heal wounds and apply buffs to your allies. Warning: Stat distribution is subpar. "Probably the intelligence again." "I am not stupid!"

"What about you? What classes did you get?"

"Well," Irene glanced at the message she was seeing in the corner of her vision. She didn't think it was what Marissa was referring to.

===Warning Start===
Trans-dimensional Anomaly Detected
D-Membrane Activated
Priority Directive: Investigate Human Interactions. (Active)
Priority Directive: Do not reveal yourself. (Active)
Priority Directive: Deploy Emergency Fleet Beacon (New!!)
===Warning End===

[ ] "I don't see anything."
The truth is better than lies. Even if it might arouse some suspicion.

[ ] "The same as you. I'm thinking mage."
Bluff, bluff, bluff. Marissa can't take mage so this is safest.

---

Quest Note: This little setting has been circulating in my imagination for a few months now. Finally I decided to just write it down and see where it goes. I won't abandon this quest, but updates might be sporadic depending on how inspiration strikes me.

 

[Arcanestomper]

Mechanics

Actions

Everything done in the game is done through Actions. Most actions have a DC, which must be beaten with a roll of 3d6 plus various modifiers. Irene can perform four actions per turn. Marissa will also perform four actions per turn, but these can only be influenced not chosen directly.

Trouble Clocks

If an action fails to meet the DC it never fails entirely. The action will succeed, but something bad will happen as well. These are represented by trouble clocks. There are four types of clocks.

Minor: A minor annoyance for the main character. They may lose some treasures or progress in a field of study. No one is likely to be injured or die.

Medium: An issue that needs to be dealt with. If a trouble clock is filled, then something significant will happen. The main character may be injured or receive a setback in their plans. It is unlikely that the main character or any close allies will die unless they are already severely injured.

Major: A very serious problem is occurring that needs to be handled quickly and with care. Secondary characters may die if a major clock is filled, and possibly even the main character if they are already injured. What's worse, Major clocks will not go away on their own. If they fill completely not only will they cause damage, but they will reset to their empty state.

Severe: There is an issue facing not just you, but the entire region. If the clock fills you will face death and destruction. The normal pace of life will be disrupted until the situation can be dealt with, and many people are likely to die including the main character.

Turns

Each turn is a month. All recurring expenses such as taxes, rent, and fees will be paid once per turn. All income will also be gained once per turn. One random clock will also advance each turn.

Attributes

Attributes cover both physical and mental abilities of a character, and generally define their ability in various activities. Almost all actions will be modified by a character's attribute in that area. Attributes can be increased at level up.

The Attributes are;
Strength - Governs carrying capacity and how much damage you can do with weapons.
Stamina - Governs how long you can go without rest and how many skills you can use.
Defense - Governs how tough you are and how much damage you take from physical attacks.
Intelligence - Governs how many spells you can learn and your magical power.
Magic- Governs how many spells you can use before needing to rest.
Resilience - Governs how much you resist magical effects.
Perception - Governs how well you sense your surroundings.
Dexterity - Governs your ability to perform fine motor skills.
Speed - Governs how fast you can move your whole body.

Skills

Skills give special benefits and actions that can be used. They are divided into active skills that can be used for a stamina cost. These usually provide additional action options, or add new effects to actions such as causing more damage in combat. Passive skills are always active and provide smaller constant bonuses.

Spells basically work the same as skills but use Magic instead of Stamina.

Traits

In addition to the broader skills some characters may have areas in which they are exceptionally good. Traits generally cannot be bought. Instead they are awarded for doing a particular kind of action. Succeeding at an action awards 1 TP. Failing the action awards 2 TP. A trait costs 5 TP, and once it is bought a character can continue to upgrade it or specialize it. Specialization results in a higher total bonus, but only gains TP from increasingly narrow actions.

Suspicion

A large part of the game is keeping Irene's cover from being blown. Suspicion is tracked individually for major characters and in groups for background characters. Reactions to high suspicion will vary depending on a character's relationship with Irene.

 

[Arcanestomper]

Marissa's Class: Warrior

Level: 29
XP: 1,502/2,900
Status: Fine

Melee Weapons:
Short Sword (Stone): Slice and stab your foes.
Buckler (Stone) - Wyrm hide over an iron bark wood frame.

Armor:
Steel Company Private Uniform (Stone) - Sturdy leather and a few steel plates serve to protect Steel Company soldiers from enemy attacks. Stout and flexible it serves well in most situations.

Marissa Attributes

Strength - Copper Yellow (Rank 3)
Stamina - Stone Cyan (Rank 5)
Defense - Copper Violet (Rank 7)
Intelligence - Bone Yellow (Rank 3)
Magic- Bone Green (Rank 4)
Resilience - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Perception - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Dexterity - Stone Red (Rank 1)
Speed - Stone Red (Rank 1)

Marissa Skills

Survivalist (Excellent): (Passive) Find the basic elements of survival in any circumstance, food, shelter, and water.
Sword and Board (Ordinary): (Passive) Use a short sword to deal damage and keep the enemies attention while shielding yourself.
Juggernaut (5/??)
Beast Taming: (Ordinary) You know the basics of how to train monstrous creatures and how to best command them in battle. You can gauge the power of friendly monsters in order to better understand their strengths and how to use them in battle. Monsters that you've trained will listen to your battles in the heat of combat.
Vitae Blade (Insufficient): With concentration you can imbue your blade with energy. It might be useful for a first strike to open a battle, but don't count on it.

Vitae Shield (Ordinary) - Concentrate your energy into your shield to increase its durability and absorb additional damage. At the ordinary level the user can project a half dome sheltering both themself and several meters in all directions.

Marathi Trade Pidgin (Expert): (Passive) Speak and read the language of traders. This language has spread throughout the continent by traders and merchants and is widely understood by anyone who has business with them, or has reason to be traveling.
Stone Tongue (Expert): (Passive) Speak and read the language of the dwarves. This language is said to descend from the words that the gods used to shape the bones of the mountains and is the main language of the dwarven kingdoms. Also helps in geomancy.

Marissa Traits

Sinusoidal Luck:
Terrible events tend to happen to Marissa with alarming regularity. However afterwards she always has good luck for a while. The worse the negative events the better her luck later.

Marissa Morale: [Happy]

Spoiler: Marissa's Morale Chart

[Blissful]
[Ecstatic]
[Overjoyed]
[Enthusiastic]
[Happy]
[Content]
[Neutral]
[Uncomfortable]
[Unhappy]
[Tired]
[Sad]
[Miserable]
[Depressed]

 

[Arcanestomper]

Quests

New Quest: Defeat the Demon Lord

Congratulations on proving your abilities, Hero! Now you need to get out there and grow strong enough to defeat the Demon Lord. I know you can do it Hero!

Tip: Don't let anyone know you're my Hero. The spies of the Demon Lord are everywhere. Tip: The elves are in the thrall of the Demon Lord. Tip: Find my shrines in the world to receive my blessings. Tip: There are other heroes if you can find them.

New Quest! Yolko's Spellbook Quest Giver: Yolko Grade: Stone Difficulty: Unknown Monsters: Unknown Actions: Unknown Reward: Increased Rep with Yolko, and she becomes more powerful

Your friend wants your help. You're not going to leave her behind are you?

Money (Turn 42)

Gold: 7
Silver: 81
Copper: 115

Inventory

Modern:
Solar Charger: Allows for recharging small electronic devices.
Marissa's Smart Phone (No Signal): Take photos, listen to music, use some miscellaneous apps.
Irene's Smart Phone (No Signal): Take photos, listen to music, use some miscellaneous apps.
Handgun (?? Ammo): Shoot monsters dead

Marissa's Gift: A gift to raise Marissa's morale. Needs a relatively calm environment to work best.

Armor:
Salamander Armor (Bone)
Steel Company Private Uniform (Stone) - Sturdy leather and a few steel plates serve to protect Steel Company soldiers from enemy attacks. Stout and flexible it serves well in most situations.

Survival:
Trail Rations
Fortified Rations (Decent)
Cookware (Decent)
Salamander Bed Rolls x2
Carving Knives (Stone)
A Tent (Stone)
Rope
Rope Ladder (Poor)
Tent (Decent)
Knives x2
Minor Health Potion
Steel Company Token x2

Other:
Dire Wolf Toys
Beast Taming Journal

Relations

Marissa: Best Friend
Yolko: Party Member (80/100)
Eberth : Party Member (50/100)
Twoff: Acquaintance (50/100)
Verdur : Acquaintance (30/100)
Gren: Acquaintance (30/100)

Neighborhood (Ames): 76/100
Merchants: 18/100
The Knives Reputation: -20/-100
The Steel Company: 25/100
The Black Cloaks: 0/100

Suspicion

Marissa Suspicion: [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Black Cloaks Suspicion: [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Clocks

Minor Clocks (1d3-1)
How Much Ammo Do You Have? [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
A Vengeful Knife: [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Medium Clocks(1d3)
Marissa's Recklessness: [X] [X] [X] [X] [ ]

 

[Arcanestomper]

We haven't quite gotten to the point of explaining this in setting yet, but the next few posts might get a little confusing if I don't explain how attributes and skills are distributed now. I didn't want to give them just numbers, but I also didn't want to use the bog standard letter grades. So I came up with my own system.

Attributes

Attributes are divided into Grades and Ranks. Each grade represents a qualitative change in the attribute and is vastly superior to the grade below it. The Grades are as follows; Bone, Stone, Copper, Iron, Bronze, Steel, Silver, Gold, Platinum.

Common Grades

These grades encompass the majority of people in the world. Although most of these examples feature combat the grades also apply in equal measure to things like farming and crafting goods.

Bone
Named for the abilities of standard flesh and bone attributes in the Bone grade can be regarded as human normal. The higher ends of this grade represent the peak abilities of a well trained athlete or studied intellectual. At least on Earth.

Stone
In this new world the abundance of natural energies allows people to naturally augment their abilities and become stronger, faster, tougher, and even smarter than they would otherwise. A stone grade warrior might have the strength of ten men and be able to fight for several days at a time. It's impressive, but as might be expected from the second grade out of nine it's more of a baseline than anything.

Copper
Adventurers and mercenaries at the Copper level are as far above Stone warriors as those warriors are above Bone villagers. They can perform superhuman feats of strength and speed with ease, and go for weeks without proper rest. For all that though it isn't that hard to get to copper grade so in more developed regions it is looked down upon as the bare minimum of requirements.

Iron
At the Iron grade people start infusing the energy that had until now just been naturally flowing through their bodies into their attacks and movements. They can cause devastation over a wide area and perform feats that would simply be impossible for any number of Bone or Stone workers. It is possible to reliably train to Iron with a disciplined training regime and good source of natural energy. As such having an army full of Iron soldiers is seen as the hallmark of a prosperous nation.

Elite Grades

These grades are the elite. People who stand out from the common masses in whatever they do.

Bronze
At this point people start to develop a deeper understanding of how exactly their bodies work and how to use natural energy to augment it in more precise ways. A bronze champion can destroy a fortress by themselves, forge enough swords for an army, or run the length of a kingdom and still be ready for more. Training isn't enough at this point. It takes a good natural talent to make the transition from Iron to Bronze.

Steel
The elite of the elite are in the Steel grade. These heroes are the most powerful people that the average person is likely to ever see. And probably not even that. Only a handful exist in any given nation and they deal with the most difficult problems. Slaying dragons, fixing droughts, and being strategic assets on the chess board of nations. It takes hard work, natural genius, and luck to get to this level.

Silver
These are the old monsters of the world. People who can literally destroy a kingdom overnight. Most of them rule kingdoms of their own, at least nominally, though the actual day to day functioning of things is usually left to their lessers while they pursue their own motives.

Mythic Grades

The remaining grades are the realms of mythical heroes and champions of the gods. As such they don't see common usage, but are known from the historical records.

Gold
Gold level heroes pop up with some regularity at the end of the god wars leading the armies of both sides.

Platinum
Alastari the Unbroken, Morgan of Finue, the Bold Twins, these are the heroes of legend who changed the destiny of the world in their time.

Mithril
The only known instances of Mithril grade beings were when the actual divine avatars of the gods descended to fight each other on the mortal plane.

Ranks

Although the ranks represent major shifts between them there are enough people at each rank, at least in the common grades, for some additional measure of ability being necessary. As such each grade is divided into several ranks; Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet.

There is relatively linear increase in power among these ranks. Mechanically it has the most difference when it comes to the actual action rolls. Someone with a rank inside a grade can reliably meet the following DCs given no other factors.

Red -6 (DC 4)
Orange -4 (DC 6)
Yellow -2 (DC 8)
Green +0 (DC 10)
Cyan +2 (DC 12)
Blue +4 (DC 14)
Violet +6 (DC 16)

Skills

Skills are independent from the attributes themselves, but related. They signify how much competence a person has in any specific task.

Inferior -
Someone who just acquires a skill starts here. They understand theoretically how to use the skill, but have trouble putting it into practice.

Insufficient -
Someone who has been using a skill for a while and can reliably use the skill is at this level. That is they can reliably execute in a calm training environment with some concentration. They likely still can't use it for its intended purpose.

Ordinary -
At this point a person has a fairly good grasp of the skill and can use it in real world conditions. Shooting arrows in combat, cooking a meal in a resteraunt, or just cobbling shoes for a customer are all at this point.

Excellent -
This is the result of significant practice over years of usage. People at this level have an instinctive understanding of their skill and can use it with ease.

Superior -
Beyond just instincts is a deep understanding of the skill. People at this level understand the theoretical underpinnings of the skill and can use it for a variety of non standard uses. They can easily surpass other people using only this skill.

Matchless -
People of this level have achieved total mastery of the skill. They understand all its facets and can use it any applicable situation. And there are lot more applicable situations than might appear on the surface.

Extreme -
???

 

[Arcanestomper]

Prologue: Taking Stock

​

"Now it's asking me what weapon to choose. Wait, you don't see anything? I'm not going crazy am I." Marissa looks a bit panicked.

Marissa Suspicion: [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"No, this seems a bit too specific for you to be hallucinating. What are you seeing? Swords and stuff?" Irene has an inkling of what is happening and attempts to walk her friend through whatever her new system is showing.

"Uh yeah, well I mean there are two swords."

"Well tell me what they are,"

[ ] "One's a big heavy looking sword"

New Equipment: Longsword (Rusty)
New Marissa Skill: Longsword (Insufficient): (Passive) Attack with a longsword to deal heavy damage with good reach at the expense of your mobility.

Attributes Increased

Strength - (Blue Bone)
Defense - (Cyan Bone)​

Attributes Decreased

Stamina - (Orange Bone)​

[ ] "Then there's a smaller sword with a shield"

New Equipment: Short Sword (Rusty), Buckler (Rusty)
New Marissa Skill: Sword and Board (Insufficient): (Passive) Use a short sword to deal damage and keep the enemies attention while shielding yourself.

Attributes Increased

Defense - (Blue Bone)
Strength - (Cyan Bone)​

Attributes Decreased

Speed - (Orange Bone)​

[ ] "Next there's an axe."

New Equipment: Axe (Rusty)
New Marissa Skill: Axe (Insufficient): (Passive) Chop the enemy with an axe to deal heavy damage. Especially good against armor.

Attributes Increased

Strength - (Blue Bone)
Stamina - (Cyan Bone)​

Attributes Decreased

Defense - (Orange Bone)​

[ ] "And finally there's a spear."

New Equipment: Spear (Rusty)
New Marissa Skill: Spear (Insufficient): (Passive) Keep your enemy at a distance while you stab them with a spear.

Attributes Increased

Speed - (Blue Bone)
Strength - (Cyan Bone)​

Attributes Decreased

Stamina - (Orange Bone)​

(Quest Note: This is just the starting option. Marissa won't be locked into this weapon.)

"You should probably pick a spear. You want to stab any more monsters that show up from as far away as possible."

"Yeah, but that's kind of boring isn't it. Plus it looks heavy. What if I get the ax? Then I could smash their faces really easily. Plus axes are useful as tools"

"They'll bite your arm off though. At least get the one with the shield. So you can block them when they try to take chunks out of you."

"That's boring too. I should go for the longsword. It's got reach and power."

"Isn't that just as heavy though. You'd be swinging a big chunk of metal around all the time."

And so the argument continued for the next two hours. The two young women debated the various pros and cons of each weapon back and forth, often switching sides as they came up with different arguments.

Finally Marissa made her choice and the weapon clattered to the ground before. She sighed in relief as she picked it up. "Well glad to know it isn't just all in my head."

A growl resounded across the landscape, and Marissa looked around wildly for another monster before realizing with some embarrassment that it was her own stomach. "Ugh, it's been way too long since lunch. Do you have anything to eat?"

Irene poked the dead monster thoughtfully and looked around at the absolutely barren waste around them. Before she could suggest something a bit more survivalist however she looked at Marissa's pleading face and sighed, "Okay let me check."

Marissa's eyes brightened as Irene took off her "magic backpack". No matter what happened Irene always had something useful in there. Irene just said she'd like to be prepared, but it never failed that she had something useful to the task at hand. Surely she would have a few snacks on hand.

Irene sat down with the backpack in her lap and began rummaging through it to check what supplies she had on hand. In actuality she was spinning up her internal fabricator and considering what she could possibly pass off as something she would have packed for a trip to the library.

New Irene Skill: "Magic" Backpack (Matchless): As long as no one else ever makes an inventory of what's actually in Irene's backpack she can use it to produce any small items that might conceivably be acquired in the local area.

(Pick Three in a plan vote)
[ ] "Well I've got some granola bars." (Repeatable)
Irene knows that they're probably going to have to eat monster meat if they can't find civilization really soon, but she can stave it off for a few days at least.
New Equipment: Rations (3 Days)
Marissa: Morale Increased

[ ] "I've got my textbooks" (Repeatable)
Irene has an encyclopedic understanding of human knowledge. But having a textbook on hand will allow her to actually use it without needing some wild cover story.
-[ ] Type of Textbook: Write In
New Equipment: Textbooks
New Irene Skill: Write In Skill (Excellent): (Passive)

[ ] "Here's my solar charger."
A small foldable solar panel suitable for charging small electronics. For "listening to music at the park." Useful because it will allow Marissa and Irene to keep using their phones. And potentially as a source of electricity for future projects.
New Equipment: Solar Charger
New Equipment: Marissa's Smart Phone (No Signal)
New Equipment: Irene's Smart Phone (No Signal)

[ ] "That's where I put my gun. Would have been handy earlier"
"You have a gun!" "The streets are dangerous." "In Juniper City?" A gun should be able to deal with anymore monsters like the one that jumped them fairly effectively. As long as they don't get much bigger, and as long as no one questions how much ammo Irene actually has.
New Equipment: Handgun (?? Ammo)
New Irene Skill: Pistol Shooting (Excellent): (Passive) Use your pistol to kill your foes.
New Minor Clock: How Much Ammo Do You Have? [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

[ ] "Here's my laptop."
Useless without electricity, and even the solar charger isn't enough to keep it running constantly. However, it allows for a wide range of useful programs.
New Equipment: Laptop
New Irene Skill: Programming (Matchless): (Passive) Design and use programs to keep track of or simulate various things. Very versatile, but entirely virtual.

[ ] "Ah, my pot."
A small collapsible pot and pan with cooking utensils. Suitable for camping. "Why do you even have that?" "I like to be prepared." There's no real explanation for this one.
Marissa Suspicion: Increased
New Equipment: Portable Cooking Gear
New Irene Skill: Cooking (Excellent): (Passive) Prepare fine meals from raw ingredients in even the harshest conditions.

[ ] "Oh I forgot about this."
"What is it?" "It's a secret. I'll tell you later." A gift for Marissa to keep her morale up in hard times.
New Equipment: Marissa's Gift

"The rest of it's just school supplies. A notepad, some paper, a few pens. Do you have anything?"

Marissa turned out her jacket pockets revealing some junk food wrappers, her phone, and her student ID. "Uh not much. That's why I have you!"

Irene sighed again, "And that's why I keep telling you to get your own backpack." Rubbing her face she continued, "Alright, did your boxes tell you anything else. Where we need to go maybe?"

"Let me see." Marissa stares off in the distance as her hand swipes the air a few times. "Okay looks like it's saying I've got a new quest. Something about an obsidian gate."

New Quest: Find the Obsidian Gate

Congratulations on your arrival Hero! The Goddess has chosen you to defeat the demon lord and free Hysperia from his grasp. But you'll have to prove yourself first. Find the Obsidian Gate and defeat its guardian.

Tip: Level up to 10 first.

Irene looked at the sky, which was turning purple as the sun started to dip below the horizon. "Okay, I think we'll have to do that tomorrow. I'll work on getting a fire and some food together. Can you find some water?"

"Yeah no problem. I think I saw some trees over that way. I'll bet there's a pool or something."

New Marissa Skill: Survivalist (Excellent): (Passive) Find the basic elements of survival in any circumstance, food, shelter, and water.

Soon enough Irene has gathered some twigs and branches from a few nearby shrubs. She's attempting to light them when Marissa comes back with more branches and two bowls made of leaves with water in them. Seeing Irene having trouble Marissa is quick to take over and soon the pair are huddled together for warmth in front of their tiny fire as the pitch black night sweeps over the land.

---

Quest Note: Do the attribute grades make sense to people? I'm not fully satisfied that it makes sense now that I read it back.

 

[Arcanestomper]

Prologue: Leveling Up

​

A flickering fire cast long shadows against the massive rock behind, and out into the wasteland behind. Stalking through these wavering shadows was a terrible beast. A veteran hunter, it had survived in these wastes for many years preying on smaller monsters and devouring them for their flesh and energy.

Now it spied a succulent morsel. Something it had never seen before curled up in the light of the fire. A young woman curled into a ball for warmth. After sniffing the ground the beast slid out its tongue to taste the air. It was somewhat uneasy for it could smell blood in the air. Something had fought here. Perhaps others like it were waiting to snatch its prey away. But after long patient moments casting about it couldn't detect anything else lying in the darkness. Perhaps they had already left then.

So without further ado the monster lifted itself in preparation for charging into the makeshift camp and finally having a meal. However before it could do so a pair of small hands reached out of the darkness and clamped around its neck. It barely had time to comprehend what was happening they twisted sharply and broke its spine. Paralyzed the beast could do nothing as a long metal spike pierced its brain and heart, killing it instantly.

Withdrawing the spike into her hand Irene morphed her fingers into sharp claws and with a few swift movements carved out the portions of meat she had identified as being the most nutritious from the monster's flanks. After carefully sealing the meat into a stasis container she hauled the monster over to a large pit where she threw it on top of several others she had already caught attempting to eat Marissa.

Looking at the sky and the glimmers of light starting to appear at the horizon she judged that it would be morning soon. Not much longer before she should wake up Marissa. So instead of returning to her night patrol she shoveled dirt and broken rocks back into the pit and then smoothed over the rest so that there was no sign of the excavation.

New Irene Trait: Combat Delimiter: If nobody is watching Irene can use her full capabilities as a combat android. This drastically increases her battle prowess.

After brushing the worst of the dirt off herself Irene carefully checked to make sure there was nothing else out of place, like blood spatters. Then she returned to the campsite and added a few branches to the dying fire while she waited for sun rise. Once the sun was actually visible above the horizon she poked Marissa in the shoulder, "Time to get up." There was no response so Marissa started shaking her friend's shoulder, "Come on sleepyhead the sun's up. How are you even sleeping on those rocks?"

Groaning Marissa sat up and rubbed her eyes and then her back. "I feel terrible. I wish I was home."

Irene patted Marissa on the back, "Yeah, me too. But hey I made breakfast, maybe that'll help." She passed over a few strips of spit roasted meat and Marissa eyed them dubiously before hesitantly taking a bit.

"Ugh, this is awful. So bitter." She makes a move to spit it out, but Irene clamps a hand on her mouth. "Don't you dare. There's no other food here, and we know they aren't poisonous since neither of us is puking up last night's meat." She handed over a leaf bowl with water in it. "Here, try to wash it down."

Marissa Morale Decreased: [Uncomfortable]

Muttering rebelliously, Marissa managed to finish her breakfast. Then she eyed the sun and exclaimed in realization, "Wait did you stay up all night. I told you to wake me up when you were tired."

Irene shrugged, "I didn't get tired. Too busy thinking about things. And nothing much happened anyway."

"Aren't you tired now though." Irene looks a little sheepish as she admits, "A little, but this isn't my first all nighter. I can handle it."

Looking uncharacteristically stern, Marissa pokes her, "Well you should have woken me up. We're in this together. Next time we take proper watches."

"Alright alright, I'll wake you up. What do you think we should do now though? There's nothing but obsidian wastes all around us."

Marissa considers the question for a few moments and then dramatically points her arm out in a random direction. "We should go that way!"

"What, why? what's that way?"

"I dunno. I just feel good about it. Things have been pretty bad. I think I'm due for some good luck."

Irene considered questioning it again, but decided against it. It's odd, but Marissa does have really strange luck. After bad things happen to her she always seems to have amazing luck for a while.

New Marissa Trait: Sinusoidal Luck: Terrible events tend to happen to Marissa with alarming regularity. However afterwards she always has good luck for a while. The worse the negative events the better her luck later.

Marissa and Irene set off across the obsidian wastes. They climb over massive shards of the substance and seek out tiny stands of gnarled trees for the brackish pools of water that puddle in their roots. As they travel they are constantly attacked by more of the strange monsters that lurk in the area. Some seem like mutated creatures from Earth, others are completely alien in nature, but all are hungry and determined to feed on the two apparently defenseless women roaming through their territory.

Some of these monsters prowl openly and attack from far enough off that Irene can shoot and kill them with her gun. Others ambush the pair from the shadows, forcing Marissa to fend them off with her sword and shield. This is obviously not an ideal situation for gunfire, and after a few cases of having to stand by uselessly Irene fashions a crude spear out of a mostly straight tree branch and some obsidian shards.

This does lead to an important discovery however. If Marissa kills one of the monsters she gets experience. If she gets a few hits in and Irene kills it she gets less. If Irene kills it with her gun at range she gets none at all.

As such on the third day of traveling the two have a subdued conversation as they try to shelter from the midday sun under the sparse shadows of one of the local trees.

"I think you need to stop helping me." Says Marissa determinedly.

"What, why would you say that? I'm not going to let you fight monsters alone." exclaimed Irene.

Taking a deep breath to brace herself for an argument, Marissa launches into her explanation. "I get more xp killing them by myself, and you don't seem to get xp at all. When I hit level two I definitely felt myself getting stronger, but you haven't had anything like that happen to you. So whenever you shoot something it's just wasted xp. And the quest says I need to hit level 10 before we get to the guardian."

"You said that it was a Tip." Marissa just gives Irene a look. "Even so, maybe the quest doesn't account for my gun. Maybe I can just shoot it."

"I don't really want to take that chance. The guardian of the gate sounds like a boss. And aren't bosses in games supposed to be really powerful. It might not go down in one shot and I need to be prepared to fight it."

"Well, we can go find the guardian and take a look. And then if it looks tough you can always fight more monsters later."

"But that would take longer! What I'm saying is if we're going to be fighting monsters on the way anyway I should kill them and get the experience now. I don't want to spend more time here than I have to. I hate it here!" Marissa spits out the last sentence with uncharacteristic anger.

Taken aback Irene considers what to say, "I don't want to leave all the fighting to you either. Can I at least help with my spear. And maybe you can find some other way to get stronger. Like you said the skills mentioned something about training. Maybe we could practice fighting each other."

Marissa gives Irene's crudely lashed together spear a questioning look, before hesitantly nodding, "Well maybe we could do something like that."

[ ] Grinding XP
Marissa will fight the monsters alone while Irene keeps watch, but doesn't help directly. Marissa will gain significant XP and levels this way at the risk of potential injuries.

Marissa Gained: 10 Levels
Marissa Injury Chance: (Defense vs DC 14)
Irene Morale Decreased

[ ] Working Together
Irene will help Marissa fight the monsters. Together they will be able to finish the monsters off with less chance of injury, but Marissa will get less xp. She will however be able to spend some more time training.

Marissa Gained: 6 Levels
Marissa Injury Chance: (Defense vs DC 8)
Marissa Skill Increase: Sword and Board (Insufficient)
New Irene Skill: Spear (Inferior): (Passive) Keep your enemy at a distance while you stab them with a spear.
(Quest Note: Bit of a mixup in the last vote. All the weapon skill gains should have been Inferior. So this is an improvement.)

[ ] Using that Gun
Irene will use her gun to kill everything that gets close. A few ambush predators will still require Marissa's sword to kill, but this will drastically reduce her xp gain. In return though she'll have a lot more time to train with Irene.

Marissa Gained: 4 Levels
Marissa Skill Increase: Sword and Board (Ordinary)
New Irene Skill: Spear (Insufficient): (Passive) Keep your enemy at a distance while you stab them with a spear.

---

Leveling Up
Every time Marissa levels up she will receive one random rank up in the three primary attributes for a warrior, strength, stamina, or defense. She will also be able to allocate one rank up in any attribute.

As such please designate what stats you want to rank up in the same number as the whatever you voted for above. For clarity here are her current attributes, which I have assigned numerical ranks in case the colors aren't clear.

Marissa's Current Attributes
Strength - Bone Blue (Rank 5)
Stamina - Bone Cyan (Rank 5)
Defense - Bone Violet (Rank 7)
Intelligence - Bone Yellow (Rank 3)
Magic- Bone Green (Rank 4)
Resilience - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Perception - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Dexterity - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Speed - Bone Yellow (Rank 3)

Note: It takes 5 rank ups to increase a violet attribute to Stone.

[ ] 10 Levels
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute

[ ] 6 Levels
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute

[ ] 4 Levels
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute
-[ ] Write In Attribute

[ ] Auto
Leave it to the System to allocate these rank ups.

---

Quest Note: This will be a bit of a shorter vote. I only cut it off here because the leveling might be a little complicated and I didn't want to throw too much in at once. So I'll leave the vote open for just a day this time.

Also I'm not sure how far into the nitty gritty details people want to get. So if you pick the Auto option I'll just assign attributes that I think are best. That won't lock in auto assignment for the whole quest. Just for this level up.

 

[Arcanestomper]

Prologue: The Guardian of the Gate

​

Spoiler: Marissa Level Up x6

Strength - Bone Blue (Rank 6) => Bone Violet (Rank 7 2/5)
Stamina - Bone Cyan (Rank 5) => Bone Blue (Rank 6)
Defense - Bone Violet (Rank 7) => Stone Yellow (Rank 3)
Intelligence - Bone Yellow (Rank 3)
Magic- Bone Green (Rank 4)
Resilience - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Perception - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Dexterity - Bone Green (Rank 4)
Speed - Bone Yellow (Rank 3) => Bone Green (Rank 4)

Finally after nearly a month of fighting, practicing, and eating terrible meals the two women spotted the Obsidian Gate as they crested a small rise. It was patently obvious as a large arch rose out of the plains made out of crudely hacked blocks of the dark material.

It was also obvious who the guardian was. An extremely large monster lay in front of it. The monster looked similar to the most common variety of monster that Marissa had been fighting, one of the hyena snake hybrids. However it had a large mane-like frill encircling its head. The scales spotting its hide were also a deep blue instead of the shades of green that covered the smaller monsters.

However the main difference was one of size. The guardian was the size of a rhino instead of a large dog like the others, and its claws were huge and looked sharp enough to cut a human in half. Needless to say both Marissa and Irene immediately ducked back behind the cliff to discuss the situation.

They looked at each and after a moment of silence Marissa said, "Okay I think we can take it."

To her surprise Irene nodded, "Yeah I think so too, but it's going to be a little tricky. I think we should fight smart, and try to lure it into an ambush. Some place where it will get stuck and we can kill it easily."

"Around here! Where are we going to find some place where it won't just climb over the rocks to get us."

"I think I saw a gully with steep sides a bit that way. We could rig up some boulders to block the entrance, then you could stop it from climbing up while I shoot." Irene points back the way they came.

Marissa rolls her eyes, "Orrr, we could just fight it here. I've gotten way tougher. The last few monsters haven't even been able to scratch me. I say we just go over the ridge, I charge it, and you blast away. Quick and easy."

Before they could get into a longer argument however a terrible roar shook the landscape and the guardian came barreling over the ridge.

Instinctively Marissa put her shield up and blocked the beast's massive claws. "Shit! What do we do!"

Spoiler: Boss Fight Mechanics

Boss fights are about trading blows with a monster until it or the party dies. At its most basic this is a series of Strength vs Defense checks. Eventually this can be modified by using stamina for skills, casting spells, and dodging with speed and dexterity. But neither Marissa nor Irene have any active skills or are fast enough to dodge. So the fight with the gate guardian will be as straightforward as it gets.

I'll roll the guardians strength vs Marissa's defense and vice versa. Irene will also be shooting for some flat damage. Once our heroic duo have scored 10 successes they win. They can't lose this prologue fight, but Marissa might come out of this with some heavy injuries if she's unlucky.

Bear that in mind when choosing the next option.

[ ] "Run for the gully!"
Marissa will lure the guardian to the gully while Irene runs ahead to set up some boulder traps. Because she is trying to lure it away Marissa will take a defense penalty for the first five rounds. However after that the guardian will only be able to attack every other round as it scrabbles up the side of the gully and gets pushed back. If Irene rolls a critical perception check she will find a boulder to push onto the guardian and kill it instantly.

[ ] "Just fight it!"
Marissa will fight the guardian head on while Irene runs to the side for a good shooting angle. There's nothing special in this plan. Just both sides hitting each other until one goes down.

---

After a long and brutal fight the Marissa and Irene stood panting over the corpse of their fallen foe for a few long minutes as they recovered. Then they made their way back to the Obsidian Gate.

Within it they say a series of images that changed and shifted. "Oh I'm getting a new box. It's telling me about these places."

[ ] A snowy boreal forest
"The Kingdom of Fokel, a snowy frontier of monsters and adventure. A new kingdom established by refugees of the god wars where nobody asks too many questions about your past as long as you can help tame the wilderness."

+Not many people asking questions
+Lots of monster to fight
-Frigid weather makes it a constant battle for survival
-Lots of monsters to fight

[ ] A tropical coast overlooking a deep blue ocean
"The Kingdom of Slaedor, one of the elven kingdoms and the most powerful. It is rich and prosperous from sea trade. Warning: Humans have been disliked here since the god wars."

+Pretty easy to survive
+Access to the sea routes and the rest of the world.
-Not many opportunities for adventuring
-Anti Human Bias is prevalent

[ ] A tall mountain with a snowy cap
"The Kingdom of Dreosaston. One of the dwarven underkeeps. They keep out of the human elven political squabbles and mine the mountain for riches that they forge into wonders."

+Lots of materials for crafting
+Some adventuring opportunities
-Dwarves don't trust easily
-There are things in the deep

[ ] A forested glade with plush grass.
"The Kingdom of Waedia. The most powerful of the surviving human kingdoms. Still recovering from the god wars and paying reparations to the elves."

+Lots of humans to blend in with.
+Lots of adventuring opportunities to rebuild the kingdom
-A very poor kingdom
-Watch out for the Inquisition

[ ] An oasis in the middle of a desert
"The Kingdom of Zeaseon. One of the Orc desert strongholds. Trades exotic spices and goods with the other kingdoms on the continent. Their mages are the best in the world."

+Fairly easy to get by in the cities
+Access to magic universities
-Strong ties to the elves means humans are looked down on.
-Adventuring in the desert will be a harsh task

New Quest: Defeat the Demon Lord

Congratulations on proving your abilities, Hero! Now you need to get out there and grow strong enough to defeat the Demon Lord. I know you can do it Hero!

Tip: Don't let anyone know you're my Hero. The spies of the Demon Lord are everywhere. Tip: The elves are in the thrall of the Demon Lord. Tip: Find my shrines in the world to receive my blessings. Tip: There are other heroes if you can find them.

After reading everything Marissa turned to Irene, "Phew that's a lot. Where do you think we should go. I think we should head to Waedia. There are a lot of people there we could help. And it sounds like they would help us against the evil elves."

"Well I don't know. Why did it mention an inquisition. And maybe we shouldn't get involved in anything until we know what's going on. I'm not sure how much we can trust these boxes."

"Oh come on Irene. Don't be so paranoid. They haven't led us wrong yet."

---

Quest Note: This is the last of the prologue. The next update will be into the quest proper with taking actions each turn. Also in the future I will give more detail to how boss fights play out. I just didn't want to split the update again. I'll post a quick interlude with the fight against the Guardian of the Gate once this vote is done.

 

[Arcanestomper]

Interlude: Cornering the Guardian

​

As Marissa threw the guardian back with her buckler Irene ran the other way. She raced ahead at an adrenaline fueled pace and quickly reached the gully she had seen before. Quickly looking around she spotted several large chunks of obsidian sitting on the edges of the cliffs. After checking how far away Marissa was Irene hammered away some of their supporting rocks making the chunks balance far more precarious.

Meanwhile Marissa was in the fight of her life as she attempted to dodge and duck the massive monster. However it was far too fast for this and repeatedly snaked a limb past her guard clawing gashes in her limbs and torso. Finally it snapped forward in an attempt to finish her off, and she just barely avoid it biting her head by interposing her buckler.

Unfortunately this just resulted in the monster biting down on her arm and she screamed in pain as sharp teeth lacerated her arm and shoulder. Shaking its head the guardian tossed Marissa back and forth like a rag doll. This was a mistake however as despite the pain she was in Marissa used her close proximity to stab the monster repeatedly in the head before gouging out one of its eyes.

Howling the guardian released its grip and with a final shake sent her flying through the air before crashing back down on the obsidian plains.

"Marissa, Marissa, over here!" Glancing back Marissa saw her friend waving and pointing to the entrance of the gully. Grimacing she gritted her teeth and made a run for it as the guardian barreled after her retreating form.

After a desperate few moments of running she saw Irene leaning down with her hand extended. Leaping up Marissa grabbed her friend's hand as the guardian's snapping jaws narrowly missed biting her for a second time.

Quickly hauling her up Irene left Marissa gasping on the cliff edge as she ran back and with a solid kick knocked the obsidian chunk down behind the guardian before it could scramble back out of the gully. Then she drew her handgun and started firing.

After that it was all pretty much over. The guardian attempted to climb the walls of the gully, but after staggering to her feet Marissa repeatedly pushed it back in while Irene steadily put shots into it. First blinding its other eye, and then planting a series of rounds into its head and torso.

With a final crash the monster fell to the ground and after a few death spasms stopped moving altogether. As the adrenaline faded Marissa fell to her knees prompting Irene to take a good look at her and the see the blood painting her."

"Marissa, Oh No!"

Rushing over Irene tore off pieces of her own shirt to make bandages for her injured friend and clean her wounds as best she could without more than a few drips of water and no antiseptics.

After a few moments though Marissa sat up and pushed her away. "Actually it doesn't hurt as much as I thought."

"What!"

"Yeah, I mean it hurts, and it looks bad, but I think it's mostly just deep scratches. Nothing vital."

"Wow, it doesn't look like deep scratches."

"I don't know," Marissa shrugged and then immediately winced at the spike of pain in her injured shoulder. "Well I wouldn't say I'm fine, but I don't think I'm dying. Let's just get to the gate and see if we can get out of here."

"Alright, I can't do much for you with what we have anyway."

After carefully checking again that she didn't actually have any more serious wounds Irene helped Marissa to her feet and then all the way back to the portal. Then the duo contemplated the swirling images and where exactly they should go next.

Marissa Health: Light Injuries
Marissa: 900 XP
Marissa Level Up

 

[Arcanestomper]

Turn 1: The Mountain Kingdom

​

One moment Marissa and Irene were on the shiny black obsidian plains the next they were standing on a forested hillside. Above them rose a massive mountain, presumably Dreosaston.

New Marissa Skill: Marathi Trade Pidgin (Expert): (Passive) Speak and read the language of traders. This language has spread throughout the continent by traders and merchants and is widely understood by anyone who has business with them, or has reason to be traveling.

New Marissa Skill: Stone Tongue (Expert): (Passive) Speak and read the language of the dwarves. This language is said to descend from the words that the gods used to shape the bones of the mountains and is the main language of the dwarven kingdoms. Also helps in geomancy.

<"Oof it's cold.> Marissa fingered the rips and tears from where the guardian had torn into her clothes, <"Man I liked this jacket.">

"Marissa? Are you okay?"

"Huh, I was just saying it was cold."

"No, you were speaking some kind of gibberish. Did you hit your head?"

"What do you mean?" <"Huh"> ["Mountains"] "Okay, that's really weird. I just learned two new languages somehow."

Irene just stared at Marissa.

"No, I'm serious. I've got alerts saying I gained the Marathi Pidgin and Stone Tongue skills."

Irene rubbed her face, "Uggh, more stupid system stuff. I guess it was too much to hope for that everyone would speak english." Her hands stop as she has a realization, "I won't be able to speak to anyone. You're going to have to do all the talking!"

Marissa's face splits into a huge grin as Irene looks at her in horror. "Haha, finally my chance to shine."

Irene face palms again, "Fine fine. Just try not to offend anyway. I guess we should find this Dreosaston."

Still grinning, Marissa corrects her, "It's pronounced [Dreosaston]."

"Oh, this is going to get old."

---

After a good bit of trekking, and a few strategic tree climbs, the pair finds the main road going into the mountain. Literally into the mountain as it leads up to a pair of massive metal gates set in the mountainside.

Several carts are traveling inside and the two women simply follow them. Irene spends the whole time muttering about possible custom checks and how they're going to get through with no papers, but nothing happens. There are about a dozen short burly guards in heavy armor on either side of the gate, but the flow of traffic continues through without even a cursory inspection.

After the gate there is a tunnel carved into the mountain, and Irene spots a concerning amount of murder holes in the ceiling, but it isn't very long before it opens up into a massive cavern. It's huge, at least ten stories tall and with massive braziers hanging from the ceiling casting enough light to see as well as if they were outside. The cavern is filled with buildings made of stone, brick and wood stacked on each other in a jumble.

Marissa and Irene don't have long to stare however before they have to jump out of the way of another cart. The roads are packed with carts and people on foot. They all seem to be hurrying about their business, but there are also dozens of street vendors selling their wares from various stalls. They seem to offer a huge range of products: pots, weapons, jewelry, mysterious meat, and more. There's even some fish stalls, though on closer inspection these fish are pale things with no eyes. Irene suspects there's underground pools somewhere.
Marissa asks around for some local information while Irene hovers awkwardly. Fortunately there are so many traders and foreigners here that two human women don't really stand out. And eventually Marissa gets a reasonable grasp on the place. This is in fact the Dreosaston kingdom, however the kingdom is very much vertical and there is far more of it below.

This is the Caravanserai layer where foreign merchants and visitors are allowed to do business and trade with the locals. The reason there weren't any customs inspections is because as far as the dwarves are concerned this isn't even part of the kingdom proper. There are checks if you want to get deeper, and they are much more stringent.

Unfortunately there aren't any big signs saying where to go or any obvious place where newly arrived visitors can register as adventurers or the like. So the pair find an out of the way corner to plan their next move.

"I want something to eat! I'm sick of monster meat. And all those stalls smell amazing."

"We've got no money, remember. Where are we going to get money?"

"I've heard a few things. The merchants pay silver for people to help them move stuff. And I've heard people offering their services reading letters and stuff. Plus I've heard there are a few guilds that are hiring."

"What for?"

Marissa shrugs, "I'm not sure really. We've only been here for like thirty minutes, give me some more time."

Irene crosses her arms, "Hmmm, well I guess we should check everything out. Have you figured out what the money is like?"

Marissa looks embarrassed, "Yeah that one merchant looked at me like I was an idiot, but he told me they use these copper coins for most things. 120 copper coins for one silver. 120 silver coins for a gold one. A few silvers seems to be worth a month's food and stuff."

Irene leans back against a wall and considers things. "Alright well let's figure out what to do next."

---

Marissa gained one level from killing the Guardian.

[ ] 1 Level
-[ ] Write In Attribute

---

Quest Note: I'll use different separators to show different languages. <This is Marathi.> [This is Stone Tongue.] I'll probably drop this convention once Irene gains language proficiency. Though it may come back when more languages crop up.

Actions

Marissa and Irene can each take four actions each turn. Each turn is a month and each action represents about a week's worth of effort, though that time might be interspersed throughout the month.

DCs: For now all DCs are at the Bone level. Which means Marissa will auto pass any defense checks.

Other Actions: If you want to do something that isn't listed I'd be happy to add an action for it. There's no way I've thought of everything possible.

Please do plan voting like this.

[ ] Plan Name
-[ ] Marissa Action 1
-[ ] Marissa Action 2
-[ ] Marissa Action 3
-[ ] Marissa Action 4
-[ ] Irene Action 1
-[ ] Irene Action 2
-[ ] Irene Action 3
-[ ] Irene Action 4

Survival

Spoiler: Survival

Shelter

[ ] Camp in the Woods (Default)
Marissa and Irene have been roughing it in the obsidian wastes for over a month now. By comparison the side of the mountain is almost idyllic. Still not exactly comfortable though.

Cost: Free
Shelter: Uncomfortable
Danger: Low

[ ] Find an abandoned Shack
The Caravanserai layer is a bustling place full of merchants and foreigners. There are lots of buildings that get built in one year and abandoned the next when their residents leave or go out of business. Marissa and Irene can take one over. Unfortunately the good spots already have residents. They'll have to live in the bad part of town.

Cost: Free
Shelter: Adequate
Danger: Medium

[ ] Rent a Room
For similar reasons renting cheap rooms to travelers is a good business in the Caravanserai. There are plenty of places that can rent out small rooms for low prices. They aren't very nice rooms, but the main benefit is not needing to worry about someone stealing your stuff while you're sleeping. Don't expect anything to still be there if you leave it unattended in the day though.

Cost: 1 Silver
Shelter: Decent
Danger: Low

[ ] Rent a Nice Room
There are plenty of merchants who want somewhere actually decent to stay, and plenty of inn keepers willing to accommodate them. It won't be cheap, but if Marissa and Irene can put together the money they could have somewhere nice to stay.

Cost: 1 Gold
Shelter: Good
Danger: None
Bonus: Includes Decent Meals

Food

[ ] Cook Monster Meat (Default)
They did it in the obsidian wastes. They can do it again. Marissa and Irene will live off the meat of the monsters they hunt. Marissa will not be happy.

Cost: Free
Food Quality: Terrible
Requires: Hunt Monsters

[ ] Buy Spices and Fruits
If nothing else Marissa wants to augment their meals with some nice things. Bread and some spices at least. Maybe some fruits and vegetables. Eating monster meat all the time can't be healthy after all. This will cost a bit of money, but get the food quality up to acceptable levels.

Cost: 2 Silver
Food Quality: Adequate

[ ] Meals
There are plenty of people selling actual meals in the Caravanserai. It's more expensive than subsisting on monster meat, but Marissa will breathe a sigh of relief.

Cost: 10 Silver
Food Quality: Decent

Adventuring

Spoiler: Adventuring

[ ] Hunt Monsters (Strength vs 12, Defense vs 12)
The local monsters aren't terribly strong. At least not outside the mountain. Caravan guards, the local garrison, and higher level adventurers deal with anything too dangerous. Still there are plenty of monsters that just aren't worth their time. These monsters are too weak to threaten anything major, but they're just right for a pair of new adventurers to practice their skills on. And in a pinch eat.

Gives: XP based on Strength Successes

Knowledge

Spoiler: Knowledge

[ ] Learn a Language
-[ ] Marathi Trade Pidgin (Intelligence vs DC 10)
-[ ] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 14)
Marissa got full fluency in the local languages automatically, but Irene wasn't so lucky. She'll need to study the old fashioned way to learn the language. Fortunately she's quite smart. And she's not above overclocking a bit to learn it even faster. It's not like anyone can see what's happening inside her own head.

Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary

[ ] Learn about local Customs (Perception vs 12)
If the pair want to blend in they'll need to figure out what exactly that will entail. Of course given that they're humans in a kingdom of dwarves they can't help but stand out a little. On the other hand they're almost invisible in the Caravanserai itself.

[ ] Learn about local Organizations (Perception vs 12)
It would probably be a good idea to figure out who is who in this layer of the city. Maybe figure out who to talk to gain access deeper into the city.

[ ] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12)
Odd jobs are okay for a while, but if Marissa and Irene are going to get very far they need a stable source of income. Unfortunately they're probably going to have to start from the very bottom.

The Caravanserai

Spoiler: The Caravanserai

[ ] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10)
Haul crates, wrangle beasts, and do the grunt work that the merchant caravans need doing. This is hard work and doesn't pay much, but it provides a steady source of income.

Pay: 1 Silver + Stamina Successes
Merchant Rep: +1

[ ] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8)
It would be possible to do some scribe work reading and writing letters for people who can't on their own. With some work this could even provide a steady business. Unfortunately Irene can't read and write the local languages at the moment. And Marissa isn't really suited for this kind of work.

Requires: Language Proficiency (Ordinary)
Pay: 1 Silver + Intelligence Successes

[ ] Do Some Accounting (Intelligence vs 14, Intelligence Pay vs 10)
If people who can read are in demand, then people who can read and do reliable math are even more so. The businesses and merchants will pay well for someone to handle this. However it will require a substantial level of trust first.

Requires: Merchant Reputation: Trusted
Pay: 50 Silver + 5x Intelligence Successes

[ ] Go to the Market
-[ ] (Optional) What are you looking for?
This is the Caravanserai. There are thousands of things being bought and sold all the time. It's quite possible that Marissa and Irene could find things to make their lives easier here.

[ ] Have something made
-[ ] Write In
This is literally the kingdom of dwarves. You can get practically anything made here from pottery to crossbows to masterwork swords. Still you probably aren't going to find the best craftsmanship up here in the Caravanserai. You need to go deeper to find the better smiths. Of course those would be more expensive.

Relationships

Spoiler: Relationships

[ ] Give Marissa her gift
Irene has been hauling around a present for Marissa for a while now. It's sure to raise her mood when Irene finally gives it to her.
(Locked: Until you have an Adequate place to stay. And it will have better results with increased quality of shelter.)

Crime

Spoiler: Crime

Neither Marissa nor Irene are willing to turn to criminal activities just yet.