Tag Along Android (An Isekai Quest)

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@Arcanestomper , are there monster lore and medical aid skills? Irene may want to get to know them, even if she seems somewhat familiar with the latter.

Also, I want to know more about magic, in particular, Irene's ability to use it. It depends on how the magic works, but it's possible that even if she doesn't have a local equivalent of mana, she can use external energy to cast spells.
Can we try to get a magic skill, or do we need to research first?

Arcanestomper said:
Fair enough. Let's give it a 24 hour voting moratorium then.
Click to expand...
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You should probably close the vote and add a moratorium line to the chapter itself.
 
Eternal_0bserver said:
@Arcanestomper , are there monster lore and medical aid skills? Irene may want to get to know them, even if she seems somewhat familiar with the latter.

Also, I want to know more about magic, in particular, Irene's ability to use it. It depends on how the magic works, but it's possible that even if she doesn't have a local equivalent of mana, she can use external energy to cast spells.
Can we try to get a magic skill, or do we need to research first?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yes, there would be a medical skill. Irene could try to find a local doctor to train with. Magic would have its own skill categories, but Irene has no idea how to start with that. Lore I won't make skills for. It'll just be stuff she can learn.

Eternal_0bserver said:
You should probably close the vote and add a moratorium line to the chapter itself.
Click to expand...
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Put that in.
 
[] Plan: Magic, you say?
-[] Learn a Language.
--[] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene).
-[] Train a Skill.
--[] Medicine (Irene).
-[] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa).
-[] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
--[] Magic, ways to use and study. (Irene).
-[] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2).
-[] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa).

So basically my current plan. Both girls have enough money now that I feel comfortable letting go of our android to explore things. In particular, whether she is capable of using magic, as intelligence is her forte. Also, having medical skills is helpful because Marissa's job is mostly to take hits.

A little unsure about Irene's personal test, but right now she's probably good enough, and we all know that she's not above a little cheating until she gets caught. Either way, it's too late to turn back.
 
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I think we should be at 58 silver right now, not 17? The character sheets are just not fully updated yet.

I missed the timing to say this, but holy shit that potion was 5 GOLD?

I really want Irene to try to analyze the potion and see if we can recreate it somehow.
If that doesn't work, we should try to sell it later.

Jesus christ, 5 gold, that is 600 silver in our pockets right there. If that Cadwhistle guy wanted to get us into the guild, he sure know how to open with an impact.

With that in mind, I think getting potions would help in both serving as medicine for Marissa use, and a way to earn money too. So...

[] Plan: How much did you say that potion cost?
-[] Learn a Language
--[] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene)
-[] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa)
-[] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
--[] How to make a potion (Irene)
--[] Magic, ways to use and/or study (Irene)
-[] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2)
-[] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa)

Edit: Changed a bit to reflect Irene's interest to magic, who knows, it might have to do with the potion too.
 
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[X] Plan: How much did you say that potion cost?
-[X] Learn a Language
--[X] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene)
-[X] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa)
-[X] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
--[X] How to make a potion (Irene)
--[X] Magic, ways to use and/or study (Irene)
-[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2)
-[X] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa)

Been over 24 hours
 
[X] Plan: Magic, you say?
-[X] Learn a Language.
--[X] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene).
-[X] Train a Skill.
--[X] Medicine (Irene).
-[X] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa).
-[X] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
--[X] Magic, ways to use and study. (Irene).
-[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2).
-[X] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa).

I'll go with my old plan, because while magical medicine sounds interesting, something that costs five gold a bottle won't be readily available to create, and most likely research. In addition, it is a copper rank. If Irene had the opportunity to buy a bottle and analyze its contents, it might be worth a try. As of now, an immediately useful skill sounds more attractive than a second ambitious project that could take us an unknown amount of time. Also, having both medical skills and potion-making skills is probably much more effective.
 
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[X] Helping out around the neighborhood
- [X] Do the last test (Marissa and Irene)
- [X] Help out around the Neighborhood (X3 Marissa and Irene)

Feel maxing out our rep in the place we live would be helpful. We also have a bit of money saved up and may get even more from the last test, so why not? This will put us over 50 with them.
 
Voting Turn 8
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Arcanestomper on Feb 21, 2023 at 9:26 AM, finished with 2 posts and 2 votes.
    • [X] Plan: Magic, you say?
      [X] Helping out around the neighborhood
      - [X] Do the last test (Marissa and Irene)
      - [X] Help out around the Neighborhood (X3 Marissa and Irene)
    Click to expand...


    So this vote had a tie. I'd appreciate a few more votes to see which way people want to go.
    Arcanestomper threw 3 6-faced dice. Reason: Irene Language Total: 11
    4 4 6 6 1 1
    Arcanestomper threw 3 6-faced dice. Reason: Irene Perception Total: 9
    1 1 4 4 4 4
    Arcanestomper threw 12 6-faced dice. Reason: Marissa Labor Total: 45
    1 1 2 2 1 1 6 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 3 3 1 1 6 6
    Arcanestomper threw 3 6-faced dice. Reason: Clocks Total: 11
    5 5 4 4 2 2
    Arcanestomper threw 2 8-faced dice. Reason: Actual Clocks Total: 14
    7 7 7 7
    Arcanestomper threw 1 20-faced dice. Reason: Event Total: 4
    4 4
     
  • Voting
    • Arcanestomper said:
    So this vote had a tie. I'd appreciate a few more votes to see which way people want to go.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    More like there was an error during the count. The real count looks like this:

    Adhoc vote count started by Eternal_0bserver on Feb 26, 2023 at 2:30 PM, finished with 22 posts and 6 votes.
    • [X] Plan: Magic, you say?
      -[X] Learn a Language
      --[X] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene)
      -[X] Train a Skill.
      --[X] Medicine (Irene).
      -[X] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa)
      -[X] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
      --[X] Magic, ways to use and study. (Irene).
      -[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2)
      -[X] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa)
      [X] Plan: How much did you say that potion cost?
      -[X] Learn a Language
      --[X] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene)
      -[X] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa)
      -[X] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
      --[X] How to make a potion (Irene)
      --[X] Magic, ways to use and/or study (Irene)
      -[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2)
      -[X] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa)
      [X] Helping out around the neighborhood
      - [X] Do the last test (Marissa and Irene)
      - [X] Help out around the Neighborhood (X3 Marissa and Irene)
    Click to expand...


    The moratorium was observed correctly, so I can only guess at the reasons.
     
    I'd say it didn't correctly count the ones that were plan names, but it looks like it completely skipped the potion vote. Weird, well I'll get to work on the turn then.
     
    Turn 8: Picking a Fight
  • Threadmarks

    • Turn 8: Picking a Fight

    ​
    [X] Plan: Magic, you say?
    -[X] Learn a Language
    --[X] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 18) (Irene)
    -[X] Train a Skill.
    --[X] Medicine (Irene).
    -[X] Do the last Test (Irene, Marissa)
    -[X] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
    --[X] Magic, ways to use and study. (Irene).
    -[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) (Marissa x2)
    -[X] Help out around the Neighborhood (Marissa)
    Costs
    Food: -10 Silver
    Shelter: -1 Silver

    Money
    Gold: 0
    Silver: 58 -11 + 13 = 60
    Copper: 115

    Irene

    Irene decides to kill two birds with one stone by talking with the Hands of Lord Seok. The dwarven priests are happy to let her help when they find she wants to learn about medicine and soon Irene is set to work at the grunt tasks in the temple's infirmary.

    She washes bandages, feeds those too injured to do it themselves, and assists the priests as they tend to the injured. In the times when the patients have all been tended to and the temple is more idle she asks questions about healing and how to treat injuries and diseases. And of course she does as much of it as possible in stone tongue rather than marathi.

    Between her questions and more practical hands-on experience she picks up the basics of first aid quickly enough. Of course she is volunteering not taking a class so there is only so much she can learn here. If she wants to learn about medicine on a more theoretical level she'll have to find some kind of school or apprentice under a doctor.

    New Irene Skill: First Aid (Inferior) Knowledge of how to treat the most immediate injuries using field remedies.
    Skill Improved: Stone Tongue (Ordinary)



    On the other hand Irene has less luck trying to pick up magic. Irene gets the basics as far as the refugees know them. Magic is using energy gathered by a mage to perform some task. General to far more effect than a single individual could normally perform. The specifics of how this is accomplished are unclear however.

    Unfortunately the refugees don't really have any skill in magic. If they did they probably wouldn't be in the slums in the first place. And the Caravanserai itself is only one part of the city, and the portion devoted to outsiders at that. The only people who can use magic here are the occasional caravan guard, adventurers, and the occasional mage hired by one of the more wealthy merchants to apply a ward to their property.

    Still there is the Steel Company. Irene knows Yolko is a mage, and presumably she isn't the only mage they employ. Hopefully Irene will have more opportunities to learn about magic once she officially joins.

    Marissa

    Marissa is working at the Marrok's nest mucking out the stalls when a band of thugs wanders over to intimidate the owner. This happens relatively regularly as the gangs shift territory and a new group feels the need to assert their presence in the area.

    However this time one of the thugs notices Marissa and a flash of recognition passes through his beady eyes, "Hey that's the girl the boss wants to make an example of."

    The attention of the gang members turns to Marissa and they move in aggressively. Unfortunately Marissa does not have her sword on her. However she is holding a shovel full of manure. So she does what comes naturally and flings the pile into the nearest thug's face.

    Then she swings her shovel as hard as she can into the next closest thug. With two of them temporarily out of commission the rest of the gang howls and lunges at Marissa with an assortment of crude weaponry.

    There's more of them than Marrissa feels comfortable fighting with a shovel, but fortunately she is well liked by the laborers. Seeing her plight the other stable hands raise the alarm and pile in. The stable is soon engulfed in chaos as the fight disturbs the animals and they begin to slam into their stalls.

    When all is said and done Marissa and the laborers have won, but the stables are in shambles with broken tools and a mix of hay and manure scattered all over the floor. Calming the animals and cleaning up takes longer than the fight did. And unfortunately the foreman decides it's all Marissa's fault and doesn't pay her despite her protests to the contrary.

    Fortunately this isn't the only job she's taken through the Silver Coin so she still takes home some coins this month, but it is concerning that the Knives might approach her even when she's working.

    Coins: +6 Silver
    Merchant Rep: +2
    A Vengeful Knife: [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

    The thought sticks with her as Marissa helps out around the neighborhood. As she watches the children squabble in the street she considers what might happen if the Knives decided to attack here instead of someplace with a bunch of burly laborers.

    The thought worries her quite a bit. She feels like she's going to have to do something about it soon. Though she isn't exactly sure what. She isn't exactly well versed in how to deal with criminal gangs. Unfortunately her courses at college hadn't covered that part of the curriculum yet.

    Neighborhood Rep: +4
    New Action: Deal with the Knives

    Quest Note: I ran out of time so the Steel Company test will be tomorrow.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Interlude: The New Recruits
  • Threadmarks

    • Interlude: The New Recruits

    ​
    Grosgromi arrived at the Steel Company's training hall precisely on time. It was a point of pride that he was never early and never late. He allocated his time exactly as it was necessary. Still he knew the human members of the guild were a bit more lax so he wasn't surprised to see some of the other senior members of the guild already present. Alko of course because he was the one who had first recommended the new girls. And Thrilka because she just had that much energy. In fact she was chatting with them as he walked into the hall. He'd heard from Anna that they liked being early.

    The dwarven ranger considered the pair as they started going through the training course. Marrissa was a real gem in the rough. She was already far stronger and had more stamina than her peers with a defense like a wall. She was lagging a bit on the obstacle course though. A little training on her speed might be in order.
    Now Irene on the other hand was nothing special in terms of combat. Not terrible, but not great. Anna was putting them both through their paces now and he could see that neither one had any sort of exceptional weapon skills. Which was good. Irene had a keen eye and she'd do better with a crossbow. It was always good to be able to train someone who was really suited for it.

    Mercol was interviewing them on their logic, math, and puzzle solving now. Seeing if they had any mana. Grosgromi winced when he saw Irene show a clear mana stone. No mana at all the poor girl. It wasn't unheard of, but it was a pretty rare condition. It was too bad. He would have bet she'd have made a fine mage. Well at least it meant he wasn't going to have any competition training her.

    Luckily his beard hid his grin as Alko started listing all the pairs numerous flaws and they became increasingly downcast. This always happened. The final test was just a formality really. If a senior officer recommended you and you could handle your stuff on a real mission, then the Steel Company would accept you. But first all the new recruits got their pride dashed on a few impossible training requirements. Everyone needed goals to work towards after all.

    Right on cue Alko grudgingly said they were good enough and handed each of the girls an emblem of the steel company. Prompting Marissa to jump for joy and Irene to give a small smile. Picking himself up, Grosgromi wandered over to give his congratulations and his own thoughts on their training. It was always good to get a few new recruits that met the company's standards.

    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.

    The Steel Company expects them to take on at least two jobs each month. Though they can work together. In exchange the Steel Company will provide a monthly salary of 10 silver to each of them.

    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.

    Survival

    Shelter

    [ ] Camp in the Woods
    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.

    Cost: Free
    Shelter: Adequate
    Danger: Medium

    [ ] Rent a Room (Default)
    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.

    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
    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 (Default)
    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

    Recovery

    [ ] Rest
    Sometimes things go wrong and people get hurt. There isn't much recourse for this in the caravanserai shanty towns. The priests of Seok at least help with the worst of it, but they won't or can't heal anything beyond that. There are medicines on the market, but they're well outside the duo's price range at the moment. So all that can be done is to keep injuries clean, rest, and let bodies heal themselves.

    -[ ] Wounded - Takes 3 Actions to fully recover
    -[ ] Injured - Takes 1 Action to fully recover

    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

    [ ] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12)
    The Silver Forest is far enough out of the way that it'll be more than a day trip to get there. Marissa will have to travel for several days and camp out once she arrives. Once there she'll scout around for some of the local monsters to kill. She's heard they're a lot tougher than the salamanders so she'll have to be careful.

    Irene refuses to let Marissa do this alone. She will go as well to help find weaker monsters and fight stronger ones. As such this will cost an action from both of them.

    Gives: XP based on Strength Successes

    Knowledge

    [ ] Train a Skill
    - [ ] Write In
    Marissa and Irene both have things they are good at and things they need to work on. They can set some time aside to work on their skills.

    Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary

    [ ] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14)
    -[ ] Target Organization: Write In
    With increasing proficiency in the language it might be possible to gather more information about a specific organization.

    [ ] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
    -[ ] Write In
    Check something out in more detail.

    [ ] 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

    [ ] 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

    [ ] 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.)

    [ ] Help out around the Neighborhood
    If they're going to be staying in the area long it would probably be a good idea for Marissa and Irene to help the local families in order to strengthen their bonds. Marissa just wants to help, and Irene somewhat more cynically thinks the locals would be less likely to sell out the pair for whatever reason if they've established closer ties with the neighborhood families.

    Ames Neighborhood Rep: +4

    [ ] Deal with the Knives
    Apparently the Knives haven't forgotten that several of their members were killed by Marissa and Irene. The threat of their retribution is ever present, and it might be a good idea to deal with them. Unfortunately while Irene has learned about them in general neither of them has much direct experience with who the actual local gangs are. So the first step is to deal with them.

    The Steel Company - New!

    Current Rank: Privates
    Salary: 20 Silver/ Month

    [ ] Take a Job
    The Steel Company is an institution founded on combating the local monsters and it expects all of its members to do their part. The senior officers will assign Marissa and Irene, and any other party members, a target which they are expected to take down within the month.

    [ ] Use the Training Facilities
    -[ ] Attribute
    The Steel Company has extensive training facilities to help with all manner of different kinds of self improvement. Members are encouraged to use them extensively as the Steel Company's main goal is to train a force of powerful warriors.

    Applies 1 EP towards training the chosen attribute.

    [ ] Socialize with other members
    The senior officers want everyone to remember that they are part of the steel company as a group and not just lone warriors. As such they encourage members to socialize and eventually form long term adventuring parties.

    Crime

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


    Voting will open 24 hours from the time of this post.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Arcanestomper said:
    Mercol was interviewing them on their logic, math, and puzzle solving now. Seeing if they had any mana. Grosgromi winced when he saw Irene show a clear mana stone. No mana at all the poor girl. It wasn't unheard of, but it was a pretty rare condition. It was too bad. He would have bet she'd have made a fine mage. Well at least it meant he wasn't going to have any competition training her.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    It looks like it will be really difficult for her to gain access to magic. A pity.

    Arcanestomper said:
    Which was good. Irene had a keen eye and she'd do better with a crossbow. It was always good to be able to train someone who was really suited for it.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Hmm... how much would it cost to buy a crossbow and ammunition for Irene?

    However, having a steady paycheck is a very good thing.
     
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