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>>2909121
When you've set off for this adventure you have never expected that it would turn out this way. From one hand it is nice that everything was solved without bloodshed and it was probably the easiest fortune you've made yet. On the other hand the remnants of getting your skin turned to stone are really itchy below all of that armor and you kind of wanted to test out some new approaches to fighting monsters. In any case, no one has died and now you have a lamia girl to deal with.

She says she ran out of her home because she was bored and wanted to go on an adventure. To meet new people, see new things and maybe even visit the "surface" she has heard about so much from the neighboring settlement of short bearded people. She, however, acknowledges how underprepared she was. While turning small monsters to stone could save her along the trip she has never heard about how surface humans dislike 'subhuman' people. She claims that she would still like to visit the surface but she has doubts if it is even possible for her.

You feel somewhat bad for her. Her power is almost like a curse and it reminds you of your own illness. Sitting in your room and rarely going outside without an extreme need, getting bullied for being too "slow" to speak and so on. You should really get her home... but then again. Maybe a single peek at the surface wouldn't hurt? You are sure that you can protect her from anything until she is safely returned to her family.

Elpis is ecstatic. She profoundly thanks you and starts packing her camp. She has a large backpack with some necessary camping gear and a coat which covers her human half of the body. She doesn't seem to have any other weapons except of a small bone knife and a hunting bow made out of some kind of purple colored wood that you don't recognize. The amount of arrows she has suggests that she hasn't fired it yet. You think that she probably just turns monsters into stone instead.

Now, you need to decide where to go. You could return back to Mesino. It is a relatively large and prosperous town where the reward awaits you. Then there is the opposite route. It leads to the town called Korifí. It is situated on the largest island in the gulf. It is smaller than Mesino and it is used mainly as a stop gap for ships who wish to exit the gulf or cross it. Thus it should have a large market as well as some serious docks. It is said that the island is completely monster free. Due to its size Cenophilans managed to completely eradicate any hostile creatures on its surface. Rare threats come from the sea and those rarely attack coastal areas. Most importantly it is about 50% closer and you are sick of all the itchy stone and sand below your armor. Where should you go?

>Mesino. You want your MONEYZ
>Korifi. You already have some funds from selling that wine
>Other?

>>2909150
>Korifi. You already have some funds from selling that wine

>>2909150
>Korifi. You already have some funds from selling that wine

>>2909150
>>Korifi. You already have some funds from selling that wine

let's show the girl an adventure, she'd probably like to visit Farsalos too

>>2909150
>Korifi. You already have some funds from selling that wine

>>2909213
>>2909200
>>2909180
>>2909166
Writing

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>>2909255
Korifi sounds like a nice place to see. A nice, small, safe island with a trading town on top. A perfect place for the first surface visit, you imagine. You have some money left over from the time you found several wine vessels at the bottom of the gulf so you can afford to go shopping once you are there. Maybe even get something for Elpis. She would probably get cold with what she is currently wearing...

You light up a torch from snake girl's campfire and set off for the island town as Elpis follows you close by. You've always wondered how do people manage to get a fire going in the depths and now you've noticed. Apparently the common moss that you've been ignoring this whole time burns slowly and without much smoke or smell. You've seen it in the caves close to Farsalos too so you assume that it is everywhere on the first level. Locals probably use it instead of firewood in the depths.

The entrance to the town is similar to the entrance back on the continent. A sole fortress with siege weapons targeting the entrance and a huge rock dropping mechanism to bury it in case of forgotten beasts or something. The guards were not fans of Elpis but correct application of bullshit and threatening gaze got both of you through with almost no problem. The island turned out relatively large. It is roughly oval in shape and is about 10 km long and half that wide. It has three small villages and the actual town itself which probably relies on them for food.

The town itself has absolutely no walls. It has a beacon of sorts placed on a tiny separate island away from shore and a couple of towers with large siege weapons around the docks but it has no internal defenses whatsoever. It has an extensive amount of shanty towns and a large dock of sorts which neighbors the main market plaza. It also has a temple but the temple is smaller than in Mesino. It appears that there is also a tiny separate temple to Sam but it is relatively tiny, more comparable to a normal building than to the main temple.

Elpis is fascinated when she gets out into the sun. She claims that the cave also has a lights in the ceiling but it is nowhere as bright and yellow. The lights there are more numerous though. She is also fascinated by the trees and the sea. There is vegetation in the cave but it is not as green and the water there smells differently. It is also her first time seeing... farm animals? Apparently most of the creatures she knows of don't have fur or feathers. They either have scales, thick skin or chitin. Interesting, you should probably investigate on your way back.

After making a small stop to get rid of the stone debris from your armor the two of you are ready to go somewhere.

>Market. Let's see what goodies these people have
>Beach. She is interested in some natural beauty, right?
>Docks. You are curious about the local merchant fleets
>Temple. It is the largest architectural building around
>Other?

>>2909456
>Beach. She is interested in some natural beauty, right?

>>2909456
>>Beach. She is interested in some natural beauty, right?

we like it too and this way we start slow

>>2909456
>Beach. She is interested in some natural beauty, right?

Time to swim with cute snek

>>2909456
>Market. Let's see what goodies these people have

>>2909547
>>2909501
>>2909484
>>2909465
Got it, writing.

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>>2909582
The beach appeared like the best option to start slow. She is half snake and snakes like sunbathing, right? Actually, you are not sure if she would like sunbathing. Snakes do that because they are cold blooded. That means their metabolism doesn't generate as much heat with their bodies. They get slower in the colder climates and in the mornings they sit in the sun to get warmed up for the day. Funny, that's roughly how you could describe yourself before the pod. Taking half an hour long shower daily to wake up.

In any case, you unload your gear into the inn and set off for the beach with Elpis. You ask her not to try to get into someone else's mind along the way as beaches here are more occupied than the one you've been to. Your hunch was correct, as most of the lamias talk by directly beaming their thoughts and emotions into each other's heads. You'll call them lamias for now since their self name can only be "pronounced" with their concept based language.

The beach is relatively clean and nice. In addition to the sand and the sea it is equipped with some thatch umbrellas, benches and loungers. You wonder where they took that idea from. It is about 10 in the morning and it is nowhere near full capacity. Couple dozen people are enjoying the rest. They all wear light toga- like clothes which is interesting. Historically people were bathing nude at the time and you bought the toga out of your own modern opinion on decency. Maybe the pod people affected the local culture.

The problems start when people see the snake girl. Let's just say that there is a minor panic before you manage to get everything under control. The people come to rest once you explain that there is no need to worry. They still eye her for a while after the fact however. And you can't rent out the lounger for her. It's a shame but oh well, you just use your towel.

Elpis appears to enjoy the warmth of the sun. She stretches, yawns and coils up as she sets up for rest. It is somewhat adorable. Snake girl looks so happy. Maybe her creator decided to put in some of the snake instincts along with the tail. Her blue scales beautifully sparkle in the sun as the girl slowly drifts into sleep. To be fair you did wake her up. It is probably okay to let her catch some sleep. What should you do in the meantime?

>Swim. You would like to get rid of the leftover dust from getting... 'stoned'
>Volleyball. A small group of locals is playing what you can only describe as volleyball nearby with a leather ball and a net
>Snooze. The timeskip option
>Other?

>>2909745
>Swim. You would like to get rid of the leftover dust from getting... 'stoned'

>>2909745
>>Swim. You would like to get rid of the leftover dust from getting... 'stoned'
a quick dip just to take out the sand and then

>Volleyball. A small group of locals is playing what you can only describe as volleyball nearby with a leather ball and a net

>>2909745
>Volleyball. A small group of locals is playing what you can only describe as volleyball nearby with a leather ball and a net

Sports, I bet that is something we rarely did. Can we "turn off" the powers so they have a chance?

>>2909745
>Swim. You would like to get rid of the leftover dust from getting... 'stoned

>>2909791
You could try to limit yourself to human level output. It would be hard to not break a cup while drinking tea othervise. However you are not sure how to lower the reaction time output since it is highly situation dependent.

>>2909771
>]
>>2909774
>>2909791
>>2909805
Writing

>>2909870
Even though you shook off all the rock some dust is still left on your body and you would really like to get rid of it. Unlike sand it is rough due to being broken rock and thus particles have sharp edges. While you can ignore them and your skin is tough enough not to get damaged it is still uncomfortable. Thus you decide to take a dip.

You don't plan to swim too far away from the shore. After all you would like to keep an eye on your new friend. While the people don't seem to fear her it would not be nice to let them bully her. Locals don't seem as receptive and tolerant to her kind as you.

The first thing you notice about this beach is that it stretches far into the sea. the island sits on a flat elevation of sorts where the ground doesn't get below the waves for more than 20 meters or so. There is also much more sea life here. You have managed to find some small crabs, sea cucumbers, jelly fish and various different kinds of fish swimming in this area. There is also quite a bit of kelp and other sea vegetation. This area is bigger than an island itself and it is probably the reason why sea monsters don't attack it.

You've also noticed something interesting. Small shells can be found in the sand. You haven't seen those anywhere else in the gulf and that made you think that all mollusks with shells died out. You wonder why the ones here survived. Were some areas protected from acidity rise or did someone de- extinct them? You've heard that this is possible if one can recover the DNA of the creatures and then cloned them back up.

When you returned back to the shore you've noticed a game of beach volleyball. Or at least the local equivalent of it. Two teams of locals play with a leather ball by throwing it above a fish net strung between two large sticks. One team appears to be losing badly. It looks like one of the guys in the other team has much more muscle than the rest as well as a few scars and he seems to be the reason for their success.

You have never been good with the ball. You were one of those kids who gets chosen last because the coach didn't allow the other kids to not pick you at all. You had no reaction to speak off and thus you couldn't track and catch ball. However now you should be much better at it, right? Let's give it a try, what's the worst that can happen?

Roll 1d20 for the game

>Join by his side
>Join the other team

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>2910073
>Join the other team

so it's at least balanced

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>2910073
>Join the other team

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>2910073
>Join the other team

>>2910132
Oh boy, we either fuck up of knock someone out with a ball

>>2910135
>What's the worst that can happen?

>>2910140
we accidentally kill/maim the scared guy

>>2910152
Or Snek got into trouble

>>2910080
>>2910095
>>2910132
Writing

>>2910182
One of the guys on the team opposing the sailor gets too tired and leaves so you get in his place and decide to continue the game. Your teammates don't think you'd help much but you manage to talk them into continuing. Well, that goes... well. You are honestly not sure what you've expected.

You don't even focus on the ball but to you it creeps across the air with the speed of a snail. You can read a book and still beat the other team while not even going outside of human agility levels. You try to tone a bit down but it doesn't really work. Reminds you of that time when Spain mentally disabled Paralympics team consisted out of 10 people who weren't disabled. Yes, out of 12 people ten were just normal athletes. It is a thing that happened in 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. When you stack up the cards so high it is not surprising it wasn't even a challenge.

Your team wins 10/4 against the sailor and his team. The four misses are because you didn't want to dodge across the field to cover for your teammates. It was hard to not just catch the ball flying at you and the sailor seemed to want to focus you down. You didn't even try to play him, just caught and passed the ball back until he lost focus and missed it. You are pretty sure you've made it look like you were actually putting in an effort.

As you were playing you note that quite a few people collected around to join. Among them was your lamia friend and some other tomboyish- looking woman with short black hair who is tall, tanned and has some muscle on her. She challenges you to a game. Only you versus her. She looks fired up and ready for the challenge and she is smiling widely. Maybe she is also a huntress?

>Decline her challenge
>Accept her challenge. Roll 1d20 for the game

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>2910292
>>Accept her challenge. Roll 1d20 for the game

there you go foxy lady, give us a challenge

also, hyoo snek

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>2910292
>Accept her challenge. Roll 1d20 for the game
>inb4 beating a cup bearer

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>2910292
>Accept her challenge. Roll 1d20 for the game

*Top gun intensifies*

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>2910292
>>Accept her challenge. Roll 1d20 for the game

>>2910317
>>2910312
>>2910304
>>2910302
Writing

>>2910386
You accept without thinking much. If she is a huntress it would at least get interesting. And yeah, it was. She took position and then when you both were ready she somehow managed to throw the ball in a way that you almost haven't noticed. You reacted too late and couldn't catch it in time as it fell on the sand just before you did in your attempts to catch it at the last moment.

You probably weren't paying attention. Let's try again, this time you'll start. The girl manages to easily reflect the ball back. You strain but manage to catch it. This goes for five more bounces until you fuck up and miss the ball by a millimeter eating sand in the process. Oh, it is on.

You focus. There is no need to blow your superpowers away, but you should still be able to use your senses to actually track the goddamn ball. Let's do this! The ball bounces between the two of you eleven times picking up speed until the woman makes a mistake and you score! Yes! Let's continue.

The girl seems to get serious too and the ball keeps flying from side to side dozens of times before either of you fail and miss it. Wow, you are actually getting sweaty. You aren't using your physical strength or agility but the actual stress and thrill is exhilarating. You manage to keep up just one or two scores behind until you finally pull off a draw. 23/23 points, the game has been going on for the last three hours and it is getting in quite a crowd.

The girl bites her lip while looking straight into your eyes with determination. She makes a pass, you predict the location where the ball would hit and jump there. However, the ball is much faster than you've predicted and while you manage to catch it, the ball drags you across the sand for more than a meter by sheer inertia. Your hands are red and steaming even though you don't really feel it. So, superpowers, huh?

>Give this win to her if she wants it so much
>Bitch, this is ON. Add in some more of your strength and agility
>Other?

>>2910548
>Bitch, this is ON. Add in some more of your strength and agility

But never more than her, she dictates how far we go, but we still try to beat her

>>2910548
>Bitch, this is ON. Add in some more of your strength and agility

We should ask if she wants us to go all out

>>2910548
>>Bitch, this is ON. Add in some more of your strength and agility

>>2910577
>>2910573
these

not all out but a fair warning to her

>>2910548
>Give this win to her if she wants it so much

>>2910573
>>2910577
>>2910588
>>2910590
>>2910637
Writing

>>2910683
The girl's grin slightly decreases as you stand up and spin the ball on your finger. You tell her that you are planning to stop playing games and going to get serious if she doesn't mind. She replies with "Loser buys lunch!". Oh, this is on! You don't plan to go full power because there are too many people around and because you don't want to make that girl lying in a meter deep crater so you will scale up slowly. Following how she scales up. Bitch, you are going to pay... for lunch.

You crack your knuckles and prepare to lob the ball. It is not like you'd get arthritis after that as it is just a myth. The girl catches the ball but the force of the throw makes her do a back flip and awkwardly regain balance. She weights what, like 75 kilos tops? Lightweight by your standards of opponents. Her grin is immediately gone as she regains composure. She was surprised by your throw.

The huntress somehow makes a really acrobatic vertical 360 spin around one of her legs and throws the ball way up into the air. It was somewhat hard to judge but you've managed to just catch it before it fell. How did she fucking do that spin? Anyway, let's continue.

You don't raise your strength too much but the girl seems like she has raised her agility quite a bit. You only manage to overwhelm her if you throw the ball hard enough to slip through her fingers when she is at the far edge of the court. Damn, she is good. You are about at the edge of what would be considered suspicious and the girl is still better than that.

Then you get a knock at the back of your mind: "Uh, Agatha? Sorry for bothering but... this girl, she feels just like you before you lowered your psychic resistance..." Oh fuck. This startles you and you miss a shot which drives itself directly into your face dropping you into the sand back first. You feel your nose hurting a little and something warm is starting to drip from it. Shit. So, that's a cup bearer or...

>Pretend to be injured. Your nose hurts a little
>Just go on but lose
>Just go on and win. Roll 1d20
>Call her out(how?)
>Other?

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>2910851
>>Just go on and win. Roll 1d20
Lets see if the dices wants us to win

>>2910863
Oh wow. Are you SURE? I mean, that would mean we go above suspicious amount of power

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>2910851
>Just go on and win. Roll 1d20
Well that's that I guess

>>2910869
eh. i didn't expect the 20.... hmm.
ok. Changing for
>Pretend to be injured. Your nose hurts a little

>>2910851

>Pretend to be injured. Your nose hurts a little

>>2910882
Nope. The dice gods have told you. We must act.

>>2910869
OP, do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oApAdwuqtn8

>>2910898
>Update
>>2910887
>>2910882
>>2910870
>>2910869
>>2910863
Ok guys. Let's put it to a vote. We can beat her but that will reveal our powers. If she would report or not is unknown, it depends but it will be glorious. Or we could pussy out and use the broken nose as an excuse. Your choice:
>Beat her
>Accept defeat

>>2910903
>Beat her

>>2910903
>Accept defeat

>>2910903
Fine, fuck it. I want that 20 to not go to the trash. Either way, news on the medieval world are slow.

>Beat her

>>2910940
>Either way, news on the medieval world are slow.
This, plus there's the fact they already know about us. So at most this'll just make them think we're a bit stronger than they thought and that is assuming they connect it to us.

>>2910966
>>2910940
>>2910927
>>2910912
Three to beat her, one to accept defeat. Let's do this!

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>>2911020
You stand up and rub your nose. You are bleeding actual red blood, but not much of it and the nose appears to be intact. You assume it is something to prevent your nose from looking indestructible to an outside observer or something but you don't give a shit. Right now you are angry and you are going to win. Whatever the cost.

The girl looks at you somewhat wary as your anger starts to show and you lift up the ball. Then you lob it into her. She catches it but she slides back almost a meter and then looks at you. You make a gesture for her to go ahead. You wanted to play then let's play.

She throws the ball at you and you catch it with your hand and throw it back in. Score! Then another, and then another. The girl is getting faster and faster but you boost yourself in larger "jumps" than she does. You are not sure how the ball manages to hold itself together. This is the sixtieth pass and both of you have trouble tracking the goddamn ball and none of you is winning...

In the end you feel... something. A disturbance in the force... err I mean spacetime. The girl literally disappears in one place of the field and appears in another. You have no idea how she managed to do that but it felt weird. Like if the locations of two spots in space were momentarily connected and then she switched her location through that. She 'blinked'.

The time slows down and you note the ball flying into her hands. Hey, if you cheat then I'll cheat too! The ball starts arcing away from her as you push at it with gravity. It doesn't clear her completely and instead it hits a hairpin shattering it into pieces.

A flicker goes across her body and she changes. Not much but it is noticeable. Her skin color gets a bit darker, her hair changes its shade a bit, she gets that strange half rose half clubs card tattoo on her face and she gets a bit taller. In fact she is now slightly taller than you. The onlookers scatter leaving only Elpis who was very confused and didn't know what to do. You eye the woman who is looking at you in shock. She is Nike'. The ball has landed within the field limits and popped from all the stress. You have just beat the local goddess of war and sport in a volleyball match. By one point. Well, shit.

>"Oh, hi. Uhm... sorry for the hairpin"
>"Using godlike powers to beat mortals in sport? Really?"
>Wait for her response
>Insert your own opinion on how to approach this
>Flee?

>>2911160
Well shit.


>Insert your own opinion on how to approach this

>>2911182
>>"Oh, hi. Uhm... sorry for the hairpin"

Deleted the wrong line

>>2911160
>>"Oh, hi. Uhm... sorry for the hairpin"

>>2911160
>"Using godlike powers to beat mortals in sport? Really?"

>>2911196
>>2911186
>>2911185
>>2911182
Writing

>>2911296
Both of you stand there in silence for a bit like idiots, neither of you is believing what's happening. It is just too awkward so you decide to break the silence by addressing Nike' in English: "Oh, hi. Uhm... sorry for the hairpin". She breathes out a sigh of relief, starts laughing and says "It's ok, I am not even mad. I guess I owe you a lunch now, eh?". You are a bit confused and she says "You must be Agatha, right? Matilda gave me a report mentioning you in a really high regard. Considering your performance, you beat up the invader, didn't you? Yeah, figures."

"Using godlike powers to beat mortals in sport? Really?" you ask raising your eyebrow. She sighs and replies "Well, yeah. I figured that you were much stronger than them considering how half bored you looked. I felt like that too when I was starting. I recognized you and I was curious how strong you really were. Never thought that you'd have nearly identical powers." she says and laughs. "It is kind of boring to be the goddess of victory. You have to win by default. And most opponents don't even put up a fight. Here I could at least work up some sweat".

"So, what now" You ask her and she replies with "Well, you probably had a reason not to visit us for now so I won't tell anyone yet. Just... don't build radio transmitters, ok? Some nasty things home onto them. And maybe let me visit sometimes? It is a bit boring to just sit in Valhalla. And yeah, I've told her how cheesy it sounds..."

>Ask her something
>Accept the lunch invitation
>Pass up on your prize
>Other?

>>2911439
>Introduce Elpis
>Accept the lunch invitation
>Ask her something
"So do you know what happened in the time we went to sleep and right now?"

>>2911454
"Elspeth claims that the people she froze for less time woke up after some kind of nuclear slash volcanic war and rebuilt the civilization until they reached a rough level of world war two tech plus some psychic based weapons. In the end there was a massive psi-WMD exchange which literally redrew the continents and spawned so many monsters that we haven't even dipped into their numbers. Luckily most of them seem to either have a reproductive kill switch or are unsustainable so they have been dying out. No clue what you are saying about space debris, I am not a scientist"

>>2911454
As no one else has voted for an hour I've decided to pause the thread.
_____________________
SGQ will resume once I wake up enough later today. You can still vote, ask questions and discuss.

>>2911454
This

Introduce and accept lunch, we've earned it, and she can visit us whenever she wants

So a goddess uh? She seems nice

During lunch let's exchange stories from "before" hat did she do, how was she podded

>>2911439
>Accept the lunch invitation

also, if she does keep quiet we might have found a training partner, we can go all out against her and she is probably bored enough that she accept training with us

>>2911959
1+

>>2911439
>Introduce Elpis
>Accept the lunch invitation
>Ask her something
Ask about who made the snake people, leves and the like as since it seems someone got kinda unoriginal

Also ask about the dragon and Biomancer we beat but did not kill cuase lol not her real body syndrome.

We should offer a little bit of an explanation why we've decided to hold off on going and meeting or dealing with the pantheon. And how we've decided to go with identifying as an old blood or an outsider for the time being.

Probably should volunteer the fact that we are still relatively new to all this and even mundane activities are something we didn't get much chance to experience before the pod.

And definitely say we would love to have her visit or hang out with her sometimes. Her cup bearer left a good impression too.

>>2912280
my exlanation was that once we are considered a god there is no turning back, and since time is not a problem for us we want to explore and be free from those responsibilities while we can

>>2911439
>accept the invitation
so what would have happened if we held back ? would she have believed we were weaker considering she basically knew we beat the invader

>>2912295
We can always become the god of exploration or something like that.

We might as well ask if she knows where we can find a power source for the pod we found while we're at it.

>>2912393
yeah, but once we are one we will never not be one, that's why I think we are taking our time before we do something like that, live a little and get to know this world

>>2912387
Well, she didn’t know who the invader was. If we held back it would mean that the invader was underpowered and that her muse did basically all the work. We would still be on her radar, however not as a pod person but as a surprisingly good huntress. We might not even know that it was Nike’ if we didn’t beat her.

>>2912414
Ah, of course. But if the need arises, we can always create an alter ego that is the god, so we would never hace to hide. Just like Nike did, but backwards.

>>2912420
" I hope Matilda is alright, she must imagine I'm no normal huntress but she was shaken pretty bad in that fight, it was well above her abilities and she is a very......interesting girl, how is she doing? What did she tell you about the fight?"

>>2911626
Ok guys, sorry for the wait. I'll reply to everyone and prepare the next post. This session will be shorter than usual. I have an exam tomorrow evening and I'd like to be at least somewhat alive on it.

>>2912222
"Ah, yeah, the elves and others. Honestly I have no idea who is at fault here. They were around before the pantheon got established. And there are more of those than you can imagine. There are dwarf people with a mini empire stretching across entire northern part of Cenophila. There are centaurs, spider centaurs, several other types of rarer centaurs, plant people, shroom people, animal people, clockwork people, rock people, gem people, psychic energy people, sentient undead people, animated ceramic doll people, slime people, and not like nano aug, more like giant smart amoeba and so on and so forth. I honestly have quite a few questions to some of their creators since some have... pretty questionable design choices.

And about the Fallen, it is not a pretty story. It used to be a pod person too like you and me, but something malfunctioned and they lost their mind. They have the subspace aug which means that if you kill the physical form it will regenerate out of subspace making it virtually immortal. Elspeth says that she has the power to kill it for good, but she can't bring herself to do it as it was someone she was close to. The creature looks like a huge black dragon and it can fire some kind of nuclear breath which devastates vast areas of land. One of my duties is to be on site when it lands and kill it as soon as possible."

>>2912280
>>2912295
"Oh, so you are Dan's niece. He said that the biggest reason which caused him to work for the project was to make you healthy again. I think he had an argument with Elspeth about some legal stuff and refused to get frozen along with her. She says she couldn't stop as she was already freezing people for over a year in secret and thus if she stopped then she would just get imprisoned and the project would get cancelled. It is nice to hear that he wasn't thrown in jail and managed to succeed in his goal.

Yeah, I can understand your motivations. I won't report you to anyone so you can come to us whenever you're ready. You can take your time. Although I won't be responsible if someone else finds you out and reports you to someone other than me. If you want I could register you as my Muse and then you'd have an alibi for your powers. We have basically the same package after all. Or I could get you one of these illusion trinkets so you could mask as a local. They don't work well if you meet a pod person with psychic powers or good senses though.

Just shoot me up when you decide what you want to do. You can contact me by going to any polis and visiting my oracle. They are always placed in my shrines and if you claim to have information on a labyrinth entrance or on a powerful monster they would let you through without much problem."

>>2912399
"I have no idea if it would fit but back in Valhalla Yaw has managed to get a small dam running to power his projects. There is also Elspeth herself and her lightning but I feel like it might burn out the pod electronics or worse. If you don't want to deal with the rest of the pantheon and if you have the brains for it I would recommend you to find an alternative way to power it. Just don't try to get radio transmitters or nuclear reactors, I was told that they would get too much attention from things we might not be able to easily beat."

>>2912440
"Matilda is alright, she doesn't seem to be affected too much but I gave her a couple weeks off just in case. It was strange that some monster was powerful enough to knock her out but she didn't seem to suspect anything and I had no concrete information to believe that you were anything other than you claimed to be. That level of performance is not unheard of even though it is one in several million rare.

I would recommend you to try to avoid showing off your powers to cup bearers in general though. Every cup bearer has a "backdoor" into their minds by design which only respective deity can access. While I always ask for permission and don't do that without hard pressing need, some of the others regularly check their memories for clues of pods, active pod people or powerful monsters. Unless you can rewrite their memory you would be discovered within a couple months or so."

>>2911160
>attractive brown women
how much is agatha drooling currently ?

>>2912759
>So is Elspeth really as cringe-y as all her myths make her seem? 'cause that's the main reason I haven't already hooked up with you guys. The blatant Athena-expy is a bit of a turn-off, nevermind that her "legends" read like a bad self-insert fic.

>>2912857
Hey man, let's not talk shit about the girl we haven't even met yet, specially to one of her allies

>>2912871
It's asking if she's really that bad. Pretty much saying 'I've got a pretty negative impression based on everything I've heard. How accurate is it?'

>>2912881
The thing is I didn't get that bad impression from her, can we tone it a little neutral at least? Just ask how she really is, and how working with her is like?

>>2912892
In her myths she's about as much of a Mary Sue as Sun Goku, always the hero, always winning, always having just the right power for whatever situation.

>>2912919
Yeah man, she is a god, they tend to be like that, I don't have a bad impression of her because if though I think its a little over the top with the miths she at least protects these peiple and tries to keep them safe in a world that is full of killy things. So she can be a little mary sue for all I care as long as she uses her powers like we do, improving these people living standards and protecting them. Even more now that we understand why they don't have advanced tech since it twnds to attract dangerous things.

Just saying that for me, and that is important, it's just my opinion, the way she protects this place speaks more highly of her than her shit taste for fanfiction speaks badly of her

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>>2912594
After a small chat you decide that it would be a good idea to switch the subject a bit. Oh, hey, you have a lamia friend who needs introduction. Elpis is shocked at your explanation and doesn't know what to say while Nike' politely greets the snake girl. Nike says that it is relatively common to find a self sufficient village or small town of people in the depth of Labyrinth. She knew about the lamia settlement but it was a bit too far and the path was too dangerous to get Cenophilans to trade with them or the nearby dwarven stronghold. In any case, she is invited along for lunch.

Nike' leads you to one of the restaurants near to the coast after she gets a new disguise pin, you change into a chiton and get one for Elpis too. Her current outfit would look indecent otherwise. The restaurant owner didn't want to let her in at first but apparently Nike' talks money and there was no one inside anyway. Too early for clients apparently.

While you wait for food you chat Nike' up about who she was before she got into the pod. She says that she is an ex military and she was wounded during the East European containment effort. She has lost her right arm and a right leg below the knee and that basically closed the career for her. Pension was bad and eventually she managed to meet Elspeth who suggested a spot on her project. Becoming a god and waking up two thousand years later. At this time everyone would be like us or we would be alone with this power. It was almost too good to be true.

When she woke up the world was screwed. While most monsters from the second conflict died out it was still common to see six story tall creatures scouring the land in search of permanent settlements larger than a hut. So she has spent the first decade or so roaming around and killing living mountains until she met Elspeth again. Nike' didn't care about her being a goddess or something, she just feels like she owes Elspeth and the scientist had the plan to rebuild the humanity so Nike' joined her.

Eventually Elspeth has found one of her old friends who sacrificed almost all of the augmentation opportunities to get the most powerful precognition possible and she has been using it to see the futures and navigate around the possible downfalls since. Something she calls "a Golden Thread" as a reference to some Greek myth. The idea of it is to basically not let the locals forget about the pantheon and not to let them get too influenced by it. If the timeline moves too far from that path the nation would crumble and the pantheon would fall like those before it.

>>2912973
Fuck. They have their own Contessa.

>>2912973
The Thread made the pantheon do some pretty heinous things but they literally don't have a better way to solve it. If they go too fast the nation would be targeted by every other nation and monster nearby as well as getting internally destabilized through future shock. If the deities just hop in and do everything themselves it would make people too dependent on them and the progress would cease. If the country expands too fast people would fear the pantheon and that would cost them the ability to steer the people away from self destruction. There are dozens of similar points that have to be followed in anything major that the pantheon does.

This time goddess looks and behaves all cutesy and cinnamon roll- like. Nike' doesn't trust her, but she tolerates her because Elspeth trusts her. She is the only person with precognition in the gang which for you sounds like a huge bottleneck. Other pantheons have precognition members too but they are way less potent and the relations are not really great. Basically deities have a MAD situation where if one gets involved in direct fighting and expansion the others would be able to blast large swathes of countryside into stone age. Thus they have to lead proxy wars through mortals which doesn't sit well with Nike'. She is a goddess of war after all. In any case it has been a status quo for several decades now and the relations are slowly warming up... hopefully. It is hard to tell.

>Talk about writein
>Suggest Nike' to join you in your travels
>Thank her for the chat and continue on your way
>Other?

>>2912986
Can we ask Nike what she thinks the Pantheon's reaction would be to our existence?

If she thinks Elspeth is sane and on the up-and-up, I'm fine with the Pantheon knowing about us so long as they respect our privacy. We're not trying to conquer a nation, after all, just build a home.

>>2912986
It's good that you give the humans the means to advance themselves but why are there other countries? the two bordering us for exemple? can't their gods be reasoned with?

>Suggest Nike' to join you in your travels
she is bored right? we are just taking a strol, would she like to tag along?

>>2912986
>Suggest Nike' to join you in your travels

>>2912994
"Well, let's see here. Elspeth will probably try to recruit you into some position in the pantheon and then write you into the myths so that you are consistent with the rest of the pantheon. You can basically chose whatever aspects are not already occupied. She does respect your unwillingness to join right now but you can expect periodic visits from her or her cups to see how you are doing. Also I am not sure if she won't start immediately preparing for you to join her. Last time she has started making myths of the new deity before the guy officially joined up. She can probably wait a couple decades unless some major crisis happens. The biggest issue is... well... Marco. You would get on his radar and you probably already know about his misadventures. He is not malevolent, he is just... annoying. Also maybe Val since she can be a bitch to newbies sometimes. And Sam too. Others don't really care as much."

>>2912997
"Other nations have other pantheons. Some are reasonable, others are not so much. For example the structure of Valistrat pantheon reminds me of school bully group with alphas, betas, gammas and so on. Their leader is the chaddest guy I have ever seen in the worst meaning of the word. In any case we have limits on progressor activities due to inter- pantheon agreements and treaties. Holies managed to squeeze out slightly more due to being at a disadvantage due to their limited territory and population. They now have mid- middle age tech and political structure and they keep it to themselves."

>>2912994
>>2912997
>>2913019
Writing

>>2913046
Well now I want to go and dunk on the Valistrat.
>>2913042
This is good info, though. I'm fine with Marco stopping by, as long as he doesn't fuck things up for us, and Elspeth stopping by now and then is okay as long as she's not too pushy about it. The myths thing...

Yeah, I'm in no hurry, but a lot can change in a couple of decades. We're powerful enough to go toe to toe with Major Gods here, that's got some serious geopolitical ramifications. News about us will get out, eventually, and I'm leaning towards it happening on our terms, rather than otherwise. The 20-ish years Elspeth will give us to wander around with won't actually stop us from adventuring, after all.

>>2913088
Well, her cup-bearers, but the point remains.

>>2913046
this Valistrat seems like a possible future enemy, we won't worry about these other countries for now but I don't like that one bit

>>2913101
If we keep causing a ruckus like we have been, we'll probably need to deal with them at some point. And as I'm not 100% into the whole 'Brute Force tech-level until we can get into space' thing, we'll probably need the safety net of the local pantheon anyways.

>>2913112
>And as I'm not 100% into the whole 'Brute Force tech-level until we can get into space' thing, we'll probably need the safety net of the local pantheon anyways.
To be fair, for that plan to work we'd need their support so we can safely construct facilities and source materials that our current lands lack. If nothing else we would want their support so they don't attempt to sabotage our efforts.


Clearly though this just proves we should spend more time clearing out monsters. As we now know for a fact that their numbers and variety have been decreasing since their initial creation in the second societal reset, we can greatly improve the world by speeding the process along at least locally.

>>2913162
Should we put letting Nike report us to Elspeth (with some conditions) to a vote, then?

>>2913233
Maybe.

>>2913233
>>2913286

I would vote against it for now, simply to not have their attention, but hey, I could be convinced if we could turn Haven and Sig into our cup-bearers, if they'd like of course

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>>2913086
The food arrives in the middle of the discussion and oh boy it looks good. You decided to get yourself some crawfish soup the restaurant was famous for while Elpis decided to go for some spicy steak. Nike' decided to get herself some fish filet. The smell of the soup was amazing. You have almost managed to get used to the local food which was bland and seasoned only with salt but this is actually comparable to modern food. This meal was seasoned with spices imported from Ethea. Apparently Etheans are some kind of future Phoenicians. A state focused on trade and production of goods which are considered luxury in other countries like spices and high quality fabrics.

It was interesting to see how Elpis ate her steak. It looks like she is a bit more snake in her upper body than you've thought. Her tongue is split and she prefers swallowing pieces without chewing them. Luckily she wasn't trying to fit the entire steak into her whole and she actually used kitchen utensils. Looks like you shouldn't have worried about that. She seems to be enjoying it and that's all what is important.

Once you were done with your meal you offered Nike' a proposal to join you in your travels. She agrees almost immediately. Apparently nothing serious has happened since that dragon attack so she has way too much free time on her hands until the next week. She says that she'll accompany you to your home and then she will probably teleport back to her base. She claims that she is capable of making some kind of a beacon that only she can see which allows her to "recall" herself to it. She says that it is relatively hard to pull off even for her and she's been doing this kind of stuff for decades. She recommends you to test in remote areas because a fuckup during the creation of that beacon is explosive.

Now that you have finished the meal you have a few more places to visit and things to do, right?

>Market. You have some money left from the wine
>Docks. Let's see what's new there
>Nah, you're good. Let's get some souvenirs for Elpis and get her home
>Other?

>>2913303
>Market. You have some money left from the wine


>that split tongue....
hmmgh

>>2913303
>Market. You have some money left from the wine
>Ask Nike if she's ever gone deep-sea swimming. Usually some monsters in the ocean looking to nom a mechant ship or two can make for a fun afternoon, and give her an excuse to go sunbathing on slow days.

>>2913303
>Market. You have some money left from the wine

>>2913323
This.

>>2913323
She replies that she has been doing some diving and sea monster hunting. Unfortunately she has already cleared out anything that ship based siege weapons can't deal with in the gulf and it gets pretty old after an N'th time of exploring the ocean floor and dodging the living mine spikes. She does it periodically but it is no longer even close to a challenge. More like a relaxing swim.

>>2913376
What's even the deal with the living ocean spikes? Did someone just decide to be really fucking edgy about their anti-submarine shit one day, or is there an actual story to it?

>>2913323
If you want to suggest her to tag along for a swim I recommend you to at least drop off the snake first. She can't keep up with you and I feel like we are ignoring her in favor of Nike'.

>>2913383
Actually yeah this is a fair point. Those things are god dammed horrifying. Why hasn't every pantheon came together to wipe them out?

>>2913383
Like many monsters it is some weird weapon leftover from the second conflict. Probably biological deterrent preventing recovery of sunk assets. Nike' has no idea where they came from. They just pop up in old shipwrecks in submerged human corpses.

>>2913392
That suggests some sort of parasitic or viral agent. We should test the sea water once we get the facilities, perhaps a targeted viral agent or poison can be made.

>>2913318
>>2913323
>>2913348
>>2913373
Writing

I was thinking now, that 1 gor Nike sempai to notice us probably, so a 20 would get us what? Sig in a bathing suit realizing she has deep feelings for us while watching us play? kek

>>2913478
Well, she did say she had a sister somewhere in this region. Well, a bit further south-west along the coast but still. Two nordic girls is always better than one, right?

>>2913508
Now we are talking!

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>>2913431
You decide that it might be the time to finally check out the market. This is a sea trading town and thus it should have some rare goods from faraway lands. You won't look into the goods which you can't fit in your bag as you'll have to go through the Labyrinth. You can buy as much salt or iron as you'll want once you are back on mainland.

It seems that a large amount of the market consists of various gear and equipment necessary to restock naval ships as well as luxury items that sailors would be interested in. Aka good food, booze and so on. The other part of the market is more fit for traders and wealthy locals. There are quite a few items which come from outside of Cenophila.

Ethean wares include a variety of different spices and herbs. Some of them are relatively cheap while others are really expensive. On the expensive side of things they have... COFFEE! Roasted coffee beans seem to be sold as some kind of expensive food additive. Locals seem to prefer Ethean tea to coffee as sugar is not widely available and acquired primarily by nobility.

They also appear to grow cotton in large quantities as cotton fabric is relatively cheap. Quality suggests that they might utilize some form of advanced loom to process the material. They also sell some kind of silk fabric which is told to be produced by giant spiders living in crevasses between Holy Nation and Ethea. While it is not the modern synthetic spider silk used in bullet resistant vests that you are familiar with it is still light, durable and comfy. The cost bites quite a bit though.

The items from Holy Nation are relatively rare. There is a thing which catches your eye. A shortsword made out of damascened steel. It has a similar size to your aluminum bronze sword but steel is much better than bronze. The cost though... Maybe it would be easier to make yourself some when you get the iron going?

There are also some goods which catch your eye. There is some jewelry made out of pearls the size of a quarter coin which glow in soft aquamarine. It is said that they were bought from the people who live in the sea and they claim that the pearls were recovered from some horrifying trapping creature which uses pearls as bait. Sort of like underwater mimic mollusk. That sounds fucking horrifying.

The rest of goods are a variety of jewels and trinkets. Some unusually large gems, some jewels made out of ember-plastic, some silver and golden rings, earrings, bracelets and so on. There is one interesting rock, a purple smooth sphere the size of your fist. Elpis stops and looks deep into it and then says that it is something like a lens. She can focus her power through it. The trader starts spewing some stuff about how it can do a billion other things most of which sounds like bullshit. The object is a bit pricy...

>>2913652
You have 3 money points. You know the drill
>Spices(1 point) an assortment of exotic processed spices and herbs. This won't be enough for the whole village but that should improve your private cooking for the next couple months
>Coffee(1 point) A kilogram of roasted coffee beans. The fuel of the modern world
>Ethean tea(1 point) A bag full of leaves used in preparation of tea. Nice
>Brown sugar(1 point) Half a kilo of the sweet goodies. Is rumored to be purchased from an unknown third party by Etheans and then resold
>Ethean cotton fabric(1 point) A couple of rolls of the fancy and soft cotton
>Spider silk fabric(2 points) A roll of light, durable and rare giant spider silk
>Damascus steel shortsword(2 points) An expensive sword with a fancy engraved handle and complicated blade production process. Superior to most local weapons in material qualities and it just looks cool.
>Psi focus crystal(3 points) A large smooth ball which is capable of helping empaths in focusing their mental powers
>Jewelry(1 point/assorted) Various examples of relatively expensive jewelry. Pick what you like
>Lamia souvenirs(1 point) Get some stuff that Elpis keeps eyeing. Maybe throw in some clothes in the mix? You can writein if you want something specific
>Other? Want to look for something else?

>>2913660
>psi crysal but haggle it down if possible

>>2913660
>>Psi focus crystal(3 points) A large smooth ball which is capable of helping empaths in focusing their mental powers

and make him throw a nice necklace in too so we can give to Haven later


ask Nike to lend us some money and explain that we will be paid back in the mainland city for clearing the tunnel and we pay her back there. if she lends us the money we

>Lamia souvenirs(1 point) Get some stuff that Elpis keeps eyeing. Maybe throw in some clothes in the mix? You can writein if you want something specific
and
>Coffee(1 point) A kilogram of roasted coffee beans. The fuel of the modern world

>>2913660
>Lamia souvenirs(1 point) Get some stuff that Elpis keeps eyeing. Maybe throw in some clothes in the mix? You can writein if you want something specific
>Spices(1 point) an assortment of exotic processed spices and herbs. This won't be enough for the whole village but that should improve your private cooking for the next couple months
>Brown sugar(1 point) Half a kilo of the sweet goodies. Is rumored to be purchased from an unknown third party by Etheans and then resold

>>2913695
This, if she can't lend us the money we just buy something for the elf, the Lamia trinkets and the sugar instead of coffee, it will go better with any visitors we entertain

>>2913666
You know what? I'll allow to roll for it. Gimme your 1d20s guys!

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>2913721
"it's just a piece of glass, I'm only interested because the snek want's it, how can you say it has any power, are you a psychic by any chance?"

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>2913721

Rolled 2 (1d20)

aaaaa, guys? aren't you rolling?

>>2913721
Oh yeah, and the next post would be the last for today. Don't want to start underground stuff when I have an hour remanining. You have 15 minutes to vote/roll.

>>2913781
>>2913758
>>2913723
Ok, writing

>>2913834
are we asking Nike for some change to pay her back at the other city too? in case we fail the haggle

>>2913834
You try to haggle for the focus orb. Your arguments is that the guy is bullshitting and that it is just a piece of glass. However you've underestimated the man. He manages to get into such a long tirade of how this thing was recovered by brave Ethean explorers off the death island from some asshole monster which took over half the away team and made them fight the other half until it was killed. After almost half an hour of this bullshit he doesn't want to bulge down by even a single coin. Sigh...

You still have to buy the orb though. It is a really useful item. Maybe you can't use it but your snek friend sure knows how. And now you are out of money. Not completely but it would not be enough to buy anything big. You ask Nike' if she can lend you some until you get paid for that quest. She sighs and says she only has so much she can currently lend you. This is still enough for one thing. To accessorize Elpis.

You get her a few of the trinkets she has been eyeing for a while, a small iron knife and a new white dress. Both you and Nike think it fits her. Since she will be leaving your party it is probably for the best if you buy some stuff for her. She is smiling wide which is adorable. She is like a child in a chocolate factory. Shame that she won't come to adventure with you. Well, it is not like she will stay alone forever, you will still visit her sometime in the future. But for now you think you've done all you could to make her first visit to the surface nice.

After the shopping the three of you decide to get prepared for the trip into the Labyrinth. You want to get Elpis back home and check out that huge cavern you've heard about. Probably visit the dwarves too, they are supposed to be pretty good with metals, gems and architecture. In any case you need an hour or so to get back into your armor and to check everything. It was a good day.

___________________________________________________
Ok guys, we have officially finished this thread of SGQ. Next week's thread is cancelled due to the flight, as well as probably the week or two after that due to return exams. I will post a message on Twitter and Discord when I manage to stabilize my schedule. I apologize for that upcoming hiatus. However, it applies only to the actual threads. I will still be here if you have any questions or suggestions.

>>2913975
can I get your discord to keep track of when you will run?

thanks for running

>>2913996
You can find me on Quest General discord as Hivemind-Chan. I'm the guy with SS13 roboticist artwork as profile pic.

The link from QTG is here: https://discord.gg/ZgBR5gy

I could make a separate SGQ channel if enough people want it.

>>2914037
...nah. Discords tend to get really cancerous and tend to break up the people into clans.

>>2914037

Just sent you a message, thanks

>>2913975
Hello guys. I have successfully arrived back in Moscow. As a reminder, I won't be running on the next Saturday for the reasons of university documents and catching up. The quest might be suspended for up to 4 weeks in total depending on how terrible it goes.

I'm archiving the thread now. You can contact me via twitter or discord. See you guys next time and I hope for your patience.

>>2934523
>>2934523
good luck with college stuff, see you next thread

>>2934523
The thread is archived