>>3257481
Aleks comes to in the early morning light, a pounding headache and sore muscles accompanying him. He squints his eyes, trying to block out the blinding light. Slowly his other senses come back to him, he can hear someone singing softly. Its nice, a soft tone to temper the harsh night he’s had. From his groggy memory, it sounds like the Ballad of the Lone Woman, a tale about a woman searching for her lost love in the Peak Mountains.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYEWEn0INuU

He listens for a while, content. As he attempts to sit up, searing pain races through his entire abdomen and an involuntary groan escapes his mouth.

Instantly, the singing stops and Sophia rushes over. Concern clearly written on her face. “Alek! Are you ok? You’ve been dead to the world since you stumbled into camp. I’ve been trying to force water down your throat but nothing would pass your lips.”

“Its ok Daughter Delport.” Alek said, gazing into her eyes “I am fine, just a little tired from it all.”

“Well,” she says, searching Aleks face for clues to what happened “if you say so Alek.” She points at a small handful of white berries sitting on a stump “I found some of these ivory berries over there. I remember my mother picking them when I was a young child so they should be safe to consume. I’ve had a few handfuls myself with no ill effects.”

Alek fell upon the berries like a wild beast. He was starving and it felt like it had been years since his last feed.

While he smushed the berries down his gullet, Sophia asked if he still had the Fish Hook. He nodded in the affirmative and gave it to her.

As she fished, Alek took stock of the situation and, more importantly, the sack of gold that he’d stolen. 1. 2. 3. 4...they’d barely survived that cannibal encounter and even worse, Alek was thinking in terms of travelling with a partner. This hadn’t happened before. He was used to moving solo and he like it that way dammit! He needed to offload her at the soonest possible time in the capital.

“Alek,” she called from the river “I’ve got some things to ask you.”

“Like what?”

“Well, firstly.” She’d quickly caught a sizeable trout which she’d killed by smashing its head in with a rock. She pulled out a small knife and gutted it before sticking a sharpened stick up down its throat and onto the fire. “Firstly, your...Imp. Whats that about?”

Alek looks at her.

Should he tell her about his Imp?

>Yes. She deserves to know what she’s travelling with
>No. Thats sacred Witch Hunter business and besides, Witch Hunters already face enough prejudice.
>Other

>>3257482
>Yes. She deserves to know what she’s traveling with

Don't hold anything back. Lay it on real thick so she knows EXACTLY what's going on.

>>3257482
>>Yes. She deserves to know what she’s traveling with.

>>3257482
>>Yes. She deserves to know what she’s travelling with
Also, cuddle. We are seriously in need of one.

>>3257482

>Yes. She deserves to know what she’s travelling with

Sigh, she deserves to know, we gave oursekves in order to try to fight evil.

>>3257520
This, maybe groan in pain and ask for a helping hand.

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>Yes

“Before I answer, what have you heard about Witch Hunters? What tales have been told about us in the taverns, in the temples and houses?”

Sophia roasts the trouts, slowly rotating it around the fire before, hesitating before answering. “Well, from what our Abbot has told us, and from what I’ve heard, is that Witch Hunters are humans who have made a pact with the devil, I’m not totally sure what you get out of it, but you have to give them your soul. I’ve also heard that you make potions and spells from the bodies and souls of other humans. I once heard a story of a Witch Hunter who got into a fight at a tavern, killed every person in there. Even the barmaid! Used their eyes in a sort of strength potion.”

“You must’ve been in desperate need when I offered you a way out then? If thats what you’ve heard of us.” Alek snorted “you can’t even make invisibility potions out of eyes.”

“The Abbot was bad, but the Mother was somehow even worse. I heard she once blinded a Daughter for speaking back to her.”

Alek made a non-committal sound. “Well, to start. Witch Hunters do indeed make a pact with a devil not the devil. Big difference. We typically choose a demon who has very little influence in the Below because they’re easier to make deals with and give Witch Hunters extra time on the mortal plane. My Imp gave me till the last day of summer in my 35th year before he could claim my soul. In return, I can summon him from Below whenever I need him, he gives me information on targets, and he can *ahem*,” Alek coughs and looks away, almost ashamed “he can possess my body for a short period of time.”

“He can possess you?” Daughter Delport makes a small Sign Against Evil, probably out of muscle memory than anything else.

“Sort of. He inhabits my body but I still control my actions.”

“What about potions made from bodies?”

“Again. Sort of true. We don’t murder folk for their skin or eyes or teeth. Most are given freely in exchange for hunting monsters. After all, not every farmer has a sack of gold just lying around and we do need to make our potions to fight monsters, so we figure its an even trade.”

>>3258212
“So wait,” Sophia holds up her hands “You’re saying that Witch Hunters sacrifice their very souls to fight monsters and evil around the world, you don’t get human...materials from unwilling participants and you have a demon that can take over your body?”

“Correct.”

“It seems like a very noble thing to do. To become a Witch Hunter I mean. Why do people hate you so?”

“A few reasons really. Mainly, its the rumours. We often kill popular people with dark sides is another. My mentor once told me he murdered an advisor to some Lord because the advisor was poisoning the wells around that town, anonymously of course. Very well liked man apparently, put some of his own money towards the High Church temple when the people got sick. Wanted to be known as the Good Man of the Mountains apparently. My mentor said that over three dozen people died just for some narcissistic tendencies and he was run out of town for his troubles. Didn’t even get paid.”

Alek sits back, leaning against a tree, a moan escaping from his lips. He knew there was a reason he almost never let that damn Imp take control of his body. Sophia moved over towards him and put a hand on his forehead, commenting that he was burning up.

“But I’m freezing.”

“We’ve got to get you some help. Can you walk?”

Alek nodded and they began their trek, walking in silence.

“So why don’t you just kill yourself?” Sophia asked after a few minutes.

“Huh?”

“Why don’t you just kill yourself before that last day of summer?”

“Build into the contract. Couldn’t kill myself or deliberately get myself killed or he’ll get my soul anyways. Best I can hope for is to be killed by a more skilled opponent.” Alek groans. “Can we stop here? I know its only been a few minutes but I’ll need my rest.”

Stopping, Sophia puts her hand to his head. “At least you’re not burning up anymore.”

“Its a side effect of being possessed. A human body isn’t supposed to be pushed that far. It needs time to recover. I’ll be fine. Just need a minute to compose myself.” Sitting on the ground, Alek asks “So what was your second question?”

“Well, um,” Sophia looks unsure of herself “I was wondering if you’d train me.” Alek opens his mouth to immediately deny her and she interrupts “not for ever! Just until we’re out of this Maker forgotten forest. It’ll be a good way to pass the time and it could come in useful.”

>Deny. Shes a liability as it is. She could get herself killed.
>Ok fine. Only until we reach the capital.
>Other

>>3258217
>>Ok fine. Only until we reach the capital
The use of weapons, no magick, potion brewing, spell casting, or daemon summoning.

>>3258217
>Other: I'll try, but if you don't have any talent I can't help you.

>>3258217
>Ok fine. Only until we reach the capital.

>>3258229
This.

>>3258217

>Ok fine. Only until we reach the capital.

>>3258217
>>Ok fine. Only until we reach the capital.

>>3258229
+1

>>3258229
No magik, spell casting, or daemon summoning.
Shes pretty decent at potion brewing, probably surpassing Alek.
Writin'
[Spoiler] Ill just discard this timeline and plot device [/spoiler]

>>3258535
do not discard it, I want her competent if she is traveling with us

>>3258535
Can she teach us some potion brewing if she is better than us?

We can get into magic if she sticks around after we arrive, but i wouldn't like her to sell her soul

>>3258557
Supporting. We're damned already but she doesn't need to be as well.

>Ok. With conditions
>No daemon summoning or potion making. If anons want it later down the track, we’ll begin on those things.

“You want to learn from me?” Alek says “I’m okay again. Lets continue our walk.”

“Yeah.” Sophia says “not for ever though. Just until Novodonsk.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure.”

“C’mon. How about this. Just sword fighting?”

“ Just sword fighting? Do you know how many years it takes to master the blade? While you were studying scripture, I practised the blade. While you were praying, I practised the blade. While you copied the Holy Texts, I practised the blade.”

“Ok maybe later then.”

Silence as they walked.

“I’ll teach you knife tricks, some bestiary things and self defence. No magiks. No potions. No daemon summonings.”

Sophia gave a little squeal and hugged Alek. “Oh blessed be! Thank you so much Alek! When can we start? Do I get a little sword? Should I have a pen and paper to note down what you talk about?”

“Sure. A sword. Hold on.” Alek was finally back to his old self, feeling much fitter and better. The weariness that comes from a possession had finally worn off. He left the path and jogged into the wilderness. He returned a moment later, wielding two large sticks he’d broken off a tree, chucking one to Sophia while chuckling. “Heres your sword Sophia. En gard!”

Choose a stance
Witch Hunter
Daemonic Possession: For three rounds lower the attack DC by 15 and increase base damage by 5. After 3 rounds, you revert back to human form and are massively exhausted. Increase your defence DC by 25 till the end of the battle.

Life essence: Steal 1D8 health from the target. Increase the attack DC +10 for 2 rounds.

Blood Pact: Sacrifice 10 points of health and deal an additional 5 points of damage for 3 rounds.

Pistolier: Deals 12 damage. No need for attack rolls. Single target only.

No Stance: Normal attack.

Alek Siminov: 25/25 Health
Silver Sword- 8 Damage Not in use.
Leather armour - 4 damage negated Not in use.

Sophia Delport
Large wooden stick
Skill set:
None
None
None

>>3258634
No Stance: Normal attack.
I mean seriously what else would we use?

File: The Continent.jpg (917 KB, 1024x768)

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Also, heres a map I drew up today. It contains most of the major settlements around the continent (but not all).

>>3258634
>No Stance
Not just yet.

>>3258634
no stance, tell her to come at us and demonstrate some defense techniques and correct her posture and swings, focus on teaching proper form

Gimme a 1D100 for attack

No stance

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>3258644

do not hurt the gal yet, if we are going to hit, just tap her

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>3258644

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>3258644
Keep on the defensive

>>3258644
DC: 30

>>3258649
>>3258648
>>3258647
It seems we are a hell of a good teacher

>>3258650
Gimme a 1D100 for defence
DC: 30

>>3258647
This is how Alek was trained by his mentor. It will not be an easy process. Weed out the weak.

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3258652

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>3258652

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>3258652

>>3258634
>Choose a stance
>Anons choose Pistolier
That would be a one in a lifetime lesson.

>>3258653
>>3258655
>>3258659
Good teacher again

Hope she isntaking notes.

>>3258661
For some reason we can't use it against humans.

>>3258661
kek
>>3258670
Where'd you get that from? Alek shot the Abbot.
If you're talking about the cannibals, its because all your stuff was taken from you.

>>3258672
Never mind, I misread "Not on person" and my brain was short-circuiting at the time.

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>No stance

“En garde!” Alek shouts, puts his hand behind his back and assumes the position of a classic fencer. Sophia isn’t sure what to do she she holds the stick in front of her and tries to mimic Alek. “Keep your knees bent. Sword hand elbow bent as well. Other hand is keeping your balance. Spread your feet out. Good girl. Ready? Here I come.”

Alek lunges, feinting with a right swing before swiping left and down, giving Sophia a bonk on the head. “Ow!” she cries “That hurt!”

“You’ve just been killed. Don’t react blindly. Look at my feet. Look at my arms. Look at my body position. My feet are close together, it means I’m readying for a lunge! My arm is close to my chest, I can extend it! What will you do?”

“Defend?”

“Is that a question or an answer?”

“Answer.”

“Good. Defend yourself. As I strike, look to my elbow. The sword is travelling too fast to see it. Ready? Again!”

Alek pounces, extending his arm straight, poking Sophia in the chest with a hollow sound.

“Dead again Sophia! Listen to what I’m saying…”

The lessons continued on into the day, only stopping for a quick fish lunch with some white berries again.

“We will begin again tomorrow. The pace will slow in the forest now that we’re training but if you wish to learn, you will learn.”

1/2

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>>3258685
>Good girl

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>>3258685
As night falls, Alek starts up another fire while Sophia fishes. The night is free from any threatening clouds and the wind is only slightly there, blowing a warm breeze through the forest. A perfect night, Alek thinks as he drinks his water and idly picks at the white berries that flourished in this part of the forest.

Sophia comes back with a singular barbel fish and starts to prepare it.

“Hold on.” Alek stops her. “I’ll prepare the fish. You listen. I’m going to talk tonight about cannibals.”

He holds the knife firmly and at a 45 degree angle, stabbiing into the fish and slicing all the way up to its gills. “Cannibals are a virus that has plagued the continent of Isalica for hundreds of years. Perhaps thousands. Cannibal groups are typically found in forests like this but can sprout up in times of dire need in cities and towns, most often when famine abounds.” Slicing off the head, he throws it back into the river, giving back to nature. “A cannibal group out in the Wilds or any other kind of harsh environment are typically a family of some kind and typically incestuous, led by one leader who directs where the group camps and hunts.” Alek removes the guts, the lungs and the hearts and throws them back into the river. “Cannibals are driven by their desire to feed. We Hunters aren’t entirely sure of why cannibals have the need to feed upon human flesh but once humans have been tasted, it triggers something primordial. Human flesh is something of a delicacy to them. They can hunt rabbits, fish, deer and what have you. But the desire to have humans for dinner is overwhelming and it takes a particularly strong personality to suppress it.” Alek removes the spinal column and starts picking at the tiny little fish ribs “Cannibals are primarily human like in appearance except for a few things that often take a little bit of investigation. Firstly, and most obviously, are their eyes.” He winces. “I take full blame to what happened the other night. I wasn’t on guard. Their eyes are bloodshot and the iris themselves has a red tinge around them. Secondly, their fingernails. Cannibals have blackish growth under their fingernails, almost like a fungal growth but when we’ve inspected their corpses after a battle, it quickly fades back into the body. My mentor used to tell me that it was the black actions of their soul bubbling to the surface. I’m not entirely sure what to think. Ah! There we go!” As the last rib had been plucked, Alek put a wooden skewer through it. “Finally, a cannibals gums. Admittedly, this is the hardest to detect but its a symptom. A cannibals gums are rotting, no matter how much they clean them. Red raw and often bleeding, these gums smell like a damp meat that has been left out in the sun for too long.”

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Alek puts the fish on the fire and slowly rotates it. “We’ve probably got enough time for another bestiary entry tonight. What do you want to learn about?”

>Vampires
>Ghouls
>Viannvol
>Klumking
>Krampus

>>3258732
>Viannvol

Lets gobwith the one I don't know what it is too.

>>3258732
>Viannvol

>>3258732
>Ghouls
*snore*

>>3258732
>>Viannvol

>>3258732
>Vianvoll
Haven't heard this.

>>3258732
>Viannvol

compliment Sophia on the effort of the training, and take care of her bruises as retribution for when she took care of us

>>3258732
>Viannvol

>>3258765
Yeah, that too.

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Sophia thinks for a second. “How about the Viannvol?”

“Ahh yes. That is an interesting one. Well, firstly, they are beast like, so if you see one you’re gonna know about it. Not like those pesky dopples or cannibals or vampires!” Alek laughs. He sits back against a tree, digesting his meal.

“Visually, the Viannvol is...odd. It has a large rat tail, pink and wet, connected to a grey body comprised of matted fur. It stands about four feet high and, without its tail, its about six feet long. It has four legs which end in talons as long as your little finger which hold a paralyzing poison that can be injected within seconds and can stop a full grown man from moving for thirty seconds, children up to an hour. Depends on how fat you are really. The face is almost dog like, if dogs were an eldritch horror hell bent on destroying the world. The skin has been wrapped around the skull, bulging the eyes till they’re almost popping out. The teeth have been elongated and are regularly sharpened on rocks till they eventually break and become jagged.”

“I get how you’d fight cannibals,” Sophia says “just like any other human. How would you fight a Viannvol?”

“I’m getting to that.” Alek says, looking at her. It suddenly hit him that, whilst he had been dealing with monsters for thirty years, this was all new to Sophia. The worst she’d probably seen would be the aftermath of an attack or tales. He internally shrugged. Either she was strong enough to deal with it or she wasn’t. “A Viannvol is a pack hunter, usually in groups of three but apparently in the steppes, they hunt in the dozens. Their prey is usually small rodents like rats, rabbits and voles but occasionally they hunger for something different. Humans. Their small stature allows them to creep through human settlements and find their favourite prey which is children. The younger and smaller the better. By poisoning the child, they can often make it back to their den and consume them there before the family is aware.”

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“So there is a way to fight back against them.”

“Theres always a way to fight back against monsters Sophia. It’s simply knowing how.” Alek got up, stretched and walked to his sleeping area “I’m off to sleep. You did well today Sophia. I’ll try and find some herbs tomorrow to help with the bruising.”

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Early morning, the sun shone through the closely knit trees. Looking directly up, it was going to be another beautiful day.

Sophia was already up. She threw him his stick. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

It was lunch time when they finished and started their walk, still following the mossy path through the forest.

While the morning had started out pleasant enough, clouds had formed overhead and drizzle had started.

“We’ve gotta find a way out of this before it turns into a full blown storm.” Alek said, more to himself than to Sophia. “I think I can see a hut ahead.”

In the distance, they could hear a crack of lightning, so they hurried to the lone hut standing by the side of the road, Alek giving it a bang and then yelling “hello? Anyone in there? We’re two weary travellers who seek shelter from the incoming storm!”

An old womans voice called from within “Enter young one! I’d be a cruel mistress if I let you suffer out in the cold!”

>Enter! Get out of the storm!
>Leave! A lone woman? Living in the Wilds? Clearly a witch
>Other

>>3258818
>Enter! Get out of the storm!
Sure, this can't go wrong

>>3258818

>enter
bluntly ask what kind of witch she is, to be alone in the middle of the woods

>>3258824
+1 cover head so we not get knock out

>>3258818
>Call charles

See if she sees him and if she reacts.

She is clearly a witch, so act accordinly, don't accept food or water but accept the shelter, do not let our guard down like we did with the cannibals, if she doesn't try anything, we won't bother her.

Maybe make this a class for Sophia, try to see any indication that she could be a witch inside the hut and tell Sophia about it

>>3258818
>Leave! A lone woman? Living in the Wilds? Clearly a witch
Another fucking trap

>>3258832
this works too

>>3258833
Well yeah 100% it's a trap. Why not jump right into it?

>>3258818
>Leave! A lone woman? Living in the Wilds? Clearly a witch

>>3258832
Supporting

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>Enter. Get out of the storm

Alek didn’t need to be told twice to come in! He opened the door, ushered Sophia in and walked in.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark. It is a moderately sized hut, about fifteen yards long and another room joining off to the left hand side, presumably the bedroom.

“I’ll be with you in a moment, Dearies!” an old womans voice calls from the bedroom “I’m just putting on my face! I don’t get many visitors these days.”

Alek turns to Sophia, whispering “Now, I don’t want you to be afraid. This woman is most likely a hermit, a doppel or anything and everything inbetween. Judge her actions, look for clues within to see if shes evil. Don’t act unless I tell you to.”

“Evil?” The old woman announces, walking out of her bedroom “Don’t be silly sir! I am but an old woods witch, living out my life here in seclusion. My name is Mary.”

“I’ve known evil in many forms ma’am, even woods witches.” Alek turns to her, startled that she could hear his whispering “My name is Alek and my companion is Daughter Sophia Delport.”

“Ah, one from the High Church. I do hope that you find this abode to your liking.”

“It will suffice madam. I hope you do not take offence to our paranoia, we’ve had...a rough few days.”

“Nonsense. If I took offence to every person who wandered through here, why, I’d never have any company!

Outside, it began to hail and thunder, great chunks of ice as big as your feet crashed down, tearing chunks out of trees and hammering the ground.

“Looks like you got out of the storm just in time!” Mary laughed “come and have some dinner with me! Its just a nice leek soup with some potatoes and onions but it gets the job done on a day like today.”

Alek and Sophia were given two wooden bowls filled to the brim with a hot, red soup. It smelt delicious. “You’ve added paprika to this.” Alek noticed.

“Oh a fellow food critic! Yes, I rarely get any travellers who are willing to trade it but when I do! Oohhh! I can’t get enough of the stuff.”

>Eat the soup
>Make an excuse
>other

>>3259857
>>other
Have Sophia try it first while making small talk (how'd she end up here etc.)

>>3259857
>Eat the soup

>>3259857
>Make an excuse
It's a trap silly

>>3259857
>Make an excuse

We ate already, we are a witch hunter, we need little sustenance for now.

>>3259880
Lets do this
And keep thr hag talking a out foods and random things

>>3259883
I'll change to
>Make an excuse

Don't want to use poor Sophie as a guinea pig for witch soup.

>>3259857
>Make an excuse

>Make an excuse

“Thank you Mary,” Alek said “but I do not need to each much. My physiology is a bit different to humans. I’ve already eaten today.”

“Oh. Vampire?”

“Witch Hunter.”

“Oh deary. I’m so sorry. I will pray for you.”

Sophia slurps hers up, giving a nod of approval. “Its delicious. Thank you.”

Mary nods, giving a smile “thank you darling. If you don’t mind then Alek, I might have your soup.” She takes his soup and adds it to her bowl, slurping it down and giving a satisfied “ahh.” she puts it down and looks Alek and Sophia in the eyes. “I’m actually a little bit happy that you two are here to be honest. I have a little problem that I hope you can both help me with.”

Not poisoned, thinks Alek. “What kind of problem?”

“Well,” she laughs lightly “this may sound silly but all my pots and pans have gone missing.”

>Sure. We’ll help you (it might look nice in front of Sophia as well)
>Sorry, we’re on a tight schedule.
>Other

>>3260131

>Sure. We’ll help you (it might look nice in front of Sophia as well)

Not for free tho, as a witch she might have some nice alchemy ingredients

>>3260131

>Sure. We’ll help you (it might look nice in front of Sophia as well)

>>3260131

>Sure. We’ll help you (it might look nice in front of Sophia as well)

“Oh. I’m not sure.” Alek said, enviously looking at the soup now. His stomach grumbled.

“Alek!” Sophia said, aghast. “Sorry Mary. He’s not used to good company. Of course we’ll find your pots and pans. Did you leave them out when you were doing the washing? Or by the river when cleaning them?”

Above the hut, the sky grumbled sending bolts of lightning racing across the sky. The rain wasn’t letting up and, if anything, the hail had gotten bigger!

“Fine. We’ll do it. But I expect to be paid. This isn’t a charity.”

“I’ll pay you fifty gold pieces to find the pots.”

“Deal.”

“Incidentally, a night on the floor of my hut costs twenty five gold pieces. Each.”

Alek groaned. Its not like they could go back into the storm now. She had them over the barrel.

“Alright. We accept. Tell me about your pots and pans. We aren’t going out tonight either. You’ll have to wait till morning.”

Mary smiled, a warm smile “Of course, Sugar. Right! About the pans! I’m not sure whats happening but about two weeks ago I noticed tiny little footprints outside my house. No big deal, some little creature had set up shop nearby. Then I noticed that whenever I left the house, what I had been cooking disappeared. I’ve also noticed that my meat traps often go missing. Then, about a week ago, I was going to cook a soup and I’d noticed that all my pans had been stolen! Those things aren’t cheap out here!”

“Any tracks leading off anywhere?” Asked Sophia, still slurping her soup.

“Yes. They go about two hundred yards off into the forest but then they disappear.”

Alek sat, thinking. Little footprints, disappearing tracks, stolen food. It could be half a dozen beasts. “Ok. This is what I’ll need.”

She only has ingredients for one potion
>Ingredients for a tracking potion
>Ingredients for a increased senses Set a trap
>Ingredients for multiple language potion You’ll be able to speak with all manners of beasties
>Other

>>3260341
>Ingredients for a tracking potion

>>3260131
>Sure. We’ll help you (it might look nice in front of Sophia as well)

>>3260397
Whoops
I mean:
>>3260341
>Ingredients for multiple language potion

>>3260341
>Ingredients for a tracking potion

>>3260341
>>Ingredients for multiple language potion

>>3260341
>>Ingredients for multiple language potion

Multiple language potion has got it. Ill post when I'm home t-2 hours

>>3261011
Thank you Spirit Bear.

File: A common misconception.jpg (28 KB, 500x337)

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“I’ll need something from you though. A Rech potion.”

“A language brew? Yes. I think I can do that. I have most of the ingredients lying around.”

===

When the morning came, the storm had mysteriously passed, although it did leave behind a thick fog.

Mary had brewed the potion and gave it to Alek. “Now, there was enough for two batches. Do you know what you’re supposed to do?”

“Uh...yes. But my companion doesn’t. Sophia listen in.”

“Right, well,” Mary said, shaking around the contents “this’ll be for your benefit then Sophia. Inside this jar are two thick goblues. You simply put them in your ear when you want to ear something talk and it’ll translate it for you. Easy done.”

“How does it work?” Sophia asked, eying the jar.

“When most people think of potions they think of witches hunkered over a great iron pot, spelling doom to the local population. What they don’t know is that most of this stuff can be made in your very own kitchen.” Mary says, giving Alek the jar. “It works by combining several essences of several creatures into a thick, semi-sentient paste that you put in your ear. The paste will hear words and then whisper them by reflex. They don’t last that long though so you’ll have to be quick with your investigation when you put them in your ears.”

Walking out the door, Alek figured they had three options.

>Wait for the creature to steal some more food
>Search around for some tracks
>Look for the hunting traps Mary had put down
>Other
All options will require a 1D100

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3261239
>Search around for some tracks

>>3261239
>Search around for some tracks
>Other: put down traps for the creature

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>3261239
>Look for the hunting traps Mary had put down
Could we ask before as well to help in the search?

>>3261257
Course. What would you like to ask?

I'll give the vote another 30mins before i close it

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>3261239
>>Search around for some tracks

>>3261262
Tracks has it.
Gimme a 1D100
DC:80

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>3261271

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>3261271

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>3261271

File: tracking.jpg (92 KB, 700x525)

92 KB JPG

“Sophia,” Alek says, opening the door for her “come with me. We’ll search for the tracks.”

As they walk, Sophia asks what he expects to find around this area.

“To be honest,” Alek replies “It really could be anything. Goblins, hobgoblins, ferros, archos, godlings. Theres a lot of pranksters in the beast world who aren’t necessarily evil but are frustrating to live around and deal with.”

“How do we deal with them?”

“Depends. If they’re sentient, we can ask them to do something and in return we give them something. If they’re non-sentient we can give Mary a few signs to help ward them away. Either way, we could just kill them all.”

“Kill them?”

“Its just an option. Depends on the beast Sophia.”

As they were walking and talking, they were hunting for a series of clues: footprints, broken twigs, crumpled up leaves, droppings. The usual but they’d come up empty handed. These creatures were very sneaky it seems.

>Wait for the creature to steal some more food
>Search around for some tracks (in a different area)
>Look for the hunting traps Mary had put down
>Other

>>3261285
>>Look for the hunting traps Mary had put down
option 2

>>3261285
>Look for the hunting traps Mary had put down
>Put down some traps
If we can glean information from Mary's traps, we might learn something from our own.

>>3261285
>Look for the hunting traps Mary had put down

Gimme a 1D100
DC: 70
Bo3

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>3261299

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>3261299
sigh

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>3261299

>>3261306
Oh ye of little faith

File: Fae.jpg (19 KB, 236x314)

19 KB JPG

Nothing. The tracks were clean. Not a single broken stick. No crumpled leaves. Not a single blade of grass was out of place. Whatever was plaguing Mary was light on its toes.

“Lets check the traps.” said Sophia “Mary said she put some down traps and the beasts had been taking the spoils.”

“Good idea.I think she said she left a few near the river and birches.” Alek said to which Sophia beamed.

Around the river, they approached the trap to no avail. It didn’t look disturbed but contained a rabbit, dead.

“Maybe the other traps. We’ll tell Mary about her rabbit kill later.”

As they approached the other traps, they heard a small, high pitched squealing.

Sophia started to run towards it, only to be stopped by Alek. “Careful now. We don’t know what is there, we don’t know if its a trap. Calm. Careful. Assess the situation.” She nodded and started walking, careful to mind snapping any sticks or making any loud sounds.

As they got closer, the squealing got more high pitched and more intense. The beast seemed to be in a lot of pain.

Walking through a grove of birch, they didn’t believe their eyes.

A tiny fae had been caught. Standing about as tall as a child, green and covered in leaves, moss and twigs with two tiny wings, it was vaguely humanoid but its eyes were too big for its head and angled slightly, curving at the sides. They walked up to it and it pleaded with its eyes, big as dinner plates.

“Oh we must help it!” Cried Sophia and, before Alek could stop her, she’d opened the trap.

The fae looked at Sophia and then at Alek, blew a big fat raspberry and zipped away through the trees, moving with unnatural speed. It left a silvery dust behind it which disappeared after a while.

Last post for the night guys. I’ll resume in the morning

>>3261354
Thanks Brother Bear. See you on the morrow.

>>3261354
Thanks for running

File: fairy trail.png (1.64 MB, 900x800)

1.64 MB PNG

“After it!” cried Alek “Don’t let it get away!”

Bounding after it as it zipped through a forest that got more and more entangled as they went on. Over fallen logs, under bushes, through low hanging branches, only barely keeping up with the silver dust trail.

On and one it goes, losing track of the fae only to see the last bit of dust dissipate and for one of them to shout “Over there!” which continued the mad dash.

After a few minutes, Alek realised that they were going around in a circle, “Sophia, stop.” he whispered “its been leading us on a merry chase.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“This forest is strange but I’m very sure I’ve passed that tree before. Well, not all of that tree. But the lower half.”

“The lower half?”

“Its mixing the forest so we don’t know whats going on.” Alek said “heres what we’re going to do. You continue running after it, I’ll wait in the brush nearby. Try and chase it by, I’ll grab it. Ok, go!”

Sophia bounds after the fae, making a lot of noise as she crashed through the forest as they target.

Alek had hidden in the vegetation.

He heard the fae before he saw it, a high pitched giggling.

Roll me a 1D100 to see if you catch it
DC: 70

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>3263767
gothca

>>3263775
ha!

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>3263767

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>3263767

>72 Caught

It bounced through the brushwood, insanely nimble and flexible. Compared to how Alek and Sophia raced through it all, it was like comparing a pub fighter to a ballet dancer.

Giggling as it neared Alek,he readied his pounce.

zzzzzip

Over there! It was coming from the north!
Zzzzip

Now from the east!

Alek couldn’t lock onto it, it was simply moving too fast.

Closing his eyes, and slowing his breathing, Alek looked into his minds eye.

In an instant, he could feel and see everything and it felt like time had slowed.

He could feel the ladybug leaping off a leaf, the dew slowly being evaporated in the morning sun, the worms under the soil. He could see the birds inside the stump, the fish in the nearby river and Sophia crashing through the undergrowth in a vain attempt to grab her target. More importantly, he could feel and see the fae. It had a permanent smile etched upon its face and eyes wide in delight.

It was coming closer and closer and, without opening his eyes, Alek reached out from his position and grabbed its foot.

There was a jerk as the fae didn’t realise what was happening and keeps bouncing around, only to fall on its face in a jumble.

“Got ya, ya bastard!” Alek cries, victorious.

Sophia jogs over a few minutes later, out of breath and red faced “Did we...did we get it?”

Alek holds it up by the foot, like a fish freshly caught and nods. The fae is shouting something unintelligible and in its little squeaky voice, thrashing about and clawing at Alek.

Dividing the mixture up into two parts, Alek puts half in his ear and Sophia puts half in her ear.

“Stop thrashing.” Alek says as the swiping continued “I say, stop!”

The fae halts, knowing defeat.

“What you want humie? Lemme go!”

“I want to know why you’ve been bothering that old lady.”

“You want mean Mother? You no hands me. Me show you. Me show you.”

>Let the fae go and follow her
>Don’t unhand her. Force the confession here, now.
>Other

>>3263799
>Don’t unhand her. Force the confession here, now.
>Tighten our hand to put emphasis on our words.

>>3263803
Supporting

>>3263799
What do we know about Faes?

Are they those kind of faes that can't break a promise? If they can't make her promise to take us there.

Otherwise.

>Other
You will take me there and THEN I'll let you go, deal?

>>3263809
+1

>>3263809
Bestiary for Fae: Unless said so by Alek or the Imp, you can always ask for this option
Fae, Faeries or the Fair Folk of the Forests are tiny, humanoid beasts that inhabit all forest on the continent.
All fae are pranksters and trickers who delight in giving the slip to non-fae and are often seen tormenting the more beastial members of the forest if they think they can get away with it.
Fae live in three stages of civilisation; the tribal stage, the village stage and the empire stage each defined by the great works, the government and how aggressive they are to their neighbours. An unchecked fae group can turn deadly as they expand outwards.
This is not to say that they are unintelligent as the fae can talk to humans, are sentient and can create works of art.
Fae can be destroyed by iron, silver, fire, daemon oil.
A well placed sign or ward can halt a fae expansion into its next stage but will require constant upkeep.

>>3263836
>All fae are pranksters and trickers who delight in giving the slip to non-fae and are often seen tormenting the more beastial members of the forest if they think they can get away with it.
Ah, so they're all pricks and we should never trust them.
>>3263809
I really don't think this little shit's going to bargain with us in good faith.

>>3263843
Agreed, if we let her go she will just scram.

Hold her and tell her she can go AFTER she takes us to mean mother.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

“Let you go?” Alek asked, incredulous “just let you go?”

“Ya. Big man let skinny me go now. Me show. Promise.”

“Nice try, friend.” Alek replies. “You’ll just skit away like you did before.”

“No skit! No skit!”

“How about this? I’ll let you go when you take us back to your village? I just want to talk to your leader.”

“Starosta Cadmi? You want see Cadmi? Yes, yes! I take!”

Holding firmly onto the faery, Alek walks with him away from the mishmash of forest items it had created.

“Whats a Starosta Cadmi?” Sophia asked.

“Well, Starosta is like a fae mayor. Basically runs the town, tells them how to act. Cadmi must be her name.”

“Her?”

“Aye. Fae are fiercely matriarchal, even going as far to kill first born sons of their leaders so they have no claim on the throne. A Starosta means that they’ve only achieved the tribal stage, its quite fascinating really. A fae tribus is only comprised of several folk but when they hit a certain population number, they turn into a village where, through communal magiks, they get an uptick in intelligence allowing them to build bigger and better things and forge things out of the woods themselves. This doubly goes for the empire stage where they hit critical mass and start expanding rapidly. All empires of this continent have, at one point or another, had to put down a fae empire.”

“Folk no stupid!” squealed the fae “we smart! We make angry many birds around these parts!” It thumped its chest proudly “fae rule forest!”

“Is it hard?” Sophia said, ignoring it “taking down a fae empire, I mean.”

“Depends on what you call hard. Fae are naturally allergic to steel and iron which, obviously, most weapons are made out of, and they hate fire, which makes it a handy tool to use when fighting them.” Alek said “but if an civilisation has something more pressing, such as pirates or bandits, and the fae go unchecked, they can destroy many villages using their woods magik. It depends on how competent, and how much of a threat they see a rising fae empire, a kingdom is.”

File: fae house.jpg (184 KB, 1300x865)

184 KB JPG

>>3263871
As they walked, they’d entered a clearing, devoid of any life. But it was...hazy here. Like looking through water or through a clear fog.

The fae they were holding onto then let out a squeal that even the mixture in their ears couldn’t translate and the haze dissipated, showing several surprised looking fae.

“Lookum Starosta! Humies hold me! No let go!”

“Hush Obcan “citizen.” whispered Alek to Sophia before she could even ask Pivol. I will deal with it from now on.”

The fae they had been holding onto yanked its arm away, gave Alek a raspberry and Sophia a wink, before dashing away into the undergrowth.

“Come into my house, please.” Starosta Cadmi, gestured wearily towards a stump with a large hole in it.

>Go into the stump more of a passive stance
>We’d rather talk out here Dominant stance
>Other

>>3263872
>We’d rather talk out here

>>3263872
>We’d rather talk out here, if you don't mind (polite but dominant stance)

>>3263872
>Go into the stump

We are in her turf, lets hear her out first

>>3263880
+1

>>3263872
>We’d rather talk out here

>>3263880
Supporting

File: Mary statue.jpg (22 KB, 270x360)

22 KB JPG

“If you don’t mind madam Starosta,” Alek said, bowing deeply “I think we might prefer to talk out here. My name is Alek and this is my companion, Sophia Delport.”

“Fair enough,” Cadmi shrugged “most humies can’t hit into that stump anyways.” She sits down on her ‘house’, crosses her legs and asks “what can I do for you today?”

“Firstly,” Sophia asks, taking charge “I want to know why you speak better than your compatriots. Obcan Pivol was barely intelligible but you strike me as a intelligent being.”

“Slightly rude. Your apprentice?” She asks Alek. He shrugs. “Ok Ms. Delport. My tribe is growing and I have already hit the next stage, village. It is well known that intelligence and magik ability grows with each stage, so it makes sense that the leader is the first to net the advantages, no?”

“I want to know what you’ve done with the pots and pans you’ve stolen from Mary.” Alek says, storing that information away for later use.

“You mean Blessed Mother?” Starosta Cadmi replies, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you can see. We’ve taken the tools she was using to make and give us food and turned them into a statue of her. Behold!” Sweeping her hand behind her, she revealed a mockery of a religious icon: pots, pans and rolling pins covered in moss, bark and leaves to resemble an old woman in some sort of holy effigy.

“I see. Well, I’m going to need that back.” Alek said, not beating around the bush “those items are stolen and I’ve been tasked with getting them back.”

“Quite impossible!” Cadmi scoffed “that icon is the backbone of our society and it will propell us into the future and beyond.”

“I wasn’t asking.” Alek stood up and unsheathed his sword.

“Un-Unless you have something similar to trade of course. I can always make another effigy.”

>Trade Sophia
>Tell Mary to keep leaving food out for them
>Trade something of your personal gear (what?)
>Other

>>3263968
>>Tell Mary to keep leaving food out for them

>>3263968
>>Tell Mary to keep leaving food out for them

the trade Sophia is to actually leave the girl here? lol seriously? that's fucked up kek

>>3263968
>other

"I'll leave you alone and not hurt you, and tell Mary about you so she can decide if she wishes to help you"

>>3263992
Supportan

>>3263968
>Tell Mary to keep leaving food out for them

>>3263968
Ask y dont they just use wood to make there idol?

>>3264378
Not sure mate. Fae do weird shit all the time that often doesn't make sense.

Sophia noticed the immediately tense environment when Alek had pulled out his sword, the fae looking at them through their tree houses and conjuring up their magik bows, notching them with arrows, yellow things that were somehow gas and solid at the same time.

“How about I leave Sophia here?” Alek said, too much of the indignation of Sophia “shes a good cook and she can hunt. She can make clothes and whatnot too.”

“Sorry. Shes not our Mother and we’d do anything for our Mother. Besides, too old.” Cadmi, looked to her fae archers and nodded, they drew their bowstrings, ready to fire.

Sophia, scared that she was going to meet her Maker and wishing she’d stayed at home in Shimmerhorn, still offered an resentful “Hey!” when the fae said she was too old.

“How about this,” Alek said, sword still out “I’ll tell your god, Mother, to keep leaving food and traps out for the animals.”

“Eeehhhh.”

“Not only that but she’ll cook you pies and pastries.”

“I accept your proposal. Take your pans.” Cadmi said, shaking her fists at her fae archers, telling them to back down. “Tell Mother that we enjoy blueberry pies.”
It took several hours to get back to Marys house, Alek finally cursing at the fae to stop the forest moving around and let them leave.

The sun was shining brightly, and it was a warm afternoon when they finally stumbled back to the lone hut, carrying the pots and pans.

"Oh mercy me!" cried Mary, stopping hanging up her washing "you've returned! I thought you'd been eaten by whatever beastie is haunting these woods!"

>Tell her it was the fae. The whole truth.
>Tell it was something else. Try and get a bigger reward
>Tell her it was the fae. Leave out the bit about the creepy religious icons.
>Other

>>3265197
>Tell her it was the fae. The whole truth.

>>3265197
>>Tell her it was the fae. The whole truth.

>>3265197

>Tell her it was the fae. The whole truth.

>>3265197

>Tell her it was the fae. The whole truth.

>>3265197
>>Tell her it was the fae. The whole truth.
If you don't want the religious fanatics being a hindrance to you, we can take care of it... for a price.

File: woods witch electricity.jpg (73 KB, 500x500)

73 KB JPG

>Tell her the truth

They walked into the hut, Mary promising to feed them once they’d told her the story and offering a cup of water in the interim.

“Eaten? No.” Alek replied “Close to death? Yes.” He took the cup of water that was offered. “It was the Fair Folk of the Forest.”

“The fae?” replied Mary, hand to the mouth in dramatic horror “they are devious little bastards aren’t they?”

“Well,” Alek said, shuffling his feet and looking downwards “they actually weren’t that bad. Still in the tribal stage.”

“What did you have to offer them in order to...placate them? I see you still have your companion.”

“No, I-” Alek started

“He did offer me up.” Sophia interjected. “Out of jest I’m sure.”

“Lucky they didn’t accept. The fae are...curious about young women.”

There was an silence that seemed to stretch on for a too long.

Alek broke the silence “What I promised them was that you’d continue to feed them and leave out traps for the rabbits and such.”

“I’m supposed to give up my food just to stay here?” Mary asked incredulous

“In addition,” Alek continued “the fae will need a pie, preferably blueberry, once a week.”

“I repeat, again, I’m just supposed to give up food just to stay and survive her?” Mary shrieked, her voice growing shrill. The air grew heavy and crackled with static electricity.

“There really was no choice Mary.” Sophia attempted to placate her, putting her hand on her shoulder.

“In addition to all this,” Alek continued a bit louder “the fae will continue to grow unless something is done about it. I am willing to do something about it. For a price.”

“I’ll pay you fifty Lions to solve my issue with the fae. I’ll of course charge you for the night.”

“We won’t be staying the night. And keep your gold. I know you Wood Witches have some good, fun tomes running about. I want one. And in return, I’ll solve your growing fae trouble.”

There was a tense few moments where the air grew humid and dense, electricity crackling around her fingers.

Alek must quickly placate her!

What do you say?

>>3266512
I got your pots Mary, if you want me to drive them out I'll do it for you but I'll be risking my life, try to see if my way.
If you are so mad at them you could come with me and help me, direct your anger to someone who actually deserves it, they believe you are their god afterall, and gods punish bad followers

>>3266512
You are their goddess, you don't need to do whatever I told you would, you can just do this thing you are doing to me now, or we could drive them out together.

I'll give it another 45 and then I'll just roll a 1D2

>>3266711
But, also. Gimme a 1D100 +5 (aggressive charisma) to see how you placate her
DC:70

Rolled 31 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>3266715

Rolled 82 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>3266715

Rolled 13 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>3266715

>>3266725
It's chicken tonight boys

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Nice pass. Writin'

File: levitating.jpg (12 KB, 236x236)

12 KB JPG

The air around you all darkens, the wind picks up and sparks fly from her fingers. The hut is quickly turned into a chaotic mess as Mary is uplifted on a cushion of air.

Marys voice has become shrill and booming, like she was speaking from beyond the mortal planes “I give you shelter from the rain, I give you food and you can’t even get rid of a simple fae extermination! Not only that, I am shackled to their whims!”

“I got your pots Mary, if you want me to drive them out I'll do it for you but I'll be risking my life, try to see if my way.” Alek yelled above the din, taking cover behind an upturned table “If you are so mad at them you could come with me and help me, direct your anger to someone who actually deserves it, they believe you are their god afterall, and gods punish bad followers.”

The winds calm. Slightly. “They think I a god?” she intones, the static crackles still, but lessen.

“They do,” Alek says, hands upheld, the international sign of peace “they have a Starosta and she believes you a god of some kind because you can provide them treats and food.”

Her toes touch the ground lightly “A god, you say? Yes. This could turn out very well. Very well indeed.”

“Of course. They won’t believe you a god for much longer.” Alek said, approaching her. “They’re only a few weeks shy of advancing.”

She whips her head at him “and I suppose you’d be willing to correct that for a price?”

“Correct.”

“Bah! Take your tome! Fix my fae advancing issue and be gone!” She spits at Alek “A word of warning Witch Hunter, do not try and shackle another Woods Witch like you have done to me. They will not let you live.”

Alek nods and says that he’ll take that into account. Walking over to the Witches library, he immediately spots several tomes that could help him out in his travels.

Which one does he take?

>Daemon Lifestyles (Daemonic Possession: Instead of increasing your DC by 25 till the end of the battle, you lower it by 15 instead)
>Occult Mysteries Revealed (Witch signs, occult mysteries, groups and several of the more well known gods are revealed to Alek)
>Animal Divination (Using animal guts, Alek can track targets accurately. Passing a hard DC will allow him to see where they’ll be in a few hours time)

>>3266834
Sorry.
Should be: "DC by 25 till the end of the battle, you lower to 15 instead

>>3266834
>Occult Mysteries Revealed (Witch signs, occult mysteries, groups and several of the more well known gods are revealed to Alek)

>>3266834
>Daemon Lifestyles
Top priority.
>Animal Divination
Useful.

>>3266834
>>Daemon Lifestyles (Daemonic Possession: Instead of increasing your DC by 25 till the end of the battle, you lower it by 15 instead)

>>3266834
>Daemon Lifestyles

>>3266834

>Occult Mysteries Revealed (Witch signs, occult mysteries, groups and several of the more well known gods are revealed to Alek)

Magik!

>>3266852
>>3266866
>not choosing Daemon Lifestyles to remove its weakness
I know that we can use the knowledge boost, but Daemon Lifestyles is too good a deal to pass up. Our defence DC for each success becomes a flat 15 instead of going up by 25. That means we won't have to worry about defence at all, barring a critfail.

>>3266872
I think it just lowers the tired debuff from 25 to 15 man

>>3266872
No the DC is reduced from 25 to 15.

>>3266877
>>3266882
See >>3266848

>>3266882
Its the after 3 turns penalty to dc that is reduced from 25 to 15.
Our defence dc was never 25, it is usually 50

>>3266872
>>3266882
Clarification: it just lowers the debuff from 25-15.
Eg. Normal defence DC could be 60 then use Daemon Possession.
It would then be 60+15 until the end of the battle

>>3266891
Well, isn't that just...
THEN WHY DID YOU, IN >>3266848--
Oh, I understand.
Still voting for Daemon Lifestyles. The improvement is good.

File: Daemon Lifestyles.jpg (106 KB, 683x960)

106 KB JPG

>Daemon Lifestyles

Well, strictly speaking, not all of them were tomes. The Daemon Lifestyles was a magazine, more specifically, it was one of those trashy celebrity magazines.

Top 15 ways to spice up things on the 7th Level!

Is your favourite plaything just not giving you the attention anymore? Turn to page 30 to see our new favourite torture techniques!

Mr. Beezlebub sits down and tells us where the Below we’re heading in the next thousand years! Dont miss!

Attention grabbing headlines and sultry daemons were the biggest things on the magazine cover. I guess old women are old women Alek internally shrugged.

Flicking through the magazine he saw something of note. An article detailing several techniques that would stop Your possession puppet from getting too tired! Your puppet? Alek thought I’ll have to speak to the Imp soon. Make him know who owns the power in this relationship.
“I’ll take this.” he said, turning to face Mary.

“That old thing? Take it. Finish off your fae signs and be gone.” Mary waves a hand dismissively and pushing them out the door. Before she closes it she tells him “Do not shackle another woods witch Alek. It may be the final thing you do.”

“Thank you for your support Mary,” Alek said, turning to face her “and if I do-” but her cabin was gone with only a tiny little wooden fence to mark that she’d been there.

Night crept across the land, as it is wont to do, and they’d again found the river again and had cooked some fish they’d caught. Sophia was lounging around, grateful that they were under a sky again.

“It was nice to be under a roof,” She said to Alek “but this? This is living.”

“Its nice at the moment,” Alek replied “but have you ever been in conditions where the snow is three feet deep? Or its raining and theres no friendly woods witch to help out? Its certainly no picnic.” he clapped his hands, stood up, stretched “Now,” he threw her a stick, which bonked her on the noggin “en garde!”

>>3266938
Ah fuck me.

2/2 enroute

File: Alek.jpg (289 KB, 1991x3196)

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Several more weeks passed like this.

Wake up.

Several hours of sword fighting.

Pack up camp.

Walk till sundown.

Set up camp and fish.

Sleep till morning.

It was a rough lifestyle and more than once, they had to hide under a big tree or in a cave when the weather turned for the worse. Thankfully, their time was coming at an end.

“How do you know that?” Asked Sophia “The trees look exactly the same.”

“I’m not looking at the trees.” he replied “I’m looking at our feet. Look. The path is well trod now, its no longer as mossy and if you look really closely, you can see bits of other path, rocks and pebbles from other regions.

“I guess I’ve still got a lot of training left.”

Alek nearly said something about only taking her to the capital and how they’ve only got a few weeks left at the most. Instead he grunted.

Two hours of walking continued after this. Sophia had opened up a lot in the weeks following the wood witch ordeal, becoming more chipper and friendly. Telling him about life at the temple, what she remembers about her family, her hobbies, her lifestyle, what she wants to achieve in her life. Mostly unachievable because of her profession but it was nice to dream.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“What do you want to do when you’ve finished your monster hunting? I assume you’ll eventually settle down?”

“Finish monster hunting? I don’t mean to shock you Sophia,” Alek laughed “but we Witch Hunters don’t have the longest lifespan. My retirement plan is: leave some money to my favourite prostitutes in my favourite cities and hopefully my corpse isn’t too mangled for other people to identify.”

“Thats awful!” She hugged him, tightly. “I’ll always be there to identify your corpse.”

Sophia is available in combat should you pass this fellowship roll!
Gimme a 1d100. DC: 85. Bo3. Don’t fuck it up anons.

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>3267000
>nat 1

>>3267000

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>3267000

we'll have other chances in the future...right? 85 is a pretty high dc

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>3267000
Please have some cuddling

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>3267000

>>3266872
If we used possession we already fucked up. Also possession isn't something we can always use. Fighting alongside local militia, forget about using it. Knowledge would be much better use for us also Sophia could use it. Now our dc changed by 10. Great choice.

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>3267000

“Thats awful!” She hugged him, tightly. “I’ll always be there to identify your corpse.”


We need to at least say that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to us.

We will keep trying to get her as a companion, we need the cuddling

Does the dc gets lower the more tine we spend with her? 85 was pretty high

>>3267029
Yeah, but it'll have be be after a few missions.
Remember, Sophia is still more or less fresh out of the temple. She has no idea of the outside life and if you seriously put her life in danger, or do anything that could psychologically harm her, she might choose to leave

>>3267029
>>3267042
Im my opinion is for the best that she stay background support.

Let's be honest if she would offer that she will go with us on a hunt we would told her to stay away.

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3267000

>>3267089
If she does eventually join you on monster hunting activities, she'll be an NPC, mostly regulated to healing and

>>3269890
defending herself. Whenever you get a double on a roll (even when its a fail) she'll heal you for 1D4 (my roll) Dunno why it failed to post the second half haha

File: trading caravan.jpg (835 KB, 2000x1350)

835 KB JPG

Fail roll. We’ll get them next time!

Slowly, the trees began to thin out, giving Alek and Sophia the ability to see the sky unobstructed for the first time in many weeks.

As they walked, they passed the time by calling out cloud that looked like things. Sophia would often choose the clouds that looked like small animals whilst Alek saw much darker things. He still said that he saw dogs, cats and sheep though.

“Ah,” Alek exhaled “I think we’ve finally reached the Prusstia Empire. Look, you can see a fort off in the distance.”

“Oh how exciting!” Sophia gave a little cry of happiness, skipping “we’ll be soon out of this wretched forest and on our way to the capital.”

Walking over a crest, however, their joy quickly turned to shock at what they saw.

Blood everywhere. A skirmish had taken place here between an unknown assailant and, from the looks of it, a Prusstian trading caravan. Twelve horses lay dead, large oak spears in their sides. About half were armoured but that matter little, the spears had found the small chinks in between the plates and been thrust right through. In some cases the spear had come out the other side. A large felled oak was behind them, presumably to stop their escape backwards.

By Aleks counting, there was twenty five men strew about all sporting different wounds. Some had their limbs torn off, some had oaken spears thrust through them, others still had their own swords thrust into them.

“Sophia,” Alek said “calm yourself and look. Tell me, what do you see?”

Sophia took a deep breath and refocused herself. “A lot of dead animals and men. A rival kingdom or bandits perhaps? The horses are all dead which might rule out banditry because they could sell them on. Same with the armour and weapons of the soldiery.”

Shes good. But she hasn’t had the training Aleks has had over the course of your long life.

>Check the soldiery
>Check the caravan
>Check the surrounding area
>Check the horses
>Check the fallen oak for clues

Pick three things to check

>>3269998
>Check the surrounding area
>Check the horses
>Check the fallen oak for clues
If we travel with them we can check on the other two latter.

>>3269998
>Check the caravan
>Check the surrounding area
>Check the fallen oak for clues

>>3269998
>Check the surrounding area
>Check the horses
>Check the fallen oak for clues

>>3269998
>Check the surrounding area
>Check the horses
>Check the fallen oak for clues

Rolled 42 (1d100)

File: a24d374a-1001-4345-be95-0(...).png (39 KB, 500x500)

39 KB PNG

>Check the horses
>Check the fallen oak
>Check the surrounding area


“Sophia,” Alek said, striding away “I want you to check the horses for anything that we can use.”

“What are you going to check?”

“I’m going to check the oak. It might hold some more clues.”

Alek wandered over to the oak. It was roughly his height in width and twenty feet long, easily covering the road that they had traversed. Thick and strong, it was as typical as any oak that in the forest. However, as Alek reached the base of the tree, there were several symbols etched into the base. Two were magik carved an owl and a deer, typically representing nature and wisdom but the others? Only the Maker would know! One looked like a square with multiple tentacles coming out of it. Another looked like several eyes conjoining into one somehow. Looking for too long at them gave Alek a headache and he had to look away, feeling slightly dizzy and slightly nauseous.

“Alek,” called Sophia “where are you? I’ve found something.”

Alek was glad to be away from the tree, and walked back to Sophia. The dizziness subsided as quickly as it came and by the time he reached her, he was feeling much better.

“What have you found?”

“Ok, so.” She starts “The horses obviously have spears through them right? And they’re obviously armoured right? But! While they look like normal caravan guards, these ones have been fitted with the Imperial seal!”

Alek looked a little closer. She was right. The seal was there, hidden behind a plate. The seal was given by the Prusstia Empire as a way of spreading the Imperial creed and giving the men who carried it the authority to basically do what they wanted, when they wanted and were only beholden to the royal family. This was no ordinary trading caravan. What could be its purpose?

“Where is the man who rode this horse?” Asked Alek

“Not sure. But I found a purse with forty two Lions in it.”

“We’ll have to inspect the area. If someone this high ranking is around, he’ll be worth a lot more than forty two Lions.”

Current purse: 47 Lions

Searching the area for a while, they both came up empty. Anyone who looked like they had top quality armour and weapons, and therefore important, was not in the area.

What they did find was something else entirely.

“Sophia,” Alek called and she jogged over “come look at his arm. Its obviously come from one of the soldiers over there. Look. Bite marks. Whatever came through here is intelligent and hungry.”
“More cannibals?” Asked Sophia, slightly apprehensive.

“Doubtful.” Alek said, kneeling down “cannibals would take every single body here, all the gold. Basically whatever isn’t nailed down. These people have been dead for a while.” He stood up, and dusted off his knees. “We’d better get going. It’ll be night soon and I dont feel safe out here.”

File: Grevin.jpg (39 KB, 504x327)

39 KB JPG

>>3270185
The sun dipped lower and lower into the horizon and they finally left the thick forest behind. What replaced it was the complete opposite.

Huge logging gangs and mining operations dominated the landscape. Thousands of souls worked to cut down the trees and bore massive holes into the mountains and hills.

They walked past the humans, Alek telling her not to pay them any attention. The wolf whistles still hounded after her.

A logging cart rolled past them and, somehow, Alek managed to score a lift for both of them were they arrived in Bastile de la Grevin, or Grevin for short. A huge, ancient fort that had stood since the Time of the Fire.

Where do they go?

>Blacksmith. Get some armour
>The commanders headquarters. Maybe there a reward
>The tavern. Get some gossip.
>The temple. Daughter Delport might want to do her prayers.

>>3270187
>>The tavern. Get some gossip.

>>3270187
>The tavern. Get some gossip.
>Blacksmith. Get some armour
>The temple. Daughter Delport might want to do her prayers.
In that order

>>3270187
>>The tavern. Get some gossip.

let's see if we learn more about the revolutionaries

>>3270194
+1

File: busy inn.jpg (602 KB, 1796x1008)

602 KB JPG

>The tavern (we’ll hit those other places later)

“C’mon,” Alek says to Sophia “lets get a drink. See whats going on around here.”

Asking the city guards where the nearest tavern is, they’re pointed towards the Dragon Auberge, the biggest in town.

About three stories high, with a huge dragons head out the front made from wood, there is no mistaking this tavern. People spill out onto the street, drunkenly yelling, jeering and leering. A few women from across the street call out, enticing the men to spend their coin elsewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIuO3RpMvHg

They walk in and Sophia attracts more than one appreciative glance, Alek more or less ignored. These are mining and logging folk and a pretty woman is a rare thing indeed. A juggler danced and told jokes for scrap coin in the corner, while several musicians roamed, stringing their lutes and playing their drums, all for the enjoyment of the patrons.

“Grab that seat and wait for me.” Alek says, pointing “don’t move. Don’t respond to their advances. I’m going to get us a drink. Wine?”

Sophia nods and sits down, pretending to do her hair.

Walking up to the bar, Alek orders two spiced wines, turning to the man next to him. A huge bearded man, with a tankard of ale in one hand, sullenly drinking it.

“Excuse me,” Alek said “I’m new to this town. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction for a warm bed.”

“New huh?” the man replied, turning to face him. “I wouldn’t stay here long.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Theres been incursions by the lizard folk. Killed my friend, Tor. Stabbed him right through the gut with one of those huge spears they carry around.” He sniffed “we’s just trying to earn some gold here. I’ve got three kids in Hedale.”

“Lizard folk?”

“Yeah. Scaly fuckers. Eight feet tall too! I tried to save Tor, dontcha know? I was- I was…” the man burst out crying.

“Thank you. You’ve been a tremendous help.” Alek said as he moved back to the table.

File: Delport.jpg (179 KB, 1024x1536)

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>>3270291
“I think I know what hit that caravan.” Alek whispered to Sophia. Well, he tried to whisper. The din was so loud that they ended up just talking normally just so they could hear each other.

“Lizard men.” Sophia replied. “Yeah. I heard. Its all about town. Apparently, they raided one of the mines. Killed about fifty men before vanishing. By all accounts, the governor is furious. Had the captain of the guard flogged for a breach of safety.”

“Now that is interesting.” Alek mused over his wine “I wonder why the Emperor hasn’t moved troops to deal with this emerging threat. Surely the Lizard men are something of a threat around these parts.”

They continued the conversation, late into the night. Talking about why the Lizard men would raid these camps, about what they were and about the most important thing: how to make a profit.

“Hey little lady,” they were interrupted by a drunken man and his two friends, lurking behind him “I t-t-think you’re pretty. *Burp* How about you ditch this boy and come with us men?”

“Thank you.” replied Sophia “but I am happy here.”

“Come one. How much is he paying you? I’ll double it! You’re the best looking prozzie I’ve seen in months!” His friends laugh behind him.

“You heard the lady.” said Alek “Shes happy here.”

“This don’t concern you, boy.” The man slowly puts his hand on the table “either come with us. Or theres going to be trouble.”

>Try and solve diplomatically
>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.
>Other

>>3270366
>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.

>>3270366
>>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.

>>3270366

>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.

Nobody implies Sophie is a whore and gets away

>>3270366
>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.
At a certain point one needs to resort to violence

>>3270366
>>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.

>>3270366
>Diplomacy is for the weak. Show him who is boss.

>>3270366
Break his hand

Would you like to draw steel or fight unarmed?

A duel in the street is also available and protected by law even if to the death

>>3272369
Fight unarmed, but be ready to draw arms in case he tries anything funny

>>3272369
Unnarmef , brawl

>>3272571
+1

>>3272369
Unarmed

>>3272369
Unarmed

Unarmed it is.
Give me 1D100 for attack
Unarmed damage: 4

0- 0 damage
1- 1x damage
2- 2x damage
3- 3x damage
Crit- instant knock out

Brawling man (leader): 12/12 health
Brawling man (lackey) 4/4 health
Brawling man (lackey) 4/4 health

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>3273211

>>3273211
What's the DC?

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>3273211
>>3273224
very low I hope

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>3273211

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>3273211
We can take em

>>3273211
Sorry. DC: 60.
Gimme 1D100 for defence
DC: 70
Drunken -10
Outnumbered +5
DC: 65

Lackeys hit for 4 damage
Leader hits for 8 damage
The first roll is the leaders swing
Second and third are the lackies

Alek: Full health

>>3273276
Also: 1x damage.
Would you like to direct your hit towards a lackey or the leader?

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>3273276
Toward a lackey, of course.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>3273276
Lackey

Our armor reduces damage right?

>>3273276
By the way, what the fuck are these DCs? We're a Witch Hunter. Even if we're not focused on punching shit we should be better by a mile than a bunch of drunk bastards, unless I'm missing something.

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3273276
Rolling again to keep going

>>3273300
Alek is drunk as well. Last update: They continued the conversation, late into the night.

They're at least seven wines deep at this stage.

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>3273276
Shit, drunken guys are harder than a werewolf? Our armor will save our ass here or else we would be done for

>>3273313
I hope you take my roll since this anon rolled twice
>>3273304
>>3273297

>>3273316
I will take your roll here.

>>3273314
But also, yeah. Fair call. I'll lower the DC next round.

File: brawl.jpg (92 KB, 722x348)

92 KB JPG

Attack: 1 Pass
Defence: 1 Pass - 8 damage taken

“This does concern me actually,” Alek said, standing up “and you’ve not only insulted me, but my travelling companion. If it was just me? I’d forgive. But her? You’ve dug your own grave friend.” And with that, Alek picked up the chair he was sitting on and threw it at the group, instantly knocking out one of them, causing them to fall into another group who punched another man who threw his glass, missing his target and hitting an innocent patron.

The bar exploded!

In the ensuing melee, Alek was tackled to the ground by the bigger man and punched square in the jaw.

“You like that?” The man said “I’ve got a more where tha’ came from darlin’!”

Alek put his legs around the mans neck and twisted, pulling him right off him.

Brawling man (leader) 12/12 Health
Brawling man (lackey) 4/4 Health
Brawling man (lackey) Knocked Out!

Alek: 17/25 Health

Brawling
Armoured - 4 damage

>>3273339
Gimme a 1D100
DC: 45

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>3273342
1

>>3273342
>0- 0 damage
>1- 1x damage
>2- 2x damage
>3- 3x damage
>Crit- instant knock out

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>3273342

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>3273342

aaaand gimme a 1D100 for defence
DC: 45

Ya really botched those rolls anons

Alek deserves to get his ass beat with these rolls.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>3273367
Fucking dice gods

Rolled 96 (1d100)

Roll me a 1D100 for the attack.

Last round before the fuzz turn up

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>3273399

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>3273399
If the fuzz is coming lets put the damage on the leader to at least fuck him up a little

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>3273399
Gimme a 1D100 for defence
same as before
I assume you wanna fuck up his lackey and give the big fella a black eye?
Or do you wanna ignore the small lackey and break some bones?

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>3273419
break some bones, the lackey is small fries

also, use our drain life ability to heal and maybe knock him out

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>3273419

Can we do that?>>3273423
We could drain before punching so we don't kill but actually deck him on his ass, broken jaw would be nice so he doesn't talk shit anymore

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>3273419

>>3273429
I mean, you could. Liable to get you hunted down though. Witch Hunters are looked down upon and shunned at the best of times simply because of the rumours that follow them. Practising life stealing magik in the front of a bunch of normies? Risky. Very risky.

Your call.
Use Lifesteal?

>>3273445
No.

>>3273445
na, let's just cave his face in then

>>3273445
No.

>>3273445
No. Fuck 'em up the old-fashioned way.

>>3273445
No
Break his jaw

File: Grevin Toads.jpg (8 KB, 236x294)

8 KB JPG

0 passes- 0 damage
1 pass- negated by armour
+
2 passes - 8 damage
1 passes - 4 damage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p79IBaksXU

Getting up, Alek and Sophia squared off against the men.

With a roar, Alek rushed the bigger man, intending to knock him out with one punch. Just as his blow was about to connect, however, a man was pushed in front of him, knocking him off balance.

His punch went wild and to the left, connecting with air.

One of the smaller men saw Aleks mistake and attempted to punish him, hitting Alek squarely in the stomach, only managing to graze his knuckles on the leather armour.

Dancing back, Alek assessed his options. Two guys left. The bigger one didn’t even have a scratch on him and neither did the smaller one. Alek could feel the bruise forming on his eye and jaw. He tenderly felt it, that’d need some ice in the morning.

Feeling sorry for himself for briefly too long! The lackey charged him, just like his boss, tackling him to the ground and hitting him once in the side of the face. One too many times.

Fury filled within him, a mere human giving him a licking? He’d show him! Throwing the boy off with inhuman strength, Alek stood up breathing hard. Sophia swore that the pub wide brawl halted for a second, in awe of the alpha predator that stood in their midst.

With a bellow, Alek rushed the leader, knocking over tables in his mad fury to get to him.

With watery grace, Alek slides into the mans feet, avoiding the bear hug that had awaited him, breaking the mans ankle. With a fluid movement, he punches upwards, knocking the man down and with a ferociousness that was more beast than man, he set upon him, delivering a series of blows that bloodied and bruised the mans face.

“Oi!” a voice cried out above the din “The Toads are coming!”

Instantly, the fighting stops and is replaced by a mad dash to get out of the inn. Foes help each other

Alek grabs a man as he attempts to leave “Toads?”

“Police! Coppas!.Fakabats! Let me go or I’ll brain ya!”

Alek sits, exhausted, a top of the man he has beaten. He’s still breathing but he’d definitely be feeling it for the next week or so. His lackey has long since legged it.

“Alek,” Sophia says, pulling him to his feet “we should go.”

Too late. Toads pile into the tavern, hitting those who surrender peacefully, stabbing the ones who don’t. There aren’t many who don’t surrender. This is a theatre play, rehearsed many times.

A man strolls in, decked out in finery. Plush furs and silken robes hang on his frame, inlaid with dazzling patterns. He carries a ceremonial sword, most likely never seen a single fight with it. He surveys the scene, the carnage. He points at Sophia and Alek.

“You two. Come with me.”

Do you go?
>Yes
>No
>Other

Brawler (leader) 4/12 Health
Brawler (lackey) 4/4 Health
Brawler (lackey) Knocked out!

Alek: 13/25 Health
Brawling
Leather Armoured -4 damage

File: 2nd in charge.jpg (72 KB, 660x1060)

72 KB JPG

>>3273487
Last post for the night. I'll pick up tomorrow. Expect a fair amount of phone posting.