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"Keep your distance," you call down toward Jimmy while remaining firmly hidden behind the trunk. "And explain why you're acting weird."

You hear a short laugh.

"You mean, why I want to talk instead of caving your head in, breh?" Jimmy says cheerfully. "Answer's simple: because I can."

"That's not really an answer," you point out, which provokes more laughter from the other player.

"Except that it is, brae. Look at it this way: if all we're supposed to do is fight one another, why give us the ability to communicate? Why not code a simple filter that turns everything I say into gibberish to your ears and vice versa? Just for the mad bants?"

"Maybe that's exactly why," you shrug, before realizing he wouldn't see the gesture. "Or maybe the devs just didn't think about it. Either way, you're still beating about the bush. What do you want?"

"Fair enough, brooski," Jimmy's laughter is starting to get somewhat grating. "What I want is an amiable and mutually beneficial relationship with a like-minded individual on the other side of the tracks. For the simple reason that I believe this is the best path toward getting ahead of everyone else," there is a brief pause and you peek out around the trunk to see Jimmy looking off down and to the side, before his attention snaps back to you. "And to answer your next question: Because, based on the past 10 minutes, I can tell you're a cut above the typical player. And also that you're a filthy, no good opportunist - just like me." he grins broadly and then adds, shrugging. "And also, to be entirely honest, I'm really curious about how you came out of the instance with a whole three blue dudes - and then managed to keep them alive."

Where not mutually exclusive, feel free to vote on as many options as you want and I'll include the most popular ones in the conversation

>Briefly describe your time in the instance and the fight against Leggy Lass. It's not like it's all some great secret - is it?
>Come to think of it, this is the second time a Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?
>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.
>Express mistrust of Jimmy's actions and character - he's a self-admitted opportunist who screwed over his own teammates just to have a conversation with you. That hardly instills confidence in any possible future partnership with him.
>Even if you're interested, here and now is not the place and time for this conversation - you're still worried about this being a setup for an ambush. Share contact details (hm, will that even work?) and offer to contact Jimmy later through whispers.
>You have zero interest in anything Jimmy has to offer. Time to bail.
>Other

Also, apologies for not posting yesterday. I started feeling sick and ended up sleeping through most of the day.

>>3539743
>Ask for a bow or gathering tool for this info. Doesn't have to be special, just not literal trash.
>The player camping the instance point? Yeah, I beat HIS it's not lying since "everyone on the internet is a guy" scrub ass. Leave the part about the boat out.

>Even if you're interested, here and now is not the place and time for this conversation - you're still worried about this being a setup for an ambush. Share contact details (hm, will that even work?) and offer to contact Jimmy later through whispers.
We can always give details for a social media platform. Discord, etc.
>We can talk about "mutually beneficial" stuff there.

wait lol, Leggy Lass was renown 1. She really WAS scrub-tier.

>>3539743
Question: Is Cross-faction collusion like Jimmy is proposing against the rules of this game? If it is then explain that we don't want to get banned and
>You have zero interest in anything Jimmy has to offer. Time to bail.

If cross-faction collusion is allowed, then


>Briefly describe your time in the instance and the fight against Leggy Lass. It's not like it's all some great secret - is it?
>Come to think of it, this is the second time a Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?
>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.

Also tell him that before we do any colluding we need to do our instance first, that's the reason we came here and the reason why we kept our warband alive.

>>3539743
Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?

Express mistrust of Jimmy's actions and character - he's a self-admitted opportunist who screwed over his own teammates just to have a conversation with you. That hardly instills confidence in any possible future partnership with him.

>>3539743
>>Briefly describe your time in the instance and the fight against Leggy Lass. It's not like it's all some great secret - is it?
>>Come to think of it, this is the second time a Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?
>>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.

Interesting... The fun part about opportunists is that your can trust not to trust them. As long as he believes he gets something more from this, he'll be happy to keep it up. I'm curious as to what, exactly, he sees fit to gain... Unless champion v champion is disallowed? In which case he has no recourse to gank people for gear or etc. He'd have to have a monster player, and a good one, on tap to accomplish this otherwise.

>>3539743
>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.
>Even if you're interested, here and now is not the place and time for this conversation - you're still worried about this being a setup for an ambush. Share contact details (hm, will that even work?) and offer to contact Jimmy later through whispers.

Worst case we just share usernames and get in contact over the forum

>>3539743
>>Come to think of it, this is the second time a Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?
>>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.
>>Express mistrust of Jimmy's actions and character - he's a self-admitted opportunist who screwed over his own teammates just to have a conversation with you. That hardly instills confidence in any possible future partnership with him.
>>Even if you're interested, here and now is not the place and time for this conversation - you're still worried about this being a setup for an ambush. Share contact details (hm, will that even work?) and offer to contact Jimmy later through whispers.

>>3539743
>>3540051
Also state that if cross-collusion is a bannable offence then we're not chancing it.

Guys if collusion was bannable our character would know

>>3539753
Support.

>>3539743
Well to put it simply I took calculated risks but I didn't push my luck with the impossible, ran into a camping chump who was just awful beat her to death and took a souvenir.
>Come to think of it, this is the second time a Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?
>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.
I assume as long as its more beneficial for him to stick with us he won't stab us in the back, and with the way he's explaining it there's probably not many players that'd fit that Bill.

>Even if you're interested, here and now is not the place and time for this conversation - you're still worried about this being a setup for an ambush. Share contact details (hm, will that even work?) and offer to contact Jimmy later through whispers
Mostly because we're being chased, partially because we need to keep working on leveling.

I mean I think I can pretty much grasp what the dude is trying to get at, we have the ability to respawn huge amounts of cannon fodder at or around our own level via the warband, essentially if the dude boosts us he gets a raiding party that can recoup with little to no loss, as well as the potential to spawn in high level monsters (once we’re boosted and use the warband once an hour thing) to grind on with little/no repercussions on his side as well as the unique traits monsters have (like adaptations) which could be beneficial for raids in more treacherous biomes and we have what are clearly quest important npcs in our company, dude is a clever opportunist just like us

>>3540580
Plus there’s the potential for monster specific crafted items that hero’s might not get access too

>>3540586
I mean realistically if this dude is after monster equipment not only does he have to track down a monster of high enough level to be able to craft the equipment; the dude then needs to hope that the specific monster he’s after has the specific equipment he wants and then needs to kill said monster (which might be high level) in hopes of a chance of getting the equipment and it not getting turned to garbage, clearly an easier route is just allying with a monster, or at least that’s my two cents.

>>3540580
I was thinking more along the lines of farming mobs and players that require monster-triggered instances and events.

We don't know if players can enter a monster instance, but if he can ever let us take a settlement, he can most definitely trigger a counter-raid and sweep all the monster players that will congregate in there.

I think monster-related augments are more likely than straight equipment. Maybe there's special materials to obtain from monoliths?

>>3539743
No one else is worried that he's glancing at the ninja getting into position and let the dumbass elf die for being an idiot?

>>3540654
the monster's still close to us, Jimmy could be keeping an eye on that.

and well, even if it is, what would we do? If we can't even outrun a tank, I don't really have much hope for getting away.

>>3539743
>Come to think of it, this is the second time a Champion has indicated the Muckraker kobolds are somehow important. Why is that?
>Admit you find his reasoning behind the offer intriguing and ask how he envisions the "mutually beneficial" part working.
>Even if you're interested, here and now is not the place and time for this conversation - you're still worried about this being a setup for an ambush. Share contact details (hm, will that even work?) and offer to contact Jimmy later through whispers.

Is it so hard to envision that in a game that one would seek to find friends or companions with brains? Dude probably teamed with randos and is lookin' to make friendos for access to stuff he can't get or to team up and kill mobs.

>>3540679
I suppose it could be him looking at his chat interface too, which is more likely.

But brings up its own set of suspicions

>>3539753
>>3539788
>>3539976
>>3540364
So here's how it all went down with Leggy Lass..

>>3539788
>>3539943
>>3539976
>>3540051
>>3540134
>>3540508
>>3540706
Why is everyone so interested in your kobolds anyway?

>>3539753
>>3540014
>>3540051
>>3540134
>>3540364
>>3540508
>>3540706
Share contact details, have a more in-depth conversation at a later place/date

>>3539788
>>3539976
>>3540014
>>3540051
>>3540134
>>3540508
>>3540706
So how is the "mutually beneficial" part going to work anyway?

>>3539788
>>3540134
Make sure collusion isn't a bannable offense

>>3539943
>>3540051
>>3540134
But how can you trust him, really?

----------

So looks like we have three clear winners for conversation topics, the request to pick this up later, when we're under less pressure being one of them. Alright, I can work with that.

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"I just took calculated risks and didn't push my luck when it wasn't necessary," you decide to gloss over the warband tutorial. "There was a Champion waiting in ambush right outside the instance, but they were awful and I killed them."

"A Champion?" Jimmy asks. "As in - just one?"

"Yeah."

"Lucky you, brooski. Verrry lucky. The camp there is usually five parties deep."

"Really?" you frown. "Why? I mean, is there something special about the kobolds from that instance? That Champion I fought also mentioned them, come to think of it."

"Shows how new you are that you don't know, brooski," Jimmy tells you, grinning. "For us Champions, those blue guys have a chance to drop a fragment of a map that supposedly leads to some special dungeon. And the only source of those kobolds is that particular tutorial instance. Plus, most players coming out the instance do it with one kobold, maybe two tops. So for you to have three... Don't suppose you'd be willing to do a trade?"

It takes you a moment to comprehend what he's asking.

"No," you shake your head firmly, already tensing up to bolt just in case this provokes the Champion into-

"Fair enough," Jimmy shrugs with an easy smile. "Though mind telling me why, brooski? I get those NPCs probably have some skills, but they also put a big target on your back. Larger than that Deadly status, I'd say - do you have any idea how much those map fragments are worth on the market? The moment news starts spreading that someone's tooling around the zone with three blue kobolds in tow, you'll have dozens, hundreds of players coming after you. So since you'll lose them eventually anyway, wouldn't it make sense to at least get something for it?"

You debate with yourself on just how much to tell Jimmy - given that he seems oblivious to the existence of the quest.

"I have an objective tied to keeping all three of them alive," you say finally.

"Reeeeeally?" Jimmy's grin threatens to cause the top of his head to fall off. "Then by all means, consider the matter dropped, brooski. But can I at least assume that since we're still talking it's because you're interested in a partnership."

"First explain what would be involved in this 'mutually beneficial' relationship."

"Anything, really," the other player shrugs. "Mostly trading: information, items, favors... I imagine you'd certainly enjoy getting gear of a higher grade than what monster players are allowed to craft. Maybe I could even help you with some of your Infamy targets - how's that sound, brooski?"

"Like you're waving shiny things in front of my face to distract me from the price tag."

This time Jimmy's laughter is loud enough that you look around nervously, worried he's going to aggro something.

"Fair enough, brooski, fair enough," he tells you through the last few chuckles. "But you'd be surprised at how few people call me out - so can you blame me for trying? But as to what I'd want from you: things you can do that a Champion can't."

"Such as?"

(>cont.)

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"Dicking over other Champions," Jimmy says with an almost disturbingly direct frankness. "The devs, bless their jaded hearts, realized that if allowed to, a good portion of Champion players would be repeatedly ganking one another for loot, for framing spots, or just for fun. And don't get me wrong, you can still do all of that, but unprovoked, unsanctioned PvP is a bad, bad idea for the attacker."

"Why is that?"

"Well, for starters, he loses Heroic Spirit, which basically - and don't take this the wrong way, brooski - turns him into a monster player. As in, wounds can actually affect him and he can even be instakilled with a lucky shot. Also, there are various places in cities he can no longer go, anyone can dunk on him without- hold for just a minute."

Jimmy turns and walks a few steps away from the tree you're hiding on, and begins speaking - seemingly to the air.

"Heyah, kitteh, nice to- Wow, you sound mad."

This is followed by a lengthy pause, during which Jimmy motions with one hand back and forth, as if conducting an orchestra.

"But you didn't die," he says eventually. "Like I knew you wouldn't. Cause you a ninja kitteh. Best damn ninja kitteh on the server. I knew I could- So what about him? He sucked anyway. You know it, I know it - we were going to dump him the second we got back to the outpost. Saves us a trip. Anyway, you good? Safe? Where? Yeah, same. Cause I thought I saw a blue kobold with him. Yeah. No. He tried to lead me into one of those Tree Wraiths. Didn't realize those things have AoE for days. Yeah," the Champion turns, looks up at you and gives you an exaggerated wink. "He's basically meat now. I'm talking chunks. Yeah, and the whole warband. Well, win some, lose some, right? You sure you're fine where you are? Great. But hey, it's getting late so I'm probably going to find a place to hole up and log for the night. Sure. Same time? Great. Night, kitteh."

"Best damn ninja on the server?" you ask when Jimmy once again looks toward you.

"I work with the tools I'm given, brooski," he shrugs, grinning unapologetically. "And a bit of creative flattery has never hurt anyone. But where were we again?"

"Actually - and don't take this the wrong way - but I'd rather get going," you say. "If my current warband is really such a trouble magnet, I want to cover as much ground as I can while it's still dark. I am interested in at least discussing things further, though," you add quickly. "I don't suppose monsters and Champions can add one another as contacts?"

"Good question," Jimmy says. "One way to find out."

He looks off to the side and, a moment later, a notification pops up on your HUD.

>You received a friend request from rightbastard.7088 Accept? Y/N

Huh.

>(cont.)

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"Still think it's just an oversight, brooski?" Jimmy asks as you accept the request, then raises one finger suddenly. "Oh, right! Was meaning to ask you: any chance you still have that augment you picked up in your instance? Didn't use it all up yet?"

"Why?" you ask cautiously.

"Well, when you used it - you did use it at least once, right? - did you notice anything strange about the status it inflicts?"

You frown, thinking back to the two fights in which you used Earth's Venom. Both times it seemed like a fairly standard damage over time effect. Finally, you're forced to shrug and shake your head.

"Understandable I guess, what with you being new and all, so I'll give you a hint: You probably got hit with or inflicted at least one other status effect at some point, right? Well... did you notice how they all had a defined duration - usually in seconds?"

You blink. You frown. You blink again. You look down at your dagger, then back at Jimmy. He smiles and nods.

"That one's most certainly an oversight and will likely get patched out soon," he says. "But until then, that particular augment is worth a lot, and I mean a lot to the right kind of people. Obviously the final price depends just on how many charges are left on that thing, but even if it's only one it's still going to fetch a good price. If you'd be willing to part with it, of course."

"I'm not sure if I could even if I wanted to," you admit. "It's-"

"Slotted into your Bound Weapon, right, brooski?" Jimmy nods understandingly. "Well, it just so happens that I have on me an Augment Extractor tool. It typically works by destroying either the augment in order to free up the slot, or the item, in order to retrieve the augment, but since Bound Items are unbreakable by default, in this case you'd just separate the two. So the only question is whether you'd want to," he grins. "And what you'd ask for it."

>No deal. You're hoping that the quest you're currently on will lead you to a means to remove the "Cracked" status
>Sure, it only has one charge left anyway (write-in suggestions for what to ask for in return)
>Other

>>3543696
>No deal. You're hoping that the quest you're currently on will lead you to a means to remove the "Cracked" status
>But if it turns out to not be the case we will contact him for that trade.

>>3543696
>No deal. It's probably my best move for a long time.
>But let me ask you a question: you know what it's called, right? Tear of the something something? Have there ever been other augments with this naming series?
>Because if there aren't, and it happens to be a unique trait of this line of augment mats, you could be priority number 1 customer if I find some more.

>>3543696
No deal. You're hoping that the quest you're currently on will lead you to a means to remove the "Cracked" status

Oh my i bet the map pices that they drop is for the hiden kings lair, which means i dont think anyone has completed the blue boys quest befor, all the sexy loot and story just for us oh boy.

>>3543712
+1 also accept friend request

>>3543696
>>No deal. You're hoping that the quest you're currently on will lead you to a means to remove the "Cracked" status

Explain to him that if all Monster players with the Muckraker kobolds get hunted down for the map pieces, then that must mean very few monsters could have possibly completed the follow-up quest. We want to be one of, or even THE first. There's also the possibility that the quest will give us more augments like this or map fragments. Until then, we want to keep every advantage we have.

>>3543789
Two words that'll light the fires of greed in a player's heart. "New loot".

>>3543789
>Agreed and support

>>3543696
Supporting >>3543789

>>3543696
>>3543789
Maniacal Laughter commences in 3... 2... 1...

I misread kitteh as kitten and was very confused

>>3543696
Raise an non existent eyebrow and accept the friend request.

I feel like not selling the poison is just following that mentality of hoarding everything, I kind of like that though.

>No deal. You're hoping that the quest you're currently on will lead you to a means to remove the "Cracked" status

We're going to hold onto it for a touch longer, but if we can't get it to increase its usage a little or improve it you have the first shot at it.
If these kobolds paint such a massive target on my back there must be some benefit to managing to keep them alive, you'll be the first to know if that's true.
Who knows, manage to keep them alive long enough maybe they'll make the entire map. That seems to be what they their objective is anyway.

So, you have a couple champions you don't like so much?

>>3543696
>No deal. You're hoping that the quest you're currently on will lead you to a means to remove the "Cracked" status
>Offer him first buyers rights once you're done with the quest chain
Let's start thinking of a wish list given our constraints of only being able to carry whatever we can fit on our back.

>>3544831
I'll support that.

First item on the wishlist is armor and a helmet.

>>3544856
Crafting / gathering tools would be useful too, that way we can actually gather stuff quickly and make better quality gear ourselves.

Do we need to equip our warband?I assume they get baseline shit gear but I imagine anons will want to make them less expendable.

>>3545058
Some dirt cheap champion gear would probably be a step up from everything they've got right now. If we could get some that obscures their skin too it would probably benefit us.

>>3545058
Yes. We still need to experiment with that, but it might be BETTER to give them gear before giving ourselves gear.

>>3544856
while the most valuable, it's also the most troublesome to request. Kobolds have extremely different head and body shapes compared to champions, after all. We're gonna have to accept the modification penalty for quite a while.

>>3544831
Something full body to cover the blue of the Muckrakers.
Tools, of course.
Stuff to upgrade Bound weapons also seems prudent to me.

>>3545176
>Something full body to cover the blue of the Muckrakers.
Paint.

>>3545216
Mud or just become a bush

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>>3545237
>ghillie-bolds

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You don't even need time to think on the answer - you're already shaking your head almost before Jimmy is done talking.

"Don't get me wrong, I bet there are all kinds of things you can offer that I wouldn't mind getting my hands on," you tell the disappointed Champion. "But here's how I see it: you said that you haven't heard of another kobold player coming out of the instance with three Muckrakers, right?"

"Oh, is that what they're called?" Jimmy says, nodding.

"Yeah... wait, what do they show up as for you?"

"Kobold Scavenger - very generic. It's only their color that makes them stand out - most kobolds you'll see running around are some shade of brown, green, or gray - like you."

Huh.

"Either way, the quest I have is contingent on me having those three kobolds with me - and just so you know, these are the only three in the instance that can even join you. And if the exit is usually camped as badly as you say, it stands to reason that next to no one would have completed the quest - or would even know it exists."

"Makes sense," Jimmy steeples his fingers thoughtfully. "Might be you're onto something here, brooski. But how does that relate to the augment?"

"Well, it's not like I have any solid proof for this," you shrug and hesitate slightly. "But based on some of the story and background stuff I found in the instance, the augment might be involved in the next part. Or parts," you add after a moment's thought. "So I'd rather hold onto it just on the off chance that there's a way to restore it. Or even improve it. But if it turns out I'm wrong, I'll happily sell it to you then. And tell you what: any unique loot I get in that quest chain that I can't use: you're the first guy I'll hit up for a trade. Sound good?"

"Sounds excellent, brooski," Jimmy grins. "I'll hold you to that promise. Now..." he pauses, once again looking off to the side and his expression turns to a frown. "Unfortunately, looks like we'll have to cut this short. Real life's calling."

There is another pause, a few objects materialize in his hand and he sets them down on the forest floor - you see a glint of glass among them.

"I don't do charity or gifts, brooski," he tells you. "So consider this an investment. Cause no matter how well you think you've got everything together, sometimes shit just happens, right?"

With that, Jimmy the Furious gives you a mock salute, turns, and quickly disappears among the trees.

>rightbastard.7088 is now Offline

>(cont.)

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You wait a few minutes before descending the tree, peering and listening into the darkness for anyone or anything that may be hiding there. It's not that you don't trust Jimmy... well, actually, you don't trust him at all. He's a self-described opportunist and made zero effort to convince you otherwise during your conversation.

Though, somewhat ironically, this means you can trust not to trust him... if that makes sense. He will deal with you and even help you for as long as he stands to gain something from it - correction - for as long as he stands to gain more than he would by screwing you over. He said it himself: right now, you're an investment. And it's your job to live up to his expectations.

If you want to, that is. You're just a couple of random assholes on a server shard populated by thousands or tens of thousands of players. If you wanted to you could, with minimal effort, ensure neither of you ever sees the other again.

For now, you grab the items he left you, stuff them into your backpack without looking, and run off into the forest, juking and weaving between trees and under bushes for a few minutes until you're absolutely certain there's no one following you. Only then do you climb another tree, settle yourself in the branches, and examine what you received.

Two Small Healing Potions, one Antivenom, one Recovery Potion and two Smoke Bombs. Just a bunch of consumables then. Nothing amazing or, you imagine, very valuable, but you're not going to scoff at free stuff.

After stowing your new acquisitions away, you locate your warband, who've all taken up residence in a tall ash.

"So turns out you guys have an informal bounty out on you," you say, mostly to yourself, as they rejoin you on the ground. "We'll have to think about some way to change or conceal your color."

"I don't understand," Koriat says.

"Yeah, figures," you sigh. Stealth, subterfuge and camouflage - while AIs proved capable of all of those in laboratory conditions and while operating with a limited set of known factors, carrying over those abilities onto open market AIs expected to go up against flesh and blood humans with all of their innate inventiveness presented a significant problem. There were simply too many factors and unknowns to consider and, perhaps even more pertinently, the processing power a random VRMMO mob has at its disposal is incomparably smaller to that of a program operating out of its own, bespoke server farm.

Which, you suspect, is why Stealth isn't even a skill in TGO - or at least you've been unable to find anything like it on your skill tree. You suspect it's basically a so-called "player skill." As in, if you want to be stealthy and sneaky, you can - you just can't expect the game to help you out in that regard.

Which means that keeping Champion attention off your warband is entirely up to you.

>(cont.)

>Just get moving again. One unfortunate encounter aside, nighttime has done wonders at keeping you safe so far. You want to cover as much ground as possible before dawn arrives.
>Stay put at least until your Deadly status expires - only twenty three minutes left now. Use the time to come up with some kind of camouflage for the warband. Aren't there warpaint options or something? Or at least the ability to roll in mud?
>Other

>>3550122
Stay put at least until your Deadly status expires - only twenty three minutes left now. Use the time to come up with some kind of camouflage for the warband. Aren't there warpaint options or something? Or at least the ability to roll in mud?

>>3550115

>Just get moving again
Once we're in the instance we can safely dick around with all the menus we want.

>>3550122
>Just get moving again

>>3550122
>>Just get moving again. One unfortunate encounter aside, nighttime has done wonders at keeping you safe so far. You want to cover as much ground as possible before dawn arrives.

Run straight for the instance. How far away is it now?

>>3550122
>Get moving

>>3550122
I'd say get moving, at least until we're far away from the monsters with AOE out the arse.
Before we leave the forest completely though we should try to disguise them if at all possible. I think basically coating them in war paint is a good idea, I think the best way to do it would be to do our best for a camouflage pattern. Helps them be unseen and disguises what they really are.

>>3550122
>Just get moving again. One unfortunate encounter aside, nighttime has done wonders at keeping you safe so far. You want to cover as much ground as possible before dawn arrives.
RIP shield I guess.

>>3550122
>Just get moving again. One unfortunate encounter aside, nighttime has done wonders at keeping you safe so far. You want to cover as much ground as possible before dawn arrives.
Then it's mud time.

Could we like... rub some mud on them? Feels like it'd work a lil bit.

>>3550122
>Stay put at least until your Deadly status expires - only twenty three minutes left now. Use the time to come up with some kind of camouflage for the warband. Aren't there warpaint options or something? Or at least the ability to roll in mud?

>>3550165
>>3551455
>>3551418
Stay put.

>>3550262
>>3550305
>>3550329
>>3550645
>>3551377
>>3550557
Head out.

>>3550122
Is it too late to go get another trophy off Sunny?

>>3551664
Uh? Way, way too late. We basically have an army of champions in the way of that plus a skeletal army.

>>3551664
Also we really dont want another trophy anyway. We need to gear up and hopefully attempt the quest before worrying about stuff like exp rates.

File: swamp4.jpg (195 KB, 1600x1180)

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You decide that you already have the best cover you can possibly have - darkness. And with nearly four kilometers still to go to the quest marker, you need to take full advantage of it while it still lasts.

Commanding the warband to fall in behind you, you set out once again. The going is, at first, fairly slow: unwilling to risk needless engagements in the darkness, you stop frequently to study the movement patters of nearby threats and give them a wide berth - particularly those your Perception fails to identify, on the off chance that they might be Champion players. As a result, you cover barely a third of the remaining distance by the time your Deadly status finally expires. On the upside, this does allow you to move faster, especially since by then you're already starting to see scraps of gray sky through the canopy - TGO's two-hour night is nearing its end.

With visibility improving and the noise markers on your HUD becoming less frequent as night creatures retreat back to their lairs (or possibly simply despawn), you pick up pace, mindful of the fact that you and your warband can also be seen far more easily now. By then, the ground under your feet is becoming muddy and spongy as the terrain transitions from forest to the more familiar swamp you originally spawned in and, despite yourself, the uncertain tension that accompanied you while sneaking through the darkness begins turning into a jittery sense of urgency.

You clamp down on it as best you can, well aware that this is a feedback loop of adrenaline and worry practically designed to make you act stupid. You force yourself to go slow, to avoid open ground even if it means taking a longer route, and to pay more attention to your surroundings and less to the marker.

1.5km remaining.

1.48km

1.4- no!

But then you're less than a kilometer away and the distance begins to display in meters. And it makes the jitters so much worse.

700m remaining

650m

620m

60-

Perhaps your Perception is simply too low. Perhaps you somehow miss the HUD notification. Either way, you round a tree at a jog and almost trip over a player skinning a dead murk lurker.

She looks up at you, eyes wide with surprise.

You stare back, similarly frozen in place, though your mind is already busy taking in and analyzing the details.

Champion. Female. That cat person race, Koitlen or something. Name: Vanessa Cinderfrost. Stupidly revealing black robes. An ornate wooden staff lying on the ground next to her. Caster.

>Dogpile the cat wizard before she starts casting!
>Drop a smoke bomb and run!
>You're technically not in combat yet... you think. Blow the horn for reinforcements!
>Grab the staff and fling it away!
>Other

Note that while this could technically count as a multivote depending on what people decide to do, the most important thing here is what you'll do first, while you still have the element of surprise.

>>3551689
Hmm, I think we've been pushing our luck way too much lately.
We have no idea how strong this cat is other then she took on a murk lurker single handedly, we also don't know how far behind the other champions are.

Ugh, this is why I wanted to try disguise the kobolds before we left the forest completely.

The staff is probably her bound weapon I don't remember if the instantly returns to her but if it doesn't then grab it and hurl it before throwing a smoke bomb right in her face.
I'm not exaggerating here, throw the smoke ball directly at the cats face.
Then basically book it while leaving a probably blinded and heavily cursing cat girl behind us.

>>3551689
>Grab the staff
>Smoke bomb
>Run/Order everyone to run

>>3551697
I don't think we're prevented from grabbing Bound items, so it being bound is more in our favor: any option that lets you resummon your Bound weapon most likely requires you to be out of combat, giving us a head start to rush to the instance point as well as the opportunity to blow the horn.

>>3551689
>Grab staff
>Run
>Engage Benny Hill macros

>>3551689
If it's a lone caster, without her casting implement, we could probably take her on. But considering we are so close to the instance legging it is an option.

Either way yoink that staff then yeet it away first.

Yoink and run.
>Grab the staff
>Smoke bomb
>Run/Order everyone to run

>>3551689
>Drop a smoke bomb and run!
>Grab the staff
>Other "Hi. Bye."

>>3551689
Drop a smoke bomb and run
Say smoke bomb
>Grab the staff and fling it away!

>>3551689
>>Dogpile the cat wizard before she starts casting!
We and Banished melee her with our daggers, Targun with his spear and Korait attacks with his bow. If Korait is unable to shoot her without hitting the rest of us then he just uses his dagger too.

>Grab the staff
>Run

>>3551689
>Grab the staff
>Drop a smoke bomb and run!

>>3551689
>Grab the staff and fling it away!
>Dogpile the cat wizard before she starts casting!

>>3551689
>Grab the staff and fling it away!
>Drop a smoke bomb and run!
>You're technically not in combat yet... you think. Blow the horn for reinforcements!

If the staff and smoke bomb don't technically start combat, blow the horn while running for a meatshield to protect the important goods/grunts.

>>3551689
>>Grab the staff
>>Drop a smoke bomb and run!

First Action:

>>3551698
>>3551711
>>3551797
>>3552360
>>3552441
>>3552929
Grand Theft Staff

>>3551697
>>3551724
>>3552659
>>3552699
Kobold Staff Toss

>>3551846
>>3552160
Drop smoke

>>3552189
Dogpile!

----------

As followup, the majority consensus seems to be to drop smoke and run like hell.

>>3554578
Yea that sounds about right.

>>3554578
Pretty much

>>3554578
Honestly, we'll likely drop the staff somewhere to avoid being burdened by it later.

>>3554578
I'm really glad stealing a random stranger's stuff is our first reaction.

>>3554832
Well we are a kobold, we have to play our character at least a little bit.

>>3554832
>>3555026
It's cute. And endearing. I'm sure they'll find it adorable.

File: vanessa cinderfrost.jpg (66 KB, 800x1140)

66 KB JPG

You're the first to shake off the shock of the sudden encounter. You let your eyes trail off to the side and you move as if breaking right, but then you dash left, going low to pick up the staff and then immediately jumping away to put distance between you and the Champion.

You stumble, the weapon surprisingly heavy and sending tingling sensations up your arm while a urgent-looking tooltip pops up on your HUD, but you're too busy fumbling for the smoke bomb at your belt while ordering the warband to fall back.

"Hey!" the other player protests, her hand frozen in a belated attempt to grab her weapon. "Hey, give that-"

It's as far as she gets before you bounce the smoke bomb off her forehead.

There is a loud "PAFF" and your world fills with dense, white, disorienting smoke. Simultaneously, a large portion of your HUD simply disappears: most notably the instance marker and the Warband window.

You stagger out of the smoke a couple of seconds later, only barely avoiding tripping over a root and face first into a tree and look around wildly, reorienting yourself as interface elements fade back into view. Behind you, the Champion begins yelling: "Rory! Rory! Help!"

Any lingering ideas you had of pursuing a Champion kill vanish immediately. Alerted to another player's presence, you circle the smoke cloud toward the warband's markers, struggling under the staff's weight but unwilling to give your position away by shouting orders.

This turns out to be the wrong move.

>(cont.)

File: roderick cinderfrost.jpg (92 KB, 736x883)

92 KB JPG

This time, at least, you're warned by the noise someone crashing through the undergrowth just ahead, but this comes too late to alter course - and so you're confronted with the view of a fully armored cat person emerging directly into your path, sword in hand and worry painted across his face.

By then you're already airborne, having realized that, given your speed and the weight of the carried staff, you won't be able to slow down or maneuver around him - but that you can use the weapon as an improvised vaulting pole.

In the split second before your feet connect with his face, your HUD supplies you the Champion's name: Roderick Cinderfrost.

He, on the other hand, does not see you coming at all.

The attack's impact on his HP is nonexistent. However, physics do their job: caught mid-step, the Champion stumbles from the impact, too surprised to even shout. And then the game decides to reward you further...

Acrobatics Skill Acquired: Rank 1

...your body suddenly acting practically on its own, using the staff, still braced against the ground, as leverage to twist in midair, turning what would be a numbing fall from the apex of your vault into a heavy and somewhat awkward, but still upright landing on your feet.

A loud clatter of metal signals Roderick running into a tree and falling to the ground.

"Hi," you announce to his prone form. "And bye."

You disappear into the same undergrowth the Champion emerged from, followed by cursing and renewed cries of distress from Vanessa. Moments later, you're with the warband, barking at them to follow as you run past, concerned mostly with putting as much distance between yourself and the two Champions in as short time as possible.

It's at this point that your HUD flashes a warning at you and you gawp, nearly losing your step: half your stamina bar is gone! And what remains is visibly shrinking.

"What the..." your mind snapping back to the ignored tooltip, you bring it back up, scanning the words quickly: The magic inherent to Bound Items does not respond kindly to another attempting to wield them...

You skid to a halt, pivot on one foot and, with a mighty heave, toss the staff into a pool of water overgrown with bulrushes, the weapon disappearing from view with a splash.

A quick check of your character screen confirms that in the thirty seconds or so since you grabbed the staff, you've built up more than 50% Fatigue.

You wait for a few seconds for your stamina to recover but then, just as you're about to tear off again, a thought strikes you and you delay for just long enough to set a waypoint on the spot where you threw the staff.

Then you're off running again, fear of being tracked by two angry Champions winning against caution. You aim yourself toward the instance marker - though you're careful to give wide berth to the site of your encounter - and, by some fortune, you cover the remaining distance without incident.

Correction: almost without incident.

>(cont.)

File: forest 2.jpg (117 KB, 1024x773)

117 KB JPG

The entrance to the instance is less than fifty meters away and within sight - a dense thicket of twisted trees and bushes that you realize you'll have to climb over or crawl under to pass. You seem to have a clear shot at reaching it, with no other players or creatures in sight, and your status shows you are no longer considered to be in combat.

But then a distant, mournful bell tolls out and scarlet letters flash across your HUD.

The Heavens have recognized your crimes. An Oath of the Hunt has been declared against you by Roderick Cinderfrost, Renown 1 Champion

"Oh what the hell..."

Several new lines of text appear in your quest window.

Oathsworn Hunt
--Survive (5h59m)
-- (Optional) Kill Roderick Cinderfrost (0/1)

Unsurprisingly, a tooltip pops up - though it's one of those densely written ones with multiple pages to advance through.

>And you can read through them once you're safe inside the instance. Head in immediately.
>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.
>Other

>>3556168
>>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.

>>3556168
>>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.

>>3556168
>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.

>>3556168
Start reading it now but tell our kobolds to watch for danger and alert us the second one of the champions start getting closer.

>>3556168
>>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.
>>3556379
supporting.

I have a feeling this quest makes you unable to enter instances. So in other words, we're fucked.

>>3556465
>Check to see what happens to warband kobolds when you log out
>Get them to hide if they don't just disappear
>Log out

>>3556477
They revert to normal AI.

>>3556500
Not true. That's what happens when the warband's leader dies. What happens to them when you log out hasn't been covered yet.

>>3556168
And you can read through them once you're safe inside the instance. Head in immediately.

>>3556379
Might as well use thr horn to bring in more guys

>>3556639
I think everyone's senses are telling them that this guy is gonna have special permission to enter our instance and fuck our storyline up on account of this weird thing he declared.

>>3556714
Or it could just be a dule thingy that he paid for, if anythibg its probs more to do that we took the catgirls staff, as to y he put that on us,
Hopefully let them know where we putt her staff might be even to get that hunt bullshit off us

>>3556168
>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.
A quick general look to know what are we dealing with.

>>3556168
>>Skim

>>35561685
5 currencies says we either A.) can't enter an instance B.) the timer doesn't go down while we're inside C.) if the timer expires before we engage him, we lose stats or something.

>>3556168
>Wait up, your bullshit senses are tingling. Stop, take a breath, and read the tooltip now.
We need to eat anyway

>>3556642
Blowing a horn is not strictly a good idea. We've got two champions on our tail and sounding the horn might be a gigantic "Look! I'm right here! Come kill me and my rare kobolds!"

>>3556855
Probably not the latter one, that's way too easily abused.

I bet five currencies that like a bounty, except that it might possibly get npcs to target us.

>>3556174
>>3556203
>>3556240
>>3556379
>>3556465
>>3556912
Do the reading now.

>>3556639
Do the reading inside the instance.

>>3556770
>>3556779
Just skim the info

File: kobold studying.png (251 KB, 410x550)

251 KB PNG

Something seems off. By which you mean that simply the amount of ceremony with which the game alerted you to becoming the target of this Oath points toward it being something you'll want to learn about before making any other decisions.

So you slow down and lead your warband into the thicket with the instance entrance mere meters away, within easy reach. There, you sit down in a place that gives you a good view of the route you just traveled and pull out a field ration, consuming it as you read through the tooltip.

It begins with a general overview of the Oath/Vendetta mechanics, which are presented as a request for aid from the Heavens or the Vile Powers from a player seeking retribution against another. The tooltip then explicitly warns that this is not something that should be called upon lightly, with any Oath/Vendetta invocation incurring a cost in currency, materials, or even Unbound XP that's calculated based on multiple factors: most prominently, the reason behind the invocation and the rank/power disparity between the invoker and the target.

Furthermore, an Oath is essentially a wager: the abilities it grants are not to be called upon lightly and the one who invokes them is expected to accomplish his task within the time limit, or risk incurring the wrath of the powers he meddled with. This means that, in addition to the upfront cost, the player who declares and then fails one faces long-term debuffs, along with restrictions on the ability to declare new ones in the future.

Additionally, as the target of an Oath - and an Oath of the Hunt in particular - you actually enjoy several potential benefits. In no particular order these are:
--You can only be the target of a single Oath at a time. Additionally, whether you survive or not, you cannot be targeted by another Oath for 7 days from the moment the current one ends. Similarly, even if he succeeds, Roderick will not be able to declare another Oath against anyone else for 7 days.
--Should you actually survive an Oathsworn Hunt, you will be awarded the resources Roderick contributed toward declaring the Oath. Since you're a monster, currency contributions will be converted into Unbound XP
--If you manage to actually kill Roderick, you will also gain Favor with the Vile Powers (though the tooltip does not go into detail on this particular mechanic beyond mentioning it)

>(cont.)

However, this is where the good news ends:
--The 6 hour timer on the hunt will only count down while both you and Roderick are online, so you can't simply wait it out by logging off
--Roderick will constantly be aware of the approximate direction and distance between the two of you. Once he approaches close enough, he will be able to pinpoint you - much as if you were still under the Deadly status. Though apparently you'll at least know when he's nearby as well.
--Most frustratingly, as an Oathsworn Hunter, Roderick will be able to track and fight you anywhere, ignoring the typical restrictions on safe or PvP free zones: including the ability to follow you into instances - though this, at least, is restricted solely to him. The tooltip explicitly states that the Hunter cannot bring friends, companions, or party members into instances.

Which still sounds like complete bullshit, to be quite honest. Especially since you felt quite proud of coming up with a plan to use instances to wait out the Deadly status. Does that mean that idea wouldn't have worked either? Or is it just that the Oaths are so special?

Either way, you're glad that you at least took the ti-

The Oathsworn Hunter draws near his prey!

Shit.

The instance seems like an obvious choice. Every moment you spend in the open world increases the chance of encountering another champion and losing one of your quest critical NPCs. On the other hand, you don't know what's waiting for you on the other side. What if you get thrown into combat immediately and then have the Champion show up right behind you?

Remaining in the open world, while inherently riskier, would at least give you some room to maneuver. You could get ahead of him and probably stay ahead until he gets tired of chasing you around. Alternately, you could try to find a good ambush site that would provide some advantage in a fight. Unfortunately, that would also most likely mean having to deal with Vanessa - as well as anyone else Roderick convinces to come along on this hunt.

>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Just run for now.

Also:

>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn
>Hold off on it for now

>>3557584
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
Even if we get into combat with something else it likely wouldn't be any friendlier to Roderick. And if by some miracle we get friendly npcs which is kind of typical after such a major disaster of our first instance Roderick might be facing an army.
However if we choose not to enter we can't fight him, we struggled facing one champion we can't risk facing multiple.

Blowing the horn will lower our cohesiveness won't it? Still the extra backup might be invaluable and commanding more kobolds might increase how fast our leadership levels up.
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn

>>3557584
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn

>>3557584
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn
It kind of seems like an overreaction on Rodericks part to declare an Oathsworn Hunt on us. True, we did kind of attacked his sister, but it was only to ensure our sound escape, not with a purpose to kill.
By using such big guns on a fly like us at the drop of a hat, Roderick seems like a newb, or at least somewhat naive player.
If at all possible if we meet at that instance without immediate danger around us, I would like to propose him a deal.
This is a rare opportunity for him to experience a probably never before seen monster instance, so how about he just goes along and not mess everything?
If its about the staff, and they having problems finding it(strange it being a bound weapon and all, but still a possibility), just say where we dropped it in return for him letting us finish this damned quest.
Penalties are way too high for him to call the Hunt off, but it shouldn't take us more than 5h to finish up the instance, so lets just say that we will gladly duel him after quest is done, before Hunt timer runs out.

Basically, put our best foot forward, this is all a misunderstanding, let us finish this and we will duel with you in honor or whatever. Banking on him being a somewhat naive but good sport.
Pipe dream? Maybe, but its worth a try and can gain us some benefits.

>>3557645
Sacrificing the advantages that ambushing him would give to try talking it out

Nah, man.

>>3557584
>Head into the instance.
>Blow the horn.

>>3557679
>ambushing
He can pinpoint us, there would be no ambush.
The best we could do in that regard is to tell our warband to hide and wait in case he wants to get rid of us here and there, but our character literally can not ambush him.
our warband size is what, 5? 6? 3 of those are Muckrakers that have to live, that leaves 2-3 basic kobolds with lowered cohesion against a catman on a mission. Pretty poor ambush.

>>3557584
>Spend Unbound EXP
If we can level up Leadership, I would like even more warband slots. Otherwise, I think we need to discuss this.
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn
Guess this means we're using that last poison charge. We're getting at least 3 regular kobolds, right? I'm guessing the spread is 1 for each weapon again.


How well can we order our warband to act within smoke bombs? For sure we should managed to apply the poison, but everything else looks like it's going to suck.

Does Leadership affect complexity of orders, or is it only Cohesion that matters? I want for them to be able to act even within the smoke bomb, at least.
>>3557683
the horn applies no cohesion penalties.

Here's my plan so far:
>Give orders to ambush from inside the instance
>1 kobold pulls on each arm, 1 kobold climbs on each arm, trying to rip whatever they're holding out.
>Banished does his thing on the head to blind even more except with a steel dagger
>Apply the poison, then while he's distracted we wrap our (possibly emptied) bag around his neck and pull him to the ground
>Hang back to steal all his shit or be ready for active skills

Should we use Smoke bomb before he enters the instance, or hold on to it to reset aggro on possible monsters?

If not Leadership, what else can we pick up? I don't think our damage is going to matter relative to the poison and the sheer volume of kobolds we have, so I'm thinking either Toughness, Acrobatics, or possibly Looting if it enables us to steal things inside Champion inventories.

>>3557584
>>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn

>>3557685
The horn applies no cohesion penalties as long as it it not used more than once per hour*

>>3557739
Nope. The horn fills all slots once per 24 hours.

The "once per hour" thing is NOT the horn, but the warband menu's forced recruitment option.

>>3557584
Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own

Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn

>>3557584
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn
Gank him while he's still loading in. Cohesion shouldn't matter if we don't need complicated orders. Hopefully we'll summon lots of spearmen and together we can penetrate him over and over again until he falls exhausted and begs for mercy.

>>3558812
>penetrate him over and over again...begs for mercy

Nice.

>>3557584
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Now's the time to fill out your warband. Blow the horn

Lets enter the instance and look around, if there is any mobs maybe we can lead him into them, tenderize him for us.

>>3557584
>Head into the instance. At least this way you'll face Roderick on his own
>Blow the horn.

>>3557584
>Just run
>blow the horn

>>3557612
>>3557617
>>3557645
>>3557679
>>3557685
>>3557700
>>3557858
>>3558812
>>3559044
>>3559159
Enter instance

>>3559548
Just run for now

----------

>>3557612
>>3557617
>>3557645
>>3557679
>>3557685
>>3557700
>>3557858
>>3558812
>>3559044
>>3559159
>>3559548
Toot the trumpet

----------

>>3557685
Leadership doesn't affect AI complexity, no. Also, you don't currently have enough Unbound XP to make any meaningful skill increases (I'll let you know and put it up to vote when/if you do).

That's true about that poison charge... can we shift our weapon to dislodge it from our dagger? I don't wanna lose a potentially unique quest item, even if it would help us immensely here.

>>3560134
fuck that we need to kill him. Infinite poison is our primary dps, everything else is just to lock him down long enough that he doesn't gib us.

If we can't beat him here, we're not completing this questline, which means no chance at getting more tears.

>>3560151
I'm kinda with the other anon, the poison should be used but only if we have no other choice because it is incredibly powerful and valuable.
We're about to get a couple fresh recruits and we might walk into a situation that's advantages to us, it's better to use the poison early on in a fight to get the full damage but it's better still to not have to use it.
We'll need to assess the situation on the other side.

>>3560134
>>3560151
>>3560267

The augment might not totally disappear if we use the last charge, it might just stay there unusable until we find a way to recharge it. Even if we do lose it when we use it we might find another one in the instance anyway.

>>3560276
Nope, the items description says it'll be destroyed when its used up.

>it manifests as a small, seemingly moss-covered orb next to the corpse's hand. Its description identifies it as a weapon augment, which unlocks an attack that inflicts poison damage, but according to the description of its "Cracked" status, it won't regenerate charges and will be destroyed once all of them are depleted.

So, i say we DON'T use the poison until we truly and utterly need it.

>>3560535
Ah, thank you for correcting me. In that case I agree that we should save it.

>>3560555
I mean its op of it type of damg and probs best way of killing a champ
Im sure we would find/get better ones thought out the storyline

>>3560736
Its not that we don't have the possibility of getting a better one, its the fact that this one is potentially special. Fuck, it might be like a dragon claw from Skyrim. Can you sell it (in our case use it to kill the champion and get his loot) and get some coin from it? Absolutely. But then you'd miss quest lines and all the loot those drauger crypts could potentially have.

>>3560736
It certainly is, but if we use it all now and break it rather then trying to recharge it then we'll have nothing the next time we run into a champion, which is a bad thing considering how often we run into them. Most if not all kobolds seem to use this before leaving the instance so we might be blazing a new trail to some ultra powerful poison. Maybe we might even get it to be infinite on a recharge timer or something.

The description of the augment seems to imply that it is capable of being repaired. Specifically it mentions that it won't regenerate charges because of its "Cracked" Status. Maybe this place has some ritual to fix it?

If we can get this thing repaired and rechargeable, we have a great low-level Champion killer.

>>3560850
Probs the only one in the game with how people use it up and keep geting ganked.
If we play this right we can be the only one with auper cool quest iteams

File: kobold gathering.jpg (415 KB, 1000x625)

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You raise the warhorn to your mouth and blow, producing a series of sounds more akin to high-pitched squawks that what you imagine a horn would sound like.

Nevertheless, the result is immediate. Three new names pop up on your display, though perhaps calling them descriptors would be more appropriate, as one Kobold Archer and two Kobold Spearmen appear in your Warband window. On the HUD, their markers appear between fifty and seventy meters away, well out of view - to maintain some sense of immersion, you imagine. They begin moving toward you immediately, their stance defaulting to "Follow".

You hastily add into the GCI group system as they approach, but before you have time to sort out formation adjustments, Koriat declares "Hunter comes!" - huh, so it's a concept NPCs are familiar with?

Roderick walks first, sword already drawn and his shield up in a low guard. Vanessa follows closely, an object visible in her hand: a club? No, a wand.

There is a third person with them: a human you think, lightly armored, and wielding a spear, though he's too far for your HUD to pick up his name.

They don't spot you immediately in your hiding place, but there is no hesitation in Roderick's step as he heads directly toward you. You don't know what the pinpoint range is on the Oath, but you can't imagine it will be any less than what you had with the Deadly status.

Which is why by the time three dark green kobolds - your new recruits - burst out of the undergrowth and into view of the approaching Champions, you're already crawling through the thicket toward the instance entrance, ignoring the shouts of alarm and battlecries.

As previously, there is a change to the... quality of your surroundings. Nothing overt - nothing that could be even put into words, really. Just the telltale sign that the game is doing something in the background.

>{{You have entered an instance}}

Though once the thicket ends and you're able to stand upright, you realize that this time the change in scenery has been a lot more dramatic.

>(cont.)

File: bog.jpg (108 KB, 681x1024)

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In the open world, you had been traversing a somewhat desolate, but still largely green and, most importantly, sunny swamp. Now, you find yourself in a bleak landscape drowning in fog.

The mud underfoot squelches audibly as you take a step, water seeping from between your toes. Up ahead, trees rise from an expanse of shallow - you think - water that stretches out beyond where you can see. Mindful of an angry Champion on your heels, you nevertheless look around helplessly: between the open area and limited visibility, you're not actually sure which way you're supposed to go.

"Which way to the village?" you turn toward the warband after a moment. This is supposed to be Muckraker territory after all.

The three blue kobolds peer into the fog, turning their heads this way then that, while you resist the urge to yell at them to hurry up.

"This way," Targun finally points.

A few moments later, you're all wading through knee-deep water while you hurriedly make formation adjustments and examine the stat screens of your newest recruits. You grimace when checking their skill trees: each one of them comes only with a single rank each in their wielded weapon and in Athletics. You glance back at the green kobolds, who are dutifully following along, neither of them having even uttered a word yet. Though... would they? Can the game account for random NPCs in story instances? Come to think of it - you look over their heads, toward the direction you came from - can it account for other players?

"Thanks, Chief," Koriat says unexpectedly.

"Huh? For what?" you ask, almost without thinking.

"Chance to mourn," Koriat says.

"Chance for revenge," Targun adds.

Banished snorts quietly, shaking his head.

"No vengeance here," he says with clear disapproval. "No justice. Only pain."

For your part, you feel like you're missing something. You agreed to come back - when? All you did was follow the quest marker. Was there a conversation that you didn't have? A script that didn't trigger? You think back to everything that happened between the end of the last instance and entering this one? Was it because you got attacked the moment you entered the open world? Because you entered this one pursued by a Champion with an active Oath?

Did you get screwed out of story content because of other players?

The Oathsworn Hunter will not be deterred. He follows you even into this vile place

...are you about to get screwed out of even more?

>(cont.)

"Keep up," you order the warband while picking up the pace. Regardless of anything else, the last thing you want is to have to fight a Champion while knee-deep in a bog. Might as well just hand him the victory if you do.

"Hunter comes," Banished remarks, causing you to throw a panicked look over your shoulder, expecting to see Roderick bearing down on you at full tilt. But you see no one and a moment later the kobold adds: "New gods want Chief dead."

You simply stare at him for a long moment. Mostly in surprise at the fact that the quest's script still accounted for what must've been the most edge of edge cases. Though, oddly enough, no conversation prompts pop up in response to the kobold's statement, leaving you unsure on how to explain that no, it's not the gods - just another player executing what, from your perspective, seems like vastly disproportionate retribution for a chance encounter with his... sister? Girlfriend? Roleplay partner?

You just grunt something noncommittal and return to splitting your attention between maintaining a brisk pace and fiddling with GCI settings. Why isn't there a function to save and load macros? Does the game really expect you to customize every NPC under your command - including replacements for those that inevitably die?

"Stop," Koriat calls out suddenly and points. "Look."

Ahead of you, the ground rises out of the water in a sort of a natural levee. On top, a rock looms out of the fog. Oblong and set upright into the ground, it stands slightly taller than you. On top, you can make out what looks like a clump of bones and twigs tied together with twine and scraps of blue cloth.

"Territory marker?" you guess, following the relevant prompt. Koriat nods.

"This..." he wades closer to peer at the marker, "...north edge of muck pits. Village... there," he points again, at an angle to your previous heading.

You check behind you again and get the impression that the fog has grown denser - you can't make out any meaningful details past twenty or so meters. Then you climb up the rise - and immediately backpedal, nearly falling backward into the bog, at the unmistakable sight of figures moving about in the mist.

After getting your heart rate back under control, you order the warband to hold and you crawl back up the levee, carefully peering over the top.

Figures are indistinct, distant. Nearly the edge of your vision. Three, four... a half dozen small ones, crouched or kneeling down in the water, you think. A big... no, massive one lumbering slowly between them.

>(cont.)

File: misshapen brute.jpg (416 KB, 1630x1984)

416 KB JPG

Your interface provides nothing useful. Correction: it provides a tooltip explaining that in adverse conditions such as fog, heavy rain, or nighttime,. the range at which your HUD will identify targets will greatly diminish. But - the tooltip is quick to add - NPCs and monsters will similarly suffer a penalty to their aggro range - though either negative effect can be mitigated by high enough ranks in Perception.

Since it's obvious you're being tutorialized again, you order Koriat to join you and have him look out toward the figures. His eyes immediately widen.

"Kobolds!" he says, excitedly. "Tribe... lives?" just as quickly, his voice falters, his expression one of confusion. "But..."

Then the massive figure lumbers out of the fog and Koriat frowns deeply.

"Brute," he spits.

You check behind you again, your mind racing. Between the tooltip and the situation in front of you, it's now obvious that the fog and the water are this instance's primary mechanics. Being too small to fight effectively while in the bog, you're supposed to sneak your way to the village - likely using the poor visibility and the presence of these other kobolds... slaves, you guess?... to hide from enemies through some creative mimicry. And you can dig it.

Or could dig it - if you weren't being pursued by a Champion. You assume (or at least hope) that you'll receive another warning once he's near enough and that hasn't happened yet. But this section of the quest is almost certainly where he'll be able to catch up.

Which means you need some idea for how to actually deal with him.

>Purposefully fail the stealth section and aggro train a few Misshapen Brutes into Roderick. You might get a gauge for his abilities this way. If you're lucky, he might be forced to use some consumables. If you're really lucky, the failing part won't have adverse consequences on the quest as a whole.
>Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.
>Maybe... maybe you could simply talk it out? Point out that Roderick is overreacting and offer to make amends and/or duel him if he lets you finish the quest in peace? Who knows, maybe he won't immediately tell you to fuck off and attack.
>Other

>>3561118
>Try to do the section as intended
Getting a champion to aggro a bunch of brutes while we blend in (so far as his HUD is concerned) among the fog a a variety of other kobolds sounds like as good a path to victory as any.

>>3561118
Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.
Idk could we save a few lizard boys/girls along thr way?
And i wounder if thowing rocks could shift the bad npc attention and make them wounder away.

>>3561118
>Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.
>>3561143
Nice ideas.
We could potentially send him a message as well, maybe with the coordinates of the staff if she can't just call it back.

>>3561118
Slaves right? Well maybe there is someone strong around here like the naga that we can lead the champion into. We might be able to have them deal with each other, but for that we'll have to be stealthy.
His hud might be better than ours for various reasons but still he can only tell where we are generally. We should get moving and be silent, if he wants to chase us he'll have to do the same or risk bringing the whole village down on him (because while nobody including the npcs can see jack all the sounds of open battle is quite loud and I'd assume it'd attract any kobolds that hear it right to him.) and if he does have the balls to try take on the entire village in poor visibility then I suggest we find a good spot and take pot shots at him until he dies from arrows and being overwhelmed by kobold warriors. Hey who knows, maybe we'll get the kill complete the hunt for us and get ourselves another trophy.
(As much as I hope it does I doubt it will go so smoothly.)

>>3561170
I think since shes using something differnt, looks like she didnt get the staff back, soo guse she has to find it the old fashioned way or die to get it back.

Il be down for let themknow where it is so they can leave us alone.

I wounder if he dies in here would he ever be able to get his body back? Since nornal champions cant enter this place

>>3561219
Good point. If he dies in here we get to keep his shit AND wait out the Deadly timer safely.

>>3561229
Hopefully when we get out of here its away feom anyone
Fingers crossed they not camping the exit point

>Try to do the section as intended.

I'm really liking this quest so far, OP. Please avoid the temptation to jump the shark and say it wasnt a simulation after all, or that people get trapped/killed in the game. Right now you're maintaining a good balance between interesting drama and game mechanics that actually sound fun.

>>3561235
The exit point of this one should be relatively unknown, on account of most people's kobolds getting killed at the exit of the last one.

>>3561118
>>3561118
>Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.

Plonk at him with arrows whenever possible, might aggravate him and make him make more mistakes. Let's try to make this his personal vietnam.

>>3561118
>Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.
>check if the HUNTER APPROACHES warnings can be heard by NPCs or if we can set it to whisper or something

>>3561118
>>Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.

>>3561272
That could be a good point

>>3561272
We can only hope that the exit is on another boat into the middle of a river, and when rody exits out to chase us he's dunked without a boat.

>>3561118
>Try to do the section as intended. He might have his Oath guiding him, but his HUD is bound to be as useless as yours for actually picking you out at a distance. You should get an opportunity to run once he inevitably aggroes a Brute or two himself.
Get him to kill some brutes for us.

>>3561126
>>3561143
>>3561170
>>3561196
>>3561266
>>3561290
>>3561299
>>3561503
>>3561885
Well this is fairly unanimous.

File: koboldspears.jpg (53 KB, 597x640)

53 KB JPG

You call the rest of the warband to you and consider how to phrase your orders. You can't afford to make mistakes here. Maybe you should make sure they can do what you need them to first...

"Copy my movements," you say then raise your right hand, shake it, then lower it and raise the left.

All the kobolds repeat your motions - though with a Cohesion-induced delay. Good.

"Alright, stop," you nod, satisfied. "Stow your weapons. Do not attack anything. Evasion only," you pause considering an idea. "Koriat, do you know what rearguard is?"

The kobold goes still, his expression turning blank for several seconds.

"Rearguard, yes," he says finally in an odd, not-quite-his voice and inflection. "First line of warning and defense against attacks from the rear."

Huh.

"Alright, good enough. You're rearguard: warn me the moment you see the Hunter. But no fighting him," you add quickly. "The no attack order still applies. Do you understand?"

Another few seconds pass.

"Watch rear. Warn of Hunter. Don't attack," Koriat finally nods. His voice, you note, has gone back to normal.

Huh. Based on your previous attempts at complex orders, you didn't really expect this to work. But hey, one less thing to occupy your attention now.

"Good. Now, everyone follow me."

You time your move with the moment you see the Brute lumbering away: you slide down the other side of the levee and slowly enter the water, careful not to make a splash. The warband follows - taking similar care, you note, even though you realize you forgot to explicitly order them to avoid making noise. But after a moment you chalk that up to a script.

Of which there are certainly plenty in this section, because as you wade close to the first group of kobolds - who you can now see are kneeling down in the water and using their hands to dig through the mud - Targun pulls ahead of you slightly, approaching the nearest one.

"Tribe lives!" he whispers excitedly. "Thought: Muckraker Tribe slain, but Tribe lives!"

Curiously, the other kobold shows no reaction. Then you get within a couple meters of him and your HUD finally displays his name. And you immediately understand why.

"Targun, don't-" you begin, but it's too late. Targun, undeterred by the lack of response, lays a hand on the kobold's shoulder turning it toward him.

"Brought warriors. Will rescue Muckra-ah!"

He pulls his hand away as if it was stuck in a fire and falls back into the water with a loud splash. Because, staring back at him with white, unseeing eyes is the empty visage of a Muckraker Soulless.

>(cont.)

"Quiet," you hiss at Targun, who's still splashing about in panic.

"Quiet!" Banished echoes your order, quickly wading toward the other Muckraker and hauling him upright. "Leave be. Not Tribe. Tribe gone."

"But, but-" Targun stammers, pointing at the Soulless - which slowly turns back to its original position and, once again, begins to mechanically dig through the muck.

"Knew Tribe's gone, ey?" Banished speaks quietly but angrily. "Was warned what Hidden Kings do, ey? Do this!" he points at the... zombie, you guess? "Warned everyone, but no one listened, ey? Nothing to find here. Only pain."

"Quiet, both of you!" you hiss, prompted as much by the conversation option suggestion as by the silhouette of the Brute emerging from the fog. But its leisurely pace tells you that it hasn't been alerted by the noise - somehow. "We need to keep moving. Don't touch any more Soulless."

But after just a few steps, the Brute turns and begins to move in your direction.

"Copy my movements," you order, dropping down to your knees and mimicking the motions of the Soulless around you, digging away at the mud of the bog. And what follows are agonizing seconds of second-guessing yourself and wondering if you understood what the game wants from you, as the Brute's form slowly draws closer. Made worse by the fact that the creature is in no hurry: it wades slowly between the Soulless, the water barely coming up to its ankles. Every now and then, you notice one of the kobolds it passes straighten up and hand something to the Brute, who examines it and either tosses it away with a snarl or, rarely, puts it in a large pouch hanging from its belt.

Then it's close enough for your HUD to mark it as a Misshapen Brute Overseer and you tense up, waiting for your ruse to fall through...

Except that it doesn't. The Brute passes right through the middle of your warband then turns and begins circling around the edge of another grouping of Soulless.

But just as you dare to breathe a sigh of relief, the air catches in your throat as the creature grunts, stopping suddenly, standing up straight and audibly sniffing at the air.

And the your heart leaps in your chest at the words Koriat utters behind you - in a mercifully quiet voice:

"Hunter is here."

>(cont.)

There he is - the barely visible, but unmistakable figure of an armored koitlen standing near the territorial marker, looking in your direction. After a moment of panic, you continue to remain in place, performing the digging motions, unwilling to give yourself or the warband away just yet - even though you're painfully aware that, apparently unlike the Brute, the Champion will be able to tell you warband apart from the Soulless by the fact that almost all of you have some sort of weapon slung across your backs.

Well... assuming he figures out that they're not supposed to have weapons, you realize, which slightly eases your paranoia. But does nothing to change the fact that you're pretty much stuck where you are, contingent on the Champion's next move. Which, if he's smart, will involve-

-something other than pointing his sword dramatically in your general direction and loudly declaring:

"I know you're nearby, thief! You can't hide, for I, Roderick Cinderfrost, am here to deliver the wrath of Heavens upon you!"

Followed by wading into the water and starting to march toward you.

Which proves enough to aggro the already alerted Brute, who immediately starts toward the Champion, rapidly picking up speed as it draws and hefts its massive mace.

For his part, Roderick seems completely unconcerned by the charging monster. Without so much as slowing stride, he raises his shield and declares loudly:

"Iron Bastion!" and his shield seems to glow for a moment. "Evasi-"

The rest is abruptly cut off as the Brute's mace impacts the shield with a resounding clang... and continues its swing, sending the Champion flying back, splashing, sliding, and tumbling through the water for several meters, until he somehow manages to roll back to his feet in a half-crouch.

You hear a weak, barely audible "...holy shit..." swallowed up by the Brute's triumphant roar as it begins another charge.

>Your cue to leave. Stick to the plan and use this as an opportunity to gain some distance on Roderick
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious
>Join the fight. Your mobility will be impaired, but maybe having the Brute there as a big, armored distraction will be enough to turn things in your favor
>Other

>>3562213
>check if the Soulless reacts or is ordered to fight
that might be useful information for later.
>Your cue to leave. Stick to the plan and use this as an opportunity to gain some distance on Roderick
>keep an eye out for other overseers or alerting bells.
>Give banished the steel dagger already
We miiiiight be able to win if we use traceless shots to knock potions out of his hands, then just keep him back with spears while the brute wails on him. It might cost the venom, but a smoke bomb and sacrificing the vanilla kobolds should be enough for the Brute.

But that entirely assumes that the game is kind enough to only put one enemy in this initial stealth section, resetting your "stealth" with no issues for the next area.

I don't suppose we'd be lucky enough to loot the digging kobolds for another tear?

>>3562213
>check if the Soulless reacts or is ordered to fight
Might as well.
>Your cue to leave. Stick to the plan and use this as an opportunity to gain some distance on Roderick
>keep an eye out for other overseers or alerting bells.
>Give banished the steel dagger already
>Loot the Soulless, see if they have anything.

>>3562213
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing.

If he gets injured but kills the Brute we need to take him out before he can recover.

Also the Brute clearly has some phat lewt on him.

>>3562213
>check if the Soulless reacts or is ordered to fight
>Give banished the steel dagger already
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious

Shoot at least one arrow so that if Roderick gets pwn'd we can increase our infamy or something. Stay well out of reach though, perhaps use Banished as our eyes.

>>3562213
>>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious

Even if he kills the Brute, he might be low HP which will give us a chance to gank him.

>>3562252
+1

>>3562213
>check if the Soulless reacts or is ordered to fight
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing.
>keep an eye out for other overseers or alerting bells.
>Give banished the steel dagger already

>>3562213
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious

>Our cue to leave
>Give banished the steel dagger already
>Keep an eye out for other overseers or alerting bells

Let's not loot the soulless, it will take too much time if we intend to leave.

>>3562213
>Stick around for a bit

>>3562213
>Your cue to leave. Stick to the plan and use this as an opportunity to gain some distance on Roderick

>>3562213
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious
If he starts breezing through the fight we need to get moving.
But this does definitely show us it's a stealth section.

Honestly just seeing that has me tempted to send off one off our new spear guys to go find a couple more of those guys then lead them back to the champion.
In fact that's exactly what I am voting we do.

>>3562213
>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious
It's a good way to take measure of both our respective enemies.

>>3562252
+1
If he loses but hurts the brute, we should take out the brute especially since we have some more spearbolds for the spear wall and Targun can do the stop charge thing and get the brute's loot and his loot. If he wins but kills the brute, gank him with our super cool spear wall technique and our 2 bowbolds, then get both their loot.
This only helps us.

>>3562213

Changing my old vote
>>3562237

to

>Stick around at least for long enough to see which way the fight will swing. It's a chance to see how this Champion fights when it's time to get serious

>>3562226
>>3562695
>>3562916
Your cue to leave.

>>3562252
>>3562417
>>3562570
>>3562577
>>3562615
>>3562687
>>3562736
>>3563048
>>3563335
>>3563845
>>3564011
Watch the fight

----------

>>3562226
>>3562417
>>3562615
check if Soulless can be ordered around

>>3562226
>>3562417
>>3562615
>>3562695
hand Banished the steel dagger

>>3562226
try looting the Soulless

File: kobold skull.jpg (110 KB, 894x894)

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Perhaps it's a tad unwise to give up a chance to gain ground on the Champion, but you consider it a fair trade for the chance to learn his skills and style for if or when you have to fight against him.

Besides, there's always a chance that Roderick will actually start losing against the Brute. And if that happens, you want to be ready to capitalize on the fact.

For now, you drop the pretense of digging through the mud and settle down to pay close attention to the fight - which, unfortunately, is taking place too far for your HUD to pick up the status of either combatant, forcing you to guess at a lot of what's going on.

As the Brute charges him again, the Champion drops into a low combat stance, seemingly preparing to once again take the attack head on. But this time, as the creature winds up its attack, the player yells "Evasive Footwork!" - and dodges sideways, suddenly moving through the water with great speed on a curved path that easily takes him out of the way of the mace's swing and around the creature's side, toward its unarmored back.

Except that he doesn't quite get there - the burst of speed runs out after a mere second, leaving the Champion only two thirds along his path. And though you could still imagine him making an attack at this point, from the way he stumbles, freezes, and then throws himself backward with a yelp to dodge the Brute's return swing, you realize that he forgot to account for the water drag, which, though less of a factor for him than you, still proved just enough to throw off his distance and timing.

The Brute follows him, swinging its mace in a relentless barrage of attacks that forces Roderick to constantly dodge or backpedal, with barely enough time to recover between each swing and none whatsoever to counterattack. And with the way he seems to have entirely given up on using his shield to block, you have to wonder just how much damage that first swing did to him.

The Brute finally pauses in its attacks and actually lowers its weapon, its chest rising and falling like a set of forge bellows. An out of stamina animation? But even though you're certain Roderick notices it too, he doesn't take advantage of it, instead backing away to put more distance between the two of them. Also doing stamina recovery? Looking to disengage and run? - no, after putting seven or eight meters between himself and the Brute, the Champion simply stops and waits.

Eight seconds - you note the time it takes the Brute to finish recovering, just in case this comes in useful later. After this it hefts its weapon again - and charges. Which is what Roderick hoped to bait out by backing away, you belatedly realize.

Roderick waits patiently until the charging creature is almost upon him. Then, as the mace begins to rise in preparation for the blow, he darts forward - hoping to step inside its range? He's too slo-

"Evasive Footwork!"

>(cont.)

File: knight vs ogre.jpg (153 KB, 1134x884)

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It's not just a burst of speed, you realize as Roderick dashes past the Brute's too slow swing, only to perform a near-instant stop and pivot. The skill also removes or at least greatly reduces the effect of weight and momentum on movement.

"Razor's Edge!" Roderick yells triumphantly, slashing his sword into the Brute's unprotected back. The creature roars in pain, but digs its feet into the bog, sliding to a halt and makes a surprisingly quick backhanded swing with its mace, which the Champion is in no position to dodge.

"Iron Bastion!" he yells, raising his shield just in time. There is a clang - and he is sent flying back again, though this time he manages to avoid tumbling and lands on his feet in a shower of water and mud.

As the Brute turns to follow the Champion, it exposes its back to you - wet with blood that is positively pouring from the wound left by the sword. You grimace slightly - even without the aid of the HUD, you realize this fight is over. Roderick - who is hastily downing a potion - just needs to play defensively from now on. In fact, that was likely his plan all along.

It's time to leave. But, just before you do, on a whim you approach one of the Soulless and attempt to target him with the GCI.

"You, Kobold Soulless: get up," you order. No reaction. "Follow me. Give me your stuff. Attack the Brute."

Nothing.

"Won't listen," Banished speaks up unexpectedly. "Can't listen. Not kobolds anymore. Just meat. Still moving, still doing, still serving Hidden Kings. But just meat."

"Everyone follow me," you order the warband and begin moving, unwilling to waste any more time. "How do the Hidden Kings control these Soulless?" you then ask, following the prompt that you saw pop up. "If they can't listen to orders, how do they know what to do?"

You throw a quick glance behind you to see that your guess was right: Roderick is once again on the defensive, confidently dodging the Brute's attacks. And no doubt gaining knowledge about its timing and patterns that will make defeating the next one he'll face a much shorter affair. Perhaps you should've tried aggroing several at once against him? But how were you to know that they'd pose that much of a threat against a Champion?

"Tribe's Heart," Banished answers your question as the ongoing duel is at last swallowed up by fog. "Hidden Kings control it now. And so control the tribe."

"How does that work?" you ask, shifting your attention forward, certain that in the grand tradition of tutorials, the game will test your understanding of its mechanics at least two more times. "What even is the Tribe's Heart exactly?"

"Is what makes tribe, Tribe," Targun is the one who answers. "Makes kobold part of Tribe. Know Tribe. Feel tribe - here," he thumps his chest for emphasis. "Is magic. Old magic. Kobold magic," he adds proudly.

Something shifts on your HUD and you realize that the quest's objective has changed:

Path of Vengeance:
--Destroy the Corrupted Tribe Heart

>(cont.)

File: foggy swamp.jpg (41 KB, 564x705)

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I thought kobolds couldn't use magic? - this question remains unasked as, just then, you spot another group of Soulless, along with another Brute Overseer, and your primary concern becomes moving past them as quickly as possible - you don't know how much distance you gained on Roderick, but it probably isn't much.

But first...

"Banished, equip this," you hand the kobold the steel dagger you looted off Leggy Lass's corpse. He takes it, then simply stares at it for a long moment.

"Metal," he says finally. "Good weapon," he looks up at you, then bows slightly. "Great gift. Gratitude."

Another change in your HUD: the Warband's Cohesion just jumped from "Average" to "Decent". You once again have a second use of "Remember Your Orders!"

Huh.

But your attention returns to the obstacle in your way and, as you creep close enough to start making out details, you realize you might have to reconsider your next move: this Brute has a rather prominently displayed horn hanging from his belt.

"Brute has horn," Koriat says - it seems the game really doesn't want you missing the fact. "Will warn others if warband seen."

Which complicates matters. Because even if you make it past the Brute unseen, the same won't hold true for Roderick. Ruining whatever benefit the stealthy approach would've given you.

>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.
>Come to think of it, do you even need to go through this whole stealth section? It's not like there are any boundaries keeping you from wandering off course and using your warband's absolute sense of direction to navigate through the fog - and since Roderick will be following you, he shouldn't set off any alarms either.
>Other

>>3565542
>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.

>>3565542

>Do the mimicry thing again

>>3565542
>>Come to think of it, do you even need to go through this whole stealth section? It's not like there are any boundaries keeping you from wandering off course and using your warband's absolute sense of direction to navigate through the fog - and since Roderick will be following you, he shouldn't set off any alarms either.

If Roderick decides he wants to just not aggro the brute he can walk around it and still get to us. Might as well keep moving.

>>3565542
>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.

>>3565542
>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.
It's not so much that I think the plan is good, but that the alternative doesn't sound like a good idea.

We still have the smoke bomb anyway, so if we can just bowsnipe his potion drinks we can make it even without poison.

>>3565542
>>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.

>>3565542
This is good but it might alert something smarter then the warped brutes, maybe even whoever is controlling the soulless through the corrupted orb.
I say we quickly get past here, we don't want to be here when that horn goes off. We might get automatically get discovered if that horn goes off and we're still around.

>>3565542
>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.

>>3565542
>>No, this is actually good. Do the mimicry thing again, then sit back and watch Roderick get dogpiled by multiple Brutes. You doubt he can handle that many on his own and you're willing to deal with alerted NPCs if it means you no longer have to bumrush through lore content.

I feel like this is our best bet but....i'm getting a hankering our mimicry is gonna fail this time.

>>3565542
>Stealth around, but don't go outside the bounds. Ever.
There lay dark things to keep you on the path methinks. Crocodile Monsters and Tentacle Beasts ahoy!

>>3565542
Can we breed stuff?

>>3566411
...That probably depends on the rating of the game. I can't imagine that would have been high on the priority board for the developers.

>>3565557
>>3565581
>>3565755
>>3565765
>>3565780
>>3565852
>>3565871
>>3566303
Let Roderick blunder into another fight.

>>3565743
>>3566331
Say no to forced stealth sections.

>>3566541
Even E rated games can have a breeding system. Just no naughty animations of the creatures making the baby. Unless they mean us boning down, then probably not no.

This game probably does have some sort of breeding mechanic. Like horse/mount breeding. Maybe there's a champion CLASS dedicated to animals, such as a beast master, etc.

What i'm hoping for is that eventually when a war party becomes a certain size, we'll be able to make an encampment or something. limited of course ( to prevent the 100 players diverting a river scenario) but maybe something like set up some wooden palisades

>>3566937
Given the situation it made me think they meant to use the soulless as breeding stock.

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In your head, it makes for a simple and elegant plan: Roderick aggros the Brute. Brute blows the horn, summoning more of its friends. Roderick gets overwhelmed and beaten to a pulp. You killwhore, resolve the Hunt and gain Infamy Rank progress in one swoop and continue on your way. Possibly after looting the corpse, conditions permitting.

And it all starts out well. You once again have yourself and your warband take up position among the Soulless, mimicking their motions to fool the Brute. And, soon enough, within a few minutes, you see Roderick's armored form appear in the fog.

Upon spotting the Brute, the Champion stops and you see his shoulders droop visibly as he sighs. Nevertheless, he quickly straightens out, raises his sword and shield, and begins to advance. As previously, the creature spots him quickly and immediately reaches for the horn - and the little "...oh no..." you hear just before it sounds the mournful note of warning tells you that while Roderick may be a fairly skilled and adaptable fighter, there is some room for improvement when it comes to his personal perceptiveness.

But this is where your plan suddenly and irrevocably breaks down. Because Roderick refuses to cooperate. He does not attack the Brute in a desperate bid to kill it before its friends show up. In fact, he does the complete opposite. He turns around and runs, disappearing back into the fog, the Brute in close pursuit.

Well... crap.

It probably would've worked if he hadn't already fought one - if he still thought they were just another trash mob. But hindsight and all that.

It could've been worse, you suppose. Sounding the alarm could've broken the script that let you pass as the Soulless, for example. Fortunately, the Brute didn't simply start swinging its mace at your warband.

Except that you still gained nothing and lost the element of surprise in your approach. Frustrating.

Deciding to make the best of it, you get moving again, aiming to widen the distance between yourself and the other player as much as possible.

Less than a minute later Koriat hisses "Enemies approach!" Moments later your HUD picks up a noise marker and you hear loud splashing coming from up ahead.

"This way!" you make a hard right, moving as fast as you can through the knee-deep water, covering far too little distance by the time multiple Brute silhouette's loom in the fog ahead. "Copy my movements!" you whisper, dropping to your knees, once again adopting the Soulless pose.

Somehow, it actually works - the three Brutes run past mere meters from you without so much as a second glance.

>(cont.)

"Village close now," Targun mutters which you interpret as information that the group of two dozen or so Soulless being patrolled by two Brute Overseers is the last one you have to negotiate before you finally reach dry land.

And your first impulse is to simply circle around it, as the two Brutes are visibly alerted and moving with a lot more vigor than the ones in the previous encounters. They walk separately, each one covering approximately half the Soulless in its pattern, which would certainly add difficulty to keeping track of where each one is looking were you to move through the area as intended. And on top of that, one of them carries a warning horn.

However, just as you're about to try skirting the edge of this area, you notice one of the Soulless suddenly straighten up, raising up something large and distinctly... tubular. A bracer, you think? The nearest Brute hurries over, snatching the object from the outstretched hand hard enough to cause the Soulless holding it to fall over with a splash. The Brute, meanwhile, examines the object carefully then quickly stuffs it into its pouch, resuming its patrol.

You're pretty sure you're being beckoned down a path of temptation.

>And you'll follow it gladly. What self-respecting player would give up a chance for loot?
>This is the definition of a costly mistake just waiting to blow up in your face. Pass.
>Other

Also:

>If voting yes to pursuing loot, suggest strategy/cunning plan for dealing with two Brutes at once on disadvantageous terrain

>>3567692
>And you'll follow it gladly. What self-respecting player would give up a chance for loot?
Go bold or go home. Need to know something, is the brute with the Horn also the one with the Loot?

>>3567692

I can't decide what we should do here.

We could either get great loot, yet risk the death of our potentially quest crucial boys.

Honestly i want to say no, its too much of a risk for some loot. Even if it'd be really nice to get said loot.

I'ma hold off for a bit, mull it over in my head.

>>3567692
>>This is the definition of a costly mistake just waiting to blow up in your face. Pass.
We haven't even gotten a notification that Roderick died and the hunt is off. If I knew he was dead I may go for it but as long as he's alive there is a time before he fucks everything up for us.

>>3567692
>This is the definition of a costly mistake just waiting to blow up in your face. Pass.
I wonder if he's looting the corpses...

>>3567692
>Wait for Roderick to die or timer to run out
Make sure Roderick or the other brutes are dead first. Do we know the intelligence of these things? If we shoot at them, will they automatically know where we are, or only if we're visible?

>>3567692
I am actually really worried about this. If this bracer is ANYTHING like the Buried God series, then Roderick could get a serious upgrade.

>Get past the Brutes, then ping the horn-holder with Traceless Shot so it calls more
This is really risky. We either have to leave the warband digging while Rody chases us in a circle around the aggroed Brutes, or somehow get past the called reinforcements and pray that Rody also nopes out and avoids fighting them.

>>3567692
>>This is the definition of a costly mistake just waiting to blow up in your face. Pass.

>>3567692
Frankly we need the loot, if that's something powerful then we can't really afford not to take it.
That said there's absolutely no need to be hasty, follow them and see where they're taking it. Chances are they're collecting everything they find in one place so if we find that place we might get a whole lot more then just one bracer.

>>3568814
I dont think rody will give us enough time to do that, not unless the one with the loot leaves NOW, and the other one has the horn who can fight rody.

>>3567692
>This is the definition of a costly mistake just waiting to blow up in your face. Pass.

>>3567733
>>3568814
Go for the loot

>>3567742
>>3567767
>>3568008
>>3568875
It's nothing but trouble

----------

>>3567965
Wait for Roderick to die or for the Hunt timer to run out for five and a half hours?

>>3567991
Ping the Brute with the horn with your bow to have him call reinforcements

Hey, just dropping in to let everyone know that I'm not dead and haven't dropped the quest. Real life just got really hectic all of a sudden. I should be able to go back to updating on Friday.

Thank you for your patience.

>>3570687
we'll be waiting eagerly :D

>>3570687
thank you for the great quest

>>3570687
we miss you

>>3570687
You OK dude?

>>3570687
i love you pls come back

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>>3570687
still miss you

>>3570687
We love you, please be safe.

>>3570687
I like the game world you're building, I wish I was good at checking the quests I don't have tabbed, but I'm probably going to be late when you start up again. I hope I'll get to see you then.

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So "should be able to" turned into a "really, really can't" at some point during the week. Really sorry about that. But I'm back, and hopefully back to a regular schedule.

Leaving potential loot behind is painful, but the water simply presents too much of a terrain disadvantage against two Brutes. You have to pass.

You consider tagging the one with the horn and have him summon reinforcements, just on the off chance that Roderick passes through here and grabs the loot for himself, but you ultimately decide against it. He already showed a lack of desire to engage multiple Brutes and you're not sure if repeatedly triggering alarms won't keep escalating the difficulty of the instance.

So you simply circle around this Soulless group and continue. Very soon, the water starts growing shallow, the fog thins somewhat, and your HUD begins functioning beyond spitting range. And then solid land is in sight: along with the trees and buildings of the Muckraker Tribe village.

Compared to your last visit here it is a bleak and foreboding ruin: burned out structures under a canopy of limp, broken rope bridges, their remnants creaking ominously in the wind. But as you enter the village, a destination marker pops up on your HUD, pointing you toward the center.

There are Brute patrols everywhere, some of them carrying large tower shields similar to the one you've encountered in the first instance. But the gaps in their patrol routes are obvious and, as you cautiously enter the village, the greatest challenge to sneaking around becomes the size of your warband: all the "kobold-sized" routes and passages, as well as obvious hiding spots seem intended for four individuals, at most. With your band totaling seven, you find yourself forced to split it into two groups, progressing one, then the other, which ends up costing you time, but not enough to make stashing half the warband somewhere worth the reduction in combat strength - or the risk of having the ones hiding discovered.

Worse yet, between the village's layout, the patrols, and some of the paths being blocked by rubble, a direct approach proves impossible, forcing you onto a more circuitous route. Here, at least, your Muckraker kobolds provide useful (if, no doubt, scripted) warnings and suggestions about which paths to take. And rather unsurprisingly, following those suggestions eventually brings you to what you recognize as the very same spot from which you originally viewed the fight between the Hidden King Envoy's slaughter of the Muckraker Tribe at the Tribe's Heart.

The monolith is still there, though changed, the gray stone now blackened and deformed in places: parts of it bulge outward, as if the stone had melted, been torn apart by internal pressure, and then solidified again. Wisps of hazy, greenish smoke ooze from the numerous cracks, mixing into the omnipresent fog.

And standing in front of the monolith is the instance boss.

>(cont.)

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Hidden King Soulkeeper is the name your HUD gives to the creature. It is another naga but, in contrast to the Envoy, it is much smaller and slimmer, with its head resembling that of a hooded cobra. It's also clearly some sort of magic user, based on its name and what little clothes it wears bearing the distinct suggestion of being a robe. However, the scimitar strapped to its belt also tells you that the creature will have some sort of melee presence should it come to a fight.

And come to a fight it certainly will, given your objective - as well as the reactions of your warband upon seeing the naga and the monolith.

"Defiler," Targun practically snarls.

"Vengeance for the Tribe," Koriat agrees, already reaching into his quiver for an arrow - until Banished steps in front of him, blocking his shot.

"No," he says simply. Koriat attempts to get past him and Banished pushes him back. "Stupid death. Pointless death."

"Avenging Tribe stupid?" Targun demands, stepping up to take Koriat's side. "Honoring oaths pointless?" he spits. "Of course Banished would say that."

The way the former exile's expression hardens, you can tell Targun just hit a nerve.

"Muckraker Tribe dead," he still manages to respond calmly. "Oaths dead with it. New oaths made. To new Chief," he points at you. "Betray them, ey? Act without asking, ey? Put Chief in danger, ey?"

This seems to give the other two momentary pause - long enough, at least for you to step in.

"Koriat, Targun: I understand your anger and desire for justice. But when I agreed to come back here, it was to find out what became of the Muckraker Tribe and to see if anything can be done. And Banished is right: simply charging in to our deaths is not the way."

Technically, you didn't agree to anything, on account of apparently missing out on an entire conversation between the previous instance and this one. But the conversation prompts you've been getting as the argument unfolded gave you a pretty solid idea of how it would've went.

"So now that we're here, I ask you: what can be done? You know the village, its layout, the terrain, the resources. How can we use that to defeat this creature defiling your home?"

"Poison," Banished is the first to answer. "Hidden Kings fast, strong, agile. There is poison that make anything slow, weak, stiff. Poison Hidden King, then we have chance, ey?"

"What poison is that?" Targun practically demands even before you can ask.

"Rare poison. Difficult to brew. Only two knew the recipe. Muckraker shaman and another," Banished grins humorlessly. "Only one now."

"And the ingredients?" you ask. "Also rare?"

"Chief correct," Banished nods. "But shaman had them. Might still be in house," he points in a direction.

"Alright, that's one plan," you nod back. "Any other ideas?"

>(cont.)

"If not poison: fire," Targun speaks up, then looks at Koriat. "Remember new offal pit on far side of village? How Tribe dig one day, come back the next and it full of black, smelly water?"

"Oh!" Koriat perks up. "One kobold slip and fall inside with torch. Fire burn for three days, three nights," then he frowns. "Targun want to throw Hidden King into offal pit?"

"Throw, lure, push," the kobold shrugs. "Maybe put smelly water in jugs, throw at Hidden King. Make Hidden King burn. Make hidden king twist and scream, and blacken, and suffer."

"Uh, alright," you say after a moment. "Anything else?"

As you say that, you look to Koriat. Who hesitates, suddenly looking uncertain.

"Maybe Banished is right," he says quietly. "Maybe fighting Hidden King foolish. Maybe we wrong to-"

"Koriat!" Targun gasps.

"-to say: Tribe dead," the archer continues. "Targun, stop. Listen, Hear?" he looks toward the monolith. "The Heart beats. Is weak. Is quiet. But still is."

The spear kobold starts to argue, then suddenly falls quiet, also looking toward the monolith and his jaw slowly drops open.

"The Tribe lives?" he asks hesitantly.

Koriat hesitates again.

"Unsure... Is weak. Sick. Diseased," he looks around helplessly. "Like... forced to beat?"

"So what do you want us to do, Koriat?" you ask

"Lure Hidden King away. But not to fight. Not to lead into trap. One kobold leads away. The rest, destroy the Heart."

"What?!" Targun demands, his eyes bulging in shock.

"Is how Hidden Kings keep Muckrakers slaves. Willess. Soulless. Not kobolds. Just meat," Koriat echoes Banished's earlier statement. "Is wrong. Need freeing. Need... rest."

Targun looks ready to keep arguing, but before he can start, Banished looks toward you.

"Is up to chief what to decide. Is why chiefs are, ey?"

You wonder if there'd be any point in noting that technically all three plans lead to the same outcome: the destruction of the Tribe Heart. Indeed, that's the objective still visible on your HUD - which, incidentally, is being updated as you watch.

Path of Vengeance:
--Destroy the Corrupted Tribe Heart
----(Optional) Lure the Hidden King Soulkeeper away before attacking the Heart
--(Optional) Kill the Hidden King Soulkeeper
----(Optional) Acquire poison ingredients from the Muckraker Shaman's house
----(Optional) Ambush the Soulkeeper using tar from the Muckraker Offal Pit

Ordinarily, you'd exploit game logic to pursue every objective as far as possible to maximize loot and experience gains. But also on your objective list is the constant reminder that you don't have that kind of luxury right now. There is a Champion hunting you and you know that it's only a matter of time before Roderick comes after you again.

So you should probably commit to a single plan and carry it out ASAP.

>Banished's plan: poison
>Targun's plan: fire
>Koriat's plan: misdirection
>You know, come to think of it, you're kinda curious how a showdown between Roderick and the naga would play out...
>Other

>>3581459
>Misdirection and fire

But mostly misdirection and siccing it on Roderick. Fill jugs with tar before we move in as a last resort. Have a single nameless kobold bait it away and into Roderick. Destroy the heart then. If something goes wrong, whether it's Roderick winning quickly and coming after US or the vice versa, fall back on hitting them with the tar jugs and setting them alight.

>>3581459
>You know, come to think of it, you're kinda curious how a showdown between Roderick and the naga would play out...
This. If we're supposed to be able to lure him without fighting him then we can lead him right into Roderick. Then we can kill steal the losing one and possibly kill the winner outright or lead them into one of the other options afterwards, probably the fire pit.

But before we do that we probably have some time especially if Roderick has to fight his way through all those warped kobolds.
I suggest we go make the poison and collect some of the stinky water in jugs for use outside the instance first in case after we destroy the heart it triggers some sort of count down we have to run from.

>>3581459
>Banished's plan: poison

>>3581459
>>Banished's plan: poison
Make sure to learn the recipe.

>>3581459
>Banished's plan: poison

>>3581459
>You know, come to think of it, you're kinda curious how a showdown between Roderick and the naga would play out...
Let's see how many bosses we can make Rory kill for us.

>>3581459
>>3581517
+1
Preparation and abusing the situation, Maybe we can poison them BOTH and then burn them together.

>>3582005
Whatever we do we should try to come away from this with us much as possible.

>>3581459
>>Banished's plan: poison

This might fix our poison bauble, if it doesn't, were certain to get a recipe for an advanced poison.

Were also going to a shamans right? Maybe we could take some of his supply and grab a book of tonics and malady's or two. I wouldn't mind some skills in potion brewing or the ingredients to get them.

>>3581459
>make the poison and ready to use it on the naga
>collect some tar to use on rody

If we set fire to rody, he will be pretty easy to spot for the brute patrols. I kinda want to do it this way so we can burn all the brutes together and reap some raw exp/loot before tackling the boss.

Im thinking that if we destroy the heart as is, most of the kobolds will die to the brute overseers unless we do it this way.

>>3581459
>>Banished's plan: poison

>>3582489
It wont fix the tear. Those things literally drive npc kobolds insane, thats the whole reason why players are special

>>3582489
This

>>3581503
Misdirection

>>3581568
>>3581615
>>3581958
>>3582489
>>3582507
>>3582634
>>3582734
Poison

>>3582507
Fire

>>3581517
>>3581995
>>3582005
Let Roderick fight it

Also, page 9 so I'll be archiving this thread and making a new one for the next update.

>>3582866
wooo poison time.

>>3582866
so we've gotten this far: do warband members consume food too?

>>3583141
Huh, I was fairly sure that I mentioned it before, but apparently not. A dumb oversight on my part. Yes, warband members also accrue fatigue.

Also, new thread:
>>3583246
>>3583246
>>3583246