Dungeon Life Quest (DLQ) 93 -

>The granaries; I want to know more about the resistance.
I'm thinking that if we can get them to work with us, we can complete multiple objectives at once (and without the Lush or his necromancer knowing what we're up to, yay!).

We can lead an attack against the Seedhouse with the scarecrows/revenants while the still living resistance members free the Border Farms and get the civilians out. Or something like that, I just figure they'd have a better chance of it since they actually live here.

How much do we want to bet that the witch/hedge mage that Eric spoke about is the leader of the Resistance? Out to be an interesting encounter.

At the very least he made the scarecrow outfits.

Called, writing. Again, updates will be slow.

Can we use the same lure on the Taster as we did the Gorger? We can set up a trap with River, to utilize any known demon weaknesses (like laying iron spikes or caltrops to keep it contained in a single area rather), and Amy can use her amplified song to drawn it in. Then, once its in range, River and Brianna can burn the son of a bitch with Balefire. Between the iron and the flames, it'll be snuffed out. We just need to make sure it can take a bite out of anyone. Keep the lizards between us and the demon, as an undead meat-shield?

"We're going to go meet with the resistance," you decide.

"/How did you find them/?" Red Song asks, giving you a surprised look.

"They let me live long enough to tell the tale," you answer, with an amused expression. "When can we expect the skies to be clear?"

"Move through the fields and you'll be fine," Raking Swoop tells you. "The bats will be busy with us soon."

"/Which reminds me/," Red Song says, looking up at his subordinates. "What do we not do?"

"...Eat the bats," comes the resigned chorus.

"I will not be even a little sorry if you idiots eat another bat and die. I could almost understand Killing Dive but after the necromancer told us not to do it and Ripper ate one /anyway/ I am not longer even a little sorry for you fucking vultures."

"Yes sir," they reply, resigned.

"I think this is our cue to go," you note.

You take Red Song's advice and move through the tall fields of corn and wheat, using the crops to conceal your movements. Within minutes you hear the battle start in the air, with the shrieks of the undead bats and the battlecries of the harpies. Above the din, Raking Swoop's voice - "Blind the traitors!"

You spur your boar on.

The Granaries are massive, towering almost to the ceiling of the expansive cavern that houses the Cornucopia. Other storage houses - for apples and other fruits, for roots and vegetables and drying houses for herbs - are among them, forming a central storage location with a feeling of pleasant age and love.

And death. The Lush's soldiers have been nailed to the buildings with their own pila; most have gaping holes in their armor. Blood soaks the grasses, making a slick, muddy mess of the walkways. Nearly a dozen scarecrows wait, arms folded, with their button eyes staring at you when you and your compatriots arrive.

"You invited me," you tell them. "Now I'm here."

"That you are," a voice calls from the top of a drying shed. You look up to see an elf with clipped ears; a pair of long scars makes an 'x' across his face, with chunks of his nose missing where the cuts pass through. His blue eyes are hard. "Eric, have you been treated well?"

"Yessir," the teamster agrees. "These dandies are a bit soft for my taste, but they know how to kill when it's killing that needs done."

"I can feel /that/," the elf agrees.

"You're a necromancer," you note.

"Aye. And you're the one my master is hunting."

"Master?" Nathan asks.

"Teacher," River explains, in a low murmur. "You learned from the Lush's necromancer, didn't you?"

The elf nods, silently.

> The revenants are your work, then?
> My name is Brianna la Croix, friend. Forgive my intrusion into your home.
> You asked me here. What do you want?
> How many students does that asshole /have/?
> Write-in?

> How many students does that asshole /have/

>> The revenants are your work, then?
He's a professional, and he's on our side. Best to treat him as such.

>My name is Brianna la Croix, friend. Forgive my intrusion into your home.
Eh, courtesy and respect is a good way to start. Don't want to make a shit first-impression with the guy commanding some very scary undead scarecrows.

Also, what is it with the clipped ears thing? I mean yeah, fantasy racism exists in every setting. But we haven't seen any Dwarves missing beards, or Orcs missing tusks.

We also haven't seen many orcs at all, and the dwarves have been pretty well off.

> You asked me here. What do you want?
He seems like a straight to business guy. Let's get straight to business.

I'm wondering the same thing. Why clip the ears? Is it a thing done to slaves? Captured soldiers? Or just a hate thing? Do any other races have a similar racial mutilation?

> My name is Brianna la Croix, friend.
> The revenants are your work, then?
The apology seems unusually deferential.
> How many students does that asshole /have/?

> You asked me here. What do you want?

I've never seen someone another man was friendly with, actually call them friend.

That's a jarring note to toss in there. Almost a threat really.

>threat
depends all on the tone, I think. you're right, though. You only call someone friend like that to put a positive spin on an introduction, or to imply how they'd be treated if they weren't your "friend".

> My name is Brianna la Croix, neighbor. Forgive my intrusion into your home.
>Your master was a bastard who needed to die - he broke the Death Choir's rules and gave life to the soldier of the enemy by forcing their deaths upon others. I gave him a merciful death and prayed over his body, then buried him - except his hands which work to undo what harm he did.

Neighbor. You call them neighbor because you don't know if they'll be your friend.

His teacher isnt the same necromancer from the Baron.

The necromancer working for the Lush is his master, as well as the mentor of the guy who worked for the Baron. That's why he's got such a throbbing hate-boner for Brianna.

Also, is there a difference between how he treated his apprentices? I'm wondering if the elf was a legit slave, who only learned necromancy because he was an assistant or some shit, while the other necromancer might have been a chosen successor or the dude's actual son.

> My name is Brianna la Croix, neighbor. Forgive my intrusion into your home.

Oh, my bad.Then just the first part is applicable.

My guess is that one just has more of a conscience.

Well, he should definitely be aware of us as LaCroix. Probably gonna be interested in our deal with Henny.

>My name is Brianna la Croix, neighbor. Forgive my intrusion into your home.

I just thought of something /really bad/.

Lora said that Dick was forcing her to teach him the Divine Tongue, yes? When we finally, /finally/ reach the Sanctum, how are we going to defeat him? He only has to open his mouth, and we're smears on the walls.

Uhhhh...hmm. Wait, is there like a literal Silence spell and if there is would it stop Dick from being able to use his magic sense he has to speak it? Does Dick only have too open his mouth to use the words or does he actually have to make a sound for them to work?

Sooo are solution is to somehow remove all the air from his level? On second thought that would probably solve the problem on its own, conversely could we flood him out?

No not remove the air, just stop sound from coming from HIM, waaaaay simpler then vacuuming the entire level he is on. And NO FLOODING! We just got done talking to Hatchet about Bri's town going tits up from a intentional flood, we don't try to do that here by pulling a New Londo. Besides Dick could still talk before the water drowns him and then we are stuck to far to stop him, do you want to go deep see diving to get his ass?

sea*

We could deafen him too. Isn't it hard to pronounce unfamiliar words when you can't hear yourself? These words seem to need a lot of control too.

the dude is being train by death herself, although this does bring an idea, if you tell Lora to just gloss over some details then it wont be a problem. Maybe sabotage some portion of his training.

Yeah. That doesn't make them any less hard to say. Lora is teaching someone she actually likes and yet she had a hard time using the words properly. I really think something like a sound bomb will help.

If only to fuck with his sense of direction maybe a flashbang grenade analog would work. Had one used on me and it was pretty shitty.

There is a much simpler way to get close without him stopping us.

The Wraithform ability the Caretaker of the library taught us is brand new, something perhaps never before seen. A living person with the traits of the undead.

All Lora has to do is not teach him the divine words that include that as the target of his power. No target, no spell.

Let's just hope that Lora hasn't been ordered to disclose any information on our abilities.

Seems like a combo of flash-bang grenade and Wraithform assassination is going to be the way to go. Maybe some Shadow stuff from Kat? Though that's assuming he hasn't put any precautions into place, like wards similar to the stakes Hatchet gave to Nate.

But all of that goes on the idea he's going to wait for us to come to him. If he learns enough of the Tongue, he could just project an illusion and speak through that, rather than leave the Sanctum. These are assumptions, but I've started expecting the very worst from Dick.

We definitely need to teach this trick to River. Combined with her nifty Death-in-Steel, she or Brianna could feasibly assassinate the sonuvabitch without suffering any backlash by the Tongue.

>My name is Brianna la Croix, friend. Forgive my intrusion into your home.

Bump before bed.

Bumping

O fuk bump

> My name is Brianna la Croix, friend. Forgive my intrusion into your home.

>> My name is Brianna la Croix, friend. Forgive my intrusion into your home.

I'm alive. That was some serious fucking gaming last night.

Called, writing.

You take your hat off and bow to the elf. "My name is Brianna la Croix, friend. Forgive my intrusion into your home. I have a grudge to prosecute against the Lush and his allies."

The elf tilts his head. "I know that name. My teacher doesn't think much of your family, Ms. la Croix. 'Hand-wringing holier-than-thou dogs' is the phrasing, I do think. He seems to be under the impression that you stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

You raise your eyebrows. "And?"

"I think my master is a bitter old man with good reasons to feel hateful and angry, but I would rather get to know you. My name is Ash. Those lizards are good work, Ms. la Croix."

"Thank you. My sister was instrumental in their creation," you answer, modestly. "What happens now?"

"That depends on what you feel about my conditions," Ash admits. He crouches down on his heels and rests his arms on his knees. "I'm willing to share my intelligence with you and coordinate our efforts. I have no love for the Lush and what he's done to my home. But I don't know you or that you're any better."

You nod. It makes sense. "What are the conditions?"

"Condition the first: my master gets out the other side of this alive. Condition the second: you leave a hostage with me, to prove your troth."

> Done
> No

>Seek opinions of the others on this

This is a rough choice. We can't take the easy out of us being the prisoner because we have to control our half of the zombies. Which means it will have to be Nate or Amy and I'm not comfortable with that decision.

>Your master wants me dead, if he pulls something I will defend myself. But I wont actively hunt him down. Done, for the time being. What do you plan on doing with the hostages?

The Drink was purely demonic right?

>>/qst/

>I will not hunt your master, but if he comes to me spoiling for a fight I will not pull any punches. If you are interested in his well being I suggest you focus your efforts on him and spare him yourself and I will lead my army to a different front.

> Your master works for a very bad man, as I'm sure I don't have to tell you. What's the argument for keeping him alive, and what do you suggest as the alternative to killing him?

>As long as your master hasn't been marked by Azrael as one of the people who the Lush allows to Victimize her, we might have a deal.
>Discuss with allies who is willing to stay behind.

This setrves as a warning of just how evil the people his master has fallen in with truly are.

Because by the Gods, if his master hurt Lora, I vote we break even that oath.

His master is a classic bad necromancer. Unless we can fix that with a speech, he shouldn't be running free. The hostage is obnoxious, but not troublesome.

Anyone else feel like there are an unusually high amount of necromancers compared to other disciplines? We've seen like one or two magic users that aren't necromancers, and one of them was half angel. This guy and his master makes, what, 3 or 4, not including us?

Sounds good to me.

>>As long as your master hasn't been marked by Azrael as one of the people who the Lush allows to Victimize her, we might have a deal.
>>I will not hunt your master, but if he comes to me spoiling for a fight I will not pull any punches.

forgot the vote:
> No
>convince me why your master should live, after what he's done,

>Does your master know how to make the Drink? That knowledge can't be allowed to spread

The Dungeon has a higher than normal amount because of the exiles and lawlessness of the place.

I meant necros compared to other casters. I can't think of any others 'sides the Chainbearers. Sure necromancy is frowned upon around Glen, but that shouldn't make /that/ much difference, as it's ok in other places.

> No

Isn't necromancy illegal all across the kingdom? And given that this is the same kingdom that uses the Dungeon to dump its prisoners...

Not a real vote, but an add-on to whatever wins:
>"If this relates to the Rose cult upstairs, please realize that they're the weirdos of the family."
>"Well, a different kind of weirdo, anyway."

kek.

This kingdom, sure, but this is but a single kingdom in the wider world. The La Croix are old, spread far and wide, and not hidden. Plenty of other places tolerate necromancer just fine. Which makes me wonder why we were in this kingdom anyway.

>My teacher doesn't think much of your family, Ms. la Croix. 'Hand-wringing holier-than-thou dogs' is the phrasing, I do think. He seems to be under the impression that you stick your nose where it doesn't belong.
We should mention that the Rose who his master has most likely been dealing with are kind like that

> No
No hostages, will probably have to leave Nate or Amy with Ash or River if the Lizards can be controlled by Bri.

bump

Home, will call and write soon.

Called, writing.

So this is the long-lost user who's been binging the archive to catch up, AND JESUS FUCK YOU ALL WERE NOT KIDDING ABOUT THE THREE GREAT WAVES OF SALT WHAT THE FUCKING SHITCUNT.

Vox, as I'm reading, this has occured to me. 1) CherJewel getting ambushed by Seraphina, and what followed, was fucking amazing, Kudos to you.
2) New Hell was fun.
3) Lora... is interesting. I'm worried a bit that we have this tendency to make every character we're around, especially the women, be cute. Having her cuddle feathers is odd, when she is literally death (called it, by the way). The Lady of Ravens was likewise... very human.

I'm a fan of the cosmic horror genre, and I'm trying to limit my desire for eldritch beings of terrible glory... but even the Greek Gods, the most down-to-earth pantheon I can remember, had their fair share of arc-of-the-covenanting going on.

Welcome back, my friend! And thank you for the feedback.

As far as eldritch beings of terrible glory - well, I mean. That kinda of problem is part of the reason they tend to act through Chosen. Look at what happened with /Heart's Ease/ and the /Pallbearer/. When they get upset about things, it doesn't tend to end well.

There is (probably) a eldritch being of terrible glory, behind the fuckhuge locked door in the Warehouse. So you got that going for you, also there is nothing wrong about cute and cuddly feathered women. Besides its not like they all cant horribly mutilate you before you die screaming. The Lady of Ravens is casted by Velka calling it now.

>cute
This is a trait of Veeky Forums more than anything.

Veeky Forums's standard MC is typically: good, diplomancer, woman, romances the first woman of any note, average speed vs power (or occasionally speed), mid (or occasionally close) range combat, loves giving headpats, hates being forced to commit to a relationship, will trust someone unless they've previously been untrustworthy, will return a favor, and some more stuff I'm forgetting

Haven't gotten to the Sunless Sea, or the Warehouse. I'm... let's see. I just hit the ambush with Razor Feathers and Hunting Talon.

The cunts.

My point about them being "Cute" though, and this applies to as well, is that it's draining some of the characterization for me, instead of humanizing them or making them more relatable.

It's a bit like the problem of writing multiple characters, all of whom are supposed to have different voices, but all of whom are also written by the same author, with the same vocabulary and the same turns of phrase. Christopher Nuttall is a great example - I listened to the audio versions of the Ark Royal and Decline and Fall books, and I wish I had kept a tally of the number of times "He/she couldn't disagree" popped up.

It's not a problem I'm unsympathetic towards - I'm currently battling, in my own writing, to try and differentiate between two members of a party. One is a war veteran who was waiting for the death who never came, and caught philosophy. The other is a giant of a man with simple and direct thoughts, who's doing his best.

I write in long sentences, peppered with pauses and parenthetical clauses, and my writing style works well for the veteran. I have to mutilate my writing to work well for the brute.

I realize I never got to my point - all of the good guys react in fundamentally the same ways. Sure, Brig has her drinking problem, Diving Shadow is quick to anger, Nathan is quiet... but it just feels a bit like coats that are all being put on by the same person, at core.

By comparison, just the difference between myself and my girlfriend (both nerdy white people of roughly equivalent education levels and political views) is massive enough to require substantial work. I'm an analyst, and communicate with clear lines of thought and logic; she's a much more emotionally driven person, and the meaning of words is less clear to her than their intent.

We speak two entirely different languages, and we don't even have a /species/ barrier like with Ames. Or a /mortality/ barrier, like with Lora or the Caretaker.

I suppose I'm noticing it largely because it keeps getting alluded to that people are different, without showing up much. The caretaker is /said/ to have a problem understanding a mortal frame of reference, but he got us coffee and laid out cots and was understanding of us needing time off of training.

This isn't a harsh critique, though. Fucking love the quest, got my girl back into reading the archive too. Just a pattern I'm noticing.

> Yes.

We'll leave Sir Fetch. He's just as valuable as anyone else, and more importantly we can communicate and co-ordinate with Ash through him.

As for his master leaving alive.

> I'll do what I can, but I'm not losing anyone of mine to save him. Convincing him to stand down is on your end.

> FYI I hold to my deals. I've redeemed as many of the chain bearers as I've killed, and on the whole I prefer that.

> But he isn't just walking away. He has crimes to atone for, hurt people to help heal. It's not because I'm a LaCroix that I'm saying I'll hunt him down and put him in a lead box if I have to. And it's sure as hell not because I want to. But if it has to be done I'll do it.

> I'm. . . Sorry I wasn't able to offer that to the other apprentice. I wish I had been able to do more.

Seconding this.

As much as I hate to say this, please see

I missed that in the half hour gap.

It's cool, that's how the game is played.

Maybe we can leave Fetch as a liason and not a hostage.

Bump.

What? I am confusedly laughing, but wat?

Soooo . . . . 5 hours later . . . . wanna do that thing where you leave the voting open for the night and come back at it tomorrow?

You shake your head. "No dice on that, Ash. Aside from the bit where /I/ don't know /you/ either, I can't give a blanket promise like that about your master. /If/ he's not one of the people who's been hurting the angel, /maybe/ we've got a conversation to have, but last I knew he was pretty damn pissed at me. I think you know how difficult it is to /not/ kill people when they're trying to kill you. I can promise not to actively hunt him down if you wanna be the one to do it, but I need him off the field of battle one way or the other."

Ash thinks on it for a long moment before he gets down from the roof; the elf catches himself on the lip of the ledge, then drops neatly onto his feet. You hold your ground while he walks towards you, his hands tucked into the pockets of his long coat. Your fellow necromancer stops a good three feet from you, his eyes hard and his expression unreadable.

"And who are you, exactly, to take charge of these efforts and decide policy?" Ash asks.

"In practical terms, I'm the one with the gods damned lizards," you answer. "In less practical terms, I'm the angel's champion."

"Funny. You don't look Chosen, la Croix."

Your shrug and adjust your grip on your cane. "I'm not," you tell Ash. "But I'm still here for her."

"She's Death Choir," the elf notes. "What do you think of death, la Croix?"

"I think it's the concern of the dead, Mister Ash. My duty is to the living."

"Duty. Interesting phrasing." The elf looks back at his revenants. "My master saved me. Slavery's been an ugly part of the Cornucopia for a very long time. People who can't pay their debts. Losers in conflicts between rival farms or growers. Raiders who know we won't band together. I spent a lot of my life in a collar, la Croix. And my master, he killed the ones who owned me and gave me the power to never be a slave again. And he didn't do it because he had a duty. He did it because they angered him, just as all of their kind anger him. Now he works for the Lush, a slave himself, to save me from returning to chains. And news comes to him, and to me, of some upstart from the People of the Cross who murdered his student and tore her way through the upper levels of the Dungeon like a storm, who comes to bring her war here to his home, to /my/ home, and release the Death Choir so long restrained to wreak her vengeance upon all and sundry. And that's my side of the story, so tell me - what's yours?"

You take a deep breath. "Lora's not like that."

"I didn't ask you to defend the angel," Ash says softly.

> I did what I had to do (Pragmatic)
> The 'People of the Cross', as you call us, do have ideas about what we're supposed to do with our power (Idealistic)
> My side of the story is that I'm stronger than you, and you need me. If you want to judge me, do it on the battlefield (Cynical)

Yeah I'ma go ahead and do that now and actually get a good seven hours of sleep. Maybe it'll kill this fucking headache. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

This guy probably gives zero fucks about idealism, and cynical might work and make him come over temporarily before he bites us in the ass sooo.
>I did what I had to do

Goodnight sweet lich.

> I did what I had to do (Pragmatic)
>The Rose Cult in the Lichyard are nutjobs, a small splinter family that are not representative of the main La Croix branch. If it alleviates your concerns, not only were they about to kill me for being a necromancer they even refused me hospitality for the very same reason.
>I did not "tear my way" through the levels. Out of the Lush's allies only five (?) are dead, the rest have joined my side. The Vintner was a monster and deserved it, so did the Moneylender. The Baron took his own life in the final battle and the Diviner brought it on herself. The Debtor joined me, but lost his life when he defended the roost and the warehouse from The Librarian.
>I brokered friendship with the Labyrinth clan and Glen. They now trade with each other and goblins are on the surface to attend school and learn trades. We cleaned up the zombies and mercenaries the Moneylender terrorized the Lichyard with and we are still trying to heal the emotional scars of the people in Split. Harpies from the roost have been given amnesty and are allowed to live on the surface in Glen. The Duchess of Starfall is, together with the dwarves of New Hell, in the process of knocking a hole in the roost's roof to give them surface access. We liberated the mine from the Baron's oppression. We spared the Daughter and /made the leaders of the Angel Choirs/ take responsibility and take her under their wing.
>Now, with the full support of the levels above, I have come to the Cornucopia to kill the Lush, his demons and all the soldiers marked by the Angel, because frankly not a single one of them deserve to live and the demons especially cannot be allowed to bring the Drink's recipe back to hell.
>Lora is not a "long restrained" Death Choir, she was /tricked and enslaved/ by The Master and the other Chain Bearers. That the ones I spared are still alive and working with me should tell you all about "wreaking vengeance upon all and sundry".

seconding.

seconding this

>I did what I had to do (Pragmatic)
Although I will point out, our pragmatism has a good basis in our idealism. Bri i prgamaic becaue what she believes is what she she does with her power.

And his misinterpretation of how Lora is beng treated shows us what kind of brainwashing the Lush, the Librarian, and Dick have been given the people in the lower levels.

>And I will defend the angel, because SHE's ENSLAVED TOO.

Fourthing this.
>I did what I had to do....plus all this other stuff.