They began walking back out of the forest, Sammy making sure to return Azure’s staff to her in the process. The Naugite mentioned she had a horse tied off to graze, near the edge. Nestor had insisted on giving her the one she’d already taken a liking to over the brief time she’d been at the manor. Naturally, this made Sammy wonder what she was going to do about travel…
“So, Dart, ummm, can you — I can’t believe I’m asking this — but can you turn into a horse with a sad...
2023-08-22 21:56:17 +0000 UTC
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Sammy meticulously fashioned her other outfit slot in her head on the walk over to the cover of the forest. She still had the staff that she’d pretty much snatched from Azure’s hands as a prop aid for her illusions, which she used as a walking stick along the way.
She went with some simple travelers/riders clothes — reinforced pants, sturdy leather boots (also fashionable), a heavy, long tunic that could serve as the base for another simple chain hauberk that was easily r...
2023-08-21 22:04:00 +0000 UTC
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Samantha stood cloaked within her illusion, perfectly still, at odds between the glee of being there and the adrenaline-fueled urgency from the scenario at play. She certainly didn’t want to fight, since that would involve a lot of last-second crunching to make work efficiently. More than anything, she was invested in the dramatic scene like everyone else present.
Dart certainly was. The treant’s dark eyes were wide and its hands flat together up to its mouth, enraptured.
2023-08-20 22:01:41 +0000 UTC
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New Quest unlocked: “To Face or Flee” — Resolve the conflict or escape.
● Rewards (Highly variable to end results): +25-50 FE, +1-5 specialized FE to most relevant domain used, 1-3 exp in [Goddess], 1-3 exp credit to most relevant sub-class used during quest, 0-2 exp credit to sub-class of choice.
The first thing Azure did was run back into the room, in a state of panic. She grabbed the...
2023-08-19 22:23:21 +0000 UTC
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When she touched base with Bast after the prayers and dedications and such, he was just relaxing on the deck, tuning his lute up for eventual play. The deck looked fairly good, despite all the bloodshed the night before. The crew had worked diligently… under excellent buffs, true, but diligently nonetheless.
“Bast,” she sent after a brief warning, “Did you get much identifying done?”
“The axes. I know better than to drain myself of all self-defens...
2023-08-18 22:10:58 +0000 UTC
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The night passed by without issue for Samantha’s Followers in their travels. She studied meditation while everyone slept, then tried it out in several choice locations. The top of the pyramid; out in nature. She altered her mindscape for a few extra spots. A babbling brook. A rocky hilltop above the forest canopy. They seemed to work nicely, especially with her being more Zen than before.
Mana increased permanently by 1 through meditation.
She took a lo...
2023-08-17 22:06:11 +0000 UTC
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The Great Library of the Hall of Seven Sages was the size of a palace — in fact, it was a palace, converted in the early days of the Purification and the original Seven who forged it all out of the darkness and chaos. The old name wasn’t used much, but it was not banned, either: The Talchasenna.
845,621 volumes at last count — he’d just asked. He wanted to live to see the million mark passed in his lifetime. A silly little goal to have, but old men were allowed a quirk ...
2023-08-16 22:30:36 +0000 UTC
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I just witnessed an Archetype pick a mortal apart… The Fool in the flesh, however briefly…
Cheers rose from the crew of the Strip, even as an anguished cry came from Telekek, staring at the body of her husband with horror and disbelief. The pirates were utterly dismayed, and they began shrinking back from a surge that had already been stalling for the most part.
Fear came to Telekek’s face as she assessed the situation. She gestured and made a hand sign as she spoke...
2023-08-15 22:29:02 +0000 UTC
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Zalire was an Elven assassin and alchemist in a high-magic world of floating islands and airships. He executed rulers, priests, technologists, wizards, whoever he faced, thriving again and again off of the sheer challenge. He sought the most dangerous missions out. He was utterly fearless, seeming to seek out death as much as he dealt it. He was haunted by past lives, phantoms of seeming divinity, ghosts of a broken bond forever out of his reach to grasp…
He’d been crus...
2023-08-14 22:21:26 +0000 UTC
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Samantha’s eyes shifted to Canmore and the chain around him. “Bast… would a non-damaging Icebolt weaken it still?”
Bast was moving down the steps of the castle top, perhaps uninterested in being so exposed without his protective circle. “Maybe! Do it now!”
As Samantha was preparing her spell, Tashome was moving in on Wraevaus, whose back was turned and had an axe still stuck in his enemy’s helmet and skull. He had to leave it there temporarily as he...
2023-08-13 22:30:36 +0000 UTC
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Just as the ships crashed together, Wraevaus was hurling his axe, but it was dodged rather easily despite his presumably high level, and everyone knew to look for the return flight. Canmore moved swiftly to knock it with his sword, and he did meet steel with steel, but it bounced off the deck and then kept on its way back to its owner all the same.
Wonder what happens from a Reflect Force on that… but is he really going to stay out of melee any longer?
Canmore just poin...
2023-08-12 22:31:24 +0000 UTC
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Spoiler Warning!
If you're of tier 1 or 2, look here carefully! If you don't wanna spoil future quests. I'll be changing this, adding to it, every time the current quests change in a chapter.
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Chapter 66 Quests Below...
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2023-08-11 22:18:59 +0000 UTC
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Around Galynth an enormous glob of sticky black tar exploded, enveloping him and a couple of nearby men completely, to their exclamations and curses. Sammy anxiously checked on him mentally, but other than being stuck, there was nothing harmful to the material. It was something of a relief, as she expected worse.
Seeing an opportunity, Bast unleashed a Forcebolt right at the distracted shaman. It was not blocked — instead, she took the hit with some apparent dissipation from her leath...
2023-08-11 22:18:45 +0000 UTC
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Why is it always out of the frying pan, into the fire?
The crew quieted as they caught the captain’s mood. Saw the flag. Heard the news spread around about who it was. The sailors began to look rather pale and frightened once more — only worse. The jazzhands guy was no longer even slightly jazzy.
Canmore, who was a good shot with the bow so was serving temporarily as an archer, shifted over to grab the greatsword with a hand and say, “Cheer up, boys! I’ll face tha...
2023-08-10 22:17:46 +0000 UTC
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========================================================
New Quest unlocked: “Trouble on the High Seas” — Resolve the conflict or escape.
● Rewards: +50 FE, +10 FE (Mirrors and/or Illusion), 5 exp in [Goddess], 3 exp credit to the most relevant sub-class used during the quest.
======================================================
The first thing Sa...
2023-08-09 22:20:13 +0000 UTC
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Sammy had Galynth put the sword up whilst she informed Orswyth about the artifact, who was impressed but not exactly surprised — the prior wielder Danomeir was perhaps the most feared mercenary captain and champion on the continent. The sword had likely helped him reach that status, then increasingly gave him more and more of an advantage on the battlefield.
When she touched base with Canmore about the sword and explained the abilities almost word for word, he was intrigued.
2023-08-08 22:11:08 +0000 UTC
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Profusing her thanks, Estara was soon hurrying to go speak to the man and finish what she started while they were still on break. Sir Pashett was a man maybe slightly past his prime with a few gray hairs. A soldier, despite his skills at healing.
Estara was soon exuberantly leading him back off, under the pretenses of talking about Sir Galmore again. She laid out the rest of the matter, then dedicated the man to her goddess in honor of his fallen friend… to take up the torch to protec...
2023-08-07 22:45:29 +0000 UTC
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The city of Matrazere had no alarming activity to speak of, no indications of great movements. It was silent, as was the fortress by all appearances. And that was the word, not ‘quiet.’ Silent. The people walked around with their heads down, and adults were almost universally in drab garb. Grays or browns or blacks.
Not a style choice, either. Not a city of goths. I’d be down with that. I could visit with Redberry, she’d love- no. This is just fear.
Plenty of guar...
2023-08-06 22:20:30 +0000 UTC
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“First of all,” Greenleaf began with pugnacious airs, “don’t expect me to just spill all the beans about my plans for the land. It is not part of the deal. I have seeds planted and I wish to grow, to expand in secret. The best thing you could do there is leave it alone to blossom. To fruit.”
“Ah, I see you’re sticking to the vegetation analogies, just like your ‘mother,’ mentor, so on… though you’re more fun about it, I think. How do you plan ...
2023-08-05 22:15:20 +0000 UTC
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Sammy took another sip of her mai tai and raised an eyebrow. “Really? I know he is some sort of wizard and not low-level.”
“He is, but he’s never discussed such details with me. As far as I could ever tell, he did not summon demons much through his native land conquests. At the very least, this is a new development from a high-level invention of spellcraft. Or something he’s kept clandestine for a period. This is on top of the oddity of a portal he can move through…”
2023-08-04 22:24:26 +0000 UTC
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Sammy crushed down her impulses to reach out to Bast’s mom, despite how awful it felt. Perhaps it was a special itch or hunger of deities she was denying and felt the pain of. It was a weird thought, and maybe not accurate, but she could see it.
Give me that tasty belief and worship, nom nom nom!
In the wee hours before dawn, Sammy tried to relax at the pool, despite it being the source of recent embarrassment. She subconsciously added a little bit more conservative clo...
2023-08-03 22:27:06 +0000 UTC
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The deal was not at all finished despite Linnore’s obvious interest in the news — nothing was coming out of the city and wasn’t expected to thanks to expectations it had been razed, pillaged, and probably burned to the ground. However, Linnore was puzzled about the lack of refugees, so she knew something strange was happening.
The cherry Orswyth negotiated with was an allowance of recruitment and his own approval/call to arms backing support of Fobent in his own former lands. Ther...
2023-08-02 22:11:20 +0000 UTC
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After a moment of silence to end the funeral, people began filtering away from the graves, some lingering to say a few words by one or the other before going. Estara knelt by Sir Galmore’s grave and wept for a while. Sammy was sure to give her a long hug of the psyche.
Many had wept here and there. Bob did extensively, not for anyone in particular it seemed… just for their heroism and perhaps for some survivor’s guilt. He’d survived a whole other slaughter as well, after all… ...
2023-08-01 22:09:51 +0000 UTC
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Sammy did not waste any time. “It’s Zadkiel — he’s making intrusions into Oldaster, tried to kill the marchioness there, sow discord, I guess create a distraction for this war he’s playing at on the Dominion’s outskirts. I bumped into him without knowing and I faked myself as Greenleaf, but he saw through it and thinks I’m some up-jumped Fae spirit of your machinations.”
Redberry had a bewildered, double-take ‘Huh?’ sort of reaction, which reminded Sammy of ...
2023-07-31 22:47:44 +0000 UTC
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Sammy played a bit with the Mirror Sense on water surfaces… it was fairly vast but also sort of a novelty without a specific need for it. She did try the oceans but the reflections weren’t good enough with the tides, currents, general absorption with depth, and so on. As expected, the undisturbed ponds and small lake surfaces were the best.
And she could also see under such water, down into the depths, from mirrors formed on the other side of the surface.
Caneboro, wh...
2023-07-30 22:18:40 +0000 UTC
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The tea-drinking and chatting wore to its natural end, and Sammy rose, which triggered Tashome to rise as well. Sammy began to try the unique bow she’d seen the man perform once, but his face broke into a huge smile and he held his arms out wide in the offering of a hug.
Sammy gladly took the offer, embracing someone for what seemed the first time in ages, at least in such a physical way. It was the cherry on top of a wonderful, needed experience with someone she was really starting t...
2023-07-29 22:44:11 +0000 UTC
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Shortly after cleaning off the guts and blood of the piece of shit mosquito that decided to crash their spiritual party (and totally got what it deserved!), Sammy summarized the events of the night for Azure and brought her up to speed on Zadkiel in general. Due to the sensitivity and general paranoia, Sammy communicated most of it via the mental link, even if she seriously wanted to talk talk with Azure.
I honestly feel Chatting Withdrawal. Uuugh, makes me miss Je...
2023-07-28 21:53:10 +0000 UTC
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Carlisle, Agatha, and Estara spoke briefly about events as well as vague aspersions to their goddess and the future possibilities therein. This was mostly punted to later by Carlisle, out of Samantha’s paranoia about ears in the walls or the like. While she doubted it, it was best to be cautious.
Eventually, the relief arrived in the cavern full of the dead. Carlisle had a rather utilitarian outlook about the potential loot of the place: he wanted all of it. As such, he was planning t...
2023-07-27 22:50:41 +0000 UTC
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“As for the hostage, I suppose I’ll take the lord-”
“You cannot take the leader! Be reasonable. He has others that depend on him.”
“The girl then, she’ll be-”
“Absolutely not, Zadkiel!”
He clearly found it very amusing, as if he might’ve been teasing. “Well it has to be someone, now doesn’t it, Miss Feisty? Ah. The one that threw the dagger. No one essential, but one that hurts, hmm? A capable member.”...
2023-07-26 22:08:00 +0000 UTC
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Fuck, there is no way. They’re all dead if there’s a fight. Now what…
He did not seem the slightest bit in a rush to fight, however. The first thing he did was snap his fingers with a loud, extra echo and say something in another tongue, likely what the imps spoke. He then gestured at the portal in a very ‘let’s go children’ sort of way.
All of the imps disengaged at this point, giving unique yipping noises in a very relieved manner. Many of them grabbed thing...
2023-07-25 22:49:46 +0000 UTC
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