1/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:07 No. 904573 ID: 7f3357
File 153852166120.png - (82.23KB , 800x600 , f-1.png )

The wind howls from the void below the world.
This land has survived so much, but this latest injury seems too much to bear.
The oceans have fallen into nothingness, and boil into grim clouds, morosely flowing to where it all ended.
I can only watch, powerless, as this realm I loved so dearly falls deeper into ruin and decay.

Restless dead, alien malevolence and belligerent remnant tear their conflicts across the shattered surface of this broken world.
How can such small, brief creatures cause such hideous catastrophe?

All I can do is watch and wait. For if I were to act, It would know, and It would destroy not just myself but all I treasure.

If there is anything worth saving left...

2/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:07 No. 904575 ID: 7f3357
File 153852167848.png - (37.59KB , 800x600 , f-2.png )

It is cold. Rain falls down in violent sheets.
An eternal storm lashes out above the scarce ruins of a former people.

Three creatures huddle together under a foamed structure. They know nothing of the history of the ruins, nor do they care to. For now, survival is their only concern. Survival, and ichor.

Ichor is a mysterious silvery substance with many properties. In the proper hands, ichor can be made into dense metallic weaponry and armor, spongey bubbles, and, in the case of their shelter, foamed but durable structures. It can also be formed into living, breathing creatures, as these three are. Their original creators were also creatures of ichor, able to mold it into any of these forms, and through these creators these three were given life.

Their original creators slain, the three creatures must now consume ichor to sustain themselves. Near the storm, it floats in the air as a spray.

It is a time of great strife, where their very bodies are made of a resource hungered after by many. Ichor creatures become manifest where concentrations pool, and begin singlemindedly pursuing one major goal. Consuming the ichor of the world and of others before other creatures can do the same to them.

Nowhere is safe.

3/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:08 No. 904578 ID: 7f3357
File 153852170172.png - (45.46KB , 800x600 , f-3.png )

The largest of the three, Render, was known to his creator as an elite scythereaper, a highly potent weapon of destruction. All the lives he took tore at his once naive and trusting soul, and it was his doubt that led him to falter. It was this faltering that led to the death of his creator. It was this doubt and independence that kept him alive.

Violence is all he knows himself to be good at, and violence disgusts him. Even in self defense, he cannot stop hearing the screams of pain and terror, the wails of those left behind to mourn the dead. His creator even came to realise he had not simply grown tired of but actively horrified by war and the frontlines and the pain and suffering he could cause.

His creator had shaped into him a new purpose, to be a consort for her, but he had reservations about this new purpose. He wanted freedom, and now that he has it, he is unsure it was worth the price of losing all he knew and cared for.

He is determined not to let the same fate befall his new friends.

4/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:08 No. 904579 ID: 7f3357
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Calliope was created as an experimental breeder drone, but while ichor was at a deficit, saw more use by her creator as an engineer and builder. Capable of bubbling ichor into a lightweight foam, she became incredibly adept at improvised structures and battlefield mending. For creatures of ichor and their structures, healing and repairs blur into one action.

Her creator's lecherous inclinations were never realised, as a rival ichor creature soon slew him and consumed all his ichor. Calliope only survived by hiding herself in a cocoon underground, and has remained afraid of other ichor creatures for fear they'd try to consume her alive, or worse.

When she first met her two friends, it took some time for her to realise their intentions were noble, and now her loyalty to her two counterparts is strong.

5/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:08 No. 904580 ID: 7f3357
File 153852173762.png - (161.28KB , 800x600 , f-5.png )

Scanner 3, a scanner skimmer, was far from its creator when they were destroyed, along with all its creator's other minions. The only survivor, Scanner 3 mourned but continued doing what it had been doing, exploring and analysing. Endlessly curious, its own naivety soon came to an end when it realised it had no safe place to return to, and after lingering around the ichor-rich ruins, it came across Calliope and Render, in a tense standoff.

Introducing itself without fear and asking the other two for their stories, Scanner 3 catalysed the beginning of a deep friendship that would keep the three bound together and surviving against unfavourable odds.

Its experiences since their first meeting have since made it incredibly wary of other ichor creatures that are not its two friends, and it harbours a special fear of the wretched creatures that killed its creator and family.

6/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:09 No. 904581 ID: 7f3357
File 153852174967.png - (32.72KB , 800x600 , f-6.png )

The three creatures huddle together. While they may not share their minds as they did with their former creators, they share their hearts, and cling to each other in fear as they keep terrified watch for anything unexpected.

"We can't keep living like this," mumbles Calliope.
"We need to find somewhere safer," says Scanner 3.
"There is nowhere safe," says Render, with a sigh. "If we ever found somewhere safe, someone else would show up and take it away from us. All we can do is keep moving."

The three fall into silence and stare out into the raging storm, at least warm and dry under Calliope's improvised shelter.

Scanner 3 twitches its antennae. "Couldn't we make somewhere safe?"
Render's tail twitches. "I suppose we could try." He stares into the dead dirt.
"Where?" asks Calliope, her own antennae wiggling. "Everywhere is either held by someone with a giant army or is being fought over by giant armies."
"I've seen a lot of the world," says Scanner 3, "and there's always small pockets that no one looks at."

Within moments, Scanner 3 has drawn an incredibly crude map of the world, with some annotations.

"I've never seen the eastern reaches," says Render, looking with curiosity.
"I have," says Calliope. "Then my creator said it was too dangerous and we were heading west to safer ground."
"This side of the world is safer?"
"There's a giant empire swallowing all the territory in the east, and they kill ichor creatures on sight."
"As opposed to all the empires this side?" Render shudders. "Even the forest people are quick to kill."
"They're better at it over there."

Scanner 3 nods along to its companions' words. "I know of a safe spot for each of these regions. We'd only have to pick one and we could make our way there."
"Then what?" asks a dubious Render.
"Then we can start," says Calliope, her eyes widening. "A new base. Just for us three."
"Base?"
"My creator was very fond of permanent structures. A base is a place for those."
"A new place to rest, then." Render taps his claws together. "Alright. I agree with this plan."
"All we need now," says Scanner 3, "is to choose where to go."

7/7 - 2018/10/02(Tue)16:09 No. 904582 ID: 7f3357
File 153852177683.png - (17.55KB , 800x600 , f-7.png )

OPTIONS

Forest (West)
Natives: Akari (Hiveminded, territorial, tribal)
Ichor Richness: Medium
An extremely large forest populated by magical creatures, presided over by a living god and her creations.
The natives defend their territory with brutal efficiency.

Wetlands (South West)
Natives: Soroi (Confusing, territorial, tribal)
Ichor Richness: Medium
A twisted land flooded with water where gales rise and lava seeps from the cracks in the land.
The natives do not tolerate outsiders who do not obey their strange, everchanging laws.

Wasteland (North)
Natives: Fell (Aggressive, expansionist, industrial)
Ichor Richness: High
A miasma-covered wasteland that cannot support any life but its adapted cybernetic inhabitants.
The natives have no pity or mercy for their own kind, let alone others.

Ice Desert (South)
Natives: Constructs (Automaton, territorial, industrial)
Ichor Richness: Very Low
A snow-blasted wasteland protected by a giant barrier that can never be breached, save for the odd hole in the barrier.
Native guard constructs will all rally towards any intruders immediately.

Storm Islands (Here)
Natives: None
Ichor Richness: Very High
A devastated set of island fragments drifting in the void that was once the sea.
The high ichor richness draws a lot of hostile ichor creatures to the area, as well as other things with malevolent intent.

Grasslands (North East)
Natives: Sannersine (Imperious, expansionist, industrial)
Ichor Richness: High
A bountiful plain with the scars of civilisations devoured by an ever expanding empire.
The natives seek to unite the world under their banner alone, without exception.

Mountains (East)
Natives: Umbrals (Wary, territorial, tribal)
Ichor Richness: Low
An unnaturally dense cluster of mountains and caves where light seeps into an all-obscuring darkness.
The natives do not trust outsiders and seek to keep their hard-won freedom.

Spatial Vortex (South East)
The vortex is unstable. Trying to approach it is an unwise idea.

Northeast.

The Empire wants you dead, but you're stronger than you realize. You have the intelligence required to hide in plain sight. Burrow deep into their infrastructure. Build a home in their sewers. Siphon what they squander.

Let them kill all the maniacs charging in headfirst into their guns. You'll live it up and build a home in a seat of civilization.

East. There is little ichor, but that, coupled with darkness and insular natives will help keep you safe for a time.

Northeast. The last place they'd look is their own ichor-rich protectorates.

West. You won't be welcome anywhere you go, but the Akari's hivemind means that you need only appeal to one person: their god. Approach with deference, humility, and pleas for charity, and you may be able to come to an understanding with her be allowed to stay.

Northeast. Since they're so focused on conquering the outside world, they will pay less attention to what's inside their own borders I expect. If we get discovered, either they kill us or force us into fighting for them. Once we're found we'd have to move to a new area entirely since they're organized enough to hunt us down.

Umbral territory is my second choice, since if we wind up encountering an Umbral tribe it's *possible* we could convince them to leave us alone. Or we could just run away to a new spot in the territory. They're tribal so they won't have much of an information network.

Mountains (East)
seems like the best bet for a relatively safe spot to start.

Also good to know that typhoon is going to have to deal with another power hungry nation when we finally start exploring the rest of the world

>>904604
That silhouette doesn't look like Typhon. It looks like Nyx with two horns. Maybe they wound up merging somehow? It's also possible this is a prequel, as the hole in the world was already there in Reformation, yet the individual in 1/7 considers it to be new.
I guess it could be a Typhon that decided to wait in the tower for exactly one cycle. Or maybe that's the person Typhon met in the tower, not wearing a mask, and this is the first cycle?

>>904592
I agree.

Eastern Mountains.
Low Ichor means each meal will be hard won, but also that there will be little danger or competition from other Ichor creatures.

The Umbrals will not welcome you initially, but perhaps their freedom-loving nature should provide you with plenty of opportunities to gain their trust.

Not only that, but mountains are generally safe from armies. Heavy equipment can't be moved over land with any sort of speed or safety.

Stay where you are.

Then, dig down. Build an underground fortress.

--

Why does calliope have breasts? Do they serve a purpose? I was under the impression that ichor beings were more or less just lumps of clay. How can a lump of clay be lecherous? Do they even have the capability to feel aroused?

>>904592
I agree with this. Let’s go West.

Hopefully there won’t be too many Journey to the West references along the way.

>>904619
>Typhon
>Nyx
Now there’s a quest I haven’t thought about in forever. Man, I miss Reformation. It’s good to see something set in that universe again!

Forest is a no-go if you want to hide: hive mind means you can't kill scouts who discover you.

West out of the choices leading right now, since while I'm interested in seeing Sannersoon I'm not happy with their description as "kill[ing] ichor creatures on sight". There's no way you'll be able to stay hidden indefinitely, so you should go somewhere where the inhabitants can be at least half-way reasoned with.

>>904619
I meant more along the line that in reformation we haven't scouted the east yet and we have yet to take any real actions because we wanted to learn about all the big players and how they effect each other before we made any moves.

Northeast. It's a good place to start, at least.

>>904582
The eastern mountains seem pretty ideal, the locals are unwelcoming but seem like they just want to be left alone, but mountains and caves are easy to hide and defend in while you amass resources and build.

alternatively the forest, it's got more ichor and the locals could possibly be made nonhostile while you build up.

North East has the best risk reward balance I think, although staying hidden will be vital. Can't hide under a hivemind and mountains are low on Ichor.

>>904582
Let's try the Ice Desert. Sure, there's very little Ichor there, and there's an impenetrable barrier preventing entry except for naturally forming holes, but the massive number of factors that suggest against going there also provide a very valuable reason to go there: An absence of Ichor Creatures. If we can figure out how to evade the defense constructs, we'd be perfectly safe.

Mountains. If the locals are mainly interested in self-defense, you should be able to avoid trouble just by keeping quiet, and eventually earn their trust by being generous whenever you've got a surplus of something your neighbors need.

Do I need to read Reformation to be able to suggest here?

>>904677
don't think so, pretty much everything can be summed up as "everything wants to kill you" and everything else I'm pretty sure doesn't concern these three. So you should be good

You should go somewhere with high-tech natives, preferably on a border where they are spread thin. This way you can use guerilla tactics to raid them and utilize their supplies (Ammo, fuel, shelter, gear, weapons, armor, etc. Probably not food).
Since you will be on the fringe, raids wont garner as much attention as they would otherwise.

Someplace with very tall grass or dense foliage would be best since it would give the best cover.

storm islands

How about east.

East sounds like fun.

Let's go to the northeast!

[ voting closed, northeast chosen, it was a close race though! ]

>>904700

Quite close! So close that by my count east still ties with northeast. I think. Someone better verify whether I'm crazy or not.

Not that I mind you just tiebreaking, Cirr.

>>904701
You're not crazy, east is tied with the northeast.

However, I would vote for Northeast, so it doesn't matter.

Btw, can we see the amount of Ichor our characters have in store? I would assume we got plenty considering the current place is very rich in.

1/3 - 2018/10/03(Wed)15:26 No. 904762 ID: 7f3357
File 153860559468.png - (16.99KB , 800x600 , f-8.png )

After some deliberation, Render pokes at the northeast plains on Scanner 3's map.
"Well, I can't think of a place safer from external threat than the Solar Empire."
"New Sannersoon Empire, actually," says Scanner 3, rubbing its tendrils together. "I guess there was an old one at some point, but I don't know anything about that. Maybe that's what all these ruins around us are from."
"No, I don't think that's true," says Calliope. "The architecture's all different. See, the ruins here are mostly arches and marble pillars, or the remnants, and the eastern reaches tended to be a lot more curved organic forms and, well, I didn 't see a lot but it wasn't as tall and imposing."
"Oh, you and your architecture," chuckles Render.
"Some day I'll get you to see the beauty in it," says Calliope.
"I've always enjoyed the varied forms of structures and trappings of civilisation," says Scanner 3. "Well, except for the northeners. Ugly, horrible structures. As violent and barbaric as the people."

"So I'm enjoying our talk," says Render, "but we need to make a plan for how we're even going to sneak ourselves into a well-defended empire with most of its forces on the borders."
"Well," says Scanner 3, "I've had some thoughts, and the most heavily guarded frontier is their western front. They're trying to push into the wasteland but the poison gas stuff that's always swirling around that wasteland is stopping them. Their southern border is less guarded. That's how we get in, then we just find some dense foliage or maybe even a small copse of trees to set up in."
"Trees?" Render winces. "Like a forest?"
"Not like that forest."
"There's other forests?"
"Not as large, but, well, I'll show you it."
"Good idea," says Calliope, yawning. "Let's deal with it tomorrow."

Where ichor creatures would not usually need to sleep, the gnawing absence of a mindswarm carries with it a weight on the ichor creature mind. The three curl up into their favoured sleeping positions and doze uncertainly through the night.

2/3 - 2018/10/03(Wed)15:26 No. 904763 ID: 7f3357
File 153860560401.png - (165.71KB , 800x600 , f-9.png )

When the three awake, they tear down the structure and share it among themselves as their meal for the morning. The flimsy foamed ichor is bland and tastes vaguely bitter and sour, as though the falling rain were the angry tears of those who once lived in this land.

"Well, Three," says Calliope, "what way are we heading?"
"I think--"

The three all tense up and freeze, instinctively putting their backs to each other.

They all sense an ichor presence, strong, powerful, greater than them individually. A concentrated force. A creator.

"Hello, prey," says an ichor creature, hexapedal, standing tall nearby. Easily twice as tall as Render. "I am Zu the Unending." It makes a sound halfway between a laugh and a screech.

Render folds his blades under his arms. "We don't wish you harm, if this is your territory we are going to leave--"
"No, I think not." The creature makes another horrific laughing shriek. "It's poor form to continue existing when your creator has perished, you know. Poor, poor form. Holding onto that delicious ichor so selfishly while the ones that matter get none of it."
"We just want to be left alone," pleads Calliope, hands clasped together. "We've done nothing wrong!"

Zu the Unending throws its head back and screams in laughter.

"Nothing wrong it says! Nothing wrong, say the leftovers! You defy the very rules of our existence and claim to be innocent! I can't decide whether I'm more amused or more infuriated! There is no place for things like you in this world! No place! Ke! Kehehe! KAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Zu tilts its head, and six ichor constructs form nearby it in the blink of an eye.
To Render, Calliope and Scanner 3, such ichor shaping speed is unbelievable. Their own creators took hours and sometimes days to shape new ichor creatures into being.

Zu smiles as widely as it can.

"Behold, morsels, what it is to be something that matters. I am Zu the Unending, bearer of the fourth shard of chaos, and you are all about to start a new chapter of your lives as materiel for my forces!"

"We don't want to fight!" yells a desperate Scanner 3.

"Then this should be quick! KAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

3/3 - 2018/10/03(Wed)15:27 No. 904764 ID: 7f3357
File 153860562235.png - (115.71KB , 1024x768 , f-10.png )

COMBAT STARTS

Starting Positions: I11: Render H10: Calliope I9: Scanner 3 F20: Zu the Unending (50 Ichor) F16: Zu Minion A (5 Ichor) I17: Zu Minion B (5 Ichor) L8: Zu Minion C (5 Ichor) F10: Zu Minion D (5 Ichor) K13: Zu Minion E (5 Ichor) G5: Zu Minion F (5 Ichor) Unit Briefing: Render (Elite Scythereaper) Ichor: 15/15 Actions: 2 Movement: 3 Attack: 5 Range: Melee Passive: Battlehardened: -1 damage per attack received (but minimum remains 1). Active: Sprintslash: Move up to 5 hexes and deal +1 damage for each hex moved. (2 actions) Active: Spiral Rend: Attack every foe adjacent. (2 actions) Calliope (Breeder Drone) Ichor: 12/12 Actions: 2 Movement: 3 Attack: 2 Range: 4 Passive: Self-Mending: Restore 1/4 of absent health to self at start of turn, rounded down. If zero, no healing occurs. Active: Mend: Restore half of absent health to adjacent ichor creature/structure, rounded down. (1 action) Active: Barrier: Spend 1 ichor to create an adjacent barrier with 10 structural integrity. Barrier counts as 2 points of cover. (1 action) Scanner 3 (Scanner Skimmer) Ichor: 8/8 Actions: 2 Movement: 4 Range: 4 Passive: Active Scanning: Know the health of any enemy combatant while alive. Active: Appraise: Get full readout on target enemy's health, actions, movement, attack, range, passive and active abilities. (2 actions) Active: Spot: Tag an enemy unit. Enemy unit cannot hide. +2 damage against target unit from any ally. Only one enemy unit can be tagged at a time. (1 action) Mechanics Summary: - Use action point per action. - Actions include move, melee attack, ranged attack (if available). - Active abilities may require more than one action point. - Movement: move up to movement hexes, moving freely through friendly units but not through enemy units or occupying the same hex as an ally. - Melee attack: attack an adjacent enemy. Deal attack damage. - Ranged attack: attack an enemy within range hexes. Deal attack damage. Barriers and cover in between attacker and target may reduce damage. - For unlisted actions, suitable action point costs will be deducted given scope of action. - Escape requires moving to the border hexes and staying there for one turn. Escape cannot be done if an enemy is adjacent to an escaping unit. This can be used to selectively retreat units.

Violence seems unavoidable. The three prepare themselves for the coming onslaught. This is not the first time other ichor creatures have sought to hunt them.

kome 2018/10/03(Wed)15:59 No. 904770 ID: 094652
File 153860758358.png - (144.91KB , 1024x768 , Formation Action 1-1.png )

Give them one last chance to surrender, then rip and tear.

Strategy: You're outflanked and outnumbered. You need to create an artificial chokepoint or you're screwed, but a standard barricade is too obvious. Utilize your turn to act as if you're retreating, but set things up so you can either fight or flee after the enemy turn.

Render, kill Minion C.
Calliope, set up a barrier between you and Minion F.
Scanner 3, retreat behind Calliope and mark minion F so Calliope can kill them herself.

See attached image for detailed plan.

Render: Sprint slash enemy C. Occupy their space.
Scanner and Caliope: Move to L7 and K8 to maintain formation.

Scanner 3: Tag Enemy F
Caliope: Create a barrier at K9 to provide cover from possible range attacks from Zu the unending.

I wish we could afford to appraise Zu this turn but I feel preventing ourselves from getting surrounded is paramount.

Suggestion 2018/10/03(Wed)16:22 No. 904781 ID: deec6e
File 153860897764.png - (104.16KB , 1024x768 , Reformation_Battleplan1.png )

>>904764

Resolve to win this fight if you can. They'll just keep chasing you, otherwise.

Does battlehardened stack over the course of the battle or is the damage decrease only per turn?

Render: Sprintslash to G7 and take out Zu Minion F.

Calliope: Move to G5, on top of the now-dead Minion F. If possible, use your action to INTEGRATE ICHOR. If not possible, form Barrier at F6. If Zu Minion F is somehow still alive, move to H4, form Barrier at H6.

Scanner 3: Move to G3, Spot Zu Minion D.

>>904770
Sounds good. I want to scan the big bad as soon as possible but a better position would be a stronger start.

>>904770
Calliope can only move three hexes in a single move action.

>>904776
Scanner can't attack.

I'm not sure exactly what to do, but I am pretty sure we don't have the firepower to win this outright. Zu has more health by itself than all of us together, and I'd be real damn surprised if something calling itself "the Unending" didn't have a nasty trick or two up its sleeve.

... Are there any range limitations on Scanner's abilities?

[oops I messed up, Scanner 3 has an attack of 2]

>>904788
>Scanner can't attack.
sorry bout that, was thinking range stood for range attack.

Render
move to G7 and use Sprintslash on enemy F

Calliope
move to H6 and use barrier (if I need to also choose which direction to place it have it facing towards the right of the map where all the enemies are)

Scanner 3
If F is slain, move to G5

If F is still alive, move to F2

ok so plan is to brake out of the bubble the enemy has us in and create barriers to try and funnel everyone into render while scanner scans Calliope heals people and the barriers while also using her range attack from behind barriers. Positive we can take care of the minions no problem but not sure about the big guy.

Can we split movement and action? Because I was thinking that with Render’s attack being 5 and the Zu Minions only having 5 Ichor, he can easily kill them in one attack.

So we could have Render move to J12 (1 movement), attack and kill Zu Minion E (1 action), move to K9 (2 movement), then attack and kill Zu Minion C.

Then Calliope and Scanner 3 can use their ranged attacks (Cirr mentioned that Scanner 3 does have an attack: >>904793 ) to attack and kill Zu Minion F (2 actions and 1 action) and damage Zu Minion D (1 action) before following Render downward with their movement.

>>904809

Read the rules closer. Movement is an action. Attack is an action. You don't get to move AND act. Think modern X-Com.

It does look like Render can one-shot these minions unless Zu has something up his sleeve, so we should try to get the minions to come to us and congregate on Render, so he can take out at least 2 of them a turn.

We should also be looking to get into a position to retreat just in case Zu has a really good ace up his sleeve. I'm hoping we can get Scanner to Appraise Zu next turn.

>>904811
>Read the rules closer. Movement is an action. Attack is an action. You don't get to move AND act.
Sorry, I missed that.

>Think modern X-Com.
I’ve never played an X-Com game, so I wouldn’t really know how similar that is to this.

>>904781
I agree with this. For fortifications to work we need to start making them immediately, and if Scanner Spots one of the enemies, it and Calliope can focus fire next turn to kill that enemy.

>>904811
>movement and attack are actions
Yes, but we have 2 action points. We can move and attack, since basic actions cost 1 action point each.

...hmm, I bet we could escape rather than try to kill everything here, much as it might be possible with enough teamwork.

>>904838

Oof, yeah, I stated that ambiguously. You CAN move and attack. It just takes both actions.

Escaping might be downright easy if we double-moved to the map edge, but A) it depends on how fast these Zu Minions are and what constitutes a 'turn' without being in combat, and B) we'd have to retreat out of our tutorial battle before we can test out the gameplay. I don't know about you, but my ichorthirst is far too high to outright vote for retreat.

[Actually a clarification: you get two actions per character so you can spend one action moving and one actin attacking, hope this helps!]

[another addendum because I suuuck: battlehardened is supposed to just be a flat -1 to damage TAKEN and not a growing debuff, hope that helps!]

I don't think we can win this fight unless Zu is exceptionally stupid. Look at his health, there's a reason his title is "The Unending". Even if we could significantly damage him, all he would need to do is concentrate on each squad member one at a time until we're out of force multipliers. Not to mention whatever powers he might have, like an area-of-effect ranged attack. Our main goal is to kill the minions in bad positions, scavenge their Ichor, and run like hell.

Plan of action: Retreat. Cost the creator enough ichor to discourage pursuit.

Render's turn: Move to K9. Attack Minion C.

Scanner's turn: Move to L6. Spot minion E.

Calliope's turn: Move to K7. Attack minion E.

>>904864
that makes sense, but you can't retreat if an enemy is adjacent, if mr Unending can freely summon these mooks to harass, escape isn't really going to be an option.

more to the point, unless the minions deal 3 or more damage each we might be nigh-invincible in the right formation; Render and Calliope have really good health and defence/recovery stats, with Render having really strong clearage/burst potential.
I think we actually need to end Zu if we want to not get overwhelmed.

>>904864
If we chop off the legs, they would be much easier to deal with, plus the legs look like they have a lot of ichor in and of themselves.
This would require flanking around and surrounding them.

naileD 2018/10/04(Thu)05:07 No. 904879 ID: 93f082
File 153865485815.png - (144.11KB , 1024x768 , turn1.png )

Considering Zu can create minions, I see no reason why they wouldn't be able to create more. As such, removing the minions one by one isn't going to work. The minions are probably fast, but mindless considering how fast she was able to create them.

Plan: Use Render's AOE attack to dispose of multiple enemies at the same time. This requires Render to have a strategic position in the center.
1st turn we position, Barricade, Spot Zu
2nd turn we kill with AOE, Barricade, Appraise Zu
3rd turn we start attacking Zu, depending on the situation

Render: Move to J12, normal attack Zu Minion E
Calliope: Move to K11, Barrier on K9
Scanner: Move to L12, Spot on Zu

Btw, how far can we control the order of the actions of our characters? Also, can we attack twice per turn?

>>904879
Minion thing is a good point.

Additionally, we really need to beat this guy, Calliope can utilize the material, and i doubt this guy would let us run.
Both of these have been addressed but there is however, a third, much more dangerous outcome which hasn't. This is the version where we get the upperhand and damage Zu considerably; enough that they decide to run. If they try this, we CANT let them get away. They probably have friends (or at least allies) and they now see us as a threat. They would try to hunt us down to the ends of the earth in numbers we couldn't possibly hope to overcome.

Neverborn 2018/10/04(Thu)10:17 No. 904890 ID: a62780
File 153867342211.png - (144.29KB , 1024x768 , aggro.png )

>>904764
I suggest we take the fight to Zu, since it looks like he eventually wins a chase and a fight of attrition.

Render Move to G15 and Attack/kill Minion A.
Scanner Move to F14 and use Spot on Zu.
Calliope Move to F12 and use Barrier at G12.

My idea is to rush down Zu, keeping Render and Calliope between the minions and Scanner while they advance in. Provided Sprintslash and Mend don't have a cooldown, I think we can get Zu killed off in 3/5 turns (though all this is just using the info we have currently, Zu might have some decent defensive or offensive abilities of his own, but It seems his rapid creation of Ichor creatures is spectacular enough that it might be his main shtick) also literally as I'm about to hit 'reply' it occurs to me that his creation power runs on Ichor and thus probably uses his own health pool to do.

>>904890
You are doing it wrong. If we wanted to rush down Zu, we could kill them on the 3rd turn (provided they don't have any defensive capabilities):
1st turn, Spot Zu, 1x ranged atk + Sprintslash, total 16 dmg
2nd turn, 4x ranged atk + 2x melee atk, total 30 dmg
3rd turn, 4x ranged atk + 2x melee atk, total 30 dmg

Of course, this could be optimized a bit due to an overkill. 6 actions could be spared for other purposes and we'd still do over 50 dmg on Zu on the 3rd turn.

1/2 - 2018/10/04(Thu)12:05 No. 904903 ID: 7f3357
File 153867990402.png - (125.01KB , 1024x768 , f-11.png )

COMBAT ROUND 1

Ichor Remnants Turn

Render uses Sprintslash (2) to charge at Zu Minion F, slicing it into two with his blades and ending up at G7. He does not even blink as ichor arterial spray coats his face, the minion not even having time to blink before it is suddenly falling apart into floating blobs of inert ichor.

Calliope races to the foamy mass of what was once a living ichor creature at G5 (1), and absorbs it into herself (1), gaining 5 ichor. She sets herself into a guard posture and turns, eyes meeting Render. The two quickly nod as their eyes head to their third partner.

Absorb Ichor action discovered. Cost: 1 action point. Effect: Add the ichor of a fallen unit to yourself. This works as a temporary health bonus. Bonus ichor retained at the end of combat is kept as resources. Available to all ichor units.

Scanner 3 skims across the field (1), rippling ichor sails gliding softly above the ground as it settles at G3. "Eyes on the one behind!" It Spots Zu Minion D (1) and small glowing lights begin rapidly encircling it, making it an incredibly easy target.

2/2 - 2018/10/04(Thu)12:05 No. 904904 ID: 7f3357
File 153867991616.png - (121.41KB , 1024x768 , f-12.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

All of the five remaining Zu Minions let out a deranged high pitched screeching laugh and charge towards the three, surrounding them at F4, F6, F8, G9 and H8. (1) x 5

Zu the Unending itself watches the three bunching together.
Its passive ability, Predator, informs it that the weakest target is Scanner 3.

"COME HERE, MEAL!"
It uses its Shaping Pull (1) to pull Scanner 3 out of formation to H12, and then uses it again (1) to pull Scanner 3 right next to it at G19, as it glares with malevolent glee into Scanner 3's confused, alarmed and slightly dizzy eyes.

"Let's see how you taste..."

END ROUND STATS
Render: 15/15 Ichor
Calliope: 17/12 Ichor
Scanner 3: 8/8 Ichor

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 50 Ichor
Zu Minion A: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion B: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion C: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion D: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion E: 5 Ichor

Top priority is to Appraise Zu. Can't make good plans until we know the core enemy capabilities.

Render: Spiral Rend
Calliope: Attack F4, Attack F4
Scanner: Move to G11, Move to F4

Okay, now you know you can't outrun a single one of these things. Flight's out, now fight.
Render: Spiral Rend. You can deal with Zu next turn.
Scanner: Make him fight for that ichor. Dash back to H4.
Calliope: Well, at least stopping to sniff the ichor gave you ammo to erect a barrier at H6 to protect Scanner. Slap minion D afterward.

Anyone get the feeling this is one of those stories with a protagonist fakeout at the start? Zu's neat, I'd play as him.

Render: Spiral Rend ezpz
Scanner: Keep kiting Zu, doublemove away
Calliope: Stay away from spiral rend

Hang on, since Calliope is a builder, couldnt she build swords or something with absorbed ichor to improve the team's attack?

Perform >>904913
Except, Caliope attack F4 only once (The tag should make that first attack lethal)
When Scanner 3 arrives, make a domed barrier cage around him.

>>904904
Well obviously Scanner needs to use a double move to keep away from Zu. We can reasonably assume Zu has at least 4 attack, so a double attack will kill Scanner. As a side benefit, if Zu keeps pulling at Scanner he won't be able to do anything else.
Also, that ability makes escape impossible as he'll just pull someone out of the escape zone every turn. We have to kill this guy. It doesn't have a cooldown obviously since he can spam it, so unless it costs ichor to use it's infinite. Makes sense that a creator would have some bullshit OP move.

Reaver should use Spiral Rend to obliterate most of the enemy force. Calliope can double-attack the leftover marked one to kill the last one. Zu will be alone at this point.

Okay, Scanner can double move for 8 tiles, but only needs to move 6 since that pull ability can move 5 tiles at most. Getting back into proper formation is good though, so I support Scanner moving to F4 or H4, doesn't matter which spot.

> >>904923 >The tag should make that first attack lethal
They got 5 health, not 4.

>>904908
Top priority is probably get Scanner the hell away from Zu first, since its HP ichor is so low. Even if we luck out and Zu doesn't actually hit very hard, 8 is just not a lot.

So yeah, Render Spiral Rend, Calliope take out the one minion Render can't hit, Scanner GTFO.

Liking our odds a little better, but I'm still super wary of Zu, since we don't know what it hits for or what kind of range it can hit from.

>>904914
Zu is pretty neat, but bloodthirst doesn't always play well with /quest/. And as nice as it would be to win over an actual creator unit, I think Zu is either going to fight us to the death, or possibly bail if it thinks it's in a losing position.

>>904898
I totally missed the clarification that Scanner had a ranged attack.

>>904904
>>904927
yeah, double-moving Scanner right outta there is probably the best move for him
Render Spiral Rending and Calliope double attacking the tagged guy to clear the field of minions is also probably for the best.

At the very least Zu then needs to spend 1 action spawning more dudes (/something else to get his action economy up) or something defensive, lest he get chunked the following turn.

Suggestion 2018/10/04(Thu)14:20 No. 904932 ID: deec6e
File 153868801289.png - (109.53KB , 1024x768 , Formation_Battleplan2.png )

I'd argue that Calliope should keep absorbing minions (in case Zu has a reanimation or ichor reclamation trick up its sleeve). It's good HP and potential resources, if nothing else... but yeah, otherwise this is a pretty straightforward action.

Render: Spiral Rend. Rip and tear.

Calliope: Either A) Walk onto dead minion B (forcing Minion D to have to move to hit, preventing double attack) and Absorb B's Ichor.
OR B) Double attack Minion D, finishing it off.

Scanner 3: Move back to H4 (or G3, if Calliope kills Minion D).

(I also wanted to suggest Calliope use her [HUGS!] secret special move to reposition minion D to H6 in order to make it briefly feel loved - and to put ALL the minions in the Render blender. But surely it is too early for [HUGS!])

1/2 - 2018/10/04(Thu)14:36 No. 904937 ID: 7f3357
File 153868896415.png - (142.37KB , 1024x768 , f-13.png )

COMBAT ROUND 2

Ichor Remnants Turn

Render sighs, closes his eyes, and pours his all into swirling around him, arms outstretched as he spins and cuts down every minion in his range using his Spiral Rend (2) technique, something that once set him aside from his peers, long gone. The surprised yelps and screams of ichor creatures disintegrating after being bisected is something he tries to tune out.

Calliope has seen Render's impressive lethal piourette before, and is already quick to step out of harm's way as he launches into it. She spits a ball of denser ichor foam into her hand, pulls her hand back, and slings it at the marked Zu Minion D, twice (2). The first hit nearly takes off the minion's head. The second shot does. The minion splashes into ichor motes.

Scanner 3 flies madly (2) to get back into formation at G4, partly motivated by tactical reasoning, and mostly motivated by mortal terror.

2/2 - 2018/10/04(Thu)14:36 No. 904938 ID: 7f3357
File 153868897499.png - (135.61KB , 1024x768 , f-14.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending stares at where its next meal used to be.

"...I suppose I do need to soften you all up with my minions first--"

Zu the Unending pauses. "They're all dead?!"

With a snarl, two new minions are shaped into being (2). These two stay next to Zu the Unending at F18 and G21.

"I will use your tactics against you, insects! Let's see you survive being pulled into my waiting jaws!"

END ROUND STATS
Render: 15/15 Ichor
Calliope: 17/12 Ichor
Scanner 3: 8/8 Ichor

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 40 Ichor
Zu Minion F: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion G: 5 Ichor

Unclaimed Ichor:
F4 (5)
F6 (5)
F8 (5)
G9 (5)
H8 (5)

Hmm. I still don't want to get anywhere near this thing without a good plan of action...

Okay, whatever else we do, Appraise Zu. Knowing what its attacks do is probably going to have a major effect on how we want to approach this.

>>904938
>>904939
yup, appraise is the way to go, maybe get calliope and Render to nab more ichor in the meanwhile

... I just noticed. Zu had to pay 10 ichor to summon these new minions out of its own stock. Hmm.

kome 2018/10/04(Thu)14:53 No. 904944 ID: 094652
File 153869000809.png - (161.23KB , 1024x768 , Formation Action 1-3.png )

Calliope, place barriers on F4 and H4 so Zu can't grapple Scanner 3.

Scanner 3, Appraise Zu, see what other tricks he has.

Render, absorb Ichor at H8 and then move to G11.

Render: Sprintslash to F16 on Zu Minion F (his turn is best used dealing damage)
Scanner: Appraise on Zu (need to be sure there's no more surprises)
Calliope: Move to G11, Move to G17 (might need to heal someone near Zu, or just barrier around Zu)

Suggestion 2018/10/04(Thu)15:17 No. 904949 ID: deec6e
File 153869142659.png - (117.75KB , 1024x768 , Formation_Battleplan3.png )

Very important question: Can one absorb ichor by being next to it, or must you be ON the tile to absorb it? Might change my suggested action.

For now, since Zu is actually using his brain, we should test the cover mechanics. If being behind cover will prevent Zu's pull moves, I think we can win or force a retreat.

Render: Move to F4, Absorb Ichor.
Scanner 3: Appraise Zu.
Calliope: Pay 2 Ichor to create Barrier(s) at F6 and G7 - to give the party COVER.

Time to move towards him in formation. We're out of range for this turn, so spend it getting ready to hit Zu.
Render, charge to F16 and dash another minion to pieces.
Calliope, Absorb F6 and move to F10.
Scanner, move to H10 and absorb H8 for backup HP.

>>904951
You know what, if he's going to throw pieces of his health bar at us one at a time, just sit here and collect ichor. Can you ready an attack of opportunity or overwatch for when his minions charge?

1/2 - 2018/10/04(Thu)15:36 No. 904958 ID: 7f3357
File 153869261784.png - (132.08KB , 1024x768 , f-16.png )

COMBAT ROUND 3

Absorb Ichor can only be used on the currently occupied hex.

Ichor Remnants Turn

Render leaps (1) to F4, absorbing the ichor (1) drifting in the space.

Calliope decides the time to fortify is now, hastily blowing bubbles of ichor foam (2) and rapidly assembling them into a two-wide fortification at F6 and G7. They only reach about chest height, but it's more than enough to duck behind and expect the worst.

Scanner 3 finally has a moment to unite its senses and focus on appraising Zu the Unending (2).

It relays its findings to the others.

Zu the Unending (Ichor Shaper) Ichor: 40/80 Actions: 2 Movement: 4 Attack: 6 Range: Melee Passive: Predator: Always know which enemy target has the lowest health. Passive: Shardbearer: Immune to chaos attacks, treated as friendly by mindless chaos units. Passive: Unending: When ichor falls to 0, if ambient ichor available, heal up to 10 ichor pulling from the unclaimed stock at any range. Active: Shape: Create a new minion for 5 ichor, to be placed within 2 hexes. (1 action) Active: Consume: Deal 3 damage, and restore ichor equal to damage dealt. Double this damage if used on allies. Can target up to 3 adjacent units. Can only be used on ichor units. (1 action) Active: Shaping Pull: Can force-move any ichor creature up to 5 hexes. Can force-move through own units, but not through enemy units. (1 action)

2/2 - 2018/10/04(Thu)15:37 No. 904960 ID: 7f3357
File 153869263418.png - (132.08KB , 1024x768 , f-16.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending tilts its head. Two more minions are shaped (2) at G17 and H20. Its existing minions do nothing, oddly still.

No boast or taunt comes from Zu, as it focuses all it has on some clear plan, jaws flapping as it exerts all its attention and focus.

END ROUND STATS
Render: 20/15 Ichor
Calliope: 15/12 Ichor
Scanner 3: 8/8 Ichor
Barrier A: 10/10 Structure
Barrier B: 10/10 Structure

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 30 Ichor
Zu Minion F: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion G: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion H: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion I: 5 Ichor

Unclaimed Ichor:
F6 (5)
F8 (5)
G9 (5)
H8 (5)

All three of you, eat the unspent ichor before targeting Zu, whose plan probably involves dragging you into the middle of his mosh pit. Scanner could probably take the ichor that was covered by cover A, but save that for a later turn. Get the uncovered ones now: Render row F, Calliope row G, Scanner row H.

Hrk.

Tempting to call this quits. We should be able to, if we move back to the edge of the map, keeping behind the barriers. And Calliope can move to E1 and build another cover Barrier at E3. Then everyone should be able to retreat while in cover, and none of the minions (or Zu's special ability) should be able to drag us back.

[So before I pull together an actual, like, rulebook for this, someone asked me if minions have a turn the turn they're shaped. They do not. Also, belated, but you can totally repeat actions. Double attacks and double moves are A-OK. This means Zu can potentially one-shot weaker units (cough Scanner 3 cough) in one turn. Have fun!]

Okay, so Zu's definitely going to try and respawn from all that ichor lying around. Let's just, uh, make sure it doesn't do that.

... Of course, that'll apply to its new minions too.

6 attack is a bit lower than I was expecting, but still high enough that we want to keep Scanner in particular the hell away from it.

(That Shardbearer ability... it's not relevant to the current fight, presumably, but, huh.)

>>904965
That relies heavily on Zu's ability being LOS-based. And going prone so the cover actually obscures us. And Zu not moving to regain his sightline.

Suggestion 2018/10/04(Thu)15:54 No. 904975 ID: deec6e
File 153869369598.png - (115.23KB , 1024x768 , Formation_Battleplan4.png )

>>904965

If we want to move forwards, though... I figure this is our best bet.

Render: Move to F8 and Absorb Ichor. You should be tough enough by now to survive getting pulled into Zu's trap.
Calliope: Move to G9 and place a Barrier at G11 to prevent being pulled into Zu's trap.
Scanner 3: Move to G5 and Spot Zu.

Render: Move to H8, Absorb Ichor
Calliope: Move to I7, Barrier on I5
Scanner: Move to H6, Spot on Zu Minion I

This way Scanner cannot be pulled into the trap even if the Shaping Pull can force-move unidirectional.

Suggestion 2018/10/04(Thu)16:17 No. 904981 ID: deec6e
File 153869506772.png - (118.86KB , 1024x768 , Formation_Battleplan4-Defense.png )

>>904972

True. I am harboring the hope that cover grants immunity to the pull, because if not we're in a pretty bad spot anyway (as you point out).

Cover will at least probably count as an 'enemy unit' in terms of getting in the way. We could just keeping building the GREAT WALL of ICHOR, while our heavy hitter tanks up.

>>904980

But Calliope can be pulled in, and she doesn't have Render's damage-mitigation or area attack.

Alright, backup plan. Assuming Zu can pull us out from behind the Barrier, he can drag us max 10 hexes. Let's see...

Render: Move to F8 and Absorb Ichor.
Calliope: Make 2 more Barriers at H4 and H6.
Scanner: Spot Zu.

That should GUARANTEED prevent both Scanner and Calliope from ending up in the middle of the vice Zu just made.

Suggestion 2018/10/04(Thu)16:22 No. 904983 ID: deec6e
File 153869537190.png - (120.92KB , 1024x768 , Formation_Battleplan4-Defenser.png )

>>904981

I should never make guarantees.

Zu can still pull Scanner through the Minion at G17 and get him in the vice. Scanner needs to move back to G1 to get vice immunity.

>Active: Shape: Create a new minion for 5 ichor
>Active: Consume: Deal 3 damage, and restore ichor equal to damage dealt. Double this damage if used on allies.
Hmm, wouldn't that allow for a positive feedback look? Create minions for 5, do six damage, regain 6 ichor.

>what do
Everyone on the edge of the map, retreat. Winning outright without any losses is bad odds, and we already made an ichor profit.

>>904988
Leave? Nah. We are uniquely Suited to defeating this guy, Thanks to Render's Spiral Rend and Battle Hardened. He's specifically built to Annihilate mobbers like Zu.
Not only that, but that chaos shard's ability is fantastic. An entire class of dangerous enemy pacified?
YES PLEASE! In a post-apocalyptic world, that is a MUST HAVE to survive.

Zu is going to double pull someone into a bunch of minions who could end up double attacking at once.


Have Calliope move to G1 and use her ichor foam to anchor scanner 3 to the ground.
Have Scanner 3 appraise a minion.
Have Render absorb at f8. If he's pulled there he can't be attacked directly by Zu this round or double attacked by most minions, and his Battle hardened trait should keep him healthy through whatever the minions throw at him for now.

>>904958
Aw, shit. If we don’t absorb that free floating ichor when we kill Zu, he’s just going to revive himself with it!

Could perhaps Scanner just grab onto one of our units? Or the barricade?

>>904988
>ichor loop?
It probably doesn't count overkill damage.
I would support escaping but he can interrupt the escape. Remember, we have to be on an edge tile for a full turn.


>>904983
This could work, but if we want to really guarantee Scanner keeping away from those minions, he could run to one of the corners of the map.

What if calliope and scanner both buff themselves so they have more than render? Zu would then pull render to them first which, assuming they survive the turn, be very beneficial for us, since then they can use their special

>>905047
more health*

>>905047
His pulling ability isn't based on weakest hp. He simply knows whoever has the weakest hp and decides who to pull based on that information.

Honestly I think Reaver should probably move up a bit. If he can get 5 squares away from Zu, and Zu summons enough drones to be brought down to 10 Ichor, Reaver can oneshot him. If we absorb all ichor piles before doing this, he won't come back. Not sure what will happen to his minions if they're still alive when he dies.
...ah, one problem with that though. We just put a fortification on top of ambient ichor. He's guaranteed to survive a fatal attack and heal 5 ichor. So we'll need some additional attacks afterwards if we're to burst him down in one round, which means we need everyone near him, which means... uh, yeah we won't be doing that I guess.

Man. Reformation battles were much easier to deal with since units were expendable. This is like playing Fire Emblem with no ability to save/load.

kome 2018/10/04(Thu)22:46 No. 905053 ID: 094652
File 153871841265.png - (160.87KB , 1024x768 , Formation Action 1-4.png )

Looks like Zu is wiser than we thought. His playstyle is all about deploying hordes of minions, grappling weak opponents, and ultimately healing just when it seems he's defeated. Plus, he can kill our weakest party member by attacking along with a minion or zerg-rushing. We need to time this right or we'll lose party members in the gaps between our tactics.

Zu has one weak point, his obsession. He wants to eat Scanner 3, yet he doesn't know enough about Calliope or Render to feel confident about bum rushing, especially after what Render pulled off. His tactics are expected to focus on dragging the 8-HP scrub, destroying our squad cohesion in the process of trying to save him.

I think we should take a risk. If Scanner 3 can grab enough Ichor to survive a zerg rush of 4 units (hopefully they deal less than 3 damage), Zu will spend his turn preparing more clones - and we can focus on building our fortifications. The real threat is Scanner 3 getting boxed in by minions, at which point he's dead. If we were on Zu's side, I'd have him drag Scanner 3 again and instead of having the drones attack, box them so the only opening is eastward. We need a counter-strategy for that. Any ideas?

>>905016
Zu can only heal up to 12 Ichor from draining his allies, and 10 Ichor if he dies and the auto-revive kicks in. If we can get him to 6 Ichor or less, Mark him, and have Render and Calliope in their attack ranges, he's doomed.

>>905051
>Man. Reformation battles were much easier to deal with since units were expendable. This is like playing Fire Emblem with no ability to save/load.
*insert traumatic PTSD flashbacks of losing my favorite and/or most powerful units here*

is this connected to any of your other quests

>>904981
We don't need to prevent Calliope from being pulled as she's got enough health. Also, I don't want her to be barricaded inside because, even if Scanner only gets pulled to F16, it would still sustain a lot of damage which we might not be able to heal that way.

>>905053
What you suggested wouldn't prevent Scanner from getting pulled to G19 and, in case minions deal 3 dmg, would get reduced down to 1HP. The next turn the same might happen and it would get finished off. Also, Render can't move to where you drew.
>ideas
I suggested one of the ways to protect Scanner which I think is the best tactic for now. Nothing to add.

>>905075
You're forgetting that units can move and then attack on the same turn.

I think we can safely assume the minions have at least 2 attack. That means if Scanner gets pulled over there and gets attacked by all four, it will die. This is bad upon first inspection, since Scanner can't actually get far enough away to be completely out of range of all four minions aftet a pull.
HOWEVER, units are all given orders at the same time, before anything moves. If Zu pulls a unit, that unit can only be attacked at the initial location since the ending location is empty space during the time orders are given out. This is why he's making a ring. He HAS TO pull Scanner into the ring to keep Scanner there during our turn so that the minions can target it when he gives out orders at the start of his turn. However, since Scanner can keep out of range of that empty space in the middle, the ring won't work where it is now. If Zu realizes this, then this turn he will summon two minions and move the ring closer. Actually I'm not sure it's possible he can move the ring close enough. The empty tile needs to move 2 spaces closer(G15 is best I think), but he can't move newly summoned units so the minions have to already be in spots which form the ring. I'm not sure if the spot he summons a minion in has to be free at the start of a turn or if he can summon at the same time a minion moves out of the way. If it's the former, then we get another free turn.

TL/DR? We need to get Reaver and Calliope closer to start killing minions, or else Zu will unavoidably kill Scanner the turn after six minions are out and close enough.

BTW, the minons have 3 movement. They ALL had to double-move the first turn to get where they were, and they moved either 4 or 5 tiles. If they had 4 movement there would have been an attack, and if they had 2 movement they couldn't move 5 tiles.

The minions have 1 Action and at least 5 Movement. This is written for Round 1:
>(1) x 5
The (1) indicating they each used 1 action.

Suggestion 2018/10/05(Fri)03:29 No. 905091 ID: b1b4f3
File 153873539720.png - (166.46KB , 1024x768 , orders.png )

>>905081
Oh, in that case they're almost harmless. I might be mistaken about how the turn order works though, which means they'd be able to attack a freshly-pulled unit.

If they can attack a freshly-pulled unit then there is literally nowhere completely safe for Scanner. It's gonna get hit. However, we can reduce that to ONE hit, by moving it down to M1. That is 10 tiles away from the nearest minion. Can't improve that by hiding behind our other units, as Scanner can be pulled adjacent to two minions no matter where Calliope moves and places a barrier.
This is my set of orders:
Render moves forwards and eats ichor. So does Calliope. Scanner flees down to M1. We'll soon find out how much damage these minions do, but even if it's 4 damage Scanner will live.

Zu can still make this situation worse by summoning another two minions and creating a ring to fully entrap whoever gets pulled, but by that time we're gonna be attacking his minions with Render and Calliope and he won't be able to keep up. Really the worst thing he could do next turn is to drag Calliope into the jaws, but she'll have 20 hp and won't die. Also he won't. He wants Scanner 3.
There is no way that I can see to protect both Calliope and Scanner without running Calliope down to M2 as well, which seems like a waste to be honest. I think we're going to have to keep her near Render so that she can heal him during the fight, since unless we completely ignore the minions Zu will revive with a bunch of hp and Render can't survive more than two rounds of combat 1v1.

>>904582
Wait a second I just noticed something strange here. Does Scanner not know about chaos creatures? There's no mention of them in the Soroi territory. They should be to the south of Soroi-controlled lands, and are why they have such weird laws.

If we can recover this shard, it might be safe to settle among the chaos creatures, since the mindless ones are the most dangerous. Unless I guess the shard only gives the passive ability to one of our group, not all of them. We'd have to collect three shards to be completely safe.

1/2 - 2018/10/05(Fri)12:54 No. 905130 ID: 7f3357
File 153876929059.png - (126.69KB , 1024x768 , f-17.png )

COMBAT ROUND 4

Ichor Remnants Turn

Render moves to and consumes (2) the ichor at F8, while Calliope does the same (2) for the ichor at G9.

Scanner 3 takes the time to soar away (2) to M1.

2/2 - 2018/10/05(Fri)12:55 No. 905132 ID: 7f3357
File 153876931838.png - (111.35KB , 1024x768 , f-18.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending lets out a cackling screech and laugh.

"Yes! Closer! The closest of you! Embrace destiny!!"

Zu the Unending pulls Calliope past one of its minions, into the circle it has been forming, and shapes one more minion, completing the circle.

All of the other Zu Minions all screech and laugh like their creator. They all lunge at Calliope, sinking their jaws into her. (1) x 4
Each strikes for 3 damage each, dealing 12 damage to Calliope, who desperately tries to pry the swarm off of her as they tear chunks out of her bleeding body. Her absorbed ichor bubbles away into nothingness, too thinly dispersed to attempt reabsorption.

Zu itself opens its mouth as wide as it can, drawing closer to Calliope.

END ROUND STATS
Render: 25/15 Ichor (+5)
Calliope: 8/12 Ichor (+5, -12)
Scanner 3: 8/8 Ichor
Barrier A: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier B: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 25 Ichor
Zu Minion F: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion G: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion H: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion I: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion J: 5 Ichor

Unclaimed Ichor:
F6 (5)
H8 (5)

Cirr 2018/10/05(Fri)13:00 No. 905143 ID: 7f3357
File 153876963917.png - (126.47KB , 1024x768 , f-18.png )

[ not sure why the dark hex grid showed up, oops, here's what that should have looked like ]

>>905132
Well balls. Why is this the first fight, exactly? Cirr if you're outright planning on killing off one of our main characters in the first fight you can just fuck right off. You know what, I'm sick of this. Every fucking update from you it's just a huge disaster, like everything has to be crisis management. Fuck that.


(Well aren't you a ray of sunshine.)

>>905143
Layer shenanigans probably.
Scanner, you are a traitor and a scoundrel. Get back here and double move to G5.
Render, dash-attack to H16 and kill a minion to open up the ring.
Calliope, double-move back to H8.

[facepalm]

Render: Sprintslash on Zu Minion I from F16
Scanner 3: Move to I5, Spot on Zu Minion J
Calliope: Here's a question. Can Calliope create a barrier on the spot she stands and then move away?
If yes: Create Barrier on G19, Move to G13
If no: Move to G17, Barrier on G19
If neither is possible then... uh, create some special Ichor Carapace on self or something?

>>905152
Holy shit you're a pissbaby. Try and think about the situation, it's a tutorial.

Render, go kill a minion. Calliope, double move out of the circle after Render creates an opening.

>>905153 >>905155
Guys, double moving out will just result in her getting pulled again and dying. The correct tactic here is to plug the trap with a Barrier

>>905157
Nah, that's what Render is for, when he's in melee he'll be an immediate threat they can't ignore just to try and gib Calliope.

>>905152
No, it’s called “punishing us for doing something as stupid as moving our healer into a position that would put her in danger”.

We should’ve left Calliope behind the barriers, where she was safe! Then Render would’ve been the closest to be targeted and, if he was pulled in, would’ve allowed him to use his Spiral Rend to kill all of the minions next turn!

It’s too bad that didn’t happen.

>>905157
>The correct tactic here is to plug the trap with a Barrier
Also, it's likely that the minions were instructed to attack whatever appears in the trap. So it's possible that placing a barrier there will waste all of the minion attacks.

>>905165
I wouldn't count on that. I'd assume our opponents get to react to our moves the same way we get to react to theirs.

I'm in agreement with having Render create an opening for Calliope to escape through.

Suggestion 2018/10/05(Fri)14:24 No. 905174 ID: b67388
File 153877466821.png - (147.23KB , 1024x768 , remturn.png )

Scanner 3 tag Zu.

Render move forward and slash dash through the minion and Zu.
This will not do enough damage to kill Zu, but it will limit his options and may force him to cannibalize minions.

Calli create ichor foam on top of Zu to immobilize it. Zu may be able to absorb the ichor, but waste an action doing so. If he cannot, he will be trapped until he can get free. Then Calli moves away from the trap.

Well, that's it, then. Time to surrender.

Calliope, heal Zu. Explain that you can effectively turn the already unending minion-maker into an immortal overlord by exploiting the ichor, but he won't be capable of learning it by eating her because his skill tree is geared towards absorption/division and not generation. Not to mention Render will spend his remaining turns absorbing her and tearing into him, which could destroy him if he's weakened and any more predators show up.

Scanner 3, retreat. He'll kill you anyway if you stay.

>>905152
This battle should be mildly easy.
It's just 5 people agreed on similar, equally bad plans.

Like seriously, has nobody played Missionforce: CyberStorm?

The minions are probably controlled mentally.

There's enough damage here to rip through a barrier and Caliope.

Constructing a barrier is an active process, not an instant one, and probably won't work on an unwilling opponent/surrounded while getting actively attacked. (Unless Cirr gives us a pass through silly game logic.)

Suggestion 2018/10/05(Fri)15:27 No. 905198 ID: deec6e
File 153877846096.png - (113.03KB , 1024x768 , Formation_Battleplan5.png )

>>905132

I've been wracking my brain, but it's not looking great. Calliope will heal for 1 Ichor (1/4th of absent health), putting her at 9 (back to 8 if she deploys a Barrier). The big deal right now is that despite whatever escape we can affect opening the trap with Render, Calliope will just get pulled right back in. Even if we plug the trap tile, Zu still has options to just outright gank her. Our best hope is either that barriers DO actually prevent pulls (and we were fools to doubt them) or that he makes a suboptimal move.

Render: Sprintslash to H16, kill Minion J.
Calliope: Move to H18, on top of dead minion J. Deploy Barrier in G19. (-1 Ichor).
Scanner: Move to I5, Spot Minion H.

Well... fingers crossed.

>>905198
Your order set is very similar to mine. Yes, we need to rely on Zu making a suboptimal move. However, I prefer my order set for the following reason:
In my order set, Render and Calliope both end up the same distance from Zu, giving us a greater chance that Zu might turn on Render.

>>905204

My order set has the barrier between Zu and Calliope in the hopes that the barrier's Cover (2) can prevent pull. I also suspect being a minion-occupied tile closer to Zu won't make it more likely to target Render, the strongest. It has already been established as a being that prefers to prey on the weak first and Calliope will turn up tied for weakest thanks to its Predator ability.

>>905207
It was demonstrated that Zu can pull sideways, so the barrier would be inconsequential in that aspect. However, considering most tiles around her are occupied by her minions, pulling might be unavailable for her.
As for the Predator ability, it only tells Zu who's the weakest. So from Zu's perspective, Calliope and Render may very well be the same. We can only hope that Predator ability won't trigger on Calliope. It was also demonstrated that Zu doesn't always focus on the weakest. In either case, having Render closer is a superior choice.

>>905194
>Like seriously, has nobody played Missionforce: CyberStorm?
Considering this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that, no, I haven’t played that.

>>905210

Eh. I'm going to keep harping on Cover having a possible use here until it is conclusively disproven (largely because I feel your hopes are a smidge more straw-graspier than mine). For what it's worth, my logic is that one should have to be able to SEE a target on order to be able to target it, supported by nothing seen so far, except knowledge of numerous other game-rulesystems in which this is the case.

>Missionforce?

Nope, never.

Render, Sprint-slash Minion I

Have Calliope and Scanner 3 Double move to H8 and hold onto each other. Accept a penalty next turn for resolving the turn in the same Hex.

The Idea here is that Zu's pull is meant to work on a single target. A second Ichor creature actively resisting the ability might reduce its effectiveness.

It's time to get creative.

>>905220
>>905224
It's a 1996 Hex-mapped turn-based strategy game in the Earthsiege franchise. It plays very similarly to this quest, but with giant absurdly customizable robots.

Calliope, make a barrier and hide under it, then use an action to heal yourself. Render, sprintslash to E17 and splatter minion F, so next turn you'll be in a better position to attack Zu directly.

1/2 Cirr 2018/10/06(Sat)15:29 No. 905410 ID: 7f3357
File 153886494316.png - (131.55KB , 1024x768 , f-19.png )

COMBAT ROUND 5

Ichor Remnants Turn

Calliope's passive heals her for 1 ichor. She spins in a circle, foaming ichor spraying out of her mouth and around her, forming a barrier around her for 1 ichor. (1) She then mends herself to restore 2 ichor. (1)

Render sprintslashes (2) his way to F16, but cannot carve his way through the ichor minion. All his momentum disappears in a shockwave through the minion, exploding it messily into ichor giblets.

Scanner 3 considers retreat but can't face abandoning its friends after witnessing Calliope being savagely torn at. It flies back (2) to G5, taking cover behind the barriers as it waits for an opening to do more from behind the barricade.

2/2 Cirr 2018/10/06(Sat)15:29 No. 905411 ID: 7f3357
File 153886495369.png - (129.54KB , 1024x768 , f-20.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending stares at the shell Calliope bubbled up so alarmingly fast in mild disbelief.

"A production drone? Such capabilities for a drone? Your creator was mad! Deranged! No wonder they've been killed!"

The Zu Minions as a unit bite frustratedly (1) x 4 at Calliope's new shell. They deal 12 total damage to Barrier C, and it bursts open, its ichor dissipating into nothing. A much healthier looking Calliope looks out, a little concerned, but a lot less terrified.

Zu screeches in rage. "YOU THINK YOU CAN STALEMATE ME?!"

It raises a limb, ichor hardening into a frightening edge, and does not attack Calliope at all, charging towards Render (1) at E17 and swiping its bladed leg at Render, who sustains 5 damage, reduced from 6 thanks to his battlehardened status.

END ROUND STATS
Render: 20/15 Ichor (-5)
Calliope: 10/12 Ichor (+1, -1, +2)
Scanner 3: 8/8 Ichor
Barrier A: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier B: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 25 Ichor
Zu Minion G: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion H: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion I: 5 Ichor
Zu Minion J: 5 Ichor

Unclaimed Ichor:
F6 (5)
H8 (5)
F18 (5)

Well, that's his trump card laid on the table and sent to the graveyard. Go fish!
Render, move to H16 and kill minion J. Don't end any turns next to Zu yet.
Scanner, consume the ichor under Cover A.
Calliope, double move to H8. Can't heal Render while he's overhealed, so no need to stick around.

Can we use a character's action to move another character? If Calliope made a springboard under Render, that could move him into a position to use a proper Spinslash on the remains of the mosh pit.

Hm. We could inflict 14 damage on Zu without leaving Calliope in an obviously stupid position, but it doesn't seem like a good idea. (16 if we dragged over Scanner, but that seems like an even worse idea.)

Obviously, making sure no one is within attack range of a minion is a good move, so getting Calliope to be somewhere else and having Render do his spinny thing seems like the right idea. It'd be nice to have Calliope attack someone, too; she does have range, so maybe she could get out of the circle and then target another of the minions. (Messing up Zu's action economy seems important here.)

Maybe we could have Scanner Spot Zu in the meantime to inflict a bit more damage when Render attacks him?

>>905415
The most justifiable way to do that seems like it would leave Calliope right in front of Zu. She can't take his full attack.

naileD 2018/10/06(Sat)16:02 No. 905420 ID: 93f082
File 153886693251.png - (120.52KB , 1024x768 , r6.png )

Render: Move to F18, Attack Minion I on G18 (will absorb ichor next turn)
Calliope: Move to G17, Absorb Ichor
Scanner: Move to H8, Absorb Ichor

>>905410
The ability to bubble within the same hex she's in is something that was not properly explained. So I might as well ask, could she have bubbled Scanner 3 as well? Can Scanner worm his way into a bubbled hex by knowing how it was constructed?

Render, Move to F18 and kill Minion I.
Calliope, Bubble Render and yourself.
Scanner 3, absorb Ichor at F6 and Tag Zu.

Calliope, move so you're not surrounded anymore and turtle up under a bubble again.

Render, spin.

Scanner, uh, hold position and play cheerleader.

I think we should have Scanner 3 use Spot on Zu, so that Render can do an additional +2 damage to Zu.

How heavy is Render? Would it be possible for Calliope to use her actions to push him where she was, allowing him to Spiral Rend the minions?
Since Zu creates them from his own HP, this would essentially be hurting him.
If not possible, well, too bad.

1/2 - 2018/10/06(Sat)17:12 No. 905446 ID: 7f3357
File 153887113285.png - (135.08KB , 1024x768 , f-21.png )

COMBAT ROUND 6

Ichor Remnants Turn

Render spins its blades around (2) and cleaves Zu Minion I in half and dealing 5 damage to Zu, paying back in kind.

Calliope leaps (1) to D22 and throws up a barrier (1) around herself for 1 ichor.

Scanner 3 wiggles its way into Barrier A (1), knowing the way Calliope put it together and the structural secrets innate to her foamed barriers. Once inside, it absorbs the ichor (1) the barrier has been passively soaking up.

2/2 - 2018/10/06(Sat)17:12 No. 905447 ID: 7f3357
File 153887114056.png - (131.85KB , 1024x768 , f-22.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending reels back from Render's attack, and its jaw hangs open as it considers the strength of Render's attack, Calliope's restored health, and barrier springing up.
It considers how much ichor it came here with, and how much ichor it has now.

"I've made a small miscalculation. None of you are worth this much effort!!"

It races over (1) to G19, and consumes all three (1) of its remaining minions, eagerly merging into it.

END ROUND STATS
Render: 20/15 Ichor
Calliope: 9/12 Ichor (-1)
Scanner 3: 13/8 Ichor (+5)
Barrier A: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier B: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier C: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 35 Ichor (-5, +15)

Unclaimed Ichor:
H8 (5)
F18 (5)
G17 (5)

Scanner, spot Zu.
Render, move forward into range and then attack it.
Calliope, ping it from a distance twice.

That should be, what, 15 damage, with the spot bonuses? Zu's fast enough that it can almost certainly get off the map without us killing it, but that doesn't mean we have to let it off easy. We tried to forgo combat, you jerk!

Scanner, Tag Zu, then move to F2. Prepare to absorb Ichor on H8 next turn.

Calliope, move to F18, then create a barrier over yourself.

Render, move to G17, attack Zu.

Next turn, you'll eat his reserve Ichor. If he wails on Render, Calliope can just heal him in one turn and harvest ichor with another. If he attacks Calliope in anger, she can just make another barrier and attack him while Render wails on him. If he tries to grab scanner, he's going to need to use up his turn.

Scanner spots and moves into attack range, Calliope attacks twice (or once plus breaking out of the shell), and Render gets in a hit while standing on the ichor to keep him aggro'd.

>>905447
Wait, shouldn’t Calliope have healed a little bit because of her Passive: Self-Mending? Or did creating that barrier around herself cancel out the healing?

>>905488
It rounds down, and it's 1/4th of damage taken.

>>905447
Attempt to demand Zu's subjugation and assistance. Another ichor-creature might be useful if it has powers we do not.

We cant let them get away

1/2 - 2018/10/08(Mon)04:30 No. 905843 ID: 8c37e5
File 153899823260.png - (127.36KB , 1024x768 , f-23.png )

COMBAT ROUND 7

Ichor Remnants Turn

Scanner 3 moves (1) to H8, crawling out of the barrier, and, with a clearer vantage point, spots (1) Zu. "Don't let this monster get away!" screams Scanner 3, an uncharacteristic hate to its tone.

Render calls out to Zu. "You're outmatched! Surrender and no one has to die! We could work together!"
Zu simply snarls hatefully in response.
Render mumbles, "You were given a chance," and dashes around in a circle to build up momentum for a sprintslash (2), coming to a stop at F18, dealing 12 damage to Zu.

Calliope takes the time to, through a small carefully torn slit in her shell, pelt Zu twice with more ichor foam bolts (2), dealing 8 damage to Zu.

2/2 - 2018/10/08(Mon)04:30 No. 905844 ID: 8c37e5
File 153899825816.png - (125.63KB , 1024x768 , f-24.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending is now visibly bleeding, staggering, and pained.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!"

It sprints (2) to A25, evidently trying to make its escape now.

END ROUND STATS
Render: 20/15 Ichor
Calliope: 9/12 Ichor
Scanner 3: 13/8 Ichor
Barrier A: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier B: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier C: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 15 Ichor (-12, -8)

Unclaimed Ichor:
H8 (5)
F18 (5)
G17 (5)

Just do another of what we just did and we should be good.

FINISH HIM!

If we become adjacent any point in the turn does that reset the escape timer, or can he just push us away and leave?
Also, scanner 3 should absorb the local ichor. Zu is gonna regen 10 points from the stuff on the ground as the other two continue their assault.

[ oops forgot to turn the mark layer back on, Zu is still marked/tagged/spotted/what have you ]

Hug Zu. 20 damage worth of hugs.

>>905844
Render can still reach Zu with another Sprintslash!

Calliope should keep pelting Zu with ichor foam bolts!

Scanner 3 should absorb the Ichor he’s standing on right now!

Finish him! It might take a good couple stabs while Scanner sucks up remaining ichor, but remaining harrassed like that should prevent him from escaping at the border.

1/3 - 2018/10/08(Mon)13:46 No. 905894 ID: 7f3357
File 153903156945.png - (128.91KB , 1024x768 , f-25.png )

COMBAT ROUND 7

Ichor Remnants Turn

Scanner 3 consumes the ichor it's standing in (1) and floats over (1) to E13.

Render darts after Zu for a sprintslash (2), stopping at E23 and swiping fiercely into Zu's flanks for 12 damage as he reaches it.

Calliope does not relent, throwing with unnatural accuracy and fervor (2), dealing 8 damage to Zu.

Zu collapses onto its legs, screaming, as it falls into a blob of formless ichor.

Its passive Unending kicks in, and it siphons the remaining ichor on the field into it, bringing it back to 10 ichor.

2/3 - 2018/10/08(Mon)13:46 No. 905895 ID: 7f3357
File 153903158530.png - (115.72KB , 1024x768 , f-26.png )

Zu the Unending Turn

Zu the Unending falls to its knees.

"I yield! I yield!"

It surrenders.

END OF COMBAT STATS
Render: 20/15 Ichor
Calliope: 9/12 Ichor
Scanner 3: 18/8 Ichor (+5)
Barrier A: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier B: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)
Barrier C: 10/10 Structure (2 Cover)

Thanks to Scanner 3, the enemy health is also known:
Zu the Unending: 10 Ichor (-12, -8 (0 reached), +10)

Total overabsorbed ichor: 15
Barriers converted back to ichor: 3
Total ichor received: 18

END OF COMBAT

3/3 - 2018/10/08(Mon)13:46 No. 905896 ID: 7f3357
File 153903160772.png - (49.57KB , 800x600 , f-27.png )

The once proud Zu the Unending sinks to the ground and puts its head onto the ground, all smiles gone, all laughter ceased, only tears of pain, regret and frustration. Dark grey ichorous blood spills forth in streams over its ruined body. If given time, its wounds could heal, but they are utterly crippling for it now.

"Hold. Let me speak," says Zu, its voice quivering and gurgling with ichor in its damaged vocal organs.

"Are we actually going to give this monster any respect?!" says Scanner 3, before Calliope waves it down.
"Everyone deserves last words," says Render, quietly.

"When I first formed, everything else was frightening and horrific. I did not have a creator to lead me into my first steps of life and awareness. All I knew was pain, fleeing, eating the few drops of ichor too small to sustain themselves as entities. I grew and as I grew, my fear and hunger intertwined. I devoured those who saw me as beneath them, learned to cheat death many many times, and now the cycle has come to its end. Those I thought weak were stronger, and now I pay the price. I was once like you. Remember this."

It grunts and groans in pain as it shifts around. "That's all."

The three share glances as they consider their next action.

- Render raises its blades, preparing to sever Zu's head, ending its life and making its remaining 10 ichor available as resource.
- Scanner 3 considers restraining Zu for destructive analysis, to wring the secret of its emergency healing out of its body before it succumbs to the process.
- Calliope wants to try and get Zu to work for them, but knows in her heart, she knows trying to coerce or demand a creature with such powerful natural control over ichor is a shortsighted effort doomed to fail.
- Or all three could choose to do nothing, leaving Zu behind to whatever fate it may have.

Unfortunately, the way Zu has acted thus far suggests that just leaving it here barely alive is much more likely to come back to bite us in the ass than it is to somehow bail us out in the future, or even to just never have any effect on us again.

... damn, but it'd be nice to pick up its skillset, though. Hmm. It'd be nice if there were some way to give it a "trial period" with the understanding that turning on us means death...

>>905896
Nabbing his rebirth ability sounds amazing at first, but I'm not sure it's worth torturing him for. Optimally we'd avoid anyone reaching 0 hp, and since it relied on dead Ichor creatures being on the battlefield the ability probably won't even work in every battle. It'll probably also cause friction between Scanner 3 and the others, and lead it down a dark path. The hate it feels is uncharacteristic, after all.

Option A. Kill him, mercifully, and take the 10 ichor.

>Render raises its blades, preparing to sever Zu's head, ending its life and making its remaining 10 ichor available as resource.
rest, you demented son of a bitch. Can't really spare the guy but we can at least grant him a quick death.

>>905896
>in her heart, she knows trying to coerce or demand a creature with such powerful natural control over ichor is a shortsighted effort doomed to fail.
Then instead of coercing or demanding, we can try to convince it.

"You say you once were like us, but the fact that you can look back on your past with regret reveals that, deep down, that person still lives within you. We're going to build a home where we can escape all of this meaningless violence and suffering -- you have a chance to escape it too, and to build a new life, if you change your ways and join us as a friend. Your command of ichor is powerful... instead of Zu the Unending, you could become something more noble: Zu the Defender."

He's too big a threat to leave alive, his playstyle and persona have shown nothing less than condescension for his minions, and I personally think Zu is using crocodile tears to activate some secret reserve of his that he generated outside of the playing field, and plans to activate it after Render uses his turn to attack, attempting a last-ditch effort to destroy them with some trap we simply don't know about.

Take your time and build a bubble on and around this guy, then (B) get that healing ability. Scanner 3 was targeted for a reason, getting this ability would allow him to act as bait instead of constantly retreating.

... Too bad we couldn't nab his Minion ability, though. With Calliope's healing powers, they could generate a steady supply of minions on the battlefield. They wouldn't need to destroy their minions like Zu did, just keep them around as friendly pets.

Then tell it the following:
"Guided by fear, you never had a choice. And this path has led you here. This is the end."

Render swing the fatal blow.

Stop the moment before the blade reaches its head.

"Your path has ended. But a new path opens before you. You now have a choice."

Calliope start mending its wounds.

"You may go back to where you were. Continue in fear and eventually end the same way you did just now."
"Or you may come with us. Abandon your fears. Believe that we'll find the safety that we long for. Together."
"Decide."

As useful as the repair tech may be, I'm not sure we should be stooping to that level yet, besides Zu doesn't seem like they'd be reliable, and we need resources to start up a base. Kill them, make it quick and humane.

Recruit him. His inevitable betrayal will end up not mattering in the face of bigger future perils.

Keep poking him with sticks to see how he reconstituted. You could use a second chance ability- as for Zu, he's used all his up.

Sparing Zu would be arrogance.
Dissecting him alive would be callousness.
Let Render grant him a quick death.

>>905896
Technically, it surrendered. Executing it, or torturing it to death to extract ichor secrets, are both pretty dick moves. (And we can't really trust it, so recruitment is no-go).

We survived, and we made a net positive in ichor. Do we really need any more? Walk away, and leave it.

If nothing else, it breaks the cycle. Everything need not be frightening and horrific, much less ourselves.

10 ichor for a mercy-killing, priceless knowledge at the cost of atrocity, an unreliable ally or just leaving it to an unknown fate? Hmh. It's a tougher choice than I expected. The Ichor is nice, knowledge is nice, an ally is so, so risky, and leaving it behind at this point serves no purpose. Still...

Save it. Give it a couple drops of Ichor to speed its recovery, but not enough to put it out of auto-kill range if the party focuses on it - that's going to be a sticking point if we keep it around - and the reverse is true; everyone needs to stay stocked up enough on Ichor that it cannot pounce and kill in turn. That said, tell Zu you want it to travel with you for a time, while it is weakened and low on ichor and can be trusted on grounds of self-preservation. As for why... if ever there was a cycle your group wanted to break, it is the kind of unending misery it just described. But trust takes time, and cannot be won easily. This is merely a feeble start.

You want to talk more about its history and its Ichor skills - and then, after a while, you want to go your separate paths, not as friends, nor as enemies, but possibly as acquaintances that might not kill each other for a lick of Ichor the next time you meet, if you ever do. If Zu cannot accept those terms and swear to stay low on Ichor while you are together... then this is, indeed, the end of Zu.

Now, there are reasons for keeping it alive, despite the risk of betrayal - a risk that can hopefully be mitigated by limiting our time spent alongside it. For one, however mad and arrogant, it is a rare creature: a Creator, one of a vanishing kind. While seeming a loner, it may have knowledge of some things, past or recent events, of the history of its kind (or at least, of itself) and a knowledge of ichor skills. Secondly, it, too, may have been hunted and ostracized. Render, Calliope and Scanner will all know and understand that it likely has a reason for being the way it is. While it is lucid and weak, we should, for pity's sake as much as everything else, take the opportunity to give it a rare moment of healing.

This alliance is really based less on trust and more on Zu's self-preservation instinct - which should be honed. It lasts for as long as we have the Ichor to ensure Scanner and Calliope can't get one-shotted by Zu - possibly only for a few days, depending on our troubles and our Ichor usage - and at some point we will want to split from Zu.

For now, though? Four - and a Creator at that - is better than three, though caution can and will be taken.

This is an easy choice. Have scanner 3 do his destructive analysis.

There is no moral question here. the idea that torturing this guy to death for our own benefit being atrocious is a byproduct of our peaceful existence as mere onlookers of this story. We have the luxury of being able to live in a society where morals exist and have meaning. These characters do not. They are insects in a dying world filled with monsters. They need every advantage they can get.

They can worry about morality when they have the power to protect it.

If they squander what's given to them now, then the next guy who comes along will just squash them, like this one tried to do.

Claim his secrets.
Claim his shard.
And let's get moving.

>>905945

>They are insects
>Dying world
>Monsters everywhere
>Morals are meaningless
>Can't squander power
>Take every advantage
>Kill to survive

>Kehehe!
>Behold, morsels
>To be something that matters.
>Insects!
>All I knew ... pain, fleeing, eating
>Devoured those who saw me as beneath them
>Cycle has come to its end
>That's all.

Now that I think about it, this quest needs more hugs.

Calliope, hug Zu.

Your poetic justice has been noted and scheduled for recycling, along with the rest of you. Analyse Zu destructively or chop him up wholesale, I don't care as long as there is nothing left behind to regret his actions.

>>905896
I do not approve of terminating his life.

Allow it to live.

Calliope: Heal Zu

Leave him be. Tell him to learn and be better. Maybe if we meet again, it can be as something other than foes.

Let him live and let him go. You may not be able to trust, but you can be better.

>>905916
The only way we can ensure he won't be able to oneshot Scanner and Calliope is having them stay out of reach.
Which won't be possible while the group sleeps at night. Keeping Zu nearby means never being able to sleep soundly ever again.

>>905896
Kill and eat him.

My dude just needs some tender lovin' care, recruit him.

>>906105
or you know, just leave

1/4 - 2018/10/09(Tue)13:40 No. 906231 ID: 7f3357
File 153911762826.png - (43.43KB , 800x600 , f-28.png )

>recruit

"Let's take Zu with us," says Calliope.
"Alright," says Render, lowering his blades.
"What?! No!! I saw what happened, Calliope, you were seconds from death! If this horror hadn't kept making mistakes you'd have been dead in seconds!! Do any of you think we'd have had a chance for last words if the situation was reversed?!" Scanner 3 pulls at its antennae in frustration.

Calliope closes her eyes and shakes her head. "No, but if we can't show mercy, how does that make us any better than our enemies?"
"How can you be so trusting?!"
"How could you have been so trusting, when we first met?"
Scanner 3 falters. "Th-that was different! I was naive! Overly optimistic!"
"Perhaps, but you're looking at the other extreme and how that ends up. Also, would a total monster show regret?"
"It's only regretful because it lost!" says Scanner 3.

"Zu," says Render, while its two friends argue. "This is the end of your path as it was. We can't trust you won't try to attack us, but we are going to spare your life, and grant you a chance to be something better than you were. Come with us."

Zu looks confused. "Why would I come with you?"
"Because your choices are to come with us, or die here," says Render, impassive.
Zu shivers. "There are three things I value the most. My ichor, my life, and my freedom. But without my life, my freedom and ichor have no value. ...Very well. This is not an outcome I saw. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by the plans of orphaned creations."
"We are going to build a new home for ourselves, safe, free of this endless cycle."
"There is nowhere safe," splutters Zu. "Wherever we go we hunt and are hunted."
"There is nowhere safe," says Render, "and that is why we are going to change this."

"Well," says Render, "we should get moving." Calliope moves over to Zu and starts fixing its wounds, massaging ichor over wounds and scooping flowing blood back into Zu's body. Quickly, Zu is able to stand under its own, although its mass and size have clearly reduced. Scanner 3 keeps a leery eye on Zu, one antenna pointed to it at all times. Render tenses up, waiting for Zu to run or attack, but instead, Zu quietly hangs its head, tremoring.

2/4 - 2018/10/09(Tue)13:40 No. 906232 ID: 7f3357
File 153911763982.png - (47.65KB , 800x600 , f-29.png )

"You didn't treat your minions very well," says Scanner 3, as the four move on in the cold rain.

Zu is quiet for a moment, looking into the dirt as it walks.

"They were extensions of myself, nothing more," it says, after a pause. "I don't have a mindswarm, they were little other than puppets."
"That's odd," says Calliope. "I thought every creator had a mindswarm."
"I did," says Zu, and then it falls silent again.

Scanner 3 glares at Zu. "Okay, I don't understand what you're trying to do, but either this is an act and you'll go back to laughing at us and trying to drink our blood, or that was an act and this is the real you. What's your deal?"

Zu looks away from Scanner 3. "I don't recall the terms of my surrender demanding I answer every single question you ask," it says, and keeps walking.
"Look, my entire reason for being is to find information, and to discover the truth of things," says Scanner 3. "I'm going to ask you a lot of questions, and after what you put us through that's the very least of what I want to do to you."
"Do you still feel compelled to abide by your role even with your creator gone?"
"I choose to do this, and it's a natural talent. What are you getting at?"
"I don't know," says Zu, trailing off into silence.

Zu doesn't say anything for the rest of the journey to the edge of the island.
Neither does anyone else.

3/4 - 2018/10/09(Tue)13:40 No. 906233 ID: 7f3357
File 153911764897.png - (57.97KB , 800x600 , f-30.png )

The four manage to cross the gap of the void within a bubble of ichor, lazily floating across the void. A skill trivial for any creator with sufficient ichor, Calliope's patchwork foamed bubble seems to threaten to burst at its haphazard seams, but with every dangerous tear, suddenly Zu yelps and the tear is mended.

"This is taking far too long," moans Zu. "Where are you even going?"
"To the grasslands," says Render.
"What? Why?!"
"We're going to build our new home there."
"Do you have any safer place to recommend?" asks Calliope, earnestly.
"I... no, not really," mumbles Zu. "If that's where we're headed, we're drifting to the mountains."
"...oh," says Calliope.
"We don't have a good way of propelling these bubble things," says Scanner 3. "We're doing what we can with what we have--"

Zu curls its legs up, bows its head and closes its eyes. The ichor bubble abruptly jerks and the three tumble around Zu's focused form.

"...well, we're going the right way now," says Scanner 3, antennae wiggling.
"What did you do?" asks Calliope, upside down.
"I just pulled the bubble towards the northeast," says Zu, eyes still closed. "It took some effort to move this much volume, but for a nudge, entirely within my ability."
"Thank you, Zu," says Render, and Zu's eyes snap open as it awkwardly shifts and looks away.

Within the bubble, the three sleep for their health, and Zu, suspended above the void in a flimsy ichor bubble, sleeps to heal itself faster, assuming if it were to be killed the moment would have come by now.

4/4 - 2018/10/09(Tue)13:41 No. 906234 ID: 7f3357
File 153911767394.png - (102.89KB , 800x600 , f-31.png )

Touching down on grassy land, some distance from the edge of the new continent, the bubble deflates slowly as the party wakes, and is rapidly packed away into a solid lump of ichor, split three ways and consumed. Zu does not watch, staring off into the sky.

"That's a bright blue sky," says Zu. "I didn't think a sky could be that bright--"

Suddenly, two green blue feathered creatures charge at the ichor beings, apparently blindfolded and with their hands, or wings, tied together.

"Ichor things!"
"Other way! Other way don't approach them!"
"Don't hurt us!"
"Back up back up we can go around them!"
"We can see you these blindfolds are actually very bad!"

They clatter into each other and tumble onto the ground.

The four look confusedly amongst each other, unsure what to do next, as the two things stagger up.

"No no no no we're so close!"
"Help! Help we're being attacked!"
"Binders! Cruel freedom takers!!"
"We can't fly, they're getting closer!!"

The two new arrivals seem hysterical, trying to throw their restraints off with no luck.

In the distance, some figures are charging toward the group. Scanner 3 estimates four in total, three avian and wearing the colours of the new Sannersoon, and one it can't place.

"RELENT AND RETURN TO THE LIGHT," yells one of the figures, imperious voice unnaturally loud and booming, in the thick accent of Sannersine.

The four need to decide. They could get involved in whatever is going on, potentially making new allies but almost certainly getting into a confrontation.
They could also just simply leave, abandoning these two strangers to their fate.

Do you want our assistance and protection?

If you do not we will keep moving and stay out of your affairs.

>>906232
Well, this raises several questions.

Who created Zu?
Why did Zu lose their mindswarm?
Is Calliope a creator?
Can Calliope become a creator?
Why is nowhere safe?
(to Zu:) Why cant we just conduct raids, dig a hole, build defenses, and then live peacefully in said hole?

(to Cirr:) Will we be able to create other non-ichor weapons and gear just as non-ichor beings do? (like develop guns, build with metal, and reverse-engineer enemy weapons)

Leave before the Sannersoon spot you. It would be bad to be hunted before you had a place to hide.

[ we'll get there, eventually, and that question will be answered, have no fear! ]

>>906233
Well, sleeping above the void is a pretty good idea since if anyone started a fight the bubble would probably burst... We'll see what happens next time. Zu does seem like he might get used to this.

>>906234
Uhhhh shit. On one hand, these two would be extremely valuable sources of information, though I doubt they can give us more than that since they're obviously not citizens. Also sure I guess it'd be nice to save them?
On the other hand we can't afford to aggro Sannersoon at large, even with Zu's help. We don't even have any fortifications! Zu might even run away with another bubble of his own once Sannersoon starts coming after us. Also these are just slaves. They won't die, and there are safer ways of rescuing slaves.

...I think we should get out of here before the slavers see us.

We have decided to end the cycle. Thus, we shall interfere and try to stop the hatred before us.

Step in and protect the birds. Maybe Zu can pull them with its ability.
Demand to hear the reasoning for the conflict from both sides.

>>906234
Dig a hole and attempt to rescue the creatures. Then hide using the hole and a thin layer of turf held up by ichor struts.

anywhere to hide? and if so could we grab these two and drag them with us? If so make sure to gag them so they don't give away our position.

Nah, leave them alone.

We have chosen a most compassionate path. A path that leads to boundless light through endless conflict.

We will save these creatures. Release their bounds and let them flee. We will have to deal with their captors.

>>906247
>>906249
This is a pretty cool plan if we can pull it off. They'd effectively disappear without a trace and the slavers would eventually give up and write off the two slaves. What's two slaves in the grand scheme of things anyway? I'm not sure we have enough time though.

It's still not without risk even if we can do it. Disturbed ground can be detected, and the slavers might even have tracking devices on these two.

>>906258

How about this: lets make Calliope inflate herself enough to hide the slaves inside herself without killing them. It can be rather snug, just enough and just for long enough to convince the slavers they arent here.

----

Alternatively, we could just relaunch the ichor bubble and take them with us.

We do need to take them with us though.

>>906234
Have Render cut open their bindings.

Zu, create scary-looking minions and have them insult the marching army AWAY from this place. Make them do a broadway dance for greater confusion.

Calliope, heal Zu.

Scanner, scan the slaves for traps, then scan the army starting with the captain.

Render, sneak up behind those two and cut their bonds, then tell them to move or die. QUIETLY.

Now that Zu is on our team, I’m already think of how useful his ability to pull ichor can be.

He can use it to pull an enemy ichor creature in close for us to attack or he can pull one of our ichor allies away from danger!

>>906291
Yeah, do this.

>>906304
It's important to make sure the collars aren't trapped. But helping them is the path to take.

>>906304

We dont want to waste ichor. Lets just try to grab them and either hide or book it.

>>906316
We could ooze ichor in between the collars and their skin and then harden it so it would take the brunt of any potential explosions.

---
Btw, these guys obv arent ichor which means we will need to add food, water, and plumbing into any prospective base of operations we make.

>>906332
Assuming we bring them with. It's not necessary that we recruit them after saving them, though it is likely.

>>906247
If this can be done, I'm game. Otherwise, we'll need to run and hide, we can't afford confronting their pursuers right now, blindly.

1/4 - 2018/10/10(Wed)13:59 No. 906341 ID: 7f3357
File 153920518466.png - (61.22KB , 800x600 , f-32.png )

> use Calliope as a skin suit

Ichor creatures have within them dark ichor bones, dark ichor blood and various organs, most commonly an internal ichor reservoir where flesh beings would have intestines and fat reserves. Other organs can include eyes, a brain, a heart, ichor siphons, structural regulator fluid banks, and quickly changing shifting pods to allow for rapid form alteration. Although these organs are malleable and tend to drift in shape and size, any complex ichor creature with coherent form is far from homogenous. Only the most primitive of ichor creatures are purely ichor substance with no definition within.

Attempting to contort Calliope or any of the other three ichor creatures around the slaves in such a manner would fatally injure the ichor creature as its organs sustain unrecoverable damage.

The four do not consider this plan of action.

2/4 - 2018/10/10(Wed)14:00 No. 906342 ID: 7f3357
File 153920520366.png - (30.75KB , 800x600 , f-33.png )

> intervene and save them
> hide underground

"We can hide them underground," says Calliope, "but we need to act fast."
"What? Why are we helping these--" says Zu, before Scanner 3 cuts in. "I'll check them for traps, someone get digging fast!"

Render looks at his claws, more suited to cutting through vegetation and chopping wood, and shrugs, trying to dig with his scythe-like claws.

Zu looks at Render, shakes its head, and raises its front two limbs, shifting them into flat, shovel like structures and burrowing into the earth, chunks of sod and turf flying behind it.

Scanner 3 flicks its antennae around the pair, who squeeze up together shaking in fear. Aside from some unusual enchantments on the bindings and some trace residual something on the useless blindfolds, Scanner 3 can't find anything that would cause a problem. "Render, no traps, slice their--"

Render rips through the arm restraints and the two creatures stagger back as Render slices down through the cable connecting their necks. It is surprisingly strong, and Render ends up needing to hold it steady with one claw, awkwardly, while sawing through it with the other.

Calliope is busy scattering the loose earth around to try and make it less obvious that a hole was just freshly dug, as well as preparing a fine mesh of foamed ichor to support a ground cover.

Scanner 3's antennae prick up. "Quick quick get in the hole!" it says, hushed and urgent.

Render wrangles the two runaways into the hole, surprisingly large for the time Zu was given to dig it, while Calliope ushers Scanner 3 in, pulling the ichor mesh with dirt and grass covering it over the hole and adding blown struts beneath it to keep it held.

It is dark, cramped and tight, and before the pair of creatures can start panicking, Calliope and Scanner 3 grab and wrestle the two with hands and tendrils keeping their beaks shut.

Above, a more muffled but still loud call booms over the open plains. "YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM HER BRILLIANCE FOR LONG!"

Scanner 3 pokes an antennae up through the mess of ichor mesh and supported earth, flicking it around.

"They're searching," says Scanner 3, quiet as it can whisper. "They don't know where to look."

Their sudden captives stop struggling as fiercely, still terrified, but clearly more afraid of whatever they ran from in the first place.

"We're friends," says Calliope, loosening her grip a little. "We're trying to hide you both."
"Ssh," says Scanner 3. "They're talking amongst each other. I can't see or here what they're discussing, but... they're going the other way. They're going the other way."
"Give it a few minutes," whispers Zu. "This could be a trick."
"You would know all about that, eh?" whispers Scanner 3 scornfully.
"Yes," says Zu, earnest. "Yes I would. When the prey is greater than you in any way, use trickery and treachery to even things out. They lack knowledge of where their quarry is, they need their prey to make a mistake and reveal themselves."
"Zu isn't wrong," says Render. "We need to wait longer before we can be sure we're safe."

3/4 - 2018/10/10(Wed)14:03 No. 906343 ID: 7f3357
File 153920543871.png - (56.14KB , 800x600 , f-34.png )

After another oppressive two minutes pass, Scanner 3 nods. "They're out of my range, we're clear."

The group wastes no time bursting out of the ground, the air-breathing pair among them gasping and clinging to the level grass. Calliope tugs the ichor out of the dirt, and spends some time massaging and brushing the earth out of it before popping the ichor ball into her mouth.

Render helps the two to remove the rest of their restraints, and the group bury the shreds of their restraints and blindfolds in the pit just to be safe.

"So, what are these two?" asks Zu.
Scanner 3 looks perplexed. "They're wind soroi, have you never seen soroi before?"
"I have not," says Zu, looking at the two soroi with intrigue.
"Did you ever try to leave the storm islands?"
"Leave the one site in the world with the most ichor? Why?"
"Survival, for one thing," says Calliope. "More ichor, more ichor predators. Also, the land's just disappearing into the void and it's just not a safe place to be."
"Why were you three there?"
"We were low on ichor," says Render. "It was a supply trip, cut short thanks to an unexpected attack by a certain predatory creator."
"I would apologise," says Zu, "but if it had not been you, it would have been anyone else. I make no apologies for being something I have no control over. Consume or die is the only law of the ichorborn."
"We're going to change this," says Calliope. "Still, yes, these two. You've been very quiet. Hello?"

"So," says the male soroi, "you saved our lives."
"Our free lives," says the female soroi. "Our freedom? You saved something of us. One of those."
"Our future. You saved our what-will-be."
"Yes."

"Why are you two here so far from your homeland?" asks Calliope. "I didn't think soroi really ever left where they came from."
"We're rulebreakers," says the male, almost proudly. "We broke the rules. It was not hard."
"We're exiles and we were going to make a new colony," says the female. "New home, new rules that don't keep breaking themselves."
"I threw a rock at a geyser the wrong way and then I slapped the fire soroi that yelled at me about it without saying I was going to, and then I said the rules were terrible and made no sense," says the male. "After they finished saying how many rules I broke I was already leaving. I miss the currents and the winds but I don't miss the people."
The female nods. "I saw him say the rules made no sense and followed him while shouting the nine forbidden words outside of battle context. I had to duck and roll because a water soroi was trying to break my arms for violating the rules so excessively while she yelled that she was trying to do it. There was a mass panic and chaos as we left."
"Good riddance."
"Good riddance."
"But then we came here," says the male. "There's wind but there's also trees."
"Trees are a problem," says the female, nodding.
"Trees mean bad things. And after we saw the trees we got captured by the ground birds."
"The ground birds are the worst."
"And then we ran and now we're here."
"We can start our colony now!"
"Soroi don't have names so we named ourselves. My name is Monsoon," says the male.
"Mine is Typhoon," says the female, "because I heard the name was bad luck so I want to make anything that attacks us have bad luck."
"Also our names are wet winds because we like rain."
"The rain islands were too dead but the rain was nice."
"We like getting wet."
"Just a little bit, though."
"Enough wet."

The two nod emphatically, arms around each other, sidling up in a hug as gusts of wind start blowing the dirt off of them.

4/4 - 2018/10/10(Wed)14:04 No. 906344 ID: 7f3357
File 153920545108.png - (25.21KB , 800x600 , f-35.png )

Zu mutters just audibly enough for the ichor creatures to hear. "We just did all that for these two morons?"
"Colony?" Scanner 3 tilts its head. "Wouldn't a colony need more of you?"
"We have more than one soroi, that's enough for a colony," says Typhoon. "We're gonna make more anyway."
"Soroi can do that?"

Calliope coughs and gestures for Scanner 3 to drop the line of conversation. Zu, however, does not understand the library of gestures the three friends have developed over the two years they've travelled together.
"Wait. You are flesh creators?" asks Zu.
"What?" Typhoon blinks.
"You said you wanted to make more soroi. Are you going to gather flesh and shape it into soroi?"

Typhoon holds a wingfinger up, beak open, pauses, and rubs her beak. "I guess not entirely wrong..."
"Definitely absolutely wrong," says Monsoon. "That is not how it works at all!"
"Well I read that book that went into how bodies work and how flesh you eat gets made into flesh you have and I mean I think that is how it works for making more soroi?"
"Nothing good ever came out of a book but bad ideas and terrible opinions!"
"Do you even know how to read?"
"Reading is for people who want to be tricked by lies!!"
"I'm teaching you to read!!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Never!"
"You can't run a colony without writing things down!"
"Did a book tell you that too?!"
"Yes!"
"Book-propagating lies!!"
"Noooo!"

Calliope and Scanner 3 exchange glances, while Render can't help but smile. He taps his claws together while the soroi playfully argue and nudge each other. "Well, we should get to somewhere less exposed. We could go to that forest, or maybe we could look around this... surprisingly vast open plain for somewhere to set up a new home."

"Trees are dangerous," says Typhoon.
"But maybe not these trees," says Monsoon.
"Turn them into books."
"Books come from trees?! Evil! Wretched!!"
"Why should it matter to you two where we go?" asks an increasingly incredulous Zu. "We have our plans, you have yours!"
"We could set up next to each other?" says Monsoon.
"Symbiosis!"
"Is that another book lie word?!"
"Why do you hate books so much?!"
"I already told you they're too heavy to carry and fly at the same time!"

"The terms of my surrender did not include this," mutters Zu.
"You are free to leave now if you wish," says Render, while Scanner 3 and Calliope immediately try to protest.
"No," says Zu. "Not yet. There is nothing but the same back there for me. This is bizarre, but not threatening. I will remain for now."
Render nods. The other two look at each other confused.
"Did we smack it in the head too hard?" mutters Scanner 3 to Calliope. Calliope just shrugs.

>>906344
daaaah, he's learning how to live and not just survive.

Also yeah you can probably let these two tag along. They seem to have traveled around a bit so might have a better idea on what's around here... plus I'm not sure how long they'll make it on their own. Oh and do be careful when going to the woods. It sounds like the locals might have ambushes set up around their.

>Where to next?
You're not covering yourselves in mud for the rest of your lives. However, covering your ichor bubble house in mud and dirt and grass and all the things the empire will pass over?

You could live like hobbits for the rest of your lives! Hobbits with an easy backdoor tunnel to the middle of a forest with all the materials you'll need.

>"Did we smack it in the head too hard?"
You literally dealt enough damage to kill him, and his auto-revive kicked in after he dissolved into a puddle of goo.

How is he still forming sentences.

>>906344
Offer to recruit them into your guerilla group (and it is a guerilla group. ill be damned if we dont do this intelligently). Also vouch for books. Books are amazing! While some do indeed lie, others hold great and powerful truths!

Methinks we should take inventory (i.e. who knows what; there is a time and a place for teaching, but not now) of our collective knowledge regarding battle tactics, geology, metallurgy, ecology, biology, reproduction(birds and bees, but also wtaf a breeder drone is), literacy, medical, and skills.

With the newfound knowledge, we should then think of an ideal base and an ideal location for said base. Lastly we should try to find a place that fits the bill based on aforementioned ideal base.

Their goals and ours are the same. We should stick with them, for now.

In any case, if we are going to build a home here, we should go somewhere less exposed, and that has access to stone, wood, and preferably iron ore, if Scanner 3 can scan for it that is.

Since we have normal Organics with us, we need to settle near a water source. A Lake or river.

Scanner 3 leads the way.
Meanwhile, Caliope can explain to Zu where babies come from.

Ask the soroi if they can fly, if they can scout the area, and what other things they can tell us about this land. We need a briefing on the nearby tribes. Also, why are the trees dangerous?

We need to find out where good sources of ichor would be. How would we accomplish this? Have the soroi ever seen ichor that was not part of ichor creatures?

Btw, Scanner 3 should analyze the restrains used on the soroi.

>squawking intensifies

Worth it. Zu, press this 'flesh creator' angle again. Calliope, gently educate it to prevent it from getting too scandalized by the strange and unnatural ways of the meat-creatures.

Render and Scanner, chat more with the T&M. How were they captured? Couldn't they just have flown from the flightless birds? And what were those bonds and the veils they were wearing? Is 'the light' some new religious custom of the ground birds around here?

Also, does Scanner 3 know anything about a) the Soroi and b) the Sannersine, their empire and their customs? If so, he should share. The rest of the team - and T&M - can probably use a primer.

As for our next plans, we should continue to look for a base of operations and have Scanner 3 get a lay of the land. The wind soroi can come along while we look. If not to form a 'symbiosis' then perhaps to find their own ideal place while we look. Maybe they can help the group out as well - especially if they've scouted parts of the region already. Question them on what they've seen.

As their saviors - and people interested in starting a family/colony - they seem well-disposed towards the group and staying with us, at least for now.

... also, is it just me, or is being able to fly all the way from the southwest Wetlands to the northwest Grasslands a bit of a feat? They must've had some journey!

>>906359

>northeast grasslands

Damn me.

If they intend to start a new colony, and you intend to start a new colony, and space to create a safe colony is scarce, cooperation is preferable to competition.

Ask them if they know how to fight. We may need to defend against the ground birds.

There is strength in numbers. And strength you will need if you intend to make a safe home somewhere and change your very nature.

Mention that to Zu if he complains. He is stronger in your group than he was alone. No matter how strong the individual is society will always be stronger.

You can always change your mind if they end up being a bad idea.

>>906357
Perhaps flying is a bad idea for now, as we don't want to alert that search party to either us or the soroi.
As it is, you'ld probably want to know what the soroi need to live if you want to travel with them at the very least. Only polite to understand each others limitations.

>>906357
Even if the trees are dangerous, we can fight off the trees!

Regardless of whether the soroi can fly, they shouldnt right now since they are currently wanted and would stick out like a sore thumb.


Since ichor beings can shift somewhat, lets have Render form some grabbers under his scythes a la The Great Spikesby.

>>906361
Speaking of, can we make (stop-gap) ichor weapons (such as swords, clubs, axes, bladed tonfas, giant scissors, or glaives) they can use?

About Zu, is it bad that I want to call him “Zu Zu”, just to see how he would react?

>>906426
I was under the impression that Zu was male/masculine. After years of seeing Its a Wonderful Life, Zu Zu seems kind of feminine.

Idk if they really need a name-change/nickname (although i will concede, Zu does have some evil mastermind vibes).

I'm having deja vu all of a sudden... did a different quest start this way?

>>906344
We were supposed to hide in the forest so that's where we're going. The Soroi will need a safe spot too, and we need some sort of... agreement to keep them from exposing our position if they're going to settle nearby.

>>906485
If they join our forces, that wont be a problem. We can be a new people, not based on ichor or flesh. We can form a coalition together to unify our cause rather than a mere alliance with all of the risks that could bring.
The soroi individuals can fuck like rabbits so long as they know that it wont be a colony like they had envisioned. Especially so due to gestation times and the risks of inbreeding.

>>906485
Make them settle all arguments in writing. No yelling, and no slapfighting.

>Zu mutters just audibly enough for the ichor creatures to hear. "We just did all that for these two morons?"
It didn't cost us to hide them, and it does give us a source of information.

>"Wait. You are flesh creators?" asks Zu.
Non-ichor creatures have different protocols for creating more creatures, Zu.

The downside is it's significantly slower and requires two participants, the upside is the ability isn't limited to certain individuals.

>"Nothing good ever came out of a book but bad ideas and terrible opinions!"
But... what if someone had a good idea and put it in a book. Would the idea change to bad? Or would you just not know it was a good, because you'd only seen books with bad ideas before?

>"Trees are dangerous," says Typhoon.
Do you have any details on why or how the trees are dangerous? At the very least, trees would make it harder to see us. On the open plain, we would be easier to spot by ground birds.

>"We could set up next to each other?"
We're both pretty alien to the other. It's possible some greater understanding could be achieved by cooperation and exchange of information.

Hey maybe we can get some information out of them immediately.
What's the situation in Soroi lands? How goes their war?
Why is Typhoon a bad luck name? (should we already know this?)
What can they tell us about their captors?

>>906523
This.

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"So," says Render, "can you two fight?"

The two soroi stand apart and with sweeping gestures conjure swirling vortices in the air, which shape themselves into odd hammer-like weapons, drifting near their wingarms.
They move their weapons around as though gripped by phantom third limbs.

"We've had to defend ourselves before," says Monsoon.
"But we weren't expecting there to be so many ground birds," says Typhoon.
"So many, and well organised, not like the forest lizards."
"The akari," says Render. The soroi both wince at the name.
"The tree lizard name is a curse."
"Don't speak it aloud."
"They are the danger in the trees. Where there are trees, there could be them."

"Oh, right," says Scanner 3. "The soroi and akari have been at war since, well, no idea, actually."
The two soroi move their weapons into defensive stances. "They're vicious killers," says Typhoon. "I didn't care much about who they killed but I feared for my life near them. When one sees you, they all do. When you hurt one, they all know. If you look like the enemy, you are the enemy."
"And we do all look very similar," says Monsoon. "The soroi rules try to take difference and smooth it out."
"And if it doesn't work," says Typhoon, gesturing widely, "the rulebreakers are exiled, and made someone else's problem."
"The soroi are a broken people clinging to being broken," says Monsoon. "There is no saving the soroi as they are now."
"So we are starting it over."
"We know there will be other exiles, and we will welcome them with open arms."

Calliope taps her hands together. "So, why is Typhoon a bad luck name?"
"Oh." Typhoon fidgets with her head feathers. "Well, apparently there was someone named something like Typhoon waaaay before any of us were born probably and they broke the world. And the books said that they'd come back again."
"Oh dear. That sounds bad."
"Also, it was some sort of giant dragon made of ichor? The book said something about almost every ichor creator perishing before the Typhoon came back except for the ones holding 'marbles' or 'shards', whatever that means. So Typhoon is the name of a great disaster in more than one way. So that's what I'm trying to harness to get people to leave us alone."
"Book words, though," says Monsoon. "Wasn't that the same book that said that in the far future the sky would be red and there'd be almost nothing but chaos things?"
"It was a weird book and I'm sad I left it behind," says Typhoon.
"Why did you leave a book like that alone, you book lover?"
"It was chained to the wall!"
"What? Why would someone imprison a book?"
"Maybe it was dangerous!"
"Ha! I knew it!!"

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Scanner 3 is about to ask the two soroi about their captors when Zu interjects. "So you aren't shaping new soroi with flesh."
"That too," says Monsoon, "although I'm not sure exactly how."
Typhoon gives Monsoon a very strange look of confusion and mild annoyance. "What?"
"Well, male and female mate, and then sometimes that means the female is pregnant, and then they get big bellied over time, then they disappear. That last part is the one I'm not clear on." Monsoon suddenly touches his beak with a gasp. "Typhoon, you're not... you're not sacrificing yourself to make a new soroi, are you? If that's what happens I don't think I can mate with you!"
Typhoon keeps staring. "...no? Also I am pretty sure we did that already--"
"What happens after the disappearing? Do female soroi just dissolve and leave a baby soroi behind??"
"No??"
"What happens?! Why do they disappear?!"
Typhoon raises a wingfinger, and abruptly pauses. "I... don't know? That part of the book was missing!"

Calliope buries her face in her hands. Thanks to her creator's odd fixations, she is acutely aware of the reproductive cycle of a lot of the sapient species of the world. "Should I tell her--"
"No, don't," says Scanner 3. "I want this conversation over sooner, preferably now."
"I feel someone ought to tell her--"
"No!"

Render coughs. "Then the female gives birth," he says, flashing back to his own creator being simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by the idea.
Typhoon tilts her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"
Render looks to the side. "Ask Calliope."
"You did not just hand that off to me," says Calliope, frowning. Render shrugs helplessly.
"Oh, right," says Typhoon. "I noticed that you have breasts like I do and he," she says, pointing to Render, "looks like he has a bulge between his legs. Are you male and female ichor creatures? The rules never mentioned that ichor creatures could be male or female. How does mating work for ichor creatures? Can they mate with other things--"

Zu rolls its head back and groans. "This is far too complicated. Just shape flesh into soroi. Let's stop wasting time talking out in the open and keep going."
"Yes that's a good idea Zu good plan Zu let's do anything else and continue this line of conversation never," says Scanner 3, antennae already probing the air for good destinations.

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The group enter the forest in the distance, after the soroi complain about being thirsty. Dowsing for water with its antennae, Scanner 3 finds that a clean stream runs right through the forest, and finds a clearing just large enough to support a few potential shelters. Some loose sticks are bundled and thrown into a heap.

"Wait, hold on," says Scanner 3. "What's that?"

The group cautiously approach what looks like some sort of broken metal statue of a person, shape and kind unknown.

"Feels alive, but only just," says Scanner 3, racking its brain for any memory of any creatures like the one before it.
"Never seen anything like that before," says Render. "Either of you two?"
"Nope," says Monsoon.
"Looks like a soroi. What? It could be, we look like a lot of things!!"
"Your species is diverse, but that does not look like any soroi I have seen," says Render.
"It looks like trouble," says Zu.

Calliope steps closer to it, concerned and wanting to try and help this clearly damaged entity. As she does, Typhoon steps closer.
"Wait, Typhoon, it might not be safe!" yells out Monsoon.