Choose your path to greatness, obscurity or death. A multiple choice LP

[newcomer]

A

 

[TOME]

A TOME what evers wrong with them could be spread by touch

It could but I highly doubt that some disease would spread from plants to human by touch.

 

[oscar]

B

 

[Zwist]

B

If the center of a lifeless zone is a former settlement the target was most likely the humans.
And quite frankly we have no clue what caused this. Poison? Some sort of plague? Necromantic magic? Multi headed *things*?
We don't know. And we can not know if it is still dangerous, although the smell suggests that it at very least is not healthy.

 

[Hoodoo]

E. Go back and try and kill one of the wolves and then make a wolf mask from its body.

 

[m4davis]

E. Go back and try and kill one of the wolves and then make a wolf mask from its body.

Random completely unrelated won't help at all in any way and extremely dangerous why do you want to do that.

 

[Hoodoo]

Only then can we truly become a man. The gods look favourably on those that would declare themselves such in this world of blood and power.



for real though, we have very loose goals at the moment. Were still very young. We might as well test our mettle against as many things as we can. Its got an open question so this is how I propose we go back to fight the wolves: Use any know-how we have that would let us set traps/prepare, then find a good branch for an off-hand club so we can ward off wolves / give them a good knock while we butcher em with our axe (can we sharpen it?) or whatever weapon we have. Imagine a 16 yr old walking alone into the city decked in wolf pelts.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

B) Circle the village, but do not enter. Then head south towards Qoor.

We do not want to catch the plague again.

 

[Jick Magger]

B

 

[Kalin]

B

 

[Vernydar]

B wins with 7 votes, A had 5. So circle the village and then go to Qoor. Maybe you can come back later

13 – Arrival at Qoor

You decide it would be prudent to avoid entering the ruins until you know more, or are better equipped at least. You no longer trust the water found in the nearby brooks, better go to Qoor and ask for information before braving a potentially contagious dead village. But you could circle the village once, try to see if you can find some other clues. And you do find one. A very strange clue in fact.

On the other side of the village you find a decrepit, broken cart. The interesting things are the skeletons of the mules and of the driver. The mules were still attached to the cart when they died. The driver is on the cart, still keeping the reins in his hand. It is as if both the driver and the mules died instantly. It does not seem at all the work of a plague. Were they ambushed maybe? The clothes are almost completely decomposed, there's no way to know if the driver was stabbed. But it is strange that the mules are dead too....

You do not know what to make of these findings, but they reinforce your idea that you need more information before braving this place, and better equipment maybe. And so, you set your course due south, towards the small hamlet of Qoor. After a few hours of march, the forest is vibrant with life once again, and you start to relax. Those ruins felt.. wrong somehow.

You travel in the forest for another three days. The journey is pleasant and uneventful. The forest is still calm and full of life and so your mood lifts. According to your calculations you should reach the village before the evening. Considering that the weather has been clear, and not too warm, you think you will have no problems crossing the river. As you calculated, around mid-afternoon you reach the riverbanks. And stop abruptly.

On the other side of the river you see the village of Qoor. Or what is left of it. The burned down husks of the houses and farms are still smoking. The entire village is a burnt ruin. Immediately, you hide behind a wide tree. Whoever did this was here not long ago. Considering the fact that the houses are still smoking, you estimate this was done at most yesterday.

You are utterly appalled. Who could have desired to burn down a peaceful hamlet of hunters and farmers? To what end? And what of the villagers? Were they killed? Did they escape? Are the attackers still here? You have no doubt you would be in great danger if you met them!

After a few minutes you have regained your composure, and carefully look around trying to avoid been seen. The village is burned down to the last house. You have no idea if some clues could be found there, or what happened to the villagers. You see no living soul, but then again the villagers could be on the far side of the village, or hiding in the woods. Or so could the attackers, of course.

You think it's strange that you did not smell anything, then you realize that the wind is going south. You had no way to smell this... The river is rather shallow here, you would not have trouble crossing, but you have no idea if some attacker is hidden on the other bank, looking maybe for incoming people.

You are on the northern bank of the river just north of Qoor. It is mid-afternoon, and the sun will soon set.

What are you going to do? (Open update)

This is an open update because there's simply too many things you could do. You could change course and flee immediately, or try to cross the river and enter the village, or take a wide berth of the village and approach from another side. You could go back to the ruins from before. Or a hundred other things.
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask. If it's something Kyoss can see, smell or otherwise know, I will answer.
As usual, make a proposal and put a number to it to help me count, thanks.

 

[TOME]

Just a quick question about the game mechanics. Can we use bow even though we don't have the skill? I mean just about everyone can pick up bow and shoot. I'm just wondering why we didn't try to kill those wolves with a bow update back.

1. Hide. Attackers might still be nearby. Watch the village for signs of survivors or attackers. We are in no hurry so we could take our time and keep watching till midday. Search the village for survivors.

 

[m4davis]

I actually have to agree with this I have used a bow myself and its not that hard to pick one up and shoot at something especially at the distance we were it probably wouldn't hit where we were trying to hit but its pretty likely it would of hit a wolf

 

[ScubaV]

My suggestion is similar to TOME's.

2. Circle the village looking for signs of the attackers. Wait for the fires to die out then investigate and loot. Afterwards, take a path toward Bitak that runs parallel to the cart road, but is in the woods.

 

[Vernydar]

Just a quick question about the game mechanics. Can we use bow even though we don't have the skill? I mean just about everyone can pick up bow and shoot. I'm just wondering why we didn't try to kill those wolves with a bow update back.

I actually have to agree with this I have used a bow myself and its not that hard to pick one up and shoot at something especially at the distance we were it probably wouldn't hit where we were trying to hit but its pretty likely it would of hit a wolf

From the fourth post in the thread:

Mostly I will decide the outcome of your actions based on a skill + its relevant attribute, sometimes modified by traits
If you do not have a skill do not expect to succeed in using it unless the task is truly easy, and even then it's up to me.

So, considering Kyoss has average dexterity normally you'd have very low chances. It is true that at the moment, from like 10 meters away, you could have tried, and perhaps succeeded. Consider though that you only have 20 arrows, and there was no guarantee that you could have recovered them.

More to the point, I decided to automatically avoid confrontation because with Kyoss not having the skill 1) there was no point since after a couple of minutes they left and 2) they were harmless at the moment, so better save the arrows. And 3), since you were safe those wolves were basically a random, unimportant encounter. I do not want if possible to use an entire update for something like that. Had it been anything else, I would have likely used an update to ask you what you wanted to do. Generally speaking, you will not attack anyone or anything unless you tell me so or you are attacked first and confrontation is inevitable. And even then I may ask you how you plan to fight

If at the moment of the choice you had written: go on the rocks and then confront whatever is hunting us, then I would have probably chosen differently.

 

[Zwist]

My suggestion is similar to TOME's.

2. Circle the village looking for signs of the attackers. Wait for the fires to die out then investigate and loot. Afterwards, take a path toward Bitak that runs parallel to the cart road, but is in the woods.

Ill go with this. However, I suggest taking into account whatever information we might find before moving on.

 

[Omicron]

2

 

[m4davis]

2

 

[Curufinwe]

Or we could:

3) Wait until nightfall, then enter and scout the village for trouble. If it's clear, we can investigate more fully during daylight.

I don't think whoever did this would lay in ambush: it's in the middle of nowhere and the locals aren't exactly known for roaming the woods in search of adventure. There might be someone camped in or near the ruins, true, but I think they would have torched the place AFTER leaving: no point wasting a perfectly good shelter you're planning to use.

 

[newcomer]

3, because I don't like to waste time on this side of the river

 

[Hoodoo]

2.

anyone else consider possibility this is a plague village?

also thanks for the post about game mechanics Vern

 

[Stygian Lurker]

3.
It should be relatively safe to cross the river at night, and we won't waste much time this way.

 

[Vernydar]

Also, I am thinking of expanding a bit the post on game mechanics at the start of the thread. Maybe later today. I have it all clear in my mind, but I have not explained it all. For example, regarding skills and attribute increase.

Skills can increase by training, if you hire some tutor to teach you. But they can also increase by usage. The more you travel in the woods, the more you can expect Survival in woods to increase. The more you climb, the more you can expect Climbing to increase and so on. But also, keep in mind. The lower a skill is, the easier it increases. It is much easier to increase a skill from 1 to 2 or 3 than from 7 to 8. It is easier after all to learn the basics than to master something.

Attributes will also increase in time, if you use them, but at a much lower speed.

Personality traits instead will change with your decisions on how you answer to the various situations.

 

[Charlie_Brown]

I support (3)

 

[Monty]

2