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Bruh that's fake news

[Quaksna]

. . .

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You think over the situation. With the looming threat of Melabil getting its hands on the dead titan, it seems there is no time to waste. You wake up your compatriots.



"Oh... It is morning already?" Flax yawns. "Hope you had a good rest, team, but we won't need it that much today..."



"Yeah, about that." you say. "Flax, tell me, how well can you run?"

"I never run, Black. I face all d..."

"No, I need to know how fast are you."



"Ah, I see. Well, I tend to run quite well, dare I say, I can put up with a lot... Quickly or steadily, you name it! Of course, given my legs weren't crushed a pair of days back..."

"Darn, that's right!" you exclaim. "I forgot..."



"Is everything okay, Black?" asks Sas. Your agitation is quite apparent.

There's a lot your companions don't know about, and for good reasons, yet, if your plans are to work, you'll have to discuss the matter with them.



"Do you remember the mean snobbish man back at the ruins? Knocked you down, I've sent him away. Well, I had an ill vision tonight. The man is back, and is up to no good. He's going to return to the dead body, this time with company!"

As much as you would except your colleagues to wonder, Flax follows your story well, and speaks back.

"What good is a rotting corpse for him?"

"They're dark wizards, they... They know the secrets of death! Who know, what they'll be able to do with such a thing!"

"Secrets of death...?" mutters Sas, somewhat confused he seems. Flax on the other hand looks like he understands the gravity of the situation.

"That sounds dangerous, I have heard of such people before." he says. "The question is, how are we to stop them?"

"I was thinking of sending you back to dispose of it, but... It's true you probably won't make it faster than we walked the distance anyway. Perhaps I could attempt to heal you further?"



Flax clicks his tongue, and thinks. He looks like he hasn't got much positive affirmation, and has trouble telling you.

"Going back, huh. How much time do we have until they arrive?"

"I... I can't say. If the vision was of the events during that night, then he reached his destination in less than two days, much like we did, except... He appeared to be able to travel much faster, who knows if he wasn't just stalling... You saw him ride on the rock, right?"

They both nod.

"Then again, maybe his accomplices will slow him down, it's all unclear... But we have to so something!"



"How exactly are we to get rid of that carcass?"

"I was thinking of burning it, though that would surely prove difficult..."

"Yes, that you could do with your trickery. At this point you'd be he best one to go..."

"I could go!" says Sas. "If Flax can't, I'll go!"

"I'm afraid none of us can get there in time. If... You can't ride rocks like he did, I presume?"

You shake your head. "No. No idea how I would do that. The earth I work with is lifegiving, rocks are lifeless, as if dead... They have an upper hand there. Could pelt someone at best..."



You think further.

"I have a second option in mind. You remember that wolf runecarvers were after? I could try to contact him, and make him do the work... But who knows where he is at this point... It's a gamble..."

"As i understand it, everything we proposed is a gamble. We don't know how much time we have!" Flax says, and looks you in the eyes. "So I say we should proceed forth. The town is just over the river, we'll be there in no time. As we can't do much ourselves, we can either resort to informing authorities or runecarvers, or we'll just hire some mercs. That'd be costly, but they'll do it for us."

"I don't know if I really trust the runecarvers, after all that... But hiring someone? How can we be sure they won't just run away with the money? I don't see that as less risky option..."

"Oh, you underestimate local mercs, they're serious about the business, after all, no one would use their services otherwise. I say, let's go to Usodestis, get some blades for hire, send them off, and carry on. There'll be multiple of 'em, they can't be slower than we would be, it'll just cost us some coin. It's our best shot. What do you say?"



What do you want to do?

[Strik3r]

I hadn't considered Flax's injury, as he almost never seems to be hindered by anything, though if he really is that badly hurt, it may end up being a blessing in disguise. Right now, if we want to run off or split away from him, he isn't really in a position to stop us. To that end, i'd say desperate times call for drastic measures. We'll have to go ourselves, alone, using a wind spell to increase our speed and decrease the stamina costs, as suggested previously by Yellow Pixel. The problem with hiring mercs is the exact same as with any other suggestion involving fighting necromancers: We'd just be giving them more bodies to reanimate in the end. And we can't afford it, it's not strategic thinking, thus we'll dash off alone, but not before saying something like this to Flax:

"Then you can wait for me there, because i'm going. The wind and my hooves will carry me. And if i don't return? Too bad for you. Or you can follow in my tracks, your choice."

Also in regards to the trade-off between picture amount and update frequency, you could just take the third option and make smaller updates. You don't need to make massive updates, in fact smaller updates help improve engagement and also give players more agency due to getting to make choices more frequently.

[Yellow Pixel]

Well... Hmm... I concur that hiring some mercs, with the sole result of sending them fill the ranks of the living dead, might not be the best of the present options... And also that we are indeed facing a desperate situation. Yes. That's true!

However, I don't particularly like the prospect of finding ourself alone in front of all the death sorcerers either! But y'know, we could then fully reconcile with Crackantler by becoming his undead friend, for a very happy ending to Quaksna's story! Or to end up in the plates of Rathegaru and his men, wich ain't as much fun...

Okay, I'm kidding now. But don't you think that's more a suicidary move than a truly drastic and strategic measure? And that it would be quite sad to let Flax do his thing on his own after all the adventures we lived with him? Or to let him run after us like a crippled fool...

Rather, what do you say that we swiftly return to the sacred ruins with Sas, the best deer killer shot of the entire Wintervale, and that we hide behind the hills facing the sacred ruins, snugly muffled in our titan fur cloaks, while at the same time Flax go hire the mercs and come back with them to join us in one more epic fight?

[Strik3r]

That's the thing: We don't WANT to fight necromancers, if at all we can avoid it. That's why i'm putting so much emphasis on speed and discretion. i want us to be there and gone long before they make it there, letting them find only a charred heap, worthless for reanimation, and nothing else, no hint of us. You don't win against necromancers by fighting them, but by denying them as many bodies as possible. Each additional person on our side is one that might potentially die in the fighting and thus join the ranks of the enemy. The enemy fighters, if not undead already, the same fate awaits them as well.

[Superdorf]

Hrm, solid logic.

We'll have to go ourselves, alone, using a wind spell to increase our speed and decrease the stamina costs,

Let's do it, +1

[Yellow Pixel]

Yes, very solid logic. It appears that I forgot again how far reaching was the necromantic principle! So I have no other choice but to support the idea.

And that means we just tell Flax and Sas to go chill out in a tavern in Usodestis and wait for our return? Something like that?

Or else they run after us, and knowing them... that's probably exactly what they will do!

[Strik3r]

I MIGHT have such a good grasp of the necromancer MO because i may or may not be a dyed-in-the-wool necromancer myself¹. Do you perchance remember who was it that suggested, before ToDW was ToDW, that we be a necromancer?

if we can pick our class, i say we go with something rather unusual. That being a
Necromancer
^{Assuming necromancers exist in this universe.}

Well, past me. in the end it turned out that they do. And i don't like 'em very much. There ARE good necromancers out there, of course². but clearly not these ones.

1. In games. Do not commit necromancy IRL, kids.
2. like me.

[King Zultan]

+1 To the thing where we go to burn the corpse and they go to town.

[Yellow Pixel]

Do you perchance remember who was it that suggested, before ToDW was ToDW, that we be a necromancer?

Oh yes, I remember very well that it was you who came up with that groovy idea, and to say the truth, I could hardly forget that ancient post where Quaksna graced us with a depiction of necro Blackhoof (it's even the second time that I bring it back )...

It was in the old time when he didn't know how to draw, when all his FBs were running wild and roaming incessantly in every direction. But now he tamed them all and we regularly get the chance to enjoy the handsome results of his constant training!

[Superdorf]

...wait.

I'm not okay with undead and similar abominations, so they simply don't exist there  .

Are undead a thing in this world, or?

[King Zultan]

...wait.

I'm not okay with undead and similar abominations, so they simply don't exist there  .

Are undead a thing in this world, or?

He probably said that to throw us off the trail of our real enemies, those enemies being undead stuff!

[Quaksna]

...wait.
Are undead a thing in this world, or?

Yeah, I really should elaborate on that. I waited for this moment  But to be clear, I really don't want to shatter your master plan you've been building. Here's the thing.

That quote is quite misleading. While that was indeed my view on the matter back then, unlike it, the concrete information hasn't changed, there haven't been any retcons, thank God. But I don't know what was I thinking when I wrote that, as there already was the matter explained and this quote seems at odds with it. My answer therefore is: You don't know.

You don't know, what the necromancers are capable of. Black isn't new to the concept to summoning the dead, their shades from the beyond, for divination purposes, or amassing a wraith army, as he has recently found out. If they can give false life to the body though, he doesn't know. Not only that, it's something that would be very hard to picture for all the characters, as it is simply unheard of. I'll redirect you back to the dialogue between Len and Olmul, both long time adventurers, what they say to the matter:

"You heard right, it's a cursed place." said Len, nodding his head. "Travellers say that who ventures into that swamp, his intents become corrupted, he gets terrifying strength and will guard the swamp forever. Some say that some wicked wizards mastered this foul magic, and can curse whole armies to become their thralls forever... Horrible fate. Only greatest of heroes were able to stop these dark lords and lift the curse away, and the soldiers could finally die, in peace..."
"Yeah, heard something about that, too. I heard they are trying to figure out how to raise dead bodies to fight for them again! Hah! Summoning spirits, okay, but raising dead... That's a joke!"

That should be more insightful. Feel free to adjust the plan, but remember, Melabil was very clear about their intent to claim the corpse, so... Draw your own conclusions. Hope this helped 

[King Zultan]

Them dudes are trying to do SCIENCE to the corpse and it's up to us to destroy the corpse before they can get the corpse to do SCIENCE to the corpse!

[Superdorf]

Feel free to adjust the plan, but remember, Melabil was very clear about their intent to claim the corpse, so... Draw your own conclusions.

Yeah, the existence (or not) of undead doesn't really affect our current plans. Whatever's going on with that titan corpse, it's presumably a Bad Thing to be prevented if possible.

I was mostly just curious, thank you 

[Quaksna]

Okay this took a little while longer, I was busy putting my life together the past few days... On the other hand, I believe, I've put my life together! Should have less free time overall now, but more organized timetable again, so I'll try to use it mainly for drawing.

Apart from that, part 12 of the first chapter got its reimagination today. It was quite amusing, I picked it randomly and a moment after you started discussing contacting Elév again, who's featured quite prominently in the episode. If you're interested, check it out! But enough talking, on with the show:

. . .

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"I appreciate your effort to help, but I am afraid they're not the way to go. I've got a feeling numbers won't help us here. So if someone is to go, it has to be me. With my magic, I'll be there quicker than anyone else, and I'll have better means of disposing of it."



Flax seems to be struggling inside, but remains silent. A brief moment passes, and he gives in.

"I understand." he says, firmly. "I owe you."

"Don't think about it like that. You can wait in the town till it's through, I'll come back. It can't take more than three days, otherwise... I am probably not returning."



"Let me go with you!" insists Sas. "I can help you on the mission!"

"He has to go alone, Sas..." Flax utters. "We'll have to believe in him. But from all the wonders I've seen so far... He'll succeed, you'll see."

He turns back to you.



"We'll wait for you in a renowned inn, you'll recognize it by its sign. A white arrow, bursting through a keg. The town is this direction, you'll cross a big wooden bridge, the pub's near the entrance. Be careful."



"At least take this!" says Sas, and rushes towards you, handing you his knife.



"I have one of my own, but I can't pass on such equipment. Thank you." you comfort him, strapping the blade to your side.

"Do you remember the way?" asks Flax.

"I do, no worries."

"Well then. Good luck... Friend."



In a hurry, you turn around, and embark on your new quest. For a while, you pick your steps only, but ultimately, you hear the two turning and leaving, too. It has begun.

Muttering the incantations Elév taught you, you can feel the weight of your body fading into nothing, your legs relentlessly swiping back and forth, as you're focused on but a single goal - to move as fast as you can. And fast you go indeed, you can already see the border of that one forest you've visited the day before, far on the horizon.



But just as swiftly you feel yourself travel, the sun seems as if trying to race you. Time flees, like a hail when the clouds rip apart during a storm, pelting the earth below. And no wonder, nothing is on your mind, but your mission. You can hear Crackantler, in disbelief, muttering something about "the feasting ground", but you barely listen to him.

It is high noon, it would seem, the woods are getting closer, when your body starts telling you to stop, and you begin to think about something else, too. Should you sleep? Should you find something to eat? How long can you keep this pace?



You don't stop just yet, but these concerns distract you. You hadn't much time to plan the journey ahead, but now you do. However heroic one may feel, you still need to operate within your limits.

Let's see... You did cover the distance considerably faster than traveling with your group. When you left the woods yesterday, it was late in the morning. You haven't reached it just yet,  but it is clear you'll soon be there. If you retain this pace all the way through you can see yourself reaching the fallen titan this very night... But you don't think you can handle that.


What do you want to do?