Cool. That means I'll use my nine shark pieces to make a whatever-tier Sharktooth Spear feat. I imagine it inflicting a bleeding status, but I'll see what Stirk comes up with.
I totally independently came up with bleeding status. After Low Quality is the vaunted Poor Quality, congratulations on reaching these heights!
Sharktooth Spear: The head of this spear is replaced by the oddly-shaped Wolf Shark tooth. Befitting their hunting tactic the teeth are designed to pull a bite of flesh away, which the shark then runs away with. This spear holds a similar tactic, ripping off a chunk of flesh when it is removed from the target. Once a spear is removed, the target takes 3 damage per turn until they pass an unmodified Defense test against the attacker's Attack from bleed damage. Spears can be removed for free as part of another action. The Damage from this Feat ignores armor.
I'll trade Landon my Star Sinker share in exchange for his Wolf Shark share, if I can also get someone else's Wolf Shark share so that I have nine and can level them twice. Nakéen, you interested? I'll owe you for it. It won't interfere with your lunch, as established.
Landon will take that deal.
Star Mandolin: A mandolin with strings made from the radial canal of a Star Sinker. When plucked, Star Sinker cells are released into the surrounding air and into the respiratory system of nearby organisms. If the strings have enough Mana, they will regenerate this microscopic damage and more importantly heal everyone in range (including enemies) for 1d6 damage. This effect cost 1 Fate point to activate.
Is this a low quality boon? It looks like I got the three pieces I need to do Normal Quality (Or whatever you call the quality above low) now.
It was. Upgrade time! It is now Poor Quality!
Star Mandolin: A mandolin with strings made from the radial canal of a Star Sinker. When plucked, Star Sinker cells are released into the surrounding air and into the respiratory system of nearby organisms. If the strings have enough Mana, they will regenerate this microscopic damage and more importantly heal everyone in range (including enemies) for 1d8 damage. This effect cost 1 Fate point to activate.
Writer's block :x
edit: For now I will just eat my parts, how uninspired!
Chef hunter cleans off her knife.
"Ship's charter cheaped out when they hired the cookey. Feel bad if I didn't whip up something if everyone else is chipping in. Give me the eating parts and a bit of your grog rations and I'll cook up something at least worth eating. I'll take the galley by force if I need to."
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PLOT STUFF STARTS HERE
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And so your group begins preparing the corpses with the assistance of the other hunters. Once it was established what parts you would use, the "spare" parts where sectioned away for disposal. Those that could be kept a long time where sold on the market for spending money. Those that would rot where instead alchemically combined with either the food portion or equipment portion so their mana would not go to waste.
The rest of your trip was uneventful for those who chose not to work. As Eich went below he was set upon by the preacher, who rather forcibly treated his wounds while chiding the man for not getting medical attention sooner. Using the fact you had saved the ship and all upon it as leverage, the Hunters moved their equipment into the passenger section of the ship, taking up no small amount of space. From there they began working on their secondary trade, or providing a space for you to work on your equipment should you prefer to work on your gear with your own two hands.
One by one the weapons, armor, and modifications came into the Hunter's possession. For the first few days you dined on deep-fried and grilled Star Sinker along with Wolf Shark stew. Sinker flesh tasted like eating the ocean itself, a natural briny flavor the chef hunter chose not to cover up. Poison had to be carefully removed before hand, and its mana was transferred to equipment by alchemy. Wolf Shark had little flavor itself, instead the soup tasted like the grog used for the broth - but with a higher Mana content leading to a stronger citrus flavor that overall made it more tolerable to drink. Afterwords you had to do with preserved versions of the above, and while they where served in a variety of ways from stew to pies the overwhelming taste was the salt used in their preservation leading to a rather monotonous mealtime.
In time the shout came from above. "LAND HO!". The
Zepher has reached the new world. Its passengers eagerly ran from their cramped confines to dry land, stretching in the sun just outside the wooden docks.
You've arrived in Foothold! You take your first steps on the land across the ocean. While much smaller than the cities of the Old World, Foothold is one of the largest settlements in the New World. By appearances it is something like a military fort surrounded by earthworks and palisade, with no fields stretching into the distance. Said defenses are almost entirely to discourage the monster that walks on two legs - the town itself is built on low-fertility soil that powerful monsters wouldn't look twice at. The buildings lining the dirt street are in almost random styles. Most of the large and expensive buildings are of brick. Smaller buildings are either of log or wood, some built into the ground, some with thatched roofs, some where simply tents with a wooden frame. Some of said tents where outside the Foothold's walls, though most of the more permanent structures where safely nuzzled inside.
Many of the Old World's comforts are available here thanks to its status as a port town. The buildings closest to the docks offer services and equipment of interest to those arriving after a long journey; drinks, beds, and weapons of varying quality. Merchant's shops can be found further inside the city, offering both familiar Old World goods and exotic New World goods. The largest building in town is the Governor's Mansion, a multi story building on an artificial hill in the center of town making for a handy landmark for those walking Foothold's streets. The second largest building is the Traditionalist Church, positioned closer to the ocean. Third is the lighthouse.
You can certainly take advantage of anything this town offers - but as Hunters your profession is one that takes you to the wilderness. So perhaps talking about the wilderness surrounding the city is more relevant?
As you are familiar with, to your
East is the Ocean. The Ocean contains many nautical monsters, and a good range of fertility. Around the town the fertility is poor, a blessed thing as it allows the port to be safe. There are known areas of relatively high fertility such as the Devil's Reef, a popular place for the bravest fishermen to try their luck. Of course it is difficult to accurately gauge just how strong the local monsters might be, you could easily end up biting off more than you can chew in the ocean.
To the
West in the far distance is the Giant's Rest mountains. You can see them even from here, tall blue mountains with white tops. Some people say the range looks like a man lying down, with his face to the south west and is feet to the north west, giving the range its name. There is a known safe path to a series of smaller villages with a road leading to them, with several medium-fertility farms and forests if you decide to leave the path. Most of this land is forested, with tall pine trees dominating the landscape. If you pass the mountains you can continue further west - where there are said to be more powerful monsters.
To the
South is a series of mostly flat plains, once you pass the forested section around Foothold. It is said that particularly large monsters graze here. While most of it is medium fertility, it is considered particularly dangerous as Monster can see you from a long distance off and there is little you can do to escape their gaze once it find you. Far past the plains are said to be jungle terrain. More port towns along the ocean, and most people traveling South tend to use ships that hug the shore line rather than make a path through the plains.
Finally to the
North is forest land similar to the west, leading up to tundra if you go far enough. The weather is thought to be more dangerous that the monsters. That isn't to say there are no areas of higher fertility, it is simply that in those areas the high-mana snow will be much colder than most people can handle. This actually makes it safer than many other areas, as you can tell if you've gone into something over your head by how cold it is. For the most part it is considered the safest cardinal direction overall. Despite this there are few settlements once you hit the tundra, aside from a few farms that have discovered food that grows best in cold climates and Hunters who have no need of growing things.
From here the players have a choice. You can go on a
Free Hunt . This simply involves going to an area, seeing what you can find, and killing it if you want to. The New World is filled with monsters, finding one in any particular terrain is no difficult task. Simply vote on a free hunt, the fertility level you want to go to, and the terrain you want to hunt in.
If you do not want to go on a Free Hunt you can instead go on a
Rumor Hunt. Rumor Hunts involve staying around a settled area and putting your ear to the street. Rumor Hunts are their own mini plots, things like guiding settlers to a new town or hunting down a specific monster with a bounty on its head. Rumor Hunts will involve additional rewards to the monster parts you usually obtain, but may also have penalties if you fail your assigned tasks and an obligation to see these tasks through.
Finally if you want to split up, you can. Do note that I will balance all encounters as if you had a full party, so if you do that you'll be in for difficult fights.
For now you can vote on if you want to go on a
Free Hunt or a
Rumor Hunt. If you want to go on a Free Hunt, then state where you would like to Hunt in your vote.