No matter how much you tried, and try you did, you had never seen your teacher this serious, this focused and grim. Unless a call from the Greater Spirits came, which they did....not too rarely, but this was a different kind of feeling to her eyes you'd seen when those came. This was like your teacher, wise and learned as you knew her, was preparing for an End. An End that she could see but had spoken nothing of to any of the village or even you for that matter, which absolutely unsettled the Chief of course, as they were, by right, to be told of any impending danger and doom, by the claws of monster or hands of man.

Unless this was the work of Spirits.

The thought alone gives you a shiver.

Spirits, being of incredible power and strange variety, had never caused the village any trouble for so long that the idea of it was a small heresy to even imagine. No spirit sent a message without reason, never came to the village themselves, never even seemed to consider the village as anything but something far out of the way and you had the idea it was because the place was so awfully boring and routine. The way you saw it and how your teacher described, which you thought she was really good at since she told much cooler stories than that old stumbling Storyteller who peeked in on lessons with that scowl on his wrinkly face. You'd never say that out loud of course, but you hung onto your great teacher's every word as she spoke, and a part of you fears how quiet and focused your teacher is. How grim their eyes are and how her usual smile had been thinned to a line of pure concentration. You feared, perhaps, the pact she'd told you of at the begining of your lessons had been broken. Had the Greater Spirits called on your teacher to settle some debt the village had incurred? Has there been a breach in the pact so severe that only her head could satisfy them? Had the Greater Spir---

"Child", calls your teacher as she fastened the straps of her old and yet beloved travel pack. The thing has been around the study hanging from a hook for almost as long as you've been her pupil. You almost thought with how it was always there that it might be her first pupil but as silly as it is, it was always there as she taught you her lessons of communication with spirits and important rituals. "I need you to visit with the Elders, especially the Chief. I've written a good few things on a letter they must be given, a good few things they must know, how to do them, and the why of the matter. I need you to hand it to them and then go to the workshop, gather the Skygem before going inside, and then lock the door behind you. Do not open it for anything. Do not open it even if the chief himself comes slamming on it and ordering you to."

>>6283490 (OP)

'Do WHAT?', you balk, the confusion and nervousness you feel undisguised and clear for your teacher to see. 'Disobeying not only an adult but the Chief no less was unheard of for any pupil...even if you were the Totemist's and soon to be a second ward against the magical things the spirits and some monsters could do'.

As if sensing your feelings your teacher stops cramming all manner of ropes, chalks and cloth into their pack to turn and look into your eyes. Coming down to one knee, she places a hand on your shoulder and one of your hands into her hand. "Promise me child, promise me you will not open that door until the lights of the workshop candles come to life. Promise me!"

At her urging you nod your head dumbly, still trying to make sense of the order and trying to give her some kind of answer. Wholely unaware it was the last time you'd see her that day. That week. That entire month.

The candles had ignited late into the first night and scared you more than the silence had. It was honestly so quiet it made your skin crawl. No sounds of nightbirds, no cries of the bugs during the night, not even the sound of the wind. It was as if the world around you had died.

When she came back, after what felt like an eternity, it was a horrible sight. Whatever it was she'd been called by the Greater Spirits for, whatever dangerous task they'd given her, whatever monster she'd been made to kill, it had left her half of what she used to be. When she finally came back, it was as a withered and limping old woman who seemed as if the smallest touch could send her falling down and kill her. You remember that sight as early as you remember seeing her still holding that pack in one of her bloody hands. It was practically a rag sack. A whole strap looked like it had been cut right apart, the closing flap was more or less just gone and you'd never seen it in such bad shape. She practically took care of it as well as she took care of you and to see it so wrecked.....a hint of fear crawls around in your guts at the way she barely gets through the door before collapsing to her knees.

>>6283491

The Chief is at the door behind her and clutching the letter you'd handed him before running back to the workshop and locking yourself inside. His face is tight and his eyes staring into your teachers back before you excuse yourself and her to close the door to your modest home. You didn't like the look on his face one bit. You didn't like the silence from him and the village heads either.

It was late now. Well past supper before you'd managed to get your teacher to her bed and set her pack beside it. A few times she'd thanked you while you bandaged up her head and bloodied hands but her words were mumbled and her voice weak and it was all you could do not to choke up. She'd practically been your mother all these years since taking you in and seeing her like this felt like too much, but she needed you now, as you needed her. Any thoughts of losing her were banished as you busied yourself doing anything you could to make it feel like you could DO something to help. Even if you only knew how to soak wounds with healing oils and smear slaves to wrap bandages on.

By the time the next morning comes your hands are dyed on the color of the green ointments and blistered from the work and still you haven't rested. How could you rest? You couldn't until your teacher wakes up. You couldn't rest until...

"Child, take a nap. I'll be quite alright now that I've gotten myself home."

....until your teacher, voice croaking with strain and yet the most comforting thing you've heard of in your short life, calls out from across the room while you grind herbs into a fine paste to hopefully help just that little bit more. You look to her and see her on the bed still but her head turned to meet your eyes and you realize then that you're both exhausted to the very bones. Its all you can do not to cry. Perhaps it's because you're still not even at your drinking age but you cry anyways. It feels good, almost as good as it feels to know your teacher is alive and breathing.

"I know it's far later than most pupils earn their own name but you've done a good fine job of taking care of the place and following my instructions while I've been gone. Dry those tears and tell me what my pupil's new name will be, and please, don't go calling yourself whatever muck those brats over at the lodge have been trying to get you to decide on with their brainless advice."

You have nothing to say to that. They did want you to call yourself Slugmunch on a dare. It's clear they were remembering the time you told them you could eat anything your teacher makes. Anything.


Well, young Totemist, your teacher has told you herself she thinks it's time you made a new name for yourself. Such a thing meant you were considered reliable enough to carry a legacy of your own in the village, but what will it be?

(I hope this quest has caught at least one anons attention and I'll try to do good old Diarca justice. Please suggest a name to fit our new......well we don't even know what gender we are yet do we? Time to fix that too! A name and gender if will. I will also open up voting on where our home village is settled in the world, so please begin voting for one of three choices between the Mountains, Coastline, and Forest. I will call votes once an hour or so is up if we get a lot of votes or simply wait til one gets two or three votes. In honor of respecting the original quest by Diarca I cannot accept the name Osyki.)

>>6283492
Capran Herdson
>>6283493
Mountains male

>>6283502
Glad to see you here anon and thank you for the vote. I'll wait just an hour more and if no other votes or suggestions come up, I'll decide it then

>>6283502
>>6283493
+1 support.

>>6283502
Support

>>6283493
Vaelo Mora
Beach bum Totemist fishing, diving, and boating has a lot of potential for cool spirits/monsters and some cool tools to imbue totems into.

>>6283502
>>6283526
>>6283529
Calling it now, Male and Mountains. As a second name is only earned when you have mastered your job and are ready to take on a pupil of your own, we must hold off on Herdson. Your teacher would poke fun at you for sure if you'd told her you wanted that as your second name. 'Son of the sheep, hmm? How quaint' she'd say.

>>6283542
As it was in the original Totemist Quest, the sea itself is one of the top most dangerous places to ever be settled near and by the spirits the starting of this quest would be set to a much harder difficulty.

The mountains are not to be trespassed, the woods are not to be trusted and the sea is never to be traveled. Immense, ancient and mysterious things make their home and kingdom in the waters.

All shall beware the Great Blackwater Queen, lest her many eyes settle upon you.

As it stands I think the mountains are a good mid point in difficulty. There's a good number of monsters to find skulking around and plenty of gem and ore veins but you'll be experiencing plenty of challenges with the terrain and seasons that will roll in. Consider it a healthy balance! Also, once we get our first spirit bound by pact or by battle I will do my best to keep track of our progress with notes.

I will begin writing now, and I hope everyone has fun with the quest. Happy to have you here!

>>6283492
And so, with a nervous voice you answer her with all the confidence of a child scarcely able to stand from their own exhaustion. You lick your lips and clear your throat. Or try to, it's dry as the rocks during summer. "I want Capran. I want to be named Capran, teacher."

She looks into your eyes a bit longer before looking up at the ceiling of the workshop, staring at none of the tools or cloths hanging from it but somewhere far beyond them. She stays like that for a time, making you even more nervous. Had you said a name she didn't like? Was she perhaps thinking you were actually going to choose a name like Skypiss or whatever other name the lodge boys had dared you to say.....or.....no. She surely hasn't died on the bed did sh----

"A fine name. Capran. Sounds like a good earthy name too and it's easy to say." She finally says and gives a small chuckle which you're glad didn't send her into a cough. "The chief will be glad to hear it too, I think. I'm sure he's been wondering when I'd let you name yourself. Speaking of..."

You're a bit surprised when she gets herself to sit up with only so much as a light grunt and you almost dart over to make sure she won't fall over before you calm yourself. This is a grown woman and in her prime. Babying her would only have her wave you off and she's much too proud to have you do it now that's she's able to be up.

"Be sure to go up the mountain to the Chief's Hall and let them know I'm awake again. I imagine they've all been pacing around with their minds in horrible places wondering who's going to defend the village from the worst of the monsters and highest of spirits. Blood and Souls they've probably settled on the idea of it being my pupil who wouldn't even have been allowed to choose their own name if I wasn't here to give you the honor. Well no matter, go and tell them the good news."

You stand there a moment before nodding and grab a hood while you head towards the door. It looks like there'll be rain today, judging by the cylindrical glass totem your teacher had placed on the doorframe to show the forecast. A light drizzle but you'd best have a good on for it all the same.

>>6283565
On your way you spot several villagers peering out at you from their windows. They've been dropping off small foodstuffs at the door for you while your teacher had been absent off doing what work the spirits called her for. Many likely didn't understand the scope of what a Totemist's daily life was like but they knew full well what your teacher had fought off and how spectacular it had been. Cliff Gliders had swarmed around during the last harvest season and there had been far too many for the guards to go against but thanks to her and that incredible lightning she'd thrown about freely it had all been a crisis easily beaten. Or that Bone Warden. Spirits above you could still see that things many, many ribs twitching as it stretched it's long body along the village wall and how it scraped its claws around as if looking for a way to crack the ward shielding everyone inside. Aughh the way it stared at you like how the birds stare at the mice.

A few of the villagers wave at you and let out a sigh of relief and you return the wave as you make your way up the stone road to the Chief's Hall despite your tired legs. Which doesn't take long thankfully. Your teacher had built her home close enough to the place that you believed it was so she didn't have to go up too far to deliver news or be in meetings with them all. 'Best to see people face to face if you can and it's a short trip', or so you've heard her say. Definitely not because she'd rather not have to hike up halfway or more the length of the village to get to it. Certainly not.

Cont/

>>6283575
As you reach the doors to the Chief's Hall you realize you still hasn't even rested since yesterday, which droops your shoulders a bit, but this is important business and your teacher gave you a task. You stand up straight and put some pride in your back and reach out to open the door. You wish you hadn't soon after.

There, all sitting around the meeting chair, all loudly going on about how vulnerable the village is and how the defense against spirits and magical monsters is now left up to you, are the heads of the village. Harell of the farmers is of course one of the calmest of them and you'd never once seen him raise his voice in any anger, but he's right beside Khorth who leads the miners who has his mouth firmly shut. The two men are looking dead at Pawtur and Brusk, the leaders of the day and night patrol guard respectively, who are there with their hands flat on the table and faces red. You can tell they're the most worried. Everyone knows that the guards have no real way of combatting swarms of monsters nor a single bone warden without unacceptable losses on their side. That swarm of Cliff Gliders didn't just total a few dozen. It was practically an entire cliff worth of nests all at once and those things have the worst kind d hooks to grab on and rip into you. They're serrated in such a way as to make removing the claws a gruesome thing to see and two per man is more than enough to be a catastrophe for even the guards. The nasty things like to gang up on people and get them tired from running away.

Then there's the dye shop leader Fauntine with her voice at a loud growl. You like her, she helped you plenty of time with getting good materials for the Totemist lessons on making good marking paints, and here she is voicing her opinion that, if things are so bleak, it's time the village was able to negotiate with the Greater Spirits of allowing the guard access to weapons able to better fight off the magical monsters with. She'd asked for it to be brought up to the Greater Spirits before when her husband of the Day Guards came back to her with a good few Glider claws stuck in his arms after the swarm. Your teacher had taken a good hour or so talking to her and explaining that she had already mentioned that both cycles of guards needed that power but she couldn't give it to them until she had explicit permission to. You never did her it was given at any time in the four years since then.

Cont/

>>6283578
Several more heads are there all voicing their feelings on the matter but they soon become silent as they notice you standing there. Bloodshot eyes, tired beyond anything you've ever felt and looking at them without so much as a word spoken, until...

"Shes awake now. Tired, bandaged as best as I could do, but she's awake. I think she'd tell them to go away and leave her be if you sent anyone to check on her, but please have someone come. I'm not a good doctor. I don't even think I got the healing slaves on how I'm supposed to."

It's Brusk who speaks first after a quick cough now that everyone had realized a child had seen them all worried sick. Some of the leaders look as tired as you are beginning to feel but it's Brusk who's got the room to speak and you can tell he's not going to waste time. "Thank you, boy, you did well to take care of her. Go on back and I'll be asking for your teacher to be given priority by the guard doctors themselves."

That was good. The guard doctors see the nastiest injuries and know how to make sure someone is in excellent shape before they let their patient so much as stand. You look to him and straighten up your back just a bit more.

"I've been given the honor of my first name by my teacher. I'm Capran now. First of the name. Thank you Guard Captain Brusk, I'll be heading back to her now and let her know she'll be seen by the guard doctors."

With you both exchanging a nod, and a bow to the village chief himself, you turn and head to the woman who raised and taught you all these years. A small fear returns to your gut that when you enter the workshop it'll be to the sight of her laying there dead and eyes empty of life but as you finally reach it....you hear a whisper that seems oddly loud coming from further in where you left your teacher. Slowly and as quietly as you can, with all the grace that only a naive child could be gifted with, you tiptoe closer and closer until you peek through a doorway and see your teacher sitting up just like she was when you left.

And in front of her stands a Lady of the Peaks.

She looks to you now, having apparently finished whatever message or conversation she held with your teacher and gives a tiny smile that makes her seem like she's got a secret she just can't wait to tell someone. With a voice as clear as the bells and as gentle as the breeze she asks you a simple question. "Ah, hello there young Totemist, I hear you've been allowed to choose your own name! Would you be a dear and introduce yourself? It's not every day I meet a new Totemist who's earned themselves the honor while their teacher still walks the land."

>How will you introduce yourself to this Lady of the Peaks, who's come down from the highest mountain tops to meet with you both no less?

>>6283593
(Btw let me know if updates are a bit too wordy, I can slim it down a bit but I'm under the assumption anons like a bit of meat to updates)

Its pretty late in the states right now so I'll be back tomorrow probably around morning. In the future I'm thinking of keeping votes set to an hour or would you anons prefer it being shorter? My time is pretty free on Fridays and Saturdays 10am est but I can very likely get some time set aside Tuesdays and Thursdays at about 7pm est.

If any anons happen to know about the original Totemist Quest I would appreciate it if anyone could grab the old crafting table files and also someone who knows how to archive quests. I admit this is my first quest and I'm awful about things like that

>>6283593
I am named Capran. It's not every day I get to to meet a lady of the mountain, new name or not.

>>6283638
Archived threads (most of them)
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Diarca
Binder's Log
https://pastebin.com/XvvRSk4W

>>6283757
>>6283758
Since no other anons have voted and I want to get to the juicy parts of the quest, bindings and huntings and such, I'm going to call the vote here. Also thank you very much anon for both the archive and the binders log

Writing now

>>6283593

You know for sure that the spirits, much more a Lady of the Peak herself, do love their good manners. This is important and not just because of her high status on the local spirit hierarchy. It just wouldn't be right to embarrass your teacher because you sputtered out an introduction like some little baby. You're a man now and you've got to put that first and foremost in your mind.

"I am named Capran," comes your own voice with a surprising level of certainty you didn't quite feel at the moment, your bow going low for a second before you remember a big lesson your teacher gave you about Totemists once they are of age. Never bow low, you might work to keep both the world of humans and of spirits safe but you are never their inferior. Bow with modesty not servitude. "It's not every day I get to to meet a lady of the mountain, new name or not"

A moment passes and just as you think you might have blown the introduction you hear the Lady of the Peak let out a giggle that sounds more like the sound of crystals tapping each other. She looks at you with her bright yellow eyes and tilts forward in a small little bow of her own. Good. You didn't screw it up.

"I think he's gonna make it far, don't you Earest?" You teacher says with a small little chuckle as well, "Now I think he'd like to hear what you've told me earlier, just try not to make him faint"

Cont/

>>6283784

"Oh sure, just get down to business then, not like I've left my own peak to come here to see your ragged ass laying on a bed. The other Ladies are fussing around by the way, hardly anything new but now they've gone and worried up a heavy wind that's hitting my peak as if I shouldn't send one of my own right back at th--"

"Earest. The news, please and thank you"

The Lady, Earest, scoffs a little and waves her arm in a circle before producing a scroll of what looks to be hawk feathers flattened into the fashion of paper and begins to read from it. "Yes yes, sure. Spoil all my fun and I can't even vent a bit of air on here to keep the mood light. You big tit."

You just stand there, staring at the scroll and the Lady like a clueless lamb. Herdson indeed. You already feel like it'll be a name that suits you when you're a full fledged man.

"As recompense for your excellent work in honor of pact between man and spirit, owing the safety of the four far and high Peaks to you, we Great Spirits of Rain, Wind, Snow and Cloud do hereby, with grace and sovereignty.....by the winds of the north itself this reads like some pretentious shit Oranya, I never would have written half of--"

"Then get to the good parts you breezy tart," interrupts your teacher with a huff.

"Oh goodie I'll just skip to the end, love you too by the way". You can't quite make any sense of this. You were told the Greater Spirits were all about manners but here you are watching dumbly while she and your teacher go at each other like...like old friends. Well that makes the puzzle fit together a little better you suppose. The Lady Earest continues. "You have been given the gift of all winds far and wide of the Peaks and in acknowledgement of your role as a teacher of the future Totemists among other things, not the least of which was fighting off a pair of Avatars before striking a Behemoth down on orders from the other Ladies. Fine work as well too, other spirit courts are sending huge thanks for stopping it and we've gotten a bit of power from that. Good that they all know that horrible thing would have flattened their mountains if not for you. Anyways, consider this a free pass for any four requests no matter what as long as it isn't outside of our power and interests. And your protege here gets his own request too, as an extra thank you to butter him up for when he'll eventually have to deal with those crones from the other sides of the mountains."

Well now. This was a much bigger deal than you really knew about. A Behemoth? Somewhere close to the Peaks? It would have annihilated your entire village and anything surrounding it with all the ease of you taking a step down the stone roads.

Cont

>>6283798
Alright anons it's time to get your first look at the real fun parts of Totemist life. GETTING FOCI. Foci are essential tools for your work, they will be what you bond spirits to, whether those be of feral monsters or pacts you negotiate. So choose one and don't be afraid of losing out on anything immense. The spirits know you just barely have your own name now so they didn't send some kind of murderous avatar tightly sealed into an heirloom like only some kind of madman would.


>The obsidian black talon of a Rending Drake youngling. While nowhere near the size of an adults talon, it is still as long as your hand and would be a fantastic weapon Foci.

>A sturdy cylinder of spun skymetal. It is cool to the touch and looks more like a tube of spiderwebs than anything else. It fits quite well in your hand too!

>A cloak of Morning Windmoth wings. This usually takes a whole season to harvest enough to make a cloak out of and carefully putting it together takes another to boot. Once it's made, it's just as durable as any master craftsman could make regardless of the skill fo the maker. Quite magical!

For the sake of fun and creativity I want you anons to consider this as your starting weapon that could likely be with you during most of the quest. Your first foci is your most familiar after all and it's a sure safety any Totemist should bring along

>>6283801
>A cloak of Morning Windmoth wings. This usually takes a whole season to harvest enough to make a cloak out of and carefully putting it together takes another to boot. Once it's made, it's just as durable as any master craftsman could make regardless of the skill fo the maker. Quite magical!
I love this one, I also liked the Talon but for what little we know of Carpran's personality, I think it fits him more

>>6283801
>The obsidian black talon of a Rending Drake youngling. While nowhere near the size of an adults talon, it is still as long as your hand and would be a fantastic weapon Foci.

>>6283801
>A cloak of Morning Windmoth wings. This usually takes a whole season to harvest enough to make a cloak out of and carefully putting it together takes another to boot. Once it's made, it's just as durable as any master craftsman could make regardless of the skill of the maker. Quite magical

Windmoth cloak wins.

Writin

You muster up what sense you've got and stop gawking like some toddler staring at the wind chimes in a stupor. You were taught better than that and with a flush of embarrassment you clear your throat and speak your request.

"Lady Earest, a cloak of you can grant me one. My teacher has told me the Ladies are served by the fluttering people of the valleys and I would really like something to wear that's majestic and cool and...." You cough again, getting your excitement under control. Today has been a swing of emotions and it's hard to reign it all in for this enormous gift. "And I think it would be an excellent thing to wear to mark my coming of age."

With the raising of her eyebrow, Lady Earest tilts her head a little and stares at you a bit, then steps to walk around you, giving you a look over with all the curiosity of someone perusing a shop for something they like. She circles once, twice, then steps away and looks at you again.

"A fine silver tongue this one's got, huh, Oranya? Barely halfway into his second decade and he's got the kind of words that probably sweep even the glittering fairies off their feet of they'd land on something solid. Nice. Keep him away from the Aerites would you? I don't want him getting dragged off to their parties."

"Lot of good that'll do, he's probably gonna be their pact made consort the damn minute he speaks."

"Ooh and wouldn't that be an adventure, all gilded and golden and hauled off to their bedr--"

"Alright, alright, enough of that, he's not even sixteen yet and I bet he'll be a world of trouble for the courts once he's done with his training at twenty."

"Mmm, yes. Indeed. Anyways, a cloak? A taste for fashion. Good." Earest seems a bit pleased with herself for some reason you don't fully understand but she circles her arm again and....wow.

She produces one of the finest cloaks you've seen. Its shimmering to the eyes and entirely made of the most beautifully white feathers probably any man has laid his eyes on. She holds it out to you expectantly and you reach out to receive it....

And no sooner has your hand so much as brushed the fabric when it flashes a horribly bright light that half blinds you and causes you to let out a small yelp. Damn it you forgot all about how Foci made from the spirits will conform to humans.

In the end when you finally blink the spots out of your vision, your feathered cloak has shifted into something large and, thinking up a word on the spot, kingly? Courtley? It looks fancy you'll give it that.

"Whoa."

Earest and your teacher look at each other with a grin. Maybe some kind of joke was there but you don't know for sure and you can't quite be up to guess at the moment.

Cont

>>6283875
You hold it in your hands now with a bit of struggle. Its huge! Clearly bigger than you are and it seems this foci knows you're not quite ready to wield it yet. Magical items made by the spirits sure do have a lot going for them. You wanted to wear it now though, you think. Oh well. Its still an awesome cool gift!

"Many many thanks, Lady Earest of the Peaks, I will treasure it forever!"

"Aww look at this, he's all giddy for his first Foci," your teacher says with the kind of smug grin you only see from her when there's some kind of bet she's won, "and here I was thinking he'd go right for the drake talon and wave it around like some kind of sword of legend. Nearly lost our little wager but I told you, Earest, I told you he'd want to look good. Glad I asked you to prepare the three gifts for him to choose. Looks like he'll have to grow into it though."

"Of course, he's still got to take in the primal Spark now doesn't he?" Earest sends a knowing look and a smirk at your teacher. So there WAS a bet then. Also....you'd forgotten about the Spark. Seems your days ahead are going to be very busy. "Well then I think it's time I flew back up to my mountain top. Cant let the girls be left alone even I they can handle it for a few days. Goodbye for now!"

"Yeah head on back up and I'll just lay here like some errands girl after a hard day's work. You tell those other Ladies to fork over the other half of the pact. I'm not going anywhere and I know they aren't either."

Laughing a bit and walking to the door, the Lady Earest lifts off the ground a little and gently flies out of the workshop and zips off towards the tip of the south mountain she rules. A little part of you wonders if the cloak Foci could let you fly like that too! You hold the cloak a little tighter, as if doing it will grant you that power just from wishing for it. "I can't wait...!"

You see your teacher give you a long look with the smile she still has and lays back down on her bed without so much as a grunt. Just in time for the doctors to arrive with a knock on the door and you have them come inside to meet with her. They give her a quick look over, paying special attention to her hands, and then carefully undoing all the bandages you'd wrapped her in with the care only a doctor can. "Capran I think it's time you give me and these good doctors some space. Head to your room and get some well deserved sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow."

Nodding as you head out, you steal a glance back at her and see them undo the bandages of her left hand. It's.... nowhere near as bad as it had been when you first applied them but you can still see the awful red scars forming. You're out the door and into your bedroom where you collapse onto your sheets and pillow, dead asleep before you can even think to kick your shoes off.

Cont/

>>6283891

It was now some years since that day your teacher had dragged her body up to the workshop and set your mind at ease. Some years since you got your new name and some years since your teacher held the ritual to imbue you with a Spark of a Behemoth. The memory chills you a bit. You knew it would be a serious thing but you didn't really know how it would feel as the incredible force a Behemoth Spark entered your body to give you a way into the true Totemists pact and take your place as a member of the guards of the Worlds Between. It still chills you but it also gives you that blooming sensation of pride and excitement. Years later and you still smile as you look over to the cloak you were gifted by none other than the Lady Earest of the Peaks herself! It fit now too! Better late than never you suppose. With that feeling of cold and warmth mixing in your mind you get to waking up for the morning and hear your teacher in the workshop with all manner of curses flowing out of her mouth as she must be working on new Foci. You wonder, what idea has she got now? Maybe it's another net caster design, the last one had snapped and covered the entire ceiling of the workshop in a sticky web you both hand to use broom handles to clean off. You really hope it's not another web net caster. Or maybe it's something to ward off the drakes further away from the village. Last year they damn things had slammed right into the magical shielding around the village and when one hits something the rest just have to go see what dared to block one of their own. Teacher had thrown a great spear of ice at the flock and nailed two or three to the cliff face closest to the village. They'd learned better to get close to the village by now or they'd all be pinned to the rocks with more ice.

You step into the workshop after dressing yourself and stare at your teacher reading from some scroll you recognize as being one of the same Lady Earest had all that time ago. Oh boy.

"Impatient, haughty lot of spirits they are Capran," she says with a drip of venom in her voice and tosses the scroll aside and it vanishes. "Looks like they think I'm taking too long to get you up to a proper state in your arts. Pah! And impatience is suppose to be a human trait or so they say."

Wisely, you remind her that you've had your spark a good four years now and the cloak had started to fit at long last. She'd tell you off for being full of yourself. Good old teacher. You're glad she never seemed to change.

"And I've heard they want you to begin hunting, like you're some errands boy of theirs to give orders to, not even bothering to send a scroll to you as well. Nope! Just the one. To me, telling me I'm taking too long. Breezy little uppity-"

A chuckle, which earns you a stare from your teacher, and you try to put her at ease.

"Not like I haven't been living here for years and we both know I wouldn't miss a day of lessons."

Roll 1d10 to help your teacher settle down. 8 is the goal

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>6283911

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>6283911
Bo3?

>>6283916
I'll take best of 3, sure, and thank you. Still learning the ropes

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>6283911

>>6283913
>>6283916
>>6283933

You can see it in her eyes, clear as the day sky itself. She's not having it.

"Load of shit." She curses as easily as you breathe sometimes, a skill you're not sure you should really learn from her. "You think I didn't catch wind of you sneaking off to see Harell's daughter over by the mill? You're a smooth talker but you should make sure I don't hear about you almost shirking off lessons. You're lucky you made it here on time after he caught you both holding hands like lovestruck goofs."

On second thought maybe learning to curse would be great. Busted.

"...y'know what, I suppose they should do themselves a favor and mind their own business. You're the teacher."

She lets out a huff of amusement and eyes her old pack. Repaired after what took over a month of searching for material to use, it's seen better days but it's been mended with great care. She barely spoke of whatever kind of Behemoth she'd faced that day of the battle and you hadn't gotten an answer out of her when asked so you'd left it alone. Couldn't have been pretty, whatever it was. "Smooth, Capran, very smooth. Excellent recovery if I do say so myself. Maybe it IS time to move on to a real hunt. Not the Rocky Goat hunts you join the day guard for or the Cliff Bats with the night guard, but a real feral spirit hunt....to get you your first binding set. I'll be coming with you. Can't let you have all the fun after all. Neither can I let you go alone and end up blundering your way into the jaws of whatever nasty little beast thinks a Totemists pupil is a morsel to enjoy."

Hmm. Well you would be stupid to say no at this point. She'll probably splatter any real challenge along the rocks and have you start off easy. Probably land yourself a Slate Crawler if you're lucky enough.

Nah. You'll end up with something easy. Most likely nothing that could be a serious danger to you, which you do crave these days, but just as much of a balanced fight as she can find for you. You wish she'd let you push yourself a bit more.

"I think I'd taste terrible. I'm practically dusting myself with thistle powder every other day and I know that smells as bad to the wildlife as it does me."

Your teacher strides over to her pack and slips it on with ease. No twitching of her hands or fumbling fingers these days. She'd made a full recovery over the previous two winters and she almost seemed to dive into her work as if making up for lost time. Totems and foci and all sorts of little inventions had begin to clutter the workshop and you both take time every other day to sort through the mess.

She starts packing with her back to you, not once slowing down as she gathers her ivory wood cane and essentials, "I think these spirits might be on to something. You're starting your second decade after all, and as much as the other boys have grown into men of their fields, I know you're itching to prove yourself. so where are we off to, young man?

>>6283947
To start our new day off under the tutelage of your watchful teacher's eye, you'll be given the choice of somewhere along the nearby mountain range close to the village. Surprises are available anywhere you go and each area has its own spirits, monsters, and treasures to find. Even low rolls for this will land you some curatives at least and little things to grab on your way. High rolls and low rolls don't mean just the quantity and quality either. Both hold dangers to you and I'm sure your teacher would love to see you have a good "middle ground" exploration today.

I will take the majority vote on location and the highest or lowest score for it.

Try to disappoint her a bit so you can get some excitement!

>Cliff face. You know boulder mimics like to settle around the bottom and you hope you can snag one for your first binding.

>Valley streams. Sometimes a hotspot for monsters and spirits alike to travel as a route. Now and then you see thunderhorn elk grazing near it.

>Near the old mines. These had been emptied of ores and sealed tight but that just means some beasts try all the harder to open them up to make a nest. Like those nasty steelweb spiders. Augh.

>Higher ranges of the mountain. C'mon you wanna head further up the mountain and see what new things you can find! Your teacher is with you so you'll be fine.

I'll give anons an hour from now

>>6283957
>Valley streams. Sometimes a hotspot for monsters and spirits alike to travel as a route. Now and then you see thunderhorn elk grazing near it.

>>6283957
>>6283961
One day I'll remember to mention specifics.

Please roll a 1d100 everyone.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>6283963

>>6283961
>>6283964
Location vote and also a 1d100 together please, my apologies for not being more clear about this

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>6283963

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>6283961

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>6283957
>Valley streams. Sometimes a hotspot for monsters and spirits alike to travel as a route. Now and then you see thunderhorn elk grazing near it.
I want some royal Thunderhorn Elk mount for Capran, come on baby! Give me the success crit!

>>6283961
>>6283964
>>6283971
>>6283977
>>6283980

Mmm. Wonderfully safe, as all things should be.

Writing.

Don't be discouraged anons, you've successfully avoided giving your teacher the heart attack of seeing something crazy happen.

Writing soon, a few errands come first, but I'll be giving an update soon enough

You can't shake the feeling that things are going too well.

Not for you, there hadn't been so much as a hint of danger anywhere and even the thunderhorn elk had only young males leading them today. Scarcely even a foot of antler on any of them despite this being the rutting season where they'd usually be blasting at each other to secure their place as the new leader or maintaining their power. The constant presence of Lord Hawks were also missing, just some cloud spirits lazing about on the horizon were the best things to find. No real excuse to let all this energy out now that you'd finally gotten the chance to go for your first feral binding...and it chaffed at you a bit. Maybe the stream roaming spirits themselves had some hint at where the big game had gone off to but they just dozed around and shrugged when you asked.

'No, not so much as a peep from those lightning pests and no screeching from the birds. It's been a lovely, peaceful day,' one had replied.

Your teacher thought it was odd too. Odd, but safe and she made sure to tell you it was good that way. Anything but another behemoth roaming around the rim of the mountain pass again.

Not much argument there of course. No idiot wishes for a behemoth. You wanted to find something promising though but you guess today just isn't it. A good share of water polished circular rocks as gifts from the stream spirits for checking around the valley for trouble and some well wishes. At least the rocks did look nice and very useful for seeing-stone totems.

"It can't always be chaos and flashy crafting," notes your teacher with a smirk unhidden on her face as she scans the valley for signs of anything that her practiced eye might pick up on, "but at least we got ourselves a good two dozen stream stones. We can use them to buffer up the wards a bit, drive off a few pests and whatnot that keep wandering around the village."

With a nod and a shrug you just make your way alongside her.

Cont

>>6284036
Maybe it's just a small consolation prize from the world but you did end up nabbing a round Blue Chipeep. It wouldn't do any good for your Foci but at least the eggs it lays constantly will keep you fed. The thing was a foot tall so it was bound to be good for that from what you were told by your teacher. With stones and bird you make your way back to the village, careful not to grumble about your back luck or make it too clear from your body language, and set the caged bird within the workshop and the stones on the crafting table where you both began to fiddle around with totems. Maybe this would end up fun?

Alright anons, it's time for some good old totem crafting! Well do best of three, highest roll wins. Feel free to ask questions about the properties of the stones, wards, their uses and anything else. I'll give it an hour and then begin writing

>>6284043
What materials do we have aside from the stones and the bird? And what does the bird itself do?

>>6284047
The birds somehow survived long enough to start nesting every year and are basically the equivalent of cute but constantly chirping round chickens. They are, for all intents and purposes, your alarm clock, free pillow stuffing, source of eggs for breakfast, and all around prey animal for too many monsters and wildlife you could care to name.

Your teacher keeps a healthy few boxes of other stones as well. None quite as perfectly circular and polished as a stream stone usually is but she's collected a nice hoard of gems around the mountains and old mines. Plenty of threads and rope, herbs galore, and her dyes and paints are fully stocked. It's a well maintained and well kept workshop storage that you can freely use. With supervision.

You can't make high powered totems with what you've got on you right now as the real good stuff requires a better hand at crafting than what you do. For now.

>>6284052
>Blue Chipeep Alarm System Totem: With a "Magical cord" you can surround an area, and once a creature (mundane or magical" steps on it, the stone vibrates or "chirps" to signal someone entered the area.

The idea is to put this central Totem and the "magical cords" comes out of it. The cords are made of energy and once this is disturbed they signal the silent alarm of the magical stone.

It could serve for hunting or just for house security

Don't forget to roll with your suggestions anons.

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>6284061
Oops

Because theres only one vote and roll so far I'll leave it open for another hour then call it. I'm hoping that'll give enough time for more anons to vote so more voiced can be heard

>>6284084
If this is your first quest, don't be sad anon! These things happen with new quests, people usually don't participate in new quest unless they are from certain aesthetic or genres, and because most quest could go perfectly good for the first thread and die without the QM appearing again.

If you're serious about your quest just keep on being diligent and people will notice it and then participate (and these things happen with the quest that had been running for years)

>>6284086
Yeah I figured I'd try my hand at a pokemon quest first to get attention and learn through osmosis but I felt the craving to make Totemist quest. Thank you for the kind words and I might just end up cutting the time short and going with whatever we have in......17 minutes

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>6284089
In that case, because I think it would be good to fool around with it

>Blue Chirpeep Presence Totem: When placed and activated, slowly the place starts to shift and transform as if real Blue Chirpeep were present on the area of effect (It starts with the sound of Blue Chirpeeps, then ground take shape as if there's been Blue Chirpeep walking around, them the smell of Blue Chirpeep until it's could be a realistic replica of Blue Chirpeep presence on the area)

>>6284061
>>6284066
>>6284090
Gotcha, I've been called for some quick work which should only take an hour so I'll be writing once I've finished

Steady work sees you together at the table, sorting the stones by size and thickness. You won't be doing anything to smoothen them out further but a quick drill with a small thin tube your teacher had the smiths make gets a clean narrow hole through the center where you thread some string into and tie off to make a charm to hang off hooks places evenly around the village wall. Easy, simple, stable work that isn't too powerful but an idea strikes you as you poke your fifth string through the hole.

'what if you just...added a little something personal?' whispered your own voice in that bored mind of yours. 'what if you had a little fun?'

A little grin comes to your face as you look at the Chipeep. Already gorging it's horrible appetite on seeds and grains from failed crops your teacher had paid for with totem charms to ward off a new invasive insect that just couldn't help but think the farmland was a free meal for life. Maybe just a few feathers. It may have been wandering out alone like easy pickings for larger predators but hey, work is work and no house is free.

You look at your teacher with a twinkle in your eye and she catches it in an instant. "Got a little idea, have you? Go on then, and don't go wasting any of the stones for something ridiculous like self launching discs. I'll not have some farm workers taken shots at by stones that toss themselves."

You hadn't had such a devious idea but you let a little bit of childishness off the leash and store that as a plan for an actual totem weapon. Some kind of slingshot? Disc shot? Oooooh, that sounded really painful. It'll make an excellent weapon! "No," you promise quickly, "that won't be happening to any villagers if I can help it."

"Good. You ever make something like that, you aim it right at a monster and nothing else...or I'll make sure to tell Harell and his daughter you made it yourself without my guidance."

You turn to her with an incredulous look she can't help but laugh at. She'll be using the knowledge of you and Harell's daughter as her ace in the hole for who knows how long. You certainly are learning from the best. "If it helps, I'll be sure to try getting some thunderhorn foci mixed into it. They'll call me thunder slinger Capran mark my words. It'll take a good show like you made with the swarm last time but I'll have a title and everything."

"Try not to zap yourself first off. Can't have you blowing yourself up before you even get a taste of serious Totemist work." Teacher seemed to be in a very good mood today, if her joking was anything to go off, and she motioned for you to stand closer. "Now that's all said and over with, why don't you tell me your little plan."

You go about drawing up plans and a little something that had popped into your mind and she hums while you explain. She didn't offer many pointers, letting you go into detail about a little alarm totem that wouldn't scare the villagers to death. Harmless and helpful.

>>6284120
Its....not your best work. Its a bit rough, warbles through the chirping sounds a Chipeep usually makes as if it had hit the mead a bit hard recently but for a first go at it...you'd say it could still use work but teacher Oranya shrugs and sets it aside to help you go over your notes and plans. She says it's a nice idea to make something that isn't a siren that spooks the whole village and it'll be most useful for the nannies to ensure none of the children try sneaking out of the raising house late at night to chase lantern flies.

>You have made a pair of Chipeep alarms! (Low quality)

She takes charge of making the stone wards for the village wall and ends up with an even two dozen excellent wards. You wonder if she's showing off a little. Surely not.

>Oranya has successfully made two dozen streamstone mirror ward totems! (Master quality)

Okay....maybe a little.

"Oh don't mind it, Capran," she says and heads out the door to place them all where the hooks would hold them until it was time to replace those as well. "Can't tell you I've ever heard of any apprentice Totemist making a perfect totem out of a new plan, so no loss."

Shes gone for a half hour before an itchy thought makes you doubt what she said. No Totemist apprentice ever made a perfect totem out of a new plan....? What other Totemists did she know anyways? As far as you'd ever gotten from her, no other totemists even existed near the mountains, maybe even in the entire land as far as you could see from the peak. There's a lonely feeling now you can't shake. No other totemists. You wonder how many behemoths must be roaming around in the far lands. What manner of horrible things must be out there, crawling through the earth, slithering in rotten pits, claiming immense amounts of land as their nests. Good thing your teacher can ward them off, but you remember how her hands had looked more like sliced up meaty bits than a full hand. Yes, ward them off. At a price.

>>6284123
You begin cleaning up after your little crafting session and hear a familiar chirping from one of the draft models you'd made. Something to maybe act as bait for the things that hunt Chipeep regularly, Lord Hawks and the like, and realize you had set it aside for later work. It was just a tiny wooden doll made to resemble a real Blue Chipeep, but it would start making tracks and sounds around it as bait for predators. Well. It works as intended. Needs more work, it's terribly quiet and just leaves small scratches around it, but it works.

>You have made a single Chipeep presence totem! (Poor quality)

Maybe the kids of the raising house would like it as a present.

You must have been lost in thought longer than you realized but your teacher returns with a small sack of fruits and herbs no doubt given to her by the villagers. Ooh! There's the smell of moonberry coming from the sack so looks like you'll be enjoying a good jam soon enough! You wash up, set the table, help with the cooking and get a small swat from your teacher as you steal a small nibble of the stew before it's even in a bowl on the table.

"You little cretin, just wait a bit and you'll have a whole bowl!"

Dinner is a short and sweet meal and once you go over your notes together with teacher yet again, you both tuck in for the night and rest up before dawn.

------------------

Dawn doesn't greet you when you wake up. It's the sound of gale winds slamming into the village shielding wards and sending a low rumble through the night. Everyone is up out of their homes and staring at the hundreds of flying beasts and spirits desperately fleeing the upper ranges of the mountains. Everyone sees hawk, drake, night flyers, wind fairies and all hooting and squawking and shrieking as they go full speed away from the clouds beginning to form angrily at all four peaks. You look away from it yourself and see teacher standing there, silent as stone, eyes locked on the sky. You feel it then. A spreading chill that somehow gets through the wards and seems to make you feel less like the mountains are your home and more that your home has all the qualities of collateral damage.

Finally Oranya speaks and it clears your head a bit. "Capran. Get my sack and cane. Now"

You don't waste a moment. You've gotten it all together and ran right back out of the workshop door to see her there, arm back and ready to launch a spear of bright electrical death at something she sees in the air and the wind just

stops

and your teachers arm snaps forward to send that crackling spear right into the body of a beast that you were told you'd never see at the peaks in your whole life.

There it was. It was dropping out of the sky with all the grace of a doll falling to the ground. A spirits damned dragon. A Dragon![/I]

The villagers freaked, and you did too a bit. Everyone knew what it meant for dragons to be up here on the mountains when the pact still held between Totemist and spirits in this land.

Cont

>>6284145
It lands hard on the ground outside the village and twitches it's massive body once. An undignified death for a creature that could wipe your village out of it didn't have a Totemist master as its first and last line of defense against these sorts of things.

Teacher Oranya swings her arm back to summon another lightning spear and scans around the skies like a hunter looking for their mark but seems to come up with no target in need of new holes.

No more dragons. Just the slowly returning sound of the mountain wind, at long last. It must mean the spirits had dealt with whatever else had been around the mountain range.

You and your teacher just keep yourselves in that combat focus until the light of the sun fully rises above the mountains and none too soon. Your shoulders slump and you breathe deep of the morning air while teacher Oranya gets to work calling upon all of the totems she can to get answers. You don't hear much but what bits you can pick up it seems as if the western Lady of the Peak had been swatting down a large dragon which felt her peak specifically should be it's new home and damn whoever or whatever had been there first. Just as a dragon would do. Other peaks were reporting a dragon youngling or two flying too close and earning themselves a blast from their ruling Lady and being thrown off the mountainside for their troubles. No deaths, no motives known yet, and no sign of more to come.

Still. Teacher Oranya had that serious look you recall on her face before she went to go chase the Behemoth off. This wasn't over quite yet. Once she ended the final call through her totems she took a deep and steadying breath to find her center...and turned to you.

"Damned spirits and their advice," she curses and spits. "They were right. I'm taking too long to train you up and if these greedy lizards are breaking pacts honored by their nest leader himself just to get their own territory then there's no telling when this shit will happen again. Get back to bed and rest well because we go hunting at noon. Back to the valley. You'll have your first feral binding by tomorrow night one way or another. Go. Now!"

No words come from your mouth. Teacher was serious and you knew better than to go against her now of all times.

You get a few hours more of sleep, tired to the point of just flopping into your bed again like all you had five years ago, when your new little Blue Chipeep wakes you up almost as soon as your teacher comes into your room.

"Gear up quickly. If there's any luck today it'll be best to get out there and hunt whatever might be picking at the dragon youngling corpses down at the bottom of the mountainside."

You grab your gifted cloak from years past, from Lady Earest no less, and throw it on and bring the barest gear needed. You'd travel light to move fast.

(Inventory: 2 ropes, chalk set, paint and brush, hammer, knife and large empty sack for collecting materials and Foci.)

>>6284145
>>6284163

Anons, it's time to return to the hunt and you'll be getting some nice bonuses to it this time around.

Teacher Oranyas knowledge and experience of both mountain ange and hunting down feral spirits will add a +20 bonus to your rolls.

I need a best of three rolls.
1d100
The higher the better this time.

>Also is it just me or is captcha slow to load now?

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>6284164
LET'S GO BABY THIS IS THE TIME, CRIT SUCCESS ON THIS MF

May Chipeep bless your ro---

In the interest of getting high rolls I will allow each anon two chances. We have time for that. I'll call it at... 10:20pm est, so half an hour from now

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>6284165
THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE 100 SUCCESS BABY, ITS TIME

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>6284183
Hoooolyyy shiiiiiiiit

I'll roll again in case other anons are still lurking or aren't here, just so you don't stay with only 2 rolls qm

>>6284183
>>6284184

>This pleases the bird. Chipeep shall remember this for the days to come.
>Welcome to the critical hunt score range. Stand by while I grab references and make a short list of encounters for the critical zone

You think back to the early days of your training under teacher Oranya, between lessons on etiquette for spiritual court attendance, material and spiritual synergies to prepare for Foci crafting, aether harmonies and discord between the elements and a library of other things, and a little phrase poos into your head that makes a whole lot of sense now.

When the storms rip through the forests, the winners are the little animals that can finally reach the fruits of the highest tree.

You're sure this must be similar to what the little squirrels and mice must feel like. Maybe you were just naive and thought the valley would be deserted but you clearly forgot all about how territory works for spirit and animal alike.

If you leave, your space is free game.

Absolute FLOODS of everything that made the mountains their home that had fled from the dragons had come back, fighting hard and bloody for the spots they'd laid claim to before the storm. Hawks divebomb spirits, stream nymphs shoot rays of water at charging beasts and you and teacher Oranya are surely getting the best seats for the show.

"Its an absolute clusterfuck," you hear her remark as the curled horns of a stone bulk slam into the body of a tall mammal you recognize as a dawn grazer - more specifically an alpha of the local Cliff Goat species - that bleats hard and angry as it's sent tumbling down the mountain.

It might be chaos and brutality all around but it's also a prime opportunity for you to snag yourself a juicy first binding. Spirits of Luck, you can even see not just a thunderhorn elk but one that shines with the unmistakable light of one that's eaten at least a full season worth of thunderdew grass. It's there, alone, shooting down hawks all around it that seem to think it could take the skies from them if it made a serious attempt.

Ferociously large Lord Hawks swoop around on wings of white and black as they fight off the soldier brood of a steelplate Hive that had settled down to mark their territory this summer. Seems as if you have plenty of choice available and something tells you that your teacher is also eyeing a few of these beasts for totem material. The ecosystem wouldn't be out of balance if she were to slay a few and keep her spoils. There's no ecosystem to found right now!

"...say, Capran."

"Yes teacher?"

"Think you can handle yourself for a few minutes while I help myself to nature's bounty? There's a pair of Oreline vipers that have my name on them all proper and nice."

Cont

>>6284197

Ah. Yeah she'd want those for sure.

One of the rancid things had a go at her at some point or another back in your first year as her pupil and tried to mangle her favorite leather sack. Got both fangs in it before the broke it's skull with her cane and dragged it back to the village to get skinned for the transgression. You'd barely ever seen her looking so foul and angry at anything until bigger and worse things started making their homes on the far side of the mountain.

"If I can dodge a swipe of your cane when I grab a handful of sour candies I can dodge a charging bull."

"Good boy. Now get yourself something nice and I'll be back after I've taught these worms their place on this mountain." She cackles with a bit of the hunting lust deeping into her voice. You sort of wonder if there'd even be a snake skin left of them. She really cares for that leather sack and decide it'll depend on if this pair ends up damaging her sack too. You'd probably turn anything that ripped your cloak into a smear now that you think about it. Yeah you're gonna make an example out of the first thing to so much as tear a single thread of it.

Now then. You can go after any of the previously spies beasts - Stone Bulls, Lord Hawks, alpha Grand Goat, Thunderhorn Elk elder - or maybe try your luck on finding an even better target for your first binding.

>Well Capran, Totemist and pupil of Oranya of the White Cane, do you see anything you like or will you go and find a bigger beast to slay?

>Roll 1d100. Highest score wins. You get +20 for the sheer amount of things currently fighting around you and clearly distracted. For the two glorious crits you're gonna earn an extra +10. +5 for each critical made

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6284200
THUNDERHORN ELK CROWN ON THE MENU LET'S GOOOOO

>>6284208
>Mmm. Delicious.
>Thunderbuster Osyki would be proud. So would Diarca

>>6284208
Maybe going to hunt an aged and empowered Thunderhorn Elk elder was a bit reckless. Your teacher would probably chastise you for being so daft as to approach it among all the other things to make a focus from but you'll have to have that scolding later. You really, really want yourself a good lightning spear like your teacher does and it's gonna be the coolest thing ever. You're gonna be the talk of the village and Harell might even let you just openly walk around with his daughter in the coming festivals. You'll earn her hand one day, now would be too soon, and he'd bury you in the fields if you pushed your lick, but right now you gotta just take your prize after ritual combat as the Totemist Pact demanded. You must win this in a manner befitting the electrical beast.

But how?

You can't fight it with lightning of your own. You may be a Totemist but you're still fresh into this stage of your role. The simplest and most effective way is to kill it with hammer and knife. Bash it to death with a hammer as it would slam its antlers into competition to make its place as the alpha known, and your knife is symbolic as the weapon and tool of a human hunter. You learned to use it well from the guards and can land a clean throw with it thanks to constant training and practice on targets. Okay he's, this is a moving, very angry, very powerful target but it bleeds just like you do when a knife ends up stabbing through the skin.

>Roll 1d100. Your skill with your weapons adds a +1 to all rolls and the chaos around you further adds a +1 as well, for a bonus of +2 total.

>>6284220
Roll bonuses are +20

It seems as though I can't type today

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>6284220
LET'S DO IT

>>6284223
We're fucked... Our teacher will be PISSED

>>6284223
>>6284224
Don't stress too badly, combat is multi turn and we have the benefit of not being the only one that wants the elk dead. Just gotta get that killing blow and you're golden

>>6284227
Well that's actually cool then lol. We waiting for other anons? Do I roll again? Or first you're going to update?

>>6284238
I like to try getting as many anons to roll in an hour as I can but if it's gotten too close to an hour I'm fine with allowing anons two rolls each.

Usually best of three per hour but I like to be flexible

Rolled 58 + 2 (1d100 + 2)

>>6284220
let's go boys

Rolled 68 + 2 (1d100 + 2)

>>6284220
And again. Time to clutch.

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>6284223
Doing my second roll

Clutch indeed.

Writing

>>6284223
>>6284247
Lol

Lmao, even

>88

Your target in sight, weapons in hand, and will steeled, you sprint around it wait for the best time to initiate. It doesn't take long, not when it's surrounded on all sides by enemies, and when a swift Lord Hawk takes its talons across the elk's face you see your chance and take it. Your feet launch you at its unguarded flank and you feel your knife drive deep into its hide with a satisfying ease. Seems that stabbed into something important too if the river of blood flowing around the knife's edge is any hint. You pull it out with a grunt and dive backwards in time to avoid a bull slam into the side you'd been at a moment before. Care is still needed here and now. Obviously there's a lot more beasts around and none of them care about the honor of a one on one fight, but neither do you really, and that suits you just fine. If they want to soften it up a bit then why not? Let them take a few blasts from the wounded beast if they want it.

As the prized elk hits the ground flailing about, you race back to it with your knife in both hands and go to drive it into the vulnerable neck.

But not before some feline creature you hadn't seen among the crowd tries to drag it off by the leg and earns a crackling bolt of electricity to the face. Wounded and stunned, whatever the thing is can't be bothered to try scoring a meal that fights back when there's all the other creatures and spirits have a wild brawl at every angle. So it bounds away and probably toward some other wounded victim it can pilfer from the sidelines. Fine. One less to steal what you want.

The elk struggles to right itself on its legs, bleeding in gushes from its side and lame on one foot. Shivering, stumbling around as you flank it again and go for a other strike.

>Please roll again. 1d100 +20 for a crippling wounds and your skills with the knife and hammer

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>6284251

I'll have to call it a night after this vote but I'll be back tomorrow sometime around 1pm EST.

Thank you for all your participation anons. I'm very happy to have you here

Rolled 76 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>6284251

>>6284254
Good night anon! Enjoying the quest and the idea of all!

Rolled 15 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>6284251
Wow you have been busy QM