Thread 6325199

Totemists, one of the first lines of defense against the malicious and monstrous, famed slayers of Behemoths which are perhaps the most dangerous examples of such, and bridge to the domains of spirits and magic unseen. The role is not an easy one of course, but it must be done and has been since time before almost all written history.

You are Capran, young man of the Four Peaks mountains, pupil of Oranya Skystrike.

There has been a lot of unrest on the mountain slopes lately, the issue growing further with each day it seems, but with your teacher still guiding you, there will always be a way to deal with it the trouble.

Such as this post mimic, which stands on thin wood-splinter-like legs and angrily spears them into the ground beneath it at the failure of its ambush. You stand nearby your teacher and her friend Heyra, ready and willing to destroy this mimic.

Awful thing. You're rather happy you three are the one who found it rather than some poor patrol guard or villager.

>Cont

>>6325199 (OP)

>47 from previous thread

You pull your Umbral Snare forward and take a quick swing at the damn thing, but it skitters away from the hook like some freakish insect and angrily stomps at the ground again with it's sharp legs.

Your teacher Oranya channels power into the wind beads wrapped around her arm and moves a flat palm downwards toward the hellish creature, slamming it down onto the ground with the force of gale winds. Heyra is there, strange spiked weapon in hand, chanting some sort of verse you don't recognize as she ushers the Trailing Fog away for a moment. No telling what kind of reaction this might cause from the spectre but time will tell.

Her weapon, you absently notice, has begun to sport little wisps of flame, so perhaps it's used to burn monsters to a crisp.

With your first attempt to bind the creature a miss, you need to make another shot at taking it out, but the question is how.

>https://rentry.co/g66xqyhb
>Binding Log with all currently available binding combinations.
>You currently have Mourning Shroud, Umbral Snare, Legion March and Squall Caller equipped

How will you act?


>Apologies in advance, internet has been spotty but I promised you all a thread this Wednesday and that's that.

>>6325204
Could we get a brief description of what all these bindings can do on the rentry?
Act like we're attacking the main body with the sword, wait for the tentacle to try to strike us and chop that off instead

>>6325275
Absolutely, yeah, I'll go ahead and get that done now

Binding log pastebin bas been updated!

I must leave for work in an hour so I'll update and allow votes and rolls after that

But first!

>>6325275
>Fake out+maim the mimic

Please roll for this first everyone

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>6325308

Two more rolls and I'll call it

My shift approaches so I'll be at work and probably make an update this Thursday or Friday based on the rolls

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>6325308

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>6325308

>>6325199 (OP)

Whoa, this quest was EXTREMELY based. Very exciting to see it return...

>>6325204

While you maybe not be the most proficient swordsman of all the guards, you like to think that you've got a solid understanding of the basics and the first thing you do once you extend your sword out is to bait the nasty mimic into extending itself out too far. A quick little jab at it causes it to back away slightly and make a go at spearing your head through with one of its thin legs, but you're well aware of how to counter an attack like that from your years of sparring with Rakes, and your free skeletal left hand latches on to the mimic's spear leg.

This is rewarded by the mimic whipping its tendril out to possibly do a bit of stabbing itself but you were ready for it, and clearly the mimic forgot all about that nice red blade of yours!

>87

There's a moment when you yank hard on the mimic's leg and bring it scrabbling towards you that it clearly shows surprise, if the sudden screech was any hint, which then turns into pain and horror as you draw a lingering wave of red energy with your countering sword slice. The mimic has noticed your sword again much too late and you make it pay dearly for that and the mistake of trying to ambush not just one but three Totemists.

Usually this would be a learning experience but you don't have any desire to allow it the chance to live long enough to appreciate the lesson.

>85

Your blade finds the whipping black tendril and cleaves it down to a third of its length with a spurt of oily blood, and even a nasty gash up the side of its false-post body to boot. Sadly not a killing blow but you're sure it won't be trying to use that tentacle thing to attack you anymore.

Oranya slides over nearby and thrusts her beaded arm forward with her hand flat, casting a thin plane of air to shoot out and cleanly slice through the leg you're grabbing and dealing a significant blow herself. More jabs deal more slices as the mimic frantically backs up and away, falling to the ground from losing one of its walking limbs and jabbing forward with one of its remaining legs to force your teacher to keep her distance. Clearly it doesn't understand the concept that she isn't limited by her range and takes another slice across its deceptive body for the error.

The post mimic rolls over a bit and now uses its two remaining legs to spear and swipe as the tendril thrashes this way and that to act as an extra bit of defense. Fat load of good it does though, as Heyra has finished her strange chanting and in her hands rests a blazing sickle of otherworldly power. With one swing, the flaming blade slices off one of the mimic's limbs and sears the would closed all in the same attack. One left, and the mimic is using it for wide attacks that have no hope of actually harming any of you.

>Cont

>>6325204

>>6325204
While you maybe not be the most proficient swordsman of all the guards, you like to think that you've got a solid understanding of the basics and the first thing you do once you extend your sword out is to bait the nasty mimic into extending itself out too far. A quick little jab at it causes it to back away slightly and make a go at spearing your head through with one of its thin legs, but you're well aware of how to counter an attack like that from your years of sparring with Rakes, and your free skeletal left hand latches on to the mimic's spear leg.

This is rewarded by the mimic whipping its tendril out to possibly do a bit of stabbing itself but you were ready for it, and clearly the mimic forgot all about that nice red blade of yours!

>87

There's a moment when you yank hard on the mimic's leg and bring it scrabbling towards you that it clearly shows surprise, if the sudden screech was any hint, which then turns into pain and horror as you draw a lingering wave of red energy with your countering sword slice. The mimic has noticed your sword again much too late and you make it pay dearly for that and the mistake of trying to ambush not just one but three Totemists.

Usually this would be a learning experience but you don't have any desire to allow it the chance to live long enough to appreciate the lesson.

>85

Your blade finds the whipping black tendril and cleaves it down to a third of its length with a spurt of oily blood, and even a nasty gash up the side of its false-post body to boot. Sadly not a killing blow but you're sure it won't be trying to use that tentacle thing to attack you anymore.

Oranya slides over nearby and thrusts her beaded arm forward with her hand flat, casting a thin plane of air to shoot out and cleanly slice through the leg you're grabbing and dealing a significant blow herself. More jabs deal more slices as the mimic frantically backs up and away, falling to the ground from losing one of its walking limbs and jabbing forward with one of its remaining legs to force your teacher to keep her distance. Clearly it doesn't understand the concept that she isn't limited by her range and takes another slice across its deceptive body for the error.

The post mimic rolls over a bit and now uses its two remaining legs to spear and swipe as the tendril thrashes this way and that to act as an extra bit of defense. Fat load of good it does though, as Heyra has finished her strange chanting and in her hands rests a blazing sickle of otherworldly power. With one swing, the flaming blade slices off one of the mimic's limbs and sears the would closed all in the same attack. One left, and the mimic is using it for wide attacks that have no hope of actually harming any of you.

>Cont

>>6325573

>64

One of the swipes does flick some blood at you and as it lands on your chest you become immediately thankful of your full immunity to poisons in your skeletal form. The oily blood hisses and pops, letting out a horrible stench if you used the faces of your teacher and Heyra to judge, and is likely poisonous to normal bodies.

One more thing to thank Xandin for.

With the monster basically done for, you suppose you should consider if binding it is a decent option or perhaps just killing it would be the best choice.

>Roll 1d100 for reaction DC 60

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>6325574

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>6325574

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>6325574

>>6325574

Perhaps it's yet again time to claim a monster for your bindings, though you don't really know what good a post mimic binding would be. Maybe it could turn into a trap or so--

>25

An echoing blast rings your ears and you cover our face as your teacher slams a localized wind whirl into the screeching mimic to end it for good. When the twisting winds are finally done eviscerating the corpse, you lower your arms and stare at the smears and shreds of it littering the ground around the area.

Heyra's flaming weapon sweeps over the chunks and they instantly turn to ash, as if you needed more proof you weren't going to be binding the mimic at all.

And then Oranya slams a hand down and you once again cover your face as she blasts the spot the mimic was squirming in for good measure.

and then she spits at the ground.

It occurs to you that she has an especially strong loathing of mimics. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, what with the mimicking Behemoth effectively traumatizing her own teacher, and you feel that she'd be organizing a total purge of the mimic population if such a thing might actually be forbidden by the Totemist Pact.

Oranya takes a few deep breaths and stands up straight to address you with an unquestionably serious expression. "Good eye Capran." She says, darting her eyes here and there even while facing you. "If you hadn't spotted the nasty thing hidden among the landscape it might have actually gotten one of us by surprise. I understand you've been using the scrying map to assess dangers and I'll personally add mimic species to the higher threat rankings. From now on, no one ventures out from the village gates without a totem specifically to reveal mimic locations. Damn things just couldn't stay as boulder mimics now we have freaks of them that imitate totems..."

You nod quickly as she begins to rant. "Understood, Teacher. Some kind of arm band that perhaps highlights them would be best. Now...I think we should wrap up our business with the Spectre before any more monsters begin to appear."

"Well thought, Capran. Heyra. If you would?"

Heyra's been conversing with the ghost ever since burning up the mimic pieces and seems to have come to an understanding with it. She turns to you both and produces an effigy of some sort and the Trailing Fog begins to slowly be absorbed into it.

>Cont

>>6325919

Interestingly enough, the effigy seems to take on the spherical form the Trailing Fog took with a few carved faces on the surface as if a personal touch has been made by the ghost for it's new housing. In some sort of way there's similarities between the way the effigy changed and how you bind monsters and spirits to your Foci bindings.

Perhaps this is one of the ways Heyra and her branch of Totemists utilize the pact.

She and your teacher nod to each other and begin to walk back towards the village and you follow, Heyra explaining to you that she's given the Trailing Fog a suitable vessel to host its being, and your teacher silently marching along back home.

The trip is mercifully peaceful and short and you exchange waves and greetings with the guards at the gate before moving on towards the workshop where you can finally settle down again. The day has begun to feel exceptionally long and between the spectre, obligations towards Harrell's daughter, your bindings and other such things, you feel that a moment to collect yourself would be of great help.

After helping to attune the map to more threats hiding in plain sight of course. Oranya pulled you into the mapping room and made that an expedited matter to see to. You think you can see her already formulating ways to annihilate entire populations of boulder mimics, and by some immense act of mercy there isn't a single other new type of mimic left. Just one freak variant that thankfully didn't propagate and spread somehow.

Now that you're here, however, you have an opportunity to reveal new functions of the map with Oranya's guidance.

>Select a new 'filter' to add to the map that adds new ways to find certain things, such as ghosts, mimics, ores, herbs, etc.

>The top three most voted for options win

>Spiritual materials
>Rare herbs
>Rare ores
>Rare bones
>Rare monsters
>Oddities (randomized loot with...interesting...variety)

Oranya automatically adjusts the filtering to show more monster and spirit types that weren't previously shown, such as imitation-specializing creatures and concentrations of Change energies.

There is an abundance of Change energies that you can see pooling in certain areas matching where the orange level threats were already displayed.

>Calling in an hour

>>6325948
>Rare ores
>Rare herbs
>Oddities

>>6325948
>Rare ores
>Rare bones
>Rare monsters

Ok ores wins first slot but we have an impass. I'll keep votes open through tomorrow

>>6325998
Changing my vote to
>Rare ores
>Rare herbs
>Oddities
to break the tie

>>6326175
>>6325998 Changing my vote >>6325984 to
>Rare ores
>Rare herbs
>Oddities
to break the tie