So, a quick recap: You awoke in Tegan’s inn, and she gave a lot of information on how the world works, mainly that what you thought was the sun was actually a massive Shard of energy, and many more of varying sizes float through the heavens, some of which rain down upon the earth, changing the world in various ways. You picked up your new clothes from Taylor, the tailor of Crestdale, and you set out to hunt the strange creature which had stalked you the night before: a Mucktouched, a creature of great magical ability and a total lack of sanity or empathy. After a short battle, you emerged victorious. Days later, after sparring with Tegan frequently, you left Crestdale on a pilgrimage to Terec, city of alchemists, hoping to answer the cryptic riddle your teacher left you: “Meet me where water and light converge, and gaze into the shadows there.” After a few days of travel, you encountered the disciple of the Rising Dragon, Khan. You two tested each other’s skills, and you emerged victorious by reversing a leaping piledriver he tried to execute on you. You agreed to teach each other a facet of your art, and you went your separate ways.
Your journey continues…

INVENTORY:
5 wooden shurikens, 1 dull wooden stake, 3 doses of Heaven Berries, 300 gp, a pendant of Ward Fear

TECHNIQUES:
Cloak of Shadows – You can be concealed by darkness while moving. +1 to stealth rolls while moving.
Blinding Strike – When you make an attack, you can infuse your strike with shadows which will creep up into your target’s eyes, blinding them for a few minutes.
Elemental Riposte – You channel the shadows into a vicious counterattack. When you’re hit, you can call forth a mass of shadows into a focused point in your palm, allowing you to discharge it when you counter.
(Your practice with shadow projectiles has allowed you to make mildly larger projectiles. Not as large as the lance, but a little more than the daggers and wires you’ve used up until now.)

You travel across the endless plains for days, and slowly your food and water supplies dwindle. Fortunately, you’re no stranger to foraging and hunting, and you are quickly able to feed yourself whenever the need arises.

Given that you walk with no company, your mind naturally wanders, but always keeps coming back to the same thing: Why? Why did bounty hunters come after Sifu Tong? Why did one of them call him the Kinslayer? Why would he leave you behind like that when he knew they would come eventually? Why did he have this… strange black book that you can’t open? And most importantly, why did he neglect to tell you the most basic things about the world? You don’t know any of the cities, you don’t know the geography, you don’t know the deities; Sifu never taught you about anything that wasn’t directly related to the Fist of Shadow.
Why?

(That’s your cue to answer. Trying to flesh out Shun’s personality here.)

>>18697019
You forgot the emerald we looted off the Mucktouched after that second nat 20.

Experience is the world's greatest teacher, and sifu likely felt that the only way to truly understand and appreciate the world is to see it yourself, not through secondhand accounts. We were taught the Fist of Shadow as a lifestyle and window through which to understand that which we observe. Perhaps he intended us to grow as organically as possible, a true "tabula rasa" (blank slate) for the world to chisel upon.

>>18697099
As for why he left us to fend for ourselves and against the bounty hunters, it is likely sifu's final test itself, as true a trial by fire as it can get.

In short: we're out to figure things out by ourselves while living and surviving. And quite frankly, that's cool by us, since we mostly agree with him.

>>18697106
So we have the presence of mind and spirit to understand and, in some way, appreciate sifu's teaching method, and so we are to make the most of it, really. After all, he wouldn't have taught us the Fist of Shadow if we were totally braindead, would he, never mind that we're his adopted son?

Hm. Maybe Sifu felt that the world was to be your ultimate teacher? Unwishing to impart his view on the world, he only taught that lifestyle which was all he had ever known? This world you know nothing about will shape you, just as you shape it. Hmmm…
Your thoughts are interrupted when you realize that a Shard is setting. Ever since you left Crestdale, sunrise and sunset have been far more erratic than you’re used to. You awoke not too long ago, and yet night falls. Or maybe it doesn’t. You’re not really sure yet, it’s too early to tell. Gazing up at the sky, lost in thought, your attention is attracted by… something bright moving quickly. Very quickly. Wait… it looks like it’s going to land! The shooting star smashes into a group of rocky crags to the east, exploding into a bright light, igniting the skyline... but that’s in a completely different direction from where you’re going!

Do you wish to investigate?

>>18697161
Terec's not going anywhere, and it's not often you get to watch something crashland in the area. I suppose taking a look can't hurt. For all we know, someone might be in trouble, and what would it say about us if we forsake an innocent?

>>18697179
It would say that you're a man who doesn't let distractions divert him from his goal, if you ask me.

But I'm just answering, don't let that stop you from going full Kenshiro here.

>>18697189
I would say something from the heavens crashlanding into an explosion of lights and colors is a little more than a "distraction." Let's take a look.

Terec can wait, you figure. Wherever he is, Sifu can find a way to occupy himself while you explore the world around you.

You head towards the crags, curiosity filling you up. As you travel across the increasingly hilly plains, you eventually see smoke rising into the air. A settlement? Another lone camper? Your questions are quickly answered when you get closer. It’s a large group of people, well over 100 of them, all congregated at the base of the cliffs. They seem restless. As you draw near, they notice you, and one of them runs out to meet you.

“Hold, traveler!” exclaims the tall, muscular dark man, “You intrude on an Expedition of the Dawn. Leave now.”

How interesting!

>>18697267
"I travel, explore and observe of my own free will and volition. What is this Expedition of the Dawn and by what authority does it have to declare otherwise?"
Stand tall and don't budge.

>>18697267
How do these hundred or so people dress or generally appear?

>>18697293
You can't make them out too well from here, but the one in front of you is dressed in a blue garb, covered in dust and dirt. He seems to be a traveller, too. Parts of it have leather covering it. His face has some sort of blue marking leading from his forehead to his left cheek.
His hair is unkempt and long.

You glare up at the man, determined to stand your ground. "I travel, explore and observe of my own free will and volition. What is this Expedition of the Dawn and by what authority does it have to declare otherwise?"
The tall man leers down at you. “What, a little boy like you travels in the Strobelands and doesn’t know about the Tribe of the Dawnchase?” he spits at your feet and continues, “Just do us both a favor and get out of here. You have nothing to do with this.”

What an asshole!

>>18697360
"That doesn't mean you can't explain yourself and what the Tribe of the Dawnchase is. Or are you so callous as to deny 'a little boy' what you claim to be common knowledge?"

"That doesn't mean you can't explain yourself and what the Tribe of the Dawnchase is. Or are you so callous as to deny 'a little boy' what you claim to be common knowledge?"

The Dawnchaser laughs heartily, saying “child, are you so stupid that you can’t put together the obvious? We chase the dawn.” The man motions towards the top of the crags, “We find fallen Shards. We have waited here for days, waiting for this one to drop. Now one of us will ascend the cliffs to test his mettle, and bring us whatever has fallen here.”

The man continues to glare and says, “these are our longest traditions, and you have no part in them. Now go.”

tell him we just want to learn more about his group and to observe them, also ask what they do with shards when they catch them

Man, this guy won’t budge. “Look, I just want to know more about your people. What do you do with the Shards you catch?”

He looks at you incredulously, before bursting into laughter. “HAHAHA, the wealthiest astronomers of Terec have offered us wealth beyond measure in hopes of learning our secrets. We’ve always turned them down, and we’ll keep refusing them. This Shard belongs to us, our knowledge belongs to us, our culture is ours alone, and you had better clear out before I make you.”

fuck this guy, just for that, lets take that shard

>>18697513
Before I speed things up a bit, I need a bit of clarification.
Are you the only one here? Should I just start writing as soon as you post?

>>18697503
Clearly this guy isn't going to let us hang out or see for ourselves.

"Fine. I shall leave you to your Shard-claiming and what have you. Just don't blame me if one of your member fails and an outsider claims the Shard for himself."

>>18697523
Nah, >>18697513 is only the second guy to show up.

You shift your weight onto one foot, ready to leave. "Fine. I shall leave you to your Shard-claiming and what have you. Just don't blame me if one of your members fails and an outsider claims the Shard for himself."

The Dawnchaser’s glare intensifies before he turns around and returns to his tribe.

Well, looks like you’re going to steal this Shard to teach them a lesson about manners. You quickly survey the crags looking for ways up. You pass up a section with a heavily sloped path up. It’s easier than climbing, but a path is rather obvious. Walking around, you find a dark cave. Maybe it leads somewhere up? Who knows, but you probably won’t run into anything in there. Of course, you could always just scale the damn cliff. It would probably be the quickest way.

What’re you gonna do?

This guy is pissing me off. Lets go and ninja the shard before any of their kind do it.

It could be useful, we might sell it for big bucks somewhere.

>>18697563
Just scale the cliff. We have been martially trained for our entire life, it is unlikely we cannot climb a mountain. (as long as you don't make us roll for shit of course)

Use the cloak of darkness to conceal ourself.

>>18697582
This. We should already know how to rough it, for the most part.

I would have gone with the cave and fight some nasty monster but cliff scaling wins i guess.

climb where no one can see us + shadowcloak

No time to waste. You’ve climbed before, this will hardly be an obstacle if you go slow and steady.

You’ve got about a hundred feet to scale before you reach what looks like a small plateau from here. Shouldn’t be a problem. You secure your bag and pockets, do some light stretching, and put your hand on an outcropping. Shadows hiding you, slowly, slowly, slowly, you ascend. Ten… twenty… thirty… you’re doing just fine…

Uh oh. At about seventy feet up, there’s nothing to grab. You look around, but no dice. The nearest place you could grab onto is about seven feet to your right. From there, you could probably scale it to the top, but that’s if you make the jump…

Do you want to risk it?

>>18697633
Turn our shadows into climbing picks, one in each hand, as well as spikes on the soles of our feet. Every bit of traction helps. Be patient and don't rush. That's what kills a lot of mountain climbers.

>>18697633
>Nowhere to grab

Just make shadow-spikes, punch them into the rock and use them as climbing materiel. Can we make some small shadow needles/spikes around the tip of our feet to use them for better traction?

>>18697648
>>18697649
shadowrockclimbinggearmind

>>18697648
>>18697649

You fucking guys.
You've never tried to make shadow blades on your feet, but you've got enough upper body strength to make it up the rest of the climb, if you really wanna Ninja Warrior that shit.

>>18697660
Eventually, we'll learn to manifest shadows anywhere on our body, for full versatility.

shadow climb that cliff

>>18697660
We'll just shimmy over to the climbing section several feet away and rough it normally. There's no reason these Expedition guys need to know of our power.

>>18697660
Yup. Do it. Shadowclimbing.
We learned this super-secret style, why not use it at any given opportunity?

>>18697706
Because we don't need the whole world to know about a style that only two people in the world today (to our knowledge) know.

>>18697718
How the hell would they know?
We are being stealthy, remember?

We'll use them till we get to a better position where we don't need shadow-pikes anymore

Why risk it? You can make your own holds. Carefully, you extend one hand and manifest a shadow stake. You carve it into the wall next to you. Once you’re certain that it’s firm, you bring up your other hand, doing the same. It’s rough, but you’re able to shimmy over a few feet to the next set of rocks. Now, you can make it up the cliff safely…

The next thirty feet pass by without incident, even if it is a bit slow. You climb up, clearing the cliff…

Ah! That wasn’t so bad. Now that you’ve got the chance, you look around. It’s dark out, but you can see fairly well. Out in the distance, the plains you were travelling on continue, growing more and more rugged the closer you get to Terec. The Dawnchasers at the mountain base are still there, and they don’t seem to have noticed you. Nearby, there’s a cave. It’s probably connected to the one you saw earlier, but you don’t really have time to investigate. You’re about halfway up the cliff.

You think you hear something moving, so you sink low to the ground, looking around. You know you heard something, but… you don’t see anything. Curious.

What do you do?

>>18697783
Stay put, keep an eye on our surroundings. Let's not rush things or betray ourselves, especially at this stage.

>>18697783
Wait. Try to determine what it was.
Maybe it's just an animal? Or that could be one of the dawnchasers who got sent to retrieve the shard.

Maybe we should forget what we see and concentrate on our ears. Maybe the sound will gives us a hint of where that.. whatever is.

slash silently at the area around you

also make sure to look up and down for something hidden

Now isn’t the time to make mistakes. You just need to be calm and look carefully… up, down, around, there’s nothing here. You shut your eyes to focus your hearing. You hear birds flying through the air, the noise of the Dawnchasers down below, but… it definitely doesn’t sound like what you heard. What you heard was bigger, and heavy. But it’s… gone now, and you couldn’t make out just where it came from in the brief instant you detected it. Dammit. There’s not many places it could be. You’re on the side of a cliff, in the open. There’s nowhere to hide… but the cave.

Shit.

>>18697849
Perhaps the sound came FROM the cave? By the way it is described, it seems to be somekind of a big scary monster and where do big scary monster usually lurk? Exactly.

I do not think it is a good idea to hide in the cave without knowing what it is and where it came from.

Also, do we see any signs of the fallen shard?

>>18697873
A soft glow emenates from the peak.

>>18697878
If we don't hear any scary noises or see anything, we should slowly, carefully sneak towards it.

Hmm, perhaps the falling shard woke up whatever it is?

>>18697878
Let's just get to the top before we cross whatever it was we may have inadvertently, well, crossed.

Let's go after the shard.
We don't know what that thing could be and we shouldn't care either, at least for now.

lets go after the shard, if we're lucky the chasers will be slowed down by the creature

>>18697895
>we should slowly, carefully sneak towards it.
And by "it", I mean the shard

>>18697901
>>18697908
>>18697910
When we get to the top, depending on what a Shard actually manifests itself as, we ought to wrap it in a "shadow bag" so as to muffle its glow and hide its presence from the expedition members.

You’re paranoid. If you do near that cave, something bad will happen, you know it. You just need to climb this cliff as quickly as you can, until you’re out of range of… whatever that was. You turn your back to the cave, and begin to scale the cliff again, when you think you hear the patter of wings, so soft as to sound like a small bird.

The talons at your back tell you that it isn’t a small bird. Something grabs your bag from behind, and takes off, ripping the straps! Dammit, you had the emerald in there! You drop to the ground, ready to face whatever it is! A flying creature lands on the ground and stares at you, ever silent. It’s some kind of stone creature, with the vague shape of a man with claws, talons, and wings. Small red eyes burn at you. You only have a second to register before it flies at you!

>>18697954
Dodge!
And then counter-attack. Aim for its eyes!

dodge and try out our new shadow counter attack

>>18698004
Sorry, but it only works when you're hit. Then they're close enough to take the full force of your counter.

>>18697971
Or wings. Take it out of the sky. We'll have to recover the emerald after we recover the Shard.
>>18698004
The Elemental Riposte only triggers when we get hit.

Now that we're in combat, start rolling 1d10. I'll use the highest for our action.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18698027
Rolling for >>18698020

rolled 2 = 2

>>18698027
Dodge. Counter.

Also, did the bag fall off the cliff or did the birdman took it with?

>>18698038
The beast threw it into the cave when he was swinging back around.

rolled 2 = 2

shoot a dagger at its throat

>>18698048
So the cave was its home after all.

>>18698050
What is a dagger to the trachea going to do to a STONE GARGOYLE?

>whereuntil rockep

>>18698065
Wait. Gargoyle?

don't they turn into statues in sunlight? We could use the shard as a weapon, I think.

>>18698075
>It’s some kind of stone creature, with the vague shape of a man with claws, talons, and wings.
That aside, there is technically no sun in this world, so it might be kind of a moot point. I don't know.

rolled 7 = 7

grapple him from behind, and stab him in his eyes repeatedly

oh, try talking to him?

If you can ground this thing, then you’ll be able to even the playing field. The thing dives at you, horns lowered, ready to gore you! You’ve gotta dodge it…!

(Defense roll = 1.)
But this thing is way too fast for you! You take the full brunt of its attack, knocking the wind out of you! Fortunately it’s still in range, but it follows up with a vicious slash to your chest! Followed by another! You’re bleeding badly, but you’re still good enough to fight. You bring your arm back, condensing shadows into a single point on your hand, and you bring it forward onto the beast’s wings!

(Attack roll = 17!)
You hit home, causing an explosion of shadows from your impact! The stone beast wails in pain and stumbles back, bits of rock falling from its weakened wing!

What do you do?

rolled 1 = 1

>>18698092
Shards act like suns in this world... I think.

>>18698103
Talking? Alright, lets try that.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18698113
Attack it while its down.
Aim for the eyes.

...can we make a shadow-mace? Blunt damage might work better on stone creatures after all.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18698113

Go for the other wing!

rolled 3 = 3

>>18698113
It shouldn't be in the air anymore, since we crippled its wing. Pounce it and bludgeon it.

follow up and stab it in the eye
we can talk after we defeat it

did we not have our cloak when the monster saw us or did it see through it?

rolled 2 = 2

Picture >>18688378 (in a different thread) might make for an interesting partner.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18698141

>>18698142
>Picture >>18688378 (in a different thread) might make for an interesting partner.

That's a funny way to spell "waifu"

we take out its wings and get our backpack then knock him out for a few seconds and get the shard

let the chasers fight the gargoyle
i don't want us to defeat it and then have to deal with one of them fresh while we're exhausted

Capitalizing on its moment of weakness, you bring your fist up, forming a blunt orb around your hand, and smash down onto the beast!

(Attack roll = 17!)
You smash into its other wing, and its cries ring through the night! Its other wing is weakened, but it isn’t enough to stop the beast from jumping towards you, talons outstretched…

(Defense roll = 10.)
You manage to dodge, but not before it nicks you in the leg! You feel a sharp pain! Looking down, blood is seeping out of a wound left by the creature! It’s difficult to properly maneuver now! The beast tries to take to the air, but can’t quite do it right, and it’s now hovering a foot off the ground, eyes blazing, lusting for blood.

What do you do?

>>18698141
Yup. Bastard's got great vision, being a flying hunter.

>>18698196
(when we get hit, don't we automatically use our counterattack ability)

Do we have any of that wonder medicine herb left?

Anyway, wait for it to attack. Feint, and then attack it. Go for the eyes.

>>18698228
It's got a small bit of cooldown, so you don't abuse it in fights.
BALANCE IN ALL THINGS, MY FRIEND

And you still have 3 doses of Heaven Berries... in your bag.

>>18698228
We have enough to cure three wounds.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18698196
Cover our wound, then bludgeon it again.
>>18698228
We have three doses of Heaven Berries, which is basically a full heal. All we have is a nicked leg, so I wouldn't use one now. Save it for when we're really in dire straits.

>>18698243
You also got slashed up a bit and smashed into earlier.

make a shadow hammer and bring it down on his head, hopefully knocking him out

rolled 94 = 94

>>18698243
I'm not saying to use it yet or even use it after the fight. The injuries we have now can be easily patched up. I was just curious.

>>18698239
How long is the cooldown? One round, two rounds?

Anyway, attack it. Go for its head and eyes. Use blunt object.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18698256
Still, save the berries.

>>18698273
Cooldown's about a minute, bub.

You quickly move to rip off a part of your belt and use it to cover your leg, but when you bend over, the creature leaps into action, trying another dive!

(Defense roll = 18!)
You’re quick enough this time! You dive out of the way and finish tying up your makeshift bandage. You leap to counter, forming another orb, this time aiming for the head!

(Attack roll = 1.)
And you miss it entirely, smashing your fist into the dirt, kicking up dust! The thing, seeing an opportunity, picks up a large rock, and heaves it at you!

What now?

rolled 8 = 8

>>18698358
Well.... dodge. What else can we do?

Wait, maybe we can rush at it. That would be unexpected move. Jump over the stone or dodge under it when it throws it.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18698358
Dodge under the rock. Crush it in the chest again.

Alright, you just need to dodge this rock, and kick off towards it…

(Defense roll = 17!)
You slip right underneath it, and sprint at the beast! You imbue your hands with shadows, and get ready to deliver a mighty blow…

(Attack roll = 17!)
And you hit the creature dead in the chest, blowing a hole right through it! It screams again, and begins to fight back frantically for its life…

(Defense roll = 1.)
Every strike makes your body scream in agony. You get clawed in the chest and an arm, you get bitten on your shoulder, and horns greet your face! You’re bleeding very badly from everywhere, and blood begins to drip into your eyes…

What do you do!?

rolled 1 = 1

>>18698482
It might be in its death throes, considering it LITERALLY HAS NO CHEST. Still, we have to be careful and put this thing down. Pop one of our berries, then crush it one more time.

Dumping a few odd female monks/fighters in the meantime.

>>18698523
Your berries are in your bag, which the beast threw into the cave.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18698527
Thought so.

Then just crush it. This has gone on long enough.

rolled 10 = 10

Let's keep some distance. With both wings damaged and a hole on the chest that thing should be having a shitty time.
Let's move back, avoid any attack and keep ourselves safe waiting for that thing to leave, die or just get tired.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18698482

Withdraw and wait. Maybe it is fatally wounded and will die after it spasms enough.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18698556
Assuming we don't bleed out first, which I'd like to not chance. If we die, who's gonna show up those Expedition sumbitches?

Nothing can survive a hole in the chest. If you just wait, then it’s bound to die soon.

You and it stare at each other, its burning red eyes burrowing into yours. It stands perfectly still, waiting for you to make a move. A few minutes into your staring contest, it moves… to slowly back away from you. Walking backwards, it retreats into the cave, stopping to pick up your bag before it is consumed by the darkness.

… well that’s no good.

>>18698591
Well, shit, we can't let that happen. Our books are in that bag, right?
Can we quickly tent to our wounds?

How far is the shard? Can we quickly frab it and come back here?

oh hell no, throw shadow projectiles into the cave one after another then go after him

rolled 1 = 1

>>18698591
...
NOW can we kill it?
>>18698621
Our EVERYTHING is in that bag.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18698622

>>18698622
...we can throw shadow projectiles?

>>18698662
>(Your practice with shadow projectiles has allowed you to make mildly larger projectiles. Not as large as the lance, but a little more than the daggers and wires you’ve used up until now.)

Let's take a few minutes to treat our wounds.
Once ready let's get into the cave to finish that thing off and recover our stuff

rolled 8 = 8

>>18698677
We'll just have to hope the Shard hasn't been claimed by then.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18698699
If it has we take out the guy on his way down.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18698713
Let's not be too vengeful. If they claim it, they claim it. Still, if we get it, we can say we got it faster than the Expedition of the Dawn EVEN AFTER we dicked around with a gargoyle.

You’ve got to stop this bleeding, but there’s nothing around you but rocks, and you don’t have enough material to bandage up your chest. You’ve got to get your bag now. You manifest a couple of large shadow knives and throw them into the cave. You hear the thing scream one last time, trailing off. Good.

You enter the pitch black cave. You wait a while for your eyes to adjust, and you see your bag on the ground, with the creature on the ground next to it, eyes unlit and stony. Even better. You bend down to grab your bag…

(Defense roll = 15.)
And you don’t notice the thing’s eyes flare up! It leaps on top of you, pinning you to the ground! It wails, bringing up both claws, ready to strike!

rolled 8 = 8

>>18698743
On a 15?

Point-blank Shadow Hadouken to the face. Fuck this guy.

>>18698760

i guess it would be hard to do that, considering that thing is over us. Maybe the chest would be more proper

>>18698743
For fucks sake. Just die already.

Has a minute passed already? Can we use our auto counter-attack move?

Anyway, make a broad shadow knife and thrust it upwards into its head.

Also
>not giving us choice how to act when we see the creature lying on the floor
>After what happened in Armored Core Quest, I wont trust dead enemies for a long time.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18698775
Mass shadows in our hands.
Thrust upward into general upper torso.
Sounds straightforward.

>>18698782
>not giving us choice how to act when we see the creature lying on the floor

Believe me, after this, Shun will definitely be more cautious.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18698795
We should be plenty cautious as it is. We fight with an assassin's style; you'd think we know things like that.
Ah well. Learn from the world.

Ok, this could be weird but, considering the situation, can we manifest a surge of shadow (and probably spikey) energy to kill it or, at least, push it back?

rolled 1 = 1

>>18698817

guess i forget the roll

>>18698817
See >>18698760

>>18698828

no ):

This ends now! You gather up all the shadows around you, drawing them into a pitch-black force into your hand, and…

(Attack roll = 19!)
You smash it into the beast’s face, discharging everything you’ve got! Although you could barely see before, now, there is nothing. You feel the beast go limp on top of you. You roll out from underneath it, and the shadows spread back to where they were. Most of the thing’s upper torso is gone, blown away by your counter. If it’s playing dead, then it’s certainly convincing enough to get away with it now. You grab your bag and head back outside.

Battered, bloody, and beaten, you emerge from the cave victorious. A Shard is coming over the horizon, bathing everything in an orange glow. Quickly checking the peak, the glow is still there. You still have time.

>>18698860
Use the shadowcloak (just in case), run to the shard.

.... uh, wait. Do we even know if we can grab it? Oh well, what ever. Grab it with shadows, envelop it so that it doesn't emit light then go back to the cave to tend to our wounds and later to explore it.

>>18698860
Pop a berry, then scale to the top. Entertaining as that diversion was, we still have a point to make.

So, pop a berry or wait? You have a fair amount of makeshift medical supplies.

>>18698942
Oh, we have standard supplies? If we can treat ourselves, then let's save the berries. Use them as a mid-combat superheal.

>>18698942
How functional are we right now? Is our mobility impaired heavily? Are we bleeding profusely?
Can we tend to our wounds quickly?

If so, then no, do not use the berry.
After we retrieve the shard we will return to the cave, make a camp there and rest.....

>>18698955
They're not standard, but you were smart enough to gather what you could from the forest before you left Crestdale.

>>18698967
You're bleeding pretty badly, and your leg hurts quite a bit.

>>18698972
Then yeah, that's severe enough to pop a berry. Let's not bleed out if we can help it. We need a big dinner afterward to recoup the blood loss, though.

>>18698972
Tend our bleeding. We suck it up about the leg til we retrieve the shard... I think.

>>18698986
>>18698991
I'm not going to make you roll for something as important as this.
Come to an agreement.

>>18699020
We have makeshift supplies, not actual supplies. We're cut up and banged up and bleeding out. I don't want to spend ALL our supplies on one encounter. They're meant for quick patch-ups between bouts until we get something more permanent to fix ourselves up. This is likely too much for our makeshift supplies, so let's eat a Berry and fix everything at once.
Plus, we have to make good time to beat the Expedition to the Shard.

>>18699020
>>18699056

Alright. Lets use the berry then.

use the berry, i bet theres gonna be a fight soon, we need to be ready for it.
those screams from the gargoyle probably hastened the chasers up a bit

You haven’t got the gear to properly medicate yourself. You need to use a berry if you don’t want to bleed out. You pop a couple of them in your mouth, savoring the sweet taste. Before your very eyes, your wounds stitch themselves shut. Miraculous.

At any rate, you’ve wasted enough time. You need to scale that cliff as quickly as possible to get the Shard. Calling the shadows to your hands, you manifest a pair of picks to climb with. It’ll be smooth sailing if you take it slow. Twenty… forty… sixty feet… halfway there! But what’s this? The glow disappears! Someone couldn’t have gotten to it before you, could they?

You clear the cliff in record time, just to see a young teenage boy, maybe 14, walking away from you, holding something fist sized in his hands, covered up. Dammit!

congratulate him on being a few seconds faster than us, then challenge him to a fight for the shard. not a fight to the death

>>18699143
Fuck that shit. We fought for our life getting that damned shard.

Okay, we have been trained as super master assasin. If you say that we do not know pressure techniques to knock people to sleep, I'm going to hate you forever, OP.

Sneak up on the boy, and knock him out.

>>18699143
It's not like we know what a Shard looks like up close.

"You're not with the Expedition of the Dawn, are you?"

>>18699173
Not as a "super master assassin." As a "monk who knows what is generally considered an assassin's style."

>>18699172
>>18699173
>>18699179

I'm sensing a conflict of interests here.

>>18699172
wait wait wait, lets try to get the shard from him while in shadow cloak head for the city.

if it dosent work, THEN challenge him for the stone

>>18699191
Does the boy look like he's from, or does he wear the same garb as, the Expedition of the Dawn?

>>18699172
>>18699179

Do not talk! What the hell.
If this happened without us getting into the fight, I would approve but we almost died, used incredibly valuable and rare berries to fix us up.
That fucking shard is ours to claim.

Do not let the boy know who we are, just knock him out unseen.

>>18699179
Of course he is from the Expedition. We might be ignorant be we aren't retard.

>>18699208
Indeed, he wears similar clothes. You can't see a facial marking like the other man, though.

>>18699190
We have been trained by a grand-master of a super rare and secret technique for our entire life. All of it.
If we aren't highly skilled, then I do not know what to think.

But at least we should be skilled enough to put a boy to sleep.

>>18699251
You can, of course.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18699262
We do that then.

put em to sleep then. be stealthy about it

>>18699209
We're not an asshole, though. A bit miffed he got to the Shard ahead of us, but not enough to knock out a kid because we feel entitled.

Part of me wants to let him go, but not before asking how he got up here.

>>18699262
sneak up behind. Use the cloak of shadows. Knock him out.
I really hope we can use our stealth skills without having rely on rolls. I do not like games where every single breath requires a skill check.
.. anyway

>>18699279
>because we feel entitled.
But we ARE entitled. If not for us, that kid would be dead.

>>18699299
Fine, but if we're gonna knock him out and take the Shard for ourselves, we ought to leave a note pinned to the kid for the Expedition to find. "The price of your arrogance" or something like that.

oooh, can we take the kid after he gets knocked out and place him next to the gargoyle?

cover up our tracks

rolled 9 = 9

Personally, I much prefer >>18699344
to >>18699349.

>>18699349
Alright, lets do that.
They would be forever unable to explain what happened here.

>>18699349
Now THAT is being an asshole. We'll take the Shard, but we won't leave a kid unaccounted for by his peers.

how about leaving him next to the gargoyle with the note?

Whatever, you fought a STONE HUNTER and beat it to death. This kid doesn’t even look banged up; you should have the Shard, not him! You call up your shadows, and start to sneak up on him…

(Stealth roll = 8+1 for cloaking = 9!)
He never knew you were coming. You wrap your arms around his neck, putting him into a chokehold. The teen struggles to breathe, but he eventually passes out. You put him on the ground, and grab the Shard. It looks like it’s covered in some sort of leather, but nothing like you’ve ever seen. Must be special. Despite that, the Shard is very, very warm to the touch. It’d probably be best to leave it in your bag. One of the straps is missing, though, and this kid’s bag looks like it’s just been made…

>>18699382
That would just be super confusing.

>>18699349
>>18699382

>dragging him down a sheer 100 foot cliff

>>18699370
what do you mean, i don't see how that's being mean, the kid will wake up in 30 minutes or so and he'll cry to his clan for help or somthing.
the gargoyles dead, no danger

>>18699382
The body of the gargoyle is on a cave on the opposite side of the crag, a crag that we scaled with our powers. That'd be superdick if we kidnapped a kid like that.

>>18699383
Leave the rest of the kid's stuff alone. Pin a note to the kid's lapel, then scale down the mountain the same way we came.
"The price of arrogance."

>>18699386
all the more reason
>>18699390
... i see
the note then.

leave his backpack alone, we can wear it one shoulder till we fix or find a better one

>>18699383
Oh yeah. Throw away the shard and take the bag. Now that's phat loot.
>really wish I had Berserk edits right now.

But seriously, take his bag, put our shit in it and then leave under the cover of the darkness back to the cave to explore it, the flying monster thing sure did like baubles, maybe it has more shit in the cave?

>>18699446
We're supposed to be heading for Terec. This was just a nice distraction because, shit, we've never seen a color explosion after something crashlanded before, and we certainly have never seen a Shard up close.

Speaking of which, what is the Shard like? Is it crystalline, luminescent, what?

>>18699482
Well, if you want to say no to possible quick loot....

>>18699482
You don't know. You'd have to unwrap it to find out.

lets take the shard and not examine or look at it till we're in a secluded area. if it needs special cloth it might be dangerous and i don't look forward to getting knocked out by it and waking up surrounded by chasers

>>18699503
Lets not. It might be dangerous for all we know... even if it is not, it will attract attention.

Eh, you’re already taking the Shard, no need to steal the kid’s bag, too. You rip out a page from Sifu’s notebook and write “The price of arrogance”, and slip it in the kid’s shirt. You got what you came for, it’s time to leave.

You quickly climb back down the way you came, coming to a stop in front of the cave where you fought the gargoyle. The Shard in the sky is small, providing as much light as a sunset, despite being in the middle of the sky. The smell of dirt lingers in the air.

Would you like to explore the cave?

>>18699495
Again, we're not an asshole, nor are we like any of those other sociopathic "adventurers." We're not gonna loot this kid for no reason. We only wanted the Shard.

>>18699503
Then we'll wait until we make camp far from the crags to better examine the Shard.

>>18699536
We've been here long enough, and I'd prefer not to be in the general area of a xenophobic tribe of Shard-claimers THAT WE JUST ROBBED.

Skip the cave, get back on the road posthaste.

fuck the cave, we got what we came for and the chasers are likely to be pissed by the time they see the note.
lets get as far from them as possible

>>18699538
>We're not gonna loot this kid for no reason. We only wanted the Shard.
I was referring to the cave actually. I think there would be some stuff there that the gargoyle colelcted over the years

>>18699565
>>18699567
yeah alright, lets go

>>18699536
We took out the inhabitant who seems to make a habit of stealing and attacking passerbys. There out to be some good stuff in there.

>>18699615
that's what I thought but it seems people want to move away fast... Can't really argue against that too.

You got what you came for, it’s time to get the hell out of here before anyone realizes what happened. Looking down from your vantage point, you see the Tribe of the Dawnchasers below. It looks like they’re moving around. A lot. Something’s up down there. Time to go!

You begin to climb down the cliff, shadows protecting you, occasionally checking the Dawnchasers to make sure they haven’t seen you. When you’re almost done, you see a few of them climbing up towards the top. Something over in their camp is glowing, and you think… it’s a person? The tribe seems to be spreading out, looking for something…

You don’t have enough time to investigate, you need to get back on the road. Now. You lightly jog back to the path, bag one Shard heavier than before…

>>18699668
Glowing Person?

Oooh, some kind of an oracle or a guide or whatever?
Better to get the fuck out fast

>>18699668
This is clearly not a plothook for later.
Clearly.

>village ehencro

And I'm bringing it to a close for now, I've got work in an hour.

But don't fear! I'll return at midnight 4chan time to keep this shit going! I'll answer any questions in the meantime.

>>18699703
Midnight 4chan time being how many hours from now?

>>18699719
7 hours and 45 minutes.

Wait, I'm a retarded.
6 hours and 45 minutes.

fuck, i bet they'll be able to find us cause of that glowy person. we need to find a wizard or something and sell it

>>18699719
4chan time is EST. So seven to eight hours, give or take.

>>18699736
>six to seven
derpderpderp

>>18699723
>>18699733
>>18699736
>>18699745
Damn, I'll probably be asleep by then. Thanks anyway.

And OP, nice going so far. I approve.

Also, I hope people don't mind this dump I've been doing. Anything that catch your eye?

>>18699775
I don't mind. They are all pretty awesome.

>>18699775
All of it.
Fit girls give me the biggest boner.

>>18699775
I enjoyed it. If I ever need any sort of monk character now I have the art for it!

Archived! http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/18697008/

>>18699799
>>18699803
>>18699811
My folder isn't organized, so these are found pretty haphazardly, and I'm sure I have more than these that could fit, but either way, I'm glad you like them.

>>18699833
Would you mind saving a few pics and bumping for me while I'm at work? I'll gladly continue when I get back.

>>18699849
/tg/ is pretty slow. Bumping once in 3 hours should keep the thread alive

>>18699937
I know, but coming back to some sexy monk girls would brighten my day.

>>18699849
You said you were going to answer questions.

At he beginning of the battle, some people wanted to talk to the gargoyle. Was that possible?

What would have happened if we hid in the cave when we heard the sound?

Was there any treasure in the cave that gargoyle collected over the years?

If we had decided to leave, would the gargoyle have killed the kid?

>>18699966
>At he beginning of the battle, some people wanted to talk to the gargoyle. Was that possible?

They speak common, but I didn't expect anyone to bother. You would've ended up fighting it anyway.

>What would have happened if we hid in the cave when we heard the sound?
You would've gotten grabbed, and it would've flown outside and up into the air. Had you been able to fend it off, though, the cockatrice further in would've gotten pissed and come to investigate.

>Was there any treasure in the cave that gargoyle collected over the years?
A bit.

>If we had decided to leave, would the gargoyle have killed the kid?
Sure would've.

>>18700010
> the cockatrice further in would've gotten pissed and come to investigate.

Oh, I guess it's a good thing we didn't stay to investigate the cave.

Seems there was no way to avoid the encounter then?

Also, is this a setting based on a homebrew that was developed on /tg/ a while back? Shattered Sun, I think.

>>18700067
I was wondering when someone would catch that! A while ago I took it and expanded on it a bit, adding extra races and gods, etc., but I never actually got the chance to run it. Near the end of the first thread, I realized that I hadn't really thought the setting up too well, so I opened up handy homebrew folder and thought that it would make an excellent setting.

>>18700098
Heh, I noticed as soon as we heard about shards. Didn't comment on it though.
I haven't even read those threads, just saw them when they were archived on suptg the first time so I really don't know anything about it except for the broken sun and its shards.

>>18700098
Nifty.

>>18700134
You're in for a wild ride. I've got some extra areas, so even people that have read it won't know everything.

>>18700147
Cool.
Maybe I should read up those threads later.

Alright guys, I'm out for now. I'll be back on later tonight.
See you then!

First evening bump.

Second bump.

Midnight bump.

>>18701776
>>18703285
>>18704542

DAMN LOOK AT THEM TITTIES

But seriously, we're back!
There's one thing I've been curious about- we've got a basic idea of Shun's personality, but what the fuck does this guy look like?

personally i see him with black hair with a naturally serious face

>>18704774
There were a few pictures I and another dude dumped in thread one. They're likely still there. You can repost them here. I'm partial to the one with the bandana and the black gi, even though it looks a little womanly in the face.

This one?

>>18704831
That one. Pull extraneous details where necessary.

>>18704912
I like it!
I think I'll start using it as the first image from now on, it's so good.

>>18704929
I'll admit the headband looks goofy (if not backwards), but on the whole, it's rather nice.

>Artiser Rain

Oh well, time to get this ball rolling!

You’ve been on the run for days. You don’t know how, but the Tribe of the Dawnchase knows you stole their Shard, and they know exactly where you are. You’re listless and exhausted. You had to leave the road in an attempt to try and lose them, but it’s no good. Every day, they draw closer and closer. Moving deeper and deeper into the hills, you’ve had to go with less and less sleep each night. Just as you’re about to collapse from exhaustion, you spot a small cave nestled in between two hills. Your body screams at you to rest before it gives in.

>>18705000
>first cave saved us from bounty hunters
>last cave hid a Stone Hunter
This is the rubber match. Go for it and project some shadows, like a shadow wall deeper in the recesses of the cave to cut us off in case any tribesmen decide to snoop around.

>>18705085
You lack the experience nor the energy to do something like a shadow wall.

>>18705128
experience AND energy, actually.

did we examine the shard in detail after we left the cliff?

if worse comes to worse and they catch up to us i say we destroy it, right in front of their faces.

>>18705128
Then just head deep inside and hope the tribesmen sod off for the night.

I know they won't, but at least we'll die in our sleep if they find us.

>>18705151
The Shard is pretty bright, and it'd be plenty easy for them to find us, at least until we learn to erect a personal shadow dome around us.
Plus, if we destroy it (assuming we could figure out how), then they'll DEFINITELY kill us. Declare a jihad on us and everything.

>>18705151
Nope, you have no idea what it looks like.

This might be the end of your journey…

More defeated and tired than you’ve ever felt, you stumble towards the cave. You walk as far as you can, until you can just barely see the light from the entrance, when you fall down, passing out.

Blinking the sleep out of your eyes, you can’t believe that you woke up. You’re so hungry… oh. Oh no. No no no no. It’s pitch black. You can’t see *anything*. Something must’ve blocked the entrance to the cave…

You’re in a dark cave, with a hundred angry tribesmen outside, with next to no food, and no idea of what to do next.
So what do you do next?

>>18705281
Get the shard out, it might be usable for light, we like the dark but we need at least a bit of light to see.

Explore deeper into the cave, maybe we can find a secondary exit or something to eat.

>>18705281
Is the other end of the cave a dead end?
Well, if we aren't going anywhere, now's as good a time as any to examine the Shard.

>ecivice Missionary

>>18705304
>Korra
WHY

>>18705311
BECAUSE

they're outside?

uncover the shard and look around, maybe there is another opening

i thought we were good at survival? how'd we wind up with no food? was all our attention set on running from the tribe?

>>18705323
OOOOH GOOOOOOD

>>18705340
Human hunters are known for their ability to track prey for days at a time until it dies of exhaustion.

>>18705340
>You’ve been on the run for days.
I'd imagine we haven't had time to properly scavenge, despite the lead we had on them.

They probably don't know where we are but know where the SHARD is. If we wanted to lose them, we could have gotten ridden of the shard.
But eh...

Unwrap the shard and, I don't know. Use it, touch it, lick it, eat it. Maybe it has some restorative functions, maybe it will instill us with power. There must be a reason why they collect them after all.

The Shard, of course! You never got a chance to look at it, and now would be a great time.

Carefully searching around in your pack, you feel your fingers grip the warm leathery surface of the Shard. Hands shaking slightly, you pull it out of your pack. You begin to slip the packaging off…

And a bright light fills the cave! You look down at the Shard. It’s a bright orange crystal, very spherical, and you can see almost all the way through it. The light emanating from it shifts on the dark cave walls, and everything looks as clear as day. You head back to the entrance of the cave to find out what happened. As it turns out, a large amount of boulders fell here, sealing you in. Dammit. Oh well, at least it’s probably better than facing the hundred Dawnchasers you stole from. You decide to push ahead deeper into the cave, since you haven’t got much elsewhere to go.

You descend deeper, and deeper. Sometimes you hear rumbling, sometimes you hear dripping water, but the majority of your trip is a silent and lonely one. You’re so hungry…

You don’t know how long you’ve been walking, but you’re astounded when you see what looks like a crack with a bright light piercing through it!

>>18705478
Stow the Shard, head for the crack, take a peek outside.

It must be a way out! You stow away the Shard and move up to the crack, placing your eye up to it.

Wow. On the other side, it looks like there’s tall, wet trees! Dense foliage as far as the eye can see! With a place like that, there’s bound to be SOMETHING you can eat!

Now, if only you could just get to the other side…

>>18705560
Keep note of where the crack is, do a bit more scouting around the area, looking for another exit.

How much smaller than us is the crack?

>>18705560
Tall, wet trees? Does it look swampy?
Find a weak spot, and crack the wall with shadow-gauntlet-enhanced punches.

>>18705589
With your face up against it, it covers half your face. The wall looks fairly thin, though...

>>18705604
Get some shadows out and have tendrils creep along the wall, both inside and out, see if they can sense any especially weak points.

Get a shadow pick or something like that and go to town.

>>18705646
You can't actually feel anything from your shadows. It's more like you're... borrowing them from your surroundings. You don't actually have any connection with them. Yet.

>>18705662
You'd think we have more finesse to be beyond brute force, but sometimes, when all you have is a hammer, you just have to hit something.

>>18705680
Like I said. Yet. You're fresh out of your student phase, after all.

>>18705662
See if there's an especially weak point as far as we can tell, go to town on the wall.

Oh man, you’ve just gotta get on the other side of this. You’re so hungry…

Manifesting a shadow pick and hammer, you go to town on the wall. You dig; you dig like a demon possessed. Your arms beg you to stop, your hands cry out in pain, but your mind is focused. You have conquered your body before, and you can do it again. Utterly in the zone, you smash, and smash, and smash. The crack turns into a window, and before long, you’ve beaten your way through to the outside! You step through your handmade doorway…

And you’re surrounded by lush greenery. A deep jungle stretches as far as the eye can see. You hear creatures all around you, the ground is moist under your feet, everything smells… *alive*, more alive than you’ve ever seen. To your left is some sort of dilapidated building, overtaken by the plants. You take a deep, fresh breath of air, and look up into the sky, relieved that you finally made it out of those caves. Imagine your surprise when there is no sky.

No, instead of clouds, there is rock. Rock where the sky should be. What? You look off into the distance, confused by this development, and you see what has to be the culprit: A massive, glowing green Shard, far off in the distance. You’re not outside… you’re in a massive cavern!

>>18705681
Not that I'm complaining at the moment. As mentioned earlier, crack the sumbitch open with shadow-guantleted punches.

>>18705770
Well.
That's convenient.
Let's check this place out.

Also, ORKS ORKS ORKS

>>18705770
Soo... let's have a look at that building (while grabbing whatever seems edible on the way.)

>>18705770
Well given that just about two weeks ago we didn't know what shards were I guess we shouldn't be all that surprised that they also show up underground. Start foraging, we'll worry about the lost city that was certainly here after we're no longer starving to death.

>>18705770
I like where this is going, Simon.

You can be confused later; you’ve just GOT to get rid of this painful hunger. You stalk around in the jungle for a time, getting an idea of what the hell lives here. You spot large spiders, lizardlike creatures of varying sizes and shapes, various humanoid shapes melded with animals… You settle on nabbing some spiders for dinner.

A quick fire helps you sear the meat. Strangely enough, the meat doesn’t taste like anything at all. It’s a bit rough and lean, but overall, pretty neutral. You’d have thought that something so vile looking would taste horrible. Ahhh, that hit the spot, though.

Now that you’ve sated your needs, what’re your plans?

explore the cabin a bit

>>18705901
Now that we're not delirious, check out that green Shard. Apparently, different Shards have different effects. See if the other Shard reacts to this one.

Alternately, explore the village before we check out the Shard.

>>18705901
Explore some of the dilapidated buildings here, see if we can make a guess as too how long it's been since they were abandoned.

After that head towards the shard.

Hmm. You should really check out that building before you dig too deeply into the jungle.
Upon further inspection, it looks like it’s been here for decades, if not more. The growth has almost completely covered it up. It’s made out of some sort of metal, with some sort of ornate carving inlayed into it. You don’t really understand what it means. It’s got some wide people and some… dots? You think you see a pick every now and again. Oh! This one in particular menaces with spikes. Hmm. You should check out what’s inside.

In the interior, it looks like it was someone’s living quarters once. It’s got a sort of slab covered in moss close to the ground, near a bookcase full of tomes that you can’t read. A thick metal chair was thrown into a corner. A table has all sorts of fungi growing on it. Interesting. Whoever lived here hasn’t come back in a long time.

>menacing with spikes
OH FUCK. We're in a world generated by DWARF FORTRESS.

Uhh... wrap us up some food for later and get us the hell up to the surface ASAP.

>>18706068
I have some bad news.
You've been trying to get to the surface.

approach the shard

>>18706109
The Shard is miles away. You're in a *really* big cavern.

Huh. You didn't notice the sprig of Heaven Berries in the corner!

>>18706084
Far as we can tell, that cavern we ducked into was one way. We can bash/push the blockage away later.
These carvings could mean anything. I'm sure they'll make sense later. Explore the cavern some more, approaching the Shard.

take as many berries as you can!

>>18706121
Oh come on. You can't just throw that out there like nothing.

You go to gather the Heaven Berries, but when you touch them, it smacks you! What the hell is this?

Your question is answered when you notice that the berries are attached to something. And it’s moving. On three thick, grassy legs. It’s mostly a mouth, with three tentacles, one of which looks awfully similar to Heaven Berries. And it looks hungry.

>>18706150
Sorry, but it's getting late, and I'm getting tired. I gotta wrap this up soon.

kill it with thrown shadow knives

Conjuring up some shadow knives, you throw them at the green beast!

(Attack roll = 20!!!)
You strike it perfectly, managing to slice off one of its tentacles! That doesn’t stop the drooling monster from charging you, jaws agape!

(Defense roll = 1.)
You move too slowly to dodge the other two tentacles, and they slam into you, knocking the wind out of you! Before you can do anything, the creature is constricting you! Its tentacles dig into your flesh, and it begins to choke the life out of you!

>>18706255
It's a race then, chop off its tentacles before it can choke us to death.

You need to get this thing off of you! You call forth another shadow blade, and sink it into the creature’s flesh!

(Attack roll = 20!!! [you’ve got to be kidding me])

Almost effortlessly, you carve off another one of it’s tentacles, and the green beast screams out in pain and drops you! It backs off momentarily and puts a few feet in between it and you.

>>18706301
Dozens of shadow darts directly at this...whatever it is. This Heaven Berries Mimic.

>Same lady as >>18704963, by the way.

>>18706319
So many pictures I picked out.
So many.

>>18706334
I wonder if I'll be able to get to them all.

>>18706344
I wonder if any of them will make lasting NPCs, too.

>>18706348
Subtle, I like that.

>>18706348
Not that Shun should necessarily have to go for a harem, if that.

>>18706353
I'm just saying, that's all.

>>18706374
Besides, what's wrong with seeding some character ideas?

You’re done with this thing; you’ve got better things to do. Calling the shadows to your hands, you make almost a dozen shadow needles!

(Attack roll = 17!)
And you throw them all directly into the creature’s mouth, piercing it clean through! The beast drops, dead. Apparently this jungle is more dangerous than you thought. Deciding to call it a night, you nestle into a corner and pull out Sifu’s notebook, deciding to go over some more techniques you could learn.

NEW TECHNIQUE LEARNED
Consensus gets to pick which one you’ll learn.

Cloak of Deception – You are able to focus the shadows utterly for a few seconds, making you completely invisible. Can only be used once a minute.
Shadow Feint – When you strike, you can choose to have an illusory weapon also strike at the same time. This hurts just as badly as your normal attack if it lands.
Distracting Shadow – You summon a small shadow elemental to flank your enemy for a few seconds. It is independent of you, but will attack whoever you summon it by.

>>18706383
Shadow Feint is the most straightforward upgrade. Double damage is rarely bad. Our Cloak of Shadows has served us well enough thus far. We can upgrade it later.

>>18706378
The only thing you're seeding is the blood in my erection.

Also, I apologize for the blatant drop in quality towards the end there. My head's killing me. Sorry about that, guys.

>>18706409
Well, at least I'm doing something right. I think.

>>18706416
S'fine. No one asked you to stay up to 3 AM. It shows your dedication.

>>18706383
Shadow Feint, we've not been having much trouble with sneaking and while flanking is nice getting a straight double damage seems really useful.

>>18706430
I'll just finish posting the rest of what I picked out of my collection.

>>18706430
I suppose.
I'm going to spend the next 30 minutes in a NOPE thread anyway, but I suppose that's easier on my mind than running a quest thread.

>>18706444
I doubt anyone will mind.

distracring shador or feint

>>18706445
I haven't run a quest thread myself, but I imagine it can be relatively trying. GM training, as it were.

>>18706442
>>18706405
>>18706453

Shadow Feint it is.
I'll stay on for feedback, like usual. Anything you're curious about or feel like telling me, go for it.

>>18706461
Yeah. this isn't my first quest, though. Hell, it's not even my first monk quest, but the last one was a complete bomb.

>>18706461
Admittedly, that's more a tribeswoman than a monk-type, but eh, close enough.

>>18706466
It's not? What was your last one?

>>18706463
You seem to be doing all right, so far. I'll say it one more time, though: d20 can be REALLY swingy.

>>18706474
Cursed Boots Quest. It somehow turned into Gangs of New York with Cats.
I'm not quite sure how that happened, but both threads got archived. I would read through them for old time's sake, but I'm tired as hell. http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=cursed+boots

>>18706489
Yeah, you're right. Any suggestions?

>>18706489
Can't say anything is wrong with the worldbuilding, either, though you've probably heard that already.

>>18706489
>>18706504

Noted. However, I want to cross that threshold from "pretty alright" to "FUCKING AWESOME".

>>18706501
Well, anything we're naturally inclined towards should either be rolled less often or have greater bonuses, maybe. Shun's been at this all his life. How does he roll a 1 on a Stealth check and flop onto his face directly in front of Khan?

>>18706520
Yeah, that was a mistake. I'm going to try and avoid critical failures. They'll still be fuckups, just not *royal* facepalming fuckups.

>>18706517
It's no Strike Witches Quest. Then again, SWQ is implicitly about turning the entire setting on its head. That, and the MC there is quite the sociopath, which lends to its own drama.

>>18706532
Well, to be fair, you guys control Shun. If you wanna make him a sociopath, then feel free to go for it. You guys are as much of a part of this as I am.

>>18706532
That said, these first few threads are all about worldbuilding and setting the tone for the world and the cast of characters surrounding Shun. No one should expect explosions and shit on day one.

>>18706541
That being said, how do you feel about the tone so far? Has it come across as anything so far?

>>18706540
I never said we wanted to do that to Shun. He's perfectly well-adjusted with his head screwed on straight, just the way I like it. I'm just saying that most of the appeal surrounding SWQ is throwing everything you know about the existing setting out the window on fire. This is more vanilla, not to mention an original setting, so there's nothing to overturn.

>>18706553
To be honest, it hasn't come across as much of anything, really. It's all rather neutral and quiet. From secluded forest to small hamlet to alone on the open road. There's not much to discern if there's not much to work with. When you get to Terec, that's when things should really take off, I imagine. Swarmed by people and sights and colors in the biggest city on the planet will be a hell of a culture shock.

>>18706586
Hm. I was afraid of that. I'll bone up a bit on that, since I think that tone is an incredibly important thing to express.

>>18706553
I'm liking the tone, the world seems alien and it avoids the common pitfall of not knowing things about the world that our character would know by having it be new to Shun as well.

I'm liking the martial arts style though some more background on it, perhaps anecdotes or stories behind techniques written by our Sifu in the notebook would be cool and give some more color and depth to the style. Is its history unpleasant and we're trying to use it for better things?

Also I have realized that I have a massive hole in my image collection, I have next to no if any Monk pictures, I have gigantic piles of lots of other stuff but barely any monk stuff.

>>18706586
Ultimately, it feels as though it's still warming up, still trying to come to a nice boil.

>>18706600
Hmm. Have you played Sly Cooper, by any chance? I think that going the Thievius Raccoonus would work out pretty well. Short little stories behind the origins of techniques, along with a little explanation of how it works.

>>18706597
>>18706600
Shun is feeling his way through a completely alien world, and he's being very cautious about it. Why carve your name into history if you don't even know where it'll show up?

The dude has a good point. There should be establishment of things that Shun already knows, namely his style and life before the hunters showed up. What is it about the Fist of Shadow that makes it so awesome, so dangerous? What do we know/remember of Sifu Tong? We just have names to work with.

>>18706626
You make a good point. Shun's future isn't nearly as cool if we don't know anything about his past.

>>18706623
I haven't played Sly Cooper myself, but I get what you're saying. Exactly. Don't just say "you learned technique X." Leave a story about the technique, little details Shun would remember or come to know about it. Little fluff like that can make a difference. It's the little details people remember most about games.

Alright, so: Expand on Shun's past, his teacher, and his style, while working on tone.
There's no reason I can't have a tone in an alien world, after all.

>>18706638
>>18706664
Last picture I picked out for tonight. Hope you all enjoyed the dump and are inspired by anything you've seen (goes double for you, Student).

In conclusion, I would say you have the potential to really make this quest into something great. It's just that for such an already unique world, Shards and all, it needs some color, some sprucing up. Granted, Shun doesn't know squat about the world he lives in, and that's half the adventure in itself. Still, Shun should be able to look at something and be able to resonate with it at some level, understand and comprehend it. He is not an impartial third party that looks upon the world as some detached entity. Like it or not, he lives here, even if he doesn't know a damn thing about where he lives. It's all about filling in the canvas as he goes, coloring the painting himself the way he sees fit.

Artsy-fartsy explanation, maybe, but that's all I can think of to explain it. Make the world and everything in it mean something to Shun. Make everything he's known before now mean something to him. Make Shun mean something to Shun.

>>18706687
Yeah, but I'm having difficulties making that work with the fact that this is still a collective quest. Shun's controlled by a multitude of people, and I was informed that I was being a bit presumptive with his personality back at the beginning of my first thread.

>>18706702
That was me who pointed that out. I was just hung up on that "your first kill felt good" point, that's all. There's no reason you shouldn't exert yourself a little on the MC you created. What do YOU think he would feel in certain situations? We can't speak to his internal dialogue all the time. If you understand his personality thus far, there's no issue in filling a few gaps yourself. People will point out if you're being overbearing, don't worry.

>>18706750
I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the feedback, I'll do my best to implement that in the upcoming threads. I'm having trouble thinking of that now, but it might just be because I've been up all day and it's been kinda shitty so far. Not to mention I've been running this thread as often as I could since I started it, and I probably need some time to gather my thoughts and redirect my focus.

I'll see you guys Monday.