Wildermyth
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- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
And so, while the rest of the Swans of the Wildermyth go to rendezvous in the wildlands, two old frenemies take a detour toward Storm Laffery.
- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
A single Gorgon is no match, not when fate itself decides against it.
- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Enough with the destiny, let's get our hands dirty. Our B-team has reached the awesomely-named War Wood where Gorgons lurk in the depths of an abandoned mine.
Liberating this tile should clear a path to Arnon and his besieged Deepist warren.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
We've seen it enough times: it's the Gorgon sickness. There's no saving this poor beast.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Everyone's got an idea, and everyone's very much in character with their idea. Except Willock -- he's a newbie. This situation is beyond his ken.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
If Suthille were here she'd probably just incinerate it.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
For Audiana, it's personal now.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
The old mine contains deep chasms, random debris and ... a Leaf Spirit?
Spirits often appear when novice heroes are present, to give them a chance to upgrade their gear. This cute li'l spirit can imbue a weapon with the mighty power of leaves.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
A maddened Rager appears and sounds the alarm!
The fighters move up on either side of the chasm, revealing a rogue's gallery of Gorgonoid monsters.
Also, Willock catches the spirit!
The mighty power of leaves means when Willock lands a critical hit with his bow, he gains health.
Hopefully he won't need healing ...
... but of course he needs it right away because the Rager catches up with him.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Don't worry, honey, Mom will take care of it!
Willock falls back into the shadows, partially ouf of self-preservation but mostly out of shame.
Elsewhere, Thusette is in the thick of it. A seasoned warrior wielding the Seaspear, in close combat she's an absolute meat grinder! Even mutant bears pose no threat! However, the Bartoth behind it is more of a problem.
Despite being a tusk-bristling behemoth, a Bartoth is essentially a mage. Therefore it's prone to hang back and shoot magic, letting its minions hold the front line while it stays irritatingly out of reach.
Thusette's well armored but she doesn't have much magic defense, and her health is quickly whittled away by the Bartoth's spell-bolts.
She opts for the better part of valor and falls back, making a mental note to grab the next +Warding magic item the team finds.
If only the good guys had a mage of their own!
Oh wait, the good guys DO have a mage. And she's very, very angry.
Last edited by Mechanical Ape on Sat Dec 11, 2021 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Audiana delivers a lesson in real magic, blasting the Gheist to salsa and softening the Bartoth for further pain.
A raccoon manages to get clear of the blast, only to be sniped by Willock and his leafy new bow. He's found some cover as well as his second wind.
Meanwhile, Yovia engages the Gorgon that's responsible for all this.
Do you even need me to screencap what happens next? We can all guess how this ends.
Afterwards, there's so much ichor on the walls even Avenger is a bit shook. And she's seen some shit.
Audiana's magic pins the Bartoth in place, leaving it open to the perfect headshot.
*chef's kiss*
We did good today, gang! Some first-rate vengeance all around.
Somewhere, an ox angel is smiling.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Now, let's see about this Deepist business. Arnon said the Gorgons have his warren hemmed in, so we should expect a fight when we get there. Which five heroes should go, and who should stay behind?
It's not really a choice. Thusette got banged up pretty bad and we can't afford to wait till she heals fully. We certainly can't risk her getting killed!
She's bitterly disappointed to stay behind, but there's another job that needs doing, an important job she's well suited for:
The town of Graveroan lies on the edge of civilized lands, undefended. Beyond it lurk Gorgons and who knows what else driven out by the flood. When an incursion happens, as it inevitably will, this will be its target.
Recover on the road, Thusette! Hurry to Graveroan! When you get there, rouse the townsfolk, build fortifications -- whatever you can do to prepare for the invasion.
The rest of us will be right behind you ... if we survive. If not, then it falls to Thusette Blisterthorn to be the last hope for the world.
Some real Tolkien shit going on here.
- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
I can't believe we're fighting to save Deepists.
But here we are to break the siege, as heroes do. We've come this far and the only way forward is through. A bottomless chasm behind us, and before us only a tentacled abomination.
Suthille torches it without even concentrating very hard. So much for the vanguard.
Now all that's left is .... everybody else.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
But our side has two generations of Dogwood family archers! Gurieta and Willock lay down a field of suppressing fire -- and my friends, nothing suppresses like a headshot.
We only have one warrior present, but Yovia's all the tank we need. She gets right in their ugly faces and lays about with her axe for all she's worth.
A raccoon lucks out and Audiana suffers a torsofull of tail spikes ...
... but by now the others have chewed through the rest and are on the offensive.
Willock gets the last word again.
The way's been cleared to the warren!
Suthille's so good at burning stuff I forgot she can do this.
And Audiana improves her teammate-buffing powers.
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Mmm, maybe there's something to this Deepist lifestyle!
- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Can Gorgons turn things into metal too? I guess so? It's anyone's guess what these rubbery weirdos can really do.
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Yeah, I thought the whole point was to deny Ulstryx a narrative to motivate his people!
Still ... I guess if you consider it from the Gorgons' point of view, what happened was a gang of humans broke in, slew their guardian and stole their sacred ancestral treasure.
You could probably build a compelling narrative out of that ...
... oh.
Oops.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
OK, so in the Age of Ulstryx campaign if you fail to get the Seaspear, you still move on to Chapter 3. Ulstryx rallies his people either way. It's still better to succeed, though, because in Chapter 3 you have very nice weapon and the Gorgons don't.
- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
With this information, we finally know our goal: the climactic (and climatic) battle against Ulstryx at the resting place of the godbeast Mo-Atona --
-- which is right next door.
C'mon, RNG, work with me. I'm trying to spin a compelling LP here. Our team could head straight to the boss fight and end the game right now, but how much fun would that be? None. It would be none fun.
I'm simply not ready to end things just yet. We've still got 4 or 5 tiles to clear, and by golly, that's just what we're going to do. We'll defeat Ulstryx and save the Yonderlands, but first he's going to watch as we take out his armies piece by piece. He wanted a story? He'll get one.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Meanwhile, Broodstill goes ankle-deep in water. This leaves Graveroan as the last dry town on the map.
Thusette has already arrived at Graveroan and arranged some basic defenses. To access the monsterlands beyond the mountains, it'll be necessary to carve a pass.
It isn't faster working alone, Thusette, but you do you. It's a productive way to pass the time before the other Swans get there.
The other Swans are carving their own path to Graveroan (lot of mountains around here) just as soon as they de-infest this library.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Now that Audiana's getting more screentime, we're starting to see her goofball side.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
An important pillar of responsible friendship is talking your buddy out of dumb ideas. Audiana's dumb idea has only a 46% chance of working anyway.
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- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Now that's a genuinely good idea!
So what did we learn from all this? That dumbness in moderation can be rewarding. The memento goes to Willock because for Audiana, dumbness is already its own reward.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
You might think we have a truce with the Deepists, but it's only with one particular group of Deepists. The others still need to be taught a lesson about messing with surface folk.
Yovia, Willock and Audiana are enough to disperse this musty rabble.
There's a Mushrox and a Chosen packed into the foyer, which can't be comfortable for them, and also makes them easy prey for Audiana's exploding table.
Willock ends the Mushrox with a disturbingly surgical strike to the chitlins. We all deal with our issues in our own way.
Pale and filthy dwellers of the underground wander the bookshelves, getting their mold and stink over everything. I guess the new My Hero Academia arrived.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Kill the foes, certainly, but don't damage the books! It'll spoil their resale value.
Every fight now has to end with Willock getting the last word. His every move is the new tradition.
Merry Christmas, Audiana! You've been weird all year, and shall be rewarded.
- Mechanical Ape
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Re: Wildermyth
Meanwhile on the world map, the anticipated Gorgon incursion sets forth ...
... but unexpectedly their destination isn't Graveroan, but Broodstill. Broodstill is already flooded so this is just adding insult to injury, in my opinion.
Thusette's hanging around the Graveroan fortifications like, well, that was anticlimactic.
So it falls to the rest of the team to intercept, which they do near Juli Mine. Actually it's just Gurieta, Suthille and Audiana; Yovia and Willock are still carving the mountain pass.