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Hidden Staircase wins by a mile. Next update is in the works.
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Dec 19, 2022 13:46
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| # ? May 6, 2024 01:27 |
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Into the School  Feels good to be out in nature again. Stretch the old legs. So even your legs are old? Quiet, or I’ll spank you.  Should we bother driving it back to town? It would make a spectacle, but no more. Its owner probably left long ago. Same as down south. I wonder what they’re watching for up here? It’s a short-lived bandit who attacks from the expected direction. Our first Nature Lore check. This just gives us mushrooms, but similar spots later will have herbs for potions.  No sign of who camped here. Bandits? Or adventurers. The townsfolk did say there have been others. But the camp is clean. I don’t even see a breadcrumb. So either it was someone else… …or it was adventurers who clean up after themselves. Not adventurers. This tile has a high risk of giving us Disease. This is treacherous terrain. But there may be something beyond it that we need to find. No stone unturned? No sickness uncontracted. Here goes… Squish. Everyone alright? Good. Let’s see what’s down here.  Nothing, huh. Not true. If we could climb up there, I’m sure it would be an interesting death. And now we must go back. Squash. Ooooh that burns. I feel ill… You’ll be fine, I have spells for this.Disease drains your health and spell energy very quickly and takes a long time to go away. Cure it immediately, always.  Where would you people be without me? At our actual goal, rather than some unimportant hidden cranny? Rhetorical question, friend. We’re going to find every cranny in the vale.  Eh, it’s alright.This is 1-4 + 1 protection compared to the 1-8 protection small shields everyone has. But the buckler also doesn’t contribute encumbrance, so I give it to Zeke.  That’s a mammoth construction project. It can’t be the school… If it is, a lot of time, money, and power went into its creation. Nya nya, you can’t reach us! If only they could… We’ll get to them someday. That looks good. And I am thirsty.  Yup, definitely contaminated. Owwww.  You people. Hold still, let me cure it. Anyone want this mystery skull? I’d simply love it, but there’s no room in my pack. Already ate. Mine then! This will make a fine totem! Totem? Some old skull? A good skull collection is the mark of success. And you do not know its age. Fool me once, can’t get fooled again. Hang on. I have a theory… Then drink up, genius. Refreshing! I worked up a mighty thirst. Any second now, he’ll get to barfing. … Drat. You were right. Of course. And I’ll soon show you why. The school! This is it, I’m sure of it. Any ideas on this one, Zeke? SMH is an older code, out of use now. Means something like “ambient magic” or “continued magical danger.” 45 is a closure order. 1 is the imperial code, the highest priority. Someone really wanted this place shut down. And D…I’m not sure what D means.  Any second now…  No! There must be some way to get in! You’re so excited about getting in to this place. It’s a school. Haven’t you already been to one of those? Not just any school. One that poisoned the entire valley! We don’t know that yet. I’m sure of it. I would stake my shoes on it. Woah. I would stake all my knowledge. Wanna bet? …no. So there. So it’s altruism? Altruism isn’t real. Whatever they did to make that poison, it’s unprecedented. Think of the power! Should have known.  It’s been a hundred years. Maybe this door is broken. Yes…yes…let us try the others. See that? The channel right there. That’s my proof. Explain. The water upriver is clean. The water downriver is poisoned. What sits in between? The school. Exactly. As far as I’m concerned, nothing else in the valley is important. This is the source of the curse. You’ve convinced me. We had best hurry, night is falling. Muahahaha! Yes, YES!! I enjoyed that little dance, JV. He has two left feet. None of you can bring me down. We’re in! Eyes front everyone, there’s a…circle approaching? With intent! Cave-ins? Traps? Why did the school close? It cannot help us, let it go. Then it’s up to us to answer those questions. We should plumb the school’s deepest depths immediately. We should clear it one foot at a time, so we have a path of retreat. And loot! Yes, and loot. You dilly-dallying whackjobs, we have work to do! I’d rather not die doing it, JV. We follow Zeetha. … And you’re going to keep your cool. We won’t miss anything important, I promise. …fine. Good. Let’s get started. No horses left, I imagine. I’d like to meet the horse that could survive a hundred years on its own. I’d like to challenge that horse in single combat. Sadly, it’s not ancient horses we have to worry about. Worry? Who’s worried? Who dares approach me?!This is why you put a warrior in the first slot. Zeetha cuts down the goblins one at a time, and we don’t even have to leave combat mode.  Pathetic. I’ve not even broken a sweat. I could watch that sword arm all day. I’m afraid that’s what we’ll be doing. Good job everyone, let’s search. I got nothing. Nor I. Uh… That looks…edible? Then you may carry it. Spiders ahead. How do you figure that? We might find some loot here. …among other things. To arms!Web effect, as discussed. Spiders can fling them as missiles, not only webbing their targets, but creating a web obstacle on the same square that gets you AGAIN if you move before clearing it.  My my, those are large. We shall support you from the rear! Heroically! Good luck, princess! Ugh, casters. KYA!Several spiders later…  It’s an honor to watch you work. What a bloodstain!Bloodstains on a tile get larger the more things die there. It’s a nice detail. …I’m gonna need new shoes. I see…lockpicks, gloves, uh…a lot of trash…hmm. I wouldn’t expect much treasure in the cloakroom. Any reason you cleaned all those webs? Brings me inner peace.  You guys go on ahead. Oh no you don’t. You’re coming too. Give me one good reason to go in there. If I let us split up, you’d never enter a trash pit again. JV would sit out the hard fights, Zeetha would start going out at night and hunting the countryside. Where would it end? And I suppose you would stay the same as ever? Without you three? I’d miss the group discounts. Now come along, or I’ll drag you. My fur! My precious, hard-to-wash fur! Ha, I’d hate to see the real noxious stuff! Now that’s interesting. It’s not easy to gather that much lava in one place, let alone hold it for a century without maintenance. The goblins would have messed up the wards eventually. Shame we don’t get to see that. Taking boots off a corpse in the dump? That’s low. You may keep your sandals, my toes will be enclosed. Living quarters? Living goblins. Relax, little mage. Imagine a longsword striking a goblin’s face, forever.  I wonder how all these goblins got in here? We’ve had a bunch of scavengers and a couple mages trying with no success. With goblins, it only takes two. Nothing to report in here, just some gear we can sell. Will Bristow ever get tired of buying goblin junk?He won’t.   Only one way to go… Maybe you all will finally join me in fighting? Not while I can plausibly avoid it. Still excited, JV? I am in absolute control of my emotions. The potential power is only making my heart race a little.Next time: The Visitor’s Quarters! BackupDancer fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Dec 22, 2022 |
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Dec 21, 2022 20:04
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Two things: There is now a spoiler policy: please don't post any. No one has yet, but I realized I'd forgotten it at the start. Also, this LP is taking a break for the holidays. See you in a week or so!
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Dec 21, 2022 20:08
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BackupDancer posted:There is now a spoiler policy: please don't post any. No one has yet, but I realized I'd forgotten it at the start. Also, this LP is taking a break for the holidays. See you in a week or so! You already beat me to it. That's pretty spoiled!  And enjoy your holidays.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:35
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"BackupDanc4422233/Zekeface.jpg[/timg posted:With goblins, it only takes two. Maybe YOU will finally help us with the spellcasting?
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Dec 23, 2022 22:15
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So is Zeetha going to end up like 20 levels higher than everyone else by the end of the scenario? IIRC berryjon stated in his LP of the original version of this game that party members who kill more get more exp, so if that's the same here the three casters are going to end up falling behind real fast.
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Dec 28, 2022 09:54
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Commander Keene posted:So is Zeetha going to end up like 20 levels higher than everyone else by the end of the scenario? IIRC berryjon stated in his LP of the original version of this game that party members who kill more get more exp, so if that's the same here the three casters are going to end up falling behind real fast. I remember that. Having experienced based on kill count rather than just have it evenly distributed works very badly and is a huge burden on the player, especially in this series where casters are better for buffing than direct damage. I played a fair way into Exile 1 and I had to bend over backwards to keep my guys in the same relative level bracket.
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Dec 28, 2022 17:27
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Ch 8: Visitor’s Quarters This is darker than I expected. Smellier, too. Goblins!  Oh, goody.  These are definitely passable. Once we clear the rest of the floor, maybe. Wow, this is a sprawling dig. If there’s two more levels below us… It’s easier to build down than up. That’s strange. This is a school, right? Yes? Then where’s the classrooms? Or the student quarters? You mean… Yes, this must go down even further. All that power may be a long way off, JV. I have already agreed to be patient.  Enemies raising alarms alerts others to rush you. What made that noise? Nephil. Hostile nephil. Here? It’s not uncommon for lesser tribes to work with goblins. You’d think their pride would prevent it. Eh, it’s good to have someone around that you can feel superior to. Are you speaking from experience? Work with goblins? I would never. That didn’t answer my question. A dining room, how cute. It’s surprisingly tidy. I’d hate to be the tribe’s janitor. This soup is vile. Eh, I’ve had worse. This is more goblin-killing than I expected from a school of magic. See any rare spells lying around this kitchen, JV? Can’t say I do. Well fought, nephil! At last, I’m starting to sweat!This entire update, Zeetha will be mowing down hordes of enemies. Mostly offscreen. No ultimate cosmic power here, JV, but maybe you could steal their farming techniques? Ha ha. Just some empty storerooms. They must have gotten a lot of visitors.  A whole hallway of locked doors. Gwen, ready to earn your keep? Born ready. Fantastic start.Slimes. Not too dangerous, apart from…  Acid hurts. Thankfully this is the low-level stuff.  Interesting, I can see through to the bone…  There, feel better? How do you find all these secret doors? Think about where the walls don’t meet. The room we came from was too small, so there had to be space between. What’s our haul? Just some potions. Three goblins? And two beds? Best not to think about it. Ohoho! OHOHOHOHOO! Yes, yes, we get it.Multitarget, high damage spell that does Magical damage, which few things resist.  Say it. No! Gwen, the truth shall set you free. Say it. Ughh…this lock is beyond me. There. Doesn’t that feel better? No. We’ll come back for it. Some kind of meeting room? Check those shelves. This might have been a textbook? I got nothing.The school is full of Destroyed Textbooks. No use for them.   A flawless defiling. I almost admire it. Are we admiring goblins now? I like to see a job well done. We’d better bless up. On your cue, Zeetha. BREACH! Prepare to eat steel! Your sword is bronze. Then chew on bronze, fiend!Spirits are dangerous casters. They’ve got a painful claw attack, Call Beast, Smite, and Ice Lances. Beware the ice lances. Zeke, stand back- My skin!QED. Jeffogel finishes it with a fireball. Good work, team. I cannot wait to have a steel weapon.  I’d love to spend a day examining this place. I wonder what kind of god they worship? Less studying, more bloodying! Less contemplation, more conflagration! Stop gabbing, start stabbing! Zeetha, I’m glad you’re on our side. Why’s that? …your charming smile.    I was hoping for more ceremony than that. Goblins are often disappointing. Cool corpse pit. Feeling powerful yet? I oughtta freeze you into a catsicle. Cheer up, JV. Look: I have a better bow now! I’m very happy for you. Ah, the next chapter of our noble quest to save the valley. Looks slippery. Don’t turn the page yet, there’s more to do here. That’s a smart rat. How do you mean? It hasn’t attacked us.Jeff didn’t need to add a single neutral rat here that wanders around and squeaks occasionally, but that’s what he did.  I knew I saw writing on these posts! More of a scrawl, really. By goblin standards, this is calligraphy.   A three-act structure, clear motivations, a coherent plot, sympathetic protagonists…this is good storytelling. Hmm… How about that one? Should we be worried? They said the same about that spirit. Whatever it is, we can kill it. What’s on your mind, JV? Just thinking. Look at all this. These goblins have organized farming, rudimentary terraforming, warnings left for each other, a cafeteria, a written language, and a recorded history. Wurnings. But what’s your point? …should we be killing them? I would tend to agree, but they also attacked us on sight. What a ridiculous question. What’s next, not killing? You’re right guys, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Everyone has moments of doubt. One more thing… Zeetha, walk through that wall, if you please? Voila. Before we poke around back here, I suggest a quick detour to the greeting hall. The hall by the stairs with those searing barriers? The same. And don’t worry- “You can heal us.” I can heal too. But either way, it’s gonna hurt. But of course. JV, I keep forgetting you know priest spells. It was an elective. Everyone ready?  Wow. They wanted visitors humbled immediately, huh. I’m feeling humbled myself. Even you? Imagine, you travel all the way to this valley and this school, and you walk down the stairs to see this place in its prime. And all that polished tile! And someone must have sat in that chair… Chair? That’s a throne. Do it. Do it for us! That might not be wise- I’m doing it. Hard labor? But…my beauty! My youthful glow! It’s an empty threat. If they meant it, they wouldn’t have let the goblins multiply like this. I bet no one is watching this place any more. That’s good. These hands are only for bowstrings and magical gestures. I wonder who that was. Well-rotted. Too big to be a goblin. Are you satisfied? Yes, that was informative. A direct order from the emperor! Something was going on here. You mean, besides the mass instruction of magic? I don’t know how you guys can be so nonchalant about these burns. Burns build character. The skin heals back stronger. That is absolutely not true. Eh, mine does.We pop back to Sweetgrove to sell our junk. A few things: Mayor, we’ve made it into the old School of Magery. What do you know of that place?  Then it’s up to us. I prefer it that way. Also, this is what the casters’ ability lists look like. They can A) make potions; B) use First Aid (consumes a kit and heals based on the level of the First Aid skill; or K) Restore Energy, regaining half their total energy. That last one is usable once per day. Very handy for long dungeons, or if you just don’t want to take a break. Back to the school…   No goblin-sign in these halls. Good. I was getting tired of them.  I wonder who these people were. I wonder why they have rooms in the visitors’ quarters? Maybe they came by often. Vinnia was the last administrator, right? So if these are her quarters… Then those other two may have worked here also. Another staircase. This complicates our noble quest. We’ll just have to nobly explore an extra floor. Remember the map? One of these leads to the Storage Level, and the other to the Holding Cells. Wish they had signs. Uh-oh. Is it too late to go back through the passage? Whatever it is, we can kill it. Stay behind me. Nothing here… JV, now’s a good time to renew your light spell. What? Oh, right. Light sources fade over time. It’s a cool effect. Something big has its lair here.. Look at all this stuff! Not the time. We need to-   Good…doggy? Bless me. Bless me now. Kya? I don’t think it even felt that! OW!Saved by the overheal. Another one of those and she’s gone. We have to distract it. On it. BURN, HOUND!   Nothing! It does nothing!  Where are you going? Come back here!The beast ran past Zeetha here. When you leave an enemy’s zone of control, they get a free attack against you, and she hit it hard. Unfortunately, this works both ways.  AAAIIIIIEEE!!The beast would rip Zeke apart if he ran away from it now. Zeke! Don’t move! I want to move! Don’t! I don’t think it’s noticed you! It’s hurt bad, heading for its lair! Get out of the way! It noticed me! Why! Won’t! You! Die! Zeetha! Finish it!    I did it! I killed the beast! Wow. Wow. Wow. Let’s never do that again. Are you joking? I feel so alive! I hope we find more… We’re all gonna die.The Altered Beast is the first real test of how well the entire team fights, not just the first character. Two bites will kill anyone who isn’t overhealed. Over time the Beast will enter frenzies, speeding itself up and (I think) increasing damage. Magical damage is weak against it this early, but Slow works really well. Once you hurt it enough it starts to run back to its lair. Keep whaling on it and it’ll go down, or save this area for later. JV, what’s this ring do? Let me see those runes… “The wearer will be marginally protected from physical injury…standard warnings apply…the extended warranty is valid through 782 or until product is damaged…” Looks like it makes you tougher? Mine then. Remarkably communicative. You’d think they all know to avoid this area already. Maybe there’s other goblins who visit but don’t live here? More goblins? More goblins… No clues to the school’s past here. Now what is that…? Oh my. JV, any clue about this thing? Maybe. First take back everything you said about whether we’d find powerful magic in this place. … Fine. Between this and the altered beast, I was completely wrong. Thank you. Now. What do you know about this gate? Nothing at all.   No clues here either. Come along, Gwen. Such beautiful chests… You grab her left arm, I’ll take the right, pull on three. It’s a plan. I’ll come back for yoouuuu! I see nothing of value here. That’s because you don’t have the eye. Ah, of course. Secrets on secrets…   Woah. Murdered? In cold blood. They were brought back here first, then killed. We have a lot more to uncover. I’ll be taking that… How come you get the cool robe off the murder victim? Between us, you’re better at dodging. Now that we’ve cleared this floor, *ahem* Oh no! It seems we are faced with a classic adventurer problem. Just so! Which of the two staircases should we descend? Verily! It seems we are presented with one which is large and easy to find. And the other, darker, narrower, and hidden. Uh, indisputably! The solution seems obvious! Indeed! Let us all say at once which we prefer!One agreement on the method of counting down later… We should descend- -the second! Never a doubt in my mind.Next time: the dark staircase!
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Jan 1, 2023 20:09
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Happy new year everyone!  Commander Keene posted:So is Zeetha going to end up like 20 levels higher than everyone else by the end of the scenario? IIRC berryjon stated in his LP of the original version of this game that party members who kill more get more exp, so if that's the same here the three casters are going to end up falling behind real fast. This series to spreads XP evenly. Levels will be different between PCs because of their traits - Zeetha and Zeke level fastest, Jeffogel is slow, and Gwen is very slow.
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Jan 1, 2023 20:15
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Really enjoying the party interactions.
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Jan 1, 2023 20:53
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BackupDancer posted:
In this game. Back in Exile, Acid dealt moderate damage every turn to the afflicted, and there was no spell to remove it - you needed to use Basic Powder as an item to get rid of it. Acid here is just another poison. quote:
I'm not sure if Jeff added this for the remake or not... I didn't find this as the map didn't allow for it in my scenario.....
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Jan 1, 2023 21:58
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Black Robe posted:Really enjoying the party interactions. Same, I admit.
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Jan 1, 2023 22:12
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The plot thickens! I also hope we find a better sword soon, I feel like the one we got isn't going to cut it.
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Jan 2, 2023 03:27
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Tombot posted:The plot thickens! I also hope we find a better sword soon, I feel like the one we got isn't going to cut it. I see I'll need to steel myself for puns when reading this thread.
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Jan 2, 2023 23:43
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berryjon posted:I'm not sure if Jeff added this for the remake or not... I didn't find this as the map didn't allow for it in my scenario..... I looked back over your Visitor Quarters update. Jeff must have tinkered with the "shady poo poo" subplot while converting the scenario. The local monster is now an Altered Beast instead of a Goblin Eater, also. Interested if there's other changes to be seen. DGM_2 posted:I see I'll need to steel myself for puns when reading this thread. Get a grip!
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Jan 3, 2023 05:06
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9: Holding Cells This is dark and spooky, I’m satisfied. It may be fun seeing whatever minor creatures they held here, but we must remember our quest. Holding cells. You think this might be where that…thing escaped from? Good thinking, Jeffogel. If there are more altered beasts, we must find and attack them. That’s not…I’m too young to die! This must be the purification platform?  Ow! Why did you step on it? Why do anything? It was right there. That’s good safety design, they don’t want an outbreak happening here. You should get zapped, we’ll see how you feel about safety design. I’ve seen Zeetha mauled, wonderboy. You’ll be fine.  Gwen? You’re all welcome in advance. I wonder what happens if we let these things go off? This kind, we’d be fireballed. Zeetha might survive. I’m tough! Other kinds, it gets complicated. I’ve seen one that traps you in a time warp and slow cooks you. Like a turkey? Just like a turkey. Or one that lights your clothes on fire. Tough to program, that. They mostly seem to use heat. That’s good. Cold is hard on my joints. Surely this sign should go at the other end of the staircase, so people know where they’re going before climbing. Not if you value suspense! Say, Gwen, when was your last bath? Some time ago, don’t remind me. Why? Now’s your chance. Hop on! Never mind, I feel positively pristine. This would lead to Administration. Maybe there we could learn why this school closed down? Easy, hoss. One floor at a time. I can’t see the other wall. They must have had a lot of traffic here… Goblins at the front of me, fungus to the right, here I am. Something the matter with you? Just deciding what to kill first. It’s gotta be the fungus. That thing is so nasty I don’t even want to look at it. Now you won’t have to. My hero.  This is almost industrial! Imagine the volume of beasts they must have brought here. And this would be the observation and control platform in case anything went wrong. Oh to be on this platform, when everything was in operation… Buncha nerds. Let’s kill some things! I feel like a home invader. Yes, isn’t it glorious? As far as I’m concerned, if goblins want a peaceful little tribe, they can start one somewhere I don’t need to go. That wouldn’t work. Why’s that? Because I would find them and go there. Then, bam. No more peace. I haven’t seen something like this before. It looks like a regular dagger to me. Not quite. See these little runes on the blade? Could be good, or could be a curse. Ahh… Wrap it tight, and don’t try to use it until we show Axel. Nice statues. What are they? Horses? Dogs? Heretofore unknown cave-beasts? Deer? Does it matter? They’re tasteful.  I want to get in there and see if anything is alive. Then what, ask for directions? Eh, in a way. I’d love to see what exactly you mean by that, but this gate opens from somewhere else.  So they’d bring something in through the portal, then take it here to be viewed. Worth a look.  What a sad fate. They’re undead, it’s sad either way. There’s a wall blocking off the entrance to the pit. A scroll on the ground seems to suggest we can get in, but I can’t figure it out. I don’t see a way in. I’m wondering how the goblins trapped them in there? Persistence and weight of numbers, I’ll bet. You could cram a ghoul through this window.  Zeetha, you’re a princess, right? I am. Wasn’t that last one marked A too? I wouldn’t worry about it. drat lock… why are you here with us, instead of, I don’t know, in a court or palace somewhere? People get mad when I do my thing in courts and palaces.  Another gate, I’ll have to remember that… But you could be relaxing, right? Inheritance secured? I know people who’d kill for that. My inheritance is mostly just clothes and furniture made of furs, and a very cold castle. So you’d rather be in a very cold, abandoned school full of goblins? Yes. Is that strange? Obvi- Gwen, the door? Oh, right. …she has a castle…? Ughhh, why did they lock up so well? It’s not like they’re ever coming back! We can, though. I’ve got a list going of things we need to revisit. I haven’t seen you do any writing. Magical mental note. A trick I picked up in school. You access an infinite magical paper, write magical words on it, store it in another dimenson. It’s handy stuff. I haven’t seen you do any…dimensional access magic, either. It’s all mental. My proctors took two years to catch on. So this is the “big magic list of everything Gwen can’t do?” Eh, you could call it that. Not just big, he said ‘infinite.’ Thank you, Zeetha. Then how about that, huh? Don’t put that door on your list! I won’t. You know the drill, folks. Search the shelves. I got something for you, Zeke!  Excellent. This can keep us in the field a lot longer, if I can only find a supply of herbs.This potion, and the energy recovery ability all the casters have, are kind of moot because of how fast spell energy recovers by walking around out of doors. In the early game especially, there’s very few places you can’t just walk out of, pace to recover your energy, and return. Later, there’s more gauntlets and one-way dungeons.   Oh no, I know how this works. I don’t. Follow me! Wait wait wait don-  You learn something new every day. They must be low on power, she’s barely hemorrhaging.  That’s why they put mushrooms by the door. It must be some sort of offering. Goblins can make anywhere into a filth pit. Don’t spend more time thinking about them than you would spend killing them. Still collecting skulls, Zeetha? I have enough from goblins. I need bigger game. There used to be a solid double wall here. Saves us the trouble of knocking it down. Now that’s what I’m talking about! Magical devices! Oh, happy day. Look at him go. Boys and their toys. Shut up and help me search these. Do any still work? Not this one. This one works. We’ll have to follow up on that. I got nothing over here. Well, well, well.  Hmm, where to start. Does it know about the curse? Or why the school closed? Or where we can find something to kill? Easy.  Strange, that usually works. Just like these mages to create a machine that apologizes to them.We don’t know the command for this device yet. As far as I know, it only takes one.  One corner remains on this floor. And in a shocking twist, it’s full of goblins! Why do we keep finding more goblins? Sometimes, good things happen to good people. Everything once held here is long dead. Is that a…butchering corner? This tribe is more advanced than I thought. Feeling hungry, Zeke? You know, I took a bite of that meat. It tasted terrible. What kind of terrible? Like an old boot. I expected worse. I’ve been meaning to try old boot. Never had the chance. We have seen way more than three goblins. They must bunk together. Practical. It’s cold in here.  This is the last stand. For the tribe! Hoo boy. They mean it this time. Let them try, I’ve been itching to cast something. Ooh, herbs. Focus, please!  For our honor! For the ancestors! For crying out loud.   That was easier than I expected. Passionate or not, they’re just goblins. If my mental map is right, there’s a hidden room in here somewhere. But we checked for passages. Those walls look ready to collapse. If we can get our hands on a shockwave crystal, we’re in. Going to add it to the list? Already done. Then we’re through with this floor. Not yet. Remember that button? Zeetha, you’re a genius. I hear that a lot. Okay, be on guard for the undead. And…Vazalco? Whoever that is. That’s a lot of cells. Looks like the barriers have held. …mostly. Nothing on him but some old change. Uh, did you guys hear that? No, what? Uh, a scream, or something tearing…like a wail from another world…it was very high-pitched…did you really not hear it? I could have sworn it was- JV, I’m totally loving with you.  Woah. He’s mad, alright. Be mad at this! Your delivery could use work. Managed to catch the Slow animation. This spell is invaluable against tankier enemies, though it turned out we don’t need it here. Hey demon, I need directions. Eh? To HELL! See, JV, that’s how it’s done. I train all my life to work magic, and she outdoes me with a rusty old sword. That’s not true, Jeffogel. I polish it regularly! We just haven’t been in many situations yet where your magic can show its true power. Thanks, Zeke. I hope it happens soon. Can’t get at them yet. Then finally, it’s time to go back aboveground. Axel, take a look at this knife for us, would you? Our first cursed weapon! It works like a normal dagger, with the addition of a damage/to hit penalty, three levels in this case. Some cursed weapons also can’t be taken off once you equip them. They are almost never worth it, with one notable exception much later. We’re not carrying this. Have fun! That seemed disrespectful. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Where to next? Again, we have two options. The wide staircase from before, and the new, even darker one we found in the holding cell level. Seems clear-cut to me. Both lead to Administration eventually. We take the longer route to be more exhaustive. I’m glad you’ve come around, JV. Every area we find seems to have some new, fascinating magic. Eh, after that misshapen dog and the insane demon, nothing’s going to impress me. Everyone ready? Aye aye! Then down we go.What’s down the big staircase? How about those murders? Isn’t there a plague happening? Find out next time!
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Jan 9, 2023 22:11
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BackupDancer posted:
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Jan 10, 2023 12:27
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They were doing quite a lot of dodgy stuff for what was supposed to be a school. It really does stand to reason they created something here that has been polluting all of the water, either that or the goblins have all been collectively pooping in it.
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Jan 10, 2023 18:14
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It's a wizard school, they have a whole bunch of courses on doing dodgy stuff. They're part of the mandatory general education requirements no matter your actual major.
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Jan 10, 2023 18:30
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BackupDancer posted:There’s a wall blocking off the entrance to the pit. A scroll on the ground seems to suggest we can get in, but I can’t figure it out. I think part of that wall is cracked, such that it can be knocked down with a "Move Mountains" type spell. I remember the Blades of Exile version a lot better than BoA though, so I'm not quite sure about this one.
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Jan 10, 2023 22:46
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Tombot posted:They were doing quite a lot of dodgy stuff for what was supposed to be a school. It really does stand to reason they created something here that has been polluting all of the water, either that or the goblins have all been collectively pooping in it. disposablewords posted:It's a wizard school, they have a whole bunch of courses on doing dodgy stuff. They're part of the mandatory general education requirements no matter your actual major.
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Jan 11, 2023 00:31
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Who do you think institutes the "dodgy stuff" curriculum? The Empire is not nice either.
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Jan 11, 2023 01:23
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MagusofStars posted:The Empire canonically exhibits tight control on magic. But this is also a fairly remote area and we're at horseback-messenger levels of technology, so there's probably a lot going on out here in the rear end end of nowhere that the Empire doesn't know about. The Empire canonically exhibits tight control on magic, except for when they're the ones doing it. It's not an ideological thing, they just don't like sharing power.
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Jan 11, 2023 09:08
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Chapter 10: Storage Level Well-lit, clean, free of goblins…I like this floor so far. You can’t just say things like that, Zeke. You’re tempting fate. See, I bet that blank corner will have a super-trash pit. Or a calming meditation set to ambient sounds of the forest! Or a bunch of corpses we will pick over one by one, only to find that none have anything worth taking.  the horror. Everyone, please. I’m trying to feel heroic. Now this is interesting. Spiders. Many things can wrap a goblin in webs and drink its insides. Elaborate! Please don’t. Well, based on the saliva/sputum composition- JV, I can and will hide another explosive rune in your kit. -but that’s all academic anyway. Many things can, sure, but we’ve already seen spiders. And they’ve erected a barrier of webs. Alright, that is pretty convincing. Woah. I don’t think that’s a spider. Count its legs? No, no, that’s clearly a chitrach. Hostile, armored, invasive pest from the deep caves. I am not reassured. And it’s curious. And it brought friends. Yes…yes…come closer…let me see the color of your blood… I hate when she gets like this. I can’t say I mind. Feed my blade! How hungry is your blade?   You tell me, Ashfur.Chitrachs are stronger melee enemies with two attacks.   Wonderful. Eh, we’ll search every corner just the same. Fascinating. Their blood spills green, but turns red almost immediately. I wonder how that works? Need more data? Always. I wonder if these discarded husks have any retail val-AAIIE! Zeetha! Crush that bug! Jeffogel…if I die…honor me… By ending the curse? take this…husk…to an appraiser… Oh. …so I may know if…I died…for a good cause… Get back up, Ashfur. Fine, fine. Zeetha, hold still. No! I am as healthy as a horse. I’ve seen healthier horses used to bind books. Now let me heal you. Hang on… I knew there was something here! How very lucrative. Zeke, next time he’s hurt, let me fix him with these old needles. That must be the last of the chitrachs. They’re hiding behind a fortification of webs. Everyone prepare spells, we’ll need to be tactical about this.  You’d think he’d learn. This text is just here in case you didn’t find the magic gate in Visitor Quarters.  This time we’ll have to fight for real. Chitrach larvae come in dozens. To arms! Chitrach larvae are weaker, but web you when they land a bite. There they are. Newborn and dumb as dirt. And so flammable! Let’s get cooking. I love it when you two play nice. Well done, team! You were hanging back. I was. You won’t even use offensive magic against these bugs? I will not. I have given my reasons. But these things are lower than goblins, they don’t even think! Killing is killing, Gwen. I cannot be clearer than that. Let him be, Gwen. It just doesn’t make sense. They’re bugs. What makes more sense, creating a complicated moral calculus to determine what can be killed and what can’t, or a blanket ban on direct harm? Neither. Nothing of value in these rooms. Looks like we could get through that barrier. Do we absolutely have to? You must learn to leave your comfort zone! I guess there’s always a new kind of pain. These daggers and robes are junk. What’s that silver one? Well-made junk. Then it’s time to go back through. I am never forgiving any of you. Let the knowledge of future heroics buoy you! I’m going to sleep for a year after this, and dream of sweet revenge. It’s alright, Gwen, hopefully this chamber will be more peaceful. You never know what could be lurking. Don’t let your guard down! I’m quaking in my boots.   This is pleasant. Too pleasant. Stop and smell the roses, my friend. Woah, woah, wait. Do you guys realize the implications of this? Does it relate to fireballs? No! Sunlight. Effective, magically-generated sunlight. So? Oh my. The Avernites would kill for this, wouldn’t they? This is the exact magic they’ve been trying to figure out since Erika got thrown down there. Care to explain? Not much grows in the caves. Avernites live off of mushrooms and, what, lizards? Mushroom soup, mushroom bread, mushroom cake. Even their beer is made from mushrooms. To grow real plants… Yeah, I’d kill too. And this spell has lasted a century? If it had to be recast every week they’d kill. This is some cutting-edge magic, then. No wonder the Empire brought down the hammer. If they could create spells like this, the mind boggles. Fascinating. I’m gonna go boggle at whatever this thing is.  Any geopolitical implications? Eh, automation always threatens labor power. dork.  This room is more mundane. If they invented a butchering machine here, we’d probably have to fight it. Oh, what could have been…  If we want an extended stay in the school, this is valuable. I could study this place for years. Absolutely not. Do nephiloid contact, real sunlight, and environmental variety mean nothing to you? …no? Nephiloid? Yeah. You know, humans, sliths. Two arms, two legs, walks upright. What do you call them? And back into bug world. I think we’re through with the chitrachs. At least, I hope.  … … … You could knock me over with a feather. Don’t tempt me. …so should we? Of course. You do not refuse a dragon’s invitation. I can’t help but worry Pythras will see us, kill us, and eat our flesh. Our delicious, cooked flesh! Ridiculous. Dragons are creatures of pure self-interest. They value their hoards, survival, and freedom, in that order. So you think it thinks that we can help its freedom, more than we would add to its hoard. Yes. Our equipment is not fit for the meanest mountain drake. Ouch. You know a lot about these things. I thought they were all dead. Avernum has a few left, I think. They haven’t heard from them in a long time, though. I have an…interest in the race. Care to explain? This is not the right place. Heard. So we’re doing this? Double walls of reinforced stone? And these runes? They wanted Pythras secure for a long time. Competent runes, these. I’d hate to cross them uninvited. Do you see any other way in? I do not. If I didn’t know better, I’d think we have charmed luck. Let’s hope it doesn’t run out. “Specimen?” What a humiliation. Zeke, you won’t hurt anybody, but you could hit ‘em with this. That doesn’t feel wrong. No one would get directly hurt, I suppose? Focus, everyone. We have a dragon to meet. Greetings, great Pythras. We have come to aid you. … Everyone?Greetings! Good. Now to business. We are surprised, O dragon, to see you in an abandoned school. How did you become imprisoned? That tracks with how the Empi- Sorry! I’m sorry! But they did not kill you? Studied? How so? Why was the school abandoned? We have been searching for answers, but finding none. Two weeks? You have every right to be angry at your jailors.  And you wish to escape. What do you eat? I see… We saw runes outside. Is that what prevents your escape?  Palhatis! We know that name. What did he tell you?  The magic word? That must be for the- Talk later. What’s in it for us? Gwen… Why does the prospect of being freed pain you? We will help you, great dragon. Thank you for the audience. Humans!? Let it go. Let us leave. Hang on, I want to check on something. That must be the food processor?  Ew. I would be furious too. Say, could you teach us any useful adventuring skills? Not the time. Good work, everyone. We did not get devoured. My thoughts are sore. Zeetha, I’ve never seen you like that. What’s going on? This is not the place. The dragon is still near. Then let us find somewhere to talk it out. This’ll do. Okay. I have a lot of thoughts. So do I. First of all, Zeetha, what is there with you and dragons? I want to know everything. I have always, always, since I was a little, wide-eyed girl…I have always wanted to slay a dragon. Oh. That’s why you wouldn’t say anything! Not this dragon, right? She’d rip us apart. No, I don’t see a way to slay this one. Not when she may control our passage to the lower levels. Good. I don’t particularly want to die, especially with the hopes of this sick valley resting on our shoulders. If you want to kill a dragon, why did you show her so much respect? That is why I wish to kill one of them. I give no thought to enemies I don’t respect. That makes sense, in an insane, twisted way. Then we must free her. We can go to the Holding Cells level right now, walk to that control panel, say “quark,” and let her go. Not true. No? How do we get to the lower levels then? Maybe we have to free Pythras to explore further, maybe we don’t. The fact is, we don’t know yet. We’d be foolish to accept this deal, sight unseen. You would let a dragon rot in prison? Maybe, or maybe she has another reward to give us. Or maybe we find the way blocked and we have no choice but to set her free. It doesn’t feel right, keeping an intelligent being confined when we don’t need to. She’s been here a century already, yeah? The instant we know for sure, the panel is there. I suppose… Then we must return and finish clearing the storage level. That was well argued, JV. Thank you. I’m kind of enjoying this. When was the last time you had power over a dragon?  One corner to go.  Everyone be on guard. Large amounts of writing can attract nasty things. Even bureaucratic writing? Especially. Ever met a bureaucrat? I’m not used to being so immediately correct. You said it, not me. More behind us than ahead. Zeetha, if you could… To arms! I wonder, do you bleed? How disappointing. They’re ghosts! And I’m an optimist.  A fireball in flight!   Smoothly done, team. Strange that they left bones behind. I wouldn’t worry about it. Now to see what they were guarding.Sparing you my search of every single bookshelf, here’s a montage…   Spellbook! Gemstones?   Literature! Notes about some…disaster. That might be relevant. They wrote each other’s real names? Maybe there was a code spell that wore out. You academics are so predictable. A code spell? Why not just use an actual code?  Wreckage! This hurts to look at. Probably just more records. No way. They left the other rooms intact. Most likely, something valuable was stored here, and they burned it away. What a waste.  Ooh! Indices! Dweeb.  Never mind, this is interesting. Search that shelf.  What a find. Happy? Truthfully, I was more hoping for indices and archives. You’re impossible.All the spellbooks we’ve found so far teach the first level of a spell if a character doesn’t know it yet, but does have enough Mage/Priest skill to cast it. Otherwise they do nothing. That’s everything, then. Hang on, I had a thought. Oh? You’re not going to like it, but I’ll like it less. You can’t be serious. Dead serious. Let’s go through. Zeetha, the wall, if you please? Son of a cavewood bow. What gave you the idea to check here? Call it intuition. It just seemed wrong, to have a room that was hard to get into, but had nothing of value inside. You might be on to something. Say, isn’t graymold an exceedingly rare underworld herb? What’s it doing here? You want to get healed, or you want to break out the history books? I’ve always supported progress. We got more out of this floor than I expected. That is an understatement. At least it seems a couple of the wizards here had some foresight. I was beginning to worry about them. Neither Palhatis nor Pergaltho got into a position of power, and they were reduced to passing notes while the Empire and Vinnia carelessly shuttered everything. In two weeks! Yes, yes. But some allies are better than none. I just wonder if the disaster they foresaw is the same one we’re working to solve. Then we must descend, and hope to find answers.Next time: Administration!
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Jan 17, 2023 23:39
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Whybird posted:The Empire canonically exhibits tight control on magic, except for when they're the ones doing it. It's not an ideological thing, they just don't like sharing power. In previous games, we see that the Empire doesn't mind things like demon summoning and enormous, dangerous portals, as long as they have direct control. They also had an evil archwizard as acting regent in Exile II.
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Jan 17, 2023 23:43
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Could be worse. Could be a fallen archwizard… …and then you could save the day by giving him some innersoles 
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Jan 18, 2023 01:50
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quote:So if everyone is at zero HP but you're not in combat you don't all die?
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Jan 18, 2023 02:25
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Zero HP isn't dead in Exile / Avernum, it's your one shot protection, when you take damage you hp goes down until it hits zero where it stops and if you take any more damage once at zero hp, you die. So they are merely just on death's doorstep.
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Jan 18, 2023 02:57
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It's been a long while since I played any of the Avernum games, and plum forgot about that.
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Jan 18, 2023 03:32
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BackupDancer posted:
Not sure that counts as literature, as such...
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Jan 18, 2023 11:31
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This building certainly goes down a long way, what else could they possibly be hiding from us? Also, was that dragon being fed for over a century with incest chickens? I can't imagine anything worse.
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Jan 19, 2023 05:21
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I like this LP
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Jan 19, 2023 11:34
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Chapter 11: Administration This is Administration, right? We might finally get some answers.  Or not. This is a deliberate ruin. Useless to us. I disagree completely. There’s answers here, you’re just looking at it wrong. That so? Think about it. If they scorched this floor to ruins, it must be for a reason. Easy. They didn’t want anyone like us coming through and finding out why the school closed. Exactly. But think of the paranoia it would take to close this school in two weeks, seal it securely, and still be so worried that you trash the administration level. So you’re saying whatever it was, it was big. So big, and so dangerous, they were terrified of anyone finding out. Whatever they had down here was more important to them than the captive dragon. What could it have been… They’re boring me, Zeetha. What are you up to? I wonder what sound this bug will make when I smash it… A sloppy, yet resonant crunch! I shall enjoy this. I regret asking. In fact, I regret being here. This is not where I saw myself as a kid. Where did you? Some kind of townhouse, with a cadre of hot servant boys. I guess that tracks. What would you do all day? Lounge, mostly, maybe some mischief. I had this idea, if you got a newt of the right size and were able to distract someone long enough, you could… …don’t be ridiculous, they tailor clothes specifically so that won’t happen. Let a girl be ridiculous! What do you dream of, Mister Serious? To be honest, perfectly honest, I’d want exclusive access to an abandoned magical facility containing forbidden, arcane secrets. No imagination. Sometimes dreams come true, Gwen. Well I know that. I dreamt once that I found this weird, nasty kind of…of…thing living under the graveyard, that… …and it said the same exact thing when I dug it up the next morning. Don’t ever dream about me, please. I would cheerfully die first. These would be the stairs to the holding cells, yes? If they aren’t, this place’s geometry is all wrong. What would you do if it was? Huh. I hadn’t thought of that. I guess I’d need my slide rule… …so they’re more useful than you’d think, even these days. But you didn’t bring it? I’ve been practicing mental math. Zeetha, ever get tired of killing platebugs? Tired? Tired is for too much talk and too much food. I could kill all day. They’re interesting creatures, in their way. I wonder how their carapace becomes so… …wait, wait. Backtrack for me. What is “bile-itchy”? “Biology,” Gwen. And this is supposed to help us? That’s what I’ve been saying, if we knew enough about them, we could kill them far more efficiently. It always comes back to that. I’d like to know where they’re coming from. Yes! I have a couple theories. Either they breed among themselves, or they’ve got a queen somewhere who…  …and this “queen,” she would be large and dangerous, no? The largest. The most dangerous. Then we must find her. This can’t be a hive, they aren’t working together at all. I cannot hear you over the melodious swing of my blade. Listen to it, hear how it minces them… …and on top of all those reasons, I think you’re tone-deaf. Everyone is a critic. JV, back me up here. Yes, let me just finish extracting these mandibles… …and you know this because of its mouth? If they were solitary, they’d be able to eat on their own. These jaws can carry things, but they need the chewing and digestion to happen externally. Like cave ants. Yuck. Zeke, I don’t suppose you’ll help us kill these numerous, mindless, worthless, hostile bugs? My logic is consistent, and it will stay that way. No killing. I’m feeling very alone here. Is anyone else tired of crawling around in a platebug warren? Remember, Gwen, it’s for a good cause. The people above need our strength and courage if we are to… …and in conclusion, justice and true hearts will carry the day. Then we’re in trouble. I don’t follow? Don’t listen to her. Look, intact shelves! Ooh…  Far Sight reveals a region of the minimap centered on the user. This level of the spell shows nine tiles in all directions, ignoring walls. Nothing in these ledgers. If they were important, they would have burned too. Leave ’em. Then that’s it for this room. You poor, beleaguered fool. The Far Sight scroll is here so you’ll wonder what it does, use it, and have the secret passage revealed. Neat little bit of game design. I need to stop saying things like that. Two secret passages! Ahaha! Undead!  How’s this defilement rank, Zeetha? Not very highly, but it is difficult to spread bile around with rotting fingers. They get a pass. Then that’s another room cle-  -ah. She’s pulled off the hat trick! You know what Gwen, you’re alright. If you choose to meditate…  Full heal. It’s better than nothing.  That corridor looks important. Perhaps…too important? Then we clear the rest of the floor first. Another cracked wall…we’ll have to remember this for later. You are very confident in our future ability to shatter walls. Call it a hunch. All that’s left is this webbed passage and the corridor we found. Platebugs can’t spin webs, right? Tentatively I will say no. Pending a full dissection. Then what’s down there? More chitrachs?   I need to stop making arachnid assumptions. I’m kind of enjoying it. Why don’t you predict that the next room won’t be full of gold and silver? Causal irony loses potency when you’re aware of it. We’ve done studies. Then I will face what comes with confidence, and not waste my time and effort on anticipation. That’s stupid. I would have doubled down and just tried to be right more ofte- AAAH! Hail, my friends! Oh no, dear heart. What’s wrong?  I’ve finally lost it.  But why? Been there. I’ve gone mad. I’ve cracked. Spider, I understand your feelings, and they are valid. Where would you want to live instead? Another citizen aided. It’s a spider. Am I going crazy? No more than the rest of us. Let’s split up and meet some bugs! Technically, spiders aren’t bugs. Am I dissociating? I wish I were dissociating. When among mad people...uhh, Spider…are you, uh, looking for something?  Dare I ask what you hope to catch? Oh no. Flirting? Spider flirting? I’ve gotta get out of here. I refuse to break down in a spider trash pit. That one looks almost stately. Hail, good spider. What do you do here?  That sounds very important. I would love to learn the wisdom of spiders. That is the sort of wisdom spiders would find valuable, I suppose…what sort of evil things lurk around here? And the bugs? Well if they’re so mean and tough, how do you catch them? Can we look? We promise not to touch. And you’ve lived here how long? I see. Did the wizards create all of you? Spider, this is vital. There is a horrible curse in the valley above. The fates of hundreds rest on our actions here. Do you know anything about the curse, anything at all?  I should have known…do you have an itch? Tell me about it. It’s great to be here. That’s a fascinating web.  I can imagine. Let’s get to business. What do you do here? Sounds a lot like my job. Spider history!? I need to hear this. Shoot, where’s my mental pen…   Fascinating. All my questions are answered. I simply have to leave. Zeetha, I’m so glad to see someone with two eyes. One, two…yes, that is me. I’ve been wondering. Yes? How did you first get interested in dragons? There’s not many around, you know. When I was just a sword-girl, reading books and hearing tales in the warcamp, I heard there were great big lizards that breathed fire. I decided I would see them for myself. And then you…hang on. You read books? … The great barbarian princess Zeetha? Curled up with a book about dragons? I should not have said anything. I can picture it now. Breathe a word of this, Ashfur, and die. A word of what? That girl…oh, excuse me, little one. I almost stepped on you with my big boots! What do you do here? That was silly of me, true. Hunting? When will you do that, child?  I can pounce too. Show me your moves. Excellent leap, but practice your balance. Someday I shall return, and give you pouncing lessons! Yaay!   Now this, I recognize. Excuse me, uh, sir? Why are you blocking this corridor? A guard? Guarding what? Bugs, you say? Of course I know the password, I just came through here…could you remind me? Well, that was my best shot. Why can’t you just let us in? Bugs? Humans? I don’t know what to be most offended by. Hey, um, champ! You don’t seem very happy… Only bugs, huh. Ouch, uh…why aren’t you happy? Is something wrong?  They do that, it’s true. So you don’t think anything is cute? Sure. How angry are you, really? Oh, I see…very angry. Understood. Be seeing you. Let’s debrief. A couple of those spiders wanted me to debrief, let me tell you. Yes, same…it was extremely disturbing. Okay then. Zeetha, you first? I exchanged pouncing techniques with a child! … Anything else? That was all. Alright, Gwen? They’ve got a guard spider, protecting some special bugs, I think? I almost got past him. Yes, their chief mentioned that. I think they’ve got a population that they farm. The guard makes sense, then. Can’t let us destroy their best resource. Aren’t you ascribing a lot of forethought to these dumb bugs? Spiders aren’t bugs. And anyway, they’re not dumb, not exclusively. They’ve got a historian. It kept an oral history of the colony coming here, being studied by the mages, and then getting released from captivity when the school was abandoned. I had come to expect more heartless behavior from the school’s leadership. Maybe Palhatis just got to the spiders before the dragon. You mentioned a chief? Yes, their leader. He was completely unhelpful. They don’t know anything about what’s outside their caves. Then we all just brought ourselves ten years nearer to dementia for no reason. Onward? Onward.  These traps are child’s play, but there must be something valuable down here. Place a premium on slime? I have needed a workout.  They multiply? To arms! Many cryotechnics later…  Ending combat puts the party together and teleports us all forward a ways. Usually (but not always!) this means that the first character moves one or two spaces in the direction they’re facing, with everyone else following accordingly. Sometimes, this means trouble. Gwen, if you don’t disarm that mine, I have no idea what will happen. I don’t either. Haven’t see a green one before… Agh! Relax, I figured it out.  Nothing in here but slime. Strange… Is it?  JV, any ideas about this potion? Not a one. Don’t drink it. Axel should know. Aw, it looks tasty. I’ll make an exception. You can drink it, if you want.  Well now I don’t.We get it identified…  Yeah, don’t drink this.  A spirit! A book! A fight!  As before, this gives you the first level of the spell if you’ve got enough Priest to use it. Right now, that’s only Zeke. What a waste, I can’t even use it. Hang on. Hnnngnghhngh- Uh… -ggnhghnhhhng- Should his forehead be moving like that? -ggnghhn- Jeffogel? Are you- -gghah! Let me at that book! Are you okay? Of course, just had to do some learning…ah, I see. Elementary, really. That was disturbing to watch, but we should take the time to hit town, sell anything we’ve found of value, and train ourselves. Why not blaze forward and trust in our sword arms? You’re the only one with a sword arm, Princess. That looks like something’s lair. I want to be ready. Fine.Training time!  Zeetha gets better at raw melee.  Zeke ups his spell energy and unlocks our first special skill! Magery becomes trainable when you have enough Int and either Mage or Priest spells. It boosts spell effectiveness, necessary for any true caster.  JV gets Mage Spells and Intelligence, along with the Priest skill earlier. He’s a better caster now, and has more energy for his high-power spells.  Gwen gets better at her three core roles. Tool Use trained off camera because I forgot.  Everyone ready? Ready. Follow me! That’s a big bug. And a big wall. Worry about it later, we have a queen to fight. The Queen runs back and forth, popping out 3-5 new platebugs every couple rounds. She’s actively giving birth! This is a nightmare! We can take her! I meant psychologically! Quit griping and slaughter these children!     Did we do it? Did we kill her? Yes! At last, I can feel blood washing over my feet! That’s hemolymphic heterogenous fluid. It’s what bugs have instead of blood. Then I can feel hemolymphic hetero- Please! This has been horrible. Let’s just get out of here.This is the Big Boss of the Upper School. The Queen runs back and forth, so if you plant a melee character in the middle, the zone of control attack will trigger as she passes. Have your mages on crowd control so the warriors can focus the Queen. With our stats upgraded, we burn a lot of energy but get it done. Not so fast, Ashfur. This thing has Illness resistance? That’s incredibly handy. It’s sopping wet. Green wet. Oh no, it’s bubbling still. I shall strap it on immediately! I’ve never heard a squish quite like that. I’m in hell… And this is it. As far as we can go without releasing the dragon. I can’t see any other way through. I guess we have to. One moment. What’s up? I must make peace with letting this dragon go, instead of killing her… How emotionally taxing that must be. …I am done. Let us set her free. And hope she keeps our bargain. A dragon’s word is its act, she will keep it. May I? Go for it, wonderboy.  She wasted no time. Would you? Then we’re done in the upper school. What comes next? Student areas? All the things you’d expect a school to have. And, we can hope, something that explains why the Empire shuttered this place. Perhaps more legendary beasts to slay? And, of course, the source of the curse. Should we stop by Pythras’ cell?  Not very courteous. Eh, it was kind of her to not fry and devour us. She is gone, truly gone… To Administration!     Well I’ll be cave-damned.Next time: the Huge Cavern!
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Jan 24, 2023 04:10
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verbal enema posted:I like this LP Thanks verbal
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Jan 24, 2023 04:10
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What a coincidence that all of these cute friends were named Spider by their parents 
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Jan 24, 2023 04:51
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I vaguely recall those spiders from one of the other games. Also, naturally there's a poisoned subterranean river. Looks like a real cowboy put that in.
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Jan 24, 2023 05:08
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Slaan posted:What a coincidence that all of these cute friends were named Spider by their parents In at least one of the Exile games, with the keyword-based text entry, a GIFTS won't let you by until you tell it the password. You can straight up guess the password - it's 'spider'.
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Jan 24, 2023 06:13
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habeasdorkus posted:I vaguely recall those spiders from Fixed.
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Jan 24, 2023 09:22
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I wonder if we'll ever see that dragon again. Also, how the hell are we going to stop an entire swamp? Hopefully that grey liquid has a definitive source.
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Jan 25, 2023 00:24
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Tombot posted:I wonder if we'll ever see that dragon again. Also, how the hell are we going to stop an entire swamp? Hopefully that grey liquid has a definitive source. Pythras is gone from the narrative forever, sadly. If you somehow kill her, you get the message "Pythras dies. As she falls to the ground, you start to worry. Somehow, you are afraid that what you have done has delivered a fatal blow to your chances of ever exploring the School." So it's non-negotiable, that wall has to be destroyed by her specifically. To your second question, that's exactly what our band of heroes (or at least Zeke) is wondering. habeasdorkus posted:I vaguely recall those spiders from one of the other games. Like Davies said, they're at least in all the Avernums and Nethergate. Not Queen's Wish or Avadon. Can't speak to Geneforge. There's a kind of thrill to playing an Avernum game for the first time and not knowing when the GIFTS are about to derail everything.
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Jan 25, 2023 05:52
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