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In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower
- Thread starter treave
- Start date
If Treave just kills us for doing this, it'd be hilarious.
Perhaps the creature that's attacking is a human using the transformation astra, and said person is part of an evil group. It is plausible that the dude will be so impressed with our balls, that he'll scoop us up and take us with him to the evil base to be used and trained. Doubt that's the case, but maybe one way I could see this being cool.
Perhaps the creature that's attacking is a human using the transformation astra, and said person is part of an evil group. It is plausible that the dude will be so impressed with our balls, that he'll scoop us up and take us with him to the evil base to be used and trained. Doubt that's the case, but maybe one way I could see this being cool.
a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
High WIS, average INT: we know when we should walk away, but we aren't smart enough to actually do it.
Kz3r0
Arcane
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- 27,017
Kz3r0
Arcane
- Joined
- May 28, 2008
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Another reason B was the right choice is that brought out stories like this:
Absinthe
Arcane
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- Jan 6, 2012
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- 4,062
That's high INT and low WIS, when you find yourself committing to actions you rationally understand are inadvisable.
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A Day in the Forest (IV)
You tighten your grip around the dagger and spit out the blood in your mouth. You know what you need to do. And then, you launch yourself at the beast. It whirls around, claws slicing through the air to meet you. You manage a near miraculous dodge, ducking under the swipe, and cling onto the black limb. Letting out a hoarse cry, you stab at the limb furiously with the dagger. Again and again you desperately drive the blade into its flesh. Glowing red blood spurts forth, and the beast makes a screeching squeal.
It smashes you into the ground, almost knocking you out from the impact, but you refuse to let go, continuing to stab away as if you were possessed. The beast slams you against the dirt, against the trees, over and over, but you do not stop. You stab, and then you hack, and when its paw is half severed, hanging limply from the main limb by black tendrils stained with red, the beast raises you high into the air, its maw gaping wide. You swing your body around to try and avoid its jaws. But to no avail. The beast’s fangs close around your lower left leg, biting through flesh and bone. It tries to pull you away from its limb – feeling the strain on your leg, you have no choice but to let go.
You hang limply by your leg, blood trickling over your face, gasping for breath. Your helplessness causes the beast to pause for a while. Its many eyes are all focused on you, and you can feel a dark malice in them. It is considering how best to kill you. For some reason, you feel that is what it is thinking.
Letting out another scream, you bend your body upwards, and sink your dagger into one of its eyes. The beast squeals again, letting your leg fall free… and then, it explodes. It becomes a formless shadow, a mass of writhing black tendrils and countless eyes, shrieking cacophonously as if there were dozens if not hundreds of it, screaming all at the same time in jangled, discordant screeches, so loudly that it almost drives you insane. Pain, confusion, and anger not of your own fill your mind. The tendrils swarm towards you mindlessly, and you hack away at it with your dagger, screaming back at the beast with equal ferocity. Tendrils wrap around your dagger arm and you bite into them, tearing away with your teeth. You drive your blade into an eye and sink your fingers into another, as if plucking them all out will end this nightmare.
You have no idea how long you fought, but the fight ends as suddenly as it had begun. The darkness flattens, becoming a shadow on the ground, and it recedes away into the forest. You stand alone amidst the subsiding flames, soaked in blood. The end of the battle brings with it relief, and you cannot help but to succumb to it. Strength leaves your body and you crumple to the ground.
But you only allow yourself a few moments of respite before you crawl back up. You haven’t forgotten why you did this. Grimacing and groaning, you stumble forward on your hands and knees. Your left leg is ruined and you’re unable to stand. Slowly, but surely, you fight through the pain and exhaustion to reach the fallen woman. She’s lying face down, still cradling the child beneath her.
You turn her over, and gasp. Her pale, bloodless face is possessed of an ethereal beauty that you have never known, never imagined could exist. The sight burns itself into your young heart. The woman had long, golden hair, matted with blood, and was dressed in fine – if bloodied – robes smoother than any fabric you have ever felt. Her beauty aside, however, the strangest thing about her had to be her ears. They were rather long, and pointed, compared to your own. As if entranced, you reach out to touch them.
A small moan makes you pause. The woman’s eyes flutter open – they are a brilliant blue – and her lips part. She begins speaking haltingly in a language that you have never heard, and she grabs your sleeves. She turns her gaze towards the child she had been protecting, muttering some word that sounds like “rain” to you. Then, her eyes glaze over. You know the look – you have seen it before on countless deer as they bed down to die, bleeding out from your arrows. The woman takes a deep breath, then a second. And she moves no more.
You have no idea exactly how old the baby is, but it is looking up at you with clear green eyes. Short blonde locks cover the top of its head, and its ears are just as pointed as the dead woman’s. The last baby you had seen up close was… it would have been before your parents died. Before your younger sister died. How long ago was that? Your memories are vague – you cannot even remember their faces; only that they existed.
The baby waves its stubby little hands in the air. You extend a hand, and reflexively, it grabs onto your blood-stained little finger. And even though you must look like a ghastly mess right now, it smiles at you.
***
A. A new feeling wells up within you. It is indescribable to you right now, but you allow yourself to express it freely. You can’t help but smile, despite your current condition.
B. You begin to feel something new that you cannot describe, but you resist the urge to let that feeling show on your face. You keep your expression impassive.
C. You feel nothing. Despite attempting to save the woman and this child, you feel nothing but emptiness at its touch.
***
After some time, you get around to digging a grave for the woman. Despite your busted leg, you make decent progress, and manage to get to a good depth just as the sun reaches its zenith. All the while, the baby has been looking at you without making a sound. You slowly roll the woman inside, being unable to lift her in your injured state. Then, you get to filling in the grave. There was nothing to identify the woman or the child, except for a silver pendant that had been hanging around the baby’s neck. It was intricately decorated with the crest of a stylized tree, though you have no idea what that meant.
Your work doesn’t end there, however. By the time you have fashioned a make-shift crutch and laid down a marker for the dead, the sun is on its way down. It’s about time you headed back too. Your master will not be pleased.
You pick up the baby gingerly, cradling it in one arm. It clings on to you, making what seems to be a satisfied noise. Leaning on your crutch in the other arm, you begin the long trek home.
***
As you reach the shack where you have been living for years, you see your master sitting outside the door – his usual hangout when he bothers to be here. He has another hut down in the village, where he spends much of his time. A few empty bottles are scattered in front of him; he has been drinking again.
Upon seeing you, he stands, the furs wrapped around him swaying. His grizzled old countenance is, as usual, extremely displeased. Perhaps a lot more than usual this time, seeing as you have come back injured and without any prey.
“Where’s your animals, boy?” he grunts, glaring at you.
“Not today.” You look down guiltily.
Your master casts an eye over your wounds without a word, before his gaze settles on the baby. Without asking, he grabs the baby from you. It begins to cry as soon as it leaves you.
“What’s this? You went playing around instead of doing your fucking work?”
“No, I…” The words don’t come to your mouth easily. After all, your master is right. He sent you into the forest to work and you didn’t. You can hardly justify yourself.
He snorts. “Hmph. Maybe I can sell the kid and this bauble for something, at least.” His eyes glint greedily as he spots the silver pendant. “Stay put, boy. I’ll be back tomorrow once I check about a buyer for this little shit. It’s a pretty little thing and those weird pointy ears might go for a higher price.”
“But-“
You should not have said that. You know how much he hates that word. The moment it leaves your mouth, you are met with a backhand, sending you crashing to the ground.
“But fucking shut up. I didn’t raise you to say buts,” he growls. “Who fed and clothed you for the past five years? Just do what I tell you to do.”
Your master sets out for the village grumpily, leaving you alone with the baby. It calms down as soon as he leaves and you have taken it back into your arms.
***
A. You do not want the baby to be sold. You decide to take a stand and argue with your master when he returns, probably the next morning. You have never asked him for anything in your life – surely if you are serious enough, he will understand.
B. You decide to take matters into your own hands. He might have raised you, but you do not feel like you owe him much of anything. You escape with the baby tonight. There is another village a day’s trek away. Once you get some food for the baby, you will begin your journey.
C. You cannot refuse your master. He saved you, raised you, fed you and clothed you. You owe him your current life and if he decides to sell the baby, that is his prerogative. After all, you returned without prey. He has the right to claim his due from you for today’s fiasco.
You tighten your grip around the dagger and spit out the blood in your mouth. You know what you need to do. And then, you launch yourself at the beast. It whirls around, claws slicing through the air to meet you. You manage a near miraculous dodge, ducking under the swipe, and cling onto the black limb. Letting out a hoarse cry, you stab at the limb furiously with the dagger. Again and again you desperately drive the blade into its flesh. Glowing red blood spurts forth, and the beast makes a screeching squeal.
It smashes you into the ground, almost knocking you out from the impact, but you refuse to let go, continuing to stab away as if you were possessed. The beast slams you against the dirt, against the trees, over and over, but you do not stop. You stab, and then you hack, and when its paw is half severed, hanging limply from the main limb by black tendrils stained with red, the beast raises you high into the air, its maw gaping wide. You swing your body around to try and avoid its jaws. But to no avail. The beast’s fangs close around your lower left leg, biting through flesh and bone. It tries to pull you away from its limb – feeling the strain on your leg, you have no choice but to let go.
You hang limply by your leg, blood trickling over your face, gasping for breath. Your helplessness causes the beast to pause for a while. Its many eyes are all focused on you, and you can feel a dark malice in them. It is considering how best to kill you. For some reason, you feel that is what it is thinking.
Letting out another scream, you bend your body upwards, and sink your dagger into one of its eyes. The beast squeals again, letting your leg fall free… and then, it explodes. It becomes a formless shadow, a mass of writhing black tendrils and countless eyes, shrieking cacophonously as if there were dozens if not hundreds of it, screaming all at the same time in jangled, discordant screeches, so loudly that it almost drives you insane. Pain, confusion, and anger not of your own fill your mind. The tendrils swarm towards you mindlessly, and you hack away at it with your dagger, screaming back at the beast with equal ferocity. Tendrils wrap around your dagger arm and you bite into them, tearing away with your teeth. You drive your blade into an eye and sink your fingers into another, as if plucking them all out will end this nightmare.
You have no idea how long you fought, but the fight ends as suddenly as it had begun. The darkness flattens, becoming a shadow on the ground, and it recedes away into the forest. You stand alone amidst the subsiding flames, soaked in blood. The end of the battle brings with it relief, and you cannot help but to succumb to it. Strength leaves your body and you crumple to the ground.
But you only allow yourself a few moments of respite before you crawl back up. You haven’t forgotten why you did this. Grimacing and groaning, you stumble forward on your hands and knees. Your left leg is ruined and you’re unable to stand. Slowly, but surely, you fight through the pain and exhaustion to reach the fallen woman. She’s lying face down, still cradling the child beneath her.
You turn her over, and gasp. Her pale, bloodless face is possessed of an ethereal beauty that you have never known, never imagined could exist. The sight burns itself into your young heart. The woman had long, golden hair, matted with blood, and was dressed in fine – if bloodied – robes smoother than any fabric you have ever felt. Her beauty aside, however, the strangest thing about her had to be her ears. They were rather long, and pointed, compared to your own. As if entranced, you reach out to touch them.
A small moan makes you pause. The woman’s eyes flutter open – they are a brilliant blue – and her lips part. She begins speaking haltingly in a language that you have never heard, and she grabs your sleeves. She turns her gaze towards the child she had been protecting, muttering some word that sounds like “rain” to you. Then, her eyes glaze over. You know the look – you have seen it before on countless deer as they bed down to die, bleeding out from your arrows. The woman takes a deep breath, then a second. And she moves no more.
You have no idea exactly how old the baby is, but it is looking up at you with clear green eyes. Short blonde locks cover the top of its head, and its ears are just as pointed as the dead woman’s. The last baby you had seen up close was… it would have been before your parents died. Before your younger sister died. How long ago was that? Your memories are vague – you cannot even remember their faces; only that they existed.
The baby waves its stubby little hands in the air. You extend a hand, and reflexively, it grabs onto your blood-stained little finger. And even though you must look like a ghastly mess right now, it smiles at you.
***
A. A new feeling wells up within you. It is indescribable to you right now, but you allow yourself to express it freely. You can’t help but smile, despite your current condition.
B. You begin to feel something new that you cannot describe, but you resist the urge to let that feeling show on your face. You keep your expression impassive.
C. You feel nothing. Despite attempting to save the woman and this child, you feel nothing but emptiness at its touch.
***
After some time, you get around to digging a grave for the woman. Despite your busted leg, you make decent progress, and manage to get to a good depth just as the sun reaches its zenith. All the while, the baby has been looking at you without making a sound. You slowly roll the woman inside, being unable to lift her in your injured state. Then, you get to filling in the grave. There was nothing to identify the woman or the child, except for a silver pendant that had been hanging around the baby’s neck. It was intricately decorated with the crest of a stylized tree, though you have no idea what that meant.
Your work doesn’t end there, however. By the time you have fashioned a make-shift crutch and laid down a marker for the dead, the sun is on its way down. It’s about time you headed back too. Your master will not be pleased.
You pick up the baby gingerly, cradling it in one arm. It clings on to you, making what seems to be a satisfied noise. Leaning on your crutch in the other arm, you begin the long trek home.
***
As you reach the shack where you have been living for years, you see your master sitting outside the door – his usual hangout when he bothers to be here. He has another hut down in the village, where he spends much of his time. A few empty bottles are scattered in front of him; he has been drinking again.
Upon seeing you, he stands, the furs wrapped around him swaying. His grizzled old countenance is, as usual, extremely displeased. Perhaps a lot more than usual this time, seeing as you have come back injured and without any prey.
“Where’s your animals, boy?” he grunts, glaring at you.
“Not today.” You look down guiltily.
Your master casts an eye over your wounds without a word, before his gaze settles on the baby. Without asking, he grabs the baby from you. It begins to cry as soon as it leaves you.
“What’s this? You went playing around instead of doing your fucking work?”
“No, I…” The words don’t come to your mouth easily. After all, your master is right. He sent you into the forest to work and you didn’t. You can hardly justify yourself.
He snorts. “Hmph. Maybe I can sell the kid and this bauble for something, at least.” His eyes glint greedily as he spots the silver pendant. “Stay put, boy. I’ll be back tomorrow once I check about a buyer for this little shit. It’s a pretty little thing and those weird pointy ears might go for a higher price.”
“But-“
You should not have said that. You know how much he hates that word. The moment it leaves your mouth, you are met with a backhand, sending you crashing to the ground.
“But fucking shut up. I didn’t raise you to say buts,” he growls. “Who fed and clothed you for the past five years? Just do what I tell you to do.”
Your master sets out for the village grumpily, leaving you alone with the baby. It calms down as soon as he leaves and you have taken it back into your arms.
***
A. You do not want the baby to be sold. You decide to take a stand and argue with your master when he returns, probably the next morning. You have never asked him for anything in your life – surely if you are serious enough, he will understand.
B. You decide to take matters into your own hands. He might have raised you, but you do not feel like you owe him much of anything. You escape with the baby tonight. There is another village a day’s trek away. Once you get some food for the baby, you will begin your journey.
C. You cannot refuse your master. He saved you, raised you, fed you and clothed you. You owe him your current life and if he decides to sell the baby, that is his prerogative. After all, you returned without prey. He has the right to claim his due from you for today’s fiasco.
Baltika9
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
- Messages
- 9,611
Tigranes.
Monster: dead.
Baby: saved.
Sibling: acquired.
Edgelords: BTFO.
As for the vote, I absolutely love 1A, it's just so
Since I doubt that we will be able to talk him down that easily, I vote for AB>AA.
Edit: also, when has it ever been a good idea to sell elves at slave markets?
Monster: dead.
Baby: saved.
Sibling: acquired.
Edgelords: BTFO.
As for the vote, I absolutely love 1A, it's just so
I stand by what I said earlier: this man is an abusive piece of shit and we don't owe him nothing. Teaching us is his job as a master, not some great favor he did us.
Since I doubt that we will be able to talk him down that easily, I vote for AB>AA.
Edit: also, when has it ever been a good idea to sell elves at slave markets?
Last edited:
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
[...] His first wild leap
Might death have spelt - but I did keep
Cool and struck first! Swift was my blow
And sure. The blood began to flow
From his cleft brow.... He gave a low
Moan that was like a man's moan, and
Recoiled and fell.... I watched him land
Upon his side.... The blood did pour
Fast from his wound, and yet once more
The leopard pounced, by pain enraged,
And, hot and fierce, our battle raged!
Might death have spelt - but I did keep
Cool and struck first! Swift was my blow
And sure. The blood began to flow
From his cleft brow.... He gave a low
Moan that was like a man's moan, and
Recoiled and fell.... I watched him land
Upon his side.... The blood did pour
Fast from his wound, and yet once more
The leopard pounced, by pain enraged,
And, hot and fierce, our battle raged!
A busted leg is not an arm, but it'll have to do.
Elves? Alone in a forest, pursued by strange monsters? And with strange pendants, too? Did we get our hands on their royalty? Are we going to put an elven princess back on the throne?
As for our Master... master Zhang he is not. No point in trying to argue with him though, he'll just beat us again and do what he intends to like he always did. Best to not give away our plan and flee under the cover of the night.
B. You begin to feel something new that you cannot describe, but you resist the urge to let that feeling show on your face. You keep your expression impassive.
B. You decide to take matters into your own hands. He might have raised you, but you do not feel like you owe him much of anything. You escape with the baby tonight. There is another village a day’s trek away. Once you get some food for the baby, you will begin your journey.
Yes. It is adorbs. But we must be stoic.
Baltika9
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
- Messages
- 9,611
Yes. It is adorbs. But we must be stoic.
Our younger (adoptive) sibling is smiling at us, guys. Be a good older brother, smile back.
Baltika9
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
- Messages
- 9,611
treave, is the child a boy or a girl?
This message was brought to you by the Zhang Jue Appreciation Society.
I beg your pardon. Lord Zhang was not abusive at all. He was a fantastic and insightful teacher who knew exactly how far he could push us and always did so exclusively for our benefit. In fact, I'm hoping that if we return our little brother/sister to the elves, then we'll get apprenticed by the setting's equivalent of Legolas.
This message was brought to you by the Zhang Jue Appreciation Society.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
I would remind you that the Codex happily allowed the last girl who called the protagonist "Big Brother" to become a leather wrapper for Necronomicon.
Absinthe
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2012
- Messages
- 4,062
BB
Also, treave, can we take the moment to fix what the baby's mother said in our memory? We might not understand it, but it seems to have been short and at least we can make sure to replay her final words in our mind over and over until it's fully memorized. That way one day we can make sense of what we heard.
Also, treave, can we take the moment to fix what the baby's mother said in our memory? We might not understand it, but it seems to have been short and at least we can make sure to replay her final words in our mind over and over until it's fully memorized. That way one day we can make sense of what we heard.
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Zerafall
Novice
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- Apr 11, 2020
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- 25
What? What's the context for this one?I would remind you that the Codex happily allowed the last girl who called the protagonist "Big Brother" to become a leather wrapper for Necronomicon.
Don't get too attached, bro.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Mitsuki, from the Spiral quest. She was a twelve year old girl the protagonist has built some rapport with. She even started calling him Onii-chan.
When we found out she was taken away by the episode's villain (or rather, his minion), we split into two camps. One said we should rush out, wounded, winded and outnumbered, to search for her - which would mean almost certain death. The other said we should prioritize our own survival. Due to the story arcs being built on the premise of repetition (at least initially) we knew that everyone would be killed by midnight (and the story reset), but didn't know how, so it would make sense to try and stay alive until then to find out what happens. The other camp won, and we got to satisfy our curiosity.
Everything reset as it did before, but Mitsuki never reappeared like the others. Instead we found circumferential evidence of a rather grisly fate, and a leatherbound soul-eating book had her visage when we learned how to manifest it (it didn't explain why, just smiled sadly) and some of her character traits, implying she got ritually sacrificed.
I mean, Spiral has a lot of gut punches, but that got to be the worst, if only because we didn't believe she was dead until the end. No body was ever found, after all.
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Esquilax
Arcane
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- Dec 7, 2010
- Messages
- 4,833
Baltika9, for all the horrible mishaps that have occurred as a result of the YOLO decisionmaking that you are an advocate of, they are just as likely to result in glorious moments like this as they are to result in Sphere Diplomacy. Props!
If it were Master Zhang, he would praise our protagonist for tackling such a challenge. Admittedly, he'd express some disappointment that we decided to pussy out by using a dagger rather than our bare hands, but he'd heap praises on us, I'm sure. The man's standards were high, but he definitely didn't hold back on giving Xu Jing credit when he accomplished something.
As for how we handle our reaction to this situation: I like the idea of a character who is outwardly stoic but inwardly a wellspring of emotion - he's had five years of near-constant abuse where any kind of visible sign of frustration or weakness was met with brutality. As for how we deal with the baby: we are wounded and barely in position to take care of ourselves, let alone a newborn baby. We must, in the grand tradition of heroic older siblings in abusive families, grind it out, deal with the abuse - and shield our sibling from it - and bide our time. Because if we don't, all of this will have been for naught.
Endure. In enduring, grow strong.
BB
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Zerafall
Novice
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- Apr 11, 2020
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- 25
Holy fuck.
Baltika9
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
- Messages
- 9,611
And this is precisely why we should smile at the baby. I refuse to let the Grimdark claim another innocent life! I will fight for friendship, for love and a for a brighter tomorrow!
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