[LP CYOA] Epic

[Stygian Lurker]

C

 

[Esquilax]

A - I suspect these things are psychic, or at least their maker is. One blinks out, it will cause concern. We can likely deal with the human cultists quick enough to avoid this.

We don't have to kill it, we can neutralize the Child using psionics. It'll still have a psychic presence, but it will be rendered catatonic. The passageway is dark, so if we overwhelm him with our superhuman speed and tackle him, we can get our hands on him and put him into a catatonic state before his mind has been able to register what's going on.

A big NO to interrogation. This should be done quick and clean. B is the interrogation option, but this is a good opportunity.

C

Flopped to B

 

[m4davis]

C

 

[XenomorphII]

C

 

[ScubaV]

C

 

[Esquilax]

I am flopping to B on the basis of the fact that the psychic barrier past the Child of Sukhenun could cause huge problems for our party if the place is completely covered in darkness. We don't even know whether it even leads to the man himself, so all we're doing is speculating. Also, it's very much possible that these things have awesome night-vision too. We need more information and I think we can take out the Child that is watching over the prisoners just as easily as we can the one walking towards us in the right.

We need info. B

 

[treave]

C still takes it.

***

Chapter 3.5: Fight in the Dark

You beckon to your companions to follow you, and move quickly down the right passageway. You think to surprise the creature, and take advantage of that surprise to dispose of it. You feel it drawing closer. You break into a light jog - the narrowness of the passageway restricts your freedom of motion. In fact, it grows more and more narrow as you head further down... this may not be good. You can barely fight here. Your movement slows down, and you are forced to begin moving carefully as the rocks get in the way of your limbs. The grunts and complaints of Samun and Kamun far behind you tell you that the two brothers probably cannot get any further and have blocked up the whole passageway.

It was too late to turn back now - the Child was approaching at a quick pace, and it would catch up with you before you could retreat successfully. How could the Child move in such a confined space? As you round a particularly tight corner, you have your answer. You hear a horrified gasp from Mutyre, following behind you.

The Child wears the body of a priest, but barely. The limbs are horribly elongated, and with every step the flesh appears to squeeze along the walls. The way the body bends shows you that bones are no longer a factor in its movement. It stops as it spots you. You sense alarm, puzzlement, and panic. No time to complain about the tightness of the space. You act.

You sweep your left hand forward in an underarm throw. Your arm scrapes against the rocky walls, drawing blood, but you ignore it. The dagger in your hand flies true and embeds itself in the Child's head. It lets out an inhuman shriek, and at that moment you draw closer swiftly, forcing your way through the narrow, rocky path. At times rock gives way, at other times your flesh. No matter. Reaching the Child, which is scrabbling at the dagger in its forehead with long, thin fingers, you smash it in the face with your torch-wielding hand and grab its head with the other, preparing to scramble its mind. The skin of the body bursts open as the black tendrils finally flow out in desperation and wrap themselves around you.

The Child shrieks again, and a brilliant blue glow surrounds the tendrils. There is a slight tingling sensation, and then a painful jolt that wracks your entire body. Sparks fly. A crackling, sizzling sound resonates in the musty tunnel. The glow subsides, and as you recover, you feel even more surprise coming from the Child of Sekhenun. It seems that you are the first to resist this attack without being knocked out.

You press your advantage and grip the tendrils surrounding you. They begin to glow blue again, and you realize you have to free yourself before the next attack comes. With a mighty pull, you rip the tendrils off the monster's body. The thing falls back, crying out in pain and fear. As you stride towards its fallen form, you see it start to flow out of the host, trying desperately to escape you. In its black, jelly-like form, it manages to crawl down the narrow tunnel faster than you can catch it. You curse your luck and try to catch up to the blob slithering away into the darkness.

Rounding another ludicrously tight corner, you come face to face with the barrier your mind could not penetrate before. It was a mundane looking little wooden door, set into the tunnel's dead-end. The Child must have escaped through here, but the door was closed now. You cannot sense what is on the other side. It is a total blank wall in your telepathic perception. As you reach to push it open, the voices murmur. Danger lies on the other side.

Mutyre and Akil finally catch up, panting. Their clothes are ragged from navigating the narrow tunnel. You feel their horror at having seen the Child's form, and also admiration at your ability to defeat one with your bare hands. They say nothing while they regain their breath. It looks like Samun and Kamun were too big to make it down the tunnel.

You look at the door again. Small, wooden, innocuous. There were no carvings or markings of any kind.

***

A. You ask one of your companions to open the door. After all, this is what you brought them along for. You should recuperate for a while and get ready to face whatever lies beyond - your strength is in combat, not opening totally harmless-looking doors.

B. You leave the door alone and head back. The voices appear to feel danger from the other side, and you might want to explore the rest of the tunnels and the temple to get more information.

C. Fuck the door. The Child is beyond. The Child has tentacles. That's all you need to know. You kick the stupid wooden door down, smashing it into pieces, and stride through into whatever lies beyond. ALL TENTACLES MUST DIE.

 

[Smashing Axe]

C, fuck them tentacle motherfuckers

 

[Esquilax]

treave, I propose Chapter 1 & 2 be renamed "Fuck this shit" and Chapter 3 be renamed "ALL TENTACLES MUST DIE!!!" for greater thematic coherence. How hurt is Ean at this point?

A) is out. Fuck that, it's completely unbro, pussy shit to use people as pawns like that when you are a powerful immortal warrior. Ean has always made sacrifices for his allies and led from the front. The door is almost certainly trapped, but hopefully our quick reflexes can help here.

The choice is really between B and C for me. It sucks that our two finest warriors couldn't make it through.

C for now.

A

 

[Zero Credibility]

B

Let's go back to our men and try to get some info from the prisoners. Blindly charging on could end up very badly here.

 

[treave]

Well, it'd be ironic because Ean has rarely taken the fuck this shit I'm leaving and the balls to the walls oooh yeaaaaah approach. He's usually more measured and cautious in his actions, no?

Ean's just singed slightly charred and bleeding from multiple scrapes and cuts. A few No more than ten minutes of rest should restore him to perfect condition - it's really just some flesh wounds. A mortal with no regen pulling the stuff he did in the tunnel would be hurting for days, though. The taser didn't have any lasting effect, it was just a flashy move, but he's not keen on repeating the pain.

 

[Cassidy]

B

As much as the idea of facing a tentacle monster badly injured is EXTREME, it's better to not push down the luck lest multiheaded tentacles hitting ass and legs happen.

 

[Smashing Axe]

My concern is that if it gets away it will raise the alarm. A may give it enough time to escape, C, won't. It does stand the risk of falling for whatever trap that awaits us however.

 

[m4davis]

B

 

[XenomorphII]

B. We should keep our group as together as possible, and I feel like the door might lead us to losing a few centuries again.

 

[Baltika9]

Muthafuckin' C.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

C

 

[ScubaV]

C almost certainly contains a trap, but if we don't do it the Child will almost as certainly warn its master.

Let's do C and hope for the best.

Flippity flap to A

 

[Esquilax]

After thinking about it a bit, couldn't we simply ask Mutyre to examine the door for traps? treave, is A a straight-up "use your bros as a decoy" choice or a "have them look at it" choice, because it seems likely that she'll catch something we probably haven't.

Sure, the Child might get away, but if it means we get in deeper while being unscathed, it's worth it.

C almost certainly contains a trap, but if we don't do it the Child will almost as certainly warn its master.

But if we become horribly maimed in the process of taking the Child out, then we're probably worse off than we would be letting it go. All on our own, no support from our fighter allies... it doesn't look good. I've flopped to B since it's probably time to cut our losses and fall back.

A seems like the best solution. Mutyre seems to admire our bravery, so we should get her on that door ASAP. Why rush in without any regard for the consequences? That's stupid.

 

[treave]

After thinking about it a bit, couldn't we simply ask Mutyre to examine the door for traps? treave, is A a straight-up "use your bros as a decoy" choice or a "have them look at it" choice, because it seems likely that she'll catch something we probably haven't.

They aren't mindless pawns, so of course she won't open the door blindly. Akil and Mutyre have their own expertise, and you can expect them to use it when they have the chance to. Same with Samun and Kamun, though their expertise tends more towards the 'burying axes in people' sort.

 

[ScubaV]

Alright yeah, let's go with A.

 

[anus_pounder]

Voting B. Its more Ean.

Willing to flip-flop to A.

 

[ScubaV]

I can see the appeal in keeping our group together, perhaps trying to go via the cultists. I doubt the prisoners are going to be much help though. They're tribute that's just arrived, what could they possibly know? I also doubt they'll be in much shape to help us nor are they likely to be as skilled as our bros. If anything, they'll get in the way or prematurely warn our enemies by escaping.

Regardless, I think we need to make sure this current Child doesn't escape and warn Sekhunen. Let's let our thief and trap expert do her thing.

 

[TOME]

A

 

[Bloodshifter]

B Its time for interrogation