Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/08(Sat)14:22 No. 561486 ID: db5510
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eeet~eeet~eet~eet~

.....

-crunch-

oh, hey guy. looking good.

Hey, what's up? We've been away for a while. Whatcha eating?

Hey, twygg. What's shakin?

How's the grove coming along?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/09(Sun)18:27 No. 561760 ID: db5510
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>>561544
>>561487

Oh, hello. I wondered where you went. It was very quiet for some time, but it gave me time to work and think

>>561560

Fairly well. I have transplanted all the firebark saplings into a circle, and started on the mistbank seeds. I figured starting on the side closest to the town would be best, even though it will be a while before they grow in.

Eventually I started feeling weaker, and rediscovered I need more than sunlight to continue optimal functioning. I must occasionally consume from a raw elemental energy source. For me, that is particularly easy, as I am in a forest. So, I went looking for some choice trees to harvest branches from.

Since we had berries on the agenda, I also picked up a dellberry bush that I found while I was wandering the forest.

what do dellberrys do and/or are known for?

think this is coming along nicely.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/09(Sun)19:47 No. 561764 ID: db5510
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>>561763
Dellberries are a semi-rare usually found in... dells, if you can imagine. They have a spicy-sweet flavor and generally are used as recreational drugs due to the strong euphoric effect consuming them causes. It is not unknown for unwary travellers to overdose on dellberries and spend the rest of the day happily laying around on the ground next to a bush.

As a special note, since I have them in my collection, dried dellberries and weeping lilies are often brewed together into a special tea that acts as a potent inhibition lifter and is particularly good at getting people to talk a lot. Usually, it is used for soft interrogation sessions.



But, it is twilight now, and we can open our options up to something involving less planning work and more active.

What did we have as plans? I seem to recall that we wanted to visit the bower tree as a potential future base, and there was talk about stealing fruit from the village?

But you might have come up with other plans in the meantime. What do we want to do here?

no no, the tree still sounds good. Plus we might find some more useful plants along the way. Hey can you do us a favor and tell us what you can do again, you said you found out some new things about yourself so I just want to make sure we have everything ready so we can use it should the need arise.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/09(Sun)21:25 No. 561776 ID: db5510
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>>561769
It's nothing in the way of new abilities, if that is what you mean. I simply was reminded more about my upkeep.

However, if a refresher is necessary, I will remind you.

I have unlocked my Floral and Arboreal aspects, but they have not been explored very much.

My Floral aspect currently provides me with the ability to consume flowers to identify and permanently record them, which can then be grown from my branches. On that note, my snowbells are coming in nicely. Give them another day or so and they will be finished growing entirely, though I could make a partial harvest now instead, and get less of them. This aspect focuses on mostly non-combat abilities involving diplomacy and healing.

My Arboreal aspect has returned my Treesense ability, along with some of my leaves. This aspect is primarily for utility and defense.

My Fungal aspect is currently unrestored, but it mostly involves offense and subterfuge.

I currently cannot improve or restore an aspect. I expect at some point between now and dawn I will be able to though.

We might as well unlock all our aspects and reveal what our mushroom side of life entailed.

Visiting the bower tree still sounds like the best step for now, for a possible base and likely variety of local plants.

About the element food thing, aren't you glad you didn't choose lightning?

I agree the bower tree seems like an intelligent thing to scout out for now.

I'm curious about the fungal aspect as well. Offensive capabilities, subterfuge, and, looking back, the recycling of dead matter, all sound interesting to me. And growing mushrooms! It's also associated with the night, I don't like feeling weakened by the lack of a sun.

Well lets head off to that tree, never hurts to have some spare ports open just incase a storm should come in after all.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/11(Tue)02:36 No. 562020 ID: db5510
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>bower tree

Bower tree it is, then. It's a bit of a walk there, but I have all night. This is a fairly peaceful forest, actually - I think the quillbeasts were not supposed to be in here. I've barely seen anything all day, other than birds.

Then again, maybe I just scare away any larger fauna...

>About the element food thing, aren't you glad you didn't choose lightning?

Err, I don't strictly recall choosing to be what I am, but I suppose having to eat lightning would be considerably more difficult as a diet? I imagine I would be considerably more interesting and powerful with the ability to shoot lightning and probably fly around, though...


>mushroom side of life
>fungal aspect

I admit having a bit more in the way of fighting potential and night-capability would be good, but I want to point out once again that improving on one of my aspects has a much greater effect than spacing out my efforts on three fronts. It might be a better idea in the short term to focus on one of the two aspects I already have restored, instead of opening yet another. I expect all I will gain from restoring it is the ability to identify and grow mushrooms, with more potent abilities appearing farther down the aspect roots.

But, if you have some grand plan here I'm not seeing, we can open all three aspects after all.

>might find some more useful plants along the way

Well, I've been keeping my eyes out for anything, but as it's getting dark flowers are a bit harder to see. Especially since I'm entering the mistbank section of the forest, where seeing at night is especially hard...

...

...

... Well, isn't that something. I found some flowers after all. They weren't here the last time I passed by this way.. I think they are some kind of dusk blooming flower.

I say I think, because I don't recognize these flowers. They look a little like moonwinkles, but moonwinkles are not yellow, nor do they glow like this. I don't think they are a new species though, and I'm not sure I can even catalogue them...

No... these are not natural - something in the area is affecting the plant life, either intentionally or as runoff from some other process. There are probably other things, too, that I haven't noticed. Between this and those quillbeasts, I do not think this forest is as serene as it appears. I'm not really sure how to go about finding what is wrong, though.

some more Arboreal will probably enhance LOCATNG powers.

>not natural flowers
As the result of some kind of unusual hybridization, or something altering existing growths?

And more importantly, are these still safe for you to eat?

Well this forest just became scary, Great. On another note how many moons do you have

>>562020
I say go with Arboreal. Let's get some utility stuff.

>>562020
Good defence can be at least as important as a good offence. Let's go with the arboreal aspect once you actually *can* level up.

No wonder those quillbeasts acted strange. We should definitely be on the look-out for other strange things. Do you remember where you encountered the creatures? I'd say we should try to map all strange things we notice and see whether a pattern emerges. Could help us understand whether there is a single source or if it's a general thing.

For now this should be a secondary activity while you go around improving yourself and the garden. Maybe we should visit our new "friend" in the village when we are not quite as fragile as we are right now? Or when we have a small pile of fruit to offer as a gift to show our peaceful intentions.

hmm, can we still absorb the flower to use later, if to do nothing else but see what has been done to the flower?

As for what to do... well for all we know the guy who made these flowers is long gone and it's nothing to worry about but at the same time I think we should keep an eye out for more weird things like this in our travels. Until we find more information on this I think we should just focus on what we've been focusing on so far.

Examine the flower some more and eat it if you think it's safe. Then continue to the Bowertree keeping an eye out for other weird stuff. And flowers (and other useful plants) too, obviously.

Are you completely healed now by the way? From the quillbeast bite and stuff?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/15(Sat)09:57 No. 562663 ID: db5510
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>bite wound

It's... better. I can feel my arm sort of, and move it, but it's considerably weaker than it should be. Holding branches to eat isn't a problem, but I'm not going to be lifting rocks with it for now.

>how many moons do you have

Er, three. Angelis, Verdigris, and Hemis. Blue, green, and red, respectively, and they're all different sizes. I think Hemis is the smallest, but astrology isn't really my strong point

>>562032
>>562114
>>562056

Hmm, it's charged with an energy I can't quite place, and presumably that has altered the appearance and structure of the plant. Probably other properties too.

I guess... I'll just have to try eating it, for more information. Let's find out!

and?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/15(Sat)10:27 No. 562675 ID: db5510
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>>562669

I... I have no idea what this is here. Everything is wrong, and the taste of the energy in the plant overwhelms what I'm tasting anyway.

I can't really place what that is either It's a little like natural energy I'd find in nature, but just very... tainted.

hm, well that's not good. Unless you know of a way to let us find out exactly what the plant does I think we should just leave them alone for now and head to the tree. Also is there anything like a trail of these flowers nearby or are they just kinda sprouting at random?

hrmm... are there more of the same kind around? leave them be, but this makes me wonder if more floral aspect would let you get past the overwhelming sensation and really taste it.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/15(Sat)11:33 No. 562702 ID: db5510
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>>562678
>>562681

It's a little late now, I already ate it. And I don't see any others around. I think this was a regular flower, and something infected it, maybe in passing, or maybe as runoff for something in the forest.

Also, I don't think repairing my floral aspect will let me know more - this is something alien, not a part of nature I don't understand.

However... it looks like that flower's energy was enough to allow me to repair an aspect. It's got an oily, unpleasant feel to it... there might be some side effects, but as I don't know how I would go about purging the taint, I don't really have a choice but to use it unless I never want to try repairing an aspect again.

So... I believe Arboreal was the choice of the day?

Arboreal. Hopefully already having a point in the skill should dilute the taint somewhat.
I think next time we should invest in floral. The healing theme might eventually work for purging magic taint, but we don't want to do that now as it would probably be harder to purge taint with a skill line that is itself tainted.

I meant don't any more weird flowers we come across not don't eat the one you just ate.

well I'm actually kind tempted to say Fungal just because I'm afraid that this tainted growth might mess up the paths we already have, plus if Fungal is already mostly use for offince I don't think we really have to worry to much about harmful side effects as much as the other two branches

Arboreal would work to since this is mostly just defense for us But DO NOT spend it on flower, if this is going to be a tainted growth I do not want to spend it on our healing aspect.

Whoops. Looks like we just corrupted our plantodex.

Uh, any way we could trace that energy? Our use our connection to the forest to scout out a source, or a higher concentration to investigate?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/15(Sat)12:01 No. 562708 ID: db5510
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Hmmm... this was a good choice of aspect, I think. I had almost forgotten about all this - we reopened the arboreal path before, but now it's actually been awakened.

My ability to bond with a tree's essence has been recovered, which while great for meditation, does not do a whole lot in itself, but it is a staple for a lot of later abilities in the arboreal path.

Like in this case - one of the basic abilities allows me to me view the area around any other tree of the same species directly and... ah, woah.

That's-

Ack.

... Okay, that was uncomfortable. My back just popped several dozen times in rapid succession, but it doesn't hurt anymore. Actually, it feels a lot less stiff than it was before. I think that did something to my spine...

So... what's your back look like now?

Maybe we should avoid mutant energy in the future.

Still think trying to trace that energy in some way might be useful.

Check yourself for horrible mutations. Then test your treescry and see if there are other bower trees nearby.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/24(Mon)23:00 No. 564254 ID: 9d4ab1
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>>562712
>>562840

No, my back seems to be be missing random spines or whatever else mutations are supposed to dowaaaaah

Well.

Uh. That's...

This is really unsettling. It sure is flexible now, though. This could probably come in handy down the line, but you're right - I don't think we should risk more mutations on the off-chance they also turn out to be as potentially useful.

>treescry for bower trees

I don't think I really made the ability clear when I described it. I can bond with a tree and then locate and view the general area of any other tree of that same kind of tree as if I was standing where the far tree currently is. In order to find more bower trees I would need to bond with the bower in the first place.

The only trees in the general area are this firebark and the mistbank trees, which means I could only scry on other mistbank and firebark trees in this forest using this location. My energy stores are likely too low to go very long distances to other woods at this point... and besides, even if I could, I'm not sure knowing what's going near a random tree a half a world away will be useful.

However, most of this forest seems to be made up of spadeleaf trees, so that gives me a good advantage in local intelligence potential.

So, is there any place in the forest you'd like me to check on? It's not a far walk to the nearest spadeleaf if needed, but I need to know a semi-precise area to look at first if you're trying to find something that isn't another tree of the same variety. It takes energy to scry, after all.

well what do those trees do? Still think we should check out the borrow tree first just so we can figure out what kind of place it will be if we make it a backup base or outpost.

Are your normal random back spines (the branches) the same as before?

Can we scry a tree near the village from here?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/02/25(Tue)08:35 No. 564275 ID: 9d4ab1
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>well what do those trees do?

Err... Well. Spadeleaf trees are named after the shape of their leaves, if you can believe it, and they live for about a century and a half on average, reaching a height of roughly fifteen to twenty feet at full maturity. They will produce acorns on a seasonal basis, which is how forests like this are made and maintained. They prefer temperate environments like where we are now, because their wood is firm and strong but brittle, and not suited for a deep freeze.

Other than that, not much noteworthy about them. Much like the waterbuds, some plants just exist to fill the groundwork of an ecosystem and reproduce.


>Are your branches the same as before?

Yes, they're fine. They're rooted into my spine, and short of something tearing it out, they're not going anywhere.

>still think we should check out the bower tree

That is still a good idea, yes, but other activities might be in order first.


>Can we scry a tree near the village from here?

We can scry the village from any vantage point at its edges, as there are no trees inside it save the cluster of fruit trees in the village proper. As I recall, the entrance to the village is on a slope, so the north end will be able to see more of the village in general, whereas to the west and east we can probably see up closer in those areas.

I'm not sure what's at the south end of the village yet, I haven't been able to scan there with my treesense, and didn't examine things too closely before leaving the whelp and returning to the forest. I assume it will not be much different from the east or west, though. It takes me energy to link to another tree to scry from it, but not to maintain the link. I think I could perform four, maybe five of them before running out of energy. That should be far more than I need, I think? Oh, and of special note - I don't think I can use my treesense through a treescry... yet, anyway. I will only be able to see the general area, not map the entire forest from one spot.

So that leaves up to determination where exactly you want me to scry from. Do you want to scry somewhere, or conserve my energy and just go to the bower tree?

Test your treescrying and check out the west side of the village. You should only do two treescrys to conserve energy.

After the test is complete start moving towards the bower tree and keep an eye out for more mutant plants.
Might be diligent to gather them so some random critter doesn't eat them and get mutated.

well if X is where we are and the bower tree is to the east, I'd say scry from the north since it's not to far out of the way from the bower tree anyways

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/04/07(Mon)00:28 No. 569509 ID: 9d4ab1
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>>564277
>>564281

Well, it's several hours walk from where I am to the bower tree, but checking on the village seems like a reasonable test. We'll look from the west side.

Hmmm... there isn't a lot to see in the village, I believe they're mostly diurnal in their activity cycle. That whelp was up late, but I don't think that was normal for him, he was just in danger and...

..Well, then again, maybe going outside at night is more common than I thought - there's one right there, creeping away from the village into the forest. I hope I don't have to rescue him from quillbeasts too, I will never get any work done if i'm always having to run off and rescue the helpless villagers.

At least this one looks older, though it's hard to see from all the way over here...

Should I go check what he's doing, or just go the the bower tree?

Watch him; the bower tree will still be there when we get back (and if it isn't, we probably wouldn't want to be there anyway).

Yeah, go spy on him.

can you keep an eye on him while you head to the tree. Not sure what that one is doing but not sure if it's a good idea to show ourselves to many of the other villagers yet.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/04/11(Fri)00:28 No. 570090 ID: 9d4ab1
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>>569518
>>569510
>>569512

I'm kind of bonded with this spadeleaf over here while I'm treescrying, but I can certainly spy on him. Fortunately, it's a lot easier to switch between trees that are nearby each other, so I'll just hop after him for a bit.

... Hmm, looks like he wasn't planning to go far, which is good, because I'm running low on energy now. He stopped by this bush, and is rummaging around in it for something. I don't believe that variety of shrubbery produces berries, so he's probably hidden something inside it.

I don't pretend to understand the psychology of these creatures, but the fact that he needs a light source tells me he can't see well in the dark, so he shouldn't be out here. This all seems a bit furtive to me, slipping out at night when his kin are slumbering, to rummage around in bushes.

wait and see what is hidden. may want to come by this bush later and steal it.

Well it's not like you can do anything but watch.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/04/11(Fri)02:06 No. 570094 ID: 9d4ab1
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>>570093
>>570091

True, I can only watch, but gathering information is just as important as actions. If he's hiding something important, I can learn more about it.

Though it appears he is interested in fungal cultivation. It seems a lot of effort to go to just to get something to eat, so there must be some deeper purpose behind it. Perhaps he possesses some similar abilities to me, and sneaks out at night to collect mushrooms! Much like me and flowers of late.

Maybe some sort of distant descendant of my kind, hiding out among the others who look similar... let's find out what magic he can do with that mushroom.

I... don't think he's interested in mushrooms in general, just that specific kind. He might start acting very weird in a bit. Will be interesting to watch anyways.

>>570094
Can you identify the mushroom?
Might have an addictive part, forcing the creature to care for the mushrooms that way... As that would be a disadvantage on him, that would also be a reason to hide this from his comrades...

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2014/04/11(Fri)06:43 No. 570109 ID: 9d4ab1
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>>570101

He has been just sort of... sitting there for a while. I suppose that's a little weird. But I don't know, maybe he's doing something I can't see from over here. It's not very interesting, though. He's just sort of... drooling on himself. Could be some sort of magic that requires all his focus, though, I don't know. The behavior is too unfamiliar to me.

>>570102

I'm a little ashamed to admit that other than it was small and pale, I didn't get a good look at it before he stuffed it eagerly down his mouth. In any case, my fungal knowledge is a little fractured at the moment, because I have yet to explore that aspect... but I do believe there are some kinds of fungus that behave parasitically and affect the behavior of a host. This one does not seem to have much in the way of fungal growth on his body, though.

I'm not really sure why he is keeping these particular mushrooms a secret, but I do believe he planted them there intentionally, because he went for that specific bush as if he knew they were already there.


... So I guess I don't really know what to do with this. Should I be going to collect some of those mushrooms, or what? He's probably about an hour's walk away from here, but I get the feeling he's going to be here a while, doing... er, whatever that is he's doing there.

Or should the bower tree be my priority here?

He's using the mushroom as a recreational drug. I doubt he's going to do anything interesting for a while,except drool and stare at his hallucinations.

He's keeping them a secret, outside of and away from town, because there's a societal or cultural taboo or laws against their use.

I doubt he's capable of causing problems at this point. Although I suppose he is rather helpless if anything in the forest objects to his presence or decides to go for a free meal.

think he just at a mildly poison mushroom that isn't really harmful but does effect his mind somewhat. I believe the reason for doing so because it probably releases something in his brain that gives him a feel good sensation but leaves him in the state he's in right now. So I unless you think you can absorb the mushrooms we should just head to the tree, unless you want to scare the crap out of the guy by walking by? wouldn't suggest it but it could be funny, and since his mind is gone he'd probably just chalk you up as a bad trip or something.

>>570109
Regular old animal pleasure-seeking through chemical and botanical means. It's perfectly normal, but I assume the advanced intelligence of this race has rendered it capable of determining the most efficient manner to get wasted, rather than just eating fermented fruit and hoping for the best. However, it may be frowned upon by his family group, probably due to the negative side-effects of the substance and the deleterious effect it would have on the group's survival.

Legacy Quest - Chapter 5 (Part 2) Kaed 2015/03/14(Sat)19:43 No. 629158 ID: 9d4ab1
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Legacy Quest

Chapter 5: Goes Thump in the Night

Older Chapters
Chapter 1 - http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/445572.html
Chapter 2 - http://www.tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/450063.html
Chapter 3 - http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/474421.html
Chapter 4 - http://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/507761.html
Chapter 5 (Part 1) - http://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/561485.html

Discussion Thread - http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/59003.html

This quest will be resuming shortly, and I am starting a new thread for this, due to the lack of response from board administration in restoring the old one.

I advise anyone who has previously participated (and any new people) to take a bit to read at the very least Part 1 of this chapter, as I will be resuming immediately where the previous thread left off. Reading the whole quest up to now would also be a helpful refresher/context!

Story by Kaed
Art by Lovar, Sime, Fen, Rue, Thuq, and Corrie. At one point or another.

He's still wasted isn't he.

>>629158
You generally have to go on IRC and ask one of the mods there to do it.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/03/15(Sun)01:20 No. 629206 ID: 9d4ab1
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>He's using the mushroom as a recreational drug.
>However, it may be frowned upon by his family group

Well, that is somewhat interesting, I suppose. But not really that important. At the very best, I suppose this qualifies as a successful test of my reawakened abilities. Some random villager eating special mushrooms is not really an informational wellspring, though.

As such, I think I'm just going to head for the bower tree. He may not even be there in the bushes by the time I reach that spot, it is a couple hours walk either way. Maybe I will see him again some time, since he has a tendency to wander into the forest for his.. er.. recreational purposes.

But, on the note of the bower tree, I think there should be some kind of plan when I get there. The bower tree will doubtless be useful in the long run, but I have that field where I planted things already. The bower tree might work as a sanctuary, but should I plant things around it too? Or perhaps, try to attune with it, and find other bower trees, if any exist nearby...

This is mostly speculation, but as I have a walk of about two to three hours to reach that bower tree, there is plenty of time to ruminate over possibilities...

>>629206
Oh, could you eat a mushroom yourself to learn about it and manufacture it? If those are considered valuable it could be worth considering... but uh, don't do it if there's any chance it could affect you as well.

I say keep the grove you have so far as your main base and continue to develop it. The bower tree can be an outpost type thing, or an emergency shelter in case something terrible happens. Go there and maybe plant a couple flowers, but mostly just go to attune yourself with it.

well the idea with the tree is just to have a second base incase something happens to the field or we're just exploring the woods so we so we don't have to walk all the way back every time we explore the other half of the woods from your field. I say yes to planting things there but unless they'd grow better at the old try then our new grove I say just store the bit harder to find/useful plants here just as a backup or for extra supplies should we need them for whatever reason. And with the attune thing, I don't see why not.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/03/16(Mon)10:19 No. 629410 ID: 9d4ab1
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>Oh, could you eat a mushroom yourself to learn about it and manufacture it?

No, not at the moment. That would fall under the fungal aspect of my abilities, which has, as yet, not been awoken. But I don't think that mushroom stash is going anywhere, and he probably cultivates it carefully, considering how he knew exactly where it was in that bush. If I ever do awaken it, I could easily make a visit there.

>>629211
I suppose you make a few fairly good points, but I don't have a whole lot of flowers that flourish in the shade of a great tree. Mushrooms and fungus really do better around there. But there are definitely some flowers that enjoy less sunlight than others. Perhaps I will find some around it to begin breeding.

Though, there might be a few insect hives somewhere in the vicinity, for when I eventually regain the ability to tame them. I hope no one forgot about them, they'll be important. How else will I start bearing fruit?

>>629410
Well, some species of bats can pollinate too!

That sure is a pretty moon. I wonder why it's green. Hey, are any of the flowers on the riverbank new?

well before we can do anything we have to see what's around the tree in the first place. Also those little white specks on the other side of the river bank, any clue to what those are?

Oh and keep an eye out for any new plants for yourself to absorb on the way to the tree. Not saying you should go out of your way to find them but do keep an eye open.

>How else will I start bearing fruit?
Unlike trees you have arm and legs, so manual pollination is possible (if relatively labor intensive).

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/03/16(Mon)21:33 No. 629550 ID: 9d4ab1
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>>629429
No, just more waterb-

>Unlike trees you have arm and legs, so manual pollination is possible (if relatively labor intensive).

-excuse me?! Do you fondle your own stamens to self-pollinate? What a thing to suggest! Let's keep our minds within the realms of decency!

>>629550
WELL NOW. I guess that means bees are...

well obviously you wouldn't do that for no reason. but if one day you can grow a fruit that can save someone's life but have no bees, you will have to make some hard choices.

for now. back to home with you.

so when you come of age you have your own version of the bird and the bees, good to know.

speaking of bees, do you just need to find a hive and get them to build another hive on yourself or do you need to expand your flora branch more before that becomes an option?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/03/18(Wed)22:07 No. 629868 ID: 9d4ab1
File 142674163151.jpg - (184.16KB , 1800x1080 , Plateau Impasse.jpg )

>so when you come of age you have your own version of the bird and the bees
Come of age? What are you talking about? I suppose I could make some birdseed later on to make avian friends, though they're more useful for spreading seeds than pollinating, generally speaking.

>>629553
>>629555
Moving swiftly onward from the subject of self-pollination!

>speaking of bees, do you just need to find a hive and get them to build another hive on yourself or do you need to expand your flora branch more before that becomes an option?

I'm fairly certain I will need to expand my flora branch more, simply for the reason that I would have difficulty supporting them with my currently withered abilities. It may surprise you to know that, while they are unlikely to injure me very much, the average insect hive becomes quite offended if you pull their hive down and jam it somewhere else. Such violent relocation can even cause fatal stress to the nesting queen or cause them to flee the hive entirely. No, I would need to attract a virgin queen ready to start a new hive and entice her to begin it on my branches. That will likely require special resources I don't have available as I am now.

>That sure is a pretty moon. I wonder why it's green.

Verdegris is always green, just as Aetheris is blue, and Hemos is red. Hemos is the smallest, though, and is not out tonight. I expect it will show up eventually - astronomy is not my strong point, but I believe all three moons orbit at their own pace and angle, from my limited knowledge on the matter.

>New flowers?

On the note of that, I do have a possible proposition that has just cropped up. There is a plateau on the way to the bower tree, and it looks like the foliage gets pretty dense as one goes upwards. Doing a thorough search of it would likely add at least another hour to my trip, but it might be worth it.

Alternatively, I could just take the clear path along the bottom and probably be there within another half hour. The hill isn't going anywhere, and it might be easier to search it during the day. Unless there is something night-blooming up there, I guess...

What do you think?

>>629868
Wait you're saying you need to romance a young queen bee?

Check the place for nighttime flowers, then come back again during the day to see if there are any new daylight flowers. I don't see any reason to treat time as a limited resource, at this point.

...ah, I figured out what that symbol on the top is. It's a sundial.

Is it normal for that tree to be shedding glowing stuff?

Didn't the other guy say four moons? Yeah, he did...

I wonder if that means they're on different worlds, or if a moon was somehow gained/lost at some point, or if one of them is purely mythical?

Anyway yes definitely explore the plateau. We've got no reason to hurry at this point.

Well you don't need to sleep so I don't see why you should take the quick path so forage a little

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/04/18(Sat)16:14 No. 635167 ID: 9d4ab1
File 142939885018.jpg - (653.88KB , 1800x1080 , Plateau forage.jpg )

>>629886

Those are just fireflies. They show up at night sometimes.

>>629888
There are only three moons, and no more, as far as I know. While it is theoretically possible a moon was added at some point between.. my dim memories of the past and now, I neither know how it would be possible nor what relevance it would have to me. There is no way for me to reach any of the moons.

>>629890
>>629874
Ahem. Bees aside for the moment you have a point. I will search the plateau. Travel is slow up here, but thankfully, most of the bushes only come up to my knees at bet.

~~~

Hmmn. This hill unfortunately seems to be so clogged with brush and trees that there is little room for other things to grow, but.. I think I found something...

Ah, yes. It's out of season, but I recognize that smell. Let me just sift it out of this bush...

Moondrop Entry Kaed 2015/04/18(Sat)16:43 No. 635169 ID: 9d4ab1
File 142940062310.gif - (177.85KB , 1152x1084 , Moondrop.gif )

This is quite a valuable find, actually, even if not much immediate use to me...
~~~~
Moondrops only bloom naturally in the cooler seasons, when the night is bright enough from all three moons being above. The rest of the year, they remain asleep and look much like dull weeds.

When they bloom, their stamen give off a faint glow that attracts night-flying insects (particularly fireflies) to spread their seeds. As a result of this very sparse period of blossoming, they are somewhat rare to find.

They are valued for their petals, which can be crushed into a paste or dried into a tea that relieves pain. The crushed petals are more valuable, however, for their assistance in healing burns. A moondrop salve, applied quickly enough to a fresh burn, can greatly reduce long-term suffering and encourages healing.

Moondrop honey is capable of completely healing all but the most severe burns, preventing scars from forming. As moondrops almost never bloom with enough numbers or commonality in location to create honey from, this makes it a nearly priceless commodity.

Nice. So if we need some money, we can produce and sell these. Would also make the forest a bit more pretty attracting the fireflies and all.

neat, this should help once we get to a point to grow lots of these either in the ground or off your back.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/04/21(Tue)10:48 No. 635642 ID: 9d4ab1
File 142963849614.jpg - (163.17KB , 1800x1080 , Bad trip.jpg )

>>635171

I can understand increasing the aesthetics of the forest, but what is money? And how do you propose we convince the flowers to provide us with it? I admit that maybe communing with plants is something I'll be able to do later on, but I assure you that most plants - that are not me - have a very limited cognitive perception on their surroundings.

>>635172
Yes, I think Moondrops will be a nice addition, but too much of one thing can g-

"...shadows and... ghosties, aaaah! Go awaaaay, said you... can have my... yummies! -wheeze- Heeelp!"

Er, what? Oh, it's that guy, with the mushrooms. He's come a bit far afield. Looks like he's been running for a while, he can barely stand. Terrified out of his wits, from the sounds his making.

I don't see anything chasing him, though. He's got his back to the plateau now and is darting looks around like he's surrounded by attackers. Hasn't thought to look up, though, or he'd see me looking down at him.

"Get away leave please go no no no no....

I suspect whatever he's got going on has something to do with the mushrooms, but I suppose could go down and try and talk with him, though it would be somewhat hampered by me not understanding a word he's gibbering about. Mind you, in his current state, it could frighten him even more to have me show up. Might be better to just let him sleep it off for now, if we're still going for the low-key approach.

What do you think?

I say watch him for a few minutes just to make sure he doesn't hurt himself then head on towards the tree. He looks like he'll be fine once the mushrooms wear off but seeing as we helped that kid earlier might as well make sure trippy down there is going to be fine before we head off.

You got anything that can purge his system, maybe? Or a soporific to calm him down? From the sound of it he wouldn't mind either of those options. If not just keep an eye on him so he doesn't hurt himself.

>>635642
Oh right
>what is money
So money is a thing that humans/anthros/whatever you would call the villagers use. Basically, you can get money from other people by providing services or objects, and then you can use it to get services or objects from other people. It has no intrinsic value (although sometimes it contains/represents gold or other precious metals) but because people agree that it has value, it does.
Kind of a tricky concept, but basically money is a general purpose bargaining chip with people.

Go feed him a Weeping Lily. That'll help him sleep.

Sleep while on mushrooms is kind of impossible, and he seems to be near peak right now. Approach him in a friendly way. The goal is to break him out of whatever pattern he's in by approaching in such a way that forces a new dynamic. An environment shift, if you will. Do you have any gifts you could offer him? Honey or something sweet like that?

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/06/22(Mon)16:51 No. 650181 ID: 9d4ab1
File 143501709294.jpg - (199.24KB , 1440x1440 , Shroom trip.jpg )

>>635653
>>635671

No, not really. No weeping lilies around here, and I'm currently growing snowbells, - which, incidentally, are nearly finished growing and will soon be ready for harvest - but they do not help with sleep.

>>635829
No, I haven't got any honey or.. anything. And somehow I suspect that he would not be interested in seeing a creature twice his size coming at him when he is under the effect of mind-altering mushrooms. Look at him down there. He's cowering against the cliff base, shouting at the air.

Get away from me! Noooo, it's after me! I want to go hoooome!

If I'm to make a peace overture, I need some kind of gift that is going to keep him from wanting to hurt himself trying to get away. Any particular ideas?

>any ideas
uhhhhh, maybe a crown of flowers? Honestly without really knowing what the guy likes other then mushrooms it's kinda hard to guess what would appease him and not have him freak out more at your sight. Or if you don't want to show yourself at all maybe try singing a calming/soothing song. I mean worse comes to worse he just runs off and as long as we can heard him back to the village he should be fine. Hey can you sing? and by that I mean sing well.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/06/22(Mon)21:24 No. 650241 ID: 9d4ab1
File 143503344688.jpg - (199.15KB , 1440x1440 , Really bad trip.jpg )

>>650186

Well, I guess a crown of flowers might be something to try, though I wonder somewhat if that is an idea use of my maturing bouquet of snowbells.

As for singing... I don't know? Birds sing, but I'm not really a bird. I'm not sure I can make pretty twittering noises like that. My throat is too large. But, it might be worth a tr-

Wait.

What is going on down there?

Why is he... woah. That is a lot of red.

There's something down there with him, I think. I can't really make it out. It's like... a blur. Or a shadow?

I don't think, uhm, mushrooms do that normally, manifest themselves as physical harm. Unless things changed while I was sleeping?

Something shanked him. You better help or else he dies.

Well jump down and save him, then. It looks like some dark spot is on the ground, and part of it reached out underneath him. Try to stomp on the part that reached out. (that angle is deceptive, I thought that was the shadow of the treeline!)

OK something is attacking that guy and it sure as hell isn't natural. I suggest jumping down there and grabbing the guy and run. With that wound he isn't going to go far and without treatment he's going to be in a lot of trouble.

I say grab him and run to the river. Once your sure you lost whatever attacked the guy find vines or something to use as a bandage, crush the snowbells to make sure the guy doesn't get an infection or something from the wound, and we'll work on what to do next from there.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2015/06/23(Tue)12:07 No. 650326 ID: 9d4ab1
File 143508647754.jpg - (83.18KB , 894x894 , Drag away.jpg )

>>650246
>>650248
>>650277

While heroism is doubtless a positive trait, I feel I should point out a few concerns with this plan. Whatever is attacking this khal is something I know not the size, capabilities, or nature of.

Since I can't see whatever it is beyond a vague shadowy blurring around the khal, what is impaling its chest could be a tentacle spine, or the claw of a massive hand. Or it could be a kind of predator that is only properly substantial or visible to people who are under the effects of mind-altering mushrooms. Such things are unlikely, but not impossible, though the world may have changed a lot.

The only things I know with certainty right now are:

-It has not reacted to my presence, which means either I have been unnoticed, or deemed beneath its attention.
-It is dragging the now unconcious khal in the same direction I am heading - towards the bower tree.

With these notes in mind, I my options think either a possibly very risky attack on the mystery beast right now, or tracking it at a distance to gain more information while I head towards the bower tree with it. While the former poses a potential, unknown risk to me, I am fairly certain if I face it after gathering more information, it will be an act of vengeance, not a rescue. The khal is losing a lot of blood.

>>650326
I suggest just grabbing the guy and running but yeah. Kinda want to help the guy not because I really care about him but because if shit like this keeps happening the village is going to panic, and panicking Khals is rarely a good thing. If they come to belive the woods are hunted or cursed they could just burn it to the ground. But yeah for the unseen attacker, can you make out any tracks hear it walk away? If you can tell us and it will give us a clue to how big out unseen attacker is. Also yeah going to have to say follow. I would like to know what else are we sharing these woods with.

If it is moving towards the bower tree then it could be a threat to your plans to set up a base there...

I'm thinking the guy is basically dead already. You have no way of stopping the blood loss, and he may have suffered fatal organ damage from the attack. That is a DEEP and LARGE puncture wound. Follow the creature to get a better idea of what you're dealing with.

As long as there's a decent chance he can survive, I'd like to go with plan rescue. Not only does it save the guy, it gives you a likely in with the village if you nurse the guy back to health.

On the other hand, invisible foe is pretty scary.
On the third hand, if it's invisible it's not unlikely that its defenses are otherwise weak...

>>650326
If we decide on attacking I suggest jumping down on the blur from above, crushing it with our weight. At least the stabbing-part of the creature is probably small enough to be crushed by this, which should give us enough time to run away at least.

If it has physical matter that it can stab into people, chances are it's corporeal, which means you can smash it. Rescue is much better than vengeance. This thing could have gone after the entire village but (hopefully) it just went after this one guy, meaning you MIGHT be able to scare it away just by showing up and looking incredibly intimidating. The best part about that spike though is that it has to be connected to the main thing, so you know roughly where it is. Drop down and smash it as quickly as you can, at this point getting it to run off is ideal so you can help the poor guy.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2017/08/07(Mon)22:39 No. 821054 ID: f9400c
File 150217076964.jpg - (101.36KB , 1554x1149 , Trail.jpg )

>>650331
>>650358
>>650366
>>650448
>>748738

Ah...

It feels like, somehow, a long time has passed. Time stretched out indefinitely as I watched the small khal mushroom eater dragged away toward the bower tree. I follow, but unaccountably, I find myself drawn to pause a few elongated in that eternal space between then and now, to reflect briefly on my adventures. It feels fitting, in that strange span of time, that I should go over the decisions that let me here, and perhaps reassess my options.

I woke, not too long ago, in a dark crypt, with few memories of my past, and only the vaguest sense of what I was. I escaped that crypt, and gradually, over time, began to regain my powers lost in the many years I lay withering in a dank, dark cave. During that time, I discovered a village, and met a young khal, whom I rescued from savage beasts, before turning them loose to return to his brethren.

I began the creation of my grove, and unlocked my floral and arboreal aspects, finding many flowers to attune myself to, along with gaining a lay of the forest around me. Earlier this evening, I made the choice to travel to the large bower tree in this forest, and along the way, discovered the mushroom eater khal. They were attacked while I watched them, and now, they are dragged away into the forest, towards the very bower tree I seek. Something has impaled their torso, and while I cannot much make it out, I can see a blur moving along, nearly as large as I, but longer rather than taller. I think it may not be bipedal, whatever it is. It makes no secret of where it goes, leaving a trail of bright, shining blood along the grass behind it.

There has been some debate about whether to try rescuing the potentially doomed khal, or to simply follow and gain a better understanding about this threat. The time comes again to choose, unless there is a better option.

>>821054
Just follow. The dude's very likely dead and you shouldn't put yourself at risk trying to save a complete stranger that you can't even talk to.

He's probably gone by this point, but yeah I still would like to follow the thing to learn more about this thing

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2017/08/12(Sat)16:31 No. 822264 ID: f9400c
File 150258069650.jpg - (39.37KB , 699x642 , Mistyry.jpg )

>>821062
>>821073

Seems like a plan to me.

I will hold back for now, and follow the blood trail, trying to keep out of sight of whatever creature is responsible for this.

Hmm. It seems this part of the forest has a significant mistbank tree population. It's the right time of night for them to be releasing mist, too, so it will probably be harder for the creature to see me than it will be for me to follow the blood trail.

>>822264
Well that is a good sign, just don't get caught by the thing while following the blood trail. Keep an eye out.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2017/08/12(Sat)18:56 No. 822299 ID: f9400c
File 150258939167.jpg - (56.81KB , 814x743 , Wounded.jpg )

>>822279

It was a bit of a walk, but the blood trail lead me right to the bower tree, which I can see clearly now the mists are thinning. It is a magnificent thing, vast and ancient... hang on.

Something is wrong.

These mistbank trees. They're dying. Look how discolored they are, and the way their needles are falling out. There's something on the trunk, too. I'm going to get a closer look, the khal can wait.

Hmmm... something clawed this tree, and it has afflicted.. a disease, or something like it. I can feel the tree's pain, and the bark is practically rotting around the claw mark. Looking at the others nearby.. I think something has been marking its territory, and the poor trees suffer for it.

I don't think.. I can heal this right now. I'm not strong enough to cure whatever is going on with them. Perhaps later one, but..

.. I think I would like to have a talk with the creature that did this, and I suspect it is at the end of this blood trail.

Whatever it is, I think the khal's fate is only a minor concern compared to the damage it is doing to this forest.

Somehow I doubt it is amenable to reason, if even capable of speech. Perhaps a battle plan of some kind is needed, when I face it under the leaves of the bower tree.

Well, if its claws can afflict trees with disease, it will be able to do the same to you. Since you can't cure the disease, all it will take is one hit and you're screwed. I don't think you can kill it. You know where it is for now, and the forest won't die if you delay killing it for a couple more days. I think you should just try to gain strength until you're strong enough to cure the disease. At that point, the fight will be far less dangerous.

Or perhaps... can you climb trees and move from tree to tree along the branches? You're heavy but some of these trees are quite large... If the creature cannot reach you then it cannot claw you. It might also be possible to craft a crossbow strong enough to take it out in one hit, and simply kill it with a surprise attack.

maybe whatever is effecting this creature has something to do with whatever made those strange flowers we found awhile ago. You said they weren't natural and whatever is doing this doesn't seem to be natural either.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2017/08/25(Fri)20:24 No. 825153 ID: 7dc587
File 150371786083.jpg - (21.43KB , 305x365 , Confus.jpg )

>>822302

That's a very good point. I might just make things worse for myself by trying to fight it. And yet... is it right to not even try? Whatever that thing is, it doesn't belong in nature, and that khal is as much a victim as these trees. Maybe it's already dead, and maybe it's going to die if I leave it down there to be eaten or something.

Maybe I've been being too cautious.

While I'm not sure what a crossbow, I can climb up the bower tree. It is far larger than I am and could easily support my weight. There is no guarantee that this creature cannot also climb trees, though. It obviously has claws of some kind.

>>822317

You're probably right, they might be connected. Maybe those quillbeasts from before also went mad because of that beast, somehow. There's a lot of maybes to work with here.

What I am pretty sure about, though, is I need an actual goal right now. Not an ambiguous list of bulletpoints it would be nice to at one point reach, such as communicating with the khal village, and taking care of this semi-invisible monster, or just 'getting stronger', which isn't really a goal, but more of a path.

I suppose I could just wander around collecting flowers, but... hey, speaking of flowers. I think my snowbells are done. This seems like a good time to start deciding what I'm going to do with them, and what I should start growing next. Letting them stay there until later is also an option, because I do not think they will last very long once I take them off.

Unless I replant them somewhere, but I'm not sure that would be very effective. They don't actually have roots when I grow them this way, since I sort of am their root already.

Once that is decided, I need to figure out what to do next.

I could fight the monster anyway, and take my chances that I'll win, and the khal will still be alive to save.

I could continue exploring the forest, though I'll need a general direction to go now, since I've been sort of aimless for a while.

Maybe there's something else I can do, that I'm not thinking of. I'm feeling a little directionless right now, since the bower tree is guarded by a monster. More problems to solve than I have goals...

Do you benefit from the analgesic effect of eating snowbells? Regardless, they'll be useful quite soon. Either as a painkiller for you, or a painkiller for the monster's victim.

A long term goal for you should be to find out more about your creators, and maybe if there's a reason you were awoken.

Let's go fight the monster. Find a big rock to smash it with, or the heaviest branch/treetrunk you can wield. Attacking it unarmed seems unwise. If you can sharpen the point of a sturdy branch that would make a crude spear.

well we're going to have to deal with this beasty at some point and it might be growing stronger as well. Either way I say find a large branch or something to use as a club and see if we can't take this son of a bitch down here and now. I still want to make the bower tree our second home in these woods and am a little afraid that the beast might kill the tree if we give it enough time.

Oh, can you use your tree sight to scout ahead, see what it's doing and where it is?

>>825166
Definitely scout ahead, yes.

And if you feel you have time, or find them on your way, several large stones/small boulders for throwing, and perhaps a middling tree limb (From one of these dieing mistbanks) to extend your reach will be useful.

We can educate you in the technology of advanced death, bows, attle-attles, axes and otherwise, later.

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2019/08/03(Sat)18:41 No. 941297 ID: 9ba167
File 156488288935.gif - (81.45KB , 750x750 , TreePing.gif )

>>825200
>>825166
>we're going to have to deal with this beasty at some point and it might be growing stronger as well

Yes, I've been stalling on this decision too long, and wandering off after it blindly in the dark will just make things harder on the khal who has been injured. I don't know how long he has until he bleeds out, that was a very serious wound.

I still don't have a lot of energy to spare, but it should more than be enough...

Twyggdrasil Kaed 2019/08/03(Sat)18:42 No. 941298 ID: 9ba167
File 156488289949.gif - (341.86KB , 1000x1000 , FarSight.gif )

... to do a search this section of Mistbanks for the creature.

However, this will take a few minutes to do, as without knowing the precise location, I can only search all of them for vision of the creature, whatever it is.

So, now would be a good time to plan out some general battle tactics. It may be surprising, but I have very little concept of effective combat beyond 'hit something with a heavy object'. That might work for a feral quillbeast and a rock, but this creature can move quickly, and is intelligent enough to use some form of camoflague for hunting. And it appears to be diseased or venomous in some fashion.

A large stick or log does seem to be the best option as a weapon, though, if only because there is some inherent humorous irony in beating it down with a piece of its victims.

>>941298
Since it can move quickly and you can't, the best option for you is to take it by surprise and eliminate it before it can do anything.

Optimally you want a very large sharp stick to throw at it and impale it from a distance. You could also chase/lure it into traps you've constructed ahead of time, but I doubt we have time to set up any traps.
Aside from that you've already listed several problems with attempting any kind of tactical non-brute force approach: we don't know where it is, you don't have any weapon skills or equipment or even any powers beyond growing flowers on your body, it might be hard to see, and it moves faster than you.

What options do we have, exactly? We need options to form a plan.