Those Blessed with Talent

[Sirrocco]

[x] Blow the whistle. Blow the whistle. Oh yes, blow the whistle.
[x] Semi-scatter. You run back into the trees, trying to not get eaten. Drop Mountain Peak Blossom in a plant that you're pretty sure the fox will go through on its way to you. Peach Blossom jumps into a nearby tree. Hopefully, that'll make her enough of a hassle to get to that the fox will keep coming after you. If not, she uses her polearm defensively so that it has to go through the hurty bits to get to her. It's hunting for food rather than defending territory, so it should go for the apparently easiest prey. Autumn Shade disperses to the other side.
[x] Set up so that the fox's most likely path to get to you will pass through their attack ranges at about the same time. When it does, simultaneous attack - Mountain Peach does her jump attack from the branches, Autumn shade leaps from the shadows, and Mountain Peak Blossom strikes up from below (trying to latch on to an area that will be hard for the fox to get at). You double back, keeping close enough to let them all use your buffs, using your spear and trees defensively to try to keep it from getting at you,
[x] Mountain Peak Blossom uses drain blood and drain spirit, uses Harden defensively, and uses Slumber Powder if the opportunity arises to dose the fox without hitting any of our friends. Autumn Shade uses Poison Claw. We stay nearby enough to help with passives, use analyze repeatedly to gain more info, and look for an opportunity to use Friendship Bond. Peach Blossom does whatever it is she's going to do.

Obviously, this plan isn't going to hold together entirely, but no one part of it is all that complicated or dependent on any other part, so even half-working it should function *reasonably* well.

edit: increased clarity on a specific point.

 

[Arkeus]

Obviously, this plan isn't going to hold together entirely, but no one part of it is all that complicated or dependent on any other part, so even half-working it should function *reasonably* well.

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You need to precise first if you want to blow the whistle or not- it's a separate vote from the plan of action.

Nevermind I am blind, but it probably should be shown in a separate vote, given it's a separate vote in the update.

 

[Sirrocco]

You need to precise first if you want to blow the whistle or not- it's a separate vote from the plan of action.

Nevermind I am blind, but it probably should be shown in a separate vote, given it's a separate vote in the update.

Click to shrink...

edited.

 

[redaeth]

Aaaaaand now the whistle blowing vote is also tied. I have a feeling this is going to be one poor confused Little Bee as the voices in her head can't reach a consensus.

 

[Pandemonious Ivy]

Generally, the eyes, nose, mouth, and under the paws are the weakest points on a canine- as far as lack of fur is concerned. This should be conveyed.

Also, let's do []Plan X from now on, so it's easier to tell who has a different idea or not (it's annoying reading through the same semi similar blocks of text for a single difference)

 

[fitzgerald]

[X] Blow your whistle
[X]Analyze specifically its elements, and if we can its Attribute, with the goal of knowing the high/low ones. Analyze it's HP and MP to find out if it is vulnerable to MP draining attacks.
[X] Let Mountain Peak Blossom use Slumber Powder 1 if it can do so away from yourself and your allies, then harden around yourself when we are attacked, hopefully acting like an armour. We should then distract the fox and check whether Peach Blossom or Auntumn shade can even scratch it (with Auntumn shade obviously attacking from stealth).
-[X] Drink a potion if Moutain Peak Blossom is drinking your blood in order to grow to Armor-sized.
-[X] If they can scratch it, hopefully Auntumn Shade's poison could help.
-[X] See if Mountain Peak Blossom can Drain Blood or Drain Spirit it if it has a noticeably lower amount of MP.
[X] Hope to survive until help is there
-[X] If we are winning, Friendship Bond it.

 

[Arkeus]

Adding this to my vote:
[] See if your team can retreat safely to a denser part of the forest where the Fox's mobility will be impaired (and Autumn shade will get his boost).

 

[PineTreeq]

[X] Blow your whistle
[X] Have Mountain Peak Blossom wrap around Peach Blossoms spear and appear like a plant. When Peach Blossom gets close enough to attack it Mountain should drop onto the fox and begin to drain its health and mana. You and Autumn will do your best to harry it along side Peach Blossom.
-[X] Analyze the fox multiple times to get as much information as possible.
-[X] Have Mountain Peak Blossom use Slumber Powder and have Autumn Shade use Poison Claw.
-[X] The instant you can use Friendship Bond, do so.

 

[redaeth]

So... plans are tied again, but we're at least blowing the whistle now? That's.... good?

 

[LeoAbogos]

[X] Blow your whistle
[X]Analyze specifically its elements, and if we can its Attribute, with the goal of knowing the high/low ones. Analyze it's HP and MP to find out if it is vulnerable to MP draining attacks.
[X] See if your team can retreat safely to a denser part of the forest where the Fox's mobility will be impaired (and Autumn shade will get his boost).
[X] Let Mountain Peak Blossom use Slumber Powder 1 if it can do so away from yourself and your allies, then harden around yourself when we are attacked, hopefully acting like an armour. We should then distract the fox and check whether Peach Blossom or Auntumn shade can even scratch it (with Auntumn shade obviously attacking from stealth).
-[X] Drink a potion if Moutain Peak Blossom is drinking your blood in order to grow to Armor-sized.
-[X] If they can scratch it, hopefully Auntumn Shade's poison could help.
-[X] See if Mountain Peak Blossom can Drain Blood or Drain Spirit it if it has a noticeably lower amount of MP.
[X] Hope to survive until help is there
-[X] If we are winning, Friendship Bond it.

Not 100% on the phrasing, but whatever.

 

[Anaerobie]

[X] Blow your whistle
[X]Analyze specifically its elements, and if we can its Attribute, with the goal of knowing the high/low ones. Analyze it's HP and MP to find out if it is vulnerable to MP draining attacks.
[X] See if your team can retreat safely to a denser part of the forest where the Fox's mobility will be impaired (and Autumn shade will get his boost).
[X] Let Mountain Peak Blossom use Slumber Powder 1 if it can do so away from yourself and your allies, then harden around yourself when we are attacked, hopefully acting like an armour. We should then distract the fox and check whether Peach Blossom or Auntumn shade can even scratch it (with Auntumn shade obviously attacking from stealth).
-[X] Drink a potion if Moutain Peak Blossom is drinking your blood in order to grow to Armor-sized.
-[X] If they can scratch it, hopefully Auntumn Shade's poison could help.
-[X] See if Mountain Peak Blossom can Drain Blood or Drain Spirit it if it has a noticeably lower amount of MP.
[X] Hope to survive until help is there
-[X] If we are winning, Friendship Bond it.

 

[redaeth]

I'm extremely leery of the winning plan.

In order to grow Mountain Peak Blossom needs to drain blood, enough blood to wrap around Little Bee enough times to count as armor, which is probably more then her body holds currently. The potions makes us drunk, as well as takes a few minutes to kick in. Intoxication and intense blood loss... sounds like a good recipe for just knocking Little Bee out of the battle completely.

 

[Arkeus]

I'm extremely leery of the winning plan.

In order to grow Mountain Peak Blossom needs to drain blood, enough blood to wrap around Little Bee enough times to count as armor

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It might need to drain blood.

which is probably more then her body holds currently. The potions makes us drunk, as well as takes a few minutes to kick in.

Click to shrink...

The potion restores 300HP over a few minutes. If, say, it's 5 or so minutes, this means 1HP/second, and we only have 49 HP. Given that Moutain Peak, if it does need to drain our blood, is also going to give us a Degen and not a flat amount in one go, it's not going to significantly bring our health down at all (Much more liekly to regen faster than we degen).

Intoxication and intense blood loss... sounds like a good recipe for just knocking Little Bee out of the battle completely.

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Main issue would be if all the recovered blood would be considered as 'tainted' so it would make the intoxication stronger, but we got WoG already that it doesn't work like that. So yeah, we might get some small intoxication. And, guess what? Intoxication takes a while to kick in too, and it doesn't knock someone out, just makes us have best choices.

Darkened, last I checked we had 15MP or so and much less than 49HP. Did we gain something from bonding Moutain Peak?

 

[Darkened]

Darkened, last I checked we had 15MP or so and much less than 49HP. Did we gain something from bonding Moutain Peak?

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Omake reward gave you 2 stamina, which gave you 2 HP and 2MP. It should have been 47HP before that.

 

[redaeth]

So yeah, we might get some small intoxication. And, guess what? Intoxication takes a while to kick in too, and it doesn't knock someone out, just makes us have best choices.

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We are ten years old. We are small. We are going to be suffering from blood loss. And we have never even touched alcohol before. We're going to be drunk almost instantly.

 

[Darkened]

Calling the vote.

Man, that was close.

 

[PineTreeq]

This world rarely works on real-world logic. Who (other than Darkened) knows if the "Drunk" status effect takes into account age or body size? It may work off of vitality, which we are OK in.

 

[Arkeus]

This world rarely works on real-world logic. Who (other than Darkened) knows if the "Drunk" status effect takes into account age or body size? It may work off of vitality, which we are OK in.

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Our Stamina is almost certainly what it worked on, and our small-size/malrounished is already taken into account in our Stamina 16 (10 is normal adult human).

 

[rcnr]

He explained earlier, our age and years of malnourishment are taken into account in our Stamina number, which is what's used to determine how well we can hold our alcohol.

 

[Arkeus]

So, huh, we apparently bought a 30XP skill and went in XP-debt:

XP to Level: 14/30 Current XP: -21

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[Darkened]

Before anyone can do anything, you grab the whistle and blow for all you're worth. There's no sound, but you can feel it pulse and you drop it back into your pocket, lifting your spear up. You're not fast enough. Reacting to the whistle, or just because you stand out the most in the group, the fox lunges toward you in a steely blur.

It crashes into the ground in front of you, studying you with hungry, intelligent eyes, before its paw arcs out lazily and sends you crashing to the ground, three bleeding gashes torn in your stomach.

-6HP​

And then something rockets past you and a pony-tailed cannonball smashes the fox upside its head. The fox staggers, and spits out a mouthful of blood even as Peach Blossom stumbles to the ground, catches herself and readies to fight.

"Lure it into the woods!"

Autumn can use stealth and its large size could hurt the fox between the trees. Besides, time spent running is time for help to arrive, if anyone's coming. The foxes tails spin out, elongating and hardening, but Peach Blossom slips between them gracefully, then turns and kicks off the ground, dashing into the woods with a single out of control leap.

Autumn dashes into the shadows, and you follow as quickly as you can with Mountain Peak Blossom around your neck. While chasing, you manage to catch the fox with analyze, trying to focus on its elements and its HP, but the skill doesn't give you anything you didn't see before.

For a moment you think Peach Blossom's going to escape. As impossibly fast as that fox is for its side, it might as well be moving still next to Peach Blossom's jumping speed. Except... She can't turn while she's jumping. There's a staggering crack, and then a groaning sound as the tree Peach Blossom hit crashes to the ground.

"Owwww...." she compounds her mistake by dropping her weapon and bending to grab it while the Steel-Tipped Fox opens its mouth and spews a stream of Blue Flame toward your dragoon.

"Analyze" You pump your legs, dashing forward as fast as you can, but there's no way to block off the Flame.

"Eh, Ah wait a second..." Impossibly fast, Peach Blossom bends out of the way, diving into a roll and smothering the flames that catch on her shirt. For all that she looks fine, Peach Blossom doesn't stand up again, curling into a ball and screaming as she clutches her arm.

"Peak, Grow and Harden as much as you can! Hey ugly, over HERE!" orders transform into insults as you throw your spear ineffectually, catching the fox in the flank and sending it spinning to face you. Good, she's annoying, but you can't let Peach Blossom just die like that. Thorns puncture your skin, draining precious blood to fuel Mountain Peak Blossom's growth.

-10HP​

The Fox inhales, blue sparks lighting up its teeth as Mountain Peak Blossom plants its roots in you and explodes into a flurry of vines and flowers. Before you can worry that they'll burn up, the vines solidify, vibrant greens turning stone gray. You try to throw yourself out of the way of the flame, and stagger backwards instead, Mountain Peak Blossom's sheer mass. The fire catches both of you dead on.

You think you're going to die, but the firm network of vines protects you, wrapping you in a stony egg as they start to melt under the intense heat. Oh so gently, Mountain Peak Blossom extends a single flower to brush against your cheek, then pulls away entirely, more growth pushing you back away.

No, no. You can only watch miserably, tears forming at the corners of your eyes as your adorable little glutton burns to ash.

Uncaring of the monster looming before you, you jump toward Mountain Peak Blossom's reduced body, blotting out every ember you can and standing over it. Y-you wanted it to help protect you, but it's family, it can't die for you, leave you behind like that. Hastily you grab a health potion and smash it, pouring out the contents of the vial onto Mountain Peak's twitching vines.

Then you lift your eyes to meet the Fox, staring it down with everything you have. It's too fast, too strong, too tough. You can't kill it, but you don't need to. How many more seconds do you need to last for help to arrive? Ten, twenty? A minute. You'll make it, somehow. Snarling, you step forward. You seem to have lost your spear at some point, but you'll do this with your bare hands if you need to.

For a second the fox hesitates, stepping back beneath your presence. Then, in that moment of distraction, the black blur that's been biding its time for a single decisive blow—just like the great hunter you know he'll be some day—appears out of thin air. Autumn dashes past the fox's side without stopping, sickly green light trails from his claws. Surprised, the fox can't even begin to react as a paw sinks into his fur, light pouring through it. For a moment you can almost see that poison pouring into the Fox's blood-stream, weakening it, sapping it to an inevitable grave. You've won!

A cornered beast is the most dangerous. Autumn pulls to a stop to face his prey and the fox's tails swell, steel tips flashing into massive metallic drills that spear into Autumn from each side before the kitten can even hope to dodge. They bat Autumn to the ground, pulling away dipped in dark red blood. Autumn doesn't get up.

You look at them: Peach Blossom whose never been really hurt before, burned. She might be able to use the arm again. Mountain Peak Blossom is more black than it's green or red. The health potion seems to be seeping in, but the flower doesn't even have enough energy to drain your blood and heal itself. Autumn: a bloody mess in a small crater on the forest floor.

You've lost friends before. You've been hurt, been bullied, been beaten. But it was supposed to change. The last months have been nice for the first time in forever and you won't let things go back to the way they were. Some tamer you are, some leader, to end up like this. You raise a claw, and bring it down. Something snaps inside you. Rampaging Blood was learned. Chimera was learned

You step forward slowly, your hair stretching to whip the fox's fail. It turns toward you snarling, then falls to a hesitant yip, before lashing out with a blast of flame. Slow. You lift your paws to shield your face and barrel straight through the firestorm, tendrils lashing out to either side, wrapping the fox's mouth and slamming it shut. It struggles against you, strength against strength and learns how weak it is. And then you're there before it. Stony claws lashing out, again and again. Cutting it, hurting it for everyone it's taken from you. Your fingers jam. The claws aren't quite growing right, but you keep slashing, keep cutting until your arms won't move any more. The fox struggles away, steel fur giving way to stone as it struggles to move. One more to end this. One more step.

The world comes crashing down around you as you sink into the arms of a masked man. When did he get here?

+30XP​

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(Aftermath will come in a day or so. Going to update character sheets and call it a night.)

 

[redaeth]

Huh. That... was bad. Our companions are injured at the very least, we are in XP debt now, and we have a negative status effect thanks to Chimera. Only one piece of good news. We leveled. Otherwise that sucked.

 

[rcnr]

Peach Blossom's perception coming into play. We do have life affinity, once we get out of exp debt...

I am incredibly happy that we invested in things that help us not die, since pretty much any other beasts would've been scorch marks and/or stains on the ground after that.

 

[Darkened]

You got Chimera a solid 10-15 levels before it was even supposed to show up in the supplementary skill list!

And given that the cost to use your full set of transformations is like 80MPish right now, that's not a bad bargain at all.

 

[redaeth]

You got Chimera a solid 10 levels before it was even supposed to show up in the supplementary skill list!

Click to shrink...

Not bad. The downside to Chimera seems pretty steep though. I guess we'll learn just how bad it is in the aftermath and whether free skills during a Rampage is worth it. The fact that it allowed us to punch 13 levels above our own level tells us that it is a really, really good panic button though.

 

[rcnr]

It's not like our physical capabilities are our strong suit anyway, and we have in our skill tree the ability ro regrow limbs. Chimera isn't just really good, it's incredible.

We used 80 MP worth of transformations back there. That's insane.

 

[Arkeus]

Also, apparently, the big mistake in my plan was.... we can't move when armored by Stone!Moutain Peak Blossom. Damn strength is too low

 

[Darkened]

Sheets are currentish. HP/MP/Status as well as life/death will not be shown until the second half of the update.

Those in your party that lived will gain one of the following skills:

Rending Claws 1: Autumn's Claws and Fangs are as sharp and durable as a low grade iron weapon.
Nourishing Blood 1: Transferm any amount of HP to an ally at a 1 to 1 ratio. May have negative effects if used on humans 3MP
Drain Spirit 2: (Same text as Drain Spirit 1)

 

[redaeth]

Rending Claws 1: Autumn's Claws and Fangs are as sharp and durable as a low grade iron weapon.
Nourishing Blood 1: Transferm any amount of HP to an ally at a 1 to 1 ratio. May have negative effects if used on humans 3MP
Drain Spirit 2: (Same text as Drain Spirit 1)

Click to shrink...

Oh good, both of our monsters lived!

I'm sure Peach is fine.

 

[Darkened]

Oh good, both of our monsters lived!

Click to shrink...

Those in your party that lived will gain one of the following skills:

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Did they now?