Sandy

Upon invitation, five heroes enter the library at Heroica Hall to meet Byblos, their sixth party member. The Metasimian librarian seemed nervous and fidgety, but smiled kindly when he saw the visitors. "Oh, is it time already? Hey, we're off to another adventure together, Atramor and Namyrra! Good to see the rest of you as well. Althior, would you be kind enough to act as the party leader? We're up against demons if the Sand Queen's visions are correct, and you seem the best equipped to handle them. Me and Pandemonicon will do our best to help you out, of course. I promise I won't cause such a hastle as I did in Azzurat..." Byblos joins the party! Party: Althior Emorith, The Dragonslayer (K-Nut) 36 years old male (undead) human Prophet *PARTY LEADER* Level 55 2/5 *Clairvoyance* *Glossolalia* *Intimidation* *Permanently Transcended* *Immune to Petrified, Cursed, Bound, and Slowed* *Absorbs Earth* *Immune to Ice and Darkness* Power: 90 (55+35) (Spellpower: 100 (55+35+10)) Defense: 12 (2+5+5) Health: 77/77 (5+55+15+1+1) Ether: 93/93 (5+55+15+10+4+2+2) Gold: 955 Equipment: Mythril Scepter of Divine Affinity (WP:35, Has ⅙ chance to deal cursed effect on successful spells and ⅙ chance to deal blessed effect on successful healing, staff), Magician's Gloves (+10 spellpower, suitable to mages; handwear), Winged Sandals (protects from bound and slowed effects, footwear), Ethereal Cloak (SP:2, Max Ether +4; backwear), Coat Hanger (allows wearing a second bodywear artifact regardless of the amount limit for artifacts; accessory), Robe of the Seneschal (SP:5; wearer absorbs earth, ice, and darkness- elemental damage and is immune to petrified; suitable to clerics, mages, chi monks, necromancers, scholars, and weather mages; bodywear), Robes of Illumination (SP: 5, +10 Max Ether, wearer is permanently transcended, suitable to prophets; bodywear), Black Hat (wearer is immune to cursed, grants Intimidation) Inventory: Weapons: Staff of the Supreme Necromancer (WP:25; damages undead; +5 level to raised undead; suitable to necromancers; staff) Artifacts:Tin Helmet (immunity to confused and afraid, headwear), Lieutenant's Helm (SP:3, protects from fragile; headwear), Pink Ribbon (Max Ether +3, grants immunity to sealed, afraid, and doomed; accessory), Lens of Speed Reading (allows one scroll to be used per round in addition to a normal action, suitable for classes that have ether; accessory), Medal of Glory (Wearer earns triple experience; accessory), Counterstrike Gloves (if the wearer is damaged by a free hit, they counter with strength equal to their level; handwear), Sterile Gloves (protects from poisoned and bleeding; handwear) Spell Items: Ruby (Fire), Aquamarine (Water), Garnet (Earth), Sapphire (Wind), Opal (Ice), Topaz (Lightning), Emerald (Wood), Diamond (Light), Amethyst (Darkness), Scroll of Frailty (Enables casting the fragile-effect to the target, causing it to take double damage for the next three rounds. Each casting has a 50/50 chance of success and costs 1 ether.), Scroll of Love (Enables casting the enamored-effect to the target, making it unable to damage the caster for three rounds. Each casting has a 50/50 chance of success and costs 1 ether.), Scroll of Luck (Enables casting the lucky-effect to the target for one battle. Each casting has a 50/50 chance and costs 10 ether.), Begone With The Winds (Grants the holder access to the Weather Mage expert job class upon reaching Level 30), Geode Consumables: 3 Potions, 10 Grand Potions, 6 Tonics, 4 Grand Tonics, 3 Ether Cores, 6 Remedies, 2 Elixirs, Phoenix Incense, 11 Meads, 5 Smelling Salts, Smoke Bomb, Venom, Garnet Lamp of Summoning, Skeleton Decoy, Feather of Lithe (Makes the user nimble for three rounds), Feather of Flight (Allows the user to flee from the battle when used.), 2 Milks (restores 15 health and 15 ether upon consumption) Tools etc.: Bedroll, Pickaxe, Magnifying Glass, 4 Bones, Deaddy Bear (Causes 45 damage and doomed but has 1/6 chance to break whenever used), Sauce Pan (Tool; Can be used with a Potion, outside of battle, once per quest to restore full HP), Cornucopia (increases the holder's gold by 25% at the end of each quest). Atramor Gibbin, the Fiery Champion and the Serpent Skinner (CallMePie) 33 year old male human Rogue Thief Level 42 1/5 *Immune to all elements and doomed* *Negative effects last one round* *Sticky Fingers* *Kingpin* *Nimble* Power: 72 (42 + 30) Defense: 10 (4+6) Health: 80/80 (7+41+20+6+6*) Gold: 425 Equipment: Living Mythril Claws (WP: 30, double WP against humanoids, double damage against vermin, +1 WP after every successful hit, resets at end of current quest, light elemental, dual strike, daggers), Amulet of the Court (Negative effects last only one round on the wearer, accessory, suitable for anyone), Rat's Hide (SP: 4, backwear, suitable for anyone), Galactic Armor (SP: 6, +6 max health, immune to water, wood, lightning, fire, earth, wind, ice, light, darkness, and doomed, bodywear, suitable for anyone), Order Imperial's Assassin Cowl (Immune to darkness, wearer is nimble, headwear; suitable for assassins, chi monks, infiltrators, rogue thieves, and paragons), Sticky Gloves (Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up), suitable for rogues and beast warriors; handwear.) Inventory Weapons: Pheles Kris (WP: 20, wielder has a 1/2 chance to generate an Aura while equipped, doubling the user's maximum health but drawing all attacks to them, lightning, fire, earth, wind, ice, light, darkness elemental dagger), Robust Shield (SP: 12, shield) Artifacts: Bracers of Insatiable Avarice (Power +2; user gains 25 Gold for every enemy he kills, handwear, suitable for hunters, berserkers, battle mages, beast warriors, dragoons, marauders, regulators, and skirmishers), Twitzle the Canary (Remedies poisoned when used on target, bird familiar), Helmet of Azzurat (SP: 4, immune to poison, headwear, suitable for anyone) Spell Items: Scroll of Arc Frailty (50/50 chance to inflict the fragile-effect to all enemies for ether equal to the number of enemies), Scroll of Fire Armor (50/50 chance to conjure a layer of fiery armor over the target, giving them a 50/50 chance to deal the burned by 10-effect when hit by Damage or Special Damage at the cost of 5 ether), Scroll of Ice Armor (50/50 chance to conjure a layer of ice armor over the target, giving them a 50/50 chance to deal the stunned-effect when hit by Damage or Special Damage at the cost of 5 ether), Scroll of Tongues (Grants the user the Glossolalia Job Trait. Each casting lasts for a limited amount of time and costs 10 ether), Scroll of the Chasm (When cast, has a 50/50 chance to tame a Dark monster for the next six rounds at the cost of 10 ether), Topaz, Ruby, Amethyst Consumables: 6 Bones, Dirt Bomb, 2 Elixirs, 3 Ether Cores, Fenghuang Incense (After being consumed, automatically revives all party members with full health once when knocked out; cannot revive targets that are already knocked out.) Fire Bomb, 1 Grand Potion, 11 Grand Tonics, Health Core, 2 Meads, Nostrum, Phoenix Essence, 3 Phoenix Incenses, Potion, 4 Remedies, Smelling Salts, Smoke Bomb, 4 Venoms, Water Bomb Tools/Treasure: Decamodifier (Transforms an enemy with a quarter or less health left into a Decamon card when used, if there is a corresponding card. The monster will not drop anything if it is modified. Tool.), Flint and Steel (Handy for starting fires), Pickaxe, Shovel, Rope, Magic Shovel, 2 Mythril Shards Decamon Deck (36): Volt Ant (Electric 1), Tweetybird (Flying 1), x2 Brains-in-a-Jar (Ethereal 2), x2 Barghest (Electric 2), Vampire Bat (Flying 3), Tangleweed (Plant 3), x2 Dune Ghoul (Rock 3), Simsalamander (Fiery 3), Sylph (Electric 3), Succubus (Fiery 4), x2 Holy Cow (Luminous 4), 2x Thunderbird (Electric 4), x2 Death's Rose (Plant 4) Shedu (Rock 5), Automaton (Electric 5), Night Mare (Dark 5), Mushroomhead (Plant 5), Unicorn (Luminous 5), Aquaphant (Aquatic 6), Electriphant (Electric 6), Cave Troll (Rock 6), Dryad (Plant 6), Sandman (Ethereal 6), Woodwose (Plant 7), Carcinos (Aquatic 8), Stone Golem (Rock 8), Storm Elemental (Electric 8), Pegasus (Luminous 8), Cloud Gigas (Electric 9), Phoenix (Fiery 9), Treant (Plant 9) Hybros (played by JimButcher) 55-year-old male imp Marauder Level 44 4/5 *Permanently Hastened**Immune to Cursed, Asleep, Blinded, Confused, Fragile, Weakened, Enamored, Slowed, Minimized, Poisoned, Bleeding* *Absorbs all elements* Power: 96 & 77 (44+49+3) & (44+30+3) Defense: 3 Health: 70/70 (7+43+15+5) Gold: 702 Equipment: Sword of Ancestral Hatred (WP:49, deals Fragile, darkness-, fire-, wind-, and ice-elemental, causes fragile, gains 1/4 WP every kill made with it; longsword), Mythril Zoot's Reaper (WP:30, deals Cursed and Poisoned by 7; longsword, suitable to Hybros), Golden Armor (user is permanently Hastened and Cursed, fire-, water-, earth-, wind-, ice-, lightning-, wood-, darkness-, light-elemental, immune to Asleep, Blinded, Confused, Fragile, and Weakened; bodywear), Sterile Gloves (immune to Poisoned and Bleeding handwear), Crystal Shoes (Immunity becomes Absorption, immune to Enamored, Slowed and Minimized; footwear), Nondescript Cape (SP:3, immune to Cursed; backwear), Phoenix Emblem (Automatically revives the user with one health if knocked out, once per battle, accessory) Abilities: First Breath (Hybros may sacrifice a turn of combat to focus and gain +3 power. Power resets at the end of a battle or when the hero is KO'd), Dragon's Heart Flame (Once per quest, Hybros may spend a round reviving a KO'd ally with full health. The ally will also receive the blessed and lucky effects) Inventory: Weapons: Iustitia (WP:12, deals Blinded and Sealed; light- and earth-elemental +sealed; dagger), Heavy Flail (WP:5, deals Fragile; mace), Twin Kunai (WP:6, dual strike; darkness-elemental daggers), Hollow Dagger (WP:6, hollow [Nostrum], deals Confused, water-elemental +confused; dagger), Clock Cog (WP:14; throwing weapon), Banana Bladerang (WP:9, damage all; throwing weapon), Spinning Bolas (WP: 5 deals Slowed, but the effect is removed when retrieved; throwing weapon), Skirmisher's Shield (SP:10; shield) Artifacts: Coat Hanger (Allows for a second body wear; accessory), Lichen Armor (The wearer’s ether is counted as additional health if health is depleted; suitable to classes with ether; bodywear), Gauntlets of Recklessness (hits become mortal hits, adding lost health to the attack power; suitable to barbarians; handwear), Sticky Gloves (gains 50% more gold, suitable for Rogues, handwear), Baron's Epaulets (Suitable for short heroes, grants Command over short NPCs), Dastan Armor (SP: 3 Bodywear, Immune to Earth and Fire, +2 SP for all other Dastan Equipment, Suitable for Knights, Regulators, Winged Warriors, Dragoons, and Vindicators) Consumables: 20x Potion, 17x Grand Potion, 7x Health Core, Hyper Arc Tonic, 3x Elixir, 2x Arc Elixir, 9x Remedy, 3x Neutralizer, 2x Purging Water, Tiger Balm, Phoenix Essence, 3x Phoenix Incense, Fenghuang Essence (After being consumed, automatically revives the target with full health once when knocked out; cannot revive targets that are already knocked out), 2x Last Resort, 5x Nostrum, 8x Mead, Soma, 5x Mulled Wine, 2x Cloud of Celerity, 2x Bravado Brew, Smile of the Gods, Earthwyrm Fang (Grants the encouraged-, lucky-, reinforced-, and blinded- effects for the duration of one battle), 2x Minimizing Dust, Bad Breath, 2x Wyvern's Breath, Gold Ring (Worth 15 gold; can be given to someone to make them enamored with the giver), 4 Smoke Bombs, 2 Holy Bombs, 2x Fog Bomb, Mystic Bomb, 2x Bone, Skeleton Decoy, 4x Feather of White (Allows the user to hide for up to three rounds, avoiding Free Hits. The effect ends if the user targets an enemy) Others: Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Mythril Shard, Opal Monk Pretzel and His 99 Pieces, the Super Sleuth (Played by Palathadric) 463-year-old male "hermit" Artisan Level 35 *reinforced* Power: 47 35 + 10 + 2* Defense: 32 Health: 63/63 9 + 15 + 34 + 3 + 2** Gold: 2045 Equipment: Dual Staff (WP: 10; Ice, Lightning, Fire, Wind, Light; Deals *Bleeding 3*; Dual Strike; Staff), Darksteel Armour (SP: 6; Max. Health +3; Bodywear), Armour of Dark Arts (SP: 10; Takes up: Bodywear, Handwear, Footwear slots; counts as one artifact; Suitable to Knights, Dragoons, and Skirmishers), Marauder’s Mantle (Grants permanent reinforced effect; Suitable to Marauders; Backwear), Soul Link Chain (Allows the user to pair up with another party member, each of them gaining all the effects that the other has. The partner has to equip the chain as well (ie. one chain can be shared by two people); Accessory) Inventory: Weapons: Flying Cross (WP: 11; Darkness; Broomstick), Splinter Broom (WP: 9; 1/2 chance to deal *Stunned*; defies SP; Broomstick), Whip of Savage Overlords (WP: 9; ⅙ chance of inflicting the *Slowed* effect; Whip), Steak (WP: 1, instantly kills vampires on successful hits; suitable for all), Staff of the Necromancer (WP: 12; damages Undead; +1 Level to raised Undead; Staff), Shadeaux Mace (WP: 9; deals *Fragile* effect, Mace) Artifacts: Strategist's Shako (+5 power while in the front row, +5 SP while in the back; Headwear), Duplovian Helmet (SP:2; Immune to Magic and Healing; Headwear), Burning Knuckle Helmet (SP: 10; Wearer suffers Burning -3 effect; Suitable for Anyone; Headwear), Bumble Fanshirt (SP: 1, Vermin with level less than half of the wearers are scared and won't directly attack the wearer; Bodywear), Order Imperial Prophet's Armor (SP: 8; Grants Command; Suitable for Prophets; Bodywear), Duke's Coat-of-Arms (SP: 5, Protects against *Fragile* and all *Poisons*; Suitable for Knights, Dragoons, Skirmishers and Regulators, Bodywear), Cloak of the Grand Vizier (SP:1 multiplied by the number of party members; backwear), Cloak of the Barbaric Runecaster (SP: 3; wearer creates and deploys a Skeleton Decoy at the start of every battle; Suitable for Battle Mages, Necromancers, and Scholars; Backwear), Ethereal Cloak (SP: 2, Max Ether +4; Backwear), Rock Gauntlets (Grants the wearer Iron Fist at no ether cost; Suitable for anyone; Handwear), Counterstrike Gloves (Handwear), Soothing Slippers (Meditation restores 5 ether; Footwear), Shackles of War (Accessory), Lens of Speed Reading (allows a scroll to be read in addition to a normal action; accessory, suitable for scroll users), The Good Book (Grants the Convert job trait - the user can turn any allied or neutral NPC to their faith, gaining their respect- ; user gains 10 gold from each conversion; suitable to Monk Pretzel only; accessory) Spell Items: 2 Amethysts, 2 Emeralds, Garnet, 2 Aquamarines, Diamond, Ruby, Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Blindness x 2, Scroll of Confusion x 2, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Weakening, Scroll of Minimizing (Has 1/2 chance of causing the minimized-effect on the target; costs 10 ether.), Scroll of Arc Sleep, Scroll of Elemental Aura (Enables the user to cause the target's attacks deal only elemental damage corresponding to a gem available to the user for the duration of one battle. Each casting has a 50/50 chance of success and costs 5 ether) Consumables: 8 Potions, 16 Grand Potions, Cherry (Restores 1 ether), 2 Tonics, Ether Core, 10 Remedies, 3 Neutralizers, Grand Elixir (Restores full health and ether to target and remedies all negative effects), 2 Phoenix Incenses, 5 Phoenix Essences, 4 Meads, 2 Smelling Salts, 2 Nostrums, Soma, Mulled Wine, Dragon Scale (lucky & blessed), Titan Heart (encouraged & inspired), Tiger Balm, 5 Venoms, 5 Deadly Venoms, 2 Paralyzing Venoms, 3 Jinxy Juices, 5 Smoke Bombs, 2 Fire Bombs, Holy Bomb, Military Grade Fire Bomb, 2 Blind Bombs, 2 Seal Bombs, 2 Sleep Bombs, 6 Bones, Raw Meat (+5 max. health upon consumption), Crimson Haze (Causes a weapon to deal the Poisoned by 7 and Cursed effects permanently), Strong Wasabi (-2 Poisoned permanently), Grating Stone Tools: Bedroll, Pickaxe, Magnifying Glass, Telescope, Shovel, Magic Compass, Magic Shovel (will always find something when used, limited to three uses per quest) Namyrra Uq (Quarryman) 1337 years old female Fenarian Necromancer Level 51 1/5 *Immune to Sealed, Slowed, Bound, Confused, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Earth* *Gains Triple EXP* Power: 96 (106 for spells) (51+45, +10 spellpower) Defense: 10 Health: 65/65 (5+50+5+5) Ether: 80/80 (5+50+1+5+4+5+10) Gold: 698 Equipment: Crystal Mace (WP: 45 (5*gems imbued); Fire-, Ice-, Wind-, Water-, Lightning-, Earth-, Wood-, Light-, and Darkness-elemental; Mace), Robe of the Archmagi (SP:3, Ether:5. immune to Sealing, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Earth, bodywear), Medal of Glory (gain triple XP; accessory), Ethereal Cloak (SP:2, Max. Ether +4, backwear), Fanged Helm (SP:5, headwear), Winged Sandals (Immune to bound and slowed, footwear), Magician's Touch (Spellpower +10, Ether +10) Inventory: Weapons: Mythril Empyreal Staff (WP:28), Nocturne Flute (WP: 6; inflicts the Asleep effect; Instrument), Pongcanis Shield (SP: 7; Shield) Artifacts: Gold Dragon Crown (max Ether +6; immune to Stunned; suitable for anyone; Headwear), Desert Cloak (immune to Fire; suitable for anyone; Backwear), Water Canteen (Carries 3 portions of water; Accessory), Cobweb Cowl (immune to Sudden Death; suitable for anyone; Backwear), Winged Sandals (immune to Bound and Slowed; suitable for anyone; Footwear), Paper Doll (immune against Hexed, Accessory) Spell Items: Amethyst, Emerald, Topaz, Garnet, Diamond, Sapphire, Ruby, Aquamarine, Scroll of Blinding, Scroll of Arc Blinding, Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Weakening, Naamah's Hourglass (Randomly causes either Hastened or Slowed to the target at the cost of 3 Ether), Jade Lamp of Summoning (summons Mediq, restoring health equal to the level of the summoner at the cost of 5 Ether) Consumables: Potions (10), Grand Potions (4), Health Core, Tonics (9), Ether Cores (3), Remedies (12), Phoenix Essences (5), Phoenix Incenses (2), Mead (13), Smelling Salts (4), Nostrum (5), Ambrosia, Dragon Scale (lucky & blessed), Titan Heart (encouraged & inspired) (2), Deadly Venom (3), Smoke Bombs (2), Holy Bomb, Water Bomb (14), Lightning Bomb (14), Dirt Bomb (3), Aeolus Bomb, Rudra Bomb, Flash Bomb, Demon Repellant (Makes the user impervious to direct attacks from demons for one battle, unless the user is the last one standing), Soul Cage (Doomed-effect to all combatants), Skeleton Decoys (2), Bones (17) Tools etc.: Pickaxe, Bedroll Byblos (NPC, controlled by K-Nut) 30 years old male Metasimian Scholar Level 32 *Arcane Wisdom* *Well-read* *Multilingual* Power: 64 (32+32) Health: 47/47 (6+31+10) Ether: 50/50 (9+31+10) Gold: 250 Equipment: Pandemonicon (WP:32 {equal to user's level}, inflicts hexed on demons and doomed on humanoids; throwing weapon; suitable to Byblos only), Wizened Robe (Max. Health +10, Max. Ether +10; bodywear) Inventory: Scrolls: Scroll of Armor Sundering, Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Disenchantment, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Poisoning, Scroll of Sealing, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Weakening

OoC: Sorry, I have neglected this topic for some reason. "My apologies, but I can only give you 70 gold for the Carapace. It is not the most appealing piece of armor out there, you see... That Beast Totem on the other hand looks exquisitely rare, and I will gladly pay you 100 gold for it!" "How about 100 gold for that armor? And 50 gold for the helmet? I would hate having to sell them overpriced, after all." "The business is booming actually, thank you for asking! All these looming disasters make people splurge on protective gear, which is fine by me. I do wonder what's going on with that new, sinister house that was built on that alley, though..." Fabian nods to a distant corner of the Marketplace, where a narrow black building stood wedged between two buildings. There was a sign on the door that said "OPENING SOON". "Looks like we have a deal, Litte Miss Fairy." Fabian handed 30 gold to Kheyli.

A note was posted on the Quest Board: CHOSEN PARTICIPANTS: ~Atramor Gibbin, Level 42 1/5 Rogue Thief (CallMePie) ~Monk Pretzel, Level 35 Artisan (Palathadric) ~Namyrra Uq, Level 51 1/5 Necromancer (Quarryman) ~Althior Emorith, Level 55 2/5 Prophet (K-Nut) ~Hybros, Level 44 4/5 Marauder (JimButcher) Below it was another note, written in haste.

I saw this at the Model Expo, and even among the huge cityscape you guys built, this one caught my eyes. I really have to steal that amazing boat-window idea for one of my own buildings some time. ;D

Here's the new and improved Paragon: The changes I made were: - Changing HITs to "SMITEs" that multiply the whole power, not just WP, and also merit gold if the target is defeated by the strike. - "Veni Vidi Vici" also causes double damage to all enemies. - Truce is now optional and affects the following round if so chosen. That should be enough to bring the class up to par with Prophet, I think.

Based on the discussion here, I will add the "gain gold upon kill" effect on all of the Paragon's hits, and make "Truce" optional and affect the next round instead of the current one, to make it more strategic. I hope that makes it a more appealing choice. Let's return to Prophet once we get more experience from the class.

Thank you for hosting the quest, Palathadric, and I hope you had fun with it despite the hiccups on the way. Hosting isn't easy, as you certainly noticed, but I really have to applaud you for trying and doing your best! The battles were challenging and the loot was plentiful, so thank you for those as well. I have to give you some pointers for future's sake, though: - Make sure your players stay on track with the quest. Mysteries are cool and fun to solve, but too much confusion can be detrimental. There's a fine line there. - Work on keeping the storyline coherent. The last "twist" with us chasing after Cheapy did not affect anything nor lead to anything (I was expecting at least a battle with the deceitful rat), and thus did it make any sense. Throughout the quest the motives of the NPCs were unclear - especially the fake Pimky who did not even make another appearance (at least to my recollection). The separate incidents didn't really connect well because of that. - Don't ask players what they are going to do if there is only one choice. This happened A LOT during this quest. You asked us where we wanted to go several times, when there was only one possible way. Asking if players want to prepare is okay when there's a battle coming up, but it's totally unnecessary if there's not. Anyway, take this as a learning experience. I'd really like to see you host again!

OoC: No boss battle? Let's forget spending those consumables then... "So this is what being a hero means..." Quintessa mused. "Running around headlessly doing errands for no cause, but still getting rich from it? We have to say this new life of Ours isn't half bad after all!" After leaving the animals, Quintessa dealt out some more cookies to her quest mates. "Chocolate chip, here you go! We want to express Our sincerest thanks for accompanying Us. Let Us meet at another adventure on another occasion, shall we?"

"Yes, we shall get to the bottom of this at Pemo's place. The truth will come out, one way or another!" Quintessa also tries to catch the rat in case he slips from Keliim's grasp.

No, because the black market prices are negotiated anyway, they're not fixed. I don't see why not. Their job trait would effectively be "Humanoid Talk", then.

Quintessa drinks both her mead and nostrum before readying her rolling pin. "Make the vermin squeal", she says to Keliim.

Quintessa reaches to scratch the cat. "We would much rather have a cat accompany us than a reeking rat, so by all means, let her tag along."

You have a point, and now that we've seen both classes in action the imbalance is evident. Would you guys rather have "Veni Vidi Vici" deal more damage or have additional effects? And would "Truce" work if it was optional? Or would you rather have something else replacing it, like some sort of gold-gaining ability?

Wow, the boars are great! The ent eyes really give them a properly frenzied look. I really like the eagle ballista as well, even though it would suit armored "high elves" better than the type of "wood elves" you have used.

"We do not think we have much of a choice but to follow the cat's clue, do we?" Quintessa mused, eager to press on.

CURRENT SIGN-UPS: 1. Atramor Gibbin, Level 42 1/5 Rogue Thief (CallMePie) 2. Monk Pretzel, Level 35 Artisan (Palathadric) 3. Namyrra Uq, Level 51 1/5 Necromancer (Quarryman) 4. Althior Emorith, Level 55 2/5 Prophet (K-Nut) 5. Hybros, Level 44 4/5 Marauder (JimButcher) 6. Thalion Dwinlas, Level 33 Mystic Knight (-obelix-) QM Note: It shouldn't take too long of a wait now. I still have the renovation issue going on but it looks like it'll be finished soon.

"Ooh, We knew there was something wily about that vermin from the get-go!" Quintessa fumed, losing her posture and temper. She slammed her rolling pin into the wall, sending chips flying. "After him!"

Quintessa leans to inspect the shoes closer and then nods approvingly. "Those look like a surprisingly well-made pair of shoes to have been found on a country house. We would be happy to relieve you of them, if you would be so kind." She then follows Keliim out of the house. "We should take that statuette back to the animals, shouldn't we?"

After finishing her sausage and carefully wiping her face on a napkin, Quintessa follows her party mates to the empty room. She wanders to the desk and checks if she can find anything interesting on it or from the drawers.

No, only successfully completed quests count.

"Might We suggest we stop to eat and rest after that battle? Here, take these goodies We found at the pantry. Might We request the Pirate's Patch and Perfume in return?" Quintessa sits on the bedroll (even though she doesn't need to, just out of comfort) and eats a Greasy Sausage to bolster her health while she divides the other items to her companions. Kheyli: Milk (Restores 15 Health and Ether), Big Apple (+1 Max HP when consumed), Bread (Like a Tasty Pretzel...just longer) Keliim: Big Apple (+1 Max HP when consumed), Bunch of 10 Cherries (Each Cherry restores 1 ether when consumed), Chocolate Bar (Gives the Nimble and *Poisoned* Effect when consumed) Cree: Greasy Sausage (+2 Max HP when consumed), Fatty Pizza (+2 SP for one battle when consumed)

I understand you in that it would have been fairer if the option to jump in was given to everyone in the form of sign-ups, but if Endgame has already agreed upon this with Flipz and Asphalt previously, then it wouldn't have made much difference. QMs are free to choose their players however they like during sign-ups, in any case. We just need more content to this game so nobody feels left out. I unfortunately cannot start my quest until I get this water leak repair thing out of the way...

Quintessa attacks YarYar once more from the back row.

"Miss Kheyli, please don't! You won't survive if he hits you, or uses his special skill. Attack Emilie instead and let Us take the ranged hit."

"Kheyli dear, the chair is already broken, there is no need for you to keep beating it. Focus on the girls instead", Quintessa noted patiently. "We shall take the hit for the party, Sir Keliim, so let Us act first." Quintessa gulps down a Potion while standing in the back row. Suggested Battle Order: Quintessa Keliim Kheyli