Bumping this after quite a while, in the market for something new! I've added some edits to the original post, including the new prompt:
THE HERO WHO REFUSED THE GRIMDARK WORLD
Zeroth
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"You're me from the future, and you came back to the past to keep me from suffering like you did?" asks my childhood self. "Something like that," I reply as I load the gun.
5 days ago
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"You're me from the future, and you came back to the past to keep me from suffering like you did?" asks my childhood self. "Something like that," I reply as I load the gun.
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6 days ago
That bot left a number and email. Someone should cast "Unending Newsletters" for them.
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28 days ago
Writing horror is super difficult because it requires telling a story while shutting up at the same time. It's fear of the UNKNOWN, not fear of the well-written descriptions.
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2 mos ago
Say "thanks," when they compliment you and smile. Watch more of what's going on around you instead of staying inside your head. If eye contact's hard, stare at her forehead.
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2 mos ago
@ColdAtlus: Cheems.
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Bio
On CST time, United States. Typically busy most of the week and do most posting/replying on weekends.
Most Recent Posts
In
Zeroth's 1x1 Interest Thread (Craving an Isekai/LitRPG prompt)
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1 yr ago
Forum: 1x1 Interest Checks
@Crusader Lord@Steel Legion@Unkown58@Lucius Cypher@King Cosmos@Kazemitsu
No worries if you're working on posts, I'll hold off on a full update for this weekend!
@Rune_Alchemist
Mini-update, so you'll have something to work with!
No worries if you're working on posts, I'll hold off on a full update for this weekend!
@Rune_Alchemist
Mini-update, so you'll have something to work with!
@Timemaster If you mean eating the bushes and other "Materials" that were found, I mean, you can try, but even for an orc not everything is [Ingestible]. For the most part at this stage of the game, if you want to find Skills you'll need to eat other living beings. Feel free to experiment, though!
Posted, as always lemme know any issues, questions, what I forgot, etc.
The Forest
@Rune_Alchemist
Reviewing the memories of pre-"awakening," Sarvok would know there had to be some evidence of at least a semi-religious behavior among a group of creatures like the Orcs. They seemed, after all, to be roughly equivalent to primitive humans in their social norms, and all human cultures across Earth had come up with some kind of religion--usually some form of polytheism.
Deep within those memories, from a period of time before she could walk (which granted, had only been maybe a month ago), there had been...a festival? A ceremony? There had been a lot of bonfires, enough so that many of the babies in the Brood Pits had cried because the heat and the lights kept them from sleeping that night. The warchief had done some kind of dance with a costume of some kind. There was some kind of chant...something about a "Rogyam."
Who, or what, was a Rogyam?
In any case, as she searched for materials, the Runt came across a particular patch of something that appeared to be no more than scrubby grass at first. But the blades of grass were oddly twisted, like something had taken a curling iron to them. Then, at the brush's base, were several hard, brown, conical growths that looked like woody drills of some kind. Even lower to the roots than these were other drill-like buds, still green but quite hard.
There was also a blackened, twisted bush that had many seedpods hanging from it. The pods looked like the kind of thing uncouth men often bragged to their friends about before flushing it down...and smelled quite similarly. The wood from the bush looked like it might break off easily, but the branches weren't straight enough, thick enough, or strong enough to make something like a club or spear. The black leaves, too, carried a foul odor.
But, as she searched for materials, Sarvok would hear a sudden rustling near a tree not too far away from her. A change in the wind seemed to prompt it, but at that moment she just happened to be in a position to catch the movement. When she looked, she found herself locking eyes with...another Orc Runt?
No.
Its limbs weren't quite so filled out, but its face and proportions looked more mature. Its ears were longer, its jawline weaker. It held a hatchet made from nothing more than a thick piece of wood and a sharp stone in one hand and a bag made from an animal pelt in the other. It wore a grass skirt and nothing else.
That had to be a Goblin.
And as soon as it met Sarvok's eyes it turned and bolted! It ran haphazardly, desperately, and thus made a great deal of noise as it crashed through the underbrush. It might be easy to follow, but she also felt instinctively confident that she could outrun it as well, and it was obviously afraid of a confrontation with her...
@Steel Legion@Timemaster
As Kai and Carmina decided to join forces in their search for materials and prey, it wouldn't take long for them to scour the remains of the little campsite---whoever had been here must've left in a hurry.
And possibly not too long ago, judging from the state of the coals in the fire.
Kai came across a short, leafy tree no higher than six or seven feet, but its trunk had many smaller branches that reached up to nine or ten feet. The larger branches, near the bottom or middle of the tree, had round green nuts with thick, woody shells. If he had some way to cut off a branch or two, they looked like they'd make solid materials for clubs, spears, and so forth. He also saw a particular patch of something that appeared to be no more than scrubby grass at first. But the blades of grass were oddly twisted, like something had taken a curling iron to them. Then, at the brush's base, were several hard, brown, conical growths that looked like woody drills of some kind. Even lower to the roots than these were other drill-like buds, still green but quite hard.
Carmina passed by a particular tree at the edge of the clearing didn’t stand out much from the others, save for one thing. A branch had been broken off its trunk at some point, and seemed to have further broken down into multiple pieces on the ground where it landed. But something about these fragments of wood caught her eye, and when she picked it up, she found it was more like a piece of petrified wood than anything green or dried. Upon looking at the place where the wood had fallen off the original tree, she found that rather than splinters or peeling bark, the place where the branch had broken was also slightly petrified…as if rather than growing new bark over the wound, the parent tree had instead been covered with a layer of rock. The rock also blended almost imperceptibly with the still-growing trunk, its bark the same beige and gray mix of colors and of a similar roughness to plain stone. There were some fragments of the petrified branch left on the ground if she chose to gather them, but the tree had a few branches within reach that she might try to chop off as well.
Carmina's nose wrinkled, too, as she also saw a blackened, twisted bush that had many seedpods hanging from it. The pods looked like the kind of thing uncouth men often bragged to their friends about before flushing it down...and smelled quite similarly. The wood from the bush looked like it might break off easily, but the branches weren't straight enough, thick enough, or strong enough to make something like a club or spear. The black leaves, too, carried a foul odor.
Once the two had decided to hunt something (Kai had an interest in the Jackalope, it seemed) and decided to use their unique abilities to team up, then all that was left to do with the materials they'd gathered and the tactics they'd come up with was to put it all to the test.
After leaving the camp, they didn't have to go far before they heard a new noise in the forest. It sounded like...something gurgling? Or a partially clogged sink drain. A careful peek through the bushes revealed not one, but two creatures!
A flowering bush was crushed under a blue, slimy creature about the size of a large dodgeball. Its gelatinous form seemed to be sucking up the flowers, where they wilted and dissolved inside its body. But the creature also had two...eyespots?...of some kind, which were fixated on another creature eating another of the same type of flowers nearby.
The large bodied, brown and dappled-white rabbit lifted its head, along with the impressive rack of six-point antlers atop its skull. It looked at the Slime with a passive sort of focus---the other monster seemed like it might be in an aggressive mood, but the rabbit chewed calmly. It probably knew it was more than fast enough to dodge any attempt to attack by the slime, but wasn't going to take its eyes off a potential threat. One of its large ears flicked in Carmina and Kai's direction, but it hadn't reacted to them yet, if it had actually noticed them. Which it might not have, yet, if they were careful with their next move...
@ReusableSword
Skill Gain:
[Blunt Damage Resistance] - Rank I - Passive Resistance against Blunt Damage is increased. Blunt Damage at this rank includes force-trauma by relatively flat physical objects with non-sharpened edges, carrying kinetic momentum.
Agar's Field Scan had the same effect as before, revealing two glowing, indeterminable blobs that he could easily see were the Tatzelwurm and the Harpy---although, aside from their general size, he wouldn't have been able to differentiate them if he weren't already looking directly at them. However, a third signal responded to his scan. It was further away, towards the edge of the skill's range and getting less distinct. It seemed to be moving away from him at this moment, but at a leisurely pace. It was smaller than the harpy, but of a similar size to the Tatzelwurm.
Whatever it was, it didn't seem like a threat. And still, neither of the two monsters he was watching had noticed him---or if they had, they didn't react in a way that would reveal what they knew to him.
Then, so fast he almost missed it, the Tatzelwurm leaped! Fangs and claws bared, it came down on top of the Harpy from its tree branch! The winged monster didn't react until the Tatzelwurm's former perch rustled and shivered with the release of the snake-monster's weight---and that was almost a full half-second from the time the Tatzelwurm jumped.
The Harpy turned. The Tatzelwurm landed and sank its claws into the harpy's back, its fangs into the bird-like creature's shoulder! The harpy's wings unfurled and it leaped across the ground on those strange, spindly limbs, shaking its body madly the whole time. It let out an ear piercing screech, like a woman being stabbed or a baby screaming from some sudden pinch or discomfort.
The tatzelwurm let go with its fangs, but tried to move around on the harpy's body with its claws. Its tail wrapped around one of the monster's legs as it tried to get into position to bite the harpy's side. The winged beast took to the air---but it wasn't trying to fly away. Instead, it propelled itself backward into a tree, slamming its weight and the sturdy wood down on the tatzelwurm from both sides! The cat-snake let out a pained yowl, and its claws lost their purchase on the leathery hide. But its tail was still bound around one of the harpy's legs, and quick as a wink it lurched and lunged to try and get another rattlesnake-like bite at the harpy.
The harpy raised one claw, which suddenly seemed to crackle with a red light from within. It slashed at the tatzelwurm, deeply cutting into its snake-like body, and finally the predator was forced to let go. The tatzelwurm coiled itself together in front of the harpy, hissing loudly as it once again brandished its fangs and long, sharp nails. The harpy spread its wings wide and let out a loud, intimidating howl, this one sounding like an angry woman.
The bite on the harpy's shoulder had turned an odd purplish color, even though it shouldn't have left much of a bruise...The two monsters remained squared off now, even though both of them could've made a run for it. Did that mean each one saw the other as nearly done for? Worth finishing off for the sake of a meal? Worth taking the damage they'd accumulated?
What mattered more, perhaps, was what this moment might mean for Agar...
North Caves
Once the group of Runts had decided who would go into the cave and search for...whatever they could find, it didn't take long for the rest of their preparations. Then, with the daylight still full and strong, the first team took their first, tentative steps into the darkness...
A short climb would allow one to see over the lip of the ground and down into a slanted, slippery passage...but this open chamber of the cave was still somewhat cramped, and a much narrower passageway further into the depths sat at its back. At the entrance to that passageway, it seemed a clump of mushrooms had taken root in the dank darkness.
As the runts explored further, however, a sudden scuttling alerted them to movement on the roof of the cave above their heads! As they watched, something hidden in the dark moved towards the narrow open chamber, then creepy-crawled down just above the mushroom. It looked like a gigantic beetle of some sort. It didn't make any aggressive gestures...
The moment was a lot like an experience most of the reincarnates could probably relate to: Right after you turn on the light, you see the cockroach scurry up the wall or along the floor. You both freeze as if aware of each other's presence. The cockroach's antennae twitch. In that same fashion, the beetle and the runts froze.
The beetle's back end twitched. There was a blip of light in its thorax, like that of a lightning bug. Aside from this indicator, it looked like any regular, solid black pine beetle...save for the fact that it was also longer than a human man's arm and easily as big around as a watermelon.
Just a heads up, if anyone is still working on posts! Apologies that there wasn't an update last weekend or midweek, but I'll be putting one together for this weekend! Hopefully it'll be up Saturday evening or so. No rush, and as always let me know if there are questions about mini-updates and such!
<Snipped quote by Zeroth>
Yes boss!
Unless im mistaken no one ate the elwet stomachs and the tendons were discarded as offal?
I think tendons would've been eaten with the rest of the meat but the organs were discarded for everyone except Grunthor I think? Lazash might've eaten some of them too? @Crusader Lord@Kazemitsu ???
@Zeroth Feel free to still answer the question 😋
And wooo! I actually got it right. I'll go for "Sing" as her skill. Her surname is Wordsmith after all and Carmina means Bard in Latin. Am I correct to assume that with time, she can evolve her ability or gain different bard-like abilities? For example, if she starts eating songbirds, will she gain a more beautiful voice that can do other stuff?
Edit 1: Skill has been added to the sheet. Correct to assume she can be moved over?
Edit 2: How can I start? Leaving kinda at the same time as the others. Maybe Carmina spent time away from the main group to...test her new skill? She could've found a secluded place near the village and sang?
Yes, her Sing skill can continue to Rank Up with time, practice, and possibly synergy from other Skills. Just eating any songbird won't necessarily grant a skill like Sing or one related to it, but there are definitely monsters out there that possess that Skill and others like it. As she gains new ranks in the skill, the effects she has can be boosted, added to, and so forth.
Yep, she can be moved over!
Starting by finding somewhere outside the Orc Camp to practice her skill would be fine! You could choose to prepare in some way as well, like maybe she uses the current tools she has to try and make a new trap or weapon.
@Lucius Cypher He could try to do so, but would be able to feel the energy not quite "channeling" right for this particular task. Roundabout, but the end result is "no." I like the creativity though!
@Steel Legion With those fixes, I'd say you're good to go! Pick ONE skill and add them to the CS!
@TimemasterIt looks like you got the hang of it even though I didn't get an opportunity to answer your question, sorry! But everything seems fine with Carmina, so pick ONE skill and add her to the crew!
Yeyeyeyeyeye let's effing goooooooooooooo
@Steel Legion With those fixes, I'd say you're good to go! Pick ONE skill and add them to the CS!
Though some would be abhorred by the destruction wrought in the wake of your world's industry, it is nonetheless amazing to think a single person can make such a livelihood for themselves and others. With machines, you are able to do so much even with a handful of workers!
But a new life, full of new opportunities, is exactly what you have been presented with. Let us hope your industrious nature is still tempered with the wisdom to renew each harvest...
- Blade Mastery (Axe) - Rank I - Increase the power and accuracy of attacks with bladed weapons (axes).
- Bramble Wall - Rank I - A basic defensive magic of the Wood Element. Thorny brambles rise up in front of the caster, defending them from attacks. Enemies may suffer weak damage from the "Thorn" effect. The brambles wither away after 30 seconds.
- Material Analysis - Rank I - Analyze a target of a specific type to gain basic information. Higher Ranks grant more information.
- Danger Scan - Rank I - Detect non-living threats within 10 feet, such as hazardous terrain, traps, etc. Remain acutely aware of them for 1 minute.
@TimemasterIt looks like you got the hang of it even though I didn't get an opportunity to answer your question, sorry! But everything seems fine with Carmina, so pick ONE skill and add her to the crew!
How sad, that a culture seeking to uplift those who are so downtrodden, who struggle to pull what little they have from the mud, would also be a culture trapped in a cycle of violence. What is the term some humans use? A...bucket of crabs? Those who have been embittered by their struggle seek to pull down others who could get ahead of them...even if the one who rises up could be the one to extend a helping hand to the others.
Which will you be, little one? The claw that drags down those above? Or the hand who lifts up those beneath?
- Scavenge - Rank I - Quickly identify useful items in the surroundings. When the User concentrates, "useful" items within 10 feet of them will appear to glow to their sight. Remain aware of them for 1 minute.
- Steal - Rank I - An invisible, unfelt force from your hand can draw a small object from a target's belongings to you. At Rank I, only objects weighing 1 pound or less can be attracted, and only from a distance of 1 foot or less. Attempting this Skill from stealth increases its effectiveness.
- Sing - Rank I - Your voice possesses a magical quality. Channeling power to your voice and Singing within earshot of a chosen target allows you to attempt to induce one of the following affects: Soothe, Encourage, or Irritate.
- Muffle - Rank I - Muffle the sounds of your movements to become stealthy. The user's footsteps will be significantly more quiet, but this is only a deduction from the normal amount of noise they would make. Therefore, one's armor, weight, etc may still produce sounds beyond a certain level.
Alrighto there we go
Smallish post to get things started
Yeyeyeyeyeye let's effing goooooooooooooo
@Steel Legion For the most part it's good, except the last bit at the end where he's reincarnated multiple times as different creatures. Being reincarnated as an Orc is the first time any of the player characters' souls have been brought into this new world, they didn't start off as lower life forms or anything. Also, if he started his company in the 70s, he'd have to be older than 55. 55 years ago from today would've been in 1968, so he wouldn't even have graduated high school until the 80s.
Other than that I like him, and I'll have your Isekai skill choices up this evening!
@Lucius Cypher If Gren figured out a way to eat the coilbone, he'd have enough to figure out the last ability. However, attempting to just chew it would be like trying to eat those big cartilage bits you sometimes get in a rack of ribs/fried chicken, and each segment would be too big to swallow whole at his current size.
Other than that I like him, and I'll have your Isekai skill choices up this evening!
@Lucius Cypher If Gren figured out a way to eat the coilbone, he'd have enough to figure out the last ability. However, attempting to just chew it would be like trying to eat those big cartilage bits you sometimes get in a rack of ribs/fried chicken, and each segment would be too big to swallow whole at his current size.
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