Previously on 100 Rule Quest:

In the western frontier town of Watership, amidst wild and bred dinosaurs, occasional undead, moonlit days, and the expansive desert kingdom of moon-wind rabbits warring with figs, Lifeforce Magic is part of the curriculum at Watership Academy, the finest institution for developing the skills necessary for deep sea expeditions.

Hanekawa Tsubasa is a perfectionist model student hiding her childhood training with the rare, scorned Natural Magicks. She was unaware of an estranged rival, Taiga Monday, who'd been stalking her. One morning, Taiga was rushing to class and the two collided. The legendary Phantom Rider attacked, targeting Taiga. Hanekawa saved her, fleeing to her mother's house, where powerful Natural Magicks dispelled the Rider. A mortal contract killer also targeted her, having killed the courier delivering a letter to Taiga's father, Professor Horatio Monday, who had vanished with his expedition gear. Hanekawa lead a rescue party into the northern wilderness consisting of Taiga, close friend Victor, ace student Etou, new student Chaika, and Deputy Cassie.
They're intercepted by Dar the Beastmaster, who warned them off the ruins and suddenly accused Hanekawa of being "inhuman" and attacked her. Elven archers attacked Dar, scattering the group; Etou partially understands Elvish and overheard a cryptic warning. At the ruins in a sinkhole of intact, geometrically bizarre buildings avoided by wildlife, the party found Professor Monday alive but traumatized, warning of "worn" humanoids that killed the rest of a prior expedition. Taiga saved everyone with a powerful ice trap spell. They escaped past dangerous plant life to find their camp under elf attack, Dar returning wounded on a T-rex, and the "worn" creatures swarming. The group fled on horseback while Hanekawa held the line with a borrowed magic pendant from Chaika, then fled alone on foot. She reunited with the others near a giant stegosaurus, deflected an arrow volley, then used a forbidden technique to drain life from nearby plants instead of herself in order to survive a stegosaurus attack, which launched her violently out of sight.
That night, the group camped and they all, even Taiga, were worried about the missing Hanekawa.

Elsewhere in the desert kingdom, Jasper, a put-upon Lunarian Lagomorph (intelligent rabbit-people using moon-wind magic) was tasked with escorting Edella Farn, an elf queen with self-resurrecting fire magic who fell into their world through a dimensional crack, along with a human healer named "Queen" to elves in order to investigate her powers. Their expedition found a crashed alien pod full of lethal wasps, clashing with human poachers, and encountered "Orphan," a strange superhuman being, and an aggressive black ooze that fused with Jasper's teammate Rosco, transforming him.
Upon finding Roscoe transformed and easily fighting off raptors, a megaraptor charges the group.

>>6473259
(You don't need to read these rules to play the quest)
The rules so far:

Rule Zero:
A. I, Apoc QM, will interpret the rules as accurately as I can, encourage feedback, clarify the rules as they will be set forth and implemented.
B. I might not research anything.
C. I will not write Slice of Life.
D. If the players attempt to create fan fiction, it may be inaccurate, poor quality, and possibly be subject to The Monkey's Paw.
E. I will not otherwise *purposefully* subvert the intention of rules, or Monkey's Paw the quest. Whatever chaos creates the quest, I will play it straight and commit to running the resulting quest earnestly.

0.1:
A rule someone posts isn't a "Rule" until I have understood it and clarified it by posting it with a number.

0.2:
If a rule would negate itself, it doesn't. No paradox.
Apparently this is how I am playing it.

>>6473262
1. The quest ends when the main character has consensual coitus.
2. The protagonist (and de facto main character) is Hanekawa Tsubasa.
- The protagonist's goal is to obtain the rabbit king's ring that controls demons and is causing the sea level to rise
4. The quest begins when Hanekawa Tsubasa gets a message from the government about a possible plan to stop the sea from rising
5. The setting is the Wild Weird West where cowboys and magic exist.

6. Dentists are attractive.
7. Humans primarily populate the setting and use Life Force Magic.
8. The desert kingdom of talking Lunarian rabbits is ruled ruled by an old wise rabbit who has a magic ring.
9. A vast sea dominates the world, filled with wonders, wealth, and danger.
10. Hanekawa needs to bathe at least once a day and bathing with any of her clothes on is banned.
11. The sea is slowly but surely rising with no sign of ending
12. There are two moons.
13. Dinosaurs and the coolest prehistoric beasts replace many common animals. Elves predict the coming of Santa Claus.
14. The rabbit king's magic ring is causing the sea level to rise
15. Locust swarms eat all fibers and only fibers.
16. There is a pantheon of minor Gods based on stupid or minor things
17. All characters speak in zappai.
18. The Lunarians Lagomorphs and Figs
19. Humans drink cactus juice instead of alcohol
20. Current humanity actually derives from a necromantic race of skeletons.
21. The world has no sun. The moons cast a cycle of dim light on the world, evil beings are most active during the darkest hours.
22. Sailors are a greatly valued human profession. Lunarians are paid with moon chunks by the human governments to help sail. Ships wrought with life magic are passed down as heirlooms. The rabbits sail in fiercely coveted fig wood ships. Hanekawa’s schooling was nautical.
23. Monthly, a ritual must be performed by the Moon Shrine in order to Honor the Dead
24. The undead chud liches and the rabbits are mortal enemies because the liches hate the idea of their sexual reproduction.
25. Communism actually works in these societies.
26. Laws of physics apply. The planet is orbited by a godly corpse that gives off heat equivalent to the sun but no light
27. When the sea started rising one of the moons started to crack
28. Mysterious holes to vast tunnels and a new species with eyes that generate a gentle light are fleeing their underground network as the tunnels are beginning to flood. (See 46 & 47)
29. The liches develop and flaunt superior technology. The undead have a caste system.
30. Somebody should provide a map.
31. With a lack of a sun, fungus and tubers are cultivated as food
32. "Flood-Farers Guild" which lends their ferry services to anyone with coin.
33. Rarely, fig wasps are found in meteors. Life magic is quite effective at killing them, but lunar magic isn't.

>>6473264
***

34. There is a rivalry between cowboys and sailors. A famed duel between a great pirate and gunslinger resulted in a necromantic dead zone not far from Hanekawa's school.
35. Hanekawa Tsubasa's best friend is the son of the local grocer Victor Noble.
36. Academies are available to the wealthy, but most young folks become apprentices
37. Fishmen eat humans, travel by submarines, and actively commit piracy. They serve the Mermaid Queen, the leader of all fishfolk. They are natural enemies of the undead.
38. Ghosts are fighting demons and nightmares threatening the core of the world, resulting in the events leading up to the quest.
39. Due to the growing level of industrialization within the human nation, magic is slowly becoming more redundant to most city-dwellers.
40. The moons and planet each have its own deathless gods. The moons act as a shared conduit for dreams. Divine orders risk attack from dream gods.
41. Rabbits traditionally reproduce using fig trees
42. The rabbits speak a version of early modern English that has no vowels and is interjected at random points with various non-english words that describe how they're currently feeling.
43. An old cowboy legend tells of a hidden fully automatic firearm treasure.
44. Due to an order from the Goddess of Naked Sleeping, every elf and young looking human female cannot sleep with clothes on.
45. Kitchen salt is enriched with various mineral salts. Undead can feel the taste of figs.
46. Human expeditions have long sought to explore these tunnels vast tunnel networks beneath the surface bored by long gone massive roots
47. The cave species with glowing eyes are demonically possessed humans
48. There are Leprechaun that enslave other beings by putting them into massive debt and a special binding spell, a geas.
49. Communism was implemented to counter the Leprechaun economic attacks.
50. There are male and female Leprechaun created with an artifact the Mermaid Queen stole from the first Lich King.
51. Some humans are unhappy with communism.
52. Guns and bullets when used nullify magics. Alien beaver dentists are attractive. The only sentient races are humans, lunarians, elves, gods, and Santa. The rabbit king’s ring commands demons. Quest uses Best of Three votes wins and same for rolling d20 for challenges. ; Rules need two votes to be altered or overwritten.

53. The rabbit king kneels to the rabbit emperor.
54. Hanekawa unexplainably has no game at all
55. Men find Hanekawa incredibly beautiful. Hot girls don't need game. She is not an exhibitionist.
56. Hanekawa grew up raised by a hedge witch for a mother before leaving for school. A necromancer must never ask the dead 'why wake'. Elves have a mistaken vendetta against the undead and hid the Tree of Life. Dwarves went extinct.

>>6473265
57. There is a book written by the first Gods lost somewhere in the world. The 100 laws written within are fundamental rules of the universe though any attempts to add new laws instead replace an existing rule at random.
This is the only way a quest rule can be overwritten..
58. Skills modifiers range from initiate +2, adept +4, master +6, heroic +8, legendary +10.
59. If someone gets dubs when rolling that adds another +1, trips add +2
60. NPCs roll opposing bo3 d20s. QM will roll for them.
61. The Fishmen and the Mermaid Queen are modified humans and are sentient yet inherently psychopathic.
62. Fishmen get treated as having the skill modifier for the next rank when fighting undead, ghosts have the same advantage against demons and nightmares
63. There is a powerful culture of strong ancestor reverence among Lagomorph Lunarians.
64. A full set of armor can provide a blocking modifier ranging from +1, +2, +3, +4 based on quality and material.
65. There's a buff hermit called the Beasmaster living in the middle of wilderness. He's got the secret to tame powerful creatures. He can teach the worthy his ways but the training requires wearing a flimsy loincloth and screaming like Tarzan; The wilderness exists.
66. Three characters of the quest are: Taiga Monday, Etou Fujiko, & Chaika Trabant
67. Evil cult magic exists and corrupts. Natural Magicks are the ancient original magics.
68. There are sealed ancient ruins made of indestructible metal. Nobody could ever get inside. Two years ago a girl called Marnie came out from one. She claims to have come from something she calls "the Digital World"; Marnie is now an 18 girl in Hanekawa's class.
69. Critical Fails result on a roll of 7 and Critical success results on a roll of 13. A roll of 1 is calculated as if it were a 7 and a roll of 20 is calculated as if it were 13 for mathematical purposes.
70. "Mamakawa" gave birth to Hanekawa when she was 21 and has the body and appearance of a 19 year old.
71. Hanekawa Tsubasa is the president of the working class, that is, she is the president of her class and her class is the working internship class, getting practical experience as they learn; Hanekawa Tsubasa is 31 (an extremely high rating in Lifeforce Magic); Hanekawa is less than 40 years old. She isn't immune to god influence. She can't be more than 40 ever; Chaika and Etou Fujiko are less than 20 years old; The naked sleeping induced by the Matron of Uncovered Dreams completely stops the female aging process from the age of 18 to 40.
72. PCs and NPCs don’t have plot armor and can die.
73. A rabbit's left hind foot can be burned to nullify a crit fail

>>6473267
74. Hanekawa is a Quarter Elf because her dad is or was a half elf; Quarter Elves are indistinguishable from humans physically, their bodies look the same, even the ears, but they age just a bit slowly and have increased magic talent. They aren't immortal and live to be 100 years old in average. Hanekawa looks from 20 to 25 years old thanks to her elven blood; The Matron of Uncovered Dreams regards quarter elves as elves and continues blessing of naked sleeping throughout their lives.
75. Whenever a fatal outcome falls over Hanekawa, a new MC or anyone on their parties, roll a 1d3. On a 2 or 3, No fatal outcome occurs, it gets replaced by ecchi anime fanservice of the affected character.
76. MCs of Apoc QM's previous quests will appear, having been isekaied into the world.
77. Every main character party, human or not, must have at least a cute human, elf or humanoid girl that's less than 30 in it.

File: JasperSighs.png (1.01 MB, 1145x1374)

1.01 MB PNG

>>6473271

>>6473261
"SCATTER!" Jasper yelled to the others as he bounded off to the left, very aware of how visible his white fur was in the waning moonlight. Amy immediately followed orders, hopped, and bounded behind a nearby raptor corpse that Rosco had slaughtered. Rosco, listening to orders, leaped and landed in a feral position in the back, his strange new black ooze covering quivering with strange tendrils. Edella charged forward to face the charging megaraptor directly in the typical suicidally brave way the crazy red-headed elf always seemed to approach everything. "Amy and Edella, hit it with magic! Then Rosco? Pounce!"
Rosco grinned back with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth that weren't his. It was bizarre to see a familiar expression on his friend in such a twisted way. Jasper turned his back on his transformed friend, trusting him for the moment in the heat of battle at least.

Amy, as a skilled and highly trained Lunarian Lagomorph warrior, was the first to react. She very quickly fired off several spheres of destructive swirling Moon Wind Magic energy at the rapidly approaching enemy. The spheres glanced off the dinosaur's thick hide harmlessly, apparently doing no damage. Yet, it did succeed in getting its attention. It was now focused on Amy as it rapidly approached.

Jasper glanced at Edella who was still casting some elaborate other-worldly elven magic. Strange symbols glowed in the air in front of her in a way he hadn't seen before. He sighed and wished she'd just hurry up. His idea had been to levitate a raptor corpse and throw it at the beast but it was proving heavier and floppier than he'd expected. He couldn't get the balance right.
Just as he was beginning to panic, feeling the thunderous footprints in the sand, Edella released a massive fireball.
Jasper hadn't seen that kind of magical power level before. He had certainly heard of it but attributed most of the stories to typical two-legs bluster. It was the first time he'd seen any two-legs do anything that made them seem remotely capable as a species. It was vastly more primitive than Moon-Wind Magic, but it seemed effective.

The megaraptor was completely caught off guard by the blast and took the entire fireball to its face, instantly charred and still flaming, it shook its head, staggering, keening, and seemed disoriented. Edella stood proud, her magic clearly speaking for herself. It had been undeniably impressive. She glanced back at Amy and Jasper with a look of genuine camaraderie. She seemed to be smiling at having helped to save her friends, or traveling companions at least.

Then, the megaraptor's jaws lunged forward and clamped down on her, nearly cutting her in two. It picked her up, shook her back and forth violently, her bottom half torn and flopping sickeningly. Then it tossed her to the side with a savage roar, sending her body tumbling into a nearby dune. Jasper concentrated both on his Moon-Wind Magic and on not vomiting his dinner into the sand at his feet.

File: RoscoSquishie.png (1.23 MB, 1317x1194)

1.23 MB PNG

>>6473272

>>6473270
Amy gasped and cried out. Rosco was making some kind of growling sound drowned out by the megaraptor's terrifying roar. Jasper felt the deafening vibrations of the roar in his bones. Even Rosco seemed to be somewhat cowed by the sound. The roar was cut off by Jasper shoving a raptor corpse down the predator's throat, gagging it.

It staggered again, still not recovered from the fireball, but it started gagging and chewing, grinding the corpse with a disgusting display. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to chew with your mouth open?" Jasper quipped, his forced chuckle doing a poor job of hiding his concern with humor. That worked but he was unsure what to do next... His thoughts were interrupted by Rosco bellowing and leaping over thirty hops, manifesting his glowing green mace in midair, and striking downward in its eye socket.

Immediately upon hitting the ground below, he hopped straight up, striking its jaw upwards then latching onto the underside of its neck with snake-like tendrils, pulling himself to it and slashing and tearing its throat with savage black claws and sharp teeth. The massive dinosaur flailed as blood poured from its neck but it quickly collapsed. Rosco kept slashing and biting. Worryingly, Jasper noted that his friend was swallowing bites of the dinosaur's flesh.

"I, uh, didn't know he could do that. The tendril stuff. That's uh...something..." Jasper said, struggling to deal with the odd events of the night as Amy approached him. She pressed her furry body against him, comforting herself as well as him.
"Do you think he's still our Rosco? He seems different but still ...goofy?"

Jasper's reply was lost by Edella stomping from the dune, more covered with sand stuck to blood than scraps of her feather dress. Passing them with barely a nod, she approached the dead megaraptor. Producing a knife, she starting carving into the hide of the dinosaur. Rosco looked up at her and grinned a bloody smile. She nodded in a perfunctory way, as casually as if joining a fellow in a chow line. He wiped the blood from his mouth onto his black arm, where it was quickly absorbed, then bounded back towards the other two.

Amy tensed but Jasper remained relaxed. Either this was his friend or someone he couldn't stop. Either way, there was no point in bristling.
"That was great! We're so glad to see you guys! Did you see how strong we are?"
Amy and Jasper glanced at each other and began asking questions.
Rosco explained that the black ooze was a sentient symbiote that'd been "on a savage world" that made the Wilderness seem like a bunny picnic. It and Orphan had been there together. It was telepathic and had always been looking for a partner, another creature with intelligence to bond with. Apparently Orphan had been incompatible, treated it like a pet, and named it "Squishie". Squishie seemed to mostly hate Orphan but both of them had been captured by some humans in a metal can and had been dropped from the stars through a black tear.

File: AnOddNight.png (2.38 MB, 1536x1024)

2.38 MB PNG

>>6473273

>>6473271
Jasper thought that insanity sounded very much like the way Edella had come to the world. Glancing at the elf as she continued whatever she was doing with the dinosaur corpse, Jasper asked Rosco and Squishie if they could share any more. But unfortunately, Squishie had been deep within the metal can and Orphan was, according to Squishie, a complete idiot who didn't understand anything. Squishie couldn't glean any information from him.

When Amy suggested that Rosco and Squishie separate for a while, both of them were strongly against the idea. Jasper was concerned but Amy was even more concerned. She tried to convince Rosco that the weird two-legs women that he seemed to like so much, for whatever reason, wouldn't want to pet him if he was covered in black ooze.
Squishie commented that they should as he was glorious. He used the same modified voice Rosco did. It was confusing. However, Rosco admitted that Amy was probably right. Reluctantly, Squishie retracted himself within Rosco, returning him to his previous appearance although he still seemed a bit stronger, more confident, and fluffier.

Edella walked up and scritched Rosco on the top of his head between his ears, commenting that he had very good but very strange battle armor. Rosco beamed happily and hopped into her arms. Amy sighed, defeated.
Jasper seemed to be the only one who noticed that Edella had just expertly crafted dinosaur leather armor in the time that they'd been talking. Also, it hadn't escaped his attention that she had somehow concealed a knife she'd obviously gotten from the poachers. She was exceptionally capable and it was somehow more worrisome than Rosco growing black tendrils and razor teeth.

They returned to the camp and explained the entire night's events to Queen and Wilhelm. Rosco demonstrated his new form only a little, transforming his right front paw. Wilhelm found it unsettling but accepted it with a noncommittal shrug. Rosco was disappointed to find that Queen only found it scientifically and medically fascinating and started treating him more like a specimen that a cuddle pillow.
Jasper sighed. The night had been wildly insane but the plan remained the same. Morning would come soon and they'd proceed to the human town, get any news, resupply, and head towards the elves to see if they could understand anything about Edella. Seeing his discomfort, Amy sat next to the troubled leader and stroked his fur while he ruminated. Unexpectedly, he didn't rebuke her affections this time. He was too tired. Even more unexpectedly, he fell asleep quickly and slept long into the next day.
He had slept so deeply that he woke up stiff, only rising because of the yelling. He opened his eyes and sighed.

File: TaigaMonday.png (1.38 MB, 1024x1536)

1.38 MB PNG

>>6473276

>>6473272
Taiga Monday was furious. That alone was not unexpected. She'd spent so much of the last few years positively fuming at Hanekawa that at times it almost seemed a natural state. She had been mad at Hanekawa. She had been mad at her father. But right now, she was furious at Etou.
They'd finally been rid of the know-it-all bossy Hanekawa when that stupid dinosaur swatted her off into the distance. And she was definitely fine with that and not even remotely worried about her. But now Etou was being just as know-it-all and bossy!
Victor and her father had changed their minds and wanted to go back east, further into the Wilderness, to search for for Hanekawa. Etou and Cassie wanted to stick to the plan and head west, toward the frontier town in the river valley before the Great Desert. And Chaika... Well, the odd girl wanted to go off north to explore a strange square clearing in the trees they'd spotted. That meant that Taiga herself had the deciding vote.
But the bossy older girl said it didn't even matter since *she* was second in command after Hanekawa. Taiga couldn't believe that Etou was being such a bitch.
She was in the middle of screaming at Etou about where she could shove her authority. Victor and her father were interrupting, trying to get her to calm down but they didn't understand. Etou wasn't even recovered from trying to fix the wagon they'd ended up losing anyway and draining herself of magic in the process. She'd fainted from the strain, missed the entire escape, and slept most the time since, giving them all an accidental eyeful. Meanwhile, Taiga had gotten them out of the underground away from those gross creatures and plant thingies almost entirely by herself. And she was back at full strength. Taiga knew she should be in charge, damn it.

After a bit of talking, they'd gotten her to calm down and stop shouting. She really didn't mean to start yelling and she knew it might attract beasts or elves. She folded her arms and grunted, definitely maturely accepting the situation and not pouting. There really wasn't anything she could do anyway. It just really pissed her off that her opinion didn't even matter. Reluctantly, they all packed up and kept moving west, walking the two horses. They walked for most of the morning until they were going down the hill and spotted a rough stream flowing down into the river valley below. It hadn't been on the simply map Cassie had. They'd need to cross it to get to the town.

File: RuleQuestMapTemporary.png (3.62 MB, 2017x780)

3.62 MB PNG

>>6473302 >>6473359 >>6473657

>>6473273
They had a good vantage point and could see a massive fallen tree they might be able to lead the horses across but it might not hold the weight.
They could also try to cross where it looked to be thinner and slower up to the north, near the clearing. Chaika seemed to like that idea for some reason.
They could also head through the denser forest to the south and definitely avoid the river until they got out of the Wilderness. But there was no way to tell what was in those trees.
Oh sure, *now* Etou wanted to hear from everyone.
Taiga smirked smugly.
She knew exactly what they should do.

What exactly should they do?
[A]. Cross over the fallen tree
[B]. Go through the southern forest
[C]. Head north to the shallow stream
[D]. Go back east and search for Hanekawa
[E]. Something else

>>6473276
>C
Taiga Monday

Based, I thought you weren't coming back. I'll read it later.

>>6473276
>[C]. Head north to the shallow stream
Water always means baths and FUN. Let Hanekawa be so Taiga can have the protagonism her fans want her to have.

North seems like the plan.
I'll likely get a chance to write tomorrow
It's good to be back.

>>6473276
[C]. Head north to the shallow stream
TAIGA
FUCKIN
MONDAAAAYYY

File: NoFibers.png (1.6 MB, 1024x1536)

1.6 MB PNG

>>6475369

>>6473302
>>6473330
>>6473359
>>6473657
Hanekawa Tsubasa's head was killing her.
She really wanted some of the herbal leaves her mother had taught her to collect. She knew that if she chewed on them, she'd probably feel better. Through the pain, she distantly remembered that she definitely had some in her bag she could get. Unfortunately, that would require opening her eyes. And she had a feeling that would just make things worse. But she was also curious what the heavy rough thing against her stomach was. Begrudgingly, she opened her eyes.

Oh, what luck. There was her bag, right in front of her eyes. It took her a moment to figure out why it was so small , or rather, so very far away. It was on the ground, some thirty or forty feet down. The rough thing against her stomach was a thick tree branch. And a cool treetop breeze made her very intimately aware of the fact that she'd been sleeping and was now completely naked.
Slowly, groaning most of the way, she carefully climbed to the trunk of the great tree she had landed in. By the time she got to the ground, she'd realized what must have happened. When the stegosaurus struck her shield, the force had launched her shield and her with it. The rapid acceleration, or deceleration when she landed in the trees, had knocked her out. She'd obviously stayed asleep after recovering, triggering the goddess's blessing. Unfortunate timing but she was grateful to be unharmed. Still though, she had liked those clothes.

When she got to the base of the tree, she fished the herbs out of her bag first. As she chewed the herbs, she pulled out her emergency leathers and apron, covering herself somewhat. She unrolled her soft leather boot moccasins and slipped them on snugly over the linings. She scouted around somewhat, looking for any sign of her friends or more of her belongings.
Her bag had fallen open and a number of books had tumbled out. As she was collecting them, a letter fell out of one. She didn't remember it and opened it immediately. Gold glitter sprinkled out of it and dissipated over her. She could feel powerful magic from it. Clearly, it was a spell of some kind. But she had never seen anything like it.

Looking closely at the letter, she realized with surprise that it was addressed to Professor Horatio Monday.Opening up the front cover of the book it had fallen out of, Hanekawa was startled to see Taiga Monday's name.
She immediately felt a pang of guilt for taking another student's study material. They must have switched books when Taiga ran into her the other day.
Her transgression already committed, Hanekawa read the letter to see if she could understand what that spell had been.

File: HanekawaMeetsRaptors.png (2.61 MB, 1024x1536)

2.61 MB PNG

>>6475372

>>6475364
It was a formal request from the highest authority of their communist government, insisting that Professor Horatio Monday seek out the Rabbit King, the King of Lunaria, in order to entreat him to allow humanity to borrow his ring, to use it to end the increasing water levels threatening humanity. The letter explains that professor's previous experience with Lunaria, ability to speak their language, and proximity to the Kingdom make him the best candidate. It goes on to explain that the Professor *must* acquire the ring, by any means necessary.
Oddly, Hanekawa feels like she should take up this mission instead. Even now, she feels compelled to head west.


Packing up the letter and book, while settling for what she had already found, she began trekking her way west, certain that's there they would've gone. And that's definitely where Lunaria is.
Her hike across the beastly wilderness went fairly well until she heard strange cooing and trilling she didn't recognize.

She stepped around a large tree to see if she could identify the source and quickly found herself surrounded by a family of raptors. Immediately freezing, she noticed that they weren't hunting her. She suspected that it was because they had recently eaten.
Whatever the reason, they were encircling her, seeming to find her interesting but not yet considering her prey or a threat. They were acting more like curious young than hungry predators. Hanekawa reached out with her magic and tried to slightly connect with them in peaceful empathy. It seemed to be working but she was well aware of how dangerous her position was, surrounded by predators that could turn on her in a moment.
She hoped her friends were faring better.

***

File: TaigaFuckingMonday.png (2.28 MB, 1024x1536)

2.28 MB PNG

>>6475373

>>6475369
Taiga Monday spoke up. She explained that the log might be big but even if they could coax the horses onto it and across the river, it's just too dangerous. The forest to the south could have any danger hidden in it. They obviously should head north and cross the more shallow stream.
Professor Monday and Cassie nodded. Etou and Victor thought for a moment and agreed. Chaika seemed oddly excited and began chattering away about her one friend back at the academy.

They led the horses through the forest easily enough and found the squarish clearing with the stream beyond without incident. Cassie led the horses to the stream to drink and determine if it was shallow enough to be safe to cross. Chaika immediately began examining the large squarish clearing. It seemed to mostly be grey stone with scattered plant growth over it. The others took a minute to rest while Chaika wandered around it, poking the grey stone and running around the edges. Taiga found the girl odd but had to admit her enthusiasm was very cute and appealing.
"A shocking truth!" The white haired girl had wandered to the far north side of the clearing and seemed to find a ditch or gully of some kind and was hopping up out of it, waving, urging the others to come. "Chaika found! Friend Marnie said lost! Chaika found! Come see!"

Taiga grinned and said they might as well go see what she was so excited about. Etou, Victor, and her walked over, with the professor following slowly behind. As they got closer, they realized that there was some sort of pit dug at the edge of the grey stone, long overgrown. As they walked around, they finally saw what Chaika was so excited over. There was very clearly a featureless door on the side of the stone. Taiga frowned, not remotely understanding what she was looking at. She asked Chaika to explain and the excited girl happily rambled on and on about her friend and the "dizzy whirl" and Taiga seemed to somehow understand even less.

Etou spoke up, explaining that she believed Chaika was talking about the strange foreign girl. Well, the *other* strange foreign girl that mostly wore black and kept to herself at the academy. She'd been called "Marnie". Chaika vigorously confirmed. Victor said that he'd heard that the girl came from someplace really weird and hard to get to, but he couldn't remember exactly. He approached the stone and began feeling the surface, remarking with shock that it wasn't actually stone. It seemed to be impossibly thick metal.
He looked and felt around but couldn't find any seams. Curious, Etou looked over the surface above as the professor arrived, not finding any seams either. The professor commented that it must one of the bizarre, impregnable squat square metal obelisks that had been found throughout the world. Although he couldn't remember hearing about any with a door of any kind, sealed or otherwise. He was staring at the door with mild curiosity but not nearly as much as he'd displayed over other ruins.

File: ItsBetterWhereItsWetter.png (2.76 MB, 1536x1024)

2.76 MB PNG

>>6475381 >>6475391 >>6475470 >>6475476

>>6475372
Taiga folded her arms and demanded to know why she'd never heard about them from him or anywhere else. The balding man shrugged and said that it was because there's nothing to tell. Nobody had ever gotten inside of one and other ruins yield much more interesting finds than poking at a large metal box.
Meanwhile, Victor was very busy poking at the door of the metal box. Nothing they'd done had seemed to have any effect and there was no sign of any way to enter. At any rate, they needed to get to a town and most of them had experienced more than enough mysterious ruins on this trip. Taiga urged everyone to head back to Cassie and the horses. Professor Monday turned and was already walking back. Chaika seemed fine with that, seemingly just happy to have found it for her friend Marnie for some reason. Etou agreed, pointing out that she was still the leader of the expedition.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that Etou..." Taiga grinned. "Come on, Victor. Move your butt...Hey!"

Victor had turned away from the door to walk out of the ditch when a thin, square panel of metal fell off of the door, landing with a thump on the forest floor, leaving no sign of where it had fallen from. Victor jumped back, away from it. Suddenly, the metal started folding in on itself in strange movements. Etou, Taiga, and Victor backed away as it folded itself up into what Taiga could only describe as a large crab. The crab walked several feet straight forward, causing the students to move further back.
Then a second square fell with a thud and began folding itself. The three decided to just run. They ran back to the others, hearing a third thud in the distance. As they got there, Cassie explained that the stream was shallow and they could cross it easily if they took their time and were careful. The three looked back at a line of crabs that was visible from that distance. They quickly explained the strange folded metal crabs, mystifying everyone.
Taiga knew they had to do something.

What should they do?
[A]. fight the strange metal crabs
[B]. investigate the crabs and the metal building
[C]. Cross the shallow stream slowly
[D]. Rush across the stream before the crabs reach them
[E]. Something else

>>6475373
>[C]. Cross the shallow stream slowly

>>6475373
[C]. Cross the shallow stream slowly
Better safe than sorry

>>6475373
>[C]. Cross the shallow stream slowly

>>6475373
>[C]. Cross the shallow stream slowly
this works in Death Stranding

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>6475381
>>6475391
>>6475470
>>6475476
>>[C]. Cross the shallow stream slowly
Okay.
Since you're going slowly, the horses and the professor riding one get a pass.
I need to determine what happens with everyone else.
Can I get three dice+1d20+2 to see how Taiga fares?
I'll roll for Etou, Victor, Chaika, Cassie, and the Crabs.

Rolled 7 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>6475749

Rolled 19 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>6475749
T A I G A
M O N D A Y

I'm surprised that this is still going.

Rolled 15 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>6475749

Rolled 19, 15, 17, 12 = 63 (4d20)

>>6475749
>I'll roll for Etou, Victor, Chaika, Cassie, and the Crabs.
Oops.

>>6475778
>I'm surprised that this is still going.
I'm like the Energizer Bunny. ... until the curse cripples me.

But I've got a good rhythm now. I want to see this through and find out where it's going.

>69. Critical Fails result on a roll of 7 and Critical success results on a roll of 13. A roll of 1 is calculated as if it were a 7 and a roll of 20 is calculated as if it were 13 for mathematical purposes.
man...

File: WetTheBed.png (2.63 MB, 1024x1536)

2.63 MB PNG

>>6476508 >>6476537 >>6476540 >>6476545

Rolled 17, 12, 19 = 48 (3d20)

>>6475754
>>6475771
>>6475802
>>6476022
Taiga urged everyone to cross the stream, now. But slowly and carefully.
Cassie stepped forward first, leading the horses. Professor Monday, still weakened by his ordeal in the ruins, rode the second horse. Taiga watched her carefully from the bank. Their deputy escort was skilled on land but Cassie seemed to have trouble navigating the strong current and slippery stones. Sure enough, when she was more than halfway across, she slipped and started to stumble.

Acting quickly, Taiga quickly cast a spell that raised a short ice wall that Cassie caught herself against. She straightened up, secured her footing, and let go of the frigid wall, letting loose with an incredibly creative string of horrible curses. After thoroughly condemning all forms of cold water, she grumbled thanks at Taiga.

Meanwhile, Victor had raced over to her, taking the leads, and helped her across like he'd been crossing this stream his whole life. Etou whistled and offered some catcalling praise of his prowess before her and Chaika started across together. As the two girls crossed steadily, Taiga turned back and watched the approaching line of crabs, or whatever they were. They were crossing the stone but she still had time to cross. She scoffed at them.

Etou and Chaika crossed onto the opposite bank of the river. Taiga turned back and began crossing, the cold water cutting into her legs. The stones were more slippery than she expected but she was more than capable of-
The strong current swelled and pushed hard against her feet. She opened her mouth to gasp and caught a mouthful of frigid water as she was knocked off her feet.

Her thighs and hips struck the smooth river stones, the impact somewhat blunted by the water. She scrambled and clawed her way along the river bed, submerged and holding her breath. Finally reaching the edge, she pulled herself up out of the water, choking and spitting the water out, and gasping for air. She crawled her way onto the land, embarrassed, exhausted, drenched, and freezing. Hearing the steps in front of her, she looked up and reached out her hand for help up. She felt a wave of gratitude for Victor's reliability, kindness, and strength.

Then she realized that it was the three closest crabs approaching and she was still on the bank she started at. Her face fell and she noticed them changing their positions as they neared her, preparing to strike.

Taiga Monday barely has any time to react. What should she do?
[A]. fight the strange metal crabs with magic
[B]. cast a defensive ice spell
[C]. roll away and scramble into the frigid stream
[D]. stand up quickly and back into the water
[E]. Something else

Roll a dice+1d20
The first three rolls will be applied to the winning vote so don't feel the need to vote for a post with a good roll.

>>6476057
>Critical Fails result on a roll of 7
Yup. I had planned to write a longer update but after looking over the rules I decided to stop any kind of going easy on the characters at all. And that critical fail needed consequences that y'all deserved a chance to respond to.

>>6476500
>Crab 1 rolls a 17+1=18 (for dubs)
>Crab 2 rolls a 12-1+1=12 (minus distance plus dubs)
>Crab 3 rolls a 19-2+1=18 (minus distance plus dubs)

Well, fuck. Roll high for Taiga, players!

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>6476500
[B]. cast a defensive ice spell

File: who-is-the-best-hanekawa-(...).jpg (48 KB, 736x552)

48 KB JPG

>>6476537
>Rolled 7
We could still come back from this...

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>6476500
>[B]. cast a defensive ice spell
TAIIIIIIGAAAAAAAAAA

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>6476500
>[B]. cast a defensive ice spell
>>6476540
>Rolled 13 (1d20)
Taiga got that protag energy

We can still get fanservice. Don't believe in Taiga, believe in her tits that yearn for freedom.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>6476537
>>6476540
>>6476545
I've got a couple ideas of how to play this but there's one thing we need first.
Our first 1d3.

>>6476691
Well, fuck. That snowballed very quickly.

Don't panic. There's a couple options here to keep Taiga in the story. It's either bad, worse, bizarre, or final.
I'll see if I can write it up as a choice. Either in less than two hours or not until tomorrow afternoon.

>>6476697
but a 13 is a crit success

>>6476870
It's a critical fail negated by a critical success and then a 1 (scored as a 7) versus a 19, or at best a 12 if I fudge it. There's no turning it into a success for her.

If the 1d3 had been a 2 or 3, then I could swing it.

Without that critical success, she'd definitely be dead, 100%. And there'd be less options. As it is, Taiga could still clutch this without dying. Technically there's a 40-60% chance of her living. I spent the day writing it in my head I just gotta get it down tomorrow when I've slept.
You'll have to choose a path (I'll try to be as explicit as I can without literally explaining what each result would be) Then I'll have you roll for a level of success. She could come out of this even stronger and/or stranger.

>>6476981
Sounds like a fun turn of events

>>6477012
Woohoo! I can finally post!
4chan went down right before I proofread the update. I'll post it as soon as I get home. Hopefully in the next two hours or in 11 hours. It's locked and loaded.

File: CastingIceWhenInWater.png (2.93 MB, 1024x1536)

2.93 MB PNG

>>6477738

>>6476537
>>6476540
>>6476545
Taiga Monday responded quickly. She cast a defensive ice shield to protect her and ensnare the metal crab closest to her. Ice crystals erupted from the earth and water, forming a jagged, erratic wall holding the enemy in place. The crab was immobilized and there was a barrier keeping the other two at bay. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized that she was too close. Had she been on dry land, it wouldn't have mattered. However, the ice spread further, encircling her in the water and holding her in place as well.

She lurched and threw her meager weight, hearing shouting from her friends behind her on the other bank. But she couldn't break free. Her arms were pinned down and the ice around her waist kept her from moving. And the second crab was approaching. It clambered around the side of the ice wall, raising a sharp claw to strike. It swung diagonally with a fierce blow. A killing strike.

Taiga arched her spine, leaning back completely and the claw sliced through the air of above her ample chest, striking both the ice wall and the first crab. The sound of shattering ice and screeching metal rang out as the attacking crab embedded itself into the other. The force of the blow sent them both and a chunk of the ice wall into the river with a splash. Taiga righted herself, breaking free of the ice and regaining her footing, and prepared to run back across the river. She'd swim if she had to.

A cold slash brushed across her chest and she looked down to see a thick band of red across her breasts. Looking up, she saw that the third crab has silently passed through the broken wall. Red dripped from its thin, razor sharp claw. Taiga slipped and fell backwards into the river in surprise, the deep wound on her chest burning even as the frigid water surrounded her. There was a loud sound she only recognized as a gunshot when the metal crab flew backwards and crumbled. A tiny smirk crossed her lips as the cold water rushed around her head and darkness claimed her vision.

File: ME3.png (1.92 MB, 1536x1024)

1.92 MB PNG

>>6477740

>>6477736
Taiga Monday was very cold and very wet. Her eyes were still closed as she realized that she was lying on her back and could feel beneath her a cold, hard, smooth surface with a layer of cool water on it. But she could breathe freely. She opened her eyes and was shocked to discover that it didn't help. Above her was a pitch black darkness unlike anything she'd ever seen before. She sat up and looked around. At first, she was worried that she'd gone blind. But she saw four colored lights in the distance. Standing up, she still couldn't see where she was or even herself very well. She had no idea how she had gotten there.

It occurred to her that she should be dead from that wound ....and maybe she was. Absently, she reached up and felt her chest. The terrible wound burned and stung when she touched it and her hand came away feeling sticky with blood. But the wound should be keeping her from even standing. She didn't understand any of this.

Without anything else to do, she walked towards the four colored lights, her splashing steps echoing in the vast empty, blackness. As she approached, she realized that each of the lights were coming from beyond stone archways, seemingly in a wall she couldn't make out. There were four archways, each with a different colored light: red, green, blue, and a pale white. And there was a silhouetted figure standing in each.

The red archway had the silhouette of young man holding a gun. The green archway had the silhouette of a girl in a dress holding a suitcase. The blue archway had the very familiar silhouette of her father, holding some kind of ropes. The fourth had the silhouette of another, taller girl holding a book.
Taiga smiled, feeling relief at having found her party, her friends.

She didn't understand why they were just standing there silently. She called out to them, asking where they were.
Victor responded first, his voice strained and angrier than she'd ever heard it before. "Fight Taiga! Your body is stronger than this! We destroyed them! Return!"
She called out to Victor but he didn't respond further. She started to walk towards him and felt a strange pull. It felt like her body was solidifying, becoming more dense. But she felt a bizarre sense of permanence. Like she couldn't change her mind if she allowed herself to be pulled into an archway. She frantically stepped back, resisting the pull.

File: ThePathForward.png (1.72 MB, 1536x1024)

1.72 MB PNG

>>6477743 >>6477751 >>6477938 >>6477948 >>6477956

>>6477738
Glancing at the green archway, she heard Chaika's voice sounding even more strange than usual. "Taiga good. Synthesis better than crypt. Taiga should be Decrypted."
Her tone was stiff and rigid, lacking any of the playful joy the strange girl usually had. It didn't really sound like her speaking at all. She took a step towards the strange girl, curious and confused. Unlike the red archway, getting closer to the green made her feel lighter and somehow less substantial, like leaves in the wind.

When her father spoke up, she turned, stepping forward, but took a step back as she felt a strange enveloping warmth around her head. His voice was the strangest yet. It was unmistakably her father's voice but it sounded like several people speaking in harmony, in unison. "Come Taiga! We controlled the bleeding. We can make you thrive and blossom."
There was something else off about him she couldn't place and she saw that he wasn't holding ropes. They were plant vines for some reason.

Reluctantly, she turned to the final archway, expecting to hear Etou. Instead, Hanekawa's voice came from the silhouette, dripping with superiority and condescension. "Small, weak girl. Such refusal to accept the truth: You have no power." A cold, vengeful anger filled Taiga but also a desperate, quiet fear.

Taiga doesn't feel the pressure of time. She feels like she could wait here forever, never hungering or tiring, but her friends need her. ....don't they? She looks around the vast black void, true concern weighing down on her. The black vastness could hold anything but seems to hold nothing at all. She can't see any other path but these four. Victor makes her want to get stronger, to fight, but she feels like she'd lose something. Chaika sounds strange and mysterious, like it might lead to a different path entirely, away from her friends. Her father definitely sounds like he wants to restore her to health but she can tell that he's not telling her something. And Hanekawa...

Hanekawa is a stupid bitch for calling her a weak, small girl. Taiga wants to go up to her and punch her damn lights out. But Taiga just knows that if she does that, she'll end up breaking something and she might end up losing even more. She's moved past her petty obsession with the know-it-all anyway.
And besides, she really is kind of tired of struggling when others all seem to have so much more power. She could just give up and rest a while...

What path should Taiga take?
[A]. Return to Victor trading for new strength
[B]. Create a strange new path with Chaika
[C]. Accept her father's help to thrive and grow
[D]. Accept that she has no power and diminish with Hanekawa
[E]. Risk sacrificing everything to punch Hanekawa in the face
[F]. Something else

I wanted to avoid being explicit about the options, to keep it narrative and allow for mystery. But let me know if you need me to clarify.

>>6477740
>[E]. Risk sacrificing everything to punch Hanekawa in the face
Yeah, violence! Escalate every situation!

>>6477740
>[E]. Risk sacrificing everything to punch Hanekawa in the face
Peak Taiga Monday action right here

>>6477740
>Accept her father's help to thrive and grow

>>6477740
[F]. Something else
Call for the TAIGA MONDAY door using the power of her INDOMITABLE SPIRIT and reveal her true power.

>>6477740
Actually?
>>6477751
Fuck this, change me to
>>6477948
THIS. [F]! TAIGA MONDAY

File: 100RQCharacterHT.png (629 KB, 1359x677)

629 KB PNG

>>6478279 >>6478284 >>6478285

Rolled 2, 1, 10 = 13 (3d20)

>>6477743
>>6477751
>>6477948
>>6477956
>>6477956
>THIS. [F]! TAIGA MONDAY
>Call for the TAIGA MONDAY door using the power of her INDOMITABLE SPIRIT and reveal her true power.
I'm going to need a couple things.

First, I need three anons to roll dice+1d20 in order to determine the degree of success.

Second, what color is the Taiga Monday Door? This is cosmetic but it will affect more than the door.

Third, I need a seed in order to determine what flavor her true power is. I have an idea, but I'd rather get input.
You could:
select an ability to max out;
let me fiat a mysterious ability and leave Tiaga to figure it out;
Have me curate a randomly rolled power;
Or suggest something else?

>>6478277
I'll make Taiga her own character sheet later. Jasper too. Heh.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>6478277
>yellow door
>max strength ability

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>6478277
Color: Light Indigo
Power: Tiger
She gets strength, speed, reflexes, agumented senses and super regeneration.
When she activates this, she can't use any other power (any form of magic) than Tiger until she sleeps and receives the goddess blessing.
While in Tiger state, she becomes unable to use underwear (yes, I have to ruin it).

I don't want to depend on Victor for physical power.

>>6478285
>another 7
You're killing me, anon

>>6478296
Why do I destroy everything I love?

>>6478298
The Dice Gods are hungry for blood rather than tigers without underwear I guess.

>>6478299
It's time for our girl Marnie to be the new Tiger.

>>6478284
>>6478285
I can work with this and it's surprisingly close to what I already had planned.

>>6478296
>>6478298
>>6478299
I still need one more roll for the degree of success.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>6478347

I expect to be able to finish the update tomorrow night, Monday.

File: PUNCH.png (1.37 MB, 1095x1374)

1.37 MB PNG

>>6479519

>>6477751
>>6477948
>>6477956
Hanekawa's silhouette called Taiga Monday a weak, small girl. And yet, Taiga resisted the urge to punch her fucking lights out in anger. She somehow knew that she'd end up breaking something and she might lose part of herself. She had grown as a person and moved past her obsession with Hanekawa and wasn't consumed with petty jealousy and anger.
No, she didn't lash out in anger or uncontrolled pride or jealousy.

She punched her gods damned smug face in because, seriously, just fuck that stupid bitch.

The sound of the punch cracked across the black void Taiga found herself in as the white clad fool flew backwards through the archway. All of the other archway lights winked out and the pale white light of the archway coalesced into the figure sprawled out on the wet black floor at Taiga's feet. The figure shifted forms to no longer resemble Hanekawa but it was difficult to see as white light poured out of her, flowing directly into Taiga Monday.
"NO!" The strained voice of a stranger screamed out from the figure as they thrashed and writhed. "She isn't even a wisp, let alone a wraith! She can't! This can't-"
The rest of her rant was muffled into silence as brilliant white light cascaded over Taiga, absorbing into her, becoming her. Taiga looked around and saw only blackness, endlessly stretching in every direction. She was the only light. Her alone.

File: OmegaTigerSpirit.png (2.55 MB, 1024x1536)

2.55 MB PNG

>>6479523

>>6479517
Victor felt powerless as he rushed back into the water after Taiga fell. The water slowed his steps and he could only helplessly watch as she fought off the crabs. He rushed up to her as she sank into the water, blood horrifically pouring into the river. There was so much of it. He ignored the crabs as Cassie picked them off with her rifle from the other bank. He reached down into the bloody water and lifted the small girl out, racing to the other bank.

He set her down immediately, pressing his handkerchief down against the huge gash on her soft breast, struggling to staunch the wound. Etou appeared next to him, ignoring the wound, examining her face, deathly pallor, and lack of breathing, and pressed her mouth into Taiga's, breathing for her. Etou pushed Victor aside and pumped her hands against the small girl's chest, then breathed into her again. As she worked, Professor Monday struggled to get off his horse, fell, and crawled to his feet, hysterical. "No! We can save her! Let us help! She can be saved! We need her! Taiga!"
Cassie and Victor grabbed his professor and held him back as Etou worked. Even as the bald man struggled against them and screamed, Chaika set down her suitcase, walked up, and cast her best healing magic over Taiga then shaking her head sadly. Eventually, panting from exertion, Etou sat back and stared at the small dead girl. Victor shook his head 'no' in disbelief, finally letting her father go, who simply crumpled to his knees, beginning to sob. Cassie took off her hat, held it to her chest, and lowered her head.

Everyone was stunned and looking away except Chaika, who kept looking at the dead girl with tears in her eyes, as if looking at her death was a sign of honoring her. Because of this, it was only Chaika that actually saw it. Suddenly and silently, Taiga simply faded from existence, leaving her clothes collapsing empty on the ground where her body had lied. Chaika's startled gasp alerted everyone and they looked up to find her corpse gone.
Chaika struggled to explain what she had seen to everyone and wasn't doing a very good job when she stopped, looked up, and said simply "Oh...Chaika see. Taiga not gone. She strong tiger. Good. Chaika love friend."
Everyone was confused by this nonsensical explanation until they followed her gaze. Sure enough, seemingly descending from the bright moon itself, Taiga was floating downwards toward them.

File: LowBat.gif (6.69 MB, 400x604)

6.69 MB GIF

>>6479524

>>6479519
Her face was serene and beautiful, her body was charged with waves of rippling power. Yellow light cascaded off of her in swirling energy. Her form seemed translucent, like moonlit mist, only pure yellow with streaks of light indigo, like, indeed, the markings of a powerful tiger. She regarded them all calmly as she descended, like a benevolent ruler regarding her beloved subjects. Chaika was grinning wildly, actually bouncing with joy. Victor, Cassie, and the professor were staring, mystified. Etou was marveling as well but her eyes were narrowed. She was watching at the sheer power rolling off of Taiga. No spell she'd ever heard of had that kind of power. No source of power she'd ever read about could produce that kind of power for long in a controlled release and this was openly rolling off of Taiga in waves. There should be absolutely no way it could continue.

Taiga gracefully floated towards the group and opened her mouth to speak. Abruptly, the yellow light flickered out and Taiga Monday was returned to flesh and blood, naked, several feet above the ground. With a startled expression, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell into an unseemly heap onto the soft riverbank.
Etou rushed to her, rolled her over, and a colossally epic snore roared out of the tiny girls mouth as she slept unconscious but unharmed. Etou looked back at the others. "Yep." She grinned. "She's okay. Can't keep whatever the fig *that* was up for too long."
Chaika and the professor looked ecstatic. Cassie was still shaking her head in amazement. And Victor was blushing red, failing to keep his eyes on Etou and not Taiga behind her.

File: SinkingFeeling.png (1.96 MB, 1224x1285)

1.96 MB PNG

>>6479636 >>6479845 >>6479859

>>6479523
Hanekawa Tsubasa had spent most of the day enjoying a gentle walk west, surrounded by playful and curious raptors. They had nuzzled and bumped her a bit and she did her best to behave like a fellow creature, neither predator nor prey. It seemed to work and she had tried to walk away but the pack kept following her. It had made her nervous at first but their presence was something she had begun to get used to.

And when she crested a hill and none of them had followed, a few freezing and a few others lazily trotting off in another direction, she began to get alarmed. She quickly realized what they had known that she hadn't. The area of of the jungle to the west was riddled with swampland and she often had to avoid slipping into dangerous quicksand and quagmires. Still, she was able to traverse it without too much difficulty and going around it might not be possible anyway.

By the time darkness began to descend with the moonless night, she could see more stable jungle on the horizon and was planning on making some sort of shelter in a tree. That when she heard it. It was a voice grunting. It was a light, high voice of a person struggling. Casting a small spell using prepared leaves from her bag, she masked her appearance and scent. She was far from undetectable, but more easily hidden. She crept closer to the sound and came upon a patch of quicksand muck and there was a person in it, submerged up to her hips, with a basket of fruit scattered across the surface next to her. The person was clearly an elf and seemed, at least to Hanekawa's inexperienced eyes, to be a child. But elves were small and fair. It could be an adult. Whoever it was, Hanekawa deduced that they were alone because they hadn't called out or signaled for help.

The elf had long, wild dark brown hair, a white top and loincloth, a dark green cloak, and gold armbands and accessories. She was struggling to escape while trying to move as little as possible, sinking more each time she tried. She was reaching out in vain, trying to reach vines too far away. Her expression was determined but haunted with growing panic.

Hanekawa knew the right thing to do was to save her by moving a nearby log across the patch. But the elves had tried to kill her. And she needed to find the others. It occurred to her that she could try to pull the girl out with vines over a tree branch, hoisting her up out of reach so that she couldn't attack.

What should Hanekawa do?
[A]. Slip past the elf and leave her alone
[B]. Rescue the elf by laying a log across
[C]. Lasso the elf with vines and pull them up to the side
[D]. Something else

I'm going to be a little self indulgent and explain what the options were:
[A]. Red would have Taiga become a zombie or revenant
[B]. Green would have had Taiga disappear entirely, dropped or teleported into the digital world
[C]. Blue would have had her come back alive either slightly or very influenced by a world faction
[D]. Accepting and diminishing would have had her die permanently or become a ghost
[E]. Punching Hanekawa in the face? I figured it was a forceful entry into the ghost archway. So, a Force Ghost, ala Star Wars. Tweaked by your rule:

>>6477948
>>6478284
>>6478285
Rule 78. Taiga Monday's INDOMITABLE SPIRIT revealed her true power upon her death.
She has become an Indomitable Spirit. By converting her body, spirit, and the power of an Archspirit, and elite undead ghost, Taiga has had her MP raised to 30 and has gained the following abilities:
Indomitable: Uses 10 MP; Gains the maximum strength stat, accompanied with yellow magical light.
Tiger Spirit: Uses 20 MP; Gains strength, speed, reflexes, augmented senses, and super regeneration, accompanied with light indigo magical light and intermittent intangibility, making her unable to reliably hold objects, wear clothing, or cast magic. She remains in this form until asleep where the goddess's blessing restores to her human form.
Omega Tiger Spirit Form: Uses 100 MP; ???????

>>6479524
>C]. Lasso the elf with vines and pull them up to the side

File: 0_qi0FPzlIP7zHAqrw.jpg (108 KB, 1200x675)

108 KB JPG

>>6480042

>>6479524
[C]. Lasso the elf with vines and pull them up to the side
I don't really remember what kind of magic can she perform so let's go with this.

>>6479524
>[C]. Lasso the elf with vines and pull them up to the side

Rolled 14, 12, 1 = 27 (3d20)

>>6479636
>>6479845
>>6479859
>>[C]. Lasso the elf with vines and pull them up to the side
Let's go for it.
Let's see three dice+1d20 to see how this goes.
I only have about 4-6 hours free tomorrow and the next day. But I'll try to get it done.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>6480042
TAIGA GRANT ME THIS ROLL

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>6480042

>>6480045
Oh shit that'll do 'er

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>6480042

>>6480044
>Rolled 18
Taiga provides.

>>6480045
>Rolled 20
Actually 13

>>6480048
>Rolled 1
Actually 7

Not bad but we're still rolling oddly.