CYOA Tales of Lona

[Scottyboy]

I've always been one to dive in head first without thinking, take the ribbon and pay in blood, then meet up with the adventures.

[Omnimek]

Commentary: Faustian bargains and opportunity for !!Fun!!
This seems like a great chance to grow what Mana can do well. Hmm.... It seems like the first will make her more adorable+intelligent and the cost might be anything from being naieve to losing social context or focus. The second sounds like it could help Mana dish it out in a direct fight, but leave her unable to take it. The ribbon? oh my goodness every possible possibility, every way you could interpret what was said makes me want this. /commentaryend

Input: Introduce yourself, thank the crone. Take the ribbon, Pay in blood! Tell her to look you up if she has other offers.

[Albireo]

ribbon all the way, then keep our word and assist with the boss.

[m3rchant]

Hmmmm... This reminds me of a riddle I knew back when I was a little kid. It's a little different than I remember and I don't recall the solution, but if it's the same then there's a way to get all the items without paying anything.

Input: For now, simply ask the lady her name as well as why she doesn't try selling her wares in or outside the walls of Lona, tell her you'll think on it during a nice conversation with her (and actually try to have one,) and then base your answer on whatever majority rules... Oh, and also ask how she deals with any pesky drakes that might get past her false wall.

[Omnimek]

Wait...
Question: Can Mana take all of the items?

[VintageBass]

Wait...
Question: Can Mana take all of the items?

I think it's just a one time item sort of deal, plus I think she'll need all the blood she can handle.

[m3rchant]

Commentary: Now that I think about it, this may actually be a Binding of Isaac reference, in which case taking an item may not only take blood (and an hp,) but it may also not ever let us have it back. (I never could bring myself to make a deal with the devil in that game.)

Additional Input: Examine: Everything! (The three items, the pedestals, the old woman, the sigil, the rest of the room, the stairs leading back up, the signature floating in the top left corner of the picture... whoops, hang on, let me just put that forth wall back together!)

[bestusernameEVER]

I advise against takin any cursed items. If you really have to, take the ribbon. There's fun to be had with beasts.

Maybe examine them, else back away slowly. Make sure not to accidentally touch anything.

[coyoteredmoon]

(muhahaha! this path is proving more fun than I had suspected >:D Who wants a hint?)

[VintageBass]

(muhahaha! this path is proving more fun than I had suspected >:D Who wants a hint?)

I don't really need a hint, I just figured it out. Not exactly happy with the ideas, the ribbon does sounds like the better option... but I know there's going to be something nasty to come from it.

[m3rchant]

(muhahaha! this path is proving more fun than I had suspected >:D Who wants a hint?)

Wait wait, don't tell me... Could it be that none of these items have any magical power at all!?!?!? Okay, until or unless majority asks for a hint, my latest theory is as follows: What we are looking at right now is the magical version of a venus fly trap! All of the items shown before us are the leftovers of her last victim. That burn mark on the cape? Acid burns from digestive fluids! But, then again, this may just be an every day woman trying to sell her magical wares to a very specific clientele. What do I know, it's just a theory! A semi-erotic create your own adventure game theory! Thanks for reading.

[merlin169]

The cape is obviously a reference to Achilles I am not sure about the rest

[yolz]

The cape is obviously a reference to Achilles I am not sure about the rest

Pretty sure that the ribbon that bound Fenrir

[bestusernameEVER]

As I said: Don't touch dangerous magical items.

Maybe we should back out and talk with Ano about this.

[m3rchant]

We have the rest of the group waiting for us up top, I say we get back to them. We can worry about all this blood payment stuff later when we get Ano's advice. HOWEVER, out or up, we should definitely keep our eyes peeled for any more dead drakes to skin: I doubt we got all that the merry band of Jenkins left behind and we'll need more than the 3 we have if we want to make ourselves that sexy armor AND have a little left over to sell!

[coyoteredmoon]

→ Don’t take any of the items and leave the strange old woman.

>Mana slowly backs up towards the stairs, not keen on taking any of the items that the strange old woman has to offer.
As she reaches the foot of the stairs, the strange old crone cackles and waves “I guess nothing suited you then, deary! Hehehe~ I’ll be seeing you around. Maybe next time I’ll have something more to your liking!”
The old woman continues cackling as Mana makes a hasty retreat back up the stairs. She continues at a quick pace up the stairs till she can no longer hear the laughter, before she finally slows down to a less panicked speed.
As she breathes a sigh of relief as she re-emerges from the hidden staircase, back onto the first floor.

→ Look for some unskinned drakes and relieve them of said skins (also look for a baby one (I’ll tell ya right now, low chance))

> On her way back up to the party on the upper floor, she keeps an eye out for skins to add to her collection. She finds a few unharassed bodies and tries her hand again at skinning them.
One of the bodies she skins brings her to a bit of epiphany about her methods. With a quick change of her knife angle, she finds the skinning process becomes significantly easier! (+1 hunting) During her toils, she manages to skin 4 bodies and gets 4 full hides and 4 scraps.
She doesn’t seem to notice and of the baby drakes lingering. They must have ran away with the juveniles when they ran off (4 drake hides added, 4 drake scraps added).

→ Return to the adventurers and enter the Broodmother’s lair.

>Mana makes her way back up to the adventuring party and tells the leader that she’s ready when everyone else is.
The lead turns to the rest of the party and calls out “We ready?” His call is returned with a small roar from everyone else and a clatter as they all stand and get their armor settled.
They stand up and get into formation, Mana at the rear.
The party leader pushes the door open with his shield, and escorts the party forward. They enter the next room defenses at the ready.
The room they enter is quite well lit, late afternoon sunlight pouring through a large hole in the wall. The room is circular with 3 levels of balconies that look down at the center of the circle, small sets of stairs on the very outside of the area. Smaller drakes hop angrily on the balconies, barking out their apparent displeasure at the adventuring group. In the Middle of the room several drakes slightly larger than an average person, defensively circle around a much larger dragon appearing creature.

>

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>Mana begins to ponder the best means of retreating. She pulls on the Drunkards sleeve and whispers: “Boss! That looks like a legit dragon, no one said we’d be fighting a real dragon!”
The Drunkard laughs. “Not a dragon! Still a drake ! The older they get, the harder they pretend they’re real dragons. Even can learn how to talk if they get this old!” He laughs heartily . “Bet this old Broodmother hasn’t seen enough visitors to hash out how language works, though! I bet she’s just a big dumb lizard!”
The Broodmother barks angrily at the Party (Specifically at the drunkard). “NOT Dumb! Youre Dumb!” She hisses and squawks at her smaller subordinates.

>

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>They rush forward into the adventuring party and the fight is on! The sudden beginning of this tussle sends Mana sprawling back landing heavily on the stone floor.
She rubs her sore rear-end. She notices the drakes seem to be ignoring her for the most part, far more busy with the adventurers. This gives her a variety of options.

→ What does she do?
> Climb to the higher levels, and jump onto the Broodmother solo! (High Risk)
> Fight through her wave of defenders with the adventurers. (Medium Risk)
> Hang back and wait for the adventurers to clear the way (Low Risk)
> Try to talk to the Broodmother, and convince her to call off this attack (Low Risk)
> Bail out! (no risk)
> other (Input action)

[kvier]

As awesome as it would be to befriend a dragon/drake/whatever, I fear Mana's odds of stopping the combat aren't very good...

[m3rchant]

True, but my policy with things that can talk has always been to first try and see if we can resolve our differences without bloodshed,second give them a means to retreat with dignity, and only if they remain adamant that one of us is going to die do I go with my third option of defeating them with maximum humiliation involved.
Also, am I the only one who's suddenly gotten the feeling that we've been fighting the good guys this entire time?

[bestusernameEVER]

"ouchbutt.jpeg"

I don't think we can talk to the broodmother much if we just charge in there and start killing everything...

Maybe talk to her, but in a moderating way, to include the adventurers?

[FragranceofMtDew]

"ouchbutt.jpeg"

I don't think we can talk to the broodmother much if we just charge in there and start killing everything...

Maybe talk to her, but in a moderating way, to include the adventurers?

This seems like a good option since there doesn't really seem to be any risk. If it doesn't work then we can just pick something else.