"You've got to get out of your own head, man. You're going to waste away in there," he knocks on the side of your skull, and you slap his hand away, brow furrowing in annoyance.
"Ah, but I guess you've got to get used to contemplation. You'll be an Alchemist soon, whenever Fulgrim finally decides to pull his claws out of you."
You sniff. Fulgrim's greatest misery these days is the knowledge that you'll soon be beginning your alchemical career, which will put you out of reach of his taunts and whippings, and leave him to molder apprenticeless in the Academy.
"Are you worried about it?" Lear says; he doesn't complain about doing most of the talking between the two of you. "I mean, the Empire can be pretty rough on a man if he isn't prepared. Did you ever give it much thought?"
You scratch your chin, where a faint beard has been trying its best to grow lately.

>What are your opinions of the Imperium?

>Archives- http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=AlchemyQuest

>>12528439
"After what I've been through under Fulgrim, it'll be a cakewalk."

Bertram Gillivers
CURRENT STATUS
Age: 19
Alchemical Formulae Known:
-Sunsphere, defensive weapon
-Dragon's Blood, offensive weapon
-Smokebomb, defensive/utility
Medecine, Novitiate level
Other Equipment:
-Apprentice's Robes
-Family Heirloom, Carved Bird

>>12528460
>Any other opinions? General thoughts about the political environment of the empire? I'm trying to get a feel for how you guys are characterizing Gillivers politically.

>>12528526
Well we don't really know much beyond there's an Emperor who we've never seen, court politics are extra backstabby, and Alchemists have a very influential role.
Based on our personality/interactions so far, I guess we'd be interested in making things better for the lower classes, what with our only real friend Elegy being essentially a slave and possibly living a horrible life. I imagine we'll want to try staying good while gaining enough power and influence to institute some kind of social reform.
Without knowing the Emperor's policies, we can't really say we'd want to oppose him just yet.

>>12528584
"Much of the political theater is distant and unclear to me. My father was a farmer and I've spent much of my life here," you shrug. "It can't be worse than what Fulgrim's put me through so far."
Lear laughs at this. "I hear that, though I wouldn't be so sure. You can count of Fulgrim to hate you, all the time, no matter what you do. That's a comforting sort of consistency, I suppose. When you're involved in the court, the slightest turn of phrase that might suggest that you're a threat to so-and-so could get you a knife in your ribs."
You think back on the endless hours of Fulgrim's screaming rants about everyone and everything around him; why was he even still alive?
"I've no interest in mask-smiled intrigue," you say. "Though I'd like to make life better for people who have no say in our government." Your thoughts turn to your father, a warm and comfortable, if somewhat hazy memory.
Lear opens his mouth to speak, but then stares into the middle distance behind you. Turning to look, you see a small page-boy fiddling nervously with a sealed letter in his hands.
"G-Gillivers?" he says meekly. You nod your head slowly, raising a hand in assent.
"A message for you, sir." The boy says, handing you the envelope.
"Oooh, an Imperial seal and everything! Maybe you've been invited to dinner at Lassivar's!" Lear jokes.

Bertram Gillivers, c/o
Giles Fulgrim
Distinguised Apprentice within
Imperial Alchemical Academy
Private Property Matters Enclosed

>>12528665
Ooooh, open it! But don't tell Lear what's inside yet, could be private.

rolled 6 = 6

>>12528689
Oh, and thank the messenger. We have a polite reputation to uphold.

You break the ornate wax seal of the Imperial Court, pulling out the heavy parchment within. It falls open, dark black quill scratches spilling a small script across the page.

Master Gillivers,
It is the regret of the Imperial Judicium to inform you of a seizure of your or your family's estate holdings as the result of legal proceedings that have ruled against your kin.
Defendant: Artorius Gillivers
Charge(s): Treason, Sedition, Conspiracy
Verdict: Guilty
Sentence: Death by Hanging

The following property is being seized to cover fines and court fees not covered in the sentencing:
One (1) farm plot with attached cottage and all relevant livestock, furnishings, and equipment.
Liquid Assets not exceeding 43 Legions.

We regret that this letter does not bear happier news. To appeal this seizure of property, please levy complaints with the Camdredge local Judicium on or before the first day of Pyresmont.
Sincerely,
Tedrom Lumby,
5th District Civil Scribe

>What do?

>Be back in a while, hopefully this will have percolated a bit and generated more people.

>>12528795
DAD! We need to find out what the hell happened. Has he been executed yet? We have to get back to the farm now!

Bumpan to attract attention.

>>12528795
>fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Alright! Been waiting for this. We definitely need to find out what the hell happened. There's no way an old famer would be involved in treason. Someone is doing this to hurt us.

>>12528859
>The letter does not say if the sentence has been carried out. It is two weeks until the start of Pyresmont

Lear leans in. "Are they finally putting you in charge around here?"
Your hands tremble slightly as you fold the letter.
"Thank you," you murmur softly to the messenger, who bobs his head before departing.
"Hey, whoa, Gill," Lear says, putting a hand on your shoulder. He stands several inches taller than you, despite being younger. "What's going on, man?"

>You could probably get back to Camdredge in a few days of hard riding, but you don't exactly have permission to be riding off from the Academy. What do?

>>12529538
I say we head to Camdredge, but talk to Fulgrim first. Don't indicate it's important or we really want to go, just ask him for a few days off to deal with family business. Maybe mention we'd be out of his hair for a few days.

>>12529579
Agreed. Running away when there's still a chance of being allowed to go is silly although there's a chance this will put us under lock down.

You mumble some excuses and leave Lear standing on the balcony. He shouts some joke or encouragement, but it is lost on the growing winds.
Giles Fulgrim is decanting some sort of frothing liquid when you enter his study.
"To what do I owe this fantastic disturbance," he says without looking up. "I thought today was your day to be useless somewhere. Well," he snickers, "somewhere else."
Fulgrim has hardened and soured since you became his apprentice. Where he was once a stern hand trying to shape you into a ruthless alchemist, he now seems to be a resentful specter, always there with a cruel word or a goading taunt. His spine has hunched slightly with age, making him look like he is always cradling some kind of secret into himself. Time has not been kind to him. Perhaps time is kind to no one.
"Well, what is it? What do you want?"

Oh crap. I bet our last action in history didn't get us any brownie points with this guy. Ask him if we can be useless out of the academy for a few days, hopefully to bring back some things that can't be easily obtained in the area I guess.

>>12529579
I like what this man says.

"Perhaps I could go be useless outside the Academy for a few days. There is some family business I would like to attend to, and I'd be out of your hair for a while."
The shadow of a smirk curls up at the corner of Fulgrim's lips and dies there. He turns back to his beakers, dropping a pinch of some powder into one of them and boiling off the resultant froth. For all his misery and bitterness, Fulgrim is a fairly competent alchemist, and you've learned much from him despite his best efforts. Finally he waves you off, back still turned to you.
"Very well apprentice. Perhaps I'll find someone with talent and respect to replace you while you're gone." A laugh trips over the mucous in his throat and he bring a hand to his mouth, coughs percolating wetly in his lungs.
You're almost positive he's joking.

It is three days later when you finally splash up the rough dirt road into Camdredge. You haven't been here in 13 years; the place doesn't seem to have grown much. In fact, viewing it with the eyes of a young adult, everything seems much smaller and more drab. The nonstop rain these last few days hasn't helped, nor does the churning dread in your stomach.

>Where to?

>>12529832
If I remember right, the priest in the village taught us when we were young? Go to him first perhaps?

>>12529832
No sense beating around the bush, head to the local Judicium so we can get to the bottom of this mess.

Anyone else have trouble posting for the last couple minutes? It looked like all of 4chan froze up.

>>12529881
Yeah, posting was messed up for the last bit.

The church, like most buildings in town, is ringed by a moat of thick muddy water. You hitch your borrowed horse to the gate of the short iron fence that seems to be slowly sinking into the sludgy earth. The swollen wooden door sticks in the frame, and you have to put your weight behind it to allow you entrance.
Inside the church, the pouring rain outside is a dull thunder on the shingled, steepled roof. The main room is empty, expansive benches facing a central raised altar. From the back of the church, a thin bald man in brown robes approaches the front, having exited from a small attached living space.
"There are no worship services today, Goodsir, and I suspect you'd be better off staying out of the...rain..."
Father Delbirous trails off as he approaches, hands tucked into his sleeves.
"By all the Blessings I know," he breathes. "That can't be Bertram Gillivers?"

"It is, Father Delbirous. It's good to see you again but I'm sure you know why I'm here at the moment. What happened?"

"It is, Father Delbirous. It's good to see you again but I'm sure you know why I'm here at the moment. What happened?"
Delbirous looks pleased to see you, but his face nevertheless turns grim.
"Ah, yes, of course. Your father was allegedly part of a group of Freedom's Sons operating in the Fifth District," he spits on the church floor at the mention of the name. "I don't believe a word of it, but the Justicium certainly did. The trial was almost half a month ago now, it was a circus, a madhouse. Artorius and half a dozen other men, dragged out and made a show of. Your father didn't even have anyone defending him, and although he spoke eloquently enough on his own behalf, it wasn't enough to sway the judge."

>>12529991
"Has his sentence been carried out yet? Can I... can I still see him?"

>>12529991
"Did the rest of the village throw him to the wolves then? They truly believed and old man like that was apart of that group? How did they link that group to my father?"

"Did the rest of the village throw him to the wolves then? They truly believed and old man like that was apart of that group? How did they link that group to my father?"
Delbirous looks weary. "Many details of the trial were kept secret, 'in the interest of preserving Imperial counter-espionage techniques.' The butcher, however, Sandres Oppul, testified against your father, said he had joined the group in order to find out who the traitors on the community were."
"Has his sentence been carried out yet? Can I... can I still see him?"
Delbirous looks at you with a terrifying coldness as the interminable silence drags on and on and on, well past the time the answer is obvious. He chews his lower lip, running a hand over his bare scalp and sighing heavily.
"I...buried his casket myself, in the cemetary out back. Young Master, I always hoped you'd come back to us one day...but never like this." He doesn't look at you, but you know the truth of his words.

>What do?

>>12530094
Time to talk to the butcher. Let's hear him out before we start blowing shit up in revenge.

Ask the priest first if the butcher had any problems with our father. Tempted to also check out our old home and see if our dad left anything for us. Maybe the priest will know.

>>12530132
The farm that was seized by the Empire?

Still worth a look, I guess, if it hasn't been razed.

>>12530208

I've had that type of alchemy used on me!
MY GIRLFRIEND IS A WITCH!

>>12530208
>WAT?
"Did the butcher have a grudge against my father that you know of?"
Delbirous shakes his head. "No, nor the other men he testified against. But the Freedom's Sons have an insidious message, and their means have been known to include mass murder. I wouldn't be overly surprised if the butcher was merely jumping at shadows. And maybe the other men were Freedom's Sons, and your father was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Is there anything left at the old farm?"
"Unlikely, Imperial agents were all over the place from the moment your father was arrested. Truth be told I don't think they expected you to show up."

>What do?

>>12530208
I assume you came from the metathread earlier complaining about quest threads in direct violation of several sticky rules?

>>12530282
Can't hurt to check the farm, but after that we need to have a talk with this butcher.

oh boy, off topic as anything but I'm almost through the archives. This is the best thing ever. I'm not normally from /tg/ but I stop by for the epic threads and art and this is irresistable to read. What's /tg/'s reaction to sudden drawfaggotry in threads like these?

>>12530282
Be strong, Gullivers :(
Nobody's going anywhere, go to the farm. Just... to look.

>>12530342
we would love you forever.

>>12530342
Knowing that people enjoy these only makes me work harder to improve. I am fueled entirely by praise and weed, and I'm on a serious dryspell lately. Also perhaps you'd be interested in Bloodquest, my other quest thread? I've been told it's an interesting read.

The headstone of Artorious Gillivers is unmarked; Father Delbirous explains that it was all he could do even to allow the alleged traitor to be buried, and on sacred ground at that. You run a palm down the rough stone, staring coldly at the blank space, your stomach churning. Finally you reach into your pocket, pulling forth a well-worn wooden bird. You feel its almost negligible weight in your palm, the wood darkening as a tear strikes it and is absorbed by the weathered material. It is the only tear you allow yourself, for the moment at least. Scraping aside a handful of muddy earth from the grave, you lay the carving to rest in the earth of your father's undeserved resting place, patting the mud back into a level surface. You stand, wiping the dirt from your hands on your robes. Delbirous bows his head meekly; there are no words.

The family farm is almost exactly as you left it, except for a warning posted out front warning trespassers against looting recently acquired Imperial property. Persons interested in purchasing the land are instructed to journey to the Fifth District Judicium, which is half a day's travel south and services all the local villages. You spend a lot of time standing at the gate, staring at the closed door of the cottage, trying to remember what the inside looked like.

>What do?

>>12530448
:(
screw the sign. You go right straight in there.

>>12530361
and I want to belt out something before the thread ends, I haven't gotten a totally clear description to go on so, anyone wanna sum up what Gill looks like here or should I just improvise?

>>12530448
Do we have enough scratch to purchase it and then leave it standing alone forever? If so that.

Visit Da's grave. Try to apologize, be confused on what to apologize about, stand bewildered about, then thank the Priest.

Give him some donation for his teachings. It is him who first caught our talent and made it so that we escape this fate, and now perhaps have a sliver of a chance of untangling this mystery.

Don't try to find the butcher. Bertram is still confused and might act out in anger. Instead try to find the Judicium proxy of the area, and discuss about your father's estate and how you might reclaim it.

Then go into the matter of this Sons of Freedom...

YEAH! ALCHEMY QUEST!

>>12530448
The sign said looting. Clearly we'll be fine if we don't take anything. Or get caught taking it...

>>12530507
>>12530498
>Niggas you poor
>>12530495
In my head, Gilliver's always looked like the OP pic, but I'd welcome any alternative takes on his look, and/or drawfaggotry for any of the other characters.

You step through the fence, disregarding the sign and approaching the front door. It's locked.

>I've heard some people talking about confronting the butcher, and others talking about staying away from him. Also there seem to be more than two of you, so I don't feel too nervous about asking you to come to a decision regarding this.

>>12530559
I'd like talk to the butcher at some point but we can wait until after we calm down a bit and talk to the Judicium.

>>12530559
Butcher likely had SOME reason to talk out against those involved with the group. Might give us some leads on how this happened to our father in the first place.

>>12530556
Like we need anything or the Judicium investigators would leave a diary full of Sons of Freedom rhetoric lying around, falsely framed or not.

. . .

Come to think about it, did Da have any hiding place for important stuffs that Bertram remembers about?

>>12530559
I'll take that picture into consideration. But... as for now I don't know if I CAN whip up something tonight... there's just too much to read and consider. but I'll keep reading.

Search house.
Confront butcher.
Avenge death.

Sandres Oppul. The name festers in your mind like a worried-at blister. Making your way back through the omnipresent rain to the center of town you stop in the tavern where the farmers and artisans take their drink after a day's work. None recognize you, and they point you towards the butcher's shop, where it is said Oppul spends long hours salting meats after he has officially closed for business.
The butcher's shop reeks of seasoned meat, raw meat, salted meat, burnt meat, bloody meat, and every other type of flesh the imagination can conjure. A haze fills the air from a rack of lamb smoking over a bed of wood chips near the rear of the shop. Out of the smoky air emerges Sandres himself, like a blacksmith from a forge.
He is a drab, flabby looking man, with a ring of greasy hair ringing a glistening bald spot on the top of his head, a mottled topography of welts, scars, and pimples. He grins at you, tugging at a grease-braided beard.
"Apologies, goodsir, but my shop is closed for the day. If you tell me what you'd like, I can have it ready for you first thing tomorrow."

"I've heard you were involved in the trial concerning the Freedom's Sons. I was just curious on why you did what you did?"

"I demand satisfaction."

>>12530706
Don't railroad too hard, SDM.
Only two posts ask to go to the butcher's right away. Or is this Bertram bubbling anger leading the way?

>>12530781
I didn't see anyone saying avoid the butcher after he called for votes.

>>12530757
>>12530772
Too blatant. We should be more subtle.

"My name is Bertram Gillivers. My father, unseen by my eyes these many years, lies dead in the earth, and you know why."

>>12530781
>pic related

"I've heard you were involved in the trial concerning the Freedom's Sons. I was just curious on why you did what you did?"
Oppul squints at you.
"Why I...why I did what I did? Why I testified against traitors to the throne? Are you joking with me, boy? The Sons spin a good-sounding yarn about social this and meritocracy that, but they're a lot of terrorists, and make no mistake about it!" He leans in, piggish eyes boring into you.
"...or maybe you already know that. Better than most, perhaps? Come to get revenge for your fallen traitors in arms?" he waggles a thick cleaver in your direction.

>>12530872
Hmm. I should of expanded what I said. I meant more as in why he felt he had to infiltrate the group.

I don't know, in this situation maybe we should just indulge this man as much as possible, butter him up, play his best friend. He doesn't know you so go for it?

>>12530892
Also how he knew the group existed in the first place, you'd think a bunch of traitors to the throne would be sneaky enough to not tip off a random butcher. What, were they meeting in his store?

>>12530914
In this situation it doesn't matter, since we're alive and well in the present.

So let's be a fucking badass. Inigo Montoya motherfucker.

>>12530914
That would be smart. Maybe go with something like "Just wondering how you discovered a terrorist conspiracy and managed to infiltrate them. How'd you do it? Why didn't you report as sson as you realized the scum were plotting against the Empire?"

>>12530786
>>12530559
Damn it. I'm not fast enough a typist. Especially using a Combination of On-Screen Keyboard and a laptop's touchpad...

Most prior votes choose to check Judicium, and not negatively voting butcher. But, Judicium is 5 days away, so what the heck, continue in this vein.

Be subtle. Reign in anger. Hope I am not late, again.

"Just wondering how you discovered a terrorist conspiracy and managed to infiltrate them. How'd you do it? Why didn't you report as soon as you realized the scum were plotting against the Empire?"
Oppul glares at you distrustingly.
"I was approached by one of them. He's...he was...a close friend of mine, and he thought he could win me over with their utopian drivel. Iet them believe I was eating up their dogma; i thought maybe they were harmless, I could just bow out and let them have their secret meetings every week, their smart-talking self-congratulating cack. But then they started talking about..." he waves his cleaver about for emphasis, "revolution and results and changing the system. They were planning on assassinating local politicians and noblemen, Emperor knows what else. I turned them in the very next week, friends or no."

rolled 13 = 13

>>12531052
And everyone you testified against was there at the meetings? Everyone who was hanged was part of the conspiracy?

>>12530957
yeah, hell, why not be all
>"yeeeah I'm actually from the GOVERNMENT! I want to know how an upstanding citizen like yourself uncovered such information, please, enlighten me"
or something.

rolled 21 = 21

>>12531066
"I'm an Alchemist, I don't have to explain shit!"
Too bad Alchemists aren't like special James Bond-type agents for the Emperor or something.

"And everyone you testified against was there at the meetings? Everyone who was hanged was part of the conspiracy?"
Again the squinty eyes in your direction, sacs of stressed fat bunching up underneath the eyes blurred and watery from years at the veritable meat-furnace in the back of the shop.
"To the man. What are you driving at, boy? Why would I drag someone into it that weren't involved?"

>>12531114
Now time for this:
>>12530856

"My name is Bertram Gillivers. My father, unseen by my eyes these many years, lies dead in the earth, and you know why."
Oppul's jowls quiver, drops of oily fluid dripping from the strands of his sparse beard.
"Aye, I know why your father lies dead. It's because he was a traitor to this imperium. If you're here because people are going to see the sins of the father stamped on the son's face, then I offer you my apologies. But if you're here for some kind of revenge, if you're here to try and convince me your father was innocent of the crimes I said he committed, then you can take it somewhere where lies are more welcome in the ears of the citizenry." He spits out his words viciously before slamming the cleaver into a cutting board.

>>12531202
He dropped the cleaver, so punch his ass in the face.

>>12531216
>I'm not hearing any objections to this. Gonna roll with it if none are forthcoming.

>>12531216
You are not the most physically imposing man, but your punch catches the butcher by surprise. He stumbles back into a pile of wood and your hand comes away sore and oily from contact with his squishy face. He sits up, spitting blood out of a busted lip.
"And where were you, traitor-son? Artorius talked on and on about his genius son, about how his genius son would be riding into town any day now to make this into the trial of the century. Put all his hopes into that letter, and it brings you here too late even to see him buried. What took you so long? Afraid to embarrass yourself defending a guilty man?"
His laughter is full of bitterness and edged with cruelty. It is a laughter you are familiar with, having heard it out of Fulgrim's mouth for years.

>>12531300
We never got a letter. Until after the verdict.
>Going to sleep now, but if it turns out Fulgrim kept it from us, I say we kill him.

>>12531300
he died alone, without you there, Gill. All alone. No one to stand up for him.
He hoped, in his last moments, to glimpse your face in the crowd before the lever was pulled, but you weren't there, Gill. He never knew that you came back... he'll never know that you didn't forget about him.

>>12531320
>What letter
"What...what letter? I received only a letter from the local scribe."
The piggish butcher peers at your confused, almost horrified face.
"You're either a fantastic liar or a tragic rube, boy," Sandres says, climbing to his feet slowly. "Your father sent out a letter begging you to come defend him at trial. Wanted his secret weapon, his genius boy he'd invested in all those years ago. He wanted you here, needed you here, because he knew he was guilty, and he needed your good graces and swift tongue to keep his neck from the noose. 'Wait till my Bertram comes!' he'd tell me when he was dragged in in chains." he shrugs. "To look at you now, maybe you could have talked the Judicium down if you'd bothered to show."

Fuck this dude. Turn around and leave. Nothing more to do here.

>>12531346

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Find out what happened to the letter. Fulgrim that son of a bitch. Time for his ass to be kicked.

well here's what I have, I give up for tonight on doing anything more than his face. I hope it's not too off-character... but it's something, right? Tell me if anything is wrong and I'll fix it.
>>12530559
ah, he looks a bit too... old, so I tried to freshen it up a bit. normally I'd make what he's wearing more ornate, but I wanted to get his face down first.

>>12531346
>>12531383
nooo jesus :(

>>12531387
give this a try. But if he keeps this talk he is in for a world of hurt.

>>12531401
>Holy shit, is that OC? Where have you been all my life?

>>12531401
Are you the same dude who made Charles Bronson?

>>12531409
haha... I been drawfagging on /co/ :( but /co/ is shit now, so I go to greener pastures of win.

dont let me interrupt though.

>>12531415
nnnnno.

>>12531400
You turn your back on the man and walk away. A grunt from the butcher stops you at the threshold.
"For what it's worth, boy...I testified against the traitor, but not against the father."
You sneer, pulling your traveling cloak tight and stepping back into the drenching misery of the rain. There is nothing for you now in Camdredge but an untitled grave and someone else's house. You spur your horse northward towards the Academy, mulling things over in your mind. It keeps coming back to Fulgrim. It just keeps coming back to Fulgrim.

>Sorry to put it on rails a bit, but it's 3:30 over here and I'd like to wrap this up. Long story short, the Judicium is a bureaucratic nightmare and that cottage is lost to you forever.

>>12531439
>Yeah, I migrated here from /v/ and never looked back. The natives seemed pretty receptive, and I've actually had arguments end in a mutual concession of points and friendly compromise. It's actually pretty unsettling the first time it happens to you.

>>12531401
Mmmm... Delish.

>Anyway, you guys seem to be suspecting Fulgrim pretty hard. I'll just move it along.

The skies have dried up by the time you return to the Academy, though dark clouds still race threateningly along the coastal winds. You stable your borrowed, and now very exhausted, horse, steeling yourself as one foot in front of the other draws you into the maw of the Academy's cavernous entryway. You wind your way through the labyrinthine hallways that have become as familiar to you as the veins in your body. Like it or not, this place is your home, and alchemy has become a part of your blood. And your teacher, your mentor, your monstrous tormentor, lies within the heart of this great stone beast; probably mocking you.
Your simmering thoughts are interrupted when you nearly crash headlong into a servant girl. You don't recognize her; she looks to be about 15, with short-cut hair that falls awkwardly in front of her eyes. She is carrying a tray with a wine bottle and glass.
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry sir!" she says, scrambling to maintain control of the bottle of spirits.
"Oh!" she peeps again. "You're young master Gillivers, aren't you?"

>Anyone still there? I can just finish this flashback in the form of writefaggotry if everyone's gone to bed.

"I am," you manage, thoughts still distracted.
"Well, I'm taking this wine to your Master's room. Could you, that is," she pauses. "If it's not too much trouble...could you bring it to him? I still have much cleaning to do, and I haven't exactly proved my worth around here."

>what do?

We are SELFLESS! So we help her.

>>12531563
ohh no I'm still here and paying attention til the very end.
here, have this. I could draw this guy all night. Though I am not 100% sure what he looks like, you nonetheless paint a very vivid picture StonerDM :D

>>12531570
oh ho ho.
Well no better way to earn a newbie some credit than to escort her yourself, that has to hold some weight.

>>12531597
oh and later, after she finishes this task of hers maybe you feel like you've seen enough coldheartedness to last for a while and waive her duties for the rest of the night because lord knows you need to see somebody's genuine, sincerely smiling face for once :/

"I...of course," you say, your expression softening somewhat. You take the tray from her, nodding and forcing a smile as she bows her head before scampering off to continue her duties.
"Don't worry," you say after her. "You'll fit in alright."
She smiles, perhaps hiding a blush as she turns and departs.
Fulgrim is at work when you enter his chambers. A row of potted plants sit on a worktable, most of them dead and withered. Several beakers sit over flames, producing mist innocuously. Fulgrim himself holds a bottle in one hand and a dropper in the other, applying some sort of gelatinous liquid to the surface of one of the surviving plants. He watches thoughtfully as the plant withers like the others, scratching his chin.
"I don't think it's working," you say, entering with the wine and setting it on a table.
"Don't be naive, it's the most effective defoliant I've ever developed," Fulgrim snaps back, striding over to the table and snatching up the wine. "How was your 'family business'?" he asks, uncorking the bottle. You can hear the air quotes, even with his hands full.

>>12531597
>With the rain and everything
Never stop. Your illustrations are always welcome.

Speaking of drawfags, shoutout to BausBrofist. Where is that guy?

>>12531525
>>12531570
>>12531620
You know I read a scene just like this in a novel once, only the maid turned out to be an assassin and the wine was poisoned.

>don't be RIDICULOUS. No one has ever been poisoned by their servants before

>>12531650
don't even.

>>12531650
In which case I say "Bottoms up!"

>>12531620
>How was your family business?

>>12531657
Well, I haven't actually been following this quest, so I'll leave it to someone who actually knows the character to suggest a course of action.

>>12531665
"It went...as expected"

"It went...as expected" you say sullenly.
"Oh? And how are the folks?" Fulgrim says. He seems practically giddy, trying to goad you into a confrontation.

>>12531698
>Waiting some more minutes before finishing the scene out myself, because I really don't want to. However, I really want to get this flashback done tonight.

>>12531748
damn, I uh... well you're just so good at it. I don't feel senior enough to contribute, but since nobody else is...

Look him straight in the eyes as earnestly as you can muster and tell them they're perfectly fine.
See if he grins... or gets really angry.

>>12531772
You stare into his abominable face.
"They're fine," you say, your voice steely.
"Oh?" Fulgrim says, pouring himself a goblet of wine. Reaching into his robes, he produces a letter, slightly crinkled from weeks of concealment.
"This would suggest otherwise, I think, apprentice," he says with a sadistic smile.

>I can feel exhaustion closing in on me, and your ranks seem to have been decimated. I'll run again tomorrow if I can, and we'll finish this flashback before moving on in the present. Feedback, if any of you are still around? I liked how tonight's session went, but if you didn't, please say so.

>Thread has been archived. Deliver unto me your precious votes.

>>12531820
well, if you are dying from exhaustion this is the most perfect cliffhanger to end on.
Thank you for all this, I've got loads of reading material to chew through now. See you later. :D

>>12531870
More participants are always desired. I fear my occasionally irregular updating schedule keeps people from sticking around, but so far we've managed to scrape by with some good participation.

Email me! I'll send you messages when I'm going to be running threads, and sometimes I'll send you things Man was not meant to know!

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