I forgot the title again, didn't I? Oh, well.

>>23466167
>backwater yokels

My sides. Oh its good to see you again OP, let's start things off by having a little chat with this shaman. Let's go find him.

>>23466167
Is this a wat do, or is more coming?

>>23466167
Lets use our Delusion talent to make the shamen think we are his best friend who he should tell everything.

>>23466374

This is indeed wat do.

>>23466396

Anon is right, wat do?

>>23466392
Gonna step in before the OP and say I don't believe we can do that. The closest we can get is delusioning the shaman into believing he's known us for a long time, but he'll likely receive that as we seem familiar but he cant quite place where. It'd be up to him to start spilling the beans.

>>23466167
Guille fortress can wait, for now, let's go see what the shaman is up to.

>>23466167
Assume that Guille Fortress is extremely dangerous for us. The Not-goths spoke of returning to the place because they'd lost their blood guards and thereby their defense against sorcery, a term very likely to include us. And even though we're SUPPOSED to be a sort-of neutral court, we WERE put in that oubliette to begin with.

>>23466413
Then just delude him into thinking it would be a really good idea to tell us everything he knows.

>>23466497
This might work once we have introduced ourselves, I think. Thoughts?

Hey OP, is http://pastebin.com/suZA4HLG still valid or did you not link it for a reason?

This shaman dude MAY have been granted magic by this unknown demon. If that is the case he MAY be able to detect and resist if we try to delusion him. I wouldn't advise using it on him just yet.

>>23466523

Oh, yes. That is the Trickster Daemon Primer and it is totally still valid. I just forgot. I'll add it into my standard thread start dealy.

>>23466413

This is basically correct. You can make him believe you've been on speaking terms his entire life (though best not to draw his attention to specific conversations, since he won't be able to remember any), but you can't be sure he'll react favorably to the situation. Generally speaking, Delusion only works when you know the person well enough to predict their reactions to certain inputs with a lot of accuracy (i.e. not random strangers you have literally never spoken to or seen before in your life) or when your only objective is to stir up some trouble and you don't care about the details.

>>23466559
It seems unlikely, considering that only the court of Dominion seems to do that. Golgoth is the country they are backing at the moment, and this community hasn't exactly been trampled by Golgoth yet.

It's probably a similar situation to Greatoak, where the forest daemon got driven off beforehand.

>>23466591
Glad to hear I'm interpreting things decently, let's stick with just talking to the shaman then.

>>23466595
All the courts can and may, they're just not all as likely. If you add individualism as a factor, it is a possibility, and until we know a little more, we should assume that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

I'm not really noticing any consensus, so let's just roll for whichever course of action you prefer.

Rolled 93

>>23466618
Welp.

Rolled 27

>>23466822
Find the shaman, talk to him without delusions (for now), try to acquire information related to his worship.

>>23466854

Odds are slim anyone'll beat this. But what do you plan to say?

Rolled 36

>>23466918
Others can feel free to chip in, but generally something along the lines of introducing ourselves by one of our aliases and asking what has become of the spirit of these woods. I'm pretty sure he'll notice that we aren't the one he's used to communicating with before long anyway.

Rolled 25

I'm >>23466870
and the way I see it, we should try to be friendly for now to gauge his response to us. If he responds well, ask him questions about his worship, possibly throw in that we're interested in contacting whoever that pretty altar is for. If he is not friendly, well, then we need to find a way to make him want to answer our questions. Delusion or our natural charm.

>>23466975
Whoops, didn't mean to roll.

>>23466983
Disregard roll.

As for specific lines, hard to think of any before having even contacted him. If we appear in shadow form he'll be smart enough to know what we are. If we talk to him in a friendly tone, hopefully he won't be terrified by us. I think especially presenting ourselves as wanting to contact whoever that altar is for could help break the ice.

>>23466918
"Hello, shaman."

We can't really do anything other than guage his reaction upon hearing us speak right now. I'm sure the village already knows that we exist, because we spoke to the refugees directly when we murdered the soldiers.

>>23466975

Sorry for the delay. Computer crashed, had to reboot.

----

"Hello, there," you say, and the shaman whirls around, abandoning his ritualistic reading of rabbit bones and raising his shamanic staff defensively. "I'm looking for another spirit," you say, comfortable that his stick won't do much against your shadow form stretched across the wall, "who is this altar for?"

"This altar is for Olberek," the shaman says, "king of the woods, he who drove off the Red Queen. Who are you, spirit?"

Olberek. You knew that guy. He wasn't exactly your friend, but you were on the same side, if only because you both hated the local Dominion crew. Olberek was a powerful forest spirit. Though not as powerful as you at your height, he's a lot stronger than you are right now. If he's still around, he'd be really helpful.

And if he isn't, then Dominion has basically won.

You recall the Red Queen, too. She hails from the Court of Blood, but her ties to the Court of Dominion are so strong she could apply for dual-citizenship. She was as powerful as you were, and head of the Dominion coterie, your arch-rival in the struggle for these lands. Your memory jogged, you get one of your first clear memories of before the oubliette, specifically, of her putting you into it. Gods, she loved to gloat.

You should probably answer that shaman guy's question, though.

>wat do?

>>23467443
he did? god I hated that bitch, how long since you talked to good old Olberek? dement him to trust us like an old friend

>>23467443
"I have a lot of names, shaman."

>>23467499
I would recommend against delusioning him personally. If Olberek is still around we might piss him off once he realizes we've been fucking with one of his shamans.

Tell him we are Anomaly, and that we are seeking Olberek as an old acquaintance. Dominion has no allies in us.

>>23467443
"My name is unimportant.

Tell me, where is Olberek? I am an acquaintance, and I have been away for so very long."

>>23467443
You may refer to me as The Mindbreaker or the Anomaly. Glad to see that Olberek is still around. We weren't exactly friends, but we did get along pretty well. Do tell him I said hello. Oh, and that I'd appriciate it if he instructed you guys to treat those villagers decently. I'd hate for my work to go to waste.

>>23467443
and has olberek been around? blessing your crops and [whatever else his deal was]?

>>23467443
"Know me as the Anomaly. Olberek should recognise me from that name alone if you pass it to him, though I would prefer to speak to him directly."

"Olberek does not report his comings and goings to us," the shaman says, "he is a spirit and does as he will. But he watches over us always." Of course, desperate mortals are known to remain convinced that a daemon is still watching over them centuries after they were driven out. Or got bored and ditched them for some newer toy. "I know not the ways of shadow spirits," the shaman continues, "but when we mortals seek to contact Olberek urgently, we journey to his home beneath the falls."

>>23467844
"Tell me more of these falls of which you speak, shaman."

I've been away for a few days, someone want to catch me up on what's happened since we saved Mari's brother?

>>23467844
"Tell me of these falls, human."

>>23467914
We headed to Deepwell (Nearby village) to seek Jens, a friend of Mari's father and also a hunter. We learned once we got there that Jens was out hunting.

We got the villagers to kill the two Blood Guards that showed up to take something Deepwell was keeping from them (Assumed cursed children).

Then we headed off to destroy the war party the blood guards came from (the same ones that sacked Greatoak, where we were released), and over the course of a couple days we ruined them. In the ensuing chaos several of the soldiers escaped but many died, and we brought the prisoners from Greatoak they had to Deepwell to be received as bondsmen.

We learned that Mari is capable of Freshshaping, a court of Dominion magic that is exceedingly rare in mortals and of unknown origin for her. This is why we saw the four eyed rabbit in the woods early on, one of her practice attempts.

Now we're trying to learn about an old acquaintance daemon from the Deepwell shaman.

>>23468026
Feel free to fill in on anything I missed anons, but I wanted to keep it short.

>>23468026
Shit, Fleshshaping*

My bad.

>>23468026

Appreciate it.

>>23467844

"As an old aquiantence of Olberek I have reason to speak with him, and soon. The quicker I can find these falls the better; likely for both of us."

Not sure if we should ask for directions or a guide. The shaman would likely have problems with the latter.

No reason to

>>23468080
Whoops, ignore that sentence fragment.

>>23468026
And of course, as we suspected Mari was also responsible for the dead soldier we found when rescuing her brother, and for one of the two dead blood guards in Deepwell. Her favored method, apparently, by growing teeth in their throats.

>>23468018

"They lie deep in the woods," the shaman says, "far to the south, in the heart of Olberek's realm." You recall from the map you found in the Golgoth camp that Deepwell is the village furthest south. South of here it's just forest and "here there be dragons," so it definitely sounds like the kind of place a forest daemon like Olberek would hang out. He never told you about this place before, but the two of you kept each other on a need-to-know basis most of the time. Daemons never die, so letting slip a secret to someone who's your ally today could come back to bite you a hundred years later when the tables have turned.

Of course, you'll need either a map or a guide to find the place, since "south" isn't exactly specific enough to find a location in a forest this big.

>>23468160
"Your forthcoming words hearten me shaman, who amongst your people could guide me to such a place? As I have mentioned, it is an urgent matter. With Golgoth's transgressions as of late surely you can see why."

Let's try and ink out a little more info from this guy. Here's hoping the only guy who knows isn't Jens, but I have a sinking feeling that may be the case.

>>23468208
Jens would be preferable, wouldn't he? That way we won't have to expose Mari to the villagers.

Also it's a pretty name.

>>23468160
"My thanks, human. If Olberek should contact you before I find him, tell him that the Anomaly has returned, and would dearly wish to speak to his one time ally.

Oh, and speak of my existance to nobody but Olberek."

>>23468263
It also raises the problem of us having to find him out there, which probably wont be much easier than finding the Falls to begin with.

>>23468293
If he's missing at all. We don't really know just how long he spends on a hunting trip, or how long he has been gone.

>>23468331
True enough I suppose. And this is all conjecture that the person capable of leading us is in fact Jens too, so I guess we'll wait and see what the shaman has to say first.

>>23468357
Yea, he may not be. But given the extremely unlikely coincidences leading to our return and the events after it, he probably is important in some way.

>>23468208

"There are several," the shaman says, "I know of it, and so does my apprentice, and so too several of the hunters who accompany me to make offerings when we journey there on the night of the full moon."

>>23468453

Don't suppose we could offer to grant him a boon of some kind in exchange for sending us with a guide? He's not exactly jumping at the idea to help us, probably highly suspicious of shadow daemons.

>>23468453
Oh well, he's not the only one, but Jens almost-confirmed for being able. We have no idea how long ago full moon was, do we? By my count, the quest started like 2 or 3 ingame days ago.

>>23468506
I was thinking something along the same lines myself. What sort of stuff is possible in this scenario? I realize we could probably bullshit something but this fellow has at least been useful.

>>23468506
He believes he has a deity. He's not likely to want any "boons" in the first place. Not that they're "monotheistic", just, you know, doesn't want to associate too much with us.

>>23468588
Yes, but it would be fair to at least offer him something. It depends on the stance we want to take I guess; if we're an aloof, don't-have-time-for-this-shit we might just demand he helps us.

Problem is he does seem suspicious of us already even if it's not outright stated, and he seems to have dodged the question of "will you give me a guide?"

In fact I suggest we call him on that. "That is fair information. But it did not answer my question; would you guide me there or do you expect me to wildly guess where a forest daemon would hide in a forest?"

>>23468755
This, basically. I'd like to confirm exactly why he's hesitant about that particular question.

>>23468755

What you asked was "who amongst your people could guide me to such a place?" So yes, actually, he has answered exactly the question you asked.

>>23468795
Oh, that's true. Well let's pry him if someone can be spared to reliably guide us there swiftly. For the good of this village and the realm.

>>23468453
"Then your people will offer assistance?"

>>23468795
Fucking literal genie bullshit. Well daemons tend to be a capricious lot, maybe he answered the question exactly as asked to exercise caution. Good thing to practice, especially when dealing with a daemon he's never encountered before.

Well, we should ask for a guide then, affirm they won't come to harm, and we are on relatively decent terms with his god so we're not going to go in and try to murder him. Maybe.

"Well, shaman, I would borrow one of your people as a guide. I assure you they will be safe while doing so; I consider Olberek a good acquaintance have no intent of riling him by harming his mortals." - phrasing it like that so we don't sound too invested in them personally, which is more believable - "If you prefer to call someone yourself, then do so, otherwise I will find someone to my liking."

>>23468880
If necessary, we can point out that what he won't offer, we could just have taken without ever asking. We just prefer to be friendly, much unlike the armies that seem to march around in this forest.

>>23468900

The shaman is silent for a moment, and then says "it's not for me to say. I shall speak with the elder of the village, he shall decide."

>>23469078
Woah now. Do we want him doing that just yet?

>>23469078

That sounds like a lengthy and narrative-filled course of action, and Mustache takes 15 minutes to write a one-sentence post. I suggest we excuse ourselves and just give the elder a delusion that right now, Olberek could really use an offering or bad luck would fall on the village.

>>23469169

I wait 15-20 minutes before writing any response at all in order to give players a chance to give input. The length between one-sentence posts and three-paragraph posts is pretty comparable.

>>23469078
"I will allow this."

>>23469128
Actually, now that I think about it, I don't sense a lot of danger in the Elder knowing that we (as in us, not our minions) are here. Stuff has been going on that I'm not sure if they'd attribute to Olberek anyway.

Argh. I apologize for paucity of updates. It is very difficult to concentrate here right now.

>>23469320
We are absolutely listening to the conversation though, whether they want or not.

You okay, OP? You don't HAVE to run this every day if you're occupied, you know.

The elder is out in the village, speaking with several of the other villagers about nothing in particular when the shaman finds him and tells him he needs to speak with him urgently.

"What is it?" the elder asks once they've stepped inside the elder's house.

"I've been contacted by a spirit," the shaman says.

"Not Olberek?" the elder asks.

"Indeed not," the shaman says, "she is a shadow spirit, claiming to be acquainted somehow with Olberek. She wants to be taken to the falls to see him."

"There have been strange occurrences of late. The villagers of Greatoak say that they were saved from the Golgothans by a shadow," the elder says.

"Then perhaps this is some shade of Greatoak's dead. To destroy a village as the Golgothans did is no honorable war. Perhaps they have stirred up some evil against them with their cruelty," the shaman says.

"Perhaps. Regardless of her origins, I see no reason to deny her requests. Angering spirits is foolish in the best of times, and this one plans on walking into the heart of Olberek's power. If she should mean us ill, she must be terribly foolish or terribly powerful, and in either case it is best to give her what she wants."

Soon after, the elder returns to the shrine to report the results of the conversation to you. No free man may command another, even if the one doing the commanding IS the elder of the village, but the shaman offers to lead you himself if none of the hunters who know the way are willing.

>>23470005
Everything went better than expected, bonus points for the village elder being wise.

I'm of the opinion that we should find one of the hunters personally.

>>23470005
"You said it is far to the south. Time may not be on your side. How long is the journey?"

>>23470060
Preferable guide would be one who can travel quickly and require as little rest as possible. That's probably a hunter.

>>23470060
>>23470136

I'd agree, and we don't want to bring the shaman or elder to Olberek, only to find out he's pissed at us for some reason and orders his followers not to do anything to help us. That'd severely limit our options.

>>23470195
Olberek probably noticed we've been out of the game for a while and what that implies. If so, if he's pissed at us, we should worry about him, not his followers. But given that there are armies marching around in his forest, he'd probably prefer to have us as a partial ally again either way.

>>23470349
Especially if he's being besieged by all these forces of Dominion, he'd probably be more than happy for us to take some heat for him.

That is, if practicality and daemon politics mix.

>>23470005
"That is satisfactory, human. Take us to Olberek, I believe we have much to talk about."

>>23470412

I'm really not keen to become the bitch of a more powerful daemon.

>>23470482
He was weaker than us at the height of our strength. Even if we are a long way from being at that level again, at the very least he should have some respect left for us, enough to not, as you put it, make us his bitch.

>>23470482
We're not. He has no hold over us, even in our weakened state. He knows perfectly well that we can just leave his forest and not give a shit about what happens to it.

>>23470547

Assuming that our potential max power (if that concept exists) is still higher than his, the question is if he'd want to make us endebted to him as an ally, or just make us his bitch while we're still weaker.

It's not long after you conclude your conversation with the shaman that Jens returns from the hunt. Finally. He's a tall and lean man with a large deer slung over his shoulders, and while many shout a greeting and tell him to return to the village commons (where the well, presumably unusually deep, is located) as soon as he's dropped off his kill, no one tells a man carrying a fifty-pound deer to stop and discuss current events until he's had a chance to unload the thing.

When he arrives in his shack, Mari is hiding in the shadows, her hand clamped over Leson's mouth. He drops the deer, hardly bothering to look around and clearly quite tired, and turns to leave when Mari says "wait."

Jens whirls around. "Who are you?" he asks.

"My name's Mari, this is my brother Leson, we're Lannis' children," she says, taking her hand off of Leson's mouth. He remains silent. "Golgoth attacked our village and..." she hesitates a moment, as this is the part of the story where a friendly shadow spirit killed a hundred men at her request and that might not be the best way to introduce herself, "and we came here for lack of anyplace better to go."

"Lannis?" Jens said, "so he's dead, then?" Mari nods. "I hope he died well," he says, "he was a bear of a man. I hope he had a chance to go out fighting."

"He did," Mari says, "against the Golgothans."

"How long have you been here?" Jens asks.

"About two days," Mari says.

"And what have you been eating?" he asks.

"Well...Some of your supplies, but I can replace them," Mari says quickly, "as soon as people know I'm here and I don't have to hide anymore, I know how to set snares already, I can pay you back."

"Interesting," Jens says. You can see some of the villagers approaching the shack, led by the man who killed the second Blood Guard (you can tell because he's still got that fancy scimitar strapped to his back).

>wat do?

>>23470616
>wat do?
Just observe. We don't really need to intervene at the moment.

>>23470616
Okay. Options; slow down the blood guard by making him "remember" he was given orders to investigate somewhere else first, or go straight to Jens and talk him into making a very quick beeline for Olberek's place.

>>23470683
dude what

>>23470616

Observe. They aren't necessairly hostile. Most likely they're here to tell the manly man about all the new bondsmen.

>>23470728
Exactly my thoughts. Let this play out, we're still somewhat tired and dont need to be rushing things unless we have to.

>>23470722
I'm the guy who missed everything after the first thread so it's possible I'm missing something, but if we got the villagers to kill the blood guards then it's a fair bet they'll be pretty hostile. I'm assuming him making his way to Jens' house is a bad thing, and figured we'd delude him into thinking of going somewhere else or make a hasty exit.

>>23470830
No dude read what the last turn said, its one of the dudes who KILLED the blood guards, he took one of their scimitars as a trophy. Nothing wrong here.

>>23470830
They don't know us and should have no idea we made them do it. This might of course change when someone who knows our abilities (like the forest spirit) learns of what happened.

>>23470870
Oh, well, now I feel like an idiot. Have to read more carefully.

>>23470683
>>23470879
Oh wait, you thinks it's a bloodguard approaching instead of the bloodguard-killer.
We should keep in mind that they won't like us having forced them into attacking the bloodguard anyways.

>>23470941
Their conversation with the blood guards was going south very quickly either way. And they don't know we did anything. Or that we're here.

>>23470941
well the only one who really knew is the dude who got killed first.

someone who knows our abilites might work it out but i doubt it's gonna be a big deal.

>>23470996
I don't think daemons generally go around lecturing mortals on how the powers of other daemons work. And even then, assuming a daemon did it instead of that one guy just being either really pissed or a little crazy? It was a little more subtle than the army we routed.

>>23470996
>>23471044
And yea, it's not going to be a big deal, because it's VERY unlikely that the elder is going to be informing his people that we're running around here unless we specifically start causing trouble for him. I mean, a shadow running around your village making people insane? That's scary, not good for the morale.

>>23470996
>>23471044
It would have been nice if you had read my previous post
>>23470879
>this might of course change when someone who knows our abilities (like the forest spirit) learns of what happened.
Not saying it will happen, not saying it would necessarily be a problem if it happens but we should keep in mind that the forest spirit might ask his shaman what happened in the village, connect the dots and dislike us - in a way - killing one of his villagers.

>>23471213
He should expect us to do many things he won't like, given our nature. He knows who we are. It shouldn't do much to his attitude towards us, but yea, we would prefer not bringing that up

>>23470681

When the villagers arrive, they ignore Mari and Leson. Most likely they haven't figured out the faces of all the new children brought in from Greatoak. "Rin," Jens says to him, "what brings you here?"

"Things have happened since you left on your hunt, Jens," Rin says, "those red-cloaked Golgothans returned and demanded more from us. There was a fight, they were killed, and then their war party scattered by some spirit. They'll likely send more out of Guille Fortress, though."

"Spirits protect us," Jens mutters, "we can't win a war against that host."

"There are other villages," Rin says, "me and some of the others have been considering setting out to rally this country against Golgoth."

"That didn't work at Guille Fortress," Jens says.

"There was infighting at Guille," Rin says, "and half the villages didn't answer. We should try it again, it's our only hope."

"True enough," Jens said. "Greatoak has burned, though. I've been to see it."

"Aye," Rin says, "their refugees came here. Elmwood and Estercoast might lend us aid, though. If all three of us strike Guille Fortress we may yet drive them into the west."

"It would be better if we could reach the villages west of Guille as well," Jens says, "last I heard they were not yet conquered."

"Guille controls the straits," Rin says, "unless you know another way across..."

"No," Jens says, "I hardly know that territory at all. It's far from here."

"There's more," Rin says, "the shaman wanted to speak to the hunters about something. They're gathering in the commons now."

"We'll speak more later, then," Jens says, and heads towards the commons to speak with the shaman.

>>23471347
We follow. And bring Mari with us.

>>23471402
What?

Why?

>>23471347

Follow alone. There are a lot of choices to be made soon, and it'd help to have her somewhere private so we can talk to her.

>>23471418
This. Looks like we might be on the cusp of something big.

>>23471418

You follow Jens and Rin down to the commons, where several other hunters are gathered about. "Good, Jens, you're here," the shaman says. "The village has need of a hunter. One who knows the way to Olberek's falls, and who can walk the paths there and back. I cannot tell you more, except that the spirits are restless and the path will be perilous beyond the usual dangers of the wilds, and that we cannot spare more than one man for this journey. If any of you are willing to take the risk, I shall tell you more. But only he."

"Why so many secrets?" Rin asks. "If Olberek wishes our presence, why not simply say as much?"

"I can't say more," the shaman says, "the spirit world is a treacherous place."

Jens and Rin look at each other, and at the others. "The falls are in the opposite direction of the other villages," Rin says.

"It's not wise to keep a spirit waiting," Jens says, and the shaman nods his approval, "one of us should go in each direction."

"Which of us to where, though?" Rin says.

"You're younger than I am, and you may encounter Golgothans here in the north," Jens says, "you should rally the villages."

"I may be strong in a fight, but we all know I'm not much for negotiation," Rin says.

"You haven't been to the falls often, either," Jens responds, "if you go alone, you may get lost."

>wat do?

>>23471779
We want Jens. If they can pick Jens on their own, we don't need to do anything yet.

>>23471779
continue observing

>>23471871
Posted too quickly.

If they can't, we should whisper to the shaman that we'd prefer the experienced hunter, since we don't have time to be lost in a forest.

>>23471871

What do you plan to do if they pick Rin?

>>23471909

Guess that answers that. You're in the village commons in broad daylight, though, it'll be hard to get within whispering distance without someone noticing the shadow creeping up the shaman's body.

>>23471934
Does this also apply to all of the others gathered?

>>23471909
This is good.

>>23471934
Do we need to actually talk to someone to use delusion? If not giving him the delusion "The shadow prefers Jens." might be a stealthy way to tell him.

>>23471976
>>23471934
Just delude someone into telling the Shamen it.

>>23471987
It would be faster to delude Jens into volunteering. I would like to avoid mind-games on the vassal of one of our potential allies through.

>>23471976
We need to speak the delusion loud enough for the person to hear it. Anyone not affected by may hear us.

>>23472028
Thats too bad then. Ensuring we get Jens is not worth exposing ourself, let them sort this out themself.

Cant we just whisper "Jens" into the shaman's ear?

>>23472072
See >>23471934

>>23472102
Oh right.

"Give me some credit, Jens," Rin says, "I can find my way to the falls. And it's a straightforward task, too, just go there and go back. Rallying the villages is chancier, we should hedge our bets there."

"Hrm...Fair enough," Jens says, "you head south, I'll go north."

"Leave quickly," the shaman says to Rin, "and return quickly as well. The faster you complete your mission, the better for all of us."

Rin nods and says "I'll be gone in an hour."

"I'll speak with the elder," Jens says, "he'll be able to convince the others to join me in riding for the other villages."

Jens heads towards the elder's home and Rin to his own.

>wat do?

>>23472402
Follow Rin

>>23472402
Follow Rin.

>>23472402
To be fair while I would prefer Jens if the elder and Jens has confidence in Rin's abilities we should probably go along with it. We should introduce ourselves to him when we have a moment alone, as we will likely need to assist him sometime during our journey.

>>23472402

Rallying the other villages is more important. So I'm ok with Rin.

Oh well. Guess Rin will have to do, even though his name isn't as pretty. We should learn what Jens intends to do about Mari and Leson, but I also want to know what the shaman tells Rin. If the shaman isn't following Rin to his home yet, we should follow Jens for now.

>>23472558
WE are always the most important. Always.

>>23472583
Agreed. I'd also like to know what Jens and the Elder will be discussing on second thought.

Oh look. It's part 5 of The Neutral Good Daemon Quest: Babysitter edition

Why are you all so terrible? You know you don't have to be lolrandom xD to play an evil character. So I don't get why the people in these quest threads always turns the main character into a moralfag. Oh well, I always knew these threads had the shittiest people on /tg/

And yes, I am most definitely dark'n edgy.

>>23472788
Except the part where the OP specified that Daemon means a spirit, not specifying alignment or moral tendencies.

1/10

>>23472788
Hey! /tg/ has played evil characters on occasion!

The shaman arrives at Rin's house soon after, and Rin invites him in as he makes preparations. "I won't see any man off on a mission unless he knows its purpose," the shaman says to begin with.

"How much of a lecture am I in for?" Rin says, "because I'd prefer to get started before sunset if it's all the same to you."

"All I will say," the shaman says, agitated, "is that you are guiding a spirit to Olberek, and that you had best be careful not to anger her."

"How am I to do that?" Rin asks.

"As much as you can, travel in silence, eat only when necessary, and keep moving. Any number of things may offend a strange spirit, so do as little as possible," the shaman says.

"Sounds like I'm in for a fun trip," Rin says, "oh, well, guess I asked for it. Is that all?" The shaman nods. "Well. Thanks for telling me. Good afternoon." The shaman nods again, and steps out of Rin's house, leaving him to continue packing his supplies.

Jens' conversation with the elder is essentially limited to repeating the things that he and Rin already discussed and asking him to put his weight behind the plan, to which the elder agrees.

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>>23472788
>mfw I wanted this daemon to be somone like Xom when /tg/ picked fortune daemon

A little shadow daemon girl that runs around doing nice things for everyone, and pretends they are evil is fine too, I guess.

>>23472841

I'm genuinely uncertain what you're on about this time. The current plan is to leave Mari in this village and go locate another daemon with Rin, the warrior who landed the killing blow on one of the Blood Guard. Whinging about this even when the actions anon is taking are 100% neutral and pragmatic makes me wonder what kind of chaotic stupid idiocy you think "real evil" is.

>>23472921
*In little girl voice*
"Yes you better not anger me big boy."
*Giggle slightly maniacally*

>>23472961
>what kind of chaotic stupid idiocy you think "real evil" is.

There we go again. It's always "If you don't like how this is played, you must want to play a lolsorandom xDDD evil character running around eating babies"

It's not even funny how often this is said when people disagree on /tg/

>>23473032
Then what do you want to do? Kidnap the mayor to accomplish some political goal? This isn't supervillan quest.

>>23473032

As I said: I honestly don't know what it is you'd want us to do *besides* what we're currently doing right now. Like, I understand that putting so much effort into getting the refugees to Deepwell might not have been the direction some players wanted to go, and some players want to ditch Mari completely, and I understand that. What I don't get is what problem anyone could possibly have with "let's explore the setting and hopefully gain a powerful ally." Unless the course of action you're opposed to is having any kind of plan, I have no idea what your problem might be with the current plan.

>>23472921
So then Jens must be heading back to his home, unless he just completely forgot about that.

>>23472961
What on earth are you on about TM? I was defending you guys by saying hes an idiot if he thinks "Oh look. It's part 5 of The Neutral Good Daemon Quest: Babysitter edition" is relevant because you said Daemons aren't automatically inclined to be evil dickwads via what I said in the post.

>>23473154
1/10 was rating his loltrolling attempt, btw.

>>23473154
He probably replied to the wrong post

>>23473154
I think TM just quoted the wrong post.

>>23473107
I see what you did there

>>23473183
>>23473190
I think this as well.

And you guys realize this (>>23472966) is the only actually relevant suggestion of what to do next right?

>>23473183
>>23473190
Well that makes me feel better if its true, was bewildered.

Anyway to get back on the rails let's, again, go introduce ourselves to Rin. Somewhat friendly but distant in mannerism. Just let him know we'll ensure his safety and that we are working towards a common goal.

>>23473138
If he's not, we should "remind" him. We need to be sure we can park our minions in this village, they'd slow us down in the forest.

>>23473236
This does seem funny though

>>23473240
No! The shaman just told him to be afraid of us, don't throw that fear out the window already! It's useful!

Well, I don't see this conversation as being terribly productive in any case so I won't even bother trying to figure out who said what and what they meant by it. So anyways.

------

Yes, Jens does indeed head back towards his house after his meeting with the elder. Mari and Leson are still hanging out inside. "I'm leaving tomorrow," Jens says without preface when he enters the shack, "for war with Golgoth."

"Am I coming?" Mari asks.

"No," Jens responds, "you'd barely be worth the food you eat and you'd slow us down."

"I can keep up," Mari insists.

"No, you can't," Jens says, "I've met dozens of people your age who've said that and not a one of them could deliver, and that's no exaggeration. Stay here. You owe me some food, so catch it."

"Did you tell the other villagers about me?" Mari asks.

"No," Jens says, "as far as they're concerned you're just another bondsmaid from Greatoak."

"I don't belong to you," Mari says, "we haven't even been to war with each other for like eight years!"

"We'll sort that out when I get back. If I come back. 'Till then, you tell the rest of the village the easy story," Jens says, "don't let them see you carrying weapons and tell them I told you to leave the village to set the snares."

"What's to stop you from just never bringing this up again if I agree now?" Mari asks.

"What's to stop me from splitting you ear-to-ear if you don't?" Jens asks. Mari glares at him and presumably thinks something along the lines of 'my magic Fleshshaping powers,' but says nothing. "Stay out of trouble, we'll figure this out when I get back," Jens says, and then leaves to speak with the other hunters, warriors, and bright-eyed/bushy-tailed young men he plans on bringing to rally the other villages.

>>23473283
Alright I'll give you that, fear would probably do us more good.
>>23473399
Well Jens is certainly a practical fellow. I suppose we should say our goodbyes to Mari.

>>23473399
She does have a brother to babysit either way, didn't think she'd want to leave him behind...

I just started reading from the first thread and I have to ask. Why the fuck did you guys chose to be a little girl? You could have been just about anything.

>>23473466

Simple: She did not think this through. At all. She is thirteen.

>>23473457
>I suppose we should say our goodbyes to Mari.
Nope.

>>23473524
Well that's a good point, I suppose. We should ask her if her brother is 'special' as well. If not, it would be nice to be rid of him some way.

>>23473560
I disagree. Considering how emotionally vulnerable she is right now, not telling her we'll be away for some time might complicate things a lot.

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>>23473560
We have to tell her where we're going. She could get worried about us, you know!

>>23473588
>>23473576
>>23473560
Wait, why are we leaving Mari again?

>>23473576
I thought our whole deal with this girl was to acutally break her. So leaving her without saying anything should further that agenda. It'll also show how much we are needed.

>>23473399

Are we on our way with Rin, then? We'd probably be bored as hell if he stays quiet like the shaman suggested; let's try striking up a conversation with him, see if he can tell us much about Olberek.

>>23473560
Eh. We're an ancient daemon who got stuck in an oubliette for about four centuries; a couple days absence isn't really going to register with us as a big deal.

>>23473606
I honestly have no idea what you think "our whole deal" was.
Not that I particularly care.

>>23473606
No it would make her develop negative feelings towards us. We do not want that.

>>23473644
You're right. What was I thinking. Fuck that other daemon. Let's just stay in the village instead to make sure our little girl is safe ^_^

>>23473601
Because bringing someone with a Dominion Court power into the domain of a daemon that likely hates Dominion is not smart.

>>23473601
Would you prefer to bring her and her brother?

>>23473606
Oh but she's turned out to have powers we don't have exactly access to. We need to make sure she stays safe until we want to deploy them.

>>23473696
Telling her we're leaving will make her safe, I'm sure.

>>23473710
Telling her that we're coming back might just help her keep that anarchist of hers in check for a few days and not run the fuck away or start killing people because 'fuck you I don't belong to anyone'.

>>23473710
>>23473696
>>23473694
>>23473673
>>23473668
>>23473644
We need to tell her we'll be going somewhere so we can actually get back to her if something happens.

OP, we should change the name of this quest to MPD Daemon quest.

Would you faggots please pick a personality and stick to it?

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>>23473673
Nice sarcasm there

I vote we say something along the lines of "I am gonna be away for a few days. Bye." and then leave.

>>23473710
It will make her be aware that we are not there and therefore she will be more careful. Otherwise she might go around thinking that she has a shadow demon backing her.

>>23473737
Hand holding her all the time will have more negative consequences in the long run, than her throwing a little tantrum when we get back.

>>23473773
What if she gets killed because she is counting on us being there? Could we at least say to her that she should not count on us being there?

>>23473817
It's not like she would try to talk to us, before trying to jump a group of soldiers or anything.

The way I see it, we want her to think that we genuinely care about her, and more importantly, that we're the only one who does. If we can make her so loyal that she cares about nobody but us, and improve her ability to use that power of hers, that'd be almost as good as having ourselves gained a power we would otherwise not have the slightest chance of gaining. She is pretty much our most valuable asset at the moment.

>>23473929
Basically of the same mind here.

>>23473929
Agreed. Also when he comes back and we are ready we can bring the bondsman thing up again. And threaten the crap out of him.

>>23473929
Yes, we need to keep an eye on her for that flesh shaping power at least.

>>23473929
we don't actually need to make her think anything. all we really want to do while waiting for our powers back is adventure and doing whatever she wants is going to mean that. we could ditch her or something but we're not likely to run into anything better.

>>23473929
Me again. I'd like to point out that the point of whether we ACTUALLY care about her as more than a high-value tool, well, that's certainly up for discussion. I don't think it would be "un-daemonic" of us to do so, and I've been excusing it with having an appreciation for the extreme improbability of our encounter and the unusually convenient circumstances leading to it. I think it's appropriate for a daemon of fortune to think that way, but that's just me.

>>23473929
Yup, same mind here.
Maybe ask Jens to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get killed.
"I have a certain interest in that girl Mari. Could you keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get killed?
Really?
Well then i hold you responsible for her well-being. If she dies you die."
And all in girly light-hearted voice.

>>23474126
>whether we ACTUALLY care about her as more than a high-value tool

That's it. I'm out.

>>23474176
Don't let the door hit you on the way out, bro.

Not him, btw.

>>23474176
Suit yourself. I just wanted to discuss that point so we can at least establish a consensus on what our character actually is. We're 5 threads in, would probably be good for us.

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>>23474126
The fact is, currently we don't ACTUALLY have a goal, which is why we even saved the girl in the first place.

Hmm. I can't tell. Did the guy advocating leaving Mari without letting her know just leave?

>>23474126
I said roughly the same thing in the first thread. We're a daemon of fate and luck, and our awakening just in time to save her life was a combination of both. We want to keep her as a minion and push her into bigger and bigger things. Our awakening was like a stone hitting a still lake of fate, and the first ripple of luck saved her life. We want to push her to do bigger and bigger things, and become a tidal wave that fucks over an entire nation. Because we're fate and fortune, and we make the gears turn.

>>23474224
Do we care? He was massively outvoted anyway.
>>23474227
This is nice, lets do it.

>>23474224

Dunno, but the response to >>23473929 seems to be a majority in stopping by to check on her before leaving. If it was the guy against doing so that just left we probably have a consensus.

>>23474270
Yep. Let's check in with her and rejoin our traveling companion. Time is of the essence.

>>23474264

Now that I look over it, you're right, majority favors telling her pretty strongly. And honestly, "fuck over Mari because shut up" was one of those decisions that makes me shake my head and wonder if my players are about to lose a shitton of progress to sloppy decision making.

But: Mari will inevitably have questions. Do you plan on answering them? Ignoring them? Being evasive?

>>23474227
I think we're pretty much thinking the same thing. She's not our waifu like some people have tried to make it seem like. She's a potential future masterwork. This is going to be the story that the rest of our court will be telling for millennia to come.

>>23474325
I will answer depending on what I hear when I am there.
But the question is, where will you be when I return?

>>23474325
Depends on the questions. Let her say her piece then we'll decide how to answer.

>>23474333
And not just our court. All of them! Some centuries ago Dominion (probably? They're our best guess) fucked us over, and this quest is going to be the story of how the biggest brick ever known to daemonkind hit Dominion right back in the face. And everyone will know not to fuck with Fortune.

I think I'm done now.

>>23474325
tell her to be strong we are going to find the spirit of the woods and ask for help

>>23474325

"There is something important I need to do and will be gone a few days, so you won't have me watching your shadow. I won't tell you what to do, but mind I don't come back to find you in more than one piece."

Something to that effect, but a bit more delicate?

>>23474333
>>23474418
Seems like we all think alike, which is good. We're about long-term machinations and grand puppetmastery, not mothering the little girl.

>>23474440
I like it

>>23474418
>Dominion (probably? They're our best guess) fucked us over
might have just been a wizard or something

do we not remember anything?

>>23474460
I don't at least. I think OP hinted at it at some point, but my memory is as terrible as it can get without actually suffering from amnesia.

>>23474460

We remember bits and pieces. We remember somewhat vaguely thatv it was the Red Queen who fucked with our shit and put the lock on our cage (but probably didn't build it; she clearly had help. Still first on our shit list though). She's a court of blood Daemon but with very strong ties to dominion.

>>23474506
Pretty sure Blood is part of the "alliance" led by Dominion, along with one other. It almost definitely is mentioned in the first thread when we had to pick our court.

>>23474460

You have recently remembered that the Red Queen was responsible for your imprisonment. She's a daemon of the Court of Blood, but she works closely with the Court of Dominion (and Blood and Dominion are allies in any case).

----

>>23474440

"Where are you going?" she asks.

>>23474550
>"Where are you going?" she asks.
"South, to find allies."

>>23474572
Supporting.

>>23474550
"We are going south dearest. Be sure to behave or i will have to start ripping up some throats :)"

>>23474550
What's the deal with the Court of Blood? Is it "You need blood to live" kind of blood or more "I needed that blood to live!" kind?

>>23474550
Holy shit, my memory WAS working. That certainly made my day, thanks OP!

>>23474614
>The Court of Blood governs blood, families, and natural health and healing. Like Strife, they were a minor Court before the rise of Dominion lifted them up, and as such they are allied with Dominion and oppose both of the old alliances headed by Sun and Sky. The Court of Blood view mortals as pets, bordering on children, and would typically rather not fight with other daemons. When provoked, however, they are exactly as willing as any other to defend themselves. Other daemons sometimes view their pacifism as unreliability, and it's not without point. If ever there were a Court you could not count on for backup when it really mattered, it would be Blood. Unless, of course, you're actually in the Court of Blood, in which case they'll back you come Hell or high water even if you are clearly the one at fault.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/23394127/#p23394743

>>23474572

"Somewhere."

Say it with enough force that it's clear we don't want to discuss it. If she pressed the issue, say:

"I'm going to meet another spirit. He's not keen on visitors so I need to go alone."

>>23474651
>If ever there were a Court you could not count on for backup when it really mattered, it would be Blood. Unless, of course, you're actually in the Court of Blood, in which case they'll back you come Hell or high water even if you are clearly the one at fault.

Yes, we are very much going full offensive on these guys. And it will be FUN.

>>23474572

This has two votes as opposed to >>23474663, which has one.

------

"Can I come?" Mari asks immediately.

>>23474723

Dunno how we'd go about being on the offensive, since the only vaguely offensive ability we have is making people believe they need to stab themselves in the kidney to remove the demon tumour growing there. We need more juice before we start picking fights.

>>23474743
Oh not yet. I'm not stupid. Also, by playing others against them, of course.

>>23474663
Here.

>>23474740
I fucking knew that'd happen.

>>23474740
"Your brother needs you"

>>23474770
this

>>23474740
"Your brother needs you, and the other villagers need you. Keep an eye on things for me, you're probably the best defence your friends and family have."

>>23474740
"it's risky and you'd slow me down. stay here and look after your brother."

>>23474814
Yes.

>>23474814
i'm not sure if it's a good idea to encourage her to develop a problem with her villagers being bondsmen.

>>23474814
"Oh by the way, they saw the teeth inside that blood guards throat. You should do that some more, make sure they get on your trail and burn you or whatever these forest people think is fun."

>>23474950

Wait, what? This another thing I missed?

>>23475012
The corpse of the blood guard that dropped dead was "autopsied" at the shaman's place. For now, he probably thinks WE did it. If it happens while we're away, he'll have to look elsewhere.

>>23475063
I didn't know about the teeth thing; only caught the first thread.

I don't think there's a huge problem in him thinking we... Something'd the blood guard though. The shaman is already wise to the fact that daemons are weird and easily displeased.

>>23474770

"Oh," she says, glancing aside. "Maybe..." she trails off, and then says "never mind. When will you be back?"

>>23475195
Dont know

>>23475138
It's apparently called Fleshshaping, and it's the main gimmick for Dominion. The teeth thing seems to be the idea she came up with for killing people. She used it on a soldier in the forest while we were off rescuing her brother, and she used it on that blood guard. We've also seen that many-eyed rabbit which was also her work, so she could probably do many things with it. We have no idea why she can do it. It seems to tire her out. She hasn't said so, but she was pretty exhausted after both times we saw her use it. Maybe the power is just that taxing, and there's nothing to do about it, maybe she can get better at it. Hopefully the latter.

>>23475234
Actually, it's probably Fleshshaping. Details, details.

>>23475195
We actually don't know, because we haven't been told how far it is. I'd guess at a few days each direction.

>>23475195
As soon as I can. Would you like me to have a "discussion" with Jens before I leave? I can probably convince him to change his tune a little.

>>23475234
>>23475305

We could just excuse ourselves and run off to that hunter and ask how far it is. I kinda want to know.

>>23475195

"I'll be back when I'm back. I honestly don't know. I won't tell you not to do things - I won't even tell you not to follow me - but I'd like it if I came back to find you still in one piece."

She'll probably follow us anyway, might as well not get mad at her when she inevitably does.

>>23475360
Jens is leaving. His tune is completely irrelevant unless he beats us back here. And it may not be best for him to know there's anything unusual about her. At least not yet.

Okay, let's roll for offering to threaten Jens or not, then.

Rolled 87

>>23475585
Not

>>23475585
Not, seconded.

Rolled 100

>>23475585
Do

>>23475611
WELP.

>>23475611
Holy shit. I disagree with you but I sure as hell am not disagreeing with your roll.

>>23475598
>>23475611

>fuck yes, 87, I'm winning this one
>nope

>>23475611

The dice could not possibly have spoken any clearer.

--------

"I don't know when I'll be back," you say. "Maybe I should have a talk with Jens before I go, though? I'm sure I could get him to play a different tune."

Mari is quiet for a moment, considering the offer. "Okay," she says, finally, "yes, please."

>wat do?

>>23475729
I'm leaving this one to the chosen of the dice. Don't want to step over his victory.

>>23475729
Well, clearly we need to find Jens and talk to him alone. Then basically say "I'm the spirit who wiped out that war party. I want you to take care of the two human children and to stop trying to make them into your bondsmen. No, you don't get to know why. Do this and I will help you when the time comes against your enemies. Don't, or mention my interest to anyone, and I'll show you why I used to be known as the Mindbreaker." Creepy little kid smile "Clear? Good, now remember, you never know if your shadow is actually mine."

>>23475780
Okay he's too slow.
"Alright, try not to get yourself killed and stuff.", then leave and go find Jens, I SUPPOSE.

>>23474158
I wrote this one earlier

>>23475729
We make the quick trip to Jens then catch up with Rin and get moving. Say to Jens:

"Luck and fate are both powerful tools, and that girl has been touched by both. For now I am entrusting her to you. Keep her safe and clear of danger as needed, but don't stifle her. She needs to see her potential to grow, and the faces of her friends and enemies."

It's not quite a threat, but I think it's enough to make the point.

>>23475945
>>23475941
I always find things like that funny

>>23475941
I don't quite like the direct threat; especially because we barely have the power to back it up. Hell, saying we "used to be known" is a pretty big indicator that we're not the hot shit we need to be to make that kind of statement.

>>23476010
Yea... First he beats my roll, then he makes a fool of me like this. I'd threaten him, but fortune is CLEARLY not on my side tonight.

>>23476013
You do realize we can cause mortals to commit suicide basically at will right? It would be hilariously easy to kill the guy. Just change it to "am known as" instead.

>>23476095

DELUSION IS NOT SUGGESTION

>>23476095
>cause mortals to commit suicide basically at will
Not sure that's completely true. We can make it seem like a good idea, though.

>>23476117
"You'll gain everything you want in life if you stab yourself in the neck 50 times, try hard my friend"

Okay, someone else needs the internet stream open for like Netflix or something. And I need to go in like 30 minutes anyway. So I guess we'll call it here.

>>23476156

Delusion<basic survival instinct, especially if you're using vague bullshit like that.

>>23476131
Also, OP says we can probably slowly drive them crazy by persistently maintaining a delusion that everything else confirms to be false. Which sounds fun.

>>23476156
But that doesn't give them the will to actually do it. They could be too scared, they could have too strong a sense of responsibility to their kin, stuff like that.

>>23476117
>Oh, well, time for plan B. "Killing him will make me go away," you say pointing one soldier at another. "No, him. Try that one. Killing that one will definitely work. All alone? That means death is the only way to get away from me."
Maybe not at will, but we can do it.

>>23476237
We did lay some serious groundwork there. I guess the guy was sufficiently terrified of us that the belief that we'd go away was enough. Mindbreaking and stuff.

Archived on suptg.

>>23476422
Maybe, anyway it doesn't really matter. He has to sleep, and we can just shadow form up to him then wring his neck if we need to. Or have him commit suicide by town guard.

>>23476633
Yes, the killing of sleeping people has been extremely effective. If we can get shadow form to also apply to items we're carrying (weapons), that could also be extremely effective against enemies who aren't sleeping.

>>23476579
Thanks.