>>31227872
>>Try to clean up faster
CARNA PLS.

Maybe try and pull out a book that'll hold the poor girl's interest for more than a few seconds so we're not stuck cleaning up a neverending deluge of thrown books on top of everything else.

>>31227872
>>Ask Carna to leave

>>31227872
>Try to clean up faster

There was no way that you'd be able to convince her to leave, she had two years on you and wasn't afraid of throwing things. You picked up your paces, shoving away toys and arranging books as fast you could. At her best, Carna could turn a church into a barn in moments but you've become skillful enough to beat her idle messes. When you tucked away the last of the wool dolls that she'd left around, you exclaimed loudly enough to make sure she noticed in her distracted state that you'd finished cleaning.

"Fantastic! Now let's play!" Carna hopped off from the bed and grabbed your hands, lifting them up and down.

"Okay, what're we playing?"

Carna peeked around the room looking for ideas, whatever she came here for she'd obviously forgotten already. Her eyes settled on your toybin, "Oh, let's play knights and princesses again! That was so much fun yesterday."

It was obvious you'd be cleaning tomorrow as well.

And so, the dream ends.

>CONT

File: 1396484994643.png-(31 KB, 600x400, librarianquest.png)

31 KB PNG

>Year 484 of the Raschan Calendar

On the first day of the last week of your first month with The Seekers of Catus, your teacher Masoch arrived to class late. Most days he'd barely make the start of it, but it took him between ten and twenty minutes to show up this day. Your Lunese friend Yu'yen tried to joke about it when Masoch arrived but the stern teacher had no interest in it, just shooting Yu'yen a look that quickly shut him up.

After opening his notes and letting everything spill out uncharacteristically, he just scowled and made for the door in the back of the room, only telling the class, "Follow." He didn't bother to pick up what he dropped.

Your small class of six followed behind him where he led you to the library.

"In the first month when we get new students, we close the archives off to the public so that it may be easier for the six of you to get used to things. Next week we'll be opening it up to Deneb again, I'm leaving it to you to tidy it up." Masoch said. You waited for further instructions, but it took him a moment to realize what everyone was so silent about.

"Partner up and help each other, Rein and Leona, the two of you can't work together for this one." With that Masoch left the room, and here you were.

>CONT

Typically your classes up until now have consisted of hours long lectures, once in awhile Masoch would bring you to town, give you some strange assignment like catching birds or researching a topic in local bookstores before heading into the bar until the mid-afternoon. He'd never instructed you to work in groups, but he never made any rules against this either. Rein and Leona, the pair of carrot-haired Belgran twins always took advantage of this and worked together; Leona admittedly talked little to people other than her sister and you could take his latest instruction as an attempt to get her to open up to more people, but...

"I think he's mad." Yu'yan said.

"Yeah, he's definitely mad." Rein added.

Their opinions aside, here you are now. Your teacher leaving you vague instructions to tidy up before likely finding himself a place to slowly die. Anlak and Sheryl left in separate directions to start working, half of your class was some degree of aloof, really half of Deneb the City of Mystery was. Rein tried to insist to Leona that they work together since Masoch left, but it looked like Leona had no interest in risking getting tripped up by whatever weaved sentry he may've left around. Yu'yan quickly vanished to follow Sheryl's trails. You ought to find yourself a partner.

>Work with Rein
>Work with Leona
>Go intercept Yu'yan and Sheryl
>Find Anlak, he still owes you answers

>>31228224
>>Work with Leona

>>31228224
>>Work with Leona
Can't exactly go bother Anlak and stick the twins having to choose between going solo or going against the Teach's instructions.

And Leona'd probably have an aneurysm getting stuck partnered up with Captain Mysterious. She might open up a little bit eventually, of course, but Anlak strikes me as the kind of guy who wouldn't feel compelled to make the necessary effort.

You approach the twin sisters, "Rein, how about I work with Leona on this one if you're worried?"

Rein looks at Leona worried. In the weeks that you've been here, Rein had quickly become the image of a worried mother in your head. She started handling the meals in the dorms on days where the chef wasn't working and worried herself sick whenever Leona wasn't in immediate sight.

"I could try to see if Yu'yan or Sheryl would volunteer to part, and I don't think Anlak has a partner." You suggest.

Rein sighs and lowers her head, "No thanks, you just take care of her right now. And don't think you can try something just because I'm not looking alright? Leona scares easily."

Leona puts on an awkward smile as Rein makes way into the rows of books, stopping every few steps to look back at the two of you. When she's finally out of sight, Leona turns to you, "Well, I guess we should get working then."

>CONT

In the last few weeks you've gotten fairly familiar with the library, or rather; this library. As you understood, about half of the rooms in The Catium Archives were storage for books and papers and you weren't allowed into the halls beyond this one. Leona mentioned off-handedly once that she tried to go further inside, but the doors were sealed shut.

One thing you've noticed as you got used to this place is that the organization is awful. It seems they didn't have a dedicated book keeper around despite having chairs enchanted to bring you to your destination. It wasn't too surprising that being the bottom of the ladder here, the six of you initiates were tasked to organize them for the public.

You could tell well enough that the books were meant to be kept alphabetically and by topic and began to sort them carefully. Over the years, cleaning things had become a sort of remedy for you, an easy way to clear your mind. Your movements became methodical as you got used to the spacing between shelves and where everything should be and your thoughts began to drift away.

A quiet gasp brings your attention back to the world outside your finger tips.

You peek over to Leona who excitedly holds a book over her head so that the light coming off the windows in the top edges of the room can beam down on it. "The Black Knight Gallant: First Edition".

>CONT

Leona seems to have taken the book off a bottom shelf, kneeling with her knees forward and her toes back. She bounces a little in excitement, and when she notices you staring at her she hides her face behind the book in embarrassment, peeking out from the top of it.

"Sorry, got a little excited... it's a first edition you know." She whispers before setting the book down and going back to the chores.

You go back to your paces when you hear another noise from her direction, you turn your head and this time she's holding a book in front of her, 'The Valkyrie's Kiss'.

When she catches you staring again, she coughs, sets it down on top of the first book and gets back to work. It's clear she intends to take them out after this.

You've had some fair conversation with her before, but always about books. She'd certainly get distracted if you started one of those now, but some idle chatter might make the cleaning more fun.

>Talk about books regardless
>Ask about her
>Ask about Rein
>Just finish cleaning

>>31228800
>>Talk about books regardless

>>31228800
>Ask about her

Channel are inner commander Shepard

>>31228800
>Ask about her

Some weeks ago when you were shopping with Rein, you remember that her mentioning that she had come here following Leona. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to learn a little more about that.

"Rein mentioned that you were the one that wanted to join The Seekers." You say putting books away.

"Yeah, that's right." Leona answers as she scans the surface of a hard-cover.

"Mind if I ask why?" You came here to find Carna, if anyone could help you out with this it'd be The Seekers. Sheryl off-handedly said the first day you met her that she was looking for someone as well. Yu'yan wants to discover the secrets of The Vanishing Age where his people were once great. You can't imagine Anlak is here for any trivial reason either.

"Hm, why I joined huh," Leona traces her lower-lip with an index finger, shifting her eyes up at the ceiling, "I guess I'm just curious. I mean, it's a big world and it'd take forever to walk around and find out about everything right? If I'm here, I can read up on just about anything right?" Leona gives you a fairly goofy smile before returning to the books.

>CONT

The hour goes by quietly and you finish your shelves quickly before helping Leona with her admittedly slow pace. Her pile of books for reading will soon grow larger than the amount of books she's sorted, her defence to you pointing this out is, "If I don't borrow them now then someone else might take them when I want to read them!"

When you're finally about to complete this row, a book slips out of your hand and rather strangely, bounces towards the end of of the book case, the final bounce sending it towards the side out of your vision. You go to pursue it, it's only this one before you can move on after-all.

When you turn the corner around the shelves, crawling to grab the book, you find yourself facing two tiny boots. Looking up, is a standing cat. Grey fur, a tiny hat on top of its head, a monocle over it's green left eye in contrast to it's red right. You tuck the book close to your chest, stumbling backwards in surprise onto your bottom. From your seated position, you can meet the eyes of the cat-fellow.

>CONT

"Mmh, you've got a nice smell don't you?" The cat says in a gentlemanly voice as it leans forward sniffing you, "The smell of a troubled past and a withered heart."

The cat takes a step back, "Say, you're cleaning the library aren't you? Mind doing me a favour? There's a book I need in a room back there," the cat gestures to the door at the end of library, one that leads into one of the inner halls. "Just pass the door and take the second one on the left, I'm looking for... well, you couldn't read the title anyways, but it's the green one."

After the peculiar stranger hands you his peculiar request, he turns into a nearby row of books. You peek your head around to find him vanished, but somehow you knew that'd happen.

It's unlikely someone without clearance could've gotten in here without permission, at the very least they wouldn't have let a magical cat in. Perhaps you should follow his instruction, it is "The Seekers of Catus" after-all, he can't be unattached to it... right? You shouldn't be allowed to pass through those doors though, and in the worst case scenario someone could get hurt if you did.

>Follow the instructions
>Get Leona first
>Ignore the cat

>>31229567
>>Follow the instructions

>Get Leona first

>>31229567
>Follow the instructions

>>31229567
>Follow the instructions, but tell Leona first
Better that she knows where we went so she doesn't panic, and we're filling out a request for a book; that's what Librarians do, right?
And if the cat doesn't return the book, the Black Cats will collect past due fees.

>>31229678
This

"Leona, keep cleaning up. A cat just told me to get a book from the backroom." You try to yell quietly down the row of books, you're not sure if you succeeded.

"Sure." Leona responds, reading whatever she has in hand with full attention. You decide to trust her.

You make way to collect the book, parts because of how bad you are at saying no, and parts fuelled by a curiosity at what lurks behind the sealed door, decorated with Lunese words you couldn't read and giving off an unwelcoming aura. You grab the handle and turn it, the door unceremoniously swings open, revealing the hall behind it. Like the library at night, the hall is illuminated dimly by magic stones carved into the ceiling.

>CONT

Second door to the left, you follow the instructions and open another less impressive door leading into a small room. A single candle sits on a wooden table, being the only light in the room other than that of the hall you came in from. Closing the door behind you to make better use of the candle, you step inside and pick it up. Many bookshelves stand and it doesn't take a close examination to tell that the books they hold are all well-read, the side of each visible cover show obvious use, even from the table.

You walk further in to get a better look at the shelves with the candle light, the books are all demonology text and you note that if you get the chance to return, you should certainly borrow some. Several are in languages you don't understand but barely recognize.

Eventually, you come across a green book. Clearly new and very garish compared to the other pieces adorning this room with no title on the side-cover.

You pick it up, and then the loom starts.

>CONT

Several of the books in the room fly out of their bookshelves, flapping their covers like wings and darting about the tight spaces. The sudden gust when one in front of you shoots off puts out the candle neatly, but the room does not dim for the text on each book in the room began to light up.

You grab your composure quickly, your composure is something you're fairly confident in and you'd like to keep it that way. You make way towards the door, trying to avoid the erratic flying texts as you walk, but when one catches you lightly in the back at a dead angle they all suddenly stop...

Only to start again in a moment, now homing in on you, dropping their wings and turning to the side with the pages flipping like a maw hungry for... whatever it is books eat.

>[Alacrity] Try to dodge, who knows what these books will do.
>[Tenacity] Stand your ground, they're just books.

Roll 1d12.

Rolled 4

>>31230019
>[Alacrity] Try to dodge, who knows what these books will do.

Rolled 8

>>31230019
>[Alacrity] Try to dodge, who knows what these books will do.

Rolls for the dice gods

Rolled 1

>>31230019
>[Alacrity] Try to dodge, who knows what these books will do.

>>31230080
And then we got eaten by books

The books fly at you from several directions, but thankfully some years of literature abuse have given you a certain knack for dodging books.

Or so you'd like to believe, you manage to avoid them by ducking between the shelves beside you but it's a fairly clumsy movement. Regardless, it worked, you jump over the pile of fallen books and dash for the door, the fallen books get up and pursue you.

It's not a long way, but you make sure you dash back to the library as the books slide out of the room and glide towards you, you swear they make chirping noises as their covers flap.

You tumble through the second door and back into the library, landing with a large thump. The books don't seem deterred by the noise you caused, and you can hear your classmates wondering about it and making paces towards you.

Dare you endanger them with death by paper cuts?

>[Cunning] Stall for time and hope help arrives
>[Alacrity] Lead the books outside, let the guards handle it.
>[Tenacity] Withstand the trials of literature.
>Write-In Always assume this is available as an option.

Rolled 4

>>31230225
>[Tenacity] Withstand the trials of literature.
Take one for the team

Rolled 11

>>31230225
>[Tenacity] Withstand the trials of literature.

Damm you literature!!
>Write-In
Yell for help

>>31230344
Are we still rolling before the consensus? Because we have a +2 to cunning.

Rolled 11

>>31230225
>[Tenacity] Withstand the trials of literature

>>31230225
Tenacity be q man

>>31230344
>>31230376
>>31230405
You guy's do realize he only counts the first roll. It's not best of three like most quests.

>>31230510
Well shit I had thought he changed it

You turn around and spread your body wide, before anyone catches their attentions you will give these books whatever it is that books want.

The first one slaps you in the chest and topples harmlessly to the ground, bouncing around helplessly as it's soft cover folds itself against the wooden floor.

The one that follows it unfortunately, is built a bit sturdier. It smacks you in the face and tips you over, the four that follow behind it knock you to the ground. The books 'nibble' at you, one of them unfortunately getting grip on your nose. When you try to get up, they bounce and flop on your body again to keep you grounded, you determine quickly that it'll hurt less to just lay there. The first soft cover rolls over to your the finger-tips of your free hand and lightly taps it's binding against them, that one kind of tickles.

It's Anlak that comes to save you, you don't see him coming in but you do see him knocking away the novel on your face with a large and flat picture book, a children's story. He bats them away and when they come back he bats them away once more. Eventually they scurry into a corner, it seems that the only way to effectively fight weaponized words, is with more weaponized words.

>CONT

>>31230379
Yeah, it looks like I've got a pretty small player-base so I figure it'll eat up too much time to decide then roll.

>>31230583
One roll, same reasoning as above.

>>31227872
Nice OP pic

>>31228203
>roll a 1d12
not a 1d6 anymore?

>>31230645
Well this is...odd.
I vote for not giving the cat the book, and not reading the book ourselves. Wait for that teacher guy to come back(unless he's flat out drunk or something) while continuing to sort.

>>31230734
>I vote for not giving the cat the book, and not reading the book ourselves
How about not giving the cat the book, unless he properly files a receipt. Oh, and since we're not a fully licensed librarian of the Seekers yet, he'll have to wait for our teacher to properly stamp and file the receipt before he can get the book. He'll just have to wait a bit.

I'm guessing that it's some sort of test, and I want to see how we get graded on a non-standard answer like that.

>>31230784
sounds about right.

File: 1396494071849.png-(34 KB, 600x400, librarianquest.png)

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Rein arrives and helps you up while Anlak half-comically and half-threateningly holds up the children's book with two hands. Leona, Sheryl and Yu'yan show up shortly afterwards.

"What in the world happened? Are those... papercuts?" Yu'yan walks over to you once you're back on your feet.

You brush yourself off, it seems there was some dust collected between a few of those novels and it stings a bit when you run your hand over the tiny incisions they made on your skin. You don't want to answer his question.

"Ah, good job, you got me the book! I was afraid you'd drop it and I'd have to send someone else." The cat walks in on his little boots, squeaking with every step.

"Sorry, I left it in my my study a month ago and enchanted it in case anyone snuck in. One of the other books I could do without, but I was half-way through reading this one," The cat twirls the book around to check it's condition, 'Most Beautiful Cat Breeds on Rascha', "Shame I forgot to make an exception for myself, never been very good at removing trappings personally."

You walk away from him with the book in hand, you can hand it over to Masoch or the old lady later and let them deal with this.

"Hey, wait up! Where're you going!? That's miiiine!" The cat yells as he chases after you, Yu'yan sticks a leg out and trips him, seeing the cat face-plant gives you some amount of pleasure.

"We'll clean up the rest here friend, you get those cuts checked out." Yu'yan says, waving you off.

>CONT

In your life-time, you've dealt plenty with paper cuts and book-induced bruises. Both were surprisingly painful for how slight they were, but as long as you washed the cuts lightly then it wouldn't be any major issue. When you return to the library, you see the cat bounded up with some rope, his little booted feet tied together by the ankle and his tail tied to his hands. Little pieces of paper were sticking to his claws, making it more difficult for him to try and escape.

You rejoin the group that had gathered around him and Leona catches you up with the situation, the cat 'Silvest' claims to be one of The Seekers. Why he's a cat, they haven't worked out yet. Whether or not he's telling the truth, still iffy. Everyone has agreed to wait for Masoch to sort things out.

It seems that the cleaning was finished while you were off, leaving just this last issue to sort out. You open up the book you were tasked to get, it's ridiculous that you had to go through that trouble to pick it up and you want to know what's inside...

It's exactly what it sounds like, a guide to beautiful cat breeds. Grey hairs stick to a few of the pages inside, and you note that there're claw marks on the left-edge of the pages of Daktori breed cats. You close the book.

There's a little bit of time before Masoch returns.

>Question Silvest further
>Ask how Leona fared
>Ask how Yu'yan and Sheryl fared
>Ask how Rein and Anlak fared

Captcha: furvived sentsow

>>31231108
>>Ask how Rein and Anlak fared

Pet Silvest

>>31231108
>Question Silvest further

>>31231108
>Ask how Yu'yan and Sheryl fared

>>31231108
>Ask Rein and Anlak
Might be able to team up with Sheryl to look at the demonology books later, so Yu'yan can wait.

>>31231108 ask about Leona also cat porn gross

You make way over to Rein, who's watching Silvest closely. Leona sits some steps away involved in her book, and Anlak some paces further back still stoicly holding off the cowering covers. You pet the cat on the head and ignore it's objections as you ask her how she and Anlak fared with the clean-up.

"I chased him down and told him we were going to work together, he didn't say no so I took it as us being partners. It was pretty hard to strike up a conversation but... well, Sheryl still hasn't said anything to me since that one dinner so it could be worse." Rein says, poking at Silvest's boots.

"Managed to get some words out of him though, that's a pretty nice accomplishment isn't it? I can't believe he... oh, sorry, that's a secret." Rein places an index finger over her lips and makes a "shh."

Before you can see where your curiosity leads, Masoch enters the room. He scans around briefly then settles his eyes on your curious gathering. He makes his way over and looks at Silvest, "Causing trouble again Mr Silvest? I'd appreciate if you left the students alone until I send them to you."

Silvest's fur stands on end, he darts his eyes over to you while he responds, "Just getting to know them is all, a few of my weaves got out of control. Promise, I was nothing but good this whole time!"

Silvest looks nervous, the cat makes puppy eyes at you beckoning for help.

>Give Masoch the cat guide.
>Hide the cat guide, Silvest can owe you for this later.

>>31231543
>Hide the cat guide, Silvest can owe you for this later.

>>31231543
>>Hide the cat guide, Silvest can owe you for this later.

>>31231543
"I....THINK he was giving me a test. Or just teasing me with cat porn."

>>31231543
>Hide the cat guide, Silvest can owe you for this later.

Hiding the cat guide behind your back, you sigh and reaffirm Silvest's statement, "Mr Silvest just stopped in to see how we were doing."

"And the ropes?" Masoch asked.

Fuck, the ropes.

"Ah, I'd heard that a cat can slip from anything so we decided to test that theory out," Yu'yan cuts in following your lead, "Mr Silvest here decided to help us out. It seems he wasn't so nimble though."

Masoch glares down at you and Yu'yan, he's only about your height but his silent presence is imposing.

"More importantly, could you help us with those?" Rein points over at the books, which at some point had begun snapping at Anlak's toes. The fellow always seems to wear sandals. Masoch sighs and makes his way over, he raises his index and middle fingers and sweeps through the air with them, in short moments the books topple to the ground, lifeless as they should be.

"That's enough for today then, you're all dismissed after you help Mr Silvest out of his bindings." Masoch turns around and makes for the door.

Yu'yan peeks over to you slyly, "We'll go on ahead, you got the worst of it so you can deal with dear 'Mr' Silvest on your own."

You turn your gaze to Silvest as the others leave the room, it's already dipping a fair way into the afternoon now and the day's been tiresome.

>Help Silvest out
>Help Silvest out in exchange to access to his study
>Leave Silvest alone, tied up

>>31231760
>Help Silvest out in exchange to access to his study

>>31231760
>>Help Silvest out in exchange to access to his study

>>31231760
>Help Silvest out in exchange to access to his study

You put on your best tough face, "Alright. You caused me a lot of trouble today, but we'll make it easy. Give me the key to your study and I'll let you go, return your book and Masoch doesn't have to know."

"You fel-iend!" Silvest's eyes widen in shock, "How will find any meow-time if I know you could walk in any time!?"

He hadn't been making cat jokes so far, he must be trying to keep you off-guard, "Well, I suppose I'll just leave you be then." You get up and go to exit the room.

"No! Masoch will kill me! The key is in my pockets. Just let me be!"

Was that a cat pun? Doesn't matter, you turn back and fish a little fish-shaped key out of his pocket before undoing the ropes, you toss the book back to him.

"Ooooh, I'll get you!" Silvest dusts himself off, before gathering his other books and exiting into the hall leading to his study.

It's not the best time to go there right now, he's probably looking for meow-time. You return to the dorms.

>CONT

File: 1396497976193.png-(32 KB, 600x400, librarianquest.png)

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Despite all the troubles so far, the day is still far from over. You grab a quick meal of what Yu'yan calls 'Bread and Stuff' from the stone-faced chef, stop by your room quickly to drop off the books they had you reading in class then make way for the front hall.

Usually you just get led around by Yu'yan or Rein after classes, but due to your delayed exit today you see neither of them in sight. They can't be too far from The Archives right now, but some alone time that doesn't involve cats might be worthwhile. You're not really in the mood to visit the library yet though. You'd already browsed over most of the books on demons and you've already decided to delay a visit to Silvest.

>Find someone (Specify)
>Visit the pub
>Explore the school grounds

>>31232045
>Find someone (Sheryl)
We can tell her about the books we saw in Silvest's study.

>>31232045
>>Visit the pub

>>31232045
>>Find someone (Specify)

Go bug Silvest

>>31232045
>Find someone
Sheryl.
Now that we have access to a study full of demon texts, we should let her know.

Also, knock before entering.
And tell Silvest that if he's invested in some 'meow-time', then to put a sock on the door handle.

You're not really in the mood for it, but you should press the opportunity now before that cat plays weasel and changes his lock.

Come to think of it, Sheryl's got an interest in demonic text too. You ought to find her first. Oddly enough, it's always been easier to find her in the dead of night than during the day, she was consistently either hiding up in her room or lurking about the libraries, but during the daytime she sometimes vanished off into the city.

Maybe you're just making excuses to put off a visit to Silvest, but you decide that by the time you find the aloof girl, Silvest should be done with whatever it is that he's doing.

>CONT

You search for Sheryl on the street. She always wore a dark hood that made her presence scarce on the streets, but most of the fabrics in Deneb were of a lighter hue and that made it easier to identify her.

Unfortunately, although Deneb wasn't quite as lively as Ridaela and the streets were much better lined up, it was still a city none the less and you didn't have much luck just wandering around aimlessly. Yu'yen was always where beautiful women were, and the twins her parts they visited more than others. With Anlak, a large Daktori in frayed robes would give you some fair direction but the description of a young women in a dark cloak, though not exactly common still wasn't unique. You could pick her out of a crowd instantly, but to strangers she sounded like any number of wanderers.

>Search the main streets
>Search the alleyways

>>31232354
>Search the alleyways

>>31232354
>To the alleyways!

>>31232354
>>Search the alleyways

>>31232354
>Search the alleyways

You make for the alleyways of Deneb, that sounds like Sheryl, trying to stay out of the way as much as possible.

As you walk around the alleyways, a certain sign catches your eye, "The Little Book Shop Where You Find Your Friends."

You recognize this place clearly, although the sign seems to have changed. Nitt's Shop you started calling it in your head, just to keep things simple with the sign changing all the time. Normally you'd pass right by this place, but you have a book to return anyways.

Stepping into Nitt's store, the prophecy plays itself out. Sheryl stands a distance away, reading a book. The black cover and the red lines tell you all you need to know about the contents, you've never seen her willingly read anything but information on demons, her obsession was worse than yours.

Nitt watched her from behind his counter made from books, his companion Witt, also a book was making comments out loud, ever unable to control his voice, "She's freaky man. Think she's a shoplifter? Maybe she's a BANDIT! Or an ASSASSIN!? I've seen them in books, they always wear dark cloaks."

"Quiet Witt! You'll upset her." Nitt scolds the book.

You've really had enough of living literature today, but it looks like you found who you were looking for, so just a little more and you can leave.

>Return the book to Nitt first
>Talk to Sheryl first

>>31232572
>>Return the book to Nitt first

>>31232572
Let me correct this, the decisions as they are are pointless. Instead it'll be:

>Return the book to Nitt
>Talk to Sheryl, keep the book

>>31232572
>Return the book to Nitt first

>>31232572
Vouch to Sheryl for the quality of the establishment, then keep the book and invite her to go demonology hunting.

>>31232669
This. Vouch to Sheryl about Nitt, books can be returned later. We weren't done with it yet.

>>31232572
>Return the book to Nitt first

File: 1396502137247.png-(30 KB, 600x400, librarianquest.png)

30 KB PNG

You approach Nitt and place the guide he lent you on the counter, "I'll get her to leave, don't worry." Nitt nods at so quickly that you swear his head is ready to pop off.

"Having any luck finding what you're looking for?" You approach Sheryl, who similarly to that time where you met in the library, spins around with a surprised look on her face that very shortly fades away.

"It's a strange shop but it's been pretty handy to me. Twice now I've found exactly what I was looking for here." You pick up one of Nitt's odd stocks, 'Nitt's Adventures with Sevens Cuisine'. You set it down as soon as you read the title.

Sheryl eyes you cautiously, a couple encounters in the library, one dinner together and nearly a month of time as classmates hasn't quite made you two any closer. She turns to exit the store, and you can hear Nitt's sigh of relief coming from behind you. You pursue her to the door, "If you're looking for more about demons, I might have just gotten access to certain shelves in the archives."

Sheryl stops, she turns her head to you and sharpens her gaze.

"Want to see?" You pull the fish-shaped key out of your pocket. Sheryl takes a long pause before answering, "Lead the way."

The two of you begin making route back to the archives, Witt yells out "Thank the gods." as you exit the shop.

>CONT

>>31233243
>Nitt
>Witt
It took me far too long to get that.

The trip back to the archives is a quiet one, you didn't expect anything else. Despite the mystery behind Sheryl and how little she spoke, you found yourself fairly comfortable walking beside her. She wasn't anything like Carna, head-strong and mischievous; but Sheryl, aloof as she was always vaguely reminded you of the time you spent with Carna as a kid.

When you returned to the archives, you quickly made way past the ever-present receptionist, the empty lecture halls dimming with the setting sun and past the library the two of you got most of your interactions with each other in. The door to the back halls still opened to your touch, and hopefully that wouldn't change. You approach the second room to the left, taking out Silvest's key and stick it into the key hole. With a twist of the key and a turn of the knob, the door swings open.

"Hisssssss!" A chair topples over as Silvest jumps onto the table, the one candle on it shuffles but he grabs it with his tail and sets it back straight, "Knock before you enter! I was having my meow-time!"

Silvest wasn't wearing any pants, but thankfully his certain book was still closed and being a fluffy cat, there wasn't anything damning to see.

You just walk past him and Sheryl follows, you hear him complain about you inviting someone but it's hard to take him seriously. As you enter the shelves though, Sheryl tugs on your sleeve, "What does he mean by meow-time?"

Really? She finally says something and it's this?

>Tell her
>Lie

>>31233384
I'll tell you AFTER we're done. You'll thank me later.

tell later

>>31233422
Second.

>>31233384
tell her

>>31233422
This.

>>31233384
>>31233422
I'd really like to see her reaction to telling her. But, now might not be the time.

You're sweating a little when she asks, thankfully she's standing a pace behind you and can't see your face. Doing your best, you compose yourself and turn around, "I'll tell you after we're done here." Yeah, she'll forget. She'll definitely forget.

You enter one of the shelves and grab a book, there isn't a title on this particular one but opening it reveals oddly hand-written entries. The lined letters are sharp and straight, but the curves are awfully messy. It seems to be a personal journal on demon research.

Sheryl follows suit and picks up a book, her eyes widen a little as she indulges herself in the information, but you've got more important things to do than read her reactions.

The book you're reading seems to detail experimentation on contracting; because demons have trouble holding their form on Rascha, they often speak to humans that seek them out through weaves in order to sell their powers in exchange for borrowing the bodies. These are the very basics you're familiar with.

What the book touches on that you weren't aware of, is demons contracting with other life-forms. There're details on long vanished lords that would equip their war-mounts with goblins so that they may spit fire, or like-wise dogs would be equipped so that they may hunt more ferociously. One line with a certain sardonic reading to it mentions the cases of weakened demons being forced to contract with animals to survive, an injured Rasci forced to borrow the body of a cat.

>CONT

Silvest approaches you, now with pants on, "If you're going to step in on my meow-time," You wish he'd stop saying that, "Then the least you could do is ask me before you start going through my personal logs." He slaps the book out of your hand and into his opposite open paw, his claws scratch you likely, but it seems they've been trimmed not to cut.

"You're Rasci?" You ask him.

"More cat than demon these days, I'd appreciate if you didn't name me off as a son of Rasc, I prefer to associate myself with more feline deities."

Of course he's referring to the lost God of Mysteries, but you have to wonder, "How did you end up with The Seekers? Demons hate Catus."

"Careful when making generalizations, there're more of us around than you'd then," Silvest's tail points over to Sheryl, who doesn't show whether or not she's paying any attention to your conversation, "I was just clawing away at trash one day, and this big black thing slings up to me. Next thing you know it, I'm a talking cat. Now see thing about demons is, they really like eating each other and my particular contract doesn't make me very practical at catching humans, none the less fighting off other demons."

Silvest places the journal back on the shelf and whips another book to you from the shelf on the opposite wall, you swear his tail extended.

>CONT

>>31233733
So this is interesting. It means that not all demons are necessarily evil, and some can be negotiated with in good faith.

>>31233733
Ask about Rasci kidnapping people

Carna contracted, didn't she?

>>31233769
It's more likely that one of her parents did.

>>31233769
>>31233733
Yeah, ask about Rasci kidnapping
people.
I don't think Carma was contracted, at least I don't remember there being any hints towards that.

>>31233833
We're alive. She's missing. Rasci's gone.

"So anyways. I join a bunch of people that appreciate the beauty of cats. They do a little bit of research on me, in exchange I get to eat the demons they capture but can't make use of. In the mean-time, I pick up a couple extra powers," Silvest scratches the shelf beside him, and the book Sheryl's holding folds up and flies back inside the bookcase, then another one flies out and opens up into her hands, "And suddenly I'm teaching for free food and board. Pretty good deal right?"

You're still a bit surprised at the situation. Silvest yawns and stretchs his arms forward, his tail goes back. "So, why the interest in demon's kiddo? I understand the lady behind me but you don't look like the sort to be summoning up a succubus."

"I'm trying to find someone, that's all." You open the book he whipped to you, it's a fairly current account on at-large demonic enemies of The Seekers.

"Well, you came to the right place. After this week, Ms Breasts is going to be teaching you about weapons so you might get your first field mission. Unfortunately you've still got espionage with that stupid thief and weaves with Masoch before I get to tell you about the demon-kind." Silvest walks past you and taps on the book-shelf nearest to you, which slides a foot away revealing a window-sill. The early evening's moonlight shines on through illuminating his image.

"Don't get too cosy with me before then alright? After-all, all demons are evil." Under the moonlight, his one red eye glows.

>CONT

>>31233833
>I don't think Carma was contracted, at least I don't remember there being any hints towards that.
There weren't, but it makes sense.
Rasci normally can't exist in this plane of existence unless they're bound to something. The stronger they are, the harder this world tries to reject them.
Getting contracted and bound to a human host would let a powerful Rasci move about the world more easily. It might have taken her to force her into a contract.

>>31233858
wasn't there a thing about how the church was hunting them down? Plus, I think he was invisible because he wasn't contracted to anyone.
Ill stop posting things that derail everything now.

Silvest casts a shadow into the room, far clearer than you should see under the moonlight and far larger than his small frame no larger than any cat's should be. The shadow of his ears curl up like horns, and the shadow of his tail curves into a scythe.

"Sheep are bound to Artios, cats are bound to Catus, wolves are bound to Rasc, foxes are bound to Nyne. The list goes on and on kiddo, for every animal there is a god that wills them. But two exceptions exist which are fueled not by divinity, but by nature... can you guess what they are?" Silvest bares a fanged smile, a malicious look, "Humans, the chosen children of Artios are bound by a nature of goodness. To help each other, procreate with each other, and exist in kindess. Demons, the cursed children of Rasc are bound by a nature of evil. They eat each other, spawn life from themselves, they can only exist selfishly. You'll do well to remember. No matter how far you go, you'll never find a good demon."

Not bothering to move the bookshelf back, Silvest hops off the shelf and strolls by you. You don't move to watch him exit, but before he passes through the door he says one last thing, "There're eight months on the Raschan Calendar, perhaps you'll never be prepared to kill a man, but I promise you that if you aren't prepared to kill me at least by the end of this year then don't be surprised when you die on your first job."

In the silence, you and Sheryl stand.

>CONT

>>31233955
>wolves are bound to Rasc
what?

shrug, keep reading

>>31233970
Makes sense, if the world is made up by sheep and the good god is a Shepherd, then the evil one would be a wolf.

The door closes shut behind Silvest. The open window lets in a cold air, and you stand frozen.

Sheryl is the first to break the silence, "If humans are good, and demons are evil, then what do you suppose of those that lay in-between?"

Her voice brings you back to reality, the perverted cat that had you bring him his smut and who hid at Masoch's gaze brought a fear into you, one that you haven't felt since that day ten years ago that the demon took Carna away from you.

"If you met a contractor who sold their soul, but still fights to hold onto it a little bit longer, do you think they must be evil? What about their children? Elves that're born to two once human parents, cursed with tainted blood in their veins?" Her voice quivers as she speaks, you hear her stillness vanishing off into the moonlight.

>Pick one of each

>Contractors are good
>Contractors are evil
&
>Elves are good
>Elves are evil

>>31234062
>Contractors are good
>Elves are good

In both cases, though, it would depend on the individual, wouldn't it.

>>31233935
>I think he was invisible because he wasn't contracted to anyone
Nnnnno, Rasci are always invisible. And can't even manifest at all without a contract.
>>31131148

>>31234062
If a write in is still fine: Being good or evil is a choice, not a predetermined thing.

>>31234122
Of course. I meant to add it but I couldn't think of a way to phrase it I was happy with, so I just left it as it is up there.

>>31234062
>some of my best friends are contractors!

>>31234062
Who said anything about humans being good? Living things are bound, but that bond is not the only thing we have. It isn't the only thing that determines our nature. Humans are capable of evil, and Demons, good.

But those who only care about "good" and "evil", and become blind to the person in front of them? Fools.

So, tell me about you. Tell Yu'yan about you. Let us see for ourselves, and if we judge you based only on birth, then perhaps we weren't people worth knowing.

>>31234122
This one please I like it

>>31234062
>>31234080
>>31234122
>Being good or evil isn't predetermined, it's a choice.

>>31234080
>>31234122
>>31234186
Look her right in the eyes and say it with conviction, for added effect

>>31234062
>>31234122
Yeah, pretty much this.

To be good, seek to do good. To be evil, do not oppose evil.

Even someone who has had evil imposed upon them can still be good if they try to fight against it. Even if it's fighting a losing battle, it's more 'good' to have to be dragged along kicking and screaming than to be complicit, regardless of the outcome.

It takes you some time to compose yourself, and to compose and answer; "I don't like to think that people have to be bound to something, if The Shepherd's threads really did determine all existence then it's our job as Seekers not to be tied up in his strings isn't it?" You turn around to face Sheryl, her hood is down, her daggered ears point upwards poking through her mid-length black hair. You're unphased, you had wagered a guess already from those few hints you've been given, "You contractor that brought you into this world had the choice between good and evil, so do you."

Sheryl meets your gaze with her jade eyes, you had thought it before but now you're sure, from her tainted blood they glow dimly in the dark. She gives you a strained smile, "You think so...? You should toss away your conviction, the world will snuff your fire yet."

Sheryl made way for the exit, you silently followed behind her.

>CONT

>>31234309
I'm a little leery of "Human are good, demons/elves can choose to be good", but saying that only humans(contractors) and elves get to choose between good and evil also sounds wrong

The way back to the dorms in the still night is cold, when you stepped back into the main library Sheryl had pulled her hood back up. She didn't touch on the subject any further, you didn't feel that you needed to either. You felt confident in your answer, but she seemed to hold pity for you when she told you that she thought you were wrong.

As you approach the dorm, a little something pops into your head. Sheryl had asked you a peculiar question earlier, and you told her that you'd answer her after business was out of the way.

The mood was heavy, and you'd certainly think back to the scene as you tried to get to sleep. You didn't exactly want to bring it up again, but in the long-term a little joking around might help her open up some more.

>Remind and tell Sheryl about her question from earlier
>Forget about it and get to sleep

>objective absolute good and evil
>no such thing as a good demon
>analogously, no such thing as an evil human
These theological claims seem suspect.

>>31234373
>>Remind and tell Sheryl about her question from earlier
doooo itt

>>31234346
>>31234381
I think its one of settings where the world has a messed up opinion on something.

>>31234373
>>Remind and tell Sheryl about her question from earlier

>>31234381
Obviously having evil humans just means that they must have been urged along by evil Demons!

Cosmology status: preserved.

>>31234373
>Remind Sheryl that we promised to answer her question when we were done.
If she still wants to know, make her ask us again.

BUT WARN HER. This thing she seeks to learn can never be unlearned. Even knowing this, does she still want us to tell her?

Frame the awkward knowledge as forbidden knowledge; it works every time.

>>31234373
>Remind and tell Sheryl about her question from earlier

"Hey Sheryl, remember that I was going to answer your question from earlier?"

She glances back at you, "Which one?"

"About what meow-time is."

She hesitates, but nods. This girl's curiosity is going to get the better of her, she'd get along well with Leona if you could make them sit down and have a conversation somehow.

The two of you stop at the benches just outside of the dorms where you sat with Anlak once, sparing little detail, you take her through an explanation of what you assume 'Meow-time' to be. Picking up a nearby branch, you hover your hand over it and put on a faux-grip, moving your arm up and down like a fine craftsman.

It takes Sheryl a moment to understand the intricacies of your explanation, she does her best to maintain a poker face, but you can see her cheek's redden and her ear's twitching inside her hood. She slowly shuffles away from you as you continue the explanation, and at the climax you bring your palm outwards into the air tossing birds of bird seed you hid between your fingers in preparation. Silently, Sheryl stands up and walks towards the door dizzily, when you catch up behind her, she slams it in your face.

The embarrassment of what you just did doesn't really set in until after you've gotten up and started making your way back to your room, but somewhere in your heart, you know it was worth it.

>CONT

You enjoy books, but you've had too much of them today. When you land in your bed, you just lay there staring at the ceiling for some time, not quite yet ready to sleep but too tired to do anything else but lay down.

You're starting to understand the people around you more, and soon your first month at The Catium Archives will end. Seven more months from then, you'll be a full-fledged Seeker. Both Silvest and Sheryl's words run through your head, and although Leona and Rein seem to be fairly straight-forward, everyone else you've met in Deneb from friendly Yu'yan and stoic Anlak, to the crazed Nitt and stern Masoch seem to have certain secrets about them.

But seven months to learn here, and then a lifetime to learn elsewhere. As long as you make way towards her, towards Carna, then you'll do anything it takes.

You close your eyes, and the image plays through your head again, Carna's outstretched hand vanishing into the darkness.

And so, life goes on.

>>31234493
>tossing bird seed you hid between your fingers in preparation
Props hue for theatrical lewdness.

>And so, life goes on.
Thanks for running.

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114 KB JPG

And that's the end of Session 3. Getting into the meat of things, from now on we should move into more magician-warrior-thief shenanigans and less waifus.

We ended a little earlier than usual tonight, so if anyone has any critique they'd like to throw out, I'm looking for it.

As a personal criticism, I think I threw out a few unnecessary choices today so I'll be reviewing when decisions need to be called in the future. I find putting things out in the open make it easier to seriously consider them instead of thinking about it then forgetting it instantly.

I should be able to run on Sunday, the Twitter is in the OP.

Thank you all for being here, and double thanks for discussing a lot about demons towards the end. When it's just a vote post every five minutes, it's like running through the motions but seeing people talk about things really makes questing feel worthwhile.

>>31234598
Is your Black/White thing intentional? Will the actual story follow this, or be a bit more grey?

I'm not saying it should be one of the other, but give a heads up

>>31234598
I thought "Remind Sheryl that we promised to answer her question when we were done." would lead into another question of whether or not we would lie, but the bird seed bit reassured me that it was the right choice to tell the truth regardless.

>>31234615
Morality isn't a theme I'm going for. The belief that humans are good and demons are evil is more tied in with the nature of their survival strategies. Humans survive best in the setting by building civilizations and interacting with each other, demons survive best by murdering humans, animals, demons, and consuming the magic that keeps the world together then spawning more of themselves.

I don't have a story guideline though, so we'll leave it to the players to decide how black and white things get.

>>31234416
>I think its one of settings where the world has a messed up opinion on something.
well...duh.

that was what i was implying. that the character's claims were suspect.

Someone artistic should draw fanart for this, it seems like one of those things that would probably be a lot of fun,