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The grass bows under his every step. The world bows for him. His face shows the endless aeons he has seen. Still, time can't touch him. Purple drapes him. His colour is your colour. He's not your lord, you won't bow. You're one of his and he knows. And you know. Don't bow. You don't have to. Don't bow.

"You're here." The air trembles. Did he speak? Answer.
"I am."
"That's right." Is his mouth moving? You can't see his mouth moving. "You have to rise." You have to.
"I am." You are.
"That's right." His face is static. He's immovable. He's immovable and you're the one that can't move. All you can do is look at him.

How long have you been standing? How long ago did he leave? How much did you lose to get here? Was it really worth it? Just to hear his words? Yes it was. It shouldn't. Whoever he was, nothing he said should be worth whatever you had. But you know it was worth it. You've lost so much. You've lost everything. And it was still worth more than what you had to give. The light that has come to take you agrees with you.

Morning is at your window. A bell tolls, resounding all around you. The mansion has a bell. Was the bell there yesterday? Why weren't you woken up? Whatever. Time to get up. Time to do things. Time to increase chances of survival for the group. My group. What was that dream about?

Your morning rituals take some more time to do now that no one serves you. You know how to do things, you are not some kind of spoiled brat. But help always helps. That's why it's help. You're clean, you're wearing clean clothes and you're donning your armour. The room is tidy. Time for breakfast. You take out the rations that were involuntarily gifted to you. The bread is stale. Has been stale for a while. It's progressing fast. You'd have to immerse it in soup or water by now. You don't want to take your chances asking the whale. You're not willing to experience mystery soup more than you should just to eat some bread. Breaking fast with just meat won't kill you. It'll just make you happier. You could add some of the almonds to the mix.

Knocking on the door. Clear, sharp knocks. "Wake up, MASTAH, training awaits!" Sornen. Breakfast first. Should I call him in? And what should I make them do this morning? Make them do. Dance, puppets. Stop it. Training. What about training?

>Finish breakfast.
>Call Sornen in, share breakfast.
And
>Training.
>Shopping. (write in)
>Walking around. (write in)
>Other.
If training:
>Individual training this morning. I have to get blackie in gear. Sidian. I have to teach him (write in). Others can (write in)
>Group training. Formations, manoeuvres, orders. Reinforce what they learnt yesterday.
>Other.

And here's the
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Prince%20Killer%20Quest
Lovely Anon's characters and lore pastebin: http://pastebin.com/M2RSyTC8
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CiollonzQM

Maybe this part should go before everything else.

>>36443118
>>36443108
>>36443105
Niiiice.
Let me get to reading, then I'll vote.

>>36443145
Take your time. It's so early in the morning I think you'll have me all for yourself, Anon.

>>36443108
>Call Sornen in, share breakfast.
And
>Training
>Individual training this morning. I have to get blackie in gear. Sidian. I have to teach him footwork and bodywork so he can charge(attack moving) or evade, proper way to swing weapons and the body, basic blocking stances with the shield. Others can train in pairs, put the vet Clodies and the girl Nikan organizing things there, him for experience her for skill.

Also thank you for putting the pastebin I made in the opening.

>>36443108
>>Finish breakfast.
Start with this. Follow up with teaching blackie, a promise and all. Meanwhile the others can practice their group battle by diving themselves in 2 teams. Join them when blackie has learned something new.

Welcome back OP.

>>36443156
I have you all for myself? My my, how lewd.

And sorry for the delay on my vote, I had to talk to my girlfriend about someting
>>36443211

>>36443211
Thank you for writing it up. And you lost exclusivity. We're going poly in here.
>>36443218
Thank you. I was never really gone, I'm just not sure if running during the week is viable for my run times. Today is half testing that, as it's still a workday but after that people should start weekendy things, like being lazy and playing quest. Also yesterday was that thanksgiving thing you guys do?
I'll be waiting 5-10 minutes in the hope somebody gets in here. 2 voters are going to make me roll a lot of dies.

>>36443251
Yep, it was.

Wish we had thanksgiving here.

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>Finish breakfast
Gotta have some boundaries. Let them know whose boss.

Walking around. Check out the operation of the other mercenaries. Find one of them with loose lips, get him talking. Find out about the guy who hired us and why he's not arounnd any more. Find out what the job is supposed to be. Then return. Continue training. Tell Sornen to get the group practicing group drills while we are busy.

>>36443108
>>Call Sornen in, share breakfast.
>Training.
>Individual training this morning. I have to get blackie in gear. Sidian. I have to teach him (write in). Others can (write in)
Footwork and basic forms for attacking and defending.
Group battle with the others. Rotating the leaders every few rounds.

>>36443310
I really think we should do this because we still have no clue what's going on, what we're being setup for, and have no one in the mercenaries who might care what happens, because we haven't spoken to a single one of them except the guy we slapped

>>36443332
I mean, almost all we have done so far is training, which is important, but we ought to get some intelligence, or at least try to get a connection in the group proper so we can know what's going on, and so we can anticipate any unexpected hurdles. If we can find the guy who recruited us that might help us greatly.

>>36443108
>Call Sornen in, share breakfast.
>>36443108
hmm
>>36443332
>>36443373
that is a compelling arguement.

>talk up the mercaneries
>Let the others train
Endurance training. If we're being left to die, that's KINDA like not having backup, and that means fighting and running for far longer than any of us will like. They won't break formation if I push them harder now then they ever will be later.

>>36443609
>>36443310
Wait so you want to break our promise to SIdian and let him get rekt?

"I'm awake. I'll meet you on the training grounds in a minute." You answer. You won't share the only edible things you can get your hands on with no one. He's your subordinate too. You should command some respect, can't have him barging in on your breakfast and take a seat.
"All right, master, see you down there." The sound of his feet on the wood signalling his departure.

You finish your breakfast and go down to the training grounds, the whale as the only living creature on the way. Why is this mansion always so empty? Are the others just avoiding you? The training ground has an answer. Only your guys out there. Well, you will have time for questions later. Right now they need answers.

You greet them and start organizing the activities "Clodius, Nikan, form teams and practice group battles. After that, take the lead on individual training. Sidian, you're with me." He walks to you. Good boy. Why did you start thinking of him like a dog? The whole 'feed him and he won't bite', maybe. Just offering the truth and some help changed his attitude completely. No more rabies.

"Ok Sidian, I'm going to show you the basic movements. Pay attention and try to copy that." You walk him through a range of simple moves. Some of them should come natural, some he'll have to learn. Considering he couldn't put the force of his charge in his hits, he could have problems even with 'natural'. This could be hard.

You look at him as he tries to emulate what you showed him. The charge first. As he runs and swings, the problem becomes manifest. He stops before hitting. He stops completely. He plants both his feet to the ground and lets the energy go before swinging. Why would one do that? Doesn't matter. You just try to correct him. Just telling him where the problem is doesn't work. That unnatural stop comes as natural to him. It could be useful in defending. Nobody charges and defends, what are you talking about? You run to your enemy, plant your feet and wait for a blow?

>>36443632
We can train with him after. There is a little bit of time left. Let's find out what we can, there's one guy who kind of likes us in the merc group and we haven't spoken to him or even asked about him yet.

Seriously, every option we've taken, aside from one, has been training.

Back to Sidian, please. You'll just have to stop using words. Do that again, Sidian. Try to hit that mannequin with your hammer. You swear you won't trip him halfway there to make him understand how to do that properly. Or maybe you won't. You won't swear, you mean, seeing as you already tripped him. And his hammer hits with force before his face does. You did that for him. Really. For his good. Yes, all those times. It was needed. Now he can do that, can't him? What about the scrapes? Scrapes come and go. And scrapes will be the last of his problems tomorrow. So back to training with him.

Now, stand still. Shield up. No, not like it's raining. Stop my hits. Did you just close your eyes again? Sidian, you're killing me. Follow. Block. Come on, is it that hard? Rotate your shoulder when you hit. Like this. Do you have to move his arm for him? Yes, yes you have to. Sidian, are you doing this on purpose? Sornen took a single minute to understand how to pivot on a leg. Was that luck? Concentrate on Sidian for now. Footwork. Teach him. Move him. Make him move. Is this just how his profession shaped him? It's taking ages. He can't move more than one body part together, it seems. Come on, Sidian! You should rotate your shoulder as you take that last step. Put your shield in the way of my sword and take a step back. That's better. Again. Again. No, you can't rest, Sidian. This is about living to see another day. Do you want tomorrow to be your last? Then come at me, Sidian. Try to hit me. Again. Not like that. Again. That's better.

Half of your day is gone already. Your plan to join the group in training was nothing but a chimera. Sidian got something out of it. He's better. He's not good, but he can do something now. Lady luck may need to favour him tomorrow. Maybe she'll do that for you.

Whale, lunch. You're not really that hungry, knowing what the lunch is comprised of. And you have a lot of questions that are still unanswered.

Where are you going to get that answers from? Right now it's not time for books. It's time for people. People can have answers too. People then?

>Go looking for (write in), ask about (write in)
>Sit with your group, talk about (write in)
>Town time. (write in)
>Other.

>>36443609
>>36443373
>>36443332
Sorry guys. Maybe I should clearly state when I close voting.

>>36443661
>Go looking for the guy who recruited us, ask about mission details if possible?
Might need to loosen him up a bit.

>>36443650
We don't have time to waste training hours, this is the last day of training before the mission.If he doesn't get ready now he's as good as dead.

We CAN talk to the other mercs, AFTER
training.
During lunch maybe, but if we let go of training him when we only have one day? Bad end for him.

The reason we've been doing training all the time is because these guys mostly suck as mercs. We needed to do it intensively.

>>36443661
>Go looking for (Guy who recruited us), if we can't find him, ask about where he is. If we do find him, ask him about the operation, or just get in good with him further.

>>36443661
Gonna second
>>36443677
>>36443681

>>36443677
Well, there have been periods where the mercs just weren't at the dining hall. We're lucky now.

We probably shouldn't have insisted Sidian be a melee fighter in the first place, but, well, he might live regardless.

>>36443724
He looks like a dorf, he was a smith.
Why - wouldn't - we want him to be melee?

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>>36443727
The fact that everyone else is already trained in melee and we have only one other person capable of ranged attacks, short ranged to boot, his fear of swords, his complete inexperience with melee in any form, his stiffness in movement and the great deal of time we've invested in trying to overcome these limitations when there are others to train as well. At least with a crossbow he could fire a couple of rounds before we engage the enemy and it'd require a shorter training period to boot.

>>36443768
And then when anyone comes close to him he dies.If you want he can try to use the crossbow at least once, if he does well on the first one then go ahead, give him one to carry alongside the hammer and shield.

>fear of swords
He was afraid of death, he's no longer afraid of swords. Plus that doesn't make sense, do you plan to just surround him at all times with people?
What if our formation gets broken or we split it for a charge?
No experience at all in melee and he's fucked.

>>36443793
It's too late now, we'll see how it goes.
>He was afraid of death, he's no longer afraid of swords
The fact that he's still withholding his blows fully and basically stops on a charge suggests otherwise (We've corrected that temporarily in training, but in the heat of combat I don't think that's going to count for much, we haven't spent long enough for him to develop the reflexes or the instinct)

>What if our formation gets broken or we split it for a charge?
Could happen. Too bad we didn't spend longer training formations. Anyway, if we split for a charge, and the enemy gets behind us to attack ranged Sidian, it's our backs we should be worrying about not the crossbowman

>No experience at all in melee and he's fucked.
He's not much better now. If he were ranged he could actively avoid engaging in melee. Now though he's going to be in the thick of it

>>36443661
>>Go looking for (write in), ask about (write in)
the guy we had a brawl with, ask him what he thinks of the group, and if he knows anything about the mission.

>>36443862
I say put him between Sornen and us and have him serve as flank-guard. Basically just stopping people from trying to get between the gap

>>36443879
Yeah, that could work. The others seem fairly solid with their defense. They could hold a while.

Answers. Answers. Who could you get your answers from? Matias was friendly enough. You could go and find him. Where? Ask and you shall receive. Better not going around without knowing where. There's no way you're going to meet who you want to just strolling around, right?

You tell your team you're going to ask around informations about the mission and get on your way. To the armoury then. The guy in there should know. He should know almost every member, shouldn't he? You find him where he should be. That's why you don't go around without knowing where. This was so easy.

"Hey there." you call out.
"Hey. What do you need this time around?" He looks at you for a moment before returning to his sword. Not his. A sword. Honing it with great care.
"Do you know where I can find Matias?" Let's cut to the chase.
"Matias? Big man, bronzed, likes going around half naked?" Half naked? Was he half naked when you met him in the tavern?
"Yeah, that's him." But fully clothed.
"Heh, good luck finding him in the mansion." What? Does he like to play hide and seek?
"What do you mean by that?"
"He has his own place. He usually comes around to take part in the council, but I don't know when the next one will be. Out of council he isn't around much. Just for taking missions and men."
"Do you know where his house is?"
"Yeah, I usually go there to get fucked in the ass." Really? No, he's sarcastic. "Why, in the name of the one light, should I know where he lives? Ask the leader. And get a couple of punches in the face for your 'audacity in addressing him directly'" he says, in a tone that makes it clear he doesn't think too highly of his boss. What now?

"Would you know anything about our mission tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I know I'll have to spend some to substitute what you'll take with you. Nothing else. Only the leader knows where he's sending you. You won't know until tomorrow." You get your mission on the same day of your sortie? Great.
"Is that how it works around here?" Doesn't really seem efficient to you.
"Yeah, we're all a bunch of retarded baboons and we like surprises very much." He doesn't mean that either. "Do you think we don't need to plan for shit? Do you think we just go out there and kill whatever is on our path? The leader is doing things a different way for you guys. They say he's trying something new. Some great plan he has, if you ask me."
Oh, just perfect. You go for answers and you get more questions. Next move?

>Ask (write in).
>Go look for (write in).
>Go back to your group.
>Other.

>>36443936
In that case, why not just chum it up with some of the mercenaries? Could be good to have friends in multiple places.

>>36443936
Thank him for his time and go back to our group

>>36444001
Yeah, supporting this. Our group doesn't need us to hold their hand constantly

>>36443936
>>Go back to your group.

You go back into the mansion and sweep the common areas for other possible question answerers. Your search doesn't go well. Even the most friendly of them keeps the talk as short as they can. Some don't even answer your greetings. And that's just courtesy on their part, as some of the other answers make you realize.

You finally find somebody willing to talk to you. A red haired guy decided to stop and talk to you. Gingerly. Heh. Be friendly, my friend, we're friends now. Talk of yourself, talk of nothing. Get to know him. Been here for two years, he's seen how things go. And knows why nobody is willing to talk to you. Superstition. You don't talk to the damned or you'll be damned yourself. Even if you don't believe, making a friend you're never going to see again is not smart. Before you're certified as a survivor they're not going to talk to you. And why is he, then?

Because you're a survivor. He knows. Somebody tried to kill you more than once. And you never even got a whiff of that? You're doing some great surviving, there. Is he sure that did happen? No, he isn't. Maybe because it didn't happen? You don't have to believe it, he says. Yeah, that's better. If you let paranoia take the box you're not going to get anything done. Nothing is waiting for you in the shadows. You have enough damaged people in your group. Milligan could be enough for a group ten times bigger; and he's not the only one.

It's been nice trying to scare you but now he has to go have lunch. Lunch time should be over. The whale should have wailed already. The others get their lunch after you recruits do. Why should his lunch and yours be at different times? Didn't you see others during supper? Doesn't make much sense, does it? He's gone, your question unanswered. Stop idle thoughts. Nothing is out to get you. He was trying to scare you. He was trying to get some fun out of you. Stop it. Now.

Think now, Will. You can't get anything on your mission. The leader is the only one who knows. The armourer said he's not disclosing it. Other mercenaries won't talk to you. Lunch is over. Tomorrow is the day.

Tomorrow is the day. Focus. You have nothing in your hands. The team is less than mediocre. You have little time and you have to invest it. What can you do? What is the best move here? Will you make it back alive without your team's support? Should you just run? Skip town again? What are your options here? You can't see a way. Are you missing the determination? The mission could be anything. You could be asked to retrieve daisies. They will certainly give you something your team can do. Can't throw you to the beasts, can they? Yes they can. No. Think positive. There must be a way. You're leading them, you must choose the way. Or quit the team altogether.

>Get back to your team. Train (write in).
>Go to your room, take your things. Thruster will choose the next destination for you.
>Go to the higher ups' offices, try and find something about the mission. (risk involved)(roll required)
>Other.

>>36444543
Good enough.

>>36444562
>Get back to your team. Train (write in).
the endurance training thing. We can't beat discipline in them in a single day, but it'll be harder for them to panic if they're used to feeling tired.

It might be too late, though. Hopefully they get to sleep in tomorrow.

>>36444562
>Get back to your team. Train (write in).
What the anon says of endurance is good I suppose.
Might as well put them through some extra strain, not just endurance.
Shit like running through the city carrying 40 Kg of Stones hah.

Would also like to show them some brawling, without weapons, just in case, and for the whole "pain is good for you" thing.

Well, I'm going to fix something to eat really fast in the hope somebody else wants to get in and play with us. Bear with me, anon.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>36444562
>Go to the higher ups offices, try and find something about the mission
I'm game to take some risk

>>36444838
It's d100 in here.

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>36444838
>>36444881

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>36444881
WAAAR

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>36444881

>>36444881
Not that it matters since that one only has one vote.

>>36444924
It seems it has 3 votes now. Or someone is just rolling for fun, I don't know.

>>36444902
>>36444912
>>36444923
So, are these different anons? Are those votes for the risky path? My veal is gone, I need to know now.

>>36444989
I rolled once just for fun.
But I guess we could go with it.
By the way, higher the better?

>>36444997
Yes, roll-over. Now, anon, decide what you're going with. Tip the scales. Was that "just fun" or your decision? You have MC's destiny in your hands. Make this worth it.

>>36444989
First was me. Can't say if the other weren't samefag though. Count the number of votes, compare with unique IP list, I guess.

I'm the guy who rolled the 1d20 first, then corrected.

>>36445019
I choose... GOTTA PLAY IT HIGH TO WIN IT BIG
Go with the rolls mang

You can't take chances. You need to know what you're getting yourself into and you have to know now. Only after that you will be able to decide what is to be done.

You go up two floors and down a long corridor. The administrative section. They told you what this was when showing you the place. And they told you to never go there unless called. You weren't called but you need an answer. You're the one making the call now.

A transept intersects the corridor. The rooms opening on the transept are all administration. The room in front of you, at the end of the corridor, is for the leader. You weren't called but the answer is there. You look around as you make your way to the room. Nobody in sight. Good. You walk slowly, holding the sword by your side. Not making sound with armour on is not easy. Were you heard? You push your ear to the door. Nothing. The only thing you can hear is your heartbeat. You wait. Nothing. Nobody inside. Open the door, Will. One chance, Will. You have to know. Hand on the knob. Turn. Slowly.

It's closed. Obviously. Why did you think it would be open? Who would leave their room open for anyone to enter? Go back now, your chance is gone. Or maybe not. One of the other doors is slightly ajar. Get in, Will, it's there for you.

A small desk, piles of parchment placed over it. That's really a lot. Are you going to go through it all? Yes, you have to. And you're in luck. This is where missions come from. They're not born under cabbage leaves, then. You skim through the names on the bottom of the parchment. No. Not yours. No. None of the people on your team. Names you don't recognize. How do you read this? Where is yours? This one is still empty. No names. Exterminate a group of bandits. A dozen men. The untrained rabble your team could take on. A cave half a day away. Is this the one? This seems fitting for your team. Maybe there are other missions without names on them? Let's see.

Continue reading the commissions. Find your name. No. No. What is that? Not on the parchment. Out in the corridor. Soft steps coming your way. Not good. Out of here, now. You return the room to how it was before you entered it and get out. Just in time to see who came to meet you. The boss trainer turns the corner. Hello there.

"What are you doing here?" You shouldn't be here. His hand is already on a dagger.
"I was looking for you." What? What did you just say? Why should you be looking for him?
"What do you want from me?" He doesn't believe that. He knows you weren't there for him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I was looking for someone who could tell us what our mission will be. That's why I'm here." That's it. A little less suspicious.
"The leader will tell you tomorrow morning. Go back to train your men. That's the best thing you can do now." Still suspicious enough. That's an order. Get out of here now.
"Yes, sir."

You go down to the fields to find your team was not standing around while you were gone. They're practicing what you taught them yesterday. Surprising. What, you thought they would be standing around and waiting for you to tell them what to do? The youngest of them has lived at least 15 years without you telling him what to do. They probably can take decisions on their own, can't they?

But now you're back. They stop. So, what about what you learnt up there? Will you tell them? What if that's not your mission? Will they slack off knowing they're not being shipped to war? Should you say anything at all?

>Tell them. Tell them you can't be sure.
>Tell them. Bandits are what you will be fighting.
>Don't tell them.
>Lie (write in)
And
>Resume training (write in)
>Other.

>>36445580
>Tell them. Tell them you can't be sure.
>Still remind them the way people are acting is very suspicious so we should keep our guards up

And
>Resume training
First continue the group tacticts training, do some maneuvers and check that all is in order. Maybe have them train hand signs or something for when we need to go quiet.

Then some unarmed training, just in case.
Good to know how to drop a proper punch, and I think some of ours can help with teaching (Hey sornen)

And finally, when we're all already tired.
Endurance and "pain training" just so they have something to compare when they're actually in the mud

>>36445648
I'll support most of this

In regards to training, I think it's too scattered. Teaching to punch in half a day isn't worth it. There's a reason monks suck in 3.5, and there's a reason no military has units of unarmed men. We're going in armed, we should train armed. After basic, give them some training in fisticuffs, not before.

I like training them in group tactics though, but we ought to teach them simple basic manuevers for them to follow at our command. Get them drilled in that proper

Endurance training... We're going to fight in the morning, why do we want them exhausted for that?

>>36445711
I thought tomorrow we only set out, not that we'd head straight into the fight.

They already know simple maneuvers and tactics, but we could drill them more.

Endurance thing I like a bit mostly because it allows them to have a notion of the shit they'll have to do.
And the punch thing is just a short thing to make sure when push comes to shove nobody will pull a Sidian and be afraid of going unarmed if they have shit on them

>>36445711
Basically I think we should do a revision of our previous training, and reinforce the core principles. Make sure everyone is up to speed on it. Nothing more. Nothing too exhausting. We want our people hale and hearty tomorrow.

>>36445752
Alright that's good too.

>>36445744
I just think of it as a university exam. You don't cram the night before, it stuffs you up, messes with your sleep. You revise what you know, make sure you know it, make a few last minute changes, and then relax. The same principle applies with physical training for the most part.

>>36445648
Hand signs when you have shield and sword in your hands stike me as pretty difficult to pull off. Did you mean that in some other way? Explain.

And I think the consensus right now to revise previous training exercises and let them rest, is that right?

>>36445834
If we have to sneak we won't necessarily have our weapons on us.
Plus don't we use just a sword? I forgot
>>36445834
It was just two votes, but I already agreed to go with his idea. So I guess.

I'm probably being paranoid. Just want to check...

That red head said someone already tried to kill us. Only person with motivation for that would be the kid we slapped around. How do we take our food at the table? Is it served from a communal pot?

Perhaps we avoided being poisoned in the morning by eating our own supply of food. Hell, let's try to do that tonight, just in case. It'll only cost us a little, and we don't want to eat the crud they serve anyway. Consider treating the whole crew to this actually. Anyone for this?

>>36445580
Hey Cio, can you tell us more about how magic works, what are it's limits, what are it's schools of thought and how widespread is it used.
Also if there's "inate" magic of some sort (like a warrior becoming superhuman just by training really hard and having tons of drive for it)

"MASTAH! You're back! So, what about the mission?" Straight to the point. Tell or not?
Tell. "I asked around, it seems like we will be fighting a group of bandits. I feel like we could do that without too much hassle." And their tension plummets. They look at each other like they won already. Wrong move. That's a thing that kills. "Still, I couldn't get a straight answer out of them. And the way they're treating us is strange. Really strange. Keep your guards up, guys. We could have some surprises." There could be someone trying to kill you. Did that redhead get to you? That's not good. Focus, Will. Them too. Back to training.
"Now let's get back to training. We will continue with what you were doing. Formation and orders first."

You join them in training. They're not trying as hard as yesterday. Guys, we still need to fight for our lives. Nothing changed. Concentrate. You struggle to keep them on target. What are they doing? Are they seriously this stupid? Guys. Guys. Please. Stop this. Now. You can't do this. Not now. STOP!

"What the hell are you guys doing? Do you really think there's no more need for training just because we're going to fight bandits? Do you think they're going to stand there and let us kill them?" You burst out. Calm down, Will. Calm down. Can't lose your cool like this. You're their leader now.

Silence. Simmer down, you. Don't waste the little time you have. Ok. Let's try again. Shields up. Advance. Hold ground. Ok. That's better. Encircle. Flying wedge. Inverted now. Charge. They're better now. Are they doing this for you? They have to do it for themselves. From the top. Again.

Some practice now. Two teams. Clodius and you. Come on. Come get them. Are you still angry at them? Stop it, Will. This is important. Leave what is unproductive. You have to focus too. Bear their charge. Sidian's still up this time. That's great. He still can't stop Nikan from flanking without leaving himself wide open, but he is still up. One step at a time. Let's try this again. Don't let them win every single one. Do you have to switch sides to get a win? Do you have to take them all down yourself?

You're out of it today, Will. This is exercise. Think about teaching them what they need. Teach them or they're better off doing individual training. No, this is the right direction. The team needs to grow as a team. Point out why Tristam just got bashed. Tell them how to communicate. They have to move as one. Go in only if you don't leave your teammates open for a counterattack. And if somebody goes for it cover for him. No, Kipp, you don't have to point out how stupid that was. Cover him. Cover for his error. Telling him it was stupid can wait after the engagement is over. If you don't wait the right moment you'll have to ask the shaman to relay the message for you.

You continue training until the supper's ready. You all go back in. They were getting better by the time you stopped. Maybe you should continue, make the most of your time. Some of them are tired. Tomorrow is an important day. You should rest. No more training. Tired people don't make for good warriors and death is still looking for you. Damn it, redhead. Paranoia. Did they try to poison your food? No, the soup comes from the same cauldron for everyone. The whale takes it directly to the tables. You're probably not being poisoned. Should you just eat your rations? No, Will. There's no conspiration. Get to your table and eat your soup. Tomorrow is the day.

>Get to your table and eat your soup. Talk about (write in) with the team.
>Get to your room and eat your dried meat. There are always monsters under the bed. They're just waiting.
>Eat out.
>Other.
If you want some of the teammates with you if you don't eat in the canteen add that to your post.

>>36446145
I don't think I should write a wall of text while we're still going. I'll wait to close the thread or I'll put a pastebin up.

>>36446605
>Eat out.

May as well have something good tonight.

>>36446605
>Get your people to eat out with you
Tell them about some strong bandits that would probably wreck their shit, maybe tell them what happens if we are wrong and it's not bandits.
Keep them on their toes, but end it with a lighter touch, remind them we all got each other's backs, and that if we keep it together we'll all survive, that's the goal.

>>36446605
>https://twitter.com/CiollonzQM
>eat out
Take them to a tavern with hearty food. Make sure they don't drink too much. Don't drink too much.

babump

You decide to eat in some tavern in the city. Poison has nothing to do with it. Tomorrow may very well be your last day and you don't want mystery soup to be your last supper. Your whole team deserves something better than that. Nothing to do with redhead, really. That'll cost you. Doesn't really matter, does it? Dead men can't spend money, you remember yourself. Didn't the Allies of Justice teach you anything?

"Let's go somewhere else. Let's get something good tonight."
"What? What's wrong with what they give us here?" What did they feed you before, kid? Is it your tongue? Your brain?
"Come on, kid. Let's get some meat. It'll be good for you." Clodius has the magic word. The kid now knows why we're going out.

You all walk around the streets, a strange and numerous assortment. The people in the street give you curious looks. Never seen a group of ragtag fake mercenaries? Neither did you. You should search for a mirror. Where are we going? The fountain could reflect the uniqueness of your group. No, that was not the goal. We're going near the centre of the city. A secondary street. A nice, hearty tavern. Like 'The fireplace'. Good name. Let's get in here.

The place is small and cozy. Cherry wood covers the walls and floor. Stark contrast with the marble outside. There are only two other groups in here but their laughters and chatter fill the place. It feels like a family reunion in here. You sit down at the head of a long mahogany table. The others take place around the table. It's a little small for nine people but you all squeeze in. You really don't, as you're at the head of the table. Neither does Clodius, sitting in front of you.

A plump woman wearing an apron walks up to you. "What I can get you guys?"
"Beef and potatoes. With bread. And a beer." Some at the table nod their heads. Did they think you were ordering for everyone? Whatever, you're the leader, you can do that. The woman looks at them, waiting for their orders. Nobody is talking. Are they new to this? Ask for what you want.
The waitress takes the hint "So nine servings of beef, potatoes and bread with nine beers. Is that alright?"
"Yes, please." You smile at her. She reciprocates.
"I'll get right to it." She turns around and goes back to where she came from. You follow her with your eyes.

You turn around to find eight pair of eyes looking at you. What? I wasn't ogling her! I did nothing wrong! No, wait. This is that thing. That 'speech' thing. They're waiting for your words of wisdom. What did they do this morning? Did someone else give a speech for you? Can they go without it? Not if you're there. Well, start talking.
"Today's training was good. I think we have some cards to play. Still, I want to restate that we can't be sure we will be fighting bandits and even bandits could be a problem. We know nothing about their numbers or their ability." You know about their numbers, to be honest, but that doesn't help your point. "That means we can't rest on our laurels. I believe that together we can face whatever is thrown at us. Tomorrow I want us all to be at our best. We will complete our job and we will all come back."
"Yes, we will try." Milligan, please tell me there's nothing more to that phrase.
"No, man, we won't 'try'. There's no trying. We're going to ace the whole thing. We're going to do the thing in the greatest way ever and then we're going to be back, take our pay and drink the best alcohol money can buy. Isn't that right?"
"That's right." Clodius answers.

"If we're trained this much for nothing I'm going to cry." This much? For nothing? Three days. You want to be a mercenary. And you're going to cry. Way to go, Tristam.
"Stop that, Tris. Your past ways are getting the best of you."
"You're right, Sornen. I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I just said. The training is part of the job and it's useful in more ways than one." What are this past ways he speaks of? And how did he go from whiner to verbose gentleman that fast?
"And we're just beginning. We're full of flaws. If we want to fulfil our goals we're going to have to do much more than that." Your goals, Nikan, will need so much more. They will need something close to a miracle, probably.
"Ok guys. Let's stop with the mercenary talk. Let's just enjoy the evening."

There was no need to stop them from talking. As soon as the plates hit the table the whole group goes silent. Only one thing on their minds. There's real food. And it's good, you have to say. This would make for a decent last supper, if need be. You surely hope that's not the case. Stop thinking about death. Think about food. You can't know about tomorrow. Numerology and calendars won't help you. Just enjoy the evening.

And that's what you do. What the whole team does. With the food gone, you now enjoy some jovial chitchat while sipping your beers. A calm evening just before the storm. You don't think about that. You just make small talk and whittle the evening away. When nothing remains of the beers you just silently get up and walk back to your rooms. Totter is a little unstable on his feet, but nothing else happens. Just a delightful evening gone by. Back in your room you take your armour off and get to bed.

>Read about (Arathe/Tactics)
>Go to sleep.
>You have something to do before tomorrow comes (write in)
>Other.

>>36448078

>Go to sleep.

>>36448034
>>36448078

>Read about (Arathe/Tactics)

>>36448078
>Read about (Arathe/Tactics)

>>36448078
>Go to sleep
Get as much sleep as we can to be fresh for tomorrow
If this comes down to a tie though, I'll support reading

>>36448175
>>36448209
It's one or the other. Choose between the two topics.

>>36448262
Well Tactics
we can read lore later

>>36448262
Yeah, i'm gonnago with Tactic's

>>36448262

Burn the book and say a prayer.

You take the book about tactics from your dresser and start the read. Pretty standard fare. Not much in it you don't know. Still, a refresher can only help. Skirmish tactics you forgot to take into account, for example. Starting with ranged attacks to whittle down the opponents before the real thing starts. But even slings take some time to train. You can't just give them javelins and bows and expect them to do something useful with them. It requires training. It requires time. Time you probably didn't have. You can keep this in mind for the next time. If there's going to be a next time.

What's next? Shock tactics. Won't work using light infantry. And full commitment is risky. And your team doesn't have any experience. Next. Pincher maneuver. You have the wedge down already. They just need to be able to follow orders to pull something like that off. Or maybe you'll explain that tomorrow morning. Better safe than sorry. Nine men are not many but if what you got on the enemy force is true that could be useful for tomorrow. What you got on the enemy force. You can't even be sure that's your mission. You just made that up and you're rolling with it. Why should that be your mission? It could be something else. It could be anything. Get back to your book. Hope it has something for you.

Run of the mill advice is all this book can offer. Giving an enemy encampment to the flames? Really? Something the armourer told you comes back. This book is for mind-addled primates. Or maybe you shouldn't have expected that much. You thought this could have the answer to your every problem, didn't you, Will? You thought there would be something that would make everything better. Save everyone. The book could complete the mission on his own or something. That's not how life works, Will. You'll have to work hard tomorrow. You're leading them. Their lives are in your hands. You take a wrong turn and not one of you will be back to tell the story.

No, Will. You're going were you shouldn't again. That guy has gotten under your skin. Death has. The monsters are under your bed now. That's not how things are. The monsters have always been there. And you were just fine until now. You always fought and won. Go to sleep. Rest. Leave tomorrow for tomorrow. There's nothing you can do now but rest. You put the book down on the floor and start drifting. The monsters are waiting for you at the entrance. You smile as you pass through the gates.

And you sleep soundly. Nothing lurking in the night. Nothing in your dreams. The bell wakes you again and another day starts. A day like every other. Nothing different. Your rituals are the same. Your breakfast is the same. The whale is the same. Her words are not. The magic breaks. Today is the day. She tells you you have to wait by the training ground. The leader will come and give you your mission. Today is officially the day. And you don't feel ready. Something is in the air.

Relax. You did everything you could. No use in fretting now. Calm down. The whole team is outside waiting. Most of them are really nervous. Calm down. You have to lead them. You have to be calm. Stoic. There's nothing to it. Nothing makes you tremble anymore. No need to fear failure. No need to fear death. Today is the day.

Today really is the day. And the leader comes and goes. The only thing that changed is you now have parchment in your hands. The same parchment from yesterday. Your name is on it now. And the name of everyone else. Nothing else changed. Bandits. Not much of them. A cave half a day away. There's nothing wrong with it. Nothing in the shadows, Will. Now go and do your job.

You send the team to get some armour and real weapons from the armoury. You don't follow. No reason to follow them. Nothing good will come of that. They return. Leather. You were expecting that. Doesn't matter. At least they got real swords. The whale comes around to give you nine loaves of bread, nine canteens of water. Better than mystery soup. If she decided to fill your canteens with the soup you could have gone Milligan's way. Death is a blessing when compared to that concoction.

The team is still tense. Nobody says a word. Nobody but you spoke a word today. They know what's at stake and so do you. That's good. They need to be at their best. No reason to stand around now. Time to depart. Back to the mountains separating your old home from your new. A dozen of bandits separating you from victory. Victory? The first step on the path. A short step. That's not it. You've invested in your team. Today is a test. Today is the day.

You check your gear and everyone's else. Everything seems in good order. Are you forgetting something? Something you need?

>No, let's depart.
>Yes, (write in).

>>36449427
Do they have shields? and do we have one as well?

>>36449537
Yessir. The shields they gave you guys for training were normal shields. Mace and hammer too. You're keeping that.

>>36449562
I don't remember what else we have when we got ehre so I guess we're good to go.

The thread seems dead enough to warrant an

[End Chapter]

We'll be going for our mission tomorrow. Next post will be the magicky post.

>>36449666
I just got off work damn, thanks for running Ciollonz it was a good read.

No resurrection, so:

Magic is common in this setting. There's no "mana", when you cast something your body's energy is what is used. That's why mages usually focus on utility. For example most of the books are copied by mages. Using magic to move quills is easy if you're near them and a decent mage can make 4-5 copies at a time.

If you go big magic takes its toll hard. You want to make it rain in a desert? Take 10 mages with you and know that half of them will probably stay in the desert forever. Mages are not really common in battle. A good battle mage is worth 10 archers and costs 3 times that.

Healing magic is somewhat easier as you split the energy cost with the wounded. You help his body regenerate faster but it's still his body doing the regeneration.

The more you know about the subject of your magic the more precise your magic can be. More precise means less energy used.

Shamans and avatars use different kinds of magic. They communicate with the other planes. A shaman channels dead spirits, an avatar channels a god. Shamans can use the knowledge of the spirits and let them take over their bodies. It's believed that hosting spirits can enhance your body. Shamans usually lose their selves and go over the bend pretty fast. Avatars can channel gods and are capable of miracles but channeling a force you can't understand is not good for your mind either. The difference with shamans is they usually get broken for good and stop being able to channel the god, so they're seen as a one shot miraclemakers.

There is talk about archmages that beat death and studied for centuries, becoming miraclemakers on their own, but they're probably fairy tales.

This is all IC knowledge. Ask away if there's something I missed or something you want to know.

>>36449931
Are there any other kinds of magic? Is there a hard limit on the energy used?

>>36450033
There is natural magic. There are other creatures that use magic and surely nobody has gone around to teach them. MC doesn't really know much about that. All the stories he heard are more in the realm of fairy tales.

As for limit on energy used I'm not sure about what you mean. Classic magic makes you tired mentally and physically. The brain has hard coded functions to make you pass out before you kill yourself so that's a hard limit there. Go do a ritual with some other friends and they can continue channeling your energy until you're dead. Training in magic makes you better at controlling your energy, but that's still tied to your mental and physical fortitude.

>>36450132
ok then, I take natural users are dragons and other like creatures?

>>36450191
Yes, something like that. If dragons were part of the setting they would be natural magic users.

>>36450210
Ok then. As far as any other questions go I got nothing, work left me too tired to think too hard.

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Damn. Got distracted, came back to quest and it the thread died :(

I like how this quest is going though, keep it up Ciollonz. It's a bad time for hosting quests, but you do it well. The character is pretty unique as far as these things go. Anyway, followed you on twitter.

>>36449931
Ah, I have a question, what about blood magic and Necromancy? Just curious if they're around I mean if using magic is essentially our body's vitality wouldn't it stand to reason bloodmagic could be used?.

>>36451878
Blood magic has no reason to be in the setting. Blood magic is sacrificing your vitality for power. That's standard magic in this setting.

I won't comment on Necromancy. Even if that's a comment already.

>>36453131
I guess I didn't really phrase that right could a Mage drain someone else's vitality say, someone who had latent magic potential but no training, or even a regular person's instead of using their own?