>>38877733
>Alchemist Apprentice

>>38877733
>>Alchemist Apprentice. You were merely gathering herbs and other materials for your master, something that the Duke had never forbidden.

>>38877733
>Hermit. You've been living in the forest for years now, only visiting the nearby village intermittently. You don't touch nothing and nobody's given you guff over it before.

>Alchemist Apprentice. You were merely gathering herbs and other materials for your master, something that the Duke had never forbidden.

>>38877733
>Hunter Prodigy. You have a certified letter of marque to be here but you didn't get it passed down your family line. You earned it yourself, even though the hunter families fought you every step of the way.

>>38877733
>Hermit. You've been living in the forest for days now, only visiting the nearby village intermittently. You don't touch nothing and nobody's given you guff over it before.

>Alchemist Apprentice. You were merely gathering herbs and other materials for your master, something that the Duke had never forbidden.

"I'm an alchemist. Or uh, I work for one. Just gathering ingredients. I didn't know it was against his law!"

One of the men quiver forward for a moment and you can't help but cringe back as best you can from his upraised hand. He laughs.
"What's this about law? Do you think we're Foresters or something, kid? Duke's men?"

Oh.
"Well I assumed..."

"No no no. We serve a far older power than that."
He leans over you, allowing you to catch a glimpse of the twisting self-devouring serpent tattooed on the back of his hand.
"Now tell me what you were doing here real quick or my better half is going to start doing the talking. And trust me, you really don't want that."

***

It had all started as a regular afternoon. You'd been running errands for Master Ingrid, an alchemist who lived off to the side of the village in a hut that was more workshop than home. Going into the Duke's forest was nothing out of the ordinary for you, though you'd gotten suspicious looks for it before.

The afternoon sky had only just begun to darken when you had found it. You had been turning over a rock looking for Ool Newts, small lizards who Master Ingrid was always craving the scales of. They were small and their blood ran cold and thus they were not included within the beasts protected by the Duke's law.
You turn over the rock and find nothing, despite knowing that a small family of the newts had lived here but a day earlier. But now there was nothing but small scraps of flesh and several broken half-eaten eggs.

You don't have to search far to find the culprit. In fact, it finds you. A sudden hiss alerts you to the danger as something unfolds from the shrubbery in front of you. You aren't quite sure what to make of it. You've never seen it's like before.

[1/2]

>>38878927
2/2

In a way it resembles the lizards you were hunting. It is clearly reptilian after all and covered in glossy black scales. But it is grossly elongated and doesn't seem to have any legs at all!
It's larger than any lizard you've ever seen, over three feet long.

Despite lacking limbs it somehow raises the upper half of its body into the air, exposing a bright red underbelly. A forked tongue tastes the air as it sways. It has the eyes of a cat.

It hisses again, a warning.

>Run

>Make no sudden movements. Just stay still.

>Why be scared? It's just some sort of overgrown lizard. And you are looking for lizard scales.

>>38879036
>Kill the thing and continue search
This is not a lizard our master needs

>>38879036
>Make no sudden movements. Just stay still.

>>38879036
>Make no sudden movements. Just stay still.

>>38879036
Back away slowly

>Why be scared? It's just some sort of overgrown lizard. And you are looking for lizard scales.

>Make no sudden movements. Just stay still.

You freeze, not daring to move as the creature slowly sways. As you study it, you become aware of just how far forward something that long could probably lunge if it needed to.
That distance forms an invisible circle of threat around the lizard(?), one that you are standing right on the very edge of.

But still...it doesn't seem inclined to strike. An uneasy few seconds pass before you make the mistake of looking it in the eye. You see it and for a moment, you know it sees you. There's a glitter of recognition there, a spark of intelligence.
And then it turns around and slithers back off into the shrubbery. You let yourself relax. Surely you had just been fooling yourself there. Intelligence? A silly notion.

An hour or so later, you find yourself back at Master Ingrid's hut. You never did find the Ool Lizards she wanted.
The space inside is almost entirely taken up by benches and shelves, each one holding various elixirs, ingredients and reagents. A cauldron takes pride of the place in the center. A forlorn bed is shoved off into a corner, the only admittance that Master Ingrid didn't just work here but lived as well. The Master herself is toiling over the cauldron, an older woman dressed in a shabby black dress.
"And what are we going to do without those scales, hmm? The Olond fellows have a sick hound and it's not going to right itself. I thought you said that you knew where a nest was."

> Lie and tell her you were mistaken

>Tell her the half-truth of something else driving them out.

>Lie and tell her that they must have moved on their own.

>Tell the truth.

>Ask her if she's ever heard of a lizard without legs.

>Ask her if she's ever heard of a lizard without legs.

>>38879463
>>Ask her if she's ever heard of a lizard without legs.

>>38879463
> Lie and tell her you were mistaken

>>38879463
>>Ask her if she's ever heard of a lizard without legs.

>>38879463
>>Ask her if she's ever heard of a lizard without legs.

>Ask her if she's ever heard of a lizard without legs.

She frowns at your sudden question but the two of you have played this game before. A question for a question, well practiced by all alchemists and other mystics cowering by the edge of the known sciences.

"You mean a, uh, snake?"
The term is unfamiliar to you and obviously so for Master Ingrid is already moving to grasp a tome from a high shelf. She makes a theatrical groan as she does and mutters something about 'old bones' but you see through the legerdemain. She's certainly older than you but Master Ingrid is nowhere near as old as she makes herself out to be. The dress helps obscure her form, at least some of the wrinkles are drawn on and you helped her mix the iron-grey hair-dye herself.
She knows the performance is wasted on you but she likes to keep in practice. Half of alchemy, she often insists, is just making people feel like it's legitimate and old witches are generally considered more wise (and fearsome) than younger alchemists.

She slams the book open on a bench, revealing an illustration of something that vaguely approximates what you saw. The creature that you saw didn't have fins, tendrils or burning eyes though.

"Snakes. Serpents. They're a myth. A very old story. Said to be spirits of air, flame and darkness in the very beginning of the world but for their treachery, the Creator cast them down and cursed them with bodies that must forever writhe in the dust. They say that as part of their bondage, they are bound to grant three wishes to any mortal who manages to capture one. And so on and so on...some of that old-fashioned religion. You know how they go. Personally I think they never existed or if they did, were just some sort of magical beast. Now what was this about the lizards?"

>Tell her about the 'snake'.

>Tell her nothing.

>You've already left the hut back towards the forest.

>>38879771
>You've already left the hut back towards the forest.

>You've already left the hut back towards the forest.

>>38879771
>You've already left the hut back towards the forest.
Surely mythological creatures aren't that hard to get proof of right?

>>38879836
I don't want to prove anything, I say we keep it a secret and get the wishes for ourself

>>38879771
>You've already left the hut back towards the forest.

>You've already left the hut back towards the forest.

You're running back at full pelt, the angry shouts of Master Ingrid already receding into the distance behind you. Just think of the possibilities! The proof of a mythological creature! Or the no doubt potent alchemical qualities of a magical beast! Or being able to hoard wishes all to yourself!
You have your doubts but really there's no reason NOT to head out immediately, as far as you're concerned.

Fortunately the hut is at the edge of the village so you don't need to run through it to get to the Duke's forest. Unfortunately you left your usual gatherer's basket behind at the hut.
All you have is the clothes on your back and the leather pack you wear. Inside the pack is a skinning knife, a hammer, tinder & flint, a mortar & pestle as well as a messily printed catalogue of high fashions that had accidentally been mailed to the village years ago. You've kept it ever since.
Not that you care much about clothes but the pictures of the fancy, elegant ladies so far removed from your peasant reality have been a boon for many years.

It only takes minutes for you to reach the shattered Ool Newt nest. The snake isn't there anymore. You're not sure why you expected it would be.
Just how are you going to go about this?

>See if I can find tracks within the shrubbery.

>Search the area. Cold-blooded beasts rarely go far.

>See if you can harvest enough ingredients from your surroundings to set up a basic Beastcall Brew.

>Loudly pray and entreat the snake to show its divine self to you and the nobble it if it does.

>Maybe this was a bad idea.

>>38880097
>See if you can harvest enough ingredients from your surroundings to set up a basic Beastcall Brew.

>>38880097
>>Search the area. Cold-blooded beasts rarely go far.
It definitely hasn't run away, it doesn't have legs after all!

>>38880097
>Search the area. Cold-blooded beasts rarely go far.

>>38880097
>See if I can find tracks within the shrubbery.

>Loudly pray and entreat the snake to show its divine self to you and the nobble it if it does.

>Search the area. Cold-blooded beasts rarely go far.

Going from your experience with newts and suchlike, which to be honest might have nothing to do with snakes AT ALL, these sorts of reptile don't like to move unless they absolutely have to. Perhaps the search for food could compel one to travel long distances but you know for a fact that the snake has already eaten recently.

You begin to search the area, paying special attention to the ground. Something with that low of a profile could hide adeptly within plain sight just by being in the grass. And considering that it doesn't have legs, you strongly doubt that it'll have climbed a tree.
Surely it has some sort of den...

You can't stop yourself from making a lot of noise as you blunder through the undergrowth. You're not a hunter after all. You're probably driving of all the game in a fairly wide radius.

But not the black snake. When you see it, it is already watching you. It is well aware of your presence. But it hasn't fled. Instead it rears with that same imperious pride as before, exposing its blood-red belly.
You feel that same threat as before but you're already inclined to respect its reach so you stay clear.

> Attempt to speak to it.

> The hammer has the longest reach. Whack it.

> Grab it by the neck.

> Offer out a half-eaten piece of Ool Newt Egg that it had left previously.

> Look into its eyes.

>>38880517
> Offer out a half-eaten piece of Ool Newt Egg that it had left previously.
>Attempt to speak to it.

>>38880517
> Attempt to speak to it.
> Offer out a half-eaten piece of Ool Newt Egg that it had left previously.

> Look into its eyes.

>>38880517
>> Attempt to speak to it.
> Offer out a half-eaten piece of Ool Newt Egg that it had left previously.
What could possibly go wrong.

> Offer out a half-eaten piece of Ool Newt Egg that it had left previously.
>Attempt to speak to it.

You slowly hold out your hand with a piece of leftovers from the snake's previous meal clutched within. You had picked it up almost unconsciously before. This is normal. Picking up and stowing anything organic is basically what alchemists do. In unrelated news, the people of the village haven't been very friendly to you over the last few years. You can't possibly understand why.

The snake doesn't move save for a slight swaying back as you extend your arm. You deposit the food on the ground, silently thanking whatever spirits are nearby that it didn't lunge for it while you were still holding it.
The snake gives a slight nod, almost as if acknowledging something. It doesn't eat the egg but it lowers itself slightly back into its coils, no longer quite so ready to strike.

"..uh...Greetings. Snake. Can you speak?"

It doesn't reply.

> It's relaxed! Nobble it now!

> Sit down.

> Strike it into submission.

> Make another offering.

> Look into its eyes.

>>38880951
> Look into its eyes.
> Sit down.

>>38880951
>Look into its eyes.

>>38880951
> It's relaxed! Nobble it now!
The fuck is a nobbling? who knows!

>>38881032
To take something that is not yours.

>Look into its eyes.

You lower yourself down to meet the snake's cat-gaze. This might have been a mistake. As soon as you look it in the eye, you feel a sudden chill run through your spine and down into your feet, where they suddenly become as heavy as lead.
Your feet are fixed to the ground and the rest of you is beginning to grow encumbered. You can't flee. You can't attack. You can't do anything but stay frozen in pure prey-fear.
The snake begins to sway gently from side to side as it slithers towards you. Your eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

> Pass out

> Pass out

> Pass out

> Pass out

[1/2]

>>38881175
2/2

>Pass out

...

You try to open your eyes, feeling fuzzy and half-asleep. You can't see anything. This isn't a surprise because for reasons of their own, your eyelids are currently refusing to function.
You are lying down. There is something very heavy on your chest.

Suddenly a thought rises unbidden to your mind. It's Master Ingrid teaching you about the restorative properties of ditchsprout. And then you're back in the village and you're younger, pawing through a catalogue that had just arrived. And then you're back in the forest, searching for the snake.
These are all memories and something is flipping back and forth through them, through your mind.

You can move your lips.
"Hello?"

"Hello?"
The voice that replies back is a distorted echo.

"Who are you?"

"Hello."
The reply barely changes.

"Are you the snake?"

"Who are you?"
Once again, your own words thrown back at you.

> "What is going on?"

> "Please don't hurt me."

> "Are you the snake?"

> Nah screw this. It's eating your dreams. Wake up.

> Nah screw this. It's eating your dreams. Wake up.

>>38881350
> "Are you the snake?"

> "Are you the snake?"

>>38881350
>"Are you the snake?"

> "Are you the snake?"

"Who are y-/ the snake?"
The reverb interrupts itself, splicing in new words.

"Pardon?"

"Pardon-/ the snake."
The voice is beginning to flow smoother, stolen words taking on their own tone.

"Pardon you?"

"Hello."
You suddenly feel a spike of irritation from somewhere outside. A spike of pain rips through your skull, involuntarily causing you to curl up but the weight on your chest doesn't change.
You can feel words and ideas ripped out of your mind with all the subtlety of a bite wound.

"Give me words, idiot."
It still sounds a little like your voice but a new tone is seeping in, one that is regal and proud. And yet just a little unsure.

> "Maybe go fuck yourself. Those are words."

> "Please don't hurt me, I'll do whatever you want."

> Introduce yourself

> Wake up, Wake up NOW

>>38881705
> Introduce yourself

>>38881705
>"Please don't hurt me, I'll do whatever you want."
> Introduce yourself

>>38881705
>> Wake up, Wake up NOW

You need to wake up!

You need to wake up!

You need to wake up!

You need to wake up!

You need to wake up!

We fucked up!

>>38881705
>Snake casts dream eater!
Alchemist Assistant has his dreams eaten!
>Alchemist Assistant has fainted.

>>38881705
>Wake up, Wake up NOW

Tie between introducing yourself and waking up. Next vote breaks.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>38881966
1-introduce
2-wake up
here's how it's done

> Introduce yourself

"I'm just an alchemist's apprentice..assistant. My name is-"

"I already know your name. Do you not feel your memories in my fangs?"
It sounds overly pleased with itself, the voice becoming more and more distinct from yours.
"...What is this alchemy anyway?"

"You don't know?"
What was all that rigmarole about eating memories then?

"Silence! Do you want to be bitten?"

>" ...You're pretty new to this, aren't you?"

> "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me."

> "Do you have a name?"

> "I thought snakes didn't exist. What were you doing out here?"

> Wake up wake up wake up

>>38882198
> "Do you have a name?"
> "I thought snakes didn't exist. What were you doing out here?"

>>38882198
>>" ...You're pretty new to this, aren't you?"
> "Do you have a name?"
> "I thought snakes didn't exist. What were you doing out here?"

>>38882198
> "Do you have a name?"

> "I thought snakes didn't exist. What were you doing out here?"

Think but don't actually go with >" ...You're pretty new to this, aren't you?"


Huh, an extreme novice malicious spirit could be quite easily played in all likelyhood, and possibly converted to our own cause as its clearly quite new to snakeitude.

> "Do you have a name?"
> "I thought snakes didn't exist. What were you doing out here?"

Well...they're either young or inexperienced. That much is clear. You don't say this out loud and do your best to mask the thought because you're fairly sure that the snake wouldn't appreciate it.
Even still you hear a drawn-out hiss, as if it has scented something it didn't like.

"Do you have a name? Since you already know mine."

The hiss abruptly stops.
"I sincerely doubt you could pronounce it."

"Try me."

A raspy hiss is your only answer. You wait for a few more seconds before you realize that that WAS their name.
"Yeah o-okay. I thought snakes didn't exist. What were you doing out here?"

"Of course we exist," it hisses, rather redundantly considering the circumstances.
"Do you think we allow mere humans to sight us? The greater of us can shed our skins to take on the skin of any lesser animal, including humans."

You decide it would not be wise to point out that actually, this one at least let a human see it.
"So why are you here?"

"This forest is my father's home. And...I have my reasons."
You can feel a tinge of worry.

> Ask why

> "Are you going to eat me or what?"

> Wake up

>>38882694

> Ask why
>And what's up with the whole memory thing?

>>38882694
> "Are you going to eat me or what?"

>>38882694
Why did you let me see you then?

>>38882694
>> Ask why
>> "Are you going to eat me or what?"
Huh... I can see this going many potential ways.

At least one of which is lewd

> Ask why

"But...why?"

"Insolent wretch! Why should I need to explain myself to you?"
Something scrapes the inside of your skull but all you can feel is a horrible absence.

"Wh-what was that?"

"The memories of some peasant you know in the village. The gray-bearded one."

You hastily search your memory but you can't recall anyone of that nature and you've lived there all your life.
"I don't know anyone like that."

"Not anymore you don't."
The voice takes up a smug and self-satisfied aspect.
You...you don't know what you can do about that.

>And what's up with the whole memory thing?

You don't ask it out loud but it hisses anyway at the thought.
"I ...have yet to learn the True Speech. I need to clothe myself in you mind if I wish to speak in human tongue."

> "Are you going to eat me or what?"

You feel a sudden rise in bravado. This creature is much younger and weaker than it tries to portray itself. You need to take the stronger role in the conversation. You feign apathy.
"So, are you going to eat me or what?"

"Wrong, idiot. You're much too large. I'm sure you taste awful regardless."
The snake suddenly becomes wary of something, perhaps finally sensing just how much of itself was being exposed to your mind.
A sudden flash of irritation and you open your eyes, the half-awake mental space vanishing as if it had never been.

You are lying on your back on the grass right where you found the snake. The serpent itself, is lying coiled up on your chest, its head extended forward to yours. You see something ephemeral vanish down its open mouth before it slithers off your torso.
It hisses at you but cannot talk.

> Nobble it.

> Whack it with a hammer.

> Ask if it wants to come with you.

> Ask why it broke the sleep.

> Flee.

>>38883094
>Nobble it.
I hope that wish rumor is true...

>>38883094
>> Ask if it wants to come with you.
> Ask why it broke the sleep.

then

> Nobble it.
Grab just behind the head.

>>38883094
> Ask why it broke the sleep.

>>38883094
>> Ask if it wants to come with you.
>> Ask why it broke the sleep.
We are in a very lucrative and dangerous position, even if the snake is completely incompetent... also if we fuck up it'll eat our memories.

>>38883094
> Nobble it.

>>38883094
Nobble the shit out of it

>>38883094
>> Nobble it.
Just because I want to know what the fuck nobbbling is

> Ask why it broke the sleep.

> Ask if it wants to come with you.

> Ask if it wants to come with you
> Ask why it broke the sleep.
>Nobble it

You rise to a crouch, absentmindedly checking your backpack. Everything still seems to be there. But then again, why wouldn't it be? Were you expecting a creature without limbs to pick-pocket you?

"What was that about? Do you want to come with me?"

The snake hisses up at you stridently and does nothing more. No more empty bluster or mocking words. But of course. You're both back in the real world now and it no longer has a constrictor stranglehold coiled around your mind. It might not be able to talk in a way you can understand.

It turns away from you and begins to slither away, clearly disregarding you as anything worth further conversation. You take the opportunity to strike!
You lunge forward, taking hold of the snake just behind the head. It struggles frantically but is unable to bite and its tail wrapping around your arm does not hinder you.
Lacking a better receptacle, you toss it into your backpack and hastily tie it shut. The leather of the pack is thick and hardy so it shouldn't be able to bite through it.
The pack squirms with impotent wriggling as you hold it out at arms-length. Just in case it does find a way to bite through it, you'll be carrying it at a distance until you get back home.
And then what will you do with it? Showing it to Master Ingrid would surely make her feel less inclined to punish you for your disobedience. And wishes? Before this you had doubts whether that was true but not anymore.

Your thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a twig breaking. Two men are very suddenly in the clearing with you. One is thin and tall with a sculpted black beard while the other man is almost grotesquely fat. Both of them wear the green and brown of Foresters and considering that they had somehow snuck up on you without you hearing anything, you could believe it.
The bearded man holds a broken twig in his hand, clearly snapped deliberately to get your attention.

1/2

>>38883634

You shouldn't be worried. These men are almost certainly Foresters, belonging to that secretive order of men serving the Duke directly. You aren't poaching any significant beast neither are you cutting the unmarked trees, desecrating the shrines or anything else that the Duke's contract with the forest forbids.
But something about the two make you feel uneasy. The snake in your pack has gone still, as if it can sense them. The fat man nods and the bearded man steps forward, his speech blunt.
"What are you doing here?"

"Can I help y-"
The thin man is suddenly all motion, taking your arm in his hand. You have the time to see some sort of symbol on the back of his hand before you collapse from the pain. He isn't gripping you tightly at all but all the same it feels like something cold and awful is biting you, fangs sinking through your veins.
He holds you like this for three more seconds before you mercifully black out.

By the time you wake up it, night has fallen. The two men have built a campfire. You have been tied up and your backpack is still lying next to you.

>>38877733
>>38878927
>These two updates occur.

The two men are still waiting for your story.

> Tell them the whole truth.

> Tell them most of the truth save that the snake escaped.

> Lie, tell them you don't know anything.

> Tell them you met the snake the first time but then lie, saying that you never saw it again.

> Attempt to heroically break the ropes and flee

>>38883810
>Lie, tell them you don't know anything.

>>38883810
>> Tell them most of the truth save that the snake escaped.

>>38883810
> Tell them you met the snake the first time but then lie, saying that you never saw it again.
Might be believable?

>>38883810
>> Tell them most of the truth save that the snake escaped.

>>38883810
> Tell them most of the truth save that the snake escaped.
More specifically, you never successfully grabbed it, you tried and it slipped out of your grip and got away.

>>38883810
> Lie, tell them you don't know anything.

> Tell them most of the truth save that the snake escaped.

You feel a strange certainty fall over you. These men were why the snake suddenly broke off its hold on your mind. Does it fear them? You're not sure but it certainly seems to respect the threat they can pose.

You give them a brief description of what the snake did to you but add that it then left you, disgusted by your presence. Your voice trembles with enough ill-ease to stop your heart but they seem to believe you.

The thin man steps back, hiding his tattooed hand away with a chuckle.
"That sounds like her."

Your backpack next to you suddenly hisses at the perceived insult and you find yourself focusing every thought you had on begging the snake to be silent. You're desperate enough that it becomes an almost-prayer and sure enough, it is received. The hiss stops, thankfully masked by the thin man's chuckle.

The fat man nods slowly. He says nothing but the thin man reacts as if he did.
"That's a good point. What are we going to do about the alchemist?"

"L-let me go?"

"Oh no, I don't think so. You might not have our quarry but her Highness has been careless in letting you know so much."
The killing hand comes out again.

>Beg for your life

>"She's in the bag, she's in the bag!"

>Kick the backpack at his face.

>Try to run

>Other

>>38884202
Say "I wish these two men were dead"

>>38884202
>Beg for your life

>>38884202
Why would I care about you guys hunting a mythical creature? I mean yeah sure I wanted to get those 3 wishes. But it's obvious it's more trouble than it's worth and anyone getting to close to it gets killed. Hell all I wanted to do today was gather some lizard scales. No one's going to believe me anyways. I mean come on, mind reading mythical creatures?

If this doesn't work
Say "I wish these two men were dead"

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>38884202
>>Do a barrel roll!
I've made my decision, I prefer the snakes over these assholes.

>>38884202
>>Wish these muppets were dead
>>Kick the backpack at his face.

>>38884291
... I think I'll stop rolling now...

File: 1410570073607.gif (3.11 MB, 480x270)

3.11 MB GIF

>>38884291
Haha, seems like the dice gods like your aerial maneuvers about as much as you like these two dudes.

"Hold on! Why should I care about you guys? I wanted the three wishes sure but it's way more trouble than it's worth and I don't want to die. If you want to hunt the snake for you own wishes, that's fine, I won't tell! Who'd believe me?"

The thin man actually stops at this.
"We aren't after her for w-"

You're not really paying attention. That blabber was just to distract them.
"Snake! I wish these two men were dead!"

His eyes widen but you're already moving, attempting to roll out of your ropes somehow. You do so absolutely awfully. It is in fact, sort of awe-inspiring how badly you fuck this up.
Not only do you not break out, your struggles kick your backpack open, throwing the battered snake right into the campfire!

The thin man screams in horror but the fat man has time to reflexively catch the snake and save it from the fire. The thin man turns his back to you.
"Your Highness, please restrain yourself!"

The snake moves automatically, biting the fat man in the neck. He collapses and the snake spills out of his hands, red belly now colored with new pigment.
The thin man roars as the snake rears up in front of him, ready to strike. He backs away towards you before grabbing you by the shirt with his normal hand.
He looks very angry.
"I know you're compelling her, scum! Wish for her to stop or..."

He raises his tattooed hand right in front of your face and you can finally see the design clearly. It's some sort of snake, rippling and twisting around itself as it curves back to consume its own tail. His fingers form the shape of a claw in front of your eyes, ready to gouge.

> Do what he says

> "Nah." Try to escape.

> Make another wish

> "If you let go of me now, you might still live."

>Other

>>38884619
> "If you let go of me now, you might still live."

>>38884619
> "If you let go of me now, you might still live."

>>38884619
>"Nah." Try to escape.

>>38884619
>> Do what he says
This all could've been avoided had people not insisted on threat of death to interrogate us.

> "If you let go of me now, you might still live."

He looks you in the eye, as if trying to call your bluff. He's trembling and you would be too if your very life didn't depend on looking as calm as possible.

The snake slithers closer and you can feel the danger as both of you pass that invisible threshold of where the snake can strike. You're fairly certain that the snake won't bite you though. That's what the wish is for, right? Right?
You wish you could be so sure.

Time seems to stretch for a moment, just two men and a predator. The thin man drops you to the ground.
"I surrende-"

The sudden movement incites the snake into a blur of movement, sinking fangs into his ankle. He screeches and almost swings at her with his marked hand but holds himself back at the last moment instead choosing to simply shake her off.
He sinks to his knees, his face suddenly gray. He says something under his breath but you can't quite make it out before he collapses and lies still.

The snake coils up on top of his back before turning to you. You, still tied up and mostly helpless. You try to make a wish for it not to harm you but instead its lunge severs the rope around your hands.
The snake watches you for a moment as you begin to untie yourself before it suddenly buries its head into the thin man's neck, a small spurt of blood visible as it burrows in deeper.

> Just take the ropes off and slowly walk away.

> This changes nothing. Nobble it.

> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.

> Search the corpses.

>>38885017
> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.

>>38885017
> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.
> Search the corpses.

>>38885017
> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.
> Search the corpses.
I Wish for you Attain the full measure of you potential power as quickly as possible without harming you.

>>38885017
>> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.

>>38885017
Sorry I made you do that...

>>38885017
>> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.
>> Search the corpses.

> The snake helped you when it didn't have to. Thank it.

You slowly rise to your feet, the rest of the rope falling from you as you undo it as quickly as you can. You feel like absolute shit but you have a campfire. A bit of foraging and you might be able to whip up a brew to make you feel better.

The snake is still eating, head barely moving as it laps up the thin man's blood and soft tissue. You think about crouching down next to it but your mind involuntarily thinks back to that fatal strike and forbids you. You opt for standing around awkwardly instead.

"Thanks. For not killing me, I guess? I didn't want to make you do that."

The snake's head suddenly darts out from the gaping wound it has excavated in the corpse's throat. You are unable to stop its eyes from meeting yours.

Maybe it's because your tired, maybe the snake is stronger after glutting itself, who knows? But you feel the darkness grow within you immediately.

> Pass Out

> Pass Out

> Pass Out

> Pass Out

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>38885200
>> Pass Out
Rolling for anal circumference

>>38885243
Well here's hoping she's a thin snake.

>>38885200
> Pass Out

You're back in that half-asleep misery where you can't open your eyes and you can feel the weight of the snake as it rests on your chest. You know from prior experience that its head would now be arched over years and the thought of those still-bloody jaws so close to yours can't help but bring out a shudder.
"Hello?"

"Just what were you going on about?"
The snake sounds bored and slightly resentful. And maybe this is only because of your newfound knowledge from how the man addressed her, but the tone now strikes you as slightly feminine too.

"Thanks? I wanted to thank you. I'm sorry I made you do that."

"Oh? Yes, I suppose you could lay that on my magnanimous generosity. But the truth is that I can't harm you while you still dangle two wishes over my head. Did you think I was tame?"
It sounds mocking but with a faint undercurrent of imperious anger beneath it.

"Oh."

"You're welcome."

> "What was the deal with those two guys?"

> "How exactly does this wish business work?"

> "Alright, what are you really doing out here?"

> Wake up.

>>38885305
> "What was the deal with those two guys?"

> "How exactly does this wish business work?"

> "Alright, what are you really doing out here?"

>>38885305
>The snake sounds bored and slightly resentful. And maybe this is only because of your newfound knowledge from how the man addressed her, but the tone now strikes you as slightly feminine too.
Snake waifu route confirmed!

>>38885305
> "What was the deal with those two guys?"

File: Uwotm8.jpg (336 KB, 960x338)

336 KB JPG

>>38885316

>>38885305
>> "What was the deal with those two guys?"
>> "How exactly does this wish business work?"

"I have so many questions."

"If I knew as little as you I'd have questions too."

You ignore that.
"What was the deal with those two guys?"

"Their names were Merro and Fel, the Snakebite brothers."

Snakebite Brothers? You can't help but think that sounds sort of dumb. You don't say anything but you feel a rise in the snake's displeasure anyway.
"What right does an ..."Alchemical apprentice" have to say that anything sounds dumb? I've looked through your memories a bit and all of this alchemy sounds like nonsense to me."

You are swiftly understanding that the key to talking to the snake is to just let statements like this go by without comment.
"I apologize for interrupting, please continue."

"They are human servants of my father. He has branded them with their mark and given them the aspect of the snakebite between themselves. Fel has his venomous hand and Merro has the devouring that lies beyond it. It's why he never talks, he consumes all sound."

Uhuh.
"So...your father, huh?"

"Yes. He has several human servants that he has seen fit to bestow gifts upon. I was...quite fond of Fel and Merro when I was growing up, no doubt the reason why they were sent to drag me back."

"You were? Well, I'm sorry you had to-"

"Oh don't be. They're still humans. I feel a little sentimental perhaps but none of us will mourn their death."

You want to ask more about the snake's father and just what the snake had been doing if servants had been sent to 'drag her back' but a preemptive bite into your mental tissue indicates that it is a thorny subject right now.
You decide to change the topic.

"How do these wishes work exactly?"

The snake recedes for a moment.
"Simply by calling them wishes, you show your lack of understanding."

"Then help me understand."

The snake doesn't really want to tell you the rules under which it is bound but you feel something compelling it.

1/2

>>38885641
2/2

"You do not make three wishes as much as you make three requests. They are far from omnipotent. But when you make a request with your intent of consuming one favor, I am bound to fulfill your request to the utmost of my ability. And when all three requests are completed, I am free to do as I will."

"Wait. Was that just a request right now?"

"No, you imbecile. You have to truly intend it, I can't twist your words and claim requests where none truly exist."

Interesting. I wonder what would happen if you asked for infinite -
"No."

Oh. Shit. The snake is in your head, right. And just as abruptly, the snake isn't.
You wake up properly, already feeling the snake slither off your chest as you get up. You feel bone-tired.

The snake coils off to the side of the camp-fire and it might just be a trick of the light but you can see a strange mottling of its scales. Some are buckling outwards underneath the dried up blood, almost as if they cannot contain whatever power is within.
The snake looks at you contemptuously and goes to sleep.

> You should do the same. Go to sleep.

> Search the bodies already!

> Search your surroundings for ingredients and see if you can brew something up that won't make you feel so lousy.

> Pet snake.

>>38885749
>Search your surroundings for ingredients and see if you can brew something up that won't make you feel so lousy.

>>38885749
>> Pet snake.
The most obvious course of action.
> Search the bodies already!

>>38885749
> Search the bodies already!

> Search your surroundings for ingredients and see if you can brew something up that won't make you feel so lousy.

>>38885773
yeah lets not get bitten

> Search the bodies already!
> Search your surroundings for ingredients and see if you can brew something up that won't make you feel so lousy.

You slowly rise, noting that the snake doesn't respond. You first pat Fel and Merro down, checking through clothes. You find some flint & tinder, extra rope, a compass and several packaged hard-tack biscuits. Most of them seem to be uneaten. You suppose they lived off the land. Neither of them carry any weapon.
Did they really trust so much in their snakebite gifts that they wouldn't take any bow or blade? Or was it that to do so would have shown a dangerous lack of faith in who they served?

You throw all of it into your backpack, noting with a sense of unease that your catalogue of fancy fashion ladies is lying open. Did kicking the backpack do that?
You sure hope it was that.

You don't find any particularly alchemically interesting substances in your search of the surrounding environs but for such a simple brew you could probably use leafmoul and twigs if you had to. You stir your pile of substandard weeds together over the fire, using your mortar as a makeshift cauldron.
What you make doesn't heal any wounds but it puts bad thoughts to rest and eases one's muscles which is good enough for you.

Soon it is just you sitting by the fire. You allow yourself to sleep.

When you 'wake', it is not into the real world but instead into the awful dreamspace where the snake's fangs scrape the roof of your skull.
"What?"

"You must wake. I feel more of my father's servants coming."
There's genuine worry threading through the snake's voice.

"So we run? The forest should hide us."

"No! This is his territory! And not to your lousy little village either. We must strike south to..."
It pauses as you feel your memories getting paged through.
"Lesser Arlintin, the large human town that is clear of the forest entirely."

"Hold on. Who's in charge here exactly? And Arlintin has guards! And seers! I can't smuggle a snake into there!"

>>38886029

Your objections come too late. The snake is gone, leaving you free to wake up. You break free from your sleep as quickly as you can but not evidently not in time.

The campfire has guttered out to a small few embers. Beyond it, you can see that the snake is gone.

> Search for it around the campfire!

> Search for it in the area outside!

> Call out for it.

> Cut your losses and flee before whatever pursuers arrive.

>>38886070
> Search for it in the area outside!

>>38886070
>> Call out for it.

> Search for it around the campfire!

You bluster around, unable to quite make up your mind whether you're looking near or far. You can't hear any pursuers but then again you suppose that's the whole point.

You find the snake, or what's left of it, just outside the clearing. It's gone pale and translucent. No, not translucent. Hollow! As if the snake had decayed away, leaving only its outer skin behind.
You kneel down by the remnants, trying to make sense of it. Surely it couldn't be dead. Not after all this!

You freeze as you hear someone step out behind you.

> Keep calm and slowly turn around.

>Attack.

>PANIC

>>38886307
>Keep calm and slowly turn around.

>>38886307
> Keep calm and slowly turn around.

>>38886307
>> Keep calm and slowly turn around.

> Keep calm and slowly turn around.

You slowly turn around. Will they have a killing hand like Fel did? Or, you know, any sort of weapon at all? Are you about to die right now?

The newcomer is a young black-haired woman. And just about the furthest from the sort of woman you'd expect to meet in the middle of the forest.
She wears a stylish black jacket covering a blood-red blouse with silver buttons that fits just tightly enough in some areas while tastefully loose in others.
She's wearing trousers of all things! Though you suppose it's practical for this sort of environment, what sort of women wore pants? You can see her legs! Well, not exactly considering that covering legs is the main purpose of pants, but you can see where her legs ARE.
It's not the first time you've seen a woman wear them, you suppose. The women of the hunter families wore them for practical purposes but most of them were stout, athletic and looked just like men anyway. This woman, uh, did not.
In fact, she most closely resembles on the fancy highborn ladies in the shameful fashion catalogue still hidden back in your pack.

"When one discards her skin, it is always best to make sure your new skin is of high quality," she drawls and shocks you because as fancy and as noble as she looks, she has the same coarse peasant accent as you do. The exact same in fact.

> I can put two and two together.

> PANIC

>>38886611
>I can put two and two together.

>>38886611
> I can put two and two together.

>>38886611
>> I can put two and two together.

>I can put two and two together.

You keep looking at her, not that you needed much encouragement. You note that her black trousers, jacket and boots all carry a glossy sheen and are very faintly inscribed with a scaled pattern.
She is also very, very still. Most people can't help but fidget or move every so slightly even while at rest but she remains poised and motionless, only the rise and fall of her chest indicating that she is even breathing.
When she does move, as she is stepping towards you now, she steps with exact efficiency of motion and no wasted movement before going back to that complete stillness when she stops.
Her eyes are just brown human ones and she doesn't have any fangs but she strikes you as completely inhuman all the same.
"What? Are you struck by the perfection of my disguise?"

Not really. Quite the opposite instead.
"Sure. So um, what is all of this?"

"Didn't I tell you that snakes can shed their skin, idiot? The greatest of us can replace that skin with that of any beast. It is how we move amongst the mortals when we choose. I consumed the lifeblood and flesh of a human just last night so the form was clear in my mind. Not to mention all the ...supplemental material."
Is she leering?

You feel your face heat up.
"That catalogue is in my pack for my own use. Not for...whatever this is."

"Whatever, peasant. You said there are seers at Arlinton that might find me. Here is the solution. I carry the essence of the human soul I have devoured with me so I will read as 'human' to any mortal magics. And it's a lot easier to communicate in your brute tongue rather than catching your mind each time I want to speak."

You don't know what to make out of this but she claps you on the shoulder, making you jump. Her blood runs cold and being so close fills you with a sense of danger, like she's rearing up and ready to lunge at anything that crossed that invisible circle of reach. Only uh...as a human, you guess? You don't want to think metaphysics.
1/2

>>38886931
2/2

"H-how can you WALK?"

She looks put out. You notice that while her face is blank most of the time, when she does have an expression she has absolutely no experience in hiding it.
"Do you think me foolish? Why do you think I woke us so early? I've been practicing walking. I think I have it mostly down."

"Can you run?"

"Not quite yet. But do I look like someone who runs?"

"What if we're caught by pursuers?"

"Then I shall kill them."

That's a fair answer you suppose. She takes your silence for the assent it really isn't and pushes you forward.
"Now let us be off! We must make haste to this human nest."

> "Hold on. Aren't I the one in charge in here?"

> The above but with a bit more tact.

> "I thought you said it was urgent!"

> "No really, I need an explanation of EVERYTHING before I take another step."

> Meekly follow.

>>38887012
>> The above but with a bit more tact.

>>38887012
> The above but with a bit more tact.

>>38887012
I'd like an explanation of what's really going on once we've evaded these pursuers

>>38886931
Wait, did she get design details from a medieval porno mag in our pack? Why do we even have one in our pack?

>>38887225
Internet porn doesn't exist in this setting.

>The above but with a bit more tact

You stop walking, causing her to immediately whirl around.
"Maybe you should think a little about our situation."

She tries to raise an eyebrow at you but messes it up.
"I beg your pardon?"

"You still owe me two favors."

"And you wish to extract them from now? Whatever use could you want from this body?"
She raises an arm as if in fright and trying to ward you off. She's mocking you. The false tone of horror is completely at odd from the uncontrolled smirk on her face. Her arms almost constantly hang still and limp from her sides unless she's using them so the sudden gesture of fright looks completely false.
It only takes you a few seconds to identify the warding hand gesture as something blatantly copied from Fel right before she struck him down last night and you start to feel faintly sick.

"No. I mean in that since I have still these two requests, surely I should be the leader?"

"No."
The response is immediate and certain.

"Why not?"

"Not in this respect anyway. You must go to this Arlinton because otherwise we will be inevitably caught. And you know what happens then. I'll get a slap on the proverbial wrist while you will suffer whatever cruel punishment awaits a human who kidnapped the princess."
She pauses for a moment.
"The punishment is death. I thought I was implying that pretty well but you've failed to grasp concepts before."

"Your kidnapper? Aren't you running away from home or whatever?"

Her head reflexively twitches forward and her jaws clamp down and grind together for a moment before she relaxes.
"Oh, don't mind that. Just a nervous tic. You should refrain from passing judgement upon my circumstances. As for the kidnapping, at that point it'll be my word against yours."

"You'll tell them I kidnapped you?"

"Yes. And you did, at least at first."

"All because I won't let you lead."

"You're making me sound like an awful person."
No, not really. You're not really a person at all.
1/2

>>38887319
2/2

"What if I used a request to solve this issue."

"Than I am one more request towards freedom so go ahead."

> "Fine." But only until we reach the town. Then there'll be a reckoning.

> Sit down and don't move until she changes her attitude.

> "I think I liked you better when you couldn't talk."

> "If I'm getting your circumstances wrong then just fucking tell me what the deal is already!"

> Use a wish.

> Other

>>38887359
> "Fine." But only until we reach the town. Then there'll be a reckoning.

>>38887225
Not really a porno mag as a fashion catalogue for fancy noble people that got mismailed to your village a while ago. It's not porn at all but the Alchemist Apprentice really likes looking at it because all the ladies in it are fancy and not at all like the village women.

First shows up here
>>38880097

and has been referenced a few times since.

>>38887359
>> "Fine." But only until we reach the town. Then there'll be a reckoning.

> "I think I liked you better when you couldn't talk." (sarcastically)

>>38887359
> "Fine." But only until we reach the town. Then there'll be a reckoning.

> "Fine." But only until we reach the town. Then there'll be a reckoning.

"Fine."
You try to come off as sullen as possible. As much as you dislike to admit it, going to Lesser Arlinton does seem to be the best course of action.
It'll mean leaving your forest for the first time in your life. Boldly stepping into new never before seen surroundings, even if it is just the large town down the river. But it's matter of life and death so you must go, even though you might never return, might never see your parents or Master Ingrid again. To cross the boun-

"What are you doing? Hurry up!"

You start walking. Yeah, there's no denying that you would feel happier if your sole companion wasn't a cold-blooded soul eating spirit(?) in human form. And a proud one at that. And while she is rude and abrasive, doesn't assign any value to a human life and may probably kill you the moment she is free, she did save your life that one time.

Because she was forced to and had no other choice.
But still! Best to focus on the bright side of life you suppose. And to prepare for your retribution because once you reach town you are going to sort this shit out.

Well I think I'm ending this for the night, already archived the thread.
I'll do this again tomorrow at the same time I started this one.

Here is a Twitter. It does Twitter things like tell people when new threads are happening: https://twitter.com/OuroQM