>>39619116
>[X] [KNIGHT]
>[X] [TEXT EIN]

- you might as well see why the hell two particular adventurers in this bar just up and ducked out, right before it all went down.

"Huh? Did I hear what Souls was talking about with that suspicious cloaked stranger?" The other knight scratches her head as she helpfully repeats your question- it doesn't seem to bother her that she's got her horned helmet on, and therefore can't actually get to whatever's itching. "I dunno- wasn't really following. She talks to suspicious cloaked strangers all the time, y'know? All I could make out was something about Lastation, and that's when they got /real/ excited."

Huh. That's... that's less than promising. Texting Ein herself (and you presume that it's /her/ who took off with Souls, because there's really no one else who'd fit the bill) yields pretty much no concrete answer:

>Business to attend to. Must confirm with own eyes. Do not follow.

... well, at least she didn't spam your phone with that damned flowery purple prose of hers, so /that's/ something. But if you can still TEXT her, then she's still got to be around the area, since Leanbox is officially a no-communications-allowed zone circa ten fucking minutes ago.

Some of the furor in the bar's dying down, at least; Ai's leaning against the bar, face in her hands, and Tekken's probably murmuring reassurances or something of the sort. The knight you were just talking to is sorting through her inventory, while the bartender's gone back to polishing mugs, like that's about all she's enough presence of mind to do right now.

Only Rokko seems more or less composed, as she'd been from the outset; she's pulled up a chair, which creaks alarmingly underneath her ridiculous robotic weight as she keeps on watching the news feed in studious silence. It's almost like she's drinking it all in with her eyes alone. As for Estelle-

(Cont.)

>>39619144
- Estelle, finished with her phone call from Lowee, just whipped right past you on the way out the door before your eyes even catch up to your brain.

Oh HELL no.

She's almost halfway down the street before you catch up to her on your much shorter legs. What the fucking- Estelle had better not be doing what you THINK she's doing!

"U-Urist-" The Dragon Warrior turns around- she's already got her sword and shield out, like she's just raring to go in and take on Leanbox all by herself. "Look, you saw the video- Blanc just got legendarily whomped. Someone has to go recover her before the situation gets any worse!"

Is she absolutely insane!? What's one adventurer gonna accomplish on her own?

There's a stubborn set to Estelle's jaw. Armok help you, she's completely serious about this- this being a hero business. "One adventurer stands a better chance of getting in undetected. Don't worry! I've done this plenty of times before. I know what I'm doing."

[ ] [OH HELL NO] Estelle's not going anywhere on her own. Besides, you, her, and Rokko- you're all an adventuring party, aren't you? You're all going into this together.
[ ] [STAND DOWN] Try to convince Estelle that this is a bad idea, period: no plan of attack, no clues, no nothing? She needs to calm down and figure things out first. And what about that glitch?
[ ] [ACQUIESCE] ... fine. Estelle's a veteran, ten times more experienced than you'll ever be; she knows what she's doing. You trust her to not do anything stupid.
[ ] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!
[ ] [WRITE-IN]

>>39619161
>[ ] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!

>>39619161
>[ ] [OH HELL NO] Estelle's not going anywhere on her own. Besides, you, her, and Rokko- you're all an adventuring party, aren't you? You're all going into this together.
>[ ] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!
Mutter idiot constantly.

>>39619161
>[x] [STAND DOWN] Try to convince Estelle that this is a bad idea, period: no plan of attack, no clues, no nothing? She needs to calm down and figure things out first. And what about that glitch?

>>39619208
>Mutter idiot constantly.

This is basically a given for all choices!

>>39619161
>[ ] [OH HELL NO] Estelle's not going anywhere on her own. Besides, you, her, and Rokko- you're all an adventuring party, aren't you? You're all going into this together.
[ ] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!

>>39619144
[X] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!

>>39619161
>[COMPROMISE]

Alright, looks like the majority vote is-
>[X] [COMPROMISE]
- which involves convincing Estelle to at least let you try fixing her incipient glitch before letting her go solo. Writing!

>>39619438
Okay, time to fuck it up horribly and turn Estelle into a dorf fort clone.

>>39619438
I'm sure as long as we throw in something something worried little sis something something, we can get her to be more agreeable.

>>39619161
>[ ] [OH HELL NO] Estelle's not going anywhere on her own. Besides, you, her, and Rokko- you're all an adventuring party, aren't you? You're all going into this together.
Nah, not like this, not alone. We were a team and we need to fix that glitch before anything else.

Nice to see you again Blorp

>>39619161
>[X] [OH HELL NO] Estelle's not going anywhere on her own. Besides, you, her, and Rokko- you're all an adventuring party, aren't you? You're all going into this together.
Family sticks together!
Also, seriously, we will get ourselves and Rokko killed without you. Even sneaking into a warzone, we stand a higher chance of survive with Big Sis watchin' our backs.
>[X] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!
In all serious, though, we gotta watch Big Sis's back, too. Because she leaves herself wide open when covering our dumb asses.

>came in late
Are we actually letting her go on her own?

Fixing the glitch is fine, but Estelle going into Leanbox alone is a bad idea for a lot of reasons.

>>39619161
>[ ] [OH HELL NO] Estelle's not going anywhere on her own. Besides, you, her, and Rokko- you're all an adventuring party, aren't you? You're all going into this together.
>[ ] [COMPROMISE] Nnghk. She'd better at least let you see to that glitch she's got lurking right underneath the surface before she goes!

>>39619116
well I was killing myself in The Pit, but then this thread showed up. Hi blorp thanks for coming back! DFhack speed up when?

>>39619909
The way things are going, you'll probably have another chance to convince her!

File: Urist.png (1.04 MB, 1800x1800)

1.04 MB PNG

>>39619161
>[X] [COMPROMISE]

Your first reaction is to curse Estelle for a fool, and- okay, you're not gonna lie, you give into that urge right away, pacing back and forth as you grumble under your breath. Estelle's an idiot for running straight out like that, without even so much as a goddamn /word/ to either of you, and an even bigger idiot for going in without stopping to use her goddamn /mind/-

The scraggy-haired swordswoman's wilting a little by the time you finish ranting, but she's still got that stubborn set to her jaw when you whirl on her again. You whip your arm up and point a finger straight at her face, and your voice is a /snarl/ when you ask her if she has any idea, any idea at all what the HELL you're gonna do.

"I'm sorry, Urist, but I've really gotta do this! If I don't, or if someone else gets their hands on Blanc first, then it's all-"

You're gonna steamroll over any of her goddamn objections and fix that goddamn glitch for her. Then, and only then, will you even THINK about letting her run off on her own. Got that?

Well, THAT'S enough to wipe that stubborn set off her face. Estelle's jaw drops open, ruining whatever other rejoinder she had lined up, and she stays like that just long enough for you to narrow your eyes suspiciously. Oh, for Armok's sake, she'd better not tell you what you THINK she's gonna tell you-

(Cont.)

File: dragon quest series.png (380 KB, 423x875)

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>>39620251
"Yeah," Estelle chortles nervously, lowering her sword. Big sis has the good grace to look sheepish, at least. "So, uh, that whole glitching business? Totally slipped my mind. Didn't even think that far ahead, to be honest, just- y'know, zoom! Whoosh! Slash!" She mimes out hitting things with her sword.

You channel the Blue Bomber in giving big sis your best flat glare. If she was planning to /reassure/ you or ignite her trust in you...

"Sorry, sorry! But it's not like I can't take care of myself!" Estelle stammers back, shifting her weight from side to side. "I mean, I really appreciate what you're doing here, and, um, I guess I'm really happy you weren't gonna hit me over the head and drag me back into the bar, but I'm not gonna change my mind anytime soon because Kong and everyone else's depending on me and-"

Estelle?

"Yes?"

Shut up and let you work?

"... 'kay!"

Huh. She didn't even object, she's just- she doesn't even look /worried/, and she's looking down at you like you're gonna help brush her hair or some shit like that. Does Estelle really think that much of you?

...

Doesn't eliminate the fact that she's an idiot, though.

>Urist Twelfthbay activates DFHack and attempts to cure Estelle's glitch!
ROLL d20! (dice+1d20 in the email field)
Taking the best of three!
DC: 15 (+1 skill bonus! +2 Big Sis Trusts You bonus!)

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>39620295

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>39620295
hack!

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>39620315
Wow

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>39620295
Go Nat 1

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>39620295
Let's get this trainwreck going!

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>39620295
Goddesses protect us

>>39620295
This leads me to question something, if our various tools allow us to compensate for bugs in the future... or does that only affect us?

inb4 we start absorbing and solving other people's bugs to become some horrible bug-related destroyer

>>39620315
Oh hey. We passed. That's new.

>>39620315
. . .

Excuse me, I have to go back and check the previous runs of this and see if we only succeed when Big Sis trusts us to take care of things.

>>39620315
Praise Armok.

>>39620315
Huh pretty close

Maybe the RNG got bored with us then

>>39620367
First time for everything.

On a different subject, one totally unrelated to what's been devouring my waking hours for the past week, what do you guys think the personification of the Xeno- games is like?

>>39620315
... did you guys just unlock the key to Urist's success?

Writing!

>>39620362
As of now, Bug Tracker only works for Urist!

>>39620421
Pity after threads and threads of natural ones?

Or maybe it's just Urist is actually really happy to have a big sis.

File: Xenomorph.jpg (16 KB, 250x325)

16 KB JPG

>>39620416
More or less like this.

>>39620416
Zohar-tan.

File: What+don+t+you+love+moe+x(...).jpg (72 KB, 432x720)

72 KB JPG

>>39620459

Just a thought, we should text Ein again before she's out of range and have her look out for Mojang. Give a brief description in case she's not familiar with her. After the hacking of course.

>>39620647
Ein is heading for Lastation not Leanbox

>>39620697
Oh deep, thanks.

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>39620295
noooo all these rolls

What's of interest in Lastation, besides Noire and the thing that spooked Ein?

>>39620713
*derp

>>39620822
For us?

Nothing really comes to mind. I mean there might be interesting things there, but none of our friends or anything are in Lastation.

>>39620421
could we maybe fix rocco's bugs? or is sh she forever stu studer?

>>39620822
The only thing I can think of we might want there is tasting of the alcoholic beverages. Tasting the brews of Gamindustri and finding the best ones are like a side quest for Urist, I wager.

>>39620914
Rocco has more than a bug. Her heart has been removed. She is dying.

Although I am interested to know if we could help slow the process.

>>39621024
REPLACE HER HEART WITH MECHANISMS

That'll go great I'm sure

We should get Rokko to either Lastation or Nepgear. They both know robots.

>>39620914
>>39621024
>>39621050
That's a good question! Urist would have to look into Rokko's coding with DFHack to really make that call, though.

>>39621050
I was thinking more of staunching the flow of her lifecode while we worked on tracing down who took it, wrecking her ovaries with a gut-punch, and performing violent dentistry.

>>39621050
No! Let's put Planepacked into her!

>>39621078
>while we worked on tracing down who took it
It looks like Keeper actually knows who took her guts or at least Rokko thinks she knows.

>>39621105
Yes.
What did you think I meant by "tracing down who took it" besides "find a way to peg Keeper in one place and punch her until she tells all she knows"?

We're not exactly the Sherlock Holmes games, here.

>>39621077
and what is stoping us from doing this once we are done with estelle?

>>39621215
Something kinda urgent is happening right now

>>39621234
Rokko can carry us.

Which is probably more stealthy than us, really.
And considering the way she walks now, that is saying a LOT about our non-existant Stealth skills.

>>39620295
>[FIXING BIG SIS...]
>15 (+3 bonuses)
>Passed!

Right. You're generally not the kinda person to lie to yourself, and you sure as hell aren't gonna start now: you are absolutely, completely, bladder-clenchingly nervous right now.

The last time you dicked around with DFHack, you came /this close/ to knocking yourself out and possibly causing permanent brain damage (moreso than you already have, anyway). The time before THAT, you accidentally turned a comparatively innocent spider monster into a forgotten beast strong enough to reduce you all to an unpleasant stain on the floor.

Frankly, that was all easy mode compared to what you expect you're about to do to the fabric of Estelle's very being.

Closing your eyes and concentrating brings up DFHack's strange dark interface, in all its blocky glory. Focusing that on the swordswoman standing at attention plunges you straight into a dense forest of coding, layered like the strata you'd expect to find at the heart of an ancient mountain. Everything that makes Estelle /Estelle/, all the experiences that defines her as a person and as her own entity, is encompassed by these letters and numbers, ranging from the extreme complexity you find in the outer layers all the way to the ancient, deceptively simple coding at her core.

Uncomplicated at heart. For the most part, that's honestly a good assessment of Estelle. And all that single-mindedness is focused right on your little braided head, trusting that you'll do your best right when it counts.

How could you NOT give this your best, wielding DFHack better than you would a skinner's knife and going through Estelle's coding with more care than you'd give yourself? You're just a dwarf and, comparatively, a rookie adventurer; Estelle's a full-blooded veteran who's seen more shit than you probably will.

And, you growl to yourself as you grab the squirming glitch by its goddamn tail and tease it right the fuck out, YOU are Estelle's surrogate little sister.

(Cont.)

>>39621317
You come back to the world of the living with dry eyes and a feeling of slight exhaustion, gripping a... an incomprehensible /thing/ that dissipates almost immediately.

>DFHack skill increased by +1! (Total bonus: +2)

As you shake it off, Estelle's patting herself down, her eyes widened in surprise, and there's a horrible moment when you're half-convinced that you fucked up and she's gonna die at any moment because you accidentally removed all her organs or something-

That self-doubt lasts as long as it takes for her to cross the distance and crush you in a hug. "Ohmygod! You did it! You really did it!" Estelle crows, picking you up and spinning you around in a half-circle. "I KNEW you had it in you, Urist!"

O-Of course you could!, you bluster as best you can with your cheek squished against her armor. Did she honestly have any doubts about that?

(Cont.)

>>39621337
"'Course not! I thought you were just planning to fix it a little, maybe shorten the glitch's effective time to a handful of seconds or something, but you... you pulled it out /completely/! That's not something you see everyday- or at all!" Estelle gushes, holding your shoulders and pushing you out to a distance greater than point-blank. "That was /legendary/ work, Urist. Thank you!!"

Hah. Well, like you always say, you can't get any better than dwarven work-

"Now big sis can go off into the heart of Leanbox without any problems!" Estelle continues, putting you down and pulling out her sword-and-shield again. "So you don't have a thing to worry 'bout, alright? I've got this under control!"

... goddammit.

[ ] [TRUST] Estelle placed her trust in you. You've seen what she can do in battle, and you know she's a hero in her own right; maybe you can bring yourself to trust her in return.
[ ] [CONVINCE] Make a last-ditch attempt to keep Estelle in your party. She can't go in there without a plan, and she'll be MUCH better off with her allies at her back, dammit!
[ ] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).
[ ] [WRITE-IN]

>>39621357
>[ ] [CONVINCE] Make a last-ditch attempt to keep Estelle in your party. She can't go in there without a plan, and she'll be MUCH better off with her allies at her back, dammit!

>>39621357
>[ ] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).

You don't want little sis to worry right?

>>39621357
>[X] [CONVINCE]

If this fails:

> [X] [OKAY, BUT]

>>39621357
>[x] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).

Honestly, it's probably better for her to go by herself. Three people can fuck up a lot more easily than one can.

>>39621357
>[ ] [CONVINCE] Make a last-ditch attempt to keep Estelle in your party. She can't go in there without a plan, and she'll be MUCH better off with her allies at her back, dammit!
Plus you know, Estelle walking into Leanbox looking for Blanc with her sword and board out might actually start a console war for real.

>Lowee veterans invading

>>39621357
>[ ] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).
and could she look out for Mojang? She....probably needs help. Hell, we'll probably go with Rokko in a separate group soon.

>>39621357
>[X] [CONVINCE] Make a last-ditch attempt to keep Estelle in your party. She can't go in there without a plan, and she'll be MUCH better off with her allies at her back, dammit!
Ohana means family!
Family means no one gets left behind.

>>39621357
>[x] [TRUST] Estelle placed her trust in you. You've seen what she can do in battle, and you know she's a hero in her own right; maybe you can bring yourself to trust her in return.

>>39621357
And Therapist Rokko over to get her to help convince Estelle this is a bad idea

>>39621357
>[x] [CONVINCE] Make a last-ditch attempt to keep Estelle in your party. She can't go in there without a plan, and she'll be MUCH better off with her allies at her back, dammit!

>>39621398
We could say we're on Guild business.

>>39621357
>[ ] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).
Also, general locations each of us are expecting to go. That way if we fail to meet up, we have a general idea to start looking.

>>39621357
>[ ] [CONVINCE] Make a last-ditch attempt to keep Estelle in your party. She can't go in there without a plan, and she'll be MUCH better off with her allies at her back, dammit!
Because it's not like we aren't going to not go ourselves, we still have plans and people in Leanbox

>>39621357
>[ ] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).

>>39621357
>[ ] [OKAY, BUT] Fine. But because communications are down, let's at least do the SMART thing and figure out a place to meet up after a certain amount of time or after she succeeds (or fails).

>>39621398
Isn't she not really considered a Lowee citizen anymore though? If I recalled, she hadn't been in Lowee for a long time till we took that Sharcite to Blanc.

Well shit, I had a feeling that would happen. I say go with [ ] [CONVINCE] and if she wont relent then atleast [X] [COMPROMISE] rocco to have rocco go with her.

>>39621504
I'm sure they'll make sure to ask her whether she's really with Lowee before they make assumptions.

>>39621504
Unless that's widely known people are going to assume bad things when they see her out and about after Blanc just got beat.

>>39621504
You do remember what platform DQ9 was on, right?

So! It looks like the winning two choices are basically:

[OKAY, BUT]
[CONVINCE]

... which probably translates to Urist at least /trying/ to convince Estelle, but not pushing so hard that it'll cause straight-up serious angry arguing.

Writing!

>>39621439
>We could say we're on Guild business.
Urist will be fine, she could walk around asking for info without raising too much suspicion since she only recently got into the guild and isn't affiliated with any of the consoles, plus Leanbox has been calling in Freelancers so she wouldn't be too out of place there

>>39621357
>CONVINCE
persuader skill up go

>>39621629
Yes, Leanbox has been calling in freelancers.
And Their Goddess has been acting "strange" and "out of character" recently.
And there's a bunch of evil PC games.

What could go wrong?
It's totally not a trap, right guys?

>>39621617
Sounds like just a full bore 'let's be smart about this" argument. Maybe she has contacts and allies she can grab or at least have her back if something goes wrong.

>>39621554
I still rather doubt if they found a single adventurer in their nation, regardless of past or affiliation, would be enough to declare war. If suspicious, they might detain for questioning or something like that. Declaring war? Tad excessive.

Mind, theory being the Vert we saw was Arfore, she might eventually manipulate Leanbox to war. It remains to be seen, however.

>>39621600
Doesn't change the fact that Estelle said herself she hadn't been back in Lowee for some time prior to meeting Urist.

>>39621698
My guess is Vert is either somehow subverted or replaced by some sort of doppelganger. The second is unlikely due to wielding all that power, so I guess mind control? What game could do that?

>>39621791
I imagine it's Arfore directly.

What with all the PC games in the Quest, the console made by Microsoft seems a fitting choice for Arfore to have infected somehow.

Glorious PC Gaming Master Pirates.

Going by real word shit, wouldn't Urist have an exclusivity agreement with whatever evil PC shadowgabenentity currently messing up leanbox though? Today's coding hardly runs on anything else.

Not that she'd know it. Probably ties into our baggage with DK.

>>39621600
>>39621740
Yeah we can't stick straight with game logic, after all what are the odds any console would pick up dwarf fortress in any degree or context?

>>39621791
the only thing I can think of that comes to power levels enough to fuck with other gods would be god games them selves where you ARE god, or maybe some spel/ability from a pc game that has code breaking levels of mind control/charm/confuse. >>39621740
I wonder where she was wandering....

>>39621846
~plot~, anon. Just roll with it.

>>39621791
Arfoire DID do some doppelganger stuff in RB1. They were inferior to the real Goddesses, though.

Arfoire, however, has the power to copy both the physical aspect and powers of the Goddesses, and she's more powerful than them.

How would the old infinity engine games be doing in this setting? Getting a second wind thanks to pillars of eternity?

It's our duty as fa/tg/uys to seek them out.

>>39621855
If there's danger coming,
And you need a fort,
Who you gonna call?
Urist Twelthbay!

>>39621842
>>39621870
>>39621909
Ah ok, I'm only passively familiar with the games themselves. I though Arfoire was off farming eggplants or something.

I was wondering, does the pronunciation of "Urist" start with a y sound?

>>39622051
No, it's just Uu-rist.

>>39622115
Righto

>>39622115
>start imagining our Urist as Yuri-est
No bad mind, stahp.

>>39622115
That's going to be confusing (and potentially hilarious) when we meet Uni.

>>39621357
>[X] [CONVINCE]
>[X] [OKAY, BUT...]

In a lot of ways, well... you're not all that happy with Estelle's decision: in your eyes, it's reckless, not all that well thought-out, and there are so many damn things that could go wrong, even for a veteran like her. You stop calling her an outright idiot, at least, but you relocate to a slightly less in-the-middle-of-the-goddamn-road location and talk back and forth with your big sis for quite a while as you try to see if there's any other option that Estelle will at least consider.

On the other hand, the Dragon Warrior is a LOT calmer now, and she fires back with some comparatively solid points.

"Of everyone who's had anything to do with Lowee in the past, I'm the closest one who can do anything about it," Estelle explains in a low voice, resting her sword against her shoulder. "And right now, if you put everything aside, what's most important that Blanc is recovered as soon as possible. If Vert..."

She pauses with a frown, shaking her head before skirting around the issue. "No matter what's happened, Blanc's the only one who can stop things from getting worse."

Run that by you again? Estelle needs to get there so fast that she can't even- like- do the usual info-gathering, clue-gathering, etc etc...?

There's a faint note of urgency in Estelle's tones as she continues, and you can almost see another facade slide into place: the veteran who spent most of her early life under Lowee's wing. "Blanc needs to be /here/- she can... announce that it was all a misunderstanding or stall for time, and stop everyone in Lowee from getting mad and retaliating- her presence ITSELF will stop things from getting worse!"

You're about to ask her to explain when that a static-laden voice jumps in from behind you. "L-Lastation?"

(Cont.)

File: rokko again.jpg (509 KB, 800x1130)

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>>39622714
"Yes!!" Estelle replies almost instantly, shooting Rokko a grateful look. "If people get it in their heads that Blanc didn't just get beaten, but got /thrashed/ hard enough that she doesn't pop back out, you've got Noire close enough to take advantage of a nation missing its patron goddess! She's been kinda insular lately too, so who knows WHAT she'll make of all this-"

Wait. Whatever happened to peace on Gamindustri and no more wars? What about that treaty that everyone says is the cause of all these happy days and lack of goddesses leveling landmasses and shit like that??

You're not that surprised by the short momentary silence that nevertheless speaks volumes. "They have a... a history," Estelle murmurs eventually, glancing away. Rokko closes her eyes, still as a statue in tacit agreement.

Goddammit. Who DOESN'T have a history in this fucking place?

To be fair... well, the Blue Bomber doesn't seem all that opposed to Estelle taking off on her own. When you ask her about her thoughts on the matter, she all but agrees with the Dragon Warrior's assessment of the situation:

"A-Analysis of the video reveals a-a number of unexplained inconsistencies," Rokko notes. "Only Blanc is, i-in a position to, c-clarify."

... and Vert probably isn't in any state of mind to answer anything, judging by how fast Leanbox shut off all communications, huh.

"A-Affirmative."

Right. You... you'll absolutely fucking regret losing your healer and your big sis, even temporarily, but you DO like Gamindustri better when the skies aren't filled with goddesses trying to murder each other and accidentally destroying almost everything else in the process. If Estelle's really in the best position to do it and doesn't want you two slowing her the fuck down-

(Cont.)

>>39622729
"That's not true!" Estelle protests, frowning down at you. "I just- the folks back at Lowee asked /me/ to be the vanguard. I can't drag both of you into this. Besides, you've still got your friends in Leanbox to find, especially with all this going on. Right?"

Oh, she very well CAN drag the both of you into this, but that's not really an argument you want to have right now, especially with Estelle as antsy as she is- she's fairly bouncing on her heels, and it's not the playful, happy-go-lucky motion you've always seen it as. She's all but literally champing at the bit.

What helps you make up your mind is the fact that she's no longer got her sword and shield out.

So. Three days and we'll meet right back here at the Fighting Frog, then. If Estelle gets Blanc before then, get her the hell out of Leanbox and come back here if she's able. If you don't see Estelle out here at the end of three days, you'll text or call the hell out of her; if you can't reach her, you'll dive back into Leanbox and tear the place apart looking for your big sis.

If Estelle /doesn't/ find Blanc-

"I'll find her," Estelle murmurs, grinning from ear to ear. She reaches over to ruffle your hair, hesitates for a moment, and then goes for it anyway; even so, you almost can't look her straight in the eyes, what with how brightly they're shining with gratitude. "I... thanks, Urist. See you again soon, okay?"

Yeah. Come hell or high water.

She clasps arms with Rokko, as one veteran to another; doesn't seem like there's a whole lot that needs to be said between them. "Take care of yourself!" she chirrups.

"A-Affirmative." Rokko considers this for a moment before adding out of the blue: "W-Will take care of Urist, as well."

(Cont.)

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>>39622747
That gets a laugh out of Estelle; she lets go, bounces once on her heels, and then she's off like a shot, taking off in the sort of moderately fast run that can be kept up almost indefinitely (if you're some sort of freakishly high-endurance fantasy hero swordswoman like she is, apparently). You lose her almost immediately as she ducks into a side street, making straight for the docks.

>ESTELLE has left your party!

You stare for a little while longer before turning to Rokko, who looks down at you with that poker face of hers. So. She's not planning to rush off to save the world or anything, is she?

Rokko shakes her head, her ponytail swishing with the motion. "N-Negative. I have, no plans. I will g-go where you go," she deadpans in that harsh static-y buzz that you've come to identify as uniquely hers.

You shrug, trying not to seem TOO pleased about that. Well, the long-term plan hasn't changed all that much, to be honest. You still have to catch up to Maia and see what the hell she's been on about; there's also that whole thing with Mojang that you're worried about. Both roads lead straight into Leanbox.

As for the LONG-term plan...

[ ] [BAR] Go back to the bar. Maybe you can find someone who'll want to go with you- although given current events, that's far from a given. Either way, you won't say no to a helping hand.
[ ] [REST] Go back to the bar and, y'know, /sleep/. You're not all that energetic right now, and dealing with the world can wait 'til you're not worried about fatigue rearing its ugly head.
[ ] [LEANBOX] You've got no real reason to delay; hell, you've put this off long enough. May as well head down to the docks and try to hitch a ride yourself.
[ ] [TEXT EIN] Okay, this whole thing about Lastation is starting to worry you. If you had to guess, she can shed some light on that.
[ ] [ROKKO] Ask if Rokko's got any suggestions or plans. If communications in Leanbox really have been shut down, how big a worry will that be?
[ ] [WRITE-IN]

>>39622767
>[ ] [BAR] Go back to the bar. Maybe you can find someone who'll want to go with you- although given current events, that's far from a given. Either way, you won't say no to a helping hand.
Tekken, Knight and Ai sure could be useful.

>>39622767
>[X] [REST] Go back to the bar and, y'know, /sleep/. You're not all that energetic right now, and dealing with the world can wait 'til you're not worried about fatigue rearing its ugly head.
>[X] [WRITE-IN] Soooo, . . . Rokko. . . Can I poke about into your deepest, most private code?

>>39622767
>[ ] [BAR] Go back to the bar. Maybe you can find someone who'll want to go with you- although given current events, that's far from a given. Either way, you won't say no to a helping hand.
Do it quick. We got a little sis to find with a chance of figuring the fuck is going on.
>[ ] [LEANBOX] You've got no real reason to delay; hell, you've put this off long enough. May as well head down to the docks and try to hitch a ride yourself.

>>39622767
>[x] [BAR] Go back to the bar. Maybe you can find someone who'll want to go with you- although given current events, that's far from a given. Either way, you won't say no to a helping hand.

>>39622767
>[X] [ROKKO] Ask if Rokko's got any suggestions or plans. If communications in Leanbox really have been shut down, how big a worry will that be?

Let's see what the cool-headed one has to say before we decide.

Also:
>>39622796
>[X] [WRITE-IN] Soooo, . . . Rokko. . . Can I poke about into your deepest, most private code?

Time for shenanigans.

>>39622767
>[X] [ROKKO] Ask if Rokko's got any suggestions or plans. If communications in Leanbox really have been shut down, how big a worry will that be?
>[X] [BAR] Go back to the bar. Maybe you can find someone who'll want to go with you- although given current events, that's far from a given. Either way, you won't say no to a helping hand.

>>39622767
>[ ] [REST] Go back to the bar and, y'know, /sleep/. You're not all that energetic right now, and dealing with the world can wait 'til you're not worried about fatigue rearing its ugly head.
Get some sleep, we don't need to go rushing in to anything. We can rest and head to Leanbox full in relatively top shape. Also we can mess with out dreamscape house and wear those pajamas we got.

>>39622852
damn you, got to it before I did.
>why not [ ] [BAR] and [ ] [ROKKO] ?

>>39622767
> [ ] [BAR] Go back to the bar. Maybe you can find someone who'll want to go with you- although given current events, that's far from a given. Either way, you won't say no to a helping hand.
Also sorta for the write in >>39622796 >>39622852 ...But we need more info on what is actually wrong with her. And all this after the bar scene in case she's sensitive about it.

>>39622767
>[x] [LEANBOX] You've got no real reason to delay; hell, you've put this off long enough. May as well head down to the docks and try to hitch a ride yourself.
We can sleep or talk on the way.

>>39622767
> Bar

Alcohol > Sleep, + we can ask other people about back ways into Leanbox

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>>39622767
>[X] [BAR!]
>later,
>[X] [ROKKO!] ... and coding!

You can't imagine any adventurer in Gamindustri turning down the sheer prospect of reinforcements, and you yourself are absolutely no exception to this rule. If you're really going to be plunging headfirst into Leanbox- a Leanbox that, in the worst case scenario, may or may not be fucked up beyond all recognition- then you'll want at least another person watching your back.

As you make your way back to the Fighting Frog, though, you meet some people coming out the other way- and by "some people," you mean "goddamn everyone you'd seen inside except the bartender."

"Oh! Hello again!" Ai Masushima gushes- going by the picture-perfect thousand-watt smile on her face, the ponytailed idol has pretty much recovered from her outburst back in the bar. With a swish of her skirts, she's patting you on the head; since she's most certainly NOT your big sister, you sidle on out of the way again, half-hiding behind Rokko. "If I were you, little girl, I'd take your friend and get some distance from Leanbox. Who knows what'll happen in the next few days?"

... she's heading out already?

"W-Well..." Tekken hems and haws a little- she's packed away that silly idol shirt, wearing some sort of half-sports bra that's about 90% midriff, and those sunglasses are nowhere to be seen; you're not surprised that her red eyes are as soft as her voice. "Me too. I'm escorting her out to Lastation."

(Cont.)

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>>39623275
You look to the other knight. That horned helmet really gets in the way of being able to see her expression (or her /anything/, really), but she's definitely got what appears to be a shovel slung over one shoulder. "I don't even know these guys," she admits, sounding not at all worried about this. "But there's safety in numbers, is there not? If you would like, you and your armored friend are more than welcome to join us!"

Wow. That's... that's sort of the complete opposite of your plans. Given Ai's previous outburst and the fact that she originally intended to head AWAY from Leanbox (and this whole potential war thing can't help), she'll be the toughest nut to crack. The shovel-wielding knight doesn't seem particularly attached to either of the others, and you have no idea about Tekken; she might go where Ai goes, though. Seriously, the only thing you've got to convince them is-

(Cont.)

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>>39623290
You suddenly can't help but feel the Sharicite burning a hole in your inventory. It's... it's definitely worth a lot of money, but not so much that you'll be able to easily split it five ways for something like going straight into goddamn Leanbox.

[ ] [PERSUADE AI] Try what you can to convince Ai to accompany you (if you can, you'll get Tekken, too). Lastation might not be the best place to be in these coming days, either.
[ ] [BRIBE AI] Use the prospect of riches to get Ai to accompany you, although this may not make her particularly /reliable/. Tekken will NOT appreciate this.
[ ] [PERSUADE TEKKEN] C'mon then, she likes fighting a lot, right? She'll be right at home in your little group, since she'll be busting as many heads as she wants. Probably.
[ ] [BRIBE TEKKEN] Use the prospect of riches to get Tekken to accompany you, although this may not make her particularly /reliable/. Ai will NOT appreciate this.
[ ] [PERSUADE SHOVEL KNIGHT] ... well, she doesn't know either you or Rokko that well, but you can certainly promise her !!adventure!!.
[ ] [BRIBE SHOVEL KNIGHT] Use the prospect of riches to get Shovel Knight to accompany you.
[ ] [FORGET IT] You and Rokko will be alright on your own.

>>39623307
>[ ] [FORGET IT] You and Rokko will be alright on your own.

>>39623307
>[ ] [FORGET IT] You and Rokko will be alright on your own.
If everyone is heading for elsewhere then it's fine, we can pick up people once we get to Leanbox, plus I like money

>>39623307
>[ ] [FORGET IT] You and Rokko will be alright on your own.

>>39623307
[x] [PERSUADE SHOVEL KNIGHT] ... well, she doesn't know either you or Rokko that well, but you can certainly promise her !!adventure!!.
[x] [BRIBE SHOVEL KNIGHT] Use the prospect of riches to get Shovel Knight to accompany you.

Less Japanese cutesy crap. More PC elites

>>39623307
[ ] [PERSUADE SHOVEL KNIGHT] because why not?

>>39623307
>[ ] [PERSUADE SHOVEL KNIGHT] ... well, she doesn't know either you or Rokko that well, but you can certainly promise her !!adventure!!.
Extra digging power never hurts.

>>39623307
> [PERSUADE AI]

Lastation can wait, if she knows Vert AND that Vert is acting strangely, she might need her help! Her goddess could be under the influence of Keeper, or she might be getting manipulated by the cult that we found earlier, and there's obviously some sort of creepy shenanigans going on with the merchants and the treasure chests thingy I can't be arsed to look up.

Appeal to her inherent heroic nature, that there is a dark force rising and we will need the power of her voice, the power of love, to fight it.

Seriously, Keeper freaked out Blanc quite a bit, it's kind of a big deal.

>>39623307
>[X] [PERSUADE AI] Try what you can to convince Ai to accompany you (if you can, you'll get Tekken, too). Lastation might not be the best place to be in these coming days, either.

>>39623307
>[x] [FORGET IT] You and Rokko will be alright on your own.
No scrubs pls.

>>39623307
[ ] [PERSUADE SHOVEL KNIGHT] ... well, she doesn't know either you or Rokko that well, but you can certainly promise her !!adventure!!.

Gals like shovelknight, they understand people like us. They understand !!fun!!

>>39623465
imagine the forts we could dig with her help...the adamantium veins we could find with her.....
>>39623504
I am all for this if shovel doesn't want to help us, I mean she digs like a boss, we build like a boss they are ment to party together! The other two can basically do what rokko does in melee better then she can melee but rokko has fuck off buster cannon specials they don't have.

>>39623504
Shovel knight aint no scrub, bruh. She a hard ass bitch

>>39623307
>[x] [PERSUADE SHOVEL KNIGHT] ... well, she doesn't know either you or Rokko that well, but you can certainly promise her !!adventure!!.
>[x] [BRIBE SHOVEL KNIGHT] Use the prospect of riches to get Shovel Knight to accompany you.
Who the hell is shovel knight anyway?

>>39623532
Its a game. A fun ass game. About a knight what shovels fings.

>>39623532
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U28xq2Yw_G8

>>39623532
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shovel_Knight

>the more you know!

>>39623307
>Persuade everyone
>Don’t part with the hard-earned mony (2/3 of which belong to bluey and bluey)

>>39623556
this anon gets it. But how about we just say blanc will pay em if AND I MEAN IF we actually save the goddess's ass, nothing TOO insane but it will be worth the trouble(no it wont they dont need to know)

>>39623556
>>39623577
>Five party members
>plus Estelle when she gets back
>plus Maia and Mojang
The cast bloat is real

>>39623307
Well shit I have to go to sleep now for work, Thanks blorp for the hilarious thread!

Dark souls-chan in leanbox maybe?

>>39623623
Souls was heading to Lastation

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Alright, it's getting pretty late (and I can't afford to run to 4 am this time), so I'm gonna call the thread here!

Next time, we'll pick up with Urist convincing Shovel Knight to join her party, and then sort of, uh, asking to enter Rokko('s coding).

As I announced last time, this is probably going to be the last thread until the end of May; there's a slight possibility that I'll be able to run something on the morning(!!) of 5/2 or 5/3, but that's honestly going to be a long shot or a very short thread.

If that doesn't happen, then the next thread will most likely be in late May or early June.

As always, updates to scheduling will be at https://twitter.com/BlorpQuest, and questions can go either here or ask.fm/BlorpQuest. Thanks for participating guys, and apologies for the (real-life enforced) break; hope to see you all later!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

(Cont.)

>>39623545
>>39623541
>>39623542
Oh yeah duh. Heard of it, never played it, didn't think it was that obvious. Seems like a great adventuring buddy.

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>>39623641

So, in compensation for the big old one-month hiatus, I'm gonna spend what time I can writing up another extra side scene/story similar to the Mojang thing, so!

>CHOOSE ONE FROM THE FOLLOWING:
[ ] [URIST: JUST DWARF FORTRESS] A segment on Urist Twelfthbay pre-Gamindustri!
[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!
[ ] [ESTELLE & EIN] How the Dragon Warrior met the Warrior of Light!
[ ] [ROKKO] How the Blue Bomber functioned back in the day!
[ ] [KEEPER] Because why the hell not?
[ ] [IMPROBABLE HOLIDAY STORY] that doesn't fit in the main continuity at all!
[ ] [WRITE-IN] Keep it limited to HDFQ-verse, please!

>>39623649
>[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!

>>39623649
>[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!

>>39623649
>[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!

>>39623649
[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!
Thanks for the threads Blorp and don't worry about hiatus, we'll be waiting. Good luck on whatever it is you're doing.

>>39623649
>[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!

>>39623649
> [ ] [ROKKO] How the Blue Bomber functioned back in the day!
The drama that led to her current state might be nice to see, if you can work that in. Better than simple exposition in the main quest.

>>39623649
>[ ] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!

>>39623649
Thanks for running!
>[ ] [ROKKO] How the Blue Bomber functioned back in the day!

>>39623649
>[X] [URIST: JUST DWARF FORTRESS] A segment on Urist Twelfthbay pre-Gamindustri!
>[x] [MOJANG & URIST] Continuing the How-They-Met sidestory!
Either of these.

http://ask.fm/BlorpQuest/answer/127481258622
What are we missing?

I'd throw a guess at Nano-Embark, can't have a Dorffort EXE move without other dorfs

>>39623649
>[X] [ROKKO] How the Blue Bomber functioned back in the day!

>>39623649
>[MOJANG & URIST]

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GODDAMMIT I MISSED EVERYTHING

>>39625516
Don't worry anon, I always miss everything! So at least you're better off than me! Not sure I've ever been able to participate in more than one vote per thread.

>>39623649
damn that's a hard choice

>[ ] [URIST: JUST DWARF FORTRESS] A segment on Urist Twelfthbay pre-Gamindustri!

>>39625552
same here, timezones are a bitch