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>>40098470

That’s kind of him. Maybe he has a soft spot for young women. That could be used to your advantage, you’re sure.

He offers one of his armored elbows.” Shall we?”

You graciously accept and proceed toward the palace.

The high walls and extensive stonework seem all the more impressive as you're finally allowed into the interior grounds.

He looks over to you. “You really are quite lucky, if one of my guardsmen found you, you’d have been forced from the premises long ago.”

You smile back at him. “Must be meant to be.”

His eyes widen a fraction, but he quickly recovers. He’s got some experience with this little game, but you’re confident you can get more information from him.

A little tightening on your grip on his arm should goad his mind in the right direction. Now for what you want, information.

>Ask what he knows about the trial.

>Try to get more out of him about his family.

>Write in.

>>40098538
>Ask what he knows about the trial.

>>40098538
>Ask what he knows about the trial
damnit Auri I'm going out with friends tonight.
Don't let other anons get us killed.

Hello there!

>>40098589
>>40098655
I make no guarantees. But be sure to have fun!

>Writing

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>>40098737

I know you said that I would be able to ask the record keeper questions, but he’s probably has some vow not to give away too much information.” You do your best to pout at the fact.

He thinks on your words for a moment. “I suppose that I’ve heard and seen a few things thanks to my position.”

You shake your head vehemently. “Oh, you mustn’t! I don’t want you to get into any trouble.”

Here’s hoping he doesn’t back down…

He grins mischievously. “Promise you’ll keep your lips sealed and everything should be fine.”

Seems like he might be brave enough for his position.

A quick swipe across your lips. “Promise.”

He looks forward stoically. “It’s not going in Grivermillion’s favor at all. The evidence is staggering from what I hear.”

The two of you pass through the enormous gate, guards and other palace hands all stiffen as your escort comes into view.

More impressive stonework is to be seen as you enter. The dusty carved colossi loom over you as you pass by. Huge sections of decorated but craggy walls and rooftop seem impossibly out of reach to anyone that can’t fly. The wear only further the eminence already exuded by this palace. The whole place screams of hundreds if not thousands of years of magnificent history.

You can’t help but stare in awe at what should have been yours.

[1/2]

>>40099526

Nahldol seems to notice. “First time is always the best. But this is only the south hall. Down this way is where the court record keeper will be, to our right is the holding dungeon, that path behind us will lead you to the High Council’s office, and that path to our left will take you to the war monument.”

He lets you take in the surroundings for a moment longer before continuing on with you in tow. “Back to the matter of the trial, all signs point to him as the thief of the sacred artifacts, but…” He shakes his head. “It all feels a little too easy. The fact that it leaves so little doubt, only causes me to doubt the whole thing.”

So, he’s being set up…

He continues. “The only thing that’s keeping his trial afloat is his gleaming history serving as court advisor…” He startles suddenly and sighs heavily. “I must be going, continue down this way and you’ll find the record room, can’t miss it. Be sure to head home straight after.”

He jogs off in a hurry. “Don’t wander off the path!” He calls back to you before he’s lost to the palace interior.

You watch to make sure he’s really gone, you’re glad that he didn’t think you capable of disobeying him, the fool.

Best not to wander off too far actually, you might get lost.

>Head for the dungeon.

>Head for the High Council’s office.

>Head for the war monument.

>Head straight for the record room.

>Write in.

>>40099571
>Head straight for the record room.

Unfortunately, this is a choice I'd much rather have more than one person voting for. So I'll wait, and hopefully soon get more votes. If not, then I'll postpone this thread to another day.

>>40099811
Ok. We'll i'll be waiting then.

>>40099571
>Head straight for the record room.

>>40099615
>>40100175
Playing it safe.

>Writing

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>>40100202

Your time in this palace is very limited, so rather than risk only accomplishing some sight-seeing, you better head straight to where you know you’ll get information.

A few cleaning staff pass you by as you make your way to the record room, but pay you little mind.

You’ve made it this far, they must think you belong here to some extent. Or maybe as the deposed heir, you’re the one person that they’d want to keep out?

After walking for quite some time, you begin to wonder if you had accidently passed over your destination, but suddenly a very familiar smell becomes apparent.

Old books, a lot of them.

Then your eyes gaze upon what your keen nose was first to detect. Hundreds upon hundreds of towering rows of ancient tomes. A thick layer of dust upon most of them marks how long they’ve been keeping their regal posts upon those shelves.

Immediately upon entering this giant library, another room greets you to your side. Dozens of smaller but sturdier cabinets are neatly aligned along the perimeter of the room, and show a much more maintained exterior than the shelves in the library proper. Huge stacks of official looking documents everywhere and the stifling air of meticulous administrative procedure lets you know that you have found the record room.

[1/2]

>>40101057

Upon first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anyone in sight, so you slide in close to some documents left on a table and take a peek at their headers.

“14th Legion Armor Requisition Invoice”

Sounds dull.

“Sewer Maintenance: Monthly Report [Urgent]”

Dull and gross.

Most of the other documents don’t prove to be any more promising. To the side of the stack is a unsealed folder, the only thing of note.

“From the Office of Domestic Security: FOR THE EYES OF THE HIGH COUNCIL ONLY”

Your hand reaches for it almost instinctively until you’re stopped a sudden noise.

A sneeze.

You turn to the source, and see a small cloaked figure hunched over a pile of documents on the floor. The short red-skinned creature diligently sorts them without hardly a sound. No wonder you didn’t notice him upon entering. He must be this court record keeper that you’ve been looking for.

But now that you look closer, it seems that he hasn’t noticed you at all, too preoccupied with his work, and it seems like he has quite a bit in front of him.

No one else around…Good timing to look through that top secret folder if you wish.

>Go through the folder then talk to him.

>Don’t look through the folder. Talk to him.

>Write in.

Hello Auri!
>>40101097
>Go through the folder then talk to him.
If this was my normal rp I wouldn't have dared to touch it, but that must be there for a reason.
but to make sure, Are we absolutley sure that this guy is occupied?
If so, maybe a little peek, but stay sharp.

>>40101097
>wait just long enough that it is plausible that you didn't hear the sneeze
>open the sewer maintainance, to make it look like we were opening stuff at random
>Go through the folder then talk to him.

>>40101170
Hello, anon! You're pretty darn sure. You weren't trying to be quiet upon entering and he still didn't notice you. But you never know...

>>40101097
>Go through the folder then talk to him.

>>40101170
>>40101204
>>40101293
Well-thought out suggestions will always help.

>Writing~

>>40101341
Covering your tracks is wise course of action primarily, do it well enough, and even a keen eye couldn’t pinpoint what you’re after.

You quietly watch him organize his papers for just a few moments before beginning. Firstly, you pull out the sewer maintenance report a flip open to random page to make it seem like you’re just rifling through whatever piqued your curiosity. Now for the main event…

You grab the top secret report and quietly and carefully flip through the cover sheets. The actual report is much shorter than it appears from first glance, you take in the words as quickly as you can.

>”Search and recovery of lost Roasted Meat proved unsuccessful. Investigative unit in outer planes came up unsuccessful. However, Spiced Wine was recovered and should be enough for dinner to go as originally planned.”

This is all nonsense, the only logical explanation is that it uses code words, but without knowing the words, you can only guess at this report’s meaning. You quickly double check to make sure that you didn’t miss anything else, but find nothing.

You put the report back exactly where it belongs and grab the sewer report to do the same.

The red skinned creature suddenly rises from the ground. “What are you doing? I thought I was going mad hearing papers rifling in the back of my mind! What have you been reading?!” He snatches the sewer maintenance report from your hand and gives it a quick glance.

[1/2]

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>>40102094

“These kinds of reports are available to the public upon request!” He scolds you shrilly. “Young people…” He fastidiously returns the report to its proper place.

You shrink in mock fear. “I apologize, I didn’t see you and I just picked something up to read while I waited for you.”

“Waiting for me?! Why?” He continuously switches between looking at you and looking at the stack of reports, as if unsatisfied with how he left it.

You begin to respond. “I was told you could answer a few of my questions about the trial, the captain of the guard-“

He suddenly interjects. “The captain of the guard?! I hate that man! Always going on about that blasted niece…I mean beautiful Princess Ayaela.” His face twitches from his poor acting. He sighs. “I have much work to do you know?!” He shuffles back to his work and starts sorting again. “Two! Only two questions and then you leave me alone!”

Hmm, he’s not so bad after all, you just wouldn’t want to be around him for a second longer than you have to.

But two questions…Well, you’re almost certain that Grivermillion has false charges placed against him, so if you know who exactly brought up those charges, then you’d know who isn’t the most trustworthy. Then there’s the matter of finding out where he’s kept, in the off chance you find motivation enough to break him out.

Two questions only, as he so specified.

>”Who brought the charges against Grivermillion?”

>”Where is Grivermillion being held during the trial?”

>Write in.

>>40102134
>”Who brought the charges against Grivermillion?”

>>40102156
I suppose we'll move forward with the default questions.

>Writing

>>40102258
Sorry though it was a one at a time deal.

>>40102094
>”Search and recovery of lost Roasted Meat proved unsuccessful. Investigative unit in outer planes came up unsuccessful. However, Spiced Wine was recovered and should be enough for dinner to go as originally planned.”
.....are these not code words at all? Have demons truly never had roasted meat or spiced wine?

Come to think of it, what do demons drink?

>>40102134

Nothing else comes to mind, and you frankly don’t want to risk setting him off by asking more than two questions.

“Firstly I was just wondering who the original person to bring charges against Grievermillion was?” You wait patiently after asking, the record keeper making it seem like you’re completely invisible.

“The High Council and three guardsmen.” He finally responds. “The records are that those four witnessed Grievermillion absconding with the sacred artifacts while most of the palace slept. The defendant denies this.” He answers almost methodically.

So it’s the most powerful person who’s likely framing Grievermillion. But for what reason, what does a person have to gain from eliminating a court adviser?

You doubt that this record keeper knows the answer to that, so you follow up with your next question.

“Where is defendant being kept during the trial? They certainly go through a lot of trouble to put various seals on him, or so I’ve been told. So they must be wary of where to keep him.” You follow up with that last piece to make your question less direct.

[1/2]

>>40102930

He answers more quickly this time. “He is kept where all high-danger criminals are kept, the palace dungeon. He’s only to be moved to reach his trial.”

Meaning that he’s only a few minutes away from you via walking.

“Now get out!” The record keeper begins to feebly swat a handful of papers at you, but his heart isn’t in it as to not damage the papers.

The entrance to the library is where you find yourself again, pondering what you’re next course of action should be.

It’s quite the interesting little scandal you’ve stumbled upon in your time here, but it seems to have extremely little to do with you at all. If this Grievermillion’s duty is to guide you as he said it was, then a simple chat in the dungeon will suffice, and he can be left to his fate knowing that he helped you all the same.

Then again, the reach of this Highest Council is likely to be extremely extensive given from the simple fact of how large his armies are. Should you risk looking into his motivations? Can you risk not to?

>Head for the dungeon.

>Head for the High Council’s office.

>Leave the palace and return home.

>Write in.

>>40102952
>>Head for the High Council’s office.

>>40102952
>Leave the palace and return home.
>>40102839
They said they had fruit and meat, no reason to go to the outer realm for just that

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>40102975
>>40103043
High Council's office=1
Home=2

>Writing the winner

>>40102952
>Head for the High Council’s office.
>>40103043
>They said they had fruit and meat,
HUMAN meat, presumably raw. That's important.

....speaking of which, what does AYA eat?

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>40103202
As of recently, lots of sweets and deserts.

>>40103225
Desserts even.

>>40103225
>>40103248
....mmm, sand, with a bit of ice cream on top.

Has she given her opinion on cooked meats and flavored drinks? Can demons get drunk?

>>40103279
Aya usually shies away from meat, flavored drinks would be fine if they're sweet, and most of them can get drunk.

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>>40103307
>most of them can get drunk.
I think I know what caused that incident between aya and matthias.

>>40103083

You’ve never been one to back away from danger, in fact, one could say that you’ve always gravitated to where power resides.

You wait for the halls to clear of all attendees and skulk along the path to the High Council’s office. The route is also thankfully devoid of any witnesses, but you do your best to act as if you belong where you are, and after a long walk, you reach your destination.

A quick pass by the only room in sight lets you know that it’s empty. You approach the door handle as if you were sent inside on important business.

Locked.

Not locked in the conventional sense, nothing on the door moves even the tiniest of distance. It just feels like someone sealed the whole thing in place. Sealed…

If you break the seal, then someone would obviously know that you intruded inside, but given the strength of the thing, it feels like it could break at any moment. Whoever placed this seal is terribly untalented. It all comes down to you not staying for long enough for you to get caught, and not disturbing anything inside too much.

All there is now is to break seal…

Potential. What’s at risk to the sealer if you open the door? The truth about Grievermillion’s trial might end up in the wrong hands, potentially ruining this person’s life. That’s quite a lot to trust to this seal.

Now, what do you have to gain?

Everything.

You need only focus on the door for a short time before the seal breaks, almost as if it wanted to be released.

[1/2]

>>40103634

You’re careful to open door slowly, the insides look extremely similar to a human study, if only that human was especially large and had a strange taste in decorations.

The heads of various hideous beasts decorate one of the walls, and on the wall opposite numerous cutting weapons all proudly displayed as if to announce what slew all these bizarre creatures.

There’s hardly any time to take in that sort of thing, so you head straight for the desk.

Nothing of note in any of the drawers, but you spot a single folded piece of parchment on top of the desk. Unfortunately for you, it seems that a great deal of wax from a nearby candle has melted onto it, leaving it unreadable without breaking through the wax first.

Then something even more troubling startles you.

Footsteps.

Heavy, but unhurried footsteps resounding down the long hall you traveled to get here, little to no chance they’d pass by this room without noticing that you’re inside. A little under a minute away by the sound of it.

There’s nothing else here besides this note, should you risk arousing suspicion? If it turns out to be unimportant then your gamble will be for naught. Little time to make the choice, the footsteps approach.

>Break the wax and read the note.

>Leave immediately.

>Write in.

>>40103696
Will this cause trouble to the captain of the guard?
I guess it would, but seems like we're already in some deep shit.
>open the seal
I seriously think we will be at wrong terms with that firey demon family guys.

>>40103696
>Break the wax and read the note.

>>40103696
Use our flame. Melt the wax, take the note, tear off a bit and slightly burn it before leaving it in the wax. Make it look like the candle accidentally burned the note.

A little site hiccup there I think.

>>40103451
That particular event took place sans alcohol. I won't say who initiated, but you can probably guess.

>>40103696
Break wax, read note, remelt wax onto note.
Pyromancy ftw

>>40103730
>>40103759
>>40103762
>>40103783
Nicely caught.

>Writing~

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>>40103763
>spoiler
>mfw

>>40103836

In your panic, you had all but forgotten about your pyromancy. You’ll just have to be careful not to take out the whole entire office, like your flames would so enjoy doing.

You quickly break through the wax, collecting all the shards and placing them back onto the candle, after that you greedily open the note.

>”Y- I can hear her speak again, more barking orders, as she always did, but her voice is there. It’s beautiful. I don’t know what the cause is, but we must prepare. To think it’s already been twenty years. –X”

No time to digest what the words could mean. You refold the paper and place it back to exactly where it was. Limiting the hungry blue flames to the tip of your index finger, you quickly melt the wax back onto the note in a similar way to how it was before.

Immediately, you flee from the office, shutting the door behind you, and then take the path perpendicular to the one the footsteps follow. You have only a vague idea on where you’re headed, but you don’t stop to collect yourself until the footsteps are gone from your senses.

Hopefully that quick thinking on the wax will save you from any suspicion. You’ve overstayed how long you were supposed to remain in the palace, so after finding your way back to the main hall, you find your way out.

Your heart thumps furiously as you finally make it into the clear. So many places where that investigation could’ve gone wrong and it seems like you’ve avoided all of them.

The note only confuses you as the secret report had. Whose voice? Twenty years? Twenty years ago, you were only three years of age, barely begun to live your life as a human at that time…

Great, all that note seems to have done is stir up unpleasant memories.

Feeling a little exhausted, you fly back to the portal, and slip back into the comforting darkness with all that you've learned today.

~

>>40104170
Okay, that's where I'm going to end it for tonight. A little slow to start, but the ball got rolling. I want to thank everyone that played! As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them in the thread and I will do my best to respond to them.

If not, then I wish you a good day/night, and hope to see you again next time!

>(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/QM_Auri

>>40104204
Thanks for running. Kinda wish we had hit high councils office first so we could have asked about that note indirectly.

>>40104204
Thanks for running Auri!
>>40104226
ehh hindsight, I'm sure theres a bunch of stuff we missed by not going to the other places

>>40104226
You're very welcome! Who knows, the office could have been occupied at the time.
>>40104258
You're also very welcome! Can't have everything, you know?

>>40104304
The voice from 20 years ago is the one who tipped off occult hunters about us and our parents leading too our death? Right? Almost suspect Sayuline or Marissa.

>>40104325
A lot of voices to keep track of, some are internal from source, others not. Ultimately ask yourself, who is the person writing the note, what's implied from what's being said, and what those two facts might have in common. Vague I know, I'm sorry, but I don't want to spoil anything.

>>40104405
Yeah I'm thinking on it. Honestly sounds like the gift Marissa got brought back an influential old family enemy that had been gone for 20 years.

>>40104452
I can't specify exactly , but it would be helpful to continue along that train of thought.

With that, I'll be stepping out for tonight. Until next time!

>>40104452
I dont think so.

>>40104518
If not Marissa exactly someone/thing with her abilities.

Someone mind filling me in? Isn't Marissa just some girl with intimacy problems? Why would she be the BBEG?

>>40104626
She has that compelling aura and voice, I think her or someone like her had thrall over the high council 20 years ago. Additionally she's been acting like a different person since she ate slug mans gift, which was a consumable item.

>>40104673
I can see everything but marissa having power 20 years ago being true. Why would she be slumming it in shitty jobs for all that time?

>>40104746
I think the thing that gave her powers is either a remnant of an old enemy possessing her or letting the slug who gave her the gift puppet her at times. Which is why she's so drawn to Izu who is a carbon copy of the old king.

>>40104799
huh, I thought she just liked him because he was cute, thanks for sharing what you know