>>42654109

You look over the small wood table where they were gambling. It seems that they were wagering questionable flasks of liquid, upon popping one open, you immediately smell potent alcohol.

You place the flask back down. “What was this business about cutting off heads?”

“Only a joke, commander.” The officer replies almost immediately, bowing very low. “The boy only plays for fun, so there’s nothing to be mad at.”

You're silent for a tense moment before finally smiling slightly. “Of course, just a joke.” You look back at the table and see the pips of the three dice all show ones. “Although it seems that you have lost again.”

As you begin to walk away, all the soldiers peer at the table to confirm what you said, and then burst into howling laughter. “She’s right!”

While you continue to make your rounds, a sudden blur appearing in front of you stops you, and is gone in less than a fraction of a second. It appears again, this time long enough for you to make out a small cloaked figure pointing toward your right.

By the size of the person, and the stunning speed at which they teleport, it can only be a particular young girl.

You follow the directions, and then several more, until you reach an isolated part of the edge of camp.

The cloaked figure appears and stays this time.

[2/3]

>>42654151

With a few cautionary looks, Vicki removes her hood. “We need to be quick this time.” She vigilantly looks around once again before turning back to you and taking a deep breath. “We were unable to gather any information about Virgil, but Philomena was different.” Another deep breath. “Her notes indicated that she intends to share her curse with others, though there weren’t any details specifically stating how. But there are notes about the deteriorating condition of a ‘Troubled One’.”

So, it’s through her strange affliction that she would have knowledge of curses.

“Recent entries say that she’s confused by the lack of progress, and she needs to check on the curse’s integrity.” Vicki exhales, finishing her report. “Ali wishes to let you know that we will continue to look into the both of them until we have more definitive proof.”

It would be nice to know more about your enemy, you’re not sure if you have enough time. If Philomena’s notes refer to you, she’s soon to find out that you discovered and removed the curse, which will throw out any upper hand you might have.

>Allow Ali and Vicki to continue their investigation on both Philomena and Virgil.

>Tell Vicki to focus their investigation on Virgil, and you intend to take care of Philomena.

>Write in.

>>42654174
>Did the notes refer to any characteristics of the "troubled one"
>>Tell Vicki to focus their investigation on Virgil, and you intend to take care of Philomena.

>>42654174
>Tell Vicki to focus their investigation on Virgil, and you intend to take care of Philomena.

>>42654174
>Tell Vicki to focus their investigation on Virgil, and you intend to take care of Philomena.
Wow, what a bitch, I thought she was one of the cool ones

Hello and welcome, everyone! I can't remember the last time I ran on a Monday, but I'm glad to see that there's people here to participate.
>>42654211
>>42654265
>>42654277
Change of plans.

>Writing~

>>42654334
Sadly i won't be able to stick around for more since it's already 2AM here, but you should know that i appreciate you running this even if i'm not often able to participate.

>>42654563
That's perfectly okay! I appreciate you playing what you can, but I know that sleep is more important. Good night!

>>42654334

“Were there any specific details about the ‘troubled one’?” You whisper back.

Vicki closes her eyes to remember the report. “Only early entries about bloodlust exceeding expected progress.”

That’s the exact kind of information that Philomena would be able to observe and act upon. You’ve given this enough time for it to be investigated.

“Turn your focus solely on Virgil.” You lean forward. “Given what I’ve learned, I intend to take care of Philomena myself.”

Vicki’s brows furrow at the sudden change of plans, but she gives a reluctant nod. “I will let Madam Ali know.” She takes a few steps back.

“Madam Ali is going to return to the palace soon to oversee reconstruction, but she said that she’ll keep in touch.”

After that, Vicki is once again gone from sight, and you return to camp before your absence is noticed.

~

You lead a long line of soldiers sitting upon the padded seats on top of the construct. Izu keeps you company at your side gazing at the passing landscape, while Justina sits across from you, limiting herself to only hungry stares at Izu.

She snaps her attention back to you. “The Empress said that once we wrap around that ridgeline in the distance, we’ll only a few hours away from the Sluice Gate.” She points behind her. "About damn time." She huffs.

[1/2]

>>42655010

Opting to take a shortcut, The Empress chose to lead the army to where the waste of the huge palatial city eventually drains into The Maw. Naturally, you’re not looking forward to the smells that you will find there, but if it gets the army into The Maw quicker, you will tolerate it.

“Which ridgeline?” Izu moves over to her side and leans far over the railing to look into the distance.

Justina stares, wide-eyed and with hands clenched in her lap, at Izu’s rear hanging in the air. “T-that one ahead.” Her voice heavy with strain. “Air…I need…” She practically has to tear herself to your side, where she leans against the railing, panting.

The line suddenly comes to a stop, and Izu nearly goes toppling over the side, just before you catch him by the leg.

After you firmly pull him back into his seat, you peer ahead to see what’s stopping the march.

Three figures stand in front of The Empress’s construct, all are quite tall and each have crimson wings that extends far from their backs.

However, even from where you are, you can see that their wings are quite tattered, and contain maybe only half of their original plumage.

This is actually the first time you’ve seen another adult Caelumnite and are old enough to remember. Although, there seems something terribly off about them, but you intend to head to the front to investigate, regardless.

There’s only the question of whether to bring Izu along, or leave him here with Justina.

>Have Izu come with you.

>Leave Izu here with Justina.

>Write in.

>>42655044
>>Have Izu come with you.

>leaving him with Justina
haha no.

>>42655044
>Leave Izu here with Justina.
I dont trust her, but shes keeping her word so far. The other guys might recognize Izu too.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>42655099
=1
>>42655122
=2

Potential danger here, or potential danger ahead. Rolling for the choice.

>Writing the winner

>>42655192

“You’re going to have to stay behind for this one, Matt.” You announce and then turn to Justina. “I don’t have to remind you of what terrible things I will do to you if you touch him, right?”

She nods stiffly while still looking over the railing. “I’m alone. I’m alone. No one else is here.” She repeats that mantra to herself while you take off for the front of the line.

“What the fu-“ The one male Caelumnite exclaims crassly as you land next to The Empress.

You immediately notice the difference between you and them.

While they only stand slightly taller than you, their facial features notably different. Their eyes are thinner and the thin bone structure of their face make them quite distinct from you and your softer features. All three of them are dressed in disgustingly dirty and tattered clothes.

Just as you were observing them, they observed you.

“Half-breed, shitblood.” The male spits, his eyes wide and bloodshot. “I should kill you where you sta-“

He falls on his back as you seal the muscles in his legs.

You turn to The Empress, who signals her approval for you to continue.

“Where are you from?” You demand.

“I’m not telling you anything, you cun-“ The male clutches at his throat and chest in panic after you sealed his lungs from expanding.

“We’re travelers.” One of the females behind quickly answers for him, sniffing heavily. “Our parents died in the last war, and all we could do is wander because all of relatives are dead as well.” She sniffs again, and scratches at her arm.

[1/2]

>>42655838

You release the seals on the male’s lungs.

“You’re The Empress, right?” He points behind you. “The least you can do is pay us some reparations.” He sniffs heavily. “For what you did to our people.”

“Stop!” The other female about your age steps forward. “Forgive my brother, Empress.” She bows her head to the ground, her dirty hair hiding her face. “But please, if you have anything we can trade for Rincher, we would be so grateful.”

Given their conditions, it’s almost certain that the Rincher that they refer to is some sort of drug, and given the scratches all over their body, it must have quite the potent withdrawal.

“I don’t have a care for your brother, but he did insult my follower, so it’s up to her to decide your fate.” The Empress states flatly.

They’re disgusting, but they might just have some use.

You step forward. “Do you know the area around the Sluice Gate?”

“Yes!” The bowing female responds enthusiastically. “We sometimes have to get our meals from there, so we know it well.”

“Do your wings still work?” You continue.

“Not well, but we can still fly for a short time.” She responds.

Decent enough for scouts, so long as they can go without being discovered. If they are, it’s not like you’re losing any of your forces, if they die, if they're captured then you will lose your surprise ambush.

>Have them come on as scouts.

>Leave them here and continue.

>Write in.

>>42655879
>Have them come on as scouts.
>Seal their ability to speak until they come back and report to you.

>>42655879
>Leave them here and continue.
Our fucking drug addled people can't be trusted.

>>42655935
Nevermind this. Changing it to
>>42655930

>>42655930
>>42655961
Keeping the leash very close.

>Writing~

>>42656003

You step back to have a conference with The Empress.

“How about a few mobile and disposable scouts?” You grin, out of sight from the three siblings.

“That’s the most useful they could ever be.” She leans over to look at them. “There’s only the concern of them giving away our position.”

“I’ll seal their ability to speak until they’ve returned to report.” You respond, confidently.

The Empress nods and then steps toward the siblings. “The three of you will scout the Sluice Gate for any activity at all, then report back to us.” She motions back to the long line of troops. “My advisor, Disgur, is the one who first created Rincher, and can synthesize it within his own body. So you will be rewarded if you succeed.”

The two females beam at the potential reward, while the male simply scowls and follows along to feed his own addiction.

“Lie about what you see, and I assure you, I will tear off every single one of your remaining feathers.” The Empress gives her warning before heading back to the front of the line.

The male continues to glare at you. “Emperor Izureig would kill you and both of your parents if he was still alive.”

You laugh, hard, taking more than a few moments to recover. You then immediately place the seal on them.

“You’ll be able to talk when you return.” You turn to fly back to the construct, still laughing slightly.

You return to find Izu quietly reading book, and Justina desperately kneading the railing with both of her hands.

“Never again, please.” She quietly mumbles as the army begins marching again.

~

>>42656515

Camp is set up once again as dusk begins to fall. The entire army has made it past around the ridgeline and the massive construction that holds the Sluice Gate looms just a few hours ahead.

You and the other councilmembers meet to discuss strategies for the beginning of the invasion.

“Once we make it past the Sluice Gate, we stand just only three days march from the core.” Disgur announces.

“Three days, unfettered.” Virgil adds. “The land itself in there will be against us, not to mention what ungodly number of troops that thing will throw at us. Perhaps if we find a way to separate their huge number from their command source, they’d be without orders and more susceptible.”

“It’s possible, with how we’ll surprise them going through the Sluice Gate. A solid plan for our first attack.” The new martial councilmember adds, you recognize him from the time you delved with Marissa and Ellie.

You contemplate whether you’ll side with this plan or throw in your own.

>Focus on this ambush.

>Write in.

>>42656529
That plan ain't going to cut it. They all share a collective consciousness, so it will count for shit all if we cut them off.

Go in with fire, lots of it.

>>42656529
>>Focus on this ambush.
Let them fuck up that'd help our numbers.

>>42656563
>>42656662
Since these obviously can't be combined, I will wait a few more minutes for a tie-breaker, if not then I will roll again.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>42656563
=1
>>42656662
=2

Are we going for the short game or the long game...

>Writing the winner.

>>42656529
>>42656678
>Focus on this ambush.

>>42656563
Empress isn't stupid. She probably has a way to cut off that collective conscious if they're too far apart or something.

>>42656563
this

>>42656678
>>42656726
damn bruh, your few minutes are too few

>>42656736
>>42656748
>>42656756
Suddenly the voters double. Still going ahead with the choice, sorry if my window was too small.

>>42656756
same result anyway, so it doesn't matter

>>42656786
Yea I do sports until like 9, so I miss the first couple hours :(

>>42656515
>Emperor Izureig
>Izureig
>Izu

>>42656873
Our dad is also named Izureig.

>>42656873
>only getting this now

>>42656873
Yes
That is his name
Izureig is Izu's full name
That's why we call him Matt in front of people.

>>42656726

In the end, you want to have as little soldiers as possible on The Empress’s side when you take over the army of Kyraen’Asils. This, however, is a dangerous line you’ll be walking, but where there’s high risk, there’s high reward. You just need to make sure you don’t completely loss this campaign, but for now you’ll keep your strategies to yourself.

“We’ll divvy our troops amongst us and flank from either side to cut off whatever first wave will greet us.” You announce. “From there on we’ll continue on that path until we reach the core.”

“More a matter of brute force than strategy, but if you’re confident it will work, then I’ll agree to it.” Philomena chimes in.

Thanks for your support…

“We’ll go ahead with it once we breach the realm, for now, we’ll wait for the report from our newly acquired scouts.” You finish and leave the meeting to return to your own tent.

“Commander!” A quick-looking soldiers runs toward you. “The scout is back, it insists on speaking with you.”

Scout? Were the other two killed while on mission?

You rush ahead, following the messenger until you reach the edge of the camp. Immediately you spot a large line of soldiers brandishing their weapons at whoever has returned.

“Let me through.” You push past the tense group of soldiers and spot what they’re staring at.

“Hello!” It says with a mixture of four voices.

[1/2]

>>42657355

Its entire grotesque head is surrounded with the three faces of the siblings you sent to scout the Sluice Gate. Dirty patches of their hair appear at random at the top of its head, and its large torso is a complete mixture of their three bodies, all limbs appearing at some point.

Huge red scars line where the bodies have been fused oozing fluid, and its body pulses with vigor.

You quickly invoke your flame. “What are you?”

Even more soldiers gather around you.

“Can’t you hear my voice, Sophia? It’s been so long…” It hangs its head low.

Among the mixture of voices from the three siblings, you hear a young girl’s voice from the past. One that you killed with your own hands.

“Carmina?” You utter.

“Yes! Yes! You do recognize me!” It jumps and cheers, leaking even more fluid, then it regains its composure. “I came here to give you some advice and a present for all of you.”

She should be dead. Whatever this thing is, it’s certainly not on your side, especially if Carmina's really in there. But as much as you want to kill it where it stands, you want to know how this is possible.

>”How are you still alive?”

>Kill it now.

>Write in.

>>42657388

>”How are you still alive?”
Let's at least try and learn what the fuck is going on before we start up the incinerators.

>>42657388
>>”How are you still alive?”
Have a seal on a twitchy finger, I trust this not at all.

>>42657440
>>42657483
The million dollar question...

>Writing~

>>42657388
>”How are you still alive?”
Be prepared for danger though.

>>42657606

You take a step forward, at the ready for whatever you need to do to stop it.

“How are you still alive?” You demand.

It smiles showing a mouth with several dozen teeth coming from all directions. “Well, I’m not reeaaally anymore. What was truly Carmina was killed by you, but it wasn’t really your fault. That darn Sayuline tricked me really good.” It pouts dramatically. “Anyway, to answer your question, Carmina left a part of herself in Paradise when she first received the gift, and here I am after I found your little nosy birds.”

Your fingers twitch with anticipation. “You said you had something to give us…”

“Oh right. A message!” It snaps a pair of its many fingers. “The Empress will not win this fight, and no one is ever going to reach the Ancillary Manta. So turn back now, because this is our home!”

“That’s not going to happen.” You respond frankly. “And the present?”

“Ohhh, the present wasn’t for you…” She answers, looking past you.

You immediately turn around to see hundreds of tendrils burrowing their way into the nearby soldiers’ skin.

“See you all past the Sluice Gate!” It announces before bursting into a cloud of brilliant spores.

[1/2]

>>42658142

You ignite them all with your flames, the chain reaction feeds off the cloud and clears it entirely.

You turn back to find that the dozens of soldiers are now mindlessly rushing back to the camp, and attacking those who weren't first assaulted by the tendrils. Spores already burst from large sores on their body.

You seal and burn as many of them as you can, but these spores spread and propagate at a rate too quick for you to deal with alone.

One soldier lunges at you with his blade, coughing spores into the air, and you teleport as far back as possible and shoot a bolt of flame to ignite him completely.

This needs to be dealt with, and quickly, before the rate of spreading becomes completely out of control.

If you immediately regroup with the other councilmembers, you should be able to quash the spread with minimal losses, but the swarms of soldiers aren’t headed for where the councilmembers are, but more towards your own tent where Izu is waiting. You consider informing The Empress about all of this, but her tent is entirely on the other side of camp, and reaching it will take some time since you have to avoid the spores as well.

You consider your options, very carefully.

>Head toward the other councilmembers.

>Head toward your own tent.

>Head toward The Empress’s tent.

>Write in.

>>42658178
>Head toward the other councilmembers.
Maybe we can get Philomena killed in the action.

>>42658178
>>Head toward the other councilmembers.
Think thought to Izu, he can read them and either run like mad, or barrier himself and maybe a few men for defense.

>>42658178
>>42658217
Seconding this, and mentally tell Izu to remain inside his own barrier at all cost.

>>42658276
Izu's flames are purifying type anyway, he's probably even better suited to deal with this than the Empress.

>>42658217
>>42658235
>>42658276
Getting help, and sending a warning to Izu.

>>42658302
Very observant!

>Writing~

>>42658321

You need to stop this before you have hundreds of thousands of enemies surrounding you, plus in the chaos, who knows what could happen?

You immediately rush back to the meeting tent, and sense Izu wanting to act.

“Don’t leave the tent!” You warn him.

“I can help them!” Izu already argues with you in your thoughts. “You know I can help them!”

Ugh!

“If the situation gets out of control, stay inside your barrier and wait for me.” You finally relent.

He speaks no more, he’s already left to act.

You approach the tent just as the other members begin to file out, and quickly inform them about the situation on the other side of camp.

Justina’s eyes light up with sudden purpose. “That’s Necromancy!” She exclaims before running off toward the spread.

“Those filthy rats think they can attack us!?” Disgur immediately burrows a hundreds of tendrils into the ground.

“Go move the unaffected troops further away from the spread.” You order the martial councilmember who replaced Zarn. “Virgil, go inform The Empress immediately.”

The two of them run off without another thought.

[1/2]

>>42658746

“Philomena…” You look back toward where the panic is starting to spread, and hear the faint screams in the distance. “Come with me, we have work to do.”

You instantly head off, not letting her have a chance to think, and so she chooses to follow you into the fray. While running you incinerate as many afflicted soldiers as you can find.

“We should separate! We’ll cover more ground.” Philomena calls out behind you.

You nod your approval and pretend to rush ahead. A number of soldiers spot you, and give chase. After gathering as many as you can keep at bay, you wrap around to the area Philomena headed toward.

Hearing the sounds of pained growling just around the tent, you take off to let the mindless soldiers discover her, but she’s already bursts through them, crushing them all into the ground.

She turns to you floating in the air, and gives you knowing stare.

“I somehow knew it would come to this…” Her distorted voice calls out to you.

~

>>42658762
Okay, I'm going to have to end it for tonight. An unexpected turn of events, so let's see how we'll get through this. 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

>>42658808

thanks

>>42658833
You're very welcome!

>>42658808
I kinda expected us offing her would not be as easy as a simple backstab. It's never THAT easy.

So what's Izu doing? Carmila took her magic from the Broodmother for a price, which was what she was going to try and recover with Sayuline's help.

How badly has the army been hurt? Any spores bearers getting through to the city.

>>42658808
thx 4 runin budi gud thred

So she recognizes us and is talking in her monster form? Shit, last couple times she was all mindless.

>>42658872
Of course, it's not going to be THAT easy, look how far we are.

Izu is currently purifying as many soldiers as he can. Carmina did in fact get her powers from The Broodmother, but what she was trying to do was summon The Broodmother into the world. For what reason exactly....

The state of the army is still unknown, but you are VERY far away from the city, so it's quite unlikely.

>>42658875
You're very welcome!
She recognizes you, but was she mindless the entire time?

>>42658954
Is Justina able to counteract some of the spread via her Necromancy?

She seemed like she was able to by the way she ran off.

>>42658954
>For what reason exactly....

Either to become whole or to be reunited with loved ones who were assimilated in that realm.

Now that our fire ahs been used how does it compare to Aya's(as we last saw it)?

>>42658979
She is, and that's exactly why she ran off so enthusiastically.

>>42658982
The last time you saw Aya's fire was quite a while ago, so in comparison you're much stronger. But keep in mind, she was also sealed.

>>42658954
>She recognizes you, but was she mindless the entire time?
So she faked it that one time she attacked us and Izu had to calm her down? What a bitch. We should raise her with necromancy after killing her so we can kill her again.

>>42659019
>But keep in mind, she was also sealed.
Could have sworn we saw her fire sling a few times after we unsealed her. Ah well.

>>42659027
We can do soooooooo much worse anon.

>>42659019
How large is Philomena right now? Did she place the curse on us after we saw her monstrous form or prior to it?

>>42659068
I did a quick check through, and I don't think there was any serious uses of her flame after the unsealing that you saw.

>>42659113
Philomena is about double your height, but several times your weight. You're still not sure when the curse came upon you.

>>42659178
Nice wording. So we're still not even sure it was Philomena.

>>42659217
You were free to investigate it further, but no you're not completely certain. Very often this quest won't allow you to wait until you're completely certain.

>>42659178
About how long would she last against gel flame or our explosions if she has no more resistance the normal flesh?

>>42659249
Yeah I noticed lol. I guess we can ask her before we fry her up next thread. We shoulda had Izu meet up with us so he could detransform her again :(

>>42659252
If she had no more resistances than her normal flesh, she would last as long as normal human. But she part of the leading family of Pyromancers.

>>42659265
You can! Izu might not be as far as you think.

>>42659321
>But she part of the leading family of Pyromancers.
Really I knew Aya had a strong flame, Didn't know Philo was part of a pyromantic family.

>>42659336
Woops, mixed up that question with another. Philomena is not a part of any Pyromancer family, but her resistance to flames would be higher in her transformed state.

>>42659390
Figured it would be. Too easy otherwise. I wonder how far she can jump. Since Sophia is going to be in the air as often as possible. She display anything other than curse magic to our spy?

>>42659418
She didn't display any other types of magic, all the information that Vicki gathered was through notes.

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

K guys. We need to call over Izu first thing next thread since he hard counters Philomena. Without him we'll have a hell of a hard time even hitting her because she's fucking fast despite being huge.

Well i sure missed a lot

>>42657032
>>42656956
>>42656912

I'm just saying, watch out for that double cross from the dad mind clone at the endgame.

>>42662219
He isn't anon. Have you even been reading this quest?

>>42662219
dude what? WE named him.

And it's probably a damn good thing we didn't take Izu along, or those addicts might have gone crazy over THE TRUE EMPEROR IS HERE.

Can we tell Izu to hold back and go straight to us? Who cares if the Usurper's army is decimated?

>>42662530
We want her around until she finishes off the broodmother. That way she loses some of her forces and the broodmother is put of the way.

Just a reminder that having Izu do any type of magic in the sights of anyone from our Army is a terrible idea. We don't know what type of Fire magic our father had, and the Empress already thinks he looks like him, so putting actual proof to her is a real danger to us and Izu.

>>42665786
Our pyromancy was inherited from our mothers side, and izu got it from us, so we're safe on that.