If it was so easy to make them, wouldn't all the hunting in the forest eventually cause it? It wasn't as if countless things didn't die daily to other animals.

Dullem set his boot on the freed pike, drawing in a breath with a distasteful grimace when he inadvertently choked himself on the smell of fresh guts. "Most things eat what they kill. Rabbits, wolves, deer... Animals don't hunt in excess if they can help it." He explained, wiping away the beading sweat from his forehead as he looked back over the serpent's remains. "I ain't claiming to be an expert on how those things show up, but usually it takes a lot o' dead things to make one show up. A rabbit here or there, or some half-eaten deer probably won't matter... This thing?"

'This thing' was as tall as you, perhaps taller, and was probably as long as some of the smaller trees in this forest.

"'Sides, you told us we'd be eating it. We can't leave it here."

You decided to leave the logistics of moving it back to camp to Dullem. There was little you could really do, both because of how physically weak you were in comparison to the peasants, and because you would probably just get in the way since you weren't used to it. In the meantime, you circled back around to the slain head of the serpent. Peppered with arrows, with several of them piercing through the humour exuding eye socket, and a mouth of wooden shards and bloody gouges, the serpent's head was still large enough that you could have very well been swallowed whole by the creature with little effort.

>Leave it be, you remember something about muscle spasms keeping a snake alive even after death.
>Inspect it for something, you might be able to salvage a token of your first hunt.
>Other? (write-in)

>>42690081
>>Inspect it for something, you might be able to salvage a token of your first hunt.
A small tooth or part of a fang? Or a few scales if we don't want to get near the head.

https://archive.moe/tg/search/tripcode/!y56qKWqxyc/results/thread/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=valen+quest

Where things are said:
https://twitter.com/Riz_QM

Pastebin Stuff:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu

Misc notes:Imagine how horrible it could have been if we had hunted this snake on some wide, open, grassy field instead?

>>42690220
That'd be GG no RE level shit man. Although if we had enough good quality polearms and trained men it'd be doable.

>>42690124
This. Writing!

You approach and look the snake head over. Rolled onto its side with its jaw wedged open by several large shattered shards of wood, there's little you can do to stop the shiver that runs down your spine. The instinct that discontentedly grumbles in the back of your mind telling you to avoid the maw of a predator like this was duly ignored, overcome by your curiosity in maybe salvaging something as a token of your first hunt.

The scales on its head were much smaller than on the rest of its body, only enough for a single one to cover your hand rather than hide half your torso. These were still fresh, not like the old ones that had long been worn and shed which you had used to track it here. If you wanted to, you could probably manage to pry some loose as a trophy, though you're not sure what you'd use them for. It would, at the very least, let you nick a keepsake without needing to get too close to the agape jaw of bloodied fangs.

Those fangs, however, ranged anywhere from being as long as your arm, to as long as you were. Unlike venomous snakes, this one's mouth consisted more of "teeth" to grapple onto whatever it bit and swallow it. On one hand, that meant you had little to fear of accidentally dying of snake venom; On the other, that was a lot of really sharp things in a relatively small space. If you were the clumsy type, you'd legitimately be concerned about tripping and impaling yourself on accident.

>Nobble some scales
>Wiggle free one of the smaller fangs
>Try to rip out one of the larger fangers
>Other? (write-in)

>>42690804
>Nobble some scales


You read snakecatcher? Good Taste Riz.

>>42690804
>>Fangers

>>42690804
>>Nobble some scales

>>42690930
>>42691060
Writing!

>>42691058
How embarrassing.

>>42690804
>Nobble some scales

Grasping a discarded pike fragment, you spend some time stabbing it into the snake's hide. You were lucky that the scale covering around the mouth wasn't as thick and absolute as the rest of its body, but that didn't make your efforts to stab a pointy stick into its tough skin with your noodly arms go any better. It takes you several minutes of effort and no small amount of splinters before you finally manage to pry free your prize. While some were damaged in the process, you did manage to extract two scales roughly the size of your hands.

It's a relatively small loot, considering the size of your prey, but these were yours. You'd pocket them, if you actually had pockets.

The rest of the work was handled by Dullem and the peasant-knights as the lot of them managed to un-stick the snake and get in position to start dragging it back. It was slow work, to be sure. The entire group straining together to drag the corpse a few feet at a time. It's gruelling, it's physical, it's grunt work.

Which is why you're not doing it.
___

You and your party get back to your cousin's estate sometime after nightfall, just barely breaking the wood line into familiar ground with a sigh of relief at the sight of bonfires blazing to life on the walls. Your own contingent carrying a row of torches as you walked, a measure of defense against nightgaunts that you weren't certain would really make a difference, but it set their minds at ease all the same. You lift your own torch higher, signalling to the guards atop the wall. It sends them into a bit of commotion, leaving you slightly befuddled as you move forward with the others and slowly begin haul the serpent load the final stretch of the way.

The creaking of the front gate opening catches your attention some ways through the process. Rather than the guards you expected, you were surprised to find Caylen and Alouette's approach illuminated under the warm torchlight.

"Irue!" Caylen's outstripped Alouette's measured approach in short order, jogging towards you with his eyes splitting between you and the massive reptilian corpse being hauled into his frontyard behind you. "You're... back?" You quirk a brow at him questioningly, arms crossing absently. "Where else would I be?" You can't help but ask.

"I heard from Alouette." He explained, "About you planning to go hunting. I tried to come with you, but..."

You watch him laugh awkwardly, his eyes steadily shifting from you towards the snake carcass with a complicated expression. "When she said you were going hunting, I didn't think you'd go after something so... Imposing." You shrug, easily deciding to not mention your own reluctance on the matter once you had actually laid eyes on the the thing.

>Honestly, I wanted an Oakenbear.
>It was my first time, so I wanted to make it something interesting.
>My knight captain was quite the asset.
>It wasn't too bad. Probably could have taken two, if we found another one.
>Other? (write-in)

>>42691880
>It was my first time, so I wanted to make it something interesting.
>My knight captain was quite the asset.
>We needed something big to feed everyone. I hope this is enough.

>>42691969
Writing.

"Well it was my first hunt." You shrug, following his eyes to your peasant-knights tugging the snake into camp. Its head was already in, but the rest of its body was still farm from contained. "I wanted it to be something worth the effort, and I had thought to maybe pay you back for how much food you had used to feed them all for so long."

In the torchlight, it was difficult to notice the way Caylen paled at your explanation. "...I'll send some people out to help take it apart tomorrow and get it prepared." He answered after a moment, "I have to ask, how many men did you lose hunting something like this?"

"None." Your lips quirk in a pleased manner, "We felled the thing without so much as a single loss. Maybe some splinters here or there."

"..." Caylen stared on in silence for several moments, digesting your answer slowly. "How?"

"Hm?"

"This was your first hunt, how did you do something like this without a single loss?" He demanded, "They're barely brigands, scarcely armed, and have no training. With losses perhaps, but casualty-free?" He turned back to you, seeking an answer in a way that wasn't quite frantic, but far more forceful than you had expected. "My Knight Captain was quite an asset." You hedge, "Between his advice and some things I had learned, it wasn't too difficult."

To be honest, dragging it home was the hardest part.

"Just like that..." Caylen breathed incredulously under his breath as he glanced back at the snake briefly. "...I can only congratulate you, Irue." There wasn't anything left for you to say as you watched your cousin start to make his way back towards the inner courtyard of his estate. Your eyes narrowed after him, trying to piece together what had him so out of sorts.

"Puncture wounds along its flank." Alouette observed conversationally after Caylen left, preventing you from fixating on his behaviour for too long. "Mirrored on the other side, I presume?"

You nod, smiling a little wider as Alouette looked over your haul. "Your knights had nothing to cause those in their possession, and you didn't borrow any of ours..." With a glance alone, it seemed that the white-clad swordswomen had pieced together one of the primary factors which had led to your successful hunt. If she had gotten out in time to see the head, you wonder if perhaps she'd have been able to recreate the entire process purely from conjecture. "They're used to living in the woods, so they had plenty of axes and hatchets." You explain a little bashfully.

It was one thing to claim the victory as your own, but if your peasant knights hadn't been who they were, you doubt they would have had the resources on hand to have created the tools you lacked at the time. Alouette nodded, a soft smile gracing her face as she dismissed the snake entirely and placed a heavy, gauntleted hand on your shoulder. "Very good, Irue. Your aunt will be pleased when she hears about this."

Ah...

"Was it heavy?" She asked, snapping your attention back as she withdrew her hand. "The responsibility of leading those men. You had not felt it until today, correct?" Alouette explained coaxingly.

"A little." You confirm tiredly, "I thought about going after something else, but I took the risk instead."

She nodded softly, "I had expected you to return disheartened, or perhaps with slightly smaller prey." She admitted freely, "Your results were far beyond my expectations. I am proud to see you have grown so much." You duck your head under calmly delivered praise, glancing away awkwardly even as Alouette smiled. It wasn't a large expression, but the simple upward curve of her lips spoke volumes.

>Ask her for advice about leading people
>Ask what's up with Caylen
>Ask about your Testament
>Show her the scales you claimed.
>Other? (write-in)

>>42693160
>Ask about your Testament
>Show her the scales you claimed
need to go Monster Hunter on this bitch, and some advice on the testament wouldn't go amiss.
Also
>Ask what's up with Caylen
Cause food probably isn't the only issue we caused.

>>42693160
>>42693254
This

>>42693160
>>Ask about your Testament

>>42693254
>>42693351
>>42693315
Testament

>>42693254
>>42693315
Everything else.

Writing!

"How have my Testament been since I left?" You steer the conversation away from the hunt. There was fair cause to be concerned, considering you had left one of your Testament rather angry with you and the other one had recently been revealed to have, at some point, grown into being petulantly possessive. "As far as I am aware, Miss Lamandra has remained in the library for most of her time here." Alouette hummed thoughtfully, "We converse from time to time, but I've little free time to spend socializing I'm afraid."

"And Ari?" You sigh, gleaming little of Rinnier's mood from Alouette's explanation. It's here that the strawberry blonde woman seems to pause for a beat before answering. "Unfortunately I don't have an answer for you. I presume she spends much of her time secluded away, much as Miss Lamandra does, but I rarely see her outside of the times she has accompanied you."

You suppose that's fair. It wasn't as if Ari was the type to sneak around or do things of her own volition unless properly motivated. At the very least you can assume she hasn't gone and snitched on you to Rinnier, simply because no one had attempted to meet your return with arms.

"Do you know what's bothering Caylen?" You hedge after a moment, getting a curious glance from Alouette as the mention of her charge-slash-boss. "He seemed upset about the hunt when we spoke." She laughed lightly, shaking her head reassuringly. "Have you heard tale of his first hunt?" She turned to look at the snake with a nostalgic expression flickering across her face. "At the age of eight, he tracked and caught a rabbit on his own. We were all quite impressed with the initiative he had taken, and his mother in particular had been quite pleased."

"So he's upset my first hunt was a giant snake?" You hazard a guess, but Alouette shook her head, smile beginning to fade a little. "No, I'm getting to that."

"Caylen misunderstood what a hunt was." Alouette explained, "And he so easily turned it over to the guards after announcing it as such. He had thought it was going to be his pet, you see..."

"Oh..." You mutter darkly, receiving a shallow nod from the guard captain. "Yes. We eat what we hunt, and that night he had rabbit." She sighed, "It was a small event, but it crushed young Caylen. Eventually he got over it, but his luck with hunting seemed to have been poisoned from that moment on; He lost most of his guard on his first official hunt, as well, and the time after that, and the time after that..."

She shook her head, "At first it was inexperience, later it was bravado, and eventually it was inexplicably bad luck, but Caylen has never once led an expedition which did not have at least one casualty of some sort to its name."

"Jealousy, then?" You grumble.

"Perhaps, in part, but I think perhaps envy is a better term." Alouette corrected gently, "For someone as gentle as Caylen, what can be considered his curse weighs rather heavily on his mind, especially when he begins to think of what will happen when he goes to battle."

"So I guess his hunts fail quite often, then." You surmise solemnly.

"Not as such, no. To date, Caylen has never once failed to bring in his mark." Alouette frowned softly, "Though sometimes, it may have been better if he had." She shook her head, glancing at the snake appreciatively. "Part of me had been concerned that such a curse may have extended to you as well, but it seems you've struck true to the Valen blood."

You fidget a little, unsure of how to take the praise in light of what you had learned about Caylen. "Actually, I do have one more thing to ask you..." you mutter, retrieving the scales you had managed to pry free of the serpent's head and present them expectantly.

"You claimed a prize?" Alouette lit up warmly, "Do you have something in mind for them?"

"That's kind of what I wanted to ask you." You admit, "I'd like to keep them around as a keepsake, but I don't know if anything can be done with them."

Taking your prize carefully in hand, Alouette looks them over with a critical expression. Roughly the size of your hands, but very smooth to the touch, and extremely durable. They were quite flexible, absorbing impact easily without chipping, and fairly light weight considering the girth of their source.

"It would perhaps make an interesting shield." Alouette thought aloud, "We've certainly no shortage of them to harvest from... But with just these, perhaps something a little more personal." She turned the scales over a few times in inspection, "Perhaps some form of jewelry? A necklace, or bracelet?"

You unconsciously rub at your wrist. It wasn't the same thing, but just thinking about it made you feel little anxious.

"Or... Perhaps something else? I could ask our artisans what they can do, though you may have some smiths within your own people."

>Leave it to Caylen's artisans.
>See if you can get a blacksmith from your peasant knights to look into them.

AND

>Accessory
>Weapon

>>42694418
>See if you can get a blacksmith from your peasant knights to look into them.
>Accessory

>>42694418
>>See if you can get a blacksmith from your peasant knights to look into them.
>>Weapon

>>42694418
>See if you can get a blacksmith from your peasant knights to look into them.
>Weapon

>>42694418
>Weapon
>See if you can get a blacksmith from your peasant knights to look into them.
Something for self defense wouldn't go amiss, and maybe having the villiage smiths have a go at it might inspire them to make something for the rest of the guys.

>>42694544
>>42694647
>>42694712
>>42694744
Peasants.

>>42694647
>>42694712
>>42694744
Weapon.

>>42694544
Accessory.

What an interesting choice.

Writing.

Now that she mentioned it, there probably were smiths or craftsmen amongst your peasant knights. Giving these scales over to Caylen would have definitely guaranteed something high quality, but weren't these meant to be a keepsake for you? This wasn't as if you were going shopping, it had to mean something. With that in mind, wasn't it just common sense to ask the people you went hunting with, your new knights, if they could do anything with it?

You nod to Alouette slowly, taking the scales back. "If that's your decision." She acknowledges, bowing lightly in acceptance as she holds one arm over her chest, "If there is nothing else?" You wave off the familiar request for a dismissal absently, thanking the guard captain for her time as she retreats back into the interior courtyard. You're left standing in the dark, watching the final portion of the snake's tail be extracted from the forest as you think over what to do. An accessory would have made a nice keepsake for your first hunt, something casual you could wear around...

But the thought of wearing a bracelet was disconcerting. You'd avoid that if at all possible. Necklaces were also out, as you already preferred chokers over the loose fitting strings and chains. Perhaps the scales could have been made into just such a thing, but you'd rather not entrust such an important thing to people you barely knew the capabilities of.

You'd talk to Dullem about it later, you suppose. If there was anyone in your group who could do things with them, he would probably know.

In the meantime, you probably needed to check in on your Testament. Perhaps it was the high from the successful hunt that made talking to Rinnier seem a little more palatable, but you had left her on a bad note. It wasn't as if you could particularly change that, considering you certainly weren't going to apologize for what you did, or promise to not do it again - Especially as it seemed to have some strange effect on your condition - but...

Okay, maybe talking to Rinnier was still a bad idea.

That left Ari. She would definitely want to know you were back, and you kind of wanted to talk more about the hunt you had just been on. There was a simmering excitement in you that felt disconcertingly foreign and welcomed all at once, and part of you definitely wanted to do things like today again soon. The rush of success was nearly intoxicating, and the good cheer from your peasant knights had been heady.

...But knowing Ari lately, you wonder if she'd even care. There was a good chance she would just force you in front of a light again, which was the last thing you particularly wanted to do after having such an exciting day. Still, it was nighttime, and if you didn't uphold your end of the bargain then there was an uncomfortably high chance that she would make good on her leverage over you.

Given your options, you don't think you really have much choice.
___

As expected, Ari seemed entirely uninterested in your talk about the hunt. It was one thing when she was shy, but after several minutes of being actually ignored as she sat in your shadow, even your enthusiasm was starting to wane. "Can't you at least pretend to care?" You grouse, receiving only a brief glance from the Testament in question. The innocent shake of her head only furthered your frustration as she confirmed that, no, even pretending to care was too much of an effort for her.

"Look, I'm Irue, right? My success is Irue's success."
"No."

She flatly rejected your renewed attempts, "Master could have done it much better."

How could it have been done better? You killed it! No one died!

"Could have it done without help."
The level of confidence Ari held in Irue was almost blinding in its purity, if a little unreasonable.

>Try to convince Ari to be nicer to you.
>Just shut up until she goes to sleep

>>42695605
>>Try to convince Ari to be nicer to you.

>>42695605
>Try to convince Ari to be nicer to you.
She's literally talking to me all the time. She was rather proud of "Making a sandwhich". I'm not particularly liking this either I want to stay in the dark where it's calm and quiet. However, she wants to wait trying to fix it for now, so can we at least be civil?

>>42695605
>>Try to convince Ari to be nicer to you.
We're more or less watched over by Irue regardless of who is actually in control, so it's barely different. What would Irue think if Ari was discrediting something that was her responsibility?

>>42695635
>>42695675
>>42695766
Writing.

"Don't you think you're being unreasonable?" You try irritably, crossing your arms as you settle in for a longer conversation. At the very least, you had gotten Ari's attention with this. "I'm part of Irue, so in the first place it's not even like we're different people, but beyond that it isn't as if I'm not being watched." Your finger taps against your arm agitatedly, a tic you're made consciously aware of thanks to Irue's own interest in preserving and controlling body language. "Anything I do, Irue approves of. I look the same, I sound the same, I do the same thing, I say the same thoughts, Irue was even proud of me earlier!"

You almost want to pause after that last part slipped out, your mind abruptly screeching to a halt with a flat 'What'. Perhaps even more jarring was the way Ari's stare intensified at your accidental admission. In true fashion to your metaphysical parent, and perhaps one of the most unfortunate ways to prove you were in fact Irue Valen, your mouth continued to run even as your brain stalled and frantically began to restart.

"Don't you think Irue would be disappointed with you if you kept abusing something they're responsible for?" Ah, what was that expression? "Personally I don't like any of this either, I'd be perfectly happy just staying somewhere nice and dark rather than have to deal with all this trouble." It seemed familiar, but on Ari it was hard to tell. "So why won't you be a bit nicer until we can fix this? Or at least be polite. You're nothing like this around anyone else!"

"-Back."

...Huh?

"Take it back!" Ari's glare forced you back a step, not because it was particularly intimidating, but out of sheer unexpectedness. "Why should I be nice to you? It's your fault that this all that's left of Master!" Her fingers clutched at the floor beneath your shadow futilely, scraping against the wood as they closed. "Someone finally took me, and then... And then you happened!"

Anger.
You blinked, your attention scattering as a familiar notion in the back of your mind finally seemed to wake up in tune with your shadow stretching subtly.
You made her angry. What did you do?

Putting aside why Irue had to ask, you forcibly bring your attention back to Ari as her tiny, furious tirade began to wrap up as she balled her fists weakly on the ground. Even as angry as she was, it still wasn't quite enough to push her to violence, it seemed.

Small silver linings, you suppose.

"Look, it's not my fault this happened." You try to explain, "If anything, Irue made me do this and tried to run away!"
"Master wouldn't run away!" She choked out, "Not without me!"

You pause, tracing your memories - Irue's memories - for some promise that may have been made, but...
Dependency is an expected phenomenon for someone with her past.
Is that really something that should be observed so clinically?
No. It isn't.

>Let her cry herself to sleep, you've done enough.
>Apologize. Lie. Try to cheer her up, somehow. If she's breaking down, you might not be far behind.
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)

>>42696677
>>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Well, we DID promise to stay there with her and then picked her up and wandered off instead.

It might be worth trying the Shade attunement again in order to wake Irue up out of her shadowy slumber, and Ari might be willing to take it from the horse's mouth. Dopplerue might not be the happiest about Ari, but Irue is still looking out for her.

>>42697053
This was the correct answer.
Though I wondered if perhaps everyone had frozen and run away.

Writing.

>>42697102
Frozen up, sure, but not run away. Not without Ari. Digging around to try and figure out what puzzle piece is supposed to be the thing that fits is rough.

Means I'm two for two on the last two prompts, at least, so at least it's satisfying.

>>42697102
I got lost in the archives again. I keep overthinking these.

>>42697163
I know that feeling. I figured that was the best lead I had and came back because the alternative is sitting in "uh, maybe someone else will come back with something better! definitely!" limbo for eternity.

also are you the guy I talked to about ebooks, or is "dig around through the archives and try not to panic" just standard operating procedure for everyone?

You had done enough damage yourself by trying to fix this, and given what had come of it, you weren't keen on trying again. When it came to Ari, it was becoming very clear that she wouldn't accept your word for anything. Given that she had essentially come to see you as the sole reason Irue had left, you supposed anything you tried to do would naturally be resisted, but...

No, you did have something you could do, didn't you? As it stood, Ari may have outright hated you for what she saw as having taken Irue from her, even more so for claiming to have taken Irue's place. If that was the case, then you just had to bring Irue back into the equation, right? If it was only temporarily... If it was only for a few moments, then you could do that.

"For a little while... I think I might be able to give Irue back to you." You admit to the sobbing Testament. Those words alone captured her attention more completely than anything else you, or anyone else, could have done or said. "Now?" She crawled forward, "You'll give my Master back to me? Right now?"

"Only for a little while." You correct, fighting the urge to wince as the emotion you now recognize as anger started to flush back onto Ari's face. "If it were up to me, you could have Irue permanently, but I can't!" You continue quickly in an attempt to stop any further outbursts, "We're not even sure how it works, exactly, but I think... I think I can pull Irue back for... a minute? Maybe."

Ari sat back, displeasure with the timespan presented written clear across her face, but... "Do it." Even if it was only a little, only for a minute, Ari didn't hesitate to seize on it. For her, this was an opportunity she absolutely wouldn't let pass. "Alright, I just need to turn out the light first."

You busied yourself flushing out the lights of the room, plunging it into a familiar pitch black. This was where you had been 'born' for lack of a better word, and where you had inadvertently been bound by agreement with Ari.

With the darkness around you, it was a simple matter of meditating in accordance to Shade's disciplines. The thought that you had locked Ari out of this very room the last time you did this occurred to you, an irony that unfortunately served to distract you from the task at hand.

It was far easier to do this last time. Riding the success of your hunt, and how well the day had gone, you found yourself struggling to actually submerse yourself in the insecurities you were used to living in. You frown, expression thankfully hidden in the darkness as you hear Ari begin to shift impatiently not far from you. While you had no problem with seeing in the dark, it was like a blindfold of anticipation for the physically inept girl. Still, she held her tongue, clinging to that hope that Irue would come back - if only for a moment.

After several agonizingly long minutes, you begin to sweat. Something was wrong. You couldn't do it. This was how it should have been, but you couldn't do it. That feeling of excitement from earlier, that intoxicating feeling, it ate at you now. A feeling of guilt, like you had betrayed something vital to yourself. You had become lost in the moment, forgetting what you really were, letting yourself become corrupted by experiences meant for someone else.

All for what? Now you couldn't even trance yourself back to thinking like you should. What were you going to do if you were trapped like this? You had finally made some kind of progress, found that clarity, and then thrown it away?!

Ari shifted again, your eyes rapidly twitching back and forth behind closed lids. She was getting impatient, if you fucked this up now then she'd probably never give you another chance.

"Feels different this time." Sublimated in your own insecurities, a terrifying and completely foreign experience, you nearly miss Irue's voice. Your eyes snap open almost immediately, relief starting to flood through you inadvertently - A relief that instantly turns to despair as you catch sight of Irue's physical form begin to dissolve back into shadows.

The process halted, briefly. Freezing in mid-conversion, leaving Irue with a disgruntled expression as they inspected their limbo-esque state of being a primordial shadow. "You were happy again, weren't you?" they accused you in a deadpan, voice echoing disconcertingly from the parameter of the room.

"I'm sorry, I can't, I don't... I don't know what's wrong. It's not working!" Your tension was rising, babbling at the half-formed shade of the person you had been created from. "Hm..." If there was any advice, it didn't seem forthcoming.

"...Master?"
___

You are Irue Valen. Due to the incompetence of your inferior-half, you are currently a primordial being of physical shadow. All things considered there are probably worse things to be, but this wasn't exactly your first choice in the matter. However, for as far as you could tell, this was going to be your form until the doppleganger finished deciding whether it was going to have a mental and emotional breakdown or not.

There is probably some symbolism involved here, in so much as your form is representing some inner struggle it was experiencing, but other than it being an inconvenience to you and a novel experience, you really didn't bother to look to much into it. It wasn't as if you had any experience in how to help apparitions, after all.

"Hey, Ari." You greet the timid Testament familiarly, becoming aware of her presence around your 'core' rather than feeling it physically. She had almost immediately latched onto what served as your manifestation after you had spoken.

You awkwardly attempt to wrap an arm around her, distantly noting what you assumed to be tears. Your awareness extended throughout the room, so detail work was expectedly tricky.

That night, there wasn't much conversation to be had. Ari fell asleep quickly, thankfully never once being able to see that mess of disembodied shadow your doppleganger's panic had thrown you into, and you were able to talk to her briefly. Reassure her that you weren't gone, and, though reluctant, extracted a promise from her to make an effort to get along with the doppleganger in question.

you also had to shoot down the question of whether she could somehow become a shadow as well. The last thing you needed was for your Testament to get wrapped up in this kind of mess.

Before she fell asleep though, you had a chance to ask or tell her one thing.

>What was it?
Help, I am skirting decu levels of delay.

>>42698011
>you also had to shoot down the question of whether she could somehow become a shadow as well
ari pls

>What was it?
The thing that made her freak wasn't that we were currently gone, it's that us being gone for now made her think we were going to be gone forever.

I know that the whole Testament rite thing is a little vague in the specifics, but the one thing we know for sure is that our Testament is intended to be as good as an extension of ourselves. So not only are we not going to ever leave without Ari, that goes for the other two as well. It's why we went looking for her in the bandit camp, and why we bit a shrine attendant and why we're going to end up on a wild nomad chase for Rinnier. And we'd do it again. (Though maybe we'd handle the biting somewhat better next time.)

We're all in this together. And even though it was a pain to get to a place where we could tell her so, we're glad she was looking out for us.

>>42698203
Back, and writing.
Though now that the choice has been made, I think its funny no one thought to ask how she could tell the doppleganger wasn't Irue.

>>42698011
>>42698203
Seconding this.

Was trying to think of something we could ask her, but this kind of reassurance might be what she needs more than our own inquiries at the moment.

We need to assure her that not only are we looking out for her, but as an extension of us she should have confidence in her own actions as well. Her assertions towards shadowrue were technically an improvement.

>>42698274
Ultimately, I figured regular question-answering is something we could easily do as the Doppelganger, but if we're going get to tell her one thing as Actual Irue it's more important that it's something that would actually matter to her.

>>42698297
She probably wouldn't tell dopplerue, considering the most conversation we could get out of her thus far are rejections or demands.

>>42698338
Definitely not before, sure, I meant now that we (as Actual Irue) have managed to ask her to maybe not be quite so hard on the doppelganger because Doppelrue isn't actually an evil abductor, she's just a weird shadowy thing that got stuck and is doing the best she can.

>>42698374
>though reluctant, extracted a promise from her to make an effort to get along with the doppleganger in question.

I've a feeling we didn't really get her to sympathize. At best she'll probably cooperate angrily now.

It was difficult to tell Ari that you were proud of the way she had stepped up when she realized you had been replaced without inadvertently encouraging that kind of behaviour to continue. It was one thing to have seen it the first time, but if she kept up her distrust and unexpected vitriol with your doppleganger, it severely restricted what you could get done.

But for that note, it was important to address exactly why she was doing it. Given her history, and the way she had acted after your Rite had begun, you had expected some degree of dependency to form. This was the type of personality which had practically promised itself to the first person or thing to show any type of vested interest in it, and to that end, it was extremely fortunate that someone had been you rather than a less outstanding individual.

When you had been replaced, it was if the fragile world she had tenderly begun to build around her had been ripped out from around her. You had come back when you left her in your room, you had come back when she ran from the wooden golems, and you had went out of your way to come for her when she had been kidnapped by bandits.

So even now, though this was unexpected, you had come back. Honestly you had never left, as you were often very much aware of what your doppleganger was doing or saying. Where it went, you went, and it wasn't purposefully trying to keep you hidden away. The situation was too complicated to explain to Ari, especially given her limited understanding of... Well, most things. However, you did ensure to make one thing clear.

She was a piece of your Testament, like Rinnier and Kara. That meant that come war or peace, you would always stay connected somehow. When you left, you would do everything you could to return; There would never come a time when you simply abandoned them.

There was more you wanted to tell her. Much more, about just how far you had gone trying to help Kara, and your doubts about just what you'd end up having to do for Rinnier, but perhaps it was for the best that Ari had fallen asleep before you could even begin. Given her trust in you so far, you doubted she needed, or even wanted, any more confirmation than your word. Your word, personally, rather than the parroted reassurances of your doppleganger.

You consider yourself lucky that the pitiful apparition had managed to keep you in this half-corporeal form as long as it did. Through out the conversation it seemed to be alternating between falling further into despair and reassuring itself that everything was going to be fine. You can't say it wasn't a bit disturbing to see what looked exactly like you having a complete breakdown not a few feet away, but you had to put off dealing with it until Ari had fallen asleep.

"You can stop now." You sigh, shaking your doppleganger's shoulder gently to get its attention. "I don't know what you're doing, but its done something weird. This isn't anything like last time."

"I can't." It croaked in a panic, "I can't do it, I can't feel it. You're here, but I can't feel it. It's not there anymore, I can't reach it!"

Your hand withdrew almost instinctively as your doppleganger looked up at you desperately, reaching out into the vaguely formed nebulous darkness that composed your 'core'. "What happened? We were so close, what am I doing wrong? What did YOU do?" It wasn't enough to cause you to break down, possibly because what was in front of you was firmly entrenched in your mind as something beyond understanding. It wasn't something you felt you could be influenced by, even if it was nominally a part of you.

The weaker, insecure part.

"Calm down." You focus your presence further around your doppleganger, experimentally attempting to exert enough pressure to grasp ahold of them. It was more like full body paralysis than anything else, you note curiously. "What's wrong?"

"It's gone. You're here, but I... I can't..."
"What's gone?"

Your doppleganger swallowed thickly, "The clarity. I felt it, last time. When you were here. I felt like me again, like I should feel, but... I can't. You're here, and it's not. I'm still wrong."

You frown, or the best approximation of that you can manage. "I'm not here like I was last time. Look at me, I don't even have a real body right now." You kind of want to do something to emphasize it, but the fact that you were omnipresent within the room kind of took care of that for you. "I don't know what I am right now, but whatever you did last time isn't this."

"No, I did the same thing. Shade meditation, it should have been the same thing. It wasn't, I couldn't..."

You were treading unfamiliar ground. You honestly couldn't say what had gone different this time, but something had deviated from the norm, or you wouldn't have resulted like this... Unfortunately, figuring out where to start wasn't an easy task either.

"Can you end this?" You offer, trying to push the doppleganger in some direction that wasn't breakdown oriented. "I... I think so." It swallowed, appearing to try and bring its focus back in order. You kept your attention primarily on it, only absently noting the dulling of your senses. Where before you near omnipresent within the room, it was if pieces of your body had simply ceased to respond. A tingling feeling, not unlike a limb having fallen asleep, began to seep through your awareness and slowly encroach around you.

It was heavy. Suffocatingly heavy. You couldn't breathe anymore.

...

You are Irue Valen. Part of Irue Valen, a part born of insecurities, and right now you have so many of your own that you couldn't honestly tell anyone where Irue's ended and yours began.

"Did it work?"
I feel disoriented.

The unfortunately familiar voice in the back of your head confirmed that it had, in fact, worked. You were able to break your meditation and dispel Irue's manifestation. While they were probably pleased about that, it meant very little to you. Breaking your meditation had managed to forestall your breakdown, but the lingering thoughts and worries that had sparked it were still very much in play.

I'll look into things from my end. Until then, try not to let it concern you too much.

Too much? Too much?! This was a big deal!

But your protest was cut short, the phantom weight of a bracelet pressing against your wrist making itself known alongside Irue's merciless declaration. Your complaints clamped shut, though you felt yourself start to cry in their absence.

It was a very long night for you. For the first time, you wished you could have simply slept through it.
___

From here, you may choose one of two paths.
>1. Continue exploration and teamwork with Dullem and your Peasant Knights.
>2. Skip the remaining time until Caylen's contacts return with information about Roderick's brother.

>>42698711
>2. Skip the remaining time until Caylen's contacts return with information about Roderick's brother.

>>42698768
Writing.

Almost a week had passed since that night. You had dropped off your keepsake scales with Dullem some time ago, explaining to him your request to find a blacksmith or craftsman among his men to make them into something practical for you to keep around as a memory of your first hunt. Though he had seemed amused by the idea, and promised to see what he could have done, you hadn't really heard from him since.

You suppose work takes time.

In the meantime, however, you were left with a large amount of spare time. You were hesitant to go on anymore hunting excursions with you peasant knights, and you still couldn't bring yourself to talk to Rinnier. With those two things crossed out, all that was left to you had been waiting with Ari, poking around the estate half-heartedly, and thinking about what had gone wrong. As troubled as you were, and with no way in particular to resolve it, you thought that the sheer length of time you spent waiting around for something to happen was going to drive you crazy.

At the very least, the good news was that the snake had been harvested for meat successfully! Unfortunately this led to another five day long stew marathon. Snake flavoured.

This would probably have been the last step to catapult you clean off the edge into stir-crazed madness, if you had actually eaten any of it. It had certainly done a number on the staff, especially after the third day. The peasant knights, oddly, seemed fine with it.

"We're used to having to eat the same thing for days." Dullem had explained offhandedly as you followed him through the pitched camp, "This isn't anything new to us, really."

You suppose it was a privilege of the wealthy to be able to eat whatever they wanted each day.

Never the less, the end of those stagnant days came eventually in the form of a summons from Caylen.

"We found the brother." He announced as you entered, the first good news you had heard all week- "He didn't vanish, he was kidnapped." -Of course.

Caylen handed the papers of the report over to you with a frown. "We were lucky to find what we did, but it seems like your attendant's brother got taken as collateral." The term caused a weight to sink in your stomach even as you scanned through the handwritten paper in your hands. There were certainly implications of criminal connections to Roderick's family, though whether those connections extended to Roderick himself or not was yet to be seen.

What was known, however, was that Roderick's brother vanishing wasn't something simply 'unexplained', but had been actively covered up. Either the authorities of Carona had been deceived or worked in concert to sweep his disappearance under the rug. Maybe you were justified in planning on firing all of them? Well, more justified at any rate. "You said you found him," you mutter in confusion as you check the papers over again, "This doesn't say where."

"We haven't 'found' found him." Caylen grimaced, "But we know that it wasn't a disappearance now, and with how little of a blip this made on our radar, we can assume that there's more to this than a simple two-bit gang." you hand the papers back to your cousin with narrowed eyes, "Then that narrows down the possibilities of who took him."

Caylen nodded, setting the papers aside, "It also makes things more complicated. We don't know which one of the more prominent groups could have done this, and perhaps more importantly, we still don't know why."

Did you really need to know why? You could probably leverage just this much information to put pressure on Roderick. For a man who seemed rather obsessed with authority and his own image, letting something like this get out could be enough of a threat to force him to retract his complaints. On the other hand... What if it was just something his brother had gotten himself into, and had nothing to do with him?

"So, how do you want to proceed?" Caylen asked.

If you stuck your nose into this, you'd probably end having to get involved with the kind of illegal groups that didn't tend to forget or forgive. While you weren't too concerned with any physical threat they could pose to you, it wasn't unheard of for places like that to have their fingers in politics as well. It could make things more difficult for you in the future if you tried to go out of your way to investigate this too far.

Then there was the matter of Roderick's brother himself. He had vanished not too long ago, was he even still alive? If it was for a ransom, or repayment, you somehow doubted that an attendant of the Shrine would be in a position of wealth to contribute.

...They would be far more useful to manipulate. If it was his brother, a sibling Roderick had spent his life's work raising, then certainly there would be a connection between them. They could definitely use that. On that suspicion alone, any charges or actions Roderick had levelled in the past would instantly become suspect to any involved. Depending on how you approached it, you may even be able to paint your own aggressions against him as acting to expose him.

>Use this to defuse Roderick's threat. You can get him investigated and discredit his complaints in one fell swoop.
>Find out more about this 'collateral'. What's really going on with Roderick and his family?
>The enemy of your enemy is your friend, isn't it? See if you can get on better terms with the people who already had dirt on Roderick.
>Other? (write-in)

>>42699155
>>Use this to defuse Roderick's threat. You can get him investigated and discredit his complaints in one fell swoop.

>>42699155
>>Find out more about this 'collateral'. What's really going on with Roderick and his family?
I've a feeling Caylen wouldn't like us getting involved with organized crime just to get back at someone.

>>42699170
Defuse

>>42699217
Collateral

So we're tied now. Before I roll, does anyone want to come out of the word work to break the tie? This will effect how you proceed from here, and there's no take-backs.

~5 minutes.

>>42699240
collateral
i don't think roderick i such a threat

Rolled 2 (1d2)

collateral is it is, then. Writing.

Your vote came in literally seconds after I hit post, but 4chan bugged out on me.

>>42699312
eh, no worries mate

In the end, the thought of just using this implication to shut down Roderick certainly crossed your mind. You hadn't particularly liked him, or Carona's guards, as evidenced by how you got into a fight and promptly bit one of the aforementioned people. Granted it was completely justified, they should have simply backed down and listened to you from the start, but the point stands:

You don't bite someone unless you're completely certain you don't particularly want to be friendly with them in the future. It creates a relationship between you that is rather non-conducive to friendliness. The kind of relationship that says 'I am mentally prepared to bite you if you piss me off'.

Still... Your own misgivings aside, you can't help but be curious about just what this 'collateral' is all about. If it really did have something to do with a notable criminal organization who had managed to snake their influence into authority and politic, then this was probably something you'd have to encounter at some point anyway, right? Getting the drop on it couldn't hurt. In fact, if you played your cards right, you might even be able to take Roderick's brother hostage yourself and then-

"Irue?"

-You blink, realizing you had never actually answered your cousin's question. "I think it would be worth it to look more into the missing brother and the people behind kidnapping him." You answer after a moment's thought, trying to filter your previous thoughts for something that wouldn't cause Caylen to give you an unneeded lecture. "Roderick or not, Carona is under Valen Jurisdiction; I'm not fond of sharing our land with criminals." Caylen snorted, "A funny thing to say considering your knights."

"My knights are reformed." You sniff pointedly.

"However, I agree with your sentiment." Caylen ignored your comment with a smile, "I can have people investigating them shortly... Though I'm concerned that this Roderick's complaints will have born fruit with my mother and father before anything comes of this."

You grimace at that. You had hoped to have this resolved before that became an issue, especially since you had little doubt that your aunt and uncle would take any excuse to further sabotage your Rite. The fact you had effectively bitten a chunk through their coffers by taking three Testament would likely only sweeten the deal...

"Think you can stall for time?"

Caylen shook his head, "There's little I can do to oppose mother and father. If they issue a summons, that's it." He shrugged apologetically, "I could come as witness to your defense, and maybe explain what we've found, but..."

"But that probably won't hold any weight." You surmise irritably. "So we need some way of pushing me off the radar until I can get some kind of result to fight those unfounded complaints with."

"I wouldn't call them unfounded, Irue. You did bite the man."
"It was justified!" You insist once more, trying to get Caylen to understand. "He was trying to have my Testament executed for visiting a Shrine!"
"You didn't even try to talk it over with the authorities of Carona, did you?"
"They were racist and wouldn't listen." You cross your arms stubbornly, "I did what I had to in order to protect Kara, and I'd do it again."

Caylen sighed, "You're taking this rite of initiation very seriously, aren't you? You've barely known your Testament for a month, Irue. Why go out of your way for them so much?"

>I refuse to fail this Rite.
>They're my responsibility.
>I've made promises I need to keep.
>I don't need a reason to help people.
You may choose only one.

>>42699635
>>I've made promises I need to keep.

>>42699635
>I refuse to fail this Rite.

>>42699635
>>I've made promises I need to keep.

>>42699635
>>I've made promises I need to keep.
The last option made me laugh.

>>42699650
>>42699663
>>42699685
Promises to keep.

>>42699658
Refuse to fail.

>>42699685
Zidane was cool, though.

Writing.

"I have promises to keep." You answer simply.

There was little else to it, and you didn't bother to give the question a second's further consideration, because it came down to exactly that. To each of your Testament, you had made promises in turn. There were oathes you had to keep, and they came before even passing this Rite.

That was a complicated sentiment. Passing the Rite was certainly still your primary goal, and as Caylen had said, it wasn't as if you had a great deal of time to get to know and become attached to any of your Testament in particular... But as a matter of personal principle, fulfilling your promises came first.

"I see." Caylen accepted your answer neutrally, "Well, that aside, how do you plan to avoid my mother and father's inevitable summons before this can be resolved?" That was the current crux of the matter. You could certainly plan all you wanted to, but the end result was that you were still on a rapidly shortening time limit for getting results.

"If I'm not contactable, that can buy me some time." you theorize quietly, "Though if you don't know where I am, and I don't show up for too long, that could be taken as avoiding notice..." It would certainly give you some extra leeway for Caylen to get results...

"Alternatively, you could just answer the summons and explain your case." Caylen suggested with a long suffering sigh. "It wouldn't be nearly as borderline illegal as trying to hide out in the woods to avoid being called by my parents." You offer Caylen a mildly scathing glance as you take that possibility in mind. Once you get into their grasp, you doubt you'd be getting out unless Caylen managed to find something to bail you out with, and even then you don't know how well you could defend you and your right to the Rite's continuance in the meantime.

If you failed there, then that was almost assuredly an instant disbanding of your Testament. On the other hand, if you could somehow succeed in convincing them of your case AND maneuver around their own machinations to swipe you behind a curtain and carry off your inheritance of the leader of House Valen, then you stood a chance of actually gaining their help in this. Under the direct attention of your aunt and uncle, you were almost completely certain that you could uncover whatever 'collateral' was being mentioned, and get to the bottom of it... Though by that time, it would likely be entirely moot anyway. There would be no point in even bothering with Roderick once you cleared your name.

Well, no point outside of burning the man's precious image to the ground and ruining his life for trying to set upon you and yours.

You take that back, there was plenty of reason to bother with Roderick, but then it would be openly petty instead of conveniently in line with arguably more virtuous goals. Overkill was acceptable, petty revenge was not, the two should never be crossed if it was possible.

"There is one other option." Caylen suggested after a moment, "There are certain circumstances where a summons can be ignored for an indefinite period of time. One of them applies in the case of those currently involved in foreign politic, subterfuge, or discrete operations."

"...Discrete operations?"

"Infiltration, for example." He pursed his lips reluctantly, "I would rather you not, but if you're deadset on finding out more about this ring of criminals, then I could relay to my parents that you had agreed to go in yourself once I discovered word of them. That should be enough to put this whole summons business aside, but..."

"...But I would personally be responsible for gathering information, infiltrating, and eventually getting results." You finish for him, receiving a dire nod of confirmation.

>Time to become a hobo.
>I'll answer the summons.
>Going undercover sounds interesting
>Other? (write-in)

>>42700018
>>Going undercover sounds interesting
Sounds productive.

>>42700018
>>I'll answer the summons.

>>42700053
1. Undercover

>>42700081
2. Summons

Any tie breakers before I roll?
~5 min.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

No tie breakers showed up.

Dice gods, guide us.

Thinking about it, you didn't think you could handle staying cooped up in Caylen's estate much longer. You had been here for almost as long as you had been traveling to GET here, which was distressing. Perhaps more so, you had spent the last week or so of your time here simply meandering about the halls waiting for something to happen. Could you really expect to last who knows how much longer doing that?

Or worse, if you had to go off the radar to avoid summons, what would you do back out in the forest again? Sure you could take your peasant knights with you, but they've spent the last few months to a year stranded out in the forest. Dragging them back out there with you wasn't an option you particularly wanted to consider.

Then there was answering the summons... No, absolutely not. While it had the highest reward, if you made a single misstep, it was over. You refused to risk your Testament over the chance to clear up some minor kidnapping. Besides, even if aunt and uncle did become involved, they would take the credit for having resolved the incidents - Not you. It was a lose/lose situation for you, unless you just wanted to play the good Samaritan.

With that in mind...

"I'll see you in a little while, then." You waved farewell to your cousin offhandedly, having made up your mind.

"See you la- Wait, what?" His reply cut off abruptly as he scurried to his feet, "Wait, where are you going?"
"To Carona?" you answer blandly, "I thought we just discussed this. You said I'd be able to avoid their summons if I were involved in a discrete operation of some sort."

"Yes, but I also said I'd prefer you NOT do that." He stressed, "You don't know how to defend yourself, and neither of us even knows where to start looking for information in the first place. It's too dangerous for you to get involved so readily!"

"You'd prefer I stay in the woods?" You purse your lips at him, "Did you forget about the nightgaunts already?"

"No, I would prefer you just go to mother and father and explain what's going on." He grumbled exasperatedly, "After you helped those brigands, and with this information, we could get them to postpone judging you based on the complaints until we've resolved the matter in its entirety, and then I can put forth the notion that they be dismissed in favour of what you had achieved."

"They're not going to do that." You reject him entirely with crossed arms as you frown at your naive cousin. "They're going to use it as an excuse to fail my Rite, and then resolve the incident on their own time after shipping me off to a suitor in order to wrest my inheritance from me."

"No, they're not!" Caylen groaned, "When did you become so suspicious, Irue?"

...

"Caylen, you are aware they engaged me behind my back, right?" You had to make sure of this. It was what had prompted the entire rite beginning after all, "They were planning to do this even before I forced the Rite issue to get out of it. What makes you think they're not going to go right back to dumping me into that arrangement?"

"Because we're not your enemies?" Caylen tried, "We're family, Irue. I'm sure they were just trying to look out for you."

You were speechless. This went beyond naivety by a large margin, it was almost wilfully ignorant, or...

"Caylen, what have you done?"

He didn't respond at first, eyes drifting over your shoulder nervously as you slowly turned back to face him with suspiciously narrowing eyes. "What did you do, Caylen?" Something sparked at the base of your spine, running up your back lime an electric charge. Something was starting to click together in his mind as he tried to gather words, but you advanced on him before they could form, stepping across the invisible boundary of personal space as you reached out and wrapped your your pale fingers into a fistful of his shirt. "Answer me!"

"I may have mentioned you were here." He stuttered awkwardly, trying his level best to back away from the murderous storm cloud beginning to gather behind your eyes. "When?" That was the most important matter, if it hadn't been that long ago then you still had time to- "Last week, when I sent the message out for my friends to look into Roderick's brother."

"Why!?"

"Because I got a message from mother and father! Someone had gone by your house to deliver the summons, and they found nothing but a destroyed kitchen and half an oakenbear in your yard, what was I supposed to say?" He defended himself while admirally attempting to console you in all the wrong ways. "They were worried about what had happened, I couldn't just tell them I didn't know!"

For a brief moment, that night you returned from the hunt sparked to mind. How unsettled he had been at your departure, and the way Alouette had mentioned your aunt hearing of the hunt...

"They're coming." You breathe out in cold realization, needlessly confirmed by Caylen's jerky nod.

>You... YOU IDIOT!
>You betrayed me!
>Drop him, leave. You need to gather your Testament quickly.
>Threaten him into lying to cover your escape.
>Other? (write-in)

>>42700563
We should leave quickly but what about Asche and Kara, they're supposed to head here.

>>42700563
>You... YOU IDIOT!
>Drop him, leave. You need to gather your Testament quickly.
>Caylen if you haven't realized it by now, You parents have marginalized me. They've made me blind to the world by lack of education, Kept my true identity from EVERYONE. The bandits and brigands didn't know I existed. They thought you were the heir to be. The people of Carona thought I was insane when I told them who I was. They've also limited my resources to next to nothing. I have one maid and couldn't even keep my kitchen stocks because I have no funds. Your parents have been engineering their take over of the house since I was a child. You're either hopelessly naïve, willfully blind, or in on it with them.

>>42700563
>other: remain calm and be dissapointed

>>42700563
>>Threaten him into lying to cover your escape.
He lied to us, more than once. One more -for- us should be in his nature by now.
>>Other? (write-in)
If Kara and Asche get here, that means we didn't run into them on the way to Carona - he needs to send them after us.

>>42700615
>>42700634
Leave quickly.

>>42700634
Screaming baka.

>>42700635
Stoic disappointment.

>>42700640
Threaten him into lying

>>42700634
Really long and angry write-in.

>>42700640
Trust Caylen to redirect our Testament to us, rather than introduce them to Aunt and Uncle.
___

We're tied on whether to be quietly disappointed or loudly angry. Preference, or shall I roll?

>>42700726
Quietly.

>>42700726
Simmering cold fury.

>>42700563
>>42700635
This guy. losing our shit is not a thing Irue Valen does lightly

>>42700726
Disappointment. Calm down, dopplerue.

>>42700739
>>42700747
>>42700778
>>42700789
Remaining calm and furious, then.

Writing.

The outrage you felt was almost enough to make you lash out at your cousin. The urge was there, snapping the chain of your patience taut with each desperate and vicious lunge it made towards his neck, and the piece of his shirt clenched in your fingers strained softly as your knuckles shone white from the pressure with which you had begun to grip down. The muscles in your arms burned, begging, pleading to be used. A slight tremor ran through your tensed forearms as you prepared to begin shaking the life out of your cousin....

And then you let him go.

Everything inside of you screamed to pummel the stupid man in front of you, even as you brought your arms deliberately back to your sides and forced clenched fingers open. That was perhaps the most difficult part, a feat you achieved partly in thanks to your briefly closed eyes as you breathed in deeply to find what remained of your frayed focus. It stung, in your joints it burned like molten lead, and the act of keeping those same fingers relaxed at your sides was monumental.

He still remained tensed when you finally opened your eyes again, having managed to compress that burning outrage into a single, dense ball of hate and disappointment. It gave you room to think, so long as you didn't let yourself get sucked into its demanding pull. You could let your mind wander whilst it orbited you, let you really go back over what Caylen had done.

Betray you. Though perhaps not in his own mind.
Sell you out. To his worried parents.
Lied to you. Twice. No justifications were forthcoming for this.

Though you had explained to him at least once the situation you had found yourself in, he had completely refused to believe how serious you were about your aunt and uncle having sabotaged what may very well have been your entire life for the past decade or so. He had preferred to believe his mother and father's actions to be born of love, rather than greed or malice. While he had housed you without complaint since you arrived, he had also hidden things from you and purposefully kept you ignorant of what he had done - which meant he knew, at least, that you would oppose it.

You were furious with him, yes. While you could understand, perhaps, how someone who genuinely believed what he did could consider what they did a good thing, you could scarcely forgive a transgression like this. Not when it put not only your own inheritance, but the promises you had made to your Testament in jeopardy.

...But not enough to lose your temper. Irue had snapped at Rinnier from time to time. You personally had nearly attacked her for disparaging Shade, but this had nothing to do with you. This offended you, this enraged you, not because you were a doppleganger - But because you were Irue Valen. Irue Valen prided themselves on, if nothing else, control and manipulation of body language. They did not allow themselves to lose control unless there was absolutely no recourse. While this was bad, yes, it was still not in the same league as when you had first discovered your 'engagement'.

"Caylen, you will listen to me now." You finally find your voice, a glacial thing that had more in common with an iceberg floating haplessly towards the S.S. Caylen than any actual form of communication medium. "Whether you so choose to believe this or not, your parents have done their level best to remove me from the scene for near a decade now."

"I-"

You tilt your head as Caylen's mouth opens, body moving in sync with deliberate purpose. Some muscles tensed, barely a breath's shift forward of a shoulder and accompanying foot as your weight shifted in turn. "You had over a week to speak." You cut him off coolly, watching him shrink under your narrowed eyes, "That right is now forfeit, much as my own freedom may have been had I remained ignorant of what you had done."

"What I did? Irue, they're family." He protested quietly, "They're our family, they're not going to try and trick you into something. Just trust me, alright? I'll stick up for you when they get here, just like I used to!"

For once, perhaps with all the belief he had gained over the years, every blow from Alouette he had suffered as he trained, every humiliation he had experienced in public standing up for what he thought was right, for just this one time, Caylen met your cold stare as he pleaded his case.

"I did trust you." You can see the tentative hope start to blossom, relief nervously peaking into his features, and you allow it to start taking root- "And then you taught me otherwise." -Before freezing it off at the heart in a single disappointed breath.

"Irue-"

"I'm leaving now, to do as we discussed." You interrupt as you turn away fluidly, your step twisting enough to add a flair to your stubbornly long hair as the ball of your foot pointedly strikes out a singular, crystal clear echo in the ensuing silence of Caylen's office. "I had presumed your house somewhere to be safe, so if the rest of my Testament arrive after I leave, my last favour from you is simply that you send them back to Carona rather than shepherd them into my dear aunt and uncle's hands."

"And what about you?" He choked out angrily, "You think they're just going to accept that you're not here?"

You pause at the door, one hand already twisting the knob enough to have quietly clicked it open, and you allow a single moment's break as you considered the question.

"Tell them I am busy." You suggest half-heartedly, "Or lie. It is something you have become rather proficient at, of late."
___

The door clicks shut behind you, allowing you a reprieve from at atmosphere that still begged for you to let loose and throttle your cousin. That orbiting ball of hatred circled closely, but you shook off its inward spiral, physically moving your head back and forth in a tepid and weary manner as you gathered yourself outside of Caylen's door.

You didn't have time to be angry right now, you had preparations to make. There was no telling how far away your aunt and uncle were right now, and you would once again be making a trip through the forest without a ride. Perhaps worse, it was almost certain you would need to be traveling back to Carona whilst avoiding roads, lest you run into the very people you were trying to avoid...

Only this time, you were liable to be taking an entire regiment of peasant knights in tow behind you.

For now, though, you needed to find Ari and Rinnier. Dullem could be reached after them, and the orders delegated, but your Testament came first.

The frustrated roar and clatter of books slamming into a wall behind you was gratifying at least. Enough to allow some of that compressed malice sympathetically siphon away through sheer schadenfreude. Enough to tell you that the ice in your fangs had met their mark.

...Mana, when had you turned so vicious as to do that to your own cousin.

Retrieving Ari took very little effort, and thankfully there was only a brief token of resistance from Rinnier. A brief exchange of words had been all she needed to acquiesce, however reluctant she was to once more be on the road with someone who she had yet to resolve unsettled affairs with. After that, it was simply a matter of meeting with Dullem; At least two or three hours were to be expected as the peasant knights were roused from their indolence to break down camp and prepare to move.

With nothing to do but to wait, you found yourself standing in the mid-afternoon sun as a familiar glimmer of white emerged from within the courtyard.

Alouette's pace remained unhurried, even as the peasant knights rushed to prepare themselves to leave. Given her experience, she probably anticipated just how long it would take them to get their things together on such short notice, which explained why she seemed in no rush herself to arrive. You consider pretending not to notice her approach, but eventually decide against it. She had already seen you, after all.

"Ser Valen." Though her voice was the same, the formal greeting as she bowed her head was a subtle clue that she was already aware of what had happened.

>Ask if she thinks you're being unreasonable.
>Ask why she's here.
>Say good bye.
>Other? (write-in)

>>42701534
>You have something on your mind, say it.

>>42701534
>Want to come with me?
Did we gave hat back?

>>42701590
Well, get on with it.

>>42701699
Wanna come with?
We gave hat back.

Writing.

"I'm in no mood for formalities." You sigh, shaking your head to disperse the uneasy feeling you had at her formal greeting. "You have something on your mind, just say it."

She smiled, the same soft quirk of her lips, but the way her eyes dipped caused your chest to clench. That expression was anything but happy, even as she quietly accepted your frustrations. "Please make use of these." She answered with a gentle neutrality, producing a rolled map and compass from a satchel at her waist. "You will be travelling through the forest, will you not? It is easy to become lost if you've nothing to track your way."

Staring at the tools in her hands, you find yourself hesitant to take them.

"That's it?" You ask bemusedly, "This is all Caylen has to offer after what he did?"

Alouette shook her head, strawberry blonde hair shifting slowly in its relaxed wake. "Caylen sends an apology." She corrected with a small lilt of amusement, "These are from me. I wanted at least one of our parting gifts to be useful to you." You can't help but crack a smile, and the expression very genuinely feels like something cracked to produce it as you take the proffered navigational tools with silent thanks. "I'm sorry, Alouette." You mutter a little childishly, "I didn't mean to..." You struggle to find a word, halting long enough that the white-clad swordswoman simply nods in comfortingly.

"I do not take it to heart, as you shouldn't." She reassured you, "Perhaps next we meet, it will be a happier occasion."

"..." You clench the tools in your hands, glancing back to your peasant knights indecisively. "Are you... Do you want to come with me?" You asked, but you already knew the answer even before Alouette stepped forward to hug you. "I am knight who has sworn my blade to Caylen." She answered plainly, stroking your hair once before releasing you and once more stepping back - A single moment of warmth, as credit to the time she had spent with you as a child.

"When you return, perhaps your Knight Captain and I can trade stories of our incorrigible charges."
'Come back safely, Irue.'

You snort, a smile coming unbidden as she bowed once more with her arm customarily crossed, a playful half-smile twitching at her lips.

"I'll chastise him if he talks badly about his master."
'I'll be fine.'

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http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest

And we are archived.

I'll lurk the thread for a bit to try and answer some questions if I can.

Apologies to all anons who participated in Valen Quest but died at their keyboards wondering when QM would finally stop.

To those who did not make it to the end, we will never forget your sacrifice.

>>42702155
So what's Caylen's Mindset? How pissed will Aunt and Uncle be?

Rinnier and Ari know why we're so angry and leaving or did we not tell them? What are our chances of finding Asche and Kara on the road. The knights less mopey now?

>>42702200
The peasant knights are significantly less mopey, but confused about why they've been abruptly told to pack up.

Rinnier has been given a condensed version and is disgruntled and unsatisfied with her information. Ari doesn't care.

You are not traveling on the road in order to avoid familial travelers, so I estimate your odds at approximately 0%.

As for Caylen and his parents... Caylen will always do what he thinks is the right thing to do. He is good intentioned, even if those intentions do not line up with reality. Or particularly benefit all (or any) involved parties.

>>42702283
would kara be able to smell us if we're close?

>>42702312
She could probably smell you even if you weren't close.

Odds are she would smell your peasants first, though.

>>42702327
Kara is bloody OP you realize that?

How upset/angry is Caylen. I assume Rinnier is going to ask more once we're on the road?

>>42702327
so if she smelled us would she come to us?
even if it's just out of curiosity as to why we're not at caylen's anymore

>>42702358
Rinnier will ask more at all times. If she isn't asking questions, something is wrong.

I rather like Kara. It's a pity she hasn't gotten much screentime, because she's interesting to write... But yes, there is very little that can physically challenge Kara.

As for how upset Caylen is... I'll leave that to you. I feel like trying to describe it now just cheapens the impression you got from reading his reactions yourself.

Choosing to remain cold hurt him more than simply exploding at him would have, however.

>>42702448
Yes, she would detour pretty much instantly to come investigate.

Remember that statement. It might bite you in the ass later.

>>42702489
Aunt and Uncle using her to find us because they already met?


>>42702468
Good, it was meant too. He's lied to and betrayed us.

>>42702519
>He lied to and betrayed us.

I wonder how many players did or didn't expect this?
I wonder how many will hold it against him?

>>42702540
Since he was so principled I didn't expect it, as to holding it against him, there would need to be a real apology or a very good reason to forgive him.

>>42702578
agree with this. a honest apology from Caylen would suffice since we know he wouldn't fake apologizing

>>42702578
>>42702782
This is kind of surprising. It makes me worry about the future, a little.

Oh well, it will be a fascinating ride. At least you're starting to get the >Forgetting options more often now. I'm proud of you all for that.

>>42702540
>>42702873
I expected lies, but I didn't expected that he'll just do something like this without telling us.
Maybe he's more into this prophet business that his talk with Maran led me to believe.