>>44276901
Is The Poet going to rhyme?

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>>44276901
"It's...gods, Amy, it's beautiful," you breathe, a little awestruck. "The detail is amazing." You look up at her and grin. "I notice you made my side black."

"Well yeah," Amy agrees, ruffling your hair. "You're always the woman with the plan."

"I haven't played in ages...wow. We should do a game!"

"Not right now, you've gotta train," Amy reminds you. "...What else had you planned with your day?" she adds, a little shyly.

"I was gonna go see River," you admit. "Check up on her. Bond. Make sure she's doing okay. She said she'd be fine for awhile, and Fetch would tell me if there was too much trouble, but..."

"No, no, I get it. Um. So if I wanted to, for instance, take Nate up to the surface after training. Say, up high in a private place, with an amazing view, and possibly discover what his tongue tastes like, you'd say...?"

> Please don't.
> I won't stop you.
> Go for it.

When you go to see River, you come prepped for:

> Business; a la Croix does the job
> Travel; you're just kinda there
> Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.

>>44276982
> I won't stop you.

> Business; a la Croix does the job

> Go for it.
> Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.

i wont stop you isn't encouraging, go for it is.

>>44276982
>> I won't stop you.
> Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.
she gets enough business from her haunting

>>44276982
>I won't stop you.
>Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.

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>>44276933
That would be telling, dear anon.

I'm leaving this vote open for the night. I need to sleep; I'll see everyone in about five hours or so, plus or minus for coffee, breakfast, and/or waking up early for no good fucking reason. As a reminder, I'll be going to see Star Wars at about 9:30 AM EST, then heading to work at 1 PM EST until 9 PM EST. Means morning run will be somewhat disjointed, and then I run in the evening starting at about 9:15 PM EST or so.

As always, questions, comments, feedback, critique, and discussion are welcome and deeply appreciated. Your input helps make my work better, anons.

Thank you again for reading, participating, and voting!

Not archiving went well last night. I'm gonna go ahead and repeat that maneuver here, so this thread has time to get some content.

>>44276982
>I won't stop you.
Slightly reluctantly though. More at being left out than anything else though. And /scared/ that they might leave together.

>Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.
She has a mentor, she needs support.

> I'd say that if you are gonna do anything of the sort, this is the day to do it.

and

> Pleasure, mostly. you're going there as her sister, not as her superior, but you're still both la Croix, and there is business to be resolved, so you still need to fit that in.

G'NIGHT VOX!

> Go for it. Just don't leave him up there, he can't get down on his own and I'd like to do some more taste-testing myself... On both of you.
> Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.

>>44277029
Good night, whore! We love you!
And this quest!

> Go for it.
> Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.

Bri hasn't been jealous up til now, let's not make it start. Fear about them leaving wouldn't be unfitting for her, but... well, why now?

>>44277029
>> I won't stop you.
>Pleasure.

Good luck, and get hyped because Everybody turns out to be Jar Jar Binks

>>44277077
>why now?
I'd say she should be feeling it now BECAUSE they've started to get close. She's starting to trust them, and that's when people feel the most vulnerable.

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>>44277168

>>44276982
>Kiss Amy deeply
>Go for it.
>Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior

>>44277948
>
Seconded

>>44277948
Actually yes. This. Switching from >>44277052
to
>Kiss Amy deeply
>Go for it.
>Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior

>>44276982
> Go for it.
> Business; a la Croix does the job

>>44276982
>Go for it.
Don't do anything I wouldn't do.
>pleasure
She's probably getting enough nagging form her ghost.

>>44276982
whelp, now we HAVE to have a full complement of 10 chickens, with maybe 1 rat and 1 ferret.

>>44276982
>Giggle girlishly and tell her to go for it. Then give her a sly grin and tell her not to do anything you wouldn't.
AND
>Pleasure; it's time for some sisterly affection and good-natured teasing. Also, its a grand and novel thing to suddenly have a new sibling.

Also, when we finally do reach the third level, we need to spend some time researching both the Death Choir (in order to figure out why anyone would fuck with one of `em in the first place), the rest of the Dungeon itself (I know Amy said she was born and raised much deeper in, so she might have more to add on this), and Necromancy (in particular we could aim for a friendly chat with the Lich, perhaps offering to share what we've learned from defeating our enemies).

>>44276982
> Go for it.
> Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior.

>>44278816
But juste before that, ask, as a joke, if the chess are suposed to be a little bit of a bribe for Nate.

>>44278825
"Why, Amy, is this supposed to be some sort of bribe? Because if it is, you're moving in the right direction. But it seems to be missing something...
And while she's stammering oh-so cutely, kiss her.

>Kiss Amy deeply
>Go for it.
>Pleasure; you're going as her sister, not her superior

We should ask them to have a runner go grab our lich gear from that tree fifty miles form town. even if we don't plan to use it. Better to have the stuff in reach rather then not in the Dungeon

>>44279636
Maybe when Amy and Nate go up we could ask them to take a look for it if they're in the area.

>>44279636
>>44279690
> "So if you could just walk fifty miles real quick and smuggle this necromantic shit to me..."

I can't imagine that ending well. Can you? Fuck, I did fifty miles on a /bicycle/ and it took most of the day (six days in a row - the PALM is fun but it'll take it the fuck out of you). On foot would be a hell of a timeframe.

>>44279778
>fifty miles
That's only 80 km You can ruck that in 10 hours or so, at a moderate pace. Let them take 2 days there and back, that gives them plenty of time for a date. It's a one day trip with horses.

>>44279821
Final consideration: to turn into an undead being, one generally has to die as part of the process. What happens when Bri dies?

Votes called, writing.

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>>44276982
You stand and fold your arms across your chest.

"Ames, was this a bribe to get me to say yes?"

You catch her with a slow, breath-stealing kiss when she starts turning various shades of red, silencing her innocent protests. She melts against you, letting you hold her; you can hear her chirping low in her throat.

"Thanks for looking out for me last night," you murmur in her ear.

"Always," she promises.

"Don't break the Hero," you tell her. "Getting a new one would be expensive."

She snorts a laugh and pulls away with a chiding grin. "You don't mind?"

"I don't mind. You've been thinking about it for awhile, yeah? Might as well put all of our cards on the table." You start to pack up the chessboard, marveling again at the detail on the work. "I'm gonna take this with me to see River. Play a few games with her."

"Have fun!"

"Heh, tell that to me again after Nathan kicks my ass and I'm oozing into the Lichyard."

Oozing is, as it turns out, not the most efficient method of travel, especially not down the Stairwell, and you quickly abandon your original plan of meeting River wherever she is and have her meet you at the bottom. You give your sister a brief hug before saying the words that have been on your lips for the last twenty minutes: "Merciful gods, I must /sit/."

Thankfully the Lichyard is not lacking in relatively flat, grassy areas, and it's easy to find one where you and River can set up the chess board while Fetch entertains himself running drills with the other chickens. River marvels at the craftsmanship, which makes you beam happily with sympathetic pride.

"So how've you been?" you both manage to ask at the same time. River beats you to the "You first," though.

> Tell her about the date
> Tell her about your suspicions about the third level
> Insist she goes first

>>44279872
YA CAN'T FOOL ME VOX

I KNOW YOU ARE RUNNING TWO QUESTS SIDE BY SIDE NOW >>44275097

YOU ABSOLUTE MADMAN

>>44280082
Wait shit I just saw the OP of that quest posted in this quest.
So you are inspiration! Fantastic!

>>44280082
Nah, that's a friend of mine running her first quest ever. She did ask me some advice, which I gave as best I could, but it was like, "You are deliberately seeking a blind man to lead you here, I don't know what you are expecting."

>>44280080
> Tell her about your suspicions about the third level
We're going after a guy known as "the Poet"

>>44280095
>She

>>44280080

> Tell her about the date

>>44280080
>> Tell her about the date

>>44280080
>Tell her about the date. Gush over how awesome it is to have a handsome young Hero and an adorable harpy to romance at the same time. I'VE GOT MY CAKE, AND I'M GONNA EAT THE WHOLE DAMN THING!

Votes called, writing.

She spent her week killing zombies and draining her lifeforce to exorcise them.

And then we tell her about how well we are doing and how many hot dates we are getting.

Nice tact anons.

>>44280270
>tact
Where do you think you are?

>>44280294
The place where people push for harem out of being incapable to comit.

>>44280311
Oh hey, it's That Guy. Shouldn't you be off shooting a FOB dog or something?

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>>44280080
"Well, I've been doing some research. Taking a vacation like Amy and Nate suggested." You grin a little crookedly. "Gave Nate that second date he was looking for."

River's playing white, and she starts the game off while you talk. "What'd you do?"

"Weapon training, talked, got drunk in public, evil villainess rant. You know, whole nine yards."

River stares flatly at you. "...That's a date in your world?"

You whistle innocently, and the elf rolls her eyes.

"You?" you ask.

"So many zombies!" the elf exclaims. "I'm amazed there's living people /left/ down here! Every time I think I've cleared an area, nope, there's /just one more/." River tucks a lock of her hair behind her pointed ear. "...But I kinda like the work? It's. It's something good, that I'm doing."

"Yeah, it is," you agree warmly. "Where have you been staying?"

"The shrine, mostly. The old guy that yelled at your cousin said I'm welcome any time. She doesn't talk to me much but, um. She's also not /there/, much? She's been leading sorties of cultists to put down the damn dogs that're everywhere."

"I believe it," you agree.

The game passes silently for several turns; River's moves become more cautious, hesitant, until she finally speaks up. "I've been wanting to ask you something."

"I'm listening," you tell her.

"...I know I need to continue my training. But. You're not done, in the Dungeon, are you? The angel, those chains. You have more enemies. As bad as Lisa, or worse." Green eyes flick up to meet yours. "I could help."

> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.
> "Tell me more about why you want to."
> "I'd love to have your help." Make River your final party member.

>>44280350
I don't mean this quest, I love how romace has been going on here. I was refering to /tg/ in general.

How many quests you have seen where there were multiple romance options and people managed to agree on just one?

>>44280350
He's typing while eating a great big slice of cake in front of some homeless orphans. YESSS! CRY MOAR!! YOUR SALTY TEARS OF SORROW ARE DELICIOUS!

>>44280311
I agree though, it does get on one's nerves rather quickly. Like some idiot who thinks ALL CAPS ARE BEST WAY OF COMMUNICATING.

I realize that I am a That Guy, and I am hoping to improve.

>>44280373
> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

I like River, but I want to see more options first

>>44280373
>"Tell me more about why you want to."
We can hear her out. Even so, I still think that she should;
>"Continue your training. We can't let these assholes make another play for the spear."

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> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

>>44280373
>"Tell me more about why you want to."

>>44280373
>Tell me more about why you want to."
Fighter/necromancer wouldn't be a bad addition, but let's see why

> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

She needs to study

>>44280376
I think the problem is, too many people want romance in their games. I prefer how hesitant Vox has been writing Bri. You don't rush headfirst into relationships in real life, after all. That's how you get burned. like a call during basic training learning your fiancé got married to someone else. Yes, I'm biased.

>>44280373
>"Tell me more about why you want to."

Not enough time to update before the movie, so I'll leave this open.

>>44280373
>"No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

We have our power trio for now. It should be simple enough to come back and ask her for help if we need it, plus we really don't have the time to be helping teach her necromancy. Training commitments already

>>44280498
Damn anon, that's fucked up. My sympathies.

>>44280503
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, LORD VOX!

>>44280373
>> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

She's still too new at this, and cleansing the Lichyard is an eminently appropriate apprenticeship for her. This is where River belongs.

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>>44280498
My condolances, for what little they're worth. That's...that's rough, buddy.

A lot of Bri's hesitation has been intuition, for lack of a better word. I think I've managed to imply enough that she's done the casual sex thing before, but that's the thing; it's always been /casual/, with people that interest her but, let's face it, will probably not know her for more than a month (faster if it turns out Bri gets ran out of town for some reason). And while on the one hand she hasn't gotten laid in /months/ and is /very unhappy about this/, she feels like if she treats Amy or Nate that way she'll ruin something potentially precious before it can ever really form.

She's playing it by ear. But, then, that's life, isn't it?

Going now.

> I think you should focus on your training for now. Maybe if you continue to spend more time with the Rose dicks they will come round to the idea that we do the same work, just in the opposite direction.

>>44280095
>Two dungeon quests, side by side.
We're all mad here.

>>44280373
>"No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

>>44280373
> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.
Much as I've warmed to River, I think she has a lot to learn and she should focus on learning it. Plus, who knows what awesome people we'd be locking ourselves out of having?

>>44280498
As long as romance isn't played for cheap, shallow drama, I couldn't care less either way.

Movie seen, not enough time to update. Will see everyone after about 9:15 PM or so for an actual update. Sorry about the combination of busy morning -> work; I can't say "it won't happen again" but the thread will keep going tonight.

>>44280376
...How has this been different from the background of "/tg/ in general"?

You can't see it but I'm taking notes.

>>44281106
>Much as I've warmed to River

Yey.

>>44282551
For one example, this quest hasn't been visited by anyone who would hate it just because it is a quest. It is kinda rare to not have at least one per thread until Quest is established(known by /tg/, usually first 10-15 threads), and might possibly mean that it is appealing to all of /tg/ who do not autofilter quests out.

>>44282647
Quests suck. They need a containment board.

Alright folks, I'ma archive just in case and then head out to work. Hopefully the thread stays up.

Thank you all for reading and participating! See ya...well, not soon, but tonight.

>>44282705
Still no signs of haters, but we have some people who lack attention.

Tell me of yourself and your deeds anon, and I shall nod and pretend to listen.

>>44282797
Quest thread touched me down there.

>>44280373
"I could help."
> "Help? What the fuck do you think you've been doing this whole time?"
>As much as I'd love to hang out with you more, and I'll try to make time to come visit when I can, we're la Croix, and when we have a job to do, we do it. Yes, you can help, and I definitely need you to do so, and am glad to hear that you want to, but we need to consider carefully what would best constitute helping in this case.
>Right now, the best way you can help is to handle things here, in the Lichyard. As you've observed, I don't really have the option to hang around for a long time on clean-up duty, but without you here, I really wouldn't have much option to *not* do that, either, would I? I can't really leave everything here just to Rose Cultists and Acheron Knights, and even if I could, there are parts of what's needed here that are best handled by a necromancer.
> Rely on Grandpa and the ghosts. I'll be back as soon and as often as I can, and before I leave I'll talk to Grandpa about helping to cover some of the aspects of your training that are best handled by the living. Family does for family, he'll do what he can, and even if it's not his specialty, with advice from me and the ghosts, he should be able to do well enough until we're able to see each other again.

Is there any way to create a communications link, kinda like we have with Sir Fetch, but with longer range, and between two people one of whom isn't the other's familiar? Even if it's not the full-blown conversational communication we have with Fetch, even if it just conveys vague concepts or impressions or the like? Maybe focused through a mated pair of talismans or the like? Or a previously never-came-up form of minor ghostly/shade-ey undead that would make a good messenger? If so, append the following to my vote:
> I'll also see what I can do, before I leave, to ensure we're not *entirely* out of touch while I'm gone.

>>44282985
> this
That is definitely how I'd like Bri to approach this.

>>44280373
>>44282985
Seconding this.
Hey Vox, hope you're well

>>44280373
Thirding >>44282985

I'd like to see her make appearances again but not necessarily as a party member. She still definitely has a part to serve though.

>>44280373
> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

We've got a good mix, doulbe-necro is the wrong weighting. We need a mage or blasty type for ranged offense and she's not it.

>>44283893
Agreed

Roughly five hours to vote call.

In related news, fuck retail holidays.

>>44285296
I feel you, fuck big movies around holidays, takes forever to clean up the theaters.

>>44285421
Muh fellow theater-slave
I understand your plight.

>>44280373
>Ask how or why she intends to help, but then tell her she's wrong and go with
> "No, you should focus on your training." Do not make River your last party member.

Either that or
>>44282985
>This

>>44285566
Contracted-cleaning-theater-slave here, friendo. You guys at the theater get it during daytime, my crew cleans it nighttime.

But the struggle remains the same.

>>44285943
Customers are animals. They might as well eat their buttered, sugary fat-slop from a trough.
If there's one thing that drives a person to misanthropic supervillainy, it should be working in movie theaters.

>>44285978
I do not work in retail, and can't claim to understand your pain, but I have yet to leave a movie theter without seeing popcorn on the floor somwhere.
How bad does it get, how often do pople spill their drinks or leave some other crap?

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>>44286027
My very first day of work was spent cleaning over-flowing toilets. I have scrubbed inch-thick sludge from beneath aisles n my hands and knees. I have watched underaged children walk out of horror movies they snuck into to vomit in the exact. middle. of the lobby. Everything is coated in oil, sugar, salt, or worse. Popcorn popper has burn me and nearly shot a burning kernel right in my eye. I've had soccer moms scream that I was "profiling" them because I wouldn't let them bring in a military-style duffle bag into a threater less than a day after a mass shooting in a theater elsewhere.
I hate them. They abandon all dignity, manners, or responsibility the moment they awalk into our building. The take a step down on the evolutionary ladder and I have seen children LITERALLY fling their shit in our restrooms.
People sneak in food or drinks constantly, which is the only thing we get paid for, incidentally, and then we have to clean up their illicit trash.
I would rather be elbow deep in the body of a week-dead full-grown hog again than look those things in they eye and pretend they're still people.

>>44286140
I remember that in the theatre itself, there s something on the floor resembling a carpet.

Why would they place a hard to clean surface there?
Also "again"? How did you end up in a week dead pig in the first place?

>>44286140
man, I really throw out a lot of spelling mistakes when I get my Hate on.
Admittedly, it's not always so dramatically bad, just most of the time.
I need coffee, that'll put me in a better mood.

>>44286204
This sentiment is how I sustain my writing. Coffee is an absolute good.

>>44286194
I live in southern maryland. VERY southern maryland. Apparently it'd eaten something a neighbor wanted back. I won't say what it was, but I don't agree that the effort was worth it. Still, she paid me, and I got to use its teeth for a sweet halloween mask.
>>44286254
People too often underestimate how much you can get done with the power of Hate.

>>44286310
I wish I could use hate to sustain my will to do code in three diferent languages.

Alas, I only get more hate and start missing symbols here and there, turning the whole hing useless.

>>44286357
Hate ain't for thinking. It's for doing.
Then again, I can only produce barely functional VBasic, so maybe I'm biased.

>>44281106
Kind of figured the last slot would be more the floor ally slot like old school rpgs. Once we reach the lower floors though, we could likely figure out who can help us take down the master himself.

>>44286426
Not gonna lie, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Three and a half hours to vote call.

>>44286708
In a lot of old school computer RPGs, there was a limit to how many people you could have on your side at one time, but you were actually limited to one less person than that whom you could recruit, because the last slot was reserved for a rotating cast of characters, switching out every floor or quest or whatever, that filled the slot with whatever combat role you had the least use for just then, plus acting as an exposition fairy, and in particularly badly designed ones, screwing up any tactical synergy you try to get going with your chosen characters.

>>44286708
I believe he means that he was expecting us to encounter friendly npc's specific to their own floors of the Dungeon to tag along until the end of that floor, then stay there while the main party moves on to the next level.

>>44286140
Contract-theater-cleaner here, just to add something.
The rest of the crew cleans the theaters, I clean the bathrooms.
I am baffled consistently by how people both manage to shit -under- the toilet seats and also shit -around- the toilet into the little pockets on the back of the toilet.
Especially in women's bathrooms where blood also gets under the seat.
Also women? Stop stuffing your fuckin' used toilet paper in there or your candy wrappers or your fuckin' cigarillo packets. It's tampon disposal, not garbage disposal, you shits.
And men? Stop tossing your fucking gum in the urinals, you heathens. That shit will clog it, overflow it and force bastards like me to dig into the piss-stained drain to get the gum you couldn't wait two seconds to spit into the trash like a reasonable person.

(p.s.: Children are the devil and I long for the day we are born straight into adulthood due to how many huge piss puddles in the middle of the floor I have to clean weekly.)
(p.s.s.: theater-goers are literally sub-human in their ability to toss their garbage out)

>>44287102
I feel like we've bonded in our shared hatred. Not totally sure if that's a good thing.
If we spent a week not cleaning our theaters, they'd have to declare them landfills by, like, day three.

>>44287183
Look, if it was from when Star Wars 7 came out, it'd be mid-day-2.

>>44287254
Star Wars hasn't been so bad for my group.
It's the Children's Movies that make me want to kill

>>44287183
I'm glad to have learned about my audience, personally.

>>44287385
that some of us are a couple of misanthropic blue-collars glaring balefully out at the mindless, roving herds of two-footed cattle and wishing they'd just stop breeding and wander into the neatest four-way intersection?

>>44287319
Man, Alvin and the Chipmunks at shit at the theater I clean, Star Wars, Sisters (Tina Fey/Amy Poehler flick) and this Indian flick Baijrao Mastani are destroying us, mainly.

>>44287438
That we've shared common struggles, yes.

>>44288004
This feels weird. Bonding with anons and QM's is freaking me out.

Alright anons. Roughly one and a half hours to vote call. If - and I in no way expect this, it's my responsibility and not yours - but if some anon would be kind enough to tally the current votes I'd be able to hit the ground running when I get home.

so 8 votes for don't bring her

so 4 votes for tell us more

so absolutely no votes on saying yes

and 4 votes for this
>>44282985

>>44289208
My many thanks. I have to get back to my register.

>>44289208
Everyone seems to agree that we like River wanting to help out and do the right thing, she'll do more good here putting the dead to rest and learning the tricks of the trade.

>>44289257
Register, street corner, what's the difference?

>>44289535
He's selling his soul instead of his ass.

>>44289535
Size of the paycheck and choosing your own hours.

>>44289535
I'd have human dignity on the street corner.

>>44289661
>>44289754
>>44289758
such a variety of answers...

First medication, then dentistry horror, retail testimony, now theater macabre.

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>>44289876
ours is a special Quest. There are many like it, but this one has Vox.
and madmen

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>>44290026
Votes called.

Writing.

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>>44280373
You set your finger on one of your bishops, her little top hat pressing comfortably against your fingertip.

"Should I move her?" you ask, mildly. River looks at the board, understanding that you're trying to teach her something, and chews a strand of her hair.

"...No. She's protecting your rook and your knight. If you moved her, they'd be vulnerable for no good reason." You wait, and you can see the comprehension dawn in River's eyes. "I'm the bishop?"

"Got it in one, sis," you tell her. "I like that you want to help, but the truth is you can help best /here/. Not just because you're part of the family and now you have a duty, though that's part of it, but for the sheer practical fact that I can't have shambling zombies coming after my ass, or hunting me down if I retreat up the passage later, slathered in blood and needing anything, /anything/, but the lurching undead hounding me further."

You move one of your dullahan knights, claiming a pawn and threatening two of her pieces in a fork.

"That makes sense," River muses. She seems like she's taking the lesson for what it is, and you're grateful for that. "I'm happy to stay here, then. Split...likes me well enough. I think I'll spend some time there, too."

"Good plan," you agree. "Pays to associate with normal people. They're a pretty good reality check, y'know?"

"Yeah," the elf answers, with a hesitant little smile.

>>44280080
I think we're going to need to break back to Amy or Nathan's point of view after Bri finishes her visit with River. Imagine the cute romancing between Best Bird and the Handsome Hero!

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>>44291856
"So which one of them made this for you?" River asks, coyly. You blink in surprise, both at her insight and at the playful tone. You lean forward and /peer/ at her.

"First, how did you know, and second, why are you already so good at being cheerful when your life is being shit?"

"...Family skill, huh?" River reasons. "And. I don't know. I'm just sort of taking things as they come." Her green eyes flick to Fetch. "There's been some bad nights. But Fetch was very helpful."

With great dignity, Fetch walks onto River's lap and snuggles into her.

"As for how I knew," River continues, "it's because I know the language you speak. You keep precious objects close to you; rather, you keep the memories they embody close to you. You have /treasures/, like your hat, or that cane. They mean things to you, don't they?"

You roll the idea over in your mind, and then nod. "Yeah. Yeah, they do."

"Something like this would have a story, if it weren't new. You would have had it with you, kept close like the other things precious to you. But it wasn't, so it must be new."

You lean back, with your hands in the grass behind your back. "It was Amy. She was trying to soften the blow of telling me she was taking Nathan out on a date."

River chuckles and shakes her head. "No, doof. She was speaking your language. She's...touchy-feely, yeah? And the thing is, you just /accepted/ that, without ever thinking about it. You hold her when she's sad and ruffle her hair when she's happy and let her be excited and enthusiastic all over you. But that's not who /you/ are, so she made something that she knew would mean what she was trying to say."

"Since when were you the love guru?"

"It's something my mother taught me, a long time ago," River admits, softly. "Dated a guy like your Hero, when I was a wee thing. I thought he didn't like me because he preferred to be alone a lot. I didn't realize at first that the time he set aside for me was him saying I meant something to him."

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>>44292502
"I'm...not sure that souns like Nate?"

"Really?" River asks; her moves have become more confident, aggressive, now that her question was resolved. "The quiet one, who watches the people he cares for rather than commenting most of the time? Who spends his time in camp with a book? A Woundseeker, at that? How open was he, about that?"

You mull it over, silently. "...Pretty closed. Only a really few people ever knew. One of the ones who did kept his secret even while he was dying."

"So he spends his whole life hiding who he really is," your sister explains, "and then he tells you. He confesses, and doesn't just let you in but invites you in. And then...you respect his space, when he asked you to. And every day, when you let the little casual moments happen where he has to define his bubble and let his heart breathe."

"Goddamn," you murmur. "You ought to do poetry."

River ducks her head behind her hair and blushes. "I've got enough on my plate."

"...Say, after the game could I. Um. Maybe braid your hair?"

"You bet, sis."

Fuckyeahsisterstuffit'son.

>>44292763
>Fuckyeahsisterstuffit'son.
Been hanging out with Amy too much?

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>>44292763
You are the Poet, and it has been a long day.

It's been a long month.

It's been a long ten years.

It's hard to remember what it's like to not be tired; tired in your head, tired in your body, tired in your soul. Life's like a fog, more often than not, and only your research has pierced it.

And now the heritor has an idea of who she's facing. Damn the angel anyway. You thought you'd had her, with the rhyming. Now you've got her on communicating exclusively in blank verse limericks, and thus far she's been excessively silent. Good. No need for things to get...to get...

Your fist against the writing desk spills a pot of ink.

You'd objected to the Vintner and the Moneychanger from the beginning, but you'd been overruled. You hadn't been sad, when that loathesome torturer had been killed. You aren't precisely sad that Lisa's gone, but now you're next up on the chopping block.

A little bell, chained to the wall, rings sweetly.

> "What the fuck do you want, Richard?"
> "...Yes, Richard?"

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>>44292921
>> "...Yes, Richard?"
ohshit

>>44292921
>"...Yes, Richard?"

>>44292921
> "...Yes, Richard?"

>>44292192
I'd considered this, and then I'd thought, "Nahhh."

Plus I'd already been planning what I just did.

>>44292921
>"...Yes, Richard?"

>>44292981
I'm suddenly concerned. Do we actually know anyone named Richard? Or is this a baseless worry?

> "...Yes, Richard?"

>>44293108
no worry is baseless

>>44293108
unexpected dick is always cause for worry

>>44293180
I'm fucking dying. I was trying to eat, anon!

Vote will remain open while I hit some dishes like they trash-talked my mother.

>>44292921
>"...Yes, Richard?"

>>44293205
I know this is offtopic, but I had a question, Vox. I want to start making audiobooks of quests and writefaggotry. I was planning to ask the qtg what quest they wanted me to start with, but when I mentioned the idea all I got was "Only if you do a good morgan freeman voice".
So, rather than ask them for advice, I'll simply ask you, would you be alright with me using your quest for the first set? I'm thinking one audio file per thread - or per two threads on the ones that were less plot more discussion - should take me about two weeks to get the first one out, one a week after that.
Would you be okay with that, or would you prefer I leave you out of this madcap scheme?

>>44293719
Do it! Do it anyways!
Also some notable writefaggotries include TwoDee's Shadowrun shenanigans, and All Guardsmen Storytime. I'll be waiting for how you voice Nubby.

>>44293719
I'm just weighing in, here. It may prove advantageous to your project to convert a quest with more threads under its belt to audio first.

While this quest /is/ pretty well written, it only has roughly 15 threads, each of which takes perhaps 10 minutes to read for the shorter ones and you may find yourself waiting for new threads a lot.

One quest that is in my opinion masterfully written is Banished Quest, and since it has 170ish threads as of now you'd not want for content to read.

>>44293917
Yeah, agp and twodee were already on my mental list, along with lamia quest, princess guard quest, and a couple others, though I'm always up for suggestions, so long as they're A) completed, or B) ongoing. I'm just looking for a relatively shortish starting point.
Don't wanna fly too close to the sun on my first outing and all that.

>>44293955
Like I said, I kind of like starting with a shorter, but well written, quest. Makes it seem a bit more reasonable, and any time I'm waiting for more content to commit to audio, I can do a thread from twodee or shoggy.

>>44293955
And then of course there is the ever classic planefag collection of autismo-theatre which if voiced right would be absofuckinglutley hilarious

>>44293967
You Can't Fuck the Princess Quest would be a pretty easy start

>>44294014
I would TOTALLY do AWIY or SWQ, but they were both abandoned, and that seems...I dunno, like pissing in the wind.

>>44294033
I actually haven't read that one. Any good?

>>44294060
it's goofy fun with a drawfag

>>44293719
I...honestly, I'm touched. And a little scared, but mostly touched. I'd be quite happy to participate in your experiment, Audiobook Anon. Lemme know how it goes?

Also TFW I forgot an element of the River thing so we're gonna be cutting back to her after this for a brief period.

VOTES CALLED, WRITING.

>>44294074
I'm glad you're on board. I am wondering, though, would you/the listeners/readers prefer I leave it in second person as it is, (you, your, etc.) or should I do a full edit as I go to change it to third person, (Brianna, Amy, The Group, etc.)
...also, I guess I might want to namefag, eh?

>>44294041
Well. He's running kant-o-celle quest currently so that may be worth a look.

You could also read swq up to its abandonment point and end off with "and then our hero died in the waifu wars" because that's pretty much why swq died. Just.. Make it funnier.

>>44294121
Leave it as it is so everyone identifies you as brianna for the rest of your audiobookmaking career

>>44294123
Possible...as for kant-o-celle, though...I dunno why, I just never got into it the way I did with AWiY and SWQ. Maybe just because I'm not as familiar with the source material and it wasn't as intensely "FUCK YOUR LOGIC I'M IMMUNE!" as those two.

>>44294215
Actually, that's my only worry, doing a mostly-female cast for my first project as a male. Well, hell, how bad could it possibly ACTUALLY go? Real VAs do it all the time.

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>>44292921
The little bell rings again, the clear sound so at odds with how much you hate it. You still the clapper before it can ring again and sigh deeply.

"Yes, Richard?" you say at last.

The voice that issues from the bell is male; professional, genteel, educated, and, as always, vaguely disinterested. "You know I dislike your use of our names, Poet."

"You know I thought your title scheme was stupid, Master," you shoot back, but there's no energy to your venom.

Years of books, hunted through for scraps of syllables, surround your chair, and the ink-stained writing desk, and the whiskey that wasn't helping nearly as much as it ought have with your problems. Well, yet, anyway. He'd caught you two shots in, and that was /nothing/, these days.

"The heritor will be entering your domain soon. I note that you've done nothing to prepare your defenses," Richard points out.

"Yeah, and?" you ask. You put your elbows on the desk - fucking ink, everywhere - and hold your head in your hands. "This is my section. That was the agreement."

"The others will want to know why you are neglecting your duties," comes the gentle, but firm, press.

"Duties. You know what, what if I don't want these duties? What if I want /out/, Richard? What if I want to fucking live?"

He sounds so godsdamned condescending, like a father walking you through a juvenile mistake. "You knew the risks when you took the deal, Poet. All of us agreed that our ambitions were worth the potential conflict. If you've changed your mind, I would be happy to invoke the exit clause, as soon as you turn over your research."

You stand, spilling the chair to the floor. "You can't do that! I'm SO CLOSE, AT LAST! You wouldn't DARE!"

"You're the one who wants out," comes the patient, calm voice of the Master.

"She doesn't deserve to die," you mutter. "She's a good person."

"You're a good person, Poet."

"I'm not so sure about that any more."

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>>44294318
"Regardless, I need a decision from you. Someone has to prepare the Atheneum to repel the heritor and her allies."

You growl under your breath and drum your fingers against the desk, mind racing at a mile a minute.

...But what's a little more blood on your hands? You're already guilty. You're already complicit in the crimes of the others; you turned your blind eye and made your token arguments, and in the end they spread their suffering until someone else did what you wouldn't.

You can't back out now. You're too close.

"I'm in," you mutter, in a hollow voice. "You soulless piece of shit."

"Excellent. I am glad to hear that you are taking this seriously."

The bell rings once, with that sweet, sweet sound, and is still. You open the bottle of whiskey and tip it over the floor, draining its contents onto the cobbles and towards the grated-covered oubliette in the center of the room.

"Victoria!" you call. She's there in an instant, eyes wide behind her glasses, face full of concern.

Your love.

Your second-in-command.

> I need you to prepare the defenses
> I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here any more.

>>44294420
>> I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here any more.

>>44294420
> I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here any more.

>>44294420
>> I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here any more.
Save the waifu, no need for senseless sacrifices.

>>44294121
I could go either way. I suppose the question is, do you want to preserve the feeling of reading the quest, or are you looking to translate it to something more book-like?

Preserving the second-person keeps a lot of the tone the way it is; it keeps the "You are X, and" jokes and lines. Translating to third person also makes a lot of stuff like "/and her eyes are up there Bri/" no longer fit the flow or the tone, because of how different third person tends to be from first or second.

In your shoes, I'd preserve the second-person. But I'm also a KISS kinda guy when it comes to projects, so...y'know, do as thou wilt.

>> I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here any more.

>>44294521
Honestly, I'm kinda leaning towards "preserve it completely, except for basic editing", but I was curious if any anons, or you, would find that weird or hard to listen to...though I suppose that worry's a tad meaningless.

One other question, though...should I just read it out like an audiobook, or would anons prefer hearing something like
"What do you do? Open the door, close the window, burn the forest to ashes? Thread chose Kiss de girl."

>>44294597
I wouldn't write the choices. Sometimes the action changes for a choice, though, so maybe include a slight pause where the choice is? I'd have to hear what it sounded like to know for sure, but that's my intuition.

>>44294597
Play it by ear. Some choices are important to lay out to understand what happened (like the MC choice); others are less important in that sense.

>>44294420
>I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here any more.
>Go to the Heritor, tell her of me. No lies, no bias. What good I have done, and what evil I have failed to prevent.

>I will prepare the defenses, but if she has the good sense to leave you alive, it will hardly stop them.
>I will be judged, one way or the other, and I can only pray that I will finish my research in time.

>>44294635
>>44294660
So, leave it out usually, but if it seems like it needs to be put in for context, add in a sentence or two to make it part of the narrative, that sound about right?

>>44294690
Yeah, that's my instinct. But I'm not normally a consumer of audiobooks so don't take it as, you know, gospel. This is me firing from the hip.

>>44294420
>I need you to prepare the defenses
Fuck love.

>>44294121
What gender are you, anon? The reason I ask is, if you got a couple friends to join with you in your endevour, you'd be able to cover all of the various main and supporting characters, from Nathan and Brianna, to Kells and Lora.

>>44294420
>I need you to leave. It's not safe for you here anymore.
Y'know, I'm really curious as to what sort of goals these other Chain-Wielders have. If some of them are rather admirable and selfless, it would make their characters less horrible and much more interesting. They'd still be terrible people because of what they've done, but they'd be more than cardboard villains.

>>44294673
I like this. Seconding, if this much control over a villain is allowed.

>>44294690
Sounds right to me, and I do consume an audiobook or two on occasion. I would actually love to see your work, once you have something, to show to people with... less of a tolerance for 4chan in general.

>>44294713
Too late, I've already finished the first few chapters of The Book of Vox.
Now, to sleep with me, I have work in the morning and banging my head against a brick wall learning the rest of Audacity at night.
Any suggestions for a good way to upload and host the files for future downloading would be awesome.
Night Vox, and thanks for the permission. Who knows, maybe thread 0, or thread 0 and 1, depending on length, will be done next weekend.
I'm trying to shoot for 30 to 45 minutes per track, since that's what most places recommend.

>>44294778
I'm male, but I'm told I have relatively impressive vocal range...as long as I'm not singing.
Don't ever ask me to sing, this warning is for your own good.

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>>44294778
While I won't spoil /that/ ahead of time, I will ask this: does anon want to know some of the worldbuilding of the setting? In this particular case, the worldbuilding relates to demons, their nature, and the nature of their home - Hell.

"What kind of question is this, Vox?" you ask, but the reason I ask is that, literally, /no one but the demons and the gods know this shit/. So I'm asking, not in the sense of 'do you want to know', but in the sense of 'can you remember that Bri and others know precisely nothing about this'?

Votes called, writing.

>>44294846
Although it would be interesting to know, I feel like at least /some/ anons would abuse it, even if it's unintentional.

>>44294846
I love me some worldbuilding. It's unfortunate that I am also horrible about keeping ooc knowledge from influencing my choices.

>>44294778

"There's nothing in the world more dangerous than a man doing what he thinks is right."

>>44294846
God, I want to know, but I don't think I trust my fellow anons not to metagame. Took me probably 10 years GMing tabletop before I could OOC reasonably well, and even I've been known to slip up on occasion.

>>44294846
Well, since we want to avoid influencing anons choices later on, why don't we discuss things you've already touched on?

For example, the rivalry between Succubi and Incubi, demons or devils interactions with mortals, and what we might have gotten if we'd chosen to grant Amy manpower instead of the awesome Hellfire arms and armor set.

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>>44294420
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPf-MntlWE

Victoria looks at the empty bottle, the draining whiskey on the floor, and back up to your face. "What happened?"

"I need you to pack your things, Victoria," you tell her in a low tone. You don't trust yourself to speak. "I'm preparing the defenses. I'm going to fight it out."

"Then I can help -"

"No," you interrupt, emphatically. "...I love you, gods, you know I love you. You've been by my side all this time, while I..."

Your eyes go to the stacks of books, and all of a sudden you hate them, you hate them as you've never hated anything else. Your boot hits a pile, sending the tomes flying in every direction. "WHILE I WASTED MY LIFE WITH THIS SHIT! THIS FUCKING FILTH! You put up with everything, with me ignoring you, with this, this stupid /deal/, and don't think I haven't heard you crying at night because I /have/." You turn, pleading, tears in your eyes. "You've given me everything. All you have. All you are. And I repaid you like this, and...and I'm /sorry/."

"I'm not," Victoria declares quietly. She steps close to you and takes your hands, and you can feel your shaking body calm, your raging heart soothe. "I'm not sorry at all. I'd do it all again."

"...I've taken everything from you already, Victoria," you murmur. "But I won't let you give me your life. I refuse it. Pack your things, and go. If...if I get out of this alive, my work will be completed and I'll find you. If I don't." You look away, and sigh. "If I don't, don't let me be the chain that drags you to your grave."

"I -"

"Don't make me order you," you interrupt, your tone suddenly harsh.

Tears well up, behind her glasses, and you almost give in. You hate seeing her cry.

You've made her cry a lot, lately.

Gods, to change a single moment, and stop all this before it happened.

>>44295078
Hmm looks like we're actually getting a somewhat sympathetic villain this time around, we may actually feel kind of bad about needing to kill him.

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>>44295078
"I'll go," Victoria whispers. "First thing in the morning, I'll go. But you need to promise to take care of yourself. Promise me you're not sending me away so you can kill yourself without me having to watch."

"I promise," you whisper, holding her close.

Gods, you might even mean it.

Desperate love is made in your bed; you both know you should sleep, and neither is willing to. But in the end, Victoria - faithful Victoria - is true to her word. You escort her to a hidden tunnel to the surface and see her off yourself. You watch her go until the curve of the stone takes her away from you.

You turn and stride back into your domain, a sort of alloyed rage lending energy to your movements.

"Gather the demons," you bellow. "Arm the traps! Let the wine be poured and the instruments readied! Toast the dead and mock the living, and to each their share of sorrow! IF DEATH BE OUR GUEST, LET US GIVE HER A REVEL TO REMEMBER!"

You hear echoing cheers through the Atheneum, matching the roar of plans in your mind.

She wants your chain?

Come and get it, la Croix.

>>44295151
he shouldn'ta done what he did. He deserves it, he knows it, he could have NOT done it, but no. He didn't do what was right, or what was needful. He's done what he's wanted and now it's time to pay the piper. I feel more sorry for her. I mean, he sounds like even HE doesn't have an excuse.

>>44295151
It's necessary. He's done terrible things; they all have. Balance and Justice need to be restored in the Dungeon, which means putting the Chain-Wielders and all they've built to the torch.

Suddenly I feel like Brianna could be classed as a Necromancer-Paladin.

>>44295250
Possibly. He was looking for a way out, though - and we already have shown we're willing to redeem people. Maybe, if he gives up his Chain, and pledges to work for the good of the Dungeon, this one needn't die.

Though we should still be willing to kill if we must, of course.

>>44295314
>we're willing to redeem people
Maybe you are.
I say we kill the bastard.

>>44295314
It isn't up to us. The Angel'l reap him and make him suffer something awful.
We're just breaking the chains

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>>44295314
Death shall have her due.

>>44295314
His death will be his redemption.

Apathy levels critical: Terminating argument subroutines. Death unopposed.

That concludes the Poet's section.

Resuming normal prologue.

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>>44295184
You are Brianna la Croix, and honestly, today has gone well. You've camped out with River and given her a much-needed break from both her studies and her current assignment. There's been talking, laughing, the braiding of hair, playing with Fetch (and the subsequent preening of the Fetch, with great and affected dignity on the part of all involved).

Now you have a campfire and the powerful need to relax, but you're not yet sleepy.

"Hey, Bri?" your sister asks softly. "You still have that flask, right?"

"Yeah," you confirm.

"Can I have it?"

Okay. There's one. "No."

"Bri, please give me the flask," River asks again, in that same low tone, but the levity has turned into something...solemn.

You blink. "That's your second one. And no."

"Brianna la Croix, please return the brandy to me."

> Keep your word
> Refuse

>>44295538
Interlude jesus fuck why did I say prologue.

>>44295739
> Keep your word

>>44295739
>Keep your word

>>44295739
>Keep your word. Pretty sure she's gonna return it - and we promised.

>>44295739
> Keep your word
Fine fine.

>>44295739
>> Keep your word

>>44295739
> Keep your word
I'm thinking she pours it in the campfire.

>>44295739
> Keep your word

Votes called, writing.

>>44295843
That can end badly, singed eyebrows badly

>>44295843
Nah. She stole it, she knows she shouldn't have. She's gonna formally return it, and accept her punishment, I imagine.

>>44295739
>Keep your word.
Hopefully she intends to return it. And if not, our dead relatives will let us know that she's got a problem. That means more sister time later, where we help her kick the habit.

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>>44295878
>>44295771
>>44295843
>>44295880
>>44295944
>>44296039
Do you see what you've done to us, Vox? The plot twists you may or may not be throwing at us are TEARING US APART!

>>44296088
The Anonunity are coming. Prepare for battle!

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>>44295739
"Alright, sis," you answer. You take the flash out from your pack and pass it to her. She looks down at it for a long moment.

"...I was mad at you," she admits. "For this. Not for taking it, I gave it to you. But it felt like, with your...with the ask-for-it-back thing, like you were challenging me. I could have gone and gotten booze from anyone. Almost did, but every time I hear this nagging voice in my head telling me that I was being weak and cowardly, that I was betraying your trust in me."

"River -" you begin, but she shakes her head.

"Let me finish." The elf runs her thumb along the cap of the flask. "Robert finally told me point-blank that I was being childish. That I needed to settle accounts like a goddamn adult. So. Here, I am, settling up."

"And what'd you decide?" you inquire, across the campfire.

You see the shrouded ghost, bound to River by ethereal chains, manifest next to her. She opens the flask and passes it up to him; Robert throws his cowled head back and guzzles it greedily, groaning in lusty pleasure at the flavor and burn of the alcohol.

The dead /do/ love to drink.

"Now there's nothing to have a problem about," River says simply. "I'm going to tell the shrine that I stole it. They probably blame you, and they shouldn't."

Robert wipes his unseen lips and gives River her flask back. She screws it shut and pockets it. "Thanks for believing in me, Brianna."

> No problem
> Everyone needs someone to believe in them
> Knew you had it in you

>>44296173
> Knew you had it in you

>>44296173
>No problem

>>44296173
> Knew you had it in you

>>44296173
>> Everyone needs someone to believe in them

>>44296173
> Everyone needs someone to believe in them

>>44296173
>Kill sister. Piss on corpse.

>>44296173
>> Everyone needs someone to believe in them
>Sometimes it's themselves, sometimes it just doesn't cut it.

>>44296227
I mean, we could always bring her back, but pissing on her corpse seems unnecessary.

>>44296240
Hey. Necromancers can indulge their fetishes too.

>>44296254
This.

Funny.

Votes called, writing.

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>>44296173
"Everyone needs someone to believe in them, River," you tell her. "...You're going to be a good la Croix. The dead made the right decision."

"Not a good necromancer?" she asks, curiously.

You shrug. "I care less about that than I do the feeling that you've been waiting, a long time, for something to believe in."

She gives you the flask, in the morning. A keepsake.

You're probably going to use it to get drunk one of these days.

* * * *

Lakehallow is throwing a festival pretty soon, celebrating its founding and continued survival. There's dancing, food, and drink in the offing. You:

> Offer to help with the decorations
> Do not volunteer

and

> Attend dressed formally
> Attend dressed normally

Though I'm asking for votes on it now, the festival will be the FINAL SCENE OF THE INTERLUDE.

* * * *

When you get back home, you:

> Ask Amy how the date went
> Tease Nate about the date
> Talk about your visit with River instead

* * * *

FINAL WEEK OF INTERLUDE

> Spend a day with Nathan
> Spend a day with Amy
> Research more about the Atheneum
> Research more medicinal brews and potions

>>44296557
> Offer to help with the decorations
> Attend dressed normally
> Ask Amy how the date went
> Research more about the Atheneum

>>44296557
>> Offer to help with the decorations
>> Attend dressed formally
We fancy
>> Ask Amy how the date went

>> Research more about the Atheneum

>>44296557
>Offer to help with the decorations
>Attend dressed formally
>Ask Amy how the date went
>Spend a day with Nathan

>>44296557
> Offer to help with the decorations. Attend dressed normally (albeit make sure you clean up and all), unless it's expected you would go formal.

> Ask Amy about how the date went.

> Spend a day with Amy.

>>44296557
> Offer to help with the decorations
damnit mom

When you get back home, you:
>I'd much rather have that talk with Fetch, thank you

> Research more medicinal brews and potions

>>44296557
>Offer to help with the decorations
>Attend dressed in costume
we need to go full Día de Muertos
> Ask Amy how the date went
> Research more about the Atheneum
we're still pretty ignorant, wasn't that lamia from there?

>>44296602
Nathan kinda already got a date in and has us every morning for weapons practice. Why do we need to spend another whole day with him when we haven't really seen Amy much at all - except for when she gave us a really badass gift that we need to do something nice after?

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>>44296619
Yes she was.

> Offer to help with the decorations
> Attend dressed normally
> Ask Amy how the date went
> Research more about the Atheneum

>>44296652
that's a fucking cute pic

>>44296557
>Don't volunteer
>dress formally
>Ask Amy how the date went
>Spend a day with Amy

>>44296652
Isn't she supposed to have glasses?

>>44296557
> Offer to help with the decorations

> Attend dressed normally

> Tease Nate about the date

> Spend a day with Amy

>>44296707
Yes it is.

>>44296740
She does. Unfortunately Lamia is a glasses manufacturer so finding images of lamias wearing glasses instead of glasses made by Lamia is a little tricky.

>>44296557
> Offer to help with the decorations
> Attend dressed normally

> Talk about your visit with River instead
> Research more medicinal brews and potions

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>>44296557
I have a feeling that some intimate things may occur between our love triangle at the end of said festival.
>Offer to help with the decorations.
We can go full day of the dead here, including inviting the rest of the La Croix clan and various other ghosties to join in.

>Dress formally.
I second the idea to attend as Santa Muerte.

>Ask Amy how the date went.
Then give her some head scratches for a job well done.

>Research more medicinal brews and potions.
I'm thinking we're gonna need some more healing potions and some demon-repellent.

>>44296557
> Do not volunteer
I'm sure they have their own traditions plus we want to work on
> Attend dressed formally
Looking as good as possible for whatever formal is for a La Croix necromancer.
> Ask Amy how the date went
Time to be nosey.
> Research more about the Atheneum
As nice as more boding would be we really need to know enough to not die from our ignorance.

Yeah, switch my vote for attending normally here: >>44296605 to
>Attend as Santa Muerte. With Fetch acting as our plus-one, in a tiny little costume of his own.

> Offer to help with the decorations.
hi, mom

> Dress formally

> Catch Amy and Nate when they're together, and ask *both* of them how the date went.

> Spend a day with Amy
Nate's training with us every morning, but we hardly ever see Amy anymore. If there's any time left (there is apparently a whole week of them left in the run, just how long is this party), then:
> Research more about the Atheneum
Information. What was it Sherlock used to say, "I cannot make half-living abominations without clay"? Something like that...

>>44296890
> "I cannot make half-living abominations without clay"

Can I borrow your alternate universe anon?

>>44296901
Go for it.

Calling, writing.

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>>44296557
You catch Amy in town when you get back from your visit, when it turns out you'd thought 'breakfast' at the same time she was thinking 'lunch'.

"Spill it," you demand, playfully. "What'd you do? What was it like?"

"He was nice," Amy says almost bashfully. "Took me to the inn for a nice meal I didn't have to cook, introduced me to this healer friend of his, and his master, Harry. We walked the town and talked about Glen and sunlight and breezes and...and bird stuff." The half-harpy blushes, faintly. "It's like, I couldn't not talk about it, but he kept asking all these interested questions, and he /listened/, and..."

"Yeah," you note with a grin. "He's good at that."

Amy clears her throat. "I took him up the tree to watch the sunset. He seemed so surprised when I kissed him, and then he was kissing me back, and..."

"And?" you prompt.

"Andthenwefelloutofthetree."

You pull Amy into a hug and ruffle her hair. "Nice kiss?"

"Yeah," the bird girl says dreamily.

"I'll call that a successful date, then."

* * * *

Attempting more research on the Atheneum does turn up something, in Meadows' bookshelf. The third level of the Dungeon, like many of the levels, operates under its own particular set of laws. Among these are magical restraints that prevent fire, electricity, and other forms of energy harmful to the books, as well as keyed talismans that permit entrance - and egress - to the various sections.

"Books marked with the feather symbol may not be touched by mortal hands," the guide notes, without elaboration.

* * * *

You find, to your delight, that many of the notable of Lakehallow had been /hoping/ you would volunteer to help decorate for the festival.

"It's a town of outcasts," Slaughter points out. "Everyone contributes in their own ways. But big changes followed your arrival, and it's only right that our celebration of the year acknowledges that."

>>44297201
How about undead hands? Or wings for that matter?

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>>44297201
Dress code is, likewise, lax, but something excited squees in your breast when you're told that formal wear is encouraged.

"Kells went one year as a governor," Ms. Slaughter admits. "...He cut an impressive figure, for a man of his years."

"I bet I could get him to bone up on his dance moves," you offer. Slaughter groans. "You don't want him to break a leg?"

"Brianna, please, spare me."

"Ouch. Fangs for nothing, I guess."

"FOUL NECROMANCER, GET THEE GONE FROM MY HEARING!"

You laugh and tip your hat before you go.

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>>44297245
The night of the festival arrives, and you've gone all-out, in smart black pants and a violet shirt with a swallowtail coat, your face painted with a skull's mask beneath your top hat. You almost left the cane at home, but Nathan - in a cunningly modified uniform that made him look, /somehow/, more Heroic than he usually did - had persuaded you to take it with you to complete the look.

Amy wears her final gift from Miles, an elegant, backless gown of silk and flame, all coal and embers that flow and crawl through the fabric. It smells of candles and summer nights, promising and enticing all at once, and it's distracting to be near her.

You drink, you laugh, and eventually, the dance floor is opened.

You can't stop looking at the minstrel.

To say she's beautiful is an understatement; she is elegant, divine, with long red hair and deep, turqoise eyes that laugh in the light. She's dressed in the orange blaze of autumn, and she plays her lute with a skill you've never heard - more liquid than sound, like you're drinking joy.

She has eyes for you, too.

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>>44297347
You're pleasantly buzzed, you've been having a great time, and the song you've been dancing to - Amy swaying and moving with you in blissful rapture - draws to a slow close. A group of citizens takes the small stage to start up a differnt song, and the minstrel gratefully steps off, with an easy, pleasant smile that makes your heart flutter a little.

Those deep eyes find yours, and she moves through the dance floor like a fish through water.

"May I?" she asks; her accent is musical, a rise-and-fall with edges of a lilt. Nathan flashes you a grin and takes Amy's hands, and you take the minstrel's. The song that starts has a stomping, steady beat that lends itself to /movement/, and you find that though your partner is a /much/ better dancer, she compliments you, rather than competing.

"You're Brianna, aye?" that beautiful, musical voice asks.

"Yeah," you agree, grinning broadly. "You?"

"Brigette," the minstrel answers. You stay with her for the next dance, and the one after, sneaking glances at Nate and Amy having a wild time.

After the third, the band pauses to hear requests. "You're great on your feet," you compliment breathlessly, laughing. Your eyes slide towards Nathan and Amy -

Who are embraced, at the edge of the dance floor, locked in a passionate kiss. Amy chirps in her throat while she melts into the Hero.

That voice, like smoke over still water, murmurs in your ear. "I'm great off 'em too."

> ...Show me
> I can't. There's someone else
> I need to be alone

>>44297425
> I can't. There's someone else
No. Honey trap alert. The poet has demons. He might have succubi. Besides, what is a poet but another bard.

>>44297425
> I can't. There's someone else

>>44297443
I am also wary but... We don't know that, in-character. Also, we have, and I quote "friends amongst the seducers" - even if she is one she might have been sent by Miles.

> ...Show me

>>44297425
Yeeeaaaahhh, no. Brianna does not fuck around with people's hearts.
>I can't. There's someone else.

I'm thinking that this lady might be manipulating us to see and think things we don't actually feel. Hey Vox, would our Dead Sight allow us to perceive demons or otherwise non-mortal things?

>>44297496
It can. Some forms of illusion don't work on the dead.

>>44297485
If she IS a succubus, and is shackled like Miles was, she won't have any choice in the matter. Unlike Miles, she might enjoy her position and her current assignment.

>>44297425
>I can't. There's someone else

>I can't. There's someone else.

>>44297496
If the other anons vote no as well, I'd like to try using our Dead Sight on her. Maybe make it look like we're being humble and contrite when we say it (which is true), but also cast the spell under our breath so as to not alert the demon (if she even is one, mind you).

Votes called.

Writing.

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>>44297425
Your gaze goes back to your dance partner - the closeness of your bodies is /so much closer now/, even though it hasn't changed at all - and you find something complicated in her eyes, behind the playful expression. Yes, lust, yes, the fun night and the cold drink - but also a soft fear, and an aching loneliness.

You nestle in close to murmur to her. "If you'd asked a month ago, I'd be gone with you already," you tell the minstrel. "...But there's someone else. And I can't."

"They special, for you to stay as lonely as your eyes look?" Brigette asks, her arms around your waist.

"...Yeah. Even if we're all a little lost and scared about it right now."

Brigette slips an envelope into your pocket. "I lost the woman I love," she confesses, wistfully. "...I thought I wanted to do this when I came here. And now, I think I don't. But thank you, Brianna la Croix, for the dance, and for helpin' me get my mind straight."

Your dance partner pulls away, with tears rimming her eyes and a soft, wistful smile.

There's a fog rolling in, off of the lake, coming in fast and thick.

"What'd I help you with?" you ask, your pity colored by suspicion. "What is it you do, Brigette?"

"I like to think of myself as a scholar," she answers, turning to walk backwards towards the mist. "But Victoria gave me the name you'd know me best by."

The freezing fog swallows the singer whole, just as you start trying to fight your way through the dance floor.

"I'm the Poet."

END INTERLUDE II: DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY

>>44297593
I did not expect this, but I should had expected this.

>>44297593
>>44297636
I concur. You, Vox, are a genius, and a madman.

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And that's our interlude, folks! It's late, I can't stay up to kill the thread and start a new one, so we'll begin PART THREE: DAUGHTER OF BABEL when I get up in the morning.

Thoughts, feedback, critique, questions, and comments are always appreciated, especially here where I was experimenting with some new shit that I'm still kinda nervous about (that villain cuuuuutttttt).

As always, thank you for reading and participating!

See ya in the morning, anons.

>>44297737
VOX YOU ARE THE BEST I LOVE YOU
seriously though, that reveal made me double-take, then reread it to make sure I caught it. And now I can't wait to see what was in the envelope. Why do you play with my heart?

"If you're looking down the shaft of an arrow from the business end, you'd better pray the one holding the string's an evil man"

-Terry Prachett

I'm worried, anons. That combined with our theme (no good deeds goes unpunished) made me think a tangle with the Poet could be damned more lethal than the previous two. Companions death worried.

Let's do what's needful rather than right this time?

>>44298101
We probably only need the chain, not the poet itself. He might even get to keep his soul.

>>44298145
'He'? I think you need to go reread the last scene anon.

>>44298145
Why does everyone keep saying the Poet is a man? Literally the only time they've been referred to (at least in this thread) has been as Poet/she/Brigette. There hasn't been any indication that they're male.

This has been messing with me for a bit because when we switched to their perspective I originally was picturing them as a girl so when these anons >>44295151 >>44295194 >>44295250 >>44295314 >>44295419
started referring to them as a guy it through me for a loop.

>>44298220
Ah, sorry about that; I was the second-to-last post you linked. I was slightly influenced by the fact that we'd alternated genders with the last two and then just continuing on the trend as most of it.

(Ironically I am also the one who corrected the other anon on their referring to her as one right before you.)

Damn, guess we missed our chance to redeem the villain via hot dickings. Wonderful writing as usual Vox.

>>44298609
Technically that would be 'Nathan missed his chance'. He's the only one in our party who has the equipment for that, and I dunno if the Poet would even be interested.

>>44298220
It is a bit of a habbit for me, as in my native language words are pronounced diferently for each gender, (So, say "cat" can have diferent pronounciation depending on wether it is male or female), which means that most words have a gender asociated with them depending on the spelling.

And "poet" is male in this language.

>>44297593
I was expecting it to be Victoria going on a solo mission to save her love. I was wrong. Good job Vox.

>>44297737
I am a gigantic sucker for sympathetic villains, so I am digging the shit out of this. Don't get me wrong, some people are just bad people, but most folks are a tad more complicated than that.

I... hope we can find a way to save her. She seems like she'd do better the second time around, if given the chance. But we might not be able to, and putting the Dungeon right is more important. Not one said the job would be sunshine and roses. Quite the opposite, actually.

>>44297737
I've actually been thinking about what Bri would do if one of the remaining chainholders just said 'You know what? To hell with this, take the chain.'

>>44300454
We could probably either give them a few years to run or maybe the rest of there lifespan depending on what they actually did and whether or not we can convince lora.

I'm going to draw from The Wanderers Library for assumptions about this floor, in that some of these books are probably hazardous to sapient life to read, causing side effects such as insanity, death, and physics taking a vacation from your existence. This also makes the poet very fucking dangerous as hes likely been reading shit not meant for mortal hands using the Angel to deactivate the defensive wards on it. Its also possible hes set trap runes using the angel to stop defensive wards.

I expect bad things to happen on that damn floor.

>>44300587
*she's

Good morning anons.

I've got some things to take care of this morning, and I'm also kinda lookin' at starting part three in its own thread. That in mind, glad to see the discussion and theorizing after I went to bed. Warms my dead little soul, it does.

So since this thread still has thirty posts of needing to slay this beast...any questions?

>>44301198

...so, there are secret tunnels out of the Dungeon? Would those exit from each floor, or is the Atheneum special in this regard?

>>44301198
Would you rather fight a horse sized duck or a hundred duck sized horses?

>>44301259
Some floors have them, others don't. Many are secret tunnels into the network of caverns /around/ the Dungeon (I hate using this term, but if you're familiar with the Forgotten Realms, think Underdark) rather than to the surface. Not every entrance and exit is accounted for.

>>44301198

So, how much are the feminist jews offering you to write this propaganda, supporting strong lesbian women who don't need no man and featuring a cuckolded white man created of sin while shaming conventional relationships and writing the bad guys as the white menace. Hell, even on the chessboard white was the bad guys.

>>44301260
The horses. They scare more easily.

>>44301291
What can I say, the Illuminati know how to sign a paycheck.

>>44301198
Can't we hire a guy to get our lich goods for us or something? Hell can we get River to do it after her clean-up job on level two?

>>44301291
I am amused by the description of Nathan as "cuckolded". Oh no, the two women he likes are making out, but they still like him and make out with him also. Truly, every man's worst nightmare.

>>44301340
Not necessarily unreasonable (River gonna be busy for awhile, but hiring someone from Lakehallow wouldn't be too complicated) but see previous comments re: Bri's death button is broken, and that might vastly complicate attempting ot lich.

>>44301348
Honestly, I just wanted to go full /pol/ mode because vox asked us to burn the remaining 30 posts in thread

>>44301374
Oh I figured. That post was way too /pol/ to be taken seriously, even on the off chance that it was actually serious. But I was amused nonetheless.

>>44301370
How tall are you?

>>44301370
Do you still have that rancid tooth breaking down in your mouth?

>>44301421
A hair over 5'8", roughly 280 lbs. Got some weight to lose in my life.

>>44301444
Yep. And the painkillers are still in effect.

Need to go help my brother out with some things now, I WILL BE BACK to start Part 3.

What kind of spells Bri knows, besides those we have allready used?

>>44301348
Hell, Nates the only one in this party to actually get laid. If anyones getting cucked, is Brie

>>44301487
Fucking damnit, everyone is taller than me

>>44301624
I live in a place where 5.8 is short. As in, I am 5.8 and I know two guys who are shorter than me. Out of some 100+ I know.

It is damn annoying, being "the short guy".

>>44301624
>>44301706
Preach it anons. Fucking preach it.

>>44301752
Yeah, same here. 5'8" in the Army. I'm the short one almost everywhere I go

>>44301706
5'3 and Irish here.
I AM the Leprechaun joke.

>>44302004
>>44301752
Napoleon was 5'7, which was average, or slightly above for the time. Damn, do I wish that would still be the case.

>>44302032
Oh wow. I had a friend, who was 5'3, and scrawny, looked like he was 14 y/o. Damn was it fun explaining to people that no, he was, in fact, old enough to drive.

>>44302077
Forget driving, I've been carded every fucking day of my life since I turned 21, swear to god. I'd grow a goatee to help if I didn't hate having facial hair.
We finally got someone shorter than me at work, but it turns out he's sixteen, so I can't even pick on him for that.

>>44302103
I can only immagine, each and every cop stopping you on your way to work to see why this boy nicked his parents car.

>>44302184
You fucking joke, but it's happened at least once every other month.
It would drive me to drink, but I just get carded everywhere, so I can't even have that!
How am I supposed to be Irish and have trouble buying liquor!
That's, like, against the cosmic law or something...

>>44302287

Hah, In Worcester nobody cards and everyone sucks at driving. You'd fit right in here.

Also seriously I love this city but dear god nobody has ever heard of just about any kind of regulation whatsoever.

g'morning vox

Back home at last.

Writing shortly.

>>44302992
Damn, and I was about to start posting borderline criminally dank shitposts too

NEW THREAD:

>>44303503
>>44303503
>>44303503
>>44303503