"If I had to guess, they're probably using the main house as their primary base... Though I couldn't tell you anything else about it."

"You haven't encountered anyone yet, then?"

"We're trying to be subtle about it, ser. I'd bet on some of us in a bar fight, but we're not mercenaries. Most of us don't even have blood on our hands... Frankly, I hope it can stay like that."

You turn crimson eyes away from one of the ten knights who had been smuggled into the city walls, staring out of the window of the small abandoned house you had commandeered just inside the old Tier estate within Carona. Asche had taken on the Diary of Reflection to follow Priat as they tailed both Roderick and the Mayor to find where he was holding Rinnier, and with the bitter taste of your last encounter with Jill still staining your tongue, that left you alone with your knights as you decided how to best use the time you had between now and when you expected the others to arrive.

You doubted that by the end of this, your knight was going to be able to get his wish about keeping their hands clean. Not the least of which because, after everything this town had been through, after what they had done to not only yourself, but Asche, and whatever was going on with Kara, you had long since passed the point of considering ending this with 'just' words.

Every time you'd tried to placate Rinnier, reassure her that you had your Testament's interests in mind, that they mattered.
You had proven it to Ari, gained her trust in you and a faith that had been strong enough to slightly disturb you.
Kara's allegiance was a point of contention, but after last night, you wanted to believe in her; Wanted her to believe in you.

Now.. Now it was time to back up all of those empty words that had built the tenous connection between yourself and the fiery tempered Testament.

The Mayor was going to choke on the consequences of his actions.

You are Irue Valen, and you're tired of being walked over.

>Send a single knight to meet up with Asche.
>Send your knights in to infiltrate; They look like mercenaries, right?
>A Spider's Web [Atelier]
>Meditate (Which Mana?)
>Other? (write-in)

Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=valen+quest

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

Where things are asked: http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Current Abilities - http://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
Basics of Mana - http://pastebin.com/V9b1DMrS
A List of Forgotten Things - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h
Leadership - http://pastebin.com/hGhUA4wf

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT
In Your Shadow - http://pastebin.com/EfeeHFAE

Misc notes:I wonder if this arc will end on 40 threads exactly? That would please my inner autist.

>>45705883
>Send a single knight to meet up with Asche.
Then
>A Spider's Web [Atelier]

>>45706134
Seconded!

>>45705883
>>Send a single knight to meet up with Asche.

>>45706134
>>45706215
Spider webs.

>>45706217
>>45706215
>>45706134
Go find Asche.

Writing!

You send down an order for one of your knights to go find Asche and Priat. You're relatively certain that this place is their final destination, but it would be helpful if they knew what you were doing when they arrived; Especially considering your knights were basically indistinguishable from the mercenaries the Mayor had under his command. With your contact dispatched, you still had plenty of time before they arrived, and so very little information about what was waiting for you ahead.

Fortunately, the trials that had led you here weren't all just little life lessons. You close your eyes and settle back into an appropriated chair, facing an opened window as you flex each individual digit. If they wanted to hole up in their little den, then you would play their game. An expectant half-smile wormed itself mischievously across your face, the harbringer for the sights and sounds that made up your world beginning to fade away into a slightly more familiar, but no less foreboding, abyss as your awareness trickled down to the tips of your fingers.

Not long after, even the creaking of the old wooden boards was lost upon you...
...And the threads of your conscious were unravelled.

Seeking, crossing, expanding. This power you earned from the Atelier which allowed you to spin a web with your own senses, becoming acutely aware of every thing within your given territory. The web of a spider, from which you could feel every intruder. You let yourself get lost in the weaving threads, thoughts shuddering from strand to strand as the ethereal web encompassed the house you stood in and mapped out its nooks and crannies. In time your reach expanded even further, escaping beneath the door and through open windows alike; Ravenously consuming every speck of unclaimed land for your greedy web.

You had done this twice already, and last time had even gone so far as to try and map out the tunnels beneath the Mausoleum... Compared to that, the amount of time it would take you to cover the old Tier estate was negligible.

...

They had arrived.

You almost absently noted the presence of Asche and Priat entering the edge of your web, in pursuit of a company of less familiar individuals. Roderick and the Mayor were among them, with one of your knights fitting in as a town guard right along side the others of the escort. You mentally tracked their progress, cheek twitching as Asche seemed to stop just within your web. Her hesitation was a brief affair, barely a stuttered step, before she fell back in pace with Priat in their tailing efforts.

You'd think about it later. For now, you had just finished turning the old Tier estate into your Domain. Every house, every room, every individual inside were mapped out in your mind as if written on a map before you. So long as this web was maintained, you were confident you could keep track of everything occurring in the area.

What to do with that...?

>Stablize your web and leave it (Will not be able to reconnect, but maintain a passive awareness.)
>Focus on locating Rinnier
>Focus on locating the Gnome adept
>Focus on locating Kara or the other demihumans
>Alter your web.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45707354
>Focus on locating Rinnier

>>45707530
Writing.

Your awareness flickers rapidly from thread to thread. Empty houses, houses filled with people around a table, houses filled with people in beds, houses filled with people meandering lazily through large open rooms and patrolling the halls. You passed them over without a second thought, even as they blithely walked around the phantom web you had spun through their dens. They weren't who you were looking for.

Deeper, through hall after hall, you try to zero in on where your captured Testament was being held. A familiar presence, a fiery temper.... When you finally found her, standing immobile with the same inherent royal pride you remember, it's locked away deep inside the estate. They had imprisoned her beyond the main house, in what you could only assume were the places previously used to hold the Tier family's beasts.

...And she wasn't alone. There was something else close to her; Something massive that you couldn't recognize. Its sheer girth was like a distortion in your web, such that the web had actually woven itself around and over the anomaly rather than simply made you aware of it. You swallow tightly, boggling at the thing's stature as you tried to work out its dizzying dimensions by feeling out the distortion within your web. It left you with a headache softly pulsing behind your eyes, like you were trying to focus on something that only existed in the periphery of your vision.

It was being kept near Rinnier, but you couldn't discern what exactly 'near' meant. Everything around her was slightly hazy. At the very least, it didn't seem to be active beyond the occasional rumbling shift.

>Stabilize your web
>Attach a thread to Rinnier
>Try to investigate the distortion further
>Alter your web
>Other? (write-in)

>>45708276
>Try to investigate the distortion further

>>45708375
writing.

bump

You try and twist your web around to get a better understanding of the strange distortion. More and more threads weave together until the strands covering it begin to resemble a sheer blanket rather than any sort of spider's web. It disturbs you that the thing's existence seems to completely reject your web's attempts to perceive it, but at the very least you've managed to gain a better understanding of its size by virtue of completely isolating where the distortion begins and ends.

It was nearly the size of the main house itself, a massive quadrupedal existence with a set of vicious horns erupting from its skull that seemed to stretch longer than a horse in length each. You could barely make out a muscled tail nearly the length of its body furled about its tucked in limbs, twitching from time to time and sending visions of blur and haze through your web. Just being close to this thing was making it difficult to use your web as a sensor to notice the relatively diminutive things around it.

Specifically speaking, it was only out of pure stubbornness that you were still able to make out Rinnier's location somewhere above it. Seems like you would have to pay the price of losing precision awareness in order to scale your web out enough to identify the creature via the shape of the void in your web around it.

You shake the mental equivalent of your head to try and regain your sense of scale as you ease your attention out of the hazy blanket of strings you had woven around the distortion. Where were Asche and Priat...? A quick scan for the mental tag you had placed on their presences brings you back to the front door of the Tier estate. Stopped just beyond the courtyard, as the mayor had taken Roderick further into the house itself along with his escort.

They couldn't exactly follow him into the house without being noticed... They probably didn't even know what was in the house, for that matter.

>Send a knight to contact them and give them information about the house. (you currently have 9 knights left)
>Attempt to alter your web.
>Stabilize your web; Join them yourself.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45709554
>Send a knight to contact them and give them information about the house. (you currently have 9 knights left)

>>45709583
>Stabilize your web; Join them yourself.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>45709636
1. Send a knight
2. Go yourself.

...Writing for dice gods.

>>45710084
Aw man. I always get here late.

Well, I'm off to eat. Be back in about 30 min.

It takes you a few seconds to find your center again, withdrawing your presence from the expansive web you had managed to weave through the Tier estate until you could open your eyes again. It had gotten late at some point, a fact you had missed when you were immersed in the web... Had it really taken them all evening to get here? For you to manage what you did? Your sense of time was nebulous at best while you were working, but the sun setting on the horizon and the deep orange rays bathing the streets with creeping shadows told you everything you needed to know.

You lurch forward, feeling stiff muscles protest and joints crack as you make your first actual movements in literal hours. You nearly stumble as you pull yourself up, feeling the threads of spreading out delicately from your fingertips like an an invisible silken weave. "Ser?" You groan an acknowledgement as you reconcile the disorienting experience of becoming aware of the approaching knight in a variety of ways. Not just his position in relation to you, but also in relation to your chair, the walls on either side of him, the stairs... "Ser, are you okay? It's been hours." You raise a hand to your head and quickly attempt to sort through the unexpected overload of sensory data to find relevant details.

Your connection to the web was still there. Not as clear as it had been, but you were still passively aware of most of the area around you as you stumbled through the web. If you took a moment to focus, you could make out the presence of things further away.

"Ser!"
"I hear you."

You groan, finding the urge to let your consciousness drift back to your web a little more overwhelming than expected. As long as you stayed with your center then you were fine, but... Oh man. That first step was like walking clean off a cliffside; You would fall quick and fast, spiraling out and away into the web as if it was where you belonged rather than this restrictive body with its painfully limited purview of-

"I'm sorry if this offends you, but you've been staring at me for almost ten minutes, ser Valen."

You blink slowly, letting the threads around your fingers tie themselves together as you step away from the center of your web. The world seems so terribly small now, you can't help the disappointed frown that worms its way onto your face as you make your way past the knight who had come to check on you. "Get the others together, we're moving."

"Uh... Aye?" You stare at him blankly, vaguely noting the sloppy salute as he moves to alert the others downstairs. You were aware they were down stairs, two of them by the window, one of them watching the door, three of them around a table. Two of them... Pressed against each other in a closet.

You follow the guard down not long after, one hand rubbing at your forehead as they assemble themselves to follow you. You had work to do, and a Testament to get back... Something, something metaphor about a spider going hunting.

Jesus, how did you live just using your eyes to see things?

By the time you arrive where Asche and Priat had been previously, they've already begun to move; You stare at the place they had been...

"How long has it been since I stood up?"
"Fifteen minutes, give or take."

...Not fifteen minutes ago, sighing as you swivelled left and started wandering after them. They were still mentally tagged in your web; You knew exactly where they were. You even knew the exact moment Priat noticed someone was following them, and, rather unfortunately, you could bring yourself to do little more than stand and stare directly at their hiding place once you had caught up to them.

"Rue."
"Irue."

The familiar blue-eyed face of Asche's disguise pokes out of a nearby bush in mutual deadpan greeting.

"I know where they're keeping Rinnier... But there's something else there." You admit as they emerged from their rapidly procured hiding spots, "I don't know what it is, but it's big."

"Big?" Priat tilts his head curiously, "Can you be more specific?"
"It might be bigger than the house they're in. Or slightly smaller. It's hard to look directly at it."

"...Ah." If the Salamander representative understood the exact problem in your complaint, he didn't seem inclined to pursue it any further. "Do you know how we can get to her quickly?"

...You have some ideas.

Breaking into the house was one of them, since you highly doubted anything could actually sneak up on you given your current state; Navigating through the halls and rooms wouldn't be too difficult... Even if the inside of the house was effectively swarming with mercenaries. One bad move would see you all cornered.

There was also just going around the house and trying to get through the high fence-walls separating the animal holding area from the streets proper. There were only a few people in that direction, but their movements were weird. It was like they would walk a few paces in a direction for no apparent reason, then just... Stop.

And finally, you had nine knights, a Salamander adept, and Asche, as well as unparalleled situational awareness and a seething hatred of everything and everyone currently involved in this. There wasn't much stopping you from making pragmatic and violent use of that.

>Break into the house.
>Go around the house.
>Violence solves problems permanently.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45711313
>>Other? (write-in)
Could we somehow get the animal to freak out? Like say by starting a fire?

>>45711313
>>Break into the house.

>>45711313
>Go around the house.
As tempting as violence is, and as easy as infiltrating SOUNDS, we don't have a very good sense of self at the moment to do things reliably.

Also,
>Other? (write-in)
Could we figure out what those people walking and stopping are doing with spider senses

File: 1412693248866.png (361 KB, 640x360)

361 KB PNG

>>45711455
You can certainly do that.

>>45711313
>>45711507
this

>>45711313
>Break into the house
Save the violence for the Mayor And Roderick

>>45711511
Fire is the cause and solution to many of life's problems.

>>45711561
Surprise violence is even better than random violence!

>>45711455
If it's good enough for Priat, it's good enough for us.

>>45711470
>>45711561
1. Break in all sneaky like.

>>45711507
>>45711537
2. What are those weirdos doing and why are they in our way?

Want to break this tie, or roll for it?

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>45711756
5 minutes passed; Rolling it is.

>>45711756
Roll for it, let the dice decide our fate!

>>45711922
I was so tempted to samefag

. . . . FOR FIRE FOR EVERYONE.

You close your eyes, focusing in on the strangely moving people guarding the fences. They were moving erratically, but you couldn't nail down exactly what was behind the odd behaviour. It hadn't been something you had considered worth looking into when you had full immersion in the web, and only now did you realize how disconcerting it was... Unfortunately, focusing on the web now only gave you a clearer idea of where they were.

Notably absent from your last endeavour in using this web was the ability to outright sense their emotions... But in exchange, you could identify them much easier. It's how you had been able to pick out Rinnier and the others from a crowd, and that alone was enough to clue you in on the identity of at least one of the oddly moving people.

"Kara is up ahead." Your brows knit even as awareness beyond sight marks her as your Testament. "...With others that I can't recognize. They're all moving strangely."

"Strangely?"

"They're stopping, looking back to the sky, or off in a random direction. I don't really understand it."

You shake your head, physically this time, to try and haul yourself back to your center and let the web of awareness fade back into the background of your senses. "I know the layout of this place, we can make our way around the house to the fences in the back and take a shortcut directly to where they're holding Rinnier... But we'd have to go past Kara and the others to do it."

"I was under the impression 'Kara' was a friend of yours. Wouldn't her presence there effectively guarantee us passage?" Priat considered the option as he followed your gaze off to the side. You didn't have an answer for him, though.

>It's the best we've got.
>Avoiding her might be for the best right now, we'll go through the house.
>I'll go ahead alone; She probably already knows I'm here.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45712649
>It's the best we've got.
They might be under a drug or magic or something.

>>45712649
>Avoiding her might be for the best right now, we'll go through the house.

>>45712649
>It's the best we've got

>>45712649
>It's the best we've got.

>>45712904
>>45712742
>>45712675
Best we got.

>>45712735
Nnnnnope.

Writing.

"Maybe." You offer Priat an uncommittal answer as you take the lead. Normally you would have told your knights to spread out, but there's very little their scouting could provide you in forewarning that your web wasn't already doing in a more vivid and direct fashion. You deftly retrace the layout of the estate in your mind, comparing it to the map of the web directly available to you as you move in order to stay on track. It's not a difficult matter for you to lead your small group past the occasional watch and sentry, ducking around cover to avoid the eyes from within overlooking windows.

Part of you wonders if this could be considered cheating, since you were acutely aware of where their look-outs were placed, as well as when they were crossing near windows nearby, but the matter is disregarded almost as quickly as it comes. For one thing, it's impossible to cheat when there weren't any rules in the first place.

For another, screw them.

You come to a halt in midstep almost immediately as those last two words materialize in your mind. Kara had and the others had stopped moving in unison. You grit your teeth irritably as your company comes to a halt... "I think we just got found." You mutter, holding position for what seems like hours before you catch Kara breaking off from the fence and wandering off towards you at a lazy pace.

"Should we get ready for an ambush?"

You shake your head, ambushing Kara would work out about as well as ambushing you right now. Probably even less so, given that she could actually do something about the ambush after realizing it was happening. "It's too late for that."

"T'late for what?" And just like that, Kara's voice breaks in from the roof above you, her golden eyes peeringly curiously over the edge as she looks over your motley assortment.

Her eyes linger on your knights briefly, as if trying to reconcile something unusual in her mind, before finally coming full circle and resting on you with an absently wagging tail. "Y'shouldn't be here, 'Rue."

"Why are YOU here?" You riposte pointedly, "Why did you come back?"
"Me?" She blinks in confusion, "Why wouldn't I come back?"
"Why would-" You stop yourself, realizing that you were about to get into a feedback loop with the perching demihuman. "You came to warn me about the trap, why didn't you stay with us?"
"Ah. I didn't want ya to get hurt, but things seemed like they were gonna turn out good, so I left."

"Kara..." You groan, becoming pointedly aware of how awkward discussing your trust issues was in front of nine other people and Priat. "Do you remember what we talked about? The whole trust thing?"

"Uu...Mm." She nodded after a moment of uncertainty, as if trying to remember exactly what you were referring to. "I trust ya, 'Rue."

"Right... But then you left in the middle of the night and went right back to guarding the house of the same people I am currently at odds with, who are holding Rinnier hostage." You look up at Kara to see if she understands where you're going with this.

"Mm!"

She does not.

"Can you maybe see how that makes it really confusing when I want to trust you?"

Her wagging tail slowly comes to a halt with that last question, almost as much a visible reflection of her state of mind as the way her entire posture seems to wilt in sudden dismay and confusion. "Ah, s'not like that, I didn't come back for them or anythin'."

"Is trusting a demihuman really the wisest thing to do...?" You dutifully ignore Priat's whisper as you keep your attention on Kara.

"S'not often my lil bro gets to come out, yeah? And they're lettin' him out to keep an eye on the place, but he wanders off if I'm not 'round, so..."

Little brother...

"He's kind of a runt, an gets picked on by the others too-"

...Others?

"Kara, how many demihumans are here?" If you assumed everyone of the strangely behaving fence guards were acting that way for the same reason, and one of them was Kara, who was with her brother then...

"A lot? Most of m'pack. Old pack. We don't really get 'long, but they let me hang out with my bro s'long as m'not a bad 'fluence."

"..."

>Write-in?

>>45714315
>>Write-in?

So, uh, any suggestions on how to deal with them?

Fuck bringing her brother along, he's probably a sociopath using her retard strength for his own gain in the pack which is why they don't like her much.

>>45714315
> Will they try and stop us? Can we go around them? Do you care if we hurt any of them?

Important questions I feel.

>>45714315
>Let's see what happens, let's meet them.

>>45714447
>>45714533
>>45714603
Hm... Writing, I suppose.

"They're guarding this place." You deadpan, receiving a nod of confirmation from Kara, "Which means they're working for the mayor, or the mercenaries, doesn't it."

"Ah... Maybe?" She dedicates a few moments of thought to the question before shrugging, "I don't really understand a lot of the reasons they do things. S'all too hard f'me." You let out a deeply seated sigh, trying to roll through possible reasons a pack of demihumans would be working with anyone in the current situation... An act made all the more fruitless because you had no solid understandings of what they could possibly want out of the deal either. Going around wasn't going to be an option either; Not with demihumans. They'd know you were approaching long before you actually got there.

That left you precious few options. Try to sneak through the house, or take them by force were the two that immediately sprang to mind. "Kara, Rinnier is inside." You decide to level with your demihuman Testament, "She is my Testament, and I am going to get her back."

"Mm..." You can see the gears regretfully beginning to turn in Kara's head as you stare up at her. "If the other demihumans get in the way, I will do everything I can to put them down."

"Ah?" She looks you over sceptically, "I could stop all ya right now, though. M'actually more worried 'bout you than them." While the point was fair, you were still marginally offended. You kept your stare on principle, letting Kara know your decision wasn't going to change. "Do you want to take that chance?" The question was simple, banking on the vague memories you had of the last time you and Kara had been in the courtyard not far away. It's enough to give her pause, enough to force her to seriously consider it.

"M'bro will be sad if they get hurt." She finally sighs, scratching frustratedly at her hair. "They pick on him, but they're his family, y'know? They're pack."

"So you're with them?" You shift your weight, an action mirrored in one way or another by most of the group around you, but Kara only rocks back onto her heels as she sets down on the roof overhang. "S'not what I... Don't make this hard, 'Rue. Please? I don't want you t'fight with them."

"Then how do you suggest I deal with them?" You cross your arms, "I'm not abandoning Rinnier anymore than I'd abandon you or Ari."
"...Y'sure?"
"Yes!" You snap back irritably.

"...Maybe we could jus' ask if they'll let you in?" Kara grimaced at the idea, giving you the implicit understanding this was farfetched even to her limited scope of consideration. "Y'want Rinnier, right...? What if... What if I got her for ya?"

"You can just go get her?" You almost want to reject it reflexively, but Kara's confident nod squashes the simmering disbelief... But not the creeping feeling of unease that accompanied it. Putting aside that this wouldn't let you make the mayor choke on every piece of vengeance you so desperately wanted to shove down his throat, "Why didn't you just do this the first time?" It didn't make sense. "For that matter, why leave Asche imprisoned if it was just that easy?"

"...S'not easy." Kara muttered, "They'll get mad at me when they figure out what I'm doin'. Real mad. But... But that'll be enough, won't it? Y'got Asche, and I can get ya Rinnier, and then y'won't have to fight with any of 'em, right?"

>Accept
>Reject
>Write-in?

>>45715783
I want to know what will happen if they get mad at Kara, or maybe there's some way we can find out why they're working for the mayor and have them turn to our side instead.

>>45715783
What will they do if they get mad Kara? Would your brother be willing to switch packs, his for yours?

>>45715783
>>Write-in?
What >>45715927 is suggesting - we can find out what they're getting out of working for the mayor, and get them to be okay with us pummeling the bastard.

Can't be that complicated, right?

>>45715927
>>45715965
>>45715966
Writing. For DIPLOMACY.

"What will happen to you?"
"I'll be fine." Kara waves off your concern, "S'not the first time they'd be mad at me, I can handle it."
"I didn't ask if you'd be fine, Kara. What will happen?"

Kara looks away, leaving the two of you to fall into an uncomfortable silence as her tail wraps around her hip reluctantly. "Maybe we'll meet 'gain?" She suggested half-heartedly, "I'd like that, 'least. Y'were a real surprise."

Your grip slackens partially, a look of confusion flashing across your face as you try to understand what she was saying. There was a lot there that you wanted to retort over, but the bottom line needed to be corrected first. "You're my Testament. I'm not leaving this town with you, either."

"...You're makin' this harder than it needs t'be, 'Rue." Kara mutters after a while, "I know y'say I'm a testything, but it's not that simple, yeah?"

"Then what's complicating it?" You're vaguely aware of the time being spent here, time that could be spent rescuing Rinnier. Like Jill before, you were on a tight schedule today... "Look, maybe meeting them isn't a bad idea. If I can at least figure out why they're working for whoever they're working for, maybe we don't have to fight at all."

"...Are y'sure?" Kara seems distinctly uncomfortable with the idea, but from your perspective, it's difficult to see another way trhough this. "Alright... I'll lead you back to the others. Jus' be careful, alright? If this goes bad..."

"If it goes badly it won't be any different from how it would have went initially anyway." You sigh tiredly, "If they insist on staying with the Mayor or the mercenaries, then they would have been my enemies anyway."

>Go with Kara alone
>Go with someone in particular (Who?)
>Go with everyone, including your knights.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45717010
>>Go with everyone, including your knights.

Show of strength. Also, fully prepared for if shit goes down.

>>45717010
>Go with someone in particular (Who?)
Asche

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>45717042
1. Knights!

>>45717065
2. Asche!

Dice and writing.

You step forward, noting with a certain sense of satisfaction that Asche had immediately taken up position directly behind and to your left the moment you moved. Nodding to Kara, you let yourself be led forward and away from the rest of your group. It... Honestly it wasn't a hard decision to make. The thought of making a show of force had crossed your mind, but what force did you honestly have to show? A group of nine people who were little more than peasants forced into a life of brigandry? Perhaps Priat could have been a formidable presence, being the representative of Salamander, but he was ultimately not part of your group. He didn't have a place in the coming talks.

That left you Asche, who you hadn't even needed to ask. The moment you had stepped forward, she was at your side... And that was enough to bolster your confidence in what you were about to do. Namely, as Kara led you closer and closer to the fence and you noted the gathering cluster of those strangely behaved presences; The ones you now know beyond a shadow of a doubt to be other demihumans. Encountering them in person is simply a courtesy confirmation, the slightly lanky posture, the obviously exposed tails and variously shaped ears.

"Sis?" The first to acknowledge Kara's return is a relatively short demihuman with sandy blonde hair and a similar set of golden eyes as he looks between both Kara and yourself. There's a curiosity in his face, but as the two of you made eye contact, the inhumanity echoed back to you as if you had just thrown a stone into a deep cavern. He saw you, he knew you, every twitch of your muscles, every tensed stride and flickering facial expression. He looked at you and analysed it all, dissecting your every step as if it were a book and then filing the information away for future reference. "Who's this? I thought you were going to warn those guys away?" His curiosity never faltered as he turned back to Kara, "What's goin on, sis?"

"They're a friend." Kara explained with a smile, one hand gently ruffling the shorter demihuman's hair as she wrapped her arm around him. "'Rue wanted to talk with your Alpha 'bout something, so I brought 'em back."

"...I don't think Maro is going to be happy about this." The sandy blonde frowned as his head bobbed down under Kara's unrelenting headpatting, a singular doubtful look directed at you with the same sense of curiosity he had held initially. "A friend of my big sister is a friend of mine though. My name's Raid." The smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he smiled back at you, "I don't know how you met her, but thanks for taking care of her!"

>She's my responsibility.
>She takes care of me just as much.
>It's nice to meet you. She seems to care a lot about you.
>Pleasantries will have to wait, is 'Maro' your leader?
>Other? (Write-in)

>>45717738
>>She takes care of me just as much.
>>It's nice to meet you. She seems to care a lot about you.

>>45717738
>>She's my responsibility.
>>It's nice to meet you. She seems to care a lot about you.

>>45717738
>She takes care of me just as much.

>>45717777
>>45717815
Displaying weakness guys.

>>45717738
>It's nice to meet you. She seems to care a lot about you.
> What do YOU care about?

With a pleasant smile the same as his.

>>45717738
>>Pleasantries will have to wait, is 'Maro' your leader?

>>45717777
>>45717815
She takes care of me, too.

>>45717777
>>45717780
>>45717838
She cares quite a bit for you.

>>45717780
She's my responsibility.

>>45717838
What do you care about?
With additional expression-based cat fighting.

>>45717859
Maro fucking where.

Writing.

>>45717982
Hey, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

And his answer could be pretty revealing.

But we should probably find a way to kill her broski without her knowing.

"A pleasure." You offer your own smile back at him as you feel his attention focus upon your every move. "I understand that she cares a lot about you."

"Ehehe..." He ducks his head, but his eyes don't quite leave you, "She's my big sister. She's been looking out for me ever since I was little."

"You're still little, bro." Kara interjected fondly, plopping her hand down on his head. A small laugh slips through your parted lips, as you watch their interactions; The awkward way that Raid tries to pry his older sister's hand from their stubborn assault of his head, and how Kara almost expertly managed to avoid any and all of his attempts to escape her grasp as she played around with him. "...Watching this makes me miss my own sister." You cross your arms and direct a thoughtful gaze at the two of them, casting your thoughts back to the vague and fading memories of what little time you could remember spending with Ariel...

"You have a sister too?" Raid's interest perks up, "Had." you correct him with a soft smile, deliberately pausing for a breath as you looked him in the eye, "She cared about me as well... Too much. Now she's dead."

"...I'm... Sorry." Kara and Raid still, your demihuman Testament unconsciously tightening her grip around her brother as you keep him locked in your sights; A melancholic smile fueled by your memories playing across your face. "Don't be;" you shake your head with a laugh, unpausing in your stride as you moved past the two of them, "I moved on."

Asche fell in step behind you, you had already noted the closest cluster of demihumans in the web and thus had little need to stand around and be guided. No, more than that, taking the initiative here was important; It set the key, it stoked the fires and established social order.

...Now, how much of that did Raid truly understand, you wonder?

Regardless, Kara broke away from her little brother not long after, muttering something to him as she sprung after you with an awkward air, as if she was embarrassed for having been the cause of you remembering your own sister. The casual chatter between the two of you was almost a secondary function, a litany of friendly reassurances as the two of you fell into comfortable step aside one another and talked easily.

You never looked back at Raid. Given the presence of the web at the edge of your senses, you never needed to. You knew he had stood on the spot, you knew when he took his first step after you. You knew exactly how long he waited, watching his older sister walk away from him to stand by your side.

Admittedly, you were curious about demihumans. Real ones, not Kara. The ones like Raid and his pack, who were so intrinsically accustomed to tearing apart social cues and body language that it was something they did on instinct. It was a dreadful sort of curiosity, one that begged you to explore how far it went, what the limits of their understandings were. How they would react with what they learned, and what they could understand from not only what you say, but what you do. Where did intuition end, and empathy begin...?

However, for better or worse, you didn't have time to pursue that today. Approaching the cluster of demihumans, you left those thoughts behind and stepped across a boundary into an entirely different atmosphere as you glanced between the various standing crowd and sized them each up individually. Like pinpricks, you could feel them beginning to pick you apart just like Raid had; A side effect of looking at you, preempted by any intention... but only briefly, as the palpable sense of strained tolerance broke against your stride.

The way they watched, the way their bodies angled, the way the crowd parted of its own accord as you approached. It wasn't to make way for you, but to flank you. A deceptively submissive movement meant to surround you only moments later, and break confidence as you stared down the throat of the pack. No escape, no leverage.

"Maro, isn't it?" You didn't need to be introduced, hearing his name was enough for you. Seeing the person at the center of this gathering, who hadn't done much more than acknowledge your presence was more than enough. "We have business to discuss."

"Do we?" he drawled lowly in return, eyes flickering over Kara with dismissively as he turned towards you.

...It's odd, but this environment felt normal to you. Comfortable, even. The posturing, the mind games, the clipped words and stress of your every action being read and searched for weakness; A feeling you would have missed entirely if you yourself weren't so adept at the art.

You think you might actually prefer demihumans.

>Bait him into conversation, try to make him curious.
>Seize control, lay down your demands.
>Appeal to favour, make a request.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45718687
>>Bait him into conversation, try to make him curious.

"Don't we? After all, the Mayor isn't going to be around much longer."

We are not leaving without killing that fuck.

>>45718687
>>Seize control, lay down your demands.

>>45718687
>>Seize control, lay down your demands.
Be straight with him. Trying to dance around this will just lead to him getting the advantage. Not like we have much to bargain with in the first place.

>>45718722
Bait!

>>45718765
>>45718798
Demands!

Writing.

>>45718687
>Bait him into conversation, try to make him curious.

>>45718849
I know the pain of too late, very well.

Especially since they're all clever dick with their games.

"We do." You confirm blandly, "After all, the mayor isn't going to be around for much longer, and that leaves you in a bad place, doesn't it?" You tilt your head back minutely, considering the terse man before you for a second before continuing on. "Fortunately, there's something I want that you can get for me."

"Which is?"

"Rinnier, the girl the mayor abducted and the one you're currently guarding." Your eyes stay fixed on Maro, even as you tracked the spread of demihumans around you via the web. True to form, they had wasted little time closing you in from all sides, and to your amusement, even Raid had quietly joined the circle. "So, you have options. Retrieve her for me, or let me through to do it myself."

"If we refuse?" Maro's arms crossed, eyes betraying a thoughtful intelligence behind his clipped words.

"The end result won't change." You assure him with a mild smile.

You regard each other measuringly for several long minutes, a stalemate which slowly began to slip as Maro's lip twitched, his body twitching, finally falling open to full blown barking laughter. "Brave runt! Gahaha!" His laughter echoes up from the pit of his stomach, enough to cause the demihuman to lean upon his own knees as one hand wiped a tear from his eye. "You must have something up your sleeve if you come here and make demands. What is it?" He straightens himself up, a toothy smile splayed across his face as he truly pays attention to you for the first time since the conversation started. "Look around, runt. You think we don't know the score in this town?"

"You made a mistake, runt." His fingers snapped, and the world blurred into motion within the web.

Kara shouted something you couldn't make out.
Raid's voice cutting through the din as he leaped from his place in the pack towards his sister.
Flashes of light from the corner of your eyes, and a vacuum of wind in its wake.
The deft shuffling of Asche's maid uniform as she moved.

...If you hadn't set up this web before hand, you likely would have missed the three people who had begun to move behind and to your sides as Maro spoke. Crimson eyes locked with Maro's bestial ones as your own half-step and shift concluded, a golden halo of hair fanning out around you in the wake of your sudden movement alongside of Asche, a pair of knives lodged firmly into the walls just beyond the gathering of demihumans that surrounded you.

And there before you, glinting in the evening sun as it burned the last dregs of daylight, floated several strands of familiar blonde as they were carried slowly to the ground.

Blood pulsed in your veins.

>Strike one. You're feeling generous today.
>Negotiations will resume after you've carved respect into his body.
>Apologize for trying to negotiate with a dog.
>Meditate (Shade - Rage)
>Meditate (Shade - Regret)
>Meditate (Other)
>Other? (write-in)

>>45719285
>>Strike one. You're feeling generous today.

>>45719285
>Meditate (Shade - Regret)

There needs to be a cull. Just don't kill Karas brother and we're good. But be sure to let him know that we noticed him joining the pack. Nor that we would say anything, because that would hurt Kara.

And we don't want Kara to be hurt.

>>45719285
>>Negotiations will resume after you've carved respect into his body.
Bitch did not just CUT THE HAIR

>>45719285
>Meditate (Shade - Regret)

ASSHOLES CUT our hair. But we're sad. SAD THAT WE'RE GOING TO KILL BUNCH OF KARAS PACK.

Also they probably don't experience regret much so it will be extra terrible for them. I hope.

>>45719285
>Negotiations will resume after you've carved respect into his body.
>Meditate (Shade - Rage) if it's possible to do so quickly while dodging

NO ONE MESSES WITH OUR HAIR AND LIVES

>>45719285
>>Meditate (Shade - Regret)
Let them feel the weight of this transgression: You do not touch the hair.

>>45719395
>>45719383
>>45719376

If I recall correctly this is one of our triggers, yes.

>>45719315
Strike One.

>>45719364
>>45719383
>>45719404
Regret.

>>45719395
Rage.

>>45719395
>>45719376
Negotiations will resume when you've learned your place.

...Oh dear.
---

>>45719383
Old pack. She alluded to this, but they kicked her out; She's only allowed to hang around somewhat on parole. Also somewhat because they can't actually stop her if they tried. Her brother is still part of the pack, though.

Well, here we go.

>>45719486
>...Oh dear.

Did we finally kill Irue? Who will be the next MC?

>>45719526
> Shade - The Mana of Dark. Prone to trickery and word games, it made its home in the nightmares that people feared to tred; Ever thrilled by the few who brave its domain, seeking even more to overcome.
ASPECTS: Shade commands Dark and Emotional Capacity. This includes empathy, bonding and desire.

I was honestly hoping that this would just end up really fucking up the demihumans since they have less experience with these emotions.

As opposed to not affecting them at all.

>>45719486
Can we do regret and rage at the same time?

Because all those regret votes were pretty angry, and we do have the "Berserk Hair no touchy" trait.

Mistake.

The word reverberates in your ears. A damning, taunting echo that called at memories both new and old. This entire rite had been a mistake. How you handled Rinnier had been a mistake. You were even willing to admit, if only to yourself, that perhaps biting Roderick and picking a fight with the town guard had been a mistake. Justified, yes, but had it been worth it...? Yes. Absolutely. If you went back, if you had to make those choices again, you would in a heartbeat. They had led you to where you were now.

"I've made a lot of mistakes." Your weight falls back as something dark gurgled up from the back of your mind, your lips peeling back in a fractured smile as the memories dredged up with that mental blackness assailed you. You had made more mistakes in the past few months than you would ever admit, and while some of them you would go back to do time and time again, there were so many more that had left you with nothing but misery and loss. You had learned through those mistakes, learned desperately, so you never made the same mistake again. So you never had to experience-

Sleepless nights, drowned in nightmares of hazy memories when your life had changed.
Garet's face, and the phantom sounds of Nightgaunts upon the air.
Rinnier's fiery hair framed against the evening sun, as she wondered whether your relationship had been a convenient lie.
Your own shadowed face as its hands clenched around your throat, begging to be released.
Dullem's face as the mineshaft collapsed, rock and debris falling upon your knights.
Something wearing your face, screaming its outrage at an icy monarch upon his frozen throne.
The smell of the rain, the cool feeling of Asche's fingers intertwined with your own.

-Ever again.

Something stings along your wrist, and your jaw slips open in a choking laugh reminiscent of
"I don't... Want to experience this again."
memories you never wanted to dredge up again.

Every moment they had struggled to get you to where you are now, that you had just quietly slipped back into the life they had been leading until only a few days ago. That even now, it felt as if you were the only person to honestly feel the loss in their wake.

"But this one isn't mine." You admitted to Maro, feeling the pulse of your veins carry the black weight through your body. You felt heavy, crushingly heavy, like the moment you had shouldered the weight of Dullem and your knights. It gnawed at you from within, chaining you to the mistakes you made, making each step forward a struggle just to pull yourself away from that black spiral that called you to sink and despair. You moved forward, even with that weight, you used it to make yourself stronger with every step forward, unwilling to let it consume you... But it never left.

This was...

'Apparition.'

The familiar word rang mechanically through your mind as you gripped your wrist to keep it from being pried to the ground from sheer weight.

'Newborn Shade Elemental.'

This bracelet, the only memento of your departed sister. A Relic of unknown origin, unclear purpose.

'Manifest Regret.'

And the chilling sight of distended, chitinous claws and expansive wings. A faceless horror that seemed as if it had stepped out of nightmare, only to find itself lost and stranded in the waking world.

'Revenant.'

This weight on your shoulders was nothing you hadn't already come to terms with. You had made your decision, so long ago, of what path you would walk. For someone who had been forced to accept their mistakes as many times as you, your failures had only ever served to make you stronger through experience... But for a demihuman, for something so distorted and detached from human emotions so as to be natural and instinctual sociopaths, had they even once thought of their actions? Of the things they had done?

"You're going to Regret this.."

The Revenant's wings spread wide, driving the demihumans down. A united cry of surprise, of a foreign dismay seeded within them as the plated predator began to move in silent fury. It sought blood, and found its mark beneath the skin of the near immobilized pack of demihumans as they struggled to force themselves from the ground, to take a single step without being physically crushed.

...And you felt your own awareness begin to wane. Torn between dizziness and the simple overriding clarity of every possible way you could kill the Apparition that had appeared in front of you. Its purpose was lost, it had no place in this world, it was confused and lashing out desperately against everything which provoked it. You could feel the simplicity interfacing with your web, restructuring the priorities it operated on. You could hunt the thing within your web when you felt like it... But did you want to?

"'Rue! What're you doin?!"

Kara staggered, but she was still standing somewhere behind you, her brother clutched in her arms as he struggled to breathe, struggled even to lift his arms, though she held the young demihuman as if he were weightless. "It's hurting him!"

...Did you want to stop?

You turned away from the deliberate and rising cries of the demihumans to regard Kara thoughtfully. Emotions washed across her face in a torrent as she stood tearful and tall under the weight of the Revenant's manifestation, her brother fairing much worse. He was gasping for air, but nothing was coming in. Eyes dilating, arms twitching as panic started to set in.

Panic... A panic attack?

>Let the Revenant rage.
>Taunt the demihumans.
>Force it to a hault, maybe now they'll have learned their place.
>Other? (write-in)

>>45720022
>>Force it to a hault, maybe now they'll have learned their place.

>>45720022
>Other. Try to exclude Kara's brother from the effect

If successful
>Strictly, but without taunting, establish dominance over the demihumans.

If unsuccessful
>Force it to a hault, maybe now they'll have learned their place.

File: ValEnd.gif (1023 KB, 500x281)

1023 KB GIF

>>45720038
>>45720084
Force to a halt, maybe they've learned their place.
---
I'm actually going to stop the thread here tonight, since I started fairly early.

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.

>>45720165
How bad are we failing at life?

>>45720316
i think this was pretty good

>>45720165
Kara standing tall was because she's closer to a dumb human than most demi-humans? I.E. she has empathy?

>>45721224
Yes. She's not completely ignorant to dealing with the (metaphorical and literal) weight of regret. The fact she didn't crumple under it is because she's already become partially accustomed to moving forward with it.

Specifically, even humans could be theoretically crushed by this stuff if they never faced their mistakes and learned to become stronger people using the things they regretted in life, rather than stewing on them and letting it forever drag them down or back.

>>45720165
Jesus. I passed out before last post haha, but that technically counts I guess.

>Other? (write-in)

Get it to focus on Maro.

>>45723589
So Kara is basically more human mentally than her kin, even if she is slower? Or at least more mentally mature?

>>45724993
Yes.

A defining characteristic of demihumans (which we haven't had much chance to display, as we've chosen options which gravitated us away from Kara's story) is that they are a race of natural born sociopaths. While they are developed enough and theoretically capable of feeling empathy, they... Don't. They intellectually understand what causes emotions and how to use or mimic them to get what they want, but they generally don't experience them; Especially not in any great potency.

Kara is considered mentally ill to them, much for the same reason we prescribe medication to people with bi-polar behaviour disorder. To them, her emotions are far too strong and unpredictable, and they often overrule any logical thought on her end, or distract her. As far as demihumans are concerned, Kara is basically hopeless.

On the flip side, Kara is actually repressed for a human. She has little experience dealing with or trying to communicate how she feels and thinks about things. For one, no one in her environment would really understand or care; For another, her overactive emotional state has caused her to be less intellectually adept as others of her kind. This is noted particularly in that she has trouble making decisions and is often confused about what body language means in others.

From either side you look at it, she's something of a child.

>>45725252
Has talking with Irue helped that?

>>45725445
In a way, yes. In others... Not so much. you may have noticed that demihumans have a (deserved) prejudice against them. Because of this, until meeting Irue, Kara really had nowhere to interact with. Demihumans wouldn't understand and humans wouldn't trust her more than making use of her.

The chance to really interact with Irue has helped her start to mature beyond the stagnation she was basically trapped in... But maturation comes through strife, one way or another. It's made things difficult for her, and it won't be an easy road for her.

Regardless, there are a lot of personal trials ahead of her.

>>45725762
So . . . Her brother doesn't have the same damage then.

Just pointing this out, sociopaths don't lack a sense of value for people. It's just not based on empathy. They might like the opportunities they get from associating with them, or even just the way they look or act. It's just that as soon as that person stops doing those things for them, they stop valuing them.

Also, it's a harder evaluation of value than what normal people use, so if they can get something they value more by "trading" that in . . .

>>45726292
> as soon as that person stops doing those things for them, they stop valuing them.
This is very accurate, yes.

You are correct in that demihumans don't lack value in people, but their value and how they measure it is different. They have little loyalty beyond what they believe to be most beneficial to them in the long term, and if they can get that by using or betraying you, then they won't hesitate to and never think twice about doing it. That said, they'll still protect the people they think are important... Until they're no longer important.

>>45726384
So basically we either have to make ourselves indispensable to them, or make them realize crossing us is baaaaaaad.

>>45727076
That's certainly one way to go about it.

Although you've made hefty progress on that second part, considering you just dropped a Revenant on top of them. I wonder if I should have created a bestiary of apparitions you encountered and what they do... Well, it's probably too late for that now.