Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Valen%20Quest

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

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:Arc 2 is probably going to be more hectic than Arc 1 was, in a lot of ways. Now that you have some idea of what the world is like... You get to experience it.

>>130230
>OkriZkaC
>riZ
That was god given.

>Go investigate these pranks
Which I guess means we're going to have to ask some of the drunk knights.

>>130230
>>Go investigate these pranks

>>130230
>Track down Ari now

Best to find her in case anything does happen, I think? Take Asche, Sober Knights,Dullem?
Rinnier can manage the estate for a little bit longer while we get her, I think and Kara needs to watch over the remaining demihuman pack.

>>130230
Pranks? I smell some weird bullshit here.
Investigate these pranks, try to see if they occurred in a common area.

>>130230
>>Track down Ari now
Prank investigations can wait

>>130324
>>130304
Tracking Ari!

>>130313
>>130293
>>130276
Pranks!

>>130276
This thread already feels special!
And I was excited for what was to come anyway.

Writing!

"Make sure the knights are ready to go after Ari," Your mind is already beginning to turn, gears shrugging away their hungover haze as you focus on tearing apart the situation. "I want you to take me to the ones that got pranked, something's bothering me about it."

"No one got hurt or anything." Dullem reassured you, but acquiesced to taking you all the same. "I don't think any of them were actually upset or anything."

"The point is that I don't remember doing anything like that." You irritably mutter, "Why would I have done any of that?"

"Not like it's the dumbest thing that's happened while drunk," Dullem supplied with an unconcerned shrug, "But if you're sure, then you're the boss." You didn't bother to acknowledge that, allowing yourself to be led on to meet with one knight or another, one of them you distantly recognized as the one you had seen vomiting outside your bedroom window earlier that morning. Their stories were all similar, vaguely recalled drunken stories of them seeing you walking the grounds during the night, and calling out to some of them from time to time.

More than once you found them greeting you with broader, more genuine, smiles than you ever remember being the recipient of; The reason for which you would learn moments later as they regaled you with the stories of how their 'high and mighty noble leader' had come out with a bottle of Faedka to share with them all, and laughed into the night at this or that.

Then there were the more disturbing 'pranks'. Reports - still drunken ones, almost a universal constant given the state of the manor in the last month - Of seeing your silhouette outside windows, immaculate and still as you had gazed in to the house itself and, if you were to believe the inebriated accounts, simply watched them.

"Y'wouldn't respond much then. Most of us jus' figured you were thinking, or wanted some time t'yourself." The knight before you groaned, nursing down a cup of cold water as he held his head in one hand. "It only got creepy when you'd just kinda... Appear outside windows, and tap on them." He mimed rapping against the pane, "Kept telling us to 'Come back', but by the time we'd actually get outside, couldn't find ya."

>Ask a question (what?)
>Search for Ari
>See if the demihumans noticed anything
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>Other? (Write-in)

>>130569
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Don't the Oakenrues talk...? Granted it's just mimicking words they've heard us say, but... They're also the only thing I can think of right now that would resemble us outside of well. ....well.

Oh, and also.
>Search for Ari

>>130569
>See if the demihumans noticed anything
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Oakenrues

This is creepy but I gotta sleep. Good night, all.

>>130601
Ari!

>>130610
Demihumans!

...I guess I can work with this.
Writing.

What is it with you and the sun, Riz? You have some kinda weird skin disease? Are you ginger?

As the stories continued to come together, you felt the beginnings of something wiggling at the back of your mind. A memory you felt that should have been relevant here... And then you remembered. The color drained away from your face as you recalled the wooden caricatures which had appeared back near the start of your Rite, frozen expressions carved in wood as they warbled back your own words in some vain effort to communicate.

Your brief paling moment coincided with a very sudden swerve as you staggered away from the knights with a hurried thanks and began to pick up speed towards the back of the yard. Why had Ari left your side? Why had she wandered out into the woods? Neither of those questions had decent answers until just now, but the answer you were being given was anything but comforting.

Ari would go where you went, and if you called, she would come. So naturally, all it would take to lure her into the woods was your voice, and words that you know they had already learned. If that alone weren't enough to elicit a sinking knot in your stomache, the inconsistencies in what you knew were painting a much more trepidating picture.

There had been two of those wooden golems. One of them you remember killing... But the other was with Ari. Had been with Ari this entire time; It had behaved itself, doing roughly as you asked since you had found it. Enough so that you had admittedly begun to let your guard down regarding it...

...However, they had said she still had it when she left, and it wasn't likely that it had ever left her grasp. Even if it had, there were far too many stories, from too many places, to be accounted for by just Ari's stick.

Perhaps you had been naive to assume there would only have been two of them back then.

"Maro!" Your stormy path across the backyard slowed only briefly as you approached the demihuman's cart, "Have you seen anything out here that looked like me?"

"..." Said demihuman, once a proud individual who had stood in front of you near implacably, now only barely glanced beyond his angrily nursed bottle at your calls. Impatience frothed just below the surface of your thinly kept temper, a part of you wanting to simply leave now to track Ari... But if she left this way, then she'd have had to pass this wagon, which meant... "Answer me!"

"...Lose something?" The slurred response was not what you were expecting, nor the exhausted spite which nearly dripped from those two words as Maro just barely looked up towards you. "Always like this." You feel your teeth grind together harshly as more and more of your time starts to slip away as the demihuman's former-leader seems content to wax on melodramatically.

This wasn't something you had time for.

"Tell me what happened." You push aside the obvious bait, trying to pry some information from the drunken demihuman... But he only chuckles; A deep, throaty reaction born from something blacker than mirth. "What did you see?"

"A sad thing, chasing echoes." He seemed to simply shrug off your hostility, attempting to smile at you... Only to seem confused, and then further disgusted, upon realizing he couldn't manage even that much any longer. He took a deep swill from the bottle cradled between his dirty fingers, and you seized the opportunity to further interrogate him in regards to how long ago he had seen her.

"Why ask me?" He snorted, scowling around the neck of the bottle as he finally mustered some semblance of ire to glare half-heartedly at you. "How long have I even been here...?"

...You suppose asking something like that was a longshot in the first place.

>Ask Maro something else (what?)
>Force him to come with you
>Enter the forest
>Other? (write-in)

>>131161
>Force him to come with you

>>131161
>Take Kara and enter the forest
She can track by scent and kill oakenwhatevers.

>>131161
>Enter the forest
Let's bring Kara with us too, we don't have time to go back and grab anyone else.

>>131161
>Attempt to charm/manipulate the demihuman in accompanying you rather than using force.

File: Giving Up Hope.png (152 KB, 640x360)

152 KB PNG

>>131179
>>131234
You're coming with us!

>>131197
>>131205
Kara is now onboard.

Writing!

>>130905
I tried to start really early today, but ended up curled into a shady corner for the better part of two hours while I popped ibuprofen like candy and bemoaned the brightness of life.

I'd move to Alaska, where the sun is gone for like 4 months at a time... But I hear it also comes back for an equal amount of time, and I fear I'd just end up laying on the floor for weeks at a time, waiting for it to leave.

"Dullem, send someone to get Kara." You sigh, feeling your patience begin to wear thin. Knowing what you were liable to be walking into, you had a great deal of reservations regarding your peasant-knight's ability to support you in any meaningful manner. You had, after all, watched just one of those wooden golems break their entire siege. Luna knows you had considered using it as a primary force against Carona, as well. If you were about to walk headlong into what you were forced to assume was their home ground at this point, then you had no idea how many of them you would find crawling out of the woods to greet you.

That said, you had watched Kara break an Oakenbear in half with her bare hands; Almost absent mindedly, at that. Having her with you would go a long way towards making you feel better about what you would probably encounter chasing after Ari.

And on that note... "What's wrong, don't like your new dog house?" You spit out a casual barb while you waited for the peasant-knight to return with Kara, watching Maro's ear shift slowly as he rather visibly seemed to decide whether or not to even bother replying. The result of said deliberation, in the end, being to simply take another drink from the bottle. "You'll regret ignoring me." Your arms cross after a moment's silence, the familiar footing of social combat and manipulations beginning to make themselves at home beneath your metaphorical feet.

Maro flinched almost reflexively, the bottle in his hands cracking ominously under the sudden onset of shivers that run through his body; One that was shared by the majority of the demihumans still alive within the cart. "Not again... I'll kill myself first." When he finally raised his head to you, the bloodshot eyes which greeted you were nearly as red as your own. It was a quite a feat, made all the more impressive by the certainty and resolve you saw rooted within them. It was, perhaps, the only thing Maro still seemed to have resolve in.

However, the fact there was still something there that he could dig into was... Intriguing.

If left to his own devices, would he eventually succumb like the others? Unable to deal with the trauma you had forced on him with the Revenant? Or was there a reason that the handful of demihumans before you were still alive, even after the rest of their pack had taken their own lives through out the month?

Either way, what you saw before you was an opportunity.

A serpent's smile began to slither across your features in the face of that potential. "You're new to this, so from one human to another," you let the words slip off your tongue silkily, enjoying the subtle shifting of his cheeks that precluded his scowling attention, "It doesn't take an apparition of Shade in order to be consumed by Regret."

Even as you deliberately needled the demihuman leader, carefully and delicately feeding the smoldering embers of indignation that had nearly gone cold, you couldn't help but want to laugh at the near pavlovian flinching response to that one word. He could still be used, and perhaps in time, he might even become able to function again.

But what had happened to Maro, and the rest of his pack, was never going to be overcome. You understood that now, looking into the eyes of someone who had promised to kill themselves before being subjected to a Revenant a second time. To call what remained a 'scar' was akin to describing a deep sea trench as a simple ditch.

"You have been drowning yourself in that drink to escape. What do you think will happen when it's all gone?" And it would be, certainly. You refused to keep the thrice-damned alcohol and its obnoxious mascot around.

"That welp won't-"

"That welp is the only reason you're still here." You interrupt acidly, "I allow you here to humor Kara, and the drink you've been nursing for the past month is a product of that." You stood with your back straight, head cocked back just far enough to affect looking down upon the demihuman before you as you watched the rusted and alcohol-drowned gears in his mind slowly begin to turn... And with them, the way his unhealthily pallid expression seemed to bloom into something between fear and rage. "Yes, you understand now, don't you?"

"I'll-"
"Kill me?"

You interrupt his scratchy voice before he can finish, your own volume spiking briefly to eclipse his mockingly. "I welcome you to try, or have you forgotten how that worked out for you already?" Your arms spread invitingly, and you spared a moment to wonder how strong Maro really was. If it were Kara, you doubted the bars of the cart would be worth much more than wet tissue paper if she actually tried to lunge for you... But she was something of an outlier, as you understood it. "From where I'm standing, you can't even stand. Look around you, Maro: You've been living in a squalor, your pack has killed themselves around you, one by one, and you have nothing. This is what you want?"

"You did this to us!" He snapped, and the bottle of Faedka in his hands shattered upon the bars in rage; Shards of glass screaming past you and cutting a shallow gouge along your neck and cheek. They stung, fresh blood welling to the surface from the wounds in their wake - Injuries you were prepared for, but had taken most of your nerve to simply stand and take.

You had to have taken them. If you had flinched, then it would have all been for nothing as you smiled, fangs bared in the face of prey that was becoming furiously aware its futile baying was exactly that.

"You were a nuisance to me then, and nothing else. Why should I let my Testament keep something so useless as pets?"

"Yo, 'Rue!" You nodded towards Kara as she strolled across the grass, her casually wagging tail beginning to slow suspiciously as she looked between yourself and the filthy demihuman now standing unsteadily behind you. "...What's this 'bout?"

"Something's kidnapped Ari, we're going to get her back." You roll your head around lightly, "I think I'll need your help if we run into what took her."

"Mm." Kara nodded, glancing towards Maro in an increasingly confused manner. Several times she seemed as if she wanted to ask a question, ask for some kind of explanation, but the problem of who she should address it to left her reluctantly stumped and silent as she fell in behind yourself, Dullem, your peasant-knights, and the recently recruited demihuman Maro.

"...M'glad to see you up, finally." She finally greeted her old pack leader, tail tentatively wagging... Only to slow back to a stop when he spared her a non-commital grunt in return.

>Trackers take point
>Order Maro to earn his keep (how?)
>Talk to Kara (Orders? Questions?)
>Other? (write-in)

>>131816
>Talk to Kara (Maro isn't Alpha anymore. He lost that right when he gave up and started letting his pack commit suicide and raised not a finger to help them. You're new alpha until someone can beat you or convince you to give it up. I expect you to stop coddling them Kara. Sometimes to help someone you have to hurt feelings.

>>131816
>Talk to Kara
Can you track Ari by scent?
If yes, she's on point, if no, the trackers.

>>131859
Seems pretty good. I would like to add
>Trackers take point
at the end of that.

>>131816
>>Talk to Kara (Orders? Questions?)
"What's on your mind?"

File: 1454913177700.png (356 KB, 820x541)

356 KB PNG

>>131916
>>131922
Trackers on point!

>>131980
Whatcha thinkin' bout?

>>131859
>>131922
I uh... Hm. Er...

Writing. I think.

>>132015
So how bad did I fuck up?

>>132015
Glorious. I fully expect Kara to be able to handle the job that she has been effectively doing for the past month.

>>132046
I mean, have you read the first part of the quest? Kara is pretty much incapable of leading at the moment. Possibly forever because she is clinically retarded. Like actually literally retarded. Which is why she isn't an actual sociopath like most demi-humans and has retard strength.

Look.

Look at me. I am the Alpha now.

That's how we should play this off.

>>132112
She hasn't been handling it well at all, that was brought up in the last thread when she got them all hooked on magic booze.

"Kara, can you track down Ari's scent?" Your company was forming up along the edge of the woods, a motley assembly of only recently sobered peasant-knights, a very drunk demihuman who you had plans to take advantage of, and an awkwardly uncertain demihuman who you were planning on relying on if something bad happened. When something bad happened.

It was never an 'if' anymore.

"...Nn?" Kara sniffed the air testingly, "I... Can't?" Her answer seemed more confusing to her than anyone else. "Y'sure she went this way?"

"Reports said so." You frown, "Is there something wrong?"
"I can't smell anything."
"It's probably been too long." One of the peasant-knights muttered, "Back home, even our best hunting dog couldn't do much after the trail had gone cold for too long."

You still didn't have an exact timeline for when Ari went missing exactly, but if it had been long enough for Kara to not be able to follow, then that wasn't very encouraging. "Alright, if it's been that long then can you still track her?"

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but there should still be enough left to get a general direction." The peasant-knight reported with a grin, "Leave it to us, Ser Valen, S'long as it doesn't start raining on us, we shouldn't have an issue." Their enthusiasm was heartening, and you waited until they turned to get to work before glancing up through the canopy, suspicious that there would be a downpour simply to spite you.

Clear blue skies greeted you, peeking through the gently rustling leaves and creaking branches above.

You shook off the anxious feeling, as part of you almost wanted it to have just started raining so you could check off your misfortune for the day, and turned back to Dullem and Maro. "I want the two of you to keep your eyes and ears open. If this is a trap, don't expect any warning."

"Aye." Dullem's sharp salute stood in stark contrast to the condescending shake of Maro's head as he grunted and wandered after the trackers. You snorted softly at his back, wondering if he would keep up that irreverent attitude if he actually had to fight one of the wood golems. "...Something on your mind, Kara?" Your thoughts were pulled off one demihuman and onto another as you noticed Kara's hesitation. "Not being able to track Ari is fine, we'll still find her."

"Nn." She shook her head after a moment, "S'not that. Jus'... Why is Maro out of th'wagon?" She motioned vaguely towards the receding back of her one-time pack leader. "Is he better now? Did the drink work?" Her questions started to speed up, the soft 'paft' sound of her tail's wagging picking up in tune with it. At the hopeful expression and tentative excitement that was starting to bud on her face, you started to wonder how exactly to even approach this without crushing her.

"He agreed to help us find Ari." You finally begin, feeling gingerly for the flow of conversation, "And perhaps do other things for me in the future, as well."

"...?" Kara's head tilted, but she smiled at the news. "Then the others will get better soon too, right?"

That... You couldn't exactly answer. "Just because Maro is working with me doesn't mean the others will." You shook your head, dodging the question for the moment. "It's a choice he made, it doesn't necessarily involve them."

"Nn." Kara shook her head, "S'not how pack works, 'Rue. Maro's the Alpha, where he goes, they go. He's in charge o'making the best decisions for 'em."

"Well." You let that thought roll past you once. Exactly once. "He failed."
"...Eh?" Her tail stopped abruptly, blank eyes showing a clear lack of understanding.

"He's been drunk in a wagon for the past month, watching the pack kill themselves around him." You set a hand on your hip, the other navigating the air creatively as you emphasized your point, "He was in charge of making the best decisions for them, and he chose that. Do you really think that was 'best' for any of them?"

"...Guess not." Though she admitted it, your Testament seemed almost uncertain as to how to follow up the logic from there.

"If that's the Alpha's job, then haven't you been doing that better than him, lately?"
"...Huh?"
"The only reason they're even still alive right now is because of you." You pointed out, "You took them in, you've been looking after them, Luna knows you've been the only one concerned about any of them. Think about it; If they had trusted you to make the decision back then, would you have tried to stop me like Maro?"
"Prolly' Not...?"

Something sparked to life in your mind. Some idea that the rest of your good, common sense left to investigate while your mouth continued to run.

"Maro's not qualified to be making good decisions for anyone, and even less so to be leading if he was content to leave his pack in that state. Given all you've done, I think you'd make a better Alpha for that pack."

Common sense reported this was a terrible idea, the Kara you knew was effectively incapable of leading herself out of a paper bag, and stamped a veto onto the sheet to be sent back to the depths in which it was spawned. Unfortunately, as with many instances of your life, the idea had already been shipped by then.

"If you really wanted to help them get better, you'd stop thinking of them as your pack, and start thinking of them as your pack. Maro is in no position to stop you, and if an Alpha is something they need so much, then be one!"

Wait, stop, what are you doin- Oh... Oh, god she was smiling. You can visibly see every muscle on her body begin to lift with her breath. Why are her eyes so bright?

"I'll do it, 'Rue!"

You staggered after Dullem and the others, gingerly negotiating your weight as you rubbed your back. That had been the second time Kara tried to hug you, and it was decidedly less reserved than the first... Which meant you nearly died just now. Something cracked back there, and your world had bled white for one excruciatingly painful instant.

You aren't sure there's any way for you to actually go back on what you just said without crushing her.

"The trail might be difficult to follow from here on out." Dullem reported after a moment, taking his time to look you over until you could motion him to get on with it while you hissed out a litany of curses under your breath and tried to arch your spine. "There's a river up ahead that the trail crosses. It's not too deep, so I think we can find a way to ford it fairly quickly... but we're not sure how quick we can pick up the trail on the other side."

...A river.

>Cross together!
>Turning back!
>Send someone across first! (who?)
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>Other? (write-in)

>>132665
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Is this the border with the fey?

>>132665
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
"Further north than your estate, there is a river that marks the boundary between Valen lands and the Lords of the Forest whom allow us patronage." ?

>>132665
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Fucking fey. I suspected them since the beginning actually.
Because Oakenrues are, well, wooden. How do you mistake one for Irue?

>Cross together
>Warn our party to stay within sight, be respectful to forest, expect everything and not touch anything.

>>132731
I agree

>>132682
>>132731
These are correct!

>>132723
And so is this one.

Writing.

Coming upon the river was a nostalgic sight. It was the same river you had encountered so many months ago when you had come out this way in search of Kara. You had considered crossing it back then, wondering if your demihuman Testament had done the same.

Of course as you found out later, she had just been sleeping on the roof. Perhaps it was sheer dumb luck at the time which had kept you from crossing the fey boundary so unwittingly, but that kind of luck wasn't going to avail anyone now. This time, you knew that the Testament you were looking for had crossed the river, which meant one way or another, you would have to step over that boundary to get her back.

At least you had Alouette to thank for informing you that something like that even existed... Though you had little idea of what they were, beyond 'Lord of the Forest'. Evidently your family had some kind of compact with them that had historically allowed for continue relations with one another. The details of which were... Stored in the main house archives, which you hadn't been able to access and thus were still in the dark over.

"Everyone stay close, we're going to cross together." Your misgivings aside, there wasn't much left for you but to keep going forward. Compact or not, Ari was your Testament; You couldn't allow them to just abduct her. "Once we cross this river, we're in Fae territory... So don't touch anything."

Your party looked at you uncomprehendingly, but you had little else you could actually tell them.

Crossing the river wasn't a difficult task by any means, made simpler by means of Kara ripping out a relatively young tree on your end of the forest and setting it down to be used as a make-shift bridge for you all to walk across. It was with tension thick in the air that your party finally stepped down onto the far shore, leaves crackling underfoot as your group slowly spread out.

...

"Anyone see anything?"
"All clear."
"Nadda."
"Nothing, 'Cap."

The trackers chorus'd back their findings, or lack there of, and you felt the wariness begin to drain from the air as Maro snorted and broke ranks, striding further into the forest with an unsteady gait. "Superstitious humans."

You stood several moments more, waiting for the karmic comeuppance to seize on the flag he had so brazenly raised. Long enough for him to actually stop some ways off in the woods and realize no one was following him and hold his hands out as if to inquire what you were even doing. Dullem looked back to you, shrugging carelessly. "Should we catch up?"

"Probably." You sighed, "Try and find the trail again."

While the trackers were splitting up in an attempt to look for signs of Ari once more, you were left staring out over the river, and then into the canopy and heavily wooded area deeper in. The woods grew darker up ahead, a sign of the interlocking branches becoming so abundant and thick that even light itself had been naturally warded away from the moist, earthen ground.

You had expected... Something. A barrier. To be ambushed. A mocking speech, at least? From someone? Was that just too romanticized?

"Is it really okay for us to go in?" Kara stood beside you, idly sniffing at the air as the trackers searched. "All I smell are plants an' drink."

"I guess." You glance back at Asche for a second opinion, receiving only a blank stare in return; Your m/aid seemingly unconcerned with the lack of traditional welcome. "Maybe they don't know we're here?"

"Should I knock?" Kara's tail was still wagging happily from earlier, a fact that was rather evident in her good mood.

>Let Kara knock
>Announce yourselves in some other way
>Better to go unnoticed
>Other? (write-in)

>>133063
>>Let Kara knock
Go ham, you have a Kara.

>>133063
>>Let Kara knock

>>133078
This writing.

>>133063
...Is no one going to comment on "an' drink" ?

>>133303
Typos are a trademark of questing since the dawn of time! Also real quick Riz, in the start of the second arc's thread, was the first "forgetting something" about how we told Asche to get rid of all the Faedka inside the house?

You spared a moment of concern that perhaps you were too prone to say yes to Kara, but decided that, if you did have a compact with these things, then dealing with them in an official capacity would probably be better for you in the long run than trying to sneak in.

Ultimately, this what led to Kara bracing her shoulder against another tree - This one much larger, and far older, than the last - and making a dedicated effort to topple it. Which is to say, the groaning of its great roots echoed miserably through out the forest as the entirety of its towering length was forced into a tilt. That tilt was rather quickly arrested by its fellows, a vain attempt by the interlocking branches to keep one of their own standing.

In the face of Kara's enthusiasm, even this was thrown aside. In truth, the thing which caused her the most effort in her efforts to knock over a tree were the roots themselves; Vast and sprawling tendrils of wood that were so thoroughly intertwined with the surrounding earth that the very act of their topside toppling was forcing much of the ground around you to upend and distort.

And then, finally, there was the final resounding crack that signalled the end as Kara finally managed to wrest it free from the ground and hurl it towards the ground with the aid of gravity. What resulted was less a 'knock' as it was a localized quaking of earth which left the entirety of your crew staggering towards the still remaining pillars of wood in an attempt to regain their balance.

Except Asche, who seemed more or less fine with the proceedings. At least until you had grabbed her by the hand and dragged her along with you.

The knock's after effects would only slowly come to an end several minutes later, after the rain of broken limbs and leaves ceased to crash onto the ground from far above; A grand divide splitting an arc through the foliage above, where the once towering tree had been forced to sheer away the very canopy which had attempted to keep it standing.

Once more, possibly for the first time in centuries, rays of sunlight filtered in through the empty range of bright blue skies and burned away the darkness which had been laying further ahead.

"Did it, 'Rue."

You receive confirmation of her success from somewhere in the rubble, too many pieces of debris shifting at once for you to accurately pinpoint which was her. All the same, as you carefully stepped out into the forest wreckage and followed the trail of light further into forest, you found yourself biting your lip under mixed feelings.

On one hand, you were certain they knew you were here now.
On the other, you hope that wasn't as terribly offensive as it seemed.

"Don't mind me." Dullem coughed loudly, stepping out from his own shelter, "I'm just gonna be over here with the normal folk. Talkin' about mortal things." You purse your lips at the mixture of awe and exasperation laden in your knight-captain's voice, briefly watching him regroup with the trackers as they began to talk about how find Ari now that her trail was effectively destroyed by a tree.

'She doesn't want to be here anymore.'

The skin along the back of your neck prickled, a feeling as if your spine itself had just attempted to crawl as a familiar sentiment whispered silently from the darkness.

'You came.'
'You'll protect her?'
'You will save her?'

A litany of voices carried along the whistling wind from further inside, leaves thrown upon air in their wake. You could still hear Dullem and the others talking distantly, their voices barely a static drone in the background of the swirling vortex that called and clamoured for your attention. Its pressure weighed upon you, a desperate cloak that only just refrained from touching your skin.

'You failed. She's already hurt.'
'Selfish.'
'Leaving her alone in the dark'
'Leaving me alone in the dark'
'For so long! I waited!'

"'Rue, somethin's coming."

You staggered forward, drawing breath into your aching lungs for what felt like the first time in hours as Kara's voice finally broke the oppressive weight and drew your attention out of the blackness of the forest.

"What is it...?" You allow yourself to gasp, regaining your breath with Asche's aid. Your sense strained, listening for footsteps, or unfamiliar voices, yet found nothing.

"I.. Don't know." Kara admitted uneasily, "S'like the forest is movin' towards us."

The whispering wind carried no more voices as it rustled the leaves in its wake, bending branches and flowing vines brushing coolly against each other. It was the ambient sound of the forest, one you had grown so accustomed to over the years of living in it that it had eventually grown to mean nothing but peace to you.

And it was growing louder.

>?

>>133321
That wasn't a typo, it's just how Kara talks.

And close! The Forgetting was related to Faedka, at least!
I'm beginning to become concerned that it seems like you haven't realized it yet.

>>133322
ITT: anons press the big red button again

>>133331
Maybe that other Oakenrue wasn't killed when we removed the bracelet...

I say we wait from across the river. If that's the boundary maybe it has to respect it? Wonder if the spirit beneath the town escaped and is trying to get to us.

>>133331
>Order the knights to retreat to the other side of the river.

>>133338
"You squint at the bottle irritably, taking particular offense to the image of a drunken fairy hanging from some fancy script you presumed to be its name.

Faedka. Not even twice."

That must be it. It's made by literal fairies. That's how we got a veritable storehouse of it from nowhere.

>>133338
Is Faedka made of Fae? Or maybe Fae make Faedka?

>>133338
Is this what's compact about? Fae are our alcohol supplier?

>>133345
>>133347
This is correct. Faedka is made by the Fae.
This has gone apparently unnoticed for almost a year.

>>133351
Dammit. It was right there in the name.

>>133351
Fookin hell I JUST looked up the archive of it. I suspected it but I literally didn't even notice until scouring the thread. Where else would we be getting a constant supply of it. Why does Asche keep letting us have it!
...wait a moment....Asche aint Fae is she?!?!

>>133331
Call out that she's waited for so long, but now you've come. And you will seek redress from anyone who's hurt her, even if it was yourself.

You're here to save the fucking day, and saving people from your own mistakes is nothing new.

>>133358
Don't be silly, Asche is the Reclaimed Doll. I think, anyway

>>133371
That would actually be pretty awesome. But I thought that story was being told from a present view, not past. Same time as Irue and the Rite.

>>133363
>>133343
These two.

The knights aren't going to be able to do anything against something so eldritch, but we can (and have). Kara can. Asche might.

File: FairyPeek.png (87 KB, 430x384)

87 KB PNG

>>133342
Retreating across the river.

>>133343
Telling just the knights to retreat across the river.

>>133363
....My, Irue's tune has certainly changed from the last time you had a conversation.

Writing.

>>133383
It was set before the events of the quest took place, as can be noted by some of the details - Such as Irue's parents being alive, the East Heaven's borders being open (closing by the end of it), etc.

>>133416
>....My, Irue's tune has certainly changed from the last time you had a conversation.
The last time...?

>>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/41165789/#p41177112
>You'll protect her.
>You won't let it hurt her.
>You'll come.
>You'll save her.

?

>>133416
Well then shoot. That gave a little bit of precedence to the Reclaimed Doll theory then. Maybe I should read these things on more than 5 hours of sleep...

>>133416
Trying something new. Like not telling people to get fucked we're coming in.

Besides, the Fae freak me out. Really wish we had grabbed Rinnier, social combat really is more her thing.

Instead we have Rue the Wreckingball, retard Cat, and Asche the Autistic plus some peasants who are most likely shitting their pants at how far out of their depth they are.

>>133441
Have no fear anon, whatever happens I'm suuuuuurrreee it won't have long lasting effects that will change the entire outcome of the story...no way at all.

>>133441
Well, at least without Rinnier we can summon a Salamander Apparition in the middle of a forest if need be.
What could go wrong?

>>133470
Well, time to level Kara as a Pyromancer.

>>133470
I'm opening and closing my mouth in bewilderment over here. Let's not light the Land of the Fey whom our family has some kind of compact with on fire, yeah?

>>133473
Totally won't backfire on Irue and Crew.

"Dullem, cross the river!" Your heart beat heavily, as if attempting to burst from your chest as misty memories tried and failed to surface. Your left hand clutched against your chest, the familiar feeling of your bracelet heavy upon your wrist as you looked to your confused knight-captain. "Now!"

The second time at least, he seemed to understand your meaning. Whether he knew why you wanted him to do something or not was beyond you, but what mattered was that he and the trackers who had come with you were already moving as quickly as they could to cross the impromptu bridge that had been created to get you here. Not long after they had begun crossing did Maro come bounding back with all the grace of a drunken beast; You admittedly expected some quip, but honestly speaking, the clammily pale skin and wide eyed expression on his face as he tried to rush to you wasn't too out of place.

However, seeing Kara catch him midleap by the hair and jerk him up into the air as she took her ground against whatever was coming was unexpected.

You couldn't make out the words they exchanged, but whatever had happened, Maro's sudden retreat had just been postponed for the newly devised plan of 'not running away'.

He did not seem pleased.

"Irue." You steadied yourself, finding your balance with your breath as Asche's calm voice and gentle touch pulled at the side of your shirt. "You are not ready for this." ...And just like that, you felt the grounds of confidence begin to crumble under your feet. If you didn't use the bracelet for this, you doubted you'd be any help at all... But neither of you had had the time or state of mind to actually work on it. Sea-green eyes stared up almost imploringly, forcing you to swallow what few half-formed words were on the tip of your tongue.

Before you turned away.
You could do this.

"The wait is over! You took something that belongs to me, and I've come to take it back!" Your voice rose with the rancour of the forest's approach, "If anyone hurt my Testament, I'll deal with them myself!"

Who were you talking to? Your voice echoed out into the empty air, quickly dispersing as you began to notice movement within the dark. A creeping approach, as if the ground and air itself were writhing and crawling; Lurking just beyond the threshold of sight. It was within the single cut of sunlight streaming in that you finally saw the forest floor itself begin to ripple and undulate in its inexorable approach.

All at once you felt your arm go numb, a frigid rod that slid down your spine and grasped control of your bones.

'Simulacra Fragment'

You felt balance leave you, a third-person perspective as your consciousness was very nearly thrown from your body and forced to look on into the entirety of the Living Wood which approached.

'Manifest Nature.'

You remembered this feeling.
The way your body rooted itself to the ground, trapped between screaming instincts of Fight or Flight.
The soul crushing pressure of having something like this looking at you.

'Divine Dryad.'

>̦R̷e̖̼͖͍̝̘̕s͚̬͡ͅi͎̣͍͎̘͘s̷t͉̬̺͚̟̭͢
>̂̄̿̊̽̅Pͧ̓́u̎̂͒̽͋r̶̿̓̈́͛͋g̋ͯ̎̊͢e̢̅̆̍
>Escape
>Shut down

>>133540
>̂̄̿̊̽̅Pͧ̓́u̎̂͒̽͋r̶̿̓̈́͛͋g̋ͯ̎̊͢e̢̅̆̍
4chans broken again.

>>133540
>̦R̷e̖̼͖͍̝̘̕s͚̬͡ͅi͎̣͍͎̘͘s̷t͉̬̺͚̟̭͢

I would vote for purge, but I'm afraid that might mean burning the forest down.

>"You are not ready for this."
Not even Asche believes in us.

>>133540
>>Escape
Can we abandon the idea we're gonna fistfight the entire forest with two dogs and the addition of Yet More Mana?

>>133540
>Escape

>>133545
Purge!

>>133546
Resist!

>>133552
>>133558
Escape!

Writing.

Impossible.

You couldn't fight something like that. There was nothing you could to do against something so primal, you would lose even if you won. Victory was survival, survival was surrender, your course was clea-

Clea-
Clea-



Escape was the only option. You were moving before the conscious thought entered your body, a decision based deeper in instinct than reason, and one that led your body to move with a grace and dexterity that would have put many demihumans to shame.

You wrenched your awareness away from your running body, staring back as the twisting forest floor revealed itself as the slithering tendrils of roots hidden beneath earth and leaf. Rays of sunlight were once more blotted out as countless vines raced through the treetops; Seemingly every monumental tree groaned and bent to loose their branches upon their hapless prey.

"_____!"

A shrill whistle pierced the din, briefly pulling Kara's attention away from the oncoming forest and back towards Asche as your m/aid performed the universal sign for 'Leave' and pointed towards you. It took no convincing for Maro to reinstitute his initial plan of running away, and only slightly more for Kara to send a final glance towards the violently encroaching forest before she joined the running effort.

Your group only just barely made it across, a feat which would have been impossible for your knights had they not been given prior warning, as you felt yourself skid to a hald within the earthen soil and round upon the river which separated the Fae lands from your own.

True to form, the encroachment had stopped upon the shore... But it was hardly by its own volition. Roots pressed against the air, rippling and curling alongside a wall of thorn and vines that prodded and caressed the nigh invisible wall which separated you from its grasp. You felt as if you were inside a draining basin as your awareness swirled back into your body proper, realigning itself with your senses and bursting heart.

"What the FUCK is that?!"

It was Maro who broke the panting silence, pointing incredulously towards the other side of the river; One so fully overgrown that it was legitimately impossible to see beyond the assorted foliage. "That's not human! That's not even Adept!"

You swallowed air greedily, finding your legs weak beneath you. "Irue." Asche's voice was a cool center for you, a pillar in the storm for you to seek out and lean upon as you gathered your wits. "I'm fine." You assure her, "I'll be fine, just give me a-"

"It is not over."

You stared at Asche, numbly going along with her soft prodding for you to get back onto your feet, and finally looked beyond your m/aid to the wall of nature that had pressed itself against the riverside bed. There was nothing which concerned you, no breach in the containment...

And then you looked at the river itself, as small branches covered in thick veils of hair-like vines began to rise from beneath the surface. Wooden arms sank onto the soft earth of your side, their smooth and barkless forms resembling scandalously bare skin as a smiling face finally gazed out at you from beneath its consuming 'hair'.

"Come back."

Your breathing stopped, saliva thickly swallowed with what felt like your tongue itself along with it, and then another head emerged, and another after that.

"Come back."
"Come back."
"Come back."

>Tactical retreat!
>Stand and fight!
>Try to command!
>Other? (write-in)

>>133608
>Try to command!
We can always run later

>>133608
>>Try to command!

>>133608
>Tactical retreat!
How far can you go, Eldritch being?

>>133610
>>133611
Command!

>>133613
Run!

Writing.

Your fist clenched, staring down the familiar wooden caricatures of your own smiling face as they crawled bonelessly from the riverbed and onto shore with their distorted and warbling pleas for you to return. Mimicked words, which to this day you were unsure whether they even knew the meaning behind their parroted utterances.

"Stop!" Your voice rang out forcefully, the dual rings of your bracelet feeling as if they would burn themselves into your wrist as the three wooden golems slowed to a confused halt. One looked to another, creating the disturbingly casual scene of three carvings of Irue gossiping amongst each other happily, before they reached their hands out towards you as one, renewing their plaintive cries.

You let out an unbidden sigh of relief, one mirrored by the trackers and Dullem behind you. They, of all the ones being forced to experience this, knew first hand how they stacked up against even one of the golems in front of you... Three of them at once, though. "..." You smiled hesitantly at Asche, weathering the disapproving stare at your casual use of your late sister's bracelet. "This is fine, isn't it? I know what I'm doing."

There was no doubt mixed into the disapproval.
Doubtapproval.

You'd deal with it later, as one of the wooden golems before you had one of their eyes seemingly crumble in its socket. It stared at you in confusion, its two siblings stopping their own chorus to look into the black, hollowed hole left behind in its dissonantly smiling face. A curious hand rose, tracing the space of the lower lid in an astounded fashion before even patches of its shoulder seemed to grow heavy and rigid; The entirety of its body being consumed by rot before your eyes.

"Save her...?" It warbled quietly, struggling to one knee as it lurched towards you... Only to have its head fall from its body in the process, the rest of its mannequinesque form cracking apart and breaking into driftwood as it fell forward.

You inhaled, taking a single step back as the process began to repeat itself on one of the remaining golems - A realization that drove them both to struggle against your command, their chorus warping from a plea to return, to one of desperate rescue.

And then they were gone, piles of broken and rotten wood upon the ground; Soaked in water, and perhaps at one point, they may have resembled a human.

Your guard remained high, vigilant upon the edges of the river, but after several minutes of waiting, only the peaceful sounds of the forest could be heard ambiently through the trees and gurgling river.

>?

>>133647
>No doubt
Should have been "Now doubt".

>>133647
That was fun. Let's go home.

>>133647
Try to find a way to placate the rest of the forest. Now that we know the dryad can't pass the border we can try to understand it from a distance?

>>133647
>I want to speak with Ari. Let me speak to her.

What worries me though is that Ari immediately could tell Dopplerue wasn't real Irue, yet was tricked by a wooden golem.

>>133647
Try calling out for Ari, I guess? There've been two of these ? things this thread and you know. Same.

>>133661
Maro mentioned this a bit earlier, but he said Ari was "chasing echoes". The implication here being that she only ever had a voice calling her to go off of, she never actually saw it.

When you call, she will come; No matter where, nor how strange it may seem.

>>133666
Typically the "?" option is just an open floor for write-ins. They occur when Irue as a character has no immediately obvious IC actions to take.

>>133656
Welp, time to go home.

>>133660
Attempting long-range conversation!

>>133661
>>133666
Calling for Ari!

writing

"...What now?" Dullem broke the tense silence with a question that you had been blanking on for several minutes. It was simple, but at the same time, left you with almost no proper answer. What were you going to do now? You had planned to come and retrieve Ari initially, and while the inclusion of the Fae Forest was less than encouraging, it wasn't until you had been forced face to face with a Simulacra Fragment did your mind begin to try and reassign the difficulty level from 'challenging' to 'impossible'.

But that just raised more questions. What in Shade's Domain even was that thing? And why did crossing the river stop it? Was this thing the 'Fae' that your house supposedly had a compact with? How was it related to those wooden golems? Why could they pass, but not the rest of it? And why did they suddenly fall apart this time?

Perhaps most importantly though, why had it taken Ari? What was it hoping to gain by holding her? Just... Why?

"Why Ari?!" Your shout echoed through the empty woods as you finally found the fortitude to glare at the wall of nature separating the otherside of the river from your own. You had heard its words, felt the pressure of its eyeless gaze upon you.... But now, when you shouted out for an answer, you received nothing. Had it even heard you? Could it communicate through the barrier? What was the barrier?

Questions. Too many questions, and as usual, nowhere near enough answers.

You bit down, swallowing the rising bile in your throat as your eyes closed tightly.

"We're going." You growl, turning back to the rest of your quietly waiting party. "Get moving!" You snapped again, misplaced heat coloring your inflection as Dullem and the trackers awkwardly looked away and began to dust themselves off in preparation to go. Maro needed no second-telling, and was already making his way far away from the river with a haunted look firmly seated upon his face.

And as for Kara...

"Wha'bout Ari?" The tip of her tail twitched back and forth nervously, normally alert ears drooping softly as she looked between you and the sealed off forest. "She's still-"

"I know." You bite out hotly, pausing to reign in your tongue and temper alike when Kara flinched back at your tone, "I know... We're going to come back." You continued softly, heat building behind your eyes as the reality that simply because your Rite had ended, the troubles around you seemed to have only just begun. "There's nothing I can do right now... Not without knowing more about what I'm dealing with."

"How do we do that?" Kara frowned, falling in step with you after a moment's hesitation and backwards glance towards the unresponsive nature.

"...I have some ideas." You promise dryly, feeling the gears of your mind begin to turn once more as you left the silent forest to your back.

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

1023 KB GIF

'You are not so different after all.'
'We are the same, are we not?'
'Please come back soon.'
'I do not want to be here anymore...'

---

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Valen%20Quest (The new one, 44 Onward.)

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.

>>133718
Bitchin', but no fae so no celebratory Luvia pics.

By the way, what are the colors of house Valen?

>>133716
> The go home vote was taken seriously

Nigger what?

File: download (2).jpg (10 KB, 259x194)

10 KB JPG

>>133732
It was a serious vote, you know. I was so serious I murdered the post button.

>>133718
Don't you think the 'Let Kara knock' was a bit of too much a trap option?

>>133746
>>133742

A) We probably should have brought the one person with diplomatic skills. Regardless, I say we grab the rest of the faedka and also figure out where the fuck it came from.

B) I'm really starting to lean towards burning the forest down. But let's save that for a last resort. Still, get our Knights ready for it.

C) I do wish we hadn't spent a large amount of time stupidly drunk instead of dealing with our actual responsibilities.

>>133732
It seemed like a serious vote? We can ask >>133730 for confirmation, and if it wasn't then I don't mind writing up a new ending post appropriately. Probably not this morning, though.

>>133730
Colors are pretty!
Reddish-Maroon, and white/silver I would hazard. The maroon is tinted red, more to match their genetically distinctive eye color than anything else.

>>133746
No. It wouldn't have even been an option had she not been in such a good mood from earlier, and she does have a record of causing terrible things to happen when she knocks. Like the entire Carona incident

That said, announcing yourself would have gained its attention as well - Only it would have taken a little longer, leaving you much further from the river when it finally realized you were there.

Whether that additional time between announcement and being noticed is a blessing or a curse to you... Well, that's up to you to decide.

Because none of your knights, nor Dullem, and possibly even Asche, would have escaped had you handled it badly then.

As always, there are many ways to have handled what was put before you. Just because it ended in hostility doesn't mean that was the only ending there.

>>133752
>I do wish we hadn't spent a large amount of time stupidly drunk instead of dealing with our actual responsibilities.
>dealing with our actual responsibilities.
The destroyed town of Carona comes to mind. We should probably go visit sometime this year.

>>133752
>C

You also spent it drunkenly practicing with A Spider's Web as the anons requested before the hiatus!

It was something you could have used, if given enough time, to actually map out the forest and locate Ari without ever having crossed the river.

...Now you would find that a little more difficult.

>>133761
Valen Quest, the tale of fail. As always.

>>133764
>"Victory through defeat"
House Valen motto.

>>133770
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA4DgCkUfqM

>>133779
Do we have access to the main family archives now? And how much time would it take to get there and back?

>>133879
You do! These were going to one of the choices next thread for trying to find an answer. Provided you have transportation (which you may be able to requisition from Carona!) it shouldn't take you more than 3-5 days to get there, and the same coming back.

so 6-10 days, not counting the time you actually spend there searching.

Alternatively, have Kara carry you there in like a day or so.

>>133893
We need to get a cart Kara can pull. This will probably make the journey even faster.

>>133899
Slower. The cart likely would not survive Kara speeds.

...Or Kara routes.

>>133902
Just got back on, fell asleep after fae ID. So how badly did we fuck up?

>>133974
No one's dead. Barely.

>>133893
God I actually did nearly fall asleep right before the Oakenrues. Sad I missed out on the end. Thanks for running Riz.

Irue is going to look like a hardened war veteran by the time she gets any real downtime I feel. I still think something funky was in play for a month long binge. Just doesn't feel like something she would choose to do on her own naturally.