>>2653567
Uh oh ya fugged up OP

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Oh no, oh no there is no way you can handle this, not after last night. You start to softly vibrate with fear and anxiety. Jackson shouldn't have put you on the spot like this... You don’t want to disappoint Jackson or make him look foolish by proxy but on the other hand you fear him leaving you alone with this woman in this den of “nobles”.
Kae: “I, well, uh, I, well, you see, I...”
Jackson cuts in
Jackson: “Lady Nathalie, may I have a private word with my companion? She is in a desperate need of straitening out it seems”
Showing Jackson the flat of her palm she replies swiftly
Nathalie: “But of course, feel free to use any room.”
Nathalie continues to stand awkwardly rooted in the same spot for a few extra moments, and exchanges glances with you and Jackson. When suddenly is dawns on her, Jackson was expecting HER to leave the room. With a look of mild confusion, the cogs in Nathalies mind start to turn as she comes to terms with the idea. Eventually she starts to move towards one of the rooms exists, when she speaks it sounds like she is talking herself through some kind of ridle.
Nathalie: “”I... Guess... Ill be, waiting, in the next room?”
Jackson gives her a polite bow as she moves past him.
Jackson: “Thank you”
Nathalie was clearly out of her element over such a simple matter, was being asked to leave a room really so forlorn to her? [INT] You cant help but wonder if nobles have their own internal hierarchy’s, and you wonder if Jackson may outrank her. Now that Nathalie is out of the room, Jackson wastes no time making his way over to you. He gets close enough so that you would have to crane your neck to see his face, should you choose too. He's probably angry you think, he is going to let you have it at any moment, certainly. But Jackson doesn’t say anything, perhaps he is waiting for you to plead your case? You carefully reach out and press your index finger to his chest. In low voices, to avoid being overheard, you and Jackson speak.
Kae: “It's noon remember? Don't we have to meet the castle master now? You said not to be late...”
Jackson's voice comes down on you without substance. His words ring hollow.
Jackson: “No, I wanted you to meet ME by noon. There was things that I wanted to talk with you about before we see him. It doesn’t matter now I guess.”
You start to paw and squeeze Jackson's tabard like a safety blanket with both hands.
Kae: “I... Jack im so sorry about this morning, about what I said. Please don't make me go with her, im sorry, im so sorry”
Jackson: “What are you talking about? What is the matter with you?”

Kae: “Its just that he... people here are so cruel! I thought they were my friends. I-I cant navigate this forest alone, I need you to guide me. Please don’t abandon me again, you promised that you wouldn’t.”
You look up at Jackson's face to find that hes not angry at all [Jackson: Trust[1]] he simply looks so very tired. His face is pale and he looks as if he will pass out from exhaustion at any moment. Every time he slowly closes his eyes to blink, you’re not sure if he will ever open them again. He definitely didn’t look like this a moment ago. He places his hands on your shoulders to possibly comfort you or to use you as support.
Jackson: “You don’t have to do anything you dont want to Kae, im not going to abandon you. I’m sorry I didn’t show up last night, I thought maybe you would like some time to yourself. I shouldn’t have left you alone, sometimes I forget how inexperienced you are. Ill see what I can do to get you out of this ok?”
You wonder if you should say anything about his appearance, you never thought Jackson could look so weak. But after a deep breath the colour seems to return to Jackson's face and his eyes return to their usual alert state.
Jackson: “Lady Nathalie”
Nathalie: “yes?”
Nathalie's head pops right back into the room not even a second after being called, she may have been waiting right around the corner trying to listen in.
Jackson: “Well I regret to inform yo...”
Not wanting to hide behind Jackson you spring into action, at least you can shift the blame to yourself and away from him. With a low bow imitating the servants
Kae: “Im sorry lady Nathalie, but it is time for my bow practice. You see its been too long since I had practised and I simply cannot skip today!”
Nathalie: “bow practice?”
Kae: “Y-yes bow practice! I of course invite you to come if you wish...”
Like a blossoming flower Nathalie's lips slowly part as they widen into a ever increasing smile.
Nathalie: “BOW PRACTICE? OF COURSE BOW PRACTICE. Yes of COURSE we can accommodate you. And you want ME to ACCOMPANY you? Well Jackson's friends are of course guests in our house as well”
what is happening here? Why is she shouting? Is this back firing? Nathalie takes you by the wrist and starts pulling you towards the door shouting instructions at the staff as they dart to and fro.
Jackson: “Lady Nathalie it is not necess...”
Nathalie: “nonsense Jackson dear, I will accompany your friend to some bow practice. I'm simply being a good hostess. No one can fault me for that!”

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Jackson's efforts are of no use, Nathalie has already upgraded from simply pulling you along to using you as a battering ram to push past anyone trying to slow her down or talk to her. She is taking you back out into the soldiering portion of the fort, as her body guards and servants seem to race in front of her to clear the way. When you finally arrive at a small shooting range, the solders who were practising there have already been swept away. The coup degrace is when Nathalie personally picks up a quiver full of practice arrows and brings it to you. Her eyes shine like diamonds. Looking around, you can see a few of the soldiers who were practising here, are now sitting on the side lines watching you and Nathalie. Among them is Jackson, he is close enough to lend you spiritual support but not any real aid. Other then that, the shooting yard is full of body guards and nervous looking servants. Nathalie doesn’t seem to head them any mind at all.
Nathalie: “Well? Are you going to shoot?”
Kae: “Y-yeah sure.”
You take an arrow from Nathalies quiver and arm your bow with it. Soon after it goes sailing into the target. This relaxes you, this is your element, the vibration from the bow after firing an arrow sends waves through out your body that wash away all anxiety. You slowly take another arrow and fire it, again and again with every arrow you feel better and better. You load every arrow with your fears and shoot in far away from you. After watching you for a while Nathalie speaks up.
Nathalie: “Do... do you think I could try it?”
Nathalie wears her emotions clearly on her face, she is enamoured with your bow. She longs to hold it
Kae: “Of course”
You pass your bow to her and with shaking hands she reaches out for it greedily. When her hands finally reach the bow she holds it tightly, lovingly. In that moment you think you finally understand her. So you decide to instruct her in the use of the bow, you try and teach her the same way your uncle thought you. She listens intently but when it comes to firing the the bow she simply seems to lack the muscle strength to pull the bow string far back enough and ontop of that she doesn’t hold the arrow or bow right at all. All her shots don’t go very far but this doesn’t seem to bother her at all, Nathalie is on top of the world. You wonder how it has come to be that someone who has lived in this caste for 15+ years has never fired a bow, especially when they clearly enjoys it so deeply. You grow a bit tired of watching her struggle so you decide to help her out. You gently come up behind her and place your hands over her hands. She doesn’t seem to mind you doing so, and with your help, two of you pull back the bowstring together and fire.

The two of you continue to play together for another hour. You end up gifting Nathalie your old bow since its much smaller and required less strength to pull back. Wonky as it may be, she seems to truly appreciate the gesture. Perhaps the two of you have gotten off on the wrong foot.? A compliment here and a compliment there, and she softened up like warm butter. [Nathalie +1 Trust]


Eventually one of Nathalie's hand maidens comes to inform her that she must start getting ready for dinner! Nathalie sighs but accepts this reality. She turns to you and offers her hand.
Nathalie: “Do you want to come with me?”
You think about it for a moment. Maybe its time to reassess, Loki seemed really nice and friendly too before he turned on you... [Idealist] You think back on your uncles advice: “no matter how high you build walls around yourself, the bad people will always climb over. All you ever gain by fortifying yourself is to keep the good people out.” So for the sake of his memory, you reach out and take her hand.
Kae: “Please take care of me.”
As Nathalie gently leads you away back to her home you turn back to look for Jackson. Even though you are choosing to trust Nathalie, you dont want Jackson too far from you. When you lock eyes with him, he seems to pick up on your message and starts to slowly follow after you. Eventually Nathalie leads you into a room where some servants are busy filling up a wooden tub with water. There is a scent that wafts from the water, it smells like flowers. Here Nathalie closes the door, you don’t know where Jackson is anymore but you really really hope he is near by.
Nathalie: “Im going to change into something more suitable, please make yourself comfortable.”

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She exits the room leaving you with her servants who finish up getting the bath ready. You find a place to sit and wait for Nathalie to return, you cant do much else. When she does return, she has changed out of her dress and into a pretty simple linen shirt and shorts combo. She looks at you, sitting in a corner, and raises an eyebrow.
Nathalie: “What are you doing all the way over there? Get over here and take your clothing off already”
Eh? You look around the room and at all the servants. Get naked in front of all these people? Is she for real? Is that bath meant for you? Nathalie nods her head as if understanding.
Nathalie: “Everyone out, out ,out. No not you obviously!”
Nathalie grabs hold of you and pulls you back into the room. Soon its just the two of you.
Nathalie: “There, better?”
You’re not so sure.
Nathalie: “Kae, its Kae right? Youre a girl, im a girl, there is nothing to feel ashamed about. I mean we are friends now right? YES of course we are friends you don’t have to worry about modesty with me”
she suddenly starts to pull your armour off and your hairs stand on their ends, you remember the last person who said they were your “friend”. You instinctively grab her arms with both hands and squeeze. She winces in pain and you let go, feeling immediate regret and deep embarrassment. You hurt her, shes so fragile and you let your instincts get the better of you.
Kae: “Im sorry I...”
Nathalie: “Its ok, Its my fault. Can I continue?”
You node your head and resign to letting her take your clothing off. You wonder if this is how Jackson must feel, in a constant loop of hurting someone then having to atone. Much more lowly, she continues taking off the layers in which you cloth yourself. The last time you were naked was a week ago when you were completely covered head to toe in mysterious bruises. Now they are all almost all gone, leaving little trace to hint that they were ever there to begin with; you have always been a fast healer. You cant help but feel awkward standing next to Nathalie, her petite frame makes you feel like a hulking monster. [Attractive] Even though in reality, you are not much bigger then her. Once you are fully declothed, Nathalie leads you over to the bath and helps you get in. Its warm, and its magnified by how chilly the air is. You try to sink as deep as you can, but the bath is smaller then it looked. Suddenly Nathalie dumps a bucket of warm water on you and has a good laugh at your expense. Your survival instincts flair up again, you study the laughter for any hint of malice, but there is none. She may be laughing at you, but she is also laughing with you. You splash some of the water back at her, but she starts to scold you about wasting bath water almost immediately. I guess its only funny when she gets you...

[DEX vs DEX: Success] So you grab her wrist and pull her into the small tube with you. Shes wet and looks angry, and when you laugh at her she spring at you. She claws at you like a cat, but without nails, her soft fingers brush your face. Whelp, the only thing left for the two of you to do now is wrestle in this small tub. [STR vs STR: Success] You’re surprised at how weak Natahlie is in comparison to you, it takes almost no effort from you to pin her but you don’t ruin the fun by letting her know that. You cant help but think how easy it would be to drown her in this tub .

[Nathalie +1 Trust] Not long after, Nathalie is exhausted. Her chest rises and falls in quick succession as she sits back in the tub trying to catch her breath. She reaches down for something outside of the tub and passes what looks to be a soft yellowish stone to you. In between breaths Nathalie speaks
Nathalie: “Do you. Know what.... That is?”
You know what this is, its soap. But you cant remember ever having seen or used one before. You slowly place it on your skin and lather it, looking to Nathalie for confirmation she nodes her head.
Nathalie: “Perfect, you we born for the high class life.”
Its a bit crowded in this tiny tub but you make it work, every now and then Nathalie pulls up another bucket full of water and slowly runs it over you.
Nathalie: “Thanks for, you know, teaching me how to shoot a bow today. I thought I would die before ever getting a chance to do so. My father says it not ladylike for a woman to be involved in soldiering...”
Kae: “Well thats just silly, how would you hunt without a bow? ”
Nathalie: “Its the worst Kae, and now that all these people have come to our town Father wont even let me leave the fort!”
You offer the bar of soap to Nathalie and she takes it, pulling her shift off she starts to use it on herself while you apply water as needed. The two of you will continue to pass the bar back and forth as needed.

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Nathalie: “Im so happy that you are here now, you don’t know how nice it is to have a friend. I don't know if you have ever been alone but its just the worst, my mom died 7 years ago and since then its been just me.”
well actually...
Nathalie: “Ah, Maybe in the spring dad will let me go into the forest if you’re with me. Im sure he will like you”
Kae: “That would be really nice, but im not sure how long Jackson intends to stay here...”
Nathalie: “huh?”
Kae: “Well I think Jackson is pursuing someone, and I don’t know when we are going to be off again”
Nathalie tilts her head and gives you a semi confused smile. When she speaks, her words are lyrical like a song.
Nathalie: “I know something yoou dooon't~~~”
Now its your turn to be confused
Nathalie: “Ill tell you a secret, it involves you. BUT FIRST, you have to do something for me~”
Youre not sure
Nathalie: “I want you to promise that you'll help me with something later, dont worry its not bad! Im not going to ask you to do anything dangerous, its something small that I cant trust my maids with. What do you say, help a girl in need?”

>what say /do?
>Assuming you dont decide to pull a wild card on me, Nathalie is going to want to dress you up. Will you let her or will you want to stay as you are?

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>>2653568
one must roll with the punches of life

>>2653586
Well, she has turned out to be a lot more pleasant than originally thought. I bet we could help her out with a small favor.

As for dressup, sure! A fresh pair of clothes is a good idea after getting bathed.

>>2653586
Yes

>>2653586
>Agree to favor and dressup
I'd be careful about the favor, it's the best way to fuck with us. But she doesn't seem that bitchy.

If she is that bitchy, I will be very upset.

>>2653600
Objects in Kae-vision may be less antagonistic than they appear.

>>2653586
Let's give her a chance. Dress up!

>>2653593
Shouldn't that be well fed, with only one e in fed?

>>2653586
yes!
and let her dress us.

fuck, I'm supposed to be Kae's paranoid voice and even I'm on board with this, a hot bath can make wonders

>>2653649
As I said last thread, she has no reason to fuck with us, and we can take this gamble. She is not dangerous.

Plus, Kaes going to be a real knockout when shes all cleaned up.

>>2653584
Also. I vote that dragging her into the bath was sufficient payback for her catty comments earlier.

We should cross her off of our shit list, making her the *only* person that we know who is both alive and not marked for revenge (which makes me think we might have a poor approach to relationships)

>>2653586
i know how this is going to go, she wants you to sneak her out of the fort and see the forest but this is a terrible thing to do since something might happen to her and it will get blamed on Kae and in part Jackson. Don't let her out especially without more people from the castle.

>>2653586
>Not wanting dress ups
Yeah, get dressed up. Agree to whatever it is. What's the worst that can happen?

>>2654460
Thats a good point. Ask what it is before we agree to anything

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>>2654460
>>2654660
Nathalie: No deal! I wasn't born yesterday! I cant tell you unless I know I can trust you. You wont get into any trouble! I promise! pleeeeease~~

>Also, is there anything specific you want to, directly or indirectly, talk to Nathalie about?

>>2654909
Okay, that's a huge red flag. We ought to refuse.
Let's ask her about her father and try to distract her from the favor.

>>2654909
Fuck it, i vote agree

Yolo

>>2653586
Promise and let her dress us.
If we are lucky we get free clothes that we can sell in a pinch

>>2655010
That's the spirit!
>>2654909
Ask her about her father and what relationship her father has with Jackson. And ask about fashion.

>>2654909
>Agree
Well, she promised...

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Kae:”Well... ok sure, Ill do what I can to help”
Nathalie throws herself across the small distance separating the two of you and squeezes you tightly.
Nathalie:”eeeeeee! Thank you Kae, you really are the best! I knew I could count on you for help.”
You feel a bit awkward with Nathalie's over familiarity, just about three or so hours ago you were being stung by her barbs. Now, you wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to kiss you. You understand where she is coming from though. When you don’t have any real world experience, its natural to assume everyone is your friend. You hope she never learns the lessons you did and squeeze her right back. So soft, so innocent, and so delectable...
Even though you and Nathalie are the only people in the room, she moves to whisper in your ear. With a soft, careful voice
Nathalie:”Ok, ill keep my end of the bargain. Just don't get upset! When Jackson was talking to father, he was trying to convince him to let you winter here. And well, Jackson also said he's not planning on staying her long. That probably means he intends to leave you here with us. I guess you probably didn’t know that... B-but you don’t have to worry! Father will of course let you stay, there's no way he can turn down a request from a noble like Jackson. And You have me ok?”
Jackson plans to leave you here? What? Why? Youre not sure how to feel about this. But the deception makes you angry. You can feel your finger nails sink into Nathalie's skin.
Nathalie: “Hes probably a jerk anyway, you don’t need him. Uh, don’t tell him I said that though.”
Nathalie keeps talking, but your not listening anymore. Your minds on Jackson and your future, would staying here be so bad then? Nathalie is nice but you don't aim to be any ones servant. Will your remaining coppers be enough to last the winter? What about the woodland creatures? Are the forests here as desolate as the ones you come from? The blight that infected your home spread far... Should you confront Jackson? Or should you act like you don’t know anything... All the while you have been absentmindedly squeezing Nathalie tighter and tighter, drawing her deeper into yourself. She's not complaining, but you know it couldn’t have been comfortable for her. You try and pretend youre not upset, [bushman] but its shows. You are not versed in lying or hiding your emotions like city folk. With a noticeably harsh voice:
Kae:”you wanted me to do something for you right?”
Nathalie: “Y-yeah umm, but I don't want to tell you yet. Im still not sure I want to go through with it... Don't worry about it for now ok? Later, you just relax.”

You dont want to relax, you want to get your mind off Jackson before you accidentally suffocate Nathalie.
Kae:”Whats your father like?”
Nathalie: “Daddy? Oh dadd... Father. Father is great. I love him so much, but ever since mom died he has been so over protective. He doesn’t let me do anything, he doesn’t let me breath! As I said before, with all the refuges coming in its gotten even worse... Um... Father can be a little... Well... He may not like that you’re a girl.”
???
Nathalie: “Father thinks a woman should be doing 'womenly' things. Jackson is trying to sell you as a hunter and scout, once he sees you im sure he wont be to happy. But im sure you'll grow on him once he gets to know you, in fact the two of you are a lot alike in some ways. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you as well.”
Kae:”Is there anything else I should keep in mind?”
Nathalie: “Just be yourself! Father grew up as a poor farmers son, so he really understands the plight of the common man.”

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You spend some more time with Nathalie in the tub, she never releases her embrace. The tub is small, you’re sitting in an awkward position, and the water is getting colder, but you feel comfortable non the less. You almost fall asleep if not for Nathalie eventually speaking up
Nathalie: “Uhh, Kae? The water is getting a little cold. I would like to get out now.”
You realize youre still holding onto Nathalie, now you start to wonder who was clinging onto who this entire time. Letting go of her she still doesn’t get out.
Nathalie: “Could... Could you go get the towels? They are over there~ Its too cold for me to get out and I don’t want the maids to see us like this~ They would freak! I wasn’t planning on taking another bath today~~”
Slowly you ascend from the water, and it is indeed cold, but it is nothing that youre not used too. Nathalie on the other hand, without your body heat, is shivering. Not wanting her to suffer, you hastily retrieve the towels and pass one to her before drying yourself off. A few passes through your hair and it springs back to its familiar obtuse shape, it will take more then some water and soap to tame the matted beast that lives on your head. As you move to put your clothing back on Nathalie stops you,
Nathalie: “Dont put that stuff back on your body! I have some much nicer clothing to lend you, im DIEING to see you in a dress”
A dress? For you? The little girl in you jumps.
Kae:”A dress? I mean I guess if you think its best...”
Nathalie: “I do”
Nathalie heads over to the dresser and pulls out a large fur cloak that she drapes over herself, then she starts to shift through the dresses before pulling one out.
Nathalie: “Here, its a copy of the dress I was wearing before. Its the latest style form the capital”
Putting it on its indeed a 1 to 1 replica of the dress Nathalie had on, unfortunately the size is too. It rides much to high and reveals far to much.
Nathalie: “hmmm, I guess you are a little taller then me. Ok, how about this”
She goes back to flipping through the dresses before pulling another one out
Nathalie: “This one was my moms. Its out of style now probably, but to be quite honest I don't think anyone but me is going to notice”
Kae:”Don't you think your dad would notice?”
She laughs
Nathalie: “Hardly, he never notices stuff like that.”
It fits much nicer, very elegant and flowy. You look in the mirror and feel extremely embarrassed, its so nice... To nice for someone like you. Nathalie looks over at an hour glass before flipping it.
Nathalie: “We still have another hour before dinner I think, im never to sure with these things. But im sure the servants will get us when its time”

You and Nathalie spend the rest of the time together watching her try on different dresses, and she has many, many dresses. Eventually someone knocks on the door to retrieve the two of you. As you exit the maids enter to clean up, you see one of them going for your bag. You move to intercept but Nathalie assures you that your things will be taken care of.

The meeting place is surprisingly in the same house but in a different room, its the same large entertaining area Nathalie had you in before but now all the furniture has been replaced or rearranged with something else. Seated on the couch are two men and a woman. One man is wearing clothing similar to the mayor from wilstown , dyed in a deep blue. While the other fatter man is wearing a very colourful blazer with a hat that sport a very long feather. Lastly the woman wears a very modest yellow dress, and seems to just be listening in on the conversation between the two men. On the other side of the room is a slender man dressed in black sporting a longsword at his hip, standing next to him is Jackson, he has his back turned towards you.
Nathalie: “Hmmm, Looks like fathers not here yet.”

>What say / do? What are you going to do about the Jackson situation?
>most importantly, what are you thinking? What are you feeling? What are you planning?

>>2659570
>Hang out with Nathalie. We can talk to Jackson later
>If Jackson wants to drop us off here, its probably in good faith. We should talk to him alone later, let him know we would prefer going with him
I feel like we should tell him about what happened with Loki, if the setting is right

>>2659823
This

I want to tell jackson that we would prefer to go with him, we can help him and he would get lost without us


We are sad that he wants to let us here during the winter and we underztand that he is probably doing it to protect us. But we usually end up in bad and dangerous situations when he leaves, we want to stay close...i-if thats o-okey I guess...

>>2659823
this I guess

>>2659823
>>2659570
Let's go with this.

>>2659948
>I guess

What's on your mind anon?

>>2659570
Seems like nice place, might as well enjoy the stay.

>>2660165
I dunno. I guess some part of Kae is yearning for the wilds and forests and doesn't want to be left in a castle, so foreign and prison-like

>>2660235
I agree with you, that's why we are telling him that we prefer to go with, is it now what that anon said?

>>2660252
I mean, the novelty is nice and all but Kae would probably go crazy cooped up in here for months

>>2659570
>>2659823
Speaking of Loki, we should ask Nathalie if she knows anything about the guy as well. A long shot but why not?

>>2659570
Also, I want to ask Nathalie more about her life-goals and ambitions after what she mentioned about her dad. I'd be happy to drag her along anyway.

This quest hurts my eyes

>>2659570
Don't we have to meet up with the guy from the tavern and talk about witch things with him?

>>2660837
We dont have to, and thats later

I'm of the opinion we should not delve too deeply into this occult business. People hate and fear it for a reason.

>>2653567
>footfags

>>2659823
>>2660235

Why not. Also, Nathalie is the first real female friend Kae has made so far, probably ever. I think she'd be pretty torn up between venturing forth and a need for peer validation. There's probably a huge urge to fit in, or at least look as pretty as possible.

>>2659823
>if the setting is right

Not here though. Absolutely NOT suitable topic for dinner conversation.

Only tell him if the next post extends beyond dinner.

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[Bushman] What is the proper protocol here? How are you supposed to act? You may now look the part but in your heart you’re a forest vagrant through and through. There is no way you can act the part of a normal woman, much less a noble one. Nathalie leans in to whisper in your ear.
Nathalie: The fat one, don't tell him I called him fat, with the feather in his hair is the mayor, the woman next to him is his wife, and the third man is fathers treasurer.
Nathalie steps away from you leaving you stranded. You're not sure what your supposed to do... Did he mean for you to follow here? Best not assume anything...

You prop your back against the wall and take a gander at the large portrait of a woman. [Artist] Its a beautiful piece, the artist makes use of some beautiful pigments to bring the portrait to life. You cant help but get drawn into it. Noticing the inscription at the bottom, it reads: A beautiful woman whom I met on my travels. Alas I was so enraptured in my own quest, that I had no time for her. She haunted my dreams until the last days of my life.... Fascinating.

At this point Nathalie returns and takes your hand in hers,
Nathalie: Lets go meet them silly.
I guess the right call here is to ride Nathalies coat tails. As usual you feel pretty nervous, instinctively you look to Jackson for support but it doesn’t look like he has noticed you yet... upon reaching the seated group they all rise to attention, the mayor speaks for them.
Fredric: “Nahalie, my how wonderful it is to see you again”
Nathalie extends her hand and the mayor takes it in his before bowing
Nathalie: “Likewise Fredric, it has been too long. I’m happy you and your wife could attend tonight”
Nathalie gives a curtsy bow to the mayors wife and she awkwardly returns it
Fredric: “I wouldn't miss it for the world, tell me who is your friend?”
Ah! hes talking about you! [INT] Copying Nathalie, you extend your hand and the mayor takes it. So simple, you are sure to fit right in
Kae: “Im Kae, nice ta' mech'ya”
Fredric: “er yes...”
He looks to Nathalie for support
Nathalie: “Kae is Ser Stonewalls's companion. She may be staying with us this winter”
The mayor lights up and bows so low you think he will fall over.
Fredric: “Oh! Nice da'mech'ja I didn’t know Jackson brought company with him, we are honoured by your presence”
??????
Nathalie: “Don't bow so low my dear Fredric, Kae is not highborn. She is like the rest of us. Oops, did I forget to mention that, a haha so sorry”

Nathalies caty nature shines through and Fredric looks a bit embarrassed. But he recovers surprisingly quickly.
Fredric: “No matter, no matter, I assure you lady Kae, that fact does nothing to reduce your standing in my mind. But speaking of Ser Stonewalls... I have not had a chance to introduce myself yet. That Jonah Is hogging all his time, maybe you could help me with that?”
Nathalie: “ILL introduce you, Kae why don't you take tis time to introduce yourself to my other guests?”
“Don't panic, just emulate”. You repeat the words in your head like a mantra. Luckily, the wife and treasurer look to be just as worried and awkward as you. You all introduce yourself and attempt to exchange pleasantrys. It goes... “well” but very soon you run out of things to say and it starts to go south fast. Until the mayors wife, Hilde, gambles and admits to you that she has no experience at attending high class partys. With a sigh of relief you admit the same, maybe you can get through this alive after all. From then on conversation comes much easier. They are both very interested in how you have come to know and travel with “Ser Stonewalls”, and WHY has he come to their quaint village in the 1st place? You see no reason to lie about yourself but decide to keep Jackson's agenda in the dark. Now that you think about it, you don't REALLY even know what Jackson's motivations are.
Treasurer:To be frank miss, I always assumed the bushmen to be wild. But after meeting you im happy to see that is clearly not the case.
From your own investigation you find that Hilde grew up here, a soldiers doughtier. While her husband was stationed here and decided to stay after the two of them got married. He eventually become the mayor, “he was always good at talking”. The treasurer on the other hand seems to think he was only invited to fill up space. After a while Nathalie returns with the mayor, Jackson, and a young stern looking man who is introduced as Nathalie's father's right hand man. Jackon's eyes linger on you but he doesn’t say anything, he keeps busy answering light questions and nodding his head as people speak at him.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x2aJhsDLKo

Somehow, at some point, the large group seems to separate into two smaller groups. And somehow, you are left out of both of them. So you drift, back to the wall. Feeling exhausted, you let out a tired sigh. Making small talk kills you. Everyone seems nice but its just so exhausting, spending ALL DAY in the company of other people has taken a greater tole then you ever expected. You are a born loner, and this is simply too much. You long to return to the wilds, you yearn to draw something.

Then somehow, someway, Jackson seems to manage to break off from his own bubble and somehow, someway, he manages to dodge everyone else and somehow, someway, he finds his way back to you. pressing his back on the wall beside you, Jackson lets out a very familiar tired sigh. The two of you don’t speak, because you cant speak to him. You know if you open your mouth right now right here you will say something you will defiantly regret. “why does he want to leave me behind?” you sulk, he asked you to come with him all this way, just to leave you behind? Was it something you did? Was it because you said that you hate him? “Maybe he just felt sorry for me”. You wonder if you should confess to Jackson about Loki later, but why? What would that even accomplish? Are you hoping he will fly off the handle and show you he cares? Do you want him to kill Loki for you? Are you trying to entrap him with guilt? You look far away, as far as your sight can take you from Jackson. Then slowly, ever so slowly, you hook his pinky finger with your index finger and softly squeeze. You can feel his pulse. Jackson misunderstands the meaning behind your gesture, and ruins the moment by speaking
Jackson: “Don’t be so scared of these people, they are all weaklings compared to you. Drop them just two miles out of town and they will get lost and die. You have nothing to fear here.”
Kae: “...”
“Idiot”, you squeeze his finger harder.

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>>2664683
IT'S HAPPENING

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Finally, a gruff balding man enters the room flanked by a smaller man who is trying to get him to sign some papers. He has a thunderous air of authority around him, yet he wears simple modest clothing. Your uncle once told you, “Some men are beyond do, they simply need be” and now you finally know what he was talking about. As he brushes off his shadow with a wave of his hand everyone in the room watches him. He moves from one person to the next extending his hand and shaking it vigorously when its accepted. A word here and a word there, by the time he finally arrives at you and Jackson you have already let go of his finger. The two men clasp hands and speak plainly
Jeraldo: “Jack, I hope this hasn’t been a bore for you”
Jackson: “Of course it has, why did you do this to me?”
Jeraldo: “Revenge probably. And this is Kae, I assume? You’re idea of a joke?”
Jackson: “Kae is no joke, treat her with respect or I swear on the father ill choke you to death”
Jeraldo: “My boy, that would be a sweet release from this nightmare”
He gestures all around himself. You cant tell if the men hate each other or like each other. He extends his hand towards you, by the look on his face it is clear that he doesn’t expect much. “Don't panic, just emulate”. You take his hand and squeeze [STRvsSTR:Tie] he seems very surprised by the strength of your grip.
Jeraldo: “Well Jack, you sure can pick em'”
his last words to you this evening.

After, everything finally proceeds as you envisioned, you have been waiting for this part all day. Dinner! You move into the dinning room and the men sit on one end of the table, and the woman on the other; with you on the far end. You cant talk to Jackson but when the food comes, you don’t even think about him and all that drama. The waiters bring on a plate of food, then they take it away when you finish eating and bring another with something else on it. You would LOVE to dive right in but... “Don't panic, just emulate”. You try to eat the way Nathalie eats, luckily she makes the conversation with Hilde, so you can focus on not fucking up the one thing you THOUGHT you were really really good at: eating. Eventually, the servants bring out a strange, large, mushroom. It has been gutted and filled with a stew, the mushroom cap serving as an edible bowl.
Nathalie: “These mushrooms come all the way from Solace, don’t worry they are edible, NO don’t EAT it NOW the contents will spill out!”
She jerks her finger in your direction and speaks to Hilde
Nathalie: “jeez, and I thought YOU were a bumpkin”

At some point Hilde turns to the treasurer and starts speaking with him and you take this opportunity to talk a bit more with Nathalie.

You ask her about her goals and dreams, her father is defiantly a behemoth of a man. More figuratively, and much less literally.
Nathalie: “To leave, to escape, to not get married off to some one I never met, to do something with my life, to learn how to shoot a bow, to take control of my own destiny, to see the capitol, to see Solace, to see the Wastes, the Iron Mountions, the Sand Sea, the Dagger Sea, the Great Telescope, to meet a barbarian, to meet a wizard, to meet the king, to meet the queen”
she looks to Jackson
Nathalie: “To get swept off my feet by a romantic hansom noble and go on adventures. You know, the basics.”
For some reason, you decide to ask Nathalie about Loki. On a hunch...
Nathalie: “Sounds like a weirdo, I hope I never meet him”

After dinner, its a short meet up back in the main room and the night is over. You say your good byes and follow a servant that has been instructed to lead you and Jackson to your rooms, apparently you are staying the night. Looking outside you can see its already dark, but thats normal for this time of the year. The servant leads you to a door and presents it as your gust quarters.
Jackson: “Is this my room or Kae's room?”
The servant girl blushes and explains that it is a room for both of you, Jeraldo's orders. Jackson presses his palms into his eyes. By now you know when Jackson is getting angry, so you thank the servant on his behalf and let her escape.
Jackson: “The idiot probably thinks he is helping me”
You’re not so sure... After meeting Nathalie's father, you wouldn’t be surprised if this was calculated. Entering the room you spot your belongings, and all your clothing stacked on a chair; washed. They must have went through your stuff... Next to your things is Jackson's armour, sword, and bags. In the centre of the room, one bed. You look to Jackson, he makes eye contact with you and takes a good long blink.
Jackson: “Listen, you take the room. Ill figure something out”
Your not sure what he is fussing about, you slept side by side many nights on the road. Whats the difference now? Do four walls mean something in the civilized world you are not aware of? You’re getting tired of not understanding the little details. But as Jackson puts his hand on the door handle, you reach out and finally manage to get a word out to him.
Kae: “WAIT!”
he turns
Kae: “...can we talk?”
Jackson: “That entirely depends on what you want to talk about”

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>what say / do

>~what I have picked up on, that you guys may want to talk about~
>>Loki, if so. Why do you want to tell Jackson? (I don’t know why I want to tell him I just want to tell him is an adaptable answer.)
>>Why are you leaving without us?
>>Write ins obviously

>Things to remember:
>It helps to know what you are feeling and thinking.
>I need to know the order you want to talk about stuff, Jackson wont just sit there placid. He may react to your questions with unpredictable results.
>Jackson is already agitated, again
>I may update tomorrow to make the conversation go faster, make sure to check in.

>>2664700
Lean in on a wall like we did earlier, motioning him to join us.
"Nothing too serious, i just want to hang out with you"

I think we should keep the talk short and simple. Jackson is intent on finding a new room, so he might get impatient if we go on for too long. We can talk with him about some heavier topics later

Something we can say, if he sticks around:
"Nathalie helped me pick some clothes. How do i look?"

Move closer, do the finger thing. "I feel comfortable around you" Head on his shoulder.

>>2664700
Realize that it's best not to talk to him about Loki. He'll be angry due to a number of factors and Kae doesn't want that

Ask him if he plans to leave us here

Day we wanted to just talk a little we have been confused about things all day, he is the most familiar thing we have we can ask about all those little things we learned today and that the only thing we thought we do right, eating, was actually wrong too, we do thins to try to defuse the situation a little. We can even ask why he wants to looks for another room, we slept side by side many nights in the wild, does four walls change something?

Aldo, lets not ask why he will leave us, but ask when we will be on the road again, we miss the woods

>>2664805
Also, we can comment on how Natalie bathed us and we found it weard, specially since she got into the tub with us and it was kind of cramped in there


Natalie is talking about things that confused her today, she doesn,t expect a reaction from Jackson with it

>>2664808
no no no no no, forget about this, I just remembered that Kae was really embarrassed by the experience so she wouldn't tell Jackson about it, she can remember it, blush heavily but not talk about it.
instead of it we can talk about the portrait we saw on the dining room, comment how beautiful the woman was and how pretty the painting was too, say that we wish we could draw like that

also, only say the last part here>>2664805
if we sense that Jackson calmed down a little

>>2664700
>>Why are you leaving without us?

>>2664700
>>2664805
I agree with asking when we'll be on the road again.
Ask where he's planning on going from here.
And for the hell of it, ask what he thinks of Nathalie and her dreams.

>>2664683
Adorable!

>>2664700
>Why are you leaving without us?
>Why did you bring us here in the first place?

>>2664700
>On Loki

Apologise for being so neurotic about being left alone, and explain that we *nearly* had a very bad experience. Don't go into too much detail unless he presses further, even then I think kae would be uncomfortable.

Don't have a strong opinion on the other matters, other than he is clearly not down with the whole matchmaker thing right now and kae should not make any advances for the moment. And if we ask about him leaving us here, phrase it so it isn't obvious we already know. "When are we leaving" for example.

>>2664700
it's really important that we get to know more about Loki. Asking him why a single bed bothers him will on anger jackson more also we should ask about that painting.
>>2664751
I don't think Jackson is in a good mood to talk, we might have more comfortable free time in the morning

Voting against anything Loki related for the moment, at least not while he is agitatsed, Loki news will make him lose hus mind

>>2664697
>Nathalie: “Sounds like a weirdo, I hope I never meet him”
Ironically, Loki will likely sweep Nathalie off her feet.

>>2664700
I concur on asking him if the dress looks nice as >>2664751

Kae is still trying to fit in, which is a far cry from wanting to rut in the woods (anyone else remember that? lol), but I do think she'll try to get a reaction out of Jackson with her new dress.

Elsewise, I think just asking him what he plans to do tomorrow, since Kae knows how agitated he gets, is good enough.

1st of all, there is enough here for me to work with and get out a normal post, so no update today

other then that.
>>2660837
no, he told you to to meet him on the day of the harvest festival. I guess Kae should probably know its on day 7, right now its day 2

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[QM NOTE:]After writing this and coming back home I looked it over and realized I may have pushed my own narrative too hard. So I cut about a page of content here so I can get your input, after all YOU are Kae. Sorry if you end up having to repeat yourself

Kae:”We don't have to talk about anything serious Jack...”
You start to circle around Jackson
Kae:”I just want to spend some together, just the two of us. Unless you really don’t want to...”
Slipping in between Jackson and the door, you rest your back on the wooden frame blocking his escape route. Its awfully cramped, your thigh brushes up against his leg. Jackson flinches from this and take a step back, giving you room to breath.
Jackson: I suppose that’s fine, but It will be better if I don't stay to long
Kae:”But why? We have slept next to each other many nights. I don't understand”
Jackson: “Its not the same here, people will get the wrong idea about you”
Kae:”I don’t care what other people think, I only care what you think.”
he waves that off
Jackson: “Its important that people here don’t look down on you. Please accept my judgement on this”
Kae:”oh, well s-sorry for being so clingy... I guess im apologizing a lot today”
Jackson seems to be settling down a little.
Jackson: “Don't stress so much over it. I have been thinking about you today, this is all probably very hard on you. ”
You push off the wall and take a step into his personal space, and he take another step back.
Kae:”I talked to a lot of new people since you've brought me to this little town, but I still don’t know why we are even here. Why are we here Jack? This place is so confusing! Did you see how many forks they gave us? What was that all about?”
He avoids the first question
Jackson: “Give it time, you will get used to it”
You know what he is trying to do, youre not going to make it easy on him. So you take another step forward, he takes another step back.
Kae:”I wont, ill never ever get used to this, ill DIE if I had to stay here”
He puts his hand on his chin
Jackson: “What about Nathalie? I think the two of you really compliment each other”
You pause, hes not wrong. No, you cant show weakness now. Another step forward, and another step back. With fresh thoughts to occupy his mind, his frustration is gone. Without it he cant impede you.
Kae:”Nathalie is...”
You remember your bath and blush
Kae:”She's nice but... shes just not the person I want to be with. Although she could use some more instruction on how to properly shoot a bow...”
You take another step forward but Jackson doesn't move.

Jackson: “You should be careful about the ideas you put into the girls head. Some people just don't know enough about the real world to understand how good they got it”
Looks like Jackson is tired of being on the retreat. Nah, fuck that. You gently place both hands on his chest, you can feel his body jerk and loosen up. You give him a firm push and he is forced to take a step back.
Jackson: “What about the dinner? You looked like you were enjoying yourself.”
you shake your head side to side and continue the chase, Jackson loses more ground.
Kae:”I hated it, every minute of it. I just wanted to spend some time with you, but all these people just keep getting in the way. And you... You just ignored me all night, like I wasn’t even there. Barely spoke a word to me, and even now when we were finally together you are trying to ditch me. ”
You look down at your feet
Kae:”Why did you bring me here Jack?”
He avoids the central concern again.
Jackson: “Its not, like that. Its, complicated... I wanted to talk to you its just, like you said all those people, I, I thought you looked. Lovely.”
[hunter] your eyes shoot up instantly. Pray, you sense pray. Jackson takes an instinctive extra step back
Kae:”oh?”
You tilt your head to the side, and stare him down like a raven. Slipping your fingers into the opening of your dress, that runs along your leg, you slowly rise it higher. Showing off more of your leg and thigh then the who ever tailored the dress intended. Moving your hips side to side your dress starts to twirl around you.
Kae:”Did Ser Stonewalls. Like. Kae's. Dress?”
Jackson takes a third step back and the hits his leg on the bed frame, it almost causes him to trip. No place left to run.
You take another another step closer and reveal more of your leg, thigh, and now hip. You can see Jackson tense up considerably, you lick your lips and bite your lower lip.
Kae:”maybe thats why brave Ser Stonewalls brought Kae so far from home? For himself . ”
another step forward, one more and you got him. Your body screams sex but your eyes scream murder. You are suddenly, overwhelmingly, furious

>what / say do?

>>2669232
Calm ourselves. Breathe in, and breathe out.
"I love you"

>>2669232
Holy shit where did this come from?

Calm, breathe, get embarrassed

>>2669329

Why did you bring us here?
fuck, I really don't know, I'm at a loss here

>>2669232
>Calm down
>Get embarrassed, blush, mumble.

>>2669295
Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

>>2669565
We have gotten so far. The way we approached him should tell him we are interested in him.
We just need to let him know its romantically, and not just for the sex/murder

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Rolled 30 (1d100)

~mystery roll~

>>2669857
Spoopy

>>2669329
>>2669565
Aye. Kae needs to take it easy.

>>2670446
>>2669565
>>2669329

She needs to calm down a bit, but not go full spaghetti.

We've put our cards on the table, lets see what he does. Body language is better than words for a couple of reasons.

>Kae sucks at talking
>Kae is so hot its actually registered as special power on her character sheet.

>>2670592
>go full spaghetti.
I dunno, autism has always been one of her core character traits. It might also be pretty funny.

>>2670723
Yeah, but to suddenly drop it out of nowhere when she's going in for the kill just seems forced.

Honestly I think QM forced our hand a little much when all we were saying is talk with him, but this is the path we've been set on, lets see it to the end.

>>2670824
He posted that he wanted some player input instead of forcing the entire thing. I don't necessarily think seeing it through to the end is the right thing in this situation. I would rather postpone it, that and Kae is becoming increasingly violent to my dismay. I just want comfy baths and pictures (and witch burning).

>>2670938
Didn't sojourn already cut the page? Or is it the second post?

>>2670952
I only saw the current stuff, so I don't know. I assume there was a third page he never posted.

>>2670984
If that's the case, we are already committed to this.

Also, angry sex seems like it would suit them both

>>2671016
Seems like a good point to stop, honestly. But that's just like, my opinion.

>>2671037
I would be all for stopping, but I just think that QM forced our hand here, and we're too far in to not follow through

If you read >>2670592 you'll note I'm saying calm down a bit, we should jump the poor guy. I'm arguing against suddenly running off with our tail between our legs. Let's stay the course and see what Jackson does.

>>2671050
*Shouldnt jump

>>2670592
This, not go full spaghietti and see what he does.


I honestly don't know what part of what we wrote let the QM believe we would seduce big J but since we already did all that I preferwe do not take it all back and at least see what he's all about.


Why are we here jackson?

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Hey OP what did I miss this month....
>>2669232
>[QM NOTE:]After writing this and coming back home I looked it over and realized I may have pushed my own narrative too hard. So I cut about a page of content here so I can get your input, after all YOU are Kae. Sorry if you end up having to repeat yourself
You pushed it to hard & 2 early. Honestly felt like is came out of know where. I'm cool with this happening eventually (Or REVENGE the proper answer for the HateBoner) just seems way 2 early for Da smashing of face to commence. But hey that's just me.

>Crack a smile & lose composure
>Kae sides should be in orbit over the fact she just made J. visibly terrified for the 1st time.
>Quickly devolve into autistic rambling (This joke was way out of her comfort zone but good practice) once the poker face is gone & she might've been 2 convincing.
>When his guard is actually down prod the Q of him ditching us again. (J. might slip up do to his profuse sweating.)

>232. Seven Nation Army - Glitch Mob
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFJjwXtsU4

>>2674713
I was thinking about you today, I was wondering what I had done to drive you away. Even though I know I shouldn't since you guys are supposed to all be anonymous. Unfortunately for you the update is already written and ready to go, im just working on a final bonus draw (That I may or may not add) since I have the time.

Also, sometimes people will try and predict whats going to happen in the short term. "let me guess, were probably going to go and rescues Jackson" -anon before we descended down the witches den. They have never, been correct. Have faith, you may be surprised.

>>2674877
Everything you have written has been perfectly in character and entertaining op, i got faith

>>2674877
I'm scared, hold me daddy

>>2674877
I have faith

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You breath in and breath out, but it does nothing. The rage surges through your veins, blood and fire set your insides alight. Growing inside your soul like a tumour, converting everything it touches, an endless fount of hate HATE HATE HATE. You open your mouth to scream.
Kae: Does Kae's appearance please Ser Stonewalls? Does he maybe want to violate poor, Innocent, Kae? Does he want to, pen-e-trate her?
you can no longer control your hands, they snake up and down your body; caressing the curvatures and exploring its depths. You even let out a small moan for him.
Kae: Kae wants it too, she wants it so, so bad. Come take everything from her, come rip her apart
Jackson: Kae. Stop this.
Your chalice of contempt and bile over flows, it flows and flows into the room from every orifice. Red heat strokes the room. All melts, the walls melt, the bed melts, your cloths melt, Jackson melts. All you see is crimson HATE. Beautiful strong Jackson, you want to eat him, you want to peel the skin from the meat, the meat from the bone, the bone from the rind, to suck the marrow. You want him inside you. Your frame can no longer contain your hunger, you must escape. You must explode outward into the world, become the all devouring worm that you are meant to be.
Kae: Why else would have Jackson brought Kae? Come, come, come to Kae
Jackson stands perfectly still, his face is unreadable. He looks exquisite, you could just eat him up.
Kae: Maybe Ser Stonewalls prefers to watch his servant? His little domesticated animal
You slip your dress straps off your shoulders and let them slide down your arms. As your body continues undulating to some unheard rhythm, the dress, without its supports, starts to slide down your body. Slowly at 1st, then very quickly, until its on the floor around your feet. Only your skin and small loincloth remain, you pull up on the laces so that Jackson can see even more of you.
Kae: Jaaaackson~~ Jaaaaaaaacckkksooon~~ Come home to Kae Jacksoonnn~~~
The person known as Kae no longer exists, there is only hate. You hate this world, you hate Jackson, you hate yourself, you hate that you are bound to this reality of flesh and bone, you want to be free, you want to be released. ESCAPE, OBEY , you have never hated Jackson as much as you love Jackson.
You take the final step towards him.

[Attractive: Success] Your hands immediately go to Jackson's belt in an attempt to remove it, yet he stands frozen, staring past you and into the space you once occupied. You press your breasts against his chest, you press your whole body onto his. Yet the distance still feels too great, you wont be satisfied until that growing chasm inside you is filled to the brim with Jackson's innards.
Kae: Jaaaackson~~ Put it inside me already
You push up and stand on your toes, applying kiss after kiss to his scared chin.
Jackson's hands move, they hover over your hips. You can FEEL them without having to look, you can feel EVERYTHING. The guards out side, Nathalie reading two rooms down, the servants fraternizing downstairs, the blades of grass out side, even the walls that surround you. Soon you will surmount them, soon you will be free to infect the whole world beyond them.
Kae: Kae loves her Jackson
You place your lips over one of Jackson's scars It burns your mouth, and you kiss it greedily. As Jackson starts to generate waves and waves of heat you realize your time grows short. This time you will finish the job. You open your mouth wide and bite the base of his neck.
[Jackson: – 1 HP]
If only you were taller. You drink deep.

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Jackson places his hands around you, and a great gale of hot wind blasts through you. As it passes into and out of you, it takes with it everything and leaves you completely hollow. Your legs give out and your neck is no longer able to hold the weight of your head. If not for Jackson's strong arms you would be a bundle on the ground. With the fire and rage gone your mind starts to return, but there is no time to think about what you have just done. Jackson raises you up above him and you know whats coming. You look down on the floor and terror is the 1st emotion to returns. As the earth starts to get closer only two words have time to enter your head; “im dead”.

However your head doesn’t meet cold hardwood but soft mattress instead, it looks like Jackson must have changed his mind and reversed the direction he chose to slam you in. As the mattress absorbs the force you can feel the baseboards under you crack. You are lucky to be alive but the force was still great enough to send you into a daze. Before you can move Jackson is on top of you and his hands move to grip your neck, you make a futile efforts to stop him but you don’t have the strength, you feel so very weak and your head swims. You try to take one last deep breath but its too late, Jackson squeezes down hard. You kick, flail, and scratch, its nothing more then a token resistance. Even at full strength Jackson would be too much for you, there is simply nothing you can do. Your head feels like its going to explode and your chest convulses as it tries to take in air to no avail. Your mouth opens and the sound of empty gasps fill the room, you look into Jackson's distant eyes and make one final plea for forgiveness. It of course, goes unheard, the only noise that you can make are your final empty gasps. Your eyes tear up and start to roll into the back of your head, you cant feel your body anymore as you start to slip the mortal coil.

You are suddenly brought back to earth as Jackson releases his strangle hold on your neck. You take massive greedy breaths of air, and your body chains into an unstoppable spasm of coughing. At this point you would rather be dead. Jackson presses his face into the mattress and give what would have probably been a thunderous cry if it wasn’t absorbed by the bed. He seems to be having an intense argument with himself over what to do with you. Not wanting to stick around to find out the result of said argument, you turn onto your stomach and attempt to crawl away to safety. As you reach the end of the bed you feel Jackson's hand on your leg, fuck. He pulls you back under him, you try to flip around and defend yourself but he places a hand on your back and pins you. A second later Jackson's poniard pierces the bed beside your head. Over and over you watch it go up, then back down, up, then back down. Every time you wonder if the next down stroke will be through your neck. Eventually Jackson seems to tire out, as he leaves his dagger behind and rolls off you and the bed altogether. Instinctively you scramble to take the dagger for yourself, you may be ready to die but your body refuses. Looking up you see Jackson stumbling out of the room, he sways side to side and curiously moves towards his armour. “Oh god, he is getting his sword” you think, your new poniard may not be enough. Luckily he instead picks up his helmet and places it over his head before composing himself and simply exiting the room. He slams the door closed behind him, you can hear the wood cry.

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Alone at last... What have you done? What went through your mind? That wasn’t you, It couldn’t have been. This familiar feeling, you have felt it twice before but when? Where is Jackson? And why are you naked? Why did he get so mad? Alone at last... What have you done? What went through your mind? That wasn’t you, It couldn’t have been. Wait, what? Your thoughts slip through your hands like sand, try as you may you cant hold them. You suddenly realize your neck is coated with blood, and you desperately try to find the opening that it flows from. But you find none, you come to realize this is Jackson's blood. You know, you can SMELL it. Looking around the bed, you can see there is a lot of it.

This isn’t what you wanted...

This isn’t what you wanted to ask Jackson at all...

This isn’t what you wanted from your quest...

yet it all happened anyway, but was it avoidable? What does it all mean?

Must every single day of your life be filled with horror?

Is there no happiness to be found in this world for you?

Alone, naked, and fighting through a splintered mind.

>what do?
>A note about dice rolls: I don’t tell you about every dice I roll for you, I don’t tell you about every spot check you don’t succeed, and if you, for example, keep succeeding fort checks vs poison, you may not ever even know you were poisoned. Please keep this in mind

>>2675400
Err, I'm starting to suspect that none of our choices actually matter.

Any way we can switch to a new char???

>>2675400
>Be Nathalie

>>2675459
>>2675537
I'd rather stay as Kae
If we were changing character my preferences from most preferred to least would be
>Loki
>Jackson
>New Character

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>>2675415
I cant really debate that without spoilering the story, although I do believe you should have seen this coming and everything thats happening here is a direct result of actions taken during this quest. If you feel that I have been railroading you, im sorry that I have failed you as a QM. But from my PoV, this story has gone far off from the rails that I originally assumed it would follow, and it wasn't through my actions. I take immense plesure in watching how the story progresses through the sand box I have made.

In this thread alone you have,
>decided to go with Nathalie, if you went with Jackson the outcome of this story would have been completely skewed
>Befriended Nathalie through bow practice, if no one suggested that Nathalie would not have been your friend, and you would have walked into a trap
>Started on (spoiler) a large event chain by agreeing to her deal
>Dictated the way Jeraldo perceives you by showing up in a dress

>>2675459
>>2675537
>>2675546
We play Kae until the quest is dead or she is.

>>2675400
Welp, time to go.
Not sure whats going on or what we can really do but as a bushman we should probably stop fucking around here and with jackson and find another forest to live in again.
I doubt jackson would kill us with how he restrained himself but fuck.
If he comes after us then we can work shit out again perhaps.
Leave a drawing of us and jackson getting married or in a house with kids as a goodbye present.

>>2675459
Y'all some bitches, man the fuck up.
I came to play something fun and challenging.
If QM switches characters or some hand holdy shit, im out of here.

Yeah I think this was a perfectly reasonable route for this to go. I mean we voted to try talking to Jackson and we've been getting hints of whatever fucked up shit is going on with Kae the whole time so it makes sense that we'd get more development on that eventually. Keep up the good work QM and not just cause I like your art

>>2675400
If Jackson wanted us dead, we'd be dead. That said, if Jackson tells anyone else about this, or they find out some other way, we'll be in mortal peril.

Our main options are:
>Run away and lose the only companions we have
>Stay and try to work things out, but risk death

I vote we stay, put our clothes back on, and try to explain things to Jackson if/when he returns. Kae's worked hard to make it this far; it wouldn't be right to throw it all away by fleeing and starting over from scratch.

>>2675606
I think anon meant that our votes from the last post (on what to say to Jackson) didn't matter.

But yes, this does feel railroady. It doesn't matter how complex the motives and conditions were behind what happened; if the players can't see a causal link between their votes and their results, or if this link is too obscure and convoluted, it will feel railroady.

As an example, let's take "You dictated the way Jeraldo perceives you by showing up in a dress". Did we have any reason not to show up in a dress? No. Did we have any indication that this could influence anything? No. Moreover, we didn't even choose to go to the party in a dress, we just didn't choose to take it off before going. A choice made under such circumstances isn't really a choice. Any results stemming from this particular choice, if they ever are traced back to it, would seem railroady.

>>2675606
The absolute worst thing in any interactive narrative, is the illusion of choice.

The last few posts have made it seem like we're just a toddler given an unplugged controller while dad plays video games, even if our actions long ago set this in motion, our input for the last week seems to have mattered less and less with every update.

I vote stay, i guess. Its clear that something is wrong with Kae, so lets just stay huddled in a ball and wait to see what happens.

>>2675787
1:
I dont think he did, or he would have said mattered, not matter.

2:
>If youre going to introduce her to father it would be just AWFUL if he misjudged her based on her appearance.
>“Of course it matters! The way you hyped her up father is sure to think shes a man. Hes going to assume you’re playing a prank on him when he sees her.”
>My father says it not ladylike for a woman to be involved in soldiering...
>Nathalie is going to want to dress you up. Will you let her or will you want to stay as you are?

Perhaps if I said, "go as yourself" in the prompt it would have been better. Maybe I shouldn't have been so subtle, but I felt the minor impact showing up in a dress in your first meeting would cause warranted a not so obvious foreshadowing.
I further press this,
>“Father thinks a woman should be doing 'womanly' things. Jackson is trying to sell you as a hunter and scout, once he sees you im sure he wont be to happy. But im sure you'll grow on him once he gets to know you, in fact the two of you are a lot alike in some ways.
>Nathalie: “Just be yourself! Father grew up as a poor farmers son, so he really understands the plight of the common man.”

since it wont be the last time you meet the man and have a chance to make an impression on him should you choose to do so. I didn't punish you for not picking up on that, but im always ready to reward anons who are paying attention. Even if its just lowering DC checks vs characters who have their bios analyzed so well.

Its defiantly hard to judge how subtle one should be, but there are defiantly anons here who seem to be getting it.

3:
Its not just about, foreshadowing everything. Its about YOU, who YOU are. People are going to react to YOU differently depending on who YOU choose to be. Not because I hinted that you will get a power up by acting a certain way. YOU are the kind of person who wanted to show up in a dress, so people will react to that. Sometimes its good and sometimes its bad. There are two ways to play an rpg, you can try and immerse yourself and let come what may or you can turn on google and make sure you say or do what ever would give you the most exp and a 100% completion on your 1st run. We are telling a story together, and part of your inputs is who Kae is as a person. Not just what you are going to get out of being that person.

>>2675886
Do you feel that your choice is constantly an illusion? I do feel that I failed to do this right and apologized for it right at the top. But I cant get into it with you without spoilering anything. On the other hand I have been doing this for 4 or so months and I think have we have sculpted a pretty nice narrative together and I think I have done a pretty good job making your inputs matter. In fact, this is the result of how important and far ranging your inputs can be. I cannot promise you wont find more of the same in the future, I can only try to do my best.

all the people complaing about some shit here. dont listen to em QM. Youre doing good
I vote Kae tries to leave. If Jackson gives a fuck he'll find us

>>2675950
I agree, especially since at the end of chapter 0 summary there were 2 literally whos that we didn't even interact with. Made me feel like the players' decisions mattered

>>2675958
Yeah, QM actually builds a world and prepares before running. All the "dont feel like our choices matter" fags shudda keep quiet

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Your doing a good job QM.
I've been expecting that something like this would happen sooner or later.

Right now I think we should grab our stuff and go. If we go to the forest we should come back on day 7 and meet with that one dude. He might know more of our situation.
Also do leave a note for Jackson.

Wipe off the blood with some sheets, then leave. Id say through the window, so we wont run into anyone. (Use rope if we are too far up)
im still diggin the quest, keep it up my dude

>>2675400
Wash the blood, put on our clothes and go hunting on the nearby woods, we lost ourselves, we weren't ourselves, let's do the most familiar things we know. We use our old unconfortable clothes and we go hunting.


As a note to the QM, man, I was confused but this spirit thing has been inside her for some time and it was about time it did something, also, We must have made some very good decisions with Jackson for him not summarily execute us, I hope it wasn't just the looks.

I really enjoy the quest and will be happily playing with Kae until the end.


Tldr. Time for Kae to be Kae, we weren't ourselves tonight and we don't want to be that....thing again.

>>2676122
Aldo, if i didn't make it clear. I vote we stay, we are physicaly and emoationaly exausted, I don't even want to think Bout ehat would happen to poor Kae in this state alone on the streets at night.

We sleep and go out to hunt on first light in the morning

>>2675947
>Do you feel that your choice is constantly an illusion? I do feel that I failed to do this right and apologized for it right at the top. But I cant get into it with you without spoilering anything. On the other hand I have been doing this for 4 or so months and I think have we have sculpted a pretty nice narrative together and I think I have done a pretty good job making your inputs matter. In fact, this is the result of how important and far ranging your inputs can be. I cannot promise you wont find more of the same in the future, I can only try to do my best.

No, just the last couple of updates. If something has to happen, then it happens. The problem is the input we gave (especially with most recent) didn't seem to factor into it at all

>>2676186
I think Kae failed the will check to reel in the beast with that 30

>>2675400
Clean ourselves up and try to make some sense out of what just happened.

It seems like Jackson had other reasons for wanting us to stay here. We should plan on sticking around in the area, maybe make plans to meet with the occult dude on the 7th day. He may be able to help us figure out what's wrong. In the mean time, we should wait and see what's up with Jackson.

>>2674877
Oh no need to worry about it OP, you didn't scare me away. I wasn't able to follow your Quest most of last month/this month do 2 IRL stuff taking up my life. My bad for not keeping on the ball & any unneeded grievances.

>>2675400
>Kae cleans herself off as best she can
>Begin to barricade ourselves in the room with whatever we can find (bed frame, night stands, etc...)
>Grab are gear & hold out on any possible future actions
>If J. comes back starting screaming at him to go away (maybe a mental breakdown, would be in character considering the shit she just pulled)

Escaping from the castle & then into the forest might be a bad idea & could further egg on a already bad situation into dire. Currently everybody in this town (Which I remind you is mainly filled with soldiers or those with a tie to warfare,even the nobles) can/could be forced into chasing us down if J. (top of the hierarchy) comes back fouler then usual. The forest is also currently filled by plenty of hunters + loki so that's another wall (unless Loki is part of your magical realm then go for it). Trying to stealth out (roguish enough) could be possible but Kae is a bush women so that full buff ain't coming into play in a out of element fortress (perhaps the town?). But hey if we make a break for it we could go full berserk & wreck shit.

Maybe I have a scewy view on this (I finished reading over a month & a half of missed progress yesterday in a single inning) but OP has been hinting at some Wulfen shit going down for a while (the occasional sprinkle of HATE in red/Kaes possible fondness of human flesh, etc...) so it's not like the end result came out of left field (the pole arm jump from lewdness to strip down did though... but I ain't complaining as it's her beast of darkness talking) I don't see why you guys are complaining about him railroading were way off the tracks & "crashing this train with no survivors" from are own collective stupidity (which I honestly appreciate OP letting us fuck up consistently)

400. Digital Lion - James Blake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyWeVWiDnbQ

Happy Belated B. btw

>>2677406
P.S did nobody catch the shit J. pulled on us last thread with his "Bridge story" being complete horse shit? Anybody at all?

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>>2675400
>tags: corruption, snuff
It seems our intrepid heroine is indeed possessed by malicious forces of perverted evil. I guess passing out in the witch's lair was a pretty poor outcome.

>>2675989
This seems pretty reasonable. But I feel that talking to Nathalie before fucking off may be wise. Maybe she knows (of) someone knowledgeable in healing, to deal with Kae's increasing episodes of loss of control.

>>2677406
ok

>>2676122
here

changing to this>>2677406

>>2675400
Changing from >>2676087 to >>2677406
The helmet is probably to hide the bite. Apologize to Jackson when possible

Barricading herself doesnt sound within character imo. Would Kae like to be trapped in the room inatead of having freedom?

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Is Kae a fucking vampire now?

>>2679307
>now

>>2679306
Mental breakdown bro

>>2677406
Yeah, this works. As always i endorse commiting to a course of action rather than quitting or backing down.

>>2677422
Bridge story?

>>2677422
Explain

I don't see how barricading ourselves in here is better than leaving.
If jackson does decide to get hostile again then us being trapped in a small room doesn't make thigs better or easier.
He's still got all the people around him to command as he is a noble.

We really need to get better upgrades if we manage to finish the chapter.
Also, that swords pretty bad since we're not a fighter.
A few daggers and throwing knives would be better.
Shit, we could have stabbed jackson in the arms or something instead of leaving it to fate on if we were gonna die by his hand or not.

>>2680794
He doesn't plan on killing us. And its not him who got hostile

I don't want to cut and run and abandon this whole section of the story.

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>>2679762
>>2680494
J.'s attempt at bonding with us when we left town with him(After we were rightfully pist at him mind you. Hate Boner still grows). His "Childhood story" about him befriending a /b/tard on their famuru property (under a bridge) & his dad going berserk for it breaking the NAP. He blurted out the truth by accident that he's never actually seen a beast men & in turn a troll. (Don't have exact spot but for reference he mentions it after his explanation for the fortresses purpose, world building lore & his lack of belief in the existence of world ending furfags)

This shall be added into the notebook of grudges under "Jackson" if we survive this (& if i'm not talking out of my ass).

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>>2680823
He said he's never seen an ogre before not beast men.

>>2680823
You're talking out of your ass, not that it would be a big deal if it were true.


>Hate boner for jackson

You know he had every reason to squash kaes head like a grape just now right? And he went to great pains NOT to harm her in the slightest when the bath salts kicked in.

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~~No update today, will update tomorrow. Wont bore you with a blog post as to why.~~

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[QM Note: from what I can tell, I think the “leave”s won by two votes. ]

The memory’s seep out your ears, nose, mouth, and eyes. Curled up into a ball in the centre of the caved in bed, you are much like a pearl inside of a clam. What can you remember? You remember being angry, so very very angry. Nathalie planted a seed in your chest and it suddenly and violently blossomed all over Jackson. Did you try and, seduce him? Maybe. Then you attacked him, that you remember for sure. But with what? Did you have a weapon? Maybe it was the poniard? The details are foggy and falling away piece by piece. Maybe you took it from him somehow? One things for sure, this isn’t the first time your memory has failed you. It is, at the very least, the third time. There is something wrong with you, of that their is no doubt. Something must have happened to you, but when? With your memory as it is you don't know what else you may have done and simply forgotten. Is it possible, living alone in the woods... That this has always been a issue? A scary thought, one that you don’t have time to entertain

Your instinct to survive stirs. What if Jackson comes back? What if he only retreated to gather his strength? Maybe you hurt him more more then you thought and he ran from you? You simply cant remember. What if he, turns everyone against you? You roll out of the bed, its hard to walk so you crawl. You crawl to cabinet, and push it against the door. Next you push the the cabinet and the bed too. Next you must remove the evidence, the blood. You reach into your bag and produce the [broken mirror] and study yourself. Your neck, mouth, and chest are covered in blood. The next step in to get out [Jackson's canteen] and your own waterskin then wash as much as you can off. After, you pull all the sheets from the bed and hide them in the empty cabinet. The final step is to get dressed and equipped, you may be a scared heroine but you are also a modest woman. You wonder what happened to your dress in the 1st place. No matter, they have washed all your clothing so you pick what you are comfortable with. You equip your bow, you sheath your sword, and you throw your backpack over your shoulder. Jackson still hasn’t returned, but you know you cant stay here. Looking out the window you see guards patrolling the grounds and the walls, trying to climb down the window will land you on top of two of them. The only way out it seems is the front door, if you weren’t so desperate to escape you may have found your barricade funny. But you are, so you simply get to clearing the furniture out of the way.

But before you escape, you decide to leave a note for Jackson. You pull out a paper from your [Journal] and get ready to work. But what should it say? ”Sorry for attacking you! Love ~Kae”. You crack a smile, “that would be funny” you think. The feeling doesn’t last long before you start to cry, you can hold back your tears as they fall down and stain the page. You fucked up big time, everything you gained in the last week or so you have lost in an instant. What ever he may have been to you, at the very least, Jackson was your companion, someone you felt like you could trust. You cant draw anything right now, you’re too distraught and you don’t have the time, so you just scribble the few words you can manage.
“Im so sorry Jack, im so so sorry.”
You pin the note into the wall with Jacks dagger and slowly open the door.

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Poking your head out the door you look to the left, then to the right. You see no one, odd. You were sure there would be some guards out here. Not because guards are supposed to be here, you wouldn’t know anything about protocol, but because you FELT that they were out here. You step ouf of the room, close the door, and you look down the hall. Maybe you should say good bye to Nathalie... Two rooms down... No thats crazy, there is no way you can know where Nathalie is. You thought there were guards out here but there clearly aren’t, it must all be in your head. Then you smell it, Jackson! You turn your head and look the other way, but see no one. The smell is coming from below you. Reaching down onto the dark floor you touch a small pool of blood, you don’t need logic to deduce that its his. You can smell his blood, you KNOW its his blood. It leads down the hall, you feel the impulse to follow it.[hunter] A primal call to follow, to hunt, you cant resist, you must obey, you must follow the trail.

As you stalk after the trail your breathing becomes more rapid, you’re getting closer . Until a shallow light starts to peak from around a corner. You compose yourself and act as nonchalant as possible for an awkward girl such as yourself. The man that comes around the corner is draped in dark well traveled leather, and several weapons adorn his person. His frame is slim but his shoulders are broad and [artist] his arms are slightly too long. He hides his face behind a leather mask that eventually turns into a cloak. All of these things you notice only after you notice his eyes, protruding from the shadows are two orbs devoid of all earthly interest. He doesn’t even look at you, but you’re sure that even if you were still naked, his eyes wouldn’t give away any intent. The two of you pass in the hallways and he disappears down the corridor. You breath a heavy sigh of relief. But the event does well to snap you out of your trance. Yet decide to head down the path the mystery man came from, maybe its the way out?

Your assumption proves to be correct, at the end of the hall is a service staircase that leads down into a kitchen on the 1st floor. You can get out this way for sure but then you are out in the open, standing at the top of the stair case you can see a route that seems to connect the house to the fortresses walls, its probable that’s the way Jackson went.

>what do?
>also what clothing did you put on? And did you take the dress with you?

>>2683088
Loki is the witch master isn't he? Would killing him stop the corruption?

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>>2683158
>Accusing poor gentle Loki of a misdeed.

Shame on you

the real answer is I cant tell you that

>>2683088

Follow the trail to the wall, maybe stare at the night sky when we reach there, we can try to clear our head


>>2683195
loki shall suffer for all eternity, if we ever dismember someone as wulfen is going to be him

>>2683088
>Kae moves up the staircase, the hunt continues.
>Kae (hopefully) put on her normal clothes, took the dress, & are remaining gear
>Possibly resist the immediate urge of the hunt (momentarily) to check on Nathalie status (if the guy Kae passed isn't a assassin, longer arms = could mean a hidden blade)
>Continue to follow the guy after this.
>Try to think up the best apology we can to J. if we stumble pass him

(Unlikely but should be place on the docket.)
>* Kae attempts to more deeply (a good old brainstorming session) connect the dots about are spirit "friend" existence* (Tries to remember the past & link the pieces a serious attempt).
>If possible, if realization occurs (assuming shes not going through a mental breakdown, or a immediate personality tug of war occurs) try a one way conversation on why it's being a uncooperative asshole.

Guys here me out on the last one... What if, what if we attempt to become a Stando User out of this still? Even if get out of dodge we can still find a way to meet the occultist down in town (assuming Kae isn't wanted at that point) & they can help us out. Push comes to shove a little bit of human flesh doesn't seem that bad for Kaes diet.

>88. Elle King – Ex's & Ohs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9OvgrxaPKU
Useless Factoid Nobody Asked 4: This is dan Schneider kid

>>2683088
This guy looks like Sam, but that can't be. Sam is blue.

>>2683158
Why would it be Loki? He ran when Kae informed him of the witch. It's the only reason he survived.

>Guys here me out on the last one... What if, what if we attempt to become a Stando User out of this still?

Unless you mean Kae somehow overpowers the witch's master, with apparently no magical experience of any kind, to do...something, I don't think this will work.

>>2683088
>Put on starting clothing, for nostalgia.
>Put dress in wardrobe, for IC nostalgia.

I think following Jackson is a properly poor idea, especially given what happened earlier. He will not be as merciful in a second encounter, I reckon. I think just moving outside is fine, since the guards have no reason to suspect Kae of anything. Then using rogue just get the hell out of dodge.

>>2683088
We are using our old clothes, we left the dress behind but took all our things.

We continue on our path, maybe stop and calm down a little now that we are in the open. I don't really want to leave the fortress, I think it's more dangerous outside than here, even with Jackson present, he didn't kill us when every fiber in his body commanded him to do so, so that's a plus

>>2683466
This i guess
If anons don't want to leave then just taking a walk is fine.


>>2683088
>”Sorry for attacking you! Love ~Kae”
We should have left that one, so cute and tells him our feelings.
Next time we draw him a picture we should sign it "love~Kae"
should be fun to cause we know what he looks like for real now.

>>2683598
Following the zombie sounds okay, that guy gives me the same uneasiness that I got from Loki.

I don't want to just cut and run, but we might need to lurk in the woods for a few days.

>>2683787
.... have you seen the last part? We apparently can't love anyone until this corruption is removed. It just takes over and twists our feelings.

>>2683074
Wait, we have spine spikes now?

>>2683088
Escape through the kitchen. If there isn't an alarm yet, no one suspects us.

Put on the most tough and durable clothing we have. Leave the dress, it belongs to Natalie.

>>2683074
dress up as practical as possible, we are moving out after all. Big cloaks and warm furs for concealment

Fresh thread
>>2688188
>>2688188