"And if I say no?"

"I'm afraid that's nonnegotiable. I have my orders, and I'm sure you understand what that means."

"I suppose I do. You're with the situation, then?"

"I'm aware of the arrangements." He takes off his helmet with a pressurized hiss. Not a normal latch like standard armor but completely sealed. Black hair and dull green eyes, much like the Oshiro's Matriarch and Kaede. A scar runs from the bridge of his nose to the corresponding mouth corner. It didn't heal well, leaving a permanent grim half grin. He's a few years older than yourself, maybe twenty. "My name is Dai. It's a pleasure to serve as your banner-man during this expedition, Lord Eliko. What would you have me do?"

"Shit, Eliko, you're a clan head?" Nobu asks after plopping down next to you. Forgoing the tea, he already thumbs a sake cup and pitcher. In quick work he downs a serving, visibly anxious. "An up and coming minor house? Reviving one of the oldies? Got a sister so I can get in on this?"

"You taking soldier pills again?"

"Just one—Hay, why do you always seem to get stuck with scouting? Mister Samurai here told me all about our job. Seems like they're keeping you from the fun stuff."

"Not at all," you answer before snagging the liquor away. At worst you're bait for an ambush, at best it's some path-finding through enemy controlled territory. If Yuki was around she'd jump at the opportunity. "Don't mix downers and uppers."

"Buzz kill. So, orders? Someone going after Yuki or are we ditching her?"

"If I may suggest," Dai says. "One of us could search for your ninja while the other leads the scouting party, though I don't recommend putting off Captain Okisuke's orders."

You could split the group, have Dai recruit and lead the scouts. As a full fledged samurai the footmen will more likely to follow him. Though the mission was specifically handed out to you, it might not be the best idea to forgo direct orders. And Nobu... best Nobu go with the group. He seems capable but being so on edge will only make any possible rescue more difficult. Or you can stick with the plan, Yuki can handle herself.

>Have Dai recruit lead the scouts while you search for Yuki
>Send Dai to look for Yuki while you lead the scouts
>Stay together and do the job at hand, Yuki will be fine
>write-in

Also, some forewarning, this'll be the last thread for the foreseeable future. I"ll go until Tuesday to try and give it a decent wrap up. In-advance, thank you all for playing and sticking through 7 threads of this quest.

Thanks for running and sticking through.

Well, seems like playing is a no-go. I guess i'll end it here then. If I ever do another quest or pick this one back up I'll stick with ObscureQM. Until then, glhf.

>>3289928
I appreciate it. It was fun while it lasted, at least for me.

Sorry to see this go, it was pretty neat.

If you're looking for any advice:

Especially for low player counts, having a Twitter or Discord is super important for letting them know when you're posting. Helps you keep it in there head too if you have a schedule.

Only other thing I would advise is to consider dialing down how drastic player decisions are. It's good to let players decide stuff, but sometimes it can really hurt the game.

To me, the coolest moment was the big battle and sallying forth, but had a couple more people voted to just leave, we wouldn't have got that at all. Similarly, the vote to go back to the caravan probably succeeded in canceling another cool moment. That really took the kind out of my sails.

Not arguing for a railroad, but it's generally better to have people choose between two cool options instead of a cool outcome and "we'll just leave instead". Interest is momentum.

>>3296994
The low player counts didn't really bother me but I will certainly keep the rest of your advice in mind. Thank you, I appreciate it.

>This was posted two days ago
Damn, too bad I missed it. I normally comb the catalog by last reply, this must’ve fallen through the cracks.

>>3297384
It happens, no worries though I'm sure another nart quest will take it's place in an endless cycle.

>>3297933
Know that I'm happy you weren't killed by truck-kun

yet

>>3298037
Oh anon... I am truck-kun. It's why i'm busy, so many people to isekai.

>tfw I missed this
Damn. I quite liked this quest. Ah well, thank you for running. I had a blast for certain.

That being said, the next time you run a quest, I cannot stress the importance of a way to inform people that the quest is happening. I recommend Twitter, personally. Discord isn't a bad choice either, and allows for people to communicate out of thread, but can lead to 'Discord Drama', which may occasionally affect quests OOC. These are especially important if you don't have a stable schedule because otherwise, you just rely on people finding the quest on the catalog.

Lastly, while low player counts are fine, you shouldn't neglect shilling your quest occasionally. In spite of a couple bad eggs in /qtg/, it's still the central place for people to gather.

Thanks for running this quest. I enjoyed this a lot, and would definitely have liked to see this end on a less abrupt note, but shit happens.