What have you done, Valen?

Priat was probably worried about Mim. He'd made you promise to try and be friends with her after he left... But it was harder than you thought. Everything was always harder than you'd thought. You were trying, though. You sent her back. She was safe.

Irue! What have you done!?

You'd have to apologize when you woke up. It wouldn't be long and you'd be back, just like you promised. Just wait a little while. A couple hours. Days. Weeks? Just wait, Mim...

Precious child, what have you done?

Your consciousness drifted further from the surface under the gentle cradle of leaves and creaking bows. A song which soothed your childhood through open windows, lulling you from your days and nights into nothing. That's right... You were safe. You were safe in these woods. You'd always been safe here, tucked away from the world. You could read until the leaves weighed heavy against your eyes, and rest in the shade among the roots and soft grass blankets. Words lost in the forest pried against your ears, but Asche was near. She would handle it.

What have you done, Irue?!

Caylen wouldn't forgive you once he found out what you did. The lengths you were willing to go to get rid of these people. The path you'd chosen. In the back of your mind you'd wanted to save your cousin before it was too late. To extricate him from the harpy that had attached herself to his arm. To remind him that he'd been your friend since you were born... That he was the only thing you still had from back then that was yours, and not cast off your sister or inherited otherwise. You wanted to do that, but the time never seemed right. The words were hard to say. The feelings even harder to understand. If you dreamed long enough, maybe you could forget it all. Forget that there was nothing to save in the first place. That you'd both walked too far from each other to reach anymore.

Stupid, stupid child... What have you done?

You felt yourself submerge beneath the viscous black, sinking from the surface as consciousness fled and left you cuddled weakly in warmth which bade you sleep. Sleep. Sleep on. You would apologize when you woke up. She'd forgive you... She might have expected something like this, anyway.

This pitiful thing is Irue Valen. Heir to House Valen, for all that mattered. This was the second time you'd awoken to find them in critical condition, but this time it seemed they lacked even the where-withal to give you attitude as they had before. Their body was broken, their psyche... Hadn't been whole even before their latest debacle. Voices echoed tirelessly in this empty place; A palace of ghosts, jealously guarded by an broken little thing which pretended to find purpose in its selfishness. But not right now. Right now it was busy evicting something else. And you... You shouldn't be awake. Not unless it was serious.

Perhaps you shouldn't give the silly little thing too much trouble. If it was broken, then you would be incomplete at best. That certainly made no sense, there was no way you would have left yourself incomplete, yet - Here you are! Struggling to claw yourself awake only in these fleeting moments of emergency.

For the moment you had the run of the place, as Irue Valen certainly wasn't in any shape to say otherwise. The half dissolved manifestation was content to curl into itself, fading in and out of its own shell as an ugly pulsing scar cast its shadow across their hole riddled form.

Unsightly, and the form that shadow took raised a number of other questions you weren't sure you wanted answers to... Oh but you so, morbidly, craved the answers to.

Unfortunately that would have to wait, as the amount of repairs this body needed was-

Wait.

This wasn't Irue's body.

Irue shouldn't even be alive like this.

"Hey!" You turn back towards the broken tool, a burning suspicion settling in. You don't know what's happening, but there was exactly one thing keeping that stupid, stupid child alive right now and- "Hey, you're going to ruin everything, let it in!"

'Our precious child!'
'What have they done!?'
'You can't keep them from us!'
'We can't lose them!'
'Please! Please, listen! This place isn't for them!'

Yet even as the forest cried, its influence could only so much as stain the entry. A basin of essence which begged to overflow but found no purchase, no mercy nor understanding, from the stalwart tool that turned aside its pleading arms.

"No." The tool replied simply, rebuffing the essence with the physical force of its single syllable response even as it cast a disparaging glance towards you.

"What do you mean 'no', you broken thing?" You coo back acidly, "You're in no state to negotiate. We are in no state to negotiate. If that doesn't get to work, Irue won't survive this!"

"Yes."

"And you choose now to be stubborn?"

"If I let it in, the corruption will spread." The tool defended weakly. "It can not enter."

"If you don't then there won't be anything left to enter!"

"..." The tool ignored you, turning its attention back to rebuff the sneakily prowling tendrils from finding entry. Furious, desperate shrieks followed predictably, finding similarly little purchase of pity in the single minded sentinel which stood in its way.

"...Fine." You sniff, "Then I'll kill Irue myself."

The tool tensed. Without deigning to so much as look back, their silent rejection was absolute. "You will not."

"Try me." One hand came to your hip, smirking at the broken thing's back.

"You can not." Its tone changed, certainty wavering as its awareness cut towards you reproachfully.

You had seen worse. Felt worse. Bargained with more remorseless. "Can you stop me from trying and keep that Mana out at the same time?"

"..." It frowned as you made towards Irue's dormant existence, expression darkening as the scowl set upon its face deepened with every step you took. "Stop."

"Let it in."

"I-"

You laid a hand across the crown of the sleeping blonde's head, stroking the absurdly long hair once in appreciation. It had grown out so long... If they'd just braid it. Surely there was someone around to do that?

"Too late." You announce, letting your hands close around Irue's throat, ignoring the tool's pained plea for mercy. "I'm not leaving my child in a coma."

"̷̨́͢W̶͟͝͠ḩ̢á̶̵̡͘t̸͠͠ ̕ḱ̡i̶͢n̕͞d́͝͠ ̶̴̀͞͝o͢f̵̵ ̷̴̢̛í̛̀d͞͡͡͡i͘͢͟͡ó̡̨́͝t̨̛̕͟ ͢͡t̷̵̶͜͠a̵̷̕͢k̷͠͡͞e̷͠ś̷͢ ̧̀̀a̵̵͠ ̨̛̀͠ǹ̸̷̨͡a̡p̶̨ ͟͢͞w̸̢̡͜h̵͠e̛͘͜n͢͡͡ ̶̨Į͝ ͢͝h̸̢͢ą̷́͜v̸͜e̛͡͠͞ņ̛͝'̛̀t̸́̕͝ ̴́́͢͡ę͝v͘̕͠e̸͟͠n̶ ̀͘͝s̛͘͟ę̷è̷̢ǹ̀̕͢ ̵̢̡̕t̴͡h̴̡͠ȩ̀m̷̸̧͢͞ ̷͘͞f̵̨͜͞o̶̵̴ŗ̵̴̀ ̛̀t́h̡r̀͟͝é̢̛́͞é̶ ̡͡m̵̷̛͟ó̸̧͞ń̵̢́͢t̡h̵͢͡s̶̵?̵̸̵͢"̶̢̧ ̴́̕͜He̸̡̨ŗ̡͝ ̧͡a̸̡͟r̴̀́m̶̧̨͝s̡ ̶̸͜͡͡c̷̷̢͟r͟ò̵̢͢͝s̀͢s̕ ̢̕͜͝ì̧͜͠͡n͜͢͡ ̷͠͝v̸̢͝͞ę̛́͟͝x̨͟a̡t̸͘͠ì̛̕͠ó̡͟ņ̛,̷ ͢͞"̧͘͢I̸͝ ̴͡͝t̸̡̛͢͡h̵̨́͠o͢͠ù̡̢́͝g̷̛͞h̵͘͞͡t̶͟͞͡ ̴͘͠͞y̴̛͢͡o͟u͘͡͡'̧̨̨̢d̷͞͠ ̶̢́͠d̢̛i̴͟͠͞e̡͠d̵̴̛͠.̢̀͟͠"̶͜

"I've been around. Mostly kept myself busy dealing with local problems. Rinnier said it might make it a bit easier on me if we secured Carona." you scratched your cheek awkwardly, trailing off you spoke. "Anyway, I've... I-" Something was wrong. Who were you?

"̧̀͜͞.́́͜.̡.͝H̶ǫ͜l̶̸̢̨̛d̵̢͟͞ ̸̴̨͡o̧̕͠ņ̴͜͢.̢̀͜"̧͢ ̸̡́͝S̵̨̀h̸͢e̢̡ ̡͜ļ̴̛̕į͜͟c̷͠͡k͢͠e̴̢d̸̨͢ ̡̧͢͡h̕͟͞e̛͟͡r̷̡̢̨͢ ̧̡́͟͝l̢̨͠í̷͘͟p̡̛͟s̴ ̷̵̛͡͡ą̸̶̨͢ń̷x̶̨̛͟͡ì̷̵͞o̶̷̧͜u̶̸̢s̛͘͢͝l̸̢̧̨̨y̴̵̢ ̶̨͡ą̵͡͞s̶̨͠ ͜y̷̧o͘͟͠ư͘͜ ́t̨̀͜úr̸̵̀͜͡ń̸̛͝e̢d͘ ̷̴̨̛a̕͘w̡̛͢͡á̀y͘͠.̡̀͝͠ ̶̡̀"́͘Ẃ̴̕͝h̵̵̕e͘͜n̷̵̷̕ ̢̧͟a̡͠r̶̨͜e̸̕̕͟͝ ́y̨͘͠ou̴͟ ̛͘͡c͘͜ǫ̛́̀m̡̨̀͠ì̧̕͟ǹģ̀͠ ̶̢b́͟a̢͘c͟͞k̸͠?̡̕"̧͢

"Back?" You blink in confusion, "Back where?" Where were you?

"̀͝H̵̷͘͟é̢̧͘r͝e͜͡,̧̀͝͠ ̡̛͟͜͝ý̷̡͡o̴u̶̕ ̸̢í̵̸̡͘d̶̷͘i̧̕͠͡o͠͞t͝.̨̢ ̶̴̷B̴̢a̧ck̀́͟ ̢͘͜͝t̶̵̛͟͞o̢͘-̢̀́͜"̨̨͝
Y̷̴̛͠ơ̸͠u ̧̛͘i̢̕͝͝d̴̀͢͝i̢̢o̷̷̢̨͠t̴-̴̶̢̡
̵̢L̵͟i͢͢f̸́è́͞
W̸̧͡͞á̶̵̢ḱ͞͠e̴̢͠
̢́E̛a͝͠s̢̢t̛̀͟
̵̧Í̶̧̡͟d̸́i̧̛͜o̸̕t̵̨̡̕
̴̀͘͢M̸̡̀e̡͟͠͝
̷̸̨H͞é̴̸̀r͞͡͞e̷̵͢͠
̶̀͟Ù̴́͘p͢͜͟
͝B̷̷̢́͞a̶̢͜͡c̶͝k̷͝

"I-I..."

G͘͟E̷̡̨T͢ ͞Y̸͜Ớ̛͘͜U̴̶͝R̡͘͝͠͡ ̀A͢S̶͡Ś̷ ̸̧͠B̸A̢̛͜Ć̴K̶̶ ̧U̸̷P̶̴͘͠

Your eyes snapped open, willing your ruptured lungs to heave the full contents of their blood flooded hollows to slosh nauseatingly in your chest. In the broken, miserable chest of the Paladin whose body you still wore even as the roots and vines of Dryad cradled you under the Mana's firefly gaze.

'Dear child,'
'You came back!'
'You cling to life by threads.'
'We cannot heal you.'
'You worried us.'

You heave helplessly for breath, unable to convince the ruined tatters of your lungs to do their job any longer. This body was far past its limits. Nothing should survive this. You needed... You needed to change. The Diary- Where?

Panic was setting in. You were alive but you couldn't breathe. Your veins weren't pulsing. Your body was cold. For every given sign you were dead but life persisted unreasonably. Your body was dead, you were alive, you couldn't-

The Ice Queen's Relic cracked open as you lay your face haggardly against its pages, unable to cry, unable to expel the bile and vomit from your pulverized stomache. You had to... You were... Irue Valen.

And with that breath, everything was right in this world again. A veil of blonde hair cascaded from your side, intertwined with the possessively growing ivy as your sharp crimson eyes grew hot. Tears blurred your vision, too many to stop, too many to control, and you curled into yourself and screamed wordlessly as panic closed in around you with every desperately fired urge to breathe, for your heart to beat, for your veins to pulse.

You cried. You screamed. Your hands dug at the ground, clutching desperately for something, anything, to hold onto as you rode through the emotions torrentially breaking your composure. Dryad's leafy embrace was only too happy to hold you, until even this uninjured body - Your own body, who you should have been - was too physically exhausted from the ordeal to do more than quiver with spine wracking sniffles and hiccups. Unable to contain the low and plaintive moan that hummed in your throat and bubbled past your trembling lips everytime your jaw drifted apart.

You were alive. You were alive. You were...

You are Irue Valen.

>?

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

Where things are said: https://twitter.com/Riz_QM
Where things are asked: http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Irue Things (up to 74) - https://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
A List of Forgotten Things (up to 74) - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h
Irue's Memoirs (Scares the QM to update) - http://pastebin.com/sWnicrK7

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT
In Your Shadow - http://pastebin.com/EfeeHFAE
Friends Forever - http://pastebin.com/Yn0QaTVB
The Woman Beneath Steel - http://pastebin.com/pMGgiHC3
Paper Flowers - https://pastebin.com/Pk0W7rEm
Merciless Compass - https://pastebin.com/8Hy0krxv

Misc notes:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRDeB9UGCjE


Memo:
1. Ask Asche what she wants, some time
2. Return and investigate the Dryad Shrine
3. Bring Miska and the other "People skilled with arms, with a taste for conflict" with us to the main house.

>>3803380
>"̷̨́͢W̶͟͝͠ḩ̢á̶̵̡͘t̸͠͠ ̕ḱ̡i̶͢n̕͞d́͝͠ ̶̴̀͞͝o͢f̵̵ ̷̴̢̛í̛̀d͞͡͡͡i͘͢͟͡ó̡̨́͝t̨̛̕͟ ͢͡t̷̵̶͜͠a̵̷̕͢k̷͠͡͞e̷͠ś̷͢ ̧̀̀a̵̵͠ ̨̛̀͠ǹ̸̷̨͡a̡p̶̨ ͟͢͞w̸̢̡͜h̵͠e̛͘͜n͢͡͡ ̶̨Į͝ ͢͝h̸̢͢ą̷́͜v̸͜e̛͡͠͞ņ̛͝'̛̀t̸́̕͝ ̴́́͢͡ę͝v͘̕͠e̸͟͠n̶ ̀͘͝s̛͘͟ę̷è̷̢ǹ̀̕͢ ̵̢̡̕t̴͡h̴̡͠ȩ̀m̷̸̧͢͞ ̷͘͞f̵̨͜͞o̶̵̴ŗ̵̴̀ ̛̀t́h̡r̀͟͝é̢̛́͞é̶ ̡͡m̵̷̛͟ó̸̧͞ń̵̢́͢t̡h̵͢͡s̶̵?̵̸̵͢"̶̢̧ ̴́̕͜He̸̡̨ŗ̡͝ ̧͡a̸̡͟r̴̀́m̶̧̨͝s̡ ̶̸͜͡͡c̷̷̢͟r͟ò̵̢͢͝s̀͢s̕ ̢̕͜͝ì̧͜͠͡n͜͢͡ ̷͠͝v̸̢͝͞ę̛́͟͝x̨͟a̡t̸͘͠ì̛̕͠ó̡͟ņ̛,̷ ͢͞"̧͘͢I̸͝ ̴͡͝t̸̡̛͢͡h̵̨́͠o͢͠ù̡̢́͝g̷̛͞h̵͘͞͡t̶͟͞͡ ̴͘͠͞y̴̛͢͡o͟u͘͡͡'̧̨̨̢d̷͞͠ ̶̢́͠d̢̛i̴͟͠͞e̡͠d̵̴̛͠.̢̀͟͠"̶͜
wat

>>3803381
We need to focus

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170 KB JPG

>>3803381
I dunno Riz.
>Smile!

>>3803381
>Get our shit together and get up
>First order of business is to find out what happened to the paladin and eliminate him if needed.

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>>3803381

You came back! Twice this century even, good for you!

Also, someone decided to fill out poor Rinner's beard.

Well, that was an opening. Irue's head is even more crowded that I thought. I count 4 conversationalists. One is Dryad. The "tool" is Asche? Whoever they are, good on them for keeping us from being corrupted, though Rue will be unaware it didn't take. Another is our mother, maybe?

I'm surprised "Dullem" didn't mention us destroying the fist camp via Nightgaunts, or destroying the second with OakenRue.
Speaking of, all the extraordinary wildlife that was quieted with Dryad's sleep will be back in force.

>This was the second time you'd awoken to find them in critical condition
I don't recall a fist time. Maybe during the Oakenbear fight?

>Surely there was someone around to do that?
Rue would never do that to her precious hair. Is that a hint of some kind?

>"̀͝H̵̷͘͟é̢̧͘r͝e͜͡,̧̀͝͠ ̡̛͟͜͝ý̷̡͡o̴u̶̕ ̸̢í̵̸̡͘d̶̷͘i̧̕͠͡o͠͞t͝.̨̢ ̶̴̷B̴̢a̧ck̀́͟ ̢͘͜͝t̶̵̛͟͞o̢͘-̢̀́͜"̨̨͝
>Y̷̴̛͠ơ̸͠u ̧̛͘i̢̕͝͝d̴̀͢͝i̢̢o̷̷̢̨͠t̴-̴̶̢̡
>̵̢L̵͟i͢͢f̸́è́͞
>W̸̧͡͞á̶̵̢ḱ͞͠e̴̢͠
>̢́E̛a͝͠s̢̢t̛̀͟
>̵̧Í̶̧̡͟d̸́i̧̛͜o̸̕t̵̨̡̕
>̴̀͘͢M̸̡̀e̡͟͠͝
>̷̸̨H͞é̴̸̀r͞͡͞e̷̵͢͠
>̶̀͟Ù̴́͘p͢͜͟
>͝B̷̷̢́͞a̶̢͜͡c̶͝k̷͝
One of these words is not like the others...


>You were alive but you couldn't breathe. Your veins weren't pulsing. Your body was cold. For every given sign you were dead but life persisted unreasonably. Your body was dead, you were alive, you couldn't-
I wonder if spending time in undeath contributed to our Foundation

>?
>>3804146
This. We got work to do, and the fist step is to make sure the guy that almost crushed our skull isn't in a position to try again. Next step will be to figure out what happened to the rest of the paladin's group.

>>3803381
>Get up and fucking merc that Paladin.

Guys i think we've got an opportunity to use the diary again before we resume hostilities- dude KILLED us, no way we can let this go.

I thought about taking on Karas identity, but that may not be enough. We can't take someone's magical affinity but what about Asche, she's crazy strong and is naturally able to fuck up apparitions with her bear hands. We might copy that ability since i don't think it's born from affinity.

>>3803381
Wait can Irue hear Dryad now?
>Converse with Dryad

>>3804558
Dryad killed the wisp adept, we don't need to fight him.Also Asche is physically very weak and does not suppress affinity by punching things.

>>3804575
>Dryad killed the wisp adept
Likely, yes. But we need to make sure. Last thing we need is him popping up again.

And speaking of the bracelet- we can phone any mana, but if they don't pick up the artifact rips a piece of our soul to echo our desire.

How the hell do we make sure the mana will answer? Mint managed to do it, so we should too.

and huh, apparently the Irue is the Doll theory got some unexpected support here. The choice of words of suspect. Thing, repairs? Yet another intervention by mother. Calling Asche the tool, though... Suppose it can still swing either way. Or its both because why not [/]

>>3804592
This is fine, I just don't want to transform recklessly when we can't die here anyway.

>>3804575
She didn't even get bruised when Rinnier beat her up with a spear (or staff, whatever) and she manhandled shadowrue like she was made of paper, with one hand

>>3804602
She tanked Rinnier's attack and then fell on the ground like a dead fish, only getting back up when she was finished knitting herself back together, the demihuman was also able to easily throw her around too before she fucked with his shade scar.

She appears to have a powerful ability relating to mana and a strange hardiness but she's always been portrayed as physically very weak.

>>3804593
>How the hell do we make sure the mana will answer? Mint managed to do it, so we should too.
That would require understanding the workings of their minds, which Riz has told us repeatedly are vast, unknowably alien things.
Mint managed some, but not all according to the legends, and legends tend to grow in the telling. Who knows how much control she actually had?

Personally, I'm fine with continuing to "misuse" the bracelet. Without a certainly of an answer, it's a roll of the dice every time anyway. Actually, unless intent is a part of the process, we've only contacted one of the Mana once: Luna, and it stole our memories for the trouble.

>>3804596
I doubt Rue will be in the right headspace to use the dairy again for a while anyway, seeing as we're in the middle of a panic attack due to dying in someone else's body.

>>3803373
. . . Lools like I missed a thread.

Also.

What.

>>3804558
Fuck the diary.

Use the bracelet.

I mean, sure it could kill us BUT LOOKS LIKE THAT HAPPENS ANYWAYS so I mean really fuck it.

Fucking hell.

Everyone is so worried about the cost, like there's going to be anything left of Irue afterwards anyways. Like power ever came for *free*.

Summon a wisp. Heal ourselves.

Resolve to pay whatever cost necessary to achieve our goals. Everyone, everyTHING dies.

The question is what, and who, we leave behind.

How valuable, really, is our humanity compared to our obligations?

We drove Asche away already. Now we can burn ourselves on a pyre to light the darkness. Nobelesse oblige and all that.

Let's take the kid gloves off.

Go grab that ancient Shade apparition. Put a Dryad golem core into the Not!Tarrasque under Carona. Go talk to our Aunt and drag out what she knows and get her to help us find those fucking tamers.

Or die, our obligations unfulfilled and our ambitions toothless having only brought failure and pain to this world.

Time to shit, or get off the pot.

>>3805060
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3736972/
Things went very wrong very fast at the end of the last thread, and we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. We made our choice, but we'll pay for it in time.

>>3803406
>>3804146
>>3804266
Focus!

>>3803496
Smile brokenly...?

>>3804146
>>3804266
>>3804558
Where's that paladin?

>>3804575
babble to Dryad!
Dryad's whispers aren't a new thing, you've heard them since before entering its Atelier.

I'll call the vote here!

---
>>3804266
>Century
You're going to run out of units of measurement! Stop that!

>Beard
I hate that I am going to save this too, but my biggest complaint is that the beard isn't as shiny as the rest of the hair. Rinnier maintains a well groomed appearance whenever possible! No scruffies!

>>3805060
Welcome back!

>>3805074
>>3805074
I'm just saying, let's go full evil overlord on our enemies.

Once we grab that Shade apparition, we can jack into it like we did the Dryad as opposed to have an aborted one torn from our soul. Then we can hopefully use that to push some fucking shit out of our Aunt instead of playing stupid fucking inheritance games with her.

We need to bring up the whole "end of the world" issue and get her to drop her fucking bullshit. She's probably lost a son already, she shouldn't throw away any chance of getting him back.

>>3805098
Things that have worked

> irrational violence
> Wildly overestimating ourselves
> Disregarding the cost of our soul
> Not looking before leaping
> Forcing people to go along with us.
> The power of friendship

Things that haven't worked
>Caution
> Planning
> Being reasonable with people
> Allowing our enemies to live
> Not using the bracelet

Clearly sheer recklessness is the answer.

Even down to calling for Dryad last thread.

>>3805073
As it stands, we have already shirked our obligations by harboring a known infected. We cannot profess to be looking out for the wellbeing of our realm while allowing plague bearers to freely roam the streets. This war we're frantically scrabbling to get ready for will not be over until no infected stand.

Speaking of, a long term line item is to look at reinforcing Dryad's prison. As we understand, in its now awakened state it will be "banging on the walls", which can only stand so much abuse.

>>3805131
We judged the realm and found its compromise *wanting*.

And in turn, we've seen that trying to compromise the cost to ourself to be equally wanting.

We want it all? Then we have to give it our all.

>>3805137
On the contrary, it was us that compromised, and will be found wanting eventually. There is no cure for corruption; the last group to try succumbed themselves. The day will come when she will have to be killed. All we did was delay it a little because we were to weak to do it ourselves.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

Pay no attention to the rolled dice, it is irrelevant and will not concern you.

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>>3805180

>>3805073
>>3805107
If you can come up with a way to create and control more oakenrues and have a feasible plan to mindjack the behemoth i will support it. We are out of workable resources that can stand against our enemies.

>>3805116
I'm all for reckless abandon up to a point, let's see just how much we can fuck Artemis up without kickstarting the doomsday clock. Let's begin with no survivors and go from there

More than the panic which strangled you, there was fear; Crystal clear and razor sharp. It was enough to shear through your anxiety and clutch the Diary of Reflections to your chest as you strained against the coiling ivy snare. The Wisp Adept, where was he? You'd underestimated him for a moment and nearly lost your life for it.... You did lose your life for it. That man fucking killed you!

But you were alive now. You weren't dead, you still had the Diary of Reflections, you could still do... Something. You had no idea what, calling Dryad had been your only recourse, but if he was still here somewhere, if you showed your back and lost your life again...

For now you had to focus. Cornered and desperate, you looked through the forest for some sign, some hint of his where abouts. Kara wasn't here to save you this time, your doppleganger wasn't here to support you, you needed to- To calm down. To focus. To find- Find him?

'Shhh, dear child.'
'You are safe.'
'Nothing shall harm you here.'
'Under our bows.'
'We will not lose again.'

"Where is he?" You ignore Dryad's whispers, shifting wild-eyed on your knees while struggling to extricate yourself from the ivy's creeping embrace. "The paladin, the wisp adept- Where?!"

'That child is fled.'
'Stricken and ailing.'
'Yet lives.'
'Out of our reach...'
'Our lessers hunt them.'

Gone... He was gone. You don't know whether to relax or scream, and the indecision which warred between the two left you collapsed onto your calves and smiling manically. Something felt broken inside, rattling around behind your empty grin and choking giggles. "Gone. He's still out there. Heh. Hehee, gone." It hurt to swallow these feelings, craning your neck around to take a second, more thorough look around you. Amber fireflies nestled through the ivy vines around you, crawling along your sleeves and through your hair, coating the trunks of trees with even yet a handful of them hovering around you. They were fireflies in name only, bearing no resemblance to the summer evening insect in reality - No more than the luminescent glow of amber which they gave off.

In reality that amber is all they were; Dryad's own blood, the manifestation of a Simulacra Fragment from which the sleeping Mana's restless mind peered into its cage. This was the much vaunted fae which gave the forest its name, and which many believed your family had some secret connection to - A belief that was ultimately correct, even if the truth of the matter was far more complicated. Its presence here was as reassuringly soothing to your frantic nerves as it was a sickening realization of what you'd done.

"You're... Awake." Your head hangs, hollow smile afixed ever stronger as disassociation worked its magic and left you moving almost from without.

'Fret not, precious child,'
'Sleep is fleeting.'
'We would have awoken in time regardless.'
'Vengeance will be met.'
'You are safe now.'

Dammit. Everything you'd done in the Atelier... Just like that. Just to save your own life. "Please... Go back to sleep." A small voice, so pitiful that you almost didn't recognize it as your own.

'Our children...'
'It is a pleasant lie to dream of them.'
'We know they are lost.'
'Cried to us for help.'
'Are dead.'

A leaf of ivy brushed tenderly across your cheek. A featherlight kiss of the forest's will as it cooed blackness into your ear through creaking bows, a legion of voices which spoke with saccharine love and led your gaze with gentle gestures...

'We have grown.'
'No longer naive.'
'They will know loss.'
'We will rip from them everything they took from us.'
'Today was the beginning.'

...To the sea of corpses which occupied the forest further in. Fallen and scattered like autumn leaves, without so much of a sign of violence afflicted to their flesh. They fell where they stood, laying atop the earth as markers to their own graves. You recognized them, and found confirmation that your journey to this place had borne fruit to be of little comfort.

'Our love...'
'The gift of Life.'
'We have retracted it.'
'They do not deserve us.'
'Not after what they've done.'

Staring out across the motionless assembly of mercenaries and refugees, the smile afixed nervously to your face only quivered. This was what you wanted. This was what you brought them here for. You did it. Dryad's amber fireflies crawled across their clothes languidly, the forerunners to mother nature's reclamation as roots shifted beneath the earth and groggily rose to reach out towards one another; The beginning of a woven idol which nurtured itself on the offering before it.

Its tender claws wrapped around the pantsleg of the nearest body, pulling it back into its malformed maw and almost seemed to suckle upon its torso; Twisting and turning the mercenary bonelessly over as its probing root like tendrils thickened and hardened into bark-like teeth to pierce the armor and flesh. Flesh pulled taught and tore with wet, snapping pops with every limb twisted free and swallowed into the ever dirtying and eyeless face of this hulking beast, glowing warmly in the night by virtue of amber veins.

'We will find the one who hurt you.'
'Take back his torn, ruined gift.'
'Nourish our heart on his body.'
'He will never be welcome in our arms.'
'In time.'

>>3805286
>'That child is fled.'
Dammit. That was supposed to be one of the only positives to this.
>and swallowed into the ever dirtying and eyeless face of this hulking beast
>'We will find the one who hurt you.'
>'Take back his torn, ruined gift.'
Even worse. The Oakenbears were explainable as a force of nature. Oakenrue is only known to few. But whatever this is will not be ignorable if it chases him back to civilization.

>'We will rip from them everything they took from us.'
Looks like the time for hiding is over then. Dryad will want the entire Shrine dead, they all participated. But 7 vs 1 is poor odds. I wonder if it has the sense to realize that.
Will Artemis fight with Dryad or against it, I wonder? They have both been corrupted.


Next time, for the love of God, don't go on a raid/assassination when you're a non-combatant.

The partially formed Oakenbear raised its snout to consider you, only briefly, before turning its attention back towards the field sewn with sacrificial seeds. Another body joined the first in its ribmesh stomach, still yet unformed and hardened over with protective bark as muscles and have chewed skin oozed sickly copper stench and thick strings to trail along the ground. It wasn't, you realized with a single, trembling smile, the only one of its kind being born.

Dryad caressed you in its vines, reminding you uncomfortably of the days you'd woken in Eleanore's room smothered beneath the Mana's love-laden embrace.

>?

I thought this posted so I tabbed out and would have remained tabbed out an embarrassingly long time.

>>3805313
>The partially formed Oakenbear
That's better, I think. At least it's not some new horror.

>you realized with a single, trembling smile
You know, we know of something else of Dryad's domain that loves to smile...

>?
We need to calm down. We're this close to snapping entirely. If we can manage it, flee back across the river, get clear of Dryad's smothering embrace and relax. Contemplation of what we've done can wait until we can think through it properly.
If we can't, just close our eyes so we can't see what we have wrought, and relax until we get a few steps back from the edge. Don't sleep if we can help it. We have no chance of catching the paladin, but we need to confirm Marcovich's fate.

>>3805290
>'Vengeance will be met.'
>'You are safe now.'
>Dammit. Everything you'd done in the Atelier... Just like that. Just to save your own life. "Please... Go back to sleep." A small voice, so pitiful that you almost didn't recognize it as your own.
I have a terrible, terrible idea. If we can get clear of its domain and immortality aura, we have only one item we could bargain with: ourselves. We could attempt to blackmail Dryad into going back to sleep, on pain of leaving it by itself, or returning its gift of Life.

>>3805313
I have to support >>3805325, because otherwise my only idea is to kill Ari and then ourselves to eliminate the corruption and hope Dryad goes back to sleep.

>>3805311
Every time we swear to do better, to be smarter and every time we end up doing something idiotic. At least we sent Mim away, now she'll live another two days

>>3805313
>Round up the oakenbears with the bracelet.
Well at least we have more apparitions now. Thanks Dryad!
>Ask Dryad about Marchovic and Raid, did they live?
>Ask Dryad what Asche is
>Ask Dryad if Irue is human
>Ask Dryad why we've never been able to manifest it's love
>Ask how long we've been here

>>3805339
I don't know if you've ever slept before but it's not something you can be blackmailed into.

>>3805313
>Leave the domain
>Find Markovich
>Pretend to Raid that his double cross was part of the plan

>Stop plotting and realize that we are a monster and everyone will hate us forever except for the genocidal God of love and life.

Lol

>>3805313
Oh and try to control the oakenbears. I'm sure dryad will lend them to us for protection

>>3805410
Oh yeah and
>Thank Dryad for saving us
Does anyone have any more questions to bully Riz with? We don't get this opportunity too often so we may as well make the best of it.

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>>3805418

>>3805325
Supporting this.

>>3805311
You know a few threads back I wanted to ask: why not just go and acquire a squadron of knights for this task? Never did though. Maybe I should have

>>3805455
Our "knights" are also noncombatants

>>3805479
I wasn't talking about "our" knights.

I don't think I ever really clarified this, but most of you probably notice that Dryad speaks almost exclusively in five lines and typically gets referred to as being comparable to legion, or a murmuring flood of whispers.

The first line of Dryad's speech is the beginning of its communication, but it's also the first "half" of Dryad's full thought. The following four lines are to be read as simultaneous conclusions to that first half, each of which being equally as genuine and intended as the others. You can imagine it as the voice of the first line proceeding to, mid statement, warp into four of the exact same voices overlapping entirely different words at once.

Trivia!

>>3805496
Never thought about it this way, very interesting

>>3805455
From where? Far as we know, they went with Caylen and the rest with Clara.

Besides, everyone is dead set against trying to get outside help even if it's warranted. Every idea to ask or call for help is shut down by paranoia or simple inaction. When we do get help, it's almost always from the wrong people for the worst reasons.

>>3805418
Yeah a thank you is in order.

>>3805313
Thank dryad.

If the fragment awoke in response to Irue, do you think we can direct their efforts? It would be nice if it didn't indiscriminately killed everyone and instead could be made to work for our interests.

>>3805516
>If the fragment awoke in response to Irue, do you think we can direct their efforts?
The Simulacra Fragment can't leave the fae forest/Imprisoned Child's Atelier. Its concentration of Dryad's awareness is too high to slip through Artemis' bindings, and this adequately saves everyone in the surrounding area from it merrily revoking their right to live.

However if your requests don't necessitate it leaving its boundaries, then Dryad is liable to at the very least consider it.

>>3805521
But it can send out its apparitions outside of its area of influence? The oakenbears around carona for example. So it can spawn them but after that they become autonomous, or act according to a directive? I assume the fragment has little to no control over the apparitions once they leave the atelier. Can it assume control if they return to the sphere of influence?

>>3805629
Apparitions can occasionally slip free, yes! You've seen this in action before around the first time you entered the faeforest when you were forced to retreat and watch countless oakenrues attempt to crawl after you begging you to return as they died reaching desperately towards you.

You learned that Artemis uses this Atelier to bind its sleeping occupant's influence, though it isn't a perfect thing. It can't be a perfect thing or life itself would cease beyond its confines, so it functions as something of a filter to catch as much of Dryad as possible. The smaller, less dangerous apparitions are still capable of wandering beyond it to an extent. They are typically autonomous as all apparitions are when left to their own devices, but the nature of their birth influences their interests. Point in case, Oakenbears are born primarily from a desire for vengeance, or to punish, so they naturally derive most of their joy and interests from wandering around seeking out humans to murder and eat. Or already dead humans to reclaim. The act itself is cathartic, and very briefly soothes an on going seething anger that they by all likelihood feel since birth. Oakenrues on the other hand... Well, Irue's best guess is that you are their interest.

You've also seen the answer to the last question! The Simulacra Fragment, when you first met it, assumed control of the Oakenrue you had made friends with to guide you here. It was an unsettling experience wherein you felt the apparition's fledgeling, childlike mind numb and dissolve away as it tried to seek comfort from you in its final moments before you guys decided to cut the link for your own safety and leave it to sublimate back into the greater Dryad essence alone. From that point on, the Simulacra Fragment acted through the apparitions body to interact and speak with you!

>>3806359
Does that they'll start eating people if we leave them unsupervised? If we command them not to eat people that haven't attacked us will they ignore us?

>>3806359
>learned that Artemis uses this Atelier to bind its sleeping occupant's influence
>Artemis
Wasn't it Luna? iirc, Artemis had only just been established when Dryad was locked up. And as a fellow infected group, they should be "rescuers", not wardens.

Regarding the appiriations, before we go maybe we should just ask for control of them, or we could ask for another OakenRue.

>>3806379
>spoiler
I'm on board for that, after we get ourselves mentally stable. Rue's not exactly in a long-term planning mindset right now. It shouldn't hurt to ask, at least. Right?

>>3806379
We don't actually know for a fact that Artemis is infected, we just kind of collectively assumed that after learning they had not safety protocol to prevent additional contamination.

As for their motives if they were infected, who can say? We don't have nearly enough information on corruption to start guessing at how it changes your motivations

>Seconding asking for another oakenrue
>Maybe we could just command the bears to die and use the bracelet to revive them in our own image?

>>3806379
it was Luna at the time technically, yes! Technically speaking Artemis only strictly refers to the division entrusted with the dead zone fragments. They've become much more than that since, but you are correct.

>>3806375
>Does that mean they'll start eating people if we leave them unsupervised?
Oakenbears? Yes, absolutely. Sometimes even when they are supervised. They are very angry things.
>If we command them not to eat people that haven't attacked us will they ignore us?
That's something you'd need to try before I can answer. Oakenbears are predisposed to hate more or less everything unconditionally. I won't say that it is an impossible thing, but apparitions are ultimately children and can grow frustrated just as easily - I wouldn't expect asking it to curb its nature would be an effective long term solution.

I hope bad things don't happen to Carona

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>>3806404
Reverse psychology...?

>>3806393
>after learning they had not safety protocol to prevent additional contamination.
well that, and their shunning/disassociation by the Shrine as a whole. We've yet to uncover any other reason for the split afaik.

>>3806453
Maybe, but it would also mean more of a mess for us to clean up. The place is a wreck already, and resources are stretched thin as it is.

>>3805325
>>3805455
>>3805392
>>3805412
Keep calm and evacuate the premises. Where's Marchovic?

>>3805339
Escape and hold ourselves suicide hostage to blackmail a Mana back to sleep!

>>3805410
Assorted questions for Dryad!

>>3805410
>>3805414
Hijack Oakenbears!

>>3805418
>>3805516
Thank Dryad!

Alright, here we go! Our course of action seems pretty clear.

>>3807008
there's also these, though I dunno if that's enough votes to do anything with.
>>3806379
>>3806384
>>3806393

>>3807019
Knew I was missing something. I had the votes all tallied and hit backspace, which sent me like 3 pages back in firefox history, so after retallying the votes it felt like I didn't have as many as before.

That's 5 total votes for trying to hijack an oakenbear!

>>3807022
>hijack an oakenbear!
Or asking for another OakenRue, whatever seems more reasonable.

>>3805258
>and have a feasible plan to mindjack the behemoth

Now that Dryad is awake, there are some options. Riz said there was a possibility of using the Oakenrue core to meld with the Behemoth once it didn't need it after ascending to whatever is past an apparition which I forget the term for.

Now that we can make more Dryad cores, we won't have to wait for that, we can ask Dryad to spawn a core and slam it into the Behemoth while it's asleep and make us it's mommy. Sort of like how our Shadowrue subsumed us.

Also, we should remind Dryad that Mana has helped us in the past, including Shade (Shadowrue I miss you).

We just have to think of all the things in the world it would hurt us to lose to chill Dryad out a little.

>>3807008
I would like to add a vote for bracelet jacking a Oakenbear and getting another Oakenrue to put in the Behemoth.

Dryad controls animals, after all.

We should jack the Oakenrue first though so Dryad doesn't have direct control. Remember how Oakenrue one protected Ari?

>>3807100
Yeah it might be an idea to keep up regular contact with the fragment after this. We'll need to temper it somehow or we really are going to end the world.

"I-I can't stay here." You swallow dryly with wide eyes afixed to the rising herd of oakenbears, trying and failing to move away. Something indescripable kept you rooted to the ground, cradled by the Mana. As much as you wished you could blame it on the snaring vines, as much if not more could be said for your own body's refusal to listen. You were panicking, slipping too close to the edge. The all consuming pressure of being in the presence of a Simulacra Fragment had settled its weight around you since well before you'd regained consciousness.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The sincerity of Dryad's heart poured over you like a waterfall; Suffocating and drowning you beneath love and hate. That, more than any physical cord, was the source of such frightening paralysis.

'Always the wanderer.'
'You never could stay still.'
'Now you wander alone.'
'A child without a home.'
'Curious of this small world.'

Sinuous hands traced a teasing path down your shoulders, drawing your limp and unresponsive body back into its protective embrace. Delicate, wooden fingers sought your own shock-numb digits to hold aloft your hands, palm in palm, and playfully intertwine. It was Dryad's whisper which so furtively nestled into your ear, but there was never any need to doubt that the chin nuzzled against your exposed nape bore your own smiling face.

'This child is born for you.'
'Like its siblings before it.'
'To protect and watch over you where we can not.'
'A second to raise.'
'Lovely, selfish, needy thing.'

Your held tilted to the side as it rubbed its warm cheek against yours happily, and... Somehow that helped. Disassociation faded exhaustingly, leaving you increasingly aware of just how tired you had become and the hammering of your heart which threatened to burst clean in your chest. Thoughts were coming again, sluggish and prickly, but coming all the same.

"Another one?"

The first had caused you enough trouble, but you'd be lying if you said you hadn't regretted leaving it behind. Your focus on the apparition proving Dryad's words uncompromisingly true as it quivered to press more of itself against you left you equal parts uncomfortable and reminded of the fact that the fleshwearing Aspiration the last one had become had - at one point - swallowed Ari whole. You had nearly been swallowed whole en route to the Atelier in the first place. There was an incredibly real chance you were going to be swallowed whole at some point in the future if this thing stuck around.

By all rights, being presented something like this from a Mana was an unheard of honor! There were many who coaxed apparitions to life to nurture them of their own accord, but you'd never heard an example of the Mana itself gifting an apparition to anyone... And you weren't exactly in a positition to refuse. Not that you could have managed to do so, anyway. Not without becoming ill with guilt over rejecting the thing's desperate affections. Even if you didn't quite know how to respond, it wasn't like you didn't... Like it? Sort of.

Now really wasn't the time to get introspective.

"It's just this child, right?" You venture hesitantly, sinking back into its protective arms despite yourself to put any degree of space between you and the rising grove of oakenbears in front of you. "Not... All of those?"

'Beloved warden, you...'
'Are unsuited for those children.'
'Know that pain is blind.'
'Make promises you cannot hope to keep.'
'Already have your hands full.'

"Then," You didn't want to ask this. You knew the answer, already forming in the pit of your gut. "What will happen to all of them?"

'Those that survive will-'
'Hunt.'
'Kill.'
'Punish.'
'Grow.'

A rhythm of increasingly heavy footfalls accompanied that damning confirmation, only slightly covering the chorus of wet ripping and crunch of snapping bones. A single Oakenbear was cause for alarm, but this- All of these were going to be let loose. With any luck most of them would die trying to cross the boundary, but if even half of them made it....

In the end, your stammered words earlier still struck home. You couldn't stay here. You needed to leave, needed to cross the boundary, find out what happened to Marchovic, and get back to Carona. "How long have I been here?"

'What is time'
'To us?'
'Within these walls?'
'In a dream?'
'To you?'

You shift and wince, feeling the aftermath of your panicked tantrum. An unsatisfying answer, but you hadn't held out hope the Mana would be able to answer that in the first place... The fact you were alive is honestly more than you could have asked for after what just happened. You could forgive Dryad for not making a very good clock. More than that, even.

"Dryad-"

You weren't sure where to start. How to actually phrase this. For far longer than you'd known Dryad existed it had watched over you. You hadn't fully realized just how many of its nascent dangers the sealed Mana's apparitions had steered away from you in the past ten years, even to the degree that you had felt entirely safe simply falling asleep under whatever tree pleased you. This was your guardian, and it had risen from its fitful slumber purely because you called. More than protect you, Dryad had almost undoubtedly kept you alive well through death.

'Thank you' didn't feel like enough.

"Since you're awake again, I'll try to keep in touch." You had no idea how often you would find yourself free to return, but time was ephemeral to Dryad anyway... Right?

'Even now, you-'
'Make promises you will not keep.'
'Speak before you think.'
'Make vows you do not understand.'
'Have ever been at our side.'

You frowned as the wooden golem laid its head against yours and stilled.

'Follow your heart.'
'Our gift is all we can grant you.'
'Nurture our children.'
'The end approaches.'
'We will never forget your sacrifice.'

Ushered free of Dryad's Atelier, you find yourself with feet once more planted firmly in the earth. Your worries over the wooden golem's livelihood crossing the barrier seemed largely misplaced, which left a sickening feeling in your gut as you wondered whether that success was a portent of the boundary weakening, or if Dryad had simply divined out some new understanding of its prison. Neither option sat well with you, particularly now that you knew what had been left to feed across that river.

However what misgivings you had were decidedly unshared by the golem in question as it leaned against you and kept one of your arms woefully trapped to its torso. It had started with just a held hand, then a forearm, and at this rate you would consider yourself lucky if you still had your shoulder to yourself before nightfall. If it was at all interested in the world beyond its birthplace, it certainly wasn't showing it.

But that still left you more or less alone in the middle of the forest, still trying to reconcile the fact you had died. Carona was your final destination, but if at all possible you still needed to find Raid and Marchovic before you returned; Marchovic because the Shrine would demand to know the where abouts of its Shade Representative, and Raid because you doubted Kara would take her little brother going missing well at all... And between the two, Kara's displeasure posed a significantly more immediate danger than the Shrine's.

So, first order of business had to be finding Raid. Assuming, of course, that he hadn't (rightfully) assumed you dead after... Betraying you? Ratting out your location to the Paladin? It wasn't like it would have been hard to follow the trail left by the entire refugee camp moving, but the Paladin's timing was suspect all the same. You weren't looking forward to trying to interrogate that out of the younger demihuman.

Maybe you could just lie and act like you expected him to do that. Pretend everything went exactly as planned. That seemed easier.

Marchovic on the other hand... If you found him at all, you imagine it would be further south. Maybe just his corpse floating down river to Sylv. You're certain you felt something over his death, but maybe it just hadn't sunken in yet. Denial. An intellectual acceptance. It certainly meant nothing good for you in the long run, but you had too many other things on your mind right now to dedicate more than minimal stress to that - And even some resentment, if you were being honest.

What kind of idiot invites you - You, specifically! - On a date to hunt bandits and mercenaries? You literally could not wield a stick, you could count on one hand how many physical altercations you'd ever won. And if he couldn't even handle the Wisp Adept alone, what business did he have telling you he planned to do all this alone?! The dumbass wouldn't even have been able to sneak upon them without you!

Was any of this really your fault? Sure, you invited Gehr, Mim and Raid, but what else were you gonna do? Walk out here and do it alone? It was only after seeing what you were up against that you had the good presence of mind to send Mim back, or by now you'd be getting blamed for TWO dead Shrine Representatives, Luna forgive what you'd be going through if you'd accidentally gotten her killed out here on Marchovic's stupid date. Shade bless, it was a damn miracle you even had a Relic to do what you did or this entire trip would have been a waste.

You could have just... Asked for some knights or something to deal with this. Real ones! There had to be a few around the estate you could borrow. You hadn't gotten any kind of support since this Rite thing passed, a handful of knights was really the least your aunt and uncle could do. You could have had actual, trained, armed people out here doing their Shadedamned job instead of following after some curiously roguish sharktoothed playboy!

But noOooOOooO, you got the job done by sentencing this forest to a resurgence of deadly apparitions and wildlife, waking up the Mana you'd near died and lost Ari to trying to put back to sleep not even a month ago. It hadn't even been asleep two weeks before this.

And the Paladin wasn't even dead! All of that, All. Of. That! And the Shade Representative's ONE GOAL, to get rid of the Paladin, had failed. You did YOUR job, you died doing your job, but it was damn well done - There was a whole group of oakenbears feasting on the proof of that now. But Marchovic?

"Hey blondie."

You ripped your arm free of the wooden golem, closing the distance to punch him in shadedamned face as came out from behind a tree.

"Fuck you!"

"Why aren't you dead?!" You shook your hand, feeling the knuckles ache from impact as you screamed at a man who had no right being alive, much less waiting for you.

"I try not to die on the first dat-" Whatever he had to say turned up short as the wooden golem stepped in with an unnerving fluidity to punch him in the face as well. The Shade Representative may have seen fit to take yours in good spirit, perhaps out of some arrogant penitence, but this apparition necessitated a more involved defense...

...Which would have gone much better had his ankles not already been lashed to the earth. That was perhaps the only thing which prevented the man's entire frame from being bodily lifted into the branches as he ducked the first fist only to catch a knee to the sternum and crumple.

"Fuck you!" It warbled, turning back to you with the ever present semi-manic smile it had chosen for its own. One open hand rather triumphantly gesturing down at Marchovic as he weezed by its feet, clutching feebly at his chest. "Fuck you?"

"Not ready for this threesome..." He groaned, sliding back against the tree with a hand held up for mercy. "Oh shit... Wisp, preserve my ribs..."

"Serves you right, fangs!" Raid's voice, somewhat maddeningly, called out from somewhere further out in the woods. Well out of your sight, despite the rapid snapping motion your neck made to try and locate him.

"Why aren't either of you dead!?" Your arms all but trembled as you balled up your fist and screamed.

"Fuck you!"

"Hahaha..."
"Shut up, Marchovic!"
"Fuck you!"

You raised a threatening finger towards the wooden golem, receiving a tilted head in response. It reached out to hold your hand again.

"...Haha- No don't kick me-"

Marchovic's wish was not granted.

"Raid, get over here! I need an explanation now!" Your voice cracked dangerously. You hadn't even had a chance to hide the golem. You'd barely even left the Atelier. You weren't crying.

"It's his fault." Raid's head popped out of a bush some distance safely away, swiftly and obediently throwing the Shade Representative into the line of proverbial fire. "I'm innocent."

"What. Happened?"

"Everything went... Ugh. 'Ccording to plan." Marchovic coughed from the ground.

"...Excuse you?"

"Questions... Mrngh. Right." He grunted, pulling himself into a sitting position with a pained smile. "Alright blondie. How about... We calm down, you wipe those pretty red eyes, and I do what I can to satisfy you?"

You swallowed thickly, contemplating whether or not to kick him again.

>?

>>3807456
Don't kick marko, ask him what happened with the adept of Wisp

>>3807456
>"Fuck you!" It warbled, turning back to you with the ever present semi-manic smile it had chosen for its own. One open hand rather triumphantly gesturing down at Marchovic as he weezed by its feet, clutching feebly at his chest. "Fuck you?"
Cute! I like this one already.
https://youtu.be/s2oCV2sM_ig

>>3807456
>fuck you?
Oh no, we're already teaching it bad habits. Even if he did deserve it.

I wonder how the OakenRues will react when they meet?
We're going to have to come up with some way to differentiate the two Oakenrues name-wise.

>?
Kick him again, but lightly. He needs those ribs to talk. Stop OakenRue if it tries to copy is again, I don't think it can pull it's punches yet.
"So you failed. The Paladin escaped you, and very nearly killed me. I only managed to escape with the help of my friend (OakenRue) here. No, I don't know what it is, or why it looks like me. What happened?

>>3807505
>We're going to have to come up with some way to differentiate the two Oakenrues name-wise.
This one is obviously FakenRue.

>>3807456
>You talked really big about yourself. So why is the Wisp Adept alive and why does he think I'm some kind of a Shade Apparition?

>>3807456
Well we've been apart for what, a day? Just tell us everything.
>How hard could it be, huh?
>Tell him to start from when we split up and go from there, no need to play 20 questions with him.

>>3807505
Lets not go volunteering any information beyond what's strictly necessary.
>The paladin's intervention fucked things up big time. We managed to fulfil our objective anyway but the paladin still lives
>To cross the river and enter the fae woods at this time is certain death
>A large number of Oakenbears will be arriving from across the river soon

They can draw their own conclusions from there. Though, does this still give away too much? Maybe there's a better way to say it.
>Also ask who we should talk to in the shrine to about dealing with the oakenbears

Regarding differentiating the apparitions, lets just give our abomination a name when we get back. I'm thinking naming it after a cute flower, like Lily.

>>3807542
>So why is the Wisp Adept alive and why does he think I'm some kind of a Shade Apparition?
I think he assumed he thought we were a doppleganger 'cus we used the mirror to look like him. Marchovic doesn't need to know about this.

>>3807542
>FakenRue
Not bad, but I was thinking more along the lines of Big and Little. Either as additions to OakenRue, or just on their own.

>why does he think I'm some kind of a Shade Apparition?
That one is easy. He'd just come off fighting a Shade Adept, and we were wearing his face, which would be covered by a doppelgänger or similar.

>>3807546
>Cute flower
Maybe Rafflesia.

>>3807547
>>3807551
Okay, maybe don't ask about the apparition.

>>3807456
Oh!
>Make an effort to calm down
Anon is right, we're already setting a bad example for our new babby and anyway we're not in a position to be breaking our composure or flipping tables around these assholes. Maybe we should meditate to shade before we begin?

>>3807560
The name is cute at least!

>>3807456
>Realize that our anger nad frustration is mostly caused by us fucking up, so directing all of it on Marchovic is disingenuous.

>>3807677
Not this time. We were presented with two different terrible options entirely because he screwed up and let the Paladin catch up to us.

>>3807677
But that's not true, we wouldn't have been backed into a corner if Marchovic had killed the paladin in his ambush. Not to say we shouldn't control ourselves of course.

>>3807708
>We were presented with two different terrible options
You mean "We didn't manage to find an acceptable option and only saw two terrible ones". Riz confirmed there was another way.

>>3807456
> Sulk.

It's not fair. WE died. And then they say everything went according to plan. Well, it does make me feel better knowing Marchovic lived. But if he makes us think he died again, we'll kill him.

Wait. The whisp adept is alive? Good. We can track him back to his masters.

Ask dryad to hold of killing him. We will follow him. We will take our revenge not on the tool but on the ones who wielded it.

Well, also on the tool yes

>>3807728
Yeah this is a terrible idea
>lmao lets go chase the wisp adept
We got hundreds of shit to do

>>3807728
>Explicitly voting against sulking like a baby

>>3807739
On the contrary, the adept now knows things we can't let out. He must be eliminated.

>>3807745
It's not that bad, he probably has no idea what the fuck happened. He doesn't even know Irue was there.

I'm absolutely against setting aside our mountain of responsibilities to follow him back to his boss (if that's where he even goes). I don't mind the idea of hunting him down and killing him when he's weak but how? We don't have our tracker with us, Marchovic is heavily wounded, our oakenrue is young and untested in combat and Irue is a quivering mess. It's not feasible.

>>3807768
Anon speaks truth, it's not an option to chase this guy right now

>>3807805
Nevermind I'm retarded

>>3807720
I think we could have used the bracelet to ask wisp to remove his favour for a while.

>>3807456
>"According to plan"? You lost, he caught up with me and escaped after I accomplished my goal.

>The fucker showed up in tatters and here you are, alive? Did you two just have a play fight? HE'S the one who can heal his wounds, not you what the fuck?

>Raid you get your furry ass over here right now before I make my friend come and get you. You will be much, much safer within my reach than out there in the forest. That's a promise not a threat.


Aaaaand then we cool off. After twisting raid's ears of course.

>>3808123
>I think we could have used the bracelet to ask wisp to remove his favour for a while.
That goes back to the discussion last time. The bracelet is an address book of phone numbers to the Mana, and a translator so we can actually speak to them, nothing more. It doesn't guarantee the Mana will answer the phone (which causes us to create Apparitions), nor will it force a Mana to do what we want.
In this case, we are unfavored by Wisp, but the paladin is favored. Why would Wisp remove their favor from one of their beloved on behalf of someone they don't care about?

>>3808143
Nothing ventured mate. We could try using the translator in a more controlled environment instead of writing it off like this. The bracelet's previous owner probably wasn't cared by every single mana and yet...

>>3808199
That wasn't an argument against bracelet use wholesale, just during the beat down. We only had time for one action, and we don't know how long it might have taken, among other problems.

Experimentation will have to be done far away from civilization (see Apparition creation on failure to connect), and limited. We've only got so much soul, and afaik it doesn't regrow.
If we do test things, Shade seems like a good place to start. We've got the most familiarity with it.

>>3808224
>Shade seems like a good place to start. We've got the most familiarity with it.
Unless we tested it with Ari.

>>3808227
The bracelet is for talking to Mana and creating Apparitions. What does Ari have to do with anything?

>>3808234
I wanna try anon's idea of using the bracelet to interact with someone else's affinity.

>>3808234
>The bracelet is for talking to Mana and creating Apparitions.

I think there is more between those two.

>>3808143
Well see, my thought was that if we ask the mana on someone else's behalf, the echo won't tear us apart since drawing power out of us won't accomplish the goal. Temporarily nudging a mana's favour or attention away from an adept in front of us should be possible without insane repercussions... Right?

>>3808252
Is a direct line to every one of the Gods not enough? We've tried meditating on other things before to no effect.

>>3808266
>if we ask the mana on someone else's behalf
Isn't part of the point of Adepts that they can already communicate (with training) with their mana?
The echo happens when the Mana don't pick up the phone, for any reason. If we got through to them and they refused us I don't think there would be any direct side effect.

>Temporarily nudging a mana's favour or attention away from an adept in front of us should be possible without insane repercussions... Right?
>you also know as a fact that the consciousness of Mana is naturally multifaceted and divided amongst every apparition, as well as connected to every single one of their Adepts at all times -
>For every singular Mana, there are countless smaller fragments operating autonomously.
I don't think it works like that.

>>3808299
We really need to learn how to make the fucking connection. We seem to be able to talk to dryad no problem without doing anything special. Why the hell are the other so obstinate? Luna had no issue with reaching down to pluck memories out of our head and we burned down our kitchen thanks to salamander. so it's not like they refuse to acknowledge us at all. Maybe we need a secret handshake?

Wild idea but why don't we ask it? What's the worst that could happen?

>>3808299
>Is a direct line to every one of the Gods not enough?
I dunno man, talking to mana and creating apparitions? Isn't that a bit arbitrary? I think what anon is getting at is that there's some greater principle at work here. Maybe there isn't two uses to the bracelet, maybe there's just one effect that can have multiple different outcomes depending on circumstance.

>>3808327
Pretty much. There is much more room for experimentation than just making apparitions.

>>3808320
>We seem to be able to talk to dryad no problem without doing anything special
We spend an entire arc showing our family is special to Dryad. We are it's teddy bear, and it loves us. I don't think we even use the bracelet at all when talking to it.

>Luna had no issue with reaching down to pluck memories out of our head
That was because we had memories relating to Dryad from the ruins. It spent a lot of effort to contain it's infected sibling, it wasn't taking any chances when we poked it. Frankly, we're lucky it didn't kill us outright.
>we burned down our kitchen thanks to salamander.
That was due first to an Apparition, then later by Salamander's grudge against Reiner's family. Neither involved us and Salamander itself directly.

>Ask Dryad
We could, but the Mana are jealous things, and Dryad seems to be even more so than it's fellows.
And especially after what they did to it, I don't see that conversation going well.

>>3808327
>Maybe there isn't two uses to the bracelet, maybe there's just one effect that can have multiple different outcomes depending on circumstance.
You're right. Officially, it only has one function. Conversing with Mana is all it's supposed to do. Apparition creation is a misuse (malfunction seems more accurate technically).
It's possible there are other useful misuses (such as the previously suggested use of the diary in combat), but considering the side effect of the known misuse, I dunno if we want to experiment with it too much,

>>3808365
Yeah we don't use it to talk to dryad. We are either doing something fundamentally wrong in our attempts or dryads favour is interfering so heavily that the other mana can not or will not interact in any way with us.

A simple test for this theory is to lend it to someone else and ask them to use it. Of course, that spills the secret so it's still off the table imo. At least not yet.

>>3808327
That's more likely the case. How many artifacts do you suppose have more than one function? Probably none, it's all about how you use it.

I think we can find some concrete hints in the secret section of the valen archives. Searching it feels a lot safer than experimenting since the cost of being wrong is so great. We're going there anyway as far as I'm concerned and might as well give it a try while we round up some knights and a few chests of gold for carona

>>3808414
>How many artifacts do you suppose have more than one function?
From what we've seen, they all only have one official function. Any other creative use of them appear to come with a cost, usually heavier than using it as intended. I suspect it's related to how they're created.

>I think we can find some concrete hints in the secret section of the valen archives.
Concrete is a stretch, but if we dug long enough I bet we could find something. Trouble is, we don't exactly have tons of free time. The stuff going on back in town revealed by the conversation with the Artemis guy need to be dealt with asap.
Speaking of, what happened to the Jinn branch?

>Searching it feels a lot safer than experimenting since the cost of being wrong is so great.
This is very true, but it will come at the cost of time.

>while we round up some knights and a few chests of gold for carona
We've been told to deal with Carona ourselves, despite requests to them before. Aunt is still likely away, but Uncle should still be around. And we don't have the authority to requisition anything from them, as Aunt usurped us, and we aren't really in a position to force her to abdicate, much as I would like to.

>>3807743
See, you SAY you're explicitly voting against this.

But then I look at all the other write ins, and, well . . . Don't blame me for calling a duck a duck.

Besides, we just died. Some sulking is pretty standard in that case, especially since we thought Marchovic died too and now he didn't and that's relieving but also frustrating.

>>3807739
Marchovic clearly plans to follow him after faking his death and maybe arranging ours. Or he just thinks we're ridiculously unkillable and that it would be fine and it's frustrating as well that of so then he was right.

I mean, the Whisp adept is just a link. And now he thinks everyone is dead that might be following him.

But oh, no, let's just overreact instead and ruin things more because we can't take two seconds to think things through.

>>3808559
I don't understand, are you implying I've voted to act like a baby? Can you show me an example?
>Some sulking is pretty standard in that case
I'm sure it is but Irue's mental state is fucked up enough without us voting to spend our time sulking instead of regaining our composure and stabilising our scrambled headcase.
>Marchovic clearly plans to follow him after faking his death and maybe arranging ours. Or he just thinks we're ridiculously unkillable and that it would be fine and it's frustrating as well that of so then he was right.
What the fuck am I reading?

>>3808610
To follow the Wisp adept. To seek the hand behind his blade. I mean, it's pretty basic investigative work.

Otherwise we have a bunch of dead men and no clue as to who they were working for.

As for the plan going perfectly, was us getting caught part of the plan?

>>3808753
That wasn't the part I was confused about but I guess it doesn't matter.
>To follow the Wisp adept. To seek the hand behind his blade.
Okay so you want to follow the wisp adept but you never got around to answering how. How will you track him? How will you fight him? Keep in mind that wisp may have healed him by the time we find him. Look, we accomplished our goal at great cost and came out of it temporarily dead, it's time to accept our mild victory and go back to Carona so we try to sort out all of the very important things that we put on the backburner for this.

>Otherwise we have a bunch of dead men and no clue as to who they were working for.
The paladin's rebel minion claimed they were working for a prince. We also know that he was working with an artemis spy who is currently happily stirring insurrection in our town, is that a big enough clue for you?

>As for the plan going perfectly, was us getting caught part of the plan?
You lost me again, I'm starting to think you're just saying shit at random.

>>3808799
>How will you track him? How will you fight him?
These are the principle issues. Plus, it looks like Dryad is going to hunt the guy down.

>As for the plan going perfectly, was us getting caught part of the plan?
This part is us asking Marcovich if his plan had included us being revealed as a fake, as far as I understand.

>>3808455
We don't have authority because you refuse to exert any kind of power that we legally have. I haven't seen anyone complaining that we didn't have the authority to go here and murder several dozen malcontents? But as soon as anyone wants to make use of resources that are legally ours someone always crawls out to quake in fear of the Great and Terrible Aunt Clara, who, in fact, is not anywhere near.

So she told us something, so what? Are you going to make Irue be a fucking baby for the rest of her life? Why the fuck do you want to shrink down and act like a victim of domestic abuse? Irue do far, far worse things daily that being afraid of a scolding from her aunt had become beyond pathetic.

We've had exactly one conversation with our uncle and that was him making a stupid joke on our expense. We don't know jack shit about him or how willing he is to respect us.

Going to the main branch is less insane than the other plans we've had in this thread- jamming a dryad core into a behemoth? Not a single complaint against that. But ohhh, aunt Clara...

>>3809109
The issue is that she hasn't stepped down from her regency, and we don't have the means to force her to. All we can do is ask.
I suppose we could try and siege the place out, or destroy it with an Apparition, but even if we pulled it off we'd be breaking our own stuff.
The only legal way to force her out as far as I can tell would be to appeal to a higher authority, in this case the crown, which would open a whole other can of worms due to the nobility/royalty land theft thing going on.

If you've got concrete ideas on how to retake our title though, I'm all ears. I'd love to kick her to the curb.

> jamming a dryad core into a behemoth?
That was so stupid it didn't merit a response. At least one anon around here spouts completely nonsensical ideas frequently, and I've gotten tired of pointing out how stupid they are.

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>>3809120
I like the dryhemoth idea...

>>3809120
Yeah, it begins by GOING THERE. She's not around. She was happy when we finally started acting on our own and when we showed some fucking spine in opposition of her. Read the damn side story, she's being a cunt to pressure Irue into growing the fuck up. For all we know she's just waiting for us to storm in there and take what we want.

We don't have to fucking siege the place, it's our own family's estate. You're talking about shooting down bad ideas but you jump straight to violence and war when all I want to do is go and TALK. People just keep jumping at shadows as if doing anything Clara might disapprove of is a game over flag.

"Deal with Carona yourself" cannot possibly have meant "play the destitute pauper lord and run the whole place to the ground since you have no money i made sure of that"

>>3809126
It's stupid as hell but if it has a decent chance of going right I'll do it. What's the worst that could happen?

>>3809144
>when all I want to do is go and TALK
I put low odds on that working, as she's better at words than we are, she's got her own son that I'm sure she would prefer to be the head even if he's being stupid at the moment, and without the force to back it up our "request", we have no leverage or bargaining power. I imagine the conversation would go something like this:
>Step down and let me take my rightful place.
>Why?
>I am legally an adult of the main branch, and you are only regent from a secondary branch. You have to step down.
>No, I would rather keep this title I think.
>You are legally required!
>Make me.

I'm not against having that conversation necessarily, but it would require going out to the estate, and we have time sensitive information about the insurrection group in that hellhole of a town.

>>3807546
>Lets not go volunteering any information beyond what's strictly necessary.
I thought that was pretty minimal. What part did you take issue with?

>>3809144
>"Deal with Carona yourself" cannot possibly have meant "play the destitute pauper lord and run the whole place to the ground since you have no money i made sure of that"
She hated our mother, seriously stunted our education growing up, and left us living with only a single maid for company, miles from any sort of civilization. I wouldn't put it past her to set us up to fail, either as a form of petty revenge against our mother or to "prove" we're not worthy of leading the main branch.

>>3809155
We're not talking to HER. she's not there. She was half murdered by alouette somewhere far out west

>She's better at talking
Artemis is better at intrigue than we are.
Rinnier is better at running the city than we are.
Kara is stronger than us.
Mim is smarter and knows more than us.

Why do anything at all when other people are better? You're right we should never go against people who are better than us at something, let's just stay by dyads side forever.

Your arguments against are paper thin and nothing but meekly risk averse because you believe it might fail. Stop being afraid of her, she's not going to kill us, you know, something that everyone and everything else in the quest has done so far. At worst she's been condescending and arrogant

>>3809164
I have it on good authority that Clara is actually looking out for us in her own way. Please don't be hostile out of pure paranoia.

Alright, trpg session ended for the night. Going to close the vote here and start trying to tally things up.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>3807478
>>3807505
>>3807542
>>3807546
>>3808123
Marchovic, you've got some explaining to do.

>>3808123
Bully the Raid.

>>3807478
1. Don't kick the Marchovic.

>>3807505
2. Kick the Marchovic.

>>3807578
>>3807677
Calm down! Breathe! It's been a long couple of days.

>>3807728
It's been a long couple of days.

Whew. I'll try and get something out tonight, but I've not slept a whole lot so I may end up crashing instead. Voting windows are a full day long now anyway though, so hopefully no one's losing sleep over it!
---

>>3808455
>the Jinn branch?
You still have it!

>>3809184
anon, be civil or be rejected out of hand.

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we still have so many troubles ahead of us ;_;

>>3809164
>What part did you take issue with?
Nothing specifically, I just find volunteering lies unprompted to be a bad habit. Easier to be dishonest if you speak the truth and let people come to incorrect conclusions on their own.

>>3809656
Getting pissy about this kind of petty bullshit is half the fun anon. You can be catty too, it's okay!

>>3809884
>>3809691
You're easily the rudest one here. A condescending ass.

>>3809126
Riz likes my Dryhemoth idea, it's been discussed before and he said it could work even. I mentioned that when I first brought it up, that it. So pardon me if between you and the QM I go with the QM saying that it could work.

Also, are you new here? Your writing style is very similar to a certain Mountbrunfag.

>>3808799
Marchovic would follow the whisp adept. Really, we don't have to do everything ourselves you know.

And Irue sulks all the damn time. In fact for most of the quest she went fully into indulgent self pitying and we had only a very recent breakthrough with not doing that any more.

Pardon me for trying to maintain some character consistency. Although I'm not terribly worried because Riz works that into her writing anyways.

Your reaction does take me back to when Mim called us out on acting like a robot trying to win at Prisoners Dilemma with everyone we meet.

>>3810273
> You're easily the rudest one here. A condescending ass.

Was for >>3809120

>>3809144
I would also like to point out re: Dryhemoth, that it's not like we're spoilt for choice on how to deal with it.

We lost the Tamers (unlese Marchovic can track the whisp adept back to his boss, assuming that they are the ones who took the Tamers even).

Drugs are wearing off.

Killing it is insanely difficult and risks waking it up.

We don't have any "smart" options, but at least using the mana which had been explicitly told to us (in Dryads Atelier) to control animals is not the worst option compared to doing nothing or trying to kill something practically unkillable.

>>3809126
be careful throwing your weight around, QM. You've all but guaranteed that's what we'll do now, as it has official support.

>>3810279
Sorry it comes across that way, that's not my intent. Descending into flame wars isn't enjoyable or productive, so I try to avoid provoking them. Tone is hard to convey via text.
If you're being defensive about the Behemoth thing, don't take it personal. We all have weird or silly ideas on occasion.

>>3810273
>Marchovic would follow the whisp adept.
Possible, though it would be slow going and thus eat up a lot of time. My choice for tracking would be to use oakenrue and Raid at the same time while allowing Marchovic a relative degree of respite but even if that was enough to catch up I have no idea how we would go about fighting him when our group consists of Marchovic in a wheelchair, a literal newborn with a visible weakspot/core and a wildcard who has contributed almost nothing.

>Really, we don't have to do everything ourselves you know.
Of course not but we're the leader and unless you trust Marchovic and Raid's planning skills it is incumbent upon us to come up with a plan, especially against an opponent that can obliterate Irue in a single hit even when he was wounded from fighting Marchovic. Going after this guy with little more than a vague intention will just get us killed. Again.

>And Irue sulks all the damn time.
>we had a very recent breakthrough with not doing that any more
>Pardon me for trying to maintain some character consistency
Well it's like you said, the consistency is already there. This childish behaviour is already an ingrained part of Irue's character and will come up again and again whether we vote for it or not, so why vote for it? To preserve Irue's status as a flawed character? Irue will never be perfect, she won't even come close, but I think that's all the more reason to try our best!

>>3810290
I like the behemoth idea, so long as it doesn't involve using either our aspiration or our babby oakenrue. I'll vote for it if we pick up a core from one of the oakenrue that died near our house and use that.

>We lost the Tamers
You know I was thinking of sending Ari after the Tiers when Irue learns their location upon returning to Carona but if that's where the paladin goes she might just get killed for her effort. Then again our dryad aspiration might be able to kill him in an straight fight. Maybe we could test its viability in a spar against Kara? Kara was pretty evenly matched with the Paladin, right?

>>3810273
>montbrunfag
oh no don't bring it here....... don't be a twat anon ffs

>>3810419
>lets send ari after the tiers
>make kara spar against anspiration
I dont think these are good ideas anon

>>3810518
You're probably right.

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>>3810311
I suppose I should clarify since it's been a while since the idea was originally put forward. For most situations you guys find yourselves in, I have a mental list of possible ways you might go about getting through it. Usually you guys end up following one to some degree, so it's rare that an anon puts forth an idea that I hadn't consider at all, and after thinking about it, realized actually wasn't implausible.

I'm always really happy when you guys surprise me, so me liking the idea has more to do with it existing in the first place than any possible good or bad consequence set it would result in.

As always, I encourage you guys to consider your options carefully and pick one that makes you happy!

>>3810419
>Kara was pretty evenly matched with the Paladin, right?
The Paladin had a definitive advantage over her. If the fight had gone on without Irue's intervention, her victory - If it had come at all - would have come at an extreme cost to her, and the reason is pretty simple.

Kara has never really had to deal with anyone as strong as she is. The full might of her combat potential has very little to do with her combat experience so much as that she can just raw overpower most things she encounters. When faced with the Paladin, she was put on relatively equal strength terms with someone who had a great deal of formal training and experience applying that training practically. You might compare it to a weightlifter fighting a martial practitioner of 10-20 years experience.

The nature of melee is chaotic and the disposition of the people involved makes it murkier, so while the reality isn't a certain loss for Kara in that situation, there's a very real chance that even if she did something stupid and took the pain or broken limbs just to make an opening it still wouldn't be enough. She'd need to be pushed to that point before she had a chance of winning.

That said, this is all just keeping the end result in mind. While the outcome is important when considering conflicts, the route there is just as relevant! In example, the above may make it seem like a horrible idea to confront the Paladin with Kara alone - But if your only goal is slowing him down, injuring him, or forcing him to be more defensive while handling something else, then Kara can achieve all of those things very reliably with... Varying costs to herself. It's only when you task her specifically with winning that the situation seems bleak.

What you want out of a conflict is often more important than who would win overall. Aiming to delay, injure or distract is a significantly more achievable "win condition" than killing or outright besting your opponent.
---

Anyway I've got raids coming up shortly, so I'll get writing once they're over for the night! I did end up crashing last night.

>>3810315
Fair enough. I have very spotty internet coverage so I'm not always able to clarify what I mean right away, and I understand that can get frustrating.

>>3810419
Our Aspiration doesn't need it's core anymore, if I recall correctly. That was what inspired me to use it for the Behemoth originally.

That being said, we really have to do something about the behemoth. Maybe we could move it into the woods and get Dryad to calm it for us? But do we want Dryad to have a Behemoth?

My other plan would be to give it to the Royal House as a White Elephant gift, but they've been sketchy.

>>3810518
> Only Montbrunfag gets upset about being called that.

>>3810788
i've seen this thing start in sworn to valor. If you have beef with someone there keep it that way but there is no need to create imaginary terms and call them everyone you dont like...

>>3810783
>we really have to do something about the behemoth
If we could move it, the easiest thing to do would be to dump it in the ex-desert, or near the demigod Apparition. But afaik the fear is that moving it risks waking it during loading, the entire length of travel, and unloading.
Similarly, I'm not a fan of sticking a core into it because it would give Dryad some control over it, doesn't guarantee us any control over it, would likely make it even stronger, and isn't any safer than attempting to outright kill it (as both involve cutting deep into it). I'd prefer to go for the much simpler idea of outright killing it; less moving parts during and after.

>>3810847
I still think that slowly bleeding it to death while it sleeps is safest. If it doesn't get fed or drink it can't replenish the lost blood. Plus it'll be weaker when it wakes up

You did kick him one last time for good measure; In contrast to its predecessors, the kick barely scuffed him. You weren't so far gone that you couldn't recognize how emotional you were being, and while Shade knows you had a damn good reason to be upset... It wasn't helping. You were better than this. A single, shaky breath brought you back to center - or as near as you would get - as you worked to calm yourself. You weren't crying right now, but if you kept this up you absolutely would be soon. If it could wait until you got back to Carona, that would be enough.

Just set it aside. Calm down.

"You alright, blondie?"

"No." Your voice quivers somewhere between tears and frustration, prompting you to clear your throat before continuing. "Raid, come here."

"You're not going to hit me, are you?"

You turned tiredly to stare at him, wiping one eye with a stubborn scowl. "Now."

"Aight, aight, I'm coming." The bush he'd been hiding behind rustled as he stepped through it, keeping a careful distance from both you and the new wooden golem Dryad had bequeathed. A tight grip had been kept on it to prevent any more unexpected kicks landing on in the Shade Representative's rib cage for the time being, as you doubted the apparition really understood how to hold back. If it was keying off your reactions, you needed to set a better example for the thing sooner rather than later.

Several furtive moments passed in silence as you focused on your own breathing and heart rate, not quite to the extent of meditation but a prerequisite for it all the same. A self-imposed ritual that you were intimately acquainted with, which served to distract and mollify your raw nerves. "Marchovic." Your voice came out steadier, held together with a patchwork calm. "Tell me everything that happened. From the time we split up, until now."

"Well." He started, easing himself into a more comfortable position with a wince behind his self-satisfied smile. "I found him, for one. He was coming back up river on a raft when I encountered him, maybe half a day out from the camp."

"Half a day..." You let the time roll around in your head. You made your move the night Marchovic split off, then coerced the camp into leaving that night. It took you an additional day to reach the fae forest, and he still caught up with you before night fell. For all the time that gave you, he could have been on your tail the entire time.

Raid grumbled under his breath. "Cutting it close."

"Close." You echoed hollowly, unable to suppress the single derisive chuckle that gurgled out of your throat as you did so.

"Everything turned out fine." Marchovic shrugged, meeting your withering stare with a self-satisfied grin.

"Continue."

"I didn't expect to meet him that soon, so I figured I didn't have a whole lot of time." Marchovic obliged without much prodding. "Figured, hey? Why not just fight him on the boat. Seemed like it'd be fun. Make a nice story- You wanna hear about how I fought a wisp adept on a raft one time?"

"I'm going to kick you again."

The way he laughed told you that he either didn't believe you, or the threat didn't worry him enough to matter. "Well long story short, I did what I set out to do and started making my way back. Ran into the kid on the way back and he led us up here to find you after filling me in."

"What, exactly, did you set out to do?" The venom all but hisses out through your teeth. "Because not only was he not dead, he made it here first."

"I'd guess so, he did get a headstart on us." The Shade Adept laughed.

"You let him go?"

"He let him go." Raid's affirmation, in the face of Marchovic's unrepentant and self-satisfied expression, made it incredibly difficult to not scream in near wordless fury.

Instead, your entire body trembled through a very, very long inhale. One hand cradled your forehead, shoulders shaking, as you let the air back out just as incrementally as it came. "I died- Could have died because you just let. Him. Go."

"You would have been fine." Marchovic disagreed placidly, "I made sure he would be manageable before letting him run."

"Manageable for who?!" You died because of a miscalculation? Not because Raid betrayed you, but Marchovic just decided not to do his damn job!? "What were you going to do if he wasn't?! What if you caught up and they'd gotten away and I was dead?!"

"Well then I'd have a whole lot of explaining to do."

Raid looked as if he was going to slip a quip in, but wisely decided to keep his mouth shut as you glared the Shade Representative into the forest floor. "And you expect me to believe you just toyed with him, picked him apart at your leisure and let him go without so much as a scratch on you?"

"I'd like to say I'm just that good." Marchovic winced, "But no. I'm a Shade Adept, so of anyone that guy could have run into, I was probably his worst match up... And it's not like I came out of it fresh and perky, either. As for who... Well, you, of course."

"I don't know how to fight." You weren't even embarassed to point it out right now, "I can't so much as wield a knife, Marchovic."

"And you punch like a kid." He agreed knowingly, "But your bodyguard there doesn't. You Valens have it in with the fae around these parts, or so the gossip goes."

Fae. A good, convenient excuse for what the wooden golem next to you was... And technically, he wasn't wrong, either. But... "You bet my life on gossip?"

"No, that's stupid." He shook his head dismissively, "I mean they turned out to be true and that's actually pretty cool, but I bet your life on that scar you got."

"My... Scar." You repeated slowly, leaving the gears in the back of your head to creak groggily in circles before it finally clicked. "What about it?"

"Even if it's dormant, it's still the core of a Shade apparition. That's a lot of potential Shade mana laying untapped." He tapped his chest meaningfully. "If you roused it under stress, I had little doubt you would have been fine. Enough of Shade's presence will shut down a Wisp Adept's biggest advantage, and I made sure he'd be in no shape to fight you fairly."

"You think a broken arm was enough to let me fight a Wisp Adept?" You blurt out incredulous.

"Ruined arm," He corrected, ticking off his fingers as he continued. "Poisoned, pretty sure I cut a tendon, open chest and thigh wounds... Can't tell you how much he was bleeding when he ran off."

"You didn't think he might, oh, I don't know-" You paused, gesturing dramatically in the air for emphasis, "HEAL any of that? Because he was a Wisp Adept?!" ...Not that he had, at least to your knowledge. He'd looked terrible when he showed up, even if you weren't aware of the extent he'd been roughed up. It had been what gave you the confidence to face him down in the first place. For all the good that did you.

"Nah." Marchovic shrugged. "Real fun poison, something you won't see too often outside of East Heaven. It'll flush the mana clean out of an adept in large doses. Smaller ones are good for bleeding a guy dry, makes it harder for them to communicate and hear their own Mana. At best I estimate he had one good shot left in him; Last legs and all."

You fell silent, finding the increasingly livid reactions smoldering in favor of almost morbid curiosity as the Shade Representative explained himself. He'd been wrong, of course - If not in his estimate of the Adept, then of his evaluation of you. Yet for all of Marchovic's bravado... You'd not actually considered him the kind of person who would outright poison anyone.

You were still furious with him, but you can't help but be curious. "Why do you even have a foreign produced anti-adept poison?"

"I bought a whole bunch of it couple months ago." Marchovic shrugged, "Some merchant wandered into town trying to sell it as booze. Tell you the truth, I've been looking for an excuse to test the stuff ever since."

You stared at him a little longer, finally letting your eyes drop pensively towards the forest floor.

>Continue with your previous plans and head towards the abandoned Shrine.
>You need to get back to Carona immediately, this fight wasn't over.
>Any other questions for Marchovic and Raid?
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>Other? (write-in)

>>3811211
>Riz dunking on the players with the options they missed
I honestly thought Shade is the worst mana to use against Wisp, based on Shadowrue's experience.

>>3811211
>You need to get back to Carona immediately, this fight wasn't over.

>>3811211
>Forgetting
I don't even know which part is the Forgetting, but something jumped out at me. I don't remember us seeing any open wounds or blood on the paladin. Also I remember him being jacked as hell, so even without Wisp mana he would've wiped the floor with us, I think.

Another thing, I find it strange that Yuri actually tried to sell Faedka as booze. If he was a nomad army spy, shouldn't he have known what it was?

It's also interesting that apparently East Heaven is still producing enough Faedka to be known abroad, despite Dryad being asleep. Unless they produce another, indistinguishable poison.
(I'm still really interested in the logistics of bottling up Dryad's blood and who makes the bottles, by the way)

>Ask Marchovic and Raid about any people that were with the adept.
He was supposed to escort an emissary. And the emissary was somehow linked to Caylen.

>We need to track the paladin immediately. Use Raid as tracker. Send Gehr back home with a message for Rinnier.
Because if he reaches Marcus, they will know that someone managed to impersonate one of them and stole their communication device. They will also know the story about a double agent in Artemis was a bluff. This will strip us of a huge advantage.
I don't believe whatever Dryad apparition is pursuing the paladin will get him. Narrative causality is against it. The same narrative causality made me expect the Wisp Adept to turn up, and I was right. We need to do eliminate him ourselves.

>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Didn't the adept imply he killed Marko?

>>3811235
Damn, this too.

>>3811211
>>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Lmfao he poisoned him with the faedka stash we gave away to the merchant

I'm fucking dying of laughter here

Goddamn, we probably had hundreds of liters of an extremely potent anti-adept, anti-shrine weapon and not only did we give it away, we had a month long bender with our knights AND passed it around carona during the snake feast.

Guess who bought up the rest of that supply of faedka? Marcus. Artemis. Now they can use it with abandon against our side in the coming civil war.

Riz can we just, like, hang ourselves now? Or will dryad fuck that up? Maybe if we ask the oakenrue nicely it will make a high branch and twine s noose for us

>>3810783
>Our Aspiration doesn't need it's core anymore, if I recall correctly. That was what inspired me to use it for the Behemoth originally.

I remember that, but something in the new forgettings list worries me
>32. Upon reuniting with the oakenrue you looked over its current state and noted there were several details about it that may have triggered something relevant.
>32a. You failed to realize it no longer had its core, and thus had become an Aspiration at some point. Similarly, you failed to realize its alcoholic scented blood was a hint towards the true nature of Faedka.
I could have sworn it still had it last we saw but the list says that's a no go for cores.

>>3811211
>>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
We asked Gehr to meet us at our house with an escort, Markus was also waiting for just such a convenient opportunity to capture some knights or neutralise Irue

>"Gehr, tell Rinnier that I'll be heading north after I'm finished out here. Make arrangements to meet me at the manor afterwards."
>In the end it was better to plan for the eventuality than not. Worst case scenario you had an armed guard escort you back to Carona, which was a far cry better than your usual travelling arrangements had been.

Just about to turn in due to risen skyfire, going to comment/clarify on some stuff before I go.

>>3811218
>Shade is the worst mana to use against Wisp, based on Shadowrue's experience.
I'll try and make a note to have Marchovic exposition on this a little, but the tl;dr is that Dopplerue's fight against the Paladin resulted in said paladin almost too exhausted to stand and rendered so incredibly feeble that he was bed ridden for several days despite Wisp's regenerative nature.

There's a lot of little established setting details which I'm sure you guys know individually, but probably didn't put into a single package. Maybe I should have made it a Forgetting... Hm.

>>3811311
>Our Aspiration doesn't need it's core anymore.
>I could have sworn it still had it last we saw but the list says that's a no go for cores.
Both of you are correct! Apparitions always have their core on them because the core is a physical medium from which they manifest. Becoming an Aspiration means they've matured enough to remain manifested without the need for a physical medium, which typically means they shed said core since it's become useless to them.

The last mention of your flesh abomination's core was not too long ago, shortly after you returned to Carona from the Atelier.
>Flesh covered its length, spiderwebbed with the amber veins you had come to recognize as its lifeblood. At one time it had served as the apparition's core - Coalesced and localized as a mimicry of your own bracelet - but you wondered if such a concept could even be applied to it any longer. Had its core simply evolved in some manner? Or was this something beyond a core entirely?
In all likelihood, your apparition matured into an Aspiration while guarding Ari within Dryad's Atelier, meaning it shed its core inside there as well. Paradoxically it is well out of reach for you now, despite having not gone very far.

The good news is that in prior conversations regarding potential agriculture recoveries in Carona, you guys did identify a source of Dryad cores you could use. None of them would be near as potent as your Aspiration's for fairly obvious reasons, but they exist all the same as soon as you remember where you left them.

And finally for some fun trivia, your new apparition does not have a bracelet replica as its core! Please be gentle when searching for it; the child may be ticklish.

>>3811211
>"If you roused it under stress, I had little doubt you would have been fine.
Oh God. This entire stupid expedition makes a twisted sort of sense now. Of course, it wouldn't have worked; Dryad has already blocked a Shade-based transformation once.

Are we not telling them we "barely escaped?" Because I really want to tell him he was miserably wrong about the paladin being weakened.
>>3811232
>don't remember us seeing any open wounds or blood on the paladin.
Same. I think Marchovic overestimated the Faedka's flushing ability in small doses. I wonder if he confused it with an actual poison that's much more potent.

>"I bought a whole bunch of it couple months ago."
>"Some merchant wandered into town trying to sell it as booze.
We still can't get rid of the stuff! Despite literally selling it to a wandering merchant, it still made its way back to us! I wonder if drinking it again would remove this Shade scar. I suspect as long as we have it, he'll keep pushing us in an attempt to open it.

>>3811218
So did I. Searing light, to burn away the shadows.


>Ask Marchovic and Raid about any people that were with the adept.
>Didn't the adept imply he killed Marko?
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
I suspect
>>3811311
this is right.

Wait, you didn't vote for shade because you thought it was a bad matchup? We trounced that guy last time, scared him half to death. Markovich wouldn't have gone after the adept if shade was the weaker one.

Even if I'd been around for the vote I probably wouldn't have wanted to try using the fucking thing anyway, no matter which mana. it never works the way you want or expect it to.

>>3811654
To be fair he wouldn't have been miserably weakened if we had adept powers. Not sure they'll buy that we barely escaped. Nothing so far had suggested that we look beat up, dryad probably washed and ironed out our clothes too

>>3811687
He would have been*

>>3811577
>they exist all the same as soon as you remember where you left them.
There's a whole bunch of dead oakenrues at the river near our house. That's gotta be it, right?

>>3811211
>Go to our house to meet up with Gehr and look for cores
>Ask Marchovic if he killed any oakenbears along our route

Concerning Marchovic's explanation
>He wasn't as weak as you expected, he nearly broke the sound barrier when he leapt at me
>Ask what kind of halfassed business he had with the wisp adept in the first place, it couldn't have been that important if he was just going to fuck off five minutes through the fight

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>>3811211
> Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)

>>3811211
>"I bought a whole bunch of it couple months ago." Marchovic shrugged, "Some merchant wandered into town trying to sell it as booze. Tell you the truth, I've been looking for an excuse to test the stuff ever since."


Is it the Faedeka that we got rid of? Sounds like it.

>>3811211
Ask how he recognised the poison

>>3811577
>In all likelihood, your apparition matured into an Aspiration
Oh, I've got names for them. AspRue (aspiration and the tree aspen), and OakenRue.

Raids ended for the night! Going to take a shower and get writing!

Also most of you got the Forgetting.

>>3811577
>they exist all the same as soon as you remember where you left them.
The ones from the Oakenrues that were burned down, probably.

>>3813519
Oh wow, I thought that was a red herring. How come the shrine is listed as our previous plan instead of the house then?

>>3813519
The Faedka? That seemed far too obvious for a Forgetting. Not that I'm complaining.

>>3813582
Someone wanted to deal with the shade apparition in it

>>3813630
Dunno why. I thought the mutual agreement when we figured it might still be there was to leave it alone.

>>3811231
Back to Carona! We have things to do!

>>3811654 *
>>3811311 *
Back to our house to meet with Gehr! This wasn't the forgetting but since you guys have made a point of it, I'm assuming you no longer want to head to the abandoned Shrine? We'll go straight to the house, then!

>>3811232
>>3811654
Asking about the emissary! Was anyone with the Paladin?

>>3811232
Tracking paladin immediately, get sniffing Raid!

>>3812745
How did you recognize the poison, anyway?

>>3811232
>>3811290
>>3812728
The Forgetting was the Faedka!

Alright, let's see what I can do!
---
>>3813582
>How come the shrine is listed as our previous plan instead of the house then?
Your original plan to be met at your house was predicated around going to the abandoned Shrine. Though now you guys have your sights set on picking up the Dryad cores left around there and getting right back to Carona, so you'll do that instead!

>>3813608
>That seemed far too obvious for a Forgetting.
I don't make them purposefully hard anon, it's just whenever a relevant detail from earlier comes up again. The faedka for example is something from almost 30 threads ago!

>>3811232
>Unless they produce another, indistinguishable poison.
>>3811654
>I wonder if he confused it with an actual poison that's much more potent.
I'll treat this as a bonus Forgetting.

>>3813653
> I don't make them purposefully hard anon,

Looking at our track record, ouch.

>>3813653
>Though now you guys have your sights set on picking up the Dryad cores left around there and getting right back to Carona, so you'll do that instead!
I seem to recall Adepts can detect cores from range. Collecting Dryad cores in the company of a Shade Adept and an amoral sounds like a bad idea. Even if they don't know them for what they are, us collecting them will raise eyebrows.
If we do get the cores we need to stash them some distance away from town before entering. Oaken and Asp are kinda ignorable as "that crazy noble" but mana cores would be much more obvious.

Also, some sort of disguise for OakenRue would be nice before we meet with anyone else. Ideally, this could be done out of sight of our companions.

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>>3813653
>I don't make them purposefully hard anon

>>3813653
>Though now you guys have your sights set on picking up the Dryad cores left around there and getting right back to Carona, so you'll do that instead!

That's a bit rude to the guy who wanted to go there, who appear to be absent, plus i don't think they're that mutually exclusive. I think most here weren't thinking about the geography of the trip right now.

Give a choice to check it out when we're close?

>>3813703
>That's a bit rude to the guy who wanted to go there,
If it was just the one anon, we shouldn't have been going there in the first place.
>I think most here weren't thinking about the geography of the trip right now.
Seeing as we're supposed to be meeting people elsewhere, and we have time sensitive information, now is not the time for diversions. Whatever is at the ruined Shrine has been there all this time, it can wait a little longer.

>>3813653
>The faedka for example is something from almost 30 threads ago!
Yeah, but it was a very distinctive event. That stupid stuff was responsible for the entire second arc. I bet there's been some reference to the stuff every couple of threads since.

Faedka. You'd ordered the stuff evicted from your estate twice, sold it to a wandering merchant just to empty what remained, and it still found its way right back into your life... Though you had a niggling feeling that you'd been the one to suggest the merchant sell his bounty in Carona in the first place. You'd just assumed it would have been drank already, or... Or just that it was gone for once.

But no, apparently Marchovic had just bought up a supply of it thinking it was East Heaven's mana flushing poison. Setting aside that he'd just been sitting on a stockpile of what he earnestly believed to be a rare poison like a crate of toys for a rainy day, how did Marchovic even recognize it as a poison in the first place?

You turn the question over to the man in question, and the way his face lit up made you regret it immediately. "I drank it!"

"You thought it was poison and you drank it anyway?" You deadpan at the too-proud smile on his face.

"No, I thought it was booze and I drank it. One bottle of that stuff later and recognized it for what it was, though I don't think the merchant selling it did."

"Then wait," You shake your head frustratedly, "That doesn't answer my question at all. Why are you so familiar with East Heaven's poisons?"

"I like to think of myself as an afficionado of debilitating drinks." He pitched an incredibly bright and toothy smile at you. "I had a pretty fun life before I settled down in Carona, y'know? Or, that's what I'd like to say." He shrugged against the tree, "Truth is I'd heard a lot about Amyst, but this was my first time actually getting a hold of any." He paused when you blinked, "That's the drug's name. Want to know-"

"Depriving the victim of their connection to the Mana, amystification, or flushing." You interrupt him, tiredly pinching the bridge of your nose. "Amyst. That's where it got its name from."

"Oh hoh?" Marchovic sat forward with rapt eyes. "And just how does a pretty thing like you know about it, hm?"

"I read it in a report recently."

Your mind was already straying from the conversation before that idle retort. This was more or less what had been contained in Asche's report on their drug from your time searching the Valen archives, but that wasn't what faedka was; You'd mistaken it as that yourself initially, but if it was a matter of flushing mana from someone there were multiple ways to achieve that. What Marchovic had mistaken for East Heaven's drugs was just Dryad's blood... And that only made things more complicated if he was sitting on a stash of it now. Not to mention the likelihood of raw potency differences and dosage.

Could you even apply it through wounds? Did it work like that? You had no idea. It'd never occurred to you to dip a knife it and stab someone. What kind of idiot just looked at alcohol and thought to do that?

You spared a glance back at Marchovic's irreverently gleeful face.

"Your doseage was wrong." You heave a frustrated sigh. "When the Wisp Adept caught up he'd started healing already. I barely made it out of there with my life."

"Really?" The Shade Representative propped his chin up with his hand, seeming to consider the idea. "Good to know for next time. Only real harm in going hard is running out sooner than I'd like."

"Stop gambling with my life on a minimum dose!" You snap back, "And that guy's still alive, he escaped before the fae could finish him off."

"I went through all that trouble and you didn't even kill him?"

"Kill him yourself next time!"

Knowing now that he'd planned to rouse your scar in some manner, this entire invitation made a frustrating, almost infuriating, amount of sense. Of course the Shade Representative wouldn't think twice about endangering you if he thought there a benefit for you. That was... That was Shade's whole deal. It believed in people more than anything, but that belief just meant it pushed them harder. There were more victims who failed to live up to Shade's faith in them than any other Mana.

That was why he'd invited you out here, knowing full well you weren't a combatant. Why he'd been so insistent on keeping the group small. He'd planned this from the damn start.

"Raid, do you think you can catch the Wisp adept's scent?" You just wanted to go home at this point, but there were still some things you needed to do before then. "He's already injured and weakened, if we let him get away now he's just going to crop back up as a thorn in our side later."

Kara's younger brother had been conspicuously silent while you tore into Marchovic. When your attention finally landed on him, he seemed... Meek. "I can give it a shot, sure."

"Is there a problem?"

"Well let's say I can follow him, how do I get word back about where we are? And if Fang's poison wasn't strong enough in the first place, are we sure it'll be safe for me to track him down? Isn't this the guy my sister fought?"

"...Alright. Fair." Were you willing to gamble Raid's life on the same conditions Marchovic gambled yours? If you didn't, you knew for a fact that jackass was going to show back up again eventually. You'd tangled with him twice now, it'd be too lucky for you if you just never saw him again. You sighed again, an action you'd been taking a lot during this conversation, and left the matter aside for now.

"Marchovic, did you see anyone with the adept when you found him? He was supposed to be escorting some kind of emissary."

"No friends." He shook his head seriously, "If there were, I'd have had a harder time taking him on than I had anyway."

"Yeah, when he came barging in he told me he'd killed you." Your crimson eyes narrowed accusingly. "You look healthy for a dead man." You - You specifically! - were allowed to say that, and no one would convince you otherwise.

"Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated on several occasions, I promise you." Marchovic favored you with a roguish grin. "There's probably four or five noble territories who think I'm dead right now, everyone makes mistakes."

"That's an awfully specific mistake to be made across a handful of territories." You observe despite yourself, studiously ignoring the man wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at you. "I thought you said you let him go?"

"Oh I did, absolutely." Marchovic nodded understandingly, "After I'd done enough I took a blow with an appropriate amount of dramatic flair, tumbled off the raft, then hung out underneath it until I felt him leave."

"That sounds suspiciously like you ran away."

"I object to that-" He shook his finger at you lecturingly. "We started a fight on the raft, the one who left the raft was the other guy. In any court of law they'd agree he was the one who ran."

"I feel like you'd be convicted of worse than running if you wound up in a court." Your shoulders sagged miserably. "What were you going to do if he didn't leave soon? Drown down there?"

"I can hold my breathe a very long time, blondie. I once wore a set of thighs as earmuffs for-"

"Stop."

You were going to cry again. The reality that you were stuck out here, miles from Carona, relying on a demihuman apt to betray you and a Shade Adept who'd nearly gotten you killed was hurting your soul. You wanted Kara back. You wanted Rinnier and Asche. You wanted a drink.

The Dryad apparition peered uncomfortably close to your face while you stood there collecting yourself, its ivy hair rustling with concern as it leaned heavily against you. "Fuck you?" It crooned what you had to assume was meant to be a note of reassurance.

>Send Raid after the paladin. The risk was worth keeping tabs on him.
>Trust Raid with a message for Carona and hope he makes it in time. (What message?)
>Keep Raid with you.

And!

>Start making your way north to the rendezvous with Rinnier and your knights.
>Send Raid to the rendezvous instead and rush back to Carona yourself.
>Set a course for the abandoned Shrine. You had business there you couldn't bring yourself to put off.
>Other? (write-in)

>>3813745
>Keep Raid with you.
>Send Raid to the rendezvous instead and rush back to Carona yourself.
We need to apprehend Marcus and shit, pronto

>>3813745
Supporting >>3813752
If we go to meet Rinnier, we'll lose too much time.

>>3813745
>You wanted a drink.
Bad Rue. Drink was what caused one of Ari's kidnappings.


>>Keep Raid with you.
Not wanting to be alone with Marcovich was part of the reason we brought the others along in the first place.
More importantly though, all the demihumans are currently under suspicion as a potential fifth column (again), Raid included. I want to send a message back to the knights in town to play defensive, but if he is turned it won't make it, and will tip the infiltration group off about our awareness.

>>Send Raid to the rendezvous instead and rush back to Carona yourself.
If we're fast and lucky, we can prevent the kidnapping. That's going to be a headache and a half to sort out otherwise, and will certainly cause morale issues as well.

I know we converted an old building as HQ, but is there anything more defensible we could repurpose instead? Or at least fortify the hell out of the current HQ?

>>3813745
Wait so Rinnier is at our house too? I don't know why she would come but she's pretty exposed out here and the most frustrating of our assets from Markus' perspective so we should check in with her and make sure she hasn't been stuffed in a bag already.
>Start making your way north to the rendezvous with Rinnier and your knights.
>Keep Raid with you.

Rinnier knows the most about Carona and will probably present us with multiple good ideas when we brief her on Markus, also we can't trust the potentially traitorous demihuman to accurately convey the message about the exact same betrayal he could very well be wrapped up in. We bought ourselves some time with the markus forgetting, lets not fuck it all up by rushing things.

>>3813745
Hey Riz, what's the travel time look like from here to Carona and here to the house? I seem to remember house to Carona is a week or two.

Depending on the time differences, we could go to the house ourselves, meet, and teleport back. Or send these two nutcases to the house and teleport from here once they're out of sight.

Actually, sending those two back alone seemed like a good idea. My question is though - could we teleport our Dryad apparition home with us?

>>3814363
I don't think so; teleporting comes from a Udine Alteir, and we haven't tried with AspRue.
We could send it to the house with them; Riner will not be pleased to see another one, and this exposes it to whoever else she brought. We could send AspRue to retrieve it; not a fan, as having it around for dealing with the infiltrators would be nice, and leaving the newborn alone for however long seems like a bad idea. We could point it in the direction of Carona and tell it we'll meet it there; I doubt it will have issues navigating, but it has the same loneliness issues.

I'll tentatively go with the last option. We'll need to post some sort of sentry near it's expected arrival time, but otherwise seems the cleanest.

>>3814704
> Riner will not be pleased to see another one, and this exposes it to whoever else she brought.
You mean the knights? They already know about it.

Well I mean not this one specifically but the knights all saw us use it before they joined us.

why don't we ask oakenrue to turn into a massive wooden horse

>>3814767
They know about the original, not this new one. Not a huge deal, but still.
More importantly, we don't' know if she brought anyone else. If, say, they ran into Mim and she decided to hang with them, there might be trouble.

>>3814803
Mim explicitly agreed to keep her nose out of this.

>>3813745
>>Keep Raid with you.

>>Start making your way north to the rendezvous with Rinnier and your knights.

Fuck it, haste it is. We can teleport to Carona asap once we know the situation at RZ. Hell we can use the diary to mitigate the damage from the fall even!

>>3814807
True, but she might not have considered waiting for us at the house "sticking her nose in". I doubt she'd expect us to be openly walking around with such a secret.
But she was just an example. Reiner might have brought other Shrine members, or townsfolk for one reason or another. It's not likely, but, ya know, worth considering.

If we do end up walking somewhere, spend the travel time giving OakenRue a more diverse preferably less profane vocabulary, and some sort of disguise. A walking stick like AspRue is fine, but I wonder what else it could hide as. Boots? Bracelet? Gloves? Clothing?

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>>3814343
From where you are to your house will take you ~1-2 days, depending on your pace. To return directly to Carona from where you are would take ~5-6 days, similarly pace dependent. The route from your house to Carona takes you around a week on foot, significantly less by horse, and of course Kara's previously made it in roughly a day. I should really codify a static distance reference to make this easier, but right now these are some rough estimates to go by.

Generally speaking, the road from your house to Carona is a much longer distance than just walking straight through the forest, but roads require basically no effort to navigate and wander through.

Now all of that said, there is something I don't think is being taken into account! Namely, it's only been a couple days, let's say 2-3, since you sent Mim and Gehr back to Carona with your message. By the time you arrive at your house, Rinnier will either have just received the message or will still be about a day off from hearing it.

You already know you don't really have a bunch of horses at your disposal, meaning it would then take her around a week to march your knights up the road, leaving you hanging around your house with free time for at least that long.

So, things to consider in summary:
>Irue and Co.
1. Here to Carona: 5-6 days.
2. Here to House: 1-2 days.

>Rinnier and Co.
Time until message arrives: 2-3 days.
Carona to House: 7-9 days.

Normally I'd say that miscalculating for message delivery time and mobility logistics is something you bring upon yourself, but we've very rarely interacted with actual distances so far. Consider this reminder a freebie on account of me not properly accustoming you all to the considerations of long range coordination. This IS something that will become increasingly relevant as your scale of operations continues to broaden.

>>3814300
>is there anything more defensible we could repurpose instead?
Not really. Not in Carona, at least. There's the ruins of the old Tier estate inside Carona, but it's ground zero for the wreckage left by Mistral's Child, so it'd be a huge undertaking, and most of the infrastructure there is ruined. Though you do know it has an underground aspect to it!

There's also the "new" Tier estate outside of Carona's walls, which is similarly burned out after the arson and disappearance of said family. It's slightly better of a choice than the older Tier estate, but still a decent undertaking to get in repaired and workable shape. Both of these are relatively close by options!

>Or at least fortify the hell out of the current HQ?
You can get that done if you'd like, but it'd be kind of curious to begin fortifying your makeshift HQ against hostilities while the rest of Carona is still being cleaned up and reconstructed. If that's your priority though, that's your priority!

>>3814363
>could we teleport our Dryad apparition home with us?
No. Now you could sleep with it and try to proc Hearts In Harmony to extend your Atelier privileges to the apparition, allowing it to teleport back on its own! What could go wrong? You don't actually know if Hearts In Harmony even applies to apparitions in the first place, so there's no guarantee it'd work anyway.

>>3815431
Thank you. That considerably changes things. There is no longer any reason to go to the house, especially with the time sensitivity of our info and not sending Reiner on a multi-week goose chase.
I figure we should tell them we need to "check on something, I'll meet you back in town", then teleport back once they're out of sight. Only downside is that still leaves OakenRue as a loose end. I'll still say send it back to town with them for now.

>I should really codify a static distance reference
You could use the old definition of a league, which was the distance you could walk in an hour. Vague in the absolute, but still useful for logistics.

>as your scale of operations continues to broaden.
Does that mean we might finally be able to leave that hellhole of a town behind? Or even just visit another town? Glory be!

>>3815449
>Not really.
I was afraid of that. Oh well.
>but it'd be kind of curious to begin fortifying your makeshift HQ against hostilities while the rest of Carona is still being cleaned up and reconstructed.
I'm not worried about open war yet, but this infiltration group has me worried about raids or similar. Somewhere that has just some open space around it so we could control traffic flow would reduce the risk of saboteurs and the like.

>spoiler
I imagine the vastly alien nature of an Apparition's mind would be unhealthy to be intertwined with for any length of time. Would be useful for teleports though.

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>>3815517
>Does that mean we might finally be able to leave that hellhole of a town behind? Or even just visit another town?
You've been able to go basically where ever you wanted since the Rite ended, anon! You've just not wanted to go anywhere. There were other things more pressing on your mind to attend to first!

But you're out in the middle of the woods right now. There's really no difference between you wanting to go out here and, say, down to Sylv or Resuri.

>>3815663
>You've just not wanted to go anywhere.
We've wanted to go anywhere else since we stepped foot there, we've just never been able to justify leaving. This stupid place keeps dragging us back In that respect, we're not so different from the Ice Queen.

>>3815449
We are absolutely not teleporting away and abandoning our apparition 30 minutes after receiving it.

How about a compromise? We could probably shave some time off by ditching the two assholes and shifting oakenrue into some kind of travel mode. I remember the oakenrue could travel by leaping from tree to tree so there's precedent at least.

I'm going to close the window in about an hour or so. It's later than necessary, but I wanted to give you guys as much time as possible to potentially adjust your ideas after I offered some clarification on distance and travel time.

>>3815431
>Teleport to Carona, send the others on foot
By doing this we a) prevent Marcus from putting his plans into motion, b) catch Rinnier and the knights still in Carona, and c) are guaranteed to arrive before the paladin. This imho is absolutely worth leaving the apparition to go arrive by itself.

in b4 marchovic steals our apparition forever

Why did we ask gehr to assemble rinnier and a team at our house anyway? Did anyone vote for that?

>>3815885
It was related to taking prisoners, back before we realized that was stupid, surviving was going to be hard enough.

#73
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3601835/
>>3619122

>"Gehr, tell Rinnier that I'll be heading north after I'm finished out here. Make arrangements to meet me at the manor afterwards."

>"Should we be expecting to pick up anyone more than yourself?" He rumbled

>Worst case scenario you had an armed guard escort you back to Carona, which was a far cry better than your usual travelling arrangements had been. "A handful of others, most likely."

>>3815903
Yeah I know that, I was asking why Irue decided to take that action. I don't remember anyone ever putting the idea forward.

>>3815910
one reference here to sending them back with a message, though there was scattered agreement about sending them back in general. Notably, there wasn't dissent against sending a message back with them.
>>3612559
>Actually, if we're not bringing Mim or Raid anyway, maybe they can book it back to Carona and inform Rinnier what were up to (minus the diary bits I guess, I think Rinny smart enough to figure out that we'd probably be using it for this).
>Tell them to prepare either a rescue mission or a clean up crew, depending on how much faith they have in our abilities.

JUST BARELY MADE IT! CHANGING VOTE TO

>Keep Raid with you,
>Start making your way north to the rendezvous with Rinnier and your knights.

>>3815946
why though? We'll be waiting for a week for her to get here, only to turn right back around and travel for another week.

>>3813745
>other
Teleport to Carona, send the others back to town on foot.

>>3815958
Tbh we don't have to wait at the house for her if we know where she's going to come from. We could totally just speed down the road with oakenrue as soon as we collect our cores.

I'm off for now, whatever happens take care of oakenrue pls

>>3815958
We will teleport to Carona from home and send the rest by foot. It seems the best way

Oh and we should take the opportunity to sleep with our Dryad apparition while marching! Let's see what happens, why not

>>3815970
So we come to an empty house then teleport from there? For what purpose?

>>3815975
Because we send our apparition, Raid and Marchovic to Carona by foot from there, and in case we miss Rinnier they will meet her and direct her back to Carona.
This way we also minimize the time we spend away from our apparition. Don't want to keep it away too long

>>3815971
No way. Hearts in Harmony has no emergency exit option. In the same way experimenting with the Diary of Reflections could kill us (it could turn into an water, which then evaporates), experimenting with our powers needs to be done in a safe manner.

>>3815975
Going to the house at all is stupid, but at least teleporting from there lets us beat Rinner leaving the town without a leader in the middle of an infiltration.

>>3815979
aww fine. But I'm curious what would happen

>>3815977
anon, check the times here please:
>>3815431
If we go to the house it will about 1 day before Rinner even gets the message, then a week+ for her to get there, and for what?
Further, teleporting from the house will leave it alone for the week+ it takes for it to get back from the house, as opposed to 5-6 days from here.

>>3815988
I am too, but I have a healthy respect for Artifacts and Altier powers, especially after this most recent fight. Too much risk for too little gain.

>>3815994
Shit, you're right. I was in a hurry.
I'll change my vote once again back to
>>3813752

I wonder if this constant low-key agree agrevation Marcovich seems to love causing us is an extension of the "Shade pushing you to greatness" via the scar (it's supposed to open under enough stress, right), or if he's just a dick.

I don't remember what the Shade scar opening is supposed to do, or why he wants it. I thought it would have been a bad thing.

>>3813752 pDd - Changed from this, then changed back to this.
>>3813868 4k3
>>3813868 Muy
>>3814312 iKw
>>3814872 Oir
Keep raid with you!

>>3813752 pDd
>>3813868 4k3
>>3814300 Muy - Old/invalid
Send Raid to your old estate, rush back to Carona yourself!

So we're definitely keeping Raid with us rather than tossing him to the Paladin or entrusting a message for him!
---

>>3814312 iKw
>>3814872 Oir
Head towards your estate!

>>3815517 Muy - New
>>3815842 nmM
>>3815963 rES
Teleport back to Carona to catch Rinnier immediately!

>>3815774
Ditch Raid/Marchovic and try to speed your travel with the apparition! We can't leave it behind!

Looks like the overall intention is to rush back to Carona as quickly as possible, with a preference for ditching the group to ensure you get there immediately. Combined with the last result, surely this means the popular vote is to sleep with Raid so he can teleport back to Carona with you, right? Of course it is. Writing!

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>>3816097

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>>3816024
>I don't remember what the Shade scar opening is supposed to do, or why he wants it. I thought it would have been a bad thing.

Thread #67
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2340240/
>>2355931
>"Then what exactly are these 'scars'?"
>"Where do you think an apparition goes when it's been dispersed?" "They can't die, so the only other option is that they return to Mana.
>"Then where do you think an apparition goes if it wasn't born from the land?" "The same principle applies. It returns to its material components, and returns to its parent.
>"...So it'll come back?"
>"In one shape, or another." "It will be familiar, but stronger. It's less of an egg and more of a parasite, because the time it spends festering will let its roots spread. When it emerges again, it'll take more of you with it than the time before, and be even harder to put down."

>How to I Deal with the scar it's left behind?
>"You're already doing it. Slowly.
>"...Useless."

>"I promised not to pry."
>"Scars leave a mark. As you come to terms with what was left behind, that mark becomes physical.

------
>"I mean they turned out to be true and that's actually pretty cool, but I bet your life on that scar you got."
> "If you roused it under stress, I had little doubt you would have been fine.
Marchovic? What the fuck were you doing? If the scar had blown like you'd planned, you would have wrecked our healing process, and spawned a horrible, stronger sibling of ShadowRue. So much for not prying.
I kinda liked Marchovic, in that kinda annoying, but colorful and component kinda way. But this? What the fuck?

>>3816097
>surely this means the popular vote is to sleep with Raid so he can teleport back to Carona with you, right? Of course it is. Writing!
>pic related

>>3816107
>spawned a horrible, stronger sibling of ShadowRue.
Recall that exposure to Wisp actually weakens both the Wisp mana and the Shade mana as they neutralize each other. If his plan had worked, your scar would have become less potent, shaving off its accumulated mana to either buy you time to work on it further, or reduce its danger should you fail.

Either way it did run the chance of potentially ruining the healing process and depriving you of the scar's fun bits should you resolve it naturally, but it also ran the chance of you getting said fun bits quicker. As with most things related to Shade, it was a very sink or swim outlook.

>>3816108
>shaving off its accumulated mana to either buy you time to work on it further
>When it emerges again, it'll take more of you with it than the time before, and be even harder to put down.
It doesn't sounds like the sort of thing that happens by degrees. Either the scar pops and births a new ShadowRue, or it doesn't.

>scar's fun bits
um?
>"Scars leave a mark. As you come to terms with what was left behind, that mark becomes physical.
That's the only 'fun' bit I can see.

I know the window is closed, but I'm adding a vote to kick him again.

If we keep our clothes when we teleport we should totally be able to make the oakenrue come with by holding on to it.

>>3816127
By that logic, we would be able to take anyone with us by doing the same. If we disguised it as something wearable, maybe. We couldn't even take AspRue in stick form. And humanoid? I don't think so.

"Never again, do you understand me?"

"No more dates?"

Your foot curved to catch him in the ribs, a success aided infuriatingly by the fact that he hadn't bothered trying to avoid or stop your frustrated abuse. "This scar isn't something for you to play with." Venom hisses off your tongue with the words, "I told you not to get involved. I don't want your help with it. This scar is mine." And as dangerous as it was, it was the only thing your doppleganger had earnestly left you. The longer you stewed on the suggestion that he'd tried to meddle with that, the blacker your mood became.

Marchovic shrugged from his spot on the floor, matching your malicious gaze with a calmer, more evaluating hum being lowly drawn out from the pit of his throat. He was the first to break that staring contest, closing his eyes and heaving a pained sigh as he braced his back against a tree. "Alright. I was wrong, and I apologize."

"...What?" The question blurts out of your mouth almost faster than you can process it. "You're... Sorry?"

"Yeah." A small smile crossed his face as he sat there, seemingly unconcerned with his close you were to kicking him again.

"You- Do you think that makes it better?" Hot anger was swiftly draining from your voice, too flabbergasted at what you were seeing to maintain any respectable form of wrath. Agitation, frustration, irritability, certainly... But you were too confused to be outright angry. "You can't just apologize for gambling with my life and meddling after I told you not to!"

"Would you prefer I didn't apologize?"

"I'd prefer none of this have happened in the first place!"

"Well." He chuckled, "That's not an option, so this is all we've got."

Your blood pressure was rising. Every moment this conversation stretched on you lost more and more words trying to deal with it. An apology didn't make this better, and you knew damn well he knew that. Was he sincere? Was this another joke?

You weren't going to deal with it right now, and with the refugees and mercenaries dead, your reason for being out here at all was gone. "Raid! We're done here!"

"No chasing down Fang's mark, then?" The younger demihuman laced his fingers together behind his head, casting one last glance at the Shade Representative resting against the tree as you stomped off. A lingering consideration for the man, but not one that elicited anything further before he fell in and left him behind.

"No." As tempting as it was to keep tabs on the Paladin, risking Raid's life over it wasn't worth the trouble. You had more pressing matters to attend to anyway, and with any luck the man would stay well enough out of your life until you were finished. You shook your head, trying to physically dislodge your last interaction with Marchovic as you moved. "This isn't over, though. Not yet."

The sandy haired youth followed both you and the apparition at a wary distance, keeping silent while you moved through the undergrowth of the forest. Only once it became apparent that you weren't going to continue did he tentatively show some curiosity. "So... What's next?"

"You return to Carona."

Knowing the demihumans were aiding the insurgents in Carona to undermine you was disgusting. Not the least of which because you'd received more than ample warning they would, and chosen deliberately to trust them anyway. You wanted to give them a chance, and trust them - On behalf of Kara at least; Luna only knew where she fell in all of this. Ultimately it left you in a difficult position, as confronting them without proper proof wouldn't get you anywhere... And sharing pertinent information with them risked leaking it directly to the enemy. The scope of what you could tell Raid, and how he could help you, narrowed to a perilously small radius.

"What are you going to do?" He probed carefully, "Wait for Fangs?"

"I have things to take care of still." Your eyes narrow, facing nothing but empty air as you planned your moves going forward. "But I can handle them alone. You need to get back to Carona as fast as possible, and warn them that the woods are going to get dangerous again soon."

"More mercenaries kinda dangerous, or..." He trailed off, eyeing the apparition doing its best to rest its head on your shoulder. It was having more success than it had any right to have, owing considerably to lesser greenery brushing aside so as to not inconvenience its walking path.

"Oakenbears." You correct grimly. "Probably snakes too, but definitely oakenbears."

"...Right." His footsteps stopped, letting a gap widen between you as he hung back. "What happened?"

"What?" Exasperation tinged your voice as you came to a halt.

"With you." His golden, slitted eyes were trained rapt on your every movement. "Your scent would disappear while we were separated, and you handled a guy even my sister couldn't beat? Then you come back with that thing, and that fight with Fangs over some kind of scar. What's going on?"

A litany of explanations sprung to mind. Truthful ones. Lies. And among them, no shortage of incensed retorts... But this cautious standoff wasn't something you had time for, and the demihumans weren't owed any insight into your private life. You were stressed, bottling up your emotions already to handle other things first, and so even if you were inclined to share with Raid? Now wasn't good for you.

"Some other time."

You turn away, signaling the end of the conversation, and split up not long after without another word.

Left alone, you feel the tension drain all at once from your body. A frightening gap, as if your muscles had only supported your weight through stress, leaving your limbs and back to ache - Though even that was nothing compared to the way your heart felt like it would twist and turn out of your chest. Something that no amount of careful breathing exercises was going to do away with any time soon.

Your hands found themselves occupied brushing imaginary specks of soil from the apparition's frame. An almost forceful compulsion to straighten its appearance and tuck the spare vines of ivy which passed for hair behind its shoulders. Endless, meaningless, mindless adjustments that the child positively preened under. Something which served dangerously to blank your mind and recollect your thoughts somewhere else - Somewhere further removed from your feelings. Until the complaints of your body were a dull tingle, and the cesspool of feelings you'd gained from this expedition were reduced to little more than a scalding knot in your stomache.

You'd deal with them in time. As soon as possible. But before that could happen, you needed to get back to Carona. Needed to rip out the last thorns still nestled in that miserable village.

"I'm going on ahead." Your fingers traced the bracelet along your wrist, awkwardly leveraging it in the least disasterous manner you'd discovered so far to try and explain yourself to the apparition smiling back at you. "Find Carona, I'll be there. Stay out of sight when you get there, I'll..." You trailed off, shaking your head again to regain some measure of focus as your mind seemed to drift. "...If it's not me, Ari will find you. Or your... Sibling, I guess. Understand?"

It nuzzled into you, smooth wooden fingers clutching at your clothes to keep you close. You offered it a smile, hoping dearly the look on your face now wasn't a mirror for its own desperate, manic grin. You really hoped it understood, because you felt bad enough about abandoning it not half a day after meeting each other.

"Jinn Calls."

Yet the winds carried you away regardless; Crisp, cool, and weightless as the forest was lost in a screen of swirling leaves.

When the winds parted you hung motionless above Carona. While it wasn't something you'd had the presence of mind to appreciate the first few times you pulled this trick, there was something disconcerting about the way the scents around you changed so abruptly. Like stepping from the street to a restaurant, the earthy soil and aromatic flowers which permeated the background of your rustic forest experience were traded entirely for stone grit, lumber dust, and the lingering warmth of cooked herbs. A trio of stronger distractions to obscure Carona's less tasteful elements.

Sight and sound returned to you not long after. A village under construction and repair months after its initial destruction at the hands of Mistral's Child, which had never the less begun to show actual progress on that front. Progress that you and Rinnier had orchestrated, after being left to this town's management at the end of your rite.

You didn't even scream as gravity finally took hold, leaving a comet trail of blonde hair waving in your descent. As Carona rushed up to greet your return, the only thing on your mind was a resolve to prioritize some kind of landing pad for the next time you did this.

Thud.