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Energy filled your limbs, your dry throat made you wish for water and pangs of hunger reaffirmed your feeble consciousness, your mind anchored itself with your body natural needs, spurred by self-preservation. You weren't inside your soul anymore, this was the real world at last, Mother Earth realm... Firm, painful yet ultimately hopeful. The heat of your room easily dispelled your lethargy and the urge to remain lazy in bed; your mattress wasn't comfortable and your sweating body made remaining there an irritating prospect and when your idle mind wandered, sparks of red memories made you grit your teeth in frustration.

''Looks like I passed out in the middle of that ritual.'' You spoke to yourself, your moving mouth and dry throat reinforced the simple yet comforting reality that you were truly conscious and discovered a new weight around your neck adding to your discomfort. Touching it revealed a glassy, slick metal warmed by your body heat, fastened with some mind for relief to avoid constricting your throat.

''A damn collar...'' You could only growl with resentment, there wasn't any obvious way to remove it from what you've felt. Your room was small and completely dark, only the small streams of sunlight sneaking through your closed doors helped your sense of orientation, your quest for sustenance led you out this pitifully small room and into... a boring wooden hallway.

You emerged on the very end of a wooden corridor lit up by tastefully placed ceilings of glasses that allowed the late morning sun to illuminate your way, namely a stairway spiraling down a lower floor. Three other rooms lined up beside yours and with the heat coming down from the heavens, sweating was going to be your norm in this pitiful excuse for a bedroom. Cells would be better descriptors, albeit with the privilege of darkened privacy.

''Hrm!'' Your hand easily made an obvious indentation on the door when you punched it. ''Damn witch!'' You grunted, tugging your collar fruitlessly; this damn thing was an obvious statement. You might have some agency... but you wouldn't be able to go far, that's for sure.

As you did your best to swallow your emotions something new bubbled to your consciousness, a strange impression, an ember of foreign emotion cooled your anger, replacing it with natural astonishment. Investigating this felt being on the cups of remembering a dream a picture of ropes naturally bubbled to the surface of your imagination. Red, blue, gold, black progressing infinitely down... Sieglinde, Klesiah, Elina, and Hao. Three of them were far, far away somewhere north while the blue one felt a little closer, veering toward the east. This was an ironclad certainty comparable to your need for air, the girls were alive and that's... all you knew. There wasn't anymore trickle of emotions now.

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A thud brought you out of your reverie. A Mamono had climbed upstair, gripping onto a large basket of clothes that she nearly dropped on seeing you. Green scales covered her body and a thick tail coiled behind her in support. Her clothing stuck you as odd weird because they looked boyish, ill-fitting for her frame. A pair of white pants and shirt that didn't mesh well with her bronze skin. From looks alone, you'd give her sixteen summers.

''...'' Her golden gaze locked itself with yours for a few seconds, then she proceeded to continue on her way by opening the first room of this corridor.

Now that's a good sign.

As you went downstair you heard activities well before seeing it. You emerged on the opposite end of a particularly grand open-air hall with a big rectangular roofless area being a garden tended by a few Mamonos, wearing much more feminine dresses mixing golds and blues, whilst many of these white-clothed individuals came and went like busy bees, holding onto various items, repairing what seemed to be broken furniture... It was a little dizzying, especially since you emerged out of what seemed to be a little wooden tower and with closer inspection, guests were enjoying themselves inside the garden.

You were attracting quite a few glances because of your clothing and, undeniably, sex; there weren't any men present. An armless dark purple tunic with pants and shoes of similar colors were the only things you had and this dye wasn't shared by anybody else. Added with the collar, it was easy to understand why you were starting to collect glances amongst these foreign monsters.

''You.'' Right when the idea of getting outside had carried you a few steps toward the exit, a stern womanly voice forced you to stop.

A fully human woman was standing at your destination garbed exactly like you. Tall and stern, her arms were crossed under her belly, she had endured the weight of years with a staunch resolution, with braided hair turned white and not a spot of old age marring her bronze skin, gravitas oozed out of her in quiet intimidation. An eyepatch covered her right eye and her sleeveless arms showed long, red, wave-like tattoos on her skin spreading onto her palms, even her middle fingers.

''...'' Being with the girls had forged bad habits, you almost let out a teasing reply but wisely decided to remain silent. This woman bridged the distance with loud military steps after calling you out.

''Healthy?'' There was an accent in her voice and despite needing to crane her neck a little upward to look at you, her composure was solid. Good thing you've trained your endurance by living with some of this world strongest individuals, you could easily look her in the eye without flinching.

''Hungry and thirsty.'' You answered and she nodded.

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''Good, revivification was successful.'' Then she hails a servant with a barking, booming voice that forces a few to come running with plates destined for visitors. A filled water pitcher and fruits like apples, grapes, and pears... Better than nothing, some meat would be much better.

''Drink, eat then follow me. You'll get a proper meal later.'' She said, crossing her arms with the full expectation of being obeyed.

Now wasn't the time to be stubborn. Adapting and ultimately escaping this place will require energy, so if they've gone and spiked this food... there's honestly nothing you can do about it.

Once you ate to her satisfaction, the woman nodded and gestured for you to accompany her outside where the sun struck much harder and this heat, dry, arid damnable heat, had you swallow a groan of complaint.

You were inside a small town, or perhaps some kind of administrative center. Walls of sandstone with a pair of gates separated this area from a large main city with the eastern side occupied by a wide ocean. A small port was present inside this area and wooden structures harbored the endless activities of Mamonos occupants with more than a few carts being pushed by bigger monsters heading toward the opened gatehouses.

The most impressive thing was undeniable the palace you were being guided into. It wasn't massive but its majesty lied in its dome-like architecture and pearl-like building material making it almost shine against the sun, perhaps looking like a miniature one from a distance at the right time of day. This place, unlike all the others, wasn't heavily populated and much more adequately guarded by monsters clad in iron and golden armors making them look like...beetles?

Goodness, this is a whole lot of new sights to take at once.

''Call me Banu.'' Your guide said. She had waited a few moments for you to take in the sights and before you could reply she set out for the palace entrance, stepping between a pair of particularly large lizard-like monsters who didn't acknowledge either of your existences.

Inside was a place of opulence worthy of its exteriors. A massive hall made every step echo together into a buzzing, mingling noise of activity. Balconies and walkways had the few odd servants walking its length and at the center of the hall was a throne of golden material shaped like coiling snakes elevated on steps of white ceramics. The population inside was sparse... but the oddity of a pair of women had you momentarily stare in disbelief.

Two human women were sitting near a fountain, one of them with a collar similar to yours. They were garbed in some kind of seethrough silky garment that somehow managed to be obscured at a distance leaving their silhouette well defined without showing skins, they were having a conversation near the throne.

''Follow me.'' Banu, your guide, warned in a gruff tone. You swallowed your displeasure and astonishment and did your best to refrain tugging at the metal around your neck.

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Banu walked toward the eastern side of the palace, opened a particularly large door that led into a hallway illuminated by sunlight via expertly placed windows. Here you walked again for a few long minutes, passing by deserted rooms, aside from your footsteps there wasn't much of anything to be heard, thus you walked behind your older guide in silence.

This kind of loneliness in a palace felt odd to be sure.

''Alright, our mistress is inside her room.'' The placid woman spoke. A quick mental map of your destination had you hypothesize to being around the extreme eastern end of the palace. Perhaps you'll be able to hear echoes of waves?

Anything to distract you from that ''our mistress'' statement.

Three knocks later and the oaken door opened from the inside...

''Yes-yes! Come on in yes!'' A high-pitched voice with a heavy accent somehow managed to sound genuinely pleasant. ''Servants finished putting his room in order, it's unbecoming for a Moon to be inside a mere mansion!''

This was undeniable the ritual leader who led your ''revivification''. A particularly short Anubis looked to you with a wagging tail and a clearly restrained smile. Now that you had a proper look over, her brownish dark hair was adorned by pieces of dark silk and golden embroideries that looked much more girly than regal. A few rings were also pinched to her wolfish fluffy ears and you did your best to avoid clearing your throat upon seeing the tabard clinging to her skin and nothing else. Silky ropes attached the front and back but her tanned, bronze skin was easy to see from the sides. With her hands and feets being covered in dark furs and oddly disproportionate with the rest of her smaller body, comparison to Sieglinde was inevitable.

Something best avoided if you'd prefer to keep a straight face.

''Good enough to walk means good enough to eat so the soul has been anchored and properly revived!'' The Anubis fully opened her door and you began to wonder if this was truly the fabled Pharaoh of Muribel. Her room was particularly big, easily equalizing Sieglinde own and unlike your princely benefactor, this wolfish royalty possessed opulence expected of royalty. She even had her very own inner garden full of flowers and water where the sunshine filtered through a big round open space. A massive library occupied nearly the entire western wall, filled to the brim with books upon books; perhaps a hundred of them.

Banu made a deep bow that you completely forgot to imitate, which didn't seem to register in the eyes of this...Pharaoh?

''As your first day you do deserve the most excellent of opportunity to be eating breakfast alongside us. Come, my Moon, come and sit! Suffering through the ignominy and horror of the servant manor is ill becoming indeed so let's dispell bad memories with filled bellies!'' For someone who didn't sound like a Common native speaker, her vocabulary felt a little in being ''rich''.

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You aren't likely to be getting any freedoms to do your own things... but you can still try whatever little thing you can.

Your attitude is likely going to matter here, how will you approach this first contact with this monster? This royal secluded deep inside the palace?

>Stay natural. You know that you aren't a good lair, outside needlessly antagonizing your ''host'' it might be best to remain as who you are. You wouldn't be caught in a lie in the longterm at least, and avoiding a mask will allow you to be a bit more alert to whatever exchanges you'll have.

>Be deceptive. Try to stay submissive and aloof, going along whatever it is this woman wants to say.

>Remain closed, not outright hostile... but you don't want to be here and these people better understand that.

>Free

>>3843867
>Stay natural. You know that you aren't a good lair, outside needlessly antagonizing your ''host'' it might be best to remain as who you are. You wouldn't be caught in a lie in the longterm at least, and avoiding a mask will allow you to be a bit more alert to whatever exchanges you'll have.

>>3843867
>Stay natural. You know that you aren't a good lair, outside needlessly antagonizing your ''host'' it might be best to remain as who you are. You wouldn't be caught in a lie in the longterm at least, and avoiding a mask will allow you to be a bit more alert to whatever exchanges you'll have.

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I was honestly expecting deception. Let's see where that takes us.

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Aww yess, New Tale of Monsters! I can't wait to find out exactly how fucked we are.

>>3843867
>Stay natural
Little white lies here and there might get us farther than a hastily constructed mask of true lies.

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Hello hello everyone. I am back to screw this one thread and quest once again with regretable decisions and avatarfagging. I hope everyone is doing good this beautiful evening.

>Remain closed, not outright hostile... but you don't want to be here and these people better understand that.

All the way, not even a doubt.

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>>3843867
>Be deceptive. Try to stay submissive and aloof, going along whatever it is this woman wants to say.
That's the best way to approach things, she is deceptive so we should too I believe.

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Dangerous ideas floated in your head as you stared silently inside the reddened gaze of the wolfish Anubis. ''Thank you, your majesty.'' Your words made her purr happily and she walked back into her room, leisurely extending a hand to pet a cat sleeping on a chair, the animal raised its head to stare at you for a moment and promptly went back to not giving a damn about anyone's existence.

''Mhm, mhm, this is Rupert.'' Said the wolf Mamono after catching you staring, the sound of the door closing behind you revealed that Banu had also come inside. ''And you are speaking with Shereen Roshanak of the glorious, dutiful and ever magnanimous Sun!'' Her hand, or paw, went to slap her chest which immediately caused her to erupt in a few coughs.

''I'm honored to be meeting your majesty.'' You said once she managed to settle her breathing.

''O-Of course.'' Not a wince on her face or reddened cheeks. She plopped down on a chair, Banu followed after a few moments and as both women stared -one stern, the other a little too friendly- you followed.

''Yes having the privilege of standing fo close to a Sun illumination is a benefit deserving my Moons so you needn't worry overmuch about being in our presence, sir elf! What's your name?''

She kidnapped you without knowing who you are? For a moment your lips pursed together in hesitation... lying about your name wouldn't be wise, if you don't come out yourself, Ama is bound to take advantage of that.

''Arawn Loukanos.''

''Loukanos!?'' The girl was on her feet once more, paw-hands slapping the wooden round table. ''Truly? The doomed Elven Prince!? Records showed you a stillborn!'' Her tail was back to wagging excitedly, little clicks resonated out of her ears as the rings touched because of incessant ear twitches.

''It's a long story.'' One you've no damn idea how to tell and that'll make things awkward given this strong reaction.

''Undeniably.'' Shereen managed to recomposed herself but her wide smile gave you no end of mixed feelings. She was quick to lift a fur-covered finger. ''Let it be known this is not to leave this room, understand? If your origin is coming into question then invoke our name and title, this information could be dangerous, yes... probably.'' Shereen cupped her chin, ears singing their clickety song.

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''I believe your majesty is wise in this warning.'' Banu interjected. ''She should also think of removing these jewels and free her ears of these grotesque apparels of golds.''

''Grotesque...!?'' Shereen ears flattened and she proceeded to cover them with her big hands. ''This is quite the opinion to say so liberally to your Sun! Isn't anything graced by my presence radiant?''

''Shereen natural grace project an aura of radiance that no jewels could ever match. Her majesty is diminished by wearing pinching earrings'' Banu reply was deadpan yet authoritative... no, she sounded motherly. You've been around Daiyu and Teruko long enough to recognize that.

''I-I see well... You may be an old grump well past her prime and truly unbecoming of giving fashion advice...'' Banu fish clenched and you had to admit, that must have stung because Shereen looked to entirely hoenst that it was undeniable her words came from the heart. ''...My moons deserve the privileges of giving recommendations and we must listen for Suns are always blinded by their luminescence.''

Oooookay. Arrogance might not be fitting here, it's not a strong enough word.

>''Could I inquire about her majesty meaning about a ''moon''?'' This is likely going to be your main purpose here, might as well plunge into it.

>''Her majesty is knowledgeable about elves? Would she, perhaps, be willing to reveal why and how?'' The Allied Kingdoms and Throne Town seemed to treat the Pharaoh realm like some kind of backwater country but here stand a royal who knows your family name...

>''I see her majesty has quite the collection of books, if I may humbly ask what is it that you like to read?'' Perhaps it'd be wise to ingratiate yourself to Shereen. You do like a good read as well, a shared hobby... Might just make you safer.

>Free

>>3844041
>''Could I inquire about her majesty meaning about a ''moon''?'' This is likely going to be your main purpose here, might as well plunge into it.
Details, woman!

Far as I can see, being a Moon means being more or less a servant of some degree at most.

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>>3844041
>''Her majesty is knowledgeable about elves? Would she, perhaps, be willing to reveal why and how?'' The Allied Kingdoms and Throne Town seemed to treat the Pharaoh realm like some kind of backwater country but here stand a royal who knows your family name...

Just be polite yet cool about it. I think I wanna know about elves.

>>3844041
Can we ask more than one question? I'd like to know about what "moons" are first then learn about elves. Optimally both at once but I'm ok with one first than the other.

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>>3844041
>''I see her majesty has quite the collection of books, if I may humbly ask what is it that you like to read?'' Perhaps it'd be wise to ingratiate yourself to Shereen. You do like a good read as well, a shared hobby... Might just make you safer

Maybe feeling a bit better and showing some interest in their literature would be for the best. Feeling relaxed and sharing a hobby is the best way to break a social wall

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>>3844077
Sure. I'll be writing a little longer to answer two at once but it can be done.

That seem to be the general moods of the votes too.

>>3844041
>''Could I inquire about her majesty meaning about a ''moon''?'' This is likely going to be your main purpose here, might as well plunge into it.
Knowing how and why we got here is going to be important.

We may not want to tip our hand yet as to where we have come from, as they may not know. ascertaining how closely they are tied to Lady White and her plans is going to be important.

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''Could I inquire about her majesty meaning of a ''Moon?'' Is that my purpose in being here?'' Your words brought a slight change in the mood, both women regarded you differently; Banu was cautious whilst her sovereign seemed strangely guilty for a passing moment.

''Of course, yes-yes.'' Shereen cleared her throat and then a light knock on her door interrupted her. ''Enter!'' She proclaimed and there came a small squad of slaves, all of them wearing this strange nigh-seethrough dresses and, again, all of them human females of various races. People from the Allied Kingdoms, others of darker pigmentations and different facial structure hinted at exotic lands. The food the ybore was a salivating sight, but these women presence was... unsettling.

Shereen gave them the evil eye for their entire (short) stay.

''Hmph.'' She huffed once the door to her room was closed by the silent group. ''Nevermind them, what a disgusting parade.''

...? Does this mean these women were ''Moons'' of some kind?

''Anyhow! Moons are a noble shadow!'' The Anubis continued, allowing you to start eating with a nod. ''They are bound to a bloodline of some kind or, in your lucky case, to one of Muribel glorious Suns! Moons can be considered servants but... everyone sorta treats theirs differently. You see they are...'' Shereen seemed to be at a loss for word, her paw-like hands opened and closed nervously.

''A Moon represent their liege prestige.'' Banu said after eating a few mouthfuls of cooked chicken. ''Exotic people from strange lands who masters even strangers skills can be considered ''good'' Moons because of their unusual rarity; Muribel nobles regard those who own such individuals with good graces. Moons can occupy all kind of functions for their owners, so describing everything will be a long, boring endeavor.''

''Quite, yes.'' Shereen added. ''A large number of Moons is also well regarded because it means their owners can take care of them but we believe in quality above all.'' She flashed you a big, honest, genuinely pure smile. ''Nobody else possesses an elf!''

Swallowing a shudder of revulsion was hard and it seemed your mood didn't escape Banu. She remained silent with her stony stare, thankfully.

Your collar was starting to become highly irritating.

''I see her majesty is knowledgeable about elves?'' She kidnapped you to become some kind of oddity to make her peers jealous? What the hell is Ama thinking?

''Absolutely!'' Gods preserve your sanity, her excited smile was genuinely adorable. ''In fact, our interest is for history itself, the world below the Sun is big, wide and so very, very old. Did you know that in the time before Damien, two noblemen went to war over a bucket? What a stupid thing! A bucket is responsible for the death of hundreds!'' She giggled, tail wagging sideways with incessant energy. She began tearing into her meaty breakfast with the kind of energy that made it obvious she forgot all decorum.

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''Absolutely!'' Gods preserve your sanity, her excited smile was genuinely adorable. ''In fact, our interest is for history itself, the world below the Sun is big, wide and so very, very old. Did you know that in the time before Damien, two noblemen went to war over a bucket? What a stupid thing! A bucket is responsible for the death of hundreds!'' She giggled, tail wagging sideways with incessant energy. She began tearing into her meaty breakfast with the kind of energy that made it obvious she forgot all decorum.

''But yes-yes our interest do align greatly with elves; a sundered people now night extinct it is... such a tragic existence. Such knowledge, such wondrous culture, so many lives nearly lost; an odious, evil tragedy to make the sun weep. I can only wonder how much trials you've overcome in your long life, my Moon, but rest assured that you'll have chances to prove yourself beside me!''

My moon huh? Interesting little tidbit. You honestly had no idea if she was looking at you like you were some kind of extremely exotic pet or as a genuine human being.

''Say-say, Arawn.'' She wasn't stuttering at all, these double words seemed to be one of Shereen manners of speech. ''What's your magical talent?''

Again, you froze and did your best to conceal it. If you managed to hide that from Banu, you couldn't tell. Her single eye was concentrated on you carefully.

>Admit to your nature. You can't lie about that.

>''Is it not enough to know I'm a mage? I'm afraid that I lack talent with magical endeavor...'' Dodge the question.

>''I'm afraid her majesty has it wrong about my aptitude; I cannot wield magic.'' Lie about your talents, keeping your magical capabilities under wrap could be the key to getting out of here.

>Free

>>3844133
>''Is it not enough to know I'm a mage? I'm afraid that I lack talent with magical endeavor...'' Dodge the question..
I'm sure that that whomever you received me from could tell you.

I have a subtle feeling that the main reason why we are here is so we could be revived.

>>3844133
>"What gives you the impression I am a mage?"

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>>3844159
>>3844155
Dodging it is.

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''Why does her majesty believe myself a mage?'' Unless you've unconsciously embraced Focus during whatever ritual was going on, nothing should be hinting about your capabilities.

Your question had the little monarch and the much older woman look to each other silently. ''Elves are widely known to be masters mages with skills predating the ascension of the Demon Lord herself! Is it not normal for all the elves alive today to possess this wondrous gift?''

''I'm... I'm afraid to lack talents with magical endeavors.'' That wasn't much of a lie, your stay with the girls was barely two months... You've diligently trained under Teruko vital tutelage but it wasn't enough to master ''souls'' in any way.

''Then you only need to climb the hill of knowledge!'' Shereen responded enthusiastically. She wasn't showing any hints of dejection over your admitted incompetence which, admittedly, was comforting.

''You still haven't answered her majesty question.'' Banu interjection was made with such an icy tone that Shereen threw her an annoyed glance. ''What's your nature, Arawn? You're a mage but I don't know what kind. Since her majesty is gracious enough to keep your origin a secret between us, I suspect she wouldn't be against doing the same with your magical nature.''

Why is she so certain of your talent?

''Of course! If my Moon requires subterfuge to blossom into a beautiful flower of competence then our mouth is shut!'' The small Mamono bite into her meal, finishing the last traces of meat whilst the old and wizened protector -no, her Moon- stared at you with her single stony eye.

...that's some pressure. Daiyu was much more terrifying inside that room of metal but this old protector got some talent in intimidations, she was silently telling you that you didn't have any choices.

But you always did, even if it could be a stupid one. They were both certain of your capabilities somehow, trying to dig into this knowledge could be... difficult.

>Admit to your magical nature without fuss.
>''How do you even know about my supposed magical talent? elves have been reproducing after the genocide; not everyone is born skilled in magic after the demises of the Elemental Trees.'' Stand your ground, this probably won't be going over well... but you might gain some hints.
>Free

>>3844214
>''How do you even know about my supposed magical talent? elves have been reproducing after the genocide; not everyone is born skilled in magic after the demises of the Elemental Trees.'' Stand your ground, this probably won't be going over well... but you might gain some hints.

It may be worth it to wait until we are alone with either of them to clarify our situation further or at least have them be honest with us as to our situation, If either of them is not telling the other everything they know about us, there is the potential for us to play them against one another.

I'd rather wait for more inputs instead of starting on a single choice. Since it's getting fairly late I think we'll pick things up tomorrow.

>>3844273
Thanks for the run.

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>>3844284
Thank, I'll be here tomorrow too. First steps in Muribel are exciting!

>>3844214
>”I share a talent with all non-mages I’m afraid.”
>''How do you even know about my supposed magical talent? elves have been reproducing after the genocide; not everyone is born skilled in magic after the demises of the Elemental Trees.'' Stand your ground, this probably won't be going over well... but you might gain some hints.
Technically the truth, and if they don’t get it then that’s their fault.

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>Admit to your magical nature without fuss.
There is nothing to be ashamed and being honest is the way to go.

>>3844214
Damn, we've got a slave collar that'll probably go boom if we try to forcibly remove it without proper procedures and likely acts as a tracking bug. Joy. Plus Ama apparently likes to rent out her toys if enough amusement is promised. We'll have to find a way to ask them about Bad Fluffy later. After all, she can probably shapeshift and thus they may not know who it was they were dealing with just a "merchant" with a damaged elf for sale.

Is it possible to ask her how quiet she'll be if we happen to be a mage? She seems to value us because as an elf we're "exotic" and our magical nature is also *very* exotic. That double whammy of absolute rarity, could she resist babbling about it in the noble courts (especially if she's had a few drinks)? If rarity/exoticness of a moon=prestige among peers than we may not be able to trust her with the specifics of our magic.

This whole moon thing is starting to remind me of a certain opulent Emperor and his predilection for casting "shadows" and whatnot. Those people didn't exactly get a choice in that matter either.

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>>3844551
>Is it possible to ask her how quiet she'll be if we happen to be a mage?
That'll kill any attempt to pretend you aren't a mage so I'll need to consider that a full choice.

Mamonos governments can be weird.

>>3844556
Yes it would, and I'm OK with that as I doubt we can hide the fact we are a mage for very long if we tried. Something will happen, we'll be forced to use our gift to either save ourselves or someone else, and then they'll get really mad at us for lying and then may proceed to mind probe us to see if there's anything else we're hiding.

That'd be very, very bad for us as then they'd know exactly how valuable we are (which, given our previous connections and current soul links on top of what we're the heir to, is near incalculable). So yeah, no real good comes of hiding the fact we're a mage. That one option up above would also reveal it. We say we have a talent shared with non-mages, they will doubtlessly "ask" for a demonstration, and then it'll be obvious we're in focus mode when we do and focus mode=mage. They are many things, but stupid I don't think is one of them.

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Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3844564

You make a compelling point. Your choice essentially boils down to flavorful honesty so things are tied. I'll be making a roll to break it so I know what to write tomorrow.

1= Dodging the question
2= Honesty.

>>3844568
Shit, if someone changes their mind or votes for honesty before the update you'll go with that right? Really don't want to see what the one-eyed girl or that monstergirl will do if we dodge.

>>3844577
What do you think she is going to do?
It's not like our situation can get worse.

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>>3844577
I could leave things open for tomorrow afternoon if this choice scares my dear players this much.

Tehehehe

>>3844580
Like I said, mind probe possibility. If they find out we're linked to the firstborn of the Demon Lord, were once fused with an Embodiment, are the "beloved toy" of Ama/Lady White, or any of the other juicy bits about our immediate past ho boy, we have their interest now, but heaven help us if we garner their full and undivided attention. We'll never be able to escape without significant outside intervention (which they'd know is coming in this worst case as everyone knows the level of shit you can expect once you begin to fuck Daiyu over).

Thus, be honest, and pray to whatever gods exist that they're satisfied with that and stop digging! Hell, this monstergirl "Sun" is a blood mage, and blood magic can touch on souls (which might enable a mind probe BTW), so maybe a new mentor/trainer in magic? Best make that happy, best case we learn how to replicate that ritual of hers with our soul magic. It'd likely take the memories of participants instead of blood but hopefully not precious/core memories and it avoids the stigma of blood magic. Need to get Haddy and Gardy back onto the field if we hope to beat Ama in a flawless "no death" run.

>>3844598
If they do end up figuring out our situation, and that they others are looking for us, they may end up deciding that they got sold a lemon Or someone that if they were to discovered that they were in position of could cause a war that they probably wouldn't win, therefor they can't let other know that they have us, lest word gets back to our friends that they have us, forcing them to keep us secret which would defeat the purpose of keeping us in the role that we are in as we can't be shown off to anyone and that holding onto us would be a bad idea, therefore incentivising that we be returned to where we should be as they without doubt would be rewarded for doing so.

This all depends of course on why we ended up here of all places.

potential places of interest are any foreign dignitary or ship captains (as i am sure that there is a port or merchant guild somewhere that could be convinced to take a letter, we are on the the coast after all.)

>>3844629
You saw a small port in the general vicinity of the palace grounds but the coast easily extends throughout the eastern horizon.

>>3844629
The problem here, as always, is a lack of all relevant info. We could be a lemon, or the key to a revenge plot/blackmail/ransom plot they've had brewing for awhile.

Don't forget our friends can plot and scheme too. If these people don't know all the details, they may well get finagled into handing us back over at bargain basement prices (especially if the region is unstable). After all, everyone has weapons/powers, but nobody has a decisive advantage here. Peace can possibly be bought at an all time lowest price, and we'd very much like to be bought on the cheap by those we care about.

Therefore, we need to delay and gather more info before we even risk them learning more than they likely already know. They almost certainly already know we're a mage, but they probably don't know our nature or our skill/power level, just that we can enter focus mode. Thus why I said to essentially say we're a mage and inquire as to how quiet they could keep in regards to our nature.

After all, even elemental mages, basic tier that they are, may have a hierarchy of rarity. Y'know, fire mages being more common than wind or water mages, lightning mages being uncommon to extremely rare, earth mages being quite nice to have around if you wanna build shit but may be either very common or very rare, etc. Thus, best to find out how quiet they can be if we happen to be a rare one (or, in our case, possibly the rarest of them all).

>>3844636
Oh, a potential catch, given how we were told we have friends in the "right" places last thread. Was that girl we saw when we woke up a "Lizardman" type? It has been a year after all and, well, suffice it to say a man can hope about a distant/far flung chance at a thing or two after all.

Arawn would have no idea of course so can't exactly act on it now but hey, that 1 in a million chance is there if ya catch what I'm getting at...

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>>3844655
I know what you're getting at. It's not her. But yes, she is alive.

With one kid.

>>3844643
What they are likely attempting to do is verify our identity, and therefor our value in a possible exchange or demand of concessions would tip their hand as to our location, theretofore invite the wrath of our friends.

Something else to consider is finding an appropriate place of worship to commune with the Mother Earth, therefor passing along a message to our friends. As they may allow some of the others that freedom.

>>3844667
How old is that one kid? Might be awfully friggin' relevant and that man and his waifu(s) are no strangers to "betting big" on things like what I'm thinking they're betting on.

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>>3844671
11 years old.

>>3844668
Or they're trying to see if we're a liar or if we trust them at least provisionally. Thing is, we don't want them to know we actually *have* friends until we got more info.

Seriously, we probably got sold to them as just some magic capable soul-damaged elf who probably needed people to die to revive him but hey, that's a challenge eh? A "fixer upper" of a barely not a corpse. Surely you, a radiant sun, can prove a poor yet knowledgeable merchant wrong yes?

Will agree with trying to find out about what you mentioned in the spoiler. Worst case, it grants a ping to our blue knight as to our at least definite direction in relation to her location.

>>3844674
Damn, had my hopes and all. Still, glad to know they had offspring. She definitely earned her happy ending.

>>3844678
Considering that we have followed orders given to us and not tried to escape into the desert yet even though we have awoken on completely different circumstances to where we were previously, we already trust them to some degree.

When we inevitably manage to slip our bonds and or escape, and we need to hide from whomever is sent to recover us assuming the the choker doesn't broadcast our location, in order to blend in better with crowds it may prove valuable to cut off our ears.

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>>3844693
I like your thinking.

For now the choice is still in trying to dodge the question.

>>3844693
>That spoiler
Ok, that's a bit too much. A person who lacks ears will stand out way more than one with knife ears. I'd rather grow our hair out so we can hide them within a nice ponytail setup or something. Tie it up in such a way that we appear to be just another humie. It won't stand up to intense scrutiny but at first glance we'll appear to be just another long haired human (of which I assume there are a fair bit of).

And no, we haven't displayed any provisional level of trust but rather a well honed sense of self preservation. We "trust" them now because to show we don't would mean we quite frankly either lack a self-preservation instinct or possess an IQ below 50. Just run away into the desert with no plan and (most importantly) no Gardy? Yeah, we ain't that stupid...

>>3844701
The thing is is that being passive in the opening stages of the negotiations sets an expectations of future behavior that may not be entirely beneficial, as it cuts both ways. just because we accept their decisions and the conditions they are willing to provide without complaint, doesn't mean that we will come out of this in the best position possible.
If we truly want freedom back, nothing should be off the table, until they provide concessions and reasons as to why we should not pursue certain outcomes. Also we wouldn't necessarily need to cut them off at the roots just shorten them enough to not be obvious, as I would assume that they currently would prevent us from using a hood. also it would probably result in our friends flipping their shit when we eventually return to them.

>>3844724
>as I would assume that they currently would prevent us from using a hood.
Elves have tolkien-length pointed ears so ti doesn't prevent the hood.

>>3844729
In order to hide the ears we need a hood as we are likely the only elf within the entire settlement at very least, although being seen in public may be advantageous depending on who sees us, as it has been a year so any information gathering missions will have had time to propagate and possibly reach their destinations, approximately how long would it take someone to reach wherever we are from friendly territory.


Also who else would wear a hood other than someone trying to conceal their features in the desert, where ensuring proper heat transfer is critical to avoiding heat stroke, other than people trying to hide, so if we were to do so we would probably stand out more to anyone actively searching for us.

Also assuming we can't get it off we are probably going to have more trouble hiding the choker / collar, a possible solution is using spare cloth as a makeshift cravat or similar concealment

>>3844311
This is me, I want to chime in after recent discussions on cutting our ears off...
WHAT? I think trying to change how we look might be the better choice if we can try. Can you imagine how confused they would be if we ended up finding us by tracking the collar and it's someone COMPLETELY DIFFERENT that they see? Pluss no cutting ourselves apart and making weird scars.
>>3844771
Head coverings are perfectly normal desert wear. They help prevent sunstroke, and are generally fair concealment for ears.

>>3844729
Ok good, though it is a bit sad. I like elf girls with the long floppy knife ears. So cute.

>>3844820
I'm all for channeling Lawrence of Arabia on this one. Standard Arabian attire would hide our two main appearance problems quite handily. Sadly, the collar is likely a tracking beacon so merely hiding it won't solve that particular problem.

Secondly, like I said above, your answer will essentially reveal we're a mage (as our demonstration of that talent will leave little doubt in the minds of anyone with half a brain). Though now that I've thought on it maybe your way ain't so bad. After all, if we're an "ignorant" mage that might score a sympathy point or two.

Still wish we'd be fully honest though. But if we're gonna dodge your way of dodging will likely cause the least amount of potential damage going forward.

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>>3845016
>Ok good, though it is a bit sad. I like elf girls with the long floppy knife ears. So cute.

I love it too but those ears always looked too comical to me.

I find it rather cute that you guys are thinking about escaping already.
Not gonna be easy!
I think it's safe to say dodging the question well and truly won. I'll try to update a little later this afternoon.

>>3845248
Long floppy elf ears. Comical? perhaps. Cute? Very. Still, would not help us if we had them so good thing we don't.

Escape was never gonna be easy, but our eyes are on the prize, the prize of fluffy wings and leathery tail feels. We have a debt to collect on! A debt now enhanced by links. We'll know whether or not they enjoy our ministrations, and how much they do, as a point of fact. Plus it would likely fuck Ama over (especially if we manage to re-fuse with Gardy). Her sorrow is our joy, her anguish our delight, her death our salvation.

Can boats sail "around" the swamp? We're on the wrong end of it and I'll take that extra month or two of travel time if it means we can avoid that death trap. Also, if we get ourselves a flying option somehow, is the airspace over it safe at all?

We're gonna insinuate we have *a* talent right? Technically our self-reinforcement spell is the same thing human warriors do, only they need something to sync with if I recall correctly.

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>>3845374
>Can boats sail "around" the swamp?
Yeah. There's a city-state on the very edge of the unsettled lands that become an ocean that goes all the way into the Pharaoh realm and northward, into the Old World beyond the Swamp. Same with the wildlands, the barbarian islands open up toward Gwynedd after sailing around the mountains.

>Also, if we get ourselves a flying option somehow, is the airspace over it safe at all?
You'll need to discover that for yourself.

You'll see what happen soon.

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''My brethren genocide happened two hundred years ago.'' Banu attempt at intimidation was useless and she realized that quickly. Shereen nodded at your remark, excited to listen. ''From there the Church of the Allied Kingdoms took care to safeguard elves, would it be that unreasonable to believe that some of these descendants aren't born with magical aptitude? Elves no longer have access to the great trees as you said.'' Anubis and elder looked to one another at your question. ''I'm sorry, I only share a talent with all non-mages... I don't understand why you'd be so convinced otherwise.''

''Bubuuh...'' Shereen wolven limbs vibrated with displeasure and she lazily threw an olive on the ground. ''Mayhap it is indeed inevitable for a first day Moon to be rebellious, I don't like it.'' This did not help at all, this small pharaoh didn't give you the shadow of a doubt.

''Arawn Loukanos, her majesty asked for your nature, it is unbecoming to be stubborn in her presence.'' Banu had leaned forward, her single eye scanning you for any potential aggressive movements. She took a ring out of her pocket, a simple piece of silver jewelry with a small dull pearl in its center and handed it to her monarch.

''You already know my lineage.'' Instead of more lies, this was your only reply. Of course, those two went and tested your honesty, but how can they even know that you're a mage if you don't go and embrace Focus on your own?

Shereen body glowered a gorgeous red when her veins bulged with magical energy, countless tiny rivers of reds traveled the length of her body with the manifestation of her organic magical power. The pearl in the middle of her ring shone slightly with carmine luminescence

Your Magitek familiarity understood this phenomenon, she was fueling an item!

The metal around your neck buzzed and something traveled into your very soul with the force of a sudden thunder. A foreign intention, a very sudden whip on your astral body landing into your consciousness and spreading deep throughout your entire being, perhaps even spreading throughout your links...

By the time you straightened your spine, this manifestation was over and your body glowered with a familiar color of steel, both women observing you with surprise for one and satisfaction for the other.

This... If there's one thing you know, one thing that you're familiar with, it'd be manipulating your soul and what just happened wasn't an attack on it so much as... Somehow removing the conscious block you had between body and soul; it had been so damn sudden you couldn't do a damn thing about it but if you could anticipate two or three more tries...

''Silvery light.'' Banu whispered, her single eye observing you much more carefully now. ''That is not an element I can think of, what is it that you can manipulate, Arawn?'' Her tone was one that'd usually broker no disagreement but you stood your ground, letting her gaze wash over you harmlessly.

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If Throne Town and the Allied Kingdoms share one common moral imperative after safeguarding dwarves and elves, it'd be the belief of sanctity of soul; this collar tramples all over that...

''Goodness! Now we wish to have given Berthold Amazing Compendium of Unusual Talents more than a cursory glance! Silver! Or is it gray? Steel? Something like Gravity was of similar color... or was it more transparent? My Moon! What's your nature!?'' Shereen hand had closed, engulfing the ring, she was sitting straight in her chair now, her mood looking to be nothing more than invasive enthusiasm. There wasn't any trace of authority or compulsion to obey... but in this case, you'd have to yield.

Better to nourish her excitement instead of getting your nature tortured out of you, who knows what that collar can truly do?

''Soul. It's tied to manipulating my soul.'' Both women looked at you in stunned silence. ''I am not skilled in its employ for I haven't had a teacher of this nature ready to impart this wisdom.'' Keeping a straight face was genuinely difficult, that was a half-truth at best; Teruko had been a wonderful teacher despite knowing absolutely nothing about your nature and Vilma was an equally important helper for general experimentations... You aren't going to see the likes of them here, that's for sure.

''My oh my... Souls!'' Shereen let go of Focus and the slight vibration of your collar disappear along with it, allowing you to let go of your magic which you promptly did. Banu visibly relaxed afterward. ''Such a simple thing that open so many things... Yes, Arawn Loukanos is a moon truly worthy of the Sun!'' Shereen giggled excitedly and you did your best to swallow a grimace over being treated like a choice piece of meat.

>Try to request that this, like your origin, should be kept as a secret.

>Stay silent. You're a Moon -a slave or a pet- to this little Pharaoh and you've gone against her wishes once. Better to wait and see what's in store.

>Ask about Shereen in a little more details. Getting to know you ''Sun'' shouldn't be a social misstep... right?

>Ask about the collar. What the hell is it? How does it work? Why'd you see one other person having it?

>Free

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Pfeh, I figured it wouldn't be a mere common slave collar. Worse still that holder of the leash is little better than a spoiled child.

>>3845436
>Stay silent. You're a Moon -a slave or a pet- to this little Pharaoh and you've gone against her wishes once. Better to wait and see what's in store
We're here to be show off, and I doubt the Pharaoh has the integrity to keep her mouth from yapping about everything.


>>3845401
>Spoiler
One step after the next, come what may.

>>3845374
>Technically our self-reinforcement spell is the same thing human warriors do
I was under the impression that our Reinforcement Spell has a lower base line but more potential for growth when compared to the non-spell version of other humans.

>>3845436
>Stay silent. You're a Moon -a slave or a pet- to this little Pharaoh and you've gone against her wishes once. Better to wait and see what's in store.
Potentially Valuable information, has been learned, although of course it may be a misdirect Why else would she not keep it on her at all times if this was the case., either it's not the ring that she powered, maybe some other piece of jewelry she has on.

The next step to figuring out what we can do about the collar is finding out if the ring that she used is universal to all collars, only works on any of her collars, or unique to our collar specifically.

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>>3845449
>I was under the impression that our Reinforcement Spell has a lower base line but more potential for growth when compared to the non-spell version of other humans.

Yours is more mechanical, you consciously reinforce yourself by spending mana whilst Warriors are much more ingrained with their soul reinforcement and can thus make some explosive feat of strength depending on the situations and state of minds.

Guess Arawn is going to sulk.

>>3845456
>Guess Arawn is going to sulk.
It's not sulking, it's tactical assessment of the situation!

>>3845436
Can we ask her to keep that shit under wraps? We don't need everyone knowing we're a soul mage.

>>3845436
>"Paranoia and careful obfuscation of information have kept me and others around me safe. Your lack of them is worrying. Also, I did tell you my nature as a mage. You just didn't understand me."
An oddity with odd mannerisms isn't odd at all.

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'An elven mage of Soul as my Moon... yes, you truly did good work in fetching him, Banu!'' Shereen lazily shoved a few pieces of foods in her mouth, regarding what you assumed to be her bodyguard and guardian with genuine appreciation.

So the one who got you was that old woman, huh...?

''I live to serve, your majesty.'' The much older woman bowed her head, avoiding staring her liege in the eyes. ''I believe your second Moon nature is, like his origin, better kept a secret for the time being.''

''Hm...'' That seemed to displease the little Pharaoh, her ears twitched in annoyance. ''...We can understand why but it -is- about time people witness the majesty of the Sun.''

''Are you one to treat your Moons like exotic pets and pieces of meats, your majesty?'' Banu sudden authoritative tone had you momentarily stunned, that kind of sheer frankness was something you'd only expect from Belphegor toward her kins.

''Agh...But...'' The Anubis protested weakly with flattened ears, pinched golden pieces of jewelry clicking annoyingly.

''Do not be like your sister.'' That completely straightened Shereen, she nearly jumped to sit, glaring at Banu with a fierce glare of genuine anger. This rage burned quietly inside her small frame, yet she was the one to lower her eyes first.

So, Shereen has a sister? This atmosphere seems to imply they have a rocky relationship.

''You are right.'' Shereen yielded. ''Tis naught but foolish arrogance to display ones Moon moments after meeting, after all, Arawn lied, so he's not exactly ready...'' You had to resist a little chill at that implication but Shereen smiled at you. ''It is a Sun duty to be gracious, forgiving and kind, it is our wish for our relationship to hopefully blossom into a positive one, my Moon.''

There was no lie in that statement, her smile was a genuine one and nothing form what you've seen about her so far goes against this rather... naive little hope. Surely Shereen isn't so blind as to believe someone dragged from their home and collared could somehow become a friend?

Or perhaps you're simply finding excuses for being tempted by this simple little offer.

''Rupert might have gotten his tongue.'' Banu said, reaching for the cat you remember after entering. The big ball of black fur had jumped on the table to eat from a plate, ignoring the hand traveling on its body.

''I'm... a little overwhelmed.'' Trying to go invisible wasn't going to work. ''I've spent most of my times trying to unlock the secrets of my magical talents, I can't do anything worthy of praises or a performance...''

''That's fine! Moons are admired for many things!'' Shereen jumped on her feet and walked close to you, her fur covered hand landed on your naked arm and you resisted the urge to shudder or lean away.

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''My Moon is tall, his body is naturally wide but you haven't taken proper care of it. Too busy with academic pursues and seeking to unravel the esoteric mysteries of this precious magical nature, yes?'' She giggled when you didn't answer. ''Don't worry, we understand everything has been... changed, that adaptation is no easy feat so how about training with my second Moon for the next weak? A little sweat, good food, testing your other prowesses... Sounds fun right?''

''Ah...?'' Training? Seriously? ''...do you mean getting better at handling weapons?''

''Of course! Our Moons should be good combatants and friendship can blossom with the clashing of quarterstaves or... whatever else weapons you like. There's nothing to worry about, with your Sun so close, time is leisure!''

She's trying to appeal to you, perhaps trying to weave her wishes into your ambitions. Shereen wasn't trying to antagonize you or outright trample all over your freedom for now... although going against she wants might not be the wisest thing to do after being caught in a lie.

She's still holding the ring after all.

>''Whatever your majesty wishes.'' If you are to be her ''Moon'' then you might as well begin buckling up and go along her wishes. Learning how to handle a weapon has its advantages, too.

>''If my Sun is gracious enough to truly help me, then I'd like to pursue with improving my magical talents...'' If you can crack that collar, it'd be your first step into getting out of here. Who knows what they can do?

>Free

>>3845545
>>''If my Sun is gracious enough to truly help me, then I'd like to pursue with improving my magical talents...'' If you can crack that collar, it'd be your first step into getting out of here. Who knows what they can do?

If we can get her alone we may be able to explain our situation.

>>3845545
>''Whatever your majesty wishes.'' If you are to be her ''Moon'' then you might as well begin buckling up and go along her wishes. Learning how to handle a weapon has its advantages, too.
Hrrrng. I can't resist, my inner weapon geek is screaming too loudly. But what to choose, oh so many options!

>>3845567
Considering that we will likely eventually get our Magitech gauntlet back we should thy and use something that is one handed and use our off hand for it, so when we get it back it will fit with our style of fighting.

Makes me wonder if the Gauntlet came with us, on the trip. Also if we are going to be outside for extended periods we are probably going to start tanning.

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>>3845571
No clue where your gauntlet could be, same for your magitek tools.

1 for 1 so far, it's still early so I'll wait 20 minutes or so before rolling a tiebreaker.

>>3845575
I guess I'll swap my vote to
>''Whatever your majesty wishes.'' If you are to be her ''Moon'' then you might as well begin buckling up and go along her wishes. Learning how to handle a weapon has its advantages, too.

I'm sure Klesiah and Hao are going to demand that we duel them once we get her back / return after they find out/spoiler]

>>3845545
If not both with leanings toward weapon use, then just weapon use.
>>3845567
Mace, they don't get stuck, and they're good against armour. We can get one that is comfortable for one OR two handed use interchangeably maybe too.
I would like to ask if we had anything with us as well, in case it got summoned for being something closely tied to us.

>>3845584
That timing though.

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Guess your near future is one about getting beaten by an old woman.

>>3845585
>I would like to ask if we had anything with us as well, in case it got summoned for being something closely tied to us.
You're pretty much naked. I should revise the sheet.

>>3845587
We can always use our time off to search though the library and work on our magic.

I'm thinking we try and work on figuring out if we can communicate through the soul links. I mean if Ama could do it with a letter, it can't be too hard to figure out as we already have the link in place.

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>>3845571
I don't think Arawn has a fighting style proper yet - he's just been using whatever tools have been available to him with the Gauntlet being the main one so far. Besides, we'll get better stuff than the Gauntlet down the line.

>>3845585
I can get behind a mace. We can even get away with a larger than normal one too, since Body Reinforcement gives a strength boost!
This is a good opportunity for me to pitch an idea I've had cooking for a while - an enchanted mace where the head of the mace physically detaches from the handle but remains connected via a magic tether, turning the weapon into a flail or a "ball-and-chain" of a sorts. A further enchantment could let us control the trajectory of our swings in ways that shouldn't normally be possible - something like pic attached.

Alternatively we could pair the mace with a magitek buckler/shield which effects we can alter as we please - similar to how we can change our Gauntlet's element by changing the gems it is loaded with.

I am also tempted to choose a bladestaff - my time playing Monster Hunter World has left me with quite an attachment to the Insect Glaive's moveset.

>>3845594
I am fully on board with this. Sadly, I think Insert mentioned in the previous thread that distance would hamper with the effectiveness of our Links but even a bit of information to and fro could be helpful!

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''Whatever your majesty wishes.'' You answered after thinking for a moment, ultimately with the idea of simply pleasing this... liege. Better to avoid rocking the boat after that first faux-pas.

Contrary to your expectations, Shereen didn't look particularly happy. Her red gaze carefully investigated your face, you leaned away when she unconsciously got a little closer. ''Your Sun has no wish to coerce you.'' Said the little Pharaoh.

She seems a little desperate to you, trying very very hard to be liked.

''I've often thought that I could use some exercises.'' Elina had called you lanky a few times, permanently shutting that up wouldn't be a bad thing. ''Perhaps being fit can also help with my magic.''

''Mmhm, alright.'' Shereen ears produced another series of clicks. ''In that case, we would be overjoyed with listening to my Moon partake with his knowledge in the evening, in fact, the practice of magical sessions when you aren't too tired sounds fun! Finding possible mentions of souls nature throughout history could be very interesting too...'' The small Anubis turned toward her big collection and the light in her eyes made it obvious indeed: she loved these items.

That... was something you had to respect. Understanding a book value is commendable.

''Then, Arawn, do you wish to get started right away?'' Banu slowly rose to her seat, her hostility had been replaced by a much more tolerable guarded emotion. Seems like your first faux-pas has been forgiven... or ignored.

''Should he? He's just woken up from such a long coma!'' Shereen retorted. ''Taking it easy today is fine.''

''Her majesty take it easy every day.''

''Reading is learning!''

You've got to admit to feeling pretty good. The room was suitably fresh because of the water and all the food and fruited beverages had completely removed your lethargy.

>''If I'm to begin a new routine, let's start now.'' Get to training. It'll at least pass the time.

>''Tomorrow would be a better time for sure...'' Remaining with Shereen should be beneficial, there's a whole lot of questions you'd like to ask.

>Free.

>>3845632
>''Tomorrow would be a better time for sure...'' Remaining with Shereen should be beneficial, there's a whole lot of questions you'd like to ask.

If are going to be here for an extended period of time there is no need to rush.

Isn't Arawn's sin Sloth, so we are going to want to avoid that pitfall as much as possible anyway.

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>>3845653
Sloth will be coming into play soon, don't you worry.

>>3845630
That's a touch complicated for someone who hasn't made any magi-tech as of yet. Plus, flails need a long wind up, and are unwieldly. Maybe a shock-maul or the like, since it's a simpler version of our gauntlet. InB4 We combine fire and lightning and accidentally plasma
>>3845632
>''If I'm to begin a new routine, let's start now.'' Get to training. It'll at least pass the time.
"I look forward to talking tonight as well sun."
We might like the sleep of the well exercised.
>>3845653
You'd think it lust with how much we had him touch fluffy/scaly tail.

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>>3845661
At this rate, it's likely to be both.

1 for 1, I'll wait my usual time for the tiebreaker

>>3845632
>''Tomorrow would be a better time for sure...'' Remaining with Shereen should be beneficial, there's a whole lot of questions you'd like to ask.

Much as I'd like to start now, it's better to get more situated. We might ask Shereen if she has any precise expectations for Arawn as a Moon.
No doubt we are to attend any festivities the Pharaoh decides to hold, but how should we act or carry ourself?

>>3845656
I am suddenly VERY glad Lust didn't win out as Arawn's Sin.

>>3845661
>That's a touch complicated for someone who hasn't made any magi-tech as of yet
I didn't mean we'd MAKE our idea a reality SOON. Just an idea for the future.
I wouldn't be opposed to having a mock Warhammer 40K Thunder Hammer!
Besides, note that I said enchanted. Not all of our gear need be purely Magitek!

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Questions it is. Let's try something a little different instead of greentext, how about you guys ask a list of questions you'd like an answer to? I'll do my best to answer a good amount of them into one update. Otherwise, we can go our usual route of one or two things per update.

>>3845669
>I am suddenly VERY glad Lust didn't win out as Arawn's Sin.
I'm not.

>>3845678
1. Our duties that we are expected to carry out.
2. Her schedule / timetable.
3. Where we are going to be sleeping.
4. How constrained will our moment be.
5. Where in the world are we.

>>3845678
>Spoiler
Uh-huh. I'm sure you'd have MUCH fun writing the consequences of Arawn failing to control Lustful impulses.
You'd also rejoice a lot seeing our lamentations about it!

Also >>3845685 has a good list, supporting.

>>3845678
What >>3845685 said.

>>3845690
Failure to control his lust is what I'd call opportune moments of character development!

Instead, he's a good boy.

I'll try to pick something for every anons but following one list is fine too.

>>3845700
>Instead, he's a good boy
The laziestpurest boy!

>>3845700
If you need more questions let me know i can come up with more if you want.


6. How and where to requisition goods and services with money.
7. Points of interest and places of Worship
8. Negotiate access to the library

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''Would I be overstepping by asking my Sun to answers a few things? I've...'' There you hesitated because those next words were very difficult to say. ''...lots of things I want to know about my new home. Training can wait.''

Temporary new home. Temporary.

''Of course not! We are always gracious to our Moons!'' Shereen got to her feet and you decided to imitate her, Banu chased the cat off the table and began cleaning the table, putting things on the trolley left behind by the previous servants.

''What'll be my duty as your Moon?'' The Anubis stopped her stride near the large garden, a few frogs were visibly bouncing around, all of them fled at your arrival. This entire spot of nature was a genuinely impressive sight, an ecosystem managed to flourish inside the little pharaoh room.

''To become a skilled, radiant person.'' Answered your Sun, she grabbed her tail and let it rest on her tighs while sitting at the edge of this watery garden. You directed your stare away from her body, her current angle added with her rather...revealing clothes made staring a far too tempting prospect.

''I'm afraid that I'm not a charismatic person, nor have I tried to show off in front of people. I can't promise to become what you wish of me, Shereen.'' A frown from the Anubis accompanied a grunt from Banu on the other side of the room. ''I'm sorry your grace.''

''No no, it's fine.'' She hovered a hand toward Banu. ''Arawn is our Moon, this earns you the privilege of speaking our name.'' That seemed to Satisfy Banu, she didn't retort.

So, being a Moon essentially boils down to being a person of excellence? ''Then I suppose ensuring your safety is also part of my duties.'' Shereen giggled and nodded.

''Where am I to sleep?''

''Inside this part of the palace.'' Not our palace huh? Interesting. ''Banu has her room and so will you, servants are already cleaning your chamber. Banu will show you tonight.''

That'll make finding an escape much more difficult. While you stood out inside the slave manor, the crowd and noise could easily be something you'd slip into after getting used to the general beats of that compound and got a change of clothes.

''Would I be overstepping with asking your schedule, Shereen? As your Moon, is such knowledge important?'' Another giggle came when she gently grabbed a frog then cupped it inside both of her slightly soggy fur-covered hand. The little amphibians didn't look

''You'll adapt with mine. Train and improve yourself when you can, we will make sure that you are prepared if you are needed for something in particular.'' This didn't sound like an arrogant ''don't ask'' but instead an attempt at hiding the fact that she might not have an actual schedule. ''Although we do suppose that it'd be fair to say our activity follow the Sun?''

''I don't suppose I'll be allowed to leave the palace grounds?'' The Anubis earings clicked because of their nervous twitch.

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''Such a thing would be difficult for now, yes. A man, an elf, bestowed the mark of magic without a leash sporting our colors...'' Her lips pursed together while you did your best to keep a neutral face.

A goddamned leash? These collars have leashes?

''...We do admit that your magical talents are a reason why we wish for you to learn proper self-defense for people can be envious of my Moons. Always to their detriments.'' She let go of the frog, observing its swimming contentedly.

Didn't Overlord Gwendolyn participate in this country rebellion around... 5 years ago now? Perhaps things are still rocky. She's trying to dance around it but you might have a target on your back for associating with Shereen this... Well, this makes the prospect of escaping much harder now.

''I see... what about the city? Where are we exactly?'' That was a good subject, her good mood returned with a straightening of fluffy ears and chimes of glittery gold.

''Here you stand inside the royal city of Marleon!'' Shereen gestured toward the open roof. ''Gate of the East and the wider world, the Sun palace house our family and from here is our country reigned in peace and magnanimity. Our palace is separated from the city itself but going inside isn't difficult: its port is worth the sight.''

Before you noticed it the (true) sun had traveled a fair deal across the sky, Banu had disappeared with the trolley and returned with nothing before you noticed any changes making you wonder if she trusted you with Shereen... or perhaps she believed the Anubis could defend herself. The atmosphere had also grown a little calmer, Shereen seemed to appreciate answering you a great deal.

''Shereen.'' Few people deserved to be called ''your majesty'' and she wasn't one of them. Banu made an irritated grunt but the Anubis nodded soundlessly. ''Is there any temple of Mother Earth?''

''Ah...'' There she grew uncomfortable, her rings clicked once more. ''...That... that's a sensitive issue. My-our mother does not tolerate the loving pairs.'' She bit her bottom lips, trying very hard to deduce your emotions without making it obvious.

''And what do you think of them?''

''I...we...'' Her voice dropped in strength. ''We'd like to find out ourselves.''

''This is dangerous talk.'' Banu intervened, Shereen promptly nodded. ''There are still good numbers of inhabitants -Mamonos and humans alike- who remain stubborn adherents of Unity but it is outlawed in this realm. This country has three gods, three suns and that's the way of things.''

Three gods, three suns. Mother, older sister and...

''I'm...'' It struck you just now how young the Anubis looked. She was a good deal smaller than you and Banu, perhaps seventeen? early eighteen? Did she even finish growing? She didn't finish her sentence and looking into her garden with a bitter grimace.

>''Do you believe yourself a god, Shereen?''
>Say nothing, don't push your luck. You've only just gotten here and already made a faux-pas.
>Free

A physical AND a metaphorical leash?
Fan-fucking-tastic.

>>3845846
>Say nothing, don't push your luck. You've only just gotten here and already made a faux-pas.
...Three rulers? Is there perhaps a hierarchy in place? The Mother being at the top and the two daughters below her?. Hmmm.

Also, Shereen's been dealt a crappy hand here. Not only has the Witch used her as another pawn in her game by having her revive Arawn, if we manage to escape Marleon it will no doubt cast her in poor light in the eyes of her family.

>>3845846
>"I see... the weight of a sun has settled on your back. And you must prove yourself as captivating, and dazzling as the others."

>>3845882
>>3845886
Interesting choices. I'll wait again for a tiebreaker. I think I've got one more answer in me for tonight.

>>3845892
Sadly, I've gotta sleep. The bed's calling~
Thanks for running Insert!

>>3845900
There'll be tomorrow too!
Might call it here and roll to break the tie a little later tonight.

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>>3845846
So this land has a penchant for putting men on leashes and lacks a temple to Mother Earth so no Tui gate network. Yep, no wonder Ama likes this place.

Well, maybe that's not all bad news, after all, it sounds like Shereen and Bantu might have a moment for Jes-I mean Mother Earth after all and a hidden, secret church with regular "mass" attendance might spread enough influence to enable a portal. Problem is there ain't no way in hell they're gonna trust us as a fucking moon, hand selected pet of the one persecuting them in their eyes. Damn, if only we'd have learned a bit of the symbology of that religion or nabbed some holy scripture. Secret symbols were how Christians in the Roman Empire and beyond during persecution identified each other and where the secret churches were. I'd assume they've got a similar setup going on here.

>>3845882
Hey now, if we can somehow get her to become a convert she can come with us and, with Daiyu's and the church's blessing, lead a holy crusade to restore the true faith to her lands! When life hands you lemons, make grenades out of the lemons!

>>3845886
This is the schmooze option. I'm kinda in favor of taking it. It can't hurt to make her like us and this sounds like it'll lift her spirits. Hopefully not too much though, can't have her buying into her own divinity all that hard for if we can get her to convert and help out the hidden followers of Mother Earth that'll make things easier on us in the long run.

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>>3845970
Interesting logic.
I'll open tomorrow with the custom choice.

>>3845979
Oh, just remembered, we still have that aspect of Ama don't we? We should probably use that sometime soon. Knowing if there are blood nests nearby is very relevant information. The more there are, the more we must suspect our little liege of not being a good girl. Though, to be fair, it's her "dear sweet mother" who's most likely to be directly in bed with the fluffy bitch and thus have them deployed everywhere.

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>>3846133
>Oh, just remembered, we still have that aspect of Ama don't we?
It is in your sheet so yes, it's something you can do. Though it does require a little time on Arawn part to concentrate properly.

>>3846144
Hot damn that maid is sexy as hell.

So it has a cast time. Eh, we can do it before we go to bed or once we wake up in the morning. Like I said, very relevant info we can get just by doing something simple and hopefully on the down low.

Pretty sure the dental mines will blow if and when we try to inform her about our biggest problem here. If moons can requisition supplies I suggest we get some stencils and... do we have a favorite food and drink yet? Need to work on that if we don't. Might as well take advantage of this gilded cage in any way we can.

>>3846231
At least we can use the fact that we can't talk about Ama, to our advantage if we ever need to prove that there are certain things that we are being persecuted over.

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>>3846231
Muribel is my perfect excuse to post browns. I will never remiss this chance.

> Like I said, very relevant info we can get just by doing something simple and hopefully on the down low.

Do remember that to get a truly widespread radar ping, you needed to take advantage of Mother Earth web. This web is absent without a dedicated place of worships, so finding potential cabals of Lady White could be particularly difficult unless you could mingle that soul ability with some form of divination.

>If moons can requisition supplies I suggest we get some stencils and... do we have a favorite food and drink yet?

Arawn doesn't actually. He's not a difficult guy when it comes to being fed. As for supplies, you could try without asking your gracious Sun.

>>3846243
That pic is good civilization.

Damnit all, seems Ama thought of everything when she sent us here. Fuck. Still, if the ping we get is only as wide as the palace we're sleeping in that'd at least be a start. Need to get a "soul vision" spell of some kind ASAP. That+aspect could at least enable LoS identification of blood nests or even Ama cultists proper (hopefully with "wall hacks" so if it's hidden inside a building we'd still see it/them).

On supplies,might want to ask her first. We haven't gained her trust yet. Asking around for shit without going through her, at least initially, might get her asking us questions we don't want to answer that she may be able to force us to.

>>3846280
I wonder if Ama is going to visit us again, as she probably already knows that we have awoken.

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>>3846280
Civilisation is the best servant.

You haven't truly tested Ama aspect outside of the web, so I won't be able to give any concrete answers for now.

>>3846291
Oh you know it. She's gonna gloat about all the things and revel in our apparently hopeless situation. I am not sure we'll be able to hold our temper once she starts making digs at/about Gardy, because we all know she will.

>>3846297
Definitely up there, I'll agree she is pretty swell.

Of course not. Still, best not to forget about any of our tools. It's gonna take all we have plus the miraculously timed intervention of our friends if we hope to get out of this one in one piece.

That or, again, the conversion of the Anubis to Mother Earth. If a full web gets set up here it's just a few portals with a linked girl to our location than a gate back to Throne Town. Hell, if we can get both of those we may even nab her and her other moons as allies against Ama. An elf can dream.

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>>3846318
>An elf can dream.
Dream of his Sun!

>>3846344
Only after she has rejected Ama and all her works and all her false promises, accepts Mother Earth as her lord and savior, and joins Daiyu's Crusade against bad fluffy.

Then, then she might be waifu material...

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''The sun's weight is on your back isn't it, Shereen?'' Everyone have their stresses and pressures. Swallowing your displeasure at your circumstance and looking at this small Anubis in her red eyes was the best way to get your message across to, perhaps, give her little chance, a little benefit of the doubt. ''You need to prove yourself as dazzling and captivating as the others?''

With a mother and an older sister who call themselves living ''suns'' it must be one hell of a throne to reach for a girl barely reaching adulthood.

A sharp intake of breath from Banu made it obvious you've gone and stepped into a sensitive topic with the grace of a bear but she didn't try to interrupt her liege.

''Ah...We...'' Shereen mouth tightened into silence and her stares left yours, a small moment of silence followed until she managed to resettle her thoughts. ''We already dazzle by our mere existence, that is normal my Moon!'' She forced a cheery smile and took a backward accompanied by the gentle chimes of her jewelry. ''Everyday the Sun proves itself with gifts of life by shining in the sky or behind clouds to nourish the earth and so we too have the duty of guiding, cherishing our people, to be captivating is... yes-yes it's a start. A Sun duty and its Moons don't end so easily.''

Shaky convictions made an insecure speech, deep-rooted doubts were kept hidden and deflected by pride that somehow didn't appear malign. You were lucky that she wasn't snapping at you for asking something bold.

''While we...'' Her brows knitted together in a frown and Shereen stared briefly at her silent companion. ''It is true your Sun needs you to become a person of excellence, good Moon. That's right, not a pet, like those naked fools trained by our sister or the slaves that litter the grounds, but a true person! Moons and Suns alike dazzle by their existence so that's why we need you!''

She was trying rather hard to convince herself of something and simultaneously look charismatic with a little pose and a wide smile but it wasn't working, at least for you. It was a good effort at least, but the way she kept toying with her dark hair betrayed her nervousness far too easily.

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''Which is why we'd like to ask things of you now!'' Shereen continued, looking happy despite how much she struggled to answer your question. ''Elves are old and wise, we've been wondering about your age my Moon. Have you witnessed changing eras? Or perhaps you are one of the new generations? While we will not fault your lack of confidence with matters of self-defense, perhaps you'd like to show us a little of your magical esoteric magical talent?''

From the circle opening in the roof that allowed sunlight to nourish her garden, you could easily that it wasn't going to settle down anytime soon. Shereen had answered your barrage of questions so, it'd only be fair to return this gesture... But how honest should you be?

>Be truthful about yourself. Admit to your amnesia and what little you know about your past, your history before getting kidnapped. (Semi-custom choice here is possible if you only want to inform them about certain topics instead of your broad experience.)

>Use your amnesia as an excuse to deflect most of her inquiries. It's a distasteful half-truth but maintaining this charade shouldn't be too difficult...

>Endeavor to nourish her curiosity with your magical talent to keep your past under wraps. Showing your skills in that area should be enough to satisfy Shereen curiosity.

>Free

>>3847687
I am for a bit of a mix of light truth telling and showing off our magic but the most important thing is do we have ready access to a holy user? The list of banned words has likely been updated so any attempt to mention our past might cause our molars to explode. I don't want to find out how long the pain lasts without help.

>>3847687
Would being truthful include telling of our time in Throne Town? I have no qualms about letting her know about our lack of memories but I do not wish to divulge anything too specific - like our connection to the Jawahirs.

Though I doubt we can get away with not mentioning anyone at all, as someone had to help us uncover our meager knowledge on Arawn's past. Perhaps we can simply avoid naming anyone? If nothing else we can simply use false names off the top our head.

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>>3847705
>but the most important thing is do we have ready access to a holy user?
Nope. You might need to find out how Muribel monsters heal themselves if your fears are true!

>>3847687
>Be truthful about yourself. Admit to your amnesia and what little you know about your past, your history before getting kidnapped. (Semi-custom choice here is possible if you only want to inform them about certain topics instead of your broad experience.)
Stick to a broad explanation events that lead up to our capture have occurred regarding Ama, and the intrigue surrounding her and her band of misfits and why we need to go back, or at least send them a message to explain our absence after all if we are going to stick around while we help her she needs to know.

I think I've got this right, Arawn was originally stillborn but was revived by Ama (somehow) on behalf of our Father, in return our soul was forfeit the next time we died, and we were stolen by someone for some reason and put in the Throne.

>>3847719
>Would being truthful include telling of our time in Throne Town?
That's what it entails yes.
> I have no qualms about letting her know about our lack of memories but I do not wish to divulge anything too specific - like our connection to the Jawahirs.
Then it's the second option. Deflecting your past by making excuses with your amnesia.

>>3847687
Ah wait, I am an idiot that should finish reading voting options, ignore >>3847719

>Be truthful
>>"I... am afraid I am unable to give the answers you want. I am amnesiac, your highness. My name is the only thing I truly remember and my meager knowledge of my family and myself was acquired through others I was lucky enough to meet."

>>3847723
Oh, well in that case I'd like to change my >>3847727 vote to deflecting.

Christ, my brain is all over the place today. I should stop rushing my thoughts.

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Alright, if I understand things...

>>3847705
Mixture of honesty about our past and showing up off magic.

>>3847722
A more honest explanation of your situation. Tell them about Throne Town, your friends, Daiyu and possibly Ama's your ties with Ama.

>>3847732
Deflection.
I'm also strangely woozy today anon, don't worry! Hope it hasn't affected my update.

Fairly important choice, so I think waiting a solid 20 minutes for a tiebreaker is fair.

>>3847727
I like this, it'll segway into why we we're not perhaps unwilling to be specific, but why we fear to be. For we are cursed and one of the problems relating to that curse is when we try to share info about ourselves directly, well, a very bad thing happens to us. (Also I think the collar's a lie detector so we'd best not try that too much).

We must find ways to tell them things without saying them. Stencils, we need stencils.

>>3847741
>>3847742
Basically, I'm changing my vote to seconding the honesty approach but want to ease into it because of the dental mines with >>3847727 response as the starting point.

>>3847770
Alright. Let's see how that goes.

Okay, now that I've taken my time reading through the update a little better (I somehow missed Shereen asking about a magic demonstration) I can get behind showing off... sadly our only spell that can be shown off would be the Soul Arm.

>>3847770
Hmm. Are you sure we should go talking about the tooth pains yet? While I am all for tipping off Banu and Shereen to the fact that they've been played in acquiring Arawn in the first place, having them believe that Arawn has a curse on him that causes roided out tooth aches sounds a little tough to achieve given that we have not known the pair for long and have already shown to not be above trying to lie.
Given Shereen's apparent and enthusiastic interest in Elves I am half-tempted to accuse her of being an otaky/weeb for Elven culture!

>>3847687
>>3847727
>>3847742
>>3847770
Also warn them away from prying since we have a self propagating memetic in our head. And mention that without magi-tech we can't make a show of our magic.
>>3847789
We haven't lied, like I said, only given the truth in a way that they did not understand.

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>>3847789
>I am half-tempted to accuse her of being an otaky/weeb for Elven culture!

Please do so.

>>3847794
>Inb4 Shereen has an artist's rendition of what Luminaris/the Elemental Trees looked like, various paintings of famous Elves and a small collection of Elven "artifacts".

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''I have to admit Shereen that I've been feeling dreadful about revealing my past, you will likely be disappointed.''

Sherren ears twitched and she tilted her head in such a genuinely canine-like fashion that a smile nearly broke your mask of politeness.

''What many find dreadfully normal and dull can be genuinely compelling have no fear, my dear Moon! Your perspective, your experience... These do matter.'' Her retort was not only excited but genuine and perhaps for the first time all of her words of ''radiance'' were finding a tiny mark. Could this be Shereen true face?

''Thank you, I'm sorry for lying earlier. I've had to be careful for a long time.'' She nodded again and Banu crossed her arms, looking less uptight. ''So I'll be straight: I've had amnesia and awakened only a few... months ago.''

A year spent asleep doesn't sound like making memories.

''A-amnesia?'' The little pharaoh hadn't expected that.

''Sounds like a convenient excuse.'' You already anticipated Banu protest.

''I know, I can tell you a little about my time after I regained consciousness before...coming here.'' You not-so-absentmindedly rubbed the collar on your neck Being mindful of your vocabulary was important here, accusations of kidnapping are likely the best way to anger your ''Sun'' and there's no need to squander whatever good faith you've managed to salvage after your first lie.

''My memory started when I awoke inside the inner compound of the Demon Lord in Throne Town, it is thank to her family that I've acquired some knowledge of myself. Namely my name, I have no proof to my claims and ancestry but I know with certainty that my name is Arawn Loukanos.''

''That makes sense. One's name is the greatest gift of one's parents and what can be considered everyone one true possession... It is rooted in your soul. Yes-yes, your Sun does believe that a lack of memories cannot steal one's name.'' You were being very careful with monitoring the reaction of the two women, Shereen looked honest almost to a fault, if not outright empathetic but Banu was a wall, a strong wall carved by a life of experiences that made her naturally suspicious.

A counterbalance to Shereen naivety perhaps?

''Thank you.'' Your gratitude wasn't faked. ''I made many friends and it is entirely because of them that I've managed to carve a little identity for myself and gotten better at handling my magical gift, my tutelage isn't even a year old.''

The Anubis red eyes fell into her garden whilst Banu hardened single stare wasn't leaving your person.

''You've been under the Demon Lord tutelage before becoming her majesty Moon?'' Asked wizened woman.

''I still am.'' Her features furrowed into a heavy frown and Shereen ears clicked nervously. Daiyu reputation extended far indeed, but it would seem it wasn't enough to cause outright fear with faraway people.

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''Bold claims.'' Banu retorted. ''Something like this should not be said anywhere else but I can say that I'm willing to believe you so far Arawn. Supremes tend to have strange company, even more so with rulers.''

''Thank you, Banu.'' A polite way that she was giving you the benefit of the doubt. She's likely pretty good at finding liars... or maybe there's some function about that collars... Shereen is still holding onto the ring after all. ''I can go into more details about my time but there's one very important thing I need you two to understand. I have an enemy you see, I'm pursued by someone relentless and powerful.''

''To harm our Moons is to harm the Sun!'' Shereen huffed, putting her fur-covered hands on her hips. ''Have no fear, you'll be safe with us!''

Banu looked extremely grave now.

''Are you two familiars with geas and others mental blocks?'' When they nodded silently, you continued. ''I've been unfortunately placed under something that doesn't allow me to share direct information, so forgive me for being vague.''

''Our revivification ritual...'' Shereen interrupted herself. ''...Actually, one cannot be certain that something afflicting the deepness of your soul could be cleansed as we made certain to concentrate on healing and energized your exhausted soul.'' She'd used Blood Magic to heal you, perhaps if she had looked deeper... That would have likely revealed your links.

''Are you two familiar with the great enemy inside the Cursed Swamp? It's mythical dweller, a being of our realm of existence who made that place it's home?'' Avoiding words like ''witch'', ''woman'', ''monster'','' contracts'' and ''tails'' made describing Ama particularly difficult if you wanted to spare yourself the grief of painful molars. Without Gardy, there's no clue how deeply Lady White might have embedded her influence inside of you now. Her geas doesn't seem to activate when you consciously try to share information about her but that's likely in spirit of fairness with her game, tripping up keywords would be a one-way street to zapping.

Knowing that vixen she'd likely make written attempts impossible too.

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''The Fox of Poisoned Knowledge.'' Banu said emotionlessly, Shereen previous frown of confusion changed into genuine astonishment... and perhaps a little excitement. ''I know that one, Lady White; I had to remove some of her cabals infesting Muribel cities in the distant past... Our Pharaoh is no ally of hers.''

''Our mother would never be so... so base as to break bread with a damnable creature that readily uses human sacrifices! Imagine that! Human sacrifice!? One can do so much more with gifts of blood, creativity and respecting ones duties!'' The little glimpse you've caught about her ritual gave Shereen credits, it was true that nobody died to heal you.

It might have taken a hundred people but none of them died.

''So that is your enemy? Good!'' Shereen continued, thoroughly upset. ''Let her come and be purged by the Sun vengeance! Let all Supremes and would-be gods know that Shereen Roshanak is no coward who abandons her Moons!'' Her Moons huh? Her way of speaking seems a little disorderly.

''Your majesty.'' Banu mask had broken into an awkward grimace. ''Such words remain dangerous.''

''You'd be right my dear Banu, for anyone but the Sun insulting the Poisoner is dangerous indeed. Fear, not Arawn, it is our duty to safeguard you! Our radiance will heal you and burn that damnable witch!'' Dangerous words. Shereen was filled with bravado, trying her best to appear charismatic with hands on her hips and a wagging tail but all you saw was a young woman with far too much enthusiasm.

Ama won't even need to chew her up.

>Things will move onto the next story day after this choice.

>Since Shereen is very interested in your stalker, perhaps it'd be wise ot make yourself useful by revealed your connection to Ama in some way. Your ability to grasp her aspect allows you to spot areas that fell under her influence... Maybe that could get you out of the city if you produce results.

>Warn Shereen about the witch menaces, namely that she menage to engineer an assault inside the Demon Lord inner fortress in a single week. She's no easy enemy.

>Remain silent, don't squander Shereen good moods.

>Free

Feeling a bit too feebleminded to continue today. Let's proceed tomorrow.

>>3847993
>Warn Shereen about the witch menaces, namely that she menage to engineer an assault inside the Demon Lord inner fortress in a single week. She's no easy enemy.
Additionally
Ask how we came into their possession, as figuring out how we got here would be a good starting point to figuring out where to start searching for signs of Ama's influence, as there may be a cell operating locally.

>>3847993
>>3848014
+1

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>>3847993
>Knowing that vixen she'd likely make written attempts impossible too.
Ah, but thankfully stencils can turn broad strokes with a brush or pencil into letters, words, and symbols. She may be able to stop specific motions of our hands and fingers but broad strokes or filling in shapes via scribbling should be impossible (assuming she's being "fair" and all).

>It might have taken a hundred people but none of them died.
Let's see, about 10 pints in the average mamono I'd assume, can lose up to 4 of those before you die without magic or something so let's say 2.5 per participant on average if we assume she put safety first... 31.25 *gallons* at least to revive us. Ooof, Khorne would be pleased with that offering. Still, nobody died and that's what matters the most.

Damn, that actually went well, a little too well I'm afraid. As for what to do, dampen her enthusiasm as Ama is pretty much Deity-tier powerful and I doubt Blood magic is useful in combat unless you've had time to prepare a ritual or something (plus, in a blood mage on blood mage battle Ama'd win hands down). I kind of want to warn her, but then again, if she is warned, then what's "fair" opens up quite a whole lot.

Then, as this can be folded into pretty much any answer we go with, request magitek armaments and stencils from Shereen. We're very, very good with magitek and stencils are a potential way around the curse!

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>>3848093
>Ah, but thankfully stencils can turn broad strokes with a brush or pencil into letters, words, and symbols. She may be able to stop specific motions of our hands and fingers but broad strokes or filling in shapes via scribbling should be impossible (assuming she's being "fair" and all).

If you roll for Arawn (non-existent)artistic skill I'd be willing to accept that reasoning. I'll ask for a roll if/when it's relevant.

>Asking for Magitek equipment

I can add that with tomorrow answer.

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>>3848101
Stencils, good ones for complex shit anyway, require artistic skill to *create*. Once created, a monkey with a paintbrush/pencil/spray paint can could use one effectively. See pic, my goal is something like that on a 1'x1' square of sheet metal (2'x2' if we need broad strokes with a brush to skate the curse). That takes the mere ability to move a pencil back and forth inside the holes to use effectively.

Conversely, make the holes into elevated type and you can rub a lead rod over the relevant part to get similar results. The only problem I foresee is acquisition. This ain't the industrial revolution (not yet), so they may be rare items and/or require a hired artisan to create for our specific purpose. The Anubis has paw pads right? They may have these lying around to make writing easier for themselves at first. She's young, she might still have a set her parents got her as a kid lying around.

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>>3848166
>so they may be rare items and/or require a hired artisan to create for our specific purpose.
You'll need an artisan for that.

>The Anubis has paw pads right?
She's similar to Gwendolyn insofar that her monstrous limbs tend to change here and there, although the manifestation is limited to her hands. She's got well-defined fingers that tend to become bigger from moments to moments. It's her feet that are fully animalistic.

>>3848176
So she can switch between fingers and paw pads? Nice, new possibilities in hand holding!

Drat on the artisan requirement, but hey, royalty has armies of those working for them pretty much as a given. The only question is how much do we/they trust a particular fucker (the ones who can make stencils) to not be secretly a fan of white fluffy tails and elven suffering?

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>>3848200
>The only question is how much do we/they trust a particular fucker (the ones who can make stencils) to not be secretly a fan of white fluffy tails and elven suffering?

Now now, you're very far from your Number One Fan

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>>3848218

>>3848218
She is not our fan. She is a fan of our suffering and bad things happening to us and those we care about. If she really was our "fan" she'd be engineering good things to have happen to us, not this horrible conga line of suffering and death she's been engineering for what I'm gonna assume our first memories (before amnesia stole them all away).

I assume she has her own webway/gate network that overlays all blood nests and places where Mother Earth's influence is weak to nil (eg. where we are right now). Thus, "distance" from her is a meaningless concept in most cases. The instant she wishes to violate us with her fluffiness, she can wave a hand, pop up right behind us, and do so.

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>>3847993
Mayhaps we could relay the tale on the assault on Throne Town to Banu instead? I think Shereen would be more likely to really listen to her.

>>3848093
>request magitek armaments
If she vetoes giving us armaments (like I feel that she's going to because "yeah let's give this man we barely know and who doesn't want to be here weapons, what could possibly go wrong") then let's ask for some minor trinkets for study. Tinkering on his down time could be a fine way to de-stress for Arawn, and getting better at making/using magitek is just another thing for Shereen to boast about.
If Shereen knows someone proficient in crafting magitek or has any books on the subject that's just a plus.

I'm really sad we didn't study magitek better in Throne Town now, we can't Tony Stark our way out of this situation.
"Arawn Loukanos was able to build this in CAVE! With a BOX of SCRAPS!"

>>3848724
To be fair, we weren't given the chance. We almost were though. We *were* just about to really settle in in Throne Town. We *were* just about to have that option of hanging out with Martha and Belph on the regular and join in on their efforts to up the tech level of this world (maybe even start falling for one of them). We would have likely invented something in a month or two with them. Hell, we may have even been able to learn how to use the fact that our body is, technically, a holy relic in the eyes of the cogboys with Gardy's assistance...

And then Bad Fluffy, her asshole posse, and that fucking vampire cuntlord whose fate we aren't certain of went "nope, can't let that happen" and fucked everything up. We didn't even get that "soul magic spray paint can" I wanted. God I hope this doggo has a cogboy/girl on staff. We need something on that front badly.

We'll probably get the weapon though. We've got a slave collar attached to our neck. The thinking will go "He's in grave danger, and even if he's got any ideas about escape or rebellion we just turn the collar on and down he goes. It'll teach him a lesson!"

>>3849030
Shit, just remembered. No Gardy, meaning possibly becoming Ama's meat puppet upon losing consciousness. We need to get a setup such that we know if that happened or not. If it ever does, well, we'll have to deal with that problem somehow.

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>>3849030
>To be fair, we weren't given the chance. We almost were though. We *were* just about to really settle in in Throne Town. We *were* just about to have that option of hanging out with Martha and Belph on the regular and join in on their efforts to up the tech level of this world (maybe even start falling for one of them). We would have likely invented something in a month or two with them. Hell, we may have even been able to learn how to use the fact that our body is, technically, a holy relic in the eyes of the cogboys with Gardy's assistance...

Isn't it sad that a good fox decided to be bold?

>>3849297
It seems your version of sad is my version of frustrating and infuriating. We can't catch a friggin' break because she won't let us!

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''Shereen, please do not underestimate that creature.'' Her bombast toward Lady White wasn't easy to handle, she barely batted an eye at your warning.

Time to be a little more direct, if you're stuck in Lady White game you've got to do the best of this situation, finding potential allies is likely... It might be why Ama allowed you to be here in the first place.

''I've experienced her craftiness. Have you heard about an assault inside the Demon Lord fortress sometimes last year?'' To think it was Ama that revealed how much time you've spent sleeping...

''News of this trouble have traveled.'' Banu answered when, surprisingly, Shereen had frowned in genuine confusion. ''There have been troubles amongst the belligerent kingdoms about an influx of Mamonos and the news of the Demon Lord declaration of war traveled with merchants and caravans; you were present during that attack? The witch wasn't an excuse?''

''Why have we not been informed of such a thing? We knew the Jawahir dynasty had acknowledged that creature existence but such troubles have been happening with our old foe?'' Shereen turned her attention at her retainer with an accusatory glare empty of venom.

''Such concerns are for your mother, your majesty.'' The one-eyed old woman reply was stern, like her entire person. ''Your land is much more important.''

''But if the witch is following my Moon, then she becomes our problem.'' Shereen replied with a measured tine and placed her hand (which had undergone a strange sudden growth, looking like paws now).

''It took her a single week to engineer an assault inside the Demon Lord inner fortress. Do you think it'd be possible for a party to assault your palace within a week, Shereen?'' One could argue you were embellishing her influence because she remained passive for almost an entire month, happy to let her followers do whatever they wanted but once she decided enough was enough... Your statement had frozen both girl and woman. ''That's the power of my enemy. I don't think she'll replicate that feat here, but I want you two to understand there's no end to her potential boldness. She's not above involving the people around me in her cruel aspirations.''

''It is the Sun duty to support its Moons, we will not go back on our words.'' Shereen still sounded enthused but at least her bravado had evaporated. She wasn't going to be intimidated. ''We'd like to know more about this indeed, your time, memories and struggles must be fascinating. My Moon past might be short -for now- but it sounds interesting!''

''I'm... not that amazing. She'd have chewed me up if I didn't have loyal friends.'' The little pharaoh firm gaze left yours after that statement. ''I wanted to make this clear, I've no idea what that woman is up to but expect the worse.''

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''Then now's the perfect time for my Moons to be improving themselves to not only be worthy of a Sun dazzlement but resist the machination of the contaminated Wound-of-the-World!'' Shereen threw her arm upward, pointing at the opening in her ceiling. ''If friendship was the elixir for victory then we will replicate it in due time, yes-yes!''

Hopefully, your warnings wouldn't fall on deaf fear. For all of Shereen enthusiasm, her aide maintained a composed attitude and remained silent, immune to the little pharaoh infectious mood.

''Alright, in that case, would I be overstepping your goodwill by asking for some Magitek equipment? I'm something of a tinkerer you see...''

''That sounds like a reward to strive toward my dear Moon!'' Shereen ears excitedly twitched. ''We have no idea about this strange subject but it should perhaps be possible to do something?'' It doesn't seem like you came with your gauntlet or tools. Hell, having truly lost them would be such a shame... Belphegor isn't going to be happy.

''I'll see what can be done.'' Banu replied. ''I believe this craft is only used with our agriculture but if her majesty so wishes it, then I'll explore avenues for odd knickknacks.''

''Yes-yes, once there is time yes.'' The little pharaoh glanced toward her big library. ''Have you had the chance to read any good books, my Moon? There's a silver lining to having no memories; there are so many great things stories to experience!''

Shereen led you forward toward that massive range of books that followed an entire wall of her chamber. The next few hours were filled with discussions of books, your interest, history and many pauses for refreshment as all the discussions were making the little pharaoh throat raw. It was almost enough for her to become annoying but somehow, Shereen found good moments to ask your opinions and impressions to keep things engaging and you began to enjoy yourself despite the circumstances.

She didn't make it show but she was a little disappointed that you hadn't spent much time inside Throne Town immense library, thankfully revealing that you've searched for basic information about elves helped reinforce your statements.

Inevitably, evening came. Time passage was easy to measure thank to Shereen unique roof and since you were still in her good grace, you enjoyed a supper fit for a pharaoh with her strange cat ''Rupert'' inviting himself on your legs.

--

This part of the palace had a small but decently equipped bathroom reminiscent of the infrastructure inside the Jawahir tower built around the demonic throne and you spent a little time trying to investigate (and failing to understand) it's properties that were, alas, too alchemical for your area of expertise. Exiting its premise had you come face to face with Banu inside the main hallway of this wing empty of souls.

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'You've had an interesting time despite someone without a past.'' She didn't look intimidating unlike this morning, the older woman seemed... neutral. Neither warm nor hostile, making her presence much easier to stomach.

''You must have anticipated that by bringing an elf here.'' You replied trying to massage the skin under your collar. Not exactly subtle here but... illusions of politeness matter.

''Elders always lead interesting lives... I don't think anyone's like yours, however.'' She continued, standing still like a statue.''Breaking or dominating them is often impossible, you're lucky that it is Shereen who got you. Her sister wouldn't have been so kind and her mother... she'd have sacrificed you, I think, given your rarity. Or maybe thrown you into a cage until you'll be useful for that.''

No such thing as luck, this is entirely Ama's doing. She wouldn't tolerate anybody else destroying her precious toy after all... although that'd make for a tiny bit of enjoyable irony.

''You've got no intention of staying a Moon, it's written all over your face. If you can keep things good with Shereen though, I'm not going to care about that.'' Her single eye glared at you calmly. ''Have you noticed it?'' She unfurled her crossed arms, gesturing for the hall.

''Empty.'' Banu continued. ''Nobody care for Muribel little princess. Not her mother, nor her sister, not the people. Nobody.'' And like that she began walking away, holding onto her braid. The passage of years didn't seem to have left any mark on her silhouette. ''Goodnight, you'll need it for tomorrow.''

That'll be a whole lot to mull over...

>What shall you do for this night? You won't have the opportunity of doing something every time, consider this a little bonus.

>Shereen lent you a few books. One about elves, another about Lady White and the last being a fictional story... Getting into one of them should please her.

>Try an exercise with your soul. To either embrace Ama's aspect and inspect the area or try to influence your links with the girls... You'll be unable to use magic but that's not a completely crippling disadvantage.

>Get some rest early instead, you'll have some training, Banu doesn't seem like a merciful teacher.

>Free

I'll have to postpone things here, unfortunately. I've had three days of uninterrupted insomnia so I'm kinda dead tired. I'd love to restart around this weekend if I can but I won't make promises.

What do you think of your owner now?

>>3849856
>Get some rest early instead, you'll have some training, Banu doesn't seem like a merciful teacher.
If we rest now we will have the energy to deal with her training, right?

>>3849860
Yep.

>>3849856
>Get some rest early instead, you'll have some training, Banu doesn't seem like a merciful teacher.
Bruises incoming.

Shereen... doesn't seem too bad. A little naive, but she doesn't seem truly malicious in any way *so far*. I feel like she doesn't much care for the whole "Moon" business, but for her it is just a fact of life. She's grown up with it.
>''Empty.'' Banu continued. ''Nobody care for Muribel little princess. Not her mother, nor her sister, not the people. Nobody.'
No wonder she's trying so hard to be a good host and to be likable, she's desperate for more social contact. The fact that she had to essentially enslave someone for it is unfortunate but again - she's desperate.

>>3849856
>Get some rest early instead, you'll have some training, Banu doesn't seem like a merciful teacher.
I expected this to be what was happening.

>>3849856
>Get some rest
If we don't, we'll trigger sloth after the training session. These other options can wait for later.

Damn, the things we've got the most points in are currently untrainable and the one thing we didn't really invest in is in spades. I swear Ama's trying to keep us from power leveling one of those trees to it's pinnacle perk.

She's lonely, and she seems a bit of a shut in. People would probably like her if she got out more, but as they say, it's lonely at the top. Nobles would just use her for politics, can't exactly have a friendly chat with a slave/peasant, and her own family probably looks down on her for not being willing to make human sacrifices or break others to her will. That is, they disdain her "weakness" as they see it. She may be the only one in the family that actually has that pesky thing called a conscience.

>you're lucky that it is Shereen who got you. Her sister wouldn't have been so kind and her mother... she'd have sacrificed you, I think, given your rarity. Or maybe thrown you into a cage until you'll be useful for that.
Ok, Shereen *has* to know mommy isn't exactly against human sacrifice given this. Thus, her siding with Ama isn't as impossible as she thinks it to be. Or perhaps she's just telling herself that, hoping and praying that it's not true because things get really dark really fast for everyone if it is.

>She wouldn't tolerate anybody else destroying her precious toy after all... although that'd make for a tiny bit of enjoyable irony.
Damn Arawn, you don't need to go channeling the doomed albino emperor of all things! Things aren't that bad...yet.

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Getting ready for a bruising.

I'll update twitter and this thread when I'll do my soft sessions. I'd like to make a little more progress and this thread should still be alive for that.

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>>3850634
Oh no....

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Your first morning in this (temporary) new home was an interesting experience to contrast your Throne Town routine.

Firstly, no signs of Lady White to disturb your rest. Second, you came face to face with Banu after exiting the only bathroom of this palace wing and accompanied her into the kitchens to ''restock'' Shereen's general living area and prepare breakfast. This brief foray into the palace innards revealed an increasing amount of women wearing near-seethrough dresses with the few odd Mamonos here and there (most of them being lizards mixtures; the largest type of monstrous population in Marleon) acting as guards, sporting swords and round shields. Having these ''slaves'' being human was an oddity that didn't endear you to your circumstances at all. Doubly so when all of them acted as if you and Banu were lepers, making a point of ignoring and dodging your existences. It was difficult not fondly remember Throne Town guards and students giving you polite greetings when you crossed paths.

The experience was more interesting than infuriating, how would people outside the palace react to Shereen dark purple ''personal color''?

''They're all Ensan Moons.'' Banu had informed after the two of you completed this awkward chore. Ensan, that must be Shereen's sister.

''I've counted twenty.'' You replied.

''There are about that many men too. Take's that many Moons to properly support her second majesty.'' Irony and contempt openly mixed inside the one-eyed wizened guardian. ''Lucky for us she recently set out on a boat expedition, so that's a peace of mind.''

Both of you pushed a pair of a trolley filled with food for her little majesty personal kitchen and set to work with placing and preparing everything.

Training started far sooner than anticipated, Banu was a firm coach in the kitchen.

--

''Do we still have a training room in this part of the palace?'' Shereen asked. The little pharaoh had been awakened by her Moons entrance, she proceeded to eat breakfast after a few steps out of bed wearing a long sundress that flowed on the ground with each step.

Finding this endearing filled you with no end of mixed feeling that you hid by eating your share.

''We do.'' Banu answered, keeping one hand on the cat spine who had jumped on the table. ''I've had your sister Moons clean it up and asked the guards to deliver useable weapons yesterday night.

''Good. We'll witness for ourselves the first of our Moons valiant training.'' Shereen turned to observe you without any noises flowing out of her ears, the previous jewelry was gone, resting on a table beside her bed.

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''I lack experience.'' You replied sternly. ''I look forward to improving, learning how to defend myself and my Sun isn't to be underestimated.'' You've had... a rocky time to be sure. You've fought a few battles, trained with the girls when you weren't too focused by events or your magical progress. Now you can't support your talented friends with your magic anymore, nor can you strike from a distance without your magitek gauntlet, you cannot afford to be a dead weight with a blade.

Also useful if you manage to escape...

''Arawn.'' Shereen tried her best to mask expectations with a haughty expression. ''Have you... Um, did you...'' Shereen cleared her throat and tugged at her black tail. ''Read anything you liked?''

''Sorry, I was quite tired yesterday.'' No need to beat around the bush, you passed out minutes after closing your light.

The little pharaoh masked her disappointment with a haughty grin. ''Of course of course!'' And like that, she didn't say anything else, breakfast continued in silence.

Banu silent, single stare, and constantly neutral feature made it impossible to deduce whatever was going on in her mind.

--

Shereen living space was sizeable and undeniably lonely. The area for your first training exercise was a room inside another bigger hallway of this eastern wing. The absence of windows, general signs of life from traveling servants and closed doors after closed doors hinted a silent story of past activities.

''There's never been many people around this part of the palace, even before the events of five years ago.'' Your Sun spoke in the middle of the walk, the hallway was large enough for all three to walk side by side and of course, she was in the middle. ''Better than having nosy people snooping around!''

The complete lack of windows felt deliberate, it was impossible to tell what was happening outside and from what you've seen, Banu needed to be heavy-handed with the palace staff to get them here.

You've always thought a gilded cage would be subtler.

''We've arrived.'' Shereen's attempt at a discussion had been poorly timed, Banu opened a set of doors after arriving at the very end of the hallway.

Inside was a small armory for all kinds of weapons resting on walls and various wooden cases. Swords, staves, spears, halberds, shields of various styles and sizes, a few maces and some esoteric items like flails or odd blades forged on a handle on some kind of handle...? Seeing a few glaives had you tighten a fist.

The girls were still alive and hopefully healthy... that's all you could glean from your links.

Wooden floors and walls made this comfortably homely, an opening in the roof -first signs of the sun outside Shereen room- allowed air and noises from out of the palace to filter inside, it's round opening aimed at a similarly shaped indentation on the floor made of stones.

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''I took the liberty of bringing a few potions for our good health.'' Banu informed, gesturing for a metal trolley with a few bottles of glasses filled with a red, murky liquid alongside snacks and other miscellaneous refreshments. ''And so we'll begin. We'll likely remain here until the sun moves into evening, it'll be a long, grueling and vital work to ensure our Sun protection.''

''Mmhm! Rarely have we witnessed the training of our Moon, shall you use the powers of your spiritual tattoos Banu?'' Shereen comment made your soon-to-be instructed glance at the wave-like red lines on her arms with brief apprehension.

''Far too soon.'' Banu stated plainly. ''Basic skills-at-arms are the best thing to complement a reinforced body and those can only be forged by hours of practices.''

''Any... recommendation?'' You were starting to feel a little intimidated. Banu old age didn't seem to have any effect on her health.

''A staff.'' She responded firmly while looking at the armaments. ''Rather inconspicuous, we won't have any formation so limiting yourself to a single offensive point could be unwise when it comes to protecting her majesty. Neutralizing whoever is foolish enough to attack her instead of killing them would also help her decide the proper justice.''

''Banu is good with all kinds of things so don't let that limit you, my Moon! Choose whatever resonates with you!'' Shereen had dragged a bench from somewhere in the room and put a book on it to observe you excitedly, tail and ears twitching in synch.

''Haven't had proper exercise with someone in a good while, don't mind me enjoying this Arawn, It's for your education.'' Banu smiled and began loudly cracking her fingers.

You've already experienced the utter hopelessness of training with the Demon Lord but this... is likely going to be a different kind of pain.

>This upcoming choice will grant you a proficiency perk with a weapon and further experience in fighting in close-combat. Familiarity in a weapon allows you to get a good modifier in battle much more easily and grants you better general defense with your weapon; it is a simple but very useful skill that can organically combine with your magical skills.

>Follow Banu advice and train with a staff. (This can translate with familiarity with most polearms, choosing a spear or a glaive is also posible.)
>Train with a blade instead, something one-handed. (Straight swords, falchion, a shortsword for fighting in tight space... Leaving one hand free can be mighty useful.)
>See if you can use one of those odd weapons. (Flails and katars. Training one of those will be particularly difficult.)
>Free (Muribel as a Mamono country has a heavy martial tradition so there are quite a few weapons available. Hand-to-hands can also be requested.)

This is a fairly important choice for customization so I'll wait for the evening to get a proper consensus of players wishes. Once we get our agreement, I'll ask for a roll so stay tuned.

>>3857053
Oooh boy. I both looked forward to and dreaded this moment due to my indecisive nature - being a weapon nerd doesn't really help, either!

...But after some thinking, I'm leaning towards a shield+ one-handed weapon style. Arawn is already a protective person, so a shield ought to be a most fitting choice!
Besides, I've already an idea on how to apply magitek to that particular combination - once we have the resources and know-how of course!

Can we ask Banu to fit hand-to-hand training on the side once she deems us capable enough with our chosen weapon? Since she mentioned neutralizing people, I'm thinking of a grappling style to take advantage of our Soul Arm spell.

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>>3857053
>>3857094
Extremely good idea! I would go for hand to hand combat too but I'd love to be trained by Banu until I'm worthy of picking a weapon. I feel that martial and hand to hand on top of something, lets say a polearm like a staff would be extremely cool and handy if we get surprised or not.
Also new banner soon.

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>>3857094

Sword and shield is available.

Trying to sneak hand-to-hand into your training... I can allow that. Improving here will mostly depend on the result of your roll, the main gain will be proficiency with sword and board.

>>3857103
>I would go for hand to hand combat too but I'd love to be trained by Banu until I'm worthy of picking a weapon.
She'd rather train you into being semi-effective instead of waiting until you're ''worthy'' because having a good handle on your weapon would make Shereen that much safer. Still, she's good with her hands and feet so martial arts training is available.

So I take it your votes is for staff/polearms + potential hands-to-hands?

>Also new banner soon.

W-wha...? I'll huh, wait for more voices.

>>3857053
Shield and either a mace/hammer, or rod. A baton, extendable or not, can disable like a staff, but it’s one handed, and it has similar use to a heavier bludgeon.

>>3857145
>>3857094
Also hand to hand in spare time is good. Forgot to add that on.

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>>3857110
Yup! I want polearms Arawn to make him a spooky fighter. If he gets disarmed he'd go full martial art. That'd be ideal. Especially for the spook month.

>>3857103
>main gain will be proficiency with sword and board.
I'm fine with that. Honestly, when it comes to hand-to-hand I mainly want Banu to help out with getting use out of the Soul Arm spell so we won't have to use it as a mere glorified rock-thrower.

>>3857161
>I want polearms Arawn to make him a spooky fighter.
Hm. How would polearms make someone a spooky fighter?
You have my curiosity...

>>3857103
>Also new banner soon.
...And now you have my attention.

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>>3857172
A spooky fighter becuase think about this, imagine if an enemy is close enough to you to punch you because you have a spear or a polearm and think he's actually gonna hit you once and this gaining a huge adventage. Then Arawn, like white stud he is, flexes his pecs and literally disarms the enemy with a swift flick and then proceed to beat him up both with his muscles and a polearm. Truly a spooky scenario if you're fighting him.

Also yeah I'm making a banner. I've been drawing all the characters we've seen on act 1 and 2 and some that are forthcoming too if this dumb frenchy gives me more details. Big dumbass even forgets to give me details. You won't believe it. Like, listen I kindly ask how exactly one character looks to draw it and then he sends me a reference and says nothing, like this person wants me to just trace characters? What a dummy dum dum. Truly the worst. Can't even remember what his characters look like.

>>3857234
>This thirst
At the least we are getting a new banner, right?

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So the general idea of side training with hand-to-hand is looking unanimous.
We've got three votes for three individual weaponry.

Sword and board.
Staff (Spreading out into polearms can be done at a later date)
One-handed blunt weapon and a shield (I'll rule it as mace and shield)

>>3857234
Don't leak on the floor. You didn't ask me to go in-depth with details.

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Oh, fantastic. My ID changed for some reason. Great.

>>3857234
Personally, I like the idea of stomping the other guy's spear to the ground mid thrust and then feeding him his teeth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBcncSJ7u8g

The one time I need a gif of a specific thing the internet fails me. That or I didn't look in the right places.

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Hm, I'll wait until tomorrow for more voices, otherwise, dice will decide your new skill.

>>3857385
We’re pretty close to each others’ votes, is the shield the only important part for you? I want a blunt weapon because they don’t get stuck in people, and are good choices against armoured targets too. Plus shock batons and riot shields are fitting for a person who wants to serve and protect.

>>3857172
It's more of a mere glorified Gravity Gun but yeah, best to make it useful outside of times we have sharp, pointy, or heavy objects within our immediate vicinity.

Plus if we max it out and have martial skill we get pretty scary as a duelist-type unit and nab some anti-horde capability.

>>3857266
I don't care what we use really, just so long as a Shield is involved. Might have "vestiges of the protector" lingering about or something and we're pretty damn limited until we get back to cogboy business. I'll have to sleep on whether or not I'd prefer to smash, slash, or poke our foes to death.

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Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>3858192
With this vote, it makes things either sword and board or blunt and shield.

Rolling to break tie.

Afterward, I'll need you guys to roll 6d20+2. Each of the rolls simulates a day of training and the +2 is for choosing rest earlier, Arawn will enter a little routine as he trains with Banu.

Rolled 7, 3, 16, 3, 3, 14 + 2 = 48 (6d20 + 2)

>>3858777
Shield and blunt then? It was the second thing listed.

>>3858794
Yep, mace and shield it'll be.

Also, the +2 is for every d20, look like it'll have to be manually added.

Rolled 12, 14, 2, 4, 20, 20 = 72 (6d20)

>>3858777
Dice Gooods~!

>>3858826
Hm, not bad. One last roll available... I'll wait for a longer while before starting the update.

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Alright, I'll go with the better roll. Let's see how this training goes!

Sword and board + hands to hands, you guys sure are greedy.

>>3858895
Wait, it's blunt and board. Don't mind that.

>>3858826
>Nat 20x2
Nice roll dude!

>>3858826
Is that us rocking her shit in hand to hand after slowing down in progress with the weapons?

>>3858914
Oh, just thought of this, Banu will likely train us hard enough to trigger Sloth on each day but we didn't at least read a novel for Shereen? Seems that the happier we make our sun the nicer she'll be towards us so we really ought to make the doggo's tail wag whenever we get the chance if ya catch my meaning.

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Avoiding underestimating someone and experiencing their actual potential was always an interesting occurrence. Banu was Shereen only Moon; caretaker, bodyguard and likely educator rolled into a singular duty with more than enough experience to make her old age something to respect but she wasn't held back by her discolored hair, easily adapting to your choice of weapons and genuinely apt at teaching you by choosing the very same thing.

This also extended to getting slapped around in the latter half of training when you requested hands to hands exercise. Something that -you quickly found out- was Banu area of expertise.

Bodily reinforcement was strictly prohibited to forge proper reflex into your body. Shields clashed, mace swing and whirled around, you learned how to keep your wrist fairly flexible to avoid shattering your entire hand in case you slammed against a particularly sturdy monster, sweep with a medium-sized shield, handle smaller ones properly in case of having to handle tighter indoors... Maces and other blunt weapons weren't easy to handle because of their predictability but nobody could ignore the sheer danger of something so deadly coming their way.

Your first two days went well. Weapons training until afternoon then a few hours of fisticuff with generous kicks had you enter a satisfying lull; Banu was a good teacher and she appreciated your lack of complaints about getting smacked around. The evenings were spent in Shereen company, her spirited chipperness had her speak about books upon books because she lacked any other subjects but she wasn't boring to listen to, largely because of her enthusiasm.

After this ''introduction'' as Banu put it, you experience tow days of complete hell as she decided to take you seriously. This was no stern but fair teacher, having been satisfied by your quick progress she started using cruel tricks, skills, and experience to outright dominate exercises.

The floor became your new best friend and the cherry taste of potions could only be chased by suppers. Banu was so rough that Shereen grew worried enough to open a medical book and clumsily attempted to diagnose potential internal damages that hadn't been cured by the slow-acting potions.

Obviously, she was trying to push you to your limits, perhaps even break you but you've already experienced the utter hopelessness that was Daiyu training. That time when you and Klesiah fought together in that forest had been... terrifying. For all of Banu skills, she was no Demon Lord; her speed and habits were slowly but surely being imprinted in your memory.

>>3859100
Those 20's are probably going to give us an opportunity.

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That's why in the final two days things improved marginally. There was no science behind it, no logical explanation or a path of progress to explain how you suddenly managed to stand your ground against the elderly woman instead of getting pathetically crushed. Something... ''clicked''. Your instinct adjusted, her speed was familiar, her sharp movements weren't so surprising anymore, her legs trips began to be predictable, slamming your shield against hers had her back off because you were naturally bigger and stronger: your natural strength and constitution were slowly bridging the gap against her dexterity.

>You have acquired two new perks!
[One handed blunt weapon and shield proficiency.]
Allows you to handle small, medium shields and most one-handed blunt weapons with familiarity. Not quite enough to be a warrior, but definitely better than your average militia; this perk allows you to get positive modifiers in battles much more often and you know how to defend yourself effectively.

[Brawler]

Natural progression of your hand-to-hand training.

Grant a +1 modifier to all hand-to-hand rolls and remove any inherent disadvantages against trained martial artists/street brawlers of similar shapes and sizes. (A minotaur trying to box you will always have an inherent advantage if you fight them naturally for example.) This perk inherently functions with your Soul Arms.

--

When you exited your room you came face to face with Banu and subconsciously tensed your entire body.

''Easy.'' She responded with a gentle grin. ''We'll be resting today. You elves have the gift of eternal life and youth but that doesn't extend to me I'm afraid, I'll go fetch breakfast so go keep Shereen company. You've woken up a little later than usual, too.''

She walked off before you could respond. Unlike Throne Town, you weren't allowed to carry any weapons here without Bany supervision, a rule that'll likely not be circumvented when you remain in the palace.

''Oh, my diligent Moon! Feeling well?'' Shereen was already awake for once and remained in bed with a book in her hand. Sunlight filtered through the opening of her roof, revealing a late morning.

''Yeah, might have overslept a bit.'' You indeed felt a little lazy in the past few days once training was over, getting motivated to do anything afterward was difficult because entering Focus remained impossible with the collar.

''Today's our usual free day for Banu and ourselves.'' Everyday looked free for this little pharaoh but that was a reply best swallowed. ''Since you spoke of this magitek thing we've been thinking... why not visit the market and buy something fancy for my hardworking Moons? Banu never want anything... but surely you do?''

''My Sun wishes to buy me a gift?''

''Yeah!'' Shereen ears twitched, placing her open book on a pillow. ''Might be something interesting in the market an-''

Suddenly an echo of thunder filtered through the opening in her ceiling, making both of you look toward this strange interruption; a few frogs resting on rocks quickly jumped in the water.

''This... has to be magical.'' Said the little anubis. ''Elementalist having fun, yes.''

Another sound of zapping traveled in the room and Shereen laid back in bed with a loud grunt. ''This is so uncivilized!'' She groused.

This noise... you knew it well. Very well.

It was from your elemental gauntlet! Belphegor gift!

>Inform Shereen about this immediately. It shouldn't be hard to convince her to go see what's happening!
>Resolve yourself to go in the market instead, trying to please your little overlord is likely in your best interest. You'll probably have an opportunity to find your weapon another time...
>Free

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Damn forgot my pic.

>>3859100
>Banu will likely train us hard enough to trigger Sloth on each day
Yeah, but you chose to consciously rest so Arawn will continue that trend for the entire training, hence the +2 for all d20s that I added mentally.

>>3859114
>Inform Shereen about this immediately. It shouldn't be hard to convince her to go see what's happening!
I think she'd be interested in it's connection to us.

>>3859114
Wait, how can we tell our gauntlet's thunder from that of an actual mage or a natural occurrence? Would it be a free action to ask these two if we "came" with anything except the sack/box we were probably carried in when they "received" us? A bejeweled gauntlet in particular?

Gotta avoid putting our slavery into a negative light. I wonder how much gold we went for. An elf, even if a wee bit on the damaged side, should have been pretty pricey. I'd actually be kind of insulted if we went for less than a generously sized sack of it!

>>3859139
>Wait, how can we tell our gauntlet's thunder from that of an actual mage or a natural occurrence?

The sky is completely clear and Arawn has grown used to the peculiar sound of the Magitek thunder.

>Would it be a free action to ask these two if we "came" with anything except the sack/box we were probably carried in when they "received" us? A bejeweled gauntlet in particular?

You can try asking Shereen since Banu isn't here, aking about it will have me write a tiny update so it's not a free action.

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>''This is so uncivilized!''
Channeling Obi-Wan, I see.

>>3859114
>Inquire as to who this elementalist is
...Just a word of warning, I'm gonna be pissed to high hell if our precious gauntlet is in the hands of someone working under Shereen's sister or her mother because if so, it's going to be a pain in the ass to recover it.

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>>3859156
>>3859139
Hm, asking Shereen these two questions then reverting to our previous options will work. Time for a small update.

>>3859168
>That pic and file name
While I agree completely, you really are trolling us hard with that one. Would have taken some doing but our knight would have eventually been made to don the outfit of a maid. Still might be, if by some miracle we actually get out of this alive with her intact.

Damn Bad Fluffy to hell! She stole all of our fledgling happiness and joy for her amusement. We were so close to a slice of life with an ominous undertone!

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''Do you know who this Elementalist could be?'' Swallowing your feelings wasn't easy. Each sound of thunder under the clear sky made you boil with rage and bubble in excitement. someone else is using Belphegor gift to you...

''No.'' Shereen couldn't be any blunter. ''Many races call Marleon home but it is true there isn't a whole lot of magical ones inside our palace ground... Perhaps it is a Salamanders or some lucky Mamonos that was born able to manipulate thunder.''

Of course, she's so completely isolated that she doesn't have any idea about the palace defenses.

''Say Shereen when you... acquired me.'' Tipting here was prudent, although Shereen kept a strangely confident nonchalance as you breached this topic. ''Did I have any equipment? Any items?''

Since you were inside Zipangu sanctum, the people keeping your body healthy would have removed your armaments.

''We do not know, Banu was the who acquired my new Moon.'' Shereen smiled. She should be back with breakfast soon, does Arawn want to speak about the times of your arrival? We... didn't ask many questions either because this is a difficult topic.''

Hrm... The thundering noise was heavily diminishing in interval now.

>>3859114
The choices here are still valid.

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>>3859172
You should appreciate the opportunity she gave you with being here!

>>3859186
Alright then, let's go see who exactly is using our magitek gauntlet before they run off. Please, for the love god, don't be an underling or moon of the other suns. We need that bad boy back on our arm before combat inevitably happens.

>>3859191
Opportunity? Yes, the "opportunity" to experience the life of a house slave. A house slave who can't even use his magic unless "master" says it's OK!

More fuel for the fire I guess. We should research how to weaponize pure hate. Would be quite effective against the fluffy bitch in our hands.

>>3859186
I'm sticking with >>3859136.

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>>3859206
The opportunity of meeting your Sun and fellow Moon is because of Lady White graciousness!

Slavery is a useless detail.

Alright, looks like the sound of thunder will lure us outside...

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''Whoever is making this thunder is a using a piece of Magitek that belongs to me.''

Shereen was quick to sit up. ''What?''

''It echoes, it's crackling and the way it seems to sizzle...'' All thundering noises had ceased but you remembered everything very well indeed. ''...That's from something that belonged to me. A gift from my tutor in Magitek. Could we please go and see, Shereen?''

As the Anubis continued to stare at you in slack-jawed stupefaction, Banu opened the door, carefully pushing a trolley of food for a delicious breakfast.

''Okay!'' Shereen tail wagged excitedly behind her. ''Let's eat on the way then!''

''Huh?'' Banu was of course reasonably confused. ''There's no need to rush your majesty, the city won't run away.''

''But the thief might!'' Replied the wolfish Mamono. She'd already jumped out of bed... and promptly trip on her long sundress.

''Your... Shereen.'' Banu sighed but you saw that smile, she might have swallwed her laugh but her amusement wasn't invisible. ''Alright. Let's prepare you first.''

The collar around your neck felt irritating. Shereen truly gave you no end of mixed feeling; you've been enslaved, made to become some kind of prized pet to show her prestige to other noble but... She's trying hard to be your friend.

Lady White sent you here for a reason...

--

Banu good mood was quick to evaporate after learning of Shereen's new ambition and before setting outside, she grabbed a staff and allowed you to wear a mace and shield now that you weren't a fumbling idiot. Both items came straight out of her room.

Going outside for the first time in a week was... irritating because of that damnable dry heat. The true sun was a remorseless beast beating its light on your face but you persevered. One last clap of thunders luckily resonated out of the area near the palace port where a dueling ground had been recently renovated to settle minor disputes.

The experience of being a phantom stuck ever here, the dark purple colors of your group clothes weren't sported by anybody else. The only odd resemblance coming from very nervous sailors that had to deal with nagging royal authority. People constantly glanced at Shereen but nobody in the crowd parted, forcing you and Banu to push people out of the way.

It was clear Banu had a good idea about this entire situation because she was quick to guide you and Shereen in the small arena.

Arriving was a simple matter of simply walking. The entire place was relatively small, dug into the ground to support a crowd that had grown thoroughly uninterested in witnessing the events going on inside. A small group of Mamonos was standing in the middle, one of them a particularly large red-scaled lizardfolk with a flaming tail and two other regular ones... A lamia stood slightly apart from everyone, coiling her body to make a seat.

''Ah! That's... Who?'' Shereen had grown diminutive once outside, staying close to her Moons.

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''A noblewoman, can't quite remember who... likely from one of the cities along the ocean.'' Banu responded.

''That flaming lizard has my gauntlet.'' It was easy enough to see. Blue steel shone in the sunlight, heavily contrasting the burning lizard bronze skin and coppery hair.

''Fucking...'' Banu muttered. ''I wanted your belonging inspected, not sold, what the fuck?''

So you were wearing your stuff when you got kidnapped? Thanks, Ama. Nice of you to care.

You set out to walk down the stone stairs at a brisk pace, followed by your two companions; jumping over the protective wall was a simple matter of lifting yourself and Shereen insisted on an exact, so you and Banu lifted her up and down safely.

By the time this clumsy entrance was over, the group was bowing with a hand above their heart. ''Health to my Sun!'' Three of them uttered in unison and the last one, the lamia, followed timidly.

Three lizards and one snake-lady, the woman in the middle looked to be an obvious noblewoman with a thin blue dress decorated with golden flowers. Your attention was occupied by the other monsters. The Salamander matched in height, her throat supported a collar like your own and the lamia further behind everyone else was... a most unusual creature. Dark purple skin, shining white eyes swimming in dark scleras showed someone fearful and vulnerable. Furs somehow matched with scales and her head sported an endearing pair of fluffy ears that left you momentarily confused; how could a monster embody so many different traits?

The quiet collar around her neck revealed untold magical potential.

''Yes, greeting, greeting.'' Shereen cleared her throat, trying her best to appear imposing despite her short stature. '' We've arrived to resolve a very important misunderstanding, y'see that.'' She pointed a -recently- transformed paw. ''Belongs to one of our Moons and therefore, myself. Whoever sold it to you made an important mistake that I'll gladly rectify by returning your money.''

The only two lizards not wearing collars rose to their full heights and the one you suspected to be a noble spoke. ''Do pardon me your majesty but this purchase was done with someone sporting our sun Ensan authority and...'' She looked sideways toward what you assumed to be her Moon, the salamander. ''...it is something that I'd rather keep. Our purchase was entirely legal you see.''

Shereen tail swathed the air behind her in irritated back and forth. ''Hence why we said it was a misunderstanding lady...''

''Daria.'' The noblewoman interrupted and Banu scoffed.

''...Daria. Ensan did not have the authority to sell the belonging of her fellow Suns; your money will be returned in full this we swear on our honor but we cannot part with what is ours so readily.''

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''Be it as it may, your majesty, this port, and palace remain under the authority of your sister and mother. It was with the blessing of her Moon herald that I-''

''Shut the fuck up with semantic bullshit.'' Banu interruption had her voice echo upward. ''The Third Sun of Muribel came to you in person and you'd dare argue? Perhaps you need some water treatment to cool the heat that mounted to your head?''

''Banu!'' Shereen reply was dry of good humor. ''Our Moon does speak truth; your refusal dishonor the Sun, Daria so instead of wasting our so very precious time I impose upon you this: Fight for this item or lose it.''

That escalated quickly. The salamander was openly aggressive now, snarling with barely contained rage that saw trails of fire escaping her nostrils and mouth.

''A fight?'' The second lizard asked, absentmindedly rubbing the pommel of her falchion.

''We are standing inside the perfect place to settle disputes. Since sister authority is so overwhelming... Shereen imposes herself on your honor to have your Moons fight and truly acquire this item for yourself.''

''I...''

''This is not a negotiation!'' Shereen stomped her foot. A small crowd was gathering near the arena. Apparently seeing the unpopular princess being upset was unusual enough to acknowledge her existence.

''We have two Moons. A duel of four or two, we don't care! Your face is irritating to look at so I impose this duel!''

That escalated quickly. You didn't have a chance to say anything, Shereen anger had gone to her head and now... there's a fight on your hand? The group of Mamonos outside the salamander looked completely flatfooted; easy enough to see who was the fighters amongst the two Moons.

>Fight with Banu against those two Moons. You've got to reclaim your gauntlet!
>Either you or Banu can fight alone. The older woman is looking angry enough to accept fighting on your behalf... But can you trust her to win? Can you trust yourself to win?
>Try to convince Shereen to backdown. This noblewoman is stubborn, true, but she hasn't been aggressive. A fight is too much of an escalation... But how will yo uget back your belonging?
>Free.

>>3859394
>Fight with Banu against those two Moons. You've got to reclaim your gauntlet!
She might give the gauntlet to one of them to use, and that would make that one more dangerous, so a four way battle might be the safer option.

>>3859394
Ama, I'm getting really tired of your shit. Betting money she ensured it'd be sold so that this would happen.

I have a free option: "I can prove the gauntlet belongs to me. I'm going to guess your moon has just been using it to fire off simple bolts of lightning at varying, perhaps somewhat random, levels of intensity. She's lucky she didn't break the thing by going overboard to be honest. Only I can use it to its full potential. If you would allow, I could demonstrate."

We have mastered measurement of the guantlet, know a variant spell with it, and could probably come up with another on the fly if necessary. If that doesn't work, request we use the gauntlet and fight alongside Banu.

Nobles have moons too it would seem. Am I right?

>>3859431
>Nobles have moons too it would seem. Am I right?

Yep. Let's see, I think I can write a little something with that free answer...

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''I can prove the gauntlet belongs to me.'' With tension so thick, all eyes immediately focused on you and the salamander frowned in contained rage.

''It can be used for more than launching lightning bolts; whips and bodily enchantments are potential applications of its numerous capabilities. It's also very important to ensure its wielder doesn't go overboard with fueling magic, otherwise, it'll likely break. I don't think you guys understand this weapon intricacies and how important it is to measure what you feed into it. I can demonstrate my claims right now.''

''So what!?'' The fiery lizards bellowed. ''Just cause your good with a sword don't make all swords yours! Sure this weapon is plenty fancy but if it's bought by someone else then they can learn it too!''

''Jaleh.'' The noblewoman, Darya, tone was dry and authoritative. The lamia slowly slithered toward her owner and remained silent. ''Knowing how to use this item doesn't automatically make it yours.''

''Then remove it.'' Banu interruption sounded almost like a bark. ''Since it is the trophy of this duel, you aren't deserving to wield it in combat.''

''Hell fu-'' Again, Darya interrupted.

''Yes, I agree with your point. It's the honorable thing to do.'' She cast a glare at her taller, stronger Moon who growled and snorted plenty but slowly detached the gauntlet, being genuinely careful in her movement too; she's definitely been impressed by your weapon and was reluctant to part with it. A small trickle of blood crawled down her tanned arm, where the needle had pierced her skin.

...A fight seems inevitable but at least you won't get zapped.

>>3859394

Choices remain here. We've got two votes for a 2v2, seems to be the likely option.
We'll stop here tonight, look like I have a little encounter to plan.

>>3859498
I just remembered this but didn't Martha and Belph say monstergirls aren't really able to use magitek? Something about the corruption in their blood mucking up the functionality.

Then again, it has been a year. Martha and Belph might have solved that problem and may have even upgraded the weapon's potential as a kind of thank you for saving Sieg. That and just sheer mad science. Let's give soul guy a bigger gun and see what happens!

Seems my attempt at diplomacy failed but did prevent the gauntlet from being used against us. The salamander, from what I gather, is the only "dedicated" warrior in the group present. There doesn't seem to be other mages either. Will Shereen allow us to use our magic? If we aren't reinforced a solid hit from the Salamander will pulp our asses and she sounds keen on doing it. After all, first rule of the murderhobo, kill things (like us), take their (our) stuff!

>>3859536
They put a blanket statement because the vast majority of Magitek item goes wonky in Mamonos hand and are prone to severe malfunction

However, as you've seen with your collar and now this Salamander, it seems Magitek can be used by Monsters after all... at least, simple applications of it.

>There doesn't seem to be other mages either.
The fluffy snake has a collar like you, impossible to tell if she's a mage otherwise.

>>3859548
I thought all the moons had that collar (save the lizard-types you explicitly mentioned, thoroughly broken "house slaves" I'd wager). Would it be possible to consult Banu about our chances and how powerful the fluffy lamia might be? Nobles like to show off their moons too I'd assume, so if she was an A or S rank magus they'd show that one off and brag all night about it.

Also, doesn't Banu have a collar on as well? Is she a low-rank mage like our wonderful blueberry knight?

>>3859568
>I thought all the moons had that collar
Banu doesn't have one.
>Would it be possible to consult Banu about our chances and how powerful the fluffy lamia might be?
She has no idea, she never saw that race of Lamia before.

>>3859574
So collar=mage. Fuck. Please tell me Shereen was smart enough to hand Banu a magical weapon. Because a 2v2 right now is fire breathing/using warrior and a fluffy mage of unknown elemental/esoteric nature vs. Soul mage with some warrior training and a past their prime human female "Man-at-Arms" with mundane equipment.

That puts us at a disadvantage, to put it mildly, unless our gear is worthy of our stature as the moon to Shereen's royalty. Also, once we inevitably boost our soul arm to have multiple appendages and up the range can we give one a custom katar? I've been inspired by a recent game and would love to introduce certain moves to bad fluffy. I wish to stab the top of her skull and/or her heart with great force and brutality with one of our arms.

>>3859597
>Please tell me Shereen was smart enough to hand Banu a magical weapon.
All Banu has is a staff. You've never seen her using soul reinforcement so you have no idea what she can truly do.

>up the range can we give one a custom katar?
Only if you can grab it from somewhere. It'll have to be a weapon you carry around.

>>3859605
Oh, also, one other thing. Worst case is the Lamia's nature is gravity. "Darker than Black" taught me how broken that shit is. There are restrictions against just upping the area around us to 10-20 G's and G-LOCing us or otherwise just pinning us to the ground and then her going "I...I won" right?

After all, that'd be boring for the audience. Arenas, and the fights held in them, are as much for entertainment as well as settling disputes. Please tell me they can't just cheese us.

>>3859707
I wonder what her nature could be... you'll find out soon enough.

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>>3859734
You're enjoying this aren't you, the trolling. First that picture, now this. Our precious artifact on the cusp of being lost forever if we lose unless Banu knows of a Garrett/Styx wannabe in the city.

Those guys aren't cheap either (assuming you even possess the connections to contact them). They know how good they are and just how much an amazing Thief/Assassin is worth. How rich is Shereen? That's going to matter a lot if we lose.

On that note, how rich are the nobles here? Those types can, of course, be more willing to take a job if the errr... "side benefits" are appealing enough. Cleaning out a noble or two of their valuables and artifacts is only fair additional compensation. After all, their shit's just lying there out in the relative open begging for more worthy hands to come around and claim them for themselves.

>>3859764
>How rich is Shereen?
That's something Arawn will need to find out himself.

>how rich are the nobles here?
Seriously depend on the nobles in question. Wealth in Muribel is wildly disparate; more info will need t obe found on your own.

>>3859793
Heh, I just thought of something. Our variant spell is essentially "Homing Bolt". Would it be possible to challenge her moons to a game? Y'know, say: "I can still show you its true potential. How confident are your moons in being able to dodge its might? With that weapon I am confident in my ability to strike even a high-ranking Angel from the sky. Prove me wrong, dodge its true power, and it's yours."

We've done just that y'know. Not that they need to know that, best to sound like we're cocky as fuck so as to goad that Salamander into foolishly taking the bait. She's no Elina in the mobility department, that homing bolt will hit provided she didn't damage our precious device with her hot-headed recklessness.

>>3859860
Oh, and we add the bit where we assume it hasn't been damaged. If it shorts out or something that's on the Salamander being an incompetent and ignorant muscle head who thought "yay now I can go pew pew boom boom instead of foof foof roasting noises!"

Seriously, under other circumstances, I'd swear this one'd be a friend of those Minotaur sisters we knew back in throne town. I hope they survived. Bad start, but it looked like we could have legitimately became their friend with time.

Time that damned fox stole from us. We will remember every sin, every wrong she has committed against us, our friends, and the innocents of this world. When the time comes, we will render her judgement in all its finality. No forgiveness, no mercy.

>>3859860
That's another custom choice so I'll need more agreement before proceeding.

>>3859875
Here's hoping someone agrees with me then. Only one way this bites us in the arse and, given what Ama knows about us, it'd be "unfair" if that fucker shows up as some random moon to some basic bitch noble lizard here and now.

Still, even if he did, who says the fluffed one informed him and/or he observed that exchange? Elina got hit due to surprise, so he probably will as well if this is him going in blind. Control your emotions Arawn, Ama wants you to lose it. Don't give her what she wants!

I might be unable to continue the thread today due to some unforeseen complications. For now, I'll leave voting open for one more hour.

>>3859420
One for a 2v2
>>3859860
One to wager your gauntlet on a feat of skill.

Voting can be extended for a while, I don't think I'll be able to write this evening so you guys have until tonight.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>3860447
We'll see where fate lands.

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>>3860939
I think I'll vote for the 2v2 that sounds really cool and fun to see. Also you get to bond and gain more trust with her.

Alright, it'll be a fight.

>>3861046
Damn. I wanted to use cunning brutality over brutal cunning. Welp, let's hope the dice gods like elves with heavy blunt objects.

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>>3861094
Ok Gork. Don't you have to go and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! somewhere else.

>>3861105
Gork's a stupid git, Mork's da smartest an' most cunnin'!

>>3861062
Oh, one very, very important thing I forgot to ask. This "duel", it isn't to the death right? We just gotta knock em' out, force em' to yield, or get their owner to throw in the towel right?

>>3861938
Yeah.

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Tension boiled dangerously inside the copper-haired, fiery-tailed lizard woman as she silently handed your magitek gauntlet to the falchion-wearing Mamono who, accompanied by the nobler one, walked outside one of the two openings of the arena.

''Do not think of failing us, my moons.'' Either Shereen was surprisingly good at swallowing her displeasure or she was particularly pleased with this turn of event, her grin was wide and honest.

''Of course not your majesty; it might be too soon to put Arawn training to the test...'' Banu single eye stared at you but her features showed a quizzical smile. ''...but I think he'll make up for that in spirit.''

''I'll do what I can.'' You responded, hefting your weapons. Your shield was already strapped to your arm and a leather harness on your leg allowed safe holstering of your mace that was now firmly inside your main hand. ''If you'd allow Shereen, I'll need to embrace Focus.''

Your little liege nodded and reached into her pocket, her body came alight with a brief but intense carmine luminescence that extinguished itself as suddenly as it appeared. ''Use your gift for victory my dear moon.'' Shereen finished, heading out of the arena by her lonesome.

By now a few ambitious passerby's had begun to take seats toward the arena entrance. There wasn't much of a buzz to create a real crowd but what was a dozen slowly but surely expanded into more, seconds by seconds. Be it in Throne Town or a civilization at the edge of the known world, Mamonos do like a good fight.

Your foes had assembled a good five, six meters from you. The fluffy, fur-covered lamia looked very timid and hadn't embraced Focus yet while her compatriot glowered with the color of magma, a brilliant orange contrasted with her heavily tanned skin, steam seemed to hover around her body, making her entire self look scalding.

''Alright, there won't be any fanfare to announce this so we should take em by surprise.'' Banu spoke in a low voice. ''You ready?''