>>3845074
>Heart [Acolyte]
The Heart.

Oh hey, you finally decided to run this huh?

Uh, what the fuck do these choices mean.

>>3845077
It determines your profession (before your exile, that is) which sets a lot of initial details into place!

>>3845074
>Heart [Acolyte]

>>3845074
>Heart [Acolyte]
Are you the maskfag from /tg/? If so, I'm breddy stoked.

>>3845074
>Heart [Acolyte]

>>3845074
>>Heart [Acolyte]

>Heart [Acolyte]

The heart is the symbol of priests and their apprentices, the acolytes, to the latter of whom you belong to. It symbolizes the priests' role as vessels for the God Ibu to spread his love, as well as their function as healers.

And, of course, their practice of performing sacrifices. Often animals and occasionally a captive human, all performed by cutting out their heart with a ceremonial knife. A quick check confirmed that you still had yours tucked safely under your woolen robe. What luck!

You take the mask and put it back on your face. Hopefully you will never have to part with it again least another disaster befall you. Wearing a mask in public is mandatory back home, and showing up without one is a great taboo punishable by exile that not even noble status or an important title can prevent. Which is exactly how you ended up here. Alone, sprawled on the dirt and with home forever closed to you.

All your responsibilities, obligations and connections are now severed. Your old life is over and you need to start anew.

Though a part of you just wants to lay down and weep at the injustice of it all.

>Pick a random direction and start walking.

>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.

>>3845138
>>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.

>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.

>>3845138

>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.

>>3845138
>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.

>>3845138
>>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.
Fuck walking!

>Lay still and Understand the world around you instead.

What is the point? You know nothing beyond home. Nothing awaits you out in the great unknown - you have no future! And to think that all of this is happening just because you were caught with your mask off. You didn't mean for it to be this way! You let your head fall to the dirt again with a painful thud.

It's clear to you that thinking will only lead you into a depression, so you opt to Understand the forest instead. Your mind reaches out to the life around you - the birds, the squirrels, the deer and the wolves, Understanding their feelings and intentions. Their minds are simple, focused on basic needs and fears, but are comforting nonetheless - you prefer their thoughts to your own right now.

You don't know how much time you spent lost to the world around you when you hear a loud, distant noise followed by one of the rabbits you had Understood suddenly ceasing thought forever. You reach out for it, only to grasp the mind of another creature - one far more complex, and too difficult to Understand at this distance. If you had to guess, it was a human person.

>Get up seek it out

>Who knows what the sound was - it could be dangerous! Stay well away.

>>3845215
>Get up seek it out

>>3845215
>>Get up seek it out

>>3845215
>Get up seek it out

>>3845215
>Get up seek it out

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942 KB JPG

>>3845218
>>3845224
>>3845226
>>3845264
>Get up and seek it out

Marching through the thick underbrush you become aware how unprepared you truly are - you were training to be a priest, not to skulk about the forest! Your long, ornate woolen robe stretches all the way to your feet and certainly doesn't do you any favors marching through the woods. It gets stuck everywhere and forces you to concentrate on the path ahead, drifting your focus away from your target.

It is getting close now. Very close, you can feel it...

Crack!

A twig snaps beneath your feet. And shortly after, the creature you were seeking comes into view - though only barely, with the underbrush concealing most of it. But it's body and thoughts are turned in your direction, and you realize he must have noticed you.

"Who's there, aye?" A masculine voice calls out.

>Show up and introduce yourself.

>Hide!

>>3845309
>Show up and introduce yourself.
We shouldn't get mistaken for an animal and hunted.

Update tomorrow.

>>3845309
>Show up and introduce yourself.
What's our name anyway ?

>>3845309
>Hide!

>>3845309

>Show up and introduce yourself

>>3845309
>>Show up and introduce yourself.

>>3845309
>Show up and introduce yourself.

File: hunter.jpg (59 KB, 480x480)

59 KB JPG

>>3845310
>>3845387
>>3845523
>>3846239
>>3846337
>Show up and introduce yourself.

After a moment's hesitation you decide to meet the person face-to-face. You close the distance, the underbrush clears and the man comes into clear sight. At first glance, his most prominent traits are the blue hat he was wearing and the long, elaborate stick which he cradled in his hands. Pointed at you.

"I-I didn't step none into your part of the forest! It ain't your game that I'm after, there's no need to drag me off! I'll turn 'round, be gone before you know, I promise."

He's scared! But also determined. Like he was ready to spring to action. You don't like that feeling.

>"Hello. I come in peace."

>"Who are you and why are you here?"

>"It's rude to point sticks at others!"

>>3847359
>"Hello. I come in peace."

>>3847359
>"Hello. I come in peace."

>>3847359
>"Hello. I come in peace."

>>3847363
>>3847502
>>3847753
>"Hello. I come in peace."

Your words are like smooth velvet. You plant them in his head and make him Understand that you mean him no harm - you did not come here to accuse him, or punish or anything of the sort. All you came here to do is tell him a simple "hello." It was wrong for him think otherwise at all!

Realizing this, he quickly comes to feel ashamed and puts down the stick he was holding. "Ahh, hello's to you too. I'm sorry, I just didn't- there's all sorts of rumors, they say you Spriggans take men into the woods never to be seen again."

Having been slowly inching closer all the time, you are now almost in range to touch him. The man extends one of his hands towards you, and you Understand a tinge of expectance arise in him. Does he want you to touch it?

"I- uhh, my name's Alain," he introduces himself.

>Touch his hand.

>Greet him intimately by your custom.

And

>Give him your full name.

>Give him your name only, your father has undoubtedly disowned you by now.

>Give him a fake name, or rather, a new one. Might as well start anew in earnest!

>>3849487
>Touch his hand.
>>Give him your name only, your father has undoubtedly disowned you by now.

Our autism is strong

>>3849487
>Greet him intimately by your custom.
>Give him your name only, your father has undoubtedly disowned you by now.

>"dice 1d20"

>>3849675
Support

>>3849675
>>3850767
>Greet him intimately by your custom.
>Give him your name only, your father has undoubtedly disowned you by now.

You stare at the man's outstretched hand, oblivious about it's purpose. He retracts it after a short while, and only after you Understand the gust of confusion radiating from him do you come to realize that it was meant to be a sort of greeting! You decide to end this awkward exchange then, and inch closer towards him.

"Follow my lead," you instruct Alain as you bend yourself forward. He does the same with a bit of reluctance, leveling his head along with yours and then you bump them together, staring deep into his green eyes

This close up you can Understand him to a great degree and even pick up exact thoughts. They're all focused on the oddity of the situation - just a minute ago he was on a normal day of hunting, and now he is bumping foreheads with one of those masked creatures, which perplexes him a great deal. It is a head taller than him, all creepy with it's black robe, silver mask and leather gloves covering every inch body...

"My name is Vuren," you engrave your name into his mind. This is the only proper way for one of your kind to introduce yourself - with eyes and minds meeting close to one another.

Now came the time to explain your presence
here.

>I have been exiled from my home.

>I am in need of a place to stay.

>I am searching for the human world.

>Write-in

>>3851051

>I have been exiled from my home.

>>3851051
>I have been exiled

>>3851051
>>I have been exiled from my home.

>>3851051
>I am looking for a place in this world.

>>3851054
>>3851639
>>3851640
>I have been exiled from my home.

You see little reason to lie about your predicament - what use is there keeping secrets? You would rather keep your dealings with this man honest, and so you part your heads away from one another tell him exactly what you are - an exile.

"I am looking for a place in this world." That is the next logical step to take. You can scarcely live in this forest in your current state, you need a place, a purpose. Somewhere to exist. Thankfully, Alain has an answer for you.

"An exile? Ah, I dunno about that but the Magistrate might. If anyone knows what to do it's him. That's over in Hardling, do you know Hardling? Well, it's a town half a dozen hours from here, there's where I live as well. I was thinking to head back soon anyway, we can go if you's want."

Lacking any better ideas you tell him that you would indeed like to go there with him, and after the man gathers the game he has hunted the two of you set out towards the destination. You Understand a great deal of trepidation come from Alain still, he doesn't feel comfortable with you on his back.

You're not the best at sending messages while in the middle of a march, so you only manage to speak about one thing with him in the meantime:

>Ask him more about the town.

>The Magistrate, who and what's he like?

>What's this stick you're carrying?

>Write-in

>>3852964
>What's this stick you're carrying?
What is gun.

>>3852964
>Ask about magistrate

>>3852964
>The Magistrate, who and what's he like?

>>3852964
>The Magistrate, who and what's he like?

>>3853207
>>3854026
>>3854315
>The Magistrate, who and what's he like?

You have a great deal of questions on your mind right now, like the purpose of his ornate stick, the source of the sound you had heard and how Alain managed to hunt these animals without a bow and arrow or Understanding to lure them to himself, but the chief one is about this man you were off to see. It would not hurt to know more about him, and so you ask.

"The Magistrate, he's always one of the Count's men. Comes from the west, changed on death or when the Count decides to replace 'im. He's the boss in Hardling, 'cept he has the town council to contend with," Alain explains. "Impressive beard, he has. Rarely catch a glimpse of him though, he don't show up often and not at all since the Sir came over two weeks ago."

You are about to ask him who this "Sir" is when your long woolen robe gets caught up by a bush, nearly exposing your skin. You keep your eyes on the road ahead after that.

Shortly thereafter the woods start to part, the underbrush thins and the summer sun comes into view and the first signs of civilization along with it - homes and huts strewn about, with the promise of more up ahead. You're well out of the forest by now and Alain stops his march to speak.

"To find the Magistrate you just head on into town proper and into the square, he got the hugest building in all of town to himself. Shouldn't be hard to find. I'd show you the way, but my wife will be cross with me if I come late and miss food."

This last comment reminds your body just how hungry it actually is. You skipped breakfast today, and the trek across the woods has not helped!

>Go see the Magistrate.

>Ask to come by for dinner first.

>>3855282
>>Ask to come by for dinner first.

>>3855282
>Go see the Magistrate

>>3855282
>'Ask' to come by for dinner first

I'm drunk tonight, I might just forget to update but I'll try not to! We need to get this quest on the rails. You've already locked-in one of the two planned main routes available at the beginning.

>>3855293
>>3855387
>Ask to come by for dinner first.

You have no meeting scheduled with this Magistrate, surely he can wait a bit. And Alain, being so nice and welcoming, is most unlikely to refuse you - you have Understood this much already. And even though it's incredibly personal for someone of your kind to eat food at another's home, your empty stomach dispels whatever reluctance you might have.

"W-well. I mean, it's- ahh, well yes! It's very mean to refuse someone in need of bread, when your own table has plenty."

You are not very content with his answer. It sounds as if he is trying to justify his decision to himself. And his mind is abuzz with doubt and fear. Even more so than when he spotted you for the first time out in the woods.

-------

Now you know why. You don't need to reach out into his wife's mind to see that she is absolutely seething at her husband, who is trying his hardest to play it off with a wide smile - one struggling to hide away the dread behind it. He was expecting to be lashed later today.

"So! This is, ahhhhh, Vuren. And. Ah. Vuren is here to join us for dinner," he introduces you awkwardly.

He had taken you deeper into the town, well and truly out of the forest. You were assailed with the buzzing minds of hundreds of people - an experience you were not ready for. You lived with just as much of your own back home, and it was nothing like this! You have since started actively blocking out their minds, limiting yourself to a short area about you. Once you got past the initial shock, Alain guided you into his home- a small wooden thing on the edges of town, almost inside the town proper. You were glad to hide inside it, the glares of passersby and neighbors had become unbearable.

The woman, whom her husband introduced as Flora, stares at you with a certain degree of suspicion, though it's mostly blotted out due to the aforementioned anger. Their son and daughter stare at you with more curiosity than anything.

Perhaps you ought to say something!

>It is a great honor, most esteemed lady, to share your table with you.

>Hello!

>Is that rabbit stew?

>>3859074
>It is a great honor, most esteemed lady, to share your table with you

>>3859074
>Is that rabbit stew?

>>3859074
>It is a great honor, most esteemed lady, to share your table with you.

>>3859912
>>3860427
>It is a great honor, most esteemed lady, to share your table with you.

You bow your head respectfully and speak a formal thanks, as is proper in such a situation. Your father has drilled all the formalities into your head (sometimes literally) and you always do your best to respect them, out of fear of a scolding if nothing else.

"Yes," is all that the woman can muster, faintly gesturing towards the table with the deliciously smelling pot on it. You sit down before it, facing against the children.

"Now we will speak in private," she then all but drags Alain with her deeper into their home, suddenly leaving you alone with the pot and the kids.

The two younglings take after their respective fathers greatly - the son has inherited his father's kind face and tussled brown hair, while the girl had the mother's blond curls and pouted cheeks. They continue to stare, their minds abuzz with curiosity and hesitation.

>Eavesdrop on Alain and Flora.

>Speak to the kids.

>Eat some stew!

>>3860544
>Speak to the kids.

>>3860544
>Speak to the kids.

>>3860544
>Eat some stew!
Don't piss off the mother. Make sure to say how nice the stew is.

No update today, sorry!

>>3860544
>Speak to the kids

Phobia of spiders? Inability to grasp simple concepts? Night terrors? I can fix all that!

>>3860570
>>3860608
>>3862029
>Speak to the kids.

You lean forward from your chair and turn your head towards the two of them - or rather, down at them. You already have a whole head's advantage in height over their father and these little siblings might as well be ants to you. They likely think something similar, the sudden burst of fear considered, and so you plant a few smooth words into their minds to assure them of your friendship.

It surprises you how easy it is to change their outlook. Unnaturally easy. You soon come to regret it, though. Without fear there is only curiosity left, and with curiosity comes questions.

"Are you one of them? Forest dwellers?"
"Is it true you eat people?"
"Can you turn invisible?"
"What's the heart mean? And the squares?"

You raise a gloved hand to silence them.

>Tell them about yourself (and select your starting telepathic skills)

>Ask them questions (about what?)

>>3864149
>>Tell them about yourself (and select your starting telepathic skills)

>>3864149
>Skill selection

>>3864149
>Tell them about yourself (and select your starting telepathic skills)

>>3864149
>Tell them about yourself

>>3864158
>>3864329
>>3864530
>>3864843
>Tell them about yourself (and select your starting telepathic skills)

You can't turn invisible. A tracker aspiring to become a ranger might learn to redirect another's mind away from his own presence, but an acolyte like you was taught skills in other aspects. Unfortunately, your training is incomplete.

Pick two.

>Priest's Gospel
Project a strong telepathic message to everyone around you in a wide radius.
>Numbed Sense
Numb someone's feeling in a specific part of body.
>Soothing Touch
Ease pain and put someone at ease.
>Soporific Gaze
Induce someone into sleep.

>>3866677
>Soothing Touch
Ease pain and put someone at ease.
>Soporific Gaze
Induce someone into sleep.

I call this build "The Date Rapist."

>>3866677
>Priest's Gospel
>Soothing Touch

Might be fun to "suggest" to humans to attack the our old home.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>3866682
1
>>3869759
2

I'm in some shit right now. Thread archived, will continue someday later.
Sorry for doing it so early, I haven't introduced much yet