>parasol

Ditch that. We... hurt our leg in the fields recently, so we should go get our walking stick.

The long, thick one.

Made of oak. Very solid oak.

But if we absolutely NEED that parasol (or "walking sticks" are frowned upon, then pic related. Conceals nicely in a pocket.

>quest thread? quest thread!
>PARANOIA ENGAGE

On a whim you pick up your sling and stuff it into your pocket, along with several lead bullets you made from an old pipe. You're a good shot, and you often tease your brother about being a much better slinger than he is.

You decide to leave your parasol behind, and instead collect your mother's old walking stick. There's nothing wrong with your feet, but you're feeling a little paranoid today. Plus, you really like the designs on the stick.

It's really hot out, and as you start down the dirt path out of your family estate, you start to regret not having the parasol. You try to stick to the shade where you can. Where you can't, you endure and sweat.

As you reach the edge of your estate, you spy your brother. He has one of the slaves standing over him with a parasol, while he plays with your father's magnifying glass, setting fire to ants. Honestly. He's almost 16 now and he still acts like a kid.

>>15653149
>Honestly. He's almost 16 now and he still acts like a kid.

... ants. Age 16. Um.

>>15653149

WELP. Wave goodbye to him and proceed to our appointment. We do have a family to represent, here.

bumping OC over the 40k threads.

You stare at your brother, aghast as you realize just how silly he looks... but you don't have time to deal with him and make him act his age. You decide to leave your brother to his fun. You wonder if he'll ever grow up and start trying to act like a man.

He notices you and waves. You return the wave, and continue on your way. As you leave, he shouts, "Don't tell dad I borrowed it, I'll put it back before he's home."

You keep walking, trying to keep out of the sun.

Minutes later you're in the town square. You feel sticky with sweat. You double-check your kurta and shift your sash to hide a dark spot where you've sweated through the light material.

You enter the school and make your way down the tiled halls. The school gymnasium also serves as the council hall when the need arises; it has enough seating for everyone. You quickly find your family, and make your way to them.

The council president taps his gavel on his lectern and the murmured conversations in the room die. He coughs, and says, "I'm calling the special meeting to order. There's obviously a quorum here, so we'll dispense with the usual roll-call. I ask that you all be respectful, and comply with the High Priestess' requests. It's not often she comes out into the public eye like this."

As he finishes speaking two of the Priestess' attendants draw the curtains on the gym's high windows. It's too hot to close the windows properly, and the curtains flutter, shadows and beams of light dancing to a capricious breeze.

Then the High Priestess enters, severe and tall, pale as the moon. She wears flowing robes, and she sits beside the lectern. She is much younger than you thought she would be.

She says, "I have read the burnt bones, and examined the liver of the hare. I have examined, and re-examined, the tarot. Every sign is clear. One of us must follow the river to its source. The way to the source has been long lost, but our chosen hero will find it again, and make the river flow again. That person is the youngest among our number here."

Every eye in the gym turns to you. You were the latest person to become a citizen.

The High Priestess then says, "Step forward. I'll grant you a boon, and answer a question."

>>15653369
Balls

What kind of boon and what kind of question?

>>15653369

Humbly step forward and kneel in front of the Priestess.

"May I bring a trusted friend to accompany me in this task?"

You step forward and make as to kneel before her, but she puts a stop to that, waving her hand at you subtly. She softly says, "You're a citizen now, and in your council hall. You should not kneel to anyone here, not even me."

You're not sure how much of that the other citizens picked up on. Some of the men and women in the room are very quick.

The priestess smiles reassuringly at you, and you ask your question. "May I bring a trusted friend to accompany me in this task?"

She nods, and then says, "I will also assign one of my servants to go with you and your friend, whoever you choose. What boon would you ask?"

As far as you know, the priestess can tell the future, give blessings in all sorts of things, has access to a secret library filled with knowledge from the past, and has access to funds. Beyond that, she could ask anything from the village and if someone had it, they would deliver it to her.

There are some interesting artifacts in the village: ancient repeater rifles, muskets of local manufacture, several vests of bullet proof armor, reliable electric lanterns, tasers, fine field glasses for use by hunters, and other items that managed to survive generations of being handed down in families.

Any of these things, from the blessings to one of the artifacts, could make all the difference in your quest.

>>15653528

(what are the other options for the boon? Can we make one up?)

>>15653747

You can. The artifacts I mentioned were intended to be representative, not exhaustive. If it's something a family would treasure, which would reasonably survive at least a couple of generations of use with few or no replacement parts, and which was originally civilian in nature, you can probably find an example of it in the village.

>>15653766
>>15653528

What we need, above all else, is access to the Priestesses secret library.

We seek an ancient and powerful tome of knowledge known as an "atlas." Full of maps and charts, secrets of the sun and moon.

>>15653945
That or some kind of knowledge about what we will have to do when we get to the source. Because I have to assume finding our way there will be as easy as following the river's bed, and as such a map seems fairly useless.

>>15654042

A map can show what is actually at the source, (former) urban centers along the route, etc.

Most of the teachers in the school are also clergy, either priestesses or monks. You remember something that one of your teachers mentioned in passing, when he was talking about the traders that visited from time to time.

As clear as if it were yesterday, his words echo in your mind. "They all come from the south, from down stream. There are good reasons for this, and many of them are geographical in nature, but I'd need the atlas to show you. It's really not important. Just know that there's probably not going to be anyone coming from the north in our lifetime."

And yet, the trouble with the river is in the north. You need some idea of what lies ahead, and so you ask, "I would like to have access to the atlas."

The High Priestess nods again, and says, "The book is too old to travel, but you will be able to look at it and have a copy of what you need from it."

She makes another subtle motion with her fingers, and one of the attendants who closed the curtains steps forward. The High Priestess says to her servant, "Alana, accompany our hero to the library."

Alana bows her head and says, "As you wish, your grace." She quietly leads you out of the gym, through the halls of the school, to the public library where most of the reference materials are kept.

Alana is not far from your age. She is from one of the poorer families, and since they couldn't afford her a dowry, she decided to become an acolyte. You played with her as a child, and graduated with her from school.

It is quiet, with no children around, and all the grown adults in the meeting. Alana produces a key from her gown and opens the door to the back room of the library. From there she leads you past a binding machine and stacks of books in various states of repair, down a set of stairs into a cellar which was obviously not a part of the school originally, into a cool room where the rare books are held.

There, she dons a pair of cotton gloves, and asks you to do the same. She navigates the shelves by memory and quickly finds the old atlas. She sets it on a table and says, "I'll fetch the tracing paper. Do be careful with this, it's falling apart. We are going to copy it, but other books have taken up all our time."

You nod in what you hope is a reassuring manner, and start to gently thumb through the atlas. Even though the thin pages are yellowed with age, the vibrant colors still stand out. These old books were always beautiful.

(Roll 3d6)

>>15654226

(Captcha ate my trip)

rolled 3, 3, 6 = 12

Been a while since I rolled. Forgot how to noko it.

>>15654296

The atlas is arranged in a grid system, with different pages referencing each other. It takes you a few moments to find the river, and an even longer time to guess at where your village is based on landmarks that would have existed even a hundred years ago. You're reasonably sure you've picked the right general area by the time Alana returns, tracing paper in hand. She looks at the page you have the atlas opened to and says, "You always did have a head for this sort of thing. Well, let's start tracing."

You and she spend the next couple of hours carefully copying as much detail from the relevant pages as you can.

The area north of the village used to be a large man-made lake. With the dam gone long before you were born, the lake mostly dried up. North of the old lake bed is nothing but a large expanse of desert. Miles and miles and miles of wasteland, with little reason to be settled with so much other, better, land available. According to the atlas there were several large city-sites at different points along the river. You're sure they're dead and empty now. You learned in school that near the end of the last war every large city was ruined by repeated bombings and by having their supporting countryside destroyed with poisons.

It's as much luck as foresight that your ancestors were in a place that was largely ignored in the fighting.

Alana must have been thinking along the same lines. She says, "Do you think the poisons have weakened enough for you to travel safely?"

You reason, "They must have. We've been able to swim in the river safely for decades now."

Alana says, "That makes sense. Do you need anything else from here?"

>>15654475

Yeah. We need an Audubon field guide to edible plants.

>>15654605

You carefully roll the tracings up and put them in a poster container. You then ask, "Do you have a field guide to plants? I'm not going to be able to carry enough food but I can find food on the way if I know what's safe to eat."

Alana says, "We have a spare copy of one upstairs, actually. You can have it. We were going to trade it once we made another copy of the original, but it'll be better if it's in your hands."

Most of the books upstairs are copies, made by hand. The originals are all too dear. Still, you know the monks and priestesses do good work. A copy should be just as good as the original.

You help Alana put things away in the rare book room, and she puts out the electric lantern before she leaves. Upstairs, she gives you the copy of the Audubon field guide, and marks it down in the check-out as being in your care "indefinitely."

As you leave the library, you and Alana are intercepted by another temple servant. Izabel, an acolyte who works more closely with the sheriff than the rest of the temple. You've always associated her with trouble in someone's family, since she would usually be on the scene of domestic disputes, though her job is as much to be a liaison as a law enforcer. You know more than one bastard has been acknowledged by his father because of Izabel and the temple.

She's wearing one of the few bullet-proof vests the village owns, and has a revolver in her belt. She asks, "You have your maps? What about your other gear? I've got most of my stuff on my mule. And who else are you asking along?"

It dawns on you that she is the helper the High Priestess promised.

Are we a guy or a girl?

>>15655059

That's really up to you guys.

>>15655109

I think I'm the only player still up. Anyone else playing? I think being a guy would be best, but, like, a prissy guy.

Hey LiarMan are you around? We can just keep using this thread.

can you list trustworthy people we know dm?

Your uncle William is only a few years older than you (about Izabel's age, come to think of it). You get along well with him. He was your grandparents' youngest son, and so he stood to inherit little of the farm. He instead became a trader, and is well known in the village for being able to wring every bit of value out of trade goods. He is usually the official negotiator with the people from the south. He knows the two common languages in the area (English and Spanish) at native levels, and is known for reading history books as a hobby. He has no wife or children, though he could afford them. People talk a little about that sometimes.

You have two cousins who are a little younger than you, but a little older than your brother. They're not citizens yet, but no one would object if you asked one of them along. Landon is a good shot with a musket, has very sharp eyesight, and spends a good deal of his time hunting instead of working on the estate. His parents don't own much of the estate anyway, and he's their second son (and thus won't stand to inherit their share in the farm). He's not as cerebral as you, and he tends to be shy in company.

Selena is just a little younger than you. She acts more like a tomboy than a young woman; she's one of the finest riders in the village, she rivals you for being one of the best shots with a sling, and she is far stronger than any woman should be (certainly stronger than you or Izabel). She has a good head for numbers, though she can't match your uncle William for haggling and making deals. She's also rather homely. That's never bothered you, though you're aware her mother has made an extra effort to teach her all the domestic skills in an attempt to make her more attractive to potential husbands.

You also have a friend from another family, David, who is apprenticed to his father as a handyman. His father is the man in charge of maintaining many of the old pre-war technology items that have survived. David has apparently learned quite a bit about electricity and making old wiring work correctly, and getting the old machines to work when they stop. He became a citizen a week before you did. He's not at all suited to travel though; he's very much a homebody, and when you and your cousins were outside playing and shooting, he would remain inside reading and repairing broken things.

Finally, you could take one of the slaves. Your father owns several, but there is one you think would be trustworthy enough to not attempt to run. Juan. Juan is a bondsman, and is nearing the end of his term of service anyway. Juan needed to repay a large debt and agreed to serve as a bondsman for four years. This is his last year. He is in his early forties, and works on the farm as a ranch hand and cowboy. He's good with a shotgun, good with a lariat, good at reading the land, and good at dealing with cattle. All around he's a solid choice, although he complains that he is getting old whenever you work with him.

David might be good, but if he isn't used to travelling he'll slow us down. But if we find old pre-war technology he could be perfect for getting it working again.

Juan's skills are probably good for this trip. He'd have to know about surviving in the desert right?

William's ability as a trader and historian could be very valuable. And he doesn't have kids so we're not taking someone who is supporting others.

Selena sounds like fun, but do we need a tomboy who has extra training in domestic skills?

Landon is probably a solid choice. We're the talky one after all, and he's an outdoorsman and is good with the sort of gun we'll see most often.

We've got to bring our brother, clearly.

>>15658721
>>15658746
>>15658971
>>15659010
Let's go talk with Landon, and see if we can arrange to have him sneak off after we leave and join our expedition. He sounds like he has a fine spirit of adventure.

I kind of think we should take our brother, just because that's such a quest-y format (and maybe we can stop him being a psycho).

>>15659024
>>15658746
In fact, we should go talk to William and Juan too. This is a big thing, and we may be able to allow our father to release Juan to accompany us. Are we allowed more than one companion, officially, or would we have to be sneaky to escape with two?

William may not come with us, but it's possible he could give us aid.

>>15659037

Izabel is coming with you no matter what. You know you could ask one other person to come along without anyone in the village objecting (since you have the High Priestess' blessing for that). A fourth person would probably make people start to wonder just how much manpower you need to discover what the problem is, but if the people you ask aren't needed too badly, you'll probably be able to get away with it.

Izabel is standing in front of you still, waiting for answers to her questions. You temporize and say, "I've got to talk to a couple of people first."

She accepts that, and says, "I'll be waiting here, then."

You head off to find William. He'll be in the village instead of your father's estate, and so will be the quickest to find.

It doesn't take long to walk to his little home. He's well-off by anyone's standards, but he doesn't flaunt it. He spies you approaching, and waves to you. He says, "I've got some lemonade if you want. Come inside and we'll talk."

He offers you a chair and you accept a glass from him. He then sits opposite you and leans on his kitchen table.

He asks, "So, what's on your mind?"

>>15659341
"River dried up. Priestess says go. Need more people. You interested?"

>>15659341
>>15659514
Actually, I think we should ask William for expensive supplies we may not be able to get otherwise, and information on the region. Armaments and information, basically.

I'm not sure we should bring him with us.

I would try to publicly bring our brother and Juan, and arrange with Landon for him to slip away and join us after we set off.

>>15659540
>Actually, I think we should ask William for expensive supplies we may not be able to get otherwise, and information on the region. Armaments and information, basically.

Probably a better idea. Maybe we should just take Landon and Juan from the start, though. I think our brother would be more of a burden than an asset.

>>15659606
This is roughly what I'm seeing as an argument for bringing our brother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64

>>15659606

This seems to be the most sensible option.

>>15659649
My fear is, if he's sixteen and still burning ants, he might be retarded/sociopathic/both. I might be totally wrong on that, however.

>>15659810
That's why we've got to make a man out of it! I mean, him!

You pull your maps out and set them on the table. You say, "You've traveled around the region as much as anyone, you've read more history books than anyone except maybe some of the monks, and you've met more people than anyone else I know. Can you offer any advice on the area?"

William says, "Some. For most of the folk I talk to, this is as far north as they go. There's a few though who've gone further. From what they say, straying too far from the river is a bad idea. Let's see."

He pulls out a jar of red ink and starts to mark notes on your map. He explains as he does so. "These two cities are gone for sure, abandoned when the fields there were poisoned, and looted over the past century. This used to be an old prison. Most of the water utility lines to it survived, so people have been trying to establish a little scavenger base out there. It's out of your way, but it's probably the last civilization you'll see for awhile if you follow the river. That's about a hundred ten miles or so, I guess."

"What's a Chuckwalla and why'd they name a valley after it?"

"It's a sort of lizard. Must have been a lot of them there, I suppose. After Chuckwalla Valley, you won't encounter much of anything until you reach Lake City. That's about ninety miles from there. They weren't hit so hard in the war, so some people have started farming there again. The way I heard it, they're farmers, mostly second and third sons from other homesteads upstream who took boats down to find good land to make their own claims."

You consider the map. You're already looking at a good ten days of travel to reach Lake City, provided nothing goes wrong. You ask, "What's past Lake City?"

Will taps the very edge of your map, and says, "The map ends too soon, but there's supposed to be the remains of a giant city there, and a giant dam that was destroyed during the fighting in the war. If I had to guess what happened to the water, that'd be the first place I'd look."

"Why would they dam up all the water though? What do they need it for?"

Will says, "I don't know, but if they went to that kind of trouble..."

He looks thoughtful for a moment, and then asks, "You're going with Izabel right? She's got a revolver that uses .38 cartridges I think. Hang on a moment."

He goes into his bedroom, and returns a moment later with a blue-black revolver, similar to Izabel's. You've only fired cartridge guns a couple of times before, but it's obvious he's kept this one in great shape. He hands it to you and says, "This will use the same sort of bullet as hers. I've got a brick of ammo for it too. Don't waste any. And don't lose it! No one makes these anymore."

He also gives you a shoulder-harness holster for the gun, which you feel awkward in.

>>15659810
>>15659832

You briefly consider taking your brother along, but you know your father would hate to let both his heirs go on a dangerous journey. And, while your brother isn't an idiot, he isn't too brilliant either. He's decidedly below-average in most respects.

>>15660044
>He's decidedly below-average in most respects.
Hence, he needs experience. But naw, I won't try and force a bro-tastic adventure.

Let's thank William greatly for his help (ask him if there's anything else before we go, though) and go see our father about recruiting Juan. Then we'll talk to Landon about bringing him, openly or covertly as required.

>>15660023
>>15660044
This is a pretty bitching quest, man. And we gots a gun!

>>15660079
Seconding this, not the brother part. And bump.

You turn the heavy revolver over in your hands again, looking at it and marveling at the incredibly hard metal, before you holster it. You say, "I can't thank you enough, I know how much these things are worth."

Will says, "Just come back in one piece, ok? I'm just loaning it to you."

You ask, "Do you have any other advice for me?"

Will thinks for a second and says, "Be sure to boil your water before you drink it. You've been spoiled here, Henry and David keep the filtration systems running pretty well, but in most places the water just isn't safe."

You thank your uncle again, and then head outside. You're fairly sticky with sweat by the time you get home, this being the hottest part of the day, but it hardly matters. You find your father in his study, looking over a ledger and trying to figure out the best way to allocate the water. He looks up at you and says, "I think we're going to be slaughtering a good many head of cattle. Without the river we're just not going to be able to keep them from dying of thirst anyway."

You realize he's trying to distract himself from his worries over your trip.

>>15660910
Try to reassure him?

>>15660910
Speak to him about Juan. What's the whole slavery thing like in this community, anyway?

To be honest, the slow rate of this means you may have more luck on /tg/chan. It's kind of a horrible place at times, but long, detailed, slow quest threads will work better there.

>>15661261

Slavery is mostly bondsmen, with a few criminals who are permanent slaves. Most villages are too small to need more than a a couple of cells to hold drunks overnight, and couldn't afford a real prison anyway. Serious crimes have only a few possible punishments: execution, enforced slavery, or enforced reparations (which in some cases amounts to the criminal being made into a bondsman).

>>15661221

You say, "It won't take more than a couple of years for the herd to recover, if we're careful. And if I'm quick enough, the river might start flowing again before the end of the month. You wouldn't even need to cull more than a quarter of them, then."

Your father's eyes fall on the pistol, and he asks, "Did you get that from William?"

"Yes."

"That was really thoughtful of him. I've ordered a horse prepared for you, with camping gear and dry food. Juan has it ready in the stable. Or he should, by now."

You decide this is as good an opportunity as any, and say, "Speaking of Juan, isn't he pretty well-traveled?"

"In his younger years, yes. He's always been a vaquero."

"Well, that sort of experience might be useful on the trail. Could you have him go with me?"

Your father frowns, and says, "I'll need him for the cattle cull, you know."

You say, "But-"

(roll 3d6 and present an argument)

>>15661745
Hmm. Maybe we shouldn't take Juan after all. Let's ask him what he thinks of taking Landon instead.

rolled 1, 1, 1 = 3

>>15661745
The quicker I can complete my mission, the less cattle will need to be culled. Juan can help me with this.

rolled 5, 4, 1 = 10

>>15662300
Jesus fucking Christ.

>>15662310
"Yes, but if you let me take Juan, there's a possibility that we'll both die on the trail and then we can ... wait, shit."

>>15662332
"Besides, it's not like you REALLY need him. My brother will be here, and he's... /almost/ helpful. He's been keeping the ant population down, at least. Sort of."

>>15662332
Alternately, we replied, "Well, fuck you too!"

>>15662300

[Critical diplomacy success. 17 or 18 would have been a failure.]

"But, the faster I can get the river flowing again, the fewer cattle we'll lose. Juan would be a huge help in getting through the rough country. There are places where we can save entire days if we can travel through the desert safely. And you'd still have everyone else. Peter is nearly 16, he'll be a big help for a cull," you argue.

Your father fixes a stare at you for a moment, and then says, "Fine, you're making too much sense for me to say no. I'll have Juan pack up a horse and kit for himself. I can always hire extra hands if I need to. Your cousins would probably jump at a chance to make some pocket money."

"Actually, I was going to ask Landon if he wanted to come too."

Your father raises his eyebrows at you. "Landon too! Are you taking an entire army north?"

You hastily explain, "No, that's everyone I wanted. Four people means there's slack. If someone is hurt the others can go on and the injured person isn't alone. That way there's less risk anyone will die on the trail."

You father mulls it over and finally says, "I'll ask Landon's parents for you. A trip like this will give him something to build a career on, and Lord knows he's got precious little inheritance coming to him."

>>15663011
Oh. Well, that's a pleasant surprise.
>"Landon too! Are you taking an entire army north?"
Sure why not.

I'm assuming Juan and Landon cannot bring guns?

And with that, it's settled. You go and help Juan pack the extra two horses, and then the three of you ride into town to meet with Izabel. It's late afternoon by the time you find her, reading a book in the library.

She looks up at you and says, "Are you three ready then? We've got a few hours of light. We shouldn't waste them."

You're ready. The four of you ride out of town. William, your brother and father, Landon's mother, Izabel's mother, and a few of the acolytes see you off.

It's easy going the first day. You set up camp as the sun begins to set, alongside the dry river, on the outskirts of a burned out city. Landon shoots a hare, and the four of you share something like hasenpfeffer strew.

The lights from home are just visible. This will probably be the last night you see them, for awhile.

The next morning you wake, eat some of the more perishable items in your provisions for breakfast, and get an early start. You already miss the shower back home.

Four days pass without anything very notable happening. You and Landon have been making good use of the field guide, and Juan tended to Landon's saddle, re-adjusting the padding after he noticed red spots on the horse's withers. Izabel has gotten over the novelty of being allowed to use body armor, and has taken to only wearing it in the cooler pre-evening period, and at night during her watch.

You're getting near Chuckwalla Valley. There are supposed to be people there, about an hour's ride off the river, following the old highway path.

>>15663031

Landon's packing his full-length musket. Juan is using a carbine-length musket meant for keeping predators away from the cattle. Both of them have paper cartridges for their guns.

>>15663105
Alright, thank you. I'm going to sleep for now, but I'll check back on this when I wake up. I hope it's still on the board, as it is a high quality quest.

>>15663075
Lets tentatively approach these suppsoed people. We may be able to find some goodies, or trade for stuff we might need.