>>38956160

You walk into the kitchen to see Ellie crouching down to sweep up the remnants of one of your plates.

She looks up hurriedly. “I’m really sorry. It just fell when I wasn’t looking, left it too close to the edge of the counter I guess.” She smiles weakly.

“Well, I guess we do have plenty of plates…” You cross your arms. “But don’t go breaking any of the cups, I don’t want to have to buy more.” You scold only slightly.

Ellie’s smile widens into a full grin. “Got it!” She returns to scooping up the broken shards, now with Laurent’s assistance.

The trees in the distance sway in the wind aimlessly, as you stare at them.

You didn’t sense any ulterior motives when you spoke to Carmina, but if what Matthias has told you about the group she belongs to is true, this may be a matter you can’t just hope goes away. The very least you could do is a keep an eye on the whole thing.

Then again, there’s very little to tie you to Manolo’s murder, so maybe the less you’re involved with this whole thing, the better.

>Leave the matter as it is.

>Have Laurent tail Carmina’s activities for the rest of the day.

>Write in.

>>38956181
>>Leave the matter as it is.

>>38956181
>Leave the matter as it is.

>>38956181

>Leave the matter as it is.

>>38956181
>Leave the matter as it is.
Heya Auri!

Hello everyone!

>>38956215
>>38956252
>>38956271
>>38956328
Let sleeping dogs lie.

>Writing.

>>38956349

This thing won’t blow over if you prodding at it.

You pull your attention back inside. “Once you’re done with that, go upstairs and finish up what we need to delve.”

With that order you head back to your room and shut the door behind you.

You head over to your dresser and look at the spot where you used to keep your leech.

For such a small and disgusting little thing, you would never have thought so much of your work had depended on it being alive.
You sigh, and fall back onto your bed. Thirty tablets left means that this delve is the last you’ll get for free. That is, unless you can procure another leech…

You feel the muscles on your back flinch reflexively. Your body may have moved past its trauma from your first deal, but you certainly would like to keep that from happening again to you, if you could.

You drift in and out of sleep, dreamlessly, while waiting for the time you can finally delve. Once the sun has finally begun to drift below the horizon, you rise from your bed and head to the delving room.

It’s been too long since you last delved, but you can’t bring yourself to be as excited as usual, since this trip appears to be simply business and some baby-sitting.

Your apprentices on the other hand, are practically vibrating with excitement.

“Ya, know…” Ellie speaks up while she lights the candles around her tub. “This is the first time we’ll be delving together, Sophia.”
You turn to her and smile. “I look forward to it.”

Not really.

[1/2]

>>38957219

Ellie suddenly looks toward the hall, behind you. “Laurent! Stop trying to peek!” She calls out half angry and half teasingly.

“I-I wasn’t trying to do that.” He comes in with his eyes fully covered with both his hands. “I just wanted to know if I was free to go out tonight…”

“Go out?” You ask, amused.

“Personal business. I’ll be back before morning.” He responds seriously, leaving it at that.

Well, there’s no one that actively wants you dead right now, or at least as far as you know, so there's no real reason for him to have to stay the night.

You shrug. “Alright, but if you’re going to bring a girl home, make sure she doesn't see the delving room. It’s not a good mood setter.”

“It’s nothing like the sort…” He says in his defense, but quickly realizes you’re just teasing him, so he makes his way out.

Time to begin.

After removing your clothing, and tightly wrapping your hair up with your hairpin, you dip your bare legs into the cool blood.

The incantation comes out from the three of you at the exact same time, no prompting needed. The words combine together and fill the room, like some light haze. You direct your group's delve to the the floating rocks you saw your first time in the other realms.

Suddenly the image of a towering stone structure appears in your mind. You’ve never seen anything like it before, in this realm or the other. The sheer scale, the ornate carvings in its sides, and bright runes scattered all across it. The full image isn’t clear, it calls out to you, but it’s not where you plan on going. Or is it?

>Delve with the others.

>Follow the vision.

>Write in.

>>38957263
>Delve with the others.
Either stay with them or drag them with.

>>38957263
>Delve with the others.

>>38957301
>>38957313
>Writing.

>>38957263
>Delve with the others.
need leeches nowz

File: rg2.jpg (195 KB, 1800x1216)

195 KB JPG

>>38957405

Damn it, a hell of a time to be getting a vision. You ignore it, there’s the unfortunate matter of the replacement leech, and the even more unfortunate matter of the promise you made.

You briefly consider steering all three of you what you see, but for whatever reason, it only seems to be calling out to you.

With an angry huff on the final part of the incantation, your head sinks below the surface of blood, and you let your consciousness be consumed by the comforting warmth of the darkness.

~

The cold and uncomfortable feeling pushing into your skin lets you know that you’ve made it to the right realm before even opening your eyes.
You push off the ground, and stretch out your limbs and wings. You breathe deeply and wrap your form tightly in your red wings. Even with your surroundings as unhospitable as they are, you feel like this where you truly belong.

Your moment is interrupted when you finally remember that you didn’t come here alone this time.

[1/?]

File: ma3.jpg (768 KB, 1300x975)

768 KB JPG

>>38958146

Enormous shadowy objects fill your peripheral, and you turn to see just what it is. Dark shadows flow closely around Marissa’s form as she hugs herself with her own arms. She smiles and flaps her huge immaterial wings, managing to kick up quite a strong wind.

“Finally….” She writhes on the ground in ecstasy.

Her whole form seems more impressive than you’ve ever seen it, but it’s not affecting you as it had in the past. You’re in firm control of your emotions.

Well, you should probably at least warn Ellie…

You heart skips in pure horror as you first see the condition that Ellie is in, and rush over to her.

The lower half of her body is completely gone, replaced by some strange haze emitted from her mid-section. However the rest of her form is completely human, looking exactly as she did the moment before she delved. She seems to be sleeping, but mumbles some unintelligible words.

“Ellie! Wake up!” You firmly shake what’s left of her body.

Marissa snaps back to reality from your shouting and comes over to see what’s wrong.

She looks over Ellie’s sleeping form “She’s never been like this before.” Then she turns to you with a glint in her eye. “This just confirms it…”

She stands and extends her massive wings outward. “These forms are somehow because of you.”

You laugh slightly. If that’s true, it’s certainly going to need looking into, but for the moment you have a more pressing issue.

Ellie isn’t waking up at all, and even worse is the fact that she looks plainly human, or at least half human.

You can’t bring Ellie with you to the merchant, but if you leave Marissa behind with her, you’re going to have to pay for the leech yourself.

You shudder at the memory.

>Leave Ellie alone.

>Leave Marissa with Ellie.

>Write in.

>>38958206
>Hide Ellie in a safe place then Take Marisa with you. Explain to her what might happen.

>>38958206
>Experiment shadowy stuff on the strange haze
>Check if we can still do pyromancy
>Listen closely to what she's mumbling

>>38958264
>>38958344
I like it, I like it very much.

>Writing~

>>38958425

This trip is turning out to be more interesting than you ever expected it to be. Inspiration strikes sometimes when you least expect.

“Come back over here.” You beckon to Marissa, once again snapping out of her self-love.

She skips back to you, plenty happy after getting what she really wanted.

“This…” You quickly point to the haze at the base of Ellie’s form. “Manipulate your shadows into it, slowly.” You put extra emphasis on the last word.

Marissa’s gaze focuses in on Ellie’s torso, and just as soon as she does, the shadows around her begin to converge and head toward Ellie.

Maybe there’s something more to this form than you’re seeing now.

Your fingers clench your knees as you loom over the experiment. Once the two auras finally meet, you hardly take a moment to even blink.

A few tense moments pass with the two forces meeting, but other than them lazily floating around each other, nothing happens.

As much as you hate to admit, this experiment didn’t turn up any results.

Stress builds up in your forehead, so you begin to rub it away, only to remember something else you must test.

You pull your hand away from your face, and invoke your flame.

Blue.

The fire dances around your right hand as it usually does, only now the familiar orange light takes on a deep blue. You’re forced to pull your head back from the sheer intensity of the emitted heat.

It’s stronger, by what force, you’re not sure, but for the moment the fact that you can invoke it the same way you do as a human is enough for your hunger to be quieted for the time being.

You’re just about to move on when Ellie begins to mumble something else. You bring you head in closer to see if you can make out what’s she’s saying.
“…em They found it...” She drones as if reciting words from a page.

You shake your head. Just sleep-talk. You pick up her sleeping form and hide among a cluster of rocks nearby.

Hopefully she doesn’t go anywhere.

[1/2]

File: ta1.jpg (163 KB, 714x1000)

163 KB JPG

>>38959523

“Follow me.” You turn to the familiar cave mouth and venture inside.

The flickering light on the face of the rundown cabin makes you nostalgic. You've come a long way since your first delve, but you’re still not satisfied with how far you’ve made it since. You need to know more, and to do that…

You knock firmly on the door.

“Come in!” A familiar kind voice call back to you, with a heavy note of hoarseness.

The two of you make your way inside the cabin. The interior appears to be tidier, but the structure itself looks just as dilapidated as when you first laid eyes on it.

Once the merchant lays eyes upon you, a small smile forms on his face, and once he lays eyes upon Marissa his eyes widen, and he has to practically tear his head away to stop gawping at her.

“You’ve come back, I see.” He coughs heavily. “And you’ve brought a friend too. Hopefully another customer, hmm?” He starts again into a fit of coughing.

You’ve had many dealings with merchants so you know not to appear overly interested in any one object, so you start off coyly.

“We were around, so we decided to see what you might have.” You look over his store with an appraising eye, but you don’t see much.

“Oh.” He coughs again and rises from his stool. “How kind of you. Business has been slower than usual as of late. Maybe everyone’s going somewhere else…”

Marissa lightly prods you with an elbow.

You turn to her and see her flicking her head toward the merchant, who’s clearly doing his best not to stare at her for too long at a time.

She wants to do the talking. A good idea given the power she has currently, at any rate you might be able to get the leech for cheap. But maybe you should spare this poor merchant from that.

>Let Marissa conduct the deal.

>Continue on your own.

>Write in.

>>38959563
>Let Marissa conduct the deal.

>Continue on your own.
We try to buy something as the "main" thing we're looking for, while Marissa bargains for the leeches+whatever else.

>>38959563
>>Continue on your own.
Tell her we'd rather not lose this guys trust. He's our only leech source.

>>38959563
>Continue on your own.

>>38959563
>>Continue on your own.
Nah merchant bro is cool.

But we should look around for more than just the leech. I could see>>38959620 working

>>38959620
>>38959621
>>38959633
>>38959653
Keeping on the straight and narrow.
>Writing.

File: bl1.png (3.91 MB, 1280x1024)

3.91 MB PNG

>>38959735

You shake your head slightly, the merchant was fair and courteous in his dealing in the past, so there’s no need for underhanded tricks, probably.

“I hope business isn’t so bad that you have nothing to sell.” You turn to him and give him a kind smile.

“You shame me.” He shakes his head. “But unless you’re interested in another or some slabs of meat, I’ve got nothing new or something appropriate for not a base creature.”

Well you are interested in the leeches, but you’re not going to admit it just yet. You don’t even want to question him about what type of meat it is, but you have your suspicions.

You put your hands on your hips. “Come now, my friend and I came all this way, you don’t have anything else you can show us?”

“Anything else will do, sir.” Marissa speaks up, voice oozing with charm.

He thinks over your words for a long time. “…Alright. I have something else I can -show-you, but I can’t sell it until I figure out how much their worth is.” He heads over to the corner and from under a loose floorboard pulls out a small pouch.

He beckons the two of you over to him, as if he were about to reveal a great secret. He holds a few small metal capsules in his hand.

You feel like you may have seen something of the sort before, but you can’t recall where. There not much more than a few pieces of metal apparently, but you feel a strange inherent power being emitted from each of them.

“Some dangerous looking fellows passed through here a few days ago and must’ve dropped these. They sounded plenty angry as they were, so don’t tell anyone that I have these.” He whispers seriously.

Only a few seconds later, he carefully returns the objects back to the pouch and returns that to its original hiding place.

[1/2]

>>38960419

He seems rather serious about not wanting to let go of those, so unless you’re willing to use more conniving methods, you’ll just have to move on to what you came here for in the first place.

You turn to Marissa. “Well, I do find the leech to be an unconventional pet, do you think you might be interested in one of your own?”

Marissa’s tail swishes in the air as she pretends to think about the matter. “I’m on the fence about it. I guess it comes down to the price.” She turns to the merchant and smiles brilliantly.

He immediately goes into another fit of coughing, but recovers quickly. “If you don’t have anything to trade, then four red feathers will do this time.” He directs his words toward you. “A discount for referring a customer.”

Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to be interested materially in anything of Marissa’s form, so this is how it’s going to be if you want that leech legitimately. At least you know what to expect.

>Accept.

>Decline.

>Write in.

>>38960446
>Accept.
Ask Maria to give you something to bite on.

>>38960446
>Accept
Wasn't it only 3 feathers last time? I tought we gave six total, 3 for the leech and 3 for the stone.

>>38960446
>Accept.

>>38960503
>“The leech for two of your feathers, the stone for five. Both of them for six, you’re not going to get it any cheaper out of me.”

>>38960553
Well damn, if it was only 2 before why is it 4 now?

>>38960477
>>38960503
Was it?? Surely the merchant isn't trying to pull a fast one on you, right?
>>38960553
There it is.

>>38960604
yo if that quotes legit we're calling him on this shit rather than just accepting

>>38960604
>>38960630
Agreed.

>>38960630
>>38960639
Calling him out.
This isn't the first time I've done something like this.

>Writing

>>38960688

Four feathers… you think back to your first deal. You didn’t just get the leech for six feathers, it was six for the leech and the Fidelis stone.

You turn your head to the side. “That sounds like a great deal…” You invoke your flame. “If I were buying the leech and another stone.” You point your flaming hand close to his face, causing him to collapse to the ground in fear. “You were trying to trick me, weren’t you?” You ask with a note of cold anger.

The merchant shields his face. “Please, it wasn’t like that! B-business has been poor as of late that I had to begin eating my rotten stock. I just wanted to eat food fit for more than just parasites!”

“You are a parasite, and unless you want a charred hole bored through your chest, I’ll be taking the leech for free.” You walk toward him menacingly, pushing him closer and closer to the wall.

He doesn’t respond other than coughing out of pure panic and pointing to the dresser.

You march over to it and take your prize out from inside and head for the exit.

“If I come back here and you insult my intelligence again like you just did, I’ll burn this place down with you inside.” You hold the door open for Marissa to walk through, and glare at the sobbing merchant curled on the floor. “Do your job, and find some decent things for me to buy! You’re a shameful merchant!” You slam the door and storm out of the cave.

There are very few things that get under your skin quicker than being treated like an idiot. You’re still half tempted to turn back and beat him with a flaming fist, but what’s done is done, and you got what you were after.

[1/2]

File: r1.jpg (197 KB, 752x1100)

197 KB JPG

>>38961496

“-phia! Sophia!” Marissa’s panicked whisper bringing you out of you fuming mental tirade. She hurriedly pulls you into a group of rocks to hide, covering your mouth before you can protest.

“I despise venturing this far out, everything out here is just so…primitive.” You hear a deep harsh voice announce aloud.

“You’ve made your point perfectly clear, now help me find them before we have to kill any more of these backward natives.” Another voice snarls back.

You cautiously poke your head out to catch a glance of the two individuals talking. After seeing one come into view you jerk your head back into hiding.

The figure you saw has heavily armored, wielding a massive sword, and stood several feet taller than any human you’ve ever met in your life.

“I don’t mind that, one good thing about coming all the way here is that you might actually find a human out here.” You hear the armored individual state. “They always fetch a good price.”

The two creatures stand at the mouth of the cave chatting while looking for whatever they lost. Your mind immediately thinks back to what the merchant showed you and then to where you left Ellie.

Continue to hide and you run the risk of them discovering Ellie, who looks plainly human right now. Come out into the open, and you haven’t the slightest idea what they might try to do to you and Marissa.

>Continue hiding.

>Point them in the direction of the merchant.

>Write in.

>>38961537
>Point them in the direction of the merchant.
He might have something worth your while. Just be sure to haggle hard with him.

>>38961537
>Continue hiding.

>>38961537
>Point them in the direction of the merchant.
They'll kill Ellie for sure so it's better this way

>>38961537
>Continue hiding.
Don't point them to the merchant, we might need him for more leeches.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>38961587
>>38961653
>>38961691
>>38961700
Tie breaking roll.
1= Come out and point them toward the merchant.
2= Keep hiding.

Writing the winner.

>>38961700
>>38961653
>>38961745
Well I guess we'll have to clean up exploded bits again.

>>38961745

You’d prefer to keep the merchant alive in case you ever need his stock again, so you stay put where you are.

While you wait, you weigh the consequences of either of their deaths, and you can’t say you like how either result would inconvenience you. The path to the portal is a straight shot from the mouth of the cave, so sneaking away is also out.

You just want them to leave already, the possible chance of dying and how sore your butt is getting from the hard ground both annoy you, and so you shift slightly.

“Are you sure this is where you lost them?” You hear the armored creature speak up again.

Marissa peaks her head out the slightest amount.

“…” The other voice’s silence is answer enough.

The armored being sighs. “We’re expected back. We’ll have to continue this some other time.” His voice growing slightly fainter as he walks away from the mouth of the cave, they're finally leaving.

“Hey!” The other announces suddenly. “Come over and see what I found. I think you’ll like it…”

~

>>38962082

Okay, that's where I'm going to end it for tonight. Thank you to everyone that played today, it was a little bit slower today than usual, but I still had fun!
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them in the thread and I will do my best to respond to them.

If not, then I wish you a good day/night, and hope to see you again next time!


>(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/QM_Auri

>>38962117
So how likely are we going to lose Elli now?

>>38962139
I can't tell you that, then it wouldn't be a cliffhanger, haha.

>>38962239
Worth a shot. So we make any bad missteps this thread?

>>38962250
Well, I won't tell you any exact missteps, but some good advice for future prompts, is try to think about what others involved in that choice are truly after.

>>38962302
like for example telling them about the merchant and him handing those bullets over after cause he wants no troubu?

>>38962320
That's a good example, if that's what he was truly after, which it could be, maybe.

Again, I won't tell you any exact missteps~

>>38962375
Yeah I figured. We won't know how we stepped into a tpk til afterwards. Thanks for running Auri.

>>38962415
Someones a little salty

>>38962415
You're very welcome!

>>38962454
Not salty, just observing tg questing as a whole. Tg is usually incapable of doing anything on its own with the QM holding their hands. Then they bitch and whine when they get consequences from their actions about 2/3rds of the time. Auri doesn't provide safety rails so we're going to fall off the ledge to oblivion more often than not. Like in Miasma quest or otherworldly. If this was a group game it'd be great, but sometimes watching us as a collective play a quest is hair tearing out of head frustrating.

>>38962506
I'd say /tg/ is mildly competent.

This quest seems a bit more competent in that they don't seem to wildly chase after things and just fuck off and delve or study.

>>38962595
I'd attribute that to Prior experience with Auri's quests coupled with the fact this quest is explicitly less brutal than the previous two.
We've learned to read closely and double check facts. We still can fuck up more often than not. And I have that same foreboding feeling that I got before Miasma ended and otherworldly went straight to shit.

>>38962670
Were you even in the thread that doomed Otherworldly?

>>38962910
Yes I was. I was in the last few in part.

>>38962961
And you were there for the tea vote?

>>38962986
missed it due to work. got in just after.

>>38962999
Damn. I was looking forward to nailing you hard over being directly responsible for the doom of Otherworldly.

>>38963036
Nope. I was the anon who kept mary sue fae bitch from exsanguinating the girl with mech arms with the say nothing write in though.

>>38963074
Good job. Between your say nothing write in powers and my ability to vote against drinking tea we might just be able to guide this quest to a happy ending.

Remember, Fuck off and go Delve (or experiment) is always the right option when presented with plot hooks.