You simply thought the entire thing was a clusterfuck. Not the least of which because your upcoming actions were liable to tip the scales inadvertently in one direction or another, simply by virtue of being the heir of House Valen.

There were, of course, other mysteries to solve that didn't involve the crown and serf's straining relations. Things like...

What was up with your cousin and this Jenseits woman?
Why had Ari been mentioned in a prophecy?
What was the intention of the nomadic army that had conquered Teranford to the south?
Why had East Heaven closed their borders for so long?
If any Valen would do, much less the HEIR, why had those brigands simply ignored your house and tried to lay siege to your cousin's veritable fort?

And to top it off, "-Is that a finger?" Rinnier addressed one of your final and more present concerns as you made your way back to the library with Ari in tow. You help said timid Testament settle into a chair near the now long-cold platter of food you had told the kitchen staff to send this way. "Yes." Your resounding blasé towards the lukewarm fleshy stick in your hands pulls Rinnier up blank as she waited expectantly for some further explanation.

You had none.

"That's it?"

You shrug.

"I got it from the wood golem."
"It's a finger!"

So maybe it was a flesh golem now? Or some manner of flesh/wood hybrid.

"That's worse!"

>Hand over finger, it's her stick anyway.
>Ask if she found anything while you were busy
>Ask what she knows about the nomadic army and the state of Teranford
>Other? (write-in)

Previous Threads:
https://archive.moe/tg/search/tripcode/!y56qKWqxyc/results/thread/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=valen+quest

Where things are said:
https://twitter.com/Riz_QM

Pastebin Stuff:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu

Misc notes:Semester starts again soon. I'd say something about schedule, but that'd be jinxing it.

Shit, that counts, doesn't it?

>>41900969
>>Ask what she knows about the nomadic army and the state of Teranford
>Ask if she wants the imitation finger stick that bleeds sap. It's rather creepy but the same thing, just covered.


>>41900997
yes you jinxed yourself

>>41900969
>Give her the finger
>Ask if she found anything while you were busy
We were out and about all morning. Sounds like she's been up for a while.

>Other? (write-in)
Everyone breakfast.

>>41901054
>>41901139
handing over finger.

>>41901054
What she found out

>>41901139
How's Teranford

>>41901139
Breakfast is happen.

Writing.

"Well technically it's yours." You give Rinnier the finger - Or try to, as she promptly stepped out of the way and let it fall to the floor with a dully thump. You watch it hit the ground, briefly noting the similarities of the sound it had to a body just flopping onto the ground. "I don't want it! What do you expect me to do with a finger?"

"It looks a bit different, but that's your stick. Remember?" You scoop up the fallen finger, feeling that unsettling pulse run through it once more as you lay your hands on it. "I figured it'd be better to keep an eye on the wood golem than let it roam around outside, so here it is." These were not the correct words to say if you had planned to reassure Rinnier that taking the finger was perfectly fine, as she was now visibly wary of the innocuous flesh stick. "It's not going to eat you." You frown at her, "And its been pretty useful so far, hasn't it?"

"It went berserk and nearly slaughtered an entire camp of brigands." She retorted levelly, staring it down. "We don't even know what the thing is, it keeps getting more and more bizarre, and you want to keep it near you?" Rinnier shook her head obstinately, "I'm not touching it. I can get a polearm from your cousin's guard."

You glance between the stick and your spitfire Testament helplessly. What were you even going to do with a huge finger?

"Fine." You set the matter, and the fingerstick, aside for the moment as you pick a slice of meat from the near forgotten breakfast platter, "Have you managed to find out anything while I was out?"

"...Maybe." Rinnier hedged, pursing her lips as she reluctantly tore her eyes from the finger laying against the table. When she finally did though, you immediately caught the note of accusation start to slip into her tone.

"While I spent the morning, afternoon and evening reading," her throat cleared pointedly before continuing, "I did find something that might be of use to you regarding the brigands... But it may not be what you want."

"Oh?" your interest was piqued, admittedly. You had both spent quite some time searching for something that could help steer you away from causing an unnecessary international incident in the coming audience, a pursuit made that much harder by not really knowing what that 'something' would even be. "Anything's better than nothing, what did you find?"

Picking up one of the many books that the two of you had tucked away, she quickly ran down the line of text with her fingertip before tapping the page to draw your attention to the lines in question.

"...This is-" You excitedly read over the text, but that glimmer of hope rapidly dulls as the content starts to unfurl and sink in. For the governing nobility of a region, all remaining resources and unaffiliated aspects of the opposing forces defeated on their land, which were confirmed as the aggressor, could be legally repossessed as property under the authority of the victor as seen fit by... "-How does requisitioning their gear help?" You shake your head in befuddlement.

"Not their gear." Rinnier muttered, "An unaffiliated aspect can be anything from siege weaponry and resources purchased from the land, to the contracts of statistics marching without banner." You blink, the implication started to flicker together. "..." You open your mouth to respond, your current situation set aside as it had been forced upon you by undue circumstances and ignorance, this was something else entirely.

"Technically, we defeated them." Rinnier continued slowly, holding the book aloft with a single hand as she rubbed her temple with a worn expression. "Our actions wiped out their primary camp, and the wood golem abolished their forward offensive force. Granted that it seems to remain affiliated with you," The two of you glance at the finger leaning against the table innocently, "Then you are indisputably the prevailing military force, and this IS your land..."

"This is slavery." You cut to the point directly, "You're saying I could force them to be slaves."

"...Yes." She admitted, "It's not... The best course of option, but it may have its merits."

>How could you, of all people, think enslaving them has merits?
>How is this supposed to help at the audience?
>This isn't an option. We're not doing this.
>How would we convince Caylen?
>Other? (write-in)

>>41902098
>>How is this supposed to help at the audience?
Unless you want them to hate me by using it as way of a threat. The only reason you, Ari and Kara are slaves is because you have to be til the testament is done.

>>41902098
>>How is this supposed to help at the audience?
Is she suggesting we use it as leverage somehow? I can't imagine actually enslaving them is even feasible, but getting them to work for us in a lighter manner...

At any rate I'm curious what Rinnier thinks of the merits of gaining an army, especially considering the tense situation with the royalty and international issues as well.

>>41902098
>How would we convince Caylen?
>Other? (write-in)
We're not in any position to rebel against the royal family as we have no army, no power, and no way to keep a regional conflict going as we also have no funds. What we can do is take the long path - take the bandits as "slaves", use what we've just pulled off as leverage on aunty and gain funds so we can use them to start building a base camp around our estate. That way we finally have some guards, we can potentially start some kind of industry with all the spare land we have around our place (hopefully without pissing off the fleshy oakenrue).

>>41902213
>>41902258
How will this help, exactly?

>>41902378
How to convince Caylen?
>Write-in stuff

Writing.

"How." You start incredulously, "How is this supposed to help me at the audience?"

You think over the circumstances you found yourself in, reluctantly trying to follow Rinnier's logic. After everything that happened to them, the idea of simply threatening them with slavery seemed like it was near certain to cause another riot. At this point you weren't terribly concerned about that - The wood golem could likely finish the job, after all - but these people weren't your enemies. They were... Well, your people. Killing them unnecessarily wasn't a win, a victory, a success, or anything even remotely close to resembling those things. You were trying to help them, not make it objectively worse.

"As slaves, they cease to be people." Rinnier explained neutrally, her expression unflinching as she casually wrote off the accrued brigandry as 'things', "They become little more than property, which falls under the purview of domestic ownership. They can be housed, moved, and set to work without authorization by the crown for standing force, nor can they be taxed as part of your domicile."

You step back, distantly realizing you bumped against the table as you use it to steady yourself while Rinnier continued. "As your property, they are no longer subject to human rights, which include punishment for crimes committed prior to enslavement, and many national laws." She was getting at something, something that was becoming unsettlingly clearer as she went on and you started to piece together the idea yourself.

"It would pardon them for their brigandry." You are forced to admit, though the taste in your mouth was no less bitter as you seriously started to consider it. "More than that," Rinnier enumerated, "Right now you have nothing. Your entire staff consists of a single maid, when even your cousin has a fully trained guard and domestic servant roster at his whim, this would give you something to work with."

You would be lying if you said the thought hadn't crossed your mind before. You had stumbled at the last instant, your conscious rearing up and demanding your debt to Garet be settled, if only to appease your guilt at having essentially damned the entire camp to Nightgaunts... But this? Just turning right around and taking those same people as slaves after giving them the hope of getting things resolved? It was true they were brigands, but you could feasably pardon that even without the need of this. You had that authority, didn't you? Or if not, then Caylen or your aunt and uncle did. There were other ways...

"And then what?" Rinnier's words slammed down in front of your train of thought, forcing it to an abrupt stop. "Say you pardon them, then what? They have no homestead to return to, no land to cultivate. They became brigands for a reason, not by choice, what will pardoning them do for them in the long run?" She set the book aside as she continued. "It's not a glamorous option, but if they become slaves, then they become your property. You have more land than you can possibly use, and an entire mansion filled with five people."

You try to stress that point, though. Slaves. They become slaves. That was definitely frowned on, and you weren't keen on it in the first place. The notion of it principally offended your noblesse oblige - Not to mention Caylen's, who may as well have served as a shining beacon of naive morality. If YOU found the idea distasteful, how were you going to convince him?

Further, wouldn't this be the exact same as taking them in without slavery? It would just be siding with the brigands in the face of the nobility.

"Not quite, no." She shook her head, "In this manner, you take them as slaves as a punishment for their actions. It may offend the crown, but it isn't a diplomatic affair so much as a legal seizure of criminals." She crossed her arms pointedly, "It's not a pleasant option, but it could pay off in the long run."

"And Caylen?" You exhale heavily, futilely trying to reject weight pressing in on you as you were forced to consider it. "He's not going to accept this easily. If he objects, we'd be in trouble."

"Legally, we did all the work." Rinnier skirted the issue reluctantly, "As the Heir, your jurisdiction should overrule his objections..."

"You want me to strong arm past him and force it through?" You ask incredulously, "We're still relying on him for help with Roderick, if he washes his hands then we're back to square one with not much time remaining."

"...If." Rinnier repeated a little uncertainly, "There's... There's a chance we can convince him it's for the best."

"It's not for the best." You deny automatically, holding your hand up as Rinnier angrily starts to object, "I get it, I'm not saying it's not an option, but... There has to be something better. As a last resort, fine, but isn't there something else we could do? Defuse the situation? Pardon them briefly and scrounge up resources to prolong their means to live legitimately until something more permanent could be found?"

"Maintaining the status quo will make everything slide right back to what they were." Rinnier stated flatly, staring you down as she uncompromisingly laid down her admonishment, "From what we learned, it's going to break soon regardless. It may be possible to extend your resources to prolong it, but that only leaves you stretched thin when the stop-gaps finally end. You'll be left picking up the pieces of a bigger mess than before."

"Isn't planning for that kind of event your thing?" You grouse, "Isn't making terrible decisions better than making none?" she retorted archly, "Or is that no longer your thing?"

>...I'll try and convince Caylen.
>Only as a last resort. We need to find something else.
>No, I won't do this.
>Other? (write-in)

>>41903372
>>...I'll try and convince Caylen.
But keep looking, just because you have a flesh stick thing that can kill an army, doesn't mean you want to use it again, and this is much the same.

>>41903372
>>...I'll try and convince Caylen.
>>Other? (write-in)
At least consult with him on the matter to see if there are other options. And if we do decide to go this route, we need to make it clear to the brigand leader, privately - not as an announcement to the entire army - that this is for our mutual benefit in the long run.

Telling a mob they're all our slaves now and threatening them with a tree will only cause more problems. We can work with this, if we make them only nominally slaves - the same manner as we treat our Testament. They're a brigand army because they already lost everything they had in the first place, after all.

>>41903439
>>41903554
Try to convince Caylen.

>>41903554
Consult with Caylen to find something better.

Writing.

>>41903372
>>...I'll try and convince Caylen.

>Other? (write-in)
See if we can't dig a little deeper into the particulars of the Testament rite. For all the trappings it comes with, it was still slavery as well. Maybe we can leverage that. I don't think it would be wise to just jump right in to the deep end of the pool and proclaim the entire bandit camp part of our testament in order to extend a degree of legitimacy/autonomy in noble circles, but there could be a half-measure we could derive from it.

It may be worth asking Rinnier to come along to the meeting as well so they have someone else there who can make sure they understand that we're not just going to use this legal trick and our status to fuck them all over. Despite the mental image of what slavery entails, we have someone who is already technically in that same sort of arrangement with us who would be able to vouch for our approach where it is concerned.

>>41903622
being a slave and being a Testament are separate things, which is something important to note which we have stressed to Rinnier.

Taking them as slaves will not affect your Testament, nor will they be considered as such. The status are very different.

>>41903622
>>41903622

>>41903700
>being a slave and being a Testament are separate things
Is there a difference legally though, or just in how we treat/view them personally? (And the fact other slaves are not part of our rite)

>>41903747
There is a large difference legally.

Slaves are not people, they are property.

a Testament is considered an extension of yourself. Representative in word, and action, of your own thoughts and opinions. You could describe them as retainers, but that isn't quite as intimate as the role they serve.

>>41903799
Ah gotcha. I thought we had just made that statement on personal principles that time.

You sit in silence, with only the faint ambient noise of Ari nibbling on some meat to bridge the gap created in the ensuing pause. "If..." You start reluctantly, "...If I do this, I'll need to Caylen's support." He had already pledged to help you, yes, but this was... This was different. If you sprung it on him without warning when the time came, he may react rashly.

"Specifically speaking, his opinion won't matter." Rinnier corrected after a moment, "But if it's something you insist on, then I won't try to stop you. Just remember that whether or not he approves won't matter in the end."

You don't have a response for that. It may not matter in regards to whether you could do it or not, but it certainly mattered to you. It's not that you were feeling a little uneasy about your relationship with your cousin due to the prophet business and Jenseits, or the secrets he was evidently keeping from you, or... Okay, maybe it was. You had come here completely confident in your childhood friend and were more than a little shaken by the realization that the circumstances between you had changed without anyone informing you. Pressing matters like this on top of that seemed like a dreadfully dangerous proposition.

...But it was an option you had to consider, and if you were going to go through with it, it's something you personally wanted Caylen to understand and support you on.

You tear into the meat once again, the delicious food you had waited all day to eat now tasting much less appetizing to you as you swallowed a mouthful of it while lost in thought.

"Beyond that... I have some questions, Rinnier." You shift the topic forward, turning back to your Testament. "I haven't found anything more than what we just discussed." She responded primly, but you shook your head. "No, it's about Teranford."

That caught her attention.

"What about it?" her attention snapped firmly onto you near immediately, "Is something happening?"

>About the nomadic army
>About their relation with Salamander
>About the teraforming
>About the people and royalty
>Other? (write-in)

>>41904095
>>About the nomadic army
>>About the teraforming

>>41904142
This

>>41904113
>>About the nomadic army
>>About the people and royalty
These are sounding more and more relevant to us, now that we're pushing into politics.

>>41904142
>>41904157
>>41904220
Nomadic army

>>41904142
>>41904157
Teraforming

>>41904220
People and royalty

Writing.

"Not right now." You shake your head, "I spoke with Caylen earlier regarding the brigands. While I had initially been in favor of trying to force a conflict with the crown by bringing this to my aunt and uncle's attention... But there are reasons that would be a terrible idea right now."

"...So that's why you were so reluctant to make a decision this time?" Rinnier surmised, and you simply nodded in agreement. "The conditions are bad here now, but we're still still technically united." You explain briefly, "If we force a civil war, then-"

"-You become a target." She concluded, "That... That's true."

Right. So you thought you'd ask her what she knew about the nomadic army in the first place. Where did they come from? What were there intentions? Did she know anything at all about them?

"..." Rinnier fell silent, staring contemplatively at the table as she tried to come up with an answer. "I'm not sure where I could start, but..." She clears her throats, pushing forward as if resigned as she dredges up the memories needed. "They came from further south, I think. We weren't certain of their origin initially, but the longer the war went on, the more pagan influences that started to crop up." her brows knit, "They had to have come from across the waters. It's the conclusion my older brother had come to, but father was... unconvinced. He insisted they had crossed the East Heaven border, though I don't know that there was ever any evidence for that."

You tilt your head at that, trying to connect the nomadic army to East Heaven. If the king of Teranford had thought that, it had to have some merit, and no one knew what was going on in there anyway. "You don't seem convinced though?" You push a little, watching as Rinnier's crimson tresses shook back and forth slowly in rejection. "Father... Had an unfortunate relationship with East Heaven. Or so I'm told." she trailed off briefly, unsure as to whether she wished to continue.

"Regardless, my older brother and he disagreed strongly, which caused tensions in the family. We never found out for certain where they had come from, but the culture they brought with them was definitely foreign, so I am more inclined to believe my brother was correct in his theories."

"Did they start attacking immediately?" You frown.

"Not immediately... Or at least, not directly. It was later discovered they had been slowly buying things from us, passing as travelers for at least a month or two, I believe? Smaller numbers. We didn't really notice them at first. Not until the desert started to change." You perk up, your second question being opened without so much as an inquiry necessary. "Sand was rapidly receding, being swallowed up by verdant grasslands, which eventually began to give way to forests where there had once been wastelands. It was surreal." She sounded anything but enthused as she continued, "It was also a great offense to Salamander, as its lands were being defiled. Yet, even then, it refused to..."

Her eyes narrowed, finally cutting herself off with an angry breath. "The land provided bountifully, almost unnaturally so. Soon after we noticed the land changing, they attacked. The war begun in earnest then, as if they realized they couldn't hide anymore."

"...So their goal was?" You come up blank. Had they come simply to transform the desert? To live there? Why attack Teranford, if they could just integrate and mingle like they had in those months? Was the teraforming purely a preparation to attack? "I couldn't tell you." Rinnier sighed, "After the war, the people they captured were taken as slaves, and then sold. I never managed to learn what their reasons for attacking, or even coming to Teranford, was."

>What happened to your older brother?
>Your father had history with East Heaven?
>Salamander refused to what?
>Would any of the people taken as slaves know more?
>If they were pagan, did they conflict with the Shrine?

>>41904888
>Salamander refused to what?
>Would any of the people taken as slaves know more?
>If they were pagan, did they conflict with the Shrine?

>>41904888
>>Your father had history with East Heaven?
>>Would any of the people taken as slaves know more?
We might have our next goal, after this brigand business. And firing Roderick.

>>41904888
>What sorts of things were they purchasing?
Worth seeing if there was any sort of pattern to what they were doing there. Could just have been cover for their being there, but if they were purchasing something in particular for a reason, it might provide a lead into how/why the terraforming was necessary.

>Your father had history with East Heaven?
Nothing says her father and brother can't BOTH have been right. Worth considering, at least.

>Would any of the people taken as slaves know more?
People overhear things. It would make sense why they'd try to keep Rinnier in particular away from any possible gossip, but I can't imagine there were actually zero instances of loose lips.

>>41904945
Salamander refused what?

>>41904992
>>41905009
your father and East Heaven?

>>41904992
>>41905009
The other slaves?

>>41905009
What were they purchasing?

Writing.

>>41904888
Hey Riz, just finished reading through the archives a couple days ago and just wanted to let you know I love this quest and the characters to death, you'll have a permanent lurker in me, no matter how long you run.
Keep up the good work man.

"Do you think any of the others would have learned more?" It's one thing for Rinnier to not have heard anything, but an entire nation being taken as slaves, someone has to have overheard something at some point. Maybe gotten to know some of their captors and learned something from that? "I won't say it's impossible," Rinnier agreed hesitantly, "But if they did, I wouldn't know, or where they are now."

That was a fair point. Having been sold into slavery, you've little idea where they could have possibly gotten to from there... Or did you? Some possibilities began to click through your mind as you moved the conversation forward. "I guess there's another reason to help you." You mutter sardonically, eliciting a brief flash of hope from Rinnier before she quickly schooled her face back into a less vulnerable state. "You already promised to help me, anyway. We have a deal, remember?" You wave your hand absently, brushing off her riposte without much thought.

"Do you remember what they were purchasing?" If you knew that, maybe it could shed some light on what was going on down there - A possibility that was promptly dashed as Rinnier shook her head, "It wasn't information I was made privy to. My older brother might know, but it's been so long now that I doubt he would even remember if he did."

You sigh, tentatively writing that off as a dead-end. "You said Salamander refused to do something, then?" You started alternatively, "Were..." You pause, meeting Rinnier's unenthusiastic stare as you try to figure out how to word this without offending her, "...Was Salamander being capricious even before the nomads arrived?"

"Yes."

There was no further explanation forthcoming.

"So even when the desert was being changed, it refused to help, or take action?"

Her eyes narrowed, "Simply to spite us." she bit out unhappily. You decide to set the matter aside for now, as the topic continued to be a sore point for her.

"You mentioned your father had a strange relationship with East Heaven?" You trace back to that offhand comment, hopefully taking her attention from the topic of Salamander. "Its borders have been closed for a while, so what kind of connection did he have, exactly?" If you didn't find out anything about Teranford and the nomadic army that conquered them, then learning something good about East Heaven was a decent consolation, you suppose.

"That's..." She trailed off uncomfortably, "Where mom's from. I think."

You blink awkwardly. "Mom?" You start lamely, "As in... Your mom?"

"...Yeah. Though I never really met her, she went back to East Heaven not long after I was born." Rinnier explained quietly, "Or she was taken back. I'm not sure about the details, but father... Father always seemed to have a grudge against them, though." Her hands wrung together a little anxiously, "My older brother never talked about it. None of us... ever really.. talked about it." She quieted down gradually towards the end of her explanation, tapering offin a mumble. "It's not really important, but he was often quick to blame them for things." She sighed tiredly, "It caused... Tensions in the family, as time went on. My older brother thought his grudge was bleeding into obsession, and that it would be the end of us."

"...Maybe he was right." She finished quietly.

>Abandon conversation! Time to find Caylen.
>Try to cheer her up. You are bad at this.
>Remain awkwardly silent. Think of a new topic. (what?)
>Am I forgetting something...? (Write-in)

>>41905416
Welcome to the quest. Glad you enjoy it.
Feel free to vote though, it bothers me to have to roll dice to make choices.

>>41905468
Guessing a bunch of things after re-reading the first rundown of the other countries.

>>Am I forgetting something...? (Write-in)
Does she know what happened to her brother?

Didn't Teranford try to contact East Heaven for help with the nomads? Their lack of response was suspicious.

She mentioned some refugees fled to Ephlesia, too. We could try and focus on that if East Heaven isn't an option.

>>41905591
>>41905468
If none of these really go anywhere,
>Try to cheer her up. You are bad at this.
Can't leave it on too bad of a note, though we can't really say much.

>>41905607
Writing.

>>41905591
None of these were the prompt, but one was closer than the rest.

>>41905459
>"...Was Salamander being capricious even before the nomads arrived?"

>"Yes."
For how long, exactly? Kind of curious as to where this timeline actually starts.

>she went back to East Heaven not long after I was born." Rinnier explained quietly, "Or she was taken back. I'm not sure about the details
So I assume this was pre-border closing? How long have the East Heaven borders been closed?

Does anything in particular on these timelines match up at all? (Border closing/invasion probes/Salamander starting to pitch a fit/etc.) Salamander can be as fickle as it wants, but it's also vindictive. I'd be more inclined to look at when things started to deteriorate and see what events in that time period might've been responsible.

My other recollection is

>We came under assault from a 'nomadic army', a force of raiders whose numbers were nigh endless, but flew no banner."

>Her eyes darkened as she spoke, "In the last few months, Father was certain they were being funded and supplied by someone, but he never discovered who. I should not have to explain, but it's impossible for that kind of thing to exist, you know? The larger a force gets, the more supplies it needs to sustain it - A nomadic army can not just exist out of the blue, they can not pose a threat to an established nation. They would disperse from lack of supplies and held ground."
East Heaven's borders are notoriously safe because they're full of terrifying monsters (like our aunt's Nightmare).

The size of the nomadic army is something noteworthy, since it makes it seem unlikely that they could've come across the sea because of the sheer logistics of it being impossible to hide, and difficult to hide in the forests of East Heaven on account of the horrifying beasts, unless they were provided foreknowledge or felt safe from them for some reason.

"Ah..." You exhale uncertainly, faced with a less confident Testament once more. If you hadn't proven it well enough when Ari broke down, you were honestly terrible at these things. Perhaps your one saving grace in this instance was that she wasn't outright bawling, which meant you personally weren't going to have a breakdown right alongside her in a clumsy attempt to fix things.

But that still left you with Rinnier soberly drifting from the conversation with a forlorn expression. You'd do well to just exit stage right just about now, because you knew Rinnier. Or at least, you sort of knew her. Given some time, she'd bounce back and be as snappy and demanding as ever... But at the same time, Rinnier WAS your Testament. If you just left her alone now-

"It's not over yet." You interject, your mouth once more working faster than your mind. That wasn't what you wanted to say. You don't know what you wanted to say, how were you even going to follow that up? Oh god she was looking at you now, shit, okay nothing's caught on fire yet - Bad choice of words, nothing can catch on fire near Rinnier because Salamander hates her. Except that one time something did catch on fire, and then lots of things caught on fire, and you're panicking now. What did you say? It's not over. Right. Let's run with that. "You're still alive, Teranford still has a royal family, and you've been doing everything you could to try and help your people." Good job, mouth, keep going. "Your father and brother might be dead-"

I take it back, stop going. Abort!

"-But I promised I would help you. It's not going to be over until we both give up." You almost consider letting it drop there, but you're in too deep now. You just keep talking. Something's gotta work. "I remember you said a lot of residents managed to flee to Ephlesia, didn't they? We can start rallying them there." The borders to Ephlesia were closed from La'Fiel's side. You both knew this. You weren't helping.

"Though I guess we might need to travel through Teranford to get there, and-"

"Irue?" She interrupted tiredly.
"Yes?"
"Stop."

You were bad at this.

"...There's no need to make things up. Teranford ended before we even met." She continued calmly, "All that's left for me is to try and fill my obligation to my people, and do for them what I can. I don't... Have any delusion of the country ever going back to how it was."

You were left without a response as she pulled another book to her side and began to open it, as if the previous conversation simply hadn't happened.

....Should you have even said something in the first place? You can't help but feel like you just scratched the wound open wider, somehow. Either way, there's nothing left for you to do here; Even your appetite is lost as your stomach knotted itself over.

You stand awkwardly on the other side of the table, mind running blank in an attempt to think of something to say, or do in the wake of what just happened. Nothing was coming to you, but even staying here felt a little uncomfortable, even though she seemed to have simply gone back to reading for alternative ways to deal with the audience.

...The audience, right. You needed to talk to Caylen about that, and some other things, still.

>Quietly excuse yourself
>Take Ari with you
>Ask Rinnier to come with you
>Do it later, study... somewhere else in the library.
>Other? (write-in)

>>41905866
>>Quietly excuse yourself

>>41905866
>Ask Rinnier to come with you.

>>41905866
>Ask Rinnier to come with you
>Other
We're bad at this, but apologize. Although we were trying to help, we fucked up and we know it - to not acknowledge that would be disingenuous, not to mention it being unbecoming of the Valen line.

>>41905652
None of these were the prompt, but I'll take a moment to vaguely address some of these.

>For how long exactly? Kind of curious as to where this timeline actually starts.
Rinnier has been implied, in a much earlier thread, to have a general idea of when. Getting it out of her, however...

>How long have the East Heaven borders been closed?
You're actually on the right track.
>So I assume this was pre-border closing.

You can use a little order of elimination to piece together a timeline of the things mentioned from there, if you think about it.

>The size of the nomadic army is something noteworthy, since it makes it seem unlikely that they could've come across the sea because of the sheer logistics of it being impossible to hide

Finally, there's this. It's been noted a couple times, but Irue and several others find it difficult to near impossible to believe a nomadic army can actually exist - For a great number of logistical reasons. There is, undoubtedly, more to it than what has been presented.
___

>>41905917
Excuse self.

>>41905956
>>41905964
Ask Rinnier to come with you

>>41905964
Apologize for being bad at this.

Writing.

>>41906000
So this wood golem we have is obviously from the same 'pagan' god(dess) that the nomads are worshipping. The get the food from the terraformed territory they conquer? They're zealous servants of said god(dess) and they don't need hard cash, or they pillage is when they conquer?
Most likely way way off.

>>41906028
Rinnier did mention that they attacked immediately after the forests happened; I'd imagine it would take longer if they had to wait to harvest anything. And I don't think just pillaging would be enough to sustain an army that came out of nowhere.

I'm still not ruling out East Heaven being somehow involved, based on this:

>>40362033
>"Last I heard, East Heaven Kingdom has closed its borders due to an internal power struggle between the Princesses as to who will rule." She bit down, her fist clenching unconsciously by her side. "For that reason... They couldn't support us. Or they wouldn't." Her head hung, "Or they never got the message. I don't know."

>>41906028
As long as we're posting wild speculative guesses, Rinnier's mother was actually part of the royal family of East Heaven, and either the orchestration of the invasion itself, or at least the cold shoulder response from what was ostensibly an ally is part of East Heaven's princesses' succession dispute.

>>41906104
Dunno why I thought linking to that thread would work.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/40355511/

>>41906107
go time Our parent's assassination was ordered by the King, he was going mad and our parent's knew this, they tried to escape the country and left us in the care of our uncle and aunt, they wouldn't stand for it and were ready to do something if he went for an 'innocent child' and that settled him down for a few years. He got to be a crazy guy and is taking up land at the fastest speed to keep power in his hands, we weren't hidden from the world by our uncle and aunt because valen power would get against the king anymore

>>41906000
=)

You think to quietly excuse yourself, having done enough damage with good intentions for now, but something keeps you from leaving. If you just left now- Well, those were your thoughts before your mouth opened itself and started to awkwardly spew words into the air. This time was a little different though, as you clamped your jaw shut until you could properly formulate some kind of plan.

"I'm sorry." You finally breathe out, drawing Rinnier's attention curiously. "What?" She blinked, eyes flickering up partially in confusion. "About what?"

"I'm... Not very good with trying to cheer people up, so I probably made it worse." You lower your head slightly in remorse, "So I apologize."

Rinnier's inscrutable expression bored into you for several long moments before she finally set the book aside and sighed. "No, it's not your fault." She stopped briefly, correcting herself. "Some of it is your fault. But... Thanks, I guess." She brushed her hair back tiredly, "For trying."

So it wasn't a complete failure?

"No, it was. I wish you had kept your thoughts to yourself." She replied flatly, "But I understand what you were trying to do. I guess I should be thankful that you bothered to try, no matter how terrible a job you did."

You felt unnervingly like you were being given an A for Effort, when you got all of the problems wrong. It was a special kind of patronizing that you felt more embarrassed over than you did indignant. "Was that all?" She interrupted your indecision, "Because you still have nothing to direct you towards in the audience."

"Sort of." You hedge, "I think we should both take a break for now. I was going to talk to Caylen in the meantime, and I think it would probably help go over if you were there as well." Rinnier arched a brow, "Didn't you just get back from a break?" She asked pointedly, "One that lasted all day?"

Your arms cross, a thin smile quirking up unbidden. "I was working, just not with books." You sniff primly, "I needed to talk to Caylen and Alouette, and had to retrieve your stick."

"I refuse ownership." She replied in a deadpan, "But if you think I would help with your cousin, then I'm more than willing to take a break from these books for a while." She rose up belatedly, craning her neck from side to side while quietly groaning around the cracks and pops that issued forth. "What will we do with Ari?"

"Take her with us?" You half-asked, glancing towards the Testament in question whose head had perked up once her name was mentioned. You nearly forgot she had been there, silently listening to the conversation back and forth as she nibbled on her breakfast. She nodded immediately at your suggestion though, moving to slip out of her chair promptly. "Then yeah, we'll all get out of the library for a bit."

You make it to the door with Rinnier and Ari before halting and glancing back at the finger still leaning against the table. You could probably take it with you, but... there wasn't really a reason to. At least not right now. Still, better to be safe.

"Stay." You bark back into the room, holding a second to watch the completely unresponsive finger. You guess it got the idea, as it wasn't moving... Of course, sticks don't generally move. Or it could just be waiting for you to leave before it moved.

...Should you really just leave it here?

>Yes
>No

>>41906419
>No
Trolling Caylen is what we do best

>>41906419
>No
Take it with, either leave it outside the room or have Ari care for it out while we and Rinnier talk with Caylen.

>>41906735
>>41906762
No.

Writing shortly.

You shake your head, breaking away from your Testament briefly to retrieve the finger from its place against the table. The soft pulse as your digits wrapped around it was filed away as uneasily as it had been the first several times it seemed to thrum deeply through the veins of your wrist and into your body. Nothing came of it, at least nothing so far, and it seemed to subside after the initial contact subsided...

Or at least you hoped it did. It was possible that it simply synchronized enough to become indistinguishable from that point on. The entire thing's existence, whether it was as a stick, a finger, a golem, or a massive flesh-wood abomination, was an abyss of uninformation and vague possibilities to you. All the same, the finger ceased to react entirely once you had picked it up, only providing that brief pulse of confirmation? Greeting? Something.

"Alright, lets go." You catch up to the others, flashing Rinnier a reassuring grin when you caught her staring uneasily at the finger held lazily at your side. "Better with us than left alone, right?"

"I can think of a few better places than that." she retorted readily, "But I guess it's listened to you so far."

You shrug, and the three of you start to make your way through the halls of your cousin's estate.

"Did you find anything else interesting while looking through those books?" You query after a few steps, glancing back towards Rinnier as she hummed in thought. "Interesting..." She muttered in consideration, "Well, there have been several military campaigns to the northern mountains." she snapped her fingers, "All of them seem to have been failures, but the records never stated who or what they had been against. From what I could gather, maybe it was the environment itself."

"Eh?" You blink, "Recently? I didn't think La'Fiel had any forces to spare."

"No, no time recently. They all seemed to come to a stop a while ago. Maybe two decades ago? Somewhere around there." Rinnier shrugged, "Though that's actually what caught my interest. It wasn't La'Fiel mounting the expeditions, it was House Valen."

"...What?" you brush back a strand of stubbornly long golden hair as you frown. "It didn't say anything else about those expeditions? Who issued them? Where they were going?" Rinnier shook her head, "Just that they happened, and some excerpts of their losses." Well that wasn't really helpful to you right now, but you suppose it was fairly interesting.

Some time later you finally found Caylen. Rather, you followed Alouette's voice to discover Caylen attempting to defend himself clumsily from her sword strokes as she admonished him. Your Testament and you arrived in time to catch the tail-end of what you could only assume was some hybrid between a sparring session and punishment, as Alouette's faint smile and composure failed to waver between the merciless exploitation of hole after hole in your cousin's defense, threaded together with her own personal displeasure of not being informed of Nightgaunts earlier.

You're forced to watch in awe at how systematically the woman slid around and redirected Caylen's defenses - Physically and verbally - without so much as seeming out of breath whilst battering him into the ground. It was one thing to have the upper hand in a conflict, it was another to dominate it so completely that the act of victory was simply confirmation of the foregone result. That she could even bother to speak so coherently without tremor in her smooth voice whilst fighting was a nearly mesmerizing in and of itself.

All too soon that display came to an end as she finally stepped away and lowered the blunted training sword she had been swinging in finality.

"Haa... Haa..." Caylen gasped for air, having been barely capable of gasping answers out in between grunts and desperate spurts of movement. His knees were shaking, and it was clear even with your own lack of martial knowledge that he'd have collapsed to his knees had the sparring gone on much longer. You wonder, as Alouette's gauntleted hand brushes back a loose strand of her own strawberry blonde hair from her sweat slicked cheek, whether she had ended the session simply because you arrived, or because she had judged Caylen's physical capability to be nearing its limit.

"Irue." She dipped her chin in deference and polite greeting as she left your Cousin to pitch forward onto his own sword in an attempt to stay standing. Her eyes flickered towards your Testament, eyes sliding over Ari quickly and coming to rest inquisitively on Rinnier. "Miss Lamandra." She nodded once more, the wrinkle in her stride smoothing out quickly. "Caylen has finished his exercises for the day, if you had need of him." She stepped aside lightly, one hand held out towards Caylen as the other rose over her chest in concert with a light bow. "Unfortunately I still have duties I must attend to," she remained barely bent at the waist for a moment, "Unless you have need of me?"

>Dismiss her, talk to Caylen alone.
>Keep her with you as you bring up the possibility of slavery.
>Ask about a polearm of some sort for Rinnier.
>Other? (write-in)

>>41907130
>>Ask about a polearm of some sort for Rinnier.
>Dismiss her, talk to Caylen alone.

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>>41907497
This stuff.
____

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest

And we are archived.

Going to stop here for now, since it seems like we've mostly run dry on players.

I'll lurk the thread for a bit to try and answer some questions if I can.

Apologies to all anons who participated in Valen Quest but died at their keyboards wondering when QM would finally stop.

To those who did not make it to the end, we will never forget your sacrifice.