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You nod. “I'm not cut out for heavy-duty construction. Most of my muscles are tuned toward diving haphazardly in one direction or another to avoid being eaten.”

She smiles. You watch her gaze scan the contours of the broken dome before you; The architect in charge of the reconstruction has made clear that the Moon Gardens can't begin to be repaired until the land surrounding it is stable again. She passes you her waterskin wordlessly.

“Thanks.” The water has a sweetened tinge to it. You gulp down a few mouthfuls, then return it to her.

“Don't mention it. I appreciate you stopping by to lend a hand.” She meets your gaze, and her eyes finally seem to focus on you. “I know you're a busy fellow.”

“I could use the exercise,” you tell her.

“The good will you're earning with the city, too,” she says with a cat-like smirk. You only shrug in response, smiling amiably. “Any plans for the rest of the day? I think we'll be calling the boys off soon. The foreman needs some special sealant for the streets that we won't have for a few days yet.”

It's a decent question. Now that you've helped repair some of the damage you've inflicted, your evening needs to be filled.

“I was thinking...”
> I'd just retire and get some rest. I need to be going soon, and I can't be travelling with injuries.
> Maybe I'll explore the town some more.
> I have some work to do at the house. Totemist Business.
> Maybe you and I can get dinner somewhere in town?
> Write-in

–--
You are Osyki, journeyman Totemist and first line of defense for your village against the rabid Behemoths wandering the land. Your master, the previous Totemist, fell in a battle against a terrible Behemoth, leaving the duty of defending your settlement to you. In the kingdom of Eluneia Alastacia you have made your case to the High Council, then spent most of the day helping to repair the damage your previous battle inflicted.

[[Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=totem

Plot Summary: http://pastebin.com/dqBSNUTM

The Cast Thus Far / Binder's Log: http://pastebin.com/VsJpEUx3

Ask: ask.fm/DiarcaEXE

Wiki in progess: http://totemistquest.pbworks.com

Quest Twitter: @TotemistQuest]]

>>42975812
>Maybe I'll explore the town some more.

Last option is tempting though.

>>42975812
> Maybe I'll explore the town some more.

>>42975812
>Maybe I'll explore the town some more.

Even if we dont take her to dinner we could invite her as a guide.

> Maybe you and I can get dinner somewhere in town?

>>42975812
>Maybe I'll explore the town some more.

>>42975812
>> I'd just retire and get some rest. I need to be going soon, and I can't be travelling with injuries.

>>42975812
>> Maybe I'll explore the town some more.
Much as I enjoy experimenting with the totems, We should take a look around while we have the chance.

>>42975802
fuckin... goddamn it diarca, i already stayed up till 3am finishing a report, i have to sleep

Dont kill oyski, be prepared, never cut a deal with a dragon etc

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“...Maybe I'll explore the town some more,” you tell her. “I've seen exactly one bar and the interior of Lady Glorietta's house. I'm sure there's all manner of interesting things to see.”

Jun nods. One hand comes up to tuck an errant strand of hair back into place. “There are. I'm more familiar with this area of town than the others for obvious reasons, but I hear that there's a church to the west of Town Hall that's particularly beautiful. It might do you some good to soak up the local culture there.”

The meaning is implied but unstated. The worship of the Argent Lady in Eluneia is a facet of daily life.

“Thanks for the tip,” you tell her. “I'm sure I'll end up wandering into some mess by evening's end, but that sounds like a decent place to start.”

“You make it sound like a habit, Osyki.” She's not looking at you again, this time shading her eyes as she peers up toward the Architect's perch. “I can't help but wonder if you don't seek those messes out.”

You chuckle. “Only sometimes. They tend to find me.”

She makes a thoughtful noise in the back of her throat, though you get the feeling it's most a perfunctory response.

You haul yourself to your feet, picking up the Disruptor and slinging it over your shoulder. “What about you? Any plans for the evening?”

“Several,” she says, glancing sideways at you. “It's my job to observe and be observed, so I'm booked.”

You nod. “Life in the public eye. I don't envy that.”

She smirks, shrugging at you. Her shawl threatens to slip from her shoulders again, and one hand comes up to clutch it to her chest in an automatic motion. “You might have to get used to it sooner than you think.”

(cont.)

>>42976369

You bid Jun and the foreman farewell before making your way back through the winding nest of alleyways and inroads that form the core of the Noble's Quarter. Before you know it, you're home again. As you prepare to rinse the grime from your body, the Whirlpool Pearl buzzes warmth into your chest.

“Boand.” You greet the spirit by taking the pearl in your hand. A ghostly apparition appears in your vision, brought to full life when you close your eyes.

“Osyki. I'm in the village now.”

“Everything okay?” you ask her as you fumble with the laces of your boots.

She nods. “All clear on the home front. You apprentices have a message for you, though.”

There is a brief sensation of vertigo as your two-way connection is reframed. When the link clears, Quinn and Terra wave excitedly at you.

“Hey boss,” Quinn says. “How's the big city?”

“In slightly more pieces than when I first arrived. Mostly intact, though.”

“I give it a week,” he says, playful and mocking. “Good news, though.”

“Oh?” You rid yourself of your boots, leaning back in your seat.

It's Terra who can't contain the excitement anymore. She rocks forward, blurting out, “We finished your totem!”

Your totem?

“The Quick Recall hub,” Quinn clarifies. “It took us a few mishaps and a couple of seriously creepy nights, but I think it's up and functioning.”

He gestures to his side, and your view shifts. A melon-sized egg of wrought iron sits on a small raised plinth on the table. Thorns of silvery metal jut from its surface, sublimating a wintery mist into the air around it.

> Nice work!
> Any mishaps?
> I honestly didn't think you two would manage it.
> Write-in

>>42976465
>> Nice work!
>> Any mishaps?

>>42976465
>> Nice work!
>> Any mishaps?

>>42976465
> Nice work!
Why don't we ever make useful totems for ourselves?

>>42976465
>> Nice work!
>> Any mishaps?

My babs are they okay.

>>42976465
>> Nice work!
>>...What mishaps?

>>42976527
Because we have apprentices.

>>42976465
> Any mishaps?
>Creepy nights?

>>42976594
Yep 100% something exploded.

>>42976647
Master's books destroyed.

>>42976669
Wouldn't be surprised if Ayren had a locker unlock open just for that. Inside would be another book and a note saying some corny things about stepping it up

>>42976716
>Ayren had a plan for everything
I bet even his death was planned. Ayren will be the final boss.

“Nice work!” you exclaim. You're glad you're home alone—were anyone here to see you cheering for empty air they might think you a loon. “Honestly, I was dreading putting that totem together myself. You two did excellent work.”

Terra beams, wiggling to and fro with unrestrained happiness. Quinn puts a fond hand on her head, nodding.

“I won't say it was easy. We had to work in shifts. I mean, Terra mostly held things in place while I rested.”

“I put the spikes on!” she exclaims, suddenly indignant. She swipes his hand away from her head, fixing him with a wither glare. Quinn puts up his hands placatingly.

“You did! And I couldn't have done it without you.”

She makes a -harrumph- noise, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

You stifle a laugh. “Okay, but I know it didn't go perfectly. You said mishaps. What mishaps?”

Quinn hesitates. Even Terra falters slightly at that. They both avoid your gaze for a moment.

“We, ah... had a rough time weaving together some of the spiritual sigils,” Quinn begins. “I don't have the chops to hold together that many pathways of energy at the same time, apparently. Or the attention span. Some... inroads may have been crossed.”

“Elaborate,” you tell him.

“We—well, I—may have accidentally nicked one of those ribbons of energy that run through the workshop,” he tells you. “Everything seems okay right now, but at night the outside of the workshop gets a little... weird.”

“Weird how?” you ask, a growing sense of unease mounting in the pit of your stomach.

“...Foggy?” he guesses. “I'm not really sure. The whole street around the workshop goes misty as soon as the sun sets.”

>>42976954

“Boand? Care to weigh in?”

Your view shifts to the water spirit once more. She cocks her head to the side as if listening intently, long lashes fluttering as she takes in the spiritual signatures that line the area.

“It seems like whatever anchors Ayren had on this place are fraying. The whole workshop is backloaded into the Mists, but anchored in the material.”

“..It is?” You and Quinn ask the question simultaneously.

Boand nods. “I didn't notice until the wards slipped, but yes. It looks like there's a significant structure in the Mist surrounding the building. When night falls, some of the Gray Mists are leaking into the material.

“That can't be healthy.”

“It's not ideal,” she admits. You can see her twirling a strand of her long cerulean hair around one finger. “I'll stay close to keep an eye on things until you get back. Just to be safe.”

“When are you coming back, Osy?” Terra asks from outside your view.

> Soon. Probably tomorrow.
> Now. This can't wait.
> I don't know. I need to stay and wait for the council's decision.
> Write-in

>>42976972
>> Soon. Probably tomorrow.
We have to fix that shit.

>>42976972
> Soon. Probably tomorrow.

>>42976972
>Soon. Probably tomorrow.

There's either something really cool in the mist around the workshop or ayren bound another terrible demon into his house.

>>42976972
Soon. Probably tomorrow.

You smile. “Before, I would've said 'who knows'? The trip here was rough. But now? Soon. Probably tomorrow, in fact.”

You hear Terra emit a little squeal of excitement. Boand's face lights up, too. “So soon? Really?”

You nod. “I don't doubt that the council will take their sweet time deliberating on the terms I've laid out for them. There's no good reason for me to stay cooped up so far from home when I can make the jump so quickly.”

“Good.” The view rotates, and Quinn appears in your mind's eye. “I've been getting a little nervous, truth be told. It's easy to sleep well when I know I've got you to keep an eye on the village, inside and out.”

“I have complete faith in you to keep things together while I'm away,” you tell him. “You're the cotemist for a reason.”

He looks off to one side, clearly not sold on the idea. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but we both know I'm nowhere near to being on your level Osyki.”

“Have you been keeping up with your training?” you ask as you make your way (carefully, one eye cracked open) up the stairs toward the bathroom.

Quinn nods. “Boand has been stopping by to help me. She's a much... nicer tutor than you are.”

“You'll never learn if you don't push yourself, Quinn,” you tell him.

“He'll never learn if you put him in a coma either, Osyki,” Boand mutters. You give them your best Master Totemist smile. Quinn pales a shade.

“Okay,” you tell them. “It was good to hear from you but I need to get myself prepared for tonight. I'll check in tomorrow morning before I make the jump.”

“Sounds good,” Quinn says. “Safe travels.”

“Let's hope.”

“Bye Osyki!” Terra calls. Boand gives you a small wave before you cut the connection, sinking into the tub once more. This time your purpose is far more utilitarian than relaxation.

> Suggest a loadout for your night on the town.

>>42977407
>subtle
We shouldn't need any of our flashy stuff, and walking around loaded for bear might give people the wrong idea.

>>42977486
>>42977407
This

>>42977407
>Subtle

Where is everyone today?

>>42977793
here

>>42977486
+1

Do we some time to experiment before we leave?

>>42977857
I at least want to buy a new weapon to bind spirits to while we're here. Unfortunately I don't think we have any money.

>>42977911
I want to try a fruit binding finally. Also trying to double bind Boand with Cordia.

>>42977407
Lets wear the armour this time yeah?

>>42977955
Maybe we should try the ykree with the fruit. We dont really use him for much.

>>42978063
Because he's a weak spirit, I think Boand or Cordia with the fruit would be best for the first try since they have a good relationship with Osyki and are powerful enough to really show us the scope of fruit binding.

We should 100% try a fruit binding.

>>42977955
>fruit + hunger = ?

>>42978101
I mean maybe we should start with him because it would let us use it and our good gear at the same time.

>>42978115
Pretty sure fruit bindings are just spirit fusions, so it's just going to be Osyki fusing with the avatar.

>>42978109
Let's do it once we're back home.

>>42978162
May as well try it now when we have some down time.

>>42978162
>>42978175
When we get home we should just take like a whole day to bind shit. Like random shit too not just our normal gear.

>>42978175
I just think it's better to experiment with bindings we know nothing about at home instead of in a high population area

>>42978175
We can't exactly sling around powerful magic in this city anon.

>Loadout:

Cloak: Nocturne's Embrace
Gloves: Obsidian Touch
Boots: Cloudwalker Stride
Pants: Velociraptor Greaves
Sword: Mandate of Earth
Bow: Crystfire
Bracelet: Ring of Reverberation
Knife: Constrictor's Fang

You don your chainmail beneath Nocturne's tenebrous folds, though you leave it unbound to avoid drawing too much attention to yourself. You'll not be caught unprepared like you were the last time. You fervently hope you won't need it, of course, but...

Time will tell.

–-

The church isn't as difficult to locate as you imagined. Your wanderings through town take you past a market square you resolve to visit on the way home, but locating the place of worship is as simple as listening. You've heard the bell at its apex tolling in the background of your time in Eluneia, a low-level constant that you were only dimly aware of before now. The edifice that stretches skyward before you is nothing short of monolithic, vast stained glass windows reaching across its face in hues of argent and azure, crowned by a spire that seems fixed to spear the moon itself on its tip. The stones here carry the weight of history with them; you imagine that some of the blocks that make up the foundations were old when man first claimed this land.

The walkway that leads into the church is lined by the same strange silvery oaks that dot the roads of the Noble's Quarter. You can see your face reflected in a few of the mirrored leaves as the last rays of twilight reach down to dapple the boughs with a hazy glow. The area around the church is tight-packed with residential houses and foot traffic, but beneath the overhand at its front the atmosphere is almost ethereal in how peaceful the world becomes.

>>42978272

The doors (carved with depictions of the Lady Argent in her twin phases and faces) yield to a gentle push, admitting you entrance. Sound is muted within as it was in the Moon Garden. The click of Cloudwalker Stride against the stone floor is muted to a soft sussuration, a sound to match the shift of robed, hooded figures as they move from altar to altar within.

The pews here are carved of the same silverwood that adorns the walkways outside. At the front of the church is a raised dias with a small podium, and behind it a hemispherical alcove dotted with a number of small shrines. To your left and your right the wings of the church host small chambers for personal reflection, each fixed with a tarnished mirror that dominates one wall.

The stained glass face of the Lady Argent looks down at you benevolently from on high.

> Speak to one of the robed priests.
> Examine one of the altars.
> Enter a reflection chamber.
> Head back toward the market. This place is not what you expected.
> Write-in

>>42978289
> Examine one of the altars.

>>42978289
>> Examine one of the altars.
>> Enter a reflection chamber.

>>42978289
>Head back toward the market. This place is not what you expected.

>>42978289
>Examine one of the altars.
> Enter a reflection chamber.

>>42978289
>> Examine one of the altars.
> Speak to one of the robed priests.

So is there time for us to make some totems before we head out? I'd like to make some sort of ward before we go into the Mists again. Even with the Quick Travel totem keeping us from spending much time in there, I'd still like some precaution against the Primal Spirit accosting us. Some sort of warding or obfuscating totem. Think we have time to set up a warded space in the house we've been lent and then make a voodoo doll for it like we have for Elana and the village wards?

>>42978289
> Examine one of the altars.

>>42978289
> Enter a reflection chamber.

>>42978289
>> Examine one of the altars.

>>42978461
I think it is more a question of access to materials than it is having time. Our workshop gives us access to whatever miscellania we need to craft totems. We don't have that in our borrowed house. That said, if we can I'd love to have a little insurance in case old spooky-bones comes knocking again.

>>42978490
Well, the basic Veil talisman just takes wood, bone, glass and blood. I think we could knock a few of those out pretty easily. Not sure if that voodoo doll requires anything exotic, though.

>>42978461
Pretty sure the Primal spirit got what he wanted already.

>>42978543
Maybe. But he only managed to get the one strike in, and we're already taking measures to limit the Void's influence on us. He might come back to make sure it sticks.

>>42978560
He shouldn't have the time.

>>42978574
I agree, but I also believe in redundancy. Some warding totems would put my mind at ease considerably.

Speaking of totems: We need to make another Quick Travel totem while we're at the shop, with an extra set of hands it should go faster. And then we can bring it to Eluneia and make travel really fast and convenient.

>>42978600
A goal of ours should be eventually setting up a network of them as we travel.

You move forward through the church, threading through hooded priests (priestesses?) and worshipers. The antique steps creak soft groans of protest as you ascend the steps of the dias. You note that the crystal tortoiseshell pattern laid into the toes of Cloudwalker Stride has begun to glow softly,

There are five altars arranged equidistant from one another around the alcove, each set into its own nook and decorated with its own thematic accoutrement. The phases of the moon seem to be reflected as facets of the Argent. The crescent moon is depicted as a lidded eye in the iconography of its altar, a patron of secrets and a holder of infinite mysteries. The waxing and waning moons are twinned together as equal facets of life and death, their alcove decorated with flowers and gifts traditionally presented at both births and funerals. The half-moon is a symbol of balance in the eyes of Argent, and the murals painted across the inside of the alcove show a graceful figure wrapped in silver cloth holding a weighted scale over the head of a kneeling supplicant.

The two alcoves at the far ends of the dias seem to draw the most frequent visitation. The full moon depicts the commonly worn visage of the Lady at its base, offering up depictions of an ever-watchful guide, a navigator through the dark places of the material world and those beyond. A young boy and his father kneel before that altar, lighting incense and bowing their heads in reverence.

>>42978942

The full moon's opposite is the new moon. There is no graceful female icon hovering behind the altar of darkness. A watchful canine figure stares, its eye the perfect silver-rimmed black disc of the moon unborn hanging in the sky. The new moon is the dark guardian of Eluneia Alastacia, the thing that lurks in wait for the terrors of night that it might snap them up in its razor lined jaws.

A hooded figure bumps into you gently. Up close, you can see that beneath their hoods the eyes of the clergy are bond with gauzy white cloth. The figure places a stick of unlit incense in your hands with a watery smile, then moves onward.

> Leave an offering for the Lidded Eye.
> Leave an offering for the Twins.
> Leave an offering for the Balance.
> Leave an offering for the Guide.
> Leave an offering for the Abyss.
> Do not leave an offering; Depart the church.

>>42978952
> Do not leave an offering; Depart the church.
We are not an adherent of the faith, and to ask the Lady's blessing might therefore be seen as presumptuous. Besides, we're a totemist. We know not to ask things of the spirits unless we're prepared to bargain.

>>42978952
>Do not leave an offering; Depart the church.
This ain't us.

>>42978952
>> Leave an offering for the Abyss.

>>42978952
> Leave an offering for the Balance.

>>42978952
>Leave an offering for the Abyss.

>>42978952
>Do not leave an offering; Depart the church.

>>42978952
How do we know all this?

>>42978952
> Do not leave an offering; Depart the church.
Nope

>>42978952
> Leave an offering for the Balance.
seems related to our job.

>>42979052
I'd say Abyss or Guide is closer personally.

>>42979037
I assume it's what Osyki garners from looking at the paintings and such around the altars.

>>42978952
> Leave an offering for the Balance.
>>42979051
>>42979035
>>42978991
The fact that most of our options include leaving an offering probably means this isn't something negative or dangerous.

>>42978952
> Leave an offering for the Balance.
I admit the church is creepy, but not leaving an offering might offend people.

>>42978952
> Leave an offering for the Balance.

>>42979076
[[Correct.]]

>>42979087
Why would they be offended? We'd be respecting their god.

>>42979099
oh nvm, I misread that.

>>42979073
I could be remembering wrong but I though totemists were about protecting balance with spirits? Guide would also apply.
Not sure where abyss comes in.
But that's my opinion, and I could be wrong.

>>42978952
> Leave an offering for the Balance.

>>42978952
>leave an offering for balance

No offending major religions people!

>>42979418
Thats not what SMT taught me.

>>42979447
If SMT refers to the video game series. You should probably remember that Japan is not particularly tolerant to things outside of its own norms.

You take a few steps straight ahead to the Shrine of the Balance. The feminine figure wrapped in moonlight regards you with an impassive gaze as you approach. Even entombed in a mural you feel as though the cold silver eyes of the Moon are upon you as you bend forward.

The Lady Argent in the aspect of the half-moon is the keeper of the balance, preserver of the thin line between life and death, guardian of the gate between this world and the next. She has no domain and holds no titles. She is the outline; the barrier between two halves that distinguishes and defines.

In that regard, you think, you can find kinship with her.

You place the incense on her shrine and bow shallowly. The light of the fading sun shines in through the stained glass overhead, and you watch with fascination as the end of the stick is caught alight with cold blue flame where the motes of refracted luminescence touch it before smoldering to a dull cherry red. In the smoke that curls skyward, you catch a glimpse of a pair of pendulous scales; they tip one way, then the other.

Life is a balancing act for you and many others.

You draw your cloak close as you hurry out of the church, suddenly struck by the chill that lingers in the air. Wisps of incense smoke follow you to the threshold.

Outside the sun has finally laid its head atop the horizon. The sky dances with vivid pink and golden hues as evening begins to drape itself across the vault of heaven in earnest.

Not the social interaction you were hoping for, but interesting none the less.

> Head to the market and look for... (write-in)
> You need a drink. Find the nearest tavern.
> The guard may be changing shifts now. Seek out Pruisa.
> This city is strange. Head home and do some work before the morning.
> Write-in

>>42979718
> Head to the market and look for... (write-in)
Nothing in particular, just browse around, interact with shopkeepers, get a feel for the place.

>>42979718
> The guard may be changing shifts now. Seek out Pruisa.
> You need a drink. Find the nearest tavern.

>>42979718
> Head to the market and look for... (write-in)
Weaponry

>>42979718
> Head to the market and look for... (write-in)
See if you can figure out what the cities primary produce is, and any particularly skillful craftsman
Also maybe some stuff for stuffing spirits into

>>42979718
>The guard may be changing shifts now. Seek out Pruisa.
We need some change if we want to browse the market.
> Head to the market and look for... (write-in)
Just kind of look around for interesting paraphernalia.

>>42979813
>>42979824

On that note, things ive thought of that might be useful:
Some kind of Helm, or helmet
A tool belt, or belt with pouches for holding things.
Dueling shield?


We could probably grab some stuff for Terra and Quinn too.

>>42979929
We have no money though

>>42979929
Helmet might be awkward with the mask.

>>42980013
That would pose a problem

>>42979718
Supporting >>42979832
Since we need some money

>>42980013
We have money. Just not any local currency. And we have some low-quality gems. We might be able to find a moneychanger willing to accept them.

>>42980022
We would just either A, not wear both at the same time, or B, choose beforehand two combinations that dont interfere with each other.
Way i see it, a Mask and a helmet serve two different purposes, and likely so would their bindings, so, we likely would have different uses for them anyway.

>>42979786
+1

>>42979929
Some souvenirs for our non-Totemist friends, too. See if there's anything that Pierce or Elana would like. Oh, and a big one that I can't believe we all forgot about: ask about any nearby bodies of water, so that when we come back after dealing with the workshop mess we can arrange passage for Boa.

>>42979718
> Head to the market and look for... (write-in)
rewards for the apprentices, and gifts for Elana and Boand, and a money changer or jeweler. alternatively, find things they would like and come back with more stuff to pay with at a later date.

>>42980153
We don't have any money, and our village doesn't have any currency with which to go to the money changer with anyway, not that they would accept our money since they literally just met us.

>>42980204
I did throw in "or jeweler" for a reaseon, I honestly have no idea what we have on us to trade with.
If we had actual currency money changers would likely go by weight, not unit.

>>42980204
Our village does has currency, that's been mentioned before. It's just that since a totemist kind of works outside the normal economic system, almost every transaction we do is in barter. Sure, you could charge a totemist money, but it's just easier to ask for magic instead.

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You square your shoulders, doing your best to shake off the last vestiges of chill the interior of church soaked into your cloak. You have a few gemstones pulled from the hide of the Rock Turtle clinking together in the pouch at your belt; you'll see if you can exchange them for the kingdom's currency. If not, you'll simply have to seek out Pruisa or Rime and see what you can do about getting a tab to be repaid.

The sun-baked streets quickly impart their warmth to you as you head toward the sounds of hustle and bustle. By the time you emerge into the market plaza your bones have forgotten the cold of silver eyes. You wander in and out of packed, crowded alleyways, eying the signs written in an unfamiliar tongue overhead for meaningful pictures or characters.

It takes you the better part of half an hour to find a jeweler's appraisery. You duck your head and step into a cramped wooden building. A cage of iron and a counter of solid oak separates you from the plump woman on the far side of the building. A tinny bell chimes as you enter. She straightens, taking a tube of dark brass from where it rests in front of her eye.

“Good evening!” she greets you. Her tone evokes images of honeyed meat and a crackling hearth. “Come in! What've you got for me today?”

You smile at her, producing the gems from the pouch at your belt. She takes them through a hand-sized gap in the iron cage, picking each one up and inspecting it with the tube of brassy metal perched in front of her eye. She hums noncommittally every so often as she holds the gem up to a candle, eyes roving and searching for imperfections.

Finally, “Not a bad haul! I'll give you a hundred sliver for the lot.”

> Accept the money for your gems.
> Attempt to bargain with the woman.
> Ask for an explanation on the currency.
> Write-in

>>42980387
>Ask for an explanation on the currency.
> Attempt to bargain with the woman.

>>42980387
> Accept the money for your gems.

>>42980387
> Ask for an explanation on the currency.
ask after
and hope she's not short changing us

>>42980387
>> Attempt to bargain with the woman.
>> Ask for an explanation on the currency.

Part of me feels like it's kind of impolite to ask how the money works and then immediately start haggling.

>>42980556
She could be totally robbing us though, we literally don't know how much the gems are worth. It'd be incredibly stupid to walk out of the store without knowing how much our gems are worth.

>>42980556
I was debating with myself on bargaining and then asking, or just accepting the money and asking. bargaining first is incredibly rude, but asking might earn sympathy, if she's the right kind of person.

>>42980387
> Ask for an explanation on the currency.

At your request the wide, cheerful woman (Fryssi, as she introduces herself) happily elaborates on Eluneia's currency.

You learn that there are four major coins that serve as the kingdom's currency: Marks and Graces, made of copper, Slivers, made of iron or brass, and Stars, made of gold. Six marks is enough to buy a meal for yourself; ten marks make up a grace, and ten graces a sliver. A hundred slivers are required to equal a Star.

“Stars only tend to be seen in ledgers and transactions up in the Noble's Quarter,” Fryssi explains to you. “They're more a measure of worth than anything. It's rare to see one actually cast in gold.”

She goes on to explain that each of the gems you've brought her would fetch a high price if they were already cut and polished. Since they aren't, she's subtracted a fee for each to have them processed before they are sold to jewelers and goldsmiths.

“Still, it's a mighty fair price,” she tells you, nodding sagaciously. “You're not like to find much better anywhere in the city.”

If six marks buy a meal, you get the feeling these gems are worth a small fortune. This land must be starved of minerals and metals indeed. You rub your chin, considering your options as she waits patiently, running her nails gently over the surface of a thumb-sized ruby.

> Take the Star's worth of gems.
> Bargain for a better deal.
> Offer to process the gems yourself.
> Take your gems elsewhere.
> Write-in

>>42980837
> Take the Star's worth of gems.
> Write-in
Thank her for her help.

>>42980837
> Take the Star's worth of gems.

>>42980837
Maybe we should keep one to see what binding does to gems?

>>42980837
> Offer to process the gems yourself.

>>42980837

> Take the Star's worth of gems.
so, if we process the gems next time more money, good to know.
>>42980896
Maybe when we get home? I do like the idea though

>>42980837
> Take the Star's worth of gems.
>>42980896
I assume we have some left over at home.

>>42980935
And even if we don't, Quinn wants to get a Rock Turtle focus to make armor with. I'm sure we'll have more gems soon enough.

>>42981170
I forget do regular rock turtles have the gems or was it just the lightning ones?

>>42981235
rock turtles in general, older turtles are more likely to have gems.

>>42981235
The older they get the more gems they "wear"

>>42981235
They all do. The lightning ones seem to be a mutation that started growing energy-focusing crystals instead of ordinary ones. I think it might have to do with exposure to that elemental energy nexus up in the mountains.

You accept the brace of iron coins from Fryssa graciously, thanking her for not taking you for a ride when it would have been easy to do so.

She laughs, waving her hand. Her cheeks warm visibly. “Far be it from me to take advantage of cute foreigners like yourself!” She says in a manner fairly dripping with implied double-entendre. “Don't spend it all in one place now, young man.” She shoos you from the shop after extracting a promise to return when you have more beautiful gems for trade.

With your belt loaded down with coins of iron, you head out into the market to do some souvenir shopping.

But where to begin?

> Look for some sturdy armor.
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.
> Stock up on supplies and foreign delicacies.
> Look for strange and esoteric items.
> Shop for the Terra and your sister.
> Find a gift for a special lady.
> Write-in

>>42981352
>Shop for the Terra and your sister.
> Find a gift for a special lady.

>>42981352
> Find a gift for a special lady.

>>42981352
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.

>>42981352
>> Look for strange and esoteric items.
>> Shop for the Terra and your sister.
>> Find a gift for a special lady.

>>42981352
> Shop for the Terra and your sister.
> Find a gift for a special lady.
Though I'd like to think that they're all special ladies, to Osyki.

You know another thing we need to do before we leave Eluneia? See if we can find Tybalt, thank him for the assist. Without freaking him out too much over the "he figured out my secret identity so quickly!" thing.

>>42981352
> Shop for the Terra and your sister.
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.
> Buy some rings

There was interest in seeing what sort of bindings we could get for rings, IIRC.

>>42981352
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.
> Look for strange and esoteric items.
> Shop for the Terra and your sister.

Lets get stuff were not likely to find somewhere else.

>>42981352
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.

>>42981352
> Look for strange and esoteric items.
> Shop for the Terra and your sister.
> Find a gift for a special lady.
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.

>>42981461
Oh yeah, forgot about the ring thing

Can we put together a list of weird stuff to try when we get home? I'm thinking fruit, more rings and bracelets, and maybe like a chair or something.

>>42981916
I'd try a chair, just for giggles.

>>42981916
I want to see what a flask of water turns into. Like a hip flask or something.

>>42981352
>> Look for strange and esoteric items.
>> Shop for the Terra and your sister.
>> Find a gift for a special lady.
> Head out in search of Eluneia's weaponry innovations.
> Buy some rings

>>42981916
Something I've been wanting to try is a vehicle. A cart or a canoe. Or, if it turns out we can't bind any object that large, try just using a saddle. It would be cool if that let us manifest the spirit as a mount. I'd like to be able to ride our dragon in the material world as well as the spiritual one, that would be a pretty impressive trick.

>>42981916
Fruit bindings are a priority,I want to try making a homunculus and binding Amal to it, a blanket, a helmet, a rope again, books and maps again, binding cordia to a building, a vehicle like >>42981987 suggested though the saddle idea sounds kind of cheap, what >>42981963 suggested, a gem, the harp.

>>42981963
There's an idea. Potions.

Diarca already said that binding a spirit into a consumable creates a one-shot item that doesn't damage the spirit itself, it just gets unbound when it's used.

Gotta try some science up in that

>>42982268
Yeah, but it unbinds in your stomach, and we only have a few Foci that would be at all pleasant to have in there. Many of our Foci are either pointy or two big to vomit up. He said there were ways to prepare it so it would come out much less painfully, though, so let's try to look those up in the library before we experiment with consumable totems.

>>42982268
I have a feeling binding spirits with things they actually ate will hold more significance. From what we've gathered binding a raptor to fruit would be less effective to binding it to beef jerky, which would be even less effective than binding it to Raptor Meat. The more significant the object or concept is to the animal the better it will be. I wonder what'd happen if you bound a tortoise to a tortoise shell shield.

>>42982343
Hey guys! WHAT IF... WHAT IF WE BOUND HUNGER TO FOOD AND ATE IT!?

>>42982268
I meant on the water container.

---

With a hundred slivers to your name, you can afford to indulge in a shopping spree. Moreover, you discover, you really like having the ability and free time to make purchases for yourself and others. It's almost an adrenaline rush! By the time the moon is floating serenely in the sky overhead, you...

Well, you might have gone a little overboard.

You started out with gifts firmly in mind. You stopped into a shop with glimmering knicknacks in the window display and bought a beautiful blue silk ribbon trimmed with silver lace for Aurora to tie her long hair up with. For Terra, you picked out a child's sized traveling cloak with a silver crescent-moon as the clasp. She'll need one for her training sooner rather than later, and you doubt she had one of her own.

Then you stopped into a dollmaker's shop and found a tiny porcelain turtle that you had to get, if only for its resemblance to your first Feral Bind.

After that you stopped into an impressive armory and found both a long polearm with a swept crescent blade, but an incredible miniaturized bow, triggered by pulling up on a small iron dowel. The bolt launcher cost you a pretty penny, of course, but if you could get Merich to copy the design you could outfit the slayers with incredibly simple and effective ranged weapons.

A small stop into an apothecary saw you leaving with a tiny crystal-glass vial of a potent restorative tonic, a full first-aid kit, and a glass alembic for use in distilling Totem ingredients.

You picked up a pair of ivory dice from a man with a crooked smile and a false glass eye selling cards and other game supplies from a cart on the side of the road.

Finally, of course, you couldn't round out the evening until you bought a special gift. You glance into the bag, looking at the perfect present for...

> Elana
> Boand
> Saeri
> Jun
> Write-in

>>42982406
> Elana

>>42982406
>Walter

I think we should get some eggs for him, we could send them to him at high velocity as a present!

>>42982406
>turtle doll acquired
TIME FOR TURTLE SUMMONS

The waifu wars begin in earnest.

>>42982406
Cordia

>>42982406
>a false glass eye
A false glass eye?

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>42982406
1: Elana
2: Boand

>>42982406
>> Saeri or Elana

>>42982406
> Elana

>>42982406
> Elana
Boand's present will come when we negotiate her not just a path to the outer world but some prime riverside real estate. Saeri we rarely see. And Jun we just met. Let's get Elana something nice.

>>42982406
Serious vote this time
>Elana

We're giving boand several gifts as is, most notably being future contacts and the fact that we expanded her fucking domain with an additional river, shes more powerful now than she ever has been before (partially because we got taken for a ride by a rain god).

>Saeri

I don't even understand what people like about Elana. Just because she was first girl?

>>42982406
I wonder what binding shit to the dice would do? Bind the ykree to it and get snake eyes?

>>42982516
First and most importantly in character. Oskyi likes Elana.

Second I do like Elana.

Rolled 51, 42 = 93 (2d100)

>>42982533
Rolling for Ykree dice!

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>>42982539

>>42982583
My god, Ykree dice aren't just any kind of dice, they're fucking Lizard Dice!

>>42982539
Just because Diarca started us off with a love interest doesn't mean we have to pursue it

>>42982406
>Elana
>Quinn because I love him.

>>42982651
I'd rather just go with the in character and default choice to avoid shifting the focus of this quest to waifu nonsense.

>>42982500
>partially because we got taken for a ride by a rain god
Huh? When did that happen? I remember making a deal with the cloud shepards, but I don't remember them taking advantage of us.

>>42982516
I like her as a grounding element. She's the most normal of the people in Osyki's life (despite having the potential to become some sort of pseudo-divine figure), so associating with gives Osyki the sort of low-key interaction he can't get with spirits or fellow magic users or even foreign dignitaries. It's calming. As for giving her the gift, she's one of his best friends. Whether or not Osyki decides to pursue a relationship with her (and I'm fine either way, I like her as a character, not a waifu), it would be rather insulting to bring back souvenirs for Aurora and Terra and Quinn but not her.

>>42982516
Shes the only one we know much about past her name?
Personally I don't really have a preference, though I think breaking it off with Elana before pursuing someone else would be the wise thing to do.

>>42982684
That invalidates your assertion that you're voting in character when it's really just for meta reasons

>>42982692
I have a feeling we could've haggled far better than building an entire damn river in the name of a spirit.

>>42982406
This is probably the most difficult decision in the quest so far.

> Boand

I like her. She has better banter, seems to care deeply, has knowledge of spirit things, and is currently serving as our mission control character.

>>42982728
We could have, yes. We had several options for how to show respect to the cloud shepherds. The village elders chose the river, remember? They thought that the long-term benefits of easy access to fresh water made it the best option despite the added effort.

>>42982725
I'm not the guy you were talking to earlier, though I do still prefer Elana to other options due to in character reasons as well as the other reasons I mentioned.

>>42982406
>> Elana

>>42982406
>Elana

>>42982406
> Elana

>>42982728
River was mutually beneficial to be honest.

>>42982890
I had no problem with it as we had a dozen ways to spin it positively, and deals with gods aren't like a deal with a merchant, gods demand weird things like for you to grow an orchard of fruit that they represent, this benefits both parties but requires effort, the river isn't bad for us, but benefits that rain god most of all, then it benefits boand second most, and then it benefits us. So the rain god still wins out, its just that we do too.

> Elana

A tiny cameo brooch adorned with silver and topaz sits at the bottom of your bag in a small jewelry box. The face of the jewel bears a moon in smoky opal and pearl-- when the brooch is tilted to and fro the unique refraction of the gems gives it the appearance of transitioning through its various phases. Inside is a tiny capsule, watertight and suitable for powder or liquid. Easily removeable with the flick of one's fingers, it is the perfect container for an emergency dose of medicine... or poison.

With Elana in mind, almost certainly the former.

> Current Funds: 36 slivers.

Yeah. A little overboard. Still, all things considered, a succesful trip.

> Head back to the house to drop off your loot.
> Head out to a bar for a quick drink.
> Set out to find Tybald/Jun/Pruisa/Other
> Write-in

>>42983115
> Head back to the house to drop off your loot.
> Set out to find Tybald

>>42983115
> Head back to the house to drop off your loot.

>>42983115
> Head back to the house to drop off your loot.
> Set out to find Tybald

>>42983115
>> Head back to the house to drop off your loot.

>>42983115
>Head back to the house to drop off your loot.

>>42982406
Elana for all the reasons here>>42982692

>>42982934
I think haggle is the wrong word, in this case we wouldn't have negotiated the price down, we might have picked something more that provided more benefits to us at the same time..

>>42983115
> Head back to the house to drop off your loot.
> Set out to find Tybald

>>42983115
> Set out to find Tybald

We need to talk to him about superhero things.

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---
After a brief stint at the house (carefully tucking the cameo's box away in the bottom of your pack, concealed by the rest of your gear) you set off to find yourself a lordling.

You check the bars first. When that fails to turn up results (Rosa actually looking a little worried—she hasn't seen him since the explosion, is he alright?) you quit the lowered streets of the common man and take to the lanes of the noble's quarter. The guards watch you, some with pleasant familiarity, some with all but outright hostile suspicion. You pay neither any mind as you wander. Lady Glorietta's house is still recovering from the damage. As you stroll past you catch sight of her sitting in the ballroom, shattered glass still strewn across the dancefloor, drinking a glass of wine.

Eventually, realizing that you're not likely to find him on this level, you take to the rooftops.

The city is alive and alight with hearthfire and song as you bound from roof to roof, leaving trailing streamers of snow-bright light in your wake. Nocturne's embrace billows out behind you like the wings of a crow as you steal across the city, your ears perked to catch the sounds of ringing steel or--

Or clinking mail.

You find him atop the walls in the eastern section of the city. His moon-mail, reflected to a mirror polish, nearly glows alight in the gaze of his beloved lady patron. His winged cape rustles quietly in the night air as you approach, and he cocks his head to one side in acknowledgment of your presence.

“Busy night?” You ask him, drawing the hood back from your face.

He shakes his head. “Not thus far. Recent events seem to have scared the petty criminals from the streets for a night. The guard is out in force, after all.”

> Sounds like you ought to take a night off.
> Why aren't you down there with the guard, then?
> I just wanted to thank you for your help.
> Does Jun know?
> Write-in

>>42983693
> Sounds like you ought to take a night off.

>>42983693
> Sounds like you ought to take a night off.
> I just wanted to thank you for your help.

>>42983693
>I just wanted to thank you for your help.
> Does Jun know?

>>42983693
>> Sounds like you ought to take a night off

>>42983693
> I just wanted to thank you for your help.
> Does Jun know?

>>42983693
>> I just wanted to thank you for your help.
>> Does Jun know?

>>42983693
>> I just wanted to thank you for your help.
Be sure to mention that if he ever needs any of our brand of insanity/help we're happy to return the favor.

>>42983693
> Sounds like you ought to take a night off.
> I just wanted to thank you for your help.

>>42983693
>> I just wanted to thank you for your help.

You perch yourself on the ledge beside him, your feet hanging over a dizzying drop. The ancestral spear sits across your lap as you glance over to him.

“I just wanted to thank you for your help last night,” you tell him. “I think that might have worked out very differently if you hadn't intervened to keep him distracted.”

He gives a clipped nod. It's difficult to tell his expression through the bewinged visor he wears. There is very little in the way of body language to read either, encased in steel as he is.

“Don't mention it. I'd have been there whether you were in danger or not, after all. I should be thanking -you-. That monster would've outmatched me in short order without that crystal bow of yours to slow him down.”

You glance over your shoulder at Crystfire. The black spines that line its length seem to flex slightly in the breeze, chitinous cillia grasping for the unknown. “We make a good team.”

“That we do,” he agrees. A momentary glance up—toward the lunar surface—then back to you. “The moon and the earth. Maybe we were destined to meet.”

You let out a little huff of amusement. “Philosophy ill suits you, Tybald. Maybe you ought to take the night off.”

He shakes his head. “No. Tonight, I need to be up here. Even if to be alone with my thoughts a while.”

You nod, and the two of you sit silent in the glow of moonlight for a time.

“Does Jun know?” you ask suddenly.

He snorts. “Do you think I could keep it from her? She's much smarter than I am, Osyki. It would be a pointless endeavor.”
(cont.)

>>42984420

You nod. “She does seem sharp, at that.”

“Like the edge of a razor. Her father's the argicultural minister. I think she's angling to take the Chief Vizier's spot by the time she's half his age. She's the one who helps me keep this little hobby a secret.”

“How?”

“Pulling double duty at social events. Covering for my absence with plausible lies. You know—politics.”

You really don't know, you realize. Something you'll have to speak to Jun about rectifying.

“You'll be taking your leave soon I take it?” he asks, flexing the articulated knuckles of his gauntlets in rhythm.

You nod. “In the morning, most likely. I've responsibilities to attend to at home. I'll be back to hear the council's decision.”

He straightens from his crouch slowly, rising as a pillar of peerless silvered metal. “Take care, Osyki. Let me know if you ever need a hand in a rough spot.”

“Likewise,” you tell him.

There's not much to say after that. You exchange your farewells and head your separate ways.

> Head to bed. You have an experimental totem to activate in the morning.
> Head out to find Jun/Pruisa/Rime/Other
> Explore the countryside for a body of water.
> Write-in

>>42984439
> Explore the countryside for a body of water.

>>42984439
> Head to bed. You have an experimental totem to activate in the morning.
I want to look for a suitable body of water, but I think roaming about during the night would send the wrong message. Let's just make sure to take care of it next time we're here.

>>42984439
>> Explore the countryside for a body of water.

>>42984439
> Explore the countryside for a body of water.
Our gift to Boand.

> Explore the countryside for a body of water.

We really need to do this for Boand

>>42984439
>> Explore the countryside for a body of water.
Then some needed rest.

>>42982516
It's in character? Waifus are the last thing I care about in this Quest, so I just default to the one we know Osyki likes to avoid meaningless drama.

>>42984439
Shit, I just realized we should have asked how he came to be blessed by the moon. Oh well, save it for another time, I suppose. Probably for the best we, it might be a sensitive topic. Asking him after we know him better would be preferable.

>>42984439
>> Explore the countryside for a body of water.

>>42984439
>> Explore the countryside for a body of water.

Rather than heading back into the city, you head out. A spray of sparks and twin lines of lightning send you bounding out from the walls, hurtling forward over the countryside. You hop like a thunder god's pet grasshopper over the gently rolling hills and plains that surround Eluneia, taking in the sights and keeping an eye out for--

There.

A ribbon of silver cuts through one of the lower valleys between the hills. Not quite a river but larger than a creek, the water winds around the hills, working its way from the uplands in the south to the northwest. You touch down on one of the hilltops nearby, taking a moment to fix your cloak and make yourself the shamanistic version of presentable.

You close your eyes as you approach, casting out with your second sight. The world paints itself in broad stokes of green, blue, and black as you wind your way down the hill, an impressionist's interpretation of a serene meadow by moonlight. A pulse of white-blue fire lurks below the surface of the river. You stop at the bank, kneeling down in the mud and bowing your head to the flowing water's surface.

The still of the water's flow alerts you that your request for audience has been answered.

When you open your eyes, a thing of perfect white flesh strides across the surface of the river toward you. The water beneath its crude, hoof-like feet is perfectly still—it is the meadow that flows around you now, grass and dirt cascading toward the south in an unceasing wave. It regards you with eyes, black like the depths with flecks of stars.

“Well met,” the spirit—neither male nor female, only roughly humanoid in both shape and face—says to you. “You are the first of your kind to tread this ground in an age, Totemist.”

You rise to your feet as it reaches the riverbank. You would be standing nose to nose if it had anything fitting that definition on its face.

“What brings you to this land?”

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[[That's where we'll end things for the night, folks. My apologies for the abbreviated session--we'll pick up here next week. As always, thank you for playing, drop your questions and suggestions into my ask box, and have a wonderful week.]]

>>42985499
Thanks for running!

>>42985499
Thanks for running!

>>42985499
Thanks for running!

>>42985499
Gracias para corres!

>>42985499
Thanks for running!

>>42985883
Combo breaker

Seriously though. Binding a chair. Are we going to get a lightning turtle throne?

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>>42986111
>Bind Hunger
>Sit on it

>>42986111
I want to bind rings and flasks first of all

>>42986467
What if we bound hunger to the saddle of a black horse?

W̢̘͕̳̗̻I͇͓̣ͬ̆ͮͨ͛̄ͭ͞T̹͓̞̟̏͛̀̐̕ͅH̨̫̱͇̠̲̍̈͌ ̹̟͖̙̜̩̟ͦͪT̢̝̝̠̝̘̟͆H̳̣͐̆̋́̍̽̚E̙̭͉̟͑̌̓̇̎̂ͭ͝ ̗̯̠̃́̚A̛̭̮͉̲̼͕̾̈ͅP͉̖͚͓̬ͥO͒C̵̠͍̝̬̦̆͗͆ͯ̈́ͣA̙ͦͫͮͩ̀̏ͧḶ̤̖̦̼ͣ̑ͩ̾Ẏ͔ͤ̂͊̿̽P̮̦̘̳̜ͬͅS̠̝͔ͨ̀̔̚͠E͙̜̽͒̓ ̯͌T̝͉͖̝̜̰̑͑ͥHͩ̐҉̝͉͙̟̖ͅȨ̠̳̯̭̞́͗͋̌ͅ ͉̺͎͚̤̆͗͋͋ͯͫ͐͘O̵͔͕̖̠̞̼͔ͦ͐ͧ̅L̩͋ͫ͌̅D͖̞̘͍͍̖͖̎̉̿͛͝ ͔͈͉̱̑Ǫ̠̳͇̥Nͮ̅̂̓̑̾̃Ḙ̲̖̘͇̟̈̔S̛͎̠͈͓̣ͭͧ ̬̣͉̤̼̎̇̾ͯͤ͟S͉̩͓̪̘͓͖ͪ̂̚͜H̭̜̩͎̤͎̓̄̂Ā̛̚Ḷ͚̣̖͇̏̈͋́̎ͧL͍ͤ̂ͤ͜ ̲̞̿͌̌̅͊̌̂R̹̅̈̌̉ͅI͎̗͛͊S̘͔̄̈́̉ͣͦ̇Ę̫̲̦̼͕̇̄̏ͬ͋̓!̯̳̬̠̪ͧͨ͐̐ ̶ͯͨ͌̇͛

>>42987155
Actually I like the idea of binding on a saddle

>>42987189
So guys, we have wraith, which can substitute in for war, we have hunger, which can substitute in for famine, all we need is death and pestilence!

>>42987247
magi or what ever our spear is could be war

>>42987274
Isn't magi a greater spirit of wraith, hense why I said him for war?

>>42987247
Cobra/Wyrm's toxins for Pestilence.

>>42987307
wrath, not wraith

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>>42987307
Wrath, anon, wrath not wraith.
Here's a wraith for you.