Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Valen+Quest

Where things are said: https://twitter.com/Riz_QM
Where things are asked: http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Current Abilities - http://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
A List of Forgotten Things - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h
Irue's Memoires - http://pastebin.com/sWnicrK7

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT
In Your Shadow - http://pastebin.com/EfeeHFAE
Friends Forever - http://pastebin.com/Yn0QaTVB

Misc notes:I'm just going to stubbornly write until I feel better.

Memo:
1. You'd be taking a Salamander Adept into a forest though, so be careful with that.
2. Invite Marchovic on adventures next time there's a chance.
3.

>>553737
>>Ward it off with the snipping
>Push Mim back down the hall

>>553737
>>Ward it off with the snipping

>>554127
>>554238
Ward it off!

>>554127
Pushing Mim away!

Oh hey, people showed up.
Writing.

"Mim, leave." You take a half step forward, tentatively placing you in the line of fire between the berserking wood golem and its target. It's a subtle action, and one that rewards you with confirmation that its sudden volatility was centered entirely on your companion's presence. You had already prepared yourself to have to argue with the little Luna Adept about leaving you to handle it on your own, but...

...The rapidly fading foot steps echoing down the hall let you know that she had listened without a complaint. Should you be gratified that she listened so easily, or insulted that she didn't think twice about abandoning you?

Whatever. She was a Luna Adept; By definition, she knew what she was doing.

"Alright, let's not do something we'll end up regretting..." You mutter, partially to yourself, as you take another cautious step and raise up the Nymph's Wood clipping; Its pale green glow a sharp contrast with the darkened hall, and one that seemed to resonant with the motes of light teeming amongst the roots around you. You didn't know what the hell this foreign tree was supposed to be, but the wooden golem was wary of it. Even in its furious state, the glow captured its attention quickly - A result helped by the fact that the actual object of its ire was swiftly managing her escape. "Easy now."

There was still a vague connection with the golem. You aren't sure if it was familiarity with the bracelet, a side effect of your immersion in webbing, or time spent as something not quite human, but you could feel a thread linking you with it. Regardless of why it had become noticeable, you were forced to put your faith into it and hope it would be enough to keep the situation from escalating.

So you watched warily as it hesitated, attention splitting frantically between yourself, the stem in your hand, and the hallway behind you. Quick repositioning had let you intercept its occasional attempt to rush past you, and in doing so only served to stress out the thing more than before.

>Pet Tree
>Advance while it was distracted
>Slowly retreat after Mim
>Other? (write-in)

>>554475
>Pet Tree

umm, good golem?

>>554475
>>Pet Tree

>>554475
>>Pet Tree
>>Advance while it was distracted

>>554522
>>554592
>>554617
Pet Tree!

>>554617
While advancing.

Writing!

>>554645
I had a power outage exactly when you started running.

Once you were certain it wasn't going to start trying to lash out, you were left in the awkward position of deciding how to handle the obviously distraught wood golem. The first option was, clearly, to regroup with Mim and try and come up with some kind of solution for where to go from here... But given the way the golem had begun to sway to and fro, you felt like turning away from it at this point would probably be the worst thing you could do. Not so much due to any fear of it striking when your back was turned, but because it seemed as if it was one step away from tearing at its own ivy-like hair in frustration.

It was a silly justification, and one you wouldn't be caught dead explaining, but it was that which led you to slowly closing the distance between you. A skeptical part of you noted that your reasoning for even trying to do this was firmly rooted in projection - But it was hard not to see pieces of yourself in something that looked exactly like you.

...And, if only to yourself, you would quietly entertain the notion that perhaps there was guilt behind your actions as well. An apology, for having not extended at least this much attentiveness to the emotions of another self-reflection.

"Shhh..." You focused on that thread between you, trying to exude some measure of comfort across a connection you didn't wholely understand. It was there, though. It was enough for you to make your intent known. "It's okay. She's gone." You have no idea what Mim did to rank so high on this thing's shit list, but as you held on tightly to the softly glowing clipping, you figured that this thread wasn't just a one way affair; If it could divine your problems, then surely you could salvage something from it? After all, mutual understanding was the first - and most important - step in resolving conflicts.

BETRAYAL

You almost hesitated at how intrinsically potent that single sentiment was. True to form, you don't think any human could actually feel something with such an all-consuming single mindedness. It was nearly enough to stretch your own mind as you instinctively tried to understand the sheer depths of rancour and despair wrapped up in that one word. This... You should probably abandon any hope of talking this over. This was the kind of emotional turmoil that could single handedly birth a Shade Apparition, even without some unknown relic to aid it.

Still, it shifted in place as you approached, face frozen in a smile that was almost heart breakingly dissonant to what you had brushed up against through your bracelet granted empathy. It had faithfully shown you the way here, and was almost pitious in the way it had scratched on the door in an attempt to coax you outside. Despite what you had seen it do, or perhaps because of your experience with things like it, you found it hard to simply turn away.

"Don't worry." You reached out slowly, running your hand along the pliable leaves which made up its verdant hair as you drew closer. It was a simple act, one that had only required you take a chance, as you gently pet the fretting golem. "See? I came back."

Perhaps unsure of how to react, it froze in place. You continued to stroke the ivy-like hair as you came to stand directly infront of it, but at this point there was nothing else to say. It wasn't as if it understood words in the first place... And even if it did, nothing you had to say would be able to assauge what had driven it to frenzy.

Still... For now, it was calm again. Calm and immobile, as you absently found yourself mimicking its own soft smile under the warm glow of the Nymph's Wood clipping. It had been your smile in the first place, anyway.

>?

>>554912
Try to find Priat. Once he's not looking for us, he can lead Mim out.

>>554912
>>554935
This. Also we should inform Print about the betrayal.

One day I'll figure out what Luna took from us.

I honestly can't tell if it's reacting badly to the wood clipping or not. I think we should see if it'll listen again now, and figure out how to get both it and Mim out of the house, but I'm drawing a blank on how.

>>554935
>>554946
Finding Priat!

Writing!
---

>>554790
That's okay, I'm too miserable to be discouraged right now. Legitimately just planning to run Valen until I stop being sick.

>>554946
What Luna took isn't a secret, though? You lost your memories of being in the ruins back at the bandit camp, and everything that transpired there.

>>555000
...Why have you stolen my ID colour?

File: excuse me.png (240 B, 68x50)

240 B PNG

>>555007
I'm well within my rights

File: ENHANCE.png (996 B, 340x250)

996 B PNG

>>555060
damnit that looked more obvious when zoomed in

>>555007
I'm just thick

You don't know how long you stood there, but so long as you continued to pet the golem, it had remained as still as you might have expected an actual carving to have been. For all you knew, it would have been perfectly content remaining in this status quo until it actually took root... But you weren't a tree. You didn't have the leisure of just relaxing and having your hair stroked, not when you had come out here to save Ari. Your gentle ministrations slowly come to a stop, hand resting atop its head momentarily, and then you let it slide down to land on the golem's shoulder as you move to step around it.

This, at least, it finally reacts to. "Come on, we've still got work to do." You pat it once, keeping the clipping of Nymph's Wood on the otherside of you as it begins to stir back to life and swivel its head uncertainly between you and the now empty hallway you had come from. Even now, some part of it still wanted to pursue Mim... And now that you had brushed against what it had felt on meeting her, you've little delusion what would happen if it actually chanced getting a hold of her. However, you had spent enough time attempting to soothe it that what remained of that frantic fervor was little more than indecision.

You paused several feet away, turning back to check when it failed to follow immediately, and got to see the final moments of struggle as it seemingly made up its mind and turned away from the glowing path of roots in order to follow after you. It had been no simple choice, and you feel it would have been far more troublesome if the path Mim had retreated along hadn't been filled with the Nymph Wood's assimilated territory... But it wasn't discontent to follow behind you.

Comforting it had affected it far deeper than you had expected.

That aside however, you still needed to find Priat. According to Mim, he had been roaming your house trying to find you ever since they got trapped inside... Although given that the house had been serving as a changing labyrinth for the two of them, it seems like you had been in a much better position to be doing any such finding. Probably didn't help that whatever had taken over your house seemed to personally hate the little Luna Adept and everything she stood for.

As for finding Priat... Mim had given you a general direction, but you had no way of knowing if that had changed by now. She said he was trying to track down some traces of Salamander, though. That should have given you a clue, but if anything it only left you at a loss. Rinnier had lived here for months now, and you knew from personal experience that most Salamander related things would rather actively snuff out and die than be in her presence... Or failing that, try to kill her instead. Where was he going to find-

"..."
"?"

You turn to look at the wood golem thoughtfully, watching it tilt its head to the side as if waiting for more petting. It could probably lead you to Priat like it had Mim, if you asked... You'd just have to hope it didn't have any all consuming grudge against him as well. Trees weren't particularly well known friends with fire, after all.

However, you might also be able to use that to your advantage.

If Priat was seeking out some traces of Salamander, then it would likely be able to lead you to that instead, and then Priat would find his way to you on his own time. After that... You could make a plan as a group. Normally you'd say Priat could take Mim and escape, but you well remember the countless watching silhouettes that litered your yard. Having seen what happened when Mim met just one of them, you doubted that whatever nebulous warding which had prevented them from surging through your open door would be able to stop that from becoming a disaster.

>Take me to Priat
>Take me to Salamander
>Meditate(To who?)
>Other? (write-in)

>>555173
>>Take me to Salamander

>>555173
>Take me to Salamander

Can we leave breadcrumbs for him to follow us with? Tear off pieces of our dress unless we have something else we can afford to lose? I was going to say carve signs but I'm not sure if the fairies would like that.

P.S you started at 5am, hard to attend at that hour.

>>555173
>Meditate(To who?)
Hahaha no

>Take me to Salamander

>>555288
Is it too late to change my vote to
>Meditate: Luna

>>555301
Riz did say that if Irue dies horribly the quest will continue with another protagonist, but I don't think that's a reason enough for a vote like that.

>>555254
>>555288
>>555276
To Salamander!

>>555301
...I mean. You can. If this is a serious vote, I'll take it.

Writing!

>>555313
n-no, it wasn't

>>555313
We probably should at some point though.

So does this confirm the connection with the golem and the fey?

"Lead me to Salamander?" The instructions were simple enough, but you were really only guessing as to whether it could follow through or not. In the end, even if you found Priat, you didn't want to have to waste more time looking for whatever trace of Salamander he had been searching for; Going straight to the source would just be quicker all round. That said, as the wood golem seemed to take some time to consider your request before setting off, you spared a moment to consider taking some time to meditate as you walked. Nothing deeply involved, but maybe something light to organize your thoughts...

...You adjust your bracelet instinctively while thinking about that. Honestly, you haven't had many good experiences with meditation in recent past. Even if the desire to do it was something of an ingrained thing at this point, you really didn't need more unexpected trouble cropping up right now. Besides, what were you going to do? Try to attune to Luna?

The Golem's head whipped back towards you almost immediately, and you rather hastily banished the thought as you held up your hands innocently.

It continued staring at you in silence for a few seconds before returning to leading you on, eliciting a small sigh of relief as you fell in step. Of course, if it understood Salamander's name then recognizing... The other one, would make sense. The fact it had picked up on just the mere thought, however, was a little concerning. Just to what extent did this little thread connect the two of you? It seemed as if the extent of it was simple empathy, but you would be lying if you said you had even noticed it before that moment in the hall. Intellectually, of course, you knew that some kind of connection had been formed due to the bracelet, simply because of prior experience... But this time, you had an almost tangible grasp on that connection.

Was it simply because you had more experience?

Or, as you scrutinized the Nymph's Wood clipping still gently lighting your way, was it the result of something more... Material?

It wasn't as if focuses were unusual in meditation. In fact, for many people they were all but an expected necessity; A flame for Salamander, a bowl of water for Undine, even a dark room for Shade. They gave you something to focus on, but their very presence also did its own part in aiding the process. Having spent most of your life practicing (fruitlessly) in this manner, you were well acquainted with the supposed effects they were meant to provide. For that matter, it certainly seemed as if the golem had some connection to this tree... Even if it was a wary aversion to its presence.

Mim hadn't outright told you that Nymph's Wood was connected to a Mana, but even if it were, other details didn't make sense. If just a clipping of it could serve as a strong enough medium to strengthen your awareness of the connection between yourself and the wood golem, then would that make the golem also related to the Mana? Or just an ambient relation to another type of creature in the Mana's domain? For that matter, regardless of which answer was true, why would something conceivably made purely in the domain of an unknown Mana react warily to its own medium? It made as much sense as the sea parting out of shyness.

You sighed quietly, leaving the matter to stew for a little while longer.
You were too deep into this to still be walking blindly. The answers should all be just within reach, shouldn't they?
Were you just forgetting something...?

The golem pulled you from your thoughts as it finally came to a stop, standing next to the darkened doorway before you. This was... Your kitchen? You looked towards the golem in askance, watching it flinch away as you raised the luminescent clipping to shed some light on the darkness. "Salamander?" It warbled out in response to your unspoken question, even as you stepped through the threshold and into the ruined kitchen.

It wasn't as bad as it had been last time you remember seeing it. Of course, your knights had been living with you for a month or so, so some amount of repairs were to have been expected, but you'd be hard pressed to fully repair the damages Kara had left here. You still remember her busting in and using your entire island to slam a hole through your kitchen floor... Dunking your stove, and the errant Salamander apparition along with it.

You blink, swift steps carrying you across the room.

Apparitions were the lowest level of Mana manifestation, characterized by requiring some physical medium to manifest themself; A medium which would become saturated in their essence. When the twin Salamander apparitions had attacked back then, you had turn out the core of one of them yourself! That meant the other one, would be...!

...Buried underneath your newly replaced stove and floor, after Kara had used your kitchen island to drive them - and the apparition - through the earth like a nail.

You stood there and stared at the ground, almost as if it were you mocking you, and only absently heard the golem shuffling to stand in the doorway behind you as it warbled curiously.

"Salamander?"

>Just wait here for Priat.
>Have the golem tear your floor up. again.
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>Other? (write-in)

>>555382
You are fairly certain they are connected in some manner, yes. If only because you have been told specifically that they were the ones providing Faedka to everyone all month.

>>555276
>You started at 5am
Recently I was told that I live in a timezone which is somehow inconvenient to all the other timezones simultaneously. I'd say that one day I would run at a decent hour, but at this point I've accepted that would be a lie. I'm sorry.

>>555404
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)

Is this about the dual nature of Luna that came up a short while ago?

>>555404
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Fae seem to hate Luna, who is an overseer over the other Mana. Nymph's Wood can subjugate Fae wood. If Nymph's Wood is connected to a Mana, is it possible that this Mana is broken in two, one part under Luna's control and the other rebelling against it?

>>555415
>'East Heaven Methods of restraining Adepts include purging them of Mana...'
>'..Renders the subject muffled and unable to contact ambient, or internal, Mana...'
>'...Symptoms include sensitivity to light, muddled senses, gaps in memory...'
>Faedka

The golems provide us with a constant supply of the stuff and act hostile when we so much as give a cursory thought to Luna. The golems/fae HATE mana or at the very least Luna, considering the berserker rage upon seeing Mim.

I can't find the part where we were talking about the dual nature of the mana, extremely aggravating.

>>555415
Could be that the effect of the nymph wood simply overwhelms and drowns out whatever self or identity they have.

Like how it's easy to drink from a cup, but you can die from trying to do that with a firehose.

>>555415
I also remembered how Rinnier easily smashed oakenbears with a golem staff. Maybe it's just in the nature of Fae wood to be able to hurt each other?

File: Duality.png (13 KB, 1515x96)

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>>555422
Off the top of my head, I only remembered this.

Unless you were referring to Luna's habit of wanting to people to learn, but also hiding knowledge from them occasionally. That's not really a duality though, so much as "they're not ready".

Mana in general do have a dual nature, though. I don't think anyone has ever discussed it, but it's funny if you think about it.

Anyway, I'm going to find some medicine and make some soup. 15m more to talk this over and vote! Or ask questions.

>>555422
>I can't find the part where we were talking about the dual nature of the mana, extremely aggravating.

I found only a short mention that Luna has "more disturbing aspects" that aren't popularized by the Shrine. No further explanation though.

>>555433
Huh, yeah that's it. I thought there was more.

>>555404
One more thought:

Oakenbears are an extension of the will of the trees that birthed them.

If oakenbears and oakenrues are similar, then oakenrues are someone's puppets too.

We know that oakenbears' and oakenrues' masters do not act in concert and may be hostile to each other.

What if Nymph's Wood is a puppeteer tree belonging to a third faction?

>>555451
In other words, what if the "Fae (pseudo?)Mana"'s medium is inherently divided?

>>555451
>What if Nymph's Wood is a puppeteer tree belonging to a third faction?

>"Yes, something like that. It requires daily, constant care - Even when it gets older. Back home there was a superstition about how they would bring you good luck and protection if you took good enough care of 'em."

What if good luck and protection back in Yuri's homeland is synonymous with "beats the shit out of the fae, yo?"

He also said he crossed the border from Teranford, meaning he isn't from there but even further afield. Further away from Teranford is where this Goddess and her army hails from, the very same that is causing all this odd forestation of the desert.

They could very well be under the Goddess' domain, or even under her or her priests' control.

File: 1431617024350.gif (739 KB, 500x281)

739 KB GIF

Alright. So I have good news and bad news.

The good news: You figured something out.

The bad news: It wasn't the Forgetting.

The disappointing news: you still haven't realized you've known the name of the Mana for months now.

While you guys completely missed (and over thought) the designated Forgetting, I'm going to roll on with what you did figure out and make it canon knowledge on Irue's part.

Objections?

>>555471
I OBJECT

WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?

EVERY TIME?

>>555471
The name of the Mana is Nymph, isnt' it?

File: innocent confusion.png (48 KB, 187x325)

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>>555472
Why does what happen?

>>555474
No, that's silly.

>>555474
Fuck me can it really be that simple? But then why isn't it common knowledge, is the Shrine deliberately keeping it hidden?

>>555475
Only getting things right at the wrong time. I'm so hyped trying to get the Forgetting right for the amazing stat boosts but we keep nailing something else

>>555475
>Why does what happen?
Presumably why do we always fail forgettings

>No, that's silly.

:(

>>555471
Okayyyy
The Goddess is the eights Mana

Anyway, as there was an objection for rolling with that...

Uh. Do we have a vote for what to do besides the Forgetting?

>>555480
Oh I wasnt objecting for real, I was just shouting

>>555480
No, but now you do

>Have the golem tear your floor up. again.

>>555481
Too late, the objection has been filed.
No, I'm kidding. Writing now.

>>555485
Yeah. Rip that floor up. Get deep in there.

Uh. Is that really the best plan? Mana doesn't really mix with other types well if I recall.

This might end up exploding our house.

>>555471
I admit we lost. I'll just throw some more ideas here for the heck of it.

About the nomadic army:
>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.

We also know that they terraformed Teranford's deserts to house many unusual plants.

Yuri, the merchant who sold us the Nymph's Wood, dodged the question about his homeland, stating he's "not from anywhere", even though just earlier he mentioned "back home" twice in relation to the Nymph's Wood.

He also arrived from Teranford, slipping through the border blockade while allegedly not having even noticed it.

What I'm deriving from it all, Yuri is a nomadic army agent and Nymph's Wood is connected to their homeland, their paganic beliefs (the Goddess?) and quite possibly is a tool of terraforming and/or causing Mana to forsake its favoured families.

>>555476
This might be a mistake on my part, but... I'm kind of proud of you guys for (probably accidentally?) putting your heads together to figure this bit out, so a short word on this, since it IS technically something Irue knows.

>Is the Shrine deliberately keeping it hidden?

In regards to the Shrine Memoires:
>Much of the Shrine's earliest history has been forgotten, supposedly passed down only through the arcane methods known to the information hungry Luna Adepts.

In regards to the Luna/Undine Memoires:
>Undine is often considered the keeper of secrets... the sole confidant of Luna; One who is given knowledge best left forgotten, to hide away from the world.

As this is all in the Memoires, simply asking the question of "are they hiding it?" would instantly lead to this conclusion, IC.

In fact, I try to make most of my Forgettings or the like easily answerable if you're just asked a specific question. My stance is that if it takes more than two clarifying questions to narrow it down, then the answer is too far fetched to be fair.

>>555474
Nymph Wood.

Wood Nymphs.

Usually attendents to Gods as opposed to Dryads.

>>555491
Though Rinnier didn't recognise the tree, so this theory is very shaky.

>>555492
What. I didn't know we could ask questions to get forgettings.
So many opportunities lost...

>>555495
Why would she recognize it? It's not native to Teranford.

If it is infectious, that could also explain why not!China is sealing itself off.

>>555492
We... can ask for hints? What

>>555498
If it was the tool for terraforming the desert, Rinnier would likely have seen it.

Though if shee was captured and sold off before the terraforming...

>>555491
Do you think we should write to our aunt and uncle and to the royal cousin without-a-name and tell them about this? How about meeting with the Shrine adepts later?
As Irue Valen, whose main objective is to be the best heir to the house and the best governor in all the land we need to act in some way. Are we more interested in taking our time to figure out which side is right or wrong before committing or to prepare our country for what is to come?

>>555503
You're assuming she was allowed near the frontier, or that the plant was successfully planted in or near the palace.

>>555497
>>555500
No, I was just explaining my standard for making Forgettings. Going into Valen I was very concerned about the issue where the QM/DM thinks a puzzle is simple, but only because they know the answer.

To address that, I habitually run any Forgetting through the process where in, if it takes more than two such questions to lead to the answer, then I haven't provided enough information for it to be fair to expect anyone to get. This isn't something any of you see, but more of a QA process for me.

>>555513
You haven't updated the pastebin of Forgettings in a long time. Is it because all the ones lately are too full of spoilers to give away?

>>555519
No!
It's because I am worthless.

>>555522
You're not worthless! You know how to make soup in 15 minutes, which is more than twice faster than me.
I want the recipe.

You gesture for the golem to come closer, eventually coming a somewhat exasperating conclusion as you point it towards the reconstructed flooring. Your kitchen was well on its way to recovery, and then...

"Salamander?"
"I need you to dig it up."

You sighed and made to walk away as the flooring shattered under the enthusiastic renovations of your wooden companion. The cracking of floorboards and groaning wood as a far superior breed of tree wrenched open a hole almost enough to pull a laugh out of you. A laugh that was destined to die somewhere between your stomach and throat, resulting in a single shudder and a feeling of being choked.

No more laughs came, but that's fine. You didn't need a kitchen anyway.

In the meantime, you simply pulled up a chair and went about gathering your thoughts the old fashioned way... And naturally, it started with the object most direly on your mind. You would put blood on the claim that whatever these golems were, they had a more deeply seated abhorrence of L-

The wood golem's arm halted midswing.

-...Of certain Mana than any normal existence could probably fathom. It was at such a level that even brushing against its feelings empathically almost felt like your brain was beginning to warp just to take it all in. There was also Mim's observations regarding their similarities to the Oakenbears; It was certainly true that both of them were born of tree, and though they didn't appear to have quite the obsessive gluttony for flesh, you had personally seen them consume it. Though plenty of things could be said to have flesh in it's diet, trees were typically not on that list - Much less ambulatory, sentient ones.

Which begged an important question: What were they?

Mim had made a valid point - As someone of her status likely would - That it was foolish to think of them as separate entities, when an Oakenbear itself wasn't even an entity on its own. If the two existences were similar, then it would logically extend that the golems had a will behind them as well... And given the similarities in their nature, it wasn't a difficult leap to believe the entity behind one wood monster would also be behind another.

Though perhaps the most damning proof was simply that they could be coerced through your bracelet. A Relic you had unwittingly worn since the beginning of your Rite, it was only recently that Asche had given you a vague explanation as to its purpose. While you didn't understand exactly what it was for, you had at least garnered that it could be used to summon powerful apparitions, and later on you had inadvertently used it to bind one to you. Simple communication with it was almost a side effect of the Relics intended usage, but the fact you could use it to establish a connection with them basically confirmed that they were related to a Mana somehow, didn't it?

If that were true, then couldn't you tentatively label the wood golems as some sort of Apparition?
And, if they were truly similar to the Oakenbears, then wouldn't they also fall into that category?

You frowned as the thoughts linked together neatly. It made sense, and it answered questions you hadn't even approached answers for.

If it was an Apparition, then any number of the same type could exist at the same time.
If it was an Apparition, then it was only natural they could show independent characteristics, but still be a facet of a larger entity.
If it was an Apparition, then the amber which you had shattered to kill them really was the core they required to manifest from.

If it was an Apparition... It would be possible to empathize with humans, even if it didn't understand the language itself.

Your eyes widened in the soft glow, burning into the back of the tirelessly excavating golem in an unabashed state of awe. What started as a simple trickle was rapidly snowballing into something monstrous, and you felt an almost terrifying understanding dawning.

You knew for a fact that these golems had been the source of the Faedka, too many of your knights had corroborated that for you to doubt it. Initially you had considered it alcohol, but Asche's report changed all of that; Every symptom you had filed off as a hangover was just as easily attributed to having one's Mana forcefully purged.

While it had been recorded as a practice of East Heaven, the fact they had a potion to purge Mana from the drinker had nothing to do with it, did it? What mattered wasn't the potion, but the end result - Purged Mana.

Fae... Faedka. Your Founder's book had mentioned that Fae were a practically immortal existence, prone to making friends, with a terrifying streak of possessive jealousy. If your initial theory that the Fae and the golems were connected was true, and the golems were Apparitions, then...

"They don't share..." You breathed out almost faintly.

It was never a potion.

That month long party hadn't been deliberate sabotage, or a foreign country. You had brought a crowd of unknowns to their front door; The entire month of drinking was to purge them.

You slumped forward, cradling your head in your hands as your own distorted voice merrily chirped about Salamanders as the golem continued its digging.

What the hell was Nymph's Wood? Obviously it was connected to them, and it had certainly served as a some manner of focus to strengthen your connection with the golems, but they were wary of it still... No, before that, where had it come from? The merchant who sold it had claimed to be travelling, coming from below the Teranford border. Teranford itself was a ruined nation now, conquered by a nomadic army-

-One that had teraformed the desert. They had brought verdant life and greenery to a barren wasteland; A wasteland that had, up until recently, been the throne of Salamander's presence on the continent. A thone which had been all but abandoned in the aftermath, because...

Because they don't fucking share!

It was all connected, and your face had become the mascot for the very thing which had been instrumental in destroying Rinnier's entire country.

"Salamander~?"

You craned your head up to see your own smiling face staring back, the warm red glow of a Salamander Apparition's core bathing the room in stark contrast to the Nymph's Wood clipping's cool green as the golem held it out to you proudly.

You were still missing pieces... There was still something missing. Even if they were similar, there was too much conflict! You had seen the golems work to save you from an oakenbear before, and Rinnier had told you had easily one posing as a staff had shattered an Oakenbear's barkhide. If they were all part of the same source, this Nymph's Wood shouldn't frighten the golems... It shouldn't act as if it were some kind of subsuming parasite. Logically they should all trace back to a single source, but... But it was like that source was too fractured to be a cohesive unit.

"..." You stared up emptily at the wooden caricature of your own face, smiling back expectantly.

Even if all of this were true...

You swallowed dryly, realizing absently how badly you just wanted to drink right now, that the mere suggestion of an unknown eighth Mana had been something Mim was hesitant to even imply. This wasn't just a simple discovery, this would drastically change the entire structure of the Shrine's - and by extension the continent's - faith. There wasn't any place for a...

A... Tree.

>?
___

I'm feeling exhausted, and the skyfire is rising. Going to take more medicine and get some rest... We'll resume when I wake up, as I continue to write until I stop being sick.

Until then, feel free to offer write-ins.

I'll probably be around for another 30m-1h or so getting ready for sleep, though.

>>555643
>A... Tree.

Wait, wasn't there an enormous tree in the Shrine ruins? What a shame we lost our memory of it!

>>555648
There's an enormous tree in every Shrine, anon.
It's right in the middle, towering over everything.

>>555645
Accept the core, use the bracelet to try to communicate with the salamander.

>>555645
Thanks for running! May Pelor, The Burning Hate be merciful to you.

>Sit in a state of shock until Priat shows up.

>>555645
Also yay! My speculations from three threads ago were confirmed. I'll go celebrate.

>>555650
O-oh. So, the 8th is clearly Tree. [\spoiler] I guess I'm going to take another look at the ruins scene.

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>>555655
Use the bracelet to meditate on a Salamander Core in the middle of a house overrun with flammable material!

>>555676
Then sit in shock until Priat shows up!

I expected more people to show up while I was resting, but oh well. We'll be back up and running in two hours or so; Need to medicine, soup, shower, etc.
___

>>555783
I get the feeling that the Ruins scene is probably one of the most re-examined parts of the quest. Makes me wonder if the people who were there during it gave it much thought.

"Salamander?"

The golem held out the unearthed core more insistently, dispelling the burgeoning thunderhead of thoughts storming through your head. Faced with a revelation of this magnitude, you couldn't remember the last time you had so acutely felt this small. While it was tempting to simply let yourself be overwhelmed by it all, the reality was that this wasn't something you could claim to be unrelated to. From your contract with your Testament, to the unusual mimicry and obsession shown by the errant Mana, you had found yourself wrapped very tightly into this whole mess long before you were even aware it was happening.

This was too much to deal with right now, though. You close your eyes and let out the building stress in a single breath, feeling your body slacken as you take the warm core in hand with a mutter of thanks.

"Salamander~?"

You still had a Testament to rescue here, and regardless of how this little revelation of yours could potentially affect the future, you needed to keep your thoughts in context. The golems weren't an unknown boogey man, anymore; They were apparitions, which meant they were connected to Mana. That the Mana itself was previously unknown would have to wait... You had spent the last ten years of your life studying Mana, and while it had ill prepared you for the rigours of being a noble heir, you doubted anyone in your family was as well rounded or qualified in being the first to interact with an accounted for Mana.

And even assuming everything you had thrown at the wall would turn out accurate, it did nothing to change what you knew first hand already. The golem in front of you was still a cheerful carving of your own face, prone to warble out distorted echoes of your own voice. It was the same golem that would had pitifully scratched at the door like a neglected cat, and had all but frozen in its wrath when you pet it.

As much as they had seemed it, these ultimately weren't monsters. They were aspects of a Mana, just like any other apparition.

And suddenly, you were beginning to feel much more confident in your chances of getting Ari back.

For now though, you needed to regroup. Priat was searching for the house for a trace of Salamander - The same trace you likely held in your hand right now - and the faster you drew him to you, the faster you could send him back to Mim and figure out how to deal with the sentries outside. So rather than wait for him to fumble through the dark in search of an ember, why not give him a stronger flame to light his way?

Letting your thoughts restructure themselves to better fit Salamander's burning senses. There was still the faint, tenuous presence of Salamander clinging to this core... You just needed to coax it a little brighter.

"Salamander...?" The golem raised its hand towards you hesitantly, the dual rings of your late sister's bracelet glimmering under the core's warm radiance.

And thus, did spark return to Flame.

The core in your hand unfurled, blossoming out like so many crimson petals and delicately caressing tongues of flame.

Unfortunately, the gentle poetry promptly stopped when the stifling heat followed not long after, and the room itself quickly became wreathed in a dissonantly festive cloak of embers and merry ashes. You had instinctively thrown the burning core across the room not long after it began to sear your skin, kicking onto your feet rapidly as both you and your wooden replica made a desperately synchronized dive clean out of the now positively aflame kitchen.

Thin trails of smoke rose from beyond the threshold, swirling together in the flickering shadows and vermillion backlights as your kitchen once more became a ritual sacrifice for the birth of a Salamander Apparition... Except this time, Rinnier hadn't been here to stifle its birth.

"Salamander~?"

You glanced at the easily smiling golem, noting that it didn't seem to have any particular distaste for flame... Though you wonder if it would actually be smiling if it could make any other expression. For something made entirely of wood, flame was all but Death.

Ah... The smoke was getting thicker. Right, your house was basically ensnared in roots right now, wasn't it?

...You set your house on fire.

Well, whatever. If Priat could track a buried, dormant core then this was basically a bonfire for him. You'd just wait till he showed up.

Until then...

>Meditate(which Mana?)
>Pet Tree
>Try to lead the Salamander apparition outside
>Other? (write-in)

>>559633
>Pet Tree
>Try to lead the Salamander apparition outside

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>>559633
W-why did we set our house on fire? I thought we were just grabbing the core as a beacon.

>Try to lead the Salamander apparition outside
Maybe we don't have to burn down the /entire/ house...

>Meditate(which Mana?)
>Salamander

>>559656
Pet tree!

>>559656
>>559725
Attempt to lead it outside!

>>559725
By meditating more.

....Alright.
___

>W-Why did we set our house on fire?
See: >>555655

Communication with Mana has typically been stressed as meditation in order to facilitate it. Using the bracelet in conjunction with meditation had the usual results.

I'm not... certain this is what the anon thought would happen, but no one objected to the vote, so.

Anyway, writing.

>>559797
uh, in case it wasn't clear, I spoilered the second part because it wasn't a serious vote.

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>>559829
Noted!
I'm still sick and took it seriously, so probably good you clarified that.

You picked a spot out in the hall to settle down and wait. You weren't sure how long it was going to take Priat to get here, so you really didn't have much to do until then but keep yourself occupied and enjoy the relaxing sight of your house burning down.

...That was probably too dramatic. It was just your kitchen. For now. You had faith that the resigned Representative of Salamander would be more than capable of curbing any outrageous damages, so the situation wasn't as dire as it would have been had Priat not come along with you. You had already more or less given up on reclaiming the house, so it was legitimately somewhat relaxing to lay back against the hall and watch the newly born Salamander apparition twinkle merrily as it consumed its birth room... And after a moment's catharsis, you gestured for the golem to join you on the floor.

The ivy that made up its hair wasn't nearly as silky as your own, but it had its own pleasing softness to it, and you lost track of time watching the fire as you absently stroked your hand down the interwoven vines and supple leaves. While at first seemingly confused as to what was going on, the golem was entirely content to sit next to you and have its hair brushed to the ambient sound of crackling flames.

One particular memory floated to the surface as the ambience washed over you, and for once you didn't find yourself flinching away from the depth of Shade associated with it. That last cool evening in Carona, and the simple resolve the doppleganger had finally come to before interrogating the Wisp Adept... It wasn't your memory, but it was one that had been left to you. One of many that you had studiously refused to interact with.

That memory... That one didn't seem so bad, anymore. You could almost feel Kara's confusion at the time, and the lightness that came from having found proper resolve. From a certain point of view, that was almost like a bonding activity. Closing your eyes, you let yourself drift off between the border of reminscience and rote repetition as you calmly pet the unnamed wood apparition beside you, mistaking the the occasional crack of burning wood for the silently snapping bones back then.

This was how Priat found you sometime later, as he came jogging down the hall covered in wood chips, singe marks, and sweat. He paused some distance away, motes of flame hovering warily around him as he glanced between you, the golem, and the flamebathed kitchen.

"Irue...?"

"Hm?" You sighed as the memory drifted away, craning your neck back to set your crimson eyes on the newly arrived Salamander Adept. Flames cheerfully reflected in your eyes, casting shadows through the hall as you remembered that you had been waiting for him to show up. "You made it."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm-" You climb to your feet in the process of reassuring him, the golem only belatedly stirring from its stupor after you stopped caressing it, and realized that for the first time in months, you felt rested. "-Fine. I feel good, actually." Distantly you felt that fleeting memory begin to recede... But it was back into the fold of your own mind that it returned, rather than the abyss you had locked it away in.

"That's... Good?" Priat hesitated, "What is that thing next to you?"

"A good child." You answer flatly. There was certainly much more you could have said about it, but now was neither the time, nor the place, to get into that. "As long as it's kept away from Mim, it shouldn't cause trouble."

"Why Mim? What has she done now?"

You drew your finger tip across your lips pointedly, glancing towards now ambulant golem as it peered over at Priat. You had guessed it earlier, but it didn't seem to be in any danger of going berserk again as long as it wasn't exposed to a specific Mana.

Never the less, Priat nodded... Though notably didn't dispel the guarding motes of flames which kept him encircled. His trust in you evidently did not extend to vouching for strange anomalies.

"That aside, what happened here? I thought there was some remnant of Salamander nearby I could use as a focus, but it shouldn't have been so volatile as to simply erupt like this."

"That..." Should you actually explain? Maybe later. "I think we can use it to our advantage. If we can direct it outside, it might be able to open a path through the sentries for us." You briefly explain what you had seen outside, confirming with Priat that the things he had seen outside as he tried to navigate the house really had been out there. Evidently one... Or more... Of them had given him the same kind of spook that they had Rinnier, as his flames had attracted them to the windows.

"My face isn't that scary." Your lips press together flatly, turning to scrutinize the golem next to you. "Right?" It couldn't answer you, but you nodded anyway. "At any rate, this one is with me; The ones outside... Who knows. This one didn't want me going outside earlier, so I'm doubt they would be quite as friendly."

"And your plan is to try and sic this apparition on them and hope for the best?" Priat gestured towards the well and truly incinerated kitchen with a frown, "I don't think I need to warn you that you live in a forest, Irue. You're suggesting we let loose a powerful Salamander apparition - A sentient manifestation of primal fire - into the woods."

"Well I don't want it to burn my house down." You cross your arms pointedly. "And if there's anyone else here qualified to run damage control for a Salamander apparition, wouldn't it be the Representative of Salamander?"

"Former Representative." He stressed, "I resigned, and it was only a formal position in the first place."

"So you can't...?" You quirked a brow at him skeptically, "Rinnier told me that Adepts from Teranford were all extremely talented in their attunements with Salamander." You don't remember if she had ever actually told you that at all, but it seemed like something she would say, right? All that mattered was that Priat believed she said it, and by the pained expression on his face as he reluctantly scratched his neck, you get the feeling he completely believed you.

"Fine, fine... I'll do what I can."

It didn't take you long to lead Priat towards your front door. Naturally it wouldn't; This is your house, you've lived here for over a decade. Unlike your two Adept companions, you never had to deal with the roots in the house trying to forcibly alter your path either... For that, you could probably thank the golem you had encountered early on. Given how simple navigating the house had become since, you were relatively confident that it was what had been controlling that in the first place.

After that, it was just a matter of stepping back and letting Priat work. You had done your part in setting your house on fire... And couldn't help but roll your eyes as yet more of your house was procedurally set aflame as Priat carefully worked to draw the Salamander apparition from the kitchen, through the halls, and finally to the front door.

At least the flames never had to pass by your library.

"Alright... It's out." Priat gasped heavily, "What now?"

Now you... Uh.

You couldn't regroup with Priat, or he wouldn't be able to try and keep the errant flames under control. You couldn't bring Mim here, because the golem would go berserk again the moment it found her. You couldn't leave the golem alone... Could you?

"You had a plan, didn't you?"

"My plan mostly consisted of hoping they would fight." You admitted blandly, watching the sentries gradually begin to catch fire... And continue standing there. Flames consumed the various wooden carvings of you which had taken station across your front yard, and raced further along the ground to consume even more. Once whispery ivy hair now transformed into brilliant manes of crimson flame that silhouetted their androgynous forms; Bodies quickly searing jet black as raw wood slowly became living ember.

Fire didn't concern them at all, and their vigil wasn't so much as faltering. On the other hand, the flames would only continue to spread from here on out.

>Just let them burn till morning.
>Meditate
>Give Priat an instruction (what?)
>Other? (Write-in)

>>560399
It must be rather unnerving, watching what are functionally statues of yourself consumed by flame.

>Give Priat an instruction (what?)
If we can't send that apparition out, and it's done it's job out here, can he dispel it?
>Watch the other golems a little longer
Make sure we don't wind up with a load of firestarters running around the woods.
Then,
We need t figure out what to do about Mim and the golem. We can't just gnaff off and leave her wandering around the house while we move on.
If we gave Mim some Faedka, might to golem tolerate her I wonder?

>>560499
We got rid of all of it!!
...Didn't we?

Also we're not getting a child mana-inebriated.

>>560399
>Give Priat an instruction (what?)
Just to make sure, let's also have him try to put out our house first while we wait for the rest of the sentries to burn up.

>>560499
>>560586
Make sure house is not on fire, then sit and watch your yard burn till morning.

Writing.

"If they're not going to fight, can you disperse the apparition?" Seeing as how your house was currently surrounded by flaming statues of yourself, you didn't feel very attached to the continued existence of a Salamander Apparition just loitering around the woods. In the past, cleaning up the problems left behind by your bracelet had been a pretty costly and involved affair-

"It's still young." Priat replied tentatively, gazing out at the flowing streams of ash and ember which swirled through the sky. "...It feels more confused than anything. Since nothing has been around to provoke it, I don't think it should be too difficult to lull it back to sleep."

-Which evidently was less of a problem now, as you had a professional on scene from start to finish. You nodded affirmatively, glancing out to the field of razed earth with a certain kind of sinking disappointment. Apparition or not, wood was wood. Now that they had been set aflame, they would eventually smoulder down.

"After you manage that, can you do a second sweep of the house? I'd prefer to not have my house burned down accidentally."

"I can't promise that." Priat shook his head, "I don't know how you got us here in one shot, but getting around this place has proven... Difficult. I doubt I'll be able to retrace my steps perfectly."

You glance towards the smiling wood golem which had rooted itself off to the side with you. It was enraptured in watching the flames through the front door, though the empathic link between you wasn't strong enough to pick up on whatever was running through its mind right now... You suppose watching what amounted to its siblings slowly burn away in their vigil must have had some effect on it. You blinked as it briefly tilted its head towards you, apparently noticing that it had come under direct attention again.

"You should be fine." You replied after a moment, "I think I figured out what was causing the issue, so it shouldn't bother you anymore."

"Something related?" He muttered, glancing towards the golem next to you. You simply nodded, and though he didn't seem entirely comfortable with the explanation, seemed to accept it. "I'll give it a shot, then. Worst case scenario, I just wander around in the dark a little longer, I guess."

You watched as the ashen apparition slowly scattered into the night, leaving only burning pillars around your house to blacken into the night. Priat had gone to double check any errant flames on your house as you requested, which left you once more to watch a bonfire... And this time, that was all you had to do. Wait until they would burn away.

So you waited. Standing, leaning, and eventually sitting just inside the threshold of your foyer as you met the (literally) burning gazes of the various apparitions which had taken up ward of your house. Never once did they attempt to cross that open door, and not once did they flinch under the consuming flame. It remained like this through the night, until the chill of morning dew began to accumulate along the slowly brightening ground.

You blinked as the rustling of ashen vines whispered through the open door, body tensing as each of the scorched black apparitions shifted their heads at once towards the forest. Flames still licked their bodies, burning into them slowly even as they seemingly lost interest in their duty with the rising sun and began to trudge back towards the edge of the Fae Forest.

Unfortunately, the flames over night had done their damage. Many of the apparitions simply couldn't make the journey anymore; Their bodies cracked and shattered, where once each motion was fluid. Bursts of embers erupting from splintered joints, as arms broke at the elbow and fell to the ground with a dull thud - It was only then that the injured apparitions seemed to notice their afflictions, crippled and literally falling apart, and they stared at their own ruined bodies as whatever forced seemed to have breathed life into them was sapped away.

In the end, only a funeral march of firewood bearing your likeness remained of their trail back to the forest. Not all of them had been too far gone to make the trip, though...

Seems like morning had finally come.

>Inspect the yard.
>Pursue the remaining golems.
>Regroup with Mim and Priat.
>Other? (write-in)

>>560907
>Regroup with Mim and Priat, making sure to keep the golem as far away as possible.
>Then leave Mim, take Priat and the golem and pursue the other golems to prevent a forest fire.

>>560971
Alright, writing this!

Sorry about the delay, though.
I was watching the first episode of Mahou Tsukai no Yome. The manga was very cute and had a wonderful atmosphere to it, and the OVA doesn't seem like it will disappoint in that regard... But it doesn't explain anything about the setting itself, so without prior knowledge of the source, it's going to be difficult to get into or understand.

Hey guys, good to be back if late. So, let's
>>559633
>>555490
You all blew up out house!

>Inspect the yard.
Do this first. Then

> Meditate on the Golem again

See if we can track the others through it.

>>561039
Every goddamn time I come back here. Every time.

>>561039
Welcome back, anon!

>>561051
Glad to be here! Nights actually work with my schedule you see.

The fact it had started scratching at your door just meant that it was still inside, which was good enough. You'd just need to make this meeting quick, before it figured out how to work a door knob. Or that it could just break down the door.

"So what now?" Priat asked as you maneuvered past the glowing roots in the library doorway, "I've put out the remaining fires around the house."

"And I've gathered books!" Mim broke in cheerfully, tapping her heels against a stack of books so tall she had been using it as a stool. You recognized some of those tomes, one of which being the one she had been pushing her nose through when you first found her in the library.

Between Rinnier, that royal cousin, and now this, you were starting to feel like people valued your library more than you.

"Now, Mim goes back to Carona." You sigh, watching the precocious Luna Adept still as she heard you. "Right now is the best opportunity we have to press our advantage and cross the border-"

"I wanna come!"

"-And it's not something we can do with a Luna Adept, at any cost." You finish blithely, turning your eyes sharply towards the betrayed looking Adept in question. "You were what caused it to go berserk. Where we're going, there's going to be a lot more of them... And probably something even worse."

"...You're sure it was me?" Betrayal turned to scrutiny, and finally contemplation as you nodded. "I think I confirmed a few things after you ran, but it's not something we can talk about right now."

"Can't because of time, or can't because of Priat?"
You met Priat's confused stare with a shrug. "Time, mostly."
"Wait, you're still planning on me coming with you, but I can't know what's going on?"

"It's-" You started..
"-Complicated." ...Only for Mim to finish.

You spared a moment to shake off the passing feeling of having been wronged somehow. Despite her protestations of not being able to read minds, you were entirely convinced that Luna Adepts just plain cheated. It worked in your favour in this case, at least, as she proved amiable to being left out of the 'adventure' this time...

"On one- Two conditions!"

First, she wanted the pile of books she was sitting on.
Second, she wanted stories when you got back.

The second you would have given her anyway, considering you had several questions and a pretty huge revelation that having a friendly Luna Adept to use as a sounding board for would be nearly priceless. The first, on the other hand...

"Mim, we won't be walking you back to Carona."
"I know that."
"Then how do you plan to even carry all of those with you? They probably weigh more than you do."

"I don't actually need the books." She admitted blithely, "I can just memorize them all for later."

...Oi. What kind of bullshit was that.

"If you could have been doing that all this time, what have you even been doing in the library?"
"Reading, duh." She snorted indignantly from her paper perch, "It's one thing to read, but this is different! It's rude to copy stuff like this without permission; Shrine Policy."

>Let her have them
>Negotiate for them; Nothing's free, right?
>No Mim, go home.
>Other? (write-in)

>>561145
>>Negotiate for them; Nothing's free, right?

>>561145
>Negotiate for them; Nothing's free, right?

Quite frankly, why the hell does she think she can charge us to NOT come with us?

>>561145
>Negotiate for them; Nothing's free, right?

>>561151
>>561157
>>561159
Negotiations!

Writing.

Though you didn't exactly lose anything, it left a bad taste in your mouth to simply go along with her stated conditions. You had started to try and negotiate with her even before you were consciously aware of it - A fact you attribute to the somewhat miraculous ability you had of opening your mouth before your brain could catch up. "What do I get out of it?" Your weight shifts, hip cocking off to one side. "Coming from someone I've seen trade tit for tat before, doesn't this seem a little one sided?"

"Does it?" Mim smiled, childishly. "I get new books and go home quietly; I don't see the issue?"
"Don't play games, Mim. We don't have much time to waste here."

She shook her head, patting the books once more. "Let me rephrase then." She cleared her throat, "Luna Adepts are obligated to share their knowledge with the Shrine, to help enrich our bonds and prevent horded knowledge. I've learned a lot out here, but Mim's a good girl. As long as she's got a book or sixteen to read, she's a very quiet child."

Your cheek twitches. The pretentious adoption of third-person certainly didn't help soften that delivery, and you doubt it was meant to... Still, just because there was an ultimatum didn't mean you had no ground to stand on.

"Isn't that just a temporary solution, then? If you're so obligated to share what you learn, why let you go back at all? And even if I did let you have those books, wouldn't they just, by extension, go to the Shrine as well?"

"I don't like it either." She sniffed pointedly, tilting her nose up momentarily, "But as long as there aren't any more dire problems, it's something the Shrine insists on... Of course, it's not my fault if I've got so much new stuff floating around in my head that I happen to forget a couple details."

You narrow your eyes at the smug little Luna Adept, as the two of almost completely factor Priat out of the room. Her condition wasn't for going home, but for keeping quiet... Or, at least that's what it was on the surface. There was always the chance that this was another plot of Mim's to put you in her debt, but if she had wanted that then she'd have kept quiet until long after the fact. No, there was something else involved here.

Beyond her own curiosity, you doubted the books themselves mattered. She had a second condition, but what was she actually after?

>?

>>561188
>tfw Riz gives out a boatload of hints and I still can't think of anything.

I'll try, at least
If the books themselves don't matter, that what matters is how we respond. I think she tries to gauge how serious we are about keeping her out of this, and how much we are ready to give up so that the Shrine doesn't know.

>Bring her out of Priat's earshot and ask: "Which details exactly do you intend to forget?"

>>561207
Looks like you're the only one giving it a shot tonight.

Writing!

>>561216
Probably because it's day for me.

>>561216
I'm here, just hungover and trying to catch up.

>>561188
We should learn what she learned that she thinks is dangerous for us to let the shrine know about

>>561216
Take it easy, I just caught up on lunch break

>>561216
Sorry. I'm at work.

I'd be more concerned about our apparent connection with this secret mana.

I mean, how exactly do you keep dangerous secrets?

We're pretty vulnerable to disappear right now.

>>561246
We're the heir of House Valen. We can't just be disappeared, not by anyone who knows what auntie Clara is capable of at least.

"...Priat, can you give us a moment." Your finger tapped rhythmically against your bicept as you finally voiced the simple request you had come to. Your voice was calmer now, though you never once took your eyes off the persistently grinning Luna Adept. Perhaps it was that which led to his hesitation... "It's fine, it's fine. This shouldn't take long, right?" But ultimately it meant nothing as Mim absently shoo'd him away. Once more it was just the two of you within the library, and the staring contest continued undeterred as you spent the interim to organize your thoughts.

"So do you plan to tell her?" Mim asked offhandedly, breaking the stalemate with a question of deceptive innocence. Did you really want to ask for clarification? ...No, if you rose to that bait so easily, you'd just get dragged into her pace entirely.

"What are you in such a hurry to forget?" You went back over what you had discussed with her, and the first thing that came to mind was obviously the implication of an unknown Mana... Naturally, the Shrine being told about that could become problematic in all sorts of ways.

Not the least of which because you somehow doubted it was entirely a secret to them. Or, if not them, then perhaps a specific part of them.

"I really wish I could forget things as easily as you do, if that helps." She admitted blatantly, "With a memory like mine, it's hard to forget anything at all. You remember all sorts of dangerous stuff, and then people get mad at you."

"I'd rather not be mad at you." You pull free a chair from the encroaching roots and take a seat, "But I told you that I don't have time for games, Mim. What are you planning to keep quiet about that's so important?"

"Those golems. This tree. The Fae." She listed them off humourlessly, "Don't ask stupid questions. I could say anything and make it a problem; This entire outing was meant to be private from the start."

"I wouldn't have to ask them if you'd just quit the games and get to the point." You reply flatly. "If you actually wanted to bribe me, you wouldn't have brought any of this up until after you got back."

"And you're really okay with wasting time squabbling over a few books?"

"It's important because the books don't matter." You hiss sharply. "Why don't you just tell me what you want?"

"Because then you'd tell me what I want to hear!" Mim snapped back a familiar line, and it stung you just as indignantly now as it had the last time someone had thrown that in your face. Unlike last time though, you doubted physical violence was actually the key to making progress here. What had you even done to deserve this kind of accusation constantly coming back? "It's what you do. You talk, and you justify. You get into people's heads and you try and you think of little options to choose from, and try to pick the one that nets you the best result." You inhaled sharply when Mim pulled her calve up and set crosslegged. "The books are meaningless. Congratulations." The little Luna Adept glared across the room at you with misty eyes, "You know I want something."

>?

"What's the matter?" She sulked,

>?
>?

"Give me something, Irue."

>?
>?
>?

"...I don't want your stupid books."

>?
>You don't have time for this.

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>>561292
Abandon thread! Don't make eye contact!

>>561292
>>You don't have time for this.

>Give her a kiss.

>>561304
Bad anon. No yuri.

>>561292
> "You think I have time for this? Did you bother to learn anything about me? I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't, I mean you're an adept of Luna and all so I would think you could but pretty much nobody took an interest in me until . . . No, not even recently."

> "I'm the heir to House Valen, and I grew up in this Manor with my maid Asche and nobody else. The books don't matter? They were my only companions. Nobody in Carona knew about me, nobody in the Valen household outside my family knew about me. I was screwed by the shrine the first time I visited because nobody knew who the hell I was! And even then it was during my Trial, which I had to do to prevent being married off outside the family and losing my inheritance! After my parents died, were taken from me, I was allowed to want for nothing and also allowed to have nothing for myself but this house and these books."

> "And even now, after completing my trial and inheriting, I still have almost nothing. Stewardship of a destroyed town, with no resources to repair it. No aid is coming for me that I haven't had to build up myself, I have nothing from my parents and only a bracelet from my sister. My Testaments, and my knights, these are all people that I've only gotten to come and stay with me by giving them what they want when I somehow had nothing at all to give except promises."

> "And now you're telling me that's not even good enough? Would you do the same for me even, tell me what's true even if it's not what I want to hear, or if I wasn't paying for it?"

> "Even then, if what you want to hear is the truth, wouldn't that mean I would tell you that, if it was my best option? Because let me tell you, yeah, I'm interested in picking the best option. I don't really have the luxury of not doing so."

> "Just once, I'd like someone to NOT force me through hoops. To just be honest and open and let me know what they need from me so that I can get their help. Because nobody has ever done a damn thing for me for free. Even Asche, my maid, won't be honest with me because she's still my sister's."

> "And I don't care what all this makes you think of me, if you think I'm pathetic or shallow or selfish. I need every advantage possible. Right now, one of the few people who actually care about me, one of my Testaments, even if it's only because of what I've done for them someone who is on my side needs me. They're trapped and lost and I have to go get them back from the fucking FAE with little knowledge and less strength and nothing to offer except more promises that I'll have to keep."

> "You want me to give you something? I can't afford to "give" anything, not then, not now, and the way my life goes being able to do that in the future is more of a hope than a goal."

Shit. Who the fuck does she think she is, our friend? Because that would be nice, but I don't think we're ready to accept that. Gnawing insecure self loathing is more our style.

she can read unspoilered text! Careful with what you say in the open

>>561292
You know, the only thing I can come up with is that Mim actually wants to be friends with us.

Yet I consistently vote for stupid options so I'm apprehensive.

>>561324
What have you done anon! You doomed us all!

>>561317
> Even Asche, my maid, won't be honest with me because she's still my sister's."

Should be "still more my sister's than mine."

Phone posting at work.

But what, she wants honesty? Then she can fucking have it. Have all the honesty we got. Choke on it.

It's not as if we LIKE playing these games. Has she ever heard about our aunt? If not, we can make a definite point to introduce her.

>>561292
Alternative, condensed write in if people are uncomfortable with our rant.

> She doesn't know us, she has no right to judge us. She won't even tell her what she wants to ask, and seems to have decided not to believe us anyways. But we aren't going to apologize for not being open and honest with someone who literally just tried to blackmail us for them to keep quiet. She wants us to trust her but she won't trust us?

>>561320
Irulen is like, pretty fucking autistic.

Shut in, uses magic, no interest in the opposite sex (or same sex), freaks out if you touch her hair, responds inappropriately to social cues, has difficulty empathizing, reduced response to pain.

I'm serious, not just joking about it. She actually comes off as kind of autistic. High functioning, but definitely there.

>>561317
I don't know if this tirade would alienate Mim or not, but it is certainly hearthelt and totally IC. Bravo.

>>561333
Quite possible.
Though when you consider that it's the players who respond to social cues and try to emphatize...

>>561334
> Shit. Who the fuck does she think she is, our friend? Because that would be nice, but I don't think we're ready to accept that. Gnawing insecure self loathing is more our style.

I actually kind of prefer the condensed post I made. Mostly because I feel Riz would fuck us less than my rant.

>>561338
Riz knows his player base. But a lot of it is how he writes Irulen. Narrative and heavily political quest, anon. We have a lot less agency for acting OOC.

Unlike say, Banished Quest.

OK guys I got this, here is what we do. *We*address mim directly!

>Mim, fuck off. The inside of Irue's head is our domain, you are not invited. Leave now.

>>561290
If nobody else votes or anything, can you just add my condensed part to the end of the rant? Maybe after we catch our breath? I feel like it's the actually relevant part and the rant is more us being self justifying while trying to be honest.

Also, she did just try to blackmail us.

>>561349
But Anon, greentext is for what Irulen says.

Also, don't meta-bully.

>>561350
You know, I feel the condensed part comes as a bit too hostile.

This vote went on longer than I expected. I planned to cut it at the 30m mark. A coughing fit spat up some mucus that got stuck in my throat, and I've been throwing up ever since.

I'll read everything in a few minutes, and answer any questions I missed. Voting officially ends in 10 more minutes, regardless of whether I make it back by then or not.

Sorry 'bout that.

>>561362
Well, shit. That's the point where I, personally, would've surrendered to the healthcare system.

We need you alive, you know.

>>561354
OK then

>Irue isn't the one choosing options, we are guiding her to her fate. Don't bully her

>>561355
I felt it more opened up the way for her to say what Rue can't, and open up the way to reconcile and start trusting each other.

Also, anyone notice that our nickname is a word for "Regret"?

>>561362
It's cool. I just squeaked my rant in if that was the case.

>>561368
I'd add a bit more emphasis on how no one ever wanted to be friends with us

>>561292
So, to finalize my vote:

This rant: >>561317
But add
>Mana knows no one ever asked me for things like friendship. And I end up hurting people I want to help anyway.

>>561373
I guess. I feel it's more like we don't even understand it because we never really had it. Even our Cousin wasn't a friend so much as as victim.

And it does feel like that's going too manipulative/poor me. I was more trying to explain that's just how our world has always worked, and nobody has ever tried to show us a difference. Like, even our Testament friendships are based on us giving them what they want/need.

It's not that we don't have friends, but we don't have any equals. Everyone is either above or below us to some degree and those statuses are mixed in with our relationships. We never had unconditional anything, be it friendship or love.

At least not since our parents died. And we don't really remember before that.

Irulen is pretty fucked up.

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>>561304
No time for this!

>>561317
Oh... Oh dear.

>>561299
You probably thought this would be a joke post, but no - No I have a use for this.

>>561304
and then end it with a kiss!
____

>We have a lot less agency for acting OOC.
This may be a little rambling...

I'd just like to remind you guys to be careful getting too concerned about acting, or suggesting, something OOC. There is almost always the option to write-in your own thoughts or ideas, and I make a point to pay very close attention to them when voting comes around, because you guys and your choices are primarily what decides whether something for Irue is OOC or IC as the quest goes along.

If it's just too outlandish, you can rely on me to put my foot down. However, if it hasn't reached that point, then I'll do my level best to depict any course of action you choose for Irue as something that would have made sense for them to take; Something that legitimately seemed like the best option to them at the time.

Making your choices read as genuine as possible is part of my job as the QM. Just because there's no dice to provide you an RNG reaction doesn't at all mean that the path isn't just as flexible for you to take, and I don't want you guys to feel constrained worrying about it.

Picture only actually related to the votes, not the rambling afterwards.

>>561405
>You probably thought this would be a joke post, but no - No I have a use for this.

You were told that you're terrifying, werent you?
You're very terrifying.

>>561304
and then end it with a kiss!

Please no. Pretty please.

>>561405
Sorry, I wasn't complaining about our ability to influence the MC or do write-ins.

Just commenting that the "voice" of the character is more defined.

Like say Irulens stubborness/not giving . . . No wait, we did vote to suicide ShadowRue.

And hey, I had a second support vote for my rant come on >>561334

>>561405
Riz is taking a long time...
Writing something bad for us, I'd wager.

>>561520
Or he passed out from his illness

>>561522
I hope not.

>>561525
I kinda hope so.

In the healing kind of way. Like, get some sleep little nigga.

"Don't."

The word comes unbidden to your lips, with a taste of bitter venom that blossomed heat across the tip of your tongue. You felt your body tremble in its wake, as a litany of searing rebuke bubbled along behind.

"Do you want something that badly? Something more valuable than the pile of books you're sitting on? I dare you find one thing in this entire house that's worth more to me. Don't call them meaningless, when they're the only thing I've had by my side for ten years. I don't care if you're Luna's fucking Prophet, you don't know a damn thing about me."

Nails dug into the palm of your hand, skin tightening until clenched knuckles shone pale white under the light of the Nymph's Wood. "I spent ten years of my life buried in these books, enchanted with Mana. Why? What do you think that was for? Power? After my family died, this place was all that was left for me; I didn't want power, I wanted company. Something more than a... A mute maid pitying me because she was a friend of my sister. That was my only other companion in this house, and after ten years I can safely tell you that she's at least my maid now." Your eyes clenched shut, one open palm slapping against your sternum. "My maid. My Sister's friend."

And as much as you relied on her over the years, it was that same damning doubt that had kept you awake. You trusted her with everything, up to and including your life.

But in the end, she was still Ariel's.

"I threw myself into meditation and study every day; Burning, burying, drowning, falling, sweating, crying and studying. I wanted a Mana's Favour. I read and believed that if I just dedicated myself enough - If I just gave enough - That I could get that much." You inhaled sharply, blinking away the heat in your eyes as your eyes slid away from Mim during the diatribe. "Some of you are born beloved by the world, yet after a decade of giving, what do I have to show for it?"

Possessive and Eldritch, the Mana were the pillars of the world itself. Even if they were violent and selfish in who they claimed, there wasn't a single person in this world that couldn't find an endless wellspring of love from one of them - Or so you had read as a child.

"So much for giving, right? You want me to give you something, too? Fine... But don't play games with me. Don't sit there and act high and mighty, fucking patronizing me for trying to give people what they want, because you don't know a damn thing about me, and I doubt you know anything about anyone else you selfish child." You felt something black bloom in your chest, as if a pouch of acrid ink had been released to dilute into your veins. "You're an Adept of Luna, oh so effortlessly beloved, so here's what I'll give you: Wisdom."

You spat the word as if it nauseated you to wretch it out of your throat. It felt as if your heart was going to leap out after it.

"I am the blood heir to House Valen. My status is second only to the acting stewards, and our influence rivals the Crown itself. Do you know what I've learned in my time as thus?" You raised your head to glare down at Mim, fleetingly realizing how small she looked when your vision was painted as red as your eyes. "Everyone wants something, and if you can't give it to them, then you're worthless." You hissed out; This entire outpour couldn't seem to gather enough fire to rise above that sedated volume.

It ran too cold, fueled by issues buried so deep as to be more akin to Undine's domain than Salamander's. This was an entire sea of problems that had long since calmed, and only since grown deeper.

"It doesn't matter who you are, or how much you give, until you find out what someone wants and tell them that you can give it to them, you're nothing to them - Or worse," You physically choked, a half-step stagger bringing you forward. "a disappointment."

Every fleeting visit. Every scrutinizing glance. You had learned the trade of reading people better than anyone else, but you still couldn't match up to your aunt. A single word of praise from her had been enough to leave you off kilter for months, and you still craved more. Desperate to live up to standards you couldn't ever seem to find, no matter how diligently you climbed.

And for what? To be married off?

Shade take that!

You hadn't come that far to be cast aside!

"Not one person I've met has ever given me anything. They look to me, and they ask. They lay their problems at my feet, and if I can't find an answer for them, then why bother?" Rinnier had said as much; If you couldn't help her people, then why bother? The only reason the knights even followed you was because you had promised them a way out of their misfortunate lot in life. "That's how relationships work, Mim, and it's all people care about. Don't sit there and fucking patronize me about the way I talk to people, when you don't even know what to do yourself."

Breath came heavier now, deep drafts that synchronized with the blood thundering through your veins. You were done. You should stop. This was the line, and you had said enough.

But your mouth never stopped moving.

"There is a limit to how many hoops I am willing to jump through to help someone, Mim. I don't have time to play games with each and every person that wants me to fulfill some special condition to fucking help them before they'll cooperate with me; I have enough on my plate, as you should know damn well about that. Yes, me, new mayor of a ruined town - Guess why it's ruined?" You forced your eyes away when it seemed as if the little Luna Adept could sink in on herself no further, shame and frustration roiling in the pit of your stomach like a wellspring of bubbling tar. "A leader for knights without a cent to my name, responsible for restoring the every day lives of an entire town of people that I hate."

You resented Carona. To the very depths of your being, you hated it.
But its people had nothing to do with that.

"Not once - Not once - Has someone tried to offer me a damn thing for free. So yes, excuse me for always trying to pick the best option." Your nails broke skin, and the flow of blood along your digits left a trail of fire that burned hotter than the actual wound. "Who in Shade's Name do you think you are? My friend?"

Standing rigid in the library, you were nearly deafened by your own heavy breathing. Aching muscles in your arms protested how long they had been strained; Kept strict and flexed out of stress and pushed further and further with every venomous word.

It was the only sound left in the house.

You squeezed your eyes shut, forcing your breathing back under control. You waited; For a response. A rebuttal. You had seen the way she collapsed into herself as you went on, even if she started crying now it wouldn't be more than you had expected. More than you had already resolved yourself to deal with... But when nothing came, you could only chance a look at her one last time-

-And wrench your eyes shut as you turned away, unable to look her in the eyes as four words ripped everything out from beneath you.

"I tried to be."

>>561642
And so we fucked up again!

>>561642
>>561666
AT ALWAYS HAPPENS

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>>561642

>>561642
So, we finally cracked under the stress. That was... interesting. I wonder what happens now. Find a dark room, and meditate shade? Let someone else drive for a while?

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>>561642
This is when we throw up bile from frustration, anger, stress and regret. Like actually doing it because that's how I feel right now.

>I'm sorry Mim. I'm sorry... you broke a dam that has been building to the bursting point ever since my family died. It's not your fault, it could have been anyone, Mana knows that /anyone/ these past months could have fucked up me like this. The weight of these 10 years has been crushing me under foot this entire time Rinnier, bless her, is far more frustrating and deserving of this tirade than you can ever have been. So is my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, that damned Miran, the mayor and all of his fucking goons. I'm sorry, it wasn't you who should have had to hear this.

>Please don't you abandon me too

I'm making some food. Writing that was both emotionally exhausting, and physically used up the last of my stamina for the day; Especially with the skyfire rising.

I'll be around for another hour or so, but we'll probably pick up the thread again after I've gotten some rest.

>>561695
Since you mention it, I've been wanting to say it for over a month now but uh... I've kind of devised a plan to bring back Shadowrue. With a little bit of research and effort I'm certain it could work.

>>561317
>Gnawing insecure self loathing is more our style.
>>561333
>She actually comes off as kind of autistic.
>>561334
>it is certainly hearthelt and totally IC. Bravo.
>>561338
>when you consider that it's the players who respond to social cues and try to emphatize...

I was late to the vote, but if the consensus goal was not only to interpret irue as an autistic friendless jerk, but to make sure we stay that way, I think you all did a wonderful job.

>>561701
I'm all for this but I doubt it would help. Nothing ever goes our way.

>>561712
It doesn't but it's definitely not for lack of trying. You notice how once we get past the minor choices and there is a real, tangible hurdle in front of us, everyone seems to just pick what will make the most impact or most interesting? Can you name one event where we debated and made a GOOD choice?

>>561704
I got some trivia for you!
In Swedish, Valen means "the choices" and Irue's name is made up of two words, "I Rue". Every time we FUCK IT UP I think about how poetic her name is when it can be read as "I rue the choices". I don't think you could have came up with a more apt name for our protagonist if you tried.

>>561710
That's unfortunately true.

Though Mim could be less passive-aggressive in her befriending attempt, I think.

>>561725
I know I'm trying to make the smart choice. I'm just apparently not smart enough.

>>561725
>You notice how once we
/tg/ (or /qst/ now I guess) as a deeply ingrained "rule of cool" issue. On lighter quests this isn't an issue, but stuff like Valen quest suffers for it.

>>561733
>On lighter quests this isn't an issue, but in Valen quest, WE suffer for it.
ftfy

>>561708
Dopplerue technically can never "come back". You could recreate a doppleganger, and have it undergo the same experiences (theoretically impossible) and create something similar... But even if you copied it down to the exact memory division, it would be an entirely different apparition.

>>561725
>If I tried.
Why would you think that was a coincidence?
No, but it is. That's a little depressing, actually. Valen isn't made with suffering in mind at all, and could just as easily have been a bit more hot blooded and devil-may-care.

>>561731
>Mim could be less passive-aggressive in her befriending attempt
Anon, I kind of have trivia for you, but telling you will only hurt you. Do you actually want to know?

I won't blame you if you say no. We can just let it be something else we've Forgotten.

>>561733
twee nobble?

>>561747
>Anon, I kind of have trivia for you, but telling you will only hurt you
Tell me Riz. I know I'm a fuckup as a player, what's fuckin up one more time?

>>561747
>Do you actually want to know?

I'm not him but I want to see his shame.

>>561759
IMO she's just a hyper little kid with an ability she likes to show off, like how another kid would show their toys. She thinks the guessing game back and forth is fun and assumed we did too. Also like how kids don't realize when they take a joke too far and it becomes bullying.

>>561642
Ah good. We finally got that out. Now the healing can begin.

Jesus fuck. This is like when we hit Rinnier and everybody would have flipped out if Riz hadn't told us that it was the right choice.

I say screw explaining like >>561701.

I can see apologizing for not being able to recognize it,but when she asked for books she didn't even want, implied that she was going to get you in trouble, then refused to even tell you what she wanted . . .

> When it started to seem like just one more person trying to manipulate you, that hurt. Again. The same time it hurt whenever someone showed that they didn't care about you, at best just your name and more often just what that could do for them.

> But, "tried" huh. Guess that's another person disappointed in you. Was hearing your sob story too much?

> If she had just asked instead of making it another demand, another test where you didnt know the rules and weren't allowed to ask what they were, if it had been just for her because she wanted you would have let her borrow the damn books.

Seriously. Let's not shame spiral here,it's not like we're the only one in the wrong.

Hahaha fuck that.

> Besides, is she even sure she wants to really be your friend? Just learning about what your life was like was enough for "tried". Now you're about to go and hopefully rescue one of the people closest to what you can call a "friend" from the fucking Fae. After you were too messed up on Faedeka for an entire month while she was surrounded in an unfamiliar place. And you're probably going to fail gloriously at that too.

>>561759
Your speech was almost tailor made, from the prompt itself, specifically to hurt her. At first I was impressed, and then it started to actually hurt.

>Did you bother to learn anything about me? ... Nobody took an interest in me.
If you go back, Mim has always taken a very proactive interest in you, and even ignored Asche (under the guise of the Diary of Reflections) to acknowledge you.

>Stewardship of a destroyed town... No resources to repair it. No aid is coming for me.
Mim specifically offered you aid, and even proactively sent a letter explaining how she could talk the Shrine into helping Irue; The players were suspicious of it, and turned her down, specifically choosing to remain an island.

>Would you do the same for me... Tell me what's true, even if it's not what I want to hear?
Mim was the one who told you Kara had betrayed you when you came to Carona. She's always been willing to tell you what you asked, and even started to make excuses to tell you things in a casual manner to circumvent the Shrine's trading policy.

>Nobody has ever done a damn thing for me free
She's actually made offers for this; They were denied.

>You want me to give you something? I can't afford to give anything
You won't take anything either, which is what eventually led to her "passive-aggressive" attempt. She may be a Luna Adept, but as she's repeatedly told you (whether you believed her or not), she can't read minds. She was never raised to read people, and Irue has a career poker face when it comes to things like this. After trying repeatedly to give Irue something, she resorted to what everyone else had done: Asking.

But she didn't know what to ask, and one anon actually nailed it early on. What mattered to her wasn't the request, but how you would respond.

>>561642
And I finally caught up, Shit.


>>561747
go for it, we're collectively fuck ups, might as well show us how.

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>>561801
Jesus

>>561801
Sooooooo suicide when?

>>561801
Ouch.

Well, if you don't know what your mistake was you can't learn from it.

But still, ouch.

I really always vote for stupid choices.

>>561801
Yep. We can't salvage this one.

>>561801
So we... won? That's what I'm getting from this. We denied her at every turn and drove her to the brink, so... Sound like a win to me!

So Riz can we finally realize and accept IC that we're socially retarded.

I think it's hilarious in a way, if you all remember the first thread with the carefully tailored show to let everyone know that Irue is a real and experienced socialite, a true blue blooded noble... and then once the players took the reigns she became a violent hoodlum and bum, marauding the countryside and rampaging in the city?

I mean, in a way Irue is madness illustrated. Profound madness, the kind a comic book villain can't even hope to accomplish

>>561798
>Healing

As expected of social-retard-or-bust anon.

>>561801
Part of why we wouldn't take help is another board-ism (not that that excuses it): Typically in quests you start out with enough stuff to do what you need to, but are given the opportunity to "take a gift", or "make a deal with the devil" to make things easier. Taking the offered power boost essentially increases your ability to do things while decreasing what you /can/ do.
That wasn't the case here; we didn't have the minimum stuff required to do what we needed to do, but the mindset remained: taking a gift now will obligate you later.

I'm glad we didn't die that time with the Oakenbear. It kept us from driving another person into the ground.

>>561801
Yay. I'm glad that I destroyed everything.

Except not really.

And I always thought that she was doing that in her role as an adept of Luna.

That she wasn't taking an interest in Irulen. Just the new Valen heir. I even said I wouldn't be surprised since that was her job as an adept of Luna.

That the offer of aid was for the town, not us.

>Would you do the same for me... Tell me what's true, even if it's not what I want to hear?

Or if we paid her, I put that in there. We were also already working with the Shrine against the Mayor. That's a favour? Hey, aren't you so lucky that because I want you to be my friend, I'll help you save the town I live in and my Shrine that's been corrupted?

>Nobody has ever done a damn thing for me free

For us? Because every time it seemed like it was for something else.

But it's interesting to see what point of view you were writing from. Kind of wish Mim had said that to us so we could respond.

But nobody ever wants to actually talk that stuff out with us it seems.

>>561838
Yes alienating a friend and possible ally and friend into an enemy is totally a win. Why don't we axe murder our Testament while we're at it?


>>561839
Yeah Riz really should have realized that anons cannot into political intrigue unless he gives us a shit ton of help and railroading. We've ben over this already but it still rings true. He should probably end this quest because we're going to keep doing something stupid or worse and barrel to bad end faster and harder than Snakecatcher quest.

>>561812
Easy enough to do. Just meditate shade , but don't resist this time.

>>561867
slitting our throat would be faster.

>>561839
But now we know why Clara wanted to quietly marry us off! Another secret uncovered!

>>561861
>anons cannot into political intrigue
part of that is general ineptitude, but part of that is quests as a medium. There's no way most anons will remember a line from 4 threads ago, that's several days to months of IRL time.

>>561869
But with less catastrophic side effects. That's not how we roll!

>>561861
Actually all this happened because we can into political intrigue. The thing is, Mim wasn't doing anything particularly intriguing or political, but we always assumed she was 'cause politics.

>>561869
Sure, but you need something with an edge for that. The other just needs to wait for the sun to go down.

>>561856
Don't take it hard, anon. Everyone else at the time was also generally in favor of going in this direction.

>>561839
It is safe to say that Irue feels like shit over this, yes. However, I wouldn't have let the write-in through unless it was a possible course of action Irue could have taken, and as it was written, a great deal of the things said were valid issues and experiences Irue has had.

If anything, the write-in high lighted a very specific point: Irue hasn't actually had a normal friend the entire quest, or even before that. For as much as they are legitimately skilled at manipulations and social maneuvering, it's the simple and most earnest things that they really have no grasp on.

Which ultimately is what led to this, and you can trace back Irue's consistent suspicion and denial of goodwill to valid concerns that they were offered a devil's contract, or bait.

>>561747
>Dopplerue technically can never "come back".

Are you 100% adamant about this ;_;

>>561888
So. Is there a chance we can just push through and actually talk it out with Mim? I mean, someone says they tried, clearly we missed the signs so of they could clue us in that would be good.

Or, you know, it just kind of continues the chain of people not telling us what they want.

Why couldn't she just come out and tell us she wanted to be friends? Mana knows we'd love to have one.

>>561888
I hope we also get the chance to talk to Priat about this.

Poor bastard is going to help two teen girls who are both abnormal work shit out.

>>561924
People are weird like that. On the other hand if she really did want to become our friend, I don't think this would stop her.

>>561919
We could make another, but it wouldn't be /her/. She's gone.

>Irue hasn't actually had a normal friend
Which makes this hurt all the more. We were so close.

>>561924
Don't forget, Mim's still a kid. Plus, in usual fashion, we would have been paranoid about someone just flat out saying "let's be friends!".

>>561919
Yes. Not specifically because I wouldn't enjoy it, mind you, but in programming terms you can think of a Mana as an Object. Apparitions are instances of the Object.

Any number of identical instances can be made and destroyed, but it's a different instance each time; Even if the variables and details stored within are the same.

You could argue the Theseus Ship paradox in regards to this, but at that point you're building a zombie.

>>561924
Today? No.
After I rest and thread resumes? I wouldn't rule it out.

I also wouldn't expect a complete turn around, though.

>Why couldn't she just tell us she wanted to be friends?
I'm willing to take the blame on this, actually. In my experience, I don't think I've ever met anyone who actually said "want to be friends?" when beyond childhood. It's something that kind of happens like courting? Nice actions, offers of support, conversation, etc.

Priat mentioned this, but his specific concern is that Mim is trying to act like - and is treated as - an adult, when she's really just a child.

>>561933
Yeah, but the thing with Irue is that at least then we could slowly come to trust her because we would know what her goal was. Even if we were unsure of why she would want to be friends with us.

Without that, there were just too many other reasons to see self interest in how she tried to help us.

I mean, can you say she didn't or wouldn't have also benefited from the offers she gave us for help?

>>561941
I mean. Rest up dude. I just wanted there to be the option to work things through.

And honestly, I think a complete turn around would be worse.

Because I see Iruelen taken her first friendship very seriously.

I mean, we're freaking out and willing to throw down without a thought for our Testaments from day one just because they were our responsibility.

Having an atnctual friend, it's better we be insecure about failing them than that they are just using us or don't know how much of a socially retarded bit cheaper we can be and then leaving us when we solo berserker an Oakenbear bear handed.

>>561941
> Priat mentioned this, but his specific concern is that Mim is trying to act like - and is treated as - an adult, when she's really just a child.

Well, we did treat her like a child. So, got one thing right?

>>561944
Like I said, if she's genuine, if she really wanted to befriend us, us being genuine with her shouldn't stop her. Sure she's a kid, but if us being honest bothers her so much then I'm glad she isn't our friend. 'Come back when you're older.

>>561944
I disagree. Someone you've known for a short while, someone you've seen a few times, spent some time with, but don't really know that well, says to you, "I want to be your friend." The typical reaction isn't, "Okay, let's be friends." It's "Why?"

Now imagine the same scenario, but the one wanting to be friends is part of a large, powerful organization (the mysterious branch, no less), and the one being asked is a paranoid people-reader, who's a part (technical head) of another, larger organization.

>>561960
I think what bothers her is that we completely ignored all her attempts at friendship out of social retardednes and/or paranoia. That's painful.

>>561960
That too. I covered it in other posts why I agree.

"Tried". Jesus. There is no try! Only do or do not!

>>561965
Yeah dude. I do Mens Team with those people. I grew up with those people. That's why I wrote something so consistent with Irues actions and whatnot.

The correct thing to do is come up and say "Let's be friends" because otherwise it's going out to dinner with clients and employees and business partners. And yeah you're friendly, but you never really get past the power dynamic.

It's not like we even ever interacted outside of work with her. We didn't have dinner at her house, she never invited us for pasta. Or talked about her personal shit, or asked about ours.

Instead she tried to do us Favours.

So the whole reason Mens Team exists is so that people can go there and be equal, and have a safe space to be intimate with emotionally to build real friendships and relationships that don't involve social status or business.

Like, they play golf with clients, or tennis, or go to dinner, and business always comes up because that's how careers are.

So if you don't come out and directly say that you want an actual friendship, and deliberately work towards it, then it doesn't happen.

Yeah, you ask "why" but that's the right question.

Your way if thinking is why people have difficulty making friends after college.

>>562021
I guess you could just come out and say it, if not in so many words. Ask about their life, tell about yours, go out and do something fun together.

I think I got hung up on the direct asking, rather than the intent. If you were too transparent, Rue might still be paranoid, but I think she would eventually come around.

>>562071
It would be a nice change if someone just asked if we were okay, or how we were holding up.

I wonder when the last time that was. Because it feels like it's been a long time

>>562141
I don't think it ever happened.

>>562141
Our aunt and uncle jacked us up BAD by leaving us by ourselves for months at a time apparently. As a child, no less.

When we finally, finally wind up in charge of the house properly, I'm thinking some revenge is in order. Fair turnabout, perhaps?

>>562188
Just you wait, anon, in the end it will turn out they were completely right.

>>562188
Honestly I'm pretty okay with letting it go and gaining revenge simply by being successful and happy.

And maybe calling our Aunt out on it in front of a huge crowd of nobles to put her on the spot. And turn any failure of ours to understand around on her by pointing out that she never explained it to us, or taught us how to figure it out ourselves. Were we supposed to any rounds our dead parents for advice? Our maid?

That last one should get a good giggle from people.

Then we take our Testaments and our Knights and the Drmi-humans and go live with the Fae. Call it a good end.

>>562237
This is a joke BTW. Well the second part.

And maybe me reliving a disappointing moment with my own parents. 19 was a rough year.

>>562237
Forgiveness is nice and all, but trying to humiliate Auntie around people will backfire horrifically. She's just better at manipulation.

I dunno, maybe I get a little too into character, but imagining myself in the position Rue was put in makes my blood boil.

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

And we are archived.

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.

I'm going to go ahead and end this thread here, since I feel like it would be awkward to add anymore to this particular series of events right now.

There is one more update coming, and everyone is free to stick around for it. It is not canon, but I felt like writing something a little more lighthearted after how we ended off here. Expect it a little later today, hopefully.

>>565007
We fucked up enough to kill the thread. This is probably a record.

>>565007
Thanks for running.

>>565010
It's not like it's unfixable.

"Give me something, Irue."

You closed your eyes as she begged. Why did you always end up having to deal with difficult people? Sure, you had a habit of telling people what they wanted to hear, but what was the point of asking for something if you weren't even going to say what you wanted? Did she expect you to just keep offering her things until she found something she wanted? Ridiculous.

...Ridiculous, and unusual. You'd never known Mim to want anything less than a fair trade, even if that trade was just swapping stories. Thinking back, the only thing Mim had ever seemingly wanted was for you to come back and tell her stories, and you had already agreed to tell her what happened; That had been her first and foremost condition on not coming. While those books were valuable, they weren't exactly priceless; If anything, they were of more sentimental value to you than they ever would be to a collector or scholar. If you hadn't tried to pry a proper answer out of her, then on the surface, all she had asked was for those books.

"...I don't want your stupid books." Mim muttered petulantly.

Then what did she want? If it was so damn important that she wouldn't just come out and say it, then what did she even want out of you? You sighed heavily, feeling her expectant gaze on you, waiting for an answer to a question you had only vaguely been asked. It was as frustrating now as it had been having to deal with this same thing back when Rinnier started having doubts about you.

"...Doubts." You muttered, absently standing from your seat as you felt the tell-tale signs of understanding begin to dawn on you. The books themselves didn't matter, she wanted what they represented. Something sentimental. Something that mattered to you.

Stepping across the roots, you couldn't help but soften as Mim almost physically shrank back from your approach; The heat in her posture rapidly draining away. She had spent an entire night cooped up in this library, forced to realize she was helpless as something hunted everyone else through the house; Something that you had just told her you were going to follow into the heart of its home. 'Go home', you had told her, as if it didn't concern her. Of course she couldn't help, and you both knew that she would have just gotten in the way, but when her only resort was to watch Priat and you walk away...

"I'm sorry." A softly-spoken murmur as you stood in front of her, her eyes widening as you apologized. "We're making you worry... But it's going to be alright."

Slender fingers brushed against her skin as you slid the little Luna Adept's hair back and chastely pressed your lips against her forehead.

"We'll come back."

She had pleaded with you to give her something, and so you tried to remember the feelings that had settled your own fears as you smiled.

"I promise."

All you had to give lately were promises... But you were making good on them, slowly.
You would make good on this one, too.

"Negotiations concluded, then?" Priat brightened as Irue left the room, the crimson-eyed blonde shrugging noncommittally as they walked past. Whatever altercation he had been expecting from the library had never come, and he would be lying if he said that the Valen heir didn't leave him ill at ease.

Heralding from Teranford, he believed he had been well accustomed to dealing with strong personalities in royalty... But the rumours of House Valen hadn't prepared him for the almost casual disregard for danger that he had witnessed since getting involved. He had spent most of the night being hunted through a changing labyrinth in search of Irue, and had more than once clashed with the near insatiable monster that had stalked those halls; No amount of fire stopped, nor loss of limb slowed, its obsessive hunt. Several rooms had been consumed in flame just to destroy it... A course of action he very quickly realized was temporary at best, when the blood chilling sound of twisting timber would always herald its resurrection.

Its body had twisted, limbs and digits distorting and growing without constraint in what had seemed to be a single minded pursuit of blood. If he hadn't been so lucky as to eventually chance upon the library hall, doubtless he would have still been desperately fending off murderous attempts on Mim's life, and his own.

And yet, the blonde treated it as if it were a pet.

While he had struggled merely to survive, they tamed the thing - Suppressed its single minded violence until it would do little else but follow them like a faithful cat, starved for attention. Before he realized it, the Valen heir had simply walked back into his life with a flame of salvation at their back, placidly handwaving their victory as if it weren't worth discussing.

There was no pride in the heir's face. No swagger in their gait. If anything, the young noble only ever seemed vaguely distracted; A distant, lingering melancholy in every action. It wasn't the swell of ego which he had long come to associate with the powerfully gifted Adept Royals of Teranford.

Time and time again, he could only stutter an agreement as he watched the firelight dance across those sharp crimson pools.

This was power; The sort which stood apart from the world. Like the sharp eyed woman who had stared down the Banshee's howls in Carona, just before the sky split.

He understood now, the whispers - both fearful and awed - which surrounded this cavalier house of nobles. The persisting rumour that nothing short of Fae blood ran through their veins; An inhuman, and altogether monstrous existence.

It was the fact that he could entrust Mim to something like that which made leaving such an easy proposition... And as he hesitated to follow in the heir's footsteps immediately, Priat stole one last glance through the library door at the child he had become the sole friend of over the last couple of years. She sat upon the wooden floors, one of the books he recognized from her gathered pile splayed open with her face shoved firmly between its pages.

A smile nearly devoured her entire face as she gingerly brushed the hair out of her face In contrast to the Heir's nonchalance, fingers pausing and recoiling sharply upon reaching her forehead. He could see the tremble start at the tips of her toes and shiver all the way through her body, leaving the solitary young girl with a furious blush as she studiously pulled the book closer to her face.

Priat had more questions without answers as he smiled uneasily, leaving the little Luna Adept to her own devices as the muffled sound of her smacking her forehead against the soft pages of the book echoed quietly through the library.

>Kiss Her Alternative: End

>>567053
You know the part I find the most out of character for Rue? Apologising.

>>567684
Good thing it never happened.

>>567078
Cute.

>>567078
Yeowch.
Maybe it's for the best we fucked this up. The yuri vibe is too strong.

Riz, can I ask you to add two things to our memos?

1. Ask Priat if he saw Nymph's wood in Teranford and about the terraforming in general

3. Mim said "When are you going to tell her?" Tell what to whom?

>>569302
Memo:
1. Ask Priat if he saw Nymph's wood in Teranford and about the terraforming in general
2. Invite Marchovic on adventures next time there's a chance.
3. Mim said "When are you going to tell her?" Tell what to whom?

Updated!
Also, yuri or not, you shouldn't hate happiness anon!

>>569432
Thanks!

I hate yuri more than I like happiness.

>>569432
Don't worry I like both yuri and happiness.

This is just going to make the next real update hurt even more, thanks.

>>569432
I love tragedy! Actually talking shit out with people is good too.

I still contest that Mims attempts at friendship were more political in nature than personal, regardless of how it was intended.

You can't hurt me with your Yuri lies!

>>569963
It's not unfixable. We just have to ask Mim "how" she tried to be friends with us so she can explain and we can understand her point if view. Then we can tell her that we really would like to have a friend, but the ask "why", in in a bewildered and broken tone, why she would want to be friends with us.

Because the moment of realization when children realize that Adults don't have answers and can be just as or more broken, that moment gets me hard.

Also I think failure to find love except for Ari, who we are also dealing with failing to protect, and the belief she doesn't deserve it somehow is deeply intertwined with Irues self.

>>574219
You're talking like things can ever get better in Valen "We Thought We Hit The Bottom But Then There Was A Knock From Below" Quest.

>>574222
Aw come on. We've had successes! Everyone is just pouty because it's actually possible to fuck up in this quest rather then "various degrees of success."

SuicideRue was hard to take though. Heck, it's probably partially responsible for my "fuck you and every horse that looks like you" attitude when voting.

We'll smash through the sky and the very stars themselves with Spiral Power!

>>574234
The only significant success I remember Irue (and not ShadowRue) having is not failing the Rite due to two miracles.

>>574236
Irue, shadowrue, same difference from a questing perspective.

Doesn't help that Mim pretty much stabbed Rue in her weakest spot too though, pointing our that she's always trying to find the best thing to tell people because she's desperate for validation.

>>574236
Oh, and I count defending Kara as a success. Also stopping the Mayor.

>>574240
ShadowRue was somehow markedly more competent though.

My current theory is there were some competent anons who dropped the quest after ShadowRue was suicided.

>>574241
The amount of collateral damage on these prevents me from considering them successes.

>>574244
I can't lie, I almost did too.

But hey, at least I am pointed out in my vote this time that it was entirely possible Mim wanted to be friends but I believe more in keeping character than forcing the best resolution.

I miss being able to play a xenophobic bigot ialmn ME1, the sequels really made it so there was only one "right" choice and it was always Liara.

Anyways, the amount of collateral damage makes me feel like they were actual successes and not just Disney hand outs.

I guess I enjoy a harder and momore nor style of game.

>>574257
Fucking /qst/. For some reason my phone eats shut on it.

A more noir kind of game.

>>574257
I don't really think we should make Irue's life even harder intentionally. We're doing a good work on it as it is.

Also, using social manipulation to obtain friendship of an extremely influental Shrine official would be totally IC for Irue, IMHO.

Regarding the collateral damage, there's a difference between doing collateral damage because you had to make a difficult choice and doing it because the voices in your head voted stupidly. It's not like we HAD to sic a wild Jinn Apparition on Carona to stop the Mayor.

>>574241
Speaking of Kara, there's a thing we need to remember.

We made her the new alpha, except the pack only accepts it because they're all one step away from suicide and crippling angst. We shouldn't assume that this is going to last forever. First off, we have to stop using her brother to relay orders. Secondly, we have to stop giving orders, probably not even to Kara. I think that once those demis come around they'll start to ignore Kara and treat Irue as the alpha and looking at our track record for saying the right thing to alleviate concerns we're just going to fuck it all up. I won't even try to imagine how much it will hurt if Kara's diminutive thought process will make her think that we've only been using her despite all the things we've said and done for her.
She said herself that we are more like a demihuman than a human, it's important that we never cross that line in her eyes.
We probably should just flat out tell her that, too. If she is always going to act like our pet dog nothing but Valen Quest©™ tragedy will unfold.

>>574307
Pssht, actually Demi-humans might actually be the only ones Irue DOESN'T fuck up with.

Since they're amoral, guiltless sociopaths. And Irue has those tendencies as well.

I forget though, does Priat know that Salamander showed interest in Kara?

Because everyone is special except us.

>>574328
Well your attitude is commendable, considering recent and, well, all events up to this point.

No matter how dramatic and imposing backdrop Riz uses, this is still a story about people, so let's keep our friends and acquaintances in mind and look out for them.

>>574469
I'm enjoying the ride. The gut punches make the success all the sweeter.

>>574945
>Success
>Implying

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>>574236
It's funny hearing this, because anons seemed to consider dopplerue itself to be another failure when it was born.

Though it's a bit late now, I'm not sure if the anons really understood that a major theme of Dopplerue's development hinged on "Identity". They treated Dopplerue like Irue the entire time, when the last thing it ever wanted to become was Irue. Much of its internal dialogue and progression revolved around slowly trying to establish its own thoughts and values, separate from Irue entirely; I'll reiterate it again, but dopplerue resented Irue from the moment it was born, even if some measure of bitter empathy was beginning to come around.

Ultimately I think this disconnect of not mentally treating Dopplerue as it's own character is what led to voting for suicide. It was assumed that "I can't give up" would just inherently be there, because it always was for Irue.

>>574328
Kara showed interest in Salamander, more than the other way around. She likes fire. That interest is pretty persistent though, so who knows?

>>574244
Valen Quest certainly doesn't have very many clear-cut victories in it. I think another anon brought this up in the past, but much of your successes tend to be Pyrrhic in nature - In the truest sense of the word.

I have some thoughts on the success thing, but I'll keep them to my notes for now. Telling you would be easy, but I don't believe it would have the proper effect when it could more effectively be shown in the quest itself as we go.

Suffice to say, even though the actions never happened, Priat's PoV in the write-up sheds some light on this. There's a division between what you think of yourself, and how the world views your actions from outside.

At any rate! I'm hoping we'll pick back up this coming saturday. If you guys have any particular sentiments or actions you'd like affect in the OP of the next thread, go ahead and tell me now. There's a lot of thoughts and feelings already here for me to work with in that regard, but if there's something new you've thought of or want to address specifically, now is your chance.

>>575157
I just want some down time already. Give us a thread or two or three where we just spend a day talking to our group without a time skip forcing us into another life or death struggle.

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>>575176
I don't... Understand down time. It probably shows. I'll make a note about it, though. I can't say it will happen soon, but it's not an impossible thing to arrange.

I just worry that anons will find it boring.

You can have this until then, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kilcsodvF6U

Are there any characters you guys are particularly interested in seeing a little of the world through? Most every character in Valen has their own trials and motives pushing them forward, so I am acutely aware that it's likely difficult for you guys to get a handle on everyone around you.

>>575176
...When you said a thread or three, did you mean like... in a row, or...