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
The Woman Beneath Steel - http://pastebin.com/pMGgiHC3

Misc notes:If you only know half of the truth, is it still a lie?


Memo:
1. Get gifts for all our companions. Miniature Oakenrue for Ari, Tellenford Diary for Mim, Choker for Kara, mini-Vacation for Rinnier we can make Priat take her out on a social date. Maybe set up something where the people of Carona can thank her for her work and help remind her WHY she does it.
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?

File: Ice Atelier.png (1.34 MB, 1000x1000)

1.34 MB PNG

So I mentioned I'd have a question for everyone!

There've occasionally been some mentions of how people wished Valen used /qst/'s abysmal speed to stretch out its update windows to allow for more thought or discussion between its four players. As I've been running it, this would probably slow down progress to an unforgivable degree...

...However, if I abandoned the notion of running a "session" altogether, it may be possible. The details specifically being that I would start a thread, and then write 2-4 updates a day (or whenever I had the time), allowing for essentially multiple hours of consideration and discussion between them. This would make Valen a very slow burn type of experience, as opposed to where it just starts and then runs for 10-13 hours once a week. It would also help curb some of the recent problems where I've had to cancel for an entire week just because my one designated day of concentrated free time got unexpectedly occupied.

On the other hand, I feel hesitant to try something like that. Primarily because I don't feel like this quest really warrants windows that long, and empirically speaking, we've never really had a playerbase that talks amongst yourselves a whole lot outside of extremely rare occasions. changing from a dedicated session to an update block seems like it would mess with the momentum between updates, as well as make Forgettings less generally pressing. Then there's the issue of archiving it accurately (figuring out when during the week to archive it, what description to put on it, etc.)

Overall I'm not opposed to trying it if you're interested, if only to see how it goes, but the change would primarily be done to facilitate allowing more participation and consideration in choices at the expense of momentum and designated schedules... And I kind of doubt we'd actually see any significant uptick in participation or discussion even with the change, so it feels like it'd be inefficient to me.

All the same, I'll have a poll for it up on the twitter for the next 7 days or so.

>>1257702
>>The disaster in East Heaven
>>1257820
I figure it's worth trying the more drawn out format at least. I suspect part of the reason there isn't much discussion is that there aren't enough people awake at at a time to meaningfully discuss anything. And if it doesn't work out, you can always revert to the current format.

>>1258026
Disaster!
Writing.

We'll see how the poll works out, and I'll announce our results before next saturday's session.

>>1258058
You have more than 4 players. Just never at the same time lol.

Longer voting blocks would give the chance for discussion too. Like when I tell>>1258026 that we might want to avoid the disaster itself and ask instead about the fallout from it.

A) Nobody here really knows what happened B) We're supposed to be the one who knows since we're a Valen.

I am curious about our unique hereditary appearance. I wonder if that's related to Dryads fondness for us, or if the fondness is somehow the result of the disaster due to an action of our ancestor.

>>1258096
What's interesting is that East Heaven Queen supposedly also had distinctive red eyes, if we go by the Founder's diary. And the Founder didn't once comment how those eyes were similar to theirs, despite red being an weird color.

"I was curious about the disaster." It wasn't something you remember happening, and was thus one of the larger deviations present in this place. Admittedly there wasn't a great deal you could claim to know about East Heaven in general, considering their borders had been shut tightly for as long as you could remember.

"...That's not exactly part of our teachings." Eleanore objected weakly, "I don't really like to talk about it, either."

"The Shrine typically doesn't get involved in national affairs unless an incident was caused by the Mana, though." You knew that for a fact. It was a large part of what had allowed them such international influence as an organization. "But it sounds like you've been pouring into this one."

"...I don't know whether they were involved in causing the disaster, but their absence was deemed a peculiarity that justified our involvement." Eleanore muttered into the nape of your neck, "They all left, you know? That place was completely forsaken, and so was everyone and everything in it."

"And I suppose the Shrine's involvement was to see the end results?" It made a certain sort of morbid sense. Luna's Dominion in particular would likely be interested in it purely for academical reasons.

"Yes... And no." You felt her shaking her head softly, "Many of us took notes, of course... And no one can forget what that place was like... But we were there to help. The Mana can't abandon a place like that. They're the Pillars of our world... Without them, there's nothing. We needed to coax them into returning, as quickly as possible, and hope the land could recover."

"...The Shrine wasn't there to help East Heaven." You breath as understanding dawns. "Would the Dead Zones have spread if left unchecked?"

"No!" Her grip tightened reflexively, "No... At least, I don't think so. They shouldn't. We never need to find out. A place like that shouldn't exist at all."

How encouraging.

>About the Dead Zones
>About the Mana needing coaxing
>About the survivors
>Other? (Write-in)

>>1258294
>>About the survivors

>>1258334
This!
Writing.

>>1258347
Can I add a twist?

> About how the survivors reacted to and are dealing with the dead zones

Any anomalies among them?

>>1258334
So. Are you also paranoid about the half-truth we apparently have?

I kind of wonder what the opposite of Dryads caring and loving face is. Hopefully we get a chance to ask.

Jinn blows gently but also with destructive force. Salamander warms but also burns. Luna spreads knowledge but is secretive about herself. Gnome is steady and reliable but stubborn and slow to change. Undine can be anything and is everywhere, and so is no one thing and keeps away from the world things better off forgotten. Actually I'm kind of unsure about Undine - then again that's her gig! Seems to be a lot of overlap with Luna.

Wisp is always striving to help people be better, but is cynical and never satisfied.

Shade is always trying to cut people down, but is optimistic and believes that they will be strong enough to overcome it.

Honestly with our attitude we seem more similar to Wisp lol. Guess we're just too ornery and stubborn to walk away from Shades challenge.

>>1258347
Hey! Luna is already in the sky at this point in the past right?

>>1258457
Luna is always in the sky, anon. That's where the moon stays.

Well, except here. If you look up, there's a very obvious distortion up where Luna should be until it's too late.

"As bad as it sounds, there were still survivors. Life goes on, doesn't it?" The orphans were direct proof that there was still something to salvage from what you'd otherwise heard described as a hellscape. "They survived." She breathed in soft agreement, "But they're not whole. Not yet."

"...Whole?"

"Everybody who has returned from the Dead Zones lost something." She murmured, the feeling of her fingers nervously squirming against your shirt. "They lost... More than any one else. Their home. Their family... Themselves."

"The kids seemed to be doing fine when I ran into them." A frown marrs your face as you try to think back, having found nothing particularly amiss about them in your memories. "That's because children are resilient." Eleanore sighed fondly, "They're happy with what's in front of them, and they have their whole life ahead of them to look forward to. They don't have time to worry about what's behind them... Or what isn't."

"... All of it?" You felt, rather than heard, Eleanore's answer as she gently pressed her forehead against the back of your head and nodded. "I've tried to keep them occupied learning as much as they can. I don't want them to think too hard about what they've lost... But they're very quick learners, and there isn't much I can teach them in the first place."

The Dead Zones had been forsaken and abandoned entirely by the Mana, to the point that it took the concentrated efforts of the Shrine's adepts to slowly start coaxing them back into the land. If just visiting them was enough to shake the average adept of their Mana's affinity, then for something to have survived at ground zero...

"Have the children shown an affinity for any of the Mana yet?"

"No, but they're young still." Eleanore sighed, her breath lost to the wind as Tim's horse navigated the forest at a brisk trot. "And it isn't as if adepts are common in the first place. I'll be happy enough if they can go on to live normal lives after all of this. They're doing well. They'll absolutely be fine."

>Talk about something else (what?)
>Ask Tim something (what?)
>Focus on finding the unidentified groups in the forest
>Other? (write-in)

>>1258479
>>Focus on finding the unidentified groups in the forest

>>1258495
This.
Writing!

You let the topic end there, sensing Eleanore's mounting reluctance to keep talking about that particular topic. It was about time your conversation was cut short anyway, as Tim's continued efforts to follow the directions relayed to him were slowly but surely leading him closer to one of the scattered groups that Eleanore had located in her meditations.

Of course what she gave you was less of a coordinate, so much as a general hot-and-cold rating, which served to adequately waste several hours of your time in a zigzagging search pattern... That ultimately turned up nothing. "Are you sure this is where you sensed them?" Tim pulled bike on his horse's reigns, finally bringing an end to its lazy trot as he surveyed the area. The forest was expansive, and while you could personally testify to how easily one could hide in the brush, you doubted there would have been anyone out here who wouldn't respond if called out for.

"Yes. No. Sort of." Eleanore's answer earned a look of exasperation from the huntsman. "I mean, I don't know exactly where they are, but this is roughly where I sensed them... Last night."

"Last night!" Tim guffawed boisterously, his horse shifting under the sudden commotion. "They're probably long gone by now, sugar!"

Eleanore's face ducked down with a rising blush as she squeaked out an apology from the back of the horse. Tim kept up his light hearted chuckling, eventually calming enough to start stroking his horse's mane. "Aight, no harm done, I guess. What now?"

"I-I can try to find them again!" Eleanore piped up, "It might take me a little while, though."

"Aye... Or I could try and catch some tracks." Tim smirked teasingly, "If they passed through here recently, shouldn't be too hard to run them down."

They looked towards you in askance, a fact that was lost on you for a brief period of time. If Kara had been here, you could have just... Ran to them. Probably hours ago. With an unerringly pinpoint accuracy, at that.

You were beginning to suspect you had been spoiled by Kara in general.

>Give Elly a second chance
>We're close enough, Tim can take it from here
>'A Spider's Web'
>Other? (write-in)

>>1258584
>Let Elly and Tim work at the same time
>Also preemptively 'no' for Web. It doesn't seem to work here.

>>1258584
Give Elly a second chance

>>1258594
Tim do things.

>>1258620
>>1258594
Elly tries hard!

Writing.

"How long?"

"Fifteen minutes...? Half an hour." Elly hesitated, "...No more than an hour, but I can definitely do it!"

Tim and you exchange a glance, and you nod back towards Eleanore. "Alright, get to work. Tim and I will check out the area while you refresh yourself."

"I'll do my best, I won't make the same mistake again!" The three of you dismounted, and you waved absently towards Eleanore as she settled down in the grass to get a second scan of the forest... For however long that took. You weren't sure whether the task was just harder than you thought, or if those time estimates were just performance anxiety. Either way, you and Tim worked through the ensuing silence to try and find some clue as to where the presence she had felt here had gone.

Tim had made his life as a huntsman, and sure enough, it didn't take him very long to find the signs he had been looking for. "These foot prints are... Relatively fresh." Tim frowned, looking over them for traits and details that were all but lost on a home-bound noble like yourself. "We'd have to follow the tracks to be sure, but it looks like they were coming in from Carona."

"You can tell that just from some upturned dirt?" Crimson eyes blinked in wonder, but he just laughed. "No, for all I know they just turned recently. If we followed the tracks all the way back, that'd be a different story, but I mean... Well, I'm just kinda guessing at it here. If you take a straight shot from here towards where their tracks came in at, we'd hit Carona eventually."

"So probably just another hunter." Your arms cross disappointedly, "Any idea where they went?"

"That's what's got me stumped." Tim's good mood faded as he turned a more serious face towards the forest floor. "They weren't just strolling through the woods, these prints are deep. Look, here-" His calloused hands stuck into the dirt, pointing out the broken surfaces and impressions, "-They slipped here, but they kept going. If it was a hunter, they were a right shit one. Ain't nobody in their right mind gonna try to run down a deer."

"So... Not a hunter. And in a hurry?" You watched the man work his way through the forest a few times, eventually just running his hands through his hair in resignation. "Could be anything. Problem is, don't look like they went nowhere, either." He pointed out a trail that... You honestly had no hope of actually discerning. "They came in here with hell on their heels, and then the tracks just stop."

You blink, looking to Tim for an explanation... And he just shrugs. That was the extent of his conjecture.

"Are you sure you didn't just lose the tracks?"

"Har har. I may not be some world travelling nomad like your esteemed self, but this place is still my backyard, Irue." He slapped you on the shoulder with smile, "Course if you think I missed something, you're welcome to give it a once over yourself."

Your response was a dry, hollow laugh. The closest thing to 'tracking' you could do was start weaving a web, but as effective and comfortable as that was, your last experience with it was... Unsettling.

Still... Tim hadn't mentioned any other tracks. If they had been chasing something, surely there would have been signs of that as well. "What if they were being chased?" You suggested. Tim shook his head, "Only one set of prints coming in. Anything big enough to run a man down out here's gonna leave a trail, and some sign of a fight at that."

"So we're just sticking to 'they vanished'?" You deadpan, eliciting a helpless shrug from the more experienced hunter as his hands folded behind his head, tilting back towards the sky with a heavy sigh. "Lest you got a better- Aw bugger all."

"?" One hand raised to cover your eyes as you craned your neck up to follow his gaze, finding a man's broken limbs strapped across various branches in the canopy far above. "This shit always happens with you. Every bleedin' time." Tim complained disgustedly.

"Hello? Tim? Irue? I'm finished!" Eleanore's voice rang innocently through the forest, and it brought the two of you back down to earth as you turned towards the panting woman. "Sorry it took so long, but I couldn't sense a few of the presences I did last night... There are still a couple left, though! Maybe a day or so away." She pointed out towards the forest, "I tried to find the ones I sensed last night, but..." Her shoulders sunk defeatedly. "I'm sorry."

"So, what now?" Tim turned towards you with his good cheer conspicuously absent. "Figured it was about time for the other shoe to drop, anyway."

>Back to the Shrine
>On to the next presences
>Ask Eleanore something (what?)
>Other? (write-in)

>>1258711
>Ask Tim about ours redhead friend.
>Aks Eleanore about body in the canopy.

>>1258711
>"This shit always happens with you. Every bleedin' time."

>I don't recall being the cause of flying limbs since we've met.

>Climb up the tree, let's see if we can figure something out from inspecting the wounds or if we can find any possessions.

>On to the next presences
>Ask Eleanore if they appear to have scattered or still huddle together as a group. If they put that much distance behind them in such a short time they must've broken into a run or have horses to ride.

>>1258731
>>1258711
This. Also ask Tim what the hell could do something like that. It apparently attacked from the trees, since there were no tracks.

My money is on a Dryad apparition.

>>1258722
Asking Tim about people!

>>1258722
...Showing Eleanore the dismembered dead person?

>>1258731
Climbing trees to poke dead bodies!

>>1258731
And then asking her to help us find more people!

Writing.

>>1258744
Can we ask Eleanor about the less pleasant aspects of Dryad, maybe mention that where there's one change in how mana acts there could be more.

Like if the mana absent spots are wounds, the Mana could also maybe be poisoned or traumatized.

>>1258752
Maybe after the corpse is out of sight and she is no longer neurotic and panicking over it.

>>1258744
Also I vote for

> backtrack along the hunters path to see what scared him.

If Eleanor is scared, tell her that this is when she learns the hard lesson about love where you have to risk getting hurt. Dryad might need her love more than anything if there's something wrong with the forest.

>>1258744
>>1258759

Headed to bed to hide from sky-fire so please count this as a vote in advance

>>1258760
God speed, anon!

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76 KB JPG

>>1258760
testing

"It's not always my fault." You object belatedly, ignoring Eleanore for the moment. "I don't remember being the cause of anything like this since we've met."

"Hey now, you can't just blame it all on that ill-tempered hornet. What about the Shade Atelier? With that two-headed cadaver Guardian?"

...Right. There was evidently an entire history between 'you' and Tim that you had no clue about. You suppose it was least half-true that he hadn't encountered anything like this because of you before. That was good enough, right? "Alright, I'll accept that, but it's gotta mostly be her fault. Compared to me, what else did she get us into?"

"There was that bit with the Mountain Dragon." Tim ticked off a finger of his hand like a loan shark about to whip out his list of debt collaterals. "My horse's tail is still singed from that time that volcano down in Teranford erupted, which I'm STILL not convinced wasn't her fault-" He looked at you suspiciously here, meeting only your carefully maintained innocent face in return. He didn't look convinced, regardless of how genuine your cluelessness was. "-Almost lost my baby to the Ant Lion on the way home from that one, too. Then there was that time you dragged me half way across the northern wastes because a storm was sick. I don't know what the hell you two did up there, but it repaid us by snowing us into a cave for three weeks, which turned into an avalanch when she tried to burn our way out and just brought down more snow."

"Um..." Eleanore spoke up again, interrupting Tim before the once again grinning man actually started to laugh in his recounting of the miserable adventures he had apparently been dragged along for. "What are we... Talking about?"

"Dead people." You joke, managing to crack a smile... Before feeling your heart depress abruptly. And stay that way. Tim was still laughing as he turned away, but they weren't as warm as they had been a moment ago. For her part, Eleanore simply looked confused, and you supposed it was a good thing you hadn't ruined everyone's mood with one line. "You did good, we found the presence you were sensing last night."

"Oh!" Her face lit up as she clapped her hands together, "That's wonderful! Where were they? Was it your friend?"

You hold one finger aloft, slowly leading her gaze up to the canopy... And there it was, now everyone's mood was ruined! "Oh. Dryad bless..." Her eyes widened, "Hold on, I'll get him dow-Heeeeee!" You had planned on climbing up to get a closer look, but Eleanore's first reaction had been to reach out and beckon the corpse out of the branches... An action the trees were more than willing to oblige, as they dropped the assorted body parts and limbs directly ontop of the poor woman.

You waited a few moments, warily eyeing the canopy for any late-coming fragments of flesh yet to be plopped onto the panicked and kneeling Dryad Representative, before approaching the pile of torn and shredded corpse bits. "Do you recognize any of this?" The clothes looked too elegant to be just some random hunter. Actually, the more you looked at it, the robes kind of looked familiar.

Was this a member of the Shrine?

"This is Ļuna͟'s insignia." Eleanore confirmed weakly, face growing green as the smell finally started to drift up from the ground. The skin was red and constricted, with blood that had thickened and dried over night into a messy, dark scab that only barely held back the still oozing... Meat that remained of whoever this had been.

She had sensed them last night, so had they maybe still been alive back then? Injured? Or still running? Your nose wrinkled as you turned away, bringing up a sleeve to stifle the rank smell that was starting to make itself known. You had seen people die before... Sort of. The time the wooden golem had gone berserk at Caylen's, you're relatively certain there were deaths during that skirmish.

It wasn't something you had actually looked at, though. Even before that, you hadn't seen the fate of those you had left to the Nightgaunts... Not that it had stopped that particular memory from haunting you all the same. Then if it was actual death, then... You got the feeling your doppleganger had experienced more of it than you. Those memories were still locked away, waiting to be reintegrated.

More nightmares to the pile.

For now, you weren't sure if you should be thankful that this thing before you looked more like raw meat than a human being at this point.

"This is probably what happened to the other presences you couldn't sense anymore." You muttered through your sleeve, turning away for your own stomach's sake. "You said you found more, didn't you? Were they grouped together, or scattering? Could you tell?"

"S-Scattered." She gagged, very nearly losing to her gag reflex as her eyes welled up in tears, "They're not...?"

"Let's get moving." You don't have a sure answer for her, but you had the sinking suspicion that they were going to be ending up like this one had. Whatever had done this to him hadn't been an animal. The violence inherent in it was too desperate, and the way it had been suspended in the trees... You had a fairly good idea what had done this, already. It meant you were on the right track... Though you can't help but wonder if you should be happy to have found this kind of trail.

"W-Wait!" Eleanore stumbled unsteadily to her feet, torn between following you and the pieces of body left at her feet. "We can't just leave him like this!"

"...Why? You said there weren't any Oakenbears."

"What?" She blinked, momentarily distracted, "No, we need to identify him! He may have had a family, they need to know!"

"..." You look down at the ruined scraps of cloth, torn and twisted as badly as the body itself. "Eleanore, there's no time. If we don't hurry, more could end up like him." This was... A half-truth. More would end up like him, you were certain. You did want to hurry, because it meant Ari was near.

It hurt Eleanore all the same, and the pain on her face as she was forced to make the decision to leave was evident.

In short order the three of you were once more saddled atop Tim's inferior beast of burden, now carrying a much grimmer atmosphere than you had held before. Eleanore's grip on you was as tight as ever, accompanied occasionally by her body trembling as she pressed her face against your shoulderblade... And Tim sat straight, as he always had. "Where to?" He pulled the reigns around, readying his horse.

You could probably reach a couple of the other locations Eleanore had scouted out last night before the day's end, but you had a feeling you knew what you'd find there. The new presences were a day away if you left now... But there were also the tracks left behind by the dead man you already found. If he was from Luna's Dominion, how did he end up so far ahead of the main group? Tim said there weren't any other tracks... Had he simply lost his horse? Something didn't add up.

>Backtrack along the dead Luna attendant's path
>Scout out the older presences
>Focus on the new ones
>Other? (Write-in)

>>1258804
>Backtrack along the dead Luna attendant's path
We might find some clues there.
I'd like to save the other guys, but ultimately they're just a simulation. And Fae wouldn't hurt Ari.

I think.

Did this turn into a black comedy...

>>1258804
>Ask Elly if her sense is precise enough to tell if any of the presences she can feel are still moving. If so, home in on them as fast as possible.

>>1258809
I'm not convinced that she's safe, but it also feels as if this is some kind of test of character for us.

>>1258804
>>Focus on the new ones

So, when we first met Tim few threads ago we were strangers, now we have some long history?

>>1258817
It seems the world adjusted itself after the first reset, like it's trying to accommodate our presence, making us belong in it by changing the inhabitants memories/perception of us.
If we find a pond or a mirror of some sort we should check that we are still Irue in here.

>>1258809
>>1258759
Backtrack!

>>1258814
Check for the living and hone in on them!

>>1258817
The new ones might still have a chance!

Writing!
----
>>1258817
>when we first met Tim few threads ago we were strangers, now we have some long history?

Do you think it's a lie? Or the truth? Or something in between?

"Elly, could you tell if there any others nearby that were still moving?" Whatever answer you expected from her wouldn't come to you in the form of words. After some time, she simply shook her head. "Then the only ones still alive are probably the ones further out." You think aloud, partially for the benefit of Tim who unfortunately, or perhaps thankfully, lacked the ability to discern Eleanore's answer based on how her head shook against his shoulder.

The new presences she sensed... They were still alive. You knew as much, but... If it was anything like this time, you sincerely doubted if you'd actually be able to reach them on time.

In the end... Their lives didn't matter to you. They weren't real in the first place.

"Tim, take us back along the tracks you found. There's something not adding up."

"Figure something out?" He grunted, turning his horse towards your earlier location. "No, but I want to." You wanted to figure out a lot of things lately, but this problem in particular was right in front of you. "Mind clueing me in, then?"

"We're looking for an abandoned horse... Or something like that." You mutter, keeping your eyes peeled towards the canopy. If the rider had ended up in the branches, there was nothing to say the steed hadn't as well. "That guy had been with the L̢ų̷ǹą̧ Dominion." You explain tersely, "Why is he this far out? How is he this far out?"

"...Right. We left them behind a while ago. They shouldn't be showing up for another couple of days." Tim heaved a sigh, "I need to watch the ground, you'll have to be our eyes to the sky."

You utter a short agreement, unsure whether to snort over Tim coming to the same conclusion you had about treebound equines.

The path through the forest was slower going than before, necessitating Tim slowing down every so often to regain his bearings as he retraced the ill-fated steps of the Luna attendant from earlier. Through bushes, over logs... The trail was anything but elegant, and the longer Tim followed what may as well have been an invisible trail of bread crumbs, the more confounding their appearance out here became.

No wandering horse. No dead horse. No manner of steed at all, and according to Tim, no additional tracks either. Three knives were your only trophy for it, having found them lodged into the trees and branches intermittenly. Likely thrown in vain to slow down whatever the Luna attendant had been running from. You knew it had been in vain, you had seen exactly how little the wooden golem cared about simple steel.

"...Something's up ahead." Tim rumbled, pulling his horse down to a more sedated pace. "...Not a horse, that's for sure." He muttered, finally coming up on a very small clearing, one that had been purposefully created within the recesses of a pile of brush. A single worn blanket lay within, discarded within the dirt next to a dug down fire pit.

It wasn't a grand discovery. If you hadn't been following tracks, you imagine you'd have never found out, or even given the place a second glance, but it was... Different. This had been a campsite, of that you were certain, but why hide like this? And even here, there wasn't any sign of a mount to have carried him ahead of the proverbial pack. He had just... Been out here.

"... Our tracks end here." Tim announced in consternation. "...Sort of."

"Sort of? He just suddenly appeared here, too?"

"No. Our tracks end here." Tim repeated, "The ones we've been following were from when he fled camp. I'm sure there are other ones, but I can't pick them out right off hand. Seems like he'd been moving carefully right up until something spooked him."

Ahead of the group by several days... Moving quietly... Hiding?

Crimson eyes narrowed in thought. Something was wrong here. He wasn't the only presence Eleanore had said she felt in the woods last night, but if they had met a similar end, was it unlikely to think they were in similar situations?

"Sun won't last a whole lot longer, Irue. We moving?"

Did you want to spend the rest of the day trying to confirm that?

>Check the other locations of missing presences
>Rush onward, to the newly discovered ones.
>Other? (write-in)

>>1258889
>>Rush onward, to the newly discovered ones.

>>1258889
Whatever chased him down is not likely to be near this camp and we won't be able to follow any tracks without sunlight.

>Tell Eleanor to see if Dryad have any insights on what happened here. Tim and us will inspect what we can, if they left in a hurry there should be something left.

Surely they didn't travel alone without any possessions.

>>1258889
>Search the camp well. If the guy was fleeing for his life he should've dropped not just a blanket.
>In particular look for traces of digging
>Rush onward, to the newly discovered ones.

>>1258889
They're probably coming to take out Dryad.

>>1258894
>>1258904
Rushing onward!

>>1258900
>>1258904
After inspecting camp.

Writing! This will be the last update for today, as the skyfire rises.

>>1258947
May Pelor, The Burning Hate, be merciful to you.

"Check the camp, they can't have been this far in the woods without possessions." You mutter, taking Tim's hand as he helped you dismount for the second time that day. Eleanore, however, stayed seated in the back of the horse's saddle. Her fingers had clenched together, no longer provided the comfort of something - someone - else to hold to calm their shaking. You glanced between Tim and the Dryad's attendant as he moved away to start searching... And you hesitated.

"Elean-" You stop yourself, thinking better of it. "Elly, there's a good chance that the thing responsible for this is Dryad, or at least, an apparition of it."

"Dryad would never-"

"You hate to remember the Dead Zones." You cut off her rejection calmly, "Hate to talk about what it was like. Imagine how terrible it must have been to have driven the Mana away entirely." you tilt your head back to look at the sniffling attendant. "Is it so impossible that it could have left a scar? That some part of Dryad is still in pain, and lashing out?"

"Even still... Something like this... To one of L͜ư̡͠na̸̢'s attendants."

"I'm not telling you this to scare you. You've drawn comfort from Dryad all of your life... You shouldn't be afraid. Consider this your most important moment."

"What?"

"You might be exactly what Dryad needs to draw comfort from. Be for it what it's always been for you, even if only a little."

You turn away to join Tim in scouring the camp, catching sight of a small pile of things he had already discovered. Dark clothes, rubbed in mud and perfect for moving during the night. A notched hatchet, too well constructed to be a simple purchase. A short sword, barely more than a forearm's length of muted steel whose sheen had been permanently darkened. A waterskin, recently filled if the amount left inside was any indication.

"Counting the three knives we found on the way here, it's more sharp edges than I expect even most soldiers to carry." Tim frowned as you poured over the findings. "Forget hunting, our attendant was armed to the teeth. Is this why you were so insistent on getting away from them?" Insistent... Right, you remember that. Tim had mentioned it when you met, hadn't he? You had been relying on him to gain time on the Luna Dominion. If the Shrine of Dryad's reactions were any indication, shouldn't you have been with them, instead?

"They're coming for the Shrine of Dryad."

Your eyes are fixed on the muted edge of the shortsword, catching a shadow of your face in its reflection, crimson eyes staring back tauntingly as you finally understood where the lines began to cross. They had planned this far ahead of time. From the order they visited the other Shrines, to the circumstances of the meeting itself. Even 'your' involvement and presence here had been a deliberate decision made by the Luna Dominion in the course of their plans.

"This is betrayal."

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I'll try and pick up this coming... Monday(?) to wrap the thread up. Then we'll see how our poll turns out next saturday.

As always, I'll keep an eye on the thread in the meantime.

>>1259115
I think that after this part of the story is concluded, you can do a trial run of a week-long update block with an intermission. Like the Kara saving Christmas episode we ruined!

You said we don't talk amongst ourselves very much, but part of that is that all of us seem to be scattered by the wind. Many times I read a thread and want to argue some decision but the effects are immediate in the next update so there is no point in bringing it up.

>>1259115
You're making me stay on the edge of my seat a whole day you evil, evil person.

>>1259128
I actually have immediate plans on running FoxFire again in the near future, in order to run it to completion (FoxFire was meant to be relatively short), before I start the new quest I've had rattling around my head.

Basically one of these two quests is going on Update Block. If Foxfire even has a playerbase anymore.

I'm curious to see how you guys handle the rest of this trial, though. It's difficult to really explain how it feels running it, though. Several of these things have been put in place gradually since the first ten threads. I've literally been waiting mid-2015 for this. Not to mention the special Forgetting planned for the end of it all.

>>1259147
I feel like we failed you.
You had to explicitly say this is an Atelier after all.

>>1259147
I hope none of the feelings are synonymous with disappointment or frustration.

I feel like I am always lost trying to find the right track to follow. If we mess this up I'm probably going to cry

>>1259156
Ateliers are interesting. Everything you know about them, naturally you know due to the Shrine. Isn't that interesting?

>>1259159
None of them, I assure you! I'm proud of my players. I will be disappointed if you don't get the special Forgetting, though. You'll know precisely which Forgetting is the special one.

Missing that one is 100% disappointment.

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>>1259179
>I will be disappointed if you don't get the special Forgetting, though

>Missing that one is 100% disappointment.

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>>1259179

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>>1259179
I want to brush up on act 1 but your archives have grown intimidatingly large, especially considering the length of your threads. Can I have a hint on where I should read if I want to try and fail to be helpful during your forgetting?

>>1260185
What I'm going to do is to reread the Atelier part to brush up on the general principles of Solving.

>>1260232
Good luck. Last time I tried that all I got out of it was "wander around, spitball until something sticks, and never, ever break the glass.

>>1260232
>>1261401

Each Atelier is unique as it is formed as a reflection of the self by the person who made it.

We solve this by coming to understand Dryad.

>>1260232
Solving this Atelier would be... Interesting. You're missing a fairly important piece of information to even make that a possibility, though. Can you imagine? As an example... Finally coming to realize that you love someone, and making your way to the marriage altar, only to pledge yourself to someone else?

Meanwhile, the one who waited for you watches on silently from the pews.

>>1260185
2015. That cuts you down to... What, 31 threads? Each of them barely have like 50-75 posts in them, so they're pretty small. I actually feel bad about archiving them and wasting the space.

>>1262316
So you want us to pad your quest with a couple hundred shitposts? Can do!

>>1262316
Riz.
Tell me truthfully.
How is your quest connected to TES?

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>>1263204
...The Elder Scrolls?

I'm going to need further explanation for this one.

>>1263208
elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Valenwood

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>>1263247
If I had to guess, I'd say (mentioned only).
The only TES game I've played is skyrim, and I found it entirely underwhelming, so I had no idea this was a thing.

>>1263264
Aw shit you missed out on morrowind? Goddamn dude.

I have dinner. I'm going to start writing, and we'll wrap up the thread tonight. Expect a fairly short session, since we're just going to be tying up loose ends and finishing some things.

>>1272051
Fffuck it. Thread's archived.

Slowly losing hope of being able to come out of tuesday/wednesday without feeling like I'm six feet in the grave.

>>1272616
Awww feel better broseph

>>1272616
Get better Riz