Arrowheads double checked. Notching inspected. He thumbed the string of his bow, winding it just a little tighter before he was satisfied. The branches rustled overhead, and he sighed. A good natured grin stretched across his face as he rose to his feet. Being laughed at first thing in the morning. Maybe he was being too tense? The past year had been a harsh one.

"You wouldn't understand."

He afforded himself a light-hearted bit of defense, chuckling as the wind whistled leisurely through the leaves overhead, and pushed out past the underbrush that concealed his cozy little camp. Things were settling down back home, enough so that he could afford to take a few days to himself to try and catch some meat for his own wife. Largely due in part to the knights and Shrine working together, the food situation in Carona wasn't particularly worrisome, but... Having enough and having what you wanted were very different things.

His wife, clever woman - too clever for her own good from time to time - had been nothing but smiles as she proudly showed off the little pouches of spices she'd gotten ahold of. How, and from where, she wouldn't tell him. What she did tell him was how much she had been craving the roast venison her mother used to make.

That's why he was out here, skulking through these nostalgic forest trails. A not-so-subtle hint that he should get out of house, so to speak, and stop pestering her. But he was to be a father soon, so could anyone blame him? With all that had happened he'd seriously wondered if he'd offended a Mana somehow. Spent months doing his rounds at the Shrine hoping to appease whichever higher power thought it'd be a good time to throw this chaos at his backwater little piece of paradise just when his wife was expecting.

Would it be a boy? Or a girl? Would they like hunting, like he did? In a few years, could he take them out into these woods and show them his little hideaway? Teach them what he was taught?

He caught sight of his quarry, nocking an arrow as his breathing stilled.

It flew true, sinking deep into the deer's chest just behind its leading leg. It staggered, startled, and made to run... But never made it. Standing over the dying beast, he slipped the knife from his belt and put an end to its suffering as mercifully as he could. Its blood spilled from its wounds; a deep, velvet red soaking the ground.

...Now came the hard part.

There was a relationship to be maintained between the hunter and the land.

As awkward as carrying this deer carcass through the woods was, there was a time and a place for bleeding and dressing it. To do so out here would be extending an invitation to any predator that caught the scent of blood on the wind, potentially forcing him to abandon his own quarry. Better safe and alive, returning empty handed to his wife, than dying like an idiot over a single deer.

But predators were the least of his concerns.

Ideally you wanted to use a river to drain the blood and then burn the organs you had no plan to use. It was a meticulous process, one that also helped keep the meat from spoiling when hunting over a long period of time, but it was also done to keep the trees from developing a taste for blood. A silly idea, if one thought about it. Animals hunted each other day and night in the woods, if a taste for blood could be developed it should have already been an acquired taste for every tree and bush in the forest.

If he wanted to do that, he'd be carrying this deer further into the woods to reach the nearest river... And getting much closer to the fae forest than he was comfortable going. Weighing the danger of attracting fae attention against just bleeding the deer over night, his desire to go home eventually won out.

It felt like every branch, root and briar were determined to make the trip back to his little clearing a personal affair, but what could be done? It was hard to be graceful with a deer carcass slung over your shoulder. He stumbled and staggered his way back to the welcoming safety of camp, one step at a time.

Come evening the deer was hoisted from a limb overhead, a hole dug beneath to catch the blood that ran down it. He'd considered skinning it then and there, but the haul back had left him exhausted. Gutting the thing was the most he could do, but it was something he felt he needed to. Even if he wasn't bleeding it into a river, he'd burn the organs all the same to try and make up for it.

It was difficult work, owing no doubt to how tired he already was by the time he started, but he took his time with it. His father had been squeamish about this sort of thing, and he had fond memories of watching the man vomit after his mother had egged him into putting his hand inside of one of her catches. They never went hunting as a family again after that. His wife showed no particular interest in hunting, though she certainly loved the food, pelt and skins that came of it. Could be his son or daughter wouldn't care for it either.

The thought had slowed the process. It clung to him long after the job was done and the sun had set, when only the warm flicker of his campfire would have otherwise kept him company. What did he have to offer as a father if they weren't interested in what he knew?

The clearing felt so much smaller as he stared into the canopy overhead, trying fitfully to sleep. It wasn't that important. If they didn't take to hunting, he'd find something else. What else... What else...

The scent of smoke lulled him to sleep in the dark.

The scent of blood drew him awake in the dark.

A presence lingered in the tiny clearing, in his childhood sanctuary, just out of sight. He knew it was there in a way he couldn't attribute to his senses. Too dark too see, not a sound in the night, and only the scent of blood to fill his nose, but he knew it was there. It crawled across his skin, freezing his heart in his chest out of fear its hammering would attract its attention.

He swallowed heavily, shaking fingers curling about the worn leather grip of his knife, and very slowly turned his head to see.

The rope his deer hung upon creaked as a pale skinned, red haired beauty ran her hand along the corpse. Splotches of pin-pricked moonlight dotted her form, driving all thought from his mind. She was nude, but it was too dark to see her form, and though he had taken every effort to conceal his awareness, she knew. It was a single glance over her shoulder, the dismissive scarlet-amber gaze that pinned him to the earth and found him wanting in a single moment, that told him.

She pressed her face into the deer's neck, running her tongue delicately across the incision he'd made... And then withdrew, her lips painted a brilliant scarlet with its blood as she turned to him.

He had to move. With every fiber of his being he willed himself to move. To break the paralysis of this macabre fae and scramble away - But it wasn't paralysis which bound him, and the more he struggled, the more he came to realize the ivy itself had crept upon him as he slept.

There was a relationship to be maintained between the hunter and the land.

He tried to cut the ivy and roots which bound him, struggling with a scream caught in his throat to escape as she stepped soundlessly through the clearing towards him. He had only just managed to draw the knife between him and the fairy when she knelt to the forest floor, drawing knees to her chest and holding a single, imperious finger to her painted lips.

The forest opened behind her. Empty sky and a path for the fair stretching out where there had been none - Where there should have been none - And within that path, a terrible creature of smoke and darkness looked towards him and reared its head. Clad in forest regalia, with ivy tresses and wooden bridle, it chewed lazily on sickly, sweet entrails of rotting flesh.

But it was the thing's rider, white lilies strewn through cascading blonde hair, staring down the fairy's path through a visor of living wood, which served as the final tipping point for his fear. He didn't want to die. He was going to be a father. He didn't want to die like this. He didn't want to leave his wife alone.

His eyes squeezed shut as tears welled up, unable to make a sound... And it was only when the silence continued for minutes on that he dared open them again.

Curiosity warred with terror, but his clearing remained as it had always been. A silent sanctuary, pin-pricked with moonlight.

"Find something interesting, Aegis?" You turned towards the ashen-fleshed Aspiration as she returned to you, taking your hand wordlessly to slip back onto Scar. She had no answer for you, and only a dispassionate expression to show for her behaviour. That, and the blood across her lips. "Guess you found whatever this guy was after..."

You turned back to the shattered remains of an oakenbear, almost indiscernible from its original form after the beating it had received. You had had an uncomfortable feeling Dryad being awake was going to lead to more of these things cropping up, but being proven right only left an irritable feeling in your gut. This one was on the smaller side, and you probably would have missed it had Aegis not drawn your attention to it... But once you'd seen it, you couldn't very well leave it be.

Though you hoped this encounter didn't give Scar any ideas, because the bastard had been positively delighted at the discovery that its barky body was basically just a walking lunchbox waiting to be hoofed open.

There were worse things you could think of than training your nightmare to hunt oakenbear, given the circumstances, but they were dangerous enough that the dumb horse might actually pick a fight with one and lose on his own.

The real problem was that the fight had gotten you so turned around you'd completely lost what direction you'd been traveling in. Lily had been more than happy to prod open a proper path to get you oriented again, but prior to that you'd just been annoyed at losing more time tromping around these blasted woods.

You were Irue Valen, head of House Valen and currently on a journey down a river to Resuri. Or you would be, in another ten-to-fifteen minutes, when you got to said river.

You were going to be rooting out as much of Artemis' influence from your territory as you possibly could, by hand if necessary, and that was a task you were going to be starting in the southeastern lake town where you'd last received information that a vassal family of yours was being held in captivity. Getting them back would go a decent ways towards helping secure your hold over your territory.

"Get on the raft, you stupid bastard."

Scar stared down at the woven mesh of branches and ivy, then back at you and flattened his ears against his skull.

You crossed your arms. "Listen, you're getting on the raft or you're swimming to Resuri."

The nightmare sat down on the shore and snorted.

"Lily, be a dear and throw him in the river."

"Fuck you~"

A few minutes later, once Scar had clambered miserably onto aforementioned raft, you were all happily sailing down the river! You settled in, toying with thoughts on how to wind down before you let Lily and Aegis take watch for the night.

>Try using the 'Echo' before you sleep.
>Play with Lily.
>Meditate (which Mana?)
>'A Spider's Web'
>Other? (write-in)

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:
Irue Things (up to 74) - https://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
A List of Forgotten Things (up to 74) - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h
Irue's Memoirs (Scares the QM to update) - http://pastebin.com/sWnicrK7

Arc I - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DMjxLjSbvr-xcxqX9M_ysKaBV1zkUmu5/view?usp=sharing
Arc II - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cXL1fIYb22IqQ51wWUp3-IMZa2nV5TY8/view?usp=sharing

"Really I'd say anybody catching up should read threads instead of this because of what goes on in them, so this is more for looking back I'd say." - Ebook anon

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
Paper Flowers - https://pastebin.com/Pk0W7rEm
Merciless Compass - https://pastebin.com/8Hy0krxv
Better Strangers - https://pastebin.com/mvShXpCt

Misc notes:Limbus company is neat! Also twitter appears to constantly be going to shit, not really sure what to do about that.

Memo:
1. Work through dying before it causes issues with the Shade scar.
2. Return and investigate the Dryad Shrine
3. Investigate the Valen catacombs

Itinerary:
1. Discern knights with an affinity for Mana worth polishing.
2. Contact the Crown
3. Track down Asche, who left to find the descendant of the Ice Queen's bloodline.
4. Track down the Tier siblings, currently located in Resuri.
5. Expedition for resources to the north.
6. Unfinished business at the Ruined Shrine.
7. Meditate to Shade today with bracelet removed to try and deal with the claws

Current Goal:
What's On Your Mind:

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>>5596965
>Play with Lily.
valen bros we're back in action

>>5596968
I really need to set some time to catch up.

Does the AI guy got any more cool shit for us? Every thread of Valen, AI technology doubles in scope

wow that intro was great, not gonna vote cuz never played valen before

>>5596965
>Play with Lily

Time to touch grass.

>>5596965
>>Play with Lily.

Glad this is still alive.

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>>5597001
anon plz, I run like once every three months!

>>5597066
Glad you enjoyed it! When in doubt, vote for 'A Spider's Web', it has no downsides and will never lead you wrong!

>>5597528
Valen will either end properly, or with a full Q/A thread to give anons closure!

I won't be updating until much later tonight, but good to see everyone again! I don't actually know how long this thread will run, so apologies in advance if I end up having to dip for a couple days or end it abruptly!

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I've been looking forward to this. Welcome back Riz!
>>5596965
>Play with Lily
Try to involve Aegis.

>>5597026
Load the Valen Quest ebooks into ChatGBT for instant updates!

>>5597755
>spoiler
I am morbidly curious how this would go. God knows there's plenty of material for it to learn from..

>>5596965
>Play with Lily.
I would be careful as to her definition of "play."
...Though. I wonder how well she'd play with Scar? It's like playing Pokemon against yourself!
>What's On Your Mind:
>
Head Empty Irue
Typical Blonde.

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>>5596965
You came back!

>Meditate (Shade, no bracelet)

>>5596999
>>5597515
>>5597520
>>5597755 (with Aegis)
>>5598310
Overwhelming desire to play with Lily!

>>5598339
Meditation (shade)!

Alright, writing!

One unexpected side-effect of Aegis' accompaniment was how much her presence had served to curb Lily's ceaseless desire for your attention. The little Dryad apparition gleefully spent her free time coiling around the ashen-fleshed replica Aegis had taken on as her traveling form, trying and failing to elicit a reaction. Even now when you glanced over towards the pair, Lily had set about trying to tickle Aegis with a leaf.

The older of the Dryad siblings sat listlessly off the edge of the raft, steeping her legs languidly into the river's flow. Lily pestered her relentlessly, pushing and pulling her to look at things or play with her, to little to no avail... Though, you smiled faintly when you realized how deceptively firm Aegis' grip on the raft actually was. It had presumably taken one near-miss moment of being inadvertently knocked over the edge by her sister's enthusiasm for Aegis to bolt herself down in precaution.

Aegis was... Not what you expected. You don't know what you expected really, and the longer you dwelled on it the more uncomfortable it left you.

You weren't really sure how to define your relationship with Aegis. It was a sticking point you continued to come back to. In her 'childhood', for whatever that term could be appropriated towards an Aspiration, you had been strict and distant - There was a lot of stress on you at the time, but you also just didn't know how to interact with her. What few interactions you did have were mostly orders, before ultimately handing her off to Ari as a guardian.

Thinking back, any impression you had of Aegis had always been accompanied by a feeling of unease. Memories of the way she had gone berserk under the moonlight, or the horrific form she had grown into. The grievous wounds that had scraped away her face and left her mute ever since... In some piece of your mind, Aegis had always been a monster. Something terrifying, waiting to go out of control. Maybe not particularly dangerous to you, but unpredictable towards anyone else.

Lily launched herself at her sister, rocking the raft lightly while nuzzling her cheek to Aegis and trilling something indistinct yet cheery. Each renewed attempt at skinship pushed Aegis' head just that slightly bit further to the side, until she was staring out over the river's surface at an almost 45 degree angle with her shoulder all but claimed by her younger sibling. If she had need to breathe you imagine she'd have sighed.

...Maybe your perception of her wasn't entirely wrong per-se, but seeing her like this you had to wonder how much her appearance had affected your concerns.

At any rate, you supposed you could give Aegis a break.

"Lily," The Dryad apparition's head popped up at your call, "come here for a bit." You pat your thigh in invitation and received the full weight of the little Dryad apparition's wooden body as a projectile for your troubles.

The effort it took to disentangle yourself from the affectionate apparition was nothing in the face of the tangled mass of flowering ivy that passed for Lily's hair. You'd wrestled her into sitting in front of you with the plan to try and 'brush' it, but the sheer scale of that idea almost made you give up on it from the start.

You didn't, but it was a close thing before you pushed her just a little further away so you could start down at the tips. The problem was simultaneously better and worse than you expected it to be, as each 'strand' of hair was actually quite thick, seeing as it was just a thick veil of vines, but every vine came with countless leaves and precociously blooming lilies. Unweaving the vines was one thing, but doing so without accidentally tearing off a leaf or flower was another entirely.

Lily herself chose to pass the time trilling tunelessly while she swayed along with the raft. You had rather cruelly denied her the opportunity to move and harass the raft's occupants, but in exchange she was receiving the bulk of someone's attention and being groomed, and as such, she seemed to treat this as an acceptable compromise. She was oddly prone to movement considering she was basically a tree, but... No, maybe it was because she was basically a tree? Getting to move must be rather exciting to something that grew in one place all its life.

You glanced sidelong towards Aegis, who'd taken full advantage of you distracting her younger sibling to relax at the river and dip her fingers into the water from time to time.

...No, Lily's excitability was probably less about what she was and more about who.

"How are you doing, Aegis?"

The ashen-fleshed Aspiration turned her head aside unhurried, scarlet-amber eyes glancing your way in silent acknowledgement... But nothing more. You frowned, the curve of your lips deepening when Lily seemed to remember she could be bothering Aegis and you had to temporarily abandon your vine-unweaving to wrestle her back into place. Her cheerful trilling resumed with an insistent undertone of complaint over this.

You tried a different question, one that had been itching at your curiosity. "Can you talk again?"

Aegis' face betrayed nothing in answer, but in a manner of speaking, that was the reason for the question in the first place. Aegis had been capable of mimicking speech like Lily before her efforts to protect Ari had left her scarred. Dryad had clawed Aegis' face from her, and despite the face having had no way of causing sound in the first place, it had left her mute ever since. Any manifestation Aegis had taken after that kept those wounds, despite there being no need for it; They were treated almost like a piece of her identity, carrying over even to the mass of necrotic flesh her root form had taken beneath Carona.

Yet this one looked... Normal. If anything, at a glance she might have even passed for human.

"Are you enjoying yourself, at least?" She'd been heroically patient with her little sibling so far, but seemed otherwise uninterested at best over the journey. Or maybe bored? But then there were also times she simply left without warning. Small sparks that caught her interest and reminded you that, unlike her little sister, Aegis was wholly capable of acting independently now. Tracking down the oakenbear was one such example.

Aegis stared at you with an unnerving focus before nodding. The sheer lack of reaction reminded you of Asche, except you'd learned how to discern her feelings from her little tells.

The thought of the two of them interacting pulled an involuntary chuckle from your throat.

You put your effort back into grooming Lily when a particularly esoteric knot of vines presented itself, but Aegis' attention remained fixed on the two of you even after that. She simply sat, half-turned with her calves still dipped in the river, watching you grumble your way through fixing Lily's messed up hair while she chattered endlessly on in her own way.

Asche had brushed your hair often, back before all of this. She was one of the handful of people you didn't have an averse reaction to touching it, so in a way you... Kind of considered it an intimate experience? You doubted the Dryad siblings conceived of it with the same sort of connotations, but it felt oddly endearing to comb your fingers through Lily's flowering ivy and hear her murmur contentedly.

"There." You announced after a while, leaning back to look at the untangled veil you'd laboured through. "You're done."

Lily preened.

You looked over to where Aegis had continued to watch the two of you, heaving an exhausted, if satisfied, sigh. A cursory glance at the spider lilies that composed her hair made you hesitate to even consider the possibility, but... "You want yours done to?"

Aegis turned away disinterestedly, but not before you noticed something dark smudged across her lips. "Is there something on your lips?" You cocked your head curiously. Rather than respond, the ashen-fleshed Aspiration dipped her palm into the river and washed the dark, flaking substance from her face.

You smiled awkwardly, settling back on the raft to rest while Lily returned to pestering the rest of the raft's occupants. "Wake me up if we start getting close to a town." You yawned your sentiment to the two of them via the bracelet. Your ultimate destination was Resuri, but you'd hit Sylv along the way and you weren't sure yet if you wanted to stop there or not. You didn't particularly want to waste any more time allowing events down in Resuri to progress before you intervened, but...

If you had any further thoughts on the matter, it was washed away with the soft trickle of running water.

>Stop at Sylv, there was definitely Artemis presence there that would need rooting out.
>Keep pace for Resuri, if made a fuss in Sylv then your goal in Resuri would be jeopradized.

In either case, what do you plan on doing for the next day or so? It won't be gone over in detail, but it's spare time to sort yourself out. Pick two!
>Meditating on your Shade Scar. It had some unexpected developments recently.
>Playing with Lily and Aegis. It's rare you have time to spend with them so freely.
>'A Spider's Web'. You haven't spent time weaving in a long time. Too long...
>I've been ruminating on something... (What?)

In regards to the fourth option, this is going to be a test-run for an option akin to the Forgettings. In Forgettings, you're usually at a moment where knowing that specific information right then would be incredibly useful or help mitigate a significant problem.

Irue hasn't had a lot of time to just let things settle in their mind. If there's some specific theories or ideas floating around that just never really had a moment to be considered or given a spotlight for IC consideration, Ruminations are an opportunity for you to lay it out. Unlike Forgettings, they're not quite as lenient! You will be responsible for laying out the logic and reasoning to your thoughts, so even if you have the right idea, being unable to explain it IC won't have a result discernible from just following a deranged theory.

Further more, it is a distinct option which must be chosen in exclusion to the others, and only one epiphany can be pulled from it. So in the current example, you can explictly pick two activities. This means you can:
1. two options
2. one option + Rumination
3. two Ruminations

If Rumination is chosen (or chosen twice!) then there will be a second round of voting where I'll collate the Ruminations and let you all decide which one(s) is/are more important to you.

Presuming the chosen Rumination has been firmly laid out, then Irue will explore the train of thought and provide the opportunity to act on it as you see fit, apply the resulting information to other problems you have, or perhaps more interestingly to you, have the notion confirmed and expounded upon.

Not sure how this will go, but thought it would be worth trying out!

>>5599588
>Keep pace for Resuri, if made a fuss in Sylv then your goal in Resuri would be jeopradized.
>Meditating on your Shade Scar. It had some unexpected developments recently.
I'll try to think of a rumination for a bit

>>5599588
>Keep pace for Resuri, if made a fuss in Sylv then your goal in Resuri would be jeopradized.

>Meditating on your Shade Scar. It had some unexpected developments recently.


If I may, I have two potential Ruminationd that may well be worth considering as they have somewhat subtle implications, on potential happenings.

>What happened to each of our immediate family members as Prias being the prior "warden" should have been sent down river to reinforce the seal, and both Mother and Ariel should have been interred in the Valen's Catacombs, but I don't think it has actually been to confirmed that this is what happened and even then unless they are exhumed I wouldn't be absolutely certain that that is where they ended up, and finding Prias, or an otherwise empty casket there would indicate that a colossal fuckup has occurred and questions should be asked of Clara to assert what happened on their end.

>Where did Marcus Krell end up heading off to as there are only a few locations that we know of that would make sense.

>>5599605
So, the Rumination:

>We've learned from Clara that we always were the designated Fae wrangler, and the Fae always liked us. But we don't remember this at all. Clara had no motivation to lie to us. Which means either her memories are wrong, or ours are.
>Which brings me to the next revelation: we also don't remember our mother's face or name. Despite being around 8 when she died, and perfectly remembering our sister.
>All of this makes me suspect that our memories of our sister are fake, replacing the erased real memories of our childhood.

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>>5599589
This is cool and all but we post schizo theories in the thread all the time and you seem to incorporate correct theories into the next post anyway. Are you just formalising it?

>>5599588
>Keep pace
>Meditate on our scar

>Rumination

Something I posted about in the previous thread, we know that Rinnier is still beloved of Salamander but Salamander cannot claim her for whatever reason, possibly something to do with the Nymphs wood that drove it from its throne. Now, if Rinnier was implanted with NW we'd certainly know about it since Lily has interacted with her on occasion. However, behold this spoiler from last thread.

>Dryad can tell the difference between itself and Nymph's Wood because it recognizes NW as an 'other'. Other Mana could not tell the difference between Dryad and NW because NW is Dryad's body, so they are one and the same.

So what if Rinnier was implanted with the lobotomized body of Salamander? If this were the case, it'd explain why Salamander can't touch her, even if it still wants to. It'd explain why the reason for her condition eludes us still and not immediately pinging on Lily's radar. It'd even explain the idiosyncratic detail of Rinnier being at the centre of an anti Salamander zone in the same way the NW clipping formed an anti Dryad bubble around us in the Fae woods before we left it with Priatt to enter properly.

When they broke Dryad they had to scramble around for some way to separate the body and serve as an anchor point for life to exist without Dryad, but this time Artemis already knows how to do it beforehand so it can be more than a bootstrapped metaphysical pillar of fire: it can be a tool of subterfuge of great use in their campaign! It's perfect actually, barely anyone outside of Artemis even knows this shit exists and breaking contact between Salamander and his beloved this way could potentially be much easier and low profile than violent genocide against people who can cast fireball at will.

Like NW I imagine Salamander's fouled body will have a physical component to it from which the metaphysical field emanates, which means it can be removed by healers (of which there are many in our estate!)

>>5599622
I bet Dryad revives them as soon as they're floated down the river. I wonder what happens to them.

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>>5599708
>This is cool and all but we post schizo theories in the thread all the time and you seem to incorporate correct theories into the next post anyway. Are you just formalising it?
I don't know what my plan here was, in retrospect...

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>>5599717
So the train of thought was basically "my cute anons have a bunch of theories all the time, right? But there's rarely an opportunity for them to actually do anything with them. What I set aside an option specifically for them to lay out something neat and then address it IC?" and it sounded like a great idea! I did not consider that I apparently already just did this.

...Idea needs work. I wanted to give you guys more agency and hands-on ability to tinker with things you were interested in.

>>5599728
It's a good idea! The part where it's explicitly the focus of our attention and not some addendum that's passively added onto Irue's knowledge base is new!

>>5599708
>I wonder what happens to them.
Considering what happened to Clara / Byrn and was proposed for Kara's pack I don't think it would be all to fun unless they died in their sleep as pretty much everything else would likely result in them returning with 'issues'.

And considering what we know of what happened to Prias I doubt that his body was in good shape, as a Goliath was involved.

>>5599605
>>5599622
>>5599708
Keep pace for Resuri!

Sylv isn't important, we have things to do!
---

>>5599605
>>5599622
>>5599708
Shade Scar! It's been a bit concerning lately...

>>5599622
>>5599643
>>5599708
1x Rumination! The following options are put forth:

>>5599622
>1. Where is your family, anyway? They have been buried or otherwise handed back to Dryad, but you never visited them or heard what happened.

>>5599643
>2. Our memory has always been a bit spotty, but it's clear in strange places. Do we have brain damage?

>>5599708
>3. Is the answer to Rinnier's rejection by Salamander a sign that Artemis has done to the flame Mana something similar to what they did to Dryad? If so, can it be fixed?

Which one of these three do we want to pursue?

>>5600278
>Which one of these three do we want to pursue?
Looking at these two;

>Where is your family, anyway? They have been buried or otherwise handed back to Dryad, but you never visited them or heard what happened.

>Our memory has always been a bit spotty, but it's clear in strange places. Do we have brain damage?

Is it not suspicious that we apparently didn't attend / don't remember the Wake / Funeral / Return.

Could they be worked into one another utilizing the former as a focus for the latter.

If the answer turns out to be Faedka related, I don't know if this would raise more questions or otherwise be a dead end as memory manipulation seems to be Luna / Undine related so should run counter to dryad influence anyway

At least it should raise questions to ask of Asche and Clara to get confirmation as they should have been around at the time.

>>5600278
>3. Make Rinnier great again.

I foresee a problem with this system

>>5600278
>2. Our memory has always been a bit spotty, but it's clear in strange places. Do we have brain damage?
I feel like this meshes with the first one, in a way. One might lead to the other and all that.
Though it's not particularly hard to reach the conclusion of brain damage. Head Trauma + Blonde, all we need is a fake tan.

>>5600297
>Again

>>5600299
Though this actually made me remember something.
When Rinnier used the Diary, the reason she presented was to ease backaches, and while that's a funny joke, I sort of wonder if she wasn't trying to sneak back into Salamander's good graces.
It doesn't work that way, of course, it doesn't change attunement to mana, but I don't think we told her that part.

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>>5600297>>5600293
>>5600299
>I foresee a problem with this system.
I feel rather stupid now, yes. But, iteration and refinement will either salvage the dumb idea I had on a whim or justify scrapping it entirely!

Vote on the option you feel is most pressing which isn't your idea! If it comes out as a tie again I'll just roll a dice and consider tossing the whole Ruminations idea out and figuring out some other way to let you guys have fun.

>>5600307
>2. Our memory has always been a bit spotty, but it's clear in strange places. Do we have brain damage?

Ok I'll go first, don't abuse my trust anons! Pls vote!

>>5600307
>3. Is the answer to Rinnier's rejection by Salamander a sign that Artemis has done to the flame Mana something similar to what they did to Dryad? If so, can it be fixed?


>>5600363
What is there to abuse?
This is just as likely to come down to a tied vote anyway.

>>5600370
With three voters and restricted voting you could find yourself in the situation of getting what you want or getting better odds on the options to be rolled for by simply abstaining, so long as someone else goes first. I'm just paranoid, I shouldn't assume bad faith.

>>5600278
>1. Where is your family, anyway? They have been buried or otherwise handed back to Dryad, but you never visited them or heard what happened.

>>5600370
Regarding Question 3. There's at least two huge differences between Salamander and Dryad:

>There's still a ton of Salamander Adepts, so Salamander's "body" should be alright
>Fire refuses to burn near Rinnier, while Nymph's Wood doesn't create a zone of death, and actually does the exact reverse.

Which makes me conclude that while Rinnier has something Salamander hates/fears, Salamander itself is untouched.

>>5600613
>Which makes me conclude that while Rinnier has something Salamander hates/fears, Salamander itself is untouched.

Wouldn't the same be true with Dryad though?
and we know something has happened to keep them sealed

The issue is that there is no shrine Sect to pick up on that and refine them anymore, so a prospective Dryad adept would either appear to be greatly disliked by other mana or otherwise unloved. and so the sect effectively needs to bootstrap itself but no longer has an organization dedicated to maintaining the balance but wiping them out, Sure Artermis might have a way of screening for them, and a limited number of Nymph Wood adepts that they could call on but it is very likely that little survived the purge, as the fragment has not indicated that there were many if any survivors that organized after the purge.

As Irue has shown, all that happens is that they don't answer, or are otherwise limited in their actions.

>>5600625
I can't understand your point about Dryad Adepts and what it has to do with Rinnier's situation.

>Wouldn't the same be true with Dryad though?
Regarding this, assuming you talked about Nymph's Wood being something that Dryad hates/fears, that can't be the same situation as with Salamander. We know Nymph's Wood is basically a part of Dryad, severed and separated to keep the world's life existing while Dryad is sealed. NW is effectively radiating life, to the point of keeping a dismembered human alive. Meaning that if Rinnier had something similar, but from Salamander, she would start fires just by her presence, which is opposite of what actually happens.

I should probably remind you guys that you figured out Rinnier's problem a few threads ago! Technically the end of one thread, so the relevant information is in the OP of the next one: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2021/4882103/

>>5600636
Dammit.
Tl/dr: Rinnier is flooded with Dryad's mana.
I remembered this being a hypothesis, but didn't remember it being confirmed.

>>5600636
So we need to take Rinnier to see the Dryad Fragment to see what can be done then?

It doesn't really make sense since the balance of of a persons natural balance of Aspects shouldn't be distorted in non obvious ways as far as we know Cores and Fadeka need to be consumed and even then their effect isn't permanent.

>>5600637
So we either need an excess of Salamander cores, or figure out how Faedka is made and create an equivalent.

>>5600637
This is the correct answer, though there is a specific step that hasn't been accounted for in the process - And can't have been accounted for, just because it's information you've not had the chance to encounter yet since choices were generally taken to inadvertently not pursue places where you could have learned it.

Ironically you stumbled upon half the answer to that step in a completely unrelated activity elsewhere.

>>5600642
There's lots of things you could try, but all three of those ideas are valid. You have the general concept firmly understood: Create a circumstance where Salamander's mana overwhelms Dryad's.

As Irue would know intimately however, a clash of possessiveness between Mana can result in natural disasters and large scale collateral damage. You can approach the matter however you'd like and probably get the same outcome, but the question is going to come down to how much of the local area has to be sacrificed.

>>5600646
I'm going to assume the missing step is how to scare Salamander off, because just being full of Dryad's mana isn't enough, as evidenced by Irue, Ari and every burned down Dryad Apparition.
Which I guess means we haven't actually figured out Rinnier's problem.

There's also the question of whether Rinnier is infected with the mind-virus, and whether reconnecting her to Salamander would spread the infection.

>>5600646
Ah, I thought I was onto something there. That's too bad.

>>5600655
>the missing step is how to scare Salamander off
No, actually! Granted you do not know the details to this, you do know in general that whatever happened down in Teranford suppressed Salamander for the entire region. This is actually incredibly old quest lore, like first few threads, but originally it was believed Salamander had abandoned the entire place because fire as a whole just ceased to exist there.

You later learned that large scale cultivation of Nymph's Wood spread Dryad's mana in the area, which coincided with increasing difficulties communicating with Salamander until something happened and all presence of Salamander vanished entirely. It also coincided with increasingly agitated and aggressive Salamander apparitions that the adepts couldn't understand well due to the aforementioned difficulties communicating.

Something happened, you never found out or figured out what.

>>5600659
>thought I was onto something there.
I left it as an option so there is something there! Just not quite what you think.

>>5600664
>the missing step is how to scare Salamander off
>No, actually!
>something happened and all presence of Salamander vanished entirely
Wait, there's a difference?
So the implication is that Salamander isn't scared off Rinnier, it's blocked off?
Like a... dead mana zone, but for fire instead of life?
Is there a huge-ass shard in the Teranford throne room? Or a ton of small ones mixed in the sand?
Is there a shard inside Rinnier? Inside every Teranfordian?

>>5600672
>>5600664
You can probably ignore this in retrospect. I think I misinterpreted what you were asking and made things more confusing in the process.

>>5600686
Damn, I thought I was clever with the dead mana zone idea.

>>5600694
You weren't incorrect, if it is any consolation. Such a thing is entirely possible, and there is a distinct difference between such a thing occurring and Salamander being forcibly suppressed by another Mana.

>>5600696
I wonder if the suppression thing is selective. Is Clara extinguishing fires now too?

>>5600702
She is not.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

Alright final vote is for your shade scar and whatever the dice gives us.

>>5600278
Shade Scar

>>5599622
>1. Where is your family, anyway? They have been buried or otherwise handed back to Dryad, but you never visited them or heard what happened.

>>5599643
>2. Our memory has always been a bit spotty, but it's clear in strange places. Do we have brain damage?

>>5599708
>3. Is the answer to Rinnier's rejection by Salamander a sign that Artemis has done to the flame Mana something similar to what they did to Dryad? If so, can it be fixed?

The Rumination idea didn't pan out well from start to finish, so I'll probably scrap it going forward and think about it a bit more. I do want to allow you guys to have more opportunities to pursue your theories going forward, but I don't want to be like "and then Irue sat down and thought about everything between breakfast and the illuminati, gaining untold wisdom/madness in the process", so the hope was to create a sort of throttle for that, but.... Didn't work out as designed.

The desire is still there, but I'm going to need to think of a better execution.

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>>5601522

>>5602005
Anon this is lewd. But I am glad to see you're enjoying Aegis.

Also I finished the Shade Scar portion of the update and will post it here in a second, since the Rumination part is probably going to take a bit longer.

You feel like you probably could have made it to Resuri faster riding Scar. It was an idle thought without much reason behind it, but having passed almost a full day just sitting on a raft and drifting down stream, you found there was a lot of time for idle thoughts. The Nightmare in question had been an ill-tempered companion thus far and, in turn, you had directed Lily's harassment towards him on more than one occasion purely to spite the miserable beast.

When you thought about it, the ease with which you had accepted a relationship where only one of you could be happy at any given time, typically at the expense of the other's peace of mind, was a little concerning. It wasn't like you naturally derived pleasure from others' suffering as the Nightmares did, but between your history with the colt's sire and the colt itself...

Well. Whatever.

You'd initially chosen this route to give the bastard time to rest. He looked hale enough, but your aunt had cautioned you strongly against taking the Nightmare's status at face value; The false regeneration they boasted, a side effect of their manaborne nature, was the sort of thing which allowed Scar to look nothing like his namesake despite the countless furrows you'd carved into his flank before leaving. The wounds were still there supposedly, but not physically. The damage sapped away at the creature's vitality until it would simply drop dead, but until that very last moment it could act as if nothing had happened.

It was a capability as envious as it was troublesome, particularly if the thing in question wouldn't respect its own limits. A thought that left you all the more worried because it felt familiar.

"Scars leave a mark. As you come to terms with what was left behind, that mark becomes physical. Think of it as a memento of the one who gave it to you."

Marchovic had warned you that as you processed the baggage left behind it would begin manifesting physically in one manner or another... and if the ever-present claw that had manifested out of your mangled wrist wasn't a sign of that, you'd go to your grave indignant. But the problem, for once, wasn't the claw itself - it was the fact you still didn't feel any discomfort from said wrist.

"Memento... You saw my 'scar', didn't you?"
"Would you be embarassed if I said yes?"

It was a little detail; One you had been absently grateful for, seeing as you didn't have the time to nurse a crippled limb at the moment, but the fact you had near fully regained your usage of it without it healing was another curious detail.

Shade couldn't heal, that was Wisp's purview, and when you had gotten a healer to look at your injury they'd been beside themselves over the fact you were all but a void of Wisp mana in the first place. Healing you would have been a massive undertaking, one you had neither the time nor resources to pursue, but you were fine now? Functional, at least. Which was a terrifying statement the more you dwelled on it, because you really should have incurred significantly more injuries since then.

"What does it look like to you?"
"As cute as you are? Devilish and intimidating? Sophisticated and refined? Which would you prefer?"

In your confrontation with Byrn, the man had slammed your skull against the floor and wall repeatedly. Both of your confrontations with Scar had seen you landing scrunched at dangerous speeds, not to mention the times you'd simply taken an errant hoof or cracked your skull into the rafters of the stable. Some of it had hurt, much of it hurt only in the sense that you were aware you had been hurt in some way - As if your mind had reflexively supplied a deadpan 'ow'. It had been more disorienting than anything else. These weren't the kind of encounters you should have walked away from as carelessly as you did. Concussions, cracked and broken bones, sprains - You had been sore, but nothing beyond that.

If you had to give an answer to something you'd prefer to be... It was probably more like your sister had been.

Drawing the tip of one serrated finger along your forearm, you watched a trail of black swirl across the surface of your skin like ink dripped into water. It lingered for a moment and some, slinking away beneath the surface of your unmarred skin. You could still feel it, though.

In a word, she was... Indomitable.

You'd been feeling it off and on for some time now, if you were being honest. When your emotions ran high, it would react every time; Writhing excitably just beneath the surface. You'd always taken it as a sign you needed to reign yourself in, which, in retrospect probably hadn't been the incorrect choice in those situations... But rather than adverse reaction from your Shade Scar, you wondered if it might have been its natural reaction.

"If I stopped believing in you, where would I be?"

You sighed, watching the sky drift by with your clawed hand stretched towards the clouds. You weren't sure what emotion fluttered in your chest at the thought, but the memento your Doppleganger had left you was something dearly personal. Wrapped up in far too much to explain to anyone.

None of this was right. You couldn't keep being this person. You had a choice, even if it hurt to make.
I̴ ̸r̷e̷g̶r̴e̷t̷ ̶t̶h̴a̷t̶ ̸I̴ ̴h̷a̷d̷ ̵t̴o̶ ̴l̶e̵a̵v̷e̵ ̷t̴h̸i̷s̶ ̸b̸u̵r̵d̸e̴n̸ ̷t̶o̴ ̷h̴e̸r̴.̶
"...Please, see Kara. She needs you. If you're leaving... Please. Take her with you."
̴̙͋̎̑͝͝Ḯ̴͜'̵̜̤͉͔̟̄̋͘m̴̧̟̠͉̄̓̄̍̚ ̴̩͓̼͈͋͆͐ṣ̵̌̕͠ơ̶̫̪̓͛͊r̴̨͎͚͚̭͝r̷̯͓̼̋y̶̧̘͑͜,̷̩̺͇̬̐͒ ̶̳͉͔̼͊͌͐͐͠M̸̻͕͕̥̼͗̀̌̊̃i̶̡̟̬̝̐̈́̎n̷̻͓̼̈t̶̺̖̬̩̟̆̈́̿.̷̧̎
...You had to let go.

Your claws closed around empty air, a contemplative expression vacantly fixed upon its serrated edges. Dopplegangers didn't have claws like these, but they could mimic things... And when yours had been pushed to a wall, when it desperately needed strength, perhaps subconciously, it chose the features of a Revenant to embody that. When you had needed to be strong, its memento had made that same choice.

Doppleganger, manifest Insecurity.

Looking back, you would readily acknowledge how insecure you were. How scared you had been, clinging to pride and bluster as armor. It had driven you to a breaking point, and rather than stop, you shattered. You broke miserably... And then, with help, slowly started putting yourself back together.

Picking and choosing the parts that could still fit.
Throwing away the ruined pieces.

Your insecurity was a part of you. One you had tried to hide, been overwhelmed by, and ultimately allowed yourself to become stronger for having finally accepted. You were still insecure, but you had support and confidence to address it. Real confidence - Tried and proven.

But as for this claw, the form of strength it had chosen...

Revenant, manifest Regret.

You closed your eyes and let your arm fall to the side, flopping limply against the woven rift.

"Shade's such a relentless bitch..." Lily and Aegis glance your way at the sudden, non-sequitur break in silence. You didn't bother explaining yourself, opting instead just to roll over to your side and tuck your arm under your head as a pillow.

Having done it once, you could see what would definitely resolve your problem, but seeing the road and walking it were separate matters. It was exhausting just to think about! There had to be something easier than that.

Just because your Doppleganger drew strength from a Revenant didn't make it a Revenant. They were fundamentally different existences! No amount of poetry implying your insecurities drew strength from your regrets was going to change your mind on that front.

Marchovic might have a better idea for, if not removing it, at least bandaging the thing so it wasn't a constant threat to everything and everyone around you... But the crux of the problem still came back to your suspicions that your Shade Scar had manifested the thing in reaction to a subconscious desire for strength. There was the possibility that if you genuinely let go of that desperate need for strength then you could dispel the damn thing, but it would always come back the moment that lapsed.

If it happened once, you had little doubt it would happen again and again. What's worse, if that desire got stronger, you were in real risk of gaining a matching claw and tail to complete the set.

>You spent some time thinking about your Shade Scar. There's no lingering threat of a new Shade apparition being born from it. The memento your Doppleganger left you has been fully recognized as part of your whole.
>You suspect your claw is tied to your regrets somehow. Dealing with them the same way you did your insecurities would almost certainly grant you full conscious control, but for more immediate and less emotionally exhausting options you're probably better off asking Marchovic or finding a way to forfeit your need for strength.

>>5602015
>You suspect your claw is tied to your regrets somehow.
Considering it appeared on the hand broken by Kara, at the moment where we weren't capable enough to help her and lost her as a result, I think it is.

>>5602015
>You suspect your claw is tied to your regrets somehow. Dealing with them the same way you did your insecurities would almost certainly grant you full conscious control, but for more immediate and less emotionally exhausting options you're probably better off asking Marchovic or finding a way to forfeit your need for strength.

I don't think getting rid of our only 'legitimate' form of self defense is a good idea until we have a serviceable replacement and I don't doubt that Artermis likely has a much better idea of what might hard counter Aegis or Lilly if they were called on to come to our aid so i don't think its a good idea to go exploring when we are by ourselves. And I don't exactly want to do something irreversible at this point, or at least without consultation with someone who might have a better idea.

potentially seeing what the local Shade rep has to say might be a good intermediate step when we get to Resuri as one of our first actions should probably be to talk to the Shrine and see what is going on, updating them on our intent and News from Carona and the Valen Estate, and introducing ourselves as the head of the Valens probably isn't a bad idea assuming that there would be a local Shrine.

Another day came and went, the riverside town of Sylv passing by lazily in the process. Lily proved herself invaluable in helping you slip past without causing a commotion by disguising the raft as a particularly mangled pile of debris, but you wondered if such measures were really necessary in the first place. The fact Scar seemed to hate being strapped down under ivy and a pile of branches rendered those concerns irrelevant.

It was your first time seeing a town that wasn't Carona, but you couldn't see a whole lot from the river even if you'd wanted to. Large waterwheels dotted the bank, groaning diligently as the distant sound of saws rang out of the large warehouse-like workshops they were attached to. Clara had mentioned Sylv was a hotspot for raw material refinery in your territory and you could certainly believe it given the imposing length down the river its industry seemed to span. Lumber, stone, most things short of metallurgy could probably be found here, and even then you wouldn't be surprised if there were at least a couple small time blacksmiths tucked away inside the town.

...But you also knew the place to be a hotbed of Artemis activity. The mercenaries led by that damned Paladin had evidently made their primary base of operations down in Sylv, which meant if they hadn't scattered after you wiped out the ones up near Carona, you would still find them lurking somewhere within.

Even with that in mind, you made no move to try and disembark. You couldn't afford to put off your visit to Resuri any longer, even if you sorely needed to pay a visit to Sylv as well eventually.

So, for now, you just watched the town as you drifted down river. It really was very neat looking. Getting it under control would probably make rebuilding Carona that much faster.

And then it was gone, and your thoughts turned idle once more

You never did visit your family's graves.

It was a macabre thought to have out of the blue, but one of the Valen family traditions was to send the deceased body of Dryad's warden down the river. The given explanation was that it returned the Fae's favored to the Fae to keep them happy... And given the body never actually showed up downriver afterwards, one had to assume that was, in fact, what happened! More mystique to the unknown creatures the Valen family had forged a pact with.

So, a stray thought that had suddenly lodged itself in your skull while you were absent-mindedly trying to teach Lily how to play pattycake - A task you weren't succeeding at - was that it would really suck if Dryad noticed you floating down the river and decided to whisk you away like it had all the prior wardens.

It hadn't, thankfully, but it reminded you that at some point there had been a big ceremony where your father was sent down this same river. You hadn't attended it. You barely even remember it happening other than that you'd been invited and refused. You had been... In a very bad state, back then. The preparations happened quickly after the accident, whether out of necessity, or simply because it gave your aunt something to focus on, you didn't know - But you couldn't attend what was in all ways effectively a funeral.

It hurt. It scared you. It made you angry.

Supposedly your mother and sister had been interred in the family catacombs, and you could have visited them at any time. You'd been near the place this past year, even - It wouldn't have been difficult to just go drop in.

Not any more difficult than you made it, anyway. You hadn't attended that either, and had spent years putting the loss of your family out of your mind as thoroughly as you could. You didn't feel like you were in any particular danger of becoming overly emotional if you visited them now, but- You didn't want to? It was still going to hurt, however faint, and you were very busy otherwise.

Still. Having met Dryad, you had to wonder what the purpose of sending its wardens' bodies back to it was. The notion of giving Dryad its favorite teddybear to help it sleep came to mind involuntarily, no thanks to Rinnier's taunting suggestion that your family had become glorified stuffed animals for the sleeping Mana, but if that were the end of it then you could at least leave it at that.

-But you had died once already, and you knew intimately how Dryad had reacted. It forced you back to life, with all the agony that entailed. If the bodies of all prior wardens really were taken by Dryad, what happened to them? Were they forced back to life too? Where did they go?

It's not like you were holding out hope your father had been secretly alive all this time, secreted away in some pocket dimension, or maybe even in Dryad's Atelier itself, but you had to wonder. You could always ask Dryad, since for better or worse your death had roused it from its slumber... But you weren't sure it was worth shortening its groggy period just to try and find out. The less you directly communicated with Dryad and encouraged it to wake up faster, the better.

...Maybe it was time to visit their graves. Even if only once, just to say you'd done it. The catacombs were up near Caylen's old place, but with Scar you could probably get there without much trouble the next time you swung back that way - Which was another odd thought. One which brought an unexpected smile to your face. Aunt Clara was right, the freedom to just go places really was what you needed. It felt like a piece of you that you hadn't even realized was missing was slotting back into place.

Yeah, maybe you would go see them sometime. Tell them what all you've been up to, apologize for not coming sooner, c̷̯̒h̶̼͠e̴̛̩c̷͉ḱ̸̳ ̵̺̍t̵̺̕h̷͖͠e̶̢̋ ̷͉̽F̷̝͂a̷͈͑d̴͙͂į̵̆n̶͚̑g̶͉͝ ̸̫̇C̶̺̈ị̷͆t̵͔̃ÿ̴̦'̵̧̕s̷̰̀ ̵̣̈́s̵͙͒ȩ̷̀ä̵͙l̴... Could be fun.

The night before arrival.

Another day lost to idle thought. They were going by faster and faster it felt... Or maybe you were just losing track of time. Every morning you woke up to Lily's excitable prodding and spent the next hour groggily watching the noon sun reflect off the river, snacked on whatever nuts and fruits you had left to tide you over, then yielded to the affectionate little Dryad apparition's demands for attention until something else caught her attention.

You'd tried to pet Scar a couple times and he'd tried to bite you a couple times, so you'd started threatening to pet him with your claws instead. Both of you seemed happiest not interacting with one another, but that was a difficult task stuck on a raft most of the day...

Towards the end of the day you'd inevitably end up with your legs thrown over the raft, quietly passing the time alongside Aegis. More often than not Lily would insert herself into the activity and make a line of the three of you off one side of the raft... For the maybe five minutes of peace before she started getting up to mischief.

Once, your stomach had growled after you had run out of trail mix and you'd seriously considered tying off the raft and taking Scar hunting for dinner- Only for Aegis to wordlessly place a satchel of stale bread and dried fruits on the raft between you. She hadn't looked at you, maintaining her disinterested observation of the river's surface even when you looked inside, and similarly didn't deign to answer where she'd gotten it from or when. You're pretty sure she hadn't left the raft, but also you weren't sure where she could have been keeping it either.

Tasted pretty okay, though. Aegis had pointedly looked away after you thanked her that day.

Then night came, and every night was the same. You'd take your time unknotting Lily's hair then let your mind wander while you stargazed. Eventually you'd fall asleep, but you were never quite sure when.

You were so close to drifting off, you could almost hear the wind whisper your name. You yawned tiredly, accidentally startling yourself partially awake when your jaw cracked a little, and felt sleep seeping back to claim you when the wind skeptically inquired if it was working or not.

You sat up, half-asleep and suspicious as you fished out the 'Echo' from its sheathe and felt the unnerving sensation of forced synchronization with the artificial Relic. The toneless whispers sharpened, bringing clarity and voice to the breeze. "Rinnier?"

"It's me." Her voice lilted through the wind, "I got the thing you mentioned earlier today, but didn't have time to test it until now." You nodded, stretching your arms out over your head. Lily and Aegis seemed to have perked up at the unusual conversation... Could they hear her? Or was it just you talking into the air? Unless you were a Jinn adept you shouldn't be able to hear it.

You smiled, somewhat apologetically, mostly sleepily, towards the pair. "Think this'll work?"

"...I think so." Rinnier said after a while. "Have you made it to Resuri yet?"

"Tomorrow, probably." You yawned.

"Have you gotten into any trouble?"

"No. I've been floating down a river for the last couple of days."

"..." It was, you realized, actually kind of interesting you could discern the difference between silence and Rinnier's silence. "What?"

"I made a raft and have been riding the river down to Resuri."

"I thought you took that Nightmare Clara bred for you?"

"I did. He's on the raft." You craned your head back, checking on said asshole horse. He paused in his eating of a fish Aegis had given- Well, Aegis had caught and given to Lily to stop her from bothering her, which Lily had then given to Scar in her ongoing attempts to befriend the bastard.

"Alright." Rinnier seemed to take it in stride, considering and then deciding against questioning it any further. "Remember to keep in touch."

"Mhmm." You murmured.

"Regularly, Irue. I don't like that you're doing this on your own as it is."

"Mm..."

"Please don't make me regret this." She continued pointedly.

"I won't. I'll be fine."

The line went silent, and the quiet stretched on as you glanced skyward again. Guess that counted for your check-in. You moved to sheathe the 'Echo' again when Rinnier's voice murmured back across the breeze, just audible over the river's meandering trickle.

"...Good night, Irue."

"...Night, Rinnier."

You sheathed the 'Echo' with another yawn and laid awake a few minutes longer.

What initially felt like a trip that was taking far too long ended a lot sooner than you ended up wanting it to, Resuri was finally coming up. Lily had been quick to warn you of your approach, giving you plenty of time to decide whether you wanted to just float onto its shores directly or get off and approach by ground... And then your decision on what to do with Aegis and Scar would need to be made as well. You doubted Scar would cause much commotion in town as long as he was kept on a short leash, but Aegis would definitely cause a problem. As would Lily, if you planned on visiting the local Shrine for some reason.

Looking between the Dryad siblings, you silently amended that thought. Lily had tried to murder the Luna adepts masquerading as healers back at the Valen estate. She'd almost certainly do the same here if you happened past one of Artemis' Luna adepts in town. And Aegis... Though it felt unfair judging her more harshly, you worried the town itself wouldn't survive if she caught the scent of Luna. You had seen her go berserk before, and she was far stronger now than she'd been back then. Lily you could at least try to reign in, even if that would amount to lessening the collateral damage - Aegis? You didn't know if she'd even stop to listen.

Priorities...
>Locating the Tiers is the reason I came, they take precedence.
>Tearing out Artemis' influence is the most pressing thing I can do.

Plans...
>Meet with the local Shrine immediately so they know not to intervene if something happens.
>Meet with the local government to immediately assert your authority so the city works with you.
>Keep a low profile as much as possible. The less opportunity Artemis has to realize you're there, the better.

Approaches...
>By river
>By Nightmare
>By foot

>>5602098
>Locating the Tiers is the reason I came, they take precedence.
>Keep a low profile as much as possible. The less opportunity Artemis has to realize you're there, the better.
>By foot

>>5602098
>Locating the Tiers is the reason I came, they take precedence.
If they are still here, Artemis might move them. But to do that...
>Meet with the local government to immediately assert your authority so the city works with you.
We pull up to the town hall or whatever as quickly and subtly as possible. Somebody refuses to do as we say? Murder time. Valen word is law. Then we find the girls and purge the Artemites as we go
We don't have the means to be low profile with our wood golems and nightmare on us. And the shrine shouldn't interrupt Irue, not their problem.
>By River
Aegis can guard our ride. Might as well plan a getaway and keep her away from any Luna adepts

>>5602338
As a means of retreat a nightmare I'm sure is much better than a raft.

>>5602098
>Locating the Tiers is the reason I came, they take precedence.

>Keep a low profile as much as possible. The less opportunity Artemis has to realize you're there, the better.
In Carona Artemis had already allied with the mayor and the Gnome dominion guy that died. Lets see what we can do on our own for now. Priatt was in town, right? See if we can find him.
>By Nightmare
I don't think we'd avoid any attention by coming in on foot unless we used the mirror, Irue kind of sticks out at this point.
>By foot
If the vote ties then I'll switch to by foot.

>>5602369
Well we don't have any reason not to use the mirror

>>5602098
>Locating the Tiers is the reason I came, they take precedence.
The investigation should provide someone we can pump for leads, or others referring to our look at related expenses should give inroads that we can use to find out more.

>Meet with the local Shrine immediately so they know not to intervene if something happens.
They are really the only people here that would be at all likely to give us a somewhat accurate picture of what is going on, and depending on what we ask we can gauge Artermis's support, even if we do end up tipping our hand.

The Flare projector could also serve some purpose to providing limited of our concerns, and presenting the Echo 'device' could serve as a nuclear option to getting them onside if need be.


>By Nightmare
If things have really gone to shit and Atermis is at the point where they are willing to openly fuck with us, we have much bigger problems. And figuring out how bad things are is going to be important so showing off a little is probably a good idea.

>>5602448
You make a good point, shrine is probably the best bet. Maybe Priatt'll be there too. Dunno about that business with the echo though, I think the shrine has a destroy on sight policy on those things. Probably best not even bring ours into the shrine lest the adepts sniff it out.

>>5602098
>>5602369
Changing my vote from low profile to
>Meet with the local shrine.

>>5602616
>Dunno about that business with the echo though, I think the shrine has a destroy on sight policy on those things. Probably best not even bring ours into the shrine lest the adepts sniff it out.

The point was to prove without a doubt that something is going on, that falls squarely within the Shrine's responsibility is afoot and so 'force' them onside so we can take advantage of Artermis's likely unwillingness to directly confront them, or otherwise offload the investigation onto them as they seems to be currently looking for any reason to go after them or otherwise cause discord between the sects if one decides to veto the decision for reasons, the key to this will be presenting the evidence to all of the representatives at once.

it would also potentially provide further cover and point towards Artermis for Mistral's Child appearance in Carona since they are also deforming Jinn Asperations which falls neatly into things if there is a rouge Adept somewhere

The reasoning for doing this here and not in Carona is that we know Mim and the other Representatives too well and so don't want to expose them to excessive risk.

>>5602364
Yeah but its also an excuse to keep it away, riz foreshadowed it might go berserk again idek

>>5602107
>>5602338
>>5602369
>>5602448
Tiers!
---

>>5602107
Low profile!

>>5602338
The local government must be subordinated!

>>5602448
>>5602616 (interest in trying to find Priat)
The Shrine poking its nose in at a bad time would be a disaster...
---

>>5602107
On foot!

>>5602338
By river!

>>5602369 (swap to on foot if tied)
>>5602448
By nightmare!
---

Laser focused on finding your vassals, even if it means making a bit of a scene. As long as the Shrine knows whats up, you'll deal with the rest when and if it inconveniences you! Writing!

>>5602616
Regarding the 'Echo' and the Shrine's stance on it: They would absolutely consider it an abomination and want to destroy it immediately. A Jinn adept would, similarly, absolutely be capable of sniffing it out, so to speak. However, they would detect it as any other Relic, and Relics in general are highly restricted items. Even if they know you have one, they're not going to make a scene trying to learn more about it. Unless you deliberately volunteer it to them, its none of their business in the sense that it is severely above their paygrade to act on any concerns they may or may not have.

While that probably answers your questions as far as needed, I'll actually add on a bit to this! If you have a Relic, that means one of two things:
>1. You are authorized by incredibly powerful people to have the thing, which implies you are similarly influential and powerful, or...
>2. You got the damn thing from an Atelier, which means you're both a badass and generally less beholden to playing nice for political reasons.

In either case, the most you should expect from people that are not outright hostile and already willing to declare war on you is polite (or impolite) curiosity.

>>5602966
What could go wrong, anon? You don't know anyone here, they're expendable!

>>5602968
I realize you are right. Its time to make Carona look like a fucking joke

You leapt from the raft as it neared the shore, leaving Aegis and Lily to look over it. Your use for it was effectively nil at this point since you wouldn't be taking it back up the river, but it would give the Dryad siblings something to occupy themselves with while you were away.

Your priority first and foremost was going to be finding the Tier family. Priat was supposed to have found a lead already so meeting up with him was going to be your best option... Though, finding a single man in a town you'd never been to was admittedly going to be a chore. The local Shrine might be able to point you in his direction if you were lucky, and you needed to meet with them anyway so they didn't inevitably end up intervening in your business at the worst of times.

Strictly speaking, the Shrine had no desire or reason to get involved in local political affairs - which this was - but they were apt to at least take a look at things if Mana or unidentified adepts became involved - which they likely would. A lot of grief could be saved for everyone involved if you just dropped by immediately to set the record straight.

More importantly, Lily and Aegis could move a little more freely once you had put a check in the Shrine's activities. You couldn't even risk bringing them into town as it stands now on the off-chance that one or both of them tried to murder a hapless Luna adept, which was arguably the better scenario compared to them trying to murder one of Artemis' Luna adepts only for the Shrine to jump in and side against you in the fray.

You spared a thought about tracking down the mayor of Resuri as well, but your last experience with a town infested by Artemis told you the local government was probably not on your side... Despite you being the de facto local government.

You'd sort that out later.

With a bit of a struggle you managed to hop back onto Scar's saddle. The Nightmare stood out in a way you couldn't hope to downplay... Even if he weren't accessorized in thickly woven vines of ivy, it was impossible to disguise the maw of carnivorous teeth and the billowing, smokey shadows that composed his mane and tail. You'd have left him behind on account of that, but these days you weren't any better. Between your own natural features and the Shadewreathed claw that was your right hand, it was really only a matter of time before word got around that you had arrived.

...Which wasn't fine, but you didn't have much hope in beating an organization of Luna adepts in long term subterfuge anyway. Your best bet was going to be to move as quickly as possible, so they wouldn't have time to react in the first place.

"Aegis, Lily, make your way around the forest's edge towards the south of Resuri. Stay out of sight until we get back together."

"Fuck you~!" Lily waved cheerfully, her older sister giving you a short glance of acknowledgement before looking back out over the river. It was the best you were getting.

"Alright Scar," You gripped the ivy reigns and turned him townward, "Let's go hunting."

Carona had been a lively and large place despite its backwater status. Nestled safely within tall walls that had protected it from wild animals and provided its inhabitants an easy way to keep an eye on who and what came in or out of their quaint little town, with cobbled streets and packed dirt alleys spiderwebbing through the sprawling township that had long since grown beyond its humble origins.

After the Banshee had its way with the place, those walls were all but levelled. Scattered ruins strewn through the surrounding grassy fields, with the roots of a town still clinging stubbornly to the ground. Rebuilding it was a work in progress, but it was easy to forget that at one time you had peered out at that walled town and felt like you were looking at a fortress. Back then it had been just you, Ari and Rinnier trying to figure out how you were going to get in, and none of your plans had worked out well.

Memories from back then sprang to mind unbidden once Scar cleared the woodline and you stared out across the sprawling grassland between you and the trade city. Its walls were immense even from this distance, stretching out from the river's edge and curving miles around to tuck into the forest just south of the town. Towers rose along the wall, serving as genuine guardposts to oversee the expansive northern approach with actual siege weaponry firmly entrenched within the ramparts.

To enter via the road was no easier task, as the bridge spanning the river's width was home to two separate sets of portcullis - one on the bridge and another in the river itself. You couldn't even see the buildings buried behind the defensive walls, and the sheer scale of the town- No, you couldn't keep calling it a town. The city in front of you put proper perspective to the scale of how small Carona had really been.

Scar's galloping pace slowed to a trot half way there, giving you time to just stare at your destination with a confused, intimidated sort of awe. Your steed snorted, his ears flicking back against his skull in irritation as he trot a restless circuit in the field.

Perhaps sensing your hesitation as an opportunity, he tried to buck you out of the saddle. He failed, receiving a kick in the ribs for his troubles, but the sudden distraction shook you from your muddlement. You squinted up at Resuri's robust walls frowning, the gears in your mind beginning to churn.

You spared a sideward glance towards your own shadow before urging Scar back into a gallop.

Atop the Resuri wall...

A row of men stood vigil across the rampart while others of their uniformed ilk patrolled the segment of wall they were responsible for. It'd be some time before the next shift was scheduled to take over, but the job was not a particularly demanding one. Few creatures braved the wall, and those who did were generally incapable of causing any harm to it. It was a preventative measure that rarely saw genuine action beyond drills and the occasional monster from the forest.

"Heard the front gate busted four new demihumans earlier today." One of the guards mused, drawing a derisive snicker from the men passing behind him. He looked back over his shoulder, curious. "You three know anything about it?"

"No one to vouch for em, probably dead by now." One of the patrolling men offered. "Whoever was doing charity cases for the things either had enough or got killed for their trouble."

"Huh. It's weird how many of them we're seeing lately." The wall guard shrugged, turning to lean against the parapet. His musings interrupted by one of his stationary peers, quick to be a contrarian.

"Nah, it's not that weird. We're getting tons of refugees from down south. I'd bet you a drinks after our shift that for every demi we hear getting put down at the gates, there's been like twenty or thirty normal people like us trying their luck."

"Twenty or thirty?" One guard rolled his eyes. "Has to be way more than that, but they've got the right of it. We're the biggest domestic settlement in the territory, and the first place anyone coming in through Verdan or Hilhen are liable to see."

"Doesn't help there's apparently been bandit trouble up north. Lotta people seem afraid to risk making the trip up to Sylv. Oi!" He shouted the wall, waving his leather gloved hands over head to get another guard's attention further down the line. "You got family upstream don'tcha?! What's going on up there?!"

The distant guard shook his head irritably, holding his middle finger up in response. "Fuck off, I ain't heard from my sister since the lumber stopped coming down!"

"An' there y'have it." The boisterous guard turned back to his slacking retinue. "World's going to shit, this territory ain't much better."

"Hey, at least we're not getting squeezed like a lot of the others. Says something that we got refugees comin' here and not trying to leave, I think."

"Aye, says the Crown's not dumb enough to start a pissing match with the Valens yet." The passing guard muttered, a round of ill-humoured laughter earned from his coworkers which nearly drowned out the faint crack of stone. "But what of it? They ain't doing anything either. Long as whatever's going on outside don't come knocking on their door, you think the Valens give a shit?"

"Luna only knows what they're doing. What they should be doing is fixing this bandit problem on the roads up north, but fuck if that'll happen."

"Least, not until they need your taxes and suddenly can't get em." The guard leaning against the wall offered, raising another score of laughter, this time not quite washing out the steadily growing shattering of stone. "Heard one of the old abandoned towns out 'tween here and Sylv was filling up again."

"Aye, aye. Heard that to. Can't say I'm surprised, but it don't bode well. There's a reason those places were abandoned."

"If you don't got any other choice though, better than nothing." The guard on the wall returned - Though his conversation partners seemed to have lost interest already. "Well, maybe we'll be lucky and they'll get wiped out again and save us the trouble."

"Pssh, yeah, and maybe we'll get lucky and the Valens will pull their head out their asses and do- Alright, what the fuck is that noise?" His complaints cut off abruptly as the violent breaking of stone finally drove him to his wit's end. The gathered six or so guards glanced down either side of the wall, growing increasingly uneasy when nothing immediately presented itself.

"It's getting louder... Should probably report this." Two of the guards began to step away from the wall only for two midnight black hooves to erupt from the shadow in the moments after, giving way to the entirety of a pitch black stallion seemingly soaring skyward. Gravity reasserted itself belatedly, leaving a streamer of golden blonde hair in its wake as a whole fucking horse landed on the upper wall walkway.

"The shit is that?!" Was one of many things shouted at the sudden intruder, the whole wall segment quickly turning to converge on the conspicuous new intruder. "This is an emergency, intruder is blonde, red eyes-" A horse like that wasn't something you just saw. Standing under the evening sun like that, it was impossible not to notice the telltale smoke of its mane, or the way it looked at you as if you were prey. The shouting guard's voice died pitifully in his throat as he craned his neck back to stare up at the creature's rider.

Only one person could boast a creature like that as a steed.

"Oh... fuck me. You're-"

You glanced around at the welcoming party Scar had crashed, unsure how exactly you wanted to deal with it. Many of them were armed, but you doubted it mattered particularly... And they weren't your enemies in the first place, just inconveniently in your way.

"Oh... fuck me. You're Clara Valen."

"..." You stared down at the man with a flat expression. Whatever was going to happen came to a screeching halt as the whole of the wall fell deathly silent. You swept your gaze from one end of the wall to the next, eyes lingering briefly on each of the gathered guards, before frowning. "I don't have time for this."

You tapped your heels against Scar's ribs and the heavily panting nightmare growled, leaping wholesale from the wall and entering Resuri in a freefall. Your hair streamed out behind you, vanishing over the interior of the city's walls before eventually evaporating into smoke altogether as the nightmare finally found a shadow dark enough in its descent to shadow-walk through. The next minute was a series of blindingly confusing instances where you were given half a second to take stock of your surroundings before another jump took place and brought both you and your steed closer to the ground. Rooftiles shattered in the split second Scar was physical, only to vanish and reappear in a nebulous swirl of smoke and shadow a handful of meters away. Standing on a wall, standing on a roof. Standing upside down from an overhang.

He'd shown remarkable capability in using the ability to try and escape you before, and you knew from experience the damn thing was basically a spider given it had a place dark enough to skitter, but you had to admit: You were impressed. You'd honestly thought you were going to need a new plan when the bastard had slipped only a third of the way up the outer wall, but taunting the nightmare for being useless had worked wonders in getting it to grit its teeth and climb the rest of the way.

...Probably too exhausted to get much more out of him for the immediate future, but you made it inside Resuri in one attempt! This was way better progress than when you tried to breach Carona's defenses way back then.

You surveyed the city as best you could when you were up on the wall and had a general idea where the Shrine was, but the route seemed a lot less obvious without a bird's eye view. "No time to rest yet, get moving." You urged Scar on, even as its head drooped. It craned its head back in an attempt to bite you, but gave up even on that after a half-hearted moment and started wobbly plodding its way down the wide, city streets.

The roads within Resuri were built for transport and it showed. Four carts could pass at a time if they were careful, and even that traffic would still leave a walkway for people on foot on either side of the streets. Goods could be moved in mass through this town without a hitch, whether it was raw material coming in or finished products going out, or esoteric trades in either direction.

Already there were people with long wooden poles tipped in wick and flame who walked the lanes to put light in each of the standing lampposts which dotted the roads - A sight which left you distractedly following the progress of one such lamplighter until their own curiosity about you led your eyes to meet. They looked away quickly, hurrying to finish their job... Which was interesting all its own, as it was still some time before night fell proper. With how many posts there had to have been in the city, you supposed getting such an early start was a necessity.

On either side of you buildings towered. Two, three, sometimes four story structures seemed the norm here, compounding the space available to the city's inhabitants by putting floors where roofs might have once been, and from those risen landings hung balconies and crafted rope bridges casting ribbed shadows of planks on the street below, swaying gently under the weight of their crossers.

The din in the streets was almost overwhelming. Simultaneously like nothing you'd ever experienced before, but nostalgic somehow. As if a middle ground could be reached between the oppressive way the presence of so many people pushed in on you from all sides and the distinct feeling of being alone amongst the crowd.

The night you worked the tavern with Jill had felt similar, but the people had filed in off the streets of Carona to fit into that space. The one time you saw the doors to what you thought to be a tavern swing open here, the glimpse of what you saw inside was nothing short of packed! You wouldn't have been able to move through the place without bumping against someone else along the way.

But even as your attention wandered, eyes frantically skipping from one detail to the next to soak it all in, you felt their eyes upon you in turn. Where you went, their gaze followed.

...Old habits scratched at you from under layers of disuse and trauma. Arrogant assurances you could capture a crowd and bend them to your will. The skills and talents of an heir to leadership. Back when those were the skills you polished and took pride in.

Somehow it felt dirty to remember it now.

Sure enough, the Shrine eventually loomed into view. Somehow affecting an almost squat and uncomfortable feeling, squeezed between other buildings as large, if not larger, than the place itself. It seemed oddly wasteful with so much of its size taken up purely by aesthetic in comparison to the structures that surrounded it.

You left Scar at the entrance, somewhat confident the ornery bastard was too tired to try and run away in the middle of the city. For his part, Scar seemed more than happy to just flop onto its side and rest after what you'd put it through.

Inside the Shrine's towering double doors, a great tree rose up from the center of its Dominion halls. It was always the first sight to greet visitors, even if they had forgotten why it was there in the first place... But for a city so packed, the Shrine was oddly sedate. Columns of tightly packed pews filled the Dominions where you were used to open spaces, smaller altars to the Manas seemingly made scarce in favor a handful of select, more grandiose ones. A somewhat confusing emphasis on presentation over intimate experience.

A small crowd of people loitered within each of the Dominions, and it wasn't difficult to pick out the Shrine's attendants among them by their tell-tale uniform. Your eyes lingered on the Shade Dominion, more occupied than you'd ever seen the one back in Carona... But with barely a handful of attendants to speak of.

>Check out the Shade Dominion. Why so few? Can any of them help with your claw?
>Check out the Salamander Dominion. If Priat had come by, he'd probably have made himself known there.
>Check out the Luna Dominion. They were the ones who decided how the Shrine as a whole would cooperate with you.
>Other? (write-in)

>>5603245
>Check out the Salamander Dominion. If Priat had come by, he'd probably have made himself known there.

>>5603245
>Check out the Shade Dominion. Why so few? Can any of them help with your claw?
Personal stuff first, then on to business.

It would also be useful to potentially gauge how receptive the Shrine is as a a whole, without introducing anything serious.

>>5603245
>Check out the Luna Dominion. They were the ones who decided how the Shrine as a whole would cooperate with you.
We can't waste time, and if Priat was here luna guys would definitely know too.

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>>5603245
>Check out the Salamander Dominion. If Priat had come by, he'd probably have made himself known there.

>>5603282
>>5603795
Salamander!

>>5603418
Shade!

>>5603673
Luna!

Writing!

Personal curiosity warred with business, but people were already beginning to cast furtive glances towards your claws. You passed the understaffed Shade Dominion by with a purposeful gait, flagging down one of the Salamander attendants as they moved about their business.

The man turned a friendly, if slightly harried, smile your way when he noticed your approach. His eyes shifted towards your hand, then back to you, before rapidly seeming to look over you with growing concern. "Welcome to the Shrine? If I'm not mistaken, you're a member of the Valen family, yes?" He stopped for confirmation, though given he had asked, it was little more than a formality. When you nodded, his confused smile grew ever so slightly. "What can I help you with? Should I arrange a meeting with our Representative?"

"Please."

You could have just asked him about Priat, but you'd need to speak to the Luna Representative before you left anyway. It would save time being passed from one Representative to the next, and the less you repeated yourself the better.

The attendant bowed his head briefly before he hurried away, leaving you to just stand in the oppressive heat of the Salamander Dominion. It'd been a while since you visited the one in Carona, but the way the space seemed to actively resent your presence brought back memories. The Mana here was no friendlier towards you bringing the Diary of Reflections into its sanctum than the Salamander Dominion back in Carona. You doubted it would cause trouble, but the flames within leered back at you unwelcomingly all the same.

In another time you may have concerned yourself more with being a polite guest to the Mana, hoping to curry their favor... At this point, even if Salamander decided it adored you, it would probably just serve to rouse Dryad further in sheer jealousy. The Flame Mana would just have to simmer a while longer.

"If you'll follow me." The attendant from before signaled for you, "The Representative can see you now."

You suppressed a sigh as he led you further into the sweltering Dominion, animous heat making each step feel like wading through a sauna. When the attendant opened a door to the Representative's personal chamber you had the pleasure of seeing the short haired woman inside grimace at the sight of you. "Does why you wanted to see me have anything to do with having offended Salamander?" She offered an uncertain, if amused smile in greeting. "My name is Sara. I'm the Salamander Representative here in Resuri."

Black hair, straight as iron and cut sharply at her chin, with eyes just as honed. You got the impression she didn't miss much. "Irue Valen, Head of House Valen."

"...Should be Clara Valen, if I'm not mistaken." She returned, warily inspecting you from where she stood. "But you are a Valen." She allowed that much, still visibly unsure what to make of you or your visit. "Easy to presume we're out of the loop out here, what with the state of the roads lately, but... Ah-" Some form of recognition seemed to spark in her charcoal eyes, "Irue Valen. You're that friend of Priat's, then?"

A faint grin tugged at your lips. You'd fully expected to have to find some way to prove your station before this conversation would get anywhere. "He sent a letter inviting me down here, do you know where I can find him?"

"Not precisely. I hesitate to even tell you, but..." Her gaze drifted towards your claws, "You look like you can take care of yourself in a fight."

This woman had no idea how wrong she probably was. Your track record was abysmal, especially if you wanted to keep Resuri intact.

"Go on."

...You weren't going to correct her, though.

"How much do you know about what Priat was doing in Resuri?" She began, skirting the office table to look out the arching window arrayed behind it. Evening was beginning to fall, casting sunset orange pigment across the city. Surrounded as the Shrine was by similarly sized buildings, it only afforded you a glimpse of the immediate plaza - People milled through it unperturbed even now, seemingly unconcerned with the coming night. "...Ser Valen?"

You blinked, tearing your eyes from the scenery. "Not much, admittedly. He was investigating leads on potential Teranford refugees, but promised to keep in touch regarding a couple favors of mine in the process." How long ago was it that he left Carona...? It felt like ages with everything you'd been up to. "He mentioned he'd found one, but was expecting mercenary opposition. From our conversation, I'm forced to assume he was right."

"Very much so." Sara nodded tacitly. "And that's the problem. A few days ago he told me he would need to make a move sooner than expected. He found information that suggested someone very powerful would be coming to reinforce the mercenaries, and that they were likely to arrive soon." The Salamander Representative paused, lips thinned to a grave line. "I would assume they're already here at this point, and if not, due to arrive any day now."

"So he couldn't afford to wait and had to move." Your expression mirrored her own, "But you don't know where he is, which means he never came back."

"You're quick." She agreed with some delight. "I can start to understand why Priat trusted you. He told me to fill you in if something went wrong and he wasn't here to do it himself. As a Representative of the Shrine-"

"You can't help in any official capacity." You held your hand up, forestalling a familiar lecture. "I'm familiar, and in fact I came to inform the Shrine that I'd be operating in the area over the next few days, at least. I cannot understate how disastrous it will be for everyone involved if the Shrine intervened, even accidentally."

"I see." Sara's reply came tightly, an inscrutable sort of acknowledgement that spoke volumes of how much else she wanted to say but chose to hold her tongue over. "Then we're at an understanding. I'll pass your warning on to the other Representatives. As for Priat, it's necessary to explain that there's a darker side to our streets."

"Black market? Slave trade?" You incline your head, already having an idea where this was going.

"...You don't seem surprised." Sara noted, seeming less than surprised herself at your knowledge. "I suppose something like that couldn't go on in Valen territory without the Valens knowing about it." It was an implicit accusation you couldn't exactly deny. Byrn and your aunt had purchased your Testament from a slaver who operated in Resuri, after all; Of course he knew. The fact the business continued to operate in the first place could be argued to be a form of approval.

"What about them?" You neglected to comment.

"Priat's investigations eventually focused around a gated community in the southern district, not far from the lakeside. Impossible to miss, some of the wealthiest people in Resuri live there. He didn't say whether any of them in particular were part of his lead, but it's something of an open secret that the 'invitation-only' events held among the upper class can be gateways to markets for difficult to obtain goods and services."

"And where there's money, there's mercenaries." You conclude.

"With things between the Crown and the nobility going as they have these past few years, wealthy people have taken to splurging on hired muscle. Protection, a way to show off; regardless of the reason, you can be sure each and every person there has a small personal army at their beck and call."

So something had spurred Priat into the... The uh... Sandlion's den? Antlion? Rinnier had mentioned both of them from time to time, but you weren't sure what the difference was- It didn't matter. What mattered was that despite his hurry, Priat still couldn't get back out, and now whoever he had been hoping to avoid was probably here as well.

"That's all he left me to tell you. Is it enough?"

"I don't know yet." You admit, "But it's a start."

Sara nodded, momentarily turning from you to watch the sun set. "That's all the help I can offer you. The Luna Representative might be able to give you some general information, but there's a limit to how much aid we can offer. If you're looking for specific information on people or organizations, you're better off not asking."

...This was how Shrine interactions were supposed to be, but it really drove home how Mim spoiled you. If she were here, you probably could have gotten her to gossip about the latest ilicit affairs of half the town over snacks, but you really shouldn't expect much from the Resuri Shrine. Especially considering you came here to tell them to stay out of your business.

>There is something you still want to ask the Luna Representative... (what?)
>You already have a lead or two to follow up on. (What are they?)
>Following in Priat's footsteps would be prudent.
>Getting a feel for Resuri should come first. There's a lot of city to see.
>Other? (write-in)

>>5605739
>There is something you still want to ask the Luna Representative... (what?)

How well they think the local government is doing looking after their citizens, and if they have any recommendations for potential projects or otherwise investments that would benefit the Shrine.

and

See if they think it would be possible to arrange to to get a message though to Caylen, as they might have back channels though to Artermis. Or otherwise Ask them generally about Artermis's public activities in the city so we can chase that up.

Since it might be nice to know as it would be a good idea to see since this is totally something that they should be aware of and a sign if we should be more covert or otherwise on guard.

and sending a message back to Mim letting her know we got to Resuri.


and

Where we could go to find out where Isaac Lupre's ( the Slavemaser that supplied our Testaments and probably took the Tiers ) residence / place of business is, or anything else in the list that we copied from the Valen archive's financial documentation if they don't know since our records lacked an address, but only list names and they would probably be able to help us locate a better place to ask if they themselves can't / won't help.

>Other? (write-in)
Otherwise ask for directions to the Mayor's house / nearest local government building ( a Guard shack / local patrol will do since we could work our way up the chain it just might take a while) then go see the Shade rep for advice relating to the scar.

>>5605739
>Make way the local center of government in order to subordinate them to us.
>>5605760
I vote against doing a thousand things simtaneously + asking about artemis (she just told us we're better off not asking specific info)
We need to move fast, rumors will spread that we're here already

>>5605739
Supporting >>5605826
Also I'm worried about the lack of connection to Sylv. If Resuri is a trade city its elite should derive their wealth from trade. Keeping the roads safe is in their interest, and they have hired muscle, so why aren't they?

>>5605739
Okay so.
The Shrine isn't going to interfere.
Priatt has gone AWOL after going to investigate the slave trade.
The people he was investigating likely have private militias with at least one powerful adept.

>Get Lily and Aegis back or at least put them on notice before doing anything else.
Any authority we throw around here will likely catch people off guard and work for a time but the second anyone confronts us with a bunch of mercenaries it's pretty much over.
If Aegis can't go into stealth mode any more she could shadow us somehow, possibly by riding Scar.

Can we just go to the south wall and call for them with the bracelet? Do we know its range?

>>5605826
>We need to move fast, rumors will spread that we're here already
That's the entire reason behind asking here and now since we otherwise need to waste time finding the answers, or will otherwise risk walking into something serious, and avoids the potential need to circle back around at some point.

Especially if we actually intend to improve Valen holdings and not just try and rebuild Carona before things kick off.


Getting the Shrine's take on things gives us potential leverage should the local government figures be money minded or otherwise spending excessively. and suits our cover story, as it would make sense if we're touring the towns to allow us to adjust funding priorities, and see what they are intending to do with it.

and with said baseline funding requests provided would serve as a Quid Pro Quo for a little more detailed info when ever we get around to actually approving things as it could be seen as an exchange.

File: Valen Territory.png (574 KB, 600x800)

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>>5605760
Asking about:
1. Local government!
2. projects and investments the Shrine would like
3. a message to Caylen?
4. Artemis' activities
5. A message to Mim!
6. About Isaac Lupre! Good on you for remembering him, anon! I am proud.

>>5605826
>>5605957
Concern regarding doing a whole bunch of things at once!

>>5605760
>>5605826
>>5605957
Directions to the nearest government office for subordination!

>>5605760
Inquire about the Shade Representative!

>>5606017
Put Lily and Aegis on alert!
---

Okay, addressing stuff!

>>5605760
>>5605826
>>5605957
>>5606541
In regards to concern over the flurry of questions being thrown at the Shrine, some of it falls directly under things they just won't tell you, and Sara just told you they won't tell you (6 & 1). Some of it is a line of conversation you can absolutely pursue, but doesn't have much bearing on Priat or the Tiers and won't win you any concessions (5,3 & 2). Some of it will actively pique the Shrine's interest and give them reason to intervene in your affairs despite the fact you want them to not do that (4).

As there is a general sentiment against throwing things at the wall, I'll either omit or only briefly touch on things Irue suspects would get shot down immediately. The later two categories however are mostly subject to your discretion.

Coming in you expressed a preference for having Aegis and Lily support you, and having them on hand is going to be mutually exclusive to having the Shrine active in your affairs unless you want to guarantee a disaster. At a glance, that sentiment seems unchanged, so I'll omit inquiries regarding Artemis' activities unless there is a sudden change of heart otherwise.

The things the Shrine is willing to engage with you on that aren't necessarily going to have an impact on your current plans are basically up to you. They can get a message to Mim almost instantly via Jinn, but engaging with the Shrine on projects and investments they'd like will probably take up some time you may prefer to spend elsewhere. It's also something you can just put a pin in for later. You like doing that, right? You love adding new things to remember to come back to later.

>>5606017
>Can we just go to the south wall and call for them with the bracelet? Do we know its range?
You can try, but no, you do not know its range. Best case scenario they hear it and come! Worst case scenario, everything affiliated with Dryad in a given radius hears it and comes! In either case, you can probably assume they will show up.

>>5607049
>Good on you for remembering him, anon! I am proud
I am the one that suggested we go over the records, hopefully we dodged a forgetting or two with that.


>You like doing that, right? You love adding new things to remember to come back to later.
its really all we seem to be doing, leaving things unfinished and hoping that things hold while we're away.

I have very little hope for Carona, or Caylen at this point.

>>5606541
You want to do too much all at once and most of the questions are redundant

>>5607401
>and most of the questions are redundant
Redundant in what way?

Sure something might be a little further in the future, but shouldn't be something we lose track of as we are still nominally in charge of our land and we're going to need get things up to speed to help recover form Bryn's deliberate hamstringing and mismanagement with as little push back as we can especially if we end up removiovng significant portions of the existing pollical and economic landscape due to our impending actions.

>Local government
should serve as a general disposition measurement as there is no certainty that things are being runs smoothly or that either the Council or the Shrine are actually staying in their respective lanes let alone functioning properly, and if something comes us we can use, its better than not knowing, especially if it was something that we can set right.
As I would expect that just like Carona the existing power structure(s) would be Artermis aligned, either directly or by convenience.

>Projects and investments the Shrine would like
It may be useful to have an existing list as they can serve to smooth things over if things come to a halt due to a economic realignment (e.g. enforcing a ban on the slave trade or otherwise confiscation / arrest of significant economic power blocks).

>a message to Caylen
Worth a shot in the dark and may neatly explain the later point regarding Artermis, and would also serve as a method to establish contact without giving away that we know / have a Jinn "phone".

>Artemis' activities
considering that they are already ignoring edicts surrounding the Slave trade what is one more, especially if they are trying to gain favor with the populace to like they did in Carona and establish covert de facto control.

>A message to Mim
As with Caylen, it avoids reveling the Jinn phone, and actually helps us keep our promise to her to write / keep her in the loop.

> About Isaac Lupre
Worth trying due to the fact that the Shrine clearly receives significant donations, which have to come from somewhere, and as business people tend to re-invest money earnt, there is a good chance that the Shrine is to some degree involved though providing some services to them, sure this would likely take the form of paladins for security purposes, but there may be other factors involved and other notable benefactors worth investigating.

>>5607427
Bruh im not reading and debating that shit. Its my bad cuz my car broke down on foreign soil so w/e I just wanted to get involved in Valen a bit again.

>>5607431
ok.

Good luck with the car.

I like the idea of sending a message to Mim but I really don't want the shrine knowing any of our business or getting any of our money which we have little enough of as is.

There were a number of things on your mind, but Sara was rather upfront about the Shrine's inability, or unwillingness, to help with them. Unfortunately that feeling was mutual in some respects, as you couldn't probe them about Artemis' presence and activities in Resuri without clueing them in on the fact your business here likely involved them... At which point, their willingness to stay uninvolved would become suspect.

So what did that leave? Specific information about people and organizations were out, which meant finding out more about the slavemaster who sold your Testaments, Isaac Lupre, was something you'd need to do yourself. Or at the very least, ask someone else about. Information about how the local government was behaving... "Out of curiosity, have you noticed anything peculiar about how the city has been run lately?"

"In what way?"

"Unusual shifts in policy, notable upticks in malcontent..." Carona's previous mayor had put the town into lockdown and had been nurturing a rebellion. Those were the signs you knew to look for, but you couldn't be confident they were the only ones.

Sara gave the question a period of genuine thought, the frown on her face growing deeper. She made no effort to hide her reactions from you, making it clear as day that she'd thought of something, but- "I can't answer that." She shook her head, "A Representative speaking negatively of how their city is being run to the local lord would raise a lot of questions if those same problems were to be coincidentally addressed later."

"So you couldn't tell me even as just another person living here?"

Sara sighed, deeply apologetic as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "As much as it frustrates me, no. Were our titles different, this conversation would be very different. The Luna Representative especially would have me thrown out if he caught me even hinting at something."

"...Is that normal?" Curiosity gets the better of you. "A single Representative shouldn't have that much power." You knew Mim certainly didn't. If anything, she often expressed how much scrutiny she was under from the other Representatives. "...Much less the Luna Representative."

"Snrk!" The woman ruined her sharp persona with an involuntary and wholly ungraceful snort. She swiftly covered her mouth, looking away in mortification. "You didn't hear that." She muffled out, making a pointed effort to clear her throat before continuing. "I didn't expect you'd be familiar with Shrine policies, but you're right. Our Luna Representative is rather strict about rules and procedures, so while he doesn't personally have the power to issue punishments..."

Sara trailed off, just waving the topic away. "It was a joke, nothing more."

"Thanks for passing along Priat's message." You give the Salamander Representative an appreciative nod as you get ready to leave. "If the Shrine can help me with a few other matters, I should be done here."

"That will depend on what those matters are." Sara returned skeptically,

It was your turn to wave off the concern. "One of them is a personal matter. I was wondering if the Jinn Dominion could send a message to the Luna Representative of the Carona Shrine?"

Sara blinked, taken visibly offguard by the request and recipient. "That- That should be doable? Yes. I believe we'll have no problem helping you in this regard."

>Be vague with Mim. You arrived safely in Resuri and are meeting up with Priat.
>Be honest with Mim. She deserves to know that Priat is missing.

"The other matter is more a request for later. If the Resuri Shrine Representatives could convene and make a list of reccomendations for projects or investments that might benefit the Resuri Shrine, I'd be interested in looking over it after my business here is concluded."

"..." Sara shook her head, the words forming on her lips to deny you- But she stopped. A look of consternation crossed her face before she crossed her arms. "I'll pass on the expressed interest, but don't expect anything of it. Even if we can agree on something, and it turns out to be something you can deliver, the relationship between the Resuri Shrine and the Valen household won't change."

You leave it at that, tossing a carefree wave over your shoulder as you left. "It's a personal matter, so don't think too hard about it... Ah-" You pause at the door, "I noticed the Shade Dominion was understaffed compared to the others. Is the Shade Representative available for consultation?"

Sara turned a lingering, meaningful look towards your Shadewreathed hand before apologizing. "I'm afraid not. He and most of our Shade adepts are out of town at the moment. I'd direct you to one of the remaining attendants, but... With a condition as seemingly severe as yours, I don't think they would be able to help you. I'll be sure to scold our Shade Representative for failing to consider these types of contingencies when he returns."

"Ah, you don't have to go that far." You wave your clawed hand, markedly suppressing the mild concern in your posture at the Shade Dominion here also being absent. "Mine's a queer case, I don't think it's fair to ask anyone to expect this sort of business. If anything, I'm actually a little impressed at how many people I saw paying their respects in the Shade Dominion earlier!"

"Our Representative is quite diligent." A hint of pride followed her words, enough so that you could almost hear the smile tugging at her lips. "The Shrine doors are always open to you. And, as a personal matter, I wish you luck Ser Valen."

You stepped free of the Shrine, noting with some degree of relief that Scar hadn't tried to run off in your absence. He was still weary, but maybe between his exhaustion and the unfamiliar environment, he'd judged not being a temperamental jackass to be in his better interests. You approached the colt as he got to his feet, looking out over the darkening city.

Even as night fell, Resuri's light remained just as vibrant. Countless lanterns lined the streets, a sea of glimmering fireflies casting warmth across the roads and bridges, throwing haphazard blotches of shadow across the building fronts. The sun wasn't fully down yet, but the deep yellows and oranges of the twilight hours were already bleeding away. A deep navy blue blanketed the sky, chasing down the dying evening embers westward.

...A feeling mired somewhere between guilt and irritation welled up in your gut. You didn't have time to be distracted by this place.

Mounting Scar, you pulled him around by his reins to find the nearest guard. Picking them out of a crowd was an easy affair, owing in no small part to their uniform and conspicuous behaviour; They often moved in pairs, stopping regularly in their patrols to watch the crowd. It was that same behaviour which made grabbing their attention just as simple as finding them in the first place. They were more than happy to point you in the direction of the city's mayor, even offering to escort you there upon realizing what family you belonged to.

It was an offer you turned down, but memories of the street brawl you had with Carona's guards only served to amplify the recurring dissonance Resuri gave you.

You found the Mayor at the end of his day, tidying up his work space in the back of a rather stately building. His secretary had recognized your bloodline the moment you walked the door, letting slip their confusion before they had a chance to school themselves into offering to alert the mayor immediately. You hadn't even needed to wait long before the man himself had opened the door and invited you to talk.

He was an older gentleman with solid brown eyes and short cut hair, salted with signs of his age. You had to look up to speak to him once you drew closer, though he wasn't exceedingly tall for a man. Your knight captain would have towered over him, and made him look like a willow besides - While relatively fit, the man had clearly never known manual labor.

"Ser Valen, to what do I owe the surprise?" He nodded to his secretary, who excused themselves shortly after. "A personal matter, I hope. Or maybe something to do with the roads?"

If you wanted information about Isaac Lupre, you'd almost certainly find something here. As welcoming as he was being, you could probably temporarily assume control of the guard... Though demanding that would be rude, it was theoretically within your authority. With how cooperative he seemed to be, you doubted it would come to that - Not unless you just started dictating a list of demands to him.

...Which was a problem, because you basically had one of those.

"Sorry to take up your time this late." You glanced around his office, noting how orderly it was. You couldn't begin to imagine how much work went into a city this size, not when Rinnier and Fen had been buried under assorted bureaucracy every time you'd glanced in. Comparatively, the man only had a couple papers left on his desk. At a glance they looked like miscellaneous documentations. "I'm hoping you'll be willing to help me."

"Of course, that's my job." The mayor's brows knit together in curiosity. "It's a bit late, but what I can't help you with tonight, I should be able to get done early tomorrow morning. A request from one of the Valen family will always take priority over mundanities. Come, sit. I'm afraid I can't offer you much in way of refreshments."

You weren't expecting any anyway, but you took a seat as he cleared the remaining papers from his desk. Rinnier or Asche probably could have identified the purpose of the documents from a glance, but even with a closer look you could only make out a slew of assorted personal details. Occupant recognized under the name 'M. Jenseits', formal ownership of, right to inherit and adjudicate the property of...

"So, what brings a Valen all the way down to Resuri?"

"Tell me about..."

>Isaac Lupre. Who is he? What is his business? Where can I find him?
>The lack of communication between Sylv and Resuri.
>The mercenary presence in the city.
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>Other? (write-in)

>>5607784
>The lack of communication between Sylv and Resuri.
>Isaac Lupre. Who is he? What is his business? Where can I find him?
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Isn't Marchovic hunting vampires somewhere around here?

>>5607784
Also don't think that I hadn't noticed that document.
MARAN DETECTED

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>>5607839

>>5607784
>The lack of communication between Sylv and Resuri.
>The mercenary presence in the city.
>Isaac Lupre. Where can I find him?
>Are you loyal to the Valens?
Scare him a little bit with a vague question. Putting the creeps on him might be good for a first impression and Irue is a freak show

>>5607781
>Be honest with Mim. She deserves to know that Priat is missing.
Say something vaguely reassuring. We'll save him if we can.
I wonder how he got a letter to Carona if the the roads are blocked.
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Yeah, that's Maran's name.

>>5607784
>Be honest with Mim. She deserves to know that Priat is missing.
We have a good idea of what he is up to so we should find him in short order we could even potentially recover him if he is being held somewhere, by the slavers by paying for him

>Other? (write-in)
Explain the Situation surrounding the suspicious fire at the Tiers' estate and subsequent "missing" siblings, the 'Bandits" strange Caravan in the forest, and the Large Payments to Isaac with his listed profession making him a good choice for further consultation on the matter of their recovery as he would likely know how to find them had they been abducted, on sold or otherwise being held.

request info on
>Isaac Lupre. Who is he? What is his business? Where can I find him?

And
Ask to see the document as M. Jenseits, is likely Maran, who is a close friend of our cousin Caylen, like the Tiers are and so may even know where any of the three actually are.

Would it be worth having the Mayor send the guards, preferably assisted by the Shrine to arrest her (or otherwise anyone at her listed residence(s)) as she is a suspected / known adept and so likely outside their capabilities to bring in if she resists, or to otherwise search the property

>>5607784
>Would it be worth having the Mayor send the guards, preferably assisted by the Shrine to arrest her

No! The shrine are specifically forbidden from helping us at all! Also the mayor is probably a traitor.

>>5607784
>Voting to not trust the mayor.

>>5608225
I'm >>5608154 on Mobile data

>No! The shrine are specifically forbidden from helping us at all! Also the mayor is probably a traitor.
Not when we run into "rouge" Adepts like Maran.

>Voting to not trust the mayor.
Wouldn't it be a good litmus test and get things out if the way since any refusal to do so implicates themselves since it would otherwise be trivial to point fingers at Maran being involved with the tier's abduction and as the head of house Valen our edicts are law only superseded by the Crown.

>>5608338
>Rogue adepts
I suppose if we worked the Artemis angle that could work, maybe. By the sounds of things the Luna represented here seems like he'd oppose us on that. In any case we just negotiated non interference with the shrine so we could deploy Lily and Aegis as backup.

>don't trust the mayor
What you say is true, Irue could conceivably smell this guy's bullshit and it would be an improvement on our current lack of intel. My concern is that any questions we ask the mayor will put Artemis/slavers on notice about what we're up to, what we're likely to do next and even the name of our first target. All before we've linked back up with Aegis and Lily.

>>5608355
>In any case we just negotiated non interference with the shrine
We wouldn't swing it that way, have the mayor / guards ask for backup. And if things end up going loud that is the proof we needed to get the Shine to be more active so we can leave that to them, we only need to come in afterwards and pick up the pieces.

>Will put Artemis/slavers on notice about what we're up to
Which is something we don't particularly care about if we don't particularly mind the impact on Resuri itself, as any action means that things are in motion and so can be tracked, to some degree we need them to do "something" so we can crack down using local forces we subordinate for our purposes. And if they have been subverted then we bring in Aegis and clean house. and acting in opposition is simply grounds for asset seizure which we can redistribute as needed elsewhere.

>Even the name of our first target.
Assuming Isaac is around, we parted on good terms so I don't think he would be resistant to meeting let alone brokering terms for various purposes we could even ask his opinion on potential for closing the Slave trade down in stages after an amnesty period (e.g. 10 years) for example as to not shock the economy and provide a way out e.g. slave buyback for stock holders.

>>5608154
When will people learn that the shrine does not do our bidding, especially this one we do not know
Also I support not blindly assuming the mayor is on our side.

>>5608472
>clean house
You mean destroy the biggest and richest city in our lands, crippling our economics for decades?

>>5608748
>You mean destroy the biggest and richest city in our lands.
Well, what options other than force do we even have at this point, if they decide to Rebel?
Especially if they get strung along, or receive outside help like Carona, but only on an even larger scale.

>Crippling our economics for decades?
Things aren't going to be sustainable long term anyway, and if it removes one more reason for a potentially Artermis re-aligned (installed) Crown post civil war to get involved as we are technically in breach on the Moratorium on Slaves which would be more than enough of a reason to attempt a hostile take over among numerous others Artermis comes up with to cover their true goal of reaching Dryad's seal.

So we're going to have to deal with it at some point. So by dealing with it early, we can somewhat mitigate the chance of them cascading, or before they can become a larger problem.

Why do you guys gotta think so far ahead? So much conjecture..

>>5607814
>>5607977
Sylv problems!

>>5607814
>>5607977
>>5608154
Isaac!

>>5607977
Mercenariies!

>>5607977 (Wishes to cause the fear)
Loyalty?
---

>>5608154
Lots of contextual explanations!

>>5608225
Do not trust local man!
---

>>5608147
>>5608154
Honest Mim!
---

The Forgetting was indeed recognizing Maran's last name! but one of you also pointed out Marchovic was out fighting vampires nearby, and while this doesn't actually help you any, it does provide some background context for Resuri's understaffed Shade Dominion.

Writing!

Your gaze lingers on the stray documents being tucked aside. It was a name hard for even you to forget, and seeing it here didn't elicit any positive feelings either. "Maran Jenseits." You almost hiss the word, disdain seething along the tip of your tongue with such acidity the man across from you was visibly taken aback.

His hand jumped from the document with her name on it as if it'd shocked him. "I'm... I'm sorry? Do you have business with her, perhaps?"

"I'm about to." You promised flatly, snatching the document out from under his outstretched fingers to skim over it. "Tell me everything you know about her. Why is this paper on your desk?"

"I can't say I know much." Your eyes narrowed at the man over the top of the document, prompting an immediate reversal of course. "She entered our city earlier this morning to make good on an exchange of property that had been previously arranged. Her identifications checked out, and the previous owners vouched for her being who she claimed."

"What property and who were the previous owners?" You knew the answer to the latter question almost as soon as you'd asked. Prior owners were one Harold and Winnow Lishp. Your brows furrowed, trying to extract more from the paper.

"The property was the main home of the Lishp family, down in the southern district. They're a rather well to-do lineage of carpenters with a long history here in Resuri." The mayor was quick to fill in the gaps, pausing uncertainly when you turned your attention back to him in full. "Would you like to know more about them as well, Ser Valen?"

"Current events only." You return simply.

"Ah, let's see then..." The mayor ran a hand through his salted hair, sitting back uncomfortably in his chair. "The Lishp family relatively recently resolved a succession dispute that ended in the elder brother being kicked out of the family estate. Unfortunately the new head of the family, Harold Lishp, died a couple years ago. The-"

"Died?" You interrupt sharply. "How?"

"I... Don't know, offhand. It wasn't anything underhanded at least, as I don't recall any particular turmoil coming of it. If I had to guess it was either an accident or natural causes?"

Your scowl deepens, yet you flick your Shadewreathed wrist for him to continue - The act of casually brandishing your serrated claws leaving the man increasingly discomforted even bereft a direct threat.

"Yes, well... Ahem." He cleared his throat. "The death of the Lishp family patriarch was a rather unfortunate matter for Resuri. His wife took up the reigns, but Mana bless the woman, she was not a craftsman like her late husband. She managed the businesses, but with the Harold's death, many of the Lishp family's clients and supporters seemed to sense they were sinking. The Lishp household has been slowly selling off its holdings to maintain operation and pay their dues in the years since. What you have in your hand is just one of the latest forfeitures."

"These forfeitures, was Maran Jenseits the recipient of all of them?"

"What?" Resuri's mayor laughed, "No, this was the first I'd ever seen the woman's name. As I understand it, most of their sold assets were cannibalized by their competitors."

"You said this sale was pre-" A knock at the door interrupted you, clicking open a moment later to readmit the mayor's secretary, now carrying a tray laden with hot tea.

"Sorry to interrupt." The secretary apologized softly, setting the tray on the desk between you as inobtrusively as possible. "I rushed to put something together for our unexpected VIP."

"Don't say 'unexpected', it will offend Ser Valen." The mayor chastened, "Please forgive my secretary, it's my fault."

Your clawed hand waved again, this time simply because you were too distracted with the matter at hand to think about which hand you were moving about. It caught the secretary's attention with morbid curiosity, their eyes following it back and forth before realizing with a start that they had been staring. "My apologies, Ser Valen."

"I am unexpected." You admit blithely, turning your attention back to the mayor. "Back to the matter at hand, you said the sale was pre-arranged. How did that come to be? Why was Maran buying this, and how did she know Winnow Lishp in the first place?"

"I-" He seemed to flounder at first, "I apologize Ser Valen, I don't have that kind of information. The paperwork was brought here for signing and archiving purposes, I'm not involved in the process itself."

"Hmm..."

Maran being in the city set you on edge. The fact she coincidentally happened to now own real estate in the same district Priat went missing in just made the agitation worse. You massaged your temple with your unchanged hand, brewing over where you stood.

"Ser Valen, is everything alright?"

"No." You mutter, drawing in a deep breath to recenter yourself. With a heavy sigh, you try to push matters regarding Maran aside for the moment.

"Would you like some tea?" The mayor offered, blowing across the surface of his own cup. You were so used to seeing the cheap, if sturdy wooden mugs or carved cups that seeing tea cups made polished and painted almost confused you. You considered the offer...

>Take the mayor's advice and drink some.
>You had no interest in being friendly here, don't touch it.

"I don't know what's caused such displeasure, but if it has to do with miss Jenseits, I can have the city guard restrict her movements, or perhaps summon her here. She's done nothing illegal since entering Resuri so far as I know, so there's a limit to what I can reasonably do to her without abusing my power."

"I'll consider it." You let the matter slide for now, cycling back to the original reasons you came here. "At the very least, the offer goes a ways towards reassuring me that I don't need to start questioning where your loyalties lie."

"My loyalties are to the people of Resuri and House Valen." The mayor returned firmly. "I don't believe I've done anything to warrant your suspicion."

"No." You level a stare at the man, wine-red eyes boring into him as you drew your thoughts out. "...You haven't. What can you tell me about a man named Isaac Lupre?"

"I'm not familiar with the name out of hand, but... Lupre, Lupre..." He muttered the slavemaster's last name to himself in deep thought. "Feel like I'm forgetting something. Well, that's what archives are for, I suppose." He angled a nod towards the secretrary that had been left on-call, sending them off on a search in his stead.

You sigh, "Well, while those archives are being searched, tell me about the issues you've been having with Sylv. I've heard communication with them was cut off, and that there's been trouble on the roads."

"Ah, of course. In fact if you would be willing to lend us some help in that matter, I'd feel very relieved." The mayor seemed to brighten over the topic. "I suspect the problem is bandits. One of the old, abandoned towns between here and Sylv has been filling up again with thugs. Luna knows we've had to turn away enough of the refuse at our gates, I can only imagine the criminals living outside the walls have had healthy pick of new recruits for far too long. Long enough, even, that they've gotten brave enough to start harassing the roads further north!" The mayor's expression darkened, only to snap back to his customary polite humour, "I don't need to tell you that though, I'm sure. You must've already seen it for yourself. Howe was your trip down here, anyway?"

"...Uneventful." You deadpan, wondering just how much trouble you had saved yourself by taking the river. Sylv and these road problems were still issues you needed to correct, but you could only imagine how much time you would have spent wrapped up in it all before you'd even gotten to Resuri... And if Maran was already here, and Priat had been so worried he felt the need to rush in-

You were almost too late again. The thought kept your muscles tensed.

"Hmm..." The mayor, meanwhile, took your statement in stride. "Well, I suppose even their bravado can only go so far in the face of House Valen. I hear that Shrine missives also travel relatively unmolested, so I'll give them credit for being smart enough to pick and choose their marks, despite their apparent size."

"I've heard plenty of Resuri's upper class have taken to splurging on mercenaries." You note, "That there's more than a couple private armies stocked up in this place."

"Ah, yes. That." The mayor sighed, his shoulders sagging in a way that gave you the briefest glimpse of an exhausted man, slowly getting on in his years. It passed as quickly as it came, replaced with the face of a practiced politician. "Technically not illegal, and at first I will admit to have been enthused about the prospect. More forces fighting fit, the safer Resuri would be in these uncertain times."

"And then?" You arched a brow, feeling you already knew where this was going.

"The mercenaries answer to money, and their employers are, one and all, very wealthy. Before I knew it, the guard were increasingly less capable of exerting their authority in direct confrontations. The public wellfare of the city hasn't suffered any, mind you-" He cast his muddy brown eyes towards you seriously. "The people of Resuri have suffered no ill effects, this I can assure you. However... I am rather less capable of forcing a matter in the southern district than I am comfortable with. There have been no threats, nor impolite posturing... But I am well aware a new balance has been struck."

Yeah, that's what you thought. "My question is why all of these mercenaries haven't been put to use clearing the road up in the first place. Resuri can't export anything to the rest of the territory like this, won't this hurt the wealth of the people paying for the mercenaries in the first place?"

The mayor could only offer a shrug in answer. "I'm not privy to their circumstances, but I would surmise their trade with Verdan and Hilhen continue unabated. Or, Hilhen, at least. Travel to Verdan has been strongly discouraged by the Shrine, which has put a damper on many people's enthusiasm to move their wares there."

You lapsed into a mutual silence after that. You had no immediate answer to the man's problems, and you were still waiting on information about Isaac Lupre. There was probably enough time to talk about one more thing, so you considered what you might bring up while the mayor quietly sipped at his tea.

>About the bandits and abandoned towns.
>About the balance in Resuri.
>About the refugees and demihumans at the gates.
>Other? (write-in)

>>5609005
>Take the mayor's advice and drink some.
Lets put on a sweeter demeanor for now. He seems pliable and some niceties might go some way
>About the balance in Resuri.
Also all in favor of adopting a policy to hunt down Maran first thing we step outside the office?

>>5609005
>Say thanks but don't touch the tea
I don't want to suddenly discover it was poisoned, but I also don't want to be rude.

>>5609009
>About the bandits and abandoned towns.
Artemis has a base in Sylv, and if the bandits don't get in the way of their communication with Resuri, I guess they're on the Artemis' payroll.

Could Irue stomach poison? Disease is Dryad business

>>5609005
>You had no interest in being friendly here, don't touch it.
Probably a bad idea, for all we know the secretary is isn't going to find anything on Isaac by sheer "chance" aren't they.


>About the bandits and abandoned towns.
Looks like a job for Aegis(with supervision this time, i guess), sucks to be a bandit since Aegis already have experience in that area.


>>5609033
>Could Irue stomach poison? Disease is Dryad business
If things at all happened like they did in Dryad's Atelier, that's not going to save us from the right things, and anyway all that would likely happen if we were is that we survive, we'd still be stuck dealing with its effects up to the point where it kills us.

>>5609009
>Don't touch it.
>Ease up a bit, ask his name
He seems okay I suppose.
>About the balance in Resuri.
The bandit issue is a problem for another day.

>>5609033
I don't think he spiked the tea with anthrax, it'd be a chemical poison if anything.

>>5609024
Drink!

>>5609028
>>5609344
>>5609444
The tea is clearly poisoned and this was a trap to ensnare you!

>>5609024
>>5609444
The balance in Resuri!

>>5609028
>>5609344
abandoned towns!

we're tied, but I won't be putting an update out tonight. As expected the immediate future is looking shaky, so either I'll be good to keep running for another week or so, or I will need to postpone for like a week. Or worse.

Will try and get an update out tomorrow regardless, though!

calling it here... resuri.... produces cheese, or something else salty in great amounts... dont ask how I know my intuition does not lie in these matters....

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>>5610133

>>5610969
>you have to eat all the cheese

>>5610969
Shade really fucked up our fingers, didn't it.

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alright, matters have been mostly handled. I'm estimating we have about a week more before I have to call the thread, which is way earlier than i expected. I'll work on an update tomorrow and try to make the best of what we've got!

Three hurrahs for our best QM! riz riz riz

Rolled 1 (1d100)

Rolling for good luck and delicious cheese

>>5613726
The cheese is an Artemis ninja.

You considered your own tea in the silence, eyeing the faint wisps steaming off its surface. You'd gotten oddly used to the beverage smelling almost offensively lemony thanks to Rinnier's experiments, so the mellow, almost relaxing scent coming off this brew felt... Out of place. When you'd breathed it in, the utter lack of citrus punching you directly in the nose left you momentarily confused, leaving to several vain seconds of idly trying to place the more subtle aroma.

You wondered if the beverage in its entirety had somehow been ruined for you.

"Tell me more about the situation here in Resuri. You said the balance had changed?"

"Yes. It's a bit embarrassing as the mayor, but I must admit I've allowed the situation to develop a little out of hand." The middle-aged man acknowledged. He seemed reluctant to do so, trying to downplay the severity, but he didn't seem he would skirt the issue now that you'd brought it up directly. "As a matter of course, anyone is capable of hiring or firing their own security at their leisure. Resuri is a city familiar with export caravans, Ser Valen, so it's only natural that the people who stand to profit from all of their goods are granted full discretion in the measures they take to secure such things."

"And this hasn't been a problem in the past." You surmised.

"Hardly, but with strange times come new problems." Resuri's mayor agreed. "With the pressure the Crown has exerted on its territories, and the frankly baffling restrictions they've passed down regarding literacy, I don't think I need to explain to you of all people how uneasy wealthier families have become. Those who deal heavily in moving products especially rely a great deal on records and missives, and overseeing a city of this size- well," He laughed, "it'd be impossible without the archives. Perhaps you can imagine a world where it's possible, but me? No, no no, I fear the innovation of the written word is a crux upon which our current lifestyle is utterly dependent."

You had never paid an overdue amount of attention to the Crown's semi-recent restrictions on teaching literacy. It was another oppressive piece of their confusingly self-destructive puzzle that you felt was queerly out of place, but in terms of impact... Your family had all but ignored it, as you imagined all the nobility had. The Shrine had similarly ignored it, and there wasn't much the Crown could do but hem and haw irritably over that. Carona had been your first experience with its side effects, with many of the younger generation either not knowing, or pretending not to know, how to read and write.

Granted, Carona had not seemed to overly mind. They were simple people who largely lived a simple life. Many of their skills and trades were passed down through apprenticeships, if not hereditarily, meaning there was little impact on their everyday life... Resuri on the other hand; None of these people had the luxury of simply ignoring the Crown's edicts as they pleased, and the sheer size in which they had grown almost demanded literacy as a basic skill.

The difference seemed proportional to population density, if you had to guess. Or maybe just density in general. The more information you were exposed to daily, the more you had to innovate how you could parse, retain and utilize it. Language had to evolve, and so did how you interacted with it.

"Being this close to the border, these same wealthy families are more sensitive to how politics are being handled outside our territory." You nod along, humouring the man's tangent. He'd been cooperative thus far, so he'd earned this much. "I can understand why they would feel insecure. And you're suggesting this is what led to their excessive mercenary collection?"

"I certainly believe it to be a part of it." The man agreed. "The entire basis of their wealth could hemorrhage over the next generation or two. The very foundation for how we live our lives in larger cities like these would start to crumble. Since living outside these walls is no longer an option, the commonfolk would naturally turn towards preparing themselves the best way they know how. In this case, gathering as many armed forces as possible to protect their self interests."

Nations on a smaller scale. But it was a common sentiment, one even you and Rinnier had been considering lately with the acquisition of weapons and funds. These people already had the funds, and perhaps because of that, felt all the more desperate to spend it on the missing half of the equation.

The problem with that was self-explanatory. "So now the local government finds itself at an uneasy peace with its overwhelmingly armed subjects..."

"Well, one way or another, that's how it ended up." Resuri's mayor laughed awkwardly. "Though they haven't attempted to throw their newfound weight around, the fact they have it means we're ill equipped to effectively enforce any restrictions or punishments upon them if push comes to shove. Before I knew it, much of our wealthier caste had become effectively self-governing... in practice, they have remained amiable to our laws and authority, but complaints from the city regarding the behaviour of their mercenaries continue to rise."

"What sort of complaints?"

"Misdemeanours, mainly. Altercations in bars, threats, intimidation, minor theft... If it could be attributed to a petty thug, there's a list of them." The man waved his hand irritably.

"You couldn't use that as an excuse to leverage back control?" Your brow arched.

"If I push too hard, I risk an escalation of the issue." He demured, "So I opted to discourage allowing their unrestricted behaviour in other ways."

"Those being...?"

"Fees and fines. The more severe a violation is, the higher they get. For repeat violations, they get even higher."

You leaned forward, folding your serrated fingers carefully beneath your other palm, and stared blankly at the man with your knuckles pressed pensively against your upper lip. "You chose to discourage the wealthiest people in your city from breaking your laws... by fining them?"

"It sounds silly when you frame it in that manner, but yes." He nodded, "The money is split between recompensing the wronged party and going directly into the city's coffers; Specifically, into a budget I have set aside for arming and recruiting our own guards. Repeated offenses from specific individuals eventually warrant additional fees and taxes surrounding their employment, until the very act of hiring problematic individuals becomes a financial danger. It defers responsibility to the employer to control their members, and whittles away at both the over all number and least behaved."

You're not sure if the solution should be called elegant or toothless. "...How's that going?"

"Rather well, I'd like to think." The mayor smirked, "Public safety is up and most of the worst offenders have left town voluntarily after losing their employment."

"So you defused a potential escalation and started siphoning money from your rivals in order to better arm yourself..." The problem hadn't been resolved, just kicked further down the road. "i'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Allond, Ser Valen."

"Allond." You acknowledge, "What are your next steps for resolving this problem?"

"Well, Ser Valen." The man mirrored your posture, leaning over the table with a more confident grin. "The question is whether there is a problem, I think."

"...Explain."

"As long as they don't cause a fuss, their collection of mercenaries only serves to make Resuri a safer place. With the threat of war on the horizon, we could do worse than to have an auxiliary defensive force being armed and retained out of someone else's pocket who are, none the less, invested in defending their home."

"And if they do cause a fuss?"

"A number of factors would need to line up for that to be an overt concern, Ser Valen." Allond assured, "As a united front, they are intimidating. It is why I cannot afford to provoke their self-interest, for fear of setting a precedent that would encourage the others to band together out of mutual defense. The matter is different if a single one of them acts out and provokes Resuri."

You drew in a long, slow breath and closed your eyes to try and think it over. "...You're relying on them to police their own, then. Hoping that the threat of being left out to dry by their peers if they step out of line will keep them all in line."

"Precisely, Ser Valen. You catch on swiftly despite your youth- or, should I say it's as expected of our territory's nobility?"

You give the man an errant look, but deign not to react any further. "I assume you have a contingency in the event that they act in a unified front?"

"I have been pouring an increasing amount of our city's annual budget into our guards. If they want to make a confrontation out of it then we'll clamp down on things immediately, aiming to divide and conquer. I suspect that after a few of them are suitably suppressed, the remaining problems will become more receptive to peaceful negotiations."

"Hmm..." Your brows knit together, Allond's smirk going more confident with every passing moment he kept your attention engaged. Eventually you leaned back into your chair, resting your spine against its back. You'd leave the matter be for now, except- "The way things are going, you can't afford to move your city's forces outside the walls to handle local matters without risking a moment of weakness."

Allond grimaced. "That is unfortunately correct, Ser Valen. The matter between Sylv and Resuri is a glaring example of that... Although, in such matters, I would hope the nobility would take action in keeping the roads of their territory safe and clear?"

Whether his plans for Resuri panned out in the end or not, he clearly hoped you would clean up the other matter. And maybe there was some merit to that, but cities were largely given responsibility to manage their surrounding area on their own. The Valen family had no obligation to step in unless the problems they were facing were beyond the capacity of the locals to deal with... And in this scenario, you could just as easily argue that the problems on the road between Sylv and Resuri would have been entirely within Resuri's capacity to handle had they not mismanaged their own internal affairs.

You're unfamiliar with Sylv's circumstances in the matter, but suspected something similar could be said of them as well.

For now, you'd just gather more information. "What more can you tell me about the issue?"

"Well-" Allond cut himself with a yawn, wearily blinking away his fatigue. "Oh, excuse me, Ser Valen. I apologize for that, it's been a much longer day than I thought... Let's see... I suspect the lowlives are using an old, abandoned town as a base. I couldn't tell you which or where, but... Well, if we're lucky the problem will resolve itself, eh?"

"Lucky..." You murmur tersely.

It wasn't uncommon to find ruins of abandoned towns dotting the territory; A handful of them might even still have roads leading to them, overgrown and unmaintained as they were. They were remnants of the past, when people could live more spread out across the land instead of holed up together in cities like Resuri. Even Carona, relatively small as it was, u̶s̴e̸d̷ ̴t̸o̸ ̸b̴e̶ ̴m̸u̴c̸h̴ ̷d̵i̶f̶f̷e̴r̶e̶n̵t̴.̸ While most of the inevitable concentration could be attributed to economic reasons, as Rinnier had once spoken about, it would be misleading to say that was the sole reason for their abandonment. Cities like Resuri, and previously Carona, provided a safe haven to flee to, nestled behind defensive walls that could keep all but the worst of things out.

That their inhabitants might have fled, however, implies they had something to flee from. Something which, more often than not, staked claims to the abandoned settlements left in their wake.

Manaborne beasts like your nightmare, or, now that you thought about it, the giant serpent you once hunted with your knights. Roaming oakenbears, some of whom had grown so old and voracious in their hunger that the whole town could be likened to a labyrinthine graveyard as they matured from murderous apparition to Aspiration. Or... Worse. The real type of monster. The kind of thing you didn't understand and had little knowledge of.

Albeit rare, you knew they existed. Mostly in folklore and rumour, typically debunked through the years by virtue of the Shrine's continuing efforts. What might have once been ghosts were now understood to be Shade apparitions of varying types, for instance. But not everything was eventually revealed to be the manifestation of the Mana.

To this day you still had no idea what the fuck a nightgaunt was, or how to deal with them other than to run.

If bandits were using some of those old, abandoned town ruins then Aegis could probably handle them. She already had experience dealing with bandits and brigands, and having matured into an Aspiration, you weren't as nervous about the possibility of her encountering a rogue adept. She was no longer tied so vitally to a core, meaning she could afford to have her body basically destroyed and still be... Fine? Mostly fine?

You had a general understanding that it wouldn't kill or cripple her, but no real idea beyond that. If anything, loosing Aegis on them seemed more liable to become a one-sided bloodbath in her favor, and you had no idea how many people would die before she was finished.

But that was assuming there was a reason to deal with them at all. Worst case scenario, the sudden influx of people roused something, potentially baiting out a much bigger problem that had previously been minding its own business.

That was what House Valen would be obligated to step in and try to resolve.

If you were going to do something about it, you'd be doing the footwork yourself, it seems. Or House Valen would.

"Excuse me." The secretary returned while you were thinking it over, sliding a small sheaf of papers onto the desk between you. "The information you requested on Isaac Lupre."

"Ah, thank you. Can you clean this up?" Allond gestured towards his own half-emptied cup. "Ser Valen, I'm sorry but if there's anything else I can do for you, I'm afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow. I-" He yawned again, stooping forward until he slammed face-first onto the desk.

Both you and the secretary stared wordlessly, beginning to glance at one another before a sudden snore snapped your attention back to the man in question.

"Is he okay?" You gesture towards Allond with a single Shadewreathed claw.

"...He should be fine." The secretary hesitated. "I apologize on his behalf, Ser Valen. If you have anything else you need, I can get it for you in the morning."

You nodded absently, gathering the documents on Lupre and got to your feet. For a moment you just stood at the desk, looking down at the sleeping man. Your shoulders sagged, a deeply seated sigh flowing from your lips. "You drugged the tea, didn't you."

"And you didn't drink a single drop." The secretary agreed conversationally, placing a small blanket over Allond's shoulders.

"This is normally where we... Fight, or something." You weren't exactly suggesting it, but the secretary's generally unthreatening demeanor put you off. "Right?"

"I'd rather not, if it is all the same to you, Ser Valen. I'm also not really sure what to do now."

"Ah."

...

"Why were you trying to drug me?"

"Ah... Um. It's complicated?" The secretary winced when your wine-red eyes narrowed. "Sorry, sorry. I panicked, so it's sort of like a precaution?"

"You panicked?" The incredulity rolls off your tongue in a strained manner, only made worse by the flush on their cheeks at being called out. "What were you going to do if you had succeeded?!"

"I sent a message to someone to come pick you up. Um... They should still be coming, if you don't mind waiting?"

"You want me to wait for my kidnapper?"

"I'm really sorry about this. I didn't think it'd be this awkward. I can get you some snacks?"

"You JUST tried to drug me! I'm not eating your snacks!"

"they won't be drugged! I promise!" The flustered secretary bowed deep in apology.

>Alright. Fine. You have reading material to pass the time. You'll wait. (reject snacks)
>You were kind of hungry, and setting them at ease would probably help you question them. (accept snacks)
>You're... You're just going to leave now.
>Other? (write-in)

>>5615186
Haha, it seems the mayor was loyal all along.
>>You're... You're just going to leave now.
Get to Scar and order some guards to retrieve the mayor, give them a basic rundown of the situation and tell them to see to his safety personally no matter what. Then I suppose we should make a break for Aegis and Lily.

Also claw this guy if he tries to stop us from leaving.

>>5615186

>You're... You're just going to leave now.
Go find the guards and get them to arrest the aide and whoever turns up. Is this a counter-kidnapping?

and get them to go after Maran, and anyone at the locations, specified in that sales document.

>>5615268
I don't think it's a good idea to begin the counter offensive when our heavy hitters are chilling in the woods. Maran is a powerful adept and there are likely to be other adepts among the mercenaries. Guard can't deal with that.

>>5615271
This shouldn't be the first time they have to have dealt with attempting to arrest a potential Adept, so they should have some sort of contingency to do so especially if they know beforehand, just make it clear if they feel like they cannot execute the raid / arrest, to return since we can go get assistance from the Shrine and deaths help no-one and would only escalate the situation.

and if they do resist arrest we then have an actual evidence to go to the Shrine for help in this matter. Since they are here to stop that stuff from happening, and if we really need to we can lay further charges and explain why this needs to happen for the good of everyone.

>>5615287
We just got back from instructing the shrine to not interfere and we were told that they wouldn't have been allowed to anyway.

>>5615291
The situation has changed, I can't say that Irue envisioned such a flagrant kidnapping attempt.

and anyway for now this has nothing to do with Priat or his investigation and is effectively a completely separate mater, though with some chance of potentially being connected.

The deployment of Aegis or Lilly within the walls of Resuri seems like a bad idea unless things absolutely go to shit and have have no other options since we can't guarantee that they won't go off script or otherwise alert the Shrine to their presence.

>>5615303
They won't alert the shrine to their presence because the shrine will consciously avoid becoming involved in our business, that was the entire point of giving the shrine a heads up in the first place. The shrine will not reverse course on the decision we just asked for just because we're in danger, refusing to do the bidding of the nobility and abstaining from political disputes is the defining characteristic of the shrine. The best we'd get out of them is allowing us to take refuge in the event that we lose and manage to avoid capture, I have no idea where you're getting the idea of them as our allies or personal police force.

Also I don't care if Lily or Aegis unexpectedly tears some scheming Artemis spy open, that's half the reason we're here after all and there IS going to be collateral damage no matter which way we approach this. But if Aegis concerns you that much she can hang back hidden within calling distance of Lily.

>>5615343
>asked for just because we're in danger
Its not because we asked for it, but because there is a strong chance of things getting out of hand if the Shrine is not involved as a running street battle where the Guards lose is going to raise questions, and cause problems politically and probably raise morale issues and tensions as they want to "get even".
>I have no idea where you're getting the idea of them as our allies or personal police force.
Its not as if we would be making a personal request but as the head of Local Government requesting assistance as things as it is likely to get out of hand, and letting things devolve or risking the amount of personnel likely required is going to cause worse issues if we were to pursue this though conventional means.


>unexpectedly tears some scheming Artemis spy open
The issue is that it's not like they wear armbands or are otherwise easily outwardly identifiable, and justifying things however weakly after the fact probably won't fly without a full explanation and that is likely to only raise uncomfortable questions.

>there IS going to be collateral damage
So why not try and stack the deck to ensure the fallout is solely on the parties that would wish us harm, sure if we figure out who the collaborators are, I would have no issues with having Aegis drop by. As an aside I think it may be worth considering reducing Lilly's role in direct combat where possible as to prevent here nature from shifting too far as I think the split between Lilly and Aegis, as it is currently works well

>>5615186
>A spider's web!
We'll get to the bottom of this.

>>5615287
Your obsession with the shrine is weird anon

>>5615418
>obsession with the shrine
Its more that we are likely to be coming up with plans of action that involve the limited local forces already being stretched thin, because of other goings on, especially if we decide to take a more conventional route with disbanding the bandit camps. So where possible tasks should be offloaded appropriately, to both allow us to focus and for them to be completed with the least risk and best chance of success. Especially considering that the tasks we would have for them are aligned with their stated goals.


It's highly likely that the Guard doesn't have organic access to (trained) Adepts within its force structure so how exactly they are supposed to enforce the social contract upon Adepts, doesn't seem possible so I can't see things working at all unless there is at least a working relationship with the Shrine to enforce it on their behalf. At least where the Mana and subsequently "rogue" Adepts are concerned.


We want The Shrine to stay out of our personal business, but remain involved with the local government. if we need to explain why we want to take Maran into custody, point to the fire at the Tier's estate, likely collusion with Markus Krell, distribution of the Flare projectors and numerous other events in Carona that could be pinned on her. and if things get interwoven to tightly we just take things piecewise and have them focus on other tasks especially considering that Artermis would want to avoid an open confrontation with the Shrine there response would need to be carefully considered to avoid arousing suspicion so its not like we are the only one with their actions be being constrained should they help out.

Ok so now I gave it more than a few seconds of sleepy thought and it all adds up that, this is the Nefarious Forces that Be finally coming to coup the status-quo loving mayor now that we are here with him. Or maybe just coming for us. In any case they are making their move and we need to start tearing shit up around here.
Changing vote to
>Leave, bring the mayor with you
Maybe make secretary carry him out for us?
>>5615476
Bruh not everyone follows your train of thought exactly. I want to focus on the here and now for example, rather than making conjecture about the guard or whatever. I'll vote against begging shrine to fight our battles for us.

>>5615186
>You're... You're just going to leave now.
>And then follow the messenger the secretary is going to send about you leaving.

>>5615603
>Nefarious Forces that Be
We don't know exactly who the Aide contacted, it could be Artermis, a local patron interested in staying one (or more) step ahead of the mayor for reasons or someone else that wants to stay abreast of developments before they happen.

The Aide certainly seems to have a lot of unsupervised access to the archives so they shouldn't be relied on either so its definitely worth following up on, or seeing if the mayor has any ideas who it could be since I don't trust the aide to not lie for a third time, though the indication that they would have the capability to transport bodies probably leans to wars a local patron at this point, as the Aide didn't seem to be on the face of things dogmatic in their approach so it isn't personal like the attack on Carona.

>I want to focus on the here and now for example
and so we lose out on options and the ability to nominally offload some work onto others simply due to shortsightedness.

When Maran escapes, we get left with a number of dead guards and the Shrine turns up to investigate what then?

>rather than making conjecture about the guard or whatever.
The point that I was making was that Adepts are something that the local Guards are unlikely to be able to deal with, so unless we either use the bracelet or get help from Aegis / Lilly we're fighting an uphill battle.

Not doing anything is a bad idea since we have a general idea of what they are trying to do (Subvert Resuri, so when the Crown turn on House Valen, they can be handled under the table, without a fight) and so any opportunity to slow them down is a good idea.


> I'll vote against begging shrine to fight our battles for us.
What would you propose happens then, risk something happening to worsen our position if we send in the guards unsupported to search the estate / find Maran, Send Aegis, Do nothing, work another angle?

There is some contention over Shrine involvement and uncertainty as to what that would bring. Some of it is valid and are concerns you should be weighing, but I will weigh in on a few matters for clarity.

The Shrine's defining characteristics, as an anon mentioned, are not getting involved in politics. They have no obligation or fealty to nobility or Crown, and their purpose is, in fact, to protect adepts from exploitation by society. How the local government does things is none of their concern. What the local government needs from them is, similarly, none of their concern. They are entirely capable and willing to apprehend adepts causing problems, but doing so cedes control of that adept's fate to the Shrine - It is similar to agreeing to extradite.

If you wanted that adept for something specific, you gave up any right or hope of getting that by involving the Shrine. They might play nice with you and give them back, but are just as likely, if not more so, to just request a list of their supposed crimes and then say "thanks, we'll handle it internally".

Cooperation is possible, but you do not get to decide the degree of the involvement that cooperation leads to. You have preemptively drawn a line in the sand telling them you're on official business, and out of respect for that they aren't going to meddle until after you're done unless a significant reason is given to them.

Providing an example here: If a random adept, let's say Maran, ran to the Shrine while you were trying to apprehend her and said she was seeking asylum, then your chase ends there. The Shrine now has custody of Maran and will be cooperating with, and investigating, you and your business with Maran that led to her seeking asylum. They can then decide on their own whether...
>your business was valid and they want to turn her over
>your business was valid but she has more value to them so you should sod off
>if your business was invalid and you won't be bothering her anymore if you value a peaceful relationship.
Given Maran's association with Artemis, the second option is likely.

If you involve them proactively - and it will be you, because you trump the mayor's authority in their eyes, so they will not intercede on his behalf unless you agree to it - and they decide "Hey, this activity is related to the Shrine's interests", you can't tell them to back off. You opened the door, they're inside, they will leave when they are finished. They, by necessity, will have de-facto dibs on what happens to any adepts encountered there-in, no matter what that adept is to you, what crimes they committed or what help they've rendered you.

If you want to keep that authority, you keep them out of your business. In doing so, the converse occurs: You can choose whether the adepts you apprehend are better extradited, dealt with internally, or what have you. You will be making the same decisions the Shrine would when the other comes knocking.

Adding into this, some other trivia notes are...!

>Adepts are something that the local Guards are unlikely to be able to deal with
This is generally true. It's not uncommon for adepts to be taken in by local law enforcement, but it's generally going to be difficult and carry a hefty cost. This is often why the Shrine is asked to deal with it instead, which in turn cedes custody to the Shrine for having done so. The Shrine is still capable of requesting/demanding custody of an adept you subdue without their aid, but I covered that prior.

>shouldn't be the first time they have to have dealt with attempting to arrest a potential Adept, so they should have some sort of contingency
It's not impossible for a normal person to take down an adept, since adepts themselves are mostly normal people who just so happen to be loved by the Mana. A direct confrontation is likely to fail miserably, but surprise, drugs/poisons, negotiations, ultimatums, etc. - All of those are possibilities when push comes to shove for your local guard to draw the short end of the stick and tell Mr. Rockmancer to behave.

The usual contingency is giving the Shrine custody of the situation, but there are options and tactics for doing it yourself. Just understand that if the subtle approach fails, it's going to hurt if you didn't bring your own firearm to the gunfight, and that any direct confrontation between adepts trends towards collateral damage, Shrine or no.

>the Guard doesn't have organic access to (trained) Adepts within its force
This is generally true. The Shrine shelters and nurtures budding adepts, but there are some who choose to deliberately operate outside of the Shrine's purview as mercenaries, or pursue their own personal matters. You won't typically find an adept, or anti-adept measures, commonly among... well, the commons. You are likely to find them among special task forces or elite groups. Paladins are an example of this: Alouette, Salhade, Emil...

>get them to go after Maran, and anyone at the locations, specified in that sales document.
Not necessarily Shrine related, but she purchased real estate in the southern district, which nestles her cozily inside the zone of rich people with lots of mercenaries that you and Allond were just talking about. This doesn't mean you can't order the guards to go bust down their front door, but you do know where you'd be sending them and the potential consequences.
---

I think this addresses most of the speculations I was seeing. Hopefully it gives you a better idea of what options you're weighing without outright telling you what the outcome of those options would actually be. There are risks inherent to some choices that you can't skirt around and will simply have to take with the benefits they provide.

>>5615723
I think you want to tackle a dozen different things at once when the pov is focused on something else, comitting forces and obligations that should be discussed beforehand to tryhard the fuck out of things. I'd rather just have fun is what I'm saying.
>artermis
Brah......

>>5615788

>If a random adept, let's say Maran, ran to the Shrine while you were trying to apprehend her and said she was seeking asylum
Assuming that worst comes to worst and Maran manages evades the guards and managed to request Asylum from the Shrine we at least know where she is (for a few days at least, with Ari on the way, A Spiders Web could be used to remain aware of her location, catch her leaving), and that she would have to explain her actions. and if we get called in to explain why we want her we get a great chance to cross examine her if we go do things in person Also would potentially put her within Bracelet range, makes me wonder what we would get back from Dryad, since she may well be a NW carrier

Any collateral damage would be absorbed by the southern district so assuming that they want to actively succede, they would likely have to foot the bill for any repair work and fines and asset forfeiture can be pressed to recuperate funds for any damages we incur, and if they don't pay up or otherwise use the issue to start something we certainly have a few options going forward to put them back in the box, or we can otherwise present to them to get a better idea of the underlying issues in an attempt to solve them since at least on the face of things it seems nonsensical that they would actively interrupt a policing action relating to sedition and various other charges for any reason outside being ideologically motivated.

>The usual contingency is giving the Shrine custody of the situation
If Priat happens to also be recovered thorough the subsequent that would give us an "in" on the investigation, or at least a way to stay abreast of developments that isn't just further abusing A Spiders web to become aware of everything in Resuri and finding our objectives that way.


>You won't typically find an adept, or anti-adept measures, commonly among... well, the commons.
So what has "the fund" been spent on?, if not explicitly equipping the Guard to deal with the Mercenary situation to the best of their abilities seems. If that amounts to solely have more bodies and better equipment we're going to have issues doing literally anything, considering that any Adept likely serves as a force multiplier, and anyway if the happening starts The Shrine is likely to get involved as this are likely to rapidly escalate out of hand and end up like Carona, and if they don't I don't think many people are going to survive regardless of where they live.

>potential consequences
It only needs some lateral thinking, and ground work to achieve our objectives in abstract ways. The more "bad" ideas that people come up with the earlier they can refined and set in motion and so get better outcomes. It does feel like we don't really have any concrete way of achieving what we set out to do without massive casualties anyway so why should we care how many die. But then again that seems like par for the course regardless of our actions.

>>5615872
>So what has "the fund" been spent on?
Strictly speaking, you don't know. It wasn't elaborated on.

Generally speaking, better equipment and more bodies is indeed the thrust of the expenditure. You're absolutely correct in that Adepts serve as anything between force multipliers to hero units, but what can be directly addressed is number and gear disparity. Most of the mercenaries are just people, after all. Even if you think back to your efforts in Carona, there were maybe three Adepts across your entire conflict there. (Emil, the Wisp Paladin, a Gnome adept, and Artemis' Luna adept, specifically.)

>we're going to have issues doing literally anything
This is somewhat the sticking point Allond has, yes. He cannot afford to directly confront them, so he has skirted the issue to discourage conflict while trying to work out a better answer.

You do not necessarily inherit his problems, though. If you choose to try and tackle Resuri's whole circumstances, that is entirely a decision you can make. Your original purpose for coming to Resuri is, strictly speaking, only tangential to what you've learned in so much as you have an additional understanding of the factions occupying your new environment.

Don't let this come off as dissuading, however. Follow your dreams, anon!

>>5615909
>There were maybe three Adepts across your entire conflict there.
and that was a town the size of Carona before things went to shit and we killed more than half the population, Resuri is how many times bigger, and has a much larger budget.
Even if we expect things not to linearly scale That's many more than three hostile Adepts that we can expect to face, let alone in our first encounter with a fresh full strength, detachment of Mercs. and all we get are redshirts, The Bracelet and Aegis.

>while trying to work out a better answer.
Why do I feel like we're going to have to organize a Moot or something, and have to provide ridiculous concessions to get them to agree to anything. potential topics for "debate" include, and are in no way limited to; hearing grievances, limiting Merc employment, abolishing Slavery and more. Potential concessions include land / monetary Grants, foreclosing / guaranteeing existing contracts, tax concessions, misc. concessions and explanation of existing moratoriums and bans, and more

>Follow your dreams, anon!
There are none left you have crushed any path to them quite early on, and I doubt we'll be back in Carona any time soon. unless we royally fuck up and HiWtHi ourselves in order to get out of a bad situation

>>5615265 (retrieve mayor)
>>5615268 >>5615603 (retrieve mayor)
>>5615681 (see if the secretary sends another message about you leaving)
Leave!

>>5615415
>>5615415
>>5615415
>>5615415
>>5615415
The overwhelmingly correct answer!
---

Alright, calling the vote for 'A Spider's Web'!

Aaahhh ah the drug!

You stashed the documents on the slavemaster into your coat, "No, I'm not staying here. Just help me carry the mayor out of here."

"Wha- Why?" The secretary seemed more confused than against the idea, moving to help you lift the sleeping man after a second's hesitation.

You leveled your own bewildered expression back at them once you'd taken up position on the otherside of the mayor's shoulders and hoisted him from his chair. "You drugged him and tried to drug me, why would I feel safe leaving him here?"

"It's not the first time it's happened!" The secretary protested, "He'll be fine!"

"What do you mean it's not the first- How often are you doing this?!"

"I mean..." they trailed off with a grunt of exertion, the two of you struggling to keep Allond's deadweight uphoisted until you forced to let the man down. "He's had sleeping problems for years, part of my job is giving him a small dose before he leaves for the night."

"Really." You stared down at the unconscious man. Carrying him would be so much easier if you could use both hands. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"You can confirm it with him when he wakes up! I just... Don't normally give him this much. Only when I have to."

"And you had to in order to kidnap me?" you pointed to the opposite shoulder, "Get that side, we'll just drag him the rest of the way."

"It's not a kidnapping." They stressed, helping you start dragging the mayor's limp body into the front room. "And where are we taking him? This is a kidnapping!"

"Are you really arguing with me over what constitutes kidnapping right now?" You hiss back. "I have a good mind to get the guards to arrest you on my way out!"

"I said I was sorry! But really, where are you taking him? Do you even know where he lives?"

"..." You stopped tugging the man along the floor, noting one of his shoes had slipped off in the process, and realized you weren't actually sure where you planned on taking this guy. You could just as easily leave him with the guards, but if the secretary was compromised, maybe they were too? You stared at your would-be kidnapper in something between indecision and exasperation.

"...What?"

"How did you end up working as a double agent?" Because they were really bad at it, and it took you a while to realize you almost wanted to complain about that.

"I'm not!" They protested, receiving a deadpan stare for their efforts. "I swear!" You gestured emphatically back towards the tea set in the mayor's office. "..Okay, look, I drug him from time to time, but it's not like I'm betraying anybody here."

"You are explicitly betraying him." You counter, one-handedly pulling without much success. "And don't stop dragging." The two of you gradually wedged your way out the front door, Allond's last shoe being lost in the process. You gingerly lay Allond out on the ground, careful not to just slam his head into the ground when you drop him.

The secretary rubbed their forearm awkwardly. You pin them with a red-hued stare for a moment before looking around for where you'd left Scar. The commotion you'd made in dragging Allond out of his office succeeded in drawing Scar's head out of a nearby shadow in curiosity. The stupid bastard had been hiding from you on purpose - And realized too late he'd blown his own cover when your narrowed eyes snapped in his direction.

The secretary wordlessly helped you load Allond onto Scar's rump, a fact the colt was none too pleased over, and then stood back nervously. This was probably the most cooperative you were ever going to experience this sort of thing and it made you wonder what their circumstances were. They clearly weren't hostile to you, but also not dedicated enough to whoever they were doing it for to go the extra distance. They hadn't seemed to have any form of back up plan either, which meant they definitely weren't a professional of any sort.

"Be glad I'm not having you arrested for this." You were, however, going to tell the mayor what happened. You doubt their future would be changing all that much in the long run.

Turning Scar towards the city, your mind raced through what to do next. You felt ill-prepared moving without Lily and Aegis, which was a strange thought considering you had been so much worse off back in Carona... But Resuri was also that much bigger, and your opponents outnumbered you that much more. At least you had connections to work with here already, and with the documents on the slavemaster tucked away you even knew where to look.

Dropping Allond off with the guards for safekeeping came first, but after that?

>Double back to spy on the secretary and who they called to come get you.
>Race to the southern wall to regroup with Lily and Aegis.
>Meet with Isaac Lupre before word of your interest in him had a chance to spread.
>Confront Maran immediately.
You can pick only one!

>>5617014
>Meet with Isaac Lupre before word of your interest in him had a chance to spread.
I know trailing the secretary was my idea, but I don't want to lose the Tiers to sidequests again.

>>5617014
>Meet with Isaac Lupre before word of your interest in him had a chance to spread.
I want to murder Maran so bad. Priorities

>>5617014
>Race to the southern wall to regroup with Lily and Aegis.

I hope you guys remember how powerless we are without backup before an adept shows up.

>>5617120
Yeah you right forgot all about them Changing vote to same as this dude.

>>5617120
>>5617127
Alright, we regroup, and then what? We take them into the city? How do you imagine that?

>>5617176
Well Lily just looks like a mask so there's no problem there, we could ask Aegis to turn into a sword or something and wear her on our back. Or we could ask Aegis to shadow us from the rooftops and keep out of sight until we need her if you'd prefer.

>>5617014
>Double back to spy on the secretary and who they called to come get you.
Bring guards with us to counter-kidnap them.

>>5617176
We'll just wing it. For all we know there are people coming to murder us already

>>5617017
Isaac!

>>5617120
>>5617025
Lily and Aegis!

>>5617506
Spying!

Regrouping with the siblings it is!

Part of you considered doubling back to find out more about who was supposed to be coming for you, but anyone that proactive in trying to get in your way would wind up doing it again before you were done here. No, if anything your priority was, and still is, to meet with the slavemaster. The only reason you weren't going to rush directly to him was because you wanted the ability to hold your own if something happened in the process.

The streets were still unusually full as Scar moved through them, but it didn't take you more than a couple minutes from atop the nightmare to spot a pair of guards; Only slightly longer to navigate the lamplit isles by their direction to a safe place to leave Allond, a simple message left with the guards looking over him to pass on. From there it was a dead rush towards the southern wall.

With the dark of the night came a small second wind for your mount, but you weren't about to push him any harder than necessary. Not yet. You kept Scar to a hastened pace while scanning the crowd from his back, trying to identify less traveled roads and gaps in the crowds to weave through. Things got significantly worse before they got better, but when you breached the threshold between the Shrine's central plaza and the southern district it was a physically tangible difference. The suffocating din receded to a muffled murmuring at your back, lifting an oppressive weight you hadn't even been consciously aware of until it was gone.

All at once you could breathe again. The number of people out and about to lay eyes on Scar as he galloped through the shadowed streets dwindled to barely a handful, leaving you time to rest your eyes and take in the calm night air without fear of running over something or someone.

...But that sense of peace only stirred a different sort of discomfort.

Architecture changed as you rode, the buildings themselves gaining more space to breathe alongside you; Rows of grassy planters and aesthetically ringed trees gradually cropping up where squished walls of multi-story buildings once lined the roads. An emphasis on comfort and aesthetic appeal over the frantic and incessant drive to fit even just one more layer of construction within a given space.

The air of the place changed, as did the way the eyes upon you felt. Less obvious as you moved, and less curious. The people you passed on the street seemed amused at your rush, but every so often you got the feeling that you were being observed from somewhere out of sight. Inside the buildings, beyond the occasional gates...

What separated the southernmost part of the city from the 'Southern District'? You felt the difference more than you could explain it. It was every bit more open than its neighbours as it was guarded. Suspicion for curiosity, polite but firm insistance on distance and purpose.

But as you broke the building isles, the question of what separated the southern district from the upperclass households didn't even need to be asked.

Scar slowed to a halt at the end of the street, standing atop a terraced view of Resuri's lake. Yellow-silver moonlight frosted cast a glimmer across the countless small waves meandering across its surface, with the path down to it spreading out into a gently sloping hill of lush grass woven through with neatly maintained pavers. Docks stretching out into the lake dotted the inner shore, marked even from a distance by lanterns hooked to its posts.

It was a sight to give you pause, particularly with the shadow of Resuri's walls towering on the far side. That was your destination, but what left you staring wasn't the lake that seemed like it could have fit a second Resuri, or the wall beyond it, but the stepped compound of sprawling estates which greedily carved off a third of the lake's boundary for its own and lorded its presence over the rest of the already upper-middle class district. Even at this distance it was impressive, overwhelming even, and it left a poor taste in your mouth.

You were no stranger to luxury. You'd grown up in a small mansion secreted away in the woods, only to visit your cousin's miniature fortress, and recently spent time at the Valen family's primary estate. To compare the two would have put this gated community to shame, but not for lack of trying... And trying was the most charitable thing you could say about it. Where your family's holdings were utilitarian in nature, what you saw postured garishly atop untold months of labour in topographic restructuring was nothing short of lavish. People with enough money to start thinking themselves nobility, merchants and tradesmen alike...

Commoners truly had no idea what to do with money. It was obnoxious just to look at the silhouette of their wealth, you suspected seeing it again under the light of day would be outright repulsive.

Somewhere in there, Maran had claimed herself a nest.

"Come on, Scar." You tug the nightmare's attention from some small handful of boats floating lightlessly out in the cordoned off section and towards the mouth of the river which fed into the public portion. "Let's go."

Each section of the wall was flanked by two large towers. Their purposes were myriad: Distinctly separating each piece of the wall, serving as a way up and down from it, and acting as a sort of garrison for the guards currently on shift. The top of the wall, you knew now from experience, had several posted look-outs per section, and then a handful of guards assigned simply to patrol the length of said section. The bottom...

"Hold! Unauthorized people aren't allowed beyond this... Point?"

The bottom was not as thoroughly looked after, but the ground level entrance to each tower had a number of guards both inside and outside. A handful of them at most, yet their presence was enough to dissuade the stray wanderer from making an issue of things.

You stared down at the woman that had stepped forward to ward you off, torchlight lighting up your eyes... Which she only belatedly seemed to notice. The icing on the increasingly confused cake as she gradually took in Scar's pointed teeth and smoking mane, only to get a proper look at the nightmare's rider.

"Clara... Valen?"

You flicked your eyes from the guard at Scar's side to the gaggle that had begun gathering at the door behind her at her stuttered greeting, then back to her. "Irue Valen." You correct, swinging your leg over Scar's saddle to dismount in the process. "I need to go up. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Uh- No." She shook her head quickly, looking quickly between Scar and yourself. "No, not all, Ser Valen."

You nodded, looking Scar dead in the eye before you left. "Behave."

The ornery bastard snorted, and you had no hopes he'd actually do so. If you came back down and he was still here, you'd be satisfied. You stepped past the guards, noting with some amusement that they parted of their own accord to let you through to the interior, which revealed a fairly large circular space, the center of which was dominated by a massive spiraling staircase leading up.

Your neck craned back, following the stairs up, up, and up... You were tempted to go back out and make Scar run you up the wall a second time. Or maybe just calling Aegis and Lily from inside the wall instead of on top of it. Or-

Your thoughts trailed off when you noticed the guards that had greeted you outside had followed you inside, and all the way to the foot of the stairs, at that. "...Is there something you need?" You flexed your Shadewreathed hand and turned to them.

"No! I- We. We were wondering if there was something we could help you with?"

You politely shook your head, considering the group of them for a moment. After Allond's secretary, you had somewhat expected them to try and jump you. "No."

"Oh." All at once the tension visibly drained from the assembled group, even in the torchlight. "Alright, we'll return to our post then."

You watched them file back towards the door with a bemused expression before reluctantly beginning your ascension.

Back with the ground floor guards...

"That was Clara Valen?"

"Irue Valen." The woman corrected, watching the nightmare the noble had left behind warily. "I'd heard a lot of stories of Clara Valen's favorite mount, but I guess it's a family thing?"

"What in Gnome's towering teats is a noble doing in Resuri? Down here, even, in the middle of the night?" Her watch partner grumbled, receiving a round of grumbled shrugs from his compatriots. "You think this is a surprise inspection?"

"Ah, damned if I know." The woman muttered. "We did our job, anything else is above our paygrade. I ain't telling a Valen they can't walk up like twelve thousand stairs if they want to."

"I'm telling you, it's not twelve thousand."

"Fuck you, you count 'em the next time you go up if you're so sure."

"Look, it's just too convenient of a number. It's probably, like, 11,598 or something." The woman, along with two other guards from inside, stared at the complaining guard in mutual silence. "...What?"

"Nothing, was just thinking about how you put that merchant family education to work coming up with big ass numbers to bullshit us over stairs."

"Fuck you." He held his middle finger towards the others as if it'd ward them off somehow.

"Listen, your dumbass numbers aside-" A more offended 'fuck you!' was duly ignored, "We met a noble today. How many rounds at the bar you think we can swindle off the others dangling that over their head?"

Silence. And then, a round of intrigued murmurs.

"At least one, right? I mean it's not like we have much to tell."

"I'm thinking three, minimum. Especially since we were tasked with an exclusive mission by them." The woman mused seriously.

"Hold up, I'm pretty sure Ser Valen just told us to sod off." A man from inside interjected, "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing, but ain't no one else gonna be able to prove we're lying." The woman turned a beaming smile his way. "So, we're all in agreement about our secret mission, then?"

"This is a stupid idea."

"We're all in agreement? Yes?"

"Yeah, whatever. But if you can't swindle at least three rounds out of the guys with this then I'm never letting you live this down."

She clasped his outstretched hand with a devious grin. "Deal. Now what do we do with this nightmare while they're gone?" The guards turned as one towards Scar, who had sat down in the meantime. Upon realizing he was being watched, the nightmare raised its head to stare back. "...We can just leave it alone, right?"

"I mean it's just a horse."

"No, you idiot, it's not just a horse." The woman rolled her eyes, "It is a nightmare. They're extremely intelligent, sadistic predators. I've heard even East Heaven's rangers wind up hunted down by them if they're not careful."

"Ser Valen told it to behave." The man shrugged, eyeing Scar skeptically. Its ear flicked idly. "Just leave it alone, it'll be fine."

"...Yeah," The woman agreed slowly, keeping a lingering watch on the relaxing nightmare in the meantime. It swung its head in her direction and peeled its lips back into a disturbingly human smile, filled with interlocking rows of sharp fangs. "I guess. Are you guys seeing this?"

"Man, though... Did you see Ser Valen when they got off the nightmare?"

"Guys?"

"A lot shorter than I expected."

"The nightmare is smiling at us."

"Yeah."

"Guys...?"

Guard interlude - End

You still weren't at the top, but it was getting closer. Close enough you could faintly hear the guards talking above you, but not make out what they were saying. Your trip up gave you, not for the first time, a lot of time to think about how much stamina you'd built over the past year. You kept finding yourself in circumstances to reflect on that and it was almost enough to make you consider making a regular habit of exercising. Maybe pick up some light combat training with your knights?

Your aunt would probably approve, but you couldn't imagine actually taking to the activity. Especially seeing as how Caylen had had personal guidance from Alouette since he was a kid and still seemed to suck, you were relatively certain this whole generation of the Valen family was just cursed somehow.

"Whaddya doing up here? Next shift isn't for- Shit." A guard snapped to attention moments after noticing you. "VIP on the wall!"

"Don't mind me." You wave off the man's attention, quickly scanning through the rest of the people milling through the upper-wall common room. You didn't need an escort or their help; If anything, their attention and interference would probably only make things more complicated.

>Have them leave the wall for now.
>Let them mind their own business.
And!
>You'll probably want to stay up here until Lily and Aegis make it here.
>You're just going to put out a call for them and go. You're on a tight timeline tonight.

>>5618330
So the whole lake is within the city walls?

>>5618341
>Have them leave the wall for now.
>You're just going to put out a call for them and go. You're on a tight timeline tonight.

>>5618362
>So the whole lake is within the city walls?
Yes! There's also an extensive amount of farmland inside the walls, though you've not had reason to visit it.

>>5618364
So that's why they have no money. Wall maintenance and guard duty consumes it all!

>>5618341
>Let them mind their own business.
tell them not to panic, that's all they need to do.
>You'll probably want to stay up here until Lily and Aegis make it here.

We are Fae touched, no getting around that. and since we're bringing them into close proximity to a bunch of adepts it seems like a bad idea to leave them unsupervised for any length of time.

>>5618341
>Let them mind their own business.
>You'll probably want to stay up here until Lily and Aegis make it here.

Don't want to make a fuss while we're waiting.

>>5618341
>Let them mind their own business.
And ask them for some water. Hydration after cardio is good for you
>You'll probably want to stay up here until Lily and Aegis make it here.

>>5618341
>Let them mind their own business.
>You're just going to put out a call for them and go. You're on a tight timeline tonight.

Wait, so there's gonna be a rumour that the town guard are on a special mission from us while we're engaged in risky business? That's funny, I hope these guys don't get kidnapped and tortured by Artemis or something.

>>5618951
I guess we could always send them to distribute fliers in the Sothern district, or otherwise scope out Maran's new house.

>>5619010
Hmm. I think it's very likely that Maran bought that house for Artemis' purposes, not to live there. Therefore, the Tiers might be there.

>>5619042
I think it may be best to get Isaac's opinion first; since Priat's goal was the Teranford Refugees, while keeping an eye out for the Tier's. And if he happens to know where one or the other is, that should make things simpler. Though it is worth remembering that he was picked by Byrn to provide the Testaments for our Rites so is likely connected to Artermis operations at some level or another.

Ultimately we'd like to find both but I don't think they are going to be held by the same people. Though I do have a few ideas for potentially causing dissent and seeing if we can get anyone to provide info, though it would require making our objects known publicly, and providing compensation or a reward for info leading to their safe return.

We should steer clear of that house until we're ready to storm it. Otherwise they might move the goods.
Use spider's web to sleuth it out, nice

So we're swinging by the slavers house first right? But seeing as how we'll stop by Marans eventually, what do we know about her? There's this part from the start of thread 10 that says she's a wisp adept.

>A little more than a week had passed since you had managed to find and rescue Ari from brigands, obtaining a friend of your dear cousin Caylen's in the process. Maran Jenseits was... Not someone you got along with. Your cousin's friendship with her aside, you'd have been perfectly content having just left her back in the ruins. It was perhaps a small fortune to you that she had remained mostly silent through the remainder of the journey, content to shut up and do as she was told or follow behind Rinnier or yourself. She would speak to Rinnier on occasion, chatting easily about one thing or another as if they had been fast friends for some time, yet your spitfire Testament denies having met the frustrating woman before.

>You can't imagine anyone just 'hitting it off' with the insufferable tart, but Rinnier just laughed.

>She had proved quite useful at least. Her abilities as a Wisp Adept kept you invigorated each day, replenishing your stamina quickly as the three of you made rapid progress along the riverside. That, combined with her conjuring Will-O-Wisps to light your path during the night had allowed you to cut the remaining time for your trip nearly in half.

As a wisp adept I'd say it's a safe bet Maran is not implanted with Nymph wood seeing as how doing so would depower her. Another way to (briefly) depower a wisp adept is to poison them with Faedka like Marchovic did with that annoying paladin, I imagine Aegis could could make some sort of thorns coated with her own blood to achieve the same effect? I remember there was some talk about her being a Luna adept, was that just a misunderstanding or can anyone source this?

>>5618362
Take an early break, guys!

>>5618511
>>5618848
>>5618859
>>5618895
Stick around, don't mind me.
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>>5618362
>>5618895
Summon and go!

>>5618511
>>5618848
>>5618859
You need to make sure nothing weird comes with Lily and Aegis.
---

The votes are in but I won't be writing tonight. Maybe tomorrow? I think the next update or two will be where I have to reluctantly wrap up the thread, as I expect my internet connection to become spotty to non-existent for an indetermined period of time due to ISP issues.

Hopefully y'all aren't too disappointed. I felt we were starting to hit a decent stride in Resuri this thread. There's a handful of things I'm looking forward to you guys encountering while you're here, so the delay is mildly infuriating.

>>5619743
I wouldn't be disappointed if thread was only 2 updates long, any Valen we can get is good. Thx riz
>>5619567
That seems like a good idea to try, we can demana her and put her in some deep dark cramped place

>>5619567
>can anyone source this
I would have assumed that she was Luna ?attuned?, due to the fact that;
She was nominally a member of Artermis.
>After-all her main concern seemed to be convincing Caylen to go with her to do stuff and having people that can respond and think on their feet seems like an important capability for a honeytrap.
Was the descendant of Elly's brother from Dryad's Atelier.
>The same way the Valens' / Sariah (Rinnier's family) connection is hereditary, that it would follow that favor may have some familial component to it though may be otherwise correlated to something else.

I would also nominally caution that since the "Jinn-phone" exists, other abilities of varying complexity may well be able to be replicated let alone that the mimic is limited to how we use it, in a similar manor to the Bracelet being intent dependent, though to figure this out we would probably need to turn over an example to the Shrine, without having questions raised and even then we might not get an answer back, so it isn't a forgone conclusion that Artermis is limited in scope, though none of the others that had Jinn-phones, did. Potentially for other reasons.

>>5619996
We've had multiple examples of people from the same family having different affinities (like Elly and her brother, lol).