"We made about three-quarters of the progress today that I expected..." Rinnier observed as the sun began to fully set, its warm orange light bathing the rapidly darkening forest in various shades of yellow and crimson.

You refrained from groaning, all you had seen for the past eleven hours had been road. While initially it had been interesting to see potholes created by Kara's departure, the novelty of seeing exactly one 'foot print' from the demihuman every ten to fifteen minutes of walking quickly wore off. You were forced to concede that Rinnier had the right of it when she had called her fellow Testament a monster, and your appreciation for just how ridiculous your trip to Carona had been was soaring to unrivalled levels as of this very moment. "Asche probably already made it to Carona by now." You muse tiredly, watching the last glimmer of light begin to fade.

"A single day." Rinnier deadpanned, "I wonder how long it will take your maid to find information about the Tiers..." You shake your head, unable to imagine how Asche would even go about trying to gather information in town. You feel Ari's grip on your sleeve tighten as she looks around from your side, the slight sensation distracting you from your thoughts enough to pay attention to the wide-eyed and curious Testament at your side. While she was concerningly lightweight, carrying Ari on your back all day had been a trial.

It wasn't difficult in the sense that you struggled to achieve it, but you weren't used to walking this much in the first place; Carrying extra weight, even as relatively light as Ari's, as you made your first day long walk was simply icing on top of the cake. A cake of fatigue. One that was large and mushy and wobbly.

Much like your legs right now.

These last two days had been more physical exertion than you had experienced in the last five years put together. You felt like you had nearly killed yourself from sheer exhaustion each day since the start of this Rite.

This was hardly the noble life you had envisioned these past ten years. Shaking legs, clothes sticking to your sweat slicked skin, having to walk to your cousin's house - A branch member who, by all rights, should be summoned TO you - because you lack the means of transportation... Over what? Some self-important ponce in a nearby town that had barely made their way into the important echelons of the Shrine of Mana? The thought alone made you angry, and your frown deepened the more you allowed yourself to dwell on the circumstances that had led to this.

Carona was, as far as you were concerned, an unforgivable experience. Not only had they the nerve to talk down to you, your very identity had been questioned by the common townsfolk several times. Aside from the family which had owned that one rural inn, and the Salamander attendant Priat, you could say with relative certainty that not one of them had afforded you the respect that the heir of House Valen deserved. If anything, they treated you like... Some lower born peasant. Even lesser nobles would have been offended.

"We'll be leaving the road in about three days, if we keep up this rate." Rinnier muttered as she rolled the map back up with the fading light, "The road curves a bit, probably due to some geography in the forest. We'll be skirting the outside of the bend, since it's less likely to run through where potential brigands would set up base."

She sighed, biting down on a strip of meat she had saved from breakfast. "How much travel do these roads tend to get?" she turned her attention to you pensively, but you could only shake your head in response. "Until recently it was rare for me to venture from my house." You explained, "Most of my time was spent reading or studying."

"You didn't bother to learn about the land just outside your door?" Rinnier groaned.

"I didn't know where exactly I was until just yesterday," you defend yourself sharply, "I knew that I was in lands owned by House Valen, so the details weren't necessary."

"You don't need to know where you are to go see it." Rinnier replied, "Nobles can't simply govern from their estate, Irue. If you don't pay attention to the land entrusted to you, you'll lose touch with the people living in it."

"I don't need you to lecture me, I know that much!" You bit back, Ari flinching away at your tone even though she wasn't involved, "I wasn't responsible for them at the time, so it was unrelated to me. I focused my attentions on more important things!"

"Like what?" the former-princess asked incredulously, "What could be more important than the people you would one day look over? You said you were the heir to House Valen, surely you understood that this would be your duty one day? Did you expect to just get reports and flit through menus to divide your resources, hoping your people were self-sufficient in the meantime?"

"No!" Your voice rises as you surge to your feet, toppling Ari from her resting place with a pitiful squeak of shock. Your aggression is quickly curbed when you feel her grip on your sleeve dislodge itself as a result of your sudden movement. Silence descends on the group as you look between Rinnier's steady narrowed eyes and Ari as she timidly tried to scoot back away from the confrontation. "No..." You breathe out more softly, turning back towards Ari as you look away from Rinnier frustratedly, "I thought I would deal with it when it came up."

You spend the next several minutes quietly trying coaxing Ari back into a more relaxed state, though she still looks uneasily between Rinnier and you from time to time.

Eventually the spitfire Testament lurched forward, hauling herself up from the gnarled root she had chosen as a seat with her walking stick. "Go ahead and get a fire going." She muttered, brushing off the bark and dirt from her back. "With you here?" Your eyes shift towards her dully, but she's already walking away from the small recess the three of you had occupied. "I'll take first watch tonight." She flatly replied without bothering to look back, "I should be far enough away for it to be fine."

You watch her gradually slip into the darkness, until even the quiet sound of her footsteps through the forest start to blend in with the ambience.

First day of the trip to Caylen's and you were already behind schedule and at each other's throats. You dimly set about getting a fire going, almost mechanically remembering the process of nurturing Salamander's ritual flame into existence. There was probably a more mundane way to do this, but you were most confident in succeeding with this method. Though still slightly difficult, the fire eventually kindled during Rinnier's absence and began to cast its light from the hollow and radiate a much desired heat.

"I hope Asche is having a better time on her end..." You sigh.

The next few days passed in an awkward silence as you proceeded down the road until it was finally time to break away. With the forest you would be traveling through stretching out in front of you, you supposed this was where your journey really started. You had tried unsuccessfully to shake that lurking feeling of unease for the past few days, and weren't entirely enthusiastic about finally breaking from the road now.

"Let's get moving." Rinnier spoke up shortly, forging ahead - Always forging ahead, since you were still carrying Ari along with you. You found little reason to disagree with her though, having been unable to find any sign of those wood golems since you set out, and did your best to follow her into the foliage.

>Ask about the route plotted through the forest
>Ask about her time as a Princess
>Ask if she went hunting often
>Focus on looking for signs of the wood golems
>Apologize for snapping earlier
>Stay silent, keep walking

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

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

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

Misc notes:QM is not solar powered. Overheating may cause meltdown, death, and/or hate of all living things. Please air condition regularly for best results.

In other news, I think this is the first daytime thread of Valen Quest. Hello, sundwellers.

>>40738121
>>Ask about the route plotted through the forest
>Ask if she went hunting often
>Apologize for snapping earlier
MY aunt and uncle made it so up until now I never had to work for anything, in fact they discouraged it as much as possible. After all if I was pliable enough they could marry me off and remain head of the house indefinitely. I'm only now realizing just how much they undercut me.

>>40738121
>Ask about the route plotted through the forest
>Ask if she went hunting often
>Apologize for snapping earlier

Also, maybe use the whole marriage plot as leverage/explanation?

>>40738137
>>Apologize for snapping earlier
>>Ask about the route plotted through the forest
We're switching off carrying Ari at some point, right? We need a handle on leading our party before then. Plus, it's a long trip - can't keep it sour the whole time.

>>40738172
>>40738254
>>40738335
Route info!

>>40738172
>>40738254
Hunting!

>>40738172
>>40738254
>>40738335
Apologies!

Writing!

>>40738165
I like this quest!

Writing is great! (and a great volume!)

But its slow going and I am not sure were it is heading. are we going to take power ? rule the world? or is this more about the inter personal things with our testaments?

So far for 7 threads in and all we seam to have done is get background on the setting and beat the fuck up again and again. I love fluff as much as the next guy but what are your plans?

>>40738137
>Ask about her time as a Princess

>>40738423
Think you've found the wrong genre if you're waiting for that kind of dramatic twist so soon, with so little information. Probably.

We're going at a pretty decent pace, considering in 7 threads we bought 3 slaves, punched out a living grease fire, and got banned from an entire town over a solid three days.

We're going pretty damned fast, in terms of Irue's life until now. Even with all the exposition we still know very little about everything that's really going on, it seems.

"So what's our route?" You break the silence as you trudge into the woods, letting your eyes wander through the canopy above you warily. "We're cutting around the outside of the curve, but are there any landmarks we're aiming towards?" You readjust your grip on Ari, the timid Testament remaining mostly distracted as you felt her turn to and fro to try and look at everything around her at once. You're not sure if its good or bad that you've just started getting used to carrying Ari around.

At the very least you were progressively feeling less like dying at the end of each day. That isn't to say you were less tired, simply that you didn't actively want to collapse and never rise again. You're forced to wonder if Rinnier was handling this better, or just hiding her own fatigue better. She didn't seem to slow down, no matter how long the two of you walked.

"There's a river that runs roughly to the back of your cousin's estate." She answered after a moment of thought, drawing you from your reverie. "Getting to that river will take a few days, but from there we should be able to just follow it upstream to our destination."

"...Is it straight?"

Rinnier snorted, "No, of course it's not straight. I expect we'll see plenty of bends in it," her shoulders shook as she laughed, "Why do you ask?"

"I figured the quickest way to Caylen's would be a straight line." You remark flatly. "Yes, it probably would." she agreed after stifling her laughter, "We're following the river because its the most reliable way to navigate there. We're both unfamiliar with the land, and if we take the risk of just walking through the forest straight on then we're likely to start deviating and may end up lost or going in circles."

You nod along with her explanation, soaking up the information for future use.

"Listen, I'm-"

"-Sorry?" She finished, cutting off your apology archly before you could even start. You had been thinking for the last hour or so about how to handle it, and she just up and cut you off! "You don't need to apologize to me, it's fine." Rinnier continued with a relaxed tone, "I'm not happy about this, and I'm not even carrying Ari. I had already more or less known how you spent your time, so I shouldn't have pressed like I did."

"No," you hop forward a little quicker to catch up to her. "you were right. I should have spent more time looking in on where I was, and the people I would be responsible for. I've been learning a lot about just where I stand the past few days, with the trip to Carona and back." Rinnier glances at you as you pull up along side her, "Where you stand?" She asked, prodding the conversation forward curiously.

"Where I-" You pause, shaking your head before you correct yourself. "Where we live, it used to be just Asche and I. Anything I need was provided to me, all I needed to do was ask. I never considered that I would need to know more than I was taught, and only recently did I discover that my life up until that point had been deliberately set up that way. My aunt and uncle had been planning to depose me, which is exactly what led to where we are now."

"The stewards planned for you to be walking to your cousin's in order to stop a political scandal?" Rinnier arched a brow disbelievingly.

"...No, that was me. Ari, Kara and yourself, though; This Rite I've become engaged in which made the three of you my Testaments. It was the option I took to throw off my aunt and uncle's plans, and I've spent every day since discovering more and more how much of a gilded cage I had been trapped in."

"Ah..." She breathed, looking away thoughtfully as the two of you walked. "That... Helps explain a fair deal." she murmured.

>Explains what?
>It's not the life I imagined; Is this normal for nobility?
>It seems like there's too much going on in the world I don't know about
>I'm good at adapting though, I'm already fixing my shortcomings.

>>40739046
>>Explains what?
>It seems like there's too much going on in the world I don't know about

>>40739046
>It seems like there's too much going on in the world I don't know about
>I'm good at adapting though, I'm already fixing my shortcomings.

>>40739046
>>It's not the life I imagined; Is this normal for nobility?
We know exactly what it explains, and we shouldn't backtrack on our humble intentions by indulging some informed trait of ours.

>>40738423
I've made a point to try and update faster in exchange for slightly shorter posts, after an anon mentioned it being a problem a thread or two back. It's still debatable as to whether it's fast enough or not, I'm not really sure.

As for my plans and where we're going... I can't really discuss plans without accidentally spoiling some things, but I did mention in the first thread that it involves ll the traditional P's of noblility: Prophecy, Power, Politics, Peasants, and Pbackstabbing asshole family members.

In order for the players to navigate politics, they need a grasp on the world. In order to deal with family, they needed to learn who we are and where we stand. Power has been hinted at a little, and I think its safe to assume that anon knows there are some things going on with the Mana by now, and that ties into Prophecy.

You've actually already met the Prophet, and there are several other hints and bits of foreshadowing scattered about.

In the meantime though, your Testament will either be your closest allies, or your greatest enemies, and depending on the choices you make, those two classifications may not be mutually exclusive. While they are key to your initial goal (succeeding the Rite, becoming Head of House Valen), and interaction with them is important to achieve that and color your relations with them going forward, they are hardly the overall focus of the quest.

Even the initial goal doesn't necessarily need to be achieved. The Quest will not end if you fail to become head of House Valen, and that is a very real possibility if you simply take it for granted.

Your Testaments are a test of your capability as both a leader, and a person - They are not necessarily on your side unless, and until, you are able to win their loyalty.
___________

>>40739079
>>40739094
Lots of stuff going on!

>>40739079
Explains what

>>40739230
Not the life i imagined

>>40739094
adapting!

Writing!

>>40739380
:)

>>40739380
One thing I actually forgot, and should probably have amended onto this...

Each of the three Testaments would have sent the overarching focus of the plot in different directions.

By choosing all 3 of them, anon literally catapulted themselves in every direction at once, which is why you can't seem to get a clean victory and are constantly just scraping by. You all tossed yourselves into Irue Must Die.

It's been interesting trying to thread things together simultaneously without seemingly shoehorning one thing or another in awkwardly.

>>40739574
shoehorn shoehorn shoehorn!

give us some rails so we can jump off them.

"There's a lot of things going in the world that I don't have answers to." You continue, "I was mostly ignorant of the demihuman prejudice until I went to Carona with Kara, and it turned out badly..." your eyes narrow as you remember just how frustrating it had been to get directions to a healer. If Kara hadn't sniffed it out, you'd have probably had a lot more problems to deal with. "The fact you're part of my Testament is an entirely different set of circumstances. I have no idea what's happened in Teranford, or what's going on in East Heaven."

"No one knows what's going on in East Heaven." Rinnier snorted darkly, "Though you truly knew nothing of the demihumans in society? You seemed to recognize her kind with the slavemaster."

"I know about demihumans, just... Not people's reactions to them." You shook your head, "It was not something I realized until afterwards."

"Well, it's another thing you've learned then." Rinnier acknowledged finally, "If you're still insistent on this, then you need a plan don't you? Where do you plan to go from here?"

From here... "For now I want to deal with Roderik. I still don't know how long I have until this Rite concludes, but in the meantime I need to catch myself up on as many things as possible." You nod to yourself as the ideas rapidly begin to fit together in your head, "I have more weaknesses than I expected, but it's not to the point where I don't believe I can manage it yet. If it's only this much, then it's still within my ability to adapt."

"Confident, aren't you?" Rinnier frowned, "Nobility isn't a life you can just ride through freely, Irue. You must realize that by now, don't you?" She came to a stop, turning towards you fully as she continued. "What makes you so certain you can just 'adapt' to a life that some people spend their entire lives preparing for?"

"I'm Irue Valen." You reply immediately, a confident twitch of your lips as you do so.

"It's not the life I expected, I'll admit, but it doesn't change who I am. When I made this decision, I knew I would be at a disadvantage going into it; All that has changed since then is that the disadvantage turned out to be more extensive than expected." You can feel Ari tensing behind you as you stand off with Rinnier, but this time you're not looking to press an issue or spoil for a fight. You straighten your posture, shunting Ari back slightly as your shoulders straighten and you meet Rinnier eye for eye. "Either I take this head on with everything I've got and win, or I give it my all and have no regrets."

"You may not have regrets, but what about the people you're responsible for?" The spitfire Testament argued, "It's not just 'oh well' if you mess up, if your failure cascades to your people." A shadow flashed through her eyes as her body tensed, though not in aggression. You could see her sink, shoulders folding in softly. This wasn't a fight, not yet, but you stood on a precipice of... something.

You needed to choose your next words carefully.

>I'm not responsible for people yet, remember? Only an Heir.
>Even more of a reason I can't let my self fail, isn't it?
>My situation isn't so dire. If I can't do it, there are capable hands already looking after them.
>Don't project your insecurities on me. Even if they've been poor serfs so far, I won't fail something I started myself.

>>40740010
>Even more of a reason I can't let my self fail, isn't it?

>>40740010
>Even more of a reason I can't let my self fail, isn't it?

I'll admit, I was tempted to go the third option but that feels like a double-edged sword - on one hand it can be weaved into a compliment about Rinnier and her expertise, on the other it could be taken as us just being the complacent dolt that she thinks we are.

>>40740010
>Even more of a reason I can't let my self fail, isn't it?

>>40740098
>>40740159
>>40740248
Failure is not an option!

Writing!

"That's why failure isn't an option." You stand your ground steadfastly, the confident smile on your face softening as you continue. "I may not have a nation or province to look after yet, but I'm still responsible for Ari." You heft the timid Testament up on your back at her name, earning a squeak out of her as she quickly tightens her grip to avoid sliding off before burying her face into your hair. "And Kara, and you. This Rite is a test, Rinnier. If I can't prove that I'm capable of handling the responsibility of my position through my Testament, then I fail."

"So knowing that your bravado can lead to losing Ari and your pet demihuman, you can still take this so lightly?!" Rinnier snaps, "I am not some cushioned noble who can fall back on their family! I still have responsibilities to attend to, and I am forced to rely on you to do so!"

"So I can't fail, right?" You reiterate in a steady tone, restraining your natural reaction to raise your voice - Shouting was intimidation, a display of overt aggression. It forced a decision where you either encouraged escalation or cowed the less confident. You could feel Rinnier beginning to buckle down, preparing for the fight she was determined to meet you in.

Unfortunately for her, this wasn't a fight.

"You said yourself that you're forced to rely on me. I gave you my word that I would help you, and to do that then I must succeed. Given that everything hinges on whether I can do that or not, then I refuse to allow myself to just shrivel up and become overwhelmed. I have to do this," you explain steadily, "For all of you."

"You cannot just succeed because you believe you will!" She bit back harshly, "This is not a game for you to win just because you try. There are times when you can't win, Irue. Times when the only thing you can do is try and limit the fallout so you can make it easier to pick up the pieces."

>Now is not one of those times.
>So you've written me off already?
>You would have me plan for failure?!
>We're wasting time. (Break-off discussion)

>>40740667
What a pessimist.

>>40740709
Her entire country was wiped out overnight and she was sold as a slave to a reclusive noble using her for their coming of age rite of passage.

>>40740707
>So you've written me off already?
The head-on confident approach isn't going to work with her. She's right, but she's also acting like we've already lost like she did.

>>40740707
>>You would have me plan for failure?!
Or would you have me give up entirely and rollover and die? I am going to do the best I can. You can either help me succeed which also brings you closer to your own goals, or not. Because if I fail, the limited fallout is going to be my testament goes back where it came from so my dear aunt and uncle can recoup their investment.

>>40740833
Writing me off?

>>40741003
You want me to plain for failure?

all of the previous options are meant to be mutually exclusive, but I think I can pull something together here.

Writing!

>>40741003
>>40739380
>The Quest will not end if you fail to become head of House Valen, and that is a very real possibility if you simply take it for granted.
>They are not necessarily on your side unless, and until, you are able to win their loyalty.

Careful, anon.

>>40741099
Which is why I pointed out if airier fails and is put back under her Aunt and Uncles sway, the failed testament would get sold off, to weaken her, cut costs, and to recoup the money they lost. That would be exactly ehat I would do in their place. I was simply wanting to hammer that fact home to Rinnier.

>>40741238
Driving her through subjugation and simply assuming success might stab us in the back later on. Pushing Rinnier's buttons this early will do nothing but earn us a powerful enemy.

>>40741395
I wasn't trying to subjugate her. Irue wants to help, but Rinnier needs to take stock of her situation. She's no longer nobility, but as long as she's our testament she's safe. If we fail she's likely going to used as a pleasure slave, or do to her families blood a sacrifice for mana.

>>40741467
I think she has taken stock of it. At this point she's frustrated because we don't seem to have done the same.

Not considering the worst-case scenario on the basis we're theoretically capable of pulling through probably mirrors what happened to Teranford.

That, and biting back with a threat to her personal safety only proves we have no idea what we're doing, trying to win the battle and not the war.

"You're right, sometimes that really is the best thing you can do." You agree, "But if that's all you ever plan for, then that's all you'll ever be doing. It must be hell for you having to rely on some-" Your voice twists in self-depreciation, "-foreign noble brat who keeps making stupid decisions, but I have not once allowed myself to fail any of you." You stand strong in the face of Rinnier's doubts, distantly noting the way that Ari has clutched herself against you in an attempt to escape the shouting.

you shake your head, deliberately stepping into Rinnier's space as you force the distance between you away with demanding eyes. "For all this talk of planning to pick up the pieces, isn't that just what you're doing?" You see her flinch back as you approach, though whether its from the invasion of her personal space or your words you couldn't tell, "No matter what I say to you, I can't convince you. You've written me off as a lost cause already, haven't you?"

Her jaw sets, you're close enough to see her nostrils flare as she her chest heaves from the deep breaths required to steady her own equilibrium. When she looks away, you know her answer.

"Make your plans, Rinnier." You continue softly, a disappointment you can't filter out lacing your voice as you turn away in the direction the two of you had been walking before this whole mess started. "I gave you my word. I don't need your belief to help you."

"And what if you can't?!" She chokes frustratedly at your back, "What would you do in my position!"

"Honestly, I have no idea." You admit plainly, "Try and pick up the pieces, I guess." You glance back at the spitfire Testament with her fists squeezed tightly against her sides until the knuckles shown white. "Have you started picking any up yet, or are you still making plans for what you'll do when you fail at that, too?"

The way Rinnier freezes is almost enough to cause you to tack back those words, but it would be too late at this point. Even if you apologized, the damage was done. She stood rooted to the ground, even her breathing halted as she refused to move forward. Though her eyes were wide, you could barely discern their focus as they riveted themselves upon the forest floor.

>How did it go? The vassals of my vassals, the pieces of my pieces...
>We're wasting time, Rinnier. Let's go.
>If you're just going to make plans for when you fail, you'll never succeed.
>I'm not like you. Even if I do stupid things, at least I do something.
>Other? (write-in)

>>40741756
>>I'm not like you. Even if I do stupid things, at least I do something.
The wrong action at the right time, is better than the right action too late.
>We're wasting time, Rinnier. Let's go.

>>40741756
>Other? (write-in)
We were a tad harsh. We are not without fault in this situation, and she knows despite what we said to her. We need to redouble our promise to assist her, if she would only assist us as well.

We do need her. Even from a utilitarian standpoint she is our only connection to the politics we will undoubtedly be immersed in later on.

>>40741963
Act with wisdom, but act!

>>40741963
Now let's get going, I've got a cousin to see.

>>40742029
This write-in.

Writing!
....Give me a second to figure out how to work those together.

You wonder if maybe you had taken it a step too far. No, the way she was now, you know for a fact you had said something you couldn't take back, but... Did you want to take it back? It was true. For all she had talked of wanting you to help her people, she had written you off as a lost cause. How quickly had she given up on that help? You weren't the ideal picture of a noble, a fact you were coming face to face with uncomfortably often these past few days, but if she cared that much about her people then why give up so easily if there was even a chance?

You do stupid things, but you DO them. If there's even a chance you can do something, you'll bite down on that chance and ride it. Objectively you could understand the benefits of making plans incase you failed, but this went beyond that. Rinnier wasn't planning, she was expecting. From the start, had she ever honestly believed she would succeed?

"I'm not like you, Rinnier." You raise your voice clearly, "I'll take the best option I can at the time, and if it turns out to have been wrong later down the line... At least I did something." You take a breath, steeling yourself for what you were about to do. Technically you had already done this, had this discussion, made this agreement, but it was under different circumstances. "And if you're still too afraid to do something, then I'll do it myself."

Rinnier took a half-step back as her head jerked up in confusion, "...What?" She whispered disbelievingly, as if unable to accept what you had just said. "I'll do it myself." You repeat flatly, watching a spark of indignity kindle in the former-princess. "We've been over this, and I gave you my word - I'll say it again to be clear now: I told you I would help your people. If their princess won't do it, then I'll do it myself."

"Don't you DARE presume-" She hissed, her immobility shattering as she quickly strode towards you.

"-I Dare!" You cut her off sharply as you step to meet her, "Because it is my duty to uphold the promises I make to those I am responsible for! Even if it's not the best way, I'll do it if it is the only way I see, Because the wrong action at the right time is worth far more than realizing what you should have done when it is too late to make a difference!"

"You will not know where to start! You can barely manage beyond your estate, how do you expect to back up any of this empty posturing?"

"I've got partners who make lots of plans." You deadpan, glaring at the former-princess, "And if they are so concerned that I'm going to do it wrong, then they should start giving me advice on how I can do it right because one way or the other, SOMETHING is getting done!"

You match glares for several long moments, before Rinnier finally throws her arms up in the air and shoves you aside as she stomps past with a scream born of frustration from the bottom of her soul. "You incorrigible idiot!" Her voice sends several nearby birds scattering, and you stumble off balance in a quick bid to not topple over and drop Ari. By the time you manage to catch your balance, you've just enough time to catch yourself on the edge of a barkless tree before you fall, pulling yourself steady as its fingers curl around your wrist.

You look up and find yourself face to face with your own smiling face, staring at you from the trunk of the tree.

>Keep quiet, don't startle it. (do not alert Rinnier)
>Jerk away quickly, you can't be careless with Ari. (May startle it)
>Alert Rinnier!
>Other? (write-in)

>>40743110
Hello Tree ... spirit. Please let go of me.

>>40743110
>Keep quiet, don't startle it. (do not alert Rinnier)

>Other? (write-in)
Thank them for the stick. Even though they're kind of freaky, part of nobility is the ability to be gracious under any circumstance. Except with Rinnier.

>>40743110
Shit, several days of walking away and it's still following us?

>Keep quiet, don't startle it. (do not alert Rinnier)
No speaking. We know that's a bad idea.

>>40743110
>Keep quiet, don't startle it. (do not alert Rinnier)
>Other? (write-in)

HI there tree spirit thingy... Please don't eat me.

>>40743110
>>40743201
I'd like to add to this that we might want to put Ari down, since I could imagine that if the tree spirit starts 'investigating' her, she would probably lose it.

>>40743201
>>40743208
>>40743229
Keeping quiet.

>>40743201
Thanks for the stick.
Casually puts Ari somewhere else.

>>40743229
Hiya.

Keeping quiet wins, but moving Ari can be done.

Writing!

You clamp your mouth shut as its wooden fingers curl around your right hand tightly. The last time you encountered these things, they started echoing whatever you said. Like hell you were going to give them another chance at-"Irue Valen."- your voice echoes back at you from the smiling wooden face only half-emerged from the trunk.

You suck in a gasp of air, casually trying to nudge Ari away from you and towards the ground as she stares over your shoulder in wonder. Its face shifts towards Ari briefly, looking her over for a few seconds in curiosity as you swiftly move to interpose yourself between it and the timid Testament on your back. You'd tell her to run, but that would just- No, if it didn't know those words already then saying them again probably wouldn't matter. "Ari, run." You mutter tightly, letting Ari's legs drop from your hold and dangle towards the ground. You can feel her hesitate, still holding tightly around your neck, even as her feet scrape the ground when you slowly lower yourself. "...Run!" You hiss, and that's finally enough to galvanize the timid Testament into action as you hear her stumble and begin to make her way back towards Rinnier.

You keep an eye on the partially emerged wood golem as its attention flickers briefly to Ari before coming back to you. This one had been the one who had spoken last time, but you hadn't touched it - That had been the other one. You're not sure whether they're one thing, or just different forms of the same thing, though... More importantly, just how long had it been following you?

If it could just phase in and out of trees, you really had no 'safe' place.

"What do you want?" you ask quietly, trying to gently pull your hand free from the curled digits wrapped firmly around your wrist. "W-" You pause, remembering their strange quirk, "Tell me why you're following us."

"Do you want." It echoed back, another hand extending from the tree, this one with a familiar 'bracelet' of green moss and untainted amber. Your eyes lock onto the drop of amber, remembering exactly what the last one had done, as its moss-ringed left hand reached closer to your face.

>Try to break its grip and get away
>Alert Rinnier
>Let it do what it wants, wait for an opportunity to escape.
>Turn to check on Ari (Lets wood golem out of your sight)

>>40743826
>>Let it do what it wants, wait for an opportunity to escape.
What could possibly go wrong?

>>40743826
>"Do you want." It echoed back, another hand extending from the tree, this one with a familiar 'bracelet' of green moss and untainted amber.

>Say no.
For as strangely as they go about doing everything, they have actually tended to respect our requests. They stopped when we told them to stop, found us a stick when we said we were looking for a stick. Maybe just try the standard operating procedure for when you don't actually want.

>>40743826
>Let it do what it wants, wait for an opportunity to escape.

I'm pushing the button.

>>40744041
>>40744126
Letting it do stuff.

>>40744114
Not letting it do stuff.

Well. Okay.
Writing!

>>40744152
I'm just realizing that we're sort of retreading the ground we walked with Ari all over again with the freaky tree people.
Step 1: Try to be calm and nice.
Step 2: Notice that they're not reacting as expected to your acting calm and nice.
Step 3: Panic.
Step 4: Goto 1 x(?)

Hopefully we can get to the terminus of this loop without curiously scalped by a tree person who likes the idea of hair a lot but still doesn't quite understand how people work yet.

You swallow thickly at its response, allowing its probing hand to brush against your brow softly as you tried to think of a way out of this. Not for the first time, you hate how life-like yet immobile their expression are. Habitually your try to break down the expression, analyse the body language, anything to find out what their thoughts and intentions... Only to be met by the same mimicked face, a set of meanings and messages that may as well have been a mask for as relevant as it remained to you.

It didn't move in a way that was human, it didn't possess the minor tells and signs that even a demihuman like Kara, or even base animals possessed. In all honesty, you weren't sure how the thing moved at all considering it was made of solid wood.

Its fingers thread their way past your ear and into your hair as its palm rests gently against your cheek. You resolve to hold your ground, waiting for an opportunity, some distraction, for you to make your move and get away from this thing. Your eyes flickers to the side as the caressing hand slips behind you and begins to stroke your hair in a soft, appreciativ-

You did this. You did this exact same thing with the first one. This thought rings through your head as you realize that even now, it's just mimicking what you've done or said before. No, even that's not quite right. It had mirrored you before, only acting in concert. This time, it had taken the initiative - The wood golem was going through the same motions, but of its own accord.

You stand tensely as the thing tenderly strokes your hair, over and over, with the same unchanging smile sculpted onto its face. You wrinkle your nose as you you notice the faint smell of copper flickering through the wooden scent, and realize with a start that the branches of the tree this thing had nearly emerged from were beginning to bend down towards you.

The grip on your wrist was as tight as it had been before, but you had let the thing get its other hand behind you. Whatever its goal was, it didn't seem content with merely admiring your hair for much longer. You twisted your chin, noticing the rapidly blooming vines that encircled the approaching branches. Their sweet smell was starting to obscure everything else, a heady scent that caused your muscles to loosen even as you tried to stand tense.

>Alert... Rinnier..?
>Need to... get away.
>This isn't so bad...
>Am I... forgetting something?

>>40744653
>Alert... Rinnier..?
>Need to... get away.
Bad tree. No.

>>40744653
>Am I... forgetting something?
They might have listened last time we ordered them to stay put instead of giving chase. Not sure about that, but if we tell it to stop, will it listen?

>>40744842
They did, yeah. Worth doing either way.

>>40744768
Alert Rinnier!

>>40744768
Gotta run.

>>40744842
Always have a safety word!
This was not what prompted the option, but it will be accepted for the situation at hand.

Writing!

"S...Stop." You rasp out, fighting through a haze of calm you couldn't remember entering. The flowers around you were nice, though, and now all you could smell was just how sweet they were. You shook your head lightly, dislodging the comforting caress as you weakly tried to pull away a second time. Was it a second time? When was the first? No, it didn't matter, you needed to get away. Something was holding you here, in this pleasant cocoon of vines. You absently note that the hand which had been stroking your hair had halted, hesitatingly briefly in response to your request. Its smiling face tilted, as if trying to understand your resistance. "Rin..." You blink, trying to pull away from the thing holding onto you and... Further into the flowering vines?

No, this wasn't what you wanted. "Let... me go!" You groaned, irritability flaring up as you remembered what you were doing before this, where you were. "Rinnier!" You cried out, looking around rapidly only to realize you had been completely concealed by the tightly interwoven vines. "Dammit. Rinnier, they're back!" You have no idea if she heard you or not, but your right hand had finally been released from its grip as it allowed you to look around within the tiny enclosure you now occupied alongside a wooden replica of your own face.

"Tell me what you want!" You bite out, fighting tooth and nail for every inch of mental focus you could claw back. "Do you want." It echoed back again, staring at you with the same damnable smile. "Do you even understand what you're saying?" You can't help but ask agitatedly, receiving only a still and silent stare in response. "Let me out." You try a different tactic, stepping away from the wood golem as you press against the vine covering.

Your appreciation for the weird quirk pays off as the vines begin to loosen, their cords falling slack enough for you to begin to see out through them and into the mist covered forest floor beyond.

This appreciation dried up when their unravelling halted, only for the vines to snap back shut after you caught a whiff of rancid meat from beyond the veil of sweetly flowering vines. You whirled on the wood-golem bearing your smiling likeness, "Let me out!" You repeated more forcefully, slamming your fist against the vine wall agitatedly. The vines quivered, shifting and writhing, before finally locking themselves down.

From the brief period you had managed to look out from your cocoon, you noticed it was dark outside. It wasn't even midday when you had finished arguing with Rinnier, was it? How long had you been in here?

>Try to force your way out
>Try different orders
>Attack the wood golem
>Continue calling for Rinnier
>Am I forgetting something...?

>>40745606
Look for that amber that bit us. Break it.
>Try to force your way out

>>40745606
>Attack the golem

>>40745772
Forcing way out, breaking Amber.

>>40745914
Attacking Golems.

Writing!

>>40745606
>you caught a whiff of rancid meat from beyond the veil of sweetly flowering vines
Kind of pitcher plant-y, I suppose.

Maybe try to ask it to bring us to the stick it found. See if it's willing to take us out in order to placate us.

>>40745975
PUNCH IT REAL HARD, 'AN STUFF

Your mind whirls as you try to figure out some way to get out. This thing lost the benefit of the doubt when it showed it could resist that weird quirk of obeying direct commands. Now that you think about it, wasn't it the smiling one that had managed to shrug it off quickest last time as well? Was it just gradually getting over that entirely?

You don't know near enough about these things to begin postulating on what they're doing, but you start rapidly churn through what you DO know to try and figure out something. They copied your expression they copied your words and voice but don't seem to understand the meaning behind them. They were essentially wood copies of you, right down to your bracelet, which had manifested as some weird mossy ring set with amber.

That amber had bit you, last you checked, and it had done something weird to the one that bit you after the blood soaked was taken into it. Whatever it had done, you never saw THAT one again...

Your mind snaps pieces into place as you quickly locate the wood golem's moss ringed left hand and the amber set upon it. You're admittedly not experienced with breaking rocks - even rocks that are really just tree sap - since that's more Kara's thing, but... Well, Kara gave you advice didn't she?

Your left hand curls into a fist as the wood golem watches you sedately, and you bring your fist down viciously on the wooden limb. You have exactly one quarter of a second to regret this course of action as the entirety of the vine-capsule is filled with a searing light and you hear the sound of something snapping in half.

You stumble blindly out of the now inert pile of vines and out into the gnarled root covered forest floor, still covered in a light layer of... Not mist, but pollen. One that had been exuding from the flowering vine capsule which now lay wilted.

You blink the lights from your eyes, the pain of your pupils expanding rapidly to try and soak in even the miniscule beads of light in the night forest. In the pale luminescences of dying flowers, you saw the wood golem that had trapped you still smiling at you, one hand half extended towards you as if reaching out to you. The other, merely a stump; Its hand laying inert on the ground not far from you.

Despite the smiling face, it was entirely still. It was simply a tree that had somehow grown a protuberance in your likeness. You breathe out unsteadily, shivering at the well and truly dead stare of the bizarre wood golem that you had just managed to kill... Much easier than expected. You flex your fingers and take a breath, nearly retching to spit said breath right back out when your nose was filled with the lingering scent of copper blood and long putrid meat that you had caught moments ago before breaking out.

You stumble back, taking stock of your situation in the dark. You're not sure how long that wood golem had you trapped thanks to those flowers, its at least several hours later, Mana forbid days, and you've no idea where Rinnier or Ari had gotten to. You raise your sleeve to your face to try and breath through the fabric in order to filter out some of the rancid scent surrounding you. You're not sure what direction you were going in before this happened, and something - or a lot of somethings - smelled like it died near here.

At least you got Ari free before that happened. You hope she caught up to Rinnier.

>Pick a direction, start walking.
>Climb tree, try to get a better perspective.
>Investigate area, try to get your bearings.
>Call for Rinnier and Ari, maybe they can hear you now.

>>40746708
>>Investigate area, try to get your bearings.
>Call for Rinnier and Ari, maybe they can hear you now.

>>40746740
Writing this stuff!

You look around in the dark, trying to get an idea of where you are. Some things are familiar to you, even in the dark. Things like the particular place Rinnier had froze during your argument earlier. It was more memorable because of who had stood there, rather than what it looked like, but it served enough as a landmark in order for you to arrange yourself where you had been in relation to the tree and the small swell of earth when she had shoved past you.

You had a direction to go now, which was more than you can say you had roughly four minutes ago. This was progress!

"Ari!" Your voice echoes through the forest as you start to walk, "Rinnier!" You paused for a moment, letting the echo fade as you waited for some kind of response. The familiar task of trying to find Ari after an encounter with wood golems reminding you that even if you did call her, her reply may have been so faint you'd miss it. On the other hand, given how dark it is, she may have caught up with Rinnier as well. While that would be ideal for you, it did raise another particularly concerning question: If Ari had caught up to Rinnier, why hadn't they backtracked to you?

You see something shifting up ahead through the darkness and brush. "Ari?" You call out tentatively, standing your ground as you try to peer through the darkness instead of going closer. If it had been Rinnier, she'd have responded... Which left you Ari, or something else in the forest. You weren't particularly keen on finding a 'something else', so you decided to avoid tromping head first into the brush for now.

You shifted your feet in the leaf covered floor preparing to fight or start making tracks depending on what you found, and try to decide what to do. A distant part of you noted just how sick you were getting of being separated from your Testaments lately. You were requisitioning a leash or three from Caylen as soon as you got there.

Maybe a muzzle for Rinnier.

>Find something to throw into the brush
>Investigate yourself
>Call them again
>Do something else (write-in?)

>>40747734
>Find something to throw into the brush

>>40747734
>>40747753
>Find something to throw into the brush
Something small, preferably. Hopefully if they are hiding despite our calling out (possibly since all we've been saying are words the Golem could easily have learned from us) it will get their attention while potentially going unnoticed by something larger.

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>>40747778
>>40747857
Tossin stuff into bush.
__________________

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

And we are archived.

Going to call the thread unforgivably early today. Staying awake through the sun has left me nearly dead.

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

We'll have another thread sometime Monday (Thread 7.5).

>>40748134
Thanks for running. GO hide in the shadows and hydrate yourself!

>>40748134
Thank's for running and putting up with us daylight folk. Go back to the shadows and regroup.