Putting aside not knowing where to go, you're not even sure who or what you're supposed to be looking for. Those three W's were vital in doing anything, and you didn't even have one right now!

---
Dawn of the first day, 72 hours remain.
Form: Irue Valen
---

>You need information, which means the pub!
>Track down Roderick; If your hunch is correct, he might already have connections.
>Spend time snooping through the Mayor's residence.
>Criminals are kept in jail, aren't they? You can go straight to the source.
>Other? (write-in)

ALSO

>Use Diary of Reflections? Y/N.

>>44142469
>>Track down Roderick; If your hunch is correct, he might already have connections.
>Y

Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=valen+quest

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

Where things are asked:
http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Current Abilities - http://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
Basics of Mana - http://pastebin.com/V9b1DMrS
A List of Forgotten Things - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT

Misc notes:The original opening post got saved to a separate file when i realized I was making a write-up for Dopplerue instead of properly working on the quest.

In related news, expect a write-up to happen by next weekend.

>>44142469
>You need information, which means the pub
>No

Let's not get too dependent on the diary, yeah? everything's got a price.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>44142484
1. Roderick and Diary!

>>44142663
2. Pub and doing it yourself!

We're off to a rolling start.

You run your fingers across the frosted cover of the Diary of Reflections. With this Relic, you could shed your face and form and become anyone you wanted...

We can handle this ourselves.

You frown, fingers halting across the covers as that unwelcome voice piped up. Why handle it yourself? Wouldn't it be bad if your actual description got back to the guards in Carona? You had managed to infiltrate it through a method no one in this blasted town likely had any idea of, but it would all be completely for naught if you just walked around with your wanted face out for the public to see.

Besides, what would you gain from keeping this face? Hadn't you already proven that your existence meant nothing to the people of Carona? It wasn't as if you were going to be getting any perks out of this.

Because everything involving Mana comes with a price.

Yeah, and you know what else has a price? Pride and arrogance! Walking around so openly just because you don't think you should use all the tools at your disposal will just cause trouble! Trouble that could have been completely avoided if you had just used this VERY CONVENIENT TOOL that does exactly what you need to move around undetected!

...If something happens, then we'll use the Relic. Until then-

-Go without? So you only want to actually make use of our full abilities AFTER you've set the entire town on alert?

Your recalcitrance is abruptly stopped when a familiar weight settles around your left wrist; The phantom presence of an accessory that didn't belong to you, but resided clearly on the arm of your shadow. Your teeth clamp shut as you hiss out in seething frustration.

Reluctantly, you pulled your hand away from the frosted cover of the Diary of Reflections and turned angrily from your own shadow as you stalked off into the streets of Carona.

Against your better judgement, you find yourself retracting your steps to the pub from last night. You keep your face bowed towards the ground as you grit your teeth, trying to avoid any unnecessary contact as you go. The pub in the morning is almost exactly the same as the pub last night, albeit far less crowded. The ambient noise level is barely noticeable as many of its inhabitants are preparing to face the morning, rather than winding down from a long day's work.

You glance around the building, trying to find a familiar face. Rather, there was only one face who would look familiar, but it didn't seem the girl from last night was around this morning.

You suppose that's to be expected, though.

Your train of thoughts are interrupted as a sharp featured man in an apron calls at out to you. You blink briefly, only barely catching the tail end of his greeting as he sets an emptied plate he had been carrying aside and wipes his hands off.

"I'm sorry?" You shake your head lightly, refocusing on the task at hand, but he just shrugs with a lazy grin. "You looked a bit lost. Can I get you anything?"

>Ask about the girl from last night, you need information.
>Ask him about criminal underground!
>Ask about rumors
>Ask something else? (what?)
>Other? (write-in)

You have no money. You have been broke for 24 threads.

>>44143329
>Ask if we could help out around here for some bread or food
>Ask about rumors

>>44143462
This.

Writing.

whoops

I'm late, like always. Sorry Riz.

You didn't have any money to order anything, even if you wanted to. Thankfully it wasn't as if you were hungry, you had just eaten-

...When was the last time you ate? The last real meal you had was back at Caylen's. The celebration dinner after slaying the snake had seen you choking down a fair portion of serpentine meat to keep the spirit of the party high and mingle with your knights. Sure you had grazed since then, mostly taking small bites here and there on the way to Carona, but for the most part you had simply passed your food off to Ari or a knight.

Still, it wasn't as if you were hungry, even now. Was it expected of you to buy something every time you came to the pub? You didn't really have any money. "I was actually kind of hoping there might be some work around here that I could do?" You throw the suggestion out tentatively, dutifully running through a mental check list of body language to exhibit to get your desired reaction.

"Or... Well, have there been any neat rumors going around? Like work people don't normally do?" You tilt your head, leaning forward minutely to catch the serving man's hazel eyes. His confusion is visible, mouth opening fractionally to reply even before his mind had formulated an answer. "Anything's fine," you assure him coaxingly, lowering your voice implicatively as you continue " my skill set is pretty unique."

"Uh..."

He seemed somewhat at a loss for words, leaving the two of you standing awkwardly at the front door. After waiting for a little while longer, you finally break the stalemate with an emphatic sigh, deliberately allowing your shoulders to slacken. "Guess not, huh?"

"I'm not really sure what you mean about rumours, but if you're looking for work then I can talk to the boss and find you something to do around here." The reply is offered hurriedly to stave off your impending disappointment, and the guy seems to draw himself up a little higher as he goes on.

"I won't ask about your circumstances, but if you think you'll be able to handle serving work, then I can definitely find something to help you." You idly noted the way his muscles flexed as he answered. It was subtle, more of a shift in posture than a conscious action - And it was exactly the sign you were looking for.

Protection comes in many forms. At its root, it's lending aid in some manner... But it's also a method of showing off. A claim to competence. If they're confident, you can see their body brag for them; Regardless of what the say themselves.

You offer a smile, carefully tinged with excitement, just as your shadow instructs. "I'll do my best, so please!"

It's mild encouragement, but more than enough to set the man in action.

...And that is how you ended up wearing the uniform of a bar wench, asking distracted peasants how you can help them.

They hadn't even briefed you on the latest rumours in town, how did they expect you to give people information like this? It was probably your only saving grace that people had only ordered food and drink so far, but how long could that possibly last in a pub? This place's sole purpose was to produce information!

You smile absently, committing an order to memory as you relay it as requested to the kitchen. The morning passes quickly after that, and in what feels like an hour later, you finally catch the first break of the day. Unfortunately, you mean this literally, as it was just your first break for the day.

"The boss seems fine with you helping out for the day, but he wants to discuss any permanent employment with you later." The blue eyed man from earlier relayed casually as he sat down next to you, putting a mug of... Something in front of you with a roguish grin. "If you don't have a place to stay, you can discuss that too... Or, you can room with me."

>Discuss the lockdown
>Discuss the guards
>Discuss the mayor
>Ask him something (what?)
>Other? (Write-in)

>>44144516
>Discuss the lockdown
"It's nothing permanent, but I wasn't expecting to stay here so long."
Maybe hint at ways to get in and out? That might be a start to getting Irue's vaunted 'criminal connections'.

>>44144516
>Discuss the lockdown
>Discuss the guards

>>44144516
>Discuss the lockdown
always handy to fish for more info

>>44144570
>>44144584
>>44144641
lockdown!

>>44144584
guards!

Writing.

"I appreciate the offer, but I hope this doesn't become permanent." You gently deflect the question as you inspect the mug in front of you. It smells foul, but it was the same foul smell that you had been working in for the past few hours. Aged wood that had held one specific kind of beverage for so long that the smell had seeped into the dinged up container itself. "I just wasn't expecting to be in town for so long..." You relay a slightly altered story to the man as you did to the serving girl last night.

"So you only come to town once a month to get supplies for your family?" The man takes a sip of his mug as you lazily trace your finger around the lip of your own beverage, having yet to actually take a sip of the stuff. "That seems a little rough for someone like you... I didn't even know anyone lived out in those except for that one noble heir-"

You perk up.

"-Think his name was Caylen or something."

the perking immediately ceases.

"This lockdown has been going on for a while now, though. Are you sure your family's okay?" He stares down into the mug in his hand, carefully trying to probe what is and isn't comfortable for you to talk about. His wariness in accidentally prying into something bad is a convenient shield for you, but it wasn't as if this was a long term infiltration. You didn't need a flawless facade, you needed information.

You didn't need a shield.
You needed a sword.

"I... I'm not." You lower your voice, "We had some tucked away in case I got held up, but it's been so long... If I don't get back soon..." Your gentle tracing of the beverage slowly comes to an end, slender fingers sliding down to wrap around the mug and lace themselves together with your other hand as you clenched the foul smelling beverage in front of you pensively.

An awkward silence ensues.

For him, at least. The sound of your shadow absently providing a countdown in the back of your mind comes to an end, and you draw a breath as your shoulders shudder just as instructed.

Raise your face, there must be eye contact.

"I need to leave." You tilt your eyes up to stare at the blue eyed man, his own expression tilted towards an uncomfortable frown as you continue.

For something intimidating, it's easy to offer sympathies. Unless faced with a direct request, the path of least resistance is simply to avoid the problem. If you force the matter of whether to help or not to contend with their basic nature, it becomes a matter of pride.

If he turned away from you now, you doubt he would be able to look you in the face again. On the other hand, if this was the final push he needed, you might have just gained an ally.

>1d100, best of the first 3.

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>44145274
Dice pls!

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>44145274
Here goes...

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>44145274
Godspeed.

>>44145342
Well, Bo3 d100s curve out to 70 average, I think. It's pretty okay. Definitely could be much worse.

>79

After a tense minute of silence, he finally sighs and plops the mug in his hand onto the table. "Have you tried talking to the gate guards?"

"Yes." you lie easily, "They say they won't let anyone through until the criminal who burned down the Tier estate is caught." You drop your eyes frustratedly, tensing your shoulders as you construct a scowl to match. "I can't wait that long, I've already been gone too long..."

"Alright, alright... Geez, I get it." The blue eyed man runs a roughly calloused hand through his shaggy brown hair, ruffling the already unkempt mop even more so. "I can't promise you anything, but... I might be able to help you." He glances from side to side, leaning forward to speak more discretely. "Well, it's not me, but there's this guy who comes in here every few days. He got drunk a few weeks ago and mentioned having visited the Tier estate outside town recently. Now, it might be nothing, but if anyone knows how to get out of town... It's going to be that guy."

You listen attentively. There's a fair chance this person was one of the Mayor's 'investigators'. On the surface, this didn't lead you any closer to finding a way into the criminal side of Carona, but it might give you a leg up on getting your knights in later? ...Or whatever else you could find a use for, regarding him.

"So I ask him...?" You mumble tentatively, wanting to follow the conversation thread to its end.

"...To be honest, I don't know whether it's any help or not. I don't know the guy personally, he's only started showing up pretty recently... But it can't hurt to ask him."

"Do you know when he'll be here?"

"It's been about a week already, so... Maybe tonight, if he shows up at all."

>Wait till tonight
>Go somewhere else (where?)
>Make preparations (what?)
>Ask something else (what?)
>Other? (write-in)

What do we actually need to do? We have two and a half days to hijack Roderick's meeting with the mayor at Rinnier's interrogation, and maybe find out what happened with Kara and Asche.

Maybe we can talk to the reasonable Shrine attendant? Or maybe that's stupid. What do you lot think about that?

>>44145624
>Wait till tonight

>>44145721
So in the meantime before coming to check up on this potentially-an-Investigator lead, Irue goes to talk to Primat or whatever his name was? What is she looking to accomplish with that talk? Maybe the location of the Atelier traded for favor/having an actual in. Would just the location be valuable to the Shrine?

>>44145624
If we do anything but wait till tonight, does that mean we'll potentially miss our chance, or can we just come back?

>>44145779
I'm not so sure about selling him that info so easily. Priat was the Salamander shrine attendant, right?

>>44145779
It would. The Atelier was previously undiscovered, and as it was Solved rather than Conquered, you can argue that it's "unplundered" with none the wiser.

However, doing this is implicit to handing ownership of the Atelier to the Shrine, with all that entails.

>>44145801
Unless something troublesome occurs, you will have time to come back later tonight. However, should something occur and you choose to pursue it, you will be forfeiting the meeting tonight in favor of the aforementioned pursual.

Also, yes, Priat is the Salamander Shrine attendant.

>>44145624

Thank him, have business at the Shrine, will come back. Go to the Shrine as someone nondescript, ask to talk to Primat or whatever his name was in private.

>>44145801
Yeah, he was reasonable about Kara. I wasn't sure if he'd be reasonable about anything else, especially a secret. Maybe scout out the Undine attendant or something.

The problem we have is a near total isolation and lack of information and resources. The Shrine can give us the latter, and potentially we can resolve the issue with Roderick before it escalates further by dangling the Atelier in front of them in addition to getting an in with the town as something other than a crazed Valen pretender.

We have no real reason to return to the Atelier — Doppelrue hates the place and I can't think of anything we could gain from it we couldn't gain from the Shrine. So the location itself is a secret with no value to us but a lot to the Shrine. The Relic, of course, is too valuable to sell unless we're really truly desperate, and fuck that we earned it.

that's my thoughts

>>44145833
>>44145890
>>44145779
>>44145721
these are all me, btw, to not give the illusion of some secret-selling majority

Well, we have one vote for waiting and one vote for heading to the Shrine.

Tie breakers, or shall I roll?

>>44145927
Talkative anons are the best anons.

>>44145959
I think I was, like, a fourth or third of the wild mass guesses during the Atelier. I get chatty and babble because I care, Riz. I care so much.

>>44145959
I cant decide. Roll it away, Riz.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

1. waiting it out!
2. To the shrine!

there is no such thing as a two-sided die. This is a coin.

>>44146052
I don't believe you. /tg/ wouldn't lie to me like that. The command would be coin or something!

>>44146052
>>44146070
A two sided die IS a coin.

>>44146224
Silly anon. Coins land on their edge all the time, so they're really three-sided dice! Haha.

"I can't thank you enough for this!" You stand quickly, face lighting up predictably. You have to admit that it was far more exhausting faking these emotions and keeping track of all these little physical signs than just experiencing them naturally would be, but... Well, the results didn't lie.

"It's not a guarantee." He reminded you with a laugh as you stood, "And he won't be here until tonight at least, you can sit back down."

"No. No, I need to go to the Shrine!" You reply quickly, setting your mug aside - It had served admirably as a prop, even if you never actually touched its contents. "I've been praying for something like this to happen, and it's finally come! I need to offer thanks!"

"Praying...?" The man blinked as he watched he get things together and move quickly towards the door. "I didn't take you to be the religious type."

"Everyone has to believe in something!" You reply absently, "We can't just let ourselves give up when things are hard."

"...Guess I never really thought about it." You hear him admit after a moment, but you're already moving out the side door of the pub. "H-Hey, wait! Who do you believe in?!"

"You!" The door slams shut behind you as you answer off the top of your head, feet immediately hitting the hard packed streets of Carona as you rush towards the Shrine with stubbornly blonde hair streaming out behind you.

Shade. Shade is the answer you were looking for.

"Why? What did I-" You came to a stop some ways off, ducking out of sight as your hands immediately went to the frost covered pages of the Relic perpetually concealed on your person. Your fingers were already tracing the bitterly cold spine of the Diary as you hurriedly reviewed the earlier conversation. "-Oh, well it was the truth wasn't it? If I stopped believing in people, where would I be?"

Providing less confusing miscommunications, I assume. And I thought we agreed not to use the Relic for things we can do ourselves?

"You said that, I never agreed." You pointed out wryly, "Besides, do you have a better suggestion for getting into the Shrine unnoticed? If memory serves, we made quit the impression there last time. If any place will recognize us, won't it be the Shrine?" You were already prying open the Diary to reveal the liquid pages within, feeling it's cool chill creep up your fingertips. "It's almost guaranteed that we're going to find Roderick and Priat there. The last thing I want is to have them recognize us after all of this."

A more natural disguise?

"How exactly do you want me to disguise this hair?"

...The two of you shared a silence at that.

Seeing as there wasn't any further complaints, you let your awareness sink into the rippling pages of the Diary in your hands.

For what you were about to do, you needed to be someone...

>Nondescript.
>Impressive.
>Intimidating.
>Other? (write-in)

>>44146352
>>Intimidating.

>>44146352
Hum...nondescript gets us brushed off, impressive and intimidating make too much of an impression, in my opinion. Maybe someone people won't make a note of, but will trust? So someone

>Reliable

The sort of person who would be believed when they say they know the location of an Atelier, but might not be able to Conquer it. The archetypal explorer. That sort of thing.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

1. intimidating

2. reliable

RNG guided stories are a little depressing.

>>44146534
I believe in you Riz! If only some others would post. ;_;

>>44146552
Sorry, I'm lurking, just not really voting if I'm not sure what the best option is.

>>44146583
None of us have any idea any more than you, don't worry. Or you can always just tiebreak, if you really don't want to commit.

Intimidating. Someone who could have found the Atelier in the first place, a force to be reckoned with. Someone no one would be able to light shrug off the words of! Someone-

Who is not my aunt.

You blink, staring down at the uncharacteristically confused looking face of Clara Valen in the reflection of the Relic. Actually, couldn't this work? Your aunt Clara had enough influence that she could flat-out order the lockdown lifted, and pretty much kick all the other little problems to the side.

She's also not far away, and I would be loathe to have to explain to her exactly how she was in two places at once. Or have you forgotten that she was en route to Caylen's when we left?

Er...

The pages ripple again as you utter a silent apology to the Relic in your hands. What emerged... Was yourself? You tilted your head to the side, observing the thick braid of familiar blonde hair that wrapped your normally free-flowing hair into a tight lock. Your features weren't quite as sharp, and though you were older, the crimson eyes you had prized as a member of the Valen family were conspicuously absent.

There were an assortment of other minor changes to your height and figure, but wasn't this just lazy? You glance disappointedly at the Relic. "I wanted something intimidating, isn't this basically just me?"

Are you implying I'm not intimidating?

"..."

This body is fine. We're not going there to pick a fight... Yet.

You grumble an affirmative as you look over the formal clothing you were wearing. It wasn't quite as conspicuous as a dress, but you weren't used to anything this... Restricting. It felt more at home at a podium than in the streets, much less an explorer who discovered an Atelier.

You sigh irritably, trying to adapt to the odd new threads as you made your way to the Shrine.

The stairs up to the looming double doors of the Shrine were just ridiculous as you remember them, though you didn't feel as remotely close to death when you reached the top as you had the first time around. Perhaps it was all the walking you had been doing the past few months? Or perhaps the lack of Demihuman on your back? Whatever the case, you made your way into the Shrine through a much smaller set of doors this time.

Without Kara, it wasn't as if you could haul the main ones open anyway.

You entered the Shrine calmly, sharp eyes glancing over the familiar interior and idly making note of the attendants and visitors as you searched out familiar faces. A circular room with seven sections dedicated to the Mana spread out before you, a grand tree stretching up from the center of the shrine and pressing its branches into the dome-like ceiling.

It was exactly how you remembered it from last time... With less of a self-important ponce blowing hot air at you as you tried to not die. So in other words, it was objectively better than last time.

Now that you're here, you have a few choices...

>You think you saw Priat, he was sympathetic to you last time, and stands as an Attendant of Salamander.
>Roderick is the reason you're here, may as well make use of him.
>Someone of the Undine Shrine may be interested in your Atelier information...
>Attendants of Luna know things. It's literally their job.
>Other? (write-in)

You may choose only one option, as your time is short. Other may be chosen in conjunction with one of the primary four, depending on what it is.

>>44146891
>Roderick is the reason you're here, may as well make use of him.
Now that we picked this look we might as well use it.

I wanted to pick Priat since we know he's cooperative and can't really say the same for the rest, but if we only have one option...

>>44146891
>>Attendants of Luna know things. It's literally their job.

They're all equal without a hierarchy, I think, so it comes down to which Shrine we think we can get the most out of.

Priat we know has been reasonable, though we don't have a complete read on him, but just because we know his name doesn't mean he's any more useful.

Roderick is prejudiced and was unreasonable when he felt he had just been slighted. But it's very direct, and he very well might have the sort of contacts we might decide we need. He's Gnome, I think? So very stubborn. Might value honesty? I don't remember if that's a Gnome thing or if I'm just making that up.

And then Undine and Luna are very similar choices. Sell a secret to someone we don't really know, get a mystery box!

I don't think we only have the one option, but it might help avoid problems in the future if we're upfront about temporarily stealing Roderick's identity?

So

>Roderick is the reason you're here, may as well make use of him

>>44147012
Yeah I made the honesty thing up.

>>44147012
Actually swap that to

>Attendants of Luna know things. It's literally their job.

Might as well avoid politics. They might be able to convince Roderick to let us hijack the meeting or something?

>>44147012
Other than telling Roderick what we did with his face I agree. Plus, we hadn't gotten to speak with him directly other than that time we bit him.

>>44147029
didn't see this - I'm not sure Luna is such a good idea, given what happened last time we knew things and tried to commune with it.

>>44146963
Making use of people we don't like!

>>44146999
>>44147029
Making Luna work for us for a change!

Gonna start writing, unless there's any last second vote changes and/or voters?

>>44147029
>>44147049

I doubt the Shrine has the same capabilities as the Mana. I'd rather deal with the apolitical part of the Shrine than Roderick.

>>44147039
I think it would eventually come out to Roderick that he had a meeting with the mayor that he doesn't remember. Though, he might not jump to "someone stole my face." Relics are pretty unusual.

>>44147074
I suppose it's a safer choice than getting directly involved, even if we are in a disguise. Just getting worried about involving too many unknown parties.

>>44147112
We have to get a working relationship with some source of influence somehow. This is as good a start as we can manage. We have to convert our Atelier information into usable resources, and I don't trust Roderick to act in anything but his own interest. So if we have to use him, then it has to be after we have something to make him work in our favor. Like an agreement with another part of the Shrine, or something more concrete than information.

While you felt like Priat would give you fair consideration, and the opportunity to take advantage of Roderick was directly within your grasp, you needed to remember exactly why you were here. Now wasn't the time for personal grudges to guide you, no matter how justified they were.

You move towards the back of the Shrine, seeking out the one section which had been built and designed specifically to be a sanctuary for those seeking knowledge. This was Luna's sanctum within the Shrine, the domain which could be said to belong purely to the celestial Mana which watched over the world. What you needed now more than ever was the support and influence of someone or something which couldn't be brushed aside. Forces like those were few and far between, and your access to them even more so...

Though, there was the royal cousin of the first prince. Or was it the royal first cousin of a prince?

...

You blink once, banishing the memories from your mind as you approach an attendant of Luna, letting your body adjust to the instructions of your shadow in the meantime.

"Have you come seeking knowledge?" The voice which greeted you was gentle, fitting for bookish woman who had approached you. Her vestments marked her clearly as an attendant, just as Priat and Roderick's had, and you take a moment to compose your thoughts. You came here seeking information and influence, but how successful that venture was would be determined by how you went about this.

"I am always seeking knowledge." You reply in the meantime, bowing your head slightly to the attendant as you donned a fierce smile. "But there's always a price to obtain it. I thought that this time I should come with some of my own."

"Ah..." Her eyes widen marginally, a flicker of excitement lighting across her face. "Of what do you know, if you do not mind me asking?"

>Atelier.
>Relic.
>Nightgaunts.
>Dopplegangers.
>Other. (what?)
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)

>>44147296
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
Tier estate

>>44147303
>Atelier
>Tier Behemoth

>>44147296
>>44147303

Location of the disappeared/dead?

>>44147303
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
History of previous royal family

>>44147357
Assuming they haven't Oakenbear'd yet.

>>44147303
>>44147376
Right, right, possible Oakenbear occurrence.

>>44147352
Atelier!

>>44147339
>>44147352
>>44147357
>>44147363
>>44147388
A variety of forgotten things!
Only a couple of which are viable, though.

Writing.

The mayor has not cleaned up those corpses despite having multiple 'Investigators' head out there — so he's either ignorant or incompetent or maliciously encouraging Oakenbear spawning. That's certainly damaging to his reputation if it gets out...

I can't wait to hear what obvious-in-hindsight things we Forgot here! :V

"I've had the fortune of learning quite a few things." You answer amiably as she leads you further into Luna's sanctum, humming in a friendly manner while the two of you walked. "The unfortunate answer to prayers for the missing, and a threat looming just beyond the walls." Your smile stretches across your face, a shark's grin that smelled blood in the waters around it, even as you provide nothing but the most casual conversation whilst discretely following the attendant to a more removed section beyond the public Shrine.

"Those sound quite fascinating." The attendant agreed lightly, "But, my dear, you smile as if there's more?"

"Just a little." You admit with a careless shrug, "Minor edits to history. Perhaps another page to Carona's Royal History."

Closing the door behind you with a soft click, you look around the small candle lit room of an office which smelled heavily of paper and ink. Tome upon tome lined the walls, piling here and there across both floor and desk, even going so far as to occupy all but a single seat within the room - The seat situated haphazardly next to a desk covered in unfinished scrolls of calligraphy and art.

You remember the tentative revelation Ari had led you onto so long ago, that the attendants of Luna read information both as written text and from art itself. All things were communication for them, and it was that lack of understanding which had stunted your progress through the more advanced tomes of the Celestial Mana's followers...

At a glance, you still couldn't make heads or tales of what the scribbles upon this paper were meant to convey. Art wound through word, creating the feel of an unfinished image which had been written upon carelessly... And that part even looked as if someone had fallen asleep and drooled on it. Incomprehensible.

"Forgive the clutter, I am always in the middle of some project..." The gentle attendant laughs as she clears off a seat, replacing the books elsewhere with great care.

"I feel we may become rather acquainted in the future. My name is Mim Wissen; An attendant of our Celestial Mana, Luna." She smiled, "It's been a very long time since I could listen to a story, even though I love them so."

"I feel as if I've been hearing too many stories lately." You grimace briefly, recapturing your confident expression after the moment's lapse. "But as is often the case, there always seems to be a few more I need to hear."

"Haha, yes! And one story always leaves you wanting another, and then another!"

"Want is a strong word... Rather, I find myself encountering too many cliffhangers for my liking. They always leave out something important."

"It can be very troubling at times, I understand." She nodded genially, "Why don't we trade stories, then? It will be a good way to pass the time."

What do you want to know?
>Criminal underground
>The Mayor
>Roderick
>The Tiers
>Asche and Kara
>Teranford
>Nomadic Army
>East Heaven
>Artemis
>Ephlesia
>Irue Valen
>Wood Golems
>Nightgaunts
>Fae
>Doppleganger fusion
>You want favor, pure and simple. Influence!
>Other? (write-in)

What are you willing to trade to try and get it?
>Atelier
>Ice Queen's history.
>Oakenbear threat
>What happened to the missing people

It is a 1:1 exchange. Some information is not worth other information. If your offer is not worth your request, you will receive something random of equivalent value instead. Choose carefully.

>>44147698
>Nightgaunts
>Doppleganger fusion
>Asche and Kara

>Ice Queen's history.
>Oakenbear threat
>What happened to the missing people

>>44147772
choose one want/trade at a time. You'll have 4 of these options in total (1 for each of your trades), but each update will be divided up like that for easier writing/reading/voting.

>>44147698
>Ice Queen's history./Doppleganger fusion
>Oakenbear threat/Nightgaunts
>What happened to the missing people/Asche and Kara

>>44147772
>Oakenbear threat

>Asche and Kara

I think these are the two most immediately actionable pieces on each list. Oakenbears are apparently a major threat to people who aren't us? But their method of creation is commonly known, it's caches of corpses that isn't. And Asche and Kara probably made an impact and became relatively common knowledge.

>>44147811
>>44147813
Piecemeal or matched, Riz?

>>44147820
I can read either.

Right now I'm pretty much locked in that the first thing you want to know is Asche and Kara.

What you're willing to trade is either:
1. Oakenbear threat
2. What happened to the missing people.

You can resolve that amongst yourself, or I can roll for it. If no resolution is made within 10m, I'll roll and begin writing.

I think the missing people is more valuable than the Oakenbear threat. The first also implies the second, so we don't want to say it first to get as much as possible. And that is why we must destroy Carthage.

>>44147811
Care to elucidate your thought process and valuing of each of these?

>>44147847
That's fine I guess, although last time I went against my gut feeling and agreed with anon Irue went berserk.

>>44147853
There's nothing to elucidate, there are just things I think we should know more about.

>>44147862
I'm chattyanon. Only caught up to the quest 3 or 4 threads ago, but I try to justify each of my votes to get people to comment a bit. I think I am very distinctive, though, so you can blame me anytime you want.

Locking in for:

Missing People / Asche and Kara.

Writing.

>>44147885
Huh? I think you have that backwards, Riz. Or you might not.When I said it's more valuable I meant it as an argument against using the missing people for Asche/Kara.

>>44147894
In this case, they are two separate things. I was not going to present you a trap option here where the Luna attendant would derive one answer from another.

Though congratulations on catching!

But the missing people have already been taken care of, and you will inform her as such.

The oakenbear threat, thus, is unrelated entirely.

Though I admit it's a little confusing, so please, if I can get a final

>Trade this!

that'll be great.

>>44147881
Some of it is information that we can't actually act on and use, though. Teranford is directly useful for helping Rinnier, if it's information that might help find her people like I think. But the Doppleganger fusion isn't really anything we can do much with. It affects Irue's personal ability, but what we do personally is flail around without information most of the time.

>>44147914
Oh, the Tier Oakenbear spawning in particular, rather than the missing people Oakenbear. What a relief to the town, that their information source has to distinguish between two sources of Oakenbears. :V

"One story I particularly want to hear is about some missing companions of mine." You begin, the thought of Asche and Kara weighing heavily on your mind. "We went our separate ways some time ago, but it seems they've simply disappeared."

"Oh? Missing friends are always a wonderful reason to begin a story."

"I'd rather they not remain missing for much longer. This was a story that started months ago, and I've come all the way to Carona to see it ended."

"I see. Tell me about your companions then. What led you here in search of them?"

And so you tell her. The descriptions of an unlikely duo, a maid and a demihuman who came in search of nobility. A childhood bond and one newly forged, both of them missing without a trace after so long. Why you had come to Carona in search of them...? They had been searching for the Tiers, and this is where the Tier estate used to be. You knew they had to have been here, but no further.

"Quite the characters, these companions... Hm. Let me see..." Mim leaned back with a smile on her face, eyes roaming the ceiling as if she were trying to piece together a new puzzle and had just found the corner she wished to start from. "The Tier estate, as I am sure you are aware of now, has been burned to the ground over the course of a single night. It was a tragic occurrence, more so that they were so far removed from Carona that by the time help had arrived, all which remained was ash and ruin."

"...Perhaps that was not such a coincidence." She murmured aloud with a thoughtful expression, "But that is another story. Let us say that in the midst of these flames, a great beast was heard - The fabled Behemoth of the southern lands. It rose up, it cried out, and minutes later, a tremor which shook even this Shrine rung out across Carona. The beast roared no more. It is unthinkable that a mere fire could fell such a thing, but when Carona arrived to help, it is even more unthinkable that such a thing could simply... Not be found."

"That does sound suspicious." You agree, frowning as you failed to find the connection. Though you had the feeling that Kara had been involved in whatever had occurred, it didn't explain where they were now.

"Simply, if something of that size could not be found, then isn't that the 'help' has 'helped' more than necessary?"

You squint, trying to imagine what would have had to happen for random people to have managed to take Kara with them anywhere. "I cannot claim to know of these companions, but let us say that one of them was quite familiar to me. The protagonist of many more stories, most of which end only in tears for those involved. Would you understand then, that simply because you hold a leash, you may not have been the one who trained the dog?"

Your teeth grit. Nothing you could think of could have MADE Kara go anywhere... Unless she went on her own free will.

"This story has yet to end, but those companions are probably still together. I can only pray that this will be the final tragedy for that poor protagonist."

"And where... Would they have gone?" You swallow tightly, mouth already feeling dry even as the conversation had just begun.

"When you call a dog, won't it come back to it's master?"

What do you want to know?
>Criminal underground
>The Mayor
>Roderick
>The Tiers
>Teranford
>Nomadic Army
>East Heaven
>Artemis
>Ephlesia
>Irue Valen
>Wood Golems
>Nightgaunts
>Fae
>Doppleganger fusion
>You want favor, pure and simple. Influence!
>Other? (write-in)

What are you willing to trade to try and get it?
>Atelier
>Ice Queen's history.
>Oakenbear threat

Seems we have to visit a certain slaver at some point.
>>44148108
>Teranford

>Oakenbear threat

I had some trouble gauging what to ask for next. Any other suggestions?

>>44148108
>Oakenbear threat/Nightgaunts

>>44148108
>Oakenbear threat
>wood golems

I'm not a fan of Nightgaunts, because even though they tie into one conspiracy, we're far away from them right now and have more pressing concerns. So I'm actually gonna swap
>>44148126
to asking for
>The Mayor

because there's something fishy with Carona, and it is immediately relevant to us and our concerns with getting people in and out, figuring out what's up with the guard, getting Rinnier back, etc.

Wood golems, as far as I am concerned, are a curiosity and potential source of military power? or something, but are similarly inaccessible to us right now, since Ari has the finger.

>>44148145
>>44148160
>>44148175
Definitely trading the Oakenbear next. But for what?

1. Nightgaunts
2. Wood Golems
3. The Mayor

I'll roll 1d3 in 10m if no conclusion is come to.

well, people tend to throw out their votes and stick to them, but could I ask the anon interested in wood golems to say why they think that's important?
>>44148160

>>44148214
We have one no idea how to control it, what it is, and why it is

>>44148235
But it does nothing for us now and won't until and unless we resolve whatever's up with Carona. I also think it's more valuable than Oakenbear threat, personally, but I could be misvaluing something. That's just my opinion, though, and it could be argued that short-term knife-edge balancing is what's put Irue in such a crappy position.

>>44148254
fine then
>>44148108
>Oakenbear threat
>The Mayor

Mayor wins at the last second!

Writing.

You let out a breath, focusing on regaining your composure. While it hadn't been heartening news by any means, you at least had an idea of where to go now. With that in mind, you were one step closer to finding Asche... And Kara. That left you with three more stories to tell, and so many questions on your mind.

Immediately things like the Nightgaunts came to mind. Their existence had been troubling you ever since encountering them, and you hated having an unknown threat lurking around your home like that... But if it was unknowns, weren't the wood golems even more so? They came out of nowhere even earlier than the Nightgaunts, but had stayed with you even after that. What were they? Why did it listen to you? Why did it RESEMBLE you?

Questions you didn't have any answer to. Questions you COULD have answers to... But, again, you needed to focus. You were in Carona for a reason, and that meant you needed to solve what was directly in front of you.

"It seems like there's an abnormal amount of guards in Carona lately, especially after that incident some months ago." You start off after a moment, "I heard the Mayor managed to find those excess guards to keep Carona safe and secure. He's quite the resourceful individual, isn't he?"

"Hmhmhm, indeed." Mim nodded along with crinkled eyes, "Year after year that man has worked tirelessly to keep Carona successful. Did you know that at one time, we were naught but a small settlement? Barely that, even."

"That must have been some time ago." You deadpan, only to receive a shrug from attendant of Luna. "It is history. It is also history that not long after the royal family began to institute their practices, Carona was in very real danger of returning to that particularly pitiful era."

Eh?

"I heard of that. It seems that Caylen has been taking an active measure in preserving Carona's current state."

"Yes, that man is quite the picture of nobless oblige." Mim agreed with a smile, "His actions are well known through Carona... Unfortunately, Carona's actions are less well known to him. The people of Carona are proud, my dear. They were self-sufficient long ago, and were one of the first towns to exist within La'Fiel. This place was here even before the founding of the country, you know?"

You blink in surprise despite yourself. Why did the one town that gave you so much grief also have to have such a rich history?

"Well.. It was not always Carona as you know it. Not always Carona at all... But many who once lived here, left descendants who still live here. Of those, let us assume that in this story, the Mayor is of course one of them! You might say the man's family binds him responsible to this place, and he takes this quite seriously." She laughed softly to herself, a joke left unspoken. "He is not a simple politician to rely on nobles to keep his home afloat. He is an able and competent man who will reach out to take the help around him, with the best of intentions."

"Good intentions, huh." You reply flatly, thinking over the current course of the town.

"What he may believe is good for the town is not necessarily what a certain picture of nobility may presume to be good for the town. When caught between Crown and Character, isn't it natural to yearn for simpler days?"

"Days when you stood on your own...?" You frown, shaking your head as the absurdity of the notion occurred to you. "That's ridiculous. What could anyone stand to gain from trying to recapture that now? Where would he even find the resources?"

"When you are desperate, you take any hand offered to you." The attendant answered simply, lacing her fingers together as she smiled absently. "Let me tell you something nice, my dear. Any farmer will come home with soiled hands. Every night, of every day, they will return with a smile on their face. They look forward to the crop they will reap, which will feed their family. Can you begrudge them their soiled hands?"

What do you want to know?
>Criminal underground
>Roderick
>The Tiers
>Teranford
>Nomadic Army
>East Heaven
>Artemis
>Ephlesia
>Irue Valen
>Wood Golems
>Nightgaunts
>Fae
>Doppleganger fusion
>You want favor, pure and simple. Influence!
>Other? (write-in)

What are you willing to trade to try and get it?
>Atelier
>Ice Queen's history.

>>44148460
>>Ice Queen's history.
>Criminal underground

>>44148460
>Ice Queen's history./Nightgaunts

>>44148460
>Ice Queen's history.

But I'm not sure what we want. Teranford's people is something we promised Rinnier we'd look into, and is a potential source of manpower? If that opportunity hasn't passed. We need to somehow hijack the message sent from Mayor to Roderick in a few days. And we might need a way to get many people, not just one or two, through the walls. And then there's the supernatural stuff. Hum...

>Teranford

>>44148460
>>Irue Valen

>Ice Queen's history.

A life left unexamined is a life not worth living. Besides, I'm just tossing this out here but I would imagine that it's possible he will have incomplete or even incorrect information about us.

Now, I know not all information is equal, but I would imagine that incorrect information is kind of a sin. Or, well, unpleasant in some fashion like a bad taste or grit that stays in your food.

Crushing through the archives, so I'll let you know if I come across any other information (if it isn't too late to add).

I also note we didn't discuss the wild Flame Mana either. That might be worth telling to him, that Salamander isn't just displeased with or avoiding Rinnier but are actively attacking her.

IDK, haven't found out what happened to her yet in the archives.

>>44148462
>>44148493
>>44148517
>>44148539
I'm not even surprised about the order we're spending our stories in.

1. Criminal underground
2. Nightgaunts
3. Teranford (This talks about the current state of Teranford, but if your question is about the people, I can do that just as easily)
4. Irue Valen

Rolling in 10m if a conclusive decision is not made.

Underground is what we're doing this for isn't it?

I kind of generally have the feeling we're not quite getting our money's worth, but I basically always have a feeling of wretched despair in this quest.
>>44148584
I forgot about Irue's weird self-imposed infiltration mission. Yeah, swap >>44148517 to
>Underground
I guess. We do still need to look into that, but mundane sources will have to do. Like that slaver.

Criminal underground wins!

Trading something that changes national history for access to one town's crime network? Oh man...

Locked in and Writing.

>>44148569
Well, I would like to get more insight into ourselves, what I've picked up so far is that there is some pretty wonky stuff where us and mana is concerned.

Then again, I'm only up to thread 7 so what do I know. I'll change my vote to

> Criminal Underground

though just so we have a clear decision

>>44148639
Okay we're dumb.

>>44148639
Does this mean that we can get extra information on how underground organizations and such work?

Like a general overview and different kinds of etiquette when dealing with these sorts of organization, and then focusing on this towns particular one as a subset?

>>44148674
Not necessarily, no. Mim isn't concerned with equivalent exchange in your favour.

"Meets or exceeds the value of the request" is her only criteria.

Surely Irue would never make and has never made a stupid decision solely because she is guided by a silly and flighty hivemind!

>>44148693
Well it'd be tied in with the slaver issue as part of Roderick's thing and
>>44148725
At this point it'd be stupid beyond suspension of disbelief for a savvy character

>>44148739
Is Irue really savvy? She thinks she is, and in the first thread or two she made good decisions, but since then she's been pretty out of her depth and drowning just a bit.

>>44148752
Irue is highly specialized in specific areas, as dictated mostly by the first few threads.

Those areas are, among other things: Social manipulations and Mana.

The rest is, as noted, a result of being out of depth with the world at large. An issue slightly exacerbated by having gone with three Testament simultaneously as opposed to choosing a single one.

Looking back, you might notice it now. Each Testament has a specific theme to them, as well as a storyline or plot unique to them. I had initially planned to follow whichever one was chosen. Instead, they were all chosen... And thus you are now experiencing all of them. Simultaneously.

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>44148693
>>44148792

Well shit, can we ask her for that sort of thing then? Or are we not advanced in our Face skills to know that? Can I make this a roll to see if we can barter that thing, or is this just a set flag?

I don't want to meta-game, but I am pretty into jewing it up whenever possible.

I just love haggling, whether for money or favours or services or information.

>>44148838
Damn. That was a shit roll. Never mind me requesting information then, I'll take our poor choices with a sack of salt.

>>44148849
I'll throw in an extra sack of salt if I tell you that I'd have allowed it had you rolled decently, just on a whim. But the moment's passed now.

I need to focus on writing now, though. Update soon.

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>44148838
>>44148876
first of 3!

From a previous thread

>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.

Specifically

>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.

Just saying, once again not sure how much has been covered but given that it came up as an option, finding out what Luna's peeps know about us might be a pretty good idea. Especially since their whole schtick isn't just gathering information from ALL sources, but is also apparently related to sometimes "innate" knowledge - i think, implied when we were teaching Ari about Luna.

At the least, we could probably get them to make an assessment of us.

>>44148876
Haha, no worries. I've had that work like . . . twice, in threads where I critted it. In somewhere around 4 years of lurking and occasionally tossing those out I actually come here mainly for quests. Once in Banished Quest (I forget what it was for exactly) and once in H&D I had this work out for noticing something and making a deal.

>>44148905
Unfortunately we've maybe squandered a good fit price for that? All we've got left is the Atelier — do we want to spend that? I say yes, but I'm sure someone else will say no. And if yes, what on?

File: Prove your worth!.png (296 KB, 815x536)

296 KB PNG

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>44148876
>>44148838

Hey, we can't get shit 20 somethings three times in a row, right? I get the feeling this will have to be DAMN good to work out after those two though.

Time to show everyone what a Valen can do!

>>44148965
Amazing. Irue truly flounders hard outside of her specializations.

File: Spoiler Image (61 KB, 895x944)

61 KB JPG

>>44148965
I am not going to do something deliberately cruel out of hilarity for having rolled 2x three times in a row.

I won't do it.

Stop tempting me.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

Can't happen a fourth time, right?

"The criminal underground? Oh, well, the story goes that there are a lot of guards around nowadays, so there really isn't any such thing. That's it."

:V Wrote your post for you Riz.

Well, the insight into the Mayor was... A little frustrating. You understood the man more, now, and had more or less confirmed that he WAS associated with less than legal forces. You understand the WHY he was doing it as well... Or at least, you knew why, even if you didn't agree. It explained the sudden jump in guards, and you feel like it helped explain the fire at the Tier estate - As well as what had caused the Tiers to be so far removed from the town in the first place.

There were still details you didn't have nailed down in that regard, but it was something you would have to deal with later. You were rapidly running out of stories to trade, and of the two you had left, you wanted to save the Atelier bombshell for last. However, you can't see yourself trading something like that for something as mundane as information about Carona's underworld. All things considered, the underworld wouldn't even matter to you if it weren't for this specific instance occurring RIGHT now.

So you'd just... Trade this national history altering secret you risked your life to obtain for that information.

You coughed.

This was for Rinnier, Asche, and... And Kara. While on the surface it seemed a waste, you had no regrets about going at least this far to get them back.

"Then... These hands the Mayor would be accepting." You broach the topic you had decided to dedicate the day to in the first place, "Carona is clearly more than the surface at this point. If I wanted to start mingling with the people on the other side, what kind of story should I hear?"

"Ho..?" Mim breathed out with a surprised expression gracing her features. "So you were going to ask me, after all?"

You frown at the attendant, deciding to patiently sit through the verbal jabs at how you had skirted the issue of this for so long. It took only a minute or two for Mim's amusement to fade. You feel moderately proud for having not contributed to it.

>>44148946
For the Atelier? Man, I wish I knew better what that was about. Quick recap for someone reading threads to catch up? Because I haven't reached the Ice Queen part yet so I was unable to know the worth of it, I just kind of went with what other people were using figuring if it wasn't enough dude would just let us know.

>>44148876
No need to worry until after your post, but could we get Madame Mim here (any relation to the witch?) to give us approximate values of this information as opposed to us just guessing what it will be worth to trade for?

Or does that run counter to her interests?

Because otherwise it seems like she should also accept a shit trade for valuable information.

Also we should I think maybe consider trading information about the new type of golem we saw in the woods, the Clone Girls. Even though we don't have detailed information about them, the fact that they exist should be a good teaser and we could possibly work out a deal where we allow Mim or a representative onto OUR land to investigate them.

So long as any information discovered about them is shared. Otherwise we can investigate them ourselves and sell them the information at a later date for something else. Although I would imagine secondhand info wouldn't be as good.

I also suppose we could trade it in the atelier for a favour. Straight up influence is never bad, and if it's worth a lot then it seems like a vague "favour" is the best deal to get out of it rather than a set amount.

Especially if it's worth more than what Mim is offering.

"One way of joining a farmer's farmhands is simply to ask the farmer." Mim answered eventually, "But if your interests lie elsewhere, then perhaps something more discrete? There is an old addage passed around that to catch a thief, one has to think like a thief. Or... Fight fire, with fire. There are many ways to say it, but isn't the answer always to use like for like?"

"I'm not sure I appreciate being handed riddles considering how interesting my last story was." You grouse, making your meaning rather implicit to the frustratingly knowledgeable attendant of Luna. She sighed, humming thoughtfully to herself as she tried to think of a different way to tell a story. "Very well then, I suppose you make a fair point." She nods to herself, as if coming to a conclusion, "Then pretences aside, I advise you to find a man named Taggart. Ask him if he can remember the way home... That should suffice for your request."

Taggart... Taggart... Why do you...

...

No one is allowed to question me the next time I declare violence justified.

You're not sure whether the outrage from Irue's memories leaking over to you are more annoying than the vindicated voice in the back of your mind, but they are both really trying.

What do you want to know?
>Roderick
>The Tiers
>Teranford
>Nomadic Army
>East Heaven
>Artemis
>Ephlesia
>Irue Valen
>Wood Golems
>Nightgaunts
>Fae
>Doppleganger fusion
>You want favor, pure and simple. Influence!
>Other? (write-in)

What are you willing to trade to try and get it?
>Atelier

Alternatively
>I'm done. Time to leave.

>>44149016

I know I have a problem, because I actually would prefer that you do this. and just don't tell us about it.

The dice, they are fickle and have their own morality. Sometimes they like you, sometimes they don't. But they should always be listened to if you want to retain their favour. Much like your Mana! It's even thematic to screw us a little gosh why am I arguing for this.

>>44149098
>I'm done. Time to leave.

>>44149088
Ateliers are, in short, religious holy sites that pop up, created by beings existing in a weird inbetween space of human and the Mana. They contain valuable insights to the nature of the Aeon who created them, and therefore to the nature of the Mana and of the person the Aeon was beforehand. The Shrine likes these. Irue discovered and understands one on an intimate level. It is where she got her face-changing diary and several other abilities, and it is valuable information we no longer need.

It is easily worth anything else on the list, maybe even 2 big things, if such a thing were allowed.

>>44149116
>Atelier
But I'm torn between information on us, if the Prophecy is a thing the Shrine is aware of, or straight up influence, just for the huge amount we must get for giving them the location of an Atelier.

Right. Atelier has no use for us except future trading.

I don't remember Taggart, though. Is that some guard who accosted us or something?

>>44149088
The Atelier is worth all but one of those listed. It's a pretty big deal.

That's just a hint from me, though. I won't tell you anymore - And she wouldn't tell you even that.

you CAN trade small bits of information like that. Although I will say that in some instances, what people don't know can be just as useful as what they do. Think carefully about who you tell things, and what you hope to gain.

Also welcome to the quest! I'm a little surprised, because you're the first person to have ever participated in a live thread that hadn't marathoned the entire thing previously. It's not usually necessary, so I apologize your first experience with it was this question sequence.

>>44149175
>>44149116

> Atelier

> For favour and influence

But I say we play it a bit coy first and let her know that we have information regarding one. See what she puts out for an offer. Just what kind of favour or influence can they offer us? What sort of support would they give us?

Because >>44149175, would the information just be about what the atelier is like, IE the insights themselves are important, or is the location a valuable thing as well?

I mean, we could share the site of it but not the insights we received, and vice versa.

Also, would she learn about Doppelrue?

>>44149116
>I'm done. Time to leave.

I wonder if Miriam or whatever her name was and her connection/obsession with the Prophecy is a thing the Shrine is aware of that we can sell. Insights into the personal lives of nobles is maybe one of the harder things to get, since loyal servants and the nobles themselves are the only ones privy and usually don't need to resort to such a thing.

What's the most valuable thing here? Either Irue, the Fae (what's up with them? seriously), or...maybe the Doppleganger thing. It just occurred to me that Irue was literally so insecure that she decided an apparition of all her weaknesses would do just as good a job of living her life as she could. So maybe this fusing with an apparition is a step on the path to becoming an Aeon. Or whatever. Which is something the Shrine would never sell.

That's this thread's WILDE CRAK THEORY from me.

>>44149233
I appreciate you pardoning my ignorance. I also appreciate how you make the plot related stuff actually relevant, politics are often handled very . . . poorly in quests for a variety of reasons, not least of all the people tend to go nuts with write ins and different amounts of metagaming.

I'm standing by Atelier for Influence, conditional on what kind of influence they can offer us. First of all, though, we have to get their assurance that if we don't accept their offer than they won't tell anyone what we know.

> I have one more piece of information, easily on par with the Ice Queen's info. But even having people know what it is brings a risk. Before I even give you the information of what it is I know, I need you to promise in exchange to not share it if I decide your influence isn't worth the details. If it's poor knowledge and worthless, than it costs nothing to keep quiet about. If the value is what I tell you it is though, then just the knowledge that I know about it should be worth your silence.

Once again, I don't know if we have the social specs for this.

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>44149304
Rolls can't hurt, right?

They totally can

>>44149304
That might work if we went to Undine. But Luna has a smaller focus on secrets, I think.

File: Spoiler Image (373 KB, 800x600)

373 KB JPG

>>44149127
>>44149270
Time to leave!

>>44149237
GLORY AND FAME.

>>44149231
...Something.
[spoiler[Also Taggart was a guard who was racist against Kara and refused to help you way back at the start.[/spoiler]

>>44149316
ANON STOP.

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>44149316
You've doomed us all.

>>44149327
o lord have mercy upon your pathetic subjects

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>44149324
I am the something. I am still torn. Oh RNGesus succor me blah blah

>>44149343
RIGHT SO 90 HAS EMBOLDENED ME

but not too much, so sort of probe for the nature of the assistance

>>44149359
So tentatively change your vote to
>Glory and fame
but only to see what it could be, before committing?

That will tie Leaving and GLORY, so I'd roll for it.

>>44149376
Yes. The 90 has converted me and I now believe. But only in the pathetic pussy-footing way that gets quest MCs stuck between two options all the time and fucks them over.

>>44149376
sure, probes are good

Rolled 2 (1d2)

1. Leaving.
2. GLORY.

Now for the traditional method of resolving indecision in Valen. Please wait warmly for RNGesus.

>>44149415
But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the 90, and of poor judgment, and of peasant knights, to declare unto Irue her transgression, and to Carona her sin.

>>44149116
>I'm done. Time to leave.

>>44149415
I don't want to hear you whining about having to roll since now on, as you pretty much forced it.

>>44149466
How did he force it? It was a tie. :V

>>44149415
Huzzah! Do we have enough haggle skills and paranoia to get her to promise to keep the knowledge of what we are offering a secret if we decide the deal isn't good enough?

>>44149320

> Luna - The Celestial Mana. Shy, secretive, and furtive, its love of knowledge surpassed only by the vast depths of information it already has.

Luna is totes all about secrets and knowledge. That's why I want to make a deal that they'll keep the knowledge secret because that seems to run somewhat counter to loving knowledge. Then again, I'm also assuming Luna is about the spread of knowledge and not about the accumulation of it.

I mean, since we are having to trade to get knowledge I would assume that Luna's aspect is more geared towards the second one, but maybe they just have a neutral stance towards it where they treat knowledge as a possession instead of a state of being, so that once they have it they have the right to do with it as they please.

>>44149495
Undine wanted a trade of secrets, too, and is Luna's secret-keeper. Still, better to make the secrecy pact than not.

>>44149324
Also, sorry, it's me the new guy who likes to haggle who did this twice. I am totes fine if you just ignore that (or really any) uncalled for rolls. I just . . . really was disheartened by the previous 2+'s that we got.

It's just silly fun with numbers to see what I would have got.

Anyone else who feels that you have any obligation to those sorts of rolls can fite me irl.

The abilities/traits are somewhat confusing for me though. I'm going to drop a few questions in the ask.fm about how it works if that's okay so then it'll be somewhere that other new people will be able to access.

And also so that I don't shit up your thread with a bunch of questions about mechanics.

>>44149562
It's fine! All in good fun Which I've had a lot of this thread.

I enjoy talkative anons, but if I stop answering, it's so I can focus on writing updates.

Update happening shortly.

>>44149562
Welcome to Valen Quest. Where everything is clearly labeled but we still have no idea what we're buying.

>>44149606
Hey, writing updates is a good silence. So long as you don't go full Deculture.

This is also the first new quest I've picked up for a while, so I guess I'm used to trying to not waste posts or throw a bunch of people onto a shitposting tangent like what can happen with some of the more populated quests. Although I sure do hope more people get into this one and spread the love, at the same time it's kind of nice not having a bunch of people flame and such. Regardless, I'm hooked now so if necessary I will post all you want to know you're appreciated.

"Ah, are we already finished trading stories?" Mim groaned, "That was more fun than I've had in years, though! You must come more when you've learned more stories!"

"Well... There is, potentially, one more story to tell." You remain seated however, deciding to tease the gentle attendant with the promise of one last story. "One perhaps more amazing than the last..." You had her attention. It wasn't as if this was a strict negotiation, her emotions and interest were written clearly across her face the entire meeting. With those words alone, you knew without a doubt that you had the attendant's full focus. "...But also one I'm unsure if I should tell."

"Haha, are you perhaps still upset about earlier?"

"No!" You deny it quickly, perhaps a little too quickly, as you will down the flushed cheeks and fight off your reflexive scowl with a composure-recovering cough. "It's simply that this particular story can mean a great deal, and I'm not sure if its contents are worth sharing, is all."

"Hoo..?" Mim smiles, leaning forward for the first time since the meeting had begun. "A question of 'worth' is it?"

"Exactly that, yes."

"Then, allow me to trade for it, hm? This time, I will tell a story first, and you may judge it's worth." You cross your arms, rolling the idea around your mind in consideration. Knowledge of Knowledge's sake wasn't a bad philosophy persay, but you had a rather specific field of things you were interested in... "I'm afraid that's doesn't encourage me any. Let us say that, for this particular story, I asked for a helping hand, or perhaps a friendly face later on. Would you say that it would be worth calling the Shrine my dear friend in that case?"

"Friends...? It would have to be quite something to claim that for the Shrine at large. Even for a grand story, I'm not sure I could make such a expansive statement."

"Well, the story is quite grand..." You shrugged, as if to say it couldn't be helped. "It isn't every day that you hear the story of an Atelier, is it?"

With just those words, all humour left the room. The once jovial attendant realized after an embarassing moment that she had surged to her feat, knocking over a stack of books in the process. She pressed the chair away carefully, bending to retrieve the overturned tomes, leaving the conversation to hang between the two of you. For your part, you were content to remain relaxed in your chair, and wait...

You had expected a reaction similar to this. In a way, you might say everything else leading up to now was simply preparation... One you're still not sure if you were going to go through with in the end.

"For a story like that... I would pay dearly, to hear of it." She finally answered, having sat back down with an expression you'd nearly call solemn if it weren't for the giddy smile threatening to overturn her placid expression. "While I'd rather not do this, please understand that I have my own circumstances." You explain plainly, "So... How dearly would you - Would the Shrine - be willing to pay for this particular story?"

"..." Mim's brows knit pensively. "Is it near?"
"I cannot tell you that."
"Of which Mana?"
"That is a secret."
"Has it been plundered already? Is it untouched?!"
"...It has not been Conquered."

You waited.

"As a matter of the Shrine, I would have to discuss this with the other head shrine Attendants." She admitted carefully, "Luna will lend their support... And if it is an Atelier of another Mana than Luna, undoubtedly they too will lend their support."

"...Which makes two." You supply, "I suppose that means at least two other sections of the Shrine would need to agree in order to officially gain the support of the Shrine?"

"...Correct. If you would wait, I can call a meeting to discuss this... But it may take some time."

You cross your arms, mulling it over seriously. You stood a very good chance at gaining the official support of the Shrine here... But it was a chance, not a guarantee. If it fell through, then you wasted your time and missed the meeting at the pub, but you held the information secret still.

If it succeeded, you still probably missed the pub meeting, but the things you gained...

"What would be done with the story after I tell it, if I may ask?"

"I would confirm its authenticity to be safe, but afterwards it would most definitely be circulated to all relevant parties. People of their respective Shrine section would most likely be quite interested in going on pilgrimage to the Atelier."

"It would not be publicized beyond that?" You frown, trying to associate the secrecy presented to you with your knowledge of how several Atelier had become common knowledge to be raided and explored. While you didn't particularly care for the Atelier, you..

You understood it. On an intimate level. Even though you hated it, the thought of that happening to the Ice Queen's Atelier made you sick, as if something inviolable had just been tread upon.

"We are not Artemis." The woman confirmed, "So long as the Atelier remains under the Shrine's jurisdiction, we will ensure it remains properly respected and restricted to the proper audience."

>Do it. You'll wait.
>You need to get back to the pub.
>On second thought, you don't want to sell this information.
>Other? (write-in)

>>44149822
>Set up a meeting in the morning or after the pub meeting?
No reason it can't be in the morning, right?

>>44149822
>>On second thought, you don't want to sell this information.

>>44149822
> One more story

Can we tell them about the Dryads/Wood Golems?

>>44149908
That was a topic Mim was 'selling.' I think she knows of this sort of being in general, if not the specific ones Irue has met.

>>44149822
>>You need to get back to the pub.
>But sell it later.

>>44149822
> If we're going to be friends, I also have other abilities that may be useful. I've told you the stories I've come across, but maybe there are things in particular that your Shrine would like to know about.

Seriously, we have some pretty awesome spy specs here. We could also probably get some actual money for this stuff so we aren't quite so broke.

>>44149921
Ah, fair enough.

>>44149822
>On second thought, you don't want to sell this information.

>>44149822
>>Do it. You'll wait.

>>44149822
>On second thought, you don't want to sell this information.

>>44149933
We have no idea how to use Doppelrue in any effective way, though. Last time we accessed her Shade nature we triggered a cave-in and maybe killed/injured Ari and Dullem.

>>44149999
You do know how to manifest your shadow (Irue) as a solid three dimensional copy, and effectively double-team. It was learned back at Caylen's, and is on the sheet.

You also had the option of sending your shadow (Irue) down the stairs solo in the Atelier, so there is the potential for autonomous remote functions as well. It is something the players have been understandably wary of.

----

>>44149845
>>44149928
Set up a meeting.

>>44149871
>>44149960
>>44149987
NNNNnnnope.

>>44149965
let's fucking do it!

>>44149933
>>44149908
Offer services and other misc things.
You can do this if you like. Be careful what you offer, however.
----

Anyway, Leaving won in the end! Writing, back to the pub with us, etc.

Also the ask.fm questions were answered.

>>44150041
Oh, vote splitting too strong. If I knew "do it" and "set up a meeting" would be separated...: <

>>44150069
Ah. I suppose they are tentative approvals.

>>44149933 might also be tentatively in the "lets do it" crowd.

Brief confirmation vote while I get something to drink.

>Do it
>Nope.

10m.

>>44150110
>Do it

>>44150110
>Nope.

>>44150110
>>Do it.

>>44150110
>Nope.

>>44150110
>Nope.

>>44150110
>>Do it

File: 1432329664169.jpg (62 KB, 500x447)

62 KB JPG

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>44150124
>>44150145
>>44150191
1. Do it.

>>44150182
>>44150146
>>44150128
2. Nope.

...Let me get the dice.

Oh dear. Rolling really does seem like a Valen Quest tradition at this rate.

You consider the offer seriously. There was a great deal you stood to potentially gain from this... But no matter what, if you did it now, then you'd miss out on the meeting at the pub. That was a potential lead you had worked to set up already and had the gracious windfall to have even discovered in the first place.

"Can the meeting be scheduled for another time?" You sigh, "I have business I need to attend to shortly, so I'm afraid it's not something I can stick around for currently... Though I am interested in telling this story."

Mim gave a strained expression for a moment as she accepted your explanation. "It can be rescheduled, yes, but..."

You raise a brow, silently urging her own.

"...It must be done soon. That is a condition I must insist on, if you absolutely must reschedule now."

"Soon as in... This week? This month?"

"The next two days, at most." Mim corrected shortly, curling her fingers anxiously as she served the role of an impromptu negotiator on behalf of the Shrine. "Is there any reason as to why?" You squint, tilting your head in confusion.

"Those are my conditions." She repeated, apologetically. "This is not something simple that you are asking of us, so it is something I must insist on."

You felt like groaning, but there didn't quite seem to be anything else you could do about it. With a shrug as if to say 'it can't be helped', you bring yourself to your feet for the first time since entering the room and nod in acknowledgement. It was getting close to time for you to need to be back at the pub, so you didn't have the luxury of debating it at length with the Luna attendant.

"Then, we'll schedule the meeting for..."

>Day 2
>Day 3

>>44150432
>>Day 3

>>44150432
>>Day 2
Gotta have some time to apply it, otherwise anything we get out of this is no good.

>>44150432
>>Day 2

Maybe we can phrase the meeting we set up using Roderick's identity as a favor we did for him. Keeping the Shrine relevant to the ongoing investigation and all, in his name.

>>44150432
>Day 3

>>44150432
>Day 2

>>44150449
>>44150528
3!

>>44150539
>>44150500
>>44150476
2!

Writing!

"That should be fine. We will expect you at that time, then." Mim agreed easily, mentioning that she would take the initiative to get things in place and prepared for your meeting tomorrow. With your meeting tentatively over, you bow your head once in farewell and turn to leave- Only to be stopped by a hand quickly grasping onto the hem of your shirt from behind.

"Er...?" You pause, glancing back at the gentle Luna attendant as she smiled shyly and mumbled something you couldn't quite catch. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Er, since the meeting is mostly scheduled... I don't suppose, I could maybe... Hear it n-"

"No."

"Just a little! A teaser!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mim." You sigh, walking away unopposed this time as the Luna attendant groaned audibly from behind you. In little time, you're back out under the open sky and breathing in deeply the fresh air that came along with it. It was late, very late, and you find yourself amazed at how much time you had spent in the Shrine getting those stories sorted out. In the end, you had more or less sold off the myriad of information you had been slowly accruing lately...

You hoped it was worth it. You feel like you came out of it with a much better understanding of what was going on in Carona, which was your immediate concern to be sure. On the other hand, you had a chance to learn so many things, and all you can say is that you knew more about the situation at hand than you did before.

We also passed up a chance to perhaps learn if there's a way to get me back in my own body.

You freeze at the top of the Shrine stairs, your shadow's thought kickstarting and synchronizing with one of your own. You had a chance to go back to being just a Shade apparition... and you passed it.

I said 'perhaps'. It wasn't certain that they would know anything... And given the choice, the fact we knew more about Rinnier and Asche's condition is much more important to me.

"...What about Kara?" You mumble into the dusk air.

But there's no response. A fact you can only shake your head and accept for the complicated implication it is.

You started to descend the stairs tiredly, fingers tracing across the frosted covers of the Relic concealed on your person. You needed to change faces and be back in the pub quickly...

The guy probably wondered what kept you for so long. Hadn't he gone out of his way to get you a shift this morning?

You frown as you once more duck out of sight, the reflection of your troubled face distorting beneath the ripples until a slightly younger, free-flowing haired and crimson eyed version remains.

You are Irue Valen once more, and you've got an appointment with a potential investigator.

File: ValEnd.gif (1023 KB, 500x281)

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

And we are archived.

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

Apologies to all anons who participated in Valen Quest but died at their keyboards wondering when QM would finally stop.

To those who did not make it to the end, we will never forget your sacrifice.

>>44150880
Well, thanks for running, Riz!

Did we pick the questions you thought we would?

>>44150941
No, actually. I thought the players would see the slew of options and be overwhelmed by the opportunity to finally solve or get hints/explanations to things they'd been agonizing over for 10-20 threads.

In stead you focused on what was immediately in front of you. So on one hand, a fair bit of Carona's arc has been potentially made simpler for you! On the other hand, you still don't know any of the things you previously didn't know.

Don't expect another chance like that to occur any time soon.

Your decision to convert your knowledge into something more tangible was a little surprising though. Initially the trip to the Shrine was to check on Roderick or Priat, but you took that in an interesting direction, and so I hope you're satisfied with the results.

>>44150999
I feel sort of bad for pushing so hard on short-term questions, actually, given some distance. Especially after my wilde crak theory popped into my head about the Doppelrue fusion question, I realized how silly being focused on the now so hard was.

Did you have different plans for if we dropped by Undine instead? Or would it have been essentially the same, maybe with a different selection?

>>44150999
I'm not.

>>44151064
Going to Undine instead would have had far more focus on the Atelier and the Aeon. They have little interest in all the assorted knowledge like Luna's section, but would have been much more curious about the Atlach Nacha and the Ice Queen's Atelier.

There would have been less question answering for you, but potentially more of a tangible force of support in the end.

>>44151123
Why? Just out of curiosity. Is there something I can improve on in that regard, or was it simply the way the votes turned out?

>>44151143
When you call a vote, call it.