Bertram Gillivers
CURRENT STATUS:
Age: 14
Alchemical Formulae Known: Hopefully this one.
EQUIPMENT:
Apprentice Robes

You stare at the powders before you, chips of reactive metals, and the precious distilled wisp swirling ephemerally in the threaded glass of its container. Somewhere here, hidden in these ingredients mundane and arcane, are the pieces of the pure copper you're supposed to be transmuting right now. You strain your brain, trying to remember the exact formula. How many pinches of phlogiston was it?

>Roll to ALCHEMY

rolled 96 = 96

>>12200912

Here goes nothing.

>>12200928
Get the fuck out already.

>>12200928
The fuck you talking about?

Bumping

>>12200921
>96

Phlogiston? What were you even THINKING?
Silently scolding yourself, you drop some quicksilver into the mix, then sodium, then dreamstone, hands moving deftly as you remember the formula perfectly. You can hear Fulgrim sniff appreciatively, and smile to yourself; that's about as good as it gets on the compliment front.

You slowly heat the crucible, fingers crossed in anticipation. The wait is interminable, and there is no way to see inside to check your progress.

When at last you open the furnace, a hissing cloud of steam releases, and you jump back, nursing scalded fingertips.
"Fool boy!" Giles jumps on this opportunity to criticize. "An Alchemist with no hands is a very intelligent coatrack!" Leaning over the crucible, his face is underlit by the still-molten dull metal.
"Hmm... a very acceptable result," he says dismissively. "Now come with me, there is something important I would discuss with you."
Something important for the whipping boy apprentice? You follow eagerly, as confused as you are excited.

<continued>

"You know Court Alchemist Stelton?"
You nod slowly. Stelton is an aged man whose brain has clung to alchemical knowledge at the expense of everything else. Once a brilliant alchemist, and now a brilliant lunatic, he toils away in his laboratory at all hours, assistants occasionally coaxing food down his throat or carrying him to his chambers whenever he passes out from exhaustion, where he always wakes confused, angry, and full of ideas.
"Steltin's onto something. Something I've been working on for a long time," Fulgrim says, gesturing to his desk, where several blueprints lay spread out. They seem to describe some sort of siege engine. "My...contact informed me that he's begun feverishly working on this, and at the damned old fool's pace he'll finish before I do. Come," he waves his hand sharply, directing you down a dark corridor to an unused chamber, bolting the door behind him and lighting several candles.

<continued>

Aw, yeah! AlchemyQuest!

Leaning against an unused table in what appears to be a long-abandoned and dusty office, Pious Grayswan, the Academy cook nods his head as the two of you enter.
"Good to see you, Dagger," Fulgrim says, shaking the cook's hand. You cock your head.
"What's the apprentice doing here?" the cook says dispassionately. He's usually a very cheerful fellow, and the sudden change in tone is jarring.
"I figured it was time for the boy to step outside the lab, learn a bit more about the "court" part of Court Alchemy." the two men snicker darkly.
"Dagger here," Fulgrim says with a theatrical gesture, "is my personal Hushblade. You've had your head in a book since you came here, and that's good, but now...now I think it's time to get a bit more hands-on."
"Dagger's going to ensure that Stelton never finishes his project; Court Alchemy is a competitive environment, and competition is something I avoid whenever possible. In this case, let's call it...preemptive competition. Besides," he says, turning to you, "who knows how long before something comes out of Stelton's cobwebs that doesn't even work right, ends up killing a battalion of soldiers, ends up blowing up this whole Academy even?"
You try to soak in all this new information.
"I want you, boy...Gillivers...to go with him, to observe firsthand the darkest parts of Court Alchemy. I want you to understand what you must do to succeed, and what others will endeavor to do to you, if you allow it."

>Will you
>OVERSEE the assassination of the aged master?
or
>offer to STEAL his blueprints?
or
>offer to STEAL his blueprints, and then WARN him of the threat to his life?

>offer to STEAL his blueprints, and then WARN him of the threat to his life?

This. Old codger could prove useful, as could the blueprints.
Besides... SELFLESS!

>>12201162
Second.

>>12201201
>>12201162
I'd like to third but if he is as demented as he sounds, he'll probably not get the concept...
Now if I had a brilliant lunatic, I'd attach myself to him like a barnacle on a whale and ride the success. Warn THAT GUY who is taking care of the old fool and whose only hope of recognition is the old codger...

possibly forging a set of blueprints with key elements removed. make our master think that the gaffer is on the wrong track

>>12201274
This coincides with BRILLIANCE!
Assess the old man, act accordingly, don't tip off Fulgrim. Maybe even convince Grayswan of the plan when you're alone and close to the target (praying upon pre-assassination jitters), but only if he seems restless/unhappy or the like...
Maybe: "Grayswan, no offense, but how long do you see yourself under Fulgrim's thumb? Personally, 'lackey' has no place in my career goals, and I think you may agree that acting as a Hushblade to further these petty squabbles is a waste of your talents. I realize I may speak out of turn about my elders, but how long do you think Fulgrim has before he ends up just like Stelton, or worse?"

>WARN
You bow your head, your expression betraying none of your cunning.
"As you wish Master. It is an honor."
Fulgrim waves his hand dismissively. "Don't get in Dagger's way." With a swirl of his robes, he's out the door, leaving you alone with the assassin.
"Little Bert's all grown up, eh?" Grayswan says, a twinge of his brighter personality shining through.
You check behind you to make sure the two of you are alone.
""Grayswan, no offense, but how long do you see yourself under Fulgrim's thumb? Personally, 'lackey' has no place in my career goals, and I think you may agree that acting as a Hushblade to further these petty squabbles is a waste of your talents. I realize I may speak out of turn about my elders, but how long do you think Fulgrim has before he ends up just like Stelton, or worse?"
Grayswan bursts into a chuckle. "Oh, I'll reckon Fulgrim's got quite a few years left in him."
"Lackey? You really don't understand a thing about court politics, it's good Giles is getting you into this now. Who would I be if not a Hushblade?"
"I...er..." you stammer over your words; discourse was never your strong suit.
"I'd be a cook. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more. But in Fulgrim's service, and perhaps young Master, someday in yours, I can be so much more. I can provide for my family the way a noble can and, if I'm lucky, my knife can find its way between a few nobles' ribs."
"And it's Dagger, kid. Always Dagger on the job. Every Hushblade's got a name, and it ain't their own."

<continued>

>Internet is being spotty as fuck. Apologies if I disappear

"Dagger..." you begin, trying to think of a way to phrase this. "What if I were simply to steal Stelton's blueprints? They're the only reason Master wants him dead in the first place. Call it...risk-taking, innovation...a personal power-play."
"Desperate for the Master's respect, are you?" Dagger laughs. "Alright, alright. If you bring me the plans by tonight, I'll show them to Fulgrim and see if he'll call off the assassination."
"Thank you, Gr-...Dagger." You bow your head and leave, kicking up whorls of dust as you make your way over to where you think you remember the fragile old alchemist's lab is.

>any specific plan? or should I DM-puppeteer you through it?

>>12201439
We need to make a good show of trying to steal the blueprints through trickery, stealth, guile and subterfuge. Dagger is assuredly going to be keeping an eye on us, and it would be best to not let on that we intend to warn Stelton.

Anyone got any specific ideas as to how and when we "sneak in"?

>>12201489
Well we could try to get an idea on how often his assistants feed the old man. If we're lucky and it's tonight, we could try slipping something into the food that takes him away from his work and then we can leave a message behind if we still intend to warn him.

Case the establishment. Watch for pages, delivery boys, etc. Waylay under "Stelton's orders". Barring that, secret entrances. Those books our noses have been in had to be good for something... our inquisitive mind demands it!

>Going to give it the highlight reel treatment, since this is just a flashback and we have other things to get to tonight in the present, like extradimensional space elves.

Stelton's door is ajar when you reach his lab, and you can hear his assistants talking within.
"Old man's passed out again. Want to get the feet?"
"Can't we just leave him here? He's just going to pissed off when he wakes up if he's in his bed."
"No, we can't leave him passed out on the stone floor. Are you insane? Stelton's daughter holds the purse, if he bites the dust, where's our meal ticket? I don't know about you, but I'm not cut out for sailing soldiering, or farming."
"Yeah, I suppose you've got a point. You get the feet."
"Ugh...fine."

You press yourself inside some shadowy nook and watch breathlessly as the two laboratory assistants (you note with bitterness that Stelton has two assistants and has seen dozens of apprentices graduate, while Fulgrim has only you to act as apprentice, assistant, and general gopher) exit the room with the thin, frail body of Master Stelton between them. You watch them stumble their way to the stairs and almost drop the aged man onto the angled stone. You wait until they are gone, and cautiously move to the laboratory door.

<continued>

>>12201657
Beware of wards. If we read anything, read it backwards first.

The interior of Stelton's lab is a dangerous mess. Papers and bits of wood, metal, vials of dragon powder, mechanical wings, all splayed out amidst a forest of glowing candles. The place is begging to be burned down. Quickly and cautiously, you search among the stacks and piles; sweat beads against your brow before you finally find a group of papers that resembles Fulgrim's drawings. It is done in a much harsher, almost frenzied hand, as though Stelton wrote it in a trance or a shrieking rage. You pick up several sheafs of papers, leaving one behind that seems to describe the workings of some wisp-based central powering system. Perhaps if Fulgrim thinks Stelton is on the wrong track or isn't making progress, he'll be more willing to call off the assassination. You also pen a short warning in the margins of some of the more fresh-looking notes.
Master Stelton,
My Master has ordered your death. I felt it necessary to warn you, as you have provided nothing but service to the Imperium. Stay safe.
Feeling very clever, you duck back out of the office.

"These look good," Dagger says, examining the papers. "I have no idea what they mean, but they look good. Fulgrim should be pleased." He pats you on the shoulder before tucking the papers under his arm and leaving you alone in the abandoned office, still out of breath from racing through the hallways to deliver your cargo.

<continued>

>>12201657
sounds like the daughter is the one that should be alerted to the assassination... at a more suitable time of course... Dagger's probably watching us

Get in and check his piles of paper
find the blueprints and get back to our study, make imperfect duplicates and stash the real ones for later
give dupes to Giles

>Still later...

"Insolence! No...INCOMPETENCE!" Fulgrim growls threats like a cornered dog as he bursts into your chambers. You look up in shock from the book you were studying, terrified that your treachery has been discovered,
"Where is it? What is this trash you've brought me?" Fulgrim screams.
"I don't know what you're-"
He interrupts what would have been a very believable lie.
"The engine! the driving force behind all these trappings! That's what was important! THAT'S ALL THAT WAS IMPORTANT!"
"I don't-"
"No, you don't. You'll be going with Dagger this evening to do the job properly and as I originally stipulated. The next time you feel like slipping your leash, come back with something in your teeth, for the Emperor's sake." He storms out, slamming your chamber door. Papers spill off your desk from the resulting wind.

>It's getting hard to resist the urge to create the Imperial Archive.
>Oh and Baus, this is for you, for no particular reason.

>>12201837
Thanks! A brofist is always welcome!
>>12201826
Begin work on a forgery from memory of an engine that uses the power of rainbows and dreams. Make it as elaborate, detailed, and painstakingly crazy as possible, in the original mad scribbles seen previously.

>captcha: requires seyins
But of course!

"You've got a good heart kid, but you messed it up," Dagger says, scraping a wicked-looking blade across a whetstone in Fulgrim's chambers. Your Master scribbles furiously at a piece of parchment, ignoring the two of you. You feel he is ignoring you especially.
"Well, come on then. And no talking from here on out, just watch me and stay close."
The two of you slip into the darkened hallways of the Academy. Security is at a minimum; in the dangerous political theater of the court, everyone is responsible for their own protection, and you have a growing suspicion that most of the servants, assistants, and cooks in this Academy are more than what they appear. Maybe even some of the homonculi are involved...
You thoughts wander as your body moves on autopilot, following the cloaked figure in front of you. Though you can barely see in the hallways, he moves swiftly and with purpose; you suspect he's practiced this route.
You reach the door of the laboratory, where no doubt Fulgrim expects Stelton to be working feverishly, either replanning his siege engine or tinkering on some side project. You dare to hope that someone, maybe even Stelton himself, has seen and taken note of your warning.

>sorry for ignored requests, trying to get through the flashbacks as fast as possible, and when I plan them out they're really just barebones CYOA stuff, not the in-depth questy fare of normal AQ

Dagger draws his hood up over his face.
"Wait at the door and watch," he says, a breathless hint of a whisper. With that he slowly opens the door and moves into the lab.
Through the opened portal you can see the same sprawl of papers as before, the same teetering scaffolding of candles. Dagger moves circuitously about the room; you lose sight of him several times as he ducks among the shadows. It becomes obvious, however, that Stelton is not in his office. Backtracking, he gestures towards the stairs; the old man must still be asleep! You pray one of his assistants has found the warning note, or is standing guard, or...anything, really.

>>12201891
Oh, no. This is going to end in heartbreak. Thinking of an excuse...
"So you recieved my correspondence. My friend heard my Master would be sending someone after you tonight, and I couldn't take the chance that my meager warning would be enough to protect. And he... well, our hearts were in the right place..."

A spiral stair leads to Stelton's chambers; the torches are sparsely lit, creating yawning gulfs of shadow for the two of you to move through. You feel sick to your stomach as you climb the steps to a murder you tried to circumvent. Your hope rises slightly when you see one of Stelton's assistants standing outside the man's door, smoking a handrolled cigarette. He doesn't look like he's seen either of you.

>CALL OUT?
or
>SAY NOTHING

>>12201952
>like calling out would save him. If Dagger wishes to kill him, he dies.
Stay Silent.

Call out and try to screw up Dagger's footing or something make it seem like you're being clumsy/nervous and tripping over your own feet and getting in his way.

>>12201952
Conveying the following intention to Dagger, act as a DISGUISED distraction while he knocks the assistant out, with the pretext that no one can be trusted to not be a hushblade if we get caught.
Whisper to

>>12201952
>call out, get seen
>either be seen as incompetent by master or killed as an accomplice

>stay quiet, engine is found anyway along with our notes
>killed as a traitor

steal the engine blueprint while Dagger's not looking and get rid of our note

>>12202007
I like this one!

>>12202007
"I will play the part of a page. You knock him out," you whisper in Dagger's ear from the shadows. He turns to look at you, smiling strangely, before moving into the light. The assistant nods at your approach.
"Oh, er...it's you," he says. "I trust Master Fulgrim is pleased? Master Stelton is inside, sleeping off another one of his deranged sessions."
Dagger passes a small parcel into the man's hands.
"You will be well taken care of," he says. "Fulgrim is a forward-thinking man, he rewards those who are useful to him." The assistant smiles, puffing on the cigarette before moving away from the door. You hear the parcel jingle slightly.

The assistant nods nervously to you, puffing hard on his cigarette. Double dealing does not make for heavy sleep or still nerves, they say. You can see why a Hushblade would be necessary; this man barely has the spine to allow his master to be killed, much less the steady hand to accomplish the deed himself.

The interior bedchamber is sumptuously decorated. This is the first Master's bedchamber you've seen, as Fulgrim is a festidiously private man, in addition to probably hating you outright. The dangerous game of Court Alchemy is not without its perks it would seem. Stelton sleeps upon a luxurious bed of cushions and down pillows, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Dagger motions for you to stay by the door, drawing his blade and making a small gesture, some prayer or ritual. He approaches the bed, and you hear the scattered footsteps of the assistant as he breaks and runs; unable even to watch?

<continued>

>>12202086
Whisper to assistant. "Remember, you didn't see anyone."
Then knock him out anyway.
Whisper to Dagger. "It makes more sense for him to have been overpowered."
>gotta go now. keep our alchemist safe!

>>12202127
Wait.
Whisper to Dagger knowingly: "Stop. I think this might be a trap for the hushblade..."
>now I go.

There is the soft, almost inaudible sound of steel entering skin, and you grit your teeth. However, it is Dagger that stumbles back, a hand going to his midsection where a throwing knife has lodged itself. He looks at the blood, black in the moonlight from the ornate glass window, and looks at you, confused. Another knife strikes him in the throat, and with a muffled gurgle, he topples forward onto the rug.
"Ugh. And on the rug?" A female voice dripping with disdain rings out from the darkness. "Couldn't you have just strangled him?"
"Apologies, mistress," comes the metallic reply. A man steps from behind the door where he had been lurking. An impassive, androgynous steel funeral mask covers his face. Throwing knives are sheathed on his chest in two columns. He gestures for you to enter.
"Well don't be an idiot, get in here boy," the woman calls.

>Will you ENTER?
or
>Will you BOLT?

>>12202157
>Sorry, bra, a few minutes too late. Take care, Gillivers will probably be alive when we see you next.

>Probably

>>12202183
Enter, because we can't outrun throwing knives.
Also, this is our doing anyway.

>>12202192
It's happened before, it will happen again.
>hey, me! stop checking the thread and go to work!

>>12202219

You step forward, swallowing with difficulty. A candle flickers to light, casting shadows of a dead man and a sleeping lunatic. The source of the voice, an impeccably dressed woman, beckons you inward.
"Ah, Fulgrims young ward. I assume you are to be thanked for all this?"

>>12202183
ENTER

>>12202339
not sure that fulgrim use the word 'thank'...
but I suppose it is, glad the right people got my message

>>12202339
"I... um, that is, yes, I guess, er... I tried to warn... I just... I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"I... um, that is, yes, I guess, er... I tried to warn... I just... I didn't want anyone to get hurt." You're not sure "thank" is the word Fulgrim is going to use.
"How delightfully naive," the woman says, stepping towards you. She is roughly ten years your senior, and there is a coldness in her eyes that indicates she has been in the thick of the political landscape perhaps longer than you've been alive.
"Don't worry, muffin," she says, smiling sweetly. "I won't tell Fulgrim about your adorable little betrayal." she pinches gently at the bottom of your chin. "You can tell him we let you live to send a message. It's only half a lie." She stands straight, backing away from you slightly.
"Tell your Master he's fucking with more than just one old man. And, Whisper, I think you should make it believable."
Whisper must have iron gloves, because the punch to the face he delivers feels like a brick slapping you between the teeth. You stagger backwards as the masked man chuckles.
"Now go, boy. And don't think I will forget this...kindness? weakness? Time will tell."
You retreat before Whisper can deliver any more realism. Stelton slumbers peacefully through the whole ordeal.

<continued>

Fulgrim is still awake in his office when you enter, blood dribbling from your busted lip. His face immediately furrows, wrinkles falling into their familiar, natural angry frown.
"What in the Abyss happened to you?"
You explain the situation, and deliver the message Lady Stelton gave you. Fulgrim quivers with rage.
"How did they...I lined plenty of that little worms pockets, why would he have sold me out?" He turns to look at you darkly before grasping a handful of your robes, jerking you towards him painfully.
"Did you do this? Hm? Getting back at Master, were you, you sly little worm?"

>LIE?
or
>COP TO IT?

>>12202602
What would we gain from telling the truth?
Would he try to kill us?

>>12202734
>it is unlikely that your master would MURDER YOU, since we're currently in the past, and that would sort of be the end of the quest

>>12202602
>LIE
>LIE 'TIL THE COWS COME HOME
maybe someone noticed the missing papers and wanted to be save rather than sorry?

"What would I have to gain from 'getting back at you'? I'm NOT that petty!"

>>12202781
PIME TARADOX!

>>12202602
"Surely you would not suggest that I would be so foolish as to betray my only mentor and teacher, sir? Maybe someone whom you paid off was just as doublefaced as you wanted them to be. Maybe Dagger was not so loyal as you thought, and sold you out and was killed to keep silent. Or perhaps you simply were not discrete enough in your scheming, and were simply caught in your subterfuge. I know not, and doubt that either you or the Lady will ever tell me the truth.

This has been a very enlightening lesson, master."

>>12202602
Lie. In the half-lie way of saying we would never intend to get back at him. Which was true, since we just did this to try to stop people from dying...

I can't really forsee any benefit of telling the truth at this point based on what we've seen of this guys personality.

>>12202602
Well, maybe we should tell the truth and point out that the path our master walks down is one of folly

rolled 66 = 66

>>12202734
If he did we obviously survive (unless the whole island adventure thing is a last dream sequence thing) and the only thing I can think of receiving from telling the truth here is a new guideline with which to play GILLIVERS THE EXPLORER. So it could be worth it you know having a reputation of truthfulness, though it could be seen as cowardice by some.

Basically I have no idea what to do here, so fuck it I will let chance dictate my response to this.

Odds = Truth
Evens = Lies (and possibly slander)

>>12202781
That's metagaming though, we shouldn't make decisions based on that.

Lie.

>LIE

"What would I have to gain from 'getting back at you'? I'm NOT that petty! Surely you would not suggest that I would be so foolish as to betray my only mentor and teacher, sir? Maybe someone whom you paid off was just as doublefaced as you wanted them to be. Maybe Dagger was not so loyal as you thought, and sold you out and was killed to keep silent. Or perhaps you simply were not discrete enough in your scheming, and were simply caught in your subterfuge. I know not, and doubt that either you or the Lady will ever tell me the truth.

This has been a very enlightening lesson, master."

Fulgrim stares into your face like he's trying to boil your brain. Finally he lessens his grip on your robe, and you step back, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Yes," he says. "This has been very enlightening. For both of us." He turns away, moving towards the stairway to his own chambers.
"Transmutations, tomorrow at dawn," he says before retiring. You can't tell what he's thinking, but the night has certainly given you both a lot to think about.

>The next day, after a painstakingly awkward, strict, and above all LONG transmutation lesson

"A Hushblade? And then he was killed by ANOTHER Hushblade?" Elegy gushes over your story. "Why didn't you bring me along?"
"It was implied that I was almost killed. One man was. Would you really have wanted to be there?"
There is no pause. "Yes!"
You shake your head. There's no talking to her about Hushblades.
"I'm going to be a Hushblade someday, Bertram," she says earnestly. "It'll be my ticket out of a servant's life."
"Best of luck to you," you say, hoping to change the subject away from professional murderers.
"No, Bertram, you don't understand," she says with a giggle. "Someday I'll kill for you."
Well then.

>How do you respond?

>Kiss her.
>He's a hormonal teenager, right? I say it makes sense.
>Or am I reading too much into their relationship.
>Screw it, do it anyway.

>>12203004
tell her that all we want from her is for her to live a happy, peaceful life.

>>12203004
"Sorry, but MY hushblade will be considerably more concerned with cloak than dagger"

"Sorry, but MY hushblade will be considerably more concerned with cloak than dagger"
Elegy's face falls as she looks away. You smile, chuckling to draw her attention back.
"Don't worry. All I want from you is for you to live a happy, peaceful life."
She shrugs playfully. "I'll see what I can do."

The kiss is awkward, the sort of spur-of-the-moment thing that children believe that they will remember forever, until they can remember only their insistence on never forgetting. The two of you share a moment, lingering and flush with importance. She is called away to perform some task, something menial and utterly beneath someone of her character. You hope desperately that she gets out of this life. You promise yourself that you will lift her out of this life, and carry her with you to prominence and glory. At the hallway, she turns and gives you a smile, one that is eminently normal and forgettable, and which you remember always.
It is the last time you see her.

>Meanwhile, in the present...

Hapsburg fingers the trigger of the musket, trying to familiarize himself with the weapon. Behind him on the deck, the cabin boy Thessilis fidgets nervously.
You cradle a single dose of freshly-made Shadowdust, hastily whipped together with your lab.
"Hopefully we won't even need it," Sebastian says, hefting the Daemon rifle awkwardly.

Somewhere out in the jungle, the survivors of your crew are being slaughtered, if they aren't already dead. Also lurking in the trees, the two strange beings from beyond the rift of the Second Sun, who have promised to help you escape, hinted at a terrifying invasion, and changed the way you see the world.

>What do?

>>12203303
Why, badass rescue mission, of course.

>>12203303
while I loath to leave people behind, we need to get the message back to the Empire

get back to the cave/tunnels and let's get out of here

>daughter smulls
she's not THAT bad, captcha...
though let's hope the journey back home doesn't take too long... she might get worse

>>12203182
NOOOOOO dammit, flashback over? I hate cliffhangers!
>>12203303
Last I remember, the enemy troops were just coming out of the forest to gather on the beach. We need to get off the boat.

>>12203303
Rescue time!

>Rescue
>Get out of here
>Get off the boat

"We need to get off this boat," you say, untethering the rowboat from the side of the deck. Sebastian lowers the boat into the water before jumping down after you. Your arms, pouches, and belts are burdened with notes and diagrams, all your research on this island, the foothold of a completely foreign ecology. Hapsburg and Thessilis row for the shore, cutting diagonally to avoid the cluster of elves gathered on the sands. The noise of gunfire from the jungles has almost completely ceased. The four of you share a tense silence while your brain works feverishly. The Imperium must be warned. Every nation must be warned, from the mighty Imperium to the Confederacy of Coin and Steel, the nomadic Tserengil, the mysterious and exotic Dyrdyr. Hopefully a mobilized Imperium will draw the other major powers to its banners.
"Decision time," Sebastian says as your boat cuts into shallow water. "Are we going inland for the crew? Or back to those...whatever they said they were?"

>Consensus time

>>12203550
We need to search for the crew.

>>12203550
I say we spend no more than half an hour to an hour trying to rescue survivors, then immediately leave with the space elves to warn people.

ALCHEMY TIME!

>Oh, also, from the flashback:
>REPUTATION: SELFLESS+
>REPUTATION: POTENTIALLY UNTRUSTWORTHY
>Perhaps you have more allies an imperial soil than you thought.
>And perhaps...
>Just maybe...
>Someone, somewhere, wuvs you.

>>12203550
back to the elves. No time for emotions, we must be pragmatic

Ask the male and our 2 cabin boys to try to rally any survivors in the tunnels

>ArkArc is passing out now. I'll see what happened in the morning. Peace.

>rescue mission, with possible time constraint

"We need to try and get more crew members. Some of them must be laying low in those jungles."
Thessilis and Hapsburg seem none to pleased with this prospect.
"We're going to march into those trees to die? Your Eminence, I'm sorry, but they're dead. Even if they're not, how are we going to find them without running into a firing squad of those monsters?"

>>12203612
>Someone, somewhere, wuvs you.
D'awwww

>>12203671
Yes we are. Even if it's hopeless we've got to try, if there's a single man out there we're going to bring him home. Now to get past them we're going to use a little alchemy and a little cunning. We'll cloak ourselves in Shadowdust and make way through the forest and follow one of their patrols to where they're keeping the men.

We're selfless. We're saving whoever we can.

>>12203612
I hope we get a chance to get rid of the untrustworthy bit in future flashbacks, it'll be a pain getting people to believe us if we don't

Pull to shore at a quiet area. Hide our boat. Meet up with elves, pick up anyone we see on the way.

MAKE SURE TO WARN THE ONES WE SAVE THAT TWO ROGUE ELVES ARE HELPING US ESCAPE.

>>12203840
>You only have enough Dust for one person. Are you suggesting sending the crew to meet with the elves and continuing alone and cloaked?

>>12203889
and how many will die if we fall before we can deliver the message to the Empire?
we MUST be pragmatic about this

Continue to the elves, but gather any survivors we can find. Kill any invaders we can quietly and loot their shit.

Only if it's safe to do though. Lone patrols or whatever.

>>12203895
Yes, but we want them to have a message to carry back with them just in case things don't go well for us. Write a letter explaining all that's happening and putting it with our work.

>There seems to be a clash between pragmatism and relentless philanthropy. Awaiting a consensus

I VOTE PHILANTHROPY

rolled 14 = 14

>>12203903
here
>>12203969
Is alright with me
just make the message the first priority

if we're not back at a rendezvous point in, say, 2 hours they leave without us
if they're in danger of getting caught, leave without us

>>12203981
Relentless philanthropy all the way.

>save the shit out of everyone at the cost of everything

"Bottom line, we need to get to the cave systems that run underneath this island. There are people, from the other side, trying to help us."
"How do you know you can trust them?" Thessilis asks nervously.
"We don't have much of a choice, we're not enough people to sail the ship out of here, and they'd scuttle us if we tried. Take this," hastily you scrawl a note describing the situation on some journal entries and sign it, handing it to Sebastian.
"If I'm not back in two hours, leave without me. Tell the two waiting by the cave," you gesture, "that I went for the crew."
Opening the vial of Shadowdust, you swiftly apply it to yourself, melding into the shadows. Before the others can convince you to abandon your righteous quest, you plunge into the bushes, blunderbuss in hand.

>roll dice

rolled 86 = 86

1d100

>>12204162
>no dice in email
>areyouawizard.jpg

>Alright guys, I'm out for the time being. Might be on tomorrow, if not next Thursday. I'll think of something fitting for that 86 in the meantime. Sorry that flashback took so long.

>>12204218
heh, no im lazy and forgot to remove noko. fuck, ill be a little sad if it didnt count. oh well. anyway when will you return?

>>12204197
it's a noko dice
it gives the function of noko while still rolling
generally frowned upon in quest threads due to hiding what dice was rolled

>>12204230
I genenrally run on Thursdays at 10:00. Posting my email now so newcomers can yell at me about quest updates, or whatever, really.

>>12204236
yeah, sorry about that. although it IS statstically impossible to cheat a high roll on tg dice but ill understand if its not accepted.

>go to archive thread
>there are like a trillion billion quest threads tonight

ohh, that;s where everyone was