>bumping once real quick, since starting mid-social encounter may be kinda jarring

give this man his audience, brotherhood bump

"How have you been adjusting to the unit so far? And how come you're not drinking?"

"Care for a drink?" you ask nonchalantly, motioning for BlackBird to follow you "And I was merely curious as to how you are adapting to life in my maniple."

BlackBird smirks, and replies "It is enjoyable, the safe times are far longer than those with meaning, but I am enjoying having comrades again. And is it wise for our whole band to be drunk at once? What would happen if enemies were to fall on us then?"

>>12670979
"We're in the heart of the empire where other armies are standing guard. We won't have to worry about being attacked any time soon by enemy armies. You feel that life doesn't have meaning unless you're in battle then?"

>>12671003
Even though it sounds like something that a person in a horror movie would say right before the killer shows up I'm going to have to second this.

>>12671031
Hey, I worded it a little better by only mentioning enemy armies. At first I was going to say the enemy period but then I thought to myself "Hmm. Assassins/spies.". Regardless, I know what you mean, heh.

Now you feel that it is your turn to laugh "We are in the heart of the Empire friend, our band is the entirety of the Degnarian Legion... we can afford more than one night of drunkenness as a group, at the least I would hope." you reply as you walk up to the bar, this one very large, and without a tender. In victory you felt you could afford the extra for that luxury. "What would you like to drink then?" you add, pouring yourself a glass of dwarven whiskey, you find that you have acquired quite a tongue for the drink, even though it isnt your mystery brew.

Blackbird sniffs the lip of the bottle in your hand before responding "What your drinking, then."

"So you truly feel that battle is the only time that matters in life then?" you ask, genuinely curious.

"Of course not, I'm no barbarian" BlackBird replies "But combat is the only time one can test his mettle, and thusly his worth" he pauses to take a sip of the drinnk you just finished pouring for him "And what intelligent creature could bear to live on not knowing whether or not he is worthy of his life?"

>>12671151
"But is a persons worth entirely determined by his mettle in combat? A smith may be horrible at combat but he could create weapons that slice through the heaviest armour when used by warriors like yourself. Is his life less worthy simply because he cannot use that weapon himself?"

>>12671151
"A Good point my friend, I have no doubt we will be able to prove our worth before long."

"where I a man of philosophy, I would argue that some prove their worth through skills at the forge or in the fields, for without them warriors such as ourselves would not be able to go to battle. However we are soldiers and we will be able to once again test our mettle soon enough. Until then" you reply, raiding your glass "To friends, to victory and to the Empire!" all in the room raise their glasses as well, draining them as one. In the confusion at the bar that ensues you are pushed away from BlackBird, who you see enthralled in a conversation with... Degrian???

>what now?

>>12671325
Laelith now. She's almost assuredly feeling lonely.

>>12671325
Heh. Degrian and him eh? Interesting. Didn't really get him to open up to our other captains but hopefully that'll occur in time.

Let's see if we can get Laelith in on things, although I honestly have no clue how at this point... I can only see it being awkward for her trying to talk to our captains.

>>12671349
We can try to get her over to talk to Kyria. The bubbly dwarf likely wouldn't hold a grudge, and Laelith never actually fought her.

>>12671325
remind me, whos degrian?

>>12671398

the kaskyana we saved from the gnomes

>>12671418
ah, I remember now, we should ask him how the progress on upgrading Kyria's unit to repeaters is going

One thing we should consider.

Asking the second praetorian if we can get an artillery unit attached to our maniple for our second campaign.

Got a feeling we might need some extra long-ranged firepower.

>>12671529
Id say that's something the commander of our cohort would have to do. Did Pax say if we were going on our next mission as a part of the whole cohort or is it just our maniple that's being deployed?

>>12671529
What, you mean siege units?

I'm not sure we ought to do that. I doubt we'll be able to use them to much effect in the plains. And until we hit a fortress I doubt they'd be of much use.

>>12671568
And the praetorian we spoke to seemed to indicate it would be a lot of our territory that would be taken. Meaning we likely don't want to punch holes into our own cities since that'll make holding them again a lot more painful and cause damage to our holdings. Although I could be wrong.

>>12671529

well, we already have laelith and our own elementalism for busting open fortifications and we have plenty of ranged support as it is

and speaking of elementalism, we need to start practicing with that brown glove and we might as well see if the white and black gloves are direct life-lines to the gods

>>12671558

He hasn't said.

>>12671568

I was thinking of either a ballista or a standard catapult.

Former for shooting through ranks of men. Later for being able to hurl large amounts of smaller stones like a giant shotgun and then bigger ones for fortifications.

As the group evens back out to its original groups, you make your way over to Laelith, who is currently nursing a glass of wine, and looking quite uncomfortable; downright refusing to look in Cornelius direction, at the mirror behind the bar, and now that you are close, you notice that she is averting your left arm. "Ah, Commander, how long do you expect me to stay here?"

>freaking dog cant just piss and come back... grr...

>>12671558
Part of a cohort headed for the southern front.

>>12671616
>>12671568
>>12671589
the largest settlements on the plains are small farming villages, which are at their furthest point about 7 days hard ride past the fortresses that either nation holds on the plains. there is a buffer zone of about the same distance in between them

>>12671649
"You can't expect to be apart of my retinue and isolate yourself from everyone else Laelith. I know you're uncomfortable with it but you're going to need to get used to being amongst the other captains unless you intend to only talk to me for the rest of our campaigns."

>>12671649
Comfort her, and assure her that there are no hard feelings. Hold up our left arm and smile, and tell her that we don't hold it against her at all, and that she has earned our trust. Try to lead her over to Kyria and Jayne, putting an arm around her and physically herding her if required.

Just be nice and understanding, and keep assuring her that it's fine for her to feel regret, but not to let it keep her from making friends here.

>>12671649
Tell her that it's okay and she's among friends here, and if we need to we'll spend all night here talking to her to make sure she's not alone... but it would be better for her to join the rest of the unit. They are good people and so is she so it will all be ok.

>>12671649

Including those above, offer her some of our special alcohol reserve.

>>12671649
"For at least as long as it takes for me to get you to open up. The sooner you get socialized the sooner you can move on and make the most of the opportunity you've been given. Now c'mon let me properly introduce you to the others."

>>12671735
This

"Well, since your part of my retinue now, until I see you enjoying yourself with the captains you'll be working with." You reply as warmly as you can without sounding like you'll give on the issue.

"How can I enjoy myself when they all most likely still count me as a foe. I doubt that they are all as forgiving as you/" Laelith replies, taking another sip of her wine.

"Well, i can think of two of my captains who I can guarantee have already forgiven you. One of them I dont think is capable of holding a grudge" you reply, taking her arm and leading her over to Jayne and Kyria "and the other wasnt on particularly good terms with the man who stole my latest idea for a dashing scar when you fought us, so I doubt she's horribly angry with you." you finish, holding up your burn-scarred left arm. Laeliths mouth gapes at your distortion of time and history, and she barely manages to collect her face by the time you reach the pair in question.

>well?

>>12671873
beyond asking Degrian how the upgrading goes, I can't think of anything else that needs to be done tonight

>>12671873
"Hey, you two. This is Laelith, if you didn't know her name already. Laelith, this is Kyria and Jayne. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Ask Jayne how her sister has been and if there is any news on the home front, and ask Kyria how the repeating crossbows are coming along.

>>12671873

ladies, this is laelith. i would appreciate it if you showed her a good time

>>12671873
Proper introductions, of course.

Laelith's already met Jayne, so we ought to tell her about her noble background, and then we introduce Kyria.

We stick around and stay in the conversation until Jayne and Kyria have Laelith's full attention.

"Jayne, Kyria; this is Laelith... she seems to think she's beyond redemption and that you are all plotting to kill her. Would you be so kind as to show her a good time?" you announce as you approach the pair.

"As long as she doesnt out-dance me." Kyria responds cheerily, you barely repress a laugh, no small feat after having seen Kyria dance.

"As long as she doesnt keep stealing you away from the rest of us I think I could do that." Jayne replies, mischif in her eyes. Laelith balks, but you leave her with the pair and make your way over to the table Uurist, Sansa and Buckmoore are drinking at. Its time to start REALLY enjoying the night.

>anything else or timeskip ahead?

>>12672005
Timeskip ho!

>>12672023
>well, what do you guys want to get to before the trial? turn in that gold, get your Uursan barded, confirm the uses of that Arcana, what do and I'll get you right to it.

>>12672063
I'm leaning towards the Arcana or getting the gold.

If we do get the gold, is it possible to invest in getting better gear and such for our units and upgrading them like how we upgraded the scouts into rangers?

>>12672063
Find a life elementalist in case Laelith wants her face healed after the trial.

After the trial we should also stop by Jayne's and say hi.

Can't think of much else before the trial. Ask the Imperial archivists or whatever about the magical items, perhaps?

>>12672063

Find the victim of Rapus Maximus. The one who is currently fighting in the academy fights.

Need to verify her status and get her put on the backbench before she kicks the bucket.

>>12672063

do all three in that order

>>12672091
Actually, we should also look into the one who is missing. If that woman has family in the city, there's a chance they might know where she is. In theory, we could protect her by taking her on I suppose but even just talking to her would be useful.

>>12672110

But this one will die soon if we don't do anything.

And since we know where we can find her, we should pluck her out of that hell hole asap.

>>12672136
We're not the savior of the masses here. We're not a paladin, champion of the downtrodden. We can't just add every sob story to our retinue. We talk to her, sure, but only add her if she has useful skills.

>>12672136
I don't think we can just pluck her out of her fighting anyways. She has to win her freedom. She either does or she doesn't, there's nothing we can do but hope she survives for our benefit later on.

>>12672164
>>12672155

I don't really mean adding her to our party.

What I meant was at least speaking to the academy authorities once we speak with her and hear her version of the incident.

We should at least be able to convince them that she needs to be kept alive as a witness and remanded until we can get to the bottom of the investigation.

>>12672196
>>12672164
>>12672155
>>12672136
if you guys DO go that route you will be playing your hand to anyone who cares to look...

content post inbound

>>12672196
No way dude. That'll open us up to Mr. Rapist's attention and he's way more powerful than us. We have no real grounds at this point other than Sansa's story and whoever else we find. Too bad they're all criminals as far as the empire is concerned. We need something more solid than just this.

>>12672196
We're not officially investigating anything, and I wouldn't want news of our inquiry to trickle up to anyone important.

Fair enough. I guess shes on her own then. Her testimony should even be in the court documents so we don't even have to speak to her anymore.

We'd probably better start looking for the missing one then.

>>12672209
Yeah we can wait until we have a little more pull before we take this guy down

The next morning starts late... very late. You are one of the first out of bed still. After eating, cleaning yourself, and dodging Sansa's offer of a glass of her hangover cure; which Laelith inexplicably accepts when she emerges from the bathhouse connected to the command staffs barracks, you decide its time to get to work.

The first thing you do is saddle Spite, picking over the soldiers who didnt make it back to their bunks will be good training for him. After that you collect the two chests, and strap them to your Uursans saddle, the beast is doing an admirable job of waiting, but you can tell that he's getting impatient. Riding Spite through the city proves to be an excellent training exercise for the uursan, as you have to subtly direct it away from more than a few nobles who seem to think the fact that they ride horses to your uursan makes them better than both of you. The trip to the Imperial Treasury is a short one, netting you 40000 dragoons in personal funds, and making you wonder whether you missed a few of Khalless' chests.

As you make your way to the Anvil district you find yourself faced with more choices than you wish, as barding is a common service offered by blacksmiths. How much are you willing to spend, what metal do you want used, and how fast do you want the barding, its appearance. the possibilities baffle you as you look down the hill into the heart of the main smithing district in town.

>do you want a rundown of the materials you are likely to have available for choices?

>>12672346
I think we should ask Jayne for advice on this. She knows the bear mounts best and would likely know what would be best for ours. We might kit it out in something that would slow it down too much or something along those lines.

>>12672363
I agree, let's turn this outing into a date with Jayne.

Figuratively speaking. Buying bear armor is not exactly "date" level.

>>12672346

money isnt a problem, and as long as it offers maximum protection, appearance doesnt really matter.

steel should do fine enough for material and we have a good couple of weeks before deployment so time isnt an issue

my only requirement is that it has trophy hooks

and steel bull-horns for his (helmet?) or whatever is attached to his head

>>12672346
We don't need to use personal funds for this. Draw from the requisition money first. If it turns out we need more for hiring mercs later we can dip into our personal money for that. If not, well, we saved cash.

>>12672363
from what she told you, it depends on the mount and if it is properly trained and conditioned for what you give it, they are incredibly durable creatures and with proper training they can bear almost anything.

Steel, reliable, cheap, the bare minimum.

Meteorite: stronger than steel, and MUCH more resistant to heat, but heavier and not cheap to use do to the heats it needs to be heated to.

Mithia: slightly weaker than meteorite, lighter and more malleable. Its main advantage is that lightness, so it int much good for barding on an Uursan the size of spite, the fact that elfs prefer to work with it more than any other race makes it hard to get in the Empire

Adamantium: The strongest, heaviest natural ore. Intensely rare, but impervious to rust, corrosion, and most other forms of wear. expensive as hell though.

Kextraeita (Dwarven Steel): the strongest material known to the world. Only Dwarves know how to make it, and they are loathe to share its secrets, they almost revere the substance, but it is nigh impervious to any sort of damage, doesnt weigh much more than Mithia, and can be made to cover more area with ease.

so, what kind of barding are you looking for then, and how high end do you want to go?

See if we can get Mithia for a decent price, otherwise steel.

I'm going with Steel.

>>12672503

how much would each of these suits cost?

>>12672529
>>12672548
I doubt I'll be able to sway the vote to any other metal but I guess we shouldn't go overboard with fancy armour just yet. Might make it seem to others that we're bigger than we think we are if we spend that much on our mount when most people think our last victory wasn't that impressive.

I vote steel, aiming for the upper end.

>>12672581
steel: 1-5k depending on quality.
Meteorite: 2.5-8k depending on quality
Mithia: 4-12k (not many elves/smiths that work with it around here)
Adamantium: 3.5-15k
Kextraeita: 10k+

you could potentially barter any of these rates lower.

>>12672633
Let's go with best quality steel then. Put it on our imperial tab.

>>12672633

alright then im changing my vote to adamantium with the opportunity to barter the price down a wee bit

trophy hooks and goring horns are still a must though

Finding a smith that will work steel is easy, but you can only five that are willing to tackle barding Spite. One has a well kept, tidy shop, and seems flooded with work, and more interested in the money from a job as large as yours.

the second has a messy, small shop and is very eager to take on the challenge of your large mount

the third isnt very busy, but claims to do excellent barding.

the last two are across the street from each other, and when one claimed he could bard anything the other said he was full of shit, and could do a much better job

>>12672718
I vote messy, small shop with eager owner. And now cliche's from the past come to bite me in the ass, heh.

>>12672718
I like the cut of the second smiths jib

>>12672718

the second shop

You ride through the Anvil district, almost unable to hear yourself over the sound of bellows and forges, hammers striking steel, adamantium and other ores, men haggling. A pair of brothers start shouting arguments across the way as you ride past again, stopping at a small messy corner shop. "Ah, Commander Trentz, I'm glad to see that you returned." the smith in the shop greets you as you hop off of your mount, and order him to stay where he is. "What kind of barding would you like for..." he asks.

throwing in my vote for the second smith as well.

>>12672804
'Spite' is his name.

>>12672804

"Spite, and i would like something functional and not too flashy, offering as much protection as possible. your best quality steel should do. also, i would like trophy hooks strewn here and there, and some spikes or horns on his helmet."

>>12672841
>does this work for everyone?

>>12672841
I disagree with the spikes and hooks. We're not a common barbarian.

>>12672858

oh come on, we're going to be fighting uurlanthians , the hated enemy of the empire

we can be just a lil' barbaric

>>12672871
I don't think they're that hated actually. Our empire wanted to avoid war. It seems more like we just don't want to deal with them at all.

I'm against the spikes and trophy hooks as well. Sorry to say but it just seems way too bloody. We can still get trophies of war without using trophy hooks.

>>12672858

and its not like the're gonna be everywhere, just some horns on his helmet to optimise combat efficiency

and trophy hooks are awesome, admit it

>>12672887
For barbarians, yeah. But we're a civilized soldier from a civilized nation.

I'll go in for the helmet spikes/horns, anything to up combat efficiency. The hooks we can go without. We can always have them added later, or dedicate some lower class citizens into the maniple to wave around spears/pikes with our trophies upon them.

>>12672904

civilized men have no place on a battlefield, jack

on the field of war, we are barbarians each and every one

"Spite is his name. and I'm looking for something simple, your best work and best steel of course." you reply curtly.

"It would take me about two weeks, and I will need 4500 gold dragoons. Your help measuring Spite would be most appreciated." the smith replies, his face betraying that something is eating away at his mind.

rolled 64 = 64

>>12672936

measuring him will be no problem, but what is troubling you?

also , rolling for bartering

"Could I convince you to do it for any less?" you reply, bringing spite a bit closer and holding him still as the smith begins measuring.

"No, you cant." he replies promptly, writing down measurements as he goes.

After a few more minutes of silent work you pipe up again "Something seemed to be on your mind before, might I inquire as to what it is?"

The smith writes down a final measurement and steps away from Spite "I was wondering if you purchased this uursan from house Garlian, theyre the only local house I know of that has the breeding stock for such a large creature." he responds.

>sorry if I seem a bit off tonight, been planning for the next few sessions, and it seems that the less exciting here and now is getting to me a bit, hehe.

>>12673026
"Not purchased but it was a wild one tamed on my last campaign that house Garliand took part in. The heir taught me a few things about taming them and we both tamed ones that appeared on our way back."

rolled 94 = 94

>>12673026

No i captured Spite in the wild, but house garlian is an ally of mine. why do you ask?

"Actually I caught him during my last campaign. Lady Jayne Garlian is currently working with my maniple and helped me train him however, why do you ask?" you reply, as the smith starts getting ingots out of, storage, you guess... but it seems more like he is revealing his hiding places.

"I contract almost exclusively with House Garlian, apprenticed with their house smiths in fact. Its not very often one gets to work with such a beautiful creature as this, with them going 'out of style' with most of the Noble Houses. I'm sure your a busy man though commander, I wont trouble you with any more frivolities." he replies as he puts the first few ingots into the heat.

You mount spite again and ride off. Your best bet for identifying the arcana you still are unsure about would be the Imperial Vault, although there are a few shops that may be able to do it for you as well, and without the chance that the items will be requisitioned for use by the empire, however the shops would cost more, and take longer as well.

>>12673100
I say hit the shops to find out. We don't want our super, awesome item we rightfully won, and spent money to even get in the first place, to be taken by another unit.

>>12673100

the shops

also, go there under an alias, dont let them know who we really are

>>12673100
Let's see what the inventory cipher than Finian is translating comes up with before we pay to have them identified then.

To the trial!

>>12672346
>40000 dragoons

Holy crap!

More cavalry here we come.
Cavalry here>>12673026

>>12673125
I vote for this plan. Money and time we got, so lets use 'em as best we can.

>>12673126
Do remember this is our personal fund. If we want to build up our political life and all that, we're going to need to start saving this up and spending it on non-military stuff. I won't say no to more cav for this but in the future, we need to start using this type of money on other things.

>>12673126
This is our PERSONAL fortune. I don't want to spend it on temporary troops if we can help it.

>>12673166

bread and circuses?

we should wait until we at least have our own legion

The best deal you can find is 500 dragoons per item, set or not. Once the item is identified, you would need to pay extra to be told how to work it... but you suspect once you have a positive name and use the archives could yield some form of instructions.

>yea, I'm trying to speed this along to at least the trial tonight.

>>12673193
Just wait and see what the cipher says. Skip to the trial.

>>12673193

500 per item?

fuck that good sirrah

lets just wait for finian to crack the code and then we can hit the archives and find out the rest of it for ourselves

>>12673207
Wait, didn't Finian say it'd take the month for him to translate them? We might not get the chance to identify them after.

>>12673222
He said it will be done by the end of the month. We should still have time.

>>12673222
>>12673214
>>12673207
I'm talking about the enchanted items that Finian and Laelith couldnt ID. the books/cipher arent what your working at...

and you could always just have the guy look at one item out of each set

>>12673233
>I can translate it, but I'm not the best with cyphers, so it will be slow going. I am however, fairly certain there will be something in here listing the contents of the chest...

And then you said once we know the names we can look up how to use them, right?

>>12673222

are they going anywhere?

we can just take care of them after we get back from our next campaign

or we could take a bunch o' books with us

either way, finian is free and thats way better than the greedy assholes that run these shops

>>12673243
I suppose. But what if some of these things take time to use or get used to? For instance, those gloves that we don't know what they do. That might be worth identifying at least. Maybe not so much the weapons if Finian can figure it out but those? Might be useful to have for the whole month.

>>12673241
>>12673243
I'm not referring to the books; you left those with Finian. I'm referring to the set of rings you weren't sure about, and the two knives that no one could make heads or tails out of

>>12673279
you do of course have the entire chest with you for this trip if you wan to be _sure_ about anything

>>12673259

we already know what the gloves do, and the black and white ones are most likely tools for communicating with the gods.

i say let finian continue decoding the list and timeskip to the trial.

but during the timeskip, can we practice elementalism with the brown glove and try out the black and white gloves?

>>12673279
Yeah sure identify them. Put it on the imperial tab too, like the armor.

>>12673279

okay fine, see what the knives do , then timeskip with elementalism practice and glove usage, THEN trial

>>12673295
We guessed it had to do with the gods but we're not sure. Laelith herself said she wasn't sure so it'd a guess on our part.

>>12673299
If we do that, based on how much we have leftover, we might have to bring some personal funds on this campaign.

>>12673315
Better than spending personal funds to identify then needing to turn back in some unspent imperial gold.

One of the knives secretes an arcane venom when it breaks skin, fatal within 24 hours, and the other creates cuts that can never be healed, excellent tools for an assassin.

>roll for elementalism practice, and do you want to try your luck and spar with Laelith, or keep going with practicing on your own?

>>12673126
>Cavalry here>>12673026

Why the hell did forget to delete that part?

rolled 81 = 81

>>12673329

practice with laelith

get a good sensual sweat going

>>12673349

does the glove give us a minus something modifier?

rolled 85 = 85

Rolling

>>12673329
Let's practice on our own for now, we don't want to embarass ourselves.

>>12673329

looks like sansa has a new badass pair of knives in case we ever need her to do some political assasinations or some such

I say practice on our own. We were able to a bit on our own but not enough for actual combat.

>>12673383
I don't think she'd be the cloak and dagger type honestly. We might have to look at our hunters for that. Sansa seems more honourable than that but maybe I'm wrong and she's more practical than I think she is.

>>12673424
>>12673383
We could always try to find a badass assassin babe to join our retinue. I mean, I wouldn't put it past Justinian. The man is covered up in babes.

>>12673434
Pax has said Justinian is a lady killer. Hell, even our dice rolls agree. We completely broke Laelith's faith in her old god and her husband.

>>12673446
I'd break Laelith's faith in her husband, if you know what I mean.

>>12673460

"badum tiss"

The night before the trial you set yourself up in the courtyard, brown glove on your hand. Everything seems easier wearing it, you drive a full dozen spikes up from the ground, and return them without breaking a sweat; your previous best was a mere 6 over the course of a few hours. You eventually tire of stone spears, and decide to try something else. Once again you try to pull the earth apart, and after a few minutes of struggling, you hear a deep rumble, and a loud crack... looking up you see a deep gap in the earth a few feet in front of you, 3 feet long and 1 across... but its progress. After a few more attempts at opening and closing these gaps, you decide to try the mystery gloves... but which one to start with?

>>12673471

white

>>12673471
White glove!

>>12673471
Definitely white.

rolled 66 = 66

fourthing white

>increased rockhan
I sure hope so Captcha

You decide to try the white glove first, unsure of what will happen you remove your training glove, close your eyes, and slide on the white glove. Nothing feels different, save for a slight shill at the base of your spine. You open your eyes; and everything is coated in a white fog so thick you can barely see your hand in front of your face... odd.

>>12673521

invisiglove maybe?

Uh. Touch something?

>>12673521
Is the white glove just as frail as the other ones?
Look around in general I guess. Maybe this will let us see things we normally can't?

>>12673521

OH SHIT

WHAT IF WE'RE IN THE REALM OF THE GODS AND GARAGUSH IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER WAITING TO RAPE US?

>>12673594
If that is the case, hope we picked one that only lets us visit the sun pantheon rather than the moon.

You get up, and strangely, the fog does not shift at all. You can barely see in front of you, and nearly bump into a tree. You hear a snicker from behind you, wheel and turn around, but can see nothing.

>hint, think back to when you interrogated Laelith...

>>12673633

"hey bitch, if you wanna say something come on over so i can slap your shit"

get ready to slap someones shit

I assume you mean this...
>They aren't spells, elementalism is an exertion of your will on nature, not controlling some arcane mists that supposedly cover the world. Both he, I and Neritia see perfectly well, no mist clouds our perception of the world.

FFFF- are these those supposed arcane mists?

"I would readily assume that this glove is for contacting or awakening the elemental prowess in oneself. That probably means that you are one of the deities that have taken notice of me. I can say I am a womanizer, but I doubt I could impress you with current mortal state and achievements."

>>12673652
Let's not be so aggressive at this point. It might be someone who could help us and that would be a bad start.

Oh. This is the stuff we manipulate if we want to be a mage.

rolled 7 = 7

>>12673679
me btw, dropped trip on accident

>>12673673
>bingo. better be careful with what you say... (evil GM laugh goes here)

rolled 85 = 85

>>12673702
refer to
>>12673679
This shows we recognize the fact they are there. We are confident but know our place. We are neutral. Also that we keep our cool in quick paced and changing situations.

>>12673702

well fuck

"hello?"

"Uh, hi. Anyone there? Hopefully friendly? I am somewhat out of my element here."

"Hello?" you ask. That sets the mists moving, with the glove even your non-existent magical prowess becomes... something. you can feel the word reverberate against your skin. arrows of vowels and consonants fly about the courtyard, draining away the mists almost as quickly as they reform behind the letters. "Whos there?" you ask again, being careful to enunciate clearly, and trying to focus on the visible spots created by the sudden light show in the midnight moon. At the end of 'there' you can feel your consciousness being pulled towards the spot you are focusing on, pulling your senses even further out of allignment.

"commander?" you hear a voice from right next to you and across the world ask, a voice you never knew, and always knew but have never spoken with even though you heard before you slept before deciding to practice. You can feel your consciousness slipping...

>>12673808
Okay, glove off. We don't want to black out.

>>12673808
Yeah, let's take this glove off for now. Maybe when we have more time to look into what exactly it is.

>>12673844
I imagine it's our ticket into learning magic rather than elementalism. But it seems pretty draining. We need to be careful when using it.

rolled 25 = 25

>>12673808
Still confused by the giggling......
That was probably Laelith.

You pull off the glove, and nearly double over as reality snaps back in place around you. Standing ahead of you and off to your right is Jayne, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. For a moment you are confused as to why she is here, but then you remember that she mostly lives in the command staff barracks lately, so that she can make sure her men that you hired stay in line, that the stable staff dont do anything stupid, and the other minutiae of running a cavalry wing "Whats going on Justinian?" she asks, wrapping her cloak around her against the early winter cold.

>>12673891
"Experimenting with the unknown it seems... It's fine now. Don't worry. Thank you for your concern Jayne."

>>12673891

practicing, jayne

I see forever, oh god it's full of letters!

"Oh, practicing... experimenting with the unkown, the things you would expect out of someone whos awake at midnight." you reply nonchalantly, leaning up against a tree.

"Well, could you be so kind as to do it more quietly, you probably woke up half the maniple with that crack. What were you practicing, by the way... and what is that glove for?" Jayne responds, coming closer to awake. She remembers that her robe has a sash, and puts it to use to hold it shut as she approaches you and takes the glove from your hand "Only the one glove?"

>>12673961
Oh, you know, True Magic and altering the nature of the world. That sort of thing. Glad you got here before I passed out. How loud was this crack, exactly?

>>12673961
Bloody hell. Stop her from taking the glove or at least make sure she doesn't put it on.

"That's dangerous Jayne. You really should give that back to me, since I'm still trying to figure out what it does. Also, what do you mean by crack?"

>>12673961

im not doing anything that would concern my beautiful cavalry commander, and the glove is....special

get some sleep jayne, im thinking of calling you on our bet soon

>and after a few minutes of struggling, you hear a deep rumble, and a loud crack

your new skill manifesting made that noise

>>12673998
Okay. Just making sure it wasn't due to something we did while wearing the new glove.

"That is actually a dangerous training tool Jayne, the smart choice right now would be giving it back to me, or setting it down." you reply with all due seriousness.

"Such a ladylike glove" she replies, dangling it by the long finger "I'm sure my sister has the match for it in her dresser somewhere. Though always did think that particular pair fit me better than her." Jayen replies, pulling the glove back out of your reach as you grab for it, so that she can inspect it more closely. "Actually, no. My sister doesn't have any gloves like this. I still wan tot try it on though"

>>12674058
Agree, but have her sit down in front of us and hold our hands when trying it on. Be sure to emphasize that this is dangerous and if she feels the least bit drowsy she should take it off right away.

>>12674058

grab her by the hips, pick her up and suavely go

"i would like that glove back"

>>12674080
I would like to put forward that she's pretty well muscled, and that means pretty heavy.

>>12674092

shes not the fuckin' hulk, how heavy could she be?

>>12674075
Well she seems stubborn tonight. I'm really hesitant to do this and would prefer convincing her otherwise honestly. Regardless, I collapse now. Night guys.

"well, if you insist I'll let you try it on. but could you at least sit down... and don't scream please?" you reply, putting a hand on her shoulder as you sit down, pulling her with you.

Sitting cross-legged across from you Jayne looks apprehensive now, but still determined to try the glove on. "Protective of your ladies clothing, aren't you?" Jayne asks playfully as you situate yourself across from her. Jayne slides the glove onto her right hand, and instantly gasps, loudly, fear suddenly filling her eyes.

>>12674188

if this ends badly, house garlian is gonna fuck us up

>>12674188

and take the glove off of her before some crazy shit happens

>>12674188
Take her hands and talk to her, tell her we're here and don't panic.

>>12674236

hows about NO?

who knows what she's seeing?

she could be flipping the fuck out silently in her head and we wouldnt know it.

take the damn glove off before something REALLY bad happens

>>12674257
Oh come on, we didn't go insane from a few seconds of exposure. We told her it was dangerous and she's a big girl. You can obviously hear the "real world" while looking into the mists. It should be fine.

>>12674266

did you forget the snickering we heard earlier?

what if whatever was fucking with us is ripping her sanity apart right now?

do you really wanna risk killing or making jayne a vegetable?

be on the safe side

TAKE

OFF

THE

GLOVE

>>12674188
"Careful, this could be dangerous."

>>12674294
Stop being such a baby.

Taking hold of Jaynes hands you calmly say "Jayne, I'm right here, directly in front of you. If you speak clearly and calmly, and avoid any word that could be considered a command, nothing bad should happen." (I hope) you add to yourself.

"Wh-What is happening?" Jayne asks, her voice trembling.

"I think you are looking into the Arcane Mists. That glove is a training aid for mages, I found that one, a Purple one that I dont know the use of, and one for each of the major schools of elementalism in one of Khalless' chests. Anything you do right now could have... strange, results." you reply.

Jaynes voice levels out "It has a certain... serene beauty to it once you acclimate to it." Jayne pauses for a moment, no doubt enjoying the show her words are creating... suddenly she starts shaking again, taking the massive breath that would come before a scream, and you can feel her body temperature fluctuating and pulsing wildly through her hands.

>act quickly...

>>12674315

NOW take off the glove, please?

>>12674315
Now we can take it off.

rolled 59 = 59

>>12674315
Calm down Jayne. The arcane is neutral and should yield to the power of the user. Just keep cool and don't panic.

>boduch conviction
she's gonna need it

>>12674315
OFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFFOFF

>>12674367


NOW he says take it off

(thats what she said)

"Jayne, whatever you do, dont scream." you say rapidly, trying to move your right hand to her shoulder or mouth, but find it locked in a vise-like grip. At least she isnt screaming, but her eyes are wide in fear "From what I understand, the Mists have no will of their own, they exist to obey, an unclear command, or an abundance of emotion could be taken as any command." you continue, scraping your mind for more information to keep her mind busy with; you try to pull the glove off of her hand, but her grip has your hand at too great a disadvantage. "Jayne, I'm going to take the glove off now, I need you to loosen your grip." you explain calmly.

Jaynes grip holds just as tight "Dont leave me." she pleads, frightened.

"Of course not" you reply, at that her grip loosens enough for you to yank the glove off, pulling her towards you. Before you are aware of what is happening, Jaynes arms are locked around your shoulders, her body frigid from whatever command she gave.

>well?

>>12674408

Get her inside, into a room with a fireplace. Now.

Get teh maniple's doctor awake and taking a look at her. Double Now.

>>12674408
Well what? Obviously we hold her close until she calms down, and if she can't move we carry her to her room.

Also, we should most likely tell her "I told you so" with a smile.

>>12674408

fucking great, shes scarred for life


hold her until she stops shaking then get her in bed

>>12674424
seconding finding a fireplace. but we don't need to wake the doctor, what will he do?
just stay with her and wait for her to calm down. when she is calm, ask what she saw.

>>12674478
>her body frigid from whatever command she gave

Hypothermia treatments?

"I did try to warn you." you say teasingly, returning the hug, Slowly you can feel her body heat returning to her.

"You actually stayed standing with that glove on? It felt like my mind was locked in my body, and I couldn't control anything but my lips... I, I could feel everything in the courtyard, when I was talking about how beautiful it was... and there was a stiff breeze and, then..." Jayne struggles to describe her experience, but cant seem to find the words.

"I wouldn't be able to describe what happened to me either." you reply as her body stops shivering, although the cold sweat that had covered her body during her... experience now causing more shivering than what happened to her; you have always been told that you throw off a lot of body heat.

"Wh... what did the other glove you were wearing do?" Jayne asks, shifting her body in your arms.

>>12674507
Show her an earth spike and grin.

>>12674546

Soooo many innuendos in that phrase.

But that is a good idea, yeah. For lulz.

>>12674507
give a small demonstration.
"what do you think?"

>>12674546
you focus a bit, and raise a spike out of the earth behind you, and directly in her line of sight. Jayne gasps for a response "Yes, I know. I have a feeling that things are going to get very strange in the world before long. Now lets get you back to your bed, its freezing out here." You offer kindly.

Jayne scoffs, rising "Says the man who has been sitting out here for gods know how long topless and motionless." apparently feeling a bit more herself now. "And I dont think I'll be able to sleep for a good long while after what you just showed me." she rel=plies while shaking out her limbs.

"I have another glove that I dont know the use for, if you want to try that one as well.." You reply jokingly, rising to your feet, thinking that you know where this is going.

"You have a strange sense of humor Justinian" Jayne replies, stopping to look at you again "Care for a spar? Nothing better for getting to sleep than some physical exertion."

>>12674615

Oh, good idea. That sounds like fun.

>>12674615
Unless you have significantly more on under that bathrobe than I think, you would be risking a different kind of pride than you are normally accustomed to when sparring.

>>12674637
second. might not be a smart move.

"Wouldn't sparing in a robe be a bit... cumbersome? And I don't think you want to loose two sorts of pride simply to burn off all the adrenaline you just built up so that you can sleep." you reply, cocking an eyebrow.

Sansa replies by shrugging off her robe, showing what are most likely her underclothes for when she is wearing armor, enough to protect the barest scraps of her decency, but its there nonetheless (>think sports bra/compression shorts made of softish leather) "Disappointed Justinian?" Jayne asks dropping into a fighters stance. This is going to be fun...

>thats it for me for tonight. I'll be back Thursday at 9pm server time, someone archive please

>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12670831/

Archived, don't forget to vote!

>>12674718
thanks... and you guys missed SSOOOO many "Han Solo" moments near the end of this thread

>>12674724
Intentionally. We don't have any idea what girl we are going for right now. I think cuddling with her after a near death experience was walking the line already. Logic dictates that getting laid was a few well-placed lines away.