>>18614153
Back to the constable's house.

For now, we let the prisoner live. He will pinpoint the lowe hollow for us. Then we execute our judgement.

Quickly! To our mares!

You quickly gather your men onto the horses, including the tied up captive, and ride back for the constable's office.

By the time you get there, though, the place is already swarming with people. You quickly dismount. 'Are the girls- are the people all right?'

Zatin looks at you, tight-lipped. 'The girls are fine; Baseg got a few cuts from a dagger. The emissary, though...'

You blink. That's going to cause some trouble with father back home... or maybe, maybe it wouldn't. Hmmm. Meanwhile one of the bowmen comes over to you.

'He's definitely ridden towards the east, sir. The Stonefolk, it would seem, just like last night.

> What do now?

>>18614225
How bad with the emissary? Dead?

The magistrate murdered a messenger of the Prince? DOUBLE GUILTY THEN.

>>18614225
Pursue! Bring the Stonefolk girl with us. This time make sure our prisoners are properly guarded, and get the physician helping Baseg.

>>18614260

.... not every Stonefolk girl can see perfectly in the dark, though.

>>18614225
Pursue, get our trackers, bring the stonefolk girl as a bargaining chip. He won't escape justice, bring a decent party of men.

>>18614225
It's been a long night already (but I'm not sure how late it is now).

Are the men still up to the task? Then let our archers try to track him.

No, wait. Ask the prisoner: Is the lower hollow in the east? If yes, then we'll use him to find it after we regained some strength.

Then secure the notes in the pidgeon hut.

Let the tired men sleep. See our staff and then we go to bed ourself.

>>18614247

Indeed. You see the body, which they have arranged on the bunk. So, ironically, the magistrate has given you what you need.

>>18614294
>>18614284
>>18614260

> Wait, Stonefolk girl as bargaining chip? I'm not getting your logic here.

'Should we move out in the morning?' Kanjen says, as you check the documents on the desks. Yes. The magistrate's handwriting, certainly.

'No. No. We move out now.'

So you immediately get the three bowmen with the most surefooted horses and have them set off ahead, while the rest of you follow. Given it is nighttime, you can't really see where you are going, but the bowmen assure you they are following the tracks. Eventually you reach the river Kuira, though...

> What do?

Welp. I'm off to sleep.

Good luck guys, try not to die!

After him!
The stone folk girl is not one of the night guides, but she knows the viccinity of her village.

I still say he didn't expect us to win so decisivly against the bandits. He won't expect us behind him so quickly!

>>18614357

Good night!

>>18614349
We can't track a boat along a river, or if they forded it it will be still be a bitch on fire.

How wide is the river? Are there any markings that suggest a boat was moored here? What can our trackers tell us about what happened?

>>18614349
Is the river shallow enough to move inside the water? In that case, we might have lost him.
Did he cross to the side? Let's look there for tracks.

If we don't find anything, let's return and sleep. Talk to our men about the next steps beforehand.

Get him, and make sure we listen to the girl about where to go. She knows her own village, certainly.

I don't know about her being a bargaining chip, but she could definitely be a reason to not harm us, and to help us. We're doing The Right Thing here.

>>18614366
>>18614419
>>18614375

'Heavens damn it,' you mutter, and order torches lit. It does not take too long before you see a pair of wooden stumps, with marks which make it clear that boats were moored here.

You get the Stonefolk girl, whose name is Nemin, to the stumps, and her eyes light up. 'This... we're pretty close to my village, sir. Though they are probably out now...'

Well, well. Maybe the upper hollows are near the village... you order the men back, and by the time you get back into the office the sky is no longer fully dark. You see Baseg being tended by two of the servants, and that the body has been carried away and swaddled up. Then suddenly one pair of arms - two pairs of arms - come at you in the darkness, and you are surrounded by sobbing girls.

> What do? Seriously, need to find tougher personal travel attendants it seems...

>>18614495

Man, those two... alternatively we need to find more secure lodgings next time.

Hug them back, ruffle hair, ask if they're okay. Tell them we're almost done.

>>18614495
Try to calm the girl.

Something imporant before we give in to tiredness:
We have to know more about the magistrate. We have to read the notes in the pidgeon hut.

That's important, because it tells us something about how many allies he has and who they are. Maybe even some evidence against the Arhun is in there!

(also, if there's a not from, like, the head of house Arhun and he demands our death,we know we have to GTFO)

>>18614495
Give them both a hug and tell them everything is fine.

Tell them not to worry so much about me, I'm made of stern stuff and we're about to blow this case wide open, we have a suspect, we have evidence all we need to do is track the fucker down.

Tell them I'll avoid leaving the city in the future, the beds aren't as soft and there is barely any time to read. Get to bed, one on each arm, collapse from tiredness.

>Check archive
>See last thread's archive description
>A slow day after the confession, followed by Sword Fight Night.
>Live every week like it was Shark Week?
>No
>Live every night like it was Sword Fight Night

>>18614545
>>18614569
>>18614570

You hug the two of them, nodding at Baseg as you do so, and lead them both up the stairs to the constable's room. 'I'm fine, I'm fine. Tomorrow we do one more thing and we should be done.'

Linden looks up. 'Well, just in time for the summer's opening then?'

You kiss her forehead and grin. Instead of going in with them, however, you tell them to squeeze in and warm the bed, and then go back downstairs to look over the pigeon notes.

Most of them seem to be simple - just names of places and villages. Clearly it's a system for them to know where each other is. There are some longer notes, however, which are written - again - in code. And you feel a chill down your back as you see who most of them are addressed to, since that is imprinted on a seal and thus not encoded - it's the Ahun estate.

Of course, it would be routine for a travelling magistrate to send dispatches, but these...

You think about this, even as the girls snuggle into you, smiling in their sleep.

> What do next morning?

>Wonderful quest. See you next time, it's fucking late here.

>>18614682

Thank you, and good night!

>>18614647

Well, well. Let's prepare.

Bring the Stonefolk girl along, and leave one servant to watch the office. The rest will all follow us.

We'll have the Stonefolk girl bring us to where her hollows are first, I think... then we'll see what happens from there.

>>18614647
We need some way to decipher the code, we might have to use the Magistrate for that though. Gather up men and the Stone Folk girl and get to the village is and find the hollows. We are going to track this fucker down if it's the last thing we do.

>>18614647
Oh FUCK. The entire Ahun estate is going to come bearing down on us? FUCK FUCK FUCK

>>18614748
We get the Magistrate, get enough evidence out of him and the surviving bandit, sneak out of this clusterfuck and get home. Hand Dad a justified war on a platter, eat popcorn and watch him stomp all over them. We don't return to their estate, there is no way for that to end well.

>>18614721
>>18614734

You are quick to get ready and make your arrangements, before leading your men out to the horses. Nemin is in your horse, sitting behind you, and with that you quickly set off for the river ford you know exists, before moving into the hills.

All along the way you are tense, just like previously on the manhunt. The forest makes for excellent concealment, and more than once bows are drawn at the rustling of a mouse-deer. But at length, with Nemin's guidance, you are taken to the hollows where she lived.

... Except it looks in quite the state. Smouldering fires and charred timbers are everywhere, though thankfully you don't see bodies or body parts. Nemin immediately starts hankering to be let down from the horse, and soon all of you dismount, whereupon she runs at a cluster of Stonefolk who react with undisguised joy, hugging and kissing her.

> What do?

>>18614819
That means we have to find the fucker, who appears to have gone well to ground.

>>18614850
Walk up, ask in stone folk where the village elder is as we have a few questions to ask, once we get an audience with him see if he can tell us anything about the bandits, the Magistrate, the upper hollow and so on. Be polite and reasonable, he's our current best lead so let's not piss him off.

>>18614868

You ask around for the village elder, and everyone looks at you, surprised you speak Stonefolkese.

'This... this is the son of a Prince, people, you must salute him! He is here to help, he saved me, he is a good lord!'

'Did you save my sister, good sir?' The girl who stands up looks at you, or rather looks slightly to your left. It is clear she's blind. 'I am the village... elder. Well, I am the village guide. We are at your mercy in gratitude.'

The whole village kneels to you, and you quickly put them at ease. You then ask the girl, whose name is Mion, about the upper hollow, the bandits, and so on. She frowns and grimaces, as if unwilling to think too much about those things; but then at length she nods.

'I... think I know who this magistrate is. Does he have a low, calm voice, a little like... a leopard?'

'I guess that is somewhat accurate, yes.'

'He has been here before. As you can see, the bandits were here last evening. They must be after the thing they told me to keep for them.'

'And what is that thing?'

'Oh, a box of... documents, I think, papers.' She motions to a large ash tree nearby. 'I reburied it under there. If you would like it now, sir...'

'Not yet. Tell me where the upper hollow is. I want the man before I get the evidence.'

She pauses to think for a moment, then suddenly she turns around and speaks in a frighteningly old voice, like a hag. 'Men! Stone men! Gather your weapons! You are called, and I have called you!' She then turns back and says, in her normal young lady's voice, 'I will lead you there. And we will help you destroy them. It will be for the best for us both.'

> What do?

>>18615023

Damn, forgot name and trip.

>>18615023

Well, well, let's attack then! Mion stays with us. How many Stonefolk are there? The bigger force launches frontally, and the smaller force rolls them up from the flanks.

>>18615023
YES!

FUCK YES!

WE RIDE!

>>18615023
You have my gratitude madam, if possible let's keep the magistrate alive, questioning and to see how far up this leads.

Don't bother saluting.

Lets send a few men to cut off their escape route when we get there and strike from the woods, as much archery as possible to whittle them down, when they charge our location our reserves off on their flanks tear them apart.

> Okay, going to be stealing inspiration from another quest.

Now, when you give a battle plan, roll 2d100 along with it. If you gave the plans you've already given, go on and roll for those.

rolled 91, 40 = 131

Hmmm. Do the Stonefolk have ranged weapons? Have them pelt or shoot, and the rest of those advance under their cover.

Meanwhile, the rest of us with horses will ride in two teams. One goes around behind to cut off their escape route, one attacks from the flank.

rolled 1, 21 = 22

>>18615094
Rolling

>>18615174
>>18615181
GUESS WHICH PLAN WE'RE USING

rolled 77, 88 = 165

>>18615181

.... oh god, can I roll for this plan too?

>>18615151
Wait, why are you stealing another quest's ideas when obviously there's no way it could be as good as what this quest has done so far?

>>18615214
>>18615212

Oddly enough, this one! It could have failed, but this time I think it's the gods of END THE DAMN CASE NOW END IT descending upon us.

>>18615222

Well, 2d100 seems like a better base for simply working out how well things go in a battle.

rolled 22, 44 = 66

>>18615151
>mfw, I'm in that quest too.

>>18615289
Ha!

>>18615289
>>Which one?

>>Also, what was with that comment about horses in the last thread, did anyone get that?

>>18615311
>Uprising Quest.

>Also I have no idea.

>>18615094
>>18615214

When you reach the vicinity of the upper hollows you pause. It is quite a well fortified location; a swift mountain stream has cut a steep drop into a piece of flat terrain, on which the camp is situated. This covers two sides of the camp, while the other two sides have sloping ground.

You therefore decide to dismount, and when the whole body of men is close enough you sound the advance. Your bowmen, along with those of the Stonefolk, quickly rise up and start loosing arrows into the camp; people start running out and getting hit, but some return fire and you see some Stonefolk fall.

The commotion with the archery duel allows your men to approach pretty much unnoticed, and it is only when you have nearly surrounded them that you have arrows aimed your way. One whistles past you, so near you swear you were cut on the cheek; you then yell the assault call, and as one your men charge into the fray.

You slice a man's sword hand clean off as you approach him, careful not to lose any momentum; then, stooping low and stepping into the arc of a large mountain axe, you make use of the moment's recovery time to put your swordpoint through the assailant's throat and out again. The other men are also doing quite well, though you see Zatin getting slashed on his leg before Kanjen steps in and hacks the right arm off the attacker.

You are, momentarily, in the clear; and then, on the far end and running along what seems to be a small path on the edge of the steep drop, you see him. The magistrate is attempting to escape!

> What do!? Roll d100 for plans!

>>18615311

He's talking about how girls could arguably be said to rest all day and ridden all night on a gallop, basically.

Maturity....

rolled 57 = 57

>>18615383
After him! Shout "To me!" to our men so they cover our back.

rolled 44 = 44

>>18615383
Fuck, this means that if someone shoots him in the leg he'll probably fall and possibly to his death. Have ourself and some archers pursue him directly, with orders to shoot him in the leg if he gets to a point where he won't fall to his death. Send some stonefolk who know the area try to cut him off at where the path leads to.

Maybe have the archers aim for the arm if they have a definite shot or to whiz past him and scare the bejeesus out of him so he might cower and run slower.

rolled 19 = 19

>>18615383
Motion for the archers to fire, and tell them to aim for the legs. Just in case though our guy and some of the servants and gate guest should mount up and ride after him at a gallop. Make sure to stay out of the firing lanes of course.

rolled 99 = 99

>>18615383

... Shoot him! Meanwhile we give chase.

>>18615452
PERFECT!

>>18615452

You see him, and immediately launch yourself into an all out sprint, while yelling 'SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIS LEGS!' and pointing your sword at the retreating silhouette of the magistrate. With a yell, your swordsmen follow you and fan out, hacking away at the bandits in their way.

The roar of the mountain stream is becoming quite loud in your ears as you run along the narrow path, carefully trying to keep your balance and footing on the slippery rock. Then, just as you slip a little and grab on a rock to steady yourself, an arrow flies past just above your head - and sinks into the magistrate's thigh.

He lets out a cry and nearly tumbles straight into the river, but you grab his leg and steady him just in time, bringing both of you sprawling on the rocks. 'Let me go!'

'Agiho!' You clamber until you are in a position to restrain him. 'You are now under arrest! For breaking... the peace.. of the land, and-'

> Roll d100.

rolled 45 = 45

>>18615566
Shit!

rolled 60 = 60

>>18615566
For being a fucking pain in my ass, twist the arrow a little bit.

rolled 58 = 58

>>18615566

.... I don't really want to know what I'm rollan for...

rolled 49 = 49

>>18615566
Murdering an emissary of the Prince!

rolled 1 = 1

>>18615566
Rolling?

>>18615656
NO!

>>18615608

> Fuck! 60 vs. 70 - mild fail!

'and-'

'Fuck off, you!' The magistrate suddenly, in a burst of strength, shoves you off, and you very nearly roll off the edge of the rocky shelf, hanging on to the magistrate's legs. As he turns to try and gain purchase and kick you off, he eventually manages another burst of strength that shoves you against a rock, knocking the air out of you; you let go of his leg, and watch as he tumbles backwards, into the water.

'Your lordship!'

'Oh, shit!' You grab at the hat which is all that's left of the magistrate, having been knocked off during the struggle. As the shape of the hat shows the rank of its wearer, you can still prove - to an extent - the identity of a man with this, but...

> Shit. What do?

rolled 80 = 80

>>18615687
DIVE IN AFTER THE BASTARD!

>>18615687
Send a search party down the length of the river, he probably fell unconscious, or if not he's not getting far with an arrow in his leg. At the very least retrieve the body. Task every man to this task, ask for the Stonemen's help for this. Tell them that with this man, or his body as proof we'll be able to bring justice to those who have committed injustices against them.

>>18615687
We just went from spectacular success to mild at most success! AFTER HIM!

>>18615706

> .... holy shit. 80 vs. 38.

'Move downriver!'

'What, sir?' But by the time you have already dived in, seeing the black robe of the magistrate bouncing from rock to rock. You clamber, trying not to be swept from the flow, and then reach out and grab the magistrate's hand, pulling him back ever so slowly. Then, when you manage that, you look up and reach for one of the hands above you.

It all felt so simple, when your mind was in a terrible clarity; only when you're back on shore do you see the scrapes all over your body, and notice you've drifted some 30 paces downstream in those few moments.

'Sir! Sir!'

Bloody hell, you're tired. You need a fucking nap.

> What dream of?

>>18615787
Reading fairy tales to our sister, translating them on the fly, before we tucked her into bed and kissed her on the forehead.

>>18615787
>Pic related

>>18615787
1) Railing our ladies
2) SON, I AM PROUD
3) Being King Over the Mountain

>>18615787
Something horrible, I'm sure.

>>18615823

Martha, the little dear, she's always on about the story of the winged deer. Winged deer, winged deer, bloody winged deer...

But in the dream, though, you like reading about the winged deer aloud, how it flew onto the moon and grazed the glowing fields of stars. And Martha looked at you with such admiration and love in her eyes, you almost don't want her to close them and fall asleep.

But fall asleep she does. 'Gnnnnght, brrrthrrrrr...'

'Goodnight, you.' You kiss her tender cheek.

You kiss her tender cheek.... you wake up and retreat from the cheek, but it turns out to be hairy and a bit funny-smelling. Then you realise you are kissing your horse, and sit up a little. Your whole body aches.

'Where are we?'

'Almost at the office now.' Zatin is holding your reins.

> What do?

>>18615909
What'd I miss, we get that miserable ratfuck, did someone get the documents from the Stone Folk? Do we have enough evidence to bring back an army to stomp these fuckers?

>>18615909
Get a status report of while we were out. Check our own status.

>>18615909
At the very least, dad won't think we're a pansy. AT THE VERY LEAST.

Also, status report.

You get to the office, whereby you get a status report. Yes, the trove of documents Mion buried was there, and a cursory glance makes many pieces fall into place - this is not only smuggling, which might not be illegal, but it is splitting the proceeds of legitimate trade with bandits, which is definitely breach of the peace.

The magistrate is now properly bundled, and his hair falls about his shoulders without a hat to hold it in place. There are also a few prisoners from the bandit camp, bundled.

You don't see anything particular to the Ahun, though.

You do see that Mion has followed your entourage down the hill, and she immediately comes up to you as you dismount. 'Sir! Sir... are you feeling all right?'

> What do/say/ask?

>>18615958

I think we have acquitted ourselves rather bloody well, that is true.

>>18616023
I've had better days but I'm not doing that bad. I thank you for your invaluable assistance in this matter, is there anything that I can do to you show my gratitude?

We're going to have to question the living hell out of the Magistrate, we need to see how high this goes and fortunately he's right here.

>>18616023
We have those other documents tying this to the Ahun. From the pigeons, remember?

>>18616077

Mion pauses and smiles when you say that. 'You're asking to show me gratitude, sir? After you brought my sister back to my family, and freed my entire tribe from bandits who've been terrorising us for years? Will all due respect, sir, don't be ridiculous.'

You go to the magistrate, but no matter what you say, he remains silent. On second thought, investigating how high this goes might best be an activity carried out in the safety of Raumar Palace, not out here in Ahun territory.

When you mention you need a path to return to the prince's fief without passing by Ahun lands, Mion's face lights up. 'I... know a good path, sir. The Ahun hardly know of it. It's one of our game trails.'

Meanwhile, the documents have been tidied; and boy, there are a lot of them.

> What do now?

>>18616174
Take documents, take magistrate, take constable, take bandit, take girls, TAKE EVERYONE AND TAKE EVIDENCE AND GET HOME.

Also the emissary's body, poor chap. Why was that poor fellow even killed?

>>18616174
looks like we're almost ready to return home, are there any loose ends we need to tie up before we leave?

>>18616216

Doesn't... seem like it? I can't think of anything, anyway.

Oh wait. We left all the slaves in the Ahun estate! Well, I guess that's the end of that... we won't be able to go back now, will we?

>>18616174
I'm sure we can get him to talk once we get back home, which we ought to do ASAP as I'd rather not stick around in potentially very hostile territory.

Gather up our men, all these fucking docuements and all our prisoners. Take the emissary's body, we can say he never got to us, but we found his body in the bandit camp.

Only people I'm debating whether not to bring are the kidnapped girls, I suppose we should for their testimony and so on, we'll give them a nice escort back to their homes afterwards, and apologize profusely for the inconvenience.

Take Mion up on her offer of passage, thank her with some Stone folk phrase like "May the wind clear the path you take"

We won't be getting our slaves, not a big deal.

>>18616230
Perhaps the constable can go pick them up.

And given how we're totally bro-ing it with the Stone Folk now, well... they might not like that we were also killing and enslaving them and oh hey, giving their women to our mercs for funtime.

>>18616257
>>18616241

> So, bring the girls along, but forget the slaves? All right, then.

Mion and her sister lead you along the mountain path, from which the view is really quite stunning. You can the twists of the Kuira and its many tributaries, and the green and glimmer of the paddy fields; then you come upon the red-walled expanse of the Ahun estate from afar.

You are several different cliques travelling together, it appears. Mion is always asking you about the world outside the hills, while the swordsmen talk their own things, and the virgin girls too. You do suspect some of the girls take a shine to the swordsmen; there is one, a thin chestnut-haired girl, who is always hanging around Zatin.

Despite its relative ruggedness, the hill path is indeed a shortcut. After resting a night - long and uneventful - camped in the hills, you are surprised to find yourself near the mouth of the Kuira early that very morning. Mion looks at you.

'Sir, may... may your path be as clear water.'

'Yours too, Mion.'

She then fishes about in her sleeve, suddenly; but it isn't there, so she stretches her hand into her tunic. You raise an eyebrow as she pulls out a little ornament - a wood carving, of a bird with horns like a buffalo, a totemic animal of the Stonefolk. 'This... is yours. In gratitude.'

> What do/say?

>>18616398
You seem curious about the outside world, would you like to travel with us and learn more?

>>18616398

Let's invite her along, if she's able to leave her tribe.

>>18616398
I shall wear it with pride. I wish you luck in all your endeavors.

Should you have need of me contact me and I will help in any way I can, maybe this will be the beginning to our two peoples forging better relations.

I only wish I had an ornament of my thanks to give to you.

Should you wish to journey to the capital city with you I have no objections, I might be able to wrangle you a position as liaison to the Stonefolk peoples or as an ambassador of sorts.

>>18616468
>>18616501
This is a bad idea. Let's not have her become a slave.

>>18616526
>Invited along
>Becoming a slave

You have no idea how the laws of hospitality work do you?

We have a jade ornament if we really wanted to trade, though Zinden might still be using it for her bruise and that's probably a bad idea to offer since she'll... anyways.

>>18616544
You have no idea how OUR FATHER works, do you?

>>18616574

Yeah she will not be safe there.

>>18616506
>>18616501
>>18616468

When you make the offer, she is visibly surprised. 'I... actually... I would love to, sir.' But just as you smile, she continues, 'but not now. There is yet business to be done, and I cannot abandon my clan right now.'

'Perhaps I will see you again then, Mion?'

'If you would be so kind as to deign so, certainly, sir.'

And with that they are gone.


That evening you go back to a large inn, where Zatin again spends his purse on a large amount of alcohol. You wonder how far you should join in the party. Upstairs the virgin girls are all sharing a room right now, and you do feel rather tired.

Rose and Linden sit beside you, when Linden turns to you. 'So, sir. Fancy any of the virgins?'

Wait, what?

> What do?

accept gift, get going, don't take her with us

>>18616601
"nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnOPE!"

rolled 85 = 85

>>18616601
"I fancy all the virgins...
All of them." Say so with a very, very serious face.

Then laugh and say we're kidding.

>>18616601
Start laughing. Why in the hell would I want anything more than you two. Also they aren't unpleasant but they don't exactly make good conversation, seriously I can imagine the blank look on their faces the moment I bring up poetry.

Why would I want to bother with one of them, who knows absolutely nothing of sex and expect me to do all the work, would cling on to me afterwards, and be pretty much useless otherwise?

I've got you two, who are better than them in every way, and keep me exhausted enough.

"Too busy fancying you two to spare them a look."

>>18616701
>>18616650
>>18616624

'The virgins? Oh yes. Every one of them, yes. Definitely.'

'What, really?' Linden's grin is strangely mischievous.

'Nah. What would they know of, say, poetry? Or Northspeak?' you then switch effortlessly to Northspeak. 'I mean, even as I am talking now they would not understand a word or a phrase.'

'They wouldn't, no,' Linden says, and bumps her head against your shoulder. But she hits a bone, and recoils in pain; her face is still bruised.

Rose stands up. 'Reckon I'll... sleep early tonight, sir. Goodnight.'

Hmm.

> What do?

>>18616772
Good question. Ask Linden what's up with Rose I guess, she'd know better than we players.

>>18616772
Catch her and give her a quick kiss, let her know that you'll be up with Lin after a few more drinks.

Return to Lin and cuddle up to her, ask her about Rose.

rolled 25 = 25

>>18616772
>Lindin's grin is strangely mischievous.
>For once the woman wants to have a threesome.

>>18616854
She wants a threesome she can either grab Rose or do the seducing herself, we can let her know that all threesome related decisions are up to her and we'll follow her lead.

>>18616810
>>18616823

You give Rose a quick kiss and say you'll be up soon. Then you ask Linden what's wrong.

'What's wrong, sir?' she looks at you. 'Well, the two of you have started at it outside the palace, but now that we're all going back where everyone knows each other...'

'Oh. Ohhh.' You think about it. Maybe she should be left alone for a bit, then. 'What about you, though?'

'What about me, sir?' She gives you a cheeky smile, made lopsided by her injury, then takes your cup of wine from you and swigs it. Then she thrusts out her chin at you.

> Accept?

>>18616901
We accept, although I'm not sure what. Are we shotgunning wine?

>>18616901
No. Refuse and have her think we're so shallow as to hate her for a bruised cheek.

...this is a pretty obvious question. Even if we didn't want to, politeness would compel it.

>>18616935
She's being a guido of course, raising her chin and extending her lower jaw.

>>18616901
Accept, give her a deep kiss, be a bit more careful about stroking her face but otherwise don't treat her any differently.

>>18616935
>>18616947
>>18616957
>>18616959

You drink the whole mouthful of wine out of her while caressing her cheek, which makes her slightly miffed. 'Leave some for the lady, sir!'

'The sir does not allow the lady to get drunk. So no.'

'We should perhaps go to bed,' Linden says. She's slurring her words a little, but then this mouthful wasn't her first drink. Not even her third.

You lead her up to your room and open it; Rose isn't in here. Looks like she does want to be left alone. Linden is leaning against your left arm, nuzzling your shoulder.

> What do?

>>18617030
>wat do?

The rest.

>>18617030
>What do?

Linden.

>>18617030
We finally have a bit of free time, we don't need to get up as early as possible in the morning, and we have a bed.

Make sweet gentle loving to Linden. Go to sleep holding her in our arms whispering southern love sonnets in her ear.

>>18617030
Sleep

>>18617030
Whatever Linden wants to do

>>18616935

> ... I'm trying to imagine that. What, with a glass drill or something?

>>18617051
>>18617068
>>18617070

You take things slowly, wandering around the room until you are both undressed before falling onto the bed. Linden straddles you.

'Not too much kissing tonight, sir,' she gestures to her face. 'Still hurts, if I mash it into anything.'

'You are forgiven,' you grin. And forgiveness is a very pleasurable feeling indeed. As usual, Linden falls forward onto you and moans into your chest to muffle the sound; then she looks up and bumps her swollen side into your jaw.

'So much for that.....' She lies on you.

> Anything else before sleep and the end for today?

>>18617171
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnOPE!

>>18617171

Stroke her all over, gently.

>>18617171
Can't think of anything, go peacefully to sleep with her in our arms. Our current problems with Rose can be solved in the morning, this is not the best time to try and deal with them.

>>18617269
Clearly this is the PERFECT time for that, with essence of Linden all over us.

>>18617200
>>18617269
>>18617221

You run your hands up and down her back, squeezing and pressing here and there, making her giggle and gasp.

Then, finally, you wrap your arms around her and fall into a pleasant, warm sleep.

> Thus ends the quest for today. Comments, plans, etc. welcome. We've wrapped up one arc (mostly), so if there's anything else you're interested in exploring, do tell!

>>18617314
Adrian, what are you doing here?

Well after having some nice loving sex with Linden I decided that I'd come visit you and sort out any problems you had concerning out relationship, it seemed like a good time for it.

>>18617356
awesome thread as always, see you next time(I hope)

Next time will be tomorrow. Later in the morning than today, I think.

I don't know what it is in Chinese, but here is Adrian spelled in Hangul for any who are interested: 아드리안

Someone who knows Chinese should give us the spelling there.

>>18617416

阿德里安

>>18617356
Once we get home, it is time to become unofficial spymaster of the palace. Contacts everywhere, ears in low and high places, intrigue everywhere. Manipulating events and information to make it work, having spy networks in all the noble houses to keep and eye on everyone and to funnel the right information to the right people.

We've learned from this excursion that our ladies don't like travel that much, the beds aren't as comfy and we don't get a chance to enjoy morning coffee, regular baths, or sex first thing in the morning.

So we might be sticking to the City more, assassination might be more common but at least the scenery is nice.

We're going to be a classier, suaver Littlefinger, who doesn't own a brothel but instead has loving assistants.

We'll do whatever we can to weasel out of marriage, unless we find a intelligent, educated woman of noble birth who would be useful for our plans, and comes to an understanding concerning us and Linden.

>>18617460
Yaaaaay!

>>18617466
...and Rose and whoever else strikes our fancy

>>18617466
>and comes to an understanding concerning us and Linden.

And Rose.
No need to leave our cute maid behind

>>18617540
She's more properly an attendant than a maid. Just saying.

>Also, yeah okay, I'm sick to death of the overflow of maid quests here

If we are handling large quantities of information, would it be better if we had a wiki for this quest? I suspect rehashing familial relations every thread will get really old (it bloody well will for me)...

Also, start considering the sort of retainers you might want to hire. Perhaps the appanage, or the requests you want to make of your father, and what sort of thing you want to train or practice in. Ask questions here as well; I'll answer them when I'm awake.

>>18617560
I know and the maid quests are not within my field of interest, but I always thought of Rose as a maid and linden as a secretary

without the french maid costume, though

>>18617611

Funny, I think they're kind of both at the same time?

Also, we should be patrons of the arts, I think. And use those artists as cover.

>>18617606
Well, what we need from the appanage is not so much a fortified home (though some form of defensible place we can retreat to is not a horrible idea, better still is being able to get out of the city whenever needed because all the gate guards are paid by us). It's not the land and gardens.

It's the money.

So figure out something that will get us money, /tg/.

>>18617655
>patron of the arts

Oh, yeah, IRL assasins would enter court pretending to be artists to gain access to their targets.

Well, pretending is not exactly the word to use here, a lot of them were genuinely good at their art - theatre performers, singers, dancers etc.

Even if we don't use them to kill people, they make for great spies.

>>18617655
Those are good, Artists travel freely and can carry information.

Also we're in a special position to get into the good favor of any foreigners, diplomats, visiting nobles and all that, due to speaking their language. Perhaps we should start up correspondence with our opposite numbers in other noble houses, maybe a chess game by mail that is also coded messages.

Get in the good graces of all the servants, they hear things and if we put together what they hear and collate it we can get some serious information that other people don't have.

Once we get blackmail on some people we can use them to get leverage on others and expand our network.

>>18617701
If we have a palace with a limited number of men and a limited amount of land, our best bet is investing into high-tech like medicine and into tourism-related things like art. We could, for example patron theaters to the point where we become famous for it and then make money off of visitors.

The presence of natural resources and our position relative to the trading routes, however, will determine the optimal route for our local economy to take.

>>18617606
1d4chan page would just the ticket, I think.

>Come back to Palace
>"Huh, my son might actually be a badass"
>Become patron of the arts
>"Nope, he's actually a ninny just like I thought"

>>18617897
>string of artist acting as assassins against son's political enemies.
>I am proud.mov

>>18617897
Dad, would a ninny have people listening in ever circle of society and have agents who can walk into any palace with absolutely no fuss?

If I want someone dead, they end up dead and nothing can lead back to me.

>>18617923
>>18617950
>"Why aren't you fucking random women like your older brother?"
>"You had like one fight and then decided it was too much for you"
>"Artists cost money that I could be spending on slaves to kick to death"
>"Quit whining when I kick your artists to death"

>>18618005
>Because I have several girlfriends already!
>What are you talking about I adventure all the time!
>We're the ones paying for it...
>Don't come into my estate and start kicking people!

>>18618005
God damn it dad, if you want me to keep giving you information that gives you justified excuses to go to war stop kicking my artists. I have a fucking Harem, why would I want random women when I have a literal pile of ready willing women who know exactly what they're doing, and in the morning make me coffee and draw me a bath.

>>18618076
>>18618105
>That's it, no more spying for you. Had enough sass, you're coming home to the Palace and no more of that "didn't get your message" bullshit or I'll start kicking your servants to death.
>With my special servant kicking boots.

>>18618145
But Daaaaaaad, I made you a clockwork guy who cuts off other clockwork guys heads and I'm negotiating a weapons deal to get some new siege technology from the North. You make me stop spying you won't be able to trebuchet boulders and diseased corpses into people's fortifications from 1000 feet away.

Yeah this, this is what we avoid.

>>18617897
just as planned

Worried at repercussions of this thing, I have a feeling neither of the houses will be too happy with our meddling, and we'd be earning some enemies.

Try and keep the constable alive. If we do, we can use him as one of our first longer arms.