PROLOGUE

It was a miserable afternoon, pouring rain, thunder, lightning, and there were monsters in the woods. A horde of reptilian monsters dwelling within a ruined castle, they had been attacking a nearby town, and needed to be wiped out. That was the Paladin’s job.

He kicked in the door of the tower, a mob of lizard men hissed at him, bearing their teeth. They had spears, swords, and knives, they were made of stone, or bone, one or two of them were metal. Probably stolen from their victims.

Of course, those weren’t the only weapons that the bipedal reptilian monsters had, there was their claws, tails, and sharp teeth.

He was just one man, against five of these monsters. He could also hear more creatures coming from both the upper floors of the tower, and the lower levels below. They intended to overwhelm him in a tide of scales. The Paladin just grinned and raised his sword.

This was easy.

The Paladin needed this. He didn’t usually go to little towns like River’s Crossing. He certainly didn’t go to these little towns to drink in anonymity, and it had been years since he had taken a job for money. But those things were easy to do, and he needed easy right now.

Something that he could do.

Something that would help him forget how he had failed.

The Paladin hadn’t fought monsters for a long time. Especially reptilian types. He had a moment where he slightly worried, but then it passed as he easily ran his blade through one of the creatures, pulled it free, and decapitated another, all in a few swift motions. Easy. He remembered the tricks he and Julian had come up with. Watch the tails, go for the necks, and be aware of anything that could be poisoned, because it probably was.

>>25024987
He wondered how Julian was getting along in First Wood. He could go to his fellow Paladin, and spend his remaining days fighting the elven terrorists of the Fey Court. That would be easy enough, and save a few lives. But how could he face Julian? Tell him about Grand Citadel, and about his failure.

He had a host of fifteen men and women, all of them skilled and loyal. Better people he couldn’t have asked for. They had plans, back-up plans, contingencies, supplies, weapons, good intelligence, and the numbers.

Only three people of that company were left alive. Alexander would be in a healer’s bed for months, and his leg would never be the same. Tallow was most likely already back in that womb of alcohol and blue-smoke that the Paladin had found him in.

A lizardman came up from out of the depths below the tower, at his heels were two giant slimy red things, as big as full grown dogs, with black bulging eyes, claws, and smoke coming from their mouths. Fire salamanders. The Paladin grinned. Not only was this easy, this was starting to be fun.

This was how it was back when he was young and just a soldier in the mighty leagues of the Occuli. He was the hero, they were the monsters, and he would slay them.

The Paladin made his way to the top of the tower. There he found the leaders of this nest. three lamia queens. From the waist up, they appeared to be beautiful women, soft looking skin, long hair, slender arms with graceful fingers, and full lips. Their eyes had vertical pupils though, and their teeth were nothing but fangs and incisors. From the waist down, they had long snake tails. Covered in green and white scales. Tails that were lightning fast and could crush a man in moments. They were one of the most beautiful and deadly creatures in the kingdom.

>>25025002
The Paladin nodded. This wasn’t as easy as the lizardmen below, but it was still simple. The venomous bite of a lamia caused one of the most painful deaths known to man. He nodded. Good. He didn’t want this to be too easy.

The black haired lamia went down first, she lunged at him and swiped with her calws. The Paladin just shifted his weight to dodge and thrust his blade under her armpit and straight into her heart. He pulled it free and ducked into a roll, dodging the blonde lamia’s swinging tail.

He pushed off of his knee and rammed his blade right through the creature’s back, all the way up to the handle. He pulled up and twisted to ensure the kill, and pulled it free.

The lamia with red hair let out a hissing scream and leapt at him like a spring, her mouth open and her fangs extended. The Paladin just swiped once, and cleaved off the front half of the creature’s face. The monster hit the ground, slightly twitching. The Paladin stepped away from the bodies. He wasn’t sure how toxic lamia blood was, but he didn’t want it on his boots.

He exhaled. That was easy, and a little exciting, but now it was over. He still needed to go through the entire ruin, check to see if there were any more of these creatures. It would take a while, but he was used to late nights. Anyway, it was easy work, and right now a little victory was what he needed. He turned to leave the room.

That’s when he saw her.

The Lamia Child.

She must have been the red head’s child. She couldn’t have been more than five feet long from the tip of her tail to the top of her head. She looked even shorter, with most of her tail on the ground. She was holding a ragged, filthy, sheet around her. She must have been hiding from the thunder.

There was a flashing of blinding light, and the entire room lit up, almost as if the Paladin was standing within the sun.

“By the Light!” He swore.

oh, hello echo. Happy weekend!

i'm gonna... read this thing. It's a bit long.

>>25025040
The instant BOOM of thunder answered the question about what had just happened. The tower must have been hit with lightning. He had heard of stones that glowed when that happened.

The child made a small shriek of terror and hid under her sheet. After a bit she looked back up at the Paladin.

He didn’t know monsters could cry.

He didn’t know he could still feel pity.

He didn’t know what to do. Kill her, or let her go?

It was one of those answerless questions that his comrades Daeth and ‘Stitcher’ (May the Light grant them both peace, and forgive him for bringing them to their deaths.) would discuss when drunk. What do you do if you confront a child monster? Do you kill the beast, even though it is a child and has done no wrong, or do you let it go, knowing that it will grow into a full monster and may cause death and destruction in the future?

The Paladin decided that he would let the child decide his next move. If it attacked him, he would but the creature down. If it ran off, then he’d let it go. Maybe it wasn’t the perfect answer to the question, but it would serve.

The little one did nothing.

The Paladin just stared at her. He tightened his grip on his sword and gritted his teeth. Do something! He snapped in his mind. By all the Myriad Darkness in existence, do something!

“Don’t wanna be alone.” She said. Her tongue flicking out as she spoke.

>>25025059
There was a clang as the Paladin’s sword hit the ground. He was too shocked to notice.

“You can talk?” He asked.

The child nodded.

“You understand me?”

The child frowned and looked confused.

Apparently she understood a little human tongue, but not too much.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“Ssen?” The girl said.

“Name...Ssen is your name?”

“Ssen.” The girl nodded.

The Paladin looked at the girl, then back at her dead mother.

Maybe...maybe there was a third answer to the question about the monster child.

“Ssen. I won’t leave you alone.” The Paladin said.

He walked up to the little one, carefully wrapped the sheet around her chest, and scooped her up into his arms. He closed his eyes and braced himself. If this was just a trick, and the mons...creat...lami...if the girl bit him, then he’d be dead. He waited a moment. The little one just wrapped her tail around his arm and her hands around her neck. She leaned her head against his, closed her eyes, and soon he could hear her softly hissing as she slept.

The Paladin collected his sword, and went back to town early.

So much for easy.

Almost thought we weren't gonna see ya tonight...

>>25025078
Told you guys that I was working on writing this down. I admit it's a retread of the original writing, but I wanted to flesh it out a bit and tie it into the longer story.

Also, I have no idea what I'm going to rename Ssen's last name. I doubt I can go with Patrick. I despise those overly complicated, near impossible to pronounce, 'fantasy' names.

Fairly good retelling of the original stories. I wish I had some solid constructive criticism, but all I have is that perhaps you used "The Paladin" A few too many times, as I noticed that. I am not the most mindful of people.

Also, got any idea how long the quest has been going? We've had a lot of travel time and such between places, I've been tempted to ask our friends their respective birthdays. We might have missed some.

>>25025196
For for Lamina name or what?

Cus Patrick is perfectly fine.

>>25025261
>>25025196
yeah, I'm a bit confused about that too. Is there some reason NOT to use patrick? That I'm not aware of?

>>25025220
I think it's...8 months or so? Counting the time Ssen spent KO in Citadel.

So, if you started in the spring, since I started this in late March/early April, then it's mid-October now.

>>25025275
huh. We might see some solstice trees start popping up before the adventure is through. I remember those were a thing.

>>25025275
I thought it was over a year. Ssen said something during her stop at home during Stone Hall caravan arch

>>25025289
didn't she say "most of a year"?

>>25025268
I don't know, it seems fine here, but I'm worried that if I put in too many names that don't have proper language roots (anglo-saxon, nordic, etc) then it might cause people to feel a disconnect between the characters and the world.

>>25025300
She said less than a year, my bad.

Late October sounds like a better time frame I think

What did mage wind up doing with that snakeskin? Did we ever find out?

Probably something magical. Yeah. He's totally not using it for bookmarks or something.

>>25025338
I think it's fine. No reason to go about retconning. Just adjust future names to fit better.

>>25025338
I've not considered or even thought of that.

Though, I have no idea what most of everyone's last names are. It just doesn't come up until the fancy balltime.

>>25025368
yeah, Patrick is fine here. Adjust future names, but I'll be damned it you sink my "Ssen Patrick's Day" fantasies.

>>25025345
>What did mage wind up doing with that snakeskin? Did we ever find out?
Bookmarks? Nah. He's got it in his/Mari's lab back in the Lighthouse.

I suppose I can get away with most of the rest. Oh, and Lea's name is an anglo-translation of the arabic word for 'Song'

So.

I guess that comedy is actually an ancient love interest of peace, and has been bonded and all that. We already know peace was one of them all-the-monsters things made by the dragon of shadow. This provides latitude for peace to be even more super pissed at us, on a personal level, than she would otherwise be.

This is my wild prediction, and I am certain it will be true.

>>25025507
I don't think Elves live that long in this universe.

>>25025606
hence why I say she's been bonded and all that. It extends life donchaknow.

Speaking of elves, how is mage doing with mab? Is he keeping his spaghetti contained and gaining as much old elvish sampling as possible?

Is there any kind of estimation for number of monsters in the wild that we've ever run across?

I would understand if there weren't, since it's kind of hard to keep track of maneaters.

>>25025637
>how is mage doing with mab?

"Ugh," Mage winced as Mab wrapped the last bandage around his waist. "That's really tight."

"It needs to be." Mab said.

"Yeah, I know." Mage sighed. "What's that smell."

"Healing salve." Mab says. "It'll help."

"How?" He asked.

Mab shrugged. "I don't know, it just does." She nods. "Don't think that this means anything. I know what you and the Paladin Serpent are doing. I'm not a fool...and your act wouldn't fool anyone, if I wasn't so desperate to get the magic back from that psycho."

Mage narrows his eyes. "You...you did the same thing to get the crown that we're doing now, didn't you?"

Mab put a finger to Mage's lips. "Say one more word about that subject, 'my husband' and you'll end up finding out the 37 different ways I can use rose thorns unpleasantly."

"Got it." He says. "So...there a couch or some rags I'm sleeping on?"

"No," She sighs. "We must share the bed, but if you so much as TOUCH me..."

"Rose thorns. I know, I know." He says.

"You probably get more than enough from those four you travel with don't you?" Mab smirks.

"No, actually." He smiles.

"You gay?" Mab asks.

"No." He says. "Tricia and Ssen are, well...kinda...long story, either way they're in love with each other. Mari's only just turned 13 or 14 or...however old she really is. Peri's got issues, and Lea..." He sighs. "It's going to sound really really scummy but I'm not attracted to her. Also, she's too religious for me, I feel weird and out of place when she gets preachy." He shrugs. "That's probably the last few pieces of Ghoul in me...or Dragon Servant. Not sure."

"You're a Ghoul?" Mab asks.

"Yep. Well, I was." He sighs. "Sit back your majesty, I have a very long, strange, story to tell you. It turns out your Court isn't as wrong as people might think."

>>25025931
>Mab is faking too
>everyone assumes mage is gay
>mage telling mab about our long, strange story

dooohohoho. You've brightened my night. This will make everything so much more interesting.

>>25026030
This is what he gets for being the token male of the party.

At least he got some when he was still a ghoul. It was his sister but still.

>>25026127
To be fair, that would render most people asexual for life.

>>25026127
"ONCE!" Mage says to Mab's horrified face. "ONCE! And Dad held a knife to my throat the whole damn time!"

"Still..."

"Yeah, I know...and I think Ester actually got off on the whole knife thing too." He shudders.

"Your family was fucked up."

"Yeah, so is my new one...but in a good way."

>>25026127
We tried to set him up with a girlfriend, but it didn't work.

Now we're setting him up with a QUEEN and it's not working!

We're failing hard at being good older sister wingman.

Also, poor every member of our group. They're all in some level of family hell or relationship problems.

>>25026212
>Now we're setting him up with a QUEEN and it's not working!

...yet.

>>25026300
Poor mage...

>>25026300
Yet. Good mindset, echo. Never give up hope! We WILL find mage a girlfriend, no matter how mad or scary she may be!

Also, is it cheating to use our secondary eyelids in a staring contest?

>>25026300
oh please yes! who else could relate to someone that participates in Dawnchaser Plans™ besides an insane elf queen?

>>25026415
perhaps princess mumei.

I was sort of thinking mage and mumei might have a drunken "thing" together when they walked off together, but I guess not.

>>25026423
The princess is very proper. She's not one to get drunk.

Also, no one in Citadel kingdom can make anything close to proper rice wine.

>>25026456
I wonder if mumei can make anything close to proper rice wine herself, highborn not-working type noble that she is.

Because you don't need a reason to introduce new methods of brewing to a country. You really don't. It's just altruism.

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So, how kung-fu is Lea? Bone breaking, or is she verging on punching holes in guys?

Also, I wonder if snake style is a thing.

>>25026514
Brewer...keep that character in mind for the Phoenix Empire sequel...thanks.

>>25026636
I look forward to that sequel. I am guessing the premise is "Let's all finally go on that vacation we've been wanting!"

Though, being further down the timeline with a trained-adventuring-party might be cool too. I'm interested in how it'll turn out.

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>>25026630
>I wonder if snake style is a thing
Depends on how tired Tricia is.

>>25026711
That one was kinda reaching, anon.

>>25026749
Any length, fellow anon.

Any length.

>>25026775
I hardly know where you're going with this any more, anon.

Besides, Tricia is sleeping in her own room tonight, she'll be well rested. Assuming her auntie doesn't keep yammering at her about how wings would look totally great on her {they would, even a stopped clock is right twice a day}

>>25026835
I'm more amused at her Aunt bugging her about when we're gonna have kids.

>>25026880
I really hope Tricia can still have kids the human-style way.

And that those parts weren't lost when she assumed her... condition.

>>25026902
> her skin when performing childbirth

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

wouldn't that make a C-section easier though

What would the Ethnicity/Race/Whathave you of each party member/major character be in real world terms?

Ssen & Trish are obviously Irish, what about everyone else?

please don't tell me Mage and the Ghouls are slavs

Also what is everyone's birthday?

>>25027365
well, peri is a chocolate elf, I know that. I don't know what race that is.

the rest, you fuckin' got me.

>>25027332
Whoever midwifes this shit is gonna be traumatized. As are all the nannies.

>>25027402
of a milky caramel or dark chocolate complexion?

>>25027451
Dark, I believe. Though that's a bit more murky in description.

>>25027516
>>25027516
so she's like a drow?

>>25027583
I don't think THAT dark.

But you know what, I have nothing to base that part on other than my own supposition.

I'm exhausted though, so I'm gonna go to sleep. And I'll be wondering whether or not peri is a drow while I am going off to sleep. Thanks a lot anon.

See you tomorrow, echo.

You want me to replace the prologue? I like your version a lot better, TBH.

>>25028252
No, I like your prologue. It's sort of the pro-prologue. It needs some trimming to just a single page of short text.

Peri is NOT a drow. She's black, from her mother's side.

Marietta, and the Glenns I see as either Italian or Spain descent.

Ssen is Lamia heritage. Ba-dum-ching.

Tricia is Irish and I hear her 'voice' with a brogue.

Peri is Street British, Mari is Proper British.

For some reason, I see Mage as standard white heritage slav/anglo/what have you...but it amuses me to no end to have him have a South Boston accent.

Lea is Middle Eastern.

Robin and his crew I have a fondness of giving them French ethnicity. Jessi has a french accent, but Ryan (of course) has a touch of Russian, and Robin is Old New England in accent.

Isen sounds 100% Eagleland American, and Tara's a bit of a Californian Valley Girl.

Mumei is, of course, asian. Chinese style, Japanese features.

Granny...I'm teetering between American South or Scottish.

Dana has a Minnesota accent.

Gregory has a stuck-up British accent, Barney's got that classic 'American Con Man' style, Ambrose is Old Man Who Coughs. All three are white.

Comedy sounds like a sociopathic middle-school girl.

Tragedy speaks with a cultured tone as if he thinks everyone in the room is stupider than he is, and he wants you to know it.

Peace is a calm monotone.

Anyone else?

>>25028830
about how tall is the main group? (including ssen as she normally stands)

>>25028830
Jeremy and Co.?

Julian?

[spoile]are you not answering birthdays on purpose or are you consulting your character sheets/notes?[/spoiler]

>>25029037
welp, thats what I get for posting at 2 AM in the morning and not bothering toctrl+s AND not bothering to proofread

>>25028991
Assuming that Ssen keeps her 'standard' height at around 5' 11" Peri's the shortest at 5' 8" Lea is 5' 10" Tricia is 5' 9" and Mage is 6' 1"

>>25029064
> Mage isn't a manlet

I'm surprised

>>25029037
I'm not doing birthdays on purpose. I never sat down and figured it out. Mage and Ssen aren't even sure of their specific dates anyway.

Julian I see as having a marvelous mustache and neatly trimmed beard. King's English.

Avery is a very calm and patient scotsman...unless you piss him off. Then he goes full Glasgow.

Balles has a slight German Hessian style to him.

Grace is Indian.

>>25028830
>>25029064
>Mage as standard white heritage slav
>Mage is 6' 1"
SLAV PRIDE WORLD WIDE!

Also I am unfamiliar with the Imperial system, but if Ssen is 5' 11" wouldn't that make her 6' 1"?

>>25029804
There's twelve inches to a foot.