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(For all who want it, here's my newly set-up Twitter account: https://twitter.com/FFQSage Will make use of it to give some hours notice of playtimes, cancellations and such. Can also answer questions on it should any have need of it.)

(Anyone around to play or should I kill the thread and try again later?)

>>25776614
You said 12:00PM PDT, so people were expecting it then, not 30 minutes early.

>>25776443
Go with what we had yesterday.
"Lord Erstspear, we have been honest, and I have the Bomb Fragments to prove it. Now I'm sorry about what your village is going through, and I wish I could help. But we are already on a King's Errand, and we cannot, and will not, be delayed. We each have an Orb of Guidance, and we have been tasked by the King to go to Matoya's Cave. We will not be unduly delayed in our mission, Lord.."

Rolled 14

>>25776614
Im here!

>>25776668
This seems like the best way to go about things

>>25776668

(I did? Don't remember saying any time, but it wouldn't be the first time something's slipped my mind!)

"-Will- not?" Erstspear's voice grows thick with a growl, before he lifts his cane, pointing it at you. You can see he is out for blood, more than anything. "Guards, he means to resist. Use whatever force necessary to restrain him."

The men take hold of their spears by both hands, but a new voice calls above the impending ruckus. A quavery, old voice.

"Lord Erstspear, halt your spears!"

The balding, elderly white mage pushes his way through the crowd, putting himself between you and the Lord. For a moment, it looks like the soot-covered man might strike the old church-keep down, but he holds his hand up to halt his guards.

"Did you not hear them speak?" The old man croaks, his voice wobbling worse as it got louder. "They have Orb's of Guidance and seek the counsel of the marsh witch Matoya. Please, if you would," he turns, slowly, toward you, extending his hand. "Let me hold the Orb, child."

>>25776827
Hand the Orb over to the man. This is our only way out of getting away from this situation with a somewhat intact reputation.

Rolled 40

>>25776847
second

>>25776847

"Hrrmm...." The man turns the orb over in his hand, looking at the white, misty insides closely. When he glances to the others, Conara and Ferra hold out their own, following your initiative.

"So they have some crystal balls, does that mean they are truly the Orbs of Guidance?" remarks Erstspear darkly. "Even if they are the so-called Warriors of Light, they are still beholden to the King's laws!"

At this point, you can feel the mood in the crowd shift. More doubtful glances are being cast to the lord, more of the eyes on you now wide in shock, disbelief or awe.

"I will not allow it." The White Mage shakes his head, plopping the orb back in your hand. Turning around, he stands more firmly than you imagine a man of his age could. "I'm invoking the law of White Passage. These four are agents of the Goddess, their purpose beyond your ken. Any judgement you wish to make upon them will require the permission of Orbonne Temple."

The crowd rises up in a titter. The Lord fumes and his soldiers glance between one another, starting to ease back.

"The King shall know of this," he promises. "Already he thinks he grants your Temple too much power, priest. I am -his- man. I can be the spark that starts the fire that devours your church and all other churches that dare question the authority of the crown!"

For a moment, the red of the anger in his face is only displaced by a pale, upon the realization he has spoken too much. But then he turns, storming out of the inn, followed by his mean. You hear chocobo wark-ing loud before they make off away from the town centre.

<continued>

>>25776992

Then all eyes are on you. The word of the priest who saved you seems solemn as now you are stared at as if you were a king. Ferra inches behind Conara, who stands with her hands on her hips and her chest puffed out proudly. Then Shang steps inside, pushing his way past several staring women.

"Good, you're not dead." He nods, before realising just how many people have surrounded you. It is then that the innkeeper begins to apologise profusely, ordering his daughters to have your breakfast prepared as soon as possible, the table and chairs set out. As they do so, the maids of the village fiddle their hair and look at you, Horry and Shang, their eyes big and doe-like. The mothers peck at them for staring and you can feel the older men and women judging your worth with just that glance. Even the church-keep cannot tear himself away and the keeper of the Traveller's Shop begins to apologise profusely for reasons you're not sure, offering 250 gil for each Bomb Fragment and informing you how much of a boon to his business it would be if he could truly advertise that the Warriors of Light offered him their custom. Amidst the stares, Ferra inches over to tug at your sleeve.

"Is it really a good idea to stay here...?" She mumbles up at you, shrinking under the jealous glares of some girls who don't seem to realise that she is, in fact, also a Warrior of Light.

>>25777099
"Actually, as soon as we eat, we DO need to be on our way. I was not exaggerating when I said we cannot be unduly delayed; every moment we tarry is a moment that Ser Highwind gets farther away from us, after all."

I say sell 4 Bomb Fragments to the Travel Store owner. We may need the others for alchemical purposes as part of some other sub-quest.

We eat quick, and get on the road in less than half an hour if possible.
1. We can't waste time and need to get to Matoya's Cave.
2. We don't want to wear out our welcome, because honestly, we are the most likely cause of the forest fire, all plausible deniability aside.

Rolled 26

>>25777186
what he said. lets GTFO post haste. but we might want to hang onto a bomb fragment as proof of our encounter with the bombs.

>>25777209
We've got 8 Fragments total, so selling 4 still leaves us with 4 more.

>>25777186
>>25777227

(Any objections to this course of action?)

>>25777273
Don't think so. Speed is what we're looking for.

Rolled 22

>>25777273
nope

>>25777186

As you sit down to a hasty breakfast of mashed turnips, black pudding and egg-fried bread, you wonder if there's any meal in this village that doesn't include that particular vegetable. Most of the men and women return to their farms and their occupations, but for a few of the most besotted girls. The shopkeep is all too eager to fetch his gil-bag from his shop and trade with you right there. You pass the glittery, holed stones to him and recieve 1000 gil in return. Passing a few sighs elicited and the earnest farewells from the innkeep and his daughters.

Before long, you are on the road. You take reign for most of the first day. On the second day, as you travel through a hilly countryside, Horry is up front, when Ferra, who seems to have been chewing her lip the entire time, speaks up.

"... do you think that Lord Erstspear meant what he said? About the king?" She quickly gets animated. "The White Temple and the royal family have always been allied. The laws of the kingdom follow the word of Orbonne to the letter!"

The Onion Knight shrugs, kicking her legs up across your own with little care.

"I don't get it, personally. In Holle, we're a lot more forgiving of what you call 'sins'. Like the whole marriage thing. The way we see it, if a man and woman wanna lie together, let 'em."

Ferra turns a shade of red, looking to grab for her steel rod for a swift round of White Mage discipline.

"You were a member of the Temple, once, Cecil, what do you think?"

Rolled 82

>>25777460
>black pudding
not even once.
"I feel that the Kingdom should be free to choose whether or not it will be aligned with the church, but if they declare allegiance, then they should stick to it."

>>25777460
"I'm not exactly the best person to ask about that; I left the Temple for a reason, you know.
"But as for the King breaking with the Temple? I just can't see it. As much as the nobles may grumble, the Temple is important to everyone, not just because of the whole Cosmic balance and being a good person thing, but because they're the wielders of White Magic and healing. With a war going on, it'd be practically suicide to alienate yourself from the biggest source of healing casters you have."

Rolled 75

>>25777530
actually, change my vote to this >>25777558
says it much better than I

>>25777558

The White Mage darkens again at your noticeable disdain for the Temple, but remains silent. At you speak of White Magic and the Temple's role in that, however, Shang gives a short, brusque chuckle.

"Nonsense. The Taoists of Siya, the Warrior Priests of Amarestes. There are plenty of ways to wield what you easterners call 'White Magic'. It's only that it's the way of Mages to hoard away the best tomes for themselves. If the King had a mind to, he could storm every church and temple in his borders, kill the dissenters and take the tomes for himself. Power that isn't personal strength shifts hands too easily. That's why I find it so foolish for people to rely on kings and faith both."

At this point you begin to think that Ferra might try kill you all for blasphemers.

>>25777621

(Anything to add or do we want to fast-travel?)

>>25777621
"If you want to get down to the theory behind it, learning the Voice for White Magic still takes time and effort, and years if you don't have a teacher. I learned that the hard way when I tried to learn Black Magic.
"As for faith in Orbonne and the Temple, I DO think it's important. Cosmos is a real force, and to disdain Her is akin to dismissing the cold of winter or the heat of a fire.
"As for relying on kings, I view it the same as relying on any other merchant or trader. Don't you rely on tailors to make your clothes, and on the farmers and sheepherds behind them to create the cloth that becomes your clothes? Even as you are independent of farmers for food, Sheng, are you not reliant on them for making the wine you like so much?
"People like them rely on the king for protection as it's his part in society to provide defense and organization."

>>25777757

Ferra nods emphatically. Shang seems to consider your words, playing at his goatee, before shrugging.

"You may be right in the role of kings. But it seems to be in my experience that the smaller a people, the more easily they live. So many churches, so many lords and subjects... it brings complication. And then you have one man atop it all with a crown on his marking him as the ruler of it all. Why anyone wants to rule, I have little idea." He opens his wineskin, about to take a drink before pausing. "And this is sake, not wine. But yes, I relied on the brewer of Hobusu for it."

"The way I see it, the work of Cosmos is in the things around us...," Conara slowly speaks, seeming to think hard on her words. Not a natural philosopher at fifteen, she pauses often to gauge the expressions around her. "Trees, fairies, water, the Crystals, magic, all of it. We praise Cosmos in Holle just as much as anyone else. We just have our own ways of doing it. Much more fun ways. Dances and feasts and such."

"We have songs," Ferra is quick to add. "Hymns. They can sound very lovely." She nods in agreement with herself. At the same time, she seems a bit bothered that she's unable to muster an argument even as articulate as Conara's.

Rolled 60

anything else we want to do here before we get the fuck out of dodge?

>>25777885
Okay, I think we're ready to fast travel now. We've got Ferra thinking on WHY she follows the teachings of Orbonne beyond just because it's the only thing she knows, and that's enough for now.

Rolled 15

>>25778069
seconding this

(Everyone, I'm real sorry to do it, but I gotta run for about an hour and a half. Bit of a family situation that needs to be taken care of. I'll post as soon as I get back in the door and we'll continue from where we are if you're still around. Again, terribly, terribly sorry to run off on you.)

Rolled 89

>>25778174
I might not be there when you get back, but Ill be joining back in the moment I get back from dinner. wish you luck with the family

>>25778174
I'm going to a tabletop game around that time. I should still be able to make posts during downtime, but they may be sporadic at best.

(Sorry for the delay, everyone.That was a much longer drive than I thought. Is there anyone here still wanting to play?)

>>25779665

(Welp, might have killed my thread, tonight, but I'll stick around for an hour in the hopes someone else comes along.)

>>25779819
I can only check and upload sporadically, so I shouldn't be counted.

>>25779932

(Noted, I'll hope for a second player, but would be glad to have you with me, even sporadically.)

(Last time I'mma bump in case any interested parties come along then I'll let the thread sink unto oblivion.)

>>25780311
Can you at least quick travel us to the next destination?

>>25780338

(If I get an active player, certainly. If not, that's how the next thread will start.)

>>25780361
I have cometh

>>25780577

The remainder of your travels to Dorter go without a hitch. You finally finish reading your tome of Osmose and, eager to try, to use it on Ferra later that night. All that earns you is a slap across the face as if you had pulled up her skirt. She's still learning Cura, but it's taking a much longer time for her, no doubt because of the fact it's a higher level tome. Conara is slowly getting better at her sparring sessions with Horry, but is still a long way from being comfortable with a sword of such a weight and thus tends to enter the tent each night with a new set of bruises. As you approach Dorter, the roads are more and more occupied, farmers bringing produce or taking away empty carts, adventurers in the garb of Red Mages, armour, Bard's tunics and all sorts. There might be a war on, but it doesn't seem to have reached Dorter yet.

Although there are no walls to the great, market town, a gate stops you on your way inside, a guardsman wearing the sigil of a green hand holding a leaf over a white field stops you at the gate.

"Purposes for entering the town of Dorter, travellers?" he asks as two others meander about the caravan, peeking in the back and underneath.

>>25780709
"Just stopping for resupply, on our way to Matoya's Cave."
There's no real point to talking too much, and this is just a stop before we go any further.

>>25780752
I'll second

>>25780752

"More adventurers looking to find the old bat," snorts the one looking through the back and they soon pull back from your caravan, seeing naught too troubling.

"We'll see you back when you give up on that, no doubt. Come in and watch out for thieves." The man at the gate steps out of the way and waves you inside. Corneria was much, much bigger but you wonder if you've ever seen a town as packed as Dorter. You wonder how you manage to avoid running anyone over with the amount of people dashing in front of your chocobo. The traffic is slow, too, through the residential area, but when you come to the trade centre, and what a massive trade centre it is, travel becomes easier. Rows upon rows of stalls fill the wide squares, entire neighbourhoods of market space. Jugglers juggle, a man in a dark red robe stands atop an anvil and shouts tidings from over the kingdom, mummers play at one another with wooden swords for the children. More than one are flyers shoved at you or even stuffed under the harness on the all-too-nervous chocobo. Most of them advertise a play in town, A Thief and A Princess, but you see a couple speaking of a public meeting for those interested in 'The Union: A New Way To See The Gods'. Along the sides of the market square, you see clothing shops, a weapon shop, an armourer and a Traveller's Shop.

Shang climbs up to stand in the caravan, poking you through the space at the front of it.

"If we're staying here, we'd best leave the birds at the inn. We'd be able to travel quicker on foot with the amount of birds on the road."

>>25780854
"That's a good point. No need to slow us down unnecessarily now, eh?"

>>25780967
Second.
We should go to the Traveller's Shop, get rations and such.

>>25780967

Surprisingly, the inn of Dorter isn't much more expensive than the one in Calim, the two rooms and space for chocobo costing 400 gil. After a bath and a meal, you make your way out with your party, standing before the bustling market square.

"Alright. I'm off to the tavern," declares Shang, making his way towards the popular local, a gaudy place, painted purple with lattice styled windows, ornate doors carved to look like harps and a great sign overarching the door declaring it 'The Wondrous Tale', a metal sign poking out showing a bard with an ale.

"I think I'll go listen to the herald. See you all later." Horry gives a backward wave as he makes his way to the man on the anvil, his hand gently resting on the pommel of the sword.

"I'll stay with you, Cecil," Ferra smiles up at you. Glancing about, you see much of what you saw before, but a few new things catch your eye. For one, a brightly coloured window-shop, white and red striped poles holding up a sign, the letters each coloured differently, advertising 'Fortune's Favoured: A Place for Rarities and Wonders'. Furthermore, you see the Canary Theater, where posters for the play are plastered up in the hundred. No doubt that's where the theater troupe. Finally your eye happens upon a certain alley to the end of the market square, where occasionally men slip in and out. But for the women dressed in lace and a slitted-dress exposing her gartered thigh, offering flowers to passers by, there is nothing particularly noticeable about the narrow alleyway. But still there are men, and women, occasionally passing in and out.

Where would you like to go first?

[ ] The tavern
[ ] The weapon shop
[ ] The armour shop
[ ] The Traveller's shop
[ ] The herald
[ ] Take Ferra to the theater
[ ] Take Ferra to a mummer's play
[ ] Explore the curious alley
[ ] Visit Fortune's Favoured
[ ] Go to the Union Meeting

>>25781171

Forgot to mention that Conara runs off after Shang.

>>25781171
>[x] Visit Fortune's Favoured
Always a good chance at finding something rare.

>>25781202
Might as well see whats rarities they may have

>>25781171

[ ] Go to the Union Meeting
It is the most interesting choice.

>>25781202
>>25781233

You stop off at the brightly coloured glass-less window, where you see people, mostly adventurers going by their garb, but the occasional farmer and curious street urchin, passing to look inside. Unlike them, however, you step right up to see the shop keep rocking in a chair behind. She wears a purple tailed coat, buckled tight about her, atop a pair of baggy ended white breeches and brown boots. But it's her hat and what's beneath that give her away. Wide brimmed with a pointed tip, the Black Mage's bright yellow eyes flutter open and closed, the only part of her face cutting through a thick shadow totally obscuring the rest of her. Except for the yellow braids that hang from beneath, too.

"Welcome," she neglects to stand. "Fortune favours you traveller, if you have the gil to spend here."

She gestures to a wooden board, listing prices of twelve items, but with five of them scored out. They are as follows:

Elixir: 2000 gil
Strength Tonic: 2000 gil
Mage Masher: 15,000 gil
Asura: 410 gil
Khakkara: 1600 gil
Yeti-hide Shield: 2200 gil
Pyromancer's Jacket: 10,000 gil

>>25781419
What's the Asura and Khakkara?

>>25781419
Doesn't seem like we will be getting anything this day. Only thing we can afford (i think) is that Asura

>>25781477

The Black Mage regards you with the pupil-less, glowing eyes for a moment and stands up, fishing around some boxes until she picks out a long, curved blade with a rectangular handguard. She unsheaths a two-toned blade of steel, dark, near-black grey edged with glimmering silver, the edge razor sharp and coming to an asymmetrical point.

"A sword from the West, used by the samurai of Wujia, primarily. A fairly common blade over there, but few shops sell them here, so I tend to keep one in stock at all times."

She sheaths it once more, placing it back before retrieving another object. A long staff of smoothly hewn wood. Along the wood are runes you've seen before, the runes of a magical staff, used to eject magic bolts from it. On top is a wide, metal ring, with two smaller rings interlinked with it.

"The Augurs use these staffs. They're charged with a little bit of Holy power, but also good for close range. The rings at the top are used to catch weapons, as well as delivering a good, stern thwacking when need-be."

>>25781557
Is the Asura a better sword than what we have?

>>25781649

It's steel, so yes. But you're untrained with two-handed blades (I'm going to be using blade and sword to differentiate between single edged and double edges swords, respectively), and you have no-one trained in using them, so it would take you a long time to learn how to use it, unless you find someone with the skill to teach you.

>>25781698
Guess we should hold off....for now then

>>25781757

The Black Mage gives a sigh that you can only guess is one of irritation, sitting back on her rocking chair as you make it clear you won't be buying anything this time.

"Come again...," she musters, before you and Ferra turn back to the market square.

(And that's it for tonight, I'm afraid, folks. I'll be back tomorrow, so we can get the rest of the Dorter visit played out and maybe a bit beyond that. Hoping that it's much smoother and more uninterrupted then. I hope to be playing at 15:00 chantime, but I'll be leaving updates on my new twitter (FFQSage) to let you all know. Hope to see you then.)

>>25781919
See ya then Sage