>>29312228
>getting a report from Lynn and Salamander

You decide to double-check with Lynn and Sala about things. Something bothers you about the situation, and it can’t hurt to get some extra thoughts on the situation.

The girls, and their suitors, direct their attention to you nearly immediately once you come close.

“Gentlemen, if I may have a word with the ladies?” you say, gently shooing away the other men. They all take a hint, except Lynn’s companion who nods seriously and then holds his hand out to you.

“I am Agor Gendarme. It is an honour to meet you, Talon York,” he says, a broad smile on his face.

“Imperator Talon York,” somebody says. Surprisingly enough, it’s not you. Lynn spoke up to protect your title and is directing a frighteningly bright smile his way.

You take his hand firmly, so firmly that he winces, and give him a hard stare. “Yes, it is good to meet you. As I said, though, I need to talk to the ladies. Alone.”

He frowns, shaking his hand openly. Not exactly a bright spark. “If you’re going to fight that horrid creature below, I shall assist you. I have sworn on my honour to protect Lady Caitlyn from any further harm.”

You hold back a sigh at the young buck’s attitude. You were like him once. Thankfully you’re not anymore. “I’ll keep it in mind, Agor. Now please do as I bid.”

He finally clues in and gives you some peace. Lynn gives you a genuinely broad smile and you shake your head, moving onto a relevant topic.

As it turns out, it seems genuine – the vampire tried to flee, Lynn chased him, nearly got her stomach torn out by some foul magic, but kept it together long enough to push him into the cellar. Mal then warded the door heavily, and cleansed the town.

“I could just torch the cellar. It’ll be easy. Mal’s just scared of being thralled – but I won’t let that happen.”

>Anything else?

Current plans are a dungeon delve or to torch it.

>>29312252
I'm in favor of torching it. Or at least sending large amounts of AOE spells through the door before us.

>>29312252
If she scorches it, will there be enough of him left to verify he is dead? Because it would suck if he got out through some other hole or managed to survive by burying himself or some such and came back to bite us in the ass later.

Also, the wine with his blood, where is it? if it was spilled where is the table it was spilled on. Perhaps our mages can cobble together a tracking spell (for one thing, it can verify scorching the basement killed it).

>>29312252
>Always kill them face to face
As much as it is more dangerous, we *do not* need to deal with a "Never Found the Body" scenario.

As well, by fighting the vampire face to face, we can attempt to identify him or her.

I'm assuming that there are more vampires than daylight walkers, but they are still few enough to be identified based on a few traits.

Finally, if the vampire was cowardly enough to try to flee, he or she might be amenable to parley. We might not get anywhere much, but we could still use the opportunity to get a feel for the enemy's plans

Oh yea, add to our vampire lore, and spread it around, daywalkers enthrall people by getting them to drink their blood (we currently have it as unknown method).

Oh, an advantage of dungeon delve is:
1. Practice in a safe environment, we will be facing a lot of them in the future and some of us never faced one before (undine)
2. If we can recover enough of a corpse, we could perhaps do magical research on it (for example, see if our mages could get a spell to detect daywalkers from studying the corpse).

>>29312332
Mal doesn't need the blood to track the thing now he's met it. He can recognise it's sorcerous power quite easily. The same with both Salamander and Lynn. He can put it together if necessary, though, as he swiped a small amount.

>>29312379
>Parley to get more info out of him before killing him
Brillian! why didn't I think about it :).

>>29312417
>He can put it together if necessary
put what together?

>>29312449
The tracking spell. It involves a ritual.

>>29312394
Sala reminds you they're all a little bit different. The way they create thralls isn't necessarily the same. Kissing, touch - even being in the same room, she says. They're too unique to be easily classified.

VOTE

>1. Torch the monster
Have Mal lower the barrier on the door and then have Salamander filled the cellar with fire. You and Lynn will be back-up if it tries to get out.

>2. Dungeon delve.
Go down into the cellar and kill it yourselves.

>3. Attempt parley
It may be willing to provide information in exchange for… well, whatever you feel like offering it.

>4. Custom

>>29312476
>2. Dungeon delve.

>>29312476
>3, then 2 if or when negotiations fail

>>29312476
2.

>>29312476
4 use a tracking ritual so we know exactly where it is. Is it waiting right next to the door to pounce the moment the barrier lowers? Is it hiding deep inside? information is important

>>29312476

is there anything valuable or important in the cellar? if not, then just burn the shit out of it, followed by going in and removing it's head, heart and any other body part of import...

>>29312559
oh, and after we get the ritual going, dungeon delve.

>>29312476
Dungeon Delve

>>29312559
Oh, will the ritual take long? I am worried he is currently digging his way out of there. So we might want to situate mageknights around the building to spot him and delay him long enough for us to catch up if he does.

>>29312581
Maybe some nice wine? But no, nothing of value.

>>29312559
The spell's not exact enough for that - it tells you the general direction. All you'd be able to know is that it's in the cellar, which you already know (and can sense without the tracking spell). The main reason to set-up a tracking spell would be if he got outside somehow - it'd take about 15min.

>This looks like a pretty clear 2. to me


PARTY FORMATION
Talon / Lynn - Front
Salamander - Middle
Undine / Maloric - Rear

>>29312672
Good, but make sure Talon and Lynn both have long daggers in case there isn't enough room for them to effectively use their swords.

>2.

You get everybody ready to clear out the cellar and kill the vampire. You clear out the lower floors of the castle and fill them with your heavy mage-knights just in case. You don’t want this thing going anywhere if it gets past you.

You can sense the monster somewhere in the cellar, even through Mal’s barrier.

“How did you not sense this thing before?” you ask, frowning.

“It wasn’t so obvious before. It must have used some form of magic to hide its presence,” Mal tells you.

“Could he do something similar if he escaped?”

“Not whilst I have some of his blood, no.”

You and Lynn are on guard as Mal lowers the barrier and opens the door with magic. You look inside…

[DC16 Perception]

>>29312724
>daggers
Just punch or shield bash.

Both Talon and Lynn have the strength and the magic empowerment to dish out the damage with improvised bludgeoning of their armour and equipment.

Rolled 17

>>29312779

Rolled 4

>>29312779

Rolled 10

>>29312779
See not with the eyes of the head, but the gaze of the soul...!

>>29312476
>Being in the same room can make Thralls
>Same room
Shit, how're we suppose to fight that? I assume we have some manner of resistance to it, but it's not THAT strong I'm sure.

>>29312803
And as usual we are perceptive.

...just makes it hurt the more when we start failing lowered DCs.

>>29312831
The stronger your personal magic is, the more ressitance you have against it.
Our entire party is strong mages.
But I am worried about meeting the daywalker that thralled that general we killed earlier, he was really powerful mage.

>target met

… and you see nothing but darkness. A magical veil of shadow hangs over the cellar and you empower your senses in an attempt to penetrate it. The cellar itself is large, and you think you make out the shape of a number of large objects piled quite high, and there are corridors between them that are of reasonable width that lead to the back of the cellar.

Then you catch something else and step forward, ahead of Lynn, with your shield raised and form a quick barrier. A dozen shadowy somethings crash into your barrier but are weak enough to be ineffectual. From the direction, you’d guess they came from directly ahead. You can still sense the vampire in the cellar, but are unsure of its precise direction.

>1. Move in and attack him head-on
>2. Advance cautiously into the cellar, wary of traps
>3. Have Mal, Undine and Sala return fire
>4. Custom

>>29312910
>2
This guy definitely set up ten million billion traps.

Watch out.

>>29312910
>4. Examine what crashed into our barriers.

If this Vampire is wily enough to set a trap in the food, he or she will probably be desperate enough and have enough time to plot to do something with that opening attack.

Grease? Phosphorescent substances to light us up? Or a more sinister catalyst to achieve more dangerous effects on us?

>>29312910
Sal, return fire.
Rest be on guard.
Isn't mal's specialty to disrupt magic? can he disrupt the darkness?

>>29312988
>disrupt the darkness
>use magic missle
>why not

>>29312988
>Isn't mal's specialty to disrupt magic? can he disrupt the darkness?
He can try, but he'll have more difficulty with non-human magic.

>>29312980
The objects seemed to evaporate into nothing upon contact with your barrier. You suspect they were made of magic and dissipated.

its probable that he moved as soon as he fired and if we do charge in there we will encounter a trap.

>>29312910
>2.
Concentrate all energy into the forward shields!
Intensify forward firepower!
inb4 TOO LATE!

I might do a bit of a blend here.

Talon and Lynn advance. Sala returns fire. Mal tries to disrupt the shadow veil. Undine remains in reserve.

>2+3

“Salamander, see if you can’t send some fire his way. Mal, remove the veil. Lynn, with me,” you order before stepping into the cellar properly, shield raised and senses alert for any more traps.

[DC16 Mal Disrupt]

Rolled 11

>>29313158

Rolled 20

>>29313158

Rolled 4

>>29313158
comon

Rolled 1

>>29313158
dispel!

>>29313195
>>29313204

Holy shit. These rolls. The dice gods are laughing in their profane tongue right now.

>>29313204
To late!

>>29313204
HAHA I BEAT YOU TOO SLOW

>exceptional success

You feel a ripping sensation in the magical energy around you as Mal uses his own magic to try to disrupt the vampire’s. The room appears to bend for a second as the clash of magical energies warps your vision but then with an otherworldly screech the veil vanishes in a whorl of prismatic energy. You instinctively guard against it, and it sizzles lightly against your shield and armour – magical energy that has yet to properly return to its plane can be dangerous.

As if to punctuate your thoughts, you hear a very human scream of pain from the far-left corner of the cellar. It would seem that the vampire got caught up in disruption spell and isn’t do so well.

The cellar is completely clear now to your empowered senses. Boxes and casks lines the cellar. You can feel a strange hum of sorcery, too, but it’s dimming by the second. Most likely, many of the traps laid by the vampire aren’t a threat any more.

>1. Charge the vampire
>2. Box him in and try to slay him with ranged attacks
>3. Wait for him to come to you
>4. Custom

>>29313331
>3. Wait for him to come to you
We've got the only exit blocked off, and he's desperate. He's gonna try something stupid.

Rolled 16

>>29313331
2.

waiting for him gives him time to recover.
Charnging means wasting our long ranged attacks.
If we box him in then he will get hit by ranged attacks, then try to break out and face us in melee on our terms.

>>29313331
>1 Charge
He's weak now, take advantage of that shit

Rolled 2

>thread's slow
>three-way tie
Guess that's the way it works.

Tie-breaker roll

>>29313603
It's cuz we love you Aspir
Heart

Rolled 2

>2.

You decide that boxing him in is the best way to go. You direct Lynn and Undine to get at him at that far end, whilst you and Salamander tie him up from the side closest the door. Maloric will keep a lookout.

You find him, or you think it’s a him, moving swiftly towards you and the exit. A cloaked figure wielding a rapier. Salamander tries to cover him in flames whilst you control his movement.

[DC12 Tag-team incineration]

Rolled 11

>>29313665
Doom

Rolled 19

>>29313665
Destroy his vampiric ass

Rolled 5

>>29313665

Rolled 3

All the DCs in this challenge were based around that shadow veil making things harder. So funny.

>Target met

As Sala rears up in the air, summoning a huge fireball of energy, you crash into the vampire. He attempts to push you off or slip away, but your tackle was square and he goes down in a roll. Before he can right himself, Salamander unleashes hellfire on him.

His screams echo throughout the cellar, but you keep your guard up. You remain close, despite the heat, and you hear Lynn and Undine run up the other side. Once the fire clears, you see a charred figure curled up on the ground. It still appears to be alive, it’s inhuman vitality sustaining it.

>1. Keep it alive and try to get information
>2. Cut it to bits
>3. Have Salamander incinerate it
>4. Custom

>>29313776

>3. Have Salamander incinerate it

This thing's blood can thrall people. best not to risk it.

>>29313776

cut off it's head, remove it's heart and have Salamander incinerate it's remains

>>29313776
>3. Have Salamander incinerate it

>>29313776
slice and dice.

>>29313776
>Incinerate it

If we cut it, it'll get mind-fuckery blood everywhere.

>Last scene for the night
>3. But with a bit extra

“Salamander, I need you to incinerate it completely.”

She nods, and with another great surge of energy, covers the being in fire. She does so for much longer though, and although his screams die out after only a few seconds she continues to summon and control fire for several minutes straight.

Finally, when she stops, there is nothing other than ash on the floor. You remind yourself not to annoy Maloric’s familiar before heading back up to announce your victory.

With the daywalker cleared out, you return to the assorted VIPs of the town. There’s a small celebration and you find yourself doing a lot of reassuring to the town leaders that you’ll keep Taour at bay. As one particularly boring merchant drones on, you cast an eye about for your companions.

Salamander is once again basking in the attention of some young men. Mal’s talking with some mages – from the looks of them, they’re the local civil mages and are no good to you. Undine’s been hovering close to you.

Lynn, meanwhile, appears to have attracted the attention of her young suitor again. He’d been aghast that you’d slain the vampire without him, though happy with the affair once he saw that Lynn was unharmed. You figure to leave the two alone – Lynn’s old enough to deal with him as she wishes.

Or so you think, when suddenly he comes up to you and starts speaking, “Imperator York, I have a most important matter I need you to adjudicate.”

>continued

>>29313922
Oh dang, I smell a marrage proposal coming up

>>29313986
It is, but I can't get past 4chan's joke of a spam filter.

>>29313922
Lynn tries to interrupt him, her face somewhat pale, “You shouldn’t ask him now - he’s busy.”

He waves her off and keeps talking to you, “Please, Imperator York. Lynn tells me that I need you to make the decision and I cannot wait.”

You mask your amusement and respond blandly, “Agor, wasn’t it? Go ahead.”

>continued

>>29314007
Spam filter? Weird.

>>29314046
Lynn stares at you with wide eyes as he starts speaking, “I wish to marry Caitlyn. I need your permission for this. I will also make my own capabilities at your disposal, in case she becomes indisposed in the future.”

>continued

>mfw when is a dragon in human form and her dad arranged for them to marry.

>had to break it up to find the problem

>>29314071

Caitlyn looks sick and you hear some coughs and gasps around you. How are you going to respond to this?

>That’s another thread, folks

I figured I’d end on an amusing note. Next thread will carry through any response (assuming there’s a good one – otherwise it’ll be the first vote in the nex thread).

Next thread is 5pm EST, 9th Jan. Followed by another thread on the 10th. Afterwards I'll be swapping to a weekly timetable.

>>29314081
>Mfw this niggah thinks we have permission to let her get married, and not her pops
I'm laughing a bit

>>29314093
I'm not gonna lie, I'm hurting a bit since it seems she wants Talon to agree (seeing him like a second dad and junk)
I totally wanted dragon booty.

But eh, I ain't gonna refuse her wishes man. Lynn is free to make her own decisions, even if she is sorta young.

Ok... options.
1. Serious refusal
2. Talk to her in private first
3. You can't marry her, I am courting her myself. ask her to dance with you (you ARE at a party after all).

>>29314096
My joke was that she was trying to get out of such an arranged marriage by claiming prior arrangement with us.
I seriously doubt he is anything but an uppity human.

>>29314130
>I'm not gonna lie, I'm hurting a bit since it seems she wants Talon to agree
I am pretty sure its the opposite and she is trying to use us as an excuse to politely decline

Finally, one brief note on the battle at Fort Locke. I'm not going to make commentary on these matters a habit, but there was a lot of confusion about the result.

To be frank, it was intended to be a difficult battle. Your rolls were actually quite good - that exceptional is the only reason you have the fort currently, though, due to your actions. As for losses, those occured because of your actions not your rolls. They were worse because of some rolls, but not too much worse. It's important to match tactics with actions, as Undine said.

>>29314130
Um, she's been more annoyed by him, you feel, than interested.

>>29314093
Kinda uh, soon isn't it? Hell they just met a few hours ago right? (maybe a day or two)
This is weird though. I have this strange feeling like she's expecting us to say no for her, or something.

I'd rather talk to her in private first. Because... well if that is the case, we can drop his ass like a stone I say.

If it's not? Let her pick whoever she wants to bed with I say.

If you want to be formal and polite about it
>I know nothing but your name at the moment, I shall have to interview you fully before I make such a decision, if you please wait for me in the "private room somewhere" I will be along shortly to discuss things with you.

And then grab a hold of lynn and have a few short words with her about whats this all about before going into the room with him. Where you would most likely let him down easily.

>>29314169
Wait, I'm confused. What exactly did we do wrong tactics wise?
I'm not really good with that stuff so I let other anons handle it.

>>29314141
>>29314093
>Talk to Lynn first
>Realize he's being pushy and she wanted someone to say no harder
>Tell him she's our bodyguard and has a duty to guard our body.

My thoughts

>>29314250
Tactics were fine. Except you chose a hit and run approach but acted like it was a frontal assault.

>>29314559
I uh, probably should've paid attention to the overarching plan then.
I just assumed you'd give us Hit and run choices only

Whoops

>>29315107
I try to give a set of choices that makes sense at the moment you're making the choice, that way people can change their strategy over the course of a fight. The hit and run option as the fight drew on was meant to be 'withdraw' or its permutations. In future threads I might try to add a bit more internal commentary about Talon's thoughts on the battlefield and a fight for major decisions. Hopefully that will cut down on any confusion without making things appear biased.

>>29314559
I thought the hit and run was only to lure them out into the trap at the gate and then hit them when they are down so to speak.
I remember it all being very hectic too with lot of argument on what to do.

>>29315406
Oh. Yeah I thought the withdraw options were to give up.

>>29315406
That'd be really helpful I think, yes.
>>29315523
This, I thought retreat meant...you know, give up, and lose the fight. Not 'retreat to a better position'.
Sorry man, now I feel like a shit for fucking up the plan.

>>29315467
It was very hectic, yeah.

>>29315467
That could have worked, but you left command to a captain at a vital moment.

>>29315523
>>29315543
The idea I was running with, which came from the brainstorming, was to engage them at range and take advantage of openings. Then, if things start to turn, you withdraw and then attack them again when they pull back to the fort.

Seeing these responses should hopefully give me a better idea of how to write the bigger battle scenes up in the future to avoid this. This was a small skirmish in the whole scheme of things, and a good place to learn it, I guess.

>>29315836
so, a few ideas.
1. for border towns, more dispersed command structure, bordering on anarchy, to make subversion by vampires harder... OR control remotely via lots of sending spells from main keep.
2. try to take a few thralls alive next time. So we can experiment in dethralling them (or, if we conquer the porty temby mage tower soon, get the tower mages experimenting on them). Make sure to phrase it more nicely as in "try to find a cure to thralldom" (which, it is actually; I am just thinking that if it drags on then more of a "greater good" approach allowing high mortality rate experiments)

>>29314071
"I literally just met you an hour ago, so no."

>>29319714
This makes more sense than claiming that she's betrothed to us when in fact nothing of the sort is true.

The next thread will open with this vote:
1. Refuse outright - she's your personal guard and you don't know him.
2. Refuse as you're courting her.
3. Talk with Lynn in private first.

If something else pops up in the thread before it dies, I'll probably replace option 2 with it as that's the least Talon-esque response right now.

Finally finished archive binging the threads and im quite happy that Moss didnt die. We should promote him to general or something because of how based he is. I don't know if its because we share the same name and have served as a ranger in the US army. He seems like a bretty cool guy.

>>29320652
1

>>29320652
1

No touchy my stuff boyo

>>29320652
2 was a joke
>>29319931
Nobody actually claimed this

>>29320652
1. If he wants to try courting her then he'll have to make a serious (probably multi-year) effort AND get permission from her real father who we've heard has taken up a nomadic lifestyle far to our southwest. Also, we can part with Lynn any time soon so there's that to deal with as well.

Just throwing this out here, the vampire showed particular interested in turning Lynn into a thrall and suddenly there is this guy who is trying really hard to get close to her, I wouldn't discard the chance he is some sort of agent of Taour

Also go 1, not doing 2 since I don't want to waifufagg despite her being my fav girl

>>29320652

3. Talk with Lynn in private first.
or 1 tell him to go talk with her FATHER first

>>29320652
>3
Better to ask I suppose

Also shit I thought this thread was dead

>>29320652
>3. Talk with Lynn in private first.

Let her decide. We aren't her father.

well, its 5 minutes after the new thread was supposed to go up.

voting for 3.

>>29326162
>or 1 tell him to go talk with her FATHER first
we are NOT revealing her secret to everyone in the fucking randomass town.

>>29326236
>NOT revealing her father
You know, that's probably why she told him to ask us instead of her pops.

>>29326204

>quest is 5 minutes late
>time to make funeral arrangements for the author

>>29326263
Nah, he is usually 20 minutes later.
I only meant it as an explanation of why suddenly there are people in the thread posting all of the sudden. We all have clocks and we were told this is when the thread starts again, so here we are.

mmm, this is odd.
He earlier said he planned to run a quest every day for this week and then go back to work and have the quest once a week on the weekend. (sat or sun).

But the latest twitter post says the next quest is on 5pm EST on 9th Jan. today is the 6th. So i guess we won't be having it every day of this week after all. (which if fine, a bit disappointing but aspirational has his own life to take care of)

I was just about to put a post in saying he said the 9th is the next one which is a shame!! It will suck when he goes to one a qeek

>>29326384
He mentions that in this post >>29314093

>>29326384
are you by any chance actually autistic? The way you post reminds me of this kid with autism i used to coach

>all these posts and confusion

Well, that was interesting. I had thought I was clear about when I was running next.

With that said, as I don't have anything in particular to do today I'm willing to run this thread as a lighter session of character interaction if enough people are up for it. My notes aren't in good enough order to do anything more serious, though, but I'm happy to aid in any strategic discussion.

Otherwise, if there's no interest (or not much), I'll wait until the 9th.

>>29327875
hello.

>>29327875
I'm cool with that.

Rolled 16

>>29327875
Evening.

>>29327875
>Character session
>Literally one of my favorite types of sessions
>Mostly due to less likelyhood of nat 1s ruining my day

Hell yeah I want to!

Rolled 7

>>29327875
You're the best

>>29327875
Minor question, what are the experience levels for troops and how do we increase ours?
I figure it goes something like: Untrained, Green, Regular, Veteran, Elite, Legendary

>>29328123
That'd probably be
>Militia
>Man-At-Arms
>Regular
>Veteran
>Elite
>Personal Guard
>Us

>>29328123
Conscript, Green, Regular, Veteran. I may add an Elite category later. They have effects on the stats of the units (which are themselves dependent on unit type). Exp goes up with battles/training - those MKs that got butchered earlier got bumped up to Regular from Green, for instance.

Alright, so I've got some players.

MARRIAGE PROPOSAL VOTE

How do you respond to Agor's wish to marry Caitlyn?

>1. Refuse in a neutral manner. You don't know Agor and cannot agree in good faith.
>2. Refuse in a strict/possessive manner. She's your personal bodyguard and she's going to remain your bodyguard.
>3. Palm him off for now and talk to Lynn in private.
>4. Custom

I'll post the favoured response in 30min, whilst I organise some other stuff.

>>29328212
I liked >>29319714
It helps to underline what an absurd request it is.

>>29328212
>1

>>29328212
>3
I'd like to see what she has to say, personally.

>>29328212
>4
Cut is head off on the spot

>>29328212
Hmm, I want something between 1+2. Protective instead of possessive maybe? She's our personal guard and we rely on her daily, so he'd have to prove himself in a big way AND successfully court her first.

>>29328212
1
You should probably add an elite category. For example, I imagine the Seraphi Kingdom royal guard is both more experienced and better equipped then our current veterans for example. And we'll probably want to establish an elite unit of our own eventually.

>>29328273
That's the inspiration for the split in options 1 and 2.

>>29328364
I'll take that as a 2.

>>29328391
That's probably more of a 1. 2 is more of a "I'm going to court her eventually, so stay the hell away everybody else."

>>29328212
>3. Palm him off for now and talk to Lynn in private.

>>29328212
1

>>29328423
I hope 2 loses
It's just so childish and silly. It makes us look like a big god-like baby.

Rolled 18

>>29328212
>1. Refuse in a neutral manner. You don't know Agor and cannot agree in good faith.
It is not our place or right to give her away

>>29328423
>That's probably more a 1
Ok. Vote >1 then.

>>29328416
Speaking of elite units, I'd like to propose that our bodyguard, which will eventually be greater enlarged, be named the Spatharii (the early imperial bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperor before the Vanagarian Guard).

>>29328212
>1

>>29328212
1.

we dont know him, lynn has probably only just met him.
Not to mention he may have got the wrong idea as well. This smells like an embarrassment waiting to blow up. I would be mildly suspicious of this man from now on.

>1.

You’re not sure why this boy seems to think that he needs your permission to marry Caitlyn but having been asked you know exactly how to respond. You can’t in good faith simply say yes, especially with the girl herself looking as sick as she is as at the question. Still, you’re careful not to respond in a way that makes it look like you’re staking a claim on your bodyguard.

“Given that I don’t know you,” you say, “I can hardly just say yes. Caitlyn is a member of my personal guard and an exceedingly skilled knight so I cannot agree so easily.”

Agor frowns in response but doesn’t grow angry. “You do not know me? I am Agor Gendarme, the only male scion of the Gendarme family. Surely you jest about not knowing me, Imperator York?”

Your gaze grows hard as you think. His manner annoys you and as you realise why you should know him, you also realise why. The Gendarme family…

“You’re a Seraphi noble, aren’t you? Or a descendant of one…” you ask cautiously.

“Indeed, Imperator York. My father is Phillias Gendarme. I understand you fight alongside him?”

Ah, now you know the name. You remember Marshall Phillias – a boisterous and charismatic noble who had fought under you in your campaigns in the RSK. You’d liked him, he was strong and competent and he hadn’t judged you poorly for being a commoner like so many of the other nobles had. You also remember that he had only one son but four daughters. Remembering his two eldest daughters in full plate and comparing them to this puffin you reflect that it’s a good thing that the RSK doesn’t favour male children as heir.

>continued

>>29328746
“I know your father, yes,” you say cautiously.

He puffs up a bit at that and presses you, “Then you clearly know that I am a worthy man to take Lady Caitlyn as my wife, Imperator York.”

There it is again and you now know why he’s irritating you. ‘Imperator York’ – he’s using your common surname rather than your more ambiguous given name. It’s an insult, and not even a veiled one. Even the Seraphi nobles who hadn’t liked you had referred to you as ‘General Talon’ to be polite.

>Response?

>>29328779
"I know your father but I don't know you, and you aren't causing the best of the first impressions boy"

>>29328779

Who a mans farther is does not define him boy. Remember that, it may save your life one day.

As far as i know of you have not done anything to prove yourself to me.

>>29328779
Yeah, no. Bye.

>>29328779
You done fucked up boy! I'd love to simply order him to be clapped in irons for insulting us, but it seems like his dad is a cool guy.

Let's challenge him to an honor duel for insulting us, to first blood.

Rolled 20

>>29328779
Keep our pimp hand strong! back hand him across the face.

"you live because of the respect I have for your father."

>>29328867
please don't waste die.

>>29328867
Welp, I guess I have to support this now

>>29328779
Ask about his older sisters and start commenting on their battle prowess. Eventually ask if he'd be willing to prove himself worth instead of merely relying on his family name?

>>29328746
>>29328779
Oh so now he thinks he's important enough for us to know him. I see. Cool.

Even if he was a bro to us back then, he has arrogance in him. I don't really like that. Especially this attitude he has like he has a right to her or some shit.

I'm not exactly sure how to refuse him, but I know I want to refuse him. We're not her dad, but I also don't want to sound possessive of her either. Nor do I want to blow her dad's identity.

Is there a polite noble way to say "Fuck off good sir"?

>>29328867
dat twenty our pimp hand is the strongest.

>>29328779
"You think your fathers name says anything of you, boy? I said I do not know YOU, and I hold to that. Your father was great-but you, I see no evidence of such.''

>>29328910
He's dead Jim.

>>29328779
he can't be that stupid to insult us on purpose. Right? I mean it doesn't look like he dislikes us or loss down in us.

Maybe he's just autistic?

>>29328910
>We slap him
>He falls in love with us instead

>>29328943
Holy shit, we found a medieval anon

>>29328867
I'm not sure this is the best response?

How large is the insult he is giving us? I want to be proportional in our response. Also, why is the son of a RSK noble just chillin here anyway?

Rolled 13

>>29328779
>>29328867
fourthing pimphand

>>29328867
and now he is our ho?

>>29328943
He might feel quite sure that nothing will happen to him so he may have 1 or 2 guards hiding about

>>29328959
To be honest I think most people are overracting, I mean we must show displeasure but we are taking it too far, we can't have such reactions for every minor insult.

VOTE

>1. Backhand him for insulting you.
>2. Remind him that he is not his father and that you find him wanting on his current actions.
>3. Honour duel.
>4. Custom

>>29328867
I veto pimp hand

Seriously, that's unbecoming

>>29328981
2

>>29328981
>2

>>29328981
>2. Remind him that he is not his father and that you find him wanting on his current actions.

>>29328981
2.

All the way no. 2. Bring him down a peg.

>>29328981
>2

Because it's the most reasonable one

>>29328981
>4 pick him up and shake him "listen you little pissant, while I know and respect you're father you are not him and you should be grateful I havent beaten you for that very open insult"

Rolled 11

>>29328981
>3. Honour duel.
let us not be a bitch here, if we let this guy insult us without consequence, everyone will think they can fuck with us

>>29328981
2

>>29329029
>Pick him up
>Shake him
>Spine snaps
>GodEmperor'sBad.png

>>29329030
I'm still not convinced that he's not some autistic well meaning idiot

>>29328981
>3. Honour duel

I like just casually backhanding him, he's not worth some speech or duel.

Rolled 10

>>29328779
As my commoners surname York holds no meaning without the man behind it, the same goes with you, your fathers name gives you no worth when you have not proven yourself worthy of it, until that time, the answer from me is no.

Hope i didn't mess up my wording

Rolled 18

>>29329064
honor duels do not have to be to the death, it must be done so the entire court wont think that we are a lady

>>29328981
>2
Epic speech, tell this fucker off, and if he dares to talk back? THEN we will deal with him properly.

>>29329064
Oh, he probably is. I mean, he can't even tell Lynn is extremely uncomfortable in his presence. Why, in his head, she's swooning for him in the background. He strikes me as the 'bard' type.

I imagine irritated eyebrow twitch during all this from Talon too

>>29328981
missed that
>>29329089
is option 2

If you’d backhanded him you’d probably have broken his jaw.

>2.

You give him a cold glare and bring your left hand up in a vice-like gesture to emphasise your next words. “You are not your father, boy, and these are not your lands. All I truly know from you in this past hour is that you are a braggart, you drag your father’s good name through mud and that you do not show respect for your betters.

“I am Imperator Talon and I refuse your request to marry Sir Lynn,” you say, emphasising the titles and names as you speak – Caitlyn may not like her nickname but it carries weight. “I suggest you remember your education better in the future.”

Agor stares back at you, his face a shade of puce. Obviously, despite his general ignorance to all matters opposing him thus far, he actually understood the meaning of your words. The rest of the room stands silent, most unable or unwilling to speak. Lynn stares at the scene from next to you – her face holding an odd expression of fascination. You spot Maloric at the back, laughing quietly into his cloak.

“I-I… How dare you! How dare a mere commoner insult me like this!” Agor shouts, his voice warbling with rage. “I am a noble warrior of the Gendarme family and I will not stand for this, York. I challenge you to a duel with Caitlyn’s hand in marriage on the line.”

>1. Brush him off. He’s not worth your time.
>2. Accept his challenge and crush him.
>3. Knock him down now to remind him of his place.
>4. Custom

>>29329233
Just backhand him and move on.

>>29329233
>>2. Accept his challenge and crush him.
Time for that pimp hand.

>>29329233
>2
Now I know some people are going to say he is not worth our time, but the last thing you need is this bastard spreading rumors about cowardice behind our back, and he will from what we have seen

>>29329233
Oh man, now he's really asking for it.
Knock him down, and remind him that that title means nothing unless he does something with it
"You will learn your place Child."

Rolled 18

>>29329233
try not to laugh, laugh so hard the sonic book kills him

>>29329233
>2. Accept his challenge and crush him.

Crush him completely and absolutely. Tell him, as he stand over him victorious, that the only reason we didn't kill him was due to the respect we hold for his father.

>>29329286
He has not earned the RIGHT to challenge us. If he is gonna dual us, then he better manage to avoid being knocked over by a foul breeze such as us pushing him over.

>>29329312
Dude please turn off your dice, if we get a nat 1 when we fight him I blame you.

>>29329233
>2. Accept his challenge and crush him.

>>29329233
>2. Accept his challenge and crush him.

>>29329233
>2
And if I win?

here come the 1's

How about us being nasty fucker and call for our right to choose a champion to represent us and choose Lynn?

>>29329233
>2 and crush him into the ground

>>29329355
Brilliant.

This, so much this. If he complains we can put in a remark about him being scared to fight a woman.

>tfw we roll a 1 and he wins

>>29329233
4. Laugh at his face. Is this guy serious?

>>29329378
>>29329355
Nah man we're not gonna make her fight our battle. He insulted us, not her.

>>29329378
With his sisters being knights?

Rolled 5

>>29329233
2. Accept his challenge

>>29329340
If an unempowered backhand would break his jaw we shouldn't even have to roll.

>>29329401
hrm. point.

Guess we have to break a leg then. Or two.

>>29329233
>Grab him by the shirt and lift him up off his scrawny legs
"You should learn your place, boy. I'll see you in the courtyard. I hope you offer the gods your last prayers."

>>29329355
It would be funny to watch him get his arse to handed to him by a girl but then he'd just say we hide behind women

Rolled 8

>>29329412
there is always dat crit fail anon

>>29329412
Heh, I predict another DC 1, with no nat failures

I love that.

Maybe before we accept his duel we should remind me of our significant list of accomplishments and see if he still wishes to fight us?

>>29329439
If we crit fail I imagine we just accidentally end up killing him

>>29329476
Oh god, this
Tell him we killed a Feldragon
He doesn't need to know it was 80% dead already.

>>29329487
And thus earn his family's ire. Then we have a new war with an established power on our hands.

>>29329487
Ah man, that'd cause so many problems. Why could he be the son of like our nemesis in the RSK.

Wow, so many players today.

>2.

“Fine then,” you say and step out into the centre of the room. The gathered townspeople scatter to all corners of the room, trying to evade your anger. You draw your greatsword in a smooth motion, grinding it against the throat of your scabbard to make a satisfying grating noise on the draw, and rest your sword lazily over the back of your shoulder. You gesture to him to come at you as you give him a lazy glare.

He clenches his fists and draws his rapier, taking up a duellist’s stance opposite you. You wait for him to make a foolish charge and he doesn’t disappoint.

[DC6 Duel]

>>29329503
We're keeping that under wraps for now.

Rolled 7

>>29329523

Rolled 19

>>29329523
Higher Dc then I thought...

Rolled 2

>>29329523

Rolled 13

>>29329523
>Rapier vs Greatsword

We are going to kill him

Rolled 6

>>29329523

>>29329523

BREAK HIS SWORD.

>>29329523
DO IT
BREAK HIS SWORD
BEAT HIM TO A PULP
And when he's laying there, groaning in pain, lean in real close and whisper
"Who's a commoner now, bitch?"

>>29329546
Worse, rapier vs plate armor.

Rolled 12

>>29329523
damn, am 2 slow never make it in the first 3 rolls.
but heres my roll anyway

>>29329538
Yay! We didn't kill him!

>>29329538
God damn it anon, stop giving me a heartattack

I don't even think we'll need the greatsword. Grab the rapier in hand as he strikes(because we all know he'll go first). Elbow to the jaw, down he falls.

>>29329576
We could be standing still all day with him striking us and don't even feel thing

>>29329625
>Snap Rapier between fingers?

>>29329576
...what is he intending to stab anyway?

>>29329595
There's a small part of me which wants to see him get accidentally wiped off the earth using astral power while everyone just stares at us

>>29329625
Nah, slicing through his sword then smashing him in the stomach with the promel of our sword is much cooler.

>>29329537

just imagine what would of happened had we got a 20....

>>29329667
Heh
We defeat him without lifting a muscle. Our aura is literally so strong, he starts to weep and falls over.

>>29329537
All im imagining now is Talon swinging his sword down onto this fools head with a massive crack (flat side hit). and watching him try to stay on his feet.

>>29329667

Depending on if we get another super powered plot event or not, either take his entire life force or punch his skeleton out.

>>29329661
And then every being of power in the area would show up to kill us off before we grew strong enough to mess with their holdings.

>Target met

The fight is over in one move. He charges you with a wild thrust – if he has any experience as a duellist, it clearly went out the window with his rage. Or maybe you just scared him with your sword.
You remain motionless until right before he’d skewer you, then snap your free hand up to knock his rapier aside. It snaps and he stumbles from the sudden change of weight but you don’t give him even an instant to recover. With a sickening crunch you slam the pommel of your sword into his face and he goes down, blood seeping from his nose and his jaw slightly misshapen.

You sheathe your sword. “Somebody clean this up, please,” you say, before walking over to the buffet and collecting a glass of wine. One of your knights collects the poor sap, and a man with an RSK tabard joins him, looking worried. One of his escorts, no doubt. Agor’s still alive, so you doubt there’ll be any diplomatic trouble. Phillias will no doubt understand that insulting you in your own lands is a grievous insult.

Lynn comes up next to you, an odd look in her face and she licks her lips a bit. She looks like she wants you to say something.

>Response?

>>29329717
"A lesson about humility was in order, maybe next time he will learn to control is temper better"

File: 1389055281496.jpg-(198 KB, 800x600, Nonchalance.jpg)

198 KB JPG

>>29329704
>Punch his skeleton out
>Dem bones

>>29329717
Very nice York.
Right, give her a casual glance, smile and say
"You didn't actually expect me to agree, I hope?"

>>29329717

>"Oh did I misunderstand that face you were giving me earlier? I mean if you still want to I'm sure we can fix that pretty face of his back up... Kind of."

Because.

>>29329717
"Speak your mind lynn you know I don't mind"

Rolled 1

>>29329717
I am sorry I hit you boyfriend and grin wildly

>>29329797
Stop it, please

>>29329795
>"Speak your mind lynn you know I can't read it."
A little amend, and this

>>29329770
>"You didn't actually expect me to agree, I hope?"
this sounds good.

Rolled 20

>>29329717
"sorry If you want to run off and marry him fine,"

>>29329795
Seconding.

>>29329819
not that anon, but screw you

>>29329774
Seconding this, lol.

>>29329770
>tease her and have her speak her mind

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I misread your expression? I can have Undine fix his face back-up if you like?” you tell her with a teasing smile.

She pouts at you. “That’s not it, Talon.”

You chuckle a bit. “Speak your mind then, Lynn. I can’t read it even if you are my bodyguard.”

She gives you a flat look before responding, “I expected you to say no but did you have to nearly kill him for wanting to marry me?”

>Response?

>>29329958
Yes

>>29329958

>Sigh lightly, "Did you take note of the name he was using? It didn't become a matter of yes or no on the marriage proposal, but more so of teaching a boy some humility. I can say I had the same happen to me when I was young."

Rolled 11

>>29329958
>!
"It's not just that, I felt I owed it to his father to give him a good controlled kick in the ass"

>>29329958
Well we did just say no, it was him who escalated this. We just did what he wished.

>>29329958
Frown, and turn to her more seriously
"I didn't nearly kill him for wanting to marry you, Lynn. I nearly killed him for disrespecting my name in such a insulting manner. His proposal did not bother me. His disrespect and arrogance, however? Most certainly did."

>>29329958
>"It was more the whole thinly veiled insult and dragging his father's name through the mud, a man I have great respect for. Than him wanting to marry you, as I assume many men would like to"

>>29329958
"I didn't nearly kill him for wanting to marry you, I nearly killed him for insulting me."

>>29329958
No, I had to almost kill him for insulting me to that extent within my own domain. Unfortunately, to do otherwise would have been taken as a sign of extraordinary weakness and it would to have been long before those who would happily exploit that perceived weakness would start making their moves. Now I have at least another few weeks before having to worry about that particular threat.

Still, keeping you in my guard would have been worth a serious duel.

>>29329958
Not at all. One, he was trying to use his dad's reputation as his own which pisses me off to no end. Two, he insulted me right at my face. Three, he was a pompous prick.

>>29330061
I agree with this. Also, we didn't nearly kill him.

>>29330061

sounds good.

>>29330061

Yeah this. Need to mention keeping her by our side, as has been recommended by nearly everyone aware of her heritage, is worth the fight. Even if it was incredibly one sided.

You sigh with a slight frown. “It wasn’t because he wanted to marry you, Lynn. I refused that outright. No, I caved his face in because he insulted me in my domain and in front of my subordinates. Not doing so would be a sign of weakness and I won’t invite those who would exploit it.”

She looks confused. “Um, I thought you insulted him first?”

“He was calling me by my surname, Caitlyn. You don’t do that to someone of title, especially if they have a commoner’s surname like mine.”

“Eh? That matters?” she asks.

“Yes it does,” you say with a sigh. “For reference, if it had been to keep you in my guard I would have done it again all the same.”

“Oh,” she nods a bit with a small smile. “So, does this mean you’re going to marry me?”

“What?” you say, with a great deal of eloquence and wit.

“The winner of the duel wins my hand marriage – that’s what you agreed to.”

>1. Tease her. “You already gave me stewardship rights – does that not mean I already had it?”
>2. Correct her. “I merely prevented him from taking your hand.”
>3. Don’t play into her teasing. “I think you’re just looking into it to much.”
>4. Custom

Rolled 4

>>29330280
>1. Tease her. “You already gave me stewardship rights – does that not mean I already had it?”

>>29330280
>1. Tease her. “You already gave me stewardship rights – does that not mean I already had it?”

Talon still needs to get her back for that little bit on the march here.

>>29330280
>1
Always tease her.
Imperator York, the great tease

>>29330280
>1. Tease her. “You already gave me stewardship rights – does that not mean I already had it?”

>Accepted his duel
DAMMIT
yes we should have accepted but we should EXPLICITLY said "I will duel you for my honor but not her hand". You never ever bet a woman like that! Even if you are sure that you would win (imagine rolling a 1 here! or what if he was actually competent?)

Luckily we can probably brush it off with "oh I had no intention of saying yes even if he won, i just wanted to opportunity to teach him a lesson" if this does come up.

>>29330280
>4. "Ser Lynn, I believe you may have been spending to much time with Lady Salamander."

>>29330335
Niggah this is medieval era, I'm pretty sure people do it all the time.

But I'm cool with adding an amendment to teasing her, saying she's free to choose whoever she gives her hand to.

>>29330344
Seconding this, heh.

>>29330280
>1
"I was planning on having you as a mistress but if you'd rather be my wife..."

>>29330397
Oh god my sides
Nah, that's pretty improper, no matter how hilarious

Tease her

>>29330280
I will second this>>29330397

>>29330369
>Niggah this is medieval era, I'm pretty sure people do it all the time.
Its not medieval era exactly, they have factories, magitech, no serfdom, etc. Its pseudo medieval.
Besides, even if its done
1. you don't bet something you are not willing to actually lose
2. it can harm your relationship (unless that's her fantasy).

>>29330397
This so much

I'll tie >>29330344 into 1. (which looks to have won).

>>29330397
Do people want to use this one? It's considerably more forward than what I had planned but I'll roll with it if you support it.

>>29330449

She's teasing us about it right now. She is fine with it, if it bothered her it would have came up.

Christ man chill out.

>>29330479
No pls
It's funny, but really inappropriate at this stage of our relationship.

>>29330479
nah, the original one is cool.

>>29330479

I'd rather not with the forwardness. It's funny, but the light teasing in front of EVERYONE is far enough.

>>29330485
I said it CAN harm relationship, sometimes it doesn't. I see she is chill about it.
However, the biggest issue is what if we had lost.

>>29330509
agreed

>>29330479
Still not as forward as the time we asked sala for a threesome as a joke

>>29330479
Nah, the mistress thing is funny, but super forward. Lets make jokes like that later.

>>29330531
Yeah but that was in private bro. We're still surrounded by towns folk and such anyway.

>>29330531

I feel like with Sala that was actually about the right amount of forward.

>>29330529
But we didn't. And it hasn't. So chill.

>>29330531
yea but the situation was different.
Sala isn't caitlyn.
Sala was a lot more forward herself ("so are going to take her to her room and fuck her?"
There was only one witness there

>>29330554
good point

>>29330560
>But we didn't. And it hasn't. So chill.
I already did, you are the one who is dragging on the argument about it

>>29330579
>>29330560
Calm your tits guys, no need to shit up the thread more.

I'm enjoying the fact that everyone is arguing over our exact words, I can't wait till we get into heavy politics.

>1.

“You already gave me stewardship rights – does that not mean I already had it?” you tease her with a confident smile.

“Eh? Ah, that’s-,“ she starts before stopping and pouting again. “You did it again.”

You shake your head. "Sir Lynn, I believe you may have been spending too much time with Lady Salamander,” you say, with a slightly obnoxious accent.

You get a friendly glare for your efforts and you tussle her hair lightly. “If you’re going to tease me, Lynn, you need to be a little more proactive. Now, why exactly did he seem to think I needed to give him permission to marry you?”

She looks a bit put-out but answers, “It seemed like an easy way to get him to back down. It works with everybody at Harrowmont. You tend to frighten people.”

>Response?

FYI, I’m planning to run until 1am-2am. That’ll be 2-3 scenes after this one. Just character stuff, probably.

>>29330630
Eh, we're tg, we'll argue over everything.
Also that's why we have advisers for political shit. For social shit, all we have is our glorious QM to hint at what is retarded to say and what isn't

>>29330631
Blink
"You get that many proposals, do you?" Then pause for a second. "Wait, you use me to frighten away men?"

See if we can't make her squirm and tell us why.

>>29330631
"...You've been using that on everyone in Harrowmont? You do realize that will make everyone think you're sleeping with me."

>>29330631
>Laugh, "Well good thing I haven't had to break any of my own men's faces."

>"However, I'm surprised, mildly, not a single one in Harrowmont has caught your eye?"

>>29330712
>This

>>29330697
Yeah, this works well enough.

"My time in the military has shown me that a healthy mixture of fear and respect is essential as a leader."

>>29330631
>"How many times have you used me as an excuse so far?"

>>29330720
I like this

>>29330631
"ahh so that's why the men think I'm sleeping with you"

>>29330744
they do? I thought the rumor was just us and sarah

VOTE

>1. Teasing. "You use me to frighten away other men?"
>2. Blunt. "You realise that will make everyone think you're sleeping with me, right?"
>3. Smooth. "Well, it's a good thing that I haven't had to break any of my own men's faces."

>>29330712
I'll second this

>>29330800
3

>>29330800
>2

>>29330800

1 leading into 2

>>29330800
>2

>>29330800
>3. Smooth. "Well, it's a good thing that I haven't had to break any of my own men's faces."

Awww shit Talon being smooth bastard now.