You and Liam walk among the graves of the cemetery, continuing deep into the heart of it until the two of you take a fork up towards a hill in the distance. When you arrive at the top of it, there are several graves, each marked with only a blank tombstone, although the two of you know exactly which of these blank graves is the one that actually matters to you. Three graves to the left of an ancient willow tree and five deep is a somewhat new grave, marked by two deep chips taken out of the top of the stone. Neither you or Liam speak upon arriving at the stone for several minutes, the both of you reflecting on the past. Liam is the first to break the silence.

“Can you believe it's already been 7 years since then? Since that bastard took us and all this shit started.” Liam finally says, ending his statement with a note of bitterness in his voice.

You've been so busy training, learning, furthering yourself in anyway you could in these recent years in an attempt to distance yourself from the past. Despite this, you hold the reason for this very close to your heart, making sure to never completely forget why you strive to move forward, to make a name for yourself.

Lilian.

You, Liam and Lilian were always close, as thick as thieves despite the lack of blood relations between the three of you. When one of you was moved from an orphanage to another, you screamed and begged until the three of you were together, refusing to be apart in a world that had largely forgotten about the lot of you. You were the muscle of the group, always ready to get into a brawl with anyone that dared to mess with your friends, despite being smaller than most kids your size at the time. You didn't care that most kids your age would beat you down in a fight, anyone that messed with Lil and Liam would get what was coming to them. The three of you moved in and out of orphanages like that for years like that, and honestly you wished it would continue like that.
[1/?]

>>31287415
One fateful day, an older man came into the orphanage you were stuck in and offered to adopt the three of you as a set, a feet which you never could have wished for in your wildest dreams.

It was later that night that you would learn of the hell that you and your friends would soon be in store for.

The old man was a mage, a famous one despite his own lack of skill at his craft. He was an academic, famous for unraveling many of the mysteries surrounding magic, although his last and greatest mystery was what separated mages from non-mages. As it happened, you and Liam both possessed the qualities to become mages, although Lilian did not. This made the three of you a near perfect test group for the mage's experiments, him trying to identify what the precise difference was and then attempting to correct it.

Although Lilian was the focus of the bastard's sick experiments, both you and Liam were not spared the mage's cruel ministrations. After a year of testing and experimenting, you finally found a chance to turn the tables. At the time the Association had begun to suspect something was not quite right about the mage's methods and had sent someone to inspect his home to see if something was afoot.

You still remember it clear as yesterday, the odd pounding against the door to the house, the person outside demanding entrance and the mage scrambling to cover up his misdeeds. In his haste he left your bindings loose enough to break free, and you took the chance that had come after a year of torment to turn the tables on your captor. Breaking free of your bindings, you managed to pull the pistol off the waist of the mage and turned it against him. You didn't even give him the chance to surrender before pulling the trigger, the pistol feeling so very heavy in your hands but at the same time so natural.
[2/3]

>>31287439
“It really is hard to believe, isn't it?” You reply to Liam after finishing on your own reflections.

“I thought the two of you would be here today of all days,” comes a voice from behind you and Liam. Turning around you see a middle aged man of impressive physique, dressed in an ornate uniform decorated with ivory and various rare metals.

“Magister Vesif, what brings you here?” Liam asks before you can get a word out.

“Today is Cerund's parole hearing, I thought the two of you of all people would be interested in attending.,” Vesif says.

You feel your blood boil a bit at the mention of the name.
What do you do?
>Attend the hearing
>Blow it off and go drown your sorrows with Liam
>Write in

>>31287379
HAHA
TIME FOR BONE MAGE!

>>31287462
>Attend the hearing

>>31287462
>Attend the hearing
It's practically our duty.

>>31287462
Begrudgingly attend the hearing.

>>31287548
>>31287654
>>31287657
Writing.

You decide that you may as well attend the bastard's hearing, as much as you hate to be anywhere near the man. You and Liam follow Vesif to headquarters, walking past the front desk and deeper into the heart of the building. The three of you eventually come to the central staircase that goes up into the tower as well as into the dungeons beneath that house mages that have committed grave offenses.

The three of you move to the next floor, where judicial matters concerning mages are held. As the three of you enter the room you see the heavy iron chair where the prisoner will sit, lined with mana absorbing inlays of bone. Soon after you take your seat amongst the various members of the public Cerund enters the room, bound with heavy shackles. He is seated in the iron chair and bound with chain. Across from him is a board made up of various mages and public officials, each one with a length of parchment before them.

“Jaxon Cerund, this hearing is to determine the suitability of parole based on your behavior during incarceration,” says the person heading up the hearing, a public official of Kyelma. You tune out most of what the board says as you focus on Cerund with a hateful gaze. He is an almost frail old man, thinning gray adorning his head with a nearly white beard, only faint wisps of color left in it. From the side of his face you can see he appears relatively unmarred, although when he occasionally turns towards the public you can catch the other side of his face and see the crater where the right side of his face should be.

You swell with pride inwardly when you do.

You manage to refocus on the hearing as the board begins its conclusion.

“We find that you have not reformed appropriately these last six years since you were first incarcerated, and therefor are not granted parole. This hearing is dismissed.”

Elated, you and Liam leave the building, the sun approaching noon.
What do you do?
>Hang out with Liam
>Go home
>Write in

>>31288415
Hang out with Liam.

>>31288415
>>Hang out with Liam

>>31288415
>Hang out with Liam

>>31288415
>Hang out with Liam

>>31288415
>Hang out with Liam

>>31288493
>>31288490
>>31288487
>>31288473
>>31288458
I guessing hanging out with Liam has won.

>>31288415
>Write in

Pay a visit to Cerund I have a feeling were going to see him again also taunt the fucker ask him if it was worth it

>>31288592

Where'd you get that from?

>>31288592
what!? I demand a recount!

It feels like its been forever since you hung out with Liam, so you decide to spend time with him and catch up on what's happened since the two of you were taken in by your masters. You decide to do this at a pub that you have begun to frequent in recent years.

By the time the two of you have caught up, the sun has nearly reached the horizon, and the both of you have drunk more than your fair share of liquor despite the time of day.

“Of course, the poor sod wanted to know if he could get half off, and I told him, I told him that he was a horse and two goats too late for that!” Liam says, slurring his words and erupting into laughter at the end of his story. You join him, buzzed and generally not caring about the lack of humor in the story.

You feel a hand on your shoulder briefly and then see a bronze coin placed onto the table next to your drink, the person that placed it walking on by without a word. You pick up the coin and examine it for a bit before recognizing the significance of it. On the coin is the rendition of a fist.
>Show the significance of the coin to Liam [backroom boxing]
>Decide to not participate tonight [part ways and go home]

>>31288999

>Show the significance of the coin to Liam

This is obviously a ploy to try and kill us, but I'm down for taking the bait. They can't nearly be as good as our master, right?

>>31288999
What.

Did I just go retarded and forget something?

>>31289073
You did not, I don't think.

>>31288999
>>Show the significance of the coin to Liam [backroom boxing]

Probably drunk enough to think this is a good idea.

>>31289073
So you want us to decide whether we do this thing, that Volkov obviously knows something about, without telling the players what this thing we're voting on actually is?

>>31289122
It's a more or less inconsequential detail meant to flesh out a bit of Volkov's personality. It's not going to change the story in any significant manner.

>>31289122

Oh come on, don't be a twit you twit.

It could only possibly be a bad thing if it resulted in permanent consequences, and even then I'd be more apt to blame the dice. GTFO of the quest if you don't like the way he's running it.

>>31288999
>>Show the significance of the coin to Liam [backroom boxing

>>31289104
>>31289046
>>31289239
The coin wins. Writing.

You pick up the coin and show it to Liam.

“You know what this is for?” You ask him, grinning. He shakes his head, indicating that he does not.

“Come on, then,” you say to him, standing up and wandering your way towards a door off to the side of the pub with a large man leaning up against it. You hand the man the coin and he steps to the side, pulling the door open as he does so. You and Liam head through the door and follow the hallway behind it, eventually winding up in a dimly lit room far beneath the pub proper. The scent of blood and sweat hangs in the air heavily, the roar of the crowd blocking out the sounds of the building above. In the center of the room is a small arena in which you can see two bare-chested men pummeling each other with bare knuckles. One of the men goes down and the crowd reaches a crescendo. One of the patrons near the back of the crowd sees you and begins to cheer your name, causing others to look in his direction and then towards you, until the entirety of the crowd is cheering. Although you are nowhere near the best of the fighters that are regulars here you have managed to become a crowd favorite due to your tenacity.

You approach the arena, stripping off the top of your suit and tossing it to the side. A man resembling a referee approaches you as you get there, presenting a small leather band with a small piece of smooth bone on it. You slip it onto your wrist and enter the clearing, arms raised as a man your size enters the arena opposite of you.

Several hours later, you and Liam exit the pub, your face swollen and bloodied but your purse a bit fatter for the trouble, your winnings for the night large enough to both pay for your tab as well as bring in some profit.

(Gained: 13 silver)

[1/2]

>>31289675
When you arrive at your home after parting ways with Liam, you apply a bit of a restorative ointment before going to bed.

You wake up late the next day, your face still aching a bit but mostly healed.

What do you do?
>Stop by the jail to see how the guard/navy is progressing in the case with the cultists
>Train a skill (specify)
>Go shopping
>Go to headquarters and pick up a new contract.
>Write in

>>31289701
>Go to headquarters and pick up a new contract.
gotta keep busy

>>31289701
>>Train a skill (specify)
Speaker

>>31289701
>Train a skill (specify)

Speaker
Skele-Bros when?

>>31289701
>>Train a skill (specify)
shaper

>>31289701
>Train a skill (specify)
Shaper

>>31289779
>>31289787

Thirding.

>>31289797
this

>Train a skill (Specify)
Speaker.

>>31289701
>Train a skill (shaper)

It appears that Speaker training has won, which means Volkov will finally have at least a point in each tree.

>>31289952
Speaker looks terrible from what we've seen, though.

I was hoping for shaper+slayer gun kata

Still aching slightly, you decide to finally get around to studying Speaker, thinking that you need to become better rounded as a mage. You have difficulty getting into the book, Speaker always seeming like a boring subject to you. Eventually, you muscle your way past some of the more boring parts of the basic primer for Speaker and get to the more interesting bits and begin to read voraciously. Particularly some of the more abstract aspects of the tree intrigue you, such as the implications of being able to shift around the costs of spells.

Levels gained: Speaker 1

Abilities learned:
Cost-shift- Shift costs of spell and artifact usage by 1 point from one cost source to the other. Cannot reduce costs below 1, number of points able to be shifted increases with Speaker level.

Access to Tier 1 spells

Current levels:
Slayer:2
Shaper:2
Speaker:1

Mana pool: 47

You close the book that you were studying from, your ability to focus on learning shot for the day. Looking outside, you can see that sun has begun its descent towards the horizon, although it still hangs quite high in the sky.

What do you do?
>Stop by the jail to see how the guard/navy is progressing in the case with the cultists
>Go shopping
>Go to headquarters and pick up a new contract.
>Write in

>>31290341
>Go to headquarters and pick up a new contract.
keep buuusy

>>31290233
>spoiler

That's still a possibility in the future, especially because of Hybrid Skills

Also, Speaker may not seem too great by itself but its Hybrid Skills with the other trees are nothing to sneeze at.

>>31290341
>>Go to headquarters and pick up a new contract.

>>31290341
>Write in
Get our implant module things installed. I don't think we done that yet.

>>31290464
You did last thread at the end.

>>31290341
>>Stop by the jail to see how the guard/navy is progressing in the case with the cultists

>>31290341
>Stop by the jail to see how the guard/navy is progressing in the case with the cultists

They had mages surely the association would take intrest in that

>>31290341
>Go shopping
Can we pick up modules that work like batteries? We were running pretty low on mana at the end of the last fight.

>>31290464
Saucy hand waved that along with converting all our amo to bullets.

Rolled 2

>>31290521
>>31290491
>>31290383
>>31290399
A tie, which means it's time for a tiebreaker.
1: Prison
2: Work

Flipping the COIN OF FATE.

>>31290341
Shopping then contract, or contract then shopping. The order doesn't really matter.

>>31290592
Contract time, then.

You decide to see if there are any jobs worth taking so you head out. Arriving at headquarters, you enter the contract room and being perusing jobs. You see a few that grab your attention.

>[Material Request] Saw-Teeth Leopard skulls: A request has come in to hunt down some Saw-Teeth Leopards for their skulls and jawbones. Payment is 20 gold and the remainder of the leopard skeletons.

>[Mercenary Request] A feud has erupted between two wealthy families, and one of them has requested the aid of Association mages. Payment is 40 gold with room for bonuses based on performance.

>[Maintenance Request] A factory that relies on magic based technology to run has encountered some issues with their main furnace and has requested the aid of a Shaper mage to come and take a look at it. Payment is 20 gold and a discount on goods from that company.

What job do you pick?

>>31290974
Our specialty

>>31290974
>>[Maintenance Request] A factory that relies on magic based technology to run has encountered some issues with their main furnace and has requested the aid of a Shaper mage to come and take a look at it. Payment is 20 gold and a discount on goods from that company.

Sounds like a job we're well suited for.

>>31290974
>[Maintenance Request] A factory that relies on magic based technology to run has encountered some issues with their main furnace and has requested the aid of a Shaper mage to come and take a look at it. Payment is 20 gold and a discount on goods from that company.

>>31290974
>[Material Request] Saw-Teeth Leopard skulls: A request has come in to hunt down some Saw-Teeth Leopards for their skulls and jawbones. Payment is 20 gold and the remainder of the leopard skeletons.

>>31290974
I honestly can't decide between mercenary and maintenance.

The first one has more potential for story and the second one has more potential for learning how to make cooler weapons.

>>31291021
>>31291028
>>31291030
Maintenance contract has won out. This will most likely be the last update of the night.

>>31291234
Still writing, still a bit of a ways off from finishing.

You decide to pick up the maintenance contract, the job appearing simple enough to you that you can get it done quickly. You go through the motions of officially taking the contract with the contract clerk and leave for the factory, the building fortunately enough is in Xel'Karth and does not require long distance travel. You head towards the industrial district, the tall smokestacks of the various factories reaching up towards the sky.

An hour later you arrive at the factory, a steel mill to be precise. You are granted clearance to enter the building from security by showing them the contract with its official seal, and soon a supervisor is with you to bring you up to speed on the situation, trying to hurry you along to get the facility up to maximum efficiency. Following him, you come to the main blast furnace of the factory, currently unlit.
“The issue is that the furnace can't maintain a stable output,” the supervisor says to you, gesturing to a large amalgamation of bone and metal beneath a chamber to the side of the main body of the furnace.

“We had some of the mages we employ here take a look at it but they couldn't figure out the problem,” he continues, “which is where you step in. I don't care what you have to do, just get it done before work resumes tomorrow and we'll pay you double the contract price.”

You get to work examining the device. The burner works as a sort of massive sustained-effect artifact, taking in mana in order to produce a constant flame. Although you've never personally seen a device such as this before, you have read quite a bit about them and as a consequence you are familiar with how they work. After hours of looking over the device you determine the problem: a missing regulator artifact designed to keep the rate of mana consumption constant. You inform the supervisor of your findings and he directs you to a small workshop dedicated to maintaining the various magic based machines in the factory.

[1/2]

>>31292044
Working late into the night, well after most of the workers have gone home, you manage to jury-rig together a replacement part out of various artifacts and scraps of bone that should fill the role of the missing artifact until a proper replacement part can be commissioned from the manufacturer. As you get up to install the part into the burner, you hear a door slam open in the distance along with some faint voices talking.

You are not alone in the factory.

>>31292063
o shiiiieeeeeeeet

And that's it for the night. Sorry about the last update taking so long for its size. As always, I'll take Q&A until the thread dies.

File: 1396765904798.gif-(490 KB, 495x323, 1381724659610.gif)

490 KB GIF

>>31292063
Prepare for happening

someone archive

>>31290233
speaker is required to enchant items (currently we forge items with a mana pool and then install enchanted components we purchased).
Furthermore, speaker is used for teleport.

The super mage we met earlier that gave us his blessing is clearly a master of all 3 branches. He could teleport (speaker 4 IIRC), could instantly absorb a victim's skeleton (Slayer 4) and he had a powersuit (if he enchanted it himself rather then just embedding stuff he bought than he had to have been at least shaper 4 as well)

>>31292063
>As you get up to install the part into the burner, you hear a door slam open in the distance along with some faint voices talking.
dun dun dun.

Parts don't magically go missing, they might break, but they don't just disappear.
I bet this was sabotage

... we are armed, right?