>>31351729

You sit on the floor of Mica’s attic. The only sound notable is the quiet wavering of a lamp’s flame inside its bulb.

As it turns out, Mica actually knows who her parents were, at least one of them.

Noel Fairwind.

You remember earlier this evening, when Mica had her alarming outburst over the man’s name in a scavenger hunt hint. Even before she saw the note itself it caused her to bluster in a panic.

You only know as much as most people in Lukewater know about him. That he was a powerful sorcerer who fought alongside the other three heroes of the Great Incursion. Not that it was a fight they handled alone. Thousands must have given their lives fighting back the freakish arcane monsters that poured from the event.

These four however, Noel, Elan, Marissa, and Alec, never came home, nor died in battle. They simply vanished along with the entire conflict itself. Ravaged cities and war torn countrysides became silent all at once as the enemy simply disappeared.

If Mica really is who she says she is, she may be all that is left of their legacy.

>>31351753

Mica speaks up as she watches you process this. “Not very many of the younger people in town know. The older ones, the people who remember, they would rather keep it that way.” Mica shifts uneasily as she looks out the window.

“Why would they want to hide that? You and those blades are, they could be all that is left of them!” You notice how loud you’re speaking, the slightly cramped attic makes it abundantly clear.

“Agh, I don’t know, superstition maybe?” She still seems to not be saying everything.

> Continue to pry? [ ] Yes [ ] No
> If yes, what do you ask?

>>31351935
[X] Nah.

>>31351935
>> Continue to pry? [ ] Yes [ ] No
N

We got enough for now and besides we still have check upon Nolan.

File: 1397006913379.gif-(634 KB, 330x260, no-matter-what-i-am-fucked.gif)

634 KB GIF

>>31352854
Sorry for being late. Had to go out and do an errand moments before you began. How typical.

>>31352886
Eh, I was late too. Writing now.

>>31352781
>>31352854

“Well, um...” You put a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “I don’t really understand why it’s such an issue, but I’m glad you’ve told me as much as you have.” Mica seems relieved to hear that.

Now that you’re this close, you notice that her eyes are open much wider than they usually are. The only light sources here are her oil lamp and the small bit of light that leaks in from the street out front. Even her pupils are larger than you’ve seen on any human.

Mica’s eyebrows seat themselves quizzically above of her huge eyes. “That does not bother you?”

“No, I can’t imagine why it would. You should be proud to have someone like that as a father even.” Mica gives a smirk. “Anyway, I think it’s about time I left before your manager bothers you. Still have to check with Nolan.” You stand up and take a second look at the set of rapiers Noel left behind with her daughter.

Just as you start back down the ladder to the second floor, Mica pipes up again. “Oh! I nearly forgot!” She drops to her knees by the attic’s entrance. “Antonia want’s to meet with you tomorrow morning! Before everyone heads out!”

“Antonia?”

“Antonia Cross! The third captain?” She bobs her head from side to side as if this was the most obvious thing.

>Cont.

>>31353665

“Right, thanks Mica. Till the morning then.” Mica waves at you once you get to the bottom of the ladder, just before pulling up and closing the hatch.

You silently head back down the flight of stairs to the foyer of the inn, you hear a few particularly loud snorers and some murmurs here and there. Kurt, apparently, is behind the counter polishing it with a rag. He gives you a stern but polite nod as you head outside.

Sister seems to have been waiting for you. She appears from underneath the front steps you just descended.

> Sister rolled 2x10 to identify the saboteur's scent.
> Fera gains 1 WILLPOWER from their link.

She indicates the scent was awfully familiar, someone you’ve met recently.

“Well who was it?” You start walking down Bell Street again.

Sister feels certain it was Rory, the jeweler's daughter.

>[ ] We can talk to her later, I need to meet Nolan before the night gets any later.
>[ ] Did you follow her back to her home? Perhaps we need to meet one more person tonight.
>[ ] Custom

Feelin' a bit looser now that I've gotten a few paragraphs out. Should be updating faster now.

>>31353691
>[x] We can talk to her later, I need to meet Nolan before the night gets any later.

>>31353804
2nding

>>31353804
>>31354329

“We can talk to her later,” Sister does not seem to care either way. “I need to meet Nolan before the night gets any later.” You start heading south, passing by the thin alleyway beside Orwin Inn. Your bruises continue to nag at you as you think about what you just learned about Mica.

The Great Incursion ended around 22 years ago. That makes Mica at least that old. Then again you don’t know much about elves, even less about half ones. Why didn’t you know about Mica before if she was so relevant to Lukewater’s history, the history of the whole world even! You don’t even know who her mother is, or if she’s even in town, or alive.

This can’t just be your own distance from local matters.

Sister doesn’t take her chance to head back off to the lodge, you appreciate the company as you head out to the edge of town. The buildings become more and more spread out as the gas lamps finally disappear from the paths.

>Cont.

>>31354428

You finally see the river that wraps around the south edge of town just as it leaves the forest. Following it for another few minutes you come upon the local sawmill. It’s a set of four buildings that sit on either side of the river. You can see a bit of the machinery, hand crank powered cranes and pulleys used to nab logs from the river. A few vicious looking saws sit by their cold steam engines. The whole place smells of oil and sap.

Once you pass some empty wagons sitting by a storehouse building you can see a large cabin down the path. Definitely one of the biggest homes in Lukewater. It would have to be to fit Nolan’s numerous family members.

As you approach, you can see there is someone sitting on the front porch. A tall looking woman sits on the steps out front as she smokes one of those tiny cigars you see people from larger cities with. She wears a grey denim jumpsuit that’s covered in sawdust and oily looking stains. The only non messy thing about her are the thick braids her long brown hair sits in.

She spots you while you are still about fifty feet away. The end of her little cigar glows orange briefly before she withdraws it and shakes small bits of ash from the tip. She leans forward and watches with curiosity.

You could probably avoid her and draw out nolan. You still feel strange about the confrontation earlier today.

>[ ] Try to avoid her.
>[ ] Ask her to bring Nolan out.
>[ ] Ask to enter.
>[ ] Custom

>>31354730
>>[ ] Ask her to bring Nolan out.

Say good evening too.

>>31354828

Being polite makes the most sense here. Sister senses your apprehension and sticks to your side, tail high in confidence as you approach. The woman leans back as she realises you aren’t just passing by.

“G-good evening, uh, miss.” You hold out your hand in greeting, the proper way that you remember from when you met Nolan for the first time. “Fera Walker, the second captain.” A small glow lights her face as she takes another short drag. “For the uh, the Forging?” Are you initiating the handshake wrong again?

“Pff, I figured you would be taller.” She continues to sit at the steps as she finally speaks with a moody confidence in her voice. You stick your hand back into a pocket, giving up on the gesture.

“Is Nolan home by now? I need to speak with him before we uh, head out, tomorrow.” You find it difficult to come up with a reason this couldn’t have waited now.

“Are you really Gil’s daughter? I mean, the whole,” The woman makes a circular gesture at you with the burning cigar, “huntress thing you have goin’ on there seems pretty in line with it but. Wow you’re young.”

>[ ] “Of course he’s my father!” [defensive]
>[ ] “Well, I was adopted...” [passive]
>[ ] “I really just need to speak with Nolan for a few minutes.” [deflecting]
>[ ] Custom

>>31355317
>[x] “Well, I was adopted...” [passive]

>>31355317
>>[ ] “Of course he’s my father!” [defensive]

Rolled 1

>>31355369 is 1
>>31355415 is 2

>COIN FLIP

>>31355583
well i have to go to sleep now see you next thread hopefully

Rolled 2

>>31355583

“Well...” You look past her into one of the windows, It’s well lit inside. “I was adopted...” The woman flippantly tosses the small cigar into the snow.

“That old coot would be hurt to hear you say that, c’mere sit down.” She scootches to one end of the steps and pats the empty space next to her. “We need to talk.”

Oh great.

Once you sit down next to her, she reaches across herself and grabs your hand, shaking it almost as hard as Nolan did. Her handshake is more curt. “You can call me Rachel.” Her demeanor shifts slightly, less tense. “Nolan says you’re a bit odd, that you don’t talk much to people around here.”

“I, don’t find myself in town most of the time.”

“Is that because the forest out there is more important? Do you think that?”

>[ ] “Lukewater is just as important as the wilds are.”
>[ ] “I think this town could be less of a draw on the forest.”
>[ ] “Left unchecked, the wilds would sweep Lukewater off the map.”
>[ ] Custom

>>31356156
> [ ] Custom

"It's all that I know of in my life. I feel right at home in the wilderness, and I can't say the same when I'm in town. I feel like a stranger when I have to visit."

>>31356469

Even you can tell she’s testing you. So you take a moment to think about how you put this. "It's all that I know of in my life.” Sister slips herself underneath one of your arms, and you oblige her, massaging the base of her ears. “I feel right at home in the wilderness, and I can't say the same when I'm in town. I feel like a stranger when I have to visit."

Rachel smiles. “Nolan also says that you’re taking this pretty seriously. How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen?”

“Fourteen.” Sister crawls into your lap now, she’s a bit heavy but you’ve never worried her with that.

“I didn’t head out for the forging until i was two years older than that.” She looks off to the night sky. “Hard to believe it’s been ten years already. Me and a few of my brothers and sisters all have matching sets of scars from our trip. Bad storm. I believe you’ve met Jake? It’s a good thing he was the first one to fall off the mountain, he made the rest of our falls a lot softer.” You notice a split in one of her eyebrows as she speaks, just as she scratches it.

>Cont.

>>31357437

“I’m used to the lands far more north of here than we’re heading tomorrow, you shouldn’t have to worry about Nolan’s safety.” Rachel sticks a hand into her braids, scratching at her scalp as she smiles.

“Nolan’s tough.” She turns to you. “And I’m sure with a young serious druid like yourself leading the hike, he won’t be bringing back as many cool scars as we have.” She stands up, looking off to the sky again. “I’ve heard rumors about the fey’s influence. You remember what happened last year.” She looks back to you. “I just wish he had a brother or a sister with him, but all of us are too old to have waited for him.” She crouches down to your level. “Nolan trusts you for some reason, but I don’t know you very well.”

>[ ] “You all baby him too much. His trust is not unfounded.” [boastful]
>[ ] “I’m scared too, but, it’s nothing I can’t handle, that we can’t handle.” [stoic]
>[ ] Custom

>>31357462
>>[ ] “I’m scared too, but, it’s nothing I can’t handle, that we can’t handle.” [stoic]

>>31357572

Sister hops off your lap as you move to stand. “I’m scared too, but, it’s nothing I can’t handle, that we can’t handle.”

Rachel looks at you for a moment before standing on her own. You are at eye level with her nose. Her eyes lid in what look like disappointment. “Scared huh? You didn’t seem very scared back at the banquet.”

You back up a step from her. “What?”

“I don’t need your trust or your reassuring. I need your fight.” She prods you in the chest. “I know you know the Forging happening this year is a bad idea. If Nolan...” She backs out of your personal space. “If something happens out there, you should just stay in the forest, got it?”

You almost fall over a chair on the porch you didn’t see as she stomps past you. She enters the lodge and closes the door a little harder than she needed to.

You carefully sit in the chair and listen to your heartbeat as it calms down. Sister peeks out from underneath the porch, ears flat.

>[ ] Head back to Gil’s, you can check with Nolan tomorrow morning.
>[ ] Wait around a moment, maybe someone else more helpful will show up.
>[ ] Sneak around the perimiter looking for Nolan.
>[ ] Custom

>>31357945
>>[ ] Sneak around the perimeter looking for Nolan.

>>31358094
FORGOT the roll prompt for that one

SENSE+PERCEPTION 6d10 to find Nolan.

>Get rollan

>>31357945
>>[ ] Head back to Gil’s, you can check with Nolan tomorrow morning.

I changed my mind but I figured you already written something up, so if you have a lot down, just keep on writing.

Rolled 6, 2, 3, 7, 5, 6 = 29

>>31358177

File: 1397022823303.gif-(380 KB, 550x525, zacgormanzelda1.gif)

380 KB GIF

This is how I feel right now being the only one here.

>>31358208

You hop back off the chair and start checking through windows along the walls. This place really is big. You spy a living room with a roaring fireplace, several couches and a piano even. A large kitchen that has two big city style ovens in it. A library? You didn’t even know this town had a library other than at town hall. You recognise one or two faces from the banquet, Jake and Mr. Smiley-Beard notably.

Two minutes pass before you hear something. Nolan was actually in the library, he’s reading something aloud.

“Now, little mite of a man, do that likewise. Well thrown, said the tailor, but after all the stone came down to earth again, I will throw you one which shall never come back at all. And he put his hand into his pocket, took out the bird, and threw it into the air. The bird, delighted with its liberty, rose, flew away and did not come back. How does that shot please you, comrade, asked the tailor.“

What on earth?

>[ ] Get a better look? [ ] Yes [ ] No
> COORDINATION+HIDE 5d10 if yes.

Rolled 7, 3, 1, 8, 6 = 25

>>31358460
>>[ ] Get a better look? [ ] Yes [ ] No

YES! I love sneaking up people while they're making a fool of themselves by their lonesome.

>>31358490

>No sets, height 8 to stay hidden.

You hoist yourself high enough by the tall narrow window that you can see into the library properly. Nolan is sitting by another fireplace, he seems to be reading for a number of small children. About eight of them it looks like, none of them could be older than eight. Curiously none of them seem related to the rest of the Rentoups.

Nolan does not appear to need his glasses to read at such a distance, makes sense. He has a smile on his face as he goes to great lengths to give each character in the story a different voice.

Then you see a pair of wide green eyes staring back at you through the window.

“CAT LADY!”

You yelp a bit as you fall off the window frame. As you scramble to get back up out of the snow, you can hear the sounds of over a dozen little feet rushing to the window.

“Hey!”
“My hair!”
“I wanna see!”

You press yourself against the wall as you hear a slower set of footsteps approaching the window. Then you hear Nolan’s voice again. “Hey! Hey get off your sister! You! Leland don’t stand on those they’re very, very old! Out of the way out of the way!”

The window creaks as it swings open, Nolan sticking his head out and squinting at the horizon.

>[ ] CONTINUE TO HIDE
>[ ] Say hi
>[ ] Discreetly get his attention.
>[ ] Custom

>>31358459
Also have I mentioned lately how grateful I am for your readership?

>>31358646
>>[ ] Discreetly get his attention.

>>31358646
>>[x] Discreetly get his attention.

Let's see if he can talk after the story. We should stay out here so the kids don't pee themselves.

>>31358658
I'm on my tablet. I'm still around.

>>31358658
>>31358886

You slide up the wall, closer to the window. “Hey! Nolan!” You whisper. He looks down and his eyes go wide as you jump up and snatch his mouth before he says anything. You put a gloved finger to your lips and he slowly nods.

Once you let go of him he makes a show of scanning the horizon. “There’s nobody out here Syl.”

“I saw her! I saw her! She had her cat with her too!” You hear a small someone jumping on a wooden floor. Nolan leans forward out the window slightly so he can very clearly be seen looking down along the wall and up at the roof.

“Nope! Maybe I should tell ‘Ma to stop feeding you guys when you visit this late.” He silently chuckles to himself at the chorus of disappointed “Awwww”s that follow.

“Nolan,” You whisper again, “I need to talk to you after you’re done with whatever this is.” He nods before closing the window and making sounds as if he were deathly cold.

>Cont.

>>31359087
I wonder how late it is at night.

>>31359087

You start quietly heading back to the front porch as Nolan continues reading the story. Then you hear a door open and someone enter the room. You stop to listen.

“Hey! Nolan!” It sounds like Rachel. She still sounds sour.

“Oh! Rach, what do you need?”

“That stupid girl you like came by looking for you.” All the children inside let out mocking whoops and ooohs. “If you hurry you can catch her before she leaves.”

You let out a sort of strange laugh, more like a cough. You reflexively crouch down to keep quieter as you cup your hands over your mouth.

“Rachel! What! I!” You hear what is presumably Nolan snapping a book shut as he sputters. “You know what? Here. You read for them for a while.” The sounds of shoes scuffing across carpet and wood prompt you to start moving again.

You head back to the porch and sit back in that chair. Nolan shows up at the door shortly. He’s scratching the back of his head again.

“Uh, Hi, Fera. It’s almost nine what are you doing here?”

>[ ] “Can I come inside?”
>[ ] “Let’s talk out here.”
>[ ] Custom

>>31359286
Other

"Just a heads up. Someone has messed with my bow while I was away, and I came to let you know to check up on your equipment before you go to bed."

>>31359454

You stand back up, having just sat. “Just giving you a heads up.”

He fixes his glasses. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Someone messed with my bow while I was out. I came to let you know to double check your gear before you go to bed.”

“Wow, seriously?” He closes the door behind him.

“It would have been one thing if the string was merely cut, but it was weakened, they tried to hide it.”

“Huh.” He rubs a hand up his forehead and all the way over his head. Haven’t seen that gesture from him before. “Who would would even do that?”

> Tell him? [ ] Yes [ ] No
> FLAT CHARM 3d10 to Bluff if no.

Rolled 4, 2, 10 = 16

>>31359581
No

"I dunno. But I don't like how this is beginning due to this."

>>31359694

“I don’t know,” You stretch your hurt arm. “but I don’t think we can afford starting off on the wrong foot like this.”

Nolan ponders this for a few seconds. “Well, thanks for the uh, heads up.”

You put your arms back in your pockets. “We’re going to be checking all our gear tomorrow morning too, so get up early. I guess we can meet at Gil’s lodge.”

“Yes ma’am.” He cringes as he says that. “Ok am I the only one that thinks ‘ma’am’ sounds weird?”

>[ ] “Well, you ARE my charge, starting tomorrow.”
>[ ] “Fera is fine.”
>[ ] “You can say ‘Walker’ like Iori does.”
>[ ] Custom

>>31359898
>Also

>SENSE+EMPATHY 5d10 to read Nolan.

Rolled 4, 7, 4 = 15

>>31359898
Option 1, in a teasing tone of voice but end it with option 2.

Rolled 5, 9, 8, 4, 5 = 31

>>31359914
I dunno about you, but I'm starting to doze off.

>>31359974
Almost done for tonight here too. Go figure.

>>31359963

>2x5 to read Nolan.

“Well, you ARE my charge, starting tomorrow of course.” He scratches the back of his head again, you wonder if his weird haircut is a result of that nervous tic.

“Right, of course...” He looks off somewhere, as if you can’t see the way his face flattens out in resignation if you can’t see straight into them.

You sling a punch into his shoulder with your less hurt arm to disarm him. “Fera is fine” You think this is the first time someone else has “caught” your smile. Maybe it’s just that you don’t do it very often. “Night then, get back to your flock, Nolan.”

He smiles and nods. “Fera.” Then he steps back inside and disappears.

You turn and look out across the Rentoup’s porch. Their lodge is far enough away from Lukewater that the small amount of light pollution coming from it’s streets ceases to cover up the night sky. Which happens to have cleared up by now.

You notice Sister sitting by your foot, ears forward, tail curled up in mischievous insinuation.

“Don’t give me that look.”

>FULL STOP

That's it for tonight!

>ARCHIVE http://pastebin.com/G3JFYrv1
>TWITTER @Sojourneyman

SQ returns Thursday 5PM MST.

Rolled 10, 5, 9, 7, 5 = 36

>>31360125
Sister is the best. Thank you for the thread. People are missing out on the beginnings of a good, original quest.

File: 1397030540998.jpg-(91 KB, 618x800, Feel.jpg)

91 KB JPG

>>31360164
Thanks, that means a lot.

>>31353665
>You stand up and take a second look at the set of rapiers Noel left behind with her daughter.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

Noel left behind with HIS daughter, it's supposed to read.