>>31629335
Is there a first episode for this?

Hadn't realised you had started a new quest.

>>31629438

There is!

And like I said, it is going to be pretty short. I wanna hammer out all the 'log horizon discovery' aspects quickly, and tell some interesting stories of living in the world of Elder Tale and then mostly just be done.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/31476895/

>>31629335
>Investigate further. If the NPCs are acting weird, the world is acting weird. And you're living here now.

>>31629335
>Investigate further. If the NPCs are acting weird, the world is acting weird. And you're living here now.

>>31629335
>Get the recruits and get out of dodge. You gotta your own home in order first.
We need the experienced guys for brainstorming

>>31629335
>Investigate further. If the NPCs are acting weird, the world is acting weird. And you're living here now.

Alrighty, looks like you're going to delve deeper!

Writing.

While getting the rookies acquainted with the current situation, what the light keeper said keeps gnawing at the back of your mind. With a glance at Truk, probably the only other person who bothered grinding this rep, you turn back to Rochern. "So. What exactly do you mean you lost track of them? They just haven't been returning your letters?" The Khanniritters were a powerful group of NPCs, with camps deep in the old raid content's territory.

Rocern chuckles. "No, no. I mean they're gone. I can usually communicate with them effortlessly with a scrying glass in the light house. You know, of course, the sort of evils the Light of Khannir holds at bay here. My mission is of utmost importance to the order. It, ah, just so happens that the order disappeared."

You don't take this information lightly. A massive amount of boss-level NPCs have vanished from the game. You don't want to think about what that means for the monsters of this world. Checking out the Lacolithine Tower might not be a terrible idea at this rate. There is no possible gear you can get from that raid that would be worth it, but if the NPCs keeping that place in check have disappeared... It is relatively close to Dixie, too.

The state of the world is the foremost concept in your mind as you start to head back to the city, rookies in tow. The way back is easy enough, and the rookies quickly get used to the new flow of combat, but you have a hard time concentrating. Were all command structure's of NPCs gone? That couldn't be, because the old man still existed. There was a nation near here, right? In the mountain range was that weird tribal state. You might have to check them out shortly.

Before you make it back into Dixie, you run into a large group of PCs. A major PVP force in the south east was the guild known as 'Confluxion'. You think it was some poor attempt at a deep or cool sounding name. Regardless, anyone who is anyone in PvP joins it. The leader and maybe fifteen members of the guild were sitting outside the city. "Hey there, Wanilla," A large, human female guardian says to you with an informal wave. Her name is Pikatoise, and you often outsource from her guild when you need raid spots filled. You have a good, working relationship. "The city has gone to shit in a short amount of time. People have been attacking lowbies, apparently for no reason. I've been cleaning house." She gives a savage grin. You don't doubt for a second that she has been doing just that.

Pikatoise hefts a large hammer and walks over to you. "I thought you'd love that sort of thing, Pik." You've watched her torment people for little to no reason.

"I do. But this situation is different. There is no order around here, and we desperately need it. So, tell you what. You are about the only other big name guild around here. Cooperate with me, and no one can really oppose us. We split the city right in half. Whaddaya say?" You glance back at the rookies. Starting a fight here would be problematic.

>Capitulate. She'd be a good ally.
>Refuse. It's only death.

Thank god I randomly clicked catalog mode.
Glad to see you're back at it!

Checked out the other LH quest you mentioned... it's got potential I suppose. Thanks for pointing it out. It'll give me something to read on sundays.

>>31630118
>Refuse

Splitting the city in half like some prize doesn't sit well with me. If we're going to have order, we're going to do it right.

>>31630118
Looking pretty Gruul there Ma'am. Maybe with a pinch of Orzhov
>Capitulate
We can always backstab her later if need be. Although maintaining order in the chaos can interfere with rescuing our guildies.

>>31630118
>Refuse.
Ask her to act as police - splitting the city is a bad idea.

>Raid gear vs PvP gear... in single pvp combat
This will go well.

>>31630118
>Capitulate. She'd be a good ally.
Can't think of a good reason to turn it down.

>>31630118
>Capitulate.
Ask how shes planning the split.

>>31630118
>Capitulate
But I think we should strike some different sort of deal than splitting the city

Where did you get the image from?

Since when did /tg/ ever start negotiating to deals like this, much less without asking questions? Have you gotten soft? Are you shying away from violence, forfeiting what is right? Have you lost your way?

>>31630364
Do you REALLY want to start a pissing contest with female Kenpatchi right now?
We'll just FRIENDSHIP her in due time and by proxy command the entire city.

>>31630118
>Capitulate. She'd be a good ally.

She seems to be invested in keeping things ordered for the time being. Anything we can do to prevent a bloodbath is good.

oh jeez I thought the vote would be slow so I went and fed cats.

Alright. Writing!

>>31630201
Can we mix this in? It'd be an ideal solution, and from what I can tell she might like it.

>>31630364
Are you serious? /tg/, diplomancers supreme? Where the hell have you been for the past three years?

>>31630364
It's a dumb idea to pick a fight over this.

We can always go full Shiroe and do something like buy the guild hall later.

>>31630428
That's the problem; there's no diplomancing here. No negotiating, no talks, no 4 hours of text walls about terms and stipulations. Just strong armed into helping this lunatic with the not so subtle threat of a violent beating if we refuse.

>>31630364
He's pretty clearly a brute. We can manipulate her later, or in the worst case blackmail her by using the old "buy an essential structure in town and use usage rights as a bargaining chip" ploy, but starting a fight won't accomplish much except getting us a free trip to the cathedral.

Why do you think she's a brute? City goes to shit and the first thing she does is try to restore order, wow, such lunacy.

>>31630130
Well if this quest takes part in the same world; what better way to welcome the other quests MC than by owning the entire east coast by the time he arrives?

Crossing your arms, you look directly at Pik, and narrow your eyes. "Putting a gun to my head and calling it negotiations? Hardly an ideal diplomatic situation."

The heavily armored lady shrugs. "Life ain't fair. So, what do you say?" You eye the people behind her. Not many level 90s, but they're all in their 80s. You probably couldn't win.

Henrika's voice pops up in your head, 'I can try to make a break for the city with the rookies who haven't hit this citadel yet, if you and the rest can hold them off.' You shoot down that idea immediately.

After a long stare down, you finally sigh. "Alright, now this isn't an agreement, but when you say 'split the city'...?" Tension seems to visibly leave the body of nearly everyone involved.

Pikatoise slaps you on the back. "Alright! I knew you had some sense. I mean we carve the place up. I ignore you, you ignore me. We each take half the city. I run wild like I want, and you can jerk off to slightly better numbers between punching knives or whatever. But we leave each other alone, unless we need to work together for something."

At least she'd be off your back, but... "What about other guilds? Free game? Doesn't sound very orderly to me."

With a shrug, Pika simply says, "They'll join us eventually. With you to handle anything out there from monsters, and me able to handle anything from other players, we can be independent. Seems ideal to me." Hardly ideal, but for a temporary measure, it is fine.

The finer details are worked out as you make your way into the city, and the welcome relief of the guardians. The city looks like a ghost town compared to when you were here last. Everyone must be hunkering down.

>Head straight back to the guild hall.
>See if you can't get a head start on Pika, and round up some lesser guild support.

>>31630801
>See if you can't get a head start on Pika, and round up some lesser guild support.
Build our army since I doubt we could somehow kite a raid boss from an instance into the city to take the PvPers out when we need to.

>>31630801
>>See if you can't get a head start on Pika, and round up some lesser guild support.

Why did we choose this shitty deal, again?

>>31630888
Because the other option was getting curb stomped and then fighting an uphill battle to reclaim the city and that's IF she even let us back in.

We're not in a position to French Resistance this.

File: Holo Fuck Yeah.jpg (176 KB, 1920x1200)

176 KB JPG

>>31630860
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl0VWJdE01M

Awww yeah, that dude was a total fucking genius! One man, with the help of a raid boss, decimated a whole city.

We should do some research into that, for science.

>>31630801
>>See if you can't get a head start on Pika, and round up some lesser guild support.

>>31630801
>>See if you can't get a head start on Pika, and round up some lesser guild support.

Build our glorious army

Alright, seems pretty unanimous. Writing.

>>31630917
Nothing more satisfying than watching allys get wrecked.
Reminds me of when two pvp guilds teamed up and held Stormwind for something like 3 hours.

>>31630913
Wut. They probably would've won that fight, eventually - doesn't mean we had to stick around for it. Could've done a holding action till the newbies get to safety then pull back.

You literally picked the 'capitulate' option. You're France.

>>31631045
I agree we should have fought but lets move on

>>31631045
What possible gain would fighting have? It's not like they die even if we kill them. Diplomacy is the only solution.

>>31631045
What about the guardians? I think we were close enough to the city that they would have materialized and mopped the flood with everyone.

>>31631185
Yeah, go ahead and reverse that logic. We gave in to bullies even when it didn't matter. Full stop.

>>31631045
Which would have accomplished what, exactly, in the long run? Besides painting a target over the head of everyone in our guild?

You can't actually stop people from doing much of anything in this world by relying on violence unless you have an overwhelming advantage, like "we're going to sit outside the cathedral, drag you out of the city every time you respawn, and murder you again and again" level of overwhelming. Even if we won, they would have just respawned and continued on their merry rampage.

We aren't going to stop her from turning the region into Fantasy Fight Club by fighting her.

>>31631223
Except it does matter in a very real sense. Not that anyone knows that in-story.

Do they even know they respawn yet?

>>31631223
Have you forgotten what the death penalty is here anon? You have so many wonderful memories, it'd be shame if something were to happen to them...

>>31631324
Unlikely; but it would have most likely just been a duel which means that no one would have died anyway.
How she's roughing up players in the city without the guard NPCs spawning is interesting... and if they are spawning it's scary to think she could man handle them.

I don't know where people got the impression that her side of the city is going to be a shithole. She seems reasonable to me.

>>31631396
>We each take half the city. I run wild like I want, and you can jerk off to slightly better numbers between punching knives or whatever.

>>31631378
Guardians don't spawn unless you attack someone, as in actually cause damage or cast a spell at them.

It's totally possible to just grab someone by the ankle, drag them kicking and screaming all the way to the town exit, then murder them just outside of town. This is made easier by the fact that higher level players are physically stronger than lower level players (with physical classes being stronger than magic-users obviously), so a level 90 face-puncher can just torment lowbies all day unless someone stops them.

Once you were safely in the city's walls, you turn to Truk. "I don't like being bossed around by a brute, Truk."

He grunts in agreement. "Me either, Wanilla. What's the harm in playing along, though? Not like we've got our affairs in order. Besides, she agreed to leave us alone."

"You really think she will? She just wasn't sure she could edge us out of the city yet. We're going to need support for this. Get the rookies to the guild. I got some social calls to make." You pull up your friend's list. It conveniently tells you the location of everyone on it. Normally, you don't give a shit, but you are definitely on the lookout for anyone of note in or near Dixie.

Glancing through the list, you find a couple of people you have kept in touch with. Quickly, you arrange a meeting with Saganite, a leader of a small production guild. They have a hammersmith, a pretty rare sublcass that most monk weapons fall under the category of.

It isn't long before you're in their guild hall, a small little building in the corner of the flooded marble ruins of Dixie. "What's the fucking point, Wanilla? Half the shit we can make doesn't work like it should, and the other half we can't even make because the fucking materials to get those are outside the city, and we're just as likely to meet some of those fight happy Confluxion lunatics out there!" He rubs his eyes, "I'm this close to just joining her goddamn guild so I can get a moment's peace."

Your arrival at the city must have been pretty aggrivating for her. She'd almost had the place fully under her control. Still, you can play with the hand she dealt you just fine. "You could always join me. She's agreed to an amnesty. She made it sound permanent, but I don't know if I want to count on it."

Saganite looks up, "I wouldn't. Still, working with you probably wouldn't be so bad..."

>>31631658

Several more social calls like this are made, and you get maybe ten more guilds under your banner. Like Pik said, the city gets carved up between the two of you in an almost literal sense over the next few days.

The guild officers, newly burgeoned from incorporating the command structures of other guilds, are all meeting you in your guild hall. Basically anyone who was going to join you or Confluxion has. There haven't been any hostilities yet, but who knows how long that will stand. What's the main course of action?

>Economically edge them out. Kill high level monsters, get high level mats, turn them into high level goods. Sell to NPCs for gold. Repeat. Confluxion doesn't have the same tier of PvE players as we do.
>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.
>Something else.

>>31631685
>>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.

>>31631685
>Something else
Kite a raid level boss into the city

>>31631685
>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.

can we- can we form a glorious peoples republic?

>>31631685
>>Something else.
Basically do the Economic edge out, except couple it with a crash leveling program for everyone that's not at cap.

>>31631685
>>Economically edge them out. Kill high level monsters, get high level mats, turn them into high level goods. Sell to NPCs for gold. Repeat. Confluxion doesn't have the same tier of PvE players as we do.
>>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.
Why not both? Pool the resources of the NPCs while having our own guys gather resources.

>>31631685
>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.

>>31631685
Why don't try to out do them in their own field, half some portion of our guild and the guilds that joined us go full PVP. They form the base of our secret police.

Bummer I was kind of hoping we'd play this out rather than fast track a solution.
I'll sit this one out though. As long as we don't do what Shiroe did I'm cool with it. Gotta keep it fun and fresh.

>>31631685
>>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.

>>31631685
>Economically edge them out. Kill high level monsters, get high level mats, turn them into high level goods. Sell to NPCs for gold. Repeat. Confluxion doesn't have the same tier of PvE players as we do.

There is no more tried-and-true strategy than whopping your wad. Not to mention our quest for dosh will probably unearth new means of income generation.

>>31631747
Yeah, this. We have way too many people for all of them to be doing diplomatic missions.

>>31631685
>>Economically edge them out. Kill high level monsters, get high level mats, turn them into high level goods. Sell to NPCs for gold. Repeat. Confluxion doesn't have the same tier of PvE players as we do.

Level cap was raised just before the Apocalypse, so doing raids also allows us to level everyone. Considering the other guild focuses on PvP we're probably faster at raising levels.

>>31631745
Good idea.

Alright. Writing.

>>31631810

I didn't know how long I could write a tense sort of atmosphere in this environment without it becoming stale, and fast. I figured fast tracking to a unified city would lead to more interesting decisions, quicker. I am sorry if I disappointed you.

>>31631685
>Socially edge them out. You know something they don't: The NPCs are alive. See if you can't get an arrangement with the nearby government that would be beneficial to you and not Pikatoise's guild.

>>31631878
And they're better equipped at murdering people like us.

>>31631900
Just a bit bummed out is all. I enjoy political thrillers and stories of power grabbing and backstabbing. You're right though it is a bit tough to keep it going for too long and keep it interesting without going into a drama overload.

Don't sweat it man, you haven't disappointed yet. but boy howdy are you on thin ice mister. just yanken yer chain mate

>>31631878
This. Lets do what we do best and grind then organize groups and strike key locations at once.

What are players besides slightly stronger and smarter mobs anyway?

How does the economy work post-Databasing, anyway? Are the alive NPCs smart enough to realize you're flooding the market with goods?

>>31631987
Mana regenerates really fucking slow, too.
We're all PvE focused, so we probably know how to do our shit effectively without wasting all our mana at once, while the PvP guys probably throw everything into an attack, being ooM really fast.

Economic victory here feels like a repeat of what White did.

>>31631685
Seconding all of the "grind then organize a military operation" stuff. Use what we know.

>>31632021
The economy ostensibly functions mostly like it did before, since Adventurers going out and punching loot pinatas then selling the highly valuable drops isn't anything new to the Landers. If anything, the local economy is probably in a slump right now because everyone's regularly scheduled farming sessions got thrown out the window.

Everyone here knows the rules to the game. Everyone also has a fair idea that the rules they're familiar with aren't quite the rules anymore. But you know something Pikatoise doesn't, and has likely not found out yet: the NPCs are alive, and they have their own will. With about two hundred people under your direct command, you have a large amount of human resources to throw around. As far as Confluxion is aware, your deep trips into the wilds surrounding the glittering land of Dixie are simple hunting trips. And to an extent they are.

You've had practice raising lowbies up quickly, and you're very familiar with the various questing routes in the surrounding area. Who could even tell how many friends you've convinced to play the game, mentored them to max, and had them fucking quit when the endgame got 'stale'. You're not bitter about it. You swear. Maybe a little.

Still, that practice is put to good use here: Several lowbies are split up among mentoring higher levels and sent to train under the guise of 'gathering goods'. Pikatoise and her thugs mostly hung around the city, cutting loose.

>>31632498

The main goal, however, was to get out to the mountains and contact the Atsukenaabe tribe. They had outposts that served as quest hubs laced throughout the Appalachian Mountain Range. The small huts served to give the whole area a 'Naitve American' feel, even if the smokehouses and teepees existing in the same area didn't make much sense historically speaking. Atsukenaabe tribesmen, however, all came from the same city, giving a large span of the American South East a unified feel, unlike most of Elder Tale, which seemed to have self sustaining magical kingdoms every ten feet.

You've got a large amount of goods with you as you approach one of the larger tribal gatherings. What's the strategy here?

>Offer the Atsukenaabe a large cut in prices, in order to get them to exclusively trade with people associated with your guild. By taking the majority of vendors from Confluxion, you can start strong arming them via gold.
>Offer the Atsukenaabe protection services in exchange for exclusive trading. The power of an Adventurer is not to be underestimated. You can scratch their back if they scratch yours.
>Offer either of the above for some other kind of advantage.

>>31632543
>>Offer the Atsukenaabe a large cut in prices, in order to get them to exclusively trade with people associated with your guild. By taking the majority of vendors from Confluxion, you can start strong arming them via gold.
CAPITALISM HOOOOOOOO

>>31632543
>Offer the Atsukenaabe a large cut in prices, in order to get them to exclusively trade with people associated with your guild. By taking the majority of vendors from Confluxion, you can start strong arming them via gold.

Then when our enemies resources are low and moral is weak; we go raid instance on their asses with a coordinated assault.

>>31632543
>>Offer the Atsukenaabe a large cut in prices, in order to get them to exclusively trade with people associated with your guild. By taking the majority of vendors from Confluxion, you can start strong arming them via gold.

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>>31632596
God, I loved that fucking game. Who'd a thunk trying to sell the items for the best price would be so addicting.

Alright! Pretty unanimous. Writing time is now.

>>31632654
My man!

soooo....

Several guards train their bows on you as you approach the town. They were so far under your level, that you didn't have much to worry about, but showing off would be detrimental to the goal here. Eventually, an ambassador comes to greet you. "An adventurer? We haven't seen many of you lately. Unusual. Normally you crawl through the hills like an insatiable swarm of ants."

You toss a salute at him with an easy grin, "Allow me to change that. The name is Wanilla, representative of Mucho Macho Muchachos," You do your best not to wince while saying the name aloud in an official manner,"From the city of Dixie." You offer your hand. The Atsukenaabe tribesman looks at it, then back up to you. Fair enough, then. "I've come here to discuss business." The tribesman looks at his associates, then back to you, nodding his head towards a strange looking yurt. Seriously, you feel like the Elder Tale devs just sorta blended every Native American culture together and called it a day. This probably offends someone.

The smokey room has a haze that hurts your eyes. A few of your friends sit down, with you, making idle small talk with each other. Thanks to the mental communication all players share, you can have a slight communication advantage here, but the mental gymnastics of carrying on more than one conversation at once is a little difficult. "So, adventurer, what is the business you want to discuss? I assume it has to do with that king's ransom worth of goods you've brought with you."

"Indeed it does," You face is starting to hurt from the strain of constantly keeping up a 'friendly' grin, "They're here as a down payment. Think of it as the start of a beautiful relationship. I'm here to offer you and your people a trade agreement. You purchase and sell items only to me and my compatriots here," You glance at them and they cut the chatter. You're not leaving yourself much room for negotiation here.

>>31633545

The Atsukenaabe tribesman you're sitting across from takes a long drag on his smoke pipe, exhaling slowly. "I can't speak for the whole tribe, you know."

"Of course."

"And the specifics would need to be discussed in detail."

"Naturally."

"It could take weeks."

"We're willing to work with you the whole way."

"...Where have the adventurers been?" Oh, so we're playing that game, then?

You narrow your eyes. "I'll tell you as soon as you tell me where all the powerful NPCs have gone." The tribesman narrows his eyes, taking another long drag.

He seems to chew the pipe for a moment, "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

That's the most obvious lie you've seen. You lean forward. "Well, we're going to be a little more truthful than that if we want to be trading partners, now aren't we?"

Sitting back on his hands, the tribesman responds, "All good business relationships are based on lies, friend. Let me get ahold of some of the tribal chiefs. Then we can discuss these... various matters further."

In truth, it does take weeks. According to your officers, several of your weaker guild members have started to get ganked by Confluxion thugs while you are out here. Looks like you might have to go to war when you get back.


=========================================================================

Thanks for reading! I was trying to do one fight a night, but I'm afraid it didn't work out that way.

At the rate things are progressing, I can probably finish up the story I wanted to tell within the next three threads, so that's good news.

Thanks for playing, and being good sports! I'll run again next Monday. Hope to see you then.

Damn, just as soon as things where getting going.

Thanks for running; looking forward to next week.


>I can probably finish up the story I wanted to tell within the next three threads
So that'll wrap the quest I take it?

>>31633624

Yeah. I really just had one story in mind for the setting, and I don't have a ton of time to devote to this quest. So I figured I'd pick a city no one else was likely to mess with, and see what happened. I think a low player base like this is perfect for what I'm tryin' to do, so I'm happy with how things have gone so far.

>>31633667
Shame I'm enjoying it quite a lot; then again the other LH quest doesn't have a large playerbase either.

>>31633563
>At the rate things are progressing, I can probably finish up the story I wanted to tell within the next three threads, so that's good news.
I was wondering if you were going to keep timeskipping. Guess this answers that.

Don't forget to archive; I still have a good 45 minutes left before I can do it again.

>>31633699

I prefer taking things a bit slower, actually. But the events in this thread were going to be too incremental to really take it at the pace of, say, the first thread.

Which is a shame, because that is the sort of speed I vastly prefer writing. This felt too much like an exposition dump for me, and it shows.

But, I still had fun writing it! And that is what matters to me.

>>31633795
And I had fun reading it! Just a bit less than your slower style.

You got a general schedule for this? It's kinda hard to arrive in time to participate since murphys law dictates that players will forget to check when you make the thread.

>>31635269
"Mondays"
is the best we've got.