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>>38635740
After an eternity passes in a single moment, you notice dark clouds begin to edge over the two hills to your north. Distant curiosity grips your heart as you watch the clouds rise up and over the hills, arching both high into the sky and directly towards you. The clouds are fast, shrouding the sun and throwing the valley into darkness in mere seconds. You are too slow to even blink as the low flying clouds swirl around you. The once idle breeze wails and screeches around you, the grasses flailing about wildly as if in terror. The warmth is sucked from your bones as your vision can only see black. The bliss that once permeated through your mind is torn aside, replaced with the clarity of fear. Slowly, as you stand shivering and shaking in the fierce winds, your eyes adjust.

To the north you see the haze of the dull glow of a fire radiate from behind the hills. 'Fire, Warmth.' A primal throught echoes through your mind as your feet stumble towards the haze.The climb up the hill was both painstakingly long and instantaneous, and as you reach the crest of the hill you see..

Rozalina, standing with raging fires behind her in the distance. She looks to you, her stead close to her side. She is unarmed and out of her armor. Her face breaks out into a brilliant smile as your eyes meet, shadows from the fire shifting constantly on her sharp features.

You move to approach her, to hold her, to take her away from these lands and lay by the lake like when you were young. Joy and hope explode through your bones as a single step is taken towards her, and it just as quickly disappears into confusion as her smile falters and falls.

She speaks. "Cenric Bearcaster, you have been loyal to me our entire lives." Her tone is crisp and formal, the one she would use when speaking to the Romans or particularly unfriendly German nobles. "I ask, as your Queen, that you lay down your arms and end your crusade to rescue me."

> [Cont.]

>>38635777
Your soul cracks and your heart sputters. You try to speak, to respond, to question why she would say such nonsense, but your lips do not produce sound.

"You do not need to worry about my life, Cenric. Instead, worry about yourself and the Brisgavi people."

The flames in the distance begin to roar and rage towards your Queen, filling up the entire horizen and rising higher into the air. The fury shakes the world. You take another step towards her, intent on taking her away from the flam-

"Cenric, stop!" Her voice is harsh yet fragile. You see her eyes shining in the increasing light as tears slowly streak down her face. "If you come after me, everything we dreamed of, peace in Germania, a place where Germans will no longer have to kill other Germans..." Her voice breaks for a brief moment. "If you pursue me, those dreams will be ruined."

The flames are rushing towards Rozalina at breakneck speeds, eating up the green earth at an alarming rate.

"Hide in the Seven Hills and you will be safe, Cenric! I command you as your Queen, live!"

The wall of fire approaches.

> What do?

> [] Follow your Queen's orders, retreat behind the hills.
> [] Other
>Twitter: @AD7QGermania
>ask.fm/ObserverQM
>Previous threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Anno%20Domini%207%20Quest:%20Germania

>>38635798
Grab her and run for the hills

>>38635918
Just waiting for some more people to come in, looks like it'll be another slow start.

>>38635798
> [] Follow your Queen's orders, retreat behind the hills.

Anything we can do to break this tie? We obviously cannot to both in this situation.

>>38636353
Roll dice

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>38636492
Alright.
1 for Running for the Girl
2 for Retreating.

>>38636515
The dice have decided, writing.

You cannot abide by this. Your Queen is in danger, and it is your duty to defend her with your life. Dreams be damned.

Every step you take towards her last an eternity. Each time, you see her face flinch. She cries out to you to stop, begs you to save yourself. It's pathetic, really, how she thinks you will put your life ahead of hers.

As you stand before her, the wall of flames roars no more than a few feet behind her. You wrap your arm around her shoulder and pull her sobbing form into you.The flames surround the both of you. There is no time to run, but at least you will be at her side until the end.

Rozalina's smile flutters before your eyes before your world is awash with white.

---------------------------

You wake up. Sunlight is streaming through the windows and blinds your vision. You hear the sound of a door opening and a happy gasp. Blocking the sunlight with your hand and squnting, you see Ema standing in the open doorway before you.

"Hey, Cenric is awake!"

The rest of your party enters the room. Oskar claps his hand on your shoulder. "No tiny fall like that could ever take down a Bearcaster!"

You try to sit up and groan as pain ripples down your back. Ema lightly pushes you back down. "The doctor said that you need to rest. He succeeded in treating the wounds, but your soul is still weak from the potion he gave you."

"But, the guards.." Your mind is still muffled and your voice croaks.

"It will be alright Cenric, the assassin friend you met said that she had us covered. You can rest in peace." She smiles before striking a pose. "Besides, this whole city will have to go through me before they can even touch you!"

Berengar barks happily and joins Ema in posing. Oskar shakes his head and chuckles. "These ones are always so dramatic. You should've seen them last night, they were vicious!"

You blink.

"Why would you have to be vicious last night?"

> [Cont.]

>>38637076
You look at your party. Oskar silences himself and takes a drink from the mug in his hand. Cecil looks away from you, sheepish. Ema's serene face shatters as she looks at you, sputtering quietly. Dag'ny stands in the corner with a silly smile on his face, and you notice that a bird is resting on his shoulder. Berengar Looks between you and Ema, tail wagging.

"I- Well you see- uhm-" Ema is silenced by Dag'ny.

"Nothing to worry about, caster of bears. When we left the tavern, it was all just bare!"

A beat passes.

You look to Oskar.

> [] Oskar, what EXACTLY happened?
> [] Oskar, how badly did you all fuck up this time?
> [] Oskar, how much trouble are we in?
> [] You know what, I don't care. Let's talk about something else (What?)
> [] Other

>>38637099
>> [x] Oskar, how badly did you all fuck up this time?
In your beariest voice

>>38637099
> [] Oskar, how badly did you all fuck up this time?

>>38637177
>>38637243
Writing!
Also, any comments on the dream sequence?

>>38637373
That cheesy bread sounds really tasty.

I guess the dream sequence represents the MC's self doubts.

You stare at Oskar, blankfaced. He holds your stare, equally as blank.

"Oskar," you deadpan. "How badly did you all fuck up this time?"

A beat passes.

"Twenty-five people dead, including both the bartender and a guard, and the bar is half destroyed while being covered with maybe fifty or so bird corpses." His voice is curt and matter-of-fact, as any good second in command should be.

"Bird corpses?"

"When the one you told me to keep an eye on tried to stab me in the back with a knife, Dag'ny came in and unleashed a horde of birds on him. This agitated the rest of the patrons and everyone jumped us."

"Because of the birds, I assume?" You fail to keep the anger out of your voice.

"No, the birds were only attacking the one who was attacking me until the Bartender began to pummel Cecil's face in."

You glance towards Cecil, noting his face looks entirely beat up. He is busy examining his boots.

"And why did you kill them all?"

"They came at us with daggers and other blades. Berengar was honestly the one who bailed us all out, if he hadn't pulled us all out of the jams we were in it is entirely possible that we would've died there."

"Yeah!" Ema chimes in. "Berengar was a great distraction for me! I took care of all of them, no problem."

Oskar turns to her. "You fell off the table you were standing on like an idiot and somehow got stuck underneath it. If Berengar wasn't there.." He pauses, letting the message sink in. Ema huffs and looks away, embarrassed.


"That explains the bar patrons, but what about the guard?"

"Oo, oo, that was me, me!" Dag'ny called out from the corner. "My birdies don't take kindly to meanies, you see! And he was the meanest they've ever seen, big and bad and glaring all bad! So when I skewered him on my staff, no way would I be sad!" He thumps his walking stick on the ground and giggles.

Oskar falls silent. It seems his report is over.

You look over your party once more.

"What was the one thing I told you not to do?"

>[Cont]

>>38637845
"Pick a fight in the bar." Ema murmurs.

"And what is it what you did?"

Ema looks at you exasperated. "But the barfight was amazing! Birds were ripping and tearing and we were all kicking ass! You're always the one who is charging into battles way over your head!"

You are taken aback by that.

> How do you respond?

> [] Evade, this isn't relevant.
> [] I did what I had to do.
> [] It was for the Queen.
> [] Other

>>38637899
> [] I did what I had to do.

>>38637899
Hey, I wasn't way over my head until the roof collapsed under by feet!

So, snarky and humorous or serious?

Or should I do both?

>>38638048
Serious then snarky and humorous.

>>38638243
Writing!

"I did what I have to do." Ema tries to respond, but you talk over her. Your voice is harder than iron. "In every situation, we fought because we had to in order to protect ourselves or our people. If we did not fight, we would have died."

"But we were defending ourselves too!"

"Ema, were you at all in control of the situation?"

She falters and looks away from you.

You pause before letting out a tired sigh. After another moment you chuckle, causing Ema to look at you in confusion.

"I can't say I blame you. I wasn't exactly in control when I fell through a rotted roof like an idiot and shattered hundreds of gold worth of pottery with my clumsy ass."

You smile at her as she sputters and giggles.

"You know, I'm sure that would have been a wonderful sight!"

"It was." The red-headed assassin steps in from the doorway. Everyone in the room directs their attention, subtly tensing up.

She looks at you, as if she had something important to talk about.

> How do you respond?

> [] You know, I never caught your name.
> [] Anything you have to say to me can be said to all of us.
> [] Not nearly as funny as the sound you made when you fell!
> [] Other (Feel free to reword anything)

>>38638643
>> [] You know, I never caught your name.

>>38638643
> [] Not nearly as funny as the sound you made when you fell!

>>38638716
>>38638905
Might as well do both.

Anything we would like to ask her as well?

>>38638996
I don't think so.

Lets see how it flow from there

>>38639037
Understood, writing.

"I don't know why you are trying to be all high and mighty, I vividly remember the sound you made when you fell." You lock eyes with the assassin. She blushes violently while looking away from you.

Ema and Berengar looks between the two of you, curiosity brightly lighting up their faces.

"She seems so cool and collected, I wonder..." She rests a finger on her chin. Ema gives you a subtle wink.

"Oh let me tell you, it was something completely unbefitting of an assassin of her caliber."

Ema widens her eyes dramatically before looking to the assassin.

"No way! I won't believe that she was anything but smooth in her fall! I bet she landed on her feet and everything, like a cat!"

"Ema, Ema, would you stop embarrassing the girl? She's had a tough time, what with being buried underneath pounds of rotted hay."

She blushes even harder. You think you have teased her enough, for now.

"Okay Cenric, I'll leave her alone." Ema scoots over to the assassin and whispers into her ear conspiratoraly. The assassin's face is completely red.

"Well, assassin, I don't believe I ever caught your name." Your voice no longer has a teasing tone to it.

This throws the girl for another loop as she looks back at you, the gears turning in her brain as she tries to comprehend what to say.

A beat passes.

"S-Sierra." A barely audible whisper echoes in the silent room.

> How would you like to respond?

> [] Well, Sierra, thank you for bringing me to this doctor.
> [] What is the situation on the ground?
> [] Why were those two men chasing after you?
> [] What do you know about Strauss? (Cecil's father)
> [] Talk to someone else about something (Who, what?)
> [] Other

>>38639356
>> [] Well, Sierra, thank you for bringing me to this doctor.
then
> [] What is the situation on the ground?

>>38639356
>> [] Well, Sierra, thank you for bringing me to this doctor.
>> [] What is the situation on the ground?

>>38639415
>>38639429
Quick and easy.

By the way, feel free to talk about your impressions of what I'm writing. I enjoy hearing feedback and all that.

Writing.

"Sierra, that's quite the unique name."

"Yeah," Ema chimes in. "I don't think I've ever heard it before."

"...Celtic." Sierra fiddles with the edge of her cloak.

"Well, Sierra, thank you for bringing me here after everything last night." You chuckle and scratch the back of your head. "The guards would have caught me without you, and it sounds like the bar would have been far too chaotic." You shoot a look at Oskar and he nods in agreement. "Aye, if Cenric showed up hurt bad in the middle of all that, I'm not sure if we could've helped him if the patrons had attacked him." He nods to Sierra. "You have my thanks and, as a matter of honor, I am in your debt."

"And I as well." You nod to her as well. Sierra blushes once more, far more subdued than before.

"You helped me."

"Aye, and we will all help you again when the time comes." Oskar pounds his fist into his chest.

"Now Sierra, how's the situation on the ground after our little.. adventure."

A cool demeanor quickly falls over Sierra as she stand up a little straighter. She eyes you with a cool determination and confidence. Information seems to be where she excels.

"Guards are searching but there is no information out on your party yet. Royal Investigator has not been called. The noble clans do not seem interested but they may not be informed of the event."

"And of the fellows who were chasing after you? Affiliates of a Bernard, I believe?"

Sierra hesitates for a moment. "Thugs are searching for you and I, have no information about the rest of us. Do not go out in public, thugs will follow you back."

"While the good doctor is generous for letting us stay the night, it isn't safe for us here. Do you have any locations we could move to?"

"I will talk with others, my people should help. Will know by this afternoon if I leave now. Need to leave now though."

> [Cont. With Options.]

>>38639982
> Is there anything else you want to ask her?

> If not,
> [] Talk to someone else (Cecil, Oskar, Ema, Dag'ny, the Doctor)
> [] Give out orders that everyone else ought to accomplish by the afternoon (Gathering disguises, garnering information on a noble family, connecting with contacts you/they have around the city, etc.)
> [] Other

>>38639982
What did you do to piss them off so mightily?

>>38640057
Yeah, I'll back this.

>>38640057
>>38640480
Writing.

"Bernard seems dead set on tracking you down. What did you do to piss them off so mightily?"

Sierra blinks.

"Bernard wanted me. I did not want him. I ran, he sent thugs to find me. In the meantime, he uses Briagavi slaves for pleasure."

A beat passes, then Oskar and Ema begins speaking at the same time.

"Wait, Brisgavi slaves?"

"The bastard is doing WHAT?"

"What type of sick fucker-"

"When I find him, I will-"

"-does that? I'll bite his balls off-"

"-ram my ax down his throat-"

"-and laugh in his face as he bleeds to death!"

"-and behead all of his sons!"

Ema and Oskar share a look of righteous fury. Berengar chimes in with a soft bark. Cecil looks between the two of them, horror plastered on his face. Dag'ny giggles as his bird caws.

"Oh, Oskar that's a great idea, can I help rend the fuckers?"

"Of course Ema, I always appreciate help with executing the dishonorable dogs that dare to abuse our people!"

Sierra looks to you in surprise. "I don't think I have to tell you of our determination. We will help you, not only for our own people but for the deeds you have done for us."

"Damn straight!" Oskar and Ema say as one.

Sierra nods to the group and turns to leave. Cecil follows after her, it looks like he has something to ask her. Oskar and Ema continue to talk.

Berengar looks at you, tail wagging. Dag'ny remains in his corner, spacing off while examining his bird.

You can't help but feel proud of your ragtag party. Whatever the world may throw at you, you'll always find a way to bounce back

>I think that's where we'll end it tonight. Sorry for the short thread, it looks like weekdays do not work well for this quest's playerbase. Tell your friends about this if you enjoy it!
>I'll be around for questions, comments, etc.
>Did you feel the dialogue was done well?

>By the way, if the thread is around tomorrow, I should be able to run for a while.

>>38640885
The dialogue was well done as for the playerbase I can only hope it will grow as I really enjoy the quest.

Thank's for running!

>>38641015
Of course, you're very welcome!

We seem to get more consistently larger amount of players on weekends. I think I might focus on writing then.. This weekend is out because I'm busy, I might do next Friday if that works.

That does put me in competition with some bigger quests, but that's the life we have to live.