>>38899236

The Duke’s forest has begun to recede behind you. The two of are you following the river out of the forest and through the hills. You’ve never been to Lesser Arlinton before but you know it lies on the river so it seems like a fairly obvious route to take.
The river is sparkling, the sky is blue, the hills are green, it would all be a great scenic experience if you had been travelling alone.

“Hold on! I said hold on, damn you! Just give me some more time.”

You are not travelling alone.

The snake spirit whose name you do not know is lying by the banks of the river in her human form. She’s taken her jacket off and it’s clear that she’s exhausted. She’s been like this for the entire latter half of your walk. Neither of you expected it but you suppose it makes sense.
She’s an ambush predator and cold-blooded to boot, even in human form she’s just not built for long travels.
“Carry me.”

“No.”
There are limits to even your passivity. You’re only doing what she says until you get to the town you tell yourself. Because that’s the best course of action even though she suggested it. But when you get there, there will be a reckoning. You’ll show this murderous evil spirit (who is also very rude sometimes) just who is in charge here. Maybe you’ll even burn one of the two favors she still owes you. You’d rather not.

> “What’s your name anyway?”

> “Come on, just get up. It’s not far now.”

> Explore the river area while she rests and suns herself.

> See if you can prepare a brew that might help her.

> Kick her in the ribs

> Other

>>38899244
>> “What’s your name anyway?”
> Explore the river area while she rests and suns herself.
> See if you can prepare a brew that might help her.

>>38899244
>What is your name anyway?
>See if you can't prepare a brew to help her.
>Break out into song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ

>>38899244
> “What’s your name anyway?”
> Explore the river area while she rests and suns herself.
> See if you can prepare a brew that might help her.

> “What’s your name anyway?”

It's plain to you that she isn't going to move for at least a small while so you sit down next to her.
"What's your name anyway? I can't keep going on just calling you snake."

She looks up at you, annoyed.
"You're not going to cast a shadow over me, are you? Also I already told you my name yesterday!"

You think back to that gargled hissing sound.
"I can't pronounce that. I don't think any human can."

"Nonsense, idiot. Observe."
She tries to do it several times but all she accomplishes is giving herself a coughing fit.
"Maybe not. Well, if it troubles you, you may refer to me as Princess or Your Highness if you wish."

"I could just call you "Hiss". That's the closest word to your real name."

"Don't you dare!"
She lethargically struggles to strike you but you walk out of the way.

> See if you can prepare a brew that might help her.

You stroll along the riverbank, gathering up reeds, moss and water. A basic restoring brew doesn't even need the proper ingredients, you can cook one up from scratch. You don't have a fire however so you settle for a cold mix, something that would be impossible for any but the most basic brews.

You pass her the mortar, full to the brim of restoration concoction. She has a foul look to her.
"Is this some sort of joke? This is just dirty water!"

"It's just something a little alchemical. Didn't you read my memories. You know it'll make you feel better."

"And none of it made any sense to me! This is just human claptrap to fool peasants."
She gently takes the mortar from you and pours it out all over the ground.

> Explore the river area while she rests and suns herself.

This situation is beyond help. You decide to just leave her be until her mood gets better. This is in the somewhat vain hope that her mood isn't actually just this every hour of every day of every week.
You walk further along the path, trying to scout out anything that might be trouble in the future. 1/2

>>38900088

Turns out that the township of Lesser Arlinton is just a few hills away. Naturally. Only the most inconvenient of resting times for your valued companion. You doubt she did it intentionally but you also don't doubt that she would if she could.
She's taken this magical compulsion business really badly.

As you take a look at the town in the distance, you notice something distinctly odd about the river. Most importantly, there isn't one.
The riverbed continues into the town but the actual water stops where you are, as if dammed by an invisible wall. It just stops flowing, leaving the rest of the riverbed as it heads into town completely dry.

> Approach the town and ask one of the guards.

> Approach the town and ask one of the regular people.

> See if you can drag the snake up to take a look at this.

> Go for a swim and check it out.

> Get down in the dry riverbed and approach the wall of water from underneath.

> Other

>>38900197
>See if you can drag the snake up to take a look at this.

>>38900197
> See if you can drag the snake up to take a look at this.
Also ask her if she has a profession that will actually work in a human town. Novice alchemists are not in high earners, and we know she'd hate to "slum it" to our standards.

>>38900197
>> See if you can drag the snake up to take a look at this.

>>38900197
>See if you can drag the snake up to take a look at this
Tell her we found a nice flat rock bathed in sun near the river.

>See if you can drag the snake up to take a look at this.

By the time you get back, she seems to be feeling a little better. She rises to her feet when she sees you, freezing herself in the stillness of a serpent reared up and ready to strike.
"And just where were you?"

You keep a distance from her. You don't think she wants to hurt you but you're starting to get the idea that it's instinct to attack anything that enters her reach. Bite first, ask questions later.
Fortunately humans are exceptionally bad at lunging in to bite anything.

"I was just scouting the road ahead. There's something you need to see."

"Can you bring it back here?"

"...No, I don't think that's quite possible. And besides, it's all a direction you're going to have to travel if you want to get to town anyway."

She stretches herself out, frowning.
"How do any of you stand it? This body has so many fiddly bits hanging off."

"You mean limbs?"

"Exactly. They're bothersome. It strikes me as...inefficient. Particularly compared to my proper form."

You want to point out that a snake is just a goddamn tube full of teeth and poison but you decide that probably isn't the best use of your time.

She traipses behind you as you approach the stopped-up river. She still moves without any sort of wasted movement, conniving to look as inhuman as possible while looking exactly like a human.
The trip gives you some time to think about just what she said about her true form being so best-suited for her.
"I hope you don't mind me asking bu-"

"I almost certainly do."

"But weren't you snakes given that form by the Creator as a punishment? So you had to writhe and wriggle through the dust and mould?"

She laughs. You've never heard her laugh before. It's more of a cackle, you suppose.
"Is that what humans think about us? That's ancient history. I was never a free spirit, I was born into this. And as far as I'm concerned, the snake is beautiful, superior."
1/2

>>38900632
2/2

"A punishment celebrated is no punishment at all. We have made it into our own strength, even just to spite the Creator. Not to mention that we can just shed our skin and take whatever form we choose, allowing us to move freely through his precious world as if we were one with it. If he's still alive, I hope he chokes on it and dies."

New idea. Do not take her to a church or bring her near any sort of priest when you're in town.

You bring her to where the river has stopped. She nods at it.
"That looks like magic alright."

"Can you take a closer look?"

"Fine."
She takes several strides along the riverbank, doing her best to look wise and discerning.
"No, that's definitely magic alright."

"I could tell that for myself! Can't you...uh, use snake wisdom on it or something?"

"No. Do I look like a mage to you?"

"I thought you were inherently magical!"

"Naturally. But whatever this is, it has nothing to do with me. And magical theory is a boring human invention."

> Go to town alone first.

> Go into town together.

> Get down into the dry riverbed to have a closer look.

> Other

>>38900758
>Get down into the dry riverbed to have a closer look.

>>38900758
> Get down into the dry riverbed to have a closer look.
Keep an eye out for alchemy ingredients too. Hissy might scoff at us but seriously this is how we live if she doesn't like she can be the one to make coin.

>>38900758
>> Go into town together.
"Try to follow my lead."

I just realized... were escorting a creature that turns out to be another princess possessing magical powers... Princess Guard Quest II confirmed! Let the waifu wars begin anew!

>>38900876
Marianne seems to be both more pleasant and more useful than Hissy. Also Our Mc is useless as fuck in a fight unless he can make alchemical grenades, which I imagine are expensive as fuck.

>>38900906
She was pretty angsty at the start of PGQ actually, and also quite spoiled, much like the current princess we're with. Granted, I expect I'd be murdered by the QM if I incited the second great waifu war.

>>38900876
>Princess Guard Quest II
Don't insult Ouro like that anon. That's just mean

>>38900937
PQG wasn't a bad quest concept, in fact arguably the QM of it did a relatively good job fleshing out characters, the big problem was his fan base was completely and utterly retarded.

As long as we all don't decide to give ourselves down syndrome we should be fine.

Also both RE quests just ended so expect an influx in posters

>>38900974
No, Archelon was the single biggest cunt of GM ever to grace /tg/. The lengths he went just to spite his players was something to behold. Damn near everything that went wrong in his quest can be traced to his actions in some way.

> Get down into the dry riverbed to have a closer look.

You take your backpack off and lever yourself down into the dry section of the riverbed, just in front of where the river ends. It looms up ahead of you, a towering wall of water.

Hiss looks down at you, badly attempting to feign disinterest.
"What do you think will happen if the magic fails down there?"

You look back up at the water and a chill runs down your spine. If all of that come crashing down...

"I'm pretty sure you'd die."

"You don't have to sound so pleased about it."
You inspect the wall of water up and down. It just...stops, as if the river itself had somehow been sheared by a blade. It doesn't pool up or overflow, it just ends.
You cautiously prod it with your finger but you can't break the surface tension. The water pushes away from you.

There is an upside to this however. This seems to have been a relatively recent affair as all of the moss and the underwater plants in the riverbed are still clinging to the barest threads of life.
You pull out great handfuls of them. Moss gathered from a river and plants that had grown without seeing the light of day. Both are excellent ingredients for brews that aim to produce pungent, choking clouds.

She doesn't say anything but you can feel her mockery of what you're doing bore into you almost like a physical force. She's smirking and you're getting sort of pissed off. Alchemy isn't just your hobby, it's your profession. Your calling! You know she only dismisses it to cover up not being able to understand it but it still gets under your skin.
"Don't you dare laugh. One of us is going to have make money when you get to town and this is how I'll do it."

She stops smirking.
"Money? What's that?"

"Uh."
You're not sure how to explain it actually.
"It's like bartering-"

"Those aren't real words."

"Then what exactly do your people do back home? For, you know, work?"

"Work?"
She arches an eyebrow, having become better at it through hours of practice.
1/2

>>38901062

"Oh no. Is this a princess thing?"

She doesn't take that very well.
"No, you moron. It's a snake thing. Just how do you think we live? We have no possessions, we sleep where we will and when we are hungry we kill. What use would any of us have for...work?"

"Well that won't cut it in town. If you want to live in the manner you are accustomed to, we are going to need a lot of m-"
You stop. You might have been letting her haughty manner fill your head with ideas of human princesses, who of course would not be satisfied with anything less than a palace. But Hiss sleeps on the ground and eats raw meat that she hunts herself.
"Money is still needed," you finish lamely. "You can't just sleep where you want in towns. You have to pay people money."

"That sounds dumb. Why can't I just sleep on the ground or in an alleyway?"
You're not sure if you can imagine that.

"The guards will probably arrest you."

"Then I shall kill them."

"Nooooo. No. Don't do that! You'll just get into more trouble. They'll never stop coming after you. We'd have to leave town."

She doesn't looks convinced so you pull out your last-ditch measure.
"It would be inconvenient."

"I suppose."

You climb out of the riverbed, your pockets stuffed with weeds and moss.

>Go into town town alone first.

> Go into town together

> Try to find a way to sneak into town that doesn't involve taking Hiss past the guards.

> Other

>>38901216
Huh, I just realized, she'll either be quite happy with the quality of life in a tavern or completely confused by it... I do not know which.

> Go into town together

>>38901216
>Explain standard town conventions to Hiss, It'll be long tedious and unenjoyable, but it will save our asses in the long run. Plus she gets to sun.

>>38901216
> Go into town together

>>38901216
>> Go into town together
Do not say anything to the guards. They will bar you from town or even lock you away in a pit if they suspect you're not what you seem to be.

File: LO1414283758534.gif (1.9 MB, 320x200)

1.9 MB GIF

>>38900906
>Marianne seems to be both more pleasant and more useful
Good one, anon.

> Go into town together

As you escort her towards the township, you try to get a last-minute explanation of town customs. You hadn't talked to her before because you hadn't realized that it would even be a problem.
"And don't just take food. Or anything else. Nearly everything in town belongs to someone and taking it without their permission is against the law. It's not like the forest."

"How noble. A speech about not taking anything from the man who literally kidnapped me."

"Just don't say anything once we're in town. Or touch anything. Or do anything."

The two of you arrive at the town gates, where the two guards suddenly assemble themselves into attention worthy of a parade ground when they see Hiss approach.

"Welcome, your...ladyship?"
It's obvious from her looks and her quality of clothing that she's some sort of beautiful noble lady and no guard survives by taking chances in this regard.
For her part, Hiss nods regally at them and says nothing.

You talk over entry with the guards, who are convinced that you are some sort of filthy manservant or guide. And so the two of you pass into Lesser Arlinton with only a modicum of hassle.

"That was easy," she says as you take your first steps in, her rough peasant accent making the guards behind you jump.

> Time for the reckoning.

> No. No. Seek out an inn first and see if you can finagle a place to say before you do anything rash.

> Seek out the marketplace

> Ask around about the river situation.

> Other

>>38901573
> No. No. Seek out an inn first and see if you can finagle a place to say before you do anything rash.

>>38901573
>> Seek out the marketplace
>> Ask around about the river situation.
Also ask about accessing some potion brewing equipment while you're there, see if you can't whip up anything to sell for a few coins.

>>38901631
Speaking of which, do we have any money right now?

>>38901573
>> Seek out the marketplace
If we get basic brewing shit we can make enough money to actually keep her happy enough with us to not find some loophole and get us murdered (note: As long as we have wishes we are safe, there is no clause that says she can't devote her life to hunting us down and murdering us brutally afterwards), so either we'd need to attempt to murder the magical snake spirit that clearly is considered valuable enough to send servants to protect by someone/thing (read: This wont end well), or we need to make her regard us highly enough to NOT murder us afterwards.

Thankfully she seems to be a serpent of simple tastes, fine meat products, warm linens and fires, and the like will likely be all thats needed to treat her properly.

>>38901696
You're flat broke. When you left to hunt the snake you didn't need money so you didn't take any. And then the snake dragged you away on an adventure without letting you back to your village to get anything.

>>38901573
Seek out an alchemist to whom we might offer our services.

>>38901573
>> Seek out the marketplace

>>38901723
Actually blankets only work if you're warm blooded

>>38902028
They'll help keep the warm in at least.

In b4 she glomps us during the cold night.

>>38902028
Snakes produce normally negligible body heat, but in an insulated environment it could in theory be enough to raise ambient temperature, which is why snakes cluster together when they hibernate, as this tends to keep ambient temperature slightly warmer.

Hi Soma.

>>38902204
Anon, please. Focus on the matter at hand.

> Seek out the marketplace

You can hold off on the reckoning. You need to check out the marketplace first. Hopefully there's an alchemist who you can offer your services to. And nothing else you can just sell your meagre brews for coin.

You understand the basic theory of how this stuff is supposed to work but catching sight of the marketplace still stops in your tracks. You've never seen this many people in your life before. There's enough people in this marketplace alone to fill your village at least thrice over!
The crowd jostles and throngs, vendors aggressively hawking their wares in shrill screams, coins change hands repeatedly and the sound of too many voices and shouts fill the air.
You don't know how to get into this. You stumble around the edges, suddenly unsure how to handle it.

"What's wrong? Let's get going!"
Hiss takes you by the arm and forcibly drags you through the markets. Much of the crowd seems to part naturally for her though she kicks a few children out of the way anyway.
"Are you sick?"

"No. It's nothing."
You snap out of it and get to work. You don't find any alchemists here but you do find an apothecary selling placebo charms and dubious cure-alls. Apothecaries can mix as well as anyone else but they don't have the art of alchemy down. Only alchemists can take ingredients that mean nothing at all and brew something special out of them. The apothecary, a wizened old man named Master Feltgrew is quite appreciative of your offered services.
Hiss sniffs but says nothing.

He offers to pay you five signets up front for anything you can brew in his workshop right now and five more if you come in to work tomorrow.
This is not particularly hard, the most difficult part being having to brew and stopping Hiss from putting any of the assorted apothecary ingredients in her mouth.

1/2

>>38902249

As you leave, you give him one of the five signets back in order to purchase a small collapsible cauldron and a large stock of ingredients that are useless to laymen like him.
You're now well-stocked to brew up any recipe you know.

While you are thinking about the possibilities, Hiss wanders off and finds a vendor selling baked scorpions. You rush after her but not before she unthinkingly grabs one and eats it, prompting a disruption from the seller who is already calling the guards.

You hastily throw a signet in his face, grossly overpaying him as you hustle the snake off.
"This whole place makes no sense to me! He can't possibly eat all of that by himself. Why does he care?"

"This is just how towns work. Please don't touch anything. I mean it this time."

You're already down to three signets but that should still hopefully be enough for a meal and a room at the inn.

> Reckoning

> Get the Inn out of the way first.

> Ask around about the river situation

> Brew

> Let Hiss wander off while you aren't paying attention.

>>38902398
>Get the Inn out of the way first.

>>38902398
>> Get the Inn out of the way first.
>Then explain to her in great detail the concepts of economy, towns, money and stealing and its consequences.

>>38902398
>Get the Inn out of the way first.
How old are we?

>>38902398
>> Get the Inn out of the way first.
>> Ask around about the river situation

I wonder why they'd dam it anyway.
> Let Hiss wander off while you aren't paying attention.
Heh.

>Get the Inn out of the way first.

You enter the closest inn you can find that doesn't appear to be an outright scum haven. It's called Ale's N Beds, which you can appreciate for not beating around the bush. The two of you cause a hush to fall as you enter, several of the patrons all looking your way.

You are well aware that none of it is for you.
You see the leers on several of the patrons faces and you suddenly sprout a seed of worry about just how the rougher side of town might take to a beautiful woman as transparently out of her element like Hiss.
Then you think about that how that would go down for a moment more and decide that it might be good for the world if a few would-be rapists got their throats bitten out.

The innkeeper pushes one of his more ragged patrons out of the way when his nose detects the unmistakable scent of Travelers With Money. He smiles but his eyes don't.

"What can I do for you two?"

"Ale and a meal for two and I'd like to buy two of your rooms for tonight."

He runs it up in his head.
"That'll be five signets."

"What?"
That's ridiculous!
"If you're going to rob us, then we shall take our business elsewhere."
You do your best haughty Hiss impression. She isn't impressed.

The innkeeper shrugs. He's clearly heard this threats before.
"I knew you were new here. Din't you see the river?"

"I...may have."

"It's all a problem with Old Bart, the water wizard. He's cursed the river so that it never reaches Arlinton and he's gouging us for any use of it."
He spits.
"So if you want ale, just be aware the price for that is well up. We have to import it, the brewery shut down weeks ago."

"That's absurd. Why don't you do anything about him?"

He laughs bitterly.
"Do what? None of the guards will cross him, we all know who fills their waterskins."

"But surely the Duke-"

"Don't talk to me about the goddamn Duke! You don't think we haven't sent for aid? The only thing he cares about personally enforcing is his fucking forest."
1/2

>>38902851
Well this is going to be a bitch. Hiss is going to go ballistic on this guy isn't she?

>>38902851
We should become the Water Wizard's apprentice.

>>38902851

"But surely you can just send men far enough upstream to start...a bucket train or something?"

He shakes his head slowly.
"Oh no, Old Bart keeps his eye out for anyone trying to poach his river. A few brave lads tried to do that in the early days but he sent them packing and then refused to sell water to them or their families no matter what price they charge. They had to leave town."

"That's horrible!"

Hiss shrugs.
"Is it? It sounds like what you were trying to tell me before. Everything here is someone's private property, even if you just need space to sleep. Why should water be any different?"

You try to frame how terrible this situation is in words that would reach her.
"But surely you'll need to drink too? How do you feel about that?"

She smirks.
"Well then I'll take what water I want when I want to, human wizard or no human wizard. But right now, I just find it entertaining. Is he not just the conclusion of these customs you've been trying to force on me? And yet you quail."

You turn back to the barman and negotiate just a regular meal for two and only a single room. Hiss will have to sleep on the floor.

You pick out a table far away from any of the other patrons and start eating. Hiss has absolutely no table manners whatsoever and has strange ideas about chewing or rather the lack thereof. She nearly chokes several times.

> "We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here." RECKONING

> Stay quiet.

> Other

>>38903052
> "We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here." RECKONING

>>38903052
>Other
We should seek out this water wizard and see if he's willing to take an apprentice. It sounds like all we need to do is fuck around with the water to get his attention. Sounds like the guy is rolling in dosh.

>>38903145
Anon I don't think we could entice him to apprenticeship. I doubt we'd be able to magic anyways. If you wanted wizard you should have chosen it in chargen.

>>38903052
Reconsider the reckoning, I see no way it would turn out well

Guys she needs a reality check. Otherwise she'll get both of us killed. She's one part wild beast and one part bitchy princess not knowing jack shit.

>>38903145
Hell no, hes a textbook fukkin wizard with no sense of right or wrong.

>>38903052
Tell her how to eat properly

>>38903052
>> "We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here." RECKONING
As >>38903235 said, hes going to get himself killed.

>>38903052
>> "We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here." RECKONING

>>38903278
shes going to get us both killed*

>>38903176
There wasn't an option since you were always going to start out as a villager. There are several different kinds of mystic out there but alchemists are the only ones who would conceivably live in a village.

>>38903176
It wasn't an option, so far as I'm aware.

So far every mage we know of has absolutely no moral compass, granted we know of only two...

>>38903052
>> "We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here." RECKONING
Forceful reality check time.

> "We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here." RECKONING

You let her finish her meal first. She doesn't seem as hungry as you'd expect. She slows before stopping altogether, whipping her head up to face you.
"What."

"Pardon?"

"You've got an awful lot of words crammed up in the back of your throat there. Spit it out."

"You don't know that."

"I've eaten part of your soul. It tasted like words. You've always got something stupid to say."

"This isn't something stupid," you say stiffly.

"That'll be a first."

"We need to talk about who's in charge of who, here."

She pauses for a moment, clearly caught out.
"You're wrong. That IS stupid."

You clench your fists.
"No it's not. And you know what else isn't stupid? Alchemy. And trade. And just being able to live like a goddamn person. Now I know you like to insult things to cover up your ignorance but-"

"I do no such thing!"
She's ceased all movement, quivering as if ready to strike. You feel the familiar rush of fear but this time you don't let it rule you.

"You do. I think it's time you need get back in touch with reality. I'm not a snake, I'm not obliged to do whatever some goddamn snake princess wants. I'm a human being and what's more, I'm a human being who you STILL owe two wishes."

"Choose your next words carefully."
While you are slowly becoming louder and louder, her words are quiet and cold.

"No. I don't have to choose my words for shit. Your objections and commands don't mean anything for me! You're bound to MY will and you will treat me with respect and at least try to act like a person with a soul."

"I'm bound to you. Do you think I needed a reminder? Do you think not a second goes by without this indignity confronting me? I think I've been quite controlled. How I have managed to put up with your idiotic whims is almost unimaginable."

"No. Fuck off. Don't give me that. You haven't been bending my way at all. And you know what? I'm not afraid of you. You're just a spoiled brat!"
1/2

>>38903673
>I've eaten part of your soul.

Uhh... Yeah... she just went up a few points on the "oh my fucking god what have we gotten ourselves into" scale...

>>38903713
Meh, what's a little soul eating between friends?

>>38903730
...She can eat fucking souls! That has to be about a dozen forms of heresy and both suggests a significant amount about magic and possibilities in this universe and that it is quite possibly one of the WORST ways to go in all likelihood.

Hell, I thought she just ate memories.

>>38903794
I'm sure souls grow back.

>>38903713
Who are we to challenge the natural food chain?

>>38903794
She told us she ate souls when she took human form, how since it was in her belly she would register as human if they looked for her. We knew already.

>>38903673

"That's a lie. You're afraid. You've always been."
She transfixes you with her gaze.

Nothing happens. You look away a moment later, unwilling to push your luck in that regard.
"I'm not. Maybe I was. But not anymore."

"Do you need a reminder?"
Are those fangs?

"No! Don't you dare. You can't harm me while I still bear at least one request. This is just empty posturing. And you know what, that's everything you are!"

She stands up as fast as a lightning strike, back ramrod straight. She sounds absolutely furious.
"You want to be my master, human? Then you better use those requests to make it so. Burn you only two lifelines away. And that's exactly what they are."

They are?

"What exactly do you think is going to happen to you when you've used up your last two wishes? Think about it."

She turns and starts walking out of the inn.

"Oi! Get back here! You can't leave!"

"Then wish me back, moron!"
She doesn't even turn back to look at you.

> Do exactly that.

> Follow her

> Wait for her to come crawling back.

> Other

>>38903849
Shit has hit the fan!

>>38903849
>Follow her
I warned you about reckonings bro! I told you dog!

>>38903849
>> Wait for her to come crawling back.
To hell with it. If she gets herself arrested she can change back into a snake and slither out. Better to give her time to cool off.

>>38903849
> Wait for her to come crawling back.

>>38903849
>> Wait for her to come crawling back.
Go grab some more alchemical ingredients.

>>38903849
>Wait for her to come crawling back.

>>38903883
You know the OP has wanted this shit to get posted this whole time.

>leaving the socially retarded deadly snake to her own devices
what could possibly go wrong?

Also, I'd like to point out young monster quest as a reason why you ALWAYS assert your dominance on eldrich horrors early on. They'll hate you for it but they wont get your entire city eaten by bats or purged by angels...

> Wait for her to come crawling back.

You know what? Fuck it. You're staying right here. Not moving. What is she going to do without you out here? Get arrested probably. She still has her mysterious reasons for wanting to get away from the forest and she doesn't have a clue how to travel through human lands. She surely needs you more than you need her.

Maybe she'll come crawling back in a literal sense, as a snake on her belly in the dirt. When you think about them that way, their whole existence sounds truly pathetic.
You conveniently forget that her snake form fucking terrifies you for the purpose of your internal tirade.

You're just going to stay here and wait. You've made up your mind. You just need something to help pass the time.

> Go check out the inn room

> Talk to the innkeeper about the river situation

> Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.

> Definitely don't go and follow her. Don't back down on it now.

>>38904026
>> Talk to the innkeeper about the river situation
> Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.
Are water pills a thing? If we know how to make em we could get a mint.

>>38904026
>Talk to the innkeeper about the river situation
>Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.

>>38904026
> Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.

>>38904026
>> Talk to the innkeeper about the river situation
>> Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.

>>38904026
> Talk to the innkeeper about the river situation

> Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.

Worst case scenerio she leaves for good and were down two wishes, we will be only mildly worse off than before. Unless she gets clever and finds an indirect way to murder us (oh hey, that guy is a selling some dangerous alchemy stuff), or some other feudal apprentice bullshit.

>>38904152
Which is why we alchemy it up. Stun bombs and smoke grenades are great for GTFOing.

>>38904197
And this is why I voted for the alchemist.

>Talk to the innkeeper about the river situation
>Brew up a bunch of alchemy for later use.

You pop out your new cauldron and immediately run into a problem. Alchemy typically requires the act of boiling, the essential union between the elements of fire and water. You can whip up some substandard brews without one of them as you have done earlier but you can't do without both. You need either fire or water.

You ask the innkeeper if you can use your fireplace and he's willing to accept, provided that you cook up some waterless alcohol which is a thing you can do.

But doing it just over the fire would result in potions that are not at full potency. This wouldn't be a problem but these are some good ingredients you got from the apothecary and you're not sure if you want to waste them.

You sidle back up to the innkeeper.
"What's the price of water these days anyway?"

"It varies depending on Old Bart's opinion of you. The guardsmen get water for free provided they don't obstruct him for example. I myself have to pay a full signet every day."

Ugh. You don't have any money left at all. Makes you wish you could just alchemy up water itself but you can't, any more than you can craft fire itself.

You don't think the innkeeper would be likely to give you a loan.

> Just make the shitty brews

> Go and see if you can wrangle a deal with this wizard.

> Just go to the river upstream and nobble some.

> Other

>>38904272
>> Go and see if you can wrangle a deal with this wizard.
Fucking wizards...

>>38904272
> Go and see if you can wrangle a deal with this wizard.
Can we make the equivalent of little blue pills? Seems like he might like that.

>>38904272
>> Just go to the river upstream and nobble some.
Nobbling is always the best course of action. Except when it isn't.

>>38904272
>Go and see if you can wrangle a deal with this wizard.

>>38904272
> Just go to the river upstream and nobble some.

File: WizardPunch.png (41 KB, 620x400)

41 KB PNG

>>38904272
>> Just make the shitty brews
Wizards. No sense of right and wrong.

We appear to be at an impasse here...

>>38904463
3 for wizard
2 for nobbling
1 for shitty brews.

>>38904480
oh... I can't math apparently...

File: 1400285362834.jpg (41 KB, 757x430)

41 KB JPG

>>38904463
I blame the wizards.

> Go and see if you can wrangle a deal with this wizard.

The innkeeper shakes his head at your intentions but gives you directions to Bart's Wizard Lair.
"You might get lucky. He's been fond of travelers before."

The sun is dropping low in the sky as you leave the inn, wizard bound.

You're not sure what you were expecting a bonafide Wizard Lair to look like. A tower or a cave somewhere probably? But the innkeeper's directions lead you to a solid yet respectable little townhouse in the good part of Lesser Arlinton.

Old Bart stands is on the doorstep, just about to leave when you get there. He's a tall fat man in a big plaid shirt and a pair of trousers held up by long-suffering suspenders. He has the traditional beard but it grows wider than it does long.
He forces out a smile as you approach.

"Howdy traveler. I can tell you're new about these parts. Looking for a deal? I've got the best water prices in town! Just make it quick, I've got places to be."

> Try to negotiate a way to get free water. Possibly pay him in potions?

> Nobble him while he's not looking for the sake of the townsfolk.

> "What do you know about magical beasts?"

> Ask him what his current business is and if it's alright if you can just wait.

> Challenge him to a wizard duel.

> Other

>>38904595
> Try to negotiate a way to get free water. Possibly pay him in potions?

>>38904595
>> Try to negotiate a way to get free water. Possibly pay him in potions?

Who knows, maybe he has erectile disfunction.

> "What do you know about magical beasts?"

He probably knows more than we do about snakes...

Also did we pick up that shed snake skin?

>>38904595
>> Ask him what his current business is and if it's alright if you can just wait.
And when his back is turned...
> Nobble him while he's not looking for the sake of the townsfolk.
To nobble or not to nobble, that is the question.

And the answer is yes, nobble the shit out of everything.

>>38904595
> Try to negotiate a way to get free water. Possibly pay him in potions?
> "What do you know about magical beasts?"

>>38904620
>Also did we pick up that shed snake skin?

Yes, you did. You generally pick up anything alchemically interesting and store it away automatically. It's part of your nobbling skill.

>>38904595
> Try to negotiate a way to get free water. Possibly pay him in potions?
We ought to avoid magical beast talk considering we're trying to keep the magic snake a secret

>>38904660
We can literally just say we found the skin of one... we literally have the shed skin with us and thats enough probable reason to want to learn about them and to know about them... Also we know that it probably is potent as fuck alchemically speaking but have no idea whatsoever how a snakeskin might be used...

>>38904679
You're abusing the word literally, anon. And ellipses

Rolled 6 (1d6)

Seem to be at a tie between just negotiating or negotiating and asking about magical beasts/snake-skin.

1-3 the former, 4-6 the latter.

>>38904806
> Try to negotiate a way to get free water. Possibly pay him in potions?
> "What do you know about magical beasts?"

"I just need a little water sir. I'm an alchemist. I don't have any coin but I can pay you with some of the potions I'll make using that water."

His eyes narrow.
"So what you're saying is that you want me to pay you the water up front?"

"I guess you could s-"

"What's to stop you from just taking the water for your 'alchemy' and then skipping town?"

Why would you even do that? Isn't he aware that water isn't valuable anywhere else that doesn't have water wizards extorting everyone?
You keep those words down.

"Perhaps I could trade in knowledge."

You pull the snake-skin from your pack and show it to him. He rips it from your grasp, poring over it with sudden fascination.
"Where did you get this, dear boy?"

"Just found it in the forest."

"The forest you say."
He peers over the horizon with beady eyes.
"Yes. This is worth some water. Do you know what this is?"

"No."
You say it confidently. You know, like a liar.

"This is a shed skin. Left by who knows what. But whatever it is, it just oooozes magic! A living specimen of something like this my boy, could be worth more than all the water in this entire town put together!"

He shakes you vigorously by the hand.
"You'll get your water and then some. And by golly, my business can wait! I need to be using this as a scry focus post haste!"

He starts to bustle off.

> "Hey, I wasn't actually selling that!"

> Let him take it and go back to the inn with your newfound water to brew.

> Hold on. If he uses that particular skin for a scrying...Nobble it off of him.

> Let him take it and get your water. Then go find Hiss.

> Other

>>38905071
> Hold on. If he uses that particular skin for a scrying...Nobble it off of him.
THIS IS BAD

>>38905071
>Hold on. If he uses that particular skin for a scrying...Nobble it off of him.
FUCK
We're about to steal from a wizard
This is going to end horribly.

>>38905071
>> Hold on. If he uses that particular skin for a scrying...Nobble it off of him.
Failing that accidentally tear it. Usually damaged focuses are unusable or worse explosive.

>tfw everyone ignores my warnings

>Showing a wizard the snake skin
Bunch of retards, it's supposed to be a secret, we don't need a wizard pesteringus.

>Hold on. If he uses that particular skin for a scrying...Nobble it off of him.

You know exactly where that skin would lead him. But why do anything about it? She certainly hasn't done much to engender sentiment. She is rude, obnoxious and probably really evil to boot.

But that doesn't mean you have to be.

As he turns away from you, you snatch the skin straight from his fingers. His face gives rise to an expression of righteous indignation as he does so.
"You DARE DENY ME?"

His fingers twist into a series of arcane gestures, no doubt preparing to destroy you on the spot. So you punch him in face.
"Sorry! No sale!"

You then run like hell. Down through the fancy districts, tracing a path that gets you anywhere, as long as it is away from the wizard. The people still out stare at you. Some of the guards are getting suspicious, reasoning that anyone running this hard has to be guilty of something.

And then you hear the rumbling. It starts out quiet and deep in the ground but grows and grows and grows. The very earth itself begins to shake.

You hear something not dissimilar to a great clap of thunder as a huge plume of water bursts from the ground. It's far away, all the way back at the wizard's townhouse but it's so huge that it can be seen all over town.
The people are screaming and even the guards are panicking, despite their alliance with the wizard.

The geyser strikes forth into the sky and then begins to bend, unnatural moving so that it forms a horizontal wall of water flying over the town. It's unbelievably fast and is over your head in seconds.

Standing at the very top of it is Old Bart transformed. His plain pedestrian clothes traded in for a patchwork robe and a long staff clutched in one hand, his other clenched into a fist as he directs the titanic mass of water.
He also has a bloody nose, which rather detracts from the vision of fury he is trying to present.
1/2

>>38905318
God we are fucked, bunch of dumbasses.

>>38905318

His voice booms out loud enough to rattle windows.

"WHO DARES STEAL AND LAY HANDS UPON THE GREAT AND MIGHT BARTHOLOMEW! I, WHO IS THE FURY OF THE STORM, THE STRENGTH OF THE WAVE, LORD OF THE RIVER.."

Yeah this goes on for a while. Wizards.

> Keep running

> Beg for your life

> Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.

> Other

>>38905355
>> Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.

>>38905355
> Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.

>>38905355
> Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.
Use those excellent ingredients we got from the dry riverbed

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>38905355
>Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.

>>38905355
> Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.

>>38905355
> Keep running

> Brew like a madman, since there's all this water about.

You take out your cauldron and your ingredients, both the ones you bought from the apothecary and the ones you plucked from the dry riverbed.
There's water a plenty now that it's slopping down from all over the sky. And with a brazier that's been abandoned by a baked scorpion vendor, you have both elements at your beck and call.

He hasn't seemed to have seen you yet but that should change any moment now. You're scared as hell but thanks to Hiss the last day or so has been excellent training to immunize yourself to it.

What do you brew, now that you have quality ingredients and all the elements you could ever need? You have time to brew TWO. You may choose to double-up on a single recipe.

> A nonlethal poison that should be able to put him down for a time.

> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.

> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.

> Alcohol so you can meet death completely inebriated.

Also, a separate choice.

> Pray that you survive, oh spirits save me etc. It's okay to be scared.

> No weakness. No prayer.

>>38905503
> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.
> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
Fuck him, he is ruining the whole town.
> Pray that you survive, oh spirits save me etc. It's okay to be scared.

>>38905503
> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.
>Make a short Prayer as a nod to the spirits. Give them their due then make your own luck.

>>38905536
You do have a skinning knife in your backpack, yes.

>>38905503
>A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
> Pray that you survive, oh spirits save me etc. It's okay to be scared.
Only a fool is fearless.

>>38905503


>> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
>> A nonlethal poison that should be able to put him down for a time.

We can always just slit his throat when he's unconscious.

By the way, do we have a knife? Every traveller, gentleman, and farmer should always have a knife.


> Pray that you survive, oh spirits save me etc. It's okay to be scared.

>>38905503
> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.
> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
> Pray that you survive, oh spirits save me etc. It's okay to be scared.

>>38905503
>> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.
>> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.

>>38905596
>>38905584
>>38905583
>>38905549
>>38905542
You all realize praying will probably use up one of our requests right?.

>>38905669
You realize that the wizard is more than capable of destroying our anus? If you fags didn't decide to show him the skin none of this would have happened.

>>38905669
Why on Earth would that be the case? I mean, I'm not ruling it out, but I visualize it less as "I sure do WISH that this guy wasn't attacking me!" and more of an "Ohfuckohfuckohfuck" kind of thing. It'd be kinda dickish to just spring that on the players.

>>38905669
Hence why I changed the write in to what I did.

>>38905686
Oh wah.

>>38905691
Snake is a spirit anon. Prayer hard and devout means she could hear.

>>38905669
Nope. It has to be an intentional wish, not just prayer

>>38905669
Bullshit. A wish is a command over the will of the snake directly.
A prayer is exhortation for divine aid and intervention, which in this case is not being directed to any single or specific entity.

If the snake shows up and cashes in a wish I'm going to want a damn refund.

>>38905737
That's not the way wishes work with snakes. Read the last thread.

>>38905503
>> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.
>> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
>> No weakness. No prayer.
Prayer is a distraction. We cannot afford a distraction right now.

> Nah screw that. Lethal poison.
> A blaze of irritating sticky smoke that both chokes and burns and can be delivered via non-potion means.
> Pray that you survive, oh spirits save me etc. It's okay to be scared.

You grab two bottles that were previously being put to no good use in this waterless town. The poison goes in the first and you scoop up the smoke into the second. Yes, you can bottle smoke. It’s alchemy.

Now you just need a way to deliver them to their target, Old Bart's face. If he just stays up there all day it might be a problem. At least he hasn't seen you yet.

"THERE YOU ARE, YOU WORTHLESS VAGRANT!"

Never mind. It starts with rain, huge drops that strike down with the force of crossbow bolts, all of them in a great torrent that the wizard slowly drags towards you with his staff hold in both hands to manage the recoil.

You keep running because you're not sure what else to do at this point. You turn a corner and some part of your mind starts up a desperate prayer. You don't want to die like this. You really really don't.

Just before you have to figure out some sort of trick to lure the wizard down, a hand grabs you by the foot and pulls you through a briefly open doorway.

You barely manage to keep hold of both your brews as you tip over. You get back up, looking around at your new surroundings.

It's a small but well-furnished house. Cozy would be the right word for it you suppose. But the place has been ransacked, with blankets stuffed into the cracks of windows and everything else scattered about save an empty space right before the fireplace, which is blazing with a heat you'd generally consider unwise.

You already know who's going to be here before you even see them.

"You don't have to be so loud," Hiss says, uncurling from where she was reclining in front of the fire.

Wait if she's there, who pulled you in?
The door is shut by a heavyset man with a haunted look in his eyes.

1/2

>>38905851
The man looks at you with despair.
"Please, whoever you are, just do as she says. I have a wife and a baby boy and I haven't seen them since she showed u-"

"Ssssh. If you keep that racket up, you never will."
Hiss seems quite at ease here. You decide that you may want to ignore just what the fuck is happening here and focus on more pressing matters.

"That didn't count as a request did it?"

"No, you fool. But I don't fancy being in the town razed by an uppity wizard. Are you going to do something about this?"

> "Yes but I need a way for him to get down to the ground."

> "Yes and it was well in hand without you."

> "Actually we might just be able to sneak out and leave the town to the wizard."

> "What have you been DOING?"

> Other

>>38905903
> "Yes but I need a way for him to get down to the ground."
We don't need to get uppity right now.

>>38905903
>"Yes but I need a way for him to get down to the ground."

>>38905903
>> "Yes but I need a way for him to get down to the ground."
>>"...What happened to this man's wife and child?"

>>38905903
> "Yes but I need a way for him to get down to the ground."

> "Yes but I need a way for him to get down to the ground."

She perks up.
"I think I can handle that. Between you and this little experience I've had here, I think I have a pretty good idea about how you humans work now."
She pulls out a bundled cloak that was lying by the fire. She doesn't wear it though. Just holds it in her arms.
"Could you please lend my your knife?"

> Give her the knife.

> "Hm. No."

> Oh hell no. If she thinks she can pull off some 'unexplained plan' bullshit when your life is on the line, she's got another thing coming.

>>38906044
>Give her the knife
>Ask for her plan
God, we can't be uppity about everything, I doubt that we have enough time to do so.

>>38906044
"Depends, what do you plan on using it for?"

>>38906044
> Give her the knife.

>>38906044
> Give her the knife.

>>38906092
>>38906086
>>38906134

You pull the skinning knife from your pack and hold it out to her.
"One thing first. What do you plan on using it for?"

"I'm going to threaten the wizard."
Hmph. Well you're not sure how a knife can do that when he's all the way up there but it sounds like a noble goal regardless. You pass it over.

"Uh, how exactly will it threaten the wizard?"

She's already kicking the door open and walking into the street, bundle in one hand and knife hidden in the other. There's still a crowd of people cowering about, having no real place to go.

Hiss then lets out a piteous wail, one that pierces through even the wizard's thunderous laughter. It sounds genuinely heart-rending, a scream of sorrow and loss.
There's no way she had it in her. She had to have stolen and copied it from someone else.

Even the wizard pauses briefly to look down as Hiss unwraps the cloak to reveal a baby held in her arms. From your close vantage point you can see that the baby is still sleeping even now. That and the hand clutched to its chest makes you think that she must dropped one of her eye-trance whammies on it.
"My baby! He won't move! You killed my baby!"
Once again, it sounds genuine and there's no doubt in anyone's mind that a stray water bolt could have struck the child.

Old Bart draws to a halt, the water hanging in the air.
"No!" he shouts. "I'm just an...an entrepreneur! I wouldn't do that! Never!"
He's turned his voice off and you can hear the tremor of uncertainty and dread.

"Oh so you do care about this baby then. Well I'm not his mother."
Her other hand comes out, holding the knife. At the same moment, the trance releases itself and the baby starts to kick and scream, instinctively aware of the predator grasping him.

"It's good that you care about this baby because I will kill him unless you come down right here right now."

What. The man behind you moans in despair.

Options in next post

>>38906278
GODDAMMIT HISS WE CAN'T TAKE YOU ANYWHERE

>>38906278

>No. Nooooo. Stop her. There has to be a better way.

> She probably won't kill the baby. Just get ready to throw the brews.

> Oh man fuck everyone involved in this. Maybe there's a way out that involves ditching all of them.

>>38906305
>No. Nooooo. Stop her. There has to be a better way.
>Do it yourself
She doesn't has to dirty her hands for our own fuck up.

>>38906305
>She probably won't kill the baby. Just get ready to throw the brews.
Fucking chaotic neutrals/evils.

>>38906305
> She probably won't kill the baby. Just get ready to throw the brews.

>>38906305
>> She probably won't kill the baby. Just get ready to throw the brews.
>>Call to Hiss in a whisper from out of sight and earshot of the crazy wizard, tell her if she kills that baby she won't be leaving this town alive.

>>38906278
>> She probably won't kill the baby. Just get ready to throw the brews.
Also >>38906367... and holy shit shes cold blooded, in more ways than one.

> She probably won't kill the baby. Just get ready to throw the brews.

"You wouldn't dare!"
The wizard is furious but he's also holding back his wrath, his eyes fixated on the screaming infant.

She draws the knife inexpertly along the baby's forehead, raising a thin line of blood.
"Oh and one more thing. Disarm yourself before you come down here, you old fool."

Old Bart dismisses the waterspout, letting it retract back under the earth from whence it came. When he gently drifts to the ground, he is armed with only a single small ball of water hovering over his staff.

You burst out the door and throw the smoke-brew first, hitting the wizard on the side of the head with a nasty sounding crack. He screams as he becomes engulfed in nasty-smelling smoke but the scream quickly devolves into spluttered coughing as he tries to desperately breathe. The ball of water on his staff breaks open and falls to the ground in a harmless spray.

You run in, the bottle of poison held in one hand and your knife in the oth-wait damn Hiss has your knife, how could you forget?
Oh well, you'll just have to make do.

But then the street quakes with a sudden roar of righteous anger as Old Bart batters the smoke away from himself. His cheeks are bulging, his entire face distorting from within.

He exhales a great blast of cloying water vapour, one that hits you full on with enough force to knock you over. And it just keeps going and going, until the entire street is covered by a fog that could be more accurately called a groundbound cloud.

As you struggle to get up, poison still in your hand, a staff strikes your arm in a vicious blow. Old Bart strides out of the fog, dry heaving with exertion.
"To think I would have to call up my inner reservoir...for scum like you. You dare challenge a wizard with alchemical toys?"

He digs his staff into your back with excruciating force. The fog is starting to condense around it, rearming him with more and more water every second.

1/2

>>38906525

And then from behind his bloated form, Hiss! She moves without sound, her arm whipping out to strike Bart in the exposed forearm!
Nothing happens when she does.

She has just enough time to look confused before he pivots his staff and fires off all the water it had formed at once, a horizontal geyser that slams her up against the wall and then freezes to keep her locked in place.
She tries to break the forming ice but can't.
"Wh-Why don't you awful humans have any way to break the skin?"

Her last complaint is drowned out by more water.

It's just you and Old Bart now. You've used the time Hiss bought you to get to your feet but his staff is back and pointed in your direction. His hand quivers but his aim is true. He might be furious but it's not like it was before. It is a cold rage.
"How dare you...both of you! You take up the hospitality of MY town and you threaten a child? A baby? What's wrong with you?"

> "To be honest it wasn't my idea."

> Just throw the poison bottle at him and hope for the best.

> Try to rush him down and force the poison down his lips.

> Hold out the poison bottle. "Watch out! This contains an explosive concoction!"

> Surrender

> Other

>>38906597
>> "To be honest it wasn't my idea."
>> Just throw the poison bottle at him and hope for the best.

WIZARDS!

>>38906597
> Hold out the poison bottle. "Watch out! This contains an explosive concoction!"

Fucking wizards.

>>38906597
> Just throw the poison bottle at him and hope for the best.

> Just throw the poison bottle at him and hope for the best.

"To be honest it wasn't my i-whoops!"
You throw the bottle of poison right at his face. The fat man is somehow agile enough to intercept it with his staff but the force causes the bottle to shatter, poison spraying all over him.
"Urgh? No!"
The poison stops in mid-air, deflected by a sudden thin wall of water. But all that water had to come from somewhere...
Hiss slides off the wall, the ice weakened enough it can no longer hold her.
"How do you people manage anything?"
She's still complaining.
"How can I get my venom into someone when your human fingernails can't break skin? Why else do you have these?"

Both of you approach the wizard from different angles, Hiss stalking while you stumble around as if you'd been the one frozen up.
Old Bart screws up his face and levitates what water he has left into a spinning ring around his body. He's running out of energy thanks to his big displays of power and two angles at once now have him on the defensive.

Hiss suddenly starts scratching herself, dragging furrows down her skin.

> Ask her what she's doing.

> Attack Old Bart

> Run

> Surrender

>>38906734
>> Attack Old Bart
Punch him in the dick.

>>38906734
Kick him in the balls!

>>38906734
> Attack Old Bart

>>38906734
>Attack Old Bart
We should eat his heart after we kill him. To gain his power.

>>38906875
That's a thing with wizards right?

I'm pretty sure it's a thing.

>Attack Old Bart

You decide to just run up and kick the wizard in the balls. You don't exactly succeed. As you get close to him, the ring of water deforms into a spray of freezing water that engulfs you. You are forced to ground as cold overwhelms you, your entire body beginning to shut down all at once.

Old Bart laughs and then screams because in the tiny distraction you created where his defensive circle was occupied, a black snake with a red underbelly has sprung forward and has latched its fangs around his neck.

Then you finally give in to the cold and you see no more.

***

It's cold. It's very very cold. That's the first thing you notice as you pry your eyes open. You're lying out on top of a hilltop in the middle of the day. The sun is shining and there's not a single cloud in the sky. It shouldn't be this cold but the cold is still within you, clawing at you from the inside.

Lying beside you on the grass is Hiss, back in her human form. She's almost completely still but her head turns smoothly to face you the moment you make a sound.
"It's about time."

"Wh-what happened?"
Your teeth won't stop chattering.

"Wizard died. The river started flowing again and I suppose all of the humans are happy. I didn't kill the baby by the way."

"H-hooray?"

"But still, all of the humans were so obsessed with what I had done, even though I didn't kill it! I had to take my patronage elsewhere lest they did something they might regret."

Translation: She ran.
"N-not surprised. That baby shit was m-messed up."

"I just don't get it," she complains. "I eat eggs all the time. You gave me eggs to eat when we first met. You fed me a baby then. How was that different?"

"I-it just was."
You really don't have time to argue ethics with a creature that has no grasp of human morality at all.

A long pause.

"A-and you t-took me?"

"Naturally. I do have to protect your life when I can. It's part of the deal. Besides, it'll make all the more sweet when I kill you myself."

1/2

>>38906932
"Th-thanks."
You'll take them where you can get them, at this point.

"I also have thissssss."
She leans over you and reaches past you into something you can't see right now because of your immobility.
In her hands is Old Bart's staff.
"This is useless to me. Maybe you can figure out something to do with it?"

You drop the staff immediately, fingers still too frozen to really clutch at anything.
"M-maybe. I-It seemed to have a lot of p-power in it."

A long pause as you wait for the sun to thaw you out. It doesn't. After thinking it over, you start to talk again.
"B-but the power in this didn't help Bart in the end. He died because we both fought him together. Maybe t-that was the true power the whole time."

You said that in humor but Hiss stops as if she's seriously considering.
"No," she says after a while. "I think me secretly being a snake was. He didn't expect that all."

You sigh and turn over. Hiss is probably the worst person you know by a fair mile. But...

Hm. You're not sure how to follow that up. But what? Why should you not loathe her?

You're still pondering the question when you fall asleep.

Alright, ending for tonight, archived, etc etc. I'll do one tomorrow but it'll likely be very different. Details on twitter probably.

>>38907059
Interesting quest so far, definitely has the potential to be quite good. I'm excited to see how this goes.

>>38907059
I'm digging this quest OP, looking forward to the next one.