>>39452308

> Ask more about it.

Yeah, that’s what you thought. There’s definitely something fishy going on here. She looks so sad about it that you almost don’t want to push the matter. But perhaps your heart has been hardened in recent weeks and besides, you feel like you might need to know later.
“What do you mean, wizardly?”

She swallows, doing her best to look you in the eye.
“Don’t you know? Are you really his friend?”

“I only met him after he was who he was,” you say, accidentally answering the latter question as well as the former.

“His name wasn’t even Eugene,” she starts, before a small sob interrupts her. It’s from her own throat.
“He was Tillan, my only son. He was going to bring our family back its fortune, that’s what he told me. By any means he could. And then- And then he left and he was gone for so long and…”

And Tillan Trebain had never come back. Someone named Eugene had instead.

She sits down, having given up any pretense of further dancing lessons. She doesn’t cry but she holds her hands to her face regardless.

There are only a few minutes remaining before you have to leave for the royal ball.Only time enough for one action.

> Comfort her.

> Find Eugene.

> Find Hiss & Oster.

> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.

> Other

>>39452328
Make a snake scale identification brew

>>39452367
A few minutes isn't enough time to create a new potion unfortunately. Dancing was chosen instead.

>>39452328
>> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.

>>39452328
> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.
>>39452406
Unfortunate.

>>39452328
> Comfort her.
> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.

>>39452328
> Comfort her.
> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.
> Promise to try to figure out what happened to her son, and do what we can to fix it.

So guys, about becoming a wizard... I'm starting to think its a bad idea?

>>39452328
>> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.
> Comfort her.

> Mix up a reinvigoration brew for her.

You're really not sure what do here. Do you comfort her? And if so, how do you even go about that? Everything in this situation is more or less foreign ground.
So you decide to stick to what you know and prepare a cold mix.

You pass her the cup and she accepts it gratefully, drinking it without hesitation. She holds her head higher, lifted from her temporary funk.
"I'm sorry. None of this is your business."

"It's alright, I was the one who asked. Nothing to be ashamed over."

"Still, you don't need to be burdened by my worries. I'm just wasting time here. Let's be on our way."

She slowly gets to her feet and you follow her out the door. Two coaches are standing outside, each one equipped with a surly driver and horse.
"I took the liberty of hiring transportation. Eugene and I will take the first, you and your two friends can ride in the second."

> Agree with this arrangement.

> Ask to ride in the first with her.

> Other

>>39452670
> Agree with this arrangement.

>>39452670
>> Agree with this arrangement
Thank for the lessons, I didn't realize I was so bad at dancing.

>>39452670
> Ask to ride in the first with her.
Who needs Hiss when there is milf?

>>39452670
>Agree with this arrangement.

>>39452670
>> Agree with this arrangement.
Can't leave hiss alone now.

>>39452713
her description was actually rather unattractive but to each their own i suppose

>>39452670
>> Agree with this arrangement.

So guys, why do I think becoming a wizard fundamentally fucks with your soul on some level? I'm starting to think it involves removing your soul, grinding it up, throwing in some of whatever elemental magical fuckery you chose, and then shoving it back into you or your staff.

>>39452814
It's possible. At least now we know why eugene was impatient enough to become a dandelion wizard instead of something better

>>39452814
Probably, we can just be lord high alchemist.

>>39452814
I wonder what would happen if we chose the element "snake."

Also, his powers are definitely marginally more useful and more flexible than he thinks they are, if they were just dandelions everywhere it wouldn't allow him to make healing potions at all, the fact that he can do so suggests he could also make any other potion of similar quality, just requiring him to get into a different mindset.

>>39452887
Sounds like it would literally make us a different person, which means fundamentally killing our self and our very soul on some level, which is scary to me.

>>39452906
Dat spirit bane though.

>>39452982
Spiritbane has been a fucking great trait so far
i'm really glad i suggested hitting the halo with the dispel potion

>Agree with this arrangement.

For a brief moment you consider riding with her and Eugene but then you imagine how awkward that trip would be and swiftly reconsider. Hiss probably wouldn't be too happy either.

Eugene is the first to arrive, clad in an outfit that does its best to actually make so many varying shades of yellow tasteful. You can imagine Withers fretting over that and you suppose he did his best. His head is covered by a yellow beret and his staff is firmly clutched in both hands.
He nods to you before he and his mother depart, their carriage leaving before yours.

Hiss and Oster arrive together, Oster wearing his Ophi-face and dressed in a respectable yet shabby gentleman's cloak. You have no idea where he got that from and you're not sure if you want to know.
Hiss herself is back in the dress she got from Rennington's and you do your best not to stare, especially considering how her few extra inches of height have done ...interesting things with how she fits into it.

Oster opens the carriage door and helps Hiss climb in, holding her hand as she steps in. He's every inch the respectable servant and the coachman nods to him while you grind your teeth.
You brush past him so you can sit next to Hiss, relegating Oster to sitting on the seat opposite the two of you. He doesn't say anything but you can't help but feel that he's keeping a count somewhere.

Hiss shuts the door behind you and your driver wastes no time in cracking his whip, the carriage rattling to life beneath your feet.
Hiss smiles.
"Now this is the proper way to travel. Don't you think?"

"Absolutely, your highness."
Oster is immediate in his reply.

"I suppose so."
You actually like walking. It's grown on you.

You don't know how long this carriage-ride is going to ask but you'll need to fill the silence somehow.

1/2

>>39453043
2/2

> Ask Hiss just how she intends to approach the ambassador.

> Tell Hiss about your vision of her and its similarity with the ambassador.

> Tell them about Eugene and his mother.

> Ask Oster just how he plans to get his sword into the ball.

> Other

>>39453089
> Tell them about Eugene and his mother.

Starting to wonder if we should be concerned that someone can change like that.

>>39453089
> Ask Hiss just how she intends to approach the ambassador.
> Tell Hiss about your vision of her and its similarity with the ambassador.

>>39453089
>> Tell them about Eugene and his mother.

>>39453089
> Ask Hiss just how she intends to approach the ambassador.
> Tell Hiss about your vision of her and its similarity with the ambassador.
>I'm assuming you're going to replace a guard so you can keep your sword, Oster?

>>39453089
> Ask Hiss just how she intends to approach the ambassador.
> Tell Hiss about your vision of her and its similarity with the ambassador.

>>39453089
>> Ask Hiss just how she intends to approach the ambassador.
>> Tell Hiss about your vision of her and its similarity with the ambassador.

> Ask Hiss just how she intends to approach the ambassador.
> Tell Hiss about your vision of her and its similarity with the ambassador.

Hiss is shifting the curtains of the carriage in order to peek out the window. She's smirking.
"You can see the lesser folk beneath us, scurrying out of our way. Yes, this really is the best way to travel."
She looks thoughtful.
"Well that or a palanquin. Being literally borne aloft by the masses has a certain ring to it. Whatever else, I can't deny that the ambassador has taste."

"Speaking of which," you start. "Just how do you plan to approach him tonight?"

Hiss shrugs.
"We'll be doing whatever one does at a ball, I suppose. Mingling. If anything, I think he'll find me."

"Pardon?"

"For better or worse, he saw me. And he wasn't subtle about it either, he picked me out from the crowd without bothering to make it just look like a passing glance or what have you. If he is what I think he is, it could be he might desire an equal to speak with."

You're not actually sure what a constrictor would think of Hiss but you doubt it'll be positive.
"You may have more in common than you know."

She says nothing but simply raises an eyebrow at you, demanding that you continue.

"It's just that his outfit, well, I've seen it before."
You tell her about the start of your vision back when you had accepted her brand.

-You flail out as you fall into the void and Hiss catches you. But not the Hiss you know. This Hiss is clad in a strange assortment of layered robes, each one a slightly different pastel color. You have to crane your head to look up at her because she is somehow at least twice your size in this realm. Her face is hidden by a solemn golden mask and two curled horns rise from her head. Above her head is a shining ring, an unbroken halo of white-gold.-

"He didn't have any horns but that feathered crown he had looked awfully like them, don't you think?"

1/2

>>39453547
2/2

Oster frowns.
"I never saw anything like that when I was branded. The gaze back in time, the King and his predecessors and the spirits they once were...I saw all of that. But what you describe is nonsense."

"I already told him about that, Oster. Back when we...Back when I told him."

You press on.
"Well I can't explain it but I think it might be your spirit form or the like? I don't know."

"Why would my spirit form be a human?" Hiss asks and you don't have an easy answer for that.
"Surely I would be a dragon, like my ancestors before me. And even if I was, I certainly wouldn't have that halo?"

"Eh? Is something wrong with it?"

Hiss looks at you patronizingly.
"You're describing the Creator's symbol aren't you? The unbroken ring. May we forever spite his name."

Yeah. You guess you are. You hadn't really thought about it. You aren't interested in religion.
"And?"

"No spirit bears the Creator's Ring as their halo. They emulate it but all of their halos are deliberate imperfections, to take the symbol of the Creator's self-eating continuity for themselves as their conduit would be unbelievably presumptuous."

"Sounds a lot like you," you say.

She laughs.
"Point. But I wouldn't want to bear his symbol anyway. It's bad enough that my father mocks it with the ouroboros. Neither would I ever want to be a spirit. Could you imagine it, having to be forever dependent on the Dreaming? They're fools, one and all."

"He saw through time," Oster says. "That's par for the course but perhaps this time he saw both ways."

"Nonsense," Hiss says, her temper rising. "I'll hear no more of this foolishness. Think before you imply, both of you."

You're about to speak further on the matter but the carriage suddenly begins to slow.
"Alright gents, lady, we're coming in," the coachman shouts. "Just gotta clear the guards first. They've got some sort of seer out here checking us all down."

2/3

>>39453849
Oh fuck our spiritbane or pant spirit is gonna trigger the seer.

>>39453849
3/3

You freeze. A seer? In public, no less? Almost unheard of. Oh they were common enough but they worked from the shadows and didn't show their faces. It was just how it was done.

"My disguise is flawless," Hiss says, her voice a little unsteady regardless. "There is no problem."

"Likewise," Oster says, sounding much more self-assured.

You can't help but worry anyway.

> Bail! Just get out now, you can find another way in.

> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.

> See if you can nobble the Seer without causing issue.

> Other

>>39453907
> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.
No nobbling yet sadly

>>39453907
>> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.

Don't startle the seer. They're skittish, and easily spooked.

>>39453907
>> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.
Guys, we could probably use snake blood for some sort of potion allowing for fuckery of how our spirit operates or looks, coupled with a shed skin potion we may be able to disguise our very soul. Or kill ourselves by some horrible error, but who knows!

>>39453907
> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.
I'd rather not be apprehended by the guards. And i'm not even sure what nobbling entails in this case

>>39453907
>> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.
Nobbling is the tempting choice. It's probably not the smart one.

>>39453907
> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.

So what are the odds Cennen trips the seer up and not Hiss or Oster?

>>39454098
I'd be surprised if our soul looked totally normal

>>39454098
We're not even fully human anymore, since we'd probably ping as part plant (a concept that literally doesn't exist naturally) a seer would likely have no idea what the heck to make of it and would probably pull us aside out of sheer confusion alone.

Add in spirit bane and you now have what might or might not be a dangerous unknown monster capable of killing divine beings.

>>39454194
>Add in spirit bane and you now have what might or might not be a dangerous unknown monster capable of killing divine beings.

LaughingHiss.jpg

Also were randomly 6 foot 5 which is sketchy for a person so he'd likely think it was a disguise of some form.

>>39454255
It's much stranger for Hiss to be that tall considering that women are typically shorter

>>39454255
Hiss and Oster would be sketchier as Oster is even bigger, and Hiss is a 6'5" female.

> Stay inside, act as if everything is normal.

You decide to just grit your teeth and wait it out. You've got nothing to hide. Well, that isn't true at all. But you need to act like you don't. That's the important thing here.

Still, you can't help yourself from having a little look through the window. There's a small line of carriages ahead of your own, all slowly passing through a set of gates. Walking alongside them are four guards and between them a hooded figure hidden beneath a cloak.

You don't know a lot about seers. The Sight is a magic that defies rational ordering and experimentation in how it works. It's almost always a passive mysticism rather than anything active. Seers themselves are used in nearly every town's guard but since they can work their magic from a distance, they are almost never seen by the travelers they inspect.
To have one out in plain sight (and no doubt more hidden somewhere else) is a show of King Edwin's commitment. He isn't afraid to let it be known that everything is being monitored and inspected, on tonight of all nights.

The seer stops by your carriage and you can see that they are wearing a thick blindfold wrapped around a sallow face that could belong to either gender. Something metallic glitters within the blindfold but you can't make it out.

That doesn't stop the seer from looking at you directly. They pause by your carriage and you can feel your skin suddenly crawl as something peels you apart from without.
You can't help but stare back.

They are nails. You see what they are now. The heads of long thin silver nails, each one pushed through the blindfold and into the unseen eye-socket beneath. What the fuck.

Hiss and Oster might be hidden by sufficient magic but you can't hide. And yet the seer nods and waves you through.
The carriage picks up speed once more as it rides through the gates and towards the palace itself. But what should be a comforting sight now faintly unnerves you.
What just happened there?

1/2

>>39454318
2/2

The carriage pulls to a stop at a set of huge red doors covered in intricate iron latticework.
"Here we are, gents. And lady."

He gets down and pops the door open for you. The courtyard is filled with carriages, finely dressed nobles congregating around each of them. Through the doors themselves you can spy a luxurious corridor framed by the mane-helmed royal guard.

Hiss delicately steps down, Oster immediately behind her. Your exit is a bit more unsteady. What should you do? Everyone is watching you.

> Just enter.

> Find some way to tell Hiss about what just happened without being overheard.

> See if you can detach from the two of them and head back towards the seer.

> Other

>>39454425
> Just enter.
Pray to Hiss Let her know the Seer saw you.

>>39454425
> Find some way to tell Hiss about what just happened without being overheard.
pray about it obviously

>>39454425
>> Find some way to tell Hiss about what just happened without being overheard.

You settle for directing a prayer towards her as you step down, informing her of what had just happened. She looks concerned but can’t reply back or inform Oster just yet. She settles for holding your gloved hand as you all walk in. You are not challenged at the doorway, if anything they seem to be expecting you thanks to Lady Trebain.
To your surprise, Oster surrenders his sword to the guards. What was he going to do if something went wrong then? You can’t help but feel a little naked without your trusty backpack.

You are escorted through a quick flurry of hallways, each one adorned with enough careless luxury to feed a village of peasants for uncounted years. You do you best to control yourself, reigning in your suddenly reawakened nobbler’s instinct towards petty theft as a servant ushers you into the ballroom.

And there you stop.
The room itself is huge, tables run through it with each one holding more food than you might ever see in your lifetime. Chandeliers and candles are lit everywhere, staving off the coming night with little more than a thought.
But it is not the room that gives you pause, it is the people within. You can’t believe there could ever be so many nobles, so many elegant and graceful ladies. It’s almost as if your old fashion catalog had come to life!

They pay no heed to you, living in a different world entirely. And as you begin to tear your eyes off them, you can spot the foreigners. And there are a lot of them also, each ambassador with their own entourage. They stand in a myriad of different colors and shapes, high society of over a dozen different countries.
You can’t see the Quedeshi ambassador in all of this. You don’t even know where to begin. Hiss appears to be in the same boat as you. Only Oster is cheerfully unaffected.

> Just lurk around.

> Do your best to mingle.

> Let Oster show you around.

> Ask someone about the ambassador.
‘
> Find Lady Trebain or Eugene.

> Other

>>39454731
>> Let Oster show you around.

>>39454731
>> Find Lady Trebain or Eugene.
I actually quite like Eugene.

>>39454731
> Let Oster show you around.

>>39454731
> Let Oster show you around.

>>39454731
>> Just lurk around.

>>39454731
>> Just lurk around.
Lurking seems like a good plan. They'll find us.

>>39454731
Ask Hiss if she knows how to dance

I'm starting to feel a little faint. Thread isn't ending but it might be a few minutes before I update.
I need to eat.

>>39454904
You need to take an anti-venom.

Oof, I'm sorry. But it doesn't seem to be going away. I'll have to continue this tomorrow.

>>39455425
Thanks for running then. Night Ouro!

>>39455425
Thanks for running. See you tomorrow.