>>40741616
You stop at Earka's house, walk up the creaky wooden steps, and knock on his door. A few moments later, you can hear footsteps approaching, and then see a familiar hooded figure open the door.

"Hello, Ilafi. Come on in, sit down."
Still can't see his face. You walk in, and sit down in one of his chairs.
"How was work?"
You almost died. "Eventful."
"Good to hear. I think you'll fit in just nicely here."
That's what he thinks. "I guess."

He takes a seat in the chair across from yours. The terrible lighting in here drives you mad.
"So, I called you down here for a reason. I want to ask you a few questions, partially because we need to know a little more about you, and to get an idea of conditions up there. Our knowledge of the above isn't perfect, so we'd like you to do your best to recall as much as you can."

Hmm... "Okay."

"First, can you tell me about how many Sunlit were in the city?"
"On tax days and in the trading groups, they come in pretty large numbers."
"How large?"
"I saw at least uh... three dozen last tax day."
"How many armed?"
"Seemed like all of them."
"Damn. They're really improving security."

He takes a pen and starts taking notes on a pad, holding it up close to his hidden face.

"Now, can you tell me a bit about your family?"

>Tell him about your family.
>Make something up.
>"I'm not comfortable talking about them."

>>40741634
>>Tell him about your family.

>>40741634
>Tell him about your family.

>>40742103
>>40742747
Tell him about your family.

"Sure." Where to start? You guess it'd be best to start with Mother.

"Well, my mother raised me by herself. For as long as I can remember she's done everything she could to help me out, working extra long hours, make sure I ate, all of that. Whenever I would hallucinate violently she would always hold me and hum songs until I snapped out of it. ...There wasn't a sacrifice she wouldn't have made for me."

"She sounds like a wonderful woman." Earka begins jotting something down on that pad of his, listening very carefully to your every word.

"Yes." You really didn't appreciate her as much as you could have. The thought makes you sad.

"So you said she raised you alone."

"Yes, uh, my dad died when I was very young. I never got a chance to meet him. I heard that he was murdered by the Sunlit."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that." Well, it's better than him hearing the full story... "Do you have any extended family?"

"Well, Grandmother passed a long time ago, but I remember her being a very nice person who would always provide something for us to eat when Mother couldn't put food on the table. Mother was sad when she died. I'm pretty sure I'm an only child, too. Sometimes I see kids that look like me, but I think that was just me hallucinating. They visit and stare at me, and I don't know what to think. I haven't seen anybody else like that since I've gotten here, though."

"I see." He continues writing. You wonder what he needs all this for.

"Is that all?"

"Hmm... Do you think you could give me their names? For the sake of the records?"

>Give names.
>Make shit up.
>Come up with an excuse for why you need to leave.
>Write in.

>>40743414
>Why? What are these records for?
>Make shit up.

>>40743414

>Give names.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>40743572
>>40743575
as a general rule i'm gonna roll at ~15 minutes after the first response whenever a choice must be made

>>40743572
>>40743575
Give me a second, it's about ready, I need to attend to something, then you all have my full attention once again.

>>40743572
>>40743575
Give names.

"Uh, sure." Maybe this is a good idea, maybe it's a bad one, but ultimately, you feel like you can trust Earka. You've got to trust someone.

"My grandmother's name was Twenjah, and my mother's name was Esjah. Fairly common names."

"Interesting. And your father?" Oh boy...

"According to my mother, his name was Kudla."

He stops cold. "Kudla?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you said he was murdered by Sunlit."

"Yes." Looks like he's putting two and two together.

He puts his pad down to the side, and clasps his hands together, twiddling his thumbs.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave for the moment. Right this second."

>Get out.
>Ask why.
>Request to know more about your father.
>Write in.

>>40746497
>Ask why.
>>Request to know more about your father.

>>40746497
>Get out.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>40746555
>>40747355
rolling it

>>40746555
>>40747355
Request to know more.

"Why? Tell me more about him, I need to kn-"

"Get out of my house! Did you start hallucinating again and suddenly think I said you could kick up your feet and get comfortable? No!" He's shouting so loud the neighbors might hear. "You think you can just come into my home and tell me what to do? You really do take after that piece of shit. I'm not going to tell you again, leave!"
He stands up, and starts walking off to another room.
"If I turn around and you're not on the other side of the door we are going to have problems, boy."

Well, that was something. You wonder what he might do if you stay. He sounds furious.

>Persist.
>Leave him alone.

>>40748242
>Leave him alone.

>>40748242
>Leave him alone.
What the fuck.

>>40748333
>>40748364
You should probably just drop it. It's clearly a touchy subject.
Standing up, you begin to walk out the door, and close it behind you.
As you follow the road to your house, you wonder why he was so angry with you. Did he really hate your father that much?

Pushing open the door, you're surrounded once again by the familiar walls of your new home, and take a seat in a chair. "This is just too much." Letting out a long sigh, you decide that it's not worth worrying about. What you should worry about is how hungry you are. There's still some leftover food from before, so head to the bathroom and wash your hands and face before walking over to the dining table.

Peculiarly, the food you set aside isn't there, instead, it's a hunk of wonderful-looking bread along with a platter of cooked, seasoned mushrooms and vegetables. How did they provide this for you? Sitting down, you pick up a fork and dig into your meal, surprised by how wonderful it all tastes. The flavor is somewhat familiar, but you can't put a finger on it.

Then you take a nice big bite out of the bread, which makes your eyes go wide with delight. Before long the whole thing's almost gone. When was the last time you had bread that soft and delicious?

"Do you like it?" Who was that? A woman's voice?
Someone steps into the room from behind you. Turning around sharply, you're stunned when you discover that it's your grandmother, Twenjah. "I made it just for you, Ilafi. Just like I did for your birthday. Remember that?" You do. It was wonderful.

Mother had had a very hard time paying the bills that year, and she was working dangerous hours, hours that should have been illegal to work someone. And yet she did it anyway, all for you. Mother was finally able to stop working so hard after your 13th birthday, because Grandmother arranged the money to keep food on the table for the rest of the year. You don't know how she did it, but it really saved you.

[cont.]

>>40750706
"Don't eat all the bread at once, now. I know it's nice, but good things don't last forever. Take the time to enjoy and memorize the taste." Grandmother gives you a big, bright smile.
She's just like you remember her. Short, long-eared, long white flowing hair, and very wrinkly. Her big grin made up of misaligned teeth was incredibly contagious, and she was always smiling. Perhaps when you live that long and see as much as she's seen, all you really can do is smile. You think she was about 160 when she finally died. Died. Your grandmother is dead. This woman is not your grandmother. ...What's going on?

>"You aren't real. Please leave me alone."
>Continue eating and talking with her. She makes you happy.
>Quickly make your way to the door.

>>40750771
>"You aren't real. Please leave me alone."

>>40750771
>"You aren't real. Please leave me alone."

>>40750771
>"You aren't real. Please leave me alone."