>>41304546
>Fucking Thirteen.
Oh yeah, Mage Quest is back, m8!

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>>41305975
Holy fuck, I was just about to close this thread, too
Writing.

>>41304546
…Right, how could you have forgotten? You’re thirteen! Not that that’s anything to be excited about, you think bitterly. It’s only been a few weeks since you failed.

Failed to save your Bro, that is.
You close your eyes, shuddering as the memory flashes through your mind-
deathkillerheadPULLgriefslaughterguiltUNRAVELmanazombiefailureuselessBIND
-and then you immediately open your eyes back up.

Bile rushes up your throat, and you immediately rush over to a tree, coughing up your earlier lunch of bear meat and berries. You grimace.

You don’t want to think about what had happened. It horrifies and disgusts you.
You’d killed before, and you’d thought that you had gotten over the fact that you were killing another thinking human being. And, if you do say yourself, you were, at least on the small scale.

But what you did back at Alpha Compound was nothing like an assassination or even an engagement. It was a Slaughter, and the worst part was that it was so Easy.

So many dead. So, so many, and it had taken little more than a thought. Even your former Boss, the Head…

You may not remember what exactly you did except release your aura weapon, but whatever it was, it left a massive crater for miles around, the feeling of uncontrolled mana, and the pungent smell of bodies that were supposed to be there, but weren’t.

You swallow down another pint of bile. You don’t want to blow any more chunks than you have to.
Instead, you breathe in the cool winter air. The harsh chill is strangely comforting. You pull out a map of the Ravaged Continent. You may not precisely know where you are, but nevertheless, thinking about what you should do should be a good option.
Deciding on your destination, you begin to walk.

(1/2)

>>41306511

***
It’s a week or so later that you find yourself in a small village. You don’t know its name, but it was marked on the map, and is seems like a pretty nice place to stop.

Now, what to do?

>Head over to the tavern. That’s where all adventures are supposed to start, right?
>Try the local Adventurers’ Guild. There’s bound to be a mission or two to do.
>Look around the Merchants’ Quarter. Maybe there’s a caravan you could latch on to.

(2/2)

>>41306525
>Head over to the tavern. That’s where all adventures are supposed to start, right?
Actually, no, but it's where they all begin anyway.
Hope there's more people coming, it's sad to see a good thread with only one guy

>>41306586
>>41306586
In all honesty I was thinking of putting this quest under hiatus and starting something else, since this one isn't getting much traction.

Writing.

>>41306706
...what the fuck formatting
Writing.

>>41306525
You decide on heading over to the tavern. That’s where a lot of the stories that you used to read started, so maybe you’ll be able to start a new life there? Who knows.

After managing to locate the damn place after talking to several townsfolk -you need to work on your sense of direction at some point- you stroll in, no one even batting an eye at the fact that someone who shouldn’t even be drinking is walking into a bar.

You glance around the room. The building is small, but the numerous tables and the large bar to the back actually seem well cared for.
In one corner, a pair of men, one of whom is wearing a helmet, appears to be arguing heatedly. The other man, judging by his gruff but authoritative tone, is likely the tavern’s owner. Perhaps you could help them with whatever it is?

In another corner, a plethora of jobs and requests are nailed to a board. All of it is probably small stuff, since the local Guild likely has a monopoly on the high-paying jobs- but who knows?

In a third corner- you blink, and rub your eyes.
Right, you aren’t dreaming. A tall, blue-haired man, wearing a pair of sunglasses is sitting in front of a veritable treasure-trove of food. Sitting next to him, another dark-haired man excitedly talks to him about… something, before both of them begin digging in like it was the last meal of their lives.

>Listen in on the tavern owner and hardhat.
>Look at the job requests.
>Try talking to the two strange men. (About what?)

>>41307066
>Look at the job requests.

>>41307066
Writing.

>>41307066
You shake your head. Yeah, no. You’d rather just go find a monster or something to kill rather than go to the trouble of actually socializing with others. Not to mention that no one is going to trust some dirty thirteen-year-old with no credentials whatsoever.

You walk over to the job board, scanning over the pages of requests by locals, whose requests were probably deemed ‘unimportant’ by the local Guild.
For the most part, the guild was right.

Requests for some help with farming labor, a few papers asking for people to work part-time at a diner down the street, a pained request for help in searching for someone’s lost child…wait, what?

Ripping off the relevant page, you see that apparently, the daughter of some merchant was reported missing a few days ago. The merchant in question seems to be offering a pretty hefty reward for anyone that can find her.
Hmm.

>Take the job. For money! And glory, you guess?
>Not your problem. Look for something else.

>>41307395
>Take the job. For money! And glory, you guess?
It looks easy enough.

>>41307449
Writing.

>>41307395
Well, it looks simple enough. Besides, this is a fairly small town- it’s not like the kid could have gone anywhere too far. Still, you’re going to need some more information. Time to show off those social skills of yours!
…Hooray.
***

“Yer a little, er, smaller than I thought one of ye’d be.” Your face twitches in response.
Sure, you’re barely a teenager. Yeah, maaaayyyybeee you’re a tad short for your age. So what? You just haven’t finished going through puberty yet! You’ll get taller! Definitely!

Taking a breath to calm yourself you answer, “With all due respect, sir, who precisely were you expecting to answer?”

“Well, ya know, I was thinkin’ o’ someone who looked a little more… experienced, yeah?”

You grit your teeth. “I may not look like it sir, but I can assure you, I am quite experienced, and that you’d do well not to judge a book by its cover.”

The large man mulls over you words. “Mmm. I s’pose yer right. Anyways, you were thinkin’ of helpin’ to recover my dear daughter, yeah?”

“That was my intention, yes. I was hoping to ask a few questions.”

The large man breaks out into a relieved smile.

“Thank ya, lad. I can’t even hope t’ be able to thank ya enough if’n you can bring her back to me. The names Randolph Magobba, by th’ way!” He sticks out a meaty appendage, which you hesitatingly accept, and the two of you shake.

If you didn't Reinforce yourself beforehand, you think he might have dislocated your arm.

(1/2)

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>>41307955

Randolph himself is a large, burly, physically-imposing man, though your mana pulse tells you that he doesn’t actually have much when it comes to aura. It’s rather high when it comes to most civvies, but it’s still easily dwarfed by a properly-trained soldier of his age.
Of course, despite that he still easily has more aura than you, but you decide not to focus on that.

Besides the muscles, the man has short black hair, and the scent of soot and metal radiates from him. He’s wearing an ensemble of well-made leather and cloth. He’s likely a craftsman- perhaps an enchanter? That would explain his higher-than average aura levels.

“So, man, what d’you want to ask?”

>When did your daughter disappear?
>Why is your caravan here in this town in the first place?
>What does your daughter look like?
>Anything else? (write in)

>>41307978
>When did your daughter disappear?
>What does your daughter look like?

>>41308045
Writing.

>>41307978

“First of all, what does your daughter look like?”
Randolph nods at this. “I s’pose that’s the most important thing, innit? Right, so…” He promptly launches into a spiel about his daughter easily being the most beautiful little piece of adorableness to have ever been conceived, how her hands were magic in that they managed to make some of the greatest pieces of leatherwork he’d seen and whatnot. The I’m-proud-of-my-kids speech, in other words.

Fortunately, you do manage to catch the important bits from it: Randolphs’ daughter was named Anne, and parsing through the man’s enthusiastic words, you conclude that the girl is fairly plain, wearing simple cloth and leather garb. Unlike her father though, she has orange-brown hair, which she apparently inherited from her mother. She’s fairly young, only nine, and certainly looks the part, according to her father.

When you ask why the man simply doesn’t show you a photo, he answers that the caravan simply hasn't been to the coasts of the Ravaged Continent, and that there were few towns with advanced technology around here. Alongside that, he was a fairly new member, and din't have much cash to his name. Apparently, the reward he placed on the sheet was the result of a few nights of gambling.

You suppose you can understand the technology issue- you were born and raised in the Ravaged Continent after all, so you know that it’s difficult to get any sort of tech spread out here in the boonies.

(1/?)

>>41308642

After confirming a few more details on her appearance, you ask, “When did your daughter disappear?”

Randolph scratches at his beard thoughtfully. “I’d say ‘bout three days ago. The rest o’ the caravan and I had found this little village on the local maps, and decided to take a short stop to refill our canteens and everything.

“Anne had asked if she and her friends could go and play in the forest, and we all agreed, so long as they had one o’ the mercs near by watchin’.”

“And I’m guessing the mercenaries didn’t do so well a job?” You ask, raising an eyebrow.

Randolph growls fiercely, his face morphing into a scowl. “Damn right they didn’t! Soon as we left our kids with one o’ them mercs and came back from the Merchants’ Quarter, we find that the entire camp’s been raided, the children’s gone,most of the merc’s are smokin’ husks, and that damned dwarf was sleepin’ on the job!”

Randolph sighs, shaking his head. “We woke the little man up, but he didn’t know what happened any more than we did. Heavens, he said he didn’t remember takin’ a nap at all! ‘Course, we made him scurry off after that, but now we’re stuck ‘ere without anyone to protect our wares.”

You nod, digesting Randolph’s story.

>Thank you. That should be everything, as long as you can point me in the direction of your former camp.
>I have something else to ask… (Write In?)

>>41308665
>Thank you. That should be everything, as long as you can point me in the direction of your former camp.
>most of the merc’s are smokin’ husks
we're fucked.

>>41308703
Writing.
Is that a hamburger cake, capcha? That's not a sandwich...

>>41308665
You let out a breath. Well, judging by Randolph’s description of what happened, this job might be somewhat worse fare than you imagined.

Still, you took the job, and you will let no one say you don’t take responsibility for your mistakes.

“That should do it for questions Randolph, thank you. If you could point me to the site of your and your companions’ former camp?"
Randolph nods and marks the spot on a map of the local village you had snatched in the Merchant Quarter. You take off, wondering just what exactly you’ve landed yourself into.
***

The site is a mess. No, scratch that, it’s worse than a mess- it’s a massacre.

Corpses, somehow still burning, are strewn and littered about. Most of them have been burnt straight to the bone, though there are a few bodies that are relatively intact. Pieces of torn cloth are waving about in the distance, having settled themselves on the bare branches of the trees around you.

The tents are in shambles, ripped away into tiny piles of still-burning fabric and rags, and somehow, you can still very much taste the metallic tang of blood in the air, days after it happened. None of the still-intact bodies have even begun to decompose, though rigor mortis seems to have stopped.

Whoever did this wanted to make a statement, for whatever reason.

You cringe in distaste, but you get to work. The place won’t search itself.

>Roll 3d10, DC4, major 7.

Rolled 9, 1, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>41309128
It's a messacre.

>>41309235
Major success!
Writing.
Heavens it feels lonely only seeing one anon respond.

Rolled 1, 3, 9 = 13 (3d10)

>>41309128
.

>>41309342
I know, right?! It was more lively before, I wonder where they-
>>41309423
HOLY SHIT, SOMEONE!!

>>41309342
I'm also here.
I usually just lurk, but seeing a quest I enjoy being deserted like this is just enough to make me post.

>>41309423
>>41309443
>>41309463
*Tears up* Th-thanks anon-kun! This all means so very much to me! *faints*
Still writing.

>>41309128
You poke around the burnt field, careful to steer clear from any of the unnaturally-burning fires.

Whoever did this was a damn good mage, you think. There aren’t too many who are skilled enough to keep flames burning for more than a few hours, especially seeing as most of the flames are neither consuming the oxygen around you nor completely consuming the forest all around. Hell, the damn things are even smokeless, except for the small bit of smoke directly drifting upwards despite the breeze.

First: Whoever did this was deliberately looking to have someone else look into the problem, you think.
Second: Whoever did this was certainly a very skilled mage in terms of fire manipulation. It’s probable that they left a trap of some sort, tying into your first observation.

With this in mind, you allow your aura to sink into the ground around you, closing your eyes… There.

Your eyes snap back open, and taking a few carefully-calculated steps towards one of the intact bodies, you kneel down, and feel the mana shifting in the area. As always, your senses are never wrong when it comes to warding.

Easily picking apart the trapped wards in the area, you investigate them, noting that the strange smoke and flames that had been consuming the bodies before disappeared into thin air as soon as the wards were broken.

Interesting- the wards were made to sustain the spell that had lit the bodies alight, at the same time keeping the spell in some form of stasis, with a few added runes of darkness to add some slight Compulsion effects to the area. Quite effective, you think. You’ll file the idea in your head for later- you could probably recreate the effects using your own wards, though they’ll need some tweaking, of course.

You carefully rifle through each and every one of the bodies- thankfully, the flames don’t seem to leave any heat either, so you didn’t have to worry about melting your face off.

(1/?)

>>41310031

Unfortunately, you don’t seem to have much luck- the bodies are far too damaged to connect to anyone else in the town you’ve caught a glimpse of- oh, what’s this?
Rubbing away the ash and grime that had collected on the young person’s body, your eyes widen.

Curiouser and curiouser, you think.

Inked on the arm of the body is the Guild Mark of the local village.
Possibilities run through your head. How exactly was the guild involved? Did they think the mercenaries were muscling in on their business somehow and decided to take care of the issue? No, that doesn’t make sense- the fire mage almost certainly attacked the mercs, and seeing the body, the Guild was attacked too. Was the fire mage just some third party? After all, Randolph would have mentioned if there were a skilled fire mage in the mercenary company his caravan had hired- unless he was in on it too? But then where does that leave the missing child? Were those requests faked? Randolph seemed fairly sincere, but…

You look up, seeing the sun setting. You sigh. You’ll think about this later. You’re fairly hungry, and you could go for something to drink, too.

>Head back to the tavern; there should be a few rooms open there, even if they’re not up to par.
>You spotted an inn earlier- you could probably find a room there.
>Head back to Randolph first. Despite your paranoia, he deserves to know something about the situation.

>>41310069
>You spotted an inn earlier- you could probably find a room there.

>>41310069
>You spotted an inn earlier- you could probably find a room there.

>>41310113
>>41310139
Writing for inn.

>>41310069
You decide to head to the inn to find some food and board. Even if the tavern was well-kept, it still seemed a tad seedy, as taverns tend to be.

Besides, you don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night by a loud, idiotic couple who couldn’t keep it in the room.

You grimace at the memory. Heavens, if you ever decide to get a girlfriend, you’ll make sure they’re at least quiet in bed, if they can’t be quiet out of it.
Your tainted experiences with tavern bedrooms aside, you walk into the small, well-lit inn.
***

You look around. The general mood of the place is rather upbeat- a small group of bards are up on the stage in the back, fiddling around with some electrical equipment and what you recognize as a mana-powered generator.

To your left, a group of adventurers from the local Guild is cheerfully talking amongst themselves. You could listen in on them.

Finally, there’s a small bar to your right, a pudgy-looking woman carefully wiping away at shot glasses behind it. At the same time, she seems to be animatedly talking to one of the bar’s patrons, a man wearing a similar hardhat to the man you saw earlier. Judging by the loop of keys around the woman’s wrist, you’ll probably have to talk to her if you want your room.

>Talk to the bards.
>Eavesdrop on the Guild members.
>Go grab a room.

>>41310487
>Eavesdrop on the Guild members.
And when it becomes boring
>Go grab a room.

>>41310487
>>41310551
This.

>>41310551
>>41310610
Writing for this.

>>41310487

You carefully grab a seat close to the guild members, your small stature easily blending into the crowd around you. The fact that no one even cares to notice that a young teen is out here by himself is still a tad strange to you- are teens around here just allowed to wander wherever they like?
Well, you suppose it doesn’t matter. As much as you dislike being considered not worth noticing due to your age and height, you must admit it’s rather useful. No one expects a kid to be able to kill them, after all.
You still hold hope that you’ll be taller though.
Waving a waitress down, you give her your order- a glass of water and a cheeseburger- and soon turn your attention to the group of adventurers a table over.
“Heavens, Jerry, it really has been forever, hasn’t it? How’s Yoanne been? She still kicking?”
“Kicking? She’s certainly doing a fair bit more than kicking, if I must say so myself-“
Stifling a groan, you realize that this conversation is going to get very boring, very quickly.
Well, at least you’ll have your burger.
***
After an hour or two of slowly munching through your food and gingerly sipping at your drink, the group FINALLY manages to say something vaguely interesting, probably after a few drinks.

(1/?)

Sorry, Kyuu, but my signal is shot and is threatening to fall, so i'll have to go. Good thread, by morning i'll read it in the archives.

>>41311286

“Say, did you all hear about that merchant caravan?”

“Of course, who hasn’t? It was destroyed practically three days ago, by some crazy fire mage, apparently.” Well, that’s at least one of your deductions possibly confirmed.

“Well, I was walking into the tavern earlier today- for the jobs, I swear I haven’t fallen off the wagon!- and I saw that one of em’s gone and put up a missing notice for their daughter.”

“Really? Missing kids would have gone to our guild hall, right?”

“That’s what I thought too! I decided to ask the Gee-Em about it, but she immediately shut me down, I dunno why, and when I came back to grab the request anyway, someone already took it off the board.”

“Weird. Maybe the Gee-Em was just having a bad day?”

“Maybe. After all I heard that she-“ You quickly tune them out, reflecting on the new scrap of information.

So, not even the Guild members had known about the disappearance until today? Strange. And the fact that the Guildmaster was acting strangely… Hmm.

Something is certainly fishy here. You’re absolutely certain it has something to do with the guild, and most likely the guildmaster, but you’re clueless when it comes to the details. You’re going to have to investigate the place tomorrow morning.

Quickly making sure that the adventurers weren’t talking about anything else important, you decide to walk over to the pudgy woman behind the bar for your room. After a quick exchange of currency and a key, you locate your room on the top floor.

It’s not all that spacious, but the bed’s clean, and that’s a fair bit more than you can say about other inns you’ve been to on your missions. Sighing, you slip off your dayclothes, change into your much lighter nightwear, and settle into the sheets.
***
(2/3)
Capcha, those are a pair of dentures, not a frigging fish.

>>41311325

The next morning, you eat the complimentary breakfast the inn offers –some locally-made cream cheese and bagels- and walk out for another day in the town.

>Investigate the Guild. Something is definitely fishy there.
>Report your findings back to Randolph.
>Head into the Merchant Quarter. You could find some interesting gossip, there.

>>41311348
>Investigate the Guild. Something is definitely fishy there.

We don't really have enough information to get anything out of Randolph, if he isn't what he seems to be.

>>41311438
Writing for this.

>>41311325
Right, time to get down to business. You’re going to find out exactly what that guild has been doing and where, even if you have to sneak up on the guildmaster to do it.
Quickly slipping through the crowds, you soon find yourself in front of the local Adventurer’s Guild.

Adventurer’s guilds like this one had only begun springing up in the past twenty years, you had read. After the end of the Fourth Great Magical War, there was a large infusion of skilled battlemages into society, and unfortunately, not all of them necessarily wanted to settle down for a peaceful life.

As a result many of those former battlemages, once hired to command smaller groups of magical infantry by the larger powers on the Old Continent, decided to go and strike out on their own here.

Although several of them failed- the Central Wastes were NOT something anyone takes lightly- quite a few were a fair bit more intelligent and instead settled down to the south or along the coasts, helping to technologically develop the areas with some help from other magical engineers and whatnot. After a few years of these fruitful partnerships, many of them had decided to band together, for both mutual protection and to help bring organization to the largely scattered settlements here on the Ravaged Continent.

Thus, the formation of several guilds. Some of them were focused on carefully improving the tech level of the Ravaged Continent, while others merely served as mercenaries-for-hire.

Others, like the one before you, were used both as small pit stops for solo adventurers while at the same time grouping together the local mages for the town’s benefit.

(1/2)

>>41312094

History was certainly very interesting, you think. And at the same time, quite helpful- you know for a fact that quite a few independent guilds were actually fronts for large-scale cultist activities, though thankfully those didn’t tend to last long if the larger populace noticed.

The possibility of cultists isn’t pleasant, you think- and probably the worst-case scenario. You don’t want to be privy to the revival or unsealing of one of the Gods, if at all possible.

At any rate, you walk into the establishment, your guard up.
***

Looking around, you find that the guild is actually very well-lit, by electrical lights, no less. Fancy. To your left, you spy a large board of requests- far larger than the one at the tavern.

To your right, a young woman is writing something on a piece of paper. She’s likely a receptionist of some sort, perhaps for the guild master.

The rest of the room is styled as a large lounge, littered with small tables and chairs. A small, controlled fire burns in a corner, and a group of adventurers are chatting close to it. A pair of restroom is nestled to the side. Finally, a large staircase to the upper floors looms upwards.

>Talk to the receptionist. She could lead you to the guildmaster. (Write In specifics if you’d like)
>Try sneaking up the stairs, activating your invisibility enchantments within the restrooms. (Roll 3d10, DC7)
>Something Else? (Write In)

>>41312149
>Talk to the receptionist.
Grill her for information on the guild and its guildmaster under the guise of being interested in joining them.

Do not actually do so if asked, of course.

>>41312394
Writing for this.

>>41312149
>Talk to the receptionist. She could lead you to the guildmaster. (Write In specifics if you’d like)

Maybe if we asked to join in the guild under a false name, the guildmaster would want to interview us and then we could read (long shot I know) her shady private documents upside down on her desk?

Could we pretend to be wanting information about a school project?

If that fails maybe we could sabotage their electrical generator/(pull a fire alarm?) then break into his office (must be protection there) in the confusion.

>>41312459
I'd prefer not to meet the guildmaster directly just yet. Without information, there's too much that could go wrong.

>>41312149
Well, you think, may as well take the direct route. You walk up to the receptionist’s desk.

You scan her appearance- she’s wearing a fairly simple, slim robe and a pair of glasses. Her brown hair is done up into a topknot, though a few unruly locks fall down over her face as she continues scribbling on the piece of paper. You think you can hear her say something about ‘damned paperwork.’

Silently sending her a prayer of support-fuck paperwork with a passion, forever- you plaster your shyest, most innocent smile on your face. You timidly rap on the receptionist’s desk, seemingly breaking her from her reverie, her head jerking upwards as she looks left, right, then down to you.

You smile a little wider, shuffling a little and waving.
The woman’s face immediately breaks out into a small smile, her gaze comforting. Heh, too easy. Socializing is quite simple when you don’t actually have to act like yourself, you think.

“Erm… S-sorry to interrupt you from your work,” you say, looking downwards to your feet, even adding a small fake stutter, “b-but I wanted to ask a f-few questions about the guild, if that’s alright…” You trail off, shifting like an uncertain little kid.

“Oh?” Murmurs the receptionist, softly, gently. “Of course, of course. Feel free to ask any questions you’d like dear!” Her smile widens.

“O-oh! Really? Th-thank you, Miss..?” You say, trailing off uncertainly.

“You can just call me Helen, dear, no need for such formalities!” says Helen, waving her hand.

Welp, Operation: Adorable was a smashing success.
Now, what to ask?

>Ask about the guild’s functions.
>Ask about the guildmaster herself.
>Ask about the electrical lighting.
>Anything else? (Write In)

Gonna take a 15 minute break. Feel to vote/discuss.
Escpecially you, whatever lurkers that are out there.

Back. Also, I'm probably going to go ahead and end this thread by midnight- if the thread's still alive in the morning, I could probably run for an extra hour or two tomorrow.

Welp, no votes, so I'm done for the night! Twitter updated, and all that jazz. The thread's already been archived, too.