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You consider questioning where Emperor Elias managed to hide a pair of Dracozombies for this dramatic reveal, and that might count as underestimating him for a second, something Yvette very expressly prohibited just a moment ago.

"I... Believe I'm supposed to provide some further banter," Elias says as he waves around an ornate lance that you can simply feel the magical power of, a blast of which Victoria barely ducks out of the way.

"Grh... Took me by surprise with that one," Lars grumbles through grit teeth, "I honestly should've figured it could channel magic, being... Our lineage's and all."

The Dracozombies fly forward. Yvette and Garrus each opt to attack one, Victoria and Lars falling back and readying their more ranged means of attack for whoever might need their support.

>A. Attack the Emperor
>B. Assist Yvette
>C. Assist Garrus
>D. Attempt to draw the emperor's attention away from anyone else
>E. Write-in

>>43259418
>D. Attempt to draw the emperor's attention away from anyone else
How are you octo

Is this like role playing or something.

>>43259524
Pretty alright, all things considered. Mostly just talking video games with Grandflaw.
>>43259553
It's a quest. More compared to a CYOA that actually gets written and redefined by the choices that win out.

>>43259418
>D. Attempt to draw the emperor's attention away from anyone else

>>43259524
>>43259599
While old Yvette and King Garrus challenge their respective undead opponents, you keep their leader's fire pointed towards you.

"Showing up late, trying to grab my attention... How impolite." The old man bounds over to you in his armor, still taking the bait despite his comment.

The reach of his lance is way further than your sword, and you're unable to approach him without risking certain impalement. Thankfully, however, his is far from the only present weapon that can attack from a range.

Less thankfully, your sword beams barely push him back, while the dark blast of his own weapon knocks you much further, much more painfully than what you assume he felt.

You curse your poor magic resistance.

Before he can follow up, however, Lars strikes him with a blast of Excalibur, which appears to do... SLIGHTLY more to him, at least phase him.

Victoria has opted to support Yvette. She looks sort of like she's having a rough time of taking on that Dracozombie.

>A. Attack Elias
>B. Help Garrus
>C. Try to get Garrus to heal you
>D. Help Yvette
>E. Stay by Victoria
>F. Write-in

>>43259801
>D. Help Yvette
We have a dragon slaying sword. We should use it to slay dragons.

>>43259801
>tag team garrus and Yvette and take the dragons out while they deal with the royal pain in our ass

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>43259880
>>43259931

>>43259983
We can do both right? Assist Yvette then face the other one alone while they switch?

>>43259983
"You two let me take care of these Dracozombies!"

Yvette nods at your comment (your Azure Dragon Blade did get part of its name from the Wyrmslayer involved in its creation) before turning her focus onto Elias alongside King Garrus.

Victoria gets closer to you and your action, and together the you quickly take down the one Yvette and Victoria had worn down together before setting your sights on the other one... Currently taking to the skies.

You notice Lars notice this and attempt to ready up a nice blast of Excalibur for the airborne target, only for Elias to quickly turn his attention away from Garrus and Yvette and back to the guy he was already fighting before that, striking him square in the chest with another magical blast.

"The boy's exhausted himself trying to fight his way to me," Elias confidently explains, "started making stupid mistakes, got a little off..."

Garrus, of course, is quick on the draw with healing Lars, and Yvette switches out her sword with a Silver Axe and stands between the Emperor and his grandchildren.

The Dracozombie is directly over you. Yvette backs up, still aiming at it, as you hear the sound of the monstrosity "breathing."

>A. Sword beams!
>B. Wait for it to land again and hit it directly
>C. No time for any of that!
>D. Write-in

>>43260259
>A. Sword beams!

>>43260259
>A. Sword beams!

Octo, I apologize in advance if I fall asleep.
I've been up for about 28 hours.

>>43260313
>>43260400
You immediately use your sword's ranged capabilities on the unarmored, weak-to-your-weapon belly of the beast, and as a result it breaks off in its tracks, its deadly breath hitting nothing in particular.

"I can handle its other half, Ellen," Victoria assures you as the Dracozombie crawls up, "go on, assist Lady Yvette now."

You nod and leave Victoria to it as she readies Ronan.

"Yes, I remember... That girl who was oh-so enamored with my daughter after she saved her life... Are you worried about her now?"

"If you're attempting to shake my will, impair my judgement," Yvette says with a nasty glare to the emperor, "you won't accomplish it so easily."

"And here I was about to go into detail about what was in store for Alexia... If you're so certain, though, then so be it."

Yvette is clearly overwhelming the emperor despite her weaker state, but the swings of her axe seem to dent the guy's armor even less than your attacks.

"You can't dodge forever..!"

>A. Join in
>B. Just keep Lars and Garrus safe
>C. Check on Victoria, just in case
>D. Observe
>E. Write-in

>>43260530
No problem. If it happens, the rest will be there to be read whenever you're up, and if it's over and done by then, there's always our ask.fm.

>>43260644
>A. Join in

>>43260644
>C. Check on Victoria, just in case
If she needs help then help her. Otherwise if she's ok
>A. Join in

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>43260689
>>43260735
Without necessarily describing how so until the post comes, the consequences checking on Victoria vs. not doing so is worth a roll.

>>43260916
Yeah, Yvette won't be able to keep this up for too long for similar reasons to Lars: she's been worn out. You also briefly wonder why Lars is so worn out if he didn't even trigger the maids or fight through Aum (later-discovered answer: he took a MUCH less easy route to the throne room than you did, by sheer bad luck).

That being said... You're already sort of worried for Victoria, so you just shoot a quick glance her way. She easily avoids the claws of the front half of the Dracozombie, at one point using its rapidly-decaying back half as cover, and generally whittling away at it without trouble.

Anyway, back to helping Yvette after that measly in-universe moment has passed.

She's just been stabbed by the lance at question, and magic begins to course through it, but Elias is distracted by your strike and pulls it away to try to hit you.

That... Doesn't look pleasant for Yvette, and Garrus insistently pulls her aside for a quick heal-up.

>A. Go all-out! Don't let him attack them!
>B. Keep your distance, keep drawing his blasts with your own beams.
>C. Check on Victoria again
>D. Write-in

>>43261086
>A. Go all-out! Don't let him attack them!

>>43261086
>A. Go all-out! Don't let him attack them!
Lances aren't that great close combat.
Keep close and turn him around so Victoria might be able to nail him from behind

>>43261198
>>43261208
You rush towards him with your sword, overwhelming lances' advantages over swords with superior skill and refusing to let him get far away enough to actually practically strike you with the damn thing.

In the process, you also make efforts to turn him around, though these... Don't really accomplish as much as you would prefer.

"You've... Killed my Dracozombies. No matter, though! I can kill you all without their help!"

With his second wind, Elias knocks you back away, barely being caught and stood back up by Yvette.

A little ways away, Victoria stands triumphantly over the defeated Dracozombie before quickly taking aim at Elias. He eyes all five of you (Lars is currently out cold, by the way).

Garrus asks, "er... Any ideas, anyone?"

>A. All at once! Try to overwhelm him!
>B. Cover you you're going in!
>C. Cover Garrus he's going in!
>D. Cover Yvette she's going in!
>E. Write-in!
>F. Let's just stand around aimlessly

>>43261587
Surround him. Attack from both sides with ranged attacks until they have an opening to get in

>>43261633
So since Lars is currently out of the picture, does "ranged attacks from both sides" mean Ellen and Victoria or Victoria and ranged debuffs from Garrus?

And if the former, Hand Axe or Sword?

>>43261700
Sword and Victoria.
Garus and Yvette taking special care to be defensive.
When we both attack he can eat it or try to block, which gives them an opportunity to get in close, then we get in

>>43261700
What kind of debuffs does Garrus have? Or are they random like that one time?

>>43261794
He doesn't have enough experience with it to use anything besides the "really fucking good healing" and (unused) "break Lars' magic armor" aspects of the Staff of Katri, so it's a bit of a crapshoot, but he certainly won't make anything EASIER for the guy.

>>43261783
Octo could we use our sword beam in melee to enhance our attack?

>>43261861
Wouldn't recommend it. It's significantly weaker than directly striking someone.

>>43261830
I'm in favor of Garrus trying his staff on Elias then, while everyone else attacks. I'd prefer Ellen to attack close range since that worked better than sword beams last time but attacking from a distance is fine too.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>43261783
>>43261998
I'll put it up to luck.

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>>43262024
"Why not put the Staff of Katri to good use?" You exclaim as you rush at Elias as he aims his staff at Victoria, Yvette hot on your heels.

Your timely interference is enough to jar Elias out of a very decisive strike to Victoria, but he tries again anyway... Only to find his magic drastically weakened by Garrus' staff.

"Gods... At this rate, you're just going to keep hitting me until I keel over, unless..." He calls out, abruptly, "maids!"

The single maid you declined a beverage from earlier quickly appears through the path you entered. "Yes, Emperor?"

"Wait... Where are the others?"

"Dead, Emperor."

"Ngh... Anyway, I'd appreciate what support you can give."

She smiles politely and bows. "Right away, Emperor." She catches an arrow fired by Victoria right as it nearly hits her head, setting it down neatly. With that, she speeds towards Victoria.

>A. Stick with what you're doing!
>B. NOW help Victoria
>C. Write-in?

>>43262282
B. NOW help Victoria
Pls no

>>43262282
>B. NOW help Victoria

>>43262333
>>43262433
You decide that now would be a better time to help Victoria, quickly leaving Elias and Yvette to do so.

The maid skids to a halt and ducks past another arrow, staring you down and smiling sweetly as she avoids a few of your immediate swings.

"I'm afraid I can't let you kill me... Who would be left to clean, to train the next generation of Gravern Keep's housekeeping?"

You are stabbed in the right arm, though in the moment of the action, Victoria finally gets a clear shot through the maid's neck.

"Oh dear... Who's... Who's going to... Learn what it takes... Survive to clean this place now?" The maid feels with disgust at her own wounds.

"Are you alright, Ellen?"

"Urgh... Not at all. Can we... Get back to focus now that this little diversion is over?"

Victoria nods and draws somewhat closer to Elias, readying Ronan for another shot.

>A. Get right back into things
>B. Get healed by Garrus
>C. Write-in
>D. Pass out

>>43262617
Can we use someone's elixir instead of taking Garrus's mind off the battle?

>>43262748
Ellen sold her only one, but you could certainly ask Victoria or see if there's anything you could "borrow" from Lars.

>>43262617
>Check how Yvette is doing
>Help her if she'd in trouble
>if she's doing good then get healed

>press send
>look back later
>somehow my captcha was wrong despite being a bunch of fucking pictures

>>43262839
Sounds good

>>43262839
>>43262921
You see how Yvette's holding up this time.

Acceptably..? Okay, good.

You pay the maid no mind as she makes herself scarce again, determined not to die in such an unclean manner.

Anyway, with Garrus' debuffing, Yvette seems to be, at least for the moment, holding her own against Elias with Victoria's support.

"Uh, Garrus, could you... Get this?"

"Uh, yeah, sure! Heads up, Yvette!"

With that warning that he's gonna stop bombarding his grandfather with temporary debuffs, you're quickly healed of your ailment of knife-in-the-arm.

"Thanks."

"Er, no problem!"

Victoria takes some time to scrounge up arrows around the throne room, noticing her quiver being a bit light after all of this.

>A. Get up in there with Yvette
>B. Stay back here and attack from a range by Garrus
>C. Just keep everyone's attention off Victoria
>D. Write-in

>>43263100
>A. Get up in there with Yvette

>>43263100
>A. Get up in there with Yvette

>>43263140
>>43263307
You quickly rejoin the battle, and find Elias' armor seeming closer to breaking much more easily with you and Yvette's next several swings. Either an effect of the Staff of Katri, or all these gradual strikes have paid off.

"This is... Bah, I didn't prepare a losing speech. So... I just won't lose!"

You continue to express your disagreement, his heavy hits increasingly missing, before ultimately, he just... Stops in place, slamming the butt of his weapon onto the ground.

After a moment, magic courses through his lance, through HIM.

"No... No final words... A man can't prepare something like that..."

>A. Attack him! Stop whatever this is!
>B. Get away from him! You can't stop whatever this is!
>C. Stand there! Directly observe whatever this is!
>D. Write-in! Something-something whatever this is!

>>43263520
>B. Get away from him!
>swordbeams

>>43263520
>B. Get away from him! You can't stop whatever this is!

>>43263690
>>43263622
"Get away from him! We have no idea what the hell he's doing!"

Yvette nods at your rather sound advice, and Garrus decides to raise up his axe.

Elias makes an... Exceptionally pained sound. "Not... not how it was supposed to... My heart..."

Whatever this is, he'll probably fatally wear himself out by the end of it, judging by what it's clearly doing to his old body.

"It" involves bounding with a newfound amount of stamina towards Victoria, though she thinks to get out of his damn way and not bother with attacks.

Naturally, he notices this, quickly shifting gears to pointing his lance at you, Garrus, Yvette, Victoria, Lars... No telling who he's gonna hit, but the four of you who are conscious get the impression that he can do it in an instant's notice, and wisely scatter around the room.

>A. Attack him! (specify if ranged or direct)
>B. Stand in place
>C. Try to help someone! (specify)
>D. Write-in

>>43263896
Also, forgot to mention that Yvette is the exception, deliberately standing between Garrus and Elias. Not outright SAYING she or Garrus is his target so much as it is a detail I meant to bring up.

>>43263896
>A. Attack him!
Ranged
>C. Try to help someone!
Stand closer to Victoria so we can help her if needed

>>43263896
>A. Attack him! (specify if ranged or direct)
Ranged

>>43263991
>>43263993
You stick close to Victoria in particular and try to strike him from a long range. Surely any strike can be the one to push him over the edge!

Instead, Elias ignores your actions and attacks the easiest target in the throne room, the still-out-cold Lars, with his full magical force.

Naturally, Garrus starts to sprint towards him upon realizing this mistake, but nowhere near quickly enough to beat the blast to his brother.

He drops to his knees, observing the consequence of Lars being... Killed isn't really a strong enough word. He was destroyed.

In the aftermath of his last shot, refusing to say any more, Elias clutches himself in pain, the magic that he allowed to flow through him, with the sheer power he put into that one attack, is enough to make him drop right then and there (a later autopsy would reveal that, out of practice and aged, he strained himself with an already-dangerous technique to the point where his heart quite literally exploded, and several veins ruptured).

Everyone is speechless. Garrus is still on his knees, Yvette simply looks... Shocked, and Victoria is looking around the room, not having been at all fond of either of the recently-deceased.

"There might still be... I don't know, SOMEBODY lying in wait. The emperor's defeat doesn't necessarily mean everyone else surrenders... Okay, no, nobody." She sighs and wipes sweat off her brow.

>A. Relax
>B. Console Garrus
>C. Speak to Yvette
>D. Speak to Victoria
>E. Stay vigilant!
>F. Write-in

>>43264296
>B. Console Garrus
Fuck.
Forgot about lars

>>43264296
>B. Console Garrus
Whelp

>>43264374
>>43264430
I figured he was the obvious in-universe choice, but could also realistically be overlooked in the heat of the moment by Ellen and the players, but didn't want it to be COMPLETELY blindsiding after he was KOed and ignored for most of the fight, hence:

> the four of you who are conscious get the impression that he can do it in an instant's notice, and wisely scatter around the room.
and namedropping Lars a sentence earlier.

>>43264445
Yeah. I should have remembered.
It makes sense

>>43264445
I figured someone might die from Elias's final attack but I couldn't think of a way to protect everyone realistically. Shit sucks.

>>43264624
At least Victoria is alive

>>43264624
His target was always going to be Lars, whether he hit him successfully or not.

>>43264374
>>43264430
You approach your liege, patting his shoulder. "Hey, you're... Are you alright, your-er, Garrus?"

He breathes rapidly for a few moments, muttering something and sort of... Shutting down.

"King Garrus..." Yvette says, "sir, are you..."

"W-we could have... I-I-I could have..."

"None of that. It was a tragedy, but pointing fingers at yourself over whether we could have prevented it will only make this loss more... M-more painful..." Yvette falters a bit as well, but mostly keeps tough.

"Anyway, had he been saved, one of us might be gone right now, perhaps yourself," Victoria adds.

You... Honestly disagree, but maybe it's out of a sense of feeling like you in particular could have accomplished something to prevent this.

Going back through that short hallway to find Canis dead in that hole doesn't exactly improve your mood.

Of course, you're not going to badmouth him when Garrus is in such distress, but what's your take on Lars?

>A. honestly fuck that guy
>B. All things considered... Not the fondest of who he was
>C. Maybe you had him wrong?
>D. He was pretty alright, actually
>E. Yeah, he was pretty great
>F. Write-in?

>>43264689
>D. He was pretty alright, actually, for an enemy at least.
He did let us go, and probably had several occasions which he could have killed us or or allies

>>43264689
>C. Maybe you had him wrong?
He fought his grandfather and helped us in the end. But we'll never know if whatever he was planning would make him another Emperor Elias. So don't really know what to think

>>43264908
>>43264814
Honestly... You still have plenty of things to hate him for, but at the end of the day you suppose he was alright.

He let you and your friends go on several occasions, immediately turned on the empire upon learning his younger sister was safe, and the results turned the tide of the war almost overnight.

He was definitely headed down a dangerous path in life, one that easily could have just turned him into his grandfather, but you guess you'll never know that for sure.

At the end of the day, at least, he was concerned for his mother and siblings above all else, and apparently got on very well with Eva and Kia on that note.

You realize you've spaced out midway through Zoe throwing her arms around you, extremely happy you're alive and well, though the mood admittedly sours when you all notice what Yvette is saying to Alexia.

"Lex, I... I failed, at... What you asked of me, years ago. I couldn't keep all of your children safe..."

"Yvette..." Alexia wipes her own eyes, "it's... Not your fault. If anything, I'm responsible, having gotten myself captured and getting him to come here to begin with."

Esmer, nearby, looks about ready to throw her hat into the ring of self-blame, but decides now isn't the time and simply walks into the throne room without a word.

>A. Go somewhere else in the castle
>B. Stick around here
>C. Write-in?

Huh. I just remembered that Paula writeup I did after thread 41.

>"I'm... Not, but there's too much resting upon my shoulders. Please, understand... I love you very much, and I want you to be good for Princess Salia and King Garrus. Treat them like you would me or Eva. Kia is staying in Elza Oasis if you ever wished to write to her there. Do that sometimes, would you? You're still very out of practice with proper education. And... Promise you won't let anyone make you use your necromancy again."

>"Promise!"

>You hugged for awhile after that, and that was the last time you saw him.

I swear I had no idea that this would happen at that point.

>>43265121
Poor Paula
>talk to esmer

>>43265121
Oh
>Follow Esmer into the throne room.

>>43265188
>>43265297
People feel like this is a moment better-spent solely between Yvette and Alexia, and pretty much everyone goes off to do... Something else. Securing the area, dismantling traps, exploring, stopping Anna from robbing the place...

"Er... Uh, hey."

You and Zoe... Both don't really have much to say.

"H-he's..." Esmer clears her throat, noticing the two of you observing, before saying, "I'm... Just going to leave now."

Without another word, she quite literally teleports away.

"So wait, was she like... Special to him?"

"No clue."

After a moment of silence, Zoe just rather plainly adds, "I love you."

"Love you too."

It... Felt like a good time to remind each other of that, anyway.

Katina and Bolse pour in next. "Wh-where is he?!"

Logan follows. "Er, Lady Katina, I don't think you two should be-" Less than pleased, he stops, "oh, Ellen. Didn't see you go back in here."

He's... Still mad about the "accidentally killing Bovis" thing. Shit, that happened earlier today, didn't it?

Anyway, Logan sighs, leaving the throne room again.

Not much more of note happens for awhile after that, until Eva and Alexia address the people of Gravern with information on what's happened.

Pretty much everyone is forlorn by three generations' worth of royalty being fucking dead, and Eva can barely finish talking either.

From there, a few minor battles are dealt with among Dain, but for the most part, people accept Alexia inheriting her father's position. Apparently, that necromancer wound up being executed, but seemed... cryptically calm about it.

You wind up in a bit of a conversation with Gorman.

"So... In the end, those responsible for Vale's death, Tabat's downfall, were even bigger than we'd expected."

>A. You guess so
>B. That was still his fault
>C. You dunno
>D. Write-in dialogue

>>43265664
>A. You guess so
>you're glad it's over

>>43265747
Seconding

>>43265747
>>43265811
"I... Guess so?"

"I see your uncertainty. Definitely, my friend's actions were still his own, but... Their root cause cannot be ignored."

Laurina, having been quiet until now, adds in, "and now his daughter's a scarier leader than he ever was, so... Yeah."

Bryce and Asra come into the room, the former saying, "so, Laurina, Gorman, Devon's showed up with the rest of Noba's forces, was hoping you'd be willing to say hi... DICK Kilos apparently bought the farm, by the way."

"I... Sure, whatever." Gorman nods after Laurina's response.

"Ellen, you wanna come with?" Bryce asks.

>A. You're good
>B. You have prior engagements
>C. Sure
>D. Write-in

>>43266068
>C. Sure
You know Victoria had a little bit of experience. Maybe she could help Devon

>>43266157
Sounds good, but would Victoria have her own country to take care of? If she gets it back.

>>43266249
Malva was a region of Noba before Elias III and Eva led a campaign to get it the hell out of Victoria's hands.

>>43266249
Yeah, she probably has her own plans.
Like being Ellens personal security

>>43266157
>>43266249
"Er, sure."

You don't really have much to say in the situation given, but Devon is extremely happy to see Asra and Bryce alive, and to a lesser but still very existent extent Maria and Yancy.

"Yeah, funny thing... They decided a guy with two arms was better right before they actually killed me, decided to turn me into Gallus' first victim..." Yancy adjusts his glasses, eyes closed, "they bet on the wrong dark mage."

"Didn't the rest of us need to bail your ass out?" Bryce asks.

"Well, he was... Armed, no pun intended, with only a very basic flux tome against all of Gallus' armory," Maria says.

You bring up the possibility to Devon of seeing if Victoria might be of any assistance in the overseeing of Fathom, to which she says, "I... I'll definitely bring it up when I see her again. And... Make sure to do so before we go back."

Misheil quite literally flies into the scene. "So you're... Devon, right?"

Devon nods. "I take it you're Michalis' sister?"

"What gave it away?"

"Bryce mentioned that you were traveling with King Garrus."

Misheil nods. "And... Honestly, it's been great. So, uh, how's my brother doing?"

"He's... Adjusting well enough to civilian life. The people of Fathom treat him well."

>A. Say something (specify)
>B. Be silent some more
>C. Go somewhere else

>>43266525
>B. Be silent some more

>>43266614
"That's good. I still need to actually... Get back to him. It's why I joined these guys to begin with, that I'd heard he'd joined up with Miles!"

"Yeah, Miles..." Devon smiles sadly.

"...wait, sorry. Didn't mean to push any buttons."

"Misheil!"

The manakete rolls her eyes, "just a minute, Reese! You've got millions more." She looks back at the group and explains, "he's... gonna miss me, he says."

"So... Neither of you is going to move, then."

"I don't know... By all reports, Michalis will be fine if I don't stick around forever. Besides, I can't just smother him for the next several thousand years. I could probably put... 60-odd years aside living in the Johan region. It's not like we couldn't still see each other."

>A. Say something
>B. Go bother Reese
>C. Write-in
>D. More silent observing

>>43266855
>B. Go bother Reese
We should go see nat to

>>43266927
While Misheil speaks to them, you decide to speak to Reese.

"Don't worry. She said she wouldn't be in Noba too long."

Reese nods. "Yes, I know, but... I'll still miss her a lot."

You convince Reese to hang out with your fellow Tarvosians after discovering that Nat and Quidel were in the same general area.

"-eah, though, even though he's your brother and all, you barely knew him! It's fine not to be all that upset!"

Salia nods at what the two of you walked in on Quidel saying. "Yeah, I'm just... Really concerned for how Paula's going to take it."

Nat is generally staying on the sidelines of the conversation, but Biff and Byron are getting in their share of participation. The red knight says, "in this moment, let's appreciate how many of our friends made it out. There will be time to mourn those who did not, time to remember their sacrifices..."

Byron sighs. "Everyone is going to take this in a different way."

"Yes, I suppose so... Ah, Reese, Ellen, we didn't see you enter!"

Nat quietly replies, "...I did."

"We have... Barely spoken in the last several days," Byron observes. "At the very least, the end of this war is imminent now, so... We can rest, recover."

Reese nods. "So... It's going to be routine from now on, then? Not that I mind the end of this, but... It's going to be weird, knowing that this is all done."

>A. There's still some loose ends...
>B. Yeah, let's get into a better mood
>C. Be silent
>D. Write-in

>>43267317
>B. Yeah, let's get into a better mood

>>43267317
>A. There's still some loose ends...
But we'll have time to worry about that later.
>B. Yeah, let's get into a better mood

>>43267402
>>43267419
"Yeah, let's just... Try to be happy that it's over. There's some things I wish were resolved a little clearer, but... Life's full of things like that."

Nat nods. "I'm... Done with this sort of thing."

"Honestly," Byron says next, "I can completely agree with the sentiment."

"So you're saying you're going to be hanging up your lance too?" Biff says, expression oddly hard to read for him.

Byron shakes his head, "and leave you to your own devices, old friend?"

The red and green-clad friends share a laugh.

"Salia, I know... I know I'm supposed to be serving your brother, you gotta be working for the chief of the Tarvos, but..."

"Hey," Salia assures him, "we'll make it work. Tarvos Valley and Rakche aren't that far, and Garrus gets it..."

Later, Victoria speaks to you in private.

"Ellen, I would like to preface this with saying how... How grateful I am to have met you."

"You've... Mentioned."

"Yes, yes, to the point, then. You see, Ellen, I... Have received an offer from Duchess Devon, to... Return and assist her in Fathom."

"Yeah, I actually suggested she ask you!"

"Ah, so that renders the second question moot, whether you... think I've grown enough to gain power over so many people again."

>A. She's got it
>B. Maybe
>C. You honestly have no clue
>D. Yeah, maybe a bad call really
>E. Write-in

>>43267622
>A. She's got it
>I wouldn't have recommended you otherwise
Devons there too, she wouldn't let her do any thing to drastic anyways

>>43267697
"Right you are. Otherwise, I wouldn't have mentioned it."

"Eva's going to throw a fit, I'm certain."

"Are you really certain?"

"Mostly... Why, were you hoping to talk to her about it?"

"You know what... At the very least, I ought to say something parting to her."

From there, Victoria leads you to where in Gravern Keep Eva and Garrus are staying until they return home. Eva, conveniently enough, opens the door, dressed rather casually for the first time in awhile.

"What'd you want?"

You both look at Victoria expectantly until she answers, "I just... Wished to say goodbye."

"Hey, hey, I'm gonna be in Rakche when you're still clinging to Ellen here-"

Victoria shakes her head, "er, no, no, I've... Received an offer from Duchess Devon."

Eva simply stares. "Oh. I... See." After a moment, she blinks, casually saying, "if you turn this into an excuse to become a tyrant again, I'll personally see to your head rolling." She smiles, "but otherwise, best wishes~."

And then she slams the door in her face.

Victoria looks at you for a moment. "...I have no idea how that just went."

>A. Well?
>B. Poorly?
>C. You have no idea
>D. Write-in

>>43267917
>A. Well?
I mean she didn't actually object

>>43267917
>A. Well?

>>43267993
>>43268138
"I... Think it went pretty well?"

Victoria nods. "She didn't object... And the conditional threat was much less general than earlier in our feud."

You both shrug, and later on say a heartfelt until we meet again.

On the road home, Yvette continues her training for you, Monica, Cheryl, and Zoe, also throwing Anna into the mix for disciplinary reasons.

"Hey, alright, maybe I'll... Get to be a falcoknight sometime in the next hundred years!"

"You have better things to strive for than a life in the military, Cheryl."

"Aw, Monica... That's the sweetest thing you've said in months!"

Zoe whispers to you happily, "I think Monica's finally warming up again... Earlier, she was smiling about nobody being dead!"

"Don't count on it quite... Qu-quite yet!" Anna lies down, a sweaty, exhausted mess, after some of Yvette's exercises. "I'm a businesswoman, this isn't... Isn't my forte!"

"Regardless, being in shape is more than just being light on your feet, and this will keep your mind off of your illegal dealings."

Later on, Yvette speaks to you privately.

"Ellen, I'm... Proud of you. Increasingly, I come to accept how surpassed I am, as the guardian of Prince Garrus, and to another extent Alexia's children as a whole, and... I'm hoping you'll be able to succeed me in that respect."

>A. Why so concerned with Alexia's will
>B. You'd be glad to
>C. Ask about her and Alexia in general
>D. You're not sure you're up for the task
>E. Write-in
>F. Venerable silence

>>43268264
>>B. You'd be glad to

>>43268264
>B. You'd be glad to
>C. Ask about her and Alexia in general

>>43268264
>B. You'd be glad to
>C. Ask about her and Alexia in general

I need to sleep.
Good night octo. Thanks for running, and sticking through with it all.
Looking forward to catching up tomorrow

>>43268398
>Good night octo. Thanks for running, and sticking through with it all.
Not a lot of people could say that they finished a quest in /tg/. Not many do.

>>43268289
>>43268307
>>43268344
"Of course I can, but... Don't be in a hurry to die of old age, alright? You're not THAT old."

Yvette nods and chuckles. "Flattering."

"So... I can't help but feel there's something deeper to... You and Empress Alexia?"

Yvette shakes her head and sighs. "Not... Mutually, at least in the same regards. She knew, she respected it completely, and it never impacted our friendship, but... I'm too old to be concerned with matters of the heart anyway. It's not as though I only do what I do out of a promise to her, though. Lars, Garrus, Salia... I was there for all of them growing as they did, until two of them left as they did, but... she knows that I cared for her children as though they were my own, almost."

"I... See."

"I've said before that I see a lot of myself in you, so... I'm very glad your own love is working out. I've been... Avoiding commenting, since that would be horribly unprofessional of me, but I am... Happy for you and Zoe. You seem to be doing a number for the better on Monica's mood as well."

>A. You didn't notice
>B. Zoe mentioned
>C. Write-in

>>43268398
>>43268462
I'm glad to have pulled it off too. Again, I do plan on doing more with the setting in the hopefully-near future, even if Ellen's time as the star is running out as I wrap up giving the cast their last moments.

>>43268502
>B. Zoe mentioned

>>43268502
>B. Zoe mentioned

>>43268568
>>43268589
"Yeah, Zoe mentioned..."

"Monica, too, I've been training since she wasn't Zoe's age. She's... Come far, not necessarily for the better, but I hope she might actually change that now."

Not much of note happens on the way back besides, though you make a very conscious point to make time for Stefyn and Dama's wedding. When you got back to Neir, Garou were already appreciated across much of the valleys' societies.

"Uh, hey... Ellen," Stefyn says to you at the reception afterwards, "it really means a lot that you were willing to come to this."

Nearby, Salia and Dama talk on and on about romantic things.

"I dunno, Salia, the way things are headed, you might lose Quidel to my brother."

"How're you doing, you fuzzy bastard?" Quidel greets his friend affectionately.

"Good as ever, asshole!" After some bro-ing, Vaga interrupts you and Stefyn's meager conversation. "So, boss. How was Dain?"

>A. Great
>B. Great (sarcastically)
>C. You were expecting worse
>D. Terrible
>E. Write-in
>F. How do you think?

>>43268788
>C. You were expecting worse

>>43268788
>C. You were expecting worse
>Tell him about what happened to Canis. Even though she's not his mom anymore they should know what happened.

>>43268869
>>43268914
"We were expecting worse. Also, er, Canis, she..."

Vaga nods. "Yeah, we heard about that one. Gave Ahua a lot of hell for it. She's actually at this party if you wanted to say hey!" After reading your expression, he chuckles, "yeah, no one else does either. Dama just couldn't bear not to have her here."

"So..."

"Yeah, I've had plenty of time to be pissed about mom dying. Now's not the time to do it again."

"Hey, Stefyn!" Mitchell makes his presence known.

"Er, Mitch... What's up?"

"Nothing much... Jus'... Jus' wantedt'say hey..."

"Er, Mitch, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just... Bit buzzed."

Stefyn nods. "Alright, just... Should I go find Travis?" Who's Travis? You never find out, but Stefyn continues, "c'mon, let's find Travis... Keep you out of trouble. You know what happened last time you-"

"Yeah, but I don't... Have weaponsanymoreman!"

You shudder. Still not at all fond of alcohol.

MUCH Later still, when taking some time off, you and Zoe pay a visit to Orsin Village. In the interim, Salia being in command of a whole bunch of birdguys finally paid off in its immense consequences, and long story short Gorman and Laurina were seeing father and daughter laid to rest in Halvan Village.

"A... Year now, has it been?" A soft voice says as you examine the ruins of Orsin village. You recognize its owner after identifying it: Jay.

"Yeah, I mean... It's a coincidence that I came back now of all times, but..."

Jay shakes his head. "Not for me. I was... Hoping the others would make it here too, but... They all said maybe next year."

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

Zoe frowns. "Am I interrupting? This seems like an... Orsin Village thing, so... If it's imposing to be here, then..."

>A. Not a problem really
>B. You're glad she's here
>C. Write-in

>>43269130
*Simia, not Salia. It's late.

The last remaining Deadlord did some bad shit offscreen now that things were relatively peaceful, being so obsessed with war-doing, and is dead now.

Salia, Garrus' sister, is fine.

>>43269130
>A. Not a problem really
>B. You're glad she's here

>>43269201
"It's... Not a problem, really. I'm glad you're here."

Zoe smiles. "Good to know."

Bolse was... Upset when someone finally translated you telling the truth about what happened to Bovis, but he never really resented you for it.

Koblenz and Lambert had to have new graves made up, though.

You and Zoe stand together and look at the graves of Orsin's various victims.

"This... Already feels so long ago. Only a year, though?"

"I know, right? At least we can tell ourselves we've endured way worse in much denser timespans if anything goes wrong after this."

"Er..." Jay speaks up, "are those... Those are, uh... R-rings, right? And, uh, not like the... Curse-stopping ones..."

Zoe nods, throwing her arm around your side, showing off matching accessories the two of you sport on your fingers, which the two of you have already grown used to having. "Yeah, just recently. It's actually a funny story, see-"

>To be concluded via epilogue
Thanks for playing, all of you and everyone who has ever submitted a single suggestion or command. I'm in the middle of working on a pastebin with more "proper" FE-type epilogues, which I'll put in the thread once I've finished.

I'll also be around in-thread to answer questions, do writeups, and you know our ask.fm and update twitter by now.

Ideally, the update twitter will see further use, once Grandflaw and I are ready to do another installment.

Has anyone looked closely at the OP?

>>43269459
Thanks for the great quest Octo. I hope this doesn't sound too sappy but I got into /tg/ from this quest so I have a lot to thank you for.

I don't see anything different in the OP?

>>43269459
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b62RgDBmly8

Epic finale music? Epic finale music!

>>43269561
Thanks for playing.

Weird, though. Should be right there in the title...

>>43269459
>Grandflaw and I are ready to do another installment.
If you guys don't do another, well, thank you for finishing this one up guys.

>>43269595
Very nice. I'd meant to have Bryce do his "song" thing one last time, but it slipped my mind.

>>43269631
Our pleasure.

>>43269601
I didn't even look at the title. Nice one.

Also looking forward to the epilogue and the next quest when it's ready.

>>43269652
We figured it'd be a nice bookends, even if he sort of fell out of actually QMing.

>>43269652
>Also looking forward to the epilogue and the next quest when it's ready.

I'm looking forward to it as well. It would reset my lousy past votes that made me just lurk.

>>43269699
Lousy votes just sort of happen, and are anticipated. No need to hold yourself accountable.

Still working on those epilogues. Just saying.

As an aside, I fucking hate my laptop.

http://pastebin.com/8xRWcmET

Just... Point it out if I left anyone off who you feel should have a proper epilogue. I can easily expand or alter it, it being a pastebin and all.

>>43270781
You can point it out from ask.fm or in-thread if you catch something worth noting while the thread is still active. I'm tired is all. I'm gonna make mistakes or mess things up, and actually caught myself almost doing so a couple times.