>>44266029
>>Taunt him, lower his guard
"No, it's my luck. God just delivered you to save me the hassle."

>>44266029
>Taunt him, lower his guard

>>44266074
>>44266098
Annandale seems even less pleased with the world than usual, and you notice him resist drawing his weapon.

"I have spent my life watching this city rot away from within because the house of black would rather succumb to their rampant hedonism than dirty their hands sewing and reaping the fruits that our great first king passed to us."

"Better hands sticky with sugar than blood! You would cut away anything you perceive as ill, to fulfill some twisted sense of perfection!" Roland exclaims. You can feel a great heat coming from him. "You've slain your own sworn brothers, those who swore themselves to-"

"They swore to accept adoration and praise in return for parading and pompous superiority! I could swat down any of them like flies! When I finish, the orders will be reborn and remade into what they deserve to be!"

"When you finish, this kingdom will be a smudge on a merchants chart!"

Annandale draws his sword, scowling.

>Attack
>Wait
>Ask/say

>>44266285
>>Ask/say
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-C. S. Lewis

>>44266285
>>44266326
I know, it's not very creative, but I felt it fits.

Also, if he makes a move, make sure to point out that his boots are untied, regardless of whether or not this is true.

Then toss something, like a rock, at his face to disorient him. Move in and then try to steal the sword from him.

>>44266326
Roland and Annandale both pause to consider your thought, but Annandale seems undeterred.

"I'll admit, girl, that you've proven yourself to be quite a problem. First burning the stone temple, and now this. I wonder eat side you're really on. Perhaps I can make you choose."

Annandale waves his free hand, and the men behind him part to allow two knights passage, each pulling behind them a rope. At the end, are two prisoners. The knights come before Annandale, and bring their charges to their knees. It is Mona, and Esmeralda.

"It seems these two collided in he market, sending a dozen stalls up in flames. We rounded them up and dragged them here."

"They've got us under a charm! Our magic is-" Annandale strikes Mona with the pommel of his sword to stop her shouting.

"Enough! I should cut you all down, but I'll give you a chance to decide. I'll execute the lordling and the traitor here, and the two of you can live to serve me, or I can lop off all your heads and be done."

Mona tries to stand, but is stricken again. Esmeralda merely hyperventilates as she tries to cope with the sudden circumstance. When you turn to Roland, e is angrily grinding his teeth.

>Surrender
>Refuse
>Other

>>44266521
Fake surrender, get close to Annandale to steal his sword.

>>44266569
Seems good enough

>>44266569
You agree to Annandales terms, hoping to betray him just as quickly. However as you step forward, he raised a hand to stop you.

"I was taught by inquisitors as well as clerics. If you truly give yourself and your woman to my reign, then show your dedication. Take one of those knives and let it fly to this pathetic girls neck." He motions to Esmeralda, and she begins screaming and squirming so much that the knight escorting her must hold her still and gag her with a kerchief.

" Go on. Then you two may live."

"Your black heart will burn a thousand times over!" Roland spits.

"Your turn will come next!" Exclaims Annandale.

>Kill Esmeralda
>Refuse
>Other

>>44266940
If there are multiple knives that are within reach, grab two and toss them at whoever is holding Mona and Esmeralda.

>>44266940
Throw one at esmeralda, not trying to hit her, but to distract him and one at him?

>>44266973
You reach for a pair of throwing knives, but only after they are loosed does Annandale realize their destinations. One strikes the knight holding Esmeralda in the throat, piercing his chain shirt and drawing blood. The other lands in the shoulder of the knight holding Mona. He recoils, and affords Mona a chance to escape. It is here that chaos unfolds.

Roland rushes forward, and with one mighty stomp he caves in the steel breastplate of the knight that held Esmeralda, and picks up his sword. Mona finds her feet, and reaches over to the knife hanging from Annandales belt. Before he can react, she plunges it into his side, causing a great escape of air from his lungs. He staggers back in pain.

Esmeralda takes the chance to attempt to flee, dashing for the nearest plausible point of escape through the mob of steel clad knights. Before you see her clear them, you glance back to Mona and see Annandale swing his sword, cutting her open from stomach to sternum. The splash of blood that comes from the slash splashes Annandale, dirtying his tabard and breastplate. Roland continues to cut down the knights rushing at him, shouting a prayer you cannot comprehend as their swords snap against his body, and his cleaves them like gelatin.

>Attack Annandale
>Help Roland
>Other

>>44267271
>>Other
Try and help Mona.

>>44267271
>Throw daggers at Annandale's sword arm and help Mona
If she dies get payback

>>44267378
ok, seconding this.

>>44267304
You rush to Mona's side, but as you approach your are stopped by the swinging, bloody steel in Annandales hand.

"A knick in the side won't stop my rise. You'll rot in the pit, you squirming little maggot!"

Annandale comes at you again with his blade. True to what you've heard, he is quick and lethal. Every swing is meant to kill, and it takes your full focus to ward him off, even injured and struggling to breath.

The two of you clash amidst the mob of knights, and it takes but a moment to realize you are outnumbered and in dire condition. There may only be one way out, as te knights charge.

>Flee
>Stay and fight
>Other

>>44267436
Let him chrage and use his weigh tot throw him off the buodling rhem escpaee

>>44267455
>>44267436
and grab mona and run.

>>44267469
Suer>>44267469

>>44267455
You wait for Annandale to charge, and he does. When you try to throw him, however, you find his armored weight too great, and are quickly overpowered. As he wrestles you to the ground, you feel his armored fist collide with your skull. You begin to lose your grip on the world.

You are able very briefly, as you are restrained by knights, to see Annandale shuffle over to Mona and plunge his sword into her motionless body, not once but four times. The pool of blood spilling from her spreads far enough to reach your cheek just before a final boot to your head brings you under.

>>44267699
The world is suddenly ice cold. You cannot distinguish up from down. When you open your eyes, they sting, and you cannot breath. After flailing uselessly for a few moments, you realize you are submerged in water. After gathering your senses and wits, you relax your body and allow yourself to rise.

You emerge in a massive pool of water, black from darkness. High above you is a square hole from which faint light pours. As your eyes adjust, you see the Shores of his man-made lake. Along them are men, filthy and increasingly loud as your eyes drain of water. They holler and whistle at you, inviting you over threateningly. With nowhere else to go, you swim to shore.

Almost immediately, you are grabbed and dragged out of the water as three of the men try to hold you down. They are both weak and underfed however and it takes you a mere moment to beat them all away with your most basic combat training. More come some bearing makeshift knives , but even they are but flies. When the last brave man is dspatched, you wrestle he knife from his and hold it to his throat. All the crowd around you, numbering in the dozens, stop and remain silent.

>kill him
>let him go

>>44267814
>>kill him

>>44267814
>let him go
I am the boss now, obey and live.
If he tries anything kill him.

>>44267843
You stick the wooden shiv into his throat, bleeding him like a hog. As he falls over, writhing, the crowd seems to shrink without moving. The man dies on the wet rocks, and you step over his body.

With merely a question, you learn that this place is known as he pit. Like the story or the Dragonslayer king, this underground cavern was discovered and repurposed into a prison for those seen too wretched for the kingdom. You are the only woman ever given such a tremendous punishment.

You learn that the pit serves as something of a death sentence. There are wild fungus and watergrass here that serve as sustenance, but with nowhere to go and no hope of escape, many merely starve themselves or are killed by other prisoners before too long.

You spend some time devising a way to escapem. But this pool presents the only known source of light anyone knows, and venturing into the pitch black is just as lethal as anything. None who leave have found their way back.

After three weeks, you come to be something of a known presence. Few challenge you for your strength alone. You manage to cultivate a following of frightened weaklings. And those who do try to depose you

>Are shown no mercy
>Are indoctrinated
>Are hobbled and sent crawling

>>44268011
>>Are indoctrinated

>>44268011
Make our own dark rangers.
>Indoctrinate

Take on the mask, they merely adopted the darkness but we were born in it, molded by it.

And when we come they will see, we are a big girl for Annadale. It will be very painful.

>>44268051
Your power and charisma, amplified immensely by your feminine charm, are enough to bring all but a few under your influence. You are firm but gentle, and soon the prisoners, old and new, begin to see you as a sort of queen. They bend for you, feed you by hand, and even kill for you if ordered.

Sadly, loyalty is not a currency for training or skill. And these men are still only fed mushroom and grass. You are given a decent diet or bugs and rats for protein, only vomiting for the first week or so, and exercise enough to keep your muscles and mind at their peak. But after so long being hand fed cave crab as you lounge by the water, you grow livid.

Finally, your chance comes in the form of a great quake. The wall of the cavern cracks, allowing you and your elite men the ability to climb the jagged wall. When a new shipment of inmates arrives, you strike. You sacrifice several loyal underlings, but overpower the knights, and take their cart and supplies.

It has been five years.

>Return to Dragonfell
>Start a new life
>Other

>>44268183
>Return to Dragonfell
burn it to the ground if we have to.

>>44268183
>Return to Dragonfell
Recover our forces with our men, gather info on the current situation and train.
Vengeance will be ours.

>>44268202
I don't think we have what it takes right now to just barge in and burn everythi

>>44268223
With a handful of men you ride back to the city. Along the way, in order to survive you

>Order your men to work for coin and food
>Rob and pillage, building your strength and renown
>Hunt and gather, teaching your men the ways of the rangers, poor excuses they may be

>>44268308
>>Rob and pillage, building your strength and renown
>>Hunt and gather, teaching your men the ways of the rangers, poor excuses they may be

>>44268308
>Hunt and gather, teaching your men the ways of the rangers, poor excuses they may be
Sell pelts and take bounties for coin

>>44268340
Whenever you approach a town, you instruct your men to take what they can and load the cart. When too far, you take from nature. This way of life costs you, sadly. Not personally, but by the time you make it past the harsh snows of winter, you are alone. Your men are eithet buried or jailed, but you are back.

As you step down from the drivers seat, you peer up above the walls and see a pillar of black smoke. It seems order has not been restored, even after this long.

>Enter through the gates
>Climb the wall
>Other

>>44268535
>Climb the wall
great alone again

>>44268535
find a way to smuggle yourselves into the city.

As for killing Annandale, I think we should make sure to do so with his own sword.

>>44268573
When night falls, you ascend the wall. You find it easier Han expected, even given cover of dark. They seem undermanned, and so you slip into town like a cat on the prowl. By morning, you are back to where you began 9 yeas ago cold, starving, and alone in the snow without a penny. This time, all you have is leather armor, an enchanted cloak, a powerful body, and charisma.

>Find food
>Find shelter
>Other

>>44268679
>>Find shelter

>>44268679
>Find shelter

>>44268729
You wander the streets of Dragonfell. Things seem much the same, and yet drastically different. There are burned and broken homes and shops on nearly every street. A disproportionate number of orphans and vagrants huddle together in dirty alleys. The town guard seem to be on constant, deliberate patrol.

When at last you stumble across a warm inn, you enter to find a dreary scene. Tired men and women, quietly nursing drinks and nibbling meals. You have a bit of money, and use it to purchase something light. It isn't filling, but it'll do. You overhear a bit of gossip.

"They say the Raven Queen is moving again. A whole bunch of folks missing."

"All loyal to his holiness, no doubt. What do you suppose her game is?"

"The knights say it's just anarchy. I'm inclined to agree."

>continue listening
>enter the conversation
>other

>>44268952
>>enter the conversation
who's the Raven Queen?

>>44268981
You stride over and sit down at the table, asking about the topic. They are taken aback, but tipsy enough not to care.

"They say she's magic, but that ain't true. People go missing, and when they do, the number or twisted killers in raven feather doublets rises. They strike in the night, killing members of he church. Ask me, she's just paying people off. Nobody's happy with Annandales rule. He's as iron as his armor. Still, can't abide a guild of murderers."

"There are those what say she's an heir to the throne. Of the Black queen, no less."

"Poppycock. That girl was hanged years ago by Annandale himself."

"You saw her hanged?"

"No, buy a friend of a friend did."

>ask/say
>leave
>other

>>44269305
>>ask/say
What was the Raven Queen's last whereabouts?

>>44269342
"She don't show herself in public much. Now and then, especially when her ghouls manage to snatch up an officer, and once a paladin. Most say she's just some short-haired lass with a mean look, but it might be they just lie for some attention."

"A fella down by the woodcutter said he saw a whole herd of the killWest heading into a Tavern on the other side of town. You might try there."

"If you want to get shived."

>ask/say
>leave
>other

>>44269574
>>ask/say
Ask about Annandale's rule and who are supporting/opposing him.

Then leave to the Tavern.

>>44269574
>Ask
What is happening around town, you are a newcomer and don't know what's up

>>44269607
>>44269601
"Four years or so ago, Annandale started gathering up the other Paladins to overthrow the lords. None of em raised a finger, save for the little prince himself, and some monks."

"They didn't last a day."

"Flayed, hanged, boiled, quartered-"

"Princey himself was fed to ravens, I hear."

"All terrible. But after that, the Raven Queen and hers were the only folk tough enough to stand up to Annandales cronies."

"Ain't enough though. He puts down any of em he finds, and drags the bodies away to the palace of justice. Other folk would break the law are thrown in the slammer."


>Ask/say
>leave

>>44269770
>>leave
leave for the tavern

>>44269820
You thank the townsfolk and set off. Following their directions, you cross town and in a few hours come to a dusty old tavern. Sitting outside is a hunched man, smoking a pipe and clutching a black tarp over himself for warmth. When you approach, he blocks your way.

"Closed." His vpice is dry and feeble.

>Ask for entry
>bribe
>Force your way
>Other

>>44269986
>>Ask for entry
otherwise sneak in.

>>44269986
>Demand entry
I have waited four years for my vengeance against him, and none shall deny me

>>44270042
You grab the man's tarp and shove him aside. As he stumbles back, it falls away, revealing a loose vest with ebony feathers sewn across it. He looks up at you with red, dry eyes, and cracked lips turned into a frown. He reaches a hand down to his side and produces a rusted knife, brandishing it feebly.

>Town him into the street
>Kill him
>Other

>>44270133
>>Town him into the street

>>44270133
>Release him
"Just let me in"

>>44270151
You toss him aside, and he goes rolling into the dirt and cobblestone. As he stumbles, you enter the tavern.

Inside it is dark and cold. The dust of many years seems to have made its home here, along with the oldest floorboards and paneling in the city. The tables all seem to be turned over, and not a soul watches the counter. There is however some noise coming from the backroom.

>Enter boldly
>Enter quietly
>Other

>>44270324
>>Enter boldly

>>44270339
You burst through the door to a startling scene. At least two dozen grown men are kneeling in the center of the room, faces and hands bloodied, gnawing on meat and bone. Some turn to see you, but none cease their feast. When you look at their meal, you spy human bones among the scraps.

Behind you are foosteps. The man you threw has returned, peering through you, rather than at you.

"Closed."

>Stop them
>Leave
>ask/say
>other

>>44270457
>>ask/say
Where's the Queen?

>>44270497
The men hear you, and cease their feast. As they rise to their feet, mouth loosely dripping blood and sinew, they turn toward you. Their eyes glow faintly yellow.

"Queen. Beautiful."

"Queen. Powerful."

"Queen. Sad."

"Queen. Love."

"Kill knights."

"Kill Paladin."

"Kill for queen."

They begin shuffling toward you.

"Kill"

>Fight them off
>Try to escape
>Other

>>44270754
>>Try to escape

>>44270754

>Fight them off
Ugh fucking thralls

>>44270813
You turn and she aside the one behind you, making for the door.

Outside, you are stopped dead in your tracks by a troop of ten armored knights, armed and angry. They look at you, confused, but their worries are cleared instantly when the bloody men emerge into the cloudy morning.

"It's them! The rooks! Kill the monsters!"

The knights begin attacking.

>Fight with the rooks
>Fight with the knights
>Flee

>>44271043
run past the knights, then start taking pot shots at them before slinking into the darkness.

>>44271093
You leap over the railing on the front steps as the knights run past, clashing with the rooks. Despite being outclassed in arms and armor, the rooks seem tenacious. Even large cuts and gashes do not deter them. You take your anger out on the knights a bit, using the last few throwing knives you have to cripple them before retreating into a nearby alley to watch the rumble.

The knights last a good while, but eventually the brutality and relentless fervor with which the rooks fight drive the survivors away. You watch as the rooks quickly drag the corpses inside again.

>Follow
>Retreat
>Other

>>44271571
>>stake out the place and see if someone matching the Raven Queen's profile comes around. Probably is Esmeralda.

>>44271571
>Follow
Set the place on fire and decapitate the stragglers, then throw em back in the fire
I hate the tyrants, but I hate monsters too

>>44271599
>>44271603
You watch the building for a long time. Night eventually falls. When it does, you grow tired, and decide that rather than wait for a sign of your mark, to draw her in.

You approach the building and tear some of the old wood from the railing to make kindling. With your Ranger training, you easily make a few sparks and soon, a fire. The place goes up in a matter of minutes, and no guard or citizen dares approach to step in. The one who does seems unhappy to find you there.

A tall, buxom woman in a mourning gown that would hurt the pocket of the wealthiest lord, and cropped black hair. Her skin is pale and smooth, like cream. Her eyes are shrouded by the dark, but as she walks on heeled boots toward the flames, you sense her cold gaze.

"Who are you, to burn my darling children in their bed? You'd like to see the Black River so soon?"

>Friendly
>Threatening
>Other

>>44271931
>Friendly
You know what they say, give a man a fire he's warm for a night, set a man on fire he's warm for the rest of his life.

>>44271931
>>Other
Is that you, Esmeralda?

>>44271974
I think I fucked up.

>>44272051
Yup.

>>44271974
Your joke lands. You hear the woman give a soft laugh as she approaches.

"I suppose it makes no difference. I
These were only newborns. They're aw easy to create as a paper doll. Tell me though, what quarrel brought your wrath upon them?"

>"I will not suffer monsters to live."
>"I needed to speak to you."
>other

>>44272294
>>"I needed to speak to you."
is that you, Esmeralda?

>>44272294
>"I needed to speak to you."

>>44272317
>>44272333
The woman stops in her tracks. A slight beam of moonlight illuminates her lips, full and full of color. They curl up into a grin.

"No. Sorry."

You feel a hand on your shoulder, and turn just in time to see the face of an olive skinned young woman in monk robes. Her hair is shaved on one side and hangs loose on the other, ebony black. Then, her hand rises to your mouth, forcing a rag against your mouth and nose. As you are forced to inhale a strong smelling liquid soaked in the cloth, te wod begins to fall away

Gonna wrap here, hope everyone had a good time.

I tried to avoid ending on a knockout this game, but here we are.

>>44272560
actually, kind of feel a bit depressed from mona's death.

I'm looking forward to getting some revenge, though.

>>44272560
Thanks for running again, chloroform Rags. Maybe we can develop a resistance.
>>44272581
Revenge is gon b gud.

>>44272560
See you next time

Can someone archive this?

>>44273021
done.

>>44273090
Thanks, I already archived a thread in the last hour so I couldn't.

>>44272595
Dunno if you're still around spring, but would it be better for you if I ran threads later

>>44274390
I'm still around. If you can, yeah but it's not a big deal. Today's thread started around 5:40AM for me.

Guys, I fucked up badly this time around and I'm not feeling to great about it. I think I might just sit the next session out, I've done enough damage so far as it is.

>>44275328
Lol wat?
It wasn't really your fault. And even if it was, there is no reason to sit out, your opinion is valued and nobody can foresee everything.

>>44275365
character death tends to weigh heavily on me. I'm just going to take a breather and rethink my choices.

>>44275414
It's cool man. Take a breather if you need, I'm sure we'll work out something.