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You, Irene, Asra, Sheena, and Une, after a successful mission in Ennase, warped back to Disler Outpost before taking the rest of the trip back to Elza Oasis the old-fashioned way, just like how they came in the first place.

The trip back is uneventful, for the most part, as is arrival in Elza, Irene thanking Eyven for his time watching the place before seeing him off, some brief, polite catching-up with Calof and Gonzo (they did some short-term stuff for Tomnus and Kneil, wrapped it up a day before the gang got back home).

Things became a bit... Tense for you and Irene upon receiving word from Yulea about Ansi's capture by Queen Eva, and you have no reason to question the lack of any particular conspiracy by Queen Eva.

Apparently, Lyeim is still out on his soul-searching shenanigans. You wonder what he's up to.

You also hope Ansi's alright, writing back to Yulea telling her they all should have been more careful traveling with Clint (he is apparently no longer welcome in Leigh's group).

Little do you know that not only is Ansi fine, he might very well be on his way back West, and that Lyeim's little vacation could very well overlap with this fact.

>A. Be Lyeim
>B. Be Ansi
>C. Continue to be Lloyd. Important events from Lyeim and Ansi's journey will be learned of in-universe anyway.
20 minute decision time.

>>44451678
...wording might not have been clear there. The point being made is that Yulea did not mention Shea's suspicions about Queen Eva in the letter.

>>44451678
>C. Continue to be Lloyd. Important events from Lyeim and Ansi's journey will be learned of in-universe anyway.

>>44451678
>B. Be Ansi

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>44451944
>>44451843
Just a fair warning for if the Lyeim/Ansi routes aren't chosen: certain characters are ABSOLUTELY going to stand in their ways or confront them, and Ansi being involved here... They might not all make it out.

I don't like killing people offscreen any more than readers like people dying offscreen, but...

Yeah, there are a couple fights slated, at least some of which are characters seen before who it just flat-out wouldn't make sense not to confront Ansi on his way out.

>>44452035
That would've been something to put *before* the vote, since I would've voted differently.

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>>44452035
Yep, uneventful.

You spend the better part of your next couple days staying in contact with the magic-selling Anna, some of her contacts, Tomnus and Kneil and friends of them...

Basically, anyone who could help you help Irene find certain rare staves, or have even heard of the Wampyr staff.

"Still nothing, huh?" You say as you approach the redhead around closing time for the day.

"Actually, I think I've found someone willing to part with a Warp staff in perfect condition! It'd... Be a couple weeks before it could arrive, but I know her well enough to be sure she's good for it!"

"Right, er... How much do you think that'll run us?"

"15,000!" Oof. Really doesn't come cheap.

You're sure Irene will cover it, though. She's the one who wants the thing, after all.

>A. Carry on
>B. Commerce is boring. Bring on the fugitive summoner!
>C. Bring on the soul-searching swordsman!
>D. Write-in response
>>44452164
Noted. Call this a revote, then.

>>44452227
>B. Commerce is boring. Bring on the fugitive summoner!

>>44452227
>B. Commerce is boring. Bring on the fugitive summoner!

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>>44452246
>>44452590
As you go to tell Irene the good news, you stop being the POV character, figuring you can pretty much autopilot this business.

Now, you are Ansi.

You didn't plan on staying in the dungeons long... Only until you could confirm that Leigh, Yancy, and Yulea were out of the city.

Of course, you weren't exactly expecting an inmate rumored to have been a Peshkatz member to confront you after breakfast (crap, even considering this is a prison. Yulea has spoiled your tastes).

Pulling you aside in the yard, the man produces a rather impressive-looking set of throwing knives.

You're completely certain inmates aren't allowed to have those, considering the fact that your light tomes were confiscated, and barely manage to dodge one tossed at you.

>A. Use your fists
>B. Summon a Mogall
>C. Summon a Cyclops
>D. Summon a Mauthe Doog
>E. Call for guard(s)
>F. Write-in response

>>44452594
>D. Summon a Mauthe Doog

>>44452594
>D. Summon a Mauthe Doog

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>>44452702
>>44452736
Alright, looks like you're gonna need to fight your way out of this. Naturally, you stick to an old favorite, a Mauthe Doog.

Snarling, it leaps and takes a bite out of the ex-assassin's throwing hand, causing him to, quite naturally, drop his weapons.

"U-urgh-!" He clutches his bleeding hand in pain and you kick away the knives, and two guards approach.

"Hey!" One of them shouts, "the hell are you two doing?"

The assassin is first to speak in a very practiced-sounding manner. "This summoner, he smuggled in throwing knives. Tried to start trouble. I was. Able to get these knives away from him, but he summoned a dog to bite me."

"Bullshit!"

"Grh..." The smaller of the guards, the one who spoke earlier, gets in your face, clutching his Silver Sword and saying, "Ros here is one of our best-behaved inmates! Leave 'im alone, bloodbath!"

"Uh..." The bigger, quieter of the two says, "I... Think this guy's telling the truth. There's nothing on 0659's record about knives, and we searched him just this morning!"

In an overtly-hinting tone, the smaller man says, "you must be mistaken. Queen herself gave word of how dangerous this bastard is. Got it?"

"I, uh... Well, seeing is believing."

"Feh. People like him'd be better off dead. Remember that."

After that, the bigger guy rolls his eyes, nods, and helps get the ex-assassin away. "We'll let both of you off with a warning... THIS time."

>A. Say something (specify)
>B. Write-in response
>C. Skip ahead a bit

>>44453100
>C. Skip ahead a bit

>>44453271
To make a long story short, you figured pretty much immediately that there was something shitty about the vast majority of the guards in Rakche's dungeons.

Apparently with the outside assistance of some "anonymous individual," you're able to escape the dungeon in question by the next morning, figuring that attempts to silence you will not end. The friendly guard in question "looks the other way" at a vital junction, and you're helped out of the city of Rakche by an older man, a seller and breeder of plants who claims to have known the city like the back of his hand for decades.

"You've got friends in this town," he assures you, "but for now, they all want you to get the hell out. Don't even hint to your companions that you've escaped. Queen's gonna look for any excuse to punish them..." He sighs. "F'she'd been King Drasma's hot-blooded wife instead of his son's, criminal types like me wouldn't have ever gotten our second chances."

He ditches you on the outskirts of town, and you hear rumors that the local guard is more concerned with a masked woman who nearly took the prince's life.

Thankfully for you, that means you can get around slightly easier, though eyes are certainly going to be on you anyway.

>A. Hurry out of the city
>B. Look for your friends first anyway
>C. Write-in action

>>44453494
>A. Hurry out of the city

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>>44453519
You listen, of course. You've been on the run from the Johan region before, so this is nothing new to you. That gardener/ex-criminal "happened to drop" a "book" of his when you parted ways, a basic Light tome.

Figuring the most straightforward path is gonna be too swamped with guards for you to do shit, you opt to make a detour through Tarvos Valley.

A few days into your trip, you hear hooves behind you as you ride a Mauthe Doog. You recognize the pace of that guy. Swearing to yourself, you attempt to hurry even harder to get away, but your summoned monster is shot out from under you.

"Got a lotta nerve bustin' yourself out after all that talk of doin' what's right," Clint says as he approaches on his horse, Romulus behind him reverting to a more human form. "Least you still ain't dragging your friends down with you, but..." He aims an arrow at you, and you barely summon up a Mogall in time for it to be shot down in your place.

Romulus snarls. "Clint, stop giving this man time to act. That'll only cost you your idiotic life."

>A. Attack Clint (specify if not with light magic)
>B. Attack Romulus (specify if not with light magic)
>C. They're making a big mistake here
>D. Threaten them
>E. Try to run away again
>F. Write-in response

>>44453682
>C. They're making a big mistake here

>>44453981
"Look, Mr. Justice, you're making a big mistake here," you say, holding back the urge to finally end this rivalry and be done with it. "Your enemy's the one who signed that fat paycheck for my head."

"You would insult the queen of the era which saw untold progress for the garou?" Romulus barks.

"She's tried to have me silenced. I'm only a target because of the technique that saved the two of you from mind control!"

"All a load of speculation, when the most important fact is still eyein' me in the face: you've broken out of jail, you're tryin' to flee the country, and it's my job to bring you back."

"You haven't beaten me once," you pointedly remind him.

"That supposed to make me back down? Romulus, you run ahead, since it looks like he's headed for the Garou Mountains. Leave this personal business to me and Ansi an' have someone ready to intercept him should the need arise."

They argue about this a few moments before Romulus reluctantly transforms and hurries past you. Clint tips his hat to Romulus.

>A. Attack him before he gets too far! (specify if with summons)
>B. Attack Clint while he's distracted! (specify if with summons)
>C. Keep trying to talk Clint down
>D. Make it clear to Clint that he WILL die if he fights you once more
>E. Write-in response

>>44454186
>C. Keep trying to talk Clint down

>>44454323
You don't know how much this will accomplish, but you keep trying to talk him down nonetheless.

"Look, man, this is a shitty idea. The queen's playing you, and you're just... Throwing me under the bus to preserve her order! Where's the king's say on all this, anyway? Think it's weird how out of the loop the leader of this damn country has been?!"

"I will not entertain your outlandish conspiracies, Ansi. Turn yourself in or die by my arrow, here an' now."

He aims at you, firing off an arrow from a shiny new Killer Bow.

You dodge, but your chest is grazed. You liked that shirt, too.

Clint looks resolute. Romulus is now out of your range.

>A. Summon up some stuff (specification allowed but not required)
>B. Strike back
>C. Say something more (specification required)
>D. Write-in response
>E. Attempt to bail

>>44454506
>A. Summon up some stuff (specification allowed but not required)

>>44454536
You call up two Mauthe Doogs, a Bael, a Cyclops, and several Arch Mogalls, immediately having them surround Clint.

The Cyclops is the first to step forward, taking a swing at Clint and his horse, which hop away as he takes an expert shot at them, critically killing the first of your summoned monsters, following up by gunning down another Mogall.

You wonder how many of these guys he can take. You were certain this would be as simple a fight as your last two duels, but he's already showing himself to be... Well, at least more competent than before.

Shit, he spun that Arrow around before aiming it at you.

>A. Try to tank it
>B. Strike him with magic!
>C. try to summon up another monster-shield
>D. Write-in response
>E. Bail!

>>44454658
>C. try to summon up another monster-shield

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>>44454778
You take a deep breath as a floating eye monster is barely summoned up fast enough to stop the arrow from piercing through your pretty head.

Panting, you hurry and swerve between Clint and your remaining summons, calling up a few more Mogall to just... Well, in short, swarm the shit out of him.

Your essence is slightly stressed by all of this, and you figure it may be wise not to summon anything further in this particular battle.

"Gh... Out of the way, you floatin' pests!"

Already Clint is starting to shoot his way through them, but they are approaching regardless.

>A. Have them all attack at once
>B. Have them attack in turns, one after the other
>C. Have them attack in waves
>D. Escape on a surviving Mauthe Doog with them as cover (you will still be pursued if/when he gets passed them)
>E. Un-summon everything
>F. Write-in response

>>44455027
Vote time renewed.

>>44455027
>C. Have them attack in waves

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>>44455380
About a third of your swarm attacks at a time, its magical attacks being immediately followed by six more, and then again, and by then the first wave is ready for another strike.

Clint keeps attempting to shoot them down, and even manages to gun down a solid half of them and all but one Mauthe Doog you have out of the fray on standby out of the other monsters you had out.

Ultimately, however, the phrase "death of 1,000 cuts" applies, or in this case, "death of 1,000 low-power dark magic death rings and some other decently-strong attacks."

Breathing deeply, Clint collapses atop his horse, muttering and dropping his bow.

Humoring him for reasons you don't know, you approach. "Come again?"

"I said that..." He clutches himself. "I said that we both... Chose our own paths here. Our ideas of th' right thing, they're... Irreconcilable, in the end."

You suggest that he's being just a tad thickheaded, to downplay your response.

"Maybe I am... Maybe I am... But I stuck true to myself, fought and died an honorable fight... This sorta thing happens to honest men all the time. I... Knew it was coming."

Part of you wants to heal him just to spite his little poetic-waxing garbage, but SOMEONE confiscated your staves thanks to him!

"But... Romulus, he's gonna get ya. In th' one place you thought you could pass through safely... Just a damn shame I couldn't see you caught myself."

>A. Put him down
>B. Insinuate that Romulus is next
>C. Insinuate that Romulus is not an idiot
>D. Maybe Clint's right
>E. Leave in silence
>F. Write-in response

>>44455605
>F. Stop acting like you're actually going to die, we both know that you're too stubborn and I'm too unlucky for that to happen.

>>44455765
"Stop acting like you're going to die, you drama queen," you chide. "If you were the sort of person who died, you'd have graced me with your passing ages ago." Continuing to sound tough, you add, "besides, not like I would be lucky enough to actually finish you off..."

Clint is grinning, his hat drooping over the top of his head as he leans on his mount.

"...stop that," you say. "You're not convincing me."

And for maybe a solid hour, you and your Mauthe Doog wait. You deconstruct everything bar the monster canine that you summoned, so you can at least regain a small amount of essence in the immediate term (nowhere near as much as you sunk into summoning things, though).

"Damn committed to this, aren't you?"

Another several minutes pass.

"I spy with my little eye... Someone taking a damn joke too far."

Clint's horse gets bored and turns around, its master falling off. Clint's hat rolls off his head on impact with the ground and lands near you.

>A. Take the hat. It's a pretty sweet hat. (for reference: it's pretty much a cowboy hat)
>B. Leave. You can't keep dawdling.
>C. Stay. Real funny, Clint.
>D. Write-in?

>>44455923
>A. Take the hat. It's a pretty sweet hat. (for reference: it's pretty much a cowboy hat)
>D. You're gonna have to come after me if you want the hat back.

My laptop's being a shit. Will update as soon as possible.

>>44456215
Eyeing his hat for a moment, you shift your eyes before swiping it up, putting it firmly on your own head.

You used to have a hat. Wasn't as cool as this one, but then again most would say that none of your previous getup was "cool."

The ex-thief lent you some duds that are best described as belonging to a riding man of the plains, though with more compartments than a magic-user would require (can't exactly go running around in prisoners' garb). You're sure they would be nice for a thief, or a juggler, but neither is your deal. And some goggles of some sort "in the event of sandstorms," but to be fully honest you're not certain they'll ever actually touch your eyes. Good to have, though.

All in all, this ensemble's pretty garish itself, but MUCH more modest than your usual attire.

But anyway, enough thinking about your current clothes just because you're wearing a hat. "You'll need to come after me if you want this thing back!" You call before riding off on your summoned mount.

The very next day, right as you were approaching the mountains you were looking for, your path runs smack-dab into that of Romulus. Either he's MUCH slower getting back, or he turned around.

More interesting to note, however, is that Lyeim is following him. What the hell is he doing out here?!

Not deconstructing your ride just in case you need to make a getaway, you carefully approach the brothers.

Naturally, their dog-ears pick your presence up. Not that you were trying for stealth anyway.

"So... Clint's failed, hmm?" Romulus is clenching his fist, trying to keep calm. If your presence isn't a dead giveaway, your hat most certainly is.

Lyeim speaks next. "Like I said, bro, there's... Absolutely more to this than meets the eye. Sorry about your friend, but..." He turns to you. "We don't need to end up like him."

>A. Attack
>B. Just ride on through
>C. Explain everything
>D. Why is Lyeim here
>E. Write-in response

>>44456587
>C. Explain everything
>D. Why is Lyeim here

>>44456651
"Why're you here?" You ask Lyeim.

"Vacation time," he explains. "After you guys all left, I... Decided I needed to sort some stuff out for myself, see some family again. I was just passing through Garou Mountains again when I ran into Romulus. Spent the weekend up there with Tobias, just... Catching up."

"Ah."

After that, you pretty much just... Sum up all that's transpired.

Romulus corroborates with, "and this one, he is the only defector who did not slaughter any of our kind. Despite knowing the dangers of our vengefulness, he merely released Clint and I from the mind control spell."

You don't mention that it was Leigh's fault you spared him, since telling him you wanted to kill him is... Kind of a shitty idea.

"I see... When you put it that way, it is. Suspicious, all that Queen Eva has been and done. King Garrus and the late princess Salia were better champions of our relations with humanity by far."

"So you'll get me the hell out of here? The Magical Senate needs to hear of all I've discovered."

Romulus nods, after a moment. "Our kin are the only ones stationed in the Garou Mountains. I can help, certainly."

"Guess my vacation's gonna end early, huh?"

"Don't tell me you still trust Irene and the rest," you say, recalling what your distrust in led you East to begin with.

"Yes," Lyeim says, completely resolutely. "I thought long and hard about it, even considered not coming back from my time off, but... I cannot bring myself to think of Irene or Lloyd or any of them as enemies of the world."

>A. He's being naive
>B. Maybe he's right
>C. To each his own
>D. Be silent
>E. Write-in response

>>44456906
>B. Maybe he's right
Advance warning, spambot might be showing up soon to post about SJWs or whatever it is this month, it's making the rounds.

>>44457029
"Eh... Maybe you're right. Even then, though, I doubt Irene is just gonna... Let me back in."

"Hey, I'll vouch for you!" Lyeim promises. "No one'd say it to your face, but... People missed you when you were gone."

The next few days of travel are... Uneventful, mostly, but one night, shortly after you've passed through the historical tourist trap that is the formerly-only Garou Village, and as you're just coming down the mountains and entering Heim, you awaken in the middle of the night to a masked woman staring down at you in your tent (at this point, Romulus has left you and Lyeim to travel together alone).

Shit like this is why you sleep with your tome right beside you.

>A. Immediately attack
>B. Who the hell is she
>C. Summon something to strike from behind
>D. Scream
>E. Write-in response

>>44457144
>B. Who the hell is she
>D. Scream

>>44457281
In a tone that is not at all conversational, you ask who she is. To be more precise, you loudly insert the word "the" and a rather unkind word in between "who" and "she is/are you."

But you should already know that, being very foul-mouthed.

"Wh-what? What's going on, Ansi?!" Lyeim calls from outside, sounding half asleep.

"There's this masked piece of shit just standing over me!"

"I've been sent to kill you."

"And she says she's here to kill me!"

At the very least, confirmation about her intent is reason enough for you to use your Light tome to its fullest potential.

Being half-asleep, this means you chuck it at her head.

You're actually a pretty tough guy, though, so it conks her in the mask and lands on the ground with a thud, and she grips the broken piece of costumewear, shuddering before casting it aside.

"Throwing it? Really?"

"It's gotta be like 3 in the goddamn morning! Don't expect genius gut reactions!"

Oh, hey, you think it's that, uh... Whatever Ymira's amnesia maid was called. Mignogna? Whatever.

>A. Pick up your tome and attack!
>B. Summon something and attack!
>C. Say something (specify)
>D. Write-in response

>>44457402
>A. Pick up your tome and attack!

>>44457402
Please tell me we picked up at least a Heal staff in that town...

>>44457545
You reach for your tome, shoving her away with all your strength and actually using the light tome for its actual purpose.

A large hole is blown in Monique's (that was that maid's name, right!) midsection, to which she staggers significantly, still not... Actually trying to kill you.

She only reacts with moderate displeasure when Lyeim follows up by slashing her in half from behind.

"Could you hurry it along? It was clear from the start that chasing you was just a suicide mission, so I don't intend on disappointing."

>A. Don't let her disappoint (read: finish her off)
>B. What is she going on about
>C. This just feels spiteful
>D. Maybe you don't WANT her to do what the queen wants
>E. Write-in response

>>44457569
Eh, I'll say so. Meant to write in something about Mitchell helping you smuggle out your confiscated gold, even if your weapons couldn't be saved, but I forgot to when it was relevant. "Money talks more than magic in a lot of places," he'd say something along the lines of.

>>44457669
>B. What is she going on about

>>44457669
>B. What is she going on about
>D. Maybe you don't WANT her to do what the queen wants

>>44457669
>>44457752
Eh, sure, throw D on there as well.

>>44457752
>>44457776
"What the hell are you talking about?"

Monique sighs. "Queen Eva. Sent me to kill you. After realizing the bounty hunters might not be adequate to do the job. She knows that Wampyr have... Difficulty with countering magic, for all of our physical superiority, and sent me under the chief assumption that you had dispatched your other attackers."

"Right, and... Why would she do that?" You ask.

"The hell's a Wampyr?" Lyeim eloquently responds.

"I'm a Wampyr," she says. "Made into one by the staff of the same name... That's not important. What is is that my master, the one who turned me into this, instructed me to do something the queen didn't like, on top of my normal duties of doing her bidding: kill people who try to dig their noses too deep into... Certain conspiracies I've been ordered not to discuss at length."

"And how did this turn sour?" Lyeim asks.

"I... Did something that even some part of me said was. Hideously wrong, against everything I had once stood for... I mean, I don't know for sure that it's that, but it's certainly a strong feeling."

"Quit beating around the bush," you insist.

"...I nearly killed her son, prince Cargia. Drained him to the point where he can barely walk with a cane."

>character limit, continued next post

>>44458016
"Ouch..." Lyeim says, "why would you do that?"

"It is... In a Wampyr's nature to follow the instruction of those that created them, and those who they are told to obey," she explains. "It goes beyond mind control, but... Has its drawbacks. Hence why my masters also still use straightforward mind control more often than creating Wampyr."

"Right, so... Why aren't you trying to kill us?"

"I figured I might as well explain why it's hopeless to rehabilitate me, why I deserve to die. Don't pull any punches, alright?"

With that, she shoves two fingers into you, and you suddenly feel your essence draining away.

You're not sure you can get more than one shot of Light Magic in at this point, and certainly don't have time to coordinate a strategy with Lyeim. He'll swing his sword wherever he swings it.

>A. Aim for her head!
>B. Aim for her hands!
>C. Summon something to strike her!
>D. Do nothing - maybe you can overload her? (WARNING: ANSI CAN NOT OVERLOAD A WAMPYR)
>E. Write-in response

>>44458030
>B. Aim for her hands!
Just need to get all the brilliant mages in the same room, have Wampyrism sussed in like a week.

>>44458030
>B. Aim for her hands!

>>44458174
>>44458186
You attack her hands with a well-aimed strike of light, though the resulting blast of light magic also strikes you and Lyeim, knocking you back and hurting your eyes.

The essence drained from you by Monique was apparently enough for her to reattach herself to the lower part of her body, but her hands were simultaneously cut and blasted at the same time, so those are lost in her retreat.

Hell if she isn't fast getting away, but Lyeim is quick to yank her right hand out of your flesh, the left having been destroyed.

"Er... Should we destroy this one too?" He asks.

You shake your head. "No. Assuming she needs her hands to drain, she'll want it back sometime. And capturing her could be... Pivotal in the fate of the world."

Monique's hand slaps Lyeim as he gazes at it and tries to scuttle away on its fingers.

The two of you spend all night chasing and trapping the damn thing, and have a good laugh about it once you've tied it up with wire, locked it in a box, and locked that box inside of another box for good measure.

You also shake the box a whole lot, the two of you joking about the hand vomiting out all your essence.

Hell if you aren't tired that morning, but it's a proud tired. You feel like you're accomplishing things in life.

>To be continued next thread
If it wasn't clear, Clint and Monique were the prospective bodycount that would be guaranteed if Ansi and Lyeim's adventures weren't shown. Lyeim probably would've had a more active role if he was chosen, but whatever.

Thanks for playing, as always. Update twitter and ask.fm are qmgrandflocto, and I'll be around in-thread to chat awhile.

Odds are I won't be running on the 31st, unless all of you have similarly little to do on New Year's Eve than read our quest.

>>44458349
Sucks that we lost Clint anyway, but I think he died well, at least, and hopefully this will impact Ansi's behavior even further.

Assuming he wasn't secretly the greatest of actors, that is.

So could Lloyd and the other mages hypothetically find a way to reverse Wampyrism because >Spirits?

>>44458349
Thanks for running. And have a happy new year if you aren't around then.

>>44458428
You too, anon. Always a pleasure.
>>44458414
Yeah, I figured that Clint could only get so much mileage out of continually failing while being a cool bounty hunter, and we knew from the start he would end up being a Camus-type. From before the start, when Grandflaw first thought up the concept of a cowboy-bounty hunter who ended up continually on opposite sides of the heroes, even. Sparing him would only prolong the inevitable.

Half-considering having the story's very last sentence being Clint coming out of nowhere, taking his hat back, and dragging Ansi off.

Maybe it's one of the Staff of Katri's many vague and unspecified powers?