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And now the Queen of Neir herself is facing your company.

Lowering her Flame Lance, she flies over to your leader. "Shea," she says, "all of this resistance... What's your point to it?"

"It's the same reasons you fought against your own family, mother. This goal of using undead monstrosities and wonton violence to conquer the continent is... Shortsighted and cruel!"

"You think it was that simple, daughter?" Eva exclaims. "You think that I was naive enough to think you could just... Kick some ass and then leave people to their own devices? Of course not! Bandits, inept leaders, tyrants... They still roam Teege barely-checked, despite decades of work! And undermining your own mother like this will do the world no favors!"

"And entertaining Paula's delusions will?!" Shea responds. "You're forcing good knights and soldiers, honest men and women, to die solely so you could chastise me?"

"I'm not the one who struck them down, Shea. Now, you, your brother, and your friends here put your weapons, and I will see if we can't treat your lot mercifully."

Mother and daughter, queen and princess, Eva and Shea stare each other down, the air tense as fighters on either side only watch, ready for violence to break out any moment. You can tell how little either leader wishes to keep fighting, but neither feels they can back down.

>A. Perhaps you can say something..? (write-in dialogue)
>B. Attack!
>C. Watch tensely, wait preparedly
>D. Write-in response
>E. Fall back

>>45037486
Attack

>>45037486
>C. Watch tensely, wait preparedly
Have to let the royal have their pre-battle cutscene.

>>45037486
Offer to pleasure her and all her troops of she spares my life.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>45037541
>>45037582
Rolling.
>>45037641
Gonna have to veto that one.

>>45037486
>C. Watch tensely, wait preparedly

>>45037703
...eh, on second thought, now that this has broken the tie I'll disregard the dice roll.

>>45037697
No fun dm, boo.

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>>45037582
>>45037703
You follow everyone else's example, clutching your Carreau tome in case you need to use it on someone.

"So... You're not going to back down either." The queen smiles, albeit sadly. "Can't say you're not my daughter... Come, show mother how you've improved."

The pair takes to the skies, and from there things escalate once more.

You, Yvette, and Riga find yourselves chased down by paladins and horse-archers, all with lances, and Yvette calls for you to take on the Archers and stay behind her and the dismounted wyvern lord as they take aim at your closer-ranged foes.

You see no reason to disobey Yvette, so you scan the nearby horsemen to see who's worth striking first...

One has a Longbow, two have Silver Bows, and one has... A killer bow, it looks like.

Thankfully, none of them are focusing on Shea, but still, could be troublesome.

>A. Attack [specify] first
>B. Don't distinguish which you strike when
>C. On second thought, focus on the shorter-ranged guys
>D. Write-in response

>>45038003
D. Offer to service them in exchange for our lives.

>>45038003
>A. Attack [Killer Bow] first

>>45038003
>>45038117
Second.

>>45038084
Yes

>>45038084
You realize you're just going to get vetoed again, right? An option as out of character as that in a high lethality setting is blatant trolling.

>>45038201
Better to whore myself than get shot full of arrows, in a high lethality setting.

What you gonna do deflect them with your katana?

>>45038277
No, I'm going to vote for whichever option I think has the best chance of resulting in as many people surviving as possible, as usual. You know, actually playing the quest instead of trolling bullshit.

There are several reasons why your idiotic idea wouldn't work anyway, which you'd already know if you had read the quest instead of showing up solely to be a cancerous shithead.

>>45038343
>Gets everyone shot full of arrows

Saves people?

>>45038405
Eliminating the person with the weapon with an enhanced critical rate has a much higher chance of saving someone than wasting a turn, and that is all your option would equate to.

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>>45038117
>>45038136
And now you aim Carreau at the fellow with the Killer Bow, striking him and getting grazed in the side for your troubles, though thankfully the shot isn't critical... Should heal just fine if you find a fellow staff-user or vulnerary during or shortly after the battle. You retaliate fine after your surprise start, but now there's... A lot of archers fixed on you.

The Longbow fellow's horse mysteriously explodes from beneath him, and a moment later one of the Silver Bow guys is struck square in the chest by Light Magic.

Jolie, backed up by Ansi, hurries towards the last one standing, and her lance and her opponent's bow end up pointed towards each other, when both of them... Stop a moment.

"J-... Jolie?" The woman on a horse says.

Jolie, in turn, says, "you're... What was your name?"

"Lene! We trained together, remember?"

"Oh... Right..." Jolie seems to only barely recall what she's saying. "There were a lot of people I trained with, sorry, Lene."

And Lene draws her bow. "Good, then... You won't take this personally."

Jolie quickly takes a stab at her, even managing to impale the other girl, but this doesn't seem to alter her aim in the slightest. Ansi already has his tome raised.

>A. Attack Lene
>B. No way in hell Ansi doesn't have this. Focus on the Paladins
>C. Write-in response
>D. Do nothing
>E. Check on Eva and Shea

>>45038520
My option avoids fighting at all, this would prevent death on both sides.

Stop being a murder hobo, violence isn't always the answer.

>>45038570
C. You already know what the correct answer is, drop my pants and do the booty dance.

>>45038643
These memes are getting more and more epic by the minute.

>>45038601
You know exactly why what you're doing is wrong and idiotic and at this point I'm an idiot for even bothering to fall for the bait. Discussion over.

>>45038570
>B. No way in hell Ansi doesn't have this. Focus on the Paladins

>>45038570
>>45038679
Second

>>45038679
Now now give me a real reason that getting people killed for pride is better than negotiations and concessions, and don't give me that you troll I'm not listening lalalalala bull.

booty dance optional but prefered.

>>45038859
Because the enemy is a conspiracy willing to utilize long-term mind control and unwilling transformations into monsters on innocents in the hopes of resurrecting an ancient living superweapon they can't control to dominate the continent through warfare.

>>45038884
Sounds like there should be MOAR negotiations then not more war to make the ebil mind controlling monster making guys angry, or God forbid you make them desperate.

Besides who says they can't controll it? The empires enemy's are totally not biased.

Are the "enemy" armies mostly male or female? I need to know for.. Reasons.

>>45039066
Participating in a quest without reading the archive is kind of a jackass move, anon.

>>45038679
>>45038691
The poor archer doesn't even know what hit her, knocked off the horse and bow hitting the ground with a particularly nasty hole in much of her upper body.

Riga and Yvette are currently arguing over who should focus on more and who on less of the enemies.

"Look, Lady Yvette, I've heard nothing but good things about your combat prowess, but you're almost 80! Way past your prime, even if you know all there is to know about the act itself." She swerves past a swordswoman and pikes a great knight who had a Hammer.

Yvette strikes the swordswoman down and blocks a blow from a sword-wielding fellow, her and her mount both staggering somewhat. "Hrgh... You would do best not to underestimate your elders, Lady Riga. Some of the Dain Empire's most dangerous foes in its prime were older than I am now." She and Riga both dodge out of the way of an attack from an incoming fellow with a sword. "Empress Alexia could swing a hammer like it was nothing until she was on her deathbed!"

"Whoa, whoa, don't get too excited, gram," Riga jokes, "don't wanna have a heart attack."

"I am the pinnacle of health, thank you very much!"

You turn your magic on the various foes they missed while they all focus on them, but more keep coming. Now, several fellows in rather heavy armor come, some with Ridersbanes and Polearms. Ansi and Jolie fall back a bit to be with you, Yvette, and Riga as they advance, Ansi summoning a Mauthe Doog or two.

Without a word, Yvette dismounts, sends her horse away, and stretches, struggling slightly to pick up the earlier-dropped hammer before holding it up without much apparent trouble. "And speaking of Alexia, I might not have had her... Gorgeous muscles, but she did still show me how to fight."

>A. Seriously, Yvette shouldn't strain herself
>B. Keep doing what you're doing and let her do the same
>C. Write-in response
>D. Do nothing
>E. Check in on Eva and Shea

>>45039066
While I question the "reasons," I didn't really specify and just sort of randomly choose between referring to generic enemies as male or female. It's probably close to 1:1, but not exactly exact because that's not a thing that happens.

That being said, it is established that the one guy who even fully remembered how to summon/control it was executed decades ago.

>>45039142
C. Seduce Yvette, you know you want to you dog.

>>45039142
>B. Keep doing what you're doing and let her do the same

>>45039142
>B. Keep doing what you're doing and let her do the same

>>45039196
Bet he had a diary, scholars love diarys.

Much like bitches love leaves.

>>45039264
Would it really be better if they were able to control it, though? Since their intent is to use it as a war machine that will end tens of thousands of lives in a continent-spanning bloodbath.

>>45039391
Not if you stop trying to murder them and destroy all they hold dear, that and tens of thousands of people die every day of preventable illness, would a strong technicaly and magically advanced government be a bad thing?

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>>45039244
>>45039256
"Jolie, Riga, at my sides!" She exclaims, taking on a more authoritative and... Impressively commanding tone than one would expect out of someone so ancient. "Mages, monsters, strike down the people with axes!"

"I can command my own damn monsters!" Ansi shouts back, "and do it without telegraphing everything to our enemy!"

Then, he has his Mauthe Doogs... Do exactly as Yvette said to do.

As Yvette strikes down hard against a fellow with a Ridersbane, Jolie and Riga tag-team and land critical blows on the fellow right behind him.

You, Ansi, and the Mauthe Doogs all make magical dents on the resistance-challenged armored folks, the dogs admittedly ultimately being little more than meatshields and annoyances to the knights of Neir.

Yvette, holding her hammer, hurries towards the last remaining armored fellow, a bit away from your range due to her doing little more than stand in place and shout threats as she waves her Silver Lance. "Uh oh..." seems set to bet he last words she speaks as she fails to strike Yvette...

...and a burst of flames from the skies strikes her from above and behind.

Eva, when everyone looks, is already back to aiming strikes at Shea's wyvern, but it's now clear that she's paying far more attention to the fight below than initially suspected.

The heavily-armored woman, meanwhile, is perfectly positioned to put an end to old Yvette here and now.

This is the... Second-time today her life has been in immediate peril due to trying to overcompensate for growing weak with age?

>A. Use Rescue on someone!
>B. Use Berserk on someone!
>C. Use Eclipse on someone!
>D. Stand around and hope for the best?
>E. Write-in response

>>45039588
Er... Specify who in all cases of "on someone," if it wasn't clear.

>>45039588
>A. Use Rescue on someone!
Yvette. The only decent Berserk target I can spot wouldn't really help Yvette with her situation, and Eclipse won't kill the knight properly since it cuts HP rather than dealing damage like a normal spell.

I miss Physic.

>>45039588
A. Yvette rescue that sweet sweet gilf, then offer terms to the enemy subtlety hinting that they take you for "punishment"

>>45039588
>A. Use Rescue on someone!
Yvette

>>45039674
>>45039710
You use your Rescue staff on Yvette, immediately switching to Mend after confirming her head wasn't just split down the middle by a Silver Lance.

"Again, you've saved my life... Thank you, sir."

You nod. "No offense to you and your decades of service, Lady Yvette, but..."

Yvette closes her eyes and groans, sounding short of breath when she speaks and clutching her chest. "I know... I'm not as powerful as I was 20 years ago..."

"And being in your prime at 60 isn't bad at all," you say a bit cautiously.

Yvette nods. "I'm... Going to find prince Cargia and present him with this hammer... Take some time to rest afterwards."

You nod and see her away, at which point she recovers her horse and leaves your presence.

Riga, Ansi, and many others are still fighting the aforementioned heavily-armored folks.

Yancy, Yulea, Leigh, Tomnus, and Kneil have made it their life's goal to ruin the lives of some archers, led by none other than Cargia...

Welles is making a point of doing nothing but defending the wounded or cold-footed as they fall back, but he is doing damn well at convincing others not to give chase. Sometimes you see Eyven and his ballista in the distance, fixed on whatever group is gazing at Welles at a moment.

And above you, Shea and Eva, both refusing to go all-out, and thus stuck in a bit of a stalemate.

No word on everyone else, but they're all around.

>A. Help someone (specify)
>B. Continue analyzing things (read: stand around watching everyone else)
>C. Fall back
>D. Write-in response

>>45039923
>A. Help someone (Riga/Ansi)

>>45039923
D. You already know you spoilsport.

>>45039923
>>45039968
Second

>>45039502
>Not if you stop trying to murder them and destroy all they hold dear
Well, yes, even then, since the conspiracy to do so held that intention since it's formation and predates the conflict, since, you know, the conflict is only happening because of that conspiracy, and we're not trying to do that anyway, what with our leader being the crown princess of their nation.

>tens of thousands of people die every day of preventable illness
Probably not helped by the pet monsters of the conspiracy needing to consume living essence to heal, assuming there are even enough people on the continent for that statement to be true (which there probably aren't).

>would a strong technicaly and magically advanced government be a bad thing?
No, but there are better, less douche-y governments that are already more magically and technologically advanced than this vestigial empire. Hence why they're relying on an ancient superweapon instead of their own nation's capabilities as the lynchpin of their conquest plan.

>>45039968
>>45040010
You continue to support Riga and Ansi and the rest of that group, the heavy armor of the knights ripping like paper against the might of your magic.

As Eva and Shea's fight goes on overtop you all, a poorly-aimed strike of the Flame Lance hits the princess square in the chest, leaving her recoiling in pain and struggling to stay atop her mount.

"Shit... That wasn't supposed to hit you, it was supposed to take out your wyvern..." Eva flies a bit closer. "That being said, you're coming with..."

"Qu-Queen Eva!" A rogue shouts from below. "General Reese has been forced to retreat by the traitors! We cannot expect the support of the rest of our forces!"

Eva, looking frustrated as she was just struggling to "help" her unwilling daughter off of her wyvern to properly call her captured, only to be met with ample resistance from the thing, is not distracted enough by the announcement for Shea to break free. "Wh-what? But... How could that be?!"

"They were... Greater in number than anticipated, queen Eva. Forces from the Darros region will take too long to arrive, milady. Surely we'll have been defeated by then..."

"Right, then... All units, fall back. I won't have the rest of you dying for nothing."

She manages to blast Shea's wyvern square in the face with her Flame Lance, causing it to recoil and enabling her to turn and start away with her daughter.

>A. Attack Eva!
>B. Do something else! (specify)
>C. What can you do?
>D. Write-in response

>>45040328
>B. Do something else! (Rescue Shea)
Nope, not letting her get captured and mindraped.

>>45040328
>>45040389
Second

>>45040389
>>45040440
Wait for it...

"Lloyd, what the fuck are you waiting for?!" Ansi cries out, seeing you readying the Rescue staff. Eva gets a bit further away.

Wait for it...

"P-princess Shea!" Yvette, again on a horse, frantically rides forward, briefly stopping to give you a confused look as you continue not saving her.

Wait... For... It...

"They won't be in range much longer, Lloyd!" An apparently-nearby Irene declares. "Please hurry up!"

Wait... For... It... Now!

With Eva as far away in-range as you know the staff to allow, you call the princess closer, Yancy riding over and healing her recent wounds.

You feel the Rescue Staff shudder a bit, and can tell... Unless you give it a LONG rest or find someone with a Hammerne staff, you can only get one use out of it.

In the distance, Eva stops a moment, surprised, before turning around. Her wyvern doesn't move back towards you quite yet, as though she's... Deliberating.

"Grh... Is... Is Nagi okay?" Riga asks, looking in the direction of the wounded wyvern. "Heal her up too, please!"

"One of these days you'll need to replace her with Khozen, you know," Cargia says as he steps away from the mostly-retreating foes towards his sister.

"I don't care for the old silver wyvern," Shea says. "I've ridden Nagi since I first learned to fly, and won't simply give her up for a status symbol."

"I... Haven't a comment," Cargia responds, "never could figure out how to ride those things myself."

Eva is yet to move, away or back towards you all.

>A. Chip into this conversation
>B. Attack Eva
>C. "Rescue" Eva
>D. Berserk Eva
>E. Write-in response
>F. Do/say nothing

>>45040673
>C. "Rescue" Eva
Really sucks to lose it, but we're extremely unlikely to encounter anyone with a Hammerne staff (it doesn't even *appear* in some entries), we're certainly not going to get a long rest (though maybe long enough to quickly teleport back to town and grab a spare), and while Berserk *might* result in her coming back towards us, it could also result in her counter-killing herself on any units of her own side that are closer than us, or getting killed accidentally while we try to subdue her, it's just too unreliable. Our objective is to capture her, and since she isn't completely stupid, she won't try to fight our entire group while dismounted.

>>45040673
>>45040914
Second...

>>45040914
Err, adding on to that that we should probably warn our group and get their okay on what we're about to try, so battle positions. Don't want to accidentally ambush ourselves, heh.

>>45040976
That too

>>45040914
>>45040949
>>45040976
"I'm gonna use the rescue staff on Eva, guys. Be ready in case this continues the fight."

Everyone nods, preparing their weapons as you ready up Rescue...

Eva is pulled off of her own mount right into you, apparently having noticed what was happening to her in time to punch you square in the face.

You hit the dirt as Rescue crumbles away to nothing, Eva readying her Flame Lance to strike you down...

...and being hit by Flux and Mire from Wes and Irene, pulled away by Leigh. "You're not just going to get away, your majesty!" Leigh says. "In fact, we need you around to make a point to Paula! The point that she's not going to succeed!"

Eva manages to wriggle away still, striking Leigh with her elbow and generally rolling around a lot.

You wonder if she's even taken a single hit, and why everyone's having trouble preempting her, even your fastest.

"Sh-she can see the future!" Shea declares. "I just remembered!"

"Wait, what?! That sounds like bullshit!" Ansi declares.

"I know how it sounds," Shea says, "but... It was a scroll she absorbed in her youth... A Vantage scroll, I think it was called. It allows her to always see an attack moments before it happens, preempt it with her own..."

"You could have mentioned it earlier!" You declare as she wrestles with Leigh for her Miracle Sword.

"I forgot, alright?! I wasn't expecting her to fight herself!"

"You think I would ever miss that opportunity, daughter?" Eva says, drawing Leigh's sword and attempting to swing it at her.

>A. Attempt to draw her attention! Surely you're far enough!
>B. Say something (specify)
>C. Write-in response
>D. Do nothing

>>45041287
>A. Attempt to draw her attention! Surely you're far enough!
Presumably with Eclipse. Can't really think of any clever plan to negate skills being skills. This is kind of bullshit, though. Vantage doesn't grant evasion bonuses, and more seriously, stealing someone's equipped weapon, a high level Hero that's probably S-rank in Swords at that?

>>45041287
>A. Attempt to draw her attention! Surely you're far enough!

>>45041540
>>45041567
Alright, you're... Out of her attack range, right? Overwhelming her all at once should do the trick!

With your Eclipse tome, you strike, several of Ansi's Arch Mogall strike, Wes aims Nosferatu, that Demeter woman uses an absurdly flashy fire tome, Tomnus his Light Brand, Yancy a bit of Lightning magic, Irene Mire... Pretty much, everyone with a ranged attack she can't preempt hits her at once.

All of you do this at once, and simultaneously worry that perhaps that was a bit overkill.

Well, all but you, recalling the sword that's saved Leigh's life several times.

"M-mother?!" Shea calls out, still cringing somewhat as a crumpled heap of countless magical aftereffects stands over Leigh, dropping while still clutching her sword.

The cool aura of the sword surrounds what was once Eva, however, and a moment later she is restored to... Well, admittedly she still looks positively fucked up, like anyone would be after that, and she's certainly no longer conscious, but Shea hurries over to her side anyway. "M-mother, stay with us!"

"It's... Fine," Leigh says. "That thing's saved me from far worse in the past, your highness."

"S-still... How could you have known she would survive? That was... Absolutely excessive, and killing the queen isn't even a pragmatic move, even setting aside the fact that she's family!"

"Shea," Cargia says, "mother's going to be alright... Come now, you're not the one who gets distraught or emotional here!"

>A. She would have deserved her fate
>B. This needed to happen
>C. How isn't it pragmatic?
>D. Apologize
>E. So what now
>F. Write-in response

>>45041720
>D. Apologize
>E. So what now
It's not like it was planned or intentional, everyone just had the same idea and an aversion to standing around while she did whatever.

>>45041720
>D. Apologize
>E. So what now

>>45041884
>>45041896
"Sorry... Er, none of us planned to strike her all at once. Maybe if we could have anticipated her having damned future sight..."

"I know, I know, that was an important detail to note... Though even I hadn't known she'd trained it to be such an effective tool," Shea remarks.

You open your mouth to ask "now what," but just as you do, Yvette says the same. "What shall we do now, princess Shea?"

"Get my mother someplace safe and secure before she wakes up," she says, "and... Everyone heal up, make sure your things are in order, and we can finally attack the temple."

Yvette, Yulea, and Yancy shove off with the queen, and no sooner than they do, a voice calls out. "Hold it!"

Oh, boy, that's Jorden isn't it?

>character limit, continued next post

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>>45042107
Those of you still present raise your weapons as he, casting aside an empty elixir bottle, steps forward. "So the rest of my knights have fled, even when our damned queen has been captured..." He exhales, a bit of unexpected smoke exiting his lips, to which he clears his throat. "So be it. But... I will not abandon Queen Eva so easily..."

Cargia wields Galeforce and that one Hammer in one hand apiece, approaching. "Cargia, I've recovered fully, you know, and in fact I'm stronger than ever before! Should you try anything, friend, it will not end happily."

"Let me finish, my hot-blooded liege!" He barks. "I... Cannot abandon her, and I will not return to father and King Garrus to talk of my own defeat either. That being said... I thought for awhile, when you defeated me, when I was searching for elixirs-we really need to give a stern talking-to to whoever's job it is to organize our supply, by the way-anyway, I thought for awhile. I realized that... The sorts that the queen wants us to protect, they're... The very route of the problem that plagues this nation! I mustn't think of what the queen wants in a time like this... This undead scourge's source needs to be punished!"

"Get to the point, friend!" Cargia says.

"IF you would have me, prince, princess..." He begins. "And I need not even mention the condition of the queen's safety if she is in Shea's custody." Another pause. "I would like to join you in the apprehension of this... Paula, and the Wulf Company that has come to support her."

Cargia says, "well, were it up to me, you certainly could, but it is our leader's call!" He gestures to his sister, who seems to be thinking it over.

>A. Suggest we let him
>B. Suggest we not let him
>C. Provide no input
>D. Write-in response

>>45042135
>A. Suggest we let him, if he'll allow us to perform a paranoia-check for mind control on him

>>45042135
>>45042205
Second

>>45042205
>>45042218
"Er... Would you consent to a mind control check? We've... Discovered that people can be pretty deep-cover, and with all the mages around, it wouldn't take too long."

"Pfft," he says, "as though I'm weak-willed enough for that to happen..."

"Not really a willpower thing, my friend!" Cargia says.

"Regardless... You have a point, now that I've thoroughly considered the vileness of our opponents. I'll bare my mind for all of you to comb for as long as you require, as a loyal knight!"

Shea nods. "Then let's do it! Mages..."

"We're going to need you to hold still..."

"Hold still? My mother's people could sleep for years! I know how to hold still."

"Then fucking show it!" Ansi calls back.

"I don't think I like your tone, mercenary!"

Shea asks, "we don't need to get Yvette to ask you, do we?"

"Ergh... N-no, milady." Even he's intimidated by Yvette's abilities to... Well, intimidate?

Anyway, after several minutes, you, Ansi, Irene, and Demeter ruled out as many mind-control spells as possible.

"Welcome to the team, Sir Jorden!" Shea says. "This will only be the first of many things you go down in history for, I'm certain."

Jorden nods. "And I'll be telling it to your descendants as well."

Your break is brief after that.

>To be continued next thread
Could've had some end-of-thread cooldown interaction stuff, but I feel like it would've damaged pacing at this point, and we just hit a good stopping point. Next up, the next major villain.

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

>>45042407
Thanks for running.

>>45042407
Thanks for running

>>45042448
>>45042463
Always a pleasure.

Wonder how long Paula's temple thing will take...