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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiGE2j5AXFM

As a battle rages on, Rene's adoptive sister sneaks into the dungeons of Gravern Keep, looking for someone in particular. Sure, Lazare's son won't be present in the battle upcoming, but the man still deserves to be set free. He shouldn't have been swiped away in the first place!

"Who are... Oh, you're that girl from Fort Dalshin Samson spoke of, right?" The man asks, sitting in a decently-furnished cell. "That stark white hair... Yes, it's definitely you."

"I... You shouldn't be kept here," Veiz says. "The rebel armies are approaching fast... I'll get you to them safely."

"And what of my son?"

"His group was sent in the opposite direction. Fell for a diversion."

Another voice rings from behind Veiz. "You know, Veiz... Rene would be heartbroken if she knew about all this."

"C-Cicero! I, er... It's not what it looks like!"

"Save your efforts, Veiz. I've known for a long time. How do you think Kristina got her pendant back?"

"I... You what? Why are you covering for me?" Veiz asks him, shocked.

"Again, I don't know if Rene could take the truth. Not to mention, I owe a great deal to your father's kindness... But a traitor must be found eventually, or this group would never know peace. I meant to give Rene an easy answer and let you off with a warning, but it's clear she's not going to let that happen. So... Give up, face her, and swear never to do this again. Please, for both of your sakes. What you're doing is not heroic, or anything of the sort."

"I... What are you going to do if I don't?" Veiz takes a step back.

"You know for a fact I couldn't bear to lay a finger on you," the assassin says, "but I will not let the truth evade Rene."

"I..."

You, whoever you are, have no bearing on this. You're either headed towards a village with precisely none of the important people you're expecting there, or headed to that very castle as part of the battle this conversation is occurring during.

>A. Dyrus
>B. Samson

>>48134107
>B. Samson

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>>48134168
"Ow..!" You fall back on your ass, Fortune standing over you and pointing a practice sword at you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BLUm3XCMmI

"What's the point of learning to fight with a sword if you're not gonna ever use it?" Fortune asks, frowning. "You're worse at this than ten-year-old me was!"

"Well... magic has always served me better!" You say, throwing up your arms. "It's just good to have something in case I REALLY need the close-range clutch!"

Adelais, Riley, Millicent, and Dinah, all practicing swordplay of their own nearby, watch as you're knocked on your behind. Doran, arms folded and leaning against a tree like some kinda hotshot, chuckles in that 'infuriating dickhead' kinda way. "Ey, if he only ever wants to be able to rely on old books to save 'is ass, he can do what he wants."

"Hey, everyone has their own sets of skills!" Millie insists, defending you.

"But what's the point of takin' up the sword in the first place if you never even use it?" Adelais asks. "I mean, you weren't even in short supply of swordswomen before I joined, between Dinah and Millicent..."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with expanding your horizons!" Riley says. "We don't all need to be swordmasters..."

Dinah offers no comment, but her eyes show annoyance with this little diversion from training.

>A. Might be best for you to not bother
>B. Then you'll get better!
>C. You only started to learn because your mother did...
>D. No comment
>E. Write-in response

>>48134462
>C. You only started to learn because your mother did.
>But just like her, I won't give up!

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>>48134507
"I... My mother had recently died when I really began to learn it," you say, making Adelais and Fortune both feel like real jerks, "but even if I'll never be as good as the rest of you, I'm not just gonna give up over a bit of bullying." You stand back up, picking up your practice blade. "At me again, Fortune!"

"That's the spirit Marion would've loved to see," Fortune says, grinning. "She gave me my Devil Sword because she knew I could handle it just fine, you know."

"Yeah, she's told this story... And it's never backfired on you once?" You twirl your practice blade, beginning to clash with her again.

"Not once. And I bet if I had a Devil Axe, it wouldn't hurt me either."

"That's... genuinely fascinating," you say, swerving out of the way of one strike and parrying another, "how does that work?"

"I'm really lucky, I guess," she says, slashing at your feet. Neither of you are landing many hits. "I mean, that's why I go by Fortune these days..."

"On top of it just bein' a cooler name than the old one, I thinks," Doran adds.

Fortune looks over at him a moment, grinning a bit and waving. "Aw, babe, no need to compliment me~"

>A. She's distracted. Go for it!
>B. Call her attention back to the match
>C. Just wait around awkwardly while they flirt
>D. Write-in response

>>48134753
>B. Call her attention back to the match

>>48134753
>B. Call her attention back to the match

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>>48134828
"Hey," you interrupt, "flirt when we're done."

"Right, right... Hyah!" The Hero hurries forward, easily disarming you again, before walking over to Doran.

Goddammit, she was holding back the whole time.

"Your nephew's in danger," Dinah says, "can't you take that fact a little more seriously?"

"Hey, I absolutely am!" Fortune says, "there's just nothing I can do until we get into town! It's better than me just... Rampaging like we were when I found out."

"Alright, fair," Dinah says, "but still..."

From there, the conversation skips ahead a ways, you really falling away from it as everyone else talks about things you really have no knowledge of.

You suppose that's the end of sword-training for the day...

>A. Talk to someone (specify)
>B. Do something else (write-in)
>C. Skip ahead

>>48135074
>>B. Do something else (Work on your book/play)

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>>48135167
You take some time while you've stopped for the evening to write more on your war epic to be. You want to get this out of your mind as quickly and as faithfully as possible, which means writing even as the war has yet to conclude.

Deeply personal memories are filtered into your report of the ways of Coastal Gerxel, the tactics of the once-deadly Dory Trade Company, of a girl who had lost everything to enemies of the Empire, yet was still willing to support them from the shadows even against her own flesh and blood...

You hope Veiz is alright, you really do. Honestly, being able to meet her again, make sure she's doing alright, get her out of that awful environment... Heh, what are you doing, being so protective of a kid you've only met once?

Maybe it's an inner big brother in you or something. You know what Veiz has been through, just like you knew what Adelais had, or Dyrus.

You honestly always used to want a little brother or sister. Mom was always either away or mentally away until a short time before this whole mess started, and your father, while doing his best, worked hard at his humanitarian efforts and magical research. It could get lonely before you met a lot of acquaintances in college.

Heh, your notes are getting mixed up as you reflect on all this. You're supposed to be outlining a first-person recount as a historical play, not planning out your memoirs.

Oh, and now you're just sketching your cat all over a clean sheet of paper. That tail is a damned disaster, but other than that it's pretty fantastic for something you've drawn from memory, to be honest.

Now you miss Tiltyu. Seeing her again for just a day wasn't enough, dammit! Oh, and that's probably how Millie and Norman felt about seeing their parents, but. Their parents aren't your cat!

Now you're boarding out ideas for your Tilly the Cat stories. You swear, this stuff writes itself. "Eheh, that's funny. Kids'll get a kick outta that."

>A. Talk to someone (specify)
>B. Skip ahead

>>48135384
>A. Talk to someone (Millicent)

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>>48135449
"So, eheh, yeah, I'm thinking we could totally throw in some pictures of cats in amusing situations... See here? This one's chasing after a speck of dust!"

"Your tails could use some work, dear," she admits, "but... Other than that, these are pretty nice. I didn't know you could draw."

"I didn't either," you admit, "I just sketch things in my off-time sometimes when I don't feel like writing or singing. I could definitely get better if I practice more, though. This is nothing on what this guy from school, Harrison or something, could do with just ink and paper."

"Still, it's really nice! Just, uh, yeah. Learn to make tails look less gross."

"It's gonna be on my list," you respond, "right after all the, uh, important stuff. Like historically important."

"And getting married," Millie reminds you, "we should really start planning that!"

"Yeah, probably... I mean dad's going to be safe again soon enough, and knowing he'd be able to make it is what I've been waiting for..."

>A. Write-in dialogue
>B. Talk to someone else after (specify)
>C. Skip ahead

>>48135644
>C. Skip ahead

>>48135644
>C. Skip ahead

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>>48135795
"Bad news," Edwyg reports, riding in alongside Doran and Norman, "the guys we're here for ain't here no more."

"Shit," you curse, rubbing your temples, "what's the situation, then?"

"They locked up any rebels they didn't cut down and busted out any Imperials they left alive an' captured," Doran reports, "lookin' like the mountain men gave a buncha hammers and armorslayers to 'em, too, enough to... Well, General Taniel'd probably still kick their asses, but they'd still chew through his heavy-armor guys like buttery bread before they go."

"So much for an easy capture," Fabrice says, a bitter look in his eyes. "Alright... There can't have been a large number of Imperials remaining, even if Rene and her company were able to bail out every single one. They're equipped to slay heavily armored cavalry, right? Then they'll be underprepared for nimbler forces."

"Basic logic right there," Fortune agrees, thinly-veiled frustration in her own voice as her fingers twitch, "don't even need Felix for that sorta plan..."

"Their remaining men are mainly axe-and-sword fighters from what we saw," Norman says, "so... sword-fighters up front?"

"I suppose you're going to tell me to stay back," Dinah predicts, pointing out her own armor. "I, for one, don't care much for being made into butter, but I'll do whatever you ask."

>A. She should be fine on the frontlines anyway
>B. Yeah, she can sit this one out
>C. Fabrice?
>D. Write-in response

>>48136086
>B. Yeah, she can sit this one out

>>48136086
>B. Yeah, she can sit this one out

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>>48136305
"Yeah, sorry, Dinah. Gonna need you on the bench for this one."

"It's alright," she says, "I'm not terribly invested in killing myself just to be a part of things."

"Keep the campfire warm, hot stuff!" Edwyg makes a clicking noise, pointing in Dinah's general direction before turning her horse back around.

"Er... Will do," Dinah says, slightly flushed and even more short of words than usual.

"Hey," you assure her, "nothing wrong with a free day off, right? No need to be embarrassed about it."

"You're real dense, Samshrimp," Edwyg says, rolling her eyes.

"Er... Huh? Okay, I know, but where's this coming... Never mind. Onwards, everyone!"

"Yeah, we got nothin' to gain twiddlin' our thumbs here," Doran says, "last we were there, they'd said they'd start draggin' out and executing any rebels they'd had captured, make an example before they shit all over Taniel."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMPscNKuShM

The rest of you hurry towards the town with that little tidbit in mind, arriving in time to see a recently-constructed gallows, to which several people are being tethered by their necks.

"Er, boss, why're we hangin' them?" A lady next to the apparent commander of the bunch-the only Halberdier you see in their ranks-asks in a dopey-sounding voice, "I mean, wouldn' it make more of an example for the rebels if we put their 'eads on pikes or something?"

"You couldn't have mentioned that brilliant idea sooner?!" The commander turns towards two terrified townspeople, carpenters apparently. "You! Build us a chopping block! The nicest you can! Hurry to it, chop chop! Eheh, 'chop chop...' Laugh at my jokes!"

One of the carpenters laughs uncomfortably, the other asking, "but, uh, sir... Couldn't you just use the gallows and prop up a chair or something?"

"...brilliant! Make us some chairs, citizens!"

"We already have chairs! Perfectly good ones!" The same objecting man says.

>A. Charge!
>B. Keep watching awhile
>C. Archers, mages, attack!
>D. Write-in

>>48136655
>C. Archers, mages, attack!

>>48136655
>C. Archers, mages, attack!

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>>48136804
"Alright," you signal Hal, Fabrice, Doran, and Norman, indicating that they ought to start the assault along with you. "Don't let a single hostage hang."

"You know what, wiseguy?!" The halberdier says to the carpenter, "you come on up here too! Think you can just make a fool of the Gerxel like uwaGH!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpsP1QgOBfU

When the overbearing halberdier is struck by a volley of arrows, thunderbolts, and darkness, the others naturally turn their attention towards your crew.

Edwyg tosses a hand axe at some unsuspecting Hero's head, Fortune and Adam running shortly after her in one direction as Jack, Riley, and Ada start off in the opposite one.

"Fort Larissa was just practice!" Riley exclaims to the smuggling heiress, "I'll absolutely get more than you here!"

"As if!" Adelais snaps back, ducking out of the way of a poor berserker who thought he could take her blind spot and cutting through him with her Wo Dao, "like you've got the salt to ever outdo me!"

"Good grief," Jack says, keeping up with the duo of apparent rivals.

You find yourself reinvigorated by Millicent's dance moments later, leaving you with several choices as to where to go.

>A. Charge with Edwyg and co!
>B. Go with Adelais and the newlyweds!
>C. Get the to-be-executed rebels safe
>D. Write-in action

>>48136996
>C. Get the to-be-executed rebels safe

>>48136996
>C. Get the to-be-executed rebels safe

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>>48137170
You hurry up to the gallows, followed shortly after by Hal, Norman, and Millie, the lot of you hurrying to cut the captives free. "Alright, it's alright," you assure them, "you're safe now. Hurry back to the outpost just North of here, a Noban knight called Dinah will get you taken care of."

They nod. One fellow, with a very impressive moustache, gives a smile. "I was prepared to die a proud rebel within the hour, but I'll proudly live on now!"

"Rebel scum!" An Imperial with a Hand Axe takes aim at the fellow you were just speaking to, only for Norman to fire an arrow through his neck.

"...this is getting too easy," he admits, "as much as hunting deer..."

"Get philosophical later," Hal says, dropping a dude with a hammer before he can sneak up on Fabrice while he runs to catch up with Adam's group, "we, uh, sorta need to be saving the day here."

"Right..." Norman takes aim at another person, this one locked in a stalemate with Jack.

You, meanwhile, simply focus on attacking anyone who gets too close to the escaping prisoners for your liking.

"If we hadn't come here, those men would've been left to hang as examples for Taniel," Millie says, "but... Wait, do you think they have any more locked up? There weren't a lot up here..."

>A. Should we find out?
>B. If so they're safer than out in the open
>C. You doubt it; "the rest" probably died in battles
>D. Write-in response

>>48137395
>A. Should we find out?

>>48137395
>A. Should we find out?

>>48137510
"Wanna find out?" You ask, looking over towards the rather unimpressive prison the town has. There are swordsmen guarding it, Silver weapons and everything.

"Mm!" Millie flashes her lockpicking supplies before the four of you hurry in that direction.

"H-hey! You're not getting through us!" One of the swordsmen says, only for an arrow to go through him. Running away in a panicked state, he promptly says, "you're on your own, buddy!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7UeuCGCBOA

"Coward! Get back here and die like a man!" His partner says, turning towards and running at Norman, slashing him across the chest. Millie, in turn, does not hesitate to put her own blade through the bastard's neck, pulling it away and looking at Hal expectantly.

"Huh? Oh, right, healing!" He holds out a staff, patching Norman up in a flash. "So if people're guarding this place... There's definitely people being held in there, right?"

"Mm," you agree, "everyone behind me, be ready for whoever's guarding the inside."

>A. Keep Dime Thunder handy
>B. Might as well actually USE your sword for once
>C. Switch to your Elfire or Wind
>D. Write-in action

>>48137765
>B. Might as well actually USE your sword for once

>>48137765
>>B. Might as well actually USE your sword for once

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>>48137816
Alright, you're going into a confined space, might as well use your blade. Prove to yourself it was worth skipping out on staves when your group didn't have any healers to speak of.

Millie is right behind you, followed by Norman and then Hal.

Right in front of you, shortly after you enter the rinkydink jailhouse, is a man swinging a hammer at you!

Thanks to the power of 'your opponent is an idiot who telegraphs REALLY widely,' you're miraculously able to dodge and retaliate twice, felling the brute as another approaches, hoping to replace him.

Millicent hurries in, the two of you sticking your blades through him at once as Norman and Hal pass by in search of any hidden foes or back entrances to lead the prisoners through. There looks to be about another eight or nine in all crammed into these three tiny cells, looking only suitable to fit one apiece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nujpGH5INbk

"Th-thank you, kind souls!" One of the imprisoned soldiers says, "when Rene and her team left for the North, we were certain they would have no reason to send help to this village, that we would all be killed by the time Taniel arrived."

"I heard one woman say they would spell a warning for General Taniel with our entrails!" Another young man says.

"They really do take after Director Belinda... A damned monster, she is," another soldier says, her words earning the obvious agreement of everyone else on the scene.

"No shit, Amanda."

"Preaching to the choir, Ames!"

>A. Will they be alright getting away from the town?
>B. Think about how you could've been saving your dad right now
>C. Write-in response
>D. ...

>>48138004
>B. Think about how you could've been saving your dad right now

>>48138004
>A. Will they be alright getting away from the town?
>B. Think about how you could've been saving your dad right now

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>>48138132
"Will you be able to get away from the town alright?" You ask.

"Yes," the captain-obvious by the name of Amanda responds, "just let us take some of their weapons, and we should be able to get away fine."

"Alright, good," you say, "you know that outpost to the North of here? A knight by the name of Dinah stayed behind because the armorslayers and hammers everyone's using here are especially dangerous to her, so she's gonna be looking after escapees there until the battle ends."

"Got it," a few of them murmur in general agreement.

Others shake their heads. "Let those who wish to flee flee, but some of us want to stay and fight," that Amanda girl says.

"Knock yourself out," you say, Norman and Hal passing around a bunch of weapons dropped by Imperials.

You think about how you could be helping save your father from Director Belinda RIGHT NOW, if it wasn't for this little detour.

That being said, you wouldn't have even known this town existed had you not been sent on this wild goose chase for a Rene that headed the way you were specifically told not to go.

These people would've just been a horror story from whoever in General Taniel's group survived their assault. Maybe this little failed trap for Taniel would've been far more successful, led to yet another damned turnabout in Belinda's favor.

You don't know how great the scale of death that the Imperials would've caused by reclaiming this town for long would've brought about, but you're certain it wouldn't have been pretty.

In the aftermath to the battle, that girl, Amanda, says, "y'know Ludwig? The, uh, no-longer-a-secret prince? He's helping the Empire now, but he's really not a bad guy, even as an Imperial administrator's son. We used to be great friends, even, before his mother was captured. I swear, he was like a different person when he found out..."

>A. Why is she telling you this
>B. ...okay.
>C. JUST friends?
>D. What're you supposed to do about it?
>E. Write-in response

>>48138348
>D. What're you supposed to do about it?

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>>48138403
"...what am I supposed to do about it?" You ask, not sure why everyone unloads their problems on you.

"I dunno! You just... Seemed like the sort of person who it would be good to talk to about this!"

"Alright, then" you say, "still not much I can do. Talking to him is a bit... Not possible for me right now."

"Yeah..." She sighs. "I thought it'd be a stupid thing to ask. Never mind me, I'm just some idiot."

"No, no, you're not stupid, I just... Can't really handle some complete stranger's boyfriend issues."

"What? No, no, you have it wrong. He doesn't even like girls like that!"

"Alright, my mistake, no need to flip out," you say as the embarrassed loudmouth walks off. You doubt you'll ever have another conversation with her.

The next day, the tall, bald, bronze, heavily-armored general Taniel appears before you and your team, hearing the report of the status the town was in when you've arrived. "I see, so old Bishop Lisa really is..." He shakes his head. "Regardless. History will hardly remember this skirmish, but these men and women will never forget your actions here today."

And now it's time to hurry back North, probably to news of the much more glamorous battle with Director Belinda you've missed.

Is it messed up how hype you were for that?

>To be continued next thread
It felt a little pointless to just specifically send Samson off in one direction, only for it to be worthless just because Rene did the smart thing and got the hell out of dodge, so I made sure his detour was at least semi-important after all.

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

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>>48138535
Thank you for running, Octo.

>>48138535
Thanks for running.

I'm glad we got to save a bunch of people, though I do wish we'd recruited Amanda. Probably a bit late in the game for new characters, though.

>>48138568
>>48138578
Always a pleasure.

Yeah, though, Amanda's just some random person I decided to give a name/mild characterization for flavor. I could say that she's traveling with Samson and co. now, but it's unlikely she'll ever get to do anything of note.

Since an anon managed to crack the case over his knee yesterday, I decided to go ahead with the reveal in that opening post.

>>48138614
Er, not yesterday, last thread.

Slip of the not-tongue.