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Character and setting info: http://pastebin.com/u/MagicalPrincess
Archives (Episodes 1-59): http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Start+Over+Quest
Archives (Episodes 60+): http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Start+Over+Quest
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MagicalMarquise
Ask.fm: http://ask.fm/MagicalMarquise
Collection of character descriptions (WIP, courtesy of anon): http://pastebin.com/pzYffs0R
Collection of quest art (NSFW): http://imgur.com/a/2nEyB/layout/grid (NSFW)

Who are you again?

>>111363
>”What do you do, exactly?”

>>111363
>”Is it true you stormed a pirate fort?”.

>>111363
>”What do you do, exactly?”.

>>111363
>That image
I see we've graduates from MS Paint to B-Movie intro.
>”Is it true you stormed a pirate fort?”.

>>111363
>>”Is it true you stormed a pirate fort?”.

>>111408
Apparently the quest theme song is the Baywatch opening!

"Is it true you stormed a pirate fort?", you can't help but ask.

"Oh, oh no, well, yes, well...", Carrera goes, glancing at Julio every time.

"Well stormed is a big term. Let's say we were waiting for a signal and decided to crash a wooden palisade instead", Julio explains, "Turns out we were a bit late for the party but it's not a problem, I mean it's not like we were really needed".

"We WERE needed", she insists with a glacial, intense stare, "The operation was just lead by some hotheads who did not really coordinate their efforts much".

"I thought the catapult was fun".

"You thought diving in rough waters during a storm was fun".

"Do you hate fun? You sound like you do sometimes".

Forcing herself to not slap him again, Carrera then turns to you and offers a nervous smile to try and distract herself from her companion's smooth talk, "What did you need our services for... Lillith, was it?".

"Yes", you confirm. She's wearing a puffy blue and black vest with short sleeves and some long, silky trousers of a darker colour, held up with a peach pink sash; her long tail twitches occasionally when Julio speaks, but is relaxed when she ignores his existence. You also notice that her arms have a good tan and she's likely more well-toned and muscular than her modest clothes might lead you to believe, "We're going to explore the Shadow Marches and we were looking for extra help".

"Extra help?", Julio wonders, "So you intend to recruit more people other than us? We could introduce you to those who-".

"She hasn't hired us yet", Carrera remarks with a stern tone and a stone cold glare. Yep, her tail gets all tense too, as you expected, but relaxes a little as she turns to you again, "Well we haven't been doing any actual exploration until now, but since you're an expert in the field already we'll just follow your advice and help how we can. Speaking of which, where did you plan to go? I would recommend not having too large a party, the kobolds to the North are best avoided if we're just meant to explore the lands".

Kobolds eh? Fighting really isn't your forte. Meaning you have zero training in that. Even if you're followed by people who do, and right now you think only Tahenohan can, you're not sure how safe you would feel nonetheless.

"We weren't planning to get into fights in the first place", you assure. Bryld nods in vehement agreement.

"Well that's always a good plan with life", Carrera smiles.

“I'm happy to see you two are getting along”, Delphine claps her hands, “I have to go now, you keep being nice to each other. Good luck on your adventures!”, and she hurries back to her own shop.

>”What can you do, in practice?”.
>”I'm not sure I can actually afford to hire you”.
>”Do you know other people looking for work?”.
>Other?

>>111470
>”I'm not sure I can actually afford to hire you”.

>>111470
>”What can you do, in practice?”.

>>111470
>”What can you do, in practice?”.
>”I'm not sure I can actually afford to hire you”.

>>111470
>>”I'm not sure I can actually afford to hire you”.

>>111470
>”What can you do, in practice?”

"I'm not sure I can actually afford to hire you", you admit as soon as Delphine is gone, so as not to sound ungrateful considering she went through the trouble of introducing you in the first place.

"Of course you can, I mean you just did", Julio sounds actually confused.

"I-", you begin, but Carrera stares at you and just shakes her head. Understanding that you have little chances of tackling this particular issue right now, you just put it aside for a moment and proceed to something else which is also important, "What can you do, in practice?".

"Well I'm a Fighter and she's a Thie-". *WHAP*

"What he's trying to say", Carrera interjects with a nervous smile, "Is that I have a certain experience working as a scout, thought not necessarily a proper explorer of lands such as yourself, while he is actually quite good in martial confrontations".

"That's what I said!", Julio insists.

"Well... That's great", you concede. You're not actually sure whether it's great or not. She's probably thinking you have way more experience with this than you actually do and you're not sure whether admitting to being an almost complete newbie is going to be good or not in this situation. On one hand they sound like good people and might prove to be at least somewhat helpful if you talk to them openly.

On the other hand, one of them is a half-elf. That's like having a full elf in the party.

"Where'd you learn to fight?", Tahenohan asks Julio, "Do you have any tattoos?".

"I have the Black Dragon on my thigh, wanna see it?".

"Yes!".

"No!", Carrera goes, slamming her hand on the table, then composes herself, "Er... I'm sorry, I meant to say you don't have to worry about monetary payment, we... Ah... Well, you have a... How's it called?".

"A charter?", you guess.

"Yes, that. It's okay even if you have no advance pay, we're not really desperate for money anyways".

"Not right now!", Julio explains with a wide smile.

*whap*

The place is still scarcely populated, at least for the standards of the civilian part of the camp. You guess this has to do with the fact that nobody is playing any instruments and there's no lunch being prepared. Well, you do notice that the minotaur you spotted earlier, who is tying her light brown hair in a hip-long ponytail, is humming a tune to herself while moving heavy-looking crates full of freshly picked vegetables, so that event can't be that far, but there's still not many other individuals out there with you. Not adventurer-worthy, at least.

Except for that huge-looking man with a horned helmet, a long white beard and dressed in enough furs to make any human being boil to death in this weather.

>”I'm actually quite new to adventuring, do you have any advice?”.
>”Who's the minotaur?”.
>”Who's that man wearing furs?”.
>”Can you recommend any other adventurers?”.
>”Do you know Cassilda?”.
>”What can you tell me about The Tower?”.
>Other?

>>111561
>”Who's the minotaur?”.
>”Do you know Cassilda?”.

>>111561
>>”I'm actually quite new to adventuring, do you have any advice?”.
>>”What can you tell me about The Tower?”.

>>111561
>”I'm actually quite new to adventuring, do you have any advice?”.
>”What can you tell me about The Tower?”.

>>111561
>>111583
Supporting!

"Alright, let me be honest since we'll be working together, it seems...", you shoot Julio a glance and he offers a courtful bow, which Tahenohan imitates. Carrera doesn't seem to mind, she almost kind of smiles at the scene, but it's only the corner of her mouth curving up, you guess she actually wanted to look grumpy, "I'm actually quite new to adventuring, can you help me out? Any advice will be good".

"Oh", and Carrera chuckles, glancing at Julio with a fond expression for once, but he seems distraught by Tahenohan's hair, which he is trying to comb with his hands with obviously terrible results, "Wow, how do you do that?", he asks, "HEHE!", she answers proudly.

"Well", Carrera continues, "Like I said I'm not really experienced with proper exploration of untamed wilds. I'm more of an... Enclosed spaces explorer, in a way", she smiles, turning to face you a little better and crossing her legs. They look quite muscular even past the silky trousers, "I suppose the most important qualities are being prepared. Are you stocked up on food?".

"Yes", you confirm. This much you have covered. Besides, you've never faced food shortage until now, and you don't foresee that being a real problem.

"Antidotes? Medical supplies? Bandages and antiseptics?", she asks, and you have to admit you did pull a bit of a blank stare. "That's not good", she shakes her head, "What if you get hurt or sick? You should always carry something like that with you. Bandages, sutures, ointments in particular. You don't want a silly cut to get infected and fester".

"I definitely don't, you confirm".

"We'll stock up on that, don't worry, I know a guy who just happens to be a priest of Jure, he'll give us something", she smiles kindly at you, her canine ears flipping contentedly, "I don't see any of you carrying weapons, I take it you're not trained to use them?".

"We aren't". You can't really speak for Tahenohan but that's beyond the point now.

"Good, then you're likely better of not carrying them. A knife or an axe might still be a good idea, because those are always useful, but having a weapon will tempt you to use it even if that's not what you should be doing".

While Carrera is giving you solid-sounding advice, Tahenohan is still being silly with Julio, "So are you a mom person or a dad person?", "A mom person", "So am I! Never met her though", "Wow, that's a pity. Mine only left me when I was... I think ten?", "Ten? Why ten?", "She said that's when humans are able to take care of themselves", "Makes sense!".

“What can you tell me about The Tower?”, you then ask.

“Oh, there was talk of demolishing it to use the stone for building”, she makes a strange face, “Don't think anyone will have the guts to, though”.

>”Is it dangerous?”.
>”Who's the man in furs?”.
>”Do you know Cassilda?”.
>”Do you know any other adventurers?”.
>Other?

>>111600
>Sit there for a bit, let the others talk.

AKA Blank vote

>>111600
>”Is it dangerous?”.
>"Who's the minotaur?"

>>111600
>>”Is it dangerous?”.

>>111600
Actually scratch that.
>>111613
Changan' to

>"Who's the minotaur?"

>>111600
>”Who's the man in furs?”.
>”Do you know Cassilda?”.

"Is it dangerous?", you wonder, "The tower I mean".

"Well, considering it was raised in the span of a few moments by Melfina the lightning sage I can't blame people for being kind of superstitious", Carrera then smirks, but she realizes that the name doesn't ring any bells to you, "She, uh, she's a quite renown adventurer. Well, for those in the field at least. Very powerful magic user, she came here with a lightning storm and disappeared in the same way a mere hour later. Pulled that thing out of the ground with magic, too".

Even Tahenohan has the face of someone who had never heard of her before, but she sounds amazed, "Wow! Is she THAT powerful?".

"Yeah but she was busy and had to leave for the West immediately, or something", Carrera shrugs and makes some strange gestures, "You know... Wizards".

"I know!", Tahenohan goes, smiling at Julio, "Right?".

"Right!", he agrees.

"Well I don't think it's properly dangerous. Nobody got hurt, but you never know what might happen if you hit it with a pickaxe, you know what I mean?", Carrera shrugs, "Maybe lightning will come out, or something".

"That would be bad", Bryld agrees, with quite an understatement too.

"Who's the minotaur?", you then curiously ask, giving her a glance. She seems to be getting ready to grill something, though she made very little progress since you last looked.

"Oh, uh, what was her name...", Carrera pinches the bridge of her nose, focusing intently for a few moments, "Pam! Pam, that's her name", she glances at her, then at you, "I don't think she's an adventurer".

You take a good look at Pam. Other than her size, which is quite striking in all regards, you would say that one of her distinguishing features is that she has a very peaceful look about her. Being quite used to country life, you would almost say that she looks and moves like a cow, though of course you might just be biased by other factors in making this comparison.

"She's cool but... Be patient if you have to talk with her", Carrera recommends, "Very. Patient".

“Why?”, you wonder. You've never seen a minotaur before, they aren't even technically human so you presume she counts as a monster for all intents and purposes. Well, yours at the very least.

“She is not really... In tune with us humans”, Carrera explains, struggling to find the right words, “She... Well. She's... Slow. In every possible sense. You need patience, and a lot of free time, to deal with her”.

Now that you take a good look at what she's doing, you can't help but notice that her motions are, in fact, not just very well-calculated but just slow. So that is what reminded you of an actual cow. Just how slow and devoid of any sense of hurry she is. You wonder what would happen if she was in the middle of a tight hallway and you needed to pass.

>”Who's the man in furs?”.
>”Do you know Cassilda?”.
>”Where'd you meet Julio?”.
>”Are the two of you a couple?”.
>”Do you know of other adventurers here?”.
>Other?

>>111655
>>”Who's the man in furs?”.
>>”Do you know Cassilda?”.

>>111655
>”Do you know Cassilda?”.
>”Where'd you meet Julio?”.

>>111655
>Let's move on.

>>111655
>”Are the two of you a couple?”.

>>111655
>”Where'd you meet Julio?”.
>”Are the two of you a couple?”.
>”Do you know of other adventurers here?”.

"Where did you meet Julio?", you wonder if it's been anything like your first meeting with Tahenohan. Something that happened by utter random chance aboard a ship.

"Eh, we've been togehter for... Wow, I think it's been a couple years already?", she sounds surprised herself, "I met him at Aldebaran, I was about to take a ship and head to Yuno. I ended up chasing him halfway across town because he looked like he stole something and I missed my ride", she looks at him, "Hey, remember when you stole those jewels in Aldebaran?".

"I didn't steal them! They were mine!", he insists, and Carrera chuckles.

"Turns out that yes, they were his, it's just that... Well, he wasn't particularly good at explaining and admittedly his situation looked incredibly compromising at first. We've talked it over and cleared it up with everyone, authorities included".

"They wanted to brand me a thief! Me, you understand?", Julio chuckles, "I'm not even good at burglary. You should see her instead, she can break into a-" *whap*.

"Regardless, we've been together for a while. I gave up on going to Yuno and travelled back South. When the Reconquista thing came about we boarded a ship for the Shadow Marches and helped the expedition".

"So you've been there since the expedition started?", you ask.

"Pretty much", she offers a half smile, "I still remember when this camp was only soldiers and camp followers. It was much more... Well-organized, at the very least".

"But less fun", Julio adds, "Remember when we didn't have that bard singing for us?".

"Yeah, people were getting kind of depressed. There's been a moment where things weren't going very well, especially when supplies stopped coming and we had no idea what to build houses and stuff with. Apparently it's full of aquifers down here so we can't really dig up clay or stones and we built the camp in a prairie so we would be able to spot potential enemies in time to prepare a defence, but...".

"No lumber, eh?", Bryld wonders, "You used it all for the palisade".

"Pretty much", Carrera chuckles, "There weren't many trees around this specific part to begin with, and moving away from jungle areas has made lumbering quite dangerous. We tried setting up a lumbering camp to the North, but... That's when the kobolds and the undead started attacking”.

“Oh”, you frown. You don't need to ask any questions to guess what happened to the lumberjacks, her expression is telling enough.

“But things are looking up now! Our defence is solid, the shipments and supplies are going to make a comeback... Eventually. We just need to hold out for a while, but it shouldn't be hard”, Carrera ends with a smile.

“It's going to suck to be stuck out here in disorderly tents, surrounded by people who don't know how to put them up”, Tahenohan openly admits, and Julio nods.

“To think that she's even been telling me over and over to stay quiet at night because she doesn't want our neighbours to hear wh-”.

*WHAP*

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I'm really, really sorry for the shitty run everyone. Things came up while I was running and there wasn't much I could do about it.

I'm sorry, I'll make up for this next episode, I swear.

>>111879
Thanks for writing!

>>111879
It happens to everyone, I know how that is like. Thanks for running.