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Where things are said: https://twitter.com/Riz_QM
Where things are asked: http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Character Sheet - http://pastebin.com/zKi3GZQg


Write-ups:


Misc note: Technically it's still tonight?

Schedule notes: So, it's become readily apparent that I don't have the time in my schedule to run FoxFire as consistently as I'd like, at the length I would prefer. However, I'm not interested in dropping the quest, so I spent a week or so thinking and decided I'd give this way a shot.

If you're familiar with Dungeon Life Quest, it won't be too unusual for you. The idea simply being that that the thread will be put up, and then rather than a "session", I'll come back in when I have time to put updates up through out the day(s) that it runs. Unlike DLQ, I plan for FoxFire to maintain a certain amount of progress made each thread. We have roughly 3 days before auto-sage kicks in, and thus you can roughly assume that our "session length" from here out will be those 3 days.

As always, FoxFire is something of an experiment.

>>213379
>A city of sparkling light

>>213379
>>A city of sparkling light

>>213398
>>213422
Your path is chosen!

Writing.

A city filled with sparkling light spread out before you, nestled within a field of blooming Hydra whose flowers were swivelled as one towards its brilliant glow. It stood as a pillar of concentrated Faith, with great walls rising protectively around it, and in the distance you could barely make out a handful of shapes under the artificial light.

That woman had called them 'rovers', and you recognized the silhouette they cast as you approached through the silent night. Your presence brought with it a trail of blooming hydra, but as you approached the great fields of blossoms which surrounded the city, you realized that the pre-existing flowers almost seemed to ignore you in favour of the golden calf they had unfurled to adore.

It wasn't long before those steps brought you close enough to cross the boundary of artificial light which shown down from the various poles, some of them you recognized from your travels along the asphalt from where they had been consumed by the climbing Hydra. The light they shed was harsh and unnatural, brighter and more absolute than the daylight sun... But other than the gentle hum of their technology to accompany each gritty step, there seemed little else to them.

And so you found yourself staring up towards the towering metallic barrier before you, and craned your neck back to observe the dimly light towers which rose beyond it; Carving their way into the sky.

The gentle hum of the lights cast a pool of inky black shadow beneath you. The longer you stood before the closed gates, the more intrusive their incessant buzz seemed to become.

Once more silence had fled your world, this time replaced not with voices, but distant static.

"State your business!"

A voice captured your attention just as your thoughts began to stray, calling out from atop the great metallic barrier before you. Your eyes strained against the dark, finally picking up the silhouette of man peering over the ledge.

"Curfew has been in effect for hours, what are you doing outside of your home?!"

You frowned, free hand rising to shield your eyes as the child in your arms stirred lightly through the commotion.

>Lie; You lost track of time and got locked out.
>Lie; You're a traveller, from another city.
>Half-Truth; You were a Gardener, seeking to leave your old life.
>Half-Truth; You are this child's mother, abandoned by his Gardener father.
>Other? (write-in)

>>213470
>>Half-Truth; You are this child's mother, abandoned by his Gardener father.

>>213470
>>Half-Truth; You are this child's mother, abandoned by his Gardener father.

>>213525
>>213531
Writing.

Yay I made it in time to go for a prompt or two before passing out!

What the hell were you guys thinking
Seriously we should wait until we have four tails at least before trying to consume faith from what amounts high security bank except they can probably find our location at drop of hat because we radiate faith like fucking sun

>>213614

Honestly I would have voted for it so that there is a chance of getting the child to somewhere safer than being surrounded by carnivorous vines.
>Inb4 this was the worst possible place to take the child.

"I need entry." You call back, "We have been abandoned by this child's Father, a Gardener."

The words roll off your tongue and fail to even echo in the night, leaving you to wonder at their reaction as the hum of the lights continued unabated. You felt the child's grip tighten as you waited, and watched the skyline for some further sign.

Perhaps this was a mistake after all?

"Stay where you are!" The neatly tended road under your feet grit just as you had turned to leave, "The gate won't be open for long, so please hurry inside quickly." The faceless voice called out from above, bearing a tentative warmth towards the end as it ushered you to enter. True to its urgings, the intrusive humming was briefly drowned out by something larger; A monumental shifting of material as the metallic barrier before you slowly trembled.

It rose slowly, shuddering as it revealed yet more of the familiar asphalt which you had learned to travel. It continued beyond the gate, down a darkened city street dotted in poles of dull metal which glimmered under their hoisted lamps.

"Hurry, get inside!" And there was the voice again, both urgent and concerned as you heeded its faceless call and picked up your pace to duck under the barely lifted gateway. No sooner had you entered, the gate had already begun to close behind you; With the bright outer lights thrusting your shadow forward in a desperate stretch as the artificial illumination was slowly, inexorably, blocked out.

When all was said and done, you were left in the dark with the gate's settling behind you acting as a sign of finality. Your pupils ached as they adjusted, dilating rapidly to try and take in the small pin pricks of light available to you within the darkened enclosure.

Unnatural, was your initial observation. Every cautious step forward reported the metallic enclosures around you, footfalls trapped reverberating along the persisting hum that seemed to flow through this city like its life blood.

"Don't move." But your tentative investigations came to an end with an imposing metallic chink, the high pitched sound of power being charged through some manner of circuit ringing the bells of memory as you recalled having your leg being blown away. "I don't like doing this, but I can't let you into the city if you're dangerous."

"You invited me in to be killed?" You kept your voice low, disliking the harsh echo of the otherwise empty enclosure as you gradually started discern the shape of an armed man holding his ground some distance from you. You eyes wandered, picking up vague shapes in the dark. You were the only two people here, with the exception of the sleeping child still in your arms... And though you could see the city beyond, it seemed to have a second gate blocking you from just making a run into the town proper.

What did they have all of this security for, you wondered.

"Convince me you're not a threat, but don't make any sudden movements." The voice continued, "I can see any move you make, don't make me do something I'll regret."

"I already told you why I am here." You murmured into the dark, resisting the urge to try and conjure FoxFire to shed light between you. That woman had warned you that Nature Spirits were considered dangerous threats and valuable bounties to the citydwellers... You wished to be neither, currently. "This child's father abandoned us while I was ill, we were forced to take to the roads."

"So you're Gardeners?" There was suspicion laden in his accusation, "Why come here? Why not take refuge with other Gardeners?"

That was a fair question. Perhaps the child's father had, in fact, done just that.

"His father was a Gardener." You correct partially, "I am not. The child..." You considered the weighty bundle of scrawny limbs in your arms briefly, "Is not." He had told you, several times, that he had dreamed of becoming one, one day. A Gardener. Like his father. "I do not want to raise a child outside, and without his father, the knowledge of Gardeners is lost to me."

Truthfully you weren't sure you wanted to raise a child at all, but you suppose raising one in proximity to more humans was preferable to trying to raise one alone. In the worst case, you could potentially abandon the child here with more of its kind as well.

"...Convince me you're not a threat." The voice seemed to stumble, pleading an excuse to allow you entry against their lingering doubts.

>You can not.
>At least take the child.
>Submit to being watched.
>Start stripping.
>Other? (write-in)

>>213612
Keep the thread open and check back when you can! I plan on running FoxFire off and on for the next three days, so its not exactly the "constant session" you're probably used to.

>>213620
>Other? (write-in)
Realize how fucking retarded we were by trying to enter place with faith detectors by using front door
Also ask them to take the child and fuck off no matter if they agree or not

Mostly I figured we'd find a place to drop off the kid then stage our death/just disappear and leave maybe grabbing some small faith items on the way out since this place seems built to keep stuff out not in.

>>213620
>>At least take the child.

>>213620
>>At least take the child.
If they say that they need more
>Submit to being watched.

Would the child still give us faith if we leave it in city and get rid of this silly human form?

>>213626
>>213632
Take the child, at least?

>>213632
Submit to being watched.

>>213622
Turn 360 degrees and moonwalk away at high speeds.

>>213636
The answer to this is complicated, and depends greatly on how you handle it!

In the best case scenario, yes! In the worst case scenario, however, your actions could completely destroy his Faith in anything at all. Children are very impressionable, even more so the ones who look up to you.

Writing.

So how many players would this have on /tg/?

>>213662
Judging by my other quest, I'd say one or two less than it currently does! My quests are not typically popular or well received.

>>213666
They're popular but your time slot is horrendous.With that said. Have a good night!

>>213666
Definitely not very popular, but it is well received. Stop putting yourself down, Riz.

"If you will not take me, then at the very least, take the child." You shifted the bundle in your arms softly, untangling your shoulder from his fitful grip as you attempted to hold the child out towards the voice. "He is too young to be a threat. Is that fine?"

"...No mother would give up their kid like that." The voice's trepidation told a different story in concert with the priming firearm's whine.

"A mother would prefer their child survive." You counter calmly, remembering the lack of overall effect those firearms had on you. At most it would force you to consume some amount of Faith in order to restore your body. "If you will not allow us both inside, then at least take him."

You held your ground against each other, waiting out the tense silence as your eyes finally adjusted to the lack of light and allowed you a better look at your interrogator. Vested armor and strange pants adorned his frame, with neatly cut hair completing the image of a professional in uniform. It was the uncharacteristic waver of his weapon which belied something unrelated to business, and the way his shoulders bunched up onto his neck as his eyes closed tightly which gave you an answer.

"I can't let you in, legally." He admitted finally, "...I've already broken one protocol though." A low pitched snort escaped his weapon as he lowered the firearm reluctantly. "Listen, my shift's almost over; Take these keys and go inside, look for the rover they go to and stay inside." He hissed the last part emphatically, "Just... Don't let anyone see you, and if they do..." He trailed off, stress evident in his voice as he began to lay out instructions.

Instructions that, you were evidently sure, were to help you commit some manner of crime.

"Is this necessary?" You interrupt him after a moment of listening to him groan, "Is there not some official way I could enter?"

"Inspections." He frowned, "But you would need paperwork from another town, and-"

"I do not have that." You conclude softly. "Without it, they will not let me in?"

"There's a lot of things out there. We can't take any chances." He grimaced, "You wouldn't understand."

You stare at each other flatly, an awkward interlude where in he visibly seemed to realize that he had told an outsider that they wouldn't understand what was outside.

"I suppose I would not." You broke the stalemate politely, opting to not cause trouble as you took the offered key from him and committed his hasty directions to memory.

"Please, don't make me regret this." He had pleaded with you one last time before turning over the promised item and returning to his post, leaving you to your own devices as you quietly worked your way through the small maze of halls and doors before finding your way into the city's interior.

The night was starting to come to an end, with rays of natural light warmly beginning to touch down across the refractive edges of the towering buildings within. If what lay behind you had been a small labyrinth, then the 'city' ahead of you was nothing short of an imposing dungeon's maw. Each and every building reminding you of the ruins you had traversed not long ago, and the phantom memories of strangling Hydra consuming their abandoned spires were eager to overlay the horizon.

Early morning streets remained abandoned and empty; Emptier than anything you had ever seen before. Of people, of rovers, of ruins, hydra, and even their own debris. They were well maintained lines which fed into others of their sort, creating a featureless grid that promised to lead you only in circles.

>Explore the city
>Follow instructions
>Steal a Rover
>Other? (write-in)

>>213682
>Follow instructions
Just smile and wave...

>>213682
If we follow instructions dude is either going to take us straight to faith extractor or some dude that will take our organs
There's also possibility that he's just a nice dude that wants to help us
Oh whatever
>Follow instructions
Also try to sense any nice big stacks of faith at the city

>>213686
>>213690
Following instructions!

But, while we're here... May as well sniff out some Faith.

Writing.

The negligible weight of the key in your hand reminded you of the man's gambit that you wouldn't cause him trouble. It wasn't as if you had any obligation to him, and the city was spread out before you... But wariness hovered persistently around your thoughts as you followed his instructions and fiddled with the key long enough to spark some sort of reaction from one of the nearby rovers.

You had mixed experience with humans, and running your hands over this rover did little more than remind you of the one you had stolen a crate of Faith filled antiques from during your feral haze. Almost instinctively, you had glanced in the back as you sniffed for that warm scent which had guided you back then...

Of course, there was nothing to find. This wasn't the same rover from back then, anymore than the wisps of that woman were more than a trick of the morning light in the corner of your eye. It didn't take you long to negotiate a method of opening one of the doors as you slid inside, finding the interior to be disconcertingly cushy and sanitized compared to the outside air that you had grown to know. For the first time since you had been 'born', the distant smell of Hydra was blessedly nearing complete absence.

The sweat and open air moisture which had become slick upon the sleeping child's skin was finding itself drier with each passing moment, and you took the opportunity of finally having some safe place to lay the fitful child out in the back seat.

This was a human city. You internalized that fact as you stood outside of the rover quietly, eyes lost in the dawning sun and crossing streets as you experienced the novelty between sanitized air and the natural breeze. That woman had told you of them briefly, of the way humans had developed technology to draw power from Faith, and how their civilization had come to use it almost exclusively; Of the scavengers whose job it was to venture into the world in search of Faith, paid handsomely to fetch the fading embers of it to feed their slowly dying cities.

You could certainly feel as much.

That elusive feeling that you were accustomed to finding like a trove of warmth in cold muck; It coursed through the city, pulsing not unlike a heart, as it was channelled through unseen passages into the machinery that lapped hungrily at its designated share.

Your head felt faint as you leaned back against the rover for support, once more finding the existence of only two legs to be woefully inadequate. Searching out the flow of Faith disoriented you almost immediately, with a sensation of forcing ones eyes to follow several different points of light at once. It was a tide of deliberate construction, ebbing and flowing with a purpose lost to you.

You likely didn't have the time to make proper sense of its currents before that man ended his 'shift' and returned to you.

>Draw out a portion of Faith from the current.
>Inject a piece of your Faith into the current.
>Wait for the man.
>Other? (write-in)

>>213726
>Wait for the man.
They could notice us messing with the faith in the air.

>>213726
>Wait for the man.

>>213728
>>213729
Writing.

You sighed and let the feeling of travelling Faith wash over you, withdrawing your self from the current in time to see the exact person you had been thinking about make his way out of the gateway building.

"Why aren't you inside?" He wasted little time in walking towards you, voice coming out in a frantic hush, "Where's the kid? He's not running around is-"

"Shhh." One finger came to your lips forestallingly, the other drawing his gaze towards the slumbering child in the back of the rover. "I was looking at the city." You explained after a moment, seeing the man's face soften in relief. He nodded with a tired smile as you turned over his key and got inside of the rover once more.

Conversation stalled until the engine of the rover had brought pulled itself into another sort of persistent ambient buzz in the background. The man had deftly operated its controls, flicking all manner of switches as the machine seemed to come to life around him; Strains of Faith which had gone unnoticed under the current of the city pulling themselves to the forefront as he set the thing in motion.

"...So." He started awkwardly, drawing your attention away from the rapidly tinting windows as the streets passed you by. "What's your story... I guess?"

"There is nothing more to tell." You shrug, watching his nose wrinkle as he busied his free hand with the center console. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, how you got here, for one." He muttered distractedly, "With everything that's outside, it's hard to believe you and a kid actually survived, much less made it here. I didn't think there were any Gardeners or holy sites left within two... maybe three hundred miles."

You refrain from asking what a 'mile' was. "We walked. Following the road, for a very long time." Was your simple answer, eyes drifting towards the well maintained asphalt that the rover was carrying you so smoothly over. "...At times, the road seemed endless."

"You... Walked? From where?" He scowled, "What did you even eat all that time?"
"Hydra."

Your hand clenched around a guard as the rover jerked suddenly, its pilot quickly returning both hands to the wheel to recover. "You what? Can you even... How do you EAT Hydra?"

"Boil its petals." His eyes widened, "Should we not have?" Personally you would have preferred to burn the things, but your only source of fire was... Well, the child had needed to eat as well. If you had set fire to the pungent blossoms, that probably would have left you lugging a corpse with you in due time.

"I... I can't imagine that it was a good idea." He stammered after a few moments, hands clenched around the steering wheel. "I don't know if its bad for you, but I've never heard of anyone actually eating the thing... You said you ate the petals? You managed to find enough blooms the entire trip to actually make a meal of that stuff?"

"Enough for the child." You correct quietly, deliberately neglecting to tell him that they would simply bloom in your wake.

"For how long?"

You shrugged wordlessly, your mind skimming over the concept of time entirely. This only seemed to distress the man further, his eyes flickering towards a hanging mirror to see the sleeping child in the back. "No wonder it still smells like Hydra in here..." He offered a dry chuckle, one that desperately tried to inject humour into the situation, "I was worried the air conditioner had broken."

"You can remove the smell entirely?" Hope crept into your voice, a rare experience for you that the man had unwittingly become privy to as he laughed, a little more genuinely this time. "Yeah. You can't get rid of it outside, but as long as you're in a building, or a rover, there's built in air sanitization to keep things clean."

...Suddenly you understood completely why that woman had preferred to live in a city.

"Judging by your reaction, you've probably got a lot of questions... I can't imagine how long it's been since you've been in a city." He ventured an offer softly, "I don't know what all I can help with, but feel free to ask questions."

>You have no questions.
>Ask things (what?)

>>213760
Who owns/governs the city?
Who are you?
Where are we going?

>>213764
Writing!

Also 4chan isn't asking me for captcha to post anymore. I just click the check box and it goes "okay"...?

>>213760
How will we get food?
Anything I should look out for?

>>213773
Shhhhhhhh Don't question it.

"Who are you?" Your first question is almost obligatory, but given the lengths he was going to let you and the child inside, you felt it pertinent to at least find out.

"I work as part of the nightshift for the gatewatch." He explained, "It's pretty boring, and more or less exactly what it sounds like. You're the first thing that's happened in months."

"Were there others there last night?" You shift in your seat, unsettlingly feeling said seat shift beneath you to accommodate your new position... Thus make your entire act of moving invalid. "No, just me. There's one person on gatewatch each night, most of the shift is during the day, since curfew and all."

"I see." You did not see. "Who decided this?"

"The curfew or the gate-... Nevermind, it's the same people anyway." He snorted at his own joke, "There's an elected council that oversees all of that stuff. I don't know how living with a Gardener was like, but we try to keep ourselves pretty organized."

You felt like perhaps he was bragging about something, but given that you had no actual ties to the Gardeners, the full implications of what he said were lost on you. He seemed to notice this, or at least interpret your silence as being offended, as he continued. "Well... That aside, we'll get home soon- My home, I mean. You're welcome to stay there though, for as long as you need. Actually..." He began to ramble quickly, "Look, to be honest, you probably can't do anything in this city... Not yet, anyway."

"What would stop me?"

"The system." He explained summarily, "You don't have a card, or any identification, so I don't think anything in the city will work for you. We use a city-wide computer system to keep track of permissions, locks, requests, vehicle ownership, you name it."

"Everyone has this?" You frown, trying to imagine the concept. "Everyone." He confirmed with a nod, "Everyone is tagged, sorted and remembered. It's really convenient, actually."

"It does not worry you?" The thought continued to unsettle you. "That you live as an accountable number?"

"Should it?" He seemed as confused as you were as the rover came to a brief stop, an automated light changing the flowing direction of the early morning traffic. "It doesn't really affect anyone badly, so what's so bad about being efficient?"

It feels inhuman.

Is what you wanted to say... But it wasn't as if you were any expert on that topic, either.

"Don't worry though, I know some people. I think we'll be able to get you entered into the system quietly, but until then... I'd appreciate it if you laid low at my apartment." The traffic resumed, and with it the soft purr of the rover's engine as you rode. "I can get you and the kid food; real food - Not Hydra blossoms - Or whatever else you need until then but it would cause a lot of trouble if people realized there was someone unsigned in the city."

"Signed?"

"Not in the system." He corrected himself, "You're not signed in, so you're an outlier. The firewalls might react to you."

You have little idea what a firewall was, but it didn't sound like an enjoyable prospect. "I understand. Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"Uuuh... The only thing I can think of is the curfew." He answered after a moment, "The city enters sleep mode during the night, save for the few of us with the permissions to act at night. If you're out at that time, you can get quarantined."

"...I see." You did not see. "I did not catch your name."

"87186-EGW:N5/7." He rattled the numbers off with a friendly smile as he pulled into an empty space with his rover, "And we're here! Let's hurry inside, before the others wake up."

...And the more you learned, the less you felt you wanted to see.

>That's quite a name.
>Are all cities like this?
>Could I use things in the city using your card?
>Other? (write-in)

>>213787
>That's quite a name.
>Could I use things in the city using your card?

>>213787
No. You are now Egwen. Atleast to me.
Also
>Are all cities like this?
>Could I use things in the city using your card?

>>213787
>Are all cities like this?
Honestly guys we don't have any use for that human stuff

>>213791
Quite a name!

>>213791
>>213793
So I can use your card?

>>213793
>>213795
Are all cities like this?

Alright, sun is starting to rise, so I need to close my windows/blinds. Now's as good a time as any to test out this new running schedule for FoxFire, so I'll have the update up tomorrow when it resumes/I get time!

Keep the thread open, check back occasionally, etc.

A little nervous, I hope this goes well.

>>213787
>Are all cities like this?
>Could I use things in the city using your card?

>>213805
Good luck doing whatever vampires do during the day.

>>213805
I've read the Wiki page on photofobia and now I'm concerned. Are you alright?

>>213805
Don't die on us Riz! How else will I get my source of indecisive regret and sadness with that tenuous grasp of hope?

>>214056
Is Valen quest really that sad or what

>>214190
It can cause quite a bit of stress. Can't spoil it but someone really awesome dies because anons are stupid.

>>214216
Though I'll be honest and say it felt kind of off because it felt like such a core value to the character that it's implied at that point.

>>214224
We got, like, half of all the Forgettings in Part 1, at best. But that was the saddest one. : <

>>214190
It is sad when you're reading Riz's Q&A section and realize how stupid anons' decisions were.

It's even sadder when you realize how stupid was the decision you've just voted for.

>>214190
Yes. But it's an earned sadness resulting from choices made. Even then, it's not just sad, there was some comfort to it as well. There's no more pain, at least. [/spoiler]Not even for the ones left behind, because they either never knew or didn't care. Everyone that still exists is happy. Everyone that was unhappy is no longer around to suffer. And to the Anons who voted, I don't hate you for it. Riz is a good writer, and you got caught up in the moment. I might wish I had been able to be there to help, having been there since the beginning and always pushing for the "fuck you, never give up" attitude that has honestly . . . Kind of helped make Irue the rather unpleasant person she is today. Anyways. I do wish we had been more proactive in the Fae woods. And that we had not spent a month hammered while the town we hate got . . . rebuilt? I'm looking forward. Forward to rebuilding Carona and changing everything about it like when you get rid of all your BFs shit that was associated with his ex. [/spoiler]

>>214985
kinda not spoilered there buddy.

Bump.
Who wants to look for this council thing and maybe hammer out a deal. Posses one of them so we can talk it out.

>>215535
That seems like it would end extremely badly for us.

>>215272
Well too late to fix it now. Sorry. I at least kept it vague!

>>215535
Hell no. HELLLLLLLL no. First we get the kid and ourselves set up with identities while hiding out. Meanwhile we get Guard # whatever to tell us about his life here so we can pick up context clues.

Maybe mention that the child's father never told us much about Gardners otherwise it would have been easier.

Anyways. We can sponge off him while making money somehow. I highly recommend NOT fucking with the cities Faith system since that is definitely the thing you monitor.

Shit bro. We can take our time right now. Build up a city identity slowly. Play up the "shy introvert who has trauma" card.

Probably the best thing to do is ditch the kid with Guard Bro or someone and get out since we're, you know, anathema.

Maybe we can get some sort of job that keeps us mostly put of the city? Leaving is a lot different than arriving.

But that's future plans. First let's focus on getting info and not making guard bro suspicious.

> TG tries to live a quiet life.

Fingers crossed.

>>215646
It sounds nice in theory but something tells me we would never be able to have the quiet life here.

>>215646
We could maybe try to work as a scavenger. Eat some of the faith we find and give some back to the city.
I kind of still think we could negotiate with the council or one of their members. Worst case scenario: we have to kill whoever we were negotiating with. Considering we control their body, that wouldn't be too hard.

>>215686
I meant to say "control their body WHEN WE POSSES THEM"
Sorry if that was unclear.

You had gathered the sleeping child when you arrived, following behind the man as he swiped a card through a device adhered to the front of one of the many featureless doors. He had ushered you in quickly, pausing at the door way only briefly before following you into what you assumed to be the apartment he had mentioned.

Looking around the spartan interior, you couldn't help but feel a shiver down your spine at how smooth and flat everything was. It was a room of very hard angles, one which you had the sneaking suspicion could be found mirrored behind each and every one of the other indiscernible doors you had passed on the way here. "There's food in the fridge, give me a minute to reconfigure the central room..."

Your host moved through it without a hitch however, a product of efficiency born from long-standing familiarity. Panels were accessed that may as well have been indecipherable pallets of color to you, one of the far walls starting to transform into something resembling a couch.

"Momma?" Your eyes lingered on the emerging furniture as the bundle in your arms began to stir, awareness slowly filtering back to them. You had wondered if the events last night would have woken the child early, but those concerns had evidently been unfounded. "Where are we?" Their group around your neck tightened nervously as the child began to wondrously look around them, curiosity beginning to visibly swim through their eyes.

The child's immediate distraction was well enough for you, as you had little idea where you were in the first place. Some human city? But these humans seemed queer, to your admittedly lacking repertoire of experience with them.

"Are all cities like this?" You turned your attention back to the man, interrupting his console-fiddling as you did so. "Everyone does things a little differently!" He answered after a moment, a boastful tone seeping into his voice as smiled back at you. "We pride ourselves on our efficiency though, so I guarantee you won't find a better city out there. Nothing goes to waste in times like these!"

"Momma..." The child tugs at you as the man spoke, demanding your attention split between the two of them, "What's he saying? Who is he?"

"Ah, good morning, little guy!" That split attention, however, was enough to tip off your host that the child had woken up. He seemed nothing if not enthusiastic in welcoming the curious, if apprehensive, child into his apartment as he concluded his 'configurations' and strode over to introduce himself properly.

"I'm 87186-EGW:N5/7, a friend of your mom's." The child stared at him in a sort of blank wonder. "You'll have a name soon too, soon as we get you two entered into the system."

"...What's he saying? Momma?" The child finally looked back to you, "Can you talk to him?"

"Mm." You smiled reassuringly, both towards the child and the off-kilter man. "He is helping us. Get along with him, yes?"

"Huh." The man tilted his head as you reassured the child in your arms and slowly convinced the young thing to walk on its own two legs. "I didn't know you were bilingual. What language do you two speak normally?" The child had gradually begun to stray from your hip already, insatiable curiosity and childish recklessness mixing together as they began to run their hands over everything they could reach. "I am sorry?" You turn back to the man apologetically, "Would it have a name?"

"Yeah, all languages have names." He laughed lightly, "Ah, but I guess if you just grew up speaking it, you'd never learn it, huh... Ah well, I'll run it through the system later and see what I can find. Does the kid speak anything else?"

you hesitated briefly, trying to reconcile your ground in the conversation. What was language? Did speaking differently matter? "I am not sure...?" You offered slowly, "I do not believe he does."

"Hm... I'll see about queuing some basic linguistics courses for him, then." The man frowned in thought, "It shouldn't be an issue though, maybe I can try my hand at learning his inefficient language, too."

"..." You let him ramble on to himself for a moments more, his thoughts evidently taking him to interesting places. "The card you used earlier, it is your 'sign'?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah." He fished it out of his pocket, holding it up for you to see; A simple rectangle made of some manner of firm, flexible material. It didn't have a picture of any sort on it, but seemed to contain a series of circuits which circulated trace amounts of Faith within it. "These things are keyed to individuals, and identify us by the system. Once we get an account for you, we'll get your own sign issued in no time - One for the kid, too!"

"Would it not be possible to just use yours?" You look over the card curiously, turning it over between your fingers as you inspect its Faith based circuitry. Again there was a pattern here, but one you didn't quite understand the purpose of... "Unless you get added to my account, that's not possible." He waved off the suggestion with an awkward laugh, "The cards are keyed to individuals because they're only powered when held by their authorized Users."

Powered... By Faith? There was no difference between one person's Faith and another. Looking the hand held slip of plastic over, you felt like the only difficulty you would have in using one of these cards was learning how to control how much Faith you let it have.

"Careful to not let it get too close to generators though, too much power can cause your card to get formatted."

"..."

You hand the card back to the man silently.

"There's also a bath in the back, and I can log into the net and let you familiarize yourself with some things." He took the card back carelessly, unaware of the danger he had just skated past. "I need to contact some people... But I'll probably be going to sleep soon. Is there anything else you need?"

>Time for a bath.
>Searching the net.
>Experiment with Faith in the apartment.
>Other? (write-in)

>>216036
>Searching the net.
General stuff like history and basic faith device theory, though I suppose were going to flounder about a bit.

>>216039
>>Searching the net.

>>216062
>>216078
Net! Writing.

>>215700
>>215686
Yeah. Because that isn't EXACTLY THE KIND OF THING THEY WOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT.

It's not like they don't know about spirits. Or how to kill them.

I would prefer to not try and fake being some head honcho in a place that hates and fears us and also has unknown capabilities of faith.

For all we know, there are ways to scan for possession in top government officials.

Same deal with the pass cards. Just because they use Faith doesn't mean eacj one doesn't have a unique pattern of use that can say, be tracked or something. Like a rhythm of dashes and dots to identify whose pass card it I and what it can be used for.

Or that might not be a thing. I don't know, the character doesn't know, but right now we are surrounded by dudes that will gang us if they find out what we are.

So let's just chill on grandiose complicated plans.

>>216039
Woo surfing the net. See if we can find out what this place is all about, and any recent news. Maybe they like to brag about how they keep the place secure to reassure the citizens.

Maybe there have been strange disappearances or Faith shortages or something to look into.

Aside from that, let's ingratiate ourselves to Ian since he's risking so much for us. And also find out why he knows how to get fake identities so easily after letting us in. Not really the kind of thing a gate guard would be all about.

He had spent some time logging you into a console and giving you some cursory instructions on how to use it. Evidently seeing you hesitantly poke at the semi-translucent keys had been a cause for great amusement to the man, but you paid his laughter little mind as you focused on trying to familiarize yourself with the controls of the interface.

Everything in this city, as you were quickly realizing, was extremely fragile. It was an unusual dichotomy to discover; A place so covered in resilient metals and plastics almost felt as if you were walking atop moistened sheets of paper. The slightest misstep could easily tear apart or destroy these extremely sensitive machines.

"Alright, it looks like you've got the hang of it. I'm going to turn in, but feel free to wake me up if you need anything."

"I will." You nod to the man absently, eyes glued to the shimmering screen before you as walls upon walls of information began to scroll past you.

The child had busied himself over by the couch, similarly covered in that strangely cushy material, as he tore ravenously into the 'food' which had been summoned earlier. With the smaller human distracted for once, you were given plenty of free time to take a closer look into this 'net'...

At first the walls of information presented meant nothing to you; Sequences of symbols that lined up in specific manners and patterns in order to convey some specific meaning... This wasn't the type of communication you were familiar with, by any means. You could navigate the net to some extent using voice controls, though it had disconcertingly changed the display language from whatever the man had been using to 'Source' not long after he had left you to your own devices, but the information presented to you was... Jumbled. Filled with far more intricacies that had nothing at all to do with the content itself.

However, you needed only a little time before you could begin to understand it. The logic behind the character sequences remained a mystery to you, but much like a lifting haze, you gradually began to see the intent contained behind the pattern.

In the end, even this was likely what that man had called a 'language' - No matter how different they were, they all served the same purpose of communication.

You had briefly considered this the first step in your search for knowledge, but rather quickly discovered that wasn't the case. Glimpses into the basics of technology led you to an entirely new set of confusing walls of text that, while you could understand the individual words of, collectively left you baffled. There were key components missing that you didn't understand, references to things you couldn't visualize, and an assumed experience that allowed it to vaguely reference concepts you weren't familiar with... History was a much simpler affair, but contained its own problems.

For every event you opened, it connected itself to more things. Events upon events, orchestrated by entire groups of people whose names all lead to further organizations and genealogical trees. Semi-translucent panels opened around you at lag-inducing speeds, flickering to your sides and towards various angles almost as quickly as they appeared as you manually began to organize them while opening more and more of these convenient 'tabs'.

Their cool, artificial light reflected off your eyes as you rapidly drank in the information - Scanning multiple pages at once as drank deeply of the general breadth before you.

The city had no name, it was a designation. There used to be other cities which had similar designations, but they had long since stopped functioning during the dates of... Reasons for technological failure included... Hydra encroachment levels steadily rising each year at a rate of... Projected rates imply... Surrounding barriers grew thicker each month as... A scientist by the name of... Working in teams to study its resilient reproductive... Unique draining attribute that consumes Faith, further testing required to... His Father and Mother's names were... Three siblings, two of them married.... Wildlife levels dropping dramatically... Categorized dubiously as plant life, discovered to be highly aggressive and carnivorous as well... Voracious appetite perhaps implicative of parasitic... Classified. Classified. Classified. Classified. Class-

"Wow..."

A screen winked out of existence somewhere in your peripheral, jerking you out of the dazed trance as your eyes immediately locked onto the guilty face of the child as they hastily withdrew their hand. "I didn't mean to!"

It took you a moment for your mind to catch up and make sense of what the child was trying to apologize over before you realized they had inadvertently caused one of your assorted tabs to close... You had little idea which one, though. It probably wasn't important.

"Can you do it again?" The child pulled your attention back to him.

"Do what again?"

"Make the lights move!"

>Play with the lights
>You need to focus on this research (Anything specific?)
>Other? (write-in)

You cannot choose both.

>>216240
>>Play with the lights
until we can read more research isn't that important.

>>216240
>You need to focus on this research (Anything specific?)
Other city locations and potential sites of faith .

>>216252
Lights!

>>216254
Research (City/Faith)

...tiebreaker? Rolling in 5.

>>216240
>lights!

Kay, writing.

Why would you choose lights guys?
It's horribly suspicious and knowing life that guard will come in and somehow will break all our non-existent plans we have for this city
Seriously what is our goal here
Somehow getting into their power plant and hijacking all their power when they will probably about three good haul from ruins or something?

>>216283
Anons are doing shot for teh lulz now this quest will die. They want fox Waifu pandering

>>216288
We got waifu?

>>216290
No they want to be a generic animu fluffy slutty kitsune. Hence ignoring common sense.

I figured by lights the kid meant stuff on the glowing screen.
Since as far as I can recall we have not ever messed about with fox fire while wearing the mom form within the child's sight, so I doubt that's what he's asking for.

>>216299
We made the screen into a fucking 3D holographic display that's interactive anon.

Oh I just realized something
We tried to access classified info multiple times in row
Welp

>>216303
no wonder the kid wants to play with it then, plus it reinforces our cover as the kids mom should the guy walk in.

>>216311
It's not supposed to work like that. It suspicious as fuck. It's be like taking an laptop and turning it into power armor.

>>216309
oh... shit, well then any juvenile plans to nope the fuck out of here in a hurry? we need our ID card to move about the city at all, but once we have that the issue is the gate and the guards there...

>>216315
Where does it say the machine isn't supposed to work like that, I couldn't find any mention of us tampering with the system, just opening a fuck ton of tabs?

>>216315
Chiming in to clarify this part - It's not as outlandish as you think. The screens are holographic displays naturally, hence the semi-translucence. They can be moved around and positioned around you by design.

The only unusual thing in this instance is the sheer amount of them - Imagine opening TvTropes or Wikipedia and then just constantly opening new tabs to every single related link you find on an article. Now assume each of those tabs creates a new "holographic screen".

>>216323
How did such design got accepted
Or is there option to have multiple tabs in single window?

>>216329
Probably the latter, I mean we can have like 30 tabs on a page with current browsers irl, who knows what some futuristic Faith powered browser can handle. plus I think we've got like 5+ pages all filled with tabs right now.

You glance back at the screens around you, a litany of information on them that... Meant nothing to you. You had little context for any of it, and even several of the traces you tried to follow came back access restricted, it seemed promising.

For the moment though, you had the child's attention rapt upon you as he waited impatiently for your response. If it was just moving lights, then you could humour him. Rearranging the screens had quickly become a simple affair to you, and one that you wasted no time in engaging in as you began to slide the screens around you thoughtlessly.

For something you didn't know how to do yourself not long ago, this simple act of rearrangement was enough to cause the child's eyes to light up in glee as he began to chase after them. The chasing itself was... Less than successful, as anything he touched would subsequently wink out immediately. More than a handful of your previously opened screens had been closed that way in a short period of time.

However needs necessitate musts, and your impromptu break to amuse the child quickly became an experiment all on its own as you began to slowly alter the colour of the texts around you. Black became gray, bleeding into reds, yellows and oranges as the sequences which controlled the display parameters yielded to your nebulous 'Source' language manipulation. Eventually the text was left to warp and shift, changing in size and shape as it coursed randomly through the available languages.

The child watched on amazed, Living room coming to life under the warm illumination of artificial flames cast from the floating monitors. What time you spent ignoring the content itself had given you a better understanding of the interface; Of the fluid and malleable way you could altar the things around you to appear as something it, in truth, was not.

Thus began the games of light.

What was on the screens no longer mattered to you, so much as what the screens could become. Larger, smaller, layered upon each other as different parts of a whole. Each individual component, coming together to create brilliant images. You could redecorate the hard edges of this spartan apartment with any imagery and colour you so desired, if given the time.

You smiled softly at the resultant screens, watching them contentedly as the child kept his hand hovering hesitantly just over their semi-translucent edges. They looked nothing like the informational walls you had been pouring through earlier... You suppose their original form didn't matter, now.

Though this experience left your skin prickling anxiously, a restless urge to do something similar of your own accord - Without the aid of these holographic screens. You felt FoxFire cindering just under the surface of your body, waiting to be used.

It would no doubt be costly to your reserves, but you feel confident that you could paint just as beautifully with the tongues of your Pallid Flame. If anything, that comforting fire would probably be far more convincing than these paltry light shows.

Time passed relatively peacefully for the two of you after that, the child falling in and out of slumber upon the oddly cushy material of the couch. Initially they had been enthralled with the new things around them...

...But eventually, they had begun to ask when the two of you were going to leave. Were you staying here forever? Was this your new home?

Despite the tentative hope in the child's voice regarding that last question, the notion of calling a place like this 'home' irked you. You could feel stirring restlessness already, even if this had been a welcome respite from the constant pursuit of Hydra.

More over, there was one question you simply didn't have an answer to. Where had that man gone? You did not sleep, there was no way for him to have left his room without you knowing, yet you had not seen him since he left you to sleep some time ago. There had been no one at the door in the time between, though you often could make out the sound of people walking up and down the featureless halls outside.

Then there had been the alert pinging from the terminal you were playing with. The small window persisted stubbornly ever since it had arrived, declaring '(1) New Message - 3 Days Ago'.

>Go looking for the man.
>Open the message.
>Swipe his card and go exploring.
>Other? (write-in)

>>216430
>>Open the message.

>>216430
>>Open the message.

>>216430
How is that child even still alive
Are we sure we didn't pick some other spirit by mistake?

>>216440
You know what
>Other? (write-in)
Ask if the child is human

>>216440
I think we carried them the entire time, so they didn't have much of a chance to run off and do something stupid... still wonder if feeding him boiled hydra petals messed up his head.

>>216440
...I'm really curious as to why you think this kid isn't human.

>>216430
>Open the message.

>>216433
>>216435
>>216455
Opening messages!

>>216443
...Also kind of curious about why you think this, but we'll roll with it?

Writing.

>>216478
Are Gardeners human?

>>216527
Gardener is a social term, like "hippy", "nerd", "jock", "sperg", etc. They are human, but choose to live or act in a specific manner. You might also consider it a type of occupation, but the term is a little too general to fit that accurately.

"G'night, Momma." The child had uttered his usual declaration of sleep, squeezing his way past your near everpresent shield of screens to give you a hug before he would go to crawl onto the couch. This had been the most peaceful his life had been in quite some time, and you couldn't help but wonder if it would be a life he'd prefer to keep.

"Good night." You laid your hand on the child's head, ruffling his grimy hair in a manner you had come to discover he considered affectionate. "..." Though your motions came to a slow halt as you pried his head back to look at him more closely, inspecting the small child before you. "Are you well?"

"...? I think so?" The child frowned, trying to free himself from your sudden attention, "Is something on me?" His hands went to his face quickly, cheeks puffing out in concern, "Is there something wrong?"

"No." You grasped hold of his wrist to calm him down, pulling the child to your chest to prevent his panic from escalating unnecessarily. "I was simply curious. That man had asked if eating Hydra was something a human could do."

"But you just eat the petals...?" He frowned defensively, "Anyone can do that."

...Your own experience attempting to eat Hydra had been far more traumatic. "I believe he was concerned if you were healthy, still."

"Mm." The child mumbled unconvinced, "I'm fine, nose isn't running or anything!"

"Very well." You accept his protests amiably, "To bed with you, then." It didn't take very long for the child to be convinced of sleep, and in due time you were left alone with our thoughts once more... Save the ever present buzzing hum that seemed to course this city.

Glancing down the hall the man had walked down some time ago, you wondered if he would be due to wake up any time soon. In the meantime, you turned your attention back to that persistent little alert that had been nagging at you for some time. It took you less than a moment to pull it open, interacting with the alert helpfully sending you directly to the newly arrived message.

'Reserves are going to be running low soon.'

You traced over the short message several times. You understood the words, but their meaning escaped you.

'If you still don't believe me, then check the Firewall records.'

He had mentioned these terms before, in regards to being out after curfew, but he hadn't actually explained what a Firewall was.

'It's too late once the quarantine process begins.'

You frown, ears straining to pick up some movement in the otherwise silent apartment as you read the contents one final time.

Whoever had sent this message wasn't part of their contact list, but the message spoke of at least a passing familiarity. Had they had similar conversations previous to this? You quietly scanned through the other messages your host had received, most of them containing little more than idle chat or resource requisition requests. There was also the occasional lascivious message, but it didn't contain anything of interest to you.

Where were these other conversations? The designation of the person who sent this message seemed to not exist in his history at all. Had they been deleted?

>Message them back
>Wake up the man
>Delete message
>Other? (write-in)

>>216550
>>Wake up the man
He seemed trustworthy so far, and I'm not sure replying to a message sent 3 days ago will do much good.

Tangentially unrelated, but your character sheet has been updated with your newly gained ability.

>Candlelight Mirage:
>A man once spoke of a cave, where all those who lived within would look upon a wall and tell each other of what the shadows cast there could be. In time, the people came to believe in those tales, and those shadows became their world. To the one amongst them who had turned to the light, and saw the truth, they banished in outrage.

>However, having been betrayed once by the mirage, he spent his life in fear that even the world outside of that cave was but another shadow cast upon the wall.

>>216550
Wake a dude up. Justify our investigating with a) His access to stuff that they don't appear to just give out to strangers and b) The fact that the note was pretty sketchy.

I'm guessing they're running out of faith.

Shirt that once they started burning their faith the dead tried to eat the world.

Also reminder to other players for Valentines Quest - see if we can get some of those trees as a gift for the Fae. Maybe even send a demi human back with EXPLICIT instructions to head their, tell the Frenchy McRinnier to grab a couple, and then catch up.

Reminding them that they'll probably feel guilty about it if they fail us, but that succeeding and helping out can fix them better than the booze ever could.

I wanna get them addicted to feeling good about themselves long term. Feeling needed, valued and ultimately indispensible is still a form of narcissism and selfishness after all.

I WILL have my excessively proud in their servility Demi-human Butlers and Maids that insist the place would fall apart without them.

Maybe they can take tips from Asche

>>216591
>Valentines' Quest
This is too late, the merchant has already passed.

>>216556
>>216586
But writing!

>>216591
Whats a Valentines quest?

>>216614
Valen quest, presumably.

You thought about replying to sate your own curiosity, but that little number had been incrementing for some time now. You could only guess it was a reference to time, which made you leery of whether replying by now would actually get you anything. No, there was someone in the apartment who likely had all the answers you wanted. They had, conveniently, also given you instructions to go wake them up if you needed anything, so you were about to go do just that.

You left the softly illuminated living room behind with soft steps, finding yourself slinking into the relative darkness of the hallway that you had last seen the man vanishing down with the intent to sleep. Each of the doors you passed were as featureless as the ones you remember being outside, and peeking inside of them gave you little more insight into their usage.

The same flat, hard edges. The same clean floors and empty tables. One of them had some manner of apparatus and scented lotions in it, which you assumed to be the bath you had been told about. The scent of the ointments within had been overwhelming, but altogether more pleasant than the persisting faint smell of Hydra which seemed to have clung to the sleeping child back in the living room.

Perhaps sometime you would force him to lather in it, until that wretched smell was well and truly scrubbed away.

Fortunately for you, there weren't many doors for you to open and inspect. One of them ended your search rather quickly, but as you stepped inside, you found only more questions. True, you had found the man...

Or perhaps, you had found what remained of him? A recognizable body suspended upon the wall, with cords and plugs securely fastened his spine and wrists. His head hung forward, the back of the skull opened outward to reveal some mixture of bone and metal which pulsed slowly.

"Oh, did you need me?" His voice reported alertly from a nearby wall, drawing your attention towards a single flat line that was being displayed on one of those semi-translucent panels you had become familiar with in the living room. "It's still three more days until my next shift, has something happened?" The line distorted rapidly as the voice issued forth once more.

"You received a message." It wasn't your place to comment on the man's current state, however. It had little to do with why you had come, in the first place. You relayed the short content of the message to him neutrally, and then found yourself waiting for a response in silence. "Should I send a reply?"

"...No." The line finally distorted again, carrying his uncertain reply. "Don't pay it any mind, there are too many people fooling around on the net these days." Your eyes twitch towards the body as the whine moving machinery quietly began to rise, several cords retracting themselves from the wrists as flesh-colored caps took their place and blended seamlessly into his body. Moments passed as the body seemed to come back to life, its vulnerable exposures sealing themselves away with a the occasional hiss of pressure, finally resulting in it being lowered back down from the wall entirely.

"I've probably put things off for too long though, I should get in touch with my friend about getting you signed in." His voice again, this time coming from the body you had expected it to come from in the first place. He rolled his neck experimentally before looking you over, a concerned frown creasing his features. "Something wrong? You look lost."

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http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=FoxFire

And we are archived.

I'll lurk the thread for a bit to try and answer some questions if I can.

I'm not sure how this method of running FoxFire is working out, so any feedback is welcome. Like it better? Waste of time? Better ideas?

>>216666
You did anything differently this time?
Or are you talking about the fact you have gone to sleep in middle of quest?
I seen quests do this on /tg/ for multiple days if that's what are you talking about

>>216678
I guess that, mostly. My main concern with FoxFire was that I needed a longer leash as far as when I could come back to the thread and close voting/make a reply.

As it turns out, I get stressed out by the second day that I'm making people wait too long. Good to know regardless, if this is working fine then it'll make scheduling future threads easier on me.

>>216666
It was alright. /qst/ threads take a while to die, so it goes well with this kind of thing. Their was a lot of discussion between anons this thread thanks to the break. You should probably encourage that even after the thread is "over". Especially for Valen quest threads since it runs for a single night but sticks around for three days.

>>216666
What happens if we forcefully drain the Faith out of the city people like this dude.

>>216600
Maybe we can find a tree or two in Carona when he passes by.

Seems like the sort of thing the Fae or Dryad or whate very might appreciate.

>>216700
You'll never know until you try it!

>>216695
I'd love more conversation in Valen, but I have no idea how I'd go about encouraging it. Honestly the amount of chatter in this thread was baffling to me, since I'm used to having really quiet threads.

By all means though, I think conversation between anons is a wonderful thing in any quest! As a QM it gives me things to build off of, and lets me get a feel for the concerns and ideas you guys have.

>>216702
You never know what a Fey might appreciate or take offence at.
The only guaranteed measure is to purge them with cold iron.

>>216700
They all will die horribly
Sadly they most probably have bunch of safeguards in place that we will have to check before doing something like that
But if we succeed at that task we could start working on plans to actually help with burning Hydra to ashes
There's also the part where the fucking place is pretty much out of faith

>>216709
>As a QM it gives me things to build off o
There, you have the reason for Valen being so quiet.
The players are afraid to give you ideas.

>>216864
Speak for yourself. I'm actually quite proud when the things I type are integrated into the story. That's what quest are all about after all. The author writing a story influenced in some way by the audience.

>>216898
Normally that is so. But in Valen I feel giving Riz ideas is setting yourself up for even more horrible failure.

Frankly Riz your stories are awesome but you terrify your players.

>>217827
No one could say it better.

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>>216709
>>217827
>>217832
I think your quests are the bomb. Walls of text just tend to be intimidating to most players.

As far as feedback goes, I personally just find it more entertaining to lurk and read foxfire like a story, which it totally is. I suck when it comes to participation.