Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest (1-43)
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Valen%20Quest (44+)

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

Assorted Supplemental:
Current Abilities - http://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
A List of Forgotten Things - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h
Irue's Memoires - http://pastebin.com/sWnicrK7

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT
In Your Shadow - http://pastebin.com/EfeeHFAE

Misc notes:I need to update the list of forgettings, too.

Irue's Memoires is the requested pastebin for compiled information and such! It's not finished yet, though. I haven't even started filling out the cast biographies.

Going to run out and find food, I'll tally up votes and such when I get back! Until then, feel free to chat about things or leave questions.

>>224181
>You came to check something in the archives
Hi auntie. Bye auntie.
Pick our battles guys. Now's not the time for this.

>>224181
>Freebie
>staring down at you from the overlooking balcony of the second floor.
I guess we had to learn how to be condescending from somewhere.

>Ask about something? (what?)
The fae, and whatever else is in the forest.

The way she responds could be more telling than combing the archives, and we don't necessarily have to push the issue. >>224193

>>224199
We should try to even the playing field. Literally. Let's walk up the stairs.

>>224181
>>You came to check something in the archives

>>224193
>>224231
Archives!

>>224199
Asking thing!

>>224204
Asking something and walking up the stairs.

back with food, writing once I get settled.

"No, Carona is coming along decently." You dismiss the topic out of hand, shaking your head as you and your aunt both seem to start towards the stairs simultaneously. "Yes, your uncle and I have a vested interest in how that's being handled." She hummed, "I'm told things have been moving along unexpectedly smoothly this past month."

"There have been a few interesting problems, but nothing that can't be handled." You answered carefully, thinking back over the past month and what all you had done in regards to the town you were now responsible for.

Exactly nothing. Thankfully Rinnier had stepped up when she had, or this meeting would have likely been more embarrassing for you.

"It must be, if you've come all this way for something unrelated." Clara mused, coming to meet you part-way up the stairs. While you had hoped to ascend the stairs and find yourself on a more equal footing with her, the few inches that stood between you now only served to further emphasize the difference in elevation. It was simultaneously amazing, and frustrating, what difference a step or two could make. "So, future head," You frowned at the amused lilt in her voice - A petulant reaction you couldn't quite stop yourself from having. "What does bring you here?"

"I came to check something in the archives." Habitual power plays could wait for another time though, and your aunt seemed to take the atmospheric shift in casual stride as she nodded neutrally. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before you'd show up for that."

"...For what?" You eyed your aunt suspiciously, stepping around her as the two of you walked back up the stairs and- Dammit, she was naturally taller than you. "Diving into our family library, of course." She smiled absently, "Unlike my son, you actually value what's been printed and left behind." ...You look away first, undoubtedly causing her smile to widen as you subtly lengthen your stride to outpace her before she could notice the soft heat you felt building along your cheeks.

"Maybe you could help me, then." You clear your throat awkwardly, "I need to find out about things in the forest."

"Wouldn't you be able to ask your knights that? I hear they have some woodland experience."

"They're not used to having the forest hunt them." You grouse vaguely, "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find information about our Fae pact, would you?"

...

"Aunt Clara?" You turned back, finding the woman in question to be looking at you in concern. "...What? Surprised I know about them?"

"Surprised?" Her concern into befuddlement, "No, why would... They have been looking after you, have they not?" You open your mouth, a retort already primed to sass back with, but the words fall flat when you actually hear her response. You struggle flat-footed for several moments before finally blurting out your confusion.

"What?"

You stood across from each other, a conversational dead zone slowly materializing. It was only when you were treated to a rare instance of your aunt frowning did something approaching anxiety begin to crawl across your skin.

"What do you mean-"
"-Ma'am, the royal messenger's carriage approaches."

Your interrogation was cut off in its infancy as one of the staff called up to your aunt, pulling her attention away.

"Royal messenger?" You mouth the words, receiving a distracted nod of affirmation from your aunt as she relayed instructions back to the servant down below. "Yes. You remember where the archives are, don't you?"

"Yes, bu-"

"We'll talk later, Irue. Hurry along, before they get here."

You took a step back, instinctively moving to obey your aunt, before the rest of your mind caught up to question what was going on. Was she trying to hide you?

"Please."

You swallowed nervously at the steel behind her eyes as she politely brandished that one word.

>To the archives.
>Stick around.
>Go adventuring!
>Other? (write-in)

>>224386
>>To the archives.

>>224386
...interesting reaction there, auntie. But, well.
>To the archives.

>>224386
>>To the archives.
>>Other? (write-in)
Might be misunderstanding a detail Riz, but is Kara in the house with us? Can we have her observe in our absence?

>>224406
Kara is with you! Do you want to have Kara hang around?

Asche is also with you. Several steps behind and to your left.

>>224386
>To the archives.

>>224427
I don't think Kara would be ideal for that, she's rather. not. delicate. with things.

>>224386
Leave Asche to observe from hiding. Kara we can take with us to the archives, to get books from high shelves and whatnot.

>>224431
>>224414
Seconding this then, that makes more sense.

Figured dog ears would hear things well, but understanding and re-conveying it would be a problem.

>>224394
>>224399
>>224406
>>224426
Archives!

>>224431
>>224437
Secret Agent Asche!

Writing.

You nod finally, turning on your heel to leave your aunt to her business. Whatever she had going on, it was clear that you weren't meant to be a part of it. That said...

"Asche."
"Yes."

You glanced back, catching the tail end of your m/aid's nod as her silent footsteps came to a halt. Kara looked between the two of you in confusion as she kept pace alongside you with lanky strides. "She not comin'?" The taller demihuman had blandly kept to your side during your brief interaction with your aunt, keeping uncharacteristically quiet and to herself.

"She'll catch up." You reassure her, watching Asche start to quietly make her way back towards where you had left off with your aunt. You had considered sending Kara to eavesdrop on what was going on, but...

All experiences with Kara thus far did not lend any credence to the notion that she could handle subtle tasks. At all.

She took your explanation for its face value though, shrugging with a lazy smile as her eyes began to drift through the halls aimlessly. Back home, you can barely recall seeing Kara moving around outside of the one room she had chosen for herself, and of course the time she spent wandering around in the yard. You noticed that she seemed decidedly out of her element as she slunk along behind you, each seemingly lazy step preceeded with a hint of hesitation before she would move forward.

Given her monstrous strength, you wondered if maybe she was self-conscious about accidentally breaking something.

"Kara, I might need your help in the archives." You decide and distract her, her ears twitching attentively as previously wandering eyes focused in on you. "Somethin' for me t'fight in there?"

"...No." You misstep slightly, "But some of the shelves are too tall for me to reach on my own." Normally you would be loathe to admit to something like that, but...

As you pushed open the doors to the Valen family's archives, Kara's grin rapidly drained away in the face of the near labyrinthine arrangement of towering shelves. "The Valen family archives are second only to the crown itself." You muse aloud, more for her benefit than your own, as she falls in step behind you. "Fitting, considering our history."

"What you're lookin' for is in here somewhere?" She muttered reluctantly, staring up at the shelves that loomed over her and blocked out the faint streams of light which tried to stream in via hanging chandelier. There were many entrances to the open isles, many of them lit only by the occasional glowing stone that you recognized to be discarded Wisp apparition cores; They bathed the uninviting book-laden corridors in a pale light, faintly illuminating the spines of the texts stored within.

"No, not exactly." You brushed a strand of hair behind your ear, "This is the 'public' section. What I'm looking for is likely locked up in the restricted area."

"...There's a restricted area?" Kara's wagging tail had lost its mirth and enthusiasm entirely as she turned to you.

"Yeah. We used to have to navigate the library and solve some kind of riddle every time anyone wanted inside." You muttered absently, recalling the frustrating stories you had heard on the matter, "I think someone got lost too many times, though." You picked out a door nestled behind one of the bookshelves. "So we had a shortcut installed." You turned back to Kara, catching her sigh of relief as you-

...Found the door locked.

'Under Renovations, please use the front door.' - Byrn Valen

"...S'what happens now?"

>Waste time in the public section (looking for what?)
>Time to solve a riddle.
>Kara should just open the door.
>Other? (write-in)

>>224618
>Time to solve a riddle.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>>224618
Wow.
If this is our dear family's trolling, then we should just go through with Kara's help. On the other hand, if the renovations are legit, breaking things is not the way to go.
>Can we rely on Irue's knowledge of their family to choose between these courses of action?

>>224618
>Waste time in the public section (looking for what?)
Books on solving riddles.
But seriously though
>Kara should just open the door
What's the worst that can happen?

>>224618
>>Time to solve a riddle.

>>224621
Your uncle has a reputation for being a joking socialite, though you may not remember him much from the early threads. You can certainly disregard it and have Kara force it open, but you'd be taking the chance of the sign having been legitimate.

Having a healthy doubt of its legitimacy, but being afraid to find out, is actually more or less where Irue stands currently.

>>224630
Then I propose solving the riddle, then, once inside, looking for signs of legit renovations. If none found, exit through the shortcut and make it look like we entered through it in the first place.

>>224639
Kara should be waiting at the shortcut door. She'll open it on our go. Saves time.

>>224618
>Kara should just open the door.

>>224618
> Time to solve a riddle

>>224649
>>224646
Nothing stopping us from having this as a backup plan.

Although maybe we should also ask Asche if she knows about the Fae.

>>224618
>Time to solve a riddle.

>>224657
Asche is preoccupied

>>224619
>>224626
>>224655
>>224660
Solving riddles!

>>224649
>>224622
Kara can knock.

>>224639
>>224646
Solve riddle solo and have Kara open it from the other side if it turns out to have been bullshit.

Writing!
No one had any thoughts on the memoires?

>>224662
I wanted talk abut it at the end of the thread.

>>224662
Still reading through em, Riz.
This is nice to read through though, reading about the mana and countries in VQ has been educational.

>>224662
Picked up most of the info from previous threads, but it's nice to have it in one place.

I wonder if Rinniers family somehow made a deal that ended up involving them with a different mana. We should probably check her again to see if she has an affinity with another one now. Maybe Gnome since it's the other main mana there. Or Luna who loves secrets and messed with us once as shadow Rue. Or Undine if maybe her family dug up secret tech from the past.

I'm also concerned about the wisp lights. We don't get on terribly well with them. Do we still have Darkvision from our shade affinity? Kara is able to move decently in the dark as well right?

>>224673
Kara is being left at the door!

And no, you have no darkvision. Dopplerue had that, not Irue. Dopplerue is dead; You are Irue Valen.

>>224674
I will never stop being salty for this.

>>224674
I was just hoping some of it had stuck around. We did end up a lot more attuned than before we doppled though right?

>>224677
As sad as I was about the event, and that it was 3 votes with one person glues sing the forgetting 2 minutes late . . . .

I came into that thread late because of work goddamnit. The pain.

But that's how things go in VQ.

At least we got it this time with the freebie.

I'm actually not too sure what it was this time. On my phone so I couldn't quickly access archives.

Oh. Forgetting 8. What was that about the Fae?

>>224181
About the freebie. Aunt Clara greeting us from the balcony is the exact same scene from the first thread, but with the positions reversed. Auntie has a really good memory for revenge, it seems.

>>224683
Forgetting 8 was bringing up Faedka to Alouette when you learned that Fae actually existed, and near your house. She could (and would) have told you a few interesting/useful things with no strings attached, had you remembered.

>>224684 Got the "freebie" absolutely right.

>>224685
Did that trick with the balcony really hurt her so deeply?

>>224686
No, she thought it was cute. Aunt Clara enjoys teasing you, and turnabout is fair play.

>>224687
So Auntie has a good memory for countertrolling.
This is way worse.

>>224689
>>224687
Well. I personally think that we should step up our game by needling her about Caelyn and Mara. Both to see if she's surprised about their association, or Mara being in Carona. Or if she just teases us about it.

Either way, we should get her to send Caelyn to Carona. We can use him as a known Noble of the Valen family to give us legitimacy and raise our profile, and to also deal with other authorities like the crown and merchants and such.

Also he's better at diplomacy. Especially with women.

Those monster raising girls would be happy to see him for instance.

I also wonder what the Valen situation on cousin marriages are. If we make our aunt think our cousin could be used to control us . . . .

>>224702
>Those monster raising girls would be happy to see him for instance.

You mean the ones you never found?

>>224704
Oh. I just kind of assumed they got out. I guess there was a tornado there.

I also just remembered that our Cousin saw an Oracle about us and lied about it. And that we never followed up the La'fiel Royalty going nuts and breaking diplomatic ties and burning bridges with other powers.

So I kind of wonder. Our Aunt is smug, and domineering, but surprisingly fair with us when it matters.

Maybe we weren't being hidden out of malice, but because there's something bigger going on and she wanted us out of the way. Either for our own protection, or because we are dangerous.

Why would they need the Fae to protect us? Why did Luna gank something from us when we first came to visit Caelyn? Who are we being hidden from, if the nobility knows about us since we were going to marry a royal dude?

>>224704
Oh god.
More corpses.

>>224712
Asche and Kara found them during the Adventurous Asche write up. However, by the time you got there, Asche had been taken prisoner and Kara was working with the other demihumans.

You saved Asche, but never found anything regarding the Tier sisters, or what family they had remaining after Kara/Asche saved them from the fire.

Before you ask though, neither Asche or Kara know what happened to them. It wasn't Kara's business, and Asche was taken elsewhere.

>>224718
Do we at least know Asche found them?

You spare a final withering stare at the posted sign, searching for some sign of trickery or deceit... Or just anything that would tell you it was blatantly false. The fact you found none did little to convince you of its supposed legitimacy, however.

Still, there was a remote chance that the sign was completely honest, and your uncle really had been renovating the restricted area's shortcut. If that was true, then having Kara force her way in would probably not end well. In fact, as you stepped away from the door with a sigh, you doubted Kara being involved in the riddle solving at all would end well. She had been eyeing the wisp-lit isles with trepidation ever since you entered.

As far as you knew, she could see fine in the dark, why it was such a spook to her was beyond you.

"Now, you wait here." You directed the demihuman towards the shortcut door with a frown, "While I go solve a riddle."

"Y'don't want me t'open it?" Though still not specifically happy, the sheer amount of tension which flowed out of her body spoke volumes of her relief to not be involved in the library trek itself.

"Not yet." you mutter, "Part of me thinks this is just a prank to waste my time, but I can't afford to have you go breaking things on the off chance that the shortcut really is undergoing renovations." You shook your head slowly, turning back towards dimly lit isles as you left Kara to guard the door. "Keep an ear out though, I might need you to open it later, anyway."

"Got it, 'Rue!" You didn't bother looking back to see if she had added an obligatory lazy salute to that, her voice echoing down the otherwise empty isles until both she and the entrance was out of sight, leaving you to your own thoughts and devices amongst the faintly lit walls of books.

Normally to solve a maze, you really only had to wander long enough, and you'd find your way to the other side. If your only goal was to escape, then that might still be an applicable strategy. However, what you wanted wasn't a way out, but a way further in. The restricted area no doubt held the information you needed, and to access that, you would need to solve the riddle in order to get inside.

The good news is that it wasn't as if the riddle ever changed; Once you figured it out, then you'd always know the trick to getting in. The bad news, on the other hand, was that you had never even heard said riddle. Was it as simple as just saying the answer? Was there a ceremony? What happened if you got it wrong?

You don't recall any complaints about people dying, so you could at least cross off the spine-shuddering memory of the Ice Queen Atelier's guardian making a repeat performance... Which, honestly, more of a relief to you than it had any right to be. You had barely been conscious as a shadow when it had happened, but the memories left to you still occasionally found their way to the surface when you slept.

File: Sanctum.jpg (98 KB, 500x375)

98 KB JPG

You closed your eyes to will away the flickering shadows at the edge of your vision, taking in the aromatic atmosphere of the library's bound leather and pressed pages. Those memories were things you still hadn't sorted through. Things you didn't want to sort through, but would eventually need to meditate on... If only to clear your own conscience.

However, now wasn't the time for any of that. You open your eyes once more, continuing the aimless journey between the towering shelves. Despite the dim lighting conditions, each of the books which lined the walls had their titles illuminated in a cool silver script; Easy upon the eyes to read and pick out, even in the darkness. However, their countless glowing characters spread out as far as the eye could see, leaving the impression of wandering amongst a forest of forgotten runes.

An impression only strengthened as the tell-tale scent of plant life began to penetrate the otherwise musty smell of the library books. The source of it became obvious not much further in, as if you had passed a barrier at some point which allowed you entry to an inner sanctum where the polished stone floor gave way to moist earth and a circle densely filled with light purple flowers.

A podium of stone stood in the center, created in a manner too imperfect to have been done in any manner other than by hand. Upon its rough dais, a book of stone sat with its pages bare to the world; While its surface remained blank, the pallid silver script swimming lazily in an aurora atop its lovingly hewn surface.

"...Well, that's a start."

You move to approach the circle of flowers, only for the sanctum to waver as you stepped closer - flickering in the dark as the entire sight seemed to fade to gray-scale before shifting into pale purple hues.

Slowly your foot retracted, and the sanctum returned to its calm appearance.

...Light tricks?

>?

>>224724
Yes. Asche is dutiful in reporting the results of her assignments!

...Via written reports, because she doesn't like to talk at length.

>>224733
Go a bit further in and observe what happens.

>>224733
I wonder if it's anti-shade or something. Maybe we should deploy our web? See what happens.

>>224745
>>224757
Kay.

Writing.

Even though you doubted anything too terrible would be laying in wait, you felt more comfortable retreating several paces back from the flowering sanctum to think about how to approach it.

It wasn't a wide thing by any means, more kin to a small circular opening... But the shimmering light left you wary, and given the way it had distorted when you approached, your reservations regarding walking in evidently had some merit to them. Fortunately, if it was a matter of not being able to trust what was, or was not, actually there... You had your own ways around that.

A coalescence of your awareness that bled away from your senses, coiling down into heavy droplet laden strings upon the tips of your fingers. You settled yourself onto the floor, fingers splayed across the ground as you focused on the flower covered sanctum before you; The target of the unraveling threads which began to creep ethereally across the surfaces around you.

A Spider's Web.

The thought reverberated with a solemn finality in your mind, signaling the complete erasure of your eyes and ears, even the feeling of the floor beneath your fingers running numb... To be replaced by the relieving sensation of omniscience. Your web expanded with an ease that spoke of practice, filling the relatively small area of your surroundings at a rapid pace.

Blind, deaf and numb, you could walk this web without a step misplaced; An absolute territorial awareness. One of the three gifts you had retained as a token of your time spent Solving the Ice Queen's Atelier, and by far the one you used the most.

What you learned only reinforced your initial suspicions, as the sanctum you had seen reported itself to be completely empty. Not even the podium itself existed beyond the illusion you had seen; A figment of the light, like the flowers beneath it.

...However, there was more. While it had appeared to be a dead end, there were at least three shelves of books which similarly didn't actually exist. There were pathways further into the library concealed beyond their illusory visage, though you had little idea where they led.

...
..
.

Right. You were here for something, weren't you? So immersed in the sense of total awareness the web offered you, you had lost track of time. How long had you been sitting here?

You mentally shook the feeling of being lost as you tried to pull your consciousness back out of the web, an action that was slightly more difficult than you had expected. Several minutes more passed, your senses seeming to stretch and groan in complaint as they were pulled out of the interwoven threads and back to their proper source.

...Your eyes opened, realizing that your sense of touch and sight still felt muted. The web was still partially in existence, occupied by a fraction of your senses that were too stubborn to return to you completely. You frowned at the tentative rebellion, but it wasn't the first time you had used both the web and your own body to sense for things.

In fact, if there more illusions in the library like this, then maybe it would be beneficial for you to stay like this? The web offered you plenty more than your own body did. The web wasn't going to be tricked by an illusion, and would easily allow you to navigate without becoming lost. Why didn't you just keep the web like this?

It seemed like a good idea. You nodded to yourself, resolving the internal strife with a compromise as you walked towards the sanctum once more and blinked to reconcile the dual reports of both an empty room, and the shifting purple hues.

You knew which sense was trustworthy though. Several steps more brought you to the center of the illusion, and allowed you to glimpse the floating aurora. It swam indiscernably, multicolored strings of script intertwining mischievously within the pale white.

Looking away from it, you found your eyes tracing towards the shelves of books you now knew to be false fronts as well. They had shifted into that same shade of light purple after you had entered, revealing their existence belatedly to your inferior eyes.

Your sight grew blurry at length, no longer able to make out distant details in exchange for the web's presence. There were distinct characteristics of each hall however, a trio of pastel colors which lined their respective halls, illuminating the walk ways in white-washed renditions of once brilliant colors.

>Purple
>Green
>Red
>Do something else? (what?)

>>224831
>Purple

>>224831
>>Purple

>>224831
didn't riz say every type of magic has a price?
maybe we should really stop using the web now

>>224837
>>224842
Purple!

Writing!

Remembering the lavender flowers that had populated the sanctum, you walked figured the corresponding color passage was a good enough place for you to start. Some small voice in the back of your mind was left unsatisfied with the compromise you had made, begging you to reconsider... A voice which was ignored, shunted away as you focused on the here and now, and what you needed to solve.

You had already made a compromise, and pulling the web now served no purpose but to hinder you. What if there were more illusions? Ones that didn't show up, or you missed the cue to reveal? No, it was much better like this.

The passage was cast in lavender light, a small blessing considering the books along this passage seemed to lack the convenient white script to make their titles stand out. They were older than the ones you had passed, the leather of their covers easily showing off an age which made you question just how long ago some of them had even been strung together. In the cool light, you could only just barely make out the titles upon them - Words of an archaic dialect, with some seemingly passing even the line of remote resemblance to the language you were familiar with.

Many of them had faded over the countless years of their life, leaving only worn sheathes and cracked spines in their wake.

And then finally, at the end of the hall, a stone podium stood enshrined within the far wall. Like that of the one in the sanctum, it held a roughly hewn book upon its surface - Marked with a crystallized stem of lavender, which shed soft light upon the words caringly chiselled into its surface.

Born to rule; Dominion contested.
Power, enough to create royal right from self-centered might.
A tool of ancients past.
So seeks the Lavender Sage, Lamiaceae.

You committed the words to memory, struggling to decipher the archaic dialect they had been chiselled in. If it were not for your habit of studying the older Mana related texts, you doubted you would have been able to make heads or tales of this...

Not that reading it helped you understand it any better.

>Return to Sanctum
>Red
>Green

>Take the crystal lavender?

>>224893
>Take lavender and go red

>>224893
>Red

>>224898
>>224901
Writing!

You grasp the crystallized lavender delicately between your fingers, feeling its fragile surface beneath your skin. It was near weightless as you raised it from the stone book, carrying with it the same soft light which had shed upon the entirety of the hall.

It was only when you made to leave with it did you notice how true that observation was. With each step away from the podium, the lavender light which had illuminated the hidden hallway seemed to retreat alongside you. Book after book fell to the engulfing blackness behind you, a fact which would have startled you more had you not still had your web still faithfully informing you of your persisting status as Only Moving Thing In The Area.

That, combined with your erstwhile experience with Shade, left you more than comfortable allowing the darkness to slowly swathe the entirety of the once bright hall as you stepped back into the sanctum with your appropriated crystal stem. While the web told you nothing had changed, your first step into the sanctum brought with it a pause in your stride as you looked upon the empty circle of flowers.

Where once a podium had stood surrounded by lavender not unlike the stem clasped softly in your hand, now remained nothing but empty air; A singular sphere of white light floating over where it had been, marking the center of the sanctum circle.

You glanced down at the stem in your hand with a frown, and looked across the other halls. Red was closest to you, standing between the green corridor and the now darkened one you had come in from. It was down that red hall that you were forced to squint your eyes just to travel. It deepened with every step forward, until your surroundings had long since ceased to be anything but a searing gleam of fiery crimson.

...It was your web which guided you, as even though you could see nothing but burning red around you, there was nothing to fool the reliable threads which spun out along the ground and walls to mark your territory.

Through its strung dimensions you could sense the walls which you would have otherwise walked into. Sturdy carved from the ground up with the same manual effort as the podium before them. Cracks and fractures adorned their surfaces, evidence of wrath which had been visited upon them so long ago that even the 'injuries' had seemed to settle over time. Blunt force impacts which cleft a once proud pillar in twain... A convenient piece of terrain which allowed you to crawl atop it and find your way through yet another violently shattered barrier.

This type of journey repeated itself, until finally you had reached the end of the crimson light.

Floating serenely in the air was a sheet of light, adorned in brilliant lavender script.

'In its wake was ash and ruin, enough even to unnerve Lamiaceae. We had sought a miracle and found only disaster. The fragments were more than their sum, and I regret that I had to leave this burden to her... But even until the end, she walked the path of a Conqueror. This time, in this case, it was something I had to solve myself - All of the answers I sought were contained within.

When next we meet, tell me how you did it.

I'm sorry, ____.'

The crystallized stem in your hand left a trail of similarly tinted lavender in its wake. You could probably use it to write on the sheet of light.

>Green
>Write something in?

>>224958
>Green
Let's try to get all the pieces of the puzzle.

>>224958
>Green
I usually hate retracing steps in the puzzle locations, but here Riz does it for us.

>>224964
>>224971
Writing!

Once we get the last "piece", I'm going to pause the thread until later tonight, just to give everyone a chance to come back and pitch their ideas for it/talk it over.

I'll still be lurking around for a bit, though.

You frowned at the sheet of light, mind filling with things you could possibly have written to fill it in... But you still had one more hall to check.

You deftly made your way back, navigating over the various broken debris which had been rent asunder. There had been a path around them, and if the damage to these walls hadn't been made, you suppose it may have once been the only way to have actually gotten through them all. An invisible maze, that would have forced many to navigate it by patient touch...

In fact, had your web not been clinging to the surfaces around you, you doubted you would have ever noticed the gaps and cracks which had been bludgeoned into the stone walls.

The final hall was green, and filled with verdant figments of light in the shape of plant life which covered the ground. You knew it to be fake, another trick of the light which held no true presence. All the same, it was these leaves which lit up the hall in abundance; Casting a soothing light along antique laden shelves. You were no connoisseur, unable to tell their period or date from the make of craftsmanship or degradation... Yet you knew them to be old, with depictions and styles which seemed too diverse to have even remotely all come from the same region.

And then at the end, the flourishing green leaves gave way to a circle of lavender flowers - One you recognized from the Sanctum earlier. Born of crystal, as delicate and fragile as the one you held in your hand even now, they surrounded a non-descript plaque set into the ground; The marker of a grave, with only two rings emblazoned upon it.

You hedged your way around the circle, feeling through your web for something you had missed. The circle of lavender was real, crystals tangible and fragile as the one you had taken from the other hall... But the grave seemed to be an illusion. There was nothing there, only a figment cast by the surrounding crystals.

Stretching out further, you found nothing hidden under the carpet of green leaves leading up to it. It was a solid floor, serving only to illuminate the various antiques along the way. You looked through them distractedly, letting your gaze sweep across them searchingly. Something you were missing... Some kind of clue...

Which was when you noticed it. One crystalline leaf which had been sandwiched between the pages of a worn booklet, carelessly misplaced along the ledges. Unlike the ancient books in the lavender hall, this one held no title upon its spine, nor script across its long handled cover. The pages themselves seemed stiff from old age, crinkling as you cracked open the nameless text.

...Something clenched in your chest as you looked over the pages, the languages within starting off so obscure that you couldn't make out anything beyond the strange marks sketched onto the pages. Time seemed to flow as the pages turned, revealing page after page of entries in varying languages.

Until finally, you began to recognize them. Foreign characters, one you had only seen a few times in imported texts from East Heaven during your study of Mana, which were illuminated by the pressed leaf that was held snugly between its weathered pages.

'You always said you would be at the very top one day, making your ancestors bow before you. You deserved it all and more - Isn't that what I had to hear every day? That condescending smirk, those arrogant red eyes. Even the Shrine has changed their tune, and declared you a Saint.

They banished me from your grave, but did you know they built a monument for you? It's smaller than the others, but at least you're taller than I am. I told them they got your face all wrong, that it was far too gentle for someone like you - I guess that's why I'm not allowed back any more.

I wonder how long will it be until they forget who you were. Even now, no one seems to remember you the same way I do. How much time did you even spend there...? There was always some excuse to leave on the tip of your tongue.

But I guess you were right. In the end, they call you the greatest leader they ever had. You have an entire title dedicated to you now, you know?

Even that's wrong, though.
You hated lavender.'

You held the light green crystalline leaf in your hand, taking a startled step back as something wet splashed down across the stale pages. Under its cool light, you could see the moisture seep into long dehydrated scraps, and to your displeasure you felt a cool trail against your cheek as you irritatedly pressed your sleeve against your eyes.

You shut the book once more, dropping it back onto its shelf in an irrational fit of vitriol; Just looking at it felt like something was trying to scrape off a scab.

You had what you came for, and it was time to solve this damned puzzle and find what you needed.

You left the green hallway furiously, hair streaming behind you with every lengthy step, until you tracked your way back to the Sanctum. You had already expected the circle of flowers which had been there to vanish, and it left you with only an empty room to consider as you made your way back through the crimson corridor for a final time.

Standing before the sheet of light, you were left to take the final step...

>Write with the leaf
>Write with the flower

>What do you write?

>>225193
>Leaf
>Mint

>>225269
Reason why for this?

>>225310
Mint was an uber famous Adept (the Saint) and explorer of Ateliers and dungeons (the Conqueror, ancients).

Also the mint plant belongs to family Lamiaceae.

>>225322
Ah ok then. Good job anon, I had forgotten most of that.


>>225269
this

As a reminder, thread is paused until sometime tonight to allow the anons who fell asleep to make it back and cast their votes or some such.

I'll lurk here for a little while longer, but as the storm here is ending, I can't stay up much longer before the sun makes it way back out.

>>225322
I don't think it could be anything else, though I don't want to jinx it.

What I want to know is what she found.

>>224893
>A tool of ancients past.
>So seeks the Lavender Sage, Lamiaceae.
>>224958
>In its wake was ash and ruin, enough even to unnerve Lamiaceae. We had sought a miracle and found only disaster.

On top of that,
>>225193
>That condescending smirk, those arrogant red eyes

I don't think this is the last we'll be hearing of this. My guess for this riddle was going to be Irue's mom or one of our ancestors, but that may not be so far off after all?

I finished reading through Irue's Memoires this morning - and red sure is a very prominent color in Valen I'm noting.

>"The East Heaven royal family is traditionally identified by their brilliant red hair"

was interesting though, since I'd thought all this time it was a Teranford thing because of Rinnier, but I suppose that's because of her mother then?

Not to mention the Lavender Sage also has those red eyes House Valen has like >>226482 pointed out about her, which is what brought my attention to the matter.

>>225322
You sir are brilliant.

>>225269
Has my vote.

>>227626
Greentext votes

test

update coming soon, do I still have OP powers I wonder...

>>229437
Yarp ye do laddy. From da looks o' tings at least.

Seeing the empty space before you, it was only a matter of formality at this point. The crystallized stem of lavender in your hand left a gentle trail of light in its wake, it begged to be used once once more...

But your face twisted into a scowl, discarding the fragile thing with disgust born of irrational feelings. One tool was as good as any other to write with, but you knew the implication behind that damned stem - This was a personal message, an apology for a regret they never moved past.

Your fingers tightened around the pressed leaf, a soft green glow peeking out from between the digits. Was it that they couldn't get over it in the end? ...Or rather.

The mint green light carved away brilliant red, leaving its stark contrast to show proudly upon the sheet as you carved in its namesake.

That someone had gone through the trouble of putting things like this together, it was impossible that they had spent so long tied down by regret. You knew what that was like, had felt it yourself and seen the physical effects of what it could do to a person. This puzzle, with its handcrafted podium and illusory recreations, was anything but the work of someone afflicted with something like that. They had moved forward again, chosen to carry it with them to their grave... And with this riddle, even that limit was surpassed.

'I'm sorry...'

You carved the name of the Lavender Sage into the sheet of light, feeling the leaf strain under the pressure. The final stroke snapped it in half, releasing the fragile crystal into motes of light which almost seemed to devour the burning crimson around you.

'Mint.'

Your body shuddered in exhaustion as you exhaled, breathing out what felt like the culminations of your experiences until now in a single hollowing instance.

Even the crimson light of the hallway had vanished, and through your web you felt the sudden absence of those stone pillars which had impeded your way. Such was the nature of Wisp, a Mana capable of manipulating light and vitality... But creating solid states was something you could vaguely remember experiencing once before. It had burned you then, and left your Doppleganger shaken.

"I'm tired of this." You muttered softly to yourself, turning your back on blackened hall as small wisps of mint green still floated off of the characters you had left floating behind.

The pillars within the hall weren't the only thing to have vanished, and you returned to the central Sanctum to find the floor beneath the long-dispelled circle of flowers to have been revealed to be just another creation of solid light. A temporary crystal, which would likely reconstruct itself in due time as the puzzle reset itself for future visitors.

Beneath it lay a spiral staircase, leading you down beyond the public access of the library. It was here that you finally managed to make your way into the restricted area, a much less grand affair which resembled little more than an abandoned study that had once been filled with warmth. Over time more shelves had been added, and the books themselves rearranged, but the heart of the place had never changed; Never grown to the imposing, monstrous size of the repository above it.

"Haha, I thought I heard someone stumbling around up there!"

You knew he was there before he announced himself. A benefit of the web, you supposed. Your uncle Byrn rose from his chair energetically as you shuffled into the private study, greeting you with a mischevious smile. "your aunt and I had a bet on you coming, you know!" He smiled widely, moving across the room to greet you with a bear's embrace - One that pressed your arms to your sides and lifted you bodily from the floor as you pressed against the older man's solid frame.

"Tell me, how did you like it? Quite an experience wasn't it?" He dropped you back to the floor excitedly, holding you away at arms length as he talked.

"...There were no renovations." You uttered softly, looking across the room. Somehow it only served to make you feel as if you were sinking deeper into lethargy, seeing that all of your effort had been a simple prank. You turned dull eyes towards your uncle, accusation left heavily unspoken; Enough to cause a wince behind his smile and good cheer.

"Not true at all, there are more kinds of renovation than architecture!" He stepped away from your quickly, arms sweeping out towards the table of books he had been sitting at not long ago. Of the two stacks there, one of them at least seemed in much better condition. "I've made it a hobby of mine to come down here and work on restoring the books left behind down here!"

"Renewal." You corrected him flatly, using his prideful tone as a pincushion. "Why was the shortcut closed for this?"

"I like having warning before someone enters the room!" He admitted grandly, the dramatic reveal for such a pointless quirk doing little to assuage your abysmal mood. "But enough about that, come now, sit. Tell uncle Byrn about the puzzle, what did you learn?"

...

You closed your eyes.

>?

>>229476
>>?
"For one I don't believe that it was really all the necessary. But I think I got the gist of what it meant. The riddle itself is about moving forward and not getting stuck in what could have been. Finding a way to live with yourself and the choices you've made."

Byrn's gonna laugh at Irue I can feel it.

>>229476
There is a lot to learn from our family history, apparently. And there is a lot that isn't what it seems, as far as what's been written.

>>229495
>>229506
Comboing these a bit.

Meta:Wonder what exactly House Valen regrets the most.

>>229476
That text search through a combined transcription of Act 1 ripped from the archives by a JS script works wonders
>That having a good memory for trivia is sometimes very useful.

>>229495
>>229506
>>229546
Writing! I don't think anyone else will be around to chime in at this point.

>>229546
But anon, that's impressive.

"Regretting your choices doesn't mean not moving forward." You answered solemnly. "And that history isn't always what's written."

"Did you learn that East Heaven has a cultural love of trivia and puns?"

"...What."

"They named her the Lavender Sage, Lamiaceae." He explained, a shiteating grin spreading across his face as you quietly started to regret asking. "Mint is part of the Lamiaceae plant family!"

"..."
"But so are lavender and sage."

"..." Your lips part to respond, but nothing is forthcoming. After a few seconds you give up the attempt and just glower at your uncle's increasingly self-satisfied grin. You gave him a heartfelt answer, and this was your reward. "Please leave."

"Gahaha!"

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http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest

And we are archived.

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

I'll be working on the memoires for next thread, and hopefully have more of the organizations/charbios filled out. When did Valen's cast get that large...

>>229700
Goddamnit, Uncle.

>>229700
We will have our revenge yet!