>>452359
Naja slowly peels herself off the ground where Zigzag had slammed her. She looks different now, more solid. As if there’s an actual body behind the mask and the robes now instead of just emptiness. That makes sense, you guess. Her Dreaming is gone and until it regenerates that puppet-body is all that is left of her. Her true self pulled forth from the dark and imprisoned in physicality before all of you.
“If I die because of the power of love or friendship or whatever I’m going to be pissed.”

“You might as well give up now Naja,” you say. “You’ve lost.”
You do your best to put on a strong front, the better to cow her with but in truth you are close to collapse yourself. Your body is too broken to move save for the support of your wooden half.

“Yeah,” Naja agrees as she rises to her knees. “Now instead of being a god I’m merely an extremely powerful mortal who’s going to turn back into a god in ten minutes. I really don’t know how I’m going to cope!”
She attempts to get to her feet but stumbles on the way up and lands heavily back on her knees. Pointed boots thrash uselessly in the dirt.

Is this it? Is this the best chance you’re going to get? You’re not sure how you’re going to take advantage of it though. Your body is broken. Your pack and all your potions are gone. You still have the Caster embedded in your false arm but it’s empty.
And what of everyone else? The city around you is a mess, piles of rubble, clingy patches of sticky smoke and dark spires blocking your vision. You know Hiss is...somewhere. Aqua is sitting beside you still with her legs snapped nearly in half. She looks like she’s about to pass out any moment now. Zigzag is sitting just to the side of Naja with Orange still clinging to her. Orange, who Naja had turned into a…

“Hey! I’m back to normal!”
Orange pats himself down, orange scales rippling across his body. Zigzag pats him as well, more out of misplaced affection and a desire to be involved than any real understanding of what you had all just been through.
“What about you Aqua?”

Aqua just groans and for good reason. The injuries that Naja inflicted upon you and her don’t seem to be evaporating any time soon. But still, Orange’s condition gives you hope. With the Dreaming gone, Naja’s pointless cruelties have become impermanent.
You’re still a little shocked with how quickly it had all happened. Zigzag’s arrival had been like a miracle, like an answer to a prayer. Which it had been, just not in the way you had intended.

Naja just grunts, one gloved hand tightening around the cobblestones beneath her until they crack.
“It’s not going to be that easy.”


>Do your best to rush her now while she’s still down!

>Wake Aqua up, she needs to get back into her true shape so she can carry you.

>You need to find Hiss.

>Your cauldron and equipment should be scattered around here somewhere.

>Make sure everyone is alright first.

>Other

>>452364
>Your cauldron and equipment should be scattered around here somewhere.
Fuck, I guess that means Tanni lost her venom too

>>452364
>>Your cauldron and equipment should be scattered around here somewhere.

>>452364
>Your cauldron and equipment should be scattered around here somewhere.

>Your cauldron and equipment should be scattered around here somewhere.

You stand, a frame of wood and vines bracing your body and giving you the strength to do so. For a long moment you almost forget to keep flexing the wooden cage inside your chest, around your lung. You need that to breathe. But even so, you get to your feet before Naja can.

But can you really fight her like this? You don't have any potions. They, and your pack, have all been spent. But you remember brewing for Hiss. She'd needed a Heal-All. So your cauldron and your equipment should all still be here somewhere!

You just need to find it.

As you hobble down off of the rubble and away from Naja, you're sure to keep one eye still on her. It's this that probably saves your life.

Naja springs to her feet in a desperate burst and she's headed straight for you!

>Roll 1d100 to dodge. Best of the first 3.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>452412
dodge to the left

Rolled 60 (1d100)

>>452412

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>452412

Fuck, maybe at least use some thorns to hurt her if we can't dodge?

>64

You jump to the left and just manage to keep your footing as Naja slams down in front of her. You take a step back to avoid a wild swing and then another as Naja continues to advance.
"Come on darling," she puffs. "Don't play hard to get!"

She reaches for you one last time and you have the presence of mind to scramble out of the way as Naja is tackled away by a red-and-black blur.

Naja goes skidding back but keeps her footing, only stopping when Hiss slams her into a broken wall. The wall shakes from the impact but doesn't break itself.
Huh. That's less force than you expected from Hiss.
"Get...ah...the fuck....away."
Hiss is wheezing, her breath coming short and rapid. Her jacket is covered in blood, still bleeding from a thousand tiny wounds.

Naja's mask doesn't change, of course. But you can feel the contempt.
"This is it?"

She knees Hiss in the gut. Once, twice, and on the third time Hiss' grip breaks and the Serpent Queen is staggered.
"Get out of here Cennen!"
She managed to find her breath for that at least.

In the distance behind them, you spot the glint of moonlight on metal. The cauldron is over there, in a patch of street almost entirely obscured by the clouds of smoke and steam that have risen up with the passing of the Dream.

>Do as Hiss says and flee.

>Run to the cauldron.

>You need to help Hiss!

>Threaten to shoot Naja with the empty Caster.

>Other

>>452458
>>Run to the cauldron.

>>452458
>Run to the cauldron

>>452458
>Run to the cauldron.
Is tanni still with us?

>Run to the cauldron

You’re just going to have to hope that Hiss will be okay for now. You can’t help her. Not yet. You need to get to the cauldron! You take off in a staggered half-run since you can’t muster the power to do anything quicker just yet, circling the two fighters as Naja continues to pound Hiss into the ground.

“Look at you,” Naja snarls as she knocks Hiss around. “How are your scales holding up? Not so well, are they?”

Hiss grunts something inaudible and reaches for Naja’s mask only to be slapped away. Her fingers grasp only air.

“Let’s face it Hiss, when we became Ouroboros together and then split...it wasn’t equal. You’re just a shadow of me!”
Another strike, a curled fist to the side of the head that actually draws blood. Before today, it had been unthinkable to see Hiss bleed.
“How does it feel, to have used up all your souls and all your Art to fight the Gatekeeper? To waste all that on the idiot who just the warm-up for me?”

Naja swings again but Hiss simply disappears, her body bursting apart into a cloud of dust as Naja’s fist passes straight through where her head would have been. Naja steps back as a little black snake with a red underbelly slithers between her legs! The snake coils up behind Naja and the would-be god turns around just in time for Hiss to rapidly expand back into her human form, her rising hand already clenched into a fist that her shapeshifting carries straight into Naja’s chin!
There’s a loud crack and Naja’s masked head snaps backwards until her horns are digging into her back. If she had a neck before, she sure as hell doesn’t now.

“I stand by that decision,” Hiss says. “He was a lot stronger than you.”

And yet, even as both of Naja’s arms are flailing wildly, another limb emerges. A long and thin ebon-black arm that slips out from the front of her robe that cracks Hiss in the face. Two more grow out from Naja’s back, grabbing her head and painfully wrenching it back into place. If she’s at all inconvenienced by a broken neck, she doesn’t show it.
“Aha! Did you forget whose body I’ve commandeered for this?”
More arms begin to sprout.

You grab the cauldron, lashing it to your arm with a vine. There’s still some errant glassware and ingredients lying about too. Now, the only question is what you’re going to brew…

A pale hand stops yours.
“Hold.”
It’s Eva and she doesn’t look well, the homunculus emerging from the smoke cloud to reveal that her entire right side has blistered and burned away. Her right arm is gone, a molten stump above the shoulder all that’s left. The right side of her face, her chest, her body in general...well, it’s not destroyed. Just charred and melted in a way that human flesh simply shouldn’t be. Her right eye is still open but has gone glassy and hard, a black marble.

“Eva!”

“I’m fine,” she insists.
1/2

>>452559
“I still live. And I can still brew.You’re too important to be spending time out of this fight. Let me do it. Let us do it.”

You hear Hom before you see him, the battered slaughterhouse homunculus dragging himself from where he had been hiding into view. He’s looking mangled, most of his skin looking more like mincemeat than the usual entrails. And his chest is simply gone, replaced by a hole that is taking far too long to heal. He places a flabby tendril atop your cauldron.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.”

“You...I’m so sorry,” you say. “I didn’t mean for you two to get hurt.”

“I can still function,” Eva reassures you.


>No, you need to brew. These two need to get to safety!

>Let them brew for you. You have to help Hiss.

>You’ll brew together!

>Other

>>452563
>Let them brew for you. You have to help Hiss.
Eva a best. Can Hom regenerate any wound eventually or what?

>>452570
Theoretically yes, he's a very hardy fellow.

Sorry about taking so long on that update by the way. I ended up getting about three hours sleep last night.

>>452563
>>You’ll brew together!
If you have any ideas or have been working on any particularly nasty brews, now's the time kids.

If possibly Hom should make a poisonous version of his isolation brew.

>>452575
No worries man, I'm stuck in a hospital so I'm just grateful to have any entertainment at all

>>452578
We need to save hiss anon, they've got this. The anti-spirit brews we worked on with them will be more than sufficient

>>452581
Not anything too severe, I hope?

>>452588
Just some moderate heart problems, nothing terribly life threatening. The hospital food has made me suffer more than my heart problem has.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

I guess I'm tiebreaking for a vote that only has one vote for either side. Evens for helping them, odds for letting them brew for you.
Did I pick a bad day for this or something? This is weirdly low turnout even for /qst/. If there's a better time for you lot then just say the word, I'll run then.

>>452593
Good to hear.

>>452606
nah just sunday blues, it'll pick up.

>>452606
I'm sure the players will trickle in if we just keep going

>Let them brew for you. You have to help Hiss.

"Can you?"
Your question hangs in the air unanswered for a few moments before Eva collects herself.

"Yes. Don't worry, just trust us to handle this for you."

You relinquish the cauldron into Eva and Hom's waiting arms and nod.
"I guess I can't keep treating the two of you like children forever. I'm counting on you."

aaaaaaa

"Hom says that we won't let you down."
Eva does her best to hold the cauldron steady with her remaining arm.
"And...And I won't either."

You do your best to force a laugh.
"Eva, Hom, please. I never doubted that."

And with that out of the way, you lurch over towards Hiss and Naja as quickly as you can. You can feel yourself becoming more tree than man in the process but you don't care.

A long wooden spike grows out from your right fist as you clad yourself in thorns, your unsteady gait finally picking up into a proper run.

Hiss is curled up on the ground, half a dozen ebon hands hammering her down constantly while Naja uses one of her real hands to hold her broken neck in place.
You don't waste any time with fancy words and instead opt to stab her in the face. Or at least you try to!

The eyehole of her mask bulges and tears as a black hand forces its way out, catching the blade! It only delays it for an instant before your thorns shred it to pieces but that's enough time for three more of Naja's hand-projections to grab hold and divert the strike.

You pull the spike free from their grip, ripping hands apart even as they reach for you.

"What's this? The cripple returns to the fray?"
While you fend off her projected arms, Naja's sole real hand that she has free slams into your chest. It would crack your ribcage in half if you still had one.
"Now, why ever would you do something as foolish as this?"
Her voice grows endlessly bitter.
"And don't say it's for love."

>"Bad news. It's for love."

>"To be honest I just really don't like you."

>"Fuck you."

>"What do you want me to say?"

>Don't dignify her with an answer.

>Other

>>452641
>>Don't dignify her with an answer.

>>452641
>"What do you want me to say?"
Wait for an answer, then shrug and hit her again.
>"Bad news. It's for love."

>>452641
>"Bad news. It's for love."

>>452651
Also I say we really start going all-out with our tree powers. Enhance our muscles to the max with the effects of tanglebrew. Focus on the injured neck, grow vines around it and twist and pull it all around.

Hey, mostly archive binger here, if this does end up being the last thread, it's been a hell of a ride ouro, thank you.

>>452675
Quit lurking and vote!

>>452641
>>Don't dignify her with an answer.

>"Bad news. It's for love."

"Bad news!"
You don't wait to finish before you pull back and stab at her again with your spike. She halts it in the same way as before, a seemingly never-ending shroud of ebon hands willing to throw themselves in front of it and sacrifice themselves before your attack is stopped.
Leaving the two of you locked together for a brief moment.
"It's for love."
You sweep the leg, wrapping it in vines and bulking it up with as much tanglebrew mass as you can.

She stumbles and you force her to the ground beneath you, still intent on slowly driving the spike home into her gut. Inch by inch, her grip slips further and further and it gets closer and closer to burying itself within her.

"Love," Naja groans. "Love. Love, love love love love love!"
She seems to draw strength from this, a dozen more arms bursting out of her to push you away from her. You don't fall over but you can't stop yourself from being pushed back, little hands pressing all over your chest and shoulders. You duck out of her range as she stands up.
"It's always about love with you lot, isn't it? Oh, I'm in love with the princess! Oh, I'm in love with the human! I love the old King! I love my faith! Well, what about m-arrrgh!"

Tanni powers out of the rubble, crossing the street in a flash as she slams into Naja. Arms stretch everywhere as Naja uses them to anchor herself and Tanni, grabbing onto Naja's chest with both arms, bares her fangs and gets ready to bite!

Naja shrieks, her hands bouncing off the Quedeshi uselessly. She just isn't strong enough! And then she withdraws the arms she had battering at both you and Hiss, slowly blasting Tanni away from her with a veritable torrent of shadowy limbs.

>Stab her!

>Help Hiss!

>Try to wrench her head off.

>Nobble.

>Other

>>452684
Ah sorry mate, I'd already finished the update by the time I saw your vote pop up.

>>452703
>Try to wrench her head off.

>>452703
>Nobble.
Hiss
Wish for her to be able to fight Naja at her full potential as a snake.

How would you guys feel about nobbling Hiss and using wishes to help with the fight?

>>452703
>Stab her!
Right now that's the best way to help Hiss

>>452606
I was out with a friend

>>452710
>Stab her!
Changing my vote. Stab her and then grow vines and branches all throughout her body. Don't forget that our caster-hand makes for an excellent bludgeon too.

>>452720
look
>>452718

>>452754
Yeah I can't decide if that's a good idea. Maybe near the end of the fight? Hiss can't maintain her full power for very long and she'd be helpless afterwards.

>>452763
Just wish for as she tries to overload the powers she that strain her to deactivate then. With Royal blood she's really close to max output naturally in a pile of snake anyways.

>>452735
Oh shit don't forget to use the thorns too.

>Stab her!

"What!?," Naja screams, her composure broken. "How are you still alive? The Dream is over!"

Tanni just smirks as if she wasn't being attacked by dozens of ethereal limbs per second, hands scrabbling uselessly off her green scales. They're pushing her away from Naja but that's about all they can do.
"Don't you know how your own power works? Listen, it probably all depends on how invested you are in your creation. The more emotion and care you have for what you make, the longer it'll persist outside of the Dream!"

"That's not how it works! I don't give a fuck about you!"

Tanni winks and you're sure if that if you hadn't altered her to be unable to affect you or Hiss, you would both be begging and scraping at her feet by now.
"Who said your feelings about me were yours to control? It's okay to fall in love me. Everybody does."

Having sufficiently infuriated Naja, Tanni gives you a sharp nod. All of Naja's hands are being used, you're not going to get another chance like this one!
So you step forward without hesitation and stab her through the chest. The spike pushes all the way through with barely any resistance and out the other side.
Naja's head swivels.
"Poking holes in me isn't going to get you anywhere."

Good thing that wasn't really your plan. You move with Naja, doing your best to keep the spike embedded in her and you give the command.

Grow.

The spike bursts to life inside of her body, sticks and branches and vines going everywhere! Naja screams once more as her body overflows with brambles ...but only for a moment.
Her shadow hands snake out and pull her away from you, ripping her free but at great cost. Her entire side has been lashed open now, robes torn up and invisible skin shattered to reveal nothing but blotchy darkness within. A darkness that is slowly leaking out, leaving puddles of ichor and venom wherever she treads.

The spike is useless now, corroded and burned to just a nub from prolonged contact with Naja's insides.

Tanni seizes this moment and latches onto one of the hands pushing her back but Naja simply disconnects the target limb immediately and lets it fall to the ground.
Seven more arms lash out and take advantage of Tanni's small leap to catch her in mid-air where her strength can afford her no leverage. It takes less than an instant before Tanni is hurled off into the sky behind her.

'I'm not going to let that venom touch me," she says tiredly. "You know what's going to happen. We're going to fight and you won't be able to kill me and then the Dream will return and I won't waste any time FUCKING AROUND like I did last time. You might as well give up."

The silence is broken by Hiss' laughter as the Serpent Queen gets back to her feet. She stands by your side.
"Come on Naja, you're half-dead already. Just tr-"

"No."
Naja wobbles and then bulges from within. More and more limbs begin to sprout as she calls further and further from the reserves of the Gatekeeper.
1/2

>>452786
There must be hundreds of the little fuckers now, Naja almost entirely obscured by crawling hands. But you can still see her vaguely within the mess. You can still see her stumble and shake.
This is just bravado.

Down the far end of the street, you spot movement. Is that...it is! Oster, crawling his way through the rubble. You almost didn't see him at all. Naja certainly hasn't.

"Shut up," Naja says thickly. "Shut up and let me talk. Hear me out. Just this once."


>"Sure. I can't speak for Hiss though."

>"Sure." This is a lie.

>"Sure." See if you can find out whether Hom and Eva are finished yet.

>"Sure." Buy time for Oster.

>Just kill her.

>Ask for Hiss to hold back just for now.

>"Only if you withdraw all those arms."

>Other

>>452793
>"Sure." Buy time for Oster.
>Ask for Hiss to hold back just for now.
>"Only if you withdraw all those arms."

>>452793
>"Sure." Buy time for Oster.
> See if you can find out whether Hom and Eva are finished yet.

>>452793
>You mean like you've listened to me? Yeah, wait, I mean no."
>Just kill her.
>Make an opening for the others.

>"Sure." Buy time for Oster.

You give Naja a curt nod.
"Sure. Say your piece."
You don't know if Oster has a plan or if he can be even helpful but you know from personal experience now that a Naja with her attention divided is a Naja defeated. Every little bit helps.

At first Naja, doesn't speak. She's ragged and torn and it looks like she is literally gathering herself up.
In the time it takes for her to do this, Hiss gives you a Look.

Your brand burns and your head fills with a smothering and familiar presence.
Cennen. Don't reply. I'm doing this so she can't hear us.

You do your best to stay still, as if focused on what Naja has to say. Oster is still resolutely crawling forward.

She's still drawing more and more power out of that thing, she's going to get out of hand soon.

...

That wasn't an intentional joke. Whatever. I have a plan. But I don't think you'll like it. If it looks like she's going to win then I'm going to boost a Rattle out to kill everyone in the city. Yes, including you and everyone else. I'll burn some souls to use Worldbreaker Coils and stomp her into the dirt.

You stare at her.

What? I'll be able to return most people back to their bodies eventually! Or to a body like their old body. I'm not saying we have to do this, just as a last resort. What do you think? Just nod your head.


>Nod. Only as a last resort of course.

>Shake your head. There's going to be a better way.

>Screw it. "Do it now!"

>>452826
>Shake your head. There's going to be a better way.
That idea is pure shit Hiss

>>452793
>"Sure." Buy time for Oster.

>>452826
>Shake your head. There's going to be a better way.
At the very least, put our faith into Oster. We've also still got Eva and Hom brewing for us.

>>452826
>Shake your head. There's going to be a better way.
It's been a while since the last time this had to be asked but please don't kill everyone, hiss

>>452826
>>Shake your head. There's going to be a better way.

You know we could actually make living bodies for all those souls with our soulshape process. Maybe even add a few brews to the mix to make a city of alchemical ubermenschen

>>452858
Thing is we'd be dead dead as our bane means she'd not be able to save us. We got it back after Aggie an hero'd.

>>452864
Fuck, you're right. I didn't even think about that.

>Shake your head. There's going to be a better way.

You shake your head. Hiss putting in all of those souls one-by-one would be crazy, it would be impossible! But maybe if you got the homunculi to mass-produce the soulshaping process...
No. What's wrong with it isn't the inconvenience. It's that you can't just go around killing an entire city of people! What's wrong with you? What's wrong with Hiss?

Scratch that last question, you know exactly what's wrong with Hiss.

Hiss frowns as she sees you shake your head.

"Oi! Can you two take your eyes off of each other for five fucking seconds?"
Welp. Looks like Naja's ready to speak. You've lost sight of Oster too but you're sure he's still getting closer somewhere.
"I've been trapped in you for months and it's always the same. Love this, love that. And it's not just you either, it's pulling the strings of everyone we meet!"

"Yes and?"
Hiss rolls her eyes as she speaks.

"And what about me, you selfish little whore? Who loves me? Nobody! And nobody ever will! And if you lot had your way I'd just be left forever to rot ALONE!"

"Naja," you say. "That's not what we w-"

"I think the worst part," Naja says, continuing on as if she didn't even hear you. "The worst part is that I remember how it used to feel."

Oster is back in your view, he's only ten feet away from her now. He's got his sword in his mouth, teeth clamped down on the hilt.

"I was there," Naja says. "I was Ouroboros with you Hiss and before you shed me off like I was just some useless snakeskin I was there with you all the time before that too! I had all of your memories and...and they felt real to me. As real as they were to you."

Hiss just scoffs but Naja cuts her off before she can say anything.
"I remember having your dream! I remember sharing your love! I WAS you. I wanted to become the Serpent Queen, to fall in love and to kill our father. I wanted this so badly that the Compact House bent around us and recognised that our focus was worthy of enlightenment! And then I woke up and I found out that I wasn't allowed to be you anymore. That I had to sit alone forever in the dark while I watched you enjoy what could have been mine. What should have been mine!"

Maybe you should try and talk to her instead of Hiss. That might be a little more helpful. Unfortunately Naja's not in a mood to let anyone else speak.

"No! No no no no! I remember you Cennen. I remember meeting you and being in your backpack. Do you? Do you remember when we fought the wizard together? Do you remember when we survived the shipwreck together? Do you remember what I said to you back here the first time we were here? I promised you that I'd lead you into glory. But I can't."

"Naj-"

"That's not my name! You lied to me, Cennen! You told me that I wasn't Hiss, I was just a shadow, that I had to be my own person. So you gave me a shitty name and you gave me hope and then...you left me to rot once more. You've all betrayed me."
1/2

>>452894
"Alright, that's enough."
Hiss steps in between the two of you as if to shield you from her accusations.
"I understand what it must feel like, Naja. But if you're trying to make us feel bad for you then you're sorely mistaken."

Neither of you are quite ready for the hand, nearly a hundred of Naja's smaller phantom limbs joining together as one to create a vast arm bigger than her entire body. And it's already moving!
"That's not my name! I'm Hiss, I'm the real Hiss and you stole my life!"

Hiss pushes you of the way but she can't save herself. She's smashed into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. You can only watch as her scales finally buckle and then break.

She's motionless.


>You need to help Hiss!

>Help Oster!

>Try to reason with Naja.

>Get to the homunculi.

>Attack!

>Flee

>Nobble

>Other

>>452912
>>Attack!

>>452912
>Attack!
>Help Oster!

>>452912
>Help Oster!

>>452912
>Nobble
tackle the godsnake

This one might take a while, eating.

Waaaait a second
we haven't been duped
as in "super extra long-conned duped"
have we?

>>452986
What do you mean?

>Attack!
>Help Oster!

You can't afford to help Hiss now, you have to capitalise on this! But still, the way she doesn't even blink or twitch as you pass her draws your eye in a way that you can't just ignore.
You try your best to do so regardless.

"Get away from me, Cennen!"
What's left of Naja's arms swarm towards you as the giant hand atop of Hiss begins to break apart.

You weather the blows as best you can, each one pushing you further and further back. If you keep this up, you're going to get seriously hurt!

>Keep pushing on! You need to buy time.

>It's time to extend your range.

>Fall back.

>Grab Hiss.

>Now would be a good time for Oster to do his thing.

>Other

>>452989
>Keep pushing on! You need to buy time.
>>It's time to extend your range.
>Now would be a good time for Oster to do his thing.

>>452989
>Keep pushing on! You need to buy time.
>It's time to extend your range.
>Now would be a good time for Oster to do his thing.
Then grab Hiss and retreat when oster wounds her

>>452989
>Grab Hiss

>>452989
>Keep pushing on! You need to buy time.
>Now would be a good time for Oster to do his thing.

>>453001
This.

>>452989
>Now would be a good time for Oster to do his thing.
>It's time to extend your range.

If hiss ends up as a vegetable I'm going to be really upset

>Keep pushing on! You need to buy time.
>It's time to extend your range.
>Now would be a good time for Oster to do his thing.

You just grit your teeth and push on, regrowing the spike from your hand and swinging it about as thorns sprout from your body once again. The first hands dissipate, shredded.
And now that your range is extended, you're ready to lunge!

You take another step towards Naja and then, as it looks like you're about to fall, you lean forward and then pump all of your power into the spike at once! It rushes past the hands and jabs right towards her.

>Roll 1d100. Best of 3.

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>453037
role

>>453042
okay

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>453037
I feel bad for her.

Also I'm secretly scaroused by Tanni.

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>453037
>>453042
OH SHIT NICE

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>453037
rolling

>>453042
Yeah Cennen is furious. I think Naja put him in that place where a man is totally calm and totally filled with hate.

>100

The ebon hands claw and rake at you but you barely feel them anymore. What more can they take from you? Your body is already ruined. Hiss is already down. At this point you've stopped caring about such petty things as personal safety.
So it is with relative ease that you take one final step closer and plunge the still-growing stake into Naja's heart. You impale her, lifting her off her feet as venom stains the ground.

This is it.
You tell the stake to grow once more.

Almost a full second passes before you realise nothing's happening. You can't retract the stake either! There are hands in her wound. Inside her own body. Shadowy limbs have wrapped themselves around your spike and are holding it tight, wrapping it such that it cannot expand.

"Did you really think I was going to fall for the same trick twice?"

And then Oster steps out from behind her, his sword in hand and he stabs her in the gut. Right in the huge gaping wound you left earlier! With all her hands occupied with stopping you from growing the stake inside of her, she has nothing to stop the sword.
Naja stiffens and you can see her seize up with sudden panic...until she sees what hit her.
"What, is that really it? Fuck off Oster, since when can you even hope to hurt someone like me?"

An arm snaps around and slaps Oster in the face hard enough to send him crumpling to the ground. The rebound of it carries the hand straight back to you, extracting you from Naja's body by force as she tosses you almost twenty feet down the street.

"This...this is still nothing," she moans. And then you see her shudder, a flicker passing beneath her robes. The venom inside her begins to bubble furiously as if someone had lit a great flame beneath her. Naja stumbles and an errant hand retrieves Oster's fallen sword. There's a faint line of dark fluid smeared down the blade.
"No!"

"Yes!"
Tanni steps back onto the street, covered in stone dust but otherwise fine. She licks her venom-covered lips.
"As frenzied as you made me for...anatomy, I still have some self-control. Let's just say I took a much more literal blade into my mouth."

Oster coughs, evidently still feeling the slap.
"Yeah. Thanks for holding off, by the way."

"Oh, it was only postponed," Tanni murmurs. "I'm going to absolutely destroy you once this is all over. Or maybe it'll be Cennen? You both look so tasty."


"Hhhhhhhhhhhh-"
A groan from behind you makes you turn.
"Hhhholy shit keep your hands off my consort!"
Hiss struggles to her feet, apparently revived and animated purely by jealous rage.
"He's mine! I own him!"

Tanni just shrugs.
"And I could own you if I wanted. Do you want to set up a tiered system?"

And in the midst of all this, Naja falls to her knees. The venom is working through her in record time, her very essence boiling away.
"This isn't right," she mutters. "You stole my dream. That should be me over there."
Even more hands begin to crest from the darkness within her.

1/2

>>453085
Hiss moans. She sounds mostly dead.
"She's got even more hands? Really?"

And then the hands stop. They shudder. And then they withdraw. And different hands start twisting out from inside her instead.

Tanni claps her hands.
"Isn't that the beauty of prayer Cennen? You weren't just calling out to all your snakes with that call I, like a most beautiful muse, inspired you to do. All kinds of beings hear such prayers."

The hand that rips its way out of Naja's belly is red.

-I will not permit myself to be used against humanity!-

Naja wails, a wordless discordant tone. Did you do that? Did you make her weak enough that even her control over the Gatekeeper outside of the Dream is waning?
"Get back inside me!"

Naja flails, trying to stuff the crimson limbs back into her but more and more keep protruding. None of ever make it too far but it's become apparent that she's losing all control.

"Fuck it," she says. "You know what? Fuck it. Fuck all of you. You can die with me."
The inside of her begins to bulge with pent up force as Naja stops trying to fight the Gatekeeper and starts building him up instead. Red light begins to glow from within every torn and ripped seam.

"Cennen!"

Eva crests the top of a rubble pile. You hold out your hand automatically and with her good hand, she throws you a small bottle.

It's a Spiritslayer.


>Throw it at Naja but risk her crazy hands deflecting it and making it for nothing.

>Load it into the Caster at the cost of time you might not have.

>Give it to Naja personally. Sure it might be dangerous but it's guaranteed success. Anything to end this.

>Give it to somebody else.

>Other

>>453102
>>Give it to Naja personally. Sure it might be dangerous but it's guaranteed success. Anything to end this.

>>453102
>Give it to Naja personally. Sure it might be dangerous but it's guaranteed success. Anything to end this.
Grow some thick wood and vine armor and go for it. Lots of long thorns too.

>>453102
>Give it to somebody else.
Tanni, with the offer of fun with Cennen, Hiss, and Oster if she survives.
If not, then >Give it to Naja personally.

>>453102
>Give it to Naja personally. Sure it might be dangerous but it's guaranteed success. Anything to end this.
Sorry about everything, but I can only handle one of you

>>453109
>Load it into the Caster at the cost of time you might not have.
Fuck, changing my vote. I really don't want to die as a suicide bomber

>>453114
>Hiss
Hiss is literally less desirable to Tanni then every human male in the country, regardless of age, appearance or skill thanks to you jokers. That part won't sway her.

>>453127
It will when Hiss has a dick.
Which is a thing that the snakes have been happy to remind us they can do.

>>453132
>appearance or skill

Where are you guys coming from?

>>453114
Asking Tanni might be a good idea since she's not long for this world anyway.

>>453132
Has to be human, has to have a dick.

That whole business was legit was still one of the most surprising decisions that ever got voted through. You can't say I haven't done my best to roll with it though!

Calling it for giving it to her yourself.

>>453141
I was pretty butthurt about it, it made absolutely no sense.

>>453141
>>453150

>tfw I just wanted to make her a stutterer so that nobody would be able to take her seriously anymore

>Give it to Naja personally. Sure it might be dangerous but it's guaranteed success. Anything to end this.

You raise your arm to throw it and then stop. No. You've come too far now, burned too much for all this to be gambled on the vagaries of chance. You're going to have to take it in yourself.

Yes, it'll be dangerous. Yes, a Spiritslayer will probably detonate right next you. Yes, this isn't what Hiss would want you to do. Hiss would want you to live.
But you know what? At some point you started caring about your own life much less then Hiss did. That's the only way to explain some of the decisions you've made through this whole bloody war.

And so here it is, the final sacrifice. And who knows? Maybe you'll live somehow.

You start running.

Hiss sees your intentions quickly.
"No! Don't you dare!"
But she's much too tired to catch up to you.

Naja's hands don't stop you and in a moment, you are standing right in front of her. You press the bottle to her chest.

Time seems to slow. Naja, as deformed and wounded as she has become, looks you in the eye and for the first time you swear you see something glint within her empty eye-sockets. Something's finally staring back.

"Why?"

> (Specify)

>>453166
I'm taking responsibility. For what I did to you, and for not trying harder to make you a body.

And... I think when Hiss dies, she would have wanted me by her side, as well.

That's right, it's write-in time.

>>453166
>Because I was too lazy to make you a body, and ignored other anons reminding me repeatedly.

Alternatively.

>Because you didn't wait another week.

>>453166
Because in your spite and hate you attacked everything I really cared about. I was willing to make you a body, hell if not for the Quedeshi then the spirits showing up it'd have been done by now. Because instead of displaying patience or trying to reconnect with Hiss in a positive way that would benefit both of you, you decided to hurt everyone. That's why. Hiss's love for me caused you to be separated, and despite my every intent to fix things, I failed. So as you are so tied up in you hate and spite and misery to even try and make things better for yourself or anyone else, I will it. Both your sake and everyone else's. I AM sorry Naja, Hiss, however you think of yourself, but you went too far. Now it must end.

>>453166
I regret the decision we made at the compact house, we didn't know what we were doing when we convinced Hiss to split herself because we were afraid of what she became and we can't apologize or make up for it. She didn't deserve this but we can't undo it, but if she's seen our other homunculus she would've know we needed a bit more improvement.

>>453185
>or anyone else, I will it.
or anyone else, I will end it.

>>453166
I can't let you destroy everything we care about, no matter what.

I feel like if we die Hiss will become awful and the world will be fucked

>>453166
Same reason I stuck with you ever since I caught you for the first time. It is the stupidest thing I've ever done, thousands have suffered for it and I can't help it. I love you.

>Why?
>Write-In

"I'm taking responsibility for all this. For what I did to you and not trying harder to make you a body. It was Hiss' love for me that broke you in the first place and I swear, I didn't know what it would do. I was afraid."

Naja reaches for you with her real hand and you flinch back but she isn't trying to stop the Spiritslayer. Instead she just holds your hand limply in hers.

"I wanted to do right by you," you continue. "But you took this too far. I won't let you hurt Hiss or Oster or anyone else. I'm sorry. I did something stupid and it was for you. If I was go back, I'd probably do it again."

And then you feel something strange. You have the bottle pressed up hard against her chest but now the resistance to it is melting away, the darkness and venom beneath Naja's robe falling apart to...make room? Her robe slips open and the bottle sinks deeper. Deeper into her. She's absorbing it.

"Cennen," Naja says and her voice shakes. You've never heard someone sound so betrayed and yet so relieved.
"I remember when you would have done all this for me."

Her robe snaps closed and half a dozen hands encircle her, wrapping around the bottle deep within her.

And so when the Spiritslayer Flask detonates, most of the flame and the shrapnel and the force never even touches you. You are flung back and your head hits a wall and darkness finally rises to fill your vision but you are not hurt. You are not dead.

And before you fall into merciful slumber, the last thing you see imprinted on your eyes is Naja's sillhouette as she burns away.
Hiss always did like the cheesiest lines.

>>453231
Naja had a really sad life.

Right in the feels.

Interlude- Orange And Zigzag

In time, the city would rebuild itself. Teln are nothing if not industrious after all. But for now Teln and Quedeshi, snake and constrictor alike were left to wander through what was left and wonder just what went wrong.
Such is the burden of the complex mind, to be forever entranced by worries and problems and things that could never be.

In such times, the simple thrive.

"-and I was holding onto it and I realised it was a star!"

Orange stared at Zigzag raptly. The two sat together in the rubble with hardly a care in the world.
"And then what happened?"

"Well," Zigzag lied. "I walked in the sky for a while until I visited the Moon. And there were snakes up there!"

"Really"

"Absolutely. And they had all kinds of food and fun and nothing went wrong and nobody ever died. But uh, you see, these were very small snakes. Even smaller than me. I was so big compared to them that they made me their Queen."

Orange followed her every word, wide-eyed.
"So why didn't you just stay up there?"

Zigzag sighed. Lying to Orange wasn't fun. He never questioned anything she said. In the end, the truth felt better.
"Because," she said as she stroked his hair. "There are some things I'd rather not do without."

>>453256
>"Because," she said as she stroked his hair. "There are some things I'd rather not do without."

Dawww

Interlude- Oster and Aashenpreet

Oster lay on the ground, cobbles beneath him and stars above. Almost perfect. Almost.
Had he really done anything? Had he made a difference?

He had stabbed Naja once back in the Dream and all he'd accomplished was to slow her down. And then this time...he'd hurt real bad but only because of the venom on his sword. Only because he was too pathetic for Naja to even see him as a threat.

"Still moping?"
A pointed slipper protruded on his field of vision and Oster sighed. He had been hoping she had gone away.

"What now? Here to claim your prize?"

Not even Tanni could hide the quick flash of desire that spread across her face.
"No thanks. I actually have business that needs accomplishing. And so do you."

So did he? What did she mean by that?

Oster got to his feet to chase after her, to demand an answer but Tanni was gone. But there was something else instead that he wouldn't have noticed if he'd stayed on his back.

A tiny white snake with floating coats of diaphanous skin and a little coin atop his head. Zukhdeep. He was trapped in the rubble and yet was completely silent. Couldn't he change shape?

It only took Oster a minute to free the tiny homunculus.
"What are you doing here. huh? Where's your mother?"

Zukhdeep only hissed. Probably wasn't any point getting an answer from him. As far as you can tell he's more animal then person these days.
Zukhdeep hissed again and motioned at the huge pile of rubble Oster had just freed him from.

It took a few more minutes before he realised.

It quickly became obvious what was buried down here before he was even close to finishing. First to be unearthed was a pair of lithe brown legs almost as long as his entire body. Oster just nodded and kept digging until Aashenpreet's ten-foot self was freed.

She was awake. She could have broken out at any time, it would have been as easy as sitting up for her. But she hadn't. And looking at her eyes, he thought he knew why.

He squatted down beside he head.
"What's wrong, Aash?"

"I'm useless," she muttered. "I couldn't stop the false god, I couldn't save the priestess. What good am I?"

"Well...you're still good in my eyes. Fancy a game?"
Oster produced a deck of Tash cards twice that the size of the human norm from his pocket. In response, Aashenpreet's eyes widened and she quickly patted herself down.

"I didn't even feel you take that," she said, in wonder despite herself.

"What can I say, I'm a man of many skills. Now are you going to deal or shall I?"

For the record, there are going to be votes after these interludes. So don't go anywhere!

>>453296
I'm still here!

>>453296
I wouldn't leave now

>>453296
Here for the time being.

Interlude- Eva, Hom and Blue

"Drink this," Eva said as she handed the bottle to a grateful Aqua. "After that, drink these three as well."

"Will that make me better?"

"Bones do not heal easi-"

"Yes," Blue said, cutting off Eva entirely. "They'll make you feel much better and set you on the road to recovery."

As they walked away, Eva and Blue loaded down with Heal-Alls while Hom carted the entire cauldron on his still-healing back, Eva turned to her snake friend.
"I do not understand why you interrupted me."

"It's a little something called bedside manner, I ate a nurse once. Maybe I should teach you."

Eva nodded as she scanned the horizon searching for more injured. That was what they were here to do after all. Cennen hadn't told them to but Eva knew it was important all the same.
"There is something else I wanted you to teach me about Blue."
It felt strange to carry potions with just one hand. She would have to ask Cennen to make her a new one sometime. Other than that, Eva felt great. The pain was a problem but to be brewing where she knew she was needed was all the relief she needed.

Blue looked interested despite herself.
"Go ahead, ask away."

"Love," Eva said, not noticing Blue's abrupt reaction. "I was listening to the battle and it is apparently important. Maybe if I can understand it I can finally understand what my creator wants from me."
Eva turned to Blue and looked her in the eye.
"Can you teach me what it is to love?"

Blue didn't know what to say. This was almost exactly how it had played out in that weird dreamworld she'd been imprisoned in. What should she say?
"Well, I would be happy," she squeaked. "Where do you want to begin?"

"I would like to start with you drawing a diagram of what love is. And then maybe some of its alchemical properties? What does it taste like?"

"Oh," Blue said. "Never mind."

Some dreams will never be more than just that.

>>453317
pfft poor blue. she has some interesting taste in women. something she and creepy old consort Cennen have in common I suppose.

>>453317
poor blue

>tfw i missed the whole thread because i was sick
God everything here is fucking rad though cant believe this is finally happening.

Cennen

You wake slowly to find yourself right where you left off. Up against a wall in the middle of a ruin. Only that's not quite correct!
Someone has laid you down on your side and drawn a blanket over you. You think you know who.

Hiss doesn't seem to be here right now though. You wonder where she is?

As you rise you see what is lying just across from you and you stop. A long charred thing that might have once been a robe, no, many robes overlaying each other. An embroidered glove smoulders away from a destroyed sleeve, a faint trail of ash between them the only sign that someone's arm had once stretched there.
And lying away from it all, as if it had been hurled by an explosion, is a half-molten golden mask.
There's nothing behind it anymore. And you'll never know if there ever was.

>Leave them be.

>Finish the job and burn them.

>Bury them.

>Make a note to have them retrieved later.

>Destroy them now.

>Other

>>453335
Keep them.

>>453335
>Make a note to have them retrieved later.

>>453335
>>Bury them.
best put whatever this was behind us, despite its probably cool alchemical properties

>>453335
>Bury them.

If she is really gone this is the most respectful way to go about it.

>>453335
>>Bury them.

>>453335
>Bury them.

>>453335
>>453342
This

>>453335
>Keep them
We might be able to make something out of it

>>453364
I don't wanna make anything out of it, I wanna keep to remember Naja.

>Bury them.

You pick them up as best you can, your wooden hand not even feeling the hit as you deposit them into a foot-deep pit in the ground. A shallow grave is the best you can do right now unfortunately.
It probably won't last long. Give it a few weeks, some months, a year at most and it'll probably be dug up. Almost certainly by humans, maybe even by kids. And is that so bad? They won't know what it means, the significance would be lost on them. But the gold from the mask would be worth a lot of money and they'd be happy all the same.

For a brief moment, you delude yourself into thinking that Naja would be happy with that. But then you remind yourself that she was basically Hiss. She wouldn't be happy unless her remains were choking her enemies to death.
But in lieu of such, you suppose this'll make do.

You feel like you should say something. But what is there to say?
"Sorry. Again. I'll...I'll do my best to find glory without your help."
Now that she might have been happy with.

Once that is done, you walk in the direction of the docks. You've no reason for this, no idea where to go....but you can feel Hiss in that direction.

But before you find her, you happen across something rather interesting.

Down an alleyway of a mostly unspoiled street, you see two figures. You normally would have passed by immediately save for that the second figure was so short.

It's Tanni and Sarminda, Tanni towering over the four and a half foot constrictor.
What are they doing here? What are they doing together?


>Interrupt them right away.

>Wait and eavesdrop.

>Make your third and final wish for Sarminda.

>Mess with Tanni a little.

>Leave them be.

>Other

>>453386
>>Wait and eavesdrop.

>>453386
>Wait and eavesdrop

>>453386
>Make your third and final wish for Sarminda.

Wish she'd lighten up a little and get the stick out her butt.

>>453396
The third wish ends as soon as it's accomplished so that would last all of a second

>>453403
It's not meant to be permanent anyway, it's just symbolic, throw the last wish away.

>>453386
>Wait and eavesdrop.

>Wait and eavesdrop

You stay out of sight and listen.

"-so I'm afraid you've become a bit of a loose end, Sarminda."
Tanni is still as she always is and while it no longer effects you, you're certain that she's weaving some kind of influence of Sarminda as you speak.

"What do you mean?'

"I mean that this invasion was quite successful!"

"Pardon? Uh, your ladyship. Everything went wrong!"

Tanni nods.
"Exactly. It's the best of both worlds. For the folk here in Taldenral, they will remember our strength as mighty and will refrain from transgressing upon us again. But back home, the Invisible Court will see this as a complete failure. The kind of military failure that we haven't had for centuries. It should really shake things up back home."

"But why?"
Sarminda is shaking but she can't retreat.

"Chaos is a virtue at times. A very interesting and yet also very foolish man taught me that. He is, alas, no longer with us."
Tanni licks her lips.
"But I found his idea to be good. That's why I made this invasion happen. That's why I put you in charge. What, you didn't think it was because you were actually good, was it?"

Sarminda falls to her knees and you know from experience what kind of weaponized shame Tanni must be summoning atop of her.

"So here I am, just clearing loose ends. Luckily most of the command staff are dead. I myself just finished Namjott twenty minutes. Rest assured, he died extremely happy.Now..."

"Wait! Please! Spare me! I'll do anything!"

Tanni scoffs.
"I could make you do anything normally. No, you have a choice. You can die now, quick and painless. You can wait and try to make your way back home and no doubt fall victim to the countless assassins I organized before your fleet even left the shore or....you can stay here in exile. Forever."

"Here?"

"Yes, among these lucky folks. No doubt they'll catch you over and over again. It'll be sublimely degrading. But you'll be alive."

>Interrupt.

>Wait for Sarminda's choice.

>This doesn't concern you. Leave.

>Other

>>453417
>Wait for Sarminda's choice.

>>453417
>I myself just finished Namjott twenty minutes. Rest assured, he died extremely happy.Now..."
Nice double entendre Tanni

>>Wait for Sarminda's choice.

>>453417
>This doesn't concern you. Leave.
Tanni for Maharaja 2016, make quedesh great again

>>453421
>Wait for Sarminda's choice.

"What does it matter?," Sarminda asked rebelliously. "You can just make me answer however you want."

"That's true."
Tanni nods.
"I could make you beg to be my little pet for the rest of your life. Which probably wouldn't be too long, I tend to eat pets."

She says the last sentence as a barely audible whisper and you watch Sarminda shiver and blush.

"See? I just made you feel really happy about that idea. But I won't."

"So how can I know I'm free to make my choice?"

Tanni pats her on the head, turning Sarminda into a quivering mess.
"You don't."

"I...see," Sarminda says, panting. "I-in that case, I vote to stay."

"Oh, so you admit it?"

"Admit what?"

"You basically just want to be passed around as a human being's pet for the rest of your life."

"I just want to be passed aro-hey! That's not true!"
Sarminda looks down.

"Give me a few hours with you and I could probably make it true. But I am on quite the time limit. Leave."

Sarminda shrieks a little and bolts down the alleyway in the opposite direction, her brain numbed by an infusion of pure terror.

Meanwhile, alone in the alleyway, Tanni just shakes her head.
"Girl is so weak-willed it ought to be a crime. You can come out now Cennen."

What?
You step into the alleyway, extremely aware that you're facing someone who could and has destroy in an instant's combat.
"You knew I was there?"

"Of course. Why did you think I was speaking in Teln?"

"I...uh...oh."

"Luckily your brains aren't what I'm interested in anymore. Now take your pants off, it's been over twenty minutes since I've sucked a dick."

You'll never get used to how uncharismatic and blunt she is about it.

>Do as she says.

>Refuse

>Tease her into doing what you want her to do.

>"Why did you want me to hear that?"

>Nobble

>Other

>>453457
>Refuse
>"Why did you want me to hear that?"
You're a cruel man Ouro, rubbing that retarded decision in our face like this

>>453457
>>Do as she says.

>>453457
>Refuse
>"You need to find a way to keep that urge at bay when you return to quedesh"
>"Why did you want me to hear that?"

>>453457
>Refuse
>"Why did you want me to hear that?"

>>453462
If you thought I was letting you get away with voting that kind of thing through and not getting reminded of it roughly three times a thread then I'm sorry.

>>453462
I'll back this vote.

still can't believe that vote actually got through, what a MADMAN

>>453457
>>453462
This
>Sure there are plenty of men who would happy to oblige. In favor you could probably suck several at once if you played your cards right.

>>453466
Seems not even Tanni can win against the cock

>>453466
>tfw I tried to stop it and failed

>Refuse
>"Why did you want me to hear that?"

"No. No thanks."
You watch her step back a little. Does she actually look relieved?
"So why did you want me to hear that?"

Tanni wipes her brow.
"Because I'm afraid Sarminda is going to be your problem. Yours and your peoples. I just wanted you to know that in advance so that you can deal with her."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Cennen, would I lie to you?"

"You lie all the time."

"Yes but I'm really not this time. I just wanted you to make sure that she didn't come as a surprise...and that you understand our motivations a little better. Please know that I never harboured genuine ill-will for your barbaric country."

"Are you trying to get into my pants again?"

"No! And good luck on refusing my offer early by the way. It would have been a shame if you had died in such an embarrassing way after all this."

"Died?"

Tanni waves a hand noncommittally.
"Anyway, that's all my unfinished business done. And I still have a tiny bit of time left before I go."

"Are you taking one of the ships back already?"

Tanni laughs.
"Do you really think so highly of me, Cennen?"

"Pardon?"

"That I could survive outside of the Dream forever? You must think me to be some kind of god and that makes me feel pretty damn good."
She holds out her right arm and draws back several layers of sleeves.
The arm within is transparent. And now, as you look really closely, her robes, boots and gloves are a slowly following suit at a much slower pace.

"I guess I'm a like a spirit now. I really needed that specific Dream to stay alive."

You take a step back.
"Oh shit. Tanni, I'm so sorry."

"You couldn't have known. I mean, actually, you could have. It was a pretty easy thing to figure out. I myself understood it before we even began to fight Naja."

"...Then why did you fight?"

Tanni just shrugs.
"Why not? I'd rather win and fade away than be that thing's slave. I mean, Hiss is just a lesser version of me so do you really think I'd tolerate an even worse Hiss having the leg up on me?"

You're really not sure how to react to all of this.
"But now you're dying. You're gonna just vanish?"

Tanni sits down, parts of her body fading away before your very eyes.
"Ha. Would you believe that I actually spent time thinking about what the best possible line to say when I'm dying? I thought of dozens."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And what are they?"

Tanni chuckles again.
"You tell me, Cennen. They've all gone and slipped my mind."


>"Goodbye."

>Just stand back and watch.

>Try to grab her soul.

>Embrace her.

>"It was me who made that change to you, not Naja."

>Other

>>453487
>"Goodbye."
>and good luck

>>453487
>"Goodbye."
Thanks.

>>453487
>>Try to grab her soul.

>>453487
>"Goodbye."

Found some attempted scans.
http://sli.mg/a/DkHmUA

>>453487
>pet snake
But keep it platonic

>>453502
Nice.
>tfw no aash gf

>>453502
These are awesome.

>"Goodbye."

Unsure of what else to do, you nod. Needless to say your feelings on Tanni are ...mixed. But still, it feels like something is vanishing forever from the world. Something that probably won't ever be replaced.
"Goodbye, I guess. And thanks."

The two of you stare at each for a long moment before you speak again.
"Is there anything I can do for you before you go? Besides THAT, I mean."

Tanni smiles.
"I'd like somebody to hold my hand. I think it'd make me feel better. I should still have at least a minute left by my count."

"Gladly."

You reach out and take her by the hand...only for the gloved hand to completely dissipate through your grasp as if it were mist.

"Fuck," Tanni says. "I guess I miscounte-"

And she's gone.

You sit in the alleyway for a few minutes before moving on. What else is there to be done?

You don't find Hiss at the docks but she's very close by, in a district of the city that is almost entirely untouched by the various calamities. Well, when you say almost you mean besides the giant bootprint that Hiss must have left when she was fighting the Gatekeeper. It's absolutely huge, over 200 feet long and deep enough that Tanni could have stood at the bottom at her full size and still not have reached the top.

Hiss is sitting at the very edge of the footprint, her legs dangling over. Looks like she's thinking of something.

"Hey Hiss. Thanks for the blanket earlier."

When Hiss turns to face you, there's a manic smile on her face.

"Hiss?"

"You idiot," she cackles, nearly falling over the edge with laughter.
"I can't believe you fell for it! You fell for it all this time!"

"Huh?"

"It's simple," Hiss says as she stands up. She's within striking range.
"I can't believe I was able to switch myself with the real Hiss so long ago and you never noticed! Thanks for cleaning up my loose ends!"

She cackles again.


>Attack!

>Nobble

>Push her over the edge.

>"That's not very funny Hiss."

>Just stare her down.

>Other

>>453511
>Cry

>>453511
>Cry

>>453511
Jokes on you, you thought I was just a peasant but I've a actually been the creator in mortal form this whole time. You walked right into my trap.

>>453511
>Push her over the edge.
Or >>453519

>>453511
>>Push her over the edge
>>453519
And this

>>453511
>Nobble
Serves you right you moron
Also, Naja wouldn't refer to you as the "real" hiss

>>453502
These are really good by the way! I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again mate.

>>453530
Thanks, and I do aologize for being gone for who knows how long. I was actually hoping on making up for it in the next quest if you ever choose to make one, but since I caught up to a thread I thought I might as well deliver something.

>>453511
>>452986
I called it!

>Push her over the edge.

"Jokes on you," you sonorously intone. "You thought I was just a peasant but I've actually been the Creator in mortal form this whole time. You walked right into my trap!"

You push her in the stomach and watch as she tumbles down into her own footprint. You follow her soon after, sliding down the slope as safely as you can. Your wooden parts might be handling the job for now but you don't want to mistreat it too much.

Hiss, of course, is fine, having used her scales to survive the fall without a scratch. It occurs to you that said scales also would have stopped her from pushing you unless she deliberately turned it off.
"Oh man," Hiss laughs. "What gave it away?"

"Aside from everything? How about the brand link? Or the fact that Naja would never refer to you as the 'real' Hiss."

Hiss holds up her hands.
"Guilty as charged."

The two of you sit for a while at the bottom of the immense footprint, watching the city around you.
"You know Hiss, that was a really fucked up thing to joke about."

"Yeah."
Hiss sighs.
"I've got to admit, normally seeing my enemies laid to waste gets me excited. In more ways than one, you know what I'm talking about. But beating Naja didn't do anything for me. It was like...I knew too much about how she felt to feel good. And what I'd do in the same situation."

"Wow!"
You clap Hiss on the back and she scowls immediately.
"Sounds like you've come down with a bad case of the empathy, Hiss! Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"Ew. I bet it was contagious."

"So what are you doing down here, huh? I would have thought you to be closer to the palace."

"The palace isn't going anywhere," Hiss grumbles. "I made sure not to stand on it while I was fighting. I've been wandering about, assessing the damage, helping people."

"Empathy and helping people? From you?"

"Cennen if you keep up this fake bullshit I swear I will eat a baby in front of you!"
Hiss calms down a little.
"I've been spreading my side of the story, got a bunch of living dead to talk about it too. I fought off the other witches and the superwitch who stole the sky and I've been resurrecting the dead. Good publicity."

"What about the fact that most of these damages come from you?"
You wave to the footprint the two of you are currently sitting in.

"It'll pass. It's probably impossible to fill these in properly but people will just rebuild over them. Give them a decade or so and they'll just be part of the flow of the landscape."
And then Hiss stops.
"Although..."

"Eh?"

"I accidentally left a very nice looking palm-print right in front of the palace. Very large, very symbolic. I'm thinking of keeping that one clear so people know just who they're dealing with. Maybe a square or a park or something."

All of a sudden your mind is back in the dark world that Naja introduced you to. This has happened before. Can it happen again?
1/2

>>453543

>"Whatever you want Hiss, I'm sure it'll be great."

>"Let them build over it."

>"I think it'll speak more about you as a ruler if you filled it in entirely instead."

> "A park sounds nice."

> Nobble.

>Other

>>453544
> "A park sounds nice."

>>453544
>"A park sounds nice."

>>453544
> "A park sounds nice."

>>453544
>"I think it'll speak more about you as a ruler if you filled it in entirely instead."
> "A park sounds nice."
Tell Hiss about the "future" Naja sent us too. Tell her quite frankly ankle if we end up half as bad as that we are going to something drastic and likely unpleasant.

>"A park sounds nice."

What does it mean to change this specific decision? Would changing the handprint really make the rest of that future any different? Maybe not. And in doing so, aren't you still mistrusting Hiss' judgement? You have no reason to believe Naja was telling the truth after all.

But still, you'd like to be on the safe side just this once.
"A park sounds nice," you say. Perfect. Changing it without challenging her.

Hiss sounds a little apprehensive.
"Maybe. Bit difficult of a place to put it, the square is honestly the easiest option. But I guess the people would probably like it. And it would be nice to have a good view from my palace window."

And just like that, the course of history changes. Probably inconsequentially but still.

The blurred pre-dawn light is painting the sky above you, washing away the taint of Gate or Dream. It makes it hard to believe that the sky itself was enemy territory.

"I almost can't believe it," Hiss says quietly, almost in a whisper. "We're finally here. Taldenral is ours."

"Unless something else unexpected pops up..."

"Don't you dare. Now come on, remember the first time we were here?"

"Yeah, I nearly got killed by the Snakecatcher."

"Good times. But no, I was thinking of a different moment. Remember when we had our talk? When I promised you I would lead you to glory? Well, here we are Cennen. Is this glory?"

You look at the devastation around you.
"It could be. Bit of a glory you have to work for, I guess."

"Oh you. Don't ever change."
Hiss punches you playfully on the shoulder just hard enough to bruise.
"There was something else I remember about our first time here."

"Our first kiss?"

"No. But close! I seem to recall there being an alchemist who really wanted to dance with me."
She rises to her feet.

"If I recall correctly, that didn't turn out so good."
Hiss pulls you to your feet.

"Maybe so. But what is life but a series of second chances? Maybe we can get it right this time."

The two of you draw together, Hiss holding your hands and nudging your feet back into proper position.
"But this time," she breathes. "I think I'll lead."

If this wasn't glory, you decided, it was a decent second-best.

And that's that for the session today, folks! I hope you all had fun. Tune in at the usual time tomorrow and we'll finish up the rest of the Epilogue in this here thread.

>>453581
neat, thanks ouro, strong finish so far.

>>453581
Thanks for running dude! If you run another quest I'll be there!

>>453581
Thanks for running!

>>453581
The Epilogue is likely to be a fair bit shorter than this session as well, keep that in mind.

>>453581
Thanks for running!

Also, just to prevent any shenanigans that might be invited by having a thread visibly named 'FINAL THREAD', I took the liberty of archiving it today instead of tomorrow.

Find it here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Snakecatcher%20Quest

>>453614
A song for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_ghHyL4VSs

Epilogue in forty minutes or so!

>>455849
HYPE

Epilogue

Some time later

You wake to the warmth of sunlight streaming through your window. The sun is up and by the look of things, has been up for quite some time now. The bed is empty save for you, Hiss already gone. You’ve slept in again.
For a long moment you nearly don’t do anything. It’s still a wondrous idea to you that you can sleep in at all these days. But it’s true. For now, the former urgency and danger that dogged your days has faded to nothing.

That itself would be cause for celebration, even if it wasn’t Hiss’ coronation today.

You rise from your bed, a grand four-poster affair. The opulence still takes you a little getting used to but it’s not like you can avoid it. You live in the palace now after all!

You walk to the window and let the sun’s warmth wash over you. Feels good but you can tell that it’s not as warm as it used to be. Winter will be upon you all soon enough. Yet another reason to rush things.
The city below you is bustling but that’s no surprise, even at this early hour. The city of Taldenral, your new home, lives and breathes every hour of every day and night. The people have already rebuilt so much.

And yet the city will be forever changed. Ruined ships still haunt the bay. The imprint of giant footprints can still be seen over the city if you know how to look, even if they mostly only resemble shallow valleys now. Naja’s dark spires still loom up above and people have taken to using them as homes. And while you can’t see them from up here, you can assign the spots from memory that are still uninhabitable. Ishmin neighborhoods now.

And yet life goes on. People move on and what was once strange becomes part of daily life. So the sight of such should make you happy and it does but there’s an edge to it, a kind of unease.

They had those dark spires in the future too.

But enough of that foolishness. Hiss’ coronation will be starting soon. You, naturally, will be expected to be there.
But how to spend your time beforehand? You feel a little melancholy about it all, even though you really shouldn’t.

>Find Oster.

>Find Aash.

>Find Orange.

>Find Zigzag.

>Find your homunculi.

>Find Aqua.

>Find Hiss (Note: This ends the Epilogue)

>Other

>>456037
>>Find your homunculi.
Give both our kids a hug. Just because they are our kids.

>>456037
>Find your homunculi

>>456037
>Find Zigzag.
>Find your homunculi.

Kind of want to pick everybody but I won't. Curious about space though. Even if she was just hanging around

>>456037
>Find Aash
Taking care of the ishmin hives is going to be some good PR

>>456081
>Even if she was just hanging around
boo

>Find your homunculi.

This should be one of the happiest days in your life. So why can't you shake the feeling that something is wrong? That you're headed down a bad path?
You've let the shadow of the future hang over you and you must admit, it is a hard memory to dispel.

It's not time for the coronation yet. You have time to walk it off.

You get dressed and start a quick circuit around the palace. Just the main corridors and rooms of course, you caused a minor controversy the last time you used the servant's hallways. Hiss had to talk to you and tell you were too important to be seen there anymore.
After all, are you not the Royal Consort and Headmaster of the Royal Alchemy Academy?

Neither of those titles bring you much pride.

You stop when you pass a familiar door. It leads down to one of the palace's basements. Once used to store wine, now hollowed out and put to better use. More specifically, the quarters of your homunculi.
For some reason they seem to prefer the underground.

You crack the door open and take a look inside. Hom is hard at work over the cauldron in his natural form. Ah, Hom. He healed the wound Naja dealt him but a cost. His natural regeneration seems to have shorted out almost entirely now and he is much more frail.
The sound of him working masks your intrusion.

And sitting with their backs to the door, Eva and Blue. Eva looks to be borrowing some more of Blue's blood but despite that, they are deep in conversation.

>Eavesdrop.

>Bang the door open.

>Cough.

>Other

>>456153
>Cough.

>>456153
>Other

Knock?

>>456153
>>Cough.
>knock
>Give Hugs to both our kids upon entrance to the room.

I wonder what happened to eugene?

>>456195
>inb4 he frees the bones of the earth from our planet

>>456206
Also I'm worried about the fragment of the gatekeeper that stayed in the dreaming

>Cough.
>Knock

As tempting as the idea is, you won't eavesdrop on them anymore. If you can't trust Eva by now then who can you trust?
And if Blue is still inciting her to rebel or to kill her brother then so be it. You trust Eva has the judgement not to do everything she suggests.

You cough loudly and rap your knuckles on the door as you open it. They both look up and Blue slides away from Eva as if she'd just been caught where she didn't belong.

"How are all you today?"

"Good."
"Alive."
"aaaaaaa"

Eva's still wearing a grungy white dress that matches up poorly with her pale complexion but you suppose it's a bit too much to ask her to take care of her appearance. Most people already find her to be disgusting or at least disquieting. That's why she lives down here.
Thanks to repeated Heal-Alls and related brews, her right side is coming along nicely. It's almost entirely restored! Just her right arm is left and it should be finished growing back in a week or so at most.

"For what purpose are you down here?"

"Pardon?"

"We are not behind schedule," Eva says. "In fact, we possess a surplus. There is no need for you to be here."


>"What, I can't take the time to visit my finest creations?"

>Give them a hug.

>"I've come to help you brew."

>"I've come to talk about your current living arrangements."

>Ask Blue what her intentions are.

>Other

>>456236
>"What, I can't take the time to visit my kids?
>Give them a hug.
>Are you two happy down here? If you want nicer quarters or anything else let me know.
>Thank Blue for being a friend to EVA, and for not trying to incite her to an action that would be regrettable. Especially for her.

>>456236
>"What, I can't take the time to visit my finest creations?"
>Give them a hug.
>"I've come to talk about your current living arrangements."
I didn't create you just for brewing. You three should get outside and do something fun in the city! Use a skinshedder to become human and see what its like. Or become birds and fly around. Whatever you wanna do.

>>456236
>Give them a hug.

>"What, I can't take the time to visit my finest creations?"
>Give them a hug.
>"I've come to talk about your current living arrangements."

You raise an eyebrow and throw your arms wide.
"What, I can't take the time to visit my finest creations? Come here!"

You give Eva a hug and she freezes in response, stiff as a board and unpleasantly slippery.

"Thank you?" she says. She sounds like she almost doesn't believe it herself.

You only have a few seconds with her before Hom joins you, engulfing you both in his sticky embrace.
As always he smells absolutely terrible but you don't pull away and instead return the hug as best you can.

"You too, Hom. Look how far you've come."
This all lasts for a few seconds more before Hom lets go and Eva squirms out of your grasp.
"When I say that you two are my greatest creations, I wasn't fucking around. I'm so proud of both of you. In fact...."
You pause, looking around the deserted wine cellar.
"We should really put you two someplace better, shouldn't we? This is no place for two war heroes."

"aaaaaaaa."

"Hom likes it here," Eva replies.

"What, all of it? There's nothing else he wants? You two just have to say the word and I'll make it happen."

Eva stops to think for a moment.
"It would be nice if it was larger. There all kinds of basements and underground rooms around here. Could you have people dig or knock down walls? Then we can have some more room to ourselves."

You stop, your mind unwillingly bringing back memories of Naja's world. The homunculi caverns, the vast facility beneath the ground where living potions created, refined and bred endlessly.

>"Sure. Anything for you."

>"Maybe later."

>Refuse.

>"Maybe somewhere above-ground instead?"

>Other

>>456314
>"Maybe somewhere above-ground instead?"
I don't want to segregate you from everyone else entirely. You're citizens of taldenral as much as any human or snake. You'll all just have to learn to live with each other but it'll be great for everyone in the long run.

>>456319
Oh maybe they could stay at the college too? Or at least enroll?

>>456314
>"Maybe somewhere above-ground instead?"

>>456314
>"Maybe somewhere above-ground instead?"

> "You deserve to be known and loved by people for who you are. Also I kind of want to be able to show you guys off a little,I'm proud of what you've become."

>>456314
>>"Maybe somewhere above-ground instead?"
OR maybe you could enroll in the college of potions, if it's still around. Just want you guys to be happy.

File: ozYq3n.jpg (376 KB, 2016x1403)

376 KB JPG

Eva a cute

>>456359
She is a daughteru. Daughterus are cute, even if she's more creepy cute than flat cute.

>"Maybe somewhere above-ground instead?"

You stop to think. Would denying all the superficial tells of the future Naja showed you really do anything? You don't think whether or not the homunculi caverns existing or not really played much of a role.
But it's not just that. Do you really want these two to have the spend the rest of their lives hiding away just because of what they are?

And that's why you shake your head.
"That's possible, don't get me wrong but maybe you two should try somewhere above-ground instead?"

Eva looks confused.
"Most people don't like us though."

"Well it's time they learned. You're citizens of Taldenral now as much as any human or snake and people will come to deal with it sooner or later. You deserve to be known for the people you are."
You wink.
"And besides, I kind of want to be able to show you guys off a little. Is there anything wrong with that?"

They stare at you for a little while, interrupted only by Blue nudging Eva in the side.
"Go on. Tell him."
She pushes Eva forward.

Eva doesn't look certain about this at all.
"Uh...Me and Blue were talking just before. She says I don't belong to you and that I need to find my own way."

You can feel your brow furrow.
"That's correct. What of it?"

"Then I would like to join the Potions College!"
Eva rushes the rest of the sentence out.
"And maybe live there? And brew?"

Eva at the new Academy? You're not sure how to feel about that. Yes, she'd be fantastic there. She's already better then most of the teachers and you're sure that she would always be occupied with new brews and recipes.
But to live in the dorms? That's something else entirely. It's hard to be comfortable around Eva. She sets off something in people's heads and they know she's wrong, even if they don't know that she was born from a soul-eaten corpse. Even if they don't look her into blank black eyes or into her habit to sometimes ooze in uncanny places. You have power there now and you could see to it that she is accepted but even with your seal of approval, she would be hated and feared by most.

You're not sure how Eva would deal with that.


>"Maybe later."

>"You can attend but you can't live there."

>"Absolutely. I'll sign you in as soon as possible."

>"Yes but only if someone goes with you to keep you safe."

>Other

Whoops, dropped my trip.

>>456359
Her holding up the shovel that she tried to kill Hom with still gets me. Nice.

>>456391
>"Yes but only if someone goes with you to keep you safe."
I think Blue would be an excellent choice. There's no reason a snake can't learn alchemy too, though it might be harder for you.

>>456391
>>"Yes but only if someone goes with you to keep you safe."
>And I want to see you at least once a week, See if I can't figure out how to nix the body rejection issues you and Hom are having.


>>456401
Agreed, but we are going to have to make sure there are Soulguard brews mass produced to avoid her taking the "easy" way. Just change snakeblood to witch blood. Ez.

>>456401
Also say she has to try very hard to befriend other alchemists because most everyone's natural instinct will be to fear or dislike you because of what you are. This is a very important job since she'll be paving the way for all future homunculi but as our first creation it is her responsibility.

Honestly it would be a better idea for her to shapeshifting into a true human form so she can learn how to interact socially before using her true form around others much.

>>456391
>"You can attend but you can't live there."
>"While people get accustomed to you"

>"Yes but only if someone goes with you to keep you safe."

You nod.
"Yes. But only if someone goes with you to help keep you safe. Blue?"

The snake straightens up.
"Yes?"

"Would you do the honours?"

"Yes. I would love to. I mean, I suppose."
She's oddly twitchy about it for some reason.

"Good. You'll have to keep yourself on the sly though, Hiss is still looking for any excuse to distrust the Academy. No snake alchemy, both of you. Got it?"
They nod and you turn to Hom.
"And what about you, big guy?"

"aaaaaaa"

"He wants to stay here," Eva interprets.

"I thought so. Fair enough."

It's odd to think that you'll be saying goodbye to Eva II. Is it really okay to let her out into the world on her own? But then again, this was inevitable sooner or later unless you were planning on keeping her in the basement forever.
"I'll miss you, Eva."

"The College isn't even that far away."

Was there anything else you wanted to do?

>Visit Orange.

>Visit Aash.

>Visit Zigzag.

>Visit Oster.

>Visit Aqua.

>Spend the time until coronation brewing with your homunculi.

>Attend Hiss' coronation.

>Other

>>456469
>Visit Aash.

>>456469
>>Visit Aash.

>>456469
>Visit Zigzag.
Finally home. Fuck hospitals.

Her perspective on eating humans would actually be really good to spread to the rest of the snakes.

>>456469
>Visit Aash.

> Visit our old pal and new court wizard, Eugene

>>456469
>>Visit Aash.

File: aashfanart2.jpg (334 KB, 2016x1432)

334 KB JPG

>Visit Aash.

You've got a few other people to talk to before you feel ready. You haven't seen Aashenpreet around at all for the last few days. Is she still even in the palace? You think so.

So you make your way up from the basement and ascend back up through the palace floors, servants and guards getting out of your way and saluting as you pass. That's still going to take some getting used to.
You'd tell them to stop but Hiss has told you several times now to just let them do it.

Now where would Aashenpreet be? Oster would probably now but he isn't in his room and you're not sure if you're willing to find Oster just so that you can find Aashenpreet. Bit of a chore really.
In the end you just ask the servants and it only takes them minutes to tell you. What can you say? Aashenpreet stands out from the crowd.

She's down in the gardens, you're told and sure enough, that's where you find her. She's back in her Teln form for now but she's still ten feet tall.

She's sitting with her back against a tree and she looks to be asleep. You're not sure if you should bother her or not.

>Bother her.

>Leave her be.

>Join her.

>Other

>>456537
leave her note to ask if she wants to have tea again some time.

>>456537
>Bother her.

>>456537
>Join her.

>>456537
>Join her.
So I'm outta the loop, but who was the real hiss killed by, I've only been following these threads loosely.

>>456537
>Bother her.

>>456537
>>Bother her.

>>456546
You mean Naja?

>Bother her.

"Hey, Aash. Aash?"
You have to touch her lightly on the shoulder before she responds, her eyes opening lazily. She looks at you blearily for a moment before she seems to recognise you.

"Hi Cennen."

"Sorry to wake you up and all."

She blinks.
"I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating."
Unfortunately for her she yawns almost immediately afterwards.

"It must have been a very deep meditation."

Her cheeks flush, just a little.
"I can't expect you to understand," she huffs but she looks pleased to see you anyway.
That's a marked improvement over what you've gotten used to.

"I brought you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

>A pack of cards.

>Tea.

>A new homunculus.

>A book.

>A potion.

>Other (Specify)

>>456599
>A potion.
One that will restore Zukhdeep? Is that doable?

>>456599
>A pack of cards.
Assuming they aren't tash cards we could show her some other games sometime.

>>456599
>Tea.
>A pack of cards.
>And if Zukhdeep is still hurting I can try to take a look at him whenever. I know he means a bunch to you.

>>456599
>>Tea.

>>456599
>A pack of Teln playing cards.

It's less important what game you're playing, and more important whom you're playing with.