>i need water

>>96826
>Remove Faedka.
Not that it matters, eh?
>Where are my Testament?
>I need water.

Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=valen+quest

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
Basics of Mana - http://pastebin.com/V9b1DMrS
A List of Forgotten Things - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h

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:Not even twi- thri- ...four..ice?

With the start of Act 2, we're at something of a blank slate for those wanting to join in. There's an established cast of sorts already, but most prior plot points in the Rite of Initiation arc have concluded, so it won't be too difficult for people to just wander in and give things a shot if you're interested.

As always, I encourage all my players to work together. Your teamwork can make the difference between success and failure.

>>96826
>>Where are my Testament?
>>I need water.

>>96850
>>96852
>>96892
Water!

>>96892
>>96852
Testament!

>>96852
Remove.

Writing.

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>>96946
Here's to the first failed forgetting of the new act!

"Water first." You sigh, turning away from the window while Asche falls in step behind you, taking up position to your left as you stagger your way out of your room. The halls of your mansion at least looked to be in a better state than your room, with several of peasant knights whose faces you could only vaguely recognize staggered past you in as groggy a manner as you had, exchanging half-conscious nods of acknowledgement or waving at you as you passed.

It took you a couple instances of this occurring before it finally began to set in that your house wasn't empty anymore. The last half a year of your life had been one unrelentless whirlwind of things changing...

And none of that mattered as you finally managed to negotiate the door to your kitchen open in order to obtain that much fabled glass of water...

...From the wreckage.
Right.

You find yourself rooted to the doorway as you look into a ruined kitchen, appliances crushed and bent as scorch marks marred the floor and walls and an entire island lay embedded somewhere between the wall and floor. Right... This. You never fixed this after that time with Rinnier, and the Salamander apparitions, and then Kara...

"Water."

You accept the glass from Asche absently, feeling the blessedly cool liquid begin to soothe your parched throat. The singular part of your mind that had successfully wrested itself free from your all consuming hangover questioned where Asche had even gotten this water from, given the state of the kitchen in front of you. This query was duly ignored as you finished draining the glass, handing it back to Asche with closed eyes and a thankful murmur.

It had been a month since your rite ended, and the stressful event of having just barely scraped past. Nothing in the Rite had gone as you had expected it to, and the events leading up to where you stood almost felt like a dream.

You had gone from being a reclusive shut-in of a noble to traveling across this forest on foot for months, infiltrating a camp of brigands, stopping a siege constructed by those same brigands, and then somehow convincing those exact same brigands to become employed as 'knights' under your command. That was a particularly fancy title that served to almost completely obscure the fact that they were honestly not very competent. They had been brigands, and even that was a matter of circumstances rather than choice; If you pushed through the things that led up to it, you had essentially employed common peasants and everyday villagers as guards.

The closest thing to actual combatants among them were the hunters, and they were more used to handling relatively harmless wildlife than anything of actual threat.

You'd probably need to figure out something to do with them. You weren't too concerned with money at the moment, considering the large chests of it that were waiting for you under the rubble back in Carona, but the idea of people who were more at home with a handaxe in hand than a sword and shield, or even spear, walking around with the position of being your personal knights didn't sit well with you... For various reasons.

"Thanks, Asche." You drain another glass of water, studiously ignoring the loudly concerned part of you that wanted to know where it was coming from as you nursed your slowly intensifying headache with furrowed brows. You had gotten wrapped up in some official's misconstrued attempts to save his town via a coup against your family, one that had led you through a series of events ranging from stumbling into - and subsequently solving - an Atelier, to gaining the tentative friendship of the Shrine as you used every last trick you could think of in order to save your own ass, and that of your Testament... Who seemed inadvertently wrapped up in it all, one way or another.

That left you... Here. A pack of suicidally depressed demihumans living in a wagon in your back yard, a house full of peasant-knights inexplicably as drunk and hungover as you were, and... And something.

Oh, right. You accidentally let a small tornado loose in the nearby town of Carona. A town you had grown to hate with every fibre of your being, a hate that was evidently mutual if the way it found new and creative ways to inconvenience and piss you off everytime you interacted with it was any indication.

A town you were made the official of by your dear aunt as a reward for having passed your Rite and officially become an adult.

"...Ah yes, that's why I was drinking." You leaned back against a wall, taking measured sips from the glass in your hand as the last month vaguely became clear to you. Carona was currently leaderless and ruined by a natural disaster that you secretly had a hand in causing... And now it was your responsibility to try and fix the damn place.

You hazily recall the night after everyone leaving, and the frustrated spark of ire which had driven you to prying the cork out of one of those obnoxiously labelled bottles.

You can't help the feeling that there's something important you're forgetting about this whole situation, but the details slip through your grasp.

>Find Rinnier, she can save us from Carona.
>Check on Kara and the demihumans.
>Call Dullem, you need a status report on your knights.
>May as well pay Carona a visit...
>Other? (write-in)

>>97441
>Find Rinnier, she can save us from Carona.
>Check on Kara and the demihumans.
>Call Dullem, you need a status report on your knights.

>>97441
>Check on Kara and the demihumans.
>Call Dullem, you need a status report on your knights.
>Find Rinnier, though she can't save us from Carona. We still need to look for the Teranford slaves used in the Mayor's plan.

>>97501
>>97513
Rinnier!

>>97501
>>97513
Kara!

>>97513
>>97501
Dullem!

...Aight. Guess I'll roll in about 5m if there's no tiebreak.

>>97593
call Rinnier and Dullem to us wile we check on the demis, ez

>>97593
Why can't we have all the things

Ok, the knights' status is drunk and Rinnier is not someone who we'd like to see us in such a state, so changing my vote to Kara.

>>97593
>Check on Kara and the demihumans.

>>97624
Also I'm looking for what we've forgotten but can't find anything, it's infuriating.

>>97624
Because you have a hangover from a month of drinking.

But I mean, if you really want to do all of that simultaneously while hungover, I'll write it.

Writing for Kara though.

>>97649
You've forgotten it before.
Hahaha...

>>97682
Fae forest. It's the fae forest, right? The one some anon intended to visit "next thread"?

>>96861
Hey Riz, a little late, but during the hiatus I attempted to compile the quest into an ebook before realizing it's a lot longer than it seemed, just following every week.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/b36a4rzieh6cl/Valen_Quest

I'm still gonna try to finish this... slowly. But damn, it puts the length of it in perspective once it's all in one doc.

Gonna try to do threads as they come as well, if you don't mind of course.

>>98116
kek

That's pretty much what everyone says when they try to compile quests into one document. I can only imagine what it's like for Valen, Riz's word count is pretty goddamn high.

You find your way through the halls, distant sounds of your knights starting to stir from their drunken induced stupors filling the air as you go. You'd attend to them later, when their status wasn't liable to universally be reported as 'drunk'. It's not like you could even be angry at them for it, considering Asche's claims that you were the one who had told them to start drinking in the first place.

Mana bless, had your entire household just been soused for an entire month?

That frustrating thought aside, you had two priorities right now: Handling the very important deadline on managing Carona's affairs since the Banshee ripped through it, and making sure the pack of demihumans in your backyard hadn't taken the month-long blackhole in your memories to finish offing themselves.

Naturally, you chose the option with markedly less 'Carona' in it.

You stepped out into the shaded area behind your house, finding the slave wagon that started this whole mess still full of demihumans... Less full of demihumans than it had been, of course, but still relatively full. You frowned upon approaching, catching wind of a near choking smell that you had started to associate primarily with Oakenbear. The interior of the wagon had been stained over the month, the blood which coated it having dried to a flaky black in the various puddles it had formed.

More of them had died. How many, you couldn't say, but of the pack that had tried to attack you, only a handful or two of them were still alive now. You swiped your hand through the air, shooing away one of the attracted flies as they began to leave the rotting corpses of a demihuman who had at some point managed to snap her own neck.

This was the on going result of having exposed them to the Revenant back in Carona. You had expected it to incapacitate them, but the results... Were morbid, to say the least. You weren't sure if there was anything you could actually do for them.

"...More."

One hand grips the bars of the wagon, an emaciated figure you recognized after a moment as being Maro as he pushed aside one of the stiff bodies of his slowly dying pack to press himself closer to the bars. "Give me another..."

That obnoxiously labelled bottle was being held out to you from within, an unsettling implication that was being followed by the rough stirring of the still living demihumans inside of the wagon as they seemed to take notice of outside stimuli for the first time since they were put into this state... And all of them were clutching those damned bottles.

"I need more!" Maro's voice was rough, as if the flesh in his throat was gurgling as he spoke, "Before it comes back!"

You almost want to say this was an improvement, but the horror creeping up on you as you watched them stumble and crawl over their own dead packmates in order to hold out bottles of varying emptiness towards you pleadingly was firmly against considering any part of this to be 'better'.

"Yo, 'Rue!"

These thoughts were interrupted by the entry of your own demihuman Testament as she strode up behind you, arms literally piled with gathered bottles of Faedka that she had already started to absently begin distributing to each of the reaching hands. "Ya' finally waking up?"

"...Something like that." You murmur, feeling your stomach turn for various reasons. "You're giving that stuff to them?"

"Mm!" She nodded, tail wagging merrily as she showed a toothy smile towards the wagon of recently-turned-alcoholic demihumans. You found yourself staring at the near implacable Testament as she finally finished handing out the bottles in her hands. "S'been real helpful with these guys, too. They stopped killin' themselves after I forced a few bottles down 'em!"

"...Forced?"

"Yeah. One o'yer knight thingies gave me some when he asked 'if I was feelin okay, and a few hours later everything started seemin' a lot better!" She crossed her arms happily as she retold the story of how she realized that if one bottle could make her happier, then maybe it could make the rest of her pack better too! "Ah, but they didn't really seem t'do much, so I figured... Y'know, I was s'already happy and stuff, yeah? So maybe I jus' needed less of it."

"..."

"So I kept makin' em drink until they were happy!"

Your mouth opened, but there weren't any words forth coming as you glanced between the proud Testament, and the rest of her thoroughly drunk pack while they nursed their new bottles. You looked to Asche for some support, finding her dispassionate expression staring back as if to reassure you that this was fine.

>This is fine.
>This isn't fine!
>Change the subject (to what?)
>Other? (Write-in)

>>98245
>This isn't fine!
>Also we need to dispose of the bodies or we'll have an epidemy.

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>>98245
>This is fine.
>Change the subject (to what?)
Maro

>>98116
Exciting! I'm curious to see how long it actually ends up being once it's all compiled!

>>98221
The new 3k character limit is throwing me off. I keep managing just a little over one post's worth of content, and I feel like I'm slacking.

>>98245
>This isn't fine!
Too much can kill them Kara, like you can overeat til your stomach bursts, you can drink too much of this an have your innards rot out. Instead of trying to keep them drunk 24/7 maybe we can teach them to be nice? How doing something for the ones you care about makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
>Change the subject (to what?)
So how is your brother doing, and how much of the Faedka we have left?

>>98304
>teaching depressed sociopaths to be nice
....kay.

>>98245
>This isn't fine!
however.

>>98245
>>Change the subject (to what?)
Which knight gave the faedka to her, and how did he have enough for the whole month?

>>98245
>This is fine.
I don't see you shits posting any better ideas.

I have to go sleep now. Catch you in a few hours.

>>98274
>>98304
>>98321
This isn't fine!

>>98399
>>98296
This is fine.

>>98274
>>98304
>>98332
Changing subject to concern about dead people, how her brother is doing, and Faedka status!

Writing.

>>98408
No amount of early starts will ever let me win...

But this isn't fine!

"Kara you can't just make people drink until they're happy!"

"..." Her smile slips slightly, visible confusion passing over her as she looks back into the wagon doubtfully. "Why not?"

"That's not how this works. Getting drunk doesn't actually solve anything, and it's not making them happier; It's helping them not deal with the problem!"

"But y'were happy."

"No I-" At this exact moment, you realized that you were arguing with Kara over the proper use of alcohol while hungover from a straight month of drinking to avoid your problems. "Okay, so let's say they're happy when they're drunk because they can ignore their problems. They still have to come down eventually and actually deal with what they were drinking to ignore in the first place."

"So we keep 'em drunk!"
"No, look, the problem isn't going to go away by staying drunk."
"But if they don't have'ta think 'bout it, then it s'not a problem...?"

You look towards Asche for some support, and find exactly none. You were evidently alone on this, and you knew Kara was wrong, but she sounded right when she put it that way.

"Alright, fine, lets say you do that. What are you going to do when we run out of this stuff? They'll have to be sober, then, and it'll be worse than ever." You cross your arms pointedly, studiously forcing yourself to not wince at the way you felt Asche's stare begin to burn inbetween your shoulderblades. "Who gave you all of this, anyway? Where did all of it even come from?" You turn back to Asche suspiciously, "Didn't I tell you to get rid of all this stuff?"

"Yes."
"Why didn't you? Why did we even have this much?!"
"I did. And we did not."

"Then where is it coming from?!" You threw your hands up frustratedly, "Who even gave you Faedka in the first place?"

Kara shrugged. "Haven't seen'em since his friends started yellin 'bout medics an stuff."

"Medics..." There is a story here, one ostensibly both caused by, and lost to, the unending flow of Faedka which had inundated your household for the past month. You pinch the bridge of your nose tiredly, closing your eyes to ward off the sheer amount of questions beginning to arise. "Look, the point is that when there isn't more Faedka, they won't be drunk anymore. This isn't going to help them unless we can address the underlying issue first."

"Ah... How d'we do that?" You rather firmly had Kara's attention, which was unfortunate, because... You didn't actually have any good ideas. "We uh... Teach them more productive ways to work off their feelings than trying to drink their problems away."

"Like what?"
"Being... Nice."

You stared at each other awkwardly, a small breeze picking up in the wake of your suggestion.

'Choo.

"How is your brother doing, anyway?" You take Asche's sneeze as your cue to just move along. A choice you begin to regret upon learning that she had tested this method of alcohol-based happiness on said sibling before mass administering it to the rest of the pack.

"An' it went really well! He started cryin' an' he uh... Kept crying." Kara faltered briefly, "But we've been talkin' more, so he's doin better!"

"When he's not crying."

"Right!"

You heave another sigh, throat constricting as you inadvertently take a large breath of the filthy smell wafting out of the wagon. "Do demihumans have some preferred method of dealing with their dead?"

"Maro' liked t'blame it on someone else." Kara scratched at her cheek idly, "Or me, 'chever got him more money."

"...I'll just send someone to take care of it later." You mutter, already getting ready to leave. "Asche, how much Faedka do we even have left?"

"It will be gone by tonight." She answered flatly.

>Ask something else (what?)
>Tell Dullem to make sure no one gives Kara more alcohol
>Rinnier might have a better solution for the demihumans...
>You should probably check on Raid, if he's doing better.
>Other? (write-in)

>>99082
>Rinnier might have a better solution for the demihumans...

>>99082
>You should probably check on Raid, if he's doing better.
We might need to hire a shrink in the near future.

>>99082
>Rinnier might have a better solution for the demihumans...

>>99129
>>99252
Rinnier!

>>99144
Raid!

Writing.

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>>99276
God fucking dammit I hate this bitch

>>99467
You mean Rinnier? Yeah, I'd rather not ask her. The less we owe her the better.

You leave Kara to her own devices as she looks over the wagon of demihumans, already making a mental note to have Dullem or someone clear out the corpses and burn them down before something bad came of it. Disease was one thing that was presently on your mind, but an excess of corpses laying around was also basically tempting fate to spawn an oakenbear for your troubles.

Speaking of troubles, the now-alcoholic demihumans were being added to the list of things you would need to resolve. Right up there with-

"Carona is a wreck, hundreds of people are homeless, at least fifty died, they don't even know where everyone on this list is yet, the leadership is in shambles now that the Mayor's missing, and reports of an Oakenbear roaming the outskirts keep coming in!"

-Yes, all of that. Except the Oakenbear thing, you didn't know about that. You glance up, having managed to navigate your way back to your library in your search for the red haired Teranford royalty, only to find the exact person you were looking for pouring over a table covered in papers of varying states of disarray.

"Busy?" You announce yourself as casually as you can manage, the hangover helping take a bit of the edge off of encountering Rinnier for the first time since she impaled you before the Rite. Although, from the way degree of heat in the glare she was aiming at you from that table, maybe it was just the first time you remember meeting her.

God this last month was going to haunt you, wasn't it...?

Fortunately however, the heat in her eyes died down nearly as quickly as it had come, replaced with a tired sigh as she held out one of the papers she had been holding. "More frustrated than busy." She admitted reluctantly, signs of awkwardness still cropping up between the two of you as she took the initiative to soldier along while you glanced over the thing she had given you.

"While you and everyone else have been busy searching for the bottom of a bottle, messengers have been arriving almost every other day from Carona."

"So I heard." You're admittedly skimming past most of the meaningless formalities contained in the letter. Distressingly, this meant you could skip nearly entire paragraphs of greetings before actually finding the purpose of the document. "...What?" You stop, noticing the dubious look on Rinnier's face.

"You were actually paying attention while drunk off your ass this month?"

"No, of course not." You dismiss this implication out of hand as you return to skimming, "Asche told me when I woke up this morning." There was a distinct note of pride in that declaration, though you weren't entirely sure in what. Lets see... In addition to previously stated requests, etc. etc...

You spared a glance towards the paper covered table, filing them away as the mentioned requests.

'And so we have reason to believe that the previous head official of Carona was lax in his duties of appropriate disposal of the dead which resulted from the Tier estate fire.'

Oh, yes. You remember that, there were charred bodies still just laying around when you went in there. That certainly checks out.

'As a result, we believe this to be the root cause of the recently spotted Oakenbear, which has caused the following casualties...'

...That was a long list. You looked back at Rinnier over the page, receiving a tired sigh and nod from her in confirmation. "We get an appended list every few days. That's the most recent one, and it's just been getting longer."

"What do they want us to do about it?" You hand the paper back to her, "Isn't that something the Shrine could take care of?"

"It is." Rinnier agreed irritably, "However, Carona is under your jurisdiction now, and has always been a holding of House Valen. The Shrine can't interfere without appearing to be stepping on your toes, even in a matter like this."

"So they've just been sitting there watching this happen?" That... Didn't sound like the Shrine you had gotten to know in Carona. "Not exactly... The number of available adepts are stretched thin in their ranks, especially after the Banshee happened." Rinnier frowned, hand hovering over the table just long enough for her to pluck sheet of it free from the chaos. "Though you have gotten a personal request from someone named 'Marchovic' for permission to handle it." She grimaced as she looked over the paper before showing it to you.

And it was exactly what she had said it was; Lacking all pretence of formal speech or greeting, just a small, handwritten letter.

'Can I fight the Oakenbear? Checkboxes below.'
'P.S. I'll totally do it.'

Rinnier twirls her finger pointedly, prompting you to turn the scrap of paper around and find a second post-script added to the back, simply saying 'please'.

"...I don't see the problem in letting him?" You shrug, folding the letter up and setting it aside.

"If you agree and they die, it reflects on you." Rinnier frowned, brushing back her hair tiredly. "And even if they succeed, it looks bad when you just delegate important matters like this to the Shrine, when you're supposed to be the one handling them."

>Just let Marchovic handle it.
>Fine, I'll figure something out.
>Do you have any ideas about what to do with the demihumans?
>Ask her a question (what?)
>Other? (Write-in)

>>99949
>Do you have any ideas about what to do with the demihumans?
If we can get them to be....... not depressed they could do it. Kara killed one with the ease of you calling me a moron, fool or monster.

>>99949
>Just let Marchovic handle it.
I have a plan on how we can fix the town. I'll put it in another post

>>99949
>>Just let Marchovic handle it.
This IS handling it. Unless we're expected to go punch an entire oakenbear ourselves, as the goddamned mayor.

>>99985
Hire the townspeople to fix the town, they aren't anything anyway. Pay them in rations or have them work for free, until the town market is re-established.Focus on fixing the wall first for security reasons.
Gift subsidiaries to business owners, especially to those who were helpful (The non-racist inn, Jill's bar).
That's all for now.

>>100032
>Hire the townspeople to fix the town, they aren't anything anyway.
*doing anything*
Back to grade school I go. That post did not come out right. My lack of sleep is getting to me

>>99985
>>100018
Oooooor we can fix the demi's and they can do it.

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>>99971
Demihumans!

>>99985
>>100018
Marchovic!

>>100018
>Punch an entire oakenbear ourselves, as the goddamned mayor.
pic related!

Writing.

>>100032
When rebuilding the town, we should hire locally. This is so that we can generate jobs for the people. We should focus on fixing the wall first.

We should provide monetary aid to former(current?) business holders. Especially those who proved useful during our adventures through Carona.

Their, now it's more understandable.

>>100138
>Their, now it's more understandable.
*There*
I just can't win.

"I don't see any harm in letting Marchovic handle it." You shrug, remembering the man behind the name from your brief introduction to the Shrine's representatives. Marchovic had been the representative of Shade, and was one of the few you can honestly say that you thought you could get along with. How much of that was due to your circumstances with the doppleganger at the time, you couldn't exactly say... But you've done worse than to trust your doppleganger's instincts, you suppose.

You fish up something to write with and check it off, taking a moment to appreciate just how easy and straight to the point the entire message was. "I trust Marchovic to handle it, and he'll probably be more capable of handling it then any of my knights."

"Unfortunately I can't disagree with that." Rinnier grumbled, plucking the note off the table in order to refold it and stuff into an envelope that was quickly sealed with some manner of wax stamp. It was almost half-heartedly added to a pile of similarly sealed envelopes.

"At least that solves some of the issues I was dealing with."
"You look like you've been busy." You comment wryly, "What are all of those letters for, anyway?"

"Replies." She answered curtly, "I told you, messengers have been coming nearly every other day for the last month. Someone had to respond to them." She levels a resigned glance in your direction, "And everyone else was busy being drunk."

"Hey-"

"Everyone." She cut you off, "I think even your maid managed it once or twice."

...Even Asche? You turned to look back at the m/aid in question.

"You weren't going to tell me?"
"No."
"I was just never going to know about this?"

You stared at her for a few moments longer, promising that you were going to remember this. It wasn't over, just because you weren't pursuing it right now!

"So that's all the messages they've sent so far?" You gesture back towards the pile, receiving only a groan and shake of negatory head shake. "That's all the messages they sent yesterday." Rinnier corrected, "And you'll probably receive just as many in another few days. They're practically endless... Though, most of it is just red tape."

She counts off various things across her fingers, most of them traceable back to the chain of command having fallen apart. People couldn't get certain things, because there was no one to ask for them. Orders couldn't go through, property couldn't be entered, in some cases help just couldn't be distributed... And then there were forbidden areas, and the way the Shrine had been oddly defensive of letting anyone access the underground tunnels.

"Any particular reason?" Though you have some ideas on your own regarding why that might be happening. The Atelier came to mind immediately, and with a measure of bitter taste which welled up along your tongue remembering what you had experienced inside.

"Apparitions." Rinnier mumbled, a frown slipping across her face as her hands once more moved across the table - Did she know where everything in that mess was? - And withdrew it to review before reading off to you the relevant lines.

Of course, you had told the Shrine about the Atelier. The less chance people had of running across those Atlach Nacha spawn, the better.

"Shade natured... Seems like a Poltergeist if their reports are any indication. It's been haunting some area underneath of the local graves pretty viciously for the past couple of weeks."

...Those weren't Atlach Nacha.

"Seems like something provoked it, because several of the Shrine's adepts have been dedicated to keeping the place under quarantine so it can't get out to the surface."

>So when you said 'everyone'...
>Did you hear anything about one of the knights giving Kara alcohol?
>Ask her a question (what?)
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>Other? (Write-in)

>>100445
>So when you said 'everyone'...
>Did you hear anything about one of the knights giving Kara alcohol?
>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
The Mayor's basement and us forcing him into despair, or us manifesting Shade to deal with the demis,

>>100445
>>Am I forgetting something...? (write-in)
>underneath the local graves
There was that ruptured vein we failed rolls on when we were still doppelrue. We never really did anything with it afterwards.

>>100496
Everyone got drunk?

>>100496
What about this incident with Kara and alcohol?

>>100525
As expected of ebookanon...?

>>100445
>Where's Ari and don't tell me she's included in 'everyone'

Oh. That. You knew what that was about, actually! "There was an disrupted vein of Shade mana down there when I went to get Asche back." You start off your explanation with a snap of your fingers, "We didn't want to cause a whole lot of trouble, so I figured that maybe if I repaired it then they'd just get spooked and leave."

"...So you spontaneously attempted to tamper with a vein of ambient Mana?"

"I was in a good state of mind when I did that." You defend yourself from her dubious look, "And it was already tampered with, I was fixing it."

"Do you even have any Shade affinity?" Rinnier's question was almost thoughtful as she tilted her head at you, as if beginning to notice something she hadn't before. "My older brother used to say that those with Shade affinity were the type you had to just lay back and let them ride... I guess that would explain a lot about you."

"..." You quirk your lips at that, but find yourself unable to answer properly. As far as you were aware, you didn't have any affinity with Shade; That had been your doppleganger's doing. "Well, the fact there are apparitions down there means it worked, at any rate."

"Worked and made them angry." Rinnier intercepted your swelling pride swiftly, "It's evidently a strong one as well. If this is left unchecked, it will probably become a problem for Carona."

"Hey, if anything made it angry then it was the Wisp adept who went in there first and cauterized the vein off." You snort back, "It's probably looking for him, Shade Mana doesn't get angry over petty things. If we toss him to it, it should settle down and behave itself again."

"..." You blink at Rinnier's contemplative expression, and as the moments of silent staring stretched on, started to feel a little uncomfortable under the steady attention. "What?"

"I'm sorry."

You take a half step back, eyes narrowed at the sudden apology. "Excuse me?"

"I just realized something, I guess. I said something insensitive to you back at Caylen's, and I'm sorry."

You cast your thoughts back and... Rather than be at a loss for what she said, you actually found a lot of instances of conversations where you had come away from it feeling fairly put out. Was this about the trust thing? Did she realize you had been genuine about that?

"When I insulted Shade, you blew up on me. I was admittedly upset with you about it, but... I would have done the same thing had anyone insulted Salamander to my face, once upon a time." She shook her head, "There's more to a Mana and its followers than reputation and stereotype."

The silence in your library was near deafening to you as Rinnier turned back to the paper covered table and resumed reading through the piles of missives as if that hadn't just happened.

"You uh..." You clear your throat after a moment, gaining a minor note of acknowledgement from the redhead as she opened another letter. "..You said everyone got drunk?"

"Yes. It was quite the celebration... Though I admit, I didn't expect it to last this long." She distractedly hummed in amusement. "I suppose some had more to celebrate than others."

"Does everyone include-"
"Yes."

...And that was it. Asche got drunk, Rinnier got drunk, Kara got drunk, and you were too drunk to remember it.

"Want to tell me abou-"
"No."

You look towards Asche for further information, questioningly shifting your eyes towards Rinnier, only to receive a blank stare in return.

"Oh come on."
"..."
"You can't just..."
"..."
"What do you mean 'the past is sealed?!'"

You scratch your head irritably, exhaling with a heavy huff. "Fine, then do you know anything about a knight that gave Kara alcohol? She's gotten it in her head that she can just throw drink at people until they're happy again."

The idea of Kara drunk in general was a little terrifying, considering your first hand experience with her ridiculous strength while sober. The fact she was a happy drunk was a blessing all on its own, but lack of fine motor control was still a prospect worthy of trepidation.

Rinnier seemed to pause at that, setting down the paper in her hand a moment later as she scowled. "...Why would anyone give a demihuman..."

"Kara said something about medics?" You shrug, catching a dawning look of disgusted curiosity and realization beginning to cross Rinnier's face. "I wanted to track them down, and make sure to make it clear not to put weird ideas in her head anymore."

"I don't think that will be a problem." Rinnier's lips pressed together as she rubbed her forehead, "Pretty sure they learned their lesson."

"...Can you point me towards them, then?"
"No." She finally shook her head, "I haven't spent much time outside of the library. Dullem would probably know better than I would. Pretty sure he went sober himself after that night."

"...Something else happened, didn't it." It was less a question and more a request to be told, but the way Rinnier's jaw set as she quickly shook her head and went back to the letters told you that you weren't getting an explanation from her. There were so many things you weren't getting answers to lately.

Next time everyone got drunk, you were staying sober. You were going to see everything that happened.

You sighed, wishing Rinnier luck as you began to leave. "I'll be back to help go through the pile after I handle some other things." You pause at the door, a final thought occurring to you. "Wait, when you said everyone-"

"Yes, Irue, I got drunk for a day." She snapped, "Nothing happened."

"..." You set aside whether you believe that or not as you press on. "Actually, I was wondering what happened to Ari. I haven't seen her since I woke up."

"...Eh?" Rinnier bit her lip in embarrassment as she looked at you, "I thought she was with you? She refused to leave your side the first day or two."

Oh.
So she was missing.

"I'm sure she'll turn up sooner or later." Rinnier hedged after a moment, "There's too many people around for her to have gotten into too much trouble, and no one has seen that wood golem either, so... Where ever she is, she's still safe. I doubt she'd wander too far."

You let out a sigh. Rinnier made a decent point. Maybe you were about to overreact?

>Time to talk to Dullem.
>Better go looking for Ari, just in case.
>Check on Raid.
>Off to Carona!
>Other? (Write-in)

>>100813
>Get Dullem and go looking for Ari together while talking about medics and stuff.

>>100813
>>Time to talk to Dullem.
he can get everyone to help us look and maybe tell us what happened.

>>100813
>>Better go looking for Ari, just in case.

>>100813
This>>100831
And after we find Ari we can check on Raid. Then we can go to Carona!!
4 birds with one stone.

>>100831
>>100832
>>100860
Dullem!

>>100834
Ari search!

Writing.

I bet oakenrue got drunk too.

>>100913
Poor Poor Ari, her innocence lost.

You shut the door to your library as you left, filing away the mystery of Ari's location as you started to make your way once more through your house, searching out the captain of your peasant knights with an entire list of questions you had been picking up as you meandered your way back into the land of the living today.

Some of them were basically the same question, or at least, related to the same source. It started with Kara's story of being given alcohol, and from there only seemed to grow in mystery as you talked about it with Rinnier... But given the general direction the stories had been taking, it didn't take you long to get directions to where ever your knights had set up as a tiny little medical bay in your house.

Because that was precisely what had ended up occurring at some point during the month long drink-a-thon; Dullem had sworn off the rest of celebrations and grabbed a small group of your knights who had traditionally been the medicinal healers of their villages and created a place to tend to injuries and sickness acquired over the course of celebrations.

You hadn't thought that some drinking would really require anything of that nature. You were pretty sure you did most of the drinking through the month, and you came out of it fine. Luna knows you actually accrued more injuries sober than you had while drunk off your ass. However, as you stepped into your completely repurposed dining room and laid your eyes on the rows of cots and various people laying about and groaning, you are forced to admit that perhaps there was more of a market for this sort of thing than you initially believed.

The alcohol sickness and hangovers made sense to you, at least. The amount of vomit bins being filled was a little disconcerting, but you had experience with this sort of thing before, it was still within the realms of expectation.

Why some of them had broken arms was beyond you. Drinking shouldn't have caused that.
A broken leg? Maybe they tripped down some stairs?
Over a railing?
Those two didn't even have broken bones, they were just covered in bruises.

You passed a man who didn't even seem to have any injuries, but was wincing every time he shifted his hips all the same. You almost wanted to ask what he was there for, but the large swathes of bloody gauze and the on-hand bottle of Faedka being used as cleaning alcohol encouraged you to just keep walking towards your goal.

"Dullem!" You raise a hand in greeting, snatching the attention of the much larger man as he was rubbing at his eyes and yawning. "I need a report."

"Ah, good to see you recovering, Ser Valen. Few of us were worried that you'd end up in here too, at some point." He crossed his muscled arms, hoisting up a tired but satisfied smile as he laughed. "Gotta admit though, you nobles have some good shit. The men thought you were a light weight till you started bullying some of 'em into drinking with you."

"Lightweight?" You sniff, instinctively taking a disliking to this term.

"Aye, well, you're a noble and all. Also pretty small, and... Well, you're uh.."

You stare at him patiently, eyes narrowing while you eek out a tight smile that begged him to continue.

"...Well, turns out whatever that shit is, got the boys drunk in half a cup." Dullem finished after a moment's hesitation, "Things just kinda spiralled from there... Frankly, we were surprised y'had so much of the stuff hidden around. None of us quite took ya for a drinker."

"I'm not." He nods at your declaration, but you feel like he doesn't believe you. "I'm glad you and your men enjoyed the celebrations, though."

"Aye!" His deep voice rumbled out merrily, "Out of the woods and into the lap of luxury. Breaking out the booze was like opening the flood gates, y'know? Like... Shade bless, it was real. We finally made it, an'thanks to you, too."

You scratched at your cheek as you shifted your weight back and forth on your heels under the praise. It felt good to actually be appreciated, but...

Honestly, you think you might actually prefer Rinnier yelling at you. What pleasant feelings you got out of this were offset by just how awkward it was to have this kind of admiration heaped on you. There was very little you had done which you couldn't have been accomplished without the rest of your knights or Testament assisting you.

"I aim to keep my word." You straightened your back proudly all the same, trusting in your experience with navigating social combat to disconnect the heady and awkward feeling from yourself and take it in stride.

Breath in.
Exhale.

That's right, you deserved this praise. You had done it, after all. A familiar, self-assured smirk crossed your face. "On that note, one of your knights evidently put some weird ideas into one of my Testament's head. I don't know what happened, but I don't want anyone else giving Kara alcohol - Or other weird things, for that matter."

"The demihuman, eh...?" Dullem chuckled, the sound rolling up from the bottom of his barrel-like chest as he nodded, "I don't think that'll be a problem, not many of the men are too interested in barking up that tree after what happened last time."

Your smirk slips slightly, but not enough to keep you from pushing forward. "Also, have you seen Ari around?"

"Ari... Ah, that girl." Dullem frowned as he tilted his head down in thought. "Lets see... She was with you for the first few days. I think she tried t'drink from your bottle once or twice, but she kept throwing it back up." His body shook with a contained chuckle, "Now there's a lightweight."

That sounded depressingly like Ari.

"But you kept encouraging her, and at some point some of the others set up a betting pool on the two of 'ya."
"...Regarding what?"
"Whether you'd pass out first, tryin' to show her how to do it, or if she'd actually keep something down."

You stared at him flatly.

"Won a good handful of gold coins off that." He admitted, hefting his pouch with a jingle of clinking coins slipping out for emphasis.

"And what happened after that?" You kept the smirk on your face through it all though, unwilling to let that one piece of armor slip. "Because I haven't seen her since I got up today."

"Ah... Hm. I think she was messing around with that stick she's always carrying. Y'know the one. Turns into a big angry thing? Looks kinda like you, but is a horrifying abomination?"

"I am familiar. Where did she go?"

"Eh, somewhere out back I think. Some of the others probably know more, I only heard it second hand."

>Check on Raid.
>Go searching for Ari.
>Ask a question (what?)
>We need to head to Carona.
>Other? (Write-in)

>>101085
>>Go searching for Ari.

>>101085
>Go searching for Ari.

>>101085
>Go searching for Ari.

The one who stowed away all that faedka was without a doubt a part of a conspiracy against us. And they succeded.

>>101085
>>Ask a question (what?)
"Why is everyone so beat up?"

>>101090
>>101094
>>101131
Ari!

>>101138
But also why is everyone so wrecked.

Writing.

"...Out back." You frown.

"If you're worried about her, I can get some of the sober folk together to help track her down." Dullem suggested carefully, "We may not be much for fighting, but... Well, y'know our background. Forestry and tracking is something we can do."

"Right... About that, we need to get together sometime soon and discuss knight things."
"Knight things?" Dullem echoed warily, "You mean like... Armor, and actual swords? Manners?"
"Yes." You reply, a small and genuine smile peeking past your habitually worn smirk as you realized the two of you were on the same page. "If you're all to be my knights, I want you to be as capable and impressive as the title implies."
"...Right." Dullem sighed, none too excited about the prospect. "I'll make time for whatever you've got in mind, Ser Valen."

You nod, "Good, then in the meantime lets get that group together to go find Ari. It's probably nothing, but..." You didn't like having her out of sight for too long. Perhaps it was just a carry over reaction from how closely she had stuck with you elsewhere. It was certainly not as terribly uncomfortable as the time you spent without Asche taking up position around your left, but you didn't like it all the same. "Ah, before that though... Why is everyone so..?"

"Beat up?" Dullem finished with a laugh, "It's not that unusual, but I guess ya aren't used to people drinking this much." You shake your head slowly, unsure what that had to do with all the injuries. "People get rowdy. Take leave of their senses once the drink starts hitting them." He pointed over to the two people with broken arms, "Y'got a flat spot in yer rose bushes now, because those two idiots got it in their head that they could fly if they screamed 'Jinn' loud enough."

His hand moved, "Those guys with bruises? Gave 'em to each other. Got into a fight after they confessed t'each other, too drunk t'realize neither of 'em were who they were expectin' to be talkin' to."

"Why would that-"

"They were confessing to the same person." Dullem replied flatly, predicting your confusion as he shook his head in exasperation. You stared at the two of them, finding it exceedingly difficult to feel even the slightest hint of sympathy for what had previously looked to be fairly painful injuries.

...No one in this room, you learned, had any need for sympathy. They were just stupid. The more your learned, the less you wished you had even asked as Dullem recounted each and every brain numbingly dumb thing he had been forced to take care of while the celebrations went on.

Except, however, for one person.

"Ah, him." Dullem snorted, a shit-eating grin working across his face as the two of you walked out of the dining room. "His hips are pretty much ruined. I doubt he'll be walking again any time soon... An' we can't do much more for him until a healer from Carona, or some Wisp adept is kind enough to take mercy on the dumb bastard. Even then... Eh, I don't think he'll ever be the same."

"...That's horrible. What happened?"

Dullem looked at you dubiously, visibly weighing in his mind whether or not to tell you, before just making a lewd gesture with his two hands before quickly separating them. "Pop, right off. Ain't no way of savin' that."

You blink confusedly.

"Was jus' lucky that Teranford girl was around and sober enough to help when it happened, too." Dullem shook his head as he called called out for a few of your knights to join up into a hunting party. "Can y'imagine dying of blood loss from something like that?"

???

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http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Valen+Quest
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Valen%20Quest (The new one, 44 Onward.)

And we are archived.

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

Apologies to all anons who participated in Valen Quest but died at their keyboards wondering when QM would finally stop.

To those who did not make it to the end, we will never forget your sacrifice.

Going to end it here for now, since I know staying up late on sundays is harsh for my players. Valen will get back to its usual weekly, saturday schedule soon enough.

I hope everyone enjoyed it, and welcome back to the quest!

>>101238
Thanks for running. You are best vampire.

But who did those two confess to?
The same person who did the /pop/?

>>101243
>Who did they confess to?
Currently Unnamed Female Peasant Knight.
>Same person who did the pop?
No, of course not.

>>101251
I didn't think we have female knights for some reason.

>>101254
You've actually got plenty. It's important generally to remember that, though they're called knights, they're literally just the brigands you picked up.

And they were just brigands because they had been dispossessed of their homes by the Crown's recent actions. Pretty much your entire retinue of knights is composed of men and women who would have otherwise just been shopkeepers, blacksmiths, hunters, tanners, healers (of the non-mana sort), etc.

>>101238
Awesome. By the way, what are we wearing?

>>101258
Clothes! Same as usual. A long-sleeved shirt, and a rather airy skirt from waist down to your ankles. (Airy is perhaps the wrong word? It is easy to run and climb in, relatively. It is made to not be restrictive in your leg use)

Of course, there's also your headband and bracelet.

>>101262
Who did the pop? Kara or Irue?

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the forgetting had to do with way back in the first thread where we asked Asche to remove all Faedka from the premises.

>>101432
Search your feelings annon, you know the answer deep inside.