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>>1576160

For any new players:

Welcome to Gorgon Child Quest! Where-in you take up the role of a magical talking artifact being wielded by a young gorgon girl named Cici. Living out of the remains of a once great dungeon, the game will focus on exploration, character interaction, and learning as the voices of the players within the amulet help guide her along.

For news about quest updates, my twitter can be found here:
https://twitter.com/bananon_QM

And the archive can presently be found here:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=gorgon+child

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>1576160

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>1576160
maybe point the visions towards the school?

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>>1576187

I'll tell you what. I was an hour late. I'll ignore that roll if all is agreeable.

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>1576160
Lets see what she can see if she looks for the gypsy fortune teller who we terrorized/made to shape up.

>>1576230
Please!

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>>1576234
>>1576187
>>1576167
>>1576161

Somewhere in a cabin far away, there sits a woman much like the one who Cici had met on that fateful evening, yet different in her outlook. A book at each hand set out on the table, she unknowingly holds two futures for herself at either fingertip. To study the law or to study medicine was her question.

In truth, she probably has the brains for neither in earnest, at least not enough to become a paragon of those trades. Yet, people rarely heeded advice not based in mysticism without some title or teachings behind it, and after that somewhat terrifying evening spent with the spirits and much more soul searching, she is determined to blaze that trail for herself.

In Cici’s eyes, however, she is already traveling those diverging roads, timelines spreading out like branches from a pod, intermingling and diverging into a million separate futures that could lie ahead. Loves she might find and opportunities narrowly missed make themselves known, things that would side track her from the way she was determined to go, for good or for ill, taking equal presentation beside all of the victories she would achieve should she persevere.

For so long as there was society, after all, there would be the need for law and the possibility of rampant disease. A plague in a small town twelve years in the future would require a doctor, just as a dozen or more families would need a wise-woman in an hour of grief. However, if you listen too closely, just like that, they’re gone, single notes and chords of possibility lost in an orchestra as vast as the entirety of a million emergent universes.

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>>1576483

It’s intoxicating in a way, almost dangerously so, to see a life laid bare and know the currents that could be charted in an instant to fortune or ruin. To imagine what could be done focusing on something even more vast, a country, a kingdom, or even just a humble school…

At the very mention, the information begins trickling in in the same way that an entire ocean tries to fill a shot glass, a torrent of information so unimaginably vast threatening to swallow them at a distance. It makes it easier to commit their focus once again to the book in front of them, one explaining the regulation of physiological phenomena when dealing with fundamentally irregular quantum flux.

Ah, so much simpler…

In truth, all of the study over the course of weeks had made this seem reasonably manageable in theory. At least, with a dozen or more intelligences all trying to manage small portions of the overall effect, it would be simple. However, there would still be the need for mana, more than Cici could conceivably collect or maintain to be effective for even seconds worth of use. Perhaps there was some secret to that process, but only time would tell.

Best to leave Cici’s own future untold for now.

> Wait for the family to wake up? Do something else?
> Write-in

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>1576489
>Iris past.

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>1576498
This.

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>1576489
Should check out Iris' past, see where she got the implant.

>>1576498
>>1576502
>>1576518

A 97 should be quite good, right?

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>>1576489
>>1576498
>>1576502
>>1576518

Iris.

How exactly does one go about implanting a thought, nudging a mind? It certainly wasn’t as simple as saying a word or even thinking it loudly, but the voices, through their strange symbiosis, have gained mastery of that sort of thing.

In this case, at least, the association is deeper, more meaningful. It brings to mind memories and anticipation rather than visions at first. For a moment, the voices fear that they may lose the channel of sight altogether before with an audible sigh, Cici’s mind is once again seeing more than what is.

Past, present, and future, one would think the world of possibilities being narrower and already closed off would make the process of seeing simpler, but no. Like panels of film each capture a moment of time and all laid on top of each other, they threaten to become an indistinguishable mass of memory, an abyss with no clear ending. Still, with persistence, the voices do manage to unearth snippets here and there.

The first is simply the girl walking, a frail and ghostly child, pale skinned and bright eyes gleaming as she walks in absolute darkness, not a trick of the vision but a truth of her circumstances as she walks beneath the earth. As she walks, her bare feet make slapping sounds against wet stones, her mouth humming a wordless tune with no meaning. Perhaps it was to take her mind off her stomach, a sallow thing beneath a protruding rib cage.

A thought occurs, mirrored through the lens of the sight, one of hunger and fiendish planning. For there were things about, things unseen which were hot on her trail. The morsel made it all too easy for them, traveling alone, and making a trail of sound for miles that echoed down the abyssal corridors. Even so, it measures its steps, keeps its distance, waits for the pack to gather, and then it is time.

Legs coil and spring, a trio of armored masses taking to the air from the cave walls ready for their reward for an hour’s hunt. However, they had made a mistake, a fundamental one regarding who was predator and who was prey on this occasion. They know the truth only when a dozen red eyes turn back on them, glowing in the dark and unleashing searing light that burns and bores through all it touches. They know the truth for just an instant, before they know nothing else, the sallow, pale creature rounding on them with bare hand and sharp teeth.

--

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>>1576651

This, however, is not what the voices had in mind. They wanted to know more, to speed their way toward the distant past. Yet in doing so, their desire for haste drags them toward the present, a blur of action carrying them down a blood-soaked path through interminable darkness, one pierced only shortly by occasional flashes of fire and radiant blue. Shining crystals in the dark, rare funguses set alight to make torches, and in one case, the tarry black remnants of dwarven statuary burning like an image from hell itself as Iris smiled at the unfamiliar warmth and imagery.

It takes them a moment to slow the blur and leap once more, deeper this time, in the pool of memory. Their focus turned this time not on Iris but on the object she carried in her body. It was a curious thing, an essential thing, the voices with whom she had conversed countless times in her unknowably long journey through shadow, and the voices realize as time draws ever backward, back and back until the very form of Iris dissolves into something more monstrous, that it had been with her since nearly birth.

A lump of flesh, one of several spit from a monstrous maw, such had been her birth, her mother’s fiendish, glowing eye crinkled in affection as she gazed down at the progeny that would someday be molded into something as perfect as herself. First, however, they would need to hunt, to kill, and grow.

And so, they did, the first meal of many being another sibling for many of them and small lizards for others, the hovering blob that would someday be Iris snatching up a two-headed blue lizard for her first meal one day and hiding from her siblings the next as teeth gnashed at the narrow opening her smaller form had been able to wedge into.

Chasing one another had always been a children’s game, but the horror carves a red trail through Iris’ memories of being hunted for sport and hunting in turn, battling kin as often as cave creatures before the fateful day she was finally laid low, left bleeding at the bottom of a river in a trench too narrow for fish or family to pursue.

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>>1576656

It was there in the darkest crevice and direst circumstances she met her friends: a medallion of amber, sparkling in the dark. They spoke amidst the roiling chaos of her mind and cemented themselves as allies. They promised great things and unknowable secrets and revenge against those who had wronged her.

In the end, the voices had been good as their word, their ideas enabling her to ascend from a watery grave and grow strong again on prey, their thoughts molding her very form into something they all agreed was superior. And when her mother’s love turned to madness, the conviction to devour her children and start anew, they had enabled her to grasp victory from the jaws of death, a spear to the brain granting her vengeance and a sort of poetic justice as her fang like teeth were turned against her would-be murderer’s corpse.

The visceral joy, the maddening disgust and fear makes Cici shiver strong enough for the voices to feel it through their link, her mental channel dissolving into peaceful dreams as her mind’s eye closes itself tight.

> Well, that was a thing. What now?
> Write-in

>>1576659
The face of her lost father.

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>>1576677
>>1576659

The eye of the mind once closed isn’t easily re-opened. Even so, the thought of what her father may have looked like does carry to Cici’s subconscious as she dreams, a warm feeling pervading as she tries to piece together parts of her mother’s image and her own (plus a few bits and pieces from the portraits of famous heroes she had seen in books) to find a composite whole.

In the end, the colors keep shifting around in her mind, red hair in a million different styles dancing like a wave over a shifting jaw line with eyes either the color of her mother or hers. Regardless of a thousand different variables, one thing remained certain at least, a smile, an almost comically big one, the only thing she could be certain of after everything she’d been told about him.

In the end, the sun is almost at its peak in the sky before they crawl out of bed, Cassandra yawning heavily as she scoops Cici up in one arm and slithers toward the fire pit. There Raine sits, rubbing alternately at her temples and her eyes as Mina dotes over her.

“Just drink some water, okay,” she soothes. “We’ll get breakfast in town.”

“You’ll get breakfast here,” Mama insists with a sigh, mentally cataloguing the state of their larder before nodding to herself, “and then you’ll be looking for your own house to stay in.”

“Aww,” Raine groans. “Already trying to get rid of us, Cass?”

“I just think the girls would like their room back. Speaking of which, I really should set up one for each of them at this rate.”

“But I like sleeping together,” Cici complains, rubbing at her eyes.

“And, much as I enjoy your hospitality, I do have my own home,” Iris points out. “Someone has to delay the machine uprising.”

“… right,” Mama concedes after a pause, “but today was going to be the day I tried to teach you girls the basics of archery. You’re welcome to stick around for that.”

“Aww, Cici’s gonna learn to shoot just like her mama,” Mina chirps happily.

“Including the five hundred pound draw weight?” Raine questions.

“Oh! That is a good question! How strong are you, Cici?” the lamia pries.

“I, um, not really…?” she murmurs, blushing.

“Aww, honey, no!” her aunt condemns, sweeping her into a hug. “That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re just a baby!”

“Mmm not a baby,” Cici denies even more quietly, her voice a little tearful.

> Write-in

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>>1576778

Anyway, it's probably bed time for me. Goodnight folks.

>>1576778
Oh dear Cici, no need to be tearful. It was not meant as a tease. They may have things to teach you based upon strength. You are much younger than your friends, yet able to keep up with them physically. You are likely stronger than human girls of your age. See if they have a test for you to establish a baseline.

>>1576778

>Cici

You are young Cici, you have time to get strong.

>Iris

Go on and give Mama a hug.

>Cassandra

Honestly just let your friends pamper you already! Oh and remember to put a dog collar on that she wolf when you see her again. If she wants a job that bad, she can help to protect the town or something like that. Plus admit it, it would be funny.

>The rest

Cass is having a day off, let's pamper her despite her protests!

>>1576778
Don't worry Cici, you'll get stronger in time. Maybe we'll even get you a semiautomatic crossbow in the meantime.

>>1577807
I would tentatively nix this idea. Your standard shortbow/longbow is more safety-friendly, counter-intuitively. Less chance of "I accidentally grabbed the wrong part and now Mama's got a crossbow bolt in her kidney" type situations. Besides, even if we did get some crazy semi-automatic system rigged up there's still the matter of the hefty weight it'd be. Such a thing is best left for larger and stronger people who need to lay down a lot of fire very quickly like werebeast hunters or the like.

Though I do support the overall idea of her learning the bow. It'll help her keep her body developed and as we've established a healthy body is better for her magic.Also, the baroness did make a comment about how the mental conditioning would likely suit Cici. Being able to reach the mental state of using a bow effectively will allow her to easily transfer that ability to clear her mind to the discipline required for both her magic and her Seer talent.

Plus the obvious benefit of her being able to defend herself should the need arise. Also, once she gets better at magic she can easily get into the sneaky shenanigans of applying spell effects to her arrows for some very nasty secondary effects in combat.

You should remember that everything you learn is another tool in your kit and another way or set of skills to apply to a situation, Cici. Things are far more interconnected than most people like to admit. But this is also a trap people who do realize it fall into a lot. It goes triple for those who can see the paths of the future.

>>1578169
Yeah, no crossbow for Cici. And not for Iris she would lose an eye with that thing.

Has the MC lost her virginity yet?

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>>1578979

Cici is the equivalent of an eight year old, anon. She's got a ways to go before she meets the right person, who in turn has a long way to go getting through a gauntlet of aunts and uncles. It's a cute, slice of life quest.

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>>1576778
>>1576789
>>1576974
>>1577807
>>1578169
>>1578194

“I’m sorry, honey,” Mina offers in a soothing voice, lowering the girl to the ground and running a hand through her hair as the voices offer reassurances. “I didn’t mean anything by it. You’re very mature for a girl your age.”

“Heh. No kidding,” Raine comments. “We were expecting you to still be in diapers, kiddo.”

“Raine, I don’t think that’s-“

“What? It’s a compliment!” the tiefling objects.

“You two, enough chatter,” Sarah cuts in with a stern air of authority. “If we’re eating Cass’ food again, the least we can do is cook for everyone. Don’t you agree?”

“You know, I’m perfectly willing to do that myself…” the gorgoness starts, flagging slightly as the blonde raises a finger to silence her.

“So are we,” she answers simply, “and unlike you, we actually know how to cook.”

“I-“ Cassandra fumes, seemingly upset before deflating unceremoniously. “I’ve been getting better…”

“Well, the kids aren’t dead yet,” Raine concedes with a laugh, rummaging in her pack for a satchel of this or that which she lays down next to the inactive fire pit. “Guess that means you’ve gotten a little better.”

“I think Mama’s good at cooking,” Cici offers in her mother’s defense, taking a seat next to her as Sarah returns with some firewood from the nearby stack.

“Oh. Sarah and Raine are just picky, Cici,” Mina assures her. “Their taste buds are a lot more sensitive is all.”

“Freakin’ carnivores,” Raine groans as she shovels last night’s ashes to make room for a new flame.

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>>1579142

An hour or so later and the fire is once again crackling, the smell of fatty bacon sizzling wafting up into Cici’s waiting nostrils accompanied with the smell of bubbling corn, cheese, and herbs. It was certainly different than the normal breakfast fare, the savory scent making her mouth water long before she’s being ladled a bowl of contrastingly bland looking greyish white in a bowl, bacon crumbled on top and the odd speck of green adding the smallest hints of color.

“Let it cool first,” Mina warns, perhaps a bit too late as Vivi hisses off to the side, spitting the contents of her mouth off into the distance as Iris gives an amused laugh.

Raw fruits and vegetables make of the meantime as the concoction cools and thickens, Cici mimicking the others as they occasionally stir to reduce the heat and digging in about the same time. Still a little too warm and lackluster in appearance, a single bite nevertheless brings forth a burst of flavor and texture Cici hasn’t yet experienced as the grits melt in her mouth, appreciative noises welling in her throat as she quickly devours the remainder of her portion with the others.

If Cassandra is bothered by her daughter’s enthusiasm for a stranger’s cooking, she doesn’t let it show at least. After all, she had her own skills as a home maker, different but no less valuable, which she is about to proudly put on display. So, it is that while the others are still eating, she’s already on the move, returning from the tree lines in just a few moments with thin, green barked tree shoots under arm and a look of determination.

“What’re those for, Mama?” Cici asks.

“These,” the gorgon huffs slightly, “are the start of making bows for you and the girls.”

“Cass, I’ve got a compound short bow,” Sarah notes, producing the instrument from behind the log she’s sitting on. “We could just adjust it, and…”

The look Cassandra gives her makes her reconsider that offer.

> Technology or no?
> Write-in

>>1579147
Cassandra, isn't this your day off?

>>1579147
> Technology or no?
Well, I assume youre going to have the girls make their own bows with that. Maybe after they get used to those they can move on to compound bows.
Maybe after that we can talk about different types of bow.

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>>1579266
>>1579190
>>1579166
>>1579147

“There’s a difference between taking the day off and refusing to do anything at all,” Cassandra insists. “As it just so happens, I like to do this sort of thing, and I’d prefer each of the girls have their own bows if not the knowledge of how to make one in a pinch.”

“Even so, Cass,” Sarah sighs, knowing she won’t change Cassandra’s mind at this point. “We could use my bow to find out what the children can handle. A standard bow or recurve can only be carved once.”

“Fine…” she concedes after a pause, producing a small axe from near the fire and promptly cleaving one sapling down the center, lengthwise. “First things first though, girls, the key to making a strong bow is to find a piece of wood that is still a little bit green on the outer edge. It needs to be able to bend and not snap so you can string it. From there-“ She produces her own hunting bow and casually removes its string, laying the unbent form out flat. “We want to get the following shape by carving down the wood, a thick middle and thin sides that taper out toward the edges. I’ll start on the first one now, and explain more about how to do this later.”

“Okay, Mama,” Cici confirms, offering a hug before following the other girls after Sarah, the blonde warrior woman hefting her odd-looking bow with casual ease before messing with knobs located at either end.

Eventually, seeming to be satisfied, she returns to the girls.

“Alright, first things first-“ she begins, but abruptly pauses as Mina comes slithering after them.

“Wait!” she calls. “It’s dangerous to do this sort of stuff without armor!”

“Armor?” Vivi questions.

“Of course,” the lamia assures her. “Bow string are sharp, and you are putting them under a lot of pressure. That’s why you should always wear something on the arm you are using to fire the bow and the hand that’s going to release the arrow. Here, we have some spare leather that should do the trick.”

Producing a roll of something that looks like a belt, Cici’s aunt then goes about butchering it with expert precision, wrapping each of the girl’s dominant hand and forearm securely before turning to their opposite hand. Suddenly, this all seemed a lot more complicated to Cici, her arms feeling weird and bulky, her hands clumsy. She’d never seen Mama use armor before just to go out hunting.

> Write-in

>>1579326
Is to prevent getting hurt but I don't know if you need it, you scales should give you some protection.

>>1579345
Cic doesn't have scalely arms, im pretty sure

>>1579562
Okay then.

>>1579326
If this is going to be a long term lesson, It might be prudent to invest in getting the girls each one of those leather hand/arm guard things

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>>1579652
>>1579562
>>1579345
>>1579326
>>1579715
“I don’t think I have scales,” Cici notes, looking at her arms and legs just to check.

And if her skin was secretly scales, it had never saved her from scraped knees or elbows. In any case, it seems Iris is already stepping up to the plate with the bow, taking aim at a nearby tree.

“Now, let me know if this is too little or too much weight,” Sarah instructs. “Otherwise, this arm straight, eye trained down the line of the arrow, but not behind it. The shaft and string should come to rest on your chin at a full draw.”

“Got it, I think…” Iris hums, idly chewing her tongue as she takes a near perfect stance, leg forward, arm straight, and casually fires down-sight.

Naturally, there’s no arrow just yet, but with the total ease and conviction she fires, the voices can almost visualize it.

“Three times this weight would likely be a better fit,” she estimates calmly, and then hands the bow back to the woman.

So far so good, Vivi, on the other hand…

Well, harpies were never made to fire bows on land, and no amount of human coaching seems fit to bridge the gap of understanding as she awkwardly flails, half-flying, half-hopping, crest of the bow digging into the dirt a half dozen or more times before she finally gets a full draw that snaps against her expose leg.

“Gah! Stupid piece of-“ She seems very tempted in that moment to toss the cursed device somewhere she doesn’t need to look at it, but instead, sullenly hands the instrument back to Sarah.

“It’s okay, Vivi,” Cici assures her with a calming embrace. “Maybe the other harpies can help you learn how to fire with your feet.”

Vivi says nothing, just accepts the hug before shooing the younger girl off to have her own turn with the bow.

> Any advice?
> Write-in

>>1579738
Cici just take your time.

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>>1579738
>>1579762

Just take it slowly: easy enough advice to follow. Cici keeps that in mind as she takes a deep breath and the bow in hand from the woman.

“Now, back straight,” she instructs, one hand curling Cici’s fingers around the right place on the bow as the other pushes on her spine. “Eyes ahead. Hold your arm out like this, and with a slow motion, I want you to pull back. It should take effort, but not too much.”

Cici does her best to hold her exact pose as her fingers find the middle of the string, her arm shaking slightly, a groan escaping her lips as she then struggles to draw it back to her. Sarah, seeing this, stops her short.

“We’ll want to take some of the tension off,” she decides, twisting the knobs again before handing it back. “Twenty pounds may be closer.”

This time, things go more smoothly, if not necessarily easy, her arm still shaking slightly as she draws back, but the weight not so overbearing as to make the task intractable. With a nod, the woman then takes back her weapon and quickly scratches down the girls’ preferences in weight before returning to Cassandra.

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>>1580025

It seems in the brief time they’ve been away, the woman has been making incredible progress, the shape of a bow coming cleanly from the wood as she shaves off a few more layers of mass with rapid tugging motions against the grain, then smoothing it out by taking longer strokes in the opposite direction. Finally, seeming to be satisfied with her work, she takes a measure of string with a loop about one end and reels it up to the top of the bow, effortlessly pulling the wood down into a bow shape before tying it off to retain the tension.

An experimental pull lets out the expected characteristic twang, one apparently not perfect to pitch as Cassandra goes over her piece, tweaking this and that before seeming satisfied.

“Looks like two twenty pounds draws and a sixty,” the woman confirms, looking over her notes. “If memory serves, harpies prefer a short bow. So, it wouldn’t hurt to make hers the about two thirds the draw length of Cici’s for ease of use.”

“Huh?” Cici asks.

“The draw length of a bow represents how far you need to pull it back from its initial position in order to get the most out of each shot, usually half the armspan of a person,” Iris explains. “Vivi will be trying to launch hers with her feet, which are strong, but don’t benefit from having the whole chest to draw over.”

“My, you certainly seem to know a lot about bows,” Sarah comments, looking to the beholder girl. “And here I thought this would be your first time.”

“Oh, it is!” Iris insists. “It’s been marvelous thus far. Two thumbs up!”

“Wh-“

“Iris is a bit ‘special’,” Mama emphasizes, measuring out three lengths of wood and notching each.

“She has voices in her head,” Cici adds helpfully.

“Umm, do you mean voices like your voices or the other kind?”

“Both, really,” Iris clarifies. “Rather a myriad and motley crew piloting this vessel, but it has its benefits. As in, did you know that you can easily make scopes for the bows using either loops along the string or a protrusion out from the base?”

They seem at the cusp of wandering off into their own world.

> Any input?
> Write-in

>>1580029
>Hug Vivi then Iris, then tickle them.

>>1580029
Shhhh, just see where this goes.

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>>1580029
>>1580040
>>1580104

“Well, do you think you could show us what you’re talking about?” Sarah prompts, gesturing inside to the drawing table. “You might have been able to tell by the bow, but I’ve got a decidedly vested interest in emerging technology.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

The words are pleasant enough, but the smile she flashes in turn seems just a bit crooked, wrong and strained as she wanders inside. Still, with Vivi looking down, Cici decides that she might be the one in the most need of help first. Finding her already seated with Mina’s arm wrapped around one of her shoulders, Cici kind of just hugs her waist, silently and then verbally promising that things will be alright.

“Geeze, I know…” Vivi sighs temperamentally. “I’m not going to start crying every time I’m not good at something on the first try, you know. Besides there ‘are’ a couple of girls a few outposts over who could teach me. It’s really not that big of a deal.”

“’Kay,” Cici acknowledges, waiting a couple of more minutes before returning her hands to herself. “I’m kinda worried about Iris, though.”

“Oh, her…” There’s a difficult to decipher tone there. “Yeah, when she starts talking about stuff she shouldn’t know, her brain gets screwier than usual, but she’ll probably be fine… probably.”

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>>1580223


Still, probably isn’t exactly what Cici is willing to settle for in this case, so she makes her way inside. However, the rustling of papers and the furious scribbling of a pencil catch her ears far before her eyes get a clear image of the room.

“So, you see, you’ve just gotta put a bolt here and there and here… But what if we put a lens in that enclosure? No! Would never work! They don’t have the technology. We’d have to build a mill and glass blowing plant and-

“Yes, I suppose they did figure it out in the 17th century, but- Hm. No, no need. Stick a caliper on it here and here, tick the marks, and it’ll do the job. Then just gotta figure out the fluid suspension on the level and-“

“Iris…” Cici says gently, slowly sidling up to the chair and getting a half manic gaze from the beholder as her head snaps to the right. “Iris, you need to be careful, okay? Don’t hurt yourself.”

“I…” She pauses for a moment as the room she’s sitting in once again takes on something more than cursory significance, the arms around her chest no doubt helping to anchor her there. “I suppose I am doing it again, now, aren’t I?”

Cici nods.

“Well, then, guess we’ll have to try again another time. Just-“ she grumbles internally as she pulls up a clean piece of paper and quickly sketches out a manual scope, drawing a side illustration of a man with a loop tacked onto his bow string off to the side, apparently squinting through it. “One or the other of those should work, but the first is better. Two carpenter slides and a couple of matches, and you’ve got it.”

Cici doesn’t let her do more before physically tugging her back outside into the sunlight, leaving Sarah to puzzle through the papers as she gets Iris a cup of water which she guzzles greedily.

> Crisis averted, it seems. With the bow whittling about to begin, what now?
> Write-in

>>1580232
Just ket the girls figure it out.

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>>1580232

Anyway, it's late in my corner of the world. Gonna have to turn in. I'll leave this open until tomorrow.

>>1580232
Ask your mom about when she learned to use a bow.

>>1580232
Iris, do keep in mind that longbows are pointshot for the most part. Your ideas might be of use for crossbows, given the smaller degree of input. Alternatively, if you could puzzle out a way to make telescopic lenses on the current technology base, you would be helping folks.

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>>1580350
>>1580311
>>1580261
>>1580232

“Mama,” Cici begins after letting the return to normalcy hang for a moment, her eyes taking in the scene as her mother begins surreptitiously marking out details on the wood that would soon become a bow. “When did you learn how to make bows and how to use them?”

“Hmm?” She looks up from her work. “Well, sweetling, where Mama comes from most people learn the basics at a young age. I was a little younger than you are now when I held my first bow, sword, and spear and was expected to learn how to use them.”

“How come everyone had to know how to fight?” Cici asks, a fair question from a girl not growing up in an active war zone.

“It’s because they were worried that people would hurt us, I suppose,” the mother explains after a long pause for thought. “Before we were a nation with an island of our own, things were different, and many of our people ended up as slaves or exotic pets.”

“Slavery isn’t good,” Cici helpfully notes, remembering the conversation she’d had with Barbara before. “The voices think so, too.”

“No, it isn’t,” Mama agrees, “and that’s why many of us a long time ago realized that we needed to be able to defend ourselves, especially our seers, from people that would want to hurt us.”

She sighs as she sees the worried look in her daughter’s eyes, hugging her close and kissing her on the top of the head.

“You’ll be fine, sweetling,” she promises softly. “The world was a different place back then, and at least in the kingdoms, no man can own another whether they happen to have scales or flippers.”

“Then how come people still need to know how to fight?” Cici asks.

“To protect the people close to us,” Cassandra answers simple, giving her another kiss, “and to make sure that words are always the first option people choose.”

“So, people need to know how to fight so they don’t have to fight?”

“It seems silly when you put it like that,” Mama agrees, “but sadly, it just seems to be the way the world is.”

Nevertheless, the idea brings a frown to Cici’s face.

> Write-in

>>1584418
Well, think of this Cici: Even if every person around you was nice, theres still animals that might get scared or want to eat you, so it'd still be a good idea to know how to defend yourself. then there are monsters and demons that are sometimes violent for reasons only they can understand.
And even then, there are some people who just arent nice for various reasons. Some people just caant accept that people who are different then them are still people, or want the things that other people have, or just plain like hurting people.
So its best to know how to defend yourself for those kinds of situations, but hope you dont haveto, and work towards situations where its not necessary. The first person you need to take care of is yourself, and then the people you love, because if you get hurt, everyone around you will be sad too.

>>1584418
Remember Cici, you are a very lucky girl. You have lots of people around you that love you very much. Your Mama has done a lot of work to make sure that you are provided for. Not everybody has those things. Some people decide it is easier to take from others. When those people start taking, they can talk themselves into taking everything from others. It's important to know how to fight so that is not an option you present to those people.

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>>1584700
>>1584622
>>1584418

“’Kay…” Cici murmurs, an inarticulate response to be sure, but one that belies her efforts as she does her best to soak in the sobering facts about the human condition.

Namely, there were people in the world and other things besides that might want to hurt her someday, and that these lessons might someday see her turning a drawn bow on someone who just hadn’t been as lucky as her in life. It made her heart feel heavy, her stomach weak and queasy as she considered what this might be leading up to.

“Should I learn how to use a sword and spear too, then?” she questions sheepishly. “What if someone gets too close for me to use it?”

“’Someone’?” That single word comes with a chilling look of horror on Cassandra’s face. “Sweetling, no. Don’t even think about that. This is just something to use for fun or for hunting when you’re older. Hurting anyone should be the last thing on your mind.”

“I’m sorry, Mama,” Cici reels back quietly.

“Don’t be sorry,” Mama shushes quietly, wrapping her little one in a hug. “Just… Just don’t worry yourself about things that might never happen, okay?”

She gets a small nod in return, the voices taking a moment to send a mental shout at Raine as she seems ready to interject, one dagger in hand. Maybe that would be something for later, but not now. Instead, the family seeks to drown out that moment’s sorrow by investing themselves wholeheartedly into their work, Cassandra too afraid to let the children use a hatchet themselves, but explaining in intricate detail why each bow had been made the length it had, the width and why and how certain parts were being made as they were.

It's slow work, but it seems to ease the tension from Cassandra’s shoulders as the girls sit around drinking her instructions in. At least here she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Now, you’ll need to share this one,” Cassandra notes, stringing the finished product, much smaller than the first and offering it palm up between Cici and Iris. “A lighter bow isn’t ideal, but it shouldn’t hinder you either for a little bit of practice.”

With a groan and a long twist of her serpentine and human half, a chorus of pops release themselves, the gorgon sighing as she prepares to offer instructions, likely the same as what Sarah gave them earlier.

> Did the voices want to contribute anything else?
> Write-in

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>>1585108

The voices stick with their decision to let things play out naturally, the older girl ceding the first turn to the younger as her mother goes through the process of helping Cici assume the correct stance.

“Eyes forward, arm straight, fingers drawn back to the chin and eyes down the small notch that I’ve carved here.” Seemingly satisfied she then wiggles back a few feet, Cici pausing there nervously with a real (if blunted) arrow in her fingertips. “Just breathe in and out until you feel steady. Then, let go.”

Breathe in and out, in and out. Cici lets it become something like a mantra as she focuses on her target, the pressure of the bow not exactly comfortable, nor the bulky wraps on her hands. Still, she does her best, focusing on her shoulders and chest, trying to get in control… and in the process forgetting to keep hold of her arrow.

It falls to the dirt with an unceremonious noise, Cici’s concentration breaking in that instant as she reflexively dives after it. Naturally, this means letting go of her bow string, which she realizes might have been a mistake a half second too late as a splitting pain snaps against her ears and one of her serpentine hairs which hisses in disdain.

“Cici, are you alright!?” her mother calls with concern, zooming over to check for blood or bruises.

“I’m fine, Mama…” Cici assures her, though there are tears in her eyes and a ringing in her ears. “I just made a mistake is all.”

“Do you want to try again or do you want to take a break?” she asks nervously.

“I wanna try again,” Cici confirms. “I just wish I could do it better…”

“Perhaps I could be of assistance with that,” Iris offers. “Your voices willing, of course.”

> Write-in

>>1585347
What does Iris have in mind?

>>1585347
"Assuming it is not exceedingly dangerous, sure."

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>>1585534
>>1585423
>>1585347

“Simply put,” Iris begins. “There are some concepts that are too difficult to explain from teacher to student. How to manipulate and compound multiple eyes into a single whole, how to use the overlaps in those visions with trigonometry and geometry to produce a best estimate of distance: these are things that I could transfer to her through the link you share for the cost of a little mental strain on her part. Honestly, I think there’s less of chance of me harming her than her harming herself through practice.”

> Write-in

>>1585564
"...She has already harmed herself during practice. That is not much of a reassurance. Additionally, likelihood of harm and severity of harm are not necessarily linked. On a scale of 0 to 1, what is the likelihood of something going wrong, and what is the most likely outcome of something going wrong?"

>>1585564
I dunno, that still seems kind of iffy, butit does giveme a similar idea. We can have you put us on, and use what you know to shoot an arrow, then we have Cass do the same, and we'll remember the experience, and mimic it for Cici. Just so she can get the feeling for doing it right without directly putting it into her head.

>>1585564
I for one think it's fine. It's just one skill, and only a part of one at that. It's not like we're downloading an entire martial art, complete with taunts and muscle memory, into her brain.

>>1585784
"No offense intended, but that seems needlessly indirect. Correct me if I am mistaken, but are you suggesting that we directly link our minds with her's and Cassandra's, and then link our mind with Cici's? In all honesty that seems like taking the same risk three times. It does sort of quarantine the people involved, though. No offense to Iris, but giving the voices in her head a possible direct link to other minds seems risky."

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>>1585667
>>1585784
>>1585874
>>1585915

Go ahead and roll for mediation
> Roll 1d100

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>1585953

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>1585953

she got hurt already anyway, let's try the link!

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>>1586027
>>1585967
>>1585965

Reminder that I take best of three rolls typically. Secondary reminder that as I am made of weak human parts, I need to sleep now. That said, I'll take up to five rolls when I check back in Monday.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>1586268
Thanks for writing.

>>1585953
Rolling again, I guess?

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>>1586274

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>1586268

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>1585953

>>1586693
>>1586835

Is best of three rolls.


See here: >>1586268

>>1587842
>That said, I'll take up to five rolls when I check back in Monday.

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>>1585953
>>1585965
>>1585967
>>1586027
>>1586268
>>1586274
>>1586366
>>1586693

> 91


“Don’t I get a say in this?” Cassandra asks with a frown, taking a hesitance stance near Cici.

“It’s okay, Mama,” Cici promises. “Iris just wants to talk like how the voices talk to show me things, an’ I talk with the voices lots.”

“And what about your voices?” Mama inquires, turning to Iris.

“A little less snippy today and willing to play telephone.”

“What’s a telephone?”

“A tele-what?”

“I…” There seem to be so many things on the gorgon’s mind, but with Cici’s mind settled and a confirmation from the voices, she instead just slithers back a few feet, shaking her head.

“It’ll be fine,” Iris assures her, murmuring under her breath. “Probably…”

“I think you can do it, Iris,” Cici says with a smile. “You’re really smart.”

[“An’ you guys are helping.”]

“Alright. Well, let’s give this a try,” Iris sighs, the older girl’s limbs encircling Cici’s as she settles her into the correct form. “Now, then, try to keep your mind blank, dear. Focus on the arrow, on your form. Let everything else go.”

Cici was hearing that more and more often lately, the irony of having an empty mind being the key to learning largely lost on her. Still, if nothing else, she was at least getting a little better at following that singular piece of advice. A few deep breaths are all it takes, her thoughts slipping away save for the ones concerning not falling over. It’s at that point that Iris’ hand touches the bracer.

The vertigo is immediate, the feeling of connecting to a world that at the best of time was not fully bound to what most would call reality setting them ill at ease and off balance as the world of light above is swallowed away by inky blackness. At the very least, things seem different this time, the echo of consciousness first slipping into their wake somehow more structured and peaceful than it had been before: tamer and gentler by far. However, like a rider before the storm, it does not come alone.

Like a harsh brace of sickles driven down with the force of a falling ocean, the full weight of Iris’ consciousness falls on the voices like the hammer of an angry god.

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>>1591728

In that moment, things come undone, feelings of calm and clarity ripped away to reveal the encounter for what it is: a pitched battle where each fragment of the bracer’s ego must suddenly pitch in to fight against the writhing chaos and unending sound and fury of the beholder’s mind descending upon theirs. Idle fantasies and grand schemes, half remembered lifetimes spanning centuries seeking to connect dots long since lost to oblivion, it’s hard to tell where the foreign voices begin and Iris’ own natural madness begins.

All that is clear is that these forces know no boundaries and that the emptiness of Cici’s mind is calling to them like a beacon. One moment of inattention, a single breach, and the damage might never be fully undone. In the midst of all, however, above the howling hurricane of shattered psyche they somehow manage to catch a thread of something else, something that makes sense.

“Reposition tentacle 8, nine millimeters vertical, three horizontal. Reframe.”

The words are simple, sonorous, and clear but behind them, the voices can also feel something heavy, an incomprehensibly dense biological process simplified and labeled for someone else’s benefit. This, they realize, is what they are waiting for, a gift-wrapped link into the heart of Iris’ fragmented psyche, and they waste no time in drawing the connection.

Was that a mistake? The voices find themselves wondering that as in response, their entire world immediately catches aflame. Like all of their circuits had suddenly been opened and all of their channels were firing at a rate never intended, the pressure deafens them, the screaming dark of Iris’ mind and the nascent dark of Cici’s intermingling and separating as the voices find themselves only vaguely aware of the impossible, desperate struggle to ensure that the lines hold straight between them.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, time loses meaning.

--

Thuck… Thuck… Thuck…

A rhythmic sound, a whistle and the sinking of an arrow, they realize.

Thuck… Thuck… Thuck…

Another brace, another pause, and the world comes back into focus with the thrice damned light of the sun peeling the skin off your eyes. Well… if you had eyes.

Regardless, this headache is killing you. Wait, no head either.

The voices feel like they are swimming as the world comes back into focus. Okay, this time literally, as their vague awareness of their surroundings alerts them to water all around them, the leather trim just light enough to help them float and bob occasionally scraping against the inner edge of… a bucket? They’re guessing a bucket.

And through some unexplained connection of familiarity, they know that Cici isn’t far away.

> Write-in

>>1591738
Call out to Cici and ask if we really did catch on fire, and that's why we're in a bucket of water.

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>>1591884
>>1591738

The voices send out a mental message, hoping to garner a way out of the bucket sooner rather than later, and thankfully, it seems that Cici is close enough to at least hear the hum, the sound of her voice carrying as she perks up and comes closer.

“Voices, is that you?” she asks, hands splashing around in the water before picking up the bracer and carefully drying it off on a nearby towel. “Are you okay now?”

The voices ask if they had been on fire.

“Uh-uh,” Cici explains. “You just got real hot an’ stopped talking. Iris said you were just tired an’ needed a nap.”

“I do apologize for that,” says the beholder, popping into view. Seems, um… Seems that might not have been the best idea.”

“It was scary,” Cici agrees. “An’ I don’t want you getting hurt.”

She tenderly puts the dry bracer back on her wrist.

“But I learned how to shoot a bow good!”

> Write-in

>>1591997
If we're going to act as a network bridge, we're going to need a lot more capacity. Probably a more robust firewall and defenses to keep you contained, Iris.

>>1591997
Anyway, how accurate are you now, Cici? You seem to have the muscle memory down, but what about the theoretical parts? Like, why the shot will go the way it will, and the factors you need to consider.

>>1591997
Then go and practice Cici.

Also it was a bad idea we are never soing this again until Cici is at least ten years old.

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>>1592192
>>1592169
>>1592106
>>1591997

It feels like you’ve been chewing on exposed wire for two weeks straight, but phantom pain notwithstanding, there seem to be no arguments about not trying this again any time soon. Cici also seems a little drained as the voices settle back in, but there’s a decidedly increased air of confidence as she goes for her bow again, nocking the arrow from her side in an only slightly hesitant motion before planting it nearly dead center along the tree’s trunk.

“See! I learned lots!” Cici says excitedly, firing a few more shots to prove that it wasn’t a fluke.

And sure enough, the accuracy and spread on the weapon is far less than you would have expected from Cici in the immediate future, perhaps owing to the way the snakes around her head are no longer drooping but instead carefully analyzing each arrow before it is fired.

“It’s something that gorgon archers typically learn much later,” Mama explains. “It’s impressive that she managed to learn this so quickly. However, needless to say, you are NEVER doing this again.”

Her motherly tone brooks no argument nor does her imperious gaze, Iris shuddering and taking a step back on some instinctive level to placate her.

“It’s okay though, Mama,” Cici insists. “They didn’t mean to, an’-“

“No. buts.”

Again, there is no room for argument.

“There are some wounds even Uncle Yesh can’t treat, and there’s nothing wrong with learning things slowly and safely.”

“… Kay,” Cici concedes, her toes digging into the dirt. “Just don’t be mad at them, okay?”

“I’m as much responsible for this as they are,” Mama sighs, “but… Well, no buts. Just take things slow, sweetling. You have plenty of time left.”

“Mm.”

The afternoon winds on as the girls keep at their practice, Din-Din getting exercise in as he fetches errant arrows for the duo and ferries them back (only gnawing them a little). It’s a peaceful moment, leaving plenty of room for conversation.

> Write-in

>>1592361
>Cici go to play with your sisters, you earned it.
>Iris, please play with Cici.
>Vivi, try to be patient with Iris, she has troubles.
>Cass, do we have to get you a boyfriend? It seems you can't never relax. Maybe a girlfriend then?

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>>1592452
>>1592361

Dealing with some anxiety issues, at the moment. Apologies, but I don't feel well and I'm going to bed.

>>1592522
NOOOOOOO, why do you do this to Bananon, Anxiety?! Was my entire friend group not enough for you?!

In all seriousness though, thank you so much for the thread and posting, please feel better soon and take care of yourself.

>>1592361
This Is why I wanted to link with Cassandra instead.
Anyway, I think everyone could use some time to relax. Picnic maybe?

>>1592361
Man, having packaged skills with compatible dll's would have been so useful.

But I suppose we should check if the skill package was general enough that it can be applied to other activities, like melee fighting.

Oh, like Jedi training, get Cici to wear a blindfold while a magical flying ball scoots around and she has to hit it with a stick.

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>>1592591
>>1592522

Sleep has not helped as much as I had hoped. My apologies everyone. Please keep an eye on twitter for update news.

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>>1594593
It's okay bananon, feel better first. I am a follower of Steven Universe since season 1, hiatuses are a part of life at this point.

>>1594593
Chocolate then? Or you are allergic?

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>>1592361
>>1592452
>>1593038
>>1593237

“You’ve got to be joking,” Cassandra groans as the voices suggest a more active romance life. “I barely have time to breathe at the moment, let alone emotionally support another person.”

“I seem to recall you saying the same thing to Aaron the first forty or so times he asked you,” Sarah laughs, reclining as she watches the girls practice and taking another sip from her glass, “and to me.”

Mama mumbles indistinctly, face in her hands.

“Hmm. You haven’t changed at all, Cass,” she says with a cat-like smile. “Except for your chest. A bit weird to ask, but I’ve been meaning to ask. What happened there?”

“Childbirth,” Cassandra finally answers as she peels her cheeks out of her palms, “and I can’t seem to get the excess fat to go anywhere. I’ve tried everything: dieting, exercise, even medicine and binding.”

“Cass wore a corset,” Raine laughs over her shoulder in a sing-song voice. “How did it feel, huh?”

“Like I was dying,” the woman admits morosely. “More than usual with my back issues.”

“Heh. Got a dozen noble women back in town trying to squish themselves down into the dresses of the day. They’d kill for that figure.”

“I don’t wanna wear dresses. I just wanna fit in my old armor again,” Cassandra whines, once more leaning down into her hands.

“Mama, what’s a corset?” Cici asks, having stopped her practice to join in on the conversation, and Cassandra just groans.

“It’s something you don’t need to worry about, sweetling-“

“Not with those genetics,” Raine cuts in, getting a vicious glare.

“It’s something older women use to make their stomachs look smaller,” Cassandra explains at last.

Best she not be confused, at least.

“But Mama doesn’t have a belly,” Cici presses, more details leading to more in-depth questions.

“I… It wasn’t for…” Pity the poor mother, who must walk the narrow and winding path of parenthood.

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>>1603310

“We’ll tell you when you’re older,” Mina cuts in, Mama’s guardian angel giving Cici a candid smile. “If you’re done practicing, how about you, Iris, and Vivi play a game?”

“Um. Jasmine wanted to play fetch with the arrows, too,” Cici explains, “but I don’t think she knew she was supposed to bring them back. The voices said I should practice being a Jedi, though. Maybe that would be a fun game.”

“Ooh. What’s a Jedi?” Mina asks.

“I dunno, but the voices said you’re supposed to hit a flying magic ball with a stick. Umm… But voices, you’re the only magic flying ball, an’ I don’t wanna hit you.”

“Maybe you could use a ball on a string,” Mina suggests helpfully.

“Just be sure to wear plenty of armor on your right arm,” Iris warns. “Less chance of accidents that way.”

Cici gives a questioning comment, but doesn’t stop as her aunt and the other girls move to leave their mother in peace, gathering supplies for makeshift droids and blindfolds plus the necessary weapon facsimiles. As can be expected of girls their age, the rest of the afternoon is easily absorbed by that simple gameplay, with an occasional break here and there to try something different, eat, and drink.

More complicated days would no doubt lie ahead for all of them, but for now, they simply take the time to enjoy each other’s company, the girls burning through every ounce of their energy as Cassandra tries to gather hers for the testing negotiations coming her way. With the lamia, with her mother, with god knows who else, but with the important people in her life gathered all around her, her heart at least rests a bit easier.

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>>1603320

Apologies for everything folks, but I think we'll call this one done here. As for me, I'm feeling a little bit better now, but I'm also just about to take a two week fishing trip with a friend. Quest will be delayed until I come back.

Until then, take care of yourself, and I hope you had fun.

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>>1603327

>>1603327
Thanks for writing.

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>>1603388

That snek is very excited.

>>1603473

And you're welcome, anon.

>>1603320
>Cassandra just get new armor, is not like you can't afford it. And a baroness in time of war do need armor.

>Did Sarah try to date Cassandra?

>Girls, remember to take a bath.

>Bananon rest well, eat well and take a hot bath.