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You look back at the Captain and raise an eyebrow. "It's that serious?" If he's giving you both the district's main psychometric demon and another demon of your choice, then there must be more going on here than just a regular murder.

"Yes," he replies bluntly. "Once Inspector Halek gets word that one of her surveyors has been murdered, she's going to lean on the Constable, and he's going lean on me. When he does, I want to have at least something to give him."

Ah, that would explain it. Politics. You nod and pocket the slip of paper. "I won't let you down, sir."

"I know, Shirin. Now get to it."

You set the now empty mug down on one of the vacant slabs and leave the morgue, moving through the lower levels to the room that contains the garrison's summoning circle. It's a simple stone affair carved in the floor in the center of the room, along with a table off to one side and cabinets lining the walls. Walking over to the table, you see that as usual someone has left a job case of summoning tokens lying out on the table. The small wooden tokens, each bearing a rune carved into them, are mostly sorted into their appropriate compartments, and you briefly consider what demon to summon for your investigation aside from Melkren.

> Setra, demon of sleep. She can fly and put targets to sleep, allowing her to quickly and easily subdue targets who might try to fight or run.
> Azirin, demon of the mind. While Melkren can read memories off of objects, Azirin can read surface thoughts from living minds. She should make questioning people much easier.
> Ratorian, demon of fate. He has an innate sense for solving puzzles, but has an unfortunate tendency to speak in riddles that he can't fully control.
> Taskar, demon of war. He's simply the strongest second circle demon you're aware of, and on top of that he's also highly intelligent and perceptive.

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Prior threads can be found here:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Demonologist%20Quest

Alerts will be posted on the QM's twitter, which can be found here:
https://twitter.com/DemonologistQM

Additional resources
Inventory: https://pastebin.com/4azYmrHh
Character List: https://pastebin.com/SN1j50bJ

In Demonologist Quest, players will sometimes be prompted to roll dice when performing certain actions. The base amount of dice is five d10s and the number of rolls that meet or exceed the DC determines the outcome.

0: Critical failure
1: Major failure
2: Minor failure
3: Minor success
4: Major success
5: Critical success

Players can have allied assistance with a roll, in which case they roll a number of additional d10s determined by the skill of the ally.

If the result is a minor or major failure, players can choose to add a bonus to a roll through bargaining. This comes at the price of potential negative consequences unrelated to the success or failure of the task. The probability and severity of the negative consequence are determined by the size of the bonus being added. Critical failures cannot be bargained away, nor can bargaining result in a critical success.

If players choose to bargain, I will roll one d10 and the consequences will depend on the result of that roll. See image.

>>2936907
>Taskar

>>2936907
> Taskar, demon of war. He's simply the strongest second circle demon you're aware of, and on top of that he's also highly intelligent and perceptive.

Oh shit, Its been awhile Demonologist, How you been senpai?

>>2936909
I have to admit i am still a bit salty about the last quest, lets see where this goes

>>2936907
> Setra

>>2936933
btw, i cant fault your world building, characters or writing ability, thats simply awesome

Oh thank fuck, I thought this was yet another dead quest. I was worried for a while there.

>>2936907
>> Taskar, demon of war. He's simply the strongest second circle demon you're aware of, and on top of that he's also highly intelligent and perceptive

>>2936907
Either Ratorian or Azirin

We are supposed to follow some leads and get to the bottom of this. We are an officer in an organization. If we are outmanned, we can simply call for additional muscle to back us up.

>>2936969
Following on this, could Azirin reads minds in a crowd? Search for certain thoughts, like people remorseful for what they have done?

>>2936927
Trying to piece things back together after a bit of a rocky spell. I'm doing better now though.

>>2936976
Azirin needs to focus in on a target to read their thoughts.

Anyway, now writing for summoning Taskar.

>>2936992
well its good your back, Hope shit stays pieceing back togeather.

>>2936992
Fuck man, I thought you were gone for good. It's great to have you back though, Demonologist Quest has been one of my favorites.

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Picking out the symbols for Taskar, you place them in a bowl on the table, then turn to a heavy cabinet with the words 'keep closed' and 'return all flasks' marked on the front. You are greeted with a blast of cold air as you hurriedly open it, pull out one of the large flasks of pig's blood contained within, and close the cabinet. You shiver slightly as you scoop up a measuring cup from the table and pour out the appropriate amount of blood to serve as an appetizer to a second circle demon. Quickly returning the flask to its place in the cabinet, you pour the small portion of blood into the bowl and set it down in the center of the summoning circle.

The chilled blood boils away immediately after you speak the words to summon him, and the smoke rising from the bowl takes the shape of a pitch-black skeleton with four eyes, mandibles, and a white glow from within its chest.

"Good morning, Investigator Kalani." He gives you a melodramatic bow, and though his jaw is a set of mandibles without a hint of flesh, you still get the impression that he is smiling. "How may I be of assistance?"

From the sounds of it he's in a good mood, though with a demon like Taskar that can sometimes be difficult to tell. Demons of war tend to be a duplicitous bunch, and though Taskar is more reliable than most, he still subscribes to many of the preferred sayings, including 'Deception is the heart of war.'

"Greetings, Taskar," you say, cautiously returning the bow. "The Lashkara Constabulary requires your services investigating the murder of a city official. Should you accept the case, you will receive an additional gallon for this month if the case is successfully resolved."

Taskar idly taps the side of one of his mandibles for a moment before he replies. "I believe I shall help you." He then chuckles slightly and says, "Though I must say, 'bargaining' with you Mashari city-folk is no fun at all."

You merely shrug in response. "That's the price you pay for regular business."

"Of course," he says. Then, once you remove the retaining block from the summoning circle and allow him to step out, he asks, "Shall we be off?"

"Not yet," you say, shaking your head. "I need to summon Melkren as well."

Taskar cocks his blackened skull to one side. "Two demons to investigate a single murder?"

"Yes," you reply as you get to work preparing to summon Melkren.

As you complete the summoning, Melkren's heavy wooden body and four, dour-looking heads materialize before you. Between his large size and impressive antlers, he has to stoop slightly to fit indoors, only adding to his generally depressing appearance.

"Melkren."

"Kalani," his doleful voice mumbles in reply. "Is this about the dead surveyor?"

"Yes."

He lets out a creaking sigh like a tree straining against the wind. "Very well, let's get this over with."

You frown as you release him from the circle as well. Does he always have to be so dour? You don't consider yourself bad company, but whenever you work together Melkren always acts as if his mother just died. But after a moment you push that thought from your mind. Better to focus on the task at hand, you can worry about such trivialities once this murder is solved. Where should you begin?

> The surveyor's home. You doubt that Lesh's job actually has much to do with his murder, it's more likely that this was a personal issue. Melkren might be able to pick something up from his belongings, and you'll be able to question any family or neighbors that he has.
> The city inspector's office. They'll be able to provide you with details regarding what he was working on before he died. Where he was going, whom he was talking to, that sort of thing.
> The alley where the body was found. Though it probably wasn't where Lesh was murdered, you and Melkren might be able to find out something indicating where the body was brought from.
> The local Solace commune near where the body was found. You honestly doubt that the Solace cultists had anything to do with it, but they have some very skilled demonologists among their number. They might have noticed something.
> Write-in.

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>>2937205

>>2937205
>The surveyor's home. You doubt that Lesh's job actually has much to do with his murder, it's more likely that this was a personal issue. Melkren might be able to pick something up from his belongings, and you'll be able to question any family or neighbors that he has.
>Demonologist qm finally finished cooking
About time

>>2937205
>> The alley where the body was found. Though it probably wasn't where Lesh was murdered, you and Melkren might be able to find out something indicating where the body was brought from.

before the trail get's cold

Also, nice to have you back, even nicer to see we can see some of our old demons again, I liked most of them, hope good boy Thetis is around, he would be useful in sniffing where the body was before being dragged

>>2937205
> The surveyor's home. You doubt that Lesh's job actually has much to do with his murder, it's more likely that this was a personal issue. Melkren might be able to pick something up from his belongings, and you'll be able to question any family or neighbors that he has.

>>2937205
>> The city inspector's office. They'll be able to provide you with details regarding what he was working on before he died. Where he was going, whom he was talking to, that sort of thing.

Now writing for surveyor's home.

Sorry, but there have been substantial delays. I'll post as soon as possible.

>>2937678
take your time, like I said I'm just glad you're back

>>2937678
Oh shit you're back
Glad you're not dead, I missed this quest of fantasy SMT with giant wheels.

>>2937205
>The alley where the body was found. Though it probably wasn't where Lesh was murdered, you and Melkren might be able to find out something indicating where the body was brought from.
YOU'RE BACK

I am so glad you are back QM! I have been missing this quest so much!

This is taking forever, so I'm going to post what I've got thus far. More to come after that.

>>2938194
What a time for you to run again. Right as 4chan shits itself and gookmoot ruins everything.

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"We'll head to the victim's home first," you say to the two demons as the three of you depart the garrison.

Stepping out onto the street, you encounter a very different experience from the one you got on the way in. The temperature has already risen dramatically, and the sun is now high enough in the sky to sting the eyes. The Shar are active now, and the morning bustle has begun in earnest. A steady flow of people, the vast majority garbed in white to protect against the brutal sunlight, now walk the district's streets. A few large shapes here and there break up the river of white cloth, demons standing head and shoulders above even the Shar, going about on behalf of their various summoners.

The sounds of rolling carts, merchants hocking their wares, and a wide variety of animals all fill your ears, and the smell of sweat is quickly replacing sand and salt as the dominant scent in the air. The light from on high and bouncing off all the white fabric around you combines with the dust being kicked up by the crowd to assault your eyes and throat. You quickly pull up the Alkoran goggles hanging around your neck to cover your eyes and your scarf to cover your mouth before setting off toward the surveyor's home.

"Who exactly was the victim?" Taskar asks as the three of you walk. "You mentioned he was a city official."

"Kerasen Lesh," you say, your reply slightly muffled by your scarf. "A male Shar working as a surveyor in the city inspector's office. A relatively minor functionary, in the inspector's office surveyors mainly just make sure that people are following building code, health and safety code, things like that. His body was found dumped in alley, apparently killed and drained by a demon."

Taskar listens quietly while you're talking, then starts to muse out loud once you're finished explaining. "Someone just barely significant enough to provoke a serious response from a city concerned with taking care of its own. An unlikely target for random violence from a demon. Under normal circumstances, the blood wouldn't be worth the risk." He motions to the crowded street around the three of you. "Not when there is plenty of other prey about. So you think it was a personal conflict that escalated?"

You nod. "For now that looks like the most likely explanation."

The address the Captain provided you leads you to a fairly nice cluster of homes. A quick display of the mark of the constabulary, along with having pair of demons following you, gets you past the man at the cluster's gate and into the central courtyard. You head up a flight of stairs and soon find yourself at the front door of Lesh's home.

"Alright here we are," you say to Melkren and Taskar as you lower your scarf and take off your goggles. "Let me do the talking." With that, you turn and knock on the door.

After a brief pause, the door opens a crack, a heavy latch securing it from opening the rest of the way. Through the gap you spot an elderly-looking Shar. "Hello?" By his voice he sounds male. "Can I help you?" he asks.

"My name is Investigator Kalani," you say, holding up the mark of the constabulary. "I work for the constable's office. Is this the Kerasen household?"

"Yes," the old Shar replies slowly, his eyes going from the mark, to you, to the demons standing behind you, then back to you. The door briefly closes and you can hear the sound of the Shar undoing the latch. It opens again, fully this time, letting you see a second elderly Shar standing behind the first. "Is something wrong?"

You purse your lips. This part is never easy. "Are you a relative of Kerasen Lesh?"

"He's our son." The old man says hesitantly. "He-"

"He didn't come home from work last night," the woman worriedly interjects. "Do you know where he is?"

You take a deep breath, then press forward. You've never been good at beating around the bush, so you might as well just lay things out. "I'm sorry to say that we found Lesh during the night." After a moment's pause, you quietly add, "he's dead."

The two Shar simply stare at you in silence. The woman is the one who finds her voice first, though she fumbles her words slightly as she speaks. "What? No, that's- No."

Shortly after her, the old man asks. "How do you know it was him? It could have been someone else."

You sigh. You've seen this before, usually from Shar. It can take them some time to process this sort of thing, something that completely turns their world on its head, and in the mean time they simply deny it. "If you want to confirm it," you say as gently as you can manage, "his body is being kept at the Elesh district garrison."

"I-" The old woman starts, then she swallows hard and an almost surreal look of calm washes over her features. When she speaks again it is with much more confidence. "I'm sure we'll be able to clear this up. It's probably just a mistake."

"Well, in the mean time, the constable's office is investigating this matter as a murder." You gesture toward the two demons behind you. "May we come in?"

"We-" the old man say, then pauses. "I mean-"

"I have a demon with me that can read information off of objects," you say, trying your best to sound reassuring. "If this is just a mix up, we'll be able to sort it out quickly if you let us take a look around."

The man rubs his neck in thought before eventually conceding. "Well... alright." He stands to one side and motions for you and your demons to come inside. Melkren has to stoop down as usual and turn his head to the side to get his horns through the doorway, but he's able get inside without damaging anything.

The inside of the Kerasen household is laid out in the traditional Shar manner. Two communal rooms, the first serving as an entrance and a place to eat, the second with its central fire pit as a place to sleep and cook. Additional small rooms meant for privacy branch off from the main two.

The old man points to a set of hooks on the wall of the entrance room. "You can hang your cloak over there."

"Thank you," a reply quietly, doffing your outer garments and hanging them from one of the hooks.

It's then that you hear a small, chirping voice. "Granpapa? Who's that?"

Oh Hell.

Turning to look at the source of the sound, you spot a small Shar child, poking his head around the archway leading into the second common room. As with most young Shar, he looks more like a scaly river otter than an adult Shar and sounds like a small bird doing its best impression of a Shar. Moving slighting to get a better view of the next room, you spot another two children hiding behind their braver sibling that quickly move along with you so that only the tiniest sliver of their faces are visible.

"Someone from the constable's office," the old man says, walking over to the child. He kneels down next to him and comfortingly rubs the crest of the child's head. "There's been a mistake and she's just here to clear something up," he says softly. "There's no need to fret."

"What are those other people?" asks another one of the children, pointing around the first at Melkren and Taskar. "They're not like the humans."

"They are demons, child, now why don't we get back to your lessons?" He gently guides the three children back into the second common room and off to one side. "We can move into Sava's room so that our guests don't distract you." Some of the children protest, as the old man herds them away, but shortly thereafter you hear a door open and then close again, muffling their voices.

The old woman clears her throat, bringing your attention back to the task at hand. She motions to a door leading off from the first common room. "This is Lesh's study," she says.

Opening the door to the room reveals that 'study' is probably an overly generous title. It's a fairly cramped room, with only barely enough room for someone to lie down, not that the room is furnished for it. There is a desk along one side, a set of shelves mounted on the wall above it, a small barred window set high in the wall opposite the desk, and a cabinet and a rack of scrolls sharing the wall space across from the door.

"Melkren," you say, motioning for the demon to check the room.

The large demon manages to cram itself into the study, though it is a tight fit. Melkren slowly runs his hands along the walls of the room, the desk, the cabinet, and the shelves. He remains silent as he does, until eventually finally he stops entirely.

"Well?" you ask.

"This is..." he replies hesitantly. "This is all very... warm. There isn't anything malicious here."

"Is there anything here that would give us a hint as to why someone would kill Lesh?"

He pauses for a moment, and when he doesn't speak his voice is oddly soft. "I- I don't know?"

You sigh. Memories can be jumbled mess sometimes, though Melkren can show them to you through contact. Or maybe there just is much there.

> Have Melkren directly share the memories with you. Maybe you'll be able to find something.
> Question the family. (Specify questions)
> Forget the home, go to the city inspector's office. Perhaps this did have something to do with his work after all.
> Check out the alley where the body was found. The trail should still be relatively fresh.
> Write-in.

>>2940758
>> Have Melkren directly share the memories with you. Maybe you'll be able to find something.

>>2940758
> Have Melkren directly share the memories with you. Maybe you'll be able to find something.

>>2940758
> Have Melkren directly share the memories with you. Maybe you'll be able to find something.

Wait, are se a man or a woman? I thought we were a dude.

>>2940809
I think we're a chick based on: "There's been a mistake and she's just here to clear something up,"

>>2940809
>>2940817
Also Shirin is a girl's name.

Anyway, direct memory sharing it is, roll 6d10.

Rolled 7, 6, 8, 7, 1, 10 = 39 (6d10)

>>2940913

>>2940921
4 success = major success
Writing.

Huh, i thought this mc was a dude too. I do prefer female main characters, but im guessing this is a side story, and that we will return to the male main character at some point?

>>2940913
>>2940817
Aawww, how are we gonna fuck Setra now? Wait.....it's way hotter now!

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>>2941066
Yes and yes.

>>2941115
damn, we're fine

>>2941115
Let's fuck a demon

>>2940758
>Have Melkren directly share the memories with you. Maybe you'll be able to find something

>>2940758
>Have Melkren directly share the memories with you. Maybe you'll be able to find something
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz4-aEGvqQM

>>2941115
Just finished reading the archives. Love your writing, it's really well done and I am looking forward to getting back into the main story. I read last time you didn't really enjoy they merchant stuff. Personally, I'd be fine with cutting it down or glossing over it to focus more on the story itself and planting some more seeds of doubt against the church etc

>>2941115
>>2943525
I agree. Maybe we can break it down to:
>Anon decides they need money
>character abstractly spends two months gaining money
>~3 skill checks are done
>Resources are gained or complications arise. These can be handled abstractly or played out if deemed interesting enough.

>>2943887
This results in a quick jump to either complications or spending resources.

>>2941066
>I do prefer female main characters
I'm the exact opposite desu.

>>2944238
Each to his own. I think most ppl pref male mc

Man fuck this. The quest has been gone for like four months and now we're not even following the MC. Dropped.

>>2945049
Each to his own. Im gonna look forward to this though.

>>2945049
It's an interlude so that OP can get back into the swing of things, calm your shit

You hold out your hand to Melkren. "Show me."

The towering demon reaches out toward you, but then he seems to hesitate for a moment. After a few seconds he complies, taking your comparatively tiny hand in one of his massive, wooden ones. A haze starts to creep inward from the edge of your vision, until your view of Melkren and the study are almost entirely obscured by a thick gray fog. After a few seconds the fog clears away as if from a gust of wind, revealing the study again, only this time without Melkren taking up almost all of the space in the room. Instead you see two Shar, one of whom you recognize as Lesh. He's sitting in a cushioned chair shaped like a bowl that occupies the far corner of the room, while the other Shar is straddling him as the two of them rub their snouts against one another.

Oh. Right. Shar sleep communally, so they prefer to use these side rooms when they want to... be intimate. Then the emotional elements of the memory catch up with the visual ones, and a heavy blend of feelings wash over you. Desire, affection, love, and blissful contentment mix together into a wonderfully oppressive sensation stretching from deep in your chest down to the tips of your toes. For a moment it's almost pleasant, but as the feelings sink in they dig down into your flesh like so many sharpened spades and begin to carve out a space inside of you. An empty space, hollow yet heavy at the same time.

Pushing the emotions away as forcefully as you can, the fog creeps back in and obscures Lesh and his companion. Trying to guide the memories toward something more pertinent, you begin hunting for memories with a less affectionate flavor to them. Anything that might give you a clue as to what led to Lesh's murder. After some time searching, you're able to zero in on recent memories of concern, confusion, and frustration.

The fog clears, and you see Lesh sitting at the desk, writing something. It's a report of some kind, and though there is enough haze to obscure some of the Lesh's simple but tidy script, you're able to make out some of it. It mentions encountering a hostile Toric man during his rounds, an unregistered demonology. The man grew extremely agitated and repeatedly threatened Lesh when Lesh informed him that he would need to register with the city inspector's office as a demonologist or else pay a fine. The report mentioned that he would be returning remind the man again after the requisite week and requested an armed escort for that day in case things turned violent.

You try to read further, hoping to discover a name and location, or at the very least a date to determine how close this memory was to the murder, but the image starts to slide out of focus.

"No," you growl as you try to hold on to the memory. "Focus, damn it!"

But the fog creeps back in despite your protests, and when it clears again you're back in the present, standing in Lesh's study with Melkren still holding your hand. You let out a frustrated sigh and pull your hand back away from Melkren.

Or at least you try to, but for a split second the demon's hand doesn't budge, leaving your hand still firmly encased in his as surely as if you were pulling against a stone statue. It's only a moment afterward that he releases you and lets his arm droop back down to hang by his side.

Behind you, Taskar lets out a completely unnecessary cough despite having neither lungs nor a throat.

> Go to the Inspector's Office. They may have more records, perhaps even the complete report. At the very least they'll likely have a schedule for where Lesh was going when he was murdered yesterday.
> Question the family about the other Shar in the memory. There still might be a personal dimension to this case.
> Go to the local Solace Commune. Being central to both the city's Toric population and skilled demonologists, a Toric demonologist almost certainly has something to do with them.
> Question Melkren. He should have been able to pick up that memory, so why did he say that he didn't find anything? And why the Hell is he behaving so strangely?
> Write in.

>>2945407
> Question the family about the other Shar in the memory. There still might be a personal dimension to this case.

>>2945407
> Question Melkren. He should have been able to pick up that memory, so why did he say that he didn't find anything? And why the Hell is he behaving so strangely?

>>2945414
this first

and then >>2945492

>>2945407
What >>2945513 said

>>2945407
>Question Melkren. He should have been able to pick up that memory, so why did he say that he didn't find anything? And why the Hell is he behaving so strangely?

>>2945407
>> Question Melkren. He should have been able to pick up that memory, so why did he say that he didn't find anything? And why the Hell is he behaving so strangely?

>>2945407
>Question Melkren

>>2945407
>Question Melkren.

Now writing for questioning Melkren.

Welp, it was fun while it lasted.

is he dead again?

well shit it seems like we've been demonologed again. See you guys in a few weeks when he pops back up