>>3055347
“Even if this is entirely due to your own initiative,” the Lord presses, “I somewhat doubt that simply eliminating a few yōma would be worth your while. Especially since there have been no yōma attacks aboveground, nor have there been any disappearances among the miners.”

He really won't give up, will he?

“I am also interested in assessing for myself what the Inquisition was interested in,” you admit. “The fact that there are two reasons for my to investigate further makes it worth pursuing.”

“And so you sought out my permission,” Lord Annemas concludes.

“That's correct.”

“And so what do you need from me?”

>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.
>You must have records about the initial disappearances. I require access to those, to determine what I might be walking into.
>Honestly, I just need some miners to give me an introduction. My guess is that no information you can offer me will be current anyway.
>Other?

>>3055354
>a map
>a report about the initial disappearances of your fellow miners

>>3055354
>>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.

>>3055354
>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.

>>3055354
>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.
And a map if possible.

>>3055354
>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.

>>3055354
>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.

>>3055354
>All I need is to know as much as possible about the layout of the mines themselves. Spare no details.

>>3055354
>You must have records about the initial disappearances. I require access to those, to determine what I might be walking into.

>>3055354
>other: A record of your current exports from your mines.

>>3055354
>3d10, DC 16, crit 20, best of three

Rolled 9, 2, 3 = 14 (3d10)

>>3055834

Rolled 8, 10, 2 = 20 (3d10)

>>3055834

Rolled 7, 7, 6 = 20 (3d10)

>>3055834

>>3055839
>>3055841

good job you two

>>3055839
>>3055841
Nice.

>>3055834
“I need to know everything you can tell me about the interior of the mine,” you tell the Lord. “how to find my way in, and more importantly, out.”

“As you say,” the Lord begins with a sigh. “But that will require a bit of a history lesson.”

“I have the time.”

“The mining operation typically began with surface washing and strip mining,” Lord Annemas explains, “back when this region was first being settled. Our ancestors used lake water and glacial melt, with storage tanks and wooden machines to move the water around. Once there was a sufficiently large mine, around fifty meters deep at the center of the pit with steep sides, they began to change their plans.”

“The storage tanks were retained, however from the bottom of the pit a deep shaft was sunk into the rock. Fires burned through the nights to weaken the rock so that it would fragment more easily, and an endless chain of wooden buckets powered by falling water would lift the shattered rock out to be ground down for the veins of valuable ore.”

“Sixteen chambers were cut into the rock and filled with a series of de-watering machines. Vertical shafts carefully cut down into the galleries from above with horse-powered drills allowed airflow. Even hundreds of years ago with primitive technology the mines reached thirty meters below the bottom of the open pit.”

“Impressive,” you admit, “but that is still only eighty meters. Hardly what I'd consider 'too greedily and too deep', like the rumors suggest.”

“That would occur somewhat more recently, after the city was well established,” Lord Annemas admits. “There was a major lode found, rich with gold. But it was found deep, at the bottom of a bore hole twenty meters below even the lowest level of the mine at the time. That area was excavated more thoroughly, and preparations were made to test a newer, more advanced drill system.”

“It was sixty meters below that level where the breakthrough occurred.”

“At one hundred and eighty meters,” you add, tallying the various levels Lord Annemas has already mentioned up in your head. “Modern miners do not go that deep, I take it?”

The Lord nods grimly. “The deep chamber at one hundred and twenty meters was sealed off. Other tunnels have expanded laterally since then, but never down from one hundred meters below the surface level at the surface pit.”

So it was the lure of that abandoned lode of gold that accounts for the Inquisition's interest in the site, and its probable effect on their finances: they could be independent of the 'mainstream' church indefinitely.

“If you were to go down there we would need to reconnect the natural gas pipes,” Annemas continues' “Otherwise you would have no light source.”
>1/2

>>3055970
“One final point of interest,” you press. “The void that these miners broke through into... was there any description offered?”

“Only that it was a fairly large passage that sloped down and away, into the dark,” Lord Annemas explains. “Nothing else is known, as the group who were sent further was never heard from again.”

>Depending on the size of the shaft, a sixty meter climb shouldn't be possible for an ordinary yōma. This is basically a nonissue.
>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.
>It may be prudent to seal off the shaft in any event, just to give the locals a little more peace of mind going forward.
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.
>Other?

>>3055970
even the digging operations were horse-powered, of course.

>>3055985
>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

>>3055985
>>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

>>3055985
>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.

>>3055985
>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.

>>3055985
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

>>3055985
>>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.
>>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

>>3055985
>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.
>other: If there's nothing down there at the very least, I'll try and recover the remains of the missing miners.
But warn the Lord:
>THERE'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING DOWN THERE. Otherwise, your miners would have made it back. Prepare for the worst. Best-worst case scenario: said 'something' exists, but we can seal it off. Worst case scenario: we'll have to abandon the city.

>>3055985
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

It's the clowns, I know it.

>>3056047
too soon for FUN!

>>3055985
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.
>You'll head down to this 'deep chamber', and if you sense nothing unusual you'll return to the surface.
>Other
We ought to leave a message for Tomas of where we've gone, for the possible eventuality that we never actually return.

>>3055985
>It may be prudent to seal off the shaft in any event, just to give the locals a little more peace of mind going forward.
No ordinary youma would be down there, just seal the awakened fucker off and call it a day.

>>3055985
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

>>3055985
>There's SOMETHING down there, and you want to know what it is even if the answer isn't particularly pleasant.

>>3055985
“There must have been something down there at some point,” you sigh, reasoning aloud so that he'll be able to follow your train of thought. “So it makes sense to examine the situation from this deep chamber you mentioned. My senses should allow me to determine if there is any risk of yōma without going too far down into the mountain.”

“If you do not intend to place yourself in any undue danger, I can have a handful of miners go with you,” Lord Annemas offers calmly. “I will write a note which you can take to the crew chief at the main mine complex, who will arrange all the other necessary details.”

After a few moments, with the handwritten and sealed note in hand, you leave the Lord's office and make for the mine complex. It isn't a difficult spot to find, with a massive pit surrounded by stone buildings that look as if they've been evolving naturally over the course of centuries, each generation of operations requiring new rooms and structures to be added onto the sides of what already stood there. The pit itself is some four or five times as wide as it is deep, with a gravel pathway that spirals to the bottom.

Inside what looks like one of the newer buildings, you find the boss in charge of mine operations and place your note on his desk.

He glances up from a stack of paperwork. “Okay, what is this?”

“A message from Lord Annemas,” you explain. “He wants you to give me a few miners to guide me down to the deep chamber, where I intend to check for yōma.”

The mine boss stares at you, scratching at the bald spot on the back of his head. “You sure about this?”

“Yes,” you confirm immediately. “Do you acknowledge the legitimacy of the message I've shown you?”

“The document is legitimate,” the boss sighs. “I can spare you three men and a harness. What you plan to do with that is up to you.”

The three men seem jumpy at first, whether because of what they've been assigned to do or because of who they've been told to escort you can't be sure. Either one is equally plausible. They speak in hushed tones as if that would keep you from hearing their chatter, which lasts all the way through the sixteen machinery chambers you were told about before.

“Here we are,” one of them tells you as he gestures to a small water-powered lift cage.

The cage takes you down into the lowest chamber you've been told about before, a place with no people and no sounds of work, with only the flickering of a series of open natural gas flames to guide your way.

>No yōma here. Job done.
>Destroy the shaft, then call it job done.
>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.
>Other?

>>3057735
>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.

>>3057735
>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.

>>3057735
>>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.

>>3057735
>>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.
this is so ballsy. let's do it

>>3057735
>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.
>>Other?

>>3057735
>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.

>>3057735
>>You have some rope and a harness, have the miners lower you the last sixty meters.

>>3057735
>No yōma here. Job done.
>Destroy the shaft, then call it job done.

>3d10, DC 10, Crit 22
>best of three

Rolled 1, 2, 9 = 12 (3d10)

>>3059325

Rolled 6, 3, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>3059325

Rolled 8, 4, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>3059325

Rolled 9, 5, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>3059325
iiiim laaaaate

>>3059334
so close.

>>3059325
“Lower me,” you order the team of miners.

After affixing a rope to the complicated harness you're now wearing over your issued uniform, which consists of a comprehensive series of straps around your legs, arms, and torso, the group wrap the rope around what looks to be a rotating winch of some kind. Then they begin to wind the rope, all hundred meters or so of it, around the square shaft at the center of the device.

“Okay,” one of the miners declares, slapping you on the shoulder. “We're ready. Just give us two hard pulls to let us know to pull you up.”

You lower yourself into the bore hole, and feel the unfamiliar sensation of putting yourself entirely in the hands of a team that's keeping you suspended in the air on a string. Grabbing the rope in your hand and leaning back slightly into your harness gives you a slightly greater sense of control, but it remains disconcerting as you're lowered into the darkness.

Eventually even your eyes can't make out the sides of the vertical tunnel. Then, abruptly, your feet touch something solid.

You... can't see a damn thing.

The miners who came down here before must have brought their own light sources with them, which you neglected to do having never experienced this sort of darkness before. It's actually somewhat eerie, being denied one of your senses. It almost feels like the darkness is somehow smothering your other senses as well.

Unaffected by any of this gloom is your yōki sense, which the more you focus on the more it feels like pushing off a curtain. There's just nothing out there to sense, which is good.

>Try and feel around you, see what you can tell about the nature of this space.
>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.
>Shout back up the shaft, have someone drop a torch.
>Head back up. There's nothing down here worth your time.

>>3059362
>Shout back up the shaft, have someone drop a torch.
>On failure: try echolocation

>>3059362
>Shout back up the shaft, have someone drop a torch.

>>3059362
>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.

>>3059362
>>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.
yoki-radar/-sonar

>>3059362
>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.
It could come in handy in other situations, so let's practice it.

>>3059362
>>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.

>>3059362
>Try and feel around you, see what you can tell about the nature of this space.

Yoki can draw attention of something sleeping, and a torch, unless its a flashlight can set off a gas explosion.

>>3059362
>>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.

>>3059362
>>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.

>>3059362
>You can sense yōki. Maybe releasing some into the enclosed space will help.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 7, 8, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>3060755

Rolled 10, 10, 4 = 24 (3d10)

>>3060755

Rolled 8, 4, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>3060755

>>3060758
Nice!

>>3060755
Focusing on your yōki sensing ability, almost to the point of straining, you prepare to try something a bit unusual. You may not be able to see anything down here, but what you can sense is the thing that you were essentially designed to sense with tremendous skill. All you need to make that sense useful here is a bit more 'ambiance'.

Suddenly raising your yōki utilization to something around twenty percent of your theoretical maximum, then dropping it back down to your resting level of nothing at all, you essentially release a short pulse. The results are a little bit like you suddenly turned the sun on down in this cavern for a second, then turned it off: the movements of the yōki you released within the space it suddenly filled leave you an instinctive image of your surroundings, almost as if in color. Though certainly, not in any scheme which would be considered 'natural'.

You're clearly in a tunnel, which slopes gently in both directions. To one side the tunnel travels upwards and seems to terminate abruptly a few yards away, while the other side slopes down and away for as far as your technique will work, about sixty yards. The walls and the ceiling height are roughly regular the whole way, right up to the last yard or two upslope.

The strangest thing is that the walls seem to have a familiar texture. They're hard stone, but with something you could call 'fluting', and there seem to be vertical pillars in the center of the space as well with the same texture along their entire height. Reaching out and touching the cold stone reaffirms your discovery.

It's almost as if the walls of this tunnel have been roughly hewn by metal tools.

>Continue your exploration a little further downslope, see if you can sense anything else.
>Examine the upper end of the tunnel, where it abruptly ends.
>Pull on the rope and head up, you have some questions for the Lord.
>Other?

>>3060882
>>Continue your exploration a little further downslope, see if you can sense anything else.

>>3060882
>Continue your exploration a little further downslope, see if you can sense anything else.

>>3060882
>Continue your exploration a little further downslope, see if you can sense anything else.

>>3060882
>Continue your exploration a little further downslope, see if you can sense anything else.
We can look at the other end on our way back. Also,
>Yoki sonar unlocked
Neato!

>>3060882
>Examine the upper end of the tunnel, where it abruptly ends.

>>3060882
>>Examine the upper end of the tunnel, where it abruptly ends.

>>3060882
>>Continue your exploration a little further downslope, see if you can sense anything else.

>>3060882
>Examine the upper end of the tunnel, where it abruptly ends.

We won't get a change on the way back, or forget.

>>3060882
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 10, 5, 7 = 22 (3d10)

>>3063465
i am so sorry

Rolled 4, 4, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>3063465
DICE

Rolled 5, 8, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>3063465

Rolled 2, 1, 9 = 12 (3d10)

>>3063465

>>3063465
You decide to press onward a little further, at least to the literal end of your rope. You're not sure how far that is, but even a few dozen paces down the corridor could lead you to a blind turn or a new cavern that your senses could not inform you of from where you entered the corridor.

But it certainly does seem to be increasingly clear that this tunnel was constructed by some unnatural force rather than by a slow process of erosion. You can't even tell where water would be coming in from, the rock doesn't seem especially porous and there's no obvious entry point.

Further down the corridor you find even more evidence that this cave was not formed naturally: steps, with even treads and rises, carved into the stone. The surfaces aren't adorned or smooth, still featuring the grooves and irregular marks you noticed before.

“How large is that really?” you wonder aloud, working your way towards the stairs you sensed before using your yōki echos.

Reaching down you measure their rise against your arm... finding that each is about as high as the distance between your fingertips and your elbow. Their width, based on the feeling you're getting from your yōki sensing, is about twice that.

In other words they're fairly large steps. Whether they were used as stairs at some point or not is...

… then you hit the limit of the rope. You can go no further in this direction without cutting off what for all you know is your only realistic way out of this place.

>Head back
>Press onward
>Other?

>>3063612
>Press onward

>>3063612
>Press onward

>>3063612
>Head back
No reason to go in unprepared

>>3063612
>>Press onward

>>3063612
>head back
we need to report our findings

>>3063612
>Head back

We can grab a torch and go back down, and get some fire starting material. Or a encased lantern to protect against falling water.

If we have some illumination we will be less likely to miss anything we walk right by.

>>3063612
>Head back

>>3063612
>Head back and grab a torch

>>3063703
>>3063612
supporting

>>3063612
>>3063703
In with this.

Better get a torch and a candle in a lantern and a spare for both+fire starting material since we all know how this is likely going to end.

>>3063612
>Head back

>>3063612
Supporting >>3063703

>>3063612
You decide to head back up the tunnel to where you came down, and when you get there you give the rope two hard pulls. The slack goes out of it first, and once that is gone you find yourself lifted off the ground and into the air.

Several minutes later you can see light, and a few minutes later you reach up and pull yourself the last length up and over the rim of the shaft.

“Good news is there are no yōma,” you explain calmly. “Bad news is I'm not finished down there yet. There's something I need to investigate.”

“Can you spare some torches?”

The miners exchange nervous glances. “Yes?”

“Good,” you nod, holding out your hands to accept the torches. “I will tie off the rope when I get down there, then proceed carefully. Between the torches and my enhanced senses I'll be fine.”

“Do you know how long you expect to take?” one of the miners asks you.

“An hour at most,” you decide on a clear point where you should break off your own search efforts below. “I will give one pull to let you know that I've tied off. Agreed?”

The miners eventually decide that will be acceptable, and so in short order you find yourself lowered into the abyss once again. After a long wait your feet touch the ground again, and you move forward to one of the closer pillars that are supporting the ceiling. You tie off your rope lead, and proceed forward on foot back to the top of the stairs you noticed before using nothing but your yōki echo sensing trick.
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 1, 6, 4 = 11 (3d10)

>>3068508

Rolled 10, 8, 9 = 27 (3d10)

>>3068508

Rolled 6, 10, 3 = 19 (3d10)

>>3068508

>>3068508

Rolled 1, 9, 4 = 14 (3d10)

>>3068508
I fucked up.

>>3068508
You press onward down the stairs, counting thirty of them before you reach a short hallway where the stairs reverse directions. At this landing there are two small holes in the wall, about the right size for iron pins of some fashion, and so you light your torch to look at it in further detail.

The space is dim of course, but the staining around the two holes suggests that you were right: there was iron or some other kind of metal here that's since rusted away, though there's no evidence of who would have put them here or when. All you can tell is that the metal corroded away from the moisture in the cavern, the walls of which are slightly damp to the touch. In summer when the meltwater is at its greatest you have no doubts it can get quite wet down here, and you also have little doubt that the water flowing in the mines some hundred or two hundred yards above you contributes to that, at least to some degree.

Leaving the torch, you continue down the next thirty steps to another gently-sloping hallway. Every ten yards or so there are large tunnels which run off at perpendiculars, ending maybe twenty or thirty yards away.

“This is a mine,” you realize aloud despite knowing that you're alone. “But one that seems to have been progressing... upwards?”

But to what end... and more confusingly, from where?

The answers to those questions will probably continue to evade you, it seems. At the end of this hallway which runs about a hundred yards there is another stairway. This one however has survived the unknown amount of time with more damage to show for it... the whole space is full of heavy rubble through which a small pool of water slowly drains. Clearly there is more behind this blockage, but you have no way of knowing how far this pile of rubble extends or whether shifting the larger stones will expose new instabilities and faults within the structure around you.

A badly corroded lantern lying half-crushed under a smaller stone and the head of a pick with a hole through it for a haft suggest the fates of the last people who tried to clear this blockage.

“I found some traces of the group that came down here last,” you declare to the miners, earning uncomfortable shifting from most of them, “preserved by the chill and the minerals of the cavern walls. They died trying to shift some rubble, collapsed the ceiling in on themselves.”

“So it was dangerous down there after all,” one miner sighs.

“But no threat of yōma,” you point out. “Going any lower than this level will probably increase the risk of accidentally tunneling through into an unstable pocket like what killed those poor people, so you may be right to continue avoiding going any deeper.”

“The Lord will want to hear about this,” another miner declares.

“And I think we could all use a meal,” another agrees. “Let's get out of here... assuming it's alright with you, miss?”

“I've seen enough,” you agree.
>1/2

>>3068683
“So there are caverns down there that are structurally unsound,” Lord Annemas muses after you relay the full story to him. He's cleared out his other guests, mostly traders and petty nobles of little repute, to speak with you alone. “We were wise to avoid further trouble by pressing onward, but foolish for assigning our losses to the work of monsters.”

“Perhaps,” you shrug, unwilling to comment on whether humans themselves qualify as 'monsters' given what you know them to be capable of. “In any event there is no threat of yōma from those mines, unless one sneaks in to hide there at some point. If that happens, don't hesitate to call.”

“One thing bothers me,” Lord Annemas narrows his eyes at you. “You described several things which by your choice of words almost implicates design rather than natural function. But you were very careful not to make any claims to that end.”

“It isn't my place to speculate,” you admit.

“Speculate for me,” Annemas insists, leaning forward to place his chin against the backs of his hands.

>They're artificial, and very old. That's all I can say for certain.
>They're actually mines of some kind, I think. They share a structure with the gallery-style layouts your own people employ.
>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.
>I have literally no idea. It confuses the hell out of me and I don't like it.
>Other?

>>3068701
>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.

>>3068701
>>They're actually mines of some kind, I think. They share a structure with the gallery-style layouts your own people employ.
>>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.

>>3068701

>They're artificial, and very old. That's all I can say for certain.
>They're actually mines of some kind, I think. They share a structure with the gallery-style layouts your own people employ.
>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.

>>3068701
>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.

>>3068701
>They're actually mines of some kind, I think. They share a structure with the gallery-style layouts your own people employ.
>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.
>other: They remind me of a folklore some of the locals in Hazaran used to tell. They say that the lands used to be occupied by "giants" before we humans settled here. I even saw what appears to be a stairway so large that it seems to be made for such beings. In fact, if they were made by the mythical beings of folklore, then we would find runestones scattered about down there.
>other: Pull out your book and show him the page of the runestone marking you drew (if we did) as an example.

>>3068701
>They're actually mines of some kind, I think. They share a structure with the gallery-style layouts your own people employ.
>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.

>>3068701
>>They're strange. The features are too large to be efficient, and the furthest end where work ceased seems to be at the highest point of the complex.

>>3068701
>Other?
I'm not saying it's mole people but. it's mole people.

>>3068701
>>3068731
this

>>3068731
Supporting this

>>3068701
>>3071332
Oops, forgot to link my post

>>3068701
“They seem to share a similar layout to your own mines, with a series of long hallways with galleries to the sides. There are even hewn pillars left for structural support,” you explain, offering a bit of your own interpretation. “There are a few complications, which are the inefficient scale of the works and the fact that the point where it seems work halted was at the highest point in the complex.”

“Sometimes that's how things are done,” Lord Annemas muses thoughtfully, “but only when the workers are coming up along a vein from below. Could you tell which way it was heading?”

You shake your head. “No. The next level doubled back, so there's no way to tell which direction the lowest level is facing.”

“Intriguing,” the Lord sighs, “though based on your report it seems as if it would be unsafe to send anyone there again.”

“That's my view,” you agree. “So unless you have any further need of a Warrior it seems our business has been concluded.”

“It seems that way,” the Lord agrees. “Though while you were down there, someone came asking about you.”

A familiar voice greets you as the man in question is allowed to enter. “Ah, so there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you.”

You sigh dramatically. “Hello, Tomas.”

“To answer your immediate question yes,” he begins, “we did get your various warnings about the Inquisition.”

“That's good,” you nod sternly. “I also have the new location of the client who was involved, she has the remainder of the payment.”

>Let's talk about the Inquisition.
>We need to talk about Laura.
>We need to talk about the Awakened Beings.
>Let's talk about my next mission.

>>3071762
>We need to talk about Laura.
>Let's talk about the Inquisition.
>Let's talk about my next mission.

>>3071762
>We need to talk about Laura.

>>3071762
>>We need to talk about Laura.

>>3071762
>We need to talk about Laura.

>>3071762
>>We need to talk about the Awakened Beings.

>>3071762
>>We need to talk about Laura.
>>Let's talk about the Inquisition.
>>Let's talk about my next mission.

>>3071762
>We need to talk
All the things.

>>3071762
>We need to talk about Laura.
Then discuss the rest if we can, but that should be our priority.

>>3071762
>We need to talk about the inquisition
this will affect our other claymore comrades more than just the one claymore that’s been a thorn in the organization’s side.

>>3071762
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 3, 7, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>3073322

Rolled 1, 7, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>3073322
come on Lucifer, you owe me

Rolled 6, 6, 2 = 14 (3d10)

>>3073322

Rolled 9, 5, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>3073322

>>3073322
“We need to talk,” you declare firmly. “I think you know what about.”

“Yes,” Tomas replies, his usual smug grin fading. “For once I believe we agree completely.”

Tomas leads you through the street to what looks like the nicest inn in the city, which is still rather small and dumpy-looking on the outside. But within you find that every wooden surface has been intricately carved, the plaster kept immaculately clean, and the linens and upholstery skillfully embroidered. Like in Hazaran the motifs are mainly floral, with the borders being strongly lined or having been given some slight geometric pattern.

It's honestly quite pretty to look at, and absolutely deceptive compared to the state of the outside.

The room that your handler has been renting is on the second floor, cozy with two chairs and a table in the sitting area and a cozy-looking bed just around a short wall that serves to divide the space. There's even a small fireplace, which surprises you somewhat.

“Sit,” Tomas insists, gesturing towards one chair.

You oblige him, setting your sword to one side.

“We have spread word of your warning among our warriors and handlers,” Tomas informs you, “so you may rest assured that the Inquisition will have a hard time taking our personnel by surprise in the future.”

That's good to hear. With some forewarning it should be far easier for your fellow warriors to avoid the sort of 'lucky shot' that might actually take one of them down. But there's still a matter that concerns you.

“I need to speak to you about Laura,” you declare in no uncertain terms.

“I understood that you were off in the north of Hazaran on a misadventure,” Tomas muses. “So you heard of that incident?”

You nod. “I did. I want to know what the Organization intends to do about the situation.”

“She has gone somewhere that we do not feel it possible to pursue her at this time,” Tomas explains, watching you carefully for any signs of recognition as to what that means. You offer him no such signs. “If you know the reason for that then it should go without saying, however if you do not know about it then explaining it to you would go against the usual Organization protocols for information control. So I believe it would be best if we simply left it at that.”

“You don't intend to pursue Laura, then?”

Tomas narrows his eyes slightly. “For now.”

“The Council does, however, still have some outstanding business.”

“Good luck getting Laura to come in and talk with them now,” you shake your head dismissively.

“Not with her,” Tomas corrects you. “With you. They wish to speak with you on Lavinia, as soon as possible. The various warriors assigned to the neighboring regions will handle your usual jobs for the duration of your absence.”

>I have no say in the matter, do I?
>They want to speak with me about the Inquisition?
>Don't jerk me around. What do they REALLY want with me?
>Other?

>>3073495
>>I have no say in the matter, do I?
>Don't jerk me around. What do they REALLY want with me?
Not like mincing words will make your presence more bearable, tman

>>3073495
>>Don't jerk me around. What do they REALLY want with me?

>>3073498
>>3073495
supporting this

>>3073495
>Don't jerk me around. What do they REALLY want with me?

>>3073495
>They want to speak with me about the Inquisition?
Let's not be too openly hostile.

>>3073495
>other: "Will you be accompanying me to Lavinia or are they giving you a more 'manageable' claymore to handle while I'm gone?"

>>3073495
>other: "Will you be accompanying me to Lavinia or are they giving you a more 'manageable' claymore to handle while I'm gone?"

>>3073495
>Don't jerk me around. What do they REALLY want with me?

>>3073495
>What do they really want with me?

>>3073495
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 7, 7, 1 = 15 (3d10)

>>3075148

Rolled 7, 10, 4 = 21 (3d10)

>>3075148

Rolled 8, 5, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>3075148

>>3075148
You stare at him resolutely. “Cut out the nonsense, Tomas. What do they really want from me?”

“I'm not sure what you mean to imply,” he counters.

“What I mean is that were they merely curious about the Inquisition, I told them everything worth knowing in my letters,” you point out. “So I doubt that their true interest would be in something like that, or were they so interested I doubt they would have me come all the way out to Lavinia to talk about it.”

“That is what they have you for, isn't it?”

“So you see the situation that clearly,” your handler sighs, admitting defeat entirely through tone and body language. “The old men see you as a promising individual. They wish to determine a few things about you in person rather than simply relying on my reports.”

“And what would give them a better ability to do that at Lavinia?” you press.

Tomas shakes his head, and you know immediately what you're going to get next is a half-truth at best, or a flat denial at worst.

“That is for them to know,” Tomas insists with a stern gaze. “Needless to say there are certain assets available at the Organization's headquarters that are not available in the field that will allow for a more thorough assessment.”

“I take it you're not going to give away any more details, then?” you sigh.

Tomas' grin returns. “You know me well.”

“Then do you at least have any advice for me going in?” you ask.

For a moment your handler seems to consider the question in earnest. “There is one thing I have noted which I have chosen to withhold from the Council.”

“And that is?” you press, more out of curiosity than any anticipation that it will be useful information.

“Your apparent popularity,” Tomas replies.

“Come again?” you ask.

“Olivia and Laura both think... or in Olivia's case thought... highly of you,” Tomas explains slowly. “And from what I have heard Valentina and now Serana practically adore you. Quite a following.”

>Why would that be a problem? Even if I disagree with some of the Organization's practices and priorities we have a common mission.
>So in other words they question my loyalty, and believe that I could rally several warriors to leave the Organization en masse.
>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.
>Other?

>>3075271
>>So in other words they question my loyalty, and believe that I could rally several warriors to leave the Organization en masse.

>>3075271
>>So in other words they question my loyalty, and believe that I could rally several warriors to leave the Organization en masse.

>>3075271
>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.
If Thomas has withheld our popularity from the Council, the matter couldn't be about it. Unless they know from other sources.

>>3075271
>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.

>>3075284
this

>>3075271
>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.

>>3075271
>>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.

>>3075284
What if their handlers told the council? Unless Thomas is the handler for all of them.

>>3075271
>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.

>>3075271
>Even if I cannot be certain of the Council's thinking, I will certainly be on my guard in their presence.

>>3075271
“Even if I can't really be certain of what the Council is thinking,” you decide aloud, “I will certainly have to be on guard in any event.

“I would have thought you'd leap to conclusions,” Tomas muses, basically taunting you at this point. “You've grown more mature.”

“It comes with the increase in rank,” you lie, rolling your eyes. “But there is also a chance that the handlers of those other warriors you've named have mentioned me in their own reports. So I cannot afford to make any assumptions regarding their motives or what they do or do not know.”

“I would even be careful of speaking in such a manner,” your handler warns you. “A keen awareness of your own position under the Organization's watchful eye could also be used to suggest willfulness. That is a trait which the Council will not approve of.”

“Part of me wanted to suggest that the Council suspects me of disloyalty,” you admit, narrowing your gaze. “Though if anything it appears that those thoughts are yours instead. If so, why would you avoid reporting fully to the Council?”

“I consider your willfulness to be part of your charm,” Tomas contends.

“If you had charm this is where I would make a comment about it.”

“You wound me.”

“I wish.”

“The honest answer is that I rather like you, Noel Tiberius di Hazaran,” Tomas admits, lowering the brim of his hat. “And I enjoy working with you more than any warrior in a long time. So I would like to continue working with you for as long as is feasible. In some cases, that means obfuscating the truth somewhat in order to present you to the Council in a way they will find more palatable.”

“Obfuscate,” you repeat. “As opposed to lying.”

“You picked up on the key detail,” he replies calmly. “If it comes down to you or me, then I choose me of course. You're the courageous one here, not me. I will only go so far to shield you.”

“Remember that well.”

“Is that a warning, or is there some other intent there?” you wonder aloud.

“How could you interpret that as anything but a warning?”

“With you there's always a second meaning,” you sigh, slumping in your chair in a most unladylike fashion. “I'm convinced it's the only fun you ever have.”

“It's important to enjoy what you do,” Tomas replies simply.

>Excuse yourself, you have a long route to travel through the mountains.
>Ask how Tomas suggests you reach Lavinia, whether there's a time expectation, etc.
>Ask about the facility at Lavinia. It's been years since you set foot there.
>Other?

>>3077029
>Ask how Tomas suggests you reach Lavinia, whether there's a time expectation, etc.
>Ask about the facility at Lavinia. It's been years since you set foot there.

>>3077029
Ask how Tomas suggests you reach Lavinia, whether there's a time expectation, etc.
>Ask about the facility at Lavinia. It's been years since you set foot there.

>>3077029
>Ask about the facility at Lavinia. It's been years since you set foot there.

>>3077029
>Ask about the facility at Lavinia. It's been years since you set foot there.
>Ask how Tomas suggests you reach Lavinia, whether there's a time expectation, etc.
>other: "are you coming with me or staying in the field?"

>>3077029
>>Ask about the facility at Lavinia. It's been years since you set foot there.

I like Tomas, gonna suck when he stabs us in the back

>>3077029
>Other?
Ask how we should conduct ourselves there, or how our general attitude be like? Submissive, misinformed, oblivious, etc.

>>3077050
Implying he hasn't and we didn't notice the poisoned pinprick already.

I'm thinking someone may intercept us on the way there.....

>>3077050
I do have to ask, What is it about Noel that Tomas likes so much?

>>3077129
His way of getting back at the org. for screwing him.

>>3077129
i wonder if his relationship with our mum has anythin' to do with it

>>3077624
shhh, don't spoil it.

>>3077029
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 6, 4, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>3078501

Rolled 4, 7, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>3078501

Rolled 10, 1, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>3078501

Rolled 1, 7, 3 = 11 (3d10)

>>3078501

Rolled 1, 1, 7 = 9 (3d10)

>>3078501

>>3078501
“How will I know when I get there?” you ask half-jokingly. “The last time I was on Lavinia was for indoctrination.”

“The only city on the island is Aquileia,” Tomas reminds you, “which divides the two busiest ports in the world. The port of Misenum is home to the headquarters of the Banking guild and the Merchants' guild, and is a frequent stopover for traffic all around the world. The port of Stifone is home to the Shipwrights' guild, and is the only yard capable of producing and maintaining clipper ships.”

“So civilians live there too?” you ask, a little curious. You don't remember the area clearly at all... you were brought in at night, in the driving rain, and you were cold and miserable at the time. If memory serves you were also still recovering from having been speared and thrown out a window.

“Many,” Tomas confirms, “though most only live there either to provide services to the sailors passing through or to the guilds that are headquartered there. Hardly any of them have anything to do with the Organization, and none dare venture beyond the city walls.”

“That's where our training is conducted,” you recall.

Tomas nods. “Indeed. Survival training is always conducted on the uninhabited sections of the island, though there are also facilities operated by the Organization all along the city wall, and at key points beyond that.”

“That's the first I've heard of it.”

“Mostly they are underground,” Tomas explains carefully. “You ever wonder where your swords come from, that is your answer.”

“I see,” you nod. “So that's how it is. You keep them hidden like that to keep the process behind creating such weapons a secret. One smith I spoke to called it a form of powder steel?”

“Your smith-friend is a keen one,” Tomas muses appreciatively. “Good to see you did not take our work to some upstart with gaudy taste.”

“How do you know they weren't an upstart?”

“Even to rework this material without overheating it or failing to produce a clean weld takes immense skill,” Tomas clarifies.

>And so I will be taken to one of those facilities? Will you be coming along?
>I assume I will be met at the docks and escorted.
>Who is the warrior assigned to Lavinia and what can you tell me about her?
>Other?

>>3078614
>And so I will be taken to one of those facilities? Will you be coming along?
>Who is the warrior assigned to Lavinia and what can you tell me about her?

>>3078614
>>And so I will be taken to one of those facilities? Will you be coming along?
>>I assume I will be met at the docks and escorted.

>>3078614
>>I assume I will be met at the docks and escorted.

>>3078614
Are... we sure we want to go back for this?

Getting some lamb to the slaughter vibes.

>>3078626
it's either this or be marked as a rogue claymore like Laura.
Besides, we're still building up our influence amongst org society and human societies. lets try and milk the most out of the Org resources.

There better be a shonen/shota we can pick up in Lavinia

>>3078614
>And so I will be taken to one of those facilities? Will you be coming along?
>I assume I will be met at the docks and escorted.
>Who is the warrior assigned to Lavinia and what can you tell me about her?

>>3078631
I'm worried we have built up as much as we can and we're sticking around to get stabbed in the back.

I don't care about having a child around.. that's weird dude.

>>3078614
>Who is the warrior assigned to Lavinia and what can you tell me about her?

>>3078637
Its probably something for them to decide if they kill us on the spot at the interrogation.

>>3078666
And I'm thinking they already decided to, they just want us in an easy to reach point to kill us.

Like I feel like this is the kgb asking us to just step into the Lubyanka building real quick.

>>3078680
Maybe we can take our time getting there?

>>3078680
Why? We haven't been spilling their secrets or anything seditious. I'm not saying it's impossible, I just don't see it fitting their MO. Maybe if they were sure we knew something we shouldn't or they think Noel poses a threat, but The Organization, frankly, isn't that fearful of risk.

I have a different suspicion, but it's entirely meta. Let's just say I suspect they have something very specific in mind for Noel.

>>3078857
Also, despite what we've seen so far in canon, there really hasn't been much exploration in how the Org works as a whole when it comes to logistics and it's network structure.

>>3078857
We're creating a following around Noel. Loyalty to anyone other than the organization is probably a threat. We were the friend of someone who was just accused of killing humans and apparently fled into a 'zone' they can't access.

The zone they can't access just happens to be our mothers territory.

We've always been a dangerous subject due to who our mother was and the circumstances of our birth.

I could be wrong, perhaps coming back is just an evaluation to avoid risking any destruction/damage at the HQ.

But it could be a "Yes Noel, just step into this dark underground room with no room to maneuver."

>>3079309
Pretty sure its the number one who tends to off other claymores.

>>3078614
“Do you intend to join me on this trip?” you ask calmly.

Tomas shakes his head. “No.”

That was a far simpler response than you anticipated, and it gives you far less information than you would have hoped. But you suppose that there was always a chance that this was going to happen.

“Then can you at least tell me anything about the Warrior assigned to Lavinia?” you press.

This time, Tomas seems interested in your line of reasoning. “Why would you like to know that?”

“That would be Zoe,” Tomas tells you calmly. “Currently ranked tenth in the Organization.”
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 7, 1, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>3080894

Rolled 9, 2, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>3080894

Rolled 8, 4, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>3080894
Also we'll have to figure out how to reopen our stigmata.

Rolled 1, 8, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>3080894

>>3080913
Cut them open and don't regenerate?

>>3080919
we regen on automatic usually, hence issue.

>>3080902
>>3080903
>>3080913
>>3080919
well those number are weirdly consistent

>>3080894
“And why would the tenth-ranked warrior be the one kept on Lavinia?” you ask. “You could go with a lower-ranked warrior if you just needed some basic security, since rank tends to loosely correlate inversely with distance from Lavinia.”

“But if you wanted a defense against other warriors, you could have assigned a single-digit to the region.”

“And what does that tell you about Zoe's case?” your handler asks you, prompting an answer.

You think about it for a moment. “She must have an exceptional ability that is of some use, either in terms of securing the local area or countering the abilities of most warriors would be my guesses.”

“And one of those broad categories is right,” Tomas replies with a smirk. “Up to you to figure out which.”

“Now, you should probably get moving.”

>Head back through Acerrae, leave Alysheba with Lord Byron.
>Ride to the coast of Acquitan, take Alysheba all the way.
>Take Alysheba to the coast and find a boat that will carry him too.
>Other?

>>3080952
>>Head back through Acerrae, leave Alysheba with Lord Byron.

>>3080952
>>Ride to the coast of Acquitan, take Alysheba all the way.
it might be less suspicious if we take him with us, in contrast to leaving him somewhere close

>>3080952
>Ride to the coast of Acquitan, take Alysheba all the way.

>>3080952
>Head back through Acerrae, leave Alysheba with Lord Byron.
Horses fear normal Claymores

>>3080975
it'd be even more suspicious, as we're bucking the norm.

>>3080952
>Head back through Acerrae, leave Alysheba with Lord Byron.

>>3080952
>>Head back through Acerrae, leave Alysheba with Lord Byron.

>>3080952
>Head back through Acerrae, leave Alysheba with Lord Byron.

>>3080952
>Ride to the coast of Acquitan, take Alysheba all the way.
Bet zoe fucks with other peoples yoki or something.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>3080952
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 7, 8, 5 = 20 (3d10)

>>3083921

Rolled 10, 4, 2 = 16 (3d10)

>>3083921

Rolled 3, 8, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>3083921
dice toime

Rolled 9, 7, 9 = 25 (3d10)

>>3083921

>>3083944
Well done

>>3083921
You elect to ride Alysheba down the mountains and into the town of Acerrae, where you notice a familiar yōki presence. Not your mother's, but that of Laura. Unsurprisingly you find her near where you were planning to go anyway, the vineyard owned by Lord Byron.

A few servants greet you warmly as you ride into the stables, finding Alysheba an empty and clean stall to stay in. The other horses seem agitated already when you arrive, no doubt because Laura was already here. If your half-awakening had no effect on their responses to you, you would've been very surprised indeed had they responded favorably to Laura.

“You'll get used to her,” you tell no one in particular as you walk out of the stables and towards the barrel room where Laura is.

“You took your sweet time,” Laura greets you, as she hefts a large barrel onto a wooden framework that keeps it up off the floor. Not even a grunt of exertion despite the fact that it must weigh more than a fully-grown horse.

“Lift with your knees,” you taunt her. “Not with your back.”

“I doubt it'll make a difference,” Lord Byron muses thoughtfully, “though in any event we sure appreciate the hand. Wish you'd let us pay you for it.”

Laura shakes her head. “Your silence is payment enough.”

“That and most of us warriors aren't totally comfortable with accepting money,” you add. “Hard habit to break.”

“It's a meaningful principle,” Laura contends. “We do not profit from our abilities, and certainly not when humans are the beneficiaries.”

“Why are you here?”

>I need a place to leave Alysheba for a while. Lord Byron, is that okay with you?
>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.
>Nevermind that. How have you been dealing with these complications so far, Laura?
>Other?

>>3084151
>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

>>3084151
I'm worried we need to take Alysheba due to being badly "effected" and can't run very far on our own power, but on the other end if we aren't then we might end up leaving him behind.

>>3084151
>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

>>3084167
explain what you mean by "badly effected"

>>3084151
>>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

>>3084151
>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

>>3084151
>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

>>3084172
injured or low on yoki
or i suspect that the #10 can mess with our yoki use.

>>3084151
>>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

>>3084151
>>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

Omake idea: Alysheba continues to be an oddball horse by his stubborn and often trollish interactions with Laura (i.e. sneaking a munch from the feedbag, chewing on her hair, being an ass when Laura rides him)

>>3084151
>I've been recalled to Lavinia, so I need to leave Alysheba somewhere for now.

Wonder if Laura will take this as the sort-of-dark omen that it is.