>>3466746
Damn wrong voting fags. We could have been back home and done with this slave shit by now if we didn’t try to take the blame for the other guys being retards.

>>3466793
>Implying murdering all of those cunts wasn’t our failure

>>3466800
We could have just kept our mouth shut, taken the ransom, and got home. But I guess now we have a plot hook to come kill this lord for revenge.

>>3466746
>>Instead of getting your throat cut, you were sold once again, this time as a gladiator
OH FFS. This quest is plot twist after plot twist after plot twist. I knew fucking taking responsibility for the sake of those clowns was a retarded idea. Our hope of returning home and seeing Silvia again is gone forever now.

>>3466800
>implying being in the situation in the first place wasn't because of how people were voting

>>3466810
No sweet, hot, pure, virginal farmers daughter waifu for us.

>>3466793
What the fuck? I come back and we got sold again?

>>3466817
Yes. We voted to take the blame, and now we are a slave so far away from home we might as well forget our friends, our family, and Silvia.

>>3466823
>We voted to take the blame
.....and why exactly?

>>3466829
I don’t fucking know. I voted against it. I wanted to keep our mouth shut, get ransomed, and go back home.

I imagine that as soon as we single-handedly slew those men is getting resold as a gladiator was set in stone

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Your new master is a familiar face, one you had hoped was long dead. He walks with a cane, a leg damaged by an old wound. He wears a set of whiskers neatly combed and oiled. His fat hands are adorned with rings and silken gloves. But he is still the rat-faced Briton that you remember, still ever the politician and conniver. He owns two full squads of fighters, ten men, of which you are a part--not because of any skill, but because of your name (for which he bid three times the regular price). Briton wants to see you embarrassed before you die.

And he wastes no time. Your first match is on the very day of your arrival to the city of Lescruz. Not even one of the real fights but a midian, one of the preliminary "executions" that are held at midday before the main event. You wait with ten other men, criminals convicted of a capital offense, to take part in some historical reenactment in which your side plays the losers. The battle will continue until the victory is total, until every man on your team is dead.

But you have no intention of dying here. It seems like god won't let you die anyway and you feel...

>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.
>Grateful. And you're going to live on at any cost, starting by staying at the fringes of this fight.
>Vengeful. And you're going destroy god's work wherever you find it, starting with this hapless lot

>>3466848
>Vengeful. And you're going destroy god's work wherever you find it, starting with this hapless lot

Especially vengeance against the cunt that sold us, and everyone else who fucked us into this situation.

>>3466848
>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.
I WAS CHOSEN BY HEAVEN, SAY MY NAME WHEN YOU PRAY

>>3466848
>Vengeful. And you're going destroy god's work wherever you find it, starting with this hapless lot
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>3466848
>>Vengeful. And you're going destroy god's work wherever you find it, starting with this hapless lot
We /Spartacus/ now

>>3466848
>>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466872
>Wanting to lose
I say again, slave revolts don’t work unless you live on a damn island

>>3466872
That means that we start off vengeful but become INVINCIBLE? I can dig it

>>3466848
>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.
We won’t lose here

>>3466878
Well I mean we could always win our freedom and work from there then.
Wooden Sword and all that

>>3466848
>>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

Could you guys stop making the same fucking mistakes already?

>>3466932
I mean I'm not sure having a "save everyone" hero complex is gonna be a helpful route either tho. We already got fucked by taking the blame. We need to start being pragmatic and stop sticking our necks out for random people.

>>3466848
>Vengeful. And you're going destroy god's work wherever you find it, starting with this hapless lot
fuk god.
How the hell did Briton get rich anyways? Wasn't his father in law in debt? He ran away from battle, where did he get the money from??
>>3466872
Please let us not get into a slave rebellion and get caught again in the never-ending plot-twists. You anons with your morality keep screwing us up. We're not here to save the world, we're here to get back to our waifu and mediocre life as a second son.

>>3466943
To attain freedom as a gladiator, you need to be impressive as fuck. Having an invincibility complex is good for the purposes of being impressive as fuck. On the other hand, being a raging faggot who is plotting to tear down the social order or whatever brings nothing much of use. Being a “survivor” too is of little worth to a man of the gladiatorial sort, as it merely means his survivability will be tested. I see this being pretty cut and dry personally.

>>3466958
I just want to put a dagger in Jerods throat tbqh. If we achieve nothing else other than killing him after we return home it will be a good life.

>>3466943
It's not a good samaritan situation, you fucking retard. It's the best way to survive by making sure everyone knows what they are doing and sticks together. Do you not understand the basics of teamwork and squad dynamics? Have you never watched a sports movie or sporting event?

>>3466958
We can start out Vengeful, than gain the invincibility mythos. We can do both, get revenge upon our master, and the guy who sold us, by leading a gladiator revolt and killing them both.

>>3466995
You seem hostile.

>>3466992
He got his arm cut off on the battlefield fool, he’s fucking dead.

>>3467001
Gladiatorial revolts never have and never will work, and that is a path to a pointless and wildly foolish death via crucifixion or somesuch treatment.

>>3467001

>t. has never been to the Appian Way

>>3467007
And you seem mentally deficient, but I guess we each have our cross to bear, eh?

Wow, this is a really great quest to make me feel this angry about a random nonexistant entity.

>>3467022
>and you seem mentally deficient
This is ironic coming from someone whose main argument seems to be screeching like a raging autist

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>>3467042
>ironic

>>3467039
Definitely is a great quest, 10/10 would get frustrated about again

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>>3467048

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>>3467050
>not changing the filename

>>3467016
Nubian, I was born upon Via Appia. My mother was a she wolf and I lived as a wolf for my formative years. Just as a True Roman should.

>>3467067
Fight me behind the bleachers after school faggot. Make sure you bring your beyblades.

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>>3467073

>>3467071
Then you should have seen the thousands of crosses from Capua to Rome you misbegotten Carthaginian

> Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466848
>>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

we might as well keep up with the trend, the more people at our side the more chance to survive

Qm question, have we heard from the Lt? does he know of our destiny? I guess we are not that far since it's Briton our owner now, maybe Silvia is not that out of reach

>>3466848
Hey, if Britonis our owner it means we are probably back to our old lord's lands, maybe there is a chance, a good chance, of someone we know to at least see us and know where we are now.
The Lt. probably let our family know that we were sold as a gladiator after he came to try and ramson us.

>>3466848
>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466848
>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466848
>Vengeful. And you're going destroy god's work wherever you find it, starting with this hapless lot

>>3466848
>>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466746
>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466848
>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

>>3466848
>>Invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

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It seems like god won't let you die anyway, and you feel invincible. And you're going to save as many as you can, starting with these convicts.

The arena itself is enormous, almost four hundred feet across, and though the seats are not all full there must be at least ten thousand citizens come to watch you die. Opposite and above your entrance, the highest seat belongs to the lord of Lescruz, but he is not here. In his place there are two veiled women, one older and one younger, that watch over the proceedings reclined in long chairs.

As he files out of the narrow opening, each convict touches the sand and then kisses his fingers. You pass normally. You have no need of such vulgar superstitions. The enemy team has already taken up formations in the center. The Arena rules dictate that the count of men on each side must always be even but beyond that the enemy is given as many advantages as it is possible to give. Four are mounted on white horses, three are positioned on a small hill and armed with bows, and three are armored in chain. The convicts have been given tower shields and their choice of weapon. A few are also armed with javelins. None are armored.

The announcer begins his speech, detailing the crimes of those about to be executed. You're among murderers and thieves, but it doesn't matter. They will all be saved. You make your own speech, an earnest plea to work together, that if they win this fight they will be set free and given a second chance in life and that this fight is not hopeless, it can be won. When they ask who you are to make such claims, you answer "I am the chosen of god." and so simple and so confident is your delivery that they cannot even scoff but instead must regard you with awe and wonder.

The battle begins. Your strategy is simple. The ten men are divided into two squads: six men in the center, two on each wing, curved back like a pulled bow. You will march steadily toward the hill with shields raised, and put up the spear wall to keep the cavalry at bay. Once you've reached the hill, the wings will break off and ambush the archers while the center holds the infantry and cavalry. Those with javelins will throw them at the cavalrymen, aiming to unhorse and take their steeds, otherwise they will save them for the infantry charge. There are no questions, only the fanatical faith of the dead in he that still speaks of life.

As for you...

>You're on the wings and you help take out the archers
>You're in the center and you manage to get yourself a mount
>You're in the center and help hold the line against the infantry

>>3469336
>>You're in the center and help hold the line against the infantry

Infantry to infantry combat is what we have the most experience in.

>>3469336
>You're in the center and help hold the line against the infantry
A specialty of ours

>>3469336

>You're in the center and you manage to get yourself a mount

Maximus!

>>3469336
>You're in the center and help hold the line against the infantry

>>3469336
>>You're in the center and you manage to get yourself a mount

>>3469336
>You're in the center and help hold the line against the infantry
Taking down the prick standing in front of us is something we're well-versed in.

>>3469336
>>You're in the center and you manage to get yourself a mount

As for you, you're in the center and help hold the line against the infantry. The first phase of the plan goes without a hitch. The curved formation prevents the cavalry from charging since you can easily clump together, the moment the horses come close. You and the rest of the center are tasked with repelling archer fire and once you reach the base of the hill (in a slow but steady pace) from keeping the infantry occupied. The other side must have expected an easy match and the crowd an easy spectacle of gore, but as the fight goes on and the infantry cannot push back the line of spearmen and the archers lose the hill and two of the cavalrymen are skewered through the chest by javelins, a hush falls over them both.

The flankers, instead of chasing the archers as planned, become overconfident, regroup and charge the enemy infantry from the rear. The cavalry has wised up and is preparing a counter-charge from the other side of the hill. Meanwhile the archers have regrouped and are attempting to swing behind your center to shoot your backs. With only the split second for action you...

>Continue holding the infantry, pinning them in place for the flankers.
>Leave the flankers to their fate, and go for the archers
>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses

>>3469874
>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses
Hells bells....

>>3469874
>>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses

>>3469874
>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses
What could go wrong?

>>3469874
>>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses

>>3469874

>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses

Remember bros, when they offer us some women for our impressive performances eventually we should deny.
Even if Silvia is long ways away, that image of purity is what kept us going for a long time, and may even help us survive this, even if she is married to someone else, we'll have her to thank for giving us a goal and hope. A simbol.

>>3469874
>Run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses
"I AM THE SUN! WITNESS MY GLORY"

>>3469874
>interpose and take horses
MAXIMUS
MAXIMUS
MAXIMUS

With only the split second for action you run up the hill and interpose between the cavalry and your men, surrounding the former and taking their horses. This has the double effect of moving out of the range of the archers and winning the height advantage. The crowd, thus far on the edge of their seats, has now begun to cheer for your team. You order two of the men to take the mounts and kill the archers while you and the rest charge down the hill to support the infantry.

It's just mop up now. With three dead and four wounded, the rest wave the white flag. On your side, only one is seriously wounded and that only because he took the brunt of the cavalry attack, and even he will live. The crowd has gone crazy, but it's the convicts who are the most amazed. One of them actually makes a motion to kiss your feet, as though you were some kind of saint and the others are giving you looks which suggest that their thoughts are moving in similar directions. You look up into the roaring faces, and then beyond into the heavens, to the pure blue sky and the sun in its zenith.

Invincible.

The older of the two veiled women, stands and raises her arms for silence. You can feel her gaze on your face, even through the sheet of silk. She makes a short speech commending the "performance" and pardoning the convicts for providing "adequate amusement". The convicts, hardly able to believe their fortune, fall to embracing each other. You quietly retire to the entry way, where one of Briton's servants waits to take you back to your chambers.

Your room is a glorified prison cell, barely better than the slave barracks you left behind. But what it lacks in decor, it more than makes up for in privacy. Just four walls and a door, a high window, a table and a small cot. But it is yours and no one else's. And though you are a slave, you do enjoy some of the liberties of a free man. You're allowed to go into town once a week (granted, with an armed escort), you're allowed to ask for better food (so long as you pay for it) and most importantly, you are paid for every match you survive. Even Briton cannot wiggle around this, it is writ down in the ancient law.

So it is a matter of not small satisfaction when Briton finally shows up--in person--to deliver your winnings from the midian. He's looks less annoyed than you'd hoped, but he's not smiling as much as he did when he was explaining your execution. "Congratulations. You've made an impression on the lady of the city. She wants the "handsome one" to fight again in the main event." He tosses you the bag of coins. Every so often he coughs into his hand.

"Today?" The feel of so much cold silver through your fingers is a thrill unlike any other.

"No. Combatants aren't allowed to fight more than one bout per day." He sounds like he made the effort to check.

"Guess my execution's been delayed."

1/3

>>3470451
"Yes, I guess so." He goes into a coughing fit which ends with him spitting on the floor. "Think you're very clever don't you? The pretty boy with all the luck, making friends wherever he goes--you've always disgusted me."

"The feeling is mutual, Briton, but I'm sure I won't be here too long."

"Ha! The 1st lieutenant is it?" You lose count of the coins. "Thought you'd get away with it did you? No, no, no, there'll be no ransom. Dispel that notion at once."

"I don't know what--"

"Yes you don't know what, so I'm going to tell you what. When the lord Vandenmere sold you to me, he told me about the ransom and your letter--I really do like that man, an honest man--and not wanting to part with such a dear and skilled slave such as yourself, I told the good lord to let the lieutenant know--if indeed he ever comes--that you had died. And what's more, I paid him for that bit of misdirection. There was a rebellion I believe? Seven slaves dead. A simple matter to change the name on the records. A simpler matter to believe the change, for who, in their right wit, would refuse good money for a captured slave? Free money! And so, the lieutenant will conclude, as might any reasonable man, that yes it is a shame, but the slave must really be dead." You can't respond, you can barely even breathe. "But don't you worry, every gladiator is allowed his price of freedom. Yours has been set at one thousand gold pieces."

"That's more than twenty times the normal price."

"Then I guess you'd better get to work. That's 50 silver there, the lady herself contributed half. And at the current rate I believe it comes to approximately 5 gold coins. Just 995 more to go."

You can't feel your extremities. You close your eyes and see Silvia, but she's even less real now than she was before. You can remember nothing of her except some vague abstraction of her features, her ample flesh, her smell. Will she weep for you again, one last time? Will she wait for you? Will she think the word is a lie, that you are still alive somewhere? It's insanity to believe that she will, but what other choice do you have? Like god and the angels, it is now only a matter of faith. And the instant you believe, all fear and doubt fall away. She must wait. She has to. She will.

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>>3470458
"Can I ask you a question, Briton. Man-to-man?"

"Of course you can, slave."

"...do you really think I'm pretty?"

This sets off another coughing fit. "Yes, well, I suppose it still hasn't sunk in has it? But it will. You're going to die here, slave. And to the rest of the world, you're already dead. Make all the jokes you want, but that will not change." But you can tell that you've disappointed Briton. Maybe he was looking for a breakdown, for you to beg for mercy. He will continue to be disappointed. If it takes you a thousand gold pieces to win your freedom, if it takes you ten years, you will win it. Because Silvia is waiting.

Starting the very next day, you're put into the fold with the rest of Briton's men. They've already heard of your deeds in the midian and as you've already "popped your cherry" in the Arena, they welcome you with open arms. The leader and trainer of the others is a gladiator himself, a man who goes only by the moniker "Gnarl" on account of his lip, which is twisted into itself from an old scar. He immediately demands that you take charge of the 2nd squad and that you pay him a part of your winnings so he can teach you the art of command--in which he boasts not a small amount of skill, claiming to be a former general of the armies of some distant kingdom.

To this you reply...

>That you'd rather spend the money on things more immediate to your survival: combat training and equipment
>That you'd rather save every penny toward purchasing your freedom
>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can.

>>3470465
>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can.

Gotta at least try. Not too hard, just a reasonable middle ground where both sides can be happy. Don’t wanna alienate the man.

>>3470465
>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can.
If it is beneficial explain our ransom is set pretty fucking high.

>>3470465
>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can.
Good training for when we get out of this hellhole and help the first LT take over everything so we can mete punishment upon that Briton and Vandenmere

>>3470465
>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can.

>>3470465
>If it takes you a thousand gold pieces to win your freedom, if it takes you ten years, you will win it. Because Silvia is waiting.
>Because Silvia is waiting
Que 20 threads down the line when we return home, find she did not wait, and fly into a murderous rage.

>>3470465
>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can

>>3470558
Then it turns out she's married to Richter.
The first LT cackles and tells us what an idiot we were to believe in him, before clapping us in chains and then we watch Richter kill our family at the first LT's orders. Then we get sent back to Vandenmere and it becomes a humiliation conga with everyone we ever met getting a shot at us.
Finally, we turn into a 70 yo slave with no family, no rights, and broken body.

>>3470558
>20 threads down the line
The gladiator arc will likely be concluded ITT.

>>3470579
>Stabs Richter
>Strangles Silvia, Othello style
>Turns sword on self
Pure Shakespeare

>>3470465
>>That you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can.

>>3470558
I hope she waits, but even if she doesn't, the mere existence of this unatainable grail is what makes us survive and give us a slimer of hope of a better future, even if she does not wait she has done us a great service for merely existing

>>3470465
>>That you'd rather spend the money on things more immediate to your survival: combat training and equipment

>>3470465
>>That you'd rather save every penny toward purchasing your freedom
We don't need to waste our money on bullshit we don't need, we have plenty of experience already with "the art of command" as a leader of a levy squad and a slave gang.

>>3471876
Cant hurt to get more
>>3470465
> that we are interested.

>>3470465
He should be the one paying us really, we are going to save his men and line his pockets with gold from our winnings.

>>3471890
Who should be paying us? Briton he already is. If you mean the slave who is trying to train the other slaves then he isnt getting anything from our winnings.

>>3471892
He is, when we win a combat everyone that survives it gets paid I imagine, I was just trying to say that he will win fights because of us ans get money because of that.

>>3471903
Ahh well I guess but that's kinda the same arguement as paying schmucks money to get trained under you so you can win a fight. Normally they pay the one with the skill. If he has somthing useful to teach we should take it with reasonable respect.

>>3471910
Learn every skill we can from everybody with a special combat technique or leadership thing. But always haggle a bit on price, we got a big ass ransom to pay off.

>>3471916
I just hope we can make enough noise and impress enough people so that someone we know or from our old company recognizes our name or ourselves if they see us at the arena.
We in a very public environment so if we do well chances are someone can spot us.

>>3470502
Support
Reminder that we are the chosen of God and that we are invincible in war.

To this you reply that you're interested, but only after haggling his price down as only a farmer's son can. From your former experience as both the leader of the slaves and your old squad in the army, you slip into the role with relative ease. Gnarl's lessons are unorthodox, not always even about command itself. He finds in you an apt student, one willing to listen to his tirades about court politics, battlefield logistics, history (personal and otherwise) and the numerous women he has courted (and is courting), including, so he claims, an affair with the queen of the foreign kingdom from which he hails. But even in these seemingly wayward tangents there are fruits to be gleaned. Not to mention the value in the actual tutelage.

Gnarl's theory of war is one wholly of his own devising, what he calls "waging the complete war". It is a system born of his study of the old generals--whom he claims were ultimately short-sighted, focused too narrowly on matters of the battlefield--on tactics and mobility--and not enough on grand strategy. Time and time again, he will tell you, "Consider the whole." For him it's not enough to win the battle, not even enough to win the war, but the complete war requires a complete victory. Then he will tell you of horrific massacres and merciless genocide--committed only because the other side was unwilling or unable to look ahead, to "consider the whole".

And it is exactly that which you learn in the days and the weeks and the months that follow. The main events are not fought to the death, and failure is permissible and you do stumble in your leadership in the beginning, even losing once or twice in the beginning or cutting the win close to the teeth. But Gnarl is nothing if not patient and by the third month Briton's gladiators have become the top ranking combatants in the ring. You play no small part in this surge of popularity--much to Briton's teeth-grinding annoyance. They even have a name for you, the lady's little moniker stuck: you are "the handsome one".

Money rolls in every fight, every week, a few dozen silver at a time. The others squander their resources on whores, wine, outings on the town. They have no other life but this life of pleasure, between the cheers of the crowd and the flash of steel--which for them is enough. But you have an angel waiting on the wings, a perverted faith that sustains your notions of invincibility. To be chaste, to be guarded in speech in action, to be perfect before god but not for god. For Silvia. And the more hopeless it seems, the further you reel into the insane bliss.

1/2

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>>3473312
Popularity brings with it greater venues. There is talk of an annual tournament. "Staged fights" with forty men to a team and a kingly sum to the final winner: four thousand gold pieces. And though even second place is enough to win you your freedom, Briton refuses to gather the necessary funds to extend the team. As the deliberations continue, your popularity brings with it its own set of troubles.

The lady of Lescruz for instance, whom you find reclined one day on the small cot of your bedroom; her handmaidens, busy heating scented oil. The look she gives you, the look she has given you after each and every victory in the arena, for months through the veil, says everything. Tit for tat, though she has a husband and you have a wife.

She raises her brows which are thin and caressed above by hazel curls and draw to a point at the edge of her eyes. She smiles. She wears no veil, so that you can see her lips--itself enough grounds for your execution--and slowly parts her crossed legs on the bed and her robe falls between the gap and hugs the valleys and folds and hides nearly nothing. This intoxicating sight...

>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances
>Inflames your blood, because you are a man, and because you've also studied the lady in her perch
>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.

>>3473313
>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.

Having her be jealous and losing her favor is something we cannot risk.

>>3473313
>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances

>>3473313
>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.

>>3473323
This

>>3473313
>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.

>>3473313
>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances
wtf why do all you anons decide to stop being moral here, let's discover our pragmatism and desire to live somewhere further along the line.

>>3473313
>has no effect on you a pure devoted soul. POWER THROUGH PURITY

>>3473313
>Inflames your blood, because you are a man, and because you've also studied the lady in her perch

Fuck it, knock her up.

>>3473313

ok, arguments for two options here

on the "Tit for Tat" we would obviously have short term benefits for mechanically fucking the lady to get the means we need, it's a chance to try and get back to our family and we can focus on that while doing the did.

for the "has no effect" it may seem unreasonable, but it can be explained by the concep of "complete war" that our new mentor just explained to us, the consequences involved in the act may bring "horrific massacres and merciless genocide" like he said because we were considering the whole, all the death and suffering her husband will bring, we explain to her why we refuse, we have someone waiting for us, and we know it's unreasonable and even unfair for us to expect that she is waiting since she believes we are dead, but the hope is what kept us alive until now, we are delusional but we are aware of our delusion.
who knows, she may even find it amusing and interesting enough on her boring palace life, the first slave to refuse her after countless others.

my vote is

>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances

>>3473404
Supporting

>>3473313
So, if we have access to the city I imagine we already paid a scribe to send a letter to our home telling our family we are alive right? Because if we didn't we should do that now.

>>3473313
>>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances

>>3473313
>>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.

>>3473313
>>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.

>>3473313
>>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances

>>3473313
>>3473404
You make a compelling argument

>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances

>>3473313
>>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances
**BEGONE, THOT!**
>>3473418
Yeah we must do that if we haven't already.

>>3473418
Supporting sending a scribe to our family. If nothing else, they can come here and bet on us. We're sure to win anyhow.

>>3473313
>>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances

>>3473313
We should make sure that the king doesn't catch wind of this. Ask her if she has any plans to keep this private. If yes,
>Only sobers you further to the opportunity before you. Tit for tat.
If no,
>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances
On one hand, she will give us support if we bang. On the other, the king will behead us if he finds out.

>>3473313

>Has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances
we are a PURE boy

>>3473404
Changing to this

This intoxicating sight has no effect on you--a pure devoted soul--and you refuse the lady her advances. Maybe it is in the way that you explain your fortunes, the hopeless faith with the steady quiet confident word of the man that assures the dying of heaven, but mixed with this the barely restrained frenzy of the man in love, that does not move her to anger but amusement, even pity.

She tells her handmaidens to go and to take the oil with them, and then as though feeling suddenly cold she wraps herself in her robes and shawl. "No slave has ever refused me," She says. "Tell me her name again."

You say it and she repeats it, as though trying a new sweet for the first time. "She will not wait for you. And she is a brewer's daughter, a common creature and moreover--is she more beautiful than I?"

"No."

"Turn away from me with those eyes!" But she herself turns away. "If it were any another gladiator in this hall...you are a fool!" She turns back and laughs. "At first it was mere attraction, and then curiosity and now..." For the first time, her gaze falls and the light strikes behind her in such a way that the moment seems an artifice, a verse from some great bard. She looks up again, still smiling, but harder in the eyes. "Women, even great women, can fall into low sentiments. We are not exempt from lust, jealousy, or rage." But when she sees her threats do not move you, she adds, "She would never know."

"I would know."

"As if by your purity she remain chaste! You are a fool."

"As you say my lady. But then, you can have any slave that you want."

"Insolent--turn those eyes away!" You do not. She screams for the guards. And for the next hour, she watches your naked back and buttocks cut to pieces. There is only the sound of her bangles when the torturer looks to her and catches his breath and she gestures with her hand to continue. There is only this sound and the snap of the leather against your flesh. Only when she hears the word "Silvia" still unconsciously escape your pain-addled brain, does she release you, biting her lips all the while.

The next day Briton gleefully tells you that you've been banned from participating in the staged fights and moreover that you've been relegated back to the midians. Still recovering from the lady's punishment, this news sends you into feverish fits that last nearly three days.

But god will not let you die. You soon recover and thereafter...

>Spend the all money you've saved to sneak a letter to the lieutenant, even if it risks your execution.
>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.
>Send word to her husband of her adulterous affairs--there is nothing more she can do to you.

>purefags
You all will get us fucked with your wishful, superhero bs thinking

>>3474308
Haha I knew it.

>>3474309
>>3474313
What's with so many people trying to go all Ned Stark for this entire quest?

>>3474308

>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.

>>3474309
This was actually quite good, we got a good reaction from her, it was nice to see her that way.

>>3474308
>Send word to her husband of her adulterous affairs--there is nothing more she can do to you.
Let's go full retard! What could go wrong!

>>3474308

>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.

>>3474308
>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are

>>3474308
>>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.

>>3474308
>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are
YOU CANNOT CLAIM THE SUN
BUT CAN ONLY BASK IN ITS LIGHT

>>3474308

>>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.

Man, we really did a number on the lady, she could hurt out body but the damage we did to her was deep.
Watch as she falls deeply in love watching us

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>>3474309

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>>3474502
I am upset, the same way our character is upset with the situation he's in. And you should be upset too that we in shit's creek and everyone wants to be honorabu noble purity soon to be dead guy b/c y'all want to pat yourselves in the back instead of actually getting home.

>>3474514
It makes for a great story anon, if we arrive at home and she waited it will be great, if we arrive home and she moved on and we have our world shattered it will be great.
Juat enjoy the ride, pragmatism is the shitiest of shits anyway.

>>3474308
>fight and win every midian

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>>3474514

>>3474514
>ree the quest needs to be efficient and logical because reasons
As long as it’s IC, not totally utterly autistic, and QM is game to write and roll with it you shouldn’t constantly worry about the efficacy of our decisions. Just roll with the narrative bro.

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>>3474551
My conclusion is not unfounded considering how we voted to take the blame for everything.

>>3474569
We are desperate to go home, we were even dragged out of our home cuz we didn't want to fight, but we then take the blame for everything and we don't take an advantageous offer. This is not because of RP reasons, it is b/c of moralfag reasons. If we wish to be IC with a peasant trying to SURVIVE then this is not very good. If you want to make the argument that home boy has become a noblefag IC, then we will noblefag into the grave. I can complain about this and I most certainly will.

>>3474590
He has become delusionally noble man, havent you noticed? To turn into a pragmaticfag now would be extremely weird.

Besides, there's something bigger at stake, we were a man that can't be bought, that is why the corporal, Briton, Jerod and the lords that fucked us always hated us, they saw their flaws reflected on us, their cowardice, and they hated what they saw. If we succumb we only prove them right after all the suffering the brought us, we only admit that they were always right and we just didn't know the price.

We will pay everything anon, even our life, and whatever it's thrown at us, but they will not see their sins validated in our eyes, and they'll know they are crooked the moment we lay eyes upon them.

Our sweet Silvia, that is long gone by now is a simbol, our family a goal, to keep us in the right path, and if we die, indignitly and forgotten on the arena sands, we die a man without price, a real man, not a merchandise like they tried to turn us for all this time.

>>3474308
>>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.

>>3474614
Well said anon, 2nd Lt.would be proud, we do not ask for alms, we pray.

The only moment we will falter is when they put Silvia before us, asking us to degrade ourselves for her safety, that is our price and we will pay it crying.

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>>3474614
>>3474632
>noblefags shoot themselves in the foot b/c moral 1upmanship

aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggh

>>3474645
Whatever my dude, I'm really enjoying the quest and want to see if one day the MC will catch a break, I'm sorry you don't feel the same.

>>3474524
If she didnt wait then we finally snap and choke her to death with our bare hands.
Agreed?

>>3474928
Nah, we thank her for existing and go on to fuck half the kingdom with the accumulated blue balls

>>3474928
Sure, love me a good tragedy

Darn missed the last vote.


>>3474514
We got plot armor, and even if we do die the moralfag anons would feel too good about themselves to care cuz its their "happy ending".

Either way, I would go for the intrigue if there was more information on how we could leverage it, but odds are at a crucial moment Briton would snitch on us putting us further into shit, so even if we played a good game with that woman, that fucker would screw up the plans since we cannot factor him into things unless we "we start bribing people with our winnings to spy for us" hint, hint, nudge, nudge, winking smileyface.

>>3474614
I don't think we played a particularly principled guy, we were just ignorant at the time as a simple level that went yolo for a bit and stuck to the choices that we felt were good for us, mostly in keeping us alive or trying to turn certain doom into mostly gloom. Can argue that since getting shafted by lairs, imprisoned and sold off for blood sports we become a bit more pragmatic and cynical.

>>3474933
The plot twist better not be something lame like Richter marrying her or something like that.

>>3475011
>>3475015
>>3475017
Fuck off, shit muncher. We wouldn't have even been in this predicament in the first place had people stopped fucking around and being so damn wishy washy with their morals.

>>3475021
See your own post.>>3474502

>>3474308
Dammit. I fucking knew I should have gone with the pragmatic option. Then again, we've been oddly moral for a gladiator so far, so why not?
>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.

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>>3475092

>>3475092
Kek
>>3474308
>Fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are.
DAILY REMINDER THAT THE SUN WILL NEVER DIE, ONLY SET

>>3475114
it would probably end in disaster and we would hate ourselves for it anyway anon

You soon recover and thereafter fight and win every midian that follows, showing the lady that she cannot break you, showing her what men of will truly are. For the next month and a half she comes to watch every single one of your "executions". And as the victories pile, as convict after convict is set free, as the conditions grow ever more impossible: the enemy better equipped, better positioned, better trained, the fights held every other week, then every week, then every other day, as the reenacted histories are overturned no matter how long their odds, the scheduled main event becomes increasingly a footnote to your own, it becomes a kind of unfolding miracle. It gets to the point where criminals request the Arena to all other punishments, even to a light sentence, simply for the chance to meet you. By popular request, your ban on the tournament is lifted and your ranks swell to 40 strong for the staged combats. Gnarl's lessons are put to good use.

Somehow your story becomes common gossip and catches the imagination of all Lescruz. In trying to destroy you, the lady has made you a champion. In trying to scour you from her heart, she has fallen more madly in love. You have seen her fume against the common girls that throw their handkerchiefs into the arena. There are "secret admirers", wives and daughters of rich merchants of whom you pay no mind, neither going out into the city to meet them, nor willing to admit them as visitors. The lady herself calls on you several times and though all her pleas are gently refused and though you are viciously tortured, she longer remains in the same room to watch.

For the next three months, you progress through the tournament, reaching the final match around the end of autumn. The lady attempts one last attack on your affections, making wild threats and promises, going so far as to offer her daughter's hand in marriage if only you'll stay. But it still cannot move you. You win the tournament and with it a sizable portion of the four thousand gold piece prize, enough to buy your freedom. You make preparations to leave the very hour after the battle concludes, only to learn that Briton has absconded with the prize money.

With your master gone, the matter of your bondage is left to the courts. By your popularity among the citizens of Lescruz, and by the intervention of its queen, and not least by the purity you have sustained thus far, you are absolved of any involvement with your master's crimes, your ransom is nulled and you are set free. You are even allowed to keep your savings--which though it never reached the thousand pieces that Briton wanted, is nevertheless a sizable fortune.

Yet for all this, your heart is filled again with fear and doubt. Under the cold light of good fortune, faith must die. In the end you decide...

>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.
>To avoid the pain, to take up the delusions once more, to remain invincible by faith

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.
God what a fucking story
Great job OP, I hope this isn't the end.

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>>3475220
>>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

AH GEE, LOOK AT THAT!
GET FUCKED, 2EDGY4ME FAGGOTS

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.
And so we started our long trek home, across harsh lands and even harsher obstacles. However, as the first familiar hills of our childhood roll into view over the distant horizon, we are suddenly interrupted. A horse-mounted courier bearing a sack of letters upon the saddlebags recognises us from our reputation and calls us to stop. He hands us a letter, one that tells of great distress! It's Richter!

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>>3475248
I'm not even mad, just impressed

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475220
Track down Briton and kill him slowly and painfully. Take days to do the deed.

>>3475300
Once we get the money back, we can buy a nice plot of land, maybe the biggest by size in the region and become a landlord, build a house for our wife and make kids. Set them up for a good life but teach them well.

>>3475220

>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

I imagine we won't settle right? Even if she's there waiting and we marry I would like to search employment as a soldier ir start a mercenary company, our reputation in Lescruz woyld provide many recruits.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

Imagine when Silvia sees all our scars from the constant torture.
Focus on not killing her guys, she did not know we were alive, all of them believed we were dead.
They'll berely recognize us, we left a scared farmer and return a battle-forged and marked gladiator.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475220
>>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.
inb4 scorned lover kills everyone we knew and love

>>3475220
can we buy a horse to get there faster? I imagine our MC would not waste time on his journey.....that and we have to arrive there before Briton does

>>3475220
My only complaint is that we didnt really have to roll for this. We just kinda became Rambo all of a sudden this thread

>>3475638
we are actually training and slowly becoming rambo since we started the quest, I like the no roll thing

>>3475638
I mean, we’ve invested quite heavily in the PC’s personal combat abilities and leadership abilities at every opportunity given. Even the majority of our combat decisions were highly combat effective, so I don’t see it as being out of the blue so much as a matter of convenience.

>>3475220
>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

>>3475638
>all of the sudden
My dog, our PC has been fighting in an army, in prison and in a gladiator arena over the course of YEARS at this point. The entire end goal of the quest as of right now is to go home just so he can stop fighting. I think it's fair for him to absolutely demolish most people in combat.

>>3475220
>>To go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time.

Relevant song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxeiH5q3Dlw

Will you still wait for me?
Will you still cry for me?
Come and take my hand
Will you still wait for me?
Will you still cry for me?
Come and take my hand

>>3475220
Huh. That was easy.
>go home

I hope the quest dosnt end When we get home,

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In the end you decide to go home anyway, to face the pain head on, to at least see your family one more time. The journey takes another month, for Lescruz is near the coast, and your village, many miles inland. The terror builds and builds the closer you get and when you are struck with the smell of cold pine and when the soft hills and forests beyond come into view, you grow feverish.

There lies the old familiar road running flat between the barren farms covered in untouched snow. There the familiar faces passing by, on foot, on ox-drawn carts, who say hello--but only out of politeness. No recognition in their eyes because of your beard and hair and general change in disposition. There's the tavern where Silvia's father works. Your hand hovers over the knocker, but you cannot bring yourself to sound it. To encounter a sudden litter of children, a hearth, a home life, a wife that is not yours--the vision is so strong that it brings tears to your eyes. But the moment you turn away, the door opens from the inside and a young woman steps out.

"Oh hello sir, were you looking for a room? Go right in." She dumps a bucket of water to the side and looks at you sideways. "Sir? Are you alright?"

You wipe your eyes. The hazy abstraction comes into a sudden, absolute focus. The two years have done nothing to her, only improved her. She was only a girl when you left, only 17 summers. But she is a woman now, her assets richer and her expressions not as carefree, but colored by the ordinary burdens of life.

"Sir?"

"Fine." You whisper. The words are so difficult to form suddenly. You feel like that coward in the barn again, wanting nothing more than to run and hide with the pigs. You were a boy then too, but you are not so anymore. "I'm looking for someone..."

"Yes?"

"I'm looking for the husband...Silvia's husband."

Her eyes begin to shine and your heart aches as it falls. "I'm Silvia sir. But my husband isn't here."

You should go. This was a mistake from the beginning, but you cannot lift your legs. "Do you know when he will return?"

She shakes her head. A voice from inside the tavern calls for her. "Who's that you're talking to Silvie?"

"A travler pa."

"Well let him in, let him in." He comes to the door, smoking a long pipe. "Forgive my daughter's foolishness sir, please do come in and warm yourself."

"No I...I'm very sorry, I should go. I just wanted to know what time, that is when Silvia's husband would be back. I had a message for him."

The man's face grows somber and he takes a puff from the pipe. "Fraid he won't be coming at all. I'm sorry to say you came all this way for nothing."

"I don't understand."

He glances at his daughter and then sighs. "He's passed sir. About a year ago."

"This again?" Silvia laughs. "Oh, pa, they were wrong the first time, why should they be right the second? He'll be back any day now, sir."

Cont.

>>3476522
Your lips move but cannot seem to form words. You clear your throat. "This man, just to make sure I have the right man, his name--" The father finishes the thought. It is your own name.

"Poor lad went to fight for our lord and never came back." He shakes his head. "A good boy he was too, and he would have made a fine husband for my Silvie. But about a year ago we got notice from the lord himself, that he'd passed."

"He's not dead pa. Stop saying that, it's bad luck."

"Silvie, enough of this. Even his family has moved on."

Silvia, who in all this time had been trying her hardest to smile, now breaks suddenly into tears. "He's not dead! He's not! He'll be back any day now!" And then, brushing past her father, she storms inside.

"Silvie! Ah, sorry you had to see that. I don't know what's gotten into her. She and the lad were playmates when they were just wee kids, used to run up into the forest and cause no end of trouble." He chuckles and blows smoke through his nostrils. "You should've seen her after they met for the arrangement. She was so angry that he didn't remember her, she started breaking all the mugs in the house--but I'm rambling and leaving you out in the cold, please do come in. Warm yourself by the fire at least, rest your legs?"

"I think I'd better--do you know the way to his family's house? I should probably deliver the message first." He gives you directions which you already know, the same old farmhouse up the road. You thank him and promise him that you will return and even give him a gold coin for his trouble--which he tries to refuse, but eventually takes only as a "deposit", telling you that he'll keep a room ready for you and that he hopes it's good news that your delivering.

When he turns back inside and the door closes, it's all you can do to stop yourself from screaming. You run home as fast as you can, trying to expend the sudden rush of energy in your bones. It's only when you witness the state of your house that your joy finally tempers. The house is in complete disrepair. The barn is empty. You knock at the door, expecting no one to answer, but someone does.

"Yes?" A young woman opens the door, wearing a dress so patchwork that its original form has been obliterated. "Can I help you sir?" Even your own sister does not recognize you and though seeing her in such a state, emaciated, hollow-eyed, as though she were the victim of consumption, brings tears again to your eyes, you hold them back. You speak your false purpose and though it's clear that she's embarrassed to host anyone in such a state, she invites you inside anyway.

Cont.

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>>3476531
"Mother, we have a guest." Then she excuses herself to fetch some refreshments and returns with stale bread and some boiled potatoes. "I'm very sorry, we don't have much to offer you. Our father died only last year and our crops have done poorly, we've been...I'm very sorry." She wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her dress and you grab her hands and hold them for a long time.

"Did you put out some of that dried fish?" Says a voice, descending from the steps. "We should still have some if the cat hasn't already gotten it. How do you do si--" The instant she sees you, she freezes. Her eyes widen and her lips part. However much a man may change, and however many years may pass, no amount of time or variation can destroy a mother's memory of her son. She speaks your name and, and its as if you were a little boy again, running to her skirts when called.

"Mother." You say.

This seemingly frail old creature, nothing but skin and bones barely held together, embraces you with the strength of ten men, nearly lifting you off the ground. "Oh my little boy!" She kisses your hair and face. Your sister loses all the strength in her knees and falls backward. The rest of the evening follows filled with weeping and laughing and hugging. Then even more weeping and hugging when you reveal your store of riches. After a shave and a haircut (which your mother decided to do herself) you return to the tavern. Your sister insists on tagging along, just to see "Silvie's face" and you arrive just before dark.

Silvia's father almost suffers a heart attack when he sees you. But it's Silvia, sweet, faithful Silvia, that has the strongest reaction of them all. She comes in from the kitchen bearing a tray of the best food and alcohol the establishment has to offer, only to drop everything when she sees you.

"When is your husband coming home again?" You ask, rising from your chair.

"He'll be back any day now." She says, between sobs. You can no longer wait, you pick her up in your arms and though it is perhaps improper, you kiss her right there in front of everyone. "I knew you'd come back. Even though they said, even though everyone said...but I never lost faith." Her words are barely coherent between the kisses. "I never lost faith."

The marriage is made official within the week and with your new fortune you buy up much of the surrounding land and businesses and within just three years become something of a magistrate in your little village. Silvia soon gives you two darling children, a boy and a little girl, much to your mother's delight. Your sister is quickly married off to her choice of suitor, given her now substantial dowry. You even help your older brother with his struggling merchant business in the next town over.

In short, you return to your fields, and peace and happiness reign...

>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]
>Until you begin to yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned

>>3476536
>until your son runs off to join the army, and you leave home to find him
Only fitting sequel

>>3476536
>>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]
Don't you do this to me, you sonofabitch. I feel the tears coming on.

>>3474514
>This fucking post
Threadly reminder that if theres one thing questers despise its having morals, standards, and or limits not bound by Muh practicality
Diplomancer only
Items banned
Final Destination

I can't even vote man, damn....

Congrats QM, what an amazing story so far

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>>3476536
>Until you begin to yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned
It's in our blood now.

>>3476536
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]

>>3476536
>>Until you begin to yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned

God damn as a anon who'd been watching in silence, I've got to say this has been one hell of a ride to watch. It warms my heart to see a quest reach a "proper ending point" compared to what so many have to settle for.

Also, I must say that I was always rooting for the moralists. You mad lads, you made the story of a man fighting to get home into a god damn epic tale.

>>3476536
>Until you begin to yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned
This would be a fantastic ending. We get the girl after all the bullshit and bring success to our family with the money from our adventures.
But there are so many loose ends we've yet to tie up. We didn't even get to kill Briton or any of those other cunts yet! And God knows where Richter is right now. To hell with leaving things well enough alone.

>>3476555
would actually not mind playing as the son

>>3476695
I'd be ok with this, only if we didn't leave Silvia behind after all the trouble we had to reach her, maybe take our family with us, mount a mercenarty company or try to see if the Lt. need a new Lt.
we have the experience and the skill to conquer whatever we want, but we can't leave the motivation to it all behing

I wanted to see Silvia's reactions to our scarred backs, and when we tell her the story of the queen and how we refused her.

I want to bring Briton to justice

I want to free Iacopo and let him pay his penance on our village, along with the fools that we trained, they could be our first recruits

I want to see Ritchie, Tully and the others, tell them we are fine and invite them to form a unit once again

Our MC desperatly needs a name, as the man that was never bought, the man that never compromised.

But above all that, we'll never spend a single day away from Silvia.

>>3476536
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]
it was a good run lads, but its our time to retire.

>>3476536
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]
This isn't the ending I wanted
But it's the ending MC deserves

>>3476536
>>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]

>>3476578
I'll vote for

>Until you begin to yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned


just as long as we keep our family and Silvia by our side, maybe raise a militia or something

>>3476536
>Until you begin to yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned
Why did we lear nall the stuff from the general if we aren't going to be a landed noble? Wana meet Richter and the lieutenant again whos name I forget....

>>3476705
>>3476699

We can bring Lacopo over as a adviser and build a church, Tully can be our Sherrif, the lieutenant our boss bro, and Richter our BFF.

I think we should make a family name and heraldry for ourselves would be kind of neat, and can be legitimized with helping the Lieutenant rebuild and maybe even find a wife. If I'm not mistaken, the lord that gave him a scolding was his dad and now he has to rebuild and stabilize the region. A weak lord means a weak and unstable region vulnerable to bandits and highwaymen.

>>3476698
That would be pretty cool to see a quest arc end and start the next one as the son, but I do want to see at least one last arc with the current mc.

>>3476536
>until you yearn for the old rush of battles you have abandoned. We must close our debts there are still those we owe revenge. Briton must pay.

>>3476536
>>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]

>>3476536
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]

>>3476536
How about
>Until you feel the many unanswered questions of the past tugging at you, beckoning you
This way we don't become abandon our family to become super warrior again but do get closure for people like Richter

>>3476536
I'd prefer us to rise up even higher as a retainer of the LT conquering all, but
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]
is a great end

>>3476536
I am deeply conflicted, maybe make it so that the village are attacked, and we must defend it or something?

>>3476536
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]

>>3476536
>Until the very end of your life [Farmer End]

In short, you return to your fields, and peace and happiness reign until the very end of your life. Eventually you make contact with your old squad mates. Richter went back home and with the reward from the lieutenant, started a logging company that grows into a profitable enterprise. His demons never truly leave him, and he has his nightmares till the end of his days but he finds great comfort in his wife and three daughters. The two of you remain close friends till his death. Your eldest son even marries his eldest daughter, so that you become family. Telly joined up with the Zanterburyans eventually returning with them to their homeland to fight in their civil war. He never comes back. Donven and Franzen's village were both part of the concession that the lieutenant made with the opposing lord. They were conscripted again to fight against the armies of Lord Oberlin of the Black Boar, the man you once held hostage. They were killed in battle. Lord Oberlin went on to conquer the entire kingdom, ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity for many years--only to be killed by one of his own sons.

As promised, you ransomed Iacopo from your former master and invited him to live with you as your friend and trusted advisor. When your daughter comes of age, you offer her to him, but he refuses and takes the opportunity to once more set off into the world. To preach the word of god and provide shelter to those caught in the rain and make penance for his past sins. Last you heard of him he was building a great cathedral in the far west.

Briton took his winnings and fled the kingdom, funding an expedition across the northern seas into uncharted lands. No one has heard from him since. The lieutenant becomes a good friend to you after you reach out to him, if a bit distant. He is able to negotiate peace after Lord Oberlin takes the throne, and his rule among your people is just and fair.

As for Silvia, she never asks about the scars on your back, and it is not for many years that you finally reveal what you had suffered and her place in it as your salvation. Her tears run that day like she was a little girl again, like she was crying because you had scraped your knee on the road and she was suffering by proxy. You never loved her more than in that moment and she bore you two more children from that love, twins, a pair of healthy boys.

Cont.

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And the years pass like water through a sieve. You grow old with Silvia, your children become grown and leave the house for their own adventures until it's just you and her. And then she goes too and it becomes cold and empty everywhere. You bury her yourself, in that old hill in the forest, which wasn't a dream at all but a place you used to take her when you were only children. You spend most of your last days there, sitting beside the grave and looking over the village, not saying anything. And many times your hands will come together and the old hymns will drum off your lips and old memories drift up from the abyss. Then you might offer a prayer to god, not alms, but gratitude for what he has given you. For no one, but god, knows when the rain will come nor how long it will pour--but, if a man be pure and patient, god always follows it with sunshine.

THE END

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Thanks for everyone for playing my quest. I'd like to now do a Q&A until this thread goes off the board. Feel to free ask about paths you didn't take.

Also, I'd like to shill my next quest here (see pic related). Which will probably be up this week.

Congratulations on a quest ended! What does it feel like?

>>3477420
Based and redpilled.
What would've happened if we decided to go back to fighting?
How about if we decided to save the second lieutenant instead of the first?
And if we killed Iacopo?
And if we left with the Zanterburyans?
There's so many paths this quest could've taken! I hope you recycle some content in your next quest, I'd love to explore the world some more!

>>3477426
>What would've happened if we decided to go back to fighting?
The story would have continued with you leaving Silvia and founding your own merc company with Richter. You would become renowned throughout the land and Lord Oberlin would have eventually offered you command of his armies, and with your help conquer the entire kingdom. He would have elevated you to nobility and you would return to Silvia and take her to your new castle. There would be another choice between endings, where you would have the opportunity to take back the kingdom from Oberlin's treacherous sons and crown yourself king.

>How about if we decided to save the second lieutenant instead of the first?
The 1st lieutenant would die and the war would continue for the rest of his lands in a free-for-all. You and your squad would have joined the 2nd lieutenant, who would field his army as a robinhood-like group trying to protect the defenseless villages from being razed.

>And if we killed Iacopo?
Archer would have kept his word and you would have been ransomed by the 1st lieutenant and sent home. Same as the farmer path, but without the riches.

>And if we left with the Zanterburyans?
Not sure what this is referring to. Can you be more specific?

>>3477430
Nice ending, but I wish we had continued

thanks for the run, this was an amazing story and I really liked it

>>3477430
Ignore my last point, I don't know what I'm talking about
DAMN! Now I wish we would've continued! Do you think it's possible to pick up where we left off?

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>>3477420
>>3477424
Thank you QM for this beautiful story.

>>3477430
He's talking about when we had the choice to be promoted with the first lieutenant or the Zanterburyans, but we choose to stay with the 2nd lieutenant.

>>3477438
I also agree with this anon.

>>3478039
On second thought, I've changed my mind. This ending was definitely the best, no need to drag it out.

Those last posts read incredibly well with the Fallout New Vegas ending theme.

>>3478095
I agree, the ending was definitely the most fitting, but I wish this story didn't have to end ;_;

The big question, what would have been the consequences of fucking thot queen

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>>3477920
>He's talking about when we had the choice to be promoted with the first lieutenant or the Zanterburyans, but we choose to stay with the 2nd lieutenant.
Oh, in that case you would have had the option to join the Zanterburyans instead of returning home. If you chose to join them you would tour the world, eventually returning to their homeland to fight in their civil war and starting your own Zanterburyan merc company. After the profiting greatly from the war you would have settled down in Zanterbury with a modest estate and a harem of beautiful Zanterburyan courtesans.

>>3478112
Ah, this would have let to an alternate plot involving her husband. The queen would have helped you gain your freedom but unable to quell her lust she would force you to marry her daughter. Her husband would find out and you have the choice of helping with his assassination and taking his place or fleeing the kingdom.

>>3477419
>>3477420
>>3477430
..........Beautiful. Just beautiful. I will proudly admit that I was on the verge of tears while reading the ending. Thank you so much for running this.

It is so rare for a quest to have a truly good ending, after making all the noble, pure and Good choices.

>>3478116
I will ask one question though. What would have happened if we chose to let our fellow slaves get executed and not take responsibility for their escape attempt? Would our master take the ransom and let us go?

>>3478116
Mother-daughter at the same time?

>>3478180
Rivalry, yes.

>>3478169
No you still would have been sold (that was decided when you killed seven slaves by yourself), but you would have lost the option to recruit those slaves later on if you went for the merc company ending. They would have eventually become the strongest, most reliable squad in your army.

Darn, it sucks the other anons wanted to end the quest so soon for easy ending, it could have been epic with how we were already set to be landed nobility or greater, and remembered for some time, now it will be forgotten by most in time like our character with no name ;.;

>>3477438
Not likely, maybe we could continue as one of the mans descendants more likely to see some brief reference in his other quest if we are lucky..

>>3478218
>>3478218
How long had Richter been at war before we met him? Seems he had a few kills under his belt before we met.

What was the lieutenants name?

Was there a possibility to keep the Lord we served under alive or was he going to die inevitability that battle?

Back when we were scavenging the battlefield, if we had failed or killed the scouts, could we have started another skirmish between the two armies?

Whats the deal with Briton and his son in law? Why did he seem to hate us more after saving him?

How would have things played out if we went for save our LT instead of gunning for Lord Oberlin? I imagine they would not have gotten far or would have taken the money.

What If we took the money when our squad captain offered us the small bribe and to go home?

Would there have been any difference if we had taken the (arguably) bigger sum of money when we reached Oberlin and he bribed us?

What was the war they fought truly over? Who was mostly at fault or responsible for it?

Did the Lieutenant ever find out the FULL truth of his rescue or did he have to figure some of it out on his own and come to some conclusion? Did he eventually take what we said to him at our confrontation of Jerod as truth?

Was it possible to ever help Richter overcome his demons? The ending monologue makes me think there was a small chance if we gave it a hard enough try.

What if we choose to run for our lives instead of saving either the first or second lieutenants in battle?

If we never sent the letter would Silvia have ever married someone else?

What if we had chosen Vengeful as a gladiator, how would that have effected our personality aside from being a angery person?

The "General" who taught us everything, did he ever get set free? Could he have helped us lead a slave revolt or take over the kingdom?

How badly would things have ended for us if we sent word of that slutty queen's affairs to her husband? I imagine he was not faithful either.

How big was the king and queens kingdom from the gladiator place? Did it border our homeland or did it cross a few nations?

How big was the continent we were from? How many nations did it hold? Were there any descernable differences in language?

>>3478742
I've rearranged some of the questions to better answer them:

>How long had Richter been at war before we met him? Seems he had a few kills under his belt before we met.
He was a levy just like you, but had been recruited a little earlier.

>Was there a possibility to keep the Lord we served under alive or was he going to die inevitability that battle?
You actually lost the battle the moment you came back without reinforcements. If you had successfully procured Oberlin's help you would have won.

>Back when we were scavenging the battlefield, if we had failed or killed the scouts, could we have started another skirmish between the two armies?
No. It would have just been an isolated incident. You would have gotten the horse and armor and Richter would have gotten injured.

>Whats the deal with Briton and his son in law? Why did he seem to hate us more after saving him?
I'm assuming you mean the Corporal and Briton. The subtext was that the Corporal didn't like Briton's "politics" and didn't really feel he was a good match for his daughter. If he had died his daughter could have remarried someone better.

>How would have things played out if we went for save our LT instead of gunning for Lord Oberlin? I imagine they would not have gotten far or would have taken the money.
Ah, well in that case, Jerod would have taken the money and there would have been a later assassination attempt on the LT.

Cont.

>>3479075
>What If we took the money when our squad captain offered us the small bribe and to go home?
Again I assume you mean the corporal. You would have killed the LT and gone home. And there would be an alternate plot involving a peasant revolt (as your lord would have lost that battle as a consequence and the other lord would have put yours into a harsh rule)

>Would there have been any difference if we had taken the (arguably) bigger sum of money when we reached Oberlin and he bribed us?
Yes, see above with going for the LT instead of Oberlin, except you get the money.

>Did the Lieutenant ever find out the FULL truth of his rescue or did he have to figure some of it out on his own and come to some conclusion? Did he eventually take what we said to him at our confrontation of Jerod as truth?
He eventually figured it out.

>Was it possible to ever help Richter overcome his demons? The ending monologue makes me think there was a small chance if we gave it a hard enough try.
Yep. That's one of the many paths in the merc company route (his death being another).

>What if we choose to run for our lives instead of saving either the first or second lieutenants in battle?
You would regroup with your squad and fight your way home.

>If we never sent the letter would Silvia have ever married someone else?
Yep. After that Silvia was always going to remain faithful because to her it was basically a "miracle". If you had decided not to go home I would have written something about how she waited for you until she died a destitute old maid, always believing that you would eventually come home.

>What if we had chosen Vengeful as a gladiator, how would that have effected our personality aside from being a angery person?
Oh boy, this would have changed a lot of stuff in the quest. If you had managed to return home you would get the bad version of the farmer end, where you become a wife-beater and eventually get abandoned by your family.

>The "General" who taught us everything, did he ever get set free? Could he have helped us lead a slave revolt or take over the kingdom?
I guess you mean Gnarl. No, he went with Briton on his expedition. But if you had formed the merc company you would have seen Briton before he left and would have a chance to pick him up.

>How badly would things have ended for us if we sent word of that slutty queen's affairs to her husband? I imagine he was not faithful either.
He would have sought your help in killing her, as he actually married into the lordship of the city.

Cont.

>>3479102
>How big was the king and queens kingdom from the gladiator place? Did it border our homeland or did it cross a few nations?
>How big was the continent we were from? How many nations did it hold? Were there any descernable differences in language?
>What was the lieutenants name?
>What was the war they fought truly over? Who was mostly at fault or responsible for it?

OK so these questions require an admission. Basically this quest was a learning exercise in QMing/writing. I wanted to just focus on escalating conflict. So I never actually thought about any of the worldbuilding stuff and I don't really have an answer for you.

>>3479106
Lol, that’s awesome. Great work.

>>3479106
Names aside I don't care to much about it, I'm a tad bit disappointed we didn't get a name nor the lieutenant, and wanted to continue.

For a test run it got fairly good, I felt we could have gone about 6 or 7 threads before ideas ran out, and the ramp up in details and characters from the start was comfortably gradual. I hope you run more it was fun.

>>3479106
I like how you never gave our character a name or a physical description. It leaves more to the imagination.

>>3479106
Thinking of making a twitter?

Also any hints more hints to what your next quest will be like?