An operation carried out under the cover of night with the hopes of excluding as much of Carona's population as possible, your knights were organized and split up with a list of names identifying every suspected collaborator. They were to execute a simultaneous raid on each of them to sweep the rug clean out from under them all at once, allowing no one time to catch wind and go to ground.
>Did you choose to involve Miska in the raids?

In the meantime, you had reluctantly agreed to share 'Hearts in Harmony' with Rinnier to confront Marcus Krell, the ring leader of Artemis' presence in Carona after luring him out. Efficient use of the Diary of Reflections and the artificial communications Relic acquired off the brigands had made sure he was none the wiser - And would remain so until it was too late.
>Assign Spider/Web roles!

Ari was involved by her own volition on standby, without a proper role assigned to her. It went without saying that the addition of the Dryad Aspiration she instructed was a powerful boon, but considering the affiliation of your prey, you couldn't guarantee it wouldn't go berserk as it had before... Which made its direct inclusion risky. Best case scenario it silently killed or detained only who you wanted it to. Worst case... The Shrine was about to have a rude awakening to Dryad's wrath.
>Is Ari to support you, your knights, or block off the village perimeter?

Kara should have been in position by now as well, as the only demihuman you elected to bring onboard to this plan. It was a token of your faith that you trusted her to be involved, even knowing what you did - But that was the rub. She should have been in position, but you had no idea where she was.
>What responsibility did you entrust to Kara in all this?

Previous Threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Valen+Quest

Where things are said: https://twitter.com/Riz_QM
Where things are asked: http://ask.fm/RizQM

Assorted Supplemental:
Irue Things (up to 74) - https://pastebin.com/PchcdWpw
A List of Forgotten Things (up to 74) - http://pastebin.com/kPEscJ3h
Irue's Memoirs (Scares the QM to update) - http://pastebin.com/sWnicrK7

Write-ups:
Kara's Day Out - http://pastebin.com/8ZbiSKLs
Adventures with Asche - http://pastebin.com/RNviCBJu
The Reclaimed Doll - http://pastebin.com/n6miP1qT
In Your Shadow - http://pastebin.com/EfeeHFAE
Friends Forever - http://pastebin.com/Yn0QaTVB
The Woman Beneath Steel - http://pastebin.com/pMGgiHC3
Paper Flowers - https://pastebin.com/Pk0W7rEm
Merciless Compass - https://pastebin.com/8Hy0krxv
Better Strangers - https://pastebin.com/mvShXpCt

Misc notes:I said the next thread would be in the next few days on the 9th and it is now the 10th!

Memo:
1. Work through dying before it causes issues with the Shade scar.
2. Return and investigate the Dryad Shrine
3. Bring Miska and the other "People skilled with arms, with a taste for conflict" with us to the main house.

Unfortunately I have to wake up early, but I wanted to get the thread up first. Votes will close after campaign concludes later tonight.

I can try to answer questions before then, though!

What the fuck is this thread?

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>>3962222
It... It's a quest?

I was just kidding, but where is everyone?

>>3962217
>>Did you choose to involve Miska in the raids?
Yes, but not as Secret Agent Man. It's one thing to dash her dreams, another to coddle and destroy her self worth.

Or do you mean using her as bait? If we do that I'd put Ari or Kara as her shadow.

>Assign Spider/Web roles!
Irue as the web, Rinnier as spider. Irue control of the addiction is key, so that they don't overextend neither in time or coverage

>Is Ari to support you, your knights, or block off the village perimeter?
Perimeter, we don't need the bad publicity from it going berserk in town. If it picks off fleeing insurgents it won't look as bad.

>What responsibility did you entrust to Kara in all this?
Either as Irue's bodyguard or buddy cop with Mishka. I, personally, trust Kara.

Did we decide what to do with the demi pack when it all goes down? A plan for if they side with Artemis? I can't remember

>>3962217
I missed you Riz
>Did you choose to involve Miska in the raids?
Yes
>Assign Spider/Web roles!
Irue - web, Rinnier - spider
>Is Ari to support you, your knights, or block off the village perimeter?
Support us, we can keep an eye on her and her aspiration.
>What responsibility did you entrust to Kara in all this?
Stay outside the walls and make sure no runaways make it out. We can't let Kara work for us in public, the townsfolk HATE demihumans.

>>3962418
>Stay outside the walls and make sure no runaways make it out. We can't let Kara work for us in public, the townsfolk HATE demihumans.

Yeah that is better... She's fast and strong and the abominations in the forest won't be able to kill her easily.

I just read Better Strangers and wow, that asshole got a bug up his butt alright! We hit every single button there is to create our very own nemesis, yikes. I'd say something about always making things worse but that's really just beating a dead mana by now

>>3962428
Didn't even notice there's a new write-up. Nice

>>3962217
Don't have much to add to what's been said but
>Did you choose to involve Miska in the raids?
She is a knight, and therefore must be do the work of one. Maybe she'll prove herself.
>Assign Spider/Web roles!
I can't recall exactly which is which, but Irue should be the one going into sensory ascension. Rinnier is just far more useful with her own senses and physique and skill than we are unaugmented.
My vision is augmented.
>Is Ari to support you, your knights, or block off the village perimeter?
Perimeter. It's probably best to keep the golem on its own, though at some point she should probably be more socialized to be less...obsessive.
>What responsibility did you entrust to Kara in all this?
This is actually something I think is to be handled more carefully than first glance. Since we know of most demihumans' tendency towards treachery and have heard of them actively conspiring, they need to be kept on a tight leash while this is going on, so we absolutely need Kara to keep close to her pack and keep them from getting up to trouble. Even with them being a bunch of pathological emos it's best to not take risks with stronger, faster, more brutal specimens of people when we really don't want this being messed up. Ari and her friend being forest bogeymen should be enough to track down what gets away.
>Other?
Much as the Shrine refuses to get political, frankly, Marchovic has already willingly screwed around with an East Heaven Artemis agent, so if we could ask him on another date tonight it wouldn't hurt to have an antipaladin share a bit more company.

>>3962398
>Did we decide what to do with the demi pack when it all goes down? A plan for if they side with Artemis? I can't remember
I don't recall a specific plan, but if Kara can't reign them in as Alpha, then there's really nothing to do for it besides exile them, and if they're caught screwing around after that, finishing them off. Otherwise they're innocuous enough. So long as they're being kept fed and paid they don't seem to have a problem doing basic labor such as route patrol.

>>3962219
>I can try to answer questions before then, though!
What is your blood type?

>>3962217
>Did you choose to involve Miska in the raids?
Yes, but not as bait. Give her a role where she can feel important but still have the safety in numbers.

>Assign Spider/Web roles!
Irue - web, Rinnier - spider, why not.

>Is Ari to support you, your knights, or block off the village perimeter?
Block the perimeter.

>What responsibility did you entrust to Kara in all this?
Be ready to track Marcus by scent.

>>3962218
Wow, the Paladin is really butt-mad, and we haven't even done anything bad to him at that point.

>>3962217
>Did you choose to involve Miska in the raids?
No real reason not to. She'll as vulnerable as anyone else during the raid.

>Assign Spider/Web roles!
Whatever lets Rue keep the majority of her mental facilities.

>Is Ari to support you, your knights, or block off the village perimeter?
Perimeter duty. Too much coordination needed to pull this off, and a wildcard like AspRue going nuts is too much of a risk.

>What responsibility did you entrust to Kara in all this?
Also on the perimeter maybe. If the townsfolk see a demihuman wrecking the town there are going to be problems later.

>>3962579
>stronger, faster, more brutal specimens of people
Just want to remind you that that is only Kara, demihumans are only furry sociopaths.

And by going down I meant in the immediate sense- do we send them off, round them up, assign them somewhere they won't be in the way or just act normal to not tip them off something is happening? They fucking will notice that we're moving of that I have little doubt. What they know, what they figure out and what they will do, I have no idea.

>>3962940
All demihumans are naturally stronger, faster, and possess sharper senses in general than a human of equal build and disposition. Kara, however, is a freak even among demihumans and empirically competes with Wisp adepts in pure strength.

>>3962579
>blood type
I... Don't know. B, maybe? It's been a long time since this was relevant.

Campaign has not concluded yet, but it seems like most of you are on the same page! I didn't expect so many people to prefer Rinnier as the spider after last thread, though.

>>3963263
>Spoiler
The fact that it's been 3 months since last bread probably has influenced this somehow

>>3963313
holy kek

>>3963263
>Spoiler
You mean because we took issue with Irue acting like a flaccid worm whenever Rinnier entered the scene? I don't know about anyone else but I haven't changed my mind about that, I see this as a practical decision.

>>3963313
fukkin lol

>>3962398
>>3962418
>>3962579
>>3962590
>>3962642
Miska Yes!

---
>>3962398
>>3962418
>>3962579
>>3962590
Webrue!

>>3962642
Spiderue!

---
>>3962398
>>3962579
>>3962590
>>3962642
Parimeter!

>>3962418
Ari's with us!

---
>>3962398
Kara supporting Irue!

>>3962398
Kara supporting Miska?

>>3962418
>>3962642
Karameter...?

>>3962579
Kara watching the pack!

>>3962590
Tracking Marcus!

Lots of ideas about Kara it seems, but supporting Ari at the parameter seems to have won!

>>3963271
I forgot October existed.

>>3963313
I feel like this is a meme but I don't understand it. Saved anyway!

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Parameter... Perimeter.... Meter....

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>>3963844
having some trouble there?

>>3963854
The confusion is within acceptable parameters

>>3963839
I thought that meme was the diary of reflections in action

Finding Ari situated at the edge of Carona was the easy part. With the size and overall presence of the Dryad Aspiration cradling her in its bows, she stood out like a beacon to the otherwise utilitarian perspective of 'A Spider's Web' - The only safe place you were willing to place the fleshen thing with the danger of it going wild so readily on the table. Between its reach and Kara's own speed, you had hoped that stationing the demihuman at the outskirts of town would keep your prey contained... And in the worst case scenario, give you a headstart on tracking Marcus should he attempt to bolt.

Outwitting a Luna adept was a fool's errand in the best of circumstances, but you didn't think it was impossible to defeat them. Difficult, almost impossible to surprise, and always several steps ahead of you, yes... But there was such a thing as knowing all your options were sealed and being unable to change that. Some might called it overkill, but anything less risked him slipping through your fingers; Tonight wasn't about restraint, it was about results.

...Or it should have been, because one of your Testament was missing from her post.

"Focus, Irue. Do you have a read on Marcus yet?"

"No.... Yes. He's leaving now, in route to us along the southern streetline."

"Keep me updated, we won't have a second chance at this."

You offer a mental grunt in return, having ceded the role of Spider in this relationship to the flame tressed Testament. It wasn't something you were comfortable with, but you had more experience dealing with the web's unique addictive properties... And it was a practical fact that the larger the web was woven across Carona, the better off you would be. You didn't want to take a chance on Rinnier getting lost for hours at a time when seconds could make the difference.

Although the fact she had so readily expanded its domain to cover all of Carona wasn't something you terribly pleased over. The amount of space you were combing through to simultaneously keep track of everyone's movements would leave you exhausted before the night was over. Convenient, absolutely, but a far harsher performance out of the web than you'd ever demanded from it.... You weren't about to complain about being the one to shoulder that burden though, as it did allow you observe the status of your knights.

"Kara isn't here."

"She shouldn't be here, I thought you posted her outside of town?" Rinnier laid the metal pole against her collarbone, fingers restless against its shaft.

"I did. She isn't there." You paused, feeling your mind bend as you did a cursory once over of the web's diameter. A task that was taking less and less time as you slowly abandoned little fragments of human misconception. "She isn't in Carona."

"What about the rest of her pack?"

"...No?"

"No?"

"No. It's harder to identify individuals than you'd think, I double checked." Your doppleganger's memories reminded you of a time when you could barely identify Kara right beside you. The task wasn't made any easier now. "What if-"

"If she's not here then we're fine." Rinnier interceded firmly. "Stay alert for demihumans entering town, watch the knights, keep an eye on Marcus."

"But what is she doing?"

"Not ruining our plans. Where is Marcus now?"

You turn back to observing the Artemis agent's winding path through town, fully aware you weren't going to find sympathy for your demihuman-born frustrations in Rinnier. It took you a moment to re-identify him, a feat made significantly simpler with so few other people meandering the streets of Carona this late at night. "...He's stopped, three blocks over."

"..."

"..."

Silence stretched out in the night as you gently nudged Rinnier's awareness towards the man in question. She stood in silence. You stood in silence. Krell stood in silence, trying and failing to light a torch.

It had been a gamble to leave the role of Spider to Rinnier. You'd admit with some reluctance that she was absolutely your physical superior, and if it came down to a fight then she was the stronger of the two. It was a fact she'd reminded you of already, and large part of the reason you had ultimately allowed her to take control of the union... But it wasn't without its risks. Salamander's stigma all but ensured she would be fighting in the dark if it came to that, and on the chance that Krell recognized the lack of lights as her presence...

That was the biggest risk in all of this, and what compelled you to move the meeting location into the ruined Tier estate and away from the streets of Carona proper. It was isolated, further from your knights if something went wrong, but it wasn't unusual for it to be unlit in the middle of the night.

"He figured it out." Rinnier clicked her tongue bitterly, rising to her feet as you tracked Krell moving back into town.

In an ideal circumstance he would have dismissed it as a coincidence, or perhaps trusted his prior communication with the Paladin enough to overlook the possibility of Rinnier's stigma. This was not an ideal circumstance... But you hadn't planned to capture Krell under ideal circumstances, anyway. You had studied the Mana too much to naively think you could just lure a Luna adept into a trap.

Tonight wasn't about elegance. There was nowhere in Carona he could hide, little hope of escaping past the Dryad Aspiration and Ari, and his allies were either dead at your hand or being detained under your orders.

"He's turned right. I think he's trying to wind back to a safe house."

"Knights?" Rinnier breathed back shortly, soles of her shoes pounding against cobble streets as the night chill kissed her skin.

"A few."

It was only a matter of time before Rinnier ran Krell down, but Kara's absence still bothered you. Your attention wandered across the web, unable to do more than keep tabs on the proceedings and relay information to Rinnier as needed.

The raids on Artemis' collaborators were well under way and most locations seemed like they were being handled without resistance - A side effect of otherwise innocent people being surprised when they were resting. However... Some places were causing more trouble than you'd expected. This was your knight's task, so you had to trust they could take care of it.

Perhaps more worryingly, Ari had started to move. Had someone already tried to escape? No one should have been able to get out that quickly. Someone trying to come in, then?

>You'll be swapping perspectives through out this thread at certain intervals. Each time you swap to a new character, you will influence them through a segment of time while the others proceed of their own volition! Don't be surprised if this unexpectedly drops you into a bad situation. No one said ripping Artemis out by the roots was going to be easy...

>You will swap three times in total, which means one or more of your options will be left entirely to their own devices. Choose carefully, and don't regret it later.

>Swap 0/3
>You are Rinnier!
>You are Ari!
>You are Dullem!
>You are Kara!

>>3964142
>You are Kara!

>>3964142
>>You are Dullem!
Probably best to get a handle on the trouble asap

>>3964142
>You are Ari!

How about we discuss our choices. I don't like the fact that Kara is gone. Something is wrong, so I think it's priority to swap to her to find out what's what

>>3964142
>You are Dullem!
I concur with >>3964173 - Kara "not being trouble" is good enough and Ari doesn't need any guidance really. At this time in events the knights are the most vulnerable to a shift in fortunes messing up the trap.

>>3964311
It's not a good thing, but at the very least, not being a factor, in my opinion, means that it's not immediately pressing.

>>3964311
I disagree- I believe that whatever she is doing, we can have more of an effect by taking control at a later stage

>>3964147
Kara!

>>3964173
>>3964314
Dullem!

>>3964211
Ari!

Worrying about our knights!

"Runners out the back!"

Being elected nominal captain of Irue Valen's knights had been a position of convenience. You were already the elected representative of the dispossessed citizens who had come seeking a change from House Valen, so keeping you in that position was a very easy to understand decision. It wasn't something you had wanted, or felt yourself cut out for; In truth some of your now-subordinates seemed much more fit for this than you were. It was something you struggled with often, trying to figure out how to live up to what was expected of you... And figure out what was expected of you in the first place. An easier task said than done when it came to Ser Valen.

Right now you did not feel particularly fit, and for once it had nothing to do with anxiety over your responsibilities and everything to do with this teenage kid gesturingly rudely at you from on top of a roof. How they had clambered up there so quickly was absolutely beyond you, and how you were expected to follow was a mystery for the ages.

Air burned through your lungs as you worked to coordinate your peers in one of the first actual knightly activities you'd been assigned. "Spread out and surround the building! Leave no openings!"

"Why don't you come up here and get me yourself?"

You craned your neck back to the taunting figure with a frown. "Kid, come on down and turn yourself in. I don't want this to get dangerous for anyone involved."

"And get spirited away by the Valens? Yeah, no."

"No spiriting away is gonna happen. We're just detaining people who might be slowing down Carona's recovery."

"By raiding us at night and dragging innocent people out of bed?"

"Yes. N- I mean..." You scratch at your scalp awkwardly. "Look what are you expectin' to get at hiding on the roof like that? Y'got nowhere to go anyway."

"This! We've been waiting for the day you'd show your true colors!" The young man triumphantly fished out a small tube from his pocket. You stared at it blankly, squinting through the night to see what the tiny thing might be. Further explanation was not forthcoming however, as he pointed it skyward and ripped a concealed string away.

A light like a fire built within the tube, spawning a shrill, weezing whine that scraped through your ears! It grew louder, fiercer, and seemed as if it was primed to explode...! Only to rapidly and unceremoniously peter out moments later.

"...So you coming down now, or-"

"YOU'RE UNDER ARREST."

You watched the boy get spear tackled off the roof as Miska arrived.

"Was that really necessary?" You looked over the self-satisfied knight as she finished tying up the struggling teen.

"I had to get him on the ground or I'd have no back up!" She asserted matter-of-factly, and it wasn't a statement you could argue. "Besides, how were we gonna get him down after tying his hands?"

"Th' both of you could've been hurt falling like that though. If you keep being this reckless I'll have'ta report it back to Ser Valen." It was a narrow miracle that the Valen heir had seen fit to allow her to participate at all after finding out she was one of the kidnapping targets. Between the tantrum she'd thrown in Miss Lamandra's office and her disposition, you thought for sure she'd be left tucked away somewhere tonight.

"Yeah, yeah." She scowled, whipping out a small sheet of paper and concentrating as she made a mark on it. "Hehe, that's four so far!"

"You're keeping track?" You glance over the paper with, as expected, 4 little marks tallied down. "We've caught more than four."

"This isn't us, this is me." She folded the paper up and slipped it down her tunic. "Fen's been teaching me numbers, and I'm gonna show Ser Valen how many I caught tonight! I just need to catch like..." She ticked off her fingers slowly, "A whole lot more first. Four's not super impressive, y'know?"

You don't think Irue was going to care how many she individually caught, but was it worth it to try and convince her...? As long as the operation went off successfully, it was fine. Probably.

"Captain Dullem! We've secured everyone else at this location!" Another knight caught flagged you down, torchlight illuminating the small gathering as you fished out the map miss Lamandra had copied and distributed. A small nub of charcoal served to scratch out your current location; Not as elegant as the ink Fen and the Testament used from day to day, but you weren't all that great at writing... and soot stained fingertips were a small price to pay to keep track of where you've been.

"Then the next place will be..." You trail off with a wince when a sharp whistle assails your ears, followed immediately by starlight searing down from just overhead as a mass of light streaked through the air some ways off. "I don't like that."

It was a sight to behold, and one which drew most of your subordinate's gazes skyward along with it - But your eyes followed the trail of smoke it left, anxiously consulting the map. It wasn't your next location, but someone should have been over there around now... And in the time it took you to realize that, similar whistling stars were rising into the sky around Carona.

"I don't like that at all... Hey!" A little desperation leaks through your tone as you bark at the rest of the knights. "Clear this place out, we gotta go!"

When you looked back Miska was already gone. You muttered something unflattering under your breath.

>Interrogate the boy to try and find out more. They'd been prepared for this?
>Break off to the next location as fast as possible, you'll leave slower knights behind to clean up here.
>Keep calm, make sure everyone moves as a group. If they start resisting you don't want a riot while separated.
>Go after Miska before she gets herself in trouble.

>>3965557
I suppose to go through the options
>Interrogate the boy to try and find out more. They'd been prepared for this?
Dullem probably hasn't thought about the mechanics of Luna hacks, but frankly, since every other hideout is being alerted, we don't have the time for twenty questions.
>Break off to the next location as fast as possible, you'll leave slower knights behind to clean up here.
To me, this seems a necessity considering that it appears those star flare things have alerted everybody proper to the fact that shit is going down. They can't be allowed any time to get ready. Though, considering that, to be frank, the "knights" have been encountering success due to the element of surprise rather than martial superiority...
>Keep calm, make sure everyone moves as a group. If they start resisting you don't want a riot while separated.
We have a tree outside. It's there for a reason. The less risk the knights are put under, the greater chance this resolves cleanly if not smoothly.
>Go after Miska before she gets herself in trouble.
Miska will be fine imo. That and we've got more knights to worry about than just one, IC, anyways.

Therefore, my pick is:
>Keep calm, make sure everyone moves as a group. If they start resisting you don't want a riot while separated.
If these guys see a strong and organized core, they'll be more tempted to flee than to fight- while rushing might catch some with their pants down, from the looks of multiple signals going into the air, the jig is up.

>>3965557
>Keep calm, make sure everyone moves as a group. If they start resisting you don't want a riot while separated.
>Grab the boy and interrogate him on the move. We have enough SWOLE to do this.

>>3965557
>Keep calm, make sure everyone moves as a group. If they start resisting you don't want a riot while separated.

>>3965557
>>Keep calm, make sure everyone moves as a group. If they start resisting you don't want a riot while separated.

Shit hit the fan and we can't put out all the fires- keep working as efficiently as possible.

>>3965557
>>Break off to the next location as fast as possible, you'll leave slower knights behind to clean up here.
It's pretty obvious those are some sort of signal. And the fact that they have them means they were prepared for something like this.
...We're not going to be pulling any roots up today. They're going to have plenty of time to ground or get out of dodge and sneak back in later, and we'll be right back where we started.

I'll be closing the window in a bit! Seems like the direction is mostly decided, though.

>>3965574
>>3965588
>>3965609
>>3965572
Keeping calm!

>>3965574
Swoleterrogations!

>>3966641
Double time!

Writing!

Didn't take a genius to figure things weren't goin' according to plan now, but you weren't so confident at making snap judgements either. End of the day, keeping the knights together and in one piece was more important to you than rushing these arrests. Much as you'd like to go after Miska, the girl's got to make her won decisions.

"Captain we're done here, everyone's been taken in. What next?"

"We form up and move to the next place on the list." You tuck said list away as you rumble instructions out over the confused din. "Stick together and stay calm. We're on official business, nothing to be worried about." you hoped. "Hey kid, what are those lights for?"

He looked away stubbornly, suddenly out of words now that he was off the roof. You ran a hand over your face tiredly, feeling the workday's grit scrape sweat off your brow. The nobles you worked for probably could have convinced this brat to talk, but your tongue'd sooner find itself in a knot for trying.... "Ah, screw me. Kid, I need you to fess up to what all you've been preparing for."

"Or what?" He angled his chin to glare up at you from the ground.

"Or-" Come on knight captain, think of something. What would Ser Valen do if an uppity little shit started mouthing off? "...I'll feed you to a tree?" Ah yeah, that'll work.

"A tree?"

You nod back seriously.

"Bullshi- Hey, what're you doing!?"

"Got a lot to do t'night kid, can't wait on you forever." You grunt, hoisting him over your shoulders like a sack of flour. He weighed about the same too, now that you thought about it. "You got till we get to the tree to start talkin."

"Dullem, are you actually going to give him to that monster?" One of the knights hesitated at your side, leaving you to shrug awkwardly.

"You guys aren't fooling me, there's no such thing as tree monsters."

"...Aight." You sigh, "Start talkin' whenever you want, let's get going."

Irue's knight corps weren't well trained and they weren't well armed. You weren't even that numerous, so it wasn't as if you were a marvel of organized military might. You'd voiced these concerns when Ser Valen was discussing plans to split up the fledgeling group to try and cover more ground, but there was a certain sense to it. Splitting up into groups gave you smaller numbers to work with, but it also meant the people you were confronting were in smaller groups; Ten to twenty knights showing up at someone's door in the middle of the night was a big difference than fifty of you facing down an angry mob.

With these shrieking lights going off, that changed some things... But breaking up into even smaller groups wasn't gonna do you any favors. If these people were anything like you, they'd be panicked and confused - Gnome knows you'd been that way more often than not while Ser Valen's 'rite' thing was settling.

"Kinda feels like we're really knights now?"

"Secret police, maybe?"

Moving as a group had other perks to it as well though. Felt more official, and that was probably important somehow. you'd be lying if you said moving through these streets at the head of your friends didn't feel kinda cool. All dangerous like and stuff.

"I didn't think our first assignment would be night raids on the town, though."

"...What did you think knights did?"

"I dunno, the ones at Ser Valen's cousin's seemed to just stand around all day."

"Oh yeah..."

You cleared your throat as their idle conversation started wandering off course. "Alright, same plan as all the others. We surround the place before entering. Anyone running's gonna cause more problems than we want tonight."

Most of the town was still sharing sleeping quarters spread out around town. Large, sprawling tents pitched through the slowly cleaned streets that took advantage of the region's moderate temperatures and relatively warm nights. Penny mentioned some of her coworkers at the Shrine were helping that somehow, but you didn't claim to really understand how. That made these operations a little more delicate, since taking a few people into custody often meant waking up a dozen or so otherwise uninvolved people... And if you didn't keep them calm, the situation just got all sorts of upset.

So when you pulled aside the tarp and ducked into the sleeping quarters only to find the entire place already awake and confused, it wasn't a happy sight. "Good evenin'. I'd like t'ask all of you to take a seat, we're here on official business."

"Jeremy?" You stretched your jaw, trying to pick out which of the occupants started talking as your shoulder-captive began to squirm. "Boy, what in Wisp's good graces have you done this time?"

"I ain't done nothing, they barged in and arrested everyone!" The now-named Jeremy... Didn't exactly lie. "And this big guy threatened to feed me to a tree! Help me ou- phhg"

Your shrug bounced the brat on your shoulder, knocking the air out of him while you sighed. "We've got reason to believe some of your neighbours have been deliberately trying to slow down rebuilding efforts. Got a list of names we're going through to investigate, so if you'd all cooperate I'd appreciate it."

"You saying Jeremy's trying to sabotage Carona...? That doesn't make sense, it's his home - it's all of our homes!"

"All I'm sayin is that his name was on the list, so we're investigating."

"Why're you carrying him like that, then?!" An angrier voice from the back broke in. "You're treating him like he's luggage!"

"You all heard the noises, right?" You looked around, catching faint nods as you continued. "Jeremy had and tried to use one of the devices that made it. He's been refusing to answer our questions, so I've brought him with."

"What about the tree monster?!" The kid struggled, both on your shoulder and in trying to get some support. "He threatened t'feed me to a tree monster if I didn't cooperate!"

An older woman with sun-faded brown hair scoffed. "Oh shush, tree monsters don't exist. How old are you to still be believin in that mess?"

"Well there's the Oakenbears." Another disagreed.

"We haven't seen one of those since the Shade Representative got permission to chop em all up from the new Valen kid." The woman turned a scowl back towards your shoulder-rider. "And you! What kind of game are you playing at to be waking everyone up and worrying the town like that!"

"I'm tellin' ya, it's not my fault! These guys're arresting people who don't like their snotty master!"

You opened your mouth only to be immediately spoken over as another round of fussing erupted. Kid on your shoulder was yelling and startin' to cry, people in front of you were getting upset, and damn if you could get a word in edgewise. This was the kind of thing you'd wanted to avoid. You raised a fist to your mouth and coughed pointedly, letting the deep rumbling in your chest do its work. "t'Explain a bit. We are detaining some of you who dislike the new mayor, yes. However-" You raise your voice hastily as you realized that was a terrible thing to say. "-It's uh... Not what it sounds like!"

Yeah now you had their attention. You'd be scratching furrows in your neck if you had a hand free for it right now. "Like I told ya, these people have been workin' with some others to slow down our rebuilding efforts t'try and blame it on Ser Valen. An' I mean..." Shit, shit, bull's steaming load. Where were you going with this?

>It didn't matter, make your arrests and move on. Ser Valen and the others could explain it later better than you could.
>Try and explain the whole deal, far as you knew it. You don't know it that well.
>Gnome bless, you'd been working in this town for months. Just ask for some trust.
>Change the subject and send them to Shrine as a whole. S'long as everyone stayed together you could pick out the bad ones in the morning.

>>3967461
>Gnome bless, you'd been working in this town for months. Just ask for some trust.
Tell them Ser Valen will explain everything later

>>3967461
>Gnome bless, you'd been working in this town for months. Just ask for some trust.
>"We realized someone is playing shenanigans with the rebuilding efforts, and we poked around and it turned out these kids really have some sort of plan and organization to do Mana knows what for Mana knows what reasons"
Basically the aim is to put the blame for waking people up on the insurgents.

>>3967461
this
>>3967465
Faeliege is much better with words than us. And kinda scary. She'll smooth things over.

>>3965557
>Well Irue was clearly right to be concerned seeing as how they shot off a dozen flares. There's clearly something going on here and we need to find out what.

>>3967461
>>3967939
oops, quoted the wrong post

>>3967461
>Gnome bless, you'd been working in this town for months. Just ask for some trust.

Appeal to their good nature, or whatever. Ser Valen's knights have been here for ages haulin' and buildin' and fixin'. Do they honestly believe that they are kidnapping children in broad daylight now? Or that they'd follow an order like that, if they received it?

Tell em we know that rebels from outta town have been sneaking in and lying to good townsfolk to make them do their bidding, but ser Valen found out and is trying to grab the weasels what makes others do their dirty work without even knowing about it. Carona's citizens won't get in trouble for falling for a bunch of convincing lies

>>3967461
It's true that Dullem isn't good at wordy talkies, let alone negotiation with a volatile group. I really doubt that anything would be accomplished by trying to explain it ourselves, nor do I think that "being here for a few months," despite all our goodwill, will do too much with these people trying to get stirred up at the new administration. For these people who've lived here their whole lives, whose ancestors've lived here their whole lives, the most established of our whole group is Irue as a Valen, while everybody else is more or less new. Except Kara, sort of.

As >>3967939 noted, it's not like it'd be hard to prove this little shit biscuit was up to something. *Somebody* must have been looking and saw the showers of star lights everywhere, if not here, then just around and about. What's harder to justify is that *he* wasn't justified in doing so as a "response," since it's not like these people know anything about this being a first strike against infiltration by foreign agents who employ fat chested cousin seducing hussies.

I wouldn't want to send them to the Shrine, either- that might alarm them. So despite my earlier stated doubts, I'll go along the same groove as >>3967522 and say-
>Gnome bless, you'd been working in this town for months. Just ask for some trust.
...Although, I sort of want to *ask* if they'd *like* to go to the Shrine, as that's been around far longer than any of us and they're sure to be trusted.

I'll be closing the voting window in a bit!

>>3968179
Is Maran fat-chested? I always pictured her rather slim.

>>3968879
Compared to Irue yes.
Which is not saying much.

>>3967465
>>3967522
>>3968053
>>3968179
Trust me!

>>3967522
>>3967939
Also blame the people more!

Writing!
---
>>3968879
I've never considered Maran especially chesty. You could easily describe her as average.

But she is a cousin seducing hussie and no one will tell Irue otherwise.

"Ah... Look." Smooth ideas about explaining it yourself went right out the window. "I think we can all agree it shouldn't have taken this long to get Carona back up and running. We've been working out there for a while now, some of y'all I remember working with during that time. I hope you can vouch for me when I say it's not been taking this long because we're dragging our feet out there."

"I know a lot of y'all are upset it's still not done, and I get you. I heard you while you're workin, I know what it's like to be out of a home. Ser Valen gave us one, and we've been hard at work trying to get yours back, believe me... Uh." You trailed off. "Just uh... I guess I'm askin you to put a little trust in us for now. I promise our little liege will give a better explanation in the morning than I can right now."

You fell silent, breath held nervously as you waited for the other shoe to fall. Times like this you really wished someone else had your position as knight captain, because you sure wasn't cut out for this kinda thing.

"You're abducting our friends and family in the middle of the night and you have the balls to come in here and ask us to trust you?"

"Yes. Yes I am." You stared the man dead in the eye and distantly felt all higher thought abandon you in shame. Now your dumbass was out here praying. The seconds of ensuing, baffled silence which filled the tent was mortifying.

"No. I'm not standing for this-" One of the younger men in the back stood angrily, "And none of you should either! This is the first step they're taking to put us under their thumb, and it won't be the last! We stand up here now, or we-"

"Sit down, Taggart." A much larger man rumbled from nearer the front. You'd worked with him before, carrying loads of rubble. He took his time to stand, but when he did his broadened shoulders were a back to rally at for another - and then another after that. Some of them you had spoken to before, but many you didn't personally recognize; All of them cut from a worker's cloth. "I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"You're selling out your own people! For what?!"

"Because I wanna know where so many of us got those loud light things from." the large man turned dourly towards Taggart. "Ain't nothing I seen before, and gotta wonder why everyone who had 'em were so certain these knights would be coming for them."

"What are you trying to say, then? You really taking their side in all this?" Taggart levelled an accusing finger at you as he sneered back at the man, leaving you feeling justifiably as an outsider in all this. A good opportunity to shut up and watch instead of put your foot in your mouth again. "They come in out of nowhere with a bunch of demis, they steal our property, they make excuses for why things aren't fixed yet, and I bet you anything they're the ones who caused all this in the first place!"

A noncomittal grunt issued out of the larger man, crossing his arms as Taggart's speech continued. You felt for the man, seeing his confidence flag as more of the divided citizens began murmuring. He'd taken a stand and put his neck out to try and help.

...And damn if that wasn't something you respected.

"If I could get your attention." Your earthen voice easily bowled over the lesser murmurs, dredged up with a resigned determination to back up the man who'd stood for you. "I got this list here of people we're looking for. Folks at the Shrine helped put it together, but I couldn't tell ya what criteria went into it." You fished out said list from your pocket, unfolding the paper for everyone to see before holding it out to one of the men who'd stood earlier. "Y'can read it yourself, if it helps."

"...Uh." The man holding the list it over carefully, squinting in the torchlight... And frowned embarrassedly. "Anyone here good with letters? I- Oh, here Thomas." He passed it off to an older man, who took the parchment in calloused hand with solemn word of thanks.

"Look, it shouldn't matter what's on that paper." Taggart continued heatedly, "We have no way of knowing if they're just lying about working with the Shrine either. We-"

"Jess." The older man's voice interjected firmly as his eyes scanned the document. "Lived on third street. Daughter of our smithy. Harn, carpenter, old customer of mine. Holly and Julie Marthi... And their father, a family of traders if I remember..." One by one, the older man spoke names - Many of them with a shade of familiarity that would have been impossible for you or the knights. The kind of long suffering disappointment and familial fondness that came from having known more than just a face to word.

You shuffled your feet awkwardly as the role call continued, unsure quite what to say. You kind of hoped he'd give that paper back, because you needed it after this was over.

"...And Taggart." Thomas concluded finally, "You're not on this list."

"Why in Shade's name would I be?" The younger lad spat back, "And what did any of that even mean? You expect us to believe all those people are traitors?"

"I expect you to cooperate." Thomas returned tiredly.

"Really? After everything they took from you just moving on in, you're siding with them over the town?"

"...Boy." The old man sighed matter-of-factly. "I've lived here longer than you've been alive, and I'll bet my left foot my great grandfather was tilling fields here before yours even put down roots. When I saw the state this town was in, I volunteered what I had to help, they didn't take a coin." Thomas held his head high, conviction woven under steady baritone. "If you're not cooperating with the people trying to help us, then you're the reason we're still out here."

"But-"

"Sit down." The larger man's rumbled warning decisively put an end to the debate.

Taking a deep breath under the night air some minutes later, you tried to steady your nerves after all that. Standing up in front of a bunch of people and trying to win them over was maybe the second or third scariest thing you'd ever done. How Ser Valen danced around in those situations went way beyond your understanding.

Even after all that, it'd been a waste of time. When the flares went off the people you'd come to detain had bolted in a panic without so much as a word; Most not even take their stuff. This location was a bust, and you scratched a little charcoal streak across it while looking over your next location. The sinking feeling in your chest explained exactly what you expected to find there, given the results here and how long it'd taken to resolve everything...

"Dullem!" A bassy voice comparable to yours tolled heavily as you made to gather the knights. It was the same man who'd stood in your defense, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the tents as he and a handful of others followed him out. "We're coming with you."

"I'm sorry?" Your brow furrowed.

"Jacob, we've met a couple times." The man introduced himself, "And we're keen to come with if'n that's fine with you?"

"I..." This was supposed to be a secret operation, what with the night raids and the.... Aw Shade take it, those lights ruined everything already. "I'd be happy to have you, but I don't know what you can really do for us."

"I don't either." Jacob admitted, "But Thomas is up in arms over it, and he figures we can help smooth things out with the rest of Carona if that happens again."

You scratched at the back of your neck awkwardly. Too late at night to try for fancy words. "Thanks, that'll be a real help."

"I dunno that I trust our new mayor." Jacob admitted bluntly, "But you and yours have been out there working as hard as the rest of us ever since y'got here." He offered a hand.

...And you took it, firmly gripping down as you shook. This was more familiar ground.

"Captain! The south group sent a runner, there's resistance in the main square!"

Just like that your moment was over. "Didn't think they'd actually mobilize on us..." You grumbled, "Alright, I'll-"

>Swap 1/3
>You are Rinnier!
>You are Ari!
>You are Dullem! (What do you do?)
>You are Kara!

>>3969152
>You are Kara!
Dullem now has even more swole guys with him, he will be OK

>>3969152
>You are Ari!
Proving to the citizens we so do really have a man-eating tree.

>>3969152
>>You are Kara!

Now about these options...

Rinnier, and we might be able to grab Marcus before a force has rallied around him (who am I kidding, main square...) but I trust her strategic thinking to soldier on without our help(who am I kidding, when did we ever help anything).

Ari and we'd be eating escapees I suppose. I feel like she can do that without our input.

Dullem should be going to deescalate whatever is happening in the square and he's got community leaders and whatnot on his side now, so I think we can leave it to them.

We still have no idea where Kara is or what she is doing. In any case I will assume that this is the planning phase, or at least the moment before she takes action and is where we can best maneuver her.

>>3969152
>>You are Kara!

>>3969152
While things are solidly in the doghouse, I would go for-
>You are Rinnier!
Since even though Rinier is capable enough, it doesn't hurt to be safe- and this [i]is[/i] at least a capable operative she's to hunt down. It can be assumed, IMO, that Krell won't just bend over and pull down his trousers, and thus I'd be ready for tricks worse than a few pretty lights up his sleeve.

>>3969152
>You are Ari!

Closing window shortly!

>>3971214
Testing QM powers

>>3969188
>>3969290
>>3969334
Kara!

>>3969281
>>3970210
Ari!

>>3970134
Rinnier!

Writing!

You didn't understand. This wasn't a new feeling, but usually it didn't matter. You spent a lot of time not understanding, and making sure that not understanding wouldn't be dangerous. This was dangerous. The phial in your hand was warm to the touch, the liquid within pungent, and the choices Maro offered you weren't changing.

Where had you gone wrong? If you hadn't followed him down here... No, it had to be further back. If you hadn't let Raid out of your sight? Or even further-

"We don't have all night, cripple. I didn't think the options were that complicated?"

You couldn't save him any other way, you didn't even know where they were keeping him!If they hadn't captured him coming back to town, if you'd gone out to meet him, dammit. Dammit.

Cooperate or Raid dies. You couldn't let your brother die. You absolutely refused to let that happen. The drug in your hand would rouse the Behemoth, and all you had to do after that was step aside and watch until morning. That was all you had to do to save your little brother.

...Would 'Rue be okay with that? Rue'd understand, right? You'd apologize, and you'd be forgiven, and... And it'd be fine. Like the last time with the little maid.

But what if you weren't. You were only the Alpha now because of the position Rue offered the pack. What if you weren't forgiven? What if you lost that? You'd lose the pack again. Did you even want the pack? You wanted them to live, but they were doing that... Mostly fine now. Did it matter if you lost the pack? If Rue didn't forgive you for saving Raid, and you lost the pack, that was fine? Right? Maybe?

"I don't understand." Your throat was tight as you repeated those words for the third or fourth time tonight. "We have it good. We get food, we don't have to hide, we're not having to steal what we need. Why are we doing this?"

"Most people become Alpha because they're skilled, or smart." Maro growled impatiently. "You have none of those things. You're a noble's pet bitch, and playing the lapdog made you a convenient representative - Of course you don't understand what's going on. I doubt you even bothered to think about what was going on at all."

"I don't get it! Just tell me why!?" Gentle. Gentle. Don't shatter the phial, it would take a moment's distraction to crumple it. This phial was your brother's life.

"...Fine, if I humor you will you make your decision?" You nod decisively, displaying far more confidence than you actually felt. If this got you normal, easy to understand answers then you'd say whatever he wanted to hear. Whether Maro believed you or not was another story... You'd never been able to lie to him successfully. "I'll hold you to that then, because if you don't then I'll make it for you."

"The simplest version is that the noble you play lapdog too is the wrong horse. The people we're working with now were already in the process of tearing down more than one human family, and they're willing to extend a working relationship to us in exchange for our cooperation."

Rue was a very small horse...

"So..." You struggled to form a coherent thought out of your emotions. "Once I do this... They'll take care of us?"

"That's the agreement."

"But Rue already takes care of us..." You circle back to not understanding weakly.

"How? It took months for us to live out of the woods, we're the ones hunting for food to feed other people rather than being fed, and you can't tell me you don't see and hear the way the people in town feel about us. Aren't we already being shuffled out of sight? You call that being taken care of?" Maro paced the darkened room, torchlight spilling shadows across the decaying corpse of the former mayor. It was a miracle the torch remained lit at all under the occasional moist gales from the sleeping behemoth's breath. "You're being used for convenience cripple, and you'd see that if you weren't what you are. We're tolerated at best, held with our neck on the chopping block at worst."

"'Rue wouldn't anything like that!"

"Maybe not to you. Maybe. If you become more trouble than you're worth I woudln't rule it out, but what about the rest of us? Do you think the comfy spot at that noble's heels extends to the rest of the pack? If you're Alpha, you should already know that their well being comes first."

"That..." The coppery taste of blood brushed against your tongue when your own fangs pierced your lip anxiously. The pain was sharp, fleeting, negligible, and above all it didn't get you any closer to the words you wanted.

As Alpha, the pack came first. You had to do what was in their best interest, that was the entire purpose of the role. That was your responsibility. You thought you were doing that, but were you? Were there better options?

"Of course, if you knew that then it's a wonder you'd even tolerate following the noble at all."

Your brows furrowed. "I... Don't understand?"

Maro's pitying tone continued. "No, you don't. Because you've been used this entire time by someone much better at being a demihuman than you are." He paused; Waiting. Observing. After a moment, he tilted his head in concern. "Oh you poor cripple. Why do you think you're the Alpha now?"

"Because... Someone had to keep the pack together." You answer unsteadily, feeling the words across your tongue like you weren't sure of your own memories. "Everyone broke but me... I had to fix you."

"It wasn't at the behest of someone else?"

"I don't know." You bit back, trying to fight back the discomfort his prodding left you with. "I- I don't remember? Maybe?" Yes.

"So someone easy to lead around by their nose was installed as our leader, and that leader ordered us around without ever thinking to look beyond their leash." Maro continued slowly, "And the person responsible for nudging you in that direction - Was the one responsible for putting us in that situation in the first place."

The anxiously twitching tip of your tail stilled. It felt like icy water had spilled across your skin as your thoughts screeched to a halt - Emphasis on screeching.

"'Rue wouldn't- Rue couldn't do that." You babbled off your lips awkwardly. "It was that monster, Rue had nothing to do with it!"

"And what if I told you your precious noble was the one that called it in the first place? To do. Exactly. What. It. Did." Each word clipped clearly from the last, driving a pole through your thoughts with each hammer stroke. "Everyone who died, and everything that came after, including you thinking you were qualified to be Alpha, were all done according to plan."

No, no that... That wasn't- 'Rue trusted you. They were supporting you, this was your idea... Wasn't it?

"Why-" Your limbs felt leaden and heavy, but too weak. Almost too weak to move as your eyes burned in the dark. "Why now?" The question wrenched a cracking hiccup from your throat. "Why are you telling me all this now? Why not before? If you knew all this, why didn't anyone tell me?!"

"Because, cripple." Maro snorted, "It didn't benefit me until now. So, will you make your choice, or will I make it for you?"

>Wake the behemoth. Save your brother.
>?

File: 1458581963137.png (1.17 MB, 1488x1137)

1.17 MB PNG

>The typos which plague your update that you don't see until they're posted.

>>3971509
>Wake the behemoth. Save your brother.
fuck. So it has come to this. I have always advocated killing the behemoth

>>3971527
???
Waking the behemoth does not kill it. It wakes it.

>>3971509
>?
Kill Maro, find Rue. Rue can fix this.

>>3971512
Uhhh. Do I have time to catch up a bit?

>>3971531
You have like a day to cast your vote

>>3971509
>?
Cripple Maro, find Rue. Rue can fix this.

Maro will do anything to save his own life.

Kara can't outthink him, but she can beat him.

>>3971533
NVM.

I been considering Kara vs Maro for a while. Kara is dumb, but she knows enough about Maro to know that he wants to live and can do anything to survive.

Kara also knows she's dumb. So it comes down to trust. Kara believes she can trust Rue. She knows she can't trust Maro.

So all she has to do to win against Maro is to ignore what he says. He's smarter than her, and he's good at lying, and he doesn't keep his promises. He'll probably kill her brother anyways if she does what he says, or even if not he'll never let her brother go anyways and will use him to make Kara hurt people.

Kara knows all this because she's seen Maro do this before.

Ears off until she hears Maro begging for his life.

>>3971530
You misunderstood me anon. I'm saying is I advocated killing the behemoth earlier, before it blew up in our face in a situation like this
I don't see a way out now

>>3971540
>>3971541
Maro won't actually crush the vial anyways, because if Kara does attack that's the only thing that'll save Maro's life.

And his life is the most important thing to Maro.

Afterwards, I think Kara should kill Maro anyways. Show him that even the "cripple" can do what's needed, even if it means going back on a promise.

Growing up is tough. But trying to kill Raid is Kara's bottom line.

Of course if Kara was smarter she would take him to Rue to interrogate. But she's not.

>>3971555
How do you seem so certain that Kara will just kill Marro? Raid has been hidden somewhere. They will find out Kara did not cooperate, and they will kill him.
>You couldn't let your brother die. You absolutely refused to let that happen.

>>3971541
Oh I see. Well it hasn't blown up in our face yet, all you have to do is come up with a plausible reason why Kara wouldn't push the big red button.

>>3971540
Yeah I pretty much agree with this, just wanna add though-
>>3971506
>Because you've been used this entire time by someone much better at being a demihuman than you are.

Surely even Kara can see that he was basically describing himself in this line, right? As long as Maro is around Raid will never be safe.

>>3971555
>Maro won't actually crush the vial anyways
Kara has the phial, although isn't it kind of weird how Maro has to blackmail Kara into administering it? It's an extra opportunity for his plans to go off track so there must be a reason for it. I bet it's going to try to instagib whoever wakes it up.

>>3971567
Certanty is pretty hard to come by in Valen anon. We're working with what we have and we just don't want Irue's entire faction to get killed off in the space of one vote.

>>3971567
> Afterwards, I think Kara should kill Maro anyways. Show him that even the "cripple" can do what's needed, even if it means going back on a promise.

I mean, why would they continue to piss Kara off after Maro is dead and the plan has failed? What benefit would that be, compared to returning Raid and not having Kara kill them next?

Kara is a fucking beatstick.

I guess she wouldn't be so dumb as to kill Maro right away then. I mean. She is pretty much retarded but dragging Maro to Rue to fix things is reasonable.

Oh. Oh, Maro. Rue has been really upset by all the undermining and betrayal. Shit's not going to go well for you at all.

Anyways. My core argument of how Kara should beat Maro stands. He's gonna talk circles around her, and the longer she listens the more of a disadvantage she's at.

So she should just beat him until he does what she wants.

>>3971577
That's some very optimistic thinking. And a lot of assumptions which I don't think hold up

>>3971587
It's a hell of a lot better than trusting Maro, let alone waking the Behemoth.

The important thing is justifying how Kara could come to the conclusion.

And since Kara knows she can't win with words, she'll have to win with strength instead and drag Maro to Rue who CAN win with words.

>>3971599
But she can't win through strength! If she kills Marro and doesn't wake up behemoth, they will kill Raid. And that equals losing, for Kara.
I can only hope you're right cuz I'm thinking we're in for the Behemoth's wild ride

>>3971600
Irue can find him with the web and either tie it off so she can wake up without destroying it or communicate his location through Rinnier. I'm curious why you're voting to wake the behemoth if you don't that to happen? In situations like this it's best to throw shit at the wall and see what Riz lets stick.

>>3971600
Or she could beat Maro mostly to death, and take him to Rue to find out where Raid is.

Rue can use the web, or even pull out a Shade apparition if necessary. Her soul DOES heal after all.

I keep saying, we should get that old Shade apparition at Dryads old temple under our control. It makes a fantastic investigative tool.

Also we should merge the Dryad core with the Behemoth. Dryad controlled the wild animals after all, and that's what the Behemoth is. Dryad being awake now, we might as well. Then we can chain to it and break it away from Dryad the same as we did with the OG Oakenrue that we took into the Fae woods.

Regardless, waking the behemoth ain't gonna happen.

How do we know Raid is even still alive, or isn't actually working with Maro?

>>3971600
Strength is the only way Kara can win. For Kara, even listening to Maro is a loss because he can talk circles around her.

So beating him up and taking him to Rue is the only way to win. Change the game.

>>3971600
Oh sorry I forgot to address your main point.
>If she kills Marro and doesn't wake up behemoth, they will kill Raid.
No one has any way of knowing that Maro is dead, she'll likely have some time before it's too late especially considering that Kara's travel time to and from anywhere at all is pretty much zero. That's the gamble.

This is all assuming that Maro isn't just talking out of his ass, it's possible that he doesn't have Raid at all. Excepting Marchovic Raid was the last person to leave the woods so it doesn't make sense for him to show up first.

I think we killed him.

>>3972260
...Or chrome froze the tab. Nevermind.

>>3971541
I feel you, I've been trying to kill it for ages but even when we agree on it, we don't get the chance to make the decision IC

>>3971509
>>3971540
Agree with this post and reasoning. Even if Rue is a better demihuman than her and using her, so is Maro now and forever. The difference is that Rue have never threatened her or Raid. They even try to get along with him and trust him to go on missions with her!

Maro cares about his own life more than anything, so what Kara should do is the simple, easy thing. Hurt him and hurt him so Bad that he is completely at her mercy. Break his body, cripple him and haul him off by the throat and force him to take her to Raid and then exchange him for his life.

The pack members care about their own lives more than Maro's too, they would never kill Raid if it means that Kara will go after them for it. If they see that he can no longer control her with words they sure as shit won't take the risk. Kara probably don't realize this completely but even she should suspect it.

>>3971509
>>Wake the behemoth. Save your brother.
Kara is dumb, and this is the exact sort of stupid thing she would do. We're wiping the demihumans for this. This is twice now they've betrayed us. Kara included.
Damnit. We just fixed this fucking town.

>>3971527
Same here. But we never had a solid enough plan besides "get Kara to stab it really hard and hope for the best".

>>3972346
Why are you voting for it if you don't want it to happen? Y'all niggas is confusing.

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Just dug up this gem. We're in for another destruction of Carona boys

>>3972370
Because acting in character is better than making the optimal choice. Even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts.

>>3972370
There are some theories
>Anons recognize failure and accept their fate
>Anons want to annihilate Carona by any means possible

>>3972346
I am 2000% sure my plan of lethal bloodletting would have worked. While the sedative still works, feed it anti coagulant(optional, but reopening wounds cause pain) and cut a few arteries. Eventually the exsanguination would make the sedative superfluous and it would soon die

>>3972370
They take the offered solution because they think Kara is too dumb to use >?

But really, screw you guys if you let that damn thing out. With one vote you negate three irl years of trying to salvage this piece of shit place and ruin any chance for us to have a stable power base and source of manpower. Not to mention the risk of the entire cast dying

>>3972373
Rue is in the Web at the moment. I wonder how that affects that answer.

Speaking of, anyone got any idea how to deal with the Behemoth without our heavy hitter?

>>3972385
Nothing so dramatic. Riz has made it clear we're stuck with this town despite how nonsensical the succession scheme is, so intentionally wrecking it would just cause more pain for us later.

I just think Kara wouldn't be able to work through a logic chain that allowed her to gamble on her brother. She just doesn't have the brainpower or wisdom.

>>3972395
Possibly. Part of the potential issue with that was that the stress could wake it before it died or was even seriously weakened, similar to starving or poisoning it. Not that it's a bad idea, but that was one of the downsides. I was a fan of just stabbing it, as it seemed to have about the same amount of risk, and either worked or didn't on a much shorter timescale.

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>>3972379
Ah, should have guessed it'd be that. Is accepting Maros blackmail the only thing that's in character? You know that if it's not in kosher for Kara to figure this shit out then Riz will let the decision fizzle in the next post and default to waking it up anyway, right?

>>3972439
This anon is correct, for the official record.

You can vote for any course of action you'd like, as you've always been able to. However, as with any other time of the quest if the suggested course of action isn't sufficiently in character then it will be omitted.

I prefer not to do this, so by all means I encourage people putting forth their idea to discuss and justify why they think Kara would be amenable to it. You may have reasons I don't immediately consider, so the better I understand why you suggest it the the better it will be all around.

I really hate these sort of alt pov loyalty votes. As players, why would we ever vote for someone to betray us? Even when it's a reasonable choice from the character's view?

>>3972410
> I just think Kara wouldn't be able to work through a logic chain that allowed her to gamble on her brother. She just doesn't have the brainpower or wisdom.

But that's just it, Kara isn't using her brain to get through this. She can just use her muscle, and then get Rue to solve the problem of her brother being kidnapped.

She just has to stop listening to Maro, because she knows she's not able to think properly about what to do. The more confused she is the easier to flip out.

Pardon me for perhaps sounding like a nut but I'd think the solution could be, to a smoothbrain like Kara-

Wake up Behemoth
Kill Behemoth
Technically you fulfill promises to both parties

That said, I have no clue how strong this thing actually is. If retard strength can't figure out some way to kill it while it's still groggy, then we'd be fucked.

>>3972455
Is it reasonable from Kara's point of view? Irue is the most important person to her other than her brother. Also she's the only person other than her brother to be that important.

Betraying Rue like this goes against Kara's entire history of trusting loyalty.

Remember what it took for her to turn against Maro in the first place? And Kara feels way more connected to Rue than she ever did to Maro.

Kara's brother is the only leverage Maro can use, but Kara knows at least that Maro lies and breaks his promises. Irue doesn't, to anyone as best she can and really to a ridiculous degree.

Kara isn't clever, but she knows who treated her well and who didn't.

And like I said. Kara herself knows she's not smart enough to handle these situations.

>>3972483
Yeah, except retard strength definitely can't kill it.

That's been made real clear in the past.

Are you seriously voting to wake it up just to force trying to kill it? After we finally knuckled down and lost Asche to find the Teranford kids?

Because if that's your OOC motivation for this, then . . . Man.

>>3972483
>The drug in your hand would rouse the Behemoth, and all you had to do after that was step aside and watch until morning.
I don't think thats the case anon. They thought about this loophole

>>3972486
Yea, it's reasonable. Riz's ruling cuts both ways. It wouldn't be an option if it wasn't reasonable.

>>3972487
I haven't voted for anything, thank you. OOC is thinking about what Kara would do that doesn't result in us having to deal with a behemoth while also not getting her brother squished, because frankly, if Carona gets pulverized into dust, we're right back at square one.

>>3972488
>and all you had to do after that was step aside and watch until morning.
Well shit. Not really much choice then is there.

>>3972486
I concur, and additionally, as her actual crippling disability is being able to empathize, could weigh even a life valuable to her against all the others, and against all the lives that would be lost from Behemoth waking up too.

So,
>>3971509
>Ice Maro, find Brother.
Holding one member of the pack hostage means you don't get to be in it anymore.

>>3972523
Kara is a shounen protag. Dense, especially about social things. Starts out with a tsundere brother and no other family/friends. Super strong. Dumbly good natured. Snaps and goes fucking berserk when pushed too far.

Goddamn. Just thinking about how much impact Irue punching out that Gnome Adept for Kara has had on the story.

Closing the window soon!

So, seeing as it looks like Kara isn't going to wake the Behemoth, does anyone have any ideas for getting rid of the thing besides bloodletting it to death or stabbing it really hard?

>>3973164
Maybe we could just use food to bait it out of the town and into the surrounding area?

See if we can get it into the Fae woods, where Dryad is?

Merge a dryad core into it while it's asleep?

>>3973182
>Maybe we could just use food to bait it out of the town and into the surrounding area?
>See if we can get it into the Fae woods, where Dryad is?
That involves waking it up. And there will be lots of tasty bipedal food nearby already...

>Merge a dryad core into it while it's asleep?
I'd Forgotten about that. It's another option. but it assumes a lot and the fail and success states are almost equally... unpleasant. If it doesn't work it will be even stronger than before. If it succeeds, we will have handed the very emotionally unstable and unhappily imprisoned Dryad a Behemoth.
I am very much against attempting it personally. Still, it's an option.

>>3973197
Nah, Dryad loves us, and Dryad can control animals attitudes towards people, and cores themselves aren't sentient.

We'd end up with a heckin big dryad boi.

>>3971509
Supporting >>3971535 'cause Kara knows how Maro operates. If she submits, Raid will be in danger _forever_.

>>3973197
I mean. I suppose we could try to use the bracelet to get into its dreams.


Ooh. Or hearts in harmony + use the bracelet to force our way into its brain soul. Or we could make it smell the Teranford girls while we sleep beside it. Put a buncha their stuff by his nose or something.

>>3973220
Just remember that the Behemot is a Salamandrian entity IIRC.

>>3973232
>I suppose we could try to use the bracelet to get into its dreams.
Unless we find another misuse of the thing, the bracelet doesn't let us invade dreams.

>hearts in harmony
Requires mutual trust and vulnerability. If we snuck into Dullem's bed without him knowing, Hearts wouldn't trigger either. I wonder if it would work on a pet like a dog or something though...

>>3973238
>If we snuck into Dullem's bed without him knowing, Hearts wouldn't trigger either.
Though it appearently would if we coerced him into bed with us while he was delirious.

>>3973242
>>3973238
That's why we trick him into subconsciously thinking we're a Teranford. Might as well try, we gotta sleep sometime, and it's least likely to wake it.

And we can first try to use the bracelet to make a soul connection like we did with the Oakenrue. We never tried that again.

>>3973242
Drugs are a dirty hack for emotions. Slip some joy juice into its sedatives. Instant chemical love.

What do we have to lose trying.

Alright, window closed! Let me go through these posts and see what's up.

>>3971527
>>3972346
Wakey wakey, eggs and rampagey!

>>3971530
>>3971535
>>3972294
>>3972523
>>3973229
Can you risk Raid's life on the gamble that Irue can help? Will anything change if you don't?

It'd suck if that vote was out of character and we were forced to default to waking the Behemoth, huh?

Yeah, that'd suck.

...

Writing!

>>3973374
Well if it is, and we fucked up, I'll at least take comfort in that we tried.

If the disaster isn't MY fault then I can't take the blame!

Was Rue using you? Maybe. Raid had tried to warn you of that before. Your little brother had always had a sort of fascination for Rue's 'compatibility' with demihumans, and you knew well enough that you weren't a great example of your kind. You wouldn't be surprised if Rue really was better at being you than you were...

I don't understand anything that's going on, 'Rue. Everything is confusing. I don't want t'think about any of it, I just... It's not just that I need to be told, I want to be told.

But so what? Your entire pack could do things you couldn't begin to understand, and of all of them Maro had been the Alpha for as long as you could remember. Everyone was a better demihuman than you were. You were fine with that, you'd accepted it a long time ago. It was enough that they kept you around, and you could stay with your little brother. It was enough when some of them pretended to care and fed you little lies to let you believe you were important to them. You didn't hold any of that against them - Those were the memories and moments you loved the most. Those were the people you wanted to save. They were everything you'd ever had... And a year ago, you earnestly believed they were everything you'd ever have.

'Rue dropped into your life unexpectedly. A curious smelling fluke that tickled nostalgic feelings you couldn't make sense of - A quirk you'd come to discover wasn't unique to you. You didn't have a question in your mind that they were using you, too; You didn't hold that against them, either. You enjoyed the fleeting moments of familiarity, the little gifts you could imagine were done without ulterior motives.

I don't want to try and figure all of this out on my own. Nothing makes sense, and everytime I think I figured somethin' out, it just hurts worse when I'm wrong, and I don't want to keep doin' that.

Maro and 'Rue both used you to their heart's content, and you'd never considered that a bad thing really. Maro had only ever done what was for the best of the pack, and if that meant using you to benefit them then you were happy to be of use. 'Rue... Asked you to do things, too. Most of it was to benefit 'Rue somehow, but it kept your pack in good graces so it was basically the same thing as with Maro.

One night in Carona, 'Rue confronted you; Shouted up at you on an empty street in the dead of night. It was an incredibly unintimidating sight, considering how small and physically puny the little blonde noble was.

Do you even know what trust is? Have you trusted anyone in your life?

The words were sharper than you expected though. More merciless. 'Rue wanted answers, and you were too nervous to give them.

I'm strong enough to take care of myself, what do I need to trust anyone else for?

You blurted your raw feelings out indignantly.

They can't do anything to me, and they can't get anything I can't get myself!

You were beyond touching. Too strong, too tough, too fast. In a straight up fight, you could count the things you'd met that scared you on a single hand. You didn't need to trust anyone, because what could they really do to hurt you? If they lied to you, you would be fine. If they betrayed you, you would be fine. Rather than whether you believed someone, what mattered more was how nice they were.

Then what? You just let anyone boss you around and make decisions without caring why?!

To someone as weak as 'Rue it probably didn't make sense. You were used to being lied to, so it wasn't like trust mattered. If that was what you cared about, you'd never have had any peace - You spent so much of your time trying to care less about those things.

It's easier that way! I don't have to worry about who-

But right now you felt just as weak. Just as helpless. Just as worthless. The only redeeming quality you'd ever had - The single value to be found in you - was your monstrous strength. Strength that was currently completely useless to you, as nothing you wrapped your hands around could tell you what to do.

Who you could trust. Who you can trust?
Who you couldn't. Who you can't?!

You would never forgive Maro for using your brother against you like this. You'd kill him, the moment this was over you would break every bone in his body. You would make it hurt.

...But if Maro was telling the truth, if 'Rue really was responsible for what had happened to your pack- What then? Every effort you'd taken to save them would have been 'Rue's fault in the first place. All the ones you couldn't save were a victim, and the little blonde had never so much as bothered to tell you.

I'll think of everything, and make sure nothing happens.

You panicked when it happened, when your brother collapsed in your arms and your pack crumpled.

Everything will be fine, I promise.

...'Rue promised. They promised everything would be fine, and they were the cause of that monster. They not only asked for your trust, they lied to you and hurt everyone you'd had in your life.

You hated Maro right now, but 'Rue was another problem entirely. 'Rue was the exact reason you tried so hard to shut down and not think about things. That you spent so many years trying not to care if someone was lying or not, because the truth always hurt you in the end. You couldn't be betrayed if you just never trusted anyone in the first place.

Trust me, all right?

Dammit...

I trust you.

You hated Maro, but with 'Rue you only had yourself to blame for giving it a chance. Why wouldn't it have been the same as every other time?

You were so tired of this.

Maro's patience waned as you trembled in place, mind stalling. Indecision drowned you, emotions you could barely deal with at the best of times whirled faster than you could hope to process them - The experience exhausted you more than it could move you, as each feeling only lingered long enough to give you glimpse into its confusing depths before shuffling away.

"Well, cripple? What's it going to be, your brother or the noble?"

"If I do this..." Your words shook, painted in some guttural sentiment. "Raid won't be safe."

"What do I have to gain from killing him anyway?" Maro reasoned affably.

"You'll do it again. Th' next time you need something, you'll use him again." Your lips peeled back into a snarl when it started to sink in how cornered you were. "Because there's nothin' else t'protect you."

"I promise, Kara. Do this and I'll let Raid go, and you can carry him around on your shoulder forever for all I care."

"Liar!" The accusation tore itself from your throat.

"Am I? Ask yourself why I'd need to hold Raid captive. He's part of the pack, cripple, or did you forget? I don't need to hold him hostage, because he won't leave... And as long as he's here, you're here." You felt your tail bristle under Maro's smile. "As long as you're here, you'll keep doing what I tell you to, or I'll remove him from the pack, and then all he'll have is you, and he'll know he's alone because of you."

"Shut up."

"He'll blame you."

"Shut up!"

"And then what? Hope you still have a place as a lapdog with the little noble? Hope it's enough to include Raid? Hope your little brother isn't the next permanent victim in their wake?"

Your ears were ringing, too flushed with the beating of your own heart. You couldn't let him keep talking, everything he said to you left you one step closer to the edge, and something so very fragile inside felt like it was just about to break. You couldn't take this anymore... You were happier when you kept yourself ignorant.

Was there no way out?

>Assert yourself as Alpha - What right does he have to try and speak for the pack now?
>Start fixing your mistakes, starting with Maro's life.
>Take the phial and run, gamble on speed. If you could find Raid fast enough...
>Other? (write-in)
Roll for Mind Break.
The more extreme the action taken in the end, the higher the DC will be.
If Raid dies it is guaranteed.

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>3973460
>Take the phial and run, gamble on speed. If you could find Raid fast enough...

>>3973475
Of course when I'm rolling over and not under, this happens.
It's great that we're doing best of three h-haha. right?

I'm fucking terrified of rolling

Especially so since I've tried to make Irue talk to Kara about all this for years and now it's all down to a roll of the dice. Shit. I'll post when I get home

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>3973460
>Assert yourself as Alpha - What right does he have to try and speak for the pack now?

>>3973478
I sure hope so.

>>3973577
Man. If Kara flips and fucking wakes the Behemoth because she's actually dumb enough to believe Maro over Rue, when Rue was the only thing keeping the townsfolk from killing all the Pack, let alone just letting them kill themselves, it's gonna be some serious "fuck this shit" time.

Fuck leaving any goddamn demihuman alive. We'll start a motherfucking crusade blaming them for all the shit.

So. If Carona gets wrecked, anyone down for heading to grab that Shade apparition and binding it into something similar to our first and second dryad staff/tree/abominations?

Eventually end up with an army of Aspirations to rule the land with an iron fist?

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>3973460
>>Start fixing your mistakes, starting with Maro's life.

>>3973648
Might as well hop on this train.

Was asserting ourself going to be beating him until he accepted us as Alpha?

>>3973374
Posting this before reading the update: I have been physically afraid to read it for five hours. But it has to be done.

>>3973455
>Nothing makes sense, and everytime I think I figured somethin' out, it just hurts worse when I'm wrong
That's me playing Valen.

>>3973460
>Raid won't blame Kara because he doesn't NEED the pack like she does. None of the pack needs it in that sense. All they need is accomplices and safety in numbers. Kara already has an alternative to that for her and Raid. Maro knows that and he is lying right now.
>Start fixing your mistakes, starting with Maro's life.

>>3973460
Remember the punch, Kara! Remember when Rue was willing to take on the whole Church for you!

Remember that Rue gave you the Alpha position instead of taking it herself. Maro said she was a better demihuman than you, she could have just ruled them outright. It's been done by others.

Remember that she protected them from the people of Carona. Everyone else wanted to get revenge for their part working with the mayor.

Didn't Rue do what she did to protect HER pack? Wasn't she willing to let the Pack join her afterwards, become her pack too through Kara?

Maro is trying to steal the pack back, otherwise he wouldn't have had to threaten Raid. The fact that he took Raid hostage means that Raid chose Rue! Trust Raid's choice! Trust in your brother, and in your friend!

Rue never held Raid hostage. She even trusted him, which Kara herself knows deep down is a bad idea, because Rue trusted Kara.

>>3973460
>Assert yourself as Alpha - What right does he have to try and speak for the pack now?

It's not fair to say the pack is living rough, when everyone does. The whole town is destroyed, of course it's bad for everyone. 'Rue promised to make things better, that everything will be fine. She promised that to everyone in Carona, too. She is working on that promise every day and no one ever said it would be quick.

'Rue has been nice to Raid. The reason Maro was able to kidnap him because they were on a mission together. She wouldn't do that if she was going to abandon him. She doesn't trust Maro and the others, that is why they have to work where humans can keep an eye on them.

>Break him into pieces until he gives up. If you kill him he can't tell you where Raid is. Let 'Rue deal with him later, she'll know what to do.

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>3973460
>>Take the phial and run, gamble on speed. If you could find Raid fast enough...
no good options, but can't think of any better ones.

>...But if Maro was telling the truth, if 'Rue really was responsible for what had happened to your pack- What then? Every effort you'd taken to save them would have been 'Rue's fault in the first place. All the ones you couldn't save were a victim, and the little blonde had never so much as bothered to tell you.
Your trust is misplaced. Rue's going to have to deal with this sooner or later. The idea has taken root, and won't let her go until it's answered.

>>3974565
I mean, if Rue could do it once, why wouldn't she do it again? And, the Pack WAS gonna kill Rue.

Why make Kara the alpha, against her wishes, when *Rue* could have just taken over the pack. Even Maro thinks she's more like a Demihuman.

And, why aren't they scared of Rue doing it again if Kara betrays her?

As far as I remember, we only did what we could for them because of Kara.

>>3973577
We gonna see Rue experience mind break if Kara betrays her.

Rue, without Carona to tie her down? With Carona refugees to care for? Knowing that this other town has been fucking with her?

Bandit Sorceress Queen, here we come.

Worst case scenario, we can take everyone to the Fae woods and get Dryad to care for them. See who fucking dares to chase us back there. Ride forth with our abomination Oakenrues, summon a giant fucking Shade Apparition or like I said, go grab that apparition that's almost an Aspiration, and bring madness and regret to that other town I can't remember the name of. The one to the SW.

>>3974714
It also occurs to me that the world is doomed anyways, as Rue is the end of the Valen line that could pacify Dryad when she started to wake.

And now that Dryad IS awake, Rue dying pretty much means the world is shit outta luck.

So why the *fuck* aren't the Mana helping us out at all. Or at least telling their Adepts to.

>>3974707
>do it again
it appears the gifts of shade were permanent, if the pack's actions after were any indication.
>kill
Oh, rue was completely justified in giving them an attack of the feels. It could even be considered a mercy or sorts. We didn't call up something more lethal, after all.
>alpha
iirc, Kara was made alpha for the reason Maro stated: it make the pack easier to control
>>3974714
>mind break
if the town gets wrecked again, maybe. If she wants to maintain any 'official' authority, though, she's got to play by aunt's rules for some nonsensical reason. But if she's willing to abandon her responsibilities I doubt she'd stoop to banditry. She does have that Foundation though...
>>3974764
>doom
Rue is only the head of house. There are plenty of branch members that could take her place as babysitter if the need arose (presumably, though we don't know how that responsibility is passed).
>divine intervention
Because the Mana are not aware of their sibling's aggravation. In fact, we have taken deliberate steps ever since discovering the circumstances around Dryad's current state to avoid letting the other Mana know we know about Dryad. Even if they were aware, they wouldn't help us. We are harboring someone Infected with a memetic virus. The same virus they feared so much the locked one of their own up and threw away the key. We are at very best, to them, neutral. And at worst, we're as bad as what we're fighting against.

>>3974818
>she's got to play by aunt's rules for some nonsensical reason.
And she has chained us to this miserable pile of rubble.
forgot a chunk in the logic.

>>3974818
You're assuming a lot about the branch members being able to replace her. Dryad already brought Rue back to life rather than allow that.

Aunt placed her in Carona to preotect her, since Artemis and the Royals are both doing murky political shit Rue is bad at. Carona is the training wheel town, and since people keep refusing to get help from our Aunt she has no idea how *fucked* things are, like with the Behemoth.

Rue going bandit to feed and care for the Carona survivors of a Behemoth crises, saying "fuck it" after finding out authority < power, seems reasonable.

After all, she's already started down the path of transcending her humanity. Why keep relying on the system that's so clearly not working to the point Carona got destroyed because she couldn't trust anyone, not even her family, to help her with the Behemoth.

Asche isn't around any more to keep Rue from transforming further, pushing her soul beyond its limits to get revenge and to force people to listen to her since apparently giving them what they want doesn't work.

Establish a power base as a Summoner Queen, then use that to claim the Valen name no matter what her Aunt thinks, and then start wrecking the Royalties shit until we reach Artemis and we can wreck their shit too.

Keep Rinnier in charge of logistics, put Ari in charge of our fighters, and make sure that Maro knows the world isn't big enough to run from us.

>>3974871
>branch assumptions
Yes. I stated as much. Rue also just came of age. It's way too early to be messing with political marriage nonsense.
Dryad is attached to our line. We are a prominent part of the line, but only one dot along it. If we slipped away without calling to it, Dryad might not even know we'd moved on. We aren't the first teddy bear to 'abandon' it.
>Aunt
Safe? In a bombed out city, in the middle of nowhere, trying to coral disparate factions and rebuild with no resources? We have asked her, and all we got was 'lol no, fix it yourself'.
>bandit
aint no way we're feed an entire city of folk from raiding caravans, especially as the only ones nearby would be headed our way anyway.
rue is more likely to cut and run than try that anyway.
>Behemoth
That wasn't a trust issue. that was an indecisiveness issue. We kept kicking that can down the road, hoping the bomb under our feet would defuse itself on its own.
>Asche
even if she was here, she would just give us disappointed glances if we did that.
>summoner queen
That's a terrible idea. I don't mind using the bracelet for summoning when expedient/needed, but using it willy-nilly will end up with our soul flayed in short order. Plus, the summons are not controllable, only at best directable, and grow in power over time. That means they make for poor long term servants.
>reclaim the name
Now that I can get behind. Aunt is a pretender to the title, whatever her reasons for refusing to step down. This will likely cause as many issues as it solves, but I'm ok with that. It would be nice to be able to finally be able to see another town. One that we didn't hate.
>division of labor
Ari is not a fighter, nor a commander of troops. She directs AspRue. Give someone with actual combat or command experience that roll.

>>3974871
>Establish a power base as a Summoner Queen
You know what this will do? Bring all the power of the Shrine down on our asses, that's what. Clear and blatant misuse of Mana powers = a hundred paladins guided by a Luna AWACS.

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>>3975027
Fight us inna woods you night-flying fucks.

I'll be closing the window soon-ish! Let me see if I can comment on some stuff in the meantime.

>>3973233
>Behemoth is a Salamandrian entity
It hails from Teranford which was a strongly Salamander aspected land, but the Behemoth itself a beast associated with Wisp more than anything else due to its outrageous physical vitality, strength, and regeneration. The Behemoth is little more than an engine of destruction; It rarely tires, it tramples whole towns underfoot, and there are records of outright brawls with them lasting for days.

>>3973478
>we're doing best of three h-haha.
...Next question!

>>3973656
>Was asserting ourself going to be beating him until he accepted us as Alpha?
Asserting herself as Alpha is rejecting that Maro has a platform to negotiate from at all, much less speak for the pack or what it will or won't do. Kara would decide to excommunicate him, essentially. It's also her placing the needs of the pack above all else and taking the responsibility of her role, so...

A lot of you are voting for her to start fixing her mistakes starting with Maro's life, which implies he's about to get completely destroyed. It's also worth noting however that the vote implies Maro is the start of what she considers her mistakes, and you can probably guess what some of the others might be right now.

>>3974714
>Bandit Sorceress Queen
Dropping Valen to run this quest now, sorry guys.

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>>3975080
>...Next question!

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>>3975080
>...Next question!

So odds on her imminent rampage involving waking the behemoth in addition to wrecking house herself?


Speaking of, anyone got any ideas on how to deal with a rampaging Kara without, well, Kara?
She eats Oakenbears for breakfast, AspenRue has no chance. Web spikes take time to setup and are highly localized. The bracelet Apparitions take time to be threatening, and even if it got to that point they would do more damage to the city than she would. Again.
Could we use the diary to turn ourselves into her? Favor and skills don't transfer, but physical attributes do. Even better, I suspect she's always relied on her brute strength to win the day, and so doesn't have much in the way of technique.
On the downside, a lot of people will see two Karas duking it out. Not great for keeping the diary's existence a secret.

Alright, window closed! Let's see what we've got!

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>>3975187
I think we already know what we've got coming to us.

>>3973475
>>3974565
Take it and run! Run!

>>3973620
>>3974103
Who the fuck do you think you are?

>>3973648
>>3973728
Pushed her too far.

I don't think I missed one, which is unfortunate. I may have to roll for this.

>>3975225
there's some ambiguity here. not sure if vote change.
>>3973620
>>3973656

>>3974103
this votes for 'Alpha' but implies a beatdown as well.

Otherwise yeah, it's 2-all.

>>3975225
Well then. I sure hope the way I break it doesn't piss everybody off.
...
>>3973460
>Start fixing your mistakes, starting with Maro's life.
Totally not because of high roll. Though this probably has the highest DC of them all.

>>3975231
Called for murder! And it does, and probably will.

>>3975235
I mean, all Rue has to do is get Kara to ask the people of Carona what they wanted to do with the Demi-Humans. If Kara wants to prioritize doing what's best for the pack, well, that's also what Irue wanted her to do.

So long as Kara doesn't betray Irue, I think she's willing to risk destroying the world for her testaments. In fact, we can bring Kara in on the whole Dryad thing, and what it means that we kept Ari, and tell Kara we're willing to do that for her too.

Can't give more of a show of trust than the chance to destroy us.

Oh, and apologize for not being honest about our role in what happened to her pack. But I mean. They were gonna kill us, and a bunch of other people too, and we did do our best to fix them afterwards even though they still betrayed us.

>>3974871
Jeez this "bandit queen" notion better be a shitpost cause it's terrible.
Can you start formatting your posts properly?

>>3975235
>in b4 Irue is one of the mistakes that needs fixing

>>3975259
No, and no.

Gonna become Robin Rue and her merry band of Abominations.

>>3975267
That's actually stupid, anon. Don't tell me you're the same guy who decided we have to murder our aunt last thread

"Good. You took so long I was starting to doubt whether you cared."

A crack of shattered glass echoed in the underground chamber. Shards in your hand ground against each other, chewing and shredding your hand apart. Blood stung in the cut; Brittle fragments drawing thick streams to pool in your curled fingers. "...This is my fault."

You couldn't hear yourself think beyond your thundering heart. It beat to rip free, leaving you trembling. You couldn't hear yourself anymore, and so there was nothing left to hold your body back.

"What do you think you're doing, cripple?"

You couldn't hear yourself anymore. You couldn't feel yourself anymore. The deluge of feelings that paralyzed you swirled too fast to recognize. Too fast to matter. Your legs were numb, and each shambling step was a trial to lift your leaden limbs. When finally your fist was forced open, all which followed was the wet slopping strings of bloodied glass splattering to the floor past shaking fingertips.

"Fixing my mistakes."

His movements were deft, an unfailing sense of danger that served him well. Maro's body knew when he'd pushed you too far before he did, and every muscle in it evaded your clumsy grasp. He shouted something, but you weren't listening. You'd listened enough. Words were weapons you couldn't win against. Beautiful little things that hurt you in ways you couldn't just shrug off, eating at you for days, weeks, and months afterwards.

All you'd ever wanted was something beautiful to say, but no matter how you kept searching you'd never been able. Locked somewhere up in your broken mind, leaving you defenseless as you made due living in lies. Constantly guessing, trying to ignore how scared it left you.

You fought for them. You bled for them. You worked alone, followed his orders, because it was easier not to think. He knew what you were capable of; He'd made good use of your unthinking hands for years. Maro knew how you hunted, he knew the ways to confuse and mislead you. The way his body should have moved one way, only to go another and leave you grasping air. He knew your overcommitment, and the way you would lunge for your prey.

He knew when to jump. That the narrow walls of this tunnel passage would do nothing to slow the claws which gouged at his back. Of everyone you'd ever met, Maro knew you best. Knew everything about you. The affection you kept searching for, the way you hated trying to search for double meanings in the promises made to you. He knew you as a child, he'd seen you grow, he'd been the one to take in to the pack and raise you. To see potential.

When his arm was captured he didn't hesitate to rip it off. It was a small price to pay to keep going, and he knew that. That there was no time to stumble, and whether he survived its loss wouldn't matter if he stayed behind.

Maro knew it all, and you both knew he couldn't escape. That every effort he made was wasted. Ever greater sacrifices made to buy him smaller splinters of time and inches of ground.

His body knew he'd pushed you too far before he did, his instincts screamed to survive and escape, but he knew better. The moment your claws closed around his neck had been inevitable. You both made mistakes. You were fixing yours... Maro would never have the chance.

All you really wanted was something beautiful to say. To express everything you felt at that moment, his flesh parted like water beneath your fingers. When it was too late to go back, and you'd made your resignation, and the scab of your memories with him felt like it was being ripped from your sternum and left behind as you moved forward.

Every desperate attempt to grab what remained washing the demihuman further away in a tide of thick red mucus that swallowed the tunnel. His body melted under your touch, denying your clumsy, malformed attempts to cradle him. It slipped through your arms, time and time again with each scrambled grope - Contorting, moist wet cracks of splintered bone muffled under meat.

You hated him, you screamed, and maybe they were apologies. Maybe you begged for forgiveness, despite what he'd done.

But in the end, you were alone in this pool of featureless flesh, strewn and twisted. Your throat howled raw, reverberating through your trembling body. You clawed forward - Free from the red tide Maro disappeared within - And stumbled from your knees.

Leaving Maro alive... Was a mistake.

But he wasn't the only mistake you had left to fix.

Raid... Raid...

>Swap 2/3
>You are Rinnier!
>You are Ari!
>You are Dullem!
You can no longer be Kara.

>>3975287
>You are Ari!

>>3975287
>>You are Rinnier!

Need to know what our boy Marcus is up to

>>3975287
>You are Ari!

Ari will save the day!

>>3975335
>>3975287
Actually this makes more sense.

>>3975287
>>You are Dullem!
He doesn't get enough attention.

in case a tiebreaker is needed, I can swap to Rinnier.

...Well it could have gone worse.
>>3975287
>You are Rinnier!

>>3975774
Yeah but for the sake of discussion: Is a local disaster better or worse than teaching Superman that solving your personal issues with murder is good?

Secondly, can Irue really convince Kara not to kill her when her responsibility for what happened can only be argued on a technicality when anything that isn't yes or no gives Kara a headache?

>>3975859
Yeah, since we can get Raid to vouch for Irue not wanting the Demi-Humans dead. Hopefully.

>>3975865
Yeah, until Kara's migraine tells her that's just Irue manipulating her together with Raid!

>>3975859
Also if Kara asks us, we can just be honest with her. We didn't mean to do it, but it happened because of us. We tried to save those we could after, and to find a spot for them in Carona, even at the cost of our own shaky authority.

If she's willing to trust us, one more time, we can do Hearts in Harmony and she can experience our memory of what happened directly and make her decision afterwards.

Personally, I would choose to trust Kara to sleep beside us, even when she's pissed at us. Gotta give trust to get trust.

>>3975859
Frankly, I'm just glad her first action was to shatter the vial. Dealing with Kara is going to suck massively, but dealing with both of them might have been impossible.

You're not wrong though. Even if we could somehow talk her down after going into a rage due to 'too many words', the demihuman pack needs to be wiped. Which she won't take well. They are a constant source of trouble despite our best efforts, and now they shifting into open rebellion. I don't think sparing her brother is viable either, as he's as bad as the rest of them and will be a source of trouble down the road.

Anyone got any ideas for dealing with her other than the diary?

>>3975869
Raid is pretty much the only thing she gives a shit about. So I feel it would work out.

>>3975870
>>3975869
Kara also chose to not wake the Behemoth. So there's that.

>>3975871
I believe that Maro was the main problem. He's gone and likely the main/only contact to Artemis, and we're wiping those fuckfaces out tonight. If the rest of the pack don't realize that they need to fuck off or follow us they're far dumber than they're given credit for.

There are probably some that have the presence of mind and self preservation instinct to actually throw in with us... assuming we succeed with this operation. The rest of them need to go, preferably death but exile works if that's what Kara needs.

Either way, if Kara comes up to Irue and is assertive as pack leader and actually has made a decision for once we should just say yes and accept that. She is pack leader, she is our testament and both are positions of authority given to her by Irue and not something we should or can argue.

>>3975881
I mean. Her being more assertive as Alpha is what we wanted for her.

>>3975881
>Maro
he was likely the main point of contact, but that doesn't mean much. If the demihumans weren't disgruntled and smelled a better opportunity they wouldn't be willing to jump ship.
>Artemis wipe
No such luck, according to Dullem's perspective. They got the warning out, and most of them will be going to ground and coming back later. This root-pulling op is only going to end up with a few trimmed leaves.
>pack future
that's the problem, isn't it? Demihumans have no loyalties. If we let them hang around, what's to stop them turning on us again later?
>assertive leader makes decisions for once
Ehh. The pack serves her, but she serves us or at least with us. And her subordinates participated in a rebellion against us under her nose. Technically she should bear much of the responsibility of their actions, but that feels like a little much in this case. Instead, she should listen to what we tell her to do with them as punishment, whatever that decision is. If she can prove she can lead them (not just as a puppet), then she can start making decisions about their future.
This assumes she and/or the pacl survive the night and subsequent fallout, of course.

>>3975919
She can listen to our suggestions, but it should be her choice.

>>3976061
I'm more of the opinion she shouldn't get a voice here, as they betrayed Rue while under Kara's responsibility. But we'll have to see how things develop. Honestly I don't think there should be a pack in town anymore after this, but the situation is a little volatile at the moment so we'll have to see how it all shakes out.

>>3975919
>>3976061
You guys are being very optimistic. She's going to find Irue and try to fucking kill her mark my words.

>>3976079
Yeah, I'm talking ideal hypotheticals with the 'future of the pack' stuff. If she starts wreck us or any of our group (knights, testaments, trees, etc.) she's getting put down. She's too powerful to attempt a non-lethal takedown. If a non-lethal happens anyway, we're cross that bridge then.

>>3975287
>>You are Ari!

I am trying to learn how to bake sausage cheeseballs tonight! They're basically little biscuit balls with spicy sausage and cheese ground up and mixed into the biscuit dough when it's baked. You can add other stuff to it, but I'm not sure how I'll approach that yet...

Anyway, window closes soon-ish? I hope everyone's satisfied with their choices.

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>>3975287
swapping
>>3975613
to
>Rinnier
as Dullem clearly isn't winning this one.

>>3976567
>I hope everyone's satisfied with their choices.
...You're using that tone of voice again. The one that says the doom that's approaching is of your own making, so take what cold comfort you can in your choices.

>>3976567
The trick, you see, is to scream into the pillow while it's lying on your bed. Otherwise the scream goes right through.

At what point would you say "Shit can't be fixed anymore, might as well drop out", anons?

>>3976725
If the town gets flattened again. We didn't want to be here in the first place, and if after all the pain we're gone through it gets wrecked again, I don't know if we have the resources to even attempt to rebuild again.

>>3976725
>>3976736
Leave? No, no. BANDIT QUEEEEEN bitches.

Adventure around and collect the strongest aspirations and return for vengeance.

>>3976761
Vengeance at whom? Ourselves?

>>3975302
>>3975431
>>3976084
Ari!

>>3975335
>>3975774
>>3976619
Rinnier!

Well. I need a tie break!

>>3976079
>>3976619
We just sent Kara down the Shaderue route. Mark my fucking words it'll be the same thing, the same scenario. We didn't learn the first fucking time and by morning we're gonna be down a testament for good.

>>3976827
Oh right, tiebreaker.

Let's see what Rinnier's up to! Surely it will be a productive and joy-filled romp.

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>>3976845
Called for Rinnier!

You guys are pretty confident in Ari doing her best out there! This tells me something incredible has slipped your minds. Still not used to keeping up with timelines?

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>>3976848
Can we lower the difficulty setting please?

>>3976857
I can start keeping track of multiple ongoing events for you guys, if you'd like! I try to keep notes on that stuff anyway. Although the memo feature was originally to help you guys remember things, so this might be coddling too much...

>>3976860
It's amazing that you still haven't given up on expecting us to Git Gud.

>>3976848
I'm confident in Ari being an amoral,vicious psychopath who is controlling a god damned demon. I bet she can survive against the Paladin if that asshole comes back and won't have much trouble bodying the others.

We'll all find reason to regret it choices in this thread anyway. I mean, why wouldn't we?

Dancing through these ruined streets with this metal shaft in hand was a familiar thrill. The land was new, the night wind much milder, but the weight and movements were old friends, and keen to catch up. You'd spent so long cooped up in buildings lately that you'd almost forgotten the feel of sweat on your skin, the burning ache of your calves straining as you balanced back on the balls of your feet while dashing and weaving. Under any other circumstance it would have been refreshing, but it took everything you had just to keep this stalemate going.

I still can't find Kara...

The street before you opened into a cavernous maw, eluded only by a last second leap as you grunted something miserable under your breath.

"Irue I really need you to focus right now!"

Ari's left the perimeter as well, and there's some kind of riot happening in the main square. What's happening-

Whatever drivel the noble was worrying over this time was lost as your landing approached - And erupted into field of grasping earthen skewers as if they'd predicted you'd dodge exactly as you did. Your shoulders screamed as the metal polearm was driven into the ground as a make-shift vault to carry you desperately over and past onto safer ground.

-I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something too-

You ducked under a brick thrown from a nearby house, chin tucked to roll head first and spring back to your feet; Momentum enough preserved to carry yourself across the closing gap and thrust the metallic length in your hands clean through your target's chest-

"Front, stop her!"

-And catch a wall of earth instead, for the tenth or twentieth time that night. Your fingers numbered briefly as the impact vibrated back to you, a result you'd already expected and one you ignored in favor of throwing yourself to the left before the self-same shield what stopped you predictably exploded into another wave of shrapnel.

"Right!"

More wasted efforts, more earthen walls, and you'd been in melee for too long now. One final attack was feinted to try and create distance again before the mercenary Gnome adept rallied his bearings and properly counter attacked.

"Feinting! She's trying to run!"

An inward facing enclosure of rock teeth bloomed to greet your retreat almost immediately, and if it weren't for 'A Spider's Web' providing you an omniscient awareness of your surroundings, they'd have been your end. As it was, they were just another tally among the almost ends you'd racked up tonight. Several off balance hops and skips kept you elusive under the onslaught, only barely tapping off the aggressive earthen forms with your staff in order to keep yourself from tripping until you had your center of weight back under control. Not an easy feat, especially since someone didn't like you using Relics to help that.

Why did you retreat?

"Because it was dangerous."

It's going to stay dangerous if we don't take one of them out.

"That's why I need you to focus!" You snapped back under your breath. "I'm outnumbered as it is, and both of them are adepts. It's a miracle I'm still alive."

Really? You're making it look really easy.

"It's not!!" You leaped over an upturned slab, landing on it briefly before bouncing again just as it erupted into a ball of cement brambles. "Listen, Irue, I know you're worried about the others, but-" The build up of Gnome mana in that bramble bush was your only warning that it, too, would explode into shrapnel in a moment. You clenched your teeth and threw yourself to the ground just as the tell-tale crack heralded the air filling with perforating shards. "-If you do not start worrying about me-" The earth was fixing to open beneath you already.

Even in the dark of night, Krell's predictive instructions allowed his Gnome adept bodyguard to keep pace with you. The lack of light was probably the only thing keeping you alive in all this. The web unexpectedly gave you precious, if minimal, forewarning of what to expect from the Gnome adept's efforts, but from there it was purely reliant on physical ability, quick reactions and snap judgements as to whether or not you'd be able to do anything about it.

Are you okay?

"Can you do anything to help?" You panted, wiping sweat from your eyes - A luxury you could only afford as it wasn't your eyes you were relying on in the first place.

I can make the web tangible, but then they can start tearing it... And I can't restrain either of them very well, their mana density makes them slippery.

You got the feeling Irue was holding something back as they spoke, but there wasn't time to think on it overlong. Losing space in the web would be deadly for you right now, and if you couldn't outright restrain them due to being adepts that narrowed your options. "Fine, just bind what I weave."

Alri- What? Why are-

"Now, Irue!"

You felt the web tighten as you swerved, slipping through the growths of several unfortunately placed spires in time to meet the Gnome adept's own armored limb reaching out to close the distance between you once again - A close range specialist, and a terrible match for you.

"Directly in fron- Sweeping!"

...Who was handicapped trying to rely on call outs before he could react, and so just slightly slower than he should have been. It didn't prevent your staff from slamming into his debris-formed armor trying to sweep his leg, but the distraction did give you time to slip past his reach and drive the heel of your palm into his nose. Feeling cartilage crunch as your arm was splattered in blood was one of very few little victories you'd managed to snag for yourself.

Why am I binding you?

"Helps me move."

You pushed off the mercenary, dancing back as another rose of grinding spikes shot up around him; An action which shielded him, but left another, more valuable target open. Krell already predicted as much though, and his call for aid bore fruits in time to spare him the brunt of your offenses.

The stalemate continued, each breath bringing another gasp of air burning to your lungs. No time to retreat, and even if you wanted to try and regroup you doubted they'd let you leave. It was just as much in their best interest to kill you here as it was yours to end this game of cat-and-mouse tonight... And as much as you hated it, the odds weren't in your favor.

Irue's knights couldn't help in the dark like this, and even if it was brighter you'd only be sending them to their deaths against this bodyguard. You were reluctant to call what you had the upperhand, as you'd managed to score some blows on the two of them so far with little more than some scrapes and grazes to show for it... But the fact of the matter was that they were playing a game of attrition. Every opportunity you capitalized on wore them down, but your stamina wasn't endless - And it would only take one mistake, one movement too slow, for it all to be for nothing.

At least you had Irue supporting you. This web couldn't effect them directly, but for once the lack of Salamander's favor was working for you... And as far as you could tell, 'A Spider's Web' was something Krell actually had no idea about. That gave you something you could use, but you had to make it count - You didn't doubt the Artemis agent would start accounting for it somehow after it was brandished against him.

Luna Adepts were such bullshit. It wouldn't even have mattered if his bodyguard hadn't joined the chase and turned it into a brawl, but you couldn't focus on Krell without giving the Gnome bodyguard full leave to attack - And you couldn't dispatch the bodyguard without Krell calling out your movements; You'd been forced to alternate between them and saving your own skin for what felt like an hour already.

"Alright... I have a plan."

>?

>>3976928
First, a question to Irue's Mana knowledge: is Krell reading Rinnier's intentions, or predicting her actions? Can he predict something truly random?

>>3976956
He's predicting her actions. Mim talked to you about this in more depth actually, but all Luna adepts have the capacity to run "simulations" which let them play out and piece together things based on what they know. You've encountered it in the form of Mim trying to divine answers to things she has no reason to know, but it's just as applicable applied in real-time to predict the future and then make judgement calls based on which course of actions seem most likely.

So definitively speaking, Krell can likely predict anything you do. He's doing this anyway - However he's only calling out the actions he's expecting you to take based on what seems most plausible to him as a Luna adept.

Rinnier has only just barely managed to brute force through this by taking advantage of the time lag between his predictions, his communications, and his bodyguard's reactions.

>>3976928
Alright if this sounds stupid somebody point it out.

Unfortunately it's not as simple as letting Irue drag Rinnier around since Krell's not actually reading her mind. He just knows.
Also unfortunately the adepts' mana density means Irue can't wrap web around Krell's jaw and shut his fucking mouth so he can't yell warnings either. So to disrupt the gnomeboy's advantage without a mile long drop instantly manifesting beneath him, and since Krell can't warn him besides with his voice, my solution is...

To start screeching like a fucking autist so that the adept can't hear Krell's predictions.

Yes it's retarded. But is it retarded enough to work is the question.

>>3976974
Irue is currently occupied with lifting far too heavy of a weight to do anything like wrap up Krell anyway.

I've class to prepare for and more sausage cheeseballs to make, so I will have to withdraw for now. I'll try and weigh in as soon as I can tomorrow on any questions you guys throw my way!

>>3976978
Irue proceeds to let Rinnier's fat tits flop back out from being bound so they smack the gnome adept in the face. A potential so idiotic that even a Luna adept assumes it's too stupid to actually happen.

Okay, brainstorming time!
I'll just throw out any ideas I can think about:

Break the bodyguard's Mana affinity
-Mana purge him somehow?
-Break the communication between him and Gnome?

Prevent Krell from predicting
-Mana purge him somehow?
-Break the communication between him and Luna?
-Give him too many plausible options to choose between?
-Force him to predict something else?
--About something/someone he cares about a lot?

Prevent Krell from communicating his predictions
-Use the web as a physical gag/earplugs/both?
-Act upon the air's sound-conductive properties?
-Imitate Krell's voice to confuse matters?
-Create a loud sound to jam the communications?
-Accost Krell with dust/smoke/whatever to make it hard to talk?

Help Rinnier to overpower the bodyguard
-Make her faster?
-Make her stronger?
-Make her tougher?
-Give her options that Krell won't consider plausible?
-Give her options that are too complex to communicate quickly?

Separate Krell and the bodyguard?

Attack Krell while the bodyguard is distracted
-Using allies?
-Using environment?

Deprive the bodyguard of Gnome-manipulable matter somehow?

Bring the bodyguard to our side
-Promise him more money than Krell?
-Promise him a rank in the city's government?
-Convince him Krell will betray him?

Bring Krell to our side, as unlikely as it seems?

>>3976991
There's 'reaching second base' and there's 'your entire perceptual existence has been shoved into her tits as a bra'.

>>3976994
>Imitate Krell's voice to confuse matters?
Could we somehow find a way to use the Diary of Reflections in this scenario?

>>3976974
Rinnier probably is breathing as hard as she can right now, she might not be able to produce a screech loud and lengthy enough.

What alternative ways of producing sound do we have? Hitting Rinnier's weapon on something? Causing a cave-in?

>>3976985
What are the limits of the Web's physical ability?
Can we construct a trumpet out of it?
A drum?
A vocal tract?
Can we bring down a wall?

>>3976848
Aw shit. She doesn't have the abomination any more?

Or is it referring to her Yandere love plus dryad powers?

>>3976928
> Start talking to Kell and the gnome adept about Dryad.

> Be sure to tell them that Luna has been killing everyone who knows about it.

Get fucked.

>>3976928
Is it correct to assume that Rinnier does not have the Diary on her person?

>>3976994
If only Hearts in Harmony meant that Rinnier could grab either of them and teleport him into the sky.

Maybe we should just yell at Irue and make her tell us what she's hiding and then we weaponize the web against them in a coup de grace. Marcus' predictions is the only thing keeping him alive and he can't predict such an outlandish and lethal weapon. Cut the merc into ribbons and take Marcus limbs

>>3977163
>>3976928

Wait, is razor web back on the table? Because if so that's my vote.

>>3976860
I think what we need is a list of goals, in order of priority.

Like. Short term goals, long term goals, and plans for working towards both.

That would keep things from getting sidelined, like the Teranford sisters, for too long.

>>3977217
Whole lotta good that will do when almost every time we've had a long term goal, like /talk to Kara/, people vote to do something else and then we're time skipped to the next disaster.

>>3977229
That's why I said having a list would help because we could check it off against that.

>>3977147
Anon, Krell is a member of Artemis.
He already knows.

>>3977208
I assumed not, because that should have been the first thing to try. If both of them have been idiots and not considered it yet, we absolutely should. We don't even need the full field. Just make a single spike under the Artemis guy and skewer him. The gnome guy should either quit when his paycheck bleeds out, or Rinnier should be able to deal with him without his assist.


By the way, the Artimeis guy actually having Favored powers is a very bad sign. Remember why all of Dryad's followers were killed off?

>Use the Web to hoist ourselves into the air and attack krell from above
The idea is to kill him with an attack he will dismiss as improbable before he understands what's going on. Hopefully we can use the same strategy on the gnome Adept afterwards since it's something he's not well equipped to counter.

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>>3977004
>Can we construct a trumpet out of it?
No.
>A drum?
Probably not, no.
>A vocal tract?
No.
>Can we bring down a wall?
It's possible with some preparation!

The raw tactile strength of the web will vary from person to person and is based primarily on their mental strength. The web is, after all, ultimately the person inside of it. I would say Irue's isn't a push over in that department, but you may disagree. You've cracked a handful of times, but never yet broken.

>>3977138
>Aw shit. She doesn't have the abomination any more?
The oakenrue Aspiration is out there cooperating loyally!

>>3977163
>Is it correct to assume that Rinnier does not have the Diary on her person?
Yes.

>>3977208
It is not. As far as Irue can tell the razor properties were a result of Irue's Shade affinity at the time. And they were! Sorta. As mentioned, the web is ultimately the person inside it. An affinity for mana will alter the Web's properties. Not all Shade affinities will result in razor webs, but Irue was specifically influenced by Regret at the time, which corresponds to the Revenant embodiment of Shade - Which, you may remember, features razor edges and laceration prominently in its toolset.

>>3977217
>List of goals, in order of priority, with plans to accomplish them.
This seems like an extension of the memo function, and it's not really that difficult for me to maintain it. I don't mind keeping track of the list and adding it to the OP, but it will still be your responsibility to decide amongst yourselves how to prioritize your goals on the list and what plans you want up there to be reminded of.

I'll try and put together a little template for that. Offhand I'm considering 4 long term items max, divided into Primary (highest), Secondary, and then two Tertiary (equal priority, less pressing plans). For short term there'd probably only be one reminder for whatever you're doing currently.

If you have a preference in how this is handled, feel free to suggest changes. It's for your benefit so I'd like it to do what you need, but I also don't want to coddle you guys too much. This thread is probably going to hurt, though.

Speaking of Luna adepts I wonder if Mim's thinking about how this is going, if two Luna adepts try and out predict each other would the moon explode?

>>3977524
No it won't, We've had 3 months to resign ourselves to more suffering! Do you really think that you can break us that easily!

haha...

So, we're working with a web. Irue may or may not be strong enough that it will be useful. Our two enemies' mana density makes them slippery... so what do we do? Overwhelm them, like, spin them into cocoons?

If the razor web was aspected by Shade, then shouldn't it now be aspected by Dryad. Perhaps it can be used to overdose them with its love and disrupt the connection to their Mana? Like faedka syringes?

>>3977540
I don't believe Riz is gonna give us an uber ability like remote Mana disconnect.

>>3977524
>It's possible with some preparation!
What exactly amount of preparation?

>>3977524
>Rue_gets_a_facelift.jpg

>It is not. As far as Irue can tell the razor properties were a result of Irue's Shade affinity at the time. And they were! Sorta.
Well, that sucks. If Rue doesn't know about any other properties of the web we can use, there aren't any. IIRC, the abilities given include knowledge of how to use them, which is how we were aware of the spikes in the first place.

>goal lists
I'm ambivalent on it. It would be nice to have, but getting us to agree on what we need to do and how urgent it is seems... ambitious. And without agreement it'll get ignored by anons that don't agree and we'll be right back where we started.


>>3977540
>then shouldn't it now be aspected by Dryad
Na, Rue's not a Dryad adept. That's what Ari is working towards.