>>4163582
The three of you encircle and strike in alternation as the three double-digits stage a fighting withdrawal, trying to avoid becoming predictable. But you’re making no headway… Yulia seems to know well enough to keep you at bay using her lance-arm, which seems to be entirely solid. That means you can’t “cut past” it using your Unstained Blade technique.

Aurora also seems to be getting kicked around a surprising amount for being ranked number Three… probably in part due to the fact that she’s still testing herself against this new and dangerous threat. Helen remains an aggressive powerhouse, completely unpredictable, but she still can’t get through Yulia’s guard.

There’s just a difference in power, between Yulia’s hundred percent and your thirty.

>Try to mimick Laura’s ranged technique, attack from outside Yulia’s defense.
>Try to coordinate more closely with Aurora’s shining technique.
>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.
>Other?

>>4163621
>>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.

>>4163621
>>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.

>>4163621
>>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.

>>4163621
>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.

>>4163621
>>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.

>>4163621
>Try to coordinate more closely with Aurora’s shining technique.

>>4163621
>Try to coordinate more closely with Aurora’s shining technique.
>Try using Earthbreaker to break the lance

>>4163621
>Try to coordinate more closely with Aurora’s shining technique.

>>4164366
Good idea.

>>4163621
>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.

>>4163621
>Increase your yōki utilization, maybe to one-half of your maximum.
>Try using Earthbreaker to break the lance

>>4163621
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 8, 5, 2 = 15 (3d10)

>>4165271
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Rolled 3, 4, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>4165271

Rolled 4, 3, 6 = 13 (3d10)

>>4165271

>>4165271
You boost your yōki utilization to one-half your maximum, feeling power ripple through your body as Helen does the same next to you. The two of you go back on the offensive, landing hammering blows against her guard. But even at half output, normally as high as most single-digits are willing to go, and even with Aurora’s backup, you can’t seem to get the better of Yulia.

“What a joke!” she chuckles, smacking you through a wall with her lance-arm. “You think you can beat me with only half your yōki? Two halves don’t always make a whole.”

As many times as you get up, you just seem to get smacked down again. Aurora, now standing at somewhere between a third and half of what you’d estimate to be her maximum, has been slung about like a rag doll. Helen is nearly trampled to death twice. And you yourself emerge from an abandoned apothecary covered in broken glass and dried herbs. The most stunning part of the whole experience is how little Yulia seems to care about her trained yōma footsoldiers, even throwing you bodily through a few of them at times.

“This isn’t working...” Helen pants. “All that power… I can’t believe she’s only a number five...”

Aurora has been keeping pace with you admirably, but even she seems exhausted by this protracted encounter. Too much longer and Yulia won’t even need to kill you herself… she can just let her minions do it for her.

>Push to eighty percent, the very LIMIT of what you’re capable of maintaining.
>Start allowing parts of your body to awaken fully, see if you can keep that under control.
>Let your body undergo its transformation. If Helen and Aurora want to judge you for it, at least they’ll have the chance.
>Other?

>>4165366
>Make a cloud of dust with the Earthbreaker then suppress our youki completely and sneak up on Yulia for an Unstained Blade attack
Hopefully the dust plus the jamming from Helen's and Aurora's youki will allow us to enact this.

>>4165366
>>Push to eighty percent, the very LIMIT of what you’re capable of maintaining.

>>4165366
>Push to eighty percent, the very LIMIT of what you’re capable of maintaining.

>>4165366
>>Start allowing parts of your body to awaken fully, see if you can keep that under control.

>>4165366
>>Start allowing parts of your body to awaken fully, see if you can keep that under control.

>>4165366
>Push to eighty percent, the very LIMIT of what you’re capable of maintaining.

>>4165366
>>Start allowing parts of your body to awaken fully, see if you can keep that under control.

>>4165366
>Push to eighty percent, the very LIMIT of what you’re capable of maintaining.
https://youtu.be/sjY5b6wdm8Q full power

>>4165366
>>4165380
Sigh, why is everyone else voting for brute force?

>>4165366
>>Start allowing parts of your body to awaken fully, see if you can keep that under control.

>>4165820
because we need more power, not some chicken shit "abilitiy"

>>4165820
I wasn't going to say anything, but suppressing yoki in the middle of a fight is a huge risk.

>>4165380
Also, yoki has no "jamming" qualities, in fact it's quite the opposite. Unstained Blade also requires the use of yoki, which means that in preparing to use it you would be giving away your position.

The only warriors in canon who could pull off what you're suggesting would be Flora or Teresa.

>>4165366
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 1, 2, 3 = 6 (3d10)

>>4166487

Rolled 5, 10, 9 = 24 (3d10)

>>4166487

Rolled 8, 8, 1 = 17 (3d10)

>>4166487

File: awakened.jpg (97 KB, 500x350)

97 KB JPG

>>4166487
Something needs to change, and it needs to happen quickly before the three of you are wiped out. So being a queen and all, it logically falls to you to do what has to be done… to acknowledge the ugly reality that even now the three of you aren’t strong enough to take on a monster like Yulia while remaining human.

Who better than a queen who was never human to begin with?

“Noel, stop!” Helen demands, only to wince as you glare at her.

“It has to be done,” you insist even as your body begins to warp. “One of us has to take the risk and no offense… but I have the best chance of coming back to what passes for normal!”

Helen looks away from you, but doesn’t try to argue.

The pain is intense, so intense that you nearly drop your own sword… but the changes aren’t all that dramatic, at least not to your mind, hazy as it is. You still have a hand on your right side, though your left arm is now a scythe-like blade from the elbow down, wicked and hard. Your legs are also no longer human, seemingly better suited towards bursts of speed. And you can tell without looking that the rest of your body has become similarly monstrous, the degree of transformation seemingly greater the further you get away from your center of balance.

As the pain subsides you crack your neck, feeling that your hair has been replaced with something… not quite like hair. At least your head is still in the same place, so your field of vision is about the same relative to the position of your body. Just slightly higher up… you’d guess that you’d now stand about half again as tall as you were before.

“So you’ve finally realized that the only way to fight a monster is to become one yourself?” Yulia muses, her tone serious now for the first time since you began. “You’ve finally abandoned the humanity that was holding you back? That’s good.”

“Shut up,” you growl.

“Oh?” she muses. “And are you one to deny the truth of what I’m saying? If you wish to deny it then go right ahead, it won’t change what you are.”

“No,” you agree, “it won’t. But who are you to say ‘what I am’? I will accept for now the monstrous power I was born to inherit, a birthright from my mother. But even now, my heart is human… the weaknesses of humanity are a birthright from my father, and one which my mother wished for me to have.”

Yulia’s glare sharpens. “Is that so? So you’re trying to say that I am the only one here who has sacrificed anything?”

“You are the only one who has sacrificed everything,” you correct her.

“And your half-measures are enough to match that?” she counters. “Do you truly think so highly of yourself to believe that your sacrificing even a fraction of yourself makes you my equal?”

“We’ll see,” you observe. “In a moment, we’ll see… won’t we?”
>1/2

>>4166512
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnT8ootXIWE

The instant of movement would be easy to miss, power transmitted through your legs and applied to the ground with such force as to shatter the brick road beneath your armored feet. A swing of your patchwork sword clashes against Yulia’s arm-shield, a second kick off the ground evades her lance. As your foot glides across the ground, tearing up dirt and brickwork as you pass, you turn on that point to scythe through several yōma… even were your blade not so sharp their bodies would have certainly buckled under the sheer force.

A kick from Yulia’s hindlegs is stopped by your left arm, which has the consequence of knocking you even further away from her and into a pack of yōma who disintegrate into clouds of purple blood and shattered bone. The instant you have your footing again you sling your blade through the air out of a cloud of viscera and brick dust, which Yulia blocks with her shield before realizing what it was.

“A feint!?”

The blade ricochets upwards due to the spin you placed on it, meeting you on your way down. The Earthshaker technique clashes against Yulia’s shield, cracking through it and buckling the ground beneath her feet. But her lance smashes into your own left arm with such force that it drives your scythe’s flat spine into your ribs.

Blood trailing from your mouth… red blood… you rise to face her again as your bones knit and your flesh bubbles and writhes.

“You aren’t fully awakened,” Yulia realizes. “At your core you’re still human… holding at four-fifths maximum despite the rest of your body having already transformed.”

With the back of your human-like right hand, you wipe the blood from your mouth. “What of it?”

Another burst of raw power, a sideslip to dodge the counterthrust, and a blow that strikes at Yulia’s upper arm… you’re starting to get the hang of this, using your augmented speed and precision and raw, overwhelming power to land blows against parts of her body that still have flesh and blood lying beneath her tough hide.

This is what Sabela gave birth to, what the modifications of the Organization augmented… not a naturally-born abyssal one, but a natural predator of awakened beings, only now beginning to push her boundaries. One whose native high yōki control, and control over her own partial awakening, puts her in a unique position to out-monster the monsters in the same way rank-and-file warriors defeat yōma.

Slashing apart those yōma as you waltz with Yulia, circling her like a predator in a ball gown, is effortless, but not meaningless. It is in keeping with your reason for being, the calling of your kin.

No.

You take a sudden step back and shake your head to clear it, wary of the sensation approaching that of intoxicated euphoria.
>2/3

>>4166531
Yulia seizes upon that moment of hesitation, requiring you to block her wild sweeping blow with both your arms. But instead of being thrown free you hook your foot around the back of her arm, shifting your momentum carefully and flinging yourself over her head to aim a thrust at the back of her neck. Though your Unstained Blade nicks her, the hair-like protrusions that both your bodies share shift to protect her from what would have been a strike that severed all the arteries and airways in her throat.

“Very good,” Yulia admits. “Marvelous… I must admit, in your current state you are absolutely a match for me.”

“So you’ll have to forgive me if I start fighting dirty...”

… Helen and Aurora. She means to kill them.

>Forfeit your army here and leave. That is the only offer I can make you.
>You won’t kill them. They’re your bargaining chip, the only thing keeping you alive.
>No deal. I’m going to protect them all, and still kill you.
>Other?

>>4166539
>>You won’t kill them. They’re your bargaining chip, the only thing keeping you alive.

>>4166539
>>You won’t kill them. They’re your bargaining chip, the only thing keeping you alive.

>>4166539
>No deal. I’m going to protect them all, and still kill you.

>>4166539
>>No deal. I’m going to protect them all, and still kill you.

>>4166539
>>No deal. I’m going to protect them all, and still kill you.

>>4166539
>No deal. I’m going to protect them all, and still kill you.

>>4166539
>>No deal. I’m going to protect them all, and still kill you.

>>4166539
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 42, 59, 57 = 158 (3d100)

>>4166780
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_vwyPRxOI

Rolled 8, 9, 2 = 19 (3d10)

>>4166780

>>4166782
One too many zeroes.

Rolled 10, 10, 6 = 26 (3d10)

>>4166780
sorry for >>4166782

Rolled 6, 3, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>4166780

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

>>4166539
>>4166780

The organization watching and observing us, and probably starting to give orders for more of us to be made.....

>>4166782
and here we see the war and research boner the organisation has when watching Noel, expressed in a percentage

>>4166839
you mean the video ?

>>4166861
i meant the roll ...

>>4166780
“No deal,” you insist sternly. “Those two are not going to die.”

“I… don’t think you understand the situation,” Yulia counters.

“Oh, I understand perfectly,” you reply without a hint of doubt. “I understand that you’re concerned enough right now that you intend to attack my comrades… my friends. You see them as weak, just as you see my vestiges of humanity as a weakness.”

“But you’re the one who doesn’t understand the situation.”

There’s a blinding flash behind you, and you dash straight into Yulia’s waiting weapons. Your blade impales her shield-arm as her lance-arm takes a chunk out of your side… but you manage to pin both of her arms. In an instant Helen’s attack works its way through the defensive plates behind Yulia’s neck, twisting and contorting to find its way into the vulnerable flesh.

Yulia’s eyes widen for a moment as you manage to pry yourself free in a wet tearing of blood and flesh, to deliver a stroke that hammers against Helen’s blade, pushing it clean out the opposite side of the awakened being’s neck and severing her spine.

The blood flows freely from your side for a few seconds while you get things under control, and during that time Aurora thrusts her blade into Yulia’s skull.

The remaining yōma, deprived of their leader, are caught between panic and frenzy.

>Withdrawal would be wise… you’ve already pushed yourself far enough for concern.
>You should slay all the yōma present without delay, this is too great an opportunity.
>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.
>Other?

>>4167026
>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.

>>4167026
>You should slay all the yōma present without delay, this is too great an opportunity.

>>4167026
>Withdrawal would be wise… you’ve already pushed yourself far enough for concern.

>>4167026
>>You should slay all the yōma present without delay, this is too great an opportunity.

>>4167026
>>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.

>>4167026
>>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.

>>4167026
>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.
Don't forget the double-digits, they can have fun too.

>>4167026
>Withdrawal would be wise… you’ve already pushed yourself far enough for concern.
>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.

>>4167026
>Take a step back. Helen and Aurora can handle things while you suppress your yōki.
>You should slay all the yōma present without delay, this is too great an opportunity.
Tell them to take care of the yoma

>>4167026
>3d10, best of four

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

>>4168382

Rolled 6, 3, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>4168382

Rolled 5, 2, 4 = 11 (3d10)

>>4168382

Rolled 5, 6, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>4168382

>>4168382
You take a few steps backwards.

“Noel?” Helen asks.

You force yourself to take a kneeling position, concentrating solely on the massive task at hand… you’ve never had to suppress yōki of this level.

“Take care of the others...” you insist, already hurting from forcing yourself to physically revert. “I need to focus, please.”

“… right.”

As Helen and Aurora set to work cutting down the fleeing yōma, merciless and efficient in their role, your body is suddenly agonized all over again. It’s just as bad as the initial transformation, though it feels like a much greater struggle to suppress than it was to release in the first place. But you do slowly win that battle, eventually reverting your limbs back to the way they were before in time to see the other members of Aurora’s team return.

They crowd around you… no, they’re close by the nine-foot-tall you’s standards, but it’s nothing abnormal by anyone else’s.

“Good to see the three of you made it,” you greet Nigella, Juliana, and Claudia.

“We could say the same,” Claudia replies.

“I was preparing myself to have to put you down,” Aurora admits. “I can hardly believe what I’m seeing.”

“It was a fine line to walk,” you admit.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Aurora continues, “I could have sworn that you had awakened completely… I suppose what Yulia said was accurate after all. But still, to awaken that much of your body… there’s no way a normal warrior could do what you did and still come back.”

“Are you sure you’re still with us?”

“Absolutely,” you nod curtly.

“Then how?” she demands.

>My unique circumstances afford me exceptional control and practiced discipline.
>My mother was an abyssal one. And yes, the Organization knew all along.
>Several among our cohort of ‘missing warriors’ have previously exceeded their limits and reverted.
>Other?

>>4168826
>>My mother was an abyssal one. And yes, the Organization knew all along.

>>4168826
>>My mother was an abyssal one. And yes, the Organization knew all along.

>>4168826
>My mother was an abyssal one. And yes, the Organization knew all along.

>>4168826
>Several among our cohort of ‘missing warriors’ have previously exceeded their limits and reverted.

>>4168826
>my mother was ...
Let's keep the secret of the others, no need to risk them as well

>>4168826
>Several among our cohort of ‘missing warriors’ have previously exceeded their limits and reverted.

>>4168826
>>My mother was an abyssal one. And yes, the Organization knew all along.

>>4168987
whoops that was me.

>>4168826
“My mother was the abyssal one Sabela,” you explain tersely. “And before you ask the obvious next question yes, the Organization has always known that, since even before I did.”

“So because of that your limits aren’t the same as the rest of ours,” Aurora guesses. “Which is why you were capable of coming so close to fully awakening… as though that too were a natural state.”

“I still have limits,” you insist. “I must have. I just don’t know yet what they are.”

Aurora and her team are silent for some time, before Aurora asks for a report.

“It seems we succeeded in cutting their numbers drastically,” Claudia tells her, not looking at you or Helen for now. “Only a few dozen escaped out of several hundred.”

“Find me something to wrap the head,” Aurora orders Juliana. “We’re taking it as proof.”

“How will you be reporting this?” Helen asks, watching Aurora with obvious concern.

“I was thinking ‘as I saw it’ would be appropriate,” Aurora admits. “At this point it’s obvious to me whose side the two of you, and the rest of your cohort, are on.”

“I also intend to report that observation as well.”

>What would it take for us to convince you not to mention my… ‘eccentric’ approach to combat?
>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.
>You’ve seen how messed up things truly are. What more will it take to convince you to join us?
>You do what you feel you must.

>>4169333
>>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.

>>4169333
>>What would it take for us to convince you not to mention my… ‘eccentric’ approach to combat?
>>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.
I kinda want to see where that second option goes...

>>4169333
>You’ve seen how messed up things truly are. What more will it take to convince you to join us?

>>4168826
>>My mother was an abyssal one. And yes, the Organization knew all along.
>>4169333
>>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.

>>4169333
>What would it take for us to convince you not to mention my… ‘eccentric’ approach to combat?
>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.

>>4169333
>What would it take for us to convince you not to mention my… ‘eccentric’ approach to combat?
>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.

>>4169333
>Could you deliver a message for me? Strictly OFF the record. Not for the old men or the handlers.

>>4169333
“Report what you must,” you sigh, “but would you be willing to help me in two regards?”

Aurora narrows her eyes. “That depends.”

“Show us your black cards.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Aurora seems to decide that it’s an easy enough task that she’ll humor you.
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 9, 6 = 24 (3d10)

>>4170489

Rolled 9, 5, 4 = 18 (3d10)

>>4170489
oh hey, look. New recruits

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

>>4170489

>>4170489
Their shock to find their black cards absent is what you were counting on.

“But… when?” Aurora wonders aloud. “And why?”

“It could have been at any point you had contact with the Organization,” Helen explains calmly. “As for why… I think you should ask Noel.”

“To create awakened beings,” you answer, not even forcing Aurora to go through the motions of redirecting her line of questioning. “That’s why they supported a coup in my homeland, to make me… ‘available’. They wanted a half-abyssal child to experiment on, same as they once wanted twins.”

Aurora’s eyes widen as she realizes the simple consistency in the story you’ve told her. You can practically watch her argue with it silently, or at least try to argue. But there’s no argument for her to find, just as there was no argument for you two years ago.

“And… the second thing?”

You nod curtly. “Please don’t speak of this, or the request I’m about to make. Do I have your word?”

She agrees. What else can she do at this point?

“I want you to tell Zoe about all of this,” you tell her, “and tell Zoe to get in contact with our Number Two.”

“Camila?” Aurora asks.

You nod.

“Why is she involved?” Claudia demands.

“Zoe’s opinions are a condition of hers,” Helen explains. “A condition for her eventual defection from the Organization.”

“Defection...” Aurora repeats.

“Do you know what you’re saying!?” Claudia shouts. “Do you have any ide...”

“I think they do,” Aurora admits. “More so than any of us here.”

“Aurora?”

The Third-ranked warrior in the Organization turns to face you. “You have my word.”
>1/2

>>4170590
In the end, you and Aurora’s team go their separate ways on peaceful terms.

You start to head back with Helen, retracing your steps into Cuilan, doing your best to avoid any chance of encountering the Inquisition.

>Try to find Camila and check back in with her.
>Just head straight for Scaithness.
>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.
>Other?

>>4170642
>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.

>>4170642
>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.

>>4170642
>>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.

>>4170642
>>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.

>>4170642
>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.

>>4170642
And by Scaithness I mean Cuilan. Because I'm an idiot.

>>4170642
>Stop by the capital of Scaithness.

>>4170642
>Stop by the capital of Scaithness. Also smack her in the ass

>>4170642
You decide to stop at Tarskavaig, the capital of Cuilan. The ideal would be to gather any more rumors or information that may have spread in your absence. It’s actually rather calming to travel through the countryside after an experience like what you just had in Vale, alone aside from Helen’s company.

You’re left to reflect on the things that happened.

“Helen,” you muse after crossing the border into Cuilan. “Can you… do anything like what I did?”

Helen shakes her head. “I… haven’t ever tried.”

“I see,” you nod. “And you’re not going to test that.”

“Do you think I should?” she replies thoughtfully. “That all of us should?”

>It might be good for you to test your boundaries a little more.
>Yes, I do believe you should try.
>No, I think you’re right not to push it. I’ve been INCREDIBLY lucky.
>Other?

>>4171107
>It might be good for you to test your boundaries a little more.

>>4171107
>Yes, I do believe you should try.

>>4171107
>>It might be good for you to test your boundaries a little more.
>because she was a rank 5, FIVE, and not directly combat focused.

>>4171107
>>It might be good for you to test your boundaries a little more.

>>4171107
>>It might be good for you to test your boundaries a little more.

>>4171107
>It might be good for you to test your boundaries a little more.

>>4171107
“It might be a good thing to push your limits a little further,” you admit. “After all, that was only a former number five.”

“I must… reluctantly… concede the point,” she allows.

You nod curtly. “Of course I wouldn’t want any of you to take an unnecessary risks.”

“But we will need to face other awakened beings in the future,” Helen observes calmly. “I’ll raise the issue when we get back to Scaithness if you’ll agree to oversee our efforts.”

“Of course.”

…

After arriving in Tarskavaig, you and Helen make for a pub near the governor’s offices.
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 5, 9, 6 = 20 (3d10)

>>4172516

Rolled 6, 10, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>4172516

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

>>4172516

>>4172516
The news is, for the most part, fairly uninteresting.

The local mining operations have not returned to the same depths as when you were here last on an investigation, the governor has seen to that. So there’s been no word of any further irregularities. You also doubt that any of the surviving yōma will have made their way this far north, so that won’t be a problem either. At least not right away… you do however make a few discreet suggestions that you and your cohort at Scaithness should be contacted if that changes.

There is however one single bit of worthy news to be found: a rumor that a village just across the border in Shukzan has not been heard from since a bad storm a week ago. Word of his has moved slowly since weather in the high mountains can always be a problem, but for a full week… that you will recognize as unusual.

>Suggest that Helen can investigate if she wants. You’re heading home.
>Suggest that Helen return home while you investigate.
>Suggest that you both investigate.
>Point out it’s not your territory.

>>4172567
>Suggest that you both investigate.

>>4172567
>Suggest that you both investigate.

>>4172567
>Suggest that you both investigate.

>>4172567
>Suggest that you both investigate.

>>4172567
>>Suggest that you both investigate.
the old rule: never split the party

>>4172567
>3d10, best of three

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

>>4172983

Rolled 6, 7, 6 = 19 (3d10)

>>4172983

Rolled 10, 6, 5 = 21 (3d10)

>>4172983

Rolled 10, 1, 6 = 17 (3d10)

>>4172983

>>4172567
“We should both go,” you declare. “Could be something.”

“It’ll be Aurora’s territory,” Helen recalls, “so it should be fine. But it’s a sensible precaution in any event.”

…

The village has been nearly wiped out from a massive rock slide, you discover.

It once must have been beautiful, nestled against a steep slope in the high lake districts of northern Shukzan, but no longer. Rocks have run right down to the water, with bits of people’s homes and livelihoods swept down to the shore along with the hillside. A shattered tree here, bits of brickwork there, even a complete windowframe somehow resting unbroken atop a pile of unidentifiable terrestrial flotsam. Seemingly the only buildings standing are a small, sturdily-built church near the shoreline, and some small homes sheltered behind it.

“We may still be able to help,” Helen declares.

You immediately agree, rushing as quickly as you can across the broken landscape.

Inside the church you find only a handful of survivors, and immediately outside you see several fresh graves.

“What happened?” Helen asks the man who appears to be the priest. “Are there other survivors?”

After taking a moment to question whether you’re real or not, the priest replies. “No, no other survivors. Most folk were caught off guard, many of those who weren’t sheltered in the great cathedral.”

It takes a moment for that to register. “I see.”

“When the mayor told our town that the money coming in could pay for such a structure, he said it would be ‘bigger’, and ‘grander’, and that it would be ‘glorious to behold’. It was swept away with all the rest of the structures in the new part of town.”

You nod curtly, understanding that especially one week on there’s nothing to be done. Anyone who may have survived and been buried is likely dead now.

“How did something like this happen?” Helen presses.

The priest shrugs. “This world gives and it takes. The mountain gave us everything… and now it has taken it back.”

“Such is the way of things.”

“What did the mountain give?” you press calmly, trying to prompt the man into telling you something useful.

“Salt, a massive wealth in salt.”
>1/2

File: tour_img-1744756-148.jpg (216 KB, 1200x630)

216 KB JPG

>>4173155
"Could an expansive salt mine have collapsed the hillside?" Helen asks you quietly.

You nod. "It seems likely. If the rock was unstable and the miners sufficiently aggressive, it's possible."

>Let's investigate the site of the mine.
>There's nothing we can really do but try and send help.
>We should evacuate the survivors.
>Other?

>>4173161
>Let's investigate the site of the mine.
also smack her ass

>>4173161
>evacuate then investigate

>>4173161
>evacuate then investigate.

>>4173161
>>Let's investigate the site of the mine.

>>4173161
>>Let's investigate the site of the mine.

>>4173161
>>evacuate then investigate

>>4173161
>evacuate then investigate.

>>4173161
>Let's investigate the site of the mine.

>>4173161
“Where can you go if you evacuate?” you ask cautiously.

The priest shakes his head as he considers your question. “Nowhere close. A two day walk to reach a town on the Teresan Sea, to the north. Sankt Teresa.”

Sankt Teresa… a two-day walk with the survivors of this catastrophe. And you’ll need to escort them yourselves to ensure that they survive the trip. But you also need answers here.

“Helen,” you suggest, “could you stay here with these people? I’ll conduct the investigation. Sound like a plan?”

She nods curtly. “Priest, please tell us where to go.”

…

You find the remnants of the salt mines just upslope from where the material started to break free.
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 8, 1, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>4174623

Rolled 6, 9, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>4174623

Rolled 2, 1, 4 = 7 (3d10)

>>4174623

Rolled 4, 2, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>4174623

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221 KB JPG

>>4174623
You examine the entrance to the salt mine and find an immediate discrepancy.

Normally a salt mine runs back into the mountain a good ways, so that a vertical shaft may start off within the salt-bearing strata. That way all of the setup work, laying out each layer and the shafts connecting them, also produce salt.

But the mine here goes straight down vertically before running back into the hillside… it looks like the initial vertical shaft was cut into a softer layer of rock. You’re not sure exactly how it happened, but it seems that the softer layer weakened, and the outer layer separated. That collapse led to what you observed in the town.

You do a little searching in the lower layers of the mine, at least the lowest layer immediately accessible. The large cavern is partly exposed and currently empty of any bodies, suggesting that whatever happened may have taken place when the mine was empty.

By following the shaft down one further level, to the very bottom of the mine, you find your first genuine clue.

…

“Unless a rock slide can slit a man’s throat,” you tell Helen quietly, “then something unusual has happened here.”

“You found something?”

“Four bodies at the bottom of the shaft,” you explain. “It’s possible that the layout and location of the mine left the hillside unstable, but that doesn’t explain how four guards could end up down there having been murdered.”

“I see,” Helen nods in understanding. “So what does that mean?”

“Can’t say,” you admit.

>In any event, the survivors need to be evacuated. We’ve delayed that long enough.
>We should report this to someone… anyone in a position of authority.
>The locals may know something they’re not sharing with us.
>Other?

>>4174885
>>In any event, the survivors need to be evacuated. We’ve delayed that long enough.
This needs to be done.
>We should report this to someone… anyone in a position of authority.
This probably couldn't hurt.
>The locals may know something they’re not sharing with us.
This is almost 100% certain.

>>4174906
>>4174885
Agreeing so hard with this!

We sure these villagers are not monsters or that there is one hidding among them?

>>4174885
>>4174906
This

>>4174885
>>4174906
supporting

>>4174885
What could it be but >>4174906?

>>4174906
yes
Yes
YES!

>>4174885
“Gather whatever supplies you have left,” you tell the survivors. “I’ll escort you to Sankt Teresa.”

“I’ll report this to Tarskavaig,” Helen tells you quietly.

You shake your head. “I don’t like this situation, and the survivors are hiding something. I don’t know what it is, but it has me concerned about splitting up.”

“I’ll follow your lead on this one then,” Helen agrees. “At least for now. We can stop in Tarskavaig on the way back.”

“Agreed.”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 1, 3, 9 = 13 (3d10)

>>4177126

Rolled 8, 2, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>4177126

Rolled 9, 3, 3 = 15 (3d10)

>>4177126

>>4177126
You make certain to keep your ears open as you travel out the next morning, with just a dozen surviving residents in your group. Between them they have only two horses, and these draw a hastily-repaired wagon. You and Helen both need to keep your distance to ensure that the horses don’t spook… that’s the last thing these people need.

The survivors hardly speak for the entire first day, forced to march glumly northeast. When night starts to fall you set two small fires, and the survivors produce a few blankets. Mostly they share these between two people. After they’ve mostly fallen asleep, you and Helen quietly tend to the fires.

“I’m starting to think you’re right,” she agrees in a low voice. “I know they’re still stunned, but to say nothing? It’s more like they’re all in some kind of fugue.”

“Would you say it’s less like they’re hiding something,” you ask, “and more like something happened that they refuse to even consider?”

Helen nods curtly. “Like a difference between ‘won’t’ and ‘can’t’.”

…

The next day is very much the same, and in the evening you arrive at Sankt Teresa, deliberately avoiding as much of the crowd of onlookers as possible and forcing your way to the town hall by the lakeshore.

Inside you find the town’s mayor calmly awaiting. “So, what have you brought?”

“Survivors,” you explain. “Just a handful… I’m sure you’ve already heard the rumors.”

“Indeed,” he agrees. “What news from Sankt Claire?”

“Is that what it was called?” Helen muses. “Gone. Looked like a mining accident.”

She glances at you, and you shake your head.

“Is that so?” the mayor frowns. “Strange… plenty of mining towns have accidents, but one so severe?”

“It seems that the rock strata were oriented diagonally, with a softer layer that gave way,” you explain. “The harder surface layer slid against it like a plate, down to the waterfront.”

“So it’s just a matter of bad luck,” the mayor decides. “More’s the pity, had it been something actionable we could have… well, done something about it.”

“What would have caused you to take a more active role?” you ask cautiously.

“Any sign of foul play,” he shrugs.

>Tell him
>Don’t tell him
>Other

>>4177434
>Tell him in private
To many people listening in an open square

>>4177434
>Tell him

>>4177434
>Tell him in private

>>4177434
>>Tell him in private

>>4177434
>>Tell him in private

>>4177434
Tell him in private.

>>4177434
>Tell his private

>>4177434
Since you’re no longer in the town square, but in the hall, you’re away from the ears of anyone who you might not normally want to hear about your news.

“There were bodies at the bottom of the main shaft,” you recount your findings. “Killed by having their throats cut, not by falling rocks.”

The mayor sits quietly for a few moments, before ringing a hand bell. What you’d call an ‘attractive’ young woman in an odd outfit emerges from down a nearby hallway, and bows politely. “Sir?”

“Get me Horley,” the mayor demands. “Right away.”

“Of course sir.”

The assistant heads out into the street.

“Forgive me,” the mayor apologizes, reaching into his desk drawer to pull out a silk handkerchief and dab nervously at his forehead. “But I may have one explanation for what you found… I hope not, but, well...”

It takes some time for the assistant to return with a well-dressed man, who must be this ‘Horley’ the mayor mentioned. His moustache is neatly-trimmed and waxed, and his chin clean-shaven.

“What’s this all about then?” Horley demands.

“Do you know anything about this disaster in Sankt Claire?” the mayor counters.

“What disaster?” Horley counters. “I’ve heard rumors of course, but nothing definitive.”

“Then it would surprise you to know that not everyone who died in Sankt Claire died from the rockfall?”

Horley narrows his eyes. “It would indeed… what are you saying happened?”

“Evidently four men were found at the bottom of the main shaft,” the mayor explains. “According to these two fine young ladies there was evidence that they may have been murdered.”
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 6, 10, 2 = 18 (3d10)

>>4178941

Rolled 6, 5, 5 = 16 (3d10)

>>4178941

Rolled 5, 9, 4 = 18 (3d10)

>>4178941

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

>>4178941

>>4178941
“I never told you how many bodies I found.”

… there’s a long, and very awkward, pause.

“And don’t tell me I’m mistaken,” you interrupt him the very moment he intends to speak in his own defense.

Horley seems remarkably displeased at the news. “So that’s what happened, is it?”

“You know something about this?” Helen demands.

“My company operates a salt mine here, near Sankt Teresa,” Horley explains, very rationally. “My operations are fairly… limited, you could say. My staff and worker numbers don’t vary much from year to year, and production is stable. Sankt Claire’s operation doesn’t affect me one bit.”

The mayor seems to be quivering in fear already.

“But Sankt Teresa relies heavily on the secondary services and businesses connected to the mines. A rival operation undercuts profitability for all those services and businesses.”

>So that’s the motive, and I assume it won’t take much to get an admission.
>So that’s the why, my thoughts are now revolving around the how. Mr. Mayor?
>So what happens next, Mr. Horley?
>Other?

>>4179086
kiss helen

>>4179086
>So that’s the why, my thoughts are now revolving around the how. Mr. Mayor?

>>4179086
>So that’s the why, my thoughts are now revolving around the how. Mr. Mayor?

>>4179086
>>So that’s the why, my thoughts are now revolving around the how. Mr. Mayor?

>>4179086
>So that’s the why, my thoughts are now revolving around the how. Mr. Mayor?

>>4179086
>>So that’s the why, my thoughts are now revolving around the how. Mr. Mayor?

>>4179086
“Now that we know the why,” you muse, “I’m starting to wonder about the how.”

“I have no idea...”

You grab hold of the man’s desk and hurl it across the room with one hand.

“Try that again,” you insist with a tone of perfect calm and poise.

“I swear I had nothing to do with it!” he protests. “I didn’t do any of it personally!”

“Who did you hire?” Helen presses.

“A mercenary company from Sakia!” he insists immediately. “I hired them to take out the competition, I had no idea something like this would happen, I swear!”

Horley, who has remained quiet since giving you his explanation of the situation in the lake district, breaks that silence in an instant… and in truly dramatic fashion. He draws a pistol from his coat, cocking the hammer back as part of a single smooth movement and levelling it at the mayor.

>Stop him
>Don’t stop him

>>4180837
>Stop him, but not violently
It's probable that he just wants to play the bad cop. Play off him.

>>4180837
>stop him

>>4180837
>Stop him

>>4180839
>>4180837

>>4180837
“No,” you insist, pushing the muzzle of Horley’s pistol away, and meeting little resistance… so it was primarily for show.

“Oh… oh thank the goddess...”

You scowl at the mayor. “I’m not done with him yet.”

“Aieeeeee!”

…

After making it a point to not harm the mayor, only to reinforce the certainty in his mind that harm was coming, you learn the name of the mercenary crew that the mayor contacted. It’s a band by the name ‘Red Dawn’, and they operate out of Karluk.

“I’ve heard of them,” Horley admits. “They’ll supposedly take on any job that pays. No scruples.”

“You’ve never worked for them?” Helen presses.

Horley shakes his head. “They don’t do contracts. I don’t trust that.”

“I can almost respect that,” Helen shakes her head.

“So do you plan to go after these bastards?” Horley asks, before jerking his thumb at the near-catatonic mayor. “This bastard’s had it.”

>Who in this nation would you report something like this to?
>I’ll report it in Cuilan, you report it here. People should know.
>If they’re operating out of Karluk there’s little we can do.
>We may be able to track them down… but THEN what?
>Other?

>>4181024
>Who in this nation would you report something like this to?
>I’ll report it in Cuilan, you report it here. People should know.
>Claymores kill youma, not asshole humans. o matter how much they deserve it.

>>4181024
>Who in this nation would you report something like this to?
>I’ll report it in Cuilan, you report it here. People should know.

>>4181026
>>4181024
supporting

>>4181024
>>Who in this nation would you report something like this to?
>>I’ll report it in Cuilan, you report it here. People should know.

>>4181024
Supporting >>4181026

>>4181024
>>4181026

>>4181024
“We’ll report this to Tarskavaig,” you declare. “Please report to your own capital. We ‘claymores’ as you call us don’t exist to kill humans, but yōma.”

“You’re saying the minute it turned out to have a human cause the disaster in Sankt Claire ceased to be your concern,” Horley muses. “Is that it?”

“In a sense,” you admit.

Helen shakes her head. “More like we can’t fight them.”

“We could kill them like it was nothing,” you shrug, “but that’s exactly why we have to refuse to do it on principle.”

“I can’t help but think that’s mighty convenient,” Horley muses. “But far be it from me to judge how inhuman power gets wielded.”

“I’ll do my part.”

“Alice!” Horley barks, for the assistant to return. “Get this out of my sight.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And when you get the chance would you change into something more… normal?”

…

“And so what do you believe happened?”

Lord Annemas seems deeply troubled by the possibility that mines were undermined in such a way that an entire settlement was destroyed.

“We can’t be sure aside from what we’ve told you,” you admit. “There was some sort of coordinated attack on the miners. As for how the mine collapsed, and why… I can’t say.”

“Then I thank you for the warning,” he inclines his head politely. “The rest of it is outside our control.”

…

“Sometimes I wish to do more,” Helen admits.

You shake your head. “So do I.”

>We’ll head back to Scaithness.
>I may be able to contact Sabela, see what she has to say.
>We may want to meet with Camila one more time. Update her.
>Other?

>>4183201
>We may want to meet with Camila one more time. Update her.

>>4183201
>>We’ll head back to Scaithness.

>>4183201
>We’ll head back to Scaithness.

>>4183201
>>We’ll head back to Scaithness.

>>4183201
>We’ll head back to Scaithness.

>>4183201
>>We’ll head back to Scaithness.

>>4183201
Alright, I'm going to call a brief hiatus of about a week. The reason for this is that we've just about caught up to the point in my notes that I've more or less thought things through, so I need to take some time to figure out what all the 'moving parts' of the plot should look like from here.

I'll keep you lot posted on how that's progressing, and I'll probably announce a new thread next friday the 17th.

>>4185005
Alright. Thanks for running!

All Hail the Queen of Darts!

I really hope we don't end up having to kill Sabela.

Not anytime soon anyway. I say that because she hasn't really had any opportunity to go anywhere in a character arc but nevertheless has a lot of potential.

She's just too perfect a martyr as is. She comes across as this (nearly) blameless sweetheart who is really more of a victim in all this than a monster.

I'm not saying that's what she actually is, far from it. Sure she turns the charm up to eleven around Noel, but I wonder just what her nature and actions actually are the rest of the time.

I doubt it's as simple as she absolutely HAS to consume humans to live and that makes her sad. I doubt that for a number of reasons.

For one thing, there is no canon occurrence of an awakened starving to death. On the contrary: they can fast for years if they have something that drives them to. Maybe it's less a Tokyo Ghoul contrived EATING HUMANS IS MANDATORY AND THERE ARE NO LOOPHOLES FOR ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF PROTEIN and more like a struggling addict with a craving they know they don't technically need to live but it's a losing battle
that gets them in the end coz it's just. SO. TEMPTING. That might feel even worse since she does have a (semblance of a) choice.

Anyway. She has her own motives, plans, followers, and enough power to do an awful lot of harm (or, hypothetically, good) to whoever/whatever she wants. What's she gonna do with all that? Tune in again next time to find out!

>>4189061
Mommy did nothing wrong.

>>4189258
Tell that to all the child murderers, rapists and bandits she's eaten!

>>4189061
Well, Hannibal Lecter only ate the "terminally rude".