>>4306211
“That’s because utilizing yōki outside the body is a task that even I haven’t managed,” Sabela continues. “It probably has to do with the fact that even for us yōki isn’t a native ability, but one which was stolen on our behalf by the Organization.”

[They wanted you for that reason,] Serana realizes. [They wanted a warrior who could use yōki naturally like a yōma would.]

“Something like that,” you sigh. “I always kinda figured, especially after getting the hang of the White Fist vaulted me into the single-digits, despite not having all that strong a yōki aura at the time.”

“That’s right,” Sabela agrees. “You were promoted in part due to your expected potential.”

“So...” you turn your attention back to the subject at hand. “You really think this is fine?”

Sabela nods curtly. “I do… trust me, my darling. I considered every aspect, up to and including the potential optics involved. This is the way it will have to happen, and if I need to get rough with some warriors along the way? I’ll be as gentle as I can.”

>If it’s Clarice don’t bother, go ahead and kill her.
>We’re coming with you to observe from a distance. Just in case.
>You stay here. I’ll go in your place. It works better that way.
>Other?

>>4306212
>We’re coming with you to observe from a distance. Just in case.

>>4306212
>>We’re coming with you to observe from a distance. Just in case.

>>4306212
>we'really coming with you to observe

>>4306212
>>We’re coming with you to observe from a distance. Just in case.

>>4306212
>We’re coming with you to observe from a distance. Just in case.

>>4306212
>>We’re coming with you to observe from a distance. Just in case.

>>4306212
>I'm coming with you.

>>4306212
>If it’s Clarice don’t bother, go ahead and kill her.
We STRONGLY suspect her of killing off other sisters intentionally or though forcing them to awaken then killing them.

>>4306212
>>If it’s Clarice don’t bother, go ahead and kill her.

>>4306212
“We’re coming with you,” you declare curtly. “To watch from a distance. Unless they send Camila I doubt they’ll be able to out-range our senses.”

“I don’t like this,” your mother insists. “I set things up the way I did so that you wouldn’t have to be involved.”

“And I am a grown woman,” you counter, “a queen, and an experienced warrior. I choose to be involved based on my own strategic and practical considerations.”

“You’re right,” Sabela admits tersely. “You’re an experienced adult who can make her own choices and it’s belittling for me to behave the way I am. But I am still your mother, and reducing the risks to my daughter is based on my considerations.”

Serana, whose head has been snapping back and forth between the two of you as you’ve argued, turns back to you.

“I appreciate that admission,” you admit, still in an argumentative tone, “and I’m happy that you’re considering my well-being. But consider for a moment how I would feel if something were to happen to you on a mission I asked you to go on because I wasn’t there when you could have used my help.”

Serana turns back to your mother. “I apologize for not considering your feelings, but you don’t have to feel guilty about me.”

“And you don’t have to try so hard to martyr yourself for me,” you counter. “But you’re doing it anyway.”

After a few moments, Sabela sighs dramatically. “Meet me in the middle?”

“In what way?” you ask.

“You recall how Constanzia and Rafaela disguised their presence as being one individual by synchronizing their yōki?”

[It could be dangerous,] Serana admits to you from the corner of your eye. [But I see what she’s suggesting.]

“You plan to do the same?” you muse.

Sabela nods. “You and I are blood relatives, which the Organization considers a requirement for this level of synchronization to work, and you can project yōki outside your body to help shroud Serana. It could actually work.”

“I can’t predict if there will be any side effects though. It may affect your personality and judgement, placing a burden on Serana to help you manage the effects.”

You glance at Serana, who shrugs. [I could do it if you’ll let me.]

>We can try it your way tomorrow. If it doesn’t work we go forward as I intended and simply hide.
>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.
>I don’t like this idea. We’re going to shadow you and that’s that.
>If your doubts are that strong, then I’ll stay here. You win THIS ONCE.
>Other?

>>4307560
If it doesn't work ....

>>4307560
>>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.

>>4307560
>>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.

>>4307560
>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.

>>4307560
>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.

>>4307560
>>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.

>>4307560
>If it doesn’t work, then I’ll agree to respect your wishes and remain here if you’ll be careful.
Zoe might be there?

>>4307560
>3d10
>best of four

Rolled 5, 2, 3 = 10 (3d10)

>>4308540

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

>>4308540

Rolled 2, 2, 7 = 11 (3d10)

>>4308540

Rolled 10, 9, 10 = 29 (3d10)

>>4308540

>>4308550
wait was that me

>>4308550
>>4308552
right, that's all of my luck for the next year. you're welcome

>>4308554
Blessed be your dice!

File: The son of man.jpg (95 KB, 500x415)

95 KB JPG

>>4308550
>>4308552
>>4308554

>>4308540
“We’ll try it your way,” you sigh. “If it doesn’t work then we’ll respect your wishes in exchange for a little more caution from you.”

“Deal?”

After a moment’s contemplation, your mother nods. “Deal.”

…

The next morning you assemble out front of the tower to follow Sabela’s instruction. “We’ll begin by synchronizing our own yōki, Noel. Then you can work on extending that synchronization to Serana.”

“I follow you,” you nod curtly. “So… how do we do this?”

“I just did,” she replies.

You raise an eyebrow at this. “Really?”

“No.”

There’s a sudden wave of vertigo that leaves your mind spinning… the sensation is so much more awkward than you were prepared to expect. Then just as quickly as it comes it passes, and you can stand up straight again.

“Wow,” you muse. “That was… interesting.”

[Are you okay?] Serana frowns.

“Yeah,” you declare. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

[Thank goodness.]

“Alright,” you continue, shaking your head a bit to get it feeling clearer. “Now it’s my turn. Come here.”

You place your hand carefully at the side of Serana’s head and bring her closer, gently bumping foreheads as you focus your yōki and project it outwards. And in a moment, you’re even more disoriented than before when your aura and your mother’s interacted… you see and feel something that seems like you, but which clearly isn’t. You remember your father’s face, your mother’s tears and his anger at her outburst, your own pleas as… no, what you’re remembering when Serana was a little girl.

These are her memories of being sold by her father to the Organization. You knew that this was in her past, she told you about it herself after your first mission together. But what you didn’t expect to feel was anger, a bitter sense of betrayal at her mother for allowing this to happen. She was only a little girl, of course she didn’t understand that her mother had no choice. And for her, in every practical sense, it really made no difference whether her mother approved or not.

You see it, and feel it, as Serana’s ten-year-old self remembered it, before it passes like the shadow of a cloud dims the sky for just a moment.
>1/2

>>4308690
“Are you okay?” Sabela asks you hesitantly. “You both look pale.”

“Fine,” you insist immediately. “Fine, no problem.”

“Are you sure?”

[Yeah, are you?]

You nod curtly. “It’s just a little disorienting, that’s all.”

“Good,” Sabela smiles. “Then I should tell you that it seems to be working. I can’t distinguish your yōki from mine.”

>Then let’s go now, while we have it working properly.
>Let’s practice it once or twice more.
>Other?

>>4308717
>>Let’s practice it once or twice more.
this is to interesting to not try it again

>>4308717
>>Let’s practice it once or twice more.

>>4308717
>Let’s practice it once or twice more.

>>4308717
>Let’s practice it once or twice more.

>>4308717
>Let’s practice it once or twice more.

File: Spoiler Image (480 KB, 427x240)

480 KB GIF

>>4308717
>>Let’s practice it once or twice more.

>You place your hand carefully at the side of Serana’s head and bring her closer, gently bumping foreheads
PLATONIC LESBIAN HEADBUTTS

>>4308717
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 6, 6, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>4308963

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

>>4308963

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

>>4308963

>>4308963
“We should practice it once or twice more,” you suggest. “Make sure that I can do this in a way that’s truly stable, that we can maintain it over a distance, and so forth.”

“Agreed,” Sabela nods curtly.

Serana shoots you a glance. [Are you sure?]

“It’s fine,” you insist.

>1d3, taking the second roll

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>4308991

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>4308991

>>4308991
This time, after the sense of vertigo, you don’t see anything else. Instead you notice that Serana seems to have been taken aback quite suddenly, her gaze momentarily vacant before she turns her focus back on you. When she does there are tears at the corners of her eyes.

“Are you oka...”

Before you can even finish the question her arm is around your neck in an embrace.

“… what did you see?”

After a few moments she takes a step or two away and signs you the explanation. [Emma… I saw several flashes of you and Emma. Including when she was killed.]

“I see...” you frown. “I’m sorry that you ended up experiencing that. I thought she was with me through the worst pain of my life, and then she died. And I realized that had only been physical pain.”

“You saw flashes of Serana’s memories, didn’t you?” Sabela asks you with a narrowed gaze. “The interaction of your yōki auras must be stimulating parts of your brains.”

“Is that something you anticipated?” you ask her.

[And is it a problem?]

“And is it a problem?” you interpret.

Sabela considers it with a frown, stroking her chin pensively. “It shouldn’t be. But then again it may be best to avoid doing it too often, just to be safer now rather than sorry later.”

>Then we’ll do it one more time, this time testing the distance we can maintain the connection over.
>That should be enough then. No need to press this any further.
>Other?

>>4309003
>>That should be enough then. No need to press this any further.

>>4309003
>>Then we’ll do it one more time, this time testing the distance we can maintain the connection over.

>>4309003
>>Then we’ll do it one more time, this time testing the distance we can maintain the connection over.

>>4309003
>>Then we’ll do it one more time, this time testing the distance we can maintain the connection over.
we must go further

>>4309003
>Then we’ll do it one more time, this time testing the distance we can maintain the connection over.

>>4309003
1d3, taking the third roll

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>4309673
this is for whose memory we see?

>>4309677
Yep.

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>4309673

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>4309673

>>4309673
“We should test this one more time,” you decide. “For no other reason than to test the range we can maintain this link over. Agreed?”

Sabela nods in understanding “I understand your reasoning, and I agree with your assessment.”

“We’ll begin in a moment, once you’ve had time to calm yourselves.”

…

You feel ravenous hunger and overwhelming frustration.

Your body is almost ready to rebel, aching with months worth of hunger… the last time you ate was an absolute banquet two weeks ago, and even that left you feeling totally empty. It’s because as hard as you try to deny it, what you hunger for isn’t pork, beef, chicken, or fish. So since then, you simply haven’t eaten anything at all. What would be the point?

Maybe you should just starve.

“Hey, lady,” a male voice sneers from the darkness. “What’s a cute young thing like you doing in a lousy neighborhood like this all by yourself?”

“… leave me alone,” you insist, your anger at the obvious ne’er-do-well’s presence blunted by your overwhelming, painful emptiness. “You don’t want to do this.”

“Nah, you’re wrong!” the seedy-looking man insists, pulling a knife from his belt. “I really think I do.”

“I’m giving you one last chance,” you tell him. “Please. This is for your own good… I can’t be held responsible for what I might do.”

“Please!” the man mocks you. “You’re not foolin’ anyone.”

When the man stabs you in the neck, you lash out. You don’t feel the sting of the knife, or the sensation of his torso parting under the force of your punch… the first time you’ve ever taken a human life is a complete non-experience. As though it were happening to someone else.

The intoxicating scent of fresh blood, the warmth leaving his body, and your own overwhelming hunger, on the other hand… those things are all uncomfortably real. As is the shame when you’re finished, your hunger blunted for at least a little while…

…

That was unexpected.

You reel from the overwhelming sensations, and Serana is there to catch you.

“You… saw...” Sabela realizes, mortified at what’s just happened.

“That hunger...” you gasp for air, struggling to keep yourself upright even with Serana’s help. “What the hell, is that what it’s like?”
>1/2

>>4309724
“I… have grown more accustomed to the sensation of starving,” Sabela admits. “And I’ve learned ways to stretch the process out, to feed as infrequently as possible. But… yes. That is what it feels like to cling to the last vestiges of your humanity after your body has already betrayed you.”

“It’s… not pleasant.”

After allowing you a few moments to reorient yourself, Sabela gives Serana her instructions. “Please leave with Noel. She may need a shoulder to lean on for a while. Once she feels better, she will be able to tell the state of our yōki synchronization.”

“Commit the distance you can manage to memory.”

>3d10, best of three

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

>>4309730

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

>>4309730

Rolled 7, 2, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>4309730

File: serana_inspiration.png (1.06 MB, 944x884)

1.06 MB PNG

>>4309730
Serana escorts you away from the tower, down into the valley where you fished before and across the creek. By the time you’re on the adjacent ridge, looking at the tower in the distance, you’re feeling more or less back to what passes for ‘normal’ to you.

“Our yōki synchronization is still stable,” you declare. “I think we can manage three or four times this distance before my connection with my mother becomes untenable.”

[And between the two of us?] Serana asks, reaching out and tracing across your palm this time, an unusual measure. I DON’T THINK I NOTICED ANY DIFFERENCE SO FAR.

“You’re right,” you agree. “I don’t think the distance between the two of us affects the distance Sabela can extend her influence. But let’s try moving apart.”

Serana nods in agreement, and you take a few paces away from one another.

“We’ll have to stay close,” you declare. “I can only keep it stable for about twenty paces.”

[That makes your mother seem that much more impressive.]

“Impressive is one word for it,” you sigh. “You can say intimidating. It should be. I think she’d tell you it should be.”

>Return and report to Sabela.
>Stay here for a little while to talk with Serana about the things you’ve each seen.
>Other?

>>4310113
>>Stay here for a little while to talk with Serana about the things you’ve each seen.

>>4310113
>>Stay here for a little while to talk with Serana about the things you’ve each seen.

>>4310113
>>Stay here for a little while to talk with Serana about the things you’ve each seen.

>>4310113
>>Stay here for a little while to talk with Serana about the things you’ve each seen.

>>4310113
>Stay here for a little while to talk with Serana about the things you’ve each seen.

>>4310113
“Listen...” you begin. “Serana. We’ve… seen some things that can’t be un-seen.”

“… how are you feeling?”

Serana sits quietly for a while before signing back to you. [Okay, I guess.]

“You and Valentina came along at the right time, you know,” you admit, taking a seat on a rock and patting it to invite Serana to come and sit with you. “Losing Olivia was a hard blow, even though we’d just met. I was starting to think maybe there was more to the ‘bad luck’ nickname than I ever wanted to admit.”

Serana smiles quietly, nudging your shoulder with her fist.

“I mean it!” you insist. “I’ve never had friends who… well… who lasted as long as you have. Since even before I became a warrior.”

[Really?] she asks, seemingly surprised.

You nod. “You’d be surprised how few friends a princess actually has, between all the minders and sycophants and social-climbers.”

[Social climbers?] Serana repeats. [But you were…]

“A child, yes,” you agree. “Heirs have been married younger than that before. Thankfully my dad wouldn’t have any of it or I might have an ex-husband running around out there to consider.”

[And a possible claimant to the throne,] Serana reasons.

“I’m a little surprised nobody’s tried to concoct some sort of wild story to that effect,” you admit. “Guess if there was anyone, me being a half-monster who can bench-press horse carts took the wind out of those sails.”

[Too bad,] Serana shrugs as she signs back her opinion. [If a man had that kind of pluck he might be worth the headache.]

You can’t help but laugh at the notion. “I kinda see your point!”

[Noel,] she signs back after your fit subsides. [I need to ask you something.]

“I know,” you reply calmly. “Go ahead and ask.”

[Please don’t leave us.]

The words, you can tell, are totally earnest. Behind them isn’t selfishness or possessiveness, but as you can understand now, a genuine vulnerability. She’s asking not just for herself, but for the others as well.

You pull her head into your shoulder. “Never.”
>1/2

>>4311331
After some time, Serana holds her hand out for you to present your palm to her to trace the letters across.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR MOTHER?

“Did you see it too?”

She nods silently against your shoulder.

“So what do you think?”

I WAS…

There’s a pause while her fingertip stops.

SURPRISED.

Another pause.

BY HOW SYMPATHETIC SHE SEEMS NOW.

>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.
>Now that I know how she feels about herself… I’m not a fan of mercy killings.
>We should probably keep her at more of a distance. She’ll understand.
>Other?

>>4311333
>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
>>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
>>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
>>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
>Now that I know how she feels about herself… I’m not a fan of mercy killings.

>>4311333
>>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
>Now that I know how she feels about herself… I’m not a fan of mercy killings.

>>4311333
>Now that I know how she feels about herself… I’m not a fan of mercy killings.
the bleeding heart option calls to me. But I'd like the "I know" option too.

The third goes against my belief that we should make happy memories so we have more to hold onto, rather than being afraid of how much we'll lose.

>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311331
>>I know why she’s so insistent that I have to kill her at some point.

>>4311333
“I’m still not a fan of mercy killings,” you admit, “but I can understand why she’s so insistent. For anyone with even a shred of humanity to cling to it must be torture.”

[Amazing what people can become numb to.]

“Definitely,” you agree. “But one day I suppose the kind thing to do will be to oblige her… even if we can find a way to make it so she doesn’t have to eat people to survive, the memories won’t ever fade.”

[I don’t envy you.]

“At least I’ll have some memories of her that aren’t horrible,” you shrug. “I suppose I’ll have to learn to make do with those.”

…

When you return to the tower, you quickly give your report to Sabela who listens to your account carefully and through until you’ve finished before speaking.

“That ought to do,” she declares. “Even in the event they send someone like Clarice or Camila, it should be sufficient to obscure you from their senses… though to be sure, especially against a dedicated sensor type warrior, it would be best for the two of you to remain close.”

“Consider it done,” you nod curtly.

[Not a problem.]

“So...” Sabela muses, somewhat awkwardly. “What do the two of you do to pass the time? When you find yourselves staying at Blackthorn Keep for any meaningful amount of time?”

>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.
>I try to keep busy with practical things. Solving problems, keeping the mind sharp.
>Other?

>>4312991
>>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.
>>I try to keep busy with practical things. Solving problems, keeping the mind sharp.
the last one just screams workaholic

>>4312991
>>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.
Still no boys or dating for Noel.

>>4312991
>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.

>>4312991
>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.

>>4312991
>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.

>>4312991
>>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.

>>4312991
>>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.

>>4312991
>>Well
>fuck like rabbits spank me mommy

>>4312991
>Well, I’ve been trying to encourage the others to take to artistic pursuits.
>I can’t speak for anyone else, but I try to ride as often as possible.

>>4312991
“Well, I’ve been trying and mostly failing to get our cohort into more artistic pursuits,” you admit thoughtfully. “I also try to go out riding whenever I can. Keep the skills sharp and the mind calm.”

“Artistic pursuits,” Sabela repeats, “such as painting?”

“That was one thing I tried,” you tell her. “Some stuck with it with more dedication than others. Serana’s gotten to be quite good.”

“Is that so?” she muses. “I’ll have to see it some time, if you’d oblige me?”

Serana shies away from the compliments. [It’s all heavily stylized of course. My brush control isn’t what it should be.]

“What’s she saying?” Sabela enquires.

“She’s just being modest,” you insist.

“It suits her,” Sabela nods in agreement.

[Hey! Don’t you SUMMARIZE my humility!] Serana flashes a rapid series of signs before pouting.

“So,” you smirk, “would you like to show us your stuff?”

“I could get some supplies in town,” Sabela suggests.

Serana glances at you, then at your mother, then back at you. Then she shrugs. [Okay, why not. Sounds like it could be a good time.]

“I think we’re in agreement,” you nod.

“I’ll be back, then,” Sabela declares.

…

It takes a little time, but by the next morning you have the paints and painting supplies necessary to go out and capture an image. Alysheba’s packs are replaced by leather bags full of pastels and oils and rolled-up canvasses, and you lead her down into the shady little valley where you fished before. You unpack the bags, do a little setup, and then ultimately leave each to her own devices.

>Paint a landscape, focusing on how the dry hills give way to green as they approach the creek.
>Concentrate on technical work, one subject each. Your companions, your horse, a fish, a leaf, etc.
>Paint a candid portrait of your mother, set to the backdrop of the local scenery.
>Other?

>>4313862
>Paint a candid portrait of your mother, set to the backdrop of the local scenery.

>>4313862
>>Paint a candid portrait of your mother, set to the backdrop of the local scenery.

>>4313862
>>Paint a candid portrait of your mother, set to the backdrop of the local scenery.

File: sample-c91f3cdeb03490096a(...).jpg (121 KB, 850x623)

121 KB JPG

Something like this, perhaps.

>>4313862
>>Paint a candid portrait of your mother, set to the backdrop of the local scenery.

>>4313862
You decide that the ideal subject is right in front of you, and the setting is just about perfect. And so you set about to paint a candid portrait of your mother Sabela, set here in this dell as she herself focuses on painting a small cluster of thistles she’s found by the creek. While she takes exacting pains to capture the fine details and the shading of the flowers and their plants, and the surrounding grasses, you capture the image of where she sits… how her hair falls about her shoulders where she’s posed herself carefully so that she can keep still and comfortable. You trace her drab clothes in their elegant simplicity, the small purple and thorny flowers in front of her, the low grasses she’s crouched in.

Once the lines are there you fill it all in, carefully blending your colors to match the vividness with which the scene can exist within your mind even after Sabela has moved.

When you’ve finished in the evening, the three of you show your work. Your mother’s work is actually quite evocative, mixing strong and careful lines with carefully-blended ink colors to represent the flowering thistles and grasses in intimate detail. True to what she said Serana’s work isn’t exactly masterful, but she has grown more deliberate in her use of color and shading in how she represents the surface of the creek where a slower-moving pool tumbles over a few low rocks.

“I like it,” Sabela insists. “It’s evocative and raw without being clumsy.”

[It takes a little longer for me to work with one hand,] Serana observes. [But thank you for your compliment.]

“It takes a little longer with one hand, but she’s grateful for the compliment,” you translate.

“And what have we...” Sabela begins, before seeing the answer herself. After a few moments of stunned silence, she renders her verdict.

“You captured my good side, dear, in more ways than one.”

[Let me…] Serana insists silently, looking over your shoulder to see it as well.

There’s a brief pause. [Why must you make me feel things, Noel?]

>This is how I want to remember these few days.
>There’s a human side you cling to and at the same time refuse to acknowledge, and it’s sad.
>I just… kind of painted it. I don’t really understand why I found it so compelling.
>Other?

>>4314175
>>This is how I want to remember these few days

>>4314175
>I just… kind of painted it. I don’t really understand why I found it so compelling.

>>4314175
>>This is how I want to remember these few days.

>>4314175
>This is how I want to remember you, Mother. And how I want to remember our time together these few days.

>>4314175
>>This is how I want to remember these few days.

>>4314175
>>This is how I want to remember these few days.

>>4314175
>There’s a human side you cling to and at the same time refuse to acknowledge, and it’s sad.

>>4314175
>This is how I want to remember these few days.

>>4314175
>>This is how I want to remember you, Mother. And how I want to remember our time together these few days.
>>4314191
has it.

Theoretically could Savella put her mind and memories in another person? Like we're seeing brain activity and stuff not sure if she'd be interested but it feels like she could technically body Jack a claymore

>>4314175
“This is how I want to remember these few days,” you admit. “And how I’d prefer to remember you, years from now… for how you were, not what.”

After a few moments of silence she sighs. “I would die for you if I could, Noel, were it only so easy.”

“I understand,” you assure her. “Completely.”

“Thank you.”

…

Back at the tower you carefully pack away the three paintings, so that they’ll be ready for the journey back to Scaithness. It isn’t too difficult, they’re quite small canvasses, but still you would hate to see any of them damaged.

You cook dinner that night, a few pieces of fish and some vegetables cooked in two little clay pots placed in front of the fire. Above, where the oven is built just above the firebox, you cook a little bit of flatbread with flour and salt that Sabela bought at the market yesterday, along with just a little bit of butter and fresh milk.

“Smells delicious,” Sabela muses, taking a little corner of your bread and a small spoonful from the clay pot at your tacit suggestion. “It is delicious.”

“We’ve been learning how to cook,” you explain. “Since our appetites started to return.”

“I see,” Sabela replies politely. “I think if I weren’t fully awakened I would enjoy learning to cook again. But as you’ve seen it would do me no good.”

[Which is too bad,] Serana shakes her head. [Really.]

>All else aside, we really should plan for the mission we’ll be going on shortly.
>We should do something else with the evening.
>... are we SURE there's nothing else we can do for you?
>Other?

>>4315459
>... are we SURE there's nothing else we can do for you?

>>4315459
>>... are we SURE there's nothing else we can do for you?
if she inevitably says 'no'
>We should do something else with the evening.
even if that just means
>All else aside, we really should plan for the mission we’ll be going on shortly.

>>4315459
>>4315463
I'm in with this guy.

>>4315459
>>... are we SURE there's nothing else we can do for you?

>>4315459
>>4315463
this

>will update again this evening

>>4315459
“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do for you?”

Sabela is quiet for a good while, deep in thought. “There are a few… possibilities. None of which I have seriously considered, of course… quite preposterous really. Hardly worth considering.”

“But… worth considering?” you press. “Even if only just?”

“Noel,” Sabela replies sternly. “I have hardly given any of these ideas sufficient thought to say.”

“So you don’t really know?”

After a few more moments, her answer. “No. But I would discourage you from thinking like that. I am what I am, Noel. Please remember that.”

“And if there was some bizarre means of either ending your hunger?” you press, “by utilizing the nonsense you call physiology? What then?”

“It’s a pure hypothetical!” Sabela insists.

“I’m interested in hypotheticals!” you fire back. “Hypotheses are the first steps on the way to actual plans, mother. Surely you can see that?”

“I’m not worth it!” Sabela protests. “I am a monster, Noel, and I thought we were all on the same page about that!”

“Well you’ll have to forgive me if I’d rather not watch another of my parents die!” you snap. “Let alone having to be the one to execute her.”

“What happened to Tiberius wasn’t your fault!” Sabela declares. “It was mine!”

“That doesn’t matter to me!” you counter angrily. “Even if I believed it that wouldn’t matter, what matters is that my father was murdered and after finally finding my mother she expects me to do the same to her!”

“So you’d best start thinking about those preposterous ways for me to help save you, cause you’re going to have to explain to me how they’re not going to work before I’ll just agree to cut your damn stubborn head off!”

There’s an incredibly loud silence after that, where your own shouted words seem to echo in your ears. All the while Sabela refuses to meet your eyes, and Serana watches you awkwardly like a child who walked in on her parents having a fight.
>1/2

>>4315976
“I missed you growing up, mom,” you finally admit. “Dad used to tell me about you, just enough that I knew how he really felt towards you. I used to lie awake at night imagining you.”

“I… used to dream about what you might be like grown,” Sabela eventually admits in kind. “With his gorgeous red hair, maybe with my nose… I never could have dreamed that you’d inherit his stubbornness too. Any time he got something in his head he was set on it. He’d determine the best way to go about it, and then he’d act on it.”

“I loved that about him, and it frustrated the hell out of me sometimes.”

>Half of us have ‘crossed the line’ before, so it’s a bit hard to accept that even YOU are totally beyond help.
>I’ll still kill you if you remain a ‘monster’, but I need to be convinced that’s what you truly are and will always be.
>Killing you is still the way this ends if nothing changes, I’m ready for that. But I want you to at least TRY to save yourself.
>Other?

>>4316040
>>Half of us have ‘crossed the line’ before, so it’s a bit hard to accept that even YOU are totally beyond help.

>Other?
I'll do what I have to in the end if there is absolutely no other choice or alternative and I'm convinced that you truly are a monster without redemption. But I still want you to at least try your best to save yourself, and I'll definitely try my best to help.

>>4316040
>>Half of us have ‘crossed the line’ before, so it’s a bit hard to accept that even YOU are totally beyond help.

>>4316040
>>Half of us have ‘crossed the line’ before, so it’s a bit hard to accept that even YOU are totally beyond help.
>And if the only way I can help is to end your suffering...I need to be sure of it.

>>4316040
>>4316065
in with this guy

>>4316040
>>4316065
supporting

>>4316040
>Half of us have ‘crossed the line’ before, so it’s a bit hard to accept that even YOU are totally beyond help.
>Killing you is still the way this ends if nothing changes, I’m ready for that. But I want you to at least TRY to save yourself.

>>4316040
>Half of us have ‘crossed the line’ before, so it’s a bit hard to accept that even YOU are totally beyond help.
>Killing you is still the way this ends if nothing changes, I’m ready for that. But I want you to at least TRY to save yourself.

>>4316040
“Half of us have crossed the line before and come back,” you insist. “That makes it a bit hard to see what’s happened to you as being permanent either. If nothing changes I may still have to end your misery myself, but not before you at least try to save yourself.”

“And I plan to help you if I can, of course.”

After several tense moments, your mother sighs wearily. “Okay. I’ll consider the options I believe may theoretically exist, and will inform you if I either find a potential solution or can conclusively reject them all, whichever happens first.”

“I just hope you’re not getting your hopes up too much.”

You nod curtly. “And I hope I’m not giving you false hope either.”

After several minutes of silence, Serana offers her thoughts now that it seems you and Sabela won’t start arguing again. [This is surprisingly nice.]

“How so?” you ask. “We’re fighting.”

[Because both of you actually seem to care,] Serana counters. [It makes me realize how much was wrong with my own family. I fear I might have been severely underestimating Sabela this whole time.]

“It’s understandable given what happened with the only other Abyssal Ones we’ve ever encountered,” you admit.

“The ones who don’t want their humanity,” Sabela observes. “Though I can understand them, even if it is only to pity them. They spared themselves the pain.”

>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?
>So tell me, what are some of those ‘ludicrous’ ideas? I’m honestly curious.
>I’ve been thinking about what you said about what the Organization’s true goals might be.
>Other?

>>4317192
>>I’ve been thinking about what you said about what the Organization’s true goals might be.

>>4317192
>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?

>>4317192
>>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?
>>I’ve been thinking about what you said about what the Organization’s true goals might be.

>>4317223
>>4317192
this one has the right idea

>>4317192
>So tell me, what are some of those ‘ludicrous’ ideas? I’m honestly curious.

>>4317192
>>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?

>>4317192
>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?
>So tell me, what are some of those ‘ludicrous’ ideas? I’m honestly curious.

File: 90325375[1].jpg (55 KB, 434x434)

55 KB JPG

>>4317223
>>4317192
In with this guy

>>4317192
>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?
>So tell me, what are some of those ‘ludicrous’ ideas? I’m honestly curious.
>I’ve been thinking about what you said about what the Organization’s true goals might be.

>>4317192
>>I’ve always wondered something, why do most of you get rid of your swords?

>>4317192
“I have a question that’s only vaguely related,” you admit. “Why do awakened beings tend to abandon their swords so often, and what eventually happens to them?”

Sabela considers her answer for a few moments. “It varies. I abandoned mine because it reminded me too much of what I once was. I suspect most of us are probably the same… either because it’s a source of pain, or because it’s an object of revulsion.”

[And what became of your sword?] Serana asks.

Sabela frowns, shaking her head. “Noel?”

“Where is yours?” you translate.

“I have no idea,” she admits. “I suspect it’s still lying where I dropped it.”

“And where is that?” you ask curiously.

“I abandoned it on a mountainside in Cuilan,” she tells you.

You make a mental note… you’d be curious to know whether the Organization reclaims such weapons or not. But you have a second question, which comes more as an admission.

“I’ve also been doing some thinking about the Organization’s motives and goals,” you admit. “What more can you tell me?”

“I can’t back up my suspicions,” she tells you calmly. “But I do believe there must be a way to prove them. I intend to ask our mutual friend, assuming we succeed in capturing him.”

>Skip forward to the Tomas Capture Mission.
>Ask another question? (Write-in)
>Suggest that it may be useful to have your mother’s sword as a spare.
>Other?

>>4319048
>>Skip forward to the Tomas Capture Mission.

>>4319048
>>Suggest that it may be useful to have your mother’s sword as a spare.
Second Swords Quest's MC may as well have a second sword.

>>4319048
>>Suggest that it may be useful to have your mother’s sword as a spare.

>>4319048
>Suggest that it may be useful to have your mother’s sword as a spare.

>>4319048
>Skip forward to the Tomas Capture Mission.

>>4319048
>>Skip forward to the Tomas Capture Mission.

>>4319048
>>Skip forward to the Tomas Capture Mission.

>>4319048
>Suggest that it may be useful to have your mother’s sword as a spare.

>>4319048
“It may be interesting to see if we can recover your sword,” you admit, “though right now it’s a low priority.”

[At very least it could be useful to have a spare,] Serana agrees with a shrug.

“I’ll consider it, after this mission,” Sabela agrees.

…

On the night in question, the three of you arrive at a disused tower house halfway between Kraljevo and Daria. This time, all you know is that Serana caught some of your mother’s memories, related to her past friendship with Olivia. She wouldn’t tell you any more than that, and you didn’t pry.

“This was once the site of a great watch-tower,” Sabela informs you, “over the remains of which a tower house was raised.”

“Impressive,” you muse. “We’ll be hiding in the dell to the south.”

“Understood,” Sabela nods curtly.

>Remain hidden, keep your senses as widely-extended as possible.
>Remain hidden, don’t extend your senses just in case someone can sense you doing so.
>Try to find a position near where you told Sabela you’d be where you can watch the approach to the tower house.
>Other?

>>4320245
>Remain hidden, don’t extend your senses just in case someone can sense you doing so.

>>4320245
>>Remain hidden, don’t extend your senses just in case someone can sense you doing so.
>>Try to find a position near where you told Sabela you’d be where you can watch the approach to the tower house.

>>4320245
>Remain hidden, keep your senses as widely-extended as possible.
>Try to find a position near where you told Sabela you’d be where you can watch the approach to the tower house.

>>4320245
>>Remain hidden, keep your senses as widely-extended as possible.

>>4320245
>Remain hidden, don’t extend your senses just in case someone can sense you doing so.

>>4320245
>3d10, best of three

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

>>4320471

Rolled 2, 5, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>4320471

Rolled 9, 3, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>4320471

>>4320471
“Here they come,” you muse, barely able to sense two warriors taking up positions near the tower. Given the fact that your mother’s yōki is still coming across strong and stable, you can tell that she hasn’t been given reason to leave yet.

[I wonder what they’re talking about?]

…

You are Sabela, formerly the number one ranked warrior of the Organization, but now something that to most people’s eyes would be considered much less. You are a yōma, a human-eating monster only redeemed by your tenuous grasp to what little remains of your humanity.

Before you is a man you had hoped never to see again, but who at the moment you need.

“Hello again, Sabela,” Tomas greets you cheerfully. “It’s been a while.”

“Not long enough,” you reply curtly. “You’ve aged.”

“Your daughter has added quite a few grey hairs to my collection,” Tomas replies candidly, “a collection which, by the way, you certainly had a hand in starting.”

“Aw, you do miss me,” you roll your eyes. “I am somewhat surprised you came here with only to escorts.”

“I’m surprised you’re actually here,” he counters. “What reason is there for that, I wonder?”

“I have my own reasons,” you tell him calmly. “There are some questions I would like you to answer, now that I have you here.”

“Oh?” Tomas muses. “Go ahead, ask away. We’re all friends here after all.”

>I want to know everything about the death of King Tiberius. I want to hear you say it.
>I have heard disturbing rumors about two of the Organization’s elite, particularly Zoe.
>I have some questions about what the Organization is really after, and the world beyond this island.
>Other?

>>4320582
>>I have heard disturbing rumors about two of the Organization’s elite, particularly Zoe.
>>I have some questions about what the Organization is really after, and the world beyond this island.
i want him to answer some questions, and i fear that he might leave/refuse if we ask to many
so these 2 are the ones most important to our daughters future

>>4320582
>>I have heard disturbing rumors about two of the Organization’s elite, particularly Zoe.
>>I have some questions about what the Organization is really after, and the world beyond this island.

As interesting as hearing about King Tiberius might be, I think that what >>4320599
said is true, Tomas will only answer some of our questions if we ask too many.

>>4320582
>I have heard disturbing rumors about two of the Organization’s elite, particularly Zoe.
>I have some questions about what the Organization is really after, and the world beyond this island.

>>4320582
>I have heard disturbing rumors about two of the Organization’s elite, particularly Zoe.
>I have some questions about what the Organization is really after, and the world beyond this island.

>>4320582
>I have heard disturbing rumors about two of the Organization’s elite, particularly Zoe.
>I have some questions about what the Organization is really after, and the world beyond this island.

>>4320582
>3d10, best of three

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

>>4321764

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

>>4321764

Rolled 3, 2, 5 = 10 (3d10)

>>4321764

>>4321764
“I suppose you’ve already guessed as much,” you muse, “but I make it a point to keep track of the warriors of the Organization: particularly those for which I have developed any sort of fondness.”

“You’re right,” Tomas replies with a smile. “I did already guess that much. What surprises me is that you admitted it.”

“Very clever,” you roll your eyes. “Tomas, I haven’t heard anything about Zoe or Camila for too long. Has something happened to them?”

“Something like what?” Tomas replies. “I never took you to be an outdoorsy-type, but this is quite the fishing expedition, isn’t it?”

“You know how I feel about Clarice,” you reply with a stern glare. “I made no effort to disguise how I felt from even as early as when she was a trainee.”

“I was there,” Tomas remind her.

“Then you’ll understand why I have concerns for the safety of the strong warriors you have left who are actually halfway decent,” you insist.

“Camila is dead,” Tomas tells you brusquely. “Clarice killed her on orders from above, for attempting to organize a mass insurrection.”

“I can’t believe that,” you scowl at him.

“Zoe was evidently one of her targets,” Tomas continues. “Zoe’s safe on Lavinia, she wasn’t punished like poor Camila was. But there have been several high-profile defections and attempted defections lately. Funny, that.”

“I liked Camila,” you stare daggers at Tomas. “The same as I liked Olivia and Laura. They were fine warriors, whose hearts were strong and always in the right place. And I’m absolutely livid that they were treated so wrongly.”

“I can understand that,” Tomas admits. “Honestly, I do tend to agree. But there’s not much I can do about it aside from voice my disapproval.”

“So with that question answered, I have a second question,” you press.

“And that is?”

“The outside world,” you stare him straight in the eyes, “you know what it’s like, don’t you?”

Tomas stares at you with an expression you recognize as mild amusement. “Oh?”

For the sake of keeping him in the conversation and something approaching helpful, you should really pick your next question carefully.

>We’re experiments, meant to fight something a lot stronger than yōma. Tell me our true targets.
>Where do yōma come from? There’s no way the Organization with the greatest resources in our known world has no idea.
>How have you kept the outside world form coming into contact with our island?
>Other?

>>4322226
>We’re experiments, meant to fight something a lot stronger than yōma. Tell me our true targets.
>Where do yōma come from? There’s no way the Organization with the greatest resources in our known world has no idea.

>>4322226
We're experiments to fight something a lot stronger

>>4322226
>>We’re experiments, meant to fight something a lot stronger than yōma. Tell me our true targets.
>>Where do yōma come from? There’s no way the Organization with the greatest resources in our known world has no idea.

>>4322226
>>We’re experiments, meant to fight something a lot stronger than yōma. Tell me our true targets.
>>Where do yōma come from? There’s no way the Organization with the greatest resources in our known world has no idea.

>>4322226
>How have you kept the outside world form coming into contact with our island?

>>4322226
>We’re experiments, meant to fight something a lot stronger than yōma. Tell me our true targets.

>>4322226
“We both know that warriors like me are too strong to be meant for yōma extermination,” you observe, “let alone such experiments as was done on the twins even before my generation. So what are we meant to be fighting?”

“Why, each other of course,” Tomas lies.

“Don’t,” you insist curtly. “You can’t lie to me, Tomas. And besides, you started with experiments on sets of twins using yōki synchronization to control their awakenings. When that failed you progressed to other attempts, particularly with my half-abyssal daughter.”

“Why start with such overwhelming potential, even if you somehow already knew of the risk of eventual awakening?”

“Dragons,” Tomas changes his tune abruptly. This time, strange as it may sound, it doesn’t seem like he’s lying.

“Dragons?” you repeat.

“Well, not precisely,” Tomas admits. “Their appearance can mimic that of the mythical beasts we humans call dragons, and so that is the name that was given to them in our initial ignorance. In reality they’re substantially more alien than that.”

“… dragons, though?” you repeat once more, still stuck in incredulity. “How is it possible that this has been hidden for so long?”

“You understand that this world is a sphere, correct?” Tomas muses.

You nod. “According to the most advanced mathematics I have seen yes, though anything beyond that seems like pure speculation to me.”

“Then it also stands to reason that our moon is another sphere?” Tomas presses. “As is the sun?”

“Those both seem to follow a certain logic,” you agree.

“These celestial spheres exist in a delicate dance,” Tomas tells you, “kept so by virtue of their incredible size and momentum, and by the same force which pulls you or I inexorably towards the center of our particular sphere.”

“A fairly advanced theory,” you admit, “or else quite a complicated fiction. Though I have to believe no good lie would be so hard to take at face value.”

“To explain to you why you have never seen a dragon, envision our world as a massive sphere covered entirely on one side by water, and dominated on the other by two massive islands. Now imagine that from the void between the spheres, a mass of rock the size of a mountain crashes at unimaginable speeds.”

“The force ripples through the surface of the sphere, as though across the surface of a massive pond, even through the floors of the deepest ocean, until they converge at the antipode, raising up a mass of chaotic mountains at the bottom of that global sea, so high they pierce the surface and soar so high into the air that their tops grew cold, and are now covered in ice and snow year-round.”
>1/2

>>4323427
“You’re telling me that the dragons never come here,” you muse, “because it’s on the opposite side of the world from where they all live?”

“Precisely,” Tomas nods.

“So you must have noticed the crater on the habited side of the world in the current contours of the pre-existing continents,” you theorize, “and sought out the confluence of the ripples at the antipode?”

“It was not an easy feat,” Tomas admits. “At least, not according to our records. But yes. It also gave us our initial account for why the dragons exist as they are in the first place… only the very smallest and most meagre creatures or the very toughest could have survived the catastrophe which nearly killed this world so long ago. The dragons are likely descendants of the latter, further transmuted over time into unparalleled killing machines whose very vital functions are fundamentally different from our own.”

>How long ago did this happen, supposedly?
>So then we humans were descended from those weak, meagre survivors?
>What is the outside world like then?
>Other?

>>4323431
>>How long ago did this happen, supposedly?
>>So then we humans were descended from those weak, meagre survivors?

>>4323431
>So then we humans were descended from those weak, meagre survivors?
>What is the outside world like then?

>>4323431
>>How long ago did this happen, supposedly?

>>4323431
>So then we humans were descended from those weak, meagre survivors?
>What is the outside world like then?

>>4323431
>>How long ago did this happen, supposedly?
>>So then we humans were descended from those weak, meagre survivors?

>>4323431
>How long ago did this happen, supposedly?
>So then we humans were descended from those weak, meagre survivors?

Why are do you squander us warriors and our potential?

>>4323431
>So then if the organization knows of our true enemy, why squander us warriors and potential for Yoma extermination and infighting?

>>4323431
“So humans were descended from those weaker survivors?” you muse. “Is that what you’re implying?”

“Certainly, our distant ancestors were the ones underfoot,” Tomas replies. “And when we first contacted the Dragons and their kin it was clear that we would become so again after many generations of believing we would remain on top forever.”

“So it is a war after all,” you realize.

“A war that cannot be won as meagre survivors,” Tomas agrees. “A war that must see we humans deploying weapons capable of defeating our natural betters, even if our response is unnatural.”

“How long has this been going on?” you ask.

“For several hundred years before the establishment of this place,” Tomas explains. “We first encountered them when our population began to colonize the other continent.”

>A war that long… how was humanity not wiped out long before now?
>I don’t believe that you’re not hiding SOMETHING from me right now.
>Change the topic, ask about what the outside world is like.
>Change the topic, ask how the Organization defines a successful experiment.
>Protest about the Organization’s wastefulness.
>Other?

>>4324060
>A war that long… how was humanity not wiped out long before now?
>I don’t believe that you’re not hiding SOMETHING from me right now.

>>4324100
>>4324060
This selection

>>4324060
>A war that long… how was humanity not wiped out long before now?
>And why doesn't anyone know about the outside world?

>>4324060
Of course, the unspoken assumption is that if the people living here knew about the outside world some of them would want to flee there… and if any of them managed, the dragons would learn about the operation that the Organization has going here. That could be devastating. But considering what you’ve been told?

“I have to wonder what you’re keeping from me,” you muse.

“Whatever do you mean?” Tomas enquires.

“If humanity was in such a bad position for such a long time with no means to effectively fight back,” you begin, “then how has it survived for so long?”

“Technology is more advanced outside the limited confines of this place,” Tomas informs you almost instantly, as if he anticipated the question. “For example our side developed the steam engine, and put it to use in building landships with steel armor and eighty-pounder cannon.”

“And you place the abilities of the warriors you’ve created above that?” you wonder aloud.

“Could you cut through two inches of steel?”

“Probably?” you reply. “I’ve never tried before.”

“With a proper sword I have no doubt you could,” Tomas admits, “because a dragon could do it.”

“Wait… have you been to the outside world?” you demand.

Tomas nods slowly. “I grew up there.”

>And then you came here? Do you ever go back, or can you do so?
>How did the population here get here? Were their ancestors volunteers?
>Is the Organization self-sufficient here?
>Other?

>>4325303
>>And then you came here? Do you ever go back, or can you do so?
>>How did the population here get here? Were their ancestors volunteers?
*insert mind blown pic here*

>>4325303
>>How did the population here get here? Were their ancestors volunteers?
>>Is the Organization self-sufficient here?

>>4325303
>And then you came here? Do you ever go back, or can you do so?
>How did the population here get here? Were their ancestors volunteers?
>Is the Organization self-sufficient here?

>>4325303
>Noel's mind status: blown away
>Noel interrupted by curiosity of what the other side of the world looks like
>Noel asks a question: What's it like on the other side of the world? Is there any surviving countries? Any Human Government? What of the dragons?

>>4325373
except we're Sabela rn

>>4325303
“So you had to come here fairly recently?” you press, “at least in the grand scheme of things? How? And is there any regular contact with the outside world?”

“There is no regular contact except to transfer key personnel into the area,” Tomas explains. “And once that happens we will live out the rest of our lives here, and be buried here.”

“And how did the people who live here get here?” you continue, “were they some sort of volunteers?”

“No, they were not,” Tomas explains. “Their ancestors were already here when the Organization located the antipodal region.”

“So they were just lucky.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

So the Organization isn’t all-powerful, nor is it even necessarily self-sufficient within this region. That’s all good information to know about the situation that you couldn’t have really guessed at had you not gone to the trouble of calling Tomas out here.

>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?
>Ask one more quesiton: how many other islands are there in this region of the world?
>Don’t push your luck just now. You’ve already confirmed what you came here to learn.
>Other?

>>4325750
>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?

>>4325750
>>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?

>>4325750
>>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?

>>4325750
>>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?
+Thank him for answering all our questions, he has no real reason to but did it anyway.

>>4325750
>>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?

>>4325750
>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?

>>4325750
>Ask one more question: where do yōma come from?

And yes, thank Tomas for the information. He didn't have to do this.

>>4325750
“One final question,” you continue.

“And what is that?” Tomas asks you.

“Where do the yōma come from?” you demand. “And what is yōki?”

“One of these questions I can answer,” Tomas replies calmly, wagging a finger at you. “Yōki is a power generated at a microscopic level within the bodies of creatures related to the dragons. It is the process of a biological complex totally alien to we humans.”

“So by answering that question first,” you muse, “it means you will not answer the other?”

“It means that precisely,” Tomas replies.

“And will you even tell me why you won’t answer?” you ask. “Or is it simply because you know that you would be forced to lie otherwise?”

“The latter,” Tomas admits. “And I can recall that in all the time we worked together I never once managed to put a lie past you.”

>I could always beat the information out of you.
>Then that’s fine. I’ll walk away on neutral terms.
>No matter. I’ll learn the truth for myself.
>Other?

>>4327809
>>No matter. I’ll learn the truth for myself.

>>4327809
>Other?
Not that you haven't tried a few times.

Don't say anything else so they won't know or anticipate what our next actions will be.

>>4327809
>>No matter. I’ll learn the truth for myself.

>>4327809
>Other?
Wait wait, I want to ask
"Why do Yoma or awakened beings such as myself need or require to feed on humans? Why won't any other source of food work? What makes humans the exception?"

Or something like that. They probably don't know......

>>4327809
>>No matter. I’ll learn the truth for myself.
>Other
Thank him. Like I said earlier, he didn't really have to answer us, but did. Be polite, even if we don't really mean it.

>>4327809
Ask this: >>4327897

>>4327809
>>4327897
this

>>4327809
>>4327897
supporting

>>4327897
Someone should try and reword it better so its not like 3 questions, someone halp!

>>4327897
>>4327809
i support this in addition to my other vote

>>4327809
“If you won’t answer, will you at least try to explain why it is that yōma and awakened beings feed on humans?” you press. “Why do we go from hardly being able to eat regular food to needing to eat humans?”

“Do you know what separates humans from all other animals?” Tomas answers your questions with a question.

“Bipedalism?” you reply with a frown. “No, there’s also some birds too… opposable thumbs? No…”

The thought comes to you quite suddenly. “The size of our brains.”

“And the complexity of our nervous and hormonal systems,” Tomas nods in confirmation. “It has been theorized that it is the presence our our large and highly-developed brains that makes us potential food for the dragons and their kin.”

“Half-blooded warriors don’t draw on their yōki constantly,” you reason. “So they can function without feeding properly, just based on their own systems. But when a being uses their yōki at this level, when they transform fully as I have, it’s like how deer seek our salt licks.”

“Our bodies know instinctively that we need certain compounds, and where to find them… so can the dragons survive without predating on humans?”

Tomas nods. “If you figure that such a relationship can be anything but one of convenience for the dragons, and inconvenience for ourselves, then you understand.”

So that means… that the ‘dragons’ may know of a way that you can feed yourself without having to eat humans? That’s… that’s potentially huge!

“You seem to be crying,” Tomas observes. “Strange. You seem so human right now. It’s no wonder your daughter seems to treat you as such.”

>While you sort this out, and while your daughter makes her way in the world, you will NOT tolerate any interference on the part of the Organization.
>The Organization has lost any remaining patience you may have had with them. What they did to Camila was wrong, bordering on the monstrous.
>This changes things, but not your relationship with the Organization. You’ll withdraw for the time being.
>Other?

>>4328875
>While you sort this out, and while your daughter makes her way in the world, you will NOT tolerate any interference on the part of the Organization.

'We humans' after all

>>4328875
>While you sort this out, and while your daughter makes her way in the world, you will NOT tolerate any interference on the part of the Organization.

>>4328875
>While you sort this out, and while your daughter makes her way in the world, you will NOT tolerate any interference on the part of the Organization.

>>4328875
>while you sort this out
This has changed things, I doubt sabela could tolerate their interference at this point

>>4328875
So they know about our close contact with our mom... somehow?

Or perhaps they are referring to an earlier incident and made assumptions from there? Such as the battle in the mountain valley?

>>4328875
>Other?
How much stronger are dragons to us, or rather, to someone in the single digits or to one such as myself?

>>4328875
>brains
wait but they always aim to eat the "guts".
>nervous and hormonal systems
first part same as the above, second latter part, might make more sense?

>>4328875
>>While you sort this out, and while your daughter makes her way in the world, you will NOT tolerate any interference on the part of the Organization.

>>4328875
>>While you sort this out, and while your daughter makes her way in the world, you will NOT tolerate any interference on the part of the Organization.

>>4328875
“While I sort out the implications for myself,” you growl, “my dearest daughter will also be making her own way in the world. In either case, I will not tolerate any interference.”

“Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” Tomas agrees. “If that’s all, I suggest we go our separate ways.”

“Agreed,” you nod curtly. “I will go now. Once I have you can call your escorts in.”

“Oh, and one other thing,” Tomas interrupts as you turn to leave.

You frown. “Yes?”

“Tell Noel that I’m glad she has found such success outwith the Organization.”

…

Noel, your daughter. Your daughter by the man you once fell in love with, an indiscretion you wouldn’t ever say that you regret. The only thing you’ve left to this world that’s worth mentioning.

Once you’re clear of Tomas and his two escorts, you can meet with her and Serana face-to-face.

“I take it things went well?” she asks you politely.

“Yes,” you admit, “it would be best if we got well clear.”

Serana makes a few fleeting gestures with her remaining hand, and Noel only translates by context.

“Yeah, I silly question I guess,” she admits. “Did you learn anything useful, mother?”

“All manner of things,” you nod.

…

You are Noel Tiberius di Hazaran, and your mother has spun you a wild story of the outside world: dragons and distant wars and conspiracies.

“So?” she asks, after falling silent for a while.

“So what?” you ask.

“So what do you think about what I’ve told you?” your mother presses.

>I believe you, but it’s hard to know what exactly to do about it.
>If we contact the dragons they may be able to solve your problem.
>I think it means we need to reach the outside world.
>Other?

>>4331362
>>I think it means we need to reach the outside world.

>>4331362
>>I think it means we need to reach the outside world.
claymore piece

>>4331362
>>I believe you, but it’s hard to know what exactly to do about it.

>>4331362
>I believe you, but it’s hard to know what exactly to do about it.

>>4331362
>If we contact the dragons they may be able to solve your problem.

>>4331362
>Other?
Bring up that time we went to that mine shaft in the mountains, and tell her it would be worth checking out, there may be a sleeping dragon down there.
Don't let her go alone!

>>4331362
>>4331438
In with this guy

>>4331362
>>4331391
Changing to >>4331438

>>4331362
>I think it means we need to reach the outside world.
>Other?
Supporting >>4331438

>>4331362
>>I believe you, but it’s hard to know what exactly to do about it.
>I think it means we need to reach the outside world.

>>4331438
>>4331362
This in addition to my vote, it's an interesting idea

>>4331362
“I remember something,” you muse, recalling the events in the mine underneath Tarskavaig. “I was searching some high mountain mines for yōma, and intersected some existing tunnels. They seemed artificial but I couldn’t figure where they originated from.”

“Strange,” your mother replies with a frown.

[You mentioned that,] Serana signs to you. [Do you think it relates to the dragons?]

“Perhaps,” you sigh, “but it’s a leap. Regardless, I think it’ll pay to learn more about the outside world.”

“It does seem to be an important context that we all currently lack,” your mother agrees, “both your faction and myself. Noel, do you remember the stories of the rune stones?”

“I’ve seen one,” you admit.

“That may also relate to the dragons and their kin,” she declares. “The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

>Then a good place to start would be to investigate the rune stones. Someone must have a collection.
>Then Tarskavaig is where we need to be. I’m sure we can plan a brief expedition into the deep dark.
>We should withdraw for now. The Organization will be anticipating us to act quickly.
>Other?

>>4333378
>>Then Tarskavaig is where we need to be. I’m sure we can plan a brief expedition into the deep dark.

>>4333378
In light of our recent interactions, we should withdraw for now.

But I think we should organize an expedition or two, first fore the rune stones around this island, and another into Tarskavaig mines.

>>4333378
>Then Tarskavaig is where we need to be. I’m sure we can plan a brief expedition into the deep dark.

>>4333378
>Then a good place to start would be to investigate the rune stones. Someone must have a collection.

>>4333378
>>Then Tarskavaig is where we need to be. I’m sure we can plan a brief expedition into the deep dark.

>>4333378
>>Then Tarskavaig is where we need to be. I’m sure we can plan a brief expedition into the deep dark.

>>4333378
>>Then Tarskavaig is where we need to be. I’m sure we can plan a brief expedition into the deep dark.

>>4333378
“I can only hazard a guess,” you admit, “but it seems like the best guess is that we’ll find our answers in the dark tunnels below Tarskavaig. If there’s an answer for us to find in the first place that is.”

“Any disagreement?”

Serana simply shakes her head, and your mother considers it for a moment.

“We will need to prepare an expedition,” she decides. “Lots of torches, climbing gear, that sort of thing.”

“There’s a lighting system already down there,” you recall, “but taking a substantial amount of oil for lamps would be helpful.”

[Tarskavaig… we would likely need to find the equipment there.]

“That won’t be hard,” you decide. “It’s a mining settlement.”

“Then it’s decided,” Sabela nods curtly. “The only question is when.”

>We can go there directly from here.
>Let’s return to the tower. I still owe you a few days.
>Let’s go somewhere new for the last few days I owe.
>Other?

>>4335094
>Let’s return to the tower. I still owe you a few days.

>>4335094
>>We can go there directly from here.

>>4335094
>We can go there directly from here.

>>4335094
>>Let’s return to the tower. I still owe you a few days.

>>4335094
>We can go there directly from here.

>>4335094
>>We can go there directly from here.

>>4335094
>Let’s go somewhere new for the last few days I owe.
The lake we did our paintings at.

>>4335094
“We can head straight there from here,” you decide.

Sabela narrows her eyes slightly. “One week… you gave me one week.”

“Who cares about that now?” you grumble. “If this works you might get a whole lot more than a week… this is your life we’re talking about here!”

[At first I thought that was going to go a different direction.]

“… why?”

Serana looks awkward for a moment. [I’m still not used to trusting people?]

“I’m not offended,” you admit. “I’m honestly just glad you care.”

Serana puts her hand over her heart for a moment before signing back to you. [Aw. That’s sweet.]

“I still don’t remember when it was you learned to be snarky as a mute.”

[I had a good teacher.]

Sabela similes quietly.

…

You head up into the mountains, taking three days to skirt the northern border of Hazaran before turning south into Cuilan. By the time you arrive at the outskirts of Tarskavaig, you have the broad beginnings of a plan.

>Head straight for the local Lord. He can give you material aid if he knows the full truth.
>The local Lord doesn’t need to know the WHOLE truth. You just need some of his stuff.
>You can keep this quiet. Lay low in an inn while you set up.
>Other?

>>4336973
>>The local Lord doesn’t need to know the WHOLE truth. You just need some of his stuff.

a snarky one armed mute mutant woman
i love serana.

>>4336973
>>The local Lord doesn’t need to know the WHOLE truth. You just need some of his stuff.

>>4336973
>>The local Lord doesn’t need to know the WHOLE truth. You just need some of his stuff.

>>4336973
>The local Lord doesn’t need to know the WHOLE truth. You just need some of his stuff.

>>4336973
>Other?
We should send a letter to the others so they don't worry.

Or maybe done and we can have a epic battle with surprise reinforcements later.