>>4317848
>>You live in a world of hushed whispers, looming darkness, and edged steel. Magic is a rarity that demands a terrible price, and you will need every ounce of it to withstand the merciless hunters of people like you. (Dark Fantasy)

>>4317848
>You live in a world of mystical wonders, breathtaking vistas, and multifaceted vibrance. Magic flows like water and is easy to control, but you're far from this land's first greedy fool and competition will be fierce. (High Fantasy)

>>4317848
>You live in a world of hushed whispers, looming darkness, and edged steel. Magic is a rarity that demands a terrible price, and you will need every ounce of it to withstand the merciless hunters of people like you. (Dark Fantasy)

>>4317848
>>You lived in a world that died long ago, no more than a maggot clutching to a rotting carcass. Magic is lost in the ruins of the past and as the end looms nearer you'll struggle dearly to find it without losing yourself. (Bleak Fantasy)

>>4317848
>You live in a world of hushed whispers, looming darkness, and edged steel. Magic is a rarity that demands a terrible price, and you will need every ounce of it to withstand the merciless hunters of people like you. (Dark Fantasy)

>>4317848
>You live in a world of mystical wonders, breathtaking vistas, and multifaceted vibrance. Magic flows like water and is easy to control, but you're far from this land's first greedy fool and competition will be fierce. (High Fantasy)

>>4317848
>You live in a world of hushed whispers, looming darkness, and edged steel. Magic is a rarity that demands a terrible price, and you will need every ounce of it to withstand the merciless hunters of people like you. (Dark Fantasy)

>>4317848
>You live in a world of mystical wonders, breathtaking vistas, and multifaceted vibrance. Magic flows like water and is easy to control, but you're far from this land's first greedy fool and competition will be fierce. (High Fantasy)

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>>4317850
>>4317861
>>4317865
>>4317885
You live in a world some would deem grim and others call dark. To you and many other unfortunates ignorant of what writhes and wails behind the tattered veil of normality, it is home. You were born here but where your life ends remains the providence of fate.

>Who are you?

>You are the son of a farmer, who was the son of a farmer. Tending to the earth with a stooped back, you came to resent your betters and sought something more. Your physique is as hardy as it is strong and your will wrought of iron, but your standing in life is low and you are illiterate.
>You are an ordained monk, scribbling copies of scrolls written long ago. Ever curious, being forced to burn forbidden wisdom kindled the spark of something vile. Your wit is sharp and your education of matters material and spiritual profound, but you have obligations and little worldliness.
>You are the fourth son of a minor aristocrat, heir to nothing but a life of leisure. Holding a silver spoon from the cradle, you came to resent your boredom in luxury. You are educated, wealthy, and ennobled, but surrounded by loose-lipped servants and among the first of suspects.
>You are a raving madman, beholden to none but your shattered psyche. Wandering the wilderness like an animal on two legs, your dreams began to show you deeper secrets. You are insane and the ways of normal men are unknowable, but you have a deep and twisted insight.
>You are a brutish mercenary of some repute, though retired. After years of killing men for silver and gold you began to wonder if there was more to life and began to study the secrets of stolen tomes. You are a skilled warrior able to resume your career at a moment's notice, but ill-trusted.
>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

>>4317920
>>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

>>4317920
>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

>>4317920
>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

>>4317920
>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

>>4317920
>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

>>4317920
>You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Resenting your social standing, you've begun to seek alternatives elsewhere and in time, found them. You are educated and cunning, but beholden to your family and your beauty is as much a weakness as it is a strength.

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>>4317921
>>4317923
>>4317929
>>4317933
>>4317953
>>4317957
You are the second daughter of a prestigious merchant's guild-member. Consigned to lesser status at best or some commodity to be sold at worst by the circumstances of your birth, you came to resent the society you were born in. Perhaps some day it will change, perhaps not, either way, such a lofty ideal is beyond this age of misfortune. There are a great many merchants in the world with a great many daughters, and which maiden name you claim isn't preordained.

>Who did the Mad Gods choose to be your father?

>Lachlan Gallagher: The latest in a long dynasty of cattle barons, he is bold and fierce in the hawking of wares but has a soft side for his daughter. She could expect a great deal of leniency and little pressure, though the Gallaghers have fallen on hard times and are on the brink of poverty as far as aristocratic standards go.
>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.
>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.

>>4317970
>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.

>>4317970
>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.

>>4317970
>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.

>>4317970
>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>>Lachlan Gallagher: The latest in a long dynasty of cattle barons, he is bold and fierce in the hawking of wares but has a soft side for his daughter. She could expect a great deal of leniency and little pressure, though the Gallaghers have fallen on hard times and are on the brink of poverty as far as aristocratic standards go.

>>4317970
>>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.

>>4317970
>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>Theo Harrison: Recently risen to prominence in the sale of textiles and furs, he is a merciless opportunist whose warm smile conceals a calculated scheme. She could expect an abundance of resources and time to herself, at the cost of being given away to the most advantageous suitor for her father's status, whoever that could be.

>>4317970
>Sharpe Caldwell: An old name in the lending of notes and shipping of goods, he is a distant and strict facet of the merchantry and no different at home. She could expect to be held firm to ladylike standards and given little leeway, but lavished with the privilege only a combination of negligence and assurance of marriage could bring.

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>>4317977
>>4318093
>>4318096
>>4318201
>>4318235
>>4318260
You are the second daughter of Theo Harrison, boldest member of the nouveau riche to rise in two generation's time. Only three decades ago your father was but a peddler, hawking rawhide and haggling over strips of leather but cruel avarice backed by cold diligence has brought him far. Now he counts himself among the wealthiest men in the city of Nalcaster, though he's far from accepted in the aristocracy's midst and can't stomach the sneers from old-money. Financial acumen alone isn't enough to elevate his standing but for one with refined blood and cunning disposition, there are other avenues for acquiring status. More specifically, you.

An abundance of landed nobles would be happy enough to marry a lesser son to someone plain for the sake of a share in his financial assets alone, but as providence would have it, you are far from plain. Boasting a head of smooth chestnut hair and eyes of striking azure, paired with a slim, demure figure filled out well by age supplemented by a natural grace that can't be taught, you would be the envy of any ballroom masque. Far fairer than your elder sister, married to a baron-son scribe, your father was quick to catch wind of the opportunity you posed and will be quicker still to take advantage. Already, he's received a dozen offers of betrothal and ever the savvy profiteer, he's taken careful measure to bounce vying suitors off one another until age approaches and he gets an offer he can't refuse.

This is a story as old as time and would've been advantageous for all parties involved, were it not for your own thoughts on the matter. You never asked to be born to a heartless bastard who sees you as a long-term investment and not a daughter, you never asked to be put on display and sold to the highest bidder, and you've never asked to be stripped of any and all say-so in your own future. You've had it and late at night, recalling stories of malign power given freely to those who are willing to pay the price, you sought a snippet of forbidden knowledge and staked out a bargain.


>What feeling was it that drove you to seek occult means?

>Spite: It burns within, simmering and boiling over anything more than a passing semblance of restraint. It had to come out sooner or later.
>Greed: The man who sired you should know the feeling good and well, you wanted more than birth could give, and would do anything for it.
>Yearning: You know that you are more than a merchant's daughter and are willing to do whatever it takes to put your life in your own hands.
>Boredom: More than sacrilege, taking such lightly for the sake of a hedonistic thrill, you soon found that this was far more than idle fantasy.
>Nihilism: Already forfeit in physicality for the circumstances of your birth, you see no reason not to risk your spirituality for something more.

>>4318368
>Boredom: More than sacrilege, taking such lightly for the sake of a hedonistic thrill, you soon found that this was far more than idle fantasy.

>>4318368
>Greed: The man who sired you should know the feeling good and well, you wanted more than birth could give, and would do anything for it.

>>4318368
>>Yearning: You know that you are more than a merchant's daughter and are willing to do whatever it takes to put your life in your own hands.

>>4318368
>>Boredom: More than sacrilege, taking such lightly for the sake of a hedonistic thrill, you soon found that this was far more than idle fantasy.

>>4318368
>Yearning: You know that you are more than a merchant's daughter and are willing to do whatever it takes to put your life in your own hands.

>>4318368
>Greed: The man who sired you should know the feeling good and well, you wanted more than birth could give, and would do anything for it.

>>4318368
>Boredom: More than sacrilege, taking such lightly for the sake of a hedonistic thrill, you soon found that this was far more than idle fantasy.

>>4318368
>Spite: It burns within, simmering and boiling over anything more than a passing semblance of restraint. It had to come out sooner or later.

>>4318368
>Boredom: More than sacrilege, taking such lightly for the sake of a hedonistic thrill, you soon found that this was far more than idle fantasy.

>>4318368

>Yearning: You know that you are more than a merchant's daughter and are willing to do whatever it takes to put your life in your own hands.

>>4318368
>>Yearning: You know that you are more than a merchant's daughter and are willing to do whatever it takes to put your life in your own hands.

>>4318368
>Boredom: More than sacrilege, taking such lightly for the sake of a hedonistic thrill, you soon found that this was far more than idle fantasy.

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>>4318379
>>4318388
>>4318400
>>4318418
>>4318447
You were overcome with the boredom only indolent routine can bring. Some would say you were fortunate, spoiled in the lap of luxury and had no reason to look further, but their lowborn eyes would lie on the gild, not the cage. It was a rare winter festival when you decided to slip your manservant's gaze and veer down an alleyway. That brightly clothed ponce with an impish cast to his features and a soft, muttering voice disarmed you with the offer of a book for sale at ten silver shillings. Not a scroll or a poem, but a whole book, written in blue ink and bound in red leather, worth more than a farmer's annual wage.

Such a bargain screamed a warning to your common sense, but in a fit of fell curiosity you dismissed it and feeling generous, paid him that and half again then and there. A sizable portion of your allowance, if not the most, you stowed the book under your coat and were caught off-guard as he kissed your wrist and wished you well. He fled at a gallop and reached the next street a moment before your manservant arrived. You were harshly scolded for risking your safety among the riffraff but an impassioned plea convinced him that was punishment enough and he ought not tell your father. You held the book close and waited for the carriage to make its way to your father's manor. Later that night, you opened the book and were stopped cold by the first words to cross your sight but had gone so far you couldn't help but go on.

>What was the title of the book?

>A Wayfarer's Log of the Rivers White
>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations
>Fireside Tales: The Grandest and Greatest

>>4318525
>>Fireside Tales: The Grandest and Greatest

>>4318525
>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations

>>4318525
>>>A Wayfarer's Log of the Rivers White

>>4318525
>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations

>>4318525
>A Wayfarer's Log of the Rivers White

>>4318525
>Fireside Tales: The Grandest and Greatest

>>4318525
>>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations

>>4318525
>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations

>>4318525
>>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations

>>4318525
>Fireside Tales: The Grandest and Greatest

>>4318525
>One Thousand and One Bold Allegations

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>>4318530
>>4318540
>>4318553
>>4318555
>>4318568
>>4318626
'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations'... You mused on what mysteries might lie in the breadth and span of four-hundred-odd pages of parchment and tracing your finger across the page, began to recall your tutelage. The book detailed the efforts of a proud baron to catch and apprehend a cavorting bard whose skill-at-instruments outweighed his civility and restraint. Time and again, he slipped through the fingers of his men-at-arms until finally, for so heavy was the aristocrat's disdain it outweighed his piety, a constable disguised as a clergyman caught him when his trousers were down.

Rather than assert laws of blasphemy and involve the grand temple, the bard requested he be allowed to serve as his own barrister. Seeing a chance to humble the fool who'd been tormenting his estate with wailing noise at the most unseemly hours, the baron assented and called in a herald to recite a fabricated list of wrongdoings, from least to most severe. From unlawfully crossing the road while a wagon was rolling, to stealing a chicken to make a bag of its body, all the way up to plotting sedition under cover of a musical tone. The bard sat silent throughout the testimony; not a word was said, only a glinting smile and giddy shivering unsettling.

In eight hour's time the list was complete, the herald out of breath, and the assembled court ready to declare him guilty and go home, were it not the bard's turn to speak. Rising to his feet, he spoke, and in a single sentence, called into question the baron's own wool coat. Fuming on his chair, the nobleman demanded to know what he meant by accusing his sense of fashion, to which he replied, "why slaughter the lamb?" In the moment of reading you sensed a deeper import and a brassy chill seeped into your stomach, but curiosity piqued, you continued.

The baron, shocked into silence for some reason inscrutable, demanded the guards drag the bard and see him hanged. Gripped by morbid curiosity, not one stepped forward and the bard continued, asking what the poached eggs and sweetened poundcakes were really worth. Increasingly flustered, the baron sweat, the crowd stared, and the bard went on, rambling question after question, each with innocuous grammar and terrible implication, until the whole of the court was turned on its head and at the bard's insinuation they would do nothing for all the lost honey crumbles, they rose as one in vicious aggression. During the tumult the bard fingered his trumpet and fled, lest they ransack his manor, find not a lone item of interest, and realize all too late that in all the shouting, not a single answer was said.

>(cont)

>>4318641
Shocked at the ending, you read on and in a sudden premonition, realize the second letter of each word in the final paragraph spelled out, "HEAR THE MUSIC, SUCH WONDERS AWAIT TO BE CALLED! CAST DOUBT ON THEIR TRUTH AND ENFLAME THEIR DELUSION! NO LEGACY PURE, THE MASSES APPALLED! A TOWER STANDS TALL IN POSH SILENCE, YOU NEED ONLY TAKE THE LOWEST STONE, MAKE THE NOISE, AND WATCH ITS CONTUSION!" You are horrified to the core and fling the book from the table to the floor, but deep within, you can't help but feel a stirring of terrible wonder. It has shown you the power, not of direct deception, but of misleading speech and letting those listening come to their own conclusions. You approach the book, lift it again, and begin to read a second, more careful time.

>Roll three 1d20+4 to unravel its secrets, (+2)(Education)(+2)(Natural Cunning)

>>4318645

Rolled 3 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4318645

Rolled 5 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4318647

Rolled 12 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4318648
>>4318649
oh boy

>>4318655
>16
we can be happy with that, I guess

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>>4318648
>>4318649
>>4318655
>2 Failures, 1 Success

You ruffle through the pages, scrambling for the slightest hint of what that message could mean and more importantly how you could bring it about if not on an architectural scale, in the wretched morass of your own life. There is nothing of any distinct note and for hours you shuffle, muttering nonsense then realize you've been whispering a tune. Just a quickly as the thought comes it's gone and you can muster no more, but where the book's margins seemed blank before, now lie a twisted series of tunes. You stare, wondering what a hideous sound it would create and pause. Father had your tutored in the violin for the sake of marriageability, but not a word was given to the tool of what he called crude and indecent for the Harrison name. The harmonica, the drums, and... The trumpet.

Clarity comes immediately. If you want to know more, you'll have to find a way to make the sound you're reading but what are you to do without the instrument made to match the tune? You're filled with frustration and what's more, father, both of your menservants, the watchman, the kitchen-servants, and the gardener will be in today. Heavens forbid you awoke them with a terrible screeching sound so late in the evening. But this you need, mustn't you sleep? Gah... Your tutor of arithmetic will be by tomorrow morning and you need to finish your calligraphy lest the other tutor dock your ratings the day after tomorrow, but after that you should be free, as you're expected to practice and father mentioned having a contract to draft down at the docks. This is all so sudden and terrible, the first thing of any interest to ever happen, and these petty obligations barring your way are enough to drive you to madness! You're half-tempted to cast your duties aside because you simply must know more but even as the thought crosses your mind your better half knows how unwise that would be. Sigh.

>What's the best thing to do?

>To the Pit, you'll take your violin, bar the door with a chair, and do your damnedest to make the music.
>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.
>You can do better than that, you'll stay up till dawn reading while the ruminations are fresh on your head.

>>4318676
>>>You can do better than that, you'll stay up till dawn reading while the ruminations are fresh on your head.

>>4318676
>You can do better than that, you'll stay up till dawn reading while the ruminations are fresh on your head.

>>4318676
>>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.
lets bide our time

>>4318676
>You can do better than that, you'll stay up till dawn reading while the ruminations are fresh on your head.

>>4318676
>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.

>>4318676
>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.

>>4318676
>>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.

>>4318676
>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.
We have all the time in the world.

>>4318676
>You are no fool. Overreach is human nature, one can always count on others to overestimate themselves only for them to get bitten by the fates. Decide with a clear head, after a good rest. You only did it because of boredome anyway, there is no hurry to rush anything.
>>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.

>>4318738
+1

>>4318676
>>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.

>>4318676
>>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, going to sleep responsibly could save on future regret.

>>4318862
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>Poetry: The illusive art of wordcraft, refined and wonderful as it is boring and loathsome, you've familiarized yourself with a great deal of poems and have no small amount of skill in the field of crafting your own, though your personal worldly experience is slim to say the least. Often, you fantasize that a favourite of your make could be adapted into a bard's staple.

>>4318863
>Archery
>Etiquette
>Stewardship

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>>4318696
>>4318703
>>4318706
>>4318715
>>4318733
>>4318738
>>4318746
>>4318810
You are no fool. Overreach is human nature, one can always count on others to overestimate themselves only for them to get bitten by the fates. Decide with a clear head, after a good rest. You only did it because of boredome anyway, there is no hurry to rush anything. Father didn't get to where he is now through a lack of patience and you won't be escaping it because you couldn't be bothered to wait. Skimming the margins once more, you close 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', leave a bookmark on the top, and stow it away in your bedside dresser's private drawer, where the maid would sooner be scalded in boiling oil than go snooping. You think of what you've stumbled upon, pull the downy blankets over yourself, and drift into sleep. Far from blissful, the mirage that haunts your slumbering psyche is breathtakingly beautiful. In them, you aren't counting sheep or choosing suitors, but conducting an orchestra fit to make the whole of the realm tumble and shake.

>It is the 2nd Day

Groggy, you open your eyes and slide into your slippers. The arithmetic tutor will be by shortly and soon after that, you're expected to fill your quota of calligraphy. So many tiresome subjects, ostensibly assigned to better yourself but you know the truth, merely to raise the volume of your future bride-price. Embroidery, dancing, the violin, your numbers, your letters, the tidings of household omens... you can hardly name them but they're not all. Just north of sixteen summers of age, you've thankfully overcome the most tawdry courses but they merely gave way to more demanding busywork. Almost infuriated at the meaninglessness of it all, you calm yourself with the memory of your extracurricular courses. Not required alongside the brunt of your necessities, some eight years ago, father gave you the chance to peruse and select a handful to be tutored in, perhaps deeming that following your interests would make you a more interesting bride or making a concession for your own peace of mind, it matters not. What does is you're taught in them a mere two days a week, and treasure these passions dearly. Only three days are left before your next lesson, though at this point you're quite conversant and the tutor's almost a technicality.

>(cont)

>>4318883
>What are the two courses you were permitted to take? Alternatively, you could've gone with three just as easily, though your free-time would've been slashed in half.

>Fencing: A rarity among merchant's daughters but of some popularity among the western noblewomen, you've been taught to wield a dagger and rapier with some proficiency. Of course you aren't a true combatant and if you're ever near a battlefield something will have gone terribly wrong, but you daresay you can handle yourself.
>Botany: Not too common but not unheard of in the aristocracy, you have a heartfelt love for tending the earth and coaxing life from the soil, albeit, with a product far more fragile and fickle than a farmer's crop. Most flowers are merely good to look at, but you know a fair deal about the cultivation of medicinal herbs and how to apply them.
>Heraldry: The topic of coats of arms, how to recognize their colors on sight, and the histories of the noble houses behind them. It isn't particularly a necessity, a merchant's daughter wouldn't be expected to have any familiarity and father will do much of the work of finding a suitor himself, but knowing one knight from another could be handy.
>Archery: Only a fool would consider a martial art that could kill a man at twenty paces to be dainty, but the stigma remains and some find feminine practitioners to be attractive. You aren't strong enough to manage the proper longbows of the yeomanry but you have a polished recurve that can put fear into a mid-length target's center.
>Cookery: Near and perhaps not so dear to every commoner's daughter, the culinary pursuits are less abundant in the aristocracy but is often sought after and the wonder of a wife's succulent cakes and fattening pastries has been the subject of many a valiant knight's lament. You know well that managing a great feast is room for humble bragging.
>Falconry: Sometimes considered to be a masculine pursuit, the rearing and taming of falcons isn't strange among the women of the noble houses and some advantaged commoners beside. You've been invited on a hunt once or twice, and have seen the fruits of your labour put to use in the field much more than once.

>(cont)

>>4318883
>there is no hurry to rush anything
how stupidly phrased. shame on you, qm

>>4318886
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>Poetry: The illusive art of wordcraft, refined and wonderful as it is boring and loathsome, you've familiarized yourself with a great deal of poems and have no small amount of skill in the field of crafting your own, though your personal worldly experience is slim to say the least. Often, you fantasize that a favourite of your make could be adapted into a bard's staple.
>Theology: Unusual outside of particularly pious families, a convent member's understanding of the Creed of Goed could do well to endear yourself to men who put great stock in faith, not to mention the knowledge of the heresies that were suppressed in the distant past and why they were wrong as well as more distant faiths.
>Astronomy: Fairly esoteric but sanctioned by the faith and widely acknowledged as legitimate, the study of the stars above and the brilliance of their eternal dance has occupied many a night of yours. Less loudly mentioned are the divinations of future import they give, always vague and arguably fake, you aren't sure if you believe them.
>Stewardship: The management of businesses and households, learning this would improve your standing as a potential bride quite well, as rather than keep a paid bookkeeper on retain, trusting the complications of paperwork to one's wife would be far cheaper for the frugal and for the paranoid, better for safety of mind.
>Musicality: Alongside the ubiquitous understanding of the violin, you were permitted to pursue the mastery of the harp, the flute, and the voice itself. Of questionable utility, the variety has done much to preserve your sanity and there are plenty of suitors who would appreciate the same, fantasies of being a runaway troubadour aside.
>Dancing: Instead of taking on another course, you decided to double down on what you were already being taught, pleasing your father a good deal on the money saved if nothing else. Fleet on your feet and slow to tire, you can dance from sunup to sundown, and manage a fair bit of nimble footwork in the in-between.
>Embroidery: Instead of taking on another course, you decided to double down on what you were already being taught, pleasing your father a good deal on the money saved if nothing else. Knitting is hardly the most exciting pursuit, but it is womanly and there are plenty willing to pay good money for your rugs and scarves.

>>4318887
>tfw

>>4318875
>>4318878
I accidentally deleted the post you were replying trying to correct a typo, your votes still count.

>>4318886
>>>Fencing: A rarity among merchant's daughters but of some popularity among the western noblewomen, you've been taught to wield a dagger and rapier with some proficiency. Of course you aren't a true combatant and if you're ever near a battlefield something will have gone terribly wrong, but you daresay you can handle yourself.
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.

>>4318888
>>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>>Stewardship: The management of businesses and households, learning this would improve your standing as a potential bride quite well, as rather than keep a paid bookkeeper on retain, trusting the complications of paperwork to one's wife would be far cheaper for the frugal and for the paranoid, better for safety of mind.

>>4318888
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>Stewardship: The management of businesses and households, learning this would improve your standing as a potential bride quite well, as rather than keep a paid bookkeeper on retain, trusting the complications of paperwork to one's wife would be far cheaper for the frugal and for the paranoid, better for safety of mind.
>Dancing: Instead of taking on another course, you decided to double down on what you were already being taught, pleasing your father a good deal on the money saved if nothing else. Fleet on your feet and slow to tire, you can dance from sunup to sundown, and manage a fair bit of nimble footwork in the in-between.

>>4318888
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>Dancing: Instead of taking on another course, you decided to double down on what you were already being taught, pleasing your father a good deal on the money saved if nothing else. Fleet on your feet and slow to tire, you can dance from sunup to sundown, and manage a fair bit of nimble footwork in the in-between.

>>4318906
+1

>>4318888
>Poetry: The illusive art of wordcraft, refined and wonderful as it is boring and loathsome, you've familiarized yourself with a great deal of poems and have no small amount of skill in the field of crafting your own, though your personal worldly experience is slim to say the least. Often, you fantasize that a favourite of your make could be adapted into a bard's staple.
>Astronomy: Fairly esoteric but sanctioned by the faith and widely acknowledged as legitimate, the study of the stars above and the brilliance of their eternal dance has occupied many a night of yours. Less loudly mentioned are the divinations of future import they give, always vague and arguably fake, you aren't sure if you believe them.

>>4318888
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>Stewardship: The management of businesses and households, learning this would improve your standing as a potential bride quite well, as rather than keep a paid bookkeeper on retain, trusting the complications of paperwork to one's wife would be far cheaper for the frugal and for the paranoid, better for safety of mind.

>>4318887
Is it not copied verbatim from your write in?

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>>4318968
>Is it not copied verbatim from your write in?

>>4318888
>Etiquette: Much more than the bare minimum a bride-to-be is expected to have, you have a comprehensive grasp on how to have a conversation, conduct yourself at the feasting table, and flatter your social betters without seeming duplicitous. A noteworthy asset for a noblewoman, potentially significant for a merchant's daughter.
>Stewardship: The management of businesses and households, learning this would improve your standing as a potential bride quite well, as rather than keep a paid bookkeeper on retain, trusting the complications of paperwork to one's wife would be far cheaper for the frugal and for the paranoid, better for safety of mind.

>>4318875
>>4318878
>>4318903
>>4318905
>>4318906
>>4318917
>>4318929
>>4318968
>>4318976
Etiquette is confirmed by unanimous decree. Do you want to take it with Stewardship alone or with Stewardship and Dancing?

>>4319175
Stewardship and dancing.

>>4319175
>>4318962
That is to say, almost unanimous

>>4319175
stewardship alone

>>4319175
What do we do for our free time? If nothing particularly useful then take both.

>>4319192
Practicing embroidery and calligraphy, rereading the same handful of books, talking to your manservant or the staff, reminiscing on the last social function you've attended and wondering what the next will be like, and thinking about your standing in life, what's going on with the people you know, and what your thoughts are on both. Nothing out of the ordinary for a wealthy merchant's daughter, though if you see fit to pursue... unusual studies, the extra time to yourself could prove lucrative. Or not, as dancing can go a long way to standing out from the marriageable competition and honing your reflexes, though a noble's bride-to-be has little need for such things.

>>4319175
>Stewardship and Dancing

>>4319175
>Stewardship

>>4319175
Stewardship and Dancing

>>4319175
>Stewardship and Dancing

>>4319175
>Stewardship

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>>4319182
>>4319192
>>4319209
>>4319294
>>4319401
You recall the extracurricular advancements and why you chose them. For most it's blindingly obvious, even as a child you retained a flicker of father's ambition and wanted to steer your own course as much as you could, recognizing the value of etiquette as the sail and stewardship as the mast for sailing the black seas of noble intrigue. You don't particularly enjoy them in and of themselves, but the doors their mastery could open that would otherwise stay locked assure days of negligence are rare and ephemeral. Dancing too was chosen for a form of independence, a type of combative skill that you could practice at any time, anywhere to your father's approval, but over the years it's grown on you as something worthwhile aside from the social functions and split-second swiftness.

Nevermind that, the next study day is in the future, at the moment you have business to attend to and later on, a book to study. A glance through the curtains on your bedside window confirms it's at least an hour after dawn and your tutor of arithmetic has likely been waiting for a fair time. Such a lack of punctuation would be inexcusable for any other reason than last night's discovery, you're a firm believer in holding fast to a routine once set and like the other Harrisons, place strict value on self-discipline, although you express it differently than father and your elder brothers might. You're dressed and have made your exit in ten minutes. Some aristocrat's daughters are fond of facial paints and powders but father deems such pricey expressions of vanity a frivolity and if anything, your natural beauty would be more hindered than helped by their introduction.

Mr. Poole is waiting in the family's sitting room with an hourglass and sketch-parchment, after all, he's paid for time spent and if anything disappointed by your promptness. He's a well-rounded man in more ways than one, a rotund lifelong scholar of the motion of the stars, percussion instruments, and the abstraction of numeric forms born into a minor noble house, it's through ventures like these that he funds his studies into the avant garde and meaningless things that clever men distract themselves with when they're away from the schematics table. When he spots you he cracks a wry grin, turns the hourglass on its end, and brushes the scratch-parchment to the side. "I see you've been sleeping well, girl."

>You respond as you always do toward those of near-equal standing:

>Deferentially: "I'm sorry Mr. Poole, it won't happen again."
>Formally: "You have my apologies Mr. Poole, it was my mistake."
>Conversationally: "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?"
>Wittily: "As always, and I see your hourglass is in good order."
>Piously: "Goed preserve us, I apologize for my melancholy."

>>4319530
>Conversationally: "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?"

This doesn't have any impact on your actual personality, private opinions, or internal thought processes, just how you present yourself. Some people respond better to one than another and vice versa, being skilled in etiquette lets you detect and switch on the fly from one conversation to the next, this is just your default.

>>4319530
>Conversationally: "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?"

>>4319530
>>Wittily: "As always, and I see your hourglass is in good order."

>>4319530
>>Piously: "Goed preserve us, I apologize for my melancholy."

>>4319530
>>Conversationally: "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?"

>>4319530
>Wittily: "As always, and I see your hourglass is in good order."

>>4319530
>Conversationally: "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?"

>>4319530
>>Conversationally: "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?"

>>4319530
>>Wittily: "As always, and I see your hourglass is in good order."

>>4319530
>Formally: "You have my apologies Mr. Poole, it was my mistake."

>>4319530
>Wittily: "As always, and I see your hourglass is in good order."

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>>4319541
>>4319561
>>4319581
>>4319806
>>4319907
Your smile is relaxed as you wrest a response, almost autonomous, when at ease in the presence of a social equal you feel no need to make a show of matching wits or submitting to the listener or Goed, only to let the words leave your mouth and be heard. Even so your cunning shines through, seamlessly flipping the onus of pressure on its head. "I've had worse nights, how has yours been?" Mr. Poole shrugs. "Cloudy skies make for poor observation. I'll hope you've been studying your long division, we have a review ahead." You sigh. "An hour every day, as with the times tables." The sheet pushed across the table and array of prewritten problems leaves no room for doubt. Two hours later with a handful of errors, your tutor's obligations for the day are done and you edge in the opportunity for a minute or two of smalltalk.

He tells you that the third daughter of the esteemed Baron Reeves, whose authority presides over the fiefdom neighboring Nalcaster, has been betrothed to a landless knight in recognition of valor in the dispatching of a fiendishly large spider attempting to dig out a nest in the foothills, and alone, no less! The courts are abuzz in anticipation of where his career will take him and in more hushed tones, whether he'll live long enough to take the Baron up on his offer. Notably, a melee tournament is going to be held at Shiver's Keep, some three week's wagon ride to the south there and back, in two months, and a fair few local nobles are going to attend though it's open to commoners and there's sure to be a crowd. As always, salt is in high demand but recent festivities have risen the price of dye and shepherds are doing well for themselves. Conversely, there's been less consumption than expected and a slight abundance of ale, but that isn't likely to remain for long. Of course, as a merchant's daughter you already knew this much and amicably pretend you didn't, before the two of you lapse into common pleasantries and he packs his things.

Mr. Poole leaves and won't be back in two days, though your calligraphic tutor will be arriving tomorrow morning at the same time expecting results that you need to give, lest father hear of it and scold you deeply. Similarly with the violin and forms, but you have a firm grasp on them and need not worry so much. You have a great deal of work you need to get done by the deadline if you're to avoid the consequences, that said, it's a fairly modest amount compared to what you're used to and you suppose there's nothing preventing you from eschewing your duties for a few hours while you do some light reading.

>How should you spend the next few hours?

>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested
>Studying 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', your curiosity burns like a furnace

>>4320463
>>Studying 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', your curiosity burns like a furnace

>>4320463
>Studying 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', your curiosity burns like a furnace

>>4320463
>>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

>>4320463
>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

>>4320463
>Remind yourself again of all the tales of fools tempted by magic. If you can't hold off in these early stages, how will you control yourself when it is more advanced? No, you shouldn't lose yourself, you should uphold your life as it is now. And certainly should you not arouse anyones suspicion.
>>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

>>4320463
>Studying 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', your curiosity burns like a furnace

>>4320463
>>Studying 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', your curiosity burns like a furnace

>>4320463
>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

>>4320463
>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested
Curiosity kills the cat

>>4320463
>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

>>4320513
>>4320463
>Remind yourself again of all the tales of fools tempted by magic. If you can't hold off in these early stages, how will you control yourself when it is more advanced? No, you shouldn't lose yourself, you should uphold your life as it is now. And certainly should you not arouse anyones suspicion.
>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

>>4320463
>Studying 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', your curiosity burns like a furnace

>>4320463
>>Practicing calligraphy and penning the brief essay on The Disquiet your tutor requested

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>>4320505
>>4320511
>>4320513
>>4320619
>>4320919
>>4321781
>>4321984
>>4322193
This book, 'One Thousand and One Bold Allegations', is like nothing your sheltered eyes have ever seen before and some portent in the shimmer of its ink has stirred an insatiable yearning for more in the innermost recesses of your soul. Not two pages in you realized this was a key to a malign gateway the highest members of far wealthier families have been stripped of their name and burned for trying to open and for good reason, but you didn't care, did you? No, if you held the pious sensibilities expected of an aristocrat’s daughter close to heart you would’ve burned the book then and there, brought the ashes to the nearest priest that could be trusted to dispose of them, and beseeched Goed to do away with the thoughts unbefitting of a noble’s bride-to-be haunting your mind, but that isn’t what happened.

Instead, you read between the lines the potential for an escape from the droll life of domestic servitude you’ve been allotted and this ill-lit path is an avenue you fully well intend to pursue. Later. You wrest your eyes from the allure of your dresser’s drawer and take the parchment intended for your essay. Tales of fools who’ve gone in over their head and drowned are recalled with a grimace. If you throw yourself headlong from the light of Goed without taking precaution it will be noticed and ruinous consequence will befall your name. In this venture more than any other, subtlety is a necessity, and for that, restraint and upholding of the personal image you’ve presented thus far, in the eyes of father and your manservant if no-one else.

To that end, you must complete your assignment and please your tutor. Many obsess themselves with crumbling scrolls and musty tomes, but their focus on the triumphs and failings of others over their ambitions and success seems to you to be a waste of time. Nonetheless, the stock they put in these stories can’t be discounted and so you’ve familiarized yourself with them. The Disquiet was the era of iniquity that preceded the current reign of law by quite some time, when the masses whispered heresy and mustered arms as the higher courts declined in squalid decadence. The Uproar that followed brought the deaths of countless men, the razing of at least three kingdoms, and the calling of a crusade lest the torrid blasphemies of foul revelers fray the natural order itself.

>(cont)

>>4322312
Most of the history’s particulars have been erased and its obscurity ensured with the founding of the Inquisition, collecting watchmen, vigilantes, and witch-hunters under a single banner dedicated to rooting out that opposed to the Creed of Goed wherever it festers. You feel that if the affair was so ignominious as each piece on the period says it is it ought to be forgotten or at least not emphasised in your ancient curriculum, but you aren’t one to complain about another’s foolishness. At least not openly.

>Roll three 1d20+6 to impress your tutor with a tawdry dissertation on the necessity of the Inquisition, (+2)(Education)(+2)(Natural Cunning)(+2)(Careful Etiquette)

Rolled 18 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>4322315

Rolled 11 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>4322315
4chan is acting weird for me

Rolled 6 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>4322315

Rolled 9 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>4322315

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>>4322318
>>4322321
>>4322326
>3 Successes

As you’ve done so many times before, you reflexively dismiss your bias and shift into a mindset of implied ignorance and humble earnestness to overcome it through education. You take great pains to scratch the parchment just so, demonstrate excellent strides in calligraphy but more importantly, your attention to the content of the words presents almost two whole sheets of hushed regret for the nobility’s failings, shocked scorn at the peasantry’s revolt, and contemplative gratitude that the Inquisition is there to safeguard Nalcaster and your household, even if you can’t see them. All of that in ten minutes shy of three hours. Your tutor is a stickler for religious devotion and ought to eat it up, which gives you until the setting of the sun to turn your attention to the book. Technically you’re supposed to spend that time practicing your dance and violin but you have a grasp of both firmer than some noblewomen and see no reason not to eschew today’s practice for the sake of resolving a matter of such import. You latch the door, prop a chair under the knob for good measure, draw the curtains closed, and pull the bloodred tome from its place in the drawer.

>How do you want to approach your extracurricular studies?

>Examine the musical notes that appeared in the margins and appraise how their brash notes might be adapted to a violin’s more elegant tones.
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go
>Retrieve your violin from its case, set your eyes on the page, and play as closely to the original verse as you can, compromising none of its raucous noise.

>>4322364
>Examine the musical notes that appeared in the margins and appraise how their brash notes might be adapted to a violin’s more elegant tones.

>>4322364
>>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Examine the musical notes that appeared in the margins and appraise how their brash notes might be adapted to a violin’s more elegant tones.

>>4322364
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Examine the musical notes that appeared in the margins and appraise how their brash notes might be adapted to a violin’s more elegant tones.

>>4322364
>Examine the musical notes that appeared in the margins and appraise how their brash notes might be adapted to a violin’s more elegant tones.

>>4322364

>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

>>4322364
>Continue to read ‘One Thousand and One Bold Allegations’, sweeping the text for any metaphors and double-meanings you might’ve missed on the first go

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>>4322374
>>4322434
>>4322452
>>4322458
>>4322492
>>4322546
>>4322556
>>4322725
Taking a deep breath, you flip the book open and begin to read the text. Far from smooth and flowing like the letters you’ve sent and received, it adheres to a rhythm, slow and tremulous before bursting into a frenzied pitch then back again, seemingly without the slightest care or consideration toward the context. During your first reading this left you confused, but you now realize there may have been a deeper meaning that went unseen. It pains you to leave the music affixed to the page instead of roaring through the bedroom and manor but as you resolved earlier, subtlety is key and you must measure your pace.

>Roll three 1d20+4 to study the text in greater detail, (+2)(Education)(+2)(Natural Cunning)

Rolled 10 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4322930

Rolled 11 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4322930

Rolled 14 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>4322930

>>4322933
>>4322938
>>4322946
14, 15, 19
much better

Dead?

>>4325413
No, I've been installing windows and frames n my house and haven't had the time to update regularly but they're mostly and should be done by the end of today in so next week should be better.

>>4325424
good luck with the real life then

>>4325424
good to hear

Still alive OP?

I hope this isn't dead yet op.

>>4325424
RIP. pls come back

OP where art thou

F

Bumping in hopes that op comes back